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With coffee and writing implements at hand, I can determine the shape of today. |
| I tend to write in the morning. After morning coffee and writing comes whatever the day holds...work, more writing, family time, reading, maybe even some gaming. It just depends...but writing first, always. And once I start writing, I get an idea not only of what I'm writing about, but how the rest of my day will go. Hence, the shape of today. |
| So. After flailing around for a few days, I think I've finally hit on something more "serious" to write here, and have others review. If it works out right it will be a continuing series that will keep folks entertained. As always, time is the big factor. But if it grows as I hope it will, making time will be no problem. Now to sketch out the bare bones of my idea... |
| There are a lot of things I'm used to seeing here in the mountains during the fall. The leaves putting on their spectacular show, the people who come to admire it, pumpkins all over the place, and stores trying to cram early Christmas merchandise alongside the Halloween stuff. This fall brings a new sight: chipmunks. Of course, they've been here all along. What's notable is that I'm seeing them competing with the squirrels to play "chicken" in traffic. Had it happen to me at least three times this week. They're such tiny creatures that one doesn't even see them until one is nearly on top of them. Cute as can be, too. I just with they'd stay out of the road. There are people driving in this area who wouldn't notice an elephant in the road, much less a little chipmunk. Why so many, though? Have we had a chipmunk population explosion? Or have they been observing the squirrels' suicidal behavior and decided they want to try it, too? Is there a story in here? I bet there is! Maybe chipmunks are aliens... |
| I can hear them as I type: the fun seekers. It's an irony when one resides in a scenic rural community; on the one hand you have the peace and quiet of country living (or so people imagine), and on the other hand if you have any kind of tourist attractions you can expect to be overrun by tourists on a regular basis. When I first moved here back in '88, you could literally walk down the middle of the highway even during the day without fear. Now simply approaching the mailbox is an act of courage, and there are days when it's nearly impossible to pull into the road to get to work. The annual Big Fall Festival is this weekend; the library won't even be open because none of us will be able to get to it. The plan is to get some supplies in tomorrow morning and avoid town for the rest of the weekend. Of course, I've fallen into avoiding town as much as possible all the time. People are pouring into the region much faster than its infrastructure can handle, and it's starting to show. We see entire families coming into the library for cards and while that's good for us, it's a little nerve wracking because these families inevitably arrive during busy times--and our staff is small. New residents are often shocked that the only grocery shopping opportunities in the immediate area are one badly managed grocery store and the local Walmart. They bring with them their noise, their pollution, their poor manners, and their big ideas on how things can be improved around here. It tends to involve paving something. And the traffic never, ever stops anymore. Well, all I have to do is get through the workday today and tomorrow morning's grocery trip. Then I'll hibernate while these good people fall over each other as they get away from it all... |
| I'm always a little shocked by people who seem to have no sense of humor. I don't mean people who don't laugh at my jokes, or jokes I think are funny in general. I mean people who don't think anything is funny. And they're out there, I've worked with 'em. It's not even that you caught them on a bad day with your funniest-joke-ever, their entire life is one continuous bad day. Beware of such people. At the very best they are miserable and want to drag you down to their level of misery. And at the worst...well, it's better to not even think of what might be festering away in their minds. Nothing healthy, I'll wager. A rather bare bones entry today, but all I have time for. Work time now.
