Recent Posts

  • 18 February 2012 : And a Big Boo!!! to Verizon
    As my readers know, I am all about giving props and thumbs up when I like something and, even more, when someone does a good job but today it's time [More...]

  • 16 February 2012 : Kudos to Amazon
    My kids got me a Mr. Coffee brand K-cup coffeemaker for Christmas and I have really, really enjoyed it. My problem is that I rarely drink more than one cup [More...]

  • 13 February 2012 : The Biggest Loser Jumps the Shark
    As I've mentioned before, I like some of the reality television shows although the longer they continue the worse the show gets. Top Chef being a prime example. This past week [More...]

  • 30 January 2012 : Movie Review – The Descendants
    I was really looking forward to this movie after seeing the previews. I love Hawaii, am fascinated by its history and the way the missionary families intertwined with the islanders, [More...]

  • 28 January 2012 : Kuilima Cove & Bay
     

  • 15 January 2012 : Cooking Reality TV Style
    Let me lead of by saying that I think Top Chef has probably jumped the shark. The advertiser plugs are getting annoying, the "set ups" are ridiculous (right, there's a [More...]

  • 7 January 2012 : Music Brings Nostalgia
    I am sitting here at my computer working on one of my books and listening to music playing, this time from YouTube playing on another screen. Since I'm firmly butting [More...]

  • 6 January 2012 : Vegas Trip Report #1 – Arrival
    I'm a little behind in posting these but better late than never.  We flew out of Shreveport, La and into McCarran on a pretty non-eventful flight. Saved pretty good bucks flying [More...]

  • 12 November 2011 : What Happened to Men?
    As the last post told you, I'm headed to Vegas and, in prep, have been reading trip reviews and listening to Frank and Dean. One thing I noticed about the trip [More...]

  • 11 November 2011 : Happy Nigel Tufnel Day!
    For one day and one day only, 11/11/11, Nigel Tufnel Day!

  • 10 November 2011 : Vegas Baby!
    That's right, the Dude is heading to Vegas again! After a hiatus of a couple of years, the City of Sin beckons once again and me and the Bud are headed [More...]

  • 9 November 2011 : Publisher’s Greed on Kindle
    This blog entry is printed with the permission of www.robertdbennett.com Look, I'm all for publishers (and especially for writers) making money. Profit is why they do this but I'm a bit [More...]

  • 13 October 2011 : Review – Last Man Standing
    I have an admission to make. I caught the show on Hulu. When I was flipping through the channels and saw "Last Man Standing" I assumed it was some type [More...]

  • 5 October 2011 : Great Pic
    I'm not sure where this came from, someone sent it to me but as a Saints fan and a Cowboys not-fan I had to post it. These are the type of [More...]

  • 3 October 2011 : Arrested Development Returning to Television
    Finally, FINALLY television execs are showing some sense and allowing an innovative television show that isn't dumbed down to go back on the air. Mitchell Hurwitz, the executive producer, announced at [More...]

  • 29 September 2011 : Magnolia’s Diner – Natchitoches, La. – Review
    As is obvious, I am a foodie in addition to all my other endeavors. This week I happened to be in Natchitoches, La., where I am from in my pre-Texas [More...]

  • 10 September 2011 : Update on Kindle Publishing
    An interesting experiment  by Amazon is the Kindles Single program. The Kindle is a great place to publish articles, short stories and is probably the only place to effectively publish [More...]

  • 25 August 2011 : Nostalgia Strikes Again
    Not too long I found myself warning the twins, yet again, that one reason I move so slow in the morning is because I spent too much time riding dirt [More...]

  • 21 August 2011 : I Hate Craigslist
    Okay, that's not really fair. I should say I hate the Craigslist moderators. Craigslist has a section on it for Gigs, which are on off hires. I have tried to use [More...]

  • 15 August 2011 : Queen – Fat Bottomed Girls
    And this one is just because I was feeling a little nostalgic for the high school days. I remember riding home on the bus from High School and listening to Queen [More...]

  • 15 August 2011 : Surfing at Jaws
    For those of you not familiar with it, Jaws is a spot on the north shore of Maui (as opposed to the North Shore, the meccas of surfers, which is [More...]

