Tales of the Glories of the Christmases Long Long Ago

Not to mention those scary ghost stories.

The dark, the Winter solstice, a time for stories; ghost stories in ancient pagan traditions. Tell stories; I guess that is what we all did before television; and what about before radios and recorded music?

What has life become? What makes life and traditions?

So few are connected to the simple practices of what it takes to live; to simply survive. And to the telling of stories of how we have arrived to the place we are.

How many stories does one read devoid of any such traditions or backgrounds in the life or world of a character?

Hence the popularity of all those hallmark Christmas movies. There must be hundreds and more being made all the time. We just watched a new one on Christmas Eve, after delivering gifts to family.

It is about a common history, what makes us who we are. It is about the larger context, where we fit in or not and why. Concepts lost in our modern society.

These trends have translate into novels of dystopia, societies void of liberty.

How shallow are the societies of most all science fiction? No holidays, no traditions or days of commemoration. An example would be my current favorite science fiction series: “The Expanse.”

How many stages of expansion into space should be recognized and commemorated in perceived perpetuity? We have Thanksgiving here in the United States. We honor figures such as George Washington, crucial in the birth of our nation.

Nothing, no one to commemorate, it all just happens. So much personal drama, all about oneself.

Don’t get me started on music. Late on Christmas Eve, I was searching for religious services on TV, eventually finding Christmas mass from the Vatican, when I came across an infomercial for a soft rock collection.

It brought to light how void todays music is of truly meaningful lyrics. The hair bands were the last hoorah for great music; lyrics insightfully reflective of what makes us human.

Imagine Dragons; they have significant lyrics but are they too preachy? Every artist has there moment. My wife likes One Republic. Personally I believe The Band Perry has the most consistent meaningful and organic lyrics, more than any other contemporary group I know of.

I do not know if Imagine Dragons ever made a Christmas song.

I watched “The Kids are Alright” a while back; about The Who. The Who is the definition of Rock n’ Roll. I really appreciate their music these days and was happy I could get to one of their concerts recently.

It also reminded me why I disliked them so when I was a youth; their total irreverence and destruction of property.

Any who, watching Keith Moon play the drums was a great joy, unbelievable. We all lose something when we do not allow or recognize people to be the best in whatever they are doing.

Competition, another element in life not found enough in society these days, or in novels. What people strive for defines… or are we to simply exist in some empty void.

Of course the true Christmas songs are full of meaning and a reminder of all it took for mankind to get where we are today, through God’s Gift and Grace.

Merry Christmas. Tis the season.

I hope you enjoy my reflections and you find them instructional, especially if you are a writer, aspiring or otherwise.

It is not about you, it is about the lives God created us to live.

Thank you for reading.

Charge!

No, I am not referring to Black Friday.

The continuous checking off of goals, including writing goals, uplifts the spirit, instigates even more accomplishments.

I do that by breaking my goals down into a series of many small goals for any particular day.

Time to write the annual Christmas letter, and that is no fiction.

Things are getting very busy. Though we currently do not have any microgreens on the shelf, that is only to allow me to get some work done on our basement facilities. To organize and systematize is the goal.

The decision to make is whether to go with independent contractors or a publisher to refine my stories, which are fiction.

Or are they?

Success in my writing through any means means, means, means… Means we can give up the flower business. Farmer’s markets would be restricted to Saturdays, and I will otherwise be working where I stand; where I build my dreams.

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving and have a Merry Christmas.

Thanks for reading. I know everyone is very busy this time of year.

Resolutions

I know what you are thinking, “It’s not the New Year. What? Are you some kind of stupid Phillip?”

I had taken on three times the work I had intended in my microgreens business this Summer and the markets are starting to close down.

The renovations that our tyrannical city demands that I make on our home, can only be fulfilled within ever shrinking windows of appropriate weather.

My available time is opening up just in time for hunting season but I don’t have any plans to go hunting.

A perfect time for resolutions.

The stress and lack of sleep, courtesy of my Alderman, have sent my blood sugars flying for some time now.

Time to commit to some serious exercise and a necessary sleep regiment.

