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About This Author
My name is Joy, and I love to write.
Why poetry, here? Because poetry uplifts its writer, and if she is lucky enough, her readers, too. Around us, so many objects abound to write about. Once a poet starts with a smallest, most trivial object, he shall discover that his pen will spill out what is most delicate or most majestic hidden inside him. Since the classics sometimes dealt with lofty subjects with a lofty language, a person with poetry in his soul may incline to emulate that. That is understandable. Poetry does that to a person: it enlarges the soul and gives it wings. Yet, to really soar, a poet needs to take off from the ground.
 
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Everyday Canvas
"Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself."
CHARLIE CHAPLIN
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you.
David Whyte
This is my supplementary blog in which I will post entries written for prompts.
December 29, 2017 at 7:04pm December 29, 2017 at 7:04pm
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Prompt: As the year closes, one of the most courageous decisions you’ll ever make is to finally let go of what is hurting your heart and soul.
Can you make the changes needed to begin the new year with a fresh start? Or is it safer to stay with what feels safe or familiar?
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I don’t much dwell on the past. Most of the time, when something hurtful takes place, I try to deal with it there and at that time. If I can’t, then I focus on the present. Actually, I always focus on the present. That’s one reason most of my work is unrevised, btw. 
For me, every day is a fresh start. I don’t do new year’s resolutions or such stuff, either. That would be living in the future. If I did and couldn’t live up to my standards, I’d feel the hurt. That’s why I stay away from long-term goals. In short, I try to protect myself from hurts that come either from the outside or the inside.
On the other hand, I don’t stay with what feels safe or familiar either. I like new challenges and new ventures, as long as something catches my interest, and I tend to it at that moment, but I don’t push myself around by planning. For example, I don't say I’ll write 10 novels in the next year or I’ll redo my kitchen eight months later. That isn’t going to happen because I won’t start writing or attempting anything unless something catches my interest at the moment.
If a hurt has set its tentacles in a person and he or she has let the years pass and hasn’t done anything about it, it might be very difficult to erase its pain. The best way, then, might be to still focus on the present and let the hurt take its course in fading away.
Dec. 28
Prompt: Sky Country. Anywhere that isn't a city, where you can see a blue sky, mountains and woods. Write what you want about this.
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If I could touch the sky,
feel the softness of clouds,
embrace a mountain,
inhale the green of the woods,
would I be infused with infinity?
But then, why would I, the created,
attempt big things? That charming wholeness
is not a person, but the loss of a person,
so, I’m letting go of my radical imagination
to just concentrate on doing the dishes.
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December 27, 2017 at 4:59pm December 27, 2017 at 4:59pm
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Prompt; What do you hope happens in 2018?
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To begin with, I hope everything good becomes better or doesn’t change and nothing bad happens.
Then, I hope for world peace, understanding among all nations, people, friends, families, couples, parents and children.
I hope cancer and all the other rotten diseases become history.
I hope people read more and are more interested in the welfare of others.
And in my case, I hope the best for my family and friends and that I get for more free time for all the good stuff I like doing.
Also, someone coming up with a gadget or tool for making the houses self-cleaning would be greatly appreciated.
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December 21, 2017 at 11:54pm December 21, 2017 at 11:54pm
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Prompt: It's a miserable night weather wise when a man and a woman clearly pregnant appear at your door seeking shelter, what will you do?
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OMG! This is a tough one in this day and age. I would probably ask them in, feed them and make a bed for the night. But my hubby, my son, and my daughter-in-law would go nuts over my actions, as something kind of related to this idea really happened once.
It was on a night when my son and his wife were staying with us. A man who did some yard work for us during that day knocked on the door at 2:30 in the morning and asked to borrow 20 dollars gas money. He said his mother in law got sick in the next town and he didn’t have gas in his car to go to her, and he had no money with him. We had paid him cash during the day, but he said he didn’t have that money anymore. I told him to wait at the door. I got a 20 and gave it to him. He said he’d do some more yard work for it when we call him again, and then, seeing all the cars around, he asked if all those people lived with us. I said they did.
Now, I may be gullible but I believed him in essence. Everyone else thought he had a drug problem, and I was stupid opening the door to him in the middle of the night. Then, my family members gave it to me full blast. The thing is, I am a light sleeper and they were all in deep sleep, so I went to the door. He told me his name and I recognized him through the peephole.
We never called that guy again, and he never called us and never showed up.
My family might have been right, but I might have been, too.
I can sense the Mary and Joseph allusion in this prompt, but maybe it is a better idea to call the police and ask for their help. According to statistics, home invasions are facts, especially for gullible old people.
I just wish ours was a much better world and no one could feel the need to lock their doors against others.
Christmas
Prompt: Megan asked us to write anything about Christmas. Here is mine:
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“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!”
