Monday, August 30, 2010

House Guests and Goals Re-Enacted

I spent the last ten weeks childless and pretty much all alone. Except for Bumblebee, but he’s not much of a conversationalist. Back in May I had big plans. Big goals and for the first time, they were within sight.

June and half of July was my revision class. Learned a ton, totally motivated, ready to polish this baby up. The end of July was the RWA Conference where I pitched said mostly unpolished MS and got even more motivation to finish in the form of a full request. Sending off at the end of September seemed doable. No problem.

And yet, all these best laid plans were totally mucked up. Blown to smithereens. Obliterated. By whom, you ask?

ME.

Yeah, I know, I’m an idiot. Late May I decided we should buy a house. June kicked off with house hunting and we must have seen a couple dozen a week. I was still revising, but not nearly as much as I should have been. Hunting turned to offering which turned to a complete cluster and eventually fell into the crapper. Eventually being two months and two days. Not that I was counting.

So now kiddo is back, my dad is here for a visit, and I have a month to get this shit done. Here’s my new plan. The desk is going into my bedroom so I can sequester myself as far from the living room and television as I can get. It’ll be right in front of a wall so I can plaster my storyboard up there. September will be all writing all the time.

What about you? When you have a deadline you simply can’t continue to piss away, what extreme measures do you take? Ever been the ruin of your own best laid plans? Anyone willing to pitch in and revise this book for me? (It was worth a try.)

87 comments:

2nd Chance said...

The ruin of my own plans? HA! Almost always it's my own damned fault my plans fall in ruins. Generally, I don't actively sabotage myself, I'm more likely to be sneaky about it.

Or just day by day lazy and suddenly, BAM! Time is up!

I haven't had any drop dead deadlines smack me around...yet. I envision them in my future and also envision myself sitting down with a timer and just not stopping until goals are met. If I picture it often enough, then maybe I will actually just DO IT!

Bumbles doesn't look like the devil you talk about... ;-)

Tiffany Clare said...

You mean, what do I do when I'm revising and running out of time like right now? Actually, when you have a deadline that is set by someone else it seems a little more life or death if you don't accomplish it. You just do it. No seriously, you have no choice. 'Cause it is totally life or death!

Still, Terri, congrats on finishing the book. Now that the story is done, revising becomes easier (HA! That's what they say) Oh, didn't mean to discourage. :) But I don't think it EVER gets easier at any stage of the writing process.

Donna said...

Tiffany's reading my mind -- I just drafted a blog post for next week titled "It's Never Easier". LOL

Terri, you've had a ton of stuff going on in your life, AND all at once, so you can't give yourself a hard time. PLUS, I know for a fact this summer went by faster than usual. LOL (That's how it seems to me.)

I agree with getting your desk away from the TV, and think you'll be more productive that way. A lot of hours can be stolen from that magic box. :) So I think you'll find a lot of time by getting away from it.

I've got to dash out this morning to take care of something I should have done a few weeks ago. LOL So this post is perfect timing!

Melissa said...

Giving up TV!...but, but...it's getting into the semi-finals of America's Got Talent (have you heard that little girl sing?!) and Dancing with the Stars will start up and I thought I heard Jennifer Grey (Dirty Dancing!) was in the line-up...can't wait to see that! Oh, not helping. LOL

My writing goals are on hold for now with school, but I think tv can be a good break or reward if small goals are met. Good idea to move away though! Good luck!

Oh, and both sorry and congrats for getting out of the house deal. It all happens for a reason. :)

Marnee Jo said...

Ugh, time management. I was doing pretty good when I just had one kid but now.... The youngest one doesn't want to be pigeon-holed into a schedule yet. He's resisting and therefore, I have no schedule. I try to write when I can, but it's not going as well as it should. I have a full request from a contest I haven't managed to fulfill yet. I'm hoping said full can just get out in a few months.

Oh, this isn't about me.... LOL!!

Where was I? Extreme measures. I would kiss your TV away for a month. And sleep. I try to pick out the times in the day when it's quietest in the house. Early morning, late night. Late night works best for me as I am no morning person. So while everyone else catches up on their z's, I frantically type at my computer.

What would help me more is if I turned off my internet. I bet I'd get a lot more done.

Hellie said...

Oh, I would never take this satisfaction from you. Besides I heard the lineup for DWTS and you won't be missing anything anyway.

