I’m just hours away from finishing writing a new book–alas, that’s all I can say about it, because it will have another individual’s name on it.  I’m being paid to write it as a ghostwriter. It’s a shame I can’t tell you its title or what it’s about but I’m sworn to secrecy. At some point I might recommend it as a book to read, but I won’t be able to say which one it is, so you’ll just have to guess. (Don’t you love guessing games?)

 

This weekend I took both days off just to read non-stop. I love reading but usually I read books that promise to hone my writing chops or some other career-based asset.

 

This weekend I read both of Alan Alda’s books and another one about two brothers who rode the Oregon Trail in a wagon behind three Missouri mules in 2011 without a back-up entourage. Yes, that’s right…these stalwart folks took the trip 105 years after the last “official” wagon made its way across the North American continent from Missouri to Oregon (2,000 meandering miles).

 

What a fascinating journey. The author actually documents multiple journeys along the Oregon Trail–journeys in the 1800’s and his own, so there isn’t a single page in the entire book that isn’t downright riveting.

 

I’m presently only halfway through the Oregon Trail book; it’s a big one! I went out to sit with my goats and read a few chapters this afternoon, but Mr. Tumnus and Maggie wouldn’t  leave me alone; they wanted scratches and rubs. Mr. Tumnus kept jumping onto my lap and chewing on the Kindle cover, so I eventually gave up on reading and concentrated on scratching goats. I’ll get back to the book later this evening…

 

In Other News

 

While I was on the Orting Trail a couple days ago riding my bike I was pondering how other people might classify me after meeting me and knowing me for a while or following me in social media.  What I came up with was ‘unconventional’. Is that about right? What do you think?

 

• I’ve never married
• I’ve shared my life with lots of different critters (serval, skunk, deer, hawks, cats, dogs, ferrets, goats, calves, horses, etc.)
• I’ve always marched to a different drummer
• I’m basically shy (by nurture more than nature) but love to interact one-to-one and in small groups, and to address large gatherings if the topic is DeForest Kelley, copy writing, or motivational self-help
• I’m transgender (or intersex) but have never transitioned surgically and never will (I sense it would be too upsetting to people who have known and loved me all my life and I’m okay with that; I’m not one of the many who agonize over their ‘birth defect’ or over the intersex infant surgery–in many cases–that assigned them a gender they cannot embrace)
• I’m a pacifist who only gets riled when I see people being intolerant of differences (race, disability, creed, religion, the diverse gender spectrum, marriage equality, what-have-you)

During the ride I also decided I’m brave:  I embrace my unconventional nature. I don’t get bent all out of shape if/when people avoid me or judge me ‘aberrant’ or in some way ‘lacking’ (unless they mis-characterize me by calling me stupid, naive, or ignorant).

 

The song ‘I Did it My Way’ resonates with me. But so does ‘The Impossible Dream’.  I’m a Don Quixote by nature: crazy smart, crazy idealistic, even willfully ‘delusional’ at times. I like seeing the underdog win, and campaigning for him or her. (I campaigned for Senator Obama to become President when he was such a long shot that people laughed at me or gasped in horror. I campaigned for George McGovern. I’d do it again. I don’t regret any of the hard work I put in for them or the votes I cast for them. I will campaign for Bernie Sanders but will vote for Hillary Clinton if Sanders doesn’t win the Democratic nod because the alternative–putting one of today’s Republicans in the White House–will never happen as a result of my vote. And I won’t ever sit out an election. When registered voters do that, they abrogate their responsibility. Women fought, suffered and died for the right to vote less than a hundred years ago. I will vote!)

 

Best of all, I’ve come to the conclusion (belatedly) that I like me. I really like me just as I am, in every respect. God doesn’t make mistakes.

 

I am sooo done trying to ‘measure up’ to a standard that no human being could ever hope to attain. As long as I measure up to the goals I dedicate myself to accomplishing and live up to the values I embrace, I’m good.

 

I hope you are, too.

 

Get out there and leave a legacy of love, tolerance and joy (if that’s your thing). That’s what I want to do…what I plan on doing.

 

HUGS!!!

 

Sent by my dear friend Dr. Matondo Wawa: You did not choose the day you were born; you did not choose where or when you were born; you did not choose to be born a man or a woman or the color of your skin. You never chose your tribulations, challenges or disappointments. You didn’t choose your height, sexual orientation, country, continent, or your parents or siblings. You also never asked, “Why me?”  Instead, you gracefully embraced them all.  *sigh* I like that!