Seriously, Mitch Albom doesn't know doodly-squat about inspirational writing. The late Mr. Buchwald did. Afflicted with type 2 diabetes, he experienced loss of kidney function just after his 80th birthday. This was followed by a medically necessary amputation of his lower leg. But in order for the surgery to be performed, he had to go on dialysis, something he'd been resisting. After 12 treatments, he said "Enough," and was accepted into a hospice facility. No one expected him to survive beyond a month or so, with no kidney function.
Well, guess what? He was released from hospice care after 4 months, because he did not meet the criteria for a "deteriorating" medical condition. In fact, his kidney started working again, all by itself.
But while he was in hospice, Mr. Buchwald entertained a large array of prominent people from politics and media, and began collecting all the eulogies that had been prepared in his honor. They appear in this awesome, wonderful book.
No spoilers here, other than to give away the fact that he did, indeed, pass away eventually. How eventually can be learned on Wikipedia. But you can't gain the full measure of his lovely heart and soul from a reference website. Please read this book.
Naturally, I'll benefit if you click the handy link and order it via Amazon, but please get it any which way you can ... and celebrate.
Click Here to Read More..
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
Your Honor, I Plead Grumpy With an Explanation
A nice short post, I promise ya.
Some little-known facts:
1. I enjoy reading Hannibal Lecter fanfiction, and have even been known to write some in my day.
2. A current labor of love is resurrecting a Lecterfic archive from about a decade ago.
3. Hannibal Lecter's amour, Clarice Starling, likes to drink Jack Daniel's.
4. Jack Daniel's brand contains an apostrophe, because the guy who founded the distillery had the surname of Daniel. NOT DANIELS.
5. If I had a dime for every fucking apostrophe I had to edit back into the name, I'd be a wealthy woman indeed.
End of rant. Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend. Click Here to Read More..
Some little-known facts:
1. I enjoy reading Hannibal Lecter fanfiction, and have even been known to write some in my day.
2. A current labor of love is resurrecting a Lecterfic archive from about a decade ago.
3. Hannibal Lecter's amour, Clarice Starling, likes to drink Jack Daniel's.
4. Jack Daniel's brand contains an apostrophe, because the guy who founded the distillery had the surname of Daniel. NOT DANIELS.
5. If I had a dime for every fucking apostrophe I had to edit back into the name, I'd be a wealthy woman indeed.
End of rant. Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend. Click Here to Read More..
Thursday, July 23, 2009
It's Almost Funny
On another online venue, I posted a cryptic little two-liner about "certain people" who treat others badly. So happens (as it often does) that I was referring to my boss, The Scorpion Queen. There was no reason to be specific, and since it is a semi-private social networking site, I deliberately refrained from "naming names" or providing more detail. My reference was general enough that many others reading it could relate. Many did. The responses varied from "me too" to "having a bad day, are we?" to "karma will kick their butts sooner or later," etc.
Well, some people are awfully paranoid. One of those is my ex. After months of blessed silence from the lad, I started getting snarky online posts and e-mails from him. After a bit of bewildered back-and-forth on a range of topics, Doug finally got to the point of his strange demeanor. He had read my post on the social networking site and instantly jumped to the conclusion that I was referring to him.
Several responses came to mind, but maybe the St. John's Wort has been doing me more good than I realized. I managed to remain friendly and matter-of-fact, and assured him that the wellspring of that post was my working environment, and that he could expect plenty more in that vein, due to an overwhelming need to vent as an alternative to doing something that might land me on the six o'clock news.
I have often been struck by the bizarre similarities between my ex-husband and my late mother. One of those parallels was a tendency to assume that any cryptic thing I might write was a reference to them. Mom read one of my youthful short stories (without my permission) and lambasted me for describing her as "plump and matronly." There was no convincing her that I had Sada Thompson in mind when I wrote it. And now, 32 years later, here's Doug, channeling Mom.
And betraying his guilty conscience in the bargain... Click Here to Read More..
Well, some people are awfully paranoid. One of those is my ex. After months of blessed silence from the lad, I started getting snarky online posts and e-mails from him. After a bit of bewildered back-and-forth on a range of topics, Doug finally got to the point of his strange demeanor. He had read my post on the social networking site and instantly jumped to the conclusion that I was referring to him.
