Lexical Light

Don't Pooh Pooh the Process in Pursuit of Publication

Don't despise your youth and don't think you can't learn from books targeted towards teens.

Here's a tidbit about writing taken from Your Name in Print, A Teen's Guide to Publishing for Fun, Profit, and Academic Success (strikeouts are mine):

“Getting published is less important than the process, discipline and goals involved in writing. Even for teenagers people who don’t want to be professional writers—even teens people who really don’t care whether they ever get published anywhere beyond their school paper blog, writing is something that can stretch their creativity and help them find their niche, and it’s fun.”

Found this via Terry Whalin, an editor and writer who also has a helpful website for writers at Right-Writing. com.

BTW, "pooh pooh" resulted from a brainstorm with my 5 yr. old. Almost didn't use it, but after looking at thesaurus.com for a better word, I found it was actually listed as a synonym for belittle. Thus, "pooh pooh" prevails.

Yada, Yada, Yada

Need a break from thinking? Think no more. Spend some time reading these Seinfeld Quotes from 138 episodes. Fun to read aloud. Of course, it helps if the listener enjoys Seinfeld. If you can't find a friend to play along, read them out loud anyway for a few chuckles. 

Feel free to share your favorite quotes, episodes. "The Little Kicks" is one of my favorite episodes. Not sure of my favorite quotes yet.

Also, any quotes you've actually used as part of your conversation? I have used, "Can you spare a square?"  What fan hasn't  used "yada, yada, yada"? 

Just reading the quotes makes me marvel at how people come up with that stuff. I have no talent for writing dialogue. They can even do it w/out being crude. There are some episodes I edit when I'm watching, but the clean stuff shows that funny doesn't have to be  lewd.

Thanks to Marla for the find.

What's for Breakfast?

What fuels you in the morning? Fruit? Eggs? Granola? Chocolate frosted sugar bombs? How about a serving of profundity from an 8 yr. old?

Here's the two scoops:

Two kiddos eating breakfast while I’m at the computer trying to capture some deep thoughts. I’m barely aware of one of the kids playing a few chords of “Here Comes the Bride” on the keyboard. Then my ears perk up:

“Maybe you’ll understand kissing when you’re older.”
(6 yr.old Fifi)

“You don’t understand it. You just play around with it.”
(8 yr. old Ninja Boy)

“It’s not an it. It’s an…(searching for a way to explain kissing)….it’s an it.” (Fifi)

Ninja Boy’s comment almost knocks me out of my chair. For one, it completely fits with what I’m trying to write about. As if that’s not enough, it’s a stand alone comment that fits many issues.

“You don’t understand it.You just play around with it.” Faith. Marriage. Sex. Nuclear science. That's the short list.

What a way to start the day. 

When to Write a Book

from Charles Colson, Being the Body, p. IX:

"...books are the product of a process.
    They begin with what we read and study and think about; they are influenced by thinkers and mentors, as well as the trials and joys of personal experience. Gradually, ideas begin to emerge. Some ripen into convictions. And at some point in the process, we even dare to think, This could be a book...
    But even at that point, writers don't have the luxury of retreating into solitude.  Books get written in the midst of living."

Blogs also get written in the midst of living. For me, that means setting my timer for 10 minutes and writing. As conflicts erupt in the kichen I call out, "Use your skills (parenting with Napolean)...use your manners to solve problems."

The timer is 5 10 minutes expired. I'm done.

Vertigo Thinking

When you don't have time to write a post....

"Lights go down, it's dark
The jungle is your head
Can't rule your heart
A feeling is so much stronger than
A thought
Your eyes are wide
And though your soul
It can't be bought
Your mind can wander

Hello, hello
I'm at a place called Vertigo
It's everything I wish I didn't know
Except you give me something I can feel, feel"

from U2's "Vertigo" (Lyrics by Bono with The Edge)

My mind often wanders & gets tangled, I know my soul can't be bought. Actually, it already has been bought. (Thank you, Jesus.) It can't be bought again.

Now my mind, that's a different story. With all the information available today it's easy to get vertigo, even if you only read "Christian" things. When you add differing worldviews into the mix, you can get even dizzier.

So, what's a Christian to do? Isolate? Assimilate? Don't suffocate on you own hate. (Don't have time to go for the whole Bob Dylan/INXS reference.)

Be in the world but not of the world. Abide in Him. Renew my mind.  (That's the short version.)

And now, for the last lines from "Vertigo"  (Italics mine)

"I can feel Your love teaching me how
Your love is teaching me how, how to kneel..."

Anxiety & freedom...

Jollyblogger posted about "Information Paralysis" (Having so many choices for information you  can't  think. )  I took the opportunity to respond w/a comment about my previous post.

“Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.” – Soren Kierkegaard

In my little world, the issue of freedom and anxiety seem to keep popping up:

The quote above is from the April 11, 2005 issue of Forbes. 

March 4, 2005 Nightline did a piece on “The Mommy Mystique” based on Judith Warner’s “Perfect Madness – Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety”. Many of the mom’s she spoke with were upper middle class moms who had the freedom of so many choices; they were overwhelmed with their lives. The mom who has to work 3 jobs to support her and her children doesn’t have the same anxiety.

What about the recent adult ADD commercials? I wonder how many people are truly ADD. Just yesterday I had to really FOCUS and remind myself to get the table clean for school without getting distracted by all the other jobs I needed to do, I’m not ADD. I just needed to train my brain. I know that some people truly are ADD. How many think they are ADD but are just overwhelmed with their freedom? (I just noticed that tv spots, but CNN did an article about it 2 years ago.)

Then there's me. (I keep popping up in my world!)

I have few external demands on my life, outside of the fact that I home school my four children. (Even that is done w/out many external demands…Texas lets parents educate their children with minimal restrictions.) So why do I experience “activity paralysis”? Why do I get so overwhelmed with the amount of things I need to do, should do and want to do that it makes me just want to nap. (No, I’m not depressed!) Personally, I just need to focus on my vision, use wisdom and pray.

How do we navigate our world of information, choices, and freedom?

It can be overwhelming. It requires understanding of your vision, wisdom and focus. Thankfully, God gives wisdom freely to those who ask. He also gives grace and mercy. (Whew!) It’s up to us to use them.

"Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom." Soren Kierkegaard

What are you anxious about today?  Would you have those same worries if you weren't free?

Prisoners don't worry about what they will wear, getting to work on time, or running errands.

Be thankful for your freedom.

What to do if you are anxious, even though you're thankful for your freedom?  Talk to God.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  Phillipians 4:6-7 (NAS)   Take a look at the other versions, too.