Category: Randomness

Write What is Right With the World

On By C. L. BlackeIn My Two Cents, RandomnessLeave a comment

If you’re like me and have been looking to Facebook or other social media for solace, comfort, human connection, or hope that the universe will sort this shit out, you’ve probably only found misery, despair, proof the world is coming to an end, and other lost souls who don’t have the faintest clue in how to process their feelings or make it all better.

That’s why I propose we write What is Right With the World.

martin-luther

Share what is right and great about life right now. Not to forget, to distract, to diminish all the work we have to do to make sure everyone feels safe and respected in this country, but to find a safe haven between battles, respite from the storm, and light at the end of the day.

Here are a few things that come to mind:

  1. The unconditional love in your purring kitty or snuggly dog’s eyes when he looks at you. (If your thing is a furry tarantula, something scaly or that sheds its skin, I can’t help.)

kitten-purr

2. The sun rising again even when you thought it never would.

forest-sunrise-winter-trees-wallpaper-1

3. This face, His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Dalai Lama-Peace Sign

4. And this quote from His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

dalailama

5. This for obvious reasons. (Because it’s called the warrior pose, ladies!)

warrior-pose

So in those dark moments, please share in the comments below, on your Facebook page, on Twitter, on Instagram, on Snapchat, on whatever else you use #WhatisRightWiththeWorld.

And, um, let’s just make America great.

Much Ado About Nothing

On By C. L. BlackeIn Randomness2 Comments

As some of you may know, I play World of Warcaft, a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game. Though there’s not really much roleplaying involved. Basically you get together with your friends, if you have any, and kill things.

My main character‘s name is Nothing. She is a Night Elf rogue. “The rogues of Azeroth are the masters of subterfuge, skilled and cunning adversaries of those who dare not look into the shadows to see what lurks there. Roguery is a profession for those who seek the adventures of stalking in silent forests, dimly lit halls and heavily guarded strongholds. Using trickery in combat and able to vanish at the slightest distraction, the rogue is a welcome addition to any group of adventurers. Ideal spies, deadly to those they can catch unaware, rogues have no problem finding a place in the world. Deadly masters of stealth, rogues are the whispers in shadowy corners and the hooded figures crossing dark fields. Skilled with daggers and the art of silent death, these vagabonds and bandits skulk about Azeroth seeking targets and profit.” (http://www.wowwiki.com/Rogue)

My Azeroth Adventures installments are based on this character, whom I renamed Rumer. (Yes, even my characters have characters.)

In the past two years I’ve been playing this character, I have received much attention because of her name. Random people have whispered me saying they like my choice and that it suits the rogue class. Nothing is also the butt of many jokes in my guild. My favorite is, “We’re all standing around doing Nothing.” Pictures are posted on my Facebook and our guild’s Facebook page about anything that has the word Nothing in it, like:

 

 

 

 

 

and:

and:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So in case any of you are wondering where I came up with that name, I have written a little ditty about it.  Here goes:

Much Ado About Nothing

It’s nice to know you don’t love me for my beauty because she is ugly.

It’s nice to know you don’t love me for my money because she is poor.

It’s nice to know you don’t love me for my sex because she gives you none.

It’s nice to know you don’t love me.

Because I’m Nothing.

It’s a Major Award

On By C. L. BlackeIn Randomness2 Comments

Recently, my very good friend, K, known to the poetry and blogging community as C. L. Sostarich (found at http://clsostarich.wordpress.com/), awarded me with a Versatile Blogger Award. When I was first notified of it, I figured she’d stolen crack from our hunter and started smoking it.  I mean, I’m the least versatile blogger.

Once given this major award, I’m supposed to tell the world seven things about myself that I think people need or want to know about me. Following that, I’m supposed to pass on the Versatile Blogger Award to 15 (Yikes!) more bloggers. I see this is going to take an extended period of time.

Seven things about me people could care less about…

1. I am the worst blogger in the world. I write sporadically and pretty much about the same thing–the trials and tribulations of being a writer. I started my blog as more of a personal online diary–I didn’t care if anyone was going to read it so long as my words were floating around cyberspace. On top of that, I rarely have time to read other blogs; hence, my list of “followed” and “following” blogs is minute.

2. I wholeheartedly believe in reincarnation. Humans have inhabited the planet for roughly 200,000 years. What makes anyone think that living 80, 90, or even 100 years is enough time to learn and practice the universal lessons needed to reach “heaven?” What happens when people die from mistakes like texting while driving or overdosing on heroin? That’s it? You don’t get a second chance? Sorry, but Hell has no more vacancies then.

3. I am neither a scholar (despite the many lettered degrees after my name), nor a literary snob. I think I’ve only read about five of the Top 100 Books of all Time. And no, none of them were Harry Potter.

