Scott Sherman Online

Good Eats, Good Company

I'm writing this at a California Tortilla restaurant. This shizz is da bomb. For $8, I just had a delicious steak fajita platter that really hit the spot.

Assuming I don't get violently ill later, I'll be coming back.

I'm here alone, enjoying my own company, because my partner's taken the kids to NY to visit his parents.  I love my family, but I also love the occasional opportunity to send them off and have the house - and the restaurant - all to myself. 

With the kids gone, I'm going to buckle down to finish the digital photography book I've been working on for a couple of months now. I plan on marketing it on line as an e-book, so that you can download it right away and have it in your hot little hands. Well, in your hot little hard drive.

It's geared to DSLR users, and I think it answers a lot of questions that new and intermediate users have. 

I hope its a good read, but the writing is tedious. I'm doing a lot of research and fact-checking because I want to get it right. And since those aren't my strong points (lounging and the memorization of useless trivia, are) its slow going.

Speaking of getting it right, as I write this, I'm listening on my MP3 player to the latest episode of The Digital Photography Show - #63. It's pretty much done, but when we were taping it yesterday, I remember thinking "I have to go back later and cut that part out."

Of course, now I can't remember what the heck I was supposed to cut out.

So, I'm listening to the whole thing to catch whatever it was that had me worried. The ironic part is that its our longest show ever - an hour and half.  So, for those of you who say you want a longer show, you got it. For those of you who are easily bored - listen in two or three parts.

So far, I haven't found anything that I need to take out, and seeing as how I'm hardly paying attention to it, there's a good chance I'm going to miss it. If you hear something crazy this week, please forgive me.

More Levenger Loving

If you've been reading this blog, you may remember that I'm addicted to the superfine products made by Levenger, a company that bills itself as a purveyor of "tools for serious readers."  They also make a full line of sensuous, high-quality tools for serious writers, and I've come to depend on them as much as I rely on my computers.

My first love is their heavy weight 3X5 cards, which I carry in a pocket-sized leather notebook that they call a Hipster. The cards are hole-punched using their cool Circa system, which allows you rearrange your pages without opening any rings. Nice.

My cards wind up in all kinds of places, including on my card bleacher and in my "Action Folio." ( I love that name).

I love my 3X5 cards to an embarrassing degree. They're the perfect size for a short list or for capturing a single idea. I carry them in my Hipster and transfer them to my bleachers or my folio. You can sort them by priority or date and really get a visual picture of your to do list.

But, like all fickle lovers, I'm already planning my next conquest. I've been making serious eyes at their new "Circa Book Author Kit."

 

My first novel is coming out next year August and the publisher has already expressed interest in a sequel. I'm thinking this kit might be just the thing for mapping out my scenes. There's enough room for a good description of the action, and since they're easily rearranged, I can move them around at will.

And have I mentioned how smooth and inviting Levenger's paper is to write on. It's like gliding your pen against ice.

But less messy. And warmer. 

Oops, I Misplaced 190,000 Guns!

I understand that strange things can happen during an occupation, but here's one that really gets your attention:

The US has lost about 190,000 weapons issued to Iraqi security forces since the 2003 invasion, according to an official report published in Washington.

The weapons include AK-47 machine guns, pistols, body armour and helmets, some of which will have ended up in the hands of insurgents.

The disclosure adds to the picture of the chaotic and clumsy administration of Iraq that has been emerging over the last four years.

Apparently, about 30% of the weapons that we've issued that have disappeared into thin air.

So, how do you lose track of almost 200,000 weapons, many of which may be used against our own forces? It doesn't look like answers are coming soon. According to the UK's Guardian:

No one in the Bush administration knows what happened to the weapons or where they are now.