Ornery ramblings of a former political science professor turned author
Jonathon LaForce, poet, former Marine, father, and good man, sent me this and asked me to publish it on the blog. Thank you, sir, for your service, and for sharing this… Myrmidon Tears “Para…
Source: Myrmidon Tears
From Jonathon to Cedar to my blog…This is wonderful. Thank you Jonathon for your service and this poem.
This morning as my husband and I were having our coffee and talking about the news (yes, we’re nerdy that way), I commented that what we are looking at in the U.S. is an attempt at dynastic rule by the Democratic party. The current heads of the Democratic Party are attempting to set things up so that there will always and forever be a Democrat in power in the White House, and Democrat control of both chambers of Congress. When you remember that Democrats are convinced that they hold the moral high ground over Republicans, you can see why they think this is a necessary thing (even if the rest of us strongly disagree). The Democratic party is a cross between a classic monarchical dynasty and a mafia “family.”
Continue reading “A Democratic Mafia Family Dynasty”
We are in Week 20 of More Odds Than Ends prompts. Just like last year, I am being pushed in new and different directions with these prompts. It’s fun and keeps my mind stretching and in a creative mode. This is important for me as I’ve never really considered myself to be all that creative. I have had spurts in the past, but figured that was just sheer dumb luck. But now, with two books (that appear to be well-received) under my belt, I’m thinking that I’m more creative than I’ve given myself credit for. We’ll see.
Continue reading “Patterns”
Words have meaning. That meaning can change either over time or by deliberate interference in the language by internal or external forces. Words that change meaning, or appear and disappear over time aren’t really a problem. That’s a fairly organic process. But when the change is introduced on purpose, that’s when we run into trouble. Does it matter when words change meaning? Does it matter if activists or the powers that be determine that certain words are no longer accepted for use in polite society? I’m not talking about derogatory words or slurs, but rather ordinary words. Words like riot or protest or insurrection…
Continue reading “The Meaning of Words”
Here we are at Week 19 at More Odds Than Ends. A story appears to be working its way into these prompts so I’m rolling with it. I am sort of at loose ends, but not really. I’ve discovered that the same feeling I had when I sent off an article to a journal – well, that’s done, now I can ignore the rest – is occurring when I finish a book or short story. I just sent in my submission for a YA anthology and mentally brushed my hands off and promptly went down rabbit holes of reading for fun, random research that may or may not prove useful later on, and general farting around. So then this prompt shows up and my brain went “Oh! A new story! That’s ever so much fun!” Whatever, brain. Just stop. We have other things to finish first.
Continue reading “Invasion”
Understanding and Misunderstanding Freedom By Professor Ornery Dragon The other day a friend on FB posted a meme/captured Twitter thread about a woman who had been through the wringer with a medica…
Source: Understanding and Misunderstanding Freedom- By Professor Ornery Dragon
I have a guest post over at According to Hoyt.
This week’s prompt took me in a rather odd direction, but I think it will fit in with a couple of others that appear to be gelling into a new, interesting, albeit slightly dark world. I don’t really want to take the time to follow up on this right now, but who knows…it may shove its way to the front of the line. I am learning that this so-called creative process is really an amalgam of random thoughts, spurred by random things, that evolves into a story. Others have talked about having evil muses, or flighty muses. I’m starting to think I have an ADD muse…look! Shiny squirrel! Ooh! New story!
Continue reading “Dragon Fire”
Last week was a good week and this week is shaping up pretty nicely as well. Some plans have not matured as expected and some have completely died. But, we’re moving forward and trusting that everything will work out. This weeks’ prompt response speaks to plans, albeit of a different sort. Sometimes plans are created well ahead of time and are full thought out. Other times, plans are created on the fly, and sometimes it’s a fifty-fifty sort of thing. In life I think I’m working the fifty-fifty option. In writing, I’d like to think I’m ahead of the game.
Continue reading “Plans”
It’s become fashionable, and is even seen as moral, to label people who use “Chinese virus” or “WuFlu” as racists. The (less than logical) argument is that by identifying an illness by its point of origin, one is implying that the people of that country are to blame, or are all carriers of, that illness. The pretzel shape of that argument is amazing. What all the screaming misses is that the names are aimed at the government of China, not the Chinese people. Yes, yes. I know that there are the usual morons physically and verbally attacking Asians. Trust me, those people would be attacking others regardless of what the illness is called. Those attackers are what we call “criminals.” People who commit crimes, like for instance, attacking elderly people because those elderly are a different race.
Continue reading “Governments, People, and Labels”