4. I am essentially lazy. That is not to say I am not a hard-worker, but usually when I try new things, they come fairly easy to me. And if they don’t, then I tend to re-prioritize my goals. I don’t quit things; I put them off until I can concentrate on them more.

5. I like adjectives and adverbs, and I don’t care if Stephen King hates me for it. In my real writing (as in not this blog), I make concerted effort not to use them. Most of the time.

6. My ratio of loved to lost is 1:1. Or is it 50:50? I’m a writer not a mathematician. (See #3.) Once you make it into my heart (and that is a feat in itself) and I consider you my friend, you are there forever. You can ditch me, ignore me, hurt me, whatever, but I will still care for you forever.

7. Oh, god, when is this going to end? (See #4.)

There will be a test on these seven items, so study up.

As for 15 bloggers I’m supposed to give this major award to: see #1. I’m pretty sure the whole premise of this stipulation is to increase traffic, but most of these have been Freshly Pressed, so I hardly doubt they need the few referrals I can provide.

Nonethless, here are some of the blogs I follow just because they had something interesting to say:

http://acgatesblog.wordpress.com/  NaNoWriMo fiend.

http://suehealy.org/ Everything a writer needs to know. (Don’t tell her about my affection for adjectives and adverbs.)

http://peasandcougars.com/ Remember the MTV show Daria? Humor just like that. Gotta love it.

http://girlonthecontrary.com/ She’s on the contrary, and I am so unladylike how can I not read it?

http://catlas.wordpress.com/ I don’t know how one can remain so positive and full of good energy, but she does.

Regrets, I Have a Few

On By C. L. BlackeIn RandomnessLeave a comment

Summer’s over and I have regrets. As I always do when I realize another season has passed that I didn’t take advantage of. And after each one is gone, I tell myself that I will write a list of everything I wished I’d done so that next year I won’t be such a slacker.

This is my list for Summer:

Pick strawberries, raspberries, blueberries

Buy fruits and vegetables from local farm stands and actually eat them

Rollerblade on the Norwuttuck Rail Trail every weekend

Visit the beach at least four times or, hell, even spend a week there to write my island murder mystery

Read more Ameila Peabody mysteries

Run in Stanley Park

Bake breads, cakes, cookies, and pies with the flavors of the season

Vacation in New Orleans to drink washing machine strawberry daiquiris, visit cities of the dead, bayous, and plantation homes while working on my psuedo-vampire novel (no, they’re not all the fluffy bunny sparkly sensitive types), and with any luck take in a Roller Derby game.

Sit on my flower-laden balcony on weekend mornings sipping hot chocolate eating freshly baked strawberry almond bread and enjoying the quiet of the morning while pretending I’m eating beignets

Sit on my balcony in the evenings sipping iced tea and eating cool lemon cookies with powdered sugar

Walk to the park to watch the city’s 4th of July fireworks

Get drunk off Watermelon-Lime Coolers and Raspberry Spritzers

Clean my house more

I think this is a good start for now. Luckily, New England has four somewhat distinct seasons, so there’s always something different to do every three months.

Maybe I should start working on my Autumn list now.

Inundation

On By C. L. BlackeIn Randomness, UncategorizedLeave a comment

For most Westerners, January 1 marks the beginning of a new year when people take stock of their lives and resolve to change for the better. If I were Chinese, I would be celebrating New Year on the second new moon after the winter solstice, or during the inundation of the Nile River if I were living in ancient Egypt.

I guess I’m not any of these people because I celebrate my new year in October. Columbus Day weekend, specifically. It is the anniversary of my freedom, of a time when I ventured out completely alone like The Fool, stepping over the precipice into Life and starting over. I had hopes of doing great things.

It is now three years later and time to once again reevaluate my life and my accomplishments.  So where are they? I failed to lose 10 pounds, I failed to finish any novel/screenplay, failed to get a new a job, failed to save money for a Christmas or retirement fund (well, actually I did then had to dip into it for an emergency), and failed to find true love.

So much for resolutions.

Of course that’s not to say I didn’t accomplish anything this year–just not the things I had planned on.  In fact, I did some pretty amazing things that just came out of nowhere. I started taking belly dance lessons and eight weeks later I joined a dance troupe for public performance. I raised over $3700 and walked 60 miles in a heat wave to help end breast cancer. I earned my preliminary teaching license and recertified as a Group Fitness Instructor. And I got accepted into an initial teaching license for secondary education program at the local university.

But how does one balance these accomplishments with the failure of the ones that mean the most to me? Did somewhere along the subconscious road I figure that losing ten pounds or finishing a novel was too hard and so spent my time and energy on doing things I knew I could achieve?

While I try to decipher that mystery, I will comfort myself with the knowledge that the changing of the seasons, the phases of the moon, and the flow of the Nile River is inevitable.  As is the opportunity for doing great things in another New Year.