Writing Articles
Saturday, November 3rd, 2007
"Whose gift this is you cannot know.
My heart is in your keeping though.
You will not mind my writing here
To tell you that I love you so.
I know that you must think it queer
For me to love and not come near
But linger by some frozen lake
This most romantic time of year.
I sometimes give my head a shake
And ask if there is some mistake.
It's lonely out here 'mid the sweep
Of bitter wind and icy flake.
My love for you is dark and deep,
But it's a promise I will keep
As from afar I watch and weep,
As from afar I watch and weep."
With Valentine's Day ... [
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Wednesday, October 31st, 2007
A long road before me, on I81
A long week behind me, when Friday is done
The highway that takes me to friends near and far,
The highway, my driveway, at home in my car
My house is still hours away in the gloom
My house, it stands empty, no light in the room
The neighborhoods glisten with twinkling lights
The neighbors all listen to carols tonight
And still, I keep driving in silence towards home
And still, I keep thinking of Christmas alone
My friends and their families, children’s faces aglow
My friends have decorated trees with presents below
I think of little faces, big eyes and bright smiles
I remember the ... [
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Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
The Hero's Journey is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. In fact, ALL of the hundreds of Hollywood movies we have deconstructed (see URL below) are based on this 188 stage template.
Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters.
There is only one story.
The Hero's Journey:
a) Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.
b) Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.
c) Gives you a tangible ... [
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Saturday, October 27th, 2007
Saddam Hussein
Iraq’s chief enforcer of pain
The sanctity of human life
By the thousands he did disdain
Dissidents he did abruptly contain
Outmaneuvering and people eliminating
The butcher of Baghdad cold and calculating
The mass murderer unrepentant and self-exalting
Saddam, the one who confronts
As defined in Arabic
Preferring bullets over ballots
Callous cruelty over kindness
Organizing concealed opposition activity
He ascended the national ranks
Through a series of sham trials
Executions, assassinations, and intimidation
Saddam and his Baath party swiftly removed
Any group or person suspected of challenging Ba'ath rule.
Tightly controlling conflict
Between government and the defense
To secure his repressive rule
He went to every expense
And was quickly to dispense
With political opponents
Choosing to cement his own authority
Forcibly, ... [
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Saturday, October 27th, 2007
Hold me
When I'm weak
And feeling lonely.
Hold me
When I'm hurting
Because people
Have been cruel to me.
Hold me
When I can't take it anymore
And life seemingly
Has on my dreams
Shut the door.
Hold me
When I'm broken to the core
Am inwardly bitter and sore
And my heart is tore.
Hold me
When there is no kind word
Anywhere to be found
And it seems you're not around.
Hold me
When I feel rejected
Overlooked and neglected
Corrupted and infected
By life's circumstances
And my hard labor
Seems to produce no advances.
Hold me
When my loved ones don't understand
Nobody is near to hear or hold my hand.
Hold me
When I'm crying out inside
When there's nobody to listen
And in whom to confide.
Hold me
When ... [
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Saturday, October 27th, 2007
The other day I was watching a television program with my wife. The program was about disease and the part we can play in it. At one point, the presenter stated how several people had received wonderful benefits from being sick and that they did not experience the disease itself as a negative which needed to be eliminated. He further stated that the healing people seek may not necessarily include the complete healing of their body.
After the program I turned to her and said, “Yes, I agree that disease can be a teacher, but if one does not know that ... [
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