tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50389837105839589162024-02-08T08:27:42.069-08:00Jonah 2 eightADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.comBlogger111125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-34460084627031225652014-09-05T21:01:00.002-07:002014-09-05T21:01:53.418-07:00In His Gladness of Lunch<span style="font-size: large;">I want to be a home town old man</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">with nothing much to attend.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I'd wear a big blue shirt over my belly</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">and shuffle around the buffet</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">nibbling this and that</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">but not too much of any one thing.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Maybe I'd have grandkids somewhere</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">or white hair.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I'd almost always be polite</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">or at least very quiet.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I'd also laugh because I am known</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">and sit in the padded booth</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">and the waitress would smile</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">and about more than the tip.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">No one has a chance with a home town old man</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">not even when he's just sitting.</span>ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-11420894560934790442014-07-24T18:32:00.000-07:002014-07-24T18:32:21.433-07:00Real Bad Chemo Day<span style="font-size: large;">I once knew an old man<br />and when he reached that point<br />they chucked him into a nursing home<br />and sorted through his things<br />to take and sell and otherwise throw away.<br />Thereafter, I visited him once a week.<br />He was a spiritual man<br />a Baptist longer than I'd then been alive.<br />He tried telling me<br />he was ready for the golden ladder,<br />to cross the river, and the great reunion<br />and how he could do nothing<br />now that everything was gone.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">He looked forward to being done.<br />Of course, the young pastor gave rebuttal<br />along the lines of how sometimes it isn't what you do<br />as much as it's who you are.<br />This was the best I could come up with.<br />One time I even said how he might outlive us all.<br />God forbid, he replied.<br />He was patient though, nodded sagely and encouragingly</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">waiting towards my inability to then understand.</span>ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-16755488476632448252014-07-21T11:13:00.002-07:002014-07-21T11:13:35.888-07:00I Love You - Now Buy My BooksI've always had a problem with self-promotion. This may explain my current level of book sales. Maybe I should get over it, but it seems phony.<br /><br />Like - there's this website called linkln.com. I'm a member there. There are LOTS of people using that site with whom I used to work. The gist of the site is, itself, self-promotion. You sign up, make connections, and look therein for opportunities. It's not Facebook or Myspace or Lookatmycrap.com… whatever. I get that. But what's interesting is I never hear from any of my connections unless they have something about themselves to say.<br /><br />Admittedly, some of my connections I consider associates or people with whom one works. I dislike very few of them. Then again, we were never best buds. It's like - you don't have to be friends with everyone you work with, but you do have to get stuff done. Many of these individuals I mostly listened to and during the course of time I learned about significant differences between them and myself. Yet, ever the one to promote diversity of relationships between myself and others - I kept most of my own thoughts to myself. Those folks I understand. They're in the world of business and want to be successful and they keep doors (relationships) open and at arm's length. That's cool…<br /><br />But there are others I did consider friends. The fault there may be mine. I never hear from these people unless, you got it, they're self-promoting their latest business, opportunity, or accomplishment… i.e. self-promotion. It smacks of insincerity; at a certain age one understands the carnival barkers are merely barking and what I once thought were friendships have wilted into, how to say this politely, people looking at me the way an Amway representative sees the world - as one large selling target.<br /><br />I don't pretend to care about others very well. I either care about them, or I don't. There's something sickening about faux happy-face in the name of sales. True sociopaths have a knack for making others think they care. Interesting link there … something about the sociopathic nature of business. And there's nothing wrong with business. I am, at heart, a capitalist. If we it gave it a real shot, it might work.<br /><br />But back to self-promotion… humans can say they care and for that instant they believe they do. But talk and deeds need to match. Some are better at this than others and I very much envy Nathanael (John 1:47).<br /><br />Or apply this to 'church', as understood by most in 2014. Unlike what one sees on tha tee-vee or in tha moovies - the pastor/priest isn’t always the bad guy. More often than not, he's the one who cares while there are many using 'their' church for their own purposes. Oh, the tell-all I could write about that. But one persistent idea is that of pastor as salesman and where in the world does church growth come from? Yet, Jesus wasn't an entertainer. He didn't sell coffee, open a book store in the back of the temple, nor did a too-loud band accompany him every Sunday for the young people.<br /><br />But where is church growth supposed to come from? It's certainly not doctrinally sound preaching, nor is it found in trying to do things close to what one reads in the book. Rather, if the given church isn't self-promoting, it's not going to need that addition added to the sanctuary. Here I'm getting snarky and a bit off-topic, but it is certainly something to consider. Just know motive plays a large part.<br />
Now, go read I John 3:18.<br />
ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-88478918914778987102014-07-04T11:42:00.005-07:002014-07-04T11:42:37.819-07:00My New-Old TypewriterA while back a church member gave me a portable, Sperry Rand / Remington 666 (interesting number, but not that relevant today). It's a typewriter. Few of the younguns in these parts know how to operate one. I took it to class once and challenged them to load a piece of paper. These are college freshmen and sophomores. It daunted them. Only three tried. I'm sure they'll become more adventurous and proficient at trying new things as they age.<br /><br />It's a simple device. Hit the letter key, the letter arm rises as does the ribbon-guide. If there's paper on the platen, a mark designating that letter is made on the paper. I used a fancier, electric version in college. It died years ago.<br /><br />The case is 15 inches long, 4 and three-quarters of an inch tall and 13 inches deep. I may be wrong, but research shows it was made in Holland in the early 1970s. It arrived with no paperwork though ribbons are still available for purchase on the internet. The original documentation, including a section on how to type, is also available for download. Like what isn't? Fascinating, no?<br /><br /> It's a magnificent machine. It yet works and I want to use it, but I don't know what for.<br /><br />It's also a reminder of, if not simpler, then less confusing times. We seem to be confused a lot, and we call it sophistication. Psychologists used to call that avoidance. I think now they call it enabling, or something like that.<br /><br /> I'm not even that old and still I remember non-Monsanto owned seed- corn, blackberry patches back in the woods on the edges of a field, a little thing called going to town, taking a bath, Americans who were unafraid of gluten, and people who looked for patterns and not exceptions. All these things worked well. Still do.<br /><br />Another fascinating tidbit is that in the early 1800s the typewriter was 'invented' over 100 times by different individuals. I suppose this means that when conditions are right a concept happens, whether people want it or not. And heck, who wouldn't want a typewriter? Charles Thurber is generally credited with the first 'workable' typewriter patent in 1843; for clarification, that pre-Civil-War. This also means it takes some doing to get it right, not that that ever stopped someone from trying.<br /><br /> There's also a thing called staying power and the old canard about buggy-whips. You can still buy one of those too. The typewriter is also still around. The faculty mail room where I work yet boasts one of those big, fancy IBM electrics. I've even seen people use it. The machine, as a species, is coming up on being 200 years old. That's a while.<br /><br />Technology is an interesting thing. It both advances and accumulates at the same time. Look around your house. The cutting edge doesn't immediately replace the tried and true. This explains some of the anachronisms. I suspect this is the reason why the Blu-Ray hasn't replaced the CD.<br /><br /> As a gift, it's pretty cool. Someday when I have my museum-quality den I'll put it on a pedestal under a glass dome, next to my pre-Reagan globe. Until then I don't know quite what to do with it. I suppose it will sit in a corner and from time to time I'll look at it with a very non-pragmatic sort of appreciation and someday, if the lights go out, it will help me be an important person - one who can type letters and thoughts on pieces of paper.<br /><br />If you ever win on Jeopardy with any of this send me a couple of bucks.ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-13836157776711237842014-06-25T13:08:00.002-07:002014-06-25T13:08:30.446-07:00Oh Look - A Shiny Sorta-Political Writing Thing