Several responses came to mind, but maybe the St. John's Wort has been doing me more good than I realized. I managed to remain friendly and matter-of-fact, and assured him that the wellspring of that post was my working environment, and that he could expect plenty more in that vein, due to an overwhelming need to vent as an alternative to doing something that might land me on the six o'clock news.
I have often been struck by the bizarre similarities between my ex-husband and my late mother. One of those parallels was a tendency to assume that any cryptic thing I might write was a reference to them. Mom read one of my youthful short stories (without my permission) and lambasted me for describing her as "plump and matronly." There was no convincing her that I had Sada Thompson in mind when I wrote it. And now, 32 years later, here's Doug, channeling Mom.
And betraying his guilty conscience in the bargain... Click Here to Read More..
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Making Lists, Killing Time
Confession: I'm killing time to avoid having to confront the painful reality of tax preparation. And that's all I have to say about that.
As for the lists, I have subdivided my blog list into categories, mainly because the list was getting unwieldy. Some of the categories are pretty easy, especially "Atheist Blogs," because a great many have the "A" word in the title or the "scarlet letter" prominently featured.
I originally had two separate categories in mind for "liberal" blogs and "political" blogs, but truthfully, you're not going to find any "Townhall"-style bloggers featured here, so for me, "liberal" and "political" are a tad redundant.
Skeptic/atheist/freethinker that I am, I still attend a Unitarian Universalist church, as I've mentioned here and there; it's an adventure to sort out objective reality from wonder (or "woo-woo," as our minister calls it). Yesterday's "unknown" is today's science and the same undoubtedly holds true now, for the most part. Yet, there are still questions about how we grow our worldview, and anyone who takes on this challenge full-time deserves recognition, which is why the "Religion/Philosophy" list is separate.
The feminist blog list is small, and I am in the process of remedying that.
As for the rest, a number of my favorites fall into several categories all at once, or offer an unblinking and unintimidated view of the author's everyday life, which I find irresistible and often inspirational. We are, indeed, all in this together and blogging helps provide great reassurance of that. There are a few expert blogs in here, as well as irreverent humor -- in all cases, you'll find an abundance of talent and great writing.
If you're a blog author and you want to persuade me to move your blog to another list, drop a line. Meanwhile, enjoy and have a good rest of the weekend. Click Here to Read More..
As for the lists, I have subdivided my blog list into categories, mainly because the list was getting unwieldy. Some of the categories are pretty easy, especially "Atheist Blogs," because a great many have the "A" word in the title or the "scarlet letter" prominently featured.
I originally had two separate categories in mind for "liberal" blogs and "political" blogs, but truthfully, you're not going to find any "Townhall"-style bloggers featured here, so for me, "liberal" and "political" are a tad redundant.
Skeptic/atheist/freethinker that I am, I still attend a Unitarian Universalist church, as I've mentioned here and there; it's an adventure to sort out objective reality from wonder (or "woo-woo," as our minister calls it). Yesterday's "unknown" is today's science and the same undoubtedly holds true now, for the most part. Yet, there are still questions about how we grow our worldview, and anyone who takes on this challenge full-time deserves recognition, which is why the "Religion/Philosophy" list is separate.
The feminist blog list is small, and I am in the process of remedying that.
As for the rest, a number of my favorites fall into several categories all at once, or offer an unblinking and unintimidated view of the author's everyday life, which I find irresistible and often inspirational. We are, indeed, all in this together and blogging helps provide great reassurance of that. There are a few expert blogs in here, as well as irreverent humor -- in all cases, you'll find an abundance of talent and great writing.
If you're a blog author and you want to persuade me to move your blog to another list, drop a line. Meanwhile, enjoy and have a good rest of the weekend. Click Here to Read More..
Saturday, February 21, 2009
An Even Better Reason to Admire Christopher Hitchens
Warning: This post contains a plague of run-on sentences.
