Go to Mars...or at least the Moon!

     It's been a while since I have written an entry to this blog. 

     My story is the same:  New technologies in my day job, new opportunities in my part time gigs, new deadlines in my supposed vocation ("Thomas, the deadline is Friday.  The editor needs your MSS!") and old, repeat reminders that I need to upgrade ("Dad, when you are going to replace your flip phone?").  So the mental musings of this minor player in a minor Southern Capital, a minor cog in what may prove to be a minor machine in a minor corner of the Universe isn't too much of a priority.  My vanity (or lack thereof) doesn't address that.

    But today I had to write.

     Last night at 7 PM, under a clear, warm Florida sky, I saw the full moon.  Slightly above and to its left was (I think) Mars.  Years ago, when I wanted to be an astronaut, I dreamed (dreamt?) of the day I would walk on their surfaces.  According to the most conservative Science Fiction Classics, we were to be on Mars by now.  So much for secular prophecy.

     Still...there has to be a lesson in this.  Perhaps by reaching for the outer planets or the stars, we will reach our closest neighbor.  We already have.  Perhaps by having B.H.A.G.s - Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals - we will reach some of the easier targets.  Perhaps the act of simply reaching, working and striving will put us in a better place than at the beginning.

     Yesterday I drove to and from work.  Today I am biking.  The beautiful nightscape that becons me will - at least for now - be the backdrop of the fitness program I have been neglecting over the last few weeks.

     Weather permitting, look at the Moon tonight and let it inspire you!

     Always B Positive!

The Call of the Dead and the Living

     Have you ever received messages from The Dead and the Living?

     I notice patterns, particularly those that parallel the very words spoken by people from my past.

     The late Loften Mitchell was a Professor of Theatre at Binghamton University and was head of the Playwrights Program.  Best known for writing the book to the musical BUBBLIN BROWN SUGAR, his writing covers original play scripts, librettos, short fiction and history.  As a Harlem native, he knew writers such as John Oliver Killens and Langston Hughes.  In fact, his oft repeated observation about the latter was that Mr. Hughes always seemed to be writing something, even as he sat in restaurants and bars.

     A student (not me) once asked "How do you deal with writer's block?"

     Mr.  Mitchell plainly answered "There's no such thing as Writer's Block.  There's only Time Block."  From there, he explained that there will be things that pull one away from writing.  He was emphatic about staying away from people who waste time.  "All that matters is you and your typewriter" he said.

    A few years later I was studying under yet another mentor, the late Stuart M. Kaminsky.  In a brief exchange, I apologized for also working on a play script (I had barely made his deadline for a screenplay).  He merely shrugged and said "Writing is Writing."

    Last week during Morning Edition on NPR, I heard an interview with an award winning Florida State University professor.  The author attributed his success to the "B.I.C. Method", which stands for "Butt In Chair."

     More recently, I attended a workshop with the Tallahassee Author's Guild.  A local author, Marilyn Griffith, conducted a 15 minute writing exercise which proved the very same thesis.

     My challenges usually involve words on a page.  Yours may involve other endeavors.  I contend that we all receive messages from the past and messages from the present.  Messages from both the dead and the living.   They are nothing more than simple reminders of what we need to do.

      The question is:  Are we listening?

     Always B Positive

Breaking and Braking the Morning

     There were no birds singing.  In fact, the sky was still dark as I tried (unsucessfully) to force myself to go back to sleep.  No dice.  Instead, I swung my feet onto the floor and got up from the sofa where my family had abandoned me after we finished watching a movie (Netflix rules!).

     I had the perfect plan:  Go to the "water closet", then go bed.  After all, it's Saturday and I would be able to sleep in for a change.  But then I noticed the time:  Four thirty. Should I go back to bed or should I stay awake?

     I have a full day today.  My oldest is going out of town.  I have to clean up the garage and haul yet another load of "stuff" to the dumps; I say "dumps", because Tallahassee takes household trash and hazardous waste at one place but machines and metal 15 miles away, at a privately-contracted site.  (Southern Politics!).  This morning I will go to a surplus auction, where I will skillfully scare away other bidders by pretending to have more money than I actually have.  Later I will attend the Florida State Film School's screening of it's 2011 MFA Thesis films, one of which contains a performance by a certain local actor and blogger...

     And so, I stayed up.  I read, studied, edited, researched, planned and cleaned.  And yes, eventually the birds woke up too.

     Sometimes it is good to break free of our rituals (or ruts), and actually get something done.

     Always B Positive!