talking

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Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make it survive, you haven't done a thing. You are just talking.

– Wangari Muta Maathai

I took a few days off blogging there, I guess. I had some serious talking to do, and it needed parsing out. Last night was the annual meeting of my homeowners association. It's a 280 unit, 15 acre complex on the California coast. For the past 18 months or so, I've served as president. So I made a speech, a powerpoint presentation, don't ya know.

We have somewhere near 300 trees, and some new ones have been planted lately. They're doing alright. But, no thanks to me in particular, is my point.

It's a beautiful, sunny and warm spring day here in paradise! And for the past few days, we've a special visitor over at Mom and Dad's house. They've been pet-sitting a friend's little dog, Etta. [Photos here.] She's such a great little person to play with; an affectionate, great little pal. So I've been spending some time over there as well. … Life is good.

gift cards

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WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve issued new rules on Tuesday to protect Americans from getting stung by unexpected fees or restrictions on gift cards.

Gift cards have grown in popularity — with more than 95 percent of Americans having received or purchased them, the Fed said.

And as usage has gone up, so too have complaints from people taken by surprise by fees that eat into the value of the cards as well restrictions on how long they'll be good for.

http://bit.ly/duKSRC

I just felt like sharing this, because you have to watch where you step out there.

avast, unknown!

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bloody vikings

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I’ve been getting too much spam in Metaphor’s comments lately. To me, too much is any at all. It shall not stand.

I have 3 choices: limit who can post comments, moderate comments before they appear, or ask commenters to fill out one of those word verification forms.

I’ve tried blocking anonymous posts, but that confronts some real people. I’m already moderating older posts.
Before I go to moderating all posts, let’s try the word verification thing. I know, I don’t like them either. So let me know if it’s really annoying, OK?  You can send me an e-mail if that’s easier.

Hope everyone is having a peaceful, if not sunny, weekend.

Update: On second thought, I’m going with moderated comments. I visited some of my favorite blogspot-hosted blogs today and that’s what many of you are doing.

So fire when ready. 


the bends

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Something in that recent interview of Dave Eggers caught my attention.

“Writing is a deep-sea dive. You need hours just to get into it: down, down, down. If you’re called back to the surface every couple of minutes by an email, you can’t ever get back down.”


Isn’t that the truth? Deeper and deeper and deeper on down. It’s like self-hypnosis too. But I like the diving metaphor. Except that sometimes you step off the boat and find the water has turned solid, concrete molded with ripples and waves and painted blue and green. 

You smack it with your hands, bang on it with the shovel, but the briny deep is solid rock. Then what? Lie down with your back against a swell and wait for it to soften up. Reading helps. 

progress

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Each morning my characters greet me with misty faces willing, though chilled, to muster for another day's progress through the dazzling quicksand the marsh of blank paper.

John Updike


Happy birthday, Updike!

Believe it or not, it's been a little over a year since he died.

Although Updike's primary legacy abides in his Rabbit books, my favorite continues to be Toward the End of Time.

only by going

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Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter.

– John Muir, naturalist, explorer, and writer (1838-1914)

No matter where you go, there you are.

– Old 12-step aphorism

writing letters

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So I was thinking about the impending ungodly abomination that Venoco Oil proposes to visit upon my little town, and it occurred to me that I might decide to write a letter to the editor of our local paper about it. Then I remembered Richard Ford's advice to writers. He said, in part:

6. Don't drink and write at the same time.
7. Don't write letters to the editor. (No one cares.)
8. Don't wish ill on your colleagues.
9. Try to think of others' good luck as encouragement to yourself.
10. Don't take any shit if you can possibly help it.

Now I'm not saying you shouldn't write letters to the editor, or drink, or take shit for that matter. I'm sure some of you do those things and are abundantly good at it. But for me, just now, I think it's good advice. Notwithstanding I think he's right that no one cares, my powers of rational rhetoric are not at their peak lately. Maybe I'm a little too pissed off about just how stupid and destructive is the idea of a giant oil derrick on our beautiful coast. And about that whole endemic indifference thing.

Besides, I know from copious experience that if I fiddle around with #7, #10 will become a challenge very soon. I also know a picture's worth a thousand words.

Citizens Against Paredon