GOALS!

Apparently, the work I've set out to volunteer for is difficult to get started. I've spoken with as many people as I can to get my volunteering moving, and…

I have nothing yet to report.

SO…

I'm going to share my goals for November. A bit late, you're thinking. Maybe it is, but:

1. I'm in the last ten days and I may, just might be able to reach them if I really try and posting about them sort of puts me on the hot seat, AND

2. I made them just before November and my birthday sort of put things on their ear if you catch my meaning. I was spun around and dizzy, but I've finally got myself in the right direction.

I feel like my volunteering is important, but these goals, though not necessarily in that exact direction nor are exact fuel to get me going in that direction, are good for the same reason my volunteering is important and I will explain after I share them.

1. Produce more than consume

1. Make 12 attempts to get a short story (there are several possible) and/or “Tabernacle” published by the end of the month

2. Write or Edit every day (defined as Writing = at least 1 word, Editing = at least 1 correction)

3. Make creating apps outweigh consumption apps on my phone (more time)

4. NO YouTube while working

2. Focus on Health

1. Exercise daily (defined as anything >10 pushups)

2. Yoga daily

3. Get to 1 pullup

PRODUCING

I figure producing more than consuming is important to the support of democracy because 

1. I don't want to be a mindless consumer, doom-scroller, a side-line-attendee
2. I want to produce the kinds of things that 
1. Make people think and think good things about democracy
2. Make people feel good
3. I want to see and read
4. Make me feel empowered in the right direction.

BTW - It's green because green things grow  

HEALTH

I figure focusing on my health will

1. Keep me healthy for the fight
2. Keep my healthy longer for my children and grandchildren
3. Make my mind stronger, healthy body, healthy mind/brain for the fight for democracy
4. Help me feel powerful and empowered

BTW - It's pink for "In the pink of health"

My progress so far:

1. Produce more than consume
1. No attempts at publishing yet, but I have been doing this, and publishing my blog, and there is still time
2. I have been writing every day
3. I don't know if my creating apps outweigh my consumption apps, but I have downloaded Screen Zen for my phone and Untrap for Youtube. Both help me limit YouTube and a few other apps on my phone
4. I've been pretty successful with not listening to YouTube while working now that I've installed Untrap for Youtube.
2. Focus on Health
1. I am very close to having exercised every day at least more than 10 pushups
2. Very close to Yoga daily, or a similar activity
3. Get to 1 pullup - I'm in physical therapy for my shoulder to help me get to this

So you see it is do-able. I could use encouragement because 1.1 is a doozy yet and I could use all the kind words and suggestions I can get.

Thanks all!

Get To Work

Last week's post was, "Wake Up" so naturally this week is about getting to work. If I want us to live in a democracy I need to get to work. 

I don't feel like I'm particularly trained or skilled in any particular area, so I have to volunteer to my strengths and inclinations, to my, let's call them enthusiasms.

As much as taking a baseball bat to my frustrations sounds cathartic, it is really not the way.

So what are my enthusiasms, what draws my admiration, what gives me joy? 

Scouting

Camping, ceremony, preparedness, ecology, democracy the live long day, Baden Powell, James West, William D. Boyce, and so forth.

One of the first things Hitler did when he came to power was outlaw the Scouts of Germany. Several of the members of the White Rose belonged to underground, illegal Scout troops. There were underground, illegal Scout organizations behind the Iron Curtain in Poland. I firmly believe if ANY of the boys on the island had been scouts the Lord of the Flies would never have happened.

I had become slightly disillusioned with the Boy Scouts of America (soon to be renamed Scouting America) because of the way the organization had gone about making changes. I don't necessarily disagree with the changes, more the way they were handled.

Fundamentally, though, scouting is still the same. You can't go wrong with the Scout Law.

A scout is:

Trustworthy

Loyal

Helpful

Friendly

Courteous

Kind 

Obedient

Cheerful

Thrifty

Brave

Clean and 

Reverant

So I re-volunteered with my local Scouting America council (Northeast Illinois Council).

