Non-Fiction

I have many non-fiction writings. Some are opinions, some editorials; ethical inquiries. I have ideas on planning and food production.

It has been a long time since I wrote any form of diary. I am contemplating a chronicle on my micro greens adventure. I like to sketch and have not gotten into it for sometime.

No one has this virus thing right. Best to watch and observe; the ultimate insight into human nature. The ultimate workshop in liberty and tyranny.

Now that my micro greens operation has been streamlined I will have much more time for writing. Adventure fills my mind. The fruit trees, plants and features in the garden will fill  my sketch books.

My works of fiction just need to be pumped out but these troubled times, personally and now as a society, keep my mind from a proper state of focus.

So back to the notebooks and sketch books. Thought of taking back up the piano but no money for the instrument. It is about trying to keep my mind and hands young. A long time goal I’ve had but unless the stock market pays off…

The world will need a major rethink after this. Will my books shape any minds.

I will be vehemently promoting a new book that is not my own; a real mind opener. Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon’s autobiography will be out in English soon and I hope to be sharing her story with many.

My books?… I have to get them out. Pacing my basement, taking care of my micro greens, writing, designing and putting together… if only I had an organ to play, going out at night to take care of the garden. They could call me the phantom of the garden.

Who comes up with stories like that?

“Train to Pusan” is a real tear jerker, if you are looking for a good movie during your lockup.

What would my autobiography be like. “Shards of a Life” may be an appropriate title.

I like my basement. The walls are white.

I ramble.

Thanks for reading.

I'm Sick

I’m sick of the lack of virtue, so prominent in this time of crisis.

I was talking with an aunt of 90 years the other day and the conversation drifted to stories of a great aunt of mine: Aunt Tillie.

I had heard the name often and had a vague concept of who she was, more so when I was much younger than now, but I could not put a face to her.

In the course of our telephone conversation, I am not visiting 90 year olds at a time such as this, my aunt mentioned how Aunt Tillie (Matilda) used to wash her dishes. My memory was jogged and though I still could not put a clear face to her, I remembered.

My dad was the kind of man who sought out relatives, no matter how distant. So visiting our elderly relatives across Wisconsin was common in our family.

So my aunt mentioned how Aunt Tillie would scour all her dishes. How she intensely scrubbed down her cutting boards every week. I remember witnessing the routine.

You see, Aunt Tillie was alive in 1918. She knew many people in their neighborhood who had died in the Spanish flu. It shaped her life in many ways.

Traditions, history, experience, trauma, war, travel and so many other past events are behind every person, every character one may try to convey in a story.

When the reader has shared the same experience, portraying such background in words and actions, becomes more cogent, powerful and has the potential to convey deeper meaning.

Such references display the value of history, of the wisdom of those who have come before. This is the basis for virtue.

How does one convey virtue in a character or society if not through traditions passed down and the reasons for them? An earth shattering event or being touched by God.

Earthquakes, tsunamis and a whole slew of natural disaster have not only shut down economies but destroyed the machinery of those economies, yet they bounced back. For many who experienced those events, the economic setback was not the formative nature of the event. It was the human tragedy; the human story.

But our economy is about to be destroyed because… we are going to shut it down for a couple months? How are many of our businesses even supposed to keep going if they depend on a supply stream that originates in China?

Idiots. Charlatans. ‘This is just the flu’ many had been screaming but their views now just morph about, never admitting they were wrong.

Who understands exponential growth? Who understands the difference between an antigen test and an antibody test and the significance of each. Who can discern reputable sources?

Not many.

All the talking heads are grasping at anything that might justified their flawed views. All the talking heads abandoned the free market decades ago. All the talking heads have been found lacking in virtue when a real crisis has finally arisen.

Dystopian novels/movies appear a mainstay for many readers and viewers. Survival of the fittest, natural selection is driven by what? Not just strength but by higher thinking.

The ability to see what is coming, not just to report on it ounce it happens determined rise and fall.

Damn technology for destroying this dynamic.

I am sick of what I am hearing.

The result? Well, I listen to the radio far less which shifts my focus from more manual labor oriented tasks, I have plenty of those, to more intellectually oriented tasks, including writing.

I am also back strong into Master Class which includes many courses by reputable authors.

Perhaps this is a post more suited for my “No Sanction” blog, but I made it fit here.

I have a story to tell.

I started more than one post for “No Sanction” but with so many failures of virtue, greed and corruption, and the fragility of our institutions each needing to be addresses and coming so quickly one upon the other, I never get a single concept fully developed.

A new age is coming.

Here is a concept shattering phrase, societal shattering or some may simply claim an introduction to a work of fantasy:

The only begotten daughter of God.

Why not?

Thanks for reading.

Occam's Razor

Have you heard of Occam” razor: the simplest solution is always, or usually, correct. Or more precisely that the answer that requires the fewest assumptions is always correct.

Observation of the human condition, archetypes in story telling and a worldview that rings true are all part of creating a compelling story.

KISS, keep it simple stupid is applicable in this illustration, arising from the observations of my ever churning mind.

Complexity is the enemy. Let me take some real world examples and show how they can be used as parts of a seemingly complex story but arise from very simple evaluations of, what the heck is going on.

