underground attic newspage

Runs on March 18th and 22nd

2011-03-22T17:27:00.002-04:00

The knee is about the same. Maybe a little better. I ran on Friday and today (Tuesday). I meant to run yesterday but didn't happen. But I've been keping up on push ups and situps before my runs.

Friday March 18th
Run: 1 mile
Time: 10:58
Heart Rate: 168
Pushup: 5X10
Situps: 5X12

Tuesday March 22nd
Run: 1 mile
Time: 10:31
Heart Rate: 165
Push ups: 5X10
Sit ups: 5X12

That is all I have for now. I may run tomorrow but my wait until Thursday. I haven't decided yet.

March 16th Run

2011-03-16T16:13:00.003-04:00

No change with the knee but a little better time on the mile.

Distance: 1Mile
Time: 10:05
Avg heart rate: 176

The course was different; mostly down hill on the way out and mostly uphill on the way back. I think that was the different in heart rate.
Oh yeah I've thrown push-ups in the mix.

Push ups: 10X5

March 14th run

2011-03-15T16:53:00.002-04:00

Hello folks,
I've decided to start posting my runs here as I recover from a knee injury. I feel on the ice about a month go as I was walking Busby. Anyway, long story short yesterday was the first day I ran in over 2 months. So I'm going to log runs and how my knee is doing on my blog. So here is yesterday's info. If anybody is really reading this, keep on me if you don't see a post in more than a week.
March 14th
Distance: 1 mile
Time: 10:49
Avg. Heart rate: 165

The knee was a little awkward at first but did all right after the first 10th of a mile or so. It was sore a little earlier but I helped someone move some furniture this morning. More likely due to that. I plan on running again tomorrow afternoon.

Busby Bites

2010-10-19T11:13:00.005-04:00

I recently went out and purchased the best friend I've ever bought, a tri-colored corgi I call Busby. Five weeks ago today I drove down to central Kentucky to pick him up. In preparation for the visit I did some research on google maps for direction to the breeders to find out that her address wasn't available through google maps. I tried several such sites with the same results. After about an hour and half of searching I found a listing in the Kentucky department of transportation. Unfortunately that site isn't very user friendly. I had only a slightly better geuss of where this place was.

So with only a vague idea of where I was going and some items for the puppy on the trip back I headed down to pick my new friend. It was a beautiful morning and a wonderful drive. I made it down there in good time. I did miss the turn off for the road but it didn't take me long to get back on track.

I didn't speak to the breeder herself, she wasn't feeling well, but her husband was really nice. He was the one to retrieve the puppy for me. Some were promised to others and he didn't want to give me the wrong little doggy. He went in to check with his wife when I noticed my tire going flat. Apparently I'd picked up a nail somewhere along the way. The man I just met tried to fix the tire and we he couldn't helped me change the tire and told me of the closest place to repair the tire. I certainly appreciate all his kindness.
During this meeting I got to meet the puppy's parents. The father jumped up into the trunk while we were changing the tire. He looked healthy and happy. The mother was laying calmly by in a porch chair.
I managed to get back on the road and headed out. Stopped at the tire place and they were able to plug it. The cost wasn't as bad as I was expecting and once they got to my car it didn't take long to fix it.

At this point I was beginning to realize that I might have the cutest puppy on the planet. So many people came over as we sat outside the tire place, to admire him and to ask about his breed.

The rest the trip was good and Busby slept most of the way.

He is getting bigger and growing into my life in ways I couldn't imagine. I'm sure you, gentle reader, will be able to get more of him in the future.

Me, Reinhart and Anadama Bread

2010-08-16T10:53:00.001-04:00

I’ve started baking bread again after a long inactive period. I was looking throgh my cookbooks for something, I don’t remember what, and rediscovered The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. I’ve decided the do the Julie and Julia thing with this book. I have no time limits or expectations other than to blog about the recipes I try. Occassionally when I try recipes from other books I’ll throw them in too.
The first recipe I tried was the Anadama Bread. I don’t know that I’ve ever baked a bread with a soaker before, but this recipe had one. It was simple soaker of cornmeal and water overnight so it an easy road into such an experiment. Actually this whole experience was very easy and went much better than expected. I think there were only minor corrections to be made the prof went faster , the dough was stickier and the loaves weighed slightly less than expected.
The response was interesting too. I let some people try it and most just said the boring “it was good.” Which is much better than “I vomitted” or getting the evil eye, but still not exactly what I was looking for. But a couple people asked what kind of sweetner and they geussed honey (it was actually molasses). This was the kind of response I was looking for and hope for in the future when I present breads to people.
If anybody local wants try some of my breads just email me and I’ll see what I can do. Or if you have any interesting recipes for me to try, send my way and I’ll see what I think. If I do try them I’ll give you credit when I blog about them.

