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Dialogue with my muse |
| I have been carrying on a dialogue for almost a year. During this time we have discussed the progress of my writing, editing, and publishing efforts. Join in to listen to our conversation about my daily writing life and add your comments if you think of anything Calliope and I miss. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Chipper. CALLIOPE: Oh? JOE: Accomplishments tend to further brighten my usual cheery mood. CALLIOPE: Such as? JOE: After much head scratching and experimentation I finally managed to load the web server Xampp on my computer and install a functional copy of Joomla, a free web development program I wish I had know about before I delved into Dreamweaver. CALLIOPE: How much progress have you made? JOE: I got everything installed and started working on a tutorial to learn the requisite skills. CALLIOPE: How's it coming? JOE: I find it easier to understand than Dreamweaver and am excited about the many possibilities. CALLIOPE: And if you get stuck. JOE: I have a website developer (actual person) who has offered to help me get unstuck. CALLIOPE: Sounds like progress. JOE: I think so. I will be away tomorrow and will talk with you again on Monday. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: There's something about the electricity circulating around here today. CALLIOPE: Tell me about it. JOE: Yesterday I met with Chris at my local computer center about a few technology questions. CALLIOPE: And? JOE: I prepared myself to pay someone, probably him, to help me with adding a shopping cart, some forms and my blog to my website. CALLIOPE: How did it turn out? JOE: Good. After quite a discussion, he thought my emerging competence could handle everything I had in mind. CALLIOPE: And if you get stuck? JOE: He will be there to help me out of the muck. CALLIOPE: So what's the problem? JOE: I tried sweeping out my computer of some unneeded clutter and ended up erasing an innocent looking file necessary to start my computer. Hence a reload. CALLIOPE: Sounds like a pain. JOE: You said it. I'm back in business although a few programs don't quite act like I think they should. More work, but I think I'll take a break and go fishing with my grandson today. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Good, thank you. CALLIOPE: What are you up to today? JOE: I just finished my column/newsletter for this Saturday. CALLIOPE: I'm curious. JOE: It's about musical emotions which I wrote about last week. CALLIOPE: You mean how a Michael McDonald concert sent you off the deep end into an eddy of emotion. JOE: Exactly. CALLIOPE: Why did you feel a need to revisit this troubling episode? JOE: Partly to see if I had gotten past it and partly to see what I can learn from it. CALLIOPE: Did you get past it? JOE: I did. Nothing awful arose in me while I was composing it. CALLIOPE: What did you learn. JOE: To pay attention to my emotions and their message and change what can change about memories of past bad experiences. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. I wonder if you could tell me more about your visit to Spiritus Christi Church. JOE: I'd be glad to. It's been on my mind ever since Sunday morning. CALLIOPE: Please proceed. JOE: I was raised in the Catholic Church and then spent nine years in the seminary and monastery. CALLIOPE: Hence your book, Young Man of the Cloth. JOE: Exactly. By the end of my time there, I became hopelessly embroiled in controversy about how life in the monastery should be and ended up leaving. CALLIOPE: And then? JOE: I discovered that my concerns about the direction of the monastery was part of a larger concern about the direction of the Catholic Church which I also eventually stopped attending. CALLIOPE: Then what happened? JOE: I drifted for a while and eventually discovered Unity Church where I felt comfortable for quite some time. CALLIOPE: Yes? JOE: I still felt some nostalgia for the Catholic Church in which I was raised but conflicted about the rigidity and other aspects of the church. Then I discovered Spiritus Christi, a church in the Catholic tradition but stressing the joy of redemption rather than a punitive, controlling stance. CALLIOPE: Now what? JOE: I want to make sure this is all I hope it is based on my initial impression. One step at a time. Talk with you tomorrow. |
JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe How are you today? JOE: Quite well thank you. CALLIOPE: Any surprises this weekend? JOE: One. Carol and I finally decided to try Spiritus Christi Church. CALLIOPE: What kind of church is it? JOE: More or less Catholic but without much of the rigidity. CALLIOPE: You mean things like female priests and inviting non-Catholics to communion? JOE: Exactly. CALLIOPE: What was it like? JOE: Returning home after many years. The experience brought me to tears. CALLIOPE: How so? JOE: I felt pushed out of the monastery many years ago for asking too many questions. Eventually the Catholic church's rigidity became too stultifying for me and I finally left. CALLIOPE: And now you are back? JOE: Not quite. Spiritus Christi is out of favor with the powers that be but has recreated a Christian community much like the one that existed in the first days of the church, or at least how I imagine it to have been. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Relieved. CALLIOPE: On what account? JOE: Having met the technological challenge of developing new websites and living to tell the tale. CALLIOPE: Sounds like an accomplishment. JOE: I like to think so. CALLIOPE: So now what? JOE: I';m taking a little time to enjoy summer. CALLIOPE: How? JOE: Carol and I will walk down to the Leroy Farm Market this morning and this afternoon our friends have invited us to bask in their pool with them. CALLIOPE: Sounds like fun. JOE: I feel like the world has been passing me by while I became engrossed in my technological challenge. CALLIOPE: With everything going on in the world it can still be a beautiful place. JOE: I plan to remind myself of that this weekend. Talk with you on Monday. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: I'm glad it's Friday. CALLIOPE: You don't even go off to work any more. JOE: Well, no. But I have felt under pressure lately, even if self induced. CALLIOPE: Tell me more. JOE: My websites needed to be redeveloped with a program other than Front Page. The deadline for getting this done was June 30. I made it. Both are ready although the second is still in the process of being switched to a new server. CALLIOPE: Anything else? JOE: There's also my caffeine withdrawal. Today marks the fifth day and I am finally realizing life after caffeine is possible. CALLIOPE: Do you feel any different. JOE: The greatest change and surprise as well is that I feel more energetic and eager to work both at the computer and at physical labor in the yard. CALLIOPE: Who would have thought it? JOE: Certainly not me. But today I have all my weekly goals accomplished and am ready to relax this weekend for the first time in a while. CALLIOPE: Seems like you earned it. JOE: I think so. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How's the caffeine hangover coming? JOE: Better every day. Yesterday my brain felt a little fuzzy. Still I accomplished quite a bit despite my lack of caffeine and my body's resistance to being deprived. CALLIOPE: Glad to hear you are surviving. What did you accomplish? JOE: I revised my entire Commonsense Wisdom website. I think it's ready for release although I want to check over the format and links first. CALLIOPE: Congratulations. Tell me about the site. JOE: Originally it duplicated my Sliding Otter site. I struggled with how to make the two complementary. CALLIOPE: How did it end up? JOE: The Sliding Otter site lists my writings for sale and offers samples from all of them. The Commonsense Wisdom site serves as an archive for stories, articles and archives of past blogs and newsletters. CALLIOPE: Sounds sensible. JOE: I hope so. CALLIOPE: Are both sites the way you want them? JOE: Not quite. They are both still works in progress. I have some refinements in mind once I figure out how to do them. CALLIOPE: I'll be watching anxiously. JOE: So will I. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: It's a little hard to say. CALLIOPE: Why is that? JOE: Last week I had two doctors' appointments. I had several cups of coffee before the first one and had fairly high blood pressure. I did not drink coffee before the second appointment and my blood pressure was lower than it has ever been before. CALLIOPE: And your conclusion? JOE: The obvious one that my blood pressure and caffeine are connected. CALLIOPE: Why the sudden concern? JOE: I was able to discontinue my blood pressure medication earlier this year after I lost weight and would prefer not to start it again. CALLIOPE: I see. So where do you stand now? JOE: I gradually decreased my caffeine over the past week. Yesterday was the first full day with no caffeine. CALLIOPE: Any ill effects? JOE: Just headaches which left me today and restless sleep. I think I'll make it though. CALLIOPE: Best of luck with your experiment. JOE: Thanks. Now to see whether it affects my writing. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. What news? JOE: Well, I finally wrestled Dreamweaver into submission or maybe just learned enough of the basics to use it. CALLIOPE: Don't tell me you got your website up and functioning. JOE: Sort of. At the same time I am revising my site, I am also switching servers. CALLIOPE: So what's the bottom line? JOE: Right now I can see my site listed on the Internet but nobody else can. CALLIOPE: How long will that go on? JOE: A day or two before it is officially available to the public. CALLIOPE: That's a milestone. Were you pleased with the results. JOE: It's not elegant yet but the basics are there. Now I can work on my other site and some refinements. CALLIOPE: Such as? JOE: An online store for my books, posting my blog from my own site and some video focused on various topics. CALLIOPE: Sounds like you will be busy for a while. JOE: I will. But at least I won't be bored. Talk with you tomorrow. |
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Hope they like snow! 
I just tell them to go get a life...
It's a sunshiny 24 here at the moment; 19 in Buffalo.