tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52951728257887487332024-03-18T22:38:58.558-05:00The Writer Shade of Palean aspiring writer's blogUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger123125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-43520584214398344132012-08-30T14:08:00.000-05:002012-08-30T14:08:27.074-05:00WiK 2012I recently wrote a reminder to myself that said, "It's how many people you help to dance." I meant it metaphorically, of course, since I dance wonderfully only in my dreams. But in that spirit I offer the following information to any wallflower writers/illustrators hovering out there on the fringes of the dance floor. <br />
<br />
It's a conference, "Writing and Illustrating for Kids 2012" or WiK 12 for
short, to be held October 19-20, in Birmingham,
Alabama. It's sponsored by the Southern Breeze Region of the Society
of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), the world’s
largest organization (22,000 members worldwide) for writers and illustrators of children’s books. But you don't have to be a member to
attend the conference.<br />
<br />
In fact, my friends and fellow writers in SCBWI say it is <i>the </i>way to get inspired for success, to "meet editors and agents—and the friendliest, most supportive bunch of creative colleagues you could ever hope to find." Two things that make this conference most attractive: its small size and low cost. Space is limited to around 200 participants, and the cost even for non-members is probably less than a first-rate night on the town with dinner and (real) dancing!<br />
<br />
I'm very excited that I'll not only get to attend the conference (my first), but also participate in the Friday intensive with Donna Jo Napoli. She's the keynote speaker, a linguist, and author of more than 70 children's books. (Read her interview here: <a href="http://writersandwannabes.com/">http://writersandwannabes.com/</a>) The intensive is a day-long, hands-on workshop to hone craft skills such as point of view and voice.<br />
<br />
You might also consider registering for a formal critique. I did--another first--and I nervously anticipate it, especially since the manuscript I'll eventually submit doesn't yet exist.<br />
<br />
Advance registration is required and spaces are limited. Tuition is $125 for SCBWI members, $150 for non-members, or $135 for students. Register by Sept. 10 and receive a $5 discount. The Oct. 19 writer’s intensive is $65 and the formal critique is $40.<br />
<br />
You can find all the details and/or register for the conference at <a href="https://southern-breeze.net/">https://southern-breeze.net/</a><br />
<br />
You might also want to check out the WIK 12 Blog Tour, where many of the guest speakers have been interviewed. Here's the schedule:<b></b><br />
<br />
<b>Aug. 15</b> Sharon Pegram at <a href="http://writersandwannabes.com/?p=139">Writers and Wannabes </a><br />
<b>Aug. 16</b> Sarah Campbell at Alison Hertz’s blog, <a href="http://www.alisonhertz.blogspot.com/2012/08/interview-with-sarah-campbell-author.html">On My Mind</a> <br />
<b>Aug. 17</b> F.T. Bradley at <a href="http://authorlauragolden.com/blog/">Laura Golden’s blog</a> <br />
<b>Aug. 20</b> Chuck Galey at <a href="http://dulemba.blogspot.com/">Elizabeth Dulemba’s blog</a> <br />
<b>Aug. 21</b> Jo Kittinger at Bonnie Herold’s blog, <a href="http://tenacioustelleroftales.blogspot.com/">Tenacious Teller of Tales</a> <br />
<b>Aug. 22 </b> Irene Latham at Robyn Hood Black’s blog, <a href="http://www.robynhoodblack.com/blog.htm">Read, Write, Howl</a> <br />
<b>Aug. 23 </b> Vicky Alvear Shecter at <br />
<b>Aug. 24</b> Doraine Bennett at <a href="http://cathychall.wordpress.com/">Cathy Hall’s blog</a> <br />
<b>Aug. 27 </b> Virginia Butler at Bonnie Herold’s blog, <a href="http://tenacioustelleroftales.blogspot.com/">Tenacious Teller of Tales</a> <br />
<b>Aug. 28 </b> Jodi Wheeler-Toppen at Diane Sherrouse’s blog, <a href="http://www.thereadingroad.com/">The Reading Road</a> <br />
<b>Aug. 29 </b> Ellen Ruffin at Sarah Frances Hardy’s blog, <a href="http://www.sfhardy.blogspot.com/">Picture This</a> <br />
<b>Aug. 30</b> Donna Jo Napoli at <a href="http://writersandwannabes.com/">Writers and Wannabes</a> <br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-47985991489532261772012-07-17T08:21:00.000-05:002012-07-17T08:21:15.160-05:00Smoking Mirrors . . .<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you’ve ever visited the message boards or chat rooms of
nonwriters, you’ve probably noticed the grammatical/orthographical equivalent
of “tin ear.” I offer the following examples Spell Check will never</span><span style="font-size: large;"> find</span><span style="font-size: large;">: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New";"><span>o<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>“We got the game on Paper view.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New";"><span>o<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>“Watching it was torcher.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New";"><span>o<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>“They have a huge steak in this.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New";"><span>o<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span>“It’s truely mind bottling.” [A Mensa cocktail
for sure.]</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Sometimes the error makes as much sense as the correct
original: “a mute point,” “an escape goat.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">I hope it never seizes to amaze you what I come up with on
my blog. Don’t take it for granite. And please don’t think it’s smoking mirrors; I work hard at it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">If it seems snotty to laugh at other
people’s errors, I must plead that it’s my business as writer/editor to correct </span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;">em as I see </span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;">em.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Besides, every third millennium or so, I make a misteak too.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-193928270841784092012-06-30T11:30:00.000-05:002012-06-30T13:59:24.306-05:00Reading Like a Writer<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">If you’re a writer who loves to read, you’ll probably understand
what I mean when I say good books take you along on wild rides. You love the vicarious
experience, don’t you? Especially if, like me, you’ve grown too “dignified” for
rope swings, skates, or skis!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Loving to read so much, I read fast, mostly too fast on the
first pass to read like a writer. But since I’ve been writing regularly, I
notice a lot more in a first pass than I used to.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">A particularly good book might get a second reading, but even
a second reading doesn’t take the place of analysis. I wish it did. I enjoy the
effects a good writer achieves, and pinpointing how he or she achieved it takes away
the mystery… spoils it in the same way that learning how a magician works destroys
the fun of his trick.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">I’m therefore a reluctant analyst. I do it because I have
to learn the craft. It hurts in a weird sort of way.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">I hate, for instance, that <i>Maniac
Magee</i> by Jerry Spinelli wound up like a corpse on my table. I very messily dissected
that book years ago before I knew much about technique. Mostly, I sawed up
the plot, looking for clues. Recently, on a first reading of Spinelli’s <i>Stargirl</i>, I realized without analysis that
she was less successful than <i>Maniac </i>and
so<i> </i>I left her well enough alone.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Except for the first paragraph. Amazing how much good
writers pack into small spaces. In <i>Stargirl</i>,
for example, Spinelli does this (at least) in five sentences: He introduces Nick, the
first person narrator; establishes Nick’s relative age; delivers the “hook”; hints
at his quirky character; gives visual and tactile exposition; delivers brief
backstory; foreshadows the theme.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>When You Reach Me</i> by
Rebecca Stead is another book currently awaiting my knife. I’m amazed at the
intricacy of this one. Every seeming detail is integral. So many threads, so
expertly woven. Although I hate to dispel Stead</span><span style="font-size: large;">’s magic, I need to know how she did it so that maybe someday I can.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">I’m new at this and not very good. If you have favorite ways
of analyzing fiction, I’d love to hear them. What questions do you ask? How do
you proceed? Are </span><span style="font-size: large;">you a writer who feels the push/pull of analysis? </span><span style="font-size: large;">Please leave me a comment or send me an email.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-80660509410409982102012-06-26T15:36:00.001-05:002012-06-26T15:41:47.934-05:00Passing It On<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">I have two favorite memories of my youngest daughter Kate’s
childhood. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">One is of me singing to her as I rocked her. I’m not much of a singer, but it didn’t seem to matter to Kate. “Sing it again,” she’d say
whenever I’d stop. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">The other memory is of Kate, her daddy, and me sitting in the den
after supper, all reading silently. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">These domestic scenes are misleading; Kate was not a
sedentary kind of girl—which is probably why these —rather than other memories
that might include scissors and bedskirts or markers and carpets—linger. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Kate learned to read early, just a few months short of five
years old. She was writing stories before she knew to put space between words. (Seriously.
