-Hermann Hesse
So the question de jour:
"Is political in-correctness, only a good way to rationalize rude behavior; by giving it an official name? What does the role of political in-correctness play in the evolution of societies? Why are people that make us look at 'normal' things in 'weird ways' such a pain in the arse? Shouldn't we just discredit and run those kind of people off? You know, just let us wallow in vanilla crème? Can't they just shut up, and enjoy the American Delusion?" (Opps! That's a few questions! ;-)
Some uppity smart people once proclaimed:
"When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation." (hint: The Declaration of Independence)
Then, later on, some equally clever....but less connected....person proclaimed:
"Welcome to Wombat-land!" (hint: Lisa ;-)
During the course of my recent mis-adventures through a 4,000 mile drive through our fair country (and Canada; which is sort of the United States these daiz ;-), I had the opportunity to camp alongside a former self proclaimed Hippie. Puzzled by the apparent abdication of the 'hippie left' to the 'establishment' I asked him many questions.....
"So, Alan, they said my car would be fixed in a few days!"
"That's wonderful, Patrick. Where did the find the parts? It's hard enough to find parts for my BMW at home, and yet out here in the wilderness of Promised Land, Pennsylvania they can get you parts that fast? I'm impressed."
"I told them to cannibalize your car......but I thought you'd get upset. So they are sending a new alternator via UPS......from Auto Zone, no less."
"Oh, you shouldn't use anything but BMW parts, Patrick......its just not done!"
"Don't worry; I'll live with the consequences, Alan. Mine isn't all nice and shiny new like yours.....it has almost 165,000 miles on it. It's a beater. I bought it used, and will just run it into the ground."
"How distasteful, Patrick...."
"Yeah, ok. So, tell me Alan; what happened to "free love," the "Age of Aquarius," and "down with the evil establishment?"
"Oh, its still there. We are just into other things. I'm into 'sustainability technologies' now. That's why we didn't have kids; we felt it was a huge waste of resources to raise a kid. I bought a PC store when they first came out, and kinda got rich. Then I did telecom internet access at a high level until 9-11; that was a wake up call, of what I was spending my life doing.....so I changed. I left Manhattan after that. My wife is a Mac expert."
"What did you say, Alan? I could hardly hear you over the music on your boom box."
"Isn't it great!? I have so many rock concerts to catch up on. My wife and I go to all the music festivals we can. Those we can't, and most concerts, we send people to tape the music; and I listen to them when I can. Like on this few days here alone in nature!"
"Well, it kinda spoils the quiet environment we have here in the rustic area of the park; but it's interesting. What band is that playing now?"
"The Grateful Dead. Yeah, this is a nice place in the park.....been coming here for 40 years, every year like clock work."
"No way, they have to be Really dead by now."
"Nope, but close...."
"I was trying to hear what you were saying about sustainable technologies, but the music....."
"Damn! I wish my Winnebago camper wasn't broken. This tent camping is for the birds!"
"Alan, I was just....."
"My back is killing me, sleeping on the ground like this!"
"But, Alan....can I..."
"Want another beer, Patrick? Hey, since you are all Buddhisty; did you take that Chinese train into Lhasa yet? They had a great article in "WIRED" magazine on that engineering feat."
"Don't start me on that ecological and cultural nightmare of a project, Alan. You can read my response to the article in the September issue. I called it "Engineering Destruction."
"I am a charter member of WIRED, you know."
"But Alan, what do you think about......"
"That guitar riff is something else, eh? Want another beer?"
"Seriously Alan, you are avoiding any discussion of depth. What's up? What happened to all the rabble rousers? What happened to the "Woodstock" mentality?"
"You know, I've been to them all. The last one was a mess though. Doubt they will ever hold another one."
"What happened?"
"Well thousands of kids came, with stars in their eyes and about $100 in their pockets for a long weekend of concerts, free love, and fun. Like the old days.... But the organizers prohibited bringing anything into the fields, so they had to buy drinks and food all along....cuz you couldn't come and go. A real 'captive audience,' as it were. It was a hot and dry week, and they sold water for $4 a bottle, nasty little personal pizzas for $19, beers for $10 each, and so on. By the last day, the kids had had it.....and went on a rampage. They stole water, trashed the vendor's booths, and just made a mess. Ruined the whole thing."
"Damned kids! What-ever got into them?"
