I wish to inform the general public that the first copy of The Summer of Pomba Gira has been sold! Hurray! For those of you wishing to purchase your very own copy, it may be found at www.Xlibris.com under their bookstore. Type in The Summer of Pomba Gira and you should find it.
Dear blog reader, should you not know what Pomba Gira means, and decide to google it, rest assured that it is not a book with any pornographic elements. Unless of course, that's your thing, in which case, forget what I wrote and go for it. For those wondering why Pomba Gira is in any way associated with American Indians, customarily she is not, it's just that there are two plots in the book, and she relates to one of these plotlines.
Should you purchase the book and dislike it, the cover art of the book may be cut out and retained, being suitable for framing. Should you decidedly hate it, the back cover photo of me may easily be mounted on the dart board of your choice for future entertainment. I believe that the interior pages may well be appropriate for fireplace kindling. Therefore, your investment of $20 should not go to waste. $5 of it (all author royalties) go to two American Indian organizations, and with the lovely photo, dartboard entertainment and fireplace kindling, I believe you will have ample return on your investment. Besides, recycling is the way to go.
If you purchase the book, read it and like it, all the better. Contact me and we can set up our own Pomba Gira party, I can give you ideas of how to invest back in communities and causes you love, or I can simply encourage you to complete the writing project you're working on.
Have a wonderful New Year!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
How to Host a Pomba Gira Party
Okay, now seriously, Pomba Gira wouldn't be someone to mock or take lightly, nor would I recommend actually petitioning her for help unless you became well versed in what that would entail. In no way do we want to go prancing around messing with a perfectly wonderful and culturally different spiritual practice. It just wouldn't be nice.
That being said, I think many times there are ways to honor the essence of something good from another's respective culture without making a mockery of it. Of course, as soon as I type this, there are a hundred great examples of where this is a slippery slope. I'll let you in on my thought process and where it went..."hmmm, US Constitution and government borrowing from the Iroquois Confederacy....no, no, that only works if they'd also afforded the Iroquois at the time of said borrowing/adoption the same rights under the law that they held themselves so dear....bad example....mhmmm...." Where have I heard this before, this idea of taking something without making a mockery of it? Oh yes, the inipi or sweatlodge ceremonies of the Lakota. Suddenly, people who weren't trained in it were running around putting up do-it-yourself sweats, and claiming to be honoring the essence of it...what might that be called? Cultural misappropriation.
I'm such a tease. It's all been a lead in to being able to discuss cultural misappropriation. It would be so much easier if we could just have a Pomba Gira party and be done with it! Cultural misappropriation is when something of another's culture, particularly the tools and practices associated with it, are taken out of context, stolen away with in the night, and claimed by others to have the right to do it or practice it. However, typically when this happens, it ends up being a one dimensional mockery of what was otherwise a deeply meaningful and essential part of the culture in which it originated.
Rather, perhaps throw a party in honor of all of your female friends. Invite them all over, pamper them and treat them right. Have some great music, some nice chocolate, some excellent coffee, or your beverage of choice, and make it a point to remind them that it's all right to hope, that their dreams are important, that they are valuable as people. Encourage them to begin to think this way themselves. Don't weigh them with your baggage, but each of you help one another lower that weight to the ground for just a little while. Let them encourage you to think this way yourself. Have an all out ball! Maybe bring flowers for each other, or write each other notes of gratitude, or together write notes of commitment to your dreams. Share in projects, crafts, create something together! Nothing formulaic is ever fun. Let it be an organic process, let the spirit move you. Be grateful for those that do.
Did I mention that chocolate fountains can be a serious uplifter to the world-weary female of today?
That being said, I think many times there are ways to honor the essence of something good from another's respective culture without making a mockery of it. Of course, as soon as I type this, there are a hundred great examples of where this is a slippery slope. I'll let you in on my thought process and where it went..."hmmm, US Constitution and government borrowing from the Iroquois Confederacy....no, no, that only works if they'd also afforded the Iroquois at the time of said borrowing/adoption the same rights under the law that they held themselves so dear....bad example....mhmmm...." Where have I heard this before, this idea of taking something without making a mockery of it? Oh yes, the inipi or sweatlodge ceremonies of the Lakota. Suddenly, people who weren't trained in it were running around putting up do-it-yourself sweats, and claiming to be honoring the essence of it...what might that be called? Cultural misappropriation.
I'm such a tease. It's all been a lead in to being able to discuss cultural misappropriation. It would be so much easier if we could just have a Pomba Gira party and be done with it! Cultural misappropriation is when something of another's culture, particularly the tools and practices associated with it, are taken out of context, stolen away with in the night, and claimed by others to have the right to do it or practice it. However, typically when this happens, it ends up being a one dimensional mockery of what was otherwise a deeply meaningful and essential part of the culture in which it originated.
