So You Want To Be A Writer

So You Want To Be A Writer

by MichelleMcHatton

Yes, despite the cynicism of this poem, I still certainly DO want to be a writer!

So You Want to Be a Writer
By Charles Bukowski

if it doesn’t come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don’t do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it for money or
fame,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don’t do it.
if it’s hard work just thinking about doing it,
don’t do it.
if you’re trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.
if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.

if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you’re not ready.

don’t be like so many writers,
don’t be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don’t be dull and boring and
pretentious, don’t be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don’t add to that.
don’t do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don’t do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don’t do it.

when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.

there is no other way.

and there never was.

Being An Illegal American

Being An Illegal American

by MichelleMcHatton

One thing I’m tired of hearing people complain about is “illegal” citizens living in the United States.

Well, guess what, people?  Unless your direct descendants were Native Americans, we are ALL “illegal”!  Our ancestors hopped on a boat almost 400 years ago, leaving their home land because things weren’t going so well between them and the King.  They landed on a rock in what is now called Plymouth, Massachusetts.  And then they met the people who already lived here:  the Indians–the Pokanokets and Wampanoags, among others.  Yup.  These foreigners from England “illegally” stepped foot on the land where these Indians had been residing for eons and BOOM!  Yes they had come here for a better way of life.  But soon these illegal immigrants decided to start taking things over.  They even took it upon themselves to bring smallpox and other fatal diseases with them to the new land and pass them around to the innocent, original residents.  How nice of these illegal immigrants called the Pilgrims.  They managed to single-handedly kill off a great deal of the native population.

Considering all the things the illegal white man did to the Native Americans and their country, many were trustworthy individuals and let the white man stay.  Sure there were incidents.  But the Indians didn’t sic their government on these new settlers.  Instead the white man created a government which eventually dictated where the Indians would live.  How is that for some turned tables?

So the next time you start complaining about “illegals” in this country, just remember where you more than likely originated from.  You illegal American, you!

 

Parenthood

Parenthood

by MichelleMcHatton

Nine years ago I took on a job that will last the rest of my life.  I became a mother.  A parent.

Nine years ago my husband took on a job that will last the rest of his life.  He became a father.  Also a parent.

Before we became parents, we were just ordinary, imperfect people like everyone else.  Then once our daughter was born we became ordinary, imperfect parents.

I’ll be the first to tell you that my husband and I are not perfect as people or as parents.  In fact, we don’t know ANY perfect people or parents.  However, we have been perfect people and parents for our daughter and that’s all that matters.

In the nine years we’ve been parents we’ve made a lot of mistakes and I’m sure we’ll make many more.  Anyone who is a parent knows that kids do not come with instruction manuals.  You give birth, go home with your baby and you’re on your own.

Despite the fact we are not perfect people nor perfect parents, our daughter has survived the past nine years.  She has not only survived; she has strived.  She has gone from a six month old in Early Intervention for low muscle tone to a very active almost nine-year-old.  She is loved very much, she is very healthy, she is very intelligent and imaginative.  She makes us laugh every day and we love being her parents.  We really wouldn’t have it any other way.

Considering all I’ve just said I’m baffled by other parents (and non-parents) who feel it is their obligation to criticize both my husband and mine parenting skills.  Although everyone is entitled to their opinion, and we greatly respect that, we laugh at these opinions that others have about our parenting skills and move on.  You know why?  Because as the imperfect people and parents that we are, WE DON’T GIVE A FUCK what you think we’re doing wrong with our child.  We are not abusing her.  She is well fed.  She has all her needs taken care of.  She is very happy and as I said above, we love her very much.

If you don’t like what you think we feed our child or if you don’t like that our child may still sleep in our bed on occasion, WE DON’T GIVE A FUCK!  You don’t live here.  You don’t know what I feed my child and you don’t know where my child sleeps or how she sleeps.  You know what else?  It’s really NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS!  I don’t care how you are raising your child.  So why are you so interested in how I’m raising mine?