"I dunno. I just don't know what the world is coming to, Patrick. It just isn't like it used to be. Want another beer?
"No, I have to go look for firewood and get ready for dark. You were smart to bring yours."
"Yeah, bought half a cord. Just enough for 3 days, have it measured out just right."
"Well, I found enough for myself; but there is this cyclist guy with his wife and a little girl, and I told him to stop by and we'd help him out. It's late, getting cold and dark; and they need wood. Oh, here he comes."
"Dude, you got wood?"
"Uggh, yeah for you I do. Alan, you have any to spare?"
"No, just enough."
"Oh, ok. Well, come on to my site; I have some extra."
"Thanks, I really appreciate it."
"No problem. It's not right to leave folks cold and in the dark when you have something to help them. Right Alan?"
"Can't hear you Patrick, am really into this tune....Later, guy."
"Yeah, later...."
(End of transcript of aged hippie lost in material-land....suffering from internalized "Capitalist-pig-a-phobia."
Your computer screens will be returning to normal in a few minutes. Patrick gave up trying to get ex-hippie to see his 'new' real self)
Patrick's Invitation:
Welcome to the Twilight Zone of our present lives......help us try and figure out why it's so painful, and therefore unpalatable, for many folks to deal in reality. In Gather-land, like many places in our world, we Wombats try to persevere despite the growing sense of unreality. Our goal? To get published, be heard, and make positive changes in the world.....and to have a few drinks along the way ;-)
We know the core 'cause' of this dis-ease is self-a-phobia. As the unreality grows, like "The Nothing" in the movie "The Never Ending Story," the magic of life is drained away.....(http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/neverending_story/about.php)
It's a feeling of time standing still, in a weird way.........
.........like being in two places simultaneously..........
........you are now entering the Twilight Zone of Wombat-land.....
Beware ;-)
Hope? Always, there is hope.
Like Bastian in the movie, if only a small grain of sand/hope remains the belief of magic/life will re-grow into the world we once knew. But first, like Bastian's fantasy counterpart hero, we must face our true selves.....politically in-correct as it may be, or scary as it may seem; and believe, in ourselves.
We have become a 'culture' of "self-a-phobes".....made fearful of the fact that in reality we might not be 'perfect' as a Barbie or Ken doll image; or as rich and popular as a celebrity.
We might have some weight, we might be balding, we might be woman, man, gay, lesbian, or another un-favored minority. Therefore in this cultural 'Twilight Zone' we have been taught to despise things about ourselves....and internalized these 'defects' as deficiencies in who we are! Made fearful of our true selves, and internalizing these fears so deeply that we don't see them even as we act them out....as all suppressed psychological 'issues' ultimately are.
As an example, many suffer from the malaise of internalized homo-phobia, and rather than heal their image of themselves, play it out on others. Cheap Trick, is not just the name of a band.....its a way of lashing out at ourselves, by using and discarding others.....sexually, creatively, and by whoring out their hard work. It is a dehumanizing 'activity' that stunts other's development; by wrongly medicating/numbing our senses to our true selves, and playing it out on others by virtue of our denial. There are many 'self-phobias' that are internalized; that lead to self hate and the negative consequences.....internalized homo-phobia is just easier to explain.
In Gather-land, Wombats are the exception......therefore, while politically incorrect, they are the most constructive and un-fear-full. In Gather-land, therefore, they are the Twilight Zone.
Supposed outcast contest losers, they produce prolific threads of commentaries.....running on and on; expanding forever outward.....exceeding all those many contrived threads and articles in volume, quality, and duration. Why? Because the magic lives in each true Wombat.
What is a Wambat's cause then?
To spread their apparent alternate reality by doing.
By being.
By defying the 'conviction of the day.'
To boldly go where men have gone before, but have forgotten.
To write real and heartfelt literature......of great, or of merely passable, quality does not matter.
To be one with their "wombat-ness!"
"Ommmmmmm"
:-)
***********************************
Footnotes:
From Wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twilight_Zone)
The TWILIGHT ZONE is described as another dimension.
It is "a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind",
"a place of things and ideas",
"between the pit of Man's fears, and the summit of his knowledge."
The twilight zone, in a nutshell, is the mind and imagination of man,
where any thought can become a reality.
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Comments: 425
Are you Irish, Are you Catholic,
Are you Jewish, Are you Clan?
