Big Bear Lake

Bear Mountain Opens Tomorrow!

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Bear Mountain is officially opening for the 2013-14 winter season Wednesday November 27th at 8:30 am!

A limited number of runs will be available to riders, with Chair 9 open top to bottom with terrain features. Available trails are Upper Park Run, Expressway, The Gulch, and Lower Park Run.

Chair 9 is for intermediate to advanced runs, and there will be NO beginner trails available on opening day. Plan on arriving early as ticket sales may be limited due to limited terrain (as in “it’s not quite winter … yet).

Bear Mounting will be offering drink specials at the Beach Bar, giveaways from Neff, a message in a bottle contest and more!

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National Forests

How to Cut Your Own Christmas Tree

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

At last count, there were eight states that participate in the National Christmas Tree Program and sell permits that allow residents to cut their own tree.  In California, specifically, there are several national forests that issue Christmas Tree permits.

From the Men’s Journal:

Retailers will tell you that the holiday season begins on Thanksgiving, but for many Americans it begins on the day they get their Christmas tree. The tree is a houseguest destined to stay through December (and a bit of January if folks are feeling lazy) and be introduced to family and friends. As such, it’s best if you know where your tree comes from and feel comfortable talking about how you met. The best place to find a tree with a bit of personality? One of the country’s many National Forests, which open to tree-seekers every December. According to Jane Leche, Colorado’s Front Range Christmas Program Coordinator, the best part of finding your coniferous Christmas buddy on public land is that you’ll actually be doing a public service. Still, the process can be a bit complicated.

“People have been cutting down trees on public land since day one, but you can’t just wander out there and start cutting anymore,” says Leche, who estimates that 30,000 people participate in the program. “You have to have a permit and know the cutting area – get all the information – and be familiar with the process.”

You can read the entire article HERE.

You can find out more about California’s Christmas Tree Permit program HERE.

Dead Tree Books, eBook, Success Stories

Today in Self-Publishing History: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

On November 26, 1865 Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, under the pen name Lewis Carroll published the novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

From Wikipedia:

[Alice in Wonderland] … tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre. Its narrative course and structure, characters and imagery have been enormously influential in both popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre.

Since the invention of the printing press – and becoming increasingly popular since the 19th century – many successful authors would create and publish their own works.  These self-published authors would gain more control of their work, earn greater profits, and eschew the practical bondage required by publishers.  Publishers have repeatedly attempted to frame these and other self-published authors as using “vanity publishing” in an attempt to shame them.  To be clear: most people can’t name a single publisher … but they can name MANY self-published authors.  And English classes don’t have assignments to read Random House or Penguin, but they do have assignments on Twain, Tennyson, Kipling, and Thoreau.

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Goals, Success Stories

NaNoWriMo 2013: And now for something completely different.

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

For NaNoWriMo this year, I tried an experiment. Normally I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking coupled with Scrivener and LibreOffice.

This year, I used Notes, Scrivener, Dragon, and Siri on my iPad and iPhone. I dictated virtually the entire work, sometimes when I was sitting in traffic, or out hiking, sometimes at home, or just wherever (“wherever” includes waiting on annoyingly late dates to show up. I’ve decided that waiting for someone who doesn’t have the respect to show up within 15 minutes of the date isn’t worth waiting for.  No matter how big her boobies are).

My work schedule has been: get up early, dictate while I hike (watching out for coyotes – they’re out in force). Get back home, pick up my computer, head over to get coffee, and spend the hour there organizing everything I’d saved in Notes into Scrivener. Then organizing the Scrivener bits into something reasonably coherent.

I’ve been working roughly 4 hours a day on this project just to see if I’m more productive by using ‘gap time’ (the time between locations, assignments, waiting for the microwave to ding, drive-time, waiting for clients or dates, and down time throughout the rest of the workday).  It isn’t dedication, it’s a science experiment.

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Geocaching

Geocaching in Harmony with Nature

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Yes, it’s getting a bit cold outside, and geocaching might take a backseat to cozying up to a cup of hot cocoa next to a warm fire, but – at least in Southern California – we are lucky enough to be able to geocache all year long!

As a conservationist, I like to encourage people to work in harmony with Mother Nature.  Not just because it’s good for everyone, but because she’s a bitch if you cross her.  There are a couple of great new blog posts by Annika over at the Geogaching Blog about geocaching in harmony with nature.  Part I is about hiding a cache, and Part II is about finding caches.

Tips described in detail in Part I:

  • Have a comprehensive geocache details page.
  • Place the geocache carefully.
  • Choose an appropriate geocache container.
  • Work with your geocaching community volunteer.
  • Don’t leave Cache-Trash.

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