Saturday Evening Post

What a fabulous week! Free books, contests, books and more! Grab a cuppa, snuggle into a rocker under the fans and let’s talk. Clyde is being sneaky, but helpful.

Wins!

More congratulations to Alexandra, Gloria and Prenin on their winning copies of Emma McClain’s Poems from Still Waters Running Deep. If you have not already, check out this week’s contest. Over there, in the right side bar. ===>

The mega entry is for offering your book up for the M3 Readers. It nets you 25 chances at a free book. And I am going to autograph it for you.

Books!

Yes, I released a book this week. T3 is not just an ebook this time. It is available in print. Kindle owners can pick up the ebook through Amazon.

To help hold myself accountable for staying on schedule, I am looking to release my next book in six weeks. Mantra for a Muse is filled with some of the poetry you have seen on M3, some which only recently resurfaced to the light of day and some which will never come to M3.

Much like the topics on M3, MFM is an eclectic mix of rhyme, rhythm and song spanning topics from aging to stupid to death. Yes, there are laughs and tears and quite a bit of head scratching.

Goals

How about the monthly goals report?

  • Posts: 570
  • New email followers: 17
  • Total unique visitors this year: 24,100
  • Internationality: 149 countries
  • Comments: Over 14,750 of 15,000!!
  • Words: 479,377 of 1,000,000
  • Visits: 97,470  of 150,000

Some goals are low, but the international gains have been huge. The American audience will not be over 50% of the M3 Readers at the rate we are going. M3 is translated into more than 30 languages, compliments of Google Translate, and is found through more than 20 Google international search engines.

We will shatter the yearly goal for comments in just a few weeks! However, unless I come up with something brilliant you are willing to share, the total hit goal will be a wash.

If you have been following along with the count meter in the right side bar (the angry red numbers), you can see the total hits are well over 300,000. The more moderate reporting is for real visitors (people who stay on the landing page more than 5 seconds), although the hit counter does not count anyone who comes from certain social media…because the developers of WP plugins think sites like G+, Chime.In, Linked.In, Scoop.It and many other social media outlets are spam.

By cross-referencing my counters, the most conservative number I have for legitimate hits is currently just under 121,250. I hate to have to use an algorithm to arrive at my stats, since it smacks of me putting my thumb on the scale…even if I know of the deficiencies of the counters I am using.

Authors

Do you know someone who would like to bask in the spotlight? I am looking for some authors to help me fill September! Reach out to your writerly friends and offer them the chance at an interview to promote their books!

Guests

I am going to take off a week…soon. This will be a real hiatus. Yes, that means no blogging. No writing. No working. No laptop. No BlackBerry. That kind of week off. If you would like to do a guest post for my week off, step into the inbox. I will hold off the crazies.

Right Turn, Clyde!

Right turn, Clyde.

Considering the spotlight for this week and the MAD post, time management has cropped up again in the comments as a proposed topic. The M3 Readers have always steered the posts around here, to the point I have thrown out more than 40,000 words because the comments took the conversation in a totally different direction than the one I had planned.

Rather than embark on a new series on time (especially given the fabulousness of the last one), Clyde thought a good compromise would be to highjack the SEP. In all honesty, it is what the SEP is for, after all: How M3 influences my life and how my life influences M3.

Background

Field stripped in record time.

Over the last two weeks, there were a few of you who noticed my absences. With the extensive amount of connectivity I have, when I am MIA, the APB does not go out immediately. My buffer got all the way to zero, and not just on Friday when I pen the Follies. My flesh and blood life was a veritable fire ant nest. (Hold onto that image. We will need it in a moment.)

Violence

In the flesh and blood world, I have had my hands full with a molestation of a juvenile, a (failed) relocation,  a nasty divorce, a handful of dysfunctional family relationships, terrible health news, careers on the skids (or life support) and other ancillary issues associated with such atrocities. I admitted to a fellow blogger I was prone to want to give someone a massage.

With honey.

And a cheese grater.

And a bed of fire ants. (Please reinsert image here.)

To say I am not willing to wish physical harm on people to get their undivided attention would be disingenuous. While my preferred wish will always be arson, at times, the idea of more natural solutions (like ants) is more the method of MAD which fits the bill. Remember what the Genie in Aladdin said?

Insanity

Heigh, ho! Heigh ho! To the funny farm we go!

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. (Thank you, Einstein.)

So, how is it when the whole world has spun hopelessly out of control is it feasible to get dressed, go to work, play on social media, eat dinner, watch television, go to bed and pretend nothing is amiss?

We all know to hold in stress and trauma allows it to chew up our emotions, self-esteem and soul, like a bed of ants. (Reinsert image here.) What are we really doing when we continue on the path as though doing what we have always done will miraculously win over the inane protocols, bureaucratic red tape, closed minds and hard hearts of those who do us wrong?

