If Heaven Exists

If Heaven exists, it has baklava,
and video game theme music played by Lindsey Stirling.
It has long tables with comfortable chairs, 
so all of you, my friends and chosen family
can be together at the tables,
laughing, sharing, jabbering away 
like a flock of drunken seagulls.

All of us would take turns reading bad poetry 
and sketching one another in a huge 
orgy of half-baked art. The background music
would be cutlery and glassware clinking and rattling
with a side of white noise from the air conditioners
blast-chilling us into near-hibernation.

Heaven would have both my daughters, all my grandchildren
and all the people they love and care about
and all the people who love and care about them all together
like the kind of family reunion that takes place only after funerals,
with kids playing on the floor in the first bedroom past the stairs,
Lite Brite pegs and Lego blocks serving as caltrops,
to keep the grownups at bay.

Adults slamming back weak lemonade and sweet tea, 
sampling the casseroles, while all talking over one another 
in a babble of "You look great!" and 
"Didn't the funeral home do a great job 
making (the deceased) look natural?" 

Heaven would have porch swings with creaking chains, 
and lots of webbed lawn chairs, including the rocking kind. 
Your rear gets swallowed whole by the loose webbing
like a boa devours a baby water buffalo, 
so you shift and wriggle, trying to break free.

Heaven would have tricycles, and Big Wheels, and spring horses, 
wagons and skateboards, and old-fashioned skates 
with butterfly nuts and sliding metal grips. 
It would have swing sets with the four-seater gliders, 
and the skin-the-cat bars and the too-short slide.
And the kids file out the door into the back yard 
in a slow-flowing stream, like the one they used to hunt crawdads in.

Heaven would have a piano, where my aunt Jane, 
just a few years older than me, would be playing Fuer Elise. 
Other cousins would be playing recorders 
or tambourines, or wax harmonicas.

Heaven would have all my friends, 
all the people I have met over the years.
My grandmother would still be alive, 
and my friend Brenda's father, JR.
Most of all, my Great Aunt Ressie would still be telling all her tales, 
and wagging her finger in some too-arrogant man's face.
My daughter Jordan would be there as well, 
climbing whatever was taller than a table.

And we would all stay up all night, 
turning marshmallows into torches 
and waving sparklers at the moon.
~Jack V. Sage

The Gift of Life

My dad had lung cancer for 16 years. I never asked whether or not he needed any blood products during that time. Today at work we learned that cancer patients use 10 to 20 units of platelets during chemotherapy. That means it takes 10 to 20 heroes to keep one cancer patient healthy during each round of chemotherapy. Somewhere out there, a minimum of 20 people helped my dad stay healthy during his lifetime. Thank you.

Marketing Yourself With Interesting Facts

Whether it's for an author profile, query letter or interview, the dreaded "Tell Me About Yourself" question can stop the conversation dead in its tracks. In an interview, a long pause before you answer paints an arrow straight out the door. The wrong author blurb takes your reader straight to the next book on the shelf or the next tab in the browser window after making a split-second judgment that your lifeless profile means that your story will be equally lacking.


List Unique Accomplishments


Listing unique accomplishments helps potential employers remember you, according to organizational consultant Ronnie Ann, the founder of Work Coach Cafe. Things like taking live-action photos at rodeos or creating and marketing one-of-a-kind crocheted fashions tell potential employers that you make things happen instead of waiting for someone else to get things moving. Running a charity to teach needlework skills to girls in Africa or living in a tree house in Ohio in late November as research for outdoor living articles also make great icebreakers during an interview.


Provide Relevant Details


When you list your accomplishments, tell potential employers how the experience and knowledge you gained and the skills you used will make you effective in the open position. For example, running a nonprofit corporation requires researching community resources, creating strategic alliances and meeting or exceeding performance and service benchmarks. People with these skills make excellent candidates for executive positions.


Be specific. State that you reduced the wait time between referral for service and actual service delivery from two years to two months, for example, if you directed a planned respite service. If you served as a member of the county board of trustees in your community, state that you ensured that a long-awaited sewer project went through on schedule and within budget.


Tell the Truth


Whatever facts you provide, resist the temptation to exaggerate your role or fabricate an experience. Provide photos, press clippings, letters of commendation and any other relevant documents that back your statements. Create backup files for online portfolios and make copies of everything in your physical collection.


Practice Your Delivery


Pausing too long or fumbling for words after an interviewer asks you to tell him about yourself shows a lack of self-confidence, according to Scott Ginsberg, author of "The Power of Approachability." Practice your exciting facts speech in front of friends and relatives. Record or videotape yourself so that you can examine and correct your posture, eye contact, and voice.


