Category: Writing

A Mind at Work-Blogging or Dreaming

by barbstruestories, posted in Life's observations, Writing

While “modern” man knows more about the human mind than was ever known in the past (at least we’d like to believe we do), we really know very little.  How do things really work upstairs anyway?  I’d like to know where the storage facility is and how to go about purging information that’s no longer needed so there’s room for more pertinent, up to date information.  Although if you could really do that then I wouldn’t have remembered Eli Sopow’s name.  The fun thing about that ‘true story’ is that Dr. Sopow contacted me after the blog!  This proves the theory that you never know when you might need something.  This thought is particularly relevant right now as I am moving through the house with renewed purpose to reduce, re-use and recycle.   I am a woman on a mission.  But I digress.  

Blogs where do the ideas come from? I fancy myself a bit of a conceptual thinker, taking concepts or events from one context and seeing if they are relevant in other circumstances.  This blog post is a case in point.   I try to make sense of things by connecting them to other things I already know-a compare and contrast effort.  It’s not for everyone but it is, as the young folk say “the way I roll”.

Dreams, where do the ideas come from?  I had a dream recently that made me think my mind treats dreams as it treats blogs.  My subconscious puts two things together and says, hey that would be a good dream.  And here it is:

A few weeks ago my friend Al posted some pictures of his younger days. He was playing a guitar.   I didn’t realize he had a musical background (and can’t find that picture now-speaking of filing things-Al, maybe you can send it along).  Around the same time there was an article in the paper about Canadian singer Jane Siberry.  Jane now plays only in small venues or people’s homes.  And my dream?  I was in someone’s house and Al was singing and playing his guitar.  He gave a very good performance and when the evening drew to a close he passed around an envelope.  I put in $30.  Good concert, Al.  Interesting dream, there, mind of mine.

Do you find your mind strings together different things to put into a dream?  Got an example you can share?

Citations: If We Had A Chance To Do It All Over Again

by barbstruestories, posted in Observations, Writing

I have been working on a report that is to include citations.  I am more of a big picture person and citations seem very detailed and finicky.   They slow down the whole writing thing. 

Citations a.k.a. references may appear in much of what you read-particularly if what you read is in academic areas, in research studies or professional journals.  References cite a source, a paper, a study, a book or another author and they tell the reader that the comment or idea or fact came from somewhere else.   You can even cite yourself if you’ve written and published something beforehand and wish to reference it in an article.   It’s really giving credit where credit is due.  The area of copyright is right up there with citation.  If it’s someone else’s work, art, image, idea, music originally then there is likely copyright to consider.  

My knowledge of citations and references is limited .  One could say it is more like a poor understanding or conversely one could say I am unencumbered by knowledge and able to look at things in a new light.  And it is in this new light that I offer up the following thoughts on citations.  If we were going to do this all over again and I was the President and CEO of Citation in the World Inc, there would be two levels of citation and you would choose your desired level before you write the article.

Level I:  Game changer

Criteria:  This article/research/report will make a huge difference to mankind. An example would be the discovery of the Higgs boson particle.  

Requesting this level would be very expensive.  You’d pay a large fee to Citation of the World Inc.  The author(s) must follow the academically sanctioned format for citations.   Permissions for copyrights must be requested and granted.  All citations will be checked and sources will be verified by Citation of the World Inc. (to justify the large fee).

Level II-Everything else. 

Criteria: This article/research/report will add (we hope) to a body of knowledge, perhaps lead to some action.  Oh, and when it’s published and I can add it to my resume! 

There would be no charge for requesting this level.  Instead of citations, there would be a standard disclaimer at the end of the article or report.  It would read:  I read a lot of background and research when I was writing this work.  I used the stuff that was relevant and good and the rest, while mostly interesting, didn’t make the grade.  I thank those people whose work has been used here.  If you are interested in knowing who they are and which work of theirs I used, give me a call.  I have it all written down on a piece of paper.  It’s not in any special format though.