Archive
Previous Post
I escaped to my poet’s playground this morning and got to compose in the sandbox with my paints.
Here’s hoping you enjoy this playtime effort. I’ll have more poetry tomorrow, and more postings during the week.
Have a great weekend, everyone, and come back for the holiday week refreshed and energized.
A bientot,
Claudsy
Related articles
- Expansion is Good for the Writer (claudsy.wordpress.com)
- The pick of the world’s poetry in London (standard.co.uk)
- June Poet of the Month (juliecatherinevigna.wordpress.com)
- Vale Rosemary Dobson (Australian poet) (whisperinggums.wordpress.com)
The Zoo Within
This post stems from the Thought Ripples over on Two Voices, One Song. Sometimes when you change a process for one thing, it sticks and bleeds over into other work, as well. That’s what happened here. I hope you enjoy it.
Once in a while, I take a trip through a zoo or sanctuary. While I gaze upon the residents within the confines of the area, taking note of mundane considerations, my mind focuses on the what-might-have-beens. Those are the natural landscapes and living conditions of whatever animal I’m viewing.
Take this guy, for instance. He was brought into man’s arena very early in his life. He worked for a living, hence his missing horn. And when his work was done, he was fortunate enough to find sanctuary on the Olympic Peninsula with other animal actors that had been retired.
He’s a sweetheart, who likes treats and people’s voices. He’s enclosed to keep him safe from those who would taunt and tease and stress him unduly. I think it’s sad that we have lock up the wild things to keep them safe from us, the civilized ones.
Because he’d not been allowed to be wild, he will never know his ancestors’ natural habitat. Then again, at least here he can live a peaceful existence without fear of someone taking his life, as well as his horn. And without his 
horn, he could have never survived in his natural habitat anyway.
Herds of elk and fallow deer have free run of many more acres of this wild animal park. The bison keep them company as they watch cars go by, occupants 
snapping and whirring with their cameras. Thankfully, no one can get out of their cars to aggravate the ones trying to eat or rest.
Peacocks keep order. Rabbits watch from the sidelines.
Those in the petting zoo take little hands in stride. And everywhere are the sounds of human voices, rather than those of the residents.
Within the shadows cast by trees lurk yaks and zebras, 
not usual neighbors, though they seem to get along quite well.
The occasional small scene gives an idyllic glimpse of how life in the wild could be if allowed.
Throughout this day of animal watching and speculation of natural wild habitats ruined in the name of progress, I 
rediscovered something about myself that I hadn’t visited in a long while. My acceptance of zoos hasn’t increased any as I got older. I loved them when I was in my early twenties. That’s no longer the case.
Yet, while I can’t appreciate them as I once did, I no longer condemn them as I would have ten years ago. I’ve reached a compromise of sorts within myself. In an ideal world man and animal would live in harmony, each to his natural habitat, without concern that one would threaten or become a nuisance to the other.
Sanctuaries and zoos have their place now in our world, whether we want it that way or not. These providers of safety and species continuation may be the only hope wildlife has against the destruction of their homelands. I can’t guess at the future of Earth’s wildlife. I can only work to appreciate it at each opportunity, 
without stressing it any further or helping to wipe it out by my own life process.
I appreciate those who dedicate their lives to safeguarding species other than humans. I applaud their efforts, knowing that life could have been mine. Many years ago at the San Diego Zoo, I was given that opportunity. My reason for rejecting the offer was spurious to say the least; giving up a lucrative job was out of the question right then.
The truth was that such a change at that time in my life scared me silly. My life was still being ruled by other people. That didn’t change until recently. Would I reconsider if given that same offer again? Probably not, but not for the same reason.
Living the life meant for me now, there is no reason to go back. The last major thought to zip through my mind while thinking of zoos and sanctuaries is this. Do humans not do for and to themselves what they’ve done to those creatures of the wild?
In building our civilizations, our cities, our doctrines, have we not built ourselves into a planet-wide zoo in an attempt to preserve our species for something greater; and in doing so, trapped ourselves within, locking the doors against all but the best of locksmiths?
