What to Write?

Posted on June 7, 2009 by Linda Jenkinson

I have four other blogs that are crying for attention. What to write about in this one? I’m just about “personalled” out. By the way, “personalled” isn’t a word. Spell it with one L or two and it still comes up with a spelling mistake! But… I digress. Let’s get back to the subject—What to write on Older Space today that won’t appear as if I’m too senile? I do have a story or two left in my larder, but the pickin’s are getting mighty slim.

what to write?What to write? Ask that question and somebody is sure to tell you to “write what you know about” or “write about what you’re passionate about”. I’m fairly passionate about life, but even after 58 years of it, I’m not sure I know much about it.

Awhile back on another blog I wrote an article about writer’s block, “Writer’s Block-When the Muse Develops Laryngitis.” Well, laryngitis is one thing, but it’s entirely different when the muse doesn’t have a single idea inside her empty little head. That’s the problem. Today my muse gives the phrase “no brainer” real meaning.

Out of curiosity I Googled “blog topics” just to see what I’d find. My search resulted in two blog posts that are each a real haven for weary bloggers, “100 Blog Topics I Hope You Write” from Chris Brogan and “55 More Blog Posts I Hope You Write” by Darren Barefoot. Although both were originally posted in 2007, the beauty of these blog post ideas is that many, such as “A Community I Love” and “The Story of My Most Serious Injury” are timeless and best of all, each of us has a different story to relate. So, you can write yours, I can write mine and if we both personalize the titles just a bit, we’ll both have entirely original blog posts.

Besides 155 blog topics to consider, these lists lit a fire under my listless muse. On reading through it, new ideas started jumping off the page.

I’m a great fan of the concept to “Pay It Forward”. So in gratitude to Chris and Darren, here’s my list. Copy their lists and add this one. (It’s okay with them, you’ll see that on their links!)

  • 1. Experiences that have Empowered Me
  • 2. My Best Day
  • 3. My Worst Day
  • 4. The Most Beautiful Moment in My Memory
  • 5. What Makes Me Soar Like an Eagle
  • 6. What’s Right (or Wrong) with Rebound Relationships
  • 7. Why Get Married?
  • 8. Cloudy (Sunny) Day Thoughts
  • 9. My Favorite Season
  • 10. My Favorite Seasoning
  • 11. Things that Bug Me
  • 12. My Worst Nightmare
  • 13. My Best Dream
  • 14. My Favorite _____
  • 15. What I Woke Up to This Morning
  • 16. What Keeps Me Awake at Night
  • 17. What Makes Me Fall Asleep
  • 18. Why I Hate (Love) Gossip
  • 19. What I Do When I’m Stuck in Gridlock
  • 20. My All Time Favorite Toy

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High Flight

Posted on May 29, 2009 by Linda Jenkinson

Today someone in my Poetry Group at My Blog Catalog asked who were the favorite poets of group members. My favorite is Emily Dickinson although I do like Wordsworth, Frost, Sandburg, Poe and many other of the old-school poets. However, my favorite poem is “High Flight” by John Gillespie Magee (June 9, 1922 – December 11, 1941).

“High Flight” is the poem that many television stations put to music and film for their sign off before the days when sign offs were replaced by infomercials. I used to stay up sometimes just to watch the sign off of KTCA, the Twin Cities Public Television Station.

Today when it was brought to memory I searched YouTube to see if anyone had put it on the Internet. I was shocked by the number of High Flight Videos from all over the country and Canada (although I shouldn’t be too shocked about Canada since that was Magee’s home country.) I was very pleasantly surprised by one video. It’s perhaps the most beautiful rendition of the poem I have seen.

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Will History Respect Bush-Cheney?

Posted on May 22, 2009 by Linda Jenkinson

Today someone tweeted that Bush, Cheney, and Palin deserve our respect. I disagreed. Respect is something earned, it isn’t a gift.

I lost my respect for Palin for her attempts at assassinating the characters of both President Obama and Vice President Biden during the Presidential campaign. Yet, she is just a victim and example of poor Republican judgment and is truly out of her league when linked with the likes of Richard Cheney and George W. Bush.

At first Bush and Cheney were just laughable figures, Cheney with his hunting incident and Bush with his “the Google,” “the Internets,” and other conspicuous bloopers. As the years passed, it became apparent that their unscrupulous actions hurt our nation more than helped it and were anything but laughable.

  • Their lies about WMDs that led Americans to support the war in Iraq.
  • General cronyism, especially in regard to Blackwater and Haliburton involvements.
  • The Patriot Act which eroded the rights of all Americans.
  • The feeble and inept response to hurricane Katrina.
  • The torture at Abu Grave and Guantanamo that led the world to believe that in American, the end justifies the means.

The actions of the past administration leave little to respect. The media needs to stop giving Cheney undue attention and let the Bush-Cheney administration R.I.P. Yet last Tuesday night, Mr. Cheney tried to rewrite history. Aside from the inaccuracies and exaggerations in his statement, in saying, “After the most lethal and devastating terrorist attack ever, seven and a half years without a repeat is not a record to be rebuked and scorned, much less criminalized” as well as the nefarious actions of his tenure in office, he seems to have overlooked the 200 years that preceded him.

Cheney has earned the disrespect of Americans. We are each responsible for our actions and with those actions come consequences. Cheney needs to quit sniveling.

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