Written artifacts survive as proof.) Don’t ask me how she managed to learn to
read without noticing the spacing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">At six years old, she could write better sentences than many
college students. I know because I taught two semesters of freshman composition.
(sic) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">She was an early user of metaphor. “You’re pulling my leg,”
she’d say, and then, “That’s just an expression,” in case the other party to
the conversation was a literalist.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">By age seven Kate had taught herself enough HTML code to
build her own website. She visited other people’s sites, copied their code, and tweaked it to get the effect she wanted. She designed and wrote her own newsletter, organized her own
club, put together a neighborhood canned food drive, and donated the food to a
local church’s pantry. All on her own initiative and enthusiasm.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">So you won’t be surprised to learn that Kate now has her own
blog, The Wayfarer Chronicles: <a href="http://mkatehill.wordpress.com/2012/06/26/follow-the-music-wherever-it-may-lead/">http://mkatehill.wordpress.com/2012/06/26/follow-the-music-wherever-it-may-lead/</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">It’s all about reading, writing, music—and travel.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Bon voyage, Kate!</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-447570724529682142012-06-23T13:34:00.000-05:002012-06-23T19:34:28.600-05:00Obliquity<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">If I were to give awards to the celestial phenomena most
like poetry, I would give</span><span style="font-size: large;"> obliquity the gold medal. Obliquity</span><span style="font-size: large;">, </span><span style="font-size: large;">the </span><span style="font-size: large;">angle of Earth</span><span style="font-size: large;">’s</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">tilt
(about 23.4⁰), is responsible for seasonal change. One hemisphere, and then the
other, slants nearer the sun for half the year. <span style="font-size: small;">[Venus, in case you
wondered, orbits with its north pole down; Uranus, north pole sideways. See </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">“</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Obliquity,</span></span><span style="font-size: small;">”</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Wikipedia.]</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">This is mysterious to me, why a seeming celestial anomaly—earth’s <i>tilt</i>—should
give rise to seasonal regularity. It’s one of those counter-intuitive things
that, to my mind at least, belongs in the same category as why babies are
soothed by jostling, jiggling, and white noise. What? Junior is screaming? No
problem! Just turn on the vacuum cleaner and toss him around a bit. Works every
time!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">But I digress.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Since midsummer has just passed, you can perhaps see why I would be thinking about obliquity. We in the northern hemisphere have begun the turn that culminates at the
winter solstice in December. It</span><span style="font-size: large;">’s a</span><span style="font-size: large;"> good time to pause and assess.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">How am I doing
with those goals I set in January? Have I met any of them? Do I need to
make a course correction? Should I modify or eliminate some
goals due to changing circumstances? I thought I’d share part of my assessment
with you.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">The good news is that I met one annual goal in February, and that
was to find a market for my “Change Ringing” article. The bad news is that I’ve
fallen short on almost every other goal I set for myself. Daily and weekly word
counts went out the window in February, about the same time I signed the
contract with <i>The Old Schoolhouse</i>
magazine. I had only a few days’ notice to edit and submit the article I had already
drafted, thank goodness, in the event my query letter hit home. After that, my disciplined routine gave way to a little celebration and maybe just a little smugness. In other
words, I got distracted. What I learned is not what you’d expect to learn from
success: it can become an obstacle if you let it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Another goal I set for myself was to disallow all excuses for not
writing. This is the Just-Do-It philosophy, to which I no longer subscribe. I’ve
since allowed for the obvious difference between an excuse and a valid reason. Sometimes
health, personal problems, family, church, or employment make legitimate claims on my
time, state of mind, and energy level. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">I don’t have a prescription for eliminating
such interruptions. I only know that I can’t allow them to become extended or permanent
disruptions. I do the best I can. If that is a lame, halting pace, so be it. I
go on. Besides, such interruptions <i>are</i>
<i>my</i> <i>life</i>, my personal obliquity. And it is probable that collectively they comprise some
inscrutable effect that makes my work unique and my voice
distinct. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">One thing that wasn’t on my goal-setting list for the year was coming
up with a mission statement, which, due to serendipity, I did anyway. It’s taken
almost word-for-word from an article by Aaron D. Wolf celebrating the Christian
influences of J. R. R. Tolkien (<a href="http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/2011/09/02/man-of-middangeard/">http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/2011/09/02/man-of-middangeard/</a>):
“To inspire someone to see the real, enchanted world behind the sterile,
imagined one of modernity.” I printed it out and put it on my desk as a reminder.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">The world truly is enchanted. It isn’t black and
white. It isn’t the way you’d expect it to be. True, we live in a world of cause and
effect, but every cause has unintended, and unforeseeable, consequences, and every
effect is but another cause. This demands humility. We are not in control. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">I find this to be cause for great celebration. We are not in
control! To move the world, we have no celestial body near enough to stand upon
and no lever long enough to reach. Christ Himself, as a good friend has to remind me
regularly, has already sifted the results of all possible world-changing combinations, and
the only numbers that come up are the ones He allows.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">Despite the human tendency to see time as linear, we live in a
cyclical world. Despite appearances to the contrary, human paths don</span></span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">t stretch out in a straight line to infinity. We have, instead, finite, but regularly recurring chances</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">—</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">as well as the responsiblity</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">—</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">to
start over. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">To repent, to change our minds, and to begin again. I need that—desperately. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thank God for obliquity.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>If you came this way,<br />
Taking any route, starting from anywhere,<br />
At any time or at any season,<br />
It would always be the same: you would have to put off<br />
Sense and notion. You are not here to verify,<br />
Instruct yourself, or inform curiosity<br />
Or carry report. You are here to kneel . . . .</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> . . . We shall not cease from
exploration
</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i> And the end of all our
exploring<br />
Will be to arrive where we
started<br />
And know the place for the
first time. </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">(from “Little Gidding,” by T. S. Eliot)</span></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-36734476527405687912012-06-20T17:14:00.000-05:002012-06-20T17:14:09.266-05:00What a Great Surprise!<span style="font-size: large;">I've just been contacted by SCBWI that <i>The Old Schoolhouse</i> magazine, publisher of my first article for the children's market, has been approved and added to the SCBWI Market Surveys List. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This means that I qualify for P.A.L membership--published and listed--a small step up from Associate membership. Whoo hoo! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-20069442463428548142012-06-15T17:43:00.000-05:002012-06-15T18:14:01.657-05:00Slog On<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I usually allow a 15 to 20 minute writing slot just before I
go to bed. This is the time I write about writing. Sometimes I assess
the progress of my current project, or complain about how tough some
aspect of writing is (usually plot), or make excuses for not writing more,
better, or more often. But sometimes, like last night, I admit to myself I'm
afraid of failing. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I’ve recently begun a new project, the first three chapters
of a first novel, and chapter one is done. It’s a decent start if I do say so.
