The View From Here » Random

Story Dilemma

Brian — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:11:01 +0000

As most of you know, I am participating in the National Novel Writers Month. Things are going well. I am looking toward finishing early this next week with the 50,000 words. But my novel will extend beyond that. I am projecting that to finish the story will take at least double that word count.

I have run into a dilemma. I am presented with two options as to how to create the right tension and I am hoping that the people who read this can help me out. I am debating which of these two ways to use. Let me describe them for you.

Mystery – The mystery is when a villain has been working his evil deeds throughout the story but the reader has no clue who it is. The reader sees the effects of what the villain is doing and is trying to guess who done it. Then at the end there is a big reveal (or twist) and the reader slaps their forehead and says, “Ohhhhhhh! I see!” The tension is built in this scenario by the reader not knowing who or what is at work but is trying to guess. The payoff is the “ah ha!” moment when all the foreshadowing comes into focus.

Suspense – In the suspense, the reader is let in on who or what is behind the evil force that the protagonists are working against. The characters have no idea though and this is where tension is built in this scenario. The reader desperately wants the protagonists to figure out who the villain is because they know and it sends shivers up their spine. Instead of a reveal to the reader as to who done it, it is the characters in the story that get the sudden shock. When that happens the reader feels a great sense of camaraderie with the protagonists. That is the payoff.

So, I have laid out these two ways to build tension. If you were reading a book, which would be more satisfying? The mystery or the suspense? Let me know what you think.

Brian

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A Happy Ending

Brian — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:27:41 +0000

All stories have happy endings. At least that is what most popular entertainment would have you believe. Not true. But in the case of the eBay scammer story I do have a happy ending to report. Despite the scammer’s best efforts to trick me into sending my iPhone off to Nigeria without receiving payment, I came out on top.

As I mentioned in the first part of the story, I reported this to eBay hoping relist for free and to get a credit for the amount that they charged me when the item “sold” to the scammer. eBay was kind enough to do both. I also found out that the user ID the scam artist used was banned from eBay. This was only a small victory since it was a brand new account and they will probably just create another to perpetuate their deceit. But wait, it gets better!

Since eBay let me relist the iPhone for free I decided I would. I listed the it at 11:18 am on Saturday. At 11:21 am (on Saturday) I received an email telling me that it had already sold! Three minutes later! And this time the buyer was real. I received payment for the item and I am shipping it out today.

So there you go. A happy ending. Thanks eBay and Paypal for helping me out.

Brian

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The Story of the eBay Scammer

Brian — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 08:20:27 +0000

This might interest some of you and I definitely like telling the story so here we go. As some of you know I purchased the new iPhone 3GS when it came out in June. This left me with an original iPhone sitting on my shelf doing nothing. I thought for a while that I would give it to my wife but she didn’t seem to interested in it so it still sat. Finally, after a few months of iPhone sittage, I finally put it up on eBay to sell it. I put a Buy It Now price of $200 on it and free shipping. I figured that if I could get 200 bucks for a phone that was just sitting around I would be in good shape to ship it for free.

It was up there for a full few hours when I got an email from eBay saying that someone had used the Buy It Now feature to end the auction. Ok. That sold much faster than I thought. A few minutes later I get an email from the “buyer” with the following message, and I quote:

“Dear mate,i hope the item is on good condition?”

So the person doesn’t have the best grammar in the world. That is ok, they bought my doing-nothing iPhone. I respond by telling the “buyer” that the phone was in great shape and I would ship it as soon as I received payment. All good so far (minus some bad English), right? Right!

Roughly 45 minutes later I get a very valid looking email from Paypal stating that I had received a $290 payment. $200 for the phone and $90 for shipping. Hmmmmmm. That seems a bit odd. I didn’t ask for shipping. And 90 bucks? That is quite a bit. I also notice that the address that I am to ship my iPhone to is in, of all places, Nigeria.

A little background. I used to work in a bank so I am familiar with the banking scams that originated from a certain country that begins with the letter “N”, ends with an “a”, and has “igeri” in the middle. Back to the story.

Some minor red flags go up in my head. Then I get an email from the “buyer” about a minute later. It says the following:

Hello,
How are you doing today and how is everything going on with you,i am interested in purchasing your item for my Husband who is currently working with the UNICEF and she is on special duty in Nigeria at this moment, this is a gift for his Birthday anniversary coming up next week, i want to notify you that payment for your item has already been made and the necessary funds have been deducted from my PAY PAL account.

I have provided 90.00 USD available for the shipping USPS international sign for EH So endeavor to get the item in post ASAP,so that it can get to my husband on time for her Birthday Anniversary.

Get back to me with the shipping tracking number once the item gets sent recorded delivery.

