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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 But the energy that goes for that purpose cannot be withdrawn.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.  |
Blog City Prompt: The _______________ helps me remember. I don't what helps you but I would like to know.... The repository of the human brain is extraordinary, and we use only a small percentage of the capacity. And there is the old adage, USE IT OR LOSE IT! I'm desperately trying to use it as much as possible. There are little, amazing triggers in the mental filing system that work for me. For instance: MUSIC: Old tunes and songs from when I was 6 or 7 years-old sitting on the piano bench beside cousin Betty who was thumping the keys with the 40's pop music. I remember the entire scene; the piano, the stacks of sheet music, my uncles standing behind me singing. How much I loved it. Newer music from musicals I've directed or choreographed. I remember the performers, the stage, standing back stage. Or when I was performing, I remember the moments on stage, what my body position was. Often just a second or two trigger by a fragment of music. And get this: If I think about a specific part of my body, especially the right top shoulder, I can recall an injury doing a lift on stage when the girl didn't get up right. Or a leg extension that sprained when I was too tired; that moment on stage is linked exactly. SMELLS: Certain smells of cooking food, or ripe fruit in an orchard or the smell of chicken feathers in boiling water or white Elmer's glue. At the first scent, I'm transported to another time and place for a split second. Certain perfumes send me to another person from long ago. LOCATIONS: For fun, or for trying to fall asleep I try to remember each place I've lived. Like do I remember the kitchen or the bathroom. I find that with most I cannot remember cooking or taking a bath. But often I remember taking the dog out, especially in winter. I've never finished that process. Seventy decades of moving around is a lot of homes (and generations of dogs and cats). All of the above are just little triggers inside my brain. Outside in the physical world: I use the Internet, my computer, hard drive archives, photos, sketches, diagrams, sticky notes, and decades of journals. I remember faces, but have a difficult time with names. Old photos of relatives are usually a puzzler. Isn't life interesting? But can you remember it? Peace. >>>iggy   ** Image ID #1289006 Unavailable **  The WYRM GAUNTLET starts October 4th |
Blog City Prompt: How do you communicate best? Speaking or writing? Give me a script or something to read out loud, and I do fine. But set me adrift to talk on my own and I freeze up. My brain works, but I can't get the words out. This causes great stress. Where's that damn teleprompter? Ever watch Obama when the teleprompter fails? Now, I'm a champ about writing the script, or the news story, a piece of flash fiction, or an in-depth review. No hesitation there, except those blank page confrontations that we all have. I love writing, especially science-fiction and fantasy. The freedom of that kind of creation is very satisfying. Writing a regular blog is sort of new to me. It's much more personal and has the feeling to talking to friends. This is my fifth blog post this week. More than I've ever written at once! At WDC I have tremendous support from my friends at WYRM for fiction. Now I can say I have wonderful support from my friends at Blog City as I learn this new method of writing. Thank you all... >>>iggy ** Image ID #1289006 Unavailable ** |
Blog City Prompt: You are a pumpkin sitting on a porch. What sights do you see? What are your thoughts? I could have been a pie! Instead I'm a scary Jack-O-Lantern. But then I could have been a turnip or a potato. Or worse, in England they use large beets. It all goes back to the Irish legend of "Stingy Jack." Look it up . They wanted to keep the devil away and instead I'm first attracting elaborate carvers...then delighted small children. Go figure. Actually I'm incredibly rich in vital antioxidants, and vitamins. Because of that I'd be more beneficial to you as a pie. Happy scary month! >>>iggy ** Image ID #1289006 Unavailable ** |
Blog City Prompt: Do you believe in destiny? Claiming that something happened because it was destiny is usually just an excuse. Shift the blame and refuse to take responsibility. The free will of human beings allows them to avoid or embrace events. The concept of destiny (as a noun) is often claimed as the cause or the reason. I believe our relationship with the Earth and the greater universe is much more complicated and deep than our distracted, filtered brains can comprehend. The link or connection between parents and children, siblings, and certain friends and lovers, is one of the amazing and wonderful things about living as a human. Amazing talents and skills are evident in some but not all.Where does it come from? The study of DNA provides limited answers. Again that's not destiny, that's inherited potential. As I write about in my novel Apex Project, sometimes a great purpose was not completed or learned in a past life. The soul incarnates again into a new situation that has potential for completion or connection. Your free will might nudge you in the right direction because it feels correct, but then most of us are idiots and the same mistakes are made over and over again. The meaning(s) of destiny are so broad and general that it is applied to almost anything. I do not believe in destiny. It is just an odd use of language to explain the often unexplainable. Destiny is a concept, not a real power or force. If you are alive, you have the power within youself! Choose wisely and with love. Peace >>>iggy ** Image ID #1289006 Unavailable ** |
