God bless you and send you a happy new year

2011 is nearly over and 2012 is set to begin. Today is my oldest son's 15th birthday and he's off playing in a basketball scrimmage. My other boys are lounging around while I sit here and contemplate doing laundry and baking a cake. I was reviewing my Goodreads page and I am shocked to discover that I only read 51 books in 2011, which I find hard to believe. In 2010 I read over 80 books, and I think I read more than I tracked and rated in Goodreads but who knows? I think the best book I read in 2011 was (and I feel super pretentious writing this) Bleak House by Charles Dickens. It was a lovely and fascinating novel and I truly enjoyed reading it. The most fun I had reading was working through the Brother Cadfael mysteries, I have read 13 of the 21 books and I still get a kick out of them. I also read a lot of Shakespeare this year (for a class) and that was, if not fun, certainly entertaining. For 2012 I will try to do 2 things: 1- do a better job of recording what I read, 2- read at least 75 books. I already have 72 books waiting on my to-be-read shelf (including 13 for next semester). Wish me luck, thanks for reading, and happy new year!

Good old catholic guilt

I am so tired today. Lest anyone think after my last post that I am some kind of saint; it took roughly 5 hours from the time I wrote that post to the time I was contemplating how much the materials to make cages for my children might cost at Menards. I love them, but man do they really honk me off some times. They can fight about fighting, and on Christmas! Finally today all is quiet, because Nate is gone to basketball practice and I took Liam to daycare. Here is where the catholic guilt comes in; I am sitting at home, in my pajamas, doing nothing, and I still took my youngest son to daycare. I feel terrible about it but I have what i hope are a few good reasons:

1) he really wanted to go
2) I feel like crap- I have a chest cold (Thanks Rhonda)
3) the dog needed a break from him
4) I'm a selfish man and I need a break

So there it is, all that warm lovey-dovey stuff I wrote on Christmas Eve is now properly counter-balanced by my selfishness and poor parenting. I suck, but at least I suck in peace and quiet.

Blessed to be a blessing to others

What a year it has been. I am writing this note to list all of the many things I am grateful for, because I have been so very blessed this year. 

I am grateful for my four crazy children, you force me, kicking and screaming, to be a better person and I love you for it, even if I am losing all of my hair in the process. You have changed my life in so many wonderful ways and, when I am not yelling at you to pick up your crap and stop fighting with your brothers, I am constantly amazed by how amazing you all are.

I am grateful for my Mom and Step-Dad, and my sister and brother-in-law. In the last year I have called home and cried to both of my parents and they both handled having their 34 year old son having a minor breakdown over-the-phone with calm, humor, love, and support. I am so blessed to have you as parents. Tara and Shane are the best people I know, and I am so lucky to count them as family and friends. They are such smart, talented, loving people who never fight (I will never understand that) and always make time for me and my clan. I love you guys!

I am also grateful for the crazy Jayne family, my four wild and sassy aunts, their ever-patient husbands, and my amazing Grandmother. These people have shaped me and loved me my entire life, and they have done it with lots of humor and attitude. I also want to give a special shout-out to my cousins, you are all such wonderful, giving, people and I am proud to call you family and friends. Pa-rum-pa-pum-pum!

I am grateful for all of my family, my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, all across the US. Our times together may be few and far between, but I am blessed to share a few genes with you.

I am grateful to my friends, especially my closest friends Jolene, Michelle, Aaron, Tammy, Staci and April. Thank you for the years-and-years of fun and wine. My life would not be the same without you. Your each enrich and bless my life in many fun and wild ways.

I am grateful for all of my friends past-present-and future, you are all such a blessing to me and I truly enjoy stalking you through facebook!

I am grateful for the ability to go to school and study Literature. I never expected to find such mirth and joy in reading and writing. I am so happy every day to go to Grandview and surround myself with so much passion and knowledge. Thank you to my professors and friends at school who make my days challenging and fun.

Last but never least I am grateful to God. For the love and mercy I feel every day. For the many ways I am blessed and filled with your Grace. I know  am so very blessed, and I pray that I may in turn be a blessing to others.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Peace and Blessings.

Trever

Class is done.

I just presented this blog and got two rounds of applause!

