Resolute or Ir-so?

I don't actually think that title sakes any mense. It was supposed to be clever and catching.

Didn't work. Failed miserably.

Just like my new year resolutions for 2009.


Out of the eight resolutions I made, about one and a half, or possible three-quarters, succeeded.

Let's review them, shall we?

Those that I followed through with:
-Solve a Rubiks Cube: I did a pretty good job on this one, I reckon. Got myself a $3 Rubik's cube from the 2 dollar shop, solved it. I can do it in less than 5 minutes easily.

Those that I semi-followed through with:
-Spend less time on the computer everyday: Kinda. I go through stages. Overall, though, I can spend less time on the computer if need be. It all depends on how much there is to do on Facebook.
-Vary the genres of my short stories, so as to stretch and improve my writing skills: The few short stories I have managed to write this year have been of quite different genres/styles. I didn't write many, though.

Those that failed miserably:
-Get a job: Tried...Kinda. I left the trying till near the end of the year, though...didn't particularly help anything. But I did try. A lot. I'm still trying, even. It's just that nothing has come up yet. I got another rejection letter just a couple of hours ago.
-Start playing a sport again and keep fit during the off-season: Yeah nah. Didn't happen.
-Plan, write, edit, rewrite, edit & edit one short story per month: About 2 or 3... Almost 12, right?
-Complete the first draft of at least one WIP: Far from.
-Complete a wasgij puzzle: Never got around to acquiring one let alone starting or finishing it.

So there you have it. Fail with a capital F.

One resolution remains. The "ultimate" one.

Become a better person than I am now, by being more of a friend and being "there" for my friends when they need me, changing my attitude towards others and life in general, being more patient with people, friends and most of all family, and reaching out to those who need a hand, friend, shoulder, or whatever it is they need, or finding someone who can give that. Also spend more time with God, and have a deeper relationship with him.

I guess I can't really answer for that one, can I? It's really up to everyone else. My friends. Have I, or have I not?

And there we have it. 2009 is almost over. Time has run out.

Therefore the answer to the question, I'm sure you've already guessed, is Ir-so. Very much Irresolute.

I confess, though, I didn't try very hard. Maybe next year.

Truthful Lies

I was thinking earlier about what I should blog about today, and I remembered something my pastor mentioned in a sermon a couple of weeks ago. It's been bothering me since.

One of the comments he made was something along the lines of "...everything the devil says is a lie. So really when he says something you know the complete opposite is the truth." Those are not his words exactly, but it's the general idea.

Most people would just agree with that, as it seems true, and is in fact true in most cases, which is why I think it passed unnoticed. It wasn't a planned comment, just something he said in passing.

I don't think I agree with that entirely, however. Recently having memorised stuff for my exams, the quotes for English are still well and truly stuck in my mind. One of these quotes, from the director's commentary for Breach, came to mind not long after my pastor said this.

"The most convincing lies are always rooted in some kind of truth."

This was applied to a particular piece of dialogue from the movie. I reckon that it is very true. In fact, I believe the same can be applied to the devil and his lies. The most convincing, most believable lies spoken by the devil will have just enough truth in them so that you don't realise that it's anything but true until it's almost too late. He's had thousands of years of experience--more than enough to be able to fool us humans any day. We're quite a gullible species, really.

So instead of just saying that everything is a straight lie (even the devil recognises some truths), we need to be discerning and able to separate the truth from the lies. Not just in this case, either. In everyday life it is the same.

How many times have you been fooled by a truthful veneer over a big fat lie? I know I have countless times.

Write then, let's get to it!

Must. Write.

Write. Write. WRITE!

Yes, that's write. I need to get in to some heavy writing my friends. My mind is just itching to get going and get some serious words out on to paper. It's time for some storytelling.

But I need your help. I want to kick it off with some Flash Fiction to get my brain into gear.

WAIT! They scream. What the heck is Flash Fiction?

Flash Fiction is a very vague term, but in general it is a short piece of fiction written in less than 1000 words, able to be easily written and read in one go.