As one of those "quiet types," I harbor a not-so-secret admiration for the biped bull in a china shop who WON'T put up and shut up until a lot of people are listening closely. While the rest of us little angels modestly hide our opinions or diffuse them with diplomacy, people like Christopher Hitchens are on the front lines, writing and acting simultaneously before a live audience, knowing that cheers and jeers are likely to follow in equal measure, but reasonably confident that one day, their truth will become so universal that they will no longer have to hammer at it, because a comfortable majority will have finally adopted it and convinced the rest.
So Hitchens may shock and irritate when he suggests that Mother Theresa was, at heart, an incurably unmarried woman who was willing to do a lot of hard work mainly because she liked the publicity, rather than some ethereal symbol of supernaturally imposed ideals. He slices through the philosophical theories of religious belief by asserting that religion "poisons everything," daring those who disagree to show him where he's wrong. Hitchens, to use a terribly overworked phrase, never declines to "walk the talk."
Last summer, Hitchens took a break from grousing about religion to sharpening the debate over torture, and the US's proper role in conducting it. Is waterboarding torture, or isn't it? he asked himself. And rather than sift through other people's answers, he decided to find out first-hand. He contacted the military unit that originally taught American soldiers how to survive "enhanced interrogation" at the hands of enemy captors, then shifted to teaching them how to perform such tasks.
In his Vanity Fair article, Hitchens describes the secret location, the indemnification agreement (releasing the military from liability in the event that Hitchens didn't survive the experience), the prearranged signal or safe word that would tell his obliging hosts to cease and desist (not unlike the technique used in consensual S&M activities), and finally, the main event.
As he relates it, Hitchens probably lasted less than half a minute before panic set in at having water poured into his face and all breathing blocked.
He was terrified.
And then, when his breathing and heartbeat were getting back into the normal range, he said he wanted to try it a second time.
Hitchens is 9 years my senior and some of his descriptions struck a sympathetic chord. Like me, he suffers from chronic, disruptive "acid reflux and mild sleep apnea," as well as the memory of a near-drowning incident in youth. He is overweight, non-athletic, and a heavy smoker. Other than the smoking and childhood trauma, his age, physical circumstances and sedentary lifestyle could easily describe me. It could also, realistically, describe a nameless, faceless "foreigner" swept up in an ambush and flown 7000 miles to a prison where journalists and lawyers are barred. Or an American soldier, seemingly in top condition, but possessed of all the human characteristics that make prolonged survival under drowning conditions impossible.
Christopher Hitchens' purpose in chronicling his experience with waterboarding was to offer a first-hand, non-simulated look at this highly controversial practice. My purpose in posting this is to express my respect for the courage it took to subject himself to his voluntarily, at the risk of his very life. Click Here to Read More..
As one of those "quiet types," I harbor a not-so-secret admiration for the biped bull in a china shop who WON'T put up and shut up until a lot of people are listening closely. While the rest of us little angels modestly hide our opinions or diffuse them with diplomacy, people like Christopher Hitchens are on the front lines, writing and acting simultaneously before a live audience, knowing that cheers and jeers are likely to follow in equal measure, but reasonably confident that one day, their truth will become so universal that they will no longer have to hammer at it, because a comfortable majority will have finally adopted it and convinced the rest.
So Hitchens may shock and irritate when he suggests that Mother Theresa was, at heart, an incurably unmarried woman who was willing to do a lot of hard work mainly because she liked the publicity, rather than some ethereal symbol of supernaturally imposed ideals. He slices through the philosophical theories of religious belief by asserting that religion "poisons everything," daring those who disagree to show him where he's wrong. Hitchens, to use a terribly overworked phrase, never declines to "walk the talk."
Last summer, Hitchens took a break from grousing about religion to sharpening the debate over torture, and the US's proper role in conducting it. Is waterboarding torture, or isn't it? he asked himself. And rather than sift through other people's answers, he decided to find out first-hand. He contacted the military unit that originally taught American soldiers how to survive "enhanced interrogation" at the hands of enemy captors, then shifted to teaching them how to perform such tasks.
In his Vanity Fair article, Hitchens describes the secret location, the indemnification agreement (releasing the military from liability in the event that Hitchens didn't survive the experience), the prearranged signal or safe word that would tell his obliging hosts to cease and desist (not unlike the technique used in consensual S&M activities), and finally, the main event.