And time to contemplate an emersion plan into my writing.

I am already back into my Master Classes. Their focus is creativity and they have a large selection of classes on writing.

My mind is favoring towards poetry and Master Class has a new poetry class. Perhaps those high blood sugars have demented my brain.

I need more practical resolutions. I am not fulfilling all I intend, all I have stated.

I disappoint myself and others. I need to focus on the immediate and work on my hopes and dreams quietly.

I have dreamed of someday being rich enough to grace our kitchen table with a large variety of hot sauces.

I made a step towards fulfilling that dream when we went to an Aldi grand opening today and I picked up a bottle of Frank’s Hot Sauce. It has no added sugar. My inability to deal with sugar, sorry sweetheart, has limited my options in hot sauce compilation completeness.

In my defense I have kept posts on this blog on a basic schedule.

Solitude, outside of Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the north woods call to me this time of year.

This is notable the most productive time of year for me in regards to improvement to our home, shelter.

It is a time of year in which I have little patience to tolerate fools.

Perhaps an ancestral influence plays a role in the tides of my life. Generations after generations preparing for Winter have shaped my spirit, informed my DNA.

The sins of the fathers, as they say, but hopefully mostly the good.

Do you know what is great about winter? Getting back into a warm cozy home, under a comforter with a warm mug in hand. A fireplace makes it all the better.

Is that what a TV has become? The hearth, the fireplace, the open flame around which so many of our ancestors gathered. We get the flickering light and a host of fake characters inviting us to take part in their fictitious families of blood, law enforcement or some other bond.

Or you could go out bowling and have to deal with real people.

The horror.

Happy Halloween.

Thanks for reading.

Dialogue

I was complimented on my dialogue, or rather conversation amongst characters, on a review for one of my books.

When I was young there was no texting, e-mails or even phones that were not tied to a wire. Passing notes was for elementary school students and though conversations on the telephone were often verbally and grammatically challenged, in person conversation was a completely different matter.

Witticisms, puns, the clever insight and the ability to express a coherent political position were well practiced. An extensive vocabulary impressed and acronyms represented a thought or institute of substance; not how much laughter a vapid mundane spewing of thoughtlessness may have instilled.

Yes, instilled, not inspired, as inspiration would imply the pursuit of some thought greater than one’s own.

How a person speaks to others is very telling of not only their education but of their character or lack there of. It may be driven by deep seeded issues of the past or more immediate situational stresses.

Dialogue is a great method for developing a character, but it needs to be consistent. It need not necessarily be described, but allowed to speak for itself.

Some of my short stories have little to no conversation.

In my novella the characters are few and the environment stressed. Describing one character’s commentary as having the ability to annoy (anyone) I felt was a necessary distinction.

So I was at my market stand the other day, you can find One Family Urban Gardens on Facebook, and I walked up to a guy who helps out a vendor here and there.

“How is the man of the wire?” I asked.

He is an electrician by trade and I enjoy the looks on his face when I razz him a bit.

“The way of the wire is long and narrow.’' I mused, “Shorter for some, wider for others…. The way of the wire is the way of power.”

A pained smile covered his face. He lowered and shook his head with a chuckle.

At least I didn’t call him ‘Sparky’.

Packing up my market stand I found my side view mirrors turned in. I didn’t recall any vehicles passing too close as they left the market, one farm truck is notorious for hitting other vehicles, so I am confused as to what happened.

One mirror actually wasn’t even accessible to vehicular traffic.

Find the way my friends.

You can make good money as an electrician, or in any of the building trades.

Should I keep writing?

I hear ya!

I hope you found my look into the past and my scant ideas on dialogue helpful, if you are trying to be a published writer yourself.

Thank you for reading.

Things I Like

My wife Likes “Samurai Cat” so I like it also. We watch it together.

If my wife isn’t home in the evening I watch the old “Perry Mason” shows because I do not think she is particularly interested in Perry Mason and I really enjoy them.

My wife frowns upon anything in black and white.

A lot of good stuff in black and white.

I enjoy private detective stories, whether on the radio or television. They have a lexicon I find fascinating. They also tend to help others even when it is not their intent.

