A Day to be Gracious

Sometimes the holiday season can be a big let down, but that is only a state of mind. It can be the expectations of getting the perfect gift for family and friends that can be the cause of the downward spiral of the season.
What is the reason for the season? For some of us it is the celebration of the birth of Christ, being thankful for the tiny bit of oil that kept a lantern going or whatever our belief system shows us how to remember the act of how to be gracious.
Be grateful for the family and friends that are in your lives. Be grateful for the blessings you have. Even if we find ourselves living on the streets there is always something to be grateful about.
Be gracious in your acts, my dear friends and enjoy the joys in your lives.

NaNoWriMo~ So, how did I do?

Well, I did not manage to get to 50,000 words, on the website of NaNoWriMo that is. When I got to about 10,000 words on my computer, it got a virus and started to act as if it was possessed by the devil. I got angry with using the computer to write my book and went back to using paper and pencil. There are at least two notebooks full and bits and pieces in other notebooks as well. Now all I need to do is go through and sort out the good from the bad.

I believe one of the main obstacles, other than my computer's problem, is that the month of November is not a very good month to hide oneself away from others in order to write. There are just too many activities to do in November. A better month for me would be January when all there is to do is to feel blue from the gray skies or go skiing. At the moment I do not ski and that leaves feeling down about the lack of sunshine. Reading through my journals about being in the wild might give me a bit of a lift during these upcoming winter months. Sooner or later I plan on getting my book together and yes I will have to enter it into the computer.
Using a computer to sort and write a book is easier, but if one does not back up the work done and the computer goes crazy again, one can see how far a laptop can truly fly. I bet that they can fly a great distance. However, I will try and back up often and carry on. I hope that those of you who did NaNoWriMo were able to meet their goal, either on paper or written with a computer. It does not matter which form you used as long as you tried. It is in the trying that matters.

NaNoWriMo~ National Novel Writing Month

I am setting out on a month long adventure. An adventure into the world of writing a book in one month. The rules for those who wish to participate are thus; write a 50,000 word or about 175 page novel in the month of November starting on the 1st and work until the 30th. Share your results with others online at NaNoWriMo (you should join the group today) and reap the reward of getting a novel done in a month.

There are groups all over the world going through the adventure together and there are the lone wolves, such as myself (no group in my area) who will work their fingers to the bone to get done by the end of the month. Okay, it really is not all that bad. To have the "book" done by the end of the month I will only have to write about 1667 words a day. In the journal I am using that is only 9 handwritten pages. No big deal! The best part is, the book does not have to be a finished product. We are being given the permission to write a extremely rough draft and after we are done it is then that we may want to revise the words we have written into a book. Many writers have gone on to finished best selling novels. I believe one of them is the Author of Water for Elephants, which I have read and it is well worth the read (read it before seeing the movie.)

I had planned on taking my adventure one step further and go to Southern Utah to camp for the 30 days and write. However, at the moment there is not any money in my budget for gas and such. I might go towards the middle of the month or sooner and finish the book down in the warmer area of Utah at this time of year. My trailer is my Muse and I enjoy reading and writing in him (Parnassus On Wheels.) The only distraction while camping is nature, one son, a dog, a bird and sometimes company. At home there are way more annoying things and such getting in the way of writing. I will have to make due, at least until I am able to travel to a warm campground. No, it will not be a RV park, but actual camping. Well, there is a potty and water, but no electricity or any other hook-ups. There will be a lot of fresh air, hiking, writing and schoolwork with my son (that means we have to drive to a wifi spot to get it done, but not every day.) 

Anyway, wish me luck and I hope that you will also go on this adventure with me. Now, go get paper and pen, sign-up online, if you wish and let us get our creative writing Muses ready to begin. 

~I will post a bit of what I wrote here when the month is over. Adieu! 

Can I Do It?

Annie wants me to hurry so we can go on our trip.

     My trailer is almost done being painted. Yes, it has taken a while to do the work on it and the only explanation I can give is that the weather has gotten in the way most of the time. The other reason is procrastination on my part. Despite these reasons for the process of painting taking so long, I can honestly say that my trailer looks a lot better. I love the bit of red on the trailer, it makes it so fresh and cute. Now I just need to finish the painting, which is mostly touch-up and then fix the front window awning. Of course, the weather here in Utah will have to get better (we woke up to snow on the ground) in order for me to be able to paint. I will post photos when done, I promise!