Hazards of Working as a Bookseller

2010-08-04T09:20:00.007-04:00

The other day I asked someone what he was reading and he told me at the moment they weren't reading anything. He went on to tell me that they just weren't finding anything that he wanted to read.
Currently I have just the opposite problem. I'm finding too much to read and just keep starting new books. One of the books I just started is Brother Juniper's Bread Book. I find it a really interesting mix of philosophy and spiritual thought in a book about bread baking. Since I really enjoy bread baking (even though I haven't for awhile) this book is of interest to me.
Another book I've started is A Dog Year. I've been wanting to get a dog for awhile now but our apartment doesn't allow pets. So I've been looking at volunteering a shelter and I started reading this book. The stories in this book are funny and remind me of some of the dog I've known from childhood.
Everything's Eventual is composed of short stories by Stephen King. As some readers may know I enjoy audio books as I run. I have this audio selection on my Walkman but it has only 5 of the 14 tales. So I started reading it. I have to say "The Man in the Black Suit" is probably one of my favorites by King.
Iron John caught my eye and when did a quick scan of the back it mentioned that Bly felt that a number of problems that men face are created by the lack of fathers and fathering in modern society. This intrigued me and I needed to read more. I can't say that I agree with everything he has said but the book is thought provoking in many areas.
Titus Groan and the other Gormenghast novels were recommended to me long ago and have been on my "to read list" for some time. This book is a new experience for me. I think it is slow and dry in some areas but it still keeps me reading. I think if I were on stuck somewhere and had only one book to read this might be it.
I've read Shop Class as Soulcraft before but I think this book is worth a reread. There are certain jobs that we undervalue as a society that don't deserve such scrutiny. This book has caused me to reevaluate how I look at work.
Better Off is the last of the books I'm reading currently. It about a man and his wife that decide to live a year without modern technology. The whole idea was so interesting that is another book that had been on my "to read list" for awhile that I couldn't wait any longer to start. So far he hasn't been preachy or even hinting that we should all live in a world without technology but he does suggest that we take a look at what we consider necessary and reconsider what is really best.
I'm hoping to finish all of these before I start a new book. Wish me luck. Some of these books will deserve a more full review and I hope to post it here soon.

Once Upon a Time at the Zoo

2009-09-08T11:39:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time I worked at a zoo. I really enjoyed working with the animals; I enjoyed working outdoors. But it came to an end when I was fired. The purpose of this essay is not to go over the reasons I was fired. Those reasons for my termination are up for debate but what is on my mind is what I did to look forward after that termination. I thought about what career path I should take and what kind of work I was best suited for? I felt that I was well suited for the zoo job. I had a BS in biology. I enjoyed the animals and working with them, but after being fired I felt returning to a zoo job somewhere else was a dead end.

So I was stuck with the question “What do I do now?” I found a job at a bakery soon after the zoo. My manager there was one of the best managers I’ve ever worked for. I discovered that the people you work with can make the difference in a job. Building those relationships can make for a more positive work place. Even though relationships are important I didn’t think that this was the career for me.

Working the job at the zoo, I had my weaknesses but I didn’t see my termination coming. I’ve come to feel a degree uncertainty on how well I’m doing in my job. I think that this had a lot to do with my relationships that I had with those above me. If I knew what my boss at the zoo thought of me I could have seen it coming, whatever the true reasons for firing me.

I learned to bake bread as well. I’ve kept this skill as a hobby. It is refreshing to be involved in something that judged on the actual outcome. Either bread comes out good or it turns out bad. It is clear how well I’ve done. It is a good feeling not to be judged personally but to be judged on your skill. There is some subjective judgment but overall one has something concrete to point too when being judged. Some other jobs don’t have anything concrete to point to; they only have abstractions to claim to have done well and then they may have someone else claim that they didn’t do well. I think it is important in a job to have something concrete to point to and say I did that and I did a good job.

