Conversations At Wormhole Electric: Between the Generations

Ev'n, Don,

I remember Gunsmoke – in our house it was a must see, along with The Lone Ranger. Now that you mention it, I remember Burt Reynolds – I think he was the first beefcake on TV. Maybe that was why my mom loved watching the show... I liked your quote by Smith that Gunsmoke was the American equivalent to the Iliad and Odyssey. So very true!

You mentioned the plot lag – that 27 minutes just seems a bit too long to wrap things up! My Better Half and I have been watching the first year of Star Trek and the hour long show from 40 years ago is longer than today's standard. That few extra minutes does not lend to the story very often. But it is a bit of respite and sometimes has a good chuckle at the end – a joke on Spock or Bones trying to make a witticism that Kirk or Sock somehow turn around.

You're right, The Serpent Bearer is an excellent example of steampunk. Jeff Keir is another steampunk author. His latest offerings are more science fiction twisted, but he started a series called the Iron Sky a couple of years back that also fits the steampunk genre. Jeff's newest offerings will be up on the website by the end of next week, but Outpost is available through Amazon.

I'm sure the stories from your daughter are enough to make you celebrate not being a teacher anymore. Hopefully she'll see her way to write a book – I'm sure we can find a good publisher for her. If you were to mention Gunsmoke in my current classrooms, I don't believe there would be anyone who knew it was even a TV show. The term steampunk is probably not going to be understood either.

I was comparing musical events that Garth Brooks did to some of the more recent artists – comparing use of technology, music... the 2 students I was talking with didn't have the faintest idea who Garth Brooks was. I thought I was being clever by mentioning someone more current than Led Zepplin, The Who, David Bowie, Kiss ... obviously not.

I read a magnificent article by Oli Scarff about a gentleman in England who is growing trees in the shape of furniture. The piece of furniture is "one solid, joint less piece of wood" (Scarff, 2015). The furniture grower, Gavin Munro, does everything by hand: picks off tree pests by hand, pruning and bonsai techniques that help shape the living chair, organic methods are used for weed killing. It has taken 10 years for this project to develop into a business. He also has lampshades and

hexagon-shaped mirrors. His first chair will be ready for market in the spring 2017. Believe it or not, there have been a number of pre-sales. What do the neighbors think? What would you think if you stumbled into a farm that grew up-side-down chairs?

I have three more weeks left in the quarter, then I'm done for a couple of weeks. And what are you going to do? You might ask... Well...I'm going to meet my new grandson for the first time! Our son and his wife adopted a little boy this spring and we get to meet him for the first time! We've "met" him thanks to Skype, but we're all a twitter about meeting him face to face.

But first! This is just as good! Our other grandson is coming to stay a couple of days with us. I think we're going to go to the museum – there is an exhibit on toys from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Maybe this will help close the communication gap we sometimes feel with younger folks.

I keep putting myself into positions to learn new and different ways to write. I just completed a condensed series of sessions on how to write video manuscripts. It is a fascinating process! The one thing I'm still having problems with is the use of all caps for the dialogue in the 2 column format. I understand that it allows for a completely different look from the video or film shots that are put in the first column, but all my years of English training are screaming it is just wrong! I have enjoyed learning how to condense information down into "sound bites." When I actually think about it - it isn't that much different than the way I lecture. I'm not sure I ever use full completely formed sentences. What will I do with this? I don't know! But maybe someday I'll have my name as the Writer on a famous video...

I loved the quote from Twain, Don! I didn't get my facts straight first so I made a bit of a fool of myself when I made a bid on a car. Thankfully, no one took me seriously. Unfortunately, "they" didn't take me seriously enough to make a counter-offer. I think I got caught up in trying to prove to the "younger folks" that I am just as savvy as they are. This growing more mature stage in my life has offered up some bumps to my ego.

Have a great week!
Carolyn