References


Work Coach Cafe: 10 Things I Look for When I Screen Resumes and Cover Letters


The Ladders: 10 Good Ways to "Tell Me About Yourself"

By Hook or By Crook: Skullduggery and Disenfranchisement in Arizona

Dear Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett:

It is my understanding that you intend to allow 1200 people to disenfranchise all the other voters in the state of Arizona by refusing to place President Barack Obama's name on the ballot. As a registered voter in Arizona, I am outraged and appalled at the complete effrontery of:

A. Disrespecting the office of the President of the United States of America by refusing to allow a sitting president to run on Arizona's ballot.

B. Disrespecting the voters of the state of Arizona by refusing them the opportunity to vote for the candidate of their choice.

C. Patronizing the voters of the state of Arizona by implying, through your refusal to allow a sitting president to run for office, that they do not have enough sense to know who they should trust with the most important office in the United States.

I feel sorry for someone so craven that they cannot go toe to toe with their foes in a legitimate and fair election, but instead must stoop to every dirty trick they can envision in order to advance their own personal agenda. Shame on you!

My vote counts just as much as any other person's vote in this state, and I want Barack Obama's name on the ballot. If he is not allowed to run, whoever wins the election will always know that his victory is hollow, based on lies and half-truths. Such a presidency is doomed to failure. Whoever runs for President of the United States in Arizona needs to win in a true, fair and honest election, not through trickery and skullduggery, and definitely not through placing a higher value on the opinions of 1200 voters than on all others.

Sincerely,

Jane M. Smith,
registered voter in the state of Arizona.

Annular Solar Eclispe May 20 2012

I took these photos at 6:15 PM Arizona time, while wearing a pair of 99-percent UV-reduction welder's glasses and a hat to block the sun from my eyes. I love the effect of the rays over the back wall of the yard. The palm tree in the background is about a full block away and stands about three stories tall. I'll take more photos around 6:30 PM. The apparent change in the sun's position from north of the palm to south of it was me taking photos from multiple angles, not any genuine movement of the sun itself. I think that pink-orange arc might be an optical illusion.

Sunset, 6:15 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

Sunset B, 6:15 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

Sunset C, 6:15 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

Sunset D, 6:15 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

Sunset E, 6:15 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

Sunset F, 6:15 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

Sunset G, 6:15 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

Sunset H, 6:15 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

I took this next batch of photos at 6:30 PM AZ time, two houses over for the first two, and about half a block north of the house for the other six. I had to move because the sun dropped too far below the horizon to see it over the roof of the houses behind ours. It makes a beautiful scene over the neighbor's Cereus peruvianus.

Sunset A, 6:30 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

Sunset B, 6:30 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

Sunset C, 6:30 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

Sunset D, 6:30 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

Sunset E, 6:30 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

Sunset F, 6:30 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

Sunset G, 6:30 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

Sunset H, 6:30 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

I took this last set of photos between 6:50PM and 7:15PM AZ time. The sun kept dropping below the horizon faster than I could walk to keep up with it, so I never did get a shot of the eclipse itself. There was a bite out of the upper left arc of the sun by 7:15, and the sunset was a bright neon orange to bright neon pink.

Sunset A, 6:50 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

 

Sunset B, 6:50 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

Sunset C, 7:15 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

Sunset D, 7:15 PM AZT May 20, 2012 by Jack V. Sage

Artists and Writers: Create Your Space

Artists and writers both need a workspace that inspires creativity. I share a workspace that faces a big picture window, so it has plenty of natural light during the day. I use a shop light at night, since our floor lamp has seen better days.The laptop sits on a Lifetime folding show table made of molded plastic, and I have a big red core ball for a chair. I have a one-drawer side table at the left end of my shop table, and a corner-style computer desk holds most of our art supplies. The floor lamp sits at the right end of the corner desk, and we have a two-drawer, single-shelf night stand to the right of the floor lamp, holding our acrylic paints, paper and assorted boxes that we pull apart, fold and store until we need them.

A metal display shelf turned on its short side leans against the east wall of the house, providing a place to hang spare eyeglasses, a Valentine's Day rose, tweezers, nail clippers and a few jewelry tools. All the paintbrushes, sponge brushes and clay tools sit in bottles, jars and cocoa containers, waiting for the next project. To the left of the shelf you see an "ideas in progress" area, with notes about ideas that spring up in the middle of other projects. To the left of the picture window you see a mini gallery of finished paintings and a second motivational/idea area.

Clutter piles up over time, which blocks creative flow. Dust makes things feel stale, and balls of paper, cardboard and other assorted bits and pieces build negativity. Once all that trash gets bagged and hauled out, the room has a fresh, vibrant feeling.

