Mad Macedonian

Authors and Readers, Politics and Identity...the Question of Sharing

In the current heated political and cultural environment whether authors should feel free to express their political views is a relevant question to ask.

When your choice of whom to vote for, or your views on the issues of the day, can bring down the wrath of activists not just via various social media, your own accounts and others, but outside your doorstep, or that of your day job, or even lose you your job, do you keep your views private or as private as you can, or do you not let yourself be intimidated and stressed by what others think?

Do authors’ identities a) matter and b) belong to the world?

These questions of censorship and self-censorship, and free speech, were recently discussed in 2 interesting essays by Jael McHenry on the website Writer Unboxed:

Do Authors Owe Us Their Whole Selves?

Politics, Authors and Readers

These issues, while more important in the Internet Age, have been part of life since the Reagan Years and centuries before then.

One question Jael asks is this: "as both consumers and makers of art, authors have to wonder: should I express myself fully, including my political views, on social media? Or does that mean losing readers?"

I have some thoughts on this I want to share...

Supreme Court Redefines Marriage; Gives Big "F U" to Western Civ & People of Faith

...but is that any reason to freak out, lock the door and refuse to deal with this major cultural shift?

The lives of every American, young and old, especially young, will be affected. The box has been opened and even a constitutional amendment might not be able to put all the contents back in.

My initial reaction, when I finally found a moment to write it down?

 

 

In case you missed it...

On Friday 5 unelected justices of the Supreme Court did something vulgar and disgusting to the constitution of the United States of America, several amendments thereof, centuries of western civilization, the Christian and other faiths whose beliefs do no endorse homosexuality, much less gay marriage.

I am so angry at these ignorant, progressive, liberal, radical idiots and so ashamed of and embarrassed for, my nation and my ancestors who helped build it, that the only words I can come up with to describe what the Supremes did are ones I refuse to soil this post by expressing.

No doubt many of my fellow Houstonians had similar thoughts and were preparing to march out into their front yards, or to the nearest street corner, or bike trail, or even downtown to the Pride festivities this weekend, and drop their drawers, bend over, spread their legs athwart the march of history and yell...

KISS MY GOD-FEARING CHRISTIAN ASS, YA PERVERTS!!!!

...at the top of their offended lungs as they fear they've entered some sort of weird timewarp where they are doomed to live a nightmare until God at last brings His judgement down on us all.

Not me...for one thing I don't need half the residents of the Montrose District at my door, in a line stretching all the way to the Heights, asking me "how many times and how hard?" :-D

Neither am I gonna go rioting in the streets, looking to fuck with (as in beat up, not pass out condoms and ask "your place or mine?") half the Gay population of Houston because of this decision.

My mother didn't raise no dipshit, or bigot. :-D

The opinions, from the decision, for and against it, as expressed by the court.

Write NonFiction Now 2013 Standout Blogger Responds At Last! - Pt. 5

Last August Amanda Socci, my friend and creative writing "drill sergeant" had profiled me and posed 9 questions to me for each of my five blogs (3 of which are retired), as part of her 10 month "I know I Can" training series for Nina Amir's Write Nonfiction Now and Write Nonfiction in November efforts.

 

 

 

I am now answering those questions at last (Series introduction).

Social Media for Critter Bloggers: A 365 Day Project

(1) Social media is a great topic to explore. Have you enjoyed this forum?

Yes, I have, to the extent that I have time to engage those social media I belong to and been able to learn how to use them.

Not sure I’ve used them successfully, as a way to increase my audience, have my work shared by others, and bring me new opportunities.

I still have a lot to learn.

(2) Have you been able to teach people social media tips?

I know that, over the years, people have told me how what I do has helped them in various ways. Some bike bloggers were even inspired to become so by my early work and I’ve given people advice a few times, that must have worked since they are still online.

As for how much the posts on this blog informed and educated I have little clue. The audience was miniscule. Not even sure how many people knew I had stopped posting last May.

