Kurashiki, October, 2005
A flight to Tokyo on December 27th and coming back January 9th would cost me $1148.73.
Just sayin’.
Putting it Out There
Does the Irony Never End?
As you may know by now, I have a seventeen year old son who is severely autistic. Occasionally he has violent outbursts at school. He goes to a regular high school and is, for the most part, integrated into regular classes, though he does have a one-on-one EA with him at all times.
Today, when he had one of his outbursts, the school called to let me know. To their credit, this year (it’s new) they have an “in-school suspension room,” where he goes when he misbehaves. Up until this year, I’ve had to pick him up and bring him home for the remainder of the day. The exception this time was that he had pinched his EA, and apparently they don’t put up with physical contact. So they sent him home.
Apparently there are many things the high schools don’t put up with. The “in-school suspension room” is reserved for special needs students. In the case of infractions carried out by mainstream students, such as skipping school, the usual punishment is a three day “at home” suspension.
Yeah.
Maybe it’s the new method of teaching irony in English class.
Paralyzing Perfectionism
I’m too hard on myself. I know this. I think it’s a common condition in artists of all disciplines – of course, we want to put our best foot forward. What is the use, after all, of showcasing mediocre work?
Even in blogging – maybe especially here on my blog – I tend to wait until I have the best idea before I post. It has to be not only interesting, but worth at least a hundred words (more if possible, but not so many that no one will open it in their reader), and it has to be something that other people can relate to. The grammar and spelling must be as close to perfect as I can achieve, the wording has to be right and with any luck it will evoke at least one emotional response from my readers.
So many requirements! So many, in fact, that often my posts never see the light of day because I don’t deem them good enough. In essence, I paralyze myself with my self-imposed need for perfection.
What is the alternative? Write articles and blog posts that no one wants to read? Put out such drivel that I lose followers?
I think I need to find a happy medium somewhere. There must be one, right? Maybe I should stop proofreading fifteen times – that would certainly cut down on the hours I spend writing only a few lines. It would also allow me more time to work on my course, edit my novel, and – hey, here’s an idea – do housework! Ha!
Nah!
So here’s a question or two: How many times do you proofread your posts? And are you, like me, a perfectionist? Is it a thing artists do, do you think?
Okay, that’s three questions. Maybe I’m not that much of a perfectionist after all. 😉
Works of Fiction and Poetry
Hello!
I’ve decided to post some of my older works of fiction and poetry over at my fiction blog. If you’re not already following me there, and you enjoy reading short stories and poems, please click here have a peek.
Love,
Me
Lifespan – Weekly Prompt of September 22
Something I wrote for The Community Storyboard Weekly Prompt. Hurry and get your submission in before Sunday!
Riddle of Keys
Reward: For the one to solve this puzzle! Come on, check it out and put your smarts to good use! 🙂
worth a Dollar more than money.
dawn comes at Exclamation’s Point
if there it is at, At shall follow.
Asterisk’s Mark
dotting in Number, 1, 2, then 3
only in darkness my Percent of value may be
And Per Se And I be:
bright as a Caret.
—————————–
If you think you know what I am,
Prove you don’t know a d… turkey from a ham!
Oh! And if you “like” this without guess
you are a poser at best!
Might I add that whomever solves me first
for them will I add another verse! (IE a link to your blog)
Rewards for winner:
50,000 word critique of book or blog.
Link to blog.
by James Hall
Adventures on my Paper Route – Xs of Doom
One day last week, two of my neighbour’s trees were marked by the city with bright orange Xs.
I’ve come to know these marks as the Xs of Doom. Within the next few weeks these trees will be drying in some lot, waiting to be bagged for firewood.
At least the one closest to the street is going out in a blaze of glory.
Caution: Distracted Driving Ahead
The following sign is on a route which has little pedestrian traffic and is written to target drivers:
All two sentences of it.
…. Seriously?
Or perhaps they should just save energy and put the target on the bumper of the car you’re tailgating while you’re trying to read the stupid sign!
Sleeplessness
I couldn’t sleep at all last night. Not one single wink. So I got up and had my breakfast, the kids are gone to school and my papers are done. Great, I thought. The rest of the day I’ll spend sleeping, until the first school bus arrives.
Wrong. I lay down in bed… nothing. Still awake. After an hour and a half of trying (okay, maybe the two phone calls didn’t help) I’m up and trying to figure out what to do next. I have two blog posts I want to write… except doing anything is difficult because I can’t think straight and I can barely see straight. If I couldn’t touch-type I wouldn’t be writing this.
What does one do when they are too exhausted to sleep? I’m not sure how the hell I’m going to be able to look after my kids when they come home. I’ve never experienced such a thing before.
Hoarding and the ‘I Told You So’s
I’m a hoarder. There. I admitted it.
That’s not to say that my house is full of stuff I’m never going to use. In fact I love throwing things away. Keeping my life as simple as possible, by not buying what I don’t need and not keeping what I haven’t used in years is something I strive for.
No, my hoarding is reserved for my technological devices. I keep everything, sent and received. Thank goodness for online resources, because I don’t own enough hard drive space to store everything I keep by a long shot.
Why do I keep everything? Some of it is obvious. Pictures, for example, are not easily replaced when they are of family. And stories – I have some as old as ten years and more. Looking back I can see what I’ve done to hone my skills… or at least I like to think I have.
However, it’s my stash of emails that I find the most useful and fascinating. I’m continually moaning about what modern technology has done to disintegrate social interaction: it has become easier and more efficient to email or text than talk to one another. But that’s where the beauty lies.
I remember having arguments with people about what they said or didn’t say. Sometimes these conflicts would last hours, days, even months, and they could never truly be resolved because it was one person’s word against the other. You see where I’m going with this, right?
Now, not only can we retain proof of what was said, a well organized collection of communication can even make it easy to find what we’re looking for, and at the click of a button, we can obtain a proof-positive record of exactly what went down. Not only that, we can record with ease, pictures of the point we’re trying to prove. Say, for instance, you have a friend who ALWAYS does something – take that funny face they make when they’re concentrating for instance – but they are convinced they don’t do it. With technology at our fingertips, all we have to do is whip out that handy phone, snap a pic, and Voila! Told you so!
You didn’t tell me you were going to meet me at 8pm on Thursday for drinks? HA! Here’s the text that proves it!
So there you have it. The reason I hoard everything; because I never know when I’m going to want to prove a point.
And possibly why I don’t have very many friends. 😉