Are you Pro-Choice, Are you Baptist,
And I said, I ain`t anything,I`m just a Man!
And I refuse to stoop so low when I feel so a part of you all,
Cos I know you`re all good souls underneath the Beer
And if I`m good enogh for my God, And I`m good enough for me,
Then why crucify me with a label, of someone and something I was never meant to be!
- Francis Dunnery, I'm Just a Man
Ken, you're going to make a book out of us, aren't you? How sly, to spy, and to record all our foibles and squabbles.
I think novelists are like vampires. We lurk and observe and steal anything that fits our evil plan. It's not completely wholesome. I've even warned people. For example, my neighbor is part of the security detail for Bill Gates and his family. I've warned him not to tell me anything interesting.
Discuss.
The dialogue in my article above is a summary of two days of listening to this real guy say pretty close to the same things......I couldn't be creative enough to lie that one up! ;-)
But its unavoidable to use what we hear and see.......aren't we supposed to capture life like painters/artists do?
Guess its back to the chicken or the egg thing, again....Art imitating life, or visa versa....
Although his daughter......she is pretty well 'together'.....maybe I'm wrong about him...just rumors, I guess.....
"When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another .....etc..." is from the Declaration of Independence. AND,
"Welcome to Wombat-land!", is of course attributable to the queen of wambat-land, Lisa :-)
(whew, hate to have the article flagged for copy right violations ;-)
Patrick, we never knew ye! - "Hemmingway, for example, was a real ass of a person" = concise and to the point.
Off to edit. Thanks, Patrick for the monologue (dialogue too?) above. I'm getting kinda scared when it's my turn to host - what do I say?
I know i can provoke headaches......oh well.....
One guy told me: "Don't you ever get tired of thinking? Doesn't your brain ever hurt?"
(hint: a 6' 4" surfer dude from El Monte, CA....who lived on Huntington Beach. Yes, I am envious ;-)
Its where-ever, when-ever, you like.....
Kinda meta-physical...... ;-)
Ken's Tedious Dan Brown Story
Twilight Zone TV show, and Rod Sterling
I spent 6 years living in PA, far, far back in the mountains near State College. Is that anywhere near where you were?
;-P
Ken - great piece on the old thread. "Great job!" I encouraged enthusiastically. "I couldn't have done it better myself," I condoned graciously. "Say hi to Dan for me, would you?" I asked humbly and self-effacingly. "The guy sometimes gives me the creeps," I admitted...chillingly.
I'll stay on my current plan for now and hope that it runs a little longer than I expect or that I can figure out a way to integrate another one of the subplots. The revisions should also add a few thousand words as I dress up the scenes.
That reminds me, has anyone seen my watch? The last time I saw it, DB was admiring it. Haven't seen it since.
I mean as a writer. I've never actually held him hostage.
Not sure what to respond to on the article, but loved: To spread their apparent alternate reality by doing.
By being.
By defying the 'conviction of the day.'
To boldly go where men have gone before, but have forgotten.
To write real and heartfelt literature......of great, or of merely passable, quality does not matter.
To be one with their "wombat-ness!"
I love being a Wombat. (Of course I'm still thinking that the Inklings and the Algonquin Round Table had it a bit better.) Looking for those t-shirts. That would even the field for me.
Beware my switchblade...
You know, Ken, if you really knew me, you'd know I'd be apt to cut my own fingers off with a switch blade with my clumsiness, or accidently slit D.B.s wrists - there are reasons I'm not a surgeon. It's so hilarious that pacificist, passive aggressive, shy me has obtained this type of persona. I am amused.
Okay, must edit my pack of lies, to wind them more tightly.
Lisa, your words last night about getting started and just writing must have played in my dreams. I had this great scene running through my mind all morning--while in the shower, while driving, while trying to work. Aaah! I just need to write it down before I lose it. But it's not the 3rd novel in my series--it's the continuation of Point & Shoot. Maybe it will make a nifty detective yarn.
And Ken, those cigars I stol..I mean, that you gifted me with, aren't for hubs. He doesn't smoke. But Pete and I do have to do some stocking up to do for that tropical island. Can't count on regular deliveries. Well except for pizza. That's what the helipad is for.
Wish I knew where you folks keep finding these ideas. I've decided to name my next dog 'Inspiration'. At least he'll come when I whistle for him!
OMG, Pat - AGAIN you slay me!!! Inspiration so he'll come when I call!
