For wildflowers,
earth day is every day.
It should be the same for us
Monday, April 22, 2013
Saturday, April 20, 2013
the nature of life
Once again, a blog that I wrote I put aside-- but at least that one will show up next Saturday as it was about a truth I wanted to discuss. It just doesn't fit today with the week America just went through.
In terms of news analysis, I see no reason to discuss here what everybody could be following if they had interest. If they did not, then they didn't want to, and I won't try and shove it down their throat.
My week though revolved around the news and several items which all swirl into a whole and worked for me as a voyeur of life. When you write, you use things. You absorb. Most of the time you cannot afford to take what you observe personally or you'd go nuts-- which does happen to some writers. In my case I feel emotional connection to some of what I hear because of the old-- there but for the grace of god go I-- although in my case I don't believe that. I think it's fate and what fate is, that I have no idea. Is there a purpose and plan? No clue. But I do know that my week had a lot of elements that are beginning to build an emotional whole regarding a story germinating in my head. How does it happen such things coalesce? I haven't a clue but they often seem to do so.
So I have been reading books about a period of Oregon history in the 1860s where Eastern Oregon was enduring a lot of violence. It was coming from many sources. The Indian tribes were not happy that so many settlers had come into their traditional homes. They saw potential to rob and kill as a way to enrich themselves but also force the interlopers out of the area. That meant the interlopers struck back and between cavalry and civilians, there were attacks on both sides. Much blood was shed.
Some people like to think they are living through a particularly bad time-- mostly those who think that way have no real clue as to the meaning of that. How terrible a child would go to a Marathon and lose his life. Yes, but my parents lived through the fear that polio would do the same thing. Before that there was no treatment for so many illnesses. Danger isn't unique to one time or period in history. When it happens to us, it's the worst, of course; but reality is life has always had dangerous periods.
When things happen like the Boston Marathon bombing, humans want to find someone to blame. Ironically the blame this week has been pushed onto the far right by the far left and the far left by the far right. Both sides have those who are blaming Obama but for different reasons. That's the irony of life and especially of political decision making.
Then we had the Senate voting to not extend background checks to gun shows-- again massive blame games. I've heard a lot of lies regarding this bill but here is what it actually says
Why anybody wouldn't want that is beyond me but by the time the right wing got hold of what was going on, people like Rush Limbaugh had twisted the facts so badly that they had no clue what was in it.
This battle for sanity on gun regulations cannot be considered over. We who wish to walk into a mall, we need to continue with the battle for reasonable gun laws while we recognize that won't help with bombers with political or life grudges. We will also be confronting those who fear guns and we who own them with the idea they can get rid of all guns as a way to reduce violence. It isn't going to be easy to hit the middle on this, but the middle often does win such battles-- if they stick to it.
Politics is a messy business and I was reminded of that when we watched Lincoln this week. That is a great film on politics and the impact they have on ordinary lives including that of those who make the laws. Names and parties may change but a lot of the mentality we are seeing argued through right now was in that period of time also.
How do you get things done that you consider important? Well avoid hysteria. Stick to it. Understand the big picture. Do what is required which won't always be what you wanted.
For me that means donating to political candidates in other states who have my view on guns-- which is that they are legal for some citizens to own but they need to be regulated as to what kind of guns can be owned as well as who. I don't want someone who has been identified as dangerous, by law enforcement and mental health officials, to be able to walk into a Walmart and buy a gun. I do want to keep my guns so long as i use them responsibly. For people who are afraid of guns, don't own one. If you want to see me as part of the problem because I do, I consider that your problem not mine.
So quite a week for discussion of violence. Then I chose something voluntarily to add to it. I watched an HBO documentary which I thought was very good on the psychology of war and those who cover wars-- How far to the front? created by Sebastian Junger on the work of a photojournalist who was killed in Libya but had lived a life recording war until it finally got him. Even if upsetting, it is an excellent film on the psychology of war-- but war should be upsetting.
Everything that happened this week is helping me put together the background i needed for the book I will start in a month that will be about the war in Eastern Oregon 1866-67 (approximate on the years), about the military of that time and of course, a love story. Politics, violence, emotion, danger, nature, love. It will have it all. My favorite kind of story to write.
Last week was definitely not my favorite kind of week to live because even though most of us were a long way from Boston, we can so identify with those there. How sad it is that some live to hurt others but at the same time encouraging that there are others who live to make this a better world. The amazing thing was that they were able to take the second suspect alive. Maybe we will get some answers but I won't hold my breath for that.
The photos are from an assortment of years and places and a reminder that life is good despite bad times. When those bad times come, we just have to get through them-- hopefully with the help of each other.
In terms of news analysis, I see no reason to discuss here what everybody could be following if they had interest. If they did not, then they didn't want to, and I won't try and shove it down their throat.
My week though revolved around the news and several items which all swirl into a whole and worked for me as a voyeur of life. When you write, you use things. You absorb. Most of the time you cannot afford to take what you observe personally or you'd go nuts-- which does happen to some writers. In my case I feel emotional connection to some of what I hear because of the old-- there but for the grace of god go I-- although in my case I don't believe that. I think it's fate and what fate is, that I have no idea. Is there a purpose and plan? No clue. But I do know that my week had a lot of elements that are beginning to build an emotional whole regarding a story germinating in my head. How does it happen such things coalesce? I haven't a clue but they often seem to do so.
