That's right peoples, you read correctly.
I failed Relaxation 101. It wasn't easy to do, but I managed to do it. I feel like the quarterback who all he had to do was a kneel down, and yet somehow managed to fumble the ball and lose the game.
I may not be a type A personality, but I simply cannot relax. I hate taking vacation days from work and I hate having holidays off from work. I hate sitting at my desk with my work completed and earning a paycheck by sitting on my duff twiddling my thumbs. Shoot, I hate doing most things where I don't have to do anything. Do you think I do all that walking for relaxation? Hell no, I have a particular purpose when I do those walks. I do not walk just for the sake of walking.
Having said that, I do concede the point that sometimes, you just have to sit on your duff and twiddle your thumbs and toes, and do absolutely nothing.
Which is what I did for the past month and a half on this blog. I did the equivalent of twiddling my thumbs and toes, which was due to the fact that I was suffering through a severe case of blogger burnout, by posting two times a week (not including FSG in the equation, because that is a permanent thingy for this blog).
Didn't particularly like doing it, but it was a necessary evil at the time.
So.
Here we are at the tail end of April, and as promised some two months ago, I would let everyone know when I was back in my version of normal sinus rhythm.
Well, Cedar's Mountain wants to announce that he has failed miserably at trying to return to the days of old, which was posting every other day. Instead, with great reluctance and lack of intestinal fortitude, he will continue posting on the current M-W-F schedule for the foreseeable future. But he will try to make his Monday and Friday posts drip with exceptional juiciness with every single deliciously super moist bite.
G leans over as Cedar's Mountain whispers something in his ear. G nods in agreement, brushes the leaves, branches and dirt from his body, and gives C.M. a pat on his back.
Cedar wants to announce that he has a very special surprise for everyone on Sunday. It may not knock your socks off, but nevertheless, it will be worth your while.
So.
Be afraid.
Be very very afraid.
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
A Shameless Plug For Georgie B
Back in the day, I used to blog and write as Georgie B. One day, while writing and blogging as Georgie B, I decided to make a genuine attempt at branding. To that extent, since I was already blogging as Georgie B, I decided to get published under the name of Georgie B. I figured that since some writers use a pseudonym as a nom de plume, I might as well give it a shot at doing it.
The idea I came up with, was to self-publish a few of my longer short stories as chapbooks. That way, I could have something to offer up to the general public as decent examples of my writing while I was working on book length stories to self-publish.
The first story I decided to self-publish as a chapbook, was a story originally entitled "A Betrayal of Vows", of which the basic plot was about a broken marriage, an affair of the heart, and the tangled consequences of both. Because self-publishing is not an easy thing to do, I decided to have a little fun with the process, by making it into a small adventure and writing about myself in the third person.
After doing my little adventure and coming up with this handsomely designed paperback, of which you will see a picture of in the upper left corner of this blog, I decided to rethink the process of self-publishing. After pondering the question for about a month, which included reading some fine articles about it, I decided that for now, self-publishing wasn't for me, and that I should look into trying to get published the tried and true way, which was to query an agent (or not) and query publishers directly (or not).
At this point, I was about one year into my short story blog and was having a blast doing it. However, one must realize that sooner or later, good things do come to an end, and eventually, my short story blog will come to end. But this isn't about that. This is about my chapbook, retitled as Betrayed!, that I came out with in the late fall of 2009.
This particular story, is a very good example (at the time) on how my writing had evolved up to that point. If any of you had read my first self-pubbed book, is it like night and day. The writing in this book is cohesive, the plotting sensible and it reads very well. I might add that while the content is adult, the language isn't as crude nor as graphic as it was in the first one. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you've been a steady reader of FSG, then you can appreciate this chapbook.
Whether or not I make the big time, or even the medium to little time with my writing is something I'm not worried about. All I can do and all I can give is my very best effort. I'm not worried about failure, because even if I fade into the woodwork, I still can say with pride that I was commercially published at least once in my lifetime.
And wouldn't it be nice to have a little piece of me for your very own? Something that says that you knew me back in the day when I was but a nice sized dot on the road atlas of publishing. Something that says, "This guy was a pretty decent writer in his day and this book is a decent example of his early work."
Well, now you can. If you trip over to my book blog (or if you click on the book cover) you'll be able to purchase this little piece of me for less than the price of a pack of cigarettes or good six pack of beer. You can either purchase it directly from the publisher (not terribly cheap), or for even a better deal, purchase it directly from me (super cheap). If you order it from me, not only will I autograph it (free of charge) but I will also pick up the cost of the postage (saves you money and gives me a tax deduction).
I may return to self-publishing my long stories in the future once FSG runs its course, and I will probably return at some point in my writing life to Georgie B, because I do like that name, and it does make a nice nom de plume, but to my friends and colleagues, I am what I will sign this post off as:
George
The idea I came up with, was to self-publish a few of my longer short stories as chapbooks. That way, I could have something to offer up to the general public as decent examples of my writing while I was working on book length stories to self-publish.
The first story I decided to self-publish as a chapbook, was a story originally entitled "A Betrayal of Vows", of which the basic plot was about a broken marriage, an affair of the heart, and the tangled consequences of both. Because self-publishing is not an easy thing to do, I decided to have a little fun with the process, by making it into a small adventure and writing about myself in the third person.