Rather, perhaps throw a party in honor of all of your female friends. Invite them all over, pamper them and treat them right. Have some great music, some nice chocolate, some excellent coffee, or your beverage of choice, and make it a point to remind them that it's all right to hope, that their dreams are important, that they are valuable as people. Encourage them to begin to think this way themselves. Don't weigh them with your baggage, but each of you help one another lower that weight to the ground for just a little while. Let them encourage you to think this way yourself. Have an all out ball! Maybe bring flowers for each other, or write each other notes of gratitude, or together write notes of commitment to your dreams. Share in projects, crafts, create something together! Nothing formulaic is ever fun. Let it be an organic process, let the spirit move you. Be grateful for those that do.
Did I mention that chocolate fountains can be a serious uplifter to the world-weary female of today?
Monday, December 28, 2009
Like a pregnancy, only a little more macabre
Each step I go along this journey to self-publish The Summer of Pomba Gira feels uneasily like the third trimester of a pregnancy. I feel heavy and wishing this phase was just over and done with. This is coupled by an uneasy feeling that my baby might emerge with three heads, two of which didn't show up on the ultrasound. I feel as ill-equipped for this authorship thing as I did for motherhood. Will I be ready? What will happen? Will it change my life forever? Will my readers like it, get it, or will they be hurtling tomatoes at me in the streets?
I'm reminded of this great episode of Northern Exposure, called Thanksgiving. In it, the local Native people have developed a tradition of throwing tomatoes at the white people. Joel, an outsider to the tradition, gets hit with a few and is indignant, wants to know why. They explain that tomatoes look like blood but don't hurt anybody, and it's better than tire irons.
On my better days, I imagine it will be a best-seller (ha!) and that I'll get calls to be interviewed by all of the major network news hounds. Of course, I will eschew them all, Oprah or Anderson Cooper, in favor of going on the Jerry Springer show so long as no one in the audience brings tomatoes. No, seriously, I'll give an exclusive interview to Geraldo Rivera, because he's not gotten to break a big expose story since the days when he was live on TV and he said he'd find the hidden treasure of the gangsters, but instead found an empty room. That's got to suck, so I'd give him the opportunity to break the great news story.
On the ultimate fantasy days (as if Geraldo just weren't enough!), somebody reads the book and decides it would make a great movie. They buy the movie rights and opening night is in Brazil (read it and you'll know why, read it especially if you're a movie maker) and I get to fly over to Brazil for the opening, where their tomatoes are much softer. In that version, when it opens in Hollywood, I get to make a request of who sits with me at dinner, and it would be Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie.
More fun than that, though, the whole thing takes over like wildfire, with women all over hosting Pomba Gira parties for each other! Maybe I'll post what you'll need to do your own Pomba Gira party someday. The major players will want advertising associated with the movie. Except I somehow don't imagine a Burger King glass set coming out of this book. I'd probably pay money to see that happen. The one great fortune of writing a book this way out there is that there is NO WAY Disney will ever touch it.
Like pregnancy, this feels much like exposure, and therefore vulnerability. I've got a semi-normal little life, or at least, I float that idea out there for the general viewing public. I have a career and a family and my own little quirky bubble of reality that's changed when you give birth to a three headed child. That sort of thing happens.
I think my mother was right, I should have been a casino dealer. That was her career aspiration for me, which she astutely cultivated right around the time I was old enough to write. It was her subtle hint, I expect. I completely dashed her hopes and went an entirely different career route, but ultimately, one safer than writing.
My not-nearly-so-good days customarily come after re-reading the story, after drilling it into my head, as it were. On those days, I consider the NDN community reaction and I think: silence. Most people wouldn't view silence as anything terrifying, but this kind of silence I know, and I know full well what it means. This isn't the silence of peace and solitude, but a deafening silence, veritable fjords of silence. This is the silence of "you are dead to us" because of breaking the unspoken taboo.
There's a Cherokee story of the Uktena I've been thinking about for the better part of two years. I suspect it's part of some mid-life crisis I'm encountering, dancing with my shadow and experientially re-creating Jung's individuation process. The Uktena was a serpent created of magic to kill the Sun, except that it failed in that duty and went on to terrorize the Cherokee people. It was said to have the body of a snake, except it was the diameter of a tree trunk. It had antlers on it's head, wings that enabled it to fly - since it couldn't be easily categorized, it belonged to the three worlds, above, this and below, and therefore was something to be avoided. That and to approach it could cause madness, as it would seep its thoughts deep into your head and convince you that your family had been destroyed.
So, there are many versions of the Uktena story, but the one I keep coming back to is where the Shawano medicine man is captured by the Cherokee people. They want to kill him, but he convinces them instead to let him go after the Uktena. He does this, and it's a really long story, so I won't get into it here- but he brings back from them a glowing crystal that was in the center of it's head, and he's allowed to live and stay among the Cherokee. The crystal is said to bring great prosperity to the people. The remainder of the story doesn't focus on the great prosperity of the people and what that looked like, and it's only recently, in this third trimester pregnancy of the book about to be birthed, that I thought about how odd that is.
The rest of the story goes on to talk about how the Shawano comes back with a small snake with glowing red eyes growing out of his head. It never sleeps, even when he does, it's awake even after he dies and they bury him. The people, upon seeing this snake growing out of dude's head when he returns, they kind of avoid him, keep a respectful distance, but are rightfully just a wee bit afraid of him. They say it came about because one drop of blood of the Uktena crossed the fire line and touched him on the head, and that the snake sprang forth from that.
