It's Always Something.

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

My new story worked itself out well enough. The challenge was to create a story without any conscious premeditation. And it worked. Plus I learned something: What looks like writers block may simply be your brain working on the problem. So! When it looked like I was stumped I gave myself more time, and the solution came along (and isn't what I imagined).

Started reading two Victor Hugo novels, and tossed both. Boring. The aren't Les Miserables or The Hunchback. One of them is about 1/2 travelogue zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Started reading David Copperfield by Dickens, and its much better. 1000 pages? 1057 to be exact.

Hatched an idea for a strange romance serial set in the Old South. I'm an amateur authority on the subject so it wont require much research. Whats likely to disturb readers is how benign the slave system was, and I intend to depict it accurately, and contrast/compare it to how free subsistence farmers fared. I need a good title, how about SYLVAN ABBEY?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kae5RK3JQCs

I was trained by guys trained by this guy, Fritz Perls. Everyone called Perls an asshole but he wasn't, he was simply staying in the moment rather than fucking around in his imagination. Notice how Gloria responds to him.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Looking at a list of the healthiest foods ever, I see that I grow most of them in my garden. But not the eggs, salmon, oats, or garlic. OK no milk either. The other 20 I got covered.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Still plowing THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST by David Halberstam, and ECONOMIC CRISES by Nouriel Roubini.

Halberstam continues to autopsy and expose the whole nasty carcass of politics. He crystallizes the core problem with big government: IF YOU DONT DO IT BY GOD I'LL FILL YOUR LIFE WITH THE FBI AND IRS! President Johnsons favorite threat. And, I TAKE CARE OF THE FOLKS I OWN, AND FUCK MY ENEMIES. Big government lets you do that.

Roubini illustrates how corrupt our economy is, and how its gonna collapse. For example: Obama is printing one trillion dollars per year money he loans to the elites at zero interest. The idea is for them to invest the money to create jobs. But theyre using the money to buy Wall Street stock, and have created a stock bubble that will crash, and saddle taxpayers with more debt. The money was supposed to go for new companies NOT WalMart.

 

[SamScribble]

Roubini illustrates how corrupt our economy is, and how its gonna collapse. For example: Obama is printing one trillion dollars per year money he loans to the elites at zero interest. The idea is for them to invest the money to create jobs. But theyre using the money to buy Wall Street stock, and have created a stock bubble that will crash, and saddle taxpayers with more debt. The money was supposed to go for new companies NOT WalMart.

JBJ, I love it when you get grumpy. The world needs more of you. There's altogether too much lethargy and blind acceptance about. I'm not saying that you are necessarily right; but you raise questions that need answers. I tip my hat to you, sir.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

JBJ, I love it when you get grumpy. The world needs more of you. There's altogether too much lethargy and blind acceptance about. I'm not saying that you are necessarily right; but you raise questions that need answers. I tip my hat to you, sir.

I see me as more of a BRIDGE OUT AHEAD sign. I'm prolly the least grumpy person there is. When my Long Island neighbor planted a magnolia up against her house I told her the tree will destroy her house, she didn't believe me, and I wasn't grouchy cuz she didn't. She was warned, I did my duty.

 

[slyc_willie]

Hatched an idea for a strange romance serial set in the Old South. I'm an amateur authority on the subject so it wont require much research. Whats likely to disturb readers is how benign the slave system was, and I intend to depict it accurately, and contrast/compare it to how free subsistence farmers fared. I need a good title, how about SYLVAN ABBEY?

Seriously, I would see this as working, if it could be done. The knee-jerk reaction for anything even remotely touching on period plantation life and the treatment of slaves is to vilify those who own the slaves. What a challenge it would be to try (emphasis on 'try') to portray both sides as human beings and pull it off without bringing in modern conceptions.

You'd have to put a lot of work into describing not only the backdrop, but the principle characters and the situations they would realistically be in, in a way that makes the reader feel for both sides. That's the real ticket.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Seriously, I would see this as working, if it could be done. The knee-jerk reaction for anything even remotely touching on period plantation life and the treatment of slaves is to vilify those who own the slaves. What a challenge it would be to try (emphasis on 'try') to portray both sides as human beings and pull it off without bringing in modern conceptions.

You'd have to put a lot of work into describing not only the backdrop, but the principle characters and the situations they would realistically be in, in a way that makes the reader feel for both sides. That's the real ticket.

I have the good fortune to have plentiful records from the slave days. My ancestors were rice and cotton planters, and kept good records. That, and they had guests who documented visits to the plantations. Plus correspondence pertaining to slave matters.

More to the point, the slave economy offered many incentives to encourage slave cooperation.

The chief fault of the slave system was how it suppressed self actualization, on average. One of my ancestors trained his slaves to master sundry trades...brick making, sawyers, carpenters, masons, etc. A few he sponsored as general building contractors.

So I'll weave the reality in with the romance.

 

[slyc_willie]

The chief fault of the slave system was how it suppressed self actualization, on average. One of my ancestors trained his slaves to master sundry trades...brick making, sawyers, carpenters, masons, etc. A few he sponsored as general building contractors.