After doing my little adventure and coming up with this handsomely designed paperback, of which you will see a picture of in the upper left corner of this blog, I decided to rethink the process of self-publishing. After pondering the question for about a month, which included reading some fine articles about it, I decided that for now, self-publishing wasn't for me, and that I should look into trying to get published the tried and true way, which was to query an agent (or not) and query publishers directly (or not).
At this point, I was about one year into my short story blog and was having a blast doing it. However, one must realize that sooner or later, good things do come to an end, and eventually, my short story blog will come to end. But this isn't about that. This is about my chapbook, retitled as Betrayed!, that I came out with in the late fall of 2009.
This particular story, is a very good example (at the time) on how my writing had evolved up to that point. If any of you had read my first self-pubbed book, is it like night and day. The writing in this book is cohesive, the plotting sensible and it reads very well. I might add that while the content is adult, the language isn't as crude nor as graphic as it was in the first one. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you've been a steady reader of FSG, then you can appreciate this chapbook.
Whether or not I make the big time, or even the medium to little time with my writing is something I'm not worried about. All I can do and all I can give is my very best effort. I'm not worried about failure, because even if I fade into the woodwork, I still can say with pride that I was commercially published at least once in my lifetime.
And wouldn't it be nice to have a little piece of me for your very own? Something that says that you knew me back in the day when I was but a nice sized dot on the road atlas of publishing. Something that says, "This guy was a pretty decent writer in his day and this book is a decent example of his early work."
Well, now you can. If you trip over to my book blog (or if you click on the book cover) you'll be able to purchase this little piece of me for less than the price of a pack of cigarettes or good six pack of beer. You can either purchase it directly from the publisher (not terribly cheap), or for even a better deal, purchase it directly from me (super cheap). If you order it from me, not only will I autograph it (free of charge) but I will also pick up the cost of the postage (saves you money and gives me a tax deduction).
I may return to self-publishing my long stories in the future once FSG runs its course, and I will probably return at some point in my writing life to Georgie B, because I do like that name, and it does make a nice nom de plume, but to my friends and colleagues, I am what I will sign this post off as:
George
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Diatribe About The Hazards Of Being A Pedestrian
Warning: Due to the nature of how extremely upset I am this morning, today's post may not be suitable for anyone who gets easily offended. My advance apologies to those I might offend.
What the hell were you thinking of this morning while you were driving?!! Was your destination so important to get to that paying attention to your immediate surroundings was non-essential to your overall well being??!!
Did you noticed that YOUR LIGHT was a SOLID RED, and thus according to STATE LAW you have to come to a COMPLETE STOP BEFORE MAKING A RIGHT TURN ON RED???!!!!
Apparently not, you useless piece of human excrement. I had the right of way in the crosswalk because I had THE CROSSWALK LIGHT IN MY FAVOR, which means you needed to halt your sorry pathetic little ass and WAIT FOR ME TO FINISH CROSSING BEFORE MAKING A RIGHT ON RED!.
But no, you simply had to blow through that red light so that you could make damn sure that I FELT THE BREEZE FROM YOUR SIDE MIRROR THAT PASSED JUST MERE INCHES FROM MY FACE.
Trust me, you are so damn lucky that I was momentarily stunned from what just happened because if I wasn't, I would've chased after your sorry ass until I got close enough to take your license plate with my camera before pulling you out your f'n vehicle and kicking your weaselly little ass from here to the police station.
Anyways, I hope that the fact that you saw an incredibly upset fat guy waving his arms at you which caused you to actually tap your brakes for a couple seconds, somehow put a damper on your day.
I sincerely hope that someday, you can experience the joy of almost getting hit by a car/truck, so that you can see for yourself just how your own horrible driving skills puts other people's lives at risk. Not only other pedestrians, but the unfortunate souls that share your DNA.
What the hell were you thinking of this morning while you were driving?!! Was your destination so important to get to that paying attention to your immediate surroundings was non-essential to your overall well being??!!
Did you noticed that YOUR LIGHT was a SOLID RED, and thus according to STATE LAW you have to come to a COMPLETE STOP BEFORE MAKING A RIGHT TURN ON RED???!!!!
Apparently not, you useless piece of human excrement. I had the right of way in the crosswalk because I had THE CROSSWALK LIGHT IN MY FAVOR, which means you needed to halt your sorry pathetic little ass and WAIT FOR ME TO FINISH CROSSING BEFORE MAKING A RIGHT ON RED!.
But no, you simply had to blow through that red light so that you could make damn sure that I FELT THE BREEZE FROM YOUR SIDE MIRROR THAT PASSED JUST MERE INCHES FROM MY FACE.
Trust me, you are so damn lucky that I was momentarily stunned from what just happened because if I wasn't, I would've chased after your sorry ass until I got close enough to take your license plate with my camera before pulling you out your f'n vehicle and kicking your weaselly little ass from here to the police station.
Anyways, I hope that the fact that you saw an incredibly upset fat guy waving his arms at you which caused you to actually tap your brakes for a couple seconds, somehow put a damper on your day.
I sincerely hope that someday, you can experience the joy of almost getting hit by a car/truck, so that you can see for yourself just how your own horrible driving skills puts other people's lives at risk. Not only other pedestrians, but the unfortunate souls that share your DNA.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Delusions of Grandeur
Yowza.
Please bear with me for a moment while I search my office for the beginning of this post.
starts throwing papers, books, pens, pencils, chairs, phones, laptop, tantrum, shoes, glasses, fastballs, curves, screws, copper, sticks, stones, sneezes, and weight
Found it.
blows the dust bunnies, along with the little dust bunnies and baby dust bunnies off
About several months ago, I wrote a post that contained, among other things, my low opinion of today's literary journals. What I received a couple of weeks ago in the mail, solidified that low opinion of literary journals.
One gloriously sunny Saturday afternoon, my wife came into the den, handed me a package, and said, "Here, this is the only thing that came for you." I took it and saw that it was one of my contest subscriptions, in this particular case, for Boulevard literary journal.
Note: one of the minimal 'prizes' you do get from entering most writing contests is a one year subscription to that particular literary journal, courtesy of your entry fee
So, imagine my surprise when I opened it and found a c.d. of music with it. Not just any c.d. mind you, no sir, but a c.d. filled with songs written by the founder/editor/Stephen King clone of serious literature Richard Burgin and performed by Chris Cefalu.
Now, I don't know about you, but I find it somewhat disturbing that a person who founded a literary journal some twenty-five years ago, who has it published out of a respectable university, should use it as his own personal vehicle of choice in foisting whatever whimsy on the general public. It's bad enough to use some of the space to trumpet whatever new book you have coming out, but to start including a c.d. of music that you composed and had someone else perform, I think, reaches a new low (or is it a new high) of pomposity.
I'm not even sure where else I can go with this particular point without sounding like a nut, so let's take a detour and move on to the c.d. review of The Trouble With Love.
How I came about "listening" to this c.d. was pretty simple: it was pay week, and I need something to occupy my brain while I was doing all the things associated with pay week (click here to see examples of what I listen to during pay week). So I brought the c.d. in with me and when the time came, I went through my usual routine of whenever I crack open a new c.d. at work to listen to.
I started reading the liner notes, and found that Richard collaborated with a singer/songwriter by the name of Chris Cefalu. Having no idea on who this particular person is, beyond that he released several c.d.'s plus works of fiction and poetry, I moved on with my reading. What should have stopped me and put the c.d. back, was this comment by Chris in his part of the liner notes: He references certain genres of music without ever submitting to them entirely.
I'm sorry. I don't care what type of musician/songwriter you are, but if you're gonna explore different types of genres, do it one song at a time. Don't go exploring three or four different types within one song and expected to make it stick. I know this sounds a little hypocritical considering to what I listen to (primarily rock with others thrown in), but even within those genres, the artist stays within that genre while exploring the outer reaches of that genre (like jazz for example).
In spite of the fact that the liner notes were setting off all kinds of alarms, I popped this bad boy in and began listening to it. Or at least, tried listening to it.
I'm a bit picky when it comes to listening to brand new/used c.d.'s for the first time. If it doesn't hold my interest all the way through a maximum of two plays, I will take it out of my collection and put it away in my sock drawer, where it never sees the light of day (I've done this to six c.d.'s so far, out of 130). This c.d. did not hold my interest all the way through, and in fact, I found myself actually tuning the damn thing out within the first twenty minutes of processing paychecks.
This my good friend, is a very bad sign. I don't believe that I've ever tuned out a new c.d. while listening to it for the first time. I have stopped listening to c.d.'s a few tracks in, but this was a first. I actually had to look at the track screen to figure out where I was in the c.d.
After spending about twenty minutes "listening" to this thing, I gave up at track #5, took out the c.d., brought it home and now, after creating this post, will stick it in my sock drawer.
In summation, my review/opinion of this c.d., the performer and writer is this:
1} The performer I really wasn't able to form an opinion of, because I don't believe that this c.d. showcases his talents very well. Please check out his website for more details on his c.d.'s and his writings. For those of you who are into hardcore blues (Chicago style, delta, etc.), he has an interesting music blog about his music collection as well.
2} The writer I've already formed an opinion of, and I'm pretty sure that by reading this post, you can probably figure out what that is without too much difficulty.
3} My opinion of this c.d. is only partially formed, which was partially due to the fact that I gave up about one third of the way through (five tracks out of fourteen), and partially due to the fact that I have no idea what the basic concept/idea of this c.d. is. However, if you're interested in exploring this particular c.d., it can be found at CD Baby
Oh, and the basic disclaimer is this: this c.d. was given to me as part of my one year subscription to Boulevard magazine (which will probably find a home in the circular file, unless someone wants it), and not as a freebie to write a review on.
Please bear with me for a moment while I search my office for the beginning of this post.
starts throwing papers, books, pens, pencils, chairs, phones, laptop, tantrum, shoes, glasses, fastballs, curves, screws, copper, sticks, stones, sneezes, and weight
Found it.
blows the dust bunnies, along with the little dust bunnies and baby dust bunnies off
About several months ago, I wrote a post that contained, among other things, my low opinion of today's literary journals. What I received a couple of weeks ago in the mail, solidified that low opinion of literary journals.
One gloriously sunny Saturday afternoon, my wife came into the den, handed me a package, and said, "Here, this is the only thing that came for you." I took it and saw that it was one of my contest subscriptions, in this particular case, for Boulevard literary journal.