Another aspect to work that I think is extremely necessary in all professions but very rare to find is a mentor. I’m not sure why this no longer consider something we need. Maybe most people feel they can do everything on their own. That they think they need no one to help them get ahead. An attitude of “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps.” I think it also that no one wants to mentor. I’m not sure they feel they don’t have time or there is a fear of next generation of workers or a feeling of I did it on my own and it was rough; so we got to treat the new kid rough until he earns his stripes.

Before considering a career in nursing I thought about becoming a veterinarian. I volunteered at a vet’s office and instead of being a mentor and helping me; the vet was a jerk to me and took advantage of my desire to be mentored by him. As I’ve searched for a career I’ve found more discouragement than encouragement. Some of this discouragement came from those I would have thought should have been encouraging. Maybe this because I’m ill suited to any profession, but to me it is part of an attitude in society that I’m unable to define. I think it is related to individualism in this country. Individualism to a degree is good but I don’t think to the extreme that we don’t help anyone else it becomes an evil. I could have made a good vet with the appropriate encouragement, but at the time I had just got married, was getting older and didn’t have time to struggle getting started in a new career no matter how good I was going to be in it.

I really dislike the necessity of reinventing myself every 2 or 3 years. I really don’t know if it will ever end. I’ve done so many jobs and had so many education experiences. I’ve worked landscaping, grocery clerk, factory work, BS in Biology, the zoo, a bakery, a restaurant cook, a bookseller, grant assistant, and I’m not about to complete a degree in nursing and enter the nursing work force. Then what? I’m considering going on to get a master’s in public health. I’m jealous of those that know exactly what they wanted to do from the time they were children.

I don’t think I understood when I lost my job at the zoo that I would have to continue on indefinitely looking for my niche in the work force and that I would feel like Sisyphus as I go from one career to another on into the eternities. Now back to rolling the rock up the hill again.

Only Fast Running Will Do

2009-06-22T16:37:00.001-04:00

I recently ran the Kenton County Library “Racing to Read” 5k. My time this year was 28 minutes and 17 seconds. This was a disappointment considering I have been training to run a marathon since the end of February. I thought there would be at least some improvement from last year when I ran the same race in the same amount of time. This left me feeling like the last few months of training hadn’t really paid off. I then began contemplating whether I should be running 5k’s for the rest of the summer and trying to improve my time or continue with the training I started and run the Columbus marathon in October.

Only fast running will do.

I really haven’t been feeling the improvement with the long runs I’ve been doing over the last few weeks when compared with March. I think my heart and lungs have adapted and my legs were starting to catch up as well. So this past week I began speed training and concentrating on the 5k times. I’ve already signed up for the “Run for the Levy” 5k which benefits the Clermont County MRDD. It is on July 11th and I hoping to see some improvement with the new training I’m doing.

Only fast running will do.

I can really feel the difference working on my times. I’m glad that I started by building up my distance running. I think it has done me good to get those miles under my belt before I started on time. Speed training seems much harder than distance, but somehow I feel better when I’m finished with the speed training. I feel more accomplished even though the distance isn’t as great. Working on speed helps me to feel like I’m making progress.

Only fast running will do.

Monday Morning Poetry: Friends and a Ball Game

2009-05-25T08:56:00.003-04:00

Ball caps, bottled water, soft sided cooler, game tickets.
Beautiful day.
The car is ready to move,
we hit the road,
and get downtown,
It takes time to find parking,
even with a map,
we are down one street and up another,
finally an open garage,
up and up to find an empty space.
Down and down we walk,
on the street dodging the traffic,
walking light man,
flashing red hand,
homeless man,
Stadium seats easy to find,
bake in the sun,
uneven sunburns,
losing home team,
don’t even keep it close.
But there are good friends,
good weather,
good times.
I love my trip to the ball park.

Spring Shopping

2009-05-18T13:32:00.002-04:00

This morning I went on a shopping trip
For peppers, tomatoes and petunias
to plant in my garden.
For the harvest and the beauty they will give in return,
We get home and work ourselves into pots
and soil and the water and the sun.
We enjoy the work and the soil, the water and the sun
We have the promise of growth.
The garden’s efforts are my own.
We look for nourishment from our roots.
We wait to share what the fall harvest brings.