My wordle

Style is as style does

I have been struggling to write this post. In my last post I accidentally hinted at a definition of style (the heart-head thing). I am terrified by the prospect of identifying what is means to have style. We have spent an entire semester discussing and analyze this very topic and I still can’t define it. Each of the writers we read and discussed in class defined style is slightly different ways.  It seems that every writer in the history of writing (except for me) is able to define what style is and how to have style in your writing. (for my next trick I will use the word style in one sentence no less than 8 times!)

Last week we had our in-class final and lo-and-behold  Dr. Cottrill asked us to define style and then (tremble-tremble-tremble) defend our definition. Because I am- 

     A) a fool

     B) a glutton for punishment

     C) a really big f***ing fool

     D) bold and daring

I chose this question (see I am a fool, I could have chosen a different question [either A or C above] ) and answered it by saying (here is comes) that I cannot define style. That’s right, I answered a final exam question by saying I cannot answer it. After you recover from the shock of how brilliant[ly stupid] I am consider this: I did give a few examples of other people’s definitions that I felt were applicable and interesting. I also discussed several of the elements of style that I feel are key to writer. However, all of this was just a casual way of leading up to my (I think) epiphany; in order to have style you must be aware of what it means to have style.  I believe that the desire to write with style will, in fact, lead to stylish writing. For example I value clarity, audience awareness, and diction, and I believe my writing shows this. I also love hyperbole, mixed-metaphors, parenthesis, personification, and irony. I believe I hope I pray that simply thinking of these figures of speech and trying to use them is enough. 

Writing, like EVERYTHING in life, requires practice, patience, and perspicuity. Okay maybe not everything in life requires Perspicuity, but it surely cannot hurt. Happy Writing!

A digression

You can't prove I am a Book Thief.

I certainly am a Dog-earer.

I am never-ever a Serendipity Screamer.

I could possibly be a Self-conscious Reader.

Unfortunately I am a Did-not-finisher.

I am absolutely an Underliner.

I am happy to be a wee-bit of a Reader-of-things-you've-never-heard-of.

What kind of book lover are you?

The 7 types of book lover.

The heart of the matter

In class we used the book Style: The Basic of Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams and Gregory G. Colomb as one our textbooks. I really struggled with this little guide but there are a few hidden gems. One of the most influential nuggets he includes (and to be fair, I am sure there are many) is from the introduction. Unfortunately Williams and Colomb speak in the first person so it is not clear who is actually speaking when ‘he’ says “I know that many do see clearly, feel deeply, and think carefully but still cannot write sentences that make those thoughts, feelings, and visions clear to others.” When I read this I had an ‘aha’ moment; I feel like this all of the time. In my head my prose sounds gorgeous and cohesive and absolutely fantastic. Then I start to try and type and it all just goes to shit. If you’ve read “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott in her book (really you should all know this by now) Bird by Bird. Shitty first drafts happen to (almost) everyone, and it is OK. The best way to create a superb second draft, which according to Williams and Colomb is most important Rule of Style, is; put your readers first.

But how in the name of all that is holy does a writer truly accomplish this?

Williams and Colomb answer this question with a quote from Arthur Quiller-Couch, the late great (I am bringing that phrase back) Cornish author known as ‘Q’ [not the Star Trek ‘Q’, at least probably not] who says “Essentially style resembles good manners. It comes of endeavoring to understand others, of thinking for them rather [than] yourself- or thinking, that is, with the heart as well as the head.” Isn’t that marvelous, go ahead, read it again. Lovely, beautiful, Q and I would have been great friends. Like sharing-strawberries-and-cream-while-sitting-in-the–Royal-Box-at-Wimbledon friends. On a practical level the easiest way to achieve this rule is to let others actually, you know, read what you write. Share those shitty drafts with friends, professors (yes that’s right, they too deserve a good laugh), a peer tutor at the Writing Center, or even on a blog like this one. So if you want to write with Style; think with your heart and your head, and let the world (or maybe just a good friend) read about it!

