The Write Journey

Rest in Peace, Michael Jackson

What better tribute to the man than his own poignant and meaningful words? If one wants to know the heart of an artist and feel what he stood for, then turn to the lyrics of his greatest songs. So read the beautiful lyrics to “Earth Song” by Michael Jackson, from the album History: Past, Present and Future, Book 1, and take them to heart.

Earth Song

What about sunrise
What about rain
What about all the things
That you said we were to gain.. .
What about killing fields
Is there a time
What about all the things
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the blood we've shed before
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores?

Aaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaah

What have we done to the world
Look what we've done
What about all the peace
That you pledge your only son...
What about flowering fields
Is there a time
What about all the dreams
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the children dead from war
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores

Aaaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaaah

I used to dream
I used to glance beyond the stars
Now I don't know where we are
Although I know we've drifted far

Aaaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaaaah
Aaaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaaaah

Hey, what about yesterday
(What about us)
What about the seas
(What about us)
The heavens are falling down
(What about us)
I can't even breathe
(What about us)
What about the bleeding Earth
(What about us)
Can't we feel its wounds
(What about us)
What about nature's worth
(ooo,ooo)
It's our planet's womb
(What about us)
What about animals
(What about it)
We've turned kingdoms to dust
(What about us)
What about elephants
(What about us)
Have we lost their trust
(What about us)
What about crying whales
(What about us)
We're ravaging the seas
(What about us)
What about forest trails
(ooo, ooo)
Burnt despite our pleas
(What about us)
What about the holy land
(What about it)
Torn apart by creed
(What about us)
What about the common man
(What about us)
Can't we set him free
(What about us)
What about children dying
(What about us)
Can't you hear them cry
(What about us)
Where did we go wrong
(ooo, ooo)
Someone tell me why
(What about us)
What about babies
(What about it)
What about the days
(What about us)
What about all their joy
(What about us)
What about the man
(What about us)
What about the crying man
(What about us)
What about Abraham
(What was us)
What about death again
(ooo, ooo)
Do we give a damn

The Harsh Realities of the Nonfictional World

Although I haven't seen the movie Slumdog Millionaire yet, I've heard much about what a great and inspiring film it is. But today I ran across the below article, which shows yet another example of how, no matter how harsh or scary or sad a story we writers spin from the depths of our own imagination, it's never as incredibly moving or horrible or disturbing as what real life holds.

'Slumdog Millionaire' kid stars face uphill battle
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hEWAjBZS2Oz0DaQiNTvjDums9enQD96DGV280

According to the Skin I’m In

The color of a person's skin, when thought of from a purely objective and logical viewpoint, is the most superficial aspects of humanity. While some things can be guessed about a person's heritage based upon skin color, such as whether or not someone has African, Native American, or Middle Eastern blood flowing through their veins, it tells nothing about one's upbringing, one's intelligence, one's education, one's social or economic standing, one's occupation, or moral code. And yet people have been enslaved, judged, and murdered merely based on the fact that they were unfortunate enough to be blessed with more melanin than their paler counterparts.

The subject of race has been, for whatever reason, a recurring theme swirling around me this week, as if begging me to dive into it head on. On one mailing list I belong to, we've been discussing how race affects the Science Fiction and Fantasy areas of the publishing industry. It is an uphill battle for Black authors to get SF books published with predominantly Black characters, and if they do, they are unilaterally relegated to the African American section of bookstores, as if the stories an author of color tells would only be interesting to people of the same flesh tone.

Also, the ongoing stream of garbage being flung at Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is getting to a point where it's so offensive that it borders on absurd. From the recent cover of The New Yorker depicting Senator Obama as a Muslim giving his militaristic-clad wife a fist bump, to the Reverend Jesse Jackson, of all people, making the ridiculous accusation during a commercial break of a Fox Network interview that Obama was "talking down" to Black people and his wanting to "cut his nuts off" for it, it's evident that even within the community of those with never-fading tans, that skin color is a barrier to acceptance and understanding among us all.