At work, when I have deadlines, I turn off the internet, work on the other end of my desk, and crack away. Writing does not have the same effect. The only thing I'm delaying by not finishing faster is rejection. I can't say I'm entirely disappointed by that.

Bosun said...

You'll hit those deadlines soon, Chance. I smell a contract in the air. LOL! And Bumbles isn't nearly as innocent as he's playing in that picture. I caught him at a lull. :)

Tiff - I'm not crazy enough to think it'll ever get easier. I just wish I wouldn't get in my own way timewise. This blog is basically my effort to see if I'm the only one who does this stupid shit. LOL! You are the queen of disciplines writing, so you are not my target audience today. :)

But thanks for commenting!

Bosun said...

Donna - It DID go by faster! Thanks for the backup and confirmation. I still can't get over that October is right. around. the corner.

Look at you writing all your blogs ahead of time. Show off.

Bosun said...

Melissa - You're waving crack in front of addict, woman! Though, from what I've seen of the DWTS cast, I'm not impressed or interested. And I don't watch America's Got Talent. As hard as it is to believe, there ARE reality shows I don't like. LOL! That's one of them.

I really need quiet to write. Wish it wasn't the case, but it is and so holding up in my quiet bedroom is the only way. Not that kiddo won't come in to ask silly questions or the cat won't insist he sit between me and the keyboard, but somethings you can't get away from.

Bosun said...

Hellie - You are so right. The Hoff? Really? Who the hells idea was that. They should be fired. Immediately.

I'm well aware that finishing will only get me closer to the rejections, but I'm okay with that. It's either the Catholic guilt or the Cap drive, but knowing I looked these people in the eye and said I would send them my work, and then not having it ready to go is making me crazy. LOL! Stupid brain, I really need a re-alignment or something.

Hellie said...

It’s either the Catholic guilt or the Cap drive,

As you guys like to tell me repeatedly, people are far more complicated to just be one thing. I'm sure it's both the Catholic guilt and the Cap drive...and never mind the business major competitive streak in which you despise being underestimated.

Bosun said...

These are the times I picture you as Lucy from The Peanuts behind your little booth that says "The Doctor Is In."

Whatever it is in this cocktail of traits I have, I need to get this crap done or the gnashing is going to kill my teeth.

hal said...

I had all sorts of goals for this summer, not one of which I met. I'm working on revisions now (mostly to avoid writing new pages). Only the fact that I have to turn in 30 revised pages a month keeps me moving forward.

I've started locking myself in our spare room, which is full of writing books and story boards. I can turn up the music, block out distractions, and just go for it.

But of course, after going to all that trouble to create a good spot to write, I only rarely use it. I still end up laying on the couch with my laptop in front of the TV :)

Hellie said...

These are the times I picture you as Lucy from The Peanuts behind your little booth that says “The Doctor Is In.”

I get the whole pining after men who don't want me; hating dogs because they lick you in the face; sarcastic and rude to the general population--but are you also suggesting my advice is only worth a nickel?

Bosun said...

Hal - Is that what's due for school? The 30 pages? That kind of deadline would actually work for me, except I'd wait until the day before they were due. LOL! (Procrastinators-R-Us meeting sometime next week. Maybe.)

I forgot about the nickel thing. Well, you could always make a fortune one nickel at a time. I cashed in my change honey pot before Nationals and took over $60 for spending money.

hal said...

Yeah, 30 pages a month (120 a semester) is the normal requirement. Though they let us individualize the amounts due to fit our writing process, as long as there's a finished book by the end.

Starting about 48 hours before each month's deadline, there's a rash of "oh my god, I have nothing to turn in!" posts on facebook from school friends. I managed to do everything for last month in four days, mainly because I waited until four days before the deadline *g*

Let me know about that procrastinator's meeting. I might be able to squeeze it in.

Hellie said...

I always wrote my English & History papers the night before (and they were usually 10-12 pages a piece, except for the History research paper, which was like 50 pages and was NOT written the night before...but still, written in a short amount of time.) The times I wrote ahead of time--way ahead--I never wrote as good stuff as I did when I was in the Procrastinator's Panic. It's weird how your mind can focus like that and make order out of the chaos.