As he relates it, Hitchens probably lasted less than half a minute before panic set in at having water poured into his face and all breathing blocked.
He was terrified.
And then, when his breathing and heartbeat were getting back into the normal range, he said he wanted to try it a second time.
Hitchens is 9 years my senior and some of his descriptions struck a sympathetic chord. Like me, he suffers from chronic, disruptive "acid reflux and mild sleep apnea," as well as the memory of a near-drowning incident in youth. He is overweight, non-athletic, and a heavy smoker. Other than the smoking and childhood trauma, his age, physical circumstances and sedentary lifestyle could easily describe me. It could also, realistically, describe a nameless, faceless "foreigner" swept up in an ambush and flown 7000 miles to a prison where journalists and lawyers are barred. Or an American soldier, seemingly in top condition, but possessed of all the human characteristics that make prolonged survival under drowning conditions impossible.
Christopher Hitchens' purpose in chronicling his experience with waterboarding was to offer a first-hand, non-simulated look at this highly controversial practice. My purpose in posting this is to express my respect for the courage it took to subject himself to his voluntarily, at the risk of his very life. Click Here to Read More..
Friday, November 14, 2008
Randomosity
I've been both busy AND blocked, to the point that I haven't even had time to sit down and check in with all the blogs on my list. Typically, I comment way more than I post, but in the last week, that has fallen off. Still, I find myself reading various things online and thinking it would make a good topic for a post if only I had the time.
So, here I'll just toss a few out, hope one or two sticks to the wall, and then perhaps come back this weekend and and expand.
1. Blame it on (the) Moon
This article from 3 months back fascinated me when I was directed to it this morning. It had always struck me, however vaguely, that while in the early 1970s, Rev. Moon was viewed as nothing but another potentially dangerous cult leader, all of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, he was the owner of a respectable conservative newspaper, The Washington Times, and no one was sounding alarm bells about him anymore. In view of Jim Jones and David Koresh, to name but two, it did seem odd that Reverend Moon was no longer the focus of suspicion and distrust. This should help clear it up quite nicely, for anyone else who might have wondered about it.
2. Just move it to "fiction," already.
Some online friends of mine are having yet another debate about what the creation story in Genesis really said, really meant, etc. One person pointed out the passage in which Adam and Eve, having eaten from the tree of knowledge, covered their nakedness and then tried to hide from God. God came looking for them, and this person pointed out how silly that was -- what, his omniscience failed all of a sudden? He couldn't see behind a rock or a tree?
I just don't get why people debate the bible at all. How much simpler our lives would be to just say "Ah, some primitive type trying to make sense out of life's mysteries. An interesting take...flawed...I mean, look at the terrible plot devices and stilted dialogue. But kind of quaint to read. Now what were we talking about before? Oh, yeah...what we're going to do this weekend..."
Well, lunch hour is rapidly drawing to a close, so I'll post more as I think of them. I'm very, very glad it's Friday. Click Here to Read More..
So, here I'll just toss a few out, hope one or two sticks to the wall, and then perhaps come back this weekend and and expand.
1. Blame it on (the) Moon
This article from 3 months back fascinated me when I was directed to it this morning. It had always struck me, however vaguely, that while in the early 1970s, Rev. Moon was viewed as nothing but another potentially dangerous cult leader, all of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, he was the owner of a respectable conservative newspaper, The Washington Times, and no one was sounding alarm bells about him anymore. In view of Jim Jones and David Koresh, to name but two, it did seem odd that Reverend Moon was no longer the focus of suspicion and distrust. This should help clear it up quite nicely, for anyone else who might have wondered about it.
2. Just move it to "fiction," already.
Some online friends of mine are having yet another debate about what the creation story in Genesis really said, really meant, etc. One person pointed out the passage in which Adam and Eve, having eaten from the tree of knowledge, covered their nakedness and then tried to hide from God. God came looking for them, and this person pointed out how silly that was -- what, his omniscience failed all of a sudden? He couldn't see behind a rock or a tree?