As I said, for two years I've mulled this story over, and typically consider the whole snake growing out of the head thing as a cautionary tale, don't go up against some seriously wicked magic, because it's just not worth it. No good deed goes unpunished. However, it struck me as odd that the story focuses on this and not the prosperity of the Cherokee people that ensued after the Uktena was defeated. Granted now, that would stick out in people's memory, but it's a teaching story, isn't it? Or it could be.
Then it occurred to me today, that the reason the Shawano had a snake growing out of his head at all was because he faced off with something the people themselves wouldn't. He was touched by the blood of something, had a direct experience of something that was terrifying and awful, which he battled and overcame. Like all of our direct experiences, something like that makes its mark on us. The Cherokee of old would have known this, understood it perhaps better than we do today. So why fear it so greatly? I'll delve into the realm of speculation here - that glowing eyed snake growing out of his head served as a constant reminder to them of the battle they elected not to go into themselves that day.
Putting it back to my experience of writing and publishing this story, there's not a lot in it I haven't experienced myself, although the story concepts are metaphors for the experiences I've had. I've fought a lot of personal, internal demons or monsters - faced off with them and on some level, feel I've won, and if that leaves it's mark as a snake growing out of my head in the form of a novel called The Summer of Pomba Gira, then so be it. The only difference here is that no one asked me to go into that battle, I did it all on my own. However, some of the themes of it are relevant to more people than just me. So if the story is the snake growing out of my head, and people distance themselves from me for it out of distain or fear, it won't change the fact that the glowing red eyes will remain alert, when I sleep. It won't go away once I die, the slow death of community silence or otherwise. Perhaps that little snake in the original story was to serve as a reminder of the battles we elect not to face in our own lives. No one likes to see someone's fought a battle they've yet to fight, heard they've gone the places they've yet to go, and certainly, don't remind us of it with the snake growing out of your head presence!
This is no bragging rights moment here, I don't mean it in any holier-than-thou way. I mean it as a call to action. When I re-read and drill into my head the aspects of the story I imagine would be most likely to offend, hit a community nerve and cause drama in my staid little life, it's around really serious topics: Internalized racism, internalized sexism, substance abuse, trauma, cross cultural interaction and communication, what historical injustices we've had done to us, and what we've let it do to us, family conflict, letting our stories die, etc. If even one of those is your/our Uktena, go head to head with it and come out of it alive, little snake growing out of your head or not in the end. Don't let it terrorize you, and don't slam or silence to death those who've decided to go for the challenge.
I'm reminded of this great episode of Northern Exposure, called Thanksgiving. In it, the local Native people have developed a tradition of throwing tomatoes at the white people. Joel, an outsider to the tradition, gets hit with a few and is indignant, wants to know why. They explain that tomatoes look like blood but don't hurt anybody, and it's better than tire irons.
On my better days, I imagine it will be a best-seller (ha!) and that I'll get calls to be interviewed by all of the major network news hounds. Of course, I will eschew them all, Oprah or Anderson Cooper, in favor of going on the Jerry Springer show so long as no one in the audience brings tomatoes. No, seriously, I'll give an exclusive interview to Geraldo Rivera, because he's not gotten to break a big expose story since the days when he was live on TV and he said he'd find the hidden treasure of the gangsters, but instead found an empty room. That's got to suck, so I'd give him the opportunity to break the great news story.
On the ultimate fantasy days (as if Geraldo just weren't enough!), somebody reads the book and decides it would make a great movie. They buy the movie rights and opening night is in Brazil (read it and you'll know why, read it especially if you're a movie maker) and I get to fly over to Brazil for the opening, where their tomatoes are much softer. In that version, when it opens in Hollywood, I get to make a request of who sits with me at dinner, and it would be Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie.
More fun than that, though, the whole thing takes over like wildfire, with women all over hosting Pomba Gira parties for each other! Maybe I'll post what you'll need to do your own Pomba Gira party someday. The major players will want advertising associated with the movie. Except I somehow don't imagine a Burger King glass set coming out of this book. I'd probably pay money to see that happen. The one great fortune of writing a book this way out there is that there is NO WAY Disney will ever touch it.
Like pregnancy, this feels much like exposure, and therefore vulnerability. I've got a semi-normal little life, or at least, I float that idea out there for the general viewing public. I have a career and a family and my own little quirky bubble of reality that's changed when you give birth to a three headed child. That sort of thing happens.
I think my mother was right, I should have been a casino dealer. That was her career aspiration for me, which she astutely cultivated right around the time I was old enough to write. It was her subtle hint, I expect. I completely dashed her hopes and went an entirely different career route, but ultimately, one safer than writing.
My not-nearly-so-good days customarily come after re-reading the story, after drilling it into my head, as it were. On those days, I consider the NDN community reaction and I think: silence. Most people wouldn't view silence as anything terrifying, but this kind of silence I know, and I know full well what it means. This isn't the silence of peace and solitude, but a deafening silence, veritable fjords of silence. This is the silence of "you are dead to us" because of breaking the unspoken taboo.
