Warrior of the Light

Paulo Coelho, one of my favorite authors, wrote a companion guide to his book The Alchemist called Warrior of the Light, a Manuel.  I read a page or two from it every few days.  Today's entry was particularly fitting:

"One day, for no apparent reason, the Warrior realizes that he does not feel the same enthusiasm for the fight that he used to. He continues to do what he has always done, but every gesture seems meaningless. At such a time, he has only one choice: to continue fighting the Good Fight. He says his prayers out of duty or fear or whatever, but he does not abandon the path. He knows the angel of the One who inspires him has simply wandered off somewhere. The Warrior keeps his attention focused on the battle and he perseveres, even when everything seems utterly pointless. The angel will soon return and the merest flutter of his wings will restore the Warrior's joy to him."

I have to admit that this perfectly describes how I've been feeling lately about my writing. I'm pushing myself forward, but can't feel the enthusiasm for either the project or the goal. The victory marker seems so distant as to appear unobtainable.

But I also know this: only those who persist (or POR) succeed. And so, I'll continue to work and just keep hoping for the return of that angel!

A brief note on politics:

I had to listen to Tom Coburn of Oklahoma talk about how his ridiculous amendment to allow loaded guns in national parks was about individual freedom - an individual's right to decide for himself. Why can't the Republicans see the hypocrisy in supporting the individual's right to decide for himself to carry a loaded weapon in a public place, but not the individual's right to decide for himself who he wants to marry. Seriously. Nothing good can come from a loaded weapon in a national park. And nothing bad can come from allowing all US citizens the right to marry the person they love.

And I must agree with the journalists out there who call the Democrats in Congress "feckless." They are. While I am thankful every day that our president is Barack Obama, I sincerely wish the Democrats in Congress had a modicum of courage.

And finally:

So much for the blooming beauty of pregnancy. I, myself, am a burping blob with heavy boobs. In fact, my boobs are now so weighty, I think they are deflating my lungs. At any rate, it's harder to breath with those beasts sitting on top of my chest. Ya - I can see why so many women have gone through this process.

But on the upside, just 8 days till we find out if the tadpole is pink or blue!

THE QUERY: MAVORNIA RESURRECTED

Over time, I will be be posting excerpts from Mavornia Resurrected.  I will also be composing little stories about my past and future (possibly including descriptions of the ripping, pulling, tearing, pushing and stretching currently going on in my abdomen - enjoy!).  But for now - here's a summary of the work that has been my focus for a long...long...long...time.

Hook and Summary: MAVORNIA RESURRECTED

Hours before her wedding, Princess Lockrey loses both her fiancé and her father.  Alone for the first time, she discovers she is at the center of a battle for the world of Mavornia that may require her to sacrifice more than just her life…

Intelligent and brash, Lockrey Margathom wants a life of adventure and the respect of her people; as a woman, though, she thinks her only choice is to marry well and accept a limited role in the kingdom.  But on the eve of her wedding, the princess is framed for her fiancé’s murder just hours before her father, the king, succumbs to battle wounds.  After escaping from prison, Lockrey has no alternative but to obey her father’s last command: to recover stolen artifacts – ancient keys – from the warlords of the North.  The keys will unlock the mystical Book of Glionnacht, which could unleash demon spirits bent on destroying the world.  As Lockrey journeys across Mavornia, she comes to understand that it was never her fate to be a queen; she is meant to be a savior.  But to fulfill her destiny, Lockrey will be asked to make a choice – one that puts at risk not only her own life, but all life in her world.

What a difference...

two years can make...

It's been exactly 23 months since the last time I wrote anything.  I'm not exactly sure why I stopped, but I'm back.  Reviewing my last few posts, it looks to me like I had some anger issues back then!  Ah, the sweet relief of a national election.  Not a day goes by when I don't thank the fates in heaven for Obama's victory.  I had one of those moments on Sunday with his response to the anti-abortion protesters at Notre Dame.  I wish I could respond as coolly and intelligently as he does.  My hero...

But moving on... 