Note: one of the minimal 'prizes' you do get from entering most writing contests is a one year subscription to that particular literary journal, courtesy of your entry fee
So, imagine my surprise when I opened it and found a c.d. of music with it. Not just any c.d. mind you, no sir, but a c.d. filled with songs written by the founder/editor/Stephen King clone of serious literature Richard Burgin and performed by Chris Cefalu.
Now, I don't know about you, but I find it somewhat disturbing that a person who founded a literary journal some twenty-five years ago, who has it published out of a respectable university, should use it as his own personal vehicle of choice in foisting whatever whimsy on the general public. It's bad enough to use some of the space to trumpet whatever new book you have coming out, but to start including a c.d. of music that you composed and had someone else perform, I think, reaches a new low (or is it a new high) of pomposity.
I'm not even sure where else I can go with this particular point without sounding like a nut, so let's take a detour and move on to the c.d. review of The Trouble With Love.
How I came about "listening" to this c.d. was pretty simple: it was pay week, and I need something to occupy my brain while I was doing all the things associated with pay week (click here to see examples of what I listen to during pay week). So I brought the c.d. in with me and when the time came, I went through my usual routine of whenever I crack open a new c.d. at work to listen to.
I started reading the liner notes, and found that Richard collaborated with a singer/songwriter by the name of Chris Cefalu. Having no idea on who this particular person is, beyond that he released several c.d.'s plus works of fiction and poetry, I moved on with my reading. What should have stopped me and put the c.d. back, was this comment by Chris in his part of the liner notes: He references certain genres of music without ever submitting to them entirely.
I'm sorry. I don't care what type of musician/songwriter you are, but if you're gonna explore different types of genres, do it one song at a time. Don't go exploring three or four different types within one song and expected to make it stick. I know this sounds a little hypocritical considering to what I listen to (primarily rock with others thrown in), but even within those genres, the artist stays within that genre while exploring the outer reaches of that genre (like jazz for example).
In spite of the fact that the liner notes were setting off all kinds of alarms, I popped this bad boy in and began listening to it. Or at least, tried listening to it.
I'm a bit picky when it comes to listening to brand new/used c.d.'s for the first time. If it doesn't hold my interest all the way through a maximum of two plays, I will take it out of my collection and put it away in my sock drawer, where it never sees the light of day (I've done this to six c.d.'s so far, out of 130). This c.d. did not hold my interest all the way through, and in fact, I found myself actually tuning the damn thing out within the first twenty minutes of processing paychecks.
This my good friend, is a very bad sign. I don't believe that I've ever tuned out a new c.d. while listening to it for the first time. I have stopped listening to c.d.'s a few tracks in, but this was a first. I actually had to look at the track screen to figure out where I was in the c.d.
After spending about twenty minutes "listening" to this thing, I gave up at track #5, took out the c.d., brought it home and now, after creating this post, will stick it in my sock drawer.
In summation, my review/opinion of this c.d., the performer and writer is this:
1} The performer I really wasn't able to form an opinion of, because I don't believe that this c.d. showcases his talents very well. Please check out his website for more details on his c.d.'s and his writings. For those of you who are into hardcore blues (Chicago style, delta, etc.), he has an interesting music blog about his music collection as well.
2} The writer I've already formed an opinion of, and I'm pretty sure that by reading this post, you can probably figure out what that is without too much difficulty.
3} My opinion of this c.d. is only partially formed, which was partially due to the fact that I gave up about one third of the way through (five tracks out of fourteen), and partially due to the fact that I have no idea what the basic concept/idea of this c.d. is. However, if you're interested in exploring this particular c.d., it can be found at CD Baby
Oh, and the basic disclaimer is this: this c.d. was given to me as part of my one year subscription to Boulevard magazine (which will probably find a home in the circular file, unless someone wants it), and not as a freebie to write a review on.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Three Cheers And A Tigger For Me!
Yesterday (4/18) at 7:18p, I finished the initial draft of my novel "Line 21".
For the time being, it clocks in at 142 pages and 69,313 gut-wrenching (at least for me) words.
A brief recap as well as a brief synopsis is now in order.
The recap:
On Super Bowl Sunday (2/7), I came up with the basic idea of writing about a woman who was in debt to a loan shark and the only way that she could earn the amount of money that she needed in the short time frame she had to work with, was to get involved in making adult movies. For the next seventy-one days, I worked on this story, after work and on the weekends. Some days, I cranked out as little as 500 words, and on some days I cranked out as much as 3,000 words. The end result was a completed manuscript that rivaled my original 90,000 word mess that was my first self-pubbed book.
The super brief synopsis:
Jeannie fell behind on her loan payments to her friendly neighborhood money lender. After having a short, but heartfelt, phone conversation with her uncle, she was given exactly five days to come up with two thousand dollars so as to get herself current with loan. After running into Ken Epee at the park and having a brief conversation with him, she decided to take him up on his offer of working in the adult movie industry.
The interesting twist:
I decided from word one to add a touch of fantasy to the mix, by having Jeannie talk to and live with, a symbiont. I also decided to have this symbiont, who goes by the name of Aissa (pronounced 'Eye-sha'), to become an active participant in Jeannie's adventures with the adult movie industry as well.
The plots:
I got temporarily lost a couple of times with the plot lines while writing this story, but I was able to find all of them before I finished. They are as follows:
1} Jeannie participating in a video shoot, along with several different tangents that sprang from the video shoot.
