Author Archives: gregwhite
Does Nick Russell Know About This?
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It’s been long said that there are only 6 (or 7, or 12, take your pick) basic stories (emotional arcs, plots, themes, again take you pick) in all of literature. But now it must true, because a computer said so.
Researchers data-mined 1700 books from all genres gathered from Project Gutenberg, eliminating dictionaries and related books to establish to come up with the themes.
And here they are:
- “Rags to riches” (the story gets better over time);
- “Man in a hole” (fortunes fall, but the protagonist bounces back);
- “Cinderella” (there’s an initial rise in good fortunes, followed by a setback, but a happy ending)
- “Tragedy” or “riches to rags” (things only get worse);
- “Oedipus” (bad luck, followed by promise, ending in a final fall)
- “Icarus” (opens with good fortunes, but doomed to fail)
You can read more about it here. Six Basic Stories
I’m pretty sure Nick uses 3 or 4 of these themes in every book.
Now that it’s the middle of summer, the sandspurs are in bloom. Of course you may call them grass burrs, burr weeds, or cockleburs, But growing up on the Gulf Coast, they’ll always be sandspurs to me.
Well, they’re everywhere here now. Of course they’re always here to some extent, but this is ridiculous.
This is one short trip out to the truck. Then I have to careful scrape them off into the garbage can. But of course, one or two always manage to escape, and then lay in wait for a passing bare foot.
OUCH!
Wrapping up, we found out yesterday that our long-time friend Pat Benson passed away on Friday. We first met Pat and his wife Judy when we were workcamping in Fairbanks, AK in 2008,.
Pat and Judy were staying at the same RV, but were working for one of the area’s gold mine attractions. Pat was the grizzled old prospector, while Judy worked in the business office.
We next saw them in June 2010 when we visited them where they live in Draper, UT, just south of Salt Lake City.
Then while we were gate-guarding in October 2014 up near College Station, Pat, Judy, and their daughter showed up to visit us at the gate . . . and they brought Rudy’s BBQ.
Our condolences to Judy and the Benson family.
Pat will be missed.
Thought for the Day:
George R. R. Martin, writer of Game of Thrones, presaging the end of the series next year.
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Shades of Gators . . .
Although we have a lot of shade here, we still get a lot of sun in the windshield from noon on through the afternoon.
So I’m thinking about putting my outside solar shades back up. But there’s a problem.
Long time readers will remember my constructing my own version of Magne Shades last year while we were out in Arizona.
I had to go through a couple of iterations to get the right number of magnets necessary to hold the shades in place during strong winds.
I found these very strong Neodymium magnets 1/2” in diameter and 1/4” thick on Amazon that did the trick, although I did have to add some additional magnets later.
I positioned the magnets in the solar screen by making slits in the folded over edge and holding them in place with Black Silicone Adhesive.
The magnets on the windshield were held in place using 3M VHB double-sided tape, which really held them in place.
But after using them a number of times last year with no problems, that came to a quick stop with our rig’s blowout in May of 2015. Toward the end of our two month sojourn in Prescott, AZ for the repairs, the repair place broke our passenger side windshield while jacking up the rig.
We had to stay in a motel while they replaced the windshield, but I told them before we left to save the magnets off the old one.
Guess what? They didn’t.
But no biggie. The magnets were not expensive, so I would just order more. But as it turns out, Amazon doesn’t stock them any more.
I did find some other places online, but either they were very expensive, or sold in large quantities.
So now I mulling over a couple of ideas. I’ll keep you informed.
Brandi, Lowell, and Landon took in an Astros’ game this afternoon, and it looks like everyone had a good time.
When we were down in Key West back in 2009, we noticed that the chain link fence lined both sides of the highway when were were driving through the swamps and marshlands.
So I wondered what the deal was with these signs.
Do they actually think alligators and crocodiles can climb fences?
Well, as it turns out, they can.
Florida even has Tree Gators.
And as far as the whole fence-climbing thing . . .
Yikes!
Thought for the Day:
Don’t worry about walking a mile in my shoes. Just try spending a day in my head.
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