Other Things – Page 2 – Looking to God

Firsts

Posted on January 8, 2016May 9, 2017 by Jack Flacco

I find it hard to believe The Dark Knight came out nine years ago. I remember sitting in the audience thinking it was one of the most amazing movies I’ve ever seen.

I also find it difficult to comprehend how much time has passed since Titanic came out. Has it really been nineteen years? Incredible.

My wife tells me we’ve been married for over twenty years. Well, she doesn’t need to tell me, I already know. Yet, when I think about it, it doesn’t seem as if time has passed at all.

Where have I been since I first heard Katy Perry‘s massive pop album Teenage Dream hit the charts? That was five years ago.

Then there is the time Friends went off the air. That happened twelve years ago.

And let’s not forget about Everybody Loves Raymond. I remember lying on my couch eleven years ago watching the final episode.

Is this how I mark time, by the passing of entertainment units? It seems like it.

Although, I beg to differ. I remember the first time I told my wife I loved her. The next thing she did was hop on a train back to Nova Scotia. Was it something I said?

How can I forget the time when my first child came into the world? We were in tears. Nope, I wasn’t watching a TV show at the time, and I don’t remember a swelling soundtrack playing in the background.

My first car was a Honda Accord. The memory of that day, when I went into the bank to ask for a loan, is still in my head. The interest on the loan was eleven percent. I thought the bank at the time had given me a great deal.

The first time I landed my dream job was such a pleasure that my family and I went out celebrating. It was also the first time I could afford to pay for everyone’s meal.

I can’t forget the first guitar my dad had bought me when I was a teenager. It was an imitation Gibson Les Paul. I played that thing so much that I had worn the frets to a state of non-existence.

Whenever I think of summer, I think of the first time I had gone in the deep end on my own. It was also the first time when I had almost drowned. After that incident, I learned how to swim, and have never forgotten.

I read somewhere that a person’s greatest fear is speaking in front of an audience. My first experience addressing a large crowd was when I was fifteen years old in high school, running for Ninth Grade class president. I stood on stage behind a podium, pointed a finger at the entire student body, which was close to five hundred kids, and said, “I want you to want me.” The entire assembly erupted in laughter. That phrase was from a song made popular at the time by Cheap Trick. It was also the first time I had felt absolute embarrassment.

But you know what? I won that election. One of my teachers later said to me, aside from having moxie, that if I could get up there and make a fool of myself like that, I certainly belonged in politics.

I guess when it comes to memories my entire life is not a set of vignettes centered around entertainment, even if I sometimes think it to be that way. No, I enjoy reminiscing with family about our firsts, our seconds and thirds, what we’ve learned, and if we had the opportunity, what would we do over.

Come to think of it, I wouldn’t change a thing of my past. If I did, then I wouldn’t be who I am today.

Get the Ranger Martin trilogy now!

Do you remember any of your firsts? What do you like about those memories?

Writing Tips

Posted on December 25, 2015May 9, 2017 by Jack Flacco

Christmas Day. I’m not here right now but if you leave me a message I will get back to you as soon as I can. Actually, by the time you read this, it will have been a full month since I wrote it. I cherish these long timelines before writing something and before it goes to press. I can play with the writing, add a little, take a little—it’s very organic. Sometimes, and this happens more often than you think, I scrap the post for something entirely different.

It’s not my intention today to ramble on about nonsense, so I thought I’d give you a gift instead. Many times, I have felt the need to elaborate more about my writing, but I have never had the will to do that, particularly for these reasons:

Writing sites crop up every day, and what I offer isn’t anything you can’t gain from other sites.
I’ve never felt comfortable about writing about writing. I know, I’ve written three thick books that I should be proud of, but I’ve always felt unworthy to impart any information to my audience. In my mind, it seems pretentious to do such a thing, considering authors such as John Grisham, who I admire dearly, has never written about his writing. If anyone should write about writing, it should be Grisham.

Anyway, today I’d like to give you three things I do to keep on track with my writing. With this I hope to overcome this huge feeling of unworthiness that goes through me when I’m writing about writing.