Hal, your program makes me break out in hives to hear it though. Isn't it difficult to write with a group of people who have mostly "literary" aspirations? I would seize up having to share my genre-HEA stuff that would be so ordinary and cookie-cutter to them. I'm so used to writing to please professors, writing the paper towards their expectations, that to write just what I wanted no matter what just makes me paralyzed.

Bosun said...

What is it about writing under pressure, I wonder? I did it all through school. I started one that was due midnight on a Tuesday about five hours before deadline. Got an A with no problem. We need to figure this out and bottle it.

How does the grading on that work, Hal? Is it just having them to turn in? I'm guessing you get lots of feedback.

Janga said...

Good luck! I have confidence that you will finish on time. Just look what you've already accomplished.

Cutting out TV wouldn't help me much. I probably average less than six hours of TV viewing a month. Now if I locked all my books away and shut off the Internet connection, I might get more writing done. Or maybe not. I'd still have to conquer my tendency to let my mind wander down a dozen tempting, tangential paths.

Externally imposed deadlines do help me focus, especially when the check is dependent upon my meeting the deadline. Same thing when I was in school and the grade was dependent upon my meeting a deadline. But once, when I had done everything but sign my name in blood promising my dissertation advisor that I would have two chapters to her by a certain date, I had only one. I split it into and turned it in as two chapters and she never knew. That was one of the few times writing long worked to my advantage.

hal said...

sn’t it difficult to write with a group of people who have mostly “literary” aspirations?

Oh hell no. I'm in a genre-specific program. We're loosely broken up into romance, sci-fi/fantasy, horror, mystery, and young adult/children. The entire goal is to learn how to write books that are commercial best-sellers. I scoured programs to find a genre-specific MFA, specifically to avoid exactly what you mention. Literary genius I am not--and I'm totally okay with that. No need to have it reinforced on a daily basis *g*

Ter, as for grading, each term you set up a "learning contract" with your thesis adviser (number of pages, dates turned in, what improvements you're hoping to make, etc). It'd pass/fail, so as long as you fulfill that, you're good. You get feedback from both your adviser and a critique group. Then at the end, two faculty read your thesis, and grade either pass/fail in a bunch of categories (characterization, plot, voice, etc). If you get 2 or more fail's, you have to revise until you pass that category. After your thesis passes, you do a loose "defense" -- give a reading and short presentation, take questions from the audience, etc.

That's just the thesis novel itself (which is about half the credits, I think). The rest are just normal classes with essays/research papers and normal grading systems.

Donna said...

I'm back. . .trying to find affordable health insurance in a state that requires you to have health insurance. But it's not affordable. Sigh.

I don't have the connection to TV that the majority of the world does, but the few things I watch are via hulu.com or the network websites. I can watch it when I choose to do so, not on the TV schedule. That might free up an hour or so for you.

I spend too much time on the internet -- which is why I try to go somewhere without my laptop so I won't use it as a timewaster/distraction.

I think "doing things at the last minute" gets things accomplished because we have to have a laser-like focus. We don't have the luxury anymore to consider all the options, so we just blaze through it, not getting distracted by all the possibilities. It's how I get things done too. :)

Oh, and as for writing blog posts ahead of time -- it's only because something occurs to me as I'm struggling with something else. I'd even come up with a post on procrastination, but haven't used it yet. :)

Bosun said...

You get a pass/fail grade on your voice? Wow, that's pressure right there. I mean, your voice is your voice. Geez, I'm getting verklempt just thinking about that. LOL!

Janga - I typed a nice response to you and Wordpress ate it. *sigh* I do love that you wrote one chapter that became two. I'd be the total opposite, I'd think I wrote two only to learn they would barely be counted as one.

Bosun said...

Donna - I come up with blog ideas all the time and tell myself I should write it down. But it's always while I'm doing something else, the notes never get taken, and the idea is gone. Damn swiss cheese brain.

I think you have it right on the laser-focus. And it's not even that I have to watch certain shows. Just having the tv on is the distraction. It could be on something I have no interest in, but it's on and the sound alone is enough to bother me. It's like my brain needs silence, then when it gets it, still refuses to be productive.

Hellie said...

But once, when I had done everything but sign my name in blood promising my dissertation advisor that I would have two chapters to her by a certain date, I had only one. I split it into and turned it in as two chapters and she never knew. That was one of the few times writing long worked to my advantage.

We have these students!!