Lady Gaga, so popular. I heard her song “Poker Face” the other day and thought; ‘Man, I haven’t heard her songs in a while. And I haven’t even heard her in the news/TV circuit in like forever.’

Let’s apply Occam’s Razor. Lady Gaga was a big proponent of smoking pot. She claimed it spurred her creativity, etc.. Then I heard she changed her views on pot.

Boom! She dropped from media stardom. News reports have just mentioned her new album. We will see what transpires.

Gregory Mannarino is a stock guy who keeps pointing out that the job participation numbers are lower than during the Obama years, raising an alert as to the strength of our economy.

I hear on the radio from a local talk show guy, and my friend who is continually pushed into overtime has told me that people’s inability to pass a drug test keep them from being hired.

We have a political party that is continually promoting the legalization of pot.

So job participation numbers could be much higher if not for the dominance of drug use in society, because the jobs are there. I see and hear of help wanted everywhere.

So surrounding pot I have just linked, the media, celebrity, politics, the common working man,high finance and the health of the economy.

Why doesn’t Gregory Mannarino mention the drug issue in regards to jobs?

A question. A mystery?

All from a simple line of observations with a common thread.

You create characters with everyday interests in varying aspects of the issue, with competing viewpoints, unintended but understandable crossings of fate and a compelling story can be spun.

Let me get Biblical to explain why simple works.

The fall of man. The forbidden fruit. What is it. In my faith it is in simplest terms a love triangle. Adam and Eve did cover their lower parts. Apply Occam’s Razor.

Not the leading theory on the fall but not unheard of in the Judeo/Christian world.

Isn’t the love triangle the most heart wrenching of stories? Is it that difficult to understand? Is it simple?

You can even see it coming, yet these stories grip the imaginations over and over. Because they connect to so many people in an almost infinite variety of ways. The emotional imagination runs wild.

Engaging the imagination is key to a good story. Being too graphic or too much detail is a mistake. It is the reader’s imagination that makes a story great. Significant and telling details are necessary, but not every detail should be spelled out.

Personally, I cannot tolerate such heart wrenching stories. They are too tragic, disturbing, for me.

Then there is the unseen connections. Your character is very altruistic, kind, sacrifices for the greater good yet is despised and suffers misfortune.

To get Biblical again, the sins of the father’s coming down upon their children: Occam’s Razor. An unseen negative energy being poured upon a character.

Yet when the details come out it is easy to understand.

Another mystery, that turns out not so mysterious.

Uncovering all that is hidden, step by step, is the adventure. And when everything is exposed it may appear obvious, simple, but that is what rings true.

It is like riddle’s people play with that appear impossible to answer, but when the riddle is revealed, it is so obvious people laugh at themselves for not being able to figure out.

Now, if the reader can’t or simply won’t accept what has been revealed…


Thank you for reading.

Speaking Truth to Power

Have you ever brought great success on a healthy and sustainable diet?

But you don’t do the grocery shopping and you certainly do not run the kitchen.

Eventually my wife will come around. Some day my wife will listen to me. I will no longer have to compromise on my dietary ideals.

There is a whole lot of truth being spoken to power concerning diet, and health, via YouTube. The media aspect of these health practitioners becomes a whole new profession in and of itself in many cases.

But on a more personal level, I have never shown any hesitation to speak truth to power. I do not consider myself a trouble maker, perhaps a thorn in people’s side, but never malicious in my portrayals.

I am not going to lay out the bigotry I experienced in my chosen profession, Architecture, here. You can research back into some of my blogs if you are interested.

I write in good faith, from a point where the lack of ethics are irrefutable and known clearly, at least to some.

I have never looked to profit from any misdeeds people may have committed against me.

Rather than repent, a religious concept, or simply relent when challenged on their values people of position may claim, “You have burned your bridges.”

No bridges burned. Not with anyone I would want to work with.

So… in order to speak truth to power, to be a moral voice one needs to be a religious?

Or should a religious turn the other cheek, never speaking out?

Writers, and fiction writers can speak, or rather write, truth to power, but mostly in fields akin to journalism, are they the only ones allowed to set the moral compass for a society?

The irony here being journalists are some of the most immoral and unethical influencers in modern society.

Religion is not something to bring into the office. It is something to be done on your own time, so society claims.

Your own time?

All my time is my own time.

The problem with society today is people cannot be whole beings. They must segregate their lives into compartments, none allowed to overlap with the other.

This is a generalization, but it holds water. Whatever one’s profession they should feel a moral imperative to uphold the values they hold dear; values arising from faith and family.

One’s values should be organic, not bestowed upon another by self proclaimed overseers.

I often think about my propensity to speak truth to power, a practice often judged to be in poor taste. A propensity I feel is essential to maintain in working for a moral society.

Is my choice in my present circumstance to be either a writer or to shut my mouth? Bind my fingers from typing?

My life is far more expansive than simply being a writer, and it is going to stay that way. And if people I am involved with are out of line, I will let them know; respectfully and in good time.

You need to understand what life is about and start living it people.

I love to write.


Thanks for reading.

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.