Hope to hear from you soon. Bye and take good care of yourself.

Many thanks,
Stella Moore,

Keep in mind, these are exact quotes.

So more bad grammar and an explanation of why there is an extra $90 for shipping when I didn’t ask for any. Seems reasonably plausible. They want it quickly so they pay to expedite the shipping. Based on the council of my co-worker I Google the name “Stella Moore” and what comes up in the top results? The name is associated with bank scams from where? That N country they want me to ship my precious iPhone to. More red flags. I also notice that the email from “Paypal” is actually from an email address not associated with Paypal. Red flag city!

I log into my Paypal account, and as I suspected, no payment. I call Paypal. No payment. Paypal gives me an email address to forward the email I received to so they can make sure it is fraud. (spoof@paypal.com if you want to know) It is and Paypal says they are investigating.

I then email eBay telling them what happened hoping I can relist the item for free since it was a fraudulent purchase. Still waiting to hear back on that one.

I couldn’t believe it. These people were trying to get me to ship my phone off without receiving payment! Jerks! I am very thankful I caught this, but honestly, are there people who wouldn’t check their Paypal account or think this whole situation was a little off? I wonder how many people they get with this.

I decided not to respond to these scammers. But I did think it would be awesome, if I had all kinds of money and didn’t have to work, to hire a few mercenaries, jump on a plane to Nigeria and knock on their door. Or ship them something stupid. Like a kazoo or a whoopee cushion. That would be fun.

To top it off I received another email from them:

Dear mate,i have made the payment to your paypal account,and your money have been remove from my account according to the message recive from paypal they told me that your money will be credited as soon as you ship the item and get back to them with the tracking number…

Thanks
hope to here from you soon
Stella.

Wow.

So there you go. My eBay scam story. This is a good reminder of the world we live in. And it is a sad one when they will go after your iPhone. Gotta be on your toes.

Brian

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Thoughts and Spider Webs

Brian — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:56:59 +0000

My blog is an interesting animal for me and it has changed over time. If you knew me around 10 years ago you might know that I did not like the idea of keeping a journal. As much as I wanted to write my thoughts down I did not want them in such a permanent form as ink on paper. That unnerved me because I knew for sure that my thoughts on a particular subject would eventually change and then I wouldn’t like what I wrote down and would want no one else to ever see it.

So when I started this blog it was a big step for me. Granted, I don’t often post my innermost thoughts here for everyone to read (although it might be interesting), but I do put my opinion out there in a very permanent form and, for anyone who wants to, to read it. The longer I have put my thoughts here the more I realize what this blog is to me. It is like a spider web for my thoughts.

Thoughts come flying through my head all the time and occasionally there is one or two worth something. When I put them here they are then caught in the web of this blog and available to me and to you if I ever want to see them again. It has actually been quite comforting for me to go back and read what I wrote in a different season of my life. If I am spiritually down I can read my thoughts from a time of spiritual plenty. It is wonderful.

So to sum up, this blog is the journal of my thoughts that I think are worthy of being remembered at a later time. It just so happens that it is in a public place so you have the opportunity to read it as well.

I also had to realize that it cannot matter to me whether anyone takes notice of my musings. There are certain kinds of blogs that are written for the express purpose of drawing and keeping an audience. Mine is not one of them. If I focus on the number of visitors or people who comment then I am missing the point of my own blog. I know this may sound self-centered but this blog really is for me. I am flattered if you want to read my thoughts but I shouldn’t be hurt if you really don’t care. If you do care, great. If you don’t, great.

I need to quit trying to blog for an audience since the purpose is not to gain an audience. I am sure I will still post stuff here on occasion for the purpose of showing you, the reader, something I think is interesting but that is not my main goal.

If you are still reading, sorry for all of that. I just needed to remind myself of why I am sitting here typing. So, I will continue throwing ideas into the spider web of my blog. Feel free to read it or not.

Brian

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Smellograph

Brian — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 19:00:37 +0000

I have an equation for you:

sugar + coffee + late nights watching movies = very random thoughts

Last night we watched a movie with friends till the early morning hours, had lots of sugar and a big cup of coffee. So all the elements were there. The random thought it produced was this: we have an instrument that captures some of the different senses like sight (photograph), sound (phonograph) but all the other senses are getting left out in the cold!

Why do we not have something like a touchograph that captures the tactile feeling we get when we touch something. Don’t we want to remember what things from our past felt like? Or do we want the sands of time to just cover up these things?

Or how about a smellograph. Don’t you want to remember what your granny’s house smelled like when she was baking cookies? Or how about the smell of the outdoors right before rain? Granted, there are some smells that you might not want to capture but there are also pictures that are better left uncaptured. But some just might be funny to bring back up. The conversation might go something like this:

“Do you remember that time?”

