Life in the fast lane--where's the on ramp?

By Pat_B - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Journal

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Advance Prep for Thursday's WYOS session...

Thursday I will not be doing the "Write Your Own Story" session at the Center. I'll be here at Rosethorn Ranch supervising the takedown and installation of a new fence. So it's necessary to have a topic suggestion or two for any of the writers who happen to show up. There could be as many as five,... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:43 AM | add or view comments (6) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, July 14, 2014

Feedback

A couple weeks back I posted a short story titled "Confusion" that I was re-working -- a fictionalized bit about the Writers Without Borders group that has been frustrating hell out of me lately. Believe it or not, I went over it five more times to hone the package. Added a couple details, changed a... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:03 AM | add or view comments (4) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Sunday, July 13, 2014

You know you're my sweetheart, don't you?

Two years ago, a week before he passed away, that's what Fang said to me. We were in one of the several medical facilities of that week, getting some last-ditch procedures done, hoping there would be one more escape from death. I'd been calling him the Energizer Bunny because he'd kept going and... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:19 AM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, July 12, 2014

What's the difference between TV news 30 years ago & now?

Adjectives. Modifiers, words designed to influence mood/opinion. Sensationalism, "ain't-it-awful" comments from the anchor. Conjecture masquerading as fact. These were all considered sins when I signed up for Journalism 101 in the early '80s. Now the anchor is the star, his/her "likability" and... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 9:14 AM | add or view comments (8) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, July 11, 2014

Where is TAPS?

I miss her, and I hope to see another haiku soon. Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:14 AM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

What's in a name? Storyteller's choice.

One of the writer's challenges is picking a name for the characters. For the good guys we want a common name, a salt of the earth moniker we can identify with. Think Joe Friday, or Mike Hammer. All you need to hear is Bond, James Bond and thanks to Ian Fleming, we know exactly what to expect of that... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 4:59 AM | add or view comments (4) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Thursday, July 10, 2014

What we find offensive

What does it say about our culture that we find cursewords and middle fingers more offensive than poverty mass starvation wars corrupt governments etc. Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 3:57 AM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Shopping Cart Pet Peeve.

You go to the store, you're in a hurry. And there dawdling in the aisle leaning on her shopping cart is Ilean Dover, slouching, barely dragging one foot after the other. She's blithely unaware her tube-top is not quite the fashion statement she intended, apparently too exhausted to stand up... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:44 AM | add or view comments (3) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Frogs, fences and squirrels...

In May there were frog songs. Choirs of bassos and tenors trilling in and around the little pond. Some of the louder ones seemed to be singing at my very feet when I stood just outside the kitchen door on the upper deck. If I'd had the door open, they'd have serenaded me all night long. In June... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 6:07 AM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, July 7, 2014

"Always at my back I hear / time's winged chariot hurrying near,,,"

Andrew Marvell. "To His Coy Mistress." I had liked the poem even before we studied it in a writing class. I believe the class was the one taught by Dickie Spurgeon, who lectured in iambic pentameter and read some of his own hilarious poems to illustrate points. He was a good old southern boy,... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 4:23 AM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

About this Blog

Sometimes you have to write it down in order to learn what you really think about life, what it means, how to do what's best. Sometimes you need feedback from someone else to put things in perspective.

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