The Newspage on Running

2009-05-16T14:52:00.000-04:00

I’ve been training for a marathon for nearly 12 weeks now. Besides some pain in lower right leg, I think it is going well. I have to admit some doubt has come into my mind that I can actually complete the whole 26.2 miles. Even though I have my doubts I’m not going to reconsider my goal. The goal has kept me running longer and more consistently than any other time in my life.
This morning I just finished Murakami’s What I Talk about When I Talk about Running. I found the author’s thoughts on running enjoyable and enlightening. He has run a marathon almost every year for the last 25 years. He even ran an ultra marathon that was 62 miles and during the writing of his book ran a few triathlons. The book is short memoir that I think is well worth reading for those who enjoy Murakami’s writing or running or, like me, both. Even though Murakami doesn’t want to compel others to run I still think it is good book for those who don’t run. He suggests in his book that running is not for everyone and I would agree. He wrote about running because it was part of his life and he has his own reasons he continues to run even as he ages. The reason I’m writing about running is to give my experiences and over the last few weeks running has been a big part of my life as I train for this marathon.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve learned that I’m going to have good days running and I’m going to have bad days but I need to run consistently to know the difference. Without running every day, or almost every day, I end up lacking motivation. I end up putting it off. “Ah, I’ll just do that tomorrow,” is what I think to myself and tomorrow never comes. So even when I hurt I still run and after the first 10-20 minutes it disappears though it is always slow going during that time before the pain backs off. It’s not bad pain or I would have to reconsider.
If you read my blog regularly you may have noticed the running blogs that I’ve recently added to my blog list. I felt some by putting them there I owed my readers an explanation of what is going on with me and running habits. I will continue to write about my experiences on training for this marathon from time to time.

Monday Morning Poetry: Sleeping on the Couch

2009-05-11T12:31:00.005-04:00

quiet early morning
only birds and old men are awake.
I’m stepping softly not to disturb the silence.
or mom sleeping on the couch
up late with a book and a pie,
empty plate and crusty fork,
opened up and face down,
looking rough,
a paperback novel,
it could be,
suspense or,
a mystery.
I step closer to see,
She still has her glasses on.
wrapped up in gold and brown, a afghan.
wrapped up in patience and grace, my mother.
my presence wakes her
“good morning son.”

Monday Morning Poetry: Vacation Haiku

2009-05-04T09:30:00.000-04:00

Spring is here, flowers, beauty
Too much work to do
Vacation is Salvation

The Language of Bees: The Two Line Review

2009-05-01T14:50:00.000-04:00

King has another smash hit in her Mary Russell series. She should have released it all at the same time and not made us wait for the real end of this story.

The 13th Tale: The Two Line Review

2009-05-01T14:49:00.000-04:00

The 13th Tale by Diane Setterfield was florid crap but with a good plot. I really wish someone else would have written it.

2B Blues: Haikus

2009-04-27T20:08:00.000-04:00

2B down the hall
little studio apartment
smells like dog feces

Through the alley dark.
A strange people. Old, ugly face.
This place is my home.

Sleep on hardwood floors
alone in a cold, damp room.
Wish I were elsewhere

old boots, tired feet
walk along cracked pavement,
crappy apartment

Joni in the blue dress

2009-04-27T20:05:00.000-04:00

Joni in the blue dress visits me in hell
it's right next to the university
down the street from the grocery
in an area where most angels fear to tread

She teaches me of God
I refuse to hear the words that soon haunt me.
Her hard words heal this battered soul.

She will always remind me
“Your Heavenly Father loves you.”

Jason and me

2009-04-27T20:04:00.001-04:00

Jason and me in green fields
drinking from the same rum bottle
He says to everything I say
“That is the silliest thing I’ve ever heard”
and with another drink I think he is right.

She tells me she wants to talk

2009-04-27T19:59:00.000-04:00

She tells me she wants to talk to me
and talks to me about books
I’m not paying attention
She is pretty in lavender

She tells me more about books
mostly kids’ books
I remember childhood
and feel warm, and safe

She tells me about their words
and I’m set adrift
lost in a distant dream
different from the life I’m living

She tells me of pictures,
and illustrators,
I enjoy their stories
waking from my dream

She tells me of love
without any words
I think I’m still dreaming
but I’m more awake than I believe

Forgiving Bob Goodman (2nd ed)

