The thing that is on my mind is how much I used to enjoy talking about story craft. I don't mean the usual things you read in Writers Digest, but the higher things that relate to stage development theory. Shakespeare's greatness stems from his ability to imagine how events and circumstances would affect a person who was unlike himself, not just a person like himself. He probably never met a Jew as they had all been banned from England at the time, but he was able to portray shylock in merchant of Venice in someways deeply empathetic. That's a higher level develope that sometimes come to some people in later in life. Christopher Marlowe, who was as good and in some ways better than William as a playwright, did not have that. Marlowe demonizes his Jew of Malta to please the crowds. But them, Marlowe was murdered at age 26. I think he might have gotten there he and Will had continued to be friends and playwright rivals.
The other day, I pulled an old literary magazine off the shelf that contained a short story I had written.
I the other night was talking/messaging to long time Facebook friend who I think must be in his early and healthy 70s who has publish two novels in the last two years.
I happened to tell him the gist of the story, which was also what was going to be the first chapter of a novel had had abandoned when life happened, and as time moved on without it, and issues of cultural appropriation arose in the culture.
My friend said he really wanted to see the story. I wasn't expecting him to ask. I told him that was 20 years ago and that I write differently now. I told him I think the only copy I have is in that literary magazine, but I would make photocopies and send them snail mail.
The thing that shocked me is that it was more than 20 years ago. The story appeared in a 1993 edition of the West Wind Review.
After I sent off, I had a dream on how to restructure the novel, so that it is not just better, but addresses and resolves the issue of cultural appropriation. The main character is Native American, a member of a local tribe here whose history and culture I do know pretty well from having made friends, although I lost contact with the friends over the years.
Ok, I'm back after a hiatus. I lost my log-in information, then bumbled around with trying to make a new account with an old email. It's still me.
Looks like this is the orginal account, not the new one I attempted to create.
I'm finding the meta AI image generating thing useful on Facebook, where I post short writings: essay, flashes.
I can't draw, so it is useful. A facebook post without an image gets seen by few people.
I wanted to talk about the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar and how Shakespeare shows us how easy it is for a demagogue to whip up a frenzy from a crowd and incite them to riot against a republic and undermine efforts for a peaceful transfer of power. In this case, there was the violence of Caesar's assassination, but following that there was some prospect of peacefully restoring the the republic.
Shakespeare shows us the Mark Antony was able to manipulate the crowd with cleverly deceitful rhetoric.
I asked Meta AI to make me a picture of "A deceitful Mark Antony and rioting after Caesar's funeral.
This is what it gave me.
Roy Scarbrough By the way, on another positive note, I'm finding some history comforting in a weird way. The Roman republic fell to tyrants, but I know enough to know how it feel, and somehow humanity soldered on through the dark ages to experience the renaissance.
E. Writer
I learned about Roman History a looong time ago but my interest was rekindled when the show Rome aired on HBO. I learned more from the fictional show than I learned in school. Even though the dialogue was fictionalized, much of the events were not. Mark Anthony, for all his deceit eventually got his comeuppance. That was a storied end to his life. I used Facebook AI to make Christmas images when I was wishing everyone a happy holidays. It looked realistic for sure. It's not bad. But for other projects where I might use AI generation, I use Nightcafe
https://creator.nightcafe.studio/
Roy Scarbrough Rome seems more real to me than the middle ages. It seems they feel within moments of an early industrial revolution. Rome, the city, was the worlds first multicultural metropolis. Maybe its good the industrial revolutions started later. Imagine where we would be now if the planet had been burningup for the past 2,000 years.
E. Writer
Just think, the aqueducts they built 2000 years ago are still running below the city. That's a huge technological achievement, especially since it is the first known aqueduct to exist. Rome is easier to visualize because we see the ruins as evidence still standing today.
I was working on flash fiction/essay, about influenced by recollection aboard a night train in spain in the 1970s. So, I asked Meta AI to make me a picture of a night train in spain in the 1970s. I could not be more pleased.
