JACK'S BLOG
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WritingI may be guilty of overthinking this, but I read a book that got me to thinking about verb tense in storytelling. That's tense as in past, present, or future. Maybe I haven't been paying attention, but it seems to me that most stories are told in the past tense. Consider this example from Charles Dickens: “Marley was dead: to begin with.” That's the first sentence of Stave 1 in A Christmas Carol. What? Is he no longer dead? Was he not dead at the time of the story? Or should Dickens have written: “Marley is dead: to begin with”? As I said: I'm overthinking this, or am I?
It's my son's fault. He gave me a book to read, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, in which the author played with the present tense. I say played because he wasn't consistent in its use. I wish he had been. It's the reason I read the book.
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11/13/2014 1 Comment Toys for Tots but not for Marines?Army LifeWhen I was a Buck Private in the Army, I earned $89 per month. Just beer and cigarette money we called it. Everything else was provided: Food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, etc. Obviously, we couldn't support a wife and family on such a pittance, but we were told that if the Army/Marine Corp/Air Force/Navy wanted us to have a wife, they would have issued one to us. That was in the days of conscription. With the advent of the All-Volunteer Military, all service members were promised a living wage and many privates and corporals married and some have children. However, the promises haven't been kept. It's become so bad that many on welfare feed better at the government trough than those charged with protecting our nation and its Constitution and people.
11/11/2014 0 Comments Did you wear a poppy for Veterans Day?Americana/HistoryThere are a few quaint traditions that have faded from the culture but not from my memory. People wore poppies on Veterans Day. Everyone wore a carnation on Mothers Day, red if she was alive and white if not. Americans stood for the playing of the National Anthem, hands held over hearts. Sure, some still observe these traditions. Others do not. Many do not even know that they were common practices once upon a time. I saw the disparity of memory and knowledge as I sat outside a neighborhood grocery store this weekend passing out Buddy Poppies for the Veterans of Foreign Wars and taking donations from those who cared. A few paused to talk. One offered to fetch me a cup of coffee for it was chilly this November 11th in Southern California. I could not help but wonder how many or how few understood the significance of the little red artificial flowers that I offered.
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