So I have been reading books about a period of Oregon history in the 1860s where Eastern Oregon was enduring a lot of violence. It was coming from many sources. The Indian tribes were not happy that so many settlers had come into their traditional homes. They saw potential to rob and kill as a way to enrich themselves but also force the interlopers out of the area. That meant the interlopers struck back and between cavalry and civilians, there were attacks on both sides. Much blood was shed.
Some people like to think they are living through a particularly bad time-- mostly those who think that way have no real clue as to the meaning of that. How terrible a child would go to a Marathon and lose his life. Yes, but my parents lived through the fear that polio would do the same thing. Before that there was no treatment for so many illnesses. Danger isn't unique to one time or period in history. When it happens to us, it's the worst, of course; but reality is life has always had dangerous periods.
When things happen like the Boston Marathon bombing, humans want to find someone to blame. Ironically the blame this week has been pushed onto the far right by the far left and the far left by the far right. Both sides have those who are blaming Obama but for different reasons. That's the irony of life and especially of political decision making.
Then we had the Senate voting to not extend background checks to gun shows-- again massive blame games. I've heard a lot of lies regarding this bill but here is what it actually says
Why anybody wouldn't want that is beyond me but by the time the right wing got hold of what was going on, people like Rush Limbaugh had twisted the facts so badly that they had no clue what was in it.
This battle for sanity on gun regulations cannot be considered over. We who wish to walk into a mall, we need to continue with the battle for reasonable gun laws while we recognize that won't help with bombers with political or life grudges. We will also be confronting those who fear guns and we who own them with the idea they can get rid of all guns as a way to reduce violence. It isn't going to be easy to hit the middle on this, but the middle often does win such battles-- if they stick to it.
Politics is a messy business and I was reminded of that when we watched Lincoln this week. That is a great film on politics and the impact they have on ordinary lives including that of those who make the laws. Names and parties may change but a lot of the mentality we are seeing argued through right now was in that period of time also.
How do you get things done that you consider important? Well avoid hysteria. Stick to it. Understand the big picture. Do what is required which won't always be what you wanted.
For me that means donating to political candidates in other states who have my view on guns-- which is that they are legal for some citizens to own but they need to be regulated as to what kind of guns can be owned as well as who. I don't want someone who has been identified as dangerous, by law enforcement and mental health officials, to be able to walk into a Walmart and buy a gun. I do want to keep my guns so long as i use them responsibly. For people who are afraid of guns, don't own one. If you want to see me as part of the problem because I do, I consider that your problem not mine.
So quite a week for discussion of violence. Then I chose something voluntarily to add to it. I watched an HBO documentary which I thought was very good on the psychology of war and those who cover wars-- How far to the front? created by Sebastian Junger on the work of a photojournalist who was killed in Libya but had lived a life recording war until it finally got him. Even if upsetting, it is an excellent film on the psychology of war-- but war should be upsetting.
Everything that happened this week is helping me put together the background i needed for the book I will start in a month that will be about the war in Eastern Oregon 1866-67 (approximate on the years), about the military of that time and of course, a love story. Politics, violence, emotion, danger, nature, love. It will have it all. My favorite kind of story to write.
Last week was definitely not my favorite kind of week to live because even though most of us were a long way from Boston, we can so identify with those there. How sad it is that some live to hurt others but at the same time encouraging that there are others who live to make this a better world. The amazing thing was that they were able to take the second suspect alive. Maybe we will get some answers but I won't hold my breath for that.
The photos are from an assortment of years and places and a reminder that life is good despite bad times. When those bad times come, we just have to get through them-- hopefully with the help of each other.
Friday, April 19, 2013
I thought this was interesting regarding how they got the lead they needed to get the first of the murderers
Now as to why the bombers did it, how many there are, whether it's a political motive or just a group of losers (a lot of what does it in our country), those are the questions we won't know for awhile. Chechnya connection does not guarantee a specific motive. If they get some alive that's the only hope for an answer and not always then.
What interested me with this is once again it was an ordinary citizen, the man who lost both his legs, who as soon as he regained consciousness said he had seen the man's face who planted that bomb. His ID helped authorities get the photos out of the crowds.
So often I hear-- leave this up to the authorities, trained people, but so often, as with so many of the lives saved that day, it's ordinary people who know what to do and do it.
Hopefully soon they will have the rest of the killers whether it's just the one surviving brother or more involved in this plot.
Now as to why the bombers did it, how many there are, whether it's a political motive or just a group of losers (a lot of what does it in our country), those are the questions we won't know for awhile. Chechnya connection does not guarantee a specific motive. If they get some alive that's the only hope for an answer and not always then.
What interested me with this is once again it was an ordinary citizen, the man who lost both his legs, who as soon as he regained consciousness said he had seen the man's face who planted that bomb. His ID helped authorities get the photos out of the crowds.
So often I hear-- leave this up to the authorities, trained people, but so often, as with so many of the lives saved that day, it's ordinary people who know what to do and do it.
Hopefully soon they will have the rest of the killers whether it's just the one surviving brother or more involved in this plot.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
view from yesterday
view out our front window yesterday
I write here once a week-- other than when something happens that I really want to write about and don't want it to be one of the weekly posts which I try to keep positive.
When I scanned the news yesterday, which I do on my computer in between working on editing right now, I saw the first mention of what happened in Boston. I turned on the TV which is never on during the day except for such. I went to three of the cable stations and after listening to them for awhile, I turned it off.
