Thursday, November 30, 2017

Free Writing Advice is Even Cheaper

My last blog story dealt with the utter worthlessness of most business advice.

Well, that goes triple-double for writing advice.  Much of it is self-contradictory, with opposite advice coming from different sources.  Grammar can become a prison that makes you too scared to write a sentence (example - there's probably several things wrong with THAT sentence).  Do you outline?  Do you let the characters dictate where you go?  Do you just let the words flow, unedited and jumbled, and then go back and try to edit into coherency, or do you write precisely and carefully from the start?  Do you tell or show?  Do you do everything you can to avoid adverbs, the deadly plaguely curse of descriptive writing?  What about query letters and self-publishing vs. papering your wall with rejections?

Some of the advice you get free.  Some you have to pay for.  Some may be the best advice you've ever heard and helps super-fuel your writing career.  Some may just make things worse, or even leave you paralyzed.

Given that, I thought I'd step in and give my two cents.  And really, shouldn't you listen to me?  After all, I've been churning out an avalanche of words, and so far, have sold exactly zero to any professional publisher.  What little I've earned has been from self-publishing, and that does not exceed the expenses I've put into it.

Nevertheless, this is what I've figured out so far:

Tell a good story

Yeah, this is like the pageant equivalent of "Be Yourself."  It kinda could mean anything.  Still, it is vital.  How can you be sure you're doing that?  Well, if it isn't interesting to you, it won't be to anyone else.  The first key to a good story is to be a reader yourself.  If you've read a lot, you know what you like, and what you'd like to read.  History of the Trap grew out of where I would like to take a story if I had the power to do so.

When you start, you don't necessarily need to know the whole story.  You can let it arise organically if you want to.  But you do need to know what it is you're trying to accomplish.  What are you trying to say with your story?  What point or points are you trying to make?

Create characters you care about

Create unique and interesting characters.  Make them quirky but relatable.  Draw out your main character with the most detail, but be sure to have an interesting supporting cast as well.  Chances are if these are characters that you care about, your readership will as well.

Really good characters can take over a story and take it to places that you may not have originally planned.  As long as you have a clear idea of what you are trying to tell with your basic plotline, letting characters steer a bit can help make a good story a great one.


Let grammar guide you but not control you

Don't ever forget that all grammar is, is a codification of a living language, one that still breathes, changes, and adapts.  Grammar is as much anthropology as it is standard English practices.  The most important thing is - does your intended audience understand what it is you're saying?  It is more important to be conversational than it is to be impeccably and stiltedly correct.  Language must be flexible and alive.

That is not to say that you shouldn't do your best to follow the basics.  You may want to utilize a grammar program.  Some word processing programs have them built-in.  A new program called Grammarly is helping me edit this piece as I write.  Sometimes I listen to it.  Sometimes, for better or worse, I ignore it, preferring to follow my instincts instead.


Utilize Beta Readers

Have a few people read over your finished story.  They don't need to serve as editors, or super critics, but just to get a feel as to whether you're telling a story that they enjoy, understand, and holds their interest.  They might give you a few hints about grammar problems.  They might tell you how you accidentally changed a character's hair color half-way through the story.  They might ask questions that lead you to weaknesses in the plot structure, or where you have to clear things up to make your story points better.

In order to write, you must write

Getting into the habit of writing may be the most difficult part of the whole process.  Squirrel away some time to write every day.  If possible, make it the same time of day each day.  Whether it's five minutes or two hours, make it as consistent as you can.  Even if your mind rebels, force yourself to write something.  Anything.  Eventually, you'll be spinning gold.  Well, at least something you might be willing to share.



That's it.  That's all I got.  The best book on writing I've read is....On Writing by Stephen King.  He makes these points, and a few others, a lot clearer than I ever could.

May the writing forces be with you!












Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Free Advice Comes Cheaply

They must know something. They succeeded.  I haven't yet.  They must possess some secret knowledge, some special wisdom, that if I could only discern and adopt, I will succeed as well.

Only, that isn't really so.  There is no one path.  No sure way.  That may be harder to accept than putting false faith in one person's foolproof system, but there it is. 

Some advice is good advice, but not all of it, and very few multi-step systems that will lead to inevitable victory.  Life is too complex for that.

There are a plethora of books that purport to show you how to get rich in business.  And many of them are written by those who have succeeded.  They try to explain and universalize their pathway to the top, and promise if you emulate it, you too will reach their level of success.

Well, maybe.  It's certainly true that it is better to work harder than not, but there is little direct correlation between how hard you work and what success you reach.  If so, the world would be controlled by coal miners and construction workers.  The number of people who have worked very hard all their lives and have little to show for it are legion.  And there are many rich people that exist who have put very little effort in their work.

And it's true that being kind and generous to your customers and employees is a very positive thing, and can lead to success, it is no sure thing.  You can be too generous and open, and if the financing isn't right, you can end before you fully launch.  And there are those who rose to the top primarily by exploiting labor and customers,  or have undercut and backstabbed the competition.

