Table of Contents (Click on the scissors to cut to new content)
[UPDATE] Melting Like Popsicles — What I have been working on through May and preparing for the summer. [UPDATE] Pass Me the Updoug — The usual nonsense and shenanigans. [UPDATE] Excitement Contained...Barely — Another glimpse into the madness, which is Dougie. [UPDATE] Working on Stuff in Order to do Stuff — Update about what I have been up to in February. [UPDATE] Please Use a Clean Plate — What I have been up to throughout December and January. [UPDATE] The End (of the Year) is Nigh! — Detailing the busy month of November and the continuing of the holidays. [UPDATE] Writing the Wrong (Stuff) — A brief overview of what I have been working on since the last news update in May. [UPDATE] May, the Warm Up Band — Update for all the fun I got up to in May and leading into the summer. [UPDATE] Caffeinated Puppy — Lost of stuff happened in April. [UPDATE] Missing Time Suggests Alien Abduction — I must have been busy [UPDATE] Approaching with Caution — In my personal news, projects ramp up with the library and I prepare myself for rejoining the Real World. [UPDATE] Folding Road Maps — Knowing how to get from A to Z is going to take a lot of road maps. Hit it! [UPDATE] Many Spinning Plates — When news is more like a game show or holiday special. [UPDATE] Tables of Food, Tables of Content — I love when the creation of one thing either exposes something needing improvement or another great idea. [UPDATE] Working on the Peripheral — Improvements to the interview process, UI work, and other things. [UPDATE] Pleasing Project Progress — As a co-worker had said, sometimes you need to slow down to speed up. [UPDATE] Project Hansel and Gretel — Introducing breadcrumbs! Organizing too many tickets. And, leaping back into the workplace fray! [UPDATE] Where in the World is Dougie Schwartz? — This update involves England, Scotland, Ireland, the Beatles, and Charlie Brown. [UPDATE] Your Opinions, Please — Looking for feedback on the changes that have been made to the website, the content of the newsletter, and what future features you might find useful. [UPDATE] Spoilers, Dirty Content, Horror, and Rudeness — This status contains details about the site upgrades and improvements, and a few non-work related topics. [UPDATE] The Monster at the End of the Status Update — Mainly working on pre-building content to improve the site content. [UPDATE] Newments and Improvements — The bi-weekly status report that briefly describes upcoming changes to the website, a brief review of my new favorite movie, and a couple other little tidbits. [UPDATE] Pardon My Dust, Construction Zone Ahead — Discussing the attempts of my Big 50 challenges. [UPDATE] My God! It's Full of Ideas! — Juggling all the ideas in my head. [UPDATE] The Challenge of Too Many Challenges — Kicking of the Big 50 Challenge and behind-the-scenes work. [UPDATE] Mr Doug is Turning Fifty — Preparations for celebrating my 50th birthday. [UPDATE] Creative Crop Circles — Thinking about how to celebrate my birthday while juggling various projects. [UPDATE] Apart from Wordle... — Home repairs and player accounts. [UPDATE] Kicking Off the New Year — Coming off the holidays, ready to face the new year. [UPDATE] Where's Hippopotamus?! — Pre-holiday shenanigans. [UPDATE] Two Big Questions — The questions are not "Where am I?" and "Where are my pants?" [UPDATE] Sharing is Caring — Teaching is a rough profession. [UPDATE] Me Good at English? — Stepping down the path towards teaching. [UPDATE] Simplification, Please. — The KISS Rule - Keep It Simple, Stupid! [UPDATE] Self Torture and Other Fun Activities — As if I need one more activity, I should pick up cloning as a hobby. [UPDATE] Funny Ha Ha, or Funny Peculiar? — Humor authors are often a bit of both. [UPDATE] School Has Given Me a Lot to Think About. — Wrapping up the school year and kicking off summer. [UPDATE] They Need a Guy Like Me — Teaching English and driving. [UPDATE] Long-Term Subbing and Other Adventures — Accepting a long-term gig. [UPDATE] Self-Service Interviews with a side of Randomness — Some of the fine tools this site has to offer. [UPDATE] Searching Content, Hidden Fiction — Some days my focus is all over the place. [UPDATE] Searching for Answers — Incorporating a content searching tool into the site. [UPDATE] Orchard of Low-Hanging Fruit — Sometime the little things add up to a big accomplishment. [UPDATE] Surviving Snowmegeddon — That was a LOT of snow! [UPDATE] Subs, Pubs, and Flubs — Otherwise known as The Good, The Meh, and the Tired [UPDATE] A Werehouse Full of Fiction — In which there is a bit of bragging about my weird stories. [UPDATE] Reading, writing, and way too many baked goods. — Recovering from the holidays. [UPDATE] Happy holidays! — The Holidays...Oof! Amiright? [UPDATE] Small Steps Make Great Strides — A peek behind the curtain. [UPDATE] Now with more scissors! (snip, snip) — Every little bit helps. [UPDATE] The Specific Ocean — Will anyone really see this? [UPDATE] It's All About the Content — If Content is king, what are the Queen, Bishop, and Rook? [UPDATE] The Presentation