All right, enough of the self-loathing. Here are the points:

Schedule Writing Time—I’m a great believer in treating writing like a job. Well, for me, it is a job, so I have no choice. I clock in and punch out every day. That’s the secret as to how I get so much writing done in a day. I wake up at 4:52 every morning, wash up, have my walk, then I sit down to write while everyone is still asleep. My writing is scheduled. I don’t allow anything to interfere with my goal of getting 1,000 words done. Trust me when I say that when you become scheduled, writing will turn into a habit very quickly in your life. You’ll miss it if you do not do it.
Write What You Love—Everyone has something interesting to talk about, even if it’s a silly subject like the zombie apocalypse. When I first started writing, I had no clue what I was doing. In some respect, even today, I don’t know what I’m doing. But, I’ll tell you something you may not know. If you write about things you love, you will never run out of things to talk about, either in your novel writing or on your site. I find it easy to sit down and come up with posts for my site and scenes for my books. And the only reason for that is that I love writing about the things that interest me. Fortunately, the things I love happen to be the things other people love, too.
Don’t Rely on Muse or Inspiration—This is the only “don’t” on my list. Treat writing like a job. In a job, you don’t rely on inspiration to get things done. You do the job because you have to, and if you don’t get it done, you’re out of a job. Simple as that. Are you going to fire yourself? Of course not! You’re going to work hard until what you imagined in that brain of yours flows on the paper and you’re done. Yes, it will be hard, especially those days when you hear yourself saying, “I don’t feel like it.” I promise you though, if you treat writing like a job, you will never run out of anything to say.

One last thing before I go back to having my eggnog—always, always revise. Forget about the first draft. Sometimes I’ll knock out a first draft that appears publication worthy, but the usual thing I do is dump everything on paper, then revise.

Revisions is what makes your work shine. Never cheap out on spending the time with your writing to make it what you’ve envisioned.

Now, if you feel the need to write something, leave a comment. In the meantime, I’m sure at this very moment I’m getting ready to enjoy the rest of today with my family with tons of food and festivities.

Get the Ranger Martin trilogy now!

What writing tips do you have that you’d like to share with everyone?

Freedom Friday, Other Things

More Games I Love Playing

Posted on December 18, 2015May 9, 2017 by Jack Flacco

When I’m not writing, I have a number of hobbies to keep me entertained. I enjoy photography, and if you’ve been a regular reader of my site, then you’ll know I get a thrill telling you about my love affair with capturing the right moment. I also enjoy food. Being Italian, I’ve come to appreciate the big Sunday meals at an early age. In fact, I’ve shared those things with you many times. I can’t deny it is one of my favorite things to do as a way to bond the family. And, along with all the other hobbies I have, I love listening to music. There’s nothing quite like having a song appear on a playlist to take me by surprise and change my mood. Tell me the theme Raiders of the Lost Ark doesn’t make you want to jump on a horse and conquer the world. Yeah, music, there’s nothing like it.

But of all the hobbies I have, the one that excites me, and keeps me focused for hours, is playing games. One quick game of chess on my phone is a great way to distract me enough to feel refreshed and carry on with my day.

I have a number of new games I’ve been playing that I thought I would share with you. I enjoy getting lost in these games, so they may not be for you. I do find, however, they are entertaining enough for a mention.

SimCity BuildIt—I discovered this game one weekend while searching for something to do between eating lunch and going to my kid’s recital. If you haven’t played any of those time-sensitive games, where you’re creating a farm, a town, or in this case, a city, then take this as a lovely introduction. The first thing you’ll notice with SimCity BuildIt is its incredible attention to detail. Sometimes, I simply sit back and watch as the scene changes from day to night. The building model is quick. You have to zone areas for growth, add electricity, add water, and, if you really would like your citizens to be happy, a park or two. The economics are in perfect balance with player expectations. When you build a residential neighborhood, you don’t have to wait long to see growth. The added city that comes with the game is a pleasure to watch come alive. This is a great game to pick up for your phone or tablet.

Card Shark—I’ve played many Solitaire games, but none quite like Klondike in the Card Shark universe. The game has many other card games, such as DrawPoker and MemoryMatch, yet I really do enjoy having that quick game of Klondike when I travel. Even at home, it’s a wonderful app to play until dinner is ready. I think my favorite part about this app is all its options to customize the playing field. You can choose from a bevy of card decks to play, different backgrounds for the table, and even go so far as to choose if you you’d like uniform or messy stacks for the deal and discard piles. And to top it all off, the game looks great. I have yet to encounter an app with cards that look as realistic as those presented in Card Shark.