Beth - I do all my best thinking in the shower, which means either the rest of the day is like a trip to the zoo or I'm reeeeeeeally clean :)
Let's discuss something specific. Could we practice on what qualifies as showing and what is telling? Or an example of authorial interruption that doesn't count as internal monologue? Somewhere in Parallel Opposites, I make mine mostly 3rd person limited, but in some places I say things in narration that have me guess that this is omniscient. I'm thinking I really don't know how to switch to omniscient. Everything I'm writing when I think it's narration in omniscient is actually 3rd person limited internal monologue. Even a description of her clothing could be seen as something she is concious of, so that would make it 3rd person limited, but another reader might have the impression that it's all telling omniscient, a more journalistic approach. Who has the answers at how to write one versus the other? If you have links to websites for us, this would be the time to share, to get those of us busy who are busy editing some thought to this as we fix things up.
I found a website, or two actually: Byline Magazine has contests and agents subscribe to these issues. Also there is something I found with an online workshop from New York for actually a good price, and it lasts for a month or so. $315 for that on. I can't remember the site, but I'll get back to you all on that one. I'm hoping sometime next year, Byline Magazine will have a contest for novelists, but it seems for now they're doing genre fiction and short stories or novellas. Also poetry. The other website is shawgroup or something, but I'm not for sure.
As for showing vs telling. First, not all telling is bad. Pick up any published novel and you'll find some subtle or not so subtle forms of telling. Learning what you can and can't get away with is part of the art, hence part of the fun of writing. I think Beth did a "Showing vs Telling" thread at one point, right Beth?
Essentially "telling" is like reading a book report. Showing is plopping your reader down in a 3D scene. Telling also typically gets you into POV trouble. - If John is your POV character and you write "Mary looked nervously at the window." - what you're TELLING is that Mary is nervous....which John couldn't know.
Ask yourself "What's the thing behind the thing?" - What IS nervously? Mary drummed her fingers on the table and bit her lip as she looked to the window. See? Get it? SEE? Showing.
Imagine a huge Barbara fighting of mecha-Godzilla.....who would win? Better than the Mothra battle, no doubt.
;-)
And Jamie, how could I ever prove you wrong......you are always so right....seriously.
I'll do the short version thing someday. This next book on Charleston should only be 400 pages, for example ;-)
So for the length, thing; but I haven't yet gotten over that reviewer woman who tried to trash me with a reference to "some people's post being twice as long as their penis". So, I think its just an unconscious shield on my manhood :-o
Renee didn't know where to begin. It seemed Laura – standing there, contemplating - wanted to talk, but now? Was something wrong? Had the last guy been calling her again already after all that? And why not go shopping sometime with her? "So what are you doing today?" she said.
(Renee is the one thinking and talking here).
If Laura could say the right thing, Renee would hold on to that for weeks, perhaps years. She didn't want to sound wrong to her mother. "It's just that I don't have the time." Laura put her glass down, turned to leave the kitchen. In her kindest way, she said, "I'm going out for a walk before I leave."
No, honestly, I said that for the young 'uns sake; without pitching my age ;-)
I think that Twilight Zone was one of those banned programs by the churches at the time (as was superman for attempting to supplant God and Jesus as having super powers) Thou shall not honor false Gods, eh?
I still saw a few though, and they did freak me out. To watch them now is kinda silly, but then....when the TV was black and white (all of them, btw) and the screen was about 24" round!! Seriously.....
So those static interruptions were simulating reality......like your TV was being taken over.... Now we just have 'white noise', commonly known as marketing and 'news.'
Opinions, Stephen? Yeah I guess I have a few..... And my little article means different things to different people.....some closeted Gather folks will 'get it'....I hope :-)
try this.
Renee didn't know where to begin with Laura – would she want to talk? Was something wrong?
"So what are you doing today?" Renee asked aloud.
"Nothing."
"Have you heard from—"
"Look, I'm not in the mood to talk," Laura said with a deep sigh, "and no, before you ask, I don't have time to go shopping."
Yours 49 words, mine 57 - I'm not saying that's anything what you want to convey...but look WHAT I've conveyed in a short amount of time. The reader is now engaged. WONDERING WHAT'S WRONG...how Laura will react.
Walks work well for me too.
