Category Archives: Life

Writing Life: The November Novel

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Raymond Alexander Kukkee
© by Raymond Alexander Kukkee th (2) I can't believe it.  It's almost November again.   The once-spectacular colors of autumn are fading fast,  turning ghostly dull and lifeless in our chilly  rain.  They always do.  We creative types  don't like it much when the Blah's and Writerblocks come knocking either.  At this time of year Northwestern Ontario (which is officially one of the sunniest places in Canada, how can that be?)  is typically  blanketed  by lifeless, pewter-gray clouds. From our vantage point,  they are motionless,  uninteresting,  low, loaded with water,  and magically   propped up only by raindrops.  In other news, gGarden's in, fall cleanup pretty much done, so what to do? It's always a good question, isn't it? What will  you be doing this November?  Blogging?  Niche articles?  More of those brilliant, but never-pay-a- penny  articles for content mills promising great things?   How about a  November novel?  Wait..... Isn't that almost a tradition? Did you participate in NaNoWriMo last year? This is 2013, The Year of the Writer,  so never mind procrastinating and  daydreaming, bending paper clips and teasing the cat, dear scribbler. Sharpen those pencils collecting dust in those wonky dust-covered ceramic mugs on your desk instead if you haven't got a quill pen.  Get paper. Get excited.  Jump up and down. Shout.  Hum. Meditate.   Create  some new, unique  characters that will  drive the world to distraction  instead of waiting for life to happen. Drink some coffee.   Listen to the muse. She'll agree that  November's a great time to write.

 NaNoWriMo

Seriously.  How about tackling a complete novel?  A minimum of 50,000 words in 30 days. Will you be brave enough to join the annual  NaNoWriMo challenge this November?  For writers everywhere, writing 50,000 words or more  to a deadline is a substantial  challenge. I wrote one successfully  last year,  just under 70,000 words,  but then I was  spurred on and competing with that incredibly prolific writer and good friend  Amanda Dcosta, CEO and creator of Mandy's Pages.  The tortoise and the hare. A fine race it was too.  Raised some dust.  Guess who was the tortoise.  I write slowly, methodically, and.....well, good thing there's no obligation to say who finished the race first.  Neither of us has published those novels either.......yet, that is.     How about you, do you dread your November effort will just be another  boring " 50,000 dark and stormy nights" effort?    Hm... Persist. Be encouraged;  maybe it will turn out to be the Great American Novel after all.  We can dream, and we are eternally advised that practice makes perfect. The need for practice  is a great reason to try.  Let's face it, writing is a craft; a skill.  Conscientious effort produces results, however imperfect;  but writing with the intention of practice is usually  improved.   Perhaps this November it will  be honed to perfection. Do you have a unique novel  in the dark files of your mind?  Dig it out; go for it, dial up the muse! November offers other interesting options.  "What? Anything, tell us, tell us!" you shout with glee.  "What on earth could be as exhilarating as writing 50,000 words in 30 days? " Have you Heard of  GrammoWriMo ?   Recently I was  informed  by  Allison VanNest, Grammarly's Head of Communications —about the folks at Grammarly tossing their hat into the ring for the first time this November with a novel idea —a community novel. It''s an interesting idea;  you can write 800 words and participate in a community novel  that will be cooperatively written by hundreds of authors  including  Gayle Brandeis, who also happens to be a published NaNoWriMo author.   The scoop is that  Gayle will write the first and last lines of this potentially amazing book . To join Gayle and be involved, all you have to do is sign up!   Check out this interesting idea, and by the way, —you can even help decide the plot!  For more information, go to  http://www.grammarly.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/GrammoWriMo-Logo.png Thanks to Allie at Grammarly for that timely information!

Happy November!

Regardless,  whether you decide to tackle a  NaNoWriMo  novel, GrammoWriMo,  short stories or  other options, —choose well, and plan for an exciting November. Pssst....tell me what you're doing, and don't forget to  keep on writing!   Is that Incoming I hear? +    
Posted in Business, Crafts and skills, Life, Publishing, Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

2013 Government Shutdown: Manipulated Crisis

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Raymond Alexander Kukkee
© 2012  by Raymond Alexander Kukkee   [caption id="attachment_1163" align="aligncenter" width="300"]Where is Forever? Where does the money go? Down the Rabbit-hole?[/caption] The world watched with trepidation as the news-breaker  2013 government shutdown came to a predictable heart-stopping end. Drama.  Worry about a potential tempest in a teapot disaster.  The fact is, Americans, visitors, and foreign nations alike may have been duped. Sucked into a black vortex as they breathed a collective sigh of relief for a manipulated crisis..  Dear reader, one may also call the 'shutdown'  a  crisis, which sounds serious and  innocent enough, but sorry, but this event smacks of manipulation with intent. The vote numbers and 'fallout' suggest there's a lot more to this story than is being told.

