Category: Fourre-tout

A little bit of everything

Procrastination

I think that I mentioned this word before, but it will do me good to repeat it.

Procrastination is the action of delaying or postponing some action.
Something that I find particularly annoying.
Either you do it, either you don’t. No in-between.

“Procrastination is like masturbation. At first it feels good, but in the end you’re only screwing yourself”.

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Hamlet, (besides my wife) was one of the world’s most famous procrastinators.

 To be or not to be?

 Do you remember that interminable soliloquy? Of course you do.

Edwin_Booth_HamletThere is no question that The Prince of Denmark was  a Great Procrastinator.
Have you ever noticed by the way that Procrastinator rhymes with Refrigerator, Hibernator, Oscillator, Percolator, Evaporator?
Just a passing thought…

Hamlet dillydallied for most of the play (over 4 hours in the original version) about what to do about his father’s murderer. Should I kill Uncle Claudius or not?
Come on Hamlet… give us a break. Either you do or you don’t.
Dispatch the SOB and stop bleating about what you should or should not do.
It is tiring and annoying.

Another famous procrastinator was Victor Hugo.

If my sources are correct the great man was quite a horndog, or as the French would say, « il aimait courir la gueuse. »

While writing the Hunchback of Notre Dame, he had a tendency to drop his pen and leave the house to look for tender loving care.
Finally, hounded by his publisher, he decided to strip naked and told his valet to hide his clothes to prevent him from going out before finishing a certain chapter.

It worked, and Victor finally finished the book, but not before (in a fit of peevishness) bumping off Frollo, Quasimodo, Esmeralda and Clopin Trouillefou.

That’s what happens to people afflicted with chronic hesitancy. They frustrate their entourage and end up doing hasty, foolish things.

Alain

“Procrastination is like a credit card: it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill.”
Christopher Parker

Live and let live

Lyubov Uspenskaya sings “Two people”:

Warning: this is politically incorrect

The migratory crisis in Europe is not about migrants. It is about Islam. Were these people Christians (the predominant religion of Western Europe), they would be more readily accepted than they presently are.

The reluctance of European countries to take in Muslim refugees has nothing to do with quantity (well, partially) but mostly with the sulfurous reputation of Islam.

muslims-carrying-banners-declaring-islam-will-dominate-the-world-protest-at-the-visit-of-mr-wilders-to-the-ukIslam (regardless of what its proponents are saying) doesn’t have a good name.
Many see it as a belligerent religion bent on “compelling the whole world to embrace Islam, die, or live under intolerant, humiliating restrictions.”

“Live and let live”, is definitely not what you see on the Islamists black banners.

Many fear that an excessive number of Muslims in their country will create “Muslim enclaves” like in French restless “banlieues”.
And the (foolish) French policy of “regroupement familial” (family reunion) is going to make this problem achingly more acute.
Few people want in their midst intolerant zealots who feud with those not sharing their beliefs.

Islam is not a “Religion of Peace” and this has been proven many times throughout history.
Innumerable massacres took place under Muslim rule and are still taking place today. Islamic State is a primary example of Muslim intolerance and savagery.

The Muslim world is driven by a blind faith, and the faithful do not accept secular laws. There is right there an inherent conflict with Western democracies.

Some sanctimonious politicians have come out in favor of welcoming refugees, but with a NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) qualifier.

Many people also see the construction of mosques in Europe (just like the Spanish missions in California) as outposts of the Muslim invasion.
And there has never been a peaceful Muslim invasion. Every Muslim annexation ended in a bloodbath.

Shouldn’t we ask all these people (as the Muslims demand) to convert (or at least abjure) to the Christian faith?
After all, in 1593 Henry IV of France converted to Catholicism to become king of France.
He said: “Paris is well worth a Mass”
Isn’t access to all the goodies of Christian civilization equally worth a mass?

But the bottom line is that instead of welcoming refugees in Europe we should pour tons of money and weapons (like the Allies did in WWII) on those fighting extremists in their own countries to help them succeed in their fight against Extremist Zealots.

As (wise beyond her years) Malala Yousafzai said:
“If you go anywhere, even paradise, you will miss your home.”

 Alain

The Joys of Text

“Writing is really very easy. Tap a vein and bleed onto the page. Everything else is just technical.”
Derrick Jensen

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Well, not quite, but it still takes discipline and hard work to pen something easy to read.

agatha-christie-quotesThe first thing about writing is coming up with a decent subject. And it is not as easy as you might think because you do not want to offend anybody unnecessarily.

My writing is often a gut reaction to what I have witnessed or what I have read. I don’t claim to be right. As a matter of fact, I am partial and I don’t ask anybody to agree with me.
I am just voicing what I feel.
I am not a journalist but rather a topical blogger, and I am often politically incorrect because I don’t care for unrealistic bleeding-heart do-gooders.

Once I tackle a subject, I often find inspiration in famous quotes.
Witty sayings make me smile and inspire me.

“Everytime I hear Wagner I feel like invading Poland.” Woody Allen

To me, writing is not an orderly process. I don’t start at the top of the page and keep on writing until reaching the bottom margin.
I first jot random thoughts on a blank page and organize them later.
I rearrange a sentence many times, and word-processing is extremely helpful.
What would I do without “cut and paste”?

I really don’t know how Alexandre Dumas could write novels in longhand and edit them later. I understand that he used a ghostwriter to do the dirty work, but still.
Personally I don’t use one, I am my own (poorly paid) “nègre blanc”.

When in the trance of the creative process, even in your sleep you keep thinking about what you are writing.
It is not unusual for me to wake up in the middle of the night and shuffle to my (always awake) computer to jot down what came over me during my half-conscious state.

I usually write a rough draft in the morning and let it marinate overnight.
The next day I look at it again and edit it extensively.
I then let my concoction incubate for about 3 days (with multiple CPR sessions) before publishing it.

My writing style is often tongue-in-cheek, something written humorously that should not be taken at face value. But there is always some truth behind the humor.

And finally, “the art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe” and writing often allows me to clarify my own disjointed inner thoughts.

Alain

 I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done. Steven Wright