After a long absence, i am back, but not at this location any longer.

Anyone wishing to follow the new adventure is welcome to visit me here.

This is a test.

hiatus


The posts have been less and less frequent over the past month, and with the exception of the highly entertaining cyber-discourse between myself and Luke about Creed and Scott Stapp, there hasn't been much for readers to, well, read.

i have always enjoyed the blog format, but it occurs to me that there are other projects, namely a book, some music and an essay or two, i have in the wings which need attention. i have been dividing my creativity and that has meant poor quality for the blog of late, as well as little to no action on the other creative endeavors awaiting my attention.

Time is slipping away on me, and if i don't devote the time needed to the more ambitious book effort it will never happen. so i am taking a blogging vacation. i'm not leaving for good, but it will be a while until you hear from me again.

all the best wishes to any and all who have stumbled across this page over the years.

Priceless

My 8-year-old son brought home his report card the other day and the comments from his various teachers were good to read. Overall he was evaluated as being a good student with academic talent at the appropriate level. He was described more than once as "enthusiastic."

i began to wonder if "enthusiastic" was a code word / euphemism for something else. My suspicion was heightened after reading comments from the gym teacher.

His gym teacher used "enthusiastic", but then put in parentheses: "sometimes takes unneccesary risks with self; ex. sliding across the gym floor."

Well, he is an 8-year-old boy and he is in GYM class.

More Jazz

Luke comments:

I agree with Tim's take on the book. I bought and reccomended Jazz for
a couple people a year or two ago. I think that his writing took a bell
shaped curve, from the searching of VW, hit its stride at the top with
Jazz, and now is starting to lose some attraction for me with
Searching, as he goes from wanderer to pilgrim to preacher in his tone, across
the three books.

it's interesting to hear the comments coming in on this book. and i have to say it adds to my interest, which is a good thing.

but it also makes me wonder: as a writer who one day would love to write for a living; authoring books which would be instructive as well as pleasurable to read, it seems it is easy to become to "preachy" in tone and lose readers.

how does a writer speak firmly and with a sense of authority about something; speak with conviction from the depth of his/her heart, without crossing a line into "preachy-ness" and alienate readers?

it seems a blurry line at times.

More Jazz

Luke comments:

I agree with Tim's take on the book. I bought and reccomended Jazz for
a couple people a year or two ago. I think that his writing took a bell
shaped curve, from the searching of VW, hit its stride at the top with
Jazz, and now is starting to lose some attraction for me with
Searching, as he goes from wanderer to pilgrim to preacher in his tone, across
the three books.

it's interesting to hear the comments coming in on this book. and i have to say it adds to my interest, which is a good thing.

but it also makes me wonder: as a writer who one day would love to write for a living; authoring books which would be instructive as well as pleasurable to read, it seems it is easy to become to "preachy" in tone and lose readers.

how does a writer speak firmly and with a sense of authority about something; speak with conviction from the depth of his/her heart, without crossing a line into "preachy-ness" and alienate readers?

it seems a blurry line at times.

Blue Like Jazz . . .

Tim comments:

I felt Miller's politics coming through more in his subsequent book,
Searching For God Knows What, than in Jazz. That may be why I liked the
latter much more than the former. Blue Like Jazz is the "cool thing"
these days it seems, but I actually read it more than 2 years ago now,
having been familiarized with Miller's writing through his first book,
Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance. I loved "Prayer" and found
"Jazz" to be life changing, in the end, as it lead me to my decision to
find a new church - BRV, which has obviously snowballed into a series
of other life changing events. So I guess that qualifies as a ringing
endorsement, eh?

yes, it is a ringing endorsement. i see what Leslie meant, i just started the book but already i am struck by Miller's honesty and vulnerability.

Potatoes : Half-Baked but Warming Up

Leslie comments:

James, it was hard for me... I REALLY, REALLY wanted to like this book 100% w/o reservations. Everyone I asked about it.. everything I read. Miller's writing is excellent. One chapter almost brought me to tears while I was reading it in the hospital cafeteria.... It's his personal beliefs that I have a problem with... politically I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum than him. His beliefs really come through in his writing (which they should... in this type of writing). It's a pretty transparent book for him.

Is this a better than my "half baked potato" comment? (ie... sometimes warm in places and in other places just cold hard raw potato)

The additional description helps, certainly. i will say that it's rare that an author's politics get in the way of my enjoyment of his or her work. i may not agree with cerain points made, but i can let that stuff roll.

It's the same way with actors and musicians and the like. i know some folks who can't listen to, say, Barbara Streisand, because of her political beliefs. That stuff doesn't bug me. i say, if you still like her voice, then what's the problem?

More Food for Thought

Leslie comments:

you need to read the book... i'll loan it to you.... i half liked it.... sorta like a half baked potato.

In keeping with the "food" motif, Leslie mentions a half-baked potato as her description of Don Miller's Blue Like Jazz, which certainly doesn't give me a burning desire to read the book. As a writer who longs one day to author books and such as a way of making a living, i would consider it more devastating to her someone describe my work as "like a half-baked potato" than to hear someone say they hated it passionately.

Despite the less-than-ringing endorsement, i might still read the book as i am currently between reading selections.

And perhaps now that i have seen one quote out of context, including Jon's comment opposing that out-of-context quote, at Barlow Farms, i should read the book. My curiousity is piqued, i'll say that much.