I just don't get why people debate the bible at all. How much simpler our lives would be to just say "Ah, some primitive type trying to make sense out of life's mysteries. An interesting take...flawed...I mean, look at the terrible plot devices and stilted dialogue. But kind of quaint to read. Now what were we talking about before? Oh, yeah...what we're going to do this weekend..."
Well, lunch hour is rapidly drawing to a close, so I'll post more as I think of them. I'm very, very glad it's Friday. Click Here to Read More..
Friday, September 26, 2008
Backpedaling
I've been very blocked for over a week now. It's worse than being unable to "think of something to write about." What happens is, a topic comes to mind, with a few salient points, and then, about halfway into the post, I either lose track of what I was trying to say, or, I think the topic overall isn't something anyone would want to read, or I figure my statements won't hold up, or I figure someone else has already addressed the topic and done a better job than I. Sometimes I feel just mentally exhausted to the point that I can't craft sentences that go beyond a 5th-grade level. So then I highlight everything I've written so far, or hit CTRL-A and delete it, or simply save it as a draft where possible (like here). And then, as in a failed romantic encounter, I go on with the feeling that it started out pretty good, but then "something went wrong," and it didn't come to its desired conclusion.
During the past month, the topics I've left in limbo on this blog include:
George Lakoff's analysis of the "strict father morality" that has characterized the right wing for the past 35 years or so;
My thoughts while hiding out in the office while my husband watched McCain's acceptance speech in the living room;
Some personal reflections on the 7th anniversary of 9/11;
Why I feel hopeful about the outcome of this election;
Why God isn't all-knowing, all-powerful or all-loving;
My thoughts after attending a funeral service at a small African-American church;
A description of an annoying two-word phrase used by someone I work with;
Passivity;
What "sexual harassment" is all about.
This is not me fishing for encouragement to expand on these topics; it's just an example of the type of stuff that has drifted through my mind but somehow gotten stalled before arriving complete in written form.
I post frequently on a local message forum where I live, and the same thing has happened -- with the difference that once the posts are deleted, they're gone forever, unless I can dredge 'em back up from memory. That doesn't happen. 99% of the time I just abandon them.
Not sure why this is happening now, what I can do about it, or how long it will persist. But it seemed like a topic others might relate to, so here 'tis.
7:20pm -- Adding: this also frequently happens when I start to post a comment on someone else's blog. So if you've gotten the vague sense that someone is trying to tell you something, maybe it was me. :) Click Here to Read More..
During the past month, the topics I've left in limbo on this blog include:
George Lakoff's analysis of the "strict father morality" that has characterized the right wing for the past 35 years or so;
My thoughts while hiding out in the office while my husband watched McCain's acceptance speech in the living room;
Some personal reflections on the 7th anniversary of 9/11;
Why I feel hopeful about the outcome of this election;
Why God isn't all-knowing, all-powerful or all-loving;
My thoughts after attending a funeral service at a small African-American church;
A description of an annoying two-word phrase used by someone I work with;
Passivity;
What "sexual harassment" is all about.
This is not me fishing for encouragement to expand on these topics; it's just an example of the type of stuff that has drifted through my mind but somehow gotten stalled before arriving complete in written form.
I post frequently on a local message forum where I live, and the same thing has happened -- with the difference that once the posts are deleted, they're gone forever, unless I can dredge 'em back up from memory. That doesn't happen. 99% of the time I just abandon them.
Not sure why this is happening now, what I can do about it, or how long it will persist. But it seemed like a topic others might relate to, so here 'tis.
7:20pm -- Adding: this also frequently happens when I start to post a comment on someone else's blog. So if you've gotten the vague sense that someone is trying to tell you something, maybe it was me. :) Click Here to Read More..
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Blog-shopping
My bloglist grows steadily ... my normal way of finding new ones is perusing those already on the list and seeing who's on theirs. But occasionally I browse through, using the "next blog" function, just to see what comes up.
This evening I set aside about 15 minutes to explore and came up with one winner. The rest?
If it's not in English ... next. I quit at 30.
If it's mostly photos ... next. Eight of those.