I could go on ad nauseum about my theories on where this comes from. I do believe that the ideals of self worth, or the need to lift up one's own feeling of self worth by finding ways to devalue others, is a major part of it. But I'm sure that is far too simplistic to be the sole cause for such a mutual and widespread societal plague. And although we can so dispassionately judge each other for such superficial reasons, the topic itself is so personal that even the attempt to discuss it evokes controversy and ire.

Although I in my fiction I don't write to deliver messages or forward particular agendas, I do deal with "life-issues" such as race and racism. For example, in my short story collection Phoenix Tales: Stories of Death & Life, there is a story entitled "A Tale of Black and White" in which two old men return to the scene of a horrible incident that took place 60 years ago, in which Jesse Black (a White man), took part in the lynching of the son of his companion, Amos White (who happens to be a Black man) after his relationship with Black's daughter results in her death. The irony of the story, and I think the heart of it as well, is that these two men have a deeply rooted hatred toward one another that neither has, nor will ever, get beyond. And yet because of their mutual tragedy they share a bond so strong that it soon becomes obvious that all they have left to cling to in this life is each other.

I don't understand how one human being can look at another and so easily distance themselves from that person that they literally dehumanize them in their minds. How can the cries of a person being chained, whipped, or hung from a tree not resonate in the soul of the one responsible and remind him of his own family and the horrific devastation such an act to their own loved ones would inflict upon them? Why is it that it merely takes the different color of a human's flesh to cause one human being to view another as something both alien and of lesser worth? Just the very thought that we humans have the capacity to do such things saddens and frightens me, and at the end of the day, there is no horror I could write that is more terrifying than those that people inflict upon one another on a daily basis, and it's probably why human nature is usually at the core of all of my stories in some shape or form. To paraphrase the question asked by Elizabeth Hasselbeck on The View this morning when discussing the revelation that Reverend Jesse Jackson used the word "nigger" during the same interview mentioned above:

When are we going to get past this racial divide and move on to more important things that affect all of us?

I think the below words from the song "Skin I'm In" by the group Cameo best describe how I feel (Lyrics taken from sing365.com):

It's the world who's out to see
Basic respect humanity
I'm just trying to be for real in a world with less appeal
I'm so frustrated and flustered
At what has been reduced to justice
It is immoral or a sin
If it is according to the skin I'm in
Skin I'm in

- GBB

Just Another Colored Man?

As many people have said, this is an exciting time. We have, for the first time in our history, both a black candidate and a woman candidate who have a very real chance of ascending to one of the, if not the most, powerful leadership roles in the entire world. Given that blacks were brought into this country as slaves and in many ways still suffer the lingering aftereffects of that tragic past, and that women of all colors have been treated as subordinates to their male counterparts since the beginnings of humankind, it's almost hard to believe that our country has progressed to the point where Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton can sit atop the Democratic Party and do battle to be the favored candidate to win the White House in November of this year.

To this point, the level of campaigning, which as politics are wont to do, can turn quite nasty, has remained relatively civil between the two. It's also been observed that those in opposition to the Democratic Party have been, in general, far more critical of Senator Clinton than of Senator Obama, some citing that perhaps many are afraid of being accused of racism when attacking Obama, but are not so much concerned that they may be labeled sexist if they attack Senator Clinton.

Is this a sign that indeed, sexism is more tolerable in today's society than is racism? I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised. As I've said above, sexism has in one way, shape, or form, been a part of human culture since the beginnings of human society. But that in no way diminishes the ongoing undercurrent of racism still rampant in this country, and just because it is no longer kosher to be upfront about such feelings, particularly in a pseudo-sanitized society where political correctness hangs over every public comment made like an ever-present guillotine ready to pass sentence on anyone who dares disturb the tense quietness of things thought but not dare said. Hatred is something that, logical or not, can have levels. Yes I hate group A, but if I hate group B worse, I'll gladly align myself with group A as the "lesser of two evils". And it seems that there are those would rather have a black man in the White House than to ever allow a woman to sit upon that vaulted throne.

