5+2=7 But that doesn't make any sense....

My son came to me wide-eyed and jittery. As he held up two wiggly fingers on one hand and five on the other, he said, "Mommy, two plus five equals seven. And four plus three equals seven. But that doesn't make any sense." I couldn't tell if he was excited or confused, but I'm guessing it was a bit of both. "Baby, there are many ways to add things up to equal seven. And there are many ways you can subtract things from each other that equal seven. There is more than one way to get all numbers."

Even though he said, "Ok," I know this was not enough for him. But he scampered away holding up seven fingers and shaking his head. His innocent, six year-old thoughts gave me pause. How old was I when I realized there was more to reality than my perspective? When will he realize this?

He's at a stage in life where, though he recognizes black and white, grey doesn't exist. Either you're good or bad...right or wrong.

His perception made me think about a question my husband asked me before Obama became our President-elect; How can we tell our son Obama didn't win?

With such immature rationale, how would I have been able to tell him that without answering why questions in a way he'd understand? How would I have been able to show him that collectively, we can do ALL things under Christ? What would my proof have been? I can't put up fingers and 'show' him why Obama lost.

Not only will I not have to answer these questions (though I'm sure there are many tough questions to be answered), I will not have to prematurely cloud my six year old's mind with other perceptions he won't understand...yet.

But what he did understand was Obama was the only way to go. One day, he'll understand that since we've had our 'Obama' moment, there has to be many more ways that will equal (and surpass) the perception of our people and our nation. But it's up to us, it's up to our sons and daughters, and their sons and daughters... we make up this nation and it's only fair that we are represented.

So be mindful of where your children are mentally. Listen to what they know so you can build upon it; make it better. But don't wait. Today is the day. The older they get, the easier it will be for television, radio, internet, and their just-as-naive friends to infiltrate their thoughts and distort reality and for whose greater good?

Happy Sunday!


Obama - Luther King by *BenHeine on deviantART

That's what you get for thinking...

Learning that people aren't what they appear to be, situations are much deeper than what's on the surface, and visions are flawed is a phenomena that most of us encounter daily. And when faced with the opposite of what we thought was going on most times seem surprising, it really only informs us of our biases, preconceived notions, and the stereotypical nature that festers in all of us.

After I all but confessed my ignorance of some things, I can remember my father saying many times, "That's what you get for thinking." Though he never told me exactly what that meant. I get it now. Thanks daddy!

The Write Way #3 I Hear Voices

Yes, I hear voices and they aren't from dead people. But I'm not the only person who hears them. Every author in blank-pagedom hears them. They wake us from the most comfortable slumber. They speak to us when other people are speaking to us. Yes, they are rude little voices. And irritating, at times.

Our characters have a way of birthing themselves. And these aren't normal births where the newborn starts out at 8 lbs., 2 ounces and 19 inches long or even start as embryos in our wombs. Most time, we're birthing adults, the elderly, and even some speaking from the grave. Damn, I know I said the voices weren't from dead people. Guess I lied. They're coming into existences as bratty-ass teens, snot nosed toddlers...hell, they're even drug addicts and prostitutes.

The only thing we can do to stop these voices from overtaking us is to write them, the way they want to be written. But here's the trick....you have to also incorporate your own voice in what you write. Since these voices aren't about you, have nothing to do with you, and only want to use you, you better learn how to speak up for yourself and say, "This is how I will write about you." You have to come to terms that you'll have some dick-head in your story that you may not like. Or some whiny-ass woman who grates at your jugular. But you also have to find a happy medium between their voices and yours. A lot of writers make this mistake. Let's see if I can explain it.

When your characters speak (read: dialogue). It's their time to shine. But every other place in the work-in-progress is all about the writer's voice. Sure, you'll have to paint pictures of what your character is doing and how they're feeling, but this is where your voice comes in. This is where you make your mark. The voices you constantly hear know nothing about using too many adjectives and adverbs. They don't know when modifiers dangle... It's how you handle the in-between what they do know...

I'm still finding my voice so the only thing I can say to help you along is continuing writing how you write to find your own. What I know is you can't let your characters write your whole book for you. Don't depend on them for everything.

So what do you have to say about character's voices vs. writer's voices ?

Stay tuned for The Write Way #4 Tell me what you want, Gina, dayum!

Avoid the lines. VOTE early!!

The Write Way #2 Editors

What does copyediting, proofreading, developmental editing, and substantive editing have in common?

Only that the individuals doing these things to your manuscript are going to point out something you need to work on.

