Keith B. Darrell's Blog, page 44
December 14, 2012
Betrayed By My Kindle Fire!
Forgive me, readers, for I have sinned. It has been two weeks since my last confession, I mean, blog post. In my defense, it has been a prolific two weeks. I've learned to hate the Kindle Fire I had grown to love and to complete a NaNoWriMo experience without ever having participated in it. And I've done something I’m really proud of, even though it’s left me a bit sad.
You may recall, last year I bought a Kindle Fire. It took me a while to warm to it, especially since no o...
November 28, 2012
Powerball Fever
It's Wednesday, and while that day is celebrated in offices around the world as “hump day”, here at Chez Keith it is better known by the appellation “garbage night”, for this is the day that heralds the weekly chore of lugging the trash to the curb – although, in truth, the plastic bag is seldom heavy enough to be “lugged”, the curb is a mere two feet away, and while ostensibly still a “chore”, the task requires more thought than effort. But today is also lottery night, and with the Powerball...
November 26, 2012
The Elephant in the Bubble
The Elephant in the Bubble - Part Two
If America's decline began with Fox News permeating its airwaves, it was exacerbated by the "perfect storm" of talk radio and the creation of the Internet. These three outlets became ubiquitous throughout American society: Everyone was online, watched TV, and listened to the radio in their cars.
As music migrated to the FM band, AM stations, seeking a product to draw listeners, stumbled onto the concept of talk radio. It was cheap to produce (one blowhard a...
November 24, 2012
The Elephant Man Cometh
The Elephant in the Bubble - Part One
Whoever controls the public's access to information can shape it, and thus controls public opinion. America's decline began in 1996 with Keith Rupert Murdoch's introduction of FOX News to American television.
Murdoch's motivation has always been power and money, not political ideology. Had he thought he could make more money by introducing a left-wing propaganda network instead of a right-wing one, he would have. After all, this is the man who backed the Au...
November 22, 2012
Kids Say the Darndest Things
I hope everyone reading this in America had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and for those of you elsewhere unfamiliar with our holiday, it's like Christmas without the presents but with twice the food.
I've just returned from Thanksgiving dinner, where my precocious eight-year-old niece asked, "Uncle Keith, are you still being an author?"
"Yes," I replied.
"Are you still writing books?"
"Yes," I replied.
"Are you famous yet?" she asked.
I shook my head. "Nope."
She placed her hands on her hips and sternly...
November 9, 2012
Hate and Loathing in America
I've been observing a disturbing trend this week on social media. My personal Facebook page (not the public one you guys see) has been flooded with an outpouring of post-election hate. What's particularly disturbing, is this hate speech is coming from my personal friends (people I know and like), and friends of theirs (their social circles).
One man complained "the government should not spend money on useless minorities." The man's uncle, my friend, reminded his nephew that he was gay, and thu...
November 6, 2012
What's Next? Accountability
The election is over. We, the American people, have elected a president, a Senate, and a House of Representatives. Tonight, there will be victory celebrations and the champagne will be flowing, and that is as it should be. But tomorrow, we must roll up our sleeves and get to work. Not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans; not as partisans, but as patriots. We must work together; Congress and the president must work together because the task we face is monumental.
It’s time for the pol...
November 5, 2012
It's Morning in America - Wake Up and Smell the Coffee!
It’s morning in America. Wednesday, November 6th, 2012 – The Day After. When you awaken, the election will be over. What will life be like?
If you’re a woman and you wake up to find Mitt Romney is president, you will have to work harder than your male coworker to get the same paycheck. Birth control may be limited or banned. Abortion will be illegal in most states and having one or aiding someone in getting an abortion will place you in prison. On the other hand, rape – once a capital offense...
October 28, 2012
A Halloween Treat: What to Read at The Witching Hour
What better reading material for Halloween than witches, vampires, werewolves, and demons? Now is the perfect time to start reading my Halos and Horns saga, before the final volume in the four-book arc is published in 2013. The story takes place in a magic-filled, supernatural reality and is told in episodic fiction. Each chapter is a complete tale, like a TV episode, but read in context with the other chapters, a larger story unfolds, making each book like a TV show season. The first four bo...
October 22, 2012
Banned Words for 2012
I realize we must all endure certain annoyances during the campaign season -- robocalls, ugly yard signs, and a mailbox stuffed with unwanted campaign flyers -- but I must draw the line at the butchery of our language. As a wordsmith, words are my bread and butter, so I can only react with horror at some of the new words and phrases spawned by the 2012 campaign. What's most jarring is commentators insist on repeating and overusing these words, ad nauseum. For example:
"Unpack": (verb) Used...
