Thursday, July 28, 2011

Mellow Morning

It's hot.  I watered the flowerbed outside and every bug in the area showed up there with their night noise to get some moisture, and so here I am awake.  David left for work and all is quiet.
The perfect time of day to write.
I've been working on this science-fiction/spirituality piece lately. I don't know what it is, yet. By that I mean, I don't know if it will be a novel or an elongated short story.
Some pieces easily work themselves into a novel because the story flows from you with such force, as if it has been waiting so long to be told and it can not wait another minute, like a confession of truth. Some stories are merely elaborated ideas and are able to wrap themselves up within the span of a few solid chapters, and are given their due in such a frame.  Some of my favorite stories are short stories, and they are every bit as powerful as other stories whose pages number in the thousands.
It just takes a while to figure out which you are dealing with.

As many of them do, this particular story began with a dream, which at first spawned a painting.  While creating the painting I was replaying the dream in my head, curious about the characters in it, where they had come from and what they might be after.   One of the characters was easily elaborated upon and a few others were created as well. Story writing is such a natural event, it is like the blossoming of a mind, the unfolding petals revealing a mystery.
A first-time for me, this story refers often to an entirely made-up world. Complete fantasy.  I'm usually such a cut and dry, stick-to-the-facts kind of girl.  It's pretty exciting for me, really, but growing to love this one with the passion with which I loved Brundelwain, the book that ruined my novel virginity,  (as Sheryl Crow's  'The First Cut is the Deepest' plays in the background...) I will try to love again, but I know...

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Social Distortion

Not the band. Me.

People often ask me about the 'social interaction' my children get, and if it is sufficient, being homeschooled.  Naturally, if I am with my kids, it is clearly a non-issue for us. My kids speak freely, unburdened by shyness or any lack of eloquence. They use complete sentences and have a vast vocabulary.  They carry on conversations successfully with a wide range of age groups and are often complemented on their maturity and vocal clarity. Homeschooling clearly does not inhibit social ability, though occasionally a very shy family will give rise to shy children. Whether it is a mimicked or a genetic behavior, I can not say.

I often wonder why people don't question the social environment of public schools. I myself am still struggling with my poor social skills at age thirty-two, and I was reared in a public school household. I've begun working, recently, and I am spending more time around people nowadays. It becomes quite obvious to me that my social skills are lacking when things like eye contact and vocal etiquette freak me out.  I mumble frequently, unintentionally, and I am often at a loss of words.  Yet, my vocabulary is complete and I am perfectly capable of communication in written form.
I have a lot of scars from years of a very poor self-esteem, elements of which still linger within me at times. Public school isn't completely to blame, surely, but I often think, why do we assume that children that come out of public school are socially balanced? I think it is a great misconception, a blind assumption.

I haven't come up with a good response yet when the occasional concerned grocery shopper questions the social consequences of our education path. I usually just smile and say 'it's okay, they get to play with other kids pretty often.'  The person smiles as if satiated, then goes on, never considering that maybe, JUST maybe, they might be better off right where they are.  Never ceases to amaze me, even after years of homeschooling.

Just smile and nod. Smile and nod. :)

Blog Drama

I have this new blog. It's really now my ONLY blog, incorporating my writing blog, homeschooling blog and personal musings blog. Because over the past few years they've been scattered and why? What's the point of various blogs??  Well. Homeschooling was to share that aspect of my life, and mainly for family. Writing blog was for my writing persona and the personal blog was, well, personal.  Did I mention I have trouble keeping up with things when they are complicated?? If you know me, I probably didn't have to.
Anyway, with my new Google account I kept getting frustrated, trying to 'sign in' to blogger, when I was already signed in to Google.  Then there is issues with who has access to my old stuff that I no longer want having access to my life.  If you know me, I probably don't have to explain that either. And I won't.

So, here it is! Fresh, clean, new blog, with links to the old blogs there on the side.  R.I.P. old blogs.