My past week has been both interesting and super-productive.
The Best Article I’ve Read This Week
“We won’t experience one hundred years of technological advance in the twenty-first century; we will witness on the order of twenty thousand years of progress (again, when measured by today’s rate of progress), or about one thousand times greater than what was achieved in the twentieth century.” - Ray Kurzweil
Needless to say, this article written by Michael Simmons has my mind working overtime.
Can you imagine twenty thousand years of progress in this century?
What do you think the twenty-second century will look like?
Ephemera - A Call For Beta Readers
The new poetry manuscript, Ephemera is completely drafted, front matter and all. There are close to a hundred poems in total and most of them have been written during my Steemit/Hive blogging days. Ophelia is hard at work on the cover image and the collection is ready for beta-readers.
Specifics
If you think you have the time to read a hundred poems by May 23rd, point out any errors you find, and provide general feedback please email me at: [email protected] with subject heading "Beta Reader for Ephemera".
I’ll be choosing five people from Hive, please only volunteer if you think you'll have time to dedicate to it and thanks in advance for volunteering! Beta-readers are such a valuable piece to the self-publishing formula. Each will who are chosen will receive a paperback copy of the book.
As I’ve been putting this book together and extracting poems from past blog posts I am absolutely blown away by all of the support I’ve received over the years. Sometimes it still feels like a dream.
Memories
Facebook is good for at least one thing, reminding older people of stuff. March 31, 2011 was the very first time I taught a meditation class. Talk about diving in with both feet, it happened to be a room of ninety people at the company I used to work for, Securian. I remembered how utterly terrified I was going into it but the euphoria after it was all over was well worth the worry.
Proof Of Spring
There aren’t leaves on the trees yet in Minnesota but these blue flowers are always the very first thing to bloom in the spring. What a welcomed sight.
VanMoof
I’ve put almost two hundred miles on this beast in the last few weeks and it can only be described in one word, amazing. VanMoof really hit a homerun with these machines. They are so much more advanced than 98% of other ebikes out there.
I was making dinner tonight and the idea for the following poem hit me. I had to type it out on my phone in the midst of chopping vegetables before it drifted out my mind. Incase you're wondering, they allow you to name your bike in their app and SmoothMoof is what I named mine.
the city
on my S3.
and my body,
create an
organic
symbiosis,
between
them starts
to blur,
it’s clear
that the whole
is, indeed,
greater than
the sum
of its parts.
I feel and
the thrill of
a bionic rebirth...
if ever so briefly,
undeniably closer
to perfection.
Must Streams of 2021
We found one more excellent series I’d like to share. The Irregulars on Netflix.
It’s set in Victorian London but has a very “Harry Potter-esque” vibe to it. It’s safe to say if you were into J.K. Rowling’s work and Sherlock Holmes' mysteries you’ll really be into this.
All for now.
With Gratitude,
Eric Vance Walton
(Gif sourced from Giphy.com)
Most of us have experienced a moment of perfect peace at least once in our lives. In these moments we lose ourselves and feel connected to everything. I call these mindful moments. Words can’t describe how complete they make us feel.
These moments are usually fragile, evaporating in seconds. What if there was a way to train your mind to experience more of them? It’s deceptively easy and requires nothing more than a subtle shift in mindset. My new book, Mindful Moments, will teach you to be much more content despite the chaos and imperfect circumstances continuing to unfold around you. Upgrade your life experience today for only $15.99 on Amazon.com.
Let’s Keep In Touch
100 poems? I don’t even think that I have that many... much less what’s worth sharing. Good for you!
Thanks! Blogging here was a real motivator for me to keep creating new ones.
Ten years ago (from 2007 to 2012) I was in middle school.
I started it as a regular student, but I became a private student because of constant bullying. I do not remember exactly when I became a private student, but I successfully finished middle school.
Be bullied can be tough. I'm glad you got through it.
Thanks for the Irregulars. I really needed something new and not reality TV, Please!
The perfect harmony of thoughts on SmoothMoof. I have never owned an ebike, but, I think it would be fun! You do have spring on the right side of you! It has been a cold spring up there!
I admit I like Facebook memories, as there was a time I used it and I made some good memories!
Good luck with the book! If you run short on Beta Readers, I can help out, although giving feedback on 100 poems may put me out of there. I can read for flow and pick out errors, but, general feedback or each one?
Great post! Eclectic and fun. :))
Thanks @dswigle! We really enjoyed The Irregulars. My tolerance for reality TV and news is super low these days. I watch more YouTube than anything now...channels like - Kara & Nate, Bald and Bankrupt, Joolz Guides.
Thanks, it's so funny when those poems hit all at once like that. This one wasn't refined at all. I typed it out exactly as it came to me.
Those FB memories are such a bittersweet reminder of all we've lost during this past year. Maybe they'll also serve as a trail of breadcrumbs to rebuild.
I appreciate the good wishes for the book! This one has been a lot of fun to put together. I'm finding that I enjoy the design process almost as much as the writing. I can always use more beta-readers. Just feel free to email me if you'd like a link. There's still a few weeks before I'd need the feedback. I'm going to comb through it in the next few days and make the corrections people have found up until now.
Glad you enjoyed it! Enjoy your week!
hello dear friend @ericvancewalton good afternoon
it is a real pleasure to read your post; I am very happy for all the beautiful things that are happening to you, this book of poems will undoubtedly have a lot of acceptance
You are enjoying your bicycle a lot, and that is very good, it is very good for visual and mental health
I take this opportunity to wish you a splendid afternoon
Thanks my friend. I hope you're having a wonderful week with your family.
Lots of stuff going on huh! I would love to tackle some proof reading on your book, but I have too much on my plate right now I am afraid. Plus I am a chronically slow reader. I mean like horrible slow. When we were kids and we played Jeopardy on our old computer my sister used to have to count to three before she started reading the "answer" just to give me a fair shot. I suck!
Yes, lots of stuff including FINALLY finding a vaccination appointment. We're getting the J&J vaccine on the 13th. No worries about not being able to proof! These have been looked at quite a bit already since most of them have been posted on the blog in the past 4-5 years. I was just looking for a few extra sets of eyes to spot things that I'm probably blind to. I'm not the fastest reader either. I like to take time to really absorb what I'm reading. Hope all is well!
Yeah, I am the same way. My wife and my dad do this thing where they skip over all the short words like and, the, a, stuff like that. I don't know how they can still comprehend what they are reading when they do that! I am happy that you guys got an appointment for your vaccine. That is awesome!
Thanks! I'm so ready for a normal spring/summer.
Hello my friend ... I think the progress of the twenty-second century must have been devastating. Something that I never imagined now will definitely happen in the future. Indeed the world is getting more sophisticated. Like when I was a child, I could only watch movies on black and white television, now I can watch movies on my cellphone which I can carry everywhere. Of course it never occurred to me at that time.
Have a nice day, Eric.
Hi Eliana. I remember when I was a child they were saying flying cars would be in use by the 1990's and a lot of those futuristic predictions never came to be. I think it's a little different now because of super computers and A.I., technological advancement will develop more quickly than we can even fathom. It's going to be an interesting future.
100 poems!!! Thats a lot.
I am not so good with reading a lot although I would love to.
I will definitely see the irregular
Yes, close to 100 anyway. Five years' worth.
Your post is reblogged and upvoted by me. It is a good post. Thank you @ericvancewalton
If it is good, then why not write something meaningful related to it?
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