A Few Words for This Wednesday - Sorta A Gripe

 This Cure Doesn't Work for Everybody

A while ago I could publish hundreds or thousands of words with no difficulty.

Articles, stories, reviews, and travel adventures just rolled onto paper with no effort.

Call it laziness, craziness, or whatever you like. Writing just doesn't get me excited anymore.

New Year's Day I  bought some notebooks to see any writing motivation would come along.

Two spiral-springy book things sat resting on a shelf next to the computer.

Some research was done (for a few months) and, finally, I decided to kick the writer's block.

There must be 100 methods writers can use to get their inspiration for writing fired up.

This one sounded like something which might work for me.

Every morning (for the month of March) I forced myself to write 500 words a day.

Most of the time, it was after looking at the news and social networks, early in the morning.

The house is quiet at 4 AM and I can sip my coffee without any distractions.

About halfway through my 500 milliliters of iced coffee, I'd get inspired and write.

"500 words," It really doesn't take lots of effort to write that piece.  In a few seconds, I was done.

If you have trouble writing, you might want to try this guy's method. It's not for me.

So, I'm thinking of giving myself another month of rest. Maybe, try something new in March!

Late Night Interviews and Watashi - Bad Mix

A Gal Walks Into a Bar

Friday night found me, starting off in a noisy Brazilian bar um, drinking beer.

In came an Okinawan friend of mine, with some young lady, I had never met before.

Some soft conversation (which I couldn't hear) took place and, he left her with me.

From the little bit, I could figure out, she was a freelance writer, wanting to do an interview.

Fluent in Japanese (because, that's where she's from) I tried finding this on my iPhone:

It was an interview, the Ryukyu Shimpo newspaper had done on me.

All in Japanese, I figured it would make things go much smoother and, I wouldn't need to talk.

But, whenever I get to drinking things like this, fail to appear on my cell-phone.

Today, I dug this up, out of my files and, am posting it, just for the heck of it.

The gal doing interviews, got someone else, to talk to and, I went back to drinking.

Along came a Brazilian friend and two gals and, we drank, talked and, generally had fun.

Pretty soon, along came the wife, who had been merrymaking in another bar.

Everyone got introduced and, off we went, to do a bit of barhopping.

At the next two stops, the "interview gal" showed up again but, I never got interviewed.

It's probably best, to talk to me, when the sun is still in the sky, not in a bar.

It was good to hear, from the wife, that this gal, was very polite and sincere.

In my case, I want to make sure, I don't get questioned, by someone with an axe to grind.

They have Pro-USA and Anti-USA folks, funded by groups, to interrogate Americans.

Politics, is something I avoid whether it's national or international. They are all funded.

The last time I saw the gal, she asked me if, I'd be out Saturday night, for an interview.

Maybe, I don't know.

Online Profile

It seems like a good idea, to create an iPhone accessible profile, for writers.

The gal, wanting an interview, couldn't access much about me on her smartphone.

And, I couldn't figure out how to show her, much about, where I've been published, either.

Tonight, I shot a photo of this old, Intelligent Travel article, I had done.

It just shows a bit from the National Geographic Intelligent Travel Blog.

Webmasters come and go and sometimes, links get broken, as happened to the article above.

Luckily, I shot and framed the headline of that article and, still have the story.

It can be tweaked, touched-up and, sold somewhere else, as an original story.

Some background, about this site, has been posted on this blog.

Tonight, I'll make a quick stop, at a few watering holes and, see if, that gal is still out there.

If, not maybe, I'll have a few beers and, tell everyone, I'm sorry I missed her !

Where RyukyuMike's Words and/or Photos Have Been Published

Today I'm getting the website and blog reorganized.  It's just one of those things I do on rainy days.

If what I'm about to attempt works, life will be a lot easier, for followers and yours truly.

The Articles Published, on my website homepage, will appear here, on the blog.

That will give me room to do something else over there.

If it doesn't work, this place could go up in smoke !