The most ridiculous example of trying to emulate business success was a reality competition I watched several years.  I should have known better, but there was a time when I was addicted to reality show competitions, and I would try to sample all of them.  This one was particularly stupid, as the supposed successful entrepreneur who was judging the competition was a know-nothing blowhard who had gone bankrupt multiple times.  His only claim to fame was his ridiculous braggadocio and his fragile membership in the Lucky Sperm Club.  His advice was capricious and arbitrary, and changed and contradicted itself from week to week.  The man was not qualified to give advice to anyone, and you had to feel like the show's producers knew that, and only had him as the judge of The Apprentice for his comedic value.  Otherwise, why put the show in the hands of such a gigantic buffoon? 

Rising to the top in the business world depends on too many factors to be summarized by any one book or set of experiences.  There are skills and talents and having superior ideas, and how you treat people does count for something.  But there is also luck and exploitation and advantages of birth and position.

The same can be said about many other walks of life. I know I am bombarded with writing advice that consumes and often contradicts. It often leaves me paralyzed, unable to write at all, and then I realize, anything you do has to be a mix of the advice you find most helpful, and the light of the own path you blaze yourself.

Success is only a measure of an end result, and can vary depending on what you feel success is.  The journey is the most important thing.  And you need to take the journey that in a way that makes you feel comfortable and good about yourself, and in a way that improves and helps the lives of others.

Success is not simply a measure of money.  It can be valued in other things, as well.  A sense of well being, a sense of personal accomplishment, and a sense of what you have done positive for others, are also important measures of success.

Listen to and read about others.  Ultimately, though, it's up to you and what is most important to you.






 

Monday, November 27, 2017

Pictures Sell Monday Musings

It is times like this that I realize I didn't take any pictures of the weekend.  In this case, it's the entire Thanksgiving break.  Even though I know from the statistics collected on my blog, that blog posts with pictures are viewed more than blog posts without pictures.

It's mostly a trick.  People scroll through their Facebook feed and see something from me, and it has a picture, they're more likely to click on it to see more.  Of course, once they do, I think the reaction often goes like this - "Oh, look!  That's a nice picture!  I wonder if there's more.  (CLICK)  Nahh...there's just words.  Bye!"  But what do I know?  I get to pretend they actually read what I wrote.  Delusion is the path to grandeur.

I took no pictures of my trip to Augusta.  Alison won a two night stay there at the Marriot, and that made it a very affordable option for our 21st-anniversary trip.  So I have no pictures of the beautiful hotel, the city, the river, our restaurant meals (hey, some people do take pictures of those).

I got nothing to show that we saw two movies at the movies theatre over the break, Murder on the Orient Express and Coco Murder on the Orient Express was pretty good, an old-fashioned all-star vehicle, whose ending was not a surprise to those who've read the book or have seen the first movie version of it.  Coco was a movie that was slow to catch my interest, but when it did (about halfway through) I thought it was awesome.  We also saw the 2016 movie, The Birth of a Nation, from the comfort of the living room.  It was an important movie, that took a while to build to its central conflict, but it was significant nonetheless.  It went farther to explain America's obsession with guns than anything I've seen since Bowling for Columbine.  It's white fear that they will be called to account for their oppression and exploitations.

I don't have any pictures of the fantastic visit we had with my middle son, Doug, and his marvelous girlfriend, Paige.  She fixed us Bagels, and bread, and an apple pie that had the best crust I ever done et. They were at our house for Thanksgiving, as was our good friend, Anita Lynn, and had a great meal, and Thanksgiving Game Night.

I have no pictures.  I'm not an instinctive camera person.  I'll try to do better in the future.  I promise.

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Time Person of the Year: Saturday Political Soap Box 172

Recently, our president made noises indicating that he would be the Time Person of the Year, that he was all but offered, but declined because he didn't want to agree to a photo shoot and an interview.

Did that happen?  Time Magazine does not indicate that.  They say it doesn't fit with their usual process, with the unveiling occurring on December 6th.  With this President, who knows?

I would tend to think that magazine would make their decision regardless of whether the named person agreed to it or not.

Should he be named Person of the Year?  It's true he has had a large impact on the country, much of it not very positive.  But he has certainly not been successful in any way a President is traditionally measured, particularly with any significant legislation.  He has not been the deal-maker he purported himself to be.

The economy, at least as far as Wall Street is concerned, has done well, and unemployment has continued to decline.  It's hard to know how much of this to attribute to the current administration, as we are still operating under the Obama budget, and again, no significant legislative changes.  We'll know more about this after the Trump budget and Republican legislation has passed.

He's certainly divided this country sharply.  He continues to use Twitter as a way to insult and demean people and institutions, even other countries.  He seems to have a particular problem with African American sports figures. He is also very quick to say something when it comes to Muslim terrorist incidents (Build the Wall!  Ban people by religion!), and very slow to say anything about domestic gun violence (thoughts and prayers, now is not the time to come to any conclusion).

