Hi all,

  Hope all is well.  Recently had my internet access severely limited.  I don’t have the time then to write to everyone I wish too to say hi and or to let know what is going on in my travels.  So, I had a thought of starting this forum called TFI (thoughts, feelings, and ideas) and sort of lumping things together and sending it in bulk.  I intend to start a website to post some of this as well but that is another story.  It certainly is not that I think myself such a fascinating person that people are lining up to hear from me.  There are however many people I have met in my life/net travels that I very much want to keep in touch with.  A friend starting something she called “tag” through email, that this is a kind of variation on.  Most of my writing time will be in an offline capacity and then I will e-mail.  There will also be time when I write something specific intended for one person.  Those will not find there way onto TFI.  Just trying to find a creative way to best utilize my limited net access time.
  Sooooooo this is the 1st.  I use “bcc” and not “cc” as I strongly believe that people are entitled to their privacy.  I detest seeing my email addy in a list of fwds and will not do the same to anyone else.  I don’t do forwards myself.  And this is about as close as I will get to them.  I don’t mind receiving forwards so long as my addy does not appear in the fwd email list.  The simplest way to send them and keep me out of the email listing is to place my email into the “bcc” option.  This sends the mail out but shows an undisclosed recipient as opposed to an email addy.
  Not interested in receiving TFI?  No worries, and I certainly will not be offended.  Just email me to say so.

Sun 28 Jan 01

  Today I was in an appliance store, the name irrelevant but it was a big one, the one in most malls across the US.  I love to peruse these types of stores.
  Was quite taken by a garlic baking apparatus, so much so that my mouth fairly watered as I rotated the box this way and that and read the details on it’s use.  For the record it was the garlic recipe on the side and not the actual baking apparatus that got to me,  Garlic.............
  Some might think it odd, but I find that I am more at home in this type of store than in the power tools section of say….  Sears.
  There was an indoor water fountain there as well.  I sat near it watching the faces of small children, eyes wide with wonder, and the parents delighting in their offspring’s delight.  I let the sound of the water sooth me and often wish that I lived near a stream where I could go and sit and listen, let the day wash away.   ~sigh~
 

  Giving myself back to the craft of writing, recently a poor review of something I wrote struck a chord in me.  Despite the somewhat malicious intent of the reviewer, I find that my desire to write is not at all diminished.  He (the reviewer) did point out, without actually saying it, that often writers who lack skills use big words to compensate for that lack.  The reviewer did not say this directly but of all he had to say, that came through clearly.  While I did not/would not be deterred from this course, I took it and turned it into motivation to improve.  I had gotten away from the writing.  I wrote for me.  I now wish to return to it.  Why?
  -Because in restaurants when eating alone, which I do a lot, no paper napkin is safe from my doodling and sketching my thoughts, observations, ideas.
  -Because I enjoy people watching and studying human nature.  I do so as a way to better know myself.  Writing is a best outlet for such activity.
  -Because my mind has a mind of it’s own and what better way to manage it than give it direction.  My imagination has been overactive all my life, why not use it, eh?  It is simply something that I can not control; idle time, my mind creates.
  Ok ok sooo where was I…..  oh yeah.  So anyway improper word usage was the downfall of the passage in question.  Needless to say, I will give it another look and improve it over time.  I have other projects demanding my attention at the moment and that one will have to wait.  I will start off small and work my way up to the heavier stuff.  Will give my vocabulary and word knowledge a makeover too J what is the point of having ideas if you lack the facility to impart them.  Just as there are exercise to improve the strength and flexibility of the body, there are the same for the mind.  Improving upon my vocabulary and word usage would have the residual effect of improving my ability to more effectively communicate in life as well.  Sounds like a win/win situation to me.
  Bottom line is that I write for me, I don’t know that I ever will publish anything- it is not really the point of it.  The release is good for me.
  The reviewer’s intent was malicious, but I did note the lack of a return email address or examples of his own accomplishments.  Would have very much liked to correspond with him.  Why ally with people who only want to tell you good things that you want to hear.  He had the fire to express what he felt.  I have to respect that as well as take from it the things that I feel will help to improve my craft.  Would have respected it more had he given me the means to return comment.  The review was provided from one of my web sites quite a while ago.

  I recently started sending samplings out for a "review."  I send a questionnaire with the samples too.
the key here is not being a critical analysis, but watching one’s self and reactions as the sample is read to provide feedback.  This is important to me as the sampled fragment or chapter is written to evoke a response in the reader.  The feedback lets me know if the manner in which a passage was written, gets across what I intend.  If I expect that the reader dislikes a character and they like them- I have to re-write.
  Again, I don’t know that my intent is ever to publish but I do enjoy the craft.  I have several ideas simmering at any given time.  I have each mapped out from start to finish and the major events are written, it is the smaller things in between that I am working as well as sorting text and writing style and tense/verb tense issues.  If you would like to receive a sample please let me know.  The more points of view, the better.  Not interested/no worries- not offended here : )
  For those of you who already have, I thank you and am working revisions.
Again, it is no so much about critiquing as watching your feelings and reactions as you read.  In fact, read the questionnaire first in order to know what to look for in yourself
 

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