Hello Strangers,
One of the first rules of writing, and for publishing your writing, is to know your audience. A random search of my in-house library reveals only one book that specifically mentions the word 'audience' in its index - Orson Scott Card's How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy (which is also, by the way, perhaps the best reference on the genre I've yet read and highly recommend it). So, who is my audience here?
I have no clue. Not really having any framework to hang these random posts on negates the assumptive value a genre provides for an audience, and the family and friends I intended it for don't know about it. Oops. Too much time spent talking about other things over the holidays! From what little I know of blogging, I'd guess my audience to be in one of two categories: the hit-or-miss 'I'm looking for something entertaining to read' types or the 'there is something specific I'm looking for' types, who make use of the search function in their quests.
Even though 'audience' may not be a specified category in an index, every book about writing makes it clear that, in order for a work to marketable, there should be a market in mind.
Who are you writing for? I write for myself. I write because I enjoy listening to what my readers' comment on; hearing the characters and story re-lived in our conversations, as if these were real people, real events, and they want to know more, to experience more, tells me that something has touched them. I am not the best of orators. I stumble over my phone etiquette, use rehearsed sales pitches, and my sense of timing leaves my family in stitches - but not because of the joke itself. What I can do is write and I enjoy it. I hear the rhythum of words strung along in the mind like kites on a breeze...
Here's a glib musing: several months back I ran into a comment that writers should know their audiences so well as to practically spoon feed them what they want written. I know, I know ... my paraphrasing has a lot to be said for but the discussion that ensued so riled my feathers! Do readers today really not want to think about what they read? Has television overridden our innate curiosity? Are readers so sensitive that we, as writers, have to beware of stepping on pride and ego with the way in which something is phrased, even at the cost of the idea that is being presented? That says alot about the value placed on the topic. Should we sacrifice knowledge or ideas or experience for the 'what if' factor in society today? 'What if' he's offended at this word, what if she's offended at the way that might come across... Do you want to be 'spoonfed'?
I don't believe it. I was a reader long before I was a writer. Good writing survives ... just about everything. Words have weight and value. Good writing can offend without a good reader closing the cover. Good writing, by it's nature, is not offensive, although the ideas contained therein may be.
To anyone interested in the sociological nature of writing in the American culture and its interpretation, I recommend Cultural Literacy, by E. D. Hirsch, Jr.
Meanwhile, I'm going to keep writing ...
Friday, January 4, 2008
Friday, November 16, 2007
Cat Grooming, Part I
As we've settled into a routine these past few months, we decided it was time to adopt a cat. A third cat. The house is roomy enough and we've talked for years about adding a third while our two older cats are still fiesty enough to fend off a youngster (which seems to be the tactic they prefer). So into our home came two-year old Cisco. He's been here six days.
It would take a whole other blog to write about the adventures of our Cisco Kidd this past week - from swinging from the bird cage to warming his way into our hearts and making peace with the rest of the floor patrol - so I'm just going to tell you how to train your cat so you can clip his claws and give him a bath. No restraint towels, no scratching, no fuss.
Supplies
To clip your cats claws on your own, you'll need: claw clippers, a can of tuna, a cat. If this is your first time, also add jeans and a heavy coat for yourself.
Introduction
If you've never done this before, and have the opportunity, have someone show you how on a cat that accepts this as routine. Note how the quick runs pink through the claw; always clip through the white of the claw and not the pink. Long claws have longer pink: proper care will encourage the pink to reced and stay shorter because it no longer needs to supply as much blood and nutrients to the claw. Pet stores do sell a product to coagulate the blood if the vessel is cut, but the objective here is to train your cat to accept this procedure willingly and pain will block his trust of you and what you want him to do, so don't cut the pink.
Steps
1. Firstly, I don't like to get scratched. And neither do you. So, if you're not sure if your new cat knows how to sit for his pedicure, or if your old cat scares you with his catterwauling so much so that you've always brought him to the vet, get yourself a can of tuna.
2. Drain the can and crumble two large spoonfuls of tuna on a plastic dish. Use plastic because glass or ceramic may knock against the floor, causing a sudden noise. Sudden noises, especially in a stressful situation, may spook your cat into a flurry of motion and you may end up returning to the vet or the groomer and paying for something you can do for your cat yourself.