He is having a negative, divisive effect on the country.  Is that enough to name him Time Person of the Year?

Although it's true that they sometimes select  someone whose social and historical impact has been negative, I don't think, in the long run, that in 2017, he has had the most powerful impact on society.  I reserve that for something else, another phenomena that has laid the seeds for significant change for many years to come.

And that is the MeToo hashtag.  I would honor by name Tarana Burke, the original user of the phrase dating back ten years ago, and the one who put into current popular use, Alyssa Milano.  They have started a necessary firestorm that has burned a path through the patriarchal abuses that many men of power have indulged in.  It attacks the very idea that men, because they are in positions of power, cab sexually abuse and harass women.  We have finally reached a stage where women have the confidence to speak out, and it is no small part due to the #MeToo campaign.

This has shaken things out, and identified scoundrels in many circles of American Life - business, entertainment, sports, religion and politics.  Many have suffered loss of position, and some may even be prosecuted.

Using positions of power to intimidate and abuse women is wrong, and needs to be identified and stopped.  And using them to commit acts of child molestation is particularly evil, and must be roundly condemned and punished. 

This is easy to do in most industries.  Unfortunately, not so in politics.  Men have been elected and hold power with the most terrible allegations against them.  Locker room talk or not, Trump confessed to being a sexual predator, of being able to use his celebrity to take advantage of women, and he was elected anyways.  And by many of the same voters who claim to be the most religious and righteous.  That fact has been one of the hardest facts I've ever had to deal with.

And now Alabama is poised to make another decision.  Do they choose the alleged (but well-substantiated) pedophile, the abuser of children, or do they pick the prosecutor who put behind bars the Klansman killers of little children?

You would think this would be a no-brainer.  But it's not.  And once again, the group that is lowest to turn?  The same white evangelicals that supported Trump.

The MeToo campaign has made incredible progress in giving women the courage to speak up, and you can feel the culture changing in many aspects of American life.

And I believe it will change in politics as well.  Alabama will be the first test.

But it won't be the last one.









Friday, November 24, 2017

Forsooth, My Missing Poemeo



Wherefore cart thou, my missing Poemeo?
Is it snatched away from thee, in a foreign isle?
Past the darkened day, by a studly fry?
Canst not knoweth, my questing goes unknowest?

Deny my father not, don't refuse his nomenclature!
Hey pays the debts, so I will debt no more!
But if you must, let it be unclothed!
I'll shop no longer, and only be your Caplet!

Tis' but the branding, only that my foresworn foe.
If thou gets me to the Bunnery,  you will be my honey bun.
What's Honey Bun?  It is not a body part.
It is a revelating sweetness, it intoxicates me.

And that sweetness?  What matters what it is called?
By any other word, it would be just as sweet,
So Honey Bun or Mall Buddy or Monts A Gooey
It's all the same to me.  I will take your hand in mine.

And we'll rock the Mall eternally.
Black Friday or Santa Saturday.
Sunday Funday or Cyber Monday.
I take thee now, forever and ever.

Or at least until the sales depart.



Wednesday, November 22, 2017

31 Minutes of Thankfulness 2017 Editon

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!

I hope everyone gets to celebrate with family and friends!

I have about 31 minutes before I start to prepare for our first Thanksgiving meal, this year to be done on both Wednesday AND Thanksgiving.  I figure if people can post Christmas stuff before Halloween, I can be a day early with my Thanksgiving tradition!

This year, just yesterday, the baking element of our stove shorted out, going out like a fourth of July sparkler.  So no Thanksgiving baking - at least at home - the part won't be in until after Thanksgiving. .  I am grateful to nearby family that have stepped up and will let us use their ovens!

So that's how much time I have to do my version of the 31 days of Thankfulness I see so many of my friends doing on the Facebook machine.

So here goes!

1)  I am thankful for Alison and Benjamin.  We have a wonderful family, and it so comforting to be loved and supported.  Benjamin is very smart, polite, and a great young thespian, a member of the Art Club. participant in local gaming groups, and he is now a junior in high school  Alison is beautiful and patient, practical and loving.  She won the award for the State's best Nutrition Staff Person.

2) I am thankful for my two older boys, Douglas and Gregory.  Douglas is an environmental scientist in Atlanta.  Gregory is living the family dream, working in Hollywood in the movie industry.  I couldn't be prouder of both of them.  I am grateful that Doug has found a wonderful girlfriend, Paige, and will both be visiting us starting Thanksgiving Day!  I am grateful that both my older boys have taken so much to Benjamin, and have been great mentors and friends to him.

3) I am thankful for my loving parents.  My mother, who passed in October 2008, taught me the power of unconditional love.  My father, who passed in September 2013, taught me more about responsibility and hard work, and about the true meaning of Christianity, than anyone else I've ever known.  I think of them often and miss them terribly.  I am grateful for the love and memories they have given me.

