Someone tell a joke or start a story..
Or tell us a nonfiction story. Sometimes it's like a ghost town in here. But that's okay, for now. Time to beef up our spiritual burgers with Something...anything!
Sanity Claws
(22,031 posts)Would you and the public would be interested in reading a novel about Gaia in which gods and goddesses (drawn from myths of different cultures and eras) work together and sometimes against each other to determine the future of Gaia?
I'm not sure how it will turn out but it is supposed to a metaphor for what has been going during the last 50 years or so.
A part of me thinks the whole premise is too out there. Another part of me is concerned that believers will be offended. We already know the Christian right will deem me a Satan.
kimmerspixelated
(8,423 posts)I wouldn't be too worried about what others think. Plus, works in progress take a lot of twists and turns in the adventure of writing. This is so cool! How far have you gotten?
Sanity Claws
(22,031 posts)In my head, I have several more scenes written out.
I'm doing my writing in the morning and sometimes during the commute home, I think of new things to write.
This is an idea that has been taking shape for a couple of years. I think it is now ready. Or so I hope.
The encouraging thing for me is that some of the characters are actually taking on personalities. I can't say they are completely rounded personalities yet but they are speaking with different voices.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)but I never finish anything so I'd like to know what your version is like.
Sanity Claws
(22,031 posts)and the thing took different shapes.
Maybe your idea just needs to ripen a bit. No need to be so final about it and say, "I never finish anything." As Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over til it's over."
Cleita
(75,480 posts)am working on something different. It will never get finished either cause I keep changing it.
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)there have been published, so don't worry about that aspect.
Just do your best to write the best possible novel you can.
Saokymo
(273 posts)Ihop.
What's the name of the waitress there?
Ileane.
kimmerspixelated
(8,423 posts)Saokymo
(273 posts)Why did Frosty move to the Caribbean?
Because snowman is an island.
What do fairies study in school?
The elf-abet.
A priest, a pedophile and a drunk walk into a bar.
That's just the first guy.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)It's rather ordinary though not requiring any spiritual work. Some might even find it funny.
Sanity Claws
(22,031 posts)What's up?
Cleita
(75,480 posts)About a couple of months ago a nice gentleman of eighty started making friends with me at the gym. Our conversations, me on the treadmill and him on a stationery bicycle, led to him asking me out for breakfast. Well, I'm soon to be 72 so I thought, why not? I've been sitting at home with my cat ever since my husband died. However, the logistics of how this "date" was going to come about started getting complicated. He suggested we go to a movie too. Yes, we have matinees in the morning in my burg, so I thought to myself, I guess this is senior citizen dating. You go home by 2 in the afternoon, for your nap I guess.
However, when I tried to get a telephone number from him or give him mine, he made an excuse about being in between changing numbers and didn't write mine down saying he would remember. I got suspicious and immediately asked him if he was married. He said he was, but that it wasn't what I thought. He was just trying to fix up one of his grown sons, a widower, with a date. Well, I told him I wasn't interested in having breakfast with him and I didn't think his wife would appreciate him having breakfast with a strange woman. I also told him that I was sure his son could find his own dates and I was way to old for him anyway. Fine for the time being.
However, he sneaks up behind me to say hello and it makes me jumpy. He follows me around telling me how cute I am and that he wishes I'd change my mind. Now he's really coming across to me as an old lech, but I don't want to be rude to him. This is a small community and it seems he's quite wealthy from what I have been able to find out. I don't think it would be a smart thing for me to do. I know I will keep running into him and quite honestly don't know how to handle this in keeping him at a distance without causing some unwanted fall out.
Sanity Claws
(22,031 posts)That sounds awful. You probably don't like going to the gym as much as you used to.
I don't know the right way to handle it but I can toss out a few ideas and see whether we can get a discussion going.
1. Have you told him in so many words that your answer is no and that he should understand that when a lady says no, she means no.
2. Have you talked to someone at the gym about the problem? Perhaps they can give you a heads up when he is in the gym so you can avoid him. Perhaps you can ask them to talk to him or have them interrupt if he starts talking to you. Something like that may make him think that others also see that he is making you uncomfortable.
3. Can you change the times you go to the gym so that you simply don't run into him?
This last item really is inconvenient for you. I only throw it out there because it sounds like you don't want to be confrontational with him.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)1. I have been pretty blunt about saying no.
2. I would rather not involve anyone at the gym, especially who work there, because as I said he seems to be rather influential.
3. There are different times I can go, but he seems to be there. I also ran into him running on the road. I wonder if he's stalking me. Also, I feel I should have the right to go at the times I want without him in my way.
