I'm Ba-ack...

Okay, when I said – way back in March of last year – that I was going on a “break,” I didn’t truly know what that would ultimately mean.

I knew I was suffering from blogger’s burn-out, and I thought that my writing energy might better be directed elsewhere.

What I didn’t know is that I was one-quarter of the way into a year that would pull me in all kinds of angst-ridden directions. A year that would interrupt any peace I’d otherwise feel by presenting me with crap I could not ignore.

And I’m not talking about trivial crap. I’m talking about the kind of stuff that creates depression and the immobility that accompanies it. I’m talking about the kind of stuff that results in the loss of a friendship, or what was perceived as one. I’m talking about the deaths of loved ones and outside my immediate realm, the constant din of what happens in the world. When politics and prejudice preclude intelligent decision-making. When carnage on an elementary school campus is somehow insufficient fodder for a change in gun laws.

2012 sucked on all kinds of levels, and although 2013 has been “quiet” by comparison, I feel like I’m still recovering.

I may, in the weeks ahead, share a few details from annis horribilis, but I’ll also be keeping a lot of it to myself. Privacy is something I value above most everything else, and for me, the challenge of blogging always has been to straddle that public/private fence strategically.

… Besides, you don’t want to know everything!

So, I will return to my routine of a fresh blog on Thursdays and reruns on Mondays. Hopefully, I can keep up with myself.

I also hope to keep up with you. I have not visited a single blog since last March, and that is a reflection of my distinctly Libran ways. I am fairness-driven, and so I felt that if I visited some, I’d need to visit others. Likewise with commenting.

(God, I’m tedious!)

(Hopefully, I am also entertaining.)

I look forward to interacting again, and I thank you for dropping by!

Monday Reruns: And the BON Goes To...

(original post-date: September 1, 2010)


FADE IN.

We see a virtual ballroom in Hollywood. The crowd gathered and filling the seats is represented exclusively by little square-shaped icons. In some cases, a single face occupies the square. In other instances, it is a pair of faces representing two generations.

There’s also a tree (or the top of one).

A ladybug.

A bicycle.

The face of a dog.

THE ANNOUNCER calls out a name that not everyone hears (because, at the moment, not everyone is online). One of the squares appears shocked and surprised. Maybe even a little flustered.

Shaking her imagined forearms excitedly, she (the icon; the square) races to the stage. "Jeez!" she begins, clearly excited. "I didn’t even know my category was coming up, and here I am! Yeah, so, …uh, I wanna thank the academy. … my producers. … my agent. Oh wow… … Oh and yeah, Griffin! Vesta! Lotto! You cats at home… Go to bed already!"

FADE OUT.

What a crock of a fantasy.

Cats sleep 18 hours a day.

It is absurd to imagine any moment – no matter how lofty or ephemeral – that would justify telling cats to go to bed.

… I also belong to no academies.

I have no producers.

As for getting an agent? No one can say I haven’t tried.

But I still have something to thank: The First Amendment.

If you haven’t read it lately, you should.

But, if you haven’t read it lately, you also shouldn’t feel like a slacker.

Seriously.

Me? I just found it online (had to, since I mentioned it). And so – just now – I read it fully for the first time in God knows how long.

Not only did I read it, I copied it for all of us.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

So there you have it.

… I had a grievance for many years. (Actually, I wouldn’t normally call it a “grievance,” but I’m trying to do a segue here, so work with me.) I was despondent at times because, although I love to write, no one in the world of ten-percenters seemed to care.

I entered the blogosphere reluctantly, my grievance on my shoulder.

I have since discovered a peaceable assembly.

It is called Words of Wisdom (appropriately, WOW), and the website, which was launched by two wise women named Pam and Sandy, celebrates blogs of substance.

Today, I am WOW’s Blogger of Note (BON), and per the BON tradition, I will share with you links to three previous posts.

I hope you have the time to take a look. And if you don’t have the time now, I hope you’ll come back.

*Technology is a subject I cannot get away from, and that’s because it concerns me… The technology is developed, after all. Us? Not so much. Here’s a piece I wrote after watching footage of a community parade: The Subtext of Texting.

*Do you shop at Trader Joe’s? Click here.

*Alright then, Ikea?

I chose those three posts intuitively. Now, as I look at what I just typed, I fear you might think I’m all about shopping.

Don’t even go there.

There’s really not that much about shopping in those second two posts. They’re more about life… and the words that go into it.

I am grateful to the First Amendment for letting me share my life in words.

I am grateful to WOW for peaceable assembly.

2011 Postscript: The WOW site closed up shop sometime in the past year. It's too bad, as it was a great meeting place, and some of my favorite bloggers are those I first met among the WOW groupies.