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With coffee and writing implements at hand, I can determine the shape of today. |
| I tend to write in the morning. After morning coffee and writing comes whatever the day holds...work, more writing, family time, reading, maybe even some gaming. It just depends...but writing first, always. And once I start writing, I get an idea not only of what I'm writing about, but how the rest of my day will go. Hence, the shape of today. |
| I'm always a little shocked by people who seem to have no sense of humor. I don't mean people who don't laugh at my jokes, or jokes I think are funny in general. I mean people who don't think anything is funny. And they're out there, I've worked with 'em. It's not even that you caught them on a bad day with your funniest-joke-ever, their entire life is one continuous bad day. Beware of such people. At the very best they are miserable and want to drag you down to their level of misery. And at the worst...well, it's better to not even think of what might be festering away in their minds. Nothing healthy, I'll wager. A rather bare bones entry today, but all I have time for. Work time now.
"WdC SuperPower Reviewers Group"  |
| A rarity this morning, a true rarity. I don't have to go running out anywhere! This doesn't happen often, so I'm going to make the best possible use of an unexpected gift. With autumn knocking on the door for real today, there are some household tasks I can attend to and hopefully prime my mind-pump to good effect. Goodness knows there are more than enough writing projects, too long neglected, that need my attention. Let's go! |
| So much to do, so little time... My own work. My work for StratSent. The comfortable and comforting little niche I've carved out for myself here. Housework. Actual go-out-and-earn-a-paycheck work. How do folks manage their time in such situations? My answer is to cut out anything that does not contribute positively to my life. Last night my guild leader was telling me, "You gotta get Netflix." I responded, "No, I don't." TV is the source of much of the venom that's infected our culture, in my eyes. I know there is good programming out there, with quality writing and production values, but I've had a deep distrust of the medium ever since "reality" TV slithered into sight. Look where it got us, politically speaking. And today's large wall-sized sets remind me too much of the "walls" of Fahrenheit 451. That's not a world I want to live in. Instead, I choose to shape the world I want. |
| I started to make this post about the growing toxicity of American culture. Then I realized two things: 1. The best way to fight said toxicity is to deny it...everywhere, every day. Do not be sucked in by it. Precious minutes, hours, and days will disappear into its stinking black maw and never come back, and I can do better with the time I have. And that brings me directly to: 2. I have something much more pleasant to post about this morning, so the denial of toxicity starts right here, right now. Without further delay. The night before last I was enjoying adding a few more entries to my "To be read" list thanks to the wise recommendation of Neil Gaiman, whose The View From the Cheap Seats I discussed a couple of posts ago. As sai Gaiman appears to be more active on Twitter than on Facebook, I decided to tweet him expressing my appreciation for the book. Because we all like to be told when we've done well and have made someone else smile, think, and other good things. I then tottered off to bed only to wake to a very nice surprise...sai Gaiman (or whoever manages his Twitter account) liked my tweet so much that he re-tweeted it. Neil Gaiman, just so you know, has over two million Twitter followers. Whether he himself actually saw my tweet is no longer the question. A lot of people are suddenly visiting my profile, and even following me. The question now is...how ought I to react to this sudden influx of attention? And the answer is simple, really...to use it for good. That's what the heroes in the tales I love do...they use their power for good. The toxicity I mentioned at the beginning of this post thrives on social media, but so too can its opposite number. If we help it along. Right here, right now. |
| It might be of interest to the Writing.com staff---or anybody else---to know how some of us landed here on these friendly shores. In my case, I was perusing the message board of a rather well-known writing magazine. I like message boards and have done some moderation myself in the past, so they're interesting to me. This board, sadly, seems to have fallen into neglect. It's overrun with bots and the members that are posting there don't seem to be doing so regularly. Of course, one expects writers to prioritize their own writing first rather than message board posts. However, one member there mentioned Writing.com as a place for writers to gather, so I just ambled right over here. I still am very much a newbie and am still flailing around trying to learn all the ins and outs, but I love the openness of the place and the focus on creativity. In fact, I've encouraged my guild leader and some other friends to come check the site out. Long story short: Looks like y'all are stuck with me. |
| At some point I'm sure Neil Gaiman will explain why he chose to call his essay collection The View From the Cheap Seats, as of yet I haven't seen an explanation. This is my current book which lives on my nightstand and travels back and forth to work with me. Sai Gaiman has been a hero of mine ever since I first fell into the Sandman universe back during the Nineties. I find it rather significant that his list of the three most influential authors in his youth...C.S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and G. K. Chesterton--were all Christian apologetics. In fact, I am unfamiliar with Chesterton but will make amends on that count, having already added The Man Who Was Thursday to my ever-growing "to be read" list on my library account. While not a fan of organized religion in general, I can't deny the beauty faith has lent to the works of Lewis and Tolkien. That is the reason these novels have endured for so long, after all, and I'm glad Neil Gaiman realizes that. He also touches on the importance of libraries and librarians in society, how genre does and does not affect the quality of a well-told story, and promises a host of other subjects to be examined. I'm looking forward to making this journey and seeing the world through his eyes. When not reading stories, the wannabe writer absolutely should be reading nonfiction written by those best at the craft. |