2} Her day-to-day/hour-to-hour dealings with her symbiont, Aissa.
3} The transformation of Aissa from a symbiont to a semi-real person.
4} Jeannie's boyfriend Geoff.
Those are the four major plot lines in the book. Like I've mentioned previously, I do like a challenge, and weaving together four distinct plot lines is about as challenging as one can get.
So again, three cheers and a tigger for me, for I have finally put this bad boy to bed.
Up next will be the all important yet incredibly dreaded "E" word.
Editing.
But more on that later. Right now, I just want to enjoy the moment of actually writing a book, from scratch (which is much different than writing a short story from scratch), starting with the opening sentence of "I need an extension" and finishing with the last sentence of "Lisa hung up and just before she dialed nine-one-one, she said, 'It sucks to be you." and all the other 69, 291 words in between.
For the time being, it clocks in at 142 pages and 69,313 gut-wrenching (at least for me) words.
A brief recap as well as a brief synopsis is now in order.
The recap:
On Super Bowl Sunday (2/7), I came up with the basic idea of writing about a woman who was in debt to a loan shark and the only way that she could earn the amount of money that she needed in the short time frame she had to work with, was to get involved in making adult movies. For the next seventy-one days, I worked on this story, after work and on the weekends. Some days, I cranked out as little as 500 words, and on some days I cranked out as much as 3,000 words. The end result was a completed manuscript that rivaled my original 90,000 word mess that was my first self-pubbed book.
The super brief synopsis:
Jeannie fell behind on her loan payments to her friendly neighborhood money lender. After having a short, but heartfelt, phone conversation with her uncle, she was given exactly five days to come up with two thousand dollars so as to get herself current with loan. After running into Ken Epee at the park and having a brief conversation with him, she decided to take him up on his offer of working in the adult movie industry.
The interesting twist:
I decided from word one to add a touch of fantasy to the mix, by having Jeannie talk to and live with, a symbiont. I also decided to have this symbiont, who goes by the name of Aissa (pronounced 'Eye-sha'), to become an active participant in Jeannie's adventures with the adult movie industry as well.
The plots:
I got temporarily lost a couple of times with the plot lines while writing this story, but I was able to find all of them before I finished. They are as follows:
1} Jeannie participating in a video shoot, along with several different tangents that sprang from the video shoot.
2} Her day-to-day/hour-to-hour dealings with her symbiont, Aissa.
3} The transformation of Aissa from a symbiont to a semi-real person.
4} Jeannie's boyfriend Geoff.
Those are the four major plot lines in the book. Like I've mentioned previously, I do like a challenge, and weaving together four distinct plot lines is about as challenging as one can get.
So again, three cheers and a tigger for me, for I have finally put this bad boy to bed.
Up next will be the all important yet incredibly dreaded "E" word.
Editing.
But more on that later. Right now, I just want to enjoy the moment of actually writing a book, from scratch (which is much different than writing a short story from scratch), starting with the opening sentence of "I need an extension" and finishing with the last sentence of "Lisa hung up and just before she dialed nine-one-one, she said, 'It sucks to be you." and all the other 69, 291 words in between.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Spiritually, Ya Gotta Have Faith
a back door opens and our intrepid narrator walks through it and onto his backyard deck. he takes a deep breath and is overwhelmed by the cool mountain breeze blowing in and the warm sunshine beating down, which creates a lethal combination that bathes his soul and refreshes his spirit. spying his lounge chair at the far end, he strolls over and jumps into it. settling down, he leans back and is about to speak when a red robin comes sailing in and comes to a stop on his head. he waits for it to get comfortable and relaxed, before putting a finger to lips and waving everyone closer.
~~~~~~~~~~
Today's post was inspired by my circle of friends on Facebook, who are for the most part, genuinely religious and/or deeply spiritual. Not really sure how it came about that the bulk of my Facebook friends are like that, but I'm not complaining. In fact, I actually find it quite refreshing to learn about a particular facet that most people keep under wraps a good chunk of the time.
Their religious/spiritual background indeed touches on a little bit of everything. I have quite a few friends who most people would call born agains....however, unlike those few who you would come across who are somewhat hypocritical about their beliefs, these people are very genuine about theirs. I've had some incredibly interesting conversations with them about their beliefs over the past couple of years and have at the very least, walked away a little more enlightened.
I also have a few friends who are not what you call born again, but nevertheless have made their faith an integral part of their life. I haven't actually had conversations with them about their faith, because I feel (right or wrong) that to ask them about it would be intrusive. So from time to time, I read what they post on Facebook, in order to learn a little more about them and gain a greater appreciation and understanding of them.
As for a few others, while they don't follow a particular faith, spiritually they are just as religious as the next person. I have some who do follow the Wicca faith, some who follow spiritualism, and a sprinkle of those who don't follow any kind of religion or spirituality, but nevertheless worship God in their own particular way.
As for me, I would like to say I'm relatively open-minded about religion/spirituality. People have often asked me what faith do I follow, and I usually give them a two part answer: 1} I'm a lapsed Methodist (haven't participated/practiced in about 25 years) and 2} You can compare me to Ralph Waite's character in The Waltons.
