Children and Guns

Children and Guns: The Hidden Toll

An article in the September 28, 2013, NY Times.

. . . . .

When I was eleven, I spent the summer on my uncle’s farm. My cousin, Bob, was one year older than I.

One Tuesday afternoon in late June, my uncle and aunt had gone into town to shop. Bob and I finished cleaning the milk house and went up to the house for a drink of K0ol-Aid.

My aunt’s sister was moving and has stored some of her furniture is a room just off the dining room. Bob went into the room and began looking through dresser drawers. A little later he called to me, “Come in here.”

When I walked into the room, Bob was pointing a revolver at me. “Stick ’em up.”

Startled, I tried to move to my left. Bob laughed and the noise from the “unloaded” .22 pistol sounded like a cannon in the small room. The bullet went past my right side, in and out of a mattress and made a dent in the plaster wall.

After the initial shock, we replaced the empty casing with a fresh cartridge, placed the gun in the draw where Bob had found it, tried to make the little holes in the mattress littler, turned the mattress so that the hole were hidden by a dresser, picked out the dented wallpaper, and aired out the room.

When my uncle and aunt returned, they were pleased to find us in the barn spreading feed for the afternoon milking.

That was one episode we never talked about.

Scandinavian Crime Fiction and Henning Mankell

Scandinavian crime fiction is a unique subset of the crime fiction genre. Whether the authors are from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Greenland or Iceland, the characters all seem to be “everyday” people with all their flaws. The heroes and heroines have flaws and changing moods as so many of the readers. They struggle to make sense of their personal lives as much as the crimes they are trying to solve.

Scandinavians have published crime fiction novels for many years, but the popularity of these writers in America is a more recent phenomenon. Just when one believes the Scandinavians were broadly recognized here is a matter of whether one was first attracted by Henning Mankkell and his Kurt Wallar around 2002 or by Stieg Larsson and the first book of his trilogy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, in 2008.

For me, Henning Mankell is the most important of the Scandinavian writers. While Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is, I believe, the very best of the many, many books by the Scandinavians that I have read, I find that as an author Henning Makell stands out with his long list of well written and compelling novels over a long and continuing period of time.

For one that likes to write, Mankell has much to say, and he is very accessible through his website  and regularly on Facebook.

In a video produced by The Telegraph, Makell answered the question, and this is the reason for this post, “How do you write a good crime fiction novel?”

Mankell said, somewhat paraphrased:

“You have to yearn to tell someone a story. You can’t tell the story to yourself, you must have the urge to tell it to someone else.

“You have to have your own language. And to develop that language you have to read. When I was young, if I read something I really liked, I would write the passages myself. But, what is important is that you read, read, read.”

“And you have to write a lot. You have to keep writing recognizing that much of it is crap and you should throw it away.”

“Finally, you must never, never give up!

VIA French Roast Coffee and Starbucks’ Sleight of Hand

Now you see it, now you don’t; then it is back again – or is it? Has Starbucks practiced a bit of léger de main, sleight of hand, on its French Roast VIA users?

For those that are unfamiliar with VIA, it is an instant coffee in a single cup packet that tastes as good as fresh brewed coffee. It really does!  I have found the VIA cups of coffee as good as the same roast in a Starbucks’ coffee shops and sometimes better because of their consistency.

As a writer, having the right cup of coffee about eight inches to the right of my keyboard is an important part of the writing process. Being hot, lukewarm or really cool doesn’t matter, but being there and being good does. A cup of VIA French Roast is perfect; easily refilled, always consistent, never a distraction.

After a couple of years, this special cup of coffee becomes an essential element of the thought process. Then, recently, it was time to reorder; but French Roast had disappeared from the VIA list.  Italian Roast was in abundance, but I remembered that it was not as satisfying.  What to do – try Italian – go back to brewing coffee from the local Bean Factory French roast?

Then, like magic, French Roast returned to the VIA line up. But was it the old, always dependable roast. The package that had contained twelve cups looked the same, but the description seemed to be modified.

Most noticeable was that the price for the package has dropped $2. But, the cups per package had also been reduced from twelve to eight. The price of the coffee had been raised about 20%. Not unusual, or unexpected, these days. Coffee prices have certainly been on the rise.

