Yes, you do matter.

Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

Generation Z is the democrats secret weapon. There are roughly about 80 million of these “kids”. You may think that your one little vote doesn’t matter, or makes a difference, but the reality is, every vote matters. Let’s face it, Baby Boomers, or just “boomer” aren’t exactly the nicest people out there. Other than your parents, or for some of you, your grandparents, think of other people who fall into that category and think about how nice, generous and altruistic that person is. Or … isn’t.

If you are new to this blog, then I will share with you that I am talk a lot about human resource issues since that is a lot of my background. My primary blog will give you all kinds of job search and hiring secrets. I was going to write another book about job searching, but I actually wanted people to read what I wrote and not just throw it on a shelf. So, just give it away free, and word of mouth does the rest. We will witness the economy change and shift as workers no longer go back to work. There is already automated cars that are developed and in production that will replace your UberEats and Instacart deliveries. Think about how cool it would be to have a little minivan automated vehicle pull up and open up with all your groceries? Sure you have to take them inside yourself but you didn’t have to go to the store, shop for the stuff and put it in bags, and don’t forget ring it up as you are now the cashier. And you wouldn’t have to tip the automated delivery.

Did you know there are now 69.6 million boomers? Gen X, 65.1 million and Gen Z is the biggest. Now keep in mind not all of those kids can vote … yet. But every day thousands turn of age. Wow. Now it is not fair to think that every boomer is a republican, but it is fair to say that they don’t care about the younger generation, with issues like say, minimum wage, childcare issues or birth control, or school bond issues. Why? They are selfish. They were the generation that invented fructose syrup. They left us with a world that is melting, literally.

Supreme Court Aftermath

It is such sweet justice that millions of voters came out to vote due to Roe V. Wade. I watched as thousands of new voters stood in lines for hours. Republicans were praying for a “red wave” of republican voters, but the harsh truth is the children of yesterday, the ones who huddled under desks while they feared for their lives, … they are the ones who voted against every single republican candidate. Millions of republicans DID vote. It wasn’t enough. A million COVID deaths, probably most of them republican who wouldn’t get the shot. There are still millions who haven’t gotten the shot and are at risk of dying. Just yesterday some dude was coughing up a storm in the grocery store. I put my mask back on and I will continue to do so in public places. I got my booster and my flu shot. You should too.

Are you a digital creator?

When I say digital creator, it means do you create content and post it on the internet somewhere? If you started your WordPress blog/site then you are on your way. Every post you manifest and put into words are a divine expression that someone wants to experience. At first it will just be people that actually know you. Your circle of friends. Your family probably won’t take an interest in you, unless they are already in that circle of close friends. If your kid was selling candy bars for school, who would buy one? That is your tribe.

There aren’t a lot of movies or stories about blogs, but the one that does come to mind is the Julie Julia show about a wanna be chef who uses a blog to document it. One trend that smartphones has sparked has been taking pictures of your food. I’ll admit, I love it. It gives me inspiration to make something, try something new, or go to a recommended restaurant. If you check out my Instagram, I have posted pictures of food that I have actually cooked/created. It helps me with ideas for dinner when I need some fun ideas. Putting your hobby on Instagram also helps you to keep your photos organized. Sure you can keep things on Pinterest, but how many sites are you going to use on a regular basis? Right. Some of those sites are just time vampires. One cool thing with using the free WordPress site is you get a plethora of free images in their database. My other site doesn’t really use photos much (by choice).

Technically it is Novel November so there should be hundreds of aspiring writers who are challenged to write a novel in a month. It can be done. I think a new Stephen King thriller is due. I could be wrong, he might still be arguing with Elon on Twitter.

I think a more fun challenge would be “Write something you want to get on the banned book list.” Now THAT could be something I could get behind.

Black Panther 2/Wakanda Forever

As promised, I went and sat through one of the longest movies of the year. It started at 2 pm and I walked out a little after 5 pm. Was it all that and a bag of pretzel bites? Hold onto your opinions and I’ll give you my non-spoiler review of the black cat.

So the first thing you want to know is … Did you like it? That is sort of a loaded question, but overall yes, … I did like it. I will start off with all the positive things and then I will rip into the things I didn’t like. If you are planning on seeing it and don’t want to be swayed one way or the other, then I would suggest you stop reading now.