Look at the Facts

Look at the 'facts'  if you can believe them.   Sixteen days of pretending  "attempting to derail  ObamaCare".  Sixteen days of playing games "negotiations".  Imagine that.    After sixteen days of whining, threats, and nasty crocodile-tear rhetoric and the big scare,  it's    "bygones will be bygones" at least temporarily .   Reportedly some "87" Republicans made it all better by "caving"  and voting with the Democrats. An economic bandaid.  Borrow more money. Go figure.  The count was supposedly Senate 81:18, and the House 285:144.   Imagine that some more.  Warm, fuzzy fog is rolling over the land. Well, okay. "It's warm and fuzzy,  all better now ".  Sure, we all believe that. Not. President Obama is quoted as saying:
"With the shutdown behind us we now have an opportunity to focus on a sensible budget that is responsible, that is fair and that helps hardworking people all across this country."    
Lovely words.  Political rhetoric at it's best, but after caving to the whining insurance industry which is now authorized by the president himself to rape the hard-working American people with the president's their very own "new health care system" anything goes.  Wait and see. As leader of the richest nation on earth, the President, by his own words, can and will now concentrate and  "set a sensible budget that is responsible" to ensure the  hard-working people to work even harder for nothing.  Let's face it.  'Skepticism' isn't a strong enough word. We refuse to use 4-letter invectives.  We must think for ourselves. Why are we so skeptical? We keep hearing about  wonderful Obamacare, legislated yet, complete with mandatory 'health products" and  fines levied on individuals, afford-it-or-not for non-compliance.  Unbelievable, where a  $16,000.00 deductible with a 40% Co-pay and huge monthly premiums— is even less believable.   In logic and  observation it is is NOT a health care plan, it is legalized theft by the rich, for the rich, and made to look like a 'win'.   It is not 'socialism', as the Republicans crying plastic tears wailed.   Fact is, to the remote observer,  it seems the very reverse.    It is closer to insatiable capitalism by dictatorship. Where poor people once paying $25.00 for basic care now must pay $125.00— let us laugh raucously when anyone outside of an official loony-bin suggests it is an 'improvement'.  No matter. That's not the point. "Why is it problematic," you ask, "since even Republicans voted to end the shutdown?". Yes, they did, we agree,  but, "why" 87 Republicans voted with Democrats should be the real question. It's a good question. In fact, isn't that a great question?   Don't you think the outcome was just a bit  too predictable?   Since the Republicans are traditionally the rich, supportive of 'capitalism and profit at any cost",  why would ANY Republican logically vote for the failure of  ObamaCare, which, bottom-line,  instantaneously generates windfall profits for the already obscenely-rich insurance industry?  The contradictions and questions generated  are many, with that one simple observation. The answer is quite singular,   the government  had to make it look like a 'good fight'.  Here's how it works:  create a crisis, back down just in the nick of time,  and display heroism,    "Let's rescue the American people" from  an apocalyptic "economic nightmare". Why sure, we're delighted to be rescued, aren't we, children? How transparent. How manipulated. How enriching.  A frightened population is much easier to control  Think.   Follow the money. Who made deals? Who benefited?   Why have Republicans been rewarded? Multi-billion-dollar projects  in a government that already cannot afford to pay the bills?  Where does the money go? Down the rabbit-hole?   Wrap your brains around that one, dear readers.

Reality—A Manipulated Crisis

The fact is, the hard-working American  people are having the last drop of blood squeezed from an unstable hamburger-job economy and their scrawny, dust-covered bodies. How did they arrange that? Let us all collectively shake our heads. We  just watched it happen. The government is bankrupt.  The national debt is unsustainable. Numbers are now meaningless. Can the government recover from the distrust this event has caused? Not likely.  At best, —even if truth be told,  the government is bankrupt yet again.  Both financially and morally. Meanwhile, back at the dude Ranch How nice to know the national parks and monuments are open once again so visitors and citizens alike, everyone out there can engage in political euphoria, continue to delude themselves with autumn leaves, shopping, and enjoy the drug-induced Great American Dream  —until the next manipulated crisis .   Is that Incoming I hear?   +
Posted in Business, Ethics, Life, Major Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments