After years of trying this and that method, reading books on how to write, blah,blah, I have at last found a successful formula with help from a character in the graphic novel "The Watchmen" and reruns of "Sex and the City".
The station that shows reruns of the Showtime series, shows them out of order so I am left to figure the beginning,middle, and end to each character's relationships. Thus I see one character pregnant before I see the one where she meets her future lover or I see Bigger moving away before I know who the hell he is.This drives me nuts.
Dr. Manhattan in "The Watchmen" experiences his past, present and future in a non-linear manner. Like Billy Pilgrim in Vonnegant's "Children's Crusade" he lives his life in random order. When I started to dream of the blue skinned scientist and his weird non-linear life the creative side of me loved the novel idea of composing stories in one big jumble. It totally freed up that side of my brain. The anal retentive, do everything in a correct order, hated this.
I struck a deal with these two opposing sides. Ms. Creative is given free reign and when she feels she is done, Mr. Anal/retentive takes over and puts all the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle. I get a thrill with either side doing their vastly different but productive styles.
So the stories I have been postponing have free reign to run in the field of imagination and develop however they please. When they are done the Shepard of order then corrals them back to the homestead and puts them to bed.
Saturday, November 29
Monday, November 17
The House of the Spirit
The outside walls of my tea house are completed and I finished insulating the ceiling and walls. I’m ready for the interior framing- when I get some more money. Which is why I resisted the urge to work on it today even though it was unseasonably warm ( 74 degrees). It was just too nice to work.
“Oh really” my inner critic whined “What pray tell is the reason for working on this quaint little house instead of doing something IMPORTANT like -oh finding a job?!” it ended sarcastically. For once I was in agreement.
I have better things to do, and yet. . . I can’t explain it but feel it is profoundly important to me to finish this project. It’s a mystyery to me. The other inner voice- the voice of inspiration that I’ve rarely heard from these days, reminds me to just keep at it. Like everyone I’ve told about this thing. I may be broke but I’ll have a cool place to retreat to and they all agree it’s cool idea. No lectures or doubts of my sanity, so I must be on the right track.
The building reflects my spiritual journey in many ways. The frustration when things weren’t fitting right. The mis measurements that I didn’t notice until it was too late requiring me to start over. The feeling of relief when pieces fell into place smoothly, or when supplies showed up just when I was ready to stop for a while -or quit all together.
Just like my aikido training, like my life. Hmmm.
“Oh really” my inner critic whined “What pray tell is the reason for working on this quaint little house instead of doing something IMPORTANT like -oh finding a job?!” it ended sarcastically. For once I was in agreement.
I have better things to do, and yet. . . I can’t explain it but feel it is profoundly important to me to finish this project. It’s a mystyery to me. The other inner voice- the voice of inspiration that I’ve rarely heard from these days, reminds me to just keep at it. Like everyone I’ve told about this thing. I may be broke but I’ll have a cool place to retreat to and they all agree it’s cool idea. No lectures or doubts of my sanity, so I must be on the right track.
The building reflects my spiritual journey in many ways. The frustration when things weren’t fitting right. The mis measurements that I didn’t notice until it was too late requiring me to start over. The feeling of relief when pieces fell into place smoothly, or when supplies showed up just when I was ready to stop for a while -or quit all together.
Just like my aikido training, like my life. Hmmm.
Friday, November 7
Top five jobs I want
Everyone wants a job they love. Some are lucky enough to do so while the rest of us dream. I have dreams too. After some thought I have compiled the following list of ideal jobs in no particular order:
1. Physicist ( without the math) Why not, I think about this stuff all the time anyway, I live by the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle (HUP) and I think electrons are the coolest things in the universe.
The HUP states that you can never be sure of a phenomena you are observing because you affect the phenomena you are observing. In this case electrons which have a habit of being here or maybe there, we’re not sure. We only get one chance to look at one because in doing so it’s affects the electrons velocity and /or position. They have probability not certainty. Huh? The way I see it electrons appear to be random because they exist in a non linear way we can’t grasp.
Oddly enough this does not boggle my mind and I have never had a problem reconciling Quantum Physics with Newtonian physics. They are just different ways of looking at the world. Sitting around trying to figure how the universe works is the closet thing to being God I can think of doing.
