Lionel Shriver's Speech On Writing Fiction...

I'd never heard of Lionel Shriver before yesterday. There's a lot of authors--many of them, very famous--I've never heard of. Such is a world in which we live. I saw a link of her speech from The Guardian on Facebook post recommended by a local author friend. He enjoyed her words and felt it necessary to tell his many followers that this was something worth our time to read.

It's a long speech and I read it all.

Instead of my friend's reaction (sort of a "high five" because she so masterfully articulated what many writers feel is happening in modern fiction writing today), I had a different reaction.

You can read the entire speech about cultural appropriation: HERE. It is long, but I found it fascinating. 

I usually avoid political opinions on this blog. I've never wanted it to be a platform to argue one point or another. So, if you are interested in this topic, read her speech. I know many writers already know about the things she brings up--they've been dealing with it for years. If you don't know what's going on, I feel it's an important story because it deals with the mindset of modern writers and how it affects the art they produce. And if you think what people write and what readers read isn't that important, think of how the things you've read in your life have helped mold the person you are today.

No, I had a different reaction from my friend. While he seemed excited someone with credibility in certain circles was finally saying what he and others have said for a long time, I was a little sad. You see, I don't believe what she said in her speech as necessarily political; it was pure common sense. The reason I was sad is because she had to even say it in the first place.

Sleeping On The Bus Ride Home...

It happens all the time. In fact, it happened to me yesterday.

I fell asleep on the bus ride home.

One of the reasons I enjoy riding the bus/train to/from work is to have that hour to an hour and a half of commute time each day to myself. I used to listen to audiobooks and podcasts, until I realized it was a perfect time to get some reading done. I've read a lot of books--both digital and authentic books with real pages--while someone else drives me to and from work.

However, over the years, and especially this past summer, I have found myself nodding off and waking up when the ride's over. I usually wake up well before the bus pulls into my stop, but a couple of weeks ago, I was out cold. The bus stopped and the door opened--that's when I finally woke up. In my mind, I thought we were still in SLC, but nope--it was where I needed to get out of the bus. I'm glad I woke up in time.

One of the reasons I get sleepy on the bus is because the bus I take home is parked all day in the parking lot just outside my building. And this summer, I've climb aboard a very warm bus.

Warm bus + working a 10-hour shift = sleepy me.

But I keep trying to read. I can tell early on if I'm going to be out for the count. If I start to get woozy before we've left the first stop, I just put my book away and give in. It's too hard to try and stay awake, especially when trying to read. It's a guarantee that I won't remember anything I've "read" while dozing off. It's just not worth the fight.

I don't know if, as summer turns to fall and temperatures begin to ebb, if my late afternoon commutes will result in me falling asleep. Yes, the bus will be cooler, but it's going to get darker and soon, I'll be catching the bus after the sun has set. I'm sure a darkened bus works well for sleeping, too.

My New Favorite App...Letgo

I'd seen the ads many many times, but I never took action.

Until last weekend.

I don't know why I did it, but for some reason, I downloaded the Letgo app on my phone. Hours later, when the time had passed when I should have been asleep, I was still looking at the app, checking out more and more stuff. I checked out refrigerators. I checked out drones. I checked out musical instruments. I checked out sewing machines. I checked out cars even. The more I looked, the more there was to see, and it all was within my general vicinity. Heaven help me if I decided to look for things in another state. I was hooked.

And the strangest part was, I really didn't know why I was hooked. I mean--yes, we were in the market for a fridge to put in the garage, but the other stuff, like sewing machines? We're not in the market for those, but I have a co-worker who really likes sewing machines so I thought I'd check out to see what the local sewing machine prices were like.

The fact that the app held my attention for so long baffled me, until I realized one thing, one explanation that answered my baffling question.

The app is basically a digital thrift store.

If you've followed this blog for any length of time, you know I have a fondness (some call a weakness...) for thrift stores. They contain pretty much nothing that we need, but I like to see what's there. The last couple of times I've gone to a thrift store, I even checked out--yep, you guessed it--sewing machines. Not to buy them, but to see just what they had. It resulted in fun conversations between my co-worker and I the next time at work.

I don't know how pleased the Letgo people will be to have me as a subscriber. Like my visits to actual thrift stores, I usually don't buy anything. I said earlier, there's not much there we need. The same goes for the app. Also, Letgo keeps wanting me to sell stuff. I know there are things in my house I could exchange for legal tender. I probably should, and maybe I will one day. But for now, I am finding it fascinating just to do a little app window shopping. Because there's just so much to see.

