Stream o' Consciousness.
The title is a little "shout out" to the Irish readers in honor of St. Patrick's Day.
If you want to know where I was one year ago on March 17, read my Internshit blog (http://internshit.blogspot.com/). It was a lot of fun, let me tell you.
WHAT'S MY MOTIVATION?
I’m tired and don’t feel like writing, but I’m trying once again to get into the habit of writing daily, regardless of my motivation.
It was an interesting week for my writing “career.” My last two Gazette columns were a true struggle. Two weeks ago I nearly quit my position as a columnist. Last week meeting my deadline was so stressful and the writing seemed so unrewarding that I e-mailed my editor asking if I could switch from a weekly column to once every two weeks.
She e-mailed me back to say that in her opinion, I’m one of the best columnists the paper has. One of the staff writers sent me an e-mail raving about my columns, particularly the most recent one dealing with gay marriage.
Finally—and this was the supreme compliment—another Gazette columnist, who once wrote a column that was an angry rebuttal of one of my columns, wrote to tell me that he felt my gay marriage column was the best editorial he’s ever read about the subject.
So, I humbly told my editor that I will gladly resume my weekly column despite the fact that it’s a struggle. And I have found that even the kind words and encouragement of my colleagues isn’t enough to make the ideas flow easily, nor do they give me the confidence I need to feel my writing is decent and that I make a difference in the world. I know damned well that 6 p.m. Sunday will roll around and I will be nearly apoplectic wondering how I’ll ever meet my deadline.
Yet somehow I know the idea(s) will come and that I’ll write a decent column. Not an earth-shattering one, nothing worthy of a Pulitzer Prize, but a column nonetheless that some people will enjoy, some will hate, and the vast majority will utterly ignore.
I truly believe it is a privilege to have words in print. The only thing that kept me from quitting my column was the fact that I am one of very few people granted that privilege and I would be a fool to throw away the forum. It is disappointing to me when I feel I don’t live up to that privilege, but I figure if even once a month I can churn out a column I’m truly proud of, that’s progress.
By the way, I’m not sharing this to pat myself on the back. I’m just trying to give you some insight—if you care—into what goes into this writing “process.” I always had illusions that the life of a writer was a rosy one; you lounge around the house in your jammies drinking coffee, and when inspiration strikes you do as the muse tells you. I’m discovering that writing is as laborious as any manual labor position, and there are days I wish I could leave it all behind and be satisfied with a mindless profession.
That will never happen, of course. And I’m grateful for the privilege.
CAGED HUNT
Tonight the Daily Show on Comedy Central sent a reporter to engage in the same type of quail “hunt” that Vice President Dick Cheney was engaged in when he shot his friend in the face.
I put “hunt” in quotes because it is anything but a hunt. It’s a slaughter. They are farm-raised birds, not wild birds. The “hunters” agree beforehand how many and what type of birds they wish to bag. The proprietors then take the birds to a field where they—get ready for this—shove them upside-down into bales of straw from which they can’t escape. The “hunters” then go to the field where their dogs dislodge the birds, and of course the “hunters” have their guns trained on the spot where the newly-freed bird will emerge, and they kill them one-by-one.
There is nothing sporting about this. I’m not a hunter, but I can at least understand how some people might enjoy the “sport” of a true hunt, particularly if the animal they kill ends up on their family’s table. However, the thought that people go on these excursions simply for the sheer delight of slaughtering animals just for the kill…I just don’t know what to say. I find it repugnant and what I saw tonight was enough to make me lose any shred of respect I may have had left for the Vice President.
SEAL CLUBBING
Speaking of cruelty to animals, it’s that time again: Join the seal club, the annual hunt has begun. People whose job it is to bludgeon Disney characters to death as the animals’ mothers watch in agony will once again be taking to the ice.
I was enlightened as to this practice as a child, and every year the thought of it makes me nauseous. I know that animal rights organizations attempt to disrupt the hunts, and frankly I’m of the mind that to make it fair, a certain number of hunting licenses need to be distributed to PETA members allowing them to club a few seal clubbers to death. There are those who will believe my stance to be extreme, and to these people I encourage you to watch a video the practice—I’m sure they’re available on-line—and tell me anyone that can participate in such a thing truly deserves to be called a human being.
