Reactions to story from Time

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  Inspiration is an Excuse

  http://learntoduck.com/micah/inspiration-excuse
  30 days ago in Micah Baldwin on Succeeding Through Failing: Startups and Entrepreneurship · Authority: 109

  That’s right. Inspiration is as much as an excuse as being drunk. “I would have never grabbed your boob if I wasnt drunk. (I would have thought about it for sure!)” “I would have spent a couple of hours writing, but I wasnt inspired.” bleh. Writers write. Thats it. Fear is a driver of excuses. You dont write (or do whatever) because you fear the outcome. Or the lack of an outcome. Or the quality of the work. Or the reaction to the work. But inspiration doesnt do the writing, or excuse the lack of it. Writes write. I am learning that I might actually be a writer. Maybe not a great one. I wont turn a phrase or describe a situation, or formulate characters with the same verve or expertise of the great writers. But, I do write. For the past couple of days, I havent written as much as I would as like. But, writers write. I said I was waiting for inspiration. But, that was a lie. I just was afraid that what I was writing wasnt very good. So, I was uninspired. Today, I decided that I would get back to it. I started Tweeting a little. It’s a like a rapid fire warmup. Drop a couple of thoughts in 140 characters. Got some feedback; a little interaction. The more I tweeted, the more thoughts came through my head. Then I opened up this blog, and started writing this post. It started slowly. It was hard to go, but now, my words, thoughts and fingers seem to be moving at the right pace. I cant wait to finish this post so I can get back to my book. But, every thought should be complete, so I write this to completion. Writers write. Its what we do. E.L. Doctrow, one of my favorite authors, (take a moment to read The Book of Daniel), has a couple of quotes about writing (he is also an accomplished professor): Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. and Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader—not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon. Of course, my favorite American writer, Mark Twain adds: Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. Even when that person is you. Writers write. Leave the inspiration for those that need it. Related articles by Zemanta Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered — either by themselves or by others. I would have sent a tweet, but didn’t have time so I blogged Mark Twain: Our Original Superstar True writers die, they don’t retire, 9 qualities no true writer should be without [IMG Reblog this post [with Zemanta]]
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  The Pursuit of Symbolic Purity

  http://www.evavavoom.com/2008/08/17/the-pursuit-of-symbolic-...
  107 days ago in Sex is FREE! · Authority: 1

  I have been reading Time Magazine for almost 20 years. Sure the format has dumbed down in the past 10 years making more room for bite size new à la USA Today but it’s still my main source of long form written information. Every issue brings something surprising and thought provoking. I have loved the recent profiles of Bill Gates, Mark Twain and Nelson Mandela. I just got around to reading The Pursuit of Putity (July 17th.) On the Time.com website the article is titled The Pursuit Of Teen Girl Purity. Maybe Time.com employs CNN’s sex keyword combination SEO expert. This article is very interesting and my favorite quote is from one of the fathers at a ball covered by the reporter, his name is David Diefenderfer. “I never planned to have nine children by seven women” This phrase opens a huge can of WTF!?!1! How can you not plan to have 9 children by 7 women. While it’s certainly not as hard to get 7 women pregnant 9 times as birthing and raising 9 children, it still takes some involvement. Thirty eight years ago, this man had sex with a virgin who immediately got pregnant. This unplanned event produced his oldest daughter, Juliet, who is also quoted in the article. Juliet and I have much in common being the result of unplanned parenthood. I truly feel that if teenagers got comprehensive education on sex AND sexuality AND adulthood they would most likely make the right choices for themselves. Sex is an unfair burden for teenagers and young adults so making a purity pledge is not a bad idea in itself but it falls into this proven inefficient system of “abstinence” If I can divulge a big secret about sex here is that it pretty much sucks until you get good at it or find someone decent to do it with. This will most likely not happen until you are in your twenties or later. Sex is a long term investment however it has a lot of risks attached to it making it a bad use of your time, espescially when you are a teen. Sex is an important part of life and my recommendation to abstain from having sex when you are a teen has absolutely no relation to religion or morality and everything to do with long term life strategy. The other secret is that not everyone is doing it. I have had sex with virgin guys (from late teens to early thirties) over the past 20 years. What I have noticed is that the longer a guy waits to have sex, the better his satisfaction is with the resulting “sex life” (and I draw from my conversations with guys in general because I do like to ask those kinds of questions!) I have also chatted with guys who are around 20 and think it is scandalous that they are still a virgin. What they think is unusual is actually quite normal. Plus it only means that once they find that awesome person to have sex with it will likely be much more satisfying. I have also known someone who was promiscuous as a teen and developed a huge amount of guilt and hang ups about sex. It was as if he did not understand sexuality beyond the use of his genitals. He never talked about sex other than to criticize or judge and would be too self-conscious or ashamed to dare plan sex in the future. Then he would suddenly want to have sex at the most inopportune time completely unprepared! This is how he got his girlfriend pregnant when he was 17. I wonder if he will have 9 children by 7 women. And because I quote a guy out of context above, I am reprinting the whole passage from the article so you can enjoy it as well. Out on the terrace under an almost moon, the black swans have vanished into the lake. David Diefenderfer has slipped outside for a cigarette; he’s a leathery South Dakotan in a big black cowboy hat, and he hands over his card. HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL: BREEDER SERVICE, it says, with a picture of a syringe. He’s in the cattle-reproduction business. He’s also the father of nine children by seven women. Three of his daughters are with him tonight, including 10-year-old Taylor. I asked what purity means to her. “I don’t really know,” she says, and she’s shy about talking about all this. “But it means you make a promise to your dad to be a virgin until you are married and not have a lot of boyfriends.” That’s what her oldest half sister Juliet was taught as well; she remembers hearing how her mother got pregnant the very first time she had sex. Juliet is now 37 and has come from Reno, Nev., where she works for Microsoft Licensing. She has watched the evening unfold with some skepticism. “I think I’m finding I’m more of a feminist than I thought,” she says with a sly smile. “I had a hard time there hearing about ‘rescuing’ our girls. I was brought up to be a strong woman. Why would I need rescuing?” It’s the boys who she thinks need help these days. “It’s great for girls to have a Cinderella night with Dad, but families still need a good strong father role model,” she says. The role-model question is tender for her. “I didn’t have that–no offense, Dad,” she says, and then she looks hard at him. “But my siblings do. He really stepped up to the plate. He’s a great dad now. I say that with a tinge of jealousy. I’m not afraid to admit it.” Her father hopes his kids will learn from his mistakes. “I never planned to have nine children by seven women,” he says. “I believe it’s necessary to instill a set of values, give them tools to make good decisions.” But he won’t be there to help. Juliet explains when he goes back inside the ballroom to catch up to the younger girls: “We’re sort of here on borrowed time,” she says. David Diefenderfer has Stage 4 inoperable lung cancer; they figure tonight is something of a gift. “He won’t be at their wedding,” Juliet says, looking into the glowing room, “but they can look back and remember the dance they had tonight.” From The Pursuit of Teen Girl Purity, Nancy Gibbs, Time Magazine, July 17, 2008.
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  United States

