Tag: Books

Open book

Normal? What is normal?

January 12, 2016

Do you consider yourself ‘Normal’?

Of course I do. I feel that I am the most normal guy one could meet.

Sometimes, my girlfriend has a different opinion. From reading, editing to discussing my books and novellas, she thinks I’m something different. I suppose and hope that is why she likes me. Just to remind everyone, we’ve been together for over twelve years.

Having said all that, let’s get back to the question. I spoke recently about the imagery that flies around in my head all day. I suppose that makes me different, since I am convinced that most others don’t have those experiences yet abnormal? No way!

Webster’s Dictionary defines normal as:

  1. a: according with, constituting, or not deviating from a norm, rule, or principle
    b: conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern
  2. occurring naturally <normal immunity>
  3. a: of, relating to, or characterized by average intelligence or development
    b: free from mental disorder

Open bookWhen I compare myself to Webster, if there is any question, then by definition, I am normal. While I am unique, I also personally know hundreds of people and by extrapolation, millions who think like me and enjoy similar interests as I do and follow the same shows, hobbies and genres. In so many ways I conform to standards and patterns that society expects of me. I work for a living, pay my taxes, maintain my own home, take the garbage out and enjoy a daily shower. That last is really important.

My mother carried and delivered me naturally, though she told me later that I almost killed her as I wanted to come out sideways. She tells me that they had to push me back in, turn me around before delivering me. Does that make me abnormal? No, I don’t believe so. Breech births do happen. Of what I know now, if I was born more than a hundred years ago, neither me, mom or my sisters might not be around. Medicine back then wouldn’t be equipped to handle the difference from a normal birth.

psychiatric hospitalAm I categorized as of having average intelligence? I think so. I definitely know that there are people smarter than myself and others who are not. That makes me normal.

That leaves ‘free of mental disorder’. That’s a subjective term in so … many ways. While I know that there is scientific, medical definitions of various mental disorders, no one has ever accused or diagnosed me of having one.

I can only conclude I am normal. What about you? Do you consider yourself normal? If so, why? If not, really? I want to hear from you. Perhaps I can turn your story into a book. We should chat. You can use the comment section below to get started. I would so enjoy hearing your story.

Night moon

Under the weather – followup

January 7, 2016

Under the weather – followup

Yesterday, I wrote about my month-long cold/whatever it is/was. However, since I wrote about my ills over the last month, I feel the need to write a followup.

Most important of all is … thank you for all of the kind words sent to me wishing me get well soon. I really appreciate them. It means a lot to me. I don’t normally like to write or talk about health related issues. Normally, it’s no ones business. To demonstrate how I feel about that, when I broke my leg a 15 years ago, I didn’t tell a soul. Even though I was living alone at the time, I kept that private. That’s life and I dealt with it.

As I wrote yesterday, I did go see the doctor and go through several tests. Doc tells me that I am presenting a very strange case, one that doesn’t seem to fit normal progressions of winter colds and flu. Yes, I did get my flu shot this year. The tests came back either negative or within normal ranges. So, no help there other than discount the norms.

So, what’s going on?

No one knows. She suspects that I am the victim of serial multiple cold or other viral infections. She suspects that this is the case as each one, taken along presents differently and is treated differently.

Today, I am feeling much better. She’s put me on a new stronger regime of antibiotics, which seems to be doing the trick. And while I’ve heard this before, I am crossing my fingers. I plan on returning to work tomorrow. And after that, get back to writing. Whoo hoo!

 

I have a long way to go to finish up my next novel, ‘Lucky Bitch’, the third book in the Mona Bendarova Adventures. Time to buckle down and get writing.

Wow! I’m a serial victim? Sounds interesting. It could even an idea for a book or story. I’ll have to give it some thought.

4

Night moon

Under the weather – followup

January 6, 2016

Under the weather – followup

Yesterday, I wrote about my month-long cold/whatever it is/was. However, since I wrote about my ills over the last month, I feel the need to write a followup.

