Lean Back Into It!

poet, wisdom, Charles Bukowski          If you were here with me, seeing me devour Bukowski’s observations, wisdom, sarcasm, and cutting wit, you would know what a great effort I am making not to write too much about him too often.  You would witness my restraint when what I really want to do is climb up on the tallest building and shout to the world:  ‘YOU’VE GOT TO READ THIS GUY.  YOUR LIVES WON’T BE WORTH DIDDLY-SQUAT WITHOUT HIS WISDOM, HIS TRUTHS, HIS TAKE ON THIS HARSH, WONDERFUL, UNFORGIVING, PASSIONATE LIFE!!!!

Why can’t we learn this stuff when we’re in our thirties? Hell! I’d have settled for having some damn wisdom at forty. Not until seven years ago did it all come clear….did I SEE!  But, I’m a stubborn, old gal and evidently a slow learner.  Life knocked me around again and again, with a grand slam TKO, until I GOT IT!

So here’s the latest in my series from Charles Bukowski.
Read it slow.
Stop and think about it.
Then read it again.

to lean back into it    ©

like in a chair the color of the sun
as you listen to lazy piano music
and the aircraft overheard are not
at war.
where the last drink is as good as
the first
and you realized that the promises
you made yourself were
kept.
that’s plenty.
that last; about the promises.
what’s not so good is that the few
friends you had are
dead and they seem
irreplaceable.
as for women, you didn’t know enough
early enough
and you knew enough
too late.
and if more self-analysis is allowed: it’s
nice that you turned out well-
honed.
that you arrived late
and remained generally
capable.
outside of that, not much to say
except you can leave without
regret.
until then, a bit more amusement,
a bit more endurance,
leaning back
into it.

like the dog who got acrossCharles Bukowski, poetry, wisdom
the busy street;
not all of it was good
luck.

I really don’t have anything more to say…..he says it all….doesn’t he?? 

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Interview with Charles Bukowski with yours truly. Click here
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with other best-selling AUTHORS!   “The Writer’s Corner”

I have had a wonderful response from other authors and will feature an interview once a month . These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name:: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNealMark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Karen Robards, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Caroline Leavitt, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Walter Mosley, Loretta Chase, Nora Roberts, Raymond Benson and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!  July features Rhys Bowen.  Sue Grafton is August’s author with a bonus chat with Cathy Lamb.  and September will feature Tasha Alexander. Jeffrey Deaver is October’s author and  slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. Raymond Benson is my January author.
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You Don’t Have to be a Tortured, Guilt-ridden, Flagellating Soul!

writing, Dorothy Parker, famous quotes, famous authors      Dorothy Parker famously said:  “I hate writing. I enjoy having written.”

‘Don’t we all? We love the end result, the feeling of accomplishment and creative  fulfillment. But the hardest thing for most writers is the simple act of getting started. ‘ (copyblogger.com)

     ‘NO!  Not true!  Or at least that’s not how I feel about the art of writing.  I can’t wait to see where my characters will lead me.  I don’t force it.  I don’t tell myself ‘I must write today’ or ‘I must write for two hours every day’.  Sometimes I don’t write at all and sometimes (thankfully most times) I will write up to 3,000 words at one sitting.

You don’t have to be a tortured, guilt-ridden, flagellating soul.  Go to your writing as if you are meeting up with a great friend.  Go to your writing as if you are thirsty and have found a crystal clear pool of mountain water.  Go to your writing as if you are being re-united with a lost love.  Go to your writing as if it is the next breath you need.

I believe that if you dread it, procrastinate, hate it, you are writing the wrong thing.  Put it away for now.  Start something you are excited about.  Write something you love writing about.

Find that something to write that makes you ‘hate’ the time it takes to shower, eat, sleep, do errands.  You can shower, eat, sleep do errands, later.  WRITE!’  ~~ Trisha Sugarek

Joseph Johns, famous quotes, famous authors                 “It’s simple.  You just take something and do something to it, and then do something else to it.  Keep doing this, and pretty soon you’ve got something.”  ~~ Jasper Johns

 

“Nothing is exciting if you know what the outcome is going to be.”   ~~Joseph Campbellfamous quotes, famous authors,

 

“The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.”
~~
Chinese Proverb famous quotes, chinese proverb, writing

famous quotes, famous authors, Isaac Asimov  “If my doctor told me I had six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood.  I’d type a little faster.” ~~Isaac Asimov

 

 

 

 

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Tomorrow join me for Part 2 of my interview with best selling author, Caroline Leavitt
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS. INTERVIEWS with other best-selling AUTHORS!      A SERIES, “The Writer’s Corner”

I have had a wonderful response from other authors and will feature an interview once a month . I have invited such luminaries as: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNealMark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Walter Mosley, Nora Roberts, and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!  Mark Childress was our April author.  Robert McCammon was our May writer. Caroline Leavitt is June‘s author.  July features Rhys Bowen.  Sue Grafton is August’s author and September will feature Tasha Alexander.  Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To receive my posts sign up for my blog, blogs, blogger, writer, author, playwright, books, plays,fiction  Go to the home page; On the right side you’ll see a box where you can enter your email address. Click on “join my blog”. You need to confirm in an email from ‘Writer at Play’ . Thanks!