Action Movie FX—Okay, so this isn’t a game per se, but I can’t resist getting enough of this app. It’s a film studio on your phone, complete with real special effects from well-known movies. The most recent version I downloaded has the little robot from the new Star Wars movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens as one of the effects to use as part of a clip you can capture yourself. The way it works is you shoot a video with your camera or tablet, process the effect with the app and share it with all your friends. The app makes ordinary shots hilarious, and equally funny when sharing it with people you know. For instance, one morning I took a video of my wife sitting at the table having breakfast while she was reading. In the clip, I then added the Star Wars robot rolling into the scene and blasting her in her seat. We couldn’t stop laughing at the ridiculousness of the scene. The app also has explosions, rocket and other robot effects to play with. I love this app so much that I do consider it a great way to spend a few minutes playing with it to see what else it can do.

I had a longer list of games to go through, but these are the one I like the most.

Get the Ranger Martin trilogy now!

Do you play games? What games do you play, and which game would you recommend I should play next?

Freedom Friday, Other Things

Fondest Memories

Posted on December 11, 2015May 9, 2017 by Jack Flacco

Elvis Presley once sang a song called Memories. Whenever I hear it, I quickly return to when I was a child growing up in Little Italy where I’d be sitting with my nose to the window watching the snow accumulate on the path leading to our home.

I also remember being no older than five years old, sitting on the floor playing with my toys while my mother cooked the Sunday family meal. I can still smell the delicious aroma of her Italian gravy (sauce).

I remember being ten and coming home from school for lunch. I spent my time in the kitchen wolfing down what she had taken all morning to prepare, so that I could watch The Flintstones before going back to school.

I remember spending summer nights running around my cousins’ street, chasing them in a game of Hide-and-Seek. My father and uncles would be playing cards in the kitchen while my mother and aunts would be cleaning up. I can’t forget having all the freedom in the world, with no responsibilities or worries.

I remember driving back home from a long trip in the country. My parents were chatting in the front seat of the car while I watched the stars twinkling through the rear window. It was then that my love for astronomy developed.

I remember the first time I felt absolute fear. I was eight and I was exploring my aunt’s garden in Italy. The next thing I remember was staring at a huge web spun across my path with the largest spider I’ve ever seen sitting in the center. It was also the first time I felt a lump in my throat.

I remember riding in the backseat of my uncle’s car. He smoked and the smell of the cheap polyester that covered everything had churned my stomach to the point where I threw my head out the passenger window and decorated the side of his vehicle with my partially digested lunch. I’ll never forget how patient and kind he was toward me, despite what I had done.

I remember the smell of fresh cut grass in the mornings when my dad would do the lawn.

I remember the smell of burning wood while I waited for my aunt to make popcorn the old fashion way. The memory of the sunset hitting the Italian Alps still hasn’t left me, even after all these years.

I remember spending time with my parents Sunday afternoons watching Godzilla movies on a small twenty-four-inch black and white TV.

I remember sitting in the living room watching my Saturday morning cartoons and remembering how my mom would bring me a bowl of carrots to keep me filled until lunch.

I remember the rain, the smell of it and the sound while I sat watching from my veranda.

I miss my childhood. I love the memories.

Get the Ranger Martin trilogy now!

What do you remember from your childhood?

Freedom Friday, Other Things

Name That Tune

Posted on December 4, 2015May 9, 2017 by Jack Flacco

The kids and I have a game we play soon after finishing dinner. We don’t always play it, otherwise it would be boring and lose its beauty. Yet, occasionally, all of a sudden we’re into the game and it lasts a good long time thereafter.

The name of the game is Name That Tune, and for today’s Freedom Friday I thought I’d share the rules. Who knows, maybe it’ll start a new tradition in your house with those around you.

My family and I have many traditions. Some are meaningful, like the new ornaments we purchase annually for each of us to place around the house. And some are silly, like the fact we purchase new pajamas to unwrap every Christmas Eve in order to sit and look at each other in a weird and fulfilling way while the lights twinkle in the background. Okay, so maybe that’s not so weird, but you’ve got to admit, it’s fun.

