Day: May 24, 2017

Less Is More

Yes, get ready, friends and family who hate it when I go political. They would rather I don’t, and I try not to, but here we fucking go again – will this carousel ever end? 

The tRump WH Budget Chief, Mick Mulvaney, is singing about how great the tRump budget is. Why, they’re enabling and empowering people by taking money away from their greedy little hands.

Mulvaney added: “We don’t want to measure compassion by the number of programs we have and the number of people on them — true compassion is the number of people we want to try to get off of those programs and get back in charge of their own lives.”

Sure, those people who need the safety net aren’t working because of anything except their own damn weak wills and lazy nature. That’s why they’re poor, hungry and sick, or why they need aid from the rest of us. If they need more money, they should work two or three more jobs while going back to school and getting a better education. Taking away the social net will put them back on their feet!

Yea, verily, I was exposed to that hypocritical crap in the military and corporate life. “We must do more with less!” “We must give one hundred and ten percent!” Yes, tell me, how do you get one hundred and ten percent out of your mind and body? Can you drink one hundred and ten percent of a glass of water? How do you eat one hundred and ten percent of that bowl of soup? You can’t, can you? So, with your logic, tell me, where does that extra magic ten percent come from? Nowhere but your feeble, feeble brain.

Yet, strangely, of course, the wealthy must be given more. Why, giving them more will help them help others more! Funny, how their logic changes when it’s applied to their own class, isn’t it?

Ironically, too, when it comes to military spending, more is better. More military spending gives us greater protection. Why doesn’t the less is better logic work in that situation?

Mulvaney must be a good Christian. Seems like it’s always Christians in this modern era who claim that helping the poor is contrary to the Bible. When searching out more information on the Mick, I found out this about him:

As it turns out, Mulvaney has faced questions regarding his payment (or non-payment, as the case may be) of taxes before. In 2013, a blogger discovered that Mick Mulvaney had owed thousands of dollars in back taxes for as long as five years. The website wonkette.com picked up the story, but it barely made a ripple during the negotiations for raising the debt ceiling.

Mulvaney is nothing if not consistent, advocating for the country not to pay its bills while he neglects paying his own.

Sickening, sickening, sickening. Mulvaney, and the White House administration and the agenda he represents, has no morals, compassion or empathy.

0

Today’s Theme Music

The stream has shifted. Into the flow comes an all-time favorite by a little band called Derek and the Dominoes, with help from a guy named Duane Allman. Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon wrote the song, “Layla,” as a love ballad about Eric’s love for George Harrison’s wife, Patty Boyd. Duane entered the picture and changed the song to its more familiar rock sound.

Back in those days, I didn’t know about the confusion arising over the name of the group. I knew when I heard the song, I loved it and sought it out. I thought it was Eric Clapton playing, but if it was this guy, Derek, I didn’t care. Being a slow witted animal, I eventually grasped that it was Eric playing and singing, with help from the great Duane Allman – which explains the similarity to the Allman Brothers’ music of that period, right? It all eventually came together.

To me, this is a triumphant, feel-good song that ignites my creative energies. Pick up your air guitar. Time to jam.

0

The Light At the End of the Tunnel

“How’s it going?” a friend asked. “Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?”

He was asking about my novel in progress. Like many people, he was speaking cliche-ese. I’m not in a tunnel, and I’m not looking for a light when I’m writing a novel. I once may have thought that way, but I’ve changed. The light would mean there’s hope ahead.

I’m enjoying the writing journey, so there’s no need for a light. The process can sometimes rival a clogged toilet’s mess, but it’s well damn lit.

“What will you do after you’re done?” Bill asked. “Will you write another?”

It’s a question from outside the circle of writers, and again, is common in cliche-land. Bizarre, to me. In sports, the assumption is that you’re going to keep going as long as body, will and team allows. Likewise, that’s how it seems to go in performing arts like acting and singing. Why, then, assume that a writer will be one and done?

After our pleasantries, I walked on but stayed with the topic in thought. I have a novel in progress and two in the wings. Five more, perhaps more than that, have a first draft completed, and require editing, revising and publishing. I don’t know when I’ll give them the attention they deserve. I’ve begun to think that I’ll work on them if I don’t have anything to write.

It’s peculiar to think that there can be a time when I don’t have anything to write. Reading others always stimulates my writing desires, as does watching television and movies, traveling, conversations with friends, and the news. On any given day, I think, “Oh, I can write a novel about that,” or, “That can be the start to a good novel.”

The only permanent elements of life are change and uncertainty, though. Maybe death, too; it depends on your philosophy. I can’t predict that I’ll write until my death or that I’ll always have story ideas. I don’t know what’ll happen to my brain and my body, or our society. But, basically, I’m not in a tunnel, looking for a light. I’m on a plain of light, following the words.

Time to write like crazy – or edit and revise (like crazy?) – at least one more time.

2

The Odd Couple On the Front Porch

IMG_0170.JPGPepper, on the left, terrifies the other cats, yowling and swatting at them without provocation or hesitation. Belonging to a neighbor, she enjoys our front porch. Tucker is an unrepentant fighter who terrorizes the other cats in the neighborhood. But these two cozy up on the front porch, stretching out and sleeping in peace, or sitting beside one another, a comfortable couple who the other cats carefully avoid.

 

I don’t know why WP insists on putting two photos in. During editing, there’s only one, but Preview or Publish, and two appear. The entire post was published and deleted. The original photo was deleted from the library and added back in. Yet, WP persists on putting two in there. I guess the God of Technology is messing with me.

 

0

EDITING 101: 36 – Removing Filter Words…

This is something I’ve learned on my own, and continue to work on. I didn’t think of them as filter words; instead, these were words overused and abstract, that showed and conveyed little, doing so at a distance. I also noticed that the books I best enjoyed rarely used these words. The authors instead let me share the experience, rather than telling me about it.

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Originally posted as the Dun Writin’—Now Whut? series on this blog, EDITING 101 is a weekly refresher series for some of you and brand new for others.

Courtesy ofAdirondack Editing

Removing Filter Words

Filter words are placed between your character and the action. Generally, they are added to a sentence when trying to describe something that your character is experiencing or thinking. While, as usual, there’s a place for them in writing, you can tighten up your scenes immensely when they’re removed. It’s another tidbit for helping you show, rather than tell, as without the filter words, you’re forced to add more description to get what you mean across.

What are some filter words? Felt, realized, saw, wondered, seemed, decided, heard, knew, touched, watched, and can are some of the more common ones. You can search the Internet for other lists of filtering words. Cutting away your filtering words and forcing…

View original post 408 more words

1

Catconnoiter

Catconnoiter (definition): for a feline to make an observation of an area.

In Use: “After eating his first breakfast, Scheckter catconnoitered his yard each morning to ensure order remained, doing his business in brush along the fence.”

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