CrackBerry Lessons, short and sweet

What could I have learned from my BlackBerry Curve, a device I hardly ever used? I hated its keyboard, so had I stuck with it, I would've learned brevity.

I generally despise restrictions (some are good). Restraints that impede flamboyance are especially irritating. Why use one sentence when five would do nicely?

By instinct, I'm thorough — I apply that to blogging. I may begin intending to be pithy, but after several paragraphs, I delve deeper to explain every element. To do otherwise seems like a disservice. The infrequency of my blogging was likely a factor.

Maybe as I blog more often, I can keep entries short and sweet. I suppose I'll find out!

Under 200 words, iA Writer says under 60 seconds!

Click to read more ...

Some changes to "Bradtastic Defined."

Things change, life changes… I’m old now. Damn it. What I wouldn’t give or do to repeat childhood… 

That’s impossible, but it’ll be okay, because I have other things in mind. I’m old now, but I’m not terribly, horribly, “face-all-wrinkly” or “falling-off-entirely” old. I stated before (more than once… oops) that I wanted to write more — that I was going to — and now, I kind of, actually, can! Exciting! 

Surprisingly, I’ve settled on fiction. Serendipity or insanity, time will tell, but inspiration struck violently and unexpectedly, and I can’t ignore it. Since, I’ve worked on my narrative prose, grammar (I’m close to knighthood in the Order of the TweeterGrammarton) and style. Style, because today, it’s about style over substance. Word. 

Been thinkin’ and thankin’

I’m considering writing serialized short stories. I’d post a new “chapter” each week on a (my) blog… dunno which one. Maybe this one. Maybe not. I have some unused cool domain names. 

Mostly, I’ve been sharing stories about dealing with pain and disability, and I’ve been educating others, raising awareness, and communicating with other people with problems. Specifically, I get that everyone has problems. Generally, I know that most people are doing okay. Life is a lot easier when your body works (somewhat) properly. 

Sometimes, I’ll try to pick something up and I’ll end up knocking it over, or I’ll want to make a fist, and instead, my arm starts shaking. My damned shoulder is hurting so bad at the moment. (Accidental “bang” — or bump or poke or whatever you want to call it — yesterday) 

Because it’s separate, and well, because I want to, I post my other stuff over there. Or here. But mostly at Bradtastic Defined, or www.bradchin.com (note: the ‘www’ is necessary, because TypePad says so. I know, it’s lame. Tell that to SAY). Because things are different now, I’ve changed the description and intent of the bradchin, a domain that used to host my inkblog. *(I used to love ink blogging… sigh) 

So here it is, from “Bradtastic” Defined, personal blog (with disability stuff):

The mostly accurate drama of the life of Brad Chin, presented in dramatic fashion in full-HD, 1080p, 3D on an LED TV without LSD, PCP or PVC… no MSG, not for sale on QVC or available on DVD, and I can guarantee — that that’s N.O.T. what she S.A.I.D.

If you want to know more… go there and read some. If you like it, you can help fund my first novel by sending a gift via Amazon (my wish list)! Also, my birthday is in 34 days… also known as “twenty five weekdays from today,” or “four weeks, six days,” or “one month and three days from today,” or expressed more ‘l33t,’ 1m3dr1zzleF1zzizzl. *(minus the 1zzles) 

Okay, that was odd. I get weird when I’m tired and hurting more than I do normally. I’m going to stop. I set this entry to post at 1:11 (afternoon), so make a wish… at 11:11 — because it’s likely past 1:11 now.

Something brewing.

# for the moment, it isn’t coffee.

However, it is morning. Another morning, another day, soon-to-be another weekend and another week — time does feel like it’s moving faster now. Some science channel show I’d seen mentioned that time seems to speed up as we get older, and for me, that’s certainly the case. In grade school, weeks seemed long, the school year lasted forever, and although summer seemed a bit short, I was involved in plenty of activities and got a lot of playing done, too.

It’s easier to lose sight of things now. I’ve always made an effort to plan things out — though the best laid plans often go astray — but now, my days just don’t last long enough. In addition, I used to have this Mercedes-Benz-*esque* attitude: the best, or nothing… though that was not their slogan at that time. Now it’s often about just GTD… getting things done. Good. Complete. But not necessarily perfect, rather, nearest as one can get.

## moving forward

### I’ve been giving less thought to this blog and blogs of mine in general; the concepts, the effort, the actual work involved, the purpose… thusly, I haven’t concluded anything. But I have thoughts.

