Weekly Short Stories Contest and Company! discussion
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message 1551:
by
Kymela
(new)
Mar 11, 2013 05:43AM
We were in Hampton at an outdoor mall and Edward saw this one spot he thought you'd love to photograph it. You look down a street at a pretty modern apartment building with a barn door on one of the buildings in front of it. I have to hook my phone up to the computer so I can post it.
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Actually, I just noticed you're on facebook. I can post them on Edward's timeline.
Sometimes when I’m on Facebook, I’m not actually at the computer but am making coffee or doing laundry while I’m waiting for a photo to load. To get Facebook to come up when the transmission is really slow, I finally started removing people from my newsfeed who never post anything but stuff they’ve copied from somewhere else. I want to say to them, “Don’t you ever post anything you came up with yourself?”
Anyone happen to be online? I need help with this before 1, but I don't think I'll get it.Hinduism and Buddhism
India is the hearth of two of the world’s major religions. Many of fundamentals of Hinduism and Buddhism are similar and there is belief that Buddhism is and offshoot of Hinduism. Although Buddhism was in fact based on Hinduism, the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism establishes a different philosophy than Hinduism’s Sanatana Dharma Gita, but perhaps the idea was for reform. Hinduism has persisted because of its class system and Buddhism has lived on through its appeal.
Hinduism is the world’s oldest religion still practiced today. It has no single founder; it was used by the Aryan invaders to help them rule the native Indian peoples, but its actual origins are still unknown. The Aryans separated themselves and their conquered peoples into five different classes and forbid marriages between those classes. With no hope of rising through the classes in the present life, the concept of reincarnation was developed to keep the classes in line. You could rise to a higher class in the next life based on the deeds of this life, but you could also reincarnate into a lower class, so this may have prevented many riots and assassinations of nobles by lower class people.
The founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, was born a Hindu in the Kshatriya class in the sixth century B.C., but decided that it did not explain the world and suffering well enough for him. He is said to have found enlightenment under a tree and eventually founded a new religion based on his old one. The appeal of Buddhism was the destruction of the class system. Siddhartha taught, in his Eightfold Path, that anyone could achieve enlightenment in the next life, whether they were of the Brahmin class or even an untouchable. He did not believe that any one class was any nearer to it than another.
Hinduism appealed to the Aryan classes because if its rigidity and prevention of racial mixing, while Buddhism appealed to the lower native classes as it destroyed this concept. Hinduism spread through the upper classes because it kept them in power.
Nope, not in time. I'll probably get a 70 if that. XP
Sorry Saira, missed your call. Was busy with work going crazy.I think that this has some 'mechanical' truths, but to a large extent misses the mark. What I mean is that you have written this as if the development and acceptance of these religions was based completely on power and manipulation. These elements can be easily seen to be present on hindsight, but do not explain their acceptance on an emotional, psychological or spiritual level. The question left open by your history is how or what allowed the majority to accept these truths: was that acceptance strictly because the powerful were charismatic and 'powerful' or because the majority found life more easy to endure with the acceptance of those 'truths'?
In a way, I suggest that a comparable argument would be to say that the reason Christianity is popular is because it justified the development of a class system based on the acquisition of wealth. On hindsight it is easy to make that argument, which has been made be people such as Max Weber, but it misses much. It misses, for example, that one of the very early appeals of Christianity was Christ's castigation of wealth and of sexual inequality. So what made Christianity popular?
These same kinds of arguments can be made against your arguments. A question to ask would be what discontent within the society, at the societal as well as personal level, did these religions ameliorate in the psyche and/or physical well being of their converts?
For example, the development of Buddhism followed an extremely violant and war filled time in India and China. Christianity the same in the Mediterranean basis. So is the movement towards introspective philosophies a psychological reaction against nearly 1000 years of extroverted bloodshed and tyranny? Probably no way to answer this, but I find this kind of question allows the mind to be free to question the validity of a history that is told primarily by the rich and powerful, comprised almost entirely of males who are almost completely subsumed in a western-style intellect that is obsessively ratio-centric and largely misogynist in their patterns of discourse and thought.
Your paper would be more interesting to me if you linked it to the familiar philosophy most common in our part of the world, which is a the Judaeo-Christian ethic. There are surprising common elements between both.