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">"A Republic, if you can keep it." -- Benjamin
Franklin</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">"Pardon the following grouch." -- Andy Decker</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The founding fathers, warts and all, put together a pretty
darn good system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know it's
fashionable to trash our nation's founders and to review their work through all
types of new prisms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet to do so proves
faulty and I would, if possible, trade our current batch of 'leaders' for what
we had at that time.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nor am I hopeful things are going to improve and the fault
is ours.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">'We the people' are the first three words of a little
document known as the United States Constitution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have you seen them?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not the people - but the words?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They stand out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They're HUMONGOUS compared to the rest of the
script.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whoever wrote them either left
his glasses at home that morning, or was making a point.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I know Gouverneur Morris (accredited with that portion of
the document) and the rest of the crew were sticking a stick in the eyes of all
the edict makers who would eventually get around to reading said document.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would behoove us to reflect a moment on
this device.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We the people are supposed
to be in charge of the government and not the other way around.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That said:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>democracy
must be struggled for and I don't see it happening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hence the mess.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Note the 'Occupy' movement and the 'TEA Party'.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These two groups have/are receiving
criticism… since day one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is what
happens when the systems that be are confronted with those who will struggle
for what they believe in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I say
systems because, at this point, the individual personalities involved are far
less important than we deem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
'leaders' of today are parts and can be swapped out for new ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The machines will carry on pretty much as
usual.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">All the more reason why struggling for democracy is not easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet it is necessary.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nor am I throwing my hat in one direction or another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Looking back and since I've been paying
attention, for about twenty or so years now, I've been waiting for a third
party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm very certain I'm not settling
for the corruption that passes for the current two-party system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nor am I convinced either of the new groups
is 100% what I'm looking for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It grows
complex and the red-state / blue-state false dichotomy bottoms out quickly.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Consider messaging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Occupy Movement I have not heard much from in about two years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Politically, that's eternity; they were
little more than a slow-motion flash-mob now mostly forgotten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was never convinced about what they wanted.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's difficult to agree or disagree with
a group when one doesn't know what said group stands for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That they camped out in downtown areas in big
cities was most of what I could pick up about their concerns; that and
something about how the wealthy don't deserve it.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The TEA Party (Taxed Enough Already) has a nice acronym in
its name and continues to today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a
tax-payer, I concur with the acronym.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Part of that success, in the face of withering pop-culture fire, is in
their messaging and branding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not
see evidence that the TEA party is racist or bigoted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do see a group of people tired of paying
what they consider to be more than their fair share and who would like to
simply get back to enforcing the laws of the land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now there's an interesting concept.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, the TEA Party flaw seems to be that they
wish to go back in time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Theirs is less
a vision, more a reminiscence.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But note, again, the opposition to both movements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two groups struggling for democracy's sake
have both been branded with derogatory terms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Name-calling is the lowest form of argument.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least debate the merits of what they're
saying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would encourage more participation
on everyone's part, but who has time to do that?</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Instead, I see a purposely distracted nation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two examples should do the trick.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am not today interested in horse racing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never have been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, only a short month ago, what was the
name of the horse that might have won the Triple Crown?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yeah, I forget too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I do know most people wanted that
particular horse to win, no matter that very few of them had ever been to a
horse track.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There's no logic to such desires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is, however, evidence of an electorate
led by its nose to the latest pop-culture trough.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And, more recently, think about the efforts to
convince the United States that soccer is interesting. Ha ha ha ha (excuse me)! It's 'World Cup' time and everyone should
care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just ask the morning shows and tha
whirld newz tanite!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But again, I
didn't care about soccer last month and it is assured I will care for it not a
whit next month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I</span>t's just another
fad backed by people hoping to make money, sandwiched between the latest vapid
actress being 'interviewed' by a media-conglomerate-hired reporter working for
a network that is owned by the company putting out the movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No strained interest there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In the meantime, we'll keep watching and, mostly, not caring enough to do much about it.</span>ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-78433709569070846352014-06-19T17:04:00.002-07:002014-07-04T11:50:23.270-07:00Some Thoughts on Psalm 39Psalm 39 is not long. Go read it. I'll wait.<br />
<br />
It's the middle of June and summer is sneaking up on us,<br />
not like the tornadoes that scream out of the sky to tear apart towns<br />
or the wild raspberries ripening by the afternoon.<br />
<br />
The psalmist asked that he know his end and the measure of his days<br />
so he might be acquainted with his frailty.<br />
That is quite a prayer.<br />
His request mingled with the admission that David held his tongue<br />
and should not have, <br />
and how he paid a price for silence.<br />
This seems very relevant.<br />
<br />
and now, a poem...<br />
<br />
The ones who scare me<br />
are the ones who act like it matters.<br />
I am not referring to everything,<br />
but to many things.<br />
Like the man who looks down on the other man<br />
for not putting in his forty hours.<br />
Or like the man who will not recognize the better man.<br />
Or the person with new shoes who knows<br />
it's critical to have new shoes thrown in the closet<br />
before the next pair of new shoes comes along.<br />
And there are those who ask who's to say<br />
when something wrong is done.<br />
These ones are getting close<br />