| Blog City Prompt: There's no such thing as fair. Agree? Disagree? Tap out a few words about it. A few thoughts about 'fair'--- As far as the idea of being just and equitable in accordance with rules.You have to ask who wrote or made up the rules? And right then it turns into a deep, multilayer pile of questions and opinions and agendas. If it's religious or if it's political the words change, but the same question of who wrote or made up the rules is still front and center. My feeling is that people or groups who are in service of self will have different rules about fairness than people or groups who are in service of others. I divide humans pretty much into those two groups. There are degrees or percentages of intent, belief, conduct that can and do change the meaning of fairness. We all live with, "Is it fair?" all the time. I would have to say, you must judge that idea from moment to moment---and pray you're in a good bit of NOW. Peace! >>>iggy ** Image ID #1289006 Unavailable ** |
| Blog City Prompt: "You may delay, but time will not" or "Delay is preferable to error." Now write or write later. Or as they say, "Time waits for no man." Writing is usually a solitary action, art, profession, hobby, obsession. The rush of time includes distractions, responsibilities, all the things in life that suck the writing time away from you. If you delay when the time is available, the fleeting benefit of not facing the blank page, the uncompleted poem or story is probably the source of more inner turmoil. I'm not talking about forced delays we all have those. It's those moments when you say, "Why do today, when I can put it off until tomorrow?" Now the idea that delay is preferable to error. Not with writing. The whole point is to get the ideas down, however rough. First drafts are ugly, but filled with rich ideas, or vague visions of something that later will become beautiful. Lots of people say that time is speeding up. I believe that. The time between Sunday and Friday is about two days long. Have you noticed? I say, "Write it now, you may never get the time again!" Write on...>>>iggy ** Image ID #1289006 Unavailable ** |
PROMPT: Everyone has practical tips they feel make it easier to write, let's compare notes. Maybe we can help each other be more efficient. What rituals do you have that keep you focused and on track with your writing? Rituals? I love quiet, no bugs, and lots of coffee. Maybe when I'm trying to go to sleep, I try to visualize how a scene might play out. That puts me to sleep really fast! But sometimes I dream a bit about it. That would help if I could remember it. (sigh) All my novels have large casts and multiple locations. I cannot even begin to write a word until I have created the location with hand-drawn maps, detailed cast lists and character notes (often tentative as the characters take on their own life). The inter-relationships between characters and locations I have learned to solve with very complete mind maps. In other words a diagram that covers every element of a kingdom, a company, a group of characters or centered around the principal one. Of course I have a concept and a direction the story must go, but after having worked in movies, I tend to go with the pre-planning in great detail. Once I've done that, the images of the place and the characters are free to perform in the atmosphere I've created. If a character looks up across the room, I have to know what they are seeing. Even a single dramatic moment has to be diagrammed with everyone and every element around the event. Then the story almost writes itself. I really love doing all this stuff! There are lots of different kinds of mind maps, some software. I use a large piece of paper and a pencil, starting in the middle and work out. Lots of boxes and arrows and notes. All the notes, diagrams, maps, etc. help with the continuity, logistics and accuracy of the story. I can't imagine what George R.R. Martin must have to keep his Game of Thrones world straight!  Diagram from Knights of Sparrow Write on everyone! >>>iggy ** Image ID #1264233 Unavailable ** |