  http://bookpaths.typepad.com/bookpaths/2008/08/united-states...
  120 days ago in Donna McIlvaine · Authority: 5

  The July 14th edition of Time (yes, I’m way behind in my reading) celebrated Mark Twain as part of its “Making of America” series, with an introduction by Richard Stengel, and articles by Richard Lacayo, Roy Blount, Jr., Jackson Dykman, and Stephen L. Carter. Whether Twin was talking about racism at home, the foreign misadventures of the Western powers or excesses of the era of greed he initially flourished in after the Civil War, his target was always human folly and hypocrisy, which turn out to be perennial topics for further study. – from “America’s Original Superstar,” by Roy Blount Jr., Time
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  Your Samuel, My Samuel: Our Debt to Mark Twain

  http://writechic.wordpress.com/2008/08/02/your-samuel-my-sam...
  122 days ago in WriteChic Press · Authority: 36

  Samuel the Writer, Samuel the kid named after the writer A piece in the July 14, 2008 edition of Time magazine reminded me of a personal debt I owe to Mark Twain and his poison pen.   Huckleberry Finn was the literary character to blame for my sneaking off to fish and romp along the mighty Mississippi in Algiers, Louisiana.  In my heart I knew I did not need Mom’s permission to be Huck.  (Though I concede, I took her advice and brought the doberman, Sadie.  I was 10 or 11.)   My gratitude effused into my adult life with the naming of my third child, Samuel. The Time articles reminded me of another reason to be thankful to the great American writer.  Anybody who blogs honors Mark Twain’s raison d’etre.  Railing against, poking fun at, and calling out the powers that be is a blogger’s bread and butter.  That’s what Mark Twain did.  Remember the excoriation of James Fenimore Cooper and his Literary Offenses?  How about The Battle Hymn of the Republic (brought down to date)?  He also ruthlessly abraded racism in America through the soulful treatment of Jim in Huckleberry Finn and the comedy of errors in Pudd’nhead Wilson.  While I love Steven Benen’s, analogy of bloggers to American Revolutionary Pamphleteers, I cannot discount Twain’s influence and example as a standard bearer. Mark Twain was mocked by hoity-toity poet and cultural critic Matthew Arnold who lamented “the addiction to the ‘funny man’ who is the national misfortune there.”  Bloggers are criticized as guys named Vinnie, Cheetos-eating, pajama-wearing, and living in their moms’ basements all around America.  Flout the status quo, speak truth to power, goose the powers that be, and the insults fly. Time wraps up their bit on Twain: But old Mark, unvarnished, might be too hot for cable, even, today.”  -Roy Blount, Jr. And I’ll wrap up mine, “Thank God America had Mark Twain.” And just because my boys are competitive, here’s my fourth child Tristan, named as I reveled in “How the Irish Saved Civilization” by Thomas Cahill… When I read HTISC, I learned about the lost language Pictish, and subsequently, named Tristan for the Pictish Prince Updated to reflect Time, Not Newsweek! Thank you, Blue Gal, Saving me from myself!
• 