Yes, television news can be first with the most but one of their problems with such events is they want to prognosticate with the tiny number of facts they have and they don't remotely have enough. Every American already knows the possibilities that are out there. We don't need commentators with diarrhea of the mouth to keep telling us who could have done it or how many other bombs are out there or anything that isn't confirmed news and is just somebody said to somebody. They could stick to the facts. They could quit putting banners over the top of the images they claim to be showing us. They could but they won't.
My own thoughts on what happened are we just have too many people in the world who don't respect human life-- their own or anybody else's. Sometimes that means whole governments. Sometimes it is political groups. Sometimes it's a loser at life who wants to strike back. I don't know what you can really do when such happens except grieve for those who lost so much and try to come up with better ways to monitor people in crowd conditions; but if we lose our own freedoms in doing that, the terrorists win (and they are all terrorists whether it's using a gun, knife or bomb because they want to scare and intimidate others with violence and fear as their tactic).
In some ways there is no preventing them from winning because they take joy in what happened and nobody sane or with respect for life possibly could. Those few who do gloat over such violence, they are in league with the terrorists no matter whether they would do such a thing themselves. They are part of the deed.
The rest of us just have to realize that these times do pass. Other countries have gone through such periods. We have to be informed, alert, pay attention when out, but not stop doing things out of fear.
I wish there was something I could think of that is positive about such events though-- something uplifting. There was the response of the people there who ran toward the trouble to try and help. For the one person who would do such an act, there are thousands who try to help others and risk their own lives doing it.
But it doesn't really make us feel better because those rare mad dogs, they can hurt so many innocents, and we really cannot stop them every time. As they say, we can stop hundreds of such attacks and do, but they only have to succeed once to win because of how they see life.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
One of those days-- or make that weeks
The rosemary which survived when the sheep got through a gate I had not closed well and ate down a lot of the early flower garden when I wasn't there. Fortunately, they don't like rosemary.
no, i don't really use a crystal ball to prognosticate but wish I could
The week had a lot of news that would be worthy of writing about-- if I was in the mood to write about politics or world events. I've tried several times with Chris Hayes's new program (replacing Ed Schultz) but frankly MSNBC has been losing me anyway because it is so much about politics with round table discussions.
I get real tired of listening to 'experts' discuss some topic even when it's something as big as North Korea threatening nuclear attack. Some say it's nothing to worry about but what do we know about the young man who took over that country? How much power does he have? Does he value the life of his people? Is he educated about real world consequences? I have no idea. Depressing to say the least to think someone would play so fast and loose with nuclear destruction-- and yes, I know, I've heard it from some of our leaders also. That does NOT make me feel better.
At first light one morning, we had two little foxes show up in what will be our vegetable garden when enough comes up to prove it. They were so cute but they also were barely visible and no way I could get a photo of them. I was fortunate to get some great photos of one last year at this time much closer and standing still for the many photos.
Farm Boss did some research on foxes. Last year, this is the time we saw the one above. We think they probably have a den up on the hill above us. This would be their breeding season which might explain the twosome. We also learned they will eat vegetables which might explain holes in our tomatoes in the past that I assumed came from slugs. The fence will soon be up, but I would not mind planting some just for them-- except the sheep would get those first.
The hummingbirds are here and have been for two weeks or so. That's good. Bad is that we have one cat, Blackie, who is addicted to going after them. He ignores every other bird but something about their sound or speed and he wants to catch them.Our theory is that he knocks them down with his paws (which have well trimmed claws).
hummer photo in Tucson as getting a photo here hasn't happened yet this spring
I have a feeder up but hummers need insects, and he's getting them low down and the two this spring with a mouthful of grass in one case and moss in the other. At least it cushions the teeth. Still it irks me as of all the birds I love, it's hummingbirds that top the list. One thing about cats is-- they don't give a damn what we think and this photo says it all about him.
There has been a debate going on in the MOA forums at Amazon where a reader expressed her desire that there be no sex in the books she reads and her frustration that romances seem to either have sex or Christianity. She doesn't want either. I added a few comments on the topic since I do write sex scenes, and although I don't consider it critical to the plots, I don't intend to stop as part of a whole relationship between lovers.
When I gave her the name of a few writers I knew who don't write sex, she changed her requirements to each book has to be over 288 pages. The problem is page number doesn't really indicate length of book, eBooks aren't page numbered but even if they were, print size, font, photos, extra chapters, table of contents, etc., all play a role in even kb size. I suggested word count is a better indicator of the actual length of the book-- too much work, she said. About that time, I realized the topic was going in circles which is about the way I have felt everything has done for me this week.
So a few photos and a lot of frustration with the hope that my blog for next week goes better ;) It did give me a new label-- blah! My title for the week-- no, that doesn't include nature which as always gave me a lift when my own work wasn't.
Saturday, April 06, 2013
just flowing along
the quince is
finally blooming.
happy hummers
Anything and everything can become our teacher of the moment, reminding us of the possibility of being fully present: the gentle caress of air on our skin, the play of light, the look on someone's face. Anything and everything-- if it is met with awareness.Where it comes to being in the moment, do we have to let go of all the questions? Do we stop compartmentalizing, something I'm quite good at? I think compartmentalizing gets us through a lot of our complexities and yet do we live a whole, organic life when we do it? Maybe being in the moment is just another compartment...