2009-04-27T19:47:00.000-04:00

“You’re still here, Bob? It’s Friday and the third time this week you’ve stayed late. You need to go home and spend time with Peggy and the kids. What are your sons’ names again, Danny and Randy?” Jack asked.
“What is that, Jack? I’m sorry; I was focused on these numbers and didn’t hear what you said. ” Bob looked up from his computer.
“I’m telling you, as your boss, to go home and enjoy the weekend. Spend time with your wife and kids. Too much work will make Bob a dull boy,” he answered with a grin on his face.
“I’ll be done here in a minute; I just need to finish these figures.”
Jack put his finger over the power switch on the computer and eyed his employee.
“All right I’ll leave it for Monday.” He saved his work and began shutting down his computer.
“Good choice, Bob.”
Bob for the first time that day realized the weather was beautiful and perfect for a summer evening with grilled T-bone and chilled beer. He pulled out of the parking lot, looking forward to the weekend for a change and not worrying so much about work.
In a hurry to get home to see his wife and kids, he drove a little faster than usual. It was a seldom used piece of street that he often took as a shortcut for his trip home from work. The houses on it were modest, and he enjoyed seeing families getting ready for their own barbeques and fathers playing catch with their sons. He was looking forward to the same thing with his own boys when he got home.
He watched a man lighting his grill and drinking beer from a bottle. He was tall with brown hair and wore a Hawaiian shirt, cargo shorts and sandals and was smiling. He was talking to his wife who was blonde, pretty and wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt. She was sitting on an old brown fleece blanket on the grass and reading a paperback novel. Further back in the yard was their son, about ten years old with light brown hair cut short and wearing a red little league t-shirt and hat both with the word “Cards” written in script. He was throwing a tennis ball for his dog to retrieve.
Bob turned his head back toward the street and watched the tennis ball bounce out in front of his car from behind a blue Toyota Corolla, followed by a large black lab. He thrust his foot on the brake. The tires squealed, followed by a thud, a yelp and silence.
Bob’s muscles were tight. His heart raced. He threw the car into park and leaped out.
The dog was gasping for breath and holding onto what life it had left. The black lab had a name tag that read “Larry.”
“I’m sorry, boy. I couldn’t stop in time.”
He could hear someone yelling from behind him; he frowned and glanced over his shoulder. “What did you do to my dog?” screamed the boy, red faced, fist in the air as he rushed towards Bob.
“Charlie!” The mother ran over to stop the boy.
Charlie’s arms began to swing in giant circles as he closed in on his target. Bob, stunned, flinched and backed away. Mom reached them and caught Charlie’s fist before the first strike landed.
She didn’t look at Bob or Charlie as she pulled the boy away. Bob followed her gaze to spot the father walking towards them. He was carrying the fleece blanket and wore a sober look on his face.
“Mister, I feel much as my son does. This dog was a part of our family.”
The man began to sob and caught himself and straightened up as he continued towards the dog. His focus had shifted from Bob to the body lying in the street. When he reached Larry he bent down and wrapped him with great care in the blanket.
Bob stood still as he watched the man. He wanted to do something comforting, some action to let the man know how sorry he was, but his mind was empty.
“Mister, get the hell outta here,” the man said and then started to sob again.
Bob in a slow shuffle made his way back towards his car, still searching unsuccessfully for words. He got in and pulled away. Through the rear view the man carry the dog from the street still sobbing.
Bob as he drove home went over and over the scene in his mind overwhelmed by sadness and shock. He wished for some way to change things. Could have he driven slower? Taken a different route home? Then his mind began to wander from that scene to his family.
He wasn’t sure if he had ever bonded that strongly with a pet. He had a dog when he was a boy, but never felt that way about it. He wondered if there was something wrong with him. He somehow understood when his own dog had died that it was just a part of life. Everything living dies. None of these ideas brought comfort.
He continued searching his thoughts. “If it isn’t the death of the dog that is bothering me, what is it?” he said aloud to himself as he pulled into his drive. He placed the car in park and sat in the silence for a few minutes before going into his house.
As he walked in Peggy greeted him, and he could hear his boys playing video games in the living room. It was always a comfort for him to come home. There was order here. Things were always in their proper place, Peggy made sure of it.
“What’s wrong? Something happen at work?” his wife asked. She was concerned because she didn’t often see him frown.
“I hit a dog on the way home. The family that owned the dog saw the whole thing happen. The dog was like a part of their family. It was hard to see how broken up they were. I’m still in shock.” He went into the living room to relax but just ended up watching his children blast away aliens on the TV screen.
