overblown/wordy vol.2: writing confessions

Many years a go, when I started writing in this blog, my father gave me a life-long advice. He said "Don't ever write anything on your blog that you wouldn't publish on a billboard on the highway, with your name on it". Point taken, I've been chary of what I publish here, but not as much as to change the essence of what I like to write about. 

I've tried my best not to make any gaffes because it's not in my nature and also because there is a definitive matter of everything that is published on the internet that makes your writing written on ink. Never on pencil. And the point in this is not to make a sap of myself. I have, however, accepted all kinds of comments (or feedback) in this site. Some come from acerbic people, others are subtle in their opprobrium, while some extoll me and others deliberately try to disparage me. I've learned that there is a succint difference between being critical, and being mean. Somewhere in the middle you have to draw a line. But I would never censure this page.

Some friends of mine that are very reticent about their personal lives, find the initiative of writing a personal blog with your name and last name on it, very intrepid. I've never really seen it that way, but I guess I can understand their points of view. The reason I'm sedulous in keeping this blog updated is because I want to be a writer. The best one I can be. And it is essential that I write everyday and receive some sort of feedback to improve. Some people think that the pith of writing is talent. But Stephen King would tell you, the pith of writing is discipline. One of my main objectives is to eliminate circumlocutions, and prosaic phrases or words from my vocabulary and writing in general. Also, avoid any sentences that obfuscate the true meaning of the story itself. While doing research for my novels, I try to be very nice and thorough as to avoid anachronisms. Also, learning neologisms, is a great asset to writing.

I have to confess, I feel propensity towards fiction when it comes to writing, but not always when it comes to reading. It's somehow fascinating to read about something that actually happened. But it's unbelievably fun to use your imagination to make up stories, and characters, and situations that could happen in real life, but who knows if they actually did. When your brain is the creator of a story, there is absolutely no limits as to what you can invent. Take JK Rowling, for example. 

I don't usually write about contentious issues. Even though sometimes I like to think of myself as a maverick, I've never been a fan of controversy. I am very zealous about the people I love and things I love to do. It's what makes me who I am. I'm not shy about showing ebullience and alacrity when I'm happy and proud of someone I care about, or whenever I feel like I've accomplished something in my life. Just as much as I enjoy stealing a furtive look from someone, or visit to read this page. 

Sometimes I fall asleep with a cogent idea. As I wake up, the morning after, I feel incipient inspiration building up, until I know it's the time to start writing about it. I start typing away without stopping until I know I'm done. I don't peruse the words I should say or use, and that I think is one of my flaws when it comes to writing. For some reason I've always had the mistaken idea that to think too much about something you write about is to take away it's soul and make it prosaic. Of course, this isn't always the case. Some times I need to go out and just observe people. Other times I brainstorm and end up wavering from one idea to the other. Trying to have acumen as to which is best.

A writer's block is the worse thing that happens to writers. It is a hindrance in the process of story making and sometimes it's very difficult to unblock. The first symptom of a writer's blog is when you start to shirk from writing and inveigle yourself that you just don't have time right now to write, or any other ridiculous excuse. Writing blocks stymie ideas from reaching your brain. The best way to stop these blocks is to be extemporaneous and just start typing away, even if you're prattling about anything.

To a blog writer, the single most important thing is receiving comments on your posts.  We burgeon at the sight of feedback. Somehow, we take them as an accolade, even when they're not positive. Criticism is essential for us. The majority of writers don't do it as a complaisance to their readers. We write what we have in our veins and we hope our readers feel stupefied the minute they read it But  most importantly, we need to feel satisfied with our work. That's always an exigent matter.  A writer that feels ennui about his work is frankly depressing because they start questioning themselves so much as to reach a perfidy in this particular art.

overblown/wordy vol.1: kala

Lexotanil is a drug that has a soporific effect. I just gave half a pill to my Golden Retriever in order to damp her fears and propitiate her. Kala's small black eyes look refulgent as she wonders how she suddenly feels assuaged. Every time there's a storm, she becomes impetuous and alarmed, she cries and screams in vexation, and her whole body trembles. After 20 minutes of what I would call a plethora of lightning and rain, the storm abated. 

Right now, Kala stays phlegmatic against the pristine glass door that divides the living room from the study, where I'm currently writing this turgid essay. I feel happy the drug was able to mollify her, last time it rained I thought she would get a heart attack. The back yard is completely flooded, so much that it is untenable, even for Kala to go to the bathroom. Golden retrievers have been touted of being the friendliest dogs on Earth. Of course, I have complete proclivity to agree with this laudatory statement and I hope people don't mistake it for hubris. 

Sometimes people come here and fawn over how beautiful her face is or how loving and innocuous she is. In the other hand, some very few people, such as my friend Claudia, feel that Kala lacks decorum, hence she's annoying, so she gets treated with derision. The only thing that bothers me about my dog is that any type of food (even a pill) has a pungent smell for her, so she begs me to let her eat it. Some people have a glib outlook on dogs, they don't realize what amazing companions they are. In general though, Kala is amenable to most people. 

She's six years old and as she gets older I realize how she's really not immutable. For example, three years a go she wasn't afraid of rain. Now she is. Even though she looks innocuous, I have to say, she can be inimical to some people. The good thing is that she has a six sense of knowing who to be harmful to. She only attacks very mean people. Last time I traveled north, I bought her a quixotic necklace that my mother has grown to hate because it makes a din sound when she starts to run around rapidly throughout the house.  

My mother always says dogs are like babies. You have to take good care of them all the time. In our experience,  pervasive flees in our backyard have made her very sick a couple of times. Sick enough to take her the vet and be treated with medication. Anytime I drop a glass of water, I clean the floor thoroughly and become paranoid that she'll eat or harm herself with a shard of glass.

Many friends are allergic to her fur, even I've grown allergic to it because dust seems to accumulate in it. Three months a go we had her fur shaved, and she looked pretty funny, some people said she looked like a sheep. Her hair grew back very fast, but now its variegated with different tones of beige. It definitely rarified her, so we're happy she looks more unfeigned.

When Kala was little she misbehaved a lot. Actually, she had mostly one problem of conduct. She would pee, or take a dump, over my mother's favorite urbane rugs. Every time she would do this, I would flout her, and my mother would vituperate in disappointment. After a few minutes, Kala would feel so contrite that, with an impossible to describe attitude, she would beg for expiation or forgiveness.

Her presence has become ubiquitous in this house. She is a key element in our quotidian lives.