An Exercise in Resolve, Month 10

October started off with perfect walking weather, bright and sunny but also cool and breezy much of the time! We hit every extreme after that, from a triple-digit heat index early in the month to driving rainstorms toward the end. Entries on the daily list below in quotes are taken from my pertinent personal Twitter posts and several of the italicized entries mid-month are for days when I know I walked but did not annotate the distance (and in retrospect it all runs together). 

October 1 (Thursday): Walked 0.6 miles with a light load. 

October 2 (Friday): Walked 1.2 miles with a light load. 

October 3 (Saturday): Walked two miles with a light load. 

October 4 (Sunday): No walk but mowed a section of the lawn. 

October 5 (Monday): Walked 0.6 miles. 

October 6 (Tuesday): "Walked 2.5 miles with a light load. Bright and sunny but not too hot here in Texas Hill Country and very pleasant for some outdoor exercise!" Also mowed the lawn for about 20 minutes and swept the upper patio and so ended up being pretty beat! 

October 7 (Wednesday):  No walk; was on the road to Wimberley to do a presentation at the library on my new San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country. 

October 8 (Thursday): Walked just 0.6 miles with a light load; got immersed in Skirmisher personnel issues and did not make it out until just before dinner. 

October 9 (Friday): Walked about 1.5 miles around downtown San Antonio, to and from our hotel to the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center, then dinner, and then drinks. 

October 10 (Saturday): Did not walk too much but loaded things into and then out of the convention center and made three trips between it and the parking lot.  

October 11 (Sunday): Walked 1.2 miles with a light load. 

October 12 (Monday): "2.2-mile mid-afternoon walk with a light load. Wondered why I was dragging until I learned we had a 100 degree heat index here in Texas Hill Country!" 

October 13 (Tuesday): No walk; was on the road and then passed out until after dark when I got back. 

October 14 (Wednesday): Walked between 0.6 and 2+ miles with a light load. 

October 15 (Thursday): Walked between 0.6 and 2+ miles with a light load. 

October 16 (Friday): Walked between 0.6 and 2+ miles with a light load. 

October 17 (Saturday): "Managed to get in a two-mile twilight walk with a light load. Has finally cooled down a bit here in Texas Hill Country!" 
October 18 (Sunday): Walked between 0.6 and 2+ miles with a light load. 

October 19 (Monday): Walked between 0.6 and 2+ miles with a light load. 

October 20 (Tuesday): Walked between 0.6 and 2+ miles with a light load. 

October 21 (Wednesday): Walked between 0.6 and 2+ miles with a light load. 

October 22 (Thursday): Walked between 0.6 and 2+ miles with a light load. 

October 23 (Friday): Walked between 0.6 and 2+ miles with a light load. 

October 24 (Saturday): Had to skip a planned hike to the Devil's Hollow with visiting Brendan Cass due to heavy rain, but managed to get in a c. 1.5 night hike together to the local haunted 19th century Bremer Cemetery during a lull in the weather. (A time lapse image by Brendan of me standing by an ominous tree in the graveyard appears below.)

October 25 (Sunday): Got in a quick 1.2-mile twilight walk with a light load. Cold and damp after yesterday's storm and feeling like fall here in Texas Hill Country!" 

October 26 (Monday): Walked between 0.6 and 2+ miles with a light load. 

October 27 (Tuesday): Walked between 0.6 and 2+ miles with a light load. 

October 28 (Wednesday): No walk, on account of spending first half of the day cleaning the house, picking up Diane at the airport in the afternoon, and stopping for dinner on the way home and not getting back until after dark. 
October 29 (Thursday): No walk, on account of being on the road, getting Hepatitis B and rabies vaccinations, and needing to get ready for my weekly "d-Infinity Live!" show. 
October 30 (Friday): Walked just 0.6 miles, to and from the mailbox, and did not go further on account of rain. 
October 31 (Saturday): Walked two miles with a light load. Wanted to end the month on a strong note! 

My Recent Events (October 2015)

Following are events I have recently participated in, and which I am listing here with links back to archived editions of radio shows and webcasts, blog posts about them, etc. 

October 29 (Thursday), 8 - 9 p.m.: "d-Infinity Live! Series 4, Episode 39: d-Infinity Plays: One Starry Night (Call of Cthulhu)" (webcast and role-playing game session). 

