%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |  Impromptu writing, whatever comes...on writing or whatever the question of the day is. |
    I've been blogging all through my days without knowing that it was blogging; although, this isn't necessarily the only thing I do without knowing what I'm doing. Since I write on anything that's available around me, my life has been full of pieces of scribbled paper flying about like confetti. I'm so happy to finally have a permanent place to chew the fat.  So far my chewing the fat is on and off.  Maybe, I lack teeth. Feel free to comment, if you wish.  Thank you very much, Cindy, for this honor and the beautiful graphic.  This Blog Continues in "Everyday Canvas "    |
| Writers are whiners. What legendary writer-tales are made of is the pain of writing…the pain of paralysis of the brain and will power. The way us writers complain about writing, you’d think, we are doing heavier work than carrying truckloads of material on our backs up a steep ladder on top of roofs or high rise buildings. Writing is easy on the body, people,,,why the complaint? All we do is sit at a chair to nurture our bottoms and let the fingers do the talking to the keyboard or the pen, pencil, and paper. So why the whining, which sometimes leads to wining…or drenching our nervous systems with caffeine or anything liquid? The problem is writers try to write the great American, English, British, Aussie novel or some other award winning work. Nothing is wrong in aiming for the stars as long as we own a spaceship. Even spaceships are not built in a day.  Then we expect the muse, someone outside of ourselves, to hand it to us on a silver platter or even a paper plate. You wish! But it does not happen like that, even if we coerce ourselves to believe it. So why don’t we just enjoy the act of writing instead of focusing on the project’s result? When we stop concentrating on good-writing and just enjoy the act of writing, the writing becomes better, not perfect but better. Then we can always polish off or leave it alone. At least, we end up with the fun of it all. When Wannabe started her everyday writing challenge and I started writing regularly within her group, I wanted to write short stories only. Well, it didn’t happen. I did write a few short story-like pieces, but everything about them sucked. You don't write a story just by sitting down with it, although those pieces have the potential to be fixed if I feel like it... or not. After that, I started to write freely, just anything, like what I am doing now, and the thing flowed, because we had to fill a certain word count everyday. When Wannabe's challenge was over, I kept up with a very lax writing schedule and formed a group around just writing, "Invalid Item" . It is fun and once you get the hang of it; you think on paper or the screen; and you want to write anything, everywhere, and anywhere. So, if you are having trouble, just start writing. It doesn’t have to make sense at first or at all. Write from a prompt, a thought, jump between thoughts and prompts, or just describe something. Or write any word that comes to your mind. Just write. The fun is worth it. |
| My son asked for credit repair advice for a friend of his (Ricky) who got into serious debt and lost all credit due to a shop-a-holic ex-wife. I am putting here the essential points inside the e-mail I sent to Ricky with the hope that it may be of help to someone else. For credit repair you need to first determine whether the credit report pertaining to you is completely correct. Studies show nearly eighty credit reports contain some kind of error that leads to wrong credit scores. What to do: For immediate purchases, buy only what you absolutely need and try to pay in cash, at least until all debts are paid. Start reducing the number of credit cards. The accounts that are old and no longer in use should be closed. After closing the unnecessary accounts, the new account status needs to be reported to the credit reporting agencies. Reduce the credit limits on your existing accounts. Settle all outstanding accounts and debts. With the objective of reestablishing credit, ask a friend or relative to co-sign for a small loan. Make timely payments on this loan. Get one credit card and make all payments on it on time. After this, whatever you do, do not get into credit debt that you cannot pay, ever. In time, your credit will be repaired and it will rise above average credit. |