But that isn't to say that I look down on most types of faith and/or religion, because I don't. I may not actively practice a particular faith, but I do try to incorporate what I feel comfortable with into my life. I know that sounds like a walking contradiction, but it has served me well.
For now, it mostly shows up through my writing, which is odd considering what my preferred style of writing is. But as you can see, just from reading the opening paragraph, it does make for good copy and a great hook. Seriously though, I do find that melding all different kinds of faith/spirituality helps make the one strong suit of my writing, description, even stronger.
To whit: I have one piece of spirituality, Cedar Mountain, published in an e-zine and I have another that touches on the topic of death that you'll find on FSG.
Also, I have an upcoming story later in the year on FSG that draws on both Heaven and Hell somewhat extensively (one of the few stories in which I actually did some research on).
In any event, I enjoy reading the comments/discussions that my circle of friends on Facebook make/create, simply because I learn so much about them. Not only as people but the hows and whys of their personal belief system. I truly believe that exposing myself to other viewpoints about religion makes me not only a more well rounded person, but a more well rounded writer as well.
~~~~~~~~~
as our intrepid narrator finishes his tale of enlightenment, the red robin awakens and starts to sing a haunting spiritual melody. softly at first, it soon gains in volume as a few of its brethren, the blue jay, the cardinal and the oriole, arrive to add their three part harmonies to the mix. almost as an afterthought though, a small orange halo suddenly appears at the top of our intrepid narrator's head. he bolts upright and chases his feathered friends away with a wave of his hands, just before a hole no bigger than his lounge chair opens up. Belching fire and brimstone, our intrepid narrator makes a desperate lunge towards one of the onlookers, but is pulled back down into the hole. a look of terror falls across his face as the horrific chants of the damned envelop his being. then with a flash of light and a thunderous clap, he was gone.
~~~~~~~~~~
Today's post was inspired by my circle of friends on Facebook, who are for the most part, genuinely religious and/or deeply spiritual. Not really sure how it came about that the bulk of my Facebook friends are like that, but I'm not complaining. In fact, I actually find it quite refreshing to learn about a particular facet that most people keep under wraps a good chunk of the time.
Their religious/spiritual background indeed touches on a little bit of everything. I have quite a few friends who most people would call born agains....however, unlike those few who you would come across who are somewhat hypocritical about their beliefs, these people are very genuine about theirs. I've had some incredibly interesting conversations with them about their beliefs over the past couple of years and have at the very least, walked away a little more enlightened.
I also have a few friends who are not what you call born again, but nevertheless have made their faith an integral part of their life. I haven't actually had conversations with them about their faith, because I feel (right or wrong) that to ask them about it would be intrusive. So from time to time, I read what they post on Facebook, in order to learn a little more about them and gain a greater appreciation and understanding of them.
As for a few others, while they don't follow a particular faith, spiritually they are just as religious as the next person. I have some who do follow the Wicca faith, some who follow spiritualism, and a sprinkle of those who don't follow any kind of religion or spirituality, but nevertheless worship God in their own particular way.
As for me, I would like to say I'm relatively open-minded about religion/spirituality. People have often asked me what faith do I follow, and I usually give them a two part answer: 1} I'm a lapsed Methodist (haven't participated/practiced in about 25 years) and 2} You can compare me to Ralph Waite's character in The Waltons.
But that isn't to say that I look down on most types of faith and/or religion, because I don't. I may not actively practice a particular faith, but I do try to incorporate what I feel comfortable with into my life. I know that sounds like a walking contradiction, but it has served me well.
For now, it mostly shows up through my writing, which is odd considering what my preferred style of writing is. But as you can see, just from reading the opening paragraph, it does make for good copy and a great hook. Seriously though, I do find that melding all different kinds of faith/spirituality helps make the one strong suit of my writing, description, even stronger.
To whit: I have one piece of spirituality, Cedar Mountain, published in an e-zine and I have another that touches on the topic of death that you'll find on FSG.
Also, I have an upcoming story later in the year on FSG that draws on both Heaven and Hell somewhat extensively (one of the few stories in which I actually did some research on).
In any event, I enjoy reading the comments/discussions that my circle of friends on Facebook make/create, simply because I learn so much about them. Not only as people but the hows and whys of their personal belief system. I truly believe that exposing myself to other viewpoints about religion makes me not only a more well rounded person, but a more well rounded writer as well.
~~~~~~~~~
as our intrepid narrator finishes his tale of enlightenment, the red robin awakens and starts to sing a haunting spiritual melody. softly at first, it soon gains in volume as a few of its brethren, the blue jay, the cardinal and the oriole, arrive to add their three part harmonies to the mix. almost as an afterthought though, a small orange halo suddenly appears at the top of our intrepid narrator's head. he bolts upright and chases his feathered friends away with a wave of his hands, just before a hole no bigger than his lounge chair opens up. Belching fire and brimstone, our intrepid narrator makes a desperate lunge towards one of the onlookers, but is pulled back down into the hole. a look of terror falls across his face as the horrific chants of the damned envelop his being. then with a flash of light and a thunderous clap, he was gone.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Excuse Me, But Do You Have A Winner?
Yeah, it's my ugly mug again. Such a scary thing to see on a Monday morning, isn't it?Anywho, last Monday (that would be the 5th for those of you who don't really want to think on a Monday), I wrote a post soliciting your favorite dinner ideas, and the response was pretty good (at least for me). Between Facebook and the blog, I received 18 entries.
