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 |  I've maxed out. Closed this blog. |
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This is a way of making myself write something coherent and grammatically correct almost every day. I'm opinionated and need an outlet. I'm also prone to flights of fancy. Thanks for stopping by. |
| A great concert tonight! Finally, one of the good ol' oldies who's actually still good. His voice is still good. His keyboards are excellent. Everyone one in his band is versatile and has performed with other major singers.The show is colorful and exciting. And the audience was wild. The packed house roared and danced and clapped. All but the infirm were on their feet. There was a lot of white and gray hair in the place. When McDonald introduced his female singer, she was not only "one of the best female voices in the business", but one of her jobs is to "take the edge off middle-age ugliness". The band is definitely on the upper border of middle age, but still doing a great job. The encore wasn't just one or two more songs, but an entire set. McDonald gave credit to his crew who work from early in the morning until the wee hours of the night. Of course, he did some Doobie Brothers, but also some Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder. A great performance that I'd recommend to anyone. |
| I've been reading a lot of books on my Kindle lately, and, frankly, I'm disappointed in the quality of the editing. Whether it's a classic or a current book, it seems no one is checking for typos or missed words. The modern novels and novelettes have bad grammar and punctuation. That's really bothersome. And it's just as annoying when the author uses words incorrectly and no one is editing. Words like "imply" and "infer" get confused and crossed. "Submitted" is used instead of "said" which isn't quite right, even if it weren't done at least once per page. Dangling participles appear all over. As we become more reliant on e-books, we could easily see the quality of writing go down. Good editing is important. It keeps our language consistent and keeps the story on track. It's necessary to keep the tone of a story. The lack of editing may just be the weakest point in self-publishing. |
| Why do we rely so much on other people's opinions? I know it's human nature, but we'd rather take the opinion of a stranger than find out for ourselves. I see a movie or a play then, if I like it, I research it afterward. I'm shocked how different these critics see it from me. I can see a professional who has some theatrical training, who understands lighting, or cinematography making critiques. But too often what we see is some biased untrained person with no more skill than the average guy on the street writing ridiculous commentaries which tells more about the local writer than the movie. I appreciate reading a knowledgeable writer who knows earlier versions of the same story, or who can give some history on the director or actors. I don't appreciate writers who say things like this "trash should be banned" because they don't agree with the premise. I'm not talking about someone who thinks a film violates community standards or needs more restrictive ratings. Writers who don't agree politically or morally with the director or screen writer should be careful to keep his feelings separate from analyzing the technique of the film-making. Too frequently they let their prejudice cloud their judgment of performance and direction. They display their own form of narrow mindedness. |
| I remember as a child watching my grandmother kill a chicken. She picked her up, swung her around breaking her neck, then laid her head down on the stump and chopped it off with an ax. The chicken ran around with blood running down for a little bit. Grandma took the chicken to pluck and prepare for dinner. I had nightmares. I got over it for a while and ate fried chicken about every 2 or 3 weeks when Mom cooked it for Sunday dinner. By the end of high school, I couldn't eat chicken. It looked to much like the chicken. I could envision which part of the bird it came from. Somehow beef didn't bother me so much. A hamburger didn't resemble a cow's rump. I don't know what my reasoning was or why the chicken was so much worse. I knew about pigs and cows and turkeys and they would suffer a similar fate. But the chicken just seemed unreasonable to me. Somehow after I got out of college, I had found peace with eating the chicken wing or thigh and went back to my finger-licking style. So many kids today have no idea where hamburger comes from, or steak, or ham, or turkey bacon. They don't know where milk or cheese come from for that matter. It's possible that some kids don't know where eggs come from. Farm like is very educational. It makes explaining birds and bees, and life and death a little easier. And when they understand where food comes from, or how much work it takes to produce it, they are a little less wasteful. I'm all for taking kids to the farm, the orchard, and the garden to experience real life. Especially inner city kids need to know about our food chain. |
| I wrote a short story which originally had a happy ending. I changed it because of a comment I heard on TV and the ending turned sad. I know it was just a story. I made it up. But I feel so sad! I can't shake the disappointment. I got too involved with my characters. If only I got that on paper. Many writers feel that the characters take on a life of their own, and they can't direct how they will react. Andrew Greeley wrote a book called The God Game that deals with that very idea. He indicates that the author makes some choices, then the characters take over and run without interference, like a video game. Things happen beyond the author's control. That makes it more fun actually. Can't wait to do another one. |
| The hardest life in America has been that of the Indian woman. She accepted the hardship and has never complained about it. She never had any rights, was never treated with any respect. Her life was hard labor from sunup until sundown. She never had any authority, even over her own children. She was a slave unless she had an unusually kind or tender husband.While the men were off hunting or going to war or chewing peyote and having visions she worked hard and enjoyed no luxuries. And yet our culture idealizes the Indian woman as sexy and carefree. Victoria's Secrets decked her out in feathers and beads and skimpy lacy underwear, of course, on a body unaccustomed to hardship, over-tanning, and severe weather. Artwork everywhere makes the Indian woman something exotic and unreal, but always sexy and revealing and alluring. Somehow, we have ignored reality and painted some fantasy in our collective mind. This image of the pampered oversexed Indian girl is disrespectful as well as unrealistic. It somehow confuses the derogatory "savages" with "girls gone wild". It shows a lack of dignity towards the race and a gross misunderstanding of our culture. When I see those cute pictures or the scantily clad Indian maidens, I realize we are a lot more insensitive as a culture than we are willing to admit. And maybe the American Indian is one of the most misunderstood people groups. |
