Pick up the pieces

Pieces.
Not those Reese pieces.

Pieces of an idea. Pieces of the past. Pieces of a blog. Going to pieces.

How about a piece of music.

dreaming my life away

Really?

Sheryl Crow co-wrote and sang about change 1997. Now if any of you have extra change please send it my way. Of course, that’s not the type of change her song is about (but it would do me good).

My favorite line from her song is:

“Hello it's me, I'm not at home,
If you'd like to reach me, leave me alone”

Great answer machine greeting, but very few still have answer machines today and even fewer leave voice messages. It changed.

my butterfly friend

It seems change happens quicker than ever before. Do you agree?

It could be I just have more time to observe and think about it. You know, watch the wheel go around.

I know there are times when events make you so busy you don’t have time to notice any change other than the next thing thrown at you. Those extreme busy times can end well. Like a fast spin on the merry-go-round it might make you merry or sick.

No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go

Those words were written by John Lennon. His song, “Watching the Wheels” is about taking it down a few notches, chilling out, relaxing, getting off a merry-go-round operated by an insensitive corporation. Or to put it in a way more applicable to myself - falling off the ladder of success.

Now I started with Sheryl Crow and ended up with John Lennon. It doesn’t seem odd to me at all. If the type of change that would do me good involved less stress and lazy days then I find the two songs go well together. They could be on the same playlist.
(note on my inspiration - I thought of the “Watching the Wheels” song on a visit to Middle Age Ramblings blog)


Here’s the lyrics and a youtube clip of John Lennon’s advice:

People say I'm crazy
doing what I'm doing
Well they give me all kinds of warnings
to save me from ruin
When I say that I'm o.k. well they look at me kind of strange
Surely you're not happy now you no longer play the game
People say I'm lazy
dreaming my life away
Well they give me all kinds of advice
designed to enlighten me
When I tell them that I'm doing fine watching shadows on the wall
Don't you miss the big time boy you're no longer on the ball
I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go
Ah, people asking questions
lost in confusion
Well I tell them there's no problem,
only solutions
Well they shake their heads and they look at me as if I've lost my mind
I tell them there's no hurry
I'm just sitting here doing time
I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go
I just had to let it go
I just had to let it go

 

jump

This year (only half over) finds me posting less and less.  If you would like to read more of my posts, I suggest you jump over to my main blog - A Few Clowns Short.

cows only jump for marketing

Jumping is a talent lost on me.  Even as a kid I failed to jump high.

Homo erectus I imagine was a great jumper.  So what, he didn't have free wi-fi and a laptop that allows me to jump over to youtube.

(As the Pointer Sisters sang) If you want more 
If you want more, more, more
Then jump for my blog
Jump in and leave a comment.

The Pointer Sister's can tell you better than me:

blinded by lyrics

Some all-hot half-shot was headin' for the hot spot snappin' his fingers clappin' his hands 

And some fleshpot mascot was tied into a lover's knot with a whatnot in her hand 

And now young Scott with a slingshot finally found a tender spot and throws his lover in the sand

And some bloodshot forget-me-not whispers daddy's within earshot save the buckshot turn up the band

I remember the Manfred Mann version the best.  I only recently discovered that Bruce Springsteen wrote the song in 1973.

At the beginning of this clip Bruce offers some insight to his creation.

save the buckshot turn up the band

Now that's good advice!

not inspired to be inspirational

when shit happens

It seems that inspirational photos/writing/quotes are typically considered good things.  I don't know.  Do you think any inspirational posters were knocked to the floor by the bus?

I can't always take a picture either

When I setup this blog in the back alley of my main blog, I tried to see how many comments I could get on a single post.  I left the single post up there by itself for many months.  That first post has and probably will always have the most comments on this blog.  Finally it became time to move on to another idea, so I started to add more posts over time.  But this is not my main blog so I seldom post here.

Today this blog serves as a place for posts about blogging.  Typically I'll focus on my inabilities to create a good post.

Another popular post among the thirty or so posts laying around this back alley of a blog is "Scaramouche scaramouche will you do the fandango?"

I believe it's the title that people were browsing over to on that post.

So what brings you here?

late night bloggers

Warning: the following may cause dizziness. You know it’s not a party until someone pukes. Hopefully this post will stir (spin,shock,slap?) you to think. At least you will be thinking about something.

Jumping Juxtaposition

While on G+ today I concluded something after a deep thought surfaced.

The opposite of something is not nothing, it’s everything.

She pauses and says, 

“there is something we need to talk about.” 

“What have we been talking about nothing or everything?”, I question.

Don't you consider something special very nice? Everything can not be nice. What is special about everything? 

That special something. 

Nothing is further from the truth, but something can be close to me.

Something is behind you. Not everything can be behind you. 

It’s always something. It can’t be everything.

I don’t believe you can get something from nothing. 

Everything is possible but nothing never happens. Something is happening here.

you call yourself a blogger

Well do you?

I often do but it does depend on the situation and who is asking.  For some it would not matter if I said blogger or mad scientist.

What's the difference between an occupation and a hobby?

A better question is, what's the difference between an obsession and a hobby? 