I’ll add one more tradition for this time of year. We don’t get rid of the decorations until way past mid-January, including the model town we have sitting on the bay window. That doesn’t leave our sight until the snow melts.

I told you we were tradition-happy.

Nonetheless, another one of our traditions, mainly the kids and I have, we play at the kitchen table soon after dinner. It doesn’t happen often, but it happens enough for it to merit the moniker of tradition.

We play a round of Name That Tune. For those unfamiliar with the game, it used to be a hit TV show back a couple of decades ago when TV was less reality and more fun. In the show, the host would give contestants a clue then ask how many notes they needed to name the tune. It really was a battle of wits between participants.

In my family’s version, I play a theme song on my phone and the kids try to guess what it is. From there the song tends to spur conversation about our knowledge of the film, its actors, the production and anything else that comes to mind.

The other night we played the game and the theme to the new Godzilla movie made an appearance. The typical response was that of recognition but none of the kids could name the tune. Once they knew, though, they would soon never forget the song.

That same evening, I played the theme to Fast Five—by the way, what a great theme—and my older child threw the guesses out there in quick succession while I refereed the game. “Is it a comic book movie? Is it an adventure? Action? Steve Jablonsky? Hans Zimmer? Michael Giacchino? Jurassic World? Transformers? The Fast and the Furious? 2 Fast 2 Furious? The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift? Fast & Furious?” By the time it was over, they went through every combination of the words fast and furious that we then realized how silly it was when filmmakers didn’t have a standard way of numbering their movies.

Overall, the whole idea of the game is to bring closeness to the family without making the game a burden. We have fun and, at the same time, we draw closer to one another while watching each other fail miserably, naming a tune we can’t recognize, but know the movie like it is one of our body parts.

Get the Ranger Martin trilogy now!

What traditions do you have in your family? Are they annual traditions or event-based?

Freedom Friday, Other Things

All Things Celtic

Posted on November 6, 2015May 9, 2017 by Jack Flacco

I’m a big fan of Celtic music. When the film Titanic came out in 1997, I was in my element. My wife’s background is Nova Scotian. So imagine if you will what it must have been like for me when the Irish influence hit North America back in the mid to late 90’s. I realized I couldn’t turn a channel without a Celtic-themed program playing on one station or another. The media knew how to take a good thing and make it better.

Today, I’d like to dedicate my Freedom Friday post to all that is Celtic.

As I was saying, since my wife is from Nova Scotia, whenever we visit there, we’d always have an invitation extended to us to attend a cèilidh–a social gathering featuring song and dance. Sometimes we’d host it as well. Our typical cèilidh consists of lots of snacks and music performed by family members. Back in the day, my wife’s parents were a famous singing duo, touring and appearing on the CBC. They eventually ended up inducted into Nova Scotia’s Country Music Hall of Fame. That would account for the musical talent running through her side of the family. From my side, I had a relative in South America who was a classical conductor and maestro. And I studied baroque composition for a while at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music.

Music runs through our blood.

There was a time my wife and I were also performing for the crowds. I played the guitar and my wife sang. We’d perform such tunes as Song for the Mira and other Celtic favorites. Members of the audience who knew my in-laws would come up to us after the show and tell us how we reminded them of the Hall of Famers. I took it as one of the biggest compliments anyone could have received.

Anyway, how did we get on to that? Right, I was talking about our family cèilidh. Yes, we still have them whenever we visit Nova Scotia.

Going back to the mid to late 90’s, that era was a highpoint for all that was Celtic. Riverdance was one of our favorite shows to go see. Although we didn’t get the opportunity to watch Jean Butler or Michael Flatley perform, their understudies’ interpretation was more than what we had hoped for in a show. I’m a wild fanatic of the spectacle, having purchased all the soundtracks and videos. It really was the thing to watch live in those days.

Then there was Titanic. Gosh, when that hit the screen, no one could get enough of the film. It was the first movie I can classify as an event. It came out December 19, 1997, and except for a few of my friends, everyone had gone to see it. We talked about Jack and Rose as if the characters were part of the family. At one point, I knew everything there was to know about the making of the film. I had become obsessed with the era, and I wanted to understand how such a tragedy could have happened to the unsinkable ship.