Jon Zabat-Zinn
Reading the newspaper, talking to a friend, sitting at my computer to write or read, thinking of loved ones, considering my life, where it's at, what I want it to be, all of these things lead me to be aware that I am again compartmentalizing. I am where I am and who I am at the moment, but if I stop to think a lot of other aspects of what matters are also there at the moment. They are what I have put aside for thinking about at a more appropriate time.
What gets me even more than compartmentalizing or boxing is realizing all the other people I have been. Should I integrate them into the me of today or are they in the past and gone. Frankly, it's hard to believe the little girl playing with the paperdolls she had made, the one heading to school and feeling out of place, swimming in a river or climbing a hill, those were all me.
The way we age, the different roles we take on, the choices we made that preclude other choices, they are all boxes of a sort and enable us to function or are they what keep us from the whole that we secretly desire?
Maybe the boxes are like when we take a photo and narrow down what is out there to the tiny part we want to capture. They enable us to concentrate in a way that constantly considering the 'whole' would not.
Part of what has made me think about this is frustration over so much that is going on in the world. I am trying to put the political stuff from me as it's an ongoing worry/depression machine, but to even think about the cultural issues can become overwhelming. If I turn on the news, it's all aimed at creating a culture of rage which might be effective if it led to positive change. Does it or does it instead just lead to upset?
How about instead thinking about this video, one of four or five that we took, neither of which tell the story of what it's like to watch hundreds of geese take off and land on a pond.
If we, as humans, could be like our stream, changing with the seasons, moving on but not trying to figure out what is coming would we miss a lot of what being human is all about or is it the true secret to a happy life?
our stream April 2.
I am soooooooooo
ready for summer.
ready for summer.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Spring has sprung... sort of
It's not that a lot isn't going on. My own world is wrapped up in the current WIP (work in progress) where it seems I only care about the motivations of these characters. What works? What doesn't work? Whoops went too far that way and have to back up. I come up for air, look around and the world is still out there but my own awareness of it has been somewhere pushed to the back of my mind.
Even though we are still getting a lot of rain and gray days, spring is here and the first flowers are out, not as many here in the hills as when I drive into town, but it clearly is spring with leaves popping out. Last week the hummingbirds returned about a week after the vultures. We often joke that they leave and arrive at the same time and do the hummers ride the waves of the vulture's flight?
Our kids have a cabin on Klamath Lake and the birds are flocking there in record numbers as the ice seemed to leave the lake almost within a week. Their photos are inspiring but not quite enough to get us over there yet anyway.
The man who has looked after our place when we are gone is currently involved with a full time job, which means we are going to find it difficult right now to leave with so many babies on the place.
The lambs got their creep this week (a fenced in area where they can get COB (corn, oats, barley) that they need now-- especially those part of triplets or twins. The lambs have begun running in gangs but getting a photo of them doing it is always a challenge. This first one was in the rain and only about one third of them in the image. Another photo had them running and totally out of focus even as I tried to ignored the rain on my camera lens.
When it's sunny, they, like their mothers, lie in the pear orchard by mid morning.
Politically it's enough to drive a person nuts as so many issues all being thrust at us at the same time. Some are things we thought we had resolved like North Dakota trying to take away a woman's right to choose. One red state after another has done this and then they try to tell us women should support the Republican party. How can we? I mean all women have a right to choose now. Nobody forces an abortion and frankly if a woman wants to keep a baby that she can't really afford or who will be born with problems, the party fighting to end abortion is also fighting to end any programs to help her raise that child. Make sense-- not!
Then there is gay marriage which seems a given to anybody who isn't using Old Testament religion as the basis for their thinking. Did Christ condemn homosexuality? Not a chance, but the Apostle Paul did, who may have been a gay himself and whatever the truth of that, used the Old Testament as the basis for his condemnation. The Constitution is supposed to not be about religion and yet only religion would say gays should not have a right to marriage with all the benefits that includes culturally and materially.
I have said for a long time that the right to gay marriage is more important for the youth than older gays. It lets them know there is a way for them to lead a life as normal as anyone else's. If gay marriage was regarded as equal to any other, then they'd have no reason to marry a heterosexual to try and fit in. They see their life as normal for them and okay for everybody. That's commonsense though and it's not part of this debate.
The other issue that has attracted my interest is the raising of the minimum wage. If it had kept up with inflation, it'd not be an issue at all right now. That's why when they say vouchers are good enough for Medicare and the CPI is good for SS raises, don't believe them. It's all about making these programs, these entitlements have no meaning or value-- as they managed to do federally with the minimum wage.
Anyway I actually avoid the news a lot right now, but those issues are the ones I've cared about probably the most when I do click in. Otherwise my life is back in 1865 and dealing with the political issues that were a factor then, the Indian war that Oregon was experiencing, the arguments over how to deal with a lot of the same issues we argue over today.
One problem with writing a new work, having a WIP, is that I tend to disappear into it. I come up for air once in awhile and wonder where the world went. It's not easy to avoid that happening. In the middle of the night I'll wake and all I can think about is did that plot element work? Oh wait, it didn't and I have to remember in the morning to redo it because 'that' character would never do that. The only way I can get back to sleep is start counting breaths to force my mind from the story and to nothingness-- which is where sleep lies.
