Writer's Envy (and my 200th post)

I'm feeling a bit envious today. I don't particularly find my job intellectually stimulating on good days (it pays the bills, barely, and I have quite a bit of freedom, but still...), but I was scanning through a blog written by someone whose writing I really enjoy. She's had articles, stories, plays, a book, etc. published and works for a company that puts a lot of emphasis on creative writing (even if I'm not entirely sure what exactly she does during the day).

I'm not saying I am not appreciative of what I have or want to give up/change my life, but I do have an annoying feeling of envy. One of the reasons I started blogging way back when (200 posts ago!) is because I wanted to be able to have a place to get thoughts from my head into a written form (and I'm a much faster typing than I am with my penmanship).

Ursula K. LeGuin (a favorite author from my childhood) gave two responses to people who asked her how to become a writer. First, learn to type. Second, start writing. By that, she meant just start putting something, anything, down on paper (or on-screen nowadays). A lot of it is going to be terrible, but if you don't start somewhere, you'll never get better and you'll never develop those seeds that are planted deep in your brain.

I spent a good portion of my teenage years writing all kinds of stuff, alone or with my friends. I started slacking off after my first year in college (1992-93) and only in the past few years have I even attempted to start back up. It's not easy. Especially now that I'm older and have a lot more garbage running around upstairs. Not only that, but there is the time issue as well. There are so many things in life that I want/should be doing that it is difficult (impossible) to find time for everything. How much time should I spend on frivolous pursuits that I enjoy when I should be making sure my family is comfortable and my duties are done?

What do I want to be when I grow up? I guess that is the crux of the issue. Too schizophrentic in my pursuits with not enough passion in any one to keep it up for any length of time. To steal/paraphrase a quote from a movie: "It's my lot in life. It's not a lot, but it's my life."

I Really Need More Exercise

...Anyhoo...back on an even keel now...

Middle age is starting to catch up with my middle. It's not bad, mind you, but it certainly isn't great. I've lost a lot of my "tone" over the past decade, even if I haven't put on much weight. There are a couple of new pools being built around town; that might help provide some motivation.

I'm not a complete potato, however. I do take the stairs (up to the 5th floor) every day I go to work. But I really could do more. Blah, blah, blah... I'm a great procrastinator and it's probably going to kill me in another 50 years or so.

...and here's a picture from last summer...enjoy!

Xenophobia in America

Well, besides me potentially (or even highly likely) to be categorized by some in our country as a "right-wing extremist", I do have some issues with some of my fellow conservatives.

Last week, I attended one of those local tax day tea parties (we had a couple thousand show up...not a bad turnout). Overall it was enjoyable. We had some good speakers and a lot of it revolved around constitutional basics. Good stuff. Unfortunately, the whole experience was ruined (for me anyway) by one of the last speakers. I don't know who this woman was or where she came from, but she was so full of hatred and self-righteousness that was truly appalling. She took a rally that had been (up to that point) fairly neutral as far as political parties went and started bashing specific people in the Democratic party and liberals in general.

The low point in the whole deal was when she started going off the handle about President Obama's comment about the USA not being a Christian nation. Now, I'm about as Christian a guy as you'll find (and no fan of Obama), but she was spouting such intolerant crap (generally towards Muslims) that I was embarrassed to even be there. I feel I have a pretty good understanding of was Obama meant (even if he said it in a completely dreadful way) and I understand the reaction to that statement. But come on... If what this lady was saying and what the masses were cheering on went to it's logical conclusion, they would want all Muslims, Jews, Hindi, etc. kicked out of the country (and I KNOW there are a lot of people who don't think my religion is Christian).

Amendment One of the United States Constitution states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." Stick that in your intolerant pipe and smoke it.

And not only that (now that I have my bile up), conservatives (of which I consider myself a strong part of) need to stop turning the illegal immigration issue into such a racist quagmire. Yes, illegal immigration is an problem and should be dealt with (change the current immigration policy we have in this country and enforce the immigration laws with strictness - including slapping those businesses that hire illegals), but I am getting so SICK of people looking down on someone because English isn't their first language.

And that's another thing: English isn't the official language of this country, nor should it be! So what if you have to "Press 1 for English" on your flipping phone whenever you call some big company! I do it every single day at my job. It's not a big deal. Whatever happened to the great promise of this country as summed up by the Statue of Liberty inscription:

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

The Native Americans didn't like the Western Europeans when they came over; the Western Europeans didn't like the Eastern Europeans; the Eastern Europeans didn't like the Asians. What a bunch of intolerant crap. Ever hear of the Melting Pot (or perhaps we're more like a Mixed Salad)? If you truly believe we are all children of God, then act like it!

(***big breath***)

...nope, not ready yet...

(***another big breath***)

Government based on the Constitution - now and forever. Leave your personal bigotry in your head. I don't want to hear it.

Woo Hoo! Spring is Back!

(I'm going to ignore the fact that I haven't posted anything in almost a year. Just roll with it...)

So with the warming of the weather (*cough*snowed last week*cough*), I'm getting out and doing some outside work on the house. We have three big outside projects going on right now:

1. Trimming back the foliage that is threatening to topple over and/or grow INTO our house.
   
2. Planting and sprucing up our front flower beds.
   
3. Getting our vegetable garden started (we're doing container gardening where everything is in buckets/pots)

I'll take these one at a time. First off, I can officially say I have pruned the hedges (any "Three Amigos" fans out there?) I bought a pair of huge shears and went to town on the shubbery separating our house from the next-door neighbors. They've been neglected for years, but a little straightening up has done wonders for them.

Also, there is a errant tree planted right in front of our house. I don't particularly like that type of tree, but it does provide a ton of shade to the front window in the summer. Unfortunately, one of the large branches was starting to grow dangerously close to the roof. So, being the manly-man that I am (*cough*), I grab my handsaw (didn't want to buy a chainsaw for just one limb) and proceeded to hack that bad boy off. Once my arm recovered and I regained consciousness from being whacked on the head by a mysterious falling branch, it occurred to me that perhaps I should cut back on the manly pursuits for awhile.

Front yard flower beds:

'Nuff said.

Vegetable gardening is something new to us...kind of. We had a bunch of pots sitting around so we decided to see if we could grow some veggies. We had tomato plants last year, but they were given to us. This year we have tomatoes, leaf lettuce, carrots, zuchinni, bush beans, onions (walla-walla sweets), and strawberries. We'll see what happens...

"No, YOU Move."

Doesn't matter what the press says. Doesn't matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn't matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right.

This nation was founded on one principle above all else: The requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences.

When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world--

--"No, you move."

~Captain America (in the Amazing Spider-Man #537)