But the racism is still there, and Barack Obama is still a black man. Yes, his mother was white, but anyone who happens to be blessed with the extra bit of melanin in their skin and can trace their ancestral background to the continent of Africa knows that "one drop will do it." Some deny it, while others assert that having even a few non-black genes in your blood stream makes you anything but black. But if you've grown up black, and know the history of blacks in this country, you know that at the end of the day the "amount of black" in you is inconsequential. When push comes to shove, and the issue of race becomes the 50 million pound elephant in the room, he will be considered just another black man, regardless of how greatly he rises above such a simplistic definition. And that's what worries me most.

Senator Obama is receiving unprecedented support, having raised a record 55 million campaign dollars in this past February alone. The mudslinging has been minimal, though comments by people such as radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who says a Presidential ticket of Obama and Clinton "doesn't have a prayer" is a direct spitting in the face of the progress that has been made in this country, and seems to indicate his utter dismissal of the blacks and women who would likely throw their support into such a "dream ticket" as many have dubbed it. And Representative Steve King's recent comments that Senator Obama's middle name, "Hussein," will have Al-Qaeda terrorists "dancing in the streets" is one of the most racially and religiously offensive comments I've ever heard uttered during a political campaign.

I'm afraid that at some point, perhaps when the once distant dream of a "colored man" in the White House comes true, the bubble will burst and the fantasy will lose its luster. This country and this world are facing some of the greatest political, social, and economic challenges ever to threaten society, and it'll take far more than Obama's bright new ideas and the promises that accompany them to solve them all. What happens when the war in Iraq doesn't magically come to an end, or when taxes aren't eradicated, or people still suffer from a flawed healthcare system that won't transform overnight into one in which everyone is cared for to the fullest extent of medical science? Barack Obama is a great hope and promise, and a true symbol of how far this country has come in overcoming the racist foundation upon which it was built. Obama is a man, a brilliant man, a charming man, a man who wears the mantle of leadership with a welcoming and knowing smile. But still, he's just a man. He, along with Senator Hillary Clinton, are the cracks in the old, outdated armor, the weakening of the status quo and the ignition of a new era in U.S. history. When the world doesn't transform overnight, and the problems that most concern us in our everyday lives persist, what then?

Will we give Obama a fair chance to do what he can within the time that he's given? Or will the latent racism that many have managed to put in check resurface? Will the magical chariot turn back into a pumpkin and the miraculous leader Obama suddenly become just another colored man?

I hope that we have grown beyond such treachery, such false support in which the knife is ever poised behind our backs waiting to strike as soon as the sun shines a little less bright than we expected. But having seen how society has reveled in the tribulations of Hollywood celebrities, and have almost gleefully denounced athletes who have fallen from the lofty hero status that they never asked to be placed in the first place, I'm afraid that, should Barack Obama become the next President of these United States, it's then that the true war really begins.

- GBB

One Fleeting Second

When things happen like the Virginia Tech murders of this past Monday, the surreality of the act sends many of us reeling in despair while the weight of the universe and the harsh cruelty which is an unavoidable aspect of life crushes in upon us. Some cry that its a sign of the end of the world, while others seek answers that are closely tied into their own political agendas.

As horrible as this tragedy is, there have been others. The Bath School disaster of 1927 was a series of three bombings which resulted in 45 dead, 58 injured, most of whom were 2nd to 6th graders. I don't
why the public, like the troubled and terrifying souls who commit these acts, must contrast and compare such incidents with one another as if we all share the same twisted fascination as the killers for who can top who in misery and pain.

Outcries ranging from stricter gun control to arming every citizen are being argued across the country from digital chatrooms to barroom stools. Everyone has an opinion, a view, a "full-proof" cure for what ails the world. But in order to find the right answers, you first have to ask the right questions, and personally I don't think asking how to prevent such acts is the right question. Human beings are, at our core, fragile, emotional, and vulnerable creatures. If our inner psyche, our inner spirit, is malformed or discontent, so are we. A corrupt inner being corrupts our thoughts, fuels our anger, incites our rage. Like a wounded animal, we lash out at those we feel threatened by when we believe we are forced into a corner with no escape. And it seems that with every passing hour of every passing day in every passing year within every passing decade we're breeding a materialistic society built around values so lofty and goals so unrealistic that even the fairest of the fair, the richest of the rich, and the strongest of the strong are crashing and burning as they fall short of obtaining the unobtainable, the perfect life.