My fear was that I’d be unable to advance the plot beyond chapter one. I’ve been here before, you see. It’s the recurring
nightmare of my writer’s psyche.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I don’t know why my ego is so invested in writing successfully
except that it is one of maybe two talents I’ve been given. I do these two things better than I do most
anything else, however well or ill other people might do them. These are fun things I do that don't require company. Lately,
however, writing has been anything but fun.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">So, having admitted my fear, this morning I whispered a prayer and started in
on chapter two. In no time I had introduced a new character, setting, and dropped in a little
backstory. (Hands-in-the-air hallelujahs—and hold on while I escort the proverbial
monkey to the door!) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Now, I’d like to go back and clarify what I said about
writing being fun. Sometimes it's fun and sometimes it isn't. And that's probably to be expected, no matter what type of creator you are. I’ve decided that I’m an Interpreter, one of several
designations Carol Lloyd assigns to creative people in <i>Creating a Life Worth Living. </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Lloyd asserts that although each creative type (Leader,
Teacher, Realizer, Healer, Interpreter, Generator, Inventor, Maker, Mystic,
Thinker) is capable “of working through all stages of creativity, most people
prefer a certain moment in the creative process.” <span style="font-size: small;">(p.65)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">An Interpreter, according to Lloyd, is someone who prefers the
final stages of creative production.
Interpreters supposedly make good editors.This squares with my experience. Once I get a
project near to completion and can see how my tweaks or major revisions create a
believable alternate reality—now that’s Art! And for me it’s
the fun part! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: large;">The downside is that Interpreters may have to slog through
the beginning stages of a project. This also squares with my experience. I sure hope it gets easier with practice. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Whichever type of creator you are, you are likely to find that part of the process will be difficult (if not drudgery) and part will be fun. That's the bad news. I understand and sympathize.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: large;">The good news is that some of your fear of failure may be the result of being stuck in the slog-through parts; if you keep at it, sooner or later you'll be having fun again.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: large;">So slog on!</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-79669912685409361722012-06-07T09:36:00.000-05:002012-06-07T09:36:23.750-05:00How Not to Write<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnty82vhh8s9l8riNL2OvZmMy5V54a3bCArXpAOjeETA_PTIVa3L4aXxGMJf1xlVJTTYk2VRqhM0mL9m1Q6Q_b3IMpJFJh1Vh3nFcKlJWvEURjZzda7WOgtw339fqKnbLb3dDljjWN-f0/s1600/279470311_dc5efa1117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnty82vhh8s9l8riNL2OvZmMy5V54a3bCArXpAOjeETA_PTIVa3L4aXxGMJf1xlVJTTYk2VRqhM0mL9m1Q6Q_b3IMpJFJh1Vh3nFcKlJWvEURjZzda7WOgtw339fqKnbLb3dDljjWN-f0/s320/279470311_dc5efa1117.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three-Toed Sloth</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Maybe you noticed my absence from Blogworld recently. If so,
I’d like to say it was because I got really inspired, holed up in front of a
keyboard for two weeks, and hammered out three chapters of a novel (which also happens
to be my final ICL assignment).</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I’d like to say that.<span> </span>I’d also like to say that on a recent business
trip to Florida, I stumbled upon the legendary Fountain of Youth, the waters of
which not only restored the body of my twenties, but also removed my deficit of
wisdom.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I’d like to say that. But you know it ain’t so.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Truth is I have more excuses than a D.C. politician why I
haven’t blogged, but at least I’m not blaming it on a former president. Truth
is I’m as stuck as a burr on Velcro. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">That final ICL assignment? The months<span> </span>of planning and prewriting, of interviewing characters and agonizing over plot points? Except for the lesson, “How Not to Write,” it was all wasted,
like trying to circumnavigate a city by following only the dead-end streets. I
kept telling myself it would work out. Here’s a great quiz question: which is
easier to fool? a) yourself; b) a three-toed sloth? If you said “b,” I have
some miracle water I’d like to sell you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">From now on I think I’ll recognize a story vehicle that just
isn’t going anywhere. No use tinkering around under the hood trying to get it started when it’s wheel-less and perched on blocks.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’m starting over. Without miracle water, I’m afraid.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Photo Credit: http://flic.kr/p/qGmMD</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-48034009625298274372012-05-15T20:05:00.000-05:002012-05-15T20:05:19.808-05:00Smile, You're on Panoramic Camera!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">When I was a child, the most fun thing to me—but also the scariest—was
a skeleton. I was obsessed by the knowledge that a person had that strange structure
underneath it all, that a smiling face hid a death grimace. It was, I admit, a
morbid fascination; death called early in my life and left its mark on my
family. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It made me dream of becoming a doctor. I learned the names of all the major bones and I pored over the illustrations
and overlays in the “H" (for human body) volume of our red leather set of World
Books.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">My Halloween costume of choice was, of course, a skeleton. It
consisted of a black nylon jumpsuit-sort-of-thing with the tibias and fibulas,
the sacrum and the clavicles rendered in glittery, glow-in-the-dark paint. The
mask was a skull with a spider crawling out of the nose hole.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidFzkL07gyoQCGBkfEXHsh6lXQ1Rl0n0nvvPRk8zETNhAUPQ_UqxVtC02OYXtHdHUQWdOPSLE63XlqiKeNeo8oOr0GGg0LUZqLKIvKd1TTqNdzERRoZnnvvH4AGGvXqgCJkKbIiUBh_0A/s1600/3272291149_c40b2325fe_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidFzkL07gyoQCGBkfEXHsh6lXQ1Rl0n0nvvPRk8zETNhAUPQ_UqxVtC02OYXtHdHUQWdOPSLE63XlqiKeNeo8oOr0GGg0LUZqLKIvKd1TTqNdzERRoZnnvvH4AGGvXqgCJkKbIiUBh_0A/s400/3272291149_c40b2325fe_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://flic.kr/p/5Zam9V</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">On our black-and-white Zenith, I happened to see </span><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Jason
and the Argonauts</i></span><span style="font-size: large;"> do battle with an army of skeletons. Now THAT was scary! How exactly do you kill skeletons?
You can thrust swords and spears right through them and they’ll just rattle on;
they’ll keep on coming!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">All of this came back to me when I went to the dentist last
week. I had the panoramic x-ray, the one where you stand still and the camera travels around your head, scanning as it goes. Here were new and accurate pictures
of my own leering skull. It’s not fun or scary anymore, but weird it is. Still. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It's strange to me that humans are able to stand because the architecture of death—the
<i>memento mori</i>—lies within us. And that
“Remember, you will die!” message jangles like a jawbone all through world art—visual
and literary—and perhaps through all the accomplishments of science and
technology.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Pop culture, saturated as it is these days with vampires and zombies, complicates the message some. Whether we should fear the undead or love them is apparently the question pop culture wants answered.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Might not o</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ur morbid fascination be the collective unconscious's guilty verdict on a society that vacuums babies from
the womb while it pleads mercy for Satanic criminals? </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Do we, at some level, individually and/or
collectively, identify with the undead? Are we afraid that we <i>will </i>die or that we already have? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Or are we the weaponless ones in a
battle with an army of skeletons?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Or . . . is this, like my dreams of being a doctor, just a childish, passing phase?</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-50963653799028341672012-05-08T09:42:00.002-05:002012-05-08T09:45:10.993-05:00The Way to Wait<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Waiting is perhaps the finest of the fine arts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">To wait
without appearing to wait—without wearing your impatience on your sleeve—that
is perhaps the truest test of creativity, of grace, and of faith.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgruyI5tigP5MXyK-wNn5UPgeEFQbs5bMy8iFVnh6M6UmjrKGj8dV9GrQFo3TEykSu36IrfLWhGsh86kjjCFec-8BpyiwuJ9DQzeiVshKa7WdxGhAIuUj9R0ytK_q4vbXWVOqHH9sQ-MWI/s1600/Lilies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgruyI5tigP5MXyK-wNn5UPgeEFQbs5bMy8iFVnh6M6UmjrKGj8dV9GrQFo3TEykSu36IrfLWhGsh86kjjCFec-8BpyiwuJ9DQzeiVshKa7WdxGhAIuUj9R0ytK_q4vbXWVOqHH9sQ-MWI/s400/Lilies.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Calm
acceptance of delayed gratification, said to be the measure of maturity, is
achieved only by those who have given up on achieving anything. They can
stand to wait because they know their moment isn</span><span style="font-size: large;">’t </span><span style="font-size: large;">coming. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Everyone
else is hopping impatient on the inside, whatever they are like on the outside.