A bientot,
Claudsy
Note:** All photos Courtesy of BJ Jones Photography
Epiphanies and Springboards
Have you ever been working to solve a problem within your personal life or your work life and, when you least expect it, an epiphany erupts from your mind and nearly blinds you?
That’s what happened to me an hour ago or so. I’ve been laboring to get a work schedule created for a couple of years now, that allowed me to produce usable work without leaving me feeling as if I’m running a race from the last position each day. You think I’m slow? Possibly.
This morning I was sitting, allowing my mind to flush itself of what had gone before, and it hit me. It was a profound revelation within my mind. I saw the whole problem, and the whys of it nearly floored me. It was so simple and yet, it will be something so difficult to remedy.
This is how works. I am an extremely detail-oriented person. That’s part of my nature. Couple that with the knowledge that I also, as part of my nature, am always looking at the Big Picture. This trait of mine was trained very well to always look at the overview of everything before determining the direction of exploration or explanation.
Add to all of that the understanding that much in my life has been experienced within chaos mode for a couple of years. Throw into the mix a personal need for perfection.
So—that leaves me with miniscule details overshadowed by overview; omniscient’s guide to insanity, if you’re a writer. I cannot look at the details of one project or portion of project without also seeing all of the other projects waiting in the wings. And it isn’t just all of the projects, it’s all of the angles, slants, characters, plots, etc. that scream my name, jump up and down, waving their arms, trying to keep my attention.
And, it’s not a matter of focus. It’s a matter of how my brain works.
I hadn’t really put all of this together yet. Some of my distraction on the situation could be due to lack of solid sleep, or trying to get fifteen things done to perfection finished ahead of a deadline. That couldn’t possibly have anything to do with it. Could it?
As I sat there looking at this situation, I realized just how much humor God has. Consider the scientist sitting in the lab in front of her microscope. A critical slide sits beneath the lens waiting for examination and interpretation. Yet, when she looks through the lens, she also sees the origin of the sample on the slide, overlaying the image. That’s been my view of my work every day for countless months.
Now you know why I may have seemed harried and haggard. It also helps explain why only an editorial calendar has had any effect on my work day. Sad state of affairs.
You may ask how I’m going to remedy this situation. I don’t know that I can completely. I don’t need a greater war waged inside of my own nature.
All I can really do, is be aware of the conflict—brother, wouldn’t this make a great plot—and do what I can on a daily basis to mitigate the disruption and distress. I can dig deeper into the Tao for answers to changing my nature, but until I can set those tenets into place, I must wing it on an hourly basis.
I’m fortunate. I figured out what the problem was and can figure out a more workable solution, given some time. Think about those poor, sad people who’re struggling with something like this who haven’t had an epiphany yet. I would take up a collection for them, but I don’t know yet who they are. Then again, they don’t know either.
And there you have the crux of the problem. Are you waiting for an epiphany, too? Do you know if you need one? Feel free to question here. Remember–questions aren’t the problem. It’s the answers that get you in trouble.
A bientot,
Claudsy
Related articles
- An Epiphany of Awareness (aninspiredapproach.com)
- Imagine Inspiration (alehman.com)
- When You Can’t Unknow Something (justcallmeraegen.wordpress.com)
- Epiphanies (thetalkingturtles.wordpress.com)
- Today’s Epiphany (lunaticchick.wordpress.com)
- 3 am Epiphany: Is Decision Making an Art or a Science? (meenarose.wordpress.com)
- Epiphany Sunday (tammymv.wordpress.com)
- Waves of epiphany (valley48.wordpress.com)
- Therapy Epiphany (lothlorien.typepad.com)
- 3 am Epiphany: The Best Way to Embark on a Collaboration (meenarose.com)
- Epiphany or Revelation? (findingorderincorpusa.wordpress.com)
A Calliope Hummingbird (Stellula calliope) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
One of my other blogs got lonely today. In order to keep it from gathering dust, I wrote a piece that talks of obligation, creation, writing, and put it all in a package that takes its inspiration from the manual on poetry.
Calliope is one of my several personalities. I figure if you’re going to go to all the trouble of having more than one persona, you might as well give each one room to spread out.
