Closing Time: A Dozen Miscellaneous Scraps

"True art does not depend upon the reality about which it tells. It’s message lies in the new reality which it creates by the way in which it reflects experience."
--Dag Hammarskjöld

AS IF the current pandemic isn't hassle enough, we had a massive snowfall last night that took our power out this morning. As a result, to preserve my iPhone and laptop batteries, I kept them off much of the day. In normal times I could count on having the opportunity to visit a coffee shop and connect, recharge and all, but we're in lockdown.

The lockdown has had a few benefits. I've been sorting organizing files on my desktop that I never get around to, and that includes both my laptop desktop as well as the real desktop that is usually a mass of lists, notes and other scratchings.

Having spent the day shoveling snow, napping, reading and writing, it's my hope that the power will return so we can heat something, like the house, as well as a few morsels to eat.

What follows are some things I found on those scraps of paper, which I've now thrown in the trash because I don't have a good system for organizing them for future use.

Notes to myself:

1. Writing is not about rules. "Don't do this. Do that." It involves sensitivity and aesthetics.

2. Dreamt that S. was mad at me because I always procrastinate & put off writing the Dylan book I've been uniquely called to write. When I woke, the feeling was real. August 4
(EdNote: Yes, that scrap of paper has been on my desk more than half a year.)

3. Socrates. Philosopher Kings. Wise leaders, not party politicians.

4. Failed States. Show why marketing also fails:
Forced Labor
Tilted Playing Field
Big Men Get Greedy
Elites Block New Technologies
No Law & Order
Weak Central Government
Bad Public Services

5. Article Idea: How Big is your "Our"

6. He: I have a bad back.
She: Too much social climbing.

7. Ritchie County Crimes & Calamities by John M. Jackson

8. Make a meme: "Don't Ignore the Signs"

9. The Triangle Player's Forum

10. DPS: Dramatic Play Service

11. Kissinger / CIA determines to keep Allende from being elected. Once elected, they decide to overthrow him. So much for our belief in democratically elected governments. No wonder we are not respected, only feared.

12. Journalism once meant being accurate, thorough, impartial and fair. Where did we go wrong?

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"I know only too well that every real achievement, in whatever field it is, is always the work of many."--Dag Hammarskjöld