4) I am thankful I have a loving, caring sister.  Carol and her family have always been supportive and kind to me.  She did so much for my father, I am so grateful. I am excited that she is now a Grandmother, with three (count 'em - three!) grandchildren.   Carol and Mike now live in the Grand Rapids area, and live closer to her daughter and grand-daughters, Bailey and Morgan.  And now her son and daughter-in-law in Chicago, also have a son! I see lots of visits to Chicago in their future!

5) I am thankful for my church family.  Grace Episcopal has been very important in the spiritual and social life of our family, and I am appreciative of the connections we have made and all the support and Christian fellowship they have given us.  I am thankful for everything that Rev. Kit Brinson has brought to our church, and it has been a joy to watch it grow, diversify, and become the hands and feet of Christ in our local community.  We have had a number of painful losses in the last year, but I am grateful the church has been there to help one another.  I am grateful for the church's Griefshare program that has helped so many.

6) I am thankful for my work.  I'm not going to pretend that accounting is something I love to do.  But my employers and co-workers have made it to be as pleasant an experience as it can be.  And I love that I am now "60% retired"!  working only about 15 to 18 hours a week.  It has helped give me the space to write more, and help me where I have finished two novels, History of the Trap and Crowley Stories: Swamp's Edge, and the short novella, My Europa.  I have over a half million words on my blog, The Strait Line, and a newspaper column running in four papers.  History of the Trap is now in Kindle and paperback form.  Sales have not been sensational, but those who read it seem to love it, and want to now where the next book in the series is, and that's the highest compliment I can get.  I have started the second book, and hope to have it ready by Summer.

7) I am thankful that I have the ability to act, at least well enough to participate in community theatre.  Getting onstage and feeling the response of the audience has been one of the great pleasures of my life. I am delighted that I have been able to participate in The Odd Couple, acting with my son, Benjamin, where we played ...brothers!!!  He is a great actor, and it was pure joy being onstage with him.  I also got to do a play, The Model Apartment, with two of my very favorites, the very talented Emily Beck, my favorite stage daughter, and alongside my very good friend and frequent stage wife, Julianna Lacefield.  

8) I am thankful to the Jeffords for all that have done to make the Flying Dragons Art Center such an important part of our area. It has given so many of our young people a fine and confident start.

9) I am thankful for the Writers Guild and the Okefenokee Heritage Center. It has been a great joy to help form and support a group dedicated to the arts, and help local writers connect.  The fourth Okefenokee Writing Contest was a great success, and I am thankful to all who helped make it so. I am thankful for the support of Elizabeth Welch, who has done so much to manage, promote and grow the Guild, and is also the high-powered and energetic Executive Director of the Okefenokee Heritage Center. I am particularly grateful to Steve Bean, my friend and former Director of the OHC, and whose spirit I see so alive in Elizabeth.  I mourn his passing, but I am grateful that he touched my and my family's lives. and that he was an integral part of Grace Episcopal.  Everyone who knew him are so much better for having known him, and his spirit will live on with everyone he touched.

10) I am thankful that I have taken the time to develop this blog, The Strait Line.  It is named after a school newsletter my father had as school principal, and whether it is good or bad, it has been a tremendous joy to me to get back in the habit of writing.  I have made over a sixteen hundred blog entries, and my blog traffic has now achieved total page views exceeding a quarter million. 

11)  I am thankful that Barack Obama was a successful President of the United States for eight wonderful years. .  The fact that the Presidency has been taken over by such a racist misogynist con man buffoon saddens me to no end, and makes it difficult to sleep at night.  Nevertheless, I am grateful to have had such an intelligent and caring President for the eight years, and I miss more than you can imagine.  Now I am simply grateful every morning I wake up, and that foul creature occupying the White House, has not put an end to life on Earth.  It makes you realize how precious every day is.

12) I am thankful that Obamacare has survived it's challenges and even though I fear for it's future, I still believe it can provide the stepping stone to greater things. It is a vital step forward to universal health care and towards a more equitable, fiscally sound, and morally decent system.  If the Republicans are foolish enough to repeal Obamacare, then all it will do is galvanize the public to bring about Medicare For All that much quicker.  Right now, after failing repeatedly to repeal it even though they are in the majority, they continue their efforts to sabotage and undermine it.  I pray that people will see through this charade, and move us back on the path towards the only morally and fiscally responsible healthcare system, single payer, best implemented in the USA as Medicare For All.

13) I am thankful that virtually all countries, and many corporations, states, and local governments recognize the gravest threat facing our planet, climate change/global warming , will finally start to be addressed. Not by America anymore, however. This is one of the darkest things we face, this continued climate change denial that grips so many, but I pray that we wake up soon and change.  