Hamilton Wright Mabie
One of the good deeds of Christmas I can personally recall is a painter who was my friend although he was in his eighties and I was in my thirties. He constructed a nativity scene from balsa wood for his neighbor to cheer the family up because, a month ago, the father of the family had suddenly passed away as the result of a car accident.
Then, a neighbor of ours always took some blankets, clothes, food, and gifts that he collected from the area to the homeless shelter on Christmas Eve.
When caroling was considered the norm and not a weird thing, a family used to keep mugs of hot chocolate warm for the carolers. I’m privileged to have known that family very well.
I think Christmas or any other holiday belonging to whichever nation or race is only memorable because of the acts of the people, and not because of the rituals, beliefs, or material things.
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December 19, 2017 at 7:10pm December 19, 2017 at 7:10pm
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Prompt: “A character is what he does, yes — but even more, a character is what he means to do.”
Orson Scott Card
What a character means to do and doesn’t or does, did you ever consider that option in your stories? And doesn’t the same apply to us humans as to what we mean to do? What do you think?
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Shakespeare’s characters, if they intend something, they usually carry it out. For example, in Act 2, Scene 1 of Othello, we find Iago putting together a plan to drive Othello mad because he notes Cassio’s courteous behavior toward Desdemona. Who else but through one’s wife could a villain get to a hero? But even before that, in the first act, Iago shows his hatred of Othello because Othello didn’t make him his lieutenant but chose Cassio instead. It is also possible that Iago couldn’t stand anyone higher in rank than himself, including Othello.
In today’s fiction, intentions need not be carried out exactly as they are intended as long as they are shown as part of a character to influence his or her actions in different ways.
It is not a good idea to point out only what the character means to do and leave that idea hanging, though. A character’s intentions need to be evident in some way.
When we show that a character means to do something--for example, he dreams of putting a knife in someone’s heart--we must follow through with some similar action, internal or external. He may, for example, cause someone else do the dirty deed for him or maybe try to do something bad to someone else and make sure his intended victim gets blamed for it.
Intentions show us who we are. Other people’s intentions also show us who they are. Intentions may show character, but ultimately, intentions won't really matter if they only exist inside a person. Isn’t it true that, in some ways, we are all Mother Theresas? I am quite sure many people would love to do what Mother Theresa could do, and possibly several women and men are doing just that, while the rest of us just keep it inside us.
If intentions are only comforting or distressing illusions, what good are they if they are not shown through some kind of an action!
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December 18, 2017 at 7:22pm December 18, 2017 at 7:22pm
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Prompt: “Having fewer toys can lead a young child to focus and engage in more creative, imaginative play,” says a study in child development. What are your thoughts on the subject?
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I can see why too many toys can be a distraction. Adapt it to the adult scale and imagine having to live in and taking care of 30 houses and using 30 cars per person. Wouldn’t we be losing our minds? Taking care of just one house and one car is more than enough for me. However, if 20 to 30 people would be given 30 houses and 30 cars, they would be able to manage them just fine.
To begin with, each toy needs to be examined and learned by its user, especially nowadays, when more and more toys are electronic or have electronic parts. Then the toys have to meet a child’s specific needs.
Christmas and presents idea, on the other hand, has its own merit. Why we think all the Christmas gifts need to be toys is beyond me. What is wrong with other usable items like fun clothes and teaching gifts like an indoor-garden-starter kit, a microscope, a telescope, or a painting set?
When I was a child, aeons ago, one of our neighbors who had a stationery store kept giving me notebooks with colorful coverings. To this day, I revel in their memory because they were my most favorite gifts.
Children know what they want. I think it is a good idea to have them make a list and choose one or two toys from that list periodically than all the toys at one time.
Thinking back to 40 years ago, the older of my two boys liked the video games and the computer (I think it was TI-99, then IBM XT), while the younger one had no interest in such things. He liked bikes, matchbox cars, a larger car that he could sit in and drive using foot pedals, etc. One thing they both liked were the large plush toys. So, I learned how to sew those on demand (Mom, I want an alligator, etc.), and they were much more enjoyed than the store-bought ones. Plus, we did build memories with them, as the photo shows.
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December 17, 2017 at 2:23pm December 17, 2017 at 2:23pm
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PROMPT: What do you consider to be, in your opinion, a holiday miracle?
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I trust any miracle depends on the people involved.
In a large family, a holiday miracle could be the holiday truly becomes a joyous event without anyone stepping on anyone else’s toes, and with the cook in the family, who might not be the greatest cook there is, the holiday meals turn out to be perfect ones.
Where a writer or an artist is concerned, an hour of solitude away from all the hullabaloo could be considered a holiday miracle. Believe me, I know!
