Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Fri, Jul 03 2009
Maybe the next silver shoes will go from ruby slippers to gold boots
I hadn't realized how The Wizard of Oz is seen by some as a political statement or as occult material. I guess that's what makes classic literature classic. The themes that get repeated in history are so universal that a good writer's words can be seen as the basis for almost any conflict or philosophy that exists on the planet. The Wiz came along to reflect its own times and emphasis and recently we received a newer version, called. When people argue over the meaning of this or that
story they are saying that the story has staying power. And they are giving the story
more power. Some readers love this. Some readers are just happy to enjoy a good read.
posted at: 11:35 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
I hadn't realized how The Wizard of Oz is seen by some as a political statement or as occult material. I guess that's what makes classic literature classic. The themes that get repeated in history are so universal that a good writer's words can be seen as the basis for almost any conflict or philosophy that exists on the planet. The Wiz came along to reflect its own times and emphasis and recently we received a newer version, called
posted at: 11:35 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Thu, Jul 02 2009
Uncommon ways
"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." That's a quote from George Washington Carver, who was born in my old home state of Missouri. The man was a genius, from what I've been told. He dabbled in gardening and moved on to agriculture and medicinal products. People tend to associate him with peanuts, but he also worked with sweet potatoes, pecans, cornstalks and palmetto roots. He made dye and paint from soybeans and worked on a synthetic rubber using goldenrod plants. I love the aforementioned quote from him because it seemed to be his own life philosophy. If ever a person lived life by looking at things from every angle and trying every angle, it was Mr. Carver. When I come up against a bunch of people who have the "We've always done it this way" mentality, I think of Mr. Carver, who turned down a six-figure income in order to learn and develop uncommon ways of using common things. It's always fun to think of solutions to problems. And sometimes it's great to just think of solutions even when problems haven't been defined as problems. Writers get to do a lot of that when we work. It's a privilege. And it's great fun.
posted at: 16:22 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." That's a quote from George Washington Carver, who was born in my old home state of Missouri. The man was a genius, from what I've been told. He dabbled in gardening and moved on to agriculture and medicinal products. People tend to associate him with peanuts, but he also worked with sweet potatoes, pecans, cornstalks and palmetto roots. He made dye and paint from soybeans and worked on a synthetic rubber using goldenrod plants. I love the aforementioned quote from him because it seemed to be his own life philosophy. If ever a person lived life by looking at things from every angle and trying every angle, it was Mr. Carver. When I come up against a bunch of people who have the "We've always done it this way" mentality, I think of Mr. Carver, who turned down a six-figure income in order to learn and develop uncommon ways of using common things. It's always fun to think of solutions to problems. And sometimes it's great to just think of solutions even when problems haven't been defined as problems. Writers get to do a lot of that when we work. It's a privilege. And it's great fun.
posted at: 16:22 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Wed, Jul 01 2009
One tiny corner of a story of the buried difficulties with our state budget
In the midst of all the other fiscal lunacy going on in California, I ran across a story at the Chico Enterprise Record web site, involving houseboat owners at Bidwell Canyon Marina in Oroville. I went and had a look at the Bidwell Marina site, but there doesn't seem to be any news of evictions or contracts or anything else. If 900 boaters are being told to leave, I would want to know that before I got myself too entrenched in any plans at all at the marina.
I'm wondering how many other dramas are being played out at various parks and recreation areas all over the state. I hate to see the National Park Service take over, which is something that has been talked about lately. States seem to have fewer and fewer options apart from the federal umbrella as it is. I'd like to see as much state power left to states as is reasonably possible.
posted at: 16:58 | category: /Politics | link to this entry
In the midst of all the other fiscal lunacy going on in California, I ran across a story at the Chico Enterprise Record web site, involving houseboat owners at Bidwell Canyon Marina in Oroville. I went and had a look at the Bidwell Marina site, but there doesn't seem to be any news of evictions or contracts or anything else. If 900 boaters are being told to leave, I would want to know that before I got myself too entrenched in any plans at all at the marina.