So, if you’re bored, have time on your hands and just want to see something different that you get over here, pop over to Calliope. The fare over there has a different flavor than Claudsy’s Blog; at least, most of the time.
Enjoy yourselves. Comment if you desire.
A bientot,
Claudsy
Related articles
- Where Do Ideas Come From? (altongansky.typepad.com)
- Forms of the Muse (poetic-muselings.net)
- We’re Not Dead: A Post for National Poetry Month (dragonshortstories.wordpress.com)
- On memorizing poetry (professionsforpeace.com)
Play Time
Today, I thought to show you all something I do from time to time. Enjoy.
Related articles
- Playing in Paint (aforkinthestory.wordpress.com)
- The best time to begin (windling.typepad.com)
Some of the Easiest Characters Around
Jack Russell Terrier with ball. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Have you ever struggled to come up that character to add comic relief to a story? What about the little kid who holds the hearts of everyone in a five mile radius with the look on his face and the expression in his eyes? Or, the old lady down the street who is always there with a kind word and an understanding presence?
These are all common characters, so common they’ve become near stereotypes. But how do you create freshness to a stereotype without removing what makes them appealing and affective?
Use a different model for your character. Let’s say you’ve chosen to have an old lady for your story. She’s going to live next door to the family you’re writing about. Let’s also assume that that’s all you know about this character.
One way to get a fresh perspective on this character is to change your own perspective. The only thing you know for certain is that this character is old and lives nearby. With this in mind think of others that could be old and live nearby.
- An aged golden retriever that’s been faithful and gentle all her life. Her slightly coppery locks have grayed. Her step is more measured now. Her ability to rush is curtailed with age. She is always available for a hug, and she thinks nothing of spending an afternoon with anyone who needs a companion, to sooth and ease a hurt.
- An older Scot Terrier that doesn’t take guff from anyone for any reason. Female she might be, but tough, and knows her own mind. Short legs don’t keep her from taking long walks each day; even if they tire easily, she’ll push through to the end.
- An older mare that’s birthed her last foal and been put to graze and grow complacent in her last years. She stands at the fence looking to the west, her eyes seeing the wild herds that used to roam the plains and mountains, whose king stallion stands guard at the edge of his circled harem.
You choice of character models are endless, when you realize that all creatures as they age share common traits. By removing the “animal” from the model and concentrating on the behavior, the visible traits, your own story character takes on a new dimension. You could find these characters in your own home.
Remember that comic relief character? Can you think of models to give you a handle on such a role in your story? Here are three that might work.
- A Jack Russell Terrier. That’s the hyper pup on springs. If you don’t laugh at the antics of one of these little clowns, there’s no hope for your character.
- Chickens are comic creatures, often overlooked for their relief value. Watch a small flock during evening feeding of veggie scraps. Or, watch them tussle over the use of the swing or perch. They also have personalities.
- Wild birds during nesting season. They are a hoot; stealing each other’s nesting materials, poking each other, squabbling, all while trying to attract a mate.
Writers must look outside their usual views in order to keep their perspectives out of stereotype territory. One of the surest ways of doing that is to create different criteria for developing characters. Substituting aspects and traits of animals is one of the easiest methods for ensuing uniqueness.
Give yourself time in the park to watch those creatures that frequent it; ducks and geese on the pond, squirrels racing from tree to tree, or birds arguing back and forth. Go to a quiet wooded area and sit down next to a small stream. Wait in silence. You’ll find more inspiration that you know what to do with if you’re patient.
Come back and tell me of your adventures. Let me know how this process works for you. We can always discuss what you learn along the way.
Until then, a bientot,
Claudsy
Related articles
- [Observations of the Fox] Exactitudes – A tool, an artform, a social comment (vulpinoid.blogspot.com)
- Home Theater: So, What’s in a Name? (2voices1song.com)
- Make ’em Breathe (thewriteinspiration.wordpress.com)
- A Brief Lesson on How to Write Strong Characters (ifanboy.com)
- Hell on Eight Wheels: Fourteen – Traits from Observations of the Fox (vulpinoid.blogspot.com)
New Posting on Two Voices, One Song
English: Musical score example of two voices in parallel motion (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I’ll be back later today with a posting for Claudsy’s Blog, but in the meantime, why don’t you pop over to Two Voices, One Song to see a piece on traveling your personal road, to whichever destination you have in mind.