1. I want to write more about living with a disability and getting by. Life in America is changing, and for the disabled, everything is harder — more complex. Work, relationships, fun, you name it. Don’t say “parking,” thinking that you’re clever, either. ([handicappedfraud](http://handicappedfraud.org) <— more thoughts on that, soon.)

1. I’d like to share more artwork, even if it’s just doodles. For posterity, even.

1. I’d like to fix my websites; I’d like to make them look prettier. Obviously, I can’t make it appeal to everyone, but right now, it’s a little messy.

1. I want to get Bradtastic back up and running something. It’s been down for too long. I have things that I could share there, and it could be valuable for people… including me.

1. I want to read and write more fiction. I’m not exposed to enough of it anymore. Sure, I’ve read some sappy teen vampire books and some Orson Scott Card, but I want to expand out. No Harry Potter, though — not then, not now. Please don’t try to tell me it’s great stuff; she’s a billionaire now, okay, I get it.

## レヂセタゴ ready, settago!

Yes, I will still play video games and mess around with iOS software. It’s fun, and practical; video games are indeed art, and it’s an industry bigger than music and movies — the iOS platform is only getting better, the apps are inexpensive and sometimes free, and can help organize, get things done, and importantly, reduce stress and increase happiness. Being disabled, fun is often rare, in only slightly greater supply than that elusive contentment and mythical “true happiness.”

However, I am now more selective about the games I play. I’m interested in story-based games, and will choose them over graphics and sometimes even gameplay. I rarely watch movies anymore — most of them, pure crap — so it’s a sort of trade-off… passive for interactive.

I have a fantastic set of stories stirring ‘round my mind, invading my dreams and bursting out every orifice. Sorry, gross visual. It’s just… I’ve never been this eager to share a piece of myself, and it’s fictional.

I do think that isolation is the mother of inspiration. Pure creativity — perhaps that’s more genetic. Combine it all, what do you get? Stuff like Teletubbies. Joyous day!

Update on Saturday, August 13, 2011 at 9:18 AM by Bradtastic

Going to make an attempt at fixing the markdown dilemma. I don’t understand what the @SquarespaceHelp account is for — all they ever do is write back, “submit a ticket.” 

Anyway… submit a ticket I have. We shall see. 

Inspiration

Created 2011 Brad Chin. Rights Reserved… don’t steal art!

Inspiration… where does it come from?

I have been asking myself that quite a bit over the past few days. Last week, I quite literally dreamt up an idea for a fictional story, something that I may turn into a novel or a screenplay, or a series — I don’t know. What I do know is that I’ve never felt anything like that before, and I feel like I must share this story.

It doesn’t feel optional. I feel like if I even make an attempt to hold it back, it’ll tear through my brain, gush out my face and rip apart the remaining seams that hold my sanity together. No one wants that to happen. That would be amusing for some, but probably quite the mess for crime scene cleanup. 

The necessary tools.

Fortunately, I feel like I’m finally properly equipped. I feel like I have the tools to create the world; the brush, the paint, the canvas and the spirit. Reality has this mean reputation for shattering dreams; it takes some willpower to overcome boot camp, hell week — the rigorous tests that separate greatness from mediocrity — and the stigma against “creating art” for a living (instead of getting a “real” job). 

Recently, I sent an inquiry to the fine folks over at Literature & Latte. Long story short, I’m now using Scrivener to organize my writing projects, and I’m thrilled — because Scrivener is incredible. Bradtastic Approved. In my (excellent) opinion, Apple makes the finest computing equipment for creatives and has engineered a wonderful backbone for some of the most amazing software designed by the friendliest, most sincere, dedicated, and down-to-earth programmers in the world. If you have Mac OS X, check out Scrivener — also available in the Mac App Store.

Another crucial asset is ThinkBook by bitolithic. It’s just incredible; well-built, incredibly usable, powerful, intuitive… if you like to plan anything, you can benefit from ThinkBook. 

I’m still doing what I’m doing, trying to recover and heal, deal with my pain and reduce it as much as possible. I was thinking about how to go about sharing my recent eureka moment, and I created the image above in Sketchbook. I wasn’t going for anything in particular; I just let my muse guide me, and the colors, shapes and strokes above is the result.

What, or whom, inspires you?

Oops!

