When I should be writing
I would much rather play. In fact, I would say that I have honed playing on the computer into a fine art. On the off chance that there might be other kindred playmates among the boating writers and readers of this blog, let me share with you some of my favorite things to do on the computer when I should be writing.
Wordle- "Wordle is a toy for generating 'word cloud' from text that you provide," according to the text on the home page of this free site. You can change the fonts, colors, sizes and input any words that you want. This is just too cool and good for several hours as you input your book titles, boat names or, as in the case above, the names and tags from this blog. I think my Writeonthewater design above is worthy of a poster.
CatNED - NauticEd's Online Catamaran Maneuvering Game is totally addictive. The first time I tried it, I managed to get a score of minus 2071 after 64 crunches and 37 crashes. I knew I had to do better than that . . .
- This site does exactly what the name says, however, I have found it to be a marvelous swift kick to the brain as I am currently struggling to find a title for my WIP. I discovered much to my amusement that you can continue giving it the same word over and over, and it spits out an endless supply of possible titles until you are laughing so hard you have to run to the head lest you pee in your pants. You've got to try it! I gave it the word submarine, and I got back these gems upon which I could not help but speculate on the possible cover copy:
Spanking Submarine — Hot tails of the new coed navy — bottoms up!
Considering Submarine And The Garlic — Miss Manners list of absolute faux pas.
Submarine Of The Probed Eleven — The year is 2054 and the SS. Nautilus is found adrift with the eleven members of the 1968 jury that vanished mysteriously from the Days Inn where they had been sequestered.
Submarine Yoga — For those who live in NYC or Tokyo studio apartments, the new micro fitness program.
Submarine Of The Junk — This tell-all memoir from a former TSA agent who describes his adventures down under.
Sprocket Of The Submarine Piss-ant — I think this one could only be a band, and I don't think I'd download their music even on Free Music Tuesdays on iTunes.
Name that Tune – Actually, this site is called Midomi and it allows you to hum a few bars into your computer's microphone after which it will tell you the name of the song. Of course, you need this site to help you remember that song you've been humming all morning while you were trying to write, but once there, you cannot help but try a few rounds of "Stump the Computer."
Macsailing.net - I troll the Macsailing forums to learn about the latest and greatest new marine electronics and software and dream about what I'd like to add to my dream boat.
The Setup and MacAppStorm Mac Setups — These two sites satisfy my inner geek's need to drool over office/computer setup porn.
Okay, now get back to work!
Fair winds!
Christine