The transition of Chadwick’s Death

ICYMI, the actor who played Black Panther died this past year of cancer. If you have followed along the Avengers adventure then you know he died in the snap, but he came back. But now he died in real life, … so how do they work that into the story? In my opinion, it was just okay. Not great, somewhat believable, but they really wanted to pay tribute to him. Why him? Hundreds of actors died because of a myriad of reasons and they didn’t get a whole movie tribute. You should know that actors get replaced all the time, not because of death but because the movie producers just feel like it. They call it the “reboot”. Superman …. quick — which one do you think of? Exactly. But oh no, in this movie they did NOT recast him, they just let him die. Personally I think they could have recast him with another black guy, and most of the white folks wouldn’t even notice. I know — it is the truth. So, whatever Chadwick is gone and the rest of the movie is about … ready for it? HIS SISTER.

I loved the special effects. I loved the new bad guy villain. For some odd reason Marvel decided to make them all blue, so you totally get an AVATAR steal since that movie is about the big blue monkeys swimming in the water with their new families. Which btw, you totally get to watch that preview and every other black film coming out. Yes, even the animated Pixar movie has been infiltrated by ethnic characters.

What were some of my critiques? Well, if you really want to know, or if you have no plans on going at all so go ahead and ruin it for you. As a writer, how is the storyline? Meh, it is somewhat believable, at least it starts out that way. What is it? The world wants Wakanda’s vibranium. Evidently it is super powerful. So the CIA from the United States has a machine that can find vibranium and the vibranium they found happens to be in the ocean protected by some new evil guy named Namor. Now if they left the previews at that … and really built on that, it could have been awesome. And you may even still think it is awesome. I will just let you in on a little secret. This is a black people film. Almost every single character … is black. They did bring back the one white guy from the first show and there are a handful of white back up actors. But with all the accents, hair braids, weaves and no hair black women, you feel like … as a non-black person, kind of out of place. IF black people from all nations, like Africa, Haiti, Jamaica … bother you, then don’t go, don’t watch it. If you are a racist republican, definitely don’t go. I was in an AMC theater, and almost every theater was playing Black Panther 2, my theater wasn’t very full. The folks that were in there were all white folks. Did we laugh at the jokes? Yes. Did the audience seem to like it? Yes. Did they leave the theater saying “Wow that was the best film of the year!” No. Now keep mind this is also playing in IMAX and in 3D. I watched the standard version matinee for like $11, so I was completely satisfied. I think those other theaters were a lot fuller, but you are also going to pay like $30+ for the same movie with 3D IMAX. Some movies are fun in 3D, but I don’t think this one is one of them. I am thinking back to the show to some of the fight scenes, the car chase scene and it’s not like snowflakes are flying around you or something like they did in Harry Potter. I just think you set yourself up for disappointment watching it as 3D in the theater and then when you watch it again at home it is so not so cool.

Was the 2nd as good as the 1st? No.

Would you pay to go see it again? No.

Could you have waited until it came to Disney+ or Redbox. Yes.

What didn’t you like? It was really long, dragged at times, and made me want to get up and do something else. I don’t like the story/plot. I couldn’t really tell if there is going to be a part 3 or if this was a one off sequel.

What did I like? I liked the characters/actors. Angela Bassett kills it. I liked they brought back some of the men from Wakanda. Not all, but some. Wakanda itself could have its own television series. Hear that Disney? Wakanda deserves more than a hot shot movie.

How did they bring back the “Black Panther”? Movie magic can make anything happen right? Was there a lost seed somewhere? A magic flower that secretly bloomed and grew somewhere else? Was a flower stolen from the rest of the flowers and grown in a pot in secret? Gosh, you will just have to watch and see, because we all know that in the movies and television anything can happen as crazy as it may sound. Hey, maybe a flower from an alternate timeline that was from the quantum realm by a tiny little ant man or wasp? Maybe it is a flower that was from the past brought to Shuri who is able to clone it and make hundreds?

For the record I liked Black Adam way better than I liked Black Panther 2. Marvel versus DC. Both have their pros and cons.

