Loosely Speaking

By Ciel - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Everything Else

Sunday, February 1, 2009

a response to Naut's response to mneme, part 2

While a lot of criticism of religion begins and ends with atrocity, it is the balanced view that the same thing that gave rise to Inquisitions and their ilk also gave us the things you name: Some people are inspired to light, some, to darkness. The matter of concern here, as I see it, is that the belief-systems that believe everyone should and must conform to a single Right Way, the ones most intolerant of the least individual thought or personal interpretation, and the most vehement about... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Choosing An Editor

We do, most of us, have friends and/or family who will read what we write, and tell us what they think of it. But the people who like you or compete with you or measure you against other mutual acquaintances--these are your audience, but not so much your best choice in editors. An editor, particularly a content editor, needs to not know you, needs to be disinterested in your motives and unaware of your own back-story. I don't mean to say that a useful editor should not have any regard for your... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Editorial Comments

I've been, among other things, a free-lance editor. So when TAPS writes of a friend who self-published, and had edit issues, it got me thinking. There are two levels of edit that need to be done. One, proofing, to catch spelling and grammatical errors, and the second, content-editing, to consider organization of information and more complex usages than basic grammar, like metaphor, and consistancy for instance. The question is: Does what you wrote mean what you meant it to say when you wrote it?... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Daily Rag or library? Amusement or resource?

Blogit gets treated like a magazine or newspaper: read once, and let it go. Many of us want short reads, like two inches of newspaper column, a bit of this, a bit of that. It's a quick-gratification thing. But we have writers here that offer more: thoughtful, well-informed commentary; brilliant, insightful philosophy; visions of other places and people that share experience in a life-enriching, inspiring way; humor that really does make you laugh out loud! This is a community of writers, and... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Banks schmanks...

Well, here's the new American Revolution... Not political, but financial. For generations it has been all about profits to the owners, the stock-holders. Everything in how we do commerce has long been arranged to the benefit of that dynamic. The credit give-away that has turned to debacle came out of the striving for ever more profit. Now that credit-giving is tightened up and running scared, the only people who can buy stuff are those who can buy it outright. Only those who already have money... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Walk this way...

http://producten.hema.nl/ This will give you a few magical moments in a Dutch department store catalog. It is not about buying anything... and you don't have to speak Dutch or wear wooden shoes. Just--enjoy! Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Naut asked about this...

Here is what I wrote previously regarding Murchie, the House Entity... http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/CLRedding/312476 We perceive a small portion of the full range of wavelengths that are the electromagnetic spectrum. Our basic senses only go so far, though I daresay there are many things just beyond, things we might pick up as a flutter or flash in our peripheral perceptions--and even more that we simply miss altogether. Some things we can only surmise from some of their effects, which... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, January 9, 2009

My daughter who has lived these past two years

in Singapore, and her husband with her, is on the move once again! They have bought a lovely house outside Wellington, New Zealand, and she will be flying there to live, next week. The new house has what we call, in our family, a house entity. This is an out-of-body entity whose interest and calling is the house itself, and those who live in it. We have one in this house I have lived in the past 23 years, who has a particular affection for the cats. When Marika and her husband spent their first... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, January 5, 2009

I dreamed of lava...

I came across a poem I didn't remember until I read it--don't think I ever presented it here. I dreamed of lava... Red and snapping devouring like a dragon... and with a touch like Midas' turning everything to flame... Oozing unhurried from the deep hot places of the Earth... Overtaking by fascination like a serpent-- So suddenly, it's too late to run! Sign in to see full entry.

Great Apes are people now...

Well, of course, this has long been recognized by a few, like Roger and Debbi Fouts who look after Washoe's family in Ellensburg, WA, and of course, Jane Goodall. If this has not been an area of interest for you, you might not know that Washoe was the first chimpanzee to be taught American Sign Language, and who later taught it independently to her son. She died a few months ago, the second of her small family to go. Now there is her son, Loulis, and his two remaining companions, Dar and Tatu.... Sign in to see full entry.

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