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 |  You are what you write. Illusion and Reality...I reside in between. Where are you? |
UNDERSTAND THAT REDIRECTING CIVILIZATION is a major undertaking. You can write volumes about it and who will listen? But the energy that goes for that purpose cannot be withdrawn. You know that.  |
 Prompt: Blaming -- When things go wrong, do you find that you blame yourself or someone else or do you leave the blame aside and take care of the problem at hand? What is the best way to stop the blame game? In my world most things that go wrong are the result of a difference in work ethics, and understanding that, helps deal with the problem. Other times we find the worker simply does not understand enough English to comprehend the instruction and is embarrassed to admit that, or cannot read a written note. It doesn’t mean they don’t know how to do the job. A few minutes of one-on-one communication with maybe some pictures or pantomime solve the problem. There are some folks who can do no wrong and someone else is always at fault. A great deal of tact and tolerance is required to maneuver through that minefield. I think people’s egos are really interesting to study, understand and later to use the example for creating a written character in a novel or story. When something goes wrong, I often say it is my fault because I should never have trusted or believed the individual. When someone shows competence and responsibility---appreciate it! Acknowledge it! ------------------------------------------------------- AWARENESS for Tuesday, December 12th... Macy’s plans to close nearly 40 stores, The company is also cutting more than 4,000 jobs. Understand, like Sears, Macy’s is an anchor store for many malls in medium-sized towns and cities. When they close it is a devastating blow to the other smaller stores in the mall. The masses of shoppers stop coming and their business gets even slower. More jobs are at risk. Compare that to: Last year, the United States dropped an estimated total of 23,144 bombs in six countries. Of these, 22,110 were dropped in Iraq and Syria. This estimate is based on the fact that the United States has conducted 77 percent of all airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, while there were 28,714 U.S.-led coalition munitions dropped in 2015. This overall estimate is probably slightly low, because it also assumes one bomb dropped in each drone strike in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, which is not always the case" Official figures are almost nonexistent, but there is a soft quote of $7,500,000 per day, but that was just for Iraq. Some of the planes cost $68,000 per hour to operate and one big missile can cost $600,000 each and the smaller bombs average about $250,000 each. They do not like to include the transportation, maintenance, personnel, planning, training and supervision necessary to make this happen. The cost is beyond comprehension and what has been accomplished is even more difficult to understand. All of this did not happen by accident... Who do you blame for Macy’s closing 40 stores? ------Macy’s is just a tiny, tiny example of a very big iceberg that used to be called “The home of the brave, land of the free”... I just chose that because it’s part of ‘consumer USA’, and for sure Macy’s was part of the Middle Class experience. Long ago, and far away, I used to shop there and use my Macy’s Credit Card. (so long ago.) QUESTION: Did it go wrong? Or was it wrong from the beginning? If blame is placed on an individual, or group, or organization, or corporation, or a sovereign nation, is that the truth? How do you know? These days, the concept of the truth of the raw reality, is just as incomprehensible as the illusion we live in. I have found that the very hard words of Judge Anna Von Reitz (Supreme Court, Alaska) comes closer to the unvarnished truth than anything I’ve read in a long time. Her website has hours of stuff to read. Check it out at: oom2 dot com/f9-anna-von-reitz (You know to replace the ‘dot’ with a ‘.’, yeah? I don’t put direct links like this because ‘they’ are very nervous about her truths, It makes my head hurt just to wonder how ‘they’ got away with so much for such a long time. I guess it’s what I aways say... ...follow the money! Peace and Love...>>>iggy   |
| Prompt: Does extreme eccentricity add to a story’s literary value, as in an eccentric character, plot, or setting or is it just a cute trick? Extreme eccentricity is often a matter of opinion when the character might seem really quite normal and just like somebody’s mother, or old Uncle Carl. When compared to the rest of the cast, a certain character might have a great impact. I think we try to avoid anything like a cute trick. A rather odd character I've currently created, appears in Knights of Sparrow: (This will be her debut as no one has read this yet) “Ready are we?” A loud cracked voice asked. They both turned to see the old woman in the doorway, stooped and limping as she entered. She wore layers upon layers of braided and beaded cords that waved and rattled with each movement. Beady black eyes sparkled under folds of sun-burnt skin. She moved to a position at the head of the table, wrinkled hands gesturing. “I need the glass, the juice, and the hand of the Holy One. Come, come, the