(3) It appears as if you have discontinued this blog. Do you have plans to resurrect it?

At this point I have no plans to resurrect it.

This has been the first time I’ve returned to look at it in months.

 

 (4) You note many interesting observations about social media tools. Do you really use all the tools you wrote about? Which is your favorite social media tool?

Many of the posts were about sites I had yet to seriously use and am unsure I wanted to.

I like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest and want to actually, finally, add more to my Pinterest on a regular basis. I have a feeling sharing my photos there might help bring attention to my writing. I also think the Blog Paws website and Community are great resources for pet bloggers and want to become more engaged in that community.

(5) Have peoples’ comments inspired you to write blog posts about social media?

You inspired me to tackle THIS project and I am proud of the material I produced. Over the years I’ve been inspired by comments, emails and the writing of others to, a few times, write about social media.

Write NonFiction Now 2013 Standout Blogger Responds At Last! - Pt. 4

 

 

 

Last August Amanda Socci, my friend and creative writing "drill sergeant" had profiled me and posed 9 questions to me for each of my five blogs (3 of which are retired), as part of her 10 month "I know I Can" training series for Nina Amir's Write Nonfiction Now and Write Nonfiction in November efforts.

I am now answering those questions at last (Series introduction).

 

 

 

Sneakeasy's Joint aka "SEJ" (2002 - 2007)

 

(1) Here is another treasure that was difficult to find. Another blog that has been discontinued but is still available to read. Why did you create this blog? Why did you end it?

It was my first blog and I was encouraged by dear friends (3 of the 5 are still alive), who have been daily correspondents, supporters and encouragers since 2000, to take my creativity into this newly born format.

I ended it for the same reason I later ended the bike blog; because others, with bigger audiences, more knowledge, connections, time, and resources, than I serve that need very ably. 

I also came to realize I wanted to take my writing in new directions, focusing not on politics anymore, but on all my other interests.

It is also something I am extremely proud of all that came from writing it.

(2) This blog, Sneakeasy, has a lot of political references on it. Did you ever get in trouble or have dangerous situations happened to you because of your comments?
 
No dangerous situations, but the extreme socialist who helped me discover my talent as a poet “disowned me” and tried to publically shame me into staying his friend for something I wrote he disagreed with. Needless to say that didn’t work out well.

I had one blog post that went viral for weeks (in no small part to actually having a link to a decent version of a video) and had over 300 responses left to it, plus a 2nd, related, post that was also popular on a much smaller scale; They were about a video showing the beheading of a journalist in the Middle East, by terrorists.

3) Sneakeasy appears to be a hodgepodge of blog posts grouped together in interesting categories. Which category was your favorite and why?

In a way they ALL were the mid-wives helping at the birth of the writer I have become since those first 5 years.

For example:

The cat post archive led me into the new world of pet blogging, the creative writing archive helped me become an accomplished poet and storyteller, the stories about my museum trips and other adventures, including from my past, helped me become a good travel writer, as did several other categories.

The political archive, and genealogy archive, among others, helped me become a good researcher,  essayist and commentator.

Write NonFiction Now 2013 Standout Blogger Responds At Last! - Pt. 3

Last August Amanda Socci, my friend and creative writing "drill sergeant" had profiled me and posed 9 questions to me for each of my five blogs (3 of which are retired), as part of her 10 month "I know I Can" training series for Nina Amir's Write Nonfiction Now and Write Nonfiction in November efforts.

I am now answering those questions at last (Series introduction).

 

The Cycling Dude (2003 - 2010)

 

(1) It is no easy feat finding your blog, Cycling Dude, unless people know the URL before searching for it. How come you don’t promote this blog? It has ended, but is still available.

That blog was, quite possibly, one of the very first cycling blogs on the internet and something I am extremely proud of all that came from writing it, but it never had more than a tiny (puny might be a better word) audience.

