Last week, I did something I haven’t done in a while: I attended a local writers group and actually brought something along to read for the group.

It took a bit of courage for me to do so: I’m not a huge fan of reading my writing out loud, although it unquestionably helps: I spotted an error in which I had omitted the word that I hadn’t seen when I had read the passage to myself several times before. Sometimes your eyes just fill in a missing word without you realizing it has even happened.

The reading did, I’m happy to say, go well. It is a supportive group, after all, which is what led me to actually bring something to read to start with. I’m definitely glad that I managed to work up the gumption to read something, and I was very grateful for the constructive criticism. That’s what a writers group is supposed to be about in my book.

But here’s where the “stubborn” part came in. Continue reading “The Stubborn Writer”

Sometimes I’m absolutely amazed at how quickly several days can go by without a post.  This is part of the reason I recently consolidated five blogs into this one; it’s one thing for one blog to go untouched for days on end.  It’s much worse — five times worse, I’d guess — when five blogs suffer the same neglect.

I’ll try to do better.

For the past forty-five minutes or so, I’ve been watching a documentary on Elvis Presley on TV Land.

The cable network has essentially gone nuts when it comes to the King of Rock and Roll, which isn’t surprising considering that Presley died thirty years ago this month.

But I’m not a big Elvis fan.  I like some of his songs well enough, but he died when I was 7, and while my mom adored him, I never paid that much attention to him.

What does surprise me is that I was so easily pulled into this show.  It’s not one of those pathetic made-for-TV movie biopics; this is a behind-the-scenes look at Elvis in concert with interviews from Elvis himself.  So it is interesting to hear what he had to say about his own fame.

It turns out that he never got over extreme stage fright before a performance, which is ironic, because he could have gotten huge cheers by just walking onto the stage.  It’s also interesting just how much Gospel music he sang backstage and in between performances.  It is clear that despite his problems with drugs, his personal faith was important to him to the end.

It’s a sign of a well-done documentary when you’ve watched almost all of it without even realizing that you were really that interested.

Now that Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has entered into a plea agreement in his dog fighting case, some of his collectible football cards are getting new attention on eBay.  But for a very different reason.

A Missouri woman was so disgusted by Vick’s admission that she gave more than two dozen of his cards to her dogs and let them go to town chewing them to smithereens.  Then, she decided to put the mangled cards up for auction.  As of press time for the linked article, more than 77 people had bid on the cards and the going price was more than $450.

Gotta love the irony.  It’s almost as funny as this image.

Sometimes, a revolution can begin with a song. Back in the 1930s, FDR helped America prosper after the Great Depression and the theme song that helped him get his plans into action was “Happy Days Are Here Again.” In the 1990s, Bill Clinton’s campaign theme was “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow.”

Would you believe this week’s question has something to do with songs and politics? Continue reading “Sunday Seven - Episode 104″

“I opened this because I wasn’t sure if I wanted it.”

The woman handed the cashier a large coffee table-style photo book that had been sealed in cellophane.  The barcode label had been affixed to that wrapping, which was crumpled inside the cover.

The cashier was completely polite as she rang up the book.  The woman fumbled through her credit card-filled wallet and pulled out her MasterCard from among the stack of department store cards from high-end stores like Nordstrom, where a pair of silly bedroom slippers can run you about $90.

What if she had decided, after opening the sealed book, that she didn’t want it?  I’m guessing that she would have left it there for someone else to buy, regardless of the fact that the book store probably couldn’t sell the one opened book.

I wonder if that even crossed her mind?

There is a battle over hair that is keeping two Lowcountry teens out of school.  You’ve probably heard about this story by now, because it is getting national attention.  But just in case you haven’t, here’s the gist:

The two teens recently had five-pointed stars and words like “Jack Town” shaved into their hair.  Their school suspended them, saying that they are prohibited from wearing their hair in that style because those markings are gang indicators.  Their father says he didn’t give his children permission to cut their hair that way, but says they have a right to wear their hair any way they want.

The school district says the students are welcome to return…as soon as they remove the “offending” symbols.  Their father says that isn’t going to happen.

Meanwhile, the teens are prohibited from attending school.  At least one of them says he wants to get back to school.

But the hairstyle, apparently, seems more of a priority than getting the education.

At the risk of being called a “conformist,” I’ll have to point out that while we live in a country that values individual freedom, we also live in a country in which some freedoms are curtailed universally in the interest of safety.

For example, when I drive back home, there are portions of I-26 in which the speed limit is 70 miles per hour.  I can drive 70 miles per hour.  There might be days when I think I should be able to push it up to 80.  Or 90.  But the law says I can go 70.  I have a spotless driving record.  The guy who’s behind me, already tailgating too closely, could have a spotted driving history, and even be paying the outrageous rates of SR-22 insurance after a DUI arrest.  He gets to go 70 as well.