AND you're going to piss them off, as the author, because of your poor use of the English language, your wayward inconsistencies, and your total disregard for grammar rules (they seem to have some sort of fixation on the latter). That's about it.

A simple internet search on any of these terms will yield a million results (all of which would be better than my explanation so I'll leave the definitions to the internet experts). But I want to discuss 'decisions' here. Now, I'm not published so there are some (read: alot of) things I don't know and hopefully some of you reading this can help me out (again...as I learn the craft...).

When your manuscript is returned with edits, don't always take the edits as written in stone. If your editor thinks a concept...a word...a scene should be a certain way and it isn't in your vision, ask them about it. Is this not your heart on paper? Would you allow someone else to tell you how to feel? I don't think so...or at least I hope not. And if your editor gets snippy, snotty, or doesn't and isn't willing to give you an explanation for their suggestions, I SUGGEST you find another one (I recommend Shonell Bacon, by the way). Why? Because you need someone who supports your vision. And if your editor is changing your vision, without just cause then they're borderline ghostwriting, IMO. I may be wrong and I don't know how much control over edits you eventually have, but I live in lala-writer-land and my hope is whomever edits my work, believes in my work enough to edit along my vision, if my vision makes sense.

Now, I'm not talking about if you're doing something dead wrong in your manuscript. If it makes sense to you and your book, then by all means do what they ask...with a smile. But there's nothing wrong with asking questions, right?

Am I too far off thinking this?

Tune in to The Write Way #3 I Hear Voices (and they are not from dead people)

The Write Way #1 Learn the Craft

What I hear most from published authors is (drumroll please)

LEARN THE CRAFT

I used to think what the hell whenever I heard it. I got so tired of hearing it, I started saying it to others. But what I didn't know was that learning the craft had everything to do with writing, and simultaneously, had nothing to do with writing.

While I'm 'learning the craft' and attempting to weave it into my writing, I'm finding out what I've learned and what my imagination conjures up, can't coexist...initially. Ahh, there was my problem. I'm typing (or writing) trying to pay attention to structure, flow, tense, pov, grammar, etc., etc., when, in essence, none of that shit matters. (Sorry mommy but I'm upset with myself right now) The only thing that matters when I'm putting pen to pad or fingertips to keys is my IMAGINATION. To hell with all the mechanics. Forget the comma I'm not to sure is placed correctly and, at this point, I'm loving my dangling modifiers.

Learn the craft of writing is a misleading statement. It led me to believe that the craft had all to do with writing right. But that isn't it. And I finally get it. Or at least I get a portion of it. The next time someone tells me this, I'm going to ask them what they mean. As of today, this is my process:

Write the damn story for me (imagination)
Rewrite the damn story for them (layer in the mechanics)
Send the hot mess to an editor (who can magically merge my imagination and the mechanics)
Decide if the merger coincides with my vision and make corrections

Hmm....looks like NaNoWriMo is on to something...

Tune in for The Write Way #2 Editors

Leave a comment, I'd love to discuss...

Change is good

I can't profess to be the champion of change, but I also can't say that I'm not. How two-faced of me, right? I'm experiencing a lot of change in my life; personal and professional. And I'm welcoming it all. With so many things on my to-do list in life, I'm at the stage where I personify the Nike slogan; Just do it (insert check here)!

All the changes I'm making are difficult. But not so difficult that I can't overcome them. For instance, I'm taking tap classes. Picture that. A 32 year old woman, slightly overweight (according to medical standards, but I really have curves for days), trying to perform riffs and scuffles... But I'm doing it. As a matter of fact, I'm so determined to impress myself, that I've just finished two hours of practice a minute ago, yet my official tap lessons are on Mondays. Persistence pays. And the few pounds I need to lose, will be lost doing something I'm growing to love. Lawd knows I'm allergic to exercise. (Hush, tap CAN'T be exercise...it just can't...lol)

On a professional level, I'm moving to a different position within my agency...working with teens. No, I'm not trying to kill myself. Just trying to grow a little. It's the only population I have yet to work with. But I'm all for it.

My mommy always told me to work hard for the things I want. And I want so many things for me, for my family, for my life... So I'm working it and there's never a better time than the present.

Stay peace

Thursday Thirteen #5...what was that u said?