No offense, Ian. But I've never heard of Cunningham or Baldwin (Alec Baldwin, yes, James, no.) Like rock musicians, I guess writers have influences. I've never paid attention to who was influencing my work though.
Twilight Zone - I've seen a lot of episodes. Good stuff. I know the plane episode Judi is talking about and the broken glasses/reader episode too. Both creepy. Twilight Zone is the kind of creepy I like. All this new "torture porn" as they call it, isn't scary/creepy at all. Just gory. Bleh.
What's the scariest movie(s) you've seen?
For me:
1. Candyman (*shudders) - hands down, scariest movie EVER
2. The Ring (watched it by myself and kept turning it off because I thought it was going to be scary, I'd turn it back on after I regained my courage and the scene would be far less scary than I imagined - good though, because it made me freak myself out)
3. Pet Cemetary creeped me out too. That little kid with the scalpel and the scampering foot steps "Play with me." (*creepy)
4. anything with an animated/living doll (except Chuckie. He's too obnoxious to be scary)
I'm sure there are others I'm forgeting.
Hey Patrick. You're back? Why so quiet?
LOL
Thanks for hosting! I love the TZ! Funny story: I added it to my "tivo" list a couple months back, it would record an episode a week. Two weeks into that, I came home and there were FIFTY SEVEN episodes saved. They'd run a "marathon." LOL
One of them gave me the idea for a cool movie screenplay....on the "someday" list of course.
Me? I don't like sex with violence.....it should be fun. Pain and sex no go together for healthy psyche's.....so ban violence/sex films, and it would be ok with me.
New ones....first that comes to mind is Jeepers Creepers. ewwww, that one got me. The sequel not so much.
One that didn't get much attention - Stir of Echos. And The Mothman Prophesies.
I'm sure there are others. Good topic.
Twilight Zone used to freak me out. Rod Serling's Night Gallery did too. Don't really watch scary movies any more. Magic with Anthony Hopkins spooked me. The first "When a Stranger Calls" was bad. Bad movie, bad scary. Hey, I was a teenaged baby-sitter back then!
I'm about to post four articles for the Groups Directory. Don't feel that you have to read or comment--most of you know about the groups anyway. However, feel free to join the groups if you haven't.
All you other group owners, have you posted articles to the Directory? A good place for listing your groups.
I updated my First Paragraph, if anyone wants to check it out. I promise I will also get back to everyone else's updated paragraphs.
My son absolutely loves the Scary Movie spoofs. He doesn't watch scary movies though. My sister is a die hard horror fan.
Torture porn isn't sexual. It's some new "genre" of purely gorish film all about torture. I didn't know it was called that until I read an article about the fall of torture porn - I was like, there was a rise? It's the TRASH of the horror genre, not that there much good stuff in the horror genre. I haven't seen any of the movies put in that camp. I see that the "theme" is death and gore and steer clear. Movies such as Saw I through III, Disturbia, etc.
Anyone seen that movie called "23" (I think)? Just came out on DVD. Is it worth a watch? Looks creepy, but not gory. I don't know though.
Even though Seven was gory, it was cleverly plotted. So I wouldn't put it in the same camp as torture porn, but I've never seen any of those other films, so I guess I can't judge.
Jeepers Creepers scared the bejeezus out of me until they revealled the mass murder was a "demon". What a let down. Would have been scarier if he'd been human. Kind of like Silence of the Lambs with his skin suit - that was a good flic.
The TZ guy couldn't get new glasses because he was the last man on earth and had a strange/thick prescription. I'm not sure anything was left but the library.
I don't think we need to list Wombats. Let those who seek, find!
Okay, finished with my latest edit through Wolf Huntress. I cut 4,000 words. Still 5,000 words over the word count limit. GRRR! No mercy this run through.
The scariest part of Jeepers Creepers was that ceiling with all the human bodies-- like a sculpture. I will never get that image out of my head. It was similar to that painting behind Pacino's desk in The Devil's Advocate. I loved that movie, Devil Advocate. I'm not sure why.
It didn't look too good. I got "Perfume."
Thanks for the clarification of the genre of torture porn.....I think "Blade" is slaughter porn.
I dont know about you, but finding decent movies for the kids is tough.....I had a time raising mine; but now? OMG, 40% of the films are gore/murder/horror.....Now THAT creeps me out. And people wonder why kids are more violent these daiz...
Damn, I sound like an old man.....even a bit cranky. Good thing I'm not opinionated, eh Stephen?