When a hypochondriac feels better and doesn’t bore the rest of the clan with his/her ailments, that is definitely a holiday miracle.
When any kind of birth defect is not seen or addressed to as a person's shortcoming, that is a miracle.
When the word justice isn't substituted for revenge, that will be a miracle.
When people can overcome their prejudices and treat all issues fairly, that will be a miracle.
When no one is homeless, cold, or hungry, which I hope will happen soon, that will be a miracle.
When everyone truly wishes the best for everyone else--be it they are from a different tribe, nation, race, or species, which will mean peace and fairness on earth, which I doubt I’ll ever witness in what’s left of my lifetime--that will be the greatest miracle of all.
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December 16, 2017 at 6:22pm December 16, 2017 at 6:22pm
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Prompt: Use these words to write in your blog in any way you want. Frazzle, dazzle, gossip, cocktail, blizzard and muggy. Have fun
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Nostradamus Gives Bleak Predictions for 2018
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/man-who-predicted-brexit-and-trum...
a possible gossip but
our dear Nostradamus
who might have sipped
some muggy cocktail
before he got frazzled
by the rags of spirit
spilling silly worry beads
into the blizzard of his
own icy predictions
of murder, mayhem, and war
and, hoping for his sightless miss,
my vision is that of a lover
of peace, joy, and good tidings,
which will dazzle me in
twenty eighteen
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December 15, 2017 at 12:14pm December 15, 2017 at 12:14pm
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Gone with the Wind premiered on this day in history in 1939. It is the highest grossing movie in history. Did you see it? What is your favorite part of the movie? If you haven't seen it share with us your favorite movie and why.
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Yes, I’ve seen Gone with the Wind several times. Because the story is so well written and it reflects on the troubles of the time and how they weighed on the specific characters, it is a very good movie. Talking for me, I didn’t like the characters. The characterization was excellent, but I just didn’t like the main characters as much who were, in my opinion, spoiled brats.
I am not much for movies, lately. I’d rather read a book. But if I want to pick out a movie, I’d have to pick Casablanca. I liked Casablanca because all the characters in it were honorable people and they held higher ideals than their personal satisfaction. Also, I think the character change in Rick or rather the surfacing of his true character was done to perfection. As in good novels, character is the key for me.
That I picked Casablanca doesn’t mean the films that came after it were any worse. It is just that the ones I saw didn’t impress me as much. On the other hand, another person who has seen all the movies in the world may come up with a better pick.
Prompt: "The lights of the Christmas Tree rose higher and higher. She saw them as stars in Heaven." Hans Christian Anderson
What are your thoughts about a beautiful Christmas Tree?
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The most beautiful Christmas tree I have seen was knocked down by the family dog, which almost caused a fire.
Speaking for me, I don’t like the idea of cutting live trees for whatever reason. Therefore, I’ll have to go with the second best. The family we bought a house from in Long Island had planted a Christmas tree to commemorate the birth of their daughter, and it was that tree they decorated. When we got the house, we decorated that tree, also, but we had to be very careful with the outdoor lighting because of the winter weather.
Prompt: Most people have at least one memory of a present-given or received that continues to glow in the mind like a good story. What are some of the best presents you have ever received?
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I like presents when they are given at the spur of the moment and not like the gift-giver having to pay taxes on birthdays and special days; although I am civil enough to appreciate the effort and thank the people who give me gifts on special days.
Some of the most memorable gifts are: a hand-sized doll my uncle bought for me from a street vendor while we were walking by when I was seven; the antique ring my grandmother was wearing and she took if off her finger and put it on mine; the blue sapphire necklace and the ring set my husband bought when we had gone into a jewelry shop to have the batteries in our watches changed; a music box with lighted flowers one of my sons gave me, which plays “You light up my life”; a jade elephant necklace my younger son gave me when he was six, which he got from the gift vending machine; then, the orchids given to me by my daughter-in-law; marbling paintings given to me by a noted marbling artist from Turkey. None of these gifts have been for a birthday or any other special day, and I will forever cherish them and their memories.
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December 12, 2017 at 8:18pm December 12, 2017 at 8:18pm
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Prompt: Junk mail--What kind of junk mail do you receive? Have you ever thought of putting the junk mail to good use and creating something from what comes in your mailbox? If you haven’t, what do you think of junk mail in general and what do you do with it?
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We receive all kinds of junk mail. The one junk mail that is terribly annoying comes from the realty brokerage firms who want to buy our house, which isn’t on sale and neither do we have any inclination to sell it. Of course, that junk mail offer is followed by a phone call more often than not. What these gals and guys don’t know is that I am writing down their names and the realty brokerage firms they represent. If I ever sell my house or if someone I know sells theirs, I’ll make sure these brokers who throw their weights around and bother people will not get my business or my friends’ if I can help it.