“Ewwwwwwww!”

“Remember?? That was hilarious!”

I know we have candles and those fragrance plug-in thingies but those just create a commercialized smell of gingerbread or leaves. I am talking about specific smells. I just think we are passing up the opportunity to capture the entire experience. What gives?

Brian

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Quick Funny

Brian — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:00:03 +0000

Just a really quick funny blurb. At work today Kevin, our CPO (that’s Chief People Officer), and I were discussing the merits of dieting. Kevin had something very profound to say about it. Basically, he said that he didn’t believe in dieting because he believes that our bodies are the temple of God. He believes that our God is a big God and therefore deserves a big temple. I hadn’t heard that argument for eating lots of delicious food before. Pretty funny!

Brian

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Followup 2: Meaningless Meanings

Brian — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:34:04 +0000

I think that I think too much. Wait a minute! Oh well.

I was pondering my post on meaningless meanings and I thought that it sounded kind of bleak, in a way. I still think that it is true in our human experience but I also think that there are things we experience that don’t follow this pattern. A comment was left on the original post that pointed out that the words “I love you” don’t necessarily diminish in worth the more they are used. I think they can if they are used without thought for what they mean. When I tell my wife that I love her I feel the meaning behind the words. Where does this kind of love come from? It comes from God.

What I realized was that all things tend to lose their value unless they come from God. Does the blood of Christ diminish in value the more it is applied? No. The things that we derive from God do not fade. Look at the gifts of the spirit. The joy we experience as a result of our relationship with our Savior will never fade, or the peace, or any of the words and actions that result from these things. When we act on the gifts from God it is not what we put into it that makes it meaningful but what God puts into the action or word. This was an amazing thought to me. So if I try to express my love for my wife apart from God, it can quickly become empty but if I am deriving it from the overflow of His love then it will always hold meaning. Why is this? His love is perfect. The things from this fallen world will always lose value but the gifts from God are eternal.

Brian

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Meaningless Meanings

Brian — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 21:09:52 +0000

“The word ‘meaningful’ when used today is nearly always meaningless.”

–Paul Johnson

Words and their meanings are something I have thought about at length and written about here as well. It seems that the more a word is used the less weight it has. They become commonplace and meaningless. Why does this happen, you ask? A good place to start looking is economics of all places.

Basic economic theory states that the more a commodity is available, the less it will be worth. Why are diamonds worth so much? They are a beautiful and desirable item but their worth comes from their rarity. If the handful of companies that controlled diamond production in the world released their stock you would see the price of diamonds plummet. Apply this to words and you have the same outcome. The more a word is used, the less value it has. It is not that the meaning has changed but that, many times, people don’t think about the meaning when using it because it is so readily available to them. Wait for the new “in” word to hit the streets and in short while it will have lost some of it’s value because everyone is saying it often.

The reason I started thinking about this originally was because of common Christian words; words uncommon in their meaning but common in their usage. We use words like sin, grace, repentance, and even the name of Jesus so often that we often don’t take the time to think about what they mean.

I think we can apply this concept in more ways than just that. Look at a society that is thriving and opulent. Happiness abounds (at least temporary happiness). Contentedness is expected and when it is not around people are dissatisfied. What about all the happiness that they have that they are taking for granted? Does that mean anything to them? Not nearly as much as it does to a society that happiness is not the normal way of life. When pain and grief are the norm, a respite from that or a small comfort is treasured beyond anything that the people in the first society can even dream about.

When something exists in excess it tends to be devalued. Does any of this even matter? What does this mean for you? You go find the answers.

Brian

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Funny Canada Stuff

Brian — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 10:19:33 +0000

Since I have been up here in Canada I have noticed a few funny things I would like to share with you. I am sure there are things like this back home but I think I notice them more up here. The first few things are some posters and signs I saw which having an iPhone made it very convenient to take pictures of them so that you can enjoy them as well. I know that these are intended to be serious but sometimes the things we take most seriously in life can also be the funniest. Click each one to see a larger version you can read.

I thought this one was funny because when I read it a Brian Regan voice pop into my head that said, “no, really……think about it”. (If you haven’t heard Brian Regan you really must) If it can cut metal do I really have to think about what it can do to me? Can you just see some one standing there, cutting metal with the thing, getting gum on their hand, and attempting to wash it off with the water gun they have? Maybe some things aren’t as obvious to some people.

This one was funny just because the guy is holding a bomb. “If it seems unsafe……” Hmmmm. Again, another Brian Regan voice, “Well, it seems…….it seems that this thing is about to blow up in my hand.”