There's a Cherokee story of the Uktena I've been thinking about for the better part of two years. I suspect it's part of some mid-life crisis I'm encountering, dancing with my shadow and experientially re-creating Jung's individuation process. The Uktena was a serpent created of magic to kill the Sun, except that it failed in that duty and went on to terrorize the Cherokee people. It was said to have the body of a snake, except it was the diameter of a tree trunk. It had antlers on it's head, wings that enabled it to fly - since it couldn't be easily categorized, it belonged to the three worlds, above, this and below, and therefore was something to be avoided. That and to approach it could cause madness, as it would seep its thoughts deep into your head and convince you that your family had been destroyed.
So, there are many versions of the Uktena story, but the one I keep coming back to is where the Shawano medicine man is captured by the Cherokee people. They want to kill him, but he convinces them instead to let him go after the Uktena. He does this, and it's a really long story, so I won't get into it here- but he brings back from them a glowing crystal that was in the center of it's head, and he's allowed to live and stay among the Cherokee. The crystal is said to bring great prosperity to the people. The remainder of the story doesn't focus on the great prosperity of the people and what that looked like, and it's only recently, in this third trimester pregnancy of the book about to be birthed, that I thought about how odd that is.
The rest of the story goes on to talk about how the Shawano comes back with a small snake with glowing red eyes growing out of his head. It never sleeps, even when he does, it's awake even after he dies and they bury him. The people, upon seeing this snake growing out of dude's head when he returns, they kind of avoid him, keep a respectful distance, but are rightfully just a wee bit afraid of him. They say it came about because one drop of blood of the Uktena crossed the fire line and touched him on the head, and that the snake sprang forth from that.
As I said, for two years I've mulled this story over, and typically consider the whole snake growing out of the head thing as a cautionary tale, don't go up against some seriously wicked magic, because it's just not worth it. No good deed goes unpunished. However, it struck me as odd that the story focuses on this and not the prosperity of the Cherokee people that ensued after the Uktena was defeated. Granted now, that would stick out in people's memory, but it's a teaching story, isn't it? Or it could be.
Then it occurred to me today, that the reason the Shawano had a snake growing out of his head at all was because he faced off with something the people themselves wouldn't. He was touched by the blood of something, had a direct experience of something that was terrifying and awful, which he battled and overcame. Like all of our direct experiences, something like that makes its mark on us. The Cherokee of old would have known this, understood it perhaps better than we do today. So why fear it so greatly? I'll delve into the realm of speculation here - that glowing eyed snake growing out of his head served as a constant reminder to them of the battle they elected not to go into themselves that day.
Putting it back to my experience of writing and publishing this story, there's not a lot in it I haven't experienced myself, although the story concepts are metaphors for the experiences I've had. I've fought a lot of personal, internal demons or monsters - faced off with them and on some level, feel I've won, and if that leaves it's mark as a snake growing out of my head in the form of a novel called The Summer of Pomba Gira, then so be it. The only difference here is that no one asked me to go into that battle, I did it all on my own. However, some of the themes of it are relevant to more people than just me. So if the story is the snake growing out of my head, and people distance themselves from me for it out of distain or fear, it won't change the fact that the glowing red eyes will remain alert, when I sleep. It won't go away once I die, the slow death of community silence or otherwise. Perhaps that little snake in the original story was to serve as a reminder of the battles we elect not to face in our own lives. No one likes to see someone's fought a battle they've yet to fight, heard they've gone the places they've yet to go, and certainly, don't remind us of it with the snake growing out of your head presence!
This is no bragging rights moment here, I don't mean it in any holier-than-thou way. I mean it as a call to action. When I re-read and drill into my head the aspects of the story I imagine would be most likely to offend, hit a community nerve and cause drama in my staid little life, it's around really serious topics: Internalized racism, internalized sexism, substance abuse, trauma, cross cultural interaction and communication, what historical injustices we've had done to us, and what we've let it do to us, family conflict, letting our stories die, etc. If even one of those is your/our Uktena, go head to head with it and come out of it alive, little snake growing out of your head or not in the end. Don't let it terrorize you, and don't slam or silence to death those who've decided to go for the challenge.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
News on The Summer of Pomba Gira
I've submitted everything to Xlibris now for The Summer of Pomba Gira. I decided to donate all author royalties from the sale of the book to two American Indian organizations. Someone inspired me by his example, so I decided that's what I want to do. It's nice to be inspired by someone. I got word back that I didn't win the Esquire short story contest, and will they be kicking themselves when I'm a famous author - LOL.
Seriously, though, I'd like to see where this goes. I've never self-published before, and technically, it's really print-on-demand. Also known as vanity publishing. I'm unapologetic about it, because it wasn't really about the vanity aspect for me, as much as it was seeing something through from start to finish and feeling good with the process. I gave some thoughts and a few half-hearted attempts, to secure a literary agent, but what I write isn't what necessarily sells. I recognize that and respect it, and actually like that about myself. I didn't write it to be popular or liked or make money off of it. I just wrote things that interested me, and came to know myself a little better through the process of resolution and completion. Only to start it all over again with the sequel I'm writing now.