Sorry I missed being able to comment earlier. And thanks for sharing and asking for feed back. This kind of thing gets the grey matter movie. And I suspect your paper will get better than the 70 you were anticipating.
Actually, except for one part, I followed exactly what my teacher wanted. Also, I expanded if you'd like to read that. I think it sucked.
Yes, feeding the teacher what s/he wants is the best policy if good grades are the goal. I abandoned that practice when I went back to university as a mature student. That was amusing, challenging the so-called teacher-truths. I'll pass on reading it, if that's okay. I'm already not keeping up with my reading elsewhere.
That's fine. I think it's terrible anyway. I also wrote it within the two hours between classes before it was due and I was so exhausted that when I got home, I had meant to take just an hour nap, but passed out from 4 to 8.
LoL! Not at you, but with the familiarity of my having likewise misspent my youth. Good luck.
Why can't we have the weeks topic two weeks in advanced? One week is just not enough time to come up with a brilliant idea, sleep, have crazy dream inspiration, work out all the kinks, go through editing and come out with a amazingly fantastic story/poem.Unless you are M, Guy, Al, Stephanie, Paula, Ryan and all those other people on here.
I think I should be given special permission by the Capn't to have the weeks topic two weeks in advanced. The reason is thus. I will asked very politely.
Nice request, and so well put that I am almost... Nope. Sorry Christa. Although this is the captain's call, ultimately. There was a discussion about the time frame a few years ago, and after going back and forth we decided to keep the short notice for several reasons. One thing to think about with the WSS's short time frames is that it forces one to not over think a story and to write from the spontaneous places in our heart, imagination and head. And there is nothing stopping any of us from taking our creations and expanding them outside the WSS, for them to become the seeds of longer stories, novellas or even novels.
But again, this isn't my call. But I loved how you asked, and really do appreciate and understand why the request. Right now I'm so busy with life I haven't even been writing poems within the week, let alone stories. That's just the nature of this particular competition.
I'd love to write more, and I would. Except for, you know. School.Sara: (snorting) Seriously? That's your excuse?
Kyra: (defensively) It's not that I'm not writing at all. It's just that I haven't written quite as much as I would like.
Nikara: Still. Life goes on, Kyra. The world will not allow you the extra time of day to sit and write... You need to work in your writing around your current schedule, if that's what you want to do.
Sara: Spoken like a true... Well, spoken truly like Nikki. It's your fault, Kyra.
Kyra: (rubbing her eyes) I need new imaginary friends...
Christa, I don’t often come up with a story for the contests. I’m just not good at spur-of-the-moment writing. The W.S.S. is intended to be a group that makes writing fun, not a serious writers’ group. That people have joined the group who are good at writing is a peculiarity of it. Write something off the cuff and throw it out there!
Very well, I withdraw the request. Thanks Guy for the well reasoned refusal :D "That people have joined the group who are good at writing is a peculiarity of it."-M
Haha,a writing group that actually has good writers in it. Strange indeed.
Actually, Christa, it is strange, in my limited experience. What I am about to say comes rather un-researched and with dubious validity, but other writing groups I've stumbled into have generally been filled with too much earnestness. Writing is important and to be taking seriously! Amen.And I hope you don't mind, but I will offer a suggestion: relax your effort. This group probably doesn't know it, but it is very 'Zennish' in its approach because it 'forces' one to be spontaneous, which means to be alive in this moment. So, relax into the moment and 'let' the words express. It is one of the WSS's greatest strengths and may offer a reason why there is some very great writing here.
Christa - Ron Paul 2016 wrote: "Why can't we have the weeks topic two weeks in advanced? One week is just not enough time to come up with a brilliant idea, sleep, have crazy dream inspiration, work out all the kinks, go through e..."Christa, trust me when I say, we don't even know what the topics are 2 weeks in advanced.
Hey, that's good advice, Guy! And it's so accurate when applied to the WSS.Lol. Nice, M.
