Writers Group

I am exploring a new artistic medium (for me) called writing.  In fact, that is exactly why I started blogging.  I figured that my attempt to create a coherent essay each week would be a good way to enhance my writing skills in a way that a personal journal cannot accommodate.  A personal journal is written for a single person - the self but a blog actually has an audience.

One can imagine that the audience is a variety of friends from Facebook, Google+, Twitter or other media savvy adults.  But the truth is that you have little indication of just who your audience may be.  I recently discovered that I have a following of young high school students and that discovery both delighted and frightened me.  It made me realize that I may actually have some influence (hopefully good) upon some youth that surely will make a difference in the future of this country.  That actually caused a bit of trepidation with publishing my last post.  I actually went back and re-read every post to make sure that I can be proud of everything that I said.  I am.  Thus, in a brief paragraph, that is the difference between a journal and a blog.

So now, I want to lighten up and share a wonderful experience that I had with my writers group meeting and recommend that anyone who likes to write, blog or journal get involved with a prose &/or poetry writing group.  We meet regularly and take turns sharing a brief story or poem and get feedback from peers.  It is a wonderful and positive learning forum! I learned some incredible facts about WWII military cover-ups and how families cope with those types of tragedies; I shed tears listening to a poem about one of my artistic idols; and I made everyone laugh with  my own short story called "Bingo Hell."

As much as I would love to share details of the other stories and poetry, I cannot.  However, I am going to share my little Bingo Hell story.  Sorry there are not many photos this time but this was an exercise in visual writing.  So here is my funny little story in its first publication...

"Bingo Hell

I hate Bingo.  I hate it more than anything in the world.  It haunts my childhood memories like a recurrent nightmare. I would seriously consider self-mutilation just to avoid going anywhere near a Bingo hall. It stresses me out so badly that I have an uncontrollable urge to find a liquor store and a shady Zanex dealer in a nearby dark alley when I even think about entering a Bingo hall.

There are a lot of folks that think my aversion is an irrational phobia.  Well, to my knowledge, there is no clinical affliction labeled Bingophobia.  I do suffer from a mild form of arachnophobia but I don’t really remember associating Bingo with scary octapedal creatures.  Now that I think about it though, some of the denizens of the Bingo hall did seem to have oddly incomprehensible body extensions.  They would shuffle about with large sticks or push metal trays on wheels that they would occasionally sit upon. Some are hunched over bearing ugly backpacks emitting weird repetitive hospital sounds with clear tubes emerging from their face resembling insectoid antennae .

In fact, these Bingo hall denizens are very frightening indeed.  Bingo creatures dress in the most gaudy of oddness with uniquely flamboyant accessories.  The hall is filled with a writhing sea of polyester pant suits in colors that span the spectrum of powdery pastel to neon.  Often they wear red and purple hats with big pink flowers.  They carry large orange bags with embroidered sage green leaves.  These bags are filled with totems, offerings, charms and other strange items that are required to appease their personal Bingo gods and to ensure their Bingo success story.  Some would emerge from the writhing mass to find a spot to settle and arrange their totems and charms around them in obsessive detail. 

Before long the writhing mass has paid their tithe and received their sacrament of dozens of Bingo cards.  They move to find their place and settle in for the long vigil. Each one takes a few moments to analyze their cards and arrange them in meticulous order of best to worst from top left to bottom right.  Then they would light up and nearly disappear in a cloud of smoke and ash, while muttering softly and stuffing their face with a variety of pre-processed foods carefully stored in mini plastic bags and arranged around the edges of their altar.  While awaiting their Bingo blessing to begin, the soft muttering rises to a cacophony of cackles and shrieks as they relive past Bingo glory amongst themselves.

Suddenly there is feedback in the microphone and the silence is instantly deafening as all eyes focus upon the “One” that has the power to endow them with Bingo salvation. The number calling mantra begins.  Each devotee has brightly colored ink tubes to mark their devotional progress.  With every number called they violently slam their ink tube on the unsuspecting cards causing the entire table to shudder.  Then, one of the frailest of the denizens erupts in a one word explosion of sound: “BINGO!” Thrusting her card toward the heavens, the joyful creature quivers from the exertion.  Meanwhile, the building itself seems to shudder with the collective moans of the congregation as they all eye the lucky recipient of the Bingo blessing with overt disdain."

...I am so glad that there is not any force in the universe that can make me deal with this ever again...

Find Your Talent

Remember the old saying;  "Find something you love to do and you will never work a day in your life."  One does that by finding their talent.   Everyone has a talent and it can be a potential for success.  

I have seen the most amazing talents. Some are sound based like musicians or singers. Some are very left- brained based like folks with ridiculously accurate mental calculating abilities.  Equally amazing are people with the ability to maintain calm in the face of insanely provocative behavior or the ability to light up a room and make everyone happy with just a look.  
Some talents are somewhat obscure and rather unheralded.  I have one of those types of talents.  I notice things.  It sounds so simple and perhaps that is exactly why I believe it is a true talent.