Seriously, though, I'd like to see where this goes. I've never self-published before, and technically, it's really print-on-demand. Also known as vanity publishing. I'm unapologetic about it, because it wasn't really about the vanity aspect for me, as much as it was seeing something through from start to finish and feeling good with the process. I gave some thoughts and a few half-hearted attempts, to secure a literary agent, but what I write isn't what necessarily sells. I recognize that and respect it, and actually like that about myself. I didn't write it to be popular or liked or make money off of it. I just wrote things that interested me, and came to know myself a little better through the process of resolution and completion. Only to start it all over again with the sequel I'm writing now.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Updates on writing projects
There's a neat new compilation coming out called "Dogs Have 10 Lives" that I've got a story in. I'm not quite sure when it's being published, but I'll be sure to let everyone know when I do. I've also set out to self-publish The Summer of Pomba Gira with Xlibris and hope to have it done before the summer of 2010. I've finished the draft of The Vigil, and will be seeking out a publisher for that one once I'm done with revisions. In the meantime, I've started work on a sequel to The Summer of Pomba Gira, called Ogoun on Michigan Avenue. I've been inspired recently by the work of Hermann Hesse, and I think it will influence the manner in which the character development flows. I'm still waiting to see if a submission I made to Esquire for a contest wins or not. I'm hoping it would, because I think it would move these writing projects along quite nicely if it did.
People might want to know what I'm reading lately. I've been reading A Warriors Life, which is the biography of Paulo Coelho, one of my favorite authors. I'm jumping between Demian and The Fairy Tales, both by Hermann Hesse. I've begun to re-read some Robert Conley novels. He's another of my favorite authors. I just finished reading Push Not the River by James Conroyd Martin. That was a very good novel that I'd recommend.
I'd say in terms of influence on my writing, Hesse and Coelho would be current influences. However, in the past I'd say it was Louise Erdrich's novels that were a strong influence. The thing about writing is, you can't rely upon following the style of another, otherwise you lose the creative process.
People might want to know what I'm reading lately. I've been reading A Warriors Life, which is the biography of Paulo Coelho, one of my favorite authors. I'm jumping between Demian and The Fairy Tales, both by Hermann Hesse. I've begun to re-read some Robert Conley novels. He's another of my favorite authors. I just finished reading Push Not the River by James Conroyd Martin. That was a very good novel that I'd recommend.
I'd say in terms of influence on my writing, Hesse and Coelho would be current influences. However, in the past I'd say it was Louise Erdrich's novels that were a strong influence. The thing about writing is, you can't rely upon following the style of another, otherwise you lose the creative process.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Almost done with first draft!
I'm working on chapter 25 now of the 28 chapter book. It's been speeding right along, as far as first drafts go. I've been checking out options for once it's finalized in December and publication ready. One option is to try to find a literary agent, although some estimates I've found say it takes a year and a half from finding one to actual print. The primary trouble I have with this relates to publisher use of materials that aren't recycled. I could go with print on demand, but that's also an issue. I found a printer who uses 100 percent recycled materials if requested, and is powered by wind energy. As The Vigil is (in part) about climate change and the polar bears, it's important to me to be as consistent as possible and use materials that do not adversely impact the planet. So I may go that route when the time comes. Another option is to go the ebook route.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Writing
I've been busy writing without really hitting any blocks, so I'm up to chapter 16 now! I'm writing at home, on the train, on the bus...if I could write while I sleep, I probably would. I think I'm on schedule for finishing this by Fall Equinox!!!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Short story submission
I've been thinking I'll submit the original version of The Vigil for a short story contest. I'm enroute, as it were, to converting it over to a novel, but it can't hurt to try. Thus far I've submitted two inquiry letters to literary agents for The Summer of Pomba Gira, and received rejection emails. I've considered converting that story over to novella length and submitting it for a novella contest. It's easier to write something for a particular venue than to cut parts out of it once it's been written, I"m finding. I'd submitted a 600 word short for an NPR contest but didn't win it. It was a comedy piece to be read over the air (presuming one wins!) but writing humor isn't really my thing.
It will all happen eventually, it's just a matter of trying, refining the art, becoming accustomed to the medium from the reader's perspective, I think. I'm used to writing what interests me and I understand what interests me. I think that's problematic, because it assumes that the reader also knows what I'm talking about, which isn't always the case.
It will all happen eventually, it's just a matter of trying, refining the art, becoming accustomed to the medium from the reader's perspective, I think. I'm used to writing what interests me and I understand what interests me. I think that's problematic, because it assumes that the reader also knows what I'm talking about, which isn't always the case.
A-Writing-We-Shall-Go!
I've written three new chapters now. Some I write on public transportation, others in the evenings. I've been handwriting it all and that's taken some adapting. On the one hand, I think and write quickly, but it's hard not to be able to do immediate cut and paste when an idea hits. I'm getting into it, though, and it's making my train ride go by at lightening speed! I'm contemplating this might be a book for a teen audience, although I originally began it for an adult audience. There are a number of deep themes in it, but I think that our youth are really smart and deep and would resonate with some of it.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Senses Assaulted by Sketchy Media When Home Sick
I was home sick today and casually ping-ponged between Fox News and CNN, hoping to get up to date news. I don't know why I do this to myself. I was watching the story regarding the young woman who'd converted to Christianity and run away from home out of alleged fear that her parents would kill her, because they are devout Muslim. Fox News had it running most of the day. Almost nothing on CNN. The question at hand was if she was going to be returned immediately to her family in Ohio, or be allowed to remain in Florida. Yesterday, when I first heard of the case, I emailed the Governor of Florida, requesting that she be allowed to stay in Florida until the matter is fully investigated.
I should mention, it's not like I've got any personal connection to the Governor of Florida, I just found his email and wrote. This morning, I received an email back from his representatives stating that the matter had been brought to court, and that the ruling was in favor of allowing the girl to remain in Florida DCFS custody for awhile. I leave my home computer and that's when the surreal time warp occurs, between my computer and watching Fox News on TV. Apparently, they didn't get or ignored the email, so busy were they reporting that they were tracking it closely, hoping the girl would be allowed to remain in Florida, etc. They continued to report for four hours after the email that they were awaiting word from the trial.
They're certainly not alone in the time warp problem. CNN had a report today about an alligator found in the Chicago River. As I live in the area, it's always of interest to me what might be lurking in the river, even out of morbid curiosity. So I googled it and discovered it was yesterdays news.
So how did this Middle Eastern girl's story not rank sufficient airtime on CNN? I wondered about if they have some kind of quota or formula for percentage of stories in a period of time that focus on Muslims? I know they had the special on Generation Islam and another very recently related to Muslims. Naw, they probably were probably doing their civic duty, warning the unsuspecting public of the dangers of an alligator who was removed yesterday.
I should have gone to my doctor and gotten some meds, because the time warp converted to a fantastical color discrepancy on my very TV. Fox News then showed the protesters of the Bush era, to contrast it to the protesters of the Obama era, and in the images they selected, all of the protesters against Bush that they selected appeared to be black, and all of the protesters against Obama appeared to be white. Now, I could be wrong, but it seems to me that there are many different people in America to film protesting something one or the other did, so why select images from the archives that way? It's very misleading to the viewing public and likely to ignite some very strong feelings of racial division across political lines. Do they do this to try to incite the people?
I would have thought I was imagining things, until they were showing film from Obama's candidacy, speaking to all black audiences, as if the only people who supported him were black. That was ridiculous. I recall learning that to make some of his initial public speaking engagements seemingly more diverse for the cameras, his people set the front row people up at times in order to ensure that diversity was demonstrated in the supporters. So why is the media doing this, unless it's to create a division among people in order to generate news later? You know its bad when you walk away from the TV feeling sympathy for the presidents facing the media as it is today.
I should mention, it's not like I've got any personal connection to the Governor of Florida, I just found his email and wrote. This morning, I received an email back from his representatives stating that the matter had been brought to court, and that the ruling was in favor of allowing the girl to remain in Florida DCFS custody for awhile. I leave my home computer and that's when the surreal time warp occurs, between my computer and watching Fox News on TV. Apparently, they didn't get or ignored the email, so busy were they reporting that they were tracking it closely, hoping the girl would be allowed to remain in Florida, etc. They continued to report for four hours after the email that they were awaiting word from the trial.
They're certainly not alone in the time warp problem. CNN had a report today about an alligator found in the Chicago River. As I live in the area, it's always of interest to me what might be lurking in the river, even out of morbid curiosity. So I googled it and discovered it was yesterdays news.
So how did this Middle Eastern girl's story not rank sufficient airtime on CNN? I wondered about if they have some kind of quota or formula for percentage of stories in a period of time that focus on Muslims? I know they had the special on Generation Islam and another very recently related to Muslims. Naw, they probably were probably doing their civic duty, warning the unsuspecting public of the dangers of an alligator who was removed yesterday.
I should have gone to my doctor and gotten some meds, because the time warp converted to a fantastical color discrepancy on my very TV. Fox News then showed the protesters of the Bush era, to contrast it to the protesters of the Obama era, and in the images they selected, all of the protesters against Bush that they selected appeared to be black, and all of the protesters against Obama appeared to be white. Now, I could be wrong, but it seems to me that there are many different people in America to film protesting something one or the other did, so why select images from the archives that way? It's very misleading to the viewing public and likely to ignite some very strong feelings of racial division across political lines. Do they do this to try to incite the people?
I would have thought I was imagining things, until they were showing film from Obama's candidacy, speaking to all black audiences, as if the only people who supported him were black. That was ridiculous. I recall learning that to make some of his initial public speaking engagements seemingly more diverse for the cameras, his people set the front row people up at times in order to ensure that diversity was demonstrated in the supporters. So why is the media doing this, unless it's to create a division among people in order to generate news later? You know its bad when you walk away from the TV feeling sympathy for the presidents facing the media as it is today.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Diversity Czar?
