The GHAWG Diaries, Part 2
(Edited)
What's happening behind the scenes to bring new GHAWG content? The GHAWG Diaries is my recap of what I've been doing.
Base image came in another form from PublicDomainPictures.Net Edits made using MS Paint.
Introduction
There's more to #GHAWG than just daily zapfic entries and the spreadsheet I use to track them. There's research. There's review. There's also thought and inspiration. Then there are the tools involved in doing any of those tasks.
Just to keep things from getting scrambled in my head, and also to document for myself what I've been considering, I began keeping a diary of my activities as they concern #GHAWG. With posts in the GHAWG, Uninterrupted series on hold at Act 5 while Act 6 remains in progress, I decided to share these diary entries with everyone on Hive blockchain.
On Mondays which don't feature a GHAWG, Uninterrupted post-- GHAWG-U-- I'll post diary entries from the previous 7 days or between GHAWG-U posts if the time between them is short. For Part 2, there are 14 days' worth of diary entries. The first entry starts on 2023-October-2.
Before anyone scratches their heads at a few terms, here are 3 I will use often going forward:
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
Rat Bike | Code name for #GHAWG (the first and current zapfic serial) |
Blue Lion | Code name for the middle zapfic serial in the GHAWG Universe |
The Bronze | Code name for the final zapfic serial in the GHAWG Universe |
| Monday, 2023-October-2 |
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📓 This morning I posted Part 1 of The GHAWG Diaries. This will fill the gap left by GHAWG-U while it's on hold waiting for Act 5 to complete.
📓 The remaining riders will go back east along the path which in earlier times was known as Route 66 (as in the song). Here is where I can do some serious character development for the minor characters. 📓 I added more zapfic entries to the GHAWG queue. 2024-January-7 is the latest entry in queue. 📓 After reviewing my spreadsheet, it occurred to me that Act 5 had already ended after Our Heroes left Portland, Oregon, US. That's the point when tone changes drastically, so that's the dividing line between Act 5 and Act 6. This means that the post for GHAWG, Uninterrupted: Act 5 can be published next week, and The GHAWG Diaries, Part 2 can be published the following week.
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| Tuesday, 2023-October-3 |
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📓 This morning I added a few more zapfic entries to the queue. If I keep to one per day, that puts the queue at 2024-January-10. However, some of those entries involve conversations. It's hard doing extended conversations as zapfic. I may need to publish multiple entries on days when I encounter those conversations. I'll deal with that as I run into them. 📓 Given that a combination of state and interstate roads are overlaid on the roads which used to be part of the previous road system, I need to be careful as I map Old Route 66 onto roads shown by modern maps. 📓 I knew that Google Maps lets us map out directions for routes featuring multiple intermediate points. What I didn't know is that Google Maps is maxxed out at 10 points total. I need to keep that in mind as I write the Route 66 portion of #GHAWG. 📓 This evening I deleted a couple of zapfic entries slated for January. Upon further review (as they say in the NFL), they seemed to be a better fit for the middle zapfic serial. That's when David Guardia gets to live the good life until Peak GHAWG is reached; then he loses it all. 📓 Last night I had the web site [Route 66 Road Trip](https://www.route66roadtrip.com) in a tab. Tonight it disappeared. I have no idea what happened, but that's one of the risks of having close to 100 web browser tabs open. Once I find it again I'll place it somewhere convenient for me. I'm going to be relying heavily on it, too. |
| Wednesday, 2023-October-4 |
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📓 I can declare victory in my quest to find the song I wanted. On date 2023-September-18 in "The GHAWG Diaries, Part 1" I mentioned that I had trouble locating version of the "Route 66" covered by Depeche Mode. This morning I discovered why that was a problem for me. The song I had heard from Depeche mode in the 1980s was actually "Behind the Wheel." It was so long since I had heard either song that I had conflated the two Depeche Mode songs. Although I'm not a fan of Depeche Mode in general-- for late 1980s, I prefer INXS and U2-- I really like both "Behind the Wheel" and "Route 66". Now to digitize both songs into MP3 format. (Spotify? What's that?? 🤣🤣🤣) 📓 With the crew heading back east to Chapel Hill, North Carolina before swinging back to end the ride in Davenport, Iowa, much of that ride will take place along what used to be known as Route 66. However, it will be done in reverse: starting from Santa Monica, California and ending in Chicago, Illinois. People following #GHAWG will recall that David Guardia and the uncanny Manny Rey rode past Chicago to avoid civil unrest taking place then. This time, David Guardia will have to deal with whatever he encounters there. Will it be civil unrest like what he avoided before? Will it be random acts of crime? I don't know what the details will be, but I'm thinking he will get biblical again as he did in Seattle, Washington. Then I need to figure out what will happen in Chicago in the days after passing through that troubled city. 📓 My writing is limited to prose. No lyrics, no music, no songs. I won't be writing any songs any time soon, but maybe I can provide the raw material for one. #GHAWG begins in Bayonne, New Jersey, and it ends in STURGIS (in South Dakota). Before the story starts, the New York City skyline is left in the rear view mirror. The highlight ends up being STURGIS, and that's at the end. Not much in the way of picturesque travel as there is for "Route 66" (any version). I need to review my spreadsheet to see which stops were prominent. If I can come up with lyrics, great. If not, I'll find some way or other to make use of that list. |
