When did we forget The Golden Rule? (to do unto others as you would have them do unto you, in case you are one who has forgotten).  It’s a code of moral behavior that predates Christ (and Christianity for that matter).  Through my extensive research (glancing at the above linked Wikipedia [...]]]> <ON MY SOAPBOX>

When did we forget The Golden Rule? (to do unto others as you would have them do unto you, in case you are one who has forgotten).  It’s a code of moral behavior that predates Christ (and Christianity for that matter).  Through my extensive research (glancing at the above linked Wikipedia article) I’ve found evidence of some form of The Golden Rule in nearly every religion on every continent.

And my own mother used to say “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all,”  a quote that I can’t seem to attribute to any one in particular after an exhaustive search, also known as a google query.

I understand that when a person puts their work out into the public arena they expect (hope, pray) that the public will respond.  Critique and review can be a good thing.  I regularly read the L.A. Times Books section, or the NY Times Book section.  But the reviewers are never mean.  They don’t call the writers names or throw sticks at them, but rather the judge the work.

When you blog, when you put your words out there on the internets, you open yourself up to criticism as well. I know the internet is public.   But for most bloggers I know their audience is at best an extended circle of friends and family.  These are not the people that will call you a nasty name or tell you to quit whining (if they are, it’s time for new friends).

And if you post your blog in a more public arena, clearly you are inviting more response….

All this makes me wonder about the people that opt to say mean things, or worse take a disagreement, a difference of opinion, of taste, to a personal level, calling someone a whiner, or worse (trust me, I’ve been called worse both in person and online).  How is name calling contributing at all? Is it so hard to just move on?

As far as I’m concerned, if you think you can do better, then go ahead and do it. Do better.  We could use more awesomeness in this world. Write your own article, set up your own blog, participate on Salon or HuffPo, or whatever.   Publish a novel, produce a t.v. show…

Wouldn’t there be much more satisfaction in experiencing your own success than in bringing others  down?

</OFF MY SOAPBOX>

But as I re-work my prose, much [...]]]> Not too long ago I wrote a section in my memoir–actually it is currently at the end–about volunteering at the Children’s Grief Center.  It feels like the end in a way, like this is the place I ended up on my emotional journey of Reconstructing My Mother.

But as I re-work my prose, much of it written in 2006 or 2007, I realize I have a different perspective on those events.  That perspective, that time of writing voice is clearly informed by my work at the Children’s Grief Center.  I knew this, but when Greg suggested that this section be the beginning I was resistant.  I love chronological order.  It makes sense to me, and anything that messes with the time space continuum really makes my brain hurt– like the Star Trek Next Gen episode where Data’s head was found amongst some 19th Century Earth artifacts… tell me your brain doesn’t start to hurt as you try and figure out how Data is both alive and dead in the albeit fictive present, but lived in the past? was killed in the 1800s?  so how can he exist n the present, or is it the future?  see what I mean….

Maybe Greg wasn’t suggesting I write something like “Time’s Arrow” but there was a part of my brain that was screaming NOOOOOOOOO  it can’t come first because it didn’t happen first.  This kind of modular design doesn’t bother me in other people’s work, so I’m not sure why I resist, but I do.  I’m trying really hard to get over it….

Greg also suggested that rather than tweak what I have that I re-type the whole thing.  Start with a blank document.  No cutting and pasting.

This  suggestion not only made my brain hurt, but made me want to hyperventilate as well.

Do you know how intimidating a blank page is to a writer??  It was like he was suggesting that I toss what I’ve done.  The 200 plus pages.  And a part of my brain (the same part that keeps all those unfinished projects in my closet) was screaming NOOOOOOO  I can’t get rid of anything!

But I’m doing what he suggested.  I mean you do know the definition of crazy, don’t you:

doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

I’m glad to report that I am not crazy, and this re-typing thing may in fact be working.

I started re-typing the beginning, with the new vision of starting with the end.

In the process of re-typing, I’ve already added three new pages.

And maybe some of the prose won’t even make it into the new document.

And maybe that’s a good thing.

And maybe, just maybe I’ll find an end….

Make No Mistake: this kind of harassment can be as frightening and as real as being followed and watched in your neighborhood or in your home. ~Vice President Al Gore

The first comment was rather innocuous, [...]]]> FINALLY found a home for my essay, “Goodbye Troll: a blogger’s manifesto” over at The Women’s Colony:

Make No Mistake: this kind of harassment can be as frightening and as real as being followed and watched in your neighborhood or in your home. ~Vice President Al Gore

The first comment was rather innocuous, albeit grammatically incorrect: “ACTIONS SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS” It was submitted, in all caps, to my blog anonymously at 1:56 a.m. in response to my post The Power of Words on the 40th anniversary of Robert Kennedy’s death. I had embedded a YouTube video of one of Kennedy’s greatest speeches and I quoted:

What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.