This was in the bathroom trailer at the site. I don’t know what is in the water but we were not supposed to drink it. That isn’t even the funny part. The funny part is that someone tried to mark out the “Do Not” part of the sign. As if people would see it and think, “oh, I guess I can drink the water now”. Also, did the person who did this really think this would be a funny prank? What is in that water anyway? I am assuming it will at least make you sick hopefully not more than that. I guess they thought that if they got their co-workers sick that they would have more work to do?

This sign was on the door at the end of hallway in the lodge at which we stayed. This was the only way to get out! You had to go through this door to get back to the lobby. I guess they think they can make more money if they trap people in the hall with their rooms. Does the “all times” refer to when you need to go through it? I opened it just enough to squeeze through. I hope that is ok.

So there you have it. Serious/Funny signs in Canada. I’ll also throw this one out there. A guy I met up there kept using the phrase “once upon a day”. I guess that is the equivalent of “one time” or “one day” but I thought it was amusing too. See? My trip to Canada was completely productive.

Brian

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Random (possibly made up) Fact (statement) #8

Brian — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:32:36 +0000

Well, I haven’t done a random fact in a while and I am sure you are all greatly missing it. Not to mention they are great space fillers in that they allow me to update my site with content that didn’t cost me much brain power. Before I get to the real reason for being here, I will throw out another random fact: This post make one hundred and sixty posts that I have written here. Who would have thought when I started this that I would get there. Not me. Sorry for the diversion. On with the show!

Did you know that…

In the average lifetime, a person will walk the equivalent of 5 times around the equator.

I wonder if those little step counters from McDonald’s could keep up with that. If that is the average person how far does the person that runs or walks for exercise go? I wonder sometimes how they figure things like this out or if it is just made up. Maybe I should have called this post ”Random (possibly made up) Fact (statement) #8″. I think I will. Wow, that was kind of like time travel. You read the title of the post first only to find out that I decided to change it at the end of the post. That was a random thought deserving of a new “Random Thoughts” category. Until next time.

Brian

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Insane!

Brian — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:18:46 +0000

“Sometimes the appropriate response to reality is to go insane.”

Philip K. Dick

I find this funny but very true especially considering the news and politics we hear about every day.

Brian

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June Bugs

Brian — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 21:46:19 +0000

I think that june bugs are by far the most interestingly stupid bugs in the world. I was sitting around shooting the breeze with one of my friends (yes I do have some of those) and a couple interesting questions came up. Question number one: don’t june bugs, all by themselves, totally disprove natural selection? Really, think about it. These things would have been selected out the moment they came in to being. Just watch them sometime. They fly into the same wall ten thousand times before they realize there is a wall there. Or it could be that they are just horrible aviators. “Turn to the right, to the right, to the riiiiiigggght!!!!! Arrrgggg!! I failed to avoid that wall that is ten million times larger than I am!!”

Anyway, question number two: where do these things go for nine or ten months out of the year. They just randomly appear for a couple months, fly around bumping into everything, and then disappear. I know why they disappear. They can’t mate! Think about it. They can barely fly without falling all over themselves. Good luck, Junebugette, finding a man that can contribute to the gene pool. I don’t know about you but I don’t recall seeing any baby june bugs around. They can’t reproduce so they disappear. So where do they come from come June?? I suppose I could go check out Wikipedia and find out and I probably will, but sometimes things in nature are funnier when they aren’t completely understood.

All that to say (and I know you have thought it too), JUNE BUGS ARE WEIRD!!

The End.

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Food for thought…literally

Brian — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 00:23:33 +0000

(I know everyone is used to my more-serious posts so I thought I would shake it up a bit)

Ok, they have proven that learning by osmosis does not work. I can’t sleep on my books at night and expect to wake up with any more knowledge than I had the evening before. So I started thinking that there must be some easier way to absorb knowledge besides reading my college books at a slow enough pace that I actually absorb some tidbit of information. That is when I thought of it. I bet that if I ate my books that I could absorb the information through my stomach. How could I have not thought of this before? It is so clear now. I could just take my reading assignments for the day, tear them out of my book, put some Bar-B-Q sauce on them and chow down. As my stomach is digesting it I will be getting more knowledge. Not only would this solve the study time issue it would also solve the eating budget issue. I would be happy to do my reading every night. The only down side to this is that I won’t have any books to sell back at the end of the semester for some extra spending cash.

As most intelligent thinking does, this line of thinking brought me to another equally as interesting. If I can eat my books to study for class why should I have to put Bar-B-Q sauce on it? Why don’t they just invent flavored paper? I know they could do it. Just think about it. When you are buying your text books you could select the flavor you want as well. “Do you want sour cream and onion or butterscotch?” Maybe they could even make different pages in the book taste like different things. Then a 20 page reading assignment could be a full course meal. Oh, the possibilities!!

Well, that is about enough of that. Until next time.

Brian