Proposal

NOTHING

When we refuse to stand up for ourselves and our rights and our own well-being (physical and mental), we are doing nothing. We are tacitly agreeing with whatever is being heaped on our heads. We are endorsing the bad behavior of others.

Insanity.

We see abuse happening. We know it happens as bad or worse when we cannot see it. Others abuse us: our good nature, our kindness, our charity, our integrity. We abuse ourselves, day after day, physically and mentally. We go blithely on our way as though the abuser (even when it is us) will come to some kind of epiphany and independently decide to cease and desist.

Insanity.

We go to work into dangerous situations with ill- or unkempt, outdated equipment. We need help, but our requests for it are denied or deflected. We see malfeasance and nonfeasance rewarded. We go blithely to work each day and continue to keep our noses to the grind stone as though safer situations will emerge spontaneously and abusers will turn from their ways.

Insanity.

We engage people who are vile, malicious, spiteful, vulgar, criminal, amoral (perhaps, even sociopathic), abusive, inconsiderate, inconvenient, clingy and taxing. We excuse this bad behavior because we have similar genetic material to theirs. We blithely subject ourselves to their vitriol and condemnation as though our tolerance will be the shining example to turn them from their detestable ways.

Insanity.

Are you tired of being insane?

Insanity is a full time profession. It takes a massive amount of time, energy and emotional capital to beat one’s head against a rock. The rock, on the other hand, is spending a total of zero energy to lie there, unperturbed.

Pick Axe & Hammer

End the vicious time suck of insanity by trying something different. Even if what you attempt is wrong, it is better than where you now stand. How can I know that?

If you are wrong, you now know two ways which will not break the rock. If the hammer does not work, grab the pick axe. Picking up an equalizer is not dirty pool: It is leveling the playing field.

When the rock does not break, at least it is moved. When the stone is chipped, it may well know you are searching for a better implement. Even the slightest nick shows you the chance of breaking it. Long odds are better than the odds of nothing.

Pea Gravel?

Not every situation will break into uniform pieces which you can use to make a beautiful memorial garden. There will be big chunks and powder. There will be a dent in the ground. Your tool will be marred. Is it worth it?

Aren’t you?

Until next time,

Red Signature~~~~~~~~~~


I rarely ask you to do this, but I feel it is important tonight. This SEP is heavily linked to topics we have covered with viable help in each area. If you feel you disagree with an area, take a moment to learn a little more how these solutions came to emerge.

Has insanity caused you emotional bankruptcy? Are you willing to stop being insane? Will you help someone else to stop being insane? Is there something in your life you will stand up to and break the cycle?

© Red Dwyer 2012
Image of the seven dwarves: Public domain, original © Buena Vista & Walt Disney Studios
Re-Blogging of this or any other post on The M3 Blog
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51 Comments

  1. Laurie

     /  July 28, 2012

    This time off that is actually time off that you speak of, what is that??…….

    Reply
    • Bona fide vacation. Zero responsibilities. I am not even pretending to overcome my domestic handicap during that week. The maid has full duty!

      Reply
      • Laurie

         /  July 28, 2012

        I got to get one of those……….I never attempt to overcome my domestic handicap…….the OCD that happens when I attempt it means I get “you’re to picky to help”…….who knew telling people they were folding clothes, mopping the floor, or dusting wrong would put them off……….guess the gritted teeth and shaking don’t help…………….

        Reply
  2. I feel kind of stupid asking this, but what is SEP?

    Reply
  3. Tactile, silent, or approval by apathy…of abuse, insanity and intolerable behaviour is in itself abusive, insane and intolerable behaviour–as a human being. In this corner office, we do not tolerate blatant stupidity, deviant behaviour , devious behaviour, unethical crookery, ignorance, insanity by design, or abuse of any entitiy–especially women, children, and helpless animals. I have put a stop to abuse in the past, and will continue to– MAD…hopefully for the better. “:)

    Reply
    • Toleration of abuse and neglect is self-abusive. I have always said and shall continue until everyone has heard it. And I know you MAD, Ray. 😉

      Reply
  4. Excellent post, Red. What a hyped vibe I feel when I read it – your script really buzzes 🙂

    I am in the process of SAVING my sanity – not quite insane yet, but I very much love what you wrote about tacitly accepting that behaviour etc. Well said, all of that.

