Random Musings – Page 11

TODAY IN HISTORY: Graf Zeppelin completes first Transatlantic flight, lands in Lakehurst

Eric San Juan October 15, 2012 1 Comment

Yep, the little town that could made history in more ways than you realize. On this day in 1928, the legendary Graf Zeppelin completed its first ever Transatlantic flight, flying from Friedrichshafen, Germany to Lakehurst, New Jersey in about 111 hours. Capt. Ernst Lehmann was in command of this historic flight. Eight years later he’d be on an even more famous flight: the crash of Hindenburg. Sadly, he would not live to tell his story; Lehmann was one of the causalities of the disaster. The famed Graf Zeppelin landed in Lakehurst at around 5:28 p.m., making Lakehurst the destination for the world’s first ever Transatlantic flight by a passenger airship. The Germans had some company on the fight. U.S. Navy LCDR Charles E. Rosendahl was…
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Random Musings, Uncategorized

airships, hindenburg, history, Lakehurst, local history

Alfred Hitchcock’s Definition of Happiness

Eric San Juan July 27, 2012 0 Comments

Alfred Hitchcock could not possibly do a better job of speaking for me in this video. This is exactly how I feel, down to the last word. And needless to say, Hitchcock knows a little something about being creative.

Alfred Hitchcock, Random Musings, Videos

A Year of Hitchcock, Alfred Hitchcock, creation, creativity, hitchcock, videos

On creativity and fear

Eric San Juan July 24, 2012 2 Comments

Creation is an act of defiance against fear. Whether writer, musician, artist, or other variation on the theme of Creative Person, all of us at one point or another struggle between our insatiable need to create and a nagging demon whispering to us, “You can’t do it. You will never be great.” So when we sit down and put words on the page or send musical notes to the ears of our listeners, we are rebelling against that fear. Where others are intimidated by failure, by the sometimes insurmountable challenge of turning their creative vision into reality, we fight on. Sometimes. Because at other times, that fear can grind us to a halt. We realize that what we’re trying to do borders on insane. Wouldn’t…
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Books & Authors, Random Musings, Videos, Writing

fear, rejection, videos, Writing

Last thoughts on Bradbury’s passing

Eric San Juan June 8, 2012 0 Comments

I have already posted about Ray Bradbury’s passing, but he had such a big impact on me as a reader and writer that I feel like I want to revisit his career’s influence one more time. He was just that important to what I aspired — and still aspire — to be. As my friend and collaborator Zaki Hasan said in his post on the subject, “the impact he had on my life, as a reader, a filmgoer, and a writer is hard to encapsulate.” I discovered Bradbury pretty early, and he stuck with me all my life. I’d read most of his work several times, and even 30 years after I first read it, some of it just kills me every time. Dandelion Wine makes…
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Books & Authors, Random Musings, Writing

Dandelion Wine, influences, inspiration, Ray Bradbury, The End of all Summers, The Martian Chronicles, Writing

Goodbye, newspaper business

Eric San Juan May 21, 2012 0 Comments

After 13 years in the industry, the newspaper business and I have bid farewell to one another. In a full-time capacity, at least. I’ll continue to write for newspapers because, well, I enjoy it and I’m good at it. To start, look for upcoming pieces in The Philadelphia Weekly and The Riverside Signal. But as for my working life being devoted to newspapers, that is no more. If you who know me from my position as editor for a family of weekly papers in New Jersey, time to know me for something else. This is not a bad thing. In fact, it has been a long time coming. The newspaper industry has been dying a slow death for some years now, helped along by executives…
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Random Musings, Writing

journalism, journalists, newspapers, reporters, reporting