And I'm cracking up you split up the chapter and she didn't know the difference! *LOL* That's like the classmate I had in school who increased the font to size 14 and upped the margins because he thought Ms. Yount wouldn't notice and he'd get his 9 pages.

Hellie said...

Oh hell no. I’m in a genre-specific program. We’re loosely broken up into romance, sci-fi/fantasy, horror, mystery, and young adult/children. The entire goal is to learn how to write books that are commercial best-sellers.

Okay, that's a COOL program!!

hal said...

Ter - i think it's more a question of "is there a distinct voice?" Your voice is totally your voice, but there are ways to make it stronger or fresher 'pop' more.

Hellie said...

I broke out in hives at all the things Hal gets graded on. *shudders*

Bosun said...

Good, then it wasn't just me.

Hal - I know you can make your voice stronger, but I have so much other stuff I have to make stronger, the very thought of a teacher looking at me and saying, "You fail in voice" makes me nauseus. LOL!

hal said...

I think it sounds way more daunting than it is. But yeah, grading is always scary. I think we all still fear the red pen *g*

Donna said...

Here's an article on procrastination I just saw on Twitter. The part that really resonates for me is how the project gets bigger in your mind the more you put it off. Or "getting ready" to do a task. LOL Yikes -- I've got a spycam watching me.

http://www.dumblittleman.com/2010/08/four-crucial-steps-to-avoid.html

Bosun said...

That's a great article, Donna. And you're right, it's like they have a camera on me all the time. I do all of those things.

Though, ironically, I finished a major tasked I'd been putting off, then read that article while I ate lunch, and now I'm diving into another task I've been putting off. LOL! Here's to keeping the momentum going...

2nd Chance said...

Morning! Well, afternoon... Man, did not mean to sleep so late!

Procrastination and the last minute can work because your brain focuses with razor sharpness. You never know what you can do until you have to do it! All about instincts and avoiding that sabertooth. Granted, a grade or deadline isn't life or death, but I think our instincts can be fooled.

Thank God!

Hal, that school sounds so cool. And I'd love it and be scared to death of it at the same time!

I'll get around to reading the article, I promise! ;-)

hal said...

oh wow, great article Donna. Though I did grow uncomfortable and twitchy at the thought of someone else knowing *exactly* what I do. LOL!

I spend an absurd amount of time putting off little, dumb shit that piles up and stresses me out....and I try to talk myself into doing it....then I lecture myself for not doing it...then I start berating myself for being such a wimp.....

For some reason, I thought I was the only person who had these conversations in my head. And now you've given me ALL these productivity and procrastination blogs. Yay!!!! lol

Bosun said...

Nice of you to join us, Chance. LOL! Hammock extra comfy this morning?

Hellie said...

And now you’ve given me ALL these productivity and procrastination blogs.

Which ironically has helped me procrastinate even more of my morning away, learning to be more productive.

2nd Chance said...

Oddest thing, I was dreaming about roses that were extraordinarily beautiful but had the nastiest thorns and stingers...I was plucking them out of my hand one by one...

And bees that weren't pissed about anything...

*shakes head

Sometimes I wish I had a therapist on speedial.

Bosun said...

Don't we all, Chance. LOL! At least the bees were nice.

I am proud that I didn't click something from the article to go to the next article. But then in the article it talks about seeing a link on twitter and getting distracted by reading an article, which is what Donna did. So really, it's all a vicious cycle and that article is just contributing.

2nd Chance said...

I think I'm making it work, albeit slowly, by developing a bit of creativity that moves forward in inches. If those inches are steady, I'm good. So, I can surf the web, e-mail, FB and slip open that book window and make progress...

I'd rather just get lost in the making progress, but sometimes it isn't there and at those points, I'll count whatever I can get. Inch by inch!

hal said...

Which ironically has helped me procrastinate even more of my morning away, learning to be more productive.

Yep, that's exactly how the last hour of my afternoon as gone *g*

2nd Chance said...

You have to love procrastination! Time just speeds by!

Hellie - I've been readign through an older series and I'm on book three... And the author has used the "...could (fill in the blank) for the Olympics" line in every book! Been used for brood, gripe, nasty... It's a great line, but it is funny noticing it over and over and over again. There are about nine books in the series, going to be fun to see if I can find it in all of them!

Hellie said...