Most important of all is … thank you for all of the kind words sent to me wishing me get well soon. I really appreciate them. It means a lot to me. I don’t normally like to write or talk about health related issues. Normally, it’s no ones business. To demonstrate how I feel about that, when I broke my leg a 15 years ago, I didn’t tell a soul. Even though I was living alone at the time, I kept that private. That’s life and I dealt with it.

As I wrote yesterday, I did go see the doctor and go through several tests. Doc tells me that I am presenting a very strange case, one that doesn’t seem to fit normal progressions of winter colds and flu. Yes, I did get my flu shot this year. The tests came back either negative or within normal ranges. So, no help there other than discount the norms.

So, what’s going on?

No one knows. She suspects that I am the victim of serial multiple cold or other viral infections. She suspects that this is the case as each one, taken along presents differently and is treated differently.

Today, I am feeling much better. She’s put me on a new stronger regime of antibiotics, which seems to be doing the trick. And while I’ve heard this before, I am crossing my fingers. I plan on returning to work tomorrow. And after that, get back to writing. Whoo hoo!

 

I have a long way to go to finish up my next novel, ‘Lucky Bitch’, the third book in the Mona Bendarova Adventures. Time to buckle down and get writing.

Wow! I’m a serial victim? Sounds interesting. It could even an idea for a book or story. I’ll have to give it some thought.

3

Night moon

Under the weather – followup

January 6, 2016

Under the weather – followup

Yesterday, I wrote about my month-long cold/whatever it is/was. However, since I wrote about my ills over the last month, I feel the need to write a followup.

Most important of all is … thank you for all of the kind words sent to me wishing me get well soon. I really appreciate them. It means a lot to me. I don’t normally like to write or talk about health related issues. Normally, it’s no ones business. To demonstrate how I feel about that, when I broke my leg a 15 years ago, I didn’t tell a soul. Even though I was living alone at the time, I kept that private. That’s life and I dealt with it.

As I wrote yesterday, I did go see the doctor and go through several tests. Doc tells me that I am presenting a very strange case, one that doesn’t seem to fit normal progressions of winter colds and flu. Yes, I did get my flu shot this year. The tests came back either negative or within normal ranges. So, no help there other than discount the norms.

So, what’s going on?

No one knows. She suspects that I am the victim of serial multiple cold or other viral infections. She suspects that this is the case as each one, taken along presents differently and is treated differently.

Today, I am feeling much better. She’s put me on a new stronger regime of antibiotics, which seems to be doing the trick. And while I’ve heard this before, I am crossing my fingers. I plan on returning to work tomorrow. And after that, get back to writing. Whoo hoo!

 

I have a long way to go to finish up my next novel, ‘Lucky Bitch’, the third book in the Mona Bendarova Adventures. Time to buckle down and get writing.

Wow! I’m a serial victim? Sounds interesting. It could even an idea for a book or story. I’ll have to give it some thought.

Night moon

Under the weather – followup

January 6, 2016

Under the weather – followup

Yesterday, I wrote about my month-long cold/whatever it is/was. However, since I wrote about my ills over the last month, I feel the need to write a followup.

Most important of all is … thank you for all of the kind words sent to me wishing me get well soon. I really appreciate them. It means a lot to me. I don’t normally like to write or talk about health related issues. Normally, it’s no ones business. To demonstrate how I feel about that, when I broke my leg a 15 years ago, I didn’t tell a soul. Even though I was living alone at the time, I kept that private. That’s life and I dealt with it.

As I wrote yesterday, I did go see the doctor and go through several tests. Doc tells me that I am presenting a very strange case, one that doesn’t seem to fit normal progressions of winter colds and flu. Yes, I did get my flu shot this year. The tests came back either negative or within normal ranges. So, no help there other than discount the norms.

So, what’s going on?