This Thursday I chose to list 13 words people say that make me want to fight them

1. mouf for mouth
2. munf for month
3. teef for teeth
4. burf for birth
5. Egglanta for Atlanta (sorry mommy, but you know this URKS me!!)
6. liberry for library
7. Walmark for Walmart
8. fewt for fruit
9. ainchus for anxious
10. aks for ask
11. excape for escape
12. conversate instead of converse
13. perscription for prescription

And just for kicks I'm going to add two more: prolly/probly for probably and excetera for et cetera

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ABC's

I learned a lot of rules from my mommy. And a few of, what I consider, the most important rules I've learned are:

(A) Mind Your Own Business

(B)God don't like ugly and He ain't too fond of pretty

(C)Think before you speak

So let's talk about A (in my world)... If you are minding your own business (busyness) then you have no time to mind mine. Point blank. Period. And when you try to mind my business, then my busyness begins to include putting you in your place, by any means necessary. And when I'm done, I'm sure you'll know that 'it wasn't none of your business in the first place'.

On to B, the 'ugliness'... Conniving, ignorant liars make me itch in unmentionable (and often unreachable) places. It itches so bad, I grin when these type of people are mentioned or are in my vicinity. I grin so wide, you'd swear the legendary Redd Foxx whispered a joke in my ear or something. Why grin? Because God don't like ugly and I know that...it's not for me to tell them about themselves. They KNOW how they are...trust me...they do. They may not know that I know and that's what makes me grin. I know how to handle people like that...when I understand how they are. And remember G.I. Joe's motto: Knowing is half the battle...

According to Socrates (via Plato), "False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil."

And a Persian proverb that got my favorite soulsistah an F on her college paper sums up how I feel, and think, about these type of people so well...

He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool, shun him;
He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is a child, teach him;
He who knows, and knows not that he knows, is asleep, wake him;
He who knows, and knows that he knows, is wise, follow him.

Now C...It's imperative to human existence for people to think before speaking. If you don't, more than likely whatever you've said (a) doesn't make sense, (b) makes you look like an idiot, and/or (c)is all the way wrong. There isn't too much more I can say about C...it speaks for itself because it is, what it is...

By now, you've probably figured out that someone(s) has rubbed me the wrong way (and for the last time, might I add). If you received an email from me about this blog, then it probably wasn't you. BUT if by chance someone forwarded this blog entry to you, then (a) it definitely is YOU(insert grin here), (b) someone wants you to learn some basic rules of life, or (c) someone knows that you know a person who needs this message.

Stay peace

Oh so relaxing...

What a lot of people don't know about me is that I have great admiration for natural things. Not particularly natural foods or the like, but the basics of nature. The way the wind sounds when rustling a tree's leaves, bird chirps, the way lightening bugs illuminate space at night, and...just about anything that occurs naturally...without effort. Those things that just are, because they are...

I recently spent a few days in Hocking Hills (Logan, Ohio) and had my way with nature. My husband and I visited Cedar Falls, which compared to what I've seen before amounted more to Cedar Trickle, but it was still beautiful. Here are a few pics I took:

My chocolate Ty



The way the sun highlighted the rocks was gorgeous!



Me (of course)

Cedar Falls

Gotta appreciate a good water pic!

Afterwards, we made our way up the road to Ash Cave. Though the cave wasn't what I expected, I still appreciated it in all it's man-made glory.



The wooden stairs to the cave seemed to never end


Yes, that's more water

Looking up from inside the cave almost made me dizzy

My baby taking in all the glory

Neatly tucked away in this picture is a deer we encountered. My husband called me a punk because I was about to take off when I saw it. I love nature, but I'm smart enough to realize when I'm not a part of the home team, kwim?


And this was our little home away from home. It's called A Stones Throw

That hot tube got a nice work out!

Sitting area where we drank and talked until we slurred (and played Playstation 2 games for as long as we wanted!)

One of the three bedrooms we had (would have posted a pic of our room, but we couldn't make the bed right...lol)


Full kitchen where we prepared each other lovely dinners

Partial view of the front yard

The well house (yes, they use well water...we were in the country...lol). If you look close enough, the sign above the door says HOE HOUSE. Pretty funny since historically outhouses were once used by prostitutes and their johns to do their business.

So this ends the part of the trip I'm willing the share. The rest will be between Tyrone, me, and that bomb azz hot tube ;)~

BTW...this was our eighth anniversary trip...big feat for a young couple. We don't have very many married friends, or friends whose marriages lasted longer than a hiccup. This trip went back in time for us. Our very first date was...yup, you guessed it, in the woods. I loves me some him...it's natural.

Stay peace

Genesis

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Come on people....

I'm surfing the net when I should be completing my outline for my next novel, but what is a writer without distraction? Unheard of, that's what it is. So I stumbled upon a little celebrity news that had me scratching my head, laughing, and down right puzzled me. What do you think about these?