| Okay, so this is a rant, but a well-founded one. Believe me, I don't like ranting. Recently, I read quite a few items that complain about getting a three or three and a half star rating. What is it that we don’t understand about the rating system? For a long time, on the left column of WC pages, it was announced in red that a three stars rating meant average. As writers we should learn to read and understand what we read. Three stars do not mean the writing --be it yours, mine, or ours-- is bad. Three stars mean the piece is neither good nor bad; possibly, it can be rewritten to make it better, but as it stands, a three stars rating means the piece is considered average by the reviewer. Since accepting other people’s views shows a writer’s mettle, a writer needs to be careful when he or she says a three star rating--which means average for this site--is unwanted or has made her feel bad. People have different criteria and they rate and review differently. A piece that lulls to sleep one person may excite another one. Still, a three star rating means average. Thus, in order not to raise anyone’s feathers, this is more or less the way I rate: 1 star: The piece is there with only one phrase, line, or meaningless sentence, possibly to insult someone or to fill up the quota to be considered for a RAOK upgrade. A one star is also for pieces written badly on purpose--just for the fun of it--and the writer says it is done on purpose and he needs a one-star rating. 1.5 stars: The piece is not readable due to spelling and grammar errors. 2 stars: The piece has quite a few errors, but it is salvageable. 2.5 stars: Below average with errors that can be fixed. 3 stars: Average - may or may not have many flaws. 3.5 stars: Above average - may or may not have many flaws. 4 stars: Good - way above average or shows brilliance but may have a few flaws. 4.5 stars: Very good - with possibly no mistakes or truly brilliant with an attention slip or typo. 5 stars: Wow! You knocked my socks off. No mistakes and a rare gem. Happy R/R everyone. |
| It seems, now, we are not only undoing the earth and ourselves, but the entire universe. This made me laugh. It doesn't matter how scientific the explanation, I believe we think we are way too important than we really are. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/11/21/scicosmos121.x... |
| I know I have been neglecting my blog, but this month, every year, is usually the busiest for me, and also, the most stressful. We go away around this time each year to avoid saying no to Thanksgiving dinner invitations. Funny thing is my family, and hubby's too, live far away. So it is not them. This year we decided to stay home as quiet as two mice. Let's see how many people will needle me afterwards for not attending their party. Today someone asked me for my do-able wishes, in other words, material wishes. I don't think I have any urgent ones. The ones I have are non-tangibles and are impossible to fulfill. I am a tough customer.  We went out to lunch to a place by the ocean. It is not so hot now so we could sit outside. Actually it is perfect around barely 80 degrees and I love watching the pelicans and the seagulls interact. Two different species and they get along quite well. Unlike people. One thing I can carp about is the local NPR radio. I used to love it. They must have changed their staff or something, because they keep playing experimental electronic music, which bothers my ears. I guess if that is the only thing I can think of complaining about, I must be very lucky. Also, there are always my CD's to fall back on. |
I am tagged by Texas Belle  Her facts are here: "Invalid Entry" THE RULES: Link to your tagger and post these rules. List 8 random facts about yourself. At the end tag 8 other people. Let them know in their blog comments they’ve been tagged. give sugar food Now I have to tag eight other people. These are my eight facts: 1. I smile at the computer screen and talk to it, and in a roundabout way, to all of you. Sometimes I say things out loud, getting me in trouble with hubby who thinks now I've really lost it. 2. I also talk to the TV screen but it is not noticeable, since I don't watch too much TV. 3. I apologize to inanimate objects if I bump into them. "Excuse me, desk." "Excuse me, table." etc. 4. I love families, especially a sandhill crane family. All three of them come to our porch door and gently knock on the glass, asking for handouts. 5. I also love the salamanders by the pool. When they are excited, in more ways than one, they open and close their red gills under their chins. This is as X-rated as I shall get. Don't expect too much from an oldie. 6. In the morning, I look like...oh well, that is why I started to write horror...badly. 7. I am a slow typist, but I believe this helps my writing since I am a slow thinker also. 8. I forget everything, even without trying. The only thing I don't forget is how to log on to WC. When the site goes through server problems, I go into withdrawal. When I am in that condition, no one better address me with any other thing...good or bad.Have a cappucino with a sugar stick. These are the people I am tagging: darkin PastVoices Legerdemain  kiyasama Melissa is fashionably late! Mavis Moog kittiara intuey of House Lannister  |