And the author has used the “…could (fill in the blank) for the Olympics” line in every book!

See--writing voice. It'd be funny if you could meet the author and see if he drops that line in casual conversation. *LOL*

2nd Chance said...

It's a really clever line and he uses it well, I'll say that for him. I will have to keep my eyes peeled for him and see if he makes it to any of the cons I attend... He's British.

Bosun said...

That was "change" the fill in the blank. *sigh*

Bosun said...

I suppose if you chance the (fill in the blank) then you really have a new line. LOL!

2nd Chance said...

I love it...imagine a big wheel and all these words on it. Give a spin and...! He could laugh for the Olympics. He could scheme for the Olympics. He could mope for the Olympics. He could...ahem...for the Olympics.

Some interesting Olympics must take place in the Nightside, where the series takes place.

It sorta keeps a repetitave element fresh.

Bosun said...

You know, if that's a series and the same character says it all the time, then it makes sense. There are people who use the same phrases a lot. I still think of one of my HS History teachers when I hear the phrase "Let's call a spade a spade." He said it all the time, and he wasn't even an old guy. LOL!

Hellie said...

Bo'sun makes a point. Is it the same character saying "he could 'blank' for the Olympics"? Then it's a sort of running gag. My comment from yesterday was for two different books, two different stories, same author and same metaphor.

Though I probably should say the books are at least 15 years apart and you're undoubted due to repeat yourself after being published consistently in all that time.

Why would you have to be an old guy to say, "Let's call a spade a spade"?

2nd Chance said...

Oh, because calling a spade a spade has become very racist. That, I get!

True, it is the same guy saying it over and over again...the Olympics gag. The books are in first person and the narrator does a lot of telling. But he does it so well... I'm paying attention to how he does it and hopefully, learning something I can use. And still enjoying the series.

Bosun said...

I don't know, strikes me as a saying from the 50s or earlier. Like something John Wayne would have said as he sidled up on some outlaw. Coach Baighn was probably in his mid-30s at the time.

Sheesh, that means he was younger then than I am now. Good thing I didn't attend my 20th reunion this weekend. I'm already feeling old enough. LOL!

Bosun said...

It has? I must have missed that PC note.

Hellie said...

Since when has that line become racist? That's stupid. I swear people will make a racist remark out of anything...like they'll make a sexual innuendo out of anything.

Hellie said...

The 50s doesn't feel that old to me. If the guy went around saying "That's the bee's knees" or the "cat's meow" or "I'm as gay as Paris in springtime"--those are, well, far older. Actually the spade one is probably older. It's probably Shakespeare or something. I swear that man invented everything.

2nd Chance said...

I looked it up on wiki...it was once a simple phrase about using clear words and no beating around the bush, but when a 'spade' began to be used as a stand in for negro/black...the phrase was seen as racist. It's a fairly modern corruption.

Bosun said...

I looked it up. The origin is about the garden tool, the spade. Which is what I thought.

Thank goodness I got one right. Sheesh. It's basically don't call a spade a shovel. LOL! Call it what it is! But it does say it's been misinterpretted as a racial slur in the 20th century.

Nit. Wits.

2nd Chance said...

…like they’ll make a sexual innuendo out of anything.

;-)

I wrote 'beating around the bush' and snickered.

Yup!

Bosun said...

Wiki says 1542. Not Shakespeare this time. Heh.

Chance - You are the definition of a bad example on this ship. And that's really saying something. LOL!

Hellie said...

According to wiki, "OREO" is also a racial slur...and I'm not dropping Oreo from my vocabulary. People can just get a f*ing grip.

2nd Chance said...

I try.

You know, I really do love language and part of me mourns at how it is twisted...and part of me finds it wonderful that it evolves.

*shrugs

Bosun said...

At some point, I just think we have to use common sense and if necessary, take the words back.

In fact, I say this place is swell. So there.

Hellie said...

I guess it's just a matter of what horrifies you. Being I've never heard the word spade used in that matter, I just think it's stupid.

However, my Dad likes to refer to people of Middle Eastern descent as "sand men", which had caused no end of horrifying in me. I start hissing at him if he does it in front of more than family. Yeesh.