But, why the magician act – the léger de main? You saw it, then you didn’t, now it is back again. But, is it the same? Not quite. Now, there is a package that costs 10% less while each drink it holds cost 33% more.

Not really magic. Just a merchandising trick. I guess I expected better from Starbucks.

Banned Book Week – September 22 -28, 2013

 Banned Book Week
2013
September 22 – 28

The 31st Banned Book Week begins next Sunday – September 22 – 28. It was established in 1982 by the  national book community  as an annual celebration of the freedom to read. Booksellers, librarians, publishers and authors collaborate in this national program, which aims to draw attention to the problem of censorship.

In those 31 years, over 12,000 books have been challenged according to the American Library Association by narrow-minded people. The Library of Congress put together an exhibit titled, “Books that Shaped America.” It contains books that “have had a profound effect on American life.” A few of the books in the exhibit that have been banned or challenged are Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jack London’s The Call of the Wild, and J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. For a discussion of the entire list read Banned Books that Shaped America.

One of the original participants in Banned Book Week is City Lights Booksellers and Publishers of San Francisco . City Lights was founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin. It was an integral part in developing the life-long social philosophies of many coming of age at that time. Many of its books were social “bibles” that could not be found elsewhere in the United States. City Lights celebrated its 60th birthday this summer. The Dangerous Minds blog posted a short history of the bookstore and a photo of Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and friends in front of City Lights in 1956.

Lady Liberty Weeps

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” …Emma Lazarus

The tall Lady Liberty  has called out her message to the world and welcomed strangers and returning citizens for 127 years; the torch bearer and symbol of American freedom, compassion and promise.

My parents took me topside to see her when we retuned from Europe in the mid-thirties. Their pride in being Americans was unbounded in that moment. It was less than forty years earlier my grandparents had looked at the Lady as they were completing their journey to a new life.

My grandparents left German Pomerania to escape a life of never ending poverty in answer to the call of Lady Liberty. In mid-America they found work as gardeners, had a house, small vegetable garden and chickens, and raised a family of ten. The next generation went to school, fought for America in the Great War, worked in factories and had dairy farms. Their children, the third generation of Americans, went on to college to become engineers and other professionals.

The Lady kept her promise to my grandparents and millions of other immigrants.

But, that was America then. Did the horror of September 11, 2001, bring about the basic change in America and Lady Liberty’s call to homeless and oppressed. Probably not; hopefully, not. It did, however, unlock the fears and paranoia of several million Americans and our politics, welfare and freedom have not been the same since that day.  Lady Liberty and her message have become an inconvenient embarrassment to many. Immigrants are seen as much of the problem.

Charles Blow of the New York Times described this new America in an August 9 article.

“…I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

No more.

Today’s America — at least as measured by the actions and inactions of the pariahs who roam its halls of power and the people who put them there — is insular, cruel and uncaring.

In this America, people blame welfare for creating poverty rather than for mitigating the impact of it.  “Too much welfare that prevents initiative.”

In this America, the House can — as it did in July — pass a farm bill that left out the food stamp program at a time when a record number of Americans, nearly 48 million, are depending on the benefits.

In this America, a land of immigrants, comprehensive immigration reform can be stalled in The People’s Branch of government, and anti-reform mouthpieces like Ann Coulter and Pat Buchanan can warn that immigration reform will be the end of the country.

With 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the shadows of American society, one would think that comprehensive immigration reform would be a most important issue to resolve, and quickly.

No, War has dominated and influenced the American psyche.  On this 12^th anniversary of Nine-eleven, Americans have thought, planned and sent our young men and women to fight in wars for all of those twelve years. And it seems to have poisoned our compassion and reason. Like addicts, most Americans are weary of war, but can’t seem to leave it behind.

Now, the President that we elected in 2008, with the hope of many, to bring peace and reason back, has pushed aside a promising new effort for immigration reform to use all his energy for another war.

The Lady can do nothing but weep.

When is a line a box? The Obama dilemma.

A little over a year ago, President Obama drew a “red line” for the Syrian Assad regime. In  remarks on August 20, 2012, he said,

“We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus. That would change my equation.”

At the time it seemed an unscripted, offhand remark; just a bit of ‘tough-guy” emphasis. Then, a few weeks ago it appeared that Assad crossed the line. In moments, an off-hand remark by the greatest American orator since JFK became what will, in all likelihood, the most memorable line of his eight years as president.