| Can we just purchase fake eyes and use them? Maybe someday, but obviously not in my life time. After the two operations, the right eye still isn’t good enough and the whole thing slows down my writing; slows down my life. At this age for me, other than the dictates of the years, any more slowing down is something hard to take. Anyhow, the doctor--after doing some weird stuff with drops, lasers, light sabers and other hocus pocus--fit me with different prescription glasses this time and...nothing for the computer. Aaaaargh! So, I will be writing behind a cloud again or with a magnifier as I have been doing the last few months. I am hoping these glasses, when they are ready, will be good enough, so I can pressure the doctor into giving me glasses for the computer. I know I sound like I am ranting, and I am, although I try to keep from ranting over personal matters, but sight is important and I just can’t help myself today. On the funny or maybe not so funny side, I spent at least four hours in the doctor’s office with poor hubby waiting for me in the waiting room. In the waiting room, they have a plasma TV high on the wall. That should be a boon, right? Nope, patients or their companions do not get regular TV channels on it; or maybe they can, but what plays on and on is a seven minute tape (I timed it) on the positives of cataract implants. Okay, not so bad, you might think, but the same tape blares with no break in between its takes. Imagine waiting for someone in that room for four hours being subjected to the same tape playing over and over. One wishes one could be deaf. You’d think the doctor worked in a torture-training camp. And we blame the CIA! Fellas, clean up the torture in the waiting rooms first. A hilarious sight was where the other people were concerned, hubby tells me. Some went outside and waited on the sidewalk. Others kept a pained expression on their faces. Some complained to the girl behind the glass divider. The girl told them she has to live with this every day, also, and she has learned to avoid it. “Don’t pay attention to it,” she said. Jeez, he does it to his workers, too! Believe me, in the waiting rooms, I want no TV, no entertainment, no clown pulling rabbits out of his own ears. Forget the hat; it is passé. I can bring my own entertainment; even when I can’t read a book, I can bring music that only I can hear without bothering others. I’ll even take the long hours the health care officials makes us wait. Just please, do not disturb the peace. |
| This past Friday evening, Bill Mahr in his HBO show said what worried him most was the environmental issue. It seems the sun’s rays are reflected off the white ice of the North Pole, and even from the time when the movie of Al Gore came out, a good percentage of the ice has melted. Bill Mahr said something like, “Forget the flooding; without the ice, we’ll boil.” My neighbor says, his eleven year old granddaughter who was visiting him heard this discussion and volunteered a solution. “Why don’t everyone donate their white bed sheets to cover the place instead?” Alas! I lucked out with the donation issue. All our sheets are totally in colors and prints. |
| The news today, so far what I came across, is eeeews, and it is all happening inside the asylum called planet earth. No, I am not talking of oil hitting $88 a barrel or China getting mad at US for honoring Dalai Lamai or the newly formed love relation between Putin and Ahmedi Necat and neither am I referring to the election rigmarole nor to what is going on in the Middle East. The following shocked me, sort of, and entertained to a degree possibly in a sick way, but then I never claimed to be 100% sane. News Numero Uno comes from India: ”Human waste can help save planet: Indian expert Oct 16 10:11 AM US/Eastern A cheap system to recycle human waste into biogas and fertiliser may allow 2.6 billion people in the world access to toilets and reduce global warming, an Indian environmental expert said Tuesday. He said India's contribution would be a toilet system that organically breaks down faeces into trapped biogas that can be burned to provide cooking fuel and electricity, and convert urine into fertiliser. The organisation is dedicated to providing toilets to nearly 730 million people in India who lack them.” I worry that, next, we will be outsourcing our toilet problems, needs, and solutions to India as “Long Distance Flush.” Wouldn’t that be a long way to go? Before our smarties get into action, I hope they reconsider the consequences for those of us who cannot wait too long in toilet lines. News Number Two: ”Top Lakeland restaurant serves up