| Thursday, 2023-October-5 |
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📓 Today's zapfic entry is actually 2. One was planned. One is to fill a gap between zapfic entry 37 (where David Guardia is in a town I didn't name and uses the Heimlich Maneuver to save someone) and zapfic entry 38 (where he meets the man he saved the night before, the uncanny Manny Rey). It was a memory of when he was designing the logo for his company, Guardia Courier Services; this would have been set near the start of the century. It's a simple logo with the letters G, C, S and an envelope glyph. Each element occupies the quarters formed by the Templar Cross. This entry exists to provide foreshadowing for later in his ride to STURGIS and at other points to be established in The GHAWG Universe. It also shows that he still thinks of his father even a year after he died. When I rewrite the zapfic serial as a long form story, it will occur at the right time.📓 For the next few weeks I will rely heavily on the Route 66 Road Trip web site whose link I gave yesterday. Google Maps only does so much on this topic, and I need to pick my spots in the zapfic serial.📓 Finding the "Route 66" songs got me wondering if I could write lyrics for a song based on David Guardia's trip to STURGIS. After reviewing the pre-STURGIS portion of #GHAWG to see which places were mentioned, I can say with 100% total certainty that the intellectual property for "Route 66" is safe and that this non-existent song won't appear on Billboard charts at any time. |
| Friday, 2023-October-6 |
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📓 My big activity yesterday was song writing. As someone who doesn't write songs and can't sing well and can't play any instruments, this wasn't easy. I have a couple of refrains, a few verses, and a bridge element; unfortunately, there's nothing cohesive. So I decided to use my non-musical analytical skills to discern patterns in the lyrics to the "Route 66" song. Combined with song lyrics I obtained from lyrics+ website Genius.com and the performance by Depeche Mode, this is the template I noticed:  )I'll sleep on it and see what my mind can give me later in the day. 📓 Why does it seem as if I'm obsessed with the Depeche Mode version of "Route 66"? I'm at a point in the story where the remaining characters have to go back home. Since I wracked my brain looking for stops to make between Bayonne, New Jersey and STURGIS, I thought I should work with something already pre-made. While many people won't care about the ride I wrote about, they may be more familiar with the path noted in "Route 66". I can also use historical Route 66 information to add flavor to the story. After reaching the end point in Chicago, then I wrack my brain again to find a path to Chapel Hill, North Carolina and then the swing back to eastern Iowa where David Guardia will make his new home. 📓 More reasons to focus on the song "Route 66"? Merch:
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| Saturday, 2023-October-7 |
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📓 Weekly Summary post for zapfic entries 162 through 168 was published today. The Excel formula I made for building Markdown code was a time-saver. I still needed to do some manual fixes, but it's an improvement over what I was doing as recently as one month ago. This spreadsheet actually uses 2 formulas to build strings of Markdown Code. Here is the formula for building a line from what looks like a list but is not a list:
=" "
& $A184
& "[" & TEXT(OFFSET($A184,0,1),"YYYY-MMMM-DD hh:mm:ss")
& "]("
& $K$7
& OFFSET($A184,0,3)
& ")%%"=" "
& $A184
& "[" & TEXT(OFFSET($A184,0,1),"YYYY-MMMM-DD hh:mm:ss")
& "]("
& $K$7
& OFFSET($A184,0,3)
& ")%%"
$K$7 is a piece of text whose value is determined based on certain conditions; for all practical purposes, it's a piece of text. $A184 is a cell reference which will change as I copy the formula down all the rows which need it.This is the Excel formula used to build the Markdown code used to display zapfic content for each entry date:
="### "
& $A184
& "[" & TEXT(OFFSET($A184,0,1),"YYYY-MMMM-DD hh:mm:ss")
& "]("
& $K$7
& OFFSET($A184,0,3)
& ")%"
& "| "
& OFFSET($A184,0,4)
& " |%| --- |%|"
& " mEMOJI ... |%%● View Using: [Ecency](https://ecency.com"
& $S$14
& OFFSET($A184,0,3)
& ") | [PeakD](https://peakd.com"
& $S$14
& OFFSET($A184,0,3)
&
") | [Hive.Blog](https://hive.blog"
& $S$14
& OFFSET($A184,0,3)
& ")%%---%"
mEMOJI and % are placeholders which I will replace at post time. $S$14 points to literal text.● is an HTML character entity representing a bullet character.The formulas look hideous, but they are simply chains of smaller formulas joined together by the ampersand ( &) character. The smaller formulas could be any of these elements:
% and mEMOJI exist to provide visual cues for where I need to make manual edits after I copy the output from the spreadsheet into the post to be published.On another occasion I'll publish a post which explains in greater detail the spreadsheet I use to track the zapfic entries and build the Markdown codes. This was just to give an idea of what I do. |