Most folks go through their world with blinders on solely focused upon what is important to them in any given moment.  When we cruise down the road, we notice what is happening on the road in front of us.  But what about in the trees above the road or the fields along side or the woodland pond that we pass along side? What about those folks that always notice the 4 leaf clover  in an entire field of normal clover or those folks that always notice the diamond ring on the beach or the $20 bill on the sidewalk? It is a talent.
My own powers of observation may just be noticing details but I think it is more than that.  If I am in the forest, I notice the creatures around me and believe that is why I am a good wildlife photographer. If I am in the city, I notice the people around me and how they interact with the world around them.  I recognize their cultural differences and perspectives through their subtle physical language.    It is a more visceral sense that (in my interpretation) seems to be an amalgam of visual, tactile, & aural observation with a touch of empathy. 


Anyway, the point is that I notice the physical communication as a creature (human or otherwise) interacts in their environment.
Any artist is always searching for a way to communicate a feeling - an opportunity to illicit an emotional connection with their audience or viewer of their work.  The fact that it may be somewhat different than the artistic intent is often a delightful surprise.  If a person can identify the relationship between things then they can successfully exploit it in a way that is personally beneficial.  In other words, find YOUR talent and practice using it daily.  That is the best way to find something to do that will make you happy every day.

Rich & Poor

As an artist, I understand the concept of rich and poor quite well and in most cases, more than most.  I grew up in a rural trailer park.  We (as a family) had very little. I learned to forage in the forest and to survive on shellfish from the Chesapeake & Potomac.  I remember rationing Halloween candy to make it last all year and  getting expired/discarded make-up from from friends as a teen.  I knew I was poor at a very young age and I did not care much until I was an adolescent - when everything is a crisis. But, in the end it just made me strong, independent, and resourceful.


Art in America is a career that is rarely lucrative or approved by most parents.  The choice to become an artist is most often a choice of poverty for the majority of your career, unless you choose to supplement your income with a "real" job or vocation.  I don't know how many times I heard from college professors and local business owners the comment: "Oh you are a Theatre/Art major? And would you like fries with that?" Of course that was always accompanied by the condescending grin.
No one, with any good financial sense, will take the path of a career artist. Indeed, I chose to jump in on the "Dot com" era of the 90's after college.  In fact, I used all of my creative talents to work my way up to the position of senior software engineer and senior web consultant for the State Dept.  Yep, I was a living, breathing, high functioning, & well regarded engineer for upper levels of our government.  But that could never last...after all, I am an artist and I was only 'acting' as an engineer.

It all changed on September 11, 2001. I retreated to the safety of my mountain.  It took a while to get my head together after that but eventually I figured out that I need to be true to my self and just be the artist that I was meant to be.  It was difficult to go from a six figure salary to no figures but I have adjusted and am happier now than I have ever been.

So, the point I am making is that I have been financially rich but felt quite poor mentally and emotionally.  I choose to be spiritually rich and hopefully someday my mantra will resonate with the world...Support Living Artists - the dead ones don't need it.

Inspire Change

I think every artist wants to inspire others or at the very least generate a conversation.  I recently got some flack over my series of junk vehicle photos.  So, I think I should take on this subject in a full frontal assault - so to speak.

As a society of compulsive consumerism (a wonderful phrase coined by my neighbor), I think we should be aware that our discarded items don't just disappear when the giant magic WM (Waste Management) truck rolls through the neighborhood.  All that waste must go somewhere.  Unfortunately, out of sight equals out of mind for most folks.  The truth is that the waste we produce in our 21st century society is far greater than the amount our parents, cousins, grandparents, and neighbors combined.



Remember when folks took things to a repair shop or returned our soda bottles or aluminum cans? Now we throw away everything and get new sometimes just because we are bored with the thing. What is the reason for individually wrapping every piece of hard candy or roll of toilet paper?  We don't need all of this waste.  Stop buying things with "paranoid packaging." Consider replacing a power cord or fuse or whatever before you throw out that appliance.  Try separating your trash into plastics, paper, glass for recycling and compost.  Yes, I said compost! Quit buying all that fertilizer and potting soil and make your own.  It is not that hard to do.

The 2011 tsunami in Japan created about 5 Million Tons of waste and EVERY single day we dump the equivalent amount of garbage into our oceans and landfills.  Embrace the recycle and re-purpose concept. Do it for selfish reasons such as for yourself or for your children.

Go for a walk in the woods and appreciate your world for its beauty. Savor the smell of nature and sway to the music of the wind.
Meanwhile, I will continue to try to inspire you to recycle and re-purpose with my images of deteriorating buildings and vehicles.  I will continue to re-purpose old shoes and re-design vintage jewelry. And I will separate my trash for recycling and compost.  I will continue to show the beauty of my world in my art and photography and hopefully inspire change.