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 |  Daily Doings |
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This begins on April 11, 2005. I have no idea what is going to happen. Today is June 28, and I still don't know what is happening here. It's a combination of personal and not-so-personal. Some say I just put it all out there. Others comment that it is LOL. Read and hopefully enjoy! Thanks to Writerchic for the Awardicon on WDC's 5th Birthday. |
| So the dog days of August continue. Thanks to all of your for your comments. We all seem quite dependent on our computers. If you were marooned on a desert island and could only have one thing -- remember that? Last Night several people (including myself) got into a discussion about email friends versus face-to-face friends. Which do you prefer and why? It was pretty interesting (the discussion) and if I gon't get enough replies to this in here, I'm going to put a poll in my port. I have to say there are a few members on here that I feel I know as well as I know my face-to-face friends, only in a different way. Sometimes writing relationships become very deep. There is a famous book about a woman who starts looking for a book and ends up in a long-time correspondence with the owner of a book store, I think in London (she was American, as I remember it).Then her husband dies, and his wife dies, and she goes to England, and when she gets there he has just died (as I remember it) and the store was closed. Sound familiar to anyone? Also, all the famous love letters of history. One of the American presidents wrote to his wife every day, but I don't remember which one. Lyndon Johnson? Harry Truman? But these people did know each other face-to-face. Email is like fast time pen pals. It just so happens that I know three people who have met on the Internet, and then met in person and then married and are still married. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about a friend to whom you go to share joy, sorrow, books, music, etc. There are several people on here I consider close friends, and we "talk" at least once a day most of the time, sometimes oftener. I had to go back and put the quotes around "talk" because I really feel like I have talked to them. I email with people I know all over America, as well as a few friends in Europe, and other countries. You who went to the convention know each other face-to-face and from here, and some of you live near each other. How the net has changed out lives. It really is amazing.Something like 80% of Americans have PCs. In 20 years! The question is do you think there is a difference between your close email friends, and your close face-to-face friends...well, not in the friend(s) personally, but in the relationship itself, and if so how would you verbalize that difference. Which do you prefer and why? What about phone friends? Do you go from email friends to phone friends? And then how often does that happen? If there are so many internet romances, (I think our own Story Master and Story Mistress are an example), it must be okay. It's just the child-weirdo thing that seems to me to be the problem. Does any of this make any sense to anybody except me? Is anybody interested in it except me? Now if it is true that 65% of the revenue generated by dot com businesses is from pornography, that leaves a lot of people out of this somewhat unscientific survey, or discussion, but that's okay. I really do not have creeps for friends, that I know of. I must move on. I'm only procrastinating about doing my character sketches for my novel anyway. I'll spare you other rambling thoughts. They just sort of roll around in my head like tumbling tumbleweeds, and we don't get too many of those here in Florida. They's shrunken tumblin' tumbleweeks. Unshrunken ones are quite large. The ones I've seen anyway. Say Good Night, Gracie. Good Night Gracie.  |
| It's Friday morning and the weekend looks to be fine. I've read a wonderful article in the doctor's office yesterday about a woman, mother of three grown children, and widowed by reason of a freak accident, who made simple clothing for herself out of blue denim, and now lives in a wooden cabin in the Wisconsin woods (she had previously been a high-income lover of expensive clothes, at home on the Jersey shore). The article was in Newsweek, and its author is pursuing a book on contemporary hermits, for apparently there is a definite trend in America toward this solitary living. All manner of people from Emily Dickenson to the Unabomber fall into this category, but by far the most are following in the tradition of "Desert Fathers" begun by spinners of Biblical tales, and tales of those who take to the desert for religious reasons. The woman in this article chops her own wood, speaks only when necessary, eats meat once a week, and sees her children once a year. Apparently there is a newsletter by the name of "Raven's Bread" for those interested in the hermit life. I don't know why but this idea has appealed to me for many many years. I've also always admired the nomads of the desert who survive in small groups and wander with their camels. I'm sure the life is difficult, but life in the big city isn't so easy either, in case you hadn't noticed. The woman in this article, Agnes Long, is a devout Roman Catholic, and apparently took vows of solitude, unceasing prayer, poverty, chastity, penance, and obedience in the diocese in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. As the article ends it says she eats meat a little more than once a week because her neighbors kill deer and