THE WAR IN IRAQ
A new campaign has begun in Iraq; reportedly the biggest air strike since the first days of the war. It is expected to continue for days.
More death. More destruction. More money funneled into what could very well be an utterly hopeless cause.
As you sit in your homes tonight, or as you go about your business at work on Friday, pause a moment to think of what’s occurring half a world away. Planes are dropping bombs that are killing people. Each of these bombs is paid for by the sweat of your brow. This blood is in essence on your—my—hands. As you create spreadsheets, make sales, get things done…people in Ivory Towers are making decisions on your behalf that mean life or death for thousands of people.
God bless America.
DEMOCRATIC OPPORTUNITY
As a former die-hard Republican Bush supporter, I am begging the Democrats: Give me a reason to vote for you. Drop your impeachment campaign. You are wasting your time on bringing down a lame-duck president. This nation is disintegrating around us. The world has become a frighteningly unstable place. George Bush is a non-entity; he will be out of office in a very short time. Impeaching George Bush will accomplish nothing but the swearing in of President Cheney, at which point the "Impeach Cheney" rally cry can be sounded, and so on 'til we've impeached everyone down to the Secretary of Agriculture.
Balance the budget. Cut spending—ALL spending, from social spending to military spending—stop the madness in Darfur. Protect our borders. I have vowed to vote Libertarian which many have told me is the equivalent of throwing my vote away. The Republicans have proved they have no balls. What say ye, Democrats: Have you the balls to win my vote? I am listening. I am hearing nothing.
BLOODY REVOLUTION?
In my Geography class last night, we engaged in a brief discussion of revolution. The teacher has been to Latin America and told the class that one thing America doesn’t want is a bloody revolution.
Think about that. People who presumably represent you, for all intents and purposes, hijacked your future and that of your children, and great-grandchildren, by passing this monstrosity of a budget. They should be hanging their heads in shame, but instead they accomplished their task, got in their limos, and rode back to their million-dollar Washington D.C. condominiums with the satisfaction of a job well done.
What is more dangerous and harmful: A bloody revolution or a nation so apathetic that they will allow their government to confiscate their earnings to the tune of a nine trillion dollar national debt with nary a word of protest?
If you want to know where I was one year ago on March 17, read my Internshit blog (http://internshit.blogspot.com/). It was a lot of fun, let me tell you.
WHAT'S MY MOTIVATION?
I’m tired and don’t feel like writing, but I’m trying once again to get into the habit of writing daily, regardless of my motivation.
It was an interesting week for my writing “career.” My last two Gazette columns were a true struggle. Two weeks ago I nearly quit my position as a columnist. Last week meeting my deadline was so stressful and the writing seemed so unrewarding that I e-mailed my editor asking if I could switch from a weekly column to once every two weeks.
She e-mailed me back to say that in her opinion, I’m one of the best columnists the paper has. One of the staff writers sent me an e-mail raving about my columns, particularly the most recent one dealing with gay marriage.
Finally—and this was the supreme compliment—another Gazette columnist, who once wrote a column that was an angry rebuttal of one of my columns, wrote to tell me that he felt my gay marriage column was the best editorial he’s ever read about the subject.
So, I humbly told my editor that I will gladly resume my weekly column despite the fact that it’s a struggle. And I have found that even the kind words and encouragement of my colleagues isn’t enough to make the ideas flow easily, nor do they give me the confidence I need to feel my writing is decent and that I make a difference in the world. I know damned well that 6 p.m. Sunday will roll around and I will be nearly apoplectic wondering how I’ll ever meet my deadline.
Yet somehow I know the idea(s) will come and that I’ll write a decent column. Not an earth-shattering one, nothing worthy of a Pulitzer Prize, but a column nonetheless that some people will enjoy, some will hate, and the vast majority will utterly ignore.
I truly believe it is a privilege to have words in print. The only thing that kept me from quitting my column was the fact that I am one of very few people granted that privilege and I would be a fool to throw away the forum. It is disappointing to me when I feel I don’t live up to that privilege, but I figure if even once a month I can churn out a column I’m truly proud of, that’s progress.