Anything with Jack Web holds my interest. He did a whole lot in his career on both radio and television. There were only 99 episodes of “Dragnet.” How did that happen? No reruns on broadcast.

I did not like ‘The Who’, but, as I had written before, I like them, really appreciate their work now.

I watched “The Kids are Alright” a while back and was reminded why back in the day I did not like ‘The Who.’ To watch Keith Moon play the drums however delights the soul. He truly was the best. I can think of other images that delight my soul, lift my spirit.

Creativity, in art and the care we give each other in producing food and shelter, is the beauty all aspire for and its pursuit is enough to consume anyone’s life. Let robots do all the rest.

Man and woman should live close to the earth and do real work, not that fake work.

My wife and I watched “Humans” a show about sentient robots. At one point one of the characters is instruct to ‘kill everyone at 2pm’ and my wife made us bin watch from that point on until we finished.

I think it a very good show, mostly.

I really liked that one season wonder “Firefly.” A space western; I mean why do we need high tech to populate other earth like planets. How are you going to transport that stuff. You just need the tech to get people there and people who can build, create, all they need with their own hands.

I enjoy taking analyzing things, particularly the human condition and how people tell it in movies, history etc. …good parodies.

Good movies are a great joy. “Jaws” is a great one.

So I had my laptop at the farmer’s market yesterday and did some writing while make some sales. Getting back into production word wise.

I thought of taking a Master Class on writing screen plays. I had an idea for a movie “WPT the Musical”.

No one has done it yet. I checked on Google.

WPT would be World Poker Tour by the way. The story almost writes itself.

Another something I have written before, I always wanted to work in a place where everyone suddenly broke out in song and dance wearing top hats and tails.

October will be a busy month. May be making several trips to Chicago. A big church event for us though the details sound tentative.

Do not forget the walking sticks.

Thanks for reading. I am writing still.

Almost forgot to get this post out this month though I wrote most of it yesterday; a long day at the farmer’s markets.

Life is Like Driving an Automobile

Writing has come up to the front burner once again. A stove generally has two front burners, so the microgreens business is going strong; not that a stove has anything to do with an automobile.

There is a YouTube Channel I follow that recently posted on a topic I have touched upon before, that is; the crowd you keep and its influence on your life.

So why am I excited about my writing taking off like a rocket ship? (not an automobile) Because of the newest crowd I keep. That would be farmers.

Yes, the influence of good hard working people, fellow vendors, at the farmer’s market has brought much more productivity to my days in every aspect, not that farming has anything to do with automobiles necessarily.

Family and even church, which is a type of extended family, though important are not always the most supportive structures when it comes to being productive. Drama and intense personal relationships can distract one from the bigger picture.

You know, ‘get the big picture’, what they tell you in driver’s education.

Life education I say

Recognize you are part of the whole. ‘Keep your eyes moving’. One’s experience is like so many others and the ability to look outward gives one insight into other’s experiences on the road. It gives one insight into the value of the rules of the road.

Become an educator.

Get one of those cars with two steering wheels I say.

Yes, it is important that you don’t have twelve year olds speeding through red lights in stolen cars. It is important that people do not simply shoot others they feel have slighted them while driving. It is important that millenials actually stop for stop signs rather than looking at their phones. It would be nice to have law enforcement actually enforcing the rules; just a dream I have.

But enough about Milwaukee.

‘Aim high’ and ‘make sure others see you’ may sound like vanity, but it gets one where they want to go and creates a positive influence for others following the rules of the road of life.

The key to creating value is to make one’s victories and tragedies not one’s own, but something shared for the advancement of all.

Growing, becoming a better driver makes one more valuable to the whole; to other drivers.

Life is about creating value. Make people feel safe.

Will creating value get me a nicer automobile?

It better.

One way I create value is by providing a great product at the farmer’s market. Everything brought to the market is fresh and if not sold provides value to the less fortunate.

I hope to create great value with my writing, now that my microgreens production is approaching streamline.

Situational awareness may be one way to frame today’s topic. ‘Leave yourself an out’, another rule of the road, may read as prudence or paranoia.