3. Put on a jeans and a winter coat, one you won't mind getting snagged just in case your cat does decide to use his claws.
4. Find the cat. Whenever I have to do something stressful with my cats (like when going to the vet) I always go to the cat. It establishes that there will be no discussion about the matter. If I were to call the cat, then I'm asking for a two-way relationship with him and the stressful event that follows could be a break in trust. So, take the plate of tuna and find your cat. Talk to him, taking a tidbit of tuna between your fingers to let him sample, then pet him and pick him up.
5. Find a place to sit with him without carpeting or anything he could use to put up a fight with. Make this a win-win situation and give the goal the advantage. Set the tuna beside you out of his reach and place the cat in front of you.
6. Whatever side you are handed, begin on the front paw nearest your body. I'm right handed, so I hold the clippers in my right hand and wrap my left arm around Cisco's upper body. With my left hand I squeeze his front right paw lightly to display the claws and quickly snip off the tip of the claw. Reward with a 'good kitty!', pet and give him a morsel of tuna. Let him take his reward with minimal restraint. A light petting and a hand resting around his shoulder should be enough.
7. Snip one claw, reward. Repeat. If you and you cat are doing fine, great! If not...
8. If your cat is upset, and you are getting upset, continue to restrain and pet the cat until he is somewhat settled. Even a pause in his crying or pause in his movements while he's trying to escape is cause enough to release him. The release will be rewarding him for ceasing to struggle. Keep up the spirit of 'good kitty!' with another tuna treat and call it a day.
8. Addendum. If this is your third or fourth try and your cat is still stuck on number 8, there are a number of behavioral issues that could be occuring. One of the easier problems to deal with is that you've got a smart cat who's training you to let him go! Read below for the cat who trained me how to clip claws. Remember that training an animal improves your relationship with it, and maybe this is too much of an excersise to ask of him or you (especially if your cat was feral). Back up and establish that friendship first through other activities.
Summary
The key is to have him associate a restrictive situation with positive reinforcement. Verbal praise, tuna, releasing him - these are all excellant training tools that set the situation up to be more pleasant the next time. Repeat once a month with a positive focus and eventually there will be no fuss - it will be routine, and you'll have saved yourself a frazzling trip to the groomer.
How long did it take me to trim Cisco's claws? About five minutes. Number of scratches acquired? Zero. Fuss? None, accept for the girls trying to get at his tuna.
A very dear little cat I had for eighteen years taught me how to do this. A fiesty cat, I would hold her for her exams because the vet wouldn't allow his assistants near, for fear of the deep scratches she'd inflict. In her teens she became diabetic, which caused her nails to grow abnormally fast and long. I trimmed her often by myself. Eventually I could trim her where she lay; she'd chirp her protest and snip-snip! we were done. No fuss, no scratching, no restraints. No tuna either, she was only too happy to see me go. (She was also a sweetie when she wanted to be.)
If you have a tough kitty, hang in there, there's hope! All training takes time and patience and persistence. Good luck to you and your kitty!
It would take a whole other blog to write about the adventures of our Cisco Kidd this past week - from swinging from the bird cage to warming his way into our hearts and making peace with the rest of the floor patrol - so I'm just going to tell you how to train your cat so you can clip his claws and give him a bath. No restraint towels, no scratching, no fuss.
Part I: How to Clip your Cat's Claws
Supplies
To clip your cats claws on your own, you'll need: claw clippers, a can of tuna, a cat. If this is your first time, also add jeans and a heavy coat for yourself.
Objective
To teach your cat to sit quietly, unrestrained, while you trim his claws.
Introduction
If you've never done this before, and have the opportunity, have someone show you how on a cat that accepts this as routine. Note how the quick runs pink through the claw; always clip through the white of the claw and not the pink. Long claws have longer pink: proper care will encourage the pink to reced and stay shorter because it no longer needs to supply as much blood and nutrients to the claw. Pet stores do sell a product to coagulate the blood if the vessel is cut, but the objective here is to train your cat to accept this procedure willingly and pain will block his trust of you and what you want him to do, so don't cut the pink.
Steps
1. Firstly, I don't like to get scratched. And neither do you. So, if you're not sure if your new cat knows how to sit for his pedicure, or if your old cat scares you with his catterwauling so much so that you've always brought him to the vet, get yourself a can of tuna.