We have to find a way to break this vicious cycle, to stop applying aesthetic values to Life itself. Life in itself is a miracle beyond words, something that transcends beauty and monetary value. I imagine that takes forms that we've yet to even imagine. And every single item blessed with it, whether you are a person of Faith or not, deserves to be treasured for what it is, not restricted by what the human mind can conceive. We're all children of the wondrous universe in which we live, and in the grand scheme of things we are each just a small part of it all.  Our kids need to know this and stop having to live up to standards that have nothing to do with love or happiness, or the enjoyment of being alive. I feel like we're all trapped in all trapped in a toilet and as we swirl around at an ever increasing speed we're being drawn toward the drain leading straight to Hell and oblivion. I want to stand on the highest mountain and scream and scream and scream and scream until every human ear embraces my sorrow, my frustration, my anger, and my fear. I want a moment when every beating heart is in unison, when every human my, body and soul is linked as one so that we truly understand, just for one fleeting second, that none of us are alone.

Maybe then we'll be able to ask the only question that really matters, and will be able to seek out the ultimate answers. The question, is simply "Why?"

- GBB

The Power of Words

Words are the vocal or written expression of our thoughts, our ideals, our emotions. They are a means of painting mental pictures that can often be more vivid than what we see with our eyes. Words can impart the greatest love and affection, but they also can be used to batter and bruise, to deal a nasty wound like a knife between the ribs. Because words have depth and meaning, and because we humans are creatures ruled by emotion and often defined by our own sense of self worth, words are often a more brutal weapon than any other man can devise.

We live in a world in conflict, where the freedom of speech is in jeopardy from the tides of political correctness. The more sensitive are about what we say, going far over the boundaries of common sense in an attempt to avoid offending anyone, the louder and more blatant those who would push freedom of speech well past its breaking point become. It's as if we live in a society of intolerants hiding behind the mask of liberalism, or a world full of conservative chameleons who, were they to show their true colors, are in fact more liberal minded than the proudest liberal. It seems as if no one is truly committed to their own publicly expressed beliefs.

Don Imus, long time radio talk show host and "shock jock," made racially insensitive comments about the Rutgers University Womens' Basketball Team, who, against all odds, made the finals of this year's NCAA tournament. Their achievement had been applauded by many, and the women were lifted to the status of icons and role models for women everywhere, be they black, white, etc.

But Imus, in "joking" with his producer on air April 4th, referred to the women as a bunch of "nappy-headed hos". He since apologized multiple times, proclaiming that he is not a bad person, but said a stupid thing he now regrets. The public outrage has been growing at an exponential rate since, and both his CBS radio station and MSNBC, who simulcasts the show on cable, have suspended Imus for two weeks. In addition, it's just been announced that MSNBC has dropped Imus' show altogether, and given the growing number of sponsors dropping out of the show, I suspect his radio career may die a painful and sudden death very soon. Many people are calling for Imus' head on a platter, while others cry foul, using the excuse of free speech as a crutch to lean on in support of Imus' right to spout such comments without censure.

As I see it, freedom of speech is a right, a privilege, and a responsibility. Speech is about the expression of ideals and beliefs, the right to have whatever opinion you wish to hold. The US Constitution says I have the right to bear arms. This does not, however, give me the right to use them to harm or kill my neighbor. In the same way, freedom of speech doesn't mean that we have the right to use words to denigrate others. Of course this happens every day, but normally it occurs in a heated argument or another anger-fueled situation, or comes from the mouth of comedians whose job is to express social and political commentary in a cutting, but humorous fashion. But Imus had no personal confrontation with the women of Rutgers. The team isn't a political entity in which he had some issue with. And Imus is not a professional comedian. As far as I can see, there was no justifiable reason for him to pick on these beautiful, smart, proud women for any other reason than the mere fact that he felt he could get away with it. After all, they didn't represent his target demographic, and in his mind, most of his audience would laugh along with him at his poor jest. Yes, he has since expressed regret for his comments, but that came after the storm of controversy erupted around him once his comments reached beyond his tiny universe.