Ah. Say the people. Go on then.

I don't just want to write any old story, however. I want to write something for you. For everyone. How will I do this? It's easy. You tell me what to write and I'll write it.

Comment on this blog post, each and every one of you, with some basic details listed below. (If you don't know how to comment, simply click on the link directly below this post that says [# Comments], where # is the number of comments.)

I need at least the first 5 main details, then if you want you can also specify a couple of other optional details that follow.

Here they are:


Main details:

1) The full name of the main character (and if it is a male or female, just to be safe).

2) The time period the story is set in. Choose either Past, Present or Future. If past or future, give a relative time for me to go by (ie. 1479/2305 or 1600s/2300s).

3) The location. Give either [City, Country] or just [Country]. Feel free to make up one or both of these, but if it is a made up place then be sure to specify this.

4) The first word of the story. Be random, be creative!

5) A one sentence summary of the plot (what the story is about). It doesn't matter how detailed or vague it is, I don't care. Anything from "A man rides a bike." or "A man builds a house." to "A middle aged white male trains for one of the biggest bike races in the country, then goes on to do this race and come third, thus proving that anything is possible if you put your mind to it." will do, so long as it isn't any of those ideas I just said. There are no limits or restrictions, be as boring or creative or imaginative as you like.


Optional details:

6) The tense the story is written in. Choose either Past or Present.

7) The POV (point of view) of the story. Choose either First or Third person.


Originally I was going to pick just one of the ideas and write it, but I've decided that in fact I'll write all of them. Whether it be 7, 77 or even 777 ideas, I will not rest until the last story is finished. So throw as many ideas as possible at me. If you've got more than one idea, give me both or all of them. There is no limit. Give me all you've got. Push me as hard as you can until the bones in my hands are about to crumble.

Now that I have signed my life away (or so it would seem), I shall go and enjoy the last of my freedom.

The Silent Conflict

A couple of nights ago I was watching 60 Minutes whilst doing the dishes. The first section was on a topic I bet you weren't expecting to read about in this here blog of mine.

Male infertility.

Woah. I bet you're thinking.

Why the heck is going to talk about that? You're probably wondering.

I've actually probably put you off my blog entirely. But hey, it's on my mind. This is my mind. If you knew everything that went on in my mind you'd be more than a little freaked out.

First let me summarise the point of the feature.

Apparently New Zealand males have the lowest fertility rate in the world (meaning that it's hard to have kids, in case you don't know what that means). And it's only getting worse. Without going into details, largely cos I'm really not entirely sure of what the heck it all means, basically a heck of a lot of young couples who are trying to and want to have kids just don't seem to be able to--some even after several years of trying! Why this is, we have yet to discover.

Although I'm sure you're content with what I've given you so far, that actually is not the reason for this blog. At least, not all of it.

What really gets to me is that there are so many couples out there who are trying desperately to get pregnant, and just can't. It totally and completely sucks for them. They'd give practically anything to have a kid or two of their own.

Yet on the other side of things, thousands of babies a legally killed every year in New Zealand. I believe the amount lies somewhere around 18,000. I could sugar-coat it and call it the common name, abortion, but it's murder. It's wrong.

Whether you agree with me on this point or not, surely you can all see the slight dilemma we have here. Why is it that those who don't want to get pregnant do, and those would want to so badly just can't? Especially for those trying, it must be incredibly painful to not be able to have the gift of children, when so many are just being killed off every day, unwanted. It's not fair. At all. It makes me mad.

Who gave us the right to decide who gets to live and who must die before they are even born? Everyone argues left, right and centre about this issue all the time, yet the only people who never get a say are the little children who's lives are in the balance. It's not right.

There are many things about society that I don't agree with, but most of all right now, there is one huge issue that just won't stop nagging me.

It's the silent conflict that no one seems to be speaking up about.

How come there are so many miserable couples, unable to get kids of their own in any way, yet there are so many thousands of unborn children killed every year?