Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on March 28th, 2016 in Main 
Erno Rubik invented his “magic cube” in 1974. It appeared on toy shelves in his native country as the “Hungarian Magic Cube” in 1977, and arrived in America three years later in 1980. Rubik’s Cubes flew off shelves in record numbers. It was named 1980’s “Toy of the Year,” and puzzle cubes (both Rubik’s brand and knock-offs) continue to sell today. To date, more than 350 million Rubik’s Cubes have been sold, making it both the best selling puzzle and best selling toy of all time. Most of us associate Rubik’s Cubes with the 1980s. Check out the cover of… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on March 22nd, 2016 in IBM PC 
To provide the music for my niece’s wedding, I used a program called DJ Mix Pro. It’s not a well known program, but it’s really good at what it does (and really affordable), so I thought I would mention it. Talented disc jockeys are able to take two songs, match their speed (measured in Beats Per Minute, or BPM), and seamlessly fade from one song to the next. It is an art that requires skill, talent, and a good ear. DJ Mix Pro simulates this skill and performs it automatically by using its own patented “Beatlocking Technology.” After adding your… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on March 21st, 2016 in WritingI spent an hour or two yesterday writing a motorcycle chase. Our hero — Skip — has just been lured into a seedy part of town in hopes of hiring a coyote (or “Coyotaje”) to help sneak him and his cohort Monica back across the border into the United States. The meeting was a setup. Trapped between the drug runners (who want to kill him) and the Coyotajes (who want to kill him), Skip hops on one of the coyote’s motorcycles, hotwires it, and makes a break for it. When I’m writing an action scene, the action unfolds in my… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on March 19th, 2016 in Main 
Twelve hours before my niece’s wedding was scheduled to begin, decorations still needed hanging, my laptop (the sole source of the evening’s music) started acting up, and the wedding cake had just fallen off the table, onto the floor. Jessica, my oldest niece, was born in 1989. She was four when Susan and I moved in together, and had just turned six when she served as a flower girl (along with her sister) at our wedding in 1995. Twenty-one years later, it was Jessica’s turn to stand at the altar, with my daughter Morgan as one of the bridesmaids and… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on March 16th, 2016 in WritingLast night my family and I spent the night in a cabin in the woods. I wrote a little bit about the cabin on my website. This entry isn’t about the cabin. Not exactly, anyway. It’s about one of the most misunderstood pieces of writing advice: “Write what you know.” This sage piece of writing advice has been attributed to Mark Twain, Ernest Hemmingway, and several other classic authors. Taken at face value, it’s not very helpful. I suspect Tolkien never met a Hobbit, nor has Stephen King ever encountered a possessed 1958 Plymouth Fury. If authors literally only wrote… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on March 15th, 2016 in Main 
The family and I spent the night as close to camping as I like to get — inside a two bedroom, 1,000 square foot cabin. The outside of the cabin is chocolate brown and looks like logs. Everything inside — the floors, walls, ceiling, shelves, cupboards, and kitchen table — are made of pine. The roof, front door, and trim are all forest green. From inside the cabin you can’t see any other cabins. There are trees to the south, and a huge deck out the backdoor that overlooks a fire pit and a murky swamp pond out past that.… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on March 11th, 2016 in Main 
The day Mason was born, the doctor heard a slight “clicking” sound while listening to his heart with a stethoscope. The clicking sound turned out to be a mild heart murmur. Later, a specialist officially diagnosed Mason with a mild case of pulmonary valve stenosis, combined with a dilated pulmonary artery. I was scared when I heard those words. Terrified, actually. The doctor reassured us that it was “very mild,” but hearing that your child may have something wrong with his or her heart is never pleasant. When Mason was young, the doctor told us that Mason would need to… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on March 7th, 2016 in WritingOver the weekend, I reached my first major goal: 25,000 words. The novel I have to turn in this May must be 50,000 words in length, so at least in regards to my word count, I’m halfway there. I’m not halfway done with the work that must be completed, of course. I spent roughly four hours today editing and re-editing previous scenes and chapters. A lot of that work remains to be completed. I have to turn in the first half of the book by the end of March 22. The week of March 14-18 is spring break and we… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on March 4th, 2016 in Main“Your butt stinks, and you have wooden teeth.” -Aaron Burr to George Washington, during a 1792 presidential debate. This past week, after being repeatedly called “short” and “tiny,” republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio insinuated that because fellow GOP candidate Donald Trump has small hands, he probably also has a small penis. In last night’s presidential debate, which aired live on FOX News, Donald Trump declared to the country in his opening statement that his penis was of at least average size, and that there are “no problems at all down there.” While voters, viewers, and reporters continue to be shocked… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on March 3rd, 2016 in Star Wars, Star Wednesday 
What better way to publicly pledge your allegiance to the Empire as a kid in the 1980s than by carrying a Star Wars brand lunchbox to and from school every day? Sure, other kids might have Star Wars toys at home, but with a Star Wars lunchbox, you could represent Star Wars all day! The lunchbox you see above is the one I carried to school for a couple of years in the early 1980s. The picture shows our four heroes (Chewbacca, Han Solo, Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker) standing on Hoth with their guns drawn and pointed toward the… (read more)
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