unless they back away.<br />
This kind of spite bumper-cars us through life<br />
against ourselves, against one another, <br />
against all types of tragic systems put here long before we were born.<br />
You wake up, I want to tell them.<br />
Maybe an instant more is all you have.<br />
Or it could be decades of instances.<br />
But either way there comes a day<br />
when all the instances are gone.ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-68233317658691740942014-06-06T17:21:00.000-07:002014-06-06T17:21:03.772-07:00Another Immortal Cancer Poem<span style="font-size: large;">Another Immortal Cancer Poem<br /><br />I forget the exact day<br />but let's say it's been about a year<br />and me with an expiration date<br />of a fairly-well written situation-comedy.<br />I'd like to say it's been a precious year<br />and I did have three months of remission<br />until it hit the bones.<br />But there was some chemo in there<br />and some fatigue<br />and all the usual crap that goes with.<br />So precious isn't the word.<br />What then?<br />There is no word.<br />It's stupid to try to think of one.<br />So what am I doing this year?<br />Waiting for the medical marijuana?<br />Somehow they'll take all the fun out of that too.<br />I just know it.<br />I could put on my Eeyore<br />and complain about everything else…<br />too easy.<br />At this point griping is like deciding to cheat on your taxes<br />or asking doc for more pain pills<br />when the bottle isn't empty yet<br />or taking a little break with the treatments<br />when nobody is looking.<br />It feels good when it's happening<br />and then there's fright when it's done.<br />There are other options ahead.<br />Consider… this poem could go on a while<br />or I might wrap it up right quick.<br />Who knows?<br />That's the thing.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Who knows?</span>ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-65921731014195731792014-06-06T14:54:00.000-07:002014-06-06T14:57:26.733-07:00A Terrible Creature and Poorly Drawn*** Ok - here's a little flash fiction and an opportunity given over at <a href="http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/06/06/flash-fiction-challenge-rise-of-the-phoenix/" target="_blank">Chuck Wendig's</a>. He's always good for a read and a few though-provoking things. Enjoy and, as always, honest feedback is always welcome. ***<br />
<br />
The morning brought five or six shades of blue to the hills surrounding the old quarry. But the growing day burned that away and turned it mostly to the colors of white oatmeal and clay. The word that came to Randall, as he followed the gravel road around to where he could see things, was immense. A great white square in the earth where trees and soil had been ripped away by some previous generation's earth-movers met his eyes. And, in the center of that, sat a second square; one holding water of an old green stagnation. Large rocks, some the size of cars and others fittingly looking like coffins sat tumbled around the old water. On the ground were smaller slices of stone, sharp like knives or bumpy like small fists.<br />
<br />
He dismounted the bicycle and walked it towards the edge of the pool. The quarry was of the legendary type; a place where teenagers were supposed to swim and party in the summers. But, they didn't. There were no old char-pits or cans or squiggled condoms reclining in the soil. Maybe, Randall thought, it had all been forgotten. Maybe something else kept the kids away. Whatever the reason, it was a good place for some of the things Randall liked to do.<br />
<br />
Nearing the water, he laid the bike on its side the way he might ease a friend to the ground. Another three steps brought him to the slimy edge of the pool. He always admired the lines and how box-like and definite the digging had been. What were they looking for, he wondered, granite or shale? And why had they stopped working here? He guessed it didn't matter and reached into his pocket.<br />
<br />
In the plastic baggie he'd kept the final piece of Elise; something about an eye for an eye. He wondered if there were fish in the water and how the keepsake might fare. There was something funny about the idea of a zip-lock and he smirked and pulled the lips of the bag apart. He reached in and didn't mind holding it. It had dried out some but was still moist and like an old scratched marble, the colors had dimmed.<br />
<br />
"Just remember," he said, "you started this."<br />
<br />
The water received its gift with a silly and noncommittal little plop and before Randall returned to his bike he admired the openness of where he stood. Atop the bluffs the alders moved in a wind too removed to feel and the sun stared down at him in an unexpected moment of heat. Beyond his sight some bird sang a three-note warble. There was a repetition to all this that Randall failed to notice. Only, he felt like he had something to work out. He just didn't know quite know what it was. He shrugged and guessed then it was finished.<br />
<br />
But the thing he'd thrown in the water wouldn't settle. It moved in little starts and dashes through the dark algae and tiny bubbles where the snails and other forgotten creatures of the pool lived beyond sight. By the time Randall made the blacktop it had already begun seeking its own.<br />
<br />
The tall grasses along the sides of the road slid by and soon he was back among the houses. The ride gave him time to think. The other parts of Elise were far away and there was no fear of being caught. His legs worked the bike and he wondered about what she'd been looking for. Some sort of thrill, he supposed, remembering how, if not possessive, then pensive she'd been. And, he had given her the show of a lifetime.<br />
<br />
Randall always went for the pretty ones. But unlike the others, there was intuitiveness about Elise and only after he'd picked her up the first time did he appreciate how she seemed to know what was going on. Right away, she'd wanted in on the next one. That's how she said it. Like she knew what Randall did with them and what she didn't think he would do to her.<br />
<br />
By the time he leaned his bike against the garage, his shirt was soaked. The sun had stared down at him with no clouds. It wasn't supposed to be this hot today. But he shrugged at it, punched the code into the door, and let himself into the house where the air was on. He sat in front of the television and pinched a button on the remote. He watched nothing in particular for a while and then thought he could use a shower.<br />
<br />
In the tub he found a conglomeration of red mess and hair had backed up the drain. Randall knew he'd cleaned it before he'd left; his hobby necessitated a certain level of care. Impossible, he thought. He swore at this and dug around under the sink for the snake. When he had it he reached into the drain hole with the little wire on the end and worked it around for a while but whatever plugged the pipe wouldn't give. This didn't make sense. It was only blood. The solid pieces were elsewhere.<br />
<br />
He walked to the basement door with a pipe-wrench. The raw-wood steps thudded under his feet. Just like her, he thought. Elise had done nothing but get in the way. She said she'd wanted to help but when he did it in front of her, to that girl whose name he'd never even learned, she'd only stared.<br />
<br />
"Stupid," he said, "and never again."<br />
<br />
He reached for the string and clicked on the light. The old bulb swung and the shadows of the white plastic drain jerked above him. He sighed, adjusted the wrench, reached up, and gave a hard pull on the nut. There was a relief when it gave and he knew he hadn't broken anything.<br />
<br />
With his hand he reached up and unscrewed it the rest of the way, and had only a moment to consider whether or not he'd gone insane.ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-51998942201259477012014-06-03T09:26:00.000-07:002014-06-03T09:26:23.743-07:00Zero Charisma - Movie ReviewIn the strange and wonderful world we live in it's possible to buy gently used and some new movies more cheaply than it is to rent them. One has to take the time and dig through the racks and bins, but they are there and some of them rise above the typical explosions, special effects, and boob shots that tend to pass for entertainment.<br /><br />Case in point: I found a gem of a movie called <em><strong>Zero Charisma</strong></em>. It is a collaborative effort by Tribeca Film and Nerdist Industries. When I say gem I don't mean a gem like you buy at a jewelry store for your wife's birthday. It's more like a gem you find at a yard sale. It's overlooked and many won't value it. But it's still a gem. The movie cost two dollars at the local video rental place. According to the box, <em><strong>Zero Charisma</strong></em> was put out in 2013. There's some sharp cussing in the movie so if you don't like that don't watch it.<br /><br /><em><strong>Zero Charisma</strong></em> is about a guy named Scott, as played by Sam Eidson. Something we tend to forget is that characters in movies have names aside from the actors playing them, but that's beside the point. Scott has issues. He lives with his grandmother. She has health problems and they get on one another's nerves. His mom abandoned Scott when he was very young. He works at a bakery. He's angry, and he's a Game Master for a fantasy role-playing game of his own design. This is what made me interested in the movie. Anybody who has ever played a fantasy role-playing game will find relatable moments (both funny and unfunny).<br /><br />Scott starts out in what I'll call 'normal land'. Things are ok. To most viewers, things aren't where we'd like them to be. But that's not important. To Scott, life is about where it should be. However, slowly, Scott loses control of his game (don't miss the metaphor). It starts when he loses a player and he begins efforts to recruit a new one. The new guy, stumbled upon almost accidently, is obviously way cooler and funnier than anyone else in the group. This unhinges Scott's need for control in the one area of his life where he feels like he has it (the game he's created). And don't we all have a need for control in at least one area of our lives? Critical question that. The new guy (Miles) ascends in likeability and this challenges Scott's rule and position as game-master with his group of friends. While this is going on, Scott's mom returns to challenge his place at his grandmother's house. From the start, it's mostly downhill for Scott. No spoilers. Watch the movie.<br /><br />That said, don't miss what's happening from a story-telling standpoint; one thing after another pushes Scott further and further from his comfortable normal. For this particular movie, many, though not all, of the problems are Scott's fault. This is important too. Because, while the viewer may not like Scott, over time (the way the plot points are revealed) the viewer can also understand why Scott is the way he is and this helps the viewer care.<br />