I've also been very interested, fascinated, and concerned about the indigenous people of the Americas. I have a BA in Anthropology because I wanted to be as educated about these people as I could be. I feel very embarrassed to find out only recently how many Native Americans live in and around Chicago and how many organizations they have in the area.

On top of that, November is National Native American Heritage Month.

I also volunteered with the American Indian Center of Chicago.

I hope they can find some way for me to be able to help them.

I think the first way is to try to help get the word out about the Native American organizations in our area. If anyone reads this that didn't know anything about these then I hope that I helped even a tiny bit. I'll post some links below.

I do love writing fiction, but I don't have the skills at this point to write things like Animal Farm, or 1984, or Fahrenheit 451. Maybe someday, and when I can I will do that also.

Here are some links to Native organizations in the Chicago area:

The D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies at The Newberry Library

American Indian Center of Chicago

The Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative

Mitchell Museum of the American Indian

Chicago Title VI American Indian Education Program

American Indian Association of Illinois

 

WAKE UP!

Yesterday was a clarion call for democracy, LGBTQ+ support, immigration reform, refugee support, clean energy support, environmental support, and anti-racism (including indigenous peoples support). 

Yesterday I did a very small part by voting. Today I’m going to do another very small part with this blog that no one reads, I’m going to change the logo.

A while ago, I found out about a movement to adopt the female belted kingfisher as the mascot for the University of Illinois (my and Mrs. Prop’s alma mater). At that time I found a logo made by mickgee2k14 (the artist said I can use it if I attribute it) on reddit that harkens back to the old chief logo, but for the new mascot.
 

In case you didn’t know, the old mascot of the University of Illinois Fighting Illini was Chief Illiniwek. The NCAA required UofI to remove that mascot in 2007 and it's about damn time I do it too.

I'm going to clean this old blog up and try to include support for those issues I mentioned above, because we need to work harder than ever and I'm making a commitment today.

I also feel that fiction can explore possibilities and good or bad, I can't help myself and I write. I plan to post more of my fiction while some old stories and posts are going to go away. 

I hope I can spark some discussion and raise awareness where and when I can. If not, and this blog continues to be unread, I will be doing other things, as I said this is one very small part.

ILL -

2016 Goal Review

I have only a couple of minutes left.  I know no one reads this, but I'm going to post it anyway.

I completely failed at my two goals this year:  Enroll in a Master of Education Program, and Get a New Job.

I will tell you why in the next post, but I will be rolling them over into 2017.

I also have some secret goals I'm not sharing publicly.  I read that helps keep the pressure on, because you don't feel like you've accomplished something just by sharing the goals.

Wish me luck.

Afghan Rugby Day

Tomorrow is a Rugby day so I thought I'd tell you about my Afghan Rugby experience.

I brought a Rugby ball with me to Afghanistan (or I had it sent to me).  I figured any time a Rugby player sees a Rugby ball he (or she) is drawn to it.  I know I am.  My plan was to inflate it and kick it up into the air from time to time.    By popping it up I figured it would clear any tents or buildings and be visible from quite a way off.  If any ruggers saw it they would find me and we could maybe figure out how to get a game going.

I tried it, but no one ever came around.

Eventually our staff started doing group PT in the mornings.  At first it was basketball mostly.  Then I finally convinced them to try Rugby. We would have to play touch, because I didn't want any LOD (Line of Duty) paperwork and have to explain why we were playing a collision sport.

1SG (now SGM) Beck with the
ball, not on the muddy day

We had an open, dirt field and about eight or ten of us played (after I taught them how).  They enjoyed it and we played several more times.

One morning we were going to play, but it had rained and the field we were using was a mud pit.  I said we should play anyway, and that the mud would just make the landings softer.

What I didn't tell them was I brought my cleats ("boots" for all you ruggers out there) as well as a ball.  While they were all slipping and sliding I was running circles around them.  Because it was touch I could even do "bullet time" type dodging and weaving and ducking and dodging.  No one could catch me, no one could touch me.

I hope it's just like that tomorrow!

Intention, Expectation, and Desire

When I write I consider three things always, whether I INTEND for the piece to be read by others, whether I EXPECT it to be read by others and if I DESIRE for it to be read by others.

