While sign spinning today

While sign spinning today at Cerrillos and Rodeo in Santa Fe, I looked when I heard clackey-clackety. The back left wheel was coming away from a pickup truck across 6-lane Cerrillos from me. The wheel wobbled and got further and further from the truck.The driver had just time to pull into the lot of a propane gas business before the wheel and the axle shaft came off and rolled a ways before falling and stopping.

Regretfully I have to cut back on Facebook time.

Regretfully I have to cut back on Facebook time. Last night at bedtime, after an evening of clicking many Likes and commenting on everything from angst to Wisconsin, I realized I had not showered, washed dishes, done anything to market and sell my 6 months old first novel, updated my website, typed my notes, or caught up on emailing. So moderation is my new Facebook policy.

Sometimes the right thing

Sometimes the right thing is to stop revving your engines, to put your body and mind in neutral for some deep meditation, deep relaxation, boundless bliss consciousness. The tendency then is to do less fretting and more just following one's nose positive action. Every day I neglect that advice and do lots of fretting and wheel spinning.

LETTERS TO A YOUNG ACTIVIST by Todd Gitllin

A couple of days or so ago I finished reading LETTERS TO A YOUNG ACTIVIST by Todd Gitllin. It's pretty good -- though of course not on a par with its model LETTERS TO A YOUNG POET by Rilke.

I admireed Gitlin back in the mid 1960s when he was a community organizer in a poor white neighborhood in Chicago. He went on to a university career, to write a number of books, and to continue to be a progressive activist. I've found that I don't always agree fully with his positions but that they have always seemed well expressed, well reasoned, and worth considering. This book has a lot of the wisdom of experience and is worth a close study. I recommend it for any book discussion group with a politically progressive outlook.

theory

In theory, now is the time to do the right thing.

wobblies

It's wonderful that the Wobblies are still around. I knew some of them in Chicago in the early 1960s in a neighborhood coffeehouse that was a Leftist / anarchist / Bohemian hangout. The group was a mix of old-timers and college kids.

Priorities

The other aspect of the proposed rallies concerns government budget priorities. "Instead of creating jobs, Republicans are giving tax breaks to corporations and the very rich, and then cutting funding for education, police, emergency response and vital human services." In a democracy, these are matters for argument and negotiation. Whether it is best to raise, lower, or keep level a tax or tax rate and how much of tax funds should be spent on this or that depends on circumstances. In present circumstances it seems foolhardy and counterproductive to cut funding for education, infrastructure, Medicaid, and other Republican targets. Places to look to cut government spending are the military and handouts to corporations.

The right to unionize

The right to unionize is a basic human and legal right recognized in the first amendment to the Constitution, "the right of the people peaceably to assemble" and guaranteed in the 13th amendment prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude and in the 9th amendment prohibiting the denial of whatever other rights people have. In common law, a contract needs mutual consent, and to deny employees the option of negotiating terms of employment as a group is to deny them comparable power with the employer and thus to deny mutuality of consent.

doubts about Essene Gospel of Peace

http://www.compassionatespirit.com/strange_new_gospels.htm

This essay raises doubts about the authenticity of The Essene Gospel of Peace by Edmund Bordeaux Szekeley. I'm disappointed that Jesus may not have been a health nut after all.

This morning

This morning I added a Coming Attractions page and a Contact page to the website I'm constructing.

Nutty logic

I posted a link to a newser.com article about Republican politicians in SD wanting to make it legal to murder abortion providers. I commented: The nutty logic of fanatic extremism.

A FB friend commented: Brian- Maybe now is the time to move to Canada! :)

I responded: Brian Leekley ..., I might one day. I love both the USA and Canada. But it's not a refuge from nuttiness. I read a FB post recently about rightwinger shouting fits in Canadian legislatures, and I've heard of much reactionary damage being done by Canadian conservative politicians. I'm reminded of the story of the family who, wanting to get away from it all on the eve of World War 2, moved to Guam.

A little effort

When an FB friend posted:
hungry+lazy=lethal combination
I commented:
Brian Leekley When flush again, prepare: Draw a deep bath. Put amusing reading materials in reach. Put fruits, snack foods, sweets, etc. in reach. Laze by the hour, replacing cooling water with hot water as needed. Preparing for lazing and gorging takes a little effort -- or a servant.

Before and after sign spinning

Before and after sign spinning work today, I worked some more on my new website. Feedback is welcome on its design and content. I'm using the free basic Weebly features. There are many design templates to choose from, and I can customize the one I tentatively chose.

brianleekley.weebly.com
Brian Leekley, Writer & Wonderer

Comments:

... what about a feature to make your website more interactive, A spot for people to leave their thoughts or opinions?

Brian Leekley ..., thanks much for the suggestion. I'll add that this weekend or soon. It's a website, not a blog, so commenting isn't built into the design, but I can have a form on the Contact page for feedback about the site and its content. My blogs are linked to the website, and each of those allows and encourages comments. I want the website to include a page or a blog that is password protected, where those who have already read my first novel can discuss it without giving away what happens and lessening the suspense for first time readers, but to get that I'd need to pay for the "pro" version offered by Weebly.

... It makes sense to have your blogs be places for comments and not the webpage. Other than that I have no suggestions. (Yet, I'll let you know if anything comes to mind)

... Looks cool so far!

... Someone advised me to create a Facebook page for my novel, but I don't understand how or why. Has anyone suggested that to you, Brian?

Brian Leekley ..., no, not personally, but I have seen that suggestion made in articles. When I can get to it, I'll scan and email you a magazine article on that very topic. The why is that a Facebook page is a free way to promote your novel and to build up a fan base measured by the number of "likes". I'm thinking of creating a Facebook page this month or next, and I'll share with you what I find out about how to do it.

Today Kayle and I

Brian Leekley
Today Kayle and I went hunting and gathering for bargains in a grocery store

This morning I finished the second draft

This morning I finished the second draft of a short story with the working title "Matilda on the Prowl". Now I'll set it aside for more or less a week, maybe longer, and then I'll see how it reads and if it needs a touch-up and polish or a major rewrite.

Brian Leekley Meanwhile I'll turn my attention back to another story in progress, "Gus in Mississippi: Summer 1964", to submitting to another magazine my story "Gus Up North", and to marketing my novel THE SON WHO PAID ATTENTION.

Valentine Day

Kayle and I are enjoying Valentine Day at Counter Culture Csfe in Santa Fe.

Brian Leekley ... and I liked it and look forward to going back. It looked to be a thriving, popular business with, besides coffees, teas, and pastries, an extensive soup and sandwich menu, and WiFi. People sit at long tables instead of at the usual booths and 4-seat tables.

Brian Leekley Right. Yesterday Kayle and I strolled downtown Santa Fe then drove to Cowgirl BBQ for happy hour and with her margarita and my microbrew we had frito pie -- a bag of Fritos corn chip torn open and on them dumped chunks of beef in BBQ sauce. Good. I was off my near vegan diet for the day.