%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |
This is my blog which I intend to use for the new group that I am joining |
| I November 2012, I decided that I would like to join a blogging community on WDC. It basically required that we write blog entries according to specific prompts. Here is the result. . . |
| Well, I haven't written in a while. I'm actually busier on weekends then I am during the week. And there's no prompt pending at the moment, but I thought that I might spend some time choosing how to vote on Blogger of the week, and maybe randomly reading and reviewing items that members of the circle have written. I also want to enter a contest where the prompt is to write a story about "Dancing with the Devil". I have an idea, but I need to break the back of it. I also just found out that one of my Chinese colleagues has logged into this site. Welcome aboard, Miss papaya, if that's your real name. Seriously, I 'm pretty sure that Miss papaya is a lovely young Chinese girl who uses the English name "Jennifer". I guess that's all for now. |
| Oh great! Now they want a blog entry on what I'm thankful for. It's actually a good question as I sit in my office on Thanksgiving morning halfway around the world from my family in a country that does not celebrate Thanksgiving. (I'm not even sure that they know what a turkey is exactly). Well, why not be thankful that I have this job? Too many people are out of work right now. And be thankful for my Chinese work colleagues. They really are a friendly bunch who want me to be happy. And be thankful that I can use "Skype" to call my family. A generation ago, someone living abroad would have had to do without that. And you know what? I am thankful that I can access Writing.Com and participate in this blogging group. (There! I said it!) Anything else? Well, I read the Catholic Chuch's recommended Thanksgiving day mass just now, and the gospel is the story about the ten lepers which Jesus healed and the one came back to thank him. That made me thoughtful, because I guess another thing to be thankful for is that I don't have leprosy or a host of other medical conditions. No seriously, our health is one of the easiest things to take for granted, but it should be one of the things we value most. No matter how poor you get or how hopeless your relationships may seem, being healthy definitely makes life better. |
| I have been prompted to write a blog entry on skydiving. Sure, why not? I remember when I was in elementary school, some of my classmates used to go around daring each other to do things in strange ways. Like once, there was a boy who said, "Would you jump off the Brooklyn bridge for a hundred dollars?" (Answer from most of us: No way!) But there was one wise guy in my class who said with a satisfied smile, "I would." After we had all looked at him like he was crazy, he said, "I didn't say I wouldn't use a parachute." I really wish I could go back in time and tell that smartass what I know now about parachutes. (which isn't even all that much, but it's enough to put him back in his place.) For one thing, you can't just "use a parachute" it takes practice and know-how. Furthermore, if you jumped off the Brooklyn bridge, you'd probably end up in the water with a deployed parachute on your back, so I hope you're a good swimmer. Plus, when I told someone else this story, he suggested that the Brooklyn bridge wasn't high enough for a parahute to break your fall and save your life. Anyway, the other question is whether, I would try it. Well, I actually thought about it once. But, you know, I have this fear of finding out that I'm afraid. No really, I always worried that if I went up in an airplane to skydive, I would find, at the moment of truth, that I just couldn't bring myself to jump, and then I'd feel like a total loser. I believe it was Mark Twain who said, "Better to say nothing and be a thought a fool, then to open your mouth and remove all doubt." Similarly, it's better to stay on the ground and be thought a coward than to go skydiving and remove all doubt. |
| I have just been asked what advice I would give to the people who come after me. That's tough, because in my 38 years, I feel like I still haven't worked much out. Okay, first of all, when you're reading Shakespeare, remember that you aren't supposed to pause at the end of every line. Read the punctuation and pause where you see a period or a comma. This is important advice, if you're hoping to be a Shakespearean actor. Honestly, you don't need to worry about things like the Method or finding your character's objectives. Those things help, but adhering to the rule about not pausing at the end of each line can transform a total amateur into Patrick Stewart. But even if you don't want to go on the stage, you're better off knowing this, just so that you can appreciate Shakespeare. When I first read a Shakespearean play at the age of ten, I thought it was meaningless, confusing, and boring. Later when I was fourteen and I learned this rule, I tried reading Shakespeare again and while it was still meaningless and confusing, it was no longer boring. Another bit of advice came from a journalism professor that I had in Undergraduate school. I had told him that I couldn't decide whether to be a teacher or a journalist. He said, "whatever, you decide, it won't be final." He was right. Since graduation, I have been market researcher, a sales rep, a messenger, a phone operator, and an EFL teacher. (but never a journalist) Not one of these things was on my career plan in college, but it got me where I am today. Since I'm on the subject of advice that my Journalism professors gave, maybe I'll finish with some advice that the other Journalism professor in my Undergraduate school gave me. (SUNY-New Paltz had a very small Journalism program.) Shortly before I graduated, he ran into me and said "Hey, aren't you graduating soon?" "Yes," I said nervously wondering about what was coming next. It must have shown on my face, because he said, "Hey, it's not that bad out here." And in hindsight, he was right. |
 Log in to Leave Feedback |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
