kyledc37-blog

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When You Finally Nail It

I've been working on #ProjectPriceless for years, I'm by no means a pro and I'll tell you, I have been known to give up. Oh I know, never give up, hard work, whatever but I'm just being honest about it. But for some reason, I've never let this go and I never will until it's complete. I've never felt so strongly about something before in my life. It's an idea I believe in with everything I have.

The idea came to me in a dream I'd say close to five years ago. I see this person, screaming and all of a sudden this person has turned the tables, they've become something more. They've become a super hero essentially.

So last night I finished chapter one. You have no idea what this means to me. And I'm not one to sit here and brag but it's damn good. Now as I've continues outlining it's becoming less of an outline and more of a flow. Less notes to myself on the blank page but words and dialogue.

What I finally did was realized I'm not one who can just bang out a rough draft I need an outline. But even that was giving me trouble! So I started to create lore, and this brought the world to life for me. With the lore came an outline, with the outline came this rock solid chapter one that not only finally makes sense but was enjoyable to read. I'm refueled and reinvigorated. I'm going to make this happen.

[kyledc37-blog]

Scammers And Area 51

You know I talk about it all the time. I love Reddit, and I really enjoy several subs on that site. Niceguys makes me cringe and I love it, and several others but lately seeing screenshots from conversations with scammers have filled me with joy. Now, I share with you I got my own experience this morning on Instagram. It's not my best work and I kind of cut it early because I was busy, man there are so many things I could've done and said but it would have gone back and forth so many times. Next time it happens though, I'll wait until I have some time because I really want to get something worthy of Reddit.

Random, but it's the little things in life that make it all worth it.

So let's discuss Area 51. I got this info from the memes, I'm not on Facebook anymore and couldn't be happier about that but, I will say that I believe that nothing is going to happen. Nobody will get within a mile of that place first off and to think otherwise is just foolish.

Think about it though, what if these tools actually get in? I can't even imagine, it would be like a "what do we do now?" Moment. You can't just storm a military facility and walk in the door, they have procedures they follow I'm sure. And posting it on Facebook several months in advance isn't a good idea either. I can't think of anything more ridiculous. But let's say a couple hundred thousand people show up, what will the response be? Will it be force? Non lethal? I don't even know, my brain can't fathom what is happening and thus I can't come up with any conclusions. I really just want to see it happen. I know that's dark and morbid but damn if it isn't funny to think about.

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Project Savage is Moving Along

So I had a conversation with the topic of my working titled book "Project Savage" on Saturday. It was so great to touch base with her and to see how things have been. MMA fighters are busy all the time I always feel bad taking up her time but she's so humble.

We had a touch base on the book and I explained to her how I've changed it....again haha. I'm not ashamed to admit. She's supportive and is beyond excited. What's great is she's working on some background and her exact words are going in this book. What's cool about this book is it's not just a biography but I know her story will help people. You will be able to use this book as reference and the project Savage book will be a guide.

I hope you read it from front to back but the beauty is, the way it's laid out you can turn to a section that you feel speaks the most to you. Then I feel you will be so captivated by this woman's story and background that you will absolutely want to go back and read it. What's great is this isn't a self help book or a system where the book is just the first step. This is the story of a woman who is an MMA fighter. Her life and her background is something you will be able to relate to.

The whole purpose of this book is her and I to work together and hopefully help people, and change lives. I am so excited to share this with you. Talking to her has already changed my life, I'm living these ideas that we've discussed and my life has become more fulfilled. The pressure is on though, all I want is to make her proud and to help you. Thank you, I can't wait.

[kyledc37-blog]

Assume Positive Intent

I think I may have hit on this before, so sorry if I am repeating this. I read an article about this not too long ago....Wait I don’t think I’ve hit on this yet haha anyway.... I read an article because my boss told me to. It was one of those situations where I really didn’t have a choice. 

