DESK PROJECT COMPLETED! - I got the bug yesterday evening.  So, taking advantage of all the energy I had, and motivation, I finally got the desk completed.  Woo hoo!

BEFORE

In progress

AFTER

FRUSTRATION RISING - A month or so ago, I posted about a particular writer in my current writer’s group who had obviously “fallen off the writing wagon,” and had, over the course of several months, taken a very lackadaisical approach to not only working on his own project, but attending the group.  That situation ended with the member being removed from the roster permanently. Currently, there is another writer in that same group who has not brought any work in over a year.  When pressed on the issue, there is always a seemingly plausible reason why he hasn’t written or brought work in such a long time.

The group is not a big one.  We’re limited to eight writers, as that’s all that our intimate space allows. None of the other members seem to have this same issue.  I’ve attempted to broach the subject with him, but he squirms away from committing to bringing any work each time.  We, as a group, have tried gentle but pointed humor at his expense, to no effect.

His input on others’ work is decent.  Not great, but decent. If I had to rate his critiques, I’d give him 6 out of 10.  However, now some of the other members are beginning to grow frustrated with this writer’s seeming inability to commit to his craft.

As he is one of our long-time members, I’m not sure I want to force his hand.  At the same time, my strict philosophy is:

WRITERS WRITE.

I’m now getting the feeling that he is a person who wants to be able to claim he’s a writer without doing the actual work.   In spite of his claims to the contrary.

Unsure of how to address this, perhaps one of you, gentle readers and fellow writers, might have experienced a similar thing, and how was it resolved, if it was?  What would you do in this situation?  We’d rather have a working writer in that chair and not someone who only pretends to be a writer, or who is so totally and completely blocked, he cannot write.  While I want to be compassionate, his aversion to either admitting there’s a problem, or simply committing to bringing work is creating a roadblock.  Please comment, and help guide me in my next step?

1500 X 15 – If you haven’t donated to the cause I’m promoting for my upcoming birthday, there’s still time!  Many thanks and much gratitude to Catherine, Nikki, David, Derek, Pamela, Josef, and Dani for contributing so far. To add your contribution, please visit the Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue site and follow the links.  Even $5 helps….and it’s tax deductible as a non-profit donation!  Our goal is to raise $1500 by June 15th.

Yaz thanks you, too!

"Thanksh!" (photo by Ian Bevan)

HEADLINES I LOVE – Sometimes they’re hilarious, other times they’re so pathetically worded, one wonders if there’s anyone editing for the poor schmucks who wrote them?

• SCIENTISTS TRACK PENGUIN POOP FROM SPACE - now THERE’S  a good use of our tax dollars.
• INCLUDE YOUR CHILDREN WHEN BAKING COOKIES – Hmmm, and here I thought that Hansel and Gretel was only a fairy tale…
• SOMETHING WENT WRONG IN JET CRASH – Really?  It’s the new rocket science!
• SAFETY EXPERTS SAY SCHOOL BUS PASSENGERS SHOULD BE BELTED – I’ve been saying this for a long time!
• DRUNK GETS NINE MONTHS IN VIOLIN CASE – Swan song?
• SURVIVOR OF SIAMESE TWINS JOINS PARENTS – Ouch!
• IRAQI HEAD SEEKS ARMS – will beg for legs.
• FARMER BILL DIES IN HOUSE – ewww!
• PROSTITUTES APPEAL TO POPE – I always knew there was something under that robe!
• BRITISH LEFT WAFFLES ON FALKLAND ISLANDS – Breakfast!
• WAR DIMS HOPE FOR PEACE – You don’t say!
• RED TAPE HOLDS UP NEW BRIDGE – And we wonder why there’s a problem.

DOGGIE UPDATE – If you’re not on my friends’ list on Facebook, why the hell not?  If not, you probably haven’t seen these awesome pics taken by friend Ian Bevan:

Yaz Possessed, Freyja Scared

Ozzie...you know, the usual.

 

Freyja, The Beauty

 

NEXT ADDICTION, PLEASE – Now that the furor over Season 8 of American Idol has died down (and why is it that I vow each year NOT to get involved with that damned show yet still end up hooked?  Subliminal messages?), I’ve moved on to my newest reality show addiction:

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE?

I like that even the title of the show is a challenge, which pretty much sums up the process the young and aspiring dancers must go through; a grueling days-long ordeal during which many of them reach the end of their emotional endurance.  Brutal!  But the end result is a group of truly and stunningly talented dancers who have the fire in their belly to succeed.

The show’s producers conveniently timed the beginning of that series with the end of AI. Coincidence?  I think not.

MILESTONE – This is the 666th post on this blog, which is why I thought it fitting to post it on June 6th.  (I’m not a believer in all that biblical hoo-hah)  Since beginning this version of my blog (earlier editions titled respectively God’s Undies, and Are You Pondering What I’m Pondering? 1.0), I’ve logged almost 5,000 comments and more than 300 views per day.  Awesome!  Thanks for everyone past, present, and future who have visited!  I would like to claim that I do it all for you, but that would be a lie.  I do it because otherwise all these voices in my head would win, and then where would I be?