Writing: A True Confession

Today's Sunday Scribbling prompt is to write about writing. The following is a true confession...



About half of my “professional time” is devoted to arranging words into a coherent form. People who read articles I’ve written or hear speeches I’ve composed often ask how I do it, thinking there is some great secret. I honestly don’t know how I do it for I hated English in High School. The excuses I used to get out of class were the only bits of creativity I showed at the time. I didn’t do much better in college. It was a miracle that I got through English 101. Going into the end of my first semester, I’d assumed I was doomed and would be booted out of college and end up in the military or the French Foreign Legion. I skipped the class so many times that the professor hardly knew me. But for some crazy reason, after having resigned my fate to failing my first semester, I decided to take the comprehensive English exam that was given by the University to all 101 students. You had to pass an exam consisting of three parts to get through the class. I would have easily failed, if my scored depended only on the grammar part, but there were two required essays for which I received high marks. I could always tell a story and that’s what I did and to my surprise, those grading the papers were impressed. Since only about a third of the folks in my class had passed the comprehensive exams on the first go around (you got two chances before having to repeat the class), my professor passed me. She gave me a D, and it would be the last one I received in school. English 102 involved a research paper and I sailed through that class. By the time I had finished college, I was still struggling with grammar and the basics, but I always had a secretary or girlfriend to proof my text and to clean up my language (well, not cleaning it up in the way your probable thinking of, but to make sure verbs and subjects generally agreed with one another). Then I went back to grad school. I loved it, but I also realize right away that my language skills were a determent.

After two years of study in a three year program, I was making okay grades, but I felt I needed a break. I sought out an internship and moved to Nevada for a year. During this sabbatical from school, I decided to go back to the beginning and I enrolled once again in an English 101 class. By this point in my life, I knew the importance of language and immersed myself. After the first assignment, the professor asked me to stay after class. “What are you doing here?” she asked as she waved my paper in the air. “If can write like this, you shouldn’t be in this class.” I told her my goals for the class and she agreed to work with me, being tougher on grammar and the basics. For the next four months, I wrote weekly papers for the class. When she assigned a paper about Woodstock (this was in the 80s, so Woodstock was still in our psyche), I impressed her with my knowledge of history. My essay tied together the community’s past link to weapon manufactures (referring to the wood stocks used on rifles), with the anti-war movement of the 60s. My professor praised my paper to the whole class, saying that she learned new things about the event, only to be embarrassed when I confessed to making the whole thing up. She never said our assignment had to be factual. On another occasion, I found just how conservative the 80s had become when I interpreted the writings of Stephen King through a Marxist lens. It was satire and still think that was my best writing for the class, but my fellow students got so hung up on Marx that they failed to catch the humor. Perhaps I should have mentioned Gaucho.

After a year in Nevada, I headed back east to finish school. My last year was easier, and I found that without doing any extra work, I was easily earning 4.0s. Retaking freshman English had been a good investment. Still I occasionally struggle with details and am a terrible proof reader of my own work, but as this blog is testifies, I no longer hate writing.

Lucky Seven!

Although I am currently overwhelmed at work, I am beginning to feel like a lucky man. Fate has been smiling on me. Last weekend it was an incredible college football game… And now the following things are happening…

I discovered yesterday that I was the last winner in Maggie’s Southern Summer Challenge. Lucky seven! My prize is a copy of Martin Clark’s (Deana's husband) The Many Aspects of Mobile Home Living (which I already had and have just started reading) and some pecans. Maggie’s husband wanted to read the book, but Maggie kept it away from his dirty hands so as not to spoil the pages. Now, with my blessings, he will have his chance! As for the pecans, I can now get over my envy of Diane (who won pecans in the contest a few weeks ago).

Back early in August, a local company that makes and rebuild large presses had an open house. I went out of curiosity, jumping at the opportunity to see what goes on inside that big building. Helping them with the refreshments were teachers from a local elementary school they sponsor (many of the businesses here “sponsor” a school). I knew some of the teachers and they nagged me into putting in five bucks in their 50/50 raffle. I tried to beg off, saying that I don’t gamble. They suggested I consider it a donation and if I win, give the proceeds to the school. So I brought a ticket but because my daughter goes to another elementary school here, in playful fashion I designated her school as the recipient. I won second place in the raffle, which entitled my daughter's school to $65 and yesterday I got a card signed by all the teachers at my daughter’s school. I was overwhelmed for it was really such a small gift and it didn’t cost me hardly anything.

