Conversations with Calliope- Dreamweaver Competence

(Canadaway Creek)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How's the caffeine hangover coming?
JOE: Better every day. Yesterday my brain felt a little fuzzy. Still I accomplished quite a bit despite my lack of caffeine and my body's resistance to being deprived.
CALLIOPE: Glad to hear you are surviving. What did you accomplish?
JOE: I revised my entire Commonsense Wisdom website. I think it's ready for release although I want to check over the format and links first.
CALLIOPE: Congratulations. Tell me about the site.
JOE: Originally it duplicated my Sliding Otter site. I struggled with how to make the two complementary.
CALLIOPE: How did it end up?
JOE: The Sliding Otter site lists my writings for sale and offers samples from all of them. The Commonsense Wisdom site serves as an archive for stories, articles and archives of past blogs and newsletters.
CALLIOPE: Sounds sensible.
JOE: I hope so.
CALLIOPE: Are both sites the way you want them?
JOE: Not quite. They are both still works in progress. I have some refinements in mind once I figure out how to do them.
CALLIOPE: I'll be watching anxiously.
JOE: So will I. Talk with you tomorrow.

Conversations with Calliope- Dialogue with My Muse

(Into the Woods)
JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: A bit discombobulated.
CALLIOPE: How so?
JOE: I finally got my computer back from the shop yesterday. Now I have the task of reinstalling my programs which can be a challenge.
CALLIOPE: How's it coming?
JOE: Slowly. I think I will need the day to get set up again.
CALLIOPE: No literary activity today?
JOE: Probably not.
CALLIOPE: How about over the weekend?
JOE: Tomorrow I am scheduled for a writers' retreat at a farmhouse in Albion. I'm looking forward to meeting some new people and recharging my creative batteries.
CALLIOPE: Sounds like fun.
JOE: I hope so. I also plan to meet some new contacts, particularly from the Linkup writers group in Rochester.
CALLIOPE: What do they have to offer you?
JOE: I hear they focus on publishing more than my group. I am hoping they can be helpful in my search for a home for Marital Property once it's finished. I have to leave early tomorrow. I'll talk with you if I have a chance. Otherwise we'll talk on Monday.

Conversations with Calliope- Dialogue with My Muse

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Okay. I am coming to some resolution of my video camera mystery.
CALLIOPE: How so?
JOE: I visited the dealer yesterday and learned that the camera is working fine. The problem seems to be with my computer.
CALLIOPE: Does that surprise you?
JOE: Not really. I have been having some other problems lately and think it might well be difficulty with an outmoded operating system.
CALLIOPE: And the solution?
JOE: Replace it with a more up to date one. It is rather a bother however since I will have to reload all my programs.
CALLIOPE: Is that such a big deal?
JOE: Not really. It just takes time, and time is something I have been thinking about lately.
CALLIOPE: In what regard?
JOE: I am beginning to realize I won't live forever. I can keep sailing on or decide how I want to spend whatever time I have left.
CALLIOPE: Do you need to make a decision?
JOE: Probably not. But I feel I am drifting lately and would like to be more focused. I will give this issue some thought in the next few days. Talk with you tomorrow.
(Ernestina- New Bedford, MA)

Converstions with Calliope-Dialogue with My Muse

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Raring to go.
CALLIOPE: Good. I take it you had a refreshing weekend.
JOE: I did. I chauffeured my clown Fuzzy to the Oatka Festival parade. While watching the parade I made two new contacts. Later we relaxed with friends in Penfield. Yesterday I found some sale books at the Leroy Library and continued reading The Poisonwood Bible and also completed my outline of the video, Are You Afraid To Read This Book.
CALLIOPE: Sounds busy as well as relaxing. What's on the agenda for today?
JOE: I have some library books out which I want to review for style today. I also have an evaluation to complete and the video to record.
CALLIOPE: That should keep you busy. Any progress with Marital Property?
JOE: No, I haven't had time to work on it. If I have time later today I will. If not, I will get back to it tomorrow.
CALLIOPE: You sound more organized today than you did last week.
JOE: I'm working on it. I feel I have a better sense of direction this week. I think it will help me get more accomplished.
CALLIOPE: I hope you're right.
JOE: I hope so too. Talk with you tomorrow.
(Morning- Leroy, NY)