Do your characters, if you are a fellow writer, have situational awareness?

How do you describe that in your writing?

What details would they notice that others would not?

Would not each of your characters observe the same scene or situation differently?

Seeing through the eyes of others, each a unique perspective; is it the key to adding depth to one’s writing? To providing the utmost value to others?

Does it create appeal for a larger crowd?

So, I was talking at the market with a farmer about a potential trade war with Red China, not Taiwan. I know a lot about China.

My perspective is that as soon as a trade war begins China has lost.

“You have to understand” I said, “that because of Mao’s cultural revolution they killed all the capable cultured people. The whole country is nothing but a bunch of stupid farmers.”

Upon reflection…

Thank you for reading.

I hope I have provided value to your life today.

I have been remiss in my blogging, not fulfilling promised posting goals for my other blogs.

I apologize, especially if this is not my only blog you, my readers, enjoy reading.

Though how would I know, I get no comments, no likes on Facebook, no messages…

Thank you again.

Trials and Tribulations

With the new business developing, for some reason, my mind is always on my books.

At least with weekday farmer's markets I have time to read from time to time. In time, time will tell.

Makes me wonder if I should be writing instead of farming, but as production planning and harvesting efficiency works itself out I will have more time, at least that is what I thought.

Our local Alderman plagued inspectors upon our home, something I may or may not have more to write about.

I guess extruded polycarbonite over my window for security and privacy is called a flexible plastic covering now. It is seriously rigid.

Something is up and I intend to get to the bottom of it. The weekday markets may have to be over in lieu of more than work on my garage (which repairs I have been working on in conjunction with the city for a year) is not the only work the city has dictated, costing me money in more ways than one. But maybe that was the intent.

My success is a threat to a lot of people. Whether in my faith, my chosen profession as architect, as businessman, writer or gentleman farmer of the noblest of fashion.

Forgive me for daring to dream. Or not. I am willing to take on all challengers.

I believe it strange, the recent slew of serious accidents along our expressway. In my world it is a sign of spiritual disruption on a grand scale. We drive that stretch of road every week.

If God is with me, who can stand against me.

And writing is about creating a world, a believable world. Trials and tribulations tied to wisdom and understanding, a world view that works, creates a serious baseline for any world one may dream to create, whether based on fact or imagined.

Material possessions and objectives are important but hardly on the top of my priority list. People have taken more from me in my life than most any could ever imagine, yet I continue.

At least this blog is generally staying on schedule.

I have a lot building up to write. At some point I will have to stop everything and let it flow.

Thanks for reading.

The Psalmist

‘The world is filled with fools, though no one started out that way.

All knew where to find happiness, yet happiness portends sorrow.

Look outward then, at what others equally deceived desire.

Pursue then, objects to be held in the hand, felt in the flesh.

The emptiness of a sallow soul awaits, a garnished grave.

Seek rather what stirs the heart and enlightens the soul.

Project not upon others, clinging to shadows, the darkness that blots out the light.

The light shines from within, it never fades or falters, its’ affections never stray.

Embrace the light, life awaits.’

As a young man, these days you would call youth of similar age children, I didn’t read the Bible much, but when I did, I read Proverbs; …even Psalms.

So I put forth a small reflection of my own; something that formed in my mind as I contemplate life.

The Book of Job is a good one. The Gospels I found tragic and knew them intimately, at least those parts covered in the liturgy, the same year after year after year.

No one values… values anymore.

‘No one honors the upright, victorious, tragic or otherwise.

All look to tear down, declaring themselves victims rather than victors.’

Almost slipped into it again.

Overwhelmed with the enormity of tasks before me and the responsibilities that come with them, I find myself, value based. Or perhaps delusion has gripped my mind. In any state, I am strained, drained of energies.

My stories tug at my soul.

“Hey! what about us?!”

It causes me to wonder if I should have rather simply thrown myself into my writing and nothing else.

Don’t give up on me. I will get there.

‘When it is all said and done, we have only our love and creativity to carry us on.’