Among the other kinds of junk mail are the charities who are asking for money or other donations, which I don’t mind. What I mind is any charity that sends me money, be it a two-dollar check, a dollar bill, or a coin of any denomination. If you are sending money haphazardly to just anyone on your mailing list, why do you think I am going to send money to someone who is used to throwing money around?
Then, we get the Christmas cards every single year starting from August. You’d think I’d be writing Christmas cards to a billion people every year. Nowadays, card writing has become passé, and most people connect with one another on the net. While I used to get hundreds and hundreds of Christmas cards each year 30 to 40 years ago, nowadays I can count those on my fingers. Then, why waste the paper, Charities? Instead, just let me know what kind of a charity you are running. For your information, I usually donate to Salvation Army and I have never received any silly gift from them.
The rest of the junk mail is offers or sales or catalogs etc., which I don’t mind at all. I don’t look through all of them because I am not too much into the coupon-clipping pastime, but from the offers and some of the ways they offer, I have written list poems and found poems, in the past. So, something can be said about the junk mail, too.
What happens to my junk mail? Most of the junk mail goes right into the recycle bin.
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December 11, 2017 at 7:15pm December 11, 2017 at 7:15pm
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Prompt: Can a legitimate worry motivate a person toward accomplishment? If yes, how?
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I think, maybe, if there is something that can be done about the thing I may be worrying about; that is if the worry is truly a legitimate one. On this subject, I can only talk for myself. Worrying in itself is a useless act, but can we ever help not to do it? I don’t think so.
Yet, if I worry enough but not too much, I prepare for the coming disaster or party or get together or the rule of an elected official I don’t like. As a Florida resident, I know well about preparedness. When Irma was about to hit us this year, I prepared the house as well as I could with all the information I had. The hurricane ended up sliding west somewhat and almost missed us. Most of my preparations were for nothing, but I am so thankful for that. I’d rather be prepared for anything than not. If I hadn’t worried just enough and had left everything to chance, the result would have been the same, but what if the hurricane hadn’t gone to the west? The thing is, with hurricanes, you never know. They can change course within hours while the preparation for them takes several days.
A worry, if it leads to problem identification is a legitimate one. In the face of a problem, if we don’t take action, our anxiety level will rise higher. If I just worry and do nothing, that will be me standing still and twiddling my thumbs, but if I act on it, I am at least doing something about the situation.
On the other hand, there are other kinds of worry--legitimate worries, too—that we can’t do much about. For example, if an asteroid hits my hometown suddenly, there is little to nothing I can do. This means, for the worry to work for a person’s favor, it has to have the time and knowledge on its side.
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December 10, 2017 at 1:29pm December 10, 2017 at 1:29pm
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Books
Yesterday, I visited the local library and was distressed to see a sign that said, “We won’t be accepting used books anymore, at least not until the end of March, as we have an influx of them that aren’t selling”; so, I bought two used books 50 cents each, The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte and The Living by Annie Dillard. Granted, I’ll get to them God-knows-when since I am guilty of liking E-Readers much better as they are lightweight, easy to hold, with changeable font sizes, and have built-in lights. Still, the rotten deal the books in print are getting hurts something in me, possibly because I spent most of my life in holding paper books, until E-Readers came into the market.
When I was much younger, I used to belong to a group of book lovers. We used to leave the books we’d already read inside hotel night-tables and, wrapped in plastic, on park benches and the like for others to enjoy. That group is no more, and even if some of us still do that, I bet those books end up in the dumpsters.
Back to my trip to the library, I also borrowed The Art of Death: Writing the Final Story by Edwidge Danticat. Chances are I’ll read it ASAP since I can only keep it for two weeks. Anyhow, how-to-write books tend to drone on and on and repeat one another. Still, I like to look through them just in case they have something I don’t know or some idea that can be used.
Weather
When, in New York, we had the kind of weather we are having today here in South Florida, I would be wearing a tee shirt and lightweight pants. But now, as a Floridian, I am wearing warm clothing in layers. The outside temp is 62 degrees Fahrenheit and we have the central heating on plus a small electric heater in the living room. Given that I’ve grown older and more susceptible to feeling the cold, still I feel embarrassed for being such a chicken. I used to be the woman who used to shovel snow off a 300 feet driveway, chopped wood, and took walks on icy roads in the thick of winter.
This, however, is South Florida and it is easier to spot the newcomers in winter. While the rest of the in-place-and-timeworn residents have donned their old snorkels, woolen hats, and thick scarves, the newcomers usually are wearing shorts and thin shirts. I remember people looking at me with shocked expressions on their faces during my first year here when I was the one in shorts and tees. I guess I’ve acclimated with time to place or age, either way you look at it.