See I was butting heads with a co worker who is in a lead position and this guy fits the mold, fits all of the stereotypes of someone who gets where they are because of....well let’s just leave that be. But, as he and I butted heads we had one of those conversations with my boss and his and it actually was something I took a lot of positivity from. Now, I’ll admit I was being a little snippy in that room at first, but as we moved on it went well.

Anyway, I am glad I read this article on assuming positive intent. It all started with a misunderstanding through IM back and forth. After reading that article I went back and read the conversation, and honestly he was being rude but the things he was saying made sense. So what I’m saying is, even though someone is being an ass, that’s usually all they know, especially in the work place look at the essence of what they’re saying. A lot of times you are getting what you need, they are just being condescending but are giving you the information you have requested. 

This is a tip for you, to help you make life easier and better for yourself. Some people have zero positive traits, and their communications with you will reflect that, there’s nothing you can do about that. If you can’t find the positive intent then just say “thanks” and walk away from it. 

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Just an awesome idea

So my daughter had a great idea. She wanted to get a few composition notebooks and wanted us to start a daily journal and just write about our day. Good or bad, lay it all out and just talk about our days.

Whether we are able to spend time together or not, it doesn't matter. So we date these entries and just write. We're not putting a number rating in place for any of these entries because that kind of takes the pressure off and it makes things more realistic. Who rates their days? If you do that, then more power to you, but I think it's weird.

So we started this yesterday on July 6th and I just finished my second entry, both entries represent a good day. It forces me to assume positive intent with every interaction I have. No matter where I'm at, I love this journal idea. Listen to your kids they are brilliant.

No every entry will be talking about a good day, that's just the way it is, that's the way life is. But it's going to be eye opening and something I really look forward to. Writing is a beautiful thing, it's something that brings me joy, something that I hope you try as well.

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Stuffiverse Number 1

So this is part 1 of my new blog series "Stuffiverse" it's about stuff! Stuff I like and stuff I want to share. So I want to start with something that I've been enjoying a whole heck of a lot in the past couple of weeks and that's Super Mario Maker 2. First off, get a Nintendo Switch, those things are so cool. My daughter and I have a great time playing it and SMM2 specifically. Making levels is a blast.

This really isn't an in depth review, this is a recommendation more than anything. This game is a console seller for sure. Honestly, if you think about it, the game has limitless replayability. You spend sixty bucks, or seventy bucks and get a year of Nintendo online and you have unlimited replayability. Who doesn't love Mario?

What you'll get out of the game is amazing. Just a few are memories, nostalgia (which I'm a sucker for), fun, family time, a great game night option, an amazing online experience, creativity, and honestly Mario Maker is a hobby. These are just a few things of course but it comes down to what makes the price of video games these days worth it? It's hard to justify dropping sixty bucks on a game, for some that's a hefty investment and it needs to be justified.

My favorite thing about it is playing, my daughter is a creator for sure. She loves Minecraft and Roblox, so naturally, being a level creator in Mario Maker is something she didn't need much convincing to do.

How many of you owned a Wii U? Exactly, not many. Although it was a great system, I never owned one, so my Mario Maker exposure was from twitch and youtube. I bought a switch soon after they came out because I knew it was something special, I knew it was going to have killer games and I knew that Mario Maker 2 was inevitable and I'm tired of watching everyone else have all the fun.

So check the game out, I don't want to do reviews, that stuff is everywhere. I just want to share stuff o enjoy, welcome to the Stuffiverse.

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Awesome Fantasy Book

Hey yo. So as I have gotten older, Sci Fi books have become my favorite, they have become what I thoroughly enjoy reading, in terms of fiction anyway. When I was a kid, I loved fantasy books, I didn’t even look at Sci Fi books to be honest. So the last ten or so fiction books I’ve read have been exclusively Sci Fi. 

I was at Barnes and Noble not too long ago and I picked up a book called “Nevernight” by Jay Kristoff. This is part one of a series, and I have to tell you, I am glad I picked this up. I also picked up a couple Sci Fi books while there too, but I couldn’t wait to get into this one. 