<br />
Two huge ideas for writers:<br /><br />HUGE IDEA FOR WRITERS #1: Premise isn't story, nor is it plot. This is about an angry game-master who likes to have a control of his game because it's about the only place in his life where he has any control. This is about what happens when that control begins to erode.<br /><br />HUGE IDEA FOR WRITERS #2: Take the main character and knock him (or her) down, down, and then down some more. Beat the crap out of that main character. This provides the primary tension of the story. Will Scott get back to normal? Will he find a new normal? Will he learn anything? And in the meantime, if told well, readers & viewers can obtain a handle on why the main character is the way he is. A little bit of empathy goes a long way and love covers a multitude of sins. What I mean is that when an audience understands a miserable and not very likeable character, they are willing to care and cut the guy some slack and, heck, may even begin rooting for the guy.<br /><br /> This is what is known as a character-driven story which, for me, is much more entertaining and gratifying than an explosion & boob-driven story.ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-91129034590534132032014-05-23T07:41:00.001-07:002014-05-24T08:14:37.462-07:00Waste ManagementSomebody wanted to know how come I don’t write more here about the Bible. First of all, I have to get over the flattery. Someone actually reads this blog. So, thanks for the input and hubba-hubba. That said, here’s what I’m thinking: Bibles are at Dollar General for less than ten bucks. Go buy a Bible and read it. It says it better than I can.<br />
<br />
Yet, ever the one to accommodate – here’s something to think about.<br />
<br />
The amount of food people throw away is interesting. I’m not talking about corporations or grocery stores or restaurants, though they waste prodigious amounts. It’s quite fashionable to trash corporations and businesses these days and the hypocrisy involved is chagrin-worthy. And mirrors used to be called vanities.<br />
<br />
Ever since I was little, there’s been a household chore all about throwing away food. Every once in a while it’s time to, “clean out the fridge.” This does not usually involve Windex and a roll of paper towels. Instead, cleaning out the fridge means going through the shelves and throwing away old food. This happens when the shelves become so packed with leftovers and bits & pieces of things not eaten, that there isn’t room for more.<br />
<br />
Only, people don’t wake up on Saturday morning and tell themselves, “Today I’m going to throw away food that’s now too old to eat and that we didn’t get around to eating.” Instead, they tell themselves and, later, may even boast to others in the family, “I cleaned out the fridge today.” That sounds much nicer and may merit a commendation. Cleaning out the fridge has to be done.<br />
<br />
I wonder what God thinks about all the wasted food. Someday, as I stand to answer for all the wrongs I’ve done, this may come up. It’s low on the list of things I think I’ll have to answer for. Then again, there may be surprise topics in that day.<br />
<br />
A similar example has to do with television. Numbers vary, but people who watch television watch a lot of television. Notice the word is “watch”. That sounds more active and palatable than saying, “I looked at the television for three hours last night.” Looked at, watched… what’s the difference? When was the last time you looked at a group of bearded irises, or something else very beautiful, for three hours before bed time? Again, another case of reality softened and made, perhaps, more acceptable via word choice.<br />
<br />
Then there’s the person who doesn’t get enough exercise. So, instead of a push-mower and a snow-shovel they buy the rider and the blower. Then they pay for the gym membership. Then they complain money is tight.<br />
<br />
Examples abound…<br />
<br />
Waste not, want not – a proverb from yesteryear not in the Bible. It makes some, though not total, sense. Food, time, talents, educational opportunities, potential… all these things can languish in the land of abundance. The Bible says quite a bit about waste. Don’t take my word for it. Look it up and read it if you have the time.ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-60353357790274619072014-05-20T08:46:00.000-07:002014-05-20T08:46:30.919-07:00In the middle of chemo<br />
Fight<br />
<br />
and retreat.<br />
<br />
There's nothing wrong with this strategy.<br />
<br />
Capital city is miles away<br />
<br />
and only if it ever comes to that<br />
<br />
then be done retreating.<br />
<br />
Begrudge it<br />
<br />
the border counties,<br />
<br />
the approaches,<br />
<br />
rivers,<br />
<br />
plateaus,<br />
<br />
the faculties of what it takes.<br />
<br />
Absorb this.<br />
<br />
Give ground<br />
<br />
as necessary.<br />
<br />
Oh<br />
<br />
I'm not saying give up.<br />
<br />
But take a moment.<br />
<br />
Realize the vast nation of who you are.<br />
<br />
The reserves,<br />
<br />
the untouched and untouchable places,<br />
<br />
the industry,<br />
<br />
the glorious shrines,<br />
<br />
and all the landscapes<br />
<br />
that even before the invasion<br />
<br />
few bothered to see.<br />
<br />
But you know them<br />
<br />
and love them<br />
<br />
and they are still there.<br />
<br />
That's what you fight with<br />
<br />
and preserve.<br />
<br />
Some will be ruined<br />
<br />
and really,<br />
<br />
the entire place has already changed.<br />
<br />
Yes, there is much to consider.<br />
<br />
But right now, get through.<br />
<br />
Later, reclaim.<br />
<br />
Just don't worry about all that yet.<br />
<br />
For now, hang on.<br />
<br />
Fight<br />
<br />
and retreat.ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-55981139506188926862014-05-20T08:40:00.000-07:002014-05-20T08:40:12.831-07:00Quick NoteI find myself drawn to poetry lately. This has to do with the type of energy it takes to write the stuff, as opposed to prose. It's difficult to explain but anyone who has ever tried understands the difference. I'm also trying to not make this blog about cancer. But right now, that's the frame I'm stuffed into. So... That said, I am working on a few things that have nothing to do with either cancer or poetry. Stay tuned, skip it, or whatever. If you're still reading, thanks.ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-59551396844068815812014-05-15T09:59:00.000-07:002014-05-20T10:56:58.559-07:00Pursue That Premise<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ponder that, in November of 1983, Kevin Eastman drew a
bipedal turtle, wearing a mask, with nunchucks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Within a few days, Eastman and his friend, Peter Laird, had created four
such turtles, each armed with a different ninja weapon; fast forward thirty
plus years and multi-million dollars of franchise later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</i> are yet alive and well, and making money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bless the heroes in the half-shell.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Get that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bi-pedal turtles,
martial arts, and fighting crime.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I know there was some luck involved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There always is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I also know this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PT Barnum is accredited with saying,
"The American public will buy almost anything."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ok, Barnum is accredited with saying a sucker
is born every minute, but my version is a tad nicer, and no less true.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As writers, or whoever happens to be reading this, let us
bow our heads and contemplate that premise may not be as important as we think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nor should premise be dismissed because it
sounds a bit goofy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Speaking of which,
why does Pluto never get to talk, while Donald is nearly incomprehensible when
he does say something (at least in the original)?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Speech impediments and limitations must have
been part of the original idea.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What is a writer's premise, or, to become all
high-falootin', what is a literary premise?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ok, never mind the high-falootin (it doesn't sell that well