"WdC SuperPower Reviewers Group"  |
| A rarity this morning, a true rarity. I don't have to go running out anywhere! This doesn't happen often, so I'm going to make the best possible use of an unexpected gift. With autumn knocking on the door for real today, there are some household tasks I can attend to and hopefully prime my mind-pump to good effect. Goodness knows there are more than enough writing projects, too long neglected, that need my attention. Let's go! |
| So much to do, so little time... My own work. My work for StratSent. The comfortable and comforting little niche I've carved out for myself here. Housework. Actual go-out-and-earn-a-paycheck work. How do folks manage their time in such situations? My answer is to cut out anything that does not contribute positively to my life. Last night my guild leader was telling me, "You gotta get Netflix." I responded, "No, I don't." TV is the source of much of the venom that's infected our culture, in my eyes. I know there is good programming out there, with quality writing and production values, but I've had a deep distrust of the medium ever since "reality" TV slithered into sight. Look where it got us, politically speaking. And today's large wall-sized sets remind me too much of the "walls" of Fahrenheit 451. That's not a world I want to live in. Instead, I choose to shape the world I want. |
| I started to make this post about the growing toxicity of American culture. Then I realized two things: 1. The best way to fight said toxicity is to deny it...everywhere, every day. Do not be sucked in by it. Precious minutes, hours, and days will disappear into its stinking black maw and never come back, and I can do better with the time I have. And that brings me directly to: 2. I have something much more pleasant to post about this morning, so the denial of toxicity starts right here, right now. Without further delay. The night before last I was enjoying adding a few more entries to my "To be read" list thanks to the wise recommendation of Neil Gaiman, whose The View From the Cheap Seats I discussed a couple of posts ago. As sai Gaiman appears to be more active on Twitter than on Facebook, I decided to tweet him expressing my appreciation for the book. Because we all like to be told when we've done well and have made someone else smile, think, and other good things. I then tottered off to bed only to wake to a very nice surprise...sai Gaiman (or whoever manages his Twitter account) liked my tweet so much that he re-tweeted it. Neil Gaiman, just so you know, has over two million Twitter followers. Whether he himself actually saw my tweet is no longer the question. A lot of people are suddenly visiting my profile, and even following me. The question now is...how ought I to react to this sudden influx of attention? And the answer is simple, really...to use it for good. That's what the heroes in the tales I love do...they use their power for good. The toxicity I mentioned at the beginning of this post thrives on social media, but so too can its opposite number. If we help it along. Right here, right now. |
| It might be of interest to the Writing.com staff---or anybody else---to know how some of us landed here on these friendly shores. In my case, I was perusing the message board of a rather well-known writing magazine. I like message boards and have done some moderation myself in the past, so they're interesting to me. This board, sadly, seems to have fallen into neglect. It's overrun with bots and the members that are posting there don't seem to be doing so regularly. Of course, one expects writers to prioritize their own writing first rather than message board posts. However, one member there mentioned Writing.com as a place for writers to gather, so I just ambled right over here. I still am very much a newbie and am still flailing around trying to learn all the ins and outs, but I love the openness of the place and the focus on creativity. In fact, I've encouraged my guild leader and some other friends to come check the site out. Long story short: Looks like y'all are stuck with me. |
| At some point I'm sure Neil Gaiman will explain why he chose to call his essay collection The View From the Cheap Seats, as of yet I haven't seen an explanation. This is my current book which lives on my nightstand and travels back and forth to work with me. Sai Gaiman has been a hero of mine ever since I first fell into the Sandman universe back during the Nineties. I find it rather significant that his list of the three most influential authors in his youth...C.S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and G. K. Chesterton--were all Christian apologetics. In fact, I am unfamiliar with Chesterton but will make amends on that count, having already added The Man Who Was Thursday to my ever-growing "to be read" list on my library account. While not a fan of organized religion in general, I can't deny the beauty faith has lent to the works of Lewis and Tolkien. That is the reason these novels have endured for so long, after all, and I'm glad Neil Gaiman realizes that. He also touches on the importance of libraries and librarians in society, how genre does and does not affect the quality of a well-told story, and promises a host of other subjects to be examined. I'm looking forward to making this journey and seeing the world through his eyes. When not reading stories, the wannabe writer absolutely should be reading nonfiction written by those best at the craft. |
| Another tropical storm system, this time by the name of Nate, is currently working its way toward my little corner of Georgia. As I type the first raindrops are starting to fall. Not really what we need here. Since Irma we've been enjoying a run of perfect, autumnal weather and there is still a great deal of cleanup work being done in the area. In fact, to judge from the trouble I'm still having contacting patrons who have holds in at the library, there is still damage to the phone lines. Although Nate doesn't look to be as destructive or widespread, it's still going to cause problems. So yesterday I gassed the car up and made sure I had some canned goods laid by, just in case. Should this turn out to simply be the rainy second half of the weekend, I'll have the stuff laid by for whenever. I have my coffee, I have a good book to read, and a rainy day to do it on. Life is good. |
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