Where RyukyuMike's Articles and Photos have been published:

Apogee Photo MAR 2009 APR 2009  JUL 2009 NOV 2009 FEB 2010 MAY 2010 OCT 2010
MAR 2014  MAR 2016
Big World Magazine DEC 2009
BootsNall JUN 2009 OCT 2009
Brave New Traveler OCT 2009 
Children's Butterfly Site MAR 2014
CNN GO MAY 2010 JUN 2010 JAN 2011
CNN International Travel   JAN 2013
Go Backpacking JAN 2010 JAN 2010 MAR 2010 JUL 2010
Go Nomad NOV 2009
In the Know Traveler CAMERA TALK 
Japan Travel FEB 2013 DEC 2013 DEC 2015
Lonely Planet MAR 2010
Matador Travel Network
JUL 2009 SEP 2009 APR 2010 MAY 2010 SEP 2009 SEP 2009 JUL 2010 AUG 2010
National Geographic Intelligent Travel Blog JUL 2010
Pocket Cultures MAY 2010 JUN 2010 JUL 2010 AUG 2010 MAR 2011 APR 2011 JUL 2012 MAR 2013 
Romar Travel Magazine DEC 2009 FEB 2010 
Stars & Stripes Okinawa
Stripes Okinawa APR 2015 NOV 2015
The History Press: In Titanic's Shadow by DAVID L. WILLIAMS OCT 2012
The Nihon Sun JUL 2009
The Compass Culture DEC 2009
The Photo Argus APR 2010 MAY 2010
Travelmag UK FEB 2010
Travel Thru History AUG 2009 JAN 2010 APR 2010
Wend Magazine JUL 2009
Yahoo! Voices MAR, APR, JUN, JUL, AUG, OCT 1 and OCT 24, 2012

  There are a few other, online, places my work has appeared but, sometimes links get broken.

I found out the best way to fix that is: Delete, Delete, Delete. So, that's what I do.

Rainy days make me cranky. 



                              

Nuthin' Wrong Here

Now, here I'm not doing anything wrong and Doc just shot me, anyway, behaving myself and shooting a picture of Nakajin Castle under almost a perfect blue sky. Not bad picture-snappin' on Doc's part, either. Think maybe I'll start callin' him a cameraman too, someday.
There hasn't been much free time for me to post a blog, so far this week because things get pretty wild around the middle of the month. In fact, it's going on 9PM right now and I've been doing computer stuff since 7AM today. Except for a quick run home for lunch and my hour power nap, I've been banging away at the keyboards on two laptops in a dimly-lit bar. That's my office, for those of you who don't know me.

Haven't seen a camera all day. Heck, I still haven't done my Christmas cards yet. When I get busy doin' important stuff, everything else just falls by the wayside. There's people in Haiti need help, editors screaming for articles, deadlines to meet, photos need uploading, captions to type, articles that ain't done, stress, pressure, blogs to write, dogs beggin' for a long walk, promotional stuff to do and I'd complain, but there's nobody here but me. And I love it, even thrive on it. And every once in a blue moon, it pays off.

Yesterday, another one of Rose Witmer's articles hit print, along with some of my photos. That's a big deal, to me, no big bucks, yet, but, someday, maybe, I hope.
See, ya just don't decide you're gonna get in National Geo and expect it to happen overnight. What you have to do is become famous first and you don't become famous if nobody knows about you. Then, when lotsa folks know you, all of a sudden, you become famous. You don't need to be beggin' the folks at National Geo, or any other fancy magazine to publish your pictures. When they want good stuff, they'll come beggin' to you, way I figure, anyhow !

If you get a chance, check out Rose's Sakura (桜) Article and give her a Thumbs Up. Poor kid has to put up with my rantings and ravings, no pay, deadlines, pressure from editors, stress and ain't got two Huskies to walk to put a little enjoyment in her life. I'm gonna walk mine, now!
To be continued.....