Thanks for letting me in on the open secret

Thanks for letting me in on the open secret

January 16, 2022 / 1 Comment

My dad didn’t read books or possess a library card and the only magazine he ever subscribed to was Playboy. I remember when it would arrive in the mail; each issue was wrapped in black plastic. I’m sure the Family Research Council demanded the opaque covering to preserve their own twisted version of “family values,” but in the end, it was that mysterious wrapping that inspired me to don my Nancy Drew hat and search for the publication in my dad’s nightstand. I just had to know what it was hiding. Alas, I was sorely disappointed to find images of naked women within the publication’s pages. I had expected the secret to be far more exciting.

It wasn’t until I was in college that I learned the magazine’s open secret. My boyfriend’s father had died and he’d inherited his dad’s porn collection. While sifting through the boxes together, I picked up a couple of “classic” issues of Playboy and perused the pages. Still didn’t see the huge allure. Then my boyfriend explained that the Playboy bunny logo was hidden on the front cover of each issue. From that moment on, every time I came across a Playboy, I’d search the cover until I found the bunny. Doing so reminded me of my youth, when I used to spend time in doctors’ waiting rooms doing the Hidden Pictures game in Highlights magazine.

My interest in cooking lead to another open secret discovery. Turns out that each issue of Cook’s Country magazine includes a hidden rooster. Find that tiny image amongst the recipes, taste tests and equipment reviews and you’ll be entered into a random drawing. Top prize is a year-long membership to the magazine’s website. Second and third prize winners receive the company’s latest cookbook. I’ve read this publication for years and to date, I’ve only found that damn cock once. Hat’s off to the page designer.

Writer/director/producer Chuck Lorre is known as the “King of Sitcoms.” It’s highly likely you’ve seen one of his many shows. “Grace Under Fire,” “Dharma & Greg,” “Roseanne,” “The Big Bang Theory” and “The Kominsky Method” are just a few in his portfolio. What I didn’t know was Chuck’s open secret: He includes a message in the vanity cards during the end credits. Some are funny, some are just odd and a few have apparently been known to cause a bit of controversy. M and I recently started watching the show “Mike and Molly” and we were probably five or six episodes in when we noticed these little gems. Now I’m going to be looking for them in every Chuck Lorre Production.

Perhaps you will too.
How to become a more disciplined writer

September 20, 2014 / No Comments

At work, I’m on constant deadline. In the rare moments when I’m between breaking news events, I spend my time searching social media, contacting sources and checking out the competition for the next big story. I simply don’t have the time to dawdle.

When I attempt to write fiction, however, procrastination can sometimes get in the way of productivity. Making stuff up is far more challenging than sharing facts and quotes. There are no looming deadlines forcing me to buckle down. And, frequently, the fear of sucking whirls like a fog through my Nauru-sized imagination.

To prevent the blank page from mocking me into writer’s block, I simply buckle down and get to work. Here’s how:

Look for inspiration

* Read, in your preferred genre and outside of it. Learn how to become a better writer by reading authors who have serious talent.

* Carry a notebook at all times to store random titles, story ideas, characters and bits of dialogue.

* Subscribe to The Written Word, a free service that sends a writing- or publishing-related quote to your e-mail box.

* Subscribe to The 10th Muse. This mailing list offers one or two writing prompts a week, perfect for inspiring your latest journal entry or freewriting session.

* Speaking of freewriting, give it a try. Sometimes you just need to warm up a bit before diving into your latest writing project. There are plenty of great websites and books offering writing prompts, but I highly recommend “The Amazing Story Generator” by Jay Sacher.

Eliminate distractions

* Turn off your phone. Seriously. Don’t just put it on vibrate. Turn it off.

* While you’re at it, shut down the Internet, too. Email, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, these sites are awesome …and total time-sucks. An easy way to hinder your access is to download and use Freedom.

* Avoid people who do not support your writing. If you grant access to these folks, they will poison your muse.

Develop a writing routine

* Timed pop-up reminders encourage me to stand every 30 minutes and stretch. Computer reminders point out upcoming appointments/events. I even have a reminder to alert me to the fact that my tea has finished brewing. Consider setting reminders on your computer to work on your latest project.

* Try the 100-word challenge. Every day, vow to write 100 words, no less. This practice not only encourages you to develop a daily writing habit, it builds up your confidence and your portfolio. Inevitably, you’ll write more than 100 words; the first 100 will simply clear out the dust bunnies in your brain.

* If you have a superstition that works for you, indulge yourself. Doing so will put you in a focused frame of mind to create. When I write nonfiction, I do so in my home office. I generally prefer to work in silence. I drink hot tea or pop. When writing fiction, I prefer to work away from my desk. I often listen to playlists specifically designed for the project at hand. And I drink iced chai lattes.

* Set self-imposed deadlines. I will finish my novel by the end of the year. I will blog five days a week. I will participate in National Novel Writing Month and pen 1,500 words a day for 30 days. Give yourself a goal and start working towards it.

* Know when to stop. I like to kill off random characters or leave them in a jam at the end of a chapter. That way I have something interesting to ponder for the rest of the day/night. I also like to end my daily writing effort in the middle of a sentence. Sounds odd, but it works.

Lastly, consider these sage words by John Gardner: “The real message is, write in any way that works for you: write in a tuxedo or in the shower with a raincoat or in a cave deep in the woods.”

Just write!
More terror-inducing thoughts

July 21, 2013 / No Comments

Have you ever read a fact that filled you with dread? I have, and thanks a lot, Smithsonian Magazine. Now I’ll never sleep again.

Last week, I was reading this article by Joseph Stromberg about nuclear forensics. Apparently scientists in Oak Ridge, Tenn., have been quietly creating the world’s most radioactive library. Actually, it’s a database that tracks the origins of nuclear materials on the black market or detonated in an attack.

Fascinating, right? I thought so, too. In fact, as I read the story, I recalled a conversation from the show “NCIS” between Supervisory Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (portrayed by Mark Harmon) and forensic genius Abby Sciuto (portrayed by Pauley Perrette):

ABBY: I used the victim’s measurements and the location of his injuries to determine the height of the vehicle based on point of impact. And then I used a database for vehicle grill dimensions. Can you believe someone put together a database of vehicle grill dimensions?

GIBBS: I was about to call Ripley’s.

ABBY: I had this boyfriend once – not the balloon guy – but this one was like a computer genius. He put together a database of databases. Well, it seems obvious in retrospect, like the pet rock.

So yeah, there pretty much is a database for everything. But the National Uranium Materials Archives is a database of truly alarming things. Then I read this delightful fact:

Since 1993, there have been 419 cases of smuggled or stolen nuclear materials worldwide, and experts say the threat is increasing.

Holy. Crap.

Over 400 cases of stolen nuclear material? That is utterly terrifying. And then I had this pleasant thought: Over 400 cases of stolen nuclear material… that we know about.

Okay, I’m off to build an atomic shelter and stock up on non-perishable food.

Have a lovely week!
Hearst Magazines Digital Subscriptions Now Generating Profits

January 5, 2013 /

Hearst Magazines president David Carey says in his New Year’s letter to employees that at year’s end, the company had 800,000 monthly digital subscriptions in the U.S. — the highest in the industry. “Those subscriptions are now generating profits after 24 months of investment,” he writes. Carey also writes that Esquire editor-in-chief David Granger will soon announce “a bold new partnership — an initiative that will dramatically expand the Esquire franchise.” He adds that the magazine “has big plans in the works to celebrate its 80th anniversary this year.”

(Source: Romenesko)