    Dysfunctional family relationships? Noooooooo…., surely not?
    Noeleen recently posted..Five..no! 4 days before Rehab!My Profile

    Reply
    • Being as there are nearly 800 in my family, we have been known to dysfunction every once in a while… <3 xxx

      Reply
  5. the best way I have found to overcome all of the ignorance and full-of-selfness, is to keep it outside my walls. I am fortunate to not have to work, unfortunate that I don’t have much $$ and very fortunate that the only beings I share constant space with are my cats. They know how to act, never lie or cling or try to take advantage. Nor do they proffer any insults or worse. The rest I can, and do, choose when to interact with. And that can be rather infrequent. I have earned my freedom, pay for it in some ways still, but have found it so rewarding to be in charge of my own life on my own terms.If, by bad luck, I lose this rewarding environment, I know I have come to terms with my own boundaries and how to keep them from being chiseled away.
    Long story short (yeah right), the older I get, the worse “they” get, the more I withdraw. It works for me. Too bad it took so long to translate into action what I knew instinctively long ago!!!
    best of all boundaries and relationships to you, always, Red, and especially during your hiatus!!! I do admire your stamina!!! You must have shoulders the size of a house!!! hugs and peace!!

    🙂
    BuddhaKat recently posted..FractalFridayFunForever…My Profile

    Reply
    • I am glad it works for you. I worry though about being so isolated. For ages, I was the island…and in many ways I still am an island to a large degree. We shall foray into broadening and contracting the social circle to find a comfortable limit in about a month. I have too many irons in the fire ATM to preempt some of what is scheduled. And thank you <3 xxx

      Reply
  6. Insanity is much too close to creativity, so I don’t think I should even comment on this one.
    Binky recently posted..Sticks And StonesMy Profile

    Reply
    • Occasionally, that is true. Having a powerful imagination and being able to envision the heretofore impossible is often labelled as insanity. In reality, it is not insane by definition: It is trying something completely new and getting a new result.

      Comment away!

      Reply
  7. Silence thy voice is golden in my over heated head, duct tape thy glue is running directly down my chin and puddling like slime in the lap dish I provided.

    Insanity…..allowing the week of ignorance to pile high and refusing to shovel it out the door.

    Insanity…..pouring expensive perfume at the door to cover the stench of the poop pile

    I love you, you have defined easily both of our weeks.

    Val
    Valentine Logar recently posted..Rapprochement or End GameMy Profile

    Reply
    • It has definitely been a week of Obsession spritzed feces. I love you, too. Wish I could email you some of the rain <3

      Reply
  8. Have we ever really figured out why WordPress thinks those sites are spam? Is it just a program glitch or do they have some sort of issue with them? I find it rather curious, that’s all.
    Derek Mansker recently posted..The Lego Jar (7/28/12) – Easter in JulyMy Profile

    Reply
    • I have no idea why WP does half of the things it does not do. I have a specific tracking program set up to gauge the effectiveness of my campaigns on Twitter and G+. I have stats (which I am paid, so I know those are at least mostly legit) showing there is sufficient traffic from both places, but which do not coincide at all with WP’s version. I will never understand the aversion to G+, and know via the comments the FB stats are wrong. I vote for lazy.

      Reply
  9. So, do we answer the questions? (insert inquisitive expression HERE) I got all the way to the bottom and I wasn’t sure.

    Insanity was my last job where the entire office was run so poorly it quite literally took a toll on my emotional, physical and mental well being. I’m not there anymore and I could not be more grateful.

    Reply
    • Giving up a waste of time job is one of the biggest ways to subvert insanity. And I am glad you did. The change in the tone of your writing was nearly immediate. <3

      Reply
      • Right? You noticed right… I know! I KNOW! I mean it took a while for all the smarm to get out of my system and the stress but no more bull? Ugh… wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.

        Yah. Tone… i.e., no more angry rants, cursing, frustration at stupid people who didn’t understand what a good environment was about other than to manipulate and stab one another in the back.

        So not for me. And good for me though, not following suit. 🙂 The havoc I could invoke if I played! But… I have more character then that… but just once? LOL 🙂

        Enjoy your week off woman!

        Reply
  10. Dearest Red,
    Thank you for this post, and for giving yourself time off. I hope that if a week is not long enough, you will come back and and tell us you need more time. We all have the responsibility to take care of ourselves. I was in an emotionally abusive marriage 32 years ago and I made my choice to stop being insane. My writing this week led me to choose to stop writing for a while. Much love to you, I read your thoughts and feelings at least twice a day. <3 Gail
    Gail Thornton recently posted..The NecklaceMy Profile

    Reply
    • I actually have the time planned for a working week off (which means no internet, but still working on books) and then an unplugged week. I know better than just to keep going…I did that for far too many years. It is one of the perks of retirement 😉 I hope your time away from writing will give you some solace. I find reading so relaxing when I am not writing.

      And good on you for ending the insanity. So many never do. It breaks my heart. Great to see you tonight! <3 Red. xxx

      Reply

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