Are there any television shows that imbue true value to their viewers. Impossible to know, there are so many.

Television is my rebound time, …or a crutch?

“The Game of Thrones”, nothing but pornography. Stop watching trash. Stop fooling yourselves, it is.

Fools!

Before the Internet took off “Babylon 5”, a show I recently rediscovered on my Roku, may have been the last show of any substantive value propagation.

Perhaps I should listen to Zathras.

“Zathras is used to being beast of burden to other people’s needs. Very sad life. Probably a very sad death, but at least there is symmetry.” :Zathras, 2254.

Or I could read the Bible.

Symmetry is good.

Thanks for reading.

Lost and Found

Have I lost my mind?

We are starting a new business, somewhat keeping it under wraps for now.

What? You say you already know what I am doing?…

Well then, …Merry Christmas to you.

So I have had all these various and scattered tasks to get to that have come near to inciting paralysis.

And now I have expounded the number of tasks, responsibilities, duties, commitments, expectations, demands on my time and energies, projects, jobs, goals to fulfill in a timely fashion, deeds, and things to plan, build, organize, create, accomplish and ultimately to reign over supreme.

And what is my reward for taking on these immense burdens, labors, toils and troubles, upon my broad and powerful shoulders?

More time? Could God be so gracious as to slow it for me? Perhaps it would be wiser to move faster.

Bubbles? Not unless I draw my own bath.

Peace of mind, contentment, confidence, a growing sense of worth, value, esteem or simply a good nights sleep after working myself to the point of exhaustion? My wife put the caffeinated coffee, rather than the decaf, into the Kurig last night for my after dinner desert replacement.

True story, and I did not use a thesaurus in the production of this post.

Actually, with a now undeniably “I have too much to do and not enough time to do it!” charge I am getting more done than ever. If only I could properly prioritize. I just start moving to the demands of what ever I find before me, finish, and on to the next object I come across, to set upon it and bend to my steely will.

And in all this, in the midst of the tempest, the melee, throwing myself into the breech once more, my mind fills with my stories.

Yes, still writing and once all my infrastructure is in place the work of the published will take off again with depth and potent detail.

It is good to be busy. I have not always succeeded in that aspect of life, stifled by crushing life realities peeling back like an onion, layer after layer.

But one thing that I never fell short in, never stopped investing in, is my life of prayer and dedication to God. A continuous humbling of the heart is the foundation upon which I go forward.

What will befall me now?

Thanks for reading.

I have not fulfilled the goal of posting on “No Sanction” or “Global Imprint” (one or the other is my monthly intention) but I have a great post in the works. Excuse my tardiness you most faithful of readers.

What To Do

“Again!” you proclaim. “Haven’t we heard enough of your tortured decision making processes Phillip?”

I hate the way those Canadians pronounce ‘process’ on YouTube. It makes me want to rip my ears out, …or off. But the workings are on the inside, so out is more accurate.

And there is the rub. What to write, or publish in regards to what I have completed, and what not to write? That is the question.

Is some of my stuff too dark? Does it serve any value towards a greater society? Are we progressing into a brave new world of virtue and goodness so quickly that my writings, rather than enlightening, would hold people back from a brighter future?

Much can be learned from tragedy or the deconstruction of evil doers and their ways, but is it time to leave that all behind?

I hope so… but I have these stories, that personally, I think are really good.

Under a more optimistic vision of the future, the one story I would truly like to publish is far from complete; maybe 20%.

A bright new future.

The Holy Marriage Blessing, the breaking of all man’s ties to an evil lineage and history is now freely given to people of virtue.

Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s wife will be holding a 5,000 couple Holy Marriage Blessing ceremony at a mega church in Los Angeles on April 6th.

I personally have recently returned from Las Vegas. No gambling for me, strictly spiritual pursuits and a trip to an amazingly beautiful “Valley of Fire” state park.

I have been spending a lot of time in study since my return as well as in preparing the garden for planting. Already being a member of Master Class, the service www.optimize.me has caught my attention as it claims to cover the highlights of great philosophers. About half the price of Master Class, focused on self betterment. They also have a single lifetime membership fee.