Sorry about not being faithful in my posting. The next two months will be very busy for me, but I hope to keep posting somewhat regularly and to keep up with your blogs. However, there may be times like last week where I don’t get around to seeing everyone. Don’t take it personally, it doesn’t necessarily mean that I no longer like you (there may be exceptions!). Have a great weekend and since few of us are going to be in Eastern Pennsylvania at Tim’s wedding, send him an email or step over to his blog and wish him and his fiancé a very special day!

Nice Matter's Blog Award

This award thing is going to my head. A few weeks ago I received the Reflective Blog award. Then on Labor Day, Deana at Friday Night Fish Fry honored me with the Nice Matter’s Award. I’m going to have to get into town soon and buy me some larger hats to fit my expanded head (and expanded bald spot). I was touched by what Deana said about me (and also a little amused that I have her fooled!):

Sage at Sage Covered Hills. If you are a regular at Sage's then you know how nice this man really is. Always recognizing blog friends birthdays or hardships this guy is involved with the youth and his community. He has had posts on his trips away with kids or cooking for some fund raiser. Plus he is just a nice guy with nice posts.

Now I have the hard task of picking out three winners for the Nice Matter’s Awards (that’s the requirement of winning this award, you nominate three other recipients). This is a hard one. I thought about Murf and Ed, for they’re both are really nice, but after doing a reference checks—I called each of their neighbors and got an earful about them blowing their cut grass on their neighbor’s driveway—I decided that maybe I better look elsewhere. There are a lot of other nice folks in my blog and narrowing them down to three is really hard. But I decided to pick out blogs that both are an encouragement to others and ones that I haven’t focused on yet to receive a reward or birthday party. Here are my nominees for the coveted “Nice Matter’s Award”:

Tim at Ramblings: They don’t make them any nicer than Tim. A baker by trade, Tim has supplied cakes for virtual birthday parties for Kevin, Diane and Murf. He enjoys the simple things in life and often shares photos of his regular hikes in Eastern Pennsylvania. He’s always kind in his comments. A Mennonite, he works with the youth at his church. He adores his nephews and nieces. Tim has not been around blogland much lately as he’s getting ready to get married so we wish him our best. (wedding is on the 8th!)



V at Film Literate: V’s blog often contains movie reviews and TV recaps, but he also focuses on justice issues and calling people to help others. On his sidebar is a link to an organization that makes small loans to those in developing countries who need capital to start a business. For a few bucks, you can invest in one of these projects and really help make a difference in a life. V is also where I first learned about the Jena 6—a month before it was picked up by the news media. V’s comments are always encouraging and kind. As a law student, I thought I’d better present this award now, for I’m not sure he’ll still qualify once he passes the bar! (And for that comment, I might have my Nice Matters Award revoked). Since I haven’t seen any photos of V, I’m posting one of my own photos of the Golden Gate Bridge (taken from Berkeley). V lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Carmi at Written Inc comes to us from Canada. Carmi set’s the example of niceness in blogland. He’s always kind and encouraging and his writings and photos are always positive and uplifting. His comments encourage us to be our best. You can tell from the way he writes that his children are his treasure. He’s an all around good guy who makes the internet a better place.

Of course, there are many other nice bloggers and I could go on all day pointing out nice things about ya'll. Unfortunately, I can only choose three, but that’s also good because I’m about out of time. Lunch is over and I need to get back to work. When you get a chance, check out these blogs and may we all continue to do our part to make the world a better place.

Labor Day Weekend Stuff

My daughter kayaking on Friday night as my uncle and I fished.



Thanks to Arianna Huffington for saying what I’ve thought about the Larry Craig case. Check out her column. Like Huffington, there’s a lot to Craig’s politics that I don’t like, I just have to shake my head at the details of his crime. I never knew that tapping one’s foot was a signal for gay sex, and it seems to be silly evidence for a case. I can picture the DA telling the judge, “Your honor, he kept tapping his feet and we all know that white guys with rhythm must be gay…” All I know now is that I’m going to be paranoid the next time I’m in an airport bathroom and will make darn sure I keep my feet firmly planted on the floor.

Labor Day weekend was a blast. My uncle and cousin (she’s just a couple years older than my daughter), as I wrote about Sunday. L and I went fishing Friday night and caught a pretty good mess of bass and bluegills. Our daughters got to try out a friend’s kayak and had a good time. After we got back from the game on Saturday, we were beat and spent most of the rest of the weekend lounging around as much as possible. We were bone tired. They flew out yesterday morning.