So I'll weave the reality in with the romance.

So, your story would partially focus on how the slave owner was different from his peers? That would be a safe way of doing it, I suppose, if that is your intention. I would be at a crossroads, myself, between depicting the slaver as being in some way progressive and nurturing, and depicting him as being cruel and stereotypical at the start, only to change later. Perhaps the first might be period reflective, for those who understood the time, but the latter might be more understandable for the majority of readers.

It's a conundrum. How much stock do you place in your readers?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

So, your story would partially focus on how the slave owner was different from his peers? That would be a safe way of doing it, I suppose, if that is your intention. I would be at a crossroads, myself, between depicting the slaver as being in some way progressive and nurturing, and depicting him as being cruel and stereotypical at the start, only to change later. Perhaps the first might be period reflective, for those who understood the time, but the latter might be more understandable for the majority of readers.

It's a conundrum. How much stock do you place in your readers?

As a rule the abusive slave owner was a Cracker who acquired his slaves from gambling. He had no skin in the game, no resources to care for his slaves, and treated them as badly as he treated his family.

So the tone of my story is akin to how Dickens treated the English class system.

 

[slyc_willie]

As a rule the abusive slave owner was a Cracker who acquired his slaves from gambling. He had no skin in the game, no resources to care for his slaves, and treated them as badly as he treated his family.

So the tone of my story is akin to how Dickens treated the English class system.

As something to be challenged and fought against. Your hero, then, would be something of an outcast as well. Satisfying for modern readers, but challenging to explain it in the circumstances of the time.

Not saying it can't be done, but it would take some artful crafting.

I kind'a like this idea, James.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

As something to be challenged and fought against. Your hero, then, would be something of an outcast as well. Satisfying for modern readers, but challenging to explain it in the circumstances of the time.

Not saying it can't be done, but it would take some artful crafting.

I kind'a like this idea, James.

The times are fascinating. One of my ancestors made a fortune during the Civil War, growing and selling cotton. I couldn't figure out how he did it with the US Navy blockading Tallahassee. St. Marks is a small port easily closed down. So how did the cotton get out? Duh, he paid the captain of the Union gunboat to look the other way when the cotton left for the Bahamas in the middle of the night. Easy to do. I have all the financial records including itemized lists of what he brought back from the Bahamas.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Enjoying reading DAVID COPPERFIELD. Dickens said it was his favorite. GREAT EXPECTATIONS is my favorite, but this may be #2.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

http://goodrichpoems.wordpress.com/love-interests/annie-hooe-ward/

Here is one of the documents I spoke of, its a diary kept by a school teacher hired by my 3rd great-grandfather, George Taliaferro Ward. TALIAFERRO is pronounced TOLLIVER. My Taliaferro ancestors were Italian. George's Daughter, Anna Hooe Ward, featured in the diary on numerous occasions, was my 2nd great-grandmother. The photo is Cornelia James Grant, Annie's daughter, and my great-grandmother. HOOE is Welsh and pronounced HOE. The first of that name was ancestor Rhys Ap Hooe who emigrated to Virginia 1619.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

http://pone.com/ts/gamble1.htm

Here's another document. Robert H. Gamble was married to the sister of an ancestor, and lived across the Manatee River from the sister of yet another ancestor. Gamble raised my 2nd great-grandmother after her parents died.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaO69CF5mbY

THOUGHTS ABOUT SOCIALIST SCIENTISTS.

 

[lovecraft68]

Seeing this seems to be a random thread I'll toss something in.

I am a fan of F. Paul Wilson who has a series featuring a character called Repairman Jack.

They started out great, but I think he's up to 7 and three books ago I noticed they are totally formulaic. Jack runs into someone who is in trouble. That trouble somehow ties in with an ancient enemy who wants Jack dead.

Each book features either a family member or old friend of Jack's showing up to get involved then dies at the end.

The ancient enemy makes a cameo appearance shakes his fist and says "I'll get you next time" and on to the next book.

It amazes me that people will buy the same thing over and over again and that an author won;t even make an effort to be different, but I guess if the peeps are paying....

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Seeing this seems to be a random thread I'll toss something in.

I am a fan of F. Paul Wilson who has a series featuring a character called Repairman Jack.

They started out great, but I think he's up to 7 and three books ago I noticed they are totally formulaic. Jack runs into someone who is in trouble. That trouble somehow ties in with an ancient enemy who wants Jack dead.

Each book features either a family member or old friend of Jack's showing up to get involved then dies at the end.

The ancient enemy makes a cameo appearance shakes his fist and says "I'll get you next time" and on to the next book.

It amazes me that people will buy the same thing over and over again and that an author won;t even make an effort to be different, but I guess if the peeps are paying....

I've said it before, FOR SOME PEOPLE THE SAME THING IS NOVEL EVERYTIME IT HAPPENS. I suspect its a sort of autism they have.

