Who Would We Be Without the Garbage?

The city of Toronto is currently going through a civic worker's strike which literally means our garbage has not been picked up by the city in six days. The city workers gave us all a cold dose of irony when the first day of the strike took place on a day that was hot as hell. Was the union leader watching the Weather Channel?
It's times like these that really make me realize just how wasteful we all are. Also, I question what it is exactly that we're offering to the planet? When all is said and done, what will be left on this great earth of ours? I would venture to guess it would be things like styrofoam and plastic bags.
Trees and flowers are a lot prettier but are greatly outnumbered.

I think our wasteful nature stems from the fact that, as humans, we really, truly don't know what our purpose is. If you really sit and think about it, we are the only living beings on this planet that have this problem.
If you take a stroll through a park or garden, you see first-hand, all the other living things that know their purpose and have no trouble fulfilling their end of the bargain with the planet. From a Robin Red Breast to the common Bumble Bee, they awake each day and simply do their thing. Sure, there may be a day when Mr. Bumble Bee says 'I'm sick of this crap--I need a vacation!' but I doubt he says things like 'if I buy that sports car, my life will be complete!'.
As long as we don't know our purpose, we're always going to be overcome by materialism. We're always going to be looking for joy in objects then when those objects become old, tarnished or boring, they're placed in the trash and become the planet's problem. This is so wrong but it has been our reality for far a very long time. It's been my reality my entire life.
I'm hopeful that we'll all change but it's going to take a mass conciousness in order for this to happen.
The good news is, being Green is in style. Let's just hope it stays in style.

9 Times a Charm?

Since January 2006, a particular character and her storyline have been taking over my thoughts on a daily basis. Doesn't matter what time of the day or night, she pops up whenever she feels like it.
'She' refuses to allow me to take a break from 'her' and 'her' drama; I like to use the 'I have writer's block' excuse but she will have none of it. Being born into fiction, I'm sure she's heard this before.
Her name is Anna. She's stubborn, elusive and thoroughly intoxicating, at times. She's difficult, time-consuming and easily ignored, at other times.
One of my main complaints about Anna is that I lack the good writing skills it's going to take to write her the way she deserves to be written.
I know, to most people, what I just wrote will come off as completely absurd. But to a fellow writer, I know it makes sense.
Have you ever had an amazing character or plot in your head that was just so bloody good, you were afraid of it? Not because you lack the motivation to write it but because you could see all the work it was going to take to pull it off and you think 'how is this going to be possible'? It's like our creative minds bite off more than they can 'chew' sometimes.

Tonight, for the first time in about three months, I'm tackling the (9th!) rewrite of my novel's first chapter; my arch-nemisis.
This is going to be hell....again.

I Don't Know Why

I just signed up for Twitter. Never, in a million years, thought that I would.
My pal, Carrie Blogshaw http://sexandtheshtty.blogspot.com/ has tried to convince me (to no avail) to join Facebook but I refuse. There are limitations to just how connected I want to be.

This whole new internet socializing world is kind of making me feel old because I remember the days when I used to talk for hours on the phone AND actually write letters--with my hand, not with my laptop.
So, is the hand-written letter dead? Um, I hope so because my handwriting is an embarrassment. I can barely read it, let alone a friend or loved one.

Can't believe it's been so long since I last posted!
I've been busy job hunting. Finally landed one and started a few weeks ago! Horray for me.
If you've been following my blog, you probably know just how rocky my career has been over the last few years. I hope the bumps are getting smaller....but...life isn't supposed to be a smooth ride.