View from my work station. Photo 1 by Jack V. Sage, May 2012

View from my work station. Photo 2 by Jack V. Sage, May 2012

"On the Hunt" Acrylic Wash by Jack V. Sage, Photo 1, May 6, 2012

"On the Hunt" Acrylic Wash by Jack V. Sage, Photo 2, May 6, 2012

C is for Character: Unless You're Gay

With Phoenix Pride Weekend beginning this morning, with the parade at 11 AM Arizona time, I have to take a moment to address an issue that had me speechless when I learned of it. One of the writers featured on this blog, Cher Guevara of Indiana, has been fired from their current job as a summer camp counselor with the Boys Scouts of America for stating the following on Facebook:

“Alright, in the interest of public service, I am about to release the real homosexual agenda. I hope all you out there are taking notes, here it is:

We, the GLBTQ Citizens of the United States of America, want the same rights and promises of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we want to be able to defend our country, have families and provide for them, we want our children to be well-educated and treated with respect, we want our lives to quit being used as political fodder by the Religious Right, we are human beings and we are American Citizens, we are entitled to the same rights, promises and protections as outlined in the United States Constitution.

There you are, the real homosexual agenda. Are there any questions?”

Anyone who can read that and find anything offensive in it needs to examine their values, so here goes. According to the Boy Scouts of America, on their very own website, their 12 Core Values are as follows:

Cub Scouting's 12 Core Values

Citizenship: Contributing service and showing responsibility to local, state, and national communities.   Compassion: Being kind and considerate, and showing concern for the well-being of others.   Cooperation: Being helpful and working together with others toward a common goal   Courage: Being brave and doing what is right regardless of our fears, the difficulties, or the consequences.   Faith: Having inner strength and confidence based on our trust in God.   Health and Fitness: Being personally committed to keeping our minds and bodies clean and fit.

Honesty: Telling the truth and being worthy of trust.   Perseverance: Sticking with something and not giving up, even if it is difficult.   Positive Attitude: Being cheerful and setting our minds to look for and find the best in all situations.   Resourcefulness: Using human and other resources to their fullest.   Respect: Showing regard for the worth of something or someone.   Responsibility: Fulfilling our duty to God, country, other people, and ourselves.

In its very first core value, Citizenship, The Boy Scouts of America state that every scout, including Eagle Scout and 9-year camp counselor Cher Guevara, is supposed to serve the entire local, state and national community.

In its second core value, Compassion, the Boy Scouts of America states that every scout is supposed to care what happens to other people.

Their third core value, Cooperation, means working toward common goals that benefit everyone in the community.

It is Core Value Number Four, however, where Cher Guevara excels, and where the Boy Scouts of America have chosen to teach Cher a lesson by rendering them both unemployed and unemployable in the future anywhere else: Courage. It takes courage to choose between a job you love and the community that you know needs your voice. It takes courage to stand up for what is right when it will cost you your future ability to earn a living in your chosen field. Above all, it takes courage to speak out, not just for your own community members and yourself, but for those in even more marginalized groups: gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and non-gender-conforming people.

Guevara definitely exercises their Faith, listed as Core Value Number Five by the Boy Scouts of America. Cher Guevara is an ordained minister, providing spiritual reassurance to those who have been ostracized and fighting against those who spend their time spewing venom at people who are already at the end of their ropes.

Cher Guevara's willingness to be Honest in the face of all of the disciplinary power waged against them, standing up for the right of future scouts and their family members to participate in all aspects of Scouting is inspiring. Guevara's Perseverance, demonstrated by nine years of service and by having achieved the status of Eagle Scout are also unquestionable.

Cher Guevara expresses a Positive Attitude, maintaining the hope that somehow this current struggle will help other gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or queer scouts and their family members. Guevara's Resourcefulness in turning to social media as a platform to advance the rights of all people to serve and participate in Scouting earns Cher Guevara the Rainbow Arrow, an award that was created specifically to honor that struggle and its accompanying sacrifice. The Rainbow Arrow is a Human Being award, and if anyone deserves it, Cher Guevara certainly does.

Respect includes self-respect. Self-respect requires an ability to stand in the face of attempts to marginalize and silence you, which Guevara certainly has done. Self-respect also includes having the gumption to believe that all of the benefits of society are just as much yours by right of existence as anyone else, and yes, even if you are gay, or lesbian, or bisexual, or transgender or queer. Human rights do not depend on whether or not we conform to the gender binary, who we sleep with or which bathroom we use. Human rights belong to all. Even if you're gay, bisexual, lesbian, transgender or queer.

Finally, Cher Guevara epitomizes Boy Scouts of America's Core Value Number Twelve: Responsibility. Guevara has placed life, fortune and sacred honor on the line to stand up for the right of everyone, everywhere, to be treated with dignity and respect and to serve in the community in all capacities. Guevara dared to publish "The Real Homosexual Agenda" on Cher's personal Facebook page, and dared to publicly kiss a man during a counter-protest against Westboro Baptist Chuch.

Today, Tempe Tempest of Arizona honors that sacrifice by presenting Cher Guevara with the very first Rainbow Arrow Award. Designed by Jordan Ethan Michael of Mississippi, the rainbow represents the entire community, while the arrow represents the determination and courage Cher Guevara displayed when sacrificing employability rather than lying about what Cher believes is important in life.