2. Drain the can and crumble two large spoonfuls of tuna on a plastic dish. Use plastic because glass or ceramic may knock against the floor, causing a sudden noise. Sudden noises, especially in a stressful situation, may spook your cat into a flurry of motion and you may end up returning to the vet or the groomer and paying for something you can do for your cat yourself.
3. Put on a jeans and a winter coat, one you won't mind getting snagged just in case your cat does decide to use his claws.
4. Find the cat. Whenever I have to do something stressful with my cats (like when going to the vet) I always go to the cat. It establishes that there will be no discussion about the matter. If I were to call the cat, then I'm asking for a two-way relationship with him and the stressful event that follows could be a break in trust. So, take the plate of tuna and find your cat. Talk to him, taking a tidbit of tuna between your fingers to let him sample, then pet him and pick him up.
5. Find a place to sit with him without carpeting or anything he could use to put up a fight with. Make this a win-win situation and give the goal the advantage. Set the tuna beside you out of his reach and place the cat in front of you.
6. Whatever side you are handed, begin on the front paw nearest your body. I'm right handed, so I hold the clippers in my right hand and wrap my left arm around Cisco's upper body. With my left hand I squeeze his front right paw lightly to display the claws and quickly snip off the tip of the claw. Reward with a 'good kitty!', pet and give him a morsel of tuna. Let him take his reward with minimal restraint. A light petting and a hand resting around his shoulder should be enough.
7. Snip one claw, reward. Repeat. If you and you cat are doing fine, great! If not...
8. If your cat is upset, and you are getting upset, continue to restrain and pet the cat until he is somewhat settled. Even a pause in his crying or pause in his movements while he's trying to escape is cause enough to release him. The release will be rewarding him for ceasing to struggle. Keep up the spirit of 'good kitty!' with another tuna treat and call it a day.
8. Addendum. If this is your third or fourth try and your cat is still stuck on number 8, there are a number of behavioral issues that could be occuring. One of the easier problems to deal with is that you've got a smart cat who's training you to let him go! Read below for the cat who trained me how to clip claws. Remember that training an animal improves your relationship with it, and maybe this is too much of an excersise to ask of him or you (especially if your cat was feral). Back up and establish that friendship first through other activities.
9. If you and your cat have made it past the first claw and treat, continue onto the next. Give a treat after every claw clipped. If you feel thankful you've made it past two claws, past a paw, past two paws, then stop. Always end on a good note and don't force the situation. Reward his good behaviour with a treat and release him.
.
10. Hind feet are more difficult to trim. Let the cat face away from you at an angle to the right. Wrap your right arm around his chest with the clippers in hand (lefties have to switch this). Gently lift his left hind leg up to his body, sort of like a ferrier trimming a horse, and clip. A finger under the paw will help display the claws. For the right hind foot, leave the cat where he is and reverse your arm positions, with the left arm wrapping aroung his chest and again lifting the paw.
.
Congradulations! You have now not only trimmed your cats' claws but have also begun teaching him a calmer way of accepting a trim.
Summary
The key is to have him associate a restrictive situation with positive reinforcement. Verbal praise, tuna, releasing him - these are all excellant training tools that set the situation up to be more pleasant the next time. Repeat once a month with a positive focus and eventually there will be no fuss - it will be routine, and you'll have saved yourself a frazzling trip to the groomer.
How long did it take me to trim Cisco's claws? About five minutes. Number of scratches acquired? Zero. Fuss? None, accept for the girls trying to get at his tuna.
A very dear little cat I had for eighteen years taught me how to do this. A fiesty cat, I would hold her for her exams because the vet wouldn't allow his assistants near, for fear of the deep scratches she'd inflict. In her teens she became diabetic, which caused her nails to grow abnormally fast and long. I trimmed her often by myself. Eventually I could trim her where she lay; she'd chirp her protest and snip-snip! we were done. No fuss, no scratching, no restraints. No tuna either, she was only too happy to see me go. (She was also a sweetie when she wanted to be.)
If you have a tough kitty, hang in there, there's hope! All training takes time and patience and persistence. Good luck to you and your kitty!
Friday, November 9, 2007
Broccoli Trees...