Ambition, desire</span><span style="font-size: large;">—</span><span style="font-size: large;">this is bad company for patience. It chafes and burns and torments.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Aging means we must wait less and less. Christmas comes around
more than once a year. And what month <i>IS</i>
this anyway? Last time I checked was a week ago, and I’ve flipped two calendar
pages since then. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And yet, aging means we must wait <i>more </i>as well, because almost everyone is younger and therefore in the kind of hurry that inevitably creates delay.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Age can be a crowbar. If we want, we can use it to pry into
checkout lines and leave everyone gaping at our arrogant impatience. Not
recommended. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Age is also an</span><span style="font-size: large;"> excuse to slow down. To <i>take </i>time</span><span style="font-size: large;">. Not as thief, but as connoisseur</span><span style="font-size: large;">. To savor and consider.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Waiting for
a novel to take shape is like waiting on the mountaintop for stone tablets. Believe it: </span><span style="font-size: large;">more are coming. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Age protectively forgets the number that crumbled on the way down the slope. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTxf2AZC2BQoMCaZ8wLzgQDQ-_S9ZzL4elMIfiEdWb5cLN25OD4xPPkbEXwI-06AaGJxC5ORprbiyKMzC4mcV0aeKihh7-HxZHepr-qh4S194jDvxiNF6IgCcgykhqgjTYPsALTYPGU5o/s1600/5718958130_5d24ff9a2b_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTxf2AZC2BQoMCaZ8wLzgQDQ-_S9ZzL4elMIfiEdWb5cLN25OD4xPPkbEXwI-06AaGJxC5ORprbiyKMzC4mcV0aeKihh7-HxZHepr-qh4S194jDvxiNF6IgCcgykhqgjTYPsALTYPGU5o/s640/5718958130_5d24ff9a2b_z.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://flic.kr/p/9Hna1o</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The way to wait has more to do with faith than youth can imagine.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-38459072257404890182012-04-30T07:32:00.000-05:002012-07-26T21:13:05.465-05:00Z is for . . .<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Zodiac: the twelve astrological constellations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">The one that the sun travels through in the month of a child's birth supposedly determines his or her personal characteristics and fate. The constellation Libra, which "rules" a child born in October, is not visible in the sky until April, six months later. Likewise, for all other signs of the zodiac. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">In Genesis God says to Abram, "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> if thou be able to number them</span><span style="font-size: x-large;">." Some argue that Abram and some ancient people had astrological knowledge that has since been lost.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">I believe that's possible. I also believe there's something to "astrology" but not as it's currently practiced in the horoscope columns. One reason is that the designation of the signs of the zodiac are completely arbitrary. If you don't believe me, go outside on a clear night, look up, and see if you can find Gemini's Twins or Sagittarius the Archer! Maybe you can with a diagram. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">The "Mayan" prediction of impending doom on December 21, 2012, is based on New Age astrological speculation.</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Even if the science is a stretch, astrology might make an interesting element in a fantasy or sci-fi novel. Do you know of fiction that involves astrology?</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCMB0FP2oT7f0CgXQu7SjU4jcTQZkx8afppcg0pW3z8o9So36esQL6Q-rTNctd_b-MRt1si47PgtKbLI0i0oOAyC9hQQFZurz3RaE3hyD2kNcgMfnGAlEcshFvBQWAM_H8xuU72ezlKmU/s1600/6351187361_b0abcef131_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCMB0FP2oT7f0CgXQu7SjU4jcTQZkx8afppcg0pW3z8o9So36esQL6Q-rTNctd_b-MRt1si47PgtKbLI0i0oOAyC9hQQFZurz3RaE3hyD2kNcgMfnGAlEcshFvBQWAM_H8xuU72ezlKmU/s400/6351187361_b0abcef131_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://flic.kr/p/aFeuJn</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">P.S. The A-Z Challenge is now history. It's been fun! Thanks everyone for your posts and visits and comments. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Zo long!</span></div>
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-54871057598607561412012-04-28T06:41:00.000-05:002012-04-28T06:41:45.504-05:00Y is for . . .<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipoYtHA-lPTjowEbDsb_YTNcQo8bVJEsQnPmQ4pY9HIX5u0x5cgJmfhZJ1UoRAbeWIuctmXvgshWNNTNezqfHZfDHbCsp-vlhNL8_y-WLRsNsdXBjS3uUOdaw8tZvIUGaQcSxiMXLatGI/s1600/2157610777_92c8270aed_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipoYtHA-lPTjowEbDsb_YTNcQo8bVJEsQnPmQ4pY9HIX5u0x5cgJmfhZJ1UoRAbeWIuctmXvgshWNNTNezqfHZfDHbCsp-vlhNL8_y-WLRsNsdXBjS3uUOdaw8tZvIUGaQcSxiMXLatGI/s320/2157610777_92c8270aed_o.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://flic.kr/p/4hEjvP</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Yawn. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Sorry y’all. This has been a
long challenge.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/yawn">yawn – (n.) An involuntary intake of breath through a wide open mouth; usually triggered by fatigue or boredom.</a></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Fatigue or boredom . . . . Or both. Yes? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">But we’re almost to the finish line. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Yay!</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-1084530515165505162012-04-27T07:30:00.000-05:002012-04-27T07:32:12.552-05:00X is for . . .<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.xacto.com/products/cutting-solutions/knives.aspx">X-Acto<sub>®</sub> knife</a>.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpWkxR7uqoMslr14DWlCZfepnx6XX2nIXonEMZzoudeceS6LK-6d0ueVC7DVxF0LJyfFZeHgE9LuI4o-WmU8GWH5LHRaUWSvDE_SmmD7qh-hQfN1VH0ggVdk0WzPw-D7IYP76bmtPX4cM/s1600/234603096_ea4fc4f9aa_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpWkxR7uqoMslr14DWlCZfepnx6XX2nIXonEMZzoudeceS6LK-6d0ueVC7DVxF0LJyfFZeHgE9LuI4o-WmU8GWH5LHRaUWSvDE_SmmD7qh-hQfN1VH0ggVdk0WzPw-D7IYP76bmtPX4cM/s200/234603096_ea4fc4f9aa_z.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://flic.kr/p/mJpjY</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">Before computer layout software, this was one tool graphic artists couldn</span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;">t do
without. It's probably safe to say that very few art students back then graduated without slicing into a finger or other misplaced body
part with an X-Acto. I did. Graduate, I mean. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It</span><span style="font-size: large;">’s been</span><span style="font-size: large;"> said</span><span style="font-size: large;"> that art is at least as much </span><span style="font-size: large;">about learning to see as learning to draw or paint or sculpt. </span><span style="font-size: large;">It</span><span style="font-size: large;">’s true of language arts also, because you can</span><span style="font-size: large;">’t write about something you don</span><span style="font-size: large;">’t perceive. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">How to sharpen perception? If only there were an </span><span style="font-size: large;">X-Acto<sub>®</sub> tool for that.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-19725720700305101152012-04-26T07:34:00.001-05:002012-04-26T11:12:49.879-05:00W is for . . .<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Words.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3qp3mtzWA_xa9dI_vPu6wEWYt41DME8CBV2vgrhKQKqjwQG1iH4xMtQbiXKVIApPqm_bnogongys_GoE1WFiHBt-QbcdT-rK5rGqstKYPpljJBK7d4UjvCk0tHGKUxNOr-AoKwVPvyJ4/s1600/5186096932_29342651e7_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="391" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3qp3mtzWA_xa9dI_vPu6wEWYt41DME8CBV2vgrhKQKqjwQG1iH4xMtQbiXKVIApPqm_bnogongys_GoE1WFiHBt-QbcdT-rK5rGqstKYPpljJBK7d4UjvCk0tHGKUxNOr-AoKwVPvyJ4/s400/5186096932_29342651e7_z.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://flic.kr/p/8Uh6Wm</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you really get into words, you might like free subscriptions to
