Many of us boast special powers in our dreams. We can fly, or run fast, or swim underwater for long periods. We may have the ability to fight, to see into the future, or to play the guitar without having learned how.
I have a special power in my dreams. In my dreams I am communicative. I say what I mean, and I mean what I say. I can bare my soul without fear of embarassment or humiliation. I can express emotion without fear of rejection. I can love without fear of loss.
Many writers have suggested a connection between dreaming and writing. Dreams are a form of subconsious storytelling, and they may also inspire writers with ideas or interesting dialogue. For me, the connection runs even more deeply. Dreaming is writing because it gives voice to my thoughts and allows me to be who I really want to be. I look forward to dreaming just as I look forward to those times when I am truly lost in my writing. It is a kind of semi-conscious awareness in which thoughts are permitted to flow freely and without interpretation or editing. Maybe dreaming is a kind of rough draft for life. We try things out, and then when we're awake, we begin the tedious process of revision.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Why Writing Matters
Sometimes, when I was younger, people at parties would ask me, "Why are you so quiet?" Usually they would ask this ask this in a very loud voice, as if quietness somehow disturbed or annoyed them. There must be something wrong with you, their query seemed to suggest, if you were not as loud as they were.
Of course, I watned to respond, "Why are you so loud?" And I still believe that it's wiser, to paraphrase Mark Twain, to be suspected to be a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt. People who talk very little often, when they do talk, have something worthwhile to say.
I'm not suggesting I'm all that wise. What I do know is that writing in particular has given me a voice, given me the opportunity to speak out and be heard in the noisy crowd of the ongoing party we call the human race. As the youngest in my family for many years, I was often given the opportunity to speak up much. I turned inward and became known for being "imaginative" and "able to entertain myself." Back then, I focused my imagination on created towns of little wooden people and Matchbox cars. Now, or at least when I'm "in the zone," I find that outlet in writing.
The voice is real, especially if one chooses to seek publication, which is probably not as hard as it's made out to be. Many people write, but how many actually take the chance of sending material out to be read and rejected? Taking that chance just might get you somewhere, and you also might learn something. Whereas I made have had a hard time being heard in my own family, and later in my own house, I was able to be heard (or read) by thousands when I published my first piece in the newspaper.
It's a mysterious thing to be read by hundreds or thousands of people you've never met. It's also an important part of the writing process, in that it completes the circle of communication. True, you can write poems and stories for yourself and find this very rewarding. But writing is meant to be read, and what the reader brings to the equation is equally mysterious. In some ways, the writer never really experiences what he has written, because he is not the true reader. The reader completes the artistic process, and adds his or her own perceptions, biases, and imagination. This is what makes writing so different from, say, filmmaking or visual art. The writer or poet works with words, but he also works with the abstractions and ideas these words represent.
Writing gives voice to those thoughts and ideas. Writing gives voice to the quiet.
Of course, I watned to respond, "Why are you so loud?" And I still believe that it's wiser, to paraphrase Mark Twain, to be suspected to be a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt. People who talk very little often, when they do talk, have something worthwhile to say.
I'm not suggesting I'm all that wise. What I do know is that writing in particular has given me a voice, given me the opportunity to speak out and be heard in the noisy crowd of the ongoing party we call the human race. As the youngest in my family for many years, I was often given the opportunity to speak up much. I turned inward and became known for being "imaginative" and "able to entertain myself." Back then, I focused my imagination on created towns of little wooden people and Matchbox cars. Now, or at least when I'm "in the zone," I find that outlet in writing.
The voice is real, especially if one chooses to seek publication, which is probably not as hard as it's made out to be. Many people write, but how many actually take the chance of sending material out to be read and rejected? Taking that chance just might get you somewhere, and you also might learn something. Whereas I made have had a hard time being heard in my own family, and later in my own house, I was able to be heard (or read) by thousands when I published my first piece in the newspaper.
It's a mysterious thing to be read by hundreds or thousands of people you've never met. It's also an important part of the writing process, in that it completes the circle of communication. True, you can write poems and stories for yourself and find this very rewarding. But writing is meant to be read, and what the reader brings to the equation is equally mysterious. In some ways, the writer never really experiences what he has written, because he is not the true reader. The reader completes the artistic process, and adds his or her own perceptions, biases, and imagination. This is what makes writing so different from, say, filmmaking or visual art. The writer or poet works with words, but he also works with the abstractions and ideas these words represent.