If the intro contains a Bible verse or "this blog is a chronicle of my walk with the Lord" ... next. I got lucky tonight -- just one!
If it's intended for a limited audience such as family and friends ... next. More than 10 tonight.
If it's dedicated to a topic that doesn't interest me in the least (such as gaming) ... next. One of those this time around.
What I look for in a blog is word-density, with frequent updates. The topics can be public (politics, religion) or private (one individual's outlook and experiences) as long as they meet the aforementioned criteria. Humor is always a plus -- I find that people with a sense of humor are far more likely to be rational and readable.
This is not to say that I hold any illusions whatsoever that my blog is making anyone's heart go pitter-pat. I often despair at the dearth of topics that occur to me.
If it's personal angst, I'll usually post somewhere else (another blog or personal journal on the hard drive) unless I think it might be something that others can relate to...
My philosophical/political acumen is pretty weak. I have opinions, of course, but doubt that they break any new ground in discourse.
And then comes the fundamental laziness that prevents me from exploring a topic in depth or creating a series.
A large function of this blog has been venting - just laying it all out there. I have known a lot of people who could have benefited greatly from this exercise. It clearly keeps me from rehashing the same old tired themes ... but then the ideas start to dwindle.
Frustrating for me & everyone... Click Here to Read More..
This evening I set aside about 15 minutes to explore and came up with one winner. The rest?
If it's not in English ... next. I quit at 30.
If it's mostly photos ... next. Eight of those.
If the intro contains a Bible verse or "this blog is a chronicle of my walk with the Lord" ... next. I got lucky tonight -- just one!
If it's intended for a limited audience such as family and friends ... next. More than 10 tonight.
If it's dedicated to a topic that doesn't interest me in the least (such as gaming) ... next. One of those this time around.
What I look for in a blog is word-density, with frequent updates. The topics can be public (politics, religion) or private (one individual's outlook and experiences) as long as they meet the aforementioned criteria. Humor is always a plus -- I find that people with a sense of humor are far more likely to be rational and readable.
This is not to say that I hold any illusions whatsoever that my blog is making anyone's heart go pitter-pat. I often despair at the dearth of topics that occur to me.
If it's personal angst, I'll usually post somewhere else (another blog or personal journal on the hard drive) unless I think it might be something that others can relate to...
My philosophical/political acumen is pretty weak. I have opinions, of course, but doubt that they break any new ground in discourse.
And then comes the fundamental laziness that prevents me from exploring a topic in depth or creating a series.
A large function of this blog has been venting - just laying it all out there. I have known a lot of people who could have benefited greatly from this exercise. It clearly keeps me from rehashing the same old tired themes ... but then the ideas start to dwindle.
Frustrating for me & everyone... Click Here to Read More..
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Interesting Quote
From Stephen King, in his 1981 non-fiction book Danse Macabre, wherein he assures us that the horror writer is a
"human being, mortal man or woman, just another passenger in the boat, another pilgrim on the way to whatever there is. And we hope that if he sees another pilgrim fall down that he will write about it - but not before he or she has helped the fallen one off (sic) his or her feet, brushed off his or her clothes, and seen if he or she is all right, and able to go on. If such behavior is to be, it cannot be as a result of an intellectual moral stance; it is because there is such a thing as love, merely a practical fact, a practical force in human affairs.
"Morality, is, after all, a codification of those things which the heart understands to be true and those things which the heart understands to be the demands of a life lived among others ... civilization, in a word.
"...If we say that morality proceeds simply from a good heart -- which has little to do with ridiculous posturings and happily-ever-afterings -- and immorality proceeds from a lack of care, from shoddy observation, and from the prostitution of drama or melodrama for some sort of gain, monetary or otherwise, then we may realize that we have arrived at a critical stance which is both workable and humane."
He has a lot more to say in the book, which is his examination of the pop-culture genres of horror, fantasy and sci-fi from 1950 to 1980. Not sure if it's still in print, but used copies can be found in second-hand shops and Ebay.
And I emphasized that little bit in the last paragraph because I could not resist thinking about the actions of certain individuals residing at top levels of our government for the last 7 or 8 years...
Hmm, hmm, hmm. Click Here to Read More..
