Scattered Thoughts

My thoughts are scattered everywhere, and it made coming up with a new blog post this week that much harder. I thought I would take off from writing about writing and address a couple of things that were in the news. I thought I could write about the rage in the news about rich kids buying their way into college. But are we really all enraged about it? Did we not know that this has been going on since the day these institutions opened their doors? I did write a piece about it, but it won't see the light of day because as a public school kid from Kindergarten to bachelor's degree, I don't really have any special insight on the topic aside from rolling my eyes at every mention of these privileged nobodies living off their parents' success.

I was also contemplating writing another piece last weekend about separating the art from the artist, and how its mostly others in creative fields that can attempt to see the actions of the villain in the artist without obscuring the exceptional in the art. Erasing the art/music/movies/TV shows is not the answer. My opinion on this is not the most popular one, but I also know that Pete Davidson did a way more entertaining job of explaining it than I could have. So I didn't write it. But I did buy Moonwalker so that I could watch it at least one more time in my life in case it ever gets pulled. I won't apologize for the fact that watching this was a happy childhood memory for me, and it certainly isn't an endorsement for anything outside of its entertainment value.

When it comes to my main projects for the month, I'm trying to work hard on short stories and In Another Life, but I keep getting pulled back into poetry. I took some time to indulge in found poetry yesterday, not because the urge was irresistible, but because the magazines are starting to pile up, and if I don't get to them I may have to toss them before I can find those new pieces. I did, however, manage to finish a short story outline this morning with the wonders of a morning shower and a writer's mind--that's all I need sometimes because it is the one place I seem to run into the least distractions. These stories are important because I need to come up with something good to get back on the submission train. Hopefully by Monday I will have a polished piece to start sending out.

#NaNoWriMo 2015: DAYS 12 & 13

Day 12:
Finally, I got some real writing done. And my protagonists are hanging on for (emotional) dear life. What more could I possibly do to them to get them to see what direction they need to go?

More writing. That's what.


Day 13:
I really thought I was going to finally catch up today. But things got in the way--some important, some not so much. I helped wrap Christmas presents (yes, we're an early bird family around here), which took up most of the afternoon. Then, just when I was getting ready to get back to the novel, breaking news on the TV. Usually I only keep it on for the noise, but when there's breaking news, the part of me that still harbors that journalism bug wants to run to the TV and watch it nonstop. So my thoughts are with the people of Paris tonight.

Giving Pause

It's hard to come back to blog when all of us have probably spent most of the weekend watching the news. I know that I have been glued to the TV, even when it was difficult to watch. When you get that feeling that it could all end without warning, it does put you into a heightened need for purpose in this life. Whether it is a big or small action, you want to do the things that you have been putting off because you don't have time, you don't want to do it or you are just scared. It's time to do those things, get out and make those connections. It's just sad that it takes things like this to give everyone perspective about our lives and what we can do for ourselves and for others.

Did you hear about this? I went nuts when I heard about it on the news last night:


Bond posted for Plainfield teen accused in baby's death

Oct 26, 2007 05:11 PM EDT

Richard Essex/Eyewitness News

Louisville, KY - A college sophomore from Indiana charged with murder in the death of her newborn daughter has posted bond.

Judge Paula Fitzgerald set the $50,000 bond Friday morning for 19-year-old Kathyrn "Katie" McCoy, a student at Bellarmine University in Louisville.

The Plainfield native was a golf and tennis athlete at Plainfield High School, where she graduated from last year. On Friday morning she plead not guilty in criminal court for murder of her infant daughter.

McCoy appeared in Judge Fitzgerald's Louisville courtroom, solemn and rarely making eye contact with the judge. She never spoke and nodded when answering her lawyer, Alex Dathorne. He entered not guilty pleas and her bond was set at $50,000.

The events that led Kathryn McCoy to the courtroom started in her dorm at Bellarmine University,

Police and court records say McCoy hid her pregnancy from friends and family until early Thursday morning. Fellow students at Bellarmine had suspected something, but were not prepared for what they discovered.

Police believe McCoy locked herself in a bathroom for up to an hour and a half and delivered the baby girl. According to the coroner's report, the infant was born alive. It's believed McCoy dropped the baby into a bathroom toilet. She is accused of concealing the birth by placing the infant's body in a trash bag, then when confronted by a roommate, relocating the body in a gym bag.

McCoy faces charges of murder, concealing the birth of an infant and tampering with physical evidence.

Dathorne says McCoy and her parents would not be talking publicly at this point. Her parents were not present for the arraignment.

Since 2000, Indiana has had a "safe haven" law in force, which means that anyone can abandon an infant under 45 days old with any emergency medical services provider with no questions asked. The secrecy of the mother's identity is assured, and she will not be prosecuted for abandonment or neglect if she acts within 45 days of birth and if the baby is not harmed. Kentucky has a similar law, meaning that McCoy could have given up the infant at any hospital, police or fire station.

The autopsy further showed that the infant was at or near term. It goes on to say her death is consistent with drowning.

So, I only have one question: what kind of sex ed did these kids get? Seriously... there are options no matter who you don't want knowing or whatever. I mean, if she didn't want to terminate the pregnancy at the beginning, she could have found help from so many places... and then the baby wouldn't have had to die. I don't understand why she killed it anyway... all she had to do was drop it off in a safe place, like a hospital. It really makes you wonder what she was thinking.

I don't know why this made me so mad, but this is why 95% of people that I know DON'T watch the news... it's just too depressing. Honestly, I wouldn't have been watching the news at all if sci-fi's audio wasn't messed up.