I've just discovered we've got Diversity Czar in the White House now. He thinks that cable channels and private radio stations ought to pay a penalty fee to be given to public channels and public radio stations if they don't meet his diversity criteria. If anyone knows what his diversity criteria is, can you let me know? Does it include religious, political, disability, ethnic, gender, or are we talking race?
I'm reminded lately of Ayn Rand's book "Atlas Shrugged." While not a big fan of her philosphy, she wrote many years ago, and the nonsense that is gong on in this country today almost parallels what she described in he novel.
Everyone is up in arms to blame someone lately. I was reading that the Obama-Joker picture that recently became famous generated a lot of controversy. People were saying it was "racist" and that someone "racist" must have done it. Interestingly, it was done by a Palestinian American young man in Chicago. He came out and said he did the art, but not the label "Socialism" under it. It takes courage to admit you did something like that, and I was really glad he did. It's also interesting to note that the media has latched onto that he is not white to dispel the idea that a "racist" did it.
In another media posting, closer to my heart, they talked about global warming. A professor came out with the idea that ancient man caused it, started it. That's well and good to blame people from thousands of years ago, except there were not a sufficient number of people on the planet to make as big an impact as we do now.
I'm reminded lately of Ayn Rand's book "Atlas Shrugged." While not a big fan of her philosphy, she wrote many years ago, and the nonsense that is gong on in this country today almost parallels what she described in he novel.
Everyone is up in arms to blame someone lately. I was reading that the Obama-Joker picture that recently became famous generated a lot of controversy. People were saying it was "racist" and that someone "racist" must have done it. Interestingly, it was done by a Palestinian American young man in Chicago. He came out and said he did the art, but not the label "Socialism" under it. It takes courage to admit you did something like that, and I was really glad he did. It's also interesting to note that the media has latched onto that he is not white to dispel the idea that a "racist" did it.
In another media posting, closer to my heart, they talked about global warming. A professor came out with the idea that ancient man caused it, started it. That's well and good to blame people from thousands of years ago, except there were not a sufficient number of people on the planet to make as big an impact as we do now.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Working on the story and more on the world
So I've got the chapter outlines and character development, it's now just a matter of writing the actual story. I'm going to be deep into the writing of it for 2-4 months. I've never written a story using an outline or knowing where it's going to go, so this ought to be interesting. I usually write in a stream of consciousness way. So when I need to cut loose and go there, I'll come here and post.
We seem to be in quite a state these days in America. A lot of energy around national healthcare issues. I was reading about the Canadian healthcare situation, and they were talking about how they want to fix their system to make it more efficient, and get doctors to communicate better and in a more centralized way. They also want it to go all electronic. I was reading this thinking, isn't this what we want, and we're looking to their system to obtain it? But they don't have it, either. Of course, it's never that simple.
We seem to be in quite a state these days in America. A lot of energy around national healthcare issues. I was reading about the Canadian healthcare situation, and they were talking about how they want to fix their system to make it more efficient, and get doctors to communicate better and in a more centralized way. They also want it to go all electronic. I was reading this thinking, isn't this what we want, and we're looking to their system to obtain it? But they don't have it, either. Of course, it's never that simple.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Create your own short story and post it here!
Take this image and create a short story, poem, whatever around it, blog it to me, could be fun! Be inspired! I hate those contests where they give you a title to work with - why not an image? So here it is. Go for it!
State of the world we are in
I was reading that the American Psychological Association's division on global warming discovered that the people who do not believe it is happening have several characteristics. They have a certain level of denial, a lack of information, and a sense of powerlessness over the outcome. I am hoping that The Vigil will begin to address these in a positive and helpful way. I've written the outline of the story, now it's just a matter of writing the novel.
I get the sense that it's less of powerlessness and more of being tired and uninspired. Frustrated. When we get that way, it's really easy to feel disempowered. One challenge I'd put out for any reader is the political science idea that no one can have power over you unless you give them the authority to do so. While there are flaws in that statement, I'd suggest thinking about who authority was given to in your mind in an aspect of your life in which you feel disempowered. Just a thought.
It's August now and I'm giving myself a deadline to get the novel written by Fall Equinox. I'm great with making deadlines, and expect that this will be no exception. If we had deadlines related to when we would find answers for and address global warming, not just nationally, but across all humans, I think we'd be much further along than we are.
On a side note, I've been invited to submit writings for two upcoming compilations which will be published later this year. Very exciting! I intend to burn the midnight oil on these and the novel. In my case, it will be lime scented candles. I've got a thing for limes.
I get the sense that it's less of powerlessness and more of being tired and uninspired. Frustrated. When we get that way, it's really easy to feel disempowered. One challenge I'd put out for any reader is the political science idea that no one can have power over you unless you give them the authority to do so. While there are flaws in that statement, I'd suggest thinking about who authority was given to in your mind in an aspect of your life in which you feel disempowered. Just a thought.
It's August now and I'm giving myself a deadline to get the novel written by Fall Equinox. I'm great with making deadlines, and expect that this will be no exception. If we had deadlines related to when we would find answers for and address global warming, not just nationally, but across all humans, I think we'd be much further along than we are.