Honestly, I don't think the important question is whether or not Imus should be fired, nor whether he deserves a second chance given how many others have gotten away with similar comments in the past. And if Imus is indeed protected under the laws governing free speech, then so is the public at large who are speaking out against him, and it's they who ultimate pay his salary, not the other way around. Frankly I could care less whether Imus stays or goes. But I want to see a world where hate is no longer a part of our vernacular, where we don't have to wait until the populace decides which injustices are intolerable, and which aren't worth the slightest concern. When are we going to reach the day when we actually care as much, if not more, for others as we do for ourselves?

I don't resent Imus, or hold any malice toward him. He's entitled to be whoever he wishes, to believe whatever he chooses. And I don't want to live in a world where the right to believe whatever you wish. But I DO want to live in a world where hate is not accepted, where maliciousness, be it expressed in physical or verbal form, isn't tolerated by the masses. The reason people like Don Imus, Michael Richards, and Mel Gibson have publicly expressed such hateful, hurtful ideals so publicly is because they know that for the most part, though in subtler ways, these very thoughts are on the minds and lay unspoken on the tongues of far too many people, and until that has been driven from the world, the words will continue to flow.

Right now, I don't feel rage, nor the desire for justice from Imus or any of his ilk. I just feel sadness and disappointment because in the 21st century, decades removed from a time of severe racial strife, we're still fighting the same fight over and over again.

- GBB

What's Going On?

Today, another innocent child is dead. They had searched for him for a week, along the way arresting a next door neighbor (a previously convicted child molester), both of the man's parents, and a family friend, for obstruction of justice. I'm sure murder charges are soon to follow.

Every day there seems to be another horrible story of a child being callously slaughtered for the so-called "pleasures," "obsessions," or as the outlet for pent up frustrations and rage of other adults. I see these crimes and I think of all the ones that have come before. I think of how many of these crimes are perpetrated by the child's own parents, the one's who are supposed to be willing to move heaven and earth to protect that which should be most precious to them. My own anger and pain at these heinous crimes tell me that if any crime in the universe is deserving of the death penalty, this is it. I don't know if it's right. I don't know if its wrong. All I do know is that there is NEVER an excuse for the murder of a child, and that there's no prison or punishment that we can concoct that would ever measure up to this heinous crime.

But is the death penalty an act of revenge? Is it a leftover from our barbarian past? Is there ever a case where one murder justifies another? Even I feel nothing but sorrow and disgust when I see people celebrating the death of another, like after the execution of Saddam Hussein. The taking of another life should never be trivialized, is never worthy of rejoicing. Because of the nature of the world we live, and because there are those who would do us harm, sometimes the act of murder is the last but only resort left to us. Police officers and soldiers deal with this possibility every day, and sometimes even we civilians find ourselves with such choices before us. As I say in my book Phoenix Tales: Stories of Death & Life, life and death are like two sides of the same coin. You cannot have one without the other.

But when one knowingly, willfully takes a life, particularly the life of a child, are we supposed to simply tolerate such an act? I know we have the ability to incarcerate a person for the rest of his or her life, but does this in any way address the issue at hand? Does it deter others from doing this, or does it merely remove one tiny shark from a sea of predators?

My point isn't to champion the death penalty, or to cry for revenge. My point is that something is horribly wrong with our world when we continuously hear stories of children dying at the cruel hands of adults, and we all need to get off of our asses and start seeking and demanding answers. I know fate plays a role, and often things happen that we can't explain, but if you could trace backwards along the path of all involved, you would find the choices that led you down the path toward the fate you wound up facing. Make sense?

There's a threat just as deadly as avian flu, just as real as cancer, that's going on in our society here and now and while the death penalty is undoubtedly not the solution, if given the choice between that and nothing, I admit I would choose the poor excuse for "something" the death penalty provides. But I believe there are other, better options, more viable and effective solutions. Ways to stop future murders without resorting to present-day murders. The question is what are those alternate solutions, and whether we are doing enough as a society to find them.

All I know is that this trend needs to stop, and by whatever truly effective means necessary, whether it be the death penalty, a societal-wide change in how we raise our kids, or psychological evaluation and counciling for every human before the age of eighteen. Bottom line is that we need to save the children of tomorrow by doing something NOW!