Nobody likes being confined to a box.  Definitions can be influenced by opinion.  You know what they say about opinions.

This blog started with an idea I had while blogging in my other blog, A Few Clowns Short.  Most of my interaction (my definition of blogging requires an exchange of ideas/stories/thoughts between the blogger and the reader - IMHO - oh there's the opinion again) happens over at my other well posted blog.

On A Few Clowns Short I have become comfortably posted.  Actually that's true most of the time.  Occasionally, I just want to write a thought or two over here.  Over on this blog the posting is bit more like a message in a bottle on a big lake.  I've received a few very interesting comments but then I've asked a few interesting (?) questions here.  For example, 
What would Bonzo do?

sssss

Sipping sleepy soup for slackers, I’m stopped by the slack of sizzle on Sunday.

Stunned by the sun straining.

Stray slivers of sun shock me before the salsa starts sliding off my spoon.

Surprised sleepy sound surrounds me.

Sucked sideways I slip slide semi senseless into slumber.

ooh ooh oh oh you don’t have to blog

ooh ooh oh oh you don’t have to go

I continued blogging as something to do. The initial blog, A Few Clowns Short, came as my grand idea of creating a sharing place for the group of us who had lost their job. 

Create something and post it for the world to see. Now that’s sorta cool. I’ll be honest I thought there might be some ad money in it too. I made a buck or two but like most of the bloggers I’ve come to know, I don’t blog for the money. I could not justify blogging for just pennies. There was something else happening. A creative escape?

oh baby please don’t go

No it’s certainly not money. It’s the enjoyment of sharing thoughts, ideas that cause others to interact. Having someone I have never met write back saying I gave them a laugh is almost like having a group laugh at your joke. A virtual stage and a virtual audience set-up just for your performance.

Other times it can just be a relief to rant some issue out of your mind. You might find a kindred spirit telling you know they agree with your rant.  A digital high-five.

every breathe I take every move I make

The feedback from strangers is intoxicating at times. This is especially true when the number of readers are increasing. The strangers become friends even though you only meet via words. A story, a comment, a reply, they are only words strung together. But you could say a best selling novel is only words strung together.

It wasn’t long after getting a few regular followers that I just hooked. A few times I’ve considered dropping the whole thing.

when I read the post you wrote
It made me mad mad mad
when I read the stories that it told to me
It made me sad sad sad 
I still love it so
I can’t let it go 

I can quit anytime. yeah right

Hey look I'm over here

Hey look at me. Look, see what I did. Read what I wrote.

Blogging

Self promotion

Social networks

We seek attention. How do you do it without being annoying? Spam is annoying. Ads can go either way. I have enjoyed many entertaining ads. I have muted other ads.

There's an idea I presented over on my blog "A Few Clowns Short". It's a simple link-up your post idea for bloggers. You might want to jump in or you might not. It's your call, your time.

BIONIPT

ass u me

"Do you know what happens when you assume?"  he asked not expecting an answer.

I hesitated, "I'm not sure."

"You make an 'ass' of 'u' and 'me'."

Not only a lesson in spelling but a lesson of life was handed to me on that day back in my military career.  I don't remember any of the details of what I had assumed.  Probably some task that I screwed up.  

People will assume.  If you are not assuming at least a little you are probably not even thinking.  The trouble is not the assuming exercise but rather forgetting it is an assumption and not fact.

Back then most all interaction with each other took place in real life.  Even a phone call could provide voice cues with regards to urgency, emotions.  In the virtual world of twitter, blogs, FB, G+, chat, etc. we interact with plain raw text.

Assuming has become more dangerous. 

Playing the. iPad

Not my iPad.  I still prefer a real keyboard on a laptop.  This iPad with its touch screen and light weight beats the laptop for games and simple apps.  I don't imagine tablets will replace laptops for any high volume of writing.  Sure, I know there are optional keyboards that can be attached but doesn't  that ruin the mobility benefit of the tablet?

Ok I gave it a try.  Time to go back to angry birds.

(note:  I was not successful in posting this short post from the iPad.  I was able to write (very slow) the post but not preview or publish it.  I'm guessing you need to download a blogger app for it.) 

but I don't have a title

why are these people following me?

I don't have a title but I still have lots of hats to wear.  Mostly baseball style hats.

I'm fortunate not to have a hair problem (on my head - other parts well we don't want to go there).  Do you think I could sell this hat to a bald guy with the promise that it searches for hair while it is being worn.

I told you I didn't have a title.

 

take a word for free

Drawn by neighbor kids

How do you write the word you can't find?  I'm forced to spin with the world.  Go with the spin.  May the spin be with you.

thoughts without detail

I can't read your mind.  There are many minds I would not want to read.  It would be interesting to read a visitor's mind while they read my post.

Given enough details of a situation and a few visual cues, many people are able to conclude at least a general idea of a person's thoughts.  This is very useful if that person intends to kill you.

I've been known to seek more details.  Details can support your ideas, provide insight, prompt new ideas or clutter your mind.  Have you heard of "analysis paralysis"?  You don't need every last detail before taking some action.  You also will shorten your lifespan constantly running wild in the dark.

