It's a weighty decision whether to chin up to the violence and sadness in the world where buildings and people are blown up or to retreat to the sight of my grandfather's birdbath just outside my kitchen window where I watch all these birds splash their mornings away. Yes I know I can do both and I do. But it's still about what I let into my head and my consciousness and how that then affects the energy I give and receive.
I keep up with the news. Lately I'm likely to write a check or a letter or both in support of the values I believe in. Thanks to Facebook and Utube, I am well more sensitive to the plight of animals and thanks to my age, I am well more able to make choices about my time and efforts.
I am knee deep into writing a novel that will span forty years and god knows how many people. I have 30,000 words done which on average is a third of the length required by publishers. Unlike my first book, there will be back stories and places as characters. The back stories and dates require research and I like that even though plugging it all in accurately and orderly confuses the heck out of me.
It's the end of August and the air says it's Fall already. I've returned to work until early next spring. I will return to Provincetown in two days after a season of rentals and I'm glad for that. I am laying pavers around my garden here at # 9 and that is such a 'concrete' act it tickles me.
Meanwhile, are you like me? Do you google every day? Multiple times a day? It makes me laugh to think of the index cards I would bring to the library before there was Google; how I would organize my homework and assignments with those index cards and how I would then type each word from the cards onto my typewriter. Now, I sit at my desk or on my couch and I research the world. I'm doing a lot of research for my novel but also for things small and large that give thanks for my life. This week on Google:
1. Gay legal employment issues in 2001
2. How a seventeen year old would enter the Sisters of Mercy to become a Nun
3. How to bleach a weathered wood fence
4. The significance of 1969 (JFK, MLK, Bobby Kennedy)
5. Inexpensive wood enclosed outdoor showers
6. Stand up tents from LL Bean
7. Ordering a copy of 'Patty Jane's House of Curl"
8. What can I give 5 year old Drew and 7 year old Ryan for their first day of school?
9. Researching Meniere's Disease
10. WTF with Iraq, Ukraine, and ISIS
What are the last two things you've googled? I and everyone here would love to know :^)
love love
kj
I google all the time. I often wonder how we did without it, but I guess we took the time to read books, go to libraries and use out brains to learn how to research. We also always picked up other little pieces of facts that could be used in other ways. But no, I wouldn't go back to no google!! Keep writing girlfriend, keep writing.
ReplyDeleteit makes learning and research so darn easy, mim. i wonder how it's changed libraries, if at all?
Deleteyou know you were the first person to buy my first book. i will never forget that!
love
kj
Last 2 searches were for 12 ga home defense ammunition and recalled Hewlett Packard power cord. Not that the size of the shot matters if you're close and personal but I want a smaller spread so I don't have as much wall to repair. Yes it has been a violent summer here 6 shootings in the past 48 hours 2 dead 2 critical and 2 satisfactory. All within 1 mile of the summer home which doubles as the winter house. God i hope that Polae Vortex returns this year.
ReplyDeleteFall already? No shit, the tree in front of my house is changing colors and losing leaves.
mark, i know only from afar what conditions you live in. the neighborhoods where i worked were not places i could or would go after nightfall. i wish there would be some peace for you. it is such a rotten shame.
Deletefall is showing its face here too. hell, i'm still laying mulch down. i must be behind.
stay safe, my friend xo
love
kj
The second noble truth, the root of suffering and the Dalai Lama. Did you know the Dalai Lama has his own web site? Neither did it:)
ReplyDeleteBefore that I have no idea. My memory seems to be shot!
aha, deb. i'm interested in that. i'll be checking it out. my memory is shot too.
Delete:^)
love
kj
I love the picture! I always say "the earth will reclaim itself" and personally I hope it does it sooner rather than later. Anyway, I saw this group reading and thought I'd share it:
ReplyDeleteOne- Human history is a history not only of cruelty,
All- but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, and kindness.
One- What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives.
All- If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something.
One- If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
All- And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future.
One- The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.” ~ Howard Zinn
As for google - one search for "what is that white stuff all over my zucchini and squash leaves?" I didn't like the answer and had to pull all the plants. Sad.