I've been making a concerted effort this last half of the year to write something every day, anything.  Because I only count things written as part of stories, not notes, not ideas, not outlines, reminders, or instructions.  This does not mean I only count words I write that will be published.

I desire anything I write to be published or at the very least read by many other people.  I have removed the expectation that every word I write will actually be in the story, but I do intend for them to be.

Simply removing the expectation frees me to write quickly, often, and at volume.  This is my normal mindset for NaNoWriMo novels, I desire these novels to be published, I intend for them to be published, but I don't expect them to be.  This is also the mindset I've been using to keep up a daily output.

Previously the only time I tried to have a daily steady output was in the NaNo Novembers.  The idea of a first draft being so far removed from publishable that it would necessitate a rewrite seemed completely foreign to me.  Now I'm trying to embrace it, or at least tolerate it.  One of my most hated writing adages is, "Writing it rewriting" (credit Hemingway or E.B. White, either way, I don't like it).  That seems like negative thinking to me.  I partially blame the movie Amadeus.  Salieri said Mozart never made any erasures.  Everything was perfect as it left his pen.

Because I've almost always written on a word processor or computer I never really considered anything a first draft, but more like a work in progress.  Now I'm thinking, go from the beginning to the middle and don't stop until the end.  Then go back and change things.  I'm still reluctant to think that anything is strictly a first draft, not for public consumption, or worse still, something to be written only as practice, a first attempt of countless more, as it were.

It often seems like a waste to remove the intent that anything you write will be read by a wide audience (or has the potential to).  Why write anything you don't intend to share?  This is strongly my inclination, but I've recently figured out this is not universally felt.  I've long known there are things people write for a single consumer (like a lover, or themselves) with no expectation or intention of them being read by anyone else.  Journals and love letters are like this.  I'm not really talking about that.

Besides, in the back of my mind I do always expect someone will someday get ahold of anything and everything I write and whether I like it or not, they will read it.  It might be a self-destructive feeling because it makes me write while looking over my shoulder, which is not something you want to do when you are journaling, using writing as meditation, or writing something that will be a first draft only.  

That and I'm sort of paranoid anything I write could someday be subpoenaed. 

The rarest thing I write is something I don't expect to be read, I don't intend to be read and I don't desire to be read.  

Can you guess what sorts of things those could be?  

Do you have anything you write with none of the above?  

Write me a comment and let us know.

Young Mad Scientists in Love: "The New Team" - Part 3

Part 3 – Not for Love, But Maybe for Money

Doctor Braun Verne was a good looking man and he knew it.  He had a debonair about him, a flash, a swagger that just drew women (those who liked men), and men (those who liked men) alike.

Three women stood around as he lay under another woman’s car.  The owner stood next to the car worrying her fingers while the other three stood back far enough to get the view they wanted.

"What's he doing?"  Gladys, a full figured accountant asked Eloise, the woman whose car was being possibly upgraded.

"Who cares?"  Marge, a woman in a power pant-suit said.

The women admired Braun's faded blue jeans and cowboy boots sticking out from under the car.  In a fluid movement he pulled himself out and lifted himself up to a standing position.  Braun lit a cigarette and let it dangle from his lips.  

“There Eloise, next time you gas up your tank should be the last time you need to,” he ran a hand through his thick, wild hair.  The women unconsciously but audibly sighed.

“I don’t know what it is about him.  I mean, I can’t stand smokers,” Gladys whispered to Marge.  Braun heard them and siddled up to Gladys.  She thought he smelled so good and, "manly.”

“This is no ordinary cigarette.  I get my smokes from a friend of mine, Fred Neal.  They’re vitamin and pheromone cigarettes.”  He exhaled smoke past her ear.

Mary, the youngest and newest admirer leaned toward Eloise, “Isn’t this the janitor?”

Braun leaned toward Mary and flashed one of his thousand watt smiles, “Stationary Engineer actually.”

"What's that accent, French?"  Marge asked Gladys.

"German I think."

"Are you Australian, Mr. Engineer?"  Marge asked.