I’ve never read a book by him before. I love his writing style, it’s very fast paced and the story just flows so well. The characters are so believable, and he does a great job of bringing the world together. His world building is pretty awesome. So good in fact I’ve been inspired and he’s made me love these fantasy books again. 

I am working on two Sci Fi series right now, and one of them could be a fantasy type story, and I am really considering it. I love this book, “Nevernight” and I highly recommend you pick it up. If you like fiction at all, you will love it. Be warned, he doesn’t hold back. The book itself doesn’t hold back and it doesn’t pull any punches by any means. This book is brutal! 

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Doubt Is A Crusher

Check out this tweet from a friend of mine, a pro MMA fighter. I haven't gone a single day without thinking about these words. I'm going to say something lame here too, I am my own worst enemy and I'm sure a lot of you are too.

Doubt has prevented me from even trying! I always talk about my dreams, but do I really even care if I let doubt flood my mind with negativity and allow it to crush my soul? I know that sounds dramatic but it's a heavy weight and it's the ultimate test. The only way to get through is to punch through doubts. Doubt doesn't deserve your time!

You are able to follow your dreams and letting doubt get to you doesn't make you a failure, and I hope that helps you for what it's worth. Just ignore it, you will need to find a way to ignore it that works for you. Don't let doubt win, it will nag at you and will honestly prevent you from living a life you want to live.

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Seeing Experts In Action

I’m going to tell you, there is absolutely nothing more exciting than seeing people who are experts at what they do in action. It is truly astounding. We all have those people we look up to also, and I posted a little while ago about one of my friends, Lindsey VanZandt. It’s a joy to know her, and she’s honestly one of the best atomweight fighters around, I would definitely classify her as an expert. 

This is beyond seeing a pro athlete, or a stand up comedian who just owns the stage, or a music act, this can mean so many things. Hell, with my 9-5 I love seeing those I work with who are just amazing at what they do, it’s a pleasure to work with them. But, for this one let’s stick with athletes.

Where I’m from, we have a local ECHL hockey team, and the ECHL is a fantastic hockey league, very competitive and a lot of those guys get to the NHL at some point. The games are a blast, the energy is great and the league has done a great job of building a fan base and putting on a great product. I’m not going to get into the rules but I know they are affiliated with an NHL team and an AHL team, and that makes the rosters very interested, especially come playoff time.

Anyway, I frequent these games, you can’t beat the price and live hockey is fantastic. Well, there’s an NHL team not too far, so my brother and I took the trip and we saw them live, it was the Columbus Blue Jackets vs the Colorado Avalanche. This was my first NHL game and I was blown away. I loved watching the cyclones play, and I was blown away at the talent and skills required to play the game, but the speed was the first difference I noticed. EVERY player in the NHL is on a whole other level, and that’s not knocking any ECHL player, that just goes to show the difference between a pro and an expert. I think there’s a significant difference.

Tell me if I’m wrong, but just wanted to get this out. Think about it, are there people you know who are just amazing at what they do? Isn’t it a cool thing to see them in action?

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calling all writeblrs!

i’m looking for new writeblrs to follow! just like and reblog this post and i’ll be sure to check out your blog and drop a follow.

being an upcoming writeblr myself, i’d really appreciate a follow back, but you don’t have to! 

[kyledc37-blog]

Loving Videogames Again

Guys let me tell ya, E3 2019 was awesome, really it was. Xbox had a great show, Nintendo Direct was fantastic, no Sony which is just weird to be honest, hopefully it's just a one time thing and they come back next year. I cant imagine the insane amount of work it takes for these companies to prepare for E3 though, so I'm not mad but Xbox man himself Phil Spencer said E3 hurts without Sony and that's true.

I love all the consoles and I've always been more of a console gamer because they are cheaper, and my day job is in IT the last thing I want to do when I get home is mess with technology. But anyway, I'm in love with playing videogames again and it really began to grow last summer.

