From the CompostKim Pearson's blog about writing, history, and Compost: Goody Beagle on the CouchMarch 8th, 2010Goody Beagle here. I love my couch. It’s my bestest place. My human thinks it’s hers, but it isn’t. It’s mine. And I love it. So what if beagle hair gets in the creases? It’s not my fault I have hair. If she wanted a couch without hair, she should have bought a leather couch. But I’m glad she didn’t. Now cat hair, that’s a different story. Technorati Tags: Goody Beagle, couch, hair, human, cat, story Compost: A Dead Ghost Comes AliveMarch 1st, 2010I was delighted when a British Twitter friend of mine sent me the link below, to a story in the UK Guardian. There is a new film out, starring Gerard Depardieu, about – guess! – a ghostwriter! Did you know there’s a theory that Alexandre Dumas, the author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, used a ghostwriter named Auguste Maquet to write his famous stories for him? I did not know this, and I don’t know if it’s true, either. Some scholars claim Maquet was simply a researcher, nothing more. But a ghostwriter getting some fame at last, even 150 years later – as a ghostwriter myself, this makes me sneakily happy. When I was in high school, I discovered The Count of Monte Cristo and fell in love with Edmond Dantes, the hero of the story. I’m still very fond of him. As for the three musketeers, they were a bit macho for my taste, but they had some exciting adventures that made the blood race. I don’t really care if Dumas or his ghost wrote those books. Both of them are dead now, but the stories he (or they) wrote are still alive. And that’s the important thing, isn’t it? http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/09/maquet-dumas-ghostwriter-feud Technorati Tags: ghost, dead, ghostwriting, alive, British, Twitter, UK Guardian, movie, Alexandre Dumas, Gerard Depardieu, The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, Auguste Maquet Compost: Goody Beagle on Letting GoFebruary 22nd, 2010Bella Puggle had puppies not too long ago. Her nipples drag on the ground. But the puppies are gone now, out on their own somewhere. Contrary to what humans imagine, Bella is not sad about this. She is not even the tiniest bit upset. She is, in fact, thrilled. She has her freedom back. It’s not like she wasn’t a good mom – she says she was, and I believe her. But her attitude now is “been there, done that, time to move on.” Humans don’t seem to understand that there is a time to let go. There’s my bit of wisdom for the day. Love, Goody Beagle Technorati Tags: compost, Goody Beagle, puppies, nipples, thrilled, freedom, attitude, move on, letting go, wisdom Compost: Introverts Make Bad MarketersFebruary 15th, 2010Writers are often introverts, and dislike getting “out there.” Many of us are happiest (and feel safest) holed up in our snug workrooms, hunched over our laptops typing away. We are so much more impressive when we write than when we talk! Of course, introversion is a poor marketing strategy. It doesn’t work for authors, and it won’t work for ghostwriters either. Sorry, but no matter how much you enjoy the background shadows, you have to get out there and let people look at and listen to you – and you must try to be informative, compelling, inspirational, or at the very least, nice. They simply won’t hire you otherwise. And they won’t recommend you either. Sigh. Technorati Tags: compost, writers, introverts, snug, happiest, workrooms, laptops, writing, introversion, marketing, strategy, ghostwriters Compost: Goody Beagle on Dog Park EtiquetteFebruary 8th, 2010Davy Shepherd-Mix likes to chase balls even though he’s not that fast. His human threw the ball for him, but then Mandy B. Labrador joined the game and beat Davy to the ball. Then Mandy ran all over the park bragging about how fast she is, and she wouldn’t give the ball back. Rude! Sissy J. Russell wore a red harness and a pink leash to the park. It looked a little garish to me, but I didn’t say so. Sissy is stuck-up and ignored me completely when I tried to do sniff-butt. Courtesy is wasted on some dogs. That’s what I think. Love, Goody Beagle Technorati Tags: compost, Goody Beagle, dog, park, etiquette, Shepherd, Labrador, Russell, game, balls, ran, bragging, rude Compost: ImbolcFebruary 1st, 2010Tomorrow is Imbolc, an old European festival celebrated February 2nd. In Catholic tradition this date is known as Candlemas, and is sacred to Saint Brigid. In popular culture it has come down to us as Groundhog’s Day. This holiday marks the first stirring of the seeds, deep within the womb of earth. Nature is beginning to wake up. The days are visibly longer. There is a sense of freshness in the air, and a feeling of possibility. Imbolc is the traditional time to set new intentions and begin new projects for the coming year. Here’s an activity to do at Imbolc, to help you seed your intentions. In my family we call it Intentional Beans. You will need a small pot, some dirt, a packet of seeds (I recommend Scarlet Runner Beans, as they are easy to grow), marker pens or paint, glue, some beads or feathers or ribbons, and a little slip of paper. Decorate your pot however you want, using paint, beads, feathers, ribbons, or whatever you want. Simple or elaborate, make it beautifully yours. On a little slip of paper write your intention — such as good health, or get an exciting job, or move to a new house, or find the love of my life — or any of a zillion others. Roll the little paper into a ball about the size of a seed. In the pot put your dirt, your intention “seed” and some seeds. Put the pot where it will get natural light, and water it. Watch your intentions grow. When warm enough, plant your beans outside. Every time you look at your plant, you will be reminded of what you intend to make manifest in your life. I promise you, this actually works! Technorati Tags: compost, imbolc, European, festival, tradition, Catholic, Candlemas, Saint Brigid, Groundhog’s Day, seeds, womb, earth, nature, beginning, wake up, new, intentions, projects, activity, intentional beans, plant, water, decorate Compost: Goody Beagle on running and humansJanuary 25th, 2010I played with Misha Airedale and Scruff Aussie today at the dog park. It was a pretty clear day, just made for running, so we ran around the park three times. In case you don’t know, that’s a lot of running. My human says it’s good for me. But I don’t see HER running three times around the park. Scruff Aussie didn’t obey his human. His human called for him to come so they could leave, and Scruff looked right at his human then turned and ran the other way. His human had to chase him all over the park. Every time his human got close, Scruff sprinted away. I didn’t know you could do that. Maybe I’ll try this some time. My human could never catch me. But she’s the one with the food. Hmm, I wonder if Scruff thought of that? I better re-think. Love, Goody Beagle Technorati Tags: compost, boody, beagle, Misha, Scruff, dog park, running, ran, park, human, sprint, chase, catch, food Compost: Are We There Yet?January 18th, 2010There is a quote by Eric Hoffer: “Power corrupts the few, but weakness corrupts the many.” How true. You can see this principle operating right now in the American political landscape. My politics lean left; I’ve been a liberal progressive my entire adult life. Right-wing conservatives are not my favorite people (although there are some in my own family, and I love them anyway.) But when I think of weakness corrupting the many, liberals are the ones I think of. Many of us worked hard and argued hard during the 2008 campaign, to get President Obama elected. Then we celebrated. We won! And then we went back to our own lives, so Obama could get on with the job of saving us. Trying to sound like adults, we admitted that he had a pretty big job, and it might take him a little time to accomplish fixing all the problems he had inherited, problems that had been accumulating for the past thirty years or so. We gave him about a month. Then we started acting like the children we really were. It’s like we’re all on a cross-country car trip. We’re traveling from Los Angeles to New York. Obama is in the front seat – no one else wants to sit up there with the boring grown-ups. We’re all in the back seat, crowded together and all talking at once. The right-wing conservatives and Republicans are not in the car with us. They are outside trying to sabotage the trip – they’re putting up phony road signs (Watch out for Death Panels!); strewing nails across the road to puncture our tires; throwing rocks at our brake lights so the Highway Patrol will pick us up (they’ve alerted the Highway Patrol that we’re coming); and trying to shut down the freeways with filibusters. They’re a pain, but the liberals in the back seat of the car have them beat. Before we even get to the California/Nevada border, they are whining because we haven’t gone far enough or fast enough. And yet, “I wanna see the Grand Canyon, can we stop?” squeal some of them, while others ask “Why are we going southeast through New Mexico? We should go North first, then East,” and others demand “Slow down, we’re missing the important scenery,” yet others screech “Speed up, we’re not gonna get there on time.” Many of them pout “I told you we should have taken the plane!” And every single one of them whines, “Are we there yet?” And when we’re told no, we’re not there yet, we still have a long way to go, we get mad and want to get out of the car. “We’re getting another driver!” we threaten, ignoring the fact that there are no other drivers around, except Republicans. You know, I wouldn’t blame Obama if he just stopped the car, got out, and walked home by himself, saying “Find your own damn way!” But he can’t do that because he knows we couldn’t do it. We’d go nowhere because we’d be too busy arguing, whining, crying and throwing temper tantrums. And since the stakes are the preservation not only of our country, but our planet, we better hope he doesn’t desert us. Now here’s a thought: maybe we should try to help him instead. Technorati Tags: compost, Eric Hoffer, power, weakness, American, political, landscape, President, Obama, problems, saving, road trip, sabotage, liberals, conservatives, arguing, whining, crying, temper tantrums Compost: Differences, ala Goody BeagleJanuary 11th, 2010There were NO boy dogs at the dog park today! Just four of us girl dogs. We played and smelled together and nobody peed on the fence. It was more fun this way. Although less exciting. Plus there were some new piles of bark. I start at the bottom of the pile and smell all around it. Then I slowly work my way up to the top of the pile, smelling all the way. You humans might think that bark smells like bark, like just one thing, but that’s because you don’t know smell like I know smell. Bark is made from all kinds of stuff and although I don’t know the words for the stuff, I do know the smells. When I get to the top of the pile I can see everything, so I look around and pretend I am a big dog. But if a big dog stands on top of the pile too, I come down. I know the difference between pretend and real. Love, Goody Beagle Technorati Tags: Goody Beagle, differences, dogs, boy, girl, play, smell, pee, bark, pile, bottom, top, pretend, real Haiku Friday: BirdsJanuary 8th, 2010Here’s my haiku for today, on the topic of Birds:
At the end of each month I’ll gather up the haikus in the “Haiku Comments” that meet the criteria and pick one at random in a drawing, and send the winner of the drawing one of my e-books: your choice of Haiku for the Seasons I, or Haiku for the Seasons II. Technorati Tags: haiku, writing, syllable, birds, eagles, owls, peacocks, myths |
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