May 27, 2011

• 7th Xangaversary Celebration #6

  I am the One Who Writes……

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  This is an entry originally written for the Featured Grownups blogring and blogsite on March 17, 2009 and edited for this entry. This was one of my more popular entries and I think it sums up the overall spirit of why and who I am here on Xanga. It’s almost Memorial Day, and my monthlong celebration of my 7th Xangaversary is almost at it’s end. Next I start on Year #8.That little “Lifetime” badge next to my username means I’m “here for the duration”.  MFN/ppf

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  I am the one who is more than the sum of my parts.

  I am the one who writes.

  Today, it’s a Xanga “introductory post” about “who I am”. A few hours ago, it was a comment on another blog which was almost as long as an entry to which I was commenting. Tomorrow it might actually be a story or a poem. But it will be realized in my mind, tapped out on my keyboard keys, filed into the ether, and exist as the written word, for all the world to see. And thanks to the fact that for the most part I “write” for the internet, pretty much all the world can see (if they want to.)

  I read (mainly on blogs here on Xanga and thereabouts) that people who write are sometimes at a loss for words. Sometimes they can’t think of anything to say. I never seem to have that problem. I can slip into “writer’s mode” very easily, and I’ve had confirmation (in the form of comments and emails) that even the most slipshod and hasty pieces I write usually have meaning and foster the force of good will. This makes me happy, and serves to fuel the fires of my writing.

  I’ve been writing for many years. I’ve written novels, short stories, innumerable poems, essays, memoirs, letters, notes, biographies, movie reviews, recipes, prayers, and promises. Physical notebooks gave way to notepad files on my computer, but the written words are still there. They might not be on physical paper anymore, but they’re my words, and they exist. Hopefully these words will even exist after I pass from the worldly plane. I’ve written many times that our cyber selves could conceivably “live” on for perpetuity.

  While looking over my saved “history” of words in my notebooks from high school, college, and beyond, I find some words that at first glance I don’t even remember writing. But soon the gentle wash of memory cause those words to live with a new vigor. I once found a poem I must have written as a mere child. The piece was written on somewhat stained translucent tracing paper. The words were scrawled in pencil, in differing heights. The poem didn’t rhyme, nor did it have much rhythm. I could see through to the sentiment, however, and though I might not remember the exact time or place from which I penned the words, I knew they were mine, and I smiled at them.

  I write so much I sometimes repeat myself. I’ve been told my life has been “interesting”, and throughout this life, I’ve attempted to chronicle as much as possible while I’m living it. Sometimes the stories intertwine and overlap, and because I write a blog, I will modify or rewrite passages or sections of other pieces in order to make a current point, or illustrate an opinion or bring forth a nostalgic glow. Sometimes this bothers me, but it rarely bothers my readers. Since most of my readers are other bloggers who read lots of blogs, sometimes it’s good that a little bit is repeated every now and then, or else people are apt to forget. The best blog writers can inject information they’ve written before into new blog entries without seeming to repeat themselves. I would hope that by now I’m the one who writes well enough that my writing doesn’t bother anyone reading it.

  I’m the one who takes pictures.

  I’ve taken photos from the mountains to the seas. I’ve photographed my homes, and the decorations and curios which I collect and display inside. I’ve taken photos while hiking in the Hollywood hills. I’ve taken photos in numerous graveyards, and I always try to find the shots which will tell a story for those who view them. Tomorrow I might be photographing murals on the sides of businesses in East Los Angeles. But no matter what I’m taking pictures of, my subjects are always interestingly framed, usually from the floor or the ground, and I have been told I have an ‘eye’ for photography. I always have my digital memory cards ready for any new image I see with this photographer’s ‘eye’.

  I’ve always owned cameras. My first was a simple inexpensive Kodak, and mainly I took snapshots when I went on trips. Now it’s decades later, and I have two digital still cameras and two digital videocameras. The first photos were physically stored in albums, either slipped into plastic sleeves or attached to the page with black sticky photo corners.

  I still can look at the first photo I took which is more “photograph” than “snapshot”. It is of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Even though I didn’t take lots of photos after that time in the late 70s until the present decade, when I first got my digital cameras, I have always had the interest and the ‘eye’, and when I began taking photos for my online galleries, this ‘eye’ has served me well. I always make an attempt to stage a photo a bit differently, and to take my viewers to the places where I shoot the photos. 

  Photography and videomaking seem to have always been a part of my life, and have always been recording that life. So along with the words, I have the pictures. Cause I’m the one who takes them.

  I’m the one who listens. I’m the one who tells stories. I’m the one who cares. I’m the one with advice, even though it might not be exactly right all the time.

  I’m the one who makes mistakes.

  Each one of us is special. Some of us never believe this, no matter how much we hear it. I wear my specialties in my heart as badges of the courage to live, experience, and hope in a world which sometimes seems overwrought with problems and bad advice. (which hopefully I didn’t give!) I love to observe and admire people in all walks of life as they wind their way through the maze of life. I will try to connect with humanity through my words and pictures, and inject hope and care into their existence.

  I’m the one with the positive attitude.

  I don’t want to be the negative Nelly, or the one who messes up all the time. I might make mistakes, as do we all, but I’m the one who wants to correct the mistakes as soon as is humanly possible. I am the one who never stops trying, or learning, or praying.

  I’m the one who loves the Universe, and who appreciates it’s energy and completeness.

  I’m the one who questions. I might needle people sometimes, but I truly wish to know about you and what’s bothering you. I also hope to help you get over this bothersome attitude and get happy. I guess it’s the writer in me which finds the minutiae of life so interesting and never gets bored of it.

  I’m pretty much like you, if you’re a blogger. We are the ones who read, and write, and make plans. We eat. We sleep. We live. Always with hope and assurance. Sometimes with trepidation and caution. We are friends, neighbors, and soulmates. Some of us might be more creative, or have more stories to tell, but we all manage to be here ready to help one another in times of need.

  Sometimes the simple words one reads on a blog early in the morning can help to brighten their whole day, block the clouds from their horizon, and help them to bask in the beauty of this world and the Universe.

  I am the one who is more than the sum of my parts.
  

  I’m the one who hopes those words are sometimes mine.

  Posted: May 26, 2011 6:15 PM

  • 11:53 am
  • 19 Comments