"If you'd like," Braun smiled at her and started to walk away.

"What did you do, exactly?"  Eloise asked, though Marge gave her a hard nudge for making Braun turn around.

"I can't tell you exactly, and I would certainly never tell you a tall tale about cold fusion."  He lifted his sunglasses and winked, then returned them and left.

"Cold fusion?" Eloise muttered.  The four women turned and approached the car.  It was just the opening Braun was waiting for.  He pressed a button on his tool belt and was instantly transported to his basement work room.

"Mr. Verne!"  Bob Ellgie was standing by the workbench with a device in his hand when the transportation alcove flashed like a lightning bolt party celebrating new years and roared like a train crashing into another train that was at the same time being crashed into by an airliner.

Braun stepped out of the cloud of steam the alcove had generated, his clothing and hair crusted with frost, "That’s new"

"What is that contraption?"  Bob roared.  Bob was a large man in height and girth.  He had been an NFL offensive lineman before his knee went.  He was the hair-trigger tempered regional manager in the office.

"What?"

"That thing with the lights and noise and smoke."

"That's not smoke, it's vapor.  I know what you're thinking, is vapor really safer than smoke.  I mean, they say it is, but aren't they just trying to sell you something and wouldn't they-"

"What are you talking about?"  It really looked like Bob's tie was going to pop right off his neck.

"Oh," Braun suddenly realized what Bob had in his hand when he noticed the big man's squeeze getting tighter on it.  "You really don't want to be squeezing that."  He stepped forward and gingerly tried to pry it out of Bob’s hand.  Their finger war was brief, but it gave Bob enough time to calm down.  Once his rage passed Braun was able to get the device loose and slipped it away.

“What was that?”

“What brings you down to my humble work area, Mr Ellgie?”

Bob didn’t know where the device had gone, but he knew enough that if Braun didn’t want him to touch it, it was probably something incredibly dangerous, and Braun would be verbaly as slipery as a greased pig if he tried to ask about it.  He let the matter slip and focused on the reason he was down there.

“You’re fired.”

“Wh-, wha-, what?”

It was the first time Bob had ever seen Braun speechless.  He savored it a moment and chuckled under his breath.  He rarely got the better of Braun with words and had never knocked him on his ass like this.  He felt a moment of pity.

“That’s not actually true.”  Braun relaxed his shoulders and gathered himself to rise again.  Bob realized he had to keep the initiative.

“You are let go, your position has been eliminated.  The company has decided to outsource the engineering, maintenance and housekeeping functions.  It was all done several levels over my head and is strictly financial in nature.”  His rapid fire sentences peppered Braun keeping him from getting to his rhetorical feet.

“Bu-”

“As soon as I found out I called everyone I knew and called in every favor, but it was too late.  I’m sorry Braun.”  He crossed his arms in finality.

Braun nodded and ran his tongue around his teeth.  He pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

"You can't-"

Braun held up a hand, took a long drag and blew out the smoke, "I'm a victim of my own success."  He shrugged and looked around the room.

"Upper management does feel that everything is running so smoothly they can hire an outside vendor to keep it at this level for a third the cost of-"

"Of me.  I get it."  He nodded.

"I am sorry to have you leave.  As much as you were a pain in my behind, I can tell that you were the one responsible for lowering operating costs 75%."

"How long do I have?"

"Today will be your last day.  You have until close of business to collect your things and leave."

"My things?"

"You will have to leave all company property of course.  You can take any personal tools, but you signed an intellectual property clause."

"Meaning anything I designed and built for the company is company property."

"Anything you got a patent for yes. It would technically be the company's patent."

Braun nodded broadly and dragged on his cigarette, "You have no idea what that is?"  He hooked his thumb over his shoulder at the transportation alcove.

"A steam-"

"And that device you had in your hand; no idea?"

"No."

Braun smiled cautiously.  He pulled out his cell phone and called his friend, "Hey Fred, Braun here.  About that job offer…"

Braun patted Bob on the upper arm, "I'll be out by lunch.  I'll just have to say goodbye to some of the ladies."