| Sunday, 2023-October-8 |
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📓 Not much to write about on the content side. Computer troubles didn't help matters. Whether I write or not, my mind cycles over the possibilities to find solutions and ways to advance or correct the story. On the bright side, I think I found a way to simplify the long form versions of Rat Bike and Blue Lion: shift some characters from the zapfic version of Rat Bike and place them in Blue Lion from the start. Also, I can either compress or bypass segments of #GHAWG when I switch to the long form version of Rat Bike.I even had some ideas about The Bronze. They revolve around how he goes about carrying out his final mission as assigned to him by The Lord. Nothing holy or sacred is involved, but rather ways people will witness His Power as manifested though natural beings such as us (including David Guardia).
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| Monday, 2023-October-9 |
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📓 Not including bonus zapfic entries, Act 5 of #GHAWG has been in progress for 2 months. That's longer than I had expected. After reviewing my spreadsheet, I determined where it can be considered finished. As of now, #GHAWG has been in Act 6 since 2023-September-18. Enough entries are in queue to require Interlude 3 and then Act 7. 📓 LeoFinance has been rebranded to INLEO, and this rebranding included a change in color scheme. Today's GHAWG-U post was published prior to rebranding time, so it retains the previous color scheme. I began updating the graphics I use for the various GHAWG-related posts. The changes are subtle, but they will be noticeable.📓 Don't forget Winona-- this is perhaps the most memorable lyric from the song "Route 66" no matter which version is performed. I'm partial to Winona Ryder, so she's at the top of my list for women named Winona. During my research I discovered that the name "Winona" comes from the Sioux and Dakota nations of Native Americans, and the name means "first-born daughter." I want to make use of this detail later; most likely during Blue Lion and maybe in The Bronze, but it's possible later on in Rat Bike.
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| Tuesday, 2023-October-10 |
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📓 I finished mapping Old Route 66 from Santa Monica to San Bernardino, nearly 80 miles of highways and roads. Later I'll determine what the path is and see what I can write about. If New York City is vertical, then Los Angeles is horizontal and flat like a frying pan. 📓 Today I determined which roads to take. At one point Interstate 210 gives way to California 210. Much of that path is freeway driving through a city environment. Heading north and east, more wide open spaces can be seen between San Bernardino and Barstow. 📓 I added more zapfic entries into the queue; currently the queue takes me to 2024-January-15. As I review the later entries I may decide to remove entries or shift them around, so the dates can change. |
| Wednesday, 2023-October-11 |
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📓 Earlier today I deleted a few zapfic entries queued up for January. Noticing a discontinuity, I needed to write a new entry. As much as I liked those entries, I need to keep GHAWG as lean as I can while advancing the story. Since they haven't been published yet, they didn't exist. 📓 I'm trying to find ways to get the supporting characters more involved in the serial. So far, I decided to make the foreign exchange students out of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill responsible for certain things during the ride east. Sanjay Rampersad from India will remap Old Route 66 onto the current Interstate Highway System as well as any state and county systems as needed. Lionel Odunsi from Nigeria will help find affordable or free lodging for the crew. I haven't found a role for the Marchenko Twins, Hank & Frank, although I noted earlier that they are gearheads, so they can help with basic maintenance. Lindsay Etxeberria, the demonstrator in Portland who David Guardia and Rhonda Bella rescued back in Iowa, will be undergoing real-time character development as she interacts with everyone else. Her last name is of Basque origin, and its equivalent in Spanish is Echeverria. I chose to make her ancestry Basque because that detail is needed for a zapfic entry taking place in Los Angeles before Our Heroes reach Riverside. 📓 I've been trying to think of situations where Our Heroes are in danger. I think I can include one chase scene at a location to be determined. I want to include something along the lines of a hostage rescue, but I haven't decided on any particulars; all I know is that it can't be resolved in the expected ways we've seen from both "news" and entertainment. At worst, this scenario takes places in The Bronze.📓 As important as Moses was to the Hebrews he led out of slavery in Egypt, he himself was not allowed to enter the Promised Land while alive. He could have, only there was one moment where he doubted God, and that moment of doubt cost Moses at the end. Why do I mention Moses here? David Guardia will have such a moment in Rat Bike-- not doubt, but rather, confusion or conflation-- only he himself won't recognize it until much later, and even then he will be informed of it by his Boss. How he pays for this will be shown in both Blue Lion and The Bronze. He won't pay as Moses had paid, but it will still cost him dearly.
