Building a Healthier Lansing – a feature article for Capital Gains about the Power of We and AmeriCorp doing it what they can to make Lansing a healthier city.

Last week’s development stories for Capital Gains (I write four a week):

• Entrepreneur Institute Moves to 1,000 Sq Ft Space in Downtown Lansing
• Replay Entertainment Exchange Thriving, Expands Space
• The Tin Can Opens in Downtown Lansing
• Cravings Popcorn Moves to Old Town

Here is a nice bio that Capital Gains wrote about me to announce my taking on the development writer role.

#

Now, onto the aural realm:

Last week’s episode of The Magic of Eyri Podcast.

Last week’s episode of LansingNext (featuring  Julielyn Gibbons and myself)

]]> http://danieljhogan.com/home/2010/02/23/last-weeks-articles-and-more/feed/ 0 http://danieljhogan.com/home/2010/02/06/single-in-lansing-article-more-freelance/ http://danieljhogan.com/home/2010/02/06/single-in-lansing-article-more-freelance/#comments Sat, 06 Feb 2010 15:46:21 +0000 Daniel http://danieljhogan.com/home/?p=489 Back on January 20th (was it that long ago? Wow) I had a feature article run over at Lansing Capital Gains about being single in Lansing (Single in the City).

The funny thing here is that when I turned the story in, perhaps early Fall, I was single–but, by the time it ran, I had a new girlfriend. I kind of had a gut feeling that would happen, which was why I agreed to write the story (and make fun of myself quite a bit).

I enjoyed writing this story a lot because I was allowed to go first person and showcase some of my humor a bit more–although my editor did cut my favorite joke, which was about me wearing my Chewie Is My Co-Pilot t-shirt while trying to pick up geeky girls.

Or something.

The shirt was designed by R Stevens, creator of one of my favorite webcomics, Diesel Sweeties.

I did manage to wear my Threadless, A Simple Plan shirt for the photo shoot however.

I kind of regret not wearing my Chewie shirt, but since the photos were being taken at Pinball Pete’s Arcade in East Lansing, the Space Invader referencing shirt won out (another option I considered was my Yooper Steez shirt, designed by all-around-awesome Lansing dude, Justin “Bugsy” Sailor).

I caught some (friendly) flack from those who knew I had a new girlfriend, yet was writing about being single.  The girlfriend in question was fine with it, as I told her about the story way before it ran.

But the story isn’t so much about my being single, but more how I went about meeting people, expanding my circle of friends and places to go on dates around Lansing.

#

Speaking of Lansing Capital Gains, I was brought on to be a weekly contributor recently.  Starting on February 17th, I’ll be writing four development stories a week.  These are very, very short–only 200 words at the most–so it equals out to less than a feature article (1,000 words) a week.

There will be a bit of a learning curve for me, as I have to find leads and such, but I’m getting a lot of help from my editor and fellow contributors.

I consider myself the furthest thing from a journalist, but I am very happy to have this opportunity to see if I can handle the rigors of a regular writing gig. So far, so good.

And if you live in Lansing and have any leads for me, drop me a line.

This piece is about using video games as educational tools and (hopefully) leading to job creation and talent retention around Lansing.

#

In other news, I rode a horse last Monday.

This was my first time riding a horse that wasn’t attached to a rope on a pole and walked in a circle (best guess, that happened when I was under the age of ten).

A friend rides weekly (but not weakly…Ugh.  Sorry) at C.H.U.M. (Children and Horses United in Movement) Therapy near Lansing (not to be confused with C.H.U.D.).

My friend (nor I) does not ride for therapy reasons, she just attends weekly riding lessons.  She asked if I wished to attend, and always looking for real-life experiences to enrich my writing and self, I said yes.

It was quite the experience.

I certainly used a few muscles I never knew I had (which I was told is part of the idea behind riding as physical therapy).  The next couple days after I rode had me hurtin’, but I enjoyed myself.

I gotta say–horses are BIG up close.  Being on top of my mount, Gunny, was equally thrilling and terrifying (at first).

He was standing still when I took this, relax.

But, Gunny was a friendly horse — and he certainly liked it when I fed him a few carrots after he was done carting my bony butt around for a couple hours.

What did I take away from this experience? Aside from realizing how big these animals are (‘specially when you are only average height like me), I was glad to experience what it is like to ride something that is very much alive and has a personality of its own.  If Gunny wanted to slow down–he slowed down.  If he wanted to ignore my “go faster” commands, he did.  That’s a world of difference from a bike or a car.

Learning how to steer was a good education too–not that I plan on writing volumes of fantasy involving tribes of horse riding people any time soon, but it was a nice addition to the ol’ writing tool box.

Would I go riding again? Certainly.  They run a tight ship over at C.H.U.M., and while I was nervous at first, I felt very safe and eventually learned to just enjoy the ride.