energies of this universe is being anxious to see the Tesa blood put to use.” She pulled a long three-sided knife from under the braids with an ominous rustle. “Please, Highness” Lady Ravii addressed Eleanor, indicating she should sit on the platform. “We must witness the ritual.” The two women arranged themselves opposite the table. Looking around with a scowl, the old woman screeched, “There be more witness! Come I say!” Four white cloaked figures hurried into the temple with two going to each side of the Queen and the Demi-Goddess. Paloo could not see their faces inside the heavy hoods. He caught Eleanor's eyes. She looked more uncomfortable now that it actually had become a reality. “Nowwww...” She drew out the word. “Who is to receive the Tesa blood from distant tears?” Ravii nodded to Eleanor who whispered, “I am Eleanor Dorvean-Velous, Queen of Nostrom and daughter of Rudegund the Fourth.” “You girl, watch with all your being the gift of life from the Hidden holy Tesa king that will now name himself.” She looked at Paloo, eyes squinting. “Stepping closer to the table, Paloo announced, “I am Paloo Denari-Tesa, Great-Grandson of Sathibey Tesa the Fourth.” “Well you said!” She cackled her dry laugh and she reached for his right hand. “Hand you give willingly?” “I do,” he said, wondering if he should be willing or not. The knife looked deadly. “Ravii, Demi-Goddess of the Sun, know you what to do?” She began pulling Paloo's hand down to the table on top of a folded towel. More of her beads rasped against the edge of the table. “I do.” Ravii stepped to the table, picking up the crystal-stemmed glass. The ancient voice directed, “Under the hand when drop is ready.” As he stood with his little finger sticking out, Paloo felt silly. If the moment weren't so serious he could giggle. He looked up at Eleanor, past Ravii, not wanting to see the knife action. He felt the prick and the tight grip on his hand as she squeezed the finger and turned his hand over the glass. He had to look to see a large drop of his blood hit the bottom of the crystal. “Not to cool---juice be now!” Ravii poured the purple colored juice into the crystal, and began to stir with a narrow glass spoon. The clink of the glass seemed extra loud. The towel wiped the knife, and wrapped his hand. “Hold that until it stop.” She waved to Eleanor. “Stand and drink, Queen of cursed blood. Receive the gift of the Tesa King who comes from the three generations who died for this to be.” Eleanor looked almost disgusted, but raised the crystal and drained the glass. Ravii gently wiped her mouth with a small cloth. “Time be for fire bowl!” the old lady again shouted. Immediately from outside a Selve rushed in with a large earthen bowl, which went to the center of the table to receive Paloo's slightly blood-stained towel, the mouth cloth and the crystal drinking vessel. Another Selve came to hand the ritual woman a jar of oil to pour and soak the contents of the bowl. The four witnesses with faces still concealed, hurried out of the room. Ravii dropped something into the bowl and it burst into hot orange flames that burned blue around the edges. Everyone moved quickly back and waited while the old woman murmured some kind of prayer or incantation. Her movements filled the chamber with the clatter of her beads. When she finished she moved to the door. “Tomorrow morning, same!” And she was gone. (excerpt from Chapter 40 of Knights of Sparrow) Write On and let the eccentrics loose once in a while....>>>iggy |
| Prompt: Do you feel you have to be available at all times? How has this affected your down time? Ha! When you are retired, ‘down time’ has a different meaning.I’m writing and reviewing more than I ever have before, but that’s what I want to do---so I don’t consider that like a job. And I do that when I want to, which is most of the time because I enjoy it so much. But the computer can be powered off and phones can take a message. As far as outside demands on my time, they are few, and mostly from partner and friends. Email gets checked a couple times a day and the phone gets a message mostly from the phone company promoting top-ups or deals on a new device. We use the app called Telegraph for most communication and that can be turned off. Now I have friends who are still working and they spend an extraordinary amount of time on the phone. And a couple hardly go to their office because everything is done over the smart phone, and often in the car. Autos have become the new ;portable office, along with restaurants, and visiting friends in your kitchen. I still have a problem with the idea that the person on the phone is more important that the live face-to-face person you are with. And businesses that leave a person they’ve been helping, standing there like a dummy, while they help someone who has called on the phone, makes me crazy. Social media for some people is their constant companion and nearly constant communications with a group of family or friends. I mean constant! Teenagers have mastered this concept of being alone but having a stream of communications almost all of their waking time. If the power goes off and the batteries lose their charge, I don’t know what will happen to all those people who have to face really being alone in the real world. I know---read a book! Peace and Love...>>>iggy |