Verne Troyer, the infamous Mini Me of the Austin Powers series, apparently had a sex tape stolen from him. He is suing TMZ.com (for $20 MIL *cough*) for publishing it on their website. Now Ion know about you, but WHY would I want to see such a tape. Well, I'm guessing little people sex would pique the curiosity of some, but I have to be honest and say that all it could do is make me snicker and I know that ain't right.

HERE is the complete article

Next up...






Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana star, took this picture for Vanity Fair. The 15 year old is hurt that everyone is so critical of this 'mistake'. Stating to Billboard...

"I don't think people will look at me any differently, because they're like, 'You know what, I'm going to do stupid stuff too, and I'm going to make mistakes, and that's fine,'"

"It still hurts when I think about it – but you know what, it doesn't mean that you can't move on."

Ion know Hannah, I mean Miley...you are only 15. I'm all for keeping clothing ON kids.

HERE is the article


Next...



Now what could Erykah Badu possibly have done? It's alleged that she announced on her myspace page that she is going to start selling rolling papers...yeah the kind you put the sticky icky in (marijuana for all those hoodlinguistic challenged folk...so what that isn't a word!) What she do is damn sure her beeswax, but I don't think endorsing the use of drugs is the way to go. But Snoop (and many others) have done it for years....

HERE
is the article (but this is a gossip site FOR REAL)

NEXT...



Yes...yes...um no, Shaq. This freestyle, caught on tape, cost Shaq a few lawman badges. Now...I watched it and even beyond the fact that Shaq's freestyle game is wiggity, wiggity wack (this from a Shaq fan for life), he dropped the N bomb in public and topped it off with this line

Now that's the difference between first and last place... Kobe (expletive) tell me how my ass taste

in which he repeated the ass line 7 times...yes, I counted.

Wanna see for yourself? Click HERE

So now it's time for me to say goodbye...I must get back to my outline.

Stay peace

Genesis

Mommy News

The last two weeks have been full of emotional things for me. Here are a few of my highest-highs.

My daughter, left, and my sister, right, are officially high school students. Their eighth grade promotion was last week and they are very excited about going to the big leagues...lol



I had on 4in wedges because I wasn't gonna let these lil kids just tower over me like that! My sister is actually taller than I am.

These are my men-children and we were attending my eldest son's kindergarten promotion. I don't think my youngest liked that he wasn't the center of attention. My baby received all of the honors; perfect attendance, citizenship, most outstanding student, and honor roll. Those are the four pinned to him (the green one is hiding, trust me there are four...lol). His paper awards were numerous as well, but I won't get into that.



Did I mention he was killing 'em in his oatmeal linen suit? Give my baby a crowd to speak in front of any day...lol




My husband was given the Very Important Parent award. Did I feel cheated after all the fundraisers and events I've been a part of? Nope. I was proud to have my man standing there among all of the mothers. Real fathers deserve to get their shine on too!


The lady that I circled in the pic was my daughter's kindergarten teacher years ago

What recent mommy or daddy news would you like to share?

By all means....

By all means, I'm no expert on parenting. I can't even claim that I'm really good at it. Shoot, I have my own problems with my hormonal teen, artsy eight year old, and a two-year old who uses 'ignorant' so much I find myself thinking of him when someone says the word. But I do know what I know, and I know that I think a lot parents go about steering their children in the wrong directions.

For example, summertime is approaching and parents are scrambling to find camps for their children. The parents I've encountered are foremost interested in getting their kids out of the home so they can continue working regular hours and get a much needed break from parentdom. No real harm in that, right? Not too much, but there is harm because half of them are sending their kids away to places the children are not interested in attending. The harm comes in if the brainy 10 year-old isn't very interested in horseback riding. Why not send him/her to a science camp or someplace his/her natural (or acquired) talents could be enhanced? It would surely make for a more enriching experience for him/her and money well spent for the parent(s).

Now I'm not saying allow your kids to do what they want to do instead of what's best for them. I'm saying that I don't think it's a bad idea to develop their strengths in areas that truly interest them. My daughter likes boys and drawing. So I'm always buying her drawing paper and pencils and encouraging her to draw the 'features' she likes in boys. Or even abstract portrayals of what she calls love. Of course, we deal with the rest of the boy issue in another way (mental note: buy more tylenol), but I'm encouraging the talent and hopefully, she'll have a masterpiece in someone's museum one day...

Gotta go. The artsy eight year old has tap and ballet in about an hour. It's funny, while I was pregnant with him, he danced in my belly any time music was played. See...

Now if anybody can tell me what to do with a very vocal, beyond active toddler, I'm all ears!

Next time: poetry

Stay peace and foster their strengths

Genesis