My favorite things

Here is a list of my six favorite books on writing, in no-particular (buy the first one, go on, I’ll wait until you order or download it, I mean not-like forever, I do have a life, but I’ll wait a few minutes) order:

·         Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott

·         Bang the Keys by Jill Dearmon

·         The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

·         Writing Tools: Fifty Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark

·         Bryson’s Dictionary for Writers and Editors by Bill Bryson

·         On Writing by Stephen King

It may sound strange but reading about writing can help you become a better writer. You’ll notice (ok maybe not) that all-but-one of these books are recent publications by authors who are still living typing writers. These are people who are well known to audiences and readers everywhere.  Please don’t limit yourself to just these titles, one quick search will reveal hundreds of other books related to Style and Writing. So get out there, have fun and if you do read one (or have already read one) let me know what you think. Happy Reading!

If at first you don't succeed . . .

This semester we have read many different authors who have all attempted to define what it means for a writer to have Style. Aristotle bored me with his ambiguous recommendation that style should be neither too flat nor too elevated. Blair offended me with his overtly sexists and racist language, and I forgot almost everyone else except E.B. White. The late great author of Charlotte’s Web really gets it when he says in Elements of Style, that “style not only reveals the spirit of a man [I know] but reveals his [seriously] identity, as surely would his [why not her E.B.?] fingerprints” (White 68). So if you ignore the blatant sexism, which still existed in my 1979 edition where Stunk supposedly corrected it, White says that style is inherently linked to identity. If a writer is good you will be able to know who she is simply by reading a few lines. I think this could be true of poor writers as well, but who am I to judge?

At this point I know you are all wondering how to guess what my style might be. How does my writing reveal my spirit and identity? I am sure my professor will be disappointed to know that, even after a semester of examination, I am still not sure how to answer this question.

Here are three tips for you;

     1) I make everything possessive, and I mean every word that should never, ever be possessive, I’ll find a way to do it. I don’t like words to feel lonely. Don’t even get me started on the use of it’s (which, of course, means it is to everyone in the whole of the English speaking world; except me) instead of its as a possessive pronoun.

     2) I also love commas and semi-colons, I adore them; I use them in many unusual and fun ways, some of them are even the correct way to use them! 

     3) I will always choose an emotional appeal over intellectual reasoning, even in academic writing, often to my own detriment. I am a ‘feeler’ first and a ‘thinker’ only as an afterthought. I argued in an earlier project that an emotive style can work in an academic setting, but only if the writer has the credentials and experience to be able to write from this vantage point AND maintain their credibility.

And so I write, and re-write, and revise, and delete, and re-state, and edit, and agonize, and continually try to grow as a writer. After all isn’t there some trite story about a train that didn’t give up? I may not be as smart as that train, but I don’t let that prevent me from charging full steam ahead!

To read or not to read

I truly believe the best way to become a great writer is to be a voracious reader. My earliest memories almost all involve a book, or two, or five. I remember reading the entire Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder in third and fourth grade and desperately wanting to be just like Laura. Even when they were starving to death during that ‘long winter’, I wanted to sit out in the back shed and twist hay with Pa until my fingers bled. Mary and I would have really gotten along well, and I would have helped poor-dumb-sick Carrie memorize her poem about the ‘Sculptor Boy’. Yes I memorized the poem, it is called  "Life Sculptor" by George Washington Doane. By the start of fifth grade I ran my own library out of my bedroom which, tragically, never had any patrons.  If only that were still true, now lots of people “borrow” books from me. You know who you are, and please give me back those books you “borrowed” years ago and never returned. Yeah that’s right, I’m talking to you and I don’t care what your dumbass excuse is, I want my books!

Ok wait, what are we talking about, oh right; if you read a few a few lines every day you will automatically increase your ability to write. All of the best writers are great readers. If you doubt me on this I have a challenge for you. Take a trip to any local bookstore and attend their next author event. During the question and answer portion of the event ask the author what she or he likes to read. I guarantee that he or she will have a plethora of answers for you. If you still don’t believe me ask any one of your English Professors (those curious souls tasked with teaching us how to write) what they are reading. If you have managed to find a space to sit in their office that isn’t cluttered with books, you’ll get a great (or slightly [terribly, horribly, aggressively] pompous, depending on the Professor) answer.  So get out there, or online, or onto your ridiculously-expensive-and-probably-already-obsolete e-reader, find a book, and start reading!