We blew in on a spring breeze from somewhere lush and green and humid to an arid, intensely panaramic land; the High Desert.
From jungle-green forests surrounded by corn and soy and waving golden prarie grasses, we now live surrounded by sweeping vistas. Mesas make the roads meander, washes make them dip and rise; one hill leads to a broad valley twenty miles in breadth, the next a winding grade through a mountain pass. The stars twinkle overhead, so distant yet more tangible because we can see them now - with all we can see of their billions upon billions it is hard to imagine that we can't see them all.
Greasewood bloomed dainty yellow along its slender limbs. I remember because they made me sneeze. Something purple bloomed by the roadside, round and pincushiony like Allium. Pentemons, red, grew neat and tidy in the median plantings, as cultured as English garden flowers but as wild as the cactus planted around them.
And then there were the Joshua Trees. Single trunked, shaggy, their arms twisting skyward - a children's book excuse for a tree! Broccoli Trees. Comical yet stolid, a strange mix of the fantastic in the real. Cousins to the agaves, their narrow leaves come to a sharp black point yet the top surface glimmers irredescent green in the sun. A field of them - a forest of Joshua Trees - stretches crooked, leaning east from the winds above the brown earth, brown scrub, brown greasewoods, bright and cheerful and radiant in the sun.
And now when we drive through the movie scapes, roll down a wash or two and onto a plain, I look for these Joshua Trees, these Broccoli Trees, and pretend I'm in a valley on the moon or a ridge in a Martian landscape. They're just that cool.
From jungle-green forests surrounded by corn and soy and waving golden prarie grasses, we now live surrounded by sweeping vistas. Mesas make the roads meander, washes make them dip and rise; one hill leads to a broad valley twenty miles in breadth, the next a winding grade through a mountain pass. The stars twinkle overhead, so distant yet more tangible because we can see them now - with all we can see of their billions upon billions it is hard to imagine that we can't see them all.
Greasewood bloomed dainty yellow along its slender limbs. I remember because they made me sneeze. Something purple bloomed by the roadside, round and pincushiony like Allium. Pentemons, red, grew neat and tidy in the median plantings, as cultured as English garden flowers but as wild as the cactus planted around them.
And then there were the Joshua Trees. Single trunked, shaggy, their arms twisting skyward - a children's book excuse for a tree! Broccoli Trees. Comical yet stolid, a strange mix of the fantastic in the real. Cousins to the agaves, their narrow leaves come to a sharp black point yet the top surface glimmers irredescent green in the sun. A field of them - a forest of Joshua Trees - stretches crooked, leaning east from the winds above the brown earth, brown scrub, brown greasewoods, bright and cheerful and radiant in the sun.
And now when we drive through the movie scapes, roll down a wash or two and onto a plain, I look for these Joshua Trees, these Broccoli Trees, and pretend I'm in a valley on the moon or a ridge in a Martian landscape. They're just that cool.
Friday, November 2, 2007
What's a minim anyway?
Minim: "Equivalent in music and dance to a one-half note...," The Medieval Wordbook, by Madeleine Cosman.
The word minim has had a number of different uses through the ages - in music, calligraphy, and fluids measurement - all describing a small thing or short event in time, but now resides outside of our standard vernacular usage. I thought I'd use it again here as an indicator of the writings I'd like to post.
In every definition I found for minim, there was one cohesive idea that seemed to permeate beyond the mere words ... while something that was a minim could not stand on it's own, the whole the minim supported would not stand without the minim, either.
Perhaps in the following collection of minims, my own short observations and thoughts, a whole will arise that could stand on its own and be enjoyed as you, the reader, take only a 'minim' of time to adventure with me.
Thank you for reading,
-minim
The word minim has had a number of different uses through the ages - in music, calligraphy, and fluids measurement - all describing a small thing or short event in time, but now resides outside of our standard vernacular usage. I thought I'd use it again here as an indicator of the writings I'd like to post.
In every definition I found for minim, there was one cohesive idea that seemed to permeate beyond the mere words ... while something that was a minim could not stand on it's own, the whole the minim supported would not stand without the minim, either.
Perhaps in the following collection of minims, my own short observations and thoughts, a whole will arise that could stand on its own and be enjoyed as you, the reader, take only a 'minim' of time to adventure with me.
Thank you for reading,
-minim
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