Thank you Stephanie. Of course, it is an example of someone preaching what they themselves are struggling to practice. :-]
Thanks Guy, I'll try and be more spontaneous. I love it about this group that not everyone is super serious about writing. It takes all the fun out of it. My request was more of a joke, but if it came true I would have no problem with it :DThanks Stephanie, nice to know so much thought and effort goes into choosing the topic ;D
I hardly ever write anything that makes it here because school and work make it difficult to edit them in coherent ways, so you're not the only one who kinda wishes it was more than one week. But that's what we signed up for when we joined. ;)
Right, and if it was more than one week I would have to wait more than a week when topics I don't fell like writing about come up.And I wasn't really asking fro the contests to be longer, just to know the topic before the contest was open. So the contest would still only be a week long, but you had two weeks to think about it. It is all very confusing and only goes to show how poor a captain I would be. Makes you rather appreciate even more the one we've got 'eh?
Or just don't worry about the deadline, I'm sure you can still submit a perfectly worded, well thought out story and submit it after the contest has ended; you will not be able to participate in the competition, but winning isn't everything right?
I don't think it would be as fun if everyone's writing was immaculately flawless (see what I did there?). That's one of the reasons for the group right? If we were all professional writers none of this would matter (and I'm sure would be an entirely different group setting altogether). In the end it's about having a good time and not worrying about what others think, and learning through the experience of sharing.
Exactly. When we humans are playing is when we can be honestly who we are. And that always translates into the feel of the writing even if it isn't 'perfectly' composed. Perfection is highly overrated. I think!
..perfectly immaculately flawless. No fun at all.
Christa, next time I post a contest, the topic will be “Shutters.” I don’t know when that will be, but now you know at least one topic in advance.
Christa - Ron Paul 2016 wrote: "Thanks Guy, I'll try and be more spontaneous. I love it about this group that not everyone is super serious about writing. It takes all the fun out of it. My request was more of a joke, but if it ..."Lol
Haha Thank you M :D I will do my best to enter something if/when that comes up.And you are right Zack, seeing what people come up with in a week is so interesting. I wouldn't want anyone else to have advanced warning. (Yes I am aware I am selfish :D)
Alex (Al) wrote: "I agree with Guy, Christa. Relax. Sit back and don't worry about your writing sucking. Frankly, nothing you write could possibly be as bad as my own!"Your writing is not terrible or bad, Alex.
Oh yeah and Christa, from my experience if you think the writing is bad usually people most of the time will tend to like it. The writer is sometimes the worst critic to their own writings.
I can't tell how my writing is, I rarely ever get any feedback.
CJ wrote: "... from my experience if you think the writing is bad usually people most of the time will tend to like it. The writer is sometimes the worst critic to their own writings."Oh, yeah, definitely. I think the absolute hardest part of writing is agonizing over a bit you know could be better - and that every one else loves.
Saira, give me about a thousand words and I'll get back to you in a week at the latest. Just not essays.
I've given plenty! You lost all the hard copies I have you.
Ed how dare you try to give someone help and not search tirelessly through their old posts. And to add insult to injury, not keep hard copies of every persons submitted literature. Shame on you sir, shame.
What does that have to do with anything? I'm saying I'll do it now.Heh, funny, Zack. Although, Ed is my dad; I prefer Edward.
'Tis fine.I love our Starbucks; odd old men sitting alone with an open folder, businessmen clearly doing interviews, random college students, cops, and, of course, the resident novelist. It's awesome.
Kind of feel bad for the odd old men with open folders. I hope they weren't manila. Manila is the worst, and is so depressing. If they have to be odd, then hopefully they have wacky crayola colored folders. Razzle Dazzle Red, or Fuzzy Wuzzy. Something like that. Atomic Tangerine?
Never thought dying eggs would be so messy, imagine that. I have tie died my shorts and shoes, And my hands resemble the pattern of a calico cat. The glitter will remain long after its cleaned, in cracks and crannies unreachable by any machine. Was still fun though, eggsalad for days.
So what do you guys think about Amazon buying Goodreads?
Probably a good business decision, but I doubt it will make it a better environment for members. Especially us nook owners (me). Never know though. Time will tell.
I own a nook too. Yeah, I'm worried about B&N.
Ahh I've hit a brick wall. Wish I could borrow one of m's mice. They would know how to liven up the story.
M! Are you selling out your mice to an Amazon too?
Mouse #6: Zack wants to use one of us as an extra in a story.Mouse #3: (Wistfully, sharpening a sword.) Years ago, I had a small part in a play. I didn’t have any lines, though.
Mouse #1: (Looks up from a piece of Trail Mix he’s been nibbling.) What play was that, Earl?
Mouse #3: It was a stage adaptation of The Mouse That Roared.
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