Prompt: Who was your favorite first lady? Eleanor Roosevelt served as First Lady before I was born and continued during four terms of Franklin's presidency. This made her the longest serving first lady in American history. This was before television. Imagine a time when almost all of the visual images available to you every second of the day simply did not exist. The only images were black and white photos in the newspapers and usually rough footage shown in the movie news reels. The strongest connection with Eleanor came over the radio. Her distinctive voice could always be recognized, and it was heard often. This First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, was there during all of my early growing up years. I would have been nine years-old when Franklin died in 1945. Their lives were not easy during World War II. The only contact from the outside world in my childhood home were the voices on the radio, heard almost every night after dinner. There was an intimate, personal contact with FDR and his wife, Eleanor through those distant voices. Americans listened. No one talked in my grandfathers home when the news broadcast was on. The changes from then to now are unimaginable. However, I believe those voices from my childhood told more direct truths than everything that piles upon our eyes and ears in every moment of this reality of 2014 that is so full of illusions. Go figure... Peace >>>iggy ** Image ID #1264233 Unavailable ** |
| September 15, 2014 Prompt: If you could invent anything new, what would it be? As a science-fiction writer, I invent things all the time. It is one of the great pleasures of writing! I have invented this technology advancement for my science-fiction novel I'm writing. It is called: Human Identity System, or HIDS. The master unit is a brightly illuminated vertical pod. When you step inside you are instructed to place both hands on the symbols, look at the red dot in front of you and to repeat your name three times. About thrity seconds later the dot should turn green. You have just been interfaced with a HIDS Recorder. The simple HIDS Eyes, which would make the usual identifications are relatively inexpensive and would be installed everywhere. A dedicated satellite system will make the database accessible worldwide from cloud storage. It will use a combination of eyes, facial structure, ears, hands and voice to make the match. It is not a broad scanner, but rather very narrowly focused to just one person. Just to you. After the instantaneous identification, the system will electronically project a voice into the target person's mind, similar to the way you hear voices in your dreams. There is no audible sound produced. No one else can hear the message in your head. You will be politely addressed by name. The HIDS Eye System positively identifies a person and eliminates the need for any paperwork, cards, passes, permits. It will know everything necessary to allow you to enter, pass, register, whatever. In my novel, I use the HIDS Eye to handle airplane flights, offices, closed facilities, locked doors, elevators. This technology is not popular with criminals since there is a record of every encounter no matter how brief. Personally, I would be very uncomfortable with such a system, but fear it is the direction our society is headed. Witness the airport body scanners and RFID chips, vehicle license readers, and facial recognition scanners. Part of the purpose of speculative fiction is to anticipate such developments. Perhaps as a serious warning? Such technology will be necessary for robots to function with humans. Move cautiously in this new world that's changing faster than we realize. My best to all... >>>iggy ** Image ID #1264233 Unavailable ** |
| It's Saturday and the flea market is open. What treasures did you discover? Do you actively look for certain items? Or do you buy closed boxes because you like mysteries? What kind of shopper are you? After the years in Iran, and now Belize, I haven't seen a flea market for many years. In these countries everything is used and reused until it is totally garbage-dust. Large families absorb everything and dispose of virtually nothing. In Belize, what we do get are containers full of used clothing from the US. Twice a week new stuff is put out and usually sold by the pound. I guess like Goodwill on a grand scale. Now this is not fancy clothing, just jeans, shorts, t-shirts, jackets, slacks, pullovers, kids clothes, etc. I don't know, maybe the overflow from all the giant flea markets gets shipped here? The last flea market I visited was in 2005 in Paris. Wow! that was amazing. A 100 year-old item was nothing. It reeked of old, old treasures. I think I experienced brain burn-out trying to see everything. I believe all the good stuff goes to the property houses that supply the Film and Television and Theater production companies with everything we see as authentic wardrobe, and settings. There are warehouses of old stuff that would amaze you---from any time period or culture. It's all saved and rented out. I had great fun as a production designer, with a budget, shopping for a particular film's settings. That is flea market heaven! I gave up collecting stuff a long time ago and now, living on a boat, have no space for anything unless it's practical like a piece of silverware or a cup. I did learn that living without so much stuff to keep track of, is very freeing. Especially now that important stuff can be digitized and stored on a chip or flashcard. All my paintings are on my tablet along with every scrap of paper I need for writing. I love this way of working. For those of you who have the space and time. To find items and maybe restore them and give them new life is very satisfying. I wish you well! Best to all. >>>iggy ** Image ID #1264233 Unavailable ** |
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