I once described it this way:

“Do You Bicycle? Dedicated to the proposition that bike riding is good for you & fun; Commentary, links, news, opinion, reviews, stories, travelogue, & occasional heads up about events. Kiril Kundurazieff spreads the word & the word is BICYCLE!”

A lack of know-how, plus my determination to develop my cat blogging, kept me from promoting it.

  (2) You make fascinating observations about bicycles and bicycle-related news from all over the world. What is different between this blog and your other blogs is a lack of photos. Not nearly as many photos on this blog as your other blogs. How come?

It took a while for the notion to occur to me, I suppose, plus I didn’t have the walking stick and mini-tripods (one added to my handlebar and one carried in a bag) that I later purchased.

I actually began taking photos on bike rides and other trips, back in the 90’s (getting people to take shots if I wanted to be in one), when I began to do more than ride my bike to and from work 3 to 10 miles.

(3) What inspired you to blog about your bicycle adventures in the first place? Why did you stop?

I took up bike commuting in the late 80’s and longer distance bike rides in the  90’s, bringing a camera along on some of those early adventures, believe it or not. I even still have photos from those times.

My interest in cycling issues began with brief memberships in a cycling club (Los Angeles Wheelmen) and a Los Angeles activist group (Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition) that was born in 1998, plus a bad experience on a Critical Mass bike ride that led me to disavow the group and begin to educate myself about it once I began blogging.

This last led to a 2 year series of posts on this blog that made me friends among cyclists, and pissed off the Green Party and the founder of the CM movement. I even shared the correspondence with my readers.

All this involvement with groups, begun after I’d got online in 1998, and very different from the person I had once been, led me to begin a blog about cycling in 2003, discovering only one other such blog, begun almost the same time as mine, in Great Britain.

As I wrote in my last post on the blog: I ended it, in 2010, “because others, with bigger audiences, more knowledge, connections, time, and resources, than I (Including some who got their start by being inspired by my early work) serve that need very ably, however I will continue writing about, and share photos of, my bicycling adventures on my other blogs.”

Write NonFiction Now 2013 Standout Blogger Responds At Last! - Pt. 2

Last August Amanda Socci, my friend and creative writing "drill sergeant" had profiled me and posed 9 questions to me for each of my five blogs (3 of which are retired), as part of her 10 month "I know I Can" training series for Nina Amir's Write Nonfiction Now and Write Nonfiction in November efforts.

I am now answering those questions at last (Series introduction).

Opinionated Pussycat (New Year's Day 2010 - Present)

 

(1) What is meant by “the 500th edition of Carnival of the Cats”? You have hosted this event 500 times? How often do you host this event? Would you consider compiling all the information you learned in all 500 editions into a separate resource guide written for an audience of cat enthusiasts?

For us cat bloggers the Carnival is a chance to discover blogs we might never have heard of, on subjects of all kinds related to cats! The carnival is the oldest, continuously published, weekly post sharing event by, for and about pets and animals on the internet. It was founded in 2004 and the founder eventually left it to others, in 2007, to carry on and to be caretaker of the archive links.

While I discovered it early on I didn’t contribute until July 2005 and didn’t begin hosting until March 2008. In the early years each week would see 30 to 60 submissions but in the years since 2008, when a 3rd caretaker took over, it has not been easy to get 10 to 20 submissions a week. On my hosting days I  usually look up past regulars, if no or few submissions were received.

The people and kitties who are the Carnival Hucksters are volunteers. There’s no advertising, so no one is making any money off it. We do it because it’s fun and we love cats. As the years went by I (and my cats) began to host more and more until we host almost half the yearly entries, with home site caretaker Susan Strong hosting the next most via her several blogs.

I and my cats have hosted more than 80 editions.

Sadly, due to the founder deleting his original blog and others discontinuing or moving blogs, many links to carnivals and related submissions, from the early years, have been lost.

The Carnival of the Cats home site, with a history,  links to past editions, a list of past and current hucksters and details on how to submit and become a host.