He was going off about that mosque the other day. Swear to God, the man said, "When the founding fathers created freedom of religion, this is not what they had in mind. They didn't even want the Catholics here." Then we got into an argument about Catholics. "You haven't even MET a Catholic." "Yes, I have. They were all over the ship [in WWII]." Right. 20-something horndog males. That's exactly who you should ask about Catholicism. My father has turned into his mother.

Bosun said...

I love that freedom of religion was never meant for all religions. That doesn't even make logical sense! LOL! Is that a generational thing, you think?

Have you heard the argument "You couldn't build a church in Saudi Arabia." Really, that's their argument. Uhm, the answer to that is "Exactly!"

And I know I just turned this political and religious and all sorts of ways it shouldn't go, but it's my blog day so I'm living dangerously. LOL!

2nd Chance said...

HA! Yup, the whole how do you define a Christian and what did the founding fathers really mean... And really, does it matter? Isn't it what we mean and what we want it to mean that really matters?

Same thing with words. And yes, I have a ton of words I'd like to see reclaimed from the gutter. Mostly words that have become profane.

I have a friend who refers to Muslims as turban wearers and it drives me crazy.

Now, if your father really turned into your mother, that is a whole 'nother discussion, about transgender issues. ;-)

Hellie said...

I don't know if it's generational. I like to think there are some 88 year olds out there that know Catholics are Christians too. *LOL* I think it's just a lack of education...and an unwillingness to learn other cultures/religions as if learning about them will somehow make your beliefs ineffective. I think if he realizes Catholics are going to heaven too--with the sand men--then his church learning/understanding would be negated. He's purist too. I'm more willing to believe there is more than one way to heaven and all of them are right. (That doesn't sound like I'm very passionate about anything, does it?)

I don't get the "you can't build a church in saudi arabia"--what?

Donna said...

I have to laugh about the whole religion and politics thing -- there's a very good reason for "separation of church and state". (Helloooo. Henry the VIIth ring a bell for anyone? How well did that work, him making himself the head of the government and the church.)

I mean, if you get pissed at the government for deciding how your money should be spent, how would you feel if they decided how you should worship? What if the government decided everyone is supposed to worship a different God, say, a non-Christian one?

I think God is a lot more tolerant than his/her followers. LOL

Bosun said...

When they are arguing about building the community center (it's not actually a mosque) where they want it, the argument is that you couldn't go to Saudi Arabia and build a church. Like it's supposed to be a tit for tat thing, we can't have a church over there, you can't have a mosque here.

Which is just stupid because that's the point, that you DO have religious freedom here and not over there and WHY would we suddenly want to be like over there?!

Bosun said...

Donna - I picture her sitting up there looking down and shaking her head thinking, "They really don't get it."

;)

Hellie said...

No, what we mean and what we want doesn't matter if you think the world is going to hell in a handbasket. If you think that, then you want to revert to a simpler, purer time--like those of the founding fathers. Except the founding fathers were Deist. They were practically anti-religious, which was the point. I still don't see how the mosque is going to hurt anyone--other than some feelings, which I understand. For the sake of feelings, I'd say, "build it somewhere else." But from the map they had, it wasn't even AT the towers. It was a few blocks away. Are you going to ban building mosques in the whole of NYC then?

Bosun said...

There's already a mosque four blocks away and I'd think if the problem is being disrespectful then someone ought to kick out the porn shops that are even closer to ground zero. Seriously.

Donna said...

LOL, Terri - WONDERFUL visual. :)

2nd Chance said...

Nope, I stand by what I said. What is meant by words, definition wise, will always trip you up because it changes. It's what is meant when the words were written that matters.

And what you want it to mean is what f*cks it all up. It's what you want it to stand for in the long run... Wait...

Whoa! My head just fell off... let me go fetch that back here...

Anyway, it's always open to interpretation. And I'm sure the founding fathers were totally opposed to state religions, exactly due to Donna's example.

And the idea that there weren't Catholics around when the country was formed... uh...Maryland, anyone!?

Hellie said...

Yes, but the community center is for Muslim AMERICANS right? They're citizens. If they get a building permit, they should be able to build it. If it's a community center in which students will be trained in simulated flight school, that would be questionable.... But how is one the same as the other? Which is your point. They're not. Though I imagine somewhere in Saudi Arabia there is a church there...because there are missionaries everywhere. So it's not like it's never been done.

People are just freaking out about the weirdest stuff. I think they're just looking for stuff they can control, no matter how trivial and stupid.