anyway).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But according to a plain old
thesaurus, a premise is:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>an assumption,
hypothesis, thesis, presupposition, postulation, supposition, presumption,
surmise, conjecture, so on, and so forth.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A premise is a simple game of 'what-if' the writer
plays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, what if I filmed an
almost recognizable celebrity spouse swapping places with another sorta-kinda
recognizable celebrity spouse?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
would be the premise for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Celebrity
Wife-Swap</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Titillating, no?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe not so much, but people do watch that
crap. And, somebody somewhere probably enjoys making those episodes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this, perhaps, is the key.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As a fiction writer, if one does not enjoy one's premise,
then what's the point?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I posit today that if a premise (any premise at all) has
ensnared your imagination, then please, do run with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go ahead and play, 'what if'.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flesh it out and see what happens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it doesn't work, so what?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All that has been lost is a little time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make it up in your sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it does work, then guess what?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therein lies the tale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may be explored and pushed and pulled and
turned into something people (at last, or maybe at least, you) will enjoy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Premise is not story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Premise is not character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Premise
is only a situation and some of the setting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The writing is the magic and the magic will tell the tale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it order for that to happen, a writer
needs to follow-up on a few things.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Writers, let us now place our foreheads on the dirt and ask,
'How many ideas have I rejected because I dismissed the premise as not very
good, dull, or stupid?' The answer is probably far too many.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember, someone will read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That's how the reading public is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the meantime, give your imagination a
break.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us run loose for a
while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One never knows when a great idea
has just arrived and to dismiss it out of hand is just a bit premature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And no one likes to be premature.</span></div>
ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-10666989738177846122014-05-12T06:33:00.000-07:002014-05-12T06:33:51.365-07:00It's Not The Water
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
I thought I would do something today to feel a little alive</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
like maybe eat some popcorn or have a slushy;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
roll the window down and turn the music up.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
But those are little tricks</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
and they don’t work all the time.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
I suppose they’re decent reminders though,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
better than nothing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
The ironic thing, well, one of the ironic things</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
is that the medicine that’s supposedly killing the cancer,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
or that I hope is killing the cancer,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
is killing everything</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
and I am fully aware of this.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
It’s like losing my hair;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
not that I mind being bald</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
because it’s summer and I look like that dude on Breaking
Bad.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
But it’s too obvious to not notice…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
that sort of thing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
It’s like how something once pleasant</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
like smelling a nice cup of coffee</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
makes me want to lose my breakfast</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
before I’ve even had breakfast</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
and that’s how the day’s going to go</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
and I know it before I even get out of bed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
I’m supposed to choke down these four pills in the morning</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
and then four identical pills in the evening, with food,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
and of course the pills don’t have a taste…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
you swallow them</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
with water</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
and that shouldn’t be so bad.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
But the water tastes terrible.</div>
ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-53892218869498051732014-04-23T06:17:00.000-07:002014-04-23T06:17:09.489-07:00Cancer Update #8 - It's BackI finally know what I want to be when I grow up: cancer free. A few weeks ago I was told the cancer has moved to my bones and so that's that... hence a lack of April updates. I can say these treatments are much more difficult than the first round from last year. More later... but consider this little post a small attempt at me getting back in the saddle.ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-75029936272711541152014-03-26T08:13:00.000-07:002014-03-26T08:13:25.153-07:00An Unexpected Review
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here’s me being reviewed in the second issue of <a href="http://www.commonodditiessideshow.com/issue-2.html" target="_blank">The CommonOddities Speculative Fiction Sideshow</a> (click the ‘Download pdf’ tab).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Having more experience with smoke being blown up certain
places than with having my work independently reviewed, I tell myself honesty
is best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I mean it, in a puckered
and clenched sort of manner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any
publicity is good publicity?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do we really
want people to be honest?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Big
question that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a backhanded
compliment to be told, “Well, at least he’s honest.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I also have wide-ranging experiences of people saying they’re
going to do something and then they don’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Students, contractors, HR interviewers at fortune 500 firms, and the guy
in the mirror are all guilty of this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This time I was pleasantly surprised on both aforementioned
cynical-me topoi (used in a more general / material sense for you Aristotle
nerds out there).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">About a month ago I received an email from <a href="http://jilldomschot.com/" target="_blank">Jill Domschot</a> informing
me she would be reviewing <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Under-Cloven-Moon-The-Satanta-ebook/dp/B00DU49BSU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395846601&sr=8-1&keywords=Under+a+Cloven+Moon" target="_blank">Under a Cloven Moon: The Santanta Run</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having visited and commented a time or two on
her blog, this offered an unexpected addition to my day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The content of her blog always strikes me as
honest, sharp, and erudite – setting certain expectations about just how honest
and sharp of a review did I want.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, one of the little
voices in my head kept telling me to believe it when I could see it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, voila, about a month later, here’s the review.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jill, if you’re out there, thank you so
much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luck indeed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And no, I didn’t send her a basket of cookies
to do this (not that I’m above doing that).</span>ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-27414379583140362372014-03-18T07:35:00.001-07:002014-03-18T07:35:29.174-07:00Holy Frenchisms!