(2) Your pages and categories are entertaining but also confusing. You seem to write these titles using specialized insider language that only a select few in the cat community would understand. For example, what is: “A healthy pussycat is a happy pussycat” and “Elvira factor – enter the no bull zone”? Do you think you might gain a larger audience if you modified the titles of your pages and categories a bit?

I’m satisfied with the 30 archive categories and the 20 page titles, as they currently stand.

I think part of the problem is that I cover so many things and thought each needed their own category. Not sure how best to refine or consolidate and adding a sentence or 2 of description might only serve to clutter up the sidebar.

The “healthy pussycat” one is medically themed and the “Elvira Factor” posts will be familiar, in style, to both fans and detractors of Fox’s O’Reilly Factor talk show.

(3) What do you hope to gain with your blog, Opinionated Pussycat? Is this blog purely for entertainment purposes to share your creative vision of your cats? Or do you eventually plan to compile your observations into a book?

Even though I first gave creative voice to Nikita in 1998, then 2002 on my first blog, it took 5 years, I think, for my vision to really begin to grow and evolve into the character that eventually inspired me to give him his own blog to begin 2010.

I think that the process that finally led me to the decision to give Nikita his own place was the first time I remotely  thought of doing more than just blog, not just about my cats, but other things of interest (remember I have 7 yrs. of bike blogging behind me, too). From that point to now I have done so many new things, met and been encouraged by so many new friends, that the notion of trying to do new things with my archives and my creative talent has become something I’ve begun to seriously think more about.

That being said, I’d like to gain an audience, be taken seriously when I reach out to local rescues, shelters and others (The first time I made a concerted effort, in my former home in California, 4 years ago, it went nowhere), and to finally make the blog into something that may, someday, be judged worthy of consideration by the annual Petties and Nose-to-Nose pet blogging awards.

I am extremely proud of the unique nature of the content I’ve produced, what attention it has managed to receive and of the many compliments it has gotten over the years, but I’ve let so much going on in my life distract me from doing more and better.

Write NonFiction Now 2013 Standout Blogger Responds At Last! - Pt. 1

  Last August Amanda Socci, my friend and creative writing "drill sergeant" had profiled me and posed 9 questions to me for each of my five blogs (3 of which are retired), as part of her 10 month "I know I Can" training series for Nina Amir's Write Nonfiction Now and Write Nonfiction in November efforts.

I am now answering those questions at last (Series introduction).

Mad Macedonian (Oct. 2007 - Present)

 

 

(1) Why do you think it’s a good idea to stir up controversy? How do you benefit by bringing negative press upon yourself?

I have always been outspoken and opinionated in my writing ever since I began blogging, in 2002, and don’t believe that discussing issues of interest  and concern to me is something I should be afraid to do just because what I have to say may ruffle a few feathers.

If I let the opinions of others stifle my right to express myself then I am letting them hinder my creativity.

That being said, when I began I spent 5 years writing a lot on politics on my first blog, and 7 years on cycling on my 2nd (both covered in upcoming parts of this series); I eventually realized that I was, in a way, hindering my own creativity by such a focus on politics when there are far more people online, with larger audiences, doing a better job than I could to share the same views so moved on to my current blog, Mad Macedonian, with its change in focus to a variety of interests (many carried over from the 1st blog). This led me in a new direction with my cat blogging, eventually giving birth to a cat blog, The Opinionated Pussycat (also covered in an upcoming post).

(2) You seem to use the word “ain’t” a lot. Is there a specific reason why you rely on this word to get your point across? Do you think your readers enjoy this word?

Hey, if it was good enough for Mark Twain….hee, hee!

What readers I have, have for the most part, kept silent on the issue of their enjoyment, or lack thereof, of my use of the word.

