Quiet Hours

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What do you do in the quiet hours?

Do you have any pastimes that are quiet? Do you have any hobbies which require space, or distance from others? Do you have time to meditate?

Do you even have quiet time? Or is your life full of manic sights and sounds? Do you feel like you live in the circus or one of those old time cartoons where all the characters are always bashing each other with a hammer? Is there a video screen or a television or a stereo or a sound system always on around you? Do you work in a noisy environment? Are you used to it, or does it drive you crazy? How can you get away from it? Is it time to get away from it all?

One possible solution is to find a pastime where you can go far away from all the digital and industrial noise.

Fishing jumps immediately to my mind. There’s a pastime with the possibility of getting far away from other people, far away from the city and the clamor, far away from the electronic mayhem.

Another possible escape is hiking. Even though you might be doing some hiking to get to your favorite fishing spot, you probably aren’t going fishing for the express purpose of hiking. Hiking for the sake of hiking is a totally different sport, isn’t it? Hiking quite often will get you farther than hiking to get to something, because hiking can be about the distance: head out somewhere then turn around and come back. Sometimes you can hike out to a scenic view, or hike up to the highest point, or hike around a large obstacle such as the ocean. Regardless of your objective, hiking can be a great escape.

Your pastime, tried-and-true or completely new, could be something as simple as blowing soap bubbles in the backyard.

You could fly a kite. Better yet, build a kite and then fly it. (Unless…well…more on kites later.)

Grow something. Gardening is usually quiet and allows time for thoughtfulness.

Writing. Of course writing can be done in a noisy area, but how well can it be done if the writer is distracted by bombs going off all the time? Not well.

Find some time for yourself. Find some space.

Meditate and create.

Recently Viewed: Solo

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You can NOT listen to the critics.

I watched Solo: A Star Wars Story and it was actually far better than most of the critics claimed. The sci-fi action is fun to watch. The characters are well played.

Do we owe the entertainment factor to Alden Ehrenreich who fits the part of Han Solo so well, Joonas Suotamo who does justice to the character of Chewbacca, to Emilia Clarke’s portrayal, to Donald Glover’s excellent performance? To director Ron Howard? To the writers?

The plot is pretty decent, though there were a couple of tropes thrown in which make it somewhat predictable. I tell you what though, the way Chewbacca and Han Solo meet is perfect. It was somewhat predictable, but as a viewer I wanted them to meet so much the predictability was forgivable.

An injection of jokes by L3 were seasoned and brief and well placed within the movie. They were just puerile enough to be welcome and satisfying for younger viewers. Had the jokes carried on too long, or been placed somewhere else within the film it would have been ruined.

The way Han Solo and Lando get along is exactly as it should be. Their friendship should always be hanging by the thinnest of threads. They’re both outlaws in a wild universe.

Stunt performers did a fabulous job. You can’t credit the stunt-men and -women enough for any movie. They make the action seem real.

For a while now, I’ve been worrying about Disney ruining a good thing. Star Wars can be a massively fun escape from reality. I can get into a movie and get into a galaxy far from my own, to view the sights and hear the sounds—sounds of a long time ago.

By the way, the opener with the introduction to the setting was all goofy. It starts out as it should: “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….” and then it goes from past tense to present tense, like so: “It is a lawless time. CRIME SYNDICATES compete for resources—food, medicine, and HYPERFUEL.” This is a lesson for writers. Don’t switch tense mid-paragraph. They should have written it like so: “It was a lawless time. CRIME SYNDICATES competed for resources—food, medicine, and HYPERFUEL.”

On this and many other films, I think I’ll listen less to the critics and make up my own mind. This is a great movie and I’ll watch it again sometime.

Silent Lullaby

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Depending on where you’re living, the world can be a clamorous place. Ostensibly endless streams of digital diversions try to capture your attention. Cleverly disguised ads masquerade as entertainment. Forever-selling sales channels vie for your dollar.

This Christmas, tell the stentorian advertisers you don’t have dollars. Say you only have pesos and watch them run away afraid. Then find a quiet place and meditate. Find inner peace by buying nothing. Refuse to be a consumer and discover how little you need. Reality has a way of showing the true color of the clamor. Pale and lifeless clamor.

A night of quiet might set you right. If you were feeling a bit too commercial, a bit too confounded, a bit too beset on all sides by need and greed, then take time out to relax. Regroup and reform. Reflect on the precious gift given to the world on a night with a new star in the sky. Reminisce on traditions you’ve enjoyed with your family. Recall the secret solitude of silence.

The art of the lullaby is when it lulls. A sweet melody, a susurration from a mother’s lips, a song murmured, even hummed, all these things bring quiet to the troubled mind. Contemplation and meditation can be like a silent lullaby in a mind.

May you have a peaceful Christmas.

Life Lessons

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Life cereal. You can’t open the package without destroying it.

Scissors. Using scissors is the only way to open your box of Life. Opening a box of Life is like life itself. What is the meaning of life? What is the purpose of Life? The purpose of Life is to sustain life. Not only human life, either. Horses will eat Life cereal. I’m not sure it’s good for them, but they’ll eat it.

Opening a box of Life is like life itself. You mess up some things, but the reward is worth the pain.

Eating Life cereal is like life itself. If you wait too long after pouring the milk, the cereal gets soggy. In life, if you wait too long for some things, they lose their appeal. If you know this about yourself, you can use it to your advantage. Wait long enough for something you don’t need and you won’t even want it any more.

Chocolate cake. Chocolate cake is one of those things I want right away when I see it, but if I leave it sitting there long enough it loses its appeal. Eventually the cake gets dried up and hard. The frosting gets even drier and harder. It might even collect dust. Do you want to eat dust? No, thanks.

The latest digital device. Wait long enough to get one of these and there’s usually a better, more appealing, one being produced only days later. Why not wait and save yourself the cash? In fact, you could probably go your whole life waiting to see what’s next without actually ever purchasing any of the newest devices.

If you’ve ever bought a cell’ ‘phone only to drop it and crack the screen, you probably wish you had waited. Like that box of Life cereal. Only much more expensive.

Patience isn’t a common skill. That’s why the package gets ripped. If the reward is worth the pain, the life lesson is probably, “Go for it.” If the reward isn’t worth any amount of pain, leave the package closed. As for me and my box of Life cereal, well, I’ll be pouring it through the shredded flaps so it comes out of all sides…from now until eternity.

Babies II

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If we all shaved our heads, would we find equality? These two are the same, aren’t they? At least on the surface, to the eye of the first impression, they seem to be nearly the same age, because their heads have the same amount of hair.

By the way, “The Eye of the First Impression” is a great title for a novel, isn’t it?

Where you gonna take it today?

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I’ve never heard any writer say they have limits on ideas for novels, but I think it’s fun to throw the prompts out there anyway.

What are some clever ways to take a day off of work?

What are some interesting ways to meet friends? Sure you can think of social media, but what are some original ways to meet friends?

How would you solve a common problem in the world? There are already a million novels about apocalyptic consequences to common problems. Few writers actually manage to give solutions for the problems they see, though. Isn’t that interesting, that the so-called creative among us can’t create solutions?

How would you dress up your baldness? With plastic, with someone else’s hair, or with metal? Or something else?

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Could you start the idea for a novel by coming up with the title first?

If you remove your hair, will the ideas come out of your head easier?

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Are ideas for new epic novels like babies? Babies in your mind? Mind babies?

Give birth already!

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