By the way, I’m not sharing this to pat myself on the back. I’m just trying to give you some insight—if you care—into what goes into this writing “process.” I always had illusions that the life of a writer was a rosy one; you lounge around the house in your jammies drinking coffee, and when inspiration strikes you do as the muse tells you. I’m discovering that writing is as laborious as any manual labor position, and there are days I wish I could leave it all behind and be satisfied with a mindless profession.
That will never happen, of course. And I’m grateful for the privilege.
CAGED HUNT
Tonight the Daily Show on Comedy Central sent a reporter to engage in the same type of quail “hunt” that Vice President Dick Cheney was engaged in when he shot his friend in the face.
I put “hunt” in quotes because it is anything but a hunt. It’s a slaughter. They are farm-raised birds, not wild birds. The “hunters” agree beforehand how many and what type of birds they wish to bag. The proprietors then take the birds to a field where they—get ready for this—shove them upside-down into bales of straw from which they can’t escape. The “hunters” then go to the field where their dogs dislodge the birds, and of course the “hunters” have their guns trained on the spot where the newly-freed bird will emerge, and they kill them one-by-one.
There is nothing sporting about this. I’m not a hunter, but I can at least understand how some people might enjoy the “sport” of a true hunt, particularly if the animal they kill ends up on their family’s table. However, the thought that people go on these excursions simply for the sheer delight of slaughtering animals just for the kill…I just don’t know what to say. I find it repugnant and what I saw tonight was enough to make me lose any shred of respect I may have had left for the Vice President.
SEAL CLUBBINGSpeaking of cruelty to animals, it’s that time again: Join the seal club, the annual hunt has begun. People whose job it is to bludgeon Disney characters to death as the animals’ mothers watch in agony will once again be taking to the ice.
I was enlightened as to this practice as a child, and every year the thought of it makes me nauseous. I know that animal rights organizations attempt to disrupt the hunts, and frankly I’m of the mind that to make it fair, a certain number of hunting licenses need to be distributed to PETA members allowing them to club a few seal clubbers to death. There are those who will believe my stance to be extreme, and to these people I encourage you to watch a video the practice—I’m sure they’re available on-line—and tell me anyone that can participate in such a thing truly deserves to be called a human being.
THE WAR IN IRAQ
A new campaign has begun in Iraq; reportedly the biggest air strike since the first days of the war. It is expected to continue for days.
More death. More destruction. More money funneled into what could very well be an utterly hopeless cause.
As you sit in your homes tonight, or as you go about your business at work on Friday, pause a moment to think of what’s occurring half a world away. Planes are dropping bombs that are killing people. Each of these bombs is paid for by the sweat of your brow. This blood is in essence on your—my—hands. As you create spreadsheets, make sales, get things done…people in Ivory Towers are making decisions on your behalf that mean life or death for thousands of people.
God bless America.
DEMOCRATIC OPPORTUNITYAs a former die-hard Republican Bush supporter, I am begging the Democrats: Give me a reason to vote for you. Drop your impeachment campaign. You are wasting your time on bringing down a lame-duck president. This nation is disintegrating around us. The world has become a frighteningly unstable place. George Bush is a non-entity; he will be out of office in a very short time. Impeaching George Bush will accomplish nothing but the swearing in of President Cheney, at which point the "Impeach Cheney" rally cry can be sounded, and so on 'til we've impeached everyone down to the Secretary of Agriculture.
Balance the budget. Cut spending—ALL spending, from social spending to military spending—stop the madness in Darfur. Protect our borders. I have vowed to vote Libertarian which many have told me is the equivalent of throwing my vote away. The Republicans have proved they have no balls. What say ye, Democrats: Have you the balls to win my vote? I am listening. I am hearing nothing.
BLOODY REVOLUTION?
In my Geography class last night, we engaged in a brief discussion of revolution. The teacher has been to Latin America and told the class that one thing America doesn’t want is a bloody revolution.
Think about that. People who presumably represent you, for all intents and purposes, hijacked your future and that of your children, and great-grandchildren, by passing this monstrosity of a budget. They should be hanging their heads in shame, but instead they accomplished their task, got in their limos, and rode back to their million-dollar Washington D.C. condominiums with the satisfaction of a job well done.
What is more dangerous and harmful: A bloody revolution or a nation so apathetic that they will allow their government to confiscate their earnings to the tune of a nine trillion dollar national debt with nary a word of protest?
posted by Admin Worm at 7:08 PM
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