Testing...Testing...1...2...

Perhaps you have noticed, this is a new blog. It is not my first however. (It is my second - if that makes any difference...) My first was on Yahoo 360. For those of you fortunate enough to have never heard of 360, it is Yahoo's attempt to break into the Social Networking scene. (I should have said: Yahoo's miserably failed attempt...) When I decided that the Internet could not live another moment without another blog, I set mine up on Yahoo 360. Why? Because.

Now, for pretty much the same reason, I have decided to move to Blogger. (Or Blogspot, or Google, or whatever this place is...)

What to do with the 50 or 60 blog posts that I left back on 360? Not sure. I tried bringing them here, but Yahoo does not seem too eager to make that easy for me. So for now, I will just provide a link here to the old place, and invite you to wander back over there and check them out. You might find something interesting, then again you might just decide that I deserve to remain eternally, an aspiring writer only.

Either way, thanks for stopping by!

http://360.yahoo.com/tweetywill

My 35th Birthday

I am not too worried about birthdays. They come whether you are excited about them or not. Now that I am a father, I understand the importance of them to my kids, and they get plenty of attention on their birthdays. Having been married for a dozen years now, I too pay an appropriate amount of attention to my wife's birthday. But my own birthday, I don't really get too excited about.

My wife on the other hand...

Yesterday was my 35th birthday. Thanks to some excited utterances from the younger kids (and a cofirming disgusted outburst from one of the older ones...) I knew that my wife had some gifts stashed away somewhere. She had asked me where I wanted to go out for dinner, so I knew that was in the works as well. Other than that, it looked to be just another day at work. Answering phone calls, e-mails, wishing I could punch printers that simply refuse to act rational. So when I checked my e-mail and saw a Happy Birthday wish from my wife's cousin Tina, I was a little bit baffled. How did she know it was my birthday? Weird... But there is a rational explanation, my wife's family has a talent for remembering birthdays. That must be it. Then I got a call from my friend and co-worker Vic. He wanted to wish me a Happy Birthday too! How did Vic know it was my birthday? I questioned him, asking how he knew, but he just claimed to have known. Another friend an co-worker named Tyler was in my office and overheard this conversation and wished me a Happy Birthday too. What is going on?

I like to keep my birthday quiet. It kind of unnerves me when people wish me Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, Happy Saint Patty's day, or anything else. Not that I am irritated or insulted, I just don't really know how to respond. I also don't like the spotlight too much, and widespread knowledge of an impending birthday tends to focus that spotlight much too tightly around me. So I respond as I usually do, with thanks and a sudden effort to change the subject.

The next e-mail came from my mother-in-law. No surprise there really, I got her birthday card a week or two ago along with the usual Valentine's Day package for the kids. Nevertheless, it still put a smile on my face. Then I got the first phone call. My good friend Erika called from work to wish me a Happy Birthday, even though she had already sent an e-mail and text message the day before. (Like my wife and her family, Erika has that Birthday remembering talent!) It was great to hear her voice, but I did wonder why the second contact. Then another e-mail, this time an e-card from Barry and Paula, our friends from church. Now I am REALLY getting perplexed.

I strongly suspect my wife has done SOMETHING to cause this landslide of Birthday wishes. What it was yet I do not know.

Then phone calls from two friends from way back in Washington state. First Andrea called. I must confess that I interrogated her at length about how she knew it was my birthday. She was a great sport though, and it was good to hear from her too. Shortly after that my good buddy Slim. (Everyone else in the world calls him Kurt. I prefer Slim. He calls me The Doc.) It is really good to hear the voice of one of my heroes and catch up on things, if only for a few minutes. Then my friend from Texas, the good Doctor Jason sent an e-mail. It is at this point that I am really beginning to enjoy the flood of good will. I can't reveal my source, but by now I know what has happened.

My wife hacked into my gmail address book and sent a message out to what seems like hundreds of friends, family and acquaintances telling everyone that it was my birthday, and asking for at least 35 Happy 35th Birthday wishes. (Who knew Emily had hacking skilz?) All day long my blackberry kept buzzing and ringing as e-mails and calls poured in and I was reminded of all the wonderful people I have had the blessing of being acquainted with over the years.

My little brother the Accountant reminded me that I was 7/20th of a century old now, my big brother the Linguist had his phone call stolen by the interference from the Metro. My psycho sister-in-law and her fy-an-see sent greetings. The Stringham's sent their best wishes. The Sister missionaries called to sing Happy Birthday in beautiful harmony. Shauna emailed the secret of true happiness (which we would LOVE to comply with, if only it didn't mean moving to Canadia...) The Grolls wrote a very amusing if somewhat inaccurate poem. At dinner, Dad called from work and on the way home I got calls from Stephen, Ammon, and Michael, my super-nephews.

