I’m so in love with my blog again, after re-reading it.

I hid my light under a bushel for a while, but I’m not doing that anymore.

LET THE BLOG POSTS FLY!!

From reading it again,I have learned a couple things about myself. I am really inspired by conversations with people and books i read.

I guess I walk around thinking a couple things, but when I start talking and reading about similar things, my brain motor really starts running.

When I read something inspiring or when I have a conversation (with the right sort of people) then I will really think things.

And I will really write things.

I realize, it’s important for me to be around the sorts of people who I can consversate with.

I’d been hearing for a while how great the Game of Thrones series by George R R Martin was.  But there was some hate too, saying he had taken too long to finish the story.

Fantasy books are all about the series, and usually the trilogy He had three books out, but it wasn’t finished. The story wasn’t done. So I held off from starting it, because why begin knowing i would be disappointed.

Then he published the fourth. To much excitement, and I was ready to dive it. I read all three, saw how much the story was at a cliff hanger, then started the fourth, ready to be amazed and delighted.

I began amazed and delighted. But the story took some wrong turns and I lost my faith.

I lost my faith in the author. I don’t think he can pull this one off. I know some authors can do it. They can take far-flung characters, tell parralell stories and at the end tie them all in together.  Charles Dickens is a master of this.

I remember reading more than one Dickens novel, thinking, who are these characters and why are in this story? But I trusted Dickens. He would pull the threads tight at the end.

I lost my trust in Martin. Especially after Theon. That was a cheap plot ploy. Oh no. I am done and I kick dust on those books. Like after a college boyfriend who had so much potential but just WOULDN”T live up to it after graduation, I am burned and bitter.

Not everyone knows what a loser Martin is though. Because he has

A TV SHOW!

ON HBO!

with naked chicks and everything!

So, there are those who only know this story through the television series. And they haven’t seen the true nature of my despised and faithless author.

A co-worker was raving about the finale. I told him I was over the series, because of the books. He was in the twitterpated phase, loving and excited and ready to forgive any sin of the story.

Incest? That’s how they were in that time and place. It’s a good story!

Yeah, I nodded knowingly, it’s a good story. But he has lost his way. You’ll see.

“What do you mean?”

“look, when the threads of the story get so far fetched, the reader starts to think about the author and what he’s trying to do. That takes you out of the story and once that happens you have halfway lost. Then, the author, or storyteller can take it one step to far and the whole thing falls apart.”

“I dont’ get what you mean…”

“Okay, think of it this way. If the author is the storyteller, you trust him. In a book, you never see the author, but if it were a story around the campfire, you SEE the storyteller.

Around the campfire, telling spooky stories. One guy starts to tell a story, and you are all ready to believe

There is an escaped inmate around here. He was last seen travelling in the area. And he is crazy…So crazy…and he is evil. He has a demon-possessed chicken with him!

So far, the story is familiar and has the details you need. Scary guy, in the dark, and it’s magnified with the demon-possessed chicken. It’s the regular campfire story structure, with an exciting twist.

The inmate and his chicken were already caught attacking some campers. In fact, one camper defended himself with an axe and managed to chop the chicken’s head off!! Now there is the headless body of the chicken, running around trying to find his inmate friend. AND since the chicken was demon-possessed, the head is floating around trying to find the inmate too.

okay, this plot has thickened. we are still in the well-known territory of campfire stories, and now it’s gotten pretty complicated. There are three entities roaming around. The chicken body, the chicken head AND the inmate.

Now the inmate decided to travel with a rat…

WHAT?! that’s it…too far. The story teller has his audience throwing marshmallows at him. THAT”s not how the story should go. Next!!

See? The audience doesn’t believe this storyteller knows what he’s doing. And pretty much he doesn’t. You can’t have that complicated of a story. That’s just not how it’s done.”

I would go on a long ride with Charles Dickens. He was not the most elegant writer, but the man knew how to spin  a yarn, and he did not betray his readers.

Go read Dickens, George R R Martin. But I still am not going to read your next book. Theon ruined it for me.

It’s the “uncle Tom’s cabin” for indians.