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I can finally relate with a certain cliché about the French (not the
cheese-eating surrender monkey cliché).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rather, consider how the French are supposed to be rude towards
Americans because the two cultures just don't 'get' one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like at the Tower of Babel, when the speech
was confused, it wasn't just the speech.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was the way of thinking and maybe the French have a reason or two to be rude.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">With
the extra poundage, the funny looking money, and a complete rejection of the
notion that they should learn a few native words before visiting, Americans
just don’t fit in downtown Paris.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Le Big
Mac?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>EuroDisney?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No wonder the French are protective of their
language.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some things just don’t
translate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without pondering the depths
of cultural imperialism, I can relate to French concerns in these matters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For
example, a few years ago one of the networks had a movie about “The Flood”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess it was based on the Biblical
account.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About the same time I remember there
was another show about Cleopatra.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guess
what movie was more historically accurate?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Here's a clue:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in TV-land, Sodom
doesn’t have Sodomites and Noah wasn’t the only one with an ark.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">One
would think the producers could have hired some native speakers to guide them
through their producing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But like the
rude visitors they were, they didn’t bother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They had the money, the script, the ugly shorts, the obtrusive camera,
and didn't know enough of the native tongue to truly communicate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My sense was they didn’t understand half of
what they were trying to say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And now <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Noah</i> -- the movie!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bum-bum-bum!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The trailer alone looks like Bible fan-fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The original doesn't include red-hot swords on
anvils and what looks like a Viking attack on the ark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wonder what they'll do with Genesis 6:5?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">All
kinds of politicians, entertainers, and newsmen say all kinds of things that
native speakers can tell came straight from the “Conversational Christianity
in 20 Easy Lessons” traveler’s handbook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And that’s ok, I guess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose
it’s nice to have visitors and people interested, so long as they don’t kid
themselves about where they're from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
many of them represent the worst kind of tourists - those with something to
sell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They don't want to stay to really
learn what it's like to live here.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">They
say things that just don’t make sense to the native speakers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And not only do they say it with a straight
face, but they smile and expect their audience to agree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr. McConaughey apparently not realizing God
watches the movies as well as the Oscars, Revelations the mini-series, “regional”
correspondents from the New <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">York Times</i>,
and high-profile soon to be presidential candidates are all wide-eyed and in
our faces, nodding and speaking far too loudly to be taken seriously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not convinced they’re here with anyone's best
interests in mind, other than their own.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Through
the prism of metrics, they've spotted a new land; a new marketing segment they
want to visit.</span>ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-27801823608404112562014-03-07T10:15:00.005-08:002014-03-07T10:15:44.129-08:00Editing is important, last...
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My brain works faster than my fingers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes this is goodness.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s been forever since I’ve written something longer than a
few lines by hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite four years of
penmanship in Catholic grade school, my handwriting is generously described as
abstract.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Someday I may scan each letter
and make a font; give the NSA a run for its (our?) money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Learning to type in high school and later
gaining speed as a typesetter for the hometown newspaper has been a boon in a
number of ways; gains in productivity and the readability of my work are but
two of these blessings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even so, my
brain still works faster than my fingers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Who hasn’t been typing along with a full sail of beautiful
brain-prose when they noticed the auto-correct green line of stupidity
streaming behind them like the goo from a drunken snail’s meanderings?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or better yet, consider the red line under a
word misspelled so grossly that even the computer couldn’t fix it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For many years I felt compelled to stop,
drop, and edit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This takes time, depending
on the error.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then… what happens
then?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Remember, my brain-finger combo is the proverbial tortoise
and the hare when it comes to writing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After the grammar or spelling or punctuation madness has
been improved to the computer’s satisfaction, and upon returning to the end of
prosaic line, oft times the ideas are no longer there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The blossoming flower has wilted under the
ungenerous dry heat of ever-demanding syntax.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The brilliant phrase to come has vanished, as though it were nothing
more than a mirage in the first place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And, by golly, right now would be a great time for some YouTube or email
checking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the next thing I know is
that it’s time to let the dogs out and start thinking about supper; i.e. writing
done for the day.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This type of self-inflicted paralysis is symptomatic of a
flaw in the writer’s process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember
the writing process?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think about
macaroni and cheese.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Placing the cheese
in the boiling water ruins the recipe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>First things need to be first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Recipes
are processes and processes help produce consistent results.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m a big fan of the writing process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have one and so should you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Part of the writing process is to consider creation,
revision, and editing as three separate entities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Write, rest, revise (loop rest-revision ad
infinitum if you wish), and then and only then go back for the edits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ugly parts will remain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not like they’re going to fix
themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let the red and green lines
of the word processing program adorn your prose, for a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The world needs more color.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the meantime, the ideas need to blossom.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What I tell my students when it comes to the concentration-breaking
issue of stopping mid-sentence to go back and fix that comma splice is that
English Teacher Stuff (spelling, subject-verb agreement, punctuation, so on and
gag me with a wood spoon) is important.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But it’s important last.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Remember, before editing can occur, there has to be
something to edit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Keep
typing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Type until the white edges of
your distal phalanxes scratch the letters from the keyboard and the spaces
between are gummy with red finger juice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Finish that paragraph or that page or that chapter or, heck, even the
entire first draft of that thousand-page novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Typos endure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There will be time
to go back and pick them off at your leisure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Stalk them at the end of the writing process like the highly qualified
word-sniper you are.</span>ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-27772239089562618352014-02-28T07:55:00.001-08:002014-02-28T07:55:53.720-08:00Give it a Go (sucky titles be darned)
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Holy Guacamole!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here
it is, the final day of the month and me with only three February entries to
this here blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hey bloggy, watch me
pull a post out of my hat!<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">This week I’ve been doing some experimental cooking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Monday was a Tai-noodle thing with peanuts
and chicken and about a half-dozen spices I’ve not worked with – totally new
recipe under the gun of people leaving at a certain time and there I am in the
kitchen trying to make things work on time and under budget (priced coconut
milk lately?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tuesday was curry chicken
with potatoes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, something I’ve
never cooked before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thursday I tried a
new pasta-salad with Chimichurri instead of the usual Italian dressing
stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Familial reviews for all three were
positive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that’s not today’s point.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I was slaving away in the kitchen during this thrice-fold
event, the thought kept occurring about how much time & effort &
preparation & different ingredients all this took.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time slowed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was clumsy & stumbly & uncertain & huffy at times (likin’ me
some ampersands this morning).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had to
refer to the recipes between steps and it just didn’t flow the way I like to
have my cooking flow.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Can we say ‘learning curve’?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Case in point – I bet the average home-cook in downtown Bangladesh
can make chicken potato curry in his sleep in about a third of the time it
took me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, let said Bangladeshi have