Back at home I found a very wonderful card on the door from the Conovers that made me want to cry... (Usually only Rudy or the Return of the King can do that to me!) There were two messages on the phone, one from someone who spoke very quietly but called me Uncle Tyler and one from Grandma Francis. (Who called and missed three other times that night before finally reaching me about 11:00!) More emails continued to roll in, from Marty the Sailor man and the Clan McArthur back in Texas. Then Lnnnnnnrd called but couldn't talk much while haulin' triples. Little Tyler, my young teenage hero sent his greetings, and then I spoke with his Mom, which is where he inherited his heroic qualities.

Depending on how you total it up, I got anywhere from 39 to 50 birthday wishes. When I woke up yesterday morning, I would have been hard pressed to name 39 to 50 people who cared enough to wish me a Happy Birthday. Not that I don't think I have any friends, I just tend to get wrapped up in my own little world sometimes and forget how blessed with family and friends I am. Without a doubt, this was one of my best birthdays ever. My gift was more than just a flood of birthday wishes, it was a reminder of how many good people there are in my life and how my life has been touched by so many good people.

For everyone who took the time, and everybody who would have taken the time if they could, I want to say a heartfelt thanks. You have made not only this one birthday better, but in some way have enriched my life and made me a better person.

And for my beautiful companion: Thank you. For being obsessed with birthdays, for forgiving me seventy times seven times, and for believing in me.

Now I have got to start remembering people's birthdays!

© 2009 Tyler Willson. All rights reserved

I'm Famous! Well, Sort of...

I got a story published! It's a non-paying gig, for a free online e-zine called The Piker Press but it is an actual, real gig!It is a story titled: The Prisoner. It was originally a short story that I wrote in Junior High. Then when I discovered NaNoWriMo I took it as an idea for my novel. I was able to stretch it out to over fifty thousand words, but not without losing the real heart of the story and adding a whole lot of dirty wordcount tricks! Then, when a good friend suggested I submit something to the Piker Press a few weeks ago, I decided to get it out and dust it off a bit. I chopped at it mercilessly, down to novella size and submitted it.And they liked it! They really liked it!So it will be published as a serial for the next few weeks, each new edition of the Press comes out on Monday. So if you like my stuff, here is a chance to see my first real published story!

Hooray!

Monday November 17, 2008 - 05:46pm (EST)

NaNoWriMo 2008 - Day One...

(Image is the symbol of the SSWD, created by me...)
Tiriak woke with a start.
So begins my latest NaNo novel. Not as impressive as I tend to want my first lines to be, but I had to start somewhere. I sat there in the IHOP, at a table with about ten other NaNovelists and realized that although I had a pretty good idea about where I wanted my story to go, I was nowhere near deciding where to begin. Should I begin with the vision that my MC Tiriak has on his coming-of-age vision quest? Or should I begin earlier, in his childhood with a little bit of character development? Should I begin with some background on the antagonists the Soul-Stealing Weasels of Despair? Or should I shoot right to the action and fill in the rest as flashbacks?
I decided that the vision quest is really where the story begins, so I will start there but that is no guarantee that I won't change my mind later. That of course is the beauty of NaNoWriMo: I can just write what comes into my head and then go back and fill in the blanks later.
For November anyway, only the wordcount matters. After one day, I am at 3,352 words. Not a bad beginning!
Happy Novelling!
Saturday November 1, 2008 - 10:40pm (EDT)

© 2008 Tyler Willson. All rights reserved

NaNoWriMo 2008!

It's that time again... Carpal tunnel irritating, sleep depriving, frustration generating, plot ninja creating, write-in attending, flickguy tormenting, 50,000 words in 30 days.
For some reason the first thing people ask when I tell them I write a novel every November is whether or not they get published. I always laugh out loud. Mostly because the dreck that I pound out to make sure I keep up with the minimum 1667 words per day would not be good enough to paper a birdcage if you printed it out on gold foil. That is what happens when you turn off the inner editor, focus more on quantity than quality, and just enjoy telling yourself a story. Characters wander around and refuse to stick to the script. Plot bunnies and ninjas drop in out of nowhere to create great gaping plot holes, and to get you out of them. You have long rambling conversations between characters about random topics having nothing to do with your story, just to meet your daily wordcount goal.
At the end of the month, you are so sick of these disobedient children and their interminably dull conversations that you upload the words to the NaNoWriMo word counter to get your cheesy downloadable certificate, and then you save it to some dusty corner of your hard drive and hope to never see it again. And you tell everyone how much fun it was. Because it was. You accomplished something. It may have been silly, it may have been useless, and you will most likely never see your name on the bestseller list. But you did it! And that is the entire point.