After writing down everyone's dinner ideas on a psuedo Word document; inside a one by two table; in the lightest black ink I got (I am using every single last atom of toner that I can find in my cartridge); and cutting them out into half inch by three inch size strips of paper, I stuck them inside a hat.
And before you ask, no I didn't choose them---I had two family members choose them for me.
So the winners of my nifty little contest, where the prize is that I use your idea, and write you into the last scene (or not depending on your preference), and feature a link to your blog on my front page for one calendar month are:
Jane Turley and Lisa Brooks!
So my good readers, I will find a way to contact you, most likely via Facebook, to see if you're interested in being written into the ending of my book.
And for everyone else, thanks for participating and playing along. You all gave me some fantastic dinner ideas that really got my mouth to watering.
And now, a brief status update on that W.i.P. in question: I'm actually at the end of the book, as the only thing left for me to write, which coincidentally is the very last plot line I have to tidy up, was this restaurant scene which concludes the story (or does it?). I'm hoping to have this first draft done and in the can by the end of the week.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Cult Faves = No Radio (1)
I listen to all kinds of music, because I like all kinds of music (except country pop and Top 40). Not necessarily just the chart toppers, but the various album/c.d. cuts that most people consider throwaways and thus the only way of listening to them on the radio, is via the colleges (satellite/digital and the assorted self serve internet stations don't really enter into the equation).
Buried deep within that mix of chart toppers and album/c.d. cuts that are geared towards the commercial and college stations, are songs that I consider to be cult faves. In other words, songs that resonate in such a way that you can actually understand the meanings and intent behind them, which is turn sometimes makes them virtually unplayable on the radio.
Sometimes a particular song from a well known artist can fall into that category, sometimes a well know song from an unknown artist can fall into this category. And sometimes, an entire artist/group can fall into that category as well.
What will be following over the course of a week or two (depending on my mood) is a subjective list of what I consider to cult faves that get either zippo or very limited airplay, be they songs or be they groups. The first one on our subjective list is:
The Dead Kennedys
The D.K.'s were considered to be in the forefront of censorship issues in the late 70's/early 80's California punk scene. Led by Jello Biafra, their music was consider at various times, provocative, inflammatory, toxic and extremely political. Even though all of their music was highly listenable, only about 1% was actually suitable for airplay. What I mean by suitable, is that the language wasn't peppered with select adjectives.
Off the top of my head, I can give five examples of their songs, which containing highly offensive political content, met the minimum criteria of clean language.
Buried deep within that mix of chart toppers and album/c.d. cuts that are geared towards the commercial and college stations, are songs that I consider to be cult faves. In other words, songs that resonate in such a way that you can actually understand the meanings and intent behind them, which is turn sometimes makes them virtually unplayable on the radio.
Sometimes a particular song from a well known artist can fall into that category, sometimes a well know song from an unknown artist can fall into this category. And sometimes, an entire artist/group can fall into that category as well.
What will be following over the course of a week or two (depending on my mood) is a subjective list of what I consider to cult faves that get either zippo or very limited airplay, be they songs or be they groups. The first one on our subjective list is:
The Dead Kennedys
The D.K.'s were considered to be in the forefront of censorship issues in the late 70's/early 80's California punk scene. Led by Jello Biafra, their music was consider at various times, provocative, inflammatory, toxic and extremely political. Even though all of their music was highly listenable, only about 1% was actually suitable for airplay. What I mean by suitable, is that the language wasn't peppered with select adjectives.
Off the top of my head, I can give five examples of their songs, which containing highly offensive political content, met the minimum criteria of clean language.
Their cover of "Rawhide" (which can be found on the EP "In God We
Trust")
Their remake of the song "California Uber Alles", featuring the 80's
political king Ronald Reagan, as opposed to the 70's political king Jerry Brown
(also can be found on "In God We Trust").
"Kepone Factory", a song about mercury poisoning in Japan (again, can be
found on "In God We Trust")
"Holiday In Cambodia", a song about Pol Pot (can be found on their
excellent compilation "Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death")
And finally, the only song of theirs that I've heard on college radio and in fact,
got me hooked on them to begin with, their cover of "I Fought The Law" featuring
the 1978 assassination of Harvey Milk and George Moscone by Dan White.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Excuse Me, Is This Scene Taken?
Yup, it's me. Enjoy it while you can folks, because unless you know where to look, this is about as current as you're gonna get for a photo of me. I'm not a big fan of having my picture taken, and there are exactly two more of them posted on the World Wide Web.
~
Anyways, this post isn't about my beautiful, yet ancient mug. No sir, this is about a book. Specifically, my latest work in progress entitled "Line 21". For the past two plus months, I've been steadily chipping away at this bad boy every single day, either after work M-F, or all day Saturday and Sunday. Right now I'm in the home stretch, because as of this post, I have exactly one scene left to write, and the first draft of the book is finis.
~
However, the scene in question is where I'm having a bit of a problem. The conclusion of the book takes place in a restaurant. To refresh your memory, the main character in this story has until Friday night to come up with a $2,000 payment to her loan shark. The payment is to be made at a restaurant.