In moments, the “red line” morphed into a “box.” Obama was boxed in by his remark, left by his ego with only one way to go… rain missals down on Assad.

Soon, especially when his British friend jumped out of the box, it became lonely in there. About eighty percent of the world thought Obama had a bad idea. In fact, about eighty percent of the American people thought he had a bad idea. Sure, it is a bad thing to gas your own people; in fact anyone. And it is against international law. But maybe there is a better way to handle this than blowing things and people up with missals.

In need of company, Obama pulled Congress into the box with him. The representatives of the people should decide. The problem is that he wants them to say, “Do it.” However, the people still say, “Let’s find a better way than War; yet another War. Can’t use the U.N. and War Crimes courts? Can’t we get back to jobs, bridges, better education, and what seems will be the biggest loser, immigration reform?”

Sadly, the missals will probably rain down on Assad and we will find out what “limited” means and what unintended consequences will emerge and for how many months or years.

I feel “the people” will have little effect on what will happen.

 

Rising from the Ashes, yet again

..

Once more… I am calling upon the ancient Phoenix, that ancient bird who periodically regenerates itself from its ashes, to restart this blog. Twice before, in October 2010 and September 2012, he performed his mysterious rite for me.

Yesterday, I finally cleared my desk, unplugged the phone, switched off the computer, turned off the lights out and closed the door to my virtual office behind me without looking back leaving the last vestiges of the newsletter and website to others…  Free! Free, again.

NaNoWriMo 2012 – Winner

  I closed the cover on my 2012 NaNoWriMo winning novel after twenty-eight days of writing, adding my just over 50,000 words to the 4 billion words already written by WriMos all over the world. This was my second WriMo and it was not as easy as last year.

Last year I easily averaged almost 2500 word per day. This year I struggled to obtain a daily average of a little less than 1800 words.

Last year I ended with a readable On-the-Road novel, at least a readable draft of one; liked by a number of readers, but not what I wanted to spend more time developing. This year I ended with a WriMo draft of a mystery I will spend more time on, but on the day that I struggle to reach 50,000 words, my mind was filled with major changes to the plot, additions of more characters and changes in roles of some of the characters already busy in the preceding pages.

As I think more of my WriMo experience this year as compared to 2011, I begin to see that this is what NaNoWriMo is about. At least for writers that are plodders and those that are easily led into procrastination. It can be fun, as in 2011, and it can be a real kick-in-the-ass to get a serious plot moving. It is the day after day rush to beat the calendar that is exciting and somehow puts thoughts in your head and words on the screen that you aren’t quite certain where they originated. It’s correct that you may write a bit of crap, but we clean up crap every day, so it’s not that big a deal.

I want to mention Erin Morgenstern, writer of The Night Circus, who came to town early in November. She gives meaning to the question, “Why spend so much time writing something that is full of errors and convoluted passages?” She is a multi-year WriMo, 2003 through 2009. In her pep talk to struggling WriMos she wrote:

“The Night Circus, which began life as a surprise tangent in NaNovel ’05 and was very roughly, sprawlingly drafted during NaNo ’06 & ’07. I am aware that this is cheating. I’m sorry. In my defense, I’m not certain it had enough plot at that point to be considered the same novel.

The circus was my variation on the wise and ancient NaNo wisdom: when in doubt, just add ninjas.” Click on the following link to read what she has to say:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/pep/erin-morgenstern/

Again, I thank the Office of Letters and Light for NaNoWriMo, Script Frenzy and their programs for young writers.

Now it is time to make a fresh coffee – one pack of Starbucks French Roast VIA, one cup of hot water, one-half cup of 2% milk in a 16 ounce blue Bean Factory cup, stir thoroughly and micro wave for 98 seconds. Then, back to page three of the NaNoWriMo novel and start plodding.

 

 

NaNoWriMo coming in November

NaNoWriMo

Write a novel of 50,000 words or more’ start on November 1 and finish by November 30

and now we have

NaBloPoMo

A post a day! We’ll have to see.

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Some words to get you started and sustain you.

A Best Movie: Le Harve

Le Harve is a movie that I happened upon by chance. It turned out to be a fortunate and satisfying find.