I messed up. It appears like I just posted something entitled, “Negativity,” but that was in fact written over one week ago. I meant to post it last Tuesday, as a sort of ‘status update.’ I guess I really was delirious — I couldn’t even manage to change ‘draft’ to ‘published.’ Well, it’s up now… just a week late. Sort of like Playstation Network! [Though, it’s not completely restored, and I’m still hoping that DLC codes still work. Which reminds me, I haven’t received a code for my Doom Pack for BRINK — not that that matters, however, because Brink isn’t good at all.]

DAY ONE Journal has been a huge help during this time. Some of you might know a little bit about the perfect storm of pain and problems that have hit me over the past few weeks; long story short, it was very hard to keep my thoughts straight and remember to do simple things (like post blog entries, not that that struck me as particularly important, given my condition, one week ago). 

Beyond that, the iPad 2 has been amazingly helpful as well. The iPad really is a super device; despite its flaws, including the iPad 2’s lack of back-surface protection, non-retina display screen, lack of 4G, and, um… I guess that’s it, really… the thing is just one of the best things ever. Everything I like about the iPhone is amplified and made simpler on the iPad, and it really can do just about everything I need. I can browse the net — including (proper) videos — email, chat, game, create art, take notes, write, compose, and take funny photos with it. I don’t know what I’d do without the iPad — and it’s amazing that I got anything done prior to it. 

Today would’ve been my grandmother’s birthday — she would’ve been 94. I still think about her often. My grandmother, Elsie, was absolutely amazing. I’ll end with that, for now.

Blogging: as a technology and lifestyle

Updated on Monday, April 25, 2011 at 2:24 AM by Bradtastic

Blogging is definitely changing.

I’m not sure that it’s ever been as fun as it was when I actively maintained a LiveJournal; it’s so easy to get addicted to the comments and the attention — and that feeling of complex social integration. It was a one-stop news source and social radar; with friends-view and community journals, all kinds of information could be found and all questions could be answered without ever leaving LiveJournal. [The quality of information is debatable, however.]

I felt connected to a ragtag group of mainstreamers, social misfits and outcasts, all chiming in from time to time; mostly to share random tidbits of useless nothingness, melodramatic rants and complex status updates in far excess of 140 characters.

Click to read more ...

Something more than superfluous

I've been thinking a lot about blogging, writing in general,

Trying to figure out whether or not I want to continue publishing and sharing thoughts and feelings conveyed through words posted on a blog somewhere for friends and family to read and spammers to post inane sales-pitch ad comments on. I think I may have doomed myself, trying to be cute and clever, calling this blog not superfluous even when it is.

Now I don't know if I care enough to continue.

There are a few people, who's opinions mean enough to me to share my writing with — for everyone else, why bother? I've been working, in semi-secret, on an amazing thing; if it works, it'll be game-changing. Perhaps world-changing. What's this little blog in comparison?

Then again, I have some fun sharing thoughts, in general. I've been living in my own mind so much recently — and the nature of dreams, is that they're always more exciting to live in than hear about — some connection beyond the people I see in one reality or another is nice to have.

But who cares to read any of this, anyway? I know some people, for I have no clue what reason, follow my journals, even when I don't post. People are so lazy, in general... they'd rather be told what's up — they don't want to read. Reading is work.

Lost loves.

There's something lacking in our world of advanced technology. Some element of the human spirit has become jaded, some facets entirely deceased. Eloquence as an art, with words in any form, requires practice. People will go to the gym to exercise all muscles other than the most important one: the brain. Where is Gold's Gym for the thinkers? I don't mean MENSA, I mean, the every man (and woman). When did this happen?

I read old (I know, this is a relative term) writing of mine (three to five years old) and hardly recognized it as my own. It was pithy, and funny, and perhaps slightly arrogant, but still... I wished at that moment that I could know my current abilities exist beyond those handwritten words in my private journal.

Listen to FDR speak in old recordings. Read letters and communications from the American Revolution or pioneers headed to California for the gold rush. Read the love letters written by young adults fighting in the Civil War — do we (as a society) maintain one-tenth of that attention, energy and care?

The handwriting says it all.

Look at the average person's handwriting. The ability to write and speak well has been lost like Latin; we can see it in old texts and attempt to recreate it, but its true nature has been lost. Handwriting isn't taught anymore, probably because of keyboards. It's as if no one stopped to realize that QWERTY isn't always the most effective solution.

The point.

Perhaps I'll continue to just because someone should. I haven't had the energy and fire to blog passionately since LiveJournal days, and I doubt I'll get that back. But I haven't shared much recently, because whatever I write seems either: too good, or too unimportant, to post.