| Another tropical storm system, this time by the name of Nate, is currently working its way toward my little corner of Georgia. As I type the first raindrops are starting to fall. Not really what we need here. Since Irma we've been enjoying a run of perfect, autumnal weather and there is still a great deal of cleanup work being done in the area. In fact, to judge from the trouble I'm still having contacting patrons who have holds in at the library, there is still damage to the phone lines. Although Nate doesn't look to be as destructive or widespread, it's still going to cause problems. So yesterday I gassed the car up and made sure I had some canned goods laid by, just in case. Should this turn out to simply be the rainy second half of the weekend, I'll have the stuff laid by for whenever. I have my coffee, I have a good book to read, and a rainy day to do it on. Life is good. |
| Yesterday was the day for "Building Blocks Storytime" at the library, when the parents of tots arrive to spend 45 minutes or so with singing, stories, games, and crafts. The morning session in particular is very popular, and we were quite busy while it was running. As things were wrapping up a little girl of no more than five approached the main desk and confidently told us of the dragon eggs she has. I asked her if they were intended for breakfast, but she replied, "Oh, no, you hatch them and raise the dragons!" She went on to give us some particulars of dragon-rearing until something fun in the kids' area caught her eye and she ran off again. Maybe she spotted the means of fashioning a dragon egg incubator among the construction paper and crayons. It does my heart a world of good (especially considering the way this week started) to see young imaginations getting such good exercise and nourishment in the form of stories. And, of course, I'm proud to be part of a library that's also home to conscientious dragon trainers. |
| I try to shove the world away from me when it's writing-time; the five minutes or whatever are my time, to be claimed by no one or nothing. This, I think, is important for each of us. For the most part this works, but there are times when the world simply won't be denied, and yesterday was one of those days. I woke up to a horror story out of Las Vegas that dominated the day. Like many other Americans I am still struggling to understand why this morning and am no closer to an answer. Then, toward the end of the day, there was the sorrowful and perplexing matter of Tom Petty's passing. I won't go into details on either story since the news sites are full of them. I touch on them because they illustrate one of the less endearing side effects of modern communications technology...the speed at which inaccurate news can spread. As of this writing we still don't know what motivated the jerk in Vegas, only that he clearly planned his act with the intention of inflicting as much harm as possible on a crowd of innocents. He fits into no known subset of people who commit such atrocities. But that hasn't stopped people from spreading every wild tale imaginable online. Crazed right winger, crazed left winger. Manchurian Candidate. Innocent American brainwashed by foreign agents. Heavy gambler who lost too much. Or, simply, a madman. Of all the posited explanations, I'm inclined to agree with that last because nothing else seems to make sense at this stage. Ultimately, time will tell. But the speed at which various parties were ready to put their own spin on the story (to lend credence to this agenda or that, you understand) is disconcerting. Getting to the actual facts is going to be a challenge...but if I were a cop, I absolutely would want to know them asap. Who knows how many other ticking human time bombs like this guy are walking around? Then we have the matter of Tom Petty. Word began to spread of his suffering a massive heart attack around the middle of the afternoon. Then came a series of conflicting reports...he was on life support, he had been taken off life support, he was brain dead, no he wasn't brain dead, etc. His own daughter lit into Rolling Stone for prematurely reporting his death. I assume that his family wanted the time to spend with him and wanted to keep the press away. Understandable, but it was clumsily handled. And, of course, social media was rife with rumors and people repeating stories without checking them first for validity. That, alone, makes me wish social media didn't exist even though I use it myself. Be suspicious of everything, folks...everything. Even somebody who genuinely believes they are passing on credible information may just be passing a baseless rumor. Trust no one. There! That entry took quite a lot longer than five minutes to put together, but I feel it's important. |
| A kindly soul stopped by here expressing a hope that I will continue my "five minute" entries. I certainly will do my best, though as I found out yesterday life has this annoying habit of getting in the way. A glowing orange "Service Engine Soon" light on my dash turned a routine errand into a detour to the oil change shop, making the routine errand quite a bit longer than I'd originally planned. But these things happen. And as always, time escapes like sand through my fingers. It's funny like that. I had a college teacher who absolutely loathed the expression "killing time". Some thirty-odd years down the road, I understand his perspective better now than I did then...we should treasure every moment we have to spare in our lives. We already have many demands on our time...family, work, sleeping, eating. When we finally get some to ourselves, we should never "kill" it. Spend it doing something that brings you joy...whether that's painting pictures or just sitting on your porch watching the birds play in the birdbath doesn't matter...what matters is that it enriches you on some level. As Gandalf told Frodo, all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. |
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