  • 12 August 2011 : Whale Wars Part 1
    This post is being made in advance of the season's finale of Whale Wars, which will be discussed in Part 2. This one is more about the book detailing the [More...]

  • 4 August 2011 : Self Publishing on Kindle and Nook – Update
    I have 5 projects available on Amazon now and three on Barnes and Noble. I still have two to format and put on the Nook, but there are some issues [More...]

  • 3 August 2011 : Surfing Storms
    Well, it looks like three swings and a miss as far as surfing conditions on the upper Gulf Coast so far. Three tropical disturbances have entered the Gulf and so [More...]

  • 21 July 2011 : Galveston Restaurant Review – Olympia Grille
    Let's start with the basic concept that I love Greek food and so I am probably a little pickier than many people are about this. Galveston, being a coastal town, [More...]

  • 20 July 2011 : Update on Publishing for Kindle and Nook
    I just put my next book, actually one I wrote a while back but just published, on Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. The title of the book is Junebug and the Body [More...]

  • 18 July 2011 : Restaurant Review – Zorba’s Greek Cafe in Dallas / Plano
    I love Greek food and now love Zorba's. We went there with about ten people and just missed the evening rush. We were seated in no time and the service was [More...]

  • 17 July 2011 : Why Self Publish?
    This post was originally posted at www.RobertDBennett.com, an author's website. It contains information and views on self publishing that are likely of interest to the readers of DearDude.   Someone asked me [More...]

  • 14 July 2011 : Publishing on Barnes and Noble for the Nook
    Although it took a while, I finally had two books approved for BarnesandNoble.com for the Nook. Apparently they go through a long, drawn out process to approve your account. They sent [More...]

  • 14 July 2011 : Fear Mongering in Politics
    While I do not intend for this site to address politics, i was suddenly struck by an epiphany last night while flipping through channels on television. The Music Man, one of [More...]

  • 8 July 2011 : Another Kindle Book Published
    I have just placed my 3rd book, and 4th entry, onto the Amazon Marketplace for downloading onto the Kindle. This one is titled "No' Chance" and is the first in a [More...]

  • 7 July 2011 : Surfing for Old Guys
    When I was younger I surfed. Not great, well, not even really good, but I surfed. As my friends and I noticed, a surfboard strapped to the top of the [More...]

  • 5 July 2011 : Survey of Beach and Poolgoers
    TripAdvisor released its annual survey of pool and beach etiquette, a survey based on information obtained form 1100 U.S. travelers. Based on my experience they seem to have hit the nail [More...]

  • 4 July 2011 : Tourists Beware!
    A Mexican tourist boat sank off of the Baja Peninsula on Sunday (July 3) and it appears at least one American died and six others are still missing at the [More...]

  • 2 July 2011 : Topless Beaches and Pools
    Off of the topic of writing for a second and onto another favorite subject... USA Today has done an article on a beach/pool behavior survey that was released by TripAdvisor. "In a [More...]

  • 30 June 2011 : Initial Thoughts on Self Publishing- Amazon v. Barnes and Noble and Kindle v. Nook
    I thought about waiting until I had a lot more time into the project, then thought maybe I ought to blog as I go so that I don't forget anything [More...]

  • 26 June 2011 : Kindle Publishing Experiment
    I have had my Kindle reader since October and really love it. I was unsure about using a reader since I don't like the backlight, etc. but the Kindle doesn't [More...]

  • 11 June 2011 : North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii, Off the Wall webcam
    Off the Wall is one of the many surf spots that dot the Oahu's North Shore. Pūpūkea

  • 5 June 2011 : A Must Read for Those of Us With Kids
    This is going to be a short post. Next, I'm going to write about my new pursuit to get back into surfing shape by this winter. Too fat and out [More...]

  • 29 May 2011 : Wasting Time and Energy?
    I left the life of drudgery to work freelance and to be an entrepreneur. What I quickly learned is that I didn't know how to work in an unstructured, unscheduled [More...]

  • 24 May 2011 : Dumb Down America
    I have discussed this point on other blogs it was usually in the political sense, particularly as it relates to some candidates and issues. I also mentioned it on this [More...]

  • 25 April 2011 : Celebrity Apprentice and Trump
    I assure you that this blog isn't going to become primarily about reality shows but I find, now that I am working from home, that I watch more of them [More...]