of Relevant Information — Shining the light in the right places. [UPDATE] Dougie... The Overplanner — Sometimes, it takes overthinking to realize I was right the first time. [UPDATE] Reality Fiction Needs You! — Recruiting writers for a bit of experimental fiction. [UPDATE] One Stop Shop — Keeping myself organized. [UPDATE] Reviews, Tools, and Tools for Writing Reviews — Aaaah...Comfort books. [UPDATE] Meanwhile...In the Fortress of Self-Isolation — I hate leaf blowers. [UPDATE] Reading, Writing, and a Word Count — My compost heap is deep. [UPDATE] Perpetual Cereal — Does it come with a toy prize at the bottom of the box? [UPDATE] Pandemic Projects — I have eaten a LOT of Chinese food. [UPDATE] Projected Focus — The usual juggling on a slippery slope. [UPDATE] Day Whatever of the Coronavirus Pandemic — Making tick marks on the wall. [UPDATE] A Degree in the Mad Arts — I could be a Mad Ice Cream Man. [UPDATE] Go, Dougie! It's your birthday! — Raise the roof! [UPDATE] More of Doug's Crazy Ideas — Drip, drip, drip went the Idea Faucet. [UPDATE] Call the Doctor! I ate too many cookies. — If you have tried my gingerbread cookies, you would eat too many, also. [UPDATE] Spilt Milk? Fried Eggs? Why do I write about food? — I am a Word Chef! [UPDATE] Going Cross-Eyed — The dark arts will do that to you. [UPDATE] Taking Steps in the Write Direction — One step in front of the other. [UPDATE] Writing, Writing, and More Writing — Did I mention writing? [UPDATE] Written Out of the Story — Just one too many. [UPDATE] The Ice Cream Man Cometh — Is Donut Delivery Man a thing? [UPDATE] What's Going On? — The first status update.
What in the world is going on? Whoa! No! Too much stuff is going on in the world! Back up! Back up!
What is going on here, with me, and this website, and stuff? Ah, yes. That's much better. Less likely to trigger my insomnia. So...what up, Dougie?
I'll tell you what up!
I have offically rolled out Subscriber-Only Content (SOC). See that little button in the top-right corner that says "Subscribe"? I want to grow my author business, and one way is to build up my list of subscribers. To thank people for subscribing, I will be creating more content available only to those who subscribe to my free newsletter. One of the first bits of SOC is a survey about what serialize fiction they might like to read. What are the options, you didn't ask? Subscribe and find out! After all, it is free.
Assuming you are reading this by clicking the link, you may not have seen the new feature on the site's home page. I developed a scrollin marquee pulling and sharing bits of information from the site. Click on the little house icon in the naviagtion bar to see for yourself. Love it? Hate it? I'd like to know your opinions about it.
I realized I have not created much fictional content lately. I have been blogging a bit, journaling a bit, and other non-fiction writing projects. The serialized fiction is also to encourage me to write on a more regular basis. Also, I created a short story from a randomized prompt from my Writing Prompt Generator . Using the prompt generator is also part of the effort to "eat my own Doug Food".
That short story is currently shared via the blog. Why, you didn't ask like you didn't ask the last question? Well...I recently upgraded my computer and some of the software is either acting wonky or flat out does not work. I was unable to use my templates for creating a short story cover image. Until I remedy this situation, it will reside in the blog.
I have been presenting myself with various challenges to advance various goals. After taking the coding boot camp, I still practiced mini-projects, like the ones on CodeWars. I decided, why do their projects? Why am I not presenting myself with more meaningful challenges that help advance one or more personal projects? Many of these have been targeted for my other creative outlet, Pegamoose Games, and are related to the game engine I am working on. One challenge is what led to the scrolling marquee. These new sets of challenges are better aligned with my businesses.
Another challenge I have presented myself I call The Challenge of the Ages! Based on my age (at the time of this update, 52), I aim to accomplish that number worth of exercises over the course of the week. 52 sit ups. 52 jumping jacks. 52 second planks. 52 total minutes on the elliptical. And so on. This may not be a big deal to the healthier people reading this, but to this couch potato, it is a great motivation to strive towards. So far...I have found 52 reasons to procrastinate this challenge! Actually, I have met a few of the exercise goals, but I still need to push myself to do more.
Other than that, I have made various improvements to my behind-the-scenes tools and other maintenance type processes.
If you have read this far into my wordy news updates, I hope you know how much I appreciate you. And, if you have not already subscribed, I hope you consider it.
Until next time!
Related Content: Excitement Contained...Barely (status update) Melting Like Popsicles (status update)
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