I'm wondering how many other dramas are being played out at various parks and recreation areas all over the state. I hate to see the National Park Service take over, which is something that has been talked about lately. States seem to have fewer and fewer options apart from the federal umbrella as it is. I'd like to see as much state power left to states as is reasonably possible.
posted at: 16:58 | category: /Politics | link to this entry
Mon, Jun 29 2009
Blogs that evolve
Blogs sometimes pass through many stages. My first real blog mentor was Eric, over at The Fire Ant Gazette. Eric took a chance on changing the format and design of the Gazette, in order to explore some new areas and step things up a bit. Now Eric's blog is changing again, perhaps to go back to something like what it once was. Ah, but the truth is that we rarely really return to what we were. Our projects are bound to reflect what new things we've learned about the universe, about ourselves and about how we relate to what (and who) has crossed our path and has changed us. I look forward to yet another phase of Eric's work. And I send him a writing high-five for being willing to stay open to what lessons loom up before him. That sort of flexibility and adaptability says a lot of good things about a person.
posted at: 23:27 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Blogs sometimes pass through many stages. My first real blog mentor was Eric, over at The Fire Ant Gazette. Eric took a chance on changing the format and design of the Gazette, in order to explore some new areas and step things up a bit. Now Eric's blog is changing again, perhaps to go back to something like what it once was. Ah, but the truth is that we rarely really return to what we were. Our projects are bound to reflect what new things we've learned about the universe, about ourselves and about how we relate to what (and who) has crossed our path and has changed us. I look forward to yet another phase of Eric's work. And I send him a writing high-five for being willing to stay open to what lessons loom up before him. That sort of flexibility and adaptability says a lot of good things about a person.
posted at: 23:27 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Thu, Jun 25 2009
Beautiful, but deadly
Whatever happens, you (probably) heard it somewhere else first. But just in case you hadn't heard it, Ethiopa claims to be about to unveil the Ark of the Covenant. In modern times this brings to mind thoughts of Indiana Jones movies, in which people try to possess such artifacts for their own worldly gain and end up with the flesh melting from their bodies.
There has always been a lot of supernatural talk associated with the Ark of the Covenant, probably stemming from the whole incident in the Bible whed Uzzah reached out to steady the Ark of the Covenant on a cart and paid for that act with his life.
One author suggests that perhaps Uzzah was not alone in his transgression and, as often happens when humans become bull-headed and make a mess of things, others also suffer. That particular author's passage also refers back to hordes who lost their lives from just sneaking a peek inside the Ark of the Covenant. Some have suggested that the interior of the Ark of the Covenant contained something akin to a nuclear power source, which indeed, could have made gazing upon it risky business. For whatever reason, Bible writers chose not to go into detail about these things. If mankind is capable of discovering and harnessing nuclear energy, one can't even imagine the sort of power the Creator is capable of using. It may be that Uzzah and the others died from something like what we would call radiation poisoning. If so, there exists the possibility that God did not make rigid instructions for the handling of the Ark of the Covenant in order to be a Big Meanie, but to protect the people from the unintended consequences of their (possibly well-meaning) mishandling of God's power. If one considers today's power struggles among major religions, maybe not much has changed, in a metaphorical sense.
Whether the Ark of the Covenant to be revealed by Ethopia is the literal original remains to be seen. But the fact that they may bring something out into the open at this time is good if it gets people thinking and studying about the meaning and purpose of the lessons behind the original.
posted at: 08:49 | category: /Religious and Spiritual | link to this entry
Whatever happens, you (probably) heard it somewhere else first. But just in case you hadn't heard it, Ethiopa claims to be about to unveil the Ark of the Covenant. In modern times this brings to mind thoughts of Indiana Jones movies, in which people try to possess such artifacts for their own worldly gain and end up with the flesh melting from their bodies.