No one knows. She suspects that I am the victim of serial multiple cold or other viral infections. She suspects that this is the case as each one, taken along presents differently and is treated differently.

Today, I am feeling much better. She’s put me on a new stronger regime of antibiotics, which seems to be doing the trick. And while I’ve heard this before, I am crossing my fingers. I plan on returning to work tomorrow. And after that, get back to writing. Whoo hoo!

 

I have a long way to go to finish up my next novel, ‘Lucky Bitch’, the third book in the Mona Bendarova Adventures. Time to buckle down and get writing.

Wow! I’m a serial victim? Sounds interesting. It could even an idea for a book or story. I’ll have to give it some thought.

Night moon

Under the weather

January 5, 2016

Under the weather.

Who thought up that idiom to mean being sick anyway?

Most of you don’t know this but I’ve been under the weather much of the past month. I’ve used up a bunch of my banked sick days and I hate that. What started as a cold took a downturn after five days. After eight days, I decided to see my doctor. I love my doctor. She, that’s right she’s a woman, works with me to keep me healthy and strong. Before this $%^& cold, I hadn’t had a cold or flu for years. I guess it’s payback time.

Anyway, I digress. So I went to see Doctor Nancy and get fixed up. She tells me that more than half of her patients are experiencing what I am experiencing. I don’t know why but it made me feel better. Dumb eh? Feeling better because so many others are suffering the way I am. Sorry everyone who has what I have.

Doc puts me on a regime including antibiotics. Within two days, I’m feeling better. Whoo hoo! Over the next week, I know I’m not completely well yet but I’m progressing. I’m good with that.

Then, it hits me again this past weekend and I spend much of Sunday and Monday back in bed, coughing up my lungs and not getting much rest. WTF? Am I ever going to get better? I’m going back to see her yet again today but this time, before I meet with her, she’s scheduled me for various tests. Anything to get past this, I’m in.

Do you know what’s worse?

Those images floating in my head that I wrote about the other day, well they’re still there but it’s chaotic. I can’t make sense of them. Add to that, I can’t seem to keep creative thoughts long enough to write them down so I’ve done very little writing these past couple of weeks.

If it’s brainless and monotonous, I can do that. At least for short periods of time. If it’s more than that, I’m totally fucked. My head hurts, my throat hurts, and dare I say it, my chest feels like there is a rock in it? I hope not.

Wish me luck.

Countdown to 2016

2016 May it be a great one!

January 1, 2016

2016 scratched in sand2016 A great one to come?

You’ll note that the image I’ve used for this post is one where the year is scratched into the sand.

It’s beach sand and I wonder, will it be washed away from the surf, scraped away by some angry foot or harden and turn to stone for all eternity.

I wish that 2016 will be a superb year, filled with promise and hope for the future of our species. If anything, the past several years makes me wonder whether we as a species will be around a millennium from now. I wonder. There seems to be so much hate in the world, closed-minded people who insist that everyone believe and act as they do, whether we as a species can surmount these challenges and boldly move forward into the 21st century.

Girl with Santa hat in forestEven if we do survive to the 22nd and 23rd centuries, what will they say about our current period on this planet. I can’t help wonder that they would say “Just how the hell did the species survive?”

Mona and Honey live sometime in the next millennium, 35th century perhaps, and somehow, their community has figured out a way to accept each other for whom they are. They are opened minded enough to realize that all members of our species have something to contribute to society as a whole.

Let’s see if we can emulate their example and accept that each of us, have something to contribute to the global community.

If you have a greeting or a wish you wish to extend to someone, please feel free to share it here. I’ll be happy to repost it to all of my followers. In the meantime, may 2016 be a great one for you.

New Year journal

As 2015 winds down

December 31, 2015

Countdown to 2016As 2015 gives way to 2016

As the year 2015 winds down and as we prepare to welcome 2016, I plan on remembering both the good and the bad that happened in my life this past year.