Then I had a dream that my computer caught a virus and I feared my WIP had been be lost. I am being quite careful in avoiding going to offbeat sites for research as that very much could happen. I have never seen a screen do what mine did in that dream, odd distorted shapes and no ability to control anything.
Even without the dream, I frequently save my work as I go because i have had something go wrong in the past, what we used to call a blue screen of death, and I'd lose everything I hadn't just saved. I never felt I got it as fresh the next time as I imagined I had the first.
Photos all here at the farm. One recent visitor has been the wild Chinese pheasant, likely planted here some years back as they are not native to this region other than brought in for hunting. The above male comes around every so often to check out the grain supply for the sheep. Even before I see him, I hear him as he has quite a hoarse call. I haven't seen the turkeys yet, but our yearly wood duck residents have shown up for the smorgasbord of whatever the sheep don't eat. The small birds have their own feeder inside the area fenced off from the sheep-- generally.
.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Social media-- good or bad?
Almost two years ago, when I began to think about bringing out all my stories onto eReaders, editing reminded me of something about our culture. Communication had changed so totally that it required major revamps if I wanted the stories to be set in today.
Pay phones-- virtually a thing of the past. Cell phones-- total necessity. Computers-- who can live without them. VCR is now DVD and in some of my books, even that hadn't been in homes. This all illustrates one advantage of writing historical novels-- possible technologies of the time don't change at least not if you researched it well to start.
What has triggered this thinking is what happened in Steubenville, Ohio. If you followed it, you know the details, if not, I won't go into them as they are pretty unpleasant. The part that relates to what I'm thinking is how social media played a role as it has in so many happenings especially with youth but also oldsters.
Kids today simply don't know the same world I, or even my kids, did growing up. Today, youth are connected and online, some from early childhood. Their every move is recorded and passed onto friends and family in a way that past parents could only dream of doing. As soon as they are old enough, they have cell phones and text their friends to the point they are never disconnected from their social network. How will this impact the emotional maturing of these kids?
The rape in Steubenville was compounded by tweets and instagram photos of the crime while those not connected directly to it watched and did nothing. Would the young men have even done what they did if they had not been drunk themselves and then egged on? We know the gang mentality of the young where murders have been committed, lots of kids knew, and protected the crime through some kind of group loyalty or psychoses. This rape though was discovered and its damage compounded by social media that enabled voyeurism and guilt by association (some of whom may find there is a criminal penalty to be paid).
I worry about the impact on kids who are never disconnected from electronic media, but adults aren't immune to the influence. Some grew up in a world where it was all they knew. Some, like my generation, came to it after years of other methods. For all the good social media can do, there is a downside.
Lately I've seen several sites writing about hurt feelings from words that were only possible because of blogs, Facebook, or other social sites. People forget that everything they say here, it all is out there and can be found by others. Some give intimate information on their lives that maybe they won't later want to have available to the world-- but it will be.
Social media has a particular tendency to encourage more sharing of things that at one time would have been unthinkable to tell strangers-- and yet that's exactly what is happening. Old folks are as prone to this as kids.
We can now publish books, put pictures of ourselves online with no censorship at all in some places. Facebook does censor but still people in their underwear to strangers? Seriously? In some ways we can know more about strangers than we do our neighbors but do we really? How much of what we read is invented?
We can be dragged into voyeurism ourselves if we don't have a strong sense of values that says-- I won't read or look at that. Whoa, those words went too far for me! That photo, is it what I think it is, and instead of staying and salivating, shutting down the site.
When I began on the internet, I was in a group site where you could have private chats but also share in designated rooms. I was chatting with a guy who was flirting or trying to with me, but he also was watching something he told me I should go see. In one of the 'rooms' a couple had put up a link to their webcam where they were making love. The guy thought it was great. I thought it was wrong for them and anybody who viewed it. I didn't want to be part of encouraging this couple to degrade themselves from the egging on of others. He saw nothing wrong with it. The twenty year age difference between us might have explained part of that different way we saw it.
People build friendships through the Internet, and I am the first to say it can be done. I have met people this way who became real time friends. I also know those who were defrauded by people who created identities aimed for that purpose. Some do it out of loneliness but others are grifters who make money off the loneliness of others.
My main thought here is how easily people say mean things, things they'd never say to someone in person because the internet makes meanness easy. It makes possible to encourage someone who is degrading themselves or others, an act that person would never do in person.
To many people the internet is an alternate reality, a different level of relationship which can become a trap. It is a fact in our world where we do our business online, learn the news, talk to friends, share our experiences. That genii is out of the bottle, but it does take a sense of ethics to use it wisely for ourselves, not become part of things that are wrong because they don't seem real-- not make it the center of our lives.
Especially for the younger generation, it is a constant battle to stay connected enough without it becoming crippling to their physical reality-- or as happened in Steubenville, get them into serious trouble.
And for oldsters, I think it's just good to keep it in perspective. Use it, don't let it use us. Understand that what we write, either in a blog or comments, goes beyond the immediate and can be found for years to come. Nothing out there is really private to those who know how to hack.
Photos are the ones I mentioned of four long time friends at a vacation spot we have enjoyed over the last five years. Sometime I will take the time to find the photos of us through the years-- we go way back-- although not quite to childhood. I came across a few of them when looking for petroglyph photos. Hard to believe it's even us ;). Today we use social media as this couple are the only ones with whom I chat now using Skype (with MSN messenger going down). We could use the phone, do get together now and then, but we enjoy the convenience of typing, connecting and onward to our days. The internet isn't a bad thing. Social media isn't harmful unless we lose control of it.