| Do you think you have a decent work/life balance? I laugh! I do not see work and life as two separate things. I am called, ‘retired’ because when you get old enough they have to say that because old people aren’t supposed to ‘work’. Again I laugh! My life is my work. My work is my life. As I wrote back in April of 2014: I AM A CREATOR I have always been a creative person...it's a way of life. My creations have probably had little impact, but they are left behind me through the decades---on stages, some film, many pages of printed scripts, on canvas and watercolor paper, in music that filters into the backgrounds of many projects from my long-gone keyboards, and now---as words in the digital, cyber world of computers and up there somewhere in the cloud. One thing I've learned is that the Universe does provide. But, of course, not always the way you thought it would or when. Years ago I started journaling and it turned into automatic-writing. I've seen some recent discussions and wonderings about what it is and how it works. I can't really explain it. It just is... You have to accept the source as part of yourself...that you have no control over. It's just there...all the time...always. You have tools and skills: keyboards, brushes, computers, your body skills, your brain skills, the world around you (infinite). The most narrow in scope perhaps is the writing since you are translating visions into words, voices into words on a page. I'm speaking as a novelist. Most times the characters talk about their lives or what they think about certain things. Or i suddenly get a huge summary about an event or action. Some of it is nonsense. Judging that is absolutely done after, not during. It has always called me, ‘foolbe’. The hardest thing is letting go of judgment and analysis. The moment you question or try to direct the words, the source is gone and you are reflecting your own ego and not-so-creative brain. EXAMPLE: [I have not been far away, only distracted, you know.] Complete, cool, carried over and succinct. We do not argue or condemn, but rather seriously demand when we are needed…or felt. I am internal to your external, be assured of that! Hardly a day goes by that a never-the-less moment is transcribed-transferred. Perhaps you can be more aware of those moments? So much to do, you must regulate hours, but once again you know that, foolbe. Radio off and mind ON! Bye. Sometimes I don't read these until months later, unless I'm working on a scene in a book and that's been on my mind. I like to see what's there. You can ask a question as part of starting. That does not guarantee an answer. You might get a lecture about your work ethic. So I write, but I do not do it alone. Get it? If you're really interested and struggling, research alpha states and perhaps simple yoga meditation. You are responsible for everything your brain receives...are you on automatic? Blog on...>>>iggy |
| Prompt: What do you doubt the most? The mainline MEDIA which represents the GOVERNMENT, BIG PHARMA, GMOs, BANKS, and POLITICAL PARTIES. More than doubt, I’ve learned you can’t believe or trust them. Understand that the United States of America is just an INTERCONNECTED SERIES OF CORPORATIONS. How do you deal with that? Ask why they put you name ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS? Research and learn. I have faith that the truth will prevail...>>>iggy |
| Prompt: Using an urban legend, write your opinion on what you find entertaining or unsettling. A possible online site for reference: http://urbanlegendsonline.com/abraham-lincoln-and-john-f-kennedy/ www.whiteoutpress.com/timeless/lincoln-kennedy-similarities-and-coincidences714/ For a half century, Americans have marveled at the incredible list of similarities and coincidences between former Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. Some of it is exaggeration and stretching the facts, but some of it is undeniable and makes me wonder if the universe is trying to tell us something. You have to say that history repeats itself and certain energies move with an unexplainable flow. Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy - Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846 - Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946 - Lincoln was elected president in 1860 - Kennedy was elected president in 1960 - Kennedy had a secretary named Lincoln - War was thrust upon Lincoln almost immediately after inauguration - War was thrust upon Kennedy almost immediately after inauguration - Lincoln ordered the Treasury to print its own money - Kennedy ordered the Treasury to print its own money - International bankers may have arranged the assassinations of both Lincoln and Kennedy - Lincoln gave black Americans freedom and legalized equality - Kennedy enforced equality for black Americans - Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863 - Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 - Lincoln was loved by the common people and hated by the establishment - Kennedy was loved by the common people and hated by the establishment - Lincoln was succeeded, after assassination, by vice-president Johnson - Kennedy was succeeded, after assassination, by vice-president Johnson - Andrew Johnson was born in 1808 - Lyndon Johnson was born in 1908 The list goes on from here that is too long to include. Check the references if you’re interested. It is amazing. Both times, our world changed, not for the better, when these two men died. What will happen if a man like Lincoln or Kennedy is allowed to live? Think about it. Peace and Love...>>>iggy |
