Just loaded this up on Medium: Conversations, Child Rearing, Hyperbole and Hope.
Author: Carl Setzer
A blogger blogging from just north of Seattle.
Rainy Sunday
Upon this mountain
Rain flowing gracefully down
Hints of normalcy
Accepting Brutality
Relentless hazing
Demands of obedience
More boots upon necks?
Dreams of Data
Data drifts downwards
Bits flow across blackness
Starlight warms my soul
Time Management and Some Advice From Om Malik
Lately, I’ve been thinking about how heavily I use social media. As it’s part of my function for the C&K Team, I easily can spend hours each day wrapper up in it. Lately, I’ve noticed I’m slipping on things I value, the most obvious one writing. The quality of my writing has slipped, as my focus has been on getting content out, not on writing the best stuff I can, on magnifying my quality.
Om Malik posted this recently: Non-Social. He’s backing away from high-level engagement upon all the social media platforms. Going so far as deleting the apps from his devices, so I assume that means he’s only using Twitter/Facebook writ-large from laptops/desktops.
I don’t know if I’m ready to go that far (yes, he’s only going dark for a week, but still…) but I feel that backing off from social stuff will give me more time to focus. I’ve had several folks requesting me finish some of the books I’ve had on the back-burner. With NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) coming up, this might be a good way to leverage my time. However, I haven’t put much thought into novels lately. So, we’ll see.
Anyway, I have some essay ideas I’m pulling together for Medium (I will have new content up there this weekend) and have some short-story ideas to flesh out. So, I must cut back in other places. Of course, I shan’t disappear entirely. If anything, I hope to be more relevant on the internets.
Expert saber sparring: Lee Smith vs Richard Marsden
I fenced while I lived in Astoria, eventually getting to work with saber. An amazing and wonderful weapon. Watching these two spar is a delight.
Mountain Dawn
Flowing over mountain tops
White peaks reddening, slowly.
Colors’ vibrancy lightens
Each passing second
Until all hues fade to
Blue sky and perfect
White snow
Ever expanding love
Love’s amazing gift
When shared, it grows larger still
Sharing, expansion
Force
Some things must be forced.
However, all things will break
Compassion must reign
The positive focus
I strive to keep the positive focus. That’s where I keep my compass pointed towards. Yet, it’s too easy to get wrapped up in petty squabbles. The amount of energy sucked up by this amazes me. And it damages relationships, creating frictions and distrust. Others see your biases and believe you’re seeing their view as lesser. Judging others tends to only damage relationships.
Somehow, we need to engage each other’s differences in ways that build and grow relationship, not further fracture our already divided society. Keeping our discussions centered upon respect and dignity is key. Also, avoiding rhetorical failures, these key logical fallacies will be crucial. Stay on point and avoid defensive responses. Remember that the goal isn’t to “win”, rather fund a way forward.