Bosun said...

Is Maryland Catholic? LOL!

I get the whole "this is what the founding fathers meant" and that's the words we live by. Those are the words this country was founded upon and from which all our laws stem.

You hit the nail on the head - interpretation. There is the obvious and there is the twisted and the twisted is what annoys the hell out of me.

Hellie - All this is about the election. It's an election year and they found something to latch onto that they can make devicise. In two years this will all be forgotten and they'll find some other stupid trivial thing to latch onto.

Hellie said...

That's not the problem. If they wanted to build any church but a mosque at that location, they could most likely do it.

I think it's more of a spiritual hit. Like if we suddenly decided to put a great big statue of General Shermann in the middle of Atlanta's town square. Like 10 years after the South lost the Civil War. That's the sort illogical feelings we're dealing with.

Hellie said...

2nd, I can't decide if I shouldn't bother writing anything at all because 100 years from now, the meaning of what I'll say will be misconstrued as an ethnic slur or something...or if I'll just continue using "a spade is a spade" because WHEN that term was written (in the 1500s), it's meaning was not an ethnic slur and was never meant to be such.

Bosun said...

You know, Chance, I think you contradicted yourself and now I'm confused. You said isn't it what we mean now then said what was meant when originally said is what matters.

Now, which is it and stop messing with me! LOL!

2nd Chance said...

I got lost.

Yes, Maryland was originally founded as a haven for Catholics. Hence, the name!

I think it's what we want this country to stand for that is the important thing...and I'm still a bit tangled in my own wordlines... When I figure out what I meant, originally,...

*snicker

I'll let you know!

And yeah, two years ago the idea of a community center in that area wasn't even being debated. Just an election year bit of total bullshit. Fear is such a base motivator...

2nd Chance said...

Well, Hellion, writers are the guardians of words. So, write what you mean to write, make it clear you mean what you mean and let the future hang itself.

Hellie said...

Except once I'm dead, I won't be able to guard what I meant. I've had a number of literature classes--and no matter how clear any writer makes anything, there is always room for interpretation and misinterpretation.

2nd Chance said...

Ok, let me see if I can unhang myself... Isn’t it what we mean and what we want it to mean that really matters?

That's the key to what I was trying to say. It doesn't really matter how we interpret what they meant or the words they used...it's what we want it to mean in our hearts and heads that matters. And by "we" I am speaking for those who view liberty as something that doesn't have limitations when it comes to tolerance.

But I can see how what I wrote tangled...

Sigh, I need some food...

2nd Chance said...

But you'll be dead and it won't matter to you.

Know what I mean? ;-)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Off to the funny farm!

Hellie said...

But you’ll be dead and it won’t matter to you.

It'll still matter to me.

Bosun said...

Sorry, had to make (and eat) dinner. Yes, I'm sure Hellie will mind. But then, maybe not. I'd like to think we'll be too busy partying on the awesome pirate ship in the sky to care what the silly mortals down here are doing.

Quantum said...

Bosun, what are you playing at!!!

A short while ago you were in love with the house and now its all turned sour?!

Sophie Kinsella should write your biography .... I'm sure it would sell like hot cakes ..... Title something like housaholic or writaholic. *grin*

When I have deadlines like that, e.g. writing a conf paper when problems arise with the data, I simply give up on sleep and work very long hours to complete it. Of course the Devil always demands his due afterwards but I share a little scotch and everything is soon hunky dory again.

The cat looks very intelligent by the way. I'll bet he helps out a lot. *smile*

2nd Chance said...

Doesn't Bumbles look like a sweetie?

Bosun said...

Q - It seemed like a great deal in the beginning. And I still wish I could have that great, bright open room. But alas, there were extenuating circumstances that made it a not so great deal. I really made it out by the skin of my teeth.

I'm too old to burn the midnight oil anymore. It's sad, I know, but true. I just don't recover like I used to.

Bumbles usually sprawls on the floor somewhere around the desk. Just in case I need him. :)

Julie said...

And I know I just turned this political and religious and all sorts of ways it shouldn’t go, but it’s my blog day so I’m living dangerously. LOL!

You Go Girl!

... and here I was worried about what I might whatever ...

Julie said...

But you’ll be dead and it won’t matter to you.

It’ll still matter to me.


You're gonna make one whiny ghost.