I quoted it because some things bear repeating.

The second comment came two hours later and included an alleged quote from Buddha and some ramblings about “truth.” Signed, “Anonymous.” I approved both because though strange, they seemed harmless enough.

….CONTINUE READING AT TWC–>

AUTHOR’S NOTE: those of you (all five of my loyal readers) may remember this time, and may notice some differences in my Dear Anonymous letter. I have indeed taken some liberties with my own prose in service of creating a better, more cohesive essay.

Both manifestations have what could be considered an eye. Is this the opening up of the eye?  a reminder to see?  to look at myself.  Perhaps [...]]]> So not only am I uncomfortable with the impermanence, now I find I must analyze,  interpret, find some meaning in the lines and dots and dashes and swoops.

Both manifestations have what could be considered an eye. Is this the opening up of the eye?  a reminder to see?  to look at myself.  Perhaps this is my third eye I am drawing.  I wonder if I will get to the point that I can just let it be.

Yes, I know this is only day two. Yes, I know, I am over analyzing.  It’s what I do.  What do you think?

I’m looking for blogs to read that are more of the telling stories variety and less of the the commenting on the news variety… especially if they are regional in nature (any region, but stories of the Southwest would be preferable)

Actually I’ll be writing a paper tentatively titled “The Emergence of [...]]]> Hi All!

I’m looking for blogs to read that are more of the telling stories variety and less of the the commenting on the news variety… especially if they are regional in nature (any region, but stories of the Southwest would be preferable)

Actually I’ll be writing a paper tentatively titled “The Emergence of Blogs as the New Regionalism” for my Contemporary Literature and Film of the Southwest class. I figured rather than reading all the blogs on the internets (technorati is tracking some 11 million blogs) I’d ask for recommendations.

If anyone has some suggestions, I would love to check them out….

Starting in January 2006 I started blogging for SanDiegoBlog.com. It was a community blog run by my dear friend Joe Crawford (one of the smartest guys I know). I blogged off and on for almost 2 years. The ads he had running on the site pretty much paid for hosting– his hope was [...]]]>

Starting in January 2006 I started blogging for SanDiegoBlog.com. It was a community blog run by my dear friend Joe Crawford (one of the smartest guys I know). I blogged off and on for almost 2 years. The ads he had running on the site pretty much paid for hosting– his hope was that if it ever started to make money he would construct some sort of profit sharing, but it hadn’t come to that yet. No forms were signed, just kind of a internet hand-shake.

Joe, being the smart guy that he is, sold the blog. It was the wise thing to do. He had moved to Simi Valley with his lovely Leah Peah (another dear friend) and wanted to focus his energies on his new life up north.

Unfortunately he sold it to a guy that (1) has cluttered up the site with ads; (2) never ever emailed me (or any of the other regular or occasional bloggers that I am aware of) to introduce himself or to ask me (or any of us) to continue writing -or not and (3) there’s no info about him or about the site on the site– a personal pet peeve of mine especially if this is a business, which clearly it is.

And so my words are making him money (keyword based ad revenue). It ticks me off every time I get a notification of a comment– usually a SPAM comment– on one of my old posts. (Note I have not contributed to the blog since October 2007).

SO, since I can’t delete even my own posts, I edited them all…. they are now blank. Nothing more than empty (keyword free) space under some pretty catchy titles (if I do say so myself). Note my personal favorite title was “Oooo eeee” (for you Justin Wilson Cajun’ Cook Fans) to announce a Cajun Music and Food Fest taking place in San Diego.

My most commented post ever (47, baby) was “Wake Up San Diego”

Your city planners are trying to enact an Oversize Vehicle Ordinance (OVO) that will affect ALL citizens of San Diego. ALL vehicles over 7 feet high and or over 22 feet long, ALL utility trailers, and ALL recreational vehicles would be prohibited from overnight parking on city streets. Recreational vehicles, as defined, could park overnight up to 72 times per year only with a valid permit issued by the city. The San Diego business community will be drastically affected as the OVO includes street parking in industrial areas.

Note to any potential commenters on this issue, it is dead, decided, and I no longer live in or near San Diego so it’s not my issue anymore.

My personal favorite post was “Is San Diego a Literary / Artistic Wasteland”

Maybe I’m just naive. Maybe I just like Rich Baiocco. And maybe, just maybe, San Diego does have an arts community… and maybe, just maybe you have to open your eyes and look around. It’s there. Like Winter in San Diego its subtle, but it’s there.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out the interview with UCSD’s Lit professor / poet Eileen Myles (she’s ready to move to LA because San Diego isn’t gritty hip enough for her):

Alone in San Diego: Gritty New York poet Eileen Myles struggles with life and work in a shiny, happy city by Emma Silvers

and local writer Rich Baiocco’s response via BlogSanDiego, I, Necrophiliac

So, SanDiegoBlog readers…. you know where I stand, so I put it to you. Is there art in San Diego? Can you be an on the edge, over the edge, standing on the ledge artist in San Diego?