There has always been a lot of supernatural talk associated with the Ark of the Covenant, probably stemming from the whole incident in the Bible whed Uzzah reached out to steady the Ark of the Covenant on a cart and paid for that act with his life.
One author suggests that perhaps Uzzah was not alone in his transgression and, as often happens when humans become bull-headed and make a mess of things, others also suffer. That particular author's passage also refers back to hordes who lost their lives from just sneaking a peek inside the Ark of the Covenant. Some have suggested that the interior of the Ark of the Covenant contained something akin to a nuclear power source, which indeed, could have made gazing upon it risky business. For whatever reason, Bible writers chose not to go into detail about these things. If mankind is capable of discovering and harnessing nuclear energy, one can't even imagine the sort of power the Creator is capable of using. It may be that Uzzah and the others died from something like what we would call radiation poisoning. If so, there exists the possibility that God did not make rigid instructions for the handling of the Ark of the Covenant in order to be a Big Meanie, but to protect the people from the unintended consequences of their (possibly well-meaning) mishandling of God's power. If one considers today's power struggles among major religions, maybe not much has changed, in a metaphorical sense.
Whether the Ark of the Covenant to be revealed by Ethopia is the literal original remains to be seen. But the fact that they may bring something out into the open at this time is good if it gets people thinking and studying about the meaning and purpose of the lessons behind the original.
posted at: 08:49 | category: /Religious and Spiritual | link to this entry
Wed, Jun 24 2009
The many moods of TV show themes
If you have enough years to be nostalgic, nostalgia is great fun. So I enjoyed wallowing in the TV theme songs mentioned in the post Theme Player over at the Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff blog. I didn't add to the comments there because they had already covered many of my old favorites. I would add the theme music to CHiPs, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, cartoon show Top Cat, Captain Kangaroo, The Wild, Wild West, The Rat Patrol, Have Gun Will Travel, Peter, Hawaiian Eye, Baretta, The Streets of San Francisco, Simon and Simon, The Lawman (with that classic male chorus sound), Mr. Lucky, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, It Takes a Thief, Twin Peaks, Cagney and Lacey, Hunter and MacGyver. I probably missed a few.
posted at: 16:14 | category: /Arts and Entertainment | link to this entry
If you have enough years to be nostalgic, nostalgia is great fun. So I enjoyed wallowing in the TV theme songs mentioned in the post Theme Player over at the Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff blog. I didn't add to the comments there because they had already covered many of my old favorites. I would add the theme music to CHiPs, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, cartoon show Top Cat, Captain Kangaroo, The Wild, Wild West, The Rat Patrol, Have Gun Will Travel, Peter, Hawaiian Eye, Baretta, The Streets of San Francisco, Simon and Simon, The Lawman (with that classic male chorus sound), Mr. Lucky, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, It Takes a Thief, Twin Peaks, Cagney and Lacey, Hunter and MacGyver. I probably missed a few.
posted at: 16:14 | category: /Arts and Entertainment | link to this entry
Tue, Jun 23 2009
140 characters can still say a lot
Joining the gang at Twitter some months ago has made me cherish words even more. There's a go-along sort of service that lets you tweet (post) in increments longer than 140 characters, but I've resisted that. The challenge of saying what I want to say in those 140 characters makes each word more precious. Precision nips at creativity's heels and keeps things fresh and lively. (I'm Debberzz on Twitter. Come and say Hello and look around the place. You just might find yourself a fun assortment of new friends and associates.)
posted at: 16:40 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Joining the gang at Twitter some months ago has made me cherish words even more. There's a go-along sort of service that lets you tweet (post) in increments longer than 140 characters, but I've resisted that. The challenge of saying what I want to say in those 140 characters makes each word more precious. Precision nips at creativity's heels and keeps things fresh and lively. (I'm Debberzz on Twitter. Come and say Hello and look around the place. You just might find yourself a fun assortment of new friends and associates.)
posted at: 16:40 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