a go at Mom Decker’s spaghetti – that’s homemade sauce bucko so get that sick rag-goo
bottled poison out of yer head!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
thinking I’ve got the upper hand on that one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not bragging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s down to an art
that takes less than an hour.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">If at first you don’t succeed – quit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something like that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Been there, done that, wish I hadn’t (quit,
that is).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like music – can’t read a
note, but I like music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tried learning
how to read music once or twicet, but that’s like hard to learn for my
right-brained self. Never followed up on the efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So here I am, bereft
and vacant and without what I’ll call a technical understanding of something I
greatly enjoy and appreciate.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I also posit that we are too used to seeing the final,
finished, and polished result done at the hands of highly paid professionals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consider the McDonald’s customer-facing menu,
replete with deceptive photos of what the food ‘looks like’, organized by this
or that or the other thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oft
overlooked, it is the product of hundreds of man-hours of people in
putty-colored meeting rooms, design offices, and printing shops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We don’t see the ugliness that goes in to
designing even the mendacity of advertising, let alone the well-done and more
beautiful displays.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Yeah, there’s a fear of failure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s a fear that what I’m attempting is
going to suck and suck bad. Anyone who has ever written anything for public consumption knows this feeling well. And guess what, it has sucked,
it does suck, and it shall suck again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can I
get a big true-that!?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But you don’t get
good at something by doing it one time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And guess what, sucking bad didn’t end my world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It never ended yours – unless you’re talking
about a poisoned blow-dart down your throat like that aborigine in that one
Bugs Bunny episode.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Different kind of
sucking altogether.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">So – learn the lessons and wear the scars proudly into the
future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It simply means you tried and in
a world of people who attempt less than what they are comfortable with, that
means a lot.</span></div>
ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-33207986610101268942014-02-25T05:43:00.000-08:002014-02-25T05:43:30.935-08:00Strength and HonourI imagine the noble grandfathers<br />
sitting above, imbibing and in low tones<br />
intimating about all that we have never seen<br />
nor been.<br />
<br />
It's about the stretch and pull of sinew,<br />
long days' labour and receipt of burdens<br />
we have never carried and now cheaply<br />
we arrived.<br />
<br />
In expensive lives we nonchalantly hold<br />
at bay the assaults once withstood and won<br />
and were given the hard valedictory praises<br />
by default.<br />
<br />
In thanks, they would have us forsake<br />
our luck and stop to lift a greater cause<br />
so they may know we are of and are one<br />
of them.ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-69628390725912065792014-02-19T08:15:00.002-08:002014-02-19T08:15:46.411-08:00Synchronized Thinking
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Synchronized swimming is when two or three, or seven hundred
people jump in the water and do the same things:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>make flower designs with their legs, stand on
their heads at the bottom of the pool, imitate mermaid ballerinas, and
generally splash around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s like a
flash-mob in the water -- kind of cool to watch, especially with the right
camera work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though, the nose-clips and
spitting tends to distract from the artistry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Alas that it’s not a Winter Olympic Sport.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I, being a land-based mammal, never could do any of
that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can swim, but don’t expect me to
save anyone when the ship goes down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
heading for the closest piece of flotsam and there shall I cling until
rescued.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Boats are good – never had a
problem with boats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when immersed in
water, and my feet can’t touch the muddy bottom?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s left of my bowels tries to crawl its
way to dry land, dragging the rest of me along for the panic-induced ride.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But that’s ok because there’s another sport, quite similar, and
I do it with the best of them.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">An example:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>something
happens in the world and that something is deemed newsworthy by the powers in
charge of selecting newsworthy events for us to consider.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The closing segment of tha whilrd newz tanite
goes something like this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“And finally,
a mother in the township of East-Ganglia expressed outrage today when not
allowed to transport her trans-finless guppies to the local pet babysitting
service.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[image of outraged woman holding
plastic sack of finless guppies].</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Other examples include controversies about movies, music, and other priced venues of entertainment, usually a few weeks before said entertainment is slated to premier. A bit like Jimmy Fallon appearing in dozens of commerials before Jay Leno's chair had the chance to cool.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The above segment lasts, perhaps, a half-minute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Count to thirty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s how much information the viewers at
home have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hardly a blip on the radar,
something to possibly notice in between bites of dinner. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has nothing to do with the viewer at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the next day, the story goes ‘viral’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a suspect term.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Going viral is often not as virus-like as one
might think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But anyway, the viewer at
home hears the story again the next morning over his crispy cereal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This account includes no new information.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yet, it must suddenly be important.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An outraged individual or small group of
individuals must be tended to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, we
turn on our radios to hear what the radio talk-people say about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We watch our news and read our blogs and
choose, based on the ear we like to have tickled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By end of day – we relax because an opinion
on the so very important matter (typically one of two – either ‘fer it’ or ‘agin
it’) has been accepted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The thinking has been given to the public, not formed by the
public.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s a difference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But everyone goes around thinking they know
what they think about the outrage-du-jour and the proposed legislation to solve
it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">And that,
my friends, is synchronized thinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve
been splashing around the water for some time now.</span>ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-83557426602900010292014-02-06T18:16:00.000-08:002014-02-06T18:16:32.598-08:00Who The Hell Knows
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I see where the philosophy club at the college is going to
host a discussion about profanity - along the lines of attempting to discover
when a word crosses into the realm of the profane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A titillating subject, no?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I've thought about that in the past and, as a
writer, I've considered how much, if any, potty-mouth my characters should
possess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People do swear, both adults
and children -- so where do writers self-prohibit and where do they let loose?
If you find an answer to that question, let me know.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">In an ironic twist of linguistics, swearing is sometimes
referred to as adult language.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not quite
sure when the last time some people walked around a middle-school was, but perhaps
they should revisit just to make sure they understand the concept of adult
language.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I recently watched <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Boondocks Saints</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, it's an older
movie - testimony to the fact I don't get out much. Both the plot and the
premise of this film were interesting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
characters weren't as realized as they could have been, but with all the
bloodshed who had time to notice?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However,
the greatest flaw <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was the pervasive use of the f-bomb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Half way through the movie I was tired of
hearing it, yet like the houseguest that never leaves, it stayed until the very
end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, I get it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The good guys were from a rough neighborhood
and worked in a meat processing plant and the bad guys were bad guys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But still.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At some point I suspect the writer just ran out of dialog and
substituted that one word so his characters would have something to say until the
movie had finished.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Compare this to another cinematic giant, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kill Bill, Vol. 1</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There's the same type of language in KBv1,
but it's far less obtuse; it doesn't crop up in every scene and this helps the
dialog sound, somehow, more mature (at least as mature as a kung-fu
sword-fighting movie can be) than TBS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Like I said, ironic.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">It's also fascinating when people who know I'm a pastor slip
and say something they feel is profane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is often followed by an apology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now let me get this straight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>First, a human being who claims to believe in a God who knows everything
they do, every thought they have, and the motives behind it all, figures they
should apologize to me (of all people) because they used a swear word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look, if you can say it in front of God, just
who do you think I am?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pastor is not
the language police - at least, he shouldn't be and if he feels that he is,