:-)
I'm back. But I'm still trying to return the contents of our suitcases to their rightful places. I hope to get back up to speed by tomorrow.
Later,
Cathy
Patrick, you still have time.
Jamie, your 100 words were sharply perfect. The rest of ours needed work.
I still don't like scary movies and don't watch them.
Isn't each word "Special"?
:-o
When living in San Francisco, we had a friend (a calif native called 'Bambi'... I kid you not) and her mother collected all things with clowns on them. Statues, paintings, pillows, puppets, etc. Now that was a weird ass house......on one of those waterways, new with lots of windows/light (thank the Lord 4 that, otherwise it would have been unbearable).
So clowns? not so much........
How about u Ian, do u like clowns? I mean they are meant to be happy, and most kids seem to like them. Mine just didn't like anything/anyone all dressed up....except in Disneyland; then it was more than Ok ;-)
OK, I have to stop wasting time, and go rewrite those same 500 words I wrote last night. The stupid things have been bugging me all day!
;-)
CLOWNS!!! Eeeeee! I STILL can't watch that scene in Poltergeist.
Lisa, that is my Favorite memory of my grandmother's house in Venice when we were kids and first saw the ocean.....those thousands of little crabs. They bothered me at first (as did the big scary waves), but my dad was cool about it; so we were. He'd dive headlong into the breaking waves.......God, I'd love to go back to Venice. Maybe some day...... :-)
Soooo, where's your paragraph Patrick? I want to see what you can do with 100 words. Have you started reading entries yet?
Jaws didn't scare me, sorry. Guess it's the biologist in me.
I agree with they guys. Its like the ocean.....don't be afraid, just jump headlong into it. If it sux, it sux....oh well. Get over the fear of doing terribly, then everything will be fun. Well, if not fun, workable. I can't think of harder work than writing a book/story.. But you r waaaay ahead of they young 'ums. You have lots of experiences from which to 'borrow from.'
The way I started was to think of something I wanted to "say", then picked random people in random settings to have a discussion that eventually might lead me there. Again, can't stress it. There are tons of revisions ahead, and u cant hold back your creativity worrying about syntax, spelling, grammar, etc.. Just plop down your ideas, and then put them away.....snipets of conversations, scenes, even whole chapters. Then, string them together.....after you got tons (like Jamie seems to have ;-)...and cut and paste ruth-less-ly (taking out that which doesn't fit.) Think of it like good decorating.....putting things in a room for trial, and not being afraid to move the couch and big furniture when you want a different view.
The main thing? Have a theme.....have an idea what its generally about; then select what fits best (always with an eye on not overdoing it ;-) Then, like decorating, you always work on 3 levels. In decorating, you want that special color/form at eye level, slightly above eye level, and down lower (not the floor). That harmony replicates that in nature (i.e. leaves on a tree....both physically, and color wise) In writing, it good to have double or even triple entendre .....like a Disney flick thats great for the kids, but has hidden adult humor in it so we dont shoot ourselves during the 5th viewing ;-) Everyone sees differently.....so give them variety, and let them fill in the gaps the way they like!
Et Voilia!
:-)
So do like the Nike thing....go 4 it! If Pat is, u can.....she is trying her hand at something totally new and is brave enough to 'show and tell it.' I'm sure your writing is fine....probably better than ours, btw ;-) OMG, one guy was so quiet; and I asked him to write something......his stuff was brilliant! Its hard to evaluate that, or expose it to 'review', when you've done it all alone.....and those around you aren't into it. Then, we end up minimizing our work. So, Kenneth.....be brave; all will be well...
All you have to remember is that there is only one YOU in the world. YOur view is unique, by virtue of your unique life/experiences....so therefore, anything you do that is true to your true nature/character has got to be original....and also sincere. That plays well....not being forced into something we want to be/project. Just be yourself, in all things, and all will be fine.....
"To thy self be true......." :-)
:-)
Jeez, give her 1500 words in a whirlwind morning and she complains about its length...but asks for more! Women! ;-o
:-)
Patrick, did no one ever tell you I'm a bit, how did Ken put that? Psychodelic? I never do things subtly. My family room has turquoise walls, and the living room is emerald green, accented with tribal art. Just painted the bedroom candy apple red, with black silk curtains (made from sari's. Pretty cool!) OK, ok, I really am off to write!