.
Pay phones-- virtually a thing of the past. Cell phones-- total necessity. Computers-- who can live without them. VCR is now DVD and in some of my books, even that hadn't been in homes. This all illustrates one advantage of writing historical novels-- possible technologies of the time don't change at least not if you researched it well to start.
April 2008 Seal Rock
What has triggered this thinking is what happened in Steubenville, Ohio. If you followed it, you know the details, if not, I won't go into them as they are pretty unpleasant. The part that relates to what I'm thinking is how social media played a role as it has in so many happenings especially with youth but also oldsters.
Kids today simply don't know the same world I, or even my kids, did growing up. Today, youth are connected and online, some from early childhood. Their every move is recorded and passed onto friends and family in a way that past parents could only dream of doing. As soon as they are old enough, they have cell phones and text their friends to the point they are never disconnected from their social network. How will this impact the emotional maturing of these kids?
The rape in Steubenville was compounded by tweets and instagram photos of the crime while those not connected directly to it watched and did nothing. Would the young men have even done what they did if they had not been drunk themselves and then egged on? We know the gang mentality of the young where murders have been committed, lots of kids knew, and protected the crime through some kind of group loyalty or psychoses. This rape though was discovered and its damage compounded by social media that enabled voyeurism and guilt by association (some of whom may find there is a criminal penalty to be paid).
May 2009 Seal Rock
Lately I've seen several sites writing about hurt feelings from words that were only possible because of blogs, Facebook, or other social sites. People forget that everything they say here, it all is out there and can be found by others. Some give intimate information on their lives that maybe they won't later want to have available to the world-- but it will be.
Social media has a particular tendency to encourage more sharing of things that at one time would have been unthinkable to tell strangers-- and yet that's exactly what is happening. Old folks are as prone to this as kids.
We can now publish books, put pictures of ourselves online with no censorship at all in some places. Facebook does censor but still people in their underwear to strangers? Seriously? In some ways we can know more about strangers than we do our neighbors but do we really? How much of what we read is invented?
December 2011 Seal Rock
We can be dragged into voyeurism ourselves if we don't have a strong sense of values that says-- I won't read or look at that. Whoa, those words went too far for me! That photo, is it what I think it is, and instead of staying and salivating, shutting down the site.
When I began on the internet, I was in a group site where you could have private chats but also share in designated rooms. I was chatting with a guy who was flirting or trying to with me, but he also was watching something he told me I should go see. In one of the 'rooms' a couple had put up a link to their webcam where they were making love. The guy thought it was great. I thought it was wrong for them and anybody who viewed it. I didn't want to be part of encouraging this couple to degrade themselves from the egging on of others. He saw nothing wrong with it. The twenty year age difference between us might have explained part of that different way we saw it.
People build friendships through the Internet, and I am the first to say it can be done. I have met people this way who became real time friends. I also know those who were defrauded by people who created identities aimed for that purpose. Some do it out of loneliness but others are grifters who make money off the loneliness of others.
My main thought here is how easily people say mean things, things they'd never say to someone in person because the internet makes meanness easy. It makes possible to encourage someone who is degrading themselves or others, an act that person would never do in person.
To many people the internet is an alternate reality, a different level of relationship which can become a trap. It is a fact in our world where we do our business online, learn the news, talk to friends, share our experiences. That genii is out of the bottle, but it does take a sense of ethics to use it wisely for ourselves, not become part of things that are wrong because they don't seem real-- not make it the center of our lives.
Especially for the younger generation, it is a constant battle to stay connected enough without it becoming crippling to their physical reality-- or as happened in Steubenville, get them into serious trouble.
March 2013 Seal Rock
And for oldsters, I think it's just good to keep it in perspective. Use it, don't let it use us. Understand that what we write, either in a blog or comments, goes beyond the immediate and can be found for years to come. Nothing out there is really private to those who know how to hack.
Photos are the ones I mentioned of four long time friends at a vacation spot we have enjoyed over the last five years. Sometime I will take the time to find the photos of us through the years-- we go way back-- although not quite to childhood. I came across a few of them when looking for petroglyph photos. Hard to believe it's even us ;). Today we use social media as this couple are the only ones with whom I chat now using Skype (with MSN messenger going down). We could use the phone, do get together now and then, but we enjoy the convenience of typing, connecting and onward to our days. The internet isn't a bad thing. Social media isn't harmful unless we lose control of it.
.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
The genesis of creativity
A feeling is coming over me that-- miracle of miracles that I can detect this-- I am about to offend believers in fundamentalist Christianity. So I warn them right now-- come back next Saturday, you will be happier.
This week we had a delightful break at the Coast. Three nights with friends at a rental house that the four of us have had four times since 2008 (We have taken a photo like the one below each time and I will post them all sometime). Along with such a wonderful time of sitting and watching the ocean (I learned when there that I can watch the waves and birds for hours and not find it boring or too much), we had a lot of great conversations and good food.
One of the conversation is about to morph into this blog as I woke up last night thinking about miracles, magic, magick, mystery, muses, or... the mundane.
At the house, i was sitting on the sofa watching the ocean waves and birds while Diane was painting and I brought up something I'd been reading. Mark Burnett, the producer of The Survivor (to me an icky show about profiting from manipulation), who has now put out a mini-series on the History Channel, The Bible, claimed miracles happened on the set proving God had his hand in the production and wanted it made.