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| Thursday, 2023-October-12 |
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📓 As much as I want to spend time developing GHAWG, it's not all I do on Hive and at InLeo ("The Community Formerly Known as LeoFinance"). Most of my computer time today has been spent on a post discussing political debates reformatted for a tournament setting. Text is almost done; screen captures from Excel need to me made and edited, then I can publish the post. It will be published between now and Saturday. 📓 Not including the daily (actually, nightly) zapfic entry, I didn't spend much time creating more content for Rat Bike. However, I discovered a story element which will work nicely in The Bronze and maybe even Blue Lion. This element is based on the mistake David Guardia will make. In terms of existing zapfic entries, he had not made the mistake yet. When the mistake is made, it will be obvious to us as readers. He himself won't learn about his mistake until later in Rat Bike.📓 Originally, I was going to have Lindsay Etxeberria go from being an activist/demonstrator in Rat Bike to being a First Amendment lawyer in Blue Lion. Given recent ideas I've been sharing in The GHAWG Diaries, I think it would work better for me to have her become a deprogrammer for people like her who wanted to exit that life. If anything, she can get the word out and make media appearances.
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| Friday, 2023-October-13 |
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| 📓 Today was a light day on the GHAWG front. Much of the day was spent finishing that post on political debates as tournament events. This was a proof of concept post more than anything else. I hope people can understand the mechanics behind the 3 case studies I included. |
| Saturday, 2023-October-14 |
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| 📓 Today I worked on getting the weekly summary post published. Much of my computer time was devoted to this task. It wasn't difficult, but I encountered a few gremlins along the way. As it was, I published the weekly summary for zapfic entries 169 through 180. It's 12 entries rather than the usual 7 because David Guardia spends a few entries speaking as a prophet to City of Seattle officials who were present at a block party. He wouldn't have known about this block party had it not been for some of Seattle's forgotten people. |
| Sunday, 2023-October-15 |
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| 📓 My computer did an automatic reboot while I was away. The area on Google Maps showing San Bernardino disappeared. I need to get it back the old fashioned way, by starting the search from scratch. Then I need to overlay Old Route 66 on it between San Bernardino and Barstow; Victorville is in between, and there are towns in California beyond Barstow. It's OK, I have time get that done; just not today. |
Navigation to Other GHAWG Diaries
As more posts become available, this section will be updated with links to them.
When (and Where) To Catch #GHAWG
When
This is the normal schedule for the posting of content for #GHAWG:
● Daily -- Each zapfic entry is posted shortly after midnight, from New York
● Weekends -- Weekly Summaries (with modified screen capture from LeoThreads as cover image) are usually on Saturday, sometimes Sunday
● Monday -- Either GHAWG, Uninterrupted if present, or The GHAWG Diaries
Where
● Daily zapfic entries drop at LeoThreads, usually posted shortly after midnight from New York (sometimes around noon)
● Both kinds of posts-- Weekly Summaries and GHAWG, Uninterrupted-- can be accessed using the #GHAWGnav thread or from my LeoFinance profile page
This week I hope to have more content published and recorded to Hive blockchain.
That's it for this edition of The GHAWG Diaries. Thanks for your time. Give the post an upvote or a reblog if you liked it. Feedback is welcome. Until next time!
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