give her venison, and they pitch in and help her when she needs something, like a Fax machine. This latter remark threw me into laughter. Some hermit -- does she have Internet access too? I also noticed other "holes" in her story. She made all her clothes before going there. She has no water and no electricity. Is it possible to live without water? She flies East to see her children once a year! From the wooded highlands to the 747!) It's still interesting to me, since I tend to be somewhat reclusive and more and more as I get older. I think I will Google "Raven's Bread" and see what these folks are up to. I look around my room. The computer is here, the TV visible in the living room (I freak out when I can't find the remote), and there are books and papers everywhere. Also pencils. pens, brushes, the printer, and many memorabalia from the years. I wonder if I could really do it. What interests me is that it is a trend, not in the way that South Beach is "trendy" but as a way to "get away from it all." Most take this path for religious reasons. From the article, I gather that the Unabomber is quite the exception. The price of gasoline is driving everybody crazy. "They" say it will be over $3 a gallon everywhere by the end of the year. Happy Holidays everyone! This is going to effect (affect?) prices on everything from milk to chocolate. And the truckers...their jobs are going to be in jeopardy. Get busy everybody! Get that novel done NOW!!! See ya later |
| The thunderclouds are rumbling in the distance so I am going to try to get a few words in before the lightening comes along and hits the transformer on the corner and blows my PC to kingdom come. Does that happen even if you have a surge protector? Had been having a down time kinda thing so I went to the doctor today, and instead of one pill a day, he said "take two." How simple. For this he charges $85? Man, whatta job. I wish I'd gone to Medical School so I could be in Doctors Without Borders. How can two minds run in such different paths? Had to go about 35 miles North this morning and had lots of adventures on the back roads of Florida. That's still the real Florida, before the bulldozers and cement. It is very beautiful in a primitive way, just as I imagine it was when the Timucans lived here before the Europens killed them all. Are we evolving? Which way? We're getting bigger (not only from MacDonalds; I think Europeans are getting bigger too.) I know they are making seats bigger on the new subways and busses. But are we evolving as a species in the Darwinian sense. I know we humans have been here a millisecond or something like that, but when I was young and naieve I used to think we were getting smarter -- going to the moon, doing things at the bottom of the ocean, exploring outer space, etc. But I wonder. I wonder if the IQ is up for the entire popuation. Or just what constitutes "smart"? It used to be that if you could think in terms of concepts you were smart. "Top down" thinking, it is called in psych 977. You get the concept and then you get the concrete example. There are also "Bottom Up" thinkers, who are not, as you might expect, the ones who drink a lot of beer, but people who see a specific thing or item and then grasp the larger concept. Does any of this make any sense to anyone else and does it make any difference? I think I am living in a vacuum. Is that even possible? Nature abhors a vacuum. Is that what nature abhors or was it something else? Maybe I should Google it. Want to have a laugh? Google failure. Yes, the word failure. Search Google. Just to your left there on the left hand side board. Later, after the rains. |
| I just got this out of somebody;s blog who got it from ssomebody else's blog who got it...you get the idea, and I saw it yesterday too so all I changed were the answers to my own little life. Have you ever: 1.smoked a cigarette – Yes 2.smoked a cigar – Yes 3.made out with a member of the opposite sex – Yes 4.crashed a friend's car – No 5.stolen a car – No 6.been in love – Yes 7.been dumped – Yes 8.shoplifted – Yes (as a kid) 9. been fired – Yes 10.been in a fist fight – No 11.snuck out of your house – Yes 12.had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back – Yes 13.been arrested – No 14.made out with a stranger – No,damn it 15.gone on a blind date – No 16.lied to a friend – No 17.had a crush on a teacher – Yes 18.skipped school – Yes 19.slept with a co-worker – Yes 20.seen someone die – Yes 21.been on a plane – Yes 22.thrown up in a bar – No, not that I remember 23.taken painkillers – Yes 24.love someone or miss someone right now – Yes 25.laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by – Yes 26.made a snow angel – No 27.played dress up – Yes 28.cheated while playing a game? - No 29.been lonely? – Yes 30.fallen asleep at work/school – No 31.used a fake id – No 32.felt an earthquake – Yes 33.touched a snake – Yes 34.ran a red light – Yes, just yesterday in fact 35.been suspended from school – No 36.had detention – Yes 37.been in a car accident – Yes 38.hated the way you look – Yes 39.witnessed a crime – Yes 40.pole danced – No 41.been lost – Yes, almost always 42.been to the opposite side of the country – Yes 43.felt like dying – Yes 44.cried yourself to sleep – Yes 45.played cops and robbers – Yes 46.karaoke – Yes 47.done something you told yourself you wouldn't – Probably 48.laughed till some kind of beverage came out of your nose – Yes 49.caught a snowflake on your tongue – Yes 50.kissed in the rain – Yes 51.sing in the shower – No, I can't sing period. 