You can buy that special someone(s) a copy of my novel, The Magic of Eyri, through Lulu, Amazon and Barnes & Noble (you can even go in any physical book store and give the ISBN 978-0615145280 and they should be able to order it for you).

A friend made my week by ordering ten copies to give out as gifts.  Any day I have to sign ten copies of my novel is a good day.

signing ten copies of the magic of eyri at once.

So don’t hesitate, g’head and order a few dozen copies of your own. And if you live in Lansing and want ‘em signed, let me know.

#

In other Magic of Eyri news, episode 015 of the free podcast version, “Every Which Way but Uth,” is now online.  Download!

And remember that I’m not releasing any episodes in December (trying to build up a stockpile of episodes and to give myself a bit of a break).  Episodes will resume on the first Wednesday in January 2010 (the 6th).

#

Here’s a digital digest of my other writings wandering aimlessly ’round the Internet:

• Save money by ordering a la carte at Los Tres Amigos, Examiner.com, 11.24.09
• Make the lunch buffet at Mumbai in East Lansing a regular stop, Examiner.com, 11.25.09
• And now for something completely different-breakfast at the Holiday Lanes bowling alley,
• This week’s High Noon Fantasy Hockey, IllegalCurve.com (11.23.09)

The month off from releasing episodes will help me built up a bit of a buffer so that I’m not worrying about releasing episodes week by week.  My goal is to have at least two episodes totally finished by the first of the year, if not more (or at least some more scripts finished). I’ve been going full throttle on my free podcast since last Spring, so I figured I’ve earned a break. The less stress around Christmas, the better. I am looking forward to giving myself a bit of a breather–in a way, it is a Christmas present to myself.  I may take that time to re-record episode 001 (“A Shameless Summer“) as well.  It could certainly benefit from it, as I’ve become much better at producing episodes since then (if I do that, I’ll still keep the original version online, so one can compare and contrast).

#

And here’s your weekly round-up of my various writings running wild around the back alleys of the Internet:

• Divide and conquer your hunger with the soup and sandwich combo at Soup Spoon Cafe, Examiner.com (11.16.09)
• Hold the cow and grab a spicy black bean burger at Michigan Brewing Company, Examiner.com (11.18.09)
• Find a fast, spicy lunch at Bangkok House, Examiner.com (11.19.09)
• This week’s High Noon Fantasy Hockey, IllegalCurve.com (11.16.09)

#

The big news of this past week is that the first draft of my next novel, working title Night of the Lonely Werewolf, is done. Yep, all 94,000+ words of it are finished.  I opted to print the dang thing out (all 499 pages of it, double-spaced at 12 point font) as I go through the editing process.  I’m glad I went this route, because I’ll at least have a hard copy of the first draft, and I like taking notes as I do that always important first read-through.  I may need to invest in more red pens.

I'm oldschool. Markin' up the paper with a bunch of red marks.

This is the novel I started for last year’s National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo).  Not happy that it took me almost a year to write the last 44,000 words after cranking out the first 50k in less than 30 days, but “thems the breaks.”

“Life happened” right after the holidays last year and I fell off the writing horse for a few months–but I dusted myself off and get right back on, spurs an’ all.  Getting that first draft finished is key, after that, things kind of fall in place.  But reaching that final goal of a workable first draft–no matter how good or bad it is–is super important.

I didn’t want to become a writer with a few half-finished novels lying around, so I’m happy that I soldiered on and finished this thing.  The interesting thing is that I got some of my better ideas after that six month dry spell, life’s funny that way.  I actually enjoy editing my novels and watching it change into something even better.

#

And here’s your weekly round-up of my various writings infesting other parts of the Internet:

• Lansing’s International Flavor, Capital Gains (11.04.09)
• The Big O Mess at Grumpy’s Diner will put a smile on your face, Examiner.com (11.10.09)
• Photo tour of the Michigan Brewing Company Brewery, Examiner.com (11.11.09)
• Sip some apple cider at Decker’s Coffee Company, Examiner.com (11.12.09)
• This week’s High Noon Fantasy Hockey, IllegalCurve.com (11.09.09)

Some more great news: I am now doing a weekly column about fantasy hockey for the hockey blog IllegalCurve.com. My first column went online today. They pop up every Monday at noon (I turn them in Sunday night-ish).

I know what you’re thinking: where can I get an awesome hat like this dude? How the heck can he do all of these side things, along with his other freelance work, the podcast, his in-progress novel and his day job?

Answer: I’ll make it happen. There will be a bit of a learning curve as I get used to these added duties, but I think once I get in the habit things will get smoother. Also, as a person who works better under pressure and with deadlines, this will strengthen my time management skills.