That one didn’t draw as many comments –only 8– but it did get picked up by The Reader. And I got paid for it!

So all in all I don’t regret the time and words I spent at San Diego Blog, but it really would have been nice if the new owner had made some sort of effort to either keep the community going, or let us know what his plans were for the blog….

So, instead of taking Joe’s advice, “You might even offer up constructive criticism of the site to him, rather than go in with guns blazing,” I just deleted all my words, killed my darlings as it were…..
I am now free to be as noted on the tags (see right column) of this very blog…. or participate more on Duke City Fix — a true community blog / social network site for people that dig life in Albuquerque… or, hey, do my homework! write my book! (grad school update coming up next)

or do another bad bad thing….

A meme is a cultural unit of information that gets transmitted from one person to another. Memes, like viruses propogate themselves. In [...]]]> Memes. I hate them. They are like the blogosphere’s version of a chain letter, the creeping crud so to speak. Now the concept of memes, from an academic standpoint is quite interesting.

A meme is a cultural unit of information that gets transmitted from one person to another. Memes, like viruses propogate themselves. In the social science arena a meme can be thought of as tribal knowledge.

Internet Memes can also be cultural bits that are passed around like the warnings about deoderant causing breast cancer, or the laughing babies video… they become viral in that they are passed from one person to another.

In the blogosphere, a meme is propogated in much the same way a chain letter gets passed along– one blogger tagging another, often guilting them into participating. ;-0 and I hate it when someone tries to make me do anything….

But Martin was so pleased that he finally got tagged, a rite of passage he called, and then he tagged me, and I didn’t want to discourage him from playing on the internet, so here goes:

The Inquisition Meme

10 years ago
It was 1998 (Yeah! I can still do math –but I have to check my resume)
Ten years ago I was working as a computer consultant with my good friend. We had a consulting firm to help small businesses optimize their computer use: off-the-shelf software customization, contact management and accounting software deployment and custom database development.

5 things on To do list
1. Finish my You Like Play Chalk essay to turn into my Read and Critique group.
2.Pack a box. (I have goal of 1 box per weekend until I move)
3.Go through dresser drawer and discard items I no longer wear
4.Go to grocery store and make dinner (is that one or two ? they are related)
5.Help sister create a flyer advertising a Gyrokenisis workshop she has planned
6.Follow up on: estimate from movers, registration at University of New Mexico… hell, put together a list of everything I need to do.

yes I know that is more than 5 but I’m playing by my rules.

If I were a billionaire….I wouldn’t worry about paying for grad school! I would buy a house for cash for sure. I would get a massage once a week. I would travel all summer long…. I really want to go to Ireland. And Peru. Maybe a spa week at someplace like Rancho La Puerta. And a dude ranch. Maybe a yoga retreat in Costa Rica. Oh, and Alaska… and the Sea of Cortez to see the whales. Better make a list just in case I become a billionaire.

I would set aside at least 10 percent for charitable causes. Of course I would give money to public radio, and cancer research. Maybe start a scholarship or grant fund for writers.

3 bad habits
Only three! Hah! OK well, I quit smoking so that can come off the list.

1. I don’t exercise. Which technically isn’t a habit. Exercising would be a habit. NOT exercising is just plain lazy.
2. I pick at my cuticles.
3. I procrastinate… terribly, waiting until the last minute to do almost everything. I’m sure I’ll be up packing all night the night before I move… for example. But I’ll surely have a list about it. (is that bad habit number 4?)

5 places I’ve lived
More than five places, again, my blog, my rules. In order:

Long Beach, Calif.
Alameda, Calif.
Long Beach Again
San Diego, Calif
Aiea, Hawaii (near Honolulu)
Vienna, Va (a suburb of Washington DC)
Del Mar, Calif (a suburb of San Diego)
San Diego, Calif
Morelia, Michoacan Mexico (only for a summer, but I’m counting it anyway)
La Mesa, Calif. (a suburb of San Diego)
San Diego, Calif
Chicago, IL
Solana Beach, Calif (a suburb of San Diego)
Leucadia, Calif (a suburb of San Diego)
Del Mar, Calif
Solana Beach, Calif
and
…. Albuquerque, NM (beginning July 2008)

5 jobs I’ve had
Airline ticket delivery girl
(for you younguns, this was before the internet and email and electronic boarding passes)

Gift Shop Clerk/Birthday Hostess and sometimes Rat at Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theater. Those character costumes are disgusting inside. Hot and your breath condenses on the inside of the mask, like everyone else’s before you… ew.

Secretary (I type 80 words per minute and paid my way through college working for a CPA)

Program Coordinator, International Visitors Council of San Diego

Director of Marketing and New Media

# # #

That’s it. If you comment, consider yourself tagged.