This is Probably a Trivial Post.

I love writing. It doesn't pay much. It's great retirement fare, however. My last book, Stumbling Through the Sixties has gotten some great reviews, both personal and written. I seem to have developed a writing style that is easy to read. 

Now I'm writing the sequal Recovering From the Sixties. This one is a lot harder to put in paper. The ideas are there but they are not forming into concepts that I can put down on paper. 

My biggest problem has always been personal discipline. This blog is a daily activity. If the discipline of a daily writing schedule can ingrain itself into me, Perhaps?

I welcome ideas and suggestions on topics for the blog. Those of you who went through the sixties, how did it affect you afterwards. I'll credit you in the book if I use your ideas. Promise.

Oh and by the way. I notice that the most read post in this blog was a section from my next book -- well, not a bad idea, see you tomorrow.

Howie

Who re-wrote Tarzan?

When I was a kid I was a "bookworm" I was in the library so much that the Librarian recognized me. She quickly learned my likes and dislikes and always had a book in the shelf under her desk for me. I devoured Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn. I got lost in "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court". I loved, and still love biographies. My secret passion was for the Tarzan Series. They were not considered "good" reading, I didn't care.

A few years ago I bought an iPad 2. I quickly downloaded the Kindle Software (free) and went looking for the free books. The entire Tarzan series was out there for free. I down loaded them and found a quiet spot and read them.

There was a sadness to the "ubermench" that I had never picked up before. Tarzan was trapped between two worlds and didn't fit in either. His hut was his refuge and the only place he felt he belonged. I don't remember this aspect of the books when I read them as a kid. Does Clark Kent feel this way?

 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court was my next disappointment.  Instead of being an adventure story it was - of all things - satire. I found myself laughing out loud at the satirical aspects of the book.

Darn it, Now I have to re-read all of my childhood favorites. "The Black Stallion" is still just an adventure story about a boy and his horse, isn't it?

Points of confusion

Any new technology eventually falls into line behind a standard.  Writing seems to be following that path. Right now we have three main formats -  Amazon's Kindle, Barnes & Noble's nook and following and gaining strength is ePub.

I have eight books listed on Amazon. Three are textbooks so they don't count. The rest are available either as paperback or kindle. Why Kindle? I write using Amazon's publishing tool "CreateSpace". I can simply move it to their kindle tool - KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing). I miss the fairly large Nook audience if I commit exclusively to Kindle - I would get a higher royalty. We are talking about .25 per book in a small - tiny - market.

Ok, to the point, I'm betting that at some point  both Kindle and Nook will center on ePub.  What do you all think?

A brief message from our sponsor

I posted the following on Facebook this morning.

Howard Flomberg: Confessions of a Neophyte Author remember that title, I have it linked below. I've always had a fascination with blogging. many years ago I had a blog called "The Flomblog" that was gaining readership. Family and Work got in it's way. I started "Confessions" it was peripatetic at best. Now I'm retired. I write. it all works, join me!

Howie

Tell your friends and join me.

A Brave New World, or was it.

What follows is a small section from my next book "Recovering From the Sixties". Criticism is welcome and requested?


The sixties were coming to an end. The honest fight for civil rights had been replaced by a violent anti-violence movement. Beatniks were replaced by hippies. Sitting around singing folk songs with the backing of bongo drums and guitars were replaced with the loud, booming repetitive noise of three and four chord rock and roll. The Beatles “Love, Love Me Do” was replaced by anything by the Fuggs. 

Woodstock, that paean to civilization was held on August 15, 1969, peculiarly the day that I got on the airplane to return to the States from Southeast Asia. Bob Dylan showed amazing taste by choosing that day to embark on the QE2 to England.  What started as a dedication to free love degraded to a romp in the mud. Am I ranting? I guess I am.  

Did you realize that the entire NFL is morbidly obese?

On BMI

BMI – Body Mass Index, according to Wikipedia, is a heuristic[1] proxy for human body fat based on an individual's weight and height. According to my BMI, I am obese. However, so is probably the entire NFL? The formula involves dividing a persons weight by their height, squared. I am 5’7” or 67 inches tall. However in my youth – before I started to lose height due to aging – I was 5’9 or 69 inches tall. My weight is 113.7 Kg or 250.7 pounds. Therefore the according to the formula my BMI is 37.0.

