tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7854090250820154334.post332919015799412702..comments2022-12-12T02:22:42.378-05:00Comments on Not There Yet: Dipping My Toe Back Into the WaterDavidShaghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02378015294494222646noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7854090250820154334.post-34871883946000010762013-02-23T03:35:13.229-05:002013-02-23T03:35:13.229-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7854090250820154334.post-78238103998517161422011-07-20T02:53:38.648-04:002011-07-20T02:53:38.648-04:00I hope you find some more oomph soon, David; it...I hope you find some more oomph soon, David; it's mighty lonesome here...<br /><br /><br />I miss your friendly presence here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7854090250820154334.post-85309338805950774372011-06-13T17:15:50.297-04:002011-06-13T17:15:50.297-04:00Well, Marge - I am always delighted to be the shit...Well, Marge - I am always delighted to be the shit thrown on your tomato vine - or the tea made therefrom. I guess I have also been going through a period of re-appraisal. I am astonished at how much of my life has been planned or, more often, built unplanned around the man I have in my imagination rather than the man I actually am. I seem to be saving things for others who don't want them and wishing to go to parties where I don't really like the other guests. I just think I do, or will, or should like them. <br /><br />I guess whichever of us dies first will stick the other with a grammar-free America. I am currently suffering thru a vist that has run longer than promised from my brother Jack and his logorrheal (a word?) signif other - the Lovely Eglantine. Honestly, this woman's need to fill every shining moment with the gift of her chatter is pathological, and I have been eying several sharp kitchen utensils with an almost uncontrollable impulse to use them to stem the flow. I think I could bear it better if so many sentences didn't have "Me and him" as the subject... "Me and him told them to give it to her and I." Really? I am expected to suffer this in silence??? <br /><br />There: a mini-rant right back atcha. <br /><br />I love the story of folks lives, but I do require some skill in the telling. If I just want a catalogue of sins, I'd have been a priest. <br /><br />Glad to hear from you. I am hoping to write more - I have just found myself staring at the keyboard without the oomph to use it, lately.DavidShaghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02378015294494222646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7854090250820154334.post-18464620593800987622011-06-13T10:46:33.540-04:002011-06-13T10:46:33.540-04:00Glad you're back for a bit, David--toe and all...Glad you're back for a bit, David--toe and all.<br /><br />I'm afraid that my philosophical rambling days are pretty much over for now; an overload of political and social conscientiousness (awkward sentence...oh, well...)has left me a tad burnt-out and not inclined to write much lately.<br /><br />Personally, I enjoy the stories of people's lives. The tales human beings tell of their struggles and triumphs, loves and losses fill our libraries, and I could spend the rest of my life in such a book-filled environment. Better still is learning about the unfolding of people's lives as I get to know them through blogging and Facebook. Flawed though they be, both venues hold infinite possibilities for human beings to interact with each other (when not distracted by mind-numbing applications and games, of course). <br /><br />Yes. I do frequent Facebook, although I've recently pared down my list of friends, eliminating those who apparently aren't interested in visiting back and forth. In realtime, I've also backed away from one-sided relationships; a relationship involves the participation of BOTH people, and I've been around my share of emotional vampires.<br /><br />It's not likely that you and I will ever chat over tea and muffins in some friendly little bistro somewhere, yet it's a wish of mine. I feel that way about a number of people whose writings have captured my heart and imagination. My extended family has grown in recent years, thanks to the internet, and I've learned a great deal about others and myself in the process. What a long strange trip it's been.<br /><br />The long and short of it is, I have come to care a great deal about people for the content of their written words, which has spoken volumes to me of the content of characters. That's good enough for me; my bullshit filters are set pretty high, so I've been able to discern when bloggers and Facebookers are offering the straight skinny or not. Most have been great; a few, not so.<br /><br />It occurred to me recently that my generation, once dead and gone, will take with it the last vestiges of correct usage of language as we know it, and a part of me is peaceful knowing I won't be around to witness the continued dumbing-down of the world's people. It occurred to me awhile back that as long as people are fed "reality programs" on tv and distracted from one another by portable electronic devices, they're happy and oblivious to the world around them. Had a couple such folks nearly plough into the side of my car when they were more interested in texting on their cell phones than their safety or mine...<br /><br />Sorry. Mini-rant. I digress...<br /><br /><br />David, my dearest hope is that you will find your way back to your blog as you feel inclined--the more often the better; a visit here is like compost tea on the wilting tomato vines of my imagination.<br /><br />Or something like that.<br /><br />Good to "see" you again; if I could, I'd hug you soundly in parting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7854090250820154334.post-72765620704825975472011-06-09T15:52:27.405-04:002011-06-09T15:52:27.405-04:00Flooz - Hey - Nice to hear from one of my favorite...Flooz - Hey - Nice to hear from one of my favorite people. Seems like everyone goes away at the same time, doesn't it? My fridge is full of beer left by my brothers and that is a lot more tempting than any wine - I never liked wine. Try putting the unopened bottle into one of those 'food for the poor' collection boxes. Why shouldn't poor folks be happy, too? Sorry your life sucks - mine seems more like a blank. Too much TV and too little everything else.DavidShaghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02378015294494222646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7854090250820154334.post-56785756510228840972011-06-08T21:24:21.695-04:002011-06-08T21:24:21.695-04:00My gosh, I thought Blogger was broke! Or that bec...My gosh, I thought Blogger was broke! Or that because I hadn't written for so long, it had quit refreshing. I was about to post an entry that said nothing but "testing," just to see if that would help. So glad to see an entry from you. I am cogitating on stuff to write but I think my writing ability has gone away. Things suck but I can't seem to find the energy to describe it any better than that. Finding myself eyeing a small bottle of blackberry wine given to me as a gift, home-made by the giver who I didn't know well enough to tell her I can't and don't drink alcohol. I should pour it down the sink and give her the bottle back, but then I'd have to smell it. And she might give me another one. Welcome back!floozhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14889482633231509161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7854090250820154334.post-11020979794988841322011-06-08T13:18:00.946-04:002011-06-08T13:18:00.946-04:00Gaelic - You have put together two points I made (...Gaelic - You have put together two points I made (or tried to). My inital point is that nothing is interesting to anyone who comes upon one's writing just because it happened. While something like my mother getting a speeding ticket might be funny to ME or her sisters, I have to paint a picture of this woman or of the circumstances to SHOW the humor and make a reader come back hoping to hear more. Otherwise, at best, I get general reactions of a generic variety (which is more than I deserve) like, "I't's sad when a mother does such and such," or "The laws are too strict these days...". If one is a good storyteller, a lack of grammatic skill is distracting but I'll still probably like the writing - at least in small doses. The worst offense to me is to read of a baby who is "cute", her father "proud" and the mother "recovering nicely". Originality trumps writing skill every day. That said, my second point is that a person who writes professionally has no excuse for triteness, poor grammar, and so forth. Why would I waste my time reading a novel that did not give me one original idea or which didn't come alive at least once because the writer's smooth skills transported me into someone else's life?<br /><br />Beth - I am glad to see one, too. And just as surprised.<br /><br />Jeankfl - I am not unaware of your truancy, which began well before mine. I was stuck with that wedding entry for months whenever I'd drop by hoping! You are speaking of BFF's in the REAL world - I was talking of BFF's in the on-line world where people dearly "love" people they've never met, not ever hope to. I, too, hope I get the urge again soon. I have been going thru a spell of "So what?" as well as Spring demanding my attention. <br />As to writing exercises, I am still trying to decide if I want to do the 50,000-word novel-in-a-month challenge that shows up every November. I think I am mulling my entry for 2001.<br /><br />Gayle - You old curmudgeon, I have dropped by to no avail for quite some time - altho when I stopped writing entries in march, i simultaneously kind of stopped signing in at all. I always like hearing from you. I guess I have to write another entry on Africans to get your juices flowing - I recall way back when on SpacesLive how I heard from you as you read about my memories of living with African roommates and your readiness to dive into my thoughts with a musket, sabre and dynamite vest. What have you been doing with your years off? How's the daughter?DavidShaghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02378015294494222646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7854090250820154334.post-58475796234085902402011-06-08T04:12:10.884-04:002011-06-08T04:12:10.884-04:00Hey, David. Having taken off years as opposed to ...Hey, David. Having taken off years as opposed to a season, I am wandering through your yard again. As always, I enjoyed reading your words! Glad to be, if not your BFF or even your BFFTM, then your ATAF- adoring though absent fan.gbchangehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04233263656325863173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7854090250820154334.post-73133565076468026482011-06-07T18:59:08.779-04:002011-06-07T18:59:08.779-04:00I am horribly disappointed at the state of grammar...I am horribly disappointed at the state of grammar and spelling knowledge in the media today. It really distracts so much from the story, for me, that I can't even focus on the article! GW may have something there, in getting back to our roots as oral storytellers. Then, again, maybe we're just "dumbing down"...which I think is probably the case. <br />I certainly have no fingers to point about not writing enough, although I have written since you have. I don't hold that up as a particular accomplishment, as my record over the last year is dismal. I just ran out of juice, as I contend most of us from Spaces did when our little "networks" shriveled up from all the changes and moves. Just seemed like it wasn't worth the effort, and I forget what I've already told, like a dementia patient that tells the same stories over and over again to the same audience til they shut their ears, or quit coming around. I do so enjoy your writing, and your stories, that I hope you'll continue to grace us with them for a long time, and with much greater frequency. Maybe you should do the "challenge" with the Gaelic Wife! It's a meme to force daily writing that I think would be very well suited to making you dredge up heretofore unwritten stories. Look at her page and see! <br />I only use BFF about one person. She has been my best friend for 35 years. I think that qualifies as BFF, especially as we are both Christians, and I believe I will see her in the afterlife. If not, I've still enjoyed her and been tremendously blessed by having her as a friend. I frequently try to be a better friend to her, as I KNOW I am getting the best end of this deal. *smile* I do have several friends I have had for at least 40-50 years, but they are slightly more casual in nature than my friendship with her, or they are just family that I particularly like. <br />So, I hope you continue to get the "urge" to write and share your stories. I think the more we share, the longer the lives of those stories and those people.Jeankflhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13830433635650943988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7854090250820154334.post-60227414423103745172011-06-07T17:25:03.284-04:002011-06-07T17:25:03.284-04:00I am glad to see a post from you David.I am glad to see a post from you David.Bethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12020604933621899108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7854090250820154334.post-82068253564151881392011-06-07T12:49:36.465-04:002011-06-07T12:49:36.465-04:00To really draw someone in to your story, you have ...To really draw someone in to your story, you have to write well. Disjointed sentences and such only make people want to give up on the whole reading thing. Or maybe we're really just getting back to our human roots as oral story tellers, passing information along to others. Or maybe I thought I had something to say.The Gaelic Wifehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13042569769234227354noreply@blogger.com