A Writer Writes

Scott Keene a writer in the Long Beach, CA. Library Writing Group. His writing many of you have read on this site and communicated to me how much you enjoyed it.

You now can read more of him at your leisure, and for those of you who have wondered about our writing process, can also go to Scott’s new blog pages where he goes into easy to understand descriptions of how we come up with what we write.

So as Scott says, “he will use blog space to write about his writing….to write scenes. He creates a mood, places an image in the reader's mind and let the imagination do the rest…. You might get a glimpse of another person's life, but only for a few moments. You're left with an impression.

Happy or sad. Disturbed or terrified. Perhaps completely disinterested.

But, this blogger hopes, never bored."

You can find more of Scott's work on his blog page somelikeitscott
 

My Favorite Bar By Marni Spencer-Devlin

"Something unique and outside of the box done by one of the exceptional writers of the  Long Beach Library Coffeehouse's, Writing Group - Author MarniSpencer-Devlin. who took the writing prompt of the day,  called 'My Favorite Bar'-  and made it her own."

- Calvin Harris, H.W.,M

Photo by Artisit Juan Coronado

What makes a bar a favorite? In most cases it isn’t the beautiful or stylish interior, is it? Most bars are quite the opposite of stylish, or even clean, for that matter. Sticky floors, sticky counters, sticky toilets – everything most people would abhor in their regular life so what can make a bar a favorite place to be? It’s the people. Cheers had it right – the place where everybody knows your name. Where people know you and your foibles, and they still want to hang out with you! The place where you feel accepted and maybe even appreciated for being you. It doesn’t get any better than that. It’s what life is really all about.

For me that place isn’t really even a bar. It’s the Library – and it’s not a library either. It’s a funny excuse for a coffee house with mismatched furniture and a perpetually stinky, unisex bathroom. But it’s the place where my beloved writer buddies hang out with me. Once a week, or as often as we can. But when it comes together it’s the best day of the week.

Photo by Calvin Harris

Writing is a funny thing when it’s done right. It’s an intimate, bare-all, no-holds-barred, kind-of-thing. Where you put yourself out there, courageously, and you write what’s in your soul for all the world to see. It could be a scary place but it is isn’t when you’re around a group of similar miscreants who similarity put themselves out there with courage and talent and heart and soul. It’s the stuff that life is made of. Most don’t ever get to experience that much fun. Because they don’t have the guts to go there. Because they make excuses not to. But my buddies make time and show up and are there. And I appreciate them all so much and they me.

Ironic that all that would be found in a usually dark, dank, sticky place with crooked furniture. Life’s messy, I guess. Isn’t that what makes it so fun, after all?

The Urge for New Adventures

2016 - It's a Whole New Year

Hey Guys, Aloha !

This month’s feature story is about the sensations and the exploration of pushing your personal boundaries into territories unknown. Now hold that groaning, you couch potatoes, I am not talking about scaling Mount Everest, so go ahead and take that breathe, that sigh of relieve. But did you feel that surge of adrenaline, when I first suggested pushing boundaries, enacting some goals for 2016. You know, to start to make a difference, would not take some big effort or a lot of time to achieve something new. You could actually make a significant difference by enacting a small change. that could have a ripple effect. The key is to decide that you are going to do an activity that you’d never done before.  I did not say this activity was perhaps what countless other people have done, and really quite often, I said, do what you have not done before. Well yes, I do have some suggestions, thank you for asking.

TAKE A SELFIE…in various poses, place, OR with people that you have not done it with before….I would suggest ‘Nutscaping’ being the last resort and perhaps reserved for only some of you more adventurous prankers.

DOWNLOADING A SONG ON A TABLET OR PHONE…One that you normally would never download, but you sing in your head all the time.

ASK FOR DIRECTIONS…maybe help from a wife, girlfriend, male friend husband, you decide who.

SMILE AT PEOPLE…yup, even folks you don’t know… Yes, there is no telling what will happen, if you do that.

So here we are - me coming along and challenging you to set your intentions, to come up with things to do, things that will extend your personal boundaries, and take you into territories of your unknown.

You know awhile back, at some Halloween party, I found myself in conversation with this guy, talking about Social Media.  I said: “Well I’m on Facebook.”  He said, “Dude, you need to be on INSTAGRAM, on TUMBLR.”  I just let the conversation die, but a few weeks later in the New York Times, there was this story “Web Poets’ Society: New Breed Succeeds in Taking Verse Viral.”  It was about a guy named Tyler Knott Gregson; he was an amateur poet who became a best-selling poet and celebrity, thanks to his combined 560,000 followers on Instagram and Tumblr. According to that November 2015 Times article, Gregson’s first poetry book, Chasers of the Light, had 120,000 copies in print. That’s outrageous! His next book, All the Words Are Yours, had the first printing of 100,000. That is even more outrageous.  The possibilities reel in my head because I’m writing a book and to think of having that many people waiting to buy my book, wow, cowabunga.

Well enough about me. Ideas to move you along or that might inspire you into action might come to you from the days of the week. Such as in March there are some bizarre and wacky things that have been given days to celebrate.  What better month to take action in than the Man’s action month of March! (Well, you did know March was named after the Roman God "Mars"?)
I have a list by the day of some of my favorite wacky days.

March 2016 Daily Special Wacky Days:

1 National Pig Day
2 Old Stuff Day
3 I Want You to be Happy Day
3 If Pets Had Thumbs Day
4 Holy Experiment Day
4 Hug a GI Day
5 Multiple Personality Day
6 National Frozen Food Day
7 National Crown Roast of Pork Day
8 Be Nasty Day
8 International (Working) Women's Day
9 Panic Day
10 Popcorn Lover's Day second Thursday
11 Worship of Tools Day - guys, you can relate
12 Girl Scouts Day
13 Ear Muff Day
14 National Potato Chip Day
14 National Pi Day- Why today? Because today is 3.14, the value of Pi.
15 Everything You Think is Wrong Day
15 Ides of March –  Et Tu, Brute?
15 Dumbstruck Day
16 Everything You Do is Right Day
16 Freedom of Information Day
17 Submarine Day – be original the hero sandwich or the boat??
17 Saint Patrick's Day
18 Goddess of Fertility Day
18 National Agriculture Day (date varies)
19 Poultry Day
20 International Earth Day
20 Extraterrestrial Abductions Day
20 Proposal Day
21 Fragrance Day
22 National Goof Off Day
23 National Chip and Dip Day
23 Near Miss Day
24 National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day
25 Waffle Day
26 Make Up Your Own Holiday Day
26 National Spinach Day
27 National "Joe" Day
28 Something on a Stick Day
29 National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day
29 Smoke and Mirrors Day
30 I am in Control Day
30 Take a Walk in the Park Day
31 Bunsen Burner Day
31 National Clam on the Half Shell Day

So go ahead, give one of these a shot. It’s all about you finding out something new about yourself in a fun way.  It shouldn’t be terribly tough to do, and like Elbert Hubbard, the early 1900’s writer and artist said: “The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.”
 
Aloha . . .