  True-Hearted

  http://aholyexperience.com/2008/07/true-hearted.html
  125 days ago in Holy Experience · Authority: 368

  I hadn’t expected to catch a glimpse of Your heart in the dentist’s office, waiting, those two teen girls snapping gum and popping bubbles there across from my chair, but then again, aren’t You always the Surprising One? I wasn’t staring at them, hadn’t even really taken notice of them, those words in book from the library entrancing and leading me on. It was only a quiet snickering that made me look up from the page. The brunette with hair twisted high, glistening blue shadow shimmering on eyelids, she’s moves hand with French manicured nails up to cup mouth, shielding words whispered to the blonde in clingy red t-shirt. Then the blonde’s eyes search about, directed by hushed prattling, and land on the lap beside me. My son’s lap. Her hand flashes to hide the smirk. I follow her gaze. Eldest has a book in his lap. Across the glossy yellow paperback’s cover, emblazoned in a bold, black font is the scintillating title poking this chic duo to muffled guffawing. William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream. I stifle my own happy smile. He too has brought his own library reading. Son doesn’t even notice the scoffing because he’s scanning the headlines of the strewn magazines, dentist subscriptions to distract patients in cue for pain. “The Dangerous Mind of Mark Twain”? He’s incredulous and snaps up the Times Magazine. “Mark Twain didn’t have a dangerous mind!” He’s muttering to himself as he flips pages looking for the article, oblivious to me, to the world sitting here in his orb, hearing the whirring gears of his mind. Scornful laugh again escapes shimmery brunette who jabs voluptuous blonde and she rolls her eyes and I watch them spurn my son. My heart could burst. He’s being rejected for the things he’s inherited from me, for being true to and identifying with things close to my heart. For being unashamed of who he is as part of our quirky family with this fascination with words. And I have never loved him more than in that moment. I reach over and touch this son of mine, rub his back, wanting to somehow transfer the delight I feel for him into his skin, his soul. And the realization made me catch my breath: Is this the rush of love You feel when a child of Yours is true to You? “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven." ~Mt. 10:32 Photo: true-hearted Caleb
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  A classic

  http://hapilly.blogspot.com/2008/07/classic.html
  132 days ago in hapilly ever after · Authority: 4

  As a told my dentist the other day, I didn't read Wuthering Heights because I was in a class requiring it, I read it because I hadn't read enough classics lately. (He couldn't really understand.) I started reading it about a year ago, couldn't figure out what the first 3 chapters had to do with Catherine and Heathcliff, so I gave up. I picked up again about 3 months ago, and thought the same thing, two months ago I started pushing along even with that thought. I really enjoyed it by the time I got to about chapter 10 but I've been very busy so it took me a while. I was very impressed with Emily Bronte. I didn't think I could be drawn into Catherine and Heathcliff's romance but she did a phenomenal job in my opinion and I was. The wannabe psychologist in my found Heathcliff's actions fascinated-- how well Bronte allowed him to manipulate people. She wrote his character in such a way it was very believable. The recent books I've been reading (before this) have been cute and fun, but the novels were definitely missing something that Bronte captured. I won't spoil it, but I never expected an ending like she wrote. I enjoyed Bronte's slightly darker writing. I don't like horror, or murders, or things like that, but I do enjoy slightly darker Victorian writing. And in case you haven't realize yet, I really enjoy the satire of Victorian lit. Speaking of satire, I found Time Magazine's, issue about Mark Twain very interesting. I wanted to take my grandfather's copy and have my husband read the articles. (and here) If you are interested in satire, American lit, politics, or any combination of the three, I would recommend the articles. Whether you agree with the author's of the articles or not they still bring up interesting points.
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  Time and Twain

  http://americanfiction.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/time-and-twa...
  127 days ago in Mark Athitakis' American Fiction Notes · Authority: 31

  I confess I missed Time magazine’s recent big to-do over Mark Twain, partly because it spurs some guilt. Mr. Clemens isn’t exactly a blind spot in my reading—I’ve read the essential novels, and more than a handful of short stories and essays—but I’ve also missed plenty, and I wasn’t much in the mood for a reminder when Time’s cover package came out. David Kipen’s approving blog post on Time’s efforts notes that I have plenty of cheats when it comes to catching up on Twain—particularly twainquotes.com, which has an entire page dedicated to quotes on Teddy Roosevelt alone. Kipen’s post also notes that, news to me, Jane Smiley prefers Uncle Tom’s Cabin to Huckleberry Finn. Smiley clarified this point in a 1998 interview: People seem to remember my saying that Huck Finn is a lesser novel than Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and that Uncle Tom’s Cabin should be taken as the greatest American novel. I didn’t say that. I just said that I didn’t think Huck Finn was the greatest novel ever written and that Uncle Tom’s Cabin was better than its reputation.

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