Quill & Claw/Pen & Paw

I know, it's been a while. It's not like I'm not blogging, for I am. I'm just not blogging, well, here. I got a gig, folks. It's a free gig, but it gets me into the writing game's door, a preverbial foot, as it were. I've been awarded with some interviews, some people think I might know something, and my opinion actually carries some weight. And? I even get free tickets on occasion. If you'd like to see where I've been writing?  Take a bop over to  orlandofunandfood.com .. Good group of people there. They gave me a chance when several other websites won't. I say "won't" considering I've written for several other websites, for free, and they ignored me and asked me to pay for their events when they happened at my Disney Parks. So? We moved on. However, I've been thinking about writing lately and it was time to revisit here. One of my movie critic friends, someone I trust and, apparently, really likes it when I do my...

Look, I don’t have a true issue with English being the official language of America, I don’t, really.  It makes sense. Most countries have an official language and it’s more for business purposes. You work here, you need to have a common language. It doesn’t really matter that English is considered the only class five language in the world, but, hey, difficulty with learning (I’ve been teaching it for years) it, shouldn’t be the concern. What is the concern? Implementation. Look. I LOVE English. Easiest the best and most worthwhile subject in the world, in my book. I loved the classes. And it’s surely taken a hit over the years. Standardized testing, no matter what the BigWigs want us to believe, does NOT measure English AT ALL.   English has too many choices, like I said, it’s a class five here folks. So? We can’t really use it to measure anything. I’ve met some of the most intelligent people on the planet, who cannot write in English. So it would be a poor meas...

I’ve noticed something since that stupid verdict on Citizens United, frankly. While I don’t agree with the ruling, I understand it. Money donations, free speech, yeah, sure, whatever, I get it, that’s not my concern. But it also brought to light something people have been complaining about for eons. Corporations suck moosepenis. They do. They really do. And it surged into public consciousness, as well as my own, with the ruling.  I mean, look at me- I worship at their altar. I go to Disney, like, hourly. I am writing this in a Starbuck’s. And Target just filed an amicus brief in favor of same sex marriage. And on the opposite end of the spectrum?  WalMart keeps people in poverty so government cash is being used and refuses to buy American products. Their choices, not mine. I’m cool with both sides of this. It’s hard to live here in the states without interacting with corporations.   And that’s not my beef, either. What is my beef? As a Buddhist, we’r...

As I have been writing a bit more and more these days, I can’t help thinking that, in terms of this blog, I should be addressing some things that haven’t been looked at. No, trust me, there’s no reason to panic. I don’t think it’s about coming out with any new and shocking news. In fact, I’m going to be quite sure, that the experiences I’ve had recently are totally just reinforcing items that can be better found elsewhere and with much better research to support it. I’m shooting from the hip, as it were.  Since moving to Florida, I’ve participated in National Novel Writing Month at least, what, twice. That’s a 50% accuracy rate, which, when considering everything, is quite good. Novels are long ass fuckers that, like a mosquito drawing blood, pull energy from every facet of your creativity and give the concept of “free time” a run for it’s money.  There’s a podcast out there, “I Should Be Writing” that is quite excellent for the aspiring author. However, the title i...

Due to a book I just wrote... OMG! Hilarious! Peace, Bardy

To connect to the story, click this! If you have been following, my one devout friend hsa been mentioning that, as a Christian, he feels he's persecuted for his faith. I find this mention growing, but, then again, on my FB page, I noticed, I know seven different ministers of different faiths. None of them are Buddhists. None of them are Taoists. Nor am I. Neither am I. There's something grammatically wrong there, but whatever. But I try. I do believe in buddhism. I don't seem them blowing up stuff in Gaza, looking for wards to discriminate against their fellows, or using planes to kill people to show how peaceful they are.  Followers tend to be a peaceful lot and I like that. It's helped me more, it seems like, when Christianity left me because of my oreitnation and no one in the church would stop, other than to tell me I was wrong, going to burn in hell and to encourage me to kill myself. Yes. You know, that "Thou Shalt Not Kill" thing, appare...

All my life, I wanted a writer's life, a life where the page is the thing. Roger Ebert was that man. He had the life. And you want to see why? Check out the following article. Read a few of his sentences and you'll know why: 13 Funniest Lines from Roger Ebert's Pans.... Peace, Roo

Hey Dear Readers, Enjoy this three day weekend and a celebration of our independence.   We've come a long way--but it's been all worth it. Peace! Roo

I hate coming here. No, not this blog. This is something I’ve been meaning to do for quite some time right now. I need to blog more. The fact is, life has sorta gotten away from me and it has become, finally, Summer Break. What can I do?  I gotta write. I want to work on my novel. Really, it’s the priority.  And that’s why I’ve not been here, blogging. But today? Today’s special. The Penelope monster is at the PetSmart, having her day at the spa, getting all pretty-like with the wonderful Miss Chelsea. And the only coffeehouse is his shittyass Joe Mugg’s. I mean, really. Old candy at the counter. Bad coffee. And no fucking free wifi. So I can’t even post this shit up until I get home. If I remember. Half the reason I go to coffeehouses and the like is because it gets me away from the distractions that having a life tend to offer, like laundry, letting the dog out, and making lesson plans. I go out? I can actually just sit and focus on what’s important. The writing. And...

Take a look at this list . Know that, too, I've seen every movie on it. Now, are there any real surprises? Other than the fact that they are all originals-nothing here is a rehash. And there's not many sequels that I see. So? Hollywood is lost in finding new material and the box office drives production. Assholes. The whole lot of them. Peace.

Heh, Who Knew? I had to laugh, because the experience typfied my experiences in the South. The set up sounds like a bad joke: A Baptist, a Catholic and a Queer were having lunch... ....but, seriously, the amount they didn't know about religions only equalled the amount of hate they had for Islam. Now, I understand where that was born from, and, well, let's face it, religion runs on making sure you find something to hate and then creating the "cure," but in this case, they had no reason to hate other religions at all. But, dang, as soon as they put up a Christmas tree, they thought, "You hate that don't you?" "Not at all, I have two Christmaskkah trees in my house. WHY WOULD YOU EVEN THINK THAT?" And, for atheists, they're always going to have to argue their point (but most people in the US don't even go to church), so that makes sense they understand all the misinformed out here. I am not atheist, by the way. Not in any way....

Stumbled across this on Reddit. It looks sad and depressing-but it isn't. It's joyous. I thought about putting it on my Facebook page but I think the immaturity of some might not be handle it. There's something wonderful here. "Ghetto" is a negative term here, but not there, it just means from a certain lifestyle in Uganda, where this video is from. Hard to believe this fabulousness is a country that executes gays.

Ah, the beauty that is music... A recap of a thirty year old song...and song with a profound impact... Go ahead, and listen. I'll try to include just the video below, just in case. It's hard to believe this song is thirty years old. I would have been fourteen. Yes. I knew then. I knew. I knew that my feelings didn't match the world around me; everyone kept telling me I was to date girls and make families, but, when I slept, I dreamed of doing the same thing with men. I knew. Even at fourteen, when the hormones swooned and pounded on my temples. Times, they were different in the 80s. I would have to go to the public library and hide in the stacks to find those books that helped me understand.  And entertainment was abject hell. Every word was negative; and the gay characters usually ended up dead. We had MTV back then, a time when it still played music. And, since, even then, sleep was a fleeting concept, I would sit up and watch videos. I discovered, interestingly, ...