Writers Of The Future

Here is an excellent essay about writing, SF, and the Writers of the Future Contest.
I was a finalist in that contest some years ago, went to the workshop and event, and my story is in volume V of the accompanying SF anthology. I warmly recommend everything about it. It is the biggest and most prestigious contest for beginning writers, and very inspiring indeed.
The contest is judged by some of the biggest names in science fiction, and the anthologies have great stories and essays about writing.

Ode To Billy Joe

Remember the speakers I got recently? Here's how good they are: I have just gained a significant understanding of a song I've listened to maybe 200 times.

The song is Ode To Billy Joe. Many fine artists have done versions of it, including Danish avant-garde rock band Sort Sol. Their version is astounding, especially the last half.

But today I was listening to Sinead O'Connor's version. And suddenly, way in the background of the sound-picture, I heard the faint cry of a baby. I muted my Mac/speakers and listened for perhaps a visiting infant at the neighbors. Nothing. I replayed a bit of the song. There it was again! ... And the baby's wail came right after the line in the song: "... And she and Billy Joe was throwing something off the Tallahatchie Bridge..."

A chill ran down my back! I suddenly understood the story.

I do say though that the lyrics themselves, In Bobbie Gentry's original version and without this hint, really don't tell the story on their own. At least I don't see how I could have gotten it, and I guess most people don't. Rather on the subtle side.

But then Bobbie Gentry has stated that she did not know why the characters did what they did, so clearly this is just one interpretation. I very much respect her position on this. One of my most successful drawings is the Swan And The Swine, made for a poster for a concert. And people have asked me "is it a tree or a mushroom cloud". And I have to say "I don't know". I just know it has the shape that it has. (Oh, the original poster had no color.)

One of the cool and interesting things about art is that it goes beyond what we readily grasp with logic, often even in the creator's mind.

Update: Hm, the more I think about it, the more I lean towards the baby thing being just one interpretation. I mean, how would a country teenage girl hide a pregnancy from everybody? Maybe the story is more complex. Maybe it does not matter what they threw off the bridge.

The Miracle of Mindfulness

"There are two ways to wash the dishes. The first is to wash the dishes in order to have clean dishes, the second is to wash the dishes in order to wash the dishes."

- "The Miracle of Mindfulness" by the Vietnamese Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh.

If you do something merely to get to the result, you will not be really present while you're doing it, and you won't be enjoying life at that time.

(Thanks to Chris for recommending this wonderful little book.)

About beauty

Beauty is the joy of something you made yourself.

Art is co-creation. (So is a universe, but on a less deliberate level.)

Art is beautiful to a viewer when he is pleased to co-create.

Ugliness is a reaction to unwillingness to co-create.

Gemma

Gemma Gariel is a hugely talented painter and musician.
Se her collaboration with me here.
And go get her music.
Gemma has given me permission to post here, for free, my favorite song of hers: Serenade Me, My Little Blue Angel.
(Alternative: get it as a zip file.)
Email Gemma.

Done Gone wit da Wind

Finally done with Gone With The Wind. These "human drama" stories try my patience.
This one was powerfully told, but hell, what a nasty story! It was like a Marquis de Sade story, only without the sex to lighten up the constant brutal punishment of the characters.

"Ch-ch-changes" II

The Son of Ch-ch-changes, part II, the sequel, The Changeling Returns, This Time it's Personal!

How come...

• All the Chinese restaurants in my town have changed name at least once since I came here?
• Courtney Cox's breasts size is never the same twice?
• The weather in Lancashire can change from rain to shine six times in a day?
  
• And manage to do it between me putting on my shoes and putting foot on the street?
  
• Women I know never seem to have the same hair color if it's been more than a week since I met them?
• Mainstream TV shows these days have more sex in one episode than I've had in my life?
  
• I still think of Apple as a computer company, when everybody knows it sells music and iPods?
• Comic books used to be for kids, now I never see anybody under 30 in my comic book store?
  
• I used to be poor and skinny, and now I am rich and er, thick?
• "Right" and "Wrong", "True" and "False" used to be entirely different things to me, and now I know both more and less than ever?

(Goodness, she is just a year younger than me.)
---
OK, somebody just asked "how rich are you?" Well, I was pretty much using humorous exaggeration throughout this post. My answer:
I am rich compared to most people on this planet, but I just live in a 2 bedroom apartment in a small town, nothing remarkable. But these days I am able to get what I like and still live well within my means, which is a really nice change.

Also, by the way, I am finally losing the "thick" that I started gaining after I began working from home, thanks to Pure Trim.
---
Changes 1

Bravery

The fear of being seen as a coward has made many a man and king into a brave fool, and more fool than brave.
-- Eolake Stobblehouse

... I figure if I write some sentences which sound like adages, who knows, they might become so... :)

This one inspired by Pascal's new comment on my post on risk.

Roses and blinds

I got blinds to control the heat and light better, but to my surprise I found I actually like the way they make the windows look too.
Oh, and the roses, aren't they pretty.

"Uropa" or White Facade

As occasionally happens, I was stunned to find that I have been living in this town for four years now, and never noticed this facade before.
I am guessing "Uropa" was a club.
In any case I am always a sucker for visuals of sort of one color.

On risk

I was just confronted with this:

To win without risk is to triumph without glory.
-- Pierre Corneille, 'The Cid,' 1636

What absolute bollox. The person who can achieve a victory with minimal or no risk is one I respect a lot more than anybody who does not consider the risk. Not to mention somebody who thinks something is not worth doing if there is no risk! He is just an idiot who is bored and who has lost sight of the fact that there are things which are worth doing in life, and bigger things to achieve than Not Be Bored.

Gone wid da Wind

I have never watched Gone with the Wind before. Not this lifetime anyway. So I thought it was about time. Especially since I heard something indicating it was not the trivial romance I thought it was.

So, watching the scene just before the intermission, where Scarlett goes to the field and eats a radish. And just as she starts to get up, I say to myself: "As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again!"
And by Pete, she gets up and says just that, word for word!
The only reference I recall for it is a strip from the comic Bloom County, which I read 20 years ago. It was a totally different (and male) character, and it was not indicated that the scene hailed from the film. And like I said, I never saw the movie before. Now, is that a scary mind or what?

Anyhoo, I am not a fan of old movies. Fred and Ginger can dance themselves raw for all I care. But I have to admit this is one friggin compelling movie. I have no interest in the era or the kind of characters, or war, and I don't like long films as a rule, and yet I dare say I will watch the whole thing.
Them thar varmints made one golddurn parhful story.