Thursday, May 4, 2017

WET DAYS, DRY CAMELS, AND WRITING

I removed my most recent post solely because I didn't like it. 
Sometimes I say so much of nothing that I annoy myself. I didn't delete it - I reverted it to a draft and kept the comments (Myra, Paula, LadyHawthorne).

It's pouring rain. Again. And again and again....Once in awhile I Google pictures of the sun just to remember what it looks like. That was lame, but I'm not in a funny mood.

I'm considering moving to Saudi Arabia. Sure, they get occasional rain but I've never seen a wet camel.....and I've never seen fifteen-foot-high weeds in the Rub al Khali (like they are in my yard).

I'm used to dust storms and Haboobs. Heck, I lived in West Texas.
And I feel comfortable in sheik garb.



Don't laugh. I'm an old man. I looked a helluva lot better twenty years ago. Okay, maybe forty.
By the way, I'm the one on the right.

Remember that children's book I wrote last autumn? I put it in a drawer and forgot about it. Last night I re-read it and it's surprisingly good. I'm sending it to some publishers.

I just started writing the book about the 1906 murder in New Jersey and my great-uncle who was hanged for the crime (mentioned in one of my previous posts).
I researched that story for several years, published an article on it, and have a surplus of information. Yet, I'm still finding new information that I never knew (via the Internet). I'm amazed.

After careful consideration and major trepidation, I'm also finally writing my memoirs. 
I used to jokingly say that I'm the most interesting person I know -  but sometimes I almost believe it.

I figure it's better to write it now before senility sets in - if it hasn't already.

There's a trend with bloggers lately - especially popular bloggers (which I'm very definitely not): 
they're all writing memoirs. I've read some of them on Amazon - and most are blase. Nothing interesting happened in their lives.

I endured one extremely long chapter about a 1963 trip to the drive-in movies. And I read several chapters about a quirky uncle who drank beer while watching Bowling for Dollars in his underwear.
ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I don't really give a flying fig.

Trouble is - writing truthfully about oneself is extremely difficult. Revealing all is even more difficult. Not to mention humiliating.

My life has definitely been unique. And colorful. There were many incredibly good times, but even many more brutally bad ones - the ravages of which devastated me emotionally. I never fully recovered.

I could easily write two books: my innocent childhood and my recklessly wild adulthood of destruction and debauchery.
I have an incredible memory. I can remember things from when I was only a few months old. 

Well, this blog post turned out to be even longer and more crappy than my previous one was.

It's far too late to quit while I'm ahead. 

11 comments:

  1. Good luck with your book Jon.

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  2. That pix of you in shiek garb is a panic! (But love your baby blues!)
    Odd, you're looking for pictures of the sun ... and I'm trying to obscure it from every window and door. 103-degrees today and 6% (yes, that's SIX) humidity.

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  3. Looking forward to reading your memoirs when you get them published. Also the childrens book. Fingers crossed. I wish you luck and no rejection slips.

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  4. We have had the threat of rain all week, but not a damn drop yet. I can't picture you writing a book for kids. Is it on how to bake them in a pie??? But the memoirs......put me down for a sold copy. If I can't be with you to hear the stories, I 'll read the book, have some wine and clutch my pearls in shock and amazement by what were sure to read one day.

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  5. "Break a leg" - or whatever is the literary equivalent. MaggieB

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  6. Keep writing! And good luck with the children's book. I hope it finds a publisher. :)

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  7. I think if you're comfortable with dust storms you're some of the way towards being happy in Saudi!

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  8. Jon, you have a knack for recounting experience. I have rarely found its equal --1st paragraph of Copperfield comes close ("Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show..."). I have great confidence in your writing projects, and in you.

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  9. Question? Do you edit your posts after posting? I never leave a comment on first read. But, this one looks different to me on second read.???

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    1. Jimmy, I almost never edit my posts (which is why some are so crappy). BUT, sometimes I will remove a post simply because I don't like it. I did that with my previous post, which was entitled "A Day in the Life Of". That's probably the one you saw.

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