the following: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Wordsmith’s <b><a href="http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscribe.html">A.Word.A.Day</a>. </b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Michael Quinion’s weekly ezine, <b><a href="http://www.worldwidewords.org/">World
Wide Words</a></b>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Or you might enjoy <b><a href="http://dynamo.dictionary.com/">Word Dynamo</a></b> games and quizzes. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Here</span><span style="font-size: large;">’s one guaranteed to increase your vocab: <b><a href="https://www.msu.edu/%7Edefores1/gre/roots/gre_rts_afx1.htm">Greek and Latin Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes</a>.</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Devote yourself to words and your command of language will grow like a tree planted by rivers of waters. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Don</span><span style="font-size: large;">’t forget, </span><span style="font-size: large;"> however,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> that words can wound, warp, waste, or wither. </span><span style="font-size: large;">May</span><span style="font-size: large;"> the words you speak always be in blessing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Do you have a favorite word-related site or subscription?</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-68691565587732852542012-04-25T06:00:00.000-05:002012-04-25T07:13:49.671-05:00V is for . . .<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Vacation.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh22CZwN0djENl0zsEsy8LN-W3A9ehBCWsqfFBWYHQSks0ybGrKcJtiM_Lby9kwE06wS4vXAJDEblVLGDzS_KVhNGJCNiWDscfAToYVfdg4q5ehyPjSFU_9S0I3ZkflkCyJkU3TJb075V4/s1600/3492575031_c993789212_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh22CZwN0djENl0zsEsy8LN-W3A9ehBCWsqfFBWYHQSks0ybGrKcJtiM_Lby9kwE06wS4vXAJDEblVLGDzS_KVhNGJCNiWDscfAToYVfdg4q5ehyPjSFU_9S0I3ZkflkCyJkU3TJb075V4/s400/3492575031_c993789212_z.jpg" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://flic.kr/p/aFeuJn</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">We<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">’ll be </span></span><span style="font-size: x-large;">taking a short one soon. It</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">’</span></span><span style="font-size: x-large;">s been so long we <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">couldn</span></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">’</span></span><span style="font-size: x-large;">t decide where to go. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi79LGESjOJ-8TpMTGCWXC7FQgf2yk7mjSe5WH1lTXh8gicE1-cA4DIaE1lkwOQqWqm62I4uGJZebbuimOCsxMEYJn-ZXGOsLXQV9wlf1FcmwvZdpDukkEC9Qc7q-84A9Taefn0tiW8mcA/s1600/6826489485_0e551dcf31_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi79LGESjOJ-8TpMTGCWXC7FQgf2yk7mjSe5WH1lTXh8gicE1-cA4DIaE1lkwOQqWqm62I4uGJZebbuimOCsxMEYJn-ZXGOsLXQV9wlf1FcmwvZdpDukkEC9Qc7q-84A9Taefn0tiW8mcA/s400/6826489485_0e551dcf31_z.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://flic.kr/p/bpexuz</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">It</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">’s been so long we won</span></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">’t remember what to do with ourselves.</span></span><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM_Q9rkbTzuJJD8oCGCGjeFEnudhcW8CVgWVbi1E19rbEJMusrmHMklX4mKgqnbH_DJiDWYBtpMCrJuIlAijbCVHZjhULBrYZZHNnnv6fnkM4NZpoVcbEbglBtzEcE0Ct7emcJqsHO3fo/s1600/4858805798_65cc99ab8d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM_Q9rkbTzuJJD8oCGCGjeFEnudhcW8CVgWVbi1E19rbEJMusrmHMklX4mKgqnbH_DJiDWYBtpMCrJuIlAijbCVHZjhULBrYZZHNnnv6fnkM4NZpoVcbEbglBtzEcE0Ct7emcJqsHO3fo/s400/4858805798_65cc99ab8d.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://flic.kr/p/8pmDFL</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Ya think maybe it</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">’</span></span><span style="font-size: x-large;">ll come back to us?</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-64979353942041334472012-04-24T07:38:00.001-05:002012-04-24T07:38:48.707-05:00U is for . . .<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Uncanny.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdgSEvcHOk2M1rMIB6YOy9527l-5vtVGidHblJdoQi0IaLLcSZnsKlnC8QeQvVHfEfAQFYwnRQF6dXZUU0iJxxUJvCqqpfVOXynQhzYVD27QxEpnbAg7lLKxSOurNNbiMoGMGy_GW2F4g/s1600/175662840_54fa81df17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdgSEvcHOk2M1rMIB6YOy9527l-5vtVGidHblJdoQi0IaLLcSZnsKlnC8QeQvVHfEfAQFYwnRQF6dXZUU0iJxxUJvCqqpfVOXynQhzYVD27QxEpnbAg7lLKxSOurNNbiMoGMGy_GW2F4g/s400/175662840_54fa81df17.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://flic.kr/p/gwjrE</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Uncanny
(or <i>Das Unheimlich</i> in German),
according to Freud, is “that class of the frightening which leads back to what
is known of old and long familiar.” </span><span style="font-size: large;">It</span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;">s a
complicated psychological concept, but let</span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;">s oversimplify. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It</span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;">s a peculiar category of horror: the strangely familiar or the familiarly strange. </span><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">If, let</span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;">s say, your chauffeur dies, the next day he rings your doorbell, and you open the
door to find him there, smiling—that would be uncanny. Similarly, if something about your new lover compels your belief that you’ve somehow
known her before, but you have no conscious memory of her, that too would be
uncanny.</span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">You can probably
think of dozens of novels and movies that deal with the uncanny. <i>Burnt Offerings</i> with Karen Black & Bette Davis, the Hitchcock classic <i>Vertigo, </i>and virtually anything directed by Ingmar Bergman are good examples. Zombies and
vampires are uncanny manifestations. So are dolls or toy clowns that
come to life. And the man with no features . . . who follows you everywhere . . . .</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzl0noKD2XAZ5V6ONOgIouWnO_Gn2foZgmxIMu5P49SBIogFOPPAyEgWbKFS-LkQH9U0HKFinkD6_F8IHpMbenp1NoPlPgstgzqb9S3Zk2ZEBbi6CXeSVylt0d8gJXYd7O-pskOWl2FcA/s1600/4797752733_65c4870ff8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzl0noKD2XAZ5V6ONOgIouWnO_Gn2foZgmxIMu5P49SBIogFOPPAyEgWbKFS-LkQH9U0HKFinkD6_F8IHpMbenp1NoPlPgstgzqb9S3Zk2ZEBbi6CXeSVylt0d8gJXYd7O-pskOWl2FcA/s400/4797752733_65c4870ff8.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://flic.kr/p/8iXJJH</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I had an uncanny experience when I was in college. It didn</span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;">t involve zombies or evil dolls, but for a few minutes I thought I'd stepped into the middle of <i>The Twilight Zone.</i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Showing up at what I thought
was the appointed time and place for my mythology final, I took a seat and looked
around. I didn't recognize any of the students there. So I re-checked the exam
schedule, which seemed to confirm that I was in the right place at the right time. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Not convinced, I asked the boy in the seat in front of me what exam he was
there to take. When he said Econ, I panicked. “Are you sure?” </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">He was sure. And I was creeped out. What was happening? Was I going crazy? The schedule must have changed .