On one hand, it seems unfair:  I’m the good driver, so I should be able to drive any way I please.  This lunatic behind me should be restricted to driving a golf cart that never moves faster than about 20 miles an hour.  But we both get the same set of rules, and the rule is there to keep as many people safe as possible.

The school district involved in this hair-raising battle should have every right to set dress codes that do not encourage any kind of gang activity.  Whether these two kids have ever even considered joining a gang — they say they are not involved in gangs in any way — doesn’t matter.  The rules are the same for everyone.  And if that happens to interfere with the fashion statement two students who aren’t gang members want to make while it prevents people who are in gangs from using the same symbols to make a very different statement, I think the school is reasonable for making the policy.

There’s such a thing as picking one’s battles.

What’s more important?  An education, or a hairstyle?

I think we all know the answer.

To those who have been eagerly awaiting the appearance of this week’s questions, I offer my sincere apologies. It would seem that the car isn’t entirely finished with its “technical difficulties,” and a good portion of the afternoon was spent dealing with this problem.

This week’s questions, though, has little to do with such problems. Continue reading “Saturday Six - Episode 175″

For the second time this week, school officials and local leaders in the Lowcountry have made an appeal to parents:  “Send your kids to school.”

Apparently, some parents in the Lowcountry actually reside in the Twilight Zone, and have made it customary that children cut the first week of classes because nothing “important” happens during that time.  Yes, it’s the parents who allow kids to skip the first week because they don’t think it’s a big deal.

And people here wonder why South Carolina ranks toward the bottom in education? Continue reading ““Back to School” Actually Means Going Back to School”

Merv Griffin was gay.  Or he wasn’t.

I’m not sure why it matters to anyone at this point, since the 82-year-old impresario is no longer with us.  But there are some people who are certain that he was.

Some of them are angry and feel justified in their anger because Griffin never came right out and said he was a homosexual. He never campaigned for gay rights. He never tried to make homophobics believe that there is nothing wrong with being gay.

(If Griffin really was gay.)

Now that I have given you this piece of information, I’d like for you to set it completely aside for a moment. Instead, I’d like for you to focus your attention on a scene from a December afternoon in 1955. Continue reading “There’s No Draft For Social War”

I had a conversation with my boss on Friday, during which I mentioned that I had just sent my last car payment this month.

“Oh, I wonder what the first thing to break down will be,” my boss replied.

Just thirty minutes later — I kid you not:  it was a half hour later! — I was on my way home when the car suddenly shuddered and shook as if a massive earthquake was happening.  This rumble, however, proved to exist only under the hood of the car.  After about three seconds of this, all was still.

A little too still, in fact. Continue reading “All in the Timing”

Wow…didn’t see this answer coming!

You Are Pretty Happy

You generally have a happy, fulfilling life.But things could be a little better, and deep down, you know it. Maybe you need more supportive friends or a more challenging career. Something is preventing you from being totally happy. You just need to figure out what it is!

How Happy Are You, Really?

I guess I should be happy that I don’t look like that image!

It has been a long weekend. But here, finally, is this week’s edition of the Sunday Seven.

Continue reading “Sunday Seven - Episode 103″

There are plenty of worse colors to be:

You Are a Purple Crayon

Your world is colored in dreamy, divine, and classy colors.You hold yourself to a sky high standard, and you are always graceful. People envy, idolize, and copy you without realizing it. You are an icon for those who know you. And while it is hard to be a perfectionist, rest assured it’s paying off!Your color wheel opposite is yellow. While yellow people may be wise, they lack the manners and class needed to impress you.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Karma. It’s a royal pain the rear sometimes. (How’s that for putting it nicely?)Unless you don’t believe in it, in which case it’s just a weird-looking word.

That’s the topic of this week’s questions, in case you hadn’t guessed.

Before this week’s questions, Otowi of “Otowi” was first to play last week. Congratulations!

Here are this week’s “Saturday Six” questions. Either answer the questions in a comment here, or put the answers in an entry on your journal…but either way, leave a link to your journal so that everyone else can visit! To be counted as “first to play,” you must be the first player to either answer the questions in a comment or to provide a complete link to the specific entry in your journal in which you answer the questions. A link to your journal in general cannot count. Enjoy!

1. What is the most unlucky thing that has happened to you all week?

2. Do bad things happen more often to good people or bad people?

3. How much do you believe that you can improve your outlook in life (from a “fate” perspective) by doing good deeds and correcting past wrongs?

4. Take the quiz: What will happen to you in the future?

5. Do you believe in fate, coincidence, or both?

6. Overall, when “bad things” happen, how often do you believe the victim generally “had it coming?”

If you have a Reader’s Choice question you’d like to see asked (and answered), send me an email! I’d love to be able to include it in a future edition of the Saturday Six.

MY ANSWERS:
Coming shortly.