October 24 (Saturday), 7 - 9 p.m.: "The Paranormal View: Author Michael O. Varhola" (radio show). The Paranormal View is a very relaxed, round table style talk show that focuses on bringing together experts, enthusiasts, and listeners with varied viewpoints. Instead of focusing strictly on ghostly phenomena, hosts Henry Foister, Geoffrey Gould, Barbara Duncan, and Kat Klockow, strive to provide listeners with topics that cover all areas of the paranormal, including ghosts, UFOs, cryptozoology, psychic phenomena, and more. 

October 22 (Thursday), 8 - 9 p.m.: "d-Infinity Live! Series 4, Episode 38: We Are Werewolves!" (webcast). 

October 10 (Saturday), 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.: Fantom Fest, Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center, San Antonio, Texas. 

October 15 (Thursday), 8 - 9 p.m.: "d-Infinity Live! Series 4, Episode 37: Playtesting" (webcast). 

October 8 (Thursday), 8 - 9 p.m.: "d-Infinity Live! Series 4, Episode 36: Mars" (webcast). 

October 7 (Wednesday), noon - 1 p.m.: "Lunch & Learn: Ghosthunting in the Hill Country," Wimberley Village Library, Wimberley, Texas. 

TravelBlogue: 'An Excursion Into Egypt'

In October 2006, my wife Diane and I made a port of call in Alexandria, Egypt, while on a 12-day cruise aboard the Norwegian Jewel from Athens, Greece, to Istanbul, Turkey. Ours was the first cruise since the terrorist attacks in September 2001 that was allowed to make overnight excursions to Cairo and we made a whirlwind trip from Alexandria to Cairo and nearby Saqqara, Memphis, and Giza. Check out my new photo essay on "An Excursion Into Egypt" on my TravelBlogue! 

An Exercise in Resolve, Month 9

Started off the month well with a new route that includes walking up to the mailbox, down to the end of the cul de sac, and then past the house far enough to bring myself up to an even 2 miles even by the time I am done. In general I carry a light load consisting of my shoulder bag, containing a camera and other gear and weighing about 6.5 pounds, and a 1.6-pound walking stick (although I usually don't carry the stick up the mailbox so that my hands will be free for anything I pick up there). Managed to make relevant Twitter posts some days and have included those here, minus any hashtags they might have contained. 

September 1 (Tuesday): "Two-mile twilight walk w. a light load; another breezy evening here in Texas Hill Country. Saw a herd of c. 20 deer on the lot behind mine."

September 2 (Wednesday): "Late afternoon 2-mile walk between teleconferences; running on a little more than 3 hours sleep and kept a sluggish pace."

September 3 (Thursday): No walk; got lazy and disorganized and ran out of time while trying to get ready for my weekly show. 

September 4 (Friday): Walked 0.6 to 2 miles with a light load (know I walked but did not log and do not remember how far). 

September 5 (Saturday): Walked between 0.6 and 2 miles with a light load. 

September 6 (Sunday): Walked between 0.6 and 2 miles with a light load. 

September 7 (Monday): Walked between 0.6 and 2 miles with a light load. 

September 8 (Tuesday): Walked between 0.6 and 2 miles with a light load. 

September 9 (Wednesday):  Walked between 0.6 and 2 miles with a light load. 

September 10 (Thursday): Walked between 0.6 and 2 miles with a light load. 

September 11 (Friday): Walked 0.3 miles up to the mailbox; started raining halfway there and was a torrent by the time I got there. Diane drove up and rescued me before I had to walk back in it. 

September 12 (Saturday): Got in a 2-mile mid-afternoon walk. Bright and cloudless but probably only in the mid-80s. 

September 13 (Sunday): Mowed lawn for about 30 minutes instead of taking a walk. 

September 14 (Monday): "Two-mile sunset walk with a light load ... Relatively cool here in Texas Hill Country and was able to keep a decent pace!" 

September 15 (Tuesday): Walked 1.2 miles with a light load (on top of a visit to Costco, which always involves a bit of walking in itself). 

September 16 (Wednesday): "Walked two miles with a light load in between late afternoon rain showers! Cloudy but bright and about 90° here in Texas Hill Country." 

September 17 (Thursday): Walked 0.6 miles with a light load and then spent about 20 minutes mowing the lawn. 

September 18 (Friday): Late afternoon two-mile walk with a light load; in the 90s here in Texas Hill Country but briefly had a cool breeze and some cloud cover.