When we last saw our heroine, she was living in a small apartment on the Upper West Side of New York with her boyfriend.  She had recently quit her job at RLM, though she was freelancing fairly regularly.  Life was a bit on the brink.  Since then, she's:

gotten married

moved to England

fulfilled her lifelong dream to go on safari in Africa

finished rewriting her book

started building a baby (harder work than she thought).

So, it's been an eventful 23 months.  

Life is, at last, a settled thing.  The love of a good man has brought some peace to my vacillating spirit.  My only trouble is fighting off the gloom that comes from the uphill struggle to fulfill my dream of publishing my book.  Daily I repeat my father's mantra: POR (Press On Regardless).

It is my intent to tell stories here and share lessons I've learned in the first third of my life.  So, while I make no promises, I do hope for more interesting posts ahead.

and 

Stem Cells...

And going back to yesterday's reference to Clockwork Orange. Yes... DEFINITELY... Bush should have to sit in a theater with his eyes taped open and see photo after photo (all 3500+) of our slain soldiers. And today I add to it that he should have to see photo after photo of our maimed soldiers - every missing hand, foot, leg, eye, ear. And while he watches, the book Johnny Got His Gun should be read over a loud speaker.

Those soldiers had lives. Each one of them had families - someone out there somewhere who gave a damn about whether s/he came home alive. Each one has someone mourning his or her death. Each one has someone whose life is forever changed because s/he will not be coming back from Iraq. THOSE are lives.

Cells in a petri dish ARE NOT LIVES. THEY ARE NOT HUMANS. THEY WILL NOT SPEAK, THINK, TALK, CARE, EAT OR BREATH. They are just cells. If not inserted into a womb and carried to term, the cells are nothing at all.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS MAN? How can he have everything so completely wrong in his exceptionally limited mind? Soldiers in Iraq have lives that should not be thrown away. Cells in a dish have nothing - no consciousness, no life.

You know who does have those things? The soldiers who come back from Iraq without body parts. And perhaps with enough support for research and study, scientists could discover how to regrow body parts that could help them reclaim their lives.

And maybe scientists could help people, real thinking, living, talking, breathing, eating people with diabetes and Parkinson's.

President Bush - the whole country is against you... not just generally (though that is true), but specifically on this issue. You are wrong. Completely wrong. In every way wrong.

Put away your veto pen - you don't know how to use it properly. Your toys are all too dangerous and you shouldn't be allowed to use them.

Stem cell research should be supported with every resource we have available.

This just in...

So Bloomberg's an Independent.

Whose taking the odd's on a third party presidential bid? If it weren't for Barack, I might have to vote for him now... hmmmm.....

Actually - that's it! He's based in New York. I'll work in his campaign when he runs! That would be fun. I can't argue with the people who say he's done a good job - New York is a pretty decent place to live (even for someone like me who is NOT a city mouse). And he is, actually, a Democrat...

News Wrap-up

1. Images of war
So the military has imposed restrictions on photographers embedded with troops that require written permission to be granted from the solider before his image can be published. This stems from a case where a soldier's family found out about his injury from a photo in the New York Times. Certainly that's not ideal. And the military's argument is that a soldier has a right to privacy - if s/he doesn't want her/his family to know about an injury that should be the soldier's right. However, as the reporter describes it, this means that he would have to ask a solider who might have shrapnel in his face and broken or burned limbs to look at his images on a lap top and write a permission note for the use of the pictures. Doesn't sound too practical.

The military does allow the photos to be used if they don't identify the soldiers, but the reporter argued that the anonymity detracts from the impact of the image - a nameless soldier doesn't reach the public the way Corporal Smith from Tucson does.

I'm not passionately against the military's position to the extent that a soldier may not want his bloodied body on the front page of the Times and maybe he deserves that much dignity. However, I agree with the reporter that his ability to communicate the realities of war are severely hampered and that this seems suspiciously like another administration attempt to limit the public's exposure to the war - which is the exact opposite of what we ought to be doing.