2. Actor on a sitcom. This is one of the cushiest jobs on TV. It pays well, the hours aren’t too long like a movie or drama show ( they average about 10-12 hour days) and you get to be outrageous. I’d make a good nutty neighbor or smart ass best friend. Proof of this is Jamie Pressely’s role on “My Name is Earl”( as well as she does). Nobody does white trash better and she seems to be having way too much fun.
3. Bouncer- because nobody FUCKS with me. I mean it. I may be small but I scare the shit out of people when I get defensive.
Actually bouncers have a dangerous job dealing with drunks. An old friend informed me about his stint as one. He had a unique way of dealing with them as he’s not a big guy. One time he had to eject a drunk who, of course, got in his face
“Wow I wouldn’t want to be your car radio dude.” he suddenly announced, derailing the drunk’s runaway train of thought with the non sequester.
“What?” he replied confused.
“Your car radio. You know, you’re driving home, still partying and crank up the radio to sing along with the tunes-just grooving. The next day while you take aspirin for that killer hangover and start up the car-whoa! That’s a lot of Prince’s ”When Doves Cry” at six in the morning.
The drunk left the bar without a word and probably still trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about.
4. CEO of any large American corporation where the Peter Principle is rewarded. I can run the company into the ground, ask the government for a bail out when I fuck up and still walk away with millions in retirement. What a country.
5. Weekly columnist in a newspaper. I would work a couple hours a day, write up my opinion in a thousand words and get paid for it. Alright!
I would spend the rest of the time either writing one of my many novels or nonfiction books when I’m not goofing off until the last minute when I have to deal with the deadline and frantically come up with something that doesn’t suck pond scum and the editor rejects -so there is a trade off.
Why settle for being an accountant or working at McDonald’s when you can reach for success. To paraphrase Robert Browning shouldn’t one’s reach exceed one’s grasp?
1. Physicist ( without the math) Why not, I think about this stuff all the time anyway, I live by the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle (HUP) and I think electrons are the coolest things in the universe.
The HUP states that you can never be sure of a phenomena you are observing because you affect the phenomena you are observing. In this case electrons which have a habit of being here or maybe there, we’re not sure. We only get one chance to look at one because in doing so it’s affects the electrons velocity and /or position. They have probability not certainty. Huh? The way I see it electrons appear to be random because they exist in a non linear way we can’t grasp.
Oddly enough this does not boggle my mind and I have never had a problem reconciling Quantum Physics with Newtonian physics. They are just different ways of looking at the world. Sitting around trying to figure how the universe works is the closet thing to being God I can think of doing.
2. Actor on a sitcom. This is one of the cushiest jobs on TV. It pays well, the hours aren’t too long like a movie or drama show ( they average about 10-12 hour days) and you get to be outrageous. I’d make a good nutty neighbor or smart ass best friend. Proof of this is Jamie Pressely’s role on “My Name is Earl”( as well as she does). Nobody does white trash better and she seems to be having way too much fun.
3. Bouncer- because nobody FUCKS with me. I mean it. I may be small but I scare the shit out of people when I get defensive.
Actually bouncers have a dangerous job dealing with drunks. An old friend informed me about his stint as one. He had a unique way of dealing with them as he’s not a big guy. One time he had to eject a drunk who, of course, got in his face
“Wow I wouldn’t want to be your car radio dude.” he suddenly announced, derailing the drunk’s runaway train of thought with the non sequester.
“What?” he replied confused.
“Your car radio. You know, you’re driving home, still partying and crank up the radio to sing along with the tunes-just grooving. The next day while you take aspirin for that killer hangover and start up the car-whoa! That’s a lot of Prince’s ”When Doves Cry” at six in the morning.
The drunk left the bar without a word and probably still trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about.
4. CEO of any large American corporation where the Peter Principle is rewarded. I can run the company into the ground, ask the government for a bail out when I fuck up and still walk away with millions in retirement. What a country.
5. Weekly columnist in a newspaper. I would work a couple hours a day, write up my opinion in a thousand words and get paid for it. Alright!
I would spend the rest of the time either writing one of my many novels or nonfiction books when I’m not goofing off until the last minute when I have to deal with the deadline and frantically come up with something that doesn’t suck pond scum and the editor rejects -so there is a trade off.
Why settle for being an accountant or working at McDonald’s when you can reach for success. To paraphrase Robert Browning shouldn’t one’s reach exceed one’s grasp?
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