Peking duck-style squirrel pancakes.” This comes from Great Britain. Well, if the English suddenly found a need to outdo the French in cuisine, they’d better leave the roadkill alone. I think I’ll order bread and water instead, Thank You! See for yourselves: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=4879... News Number Three: Good old US East Coast School wants contraceptives for 11 year olds; no parental notification... http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=140910&ac=PHnws Ohhhh BOY! I have a good mind not to touch this one at all, but couldn’t the kids just be handed out a Barbie doll instead and told to mind the curfew? News Number Four: From PA “West Scranton woman could face up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $300 for allegedly shouting profanities at an overflowing toilet while inside her Luzerne Street home. Dawn Herb, whose potty mouth caught the attention of an off-duty police officer, was charged with disorderly conduct recently, prompting her to fire off a letter to the editor and vow to fight the charge. “It doesn’t make any sense. I was in my house. It’s not like I was outside or drunk,” said Ms. Herb, who resides at 924 Luzerne St. along with her four young children. “A cop can charge you with disorderly conduct for disrespecting them?” http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18920981&BRD=2185&PAG=461&d... Truth be told, I can’t think of any woman who wouldn’t at least think of a few profanities, if her toilet did the overflowing trick. While at it, why don’t they put in jail all the women and men who get ticked off at overflowing toilets? That certainly would clean the streets. I don’t dare to read any other news today. I seriously worry about what may come next. Maybe I’ll get off line, turn off the TV, and hide inside my bed. Prozac, anyone? |
| This is not to say I am stopping in my tracks to watch the local network TV news, but I am stopping, ending, bringing to a halt, going kaput with the stupid, stupid local TV news of the Treasure coast in Florida. Instead, I’m going to read the weekly Hometown news and a local newspaper, and not because I am so in love with the paper clutter in my house. What bugs me was at first happening with the local Fox news channel. But then it is Fox : so I ignored Fox, even though it was broadcast at an earlier time, at 10 PM in the evenings, compared to 11 PM of others. But now, the disease has spread and caught on with NBC, CBS, and even ABC. What is so annoying to me--and I am sure to many other viewers as well--happens when the newscasters introduce the headlines of what they will say next or whenever they will say it--maybe at the end of the newscast, one never can guess when. “Boil water warning. Is it in your town? Stay with us.” “Coming right up, the position of the governor on a vital matter.” “Straight ahead will come what an important expert said about something that concerns us all.” “The deadly bacteria. Is it in your neighborhood. Coming later.” “Stick around to find out--after the commercial break--if something’s brewing in the tropics.” “Credit cards? Find out where the fraud is. Coming after these messages.” You’d think these people are writing fiction instead of giving the news. They use any trick to raise the tension and create expectation. Worse yet, the critical news they announce they’ll offer us sometimes comes either after several commercial breaks or at the end of the newscast. Then sometimes, it is so short that the viewer thinks he missed it--that is if he doesn’t lose his attention by that time. News casting is a serious business. The ethics in pursuing and presenting material has to be fair, unbiased, accurate, complete and honest, and above all, it has to treat the viewers with respect. Even when the news promised suffers from tabloidosis, it has to be broadcasted as promised and on the time it has been promised. It is not the content, in this case, that is so annoying to me, but the swindling tactics the TV news uses on the viewers. I am sure the public will catch on to this foolhardy practice and the ratings will eventually go down. Or like my husband, some viewers will leave the TV on and go brush their teeth or switch their attention totally to something else while not paying attention to what is said. How would the local TV news like not to be taken seriously, then? Degraded standards of keeping the viewer glued to the idiot box only serve to alienate him. The point is: No viewer likes to be talked down to or to be treated like a moron, especially when the real morons here are those who manage the local news. |