14) I am thankful that even though the progressive agenda may not be moving as fast as I want, at least the promise of a better future holds.  I am extremely grateful for the run Bernie Sanders made for the Presidency.  He is articulating many of the positions important to me, and forcing the media and the Corporate Democrats to give these issues at least a passing thought.  He is laying the groundwork for what I believe and pray will be the Progressive majority takeover in 2020.  What happened in Virginia and New Jersey in early November, I pray, is just the beginning.

15) I am thankful that even in this radically conservative area, I still can seek out and find liberal friends to talk to.  Clinton received only 12% of the vote in my home county, but I know many of those who voted for her, and those who earlier voted for Bernie Sanders, and I am grateful that I found them.  Some ask who I support in 2020.  I don't know yet, but I know that a prefer the Democratic Party run a woman for President,,,,AND Vice-President.  It's time.  It's way past time.

16) I am thankful that I can read, and enjoy the pleasures of the printed page.  I know that some people laugh at my elaborate method of randomly picking new books to read, but it gives me great pleasure, and that is the most important part.  I am currently reading The Map of Time by Felix de Palma.

17) I am thankful for the DVR, that lets me watch the programs I want when I want to watch them.  And that I get to fast forward through most of the commercials.  I am also grateful for streaming, and the high speed internet that makes it so practical.  We just finished Stranger Things 2 and have started Mindhunters.  The Man in the High Castle and The Handmaid's Tale was among some of the best television I've ever seen. 

18) I am thankful for pets.  We have four wonderful dogs, Dachshund mixes who are loving and have long, waggy tails.  Well, our newest, Boss-A-Man, may be more chihuahua and Pomerian, but he is marvelously sweet, and I'm glad I get to spend more time with him, in my semi-retirement. We also have a cat who is on rare occasion sweet, and we foster dogs for the Okefenokee Humane Society.  

19) I am thankful for movies.  I love storytelling of all kinds, and there is still nothing like going to the movie theater.  The best we have seen recently is Thor: Ragnarok.  Wonder Woman still stnds out in my mind, too.

20) I am thankful for continuing medical advances that help extend and improve the quality of life.

21) I am thankful that communities still come together sometimes to support neighbors in crisis, like with sick children, or suffering a fire, or other tragedy.  The assistance given to others during the recent hurricanes was heartwarming, but Trump's cold and disturbing reaaction to Puerto Rico's recovery was heart-breaking,

22) I am thankful for those friends I have discovered or reconnected with through Facebook.  I am most grateful to Benita Vierke Collins, for her friendship and her efforts, and at reconnecting the Bridgeport High School Class of 73, including such friends as Coleen Hitsman Anegon, Dona Bow Kilbourne, Paul Buckner, Lisa Whitehead, Karen Iffil, and Linda Arnst Spayeth (who has been so supportive of my writing efforts).

23) I am thankful for the great joy comic books have brought to my life.  I have been a fan and collector since I have been 5 years old.  Recently, Superman has been rebooted yet again, but the results have been AMAZING, with Lois and Clark married with a son.  Action Comics and Detective Comics have been restored to their original numbering, and I couldn't be happier.  And now many of the Marvel titles are restoring their original numbering, and I am over-joyed.  I went through many years where fellow fans and professionals belittled my desire to restore legacy numbering, and now tat it here, I can't help but doing a bit of a victory dance.

24) I am thankful for Christmas, and the opportunity to express such joy and love to others.

25) I am thankful for the peacemakers, all the diplomats and others who spend so much time and efforts to make the world a better place to live.  I pray that we give them the space to do what they can in Syria and other hot spots around the world.  I am thankful for the many Americans who have been willing to welcome the Syrian refugees and others in crisis.  You may not know from listening to the darkest politician of my age, Donald Trump, or others echoing his bigoted and hateful sentiments, but there are still many Americans, of diverse faith and politics, who still care about people and remember that this is a NATION of immigrants and refugees.  I am grateful for the courts for slowing down his blatant MUSLIM ban. Unfortunately for the world, we have put the hateful bigot in charge.  I can only pray that goodness and diplomacy still prevail.  

26) I am thankful for first responders, who often put their lives on the line for us.

27)  I am thankful for ketchup, the condiment of the gods.

28)  I am thankful for Cherry Coke, the nectar of the gods.

29)  I am thankful for colder weather, so I can go out sometimes without having to worry about the gnats.   That's not every Fall/Winter day here in Southeast Georgia, but it does happen often to celebrate it when it does.

30) I am thankful for God, and for love.

31) I am thankful for Jesus Christ, who resides in my heart, and  urges me to love God, love my neighbors, and do everything I can to make this a better world.

Time's up!  On to Thanksgiving festivities!

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

The New Lost Holiday



Halloween is through!

The stores are alive with the sound of........Christmas!

Get your picture taken with Santa!  Set out your Christmas decorations!  Light up you house!  Start shopping for the out-of-towners!  Attend the Christmas tree  lighting ceremonies!  Set up your own tree!  Watch the Christmas parade!