"human being, mortal man or woman, just another passenger in the boat, another pilgrim on the way to whatever there is. And we hope that if he sees another pilgrim fall down that he will write about it - but not before he or she has helped the fallen one off (sic) his or her feet, brushed off his or her clothes, and seen if he or she is all right, and able to go on. If such behavior is to be, it cannot be as a result of an intellectual moral stance; it is because there is such a thing as love, merely a practical fact, a practical force in human affairs.
"Morality, is, after all, a codification of those things which the heart understands to be true and those things which the heart understands to be the demands of a life lived among others ... civilization, in a word.
"...If we say that morality proceeds simply from a good heart -- which has little to do with ridiculous posturings and happily-ever-afterings -- and immorality proceeds from a lack of care, from shoddy observation, and from the prostitution of drama or melodrama for some sort of gain, monetary or otherwise, then we may realize that we have arrived at a critical stance which is both workable and humane."
He has a lot more to say in the book, which is his examination of the pop-culture genres of horror, fantasy and sci-fi from 1950 to 1980. Not sure if it's still in print, but used copies can be found in second-hand shops and Ebay.
And I emphasized that little bit in the last paragraph because I could not resist thinking about the actions of certain individuals residing at top levels of our government for the last 7 or 8 years...
Hmm, hmm, hmm. Click Here to Read More..
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Headway. Until.
"It must be something psychological."
Those are words I frequently mimic when I'm in my snarkier moods. They were uttered by a woman I used to be in a bowling league with.
I am a truly bad bowler. No kidding. I cheerfully gave my 8-lb. monogrammed bowling ball, bag and shoes to a co-worker a few years ago and have not missed them for a second. Long before that, however, a friend who was pregnant asked if I would fill in for her during a half-season.
"I'm really a rotten bowler," I protested.
"Oh, that's okay. It's a handicap league," she replied.
First off, I have arthritis in my bowling hand, so it gets tired very easily. Second, I can't "feel what I look like" when my arm comes back. Everybody else can see it, though, and they all tell me it's wrong. After hearing it approximately 3000 times I get a little irritated.
"Don't take that tone with me," said my teammates.
Fine. What fucking ever.
Then came the other problem. I would bowl a spare and follow it up with a gutter, or bowl a strike, and follow that up with two consecutive gutters.
That gave rise to the immortal quote above, which I overheard spoken to someone else in a not-quite whisper after I "did it again."
So I finally quit the league; we were all happy to be rid of one another (also because I would bring Wally with me at age 6 and he would frequently misbehave when I wasn't available to supervise him). On my last day, I bowled a turkey. Everybody gaped at the scoreboard, then at me, and I walked out without a word.
Bad attitude? Ya think?
Anyway, that was a long time ago and I have not bowled since.
The sentiment expressed above came back to haunt me again today, however. And I was nowhere near a bowling alley.
I've taken to writing articles online for bits of money. Since last June I've made nearly $7. The more articles you write, and the more favorably they're received, the more you get. Some of the work I've submitted is crap I dashed off from the top of my head, but some of it is good enough to steadily earn money, and I've even gotten one used as a Featured article. I've recently started taking extra care with the submissions. I've become (semi) convinced that you can write on any topic under the sun, because someone else has already published something online. All you have to do is rework it so that you're not blatantly copying someone else's work. The more sources you use, the better. It's a good way to flex my writing muscles.
Yesterday I published something related to food and thought (if I do say so myself) that it was dayum good. Today I spent 3 hours on a piece concerning music from the 1960s. Again, the effort paid off. Then I found another topic, travel-related, and challenged myself to write something decent on that. Again, I think it turned out rather well.
Then I turned to the "serious" stuff. The things that publishers will pay "real money" for. It's not a fortune, $30 here, $200 for something really special, but it sure beats 5 cents a week. I started writing something about religion (no, not my usual scorn & derision), but then noticed that the deadline was today, and this website is on a different time zone. The last thing I wanted to do was pour time & effort into something, only to have it miss a deadline. So I deleted that and looked for something else. This next one was about natural remedies for allergies. Using my previous formula, I began culling various bits of info from websites ... and then I stopped.