More pictures, more stories, more "real" reality - that's what Americans need; Americans who are so trigger-happy but don't like to know the dirty, ugly, gruesome truth of their decisions. Show it all, I say. It's like when you shove a dog's face in its mess after it has gone in the house. Maybe that's what Americans (and politicians) need.

I'm imagining President Bush in a Clockwork Orange scene being shown the image of every soldier who has died - two images actually: one of the solider alive, laughing, with his family, and one dead in his coffin, or on the field. Make him know, really, know what he has done.

2. We don't want anyone to think it isn't going well... too late.
Apparently there are some members of Congress who object to allowing expedited immigration for Iraqis because a massive resettlement of Iraqis in the US might "give the impression things aren't getting better in Iraq - that stability is decreasing, rather than increasing."

I swear to God I think I'm living in a distopian novel. Orwell - Orwell, is that you??? Did you write this nightmare?

Guess what?? Appearance is not a good reason to keep people in a hell hole we created!!! I feel like this should be obvious, but for anyone out there who is unclear - it's not actually going well. Now can we let Iraqis who would prefer to live in peace into our country?

3. Isn't it interesting?
If I were still at RLM or better yet, if I worked for the Daily Show, right now I'd be putting together a montage of the things W considers interesting. From today: "It's interesting that extremists attack democracies around the Middle East, whether it be the Iraq democracy, the Lebanese democracy or a potential Palestinian democracy," Bush said."

I think it's interesting when democracies attack otherwise stable countries. I also think it's interesting that he doesn't tie the increase in these attacks to the destabilization of the region caused by his invasion. I also think it's interesting that we have to be afraid of a Cold War with Russia and civil wars ending millions of lives in Africa. And plane hijackings. And corporate excess. And people wearing neon. And then I woke up and it was 1982.

Seriously, I hope Jon Stewart does the montage because what Bush considers interesting is interesting.

4. She's a Man Eater.
I wonder why Man Eater didn't make HRC's short list of theme songs. Today Mrs. Clinton chose Canadian singer Celine Dion's hit "You and I" popularized by Air Canada. A catchy little tune, despite my abhorrence of Ms. Dion's work. ALL of it. Ms. Dion can't hold a candle to Fleetwood Mac and her husband's use of "Don't Stop Thinking about Tomorrow" (I'm sure he's thrilled not to have to listen to it any more), but it's probably better than him taking a scene from "My Best Friend's Wedding" and lending her his song.

Now this may or may not be apocryphal, but I remember being told once that W was planning to use "Best of Times" from La Cage Aux Folles as his theme song, until someone told him that it was from a show about two gay guys who save a conservative politician's arse. I hope it's true!!!

Rowland... Rowland - that name rings a bell

Oh ya, that's because he's the guy who managed to get elected Governor of the great state of Connecticut three times. And then he went to prison for corruption.

I can't possibly waste too much time recounting this man's various evil-doings, but I simply can't pass on the opportunity to comment on today's article in the Washington Post. In it, Rowland is quoted saying, "She (Rell) threw me under the bus when it got rough..." By "rough", does he mean when it became perfectly clear that he was going to be held accountable for his illegal activity? Is he serious???

Now I'm no big fan of Jodi Rell. I find it hard to believe that there is no one in Connecticut better suited to the job of governor than she. And though she claims to be unpolitical, even lackluster M.J. would have had to be extremely dull not to realize that Rowland's goose was cooked. And had the situation been reversed, Rowland would have thrown her to the wolves and played poker that night in his basement without giving it another thought.

Poor Mr. Rowland... it had to be tough seeing the sitting Lt. Governor stand by, uh, the law of the state, rather than, um, him.

And it makes it pretty clear, doesn't it, why he was a rising star in the Republican party? This emphasis on loyalty above competence, above law, above the people he governed? Had he just managed to stay out of prison a few more years, he could have been the next Attorney General.

I can't say I've missed J.R. But it was fun to hear from him today. But with my vast PR background, I'd have to counsel him to stay quiet a bit longer....