You’ll also find there a group of excellent links to other informative and thoughtful offerings around the ether. A new profile is offered behind the Red Door as well.
Enjoy yourselves. Until I see you here later,
A bientot,
Claudsy
http://2voices1song.com/category/garden/
Related articles
- Expansion is Good for the Writer (claudsy.wordpress.com)
- Interview with Poet Walt Wojtanik (claudsy.wordpress.com)
- Thoughts Tumbled & Ideas Brewed Over All Things Regency (2voices1song.com)
Good Morning, all. I’m excited this morning. A bit of shameless promotion here.
Image via CrunchBase
My Science Fiction Fantasy short story“Destiny’s Decision” was released this morning on Ether Books for download onto iPhones.
It’s a powerful little story that I think you’ll enjoy. To get the app and the story, please look here. Enjoy!
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/id362070951?mt=8
Have a terrific and relaxing day, peeps. Give your bodies engine a reason to feel good tomorrow and your mind a reason to surge forward with creativity.
A bientot,
Claudsy
Related articles
- Find readers for your stories (valeriesirr.wordpress.com)
The Slow Blog
Breathe, relax, breathe, let it come through. (Photo credit: honor the gift)
I received a terrific and helpful link this morning to an article by Anne R. Allen. In the article she talks about the Slow Blog Manifesto and what it means, as well as what it can do for the writer in general. I’ve fallen in love. I admit it.
For the first time in three years, I’m getting the kind of advice that makes sense to me as a writer of something other than blogs. Anne enumerated the eight Slow Blog Manifesto rules for long-term success as follows:
1) A slow blog has a longer life-span.
2) You reach more people by commenting on other people’s blogs than by madly posting on a blog nobody reads.
3) Busy people are less likely to subscribe/follow a blog that’s going to clutter their email inbox/rss feed every day.
4) Everybody has bad days. When you have to think of something to say on the day you got that nasty/clueless review/rejection, your emotions are going to leak out.
5) Nobody can come up with that many interesting posts. When you slow blog, and you don’t have anything to say, you don’t have to say it.
6) Writing nonfiction—which is what you should be writing on your blog—uses a different part of your brain from fiction.
7) You write narrative–remember? The blog is supposed to be about getting your name out there as a creative writer. It’s an aid to your serious writing, not a substitute for it.
8) Trying to blog every day is impossible to keep up, so you’ll constantly feel guilty.
With these rules to go by, I no longer have to feel guilty for not having new material here each day, or on any other of my sites. I can take pride in having one good piece a week that readers can take away and think about and, perhaps, utilize in their own daily activities or thoughts. And readers don’t have be slammed with announcements, notifications, and guilt for not looking in on my blogs each day.
Suddenly numbers of hits makes more sense to me. If I begin living my blogging life by these eight rules, I have more time to work on large projects, give more quality content to my readers, and still feel as if I’ve accomplished something during the week. That’s a big deal around here.
So, for those of my readers who feel pressured to read here each day or even every other day, rest assured that as the month progresses, your labor here is be lessened and, hopefully, you’ll have some terrific things to take away when you do come by. Perhaps you’ll see an interview with an editor you’ve yet to know, or an indie publisher that you might need in future.
And if you’d really like to look at the original Slow Blog Manifesto, you’ll learn all of the reasoning and the projected benefits to such a course of action.
I’ll see you all in a couple of days. I can’t let go quite that fast. I still have things to do this month.
Please take a moment, as well, to pop over to my new collaborative site—Two Voices, One Song—to view a new post behind the Red Door and one in the Home Theater. I think you’ll enjoy both of them.
Until your next visit, a bientot,
Claudsy
Related articles
- How often to blog (or not)? A new blogger/writer’s perspective (katenewburg.wordpress.com)
- Who Authenticates the Blogged Word? The Publishers or the Readers? (Feature) (popmatters.com)
- How To Choose A Niche For Your New Blog (dailymorningcoffee.com)
Claudsy's Blog 
Readers On Claudsy