On a side note, I've been invited to submit writings for two upcoming compilations which will be published later this year. Very exciting! I intend to burn the midnight oil on these and the novel. In my case, it will be lime scented candles. I've got a thing for limes.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Dreams and Memories
I woke at 4:30 in the morning today, with the dream of a friend who'd passed still fresh in my head. I'm going to the Library of Congress today, to register myself as a reseacher. Apparently I need to proclaim myself as this in order to view things that they have. A collection of memories in the form of the written word. I feel myself to be more curious than anything, and would prefer to register myself as something other than a researcher, but there's not that option. Very typical in the American government system, that they pre-emptively define the parameters for you, then let you choose to accept those parameters or not.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Travels
I've been traveling and not writing, although the ideas are spinning through my head. Saw a fantastic exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian, of an artist who really impressed me. It was not so much his style that did it, but his integrity. He was consistently who he was. Fritz Scholder. He allowed his art to flow from his life in the moment. That is what I'd like my writing to do, and often, it does. In one series of images, he made skull images with spilled Coke and his own blood, on hotel memo note paper. It's provocative, fleeting, and something I will never personally do. I'd be too afraid they'd figure out a way to use my DNA and re-create me at some moment in the future when wearing polyester would be mandatory.
In a way, though, I completely understand it. From what it said beside the art, his health was in decline and he was facing his own mortality. Every moment that we exhale, we ought to be contemplating our own mortality, but denial kicks in and we go blissfully in the direction of thinking about something mundane.
In a way, though, I completely understand it. From what it said beside the art, his health was in decline and he was facing his own mortality. Every moment that we exhale, we ought to be contemplating our own mortality, but denial kicks in and we go blissfully in the direction of thinking about something mundane.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Submitted a story for a contest
So I've gone and done it now. I submitted a story for an Esquire contest. Never done that before, but then, lately there have been a lot of things like that popping up.
I have a non-fiction piece that I wrote that doesn't fit a particular market - The whole idea of writing needing to fit a particular market is somewhat offensive. I consider writing a form of art. Art just is what it is, and on some level, the integrity of that needs to be respected.
I was talking with a friend the other day about the whirlwind of controversy one of my stories is likely to generate. I don't like controversy and don't write for that purpose. Yet I can see it coming on the horizon. She said to me that "Art is Controversy." Or maybe I imagined that she said it, because it's what I wanted to hear?
I used to write when I was a kid, because I enjoyed doing it. Then I stopped, because the more people told me I was good at it, the less of a challenge it became for me. Instead, I took a different path. It's been quite an adventure up to now, and I've grown and learned a lot along the way. I find myself having come full circle and writing again.
I enjoy writing for the sport of it, but I don't want it to become a contact sport. I'm all about the refinement of manifesting a concept into characterizations and dialogue. Perhaps my writing never had been art before, until it became controversial and stirred up folks emotions.
Today at my regular challenging job, someone was talking about The Secret and the idea of the Law of Attraction. A small group of us debated if we believed in that or not. I fully believe in it, but I don't feel that I like the way in which it was packaged for a market. If memory serves me from when I read the book, it talked about attracting to oneself power, success and money. Of course, it was marketed that way on some level, because what sells is the idea of people getting those things.
Maybe my anticipation of controversy is related to the Law of Attraction. So I could go hide myself in a fox hole or get on with the idea and face off with it like the great warrior I am.
I have a non-fiction piece that I wrote that doesn't fit a particular market - The whole idea of writing needing to fit a particular market is somewhat offensive. I consider writing a form of art. Art just is what it is, and on some level, the integrity of that needs to be respected.
I was talking with a friend the other day about the whirlwind of controversy one of my stories is likely to generate. I don't like controversy and don't write for that purpose. Yet I can see it coming on the horizon. She said to me that "Art is Controversy." Or maybe I imagined that she said it, because it's what I wanted to hear?
I used to write when I was a kid, because I enjoyed doing it. Then I stopped, because the more people told me I was good at it, the less of a challenge it became for me. Instead, I took a different path. It's been quite an adventure up to now, and I've grown and learned a lot along the way. I find myself having come full circle and writing again.
I enjoy writing for the sport of it, but I don't want it to become a contact sport. I'm all about the refinement of manifesting a concept into characterizations and dialogue. Perhaps my writing never had been art before, until it became controversial and stirred up folks emotions.
Today at my regular challenging job, someone was talking about The Secret and the idea of the Law of Attraction. A small group of us debated if we believed in that or not. I fully believe in it, but I don't feel that I like the way in which it was packaged for a market. If memory serves me from when I read the book, it talked about attracting to oneself power, success and money. Of course, it was marketed that way on some level, because what sells is the idea of people getting those things.
Maybe my anticipation of controversy is related to the Law of Attraction. So I could go hide myself in a fox hole or get on with the idea and face off with it like the great warrior I am.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
The Summer of Pomba Gira
I've written a novel about two Chicago families and I'm going to have it published this year. It's so off the beaten path that I can't fix it into a gendre so I may self-publish it and be done with it. The story is related to empowerment, substance abuse, teenagers, internalized sexism, internalized racism, spiritual intercessions and relationships. I think that I will dedicate this novel to the memory of my parents.
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