The Joys of Text

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

     

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

Repentance

la-rochefoucauld“Repentance is not so much remorse for what we have done as the fear of the consequences.”
Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Some people go religiously to church every Sunday while some others devoutly attend gym services.

Even though these two groups are quite different, they basically share the same philosophy.
They worship to atone for their sins… and show off at the same time.
The churchgoers go to the church to show the community what good Christians they are.

“Some go to church to see and be seen, Some go there to say they have been, Some go there to sleep and nod, But few go there to worship God.”

The jocks (and the jockettes) go to the gym to respectively flaunt their six-pack abs and their steel buns.
Some incidentally come to keep fit.

Both groups are suffering from what I believe to be the “I am better than you are” syndrome.

People go to church to repent and be exonerated.
People go to the gym to make allowances for their excesses.
Both organizations by the way are big moneymaking machines, for people will always pay good money for an act of public expiation.

I now regularly go the Larkspur Rustic Bakery (good products/unequal service) for breakfast.
While sitting at the terrace and munching on a ham and cheese croissant I can observe the people going into or coming out of the 24 Fitness health club located a few paces away.

The girls wear (sometimes flattering) tight outfits and the guys baggy shorts and sweatshirts.
In this masochistic temple, sweat (the nectar of the Gods) is the ultimate reward.
Your sins and fat cells fall off after a good ritual.

After a gym session, the participants reward themselves with coffee and pastry.
After church, people feel free to grow and multiply.

I personally don’t go to (any) church because as George Carlin said:

“I would never want to be a member of a group whose symbol was a guy nailed to two pieces of wood.”

To sum it up, I am not a joiner. Being fairly independent-minded I am always reluctant to join any organization for fear of being tied down by rules carved in stone.

Alain

Exodus

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,|
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Emma Lazarus, 1883

 

How times have changed!
We still have “huddles masses yearning to be free” but they are definitely not as welcome as 100 years ago.

Today a great number of Middle Eastern and African nationals are banging at the gates of European countries, clamoring for asylum. They fled their homeland, to escape ethnic or civil strife, war, poverty and discrimination.
Their attempt to escape bloody conflicts is understandable, but so is the reluctance of European nations to let them in.

Few European countries are actually able to balance their budgets. They sometimes manage to do this by (like in France) taxing their citizens to death. Add a few more thousands mouths to feed, and taxes (and dangerous home discontent) will also go up accordingly.
This puts European democracies between a rock and a hard place.

When moving and settling in a drastically different country, refugees also have to adapt, and due to a cultural clash, many fail to do so.

“Becoming the victim of rape, dressing in ways which are deemed inappropriate, or engaging in homosexual relations are NOT punishable by death.”

This is sometimes difficult to understand. Old ethnic beliefs and hatreds have to be reconsidered and seen in a new (hopefully better) light.

Wite Snowshoe_HareThe basic rule of survival in a new country is to make yourself invisible. Like a snow rabbit, you need to blend with your environment.
This means among other things discarding your native wardrobe. What you were wearing in your native country is now alien and often disturbing, especially in today’s terrorist context.

This also means  that women are not a disposable property and honor killing is totally unacceptable.

Settling in another country is like a rebirth, a reincarnation. It is like a reptile shedding its old skin to reappear in a new and more relaxed suit.

People who don’t adjust risk being stigmatized.
“The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.”

Personally, I feel uneasy, even resentful when facing Middle Eastern women (or men) dressed in their native garb.
Why are they here if they are rejecting western ways? Are they unable (or unwilling) to adapt to a new reality? Are they bringing along with their kids, their intolerance and their prejudices?
What about allegiance to their new home? Does it really mean that these people are forswearing their old values and ready to defend the (unholy) values of their new country?
When I hear what radical Muslim preachers are saying in Great Britain, I am not too convinced.

It would be politically correct to welcome all those people with open arms but the underlying problem is the 800-pound gorilla in the room; the tremendous cost (housing, food, health benefits, education) incurred by the hosting countries and their fear of Islamist terrorism.

Would-be asylum seekers would be well advised to remember that keeping a low profile and strictly obeying the laws of the land take precedent over religious precepts, misplaced honor and centuries of ingrained misogynistic customs or traditions.

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do”.

Alain