There was a time when I thought I would just be done playing videogames, maybe I had finally outgrown it, but the beauty is you can't outgrow them. The stories are so rich now, online multiplayer offers robust options, it's no longer strictly pvp online, which is great because it's a great way to get discouraged and give up on a game. Pvp is fantastic, but I don't live off of it like I used to. For me, pvp games were the only reason I bought games. I was all about the Halo franchise, call of duty up to MW2, and games like that. But if you noticed, Halo gained a co op element, call of duty has one too, that's where games really shine nowadays.

As great as adding options online is, developers saw a shift and they saw people playing co op more, and yes playing with friends in a story will make it better if the story lacks, but if co op was becoming so popular, why not focus on story?

This is just me spewing crap on my phone keyboard, but think about it. When you see games like The Witcher, no multiplayer but hundreds of hours could be sunk into it and what came from that? Gwent! A competitive digital card game and it's stellar.

Games like GTA, Ghost Recon Wildlands, Rainbow Six Siege, Borderlands have changed the way we play multiplayer and have forced developers to make a great story, it's okay for a game to focus on single player, if it's great it will sell. Back to The Witcher 3, no multiplayer but me and a couple friends would talk about it all the time and wonder where each other was in the game. How cool is that? So I will say the game that made me fall in love all over again last summer was when I sunk a ton of hours in The Witcher 3, and actually another game GTA online!

What games do you love? What games can you play over and over again?

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Cheesy Shark Horror Movies

Listen, you can make fun of me all you want but there's nothing better than cheesy shark horror movies, and the syfy channel is abundant with them. It seems like random weekends are packed with these movies, and the past weekend must've been one of them. Now, some of the movies I mention weren't on this past weekend but the first two are.

Deep Blue Sea is an awesome film, I don't care what anyone says but Deep Blue Sea 2 that's where it's at! That was on this past weekend, and it's as ridiculous as you'd imagine but I truly love it. The other movie that was on this past weekend on Syfy is 6 headed shark attack, this is like a marriage bootcamp that goes awry due to the aforementioned 6 headed freaking shark. When it's finally killed, there's a moist couple laying on the rocks of a beach, the sea is crashing against the rocks and they are on their last leg. You know, out of ammo, out of options but they still pull through! Dude also let's out this amazing "YESSSSSS!" primal scream to celebrate then they kiss each other.

My God, I can't get enough of it. Some other gems I've found are sharktopus vs whalewolf, of course there's an original sharktopus movie and it's everything you think it is. It's part shark and part octopus, I know that's hard to believe and it's weaponized. Moving on....

Dam sharks!, Trailer park shark attack, ghost shark, the list goes on and on and on. Ghost shark is one of the most hardcore killers, dude shows up anywhere there's water and you know, kills people. Bathtub, or the poor plumber fixing a sink and bam! Out comes ghost shark.

This is a crazy blog post. This is kinda like a guilty pleasure for me. What types of weird movies or tv shows would you call your guilty pleasure?

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When You Feel Like A Failure

That's when you push harder. Every day, we are challenged by so many things. Work, home, our kids, significant others, the list goes on and on. From experience I can tell you that you hardly ever feel like anything more than a failure when it comes to your kids but you can't feel that way.

I read something a long time ago that said something along the lines of kids want your presence more than your presents, I paraphrased that but you get the gist of it and it's completely true.

The reason I am writing this right now is because I feel like one and it impacts every part of my life I'm afraid to admit. One thing you must do though is keep going, I know that sounds so lame doesn't it? Well, remember project Savage? Yeah, that is going to dive deep into this, I've been working on that project today that is what sparked this more than anything I believe.

All I will say is please keep going!

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The woman in blue, one of my best friends. She's an absolute warrior, "The Damsel" Lindsey VanZandt. She had a stellar win at Bellator 222 last Friday. And yes, she's the damsel, the one who started the podcast with me. I hope you are fortunate enough to have people in your life you respect, appreciate and look up to as much as I do the damsel. She's truly one of a kind.