Holiday Office Parties
PROMPT: Office/coworker holiday parties...a good way to blow off steam and de-stress, or trouble waiting to happen? Any examples of either that you're willing to talk about?
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I guess it depends on the office and the party and the people. In my case, I had a few good friends. One of them organized those parties and made a big to-do about them. She hired a bartender, a caterer, and musicians, brought in tables and chairs, and did a few other things, too. One good thing she did was she had us friends around the same table, which made the parties a lot of fun. Of course, there would be a deadbeat bum to stop by our table and harass someone or other, but we were the majority, so that person didn’t last for long. That happens, I guess, at every party.
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December 8, 2017 at 11:39pm December 8, 2017 at 11:39pm
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Prompt: "Such a shame. That boy had such promise." Shaking her head, she remembered some of the times she'd seen him...
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"Such a shame. That boy had such promise." Shaking her head, she remembered some of the times she'd seen him jump into his snowmobile and time travel to centuries ahead and return safely.
She was just getting ready to go after him when she spotted his snowmobile curving around the satellite receivers. He had returned, walking out of the shadows, again.
“Sorry,” he said. “I don’t know where the time went, although I wasn’t far away. I was actually only 13 years into the future where I met your future self. That is why I am late getting back.”
“You did? What will I look like, then?” she closed her eyes and imagined the wind ruffling her then-grayed hair in a fully matured face. She would probably look more alluring with age.
“Actually,” he swallowed his next breath. “You will be on your death bed. I tried to save you, but it was of no use.”
Oh, that fear of death! It always arose when she was mentally and physically frail, and the slightest ailment could make her worry, but then wasn’t life a matter of luck? “You’re making this up, aren’t you? I don’t believe you, and I am not going to die when I am 53. That is just too early,” she said, staring at him, wondering.
He shrugged. “Fine,” he said. “If you don’t believe me, don’t believe me,” and he stretched his arms and as if wanting to hug her, but didn’t. Instead, he hopped on his snowmobile again and zigzagged into a distant fog.
“Don’t go,” she yelled after him. “That is the wrong direction. That wormhole eats up everything.”
But he didn’t hear her. Clearly, his life was about to end, since all his fears had evaporated.
At least she had thirteen more years to go, and she had a lingering attachment to a life of value. Her own life.
“Such a shame,” she said again. “That boy had such promise.”
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December 8, 2017 at 11:29am December 8, 2017 at 11:29am
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Prompt: I added a dab of this, a dribble of that and I stirred. Within seconds it was over ... Yeah right, now, tell us what really happened ...
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What really happened was after I began to chant, “double, double toil and trouble//Fire burn and caldron bubble, ” the cauldron shrunk considerably in size.
Then, the mysterious sounds started with increased frequency and force, minute by minute. I checked my mortar and pestle to see if I pounded some outside unwanted element into the recipe.
I checked the Tarot cards, but I ended up with a migraine from their gloomy moods. By now, the mysterious sounds were rattling and howling like the winds in a hurricane. Distressed, I decided, as the last resort, to call our queen, Ẃeβ࿚Ẃỉtcĥ, to the rescue. That wasn’t easy either because the candle’s flame I was concentrating on was trying to control the last dregs of my energy.
Webwitch, however, heard me because only she could. The other officials…well, you know how local governments work. They hinder and bother instead of helping.
Webwitch arrived on the wings of her dragon she calls Ruby. With a flick of her wrist, she got rid of my migraine. Then she said, “Cut this noise out, will ya! You can’t even do that, I see. I’ll write a recommendation for the locals to put you in the middle of their circle, next time your coven meets. Okay, I’ll take care of it." And she muttered, "With every small fry’s bumblings, I have to do all the work. This isn’t fair to your queen, you know.”
I was speechless of course. In the presence of our queen who is so longwinded and clever with words, me the small potato is expected to stay tongue-tied and voiceless. So I pointed to my shrunk cauldron.
“What?” Webwitch screamed. “Isn’t that the receptacle I sent you? How can you do this to my gift?”
I looked down, waiting for my punishment. Luckily, she shrugged it off and rushed to the cauldron. With a wave of her arm, the cauldron took its original shape. She peeked into it and straightened up immediately.
“You moron!” she sneered. “Your nuts and bolts are missing. You forgot the lizard’s leg and the baboon’s blood. You can’t bring him to you without a full splurge. Don’t expect to throw a banquet with finger foods only. Next time, set your aim lower.”
And in saying that, our queen took off.
Shucks! I guess I’ll never be able to lure Shakespeare’s energy to me. Maybe I can try for Mary Oliver or Billy Collins. But then, they may be over my head, too.
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December 7, 2017 at 2:26pm December 7, 2017 at 2:26pm
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By the surface fix, I mean making the draft at least half-way readable. Even a weathered and tested editor may get sidetracked by small mishaps. So, before asking someone’s opinion of our manuscripts, we better read them with a stranger’s eye without getting caught in our emotions over the story.