| The men have been doing a passable job, but more women need to take leadership roles in the building industry, particularly home building. If more women were architects, houses of all sizes would have more organized storage space, including broom closets. Houses and apartments would be functional as well as aesthetic. If women were builders, there would be more energy efficient, easy to clean spaces and products. So young women, this is your call to study architecture and engineering. Women are not limited to interior design. Why not do it all, electrical, plumbing, building products design and manufacture, heating and air, and landscaping. Women are capable of doing these things but have stayed away from these "manly" fields. Women can excel in math, drafting blueprints, electricity, and chemistry. Why not use these fields to improve the quality of American homes? Who knows better where electrical outlets should go, or where switches should be placed. Only a man would place a light switch two feet away from a door. Why are homes never designed with a place to store the vacuum, the mops, buckets, and chemicals? Why are cabinets designed with inaccessible corners? If you buy slide out components, you lose valuable space. And we want products in our homes that don't exude chemicals that are harmful to living things. That involves manufacturing those safe products. Women can run factories and design products, too. The bottom line is that girls don't have to plan on just being teachers, or nurses, or clerks, as necessary as those jobs are. They can pursue the many types of engineering, math, chemical, and mechanical studies out there. Women mastering these fields will only benefit all of us in the future. |
| Up From Slavery by Booker T Washington was a great book. His speeches really came alive in it. I think when he envisioned an audience his thinking and his writing became more vibrant and clearer. But the rest of it was pretty good. One of the things he wrote about a freed slave he was visiting had a lasting impact on me. I do not descend from freed slaves, but his words still affect us all. This particular man wanted to learn French, but Mr. Washington told him that first he must sweep his floor and sew the button on his shirt. Education was a fine and desirable thing, but self respect was more important. Having orderly surroundings were a first step to an orderly mind. It hit me hard because I was not an orderly person then or now. I don't wear shirts that are missing buttons, but anyone who has read my ramblings knows that I hate housework, and it always torments me. I love to research things, read, write, and learn new things.So I always feel guilty. Today is a holiday. I told myself I can write because I'm off from work. I had to drive someone to the airport early today, and then stopped at the store on the way back. So it was late morning when I got home. I would not let myself sit down at the keyboard until the floors were swept and mopped, the dishes were done, and the toilet bowl cleaned, and laundry folded and put away. I even paid a bill and watered the plants on the back porch. So now I can sit and write. It's not so easy on work days. Most of us have to make a living. Writing with a clear conscience only 3 or 4 days a year is not very productive. Yet it's interesting how the words of a great teacher and writer can have such a lasting influence on us. That book is not outdated, but is full of practical wisdom that can still be applied today. It should be on every student's reading list. |
| Why is Labor Day a holiday? I'm glad it is. But I had to look this up. Turns out it's been a holiday since 1882! It started in New York, then spread to other states, and by 1885 was everywhere. Of course, not all territories were states by then. It was a day set aside to honor all the every day workers who had helped this country become what it is. I would have guessed after The Great Depression. Who knew it was after the Civil War? So who thought this up? Someone named McGuire. But no one is certain exactly which McGuire. Peter was a carpenter and an officer in his union and got wide credit for dreaming it up. But Matthew was a machinist and has also gotten credit for it. Whichever McGuire suggested it, the unions backed them up and got political support for it. Today, it still honors the laborers of this country. Except for retail workers. Unfortunately, when the government closes down, the stores do more business. Those workers for city, state and federal government have secure income, sometimes more income, so they shop on the holidays for appliances, furniture, cars, and other big ticket items. So retail workers actually don't get the day off; they may even work longer hours, definitely busier hours. I think the original intention was for people who actually build things, or do physical labor, to get recognition and celebration. People like plumbers, manufacturers, bridge builders, seamstresses, trash collectors, and delivery men would get a special day. But I guess they couldn't exclude clerical workers, managers, bankers, and so forth. So have a happy Labor Day and remember to thank your sales clerk. |
| Oh, dear, it's that time of year that goes by so fast. Why does fall, which isn't officially here yet, go so much faster than other times of the year? It's always been that way. Labor Day hits and the school year starts, then quickly high school football is over for the year, THE holidays are here, and then the long slow, cold winter. Spring speeds up a little, then summer slips by, then another fall races in and goes too quickly. Time is so . . . flaky, for lack of a better word. When you're waiting for your doctor's appointment, 30 minutes seems like hours. Thirty minutes on your lunch time races by. A minute at a stop light seems like forever. The time my head hits the pillow until the alarm goes off seems like seconds. Labor Day signals the unofficial end of summer. (Old school: no wearing of white after Labor Day.) There are so many things going on in the fall. I suppose if time is relative, and there are so many activities, that it only seems fast. But it's been that way since I was much, much younger. Pumpkins to pick, decorations for one holiday after another, presents to buy, plays and concerts to attend or to practice for. As we get older, we have to add in doctor appointments for self or children. We can say it's our fast paced lives, this modern world, etc. But the truth is every generation feels the same way. Thomas Jefferson's daughter wrote a letter complaining about how much faster the world was moving, and that there wasn't enough time to relax as in her youth, and that was the early 1800's! Wordsworth wrote the "world is too much with us, late and soon" . . . He too complained our worldly cares made life speed by as we get older. John Donne complained of the same thing in the 1600's. So it's just the human condition. It's not us, not our world, not our generation. It's not that the world has changed and moving so much faster. That's just the human experience. I suppose if we didn't feel like time was fleeting, we wouldn't be human. So I will try to relish these days and make the most of them. And I will know that I am human after all if the time flies by. |
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