Paulette Way...A Place Of My Past

This is Paulette Way, a road running mostly East-West in my hometown. Going east from 200 East (yeah, we have a strange and somewhat boring way of naming streets where we live...), Paulette Way first crosses Spencer Way then continues up the mountain until it dead-ends above 350 East. It's hard to tell from the photograph, but it's a steep drive from where I'm standing. Living on the side of mountain means a lot of steep roads. We noticed, as we kept driving higher and higher, all the four-wheel drive vehicles parked in driveways.

When we first moved to Farmington, these homes didn't exist. By the time I entered public school I had several friends from the neighborhood surrounding Paulette Way. I didn't spend a lot of time just south of the Farmington Cemetery, but enough to know that at one time, 350 East, a road running North-South, was as high as you could go. Now it's about halfway between no development and 200 East.

Before we drove south from our home, we drove north. We ran an errand that took us to a part of Farmington that's seen several changes over the past couple of years. New buildings, a motel, an office building, even a soon-to-be-completed Mercedes Benz dealership. I never thought I'd see the day there would be auto dealership in our little town, let alone one selling new Benzes to those who can afford them (and to several who can't...). The point is. there are parts of town those having left only a few years ago would scarcely recognize today.

And there are places, like Paulette Way that have had the same look for decades. Such is the nature of life. Eventually, everything turns over, all things erode and disappear. Driving around I saw homes where friends lived long ago, even saw the last names of my friends hung for all to see. And even though I didn't spend a lot of time on Paulette Way, it's a part of my past, a part that, to me at least, hasn't changed much.

At least, on the outside.

The Nyes...They Sure Know How To Throw A Party!

They do it every year and have done for years. We've attended some, but not all of their parties. And we're the poorer for it--especially since they seem to outdo themselves each year. Tonight we decided to take a short walk down one street, down another, and down another still until we reached the gathering. And what a gathering it was.

They Nyes live in our neighborhood and they're the ones who put on the event. They try--and succeed--to make sure there's something for everyone, a waterslide for the kids (and adventurous non-kids...), a snow cone shack, hula dancers, fire dancers, and great tunes. They even had a big screen TV broadcasting the BYU-Utah football game, if you're into that sort of thing.

And they don't ask for anything other than the cooperation of the neighbors (they shut down the street...) and for us to attend. I looked around at friends and neighbors and everyone was having a great time, but I don't think anyone had more fun than the couple who made it all happen.

Thank you to our wonderful friends for doing something selfless for all of us! It really means a lot. And next year, we'll see how you can top this one--it's going to be tough.

I Mean...Who's This Poster For, Really?

I've written before about the amount of motivational posters that hang everywhere at my work. They're so prevalent that, in my opinion, they're almost irrelevant. It's like seeing the same advertisement over and over on TV. After a while, you just ignore it.

But one poster caught my eye yesterday. It was on hanging on the elevator door.

Here's what it said:

I saw the poster and wondered if it has actually made a difference. Maybe that's just my cynical side showing it's ugly head. I suppose I'm already cynical about the other posters. I'm sure it's affecting my perspective with this one, too.

Being healthy is important. My employer has several incentives to help us think about our health. We have authorized exercise times during the week. There's discounts offered from our health insurance. These are good things.

But sometimes broaching the subject of another person's health can be a touchy subject. Many people suffer from poor health due to no fault of their own, so when someone makes a judgement call on another person's motivation toward their health, it can get messy.

I guess that's what I thought about when I saw the sign. I think many who take the elevator might actually want to take the stairs more often (our building has only two stories, but still...). Then again, they might have just gone through a tough day and are flat-out tired, even though this sign was on the second floor and taking the stairs to go down is so much easier than going up.

But maybe--just maybe everyone's like me and they've seen so many motivational thoughts and sayings all over the place that they don't even see the sign at all. We'll probably never know.

Searching For Stella...

I saw a flyer attached to a sign as I drove home, but due to the angle and the speed in which I traveled, I couldn't tell what it said. A neighbor child filled me in on the details as I exited my car and walked to my house.

"There's a dog missing," she said. I could see she was concerned.

"Are you looking for it?" I asked.

"We had a piece of paper with its picture, but the paper's gone." We continued walking. "It has white on its belly."

"I hope they find it," I said. She then turned to me and asked, "If you see a dog with white on its belly, can you let us know?"

I assured her I would.

I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood, not necessarily to find the missing pet, but to get a little exercise. And if I found Stella, the missing French Bulldog, that's a bonus. I took my camera to see if I could capture anything interesting. Fortunately, I did get some exercise and I took some pictures, but the search for Stella netted zero results.

Here's just a sample of what I captured on my neighborhood watch. The Missing French Bulldog flyers accompanied me on my walk. If you have seen this adorable little dog, please contact its owner. I'm sure they're worried sick. I hope it gets found soon.