These are the things to check, which we all make without meaning to, at one time or another:
1. Language: punctuation, spelling, tense, word, phrase or idea order inside the sentences, and simplify too complicated and long sentences if they blur the meaning.
2. Overused words: Do not eliminate them. Just don’t use them too much, words like see, know, feel, there, get, is, was, are, were, etc.
And if you see these or any other same words used in close proximity within a sentence or paragraph, change one of them to its proper synonym.
3. If you spot redundancies, eliminate them. I began first by screaming.  I began screaming.
4. Adverbs: If you spot a verb+adverb combination, see if you can use a better verb and omit the adverb.
(She looked at me angrily.
She glared at me.)
5. Try to change the passive voice sections that mostly creep up during the sections of exposition. Active voice grips the reader’s attention much better. Using the passive voice is fine only when the subject of the sentence is unknown.
6. See if your pronouns are clearly referring to the character that you intended them to refer.
Once you do all of the above, the text is minimally ready for reading, but it you want to take it a bit further then also check for:
1. Pacing: Make sure too many fast-paced chapters are not bunched together. The same goes for slower-paced sections.
2. Repetitions: Check if you have repeated the same idea within the same chapter. Ideas, like words, need to be sprinkled and not repeated. Check for other repetitions, too, if they are necessary or not. Then, if you need the repetition of something, write that in. (Chekov’s Gun comes to mind.)
3. Clichés: Most people will tell you to avoid them, but people do use clichés a lot when they talk. The place to eliminate the clichés then are the descriptions and the expository sections.
******  ******
Prompt: "If you knew the future and the past, would you change your path or assume that your destiny was immutable and inevitable? Can we alter the course of the future or the past or only adapt to it? Or should both be respected and untouched?" Danielle Steel What are your thoughts on this?
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This is such a hypothetical question that I have to answer it by saying yes to the first part of it. Yes, if I knew it, I would change things, but luckily or yuckily, I am ignorant of it.
On the other hand, these questions produce other questions in my mind.
If we all you knew the future and the past and changed our paths, wouldn’t our roads in life clash?
Then if we clashed, wouldn’t it cause more of an anarchy in the world, generally or personally, than the one we are already experiencing?
Also, if we could change things, why do we need the idea of the universe or God or spirituality or any of the religions? Come to think of it, getting rid of the religions wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
As a final thought, taking into account all the ideas borne from my questions, I have to say the future should be respected and the past should be left untouched, except in fiction.  
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December 6, 2017 at 12:04pm December 6, 2017 at 12:04pm
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Prompt: What things do you like to do the old-fashioned way?
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As far as things go, the more advanced the better for me. I am in awe of the electronic revolution, at least the part of it I can understand and use. Now, if only someone came up with a self-cleaning house!
The only thing new I can’t wrap my head around is the bitcoin. Guess what happened with the Greyback of the Confederates during the Civil War! Is bitcoin a flash in the pan, too? Time will tell.
One thing I do that is rather old-fashioned, though, is to take notes with a pen and paper. If only I could carry my laptop around as easily as paper and pen! The alternatives don’t work for me because I don’t like writing in electronic-pads, cellphones, and the like. Typing or writing with a pencil or pen comes easier to me.
Of the old-fashioned ways, what I miss the most is the gentleness people used to treat one another. At least in my environment, throwing people’s shortcomings at their faces, unless absolutely necessary, was a no-no. Nowadays, people are hanged, if not physically but in the public media, for their mistakes and slipups of 40-50 years ago. If such a person is not penalized and punished or else, people take to streets and commit vandalism to enforce their stances on the matter or even to express their private opinions on anything. Then, most of the time, there is no punishment for them and if rarely there is, the punishment doesn’t fit the crime because it ends up being just a tiny slap on the hand. We have become an anarchist society, unfortunately. From such points of view, I miss our old-fashioned ways.
Another thing is, in the much earlier years, the stuff you bought you expected to last longer. Nothing is excepted from breakage or wear and tear, but in the olden times, there were repair people who repaired our stuff for a lot less money than what the repair persons charge today; that is if you can find one in your immediate neighborhood or town. Once, I made the mistake of having a laptop repaired. Not only it didn’t last a year but also its repair price was close to its purchase price. Now, I just buy a new one and take the hard disk out and throw or give away the computer. I guess I can say I am rolling with the times.
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December 5, 2017 at 8:59pm December 5, 2017 at 8:59pm
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Prompt: “To write things as they happened means to enslave oneself to memory, which is only a minor element in the creative process.”
Aharon Appelfeld answering a question by Philip Roth
Do you agree with this statement and, as far as creativity goes, is writing fiction more creative than writing only stark personal experiences?