| How we phrase what we do says a lot about how we view the world around us. There is a veterinary office very close to where I live. I guess they wanted a catchy name and came up with Dog & Cat Repair. When I googled them, I found pages of Dog & Cat Repair sites. My question is: Are cats and dogs inanimate objects that can be repaired with nails, hammer, and a coating of paint? Even if the veterinary personnel is very capable, wouldn’t a person responsible for his pet stop and think about the title of that clinic? How well can people care for our best friends, if they see them as lifeless objects? Then, if we still take our best friends to a clinic with such a title, what does this say about us as a culture? As biofeedback therapies demonstrate, language is capable to alter the behavior of human cells, reorganize learned patterns of behavior, and redirect judgments. What we name anything says a lot about our thinking, because up front, names and titles are often what are most perceptible. Naming things without thinking, if we break through taboos and deny the riskiest, can present the scariest outcomes. This is evident in political climates and intimidations. “Politically correct” is also socially and humanistically correct. Naming anything with offhand callousness, therefore, has to be considered verbal abuse that may lead to warped thinking. As such, I know to which clinic I will not take my pets for anything in the world. |
| Forgive the pun; my feet are getting out of hand. What I consider a cataclysm within my walking…ahem, job (well, not really a job, but since my walking was mandated by my internist, the insurgent that I am, I find something to revolt against) started a few years ago when the big toe joint on the left foot had to be operated. Although it was classified as a bunion for the dummies in the insurance company, the doctor told me, it was no bunion, but a far reminder from my once upon a time soccer career. My soccer career? The only soccer career I can remember is kicking around a soccer ball a few times in the backyard with my sons and the dog when soccer first started to introduce itself to USA. But this was more than two decades ago. Well, who am I to contradict a medical opinion! I nodded, thinking maybe the doc thought I was younger than I really was. Maybe even as young as Mia Hamm. Mia Hamm? Me? I gloated internally. “Did you really?” he asked. “Did I what?” “Play soccer?” “Somewhat,” I replied meekly, thinking it could be wiser to keep the conversation to one or two-word statements. After all, this doctor was planning to take out tiny bone fragments from the joint and he might not take well to the challenge of his opinion. That toe healed soon enough and for a couple more years my feet problems passed the baton to muscle pulls in the legs. As soon as the muscle pulls stopped, the right foot started to impose sanctions on my walking. Last October, when I made a return call to the doctor for the misaligned small toe bone in the right foot, I had readied myself for another foot operation, but he had other plans. He said, I could manage with some cortisone shots at least for a while. The cortisone shot’s taking effect was almost immediate, and for about eight months, I forgot I had a rebellious right foot. Then it started again two months ago. This time I was sure I would go under the knife again, because of the way the foot was putting itself forward, but luckily today, another cortisone shot did the trick. Now, thinking back, nostalgia has set in. Who can believe that, once upon a dinosaur time, I was the young girl who could run about town in high stilettos? In those days, triple A-sized shoes were too wide for me. But during the last couple of months, the widest sizes could hurt so much that, during some of my walks, I felt like calling Triple A to give me a lift home. Well, my right foot is not killing me anymore and tomorrow I am starting on my a-mile-a-day walks. I am sure, however, my feet -soon enough- will make their presence known again. In the meantime, I’ll talk to them in tender loving whispers and keep painting my toenails in soft pink. Maybe that’ll do the trick. PS. Ooops, for the feet in my mouth.These feet have a mind of their own. |
| According to an AP news article by Mike Eckel: “Russia: Tests Show Arctic Ridge Is Ours,” Russia has sent scientists to the arctic, to claim that the mountain range--which will be made to appear by the melting ice--belongs to it. Since the soil samples the Russian scientists gathered show that the Arctic’s land mass is part of Russia’s continental shelf. "'Results of an analysis of the Earth's crust show that the structure of the underwater Lomonosov mountain chain is similar to the world's other continental shelves, and the ridge is therefore part of Russia's land mass,' the ministry said.” Last month, after Russia set its flag undersea, --according to what Mike Eckel writes, “Canada vowed to increase its icebreaker