And do it all....

Before Thanksgiving.

Commercially, not all the chatter is about Christmas.  Well, not directly, at any rate.  There are plenty of rumblings and advertisings and promotions about the new, dominant November Holiday...Black Friday!

I  don't know. Who can blame retailers?  How do you make a lot of money off of people being thankful?  Oh, sure, some groceries are sold, some plates and table decorations.  But nobody rushes out and buys a new computer or TV just for Thanksgiving.  Kids don't open dozens of toys.  So where is the cash incentive?

Many individual families still cherish Thanksgiving get togethers.  Travel seems to be more limited than before, as more and more jobs offer less and less vacation.  And many don't have the money for extensive travel, especially when you have to devote so many resources to Christmas.

I have not had Thanksgiving with my Michigan family in a very long time.  Both my mother and father have passed, leaving my sister and her family, who, because of the infrequency of our visits, have developed their own family and traditions.  She has a daughter and son, and now three grandchildren (compared to my zero). 

In past years, we have invited friends, particularly from church. who may not be able to have Thanksgiving with their own family.  This year, I am very fortunate to have my son, Doug, and his wonderful girlfriend, the charming Paige, coming to visit us over Thanksgiving.  I miss being able to have my oldest son, Greg, with us, but he lives in California, and his ability to visit is rare.

As someone raised in Michigan, I am a devout Detroit Lions fan.  The Lions always have a game on Thanksgiving.  The Lions have never really shined in oh, about 60 plus years, so most often, I get two turkeys on Thanksgiving.  But this year will be different! (I hope)


Thanksgiving still exists.  Gratitude and the open table are still celebrated by many.  But in the general culture?  In the shared media world we have immersed our self in?  It has all but disappeared, lost in the great rush towards more commercially promising holidays.


But don't let it get you down.  Reach out to your family.  Reach out to the lonely.  Reach out to those in need.  Make it a celebration of love, thankfulness and brotherhood.

The media?  We don't need no stinking media!














Friday, November 17, 2017

Searching the Stacks

Bookstores are rapidly disappearing.  Those that survive are increasing their display of other merchandise.  Games, apparel, greeting cards, writing supplies, toys, etc., are becoming almost more prominent than the books themselves.

If you are fortunate enough to stumble across a new author you like, good luck finding any more by that writer.  Unless the author is one of a handful of favorites, you're not likely to find any follow-up titles.  The depth of collection is no longer a bookstore concern. 

You might be able to request a book, and they may be able to order it for you, depending on the quality of the bookstore.  Whether someone wants to go through that, or just order the book from Amazon, is an open question.

The same holds true for many public libraries.  Their shelf space is being reduced, as their budgets are cut, and more and more users are coming for other things, particularly computers with internet access.  But you can request books that are not there, and you may be able to get the title, using the inter-library borrowing system.

But the reduction in access to books, especially the joy of browsing, may be even more widespread than I first thought.

My son, Benjamin, is a junior in high school, and we have begun touring different college campuses.  It's early, but we wanted to give him plenty of time and information to consider his options.  One of those we toured recently gave me quite a shock.

It was a pleasant campus, big but contained in one area.  If Benjamin went there, he could easily walk or bike to wherever he wanted to go. We took a walking tour with a student guide, and she was friendly, informative and humorous.

The highlight of the tour was the university library.  It was a big, modern building, and was four stories high.  Compared to the library at the first college we toured, it looked impressive.  Our guide took us in the building.  We stayed in the lobby, but I could see much of the first floor from where we were.  All I saw was a very large study area for students.  I looked up through the clear glass window of the second floor.  What I saw were more study spaces.

I'm usually quiet and shy during these tours, but I had to ask her, "Where are the books?"  She told me there were a lot of books on the second through fourth floors and that, if you requested a book at the library desk, that a robot would help find it and bring it to you.  I think she thought I would be impressed that the school was modern and fancy enough that a robot could do that.  I was not.  I was horrified.

"Do you mean there are book stacks that a student cannot browse themselves?" I asked.  She answered that there were areas the students could not browse, but there was a small section of books that they could look at if they wanted to.

This blew my mind.  My favorite part of going to college was wandering the labyrinth of bookshelves at the huge University of Michigan library.  I had no plan.  I had no purpose, other than to wander through history, our world and other worlds, and see what surprises I could run into.  The whole idea that students may not be able to do this any more left me shattered. 

After the trip, I tried to explain to several people my feelings about this.  I basically got dismissed as being old-fashioned and out of touch with the way the world works now.

Maybe.  That doesn't stop me from thinking we've lost something special.  Something you can't get from an e-reader, or an online store, or a robot.  Searching the stacks, being driven by a sense of intellectual curiosity, discovering a hidden gem that changes your life or way of thinking; this seems special and unique to me.