Friday October 31, 2008 - 09:02am (EDT)


© 2008 Tyler Willson. All rights reserved

The Law of Average (Continued)

This is a continuation of a previous entry, which may have some potential for a complete story... (you never know, right?) http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-w.JhfIQlbKO2KozdighgcIzL?p=34
Jaime was once again, utterly disgusted. His team had won tonight, spectacularly even against their primary rivals. A thirty-point lead at the end of the fourth quarter had been the only thing that had finally prompted the coach to put Jaime in. For two plays. Then, it was back to the sideline.
Jaime reasoned with himself that he really should be glad to have played. That was better than most games, in which he didn't even get a single play. But for some reason, he felt even more depressed than usual. Worst of all, instead of just going home to feel sorry for himself, his ride to the game was staying for the customary dance afterwards. Jaime was not sure it could get much worse. He showered and dressed, and slowly wandered up through the deserted school to the cafeteria where the music was already thumping. Spirits were high, especially among the football team. To defeat the team from the next county by such a large margin was certainly reason for celebration. On top of that, many others like Jaime had gotten some playing time, and they were certainly primed for celebration. Not Jaime though. He found an empty chair in a dark corner, and determined to spend the night feeling sorry for himself.
Fish was one of Jaime's team mates, and probably one of his best friends. As far as friends go, Jaime really didn't have many, although he was generally well-liked. It just seemed like that same law that kept him from achieving anything really extraordinary also kept him from forming any really deep friendships. More than anyone else though, Fish was the exception. Tonight there was a girl with him.
(Sorry, real life intrudes. More later... I hope!)

Sunday June 22, 2008 - 08:22am (EDT)


© 2008 Tyler Willson. All rights reserved

August Rush

So I am going to write a movie review... I haven't had much luck with these in the past, I usually cannot remember all of the great details that a good movie review needs to have. However, I recently watched a movie that moved me more than any movie has for quite some time. So I feel a great compulsion to share my thoughts with the world at large. (Or at least whoever happens to read this, which is admittedly not many.)
August Rush is first and foremost, a fairy tale. Unabashedly, it takes us through the fantasy of an orphanage-raised boy who dreams, as most children in such a place do, of finally finding his parents. Whether or not he does in the end is almost never in doubt. It is almost never unsure of whether or not this movie will have a happy ending. Nevertheless, the tension and suspense are far greater than anything I have ever witnessed in a cinematic experience.
But first, I suppose I really should outline more of the story before I give away the climax.
Evan Taylor hears music, feels music all around him. "I believe in music like some people believe in fairy tales." And he believes that this music originates with his parents. Despite the taunts of the bullies who live in the boy's home with him, he continues to believe that if he can only learn to make the music he hears that he will somehow be able to call to his parents and they will return to him.
Through flashbacks, we learn that his mother and father are two very gifted musicians who meet only once on a magical night where music brings them together. His mother plays the cello in an orchestra, and his father is lead guitar and singer for a rock band. One night, they each have absolutely amazing performances, seperately of course. The magic of cinema however melds these two performances together into what has become one of my favorite tracks on the movie soundtrack as it jumps back and forth from the formal concert hall to the dark and smoky club joining classical Bach with a heartfelt rock ballad that really must move anyone with the smallest love of music.
After their respective concerts, the two musicians, still dazed with wonder at the intensity of their performances are dragged to a party by their friends where they meet on the rooftop where they have both gone to escape the crowd and ponder on the wonder of their music. In a beautifully directed scene, they meet, talk briefly and then, to the sound of a street performer playing Van Morrison's "Moondance" on a harmonica they fall instantly in love.
The next morning, fate intervenes to seperate them. He by his bandmates, she by her controlling father. He never knows that he has fathered a child, but continues to pine for her, even writing a song about her which is another great track on the soundtrack cd.
She carries the child to term, but before giving birth is hit by a car and when she wakes up in the hospital, her father tells her the child has died.
Both parents fall into a depression, and abandon their music. Meanwhile, Evan grows up in the boy's home, hearing the music and hoping for a chance to play it for a large enough audience to call them back to him. Eventually, he runs away from the home and makes his way to the city where he does finally get a chance to learn to perform music. Robin Williams plays an eerily insane character who is easy to love, hate, and fear simultaneously. "The Wizard" is a sort of modern day Fagin who teaches his youthful gang to panhandle for money by playing music instead of thievery.
Eventually Evan is discovered by someone who is able to get him admitted to the Julliard school where he writes the August Rhapsody as the piece of music that will finally bring his parents back to him. His innate musical genius is such that he is even given the opportunity to have the New York Philharmonic perform his work in a concert in Central Park.
Although the final climactic scene is largely predictable, I found myself holding my breath with watering eyes as Evan's music crescendoed. I think it is the music as much as anything that allows the dramatic tension to be preserved, and which keeps the viewer invested in the final scene despite its formulaic happy ending. As his parents make their way through the crowd, drawn by the music that they have both been hearing throughout the eleven years of their seperation one feels almost to shout at them to find each other, and to find the wonderful, sweet and talented son that neither of them knew that they had.
In the end, the ending is happy; and that is no surprise. But I was left breathless by this wonderful movie. Most of all, the soundtrack is the driving force behind everything good about this movie. I have nothing really bad to say about it. It is a movie that I will not hesitate to watch over and over again, if only to listen to the wonderful music.
If you have any love for music at all, or would like to, then you must take the time to watch August Rush.
You will never be able to listen to music in the same way again.

Monday May 19, 2008 - 11:11pm (EDT)

© 2008 Tyler Willson. All rights reserved