Well here it is. I read it to the class yesterday, and one person asked if I wanted a temple built too. I do realize that it is dramatic, but it is supposed to be a Mission Statement, not a ToDo list. Like any author, I want the reader to read what I write and "get it."
I want to write.
I want to write ideas that are memorable, meaningful and moving.
I want to write stories that shock and awe the reader, to motivate and change and force questions, easy and awkward.
I want to write so readers who hold power over others will tremble when they hear my words and worry in their beds at night that what they do may be found out.
I want the readers who are oppressed by ideas and circumstances that enslave them to see that they do have the power of choice, and through choices easy and hard, can live the way they decide to live.
I want to write about freedom and responsibility and the rewards of virtue.
I want to write and change worlds.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Casting Lead
Today I cast the last of 70 lbs of lead for a project I had to finish. I can understand why the medieval Europeans were so enamored with this metal. It is so easy to work, and is silver when it is freshly poured into the casting sand. When the lead cools, you can watch the crystal growth almost occurring before your eyes. I can see how easy it would have been to pour it into sheets and roll it into pipe.
I had my dad over and he watched some of the pours. He said that the cooled metal looked just like the structure silver had when it is in the rocks.
Despite the toxic nature of the material and how it damages the brain--and I handled it safely and carefully--it is still a beautiful metal to work with.
I joined Critters and now have to find time to participate there. I still have to write my mission statement for class on Wednesday.
I had my dad over and he watched some of the pours. He said that the cooled metal looked just like the structure silver had when it is in the rocks.
Despite the toxic nature of the material and how it damages the brain--and I handled it safely and carefully--it is still a beautiful metal to work with.
I joined Critters and now have to find time to participate there. I still have to write my mission statement for class on Wednesday.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Creative Writing II
Last night was the first night of a 10 week class in creative writing I am taking at Conestoga Polytechnic in Waterloo. The focus of this class is to create a "work of substance" that will be ready to send to a publisher. The class has 7 people in it and everyone is very spirited with strong feelings about what they are passionate about. I am bring one of my stories to complete, that I am 7000 words into already. The synopsis is complete, along with character sketches so now i just have to grind out the narrative.
This blogging is a new experience for me. I am not normally so upfront with what I am thinking about so the fear of being bombed with harsh criticism is ever present. Of course I have creative control about what i post up here and my soul is not hanging out on the line for all to see, nevertheless, I am posting thoughts and ideas that can be read by total strangers and that is new for me. I am sure that this is not a new feeling unique to me, but it is to me and so I figured it is a point worth noting.
In writing class we have to create a Mission Statement about our writing goals, and we will be measured against what we write in our statements. It has given me pause to wonder what I really want to get out of writing. I will post "my mission" here once it is finished. When I heard this I immediately thought about the movie Citizen Kane, where Charles Foster Kane writes out a Statement of Principles for his first newspaper.
I have not received any comments yet so I am not sure that anyone is reading this all yet. There is very little here to read yet. Just another message in a bottle floating out in the vast sea of ideas.
It is also raining here in Kitchener which is a good thing because we have not received any steady rain this April and everything is so dry. I fear this might the shape of things to come.
This blogging is a new experience for me. I am not normally so upfront with what I am thinking about so the fear of being bombed with harsh criticism is ever present. Of course I have creative control about what i post up here and my soul is not hanging out on the line for all to see, nevertheless, I am posting thoughts and ideas that can be read by total strangers and that is new for me. I am sure that this is not a new feeling unique to me, but it is to me and so I figured it is a point worth noting.
In writing class we have to create a Mission Statement about our writing goals, and we will be measured against what we write in our statements. It has given me pause to wonder what I really want to get out of writing. I will post "my mission" here once it is finished. When I heard this I immediately thought about the movie Citizen Kane, where Charles Foster Kane writes out a Statement of Principles for his first newspaper.
I have not received any comments yet so I am not sure that anyone is reading this all yet. There is very little here to read yet. Just another message in a bottle floating out in the vast sea of ideas.
It is also raining here in Kitchener which is a good thing because we have not received any steady rain this April and everything is so dry. I fear this might the shape of things to come.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Making a difference.
Finished a job in Dorado,
Got up early to catch the plane in old San Juan.
With a rental car
and the time running down,
caught in traffic.
The clock ran down,
Hundreds of cars in the tropical morning light.
Drive a little,
Stop a lot.
Passing the reason for the snarl,
a single car,
unmoving in the middle lane.
The driver sitting behind the wheel, alone and waiting.
And as I passed I realized this simple truth,
that one person can make a difference.
10 years ago and I never forgot this lesson.
Got up early to catch the plane in old San Juan.
With a rental car
and the time running down,
caught in traffic.
The clock ran down,
Hundreds of cars in the tropical morning light.
Drive a little,
Stop a lot.
Passing the reason for the snarl,
a single car,
unmoving in the middle lane.
The driver sitting behind the wheel, alone and waiting.
And as I passed I realized this simple truth,
that one person can make a difference.
10 years ago and I never forgot this lesson.
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