The other parents need to take a good hard look in the mirror.  Before they start judging another parent, they need to judge themselves as a parent.  Things may seem great now but you know what? Kids are people and just like any other human being THEY CHANGE!  So beware.  Just like yourselves as parents, your kids are not perfect either.

I could do the same as the parents who think it’s their privilege and responsibility to ridicule us as parents, but I won’t stoop to their level.  Trust me.  There is a lot more I could say about their parenting skills than they can say about mine.

Review: “Magnificent Vibration”

Review: “Magnificent Vibration”

by MichelleMcHatton

What do a middle-aged divorced loser named Bob Cotton, a nun trying to find herself named Alice Young and an oversized uneducated Latino named Lexington Vargas have in common?  One would think not very much but in Rick Springfield’s debut novel “Magnificent Vibration”, the three come together in a wild adventure that takes them from the highways of Los Angeles to the Highlands of Scotland.

When Bob Cotton steals a copy of the book “Magnificent Vibration” from a bookstore, he is faced with the utmost curiosity when he finds the phone number 1-800-CALL-GOD written in the book.  As any person questioning God’s existence while on the verge of suicide may do, Bob gives it a call and has a few words with The Man Upstairs.

Feeling despondent following his chat with God, Bob visits a bar where God once again contacts him while he’s in the men’s room.  Because of Bob’s disbelief, God not only gives Bob a white streak in his hair a’ la Charlton Heston, he also sets one of the sinks in the men’s room on fire.  Bob then manages to get the attention of Alice, an attractive woman in the bar who also has a copy of “Magnificent Vibration” sans the phone number.  Before Bob can decide whether he wants to bed Alice or not, Alice reveals that she is a nun who is trying to find herself.  Considering the two ironically both have a copy of the same book, and Bob has spoken to God, they decide to visit a coffee shop to discuss the situation.

Upon leaving the coffee shop, they encounter Lexington Vargas, a behemoth of a man with a somewhat simple educated mind but a strong knowledge of life on the streets.  He too owns a copy of “Magnificent Vibration” and his also has a phone number in it.  Also for God.

Following a crazy plane crash, they meet and quickly deject Merikh, whose name they discover means “Angel of Death”.  An unexpected e-mail to Alice from a law firm in Scotland leads the three to Inverness.  There they discover Alice has inherited a house as well as something that will change the course of mankind.

Springfield entertains his readers with this well-written, humorous tale of sexual exploitations and life’s ups and downs.  His portrayal of God (also known as the Omnipotent Supreme Being and Arthur) is comical as well as philosophical.  In the end we are left to wonder:  are we merely chess pieces in this game of life, responsible for what happens to us, or is there a Higher Power who is in charge?

“The future belongs to young people with an education and the imagination to create.”—President Barack Obama

“The future belongs to young people with an education and the imagination to create.”—President Barack Obama

by MichelleMcHatton

Today the graduates of Worcester Technical High School will experience something not everyone will get to experience in their lives:  a commencement speech made by the President of the United States made at their graduation.

Principal Sheila Harrity took over Worcester Tech in 2006, taking it from one of the lowest-performing institutions in the state to becoming a Blue Ribbon School in 2013.  Ms. Harrity is also recognized as National High School Principal of the Year and was honored by the president at the National Teachers of the Year event at the White House on May 1.

When the White House contacted Harrity about having President Obama speak at the commencement, she was in tears.  Then she held an assembly to notify the students of the event.  Since then the school has been all a buzz with the pending arrival.

President Obama has a strong initiative in wanting to reform education in America, to make it better, more accessible and more affordable for everyone.

As Obama has stated:  “We have an obligation and a responsibility to be investing in our students and our schools. We must make sure that people who have the grades, the desire and the will, but not the money, can still get the best education possible.”

That is what Principal Sheila Harrity has succeeded in doing at Worcester Tech.