I'm going to miss it.  Finally, a change in our culture that makes me feel old, and kind of depressed.  I regret that my son may have either have none or only limited opportunities to search the stacks.

There are still a few places left, a few used bookstores that are big enough to get lost in, some larger public libraries that have not yet limited shelf access.  I'm going to continue to go on quests to find them and cherish them.

As long as there still stacks to search, I will be there.









Monday, November 13, 2017

Fairless Monday Musings



Yeah, I knew the Fair was last Week.

And, yeah, I did not go.

I dropped Benjamin off last year to work a booth in conjunction with assistance provided by the Student Ambassadors.  That's the only time I've been there since Benjamin was about three.

I don't want to go full bore "Am I only the one who's never watched Game of Thrones?" on your backside, but I just have little interest in going to the Fair.  This is just a personal thing, and not a reflection on the many that do go.

I have more socially introspective moods, and after the intensity of acting in The Model Apartment, and the involvement in the Writer's Awards, I just wanted some non-social time.  The idea of plunging into huge fair crowds, and spending a lot of money for rides that I don't want to ride, or food that I don't want to eat, I just couldn't bring myself to do it, even to volunteer to help at the Okefenokee Heritage Center booth.

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I am falling way behind in the NaNWriMo project.  But maybe when I get some work hours in, and have more time at the back half of the month, I can write more on it.  We'll see.  Check out the chapter parts on The Strait Line if you get a chance.  It's called The Extra Credit Club.

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Saw Thor Ragnarok.  It was a fun movie, with a fast moving plot and great character interaction.  Some were saying that it was the best Movie movie yet, and although very good, I don't qite see that.

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Still living in the Trump Moronocracy (Yes, Grammarly, I know that's not a word, nut I really don't care - DEAL!).  At this point, if you continue to support him, than it's saying more about you than him.  And I would love to ask my friends who are former Alabama residents what they think of Roy Moore, but based on the past politics, I'm kind of scared to find out.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait





Friday, November 10, 2017

Reader's Paradise

I love books.  I love their smell and feel.  I love to read them and treasure them and be surrounded by them.  When I dream, I dream of being in the middle of endless rows of bookshelves, shelves so high that you need a ladder to access them all.

I've tried Kindle, the modern e-readers that allow to carry an infinite number of books in the palm in your hand.  I've tried them, and I've failed.  Cold electronic type cannot compete with cracking open a spine of a book. turning to whatever page you want, cozying down into a comfortable chair with it, coffee cup steaming, ready to be transported to another world and place.

Not only do I love books, I really love bookstores.  A quality bookstore, new or used, where I can easily lose a day.  The more spread-out, the more maze-like,  the more jumbled, the better.  Sadly, these type of bookstores are slowly disappearing, especially from small towns.  The last used bookstore in my home area closed up several years ago.

I understand the nature of American capitalism.  I understand when sales and interest decline, they cannot be sustained.  But I sure do miss them.  I made a comment once about how this area can't sustain one decent bookstore, but we have dozens of auto parts stores.  It's odd to me, as I have no interest in auto part stores, unless my battery dies and I need one quick, but I was quickly told by friends how necessary they all were, and I shouldn't be complaining.  And they were right.  If there wasn't enough business for so many stores, market competition would drive some of them out of business.

So, yeah, I understand the business reasons.  That doesn't stop me from missing it, and wishing we could have one.  I used to get itchy if I couldn't go to a bookstore or comic shop (now even harder to find than bookstores) at least once a week.  Now, everything's online, which is just not the same experience at all.

If only you could go someplace and get the same experiences and feeling that you could from a good bookstore!

Thankfully, there is.

It's called the public library.  

There are shelves of books to get lost in.  They often have book sales in which you can fill your own shelves.  They often have cushy chairs, and nooks where you can read and escape.  

They have friendly librarians who can help you find what you're looking, or help you discover the perfect book you didn't even know was there.  They can help you find books that aren't at the library, and often arrange to bring it in so you can borrow it.

They have book clubs, and people with like interests meeting.  They have story reading time for children, and summer activities, and guest authors, and access to things beyond books - including the Internet, films, music, and audio.

No, it's not a perfect substitute.  I wish they would serve coffee and refreshments (some libraries have experimented with this, to mixed results).  It would be swell as a source to buy new books you were interested in, perhaps a lend and buy program.  And it would be nice if the depths of in-library book offerings would be stronger and a little more diverse.

These changes may come in time.  Meanwhile, if you are me, and jonesing for a bookstore visit. let this be a serviceable substitute.

And who knows?  The more of us who visit, the more of us who borrow, participate, and buy, the more interesting and stronger our public libraries will become?

Well, I've convinced myself.  That's where I'm going - the public library!  See you there!
 