52.made love in a park – No 54.glued your hand to something – No 55.got your tongue stuck to a flag pole – No 56.worn the opposite sex's clothes – Yes 58.sat on a roof top – Yes 59.didn't take a shower for a week – Yes 60.ever too scared to watch scary movies alone – No 61.played chicken – Yes 62.been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on – Yes 63.been told you look hot by a complete stranger – Yes 64.broken a bone – No 65.been easily amused – Yes 66.laugh so hard you cry – Yes 67.mooned/flashed someone – No 68.cheated on a test – No 69.forgotten someone's name – Yes 70.slept naked – Yes 71.gone skinny dipping in a pool – Yes 72.been kicked out of your house – No 73.blacked out from drinking – Yes 74.played a prank on someone – No 75.played poker – Yes Is this a personality test? On Tickle.com they have many, many personality tests, and sometimes an IQ test, if you're interested. [Leave a comment] Proud Participant in the Following Groups: Black Case Experience Cafe; Cabin Five Fifteen Group; Groug Pro!; The Muses' Alley; The Praying Hands Prayer Group; The Silent Helpers Group; Traditional Poetry Group; The Ultimate Writing Workshop; The Writers' Workshop; |
| I'm still having a problem linking the blogs. Ruby Red suggests that I cut and paste everyone's URLs again. I'll do that and see what happens. Meanwhile, it's Sunday morning, almost noon. The sun is shinging brightly, as its supposed to do, and the day is heating up. Doesn't seem to be much stirring except the tourists and my so-called mind, what's left of it. I think I stayed out in the sun too long and my brain is literally fried. But that's okay. It's been fried before and it thaws out or metamorphsises into a new form which is really very fun. I went back through ten-year old journals last night and could not believe I had written some of that. I should write an Ode to Youth. I wish I'd gone to Med School and joined Doctors without Borders. So, is the Discovery going to blow up on re-entry? That particular hype they're doing on that does not effect me in the least. Somebody I was talking with suggested "they" were paying the space program to do the hyping and that CNN was on the payroll. Now I'd not adverse to conspiracy theories, but that is a bit much. I wish I could get it through my head how there is a "space station." I visualize this as a platform of some sort on which shuttles dock and people live and all nations work together for some purpose other than just learning to get along...like gathering information maybe. About that I won't know; space I guess and what is out there - stars. debris, comets, etc. But how do they keep this platform up? Seems like a magic trick performed on a stage by David Copperfield, for instance, with these invisible cords suspended...but from what? I told you my brain is fried. I can grasp the essence of string theory, and membrane theory, and eleven dimentions, all of which contemporary physicists talk about but this space thing...I don't know. I have this burning desire to go to New Hampshire with its stone fences and wonderful landscape. I long for snow and the scent of pine, of a fireplace glowing and a warmth that invades the soul making everything seem warm and loving. Oh there's beauty to the water, too, but it has been very polluted so much so that more and more whales beach themselves and those poor dolphins...let alone the lobsters that are encrusted with black evidence of disease this year. The planet's gonna go, and we're doing it. Is this all in the evolutionary process? Part of God's Divine Plan? Or just what is going on here? I've no answers but I do think it is not possible to reverse the damage now. Today, come hell or high water, or both, I'm working on the Second Chapter of my book, and changing its title. I don't like "Secrets" as I have decided its too Danielle Steele for me. Also gotta catch up with my groups and what they have been doing. Soooo, see ya 'round the site, soon I hope, ciao. |
| This is regarding the "Blog Ring". I just tried to go into Snowflakes' blog, and got the main page of WDC; the same with Spontaneous Maudering. Is that how this Blog Ring is supposed to work? Then I got an email, answered it, and when she replied to my email, my email was full of smileys which she said she didn't put in there. Is there some trickery going on around here or is it me? I mean I know I tend to get a little confused sometimes, and I make as many if not more mistakes than any one, but this -- geez. Anybody else having problems? Woke up looking forward to the weekend. Not because I have special things to do, but more because everyone is around and about. I keep on not winning contests. That should tell me something, huh? Work harder, Sara, get better at what it is you are trying to do! I need to lecture myself sternly. I refuse to be discouraged! I sure wish I could figure the Blog Ring thing out though. |
| Yes, today was not bad at all. I'm still weak, but when I talked to my friend who's an RN and followed her advice I can feel myself getting better and better by the moment. Has anyone who reads this blog ever written a novel without outlining it first? I have very little to say this evening, because mostly all I have been doing in reading DEAD RUN by Erica Spindler,sleeping, and drinking gallons of unadulterated water. And, with Hurricane Irene out there don't think pure water is easy to find. I keep seeing people who are so much worse off than I am, be it on the street, on on TV, anywhere. Gives me the feeling "There but for the Grace of God go I" but also I feel real gratitude, and think "gee, my life's not so bad. What if I can't sell my $%^#@&$ poems. It's okay. It really is okay. Work on your novel. The poems'll come while you're doing the novel." My mind's a blank. Tabla rasa (raza?) It's just that there is this gerbil that lives in my head and plays in his cage that goes round and round, and those rounds are my thoughts. I really think that is how brains work Ciao |