. . but why was I the only one who didn’t know about it? </span><span style="font-size: large;">I rose to
leave, unsure of where to go or what to do.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">On my
way out, I had to climb three steps from the auditorium to the hallway. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Wait a minute!</i> I’d never noticed those steps before. And that’s
when I figured it out. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">For mythology
class I’d always entered the building at the front on the ground floor and gone
to the auditorium on the right end of the building. On the morning of the exam, I’d parked behind the building, entered on the ground floor at the back, and gone left to
the auditorium.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>But</i> . . .
the ground floor in the back of the building was the basement! The auditorium I’d taken my seat in was directly beneath the auditorium where my exam was scheduled
to take place</span><span style="font-size: large;">—</span><span style="font-size: large;">was, in fact, taking place. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I ran upstairs to an auditorium that looked exactly like the one downstairs. Except for the three steps to the hallway.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4yCrVO-qWMSvmSyIzqXwamnLHx2fZIlZAGqoA7kH1TRT4ynUfPOyXQPGikOudoq5D7sspMWnBQu8Q58WEMMfhBbygqIwCIf1MuCP5TBfKwkR_ADpDBFC9_k11Rq0ePltVSvF2Xq832vs/s1600/95679827_9f0b57271b_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4yCrVO-qWMSvmSyIzqXwamnLHx2fZIlZAGqoA7kH1TRT4ynUfPOyXQPGikOudoq5D7sspMWnBQu8Q58WEMMfhBbygqIwCIf1MuCP5TBfKwkR_ADpDBFC9_k11Rq0ePltVSvF2Xq832vs/s400/95679827_9f0b57271b_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://flic.kr/p/9sohc</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And the little gold numbers above the doors, which I</span><span style="font-size: large;">’d</span><span style="font-size: large;"> paid no attention to because I already *knew* I was in the right place. It was a case of the familiarly strange.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">How
about you? Have you had an uncanny experience? Have you written or do you intend
to write a story or novel that deals with the uncanny?</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-20425043804184517352012-04-22T22:34:00.002-05:002012-04-22T23:26:47.205-05:00T is for . . .<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Tagged.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Thanks, <a href="http://faithehough.blogspot.com/">Faith</a>, who tagged me for the Lucky Seven Meme and put me</span><span style="font-size: large;"> in the company of some fine, accomplished writers.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I</span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;">m supposed to <span id="internal-source-marker_0.8407261760439724"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">share seven lines or paragraphs from the seventh line on page seventy of my novel. Trouble is, I don</span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8407261760439724"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">t have a page seventy of my novel. I don</span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8407261760439724"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">t even have a page seven yet! But I need all the feedback I can get so . . .</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I hope seven paragraphs from my middle-grade short story will be okay. It doesn</span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;">t have a page seven either, so how about if I start in the middle of page three?</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">—</span><span style="font-size: large;">That</span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;">s half of seven. [*Hey, as long as I</span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;">m <strike>cheating</strike> changing the rules, I may as well make major changes, right? Mind if I go along with you for tattoos, Faith?]</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Vikki gave me a hand up and volunteered to walk the two
blocks home with me. “Good girls,” Mrs. Prebble said, patting each of us on the shoulder and walking away. </span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> She'd rounded the corner when I realized what I had to do. </span><span style="font-size: large;">"I'll be right back, Vikki."</span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">"Mrs. Prebble, </span><span style="font-size: large;">wait!” I shouted.</span> <span style="font-size: large;">Lumbering
after her, I actually jingled! <i>Jing-a-ling-a-ling.</i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<span style="font-size: large;"> She was already at her desk stapling papers. I slung my backpack to the
floor. “I almost forgot,” I said, out of breath, opening my pack.
“I was taking up donations like you asked me to right before the fire drill … and
I was in a hurry to go outside—” I pulled out the box, “—so I shoved this in here.”
A bead of sweat rolled down my temple. “And then I sort of forgot about it . .
. until now.” </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Somehow, the box seemed
lighter than it did on my back. I held it out to her, reverently, as if
it were a gift from the magi or something. She took it, tilted her head
slightly. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> I made a dash for the door, but she called my name and I had to turn back. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> Still
holding the box, she fixed me in her gaze. I shifted
from foot to foot. I gulped. <i>She knows.</i>
Taking a deep
breath, I prepared for the worst.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Now, I</span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;">m supposed to tag seven bloggers, but I</span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;">m only going to tag six. See above.* And they are (Envelope, please):</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://lesliesullirose.blogspot.com/">Leslie S. Rose</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://margoberendsen.blogspot.com/">Margo Berendsen</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://ilimawrites.blogspot.com/">Ilima K. Todd</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.heatherspiva.com/p/about-me.html">Heather Spiva </a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://werelivingafulllife.blogspot.com/">Jennifer Forbes </a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://patriciastoltey.blogspot.com/">Patricia Stoltey</a> </span><br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope you</span></span><span style="font-size: large;">’ll all share your talents with us, but if you can</span><span style="font-size: large;">’t, for whatever reason, that</span><span style="font-size: large;">’s okay.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Here are the rules:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">1. Go to page 77 of your manuscript.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span>2. Go down 7 lines.</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Post the next 7 lines, sentences, or paragraphs on your blog.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span>4. Tag 7 new writers.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">T</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">hat</span></span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">s it!</span></span><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWfskViHt5NH-sjB463t-BIpBdJSFxve5-GMcyFZmQWUEt_7VXsHFS8j3_LqfYBLJNvTr48O1ZSXilzfMjdv2ZH5Ed3qwUg50TKNESjD81LKcDlYap2V7586D0Df49kQtBA9WfTj4FmSI/s1600/2919535724_808362c55b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWfskViHt5NH-sjB463t-BIpBdJSFxve5-GMcyFZmQWUEt_7VXsHFS8j3_LqfYBLJNvTr48O1ZSXilzfMjdv2ZH5Ed3qwUg50TKNESjD81LKcDlYap2V7586D0Df49kQtBA9WfTj4FmSI/s320/2919535724_808362c55b.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://flic.kr/p/5rZofQ</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Except...</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Before I was tagged, T was to be for . . .</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Tree and True.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Turns out they’re related. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Quoting from <a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/true">thefreedictionary.com</a>,
“the words true and tree are joined at the root, etymologically speaking.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Read the full reference yourself if you’re so inclined. If not,
here’s the short version. Both words derive from the Indo-European root, “deru-”
or “dreu-,” having to do with wood or firmness. Both are also related to a
third form of the same root, “dru-,” as in Druid, the Celtic priest of the oak
grove.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /><span style="font-size: large;">Then there</span><span style="font-size: large;">’s that further </span><span style="font-size: large;">conne<span style="font-size: x-large;">x</span>ion. The Man who died on the Tree said, </span><span style="font-size: large;">“I am the way, the truth, and the life.</span><span style="font-size: large;">”</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-24452534763116149822012-04-20T22:49:00.001-05:002012-04-20T22:49:23.776-05:00S is for . . .<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Silence.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I live
with the noisiest man on the planet. He’s never met a volume control he didn’t
like. He plays his Les Paul or Strat in the garage, all amped up. That doesn’t
bother me much because he’s a great guitarist. But when the plates in the
kitchen cabinets start bouncing to the thump of his buddies’ drums and bass
guitar—that’s where I draw the line. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I stumble