So what's brewing in your mind now?

could I have a word with you

Actually I’ll throw a few words your way. The thing is you need to look for them and that involves your attention and time. This blog has very sporadic posting. I’m better with regular posting on A Few Clowns Short but then what’s a regular or normal post? What’s a normal person? I guess applying statistics to the question will produce something. Do normal people follow social norms?

Not sure the reason, maybe it’s the season but I am in a down cycle on blogging. My experience tells me there are cycles of blogging. Flying over the peak and feeling the rush of comments whizzing by too fast to catch is fun. Then hot humid air rises off words stuck in a post that cause you to wonder if the readers have gone blind. The near blank comment section can stifle your creative breathing making it hard to climb another peak.

This cycle is not even that simple. It’s not sinusoidal. Nor does it have a regular frequency. You also need to consider the real life events coming at you unexpectedly.

I never planned to use this blog for these odd (normal question again?) posting but now that I have it I have found this blog useful. 

If you blog, share with us how you handle the swings in your blogging. thanks

Update this song inspires me on my quest:

Can I be quick

Probably not.  I like to plan.  I think about it for awhile.  

Deja vu thinking

That's when you learn something and think, I knew that.  It happens to me and it just happened with my blogging.

Here's the lesson - 

Often we focus better when we are challenged.

My blog background has been posted before and you can find it under the background page, so I'm skipping that for now.

After the initial reason for the "A Few Clowns Short" was mostly over, I continued to post.  But not very often because I was not getting any comments/feedback and it didn't look like I had regular readers.  I was spending more time thinking about what to write than writing whatever.

Then I found this blog challenge (some call them memes but I'm not sure that's the correct use of the word) called Spin Cycle.  It was a weekly thing and did it a few times.

Surprise.  I enjoyed some feedback.  Along the way, I found a few more blog challenges.  I never care for schedules and now on my own time I am certainly avoiding the constraint of a schedule.

However, I rediscovered that these challenges bring some focus to my posts.

My current challenge is about the song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas".

I believe it will make for better blog reading too.

What would Bonzo do

I have not a clue. I don’t know anyone that goes by the name Bonzo. I did meet a Guido once and that was on a friendly terms. 

What makes good blog content?

The audience decides in the end. However how could an audience of readers decide anything if the selection of readers is very limited. There could be a tribe of unknown nomads on a west coast highway who would relish my words. How would they ever find me? 

Crazy little thing called blog 

I gotta be cool, relaxed, get hip, and get on my tracks.

Ok lets say I was hip and trendy. Do hipsters even read anything? I heard once that when a hipster was identified as a hipster, he/she was no longer hip. No really knows what a hipster is anyway. I’ll try a different angle. 

Loverboy was wrong singing, 

"...everybody’s working for the weekend..."

There are people satisfied with Monday through Friday. Weekends are often over rated and I don’t write about the weekend. Everyone is not looking. Everyone is not wondering. Everyone is not doing the same thing, they never do, diversity rules.

So I’m looking for that Bonzo tribe. Maybe I need a west coast trip or at least a new Itunes playlist.

write it and they will read

Not really.  At least I don't think so.

But if you don't write it, well it will only linger for so long in your brain cells.  You could sing it, paint it, perform it, carve it.  Writing is easier for me.

The general idea is to record it in some type of media.  Now if you are really creative you could do it in a way that a future explorer might think was done by aliens from beyond the planet.

Can you imagine the great comedy that took place around the cave back in the day.  We can only guess.  Those cave paintings are not that funny but I think the jokes were great.

The history that we know the best is the recorded history.  What evidence do I have for comedy night in the cave?  None except I can't imagine that humans were not always funny (at least some of them).


Do blogs report history?  Back in '09, I wrote about the eggo shortage.  I don't imagine there will be any historical significance to the eggo shortage but who knows?  Well it and many many bits of trivia are documented on the web.

A recent visit to my sisters left me thinking about writing.

Maybe a book on eggos, maybe not.

My Brother-In-Law has written a book.  (I hope he'll stop by here and leave a link to his book site in the comments)  His first book was a few years ago.  But now he working on a second one, a funny one about his childhood.


Blogs are ideas like books except blog posts are much shorter.  Ideas for books come and go.  But to actually grab one and wrestle a book out of it is something that appears to be beyond my reach for now.

I suggested to my BIL that a blog promoting his book would be a good idea.  I really enjoy the blog, "Pearl, Why You Little".  She promotes and sells her book on the sidebar of her blog.

One great thing about writing, you can fart in your writing and probably get a laugh instead of a dirty look or threatened.  Unknown Mami farts for laughs on her blog.  Actually, the rumor has been confirmed that she has been blogging around.  Check her out here.


A blog fart can linger on web and would you care?  

The delivery technology of books has changed.  I wonder as they become digital will they also become interactive?  I don't mean interactive like a video game because we have games that do role playing.  Some of them can be more complex than a mystery novel.

The vision I see is an interaction with the author as you get engrossed in the story.  It could be a blog-type-book.

A great thinker and very funny guy gave us this quote:

Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that.  - George Carlin