Why Syzygy
(18,928 posts)this guy is, right? Maybe a tiny humor there
You said it doesn't require spiritual work but, why not? Can you generate a golden light field around yourself? Something likely to repell him, but not leave a negative impression (since he's connected)? I once had to convince a guy I was crazy in order to get rid of him. (Wasn't all that difficult ) But you don't want this guy to have that opinion of you.
You know a lot more about spiritual tools than I do. Will something there work for this type of situation?
oh. OR you could get a younger hulk of a guy at the gym to be your (travel) buddy?
** (travel) buddy - comes from the 28 hour bus trip I made from Miami to Beaumont, Texas. For the better part of the trip I 'teamed' up with a man traveling alone so we could watch each other's bags, stand in line, pick up food, etc. VERY valuable.
ps. Cleita, I've been looking for you. Posted note @ facebook. Hope you can check in.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)Right now I have a mess I have to unravel regarding passwords. My email got hacked and subsequently locked. My alternate email, which I need to unlock that email, got locked too so I'm stuck. All my passwords including facebook got involved so I can't access any of them. I know I need to spend an afternoon going through everything and getting them back on track but haven't had time. So be patient. I have a friend who might help when he has time.
Why Syzygy
(18,928 posts)I'll be patient. Password messes are a nightmare.
BanzaiBonnie
(3,621 posts)a shield so he can't "find" you.
Why Syzygy
(18,928 posts)Topaz makes one invisible. It doesn't have to be the gemstone. Anything in that color-ish will work (even just thinking of it).
Use with caution! It can also make you invisible to people you want to see you. Be sure to turn it off.
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)BY ANDY WEIR
January 30, 2010
You were on your way home when you died.
It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me.
And thats when you met me.
What what happened? You asked. Where am I?
You died, I said, matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words.
There was a a truck and it was skidding
Yup, I said.
I I died?
Yup. But dont feel bad about it. Everyone dies, I said.
You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. What is this place? You asked. Is this the afterlife?
More or less, I said.
Are you god? You asked.
Yup, I replied. Im God.
My kids my wife, you said.
What about them?
Will they be all right?
Thats what I like to see, I said. You just died and your main concern is for your family. Thats good stuff right there.
You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didnt look like God. I just looked like some man. Or possibly a woman. Some vague authority figure, maybe. More of a grammar school teacher than the almighty.
Dont worry, I said. Theyll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didnt have time to grow contempt for you. You wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved. To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If its any consolation, shell feel very guilty for feeling relieved.
Oh, you said. So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?
Neither, I said. Youll be reincarnated.
Ah, you said. So the Hindus were right,
All religions are right in their own way, I said. Walk with me.
You followed along as we strode through the void. Where are we going?
Nowhere in particular, I said. Its just nice to walk while we talk.
So whats the point, then? You asked. When I get reborn, Ill just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life wont matter.
Not so! I said. You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just dont remember them right now.
I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. Its like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if its hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, youve gained all the experiences it had.
Youve been in a human for the last 48 years, so you havent stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for long enough, youd start remembering everything. But theres no point to doing that between each life.
How many times have I been reincarnated, then?
Oh lots. Lots and lots. An in to lots of different lives. I said. This time around, youll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD.
Wait, what? You stammered. Youre sending me back in time?
Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I come from.
Where you come from? You said.
Oh sure, I explained I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there are others like me. I know youll want to know what its like there, but honestly you wouldnt understand.
Oh, you said, a little let down. But wait. If I get reincarnated to other places in time, I could have interacted with myself at some point.
Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own lifespan you dont even know its happening.
So whats the point of it all?
Seriously? I asked. Seriously? Youre asking me for the meaning of life? Isnt that a little stereotypical?
Well its a reasonable question, you persisted.
I looked you in the eye. The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.
You mean mankind? You want us to mature?
No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.
Just me? What about everyone else?
There is no one else, I said. In this universe, theres just you and me.
You stared blankly at me. But all the people on earth
All you. Different incarnations of you.
Wait. Im everyone!?
Now youre getting it, I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back.
Im every human being who ever lived?
Or who will ever live, yes.
Im Abraham Lincoln?
And youre John Wilkes Booth, too, I added.
Im Hitler? You said, appalled.
And youre the millions he killed.
Im Jesus?
And youre everyone who followed him.
You fell silent.
Every time you victimized someone, I said, you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness youve done, youve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.
You thought for a long time.
Why? You asked me. Why do all this?
