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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's your website development coming? JOE: I've had my ear to the ground, nose to the grindstone and shoulder to the wheel most of the week. CALLIOPE: Wow. Did the effort pay off? JOE: I'm getting there. I tried one version live and wasn't satisfied with it. Back to the drawing board. CALLIOPE: And? JOE: The new version is ready for a trial flight today. CALLIOPE: What do you expect? JOE: I hope it flies. My deadline is the end of the week. I am more confident that I know what I'm doing now. CALLIOPE: Best of luck. JOE: Thanks. I think I know how Orville and Wilbur felt at Kitty Hawk. CALLIOPE: Interesting comparison. JOE: Off to the proving grounds. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. Are you feeling better than you did yesterday and did you resolve your musical dilemma? JOE: Yes on both accounts. Resolving my dilemma improved my mood. CALLIOPE: Tell me about it. JOE: I told you I woke up yesterday with my reaction to Michael McDonald still on my mind. CALLIOPE: You did. JOE: I started to consider my emotions. I realized I felt sad, on the verge of tears, angry and resentful. CALLIOPE: Do you hold Michael responsible for all that? JOE: Of course not. I remained puzzled until on the way to the gym I recalled something I told Carol the night of the concert. CALLIOPE: Which was? JOE: That his type of music constantly grated on my nerves at a practice where I worked in the early 1990's. I found the type of music annoying then but did not associate Michael McDonald with it. CALLIOPE: Just annoying? JOE: No. The owner of the practice insisted on playing music which I considered bland and insipid at best. When one of us worker bees changed the station to jazz or classical music, he would change it back which I saw as a symbol of his control. CALLIOPE: And that's the connection? JOE: Not entirely. That was a very difficult time for me professionally, financially and in my marriage of the time. Altogether bad memories. That's the connection. I'm glad I discovered it and now will work to put it to rest. Talk with you on Monday. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. I missed you yesterday. JOE: Sorry. I was anxious to take a peek at my new website and finally saw it yesterday morning. CALLIOPE: And? JOE: I discovered that it wouldn't do as posted. I thought I would try a quick fix and ended up spending most of the day revising it. CALLIOPE: How does it stand now? JOE: I'm still working on the revisions but think I have a good plan. We shall see. CALLIOPE: Did you spend every minute working on it? JOE: No. I went with Carol and some friends to a Michael McDonald concert last night at the Rochester International Jazz Festival. CALLIOPE: Did you enjoy the concert? JOE: Not in the least. It was the first time since I was eight that I so thoroughly bored and agitated by a concert. CALLIOPE: What was that about? JOE: I wish I understood it. Those who went with me agreed that his style was repetitious although it didn't seem to bother them like it did me. I thought he shouted everything and that all his songs sounded the same. I didn't like his rendition of the songs I recognized. CALLIOPE: Do you think it's just a matter of taste? JOE: I wish I knew. I don't like leaving a concert feeling the way I did last night. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: A little weary. CALLIOPE: On what account? JOE: Last night's fairly late night at the Rochester International Jazz Festival. CALLIOPE: Sounds like fun. JOE: It certainly was. This was our second visit to the festival. CALLIOPE: What did you see? JOE: First were several local jazz groups on one of the free stages. CALLIOPE: And then? JOE; Soul Stew, a group from Toronto which lived up to its billing as a top notch soul combo. CALLIOPE: Was that it? JOE: No. We tore ourselves away to see Bonerama in the big tent, a trombone group from New Orleans we had seen before. They also put on a great show. CALLIOPE: Do you plan to give up writing and spend your time watching music performances? JOE: Don't be jealous of your sister muses. I'm not abandoning you but am enjoying some time with other creative pursuits. I'm back to my writing work today. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. Today's title has an odd ring. JOE: Jarring isn't it? I based it on a recent speech President Obama gave at Buchenwald. CALLIOPE: What did he say? JOE: Among other things he reminded us that "the perpetrators of such evil were human as well and that we have to guard against cruelty in ourselves." CALLIOPE: A chilling thought. JOE: It is and one which stuck in my mind. CALLIOPE: How do you account for evil? JOE: From the research I have seen, it seems to come partly from heredity and partly from environment. CALLIOPE: Do these factors entirely explain evil? JOE: Not to me. Mystery remains in my mind as to why some people follow their inclinations and others don't. CALLIOPE: It seems to me that this is one of the mysteries of the ages. JOE: Me too. But we would rather separate ourselves from evildoers considering them as animals, sick or crazy rather than see any similarity to us. CALLIOPE: I can't wait to see the article. JOE: It will be posted on my website fairly soon I hope. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. Welcome to a new week. JOE: Thank you. CALLIOPE: What's this about dinosaurs? JOE: Saturday morning I had a chance to see the much ballyhood Walking with Dinosaurs. CALLIOPE: Did it meet your expectations? JOE: More than that. I had questions about how lifelike giant puppets could be. CALLIOPE: Tell me more. JOE: The combination of excellent technology and imagination based on historical research resulted in a very entertaining and informative experience for my son, grandson and me. CALLIOPE: Any lessons for you? JOE: The point of bringing together technology and creativity is to reach the audience and connect with their needs and interests. CALLIOPE: So it's the same process with the dinosaur show and with writing? JOE: As far as I can tell it is. CALLIOPE: Keep this in mind as you work on your website. JOE: I certainly will. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Energized. CALLIOPE: By what, may I ask? JOE: You may. The Rochester International Jazz Festival began last night with Carol and me in attendance. CALLIOPE: What did you see? JOE: The Greece Olympia Jazz Band, the Eastman High School Jazz Band seniors and Faux Frenchman. And those were just the free street performances. CALLIOPE: I take it from today's title that Smokey Robinson played a part somewhere. JOE: Indeed he did. He was the evening's headliner and our main reason for going to the festival last night. CALLIOPE: Which brings us to the question of his lesson. JOE: It does. I saw clearly that his message was that he loves his audience. He said so several times and repeatedly showed it by his interaction with us throughout the concert. CALLIOPE: What lesson did you take from that? JOE: Give your audience what they want. This applies to writing and web marketing as well as performing. I will try to keep this in mind as I work in both areas. CALLIOPE: Good idea. JOE: Thanks. I thought so too. Talk with you tomorrow. |
(Meeting the Neighbors) JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Relieved? CALLIOPE: On what account? JOE: My new website design is completed and apparently functioning normally although I will do some more testing yesterday. CALLIOPE: Did you spend your whole day at it again? JOE: Not entirely. Our neighbors suffered the loss of a family member. Carol baked some brownies and I took them over. CALLIOPE: Did you know the neighbors? JOE: Just a nodding acquaintance. I had never had a conversation with them. CALLIOPE: And yesterday? JOE: They invited me to sit with them on their veranda and we spent quite a bit of pleasant time together. CALLIOPE: Was there a lesson there for you? JOE: Yes. I realized that the whole point of working on my website was to communicate with people. I became lost in the technology for a while and lost sight of the purpose. CALLIOPE: Good realization. JOE: I think so. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: I feel like I just landed on my magic carpet after a Magical Mystery Tour. CALLIOPE: Tell me more. JOE: My adventure with Dreamweaver took me into twists and turns I never expected. CALLIOPE: How did your website turn out? JOE: Basic, but I'm pleased with the results. CALLIOPE: Is it ready for publication? JOE: I'm not quite sure. I haven't finished examining the code. I also need to test the links and take the site for a trial flight. Hopefully I won't find anything untoward but you never know with new adventures. CALLIOPE: Was the project as difficult as you expected? JOE: No. I knew I would be swimming in deep water. Yesterday I tackled navigation and hyperlinks which went much better than I thought they would. CALLIOPE: I'm looking forward to seeing the final product. JOE: So am I. But I want to make sure it is in proper form before posting it. CALLIOPE: Does it have everything you wanted? JOE: No, but the basics are there and I want to get the site up in basic form first. Then I'll work on refinements. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are Dreamweaver and your website coming along? JOE: I'm making progress and will let you know when it's finished. CALLIOPE: Sounds like you have something else on your mind this morning. JOE: I do. Reading the paper earlier about all the posturing and infighting in Washington and Albany, I recalled the saying, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." CALLIOPE: I remember the saying. What was the context? JOE: I wondered that myself. It turns out that John Acton said it in response to Pope Pius IX promulgating the dogma of papal infallibility. CALLIOPE: I didn't realize that. JOE: Neither did I. But it fit right in with my thoughts about our legislatures. CALLIOPE: How so? JOE: They were elected to serve their constituents but now the New York State and Federal legislators both appear too busy with their power struggles to get anything done for the public benefit. CALLIOPE: That's a pessimistic conclusion for you to express. JOE: I agree. I try to see the positive in any situation, but I'm still looking in this case. CALLIOPE: Do you suppose it's another of life's mysteries? JOE: I suppose so. But somehow I have trouble letting it go at that. 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.