I think Master Class made a mistake when by not grandfathering your entry price as set for perpetuity. They having so many writing classes and the classes are actually very extensive when dealing with the work books and links that I can see myself staying on for years. And then who knows what else they will have to offer.

My interest in philosophers comes from Reverend Moon’s teachings (The Divine Principle) on how the world divided into two the camps of communism, atheism representing Satan’s side, and democracy, centered on England and the United States, as representing God’s side.

Philosophers and their trains of thought in one direction or the other are mentioned in the teaching and I always wanted to personally dig deeper into those philosophers. I looked into some of their works, but finding English or abridged versions has not been easy.

I did take a bit of ancient philosophy, those Greeks and the like, in high school and college. I am unclear how direct Optimize is in its coverage of specific philosophers, and their thought, or if they take a more general overall life improvement kind of approach.

Don’t like to be preached to you say. Well, you must not like to create interesting characters, if you are a fellow writer. You need an all encompassing approach to life and people.

Or maybe you embrace only mankind’s more base qualities, and outright reject the work of God and his angels.

You are what you eat, so the saying goes.

I better not get into food here. This post may never end.

Thanks for reading.

Doubt Not

Lord was I born a rambling man? I don’t think so.

Maybe?… No?… Yes?…

Just trying to make a living, doing the best I can, but I can always do better.

How many things have I tried?

Schedules. What day is it?

Joining websites. What was that password?

Now I am taking some Master Classes on Writing, as well as Space Exploration, and Poker. Do you know which I am farthest along in?

Yes, you most likely guessed right.

Word count goals; didn’t do too bad, but then you fall behind and the weight of catching up crushes you.

Yes, just start again but when one is pulled in so many various directions any excuse to shift focus comes easy.

I had a discussion with some others about the young people in our church, and why they are not too inspired to commit to activities.

The multi faceted demands of modern life leave one many outs to escape uncertainty and take the simple, or rather sinful, acceptable path of pursuing money and the trappings of popular culture.

In this conversation at church I said something along these lines.

People, our young people, all of us, want to know that we are doing what God wants us to do. At least in terms of committing to a spiritual discipline, ranging from attending Sunday service and tithing, to intensive training or study, to working outright for the church as a career path in a variety of capacities.

Of course they need to believe in God, but I know, no doubt here, that belief in God is an underlying current in the life of all men and women.

Character study: Is not an individual driven by trying to pursue a virtuous life, a life God can grace, or on the contrary driven by a desire to contradict a God they see as doing them, humanity or any particular loved one wrong?

When it all hits the fan does not the atheist turn to prayer?

Let us continue the character study. What of one who seeks out God’s grace in his life and nothing ever works out. How should they react? Perhaps to chose a singular focus of all one’s energies and just go for it, no matter the outcome, willing to go down with the ship. Damn the torpedoes!

Well, I have several directions I could go. I could consume myself in any one of them, or try to juggle two or three endeavors at the same time. (I actually feel like I am juggling ten things.) That should be all consuming, three major endeavors somewhat related at least philosophically, but if any doubt exists…

It would be better to chose a singular focus.

I have been healing spiritually and physically for two decades now, if not my entire life. Everything finally worked its way out as my parents’ lives were fading.

God I hope that was everything.

Staying attentive to my parents as they walked the final legs of their lives was consuming in itself. It distracted from many endeavors. I concluded that to “honor thy father and thy mother” is an absolute. It defines you in the same way as how you honor or dishonor God defines a person.

You have life. It is a miracle. It came from them and you wont make it a beautiful one by dishonoring them.

You say your parent or parents were…

Hey. I can’t print that here.

It doesn’t matter. It is how God made things to be, and though it may seem counterintuitive, will lead to happiness.

The trend to reject those who have come before, by recent generations, has troubled my mind for some time now. I just have to write. I have been writing quite a bit on the topic on my various blogs.

Now I have to decide what does God want me to do.

The last few years with my parents, and a new health issue of my own, have kept me from writing, but I have several works complete in draft form and several others substantially developed.

The refinement of those works is an immense task in itself.

