Call it the look in your eye when you stand in front of the mirror. Call it the way people are acting all around you. Call it the wind always being in your way. Whatever you might call it - I call it Krazy (with a capital K as in that is not the way its supposed to be).

Today was supposed to be a light and easy day full of rest relaxation and more than anything else - sleep. But from the get go, today has been that way. From the five minute visitor at 2 AM to the ten o'clock session with the karate kids, today has been crazy. Not choatic but crazy. I am tempted to get in the car and drive, somewhere, anywhere just to get some quiet - enough serenity to be creative. But that would be crazy or carzy.

What I want to do is show people who wish to write that even on crazy, carzy days there is opportunity to write. That is why I am here typing in this blog, pretending that there are not several people running around me, trying to get me to pay attention to them. I am like the three monkeys combined - I can't see them, I can't hear them and I definitely won't talk to them. So they don't exist, right ?
And pretending that they don't exist is how I am able to make this posting coherent. (I hope).
There is still the smell of bleach on my hands, the result of my intervention upon a washing machine disaster in the making. My legs are still crossed due to someone's two hour visit to the washroom. (Currently in progress) Yet I persevere.
The picture above might not convey the essence of craziness, but it is the best I was able to come up with after my first seven choices failed. I think that when I finish this posting, I will get in the car, cry, and then drive to nearest public toilet - that is if I do not get pulled over for Carzy driving.

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My pages are what I call my warm-up exercise for writing. The idea is to write three double spaced pages on the computer putting down anything that comes into my mind. The idea behind this exercise is to clear the mind of the clutter that blocks the creative juices and also to get my mind and fingers used to typing. I do this exercise as soon as possible in the day. I find that if I do not do this exercise - I do not write.
So for the last few weeks I have made myself write pages everyday.
The results have been promising. I have gone from not caring about writing (I would be better off dead) to wanting to write blogs and poems and stories every day.
But in the last three days the form of my pages has changed (I think for the better). I used to write my three pages alternating from being preachy (I am right, the world is wrong) to just being crabby (the world is wrong and I am too). Occasionally, I would write nice things but not too much.
Three days ago, I decided to change the tone of my pages. I would no longer write what came to my head - I would write as if I were actually writing a real piece of writing. I found that it was easier to keep my attention fixed on the three pages and I did not suddenly want to watch the grass grow (or whatever distraction seemed cool at the time) (usually these distractions stop distracting me as soon as I get up from the desk that I am writing at). (I wonder why).
So I feel like a new man and the sky is bright with the light of a new day. I think I might be on to something but you never know. I will keep you posted as to what happens over the weekend with all its myriad distractions.

Today I thought I would do something different - post a picture. So I used the Flickr pictures that are available and came away with this one on the left.
I do not know what is it is (it looks a crystal) but that is why I chose it. I wanted a picture that looked good and had no apparent idea (in my mind at least) of what it was. I like the mystery involved in deciding what could the picture be of.
I think one of the real good exercises for me is to write about a picture like this. What kind of a story can be constructed by this picture. What kind of mood ? A better picture might be of a person - then a storyteller could maklle up a story about this person's pose or look. But mostly today, I was in the mood to try something different, so I chose this picture because it looks nice and does not seem to have any meaning.
I think that pictures in doctor's offices are like that too. They look okay but don't seem to inspire much meaning.
To me, a good story needs to have both - good looks and meaning. The meaning can be like an aftertaste - something that kicks in after the story is read. Something that makes the reader reread the story - something that makes the reader think twice. However, a story does not have to have a deep meaning to be entertaining. I believe that a story needs to be above all else - entertaining enough. This means that if you are writing a deep and heavy emotional story, you must have enough entertainment in it to keep the reader reading. That takes talent and drive and that is what separates the real writers and storytellers from the want-to-be's.

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