That he would say such a thing irked me for two reasons. One I've heard that talk throughout my life. When a shooter kills a bunch of people, often one of those who didn't get shot credits it to a miracle. When a hiker is lost and crews find them-- miracle. Miracles are thought to prove God's hand is on that person's life which is generally thought to mean they were spared because they were still needed here (what does that say about those who weren't spared?). This is the talk of a personal god, the kind who gets involved in productions of TV series because everybody knows He can't adequately publicize himself.
This ignores what happened to those who did get shot, the hiker who didn't get found, the person the bear did kill. It ignores the one who needed a new car but it didn't suddenly appear (God takes great interest in providing material goods to his beloved). Well not totally ignores as then the spiel is-- it was for their own good that it (loss/disease/disappointment/etc.) happened. Always these things are miracles whichever way it goes.
In a week where a lot of talk was over a new Pope, religion is a topic of conversation anyway (good, bad, or no change for the Church?). I might forgive a reality TV show producer for claiming God blessed his new project by miraculous signs that he was looking for, but what really irked me is this supposedly creative person (I'll reserve judgment on that one but certainly successful), wouldn't understand how creativity works and his supposed miraculous events relate more to that then to some divine intervention.
Of course, believers would say I am about to be blasphemous (which is why I warned them away and take no responsibility for them being offended). I would be blasphemous if I believed God/god/deity had anything to do with his claimed miracles or that now the series is getting very high ratings which is shocking everybody-- supposedly -- or at least those who don't know how many claim to be Christians in our country. (on that link, check out the clip at the bottom for the trailer and the level of acting in the show-- more special effects than great acting was my take if that is the 'best' it has anyway).
My conversation with Diane, while i was sitting on the sofa watching the ocean to possibly photography the perfect ocean wave/pelicans/eagle and she was standing at her easel tweaking her painting of that ocean, was more my thinking on how creativity works than that a shyster might once again be scamming a bunch of people with his piety (seen it before, haven't we).
When we are into a creative work, when we have put together the pieces that can make it happen, then is when the muse (which is a word I like but don't mean by it a being necessarily but the energy wave that comes with creative work) can bring into play more elements. Things happen that we didn't expect.
Creativity doesn't happen when someone is not doing the work. It happens in the midst of it and the lucky accidents keep adding to what is possible. It's serendipity and those who do creative work learn to expect it.
When I carved, in stone I always thought the sculpture was inside and just needed me to carve away what was getting in its way. Then later working with clay, the same thing. A blob of clay that I would begin kneading to take out the air bubbles would begin to reveal what it was intended to be. If I had waited to work that clay until I had a plan, I'd likely have never sculpted.
Now it's true of my writing. I know the gist of where I am going but once I have set characters into that setting, as I am into the middle of it, lots of cool things come along that I enjoy very much. As the writer, I don't take credit for all this happening. I also don't know from where it really comes; however, I see as enriching for me as the creator and for what will come from my work.
As an example with the story I am currently writing. I knew because of when/where the events were taking place that grizzly bears were potential in the area even though later they disappeared from Oregon (they're returning now into the northeastern corner or so I have been told by locals). Way ahead of where I was writing, I began thinking how the bear would impact the story. By the time I got to where it was going to happen, the events were just there. Nothing I originally imagined but far better.
If someone wants to write, paint, sculpt, etc., and they think they are not creative, my advice is just start. It is in the doing that the chances come along that enrich the work, that can seem like a miracle but in reality is just a product of doing and being aware.
To me creative work always involves lucky accidents, recognizing a meaning beyond the obvious, and running with it. The fact that someone wants to make that into a miracle to bless their life or work over someone else's offends me.
In the link above, there is a trailer to the movie Burnett created. It's worth taking a peek at what he considers the best of the shows. Farm Boss laughed when he saw it but his laughter also is likely blasphemy to the true believers-- where's a good lightning bolt when you need one or was god also laughing?
Someone who is supposed to be doing God's work and has the hand of God on that work, wouldn't you expect the work to be superior and not enhanced by gimmicks and emotional tricks? Maybe not from the producer of The Survivor...
This week we had a delightful break at the Coast. Three nights with friends at a rental house that the four of us have had four times since 2008 (We have taken a photo like the one below each time and I will post them all sometime). Along with such a wonderful time of sitting and watching the ocean (I learned when there that I can watch the waves and birds for hours and not find it boring or too much), we had a lot of great conversations and good food.
One of the conversation is about to morph into this blog as I woke up last night thinking about miracles, magic, magick, mystery, muses, or... the mundane.
At the house, i was sitting on the sofa watching the ocean waves and birds while Diane was painting and I brought up something I'd been reading. Mark Burnett, the producer of The Survivor (to me an icky show about profiting from manipulation), who has now put out a mini-series on the History Channel, The Bible, claimed miracles happened on the set proving God had his hand in the production and wanted it made.
That he would say such a thing irked me for two reasons. One I've heard that talk throughout my life. When a shooter kills a bunch of people, often one of those who didn't get shot credits it to a miracle. When a hiker is lost and crews find them-- miracle. Miracles are thought to prove God's hand is on that person's life which is generally thought to mean they were spared because they were still needed here (what does that say about those who weren't spared?). This is the talk of a personal god, the kind who gets involved in productions of TV series because everybody knows He can't adequately publicize himself.