fleet and build two new military facilities in the Arctic, while Denmark sent a team of scientists to seek evidence that the ridge was attached to its territory of Greenland. A U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker also set off late last month for a research expedition, though the expedition's chief scientist said the trip had been planned well before the Russian move.” To me, this whole thing sounds so ridiculous. Every piece of land on earth is connected or was a piece of a big mass that broke off. Does this mean those weighty countries with muscle could claim the entire earth? I wonder why Russia can never give up its dream of world domination. Surely, the Russian people who are so respectable, hard-working, and strong could have nothing to do with this preposterous idea. Come to think of it, maybe it has something to do with the impressions his KGB days left on Putin. |
| On our way home from the beach, today, we stopped at the supermarket. Just when we were passing through the baked products section, I braked suddenly. I couldn’t believe my eyes. They had cinnamon babka. Cinnamon babka reminds me of my childhood kitchen and the drifting aroma of cinnamon, when my grandmother used to bake it. I guess the older we get, the more childlike we get. My grandmother was, by no means, a religious person, and she probably learned the recipe from her Greek neighbor and best friend, but later, babka set a tradition of its own in our household. It was the primary cake-like goody to be served with tea. My grandmother’s pastry was a tall cylinder-shaped one, probably because of the shape of her baking utensil. I believe babka is originally Russian, from baba meaning grandmother. No wonder it reminds me of my grandmother. There is a Seinfeld episode where the three main characters go to a dinner party and they want to bring a babka. The lady before Elaine got the last chocolate babka and Elaine got stuck with the cinnamon babka, “The lesser babka” as she called it. To me cinnamon babka is the supreme babka, not the lesser one, and right now, I am enjoying a slice with a late afternoon tea. It is not too sweet, but just right for my taste, and even if this one’s flavor isn’t the same as my grandmother’s, it still delights me. Funny how foodstuffs manage to make a person feel years younger! |
| I can’t believe it! CNBC just said a major toy company is apologizing to China for China’s goof up with the poisonous toys. Who’s supposed to apologize to whom? If I poisoned my neighbor, should his wife apologize to me? The gist of the apology is: “Maybe part of the problem is our design flaw.” Such poor reasoning. Luckily, my children are grown up; otherwise they wouldn’t be getting any toys from that company or anything with the “made in China” insignia on it. Then, this is not the first thing from China that is unhealthy or flawed. “Let me count the ways…” Except love has nothing to do with it. Apologizing to China? That does it; I’m not buying anything from China anymore. I know some things can’t be helped; China has stuck its foot in each dish we have on our table, but I can at least omit it to the degree that I can. Why is American business kowtowing to China so mindlessly? Shouldn’t it be the other way? Isn’t it time we put our foot down and ban at least some of the Chinese imports if for nothing but for our own safety? Also, isn't it a form of terrorism when the commerce of one country poisons people of other countries with its exports? Is this the kind of global market China as a country approves? Well, I don’t know about the US government, but with my purchases, I am boycotting China…as much as I can. |
| Chicken Little was right! According to La Republica newspaper of Peru, a meteor has crashed into the earth on Saturday the 15th, on the Andes near a small town called Caranca, in the district of Puno. About 200 people who went near where the fiery ball from the sky fell felt ill with headaches, nausea and breathing problems caused by "toxic" fumes radiating from its crater, which is 30 (98+ feet) meters in diameter and 6 meters (19+feet) deep. The photo of the crater: http://www.larepublica.com.pe/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=178587&I... Just a few days ago, there was another meteor falling report in one of the nearby countries to Peru (I think it was Colombia or Ecuador, I’m not sure). Is this because the people in that region are more apt to believe in the occult or things from the sky or is this for real, it remains to be seen. The fact is, in Peru’s case, we have a crater and a respectable newspaper reporting the incident. I think, maybe, the members of the jet set keep falling off the sky while mishandling their private planes or the earthlings are being stoned by the higher ups. If it is the second case, heaven knows we deserve it. Maybe we should walk around, wearing crash-resistant helmets. |