September 19 (Saturday): Walked between 0.6 and 2 miles with a light load. 
September 20 (Sunday): No walk; was feeling lazy and unorganized and just failed to get one in. 

September 21 (Monday): Walked between 0.6 and 2 miles with a light load. 

September 22 (Tuesday):  No walk; was out doing errands during the day. 

September 23 (Wednesday): Was on the road early in the day, and managed to get a little walking in as a result, and then got in a late afternoon 1.2-mile walk when I got back. 

September 24 (Thursday): Felt kind of off most of the day but stuck it out and got in a two-mile walk -- figured it would not be an auspicious start for the next year of my life to blow it off on my birthday! 

September 25 (Friday): Walked just 0.6 miles up to the mailbox; torrential rain hit when I was going to walk and by the time it was done I could not go further before nightfall and did not fell like walking in the dark. 

September 26 (Saturday): Walked two miles with a light load. Was warm and I had eaten sort of a sub-standard lunch and so I was pretty played out by the time I got back and glad to eat dinner right away.  

September 27 (Sunday): No walk! And no good excuse; was just working through on things and did not make good enough use of my time. 

September 28 (Monday): Walked 0.6 miles with a light load.  

September 29 (Tuesday): "Managed to get in 2.5 miles w. a light load ahead of hitting a 100-degree heat index here in Texas Hill Country! Longest walk this month." 

September 30 (Wednesday): Walked two miles with a light load (with a break in between going to the mailbox and finishing the rest of it). Pretty hot for September but glad to have finished the month on a strong note! 

TravelBlogue: 'Two Days in Athens'

While working on an article for d-Infinity Online magazine ("Monsters Among Us"), I tracked down the pictures I had taken during the trip my wife Diane and I took to the Mediterranean in 2006. Our first stop ahead of boarding a cruise ship for 12 nights was Athens, where we spent a couple of days, September 26-27, exploring the historic heart of the city. Check out our "Two Days in Athens" on my TravelBlogue! 

Unboxing 'Ghosthunting San Antonio, Austin, and Texas Hill Country'

Top Twitter Fails

For the past several months I have been building a presence on Twitter and learning how to effectively use it as a tool for promoting my various projects, notably those with Skirmisher Publishing LLC, the d-Infinity game franchise, and the America's Haunted Road Trip series of travel guides. One thing that continues to strike me in the course of these efforts is how poorly a great many organizations manage their Twitter presences, even though it is clear that they want to use it as a tool. 

Following are the first of numerous common "fails" by Twitter users -- labeled as such primarily because they impeded growth or simply do not ultimately accomplish anything useful. Note that I am posting these for the benefit or individuals, businesses, and other entities that have a message they want to get out to an audience. If you don't care whether people follow you on Twitter, whether you can reach them about what you are doing, etc., then the following information does not apply to you, because it is kind of irrelevant to the world at large whether you are on Twitter or not. 

* Talking about things that are "coming soon"! It is hard enough to get people to genuinely pay attention to what you are doing and to get out the word about your existing products, projects, etc. Promises about things that do not yet exist, especially if they appear in your bio, look justifiably weak and just make the people who include them look silly — and this is all the truer if the promises are about something like a crowdfunding project! No one will ever say, "Oh, wow, these guys are going to have a Kickstarter 'soon'! That really makes me want to keep coming back and seeing this message again and again." 

* Misspellings in your bio. This is not particularly important in personal accounts but can be the kiss of death in professional or business ones. No one is going to buy anything from you if you can't spell, especially as this will raise the suspicion that you are running a scam and don't really have a real business at all.

  

* No Bio. Don't forego including a bio! Bots and other spurious users often do not have one and this is the kind of thing that can make people opt not to follow you and make it difficult to tell whether or not they should. A lot of accounts with no bios will also have no tweets, and this is indicative both of bots and of people who have set up accounts and then promptly abandoned them. 

* Failing to promote your own interests. It is amazing how many people indicate some economic motive for being on Twitter but will not actually take the most rudimentary steps to serve their own interests. If someone claims to be a "freelance fantasy artist" but does not follow back a fantasy game publisher, then you can be pretty sure that they are really much more likely to be a Starbucks barista. And a Twitter account that has something as blatant as a Kickstarter project associated with it that does not immediately follow back every legitimate follower is simply poorly run -- and if they can't even run a Twitter account properly, how can they be trusted to manage the project for which they want your money?