Queries, Space Missions and Angry Birds

During a short breather in my MBA program, I got to thinking about Urban Mythos again. I have about five queries and one submission outstanding on it. The sub is several months old at this point, and I sent a courtesy eMail checking in a month ago. The queries occurred about two plus months ago. The question is, do I wait, or do I start querying again? I fear I won't make a decision before the lull ends ... tomorrow. Maybe in between courses.

Time is precious as I close in on the last two weeks of this leadership course. I just finished my primary contribution to a paper detailing the leadership strengths of the primary characters in the film Apollo 13. I wound up writing about Jim Lovell, the commander of Apollo 13, portrayed by Tom Hanks. I really would have liked to do Gene Kranz, the director of ground control portrayed by Ed Harris, because that guy seriously knew how to lead. "We've never lost an American in space. We sure as hell aren't going to lose one on my watch." And then the absolutely pervasive line, "Failure is not an option." Sure, Lovell said, "Houston, we have a problem," but still.

I have another paper to do in the next week or two. Two? Man, I hope it's two. It's a big paper. Who signed me up for this again? Thank goodness for my Nook Color. I've loaded a ton of required reading in PDF format onto the e-reader so I can take the material anywhere. Did I mention that I bought Angry Birds for the Nook? Yep. The most recent software update for the Nook brought a newer version of the Android O/S, and access to a ton of apps. The downside is I can't seem to pry the Nook out of my wife's hands. She's a bit hooked on Angry Birds.

Even more work than I thought

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted anything on the pen and I get the feeling it's going to be like that for a while. The first week of my MBA program is nearing completion. I'm doing an online program with Centenary College here in New Jersey. Numerous people have told me that the online variation of any MBA program winds up being far more work - incredible amounts of writing - to make up for the fact that you aren't in a classroom for three hours. It sure seems true so far.

I'm on the blackboard system most every night, preparing assignments, doing research, and participating in threaded discussions. When I'm not doing that, I'm reading textbooks and research. By the way, I totally dig that the Nook reads PDFs since much of the research I dig up is in PDF format. Occasionally, the Nook's Quick Office app can't handle certain PDFs so they look all weird and illegible. Then I found Calibre, which lets you convert various file formats to the e-pub format. One such PDF converted nicely.. It's sooooo much nicer reading this stuff on an e-reader than on a PC.

Still, I'm finding time to read fiction. I recently finished the audio book for Scott Westerfeld's, So Yesterday, and I'm still wading through Richard Kadrey's, Kill the Dead, the much anticipated (by me) sequel to Sandman Slim. I think I like the first book a bit more, but it's still a blast. I've just begun to get my sci-fi on with audio book version of Richard K. Morgan's, Thirteen.

So despite my academic and professional pursuits, I'm still a double threat reading-wise.

And so it begins

My MBA program starts this coming week. Life as I knew it, is over.... at least for a couple of years. 

In other news, an entire week has gone by without a rejection letter. That's progress!

And in other, other news. We're the proud owners of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I DVD. Tonight, the family shall chow down on spaghetti with tasty meatballs purchased from Anthony & Sons in Denville. We also have some pasta fagioli, broccoli rabe, various breads, and fresh cookies from their excellent market. All this will be done in front of the television.

Rachel took one look at the quart of pasta fagioli soup and said, "So that's how they spell that?" Yeah, it's one of those words that you wonder how they decided to spell something that sounds like "Fazool" (at least in this part of the country). It's got that dangling "i" at the end. Ah, well.

Moving on and moving up

I recently came to the conclusion that I needed to go for a masters degree. Why, you ask? I guess I'm at that point in my career where I realize I won't be satisfied with doing the same fundamental job I've been doing for the past, I don't know, let's say fifteen years. As some of you may know, I'm what they call an IT Professional.

Here's the relevant definitions:

IT = Information Technology
they = the all knowing, ever present "they"
Information Technology = Computer Geek stuff
Professional = someone who gets paid to be a Computer Geek.


I'm going to date myself now, and by date myself, I don't mean take myself out for dinner and a movie. Nearly twenty-two years ago, I graduated from the State University of New York at Binghamton with a Bachelor's Degree in Management.

*Pauses to shudder at the realization it's been that long*

When I left school, I accepted a job at Morgan Stanley, a brokerage firm in New York City, where I was paid to work for twelve hours a day: eight hours as an amateur computer geek performing mundane tasks such as loading reel-to-reel tapes and/or cartridges into the data center tape drives, unloading six-inch thick reports from twin-bed sized Siemens printers, staring at a computer monitor for hours on end to ensure that the monolithic stuff was working, and calling professional computer geeks in the middle of the night when said stuff of theirs wasn't working.

Nine months later, I was deemed a professional computer geek and set loose upon the commercial world of Morgan Stanley. Okay, so basically I was a computer programmer. Some folks like to call it software developer, while others prefer the self-satisfying term, software engineer. However you looked at it - programming computers, developing software, engineering software, or geeking out... I was an IT professional.

About six years and a couple of companies later, I moved on and moved up and into the world of management. I was a HGIC. Head Geek in Charge. That, by the way, is entirely different from the title we have at my present employer - HMFIC. I'll leave the definition of that acronym to your imagination. But, know there is only one correct answer.

As an HGIC, or development manager, it was my job to ensure other geeks wrote software by whatever random date somebody else chose. And frankly, I was still one of the geeks, so I continued to write software, and still do to this day, sixteen years later. Sure, I don't code*** nearly as much as I used to, but I've still got the heart of a programmer.

***Missing definition
code = write/develop/engineer software, program a computer, geek out

Okay, so this brings us to present day. I've been managing my kind for fifteen years. I'm quite sure I was awful at it to begin with, but over time, I think I've become somewhat competent. Hopefully, more than that. But as much as I enjoy the occasional programming diversion, I'm once again ready to move on and move up. Despite my many years of solid experience, it looks like an advanced degree is, while not required, certainly helpful in moving on and moving up.

MBA - Masters of Business Administration. That's the degree I'm going after. It'll be part time, possibly online or a mix of online and on-campus. I'm researching schools now. It's going to take a while - probably three or four years at the pace my home and work life can handle.

What will this do to my writing? Heck if I know, but something will have to give. I'm thinking of ways to balance work, family, friends, education and writing. I think the community aspect of writing may need to diminish if I'm to keep on writing novels, at least when school is in session. I can't stop writing. My brain just keeps pumping out strange and wonderful story ideas, and I need to put them on paper.


*Sigh*