My Trailer is Getting a New and Fresh Look

I have been busy sanding the trailer in order to paint it. The green and some of the white was flaking off and of course that was bugging me. I am keeping the color scheme and adding just a touch of red.
The red will be about a half an inch stripe just above the lighter green going around the trailer. On the door around the window where the white plastic has turned yellow will be red also. I love red! The interior cushions and other do-dads are red.
I did want to paint the stripes to match my truck, but decided to keep the trailer's stock color scheme with a touch of red.
I need to figure out how to redo the front awning. It is fiberglass, has a hole in it and is very ugly. Not quite sure what I want to do with it. Still thinking about it.
After the painting is all done my brother is going to come and fix the running lights so that I can travel at night. The brake lights work, but not the lights for night driving. Once he is done with that and if I still do not have a job, I am going to take my son, a dog and a bird and go hang out in Southern Utah. Mooch a few dinners off of my parents;-) do some hiking, art, writing and what have you. When it gets too cold I will store the trailer somewhere down there. That way I can go camping during the winter when I wish and there is less snow to mess up the trailer.
Well, when the trailer is finished being painted I will post some photos of our beautiful home on wheels.
Have a fun and creative day!

A Conversation with One of my Favorite Authors

Hi all,

I hope you enjoy this video of a conversation with Ray Bradbury, one of my favorite authors. He talks about books and doing things you love, because you love to do them. One of the activities I love to do is read and another is writing. If I cannot be a teacher I will work on being a writer, or I will do both. Most likely I will do both, as they are all important to me. Anyway, enjoy the clip. Have a great and creative day!

Working on the 'Small' Stuff

Good day, Y'all!
I am working on some 'small' stuff today. Not only am I not thinking 'big' today, but I am also not working on a full-size computer. Nope! I am using my daughter's netbook today because my laptop just went off to be fixed
;-( The right shift key on my laptop was broken the other day by a very anxious dog trying to get the cat, who happened to be sitting behind me.
Have you ever tried to type without the right shift key? Easy for those of you who 'hunt & peck', not so easy for those of us who learned to type, dare I say, on a typewriter in 7th grade. It is just not that easy to do, my fingers kept getting in a tizzy over not being in the right form. Not to mention those long-ago voices in my head from the typing teacher telling (yelling at)me to keep my hands in the correct position. Argh!  And now I am typing on a keyboard the size of a piece of toast. At least it has the right shift key and I can keep my hands in correct position;-)
I do appreciate my daughter for letting me use her little computer until my big boy comes back or I go into the office and fix the desktop. Either way, I will have a right shift key, now if I can only find the drink holder on this machine...

Philosophy Experiments

Have a go at some of these philosophical activities. You might be surprised at how you answer some of these questions.

Philosophy Experiments

ZTC = Zero Tuition College

Some time ago I found this website that offers a way in which people can create their own college experience or classes and it is free (except for the books that are needed or airfare, etc.) I filled out my profile at Zero Tuition College and then signed up for a few courses. So far I am signed up to do the following:

1.  Ask Yourself These Four Questions: Completed, but will keep what I wrote to myself for now.
2.  Learn a New Language Online Via Busuu: Signed up for Spanish~beginning even though I had a year of Spanish in college. I do remember many of the words. I did the first few exercises and now I am on the section in which I will need to write the words. I wish that the Busuu site offered Latin as one of their languages. I would really get into that one. As it is now I will be teaching Latin Book I  to my son and learning along with him.
3. Do an Online Ivy League Course: For my Ivy League course I am working through Milton with Professor John Rogers. Today I completed lecture One and found it interesting how Milton thought that England was the 'chosen' country. Not too surprising though. It seems that many at the time (and perhaps many still do) had the same thought of England the country of God. I guess a large number of us, no matter the country, believe our land is the country of our Lord. Oh, the numbers of wars that can be contributed to that thinking. It boggles the mind at times. Anyway, I am off to find the readings for the next Lecture of the Milton series. I have a couple of them on my .

The rest I will have to find online or perhaps see if the library has a copy of his poems (I doubt they do, not a library for classics.)
After I read them I will write up a paper or perhaps Prof. Rogers will give out an assignment. While I am reading you all can check out the Zero Tuition College and perhaps start working on your self-education. It is always fun to learn new things.
;-)Happy Reading!

Welcome to My Newest Blog

Okay, I know what you are saying, "why another blog?"

Well, why not? Perhaps blogs are like books, which in that case one could not have too many!

"But what are you going to put on this blog?"
I plan on posting my self-education, educational, philosophical musings, books read and want to read, and bits and pieces of my writing....

"Well, that seems good enough. We shall see how well you keep it up."

I assure you that I will do my very best to keep the blog full of my Thoreauvian Bohemian thoughts.

"Speaking of which, why the title of The Thoreauvian Bohemian. You would think that The Philosopher Artist was a big enough title without throwing Thoreau into the mix."

Yes, you would think that, but perhaps it is not how I think. Honestly, my reason for a new moniker is not to replace the other one, but to add to it. Thoreau is one of my favorite authors. He inspires me to live simpler and enjoy the moment that I am in. The Bohemian addition is a name my children love to call me. Not being rude, but because of my artistic self and the fact that I like to wear black a lot and would love to travel around the country living in my 1975 Nomad trailer writing, taking photos and living a simple life.
"In that case, we cannot wait to read it. Now go create!"