Haiku…flower graveyard…crushed love

Haiku, poetry, love,writers, poet

Forgotten Flower, forgotten love  ©
by Trisha Sugarek

Crushed petal, crushed stem
Flattened flower, Trampled love
Dead and dry flower

Crushed love, crushed heart, still
Packed down against the pavement
Crushed flower, crushed stem

Forgotten love, lost
Dried between sun and pavement
pages in a book
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I left the UPS store yesterday and walked to my car.  I found this carnation in the parking lot, flattened and dried perfectly, as if saved between the pages of an old book.
What would this single flower tell me if it could talk.  Did a girl throw it down while in a lovers’ spat?   Did a boy  throw it away when the girl didn’t come to meet him?  Or did it fall from a grocery store-bought bouquet on Mother’s Day?   I stood in the parking lot, gazing down at it, while the world rushed around me.  I am officially the crazed old lady, standing on the hot pavement looking down at a dead flower. 
(photo by Trish Sugarek)

Inspiration can hit anytime, anywhere.  I wrote the Haiku in the car on the way home, and then hurried into the house lest I forget the verse.
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS. INTERVIEWS with other best-selling AUTHORS!      A SERIES, “The Writer’s Corner”

I have had a wonderful response from other authors and will feature an interview with one of them once a month . I have invited such luminaries as: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Walter Mosley, Nora Roberts, and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!  Mark Childress was our April author.  Robert McCammon is scheduled for May. Caroline Leavitt is June‘s author.  July features Rhys Bowen.  Sue Grafton is August’s author and September will feature Tasha Alexander.  Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To receive my posts sign up for my blog, blogs, blogger, writer, author, playwright, books, plays,fiction  Go to the home page; On the right side you’ll see a box where you can enter your email address. Click on “join my blog”. You need to confirm in an email from ‘Writer at Play’ . Thanks!

Rescue Yourself! My latest posting on InspireMeToday.com

rescue, empowerment,               As a contributing writer for InspireMeToday.com my latest posting appeared yesterday.

‘Life’s a bumpy road; we can all agree on that. You’re not going to avoid it. Stuff just happens. The trick is to avoid falling into the ten foot holes. Chances are, no one will be there with an eleven foot ladder to help you out…..’ 

 

Click here to read the entire article.

 

Bullies! Déjà-vu in the most horrific way!

cyber-bullying, bullying, girls who bully, short plays for teens, high school, middle school   A few weeks ago I published four short plays addressing cyber-bullying and verbal bullying in our schools.  My hope was that if teens and their teachers read these plays (and performed them in their classroom) it would maybe open a dialogue about this deadly practice.

In “You’re Fat, You’re Ugly…”  Aanya is a beautiful, talented student, much like Amanda Todd, who is driven to attempted suicide by her peers’ relentless bullying.  In “Cyber-Hate” Cathy is the victim of bullying that leads to violence. “The Bullies” is about boys who bully.

I wrote these plays depicting different variations of bullying…..Fiction based on dry statistics.

And now in today’s headlines we read about Amanda Todd, (age 15) a beautiful young girl who just couldn’t take anymore.  She felt her only option to escape this form of terrorism (bullying) was to take her own life.  It saddened me and my love and prayers go out to her family and friends.  This pointless loss of a young woman’s life also outraged me. Amanda’s cry for help (I assume) was a previous attempt at suicide by drinking bleach.  Her stalker-bully wrote a message to her, “Try harder.”  What kind of monster does this??

‘Amanda Todd, a Vancouver-area teenager who posted a story to YouTube last month about being cyber-bullied, was found dead Wednesday night in Coquitlam, Canada. Authorities believe she committed suicide.  Amanda’s video tells a heart-wrenching story of the bullying she was subjected to — both online and off. “In 7th grade,” she begins, sharing her message on cue cards, “I would go with friends on webcam [to] meet and talk to new people.” At one point, a stranger flattered her into flashing the camera…..

One year later, a man contacted her on Facebook, threatening to send around the picture of her topless “if [she] don’t put on a show.” Terrifyingly, the stranger knew everything about her: her address, school, friends, relatives, and the names of her family members. Soon, her naked photo had been forwarded “to everyone.”Amanda developed anxiety, depression, and anxiety disorders, she says in the video, followed by a path into drugs and alcohol.’ ~~ Huffington Post

We, as the adults, MUST take control of this deadly game that teens are playing.  Maybe the bullies need to see their parents go to jail for their actions.   After all, these bullies are just children,  and the parents are ultimately responsible for their child’s behavior.  The buck stops at the parents’ door step.

STOP THE BULLYING!

                                                                                            SAVE LIVES!

More resources re: Bullying, Cyber-bullying
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