| The smartest invention after the wheel has got to be making lists. Talking for myself, where would I be without my lists? The grocery list tops my lists today, because I just made one. Two items maybe, but it is a help. When I make a list before going to the supermarket, I remember at least some of the items even when I forget the list on the kitchen counter. Nothing is like a written list. I even studied mnemonics to some degree, before appreciating the value of lists. With mnemonics, I can put something inside every room in my house or I can put them on my body. Not really, but in thought. For example, I may put cucumbers on my toes, cheese on my shin, and zucchini on my knees, and I assign them funny, far-out, or sexy deeds; however, when I am in the store, I can’t seem to remember whether it was an eggplant or a tomato taking its clothes off on my kneecaps. So, using mnemonics is out for me. Despite all the Ginkgo Biloba I consume, I am a klutz with mnemonics, and a written list tops any memory aid, even a husband’s nagging. My written lists look small at first with maybe four or five items, but then, the energy of the list takes over and I have an army of items. My lists are not only for the supermarket, but for everything and anything… like the one for household chores. Except, the chores I don’t like to do I forget to put on the list. When I wonder about this, I immediately correct myself, because there’s no reason to cry over spilt milk, and also, I can’t spend too much time thinking when I have more lists to make and search for. Actually, I have so many lists in my computer that I need to make another list of the folders for lists. I had started out by putting the writing lists inside the writing folder. Somehow, they now seem to evaporate when I need them. I think I need to make a separate folder for writing lists. I have writing lists for finishing half-written stories, novels etc., for ideas to write from, for photos to write from, and for making time in which to write. Then, I have lists of references, both in my computer and on the web; I have to-do lists for my online stuff; and tons of lists for offline work. I think I am being managed by my lists, but then lists are like Depends for memory leaks. That is the only way I can stay on top of things. I also run into lists in books I read. Right now I am reading Finding Water by Julia Cameron, and boy, does she have lists! She says things like, “list one to five and write all things that delight you,“ or “list one to twenty-five for things you are grateful for” or “list what you hate,” etc. Sometimes when someone asks me a favor and I don’t have time for it, I say, “You are on my list.” Still, when push comes to shove, I wonder about which list and where I put the list for favors.  All this babble on lists is taking place, because on the web, I saw they had software for list-making on sale, but no software for me, thank you. Being technologically challenged, I’d have to study that software, which would not leave time for making my lists. |
| Robert Frost said, “The thought finds the words.” It is true that thoughts usually pop up on their own. The question is what happens on the days you live mechanically and are too tired to think. When the thoughts do not come on their own and you live your daily life like a robot, should you ask for the assistance of another robot? Maybe it is a good thing to understand the technical ins and outs of robotics. Unfortunately, robotics requires a working knowledge of electronics, software, mechanics etc. Knowing what I don’t know wouldn’t help me here with everyday writing, but according to what little I know, today’s robots are called serial robots. I guess serial writing robots would use a chain of story-producing writer’s software products that make up automated stories. If we depended on such software products consistently, wouldn’t it be weird if we all ended up with a robot’s brain and all our written work would end up like each other’s? I’d say, probably with small differences; after all, robots can also improve. But can they ever produce original work? I don’t have anything against robots. Actually, I do appreciate them greatly. Small robots do drive trains, planes, and other important things. They are used in mass production in factories, but do we want literature that is mass produced? Shouldn’t what we write reflect a part our unique and individual human condition? Just a thought or possibly a question that needed to be asked… |