 

[LadyVer]

The times are fascinating. One of my ancestors made a fortune during the Civil War, growing and selling cotton. I couldn't figure out how he did it with the US Navy blockading Tallahassee. St. Marks is a small port easily closed down. So how did the cotton get out? Duh, he paid the captain of the Union gunboat to look the other way when the cotton left for the Bahamas in the middle of the night. Easy to do. I have all the financial records including itemized lists of what he brought back from the Bahamas.

http://goodrichpoems.wordpress.com/love-interests/annie-hooe-ward/

Here is one of the documents I spoke of, its a diary kept by a school teacher hired by my 3rd great-grandfather, George Taliaferro Ward. TALIAFERRO is pronounced TOLLIVER. My Taliaferro ancestors were Italian. George's Daughter, Anna Hooe Ward, featured in the diary on numerous occasions, was my 2nd great-grandmother. The photo is Cornelia James Grant, Annie's daughter, and my great-grandmother. HOOE is Welsh and pronounced HOE. The first of that name was ancestor Rhys Ap Hooe who emigrated to Virginia 1619.

Interesting. My mother keeps the Civil War letters that have been handed down in the family. They record the courtship of two of our ancestors. One branch of the family came over from Ireland around 1700; unfortunately, not many records were kept.

I find Hugo boring, probably for his writing style which wasn't unusual during that era. Your story idea sounds good.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Interesting. My mother keeps the Civil War letters that have been handed down in the family. They record the courtship of two of our ancestors. One branch of the family came over from Ireland around 1700; unfortunately, not many records were kept.

I find Hugo boring, probably for his writing style which wasn't unusual during that era. Your story idea sounds good.

Thank you.

I run hot and cold with Hugo. The Hunchback and Les Miserables are about it for me.

Dickens is the same. I love Great Expectations, and am enjoying David Copperfield, but don't care much for all the others.

I'm lucky that so many of my people were articulate and literate enough to write.

 

[LadyVer]

Thank you.

I run hot and cold with Hugo. The Hunchback and Les Miserables are about it for me.

Dickens is the same. I love Great Expectations, and am enjoying David Copperfield, but don't care much for all the others.

I'm lucky that so many of my people were articulate and literate enough to write.

You're welcome.

I'm not much of a Dickens fan either but again more because of the style. I had a grandmother who didn't learn to write until her 60's. When she was 16 her father dropped her off in the Dakotas to homestead alone; he did give her a rifle though. She lasted a year. I think she told him if he ever did that again she'd kill him. He was later chased by his 3rd wife with one of his own guns.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Dirty Pix

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Got a good rain last night. City water is almost worse than no water. It keeps plants alive but the chemicals in it make it tough for the plant to thrive.

I learn something new with every garden, and what I learn often conflicts with official orthodoxy and canons. Like, its hot here already, in the 90s a few times; tomatoes like full Sun but I planted mine in a spot that's shaded from about 3 oclock, on. The tomatoes are healthier and have more fruit than the plants that get more Sun. The difference is obvious.

Another thing I learned is: Sweet potatoes will grow from small-fry. Slips are a pain in the ass to grow, but a little sweet potato you can cover with dirt and forget about. Plus you save all the time and trouble slips require.

Potato peels will sprout. I have some lush potato plants that started as garbage. The Ag perfessers discourage using commercial taters but mine look great and the first spuds look excellent.

The method to the madness is this: I wanna see how much quality food I can grow on a small plot of ground. Then compile all the info inside a garden manual so that others can get the same results I get. And make it so simple even a LIT Moderator can do it.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Whazzup with the price of gold? Its down almost $100 an ounce as of 7am.

No one wants it. Its price is deflating. Maybe the gold bubble just popped.

I know jack-shit about economics but my observation skills are OK. And what it looks like to me is this: For the last 10 years or so we've made our money from bubbles that lure fools and their money in to the market where theyre fleeced by the smart operators. And once you exhaust the supply of fools willing to pay ruinous prices for houses or oil or stocks or gold or whatever the prices drop hard.

Another clever trick is the one Obama is playing. He printed a trillion dollars for the banks to loan to investors to buy stocks in new companies. The Fed loams the money to the banks for 0% interest, and they loan it to Chelsea Clinton to buy stock in green energy companies like LOVE MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND RENEWABLE GREEN ENERGY CORP. Except she buys WalMart and McDonalds shares instead, cuz she aint a fool. Or the clever banks use the free money to buy Treasury bonds that pay 2-3% interest. Obama loans them free money that they loan back to him for interest.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

GUN CONTROL 5 YAHOO CLUSTER FUCK

Doesn't look like we'll get any gun control laws. Democrats wanna harass white gun owners, and the GOP wants to harass blacks and the mentally ill. There is no way that Obama's gonna let the cops remove pistols from black neighborhoods or stigmatize the mentally ill with permit denials. Likewise the NRA will skin pols who sign on to harass sport and recreational shooters.

Bottomline: We'll get a new agency that does nuthin, like draft boards, that makes sweet jobs for Caroline Kennedy or Chelsea Clinton.