Roy Scarbrough
In all fairness, I did not tell her it was an actual memory.
Roy Scarbrough I found my journal. There were eight of us in the compartment. Four of us seated and facing the other four seated. The Spanish girl wast traveling with a bearded young man from one of the spanish universities. He spoke little English. The girl wore tight blue jeans all marked up with peace signs and the word "Love". I was traveling with a girl my age from LA, that I met along away. That relationship was platonic and friendly, so a bit disappointing on my part. We got separated in a crowd in Geneva. So there were no good-byes. I headed for the campground, which had been my plan all along. I carried camping gear with me.
E. Writer
Thats amazing that you still have that journal. I only have one thing that I have that is from a long time ago. It's a Christmas ornament that is 44 years old. Me and my sister bought it from Woolworth when I was 6 years old. My mother kept it and when my mother passed, my sister got my mothers family Bible thats probably 60+ years old or older. And I got the ornament back. Both items hold special memories for both of us.
Roy Scarbrough A christmas ornament is from back then is a precious thing to have.
E. Writer I just wish I had the other half. We were asked to bring an ornament to church, for the tree. So me and my sister got two ornaments from Woolworths. I was 6 and she was 8. Both had a verse from The Night Before Christmas on it. We gave verse 1 to the church and kept verse 2 for our own tree. So yeah, that ornament is very precious to me. From a very special event as children.
Something positive. We had a rare snow storm here in Oregon. It made the little redwood grove in my back yard pretty. I planted these years ago, and I always get a good vibe from them. Filmed while my dog rolled in the show.
https://jmp.sh/luAVcnij
E. Writer
Not sure why your links isn't coming through, but this one https://jumpshare.com/v/MSrbOnoeRkOWXywK2OIg
Nice music! Is that your dog? So cute
Okay, made it through.
Good to be here, but I'm a little conflicted about spending any more time on social media sites. I have untreated ADHD, so I'm prone to distractions that delay my literary and academic goals. I have to figure out ways to not waste time. I just have to let the winged monkeys fly by.
We had this weird February heavy snow storm here. Rare for Oregon. Kind of snow bound. I just want to look at it from the window.
E. Writer I'm with you there! I think the last thing that people need is more time on social media. We all need to have more time away from our phones and computers where we can be more productive. So I will pop in and out occasionally. But my goal is to divest from other social media applications that are toxic like Facebook, Instagram, X, and Bluesky, threads, tik tok, where people focus on negativity and conflict instead of positivity. Those platforms are designed to keep peoiple addicted. But the goal of Neighbahood is to have a space where a person can, if they choose, to go on social media, have a positive space to do that in, instead of only those toxic environments. I noticed that people don't really know how to interact on social media if there are no arguments LOL
E. Writer I think people can have that kind of chemistry anywhere, but everyone will wait on someone else to get started, I guess. It's hard to build good chemistry between people, it can take a long time. I like talking about movies and books. But I think there's something going on in society where the bourgeoisie is too preoccupied by politics. to chat about literature. Speaking of Shakespeare, I remember how Merchant of Venice was considered anti-Semitic. And still is, in some circles today.
Roy Scarbrough Yes, it's anti-semitic in in so many ways. What's significant is Shylock is not thoroughly demonized in the ways the Jews were always portrayed at the time, is the gist of conversations I've had with Jewish scholars.
E. Writer I worked with a man who lives in Israel who is a scholar on Shakespeare. The thesis of his book was that, Shakespeare was not an anti-Semite. It is a critical analysis of Shakespeare's works. He offers both sides of the argument. I learned quite a bit on the discussion through his work.
Roy Scarbrough I know another Jewish Scholar who did her Oxford dissertation on the subject.
E. Writer Here's the book. The author is a brilliant man, really knows his theater work as well. You should check out his book: https://www.amazon.com/Vindicating-Shakespeare-Directors-Shakespeares-Merchant/dp/057887136X