  • 7 April 2011 : And Now…Boo Apple! (and a small yay for them)
    I don't want to be one of those blogs where the writer is always griping about something but an episode today just pissed me off and so I thought I'd [More...]

  • 6 April 2011 : Boo Marlee Matlin!
    Like I mentioned earlier, I like some reality shows and one I watch semi-regularly is the Celebrity Apprentice. However,  I must admit that after this week's episode I am sorely disappointed [More...]

  • 16 January 2011 : New Flip Videocamera
    A while back I read an article in Wired magazine about how people were moving away from high end products and, instead, going to things that were "good enough". As [More...]

  • 17 November 2010 : Freelance Writing Assignments Available (Pt. 2 – Demand Studios / Demand Media)
    This is the second  in a series of articles that I will be doing on freelance writing opportunities available.  The first one, located here, was on Fortitude.  As the title [More...]

  • 29 October 2010 : Comments on the Blog – Spammers don’t bother
    We love comments and emails from the readers here but I wanted to add a note. We are deluged with obvious SPAM comments. Not only are the people doing this [More...]

  • 12 October 2010 : Our New Puppy
    I just got an early birthday present, a Jack Russell Terrier puppy. I've wanted a Jack Russell Terrier since I first saw Eddie on Frasier and was torn between this [More...]

  • 3 October 2010 : Reality Television (and America) Slides Even Further
    I mentioned my views on MTV's  Jersey Shore in another post, but this is more of a rant about the general state of television and, unfortunately, what it says about [More...]

  • 26 September 2010 : Props to a Company for Good Customer Service
    I am a foodie to the nth degree. I love to cook and love to try new foods. Because of this I often buy new gadgets, both for the kitchen [More...]

  • 21 September 2010 : My Vote for Best Commercial of the Year

  • 18 September 2010 : First Impressions of a New Netbook
    I'm doing, and want to keep doing, work while I'm on the road and travelling. The laptop I usually use was really meant to be a portable desktop and when [More...]

  • 6 September 2010 : The Old Faithful WebCam, Yellowstone National Park
    This real-time image updates every 30 seconds. Refresh the page for latest image.

  • 6 September 2010 : Seawall, Galveston, Texas
    Galveston Island's famous Seawall is as much a playground as it a protective barrier for the City against the ever changing tides of the Gulf of Mexico. Whether you enjoy [More...]

  • 6 September 2010 : Beach Cam, Galveston
    Galveston's 32 miles of sun-drenched beaches are ideal places for numerous sports and leisure activities. To ensure the safety of visitors, the City of Galveston and the Galveston Park Board [More...]

  • 6 September 2010 : Penguine Cam, Galveston
    // //]]> Hours can be spent outside the windows of the frigid Antarctic exhibit as our beautiful King, Chinstrap, Rockhopper and Gentoo penguins swim about in [More...]

  • 6 September 2010 : Surf Cam, Texas
    This surf cam updates every 10 minutes.

  • 3 September 2010 : Freelance Writing Assignments Available (Pt. 1 – Fortitude)
    As I mentioned in another post, there are a lot of freelance writing opportunities available now due to the internet magazines. Some are good, some bad, most a little of [More...]

  • 1 September 2010 : So You Want to Be a Freelance Writer
    I've loved to write since I was in grade school and have always dreamed of being a full time writer. Well ... sort of. I dreamed of being a writer that wrote [More...]

  • 31 August 2010 : Turtle Bay, Oahu, Hawaii
    I have had the luck and opportunity to travel more than many of the people with which I grew up. One of the things I enjoy is learning about the [More...]

  • 28 August 2010 : The Dumbing Down of America
    This blog is not a political one and I don't want to start ranting but watching the way FOX News is operating, and listening to the far right talking heads [More...]

  • 17 August 2010 : Jersey Shore
    As you know if you've looked around the site a little I am a proponent of all things beach related. Except oil spills, but that's a rant for a different [More...]

  • 14 August 2010 : Beachcams, Surfcams, and Webcams
    One of our pages we are working on here at DearDude.com is a page which will allow us to put links to webcams showing beaches and other cool things around [More...]

  • 12 August 2010 : Hello and Welcome to My World
    As you can see, this is a new blog. It is designed to share my experiences, and for you to share yours, living the 21st century lifestyle. What do I mean [More...]