Because someday, you will become like me. Because thats what you are. Youre one of my kind. Youre my child.
Whoa, you said, incredulous. You mean Im a god?
No. Not yet. Youre a fetus. Youre still growing. Once youve lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born.
So the whole universe, you said, its just
An egg. I answered. Now its time for you to move on to your next life.
And I sent you on your way.
LINK
kimmerspixelated
(8,423 posts)BanzaiBonnie
(3,621 posts)for individual posts.
This was awsome.
MrMickeysMom
(20,453 posts)I guess it's this one.
Now I realize even more how immature I am. I also realize how I can handle things others might not be able to and vise versa.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)I am making headway, though my biggest goal is to tie together all the odd chapters I've written and need to include in the story.
For those that don't know (or remember) it's about a young woman getting turned into a djinni and then being responsible for bringing more of the same into the world. I'm basing some of that on futures read in Robert Monroe's second and third books, about the future of humanity. I've got other themes going on, too, with the main conflict of one djinni going "rogue". I'm still working out just how she does, and I'm using that spirit encyclopedia to find just the right negative-influencing entity
I've already worked out plots for two more "books" after this one. I'll also be e-publishing, when I figure out how to do that, too
Sanity Claws
(22,031 posts)If not, what about Sarah?
Somehow that sounds right to me.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)She's also Canadian, from P.E.I., but I'm not vilifying Canadians. Another one (as I recall, she is named Sarah) is from B.C.
My past-wife is from Newfoundland and Ontario, and she's where I got my info on PEI, as the residents there seem to be hated by the rest of Canada for some reason.
The djinn will be from all over the globe, although the first book will only focus on a handful out of nineteen. I'll still have to research a great many cultures to at least try to get personalities right and so forth, and that will come with time. Two of the djinn will fall into the "badness" of Rachel's lead. One is from Korea and the other from Morocco.
Oddly enough, one of the research tools I've used is just listening to HayHouse Radio and Contact Talk Radio as both get calls from people all over the globe. My writing includes a lot of new age thinking and philosophy, and hearing people from other countries talk much like we are used to, helps considerably. If I need help with any culture I don't really know, I may ask around here, too
kimmerspixelated
(8,423 posts)what is a djinni? It sounds intriguing!
kentauros
(29,414 posts)Plural is simply "djinn"
If you've ever read my blog (it should be in my profile now) I have an earlier entry about my love for the Middle East, at least with their culture, arts, and cuisine. While I haven't studied any of their religious teachings, Sufism and the poet Rumi came from that part of the world. Of course, belly dance came from that culture, too
kentauros
(29,414 posts)BanzaiBonnie
(3,621 posts)Potatoes:
Well, A Girl Potato and Boy Potato had eyes for each other And finally they got married, and had a little sweet potato, which they Called 'Yam.'
Of course, they wanted the best for Yam.
When it was time, they told her about the facts of life.They warned her about going out And Getting half-baked, so she wouldn't get accidentally mashed, and get a bad Name for herself like 'Hot Potato,' an end up with a bunch of Tater Tots
Yam said not to worry, no Spud would get her into the sack and Make a rotten potato out of her!
But on the other hand she Wouldn't stay home
and become a Couch Potato either.
She would get Plenty of exercise so as not to be skinny like her Shoestring
Cousins.
When she went off to
Europe , Mr. And Mrs. Potato told Yam To watch out for the hard-boiled guys from Ireland .
And the Greasy guys from France called the French Fries. And when she went out West, To watch out for the Indians so she wouldn't get scalloped..
Yam said she would stay on the straight and narrow
And wouldn't associate with
those high class Yukon Golds, or the ones from the other Side of the tracks who advertise their trade on all the trucks that say,
'Frito Lay.'
Mr. And Mrs. Potato sent Yam to Idaho P.U. (that's
Potato University ) so that when she graduated she'd really Be in the Chips. But in spite of all they did for her, one-day Yam came home And
announced she was going to marry Tom Brokaw.
Tom Brokaw!
Mr and Mrs. Potato were very upset.
They told Yam she couldn't possibly Marry
Tom Brokaw Because he's just.......
Are you ready for this?
Are you sure?
OK! Here it is
A "COMMONTATER."
kimmerspixelated
(8,423 posts):clap
CUUUTE!
WHen I saw the title of the the post, I thought I would be compelled to write:3 pot..4..that kind of thing. You're so punny!
BlueIris
(29,135 posts)South Park quotes. Which is curious, since I haven't watched South Park in ten years.
Unfunny comments.
Bitterness.
Uh, humor...what's on top of a house?