The Cult of the Amateur really messed me up. It made me want to hold everything back. I don't want to be a member of that cult, that club — whatever you want to call it. It's sickening, disgusting... thinking about it makes me miserable.

But I've been reading a lot, and looking at a lot of words on paper (or e-ink screens), retina display and LCD, and I guess I see the point. At least the point I want to make.

How annoying would it be if I didn't share that point, that insight right now? I guess you'll find out.

Until next time...

Enhancing and beyond

First, I really wish TypePad or Squarespace would release an iPad-specific app for blogging — Squarespace’s web-UI only partially functions on the device (example: image uploading doesnt work in iPad Safari). I suppose I could use the iPhone app, but I’d lose the iPad’s improved keyboard.

I mention TypePad because, if they were to create a nice iPad app, I’d consider using them for my new Bradtastic site — and possibly suggest the Six Apart service as a new home for AIS. I want to utilize Typekit; at my new Bradtastic site, and possibly in the future, here.

I have a much better idea of what I’m going to write about and share. So much has happened over the past two-weeks; I’ve met amazing people, I’m working on amazing projects, and I’ve felt a bit better physically, too. I am somewhat saddened watching the French Open — I truly loved playing Tennis… I hope someday I’ll be physically able to again.

Bradtastic’s not so superfluous superfloo.us, and print work…

I’m working on some new designs and am carefully — lovingly — crafting a new feel for my “branding.” I do hope you enjoy it.

A glimpse of what’s coming.

iPad reviews, app reviews, my thoughts on Flash and web design, thoughts on typography and design… and most importantly, my 2010 — and what’s beyond.

Writing During Storms

I find it easier to write during traditional “bad weather.”

I love a gray sky — let a little rain fall and I’m thrilled. A day like today — sunny, early — sucks… if it stays like this all-day-long, I’ll be bummed.

Oakland, rated best weather in America.
[By both Rand McNally and Parade Magazine]

I find it easier to focus without fire in my eyes. I like staring out across the horizon and into the upper-atmosphere; there’s something soothing about low clouds and darker skies, a hint of relative-safety and a serene sensation.

I suppose, on a day like today, I’ll write a little blog post.

I finally shared some of my book-writing with my parents. If only I could honestly say that the project was “coming along nicely;” writing a book isn’t like math with an exact answer and repeatable solution, and unfortunately, it gets superseded by daily doings and goings-on. Real life often gets in the way — sometimes people get in the way.

Not that that’s always a bad thing. Life is filled with countless important people and things, and there just isn’t time for everyone and everything. Choices are made — sacrifices are made… and often, even important things get put-off.

On a day like today, I’ll battle the less-than-favorable weather with some down-and-dirty blogging!

WordPress versus Squarespace, part one.

I switched to Squarespace over one-year ago, and I’m quite satisfied with the service. The customer support is top-notch, and most modifications are a breeze. But it’s not all good — there are glaring and stunning issues making me reconsider the gargantuan beast, WordPress.

Because my blog is more than a hotspot for techies and not everyone reading this will know much about — or even care for — the specifications and details of the software and hardware involved, I’ll skip all of that and get to the meat.

The 500 pound giant.

Squarespace attempts to make their UI (user-interface) elegant, and they’ve succeeded in creating something elegant-looking. Unfortunately, a large-screen with high-resolution is required to really enjoy it. If the issue was only aesthetic, I couldn’t in good conscience complain; Squarespace’s clientele and prospects likely enjoy high-resolution displays, and I have one as well.

However, I also use a netbook (the iPad isn’t out yet!), and on it, Squarespace is practically unusable.

Critical functions are inaccessible on a small screen; Squarespace hasn’t built allowances into their main interface for low-res users, and there’s no backup. I could understand certain elements being off-limits — site-design (graphics) modification would be a good example, or adding new sidebars and widgets — but not being able to compose and post a new blog entry? Frankly, that’s pathetic.

At least Squarespace offers a free iPhone app, though composing an entire blog entry by thumb-tapping isn’t fun.

More to come soon, about WordPress, writing in general… and blogging.

Update on Sunday, February 28, 2010 at 3:02 PM by Bradtastic

I’m having some formatting errors… I wrote this post outside of the browser editor and pasted it in, and it won’t display properly. I’m not in the mood to go through and manually recode the damned thing at the moment, so it’s going to stay as it is… for now, anyway.

Ugh… another reason I’m thinking about sticking with WordPress. Not to mention, Scribe looks pretty cool — it’s a SEO Optimization tool for WordPress.