| This year is almost over... What were your successes? Your failures? Is there still time to achieve your goals of 2015? My biggest goal was to finish writing KNIGHTS OF SPARROW. And I have finished the first draft. But the book is not completed until all the editing and polishing is done. That process is about half-way and is excruciatingly slow. There are forty-six chapters and my friends at WYRM do one, occasionally two, chapters a week with long, detailed in-depth reviews. The results are amazing and very productive towards a finished novel. Evermore through FSFS has already done thirty-eight chapters and is tearing through first drafts that no one else has looked at. I will be forever indebted to all my reviewers. I consider this project of Knights of Sparrow a success for 2015. I have received something like 125 reviews! I completed more blog posts than ever before in 2015. I had never attempted to write mostly non-fiction before so I consider my posts with BlogCity a success! I have four Merit Badges from BlogCity thanks to Lyn and Joy, plus a Courage Badge from Geoff, which is I think for sticking my neck out sometimes. Thanks to all! I don’t have failures, I have challenges yet to overcome. Best wishes for the New Year...>>>iggy |
| Prompt: Do you like a White Christmas or a Florida Christmas {no snow or cold}? I lived in Wyoming on top of a mountain at 8,500 ft. Winter was from end of November until May. I loved the snow when I didn’t have to travel the 22 miles to town. Now I live in Belize in a sailboat and it NEVER SNOWS! I am very happy with the Wyoming memories, but never again! You know, blizards, shoveling snow, bitter cold, snow boots, parkas, roads up icy hills. Happy to leave all that behind. Many houses here are covered in LED Christmas lights, it’s magical. Some of the boats are lit up as well. String some lights on a palm tree and you have Christmas in Belize. HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE! Peace and Love...>>>iggy |
| I know it’s the 23rd and the prompt says the 26th for today (?) I’m sticking with this one... (Since I don’t have television, and it’s been years.) Prompt: Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible…” Accordingly, which qualities, do you think, are necessary and how much of an important role should integrity play in good leadership? INTEGRITY: honor, honesty, uprightness, wholeness, completeness, soundness. HONESTY: being honest, truthfull, adherence to what is right, candor, frankness From these definitions it seems that our leaders, at least most of them, have lost or never had the supreme quality for leadership. When they do not tell the truth or omit to tell the truth, we have a serious problem. No matter how much pain it causes, I think the financial system of most of the world must be revised, adjusted, or absolutely replaced. The debt can never be paid back and making more war is not the solution. Right now I see craziness and illusions. Everything is fake and cannot carry the label of integrity. Honest people don't hide their deeds. EMILY BRONTE, Wuthering Heights Honesty is such a lonely word. Everyone is so untrue. Honesty is hardly ever heard. And mostly what I need from you. BILLY JOEL, "Honesty" There are a few good men. They need to be sorted out and supported. >>>iggy |
| Prompt: Sue Erikson Bloland the integrative psychotherapist said, “The pursuit of fame is basically a tragic pursuit.” Can it be that people pursue fame to use it as a successful defense against shame or feelings of inadequacy, even after realizing it could be tragic? I don’t think people begin by ‘pursuing fame. They do something that is recognized, acknowledged, admired, envied...you name it. They get noticed and note that the notice part almost always happens within the media---television, magazines, social media on the internet. Once it happens for some folks, their ego takes over and they crave more attention, then they pursue fame. For others the fame brings extraordinary income and a change of their life style, which requires more income, which demands that the ‘fame’ be sustained and expanded. Then you begin to see those tragic results. But that’ s not true for everyone who becomes famous. There are heroes who show courage or compassion and they are famous for their five minutes on television and one news article. Others create art or music or athletic skill that is beyond most human’s ability. They pursue their skill or art, often challenging themselves to do better, and become famous without realizing it is happening. Because we admire them, their fame is sustained, sometime for a lifetime. The tragic pursuits sometimes fade quickly and others slowly disintegrate. The tragic fame is chronicled in daily photos and speculative stories that feed the consuming masses. Not the most attractive part of our civilization. As Gloria Swanson said, “I am big. It's the pictures that got small.” Rudolph Valentino said, “A man should control his life. Mine is controlling me.” Old time movies were great!...>>> iggy |
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