~
Here is the problem: I don't know what kind cuisine to have nor do I know what the characters should be eating. I'm never very good at coming up with dinner in my stories, just breakfast and lunch. But I did come up with a possible solution to the issue. If you're part of my Facebook circle, then you've already faced this question on Friday. For those who are not, then I have a proposition/contest for you.
~
I'm soliciting ideas on what I kind of meal I should write. I already got a bunch of them from Facebook, and now I'm looking for a few from my blog. From now until the end of the week (because I do have a few readers that have relatively busy lives and thus don't get to me until later in the week), I will be collecting your dinner ideas. Specifically, your favorite eats.
~
There is potential value to the prize, in the form of me using your dinner idea and writing you into the final scene, either as a member of the waitstaff, or as a customer, your choice. If you don't want me to write you into the scene, that's fine as well, because there are always other ways for me to acknowledge your contribution to my story.
~
Also, as an added bonus, I'll put a link up to your blog for one calendar month on my front page, specifically, right below the Followers widget.
~
So put on your thinking caps and give me your best foodie idea, and who knows, you and your idea just might wind up in the conclusion of my book, "Line 21". I will announce the winner a week from today.
~
Good luck to one and all.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Happy Easter!
Imagine yourself as a kid waking up to this poor pathetic specimen on Easter morning.PPPPPPPPLLLLLLEEEEEEEAAAAAASSSSSSSEEEEEEE!!!!!!
Friday, April 2, 2010
A True Student Athlete
Continuing a trend in which I rent out my blog space for the astronomical price of being my friend, today's post is about a friend whose daughter is the real definition of a student athlete.
For the past few decades or so, the phrase "student athlete" has become synomonous with jocks at division I-A schools taking classes like Basking Weaving 101 or The History Of Football Coaching. In other words "student athelete" equals "money making machine who graduates in four years barely able to read or write".
In this particular case, nothing could be further from the truth. Jennifer Christian is one of those rare individuals who is the very model of the traditional student athlete. But, let me have her mother describe just how versatile and well rounded Jennifer really is.
"She is a 18 year old senior at Springfield Central High, in the top 10% of her class, a Mass Mutual academic achiever, junior achievement member, a member on track team for two full years and this season will be her third year of high school track. In the first two years she has been named to the high school academic/scholatics division 1 team for Western Massachusetts, she holds the Western Massachusetts and Massachusetts high school girls 100 meter
title for both years.
Her rookie year she placed second in the 100 meter for New England Championship and last year she placed first with her personal best time of 11.92. She has attended the National Jr. Olympics for two years and has placed in the top 30 both years, and placed first in the
Nike indoor championship 55m for women this past winter.
For community service she has voluntereed to feed the homeless, particiapted in walks for homeless, helps out with youth group at church and Sunday school, and was camp counselor for YMCA this past summer."
Now the reason I'm writing about this remarkable young woman, besides the fact that I'm friends with her mom, is that she entered a regional scholarship contest sponsored by Hood Ice Cream. Her essay on "Why This Person Is A Good Sport On And Off The Field" was accepted and she will be competing for one of 18 $5,000 scholarships that Hood Ice Cream is offering.
This particular contest works on the same principle as American Idol, except that you're voting for your favorite high school athlete. So if you can find the time, please consider voting for this young lady. All the details on how you can vote for your favorite student athlete can be found here. I'm not sure if this will work for anyone who resides out of the New England area, but please give it a try.
On behalf of her mom and as well as myself, I thank you for stopping by and taking the time out your busy day to vote for this wonderful young lady.
For the past few decades or so, the phrase "student athlete" has become synomonous with jocks at division I-A schools taking classes like Basking Weaving 101 or The History Of Football Coaching. In other words "student athelete" equals "money making machine who graduates in four years barely able to read or write".
In this particular case, nothing could be further from the truth. Jennifer Christian is one of those rare individuals who is the very model of the traditional student athlete. But, let me have her mother describe just how versatile and well rounded Jennifer really is.
"She is a 18 year old senior at Springfield Central High, in the top 10% of her class, a Mass Mutual academic achiever, junior achievement member, a member on track team for two full years and this season will be her third year of high school track. In the first two years she has been named to the high school academic/scholatics division 1 team for Western Massachusetts, she holds the Western Massachusetts and Massachusetts high school girls 100 meter
title for both years.
Her rookie year she placed second in the 100 meter for New England Championship and last year she placed first with her personal best time of 11.92. She has attended the National Jr. Olympics for two years and has placed in the top 30 both years, and placed first in the
Nike indoor championship 55m for women this past winter.
For community service she has voluntereed to feed the homeless, particiapted in walks for homeless, helps out with youth group at church and Sunday school, and was camp counselor for YMCA this past summer."
Now the reason I'm writing about this remarkable young woman, besides the fact that I'm friends with her mom, is that she entered a regional scholarship contest sponsored by Hood Ice Cream. Her essay on "Why This Person Is A Good Sport On And Off The Field" was accepted and she will be competing for one of 18 $5,000 scholarships that Hood Ice Cream is offering.
This particular contest works on the same principle as American Idol, except that you're voting for your favorite high school athlete. So if you can find the time, please consider voting for this young lady. All the details on how you can vote for your favorite student athlete can be found here. I'm not sure if this will work for anyone who resides out of the New England area, but please give it a try.
On behalf of her mom and as well as myself, I thank you for stopping by and taking the time out your busy day to vote for this wonderful young lady.
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