that's his problem and not yours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God
gives us free will; who am I to try to take it?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Then there's that bit in scripture about taking the Lord's
Name in vain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That's one of the top ten (somewhere
in Exodus 20 if memory serves).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's one
of the Thou Shalt Nots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of
believers take that to mean, 'no cussin'; not a terrible boundary to have in
one's life, though we may not quite appreciate the intended meaning.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Consider King David who wrote many of the psalms - beautiful
poetry if ever there was, of which I hear only a fair echo because my Hebrew is
a bit rusty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>King David was eloquent and
he understood the power of words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet,
there are a couple of passages where he opens the great dictionary of his brain
and, for example, throws out a pisseth (homework:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>get yourself a KJV concordance and look it
up).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Point being, David knew his
audience and when he spoke with soldiers he wasn't above talking as, sometimes,
soldiers do.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Then there's the Apostle Paul who said, and here I
paraphrase, that he considered everything he'd given up to answer his call as
dung.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is an example of the
translators being polite for the studio audience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul's original word-choice is a bit more
abrasive and much less softened for the genteel ear (Philippians 3:8).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">There are other examples, but please note, two of the big
names were not averse to throwing around what could be called profanity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And since it's in the Bible, hmmm… maybe a
list of Bible-profanity is in order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then again, the world could probably survive without such.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Following along then, vanity (adjective or noun, take your
pick) is something either meaningless or selfish, a literal reflection and
gazing upon of our own surface, nothing more, nothing less.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Narcissus, lest we forget, fell in love with
his own reflection and wasted his life -- poignant lesson on vanity if ever
there was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So that, taking the Lord's
name in vain would mean using His name for personal gain (ala televangelists /
politicians / and some abusive spouses), as a meaningless word (one of those
verbal fillers that turns into the spoken Tourette-syndrome-habit), or only in
the most selfish, albeit possibly sincere, of contexts (God what can you do for
me because them other people don't matter so much).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">But very little of this answers the question of when does a
word enter into the vernacular as a profanity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Legally, it has to do when a word crosses the boundary into the
offensive or hateful (your state statutes may vary).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, if that's the case, a better discussion
for the philosophy club might be to consider what words aren't offensive, and
why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such legal definitions are, like
many legal definitions, ambiguous at best and enforced only upon the discretion
of the special interest group currently bellyaching the loudest.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">My own opinion when a word becomes a 'bad' word? Please refer to the title of this post and good luck finding a job with that philosophy degree.</span>ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-29221687925857380472014-01-24T08:23:00.000-08:002014-01-24T08:23:04.088-08:00Not A Sound From The Pavement
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Sometimes my memory reminds me of a ghost ship.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">{Writing advice for this post appears in the last paragraph if you wish to skip the rambling}</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Consider the Lyubov Orlova for example; a Russian cruise
ship that’s been adrift for nearly a year, with nary a soul aboard (making
pirate noises).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It comes and goes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People see it, then it vanishes in the mists
(more pirate noises).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s what ghost
ships do, but this one’s even better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Supposedly
the Lyubov Orlova carries cannibal rats!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They’re cannibals for two reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>First, rats are like rabbits on Viagra when it comes to proliferation rates,
and secondly, after a year there’s nothing else to eat on the ship except other
rats.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I’m seeing a movie trailer in my brain about a tsunami of bloodthirsty
rats hitting a small but moderately populated (think body counts) island in the
north Atlantic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because it’s a European
island the people don’t have guns and they have to fight the rats with cricket bats
and bidet pipes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hero, played probably
by Anthony Hopkins (supporting actress either Julia Louis-Dreyfus or Nicole
Kidman) has to find and destroy the King Rat who’s really an evil spirit from
Baba Yaga’s hut (Russian folklore and Dungeons & Dragons reference – look it
up).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">But getting back to my memory…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yesterday, while driving errands, I had this
great idea for a blog post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was super
awesome and relevant and fascinating and enlightening; just about the best
thing since the invention of the rat-trap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was the one that would have put me over the top:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>fame, fortune, drag racing with Justin Bieber…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">It just appeared from nowhere, like great ideas and ghost
ships sometimes do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Magnificent and
haunting gloriousness aside, I stored said idea in my memory hole and continued
with the errands. Somewhere, the idea fell out. A stop at the bank,
the grocery store, the gas station, and all was lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t remember a dalgone thing about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still can’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And so, you’re reading this and not something that would cause cascading
ululations of life-changing epiphany.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Point
being:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>writers need to write stuff down
so they can remember it later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keep a notebook
or send yourself an email with all those great ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, don’t do that while driving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I really wish I had taken the time to
make myself a quick note for future reference.</span></span></div>
ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-42099209817185204202014-01-15T10:26:00.002-08:002014-01-15T10:26:38.112-08:00Cancer Update #7 - All's Well, For Now
Here’s the dealio… doc tells me my blood-work and body scans
show no current signs of cancer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keyword:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>current.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I go back in April for a rinse and repeat of the tests.<br />
<br />
Now – this is good news – great news in fact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But keep in mind, we’re talking five-freakin’-year
bellcurves!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, I’ll take my three
months and be totally, completely, and ever irreversibly thankful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there’s April and the expectation that
the other shoe could drop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Then</span>
again, one of the great lessons here is that one never knows when the first
shoe will drop.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, the news continues to sink in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The day the doc told me this good news, I
felt like I was standing in the middle of a smoldering crater with a sense of
now what?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a savor, I think, of
PTSD (maybe, kinda-sorta?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having never
been in combat I use the term in a highly unprofessional and completely non-clinical
manner. Apologies to those who have that real deal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then again, I’ve been in a
number of tight spots and so my stress-memory isn’t as flabby as my midsection.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bottom line here: sorting things will
take a while.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Anyways – unless something happens, no more cancer
updates for a while.</span>ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5038983710583958916.post-48021645538311431112014-01-05T19:57:00.003-08:002014-01-05T19:57:42.361-08:00Waiting for the Orange Blossoms
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">I find something very human about the fact that a boat load
of 52 Global Warming scientists on a discovery mission to help prove receding
levels of Arctic sea ice were trapped by Arctic Sea ice and had to be rescued
by Chinese helicopters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">For starters, where does one obtain a Global Warming science
degree?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I Google, 'BS Global
Warming," I find many links, none of which lead to accredited
universities.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Secondly, China is the world's largest polluter-nation and
it was their helicopters, made in 100% non-OSHA, non-EPA approved assembly
plants that had to get in there and airlift said scientists back to some warmer
part of the planet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Standing on
principal, I expect the true believers stayed on board with the crew.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Those youngsters living for the ironic (the purposely bored ones
with black, plastic-frame glasses, ugly clothes, hair shriven by dull
left-handed scissors, the latest electronic gadgets, and a wall of awards for a
lifetime of showing up) should be ecstatic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I can see them now, giving one another knowing nods and raised eyebrows,
sipping their organic fair-trade coco in their micro-fiber onesies, hoping mom
doesn't come in and tell them to turn that gosh-darn music down in front of
their friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, they just got
over the fact that they weren't the first generation to discover alcohol and
sex; and now this?!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">That right there is the price of admission to the human club
in all of its sometimes wildly disappointing and often ridiculous glory. Things like this tend to become lost in the twerk-induced marginalia of our modern lives.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">Tonight, in this neck of the woods, the temperature is supposed to bottom out somewhere around seventeen below zero, and that's when the wind doesn't blow. I spent two hours today shoveling snow and will do more tomorrow. But I'm not saying Global Warming isn't real. I don't know and in the big scheme of things I don't care. All I'm hoping for tonight is that the power doesn't go out and what I do know is that orange trees still won't blossom in central Illinois.</span>ADhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16883722732624330412noreply@blogger.com0