Rainbows and Rascals
Mood:
happy
Topic: tribute
Rainbows and Rascals
Surreal is the only way to describe it. I never thought of myself as a writer. No, I’m a technical person. I deal with theoretical math and computers. Oh sure, I’ve had some exposure as a writer. The ex wife liked a story I penned. Even the writer workshop at the college gave me two thumbs up. No, I’ll read but I haven’t a clue about how these authors can come up with all those words. I found it amazing how the twists and turns are woven throughout a book. I could never do that.
Then I got my own computer. I had to do a short paper for my final in one of my classes. My subject was a bit more complex than most, so my ‘short’ paper came out to thirty pages. That was three times longer than our maximum allowed length. But it was accepted and even earned a good grade. The games on the computer were a source of fun.
Not long after, I met my neighbor. To make a long story short, she started college. I was asked to help write her introductory paper for a class. I read what she wrote then I wrote one. She was not a writer! It is through this association that my words landed in the writer’s workshop. I kept playing solitaire.
Now what does a computer card game have to do with writing? Nothing and everything. A person can only play so many games I was bored. Within the same timeframe I discovered the Internet. When it first became widely available, there were things called Bulletin Board Systems or BBS. Nowadays we call it a chat room. I found a BBS with writers. I wasn’t one, but maybe I could understand the craft more by talking with some. The first thing I had to do was register.
“Pick a user name”
I’m not a writer, but this is a writing place so I wanted the word writer included in my ID. The only one that worked was unwriter. I’ve been unwriter ever since. I spent hours talking to people all over the world. I picked up a bit of culture. I noticed both creativity and the lack thereof in others user names. I didn’t learn much about the craft of writing.
Then my world exploded. I got dumped. No, it wasn’t the ex wife. She still believed in me. It was the girlfriend. This, as it turns out, was destiny at work. It’s funny because I just now realized this. I wrote a piece detailing what happened. I wasn’t a writer. I just used the pen to relieve some of the pain. It was around this same time I found instant messenger.
I don’t remember many of the details but I know I was searching for ways to make money using the Internet. All I remember is that I met some interesting people. Talking with them helped relieve the pain. Many years later a very dear friend taught me how to eradicate this bad memory. But that’s not the important issue here. This was when I made my first website. Soon I realized a few of these people I was talking to had helped me. I wrote a piece, a testimonial, about many of them. I put these on a website and even made an ebook. It didn’t sell. I picked up a spiral notebook. Two weeks later I had the text for Computers in Plain English. PublishAmerica published it. But I’m not a writer.
The Internet is a strange world. The non-writer that I am, started a website called The Surreal Writer. I started to look for writing groups. I had a website and I wanted to promote it. This opened up a whole can of worms. I met many writers. I started dialogues with many of them. I discovered a world of books I never knew existed. I met Joyce. The website? It went nowhere.
Over the course of time I composed many short stories. I also started making beaded jewelry. And I fell in love with a rainbow. I started making video book trailers. Joyce found the pictures. For the first time, somebody cared enough to actually read what I wrote. We did, and still do, make a great team. She has taught me a lot. Contrary to my belief that if writing is easy, anyone can do it, I learned from her that it is a talent. I salute you, my rainbow girl!!! You are the best. And by the way, I am a writer!
Posted by theessaywriter
at 1:04 PM CDT
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