Monday, November 6, 2017

Kayak Kelly Gassed in the Swamplands

Kayak Kelly Gassed in the Swamplands

Gliding through the swamplands
Paddling past the blackened sands
Kayak Kelly weaves through its trees
And the pitcher plants that tease

Teases its prey; the abundant bugs
Who cannot resist its odorous slugs
Kayak Kelly passes a cypress laden way
And notes the swaying loblolly-bay

In the distance; was that a deer?
Or maybe it was a black bear to fear?
What just splashed and slithered into the wet?
It was an alligator or snake he bet

Up ahead a spider was webbed
Between two sweet bays pegged
The spider was small as it hung up
Only the size of a Chihuahua pup

As Kayak Kelly forged on
The foggy gas rolled upon
Covering the waters the color of tea
Soon there was nothing he could see


When it rolled away he saw a sight
A possum was on a stump alight
And near a gator with an appetite
But the possum did not look in flight

It couldn’t be, but they appeared to be
In conversation so deep and earnestly
Kayak Kelly looked with a squint and a scrunch
Didn’t the gator know that possum was lunch?

Kayak Kelly got out his notebook
He wanted to record this odd look
So he could cherish later when
He had left the swampy glen

Then the fog cleared out away
And the creatures’ visages did not stay
The swamp was back to the way it was
Gator and possum off to some other Oz

Kayak ended his swamp travail
Headed home via the watery trail
Finished the picture while fresh in mind
His treasured, gassy, swampy find




His thoughts were a mighty swirl
Of a friendship that could never whirl
Kayak Kelly put it on his boat as a personal logo
An inquisitive gator and a possum he named Pogo





The Model Apartment is Closed


That is a picture of me with my favorite young thespian, Emily Beck, who once again impressed everyone with meeting every challenge she was faced with, and becoming better and better with every play she is in.  Our original production was scheduled for mid-October when our lead quit two days before opening, and it looked like we were done for, until Emily stepped in and quickly learned a whole passel of lines, and we rescheduled for the first weekend in November.  I can only hope that other theater groups, especially WACT, paid attention to what this extraordinary talent can do!  She can bring it any day of the week, including WEDNESDAY!

This is the only picture I could dig up this morning, but I would love to post more pictures of other cast members, especially my good friend and frequent stage wife, Julianna Lacefield.  It was wonderful to perform side by side with her, and I think we made a perfect elderly Jewish couple.  Her accent and mannerisms were spot on, and our natural acting chemistry shone through.  As our set builder and husband of the Director, Lamar Deal,  said, we came across like real people, not actors.

I also want to note stage newcomer, Kylar Austin, who was very good as my stage daughter Debby's boyfriend.  Kylar has a real future in theater, and I can't wait to see him in other productions!

As in any successful play, it takes many talented people behind the scenes to put on a top notch show, and we had that in spades.  Our Director, Barbara Griffin, worked hard at pulling out the best of us, and helping us negotiate challenges that may have killed off weaker productions.  Warren Wilson was a devoted assistant who saw us through many tough evenings of rehearsal, and conducted the light and sound board like a maestro.  Lamar Deal provided an outstanding set, props, and moral support.  Jody Rollins wrote and recorded an amazing original score for the show.  Samantha and David Bruchie stepped in and provided vital backup in set and prop preparation.  Our stage mothers, Kimberly Back and Glenda Powers, were constantly there to support the production and our young cast members.  We had a great videographer, Nathan, who came and recorded the show every night.

I want to thank those theater patrons who came out to the show.  We bested our crowd numbers for the second run of Anne Frank, and those that came were very appreciative.

Honestly, numbers are down for all local productions, except for the musicals.  It's very discouraging that so many are no longer considering local theater a part of their lives. 

But we struggle on because it's in our very blood.  When I'm preparing for a production, all I can think of is the intensive memorization, and the many nights of rehearsal.  Then I get onstage and all that evaporates.  I experience the magic as my character fills me, and I feel the energy-giving pulse of the audience, and I remember why I struggle through it all.


To paraphrase my character Max:

"I'm telling ya, these theater experiences; TOPS!"

















Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Competition Hits The Strait Line!

I love The Strait Line!

And based on increasing page views, so do many of you!

But I'm going to have a lot of time competition, especially over the next week.

I've got the play, last dress rehearsal tonight, and then three straight evening performances.  That's The Model Apartment, this Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 8 PM at the Okefenokee Heritage Center's Studio.

I've got Waygreen Saturday morning, and The Writer's Guild Awards Sunday afternoon.

I am trying to front-load my working hours so that I can have more time with the family later in the month.

And...I'm going to try to do the NaNoWriMo project (50,000 words of a novel in one month).  That may cut into my The Strait Line more than anything else.  I might post parts of the novel.  I might not.  Hard to say.

For those asking about History of the Trap Vol. 2, I hope to begin on that in earnest in December.  Which may cut The Strait Line time that month.

Who knew being a writer might take me away from writing???

Anyway, I will do my best.

Try to be patient with me.  

The Strait Line will soldier on!