into the garage, flick the light switch off and on, and make the “cut throat”
sign. </span><span style="font-size: large;">I flash a Cheshire cat smile. Now that</span><span style="font-size: large;">’s</span><span style="font-size: large;"> tact. Nothing, not even banging on the wall with a meat mallet or setting off the
burglar alarm, works as well. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Flipping
the breaker would be ideal—except that the electrical box is in the garage.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The man
has radios and assorted noisemakers throughout the house, and as he goes from
room to room, he turns one of them on. He never turns one of them off, mind
you, when he leaves a room.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And the
maddening thing is, since I’m now an expert at tuning out, it takes me some
time to realize my house is a jumble of noise. It’s only after I’ve read the
same sentence 15 times without making sense of it, or when I omit nothing from the chocolate cupcakes</span><span style="font-size: large;">—</span><span style="font-size: large;">except, of course, the chocolate</span><span style="font-size: large;"> . . . . That’s when I calmly, yet assertively suggest that
he <i>“Turn It Down. Please!”</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Now, don’t
get me wrong. This is not an idle gripe. S is also for sweet, which to me is
one of the most important ingredients in that weird concoction called man. The man himself can cook, and he laughs when I whistle. He’s my biggest (6 ft. 5;
240 lb.) fan. He coined the perfect nicknames for our daughters: Paddington,
Bobo, and Squonk. He</span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;">s also the world</span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;">s largest repository of whale and elephant
jokes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">He’s
sweet. Who wouldn’t love a man like that? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I could
continue, but since this post is supposed to be about silence and I haven’t
gotten to it yet, I’ll just say how grateful I am when it happens. When the man leaves the house, the silence is as refreshing as a juicy slice of watermelon on the
Fourth of July. After I’ve danced around stirring up silence (and dust) in all
the rooms, I run to my desk and let it all fall back down around me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I write! I
read what I’ve written—out loud—and I write some more. <i>It’s so much fun.</i> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">After a while</span><span style="font-size: large;"> I might even turn on Pandora</span><span style="font-size: large;">—</span><span style="font-size: large;">on low volume, of course. I read somewhere
that Baroque music was great to get into the state called flow. It works for
me. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Besides, by that time he</span><span style="font-size: large;">’s usually pulling into the driveway.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Do you
write best in silence? To music? Or does it matter?</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-27025691098647513652012-04-20T08:32:00.002-05:002012-04-20T08:32:41.891-05:00R is for . . .<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Rwanda</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhixi0tKxZwYg_MXgza5_x6rW9HPhtnfyrs4WPSumjZv-9NtrJ0p8T5wjw3rTnYJEX8TeRa_DLZPRnV4Mu3gr6q_CtfHww91k-Fn5hJmNSh51bocSggWOLcxySnr9MZWKySsMjaGt38SZQ/s1600/2490697157_001fb89962_m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhixi0tKxZwYg_MXgza5_x6rW9HPhtnfyrs4WPSumjZv-9NtrJ0p8T5wjw3rTnYJEX8TeRa_DLZPRnV4Mu3gr6q_CtfHww91k-Fn5hJmNSh51bocSggWOLcxySnr9MZWKySsMjaGt38SZQ/s200/2490697157_001fb89962_m.jpg" title="http://www.flickr.com/photos/glacierap/2490697157/" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.flickr.com/photos/glacierap/2490697157/</span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">A member of my church (</span><span style="font-size: large;">Hello, Liberty!) </span><span style="font-size: large;">is in Rwanda with a group conducting Vacation Bible School and also instructing local teachers so that they can "d-i-y" next time. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Read more <a href="http://rwandaipc.blogspot.com/">here</a>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">In a lesson about being made in the image of God, the children looked at their own images in a mirror, something most of them had never done before. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Part of the daily routine is to serve each child an egg. Mission
leaders estimated they'd need 3,000 for the week, but as the
children kept pouring in, 2,000 eggs were served the first day!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">R is for Redeemer. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-57848840042855584172012-04-19T08:29:00.000-05:002012-04-19T11:22:39.382-05:00Q is for . . .<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Quotations. Here are some I like:</span></div>
<dl style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<dt class="quote"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/20926.html" title="Click for further information about this quotation">If a young writer can refrain from writing, he shouldn't hesitate to do so.</a></span></dt>
<dt class="quote"><span style="font-size: small;">Andre Gide (1869 - 1951) </span> </dt>
</dl>
<dl style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<dt class="quote"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/26035.html" title="Click for further information about this quotation">Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love.</a> Charles M. Schulz (1922 - 2000), <i>Charlie Brown in "Peanuts" </i></span></dt>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt class="quote" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/26723.html" title="Click for further information about this quotation">Love is an exploding cigar we willingly smoke.</a> Lynda Barry</span></dt>
<dt class="quote" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></dt>
<dt class="quote" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/26225.html" title="Click for further information about this quotation">The
only thing I was fit for was to be a writer, and this notion rested
solely on my suspicion that I would never be fit for real work, and that
writing didn't require any.</a></span></dt>
<dt class="quote" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Russell Baker (1925 - ) </span></dt>
<dt class="quote" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></dt>
<dt class="quote" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/30711.html" title="Click for further information about this quotation">Love is the delightful interval between meeting a beautiful girl and discovering that she looks like a haddock.</a> John Barrymore (1882 - 1942)</span></dt>
<dt class="quote" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></dt>
<dt class="quote" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/1931.html" title="Click for further information about this quotation">When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.</a> John Ruskin (1819 - 1900)</span></dt>
<dt class="quote" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></dt>
<dt class="quote" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/30954.html" title="Click for further information about this quotation">Accept what people offer. Drink their milkshakes. Take their love.</a></span></dt>
<dt class="quote" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">Wally Lamb</span></span></dt>
<dt class="quote" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></dt>
<dt class="quote" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/26789.html" title="Click for further information about this quotation">There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.</a></span></dt>
<dt class="quote" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">W. Somerset Maugham (1874 - 1965) </span> </dt>
<dt class="quote" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span></dt>
<dd class="author"><br /></dd></dl>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-15778848425332549892012-04-18T07:44:00.000-05:002012-04-18T08:08:13.473-05:00P is for . . .<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Portmanteau words. Such as:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>ginormous</i> = gigantic + enormous</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>jeggings</i> = jeans + leggings</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>turducken</i> = turkey + duck + chicken</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Seems
like a lot of these have been coined lately.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>For a long list go </i>to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_portmanteaus"><i>Wikipedia</i></a>, itself a portmanteau word consisting of wiki (a
website where users can add, modify, or delete content) + encyclopedia.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I don’t like
or dislike portmanteau words in principle, but I love the fact that language is
organic and ever changing—new words budding, old ones falling away. In my
opinion, dictionaries should mirror word usage rather than proscribe it—unlike
Noah Webster’s, which aimed to give us standard “American” English.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">My problem
with that is: who elected Webster official lexicographer? Fact is, no one did; he was self-appointed, all the while claiming he wanted a language for a “democratic”
nation. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And was
it really necessary in the first place for Americans to break away from </span><span style="font-size: large;">“</span><span style="font-size: large;">British”
English, especially over trivial matters such as how to spell <i>labour</i>, <i>judgement,</i> or <i>theatre</i>? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Webster’s