Writing gives voice to those thoughts and ideas. Writing gives voice to the quiet.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Hold the Ice, Please
Here's an article I wrote for MD magazine. Yes, this is a real newsstand magazine as well as an online site. The semi-satirical magazine celebrates guilt-free imbibing with a style reminiscient of the 1960s cocktail generation. Disclaimer: This site not for those under 21. Please be responsible and careful when partaking.
http://www.moderndrunkardmagazine.com/issues/53/53_hold_the_ice.html
http://www.moderndrunkardmagazine.com/issues/53/53_hold_the_ice.html
Friday, November 2, 2007
Why People Steal Music
This is why the music industry is collapsing: While they fail to secure the electronic distribution rights of older music, they try to make up for phantom lost profits by bundling hit songs with duds into "album purchase only" packages. It is no wonder people steal songs. The MBAs who run these music companies are missing the point of electronic music, I think. Nobody is interested in "albums" anymore (I don't think anybody has been since the artistry of the LP was replaced by the plasticky awkwardness of CD packaging.)
The back catalogs of the following artists are not available on iTunes, as revealed by my recent futile searches:
Def Leppard
Bob Seger
AC/DC
I'm sure there's more to come. When an industry fails to cater to the (admittedly pretty bad) tastes of someone like me, someone who is willing to pay for individual songs from the classic rock era, it writes its own death certificate.
Don't even get me started on the new iTunes-Starbucks partnership.
The back catalogs of the following artists are not available on iTunes, as revealed by my recent futile searches:
Def Leppard
Bob Seger
AC/DC
I'm sure there's more to come. When an industry fails to cater to the (admittedly pretty bad) tastes of someone like me, someone who is willing to pay for individual songs from the classic rock era, it writes its own death certificate.
Don't even get me started on the new iTunes-Starbucks partnership.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Bad Punctuation All Around Us
A colleague sent this link to a blog cataloguing instances of a certain pet peeve of mine:
http://www.apostropheabuse.com/
This reminded me of a bad business idea I once had: When I see mistakes like this on signs and menus (apostrophe mistakes seem to be the most common –- and for some reason, the most annoying), I would send the business manager a letter with a correction and explanation. Then I would ask the manager or owner to send me a dollar or two as a token of his immense gratitude. (I guess this would be the editing equivalent of taking photos of tourists with the expectation that they’ll buy the photo afterward. )
As a business idea, it’s horrible, which I suppose is why I’m not in business.
Ask me about my other business ideas sometime. (I don't know who I'm talking to. No one reads my blog.)
http://www.apostropheabuse.com/
This reminded me of a bad business idea I once had: When I see mistakes like this on signs and menus (apostrophe mistakes seem to be the most common –- and for some reason, the most annoying), I would send the business manager a letter with a correction and explanation. Then I would ask the manager or owner to send me a dollar or two as a token of his immense gratitude. (I guess this would be the editing equivalent of taking photos of tourists with the expectation that they’ll buy the photo afterward. )
As a business idea, it’s horrible, which I suppose is why I’m not in business.
Ask me about my other business ideas sometime. (I don't know who I'm talking to. No one reads my blog.)
Sunday, October 14, 2007
On Irony
There's always the danger in being ironic and/or sarcastic that someone will mistake your intent. So let me take this opportunity to explain that the post below about watching TV on the Internet was written in jest. Thank you.
I was going to write a diatribe about the difference between irony and sarcasm, but I'm trying to be less didactic and more succinct in my posts (both here and in my on-line class, where I'm afraid I've become the virtual equivalent of the geek in the front of the class who always raises his hand and then talks for 15 minutes.
I was going to write a diatribe about the difference between irony and sarcasm, but I'm trying to be less didactic and more succinct in my posts (both here and in my on-line class, where I'm afraid I've become the virtual equivalent of the geek in the front of the class who always raises his hand and then talks for 15 minutes.
In the Coffee Shop
So I'm sitting in the coffee shop, trying to get some writing and grading done, and the barrista (like that word, don't you?) is sitting on a stool watching the football game. He's actually cheering at the television. Aren't coffee shops supposed to be quiet places for nerds like me to read and write things like this? Is this a coffee sports bar? Maybe I should have just gone to Hooters.
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