I failed.
Big time.
Ultimately, I couldn't even hit 10,000 words.
I thought I would have more time in November. I thought I had a real shot.
NaNoWriMo is an international writing contest challenging you to write 50,000 words on a novel in one month, the month of November.
I had a great idea, The Extra Credit Club, that had been burning in me for many years. On paper, I had more time available to do it.
First, however, I had to finish up The Model Apartment, a play I was in. That took the first few days of the month.
Second, I wanted to front-load my work time, so I could have more time in the back of the month.
Third, with my family home with their Thanksgiving break, I found myself choosing between time with family and time to churn out another 41,000 words. I chose family.
I know about the theory that you can write whatever and then go back to fix it. I write relatively fast, but I don't quite write that way, either. Sure, I often have to go back and edit, tighten and make it more consistent, but I'm not a big wholesale editor. I usually have a strong idea of my characters and plot, and like to make the first draft pretty close to the final draft. Everybody writes differently. That's just the way I do it.
I probably could have gotten to 20,000 words if I kept doing it a little each day, but once I realized I couldn't make it, and that very few people would see the finished work, I found it harder to motivate myself.
I do want to get back to The Extra Credit Club. But I owe it to my readers to return to The History of the Trap series first. I also have a completed book I'm just sitting on - Crowley Stories: Swamp's Edge. I'm Hamletting that, as I can't decide whether to find a real publisher or agent, or just publish it myself.
Semi-retirement has not brought the extra writing time I had hoped for. Much of it is my fault. I have let other projects and concerns get in the way. I have not had the consistency of schedule yet that makes me know - this, this is my writing time each day. I vary what times I go to work at accounting each day, and for the longest time, I had a script I had to learn for a play I was in.
I have to do what I can to restore a consistent AND longer writing time. Fiction takes more time and effort than blog entries and non-fiction writing. And fiction is my first love, and what I want to return to.
Thanks for all who support my writing efforts, be they blog, or newspaper column, or my self-published efforts. You help inspire me, and help keep me going.
Back to the writing board!
T. M. Strait
Friday, December 1, 2017
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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