2nd search - how to make zucchini bread without zucchini
8, i love this so much and i thank you wholeheartedly for it. i watch the evening news most nights and i appreciate that brian williams always ends the newscast with a positive story; an affirmation of goodness.
Deletei know positive energy combats negative energy, so i'm conscious to do my part however i can. the total disregard for life: scares the hell out of me. but i know it's not a new shortcoming in our history. i'm just more sensitive to it
love
kj
Search 1: local newspaper online to find details of time & place of a funeral , search 2: recipe for blueberry & lemon cake. Search engines are amazing really aren't they. I'm looking forward to reading that book you know. Big hug xx Jos
ReplyDeletejos, first and foremost: i love you!
Deletei look up recipes all the time. and tv people's birthrates :^)
i hate no idea when i might finish this book. i heard an author say recently his book took him seven years. that would kill me! once i finish the first draft, i'll know what i need to do from there. big hug to you too, jos. how are we doing?
love
kj
i mean birth dates!
DeleteSeven years? Oomph that's a long time. I will wait. I love you too KJ. Things here are good, I hope they are with you too. xx Jos
DeleteActually, I was checking the news on Genio before I popped by your blog. I was at another friend's blog, and he had some links to news in Ukraine (where he lives, as an ex-pat Canadian). As you can imagine, life for him, his wife, and his wife's family is "interesting" right about now. They are only a relative "stones throw" from where the fighting is happening. I think they should all come to Canada.
ReplyDeleteI hope you continue to have fun writing your book. Too big an undertaking for this Bear (writing a book that is, even thought my doctor tries to keep me going at that).
Blessings and Bear hugs!
i hope your friend and his country stay safe, bear.
Deletei am writing a book but really i am just writing. how it comes together is a matter for another day.
as we know, writing is good for our minds and souls :^)
love
kj
Writing: indeed it is good!
DeleteBBh!
KJ...I just got a computer so I will be able to resume my regular blogging, i.e. pros and poetry. Just got to figure out how to use the damn thing...cheers!
ReplyDeleteyay chris. you have a mac, yes? i switched to a mac last year and i love it. you'll find the wp program, pages, easy peasy, better than words
Deletelove
kj
Just when I thought its brutal murders and oppression were bad, ISIS changed its name to Islamic State. They are now called by three different names. If every group starts to go by three different names, how will we be able to keep up, and what's to keep them from going to five? Maybe I should buy a birdbath...
ReplyDeleteI've heard it complained--about Google--that it widens our knowledge without deepening it, sort of a Cliff Notes to reality project. I think this is true. We're all becoming like Jeopardy contestants who have the appearance of broad learning without actually having broad learning.
snow, i learn a ton from google. much of my research is more than superficial and i print out articles and information. i need information in my work and when i write.
Deleteas for a birdbath, i recommend it for you :^)
love
kj
I wasn't speaking of you personally, but of the trend that search engines are behind.
DeleteKj, I just try to keep peace in my small part of the world, I do not watch the news, but that does not mean I don't know what is happening as I do, the web and friends make sure of that, mostly animal and children are where I put my efforts. I do not worry, as it does not help and I watch my birds and try and do what makes me full of joy and fuck the rest as I cannot do anything about most of the evils in the world.
ReplyDeleteAs for searches, I limit them as a friend told me that each search uses gobs of energy and that was a rude wake up call as I love doing searches, now I mostly only do searches on information I really need or artists that I hear about, my last search was indeed an artist.
Good luck with the book!
Have fun in Ptown.
xoxo
Annie
annie, what does that mean, using gobs of energy? i don't mind expending energy for curiosity, if that's what you mean.
Deletei always enjoy hearing and reinforcing how you live in the world. i think you handle all it involves very well!
love
kj
last 2 things googled: Twin Peaks and Astrology Zone. Go figure.
ReplyDeletep.s. your book sounds fascinating....the Macabee family? Is there an ancient Hebrew storyline in there? :))
Kj, I tried to reply on my comment, but it would not work. What I mean by gobs of energy is electricity! What powers the computer also powers the searches. I was shocked by this news, very bad news. Just think about all the power used to do all those searches. xoxo
ReplyDeleteI do use google a fair amount. It's such a useful tool.But I often avoid the news - I hate feeling inundated by things I can do nothing about.
ReplyDelete