Opinions Are Not Artillery; Artillery is.

I don't have a lot of websites, don't do a lot of social networking. I just keep my two blogs, own a silent Twitter account, another at Wattpad. I suppose that allows me more time to analyze my news feeds, as they aren't flooded with hundreds or dozens of people's posts, far too many to read and digest and respond to with in-depth, personal responses. One or two will stand out and, from time to time, I'm compelled to respond because the post was awesomely funny, or tragic, or for whatever reason. The reason I'm responding to this one is probably obvious, as I'm a writer and a consumer of books, and it just made me roll my eyes.

So. It is one young lady's opinion, and I quote (nearly), that "people who review other people's books negatively in public are dead to me." Dead to her. Really? So they can't express how they feel about it if they don't like it or if they don't like part of it, or the title or whatever, otherwise they're "dead" to her.

That's like saying someone's dead to you because they're not lovin' it at McDonald's just because you are. They've insulted your delicate sensibilities with their vegetarian ways and you'll never be seen entering any other restaurant with them ever again. "They're dead to me." Seriously? That seems a tad morbid, doesn't it, exiling someone because they voiced an opinion. By that logic everything that I like that you hate is a factor in why you're dead to me and why I'm nearly one of the last people alive walking the planet.

Opinion isn't a privilege of the wealthy. You aren't educated in the craft of opinion then awarded a degree before you can give an opinion. You have a brain, it has thoughts. You have a face and it has a mouth. There's really nothing shocking or improper about it, unless of course an opinion is abusive and becomes relentless in which case it is referred to as bullying.

It seemed in elementary school teachers were always encouraging students to speak their minds, stressing the importance of being one's self, thinking for one's self. If Johnny likes chocolate ice cream and Suzie likes strawberry that is what makes them different; not enemies. Maybe as adults our opinions cease to be cute and indicative of new stages in our development, and instead become walls that we build around ourselves and the things we like because we're so afraid someone'll come along and demolish it with their opinions.

Mission Recover Password: Accomplished.

I haven't visited this blog in a while, as I, well, couldn't get the password right. I've since been posting here, at Wordpress, and here, on Wattpad. I missed this blog. Much has happened in the last year, including crossing the country twice in search of home, starting new adventures and continuing old ones, starting a new novel and even some new wings.

I designed these this past summer for a patient--and friend--of mine in the South, USA. Her room included all of those colors--blue, lavender, white and gold--and she and her mama loved them. They are wearable, but they used the wings as a wall decoration, which I thought was awesome, and I offered them free of charge, of course. They were a late birthday present. They're a replica of the tropical Blue Morpho butterfly, which I posted a photo of on my Wordpress blog.

I've been doing a lot of art lately, which I am not prepared to post photos of now because I was not expecting to be able to access this blog. Getting into it finally was one of those things where you've tried and tried to get into it and it never worked, you waited a year, on a whim tried it again, and suddenly for no apparent reason it just worked.