| I saw a new book in the bookstore, but since I didn’t have the guts for it, I just glanced at its cover. The title was, “New Orleans Noir” To me, New Orleans meant humid days, French Quarter, Mardi Gras, Jackson Square, Café du Monde, jazzy streets, palm readers, a black musician playing the sax in an alleyway, fancy French restaurants, Cajun food, and lots and lots of fun. I’ve never been to a Mardi Gras, although I wanted to. Everyone warned me against it and hubby right down prohibited the discussion. From our last trip in 2001, I still have my New Orleans plates, trivets, coasters, and refrigerator magnets shaped like Mardi Gras clowns. Nowadays, they bring a stab of pain, Katrina’s pain, of a city cheated by political wheelings and dealings; things I can't get rid of from my mind. To me, that has been the real noir. The noir in this book, also, must have used Katrina to build stories around it. I just don’t know if I have the heart and the nerve to read it. Storms do change the way we look at things. As Katrina is now linked with New Orleans and sorrow, psychological hurricanes also fill us with mangy thoughts and gutter feelings. Storms conspire against us with images in our heads like lightning inside dark rolling clouds. There are no quiet storms; although sometimes we refuse to hear their rumble. Only when we dig down deep inside, we find that such a storm has ripped away something we have always cherished. But then, maybe we do need storms to excavate what resides within the hidden parts of our being. Katrina, too, showed us a side of people and politicians most of us had already known of but could do nothing about. Still, Katrina should not be a required storm for us to fix ourselves, because it was far too costly. We really did not need Katrina even for literature. Maybe someday, I’ll read “New Orleans Noir” when I can pull up enough courage. Just not yet. |
| During last week one day, I talked to a standup comic who said that the recipe for humor consisted of six areas: target, hostility, realism, exaggeration, emotion, surprise. Since some people have been reviewing some of my so-called humorous pieces lately, I’m going to chew the fat on those six areas as I see them. The thing with my writing is I never start to write in any one genre. I start with a saying, an idea, a quote or a photo. Whatever happens happens: therefore, my writing--at least most of it--can be called free flow, and as free flows go, nothing comes out aglow. After I work on a piece and give it some sort of shape or form, I put it in a static item, choosing the genres while uploading it. Now the six areas: Target: Since the conversation drifted from composing humor to other issues, the descriptions of those six areas remain unexplained to me. I’ll just write what I think target may be. A target may be a target audience. Each type of audience understands its own experience better. A comic would be disappointed if he delivered-- business people--underwear jokes targeted for six to ten year-olds. Neither would off-color jokes be appreciated by the retirees. A target may also be the subject matter, like a comedian making fun of politicians or a housewife making fun of her daily housekeeping routine. Hostility: I am not sure how much I can express hostility to others in a funny way, but then, I am not a comic. I can, however, take me apart and laugh at me and my actions and hope others can see themselves in my deeds. Some comics like late night hosts on TV can and do use hostility to their greatest advantage; although, sometimes I find what they say highly objectionable. Realism: I think this may be using real life situations and it is easy enough to do. People laugh at real situations they may find themselves in because they can identify with the dilemmas these situations produce. A comic would not get many laughs if he expects the audience to understand different situations that may show up in Alpha Centauri or even in another culture that the audience is not familiar with. Exaggeration: Exaggeration has to be the most common denominator in most humor writing, but exaggeration has to stem from a realistic situation to be effective. Emotion: Emotion is the most powerful tool in any writing. The audience’s pity, anger, love, sympathy, empathy etc. can be used to its fullest if the writer is crafty enough. Surprise: This is what they call punch line, I think. I am not much good with surprise endings, because they are difficult to come up with. Even a good wit has to preplan a surprise ending and write it in such a way that the surprise does not evoke a negative shock in the reader. Maybe thinking of the surprise at the end from the beginning is the way to go. A total surprise, especially, needs to be handled deftly. Chances are real humorists might interpret these six areas quite differently, but this is my interpretation, even if I am laughed at for it. |
 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
for this lovely sig.