Both Randy and Danny acknowledged the presence of their dad but soon turned their attention back to the video game.
Bob didn’t feel like grilling out now. He didn’t even feel like eating. But his wife made him meatloaf. It tasted like his mom’s cooking, reminding him of childhood. But his thoughts kept returning to the scene of the accident, the boy lashing out, the man sobbing.
He didn’t sleep well that night. He had a dream. He was performing CPR on a dog. It was the black lab he had hit. Then he was performing CPR on a woman, then a man, and then a boy. He kept moving from one to the other and the CPR wasn’t working. Then he looked into the face of the man he was performing CPR on, and it was his own. He woke in a sweat and didn’t sleep the rest of the night.
The next morning Bob sat in his kitchen and listened to the radio, scanning the Saturday paper for interesting stories, trying to rid his mind of the nightmare from the night before. But nothing seemed to be taking the guilt he felt from his mind.
The phone rang. Bob answered it, “Hello… Hey, Phil, it’s been a while since we heard from you; you must be pretty busy with a new child on the way—what has you up so early on a Saturday…Oh, Becky’s in labor—yes I’ll let Peggy know. We’ll be over to the hospital as soon as we can.”
He ran upstairs. In the bedroom, he gently shook Peggy awake.
“Honey, get up. Your sister is in labor. She wants you there.”
“I need to get there today, Bob, would you stop driving so damn slow?” His wife’s anxiety was showing on her face.
“I need to be more cautious as I drive. I don’t want to hit another dog,” Bob retorted. “You hit a dog? Oh, wow. What did he look like? Were there guts hanging out?” Danny asked from the back seat.
“I bet there was guts smeared all over the road,” Randy answered with relish.
“You boys need to sit back and be quiet, or we won’t be having a trip to the amusement park this summer,” Bob shouted to the back seat.
The boys quickly became quiet.
When they arrived at the hospital Peggy went to ask the receptionist where to find her sister while Bob and the boys sat down in the lobby.
“Will you stay here with the boys while I go up?” his wife asked.
“Sure. The boys shouldn’t be there while she is delivering and I’m not too eager to be there, either. Come and get us when they’re ready for visitors.”
She turned and headed towards the interior of the hospital.
He turned and watched the boys. He was feeling distant from them. He had been spending so much time at work that he didn’t even know how to talk to them or what to say. Would a dog bring them closer together?
He was pleasantly surprised at how well behaved his boys were. Peggy was doing a good job at keeping them in line. But he knew he needed to be there with them, too. He also knew that he needed to spend more time with his wife. He had recently seen a friend’s marriage end in divorce when he started spending too much time at the office.
Peggy returned sooner than Bob expected. She was smiling as she walked.
Bob smiled back. “Is the coast clear?”
“Yeah, her delivery was quick. Boys, would you like to meet your new cousin?”
Peggy seemed to have a new glow. The boys followed their parents quietly through the hospital halls, amazed by all the equipment, doctors, and nurses. Bob was happy to be with his family.
Bob and his family entered the room. Becky held the infant in her arms. She looked at the new life in awe. Phil had his arms around both of them and was smiling down on his son. Bob thought about his boys and his wife and what he could do to grow closer to them. He remembered the birth of Danny, then the birth of Randy and how happy and close he felt to them. The guilt he felt over yesterday’s incident disappeared. He had a family of his own, and he didn’t need to worry about the dog’s family. They would be all right in time.

The First Post

2009-02-21T21:36:00.000-05:00

I’m never sure what to make of my own writing. I’ve not typically received high marks in my english classes in high school or college. I like to read and I want a creative outlet. Writing seemed like a natural match, more of a natural match than music or painting or drawing.
So I took a chance on a creative writing class. My first story was ill received by my peers and it devastated me. I didn’t expect to feel this way. I fully expected criticism but it was overwhelming the way just tore apart my story. I truly felt that anything that I wrote must be horrible. It was difficult for me to write anything including simple emails for the next couple of days.
My despair over how my story was received only lasted a few days. I’m in this class to learn and apparently I have a lot to learn but I’m determined that is what I’m going to do.
During the period immediately following the class’ critique of my story, I tore down my blog. I think some of the material may be lost. But I’m doing this my blog for myself and I accept the consequences of my actions. I start this new blog and I hope that some read and enjoy. Even though I’m doing my blog for myself, I hope that there are some out there who read, comment, ponder and enjoy the material I post.