Her performance was poetry in motion. Women's MMA has come so far, and if you've ever listened to my show WMMAFighters then you've heard me mention the "wave of fighters leading MMA into the future." Lindsey's at the crest of that wave, she's meant to do this.

Have you ever met someone, or know someone who is doing what they were meant to do? Isn't it a beautiful thing? It was a stellar rear naked choke toward the end of round 1 that got her another incredible victory. One thing I've learned from Lindsey is you can always learn, you can always improve and she's proof of that. Never stop growing and surround yourself with amazing people. Hopefully you will be as fortunate as me to have quality people in your life.

[kyledc37-blog]

What Does Music Do For You?

In the last year or so I've learned so much about life and what it means to love and respect yourself. It's not easy to do, one of the hardest things you can do to be honest. But, one thing I have learned in the last year or so is how music makes people FEEL. I've never understood it when people talk about how music speaks to them, or how it touches them or helps them even, I've never understood that.

Well, in the last year my life flipped upside down and it was scary, it's still scary. I feel that it's hopeless sometimes, even though I know it truly isn't but it's hard not to feel that way. So last summer, all hell broke loose and my wife and I decided to get a divorce, that's a slap in the face for sure. After she moved out and we started sharing custody I was alone, truly alone for the first time in ten years, that's a weird feeling.

I had to learn in a hurry how to be alone with myself, I didn't know what to do. When I wasn't working I would play video games to fill my time. I wasn't working out or doing anything, go to work, come home, video games, bed. That's it! I was not happy, but I learned and I had a catalyst, music.

Huntr is one of my favorite bands, y'all need to check them out! Those guys are incredible. They released a song called "survive" and I'd be lying to you if I said this song didn't help, that this song didn't speak to me. That song woke me up, it made me feel strong and vulnerable at the same time. I would blare it driving home, I would play it all the time and soon I got back in the gym. You're going to laugh (I don't blame you haha) but when it gets to the end of the song "Put your chin up in the sky, can you feel it now?

Close your eyes and beat your chest, you hear that sound?

Ain’t no chairs left in my way for my dream to sit down"

Just epic! That part would literally make me feel so many emotions, it would make me feel so powerful and sad at the same time. I started believing in myself. So I got back into the gym harder than ever, I expanded my Spotify playlist and have listened to stuff I've never listened to before, I've made some killer playlists, I know what it means now when music speaks to you and it makes you truly feel. It's a damn powerful feeling, something I'll never forget. Survive in particular has a special place in my heart, such a great song. That part still gets to me, but it's a feeling of power and positivity now, no more choking back tears! So enjoy your music, feel it, let it capture you and take control, it's a wonderful feeling. Find out what music can do for you, it's almost magic. It will pump you up for sure, but there's music for all of your moods, music can save you.

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What Do You Look For In Fiction?

Hey everyone, I love reading fiction and non fiction. Some of my favorite non fiction types of books are history, and I love Asian history, probably my favorite. But, I want to focus on fiction here. What do you look for in fiction?

I'm not picky, and sci Fi is my favorite genre by far. Character driven stories are what I like more than anything, and pacing I think is the number one factor for good fiction for me. I've read some awesome books that would be even better if the pacing wasn't drug out, or too abrupt. It's not an easy thing to do by any means, just sharing what I like.

As far as fantasy goes, which is my second favorite fiction genre magic and characters are most vital in my eyes. I read a book a year ago that had a killer magic system! It blew my mind and still does to this day, but about 80 percent through, the main character starts doing really stupid things and almost becomes pointless, making everything she did and accomplished just a complete waste.

Anyway, still a good book but that's just some of the things I'm looking for. What about you? I'd love to hear.

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CALL DOWN THE HAWK: EXCERPT REVEAL

Thanks to the incredible power of The Raven Cycle fandom, we can now exclusively reveal the first 8 chapters of CALL DOWN THE HAWK!

Are you ready? 

Call Down the Hawk Exclusive Excerpt by I Read YA on Scribd

Pre-Order Your Copy Now! 

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