I’m already getting better–I set up a Google doc today to act as a note pad for my hockey column during the week. I read about hockey daily anyway, and this way I’ll have a running tally of news and ideas–unlike last night when I had to spend a lot of time looking for stuff while working on my first column.

My second Examiner story went way smoother today as well.  I made the mistake of using the advanced publishing tool for the first story and it resulted in way more work than I needed to do. Heck, I wrote all of the Soup Spoon story and started a new story tonight while at the laundry mat. I’m confident I’ll do fine.

For those unfamiliar. Examiner.com is a network of local bloggers that focus on a certain topic for each city.  These bloggers are usually based in or near a big city.  Michigan has sections for Detroit and Grand Rapids, but not Lansing specifically–however, there were a few I saw.

They proudly display ads on the site asking folks to apply to be an Examiner of whatever topic they wish.  So, being the crazy ambitious person I am, I filled out a form and pitched bloggin’ ’bout restaurants in our fair capital city.

I’ll post a link to my page once it gets set up, which could be a few days.  They ask that I aim for three to four posts a week, but they can be short–between 250 to 500 words.  Heck, I write more than that in Twitter updates on any given day.  The goal here is frequent, short posts.  I can do that.  I enjoy dining out and any of my friends know I’m a big foodie.  Also, I have prior experience writing about such things thanks to my freelance work with Capital Gains.  However, my style for Examiner will be a bit different than how I write for Capital Gains.  I’m going for more of a loose, witty, goofy style for Examiner.  I try to keep the Capital Gains stories a bit more on the serious side, to match the style of the rest of the website.

The other interesting thing is that the Examiner stuff is done pretty much without a net (my first post will be reviewed however), so it’ll all be on me in regards to editing and style (which isn’t any different than this blog post).

Yes, I get paid.  My payment is based on traffic (page views, subscribers, etc).

I’m excited.  I’m not expecting to make any a bunch of money doing this, but the way I look at it, I dine out any way, I might as well get the writing experience and exposure.  I learned about Examiner via my pal Kevin, who is the Chicago Comic Books Examiner.  I love his funny style, it is something I want to try and emulate–which I think would make my subject more fun to read about over more traditional restaurant reviews.

I also updated my Writing Samples and Resume pages.

#

In Halloween costume news, I swung by a local costume shop–one of the mega costume stores that appears in early September and disappears on November 1st, like some kind of costuming Bringadoon.

My plan for the moment is go as The Man With No Name character from thee Fistful of Dollars trilogy.  The main thing I need to pull this off is the trademark poncho Clint Eastwood wears.  Thankfully, they had ponchos (not the exact design, but that’s OK), so that part is taken care of.  Next, I need to find a decent looking gun with a hip holster, and a hat.  I can get the Eastwood squint/scowl down, no problem–and I’ve already been working on the voice (which I use for the Magic of Eyri podcast).

All in all, this should be an easier task than last year’s Ghostbuster costume.

I saw a Twitter update by @gmcalpin (writer and artist of one of my favorite webcomics, Multiplex) about the metal band Mastodon allegedly scoring the upcoming film Jonah Hex (based on a comic). It lead to an article on Ain’t It Cool News (movie rumors and such).

I read the article and was amused, I enjoy Mastodon but realized I don’t own nearly enough of their music. I hopped over to YouTube and watched a few music videos and also listened to some other songs, sampling cuts from the albums Leviathan and Blood Mountain.

Realizing I still had an online gift certificate from my birthday, I decided to buy a Mastodon album (along with Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon on vinyl). But I couldn’t decide which to get–then a friend commented on my Facebook page that Crack the Skye was nothing short of amazing (a friend whose opinions I hold in high regard).

So, I ventured back to YouTube to listen to a few cuts from Crack the Skye and read a few online reviews. I quickly decided on ordering the album–and when it comes to bands like Mastodon, I really prefer having the original CD over .MP3s (because the music is complex and/or layered–things that can get lost when compressing music to .MP3s).

After clicking Finish My Order, I sat back and thought “What the heck just happened?” Over the span of maybe twenty minutes, I went from reading about Mastodon scoring an upcoming film to buying one of their albums, mainly on a whim.

It was an interesting string of events: I read the article, listened to songs online/watched videos, got a recommendation from a friend who lives in another city, read reviews and purchased an album. All without leaving my seat.

I guess this shows you can’t underestimate the advantages of people talking about your stuff on the Internet.

Also: My latest article for Lansing Capital Gains is now online.  It is about the Soup Spoon Cafe, a very tasty restaurant (good coffee too).

In other writing news, I was contacted yesterday about helping out with a local teen writers workshop. Don’t know the details yet, but I said yes.

Here’s the article, UNCLE SAM’S NEW MIX FOR OLD TOWN.