Yo! I just updated this blog!

Hey guys — and gals, welcome to my other personal blog. This one was imported from a prior blog and I was using my author blog for the majority of my writing. This morning when I went to open up my website I found myself unable due to technical difficulties. Then I heard a voice and it said to come to this site and write. This one isn’t that bad and it is hosted on WordPress.com. So it lacks a lot of customization and different functionality, but you are here for the content, not the fancy site right? So if you are a fan, follower, reader, or long time friend, … my blogs/writings are entertaining content and I continue to put smiles around the world.

So if you take a look at this site it literally has been years since I have updated or written anything on this site, so what the heck right? Here is an updated picture of me, I pulled off my phone. It was taken this year so it is current. If you don’t follow my Instagram then I’ll share with you that I have grown my hair out so that I wear it in a man bun under my visor. I just turned 49 in July and I have taken an interest in beauty products. Hopefully with the ultimate goal of looking good. Maybe you know someone who needs some health and beauty tips, or maybe you are just bored and need some new entertainment. I’ve been writing for several decades in a variety of different mediums. In case you didn’t know, I have a master’s degree in business administration with a focus in human resources. I also have a business marketing degree and like 30 years experience. I found in my years of work, working with people, customers, coworkers and supervisors, … the corporate world wasn’t that great. When I was a teacher at an online college, it was all a numbers game. It was hard to really get to know students and to significantly impact someone in ten weeks can be challenging. So anyway, some people like me for my ideas, some like my for my thoughts, and others like me for my stories. In theory, if any of my fans have subscribed to my site through WordPress, then I don’t even have to tell anyone, and this post will just show up in a bunch of readers. I kind of like this new format, layout and font so I think I will start producing some new content on this site. It is free after all. As far as I know it doesn’t lock me out or go down. A lot of my friends who read my blog tell me that they can actually hear my voice as they read it. If you have never heard my voice you can actually search my podcast on Amazon music or Spotify. I did a couple of podcasts and I plan to do more. I think it is on iTunes as well. Crazy how easy it is to produce and market a podcast. I will be sure to produce more in the near future.

I also updated the menu on this site and if you haven’t checked out my author site/blog, that is where the last few years or so of my writings have lived. https://aaronmstephens.com/blog There is hundreds of hours of reading material on that site. Check it out and I’ll be writing more here soon. The color block backgrounds are fun too.

Just Keep Writing … fiction

The other day someone asked me what new projects I was working on currently. I sort of laughed as my project list is never-ending. I looked at my Pressbook.com dashboard to look at exactly how many “book” projects I have started. WAY too many. Oh if I only had all the time to just sit and write. Any writer out there can tell you that writing, like any other chore, is a time consuming, sometimes tedious task.

I have contemplated which I think is more difficult, writing fiction or non-fiction. Writing fiction was fun. I was creating characters, personalities, and underlying deep-seeded messages. It became work when the subplot became a tangled web of suspense and surprises. Non-fiction is more black and white. They are both difficult and simple in their own ways. If you are writing non-fiction you may have a lot of research to back up your findings. Many people “think” they are writing non-fiction, but they are really writing their life memoir. It’s true. Go look up any self-help author and dig a little. Are they able to write intelligently without including their own personal life experiences, opinions and thoughts, … or are they citing other people’s work?

So to answer the earlier question, what projects am I working on … too many. Am I currently writing? Yes and no. I am not writing any manuscripts and unfortunately Angel Academy has not picked up at book 2 just as of yet. My guardians tell me to be patient and the right moment will hit me and like the first book it will be done in record time. I’m alright with that. If you didn’t know, the first book was channeled to me by angels and was completed in just 25 days. I should have a scheduled “writing” time like I did when I was working on A.A., but I don’t. I think all writers will agree with me when I say you really have to be in the right frame of thought to start creating.