So I am well back into my blogs, catching up to my renewed goals for 2019 with the publishing of this post before February ends.

Accomplishing one’s goals always empowers. I have my space to write, I simply need to dedicate my time, no matter how small on a consistent basis.

I need to get back to some serious writing, as well as developing an agro-business to fuel my design ambitions.

Oh. And the house needs to be completely remodeled.

And I have a wife.

Then there is that other business.

And…

It never gets easier.

Maybe I should just focus on writing?

No, spiritual pursuits.

No, an agro-forest food based industrial complex interconnected highways of tasty goodness, that’s the singular cause!

Or not?

Thanks for reading.

Check out my latest poker blog post for some diet tips and fixes.

And where are all the parents in those sci-fi movies, books and fantasies? You know, to pop out all those children to fill the vastness of space. And who is producing all their food?

Good thing I am taking a Master Class on space exploration from a real astronaut. He can tell me how we are going to populate the universe.

Am I done?

My New Office Space; Sort Of

Overlapping work spaces support neither productivity nor my creative juices. So I made some changes.

For the longest time I had wanted to move our desk top computer with associated desk from what has grown to be our prayer room. So I finally got to it.

I took a utilitarian space that is used for multiple daily tasks, the small kitchen in our upper unit (we have not had tenants, or even fiveants in our duplex for some twenty year). The upper unit is our personal space and the lower unit is where we cook, eat, entertain and do business; our public space.

So I created two computer stations in this upper unit kitchen space, one for the desk top and another at a small table for my lap top on which I do my writing. Left plenty of room for my wife’s ironing board and plenty of space in front of the sink which we use regularly.

My drafting table is clear, covered only in trace paper. I have been doing a bit of design regularly over the months and it has kept me from writing as the repurposing of a space back and forth I find tedious. Honestly, I find it somehow disturbing.

So, upstairs, a bit close but comfortable.

Now the writing is taking off. I set a plan for my blogs, resolved to stick to the schedule, giving each blog a monthly or quarterly goal. And then…

So my wife has a lap top on which see does work for our church. Every couple of weeks she spends an afternoon working on the lap top. Once in a while she goes to church and spends most of the day working her work.

So… there she is, my wife, set up at my new writing station working her work, my lap top pushed aside into obscurity. I am elated that she is enjoying the space. Particularly in the Winter since it is uncomfortably cold, drafty, downstairs at the kitchen table. And I have plenty of other tasks I need to do, far too many in fact, so I happily go about my way.

The next day, there she is again. No problem, she doesn’t have a whole lot to do. I am certain she won’t be long. I hold back on my excited anticipation to get back to my writing in full vigor.

Then the next day; there she is.

“Do you like this space?” I ask.

“Yes, it is so warm.” she smiles delighted.

I’m still happy. I even have both our printers in the same space, everything we need consolidated. She really likes that. She needs a printer.

Then the next day.

Then the next day.

I wake up late on Saturday, after working the night before, anxious to get on my lap top to write and take care of neglected business.

There she is working away.

I stare in disbelief.

“What are you doing?” I plead.

“What??”

“You never have this much work to do. You only work on your lap top maybe every two weeks! What are you doing?” I am pleading, almost crying because I know she really likes this space and I am upsetting her, but I created the space for ME!

“I made this space to write.”

So we are watch the TV show “Monk”: “Mr. Monk and the Airplane.”

The dialogue goes something like this.

Wine is spilled on Mr. Monk and he jumps back and says to his assistant, “Hurry, it’s going to stain.”

His assistant responds, “Here is your stain remover.” handing the applicator to him.

He stares at the applicator stunned and asks, “Can you do it?”

To which the assistant scoffs, “Why can’t you do it?”

“Because if you do it, then I don’t have to.”

I laugh and ask my wife, “Does that remind you of anyone?”

“Yes, you.” she answers and we both laugh.

You single guys don’t know what your missing.

So look for my blog posts, at least three a month amongst my various blogs, hopefully not all on the final day of the month.

I consolidated my Create Space account with my KDP account. Shooting for four books published this year.

Thank you for reading.