(3) How do you manage to get such amazing photos of you near interesting surroundings all the time? If a person helps you take these photos, do you tell the person how to take the photo and what to include? Every photo seems to be at a fascinating angle; each photo has its own stories. Would you consider publishing just your photos along with captions as a series of photojournalistic storytelling?

There are 4 ways I get my photos:

A. I politely ask someone to take a photo for me, telling them where I’m standing and how I’m posing,  and how to frame the image on the camera screen.

B. I have a mini-tripod that I can set up on a flat surface, or a surface the legs can be adjusted to grip. I then look through the screen at the scene and figure out where I should stand and how to pose, hit 10 second delay and run like hell.

C. Same as B except I have a tripod on the handlebar of my bicycle.

D. I have a walking/hiking stick that I can stick in the ground and attach my camera to the top. I then look through the screen at the scene and figure out where I should stand and how to pose, hit 10 second delay and run like hell.

(4) You have a knack for finding interesting public art installations. Your points of view are interesting to read. What inspires you to visit these installations and write about them? When did you first begin to admire public art? Did you take art lessons in school? Art appreciation classes in college?

 

Write NonFiction Now 2013 Standout Blogger Responds At Last! - Introduction

A lot has happened since "God and a Writer" had a chat, a month ago, that kept me busy with other concerns as well as my cat blogging.

While I am working 33 to 40 hours a week, paying my rent and bills on time is an ever present concern.

In positive news my latest medical checks show that floaters in my cancer eye are related to changes in the vitreous membrane and something that many people experience with age.

In writing news 3 great things have happened:

Response has been encouraging to Opinionated Pussycat speaking out on the serious issue of stray cats and dogs in Houston as reported in the local newspaper.

Elvira & Sneakers were interviewed by Mousebreath Magazine and the blog was the featured blog on the latest edition of the Pet Parade (Sash & Dash).

Moving on...

Last August Amanda Socci, my friend and creative writing "drill sergeant" had profiled me and posed 9 questions to me for each of my five blogs (3 of which are retired), as part of her 10 month "I know I Can" training series for Nina Amir's Write Nonfiction Now and   Write Nonfiction in November efforts.

In addition to her own blog (New location in development) and her blog called A Slice of Faith, a journey to book publication, she is a freelance writer with a Facebook page.

I wrote at the time: "She has asked me a lot of serious questions, questions that deal with helping me better understand my creativity (Why I write what I write and wrote in the past) and explain it to readers, give me incentive to think about how I blog and how I can maybe organize what I write into well-defined categories, and more.

2013 Ends and 2014 Begins on a Note of Uncertainty and Hope

Happy New Year, friends and fans of this blog.

Since Christmas I have felt and looked like something the dog dragged in.

Getting the flu will do that to you.

On doctors orders I don't go back to work until Friday.

That doesn't explain the lack of blogging since early December, though.

A heavy work schedule, the medical issues of my cat Elvira, and watching how she and the kitten, Sneakers, adapted to each other, kept my focus on the Opinionated Pussycat.

The start of this new year is a deja vu moment:

A year ago I had serious medical issues (my eyes), serious financial worries, and no job.

As 2014 begins I have a serious medical issue (flu) and, while I have a job (a temp job got in Sept., with Wal-Mart, has just become PT permanent), I still have very serious financial worries.

Why I No Longer Have Cat (or any) Scratcher Fever

In March 1984 I got my first job, at a bookstore in my hometown. In October 1985 California began to sell lottery scratch-off tickets. For the next 15 years I sold them on this job. For the last 11 years, as store manager, I also dealt with the ordering and returning side of things, via the paperwork. Until about a decade ago I also regularly bought tickets, occasionally winning fifty to $100, but never more.

I saw how the game evolved, the machines, the way the tickets were made, so as to prevent fraud, and how the game was played.

My fondest memories, however, involve the patrons of Willy’s Bar, next door. The place is a legend in Pomona, and I saw the same patrons day after day, for years, until our store closed in the mid-90’s, and I went to the Claremont store.