Hello everyone On Sun, Jul 17, 2011 at 11:13 PM, 118 <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Dan, > For the record, you are the last one I would call a weasel, myself included. > > Let's take the number one definition voted on by consumers like you: > > Weasel: a light self-propelled tracked vehicle built either for > traveling over snow, ice, or sand or as an amphibious vehicle. > > Now, perhaps you are light on your feet (at least you seem to be), but > I know for a fact that you do not live by the snow.
Dan: Right now, I don't. Come January though I am hip-deep in it. Chicago winters, don't you know... Mark: >Not only that, > but it is mainly reptiles that are amphibious. Now, if you want to go > fishing in one of those holes in the ice, I can recommend many other > suitable vehicles that would serve your purpose. One should not > confuse a weasel with a beaver either. Sometime the term "beaver" is > used in a derogatory chauvinistic fashion. That is, unless it is > stuck to Mel Gibson's hand. Then yes, we are dealing with a mental > illness, but certainly not of his making. I have not seen Mel's name > on the forum unless it is dmb, which is damn monkey beaver. Dan: I don't know... I kind of liked it when Priscilla Presley was climbing a ladder in a skirt right above Leslie Nielsen; he looks up and comments: Nice Beaver! And she pulls a stuffed beaver off the shelf and agrees with him. >Mark: > On to the question of Pirsig and his fading into the sunset. This is > an appropriate question, and as I believe, it was brought up in this > forum by a Norwegian who posted maybe two times and then was never to > been seen again (into the sunset to with his Zircon Encrusted Tweezers > ready to start his dental floss empire in Montana. Since he does not > speak the language, I will not invest in that adventure. > > Pirsig was popular, as you know, when both you and I read his book. > There are many newcomers who did not have that experience. So, they > are not the right people to address with the question. It is not > their fault, they are just ignorant (that would be weasilus > ignoramus). So, who do we have left? It is really hard to tell since > we have everything from an octagenerian (not Pirsig, who may be older, > anybody know his birthday), Dan: I believe he was born in 1924. Don't know the exact date. I am sure it's on Ian's site though. Mark: down to some kids who are still wearing > short pants. This leaves you and maybe me. So I will pitch in. > > Any movement requires three things: 1) and active creator of the > movement; 2) A willing and faithful audience; and 3) Being in the > right place at the right time, in the right way and doing the right > line, being the rights Dr. in the right John, and, of course: > > Slipping, dodging ,sneaking > Creeping hiding out down the street > See me life shaking with every who I meet > Refried confusion is making itself clear > Wonder which way do I go to get on out of here > > So, Just need a little brain salad surgery; Got to cure this > insecurity. Mental illness notwithstanding. > Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, Brain Salad > Surgery Greg Lake's Palmer gift to Emerson. Oh what a LuckyMan he was > (was). > > In the 70's, the stars aligned for all that Being. But the times they > are a changing. You remember when Physics was a God? You remember > when Peyote was not illegal? Toads maybe but not the plant variety. > So here we have it" > > 1) The creator went into seclusion > 2) The audience became more interested in the Sony Walkman than the > bookish trend > 3) And: > > I been in the right place > But it must have been the wrong time > I'd have said the right thing > But I must have used the wrong line > I'd a took the right road > But I must have took a wrong turn > Would have made the right move > But I made it at the wrong time > I been on the right road > But I must have used the wrong car > My head was in a good place > And I wonder what it's bad for > > Now, need I say more? I know that you understand since you are not > too young and not too old. It is a waste to ask the pimple-faced boys > who hold the centerfolds really close to their (you know) in order to > make it more than just an illusion. One time and the pages are stuck. > In a not nasty way, the pages got stuck on Pirsig. > > Keep up the writing, I am enjoying it. Are all these separate stories > or just one big novel? Dan: They are all part of a short story called Billy Austin. You all are getting the rough draft. The fun stuff. The creation process at its finest. Later I will go back and polish, polish, polish until I am quite sick of it. Mark: > I am having a hard time figuring out the plot. > Something about indians dying to meet girls who do not want to stay > unless God's prayers are answered. Dan: The way I see it, Lisa has been hurt by men her whole life, probably starting with a father who either deserted or ignored her. Yet she is attracted to them too, for reasons she cannot fathom. She hates being alone. So she reaches out, hoping to find that white knight who will take her up on his steed and carry her off into the sunset. But there are no white knights. So she is frustrated both with men and with herself for putting up with them. The plot has to do with finding sanity in an insane world. Billy is quite literally out of his mind. There is no metaphor at work. He sees things and hears things that are not there. He is dangerous not only to himself but those around him. Yet he is so affable that people like Lisa are naturally drawn to him despite the consequences that he warns them about. Billy isn't an Indian and he isn't quite white. He falls somewhere between the cracks. His bloodline is not respected in either world. My stories write themselves. I don't know where they're going most times. The characters take on a life of their own. Sometimes I write in first person... it is more intimate. But I find third person limited to be more of a challenge. Each character gets a say. But a writer must take care not to let them say too much... things that they don't know, things that they cannot know. Tricky stuff, writing. Good writing, that is. One book I read recently, called Gilead, was written entirely in second person... a very well-constructed book that was more an open letter than what you would call a proper novel. >Mark: > Thanks for the literature, You're welcome. Thank you too for inspiring it. Dan Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