opus. It rubs me the wrong way, and I therefore dub it <i>frictionary</i>.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-56685267252939760282012-04-17T08:21:00.003-05:002012-04-18T07:45:44.277-05:00O is for . . .<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Opinion
piece. Here’s mine.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">In a
January post, <a href="http://thewritershadeofpale.blogspot.com/2012/01/unfinished-masterpieces.html">Unfinished Masterpieces</a>, I wrote about screenwriter Gwyneth
Hughes’s completion of Charles Dickens’s, <i>The
Mystery of Edwin Drood</i>. Sunday night the Hughes drama aired on public TV and
I happened to tune in.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Never
having read the fragment by Dickens, I don’t know precisely where he left off and Hughes
began, but I do know that Dickens never identified the murderer. Hughes, of
course, does—but I don’t think it’s the one Dickens had in mind. Or if she got the murderer right, she must have twisted the plot in the wrong direction.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Hughes herself admitted that she <span style="line-height: 115%;">“</span></span><span style="font-size: large;">felt emboldened . . . to go where the characters took me, and hope
that people who love the book even if they don</span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;">t like what I</span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;">ve done
with the mystery<span style="line-height: 115%;">—</span>[would] still love Dickens</span><span style="font-size: large;">’</span><span style="font-size: large;">s characters.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">From
reading other Dickens novels, I’d say most of the characters in <i>Drood</i> are Dickensian for sure. John Jasper is as black hearted a villain as
any Dickens created, utterly loathsome. The crypt
keeper, Durdles, is stock Dickens. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">If you read my N post yesterday, you perhaps will remember Alun Armstrong from <i>New Tricks</i>. In <i>Drood </i>he’s the benevolent guardian of the heroine, Rosa Bud</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">—</span></span><span style="font-size: large;">both of whom have parallel types in other work by Dickens. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Edwin Drood himself is curiously inconsistent. He </span><span style="font-size: large;">manfully accepts Rosa</span><span style="font-size: large;">’s wish to break their engagement, but immediately does something impulsive and immature. This action, which I won</span><span style="font-size: large;">’t spoil by divulging, is crucial to the mystery. I can</span><span style="font-size: large;">’t decide if Drood's inconsistency was his</span><span style="font-size: large;"> fatal flaw</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">—</span></span><span style="font-size: large;">or </span><span style="font-size: large;">Hughes's</span><span style="font-size: large;">.</span><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The tale
tangles right after the midpoint murder, and thereafter, the characters</span><span style="font-size: large;">’ </span><span style="font-size: large;">motivations and hence the plot grows less and less believable.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">And then
there’s a major loose end. I can’t tell you what it is without giving away the climax. But this surely was not Dickens’s ending. His plots are organic, causative,
and neat above all. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">It could be that Dickens himself couldn't undo the plot knots and thus left the tale unfinished. Hughes's version doesn't solve <i>The Mystery of Edwin Drood</i>. It deepens it.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-1289004211366915402012-04-16T07:37:00.001-05:002012-07-26T21:16:06.832-05:00N is for . . .<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Netflix and </span><i style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006t0qx">New Tricks.</a></i></span> </div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">First, Netflix. Still a great deal, even after their P.R. snafu.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>New Tricks</i> is a BBC-TV/Acorn Media crime drama series that my husband and I get through Netflix. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The ambitious Sondra Pullman (Amanda Redman) gets demoted to head up the cold-case unit (UCOS) of the London Metropolitan Police. UCOS consists of Pullman, whose officiousness only partially hides her insecurity, and three old codgers that prove, alas, that old dogs really can<span style="line-height: 115%;">’</span>t be taught new tricks. No matter. They solve cases the old fashioned way: they<span style="line-height: 115%;">’re resourceful, clever</span> and, occasionally, underhanded.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The <span style="line-height: 115%;">old dogs, all retired policemen,</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> are: </span>Alun Armstrong as an obsessive-compulsive with a photographic memory; James Bolam as a widower who talks to his wife at her backyard shrine; and Dennis Waterman as a hyper-sexed ladies<span style="line-height: 115%;">’</span> man with<span style="line-height: 115%;">—</span>appropriately<span style="line-height: 115%;">—daughters by </span>three different ex-wives. While you</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">’</span></span><span style="font-size: large;">re feeling affectionate toward these odd characters and their sometimes hilarious interaction, you might not notice that the crime plots in a few episodes are contrived. <span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">You could do lots worse than this series</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> if you</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">’</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">re a writer looking for a tutorial on: (a) creating interesting characters; and/or (b) crafting plots that explore and develop your characters</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">’ </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">idiosyncrasies. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The acting</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> is excellent too, but I recommend you mute the theme song.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">My husband and I </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">have watched Seasons 1-5 </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">already </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">and all but the last two episodes of Season 6. That should tell you what we think about it</span><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 115%;">s</span><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> entertainment value.</span><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 115%;"> Since Season 7 won’t be available to us until June, we’re casting around for a new view from the BBC. Any suggestions, y</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 115%;">’</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 115%;">all?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 115%;">P.S. N is also for <span style="font-size: large;">News</span>. My first published article is now online <a href="http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine-digital.com/thehomeschoolmagazine/201204/#pg123">here</a>. Close or minimize the pop-ups and it will be easier to find.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-31555522314682206552012-04-14T08:18:00.000-05:002012-04-14T08:18:26.197-05:00M is for . . .<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Metaphor.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">It’s the red wheelbarrow of prose.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5295172825788748733.post-84785412487725873282012-04-13T08:24:00.000-05:002012-04-13T08:24:06.254-05:00L is for . . .<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Light, both
real and metaphorical. It intrigues me.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Real light
always wins. It banishes darkness every time. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It’s the
fastest traveler in the universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you
could travel at the speed of light, so I’m told, you could go anywhere in the
universe in zero seconds. (Intrigued? Go <a href="http://zidbits.com/2011/04/why-cant-anything-go-faster-than-the-speed-of-light/">here</a>
for more.) </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Photographers
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afternoon light, striking the subject at a slant, dramatizes, picks
out intricate details and leaves mysterious areas of darkness.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A ritual
at my house is commenting on the change in light as seasons change. It’s gradual,
of course, but one day near the solstice or the equinox, the light will be
different enough to notice. Faulkner noticed, even entitling a novel, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Light in August</i>.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Then there
are those evenings when the fading light is blue and transcendent and tinges
everything with its failing pulse. Pure magic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Metaphorically
speaking, language is a lot like light. “Lucid” means to transmit light. Lucid
prose is transparent and easy to understand. But a perfectly lucid story will
be a boring story. Storytellers must cast shadows. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Readers demand the drama of light battling
with—and usually defeating— darkness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">No one
wants to read about the happy protagonist lolling about in the sunshine—not for
long anyway.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4