BACKPAGES JOURNAL - FRIDAY, Nov 24, 2023 wk#47 - EMAIL EDITION
Weekend after Thanksgiving!
IT’S BEEN A GREAT HOLIDAY.
I was raised to see myself as part of that Norman Rockwell picture of the entire family gathered at the the turkey-dinner, enjoying each other, and ostensibly being thankful.
All family gatherings can be weird in their own way, but this was one where we all realized and, in fact, expressed our gratefulness for anything and everything.
I think we are possibly not as grateful as we should be, and I, for one, realize my shortcomings in expressing it.
At this point, it’s possible many of you will part ways with me, but I still feel the need to say this.
I read and am on the subscription list of one writer who also acted as a mentor to me. I did respect his writing a lot. He was the one who first turned me on to Medium for my writing.
But recently he spoke of Thanksgiving and mentioned this country and used words to the effect ‘in spite of our rotten past.” I personally am proud of America, and right now there seems to be a load of people who love to paint the U.S. as a villain. Villain today. Villain yesterday. Colonizing. capitalization. You’ve heard it all before.
Now, I always hate it when people unsubscribe to one of my publications, so I hated to do it too, but I had to unsubscribe to my friend, although I’m sure he will never even realize it. I had to do it for myself. I realize he has drunk the Kool-Aid. Bought the story. If you hear the same thing long enough, and often enough, you will buy into it.
But I reiterate. I’m proud of this country. I’m proud of the land and the cities and the progress and inventions we have made here. The fact is that all the immigrants who find their place of birth so terrible that they want to come here, tell me what I need to know.
This is the greatest country in the world. I wish we all still felt that way.
Just sayin’.
Work in process…
POP QUIZ:
Can I still read this story if it hasn’t been sent to me?
ANSWER:
Yep. Just bookmark the front page so you can find it whenever you need to. It’s a BLOG, for goodness sakes!
MY NEWSLETTER UPDATE
This is a newsletter about three things.
It is about my writing for those who enjoy it. Here is one way to find some of my stories and I will always have some Medium reposts here for free.
Since many of you have been Googling how to make some bucks writing, here are pointers on how they might do the same type of writing on the side.
Part of this report will concern building the number of subscribers to this publication.
My next goal is 500 readers, so I must admit I will have to work harder at this.
I still need 499 more people.
WE MAY START SENDING THIS NEWSLETTER OUT IN THE EMAIL EDITION ONLY ON FRI.
SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT DIRECTION…
This letter is all free now, with a tip jar somewhere.
Thanks,
-don
TODAY’S SONG IN MY HEAD
REAL-LIFE WRITING, BY ME - RECAPS…
REAL-LIFE WRITING, BY SOMEONE ELSE
Here is a story.
MY REAL-LIFE WRITER’S LIFE
I woke up at about 2am again this morning. I’m not sure why I do that, but I try not to get up until after 5, so that makes for a good bit of thinking and planning time. Currently, I am thinking and planning about my newsletters, and about working more deeply in short stories.
This morning, I was thinking about the age-old question of which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of ball bearings?
Of course, one thought led to another, until I was asking myself which would fall faster, then I thought about earth’s gravitational acceleration was… and the number 32 came up. Later this morning that 32 plus a smidge was indeed confirmed to be the acceleration of gravity on earth. 32 feet per second, per second. I had not even thought about that since I was in school. Wow. But I’m not sure I could recall what I had for dinner last night.
Photo by Spencer Davis on Unsplash (Not the Spencer Davis with the Group where Stevie Winwood got his start.)
QUESTIONS FROM READERS
Q - How can I cheat the laws of nature?
A - Subscribe here.
QUESTIONS TO READERS
Where should I put this WD-40?
That’s what I thought.
⭐Publish & Profit: A Beginner's Guide to Making Your First $1000 Writing on Medium (affiliate link.)
Keep those questions coming, and tell your remaining friends about us!
Remember, this newsletter is completely free! If you ever wish, I believe there is a place at the bottom where you can buy me a cup of coffee.
THAT will support the arts!
Thanks,
-don, changing what I can change, laughing at what I can’t.