This ignores what happened to those who did get shot, the hiker who didn't get found, the person the bear did kill. It ignores the one who needed a new car but it didn't suddenly appear (God takes great interest in providing material goods to his beloved). Well not totally ignores as then the spiel is-- it was for their own good that it (loss/disease/disappointment/etc.) happened. Always these things are miracles whichever way it goes.
In a week where a lot of talk was over a new Pope, religion is a topic of conversation anyway (good, bad, or no change for the Church?). I might forgive a reality TV show producer for claiming God blessed his new project by miraculous signs that he was looking for, but what really irked me is this supposedly creative person (I'll reserve judgment on that one but certainly successful), wouldn't understand how creativity works and his supposed miraculous events relate more to that then to some divine intervention.
Of course, believers would say I am about to be blasphemous (which is why I warned them away and take no responsibility for them being offended). I would be blasphemous if I believed God/god/deity had anything to do with his claimed miracles or that now the series is getting very high ratings which is shocking everybody-- supposedly -- or at least those who don't know how many claim to be Christians in our country. (on that link, check out the clip at the bottom for the trailer and the level of acting in the show-- more special effects than great acting was my take if that is the 'best' it has anyway).
My conversation with Diane, while i was sitting on the sofa watching the ocean to possibly photography the perfect ocean wave/pelicans/eagle and she was standing at her easel tweaking her painting of that ocean, was more my thinking on how creativity works than that a shyster might once again be scamming a bunch of people with his piety (seen it before, haven't we).
When we are into a creative work, when we have put together the pieces that can make it happen, then is when the muse (which is a word I like but don't mean by it a being necessarily but the energy wave that comes with creative work) can bring into play more elements. Things happen that we didn't expect.
Creativity doesn't happen when someone is not doing the work. It happens in the midst of it and the lucky accidents keep adding to what is possible. It's serendipity and those who do creative work learn to expect it.
When I carved, in stone I always thought the sculpture was inside and just needed me to carve away what was getting in its way. Then later working with clay, the same thing. A blob of clay that I would begin kneading to take out the air bubbles would begin to reveal what it was intended to be. If I had waited to work that clay until I had a plan, I'd likely have never sculpted.
Now it's true of my writing. I know the gist of where I am going but once I have set characters into that setting, as I am into the middle of it, lots of cool things come along that I enjoy very much. As the writer, I don't take credit for all this happening. I also don't know from where it really comes; however, I see as enriching for me as the creator and for what will come from my work.
As an example with the story I am currently writing. I knew because of when/where the events were taking place that grizzly bears were potential in the area even though later they disappeared from Oregon (they're returning now into the northeastern corner or so I have been told by locals). Way ahead of where I was writing, I began thinking how the bear would impact the story. By the time I got to where it was going to happen, the events were just there. Nothing I originally imagined but far better.
If someone wants to write, paint, sculpt, etc., and they think they are not creative, my advice is just start. It is in the doing that the chances come along that enrich the work, that can seem like a miracle but in reality is just a product of doing and being aware.
To me creative work always involves lucky accidents, recognizing a meaning beyond the obvious, and running with it. The fact that someone wants to make that into a miracle to bless their life or work over someone else's offends me.
In the link above, there is a trailer to the movie Burnett created. It's worth taking a peek at what he considers the best of the shows. Farm Boss laughed when he saw it but his laughter also is likely blasphemy to the true believers-- where's a good lightning bolt when you need one or was god also laughing?
Someone who is supposed to be doing God's work and has the hand of God on that work, wouldn't you expect the work to be superior and not enhanced by gimmicks and emotional tricks? Maybe not from the producer of The Survivor...
Saturday, March 09, 2013
Being in the now
mating damsel flies
dragonfly with sun bubble
You are not "in the now"--
You are the now.
That is your essential identity-- the only thing that never changes.
Life is always now. Now is consciousness.
And consciousness is who you are. That's the equation.
Eckhart Tolle
Probably living in the now is one of the more complex of human concepts even as it seems it should be obvious. We so often live in the past, in the future and the now is something to get through.
The problem is when we don't live in the 'now', we miss our only opportunity to experience anything. Whether we are enjoying something that happened or anticipating something we want-- or don't want, it's easy to lose track of what we actually have.
dragonfly possibly recently emerged from the stream where they live most of their lives with a few glorious months flitting around with that beautiful color and wings
As I go through the photos looking for images I can use either for trailers, covers, Pinterest, or the blogs, I am easily carried back to moments when each photo was taken. Sometimes that's enjoyable. Sometimes it's depressing. I don't suppose it hurts once in awhile to do that as part of our 'now' but it can get tricky if we put too much of our value into what we accomplished or did not.
As a painter, sculptor, photographer, and writer, I've learned that all I really care about is what I am working on right at the moment. All the past photos are nice. Glad someone liked that last painting, but it's the one now that I struggle with and see as the thing of most value. I suppose that is because the creating of it is the now and it's not the product at all-- even though there is a product involved.
Last year we got some of the best photos we have ever had of a praying mantis in our garden. Most likely it happened because of disturbing the wood storage area with new fencing (keeping in the cats). Whatever the reason, she (big bottom says it's a female and possibly ready to lay eggs) posed in a fantastic way. Many insects run from us but praying mantises do not in my experience anyway. They are not only the now but in their own power.
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