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This prompt is from Philip Roth’s Shop Talk, which I am in the process of reading. Roth’s interviews of other authors are featured in this book. One of those authors, Aharon Appelfeld, is an Israeli writer who had escaped from Auschwitz when a very young boy, and he wrote of what he remembered by fictionalizing them. He says, memory itself was the enemy of his writing, but once he turned to his imagination, creativity kicked in.
I think actual memory is what we experience, but when we try to put those memories into words or into re-experience, that experience itself becomes contaminated and more emotional with leftovers from our recall, with added snippets of judgment and interpretation into it. In that sense, it may not be a true memory, even if its facts may be traceable.
I think the most creative way we can use personal experiences or the memories of them is by trying to remember the emotions they evoked in us and presenting them to our readers. When they say, ‘write what you know,’ they may be referring to this internalized emotional process and not the actual scenery or people or even the events themselves. To do this well, however, takes mastery, talent, and a great imagination.
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December 4, 2017 at 9:05pm December 4, 2017 at 9:05pm
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Prompt: “The moon stared at me through sprinkled nighttime stardust and I alone smile.”
― Jay Long
On December 3 and 4 this year, we have the Super Moon. What kind of an effect has the full moon on you or some people you know or the characters you create?
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It is a well-known and somewhat scientific fact that because of the fluid content of our bodies, the lunar phases affect humans and other animals, just like their effects on the oceans and other bodies of water.
I haven’t noticed any moony effect on me during any of the full moons, except the wish to photograph the moon, which appeared once I got my hands on a decent camera. I haven’t, yet, howled at the moon, and as to my lunacy, it is the same as always, involving books and writing.
The police records in Florida of a five-year period show an increase in assault and homicide cases, and other such claims exist, but are they myths, coincidences, or our wish to belong with the cosmic forces? That is for the later generations to prove or disprove.
I haven’t yet created a character who was affected by the full moon, but I know several WdC writers who have done that very successfully. Maybe someday, I’ll try a werewolf story or a series uniting history with the paranormal, as StephBee  did in The Wolf's Torment, which is a novel I enjoyed reading greatly.
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December 3, 2017 at 11:02am December 3, 2017 at 11:02am
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Possible because I don’t know if it is a find]. By the word find, I’m referring to a book I bought for 50 cents from the local library’s book sale, The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles. I’ve read other stories and memoirs by Paul Bowles and developed a respect for his style.
It seems the book has a movie made in 1990 with Debra Winger and John Malkovich, but I have no recollection of even seeing the title at the movie theaters. It might be due to the fact that 1990 was a year I was involved in a much more serious matter than focusing on movies, but I digress.
What made me buy this used physical book, however in very good shape, was its foreword written in 1998 by the author. He said that the novel was based on personal experiences and that he killed the protagonist in the middle of it.
His killing the protagonist in the middle of the story is what made me buy the book. Imagine any of us killing a protagonist in the middle of a story! None of us could get away with it, don’t you think?
Reading a physical book from beginning to end is a rarity for me after the rise of e-readers, not that I don’t buy physical books but those that I usually purchase are reference books. E-books do not occupy space and most E-Readers have built-in lights and adjustable fonts.
Now, I’ll have to see how this author killed the protagonist in the middle of his novel. From the reviews of it that I saw on its Amazon page, most readers didn’t care for it much, but then, anything literary usually gets comments like, ‘it is boring’ or ‘I couldn’t finish this,’ ‘It doesn’t make sense,’ or ‘the story dawdles,’ etc. When someone writes ‘boring’ without saying why, I tend to think that book is worth a read. 
In the long run, it may just be that curiosity killed the kitten… in the middle.
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December 2, 2017 at 6:41pm December 2, 2017 at 6:41pm
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Prompt: Creation Saturday--- Scribbled on the back of a bookmark, she read the most interesting thing...
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The words, The vexing part of the matter is that I am a Martian, was scribbled on the back of the bookmark that she found on the windowsill at the library. Was anyone playing a practical joke on her?
She saw nobody around where she stood. The other people were reading books and magazines in the sitting area. There were only two little girls at a computer and the three librarians at the front desk.
Whatever it was, she had no business tiring her brain over. She tried to put the bookmark back on the windowsill, but she couldn’t because the bookmark now stuck to her hand. She shook her hand, tried to rip it apart with her other hand, spit on it thinking that the liquid would dislodge it somehow, but to no avail. The bookmark was stuck inside her palm and was making its way under her skin.
She ran to the front desk and showed her hand to the librarians. “How lovely,” one of them said. “You have one of our bookmarks tattooed on top of your hand and inside your palm. Which tattoo artist do you use? My brother would love to visit him.” She looked at her hand and screamed and ran out of the library. By this time, the so-called tattoo had sneaked from her hand to her arm between the elbow and the hand.