What if I turned it in to the publisher and they liked it? The next obvious step is that they'd want me to write a profile of myself. Do I have any educational credentials in the area of allergies? No. In fact, I have no credentials in anything, not even a Bachelor's or Associates degree. Do I have any allergies that I can write about from personal experience? No. I'm an unqualified hack. A pretender. So where do I get off writing articles about things that OTHER people are experts about? I don't deserve any money for that.
At least, that's what I'm telling myself. Am I wrong? Is it "something psychological" that makes my scruples kick in ONLY when I'm on the verge of doing something to earn money? Is my undervaluation of myself legitimate or am I just cheating myself?
Dunno. Click Here to Read More..
Those are words I frequently mimic when I'm in my snarkier moods. They were uttered by a woman I used to be in a bowling league with.
I am a truly bad bowler. No kidding. I cheerfully gave my 8-lb. monogrammed bowling ball, bag and shoes to a co-worker a few years ago and have not missed them for a second. Long before that, however, a friend who was pregnant asked if I would fill in for her during a half-season.
"I'm really a rotten bowler," I protested.
"Oh, that's okay. It's a handicap league," she replied.
First off, I have arthritis in my bowling hand, so it gets tired very easily. Second, I can't "feel what I look like" when my arm comes back. Everybody else can see it, though, and they all tell me it's wrong. After hearing it approximately 3000 times I get a little irritated.
"Don't take that tone with me," said my teammates.
Fine. What fucking ever.
Then came the other problem. I would bowl a spare and follow it up with a gutter, or bowl a strike, and follow that up with two consecutive gutters.
That gave rise to the immortal quote above, which I overheard spoken to someone else in a not-quite whisper after I "did it again."
So I finally quit the league; we were all happy to be rid of one another (also because I would bring Wally with me at age 6 and he would frequently misbehave when I wasn't available to supervise him). On my last day, I bowled a turkey. Everybody gaped at the scoreboard, then at me, and I walked out without a word.
Bad attitude? Ya think?
Anyway, that was a long time ago and I have not bowled since.
The sentiment expressed above came back to haunt me again today, however. And I was nowhere near a bowling alley.
I've taken to writing articles online for bits of money. Since last June I've made nearly $7. The more articles you write, and the more favorably they're received, the more you get. Some of the work I've submitted is crap I dashed off from the top of my head, but some of it is good enough to steadily earn money, and I've even gotten one used as a Featured article. I've recently started taking extra care with the submissions. I've become (semi) convinced that you can write on any topic under the sun, because someone else has already published something online. All you have to do is rework it so that you're not blatantly copying someone else's work. The more sources you use, the better. It's a good way to flex my writing muscles.
Yesterday I published something related to food and thought (if I do say so myself) that it was dayum good. Today I spent 3 hours on a piece concerning music from the 1960s. Again, the effort paid off. Then I found another topic, travel-related, and challenged myself to write something decent on that. Again, I think it turned out rather well.
Then I turned to the "serious" stuff. The things that publishers will pay "real money" for. It's not a fortune, $30 here, $200 for something really special, but it sure beats 5 cents a week. I started writing something about religion (no, not my usual scorn & derision), but then noticed that the deadline was today, and this website is on a different time zone. The last thing I wanted to do was pour time & effort into something, only to have it miss a deadline. So I deleted that and looked for something else. This next one was about natural remedies for allergies. Using my previous formula, I began culling various bits of info from websites ... and then I stopped.
What if I turned it in to the publisher and they liked it? The next obvious step is that they'd want me to write a profile of myself. Do I have any educational credentials in the area of allergies? No. In fact, I have no credentials in anything, not even a Bachelor's or Associates degree. Do I have any allergies that I can write about from personal experience? No. I'm an unqualified hack. A pretender. So where do I get off writing articles about things that OTHER people are experts about? I don't deserve any money for that.
At least, that's what I'm telling myself. Am I wrong? Is it "something psychological" that makes my scruples kick in ONLY when I'm on the verge of doing something to earn money? Is my undervaluation of myself legitimate or am I just cheating myself?
Dunno. Click Here to Read More..
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