The BMI ranges are:

·               18.5 or less      Underweight

·               18.8  - 24.9      Normal weight

·               25 – 29.9         Overweight

·               30 or greater    Obese

What are the problems with using BMI?

·               Actual measurements of body fat are ignored

·               Bone Structure is ignored

·               Gender is ignored

·               Fat to Muscle ratio is ignored

·               Race is ignored

·               Nutrition is ignored

·               Genetics is ignored

·               Age is ignored

The entire concept of analyzing dead people for their BMI has, to my knowledge, never done. The BMI formula was devised in 1832. According to the website The-f-word

[2]The project was intended to describe the standard proportions of the human build.  The equation was largely ignored by the medical community even though insurance companies began using somewhat vague comparisons of height and weight among policyholders beginning in the early twentieth century.

Therefore the most commonly used measurement of human size to weight was instigated as a means of denying life insurance to large men.  I cannot find any reputable study measuring the correlation between height and weight.

What is an appropriate sample size? World population is estimated at seven billion (7,000,000,000) people. If we are looking for a 90% confidence level; assuming that the statistic will be statistically significant[3]; yields a sample size of 15,006.

For an overly obvious example; some assumptions have been made – Geography – do you take the sample in an American community? Do you take the sample in an Asian community? 

Do you see my feelings about BMI? It is impossible to accurately compute. It makes assumptions that are not valid. Most importantly, age, body type and family are ignored.  While BMI is an invalid statistic with no actual statistical validity, it is commonly used by the medical community.

So, dear doctor, shall we discuss me as an individual and lose the shamanistic bone rattling?

---

[1] When a real world solution an educated guess can be used as a heuristic approach

[2] http://the-f-word.org/blog/index.php/2009/07/22/the-history-of-bmi-and-why-we-still-use-it/

[3] Using a p-value of .5

WOW - the blessings of insomnia - I just realized that I haven't posted in eons

I am in a Writers Group here at Windsor Gardens. This weeks topic is "Worry vs. Wonder" Here's what I wrote. It is really a restating of a bit of Stumbling Through the Sixties.

From Worry to Wonder

By Howie Flomberg

As most of the members of the Windsor Gardens Writers Group know – in retirement I choose to write. I do it not for the money, but for the opportunity to express myself. If I did it for the money – I would make a lot more behind the counter at a 7-11. I’ve written a few textbooks, but the first thing I’ve written, purely for the fun of it, is Stumbling Through the Sixties. I’ve noticed a copy or two passing from hand to hand. When I see that happening I smile. People are reading and enjoying my words. That’s why I write.  But on to the topic, most of you know how I got involved in computers. The story bears retelling, as it seems to deal with this week’s topic.

When I flunked out of college I was worried. I was prime draft bait and the Army, Navy and Marines were all drafting. This was 1965 and the Vietnam War was heating up. I knew where the soldiers and marines were headed and I had no desire to dress up like the wrapper of a crackerjack box. Air Force seemed the optimal solution. After passing the pre-induction physical, the first test I’d passed in about a year, I enlisted in the Air Force.

I took a series of aptitude tests and did well on them all. Worry – what career field should I choose? My recruiter advised Electronics. “With your scores you should get anything you want.”
I followed his advice. While we were in Basic Training we went for Career Advisement. I sat down with an Airman second-class, worry. He had been in the Air Force about a year more than me. My first choice was easy – Autopilot repair – I could work for the airlines when I got out. Second choice was also easy – Radio Repair – again, airlines. Both fields involved a few months outside of Chicago – not a bad option. Third choice, I had no idea - Worry. The counselor recommended “computers” as my third choice. This was 1966. “Don’t worry, with your scores you’ll get one of your first two choices.

About two weeks later while we were involved in an activity called KP. Our sergeant called us out. “Ladies – I have your orders” we gathered around him as he read them. “Flomberg, 30533, computer technician, 47 weeks in Keesler AFB.

What the hell is a computer? What do I do for a job when I get out? What do they use them for? WORRY. Forty-seven weeks plus some leave time was a year in Biloxi Mississippi. How do I survive that? Worry.

Wonder – Keesler wasn’t that bad. The school was tough and challenging.  I actually enjoyed it. I was trained on early computers and had no trouble finishing college, grad school and finding a job,

Morale of the story – Worry is a total waste of time. You can always count on the needs of the Air Force.