Yesterday afternoon, I was scheduled to be videotaped on a piece of property that I have a hand in developing. I don’t really like talking into a camera and all those different “takes” drives me nuts. But I got through most of it fine. The last clip was planned to be shot on the top of a hill at the back of the property. I’ve driven up there several times, but this time the field hadn’t been brush-hogged and the grass was high. I didn’t see a boulder that I scrapped. This is mostly sandy soil and the boulder rolled up and lodged under the truck, between the motor and the back axle. I was stuck and worst yet, in dress clothes. Luckily, I keep a small shovel and a blanket in the back of the truck. We got to work jacking the truck up and finding stuff to block it up (I wasn’t going to crawl under with just a jack on sandy soil) and after about an hour was able to dig around the boulder enough so that it dropped back down and I could drive out. Then, when I got back to the highway, there was the great racket when I started to speed up. I again crawled under the truck. A light metal heat reflector from the exhaust had been bent and was resting against the universal joint (where the drive shaft connects to the transmission), which meant that the faster I went, the more noise it made. I was able to pull the reflector away and it appears nothing more is harmed, but I’m going to have to take it to a mechanic and have it put up on a lift to make sure that I’ve not missed anything. Needless to say, we didn’t do any more filming.

Keep in prayers the folks down in Central America as they endure the wrath of a hurricane. It was two years ago that I was in Honduras for a near miss, as I wrote about in my blog at that time.

How I Spent My Saturday

If you can't read the score, it's Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32 and the game has just ended!

What a way to spend a Saturday…

Yesterday a group of boys from the hills of North Carolina invaded Michigan and got revenge for the South’s loss at Gettysburg. And I was there to watch it all!

On Friday, my daughter and I picked up Uncle L and his daughter at the airport. Uncle L had been excited about the possibility of his alma mater, Appalachian State University, playing the University of Michigan and as soon as the game was announced last winter, he began making plans to travel up here for the game. So yesterday morning, we all got up in the predawn hours for the two our trip to Ann Arbor, arriving there at 8 AM, in time for breakfast at the “official” Appalachian tailgate party before the 12 noon kickoff. I even had a Bloody Mary before 10 AM. When the sun got almost straight overhead, we went into the Big House. In most states, saying you’ve been to the Big House isn’t something to brag about, for in generally refers to the penitentiary. But here, the Big House is where Michigan, the school with the best record ever, plays football and before yesterday, going to the Big House was something to celebrate. Our seats were in the Southeast corner, where we and the handful of App Fans held up for the game.

The game started out like expected. Michigan got the ball and quickly marched down field and scored. But then, Appalachian returned the favor. Michigan scored again and so did Appalachian. No one could believe it, that a small school for the mountains were playing ball with the big boys. Then, even more remarkable, Appalachian scored again and again. Michigan finally got a field goal, and the teams went into the locker room with ASU at 28, Michigan 17. It appeared at the first half, Appalachian had learned how to capitalize on Michigan’s spread defense.


This is me at the game (you can thank my daughter for my extra hair). I had a Pittsburgh cap to wear (it’s the same colors as App State, only with a P instead of an A), but it was so hot that I decided I’d wear my more famous hat. Besides, I knew that if I ran into a certain tailgater, she wouldn’t forgive me if she saw me with any other hat. Unfortunately, Murf’s tailgating crew were on the wrong side of the stadium and with 107,000 people inside the Big House (plus who knows how many outside), it was hard to get around to other areas of the campus.

The second half then started and it appeared Appalachian had lost its offensive magic. They also appeared tired. They did manage to get a field goal in the third quarter. In the fourth, with around four minutes left, Michigan scored a touchdown, putting them up 32 to 31. It didn’t look good. But then, with 30 seconds or so on the clock, Appalachian had the ball with no time outs deep in Michigan’s territory. On first down, they kicked a field goal to put them up by 2 points. Those of us on the south side of the stadium, who all spoke with a drawl, began to feel like the Confederates at Gettysburg when Pettigrew’s men broke the Union line on Cemetery Ridge on that fateful date of July 3, 1863. Things were looking good.

Then Michigan returned the kickoff and quickly got downfield. With six seconds left on the clock, Michigan set up for a short field goal. It looked to be a repeat of Gettysburg, with a counter attack by a bunch of Pennsylvania boys drove back the charge and filled the plug in the Union lines. But this time, the counter attack failed. For the second time in the game, Appalachian’s defense blocked the kick. This time a defender picked up the ball and headed down hill, being tackled by a Michigan player on the five yard line. It didn’t matter, ASU’s defense had held and the clock had run out and David had once again slew Goliath. Needless to say, those in our end of the stadium went wild as those wearing blue and maize filed out quietly.

It was an amazing game and one for the history books. This was the first time in Michigan’s history that the school had played a 2AA college and it was also the first time in the history of college sports that a Division 1AA team has beaten a nationally ranked Division 1A team. It was an exciting game and, needless to say, my uncle and his daughter are extremely happy. They’d been hoping that ASU would give Michigan a good fight; they never dreamed they’d be going back the victors.