I finished it. I shall have to write about it later. Some thoughts need to shake out.

Veronica was put to bed a half hour ago, but she was calling for daddy. Daddy gives her whatever se asks for, for the most part.

I am doing computer work in my bedroom next door, and they burst in. Chris is bare-chested, and Veronica has this shirt buttoned all the way up over her footy jammies.

“Are you daddy?” I asked.

“Yes!” she said.

“She wanted to show you,” Chris said. “She is very proud of herself.”

She gets to be a lot of different things right now.

So there is shelfari, book sense, weread, goodreads and I am sure a few more. I am having trouble selling on a social reading site. I just realized that be weRead book shelf link is way out of date.

I think I will get rid of it altogether. There has to. Be a better way

When a rich man gave bags of gold to his servants to watch over while he was away
5 bags to one
3 bags to another
1 to the last
he came back to find that mr. five bags and mr. three bags had used the money to create a business and doubled the money.

Mr. one bag buried the money to keep from losing it.

Mr. Richman said, “What were you thinking? you didn’t even get the interest by sticking it in a savings account? What’s wrong with you?”

The first two built something. The last just wanted to maintain.

Building something. A pyramid. A moonlanding. A system. A website.

Some people are driven to build something. The idea, the concept of what isn’t yet created. But to build something that will last, either in memory or in continuing use…

Some people are not driven. Some people are completely okay with just maintaining. just doing the minimum, just keeping the humm.

But maintaining is never improving.

I have just realized that there really are people not interested in building. I think building something is so compelling it has been hard for me to recognize that some people not only are not intersted in building, but are actively opposed to building and improving.

Why? Why would building something be opposed?

there is risk. There is risk of failure. There is also risk of losing what is invested.

That bag of gold might get stolen or lost!

I long ago decided that the risk of losing the investment is far less painful than losing the opportunity of spending my time on

THE MOST EXCITING THING LIFE HAS TO OFFER

even babies know that building–a tower of blocks?–is likely to result in the blocks getting knocked over. But what else are blocks for?
What else is our life and our time and our resources for?

Well. So there are people who don’t see it that way.

to be kinder to the people who don’t want to get on board with the building project I am pushing,
It is true that we have limited attention. I cannot really give focus on building a better system for every single task in my life.

you have to choose. And you sometimes need to get a bunch of people to choose the same thing to make it happen.

To make a pyramid.
or a moonlanding
or a website

and there may be a lot of people unwilling to build that pyramid

But if the vision can be imparted, and if the rest of the team can be infected, then maybe they will want to do it. It takes a lot of smart people to make
a moonlanding

or a website

It takes the person with the drive to build, to inspire the others. Those builders ought to be in high demand. They ought to be recognizable…and picked out by those people wanting something extraordinary built.

they built something.

One of my new friends described how he was forced out of his old job. “It was hard to leave behind what I had built”

Yeah. I know.

I told him he really needed to read Miriam. Miriam tells that story pretty well.

But we were watching a documentary about the moon landing, and i realized…yeah. THAT. BUilding something. Not even a physical something, but building something.

That is what I do. THat is what I am passionate about in my career.

that’s why I tell people, just maintaning is not enough. It has to grow, and be improved upon.

But the nerds did it. THe nerds did it because they all believed. And it cost them.

But they still believe it was worth it.

I have a tomato, peppers, and zucchini plant growing in my planter boxes. Chris got them for me last year, and this year I wanted to start and get some stuff growing for the summer. I ended up getting any vegetable plant the garden shops were selling.

I told Chris about it:

“My swiss chard is doing really well…””

“Is swiss chard really bland?”

“no, it’s actually got a stronger flavor than regular chard…”

“Shouldn’t it be neutral? Being Swiss?”

….I should have seen this coming…

He was not letting it go. “Does it at least have holes? Like the cheese?”

“Oh, yes, it does have holes. does that make you happy?”

Sometimes in life, it hurts when you care.

But if it hurts, I think it’s time to take my caring in a new direction.

And if it hurts to care, so that I stop caring…also very bad. Best to find another way to spend my time.

It can be done