| Yep, hot and cold chills, aches and pains, no energy, it's really a drag. How can I do anything? I can't. I can only do what I can do. Some of us do more than we can do and some of us do less than we can do. Me, I'm a blob maybe sweating, maybe freezing, not interested in eating and temp steady at 100. It'll go away and I promise not to complain about it for days on end. I've been trying to hook up to my Blog Ring and cannot make head nor tail out of the operations. I'll do my best, however. That I promise. My best is often not very good, but it will have to do. I'm me. That's all, and a sick me. Unhappy camper. This morning, between 8:30 and 12 Noon there were five (5) different people in my house this morning. It was amazing. And two phone calls. One fixing this, one fixing that, one borrowing money, and one brought my some NyQuil. I was exhausted by Noon and had to take to my bed for a while. I would like to talk about Sonnets, and just how to scan them, and I would also like to know why some of Shakespere's sonnets do not "scan perfectly" and why some of his lines have 11 or 12 syllables. He does that not out of ingnorance but to vary the line's length to dispell boredom. People should not be Sheriff when they do not know the law! That's what I think, and I think that the particular sonnet I'm talking about will probably be one of my last poems in form, and it's back to free verse I do. Plus I really want to work on my novel. Reading mysteries is a wonderful way to pass the time when on is abed with ailments. I'm into Patricia Cornwell and the Kay Scarpetta series, also Greg Iles whom I don't know but with a title like Blood Memory and "New York Times Best Seller" on its cover, I doubt I can go too far afield. Been reading Erica Spindler too. I had never heard of her either, but now I'm really into her work. It's fun. I notice I'm watch how the characters are introudced and how they are fleshed out, as well as the dialogue and descriptive passages. Writing.com has introduced me to a whole new way to read and I love it! I'm in Blog Ring #2, and will not try to hook up with the other members of that ring. I wonder what is going to happen! |
| The hottest and potentially the most dangerous of days are here now in Florida. We await the hurricanes. Everyone I've seen today (which includes quite a few for a change) are more or less down from the heat, and waiting till October to plan anythng. I caught come kind of bug on top of it, that had me up most of the night; I'm somewhat better now but that is subject to chang in a moment's notice. As are most things. 15 Marines gone today in Iraq, and a journalist. STOP IT! ALL OF YOU! JUST STOP IT! They won't listen. It's not like George calls for my opinion or anyhing. Onward: this time about stories v. novels is an amazing thing. The more I read the more confused I get. Everybory seems to want novels. They say short stories won't sell. Maybe none of it sells. J. K. Rowling has come up recently. Barbara Kingsolver. I'm talking in the last ten years, or maybe 15. Who else? I am going to spend the rest of the summer (which in Florida includes September) reading murder mysteries. I have almost every Patricia Cornwell on the market, and Erica Spindler, who ever she is and where ever she came from, she sure can hold my interest in a action/drama/thriller page-turner. The only other one who has gone that was Sidney Sheldon. How many of you have put your ambitions completely into the writer's basket, and are sales clerks, or burger flippers during the day? Fess up, now. I have to go to bed early. I loathe pain, don't you? Even a little bit of it. Grrrrr. Ciao. |
Well, here it is the first of August. I find that I am more behind in my goals and resolves than ever, that I am disgusteder (new word  ) with everything in general than I have been in a long, long time, and I think I need...well, I don't know what I need. I need for something to happen to show me the way. It's kind of like looking for a "sign from God" that I should do this or do that. Meanwhile, I don't do much of anything. Walk around my place here and pretend I'm tidying up. August is the month that Paris declares time off for everyone, the month when everyone in the States is sweltering and cross, and I dunno...it's just not a good time. Well, then make it a good time! That's the answer I hear in my head. This is great - not only am I arguing with myself in my head but I am transferring these arguments to this blog.Somebody stop me, please! At least let me know I'm for sure off the wall. At least I've a couple of good books to read. Too bad I don't have a couple of good books to write. I just feel numb. Something has gotta give. I think I'll get a part-time paying job. Enough of this volunteering business. I don't have Bono or Brad Pitt's money to go around saving countries from famine. I'm lucky if I can save myself and a couple of people I know. Geez. So let's all have a productive August, safe in our air-conditioned homes, and pray that those of us in the SE United States don't get many hurricanes. Pray a lot for love, healing and guidance for us all. That's about it from me today. Maybe I'll be back later. Ciao. |
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