Finally, no talk about all things Celtic would be complete without a special mention regarding The Lord of the Rings.

I’ll have to admit this—when the trilogy came out, I wasn’t a fan. I thought the films were overly long, drawn-out vehicles for stoking the egos of the filmmakers.

I was terribly wrong.

It wasn’t until years later, when my kids got into the series, that I’d become fascinated with the features. I recognized how incredibly detailed the filming process must have been for director Peter Jackson. Not only that, but more importantly, the emotion behind the performances of Elijah Wood as Frodo and Sean Astin as Sam rattles me to this day. The films also represent a brilliant setting for life in simpler times.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could live in a time when we didn’t have to check our phones every two minutes to see who liked or commented on our content?

To me, The Lord or the Rings world, with all its Celtic flavor, is that time.

Get the Ranger Martin zombie trilogy now!

What do you think of Celtic music? Have you seen Riverdance? What do you like about The Lord of the Rings trilogy?

Freedom Friday, Other Things

Marriage and Stuff

Posted on October 30, 2015May 9, 2017 by Jack Flacco

Last week, my wife and I had the opportunity to take some time away to enjoy each other’s company. Every once in a while, we’ll leave the kids behind to visit either a place we’re familiar with or a place we’ve always wanted to go. This year, we chose to do the latter and decided to explore The Blue Mountains.

Located a couple of hours north of Toronto, The Blue Mountains is a resort/cottage community that hosts a large following during ski season. Along with a few friends, we managed to secure one of those fancy chalets overlooking the mountains. The view was great, but, having grown up in Italy where I would wake up to the sight of the Italian Alps every morning, it didn’t impress me as much as, say, it did with some of my friends. I can take or leave mountain views. Nonetheless, it didn’t diminish the enjoyment I had with my wife.

The vacation was a wonderful cap to my newest book release. I had been running around many weeks prior that I hadn’t realized just how much I needed the downtime to regain focus.

Rather than give you a summary of what happened every day, as I’ve done in the past with my other vacation posts, I thought I would give you the highlights of what I enjoyed most about the getaway instead, and about the lessons learned.

First off, because we were sharing the chalet with friends, we each had separate rooms and shared common areas. Kitchen, living room, hot tub and balcony were all common areas. Some couples also shared bathrooms. As troublesome as it could have been, it worked out quite well. No more than two families had to share a bathroom, so mornings were fun.

Other than breakfast, the organizer cooked everything. Kudos to her! The food was simply delicious. The meal I liked the most was also the meal served the last night we were there. It was roasted chicken with rice and veggies. I’m not sure how she made it, but the flavor led me to go for seconds without a problem.

My wife and I spent most of our time together with the exception of breakfast, lunch and dinner, which we spent with our friends. Our main entertainment was each other, and because of this, I’ve learned something interesting. I knew about this little truth but didn’t know until recently how to put it into words.

Before getting married, we did everything together because we enjoyed each another’s company. What that means is we did what we could to spend as much time with each other, not because we had to, but because we wanted to. It wasn’t duty. It was because we really enjoyed being together.

After getting married however, somewhere along the way things changed. Jobs, kids, finances, new homes, deaths, health issues–you name it, resulted in the creation of a quiet mission statement that stated we were bound to please the other person. Not to sound preachy, but the idea that we wouldn’t be happy unless the other person was happy crept into our lives. It’s not a bad thing to want to please our mates. It is, though, a bad thing doing it out of duty.

With that realization, this past year our marriage has gone through a transformation of sorts. We’re no longer doing things to please each other, but we’re doing things because we enjoy doing them together. For us, it has become a matter of perspective. The idea being, we now share acts of kindness with each other, not because we have to but because we want to. All of a sudden, the enjoyment we once felt before marriage has returned and we can’t get enough of each other.

Okay, so maybe that was an overshare.

But I don’t care. If it helps others find what they once had, then I’ll shout it from space!

Anyway, that was our weekend. What are your plans this weekend?

Get the Ranger Martin zombie trilogy now!

What do you like about traveling?

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