One of the things I encourage other fiction writers to do is keep a 3 ring notebook that has characters divided into sections. If you have just one main character then things are a little easier. In the fiction world this is where you really do get to play “make believe”. You have to be able to intelligently discuss your character and everything about him/her. Imagine you are talking to a director of a movie and you need to help cast the perfect person for your main character. In your mind, he/she should easily appear like magic and talk to you, with you, just like a real person. Ask yourself, what are your character’s major flaws or weakness? What will be the downfall? Will your character be good or bad? What morale challenges are you going to throw at him/her that will enchant your reader to fall in love with or hate the character? I also tell authors that if they are writing fiction, that one day you might actually get to meet someone who is cast as that character in a movie. The more in-depth you can get with your characters the better.

One of my favorite story-telling tricks/tactics to drive readers deeper into the plot is by introducing stories within stories. The deeper you can pull your reader the more likely they are going to stick with the book and finish it, and hopefully recommend it. So what do I feel is one of the best techniques? Why that is super simple. Your character needs to have a deep, dark secret. Voila! Your reader is more likely to want to know what that secret is. So now you as the reader are hooked, and you want to know more. If you watched the last Star Wars movie then you know exactly what I am talking about as far as writing goes. How many questions are left unanswered? If you want to string your readers along even further you don’t answer them and instead introduce more clues to the initial dilemma. The secret. There are other tactics, such as killing the parents at an early age, losing a spouse/child, but not saying the how, when, why and so on.

Most important when writing long fiction, such as a novel, is to remember to keep things entertaining. If there are parts that seem to drag on, then you will lose your readers. I can think of several books that I just couldn’t finish. Most people read for entertainment or for learning purposes. If you can do both at the same time, then hats off to that writer.

So to wrap things up on this article, if you are a writer, published author, aspiring someday writer/author, then this might have helped motivate you to write your best work ever. I personally think that everyone has a story inside of them, … just waiting to explode into an imagination of entertainment. I know I need to sit down one day and write my own auto-biography. It actually is pretty fascinating and many times can lead to all nighters of me just talking. My author website and my Facebook page are the only places where it is partially documented.  One day when I am dead, people will say “Aaron M. Stephens? He was the author of Angel Academy, among many other pieces.”

New WordPress Websites – A2A

Hello Friends!  Once again I apologize in advance for what seems to be a long hiatus from writing on the blog. The truth be told, I have been in this blog almost everyday repairing and fixing it. As much as I hate to say it, the really expensive fancy theme I had been using just wasn’t working for me anymore. Sure it was really cool and could do a lot of really cool stuff, but it got in the way of what a blog is intended, and that is just writing. I also admit I have been revisiting some of the articles/blogs written many years ago. Evidently angels had been visiting me for many years, but chose not to identify themselves. That’s okay, I know now.

 

For some of my longtime readers, you may notice that some of the blog entries are gone. Yes, I had to restore this site from an older backup. So those thoughts are gone and lost forever. So I have defaulted back to my all time favorite theme, which allows me total freedom, background customization, font freedom, and of course some really cool parallax technology every now and then. I actually love this theme and I have used it on almost all of my websites. The cool thing is even though they are different sites, they all look like different themes. One thing in common is most of them are long scrolling sites. I have deleted and recreated so many WordPress sites now I can do it in my sleep. After awhile things become so automatic I perform tasks so effortlessly that take others hours to complete. I literally can create a new, full functioning website, WITH high security pre-installed, in less than an hour. There actually is a lot to know about website security that I have unfortunately had to discover due to multiple attacks on many of my websites. After I became semi-famous I naturally became a target. It is amazing the number of attacks my site receives daily. I had to hide my login page so only I know the secret backdoor.

 

When I rebooted this site, I changed the landing/home page to a very short one page. Rather than assigning the pictures that previously were attached to posts I created a very cool graphic slider. It actually is the same slider I use on all my sites, but it just scrolls through pictures. I actually wanted my page to be slightly entertaining when someone landed on it. After the reader goes through some of the blogs, the pictures will begin to decipher themselves.

In addition to fixing/recreating this site, I also creating another site that is strictly lyrics of songs I like to sing. On the menu of this site you can just go to “Songs” and a new window will open.  A long time ago I registered the domain “accordingtoaaron.com” not really knowing what I wanted to do with it. Since it was technically a brand-new never used domain it was safe from any hacker attacks and was on the clean website list. This website actually was safe, but rather than risk any hidden backdoors or scripts I deleted everything off my VPS and started clean. Change is a good thing.