Conversations with Calliope

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Hot, but otherwise fine.
CALLIOPE: Did you accomplish anything yesterday?
JOE: A swim, but not much else. I had little ambition yesterday and didn't even follow through with the few plans I had. However I did enjoy an outing last night with my grandson and favorite clown.
CALLIOPE: I guess we all deserve a little down time. How about today?
JOE: I don't have much time. I am baking bread and have coleslaw to prepare for this afternoon. I think the most I will accomplish will be to post my column on my website. Tomorrow I have little on the agenda and will get serious about planning my videos. I spent some time yesterday reading Maugham's Of Human Bondage, recommended for its description, particularly of characters.
CALLIOPE: And your conclusion?
JOE: Cindy was right. He does an excellent job. Recent literary fiction of my acquaintance is tricky and intricate but does not seem to have much of a plot. I think that is a missing element.
CALLIOPE: Why do you suppose this is?
JOE: Maybe life is seen as not having much purpose any more. I guess I'm not really sure. This phenomenon does not seem to appear in short stories I have read.
CALLIOPE: Something to consider. Anything happening with Commonsense Wisdom for Teens.
JOE: I have posted questions on several sites about the need for and process of obtaining teen permission for inclusion of their input.
CALLIOPE: Is there a consensus of opinion?
JOE: Questionnaire data seems OK to include but narrative seems to require parental input. The process remains somewhat of a mystery. But I will give it further thought. Talk with you Monday.
(Dishes drying- Batavia, NY)

Conversations with Calliope

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Quite excited.
CALLIOPE: Tell me about it.
JOE: I think I am starting to become established. On Monday, John Kremer posted a blog on my ten reasons pro and con for buying my book. On Friday I will be recording a podcast with Phil Davis on my writing and marketing efforts.
CALLIOPE:How did those come about?
JOE: Through my efforts in contacting both men. I have discovered that sitting back and waiting for the world to come to me doesn't work.
CALLIOPE: Have you been making other efforts as well?
JOE: Yes. I am starting to receive comments on our conversations after posting them for quite a while. We do seem to be developing a following. I hope it doesn't go to your head.
CALLIOPE: Don't worry. I've been around long enough to take it in stride. How's the editing coming.
JOE: Fitting it in is often a struggle. Today I have a column to write with everything else on my plate. I do have a new plan though.
CALLIOPE: What is it?
JOE: Glad you asked. I will start printing at least a couple of chapters to review at Carol's in the evenings. She is against having a computer in her house, so I have been limited to daytime writing so far. I might also ask her about keeping my backup computer at her house without an Internet connection. Frankly, I see some benefit in getting away from the worldwide brain sometimes myself.
CALLIOPE: Let me know how it goes. Good luck with the column.
JOE: Thanks, I'll tell you about it tomorrow.
(Printer and hat)

Conversations with Calliope

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. What's going on today?
JOE: I was just trying to figure that out. I have quite a few possibilities. I think I will work on writing for a while this morning before I have to go out and run errands.
CALLIOPE: Did you get to do any writing yesterday?
JOE: No. I worked on networking in the morning. I had planned to do some writing in the afternoon between appointments, but it didn't work out that way.
CALLIOPE: You seem to have a hard time finding time to write lately.
JOE: That's true. I had been writing in late afternoon which seemed to work for quite a while. Now other things seem to crowd it out and sometimes I don't get to it at all.
CALLIOPE: What do you plan to do about it?
JOE: I think it would be best to start writing in the morning again and then I would be sure it gets done rather than pushed out of my mind by all the other things which are not as much of a priority.
CALLIOPE: Sounds like a good idea. When do you plan to start this revised schedule?
JOE: This morning. As soon as I get done here, I will write the next chapter of Marital Property. It seems ready in my mind but it is not doing much good there.
CALLIOPE: Then I guess you better get at it.
JOE: Right. Talk to you tomorrow.

(Waiting for Spring renewal)

Ready, Fire, Aim

At one time I thought that only people with ADHD were impulsive. I have since discovered that world leaders can act the same way. Acting without a clear goal or strategy has embroiled us in the Iraq debacle with little sense of how to extricate ourselves from a mess we have created by trying to mold a country and its people into our own image despite their inclinations. While the Iraqis certainly did not like being ruled by a tyrant, they most certainly do not like having become a center of violence, often turned against each other. We do not seem to be used to taking our time to find reasonable approaches. We wish immediate solutions which often end up causing further problems. I wish there were an easy solution, but one does not seem evident yet.