If there is any one thing I’ve learned this past year, it’s that our failures as well as our successes that make me the person I am today. Those experiences will also shape the person I will become tomorrow.

As we celebrate this new year, it is my sincerest wish that our celebrations are done with love, compassion and fellowship with our neighbors, both near and far. Even if they live on the other side of the globe, we all deserve the respect of being who we are.

If you are looking for a New Year’s Resolution, I would offer you this one.

Find a way to accept your neighbor into your heart, regardless of their race, sex, nationality or religious belief.

Girl with Santa hat in forest

Share a warm wish with a loved one.

December 30, 2015

Countdown to 2016Warm wishes

As we close 2015, I am thankful for many things. I have shared many of them with you already.

If you wish to share a warm wish, a greeting to a loved one or simply give thanks, leave a reply below.

I will repost all warm wishes to all of my followers. I look forward to reading them.

Have a happy new year.

Christmas girl with ornaments

Holidays in Mona’s Realm

December 29, 2015

HOLIDAYS AS THEY RELATE TO MY CHARACTERS

Are there holidays in Mona’s Realm?

Hot Chocolate Warmest HolidaysHolidays are completely different in Mona Bendarova’s world. Introduced in ‘The Taste of Honey’, Mona’s community comes together for monthly and quarterly celebrations. There are no holidays per se commemorating people, specific events or beliefs.

Monthly celebrations are more of a community gathering where people come together and enjoy each other’s company. It’s a time for revelry, entertainment, eating, drinking, and enjoying sex. Seed is spilled and deposited into willing recipients frequently at these celebrations. Most fertile women wake up the following morning happy and pregnant after a night of pleasure. For the rest, they are simply happy and most certainly satiated.

Quarterly celebrations on the other hand are bigger and more involved events. Generally, they follow the seasons, roughly scheduled around the Summer and Winter Solstices plus the Fall and Spring Equinoxes.

The Spring Equinox hails the coming growing season where the community plans to produce the bulk of their non-protein based food. The Summer Solstice salutes the height of the warm sun, long pleasant days and short warm nights. The Fall Equinox celebrates the harvest gathering, giving thanks for what the land has given them despite the atrocities it suffered in the past.

Winter Blonde in White Knit DressThe biggest celebration of the year is the Winter Solstice. This festivity focuses upon hope and joyful reunions for the coming year. It is denoted by enjoying the rich milky way of stars lighting the night skies, providing a backdrop for a magical time of year. The longest night of the year is celebrated by staying warm, enjoying each other’s bodies and conceiving the greatest diversity within the gene pool. Even conceptions in the breeding farms don’t distribute the gene pool as much as what happens at this celebration.

Therefore, celebrations are a holiday in a sense. They provide an opportunity to ensure the survival of the human species. It is a way to enjoy life yet most importantly, to preserve it.

Now, as I reflect upon these celebrations, I can’t help wish that our own holidays follow a similar scenario. Fun and revelry among friends and strangers where sharing joy, pleasure and seed is expected, world-wide? What’s not to like? Not that I expect to see it come to pass in my lifetime but I wonder what our lives might be like sharing similar celebrations. I firmly believe that we would be better off if we divorce ourselves from out petty differences, slice away the personal agendas and welcome our differences as opportunities to grow.

IDIC MedallionAs I write this, I am reminded of the concept ‘IDIC’ introduced by Gene Roddenberry in his original TV series, ‘Star Trek’. ‘IDIC’ stands for Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. I embrace this view of the world. I firmly believe we are better with our differences than without. Rather than homogenizing our species, it’s our differences that allow us to grow stronger.

What do you think? Can we all embrace our differences, enjoy our humanities and love our fellow-man? I do.

Please, share your thoughts with me. I welcome constructive view points, whether I agree with them or not. Perhaps one day, world-wide, we can celebrate a holiday of love, joy and pleasure.