“Don’t act so crazy,” said someone with a squeaky voice, but she didn’t spot anyone around her. “It is me, Silly! Your Martian. Don’t worry, I’ll stop at your upper arm to get a better view of your world.”
“Please leave me alone,” she whispered.
“Hey, Lady, you picked me up. I didn’t ask you to, did I? I may have tricked your mind a bit, but still, you are the one who took me from my perch inside the window. So, live with it.”
Well, she can’t have her arm amputated, can she? Maybe now, she can use this Martian in some way since he knows tricks alien to her and her world. After all, didn’t Marcus Aurelius say, “Accept the things to which fate binds you”?
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December 1, 2017 at 6:59pm December 1, 2017 at 6:59pm
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This entry is about my 2017 NaNo Experience and for me to refer to; however, anyone can read it if they wish.
I almost didn’t do Nano this year, but then, I’ve been missing it having skipped it in 2016. Three days before Prep, I said to myself why not? If I write 10,000 words of something, it is still something, better than nothing.
The day before prep I was looking at Psychology Today. There I saw an article about adopted kids and grownups who sometimes are troubled by their early experiences, etc. The idea felt good.
So I questioned myself:
Can I twist this idea? Check
Can I come up with a protagonist who can shoulder this idea? Check
Can this idea (or problem or the resulting conflict) sustain itself until the end of the novel? Check.
The first day of the Prep covered these ideas anyhow; so, I winged a few things on those for starters. Then I kept winging it throughout the prep month. It ended up some of those wings were broken or clipped, but never mind, something like a story took shape.
What helped me the most during the writing of the novel was mostly the characterization and the last detailed outline. Then came the possibilities of anything, such as how many ways can I skin an idea, how many ways can something go wrong, etc.
What would probably have helped more would be doing only one outline and going back to it and perfecting it as I went along. Doing the outline three times or doing three different outlines was a waste of time, I found out.
Then when November came the last outline helped the most, although I changed it greatly during the writing process because of new characters and twists surfacing here and there.
What irked me the most was that, because I like to dive into muddy waters to make the writing process more interesting for myself, during the prep I decided to write the novel from the first-person point of view and in the present tense.
The first-person POV is not so bad. I have written in it several times and it does have a way of penetrating into a character’s psyche.
 The present tense, however, just about killed me. Especially after the midpoint sometime when the leading characters became real people in my mind. When I intensely got into the story and the characters, I ended up writing long sections in the past tense, not once or twice but many times, and then went back to turn those into the present tense. I shall never do present tense again for a whole novel, at least not from only one character’s POV.
Finding time to write was another problem, but I surprised myself by getting creative about it. Rather than sitting down to write for two hours, I wrote most of the novel in about 250-400 words at a sitting after imagining what I would write while I did other things. This way, I wrote over 2000 words daily. I think the least I wrote was 900 words one day when I had a doctor’s appt. Then the most I wrote was 3500. I think I hit the 50 K mark a day earlier than Thanksgiving, but the novel was far from finished. So, I rushed. At the last day of the month, at the word count of 64,694, I finished it (rushed it a bit, but no sweat, if I want to do anything with it, I can always rewrite.) By the way, the novel also needs at least one or two halfway decent sex scenes, which I skipped at the time by only suggesting them. Since the main character got interested in a guy seriously enough and it had an impact at the ending, those scenes are necessary.
All in all, it was another great experience, except for the present tense bit and Windows 10 dumping me every now and then. Talking about windows and dumping, I discovered that dumping occurs more when I keep my watch on and if I have a metallic bracelet. So, having learned another lesson, as I am writing this entry, my arms are bare. It doesn’t mean Windows 10 won’t dump me at all, but there is a difference between being dumped twice or 200 times during one entry.
Come to think of it, there was another mishap. Sometime during the mid-month, Microsoft decided to install updates on my computer. That meant any file open in the Word would go. Since I have been conditioned to deal with their surprise installments, I frequently save everything I write, like every couple of paragraphs or so. What I didn’t count on was that MS would cut in half an already saved word file, which was the Prep notes. The file was open because I referred to it, but I wasn’t adding to it or writing in it. Luckily, since I had the notes in my WdC port, I recovered them immediately, except for half the photos.
Another thing, when I am writing a large piece or an important project I put the laptop in an airplane mode, which probably helps in some ways, but not where Microsoft is concerned. They get in even when my laptop is in the airplane mode, &*!%$!
Here is another note for me for next time: Keep the maps and photos in a separate folder and number them. If I paste them into the word file, note their numbers, too. This numbering goes for the WdC Prep file as well. So even if the photos from the word file is gone, I can refer to them from the NaNo photos file.
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