- GBB

Things that tick me off...

Or more mostly, one thing in particular.

Arrogant jerks who think that the anonymity of the Internet gives them carte blanche to do or say whatever they want. I've seen this very assinine attitude cripple or destroy various sites, one which I was as administrator for and truly loved until it changed, and now over at Leoville drastic changes are being made just because of the actions of a few who left Leo Laporte no other choice but to remove some of the most popular forum areas. AND on top of that, some loudmouth critical jerk who hangs out over on the forums for the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction is insulting both me and Mr. Piers Anthony by insinuating I PAID for his review of my book!

I really don't give a rat's you know what (trying to remain civil tongued here, at least today), what he thinks about me, but Mr. Anthony did me a favor by even taking a few moments to glance at my book (something he rarely does), and to think that he then subsequently read it all the way through and then to actually give me a review on his site?? I still can't believe it. So let me make this emphatically clear for the deaf, dumb, and the cynical.

There was NO orchestration, NO plot, NO plan, NO lying, NO premeditation, AND NO PAY!!!

It was solely through the generous offer of a friend named CD Moulton, whom I asked to review my book prior to release and give me a blurb for it, that this all happened. He thought enough of my work to ask Mr. Anthony to at least take a peek at it, telling me upfront that Mr. Anthony may very well decline. And the rest, as the old tired, cliche goes, is history.

I've dealt with far more clever and offensive people then this guy, and I honestly shouldn't even give him the satisfaction of seeing how he's getting under my skin (since I'm sure that's all he's really after), but I don't like seeing people take cheap shots at others, particularly ones I know to be truly classy and full of integrity. It's almost like having Mr. Anthony taking undue criticism merely because of me, from a jackass (oops! So much for civil tongues, huh?), that knows nothing about me or my work. At least if he had read the damn book he'd have a legititmate (despite whether it's ultimately fair or honest) base from which to criticize. Though being the normally meek, soft-spoken, person that I am ("cough, cough*), nothing riles me up more than seeing someone being unfairly disrespected that way.

Grrrrrr!

I'll get over it, I'm sure, and most everyone over at the F&SF boards already knows the guy for what he really is. I think I just needed to vent, because it's something I'm seeing far too often on the Net these days. People think freedoms are a license to do whatever they want, but that's far from true. Freedom is a right, (a God-given one, if you're of that kind of belief, as I am), but it's also a responsibility. And if you abuse your rights then ultimately they will be taken away, as we're seeing happening inch by inch during the post 9-11 era.

Don't believe me? Check out the article here. Big Brother is turning his eyes toward the Internet now. Apparenly many are now speaking much too freely for his taste.

As for the resident jerk of the week, he can kiss my, um, feet. Yeah, that's it. ;)

*WheelMan steps down from soapbox now, and returns to his normally subdued self (*cough, cough*)*

- The WheelMan

When reality bites

Leading up to yesterday's Presidential election I realized that inside me, anxiousness over the prospects of what might happen was slowly building. I feared we'd wind up with four more years of the same old same old, and my fears proved well founded.

Not sure what's most disturbing to me about the outcome of the election, but I think it's just the mere fact that the results clearly show just how widespread the conservative movement in this country has become, seemingly crossing both economic and racial lines. As freedoms continue to erode under the guise of "protecting" us, and as we as Americans become more and more wrapped up in what goes on inside our neighbors bedrooms than what's happening right in our own living rooms and backyards, I'm worried about where we're going next. Just seems to me that many of the people adopting conservative views are the very ones who are gonna wake up one day to discover how these very tendencies have crept up behind them and taken a huge, nasty bite out of their own asses. And my biggest fear is that by the time this country realizes where we've gone, we'll be too far astray to ever find our way home.

I hope my fears are completely unfounded, but right now, I just don't know.

- The WheelMan

Restoration of Dreams

As I said in my last post, where there's a will, there's a way. This is especially true when you have friends willing to help you in whatever way they can. Thanks to some suggestions posted here by one friend, I found an affofdable (and yes, legitimate) way to get the entire Adobe Creative Suite.

Or should that be SWEET!? :)

Thanks, Dude. You rock!

- The WheelMan