 

So the new site gave me a lot of freedom to just have fun. A lot of people know I am a singer and some people wonder what songs I sing. If you are ever in my company you might actually hear me bust out a song or two. So if you check out the site you’ll start to know some of the songs I have in my musical radio head … playing when I want. When the music sucks, I just sing something I like better. I have the most amazing range for a singer. I can technically sing bass – baritone, and all the way up to tenor 1 & 2, and some alto 2 chords. If you ever take a walk with me, many times in the silence I will start singing. I actually like to sing a lot of country songs. I realized that after I had quite a few songs on the site there wasn’t any navigation for me, or anyone else to go back to a song again. So I created a menu … a very long menu.

 

I didn’t think anyone would actually visit the site, but shortly after it went online it received hits from around the world. The only place it is listed is on this site. I looked at some of my other sites and thought if I wanted to add it, but ultimately decided against it. I don’t do any active promoting of my personal blog or the new site anywhere. My other sites have all kinds of marketing efforts staged promoting the site and Facebook pages. Many people wonder how I continue to get likes for my two main pages on Facebook without doing active or passive postings. Simple, I have over a dozen sites that are actively promoting both of the pages.

Ultimately my goal is to get new readers to angel.academy, where they will be drawn into a very seductive parallax site. That particular site is unlike any other site I have done as I actually used portions of the book to create the site. A lot of questions that readers had while I was creating the book are actually incorporated into the site. It is a very colorful site with a lot of cool artwork. One piece I actually used from an artist I found on DeviantArt. It is the piece listing the book launch dates and links to buy the book. On that site and my author site I made it very simple for readers to purchase my book.

 

One of the things that made me so successful was that I used so many platforms. Goodreads still continues to introduce new readers to the book simply due to the number of readers who have added the book to one of their “To Read” shelf. If you check out the other sites that I have in my portfolio you will also see some sponsoring that Angel Academy did to get new readers/fans. Those sites have a different audience that still appeal to angels and the cute cartoon Disney-like characters that point readers back to the site. I would say that most of my social media platforms point people back to AaronMstephens.com, which then points readers to the book. I would say that I do get a lot of hits from the Facebook page for the book. One thing I recommend for authors to do is have a “pinned post” with a short catchy intro and list all the electronic versions and paperback outlets. Trust me when I say this works. There really are a lot of people who watch what I do and imitate it best they can. I used to pay attention to how many people liked me or my book page on Facebook. After awhile it wasn’t so important. It wasn’t the reason I had either page. Both pages were created for angels to use; to attract new readers. I haven’t been too active on social media. The only vehicle I use on a semi-regular basis is Instagram. Probably because it is super simple. Take a picture, give it a catchy hashtag and click the button to post on Facebook.

 

Since I am a chef, I like to take pictures of food. I also like to use my own Instagram page to remind me of fun things to eat, prepare, go out for dinner, … you get the idea.I really don’t follow very many people as I don’t spend anytime reading other people’s pictures very often. One thing is for certain, and that is people still like to read. This blog is now “fixed” and is much easier to read. I doubt I will have time to add pictures to past entries. New blogs moving forward should have a cool picture as a background. If readers had previously subscribed to this site, unfortunately, they will no longer get updates. I don’t fully trust Jetpack, which was the plugin previously used to notify readers. That also means that new blogs will no longer automatically publish to other social media platforms. Sorry, but after the last few hacker attacks I can’t take the risk.

 

You might notice that this site and A2A use some of the same graphics. I wanted both sites to have a similar look and feel. You will notice that in both logos I used the same font for my name, giving it and me a cool branding.  Of course I created both in PhotoShop. My brother initially taught me how to use PhotoShop, and then I bought the “Down & Dirty” books that taught me all I needed to know to look like an advanced graphic designer. All I had to do was watch my brother work and I absorbed the information to do it again. Unlike other people, when I want, my eyes record what they are seeing for future recall.

 

So for now that is the latest update. Fans, friends and family are wondering what is going on with me. Book projects are on the back-burner as I finish up websites for clients. And as you can tell, writing on my blog is not top of the list … until now. If you are new to the site, … kick back and enjoy reading some of my thoughts. Some of the blogs are literally directly from angels/God/guides. They are listening. Are you?

Fruits & Vegetables

Once upon a time I was a very bad eater. I didn’t drink water and I was unhealthy. Back in the 90’s I thought taking an Advil for a headache was normal and did it daily.  At that point in my life I didn’t have a lot of positive influences or role models. I did however have one friend who really cared about me and she taught me about muscle testing and alternative methods of healing, through herbs and nutrition. It turned out there were a lot of things my body was missing, so I started taking spirulina and amazingly I started having more energy. My headaches also went away. I didn’t ask what it was, I trusted my friend. She later told me that my body was missing some necessary “greens”.

 

Years later and I am taking dozens of herbs and pills daily. It was starting to get expensive. I felt like one of those old geriatric patients who have to eat dozens of drugs. Someone actually asked me once if I had a condition. I would laugh and say “Yes, it’s called living.”  Then one day I met a guy who took this stuff called Juice Plus. He, too, saw how many pills I took and asked what they were all were used for. I explained them all and then he told me I could take two pills in the morning and night and that was it. The interesting thing is, at that point in my life I was very active in the clubs and drinking and partying. One night I decided to take some Juice Plus before I went to the club. I drank all night long. When I got home I took 2 more Juice Plus and a glass of water. The next morning there was no hangover. I felt great. I took two more Juice Plus. This stuff was like magic.  Over the years my partying continued and I kept my secret energy power pills to myself. I know that these were not designed for this purpose. Of course I eat healthy now … but it certainly can’t hurt to have an extra dosage of nutrient dense energy coursing through your veins.

 

So if you are interested and want to try some, go to: www.17fnv.com. That is my site.

Amazon Rankings

So it has been quite awhile that I have checked my Amazon rankings for Angel Academy. The book continues to do well and I have multiple avenues of marketing promoting the book. Today when I went to Amazon, something new greeted me on my book page. There are new rankings past the top 100. Like most authors and readers out I wonder how a book is doing after it has released. What keeps a book on the top 100 or top 1o?

So it is kind of cool to look at the different categories and know that there are literally thousands of books in one category.

Here is my screenshot proving to the world that I am a one time #3 best-selling author.

Ted x Mile High Denver

Do you listen/watch the Ted Talks? If you didn’t know, Ted Talks are some really cool presentations from some thought-provoking ideas that may rock your world. If you didn’t know Ted x Mile High Denver happened yesterday. The really cool thing about these talks is they are usually normal every day people who have some really decision-making processes that they share with the general public. If you are unfamiliar you can you go their website, just type in Ted X in Google.

 

They don’t have all the talks on their website but you can see a few of them. I like listening to the Ted talks. I did find out when it is followed by an “x” it means it is an independently hosted event, not officially sponsored by Ted. Anyone can host a Ted talk. Just just have to fork over the fee and then rent the space and of course get a line up of great speakers, topics and speeches. This one was held at the Buell Theater in downtown Denver. Some Ted Talks are very large and then there are some that are pretty small. I would say that the Denver one was of an average to smaller size. The Denver Convention Center would have held a lot more people just due to the sheer nature of the size.

 

Ted Talks happen all the time. I originally found out about them through Netflix. Oh how I love Netflix. I am one of those guys who does more than one thing at a time. So I can be listening to music, running on a treadmill and watching/listening to an engaging Ted Talk all at the same time. There are a lot of really talented engaging speakers.

I have to say that of all the talks I really like the ones about food. Not that I am a big eater, I am actually a little eater. I am a learner. I like to learn new things and old things. I will admit that after watching the talks I looked at my food differently. I eat more raw food than cooked food. I steam instead of sauteing. There are all kinds of topics so if you haven’t checked it out I suggest you open your mind to some eye-opening suggestions.

 

Some speeches are only 3 minutes and others can go for a half an hour. Denver really didn’t have any big name presenters. I watched one where Tony Robbins was the presenter, but for the most part, they are all unknown idealists. Ted Talks are the only public venue where people will pay big money to listen to a no name presenter. Tickets were $90 a seat.

 

Every great empire or corporation started with one person with one idea and passion to fuel it.