Baras Basketball Snapshots by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

 

 

Baras Basketball

by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

Saturday, April 6. 2013

 

Saturday afternoon, my wife, Christy Warren, Esmeralda Tanahale, Christy’s sister, and other family members are at home at One Warren Way preparing the food for Elson Tanhale’s 15^th Birthday Party.

 

My Nikon digital single lens reflex camera is charged up and I have shot some birthday celebration photos already.

 

I decide to walk along the barangay road. At the basketball court, I notice the local boys are shooting hoops.

 

These snapshots are ,by no stretch of the imagination, basketball shots that would interest the editors of “Sports Illustrated.”

 

However, everyone has family somewhere on the planet.

 

An Overseas Filipino Worker might be homesick to see family back in the province.

 

A Filipino or Filipina working and living in Manila, might be wondering about family and friends back in Leyte.

 

If an OFW, someone in Manila, or a Filipino or Filipina living in the United States recognizes a family member or friend in the snapshots, then, these shots will have served their purpose.

Sam

 

  

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Business Creativity In The 21st Century Photos by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

 

 

 

Business Creativity In The 21^st Century

 

Jun Jun Tanhale, a rice farmer, and a “trike” motorcycle operator, of Barangay San Antonio, Palo, Leyte, Republic Of The Philippines, places empty coconut shell husks on the fire to cook a pot of rice cake.

 

The husks essentially work like charcoal briquets they become hot, burn slowly and consistently to give off an amount of heat that allows the food to cook through and through.

 

While the actual procedure is a fairly common cooking procedure in the rural Philippines; it points out that Filipinos tend to be creative in finding ways to stretch the budget and make the ends meet. Jun Jun and his wife, Esmeralda have six children. Photos by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

 

Rice cake cooks in the pot. Photos by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

What Time Is The Next Ferry To Manila ? Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

 

 

 

What Time Is The Next Ferry To Manila ?

Elaysa Tanhale, 2, of Barangay San Antonio, Palo, Leyte, Republic of the Philippines, looks up like a tiny traveler checking the time and destination of the next ferry sailing to Manila, complete with her overnight bag. Actually, she came to visit her Aunt Christy and Uncle Sam Warren in Barangay Baras, April 6, 2013.

Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Princess Junea of the Philippines Nikon D 70 Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

 

Princess Junea

of the Philippines

 

Jun Jun Tanahale places the tiara crown on his daughter, Junea to celebrate her birthday. My philosophy of life states that every person who has ever lived, who is alive now, and who will be born is future years is a unique person. Every person should always celebrate their birthday – the anniversary of the day of their birth. Every girl should always feel like a princess on her birthday. Every boy should feel like a prince on his birthday. In the adult world, a woman should always feel like “Queen For A Day” on her birthday. A man should always feel like “King For A Day” on his birthday. Saturday, February 16, 2013, at One Warren Way in Barangay Baras, Leyte, Republic of the Philippines, Junea Tanahale celebrated her birthday with family and friends. Her Uncle Sam in observing the long standing tradition of women worldwide and is NOT publishing her age. And, a birthday party on the weekend is a Real World acceptance that it is easier for family and friends to be able to attend family events like birthday parties on the weekend, thus, her actual birthday is in the days ahead.Happy Birthday, Junea ! Nikon D 70 Photo by “Uncle Sam”uel E. Warren Jr.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

New Year:The Wheel Goes Round Slowly by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

 

 

New Year, Slow Beginnings

 

New Year:

The Wheel

Goes Round

Slowly

 

Burn The Calendar !

There is an old Ozarks superstition and wives’ tale that says, “Every January 1, you throw away the old year’s calendar.” Usually there was some kind of logic or type of explanation that suggested a common sense approach to Life.

 

I don’t remember my mother or grandmother’s explanation of the logic. They both were simply efficient about getting the calendar off the wall and outside into the trash.

 

January 15, 2013, my old calendar was still on the wall. I needed a photograph for this article, so off the wall and into the yard goes the old calendar. The Year 2012 was not one of my favorite years. Good Riddance, 2012 !

 

One flick of my trusty Zippo lighter and I got to watch 2012 go out in a blaze of glory. Nikon D 200 Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

After New Year’s Day, the theory is that the world is ready to pack away the holidays and get back to work.

 

Have you ever noticed how slowly the world at large usually seems to move ahead in the new year ?

 

You can blame The Twelve Days of Christmas from December 25 to January 5 and celebrate Christmastide and The Twelfth Night on the evening of January 5, but, that does not explain the slow take off for a New Year.

 

The Old Christmas Day is January 6.  The Feast Of The Three Kings, which is the first Sunday of the New Year, can work out to January 6, 7,8, or 9, and depends on if you use a Julian or Gregorian Calendar.

However, The Old Christmas Day and The Feast Of The Three Kings observances are not sufficient reason to explain why the world at large takes a slow stride into the early days of January.

 

Wherever you are in the world, when a New Year starts you can run the celebrations and the observances period about as long as you like and can afford.

 

If you can afford the time off in The Real World of earning a living, you can even postpone getting back into “The Work World” until you observe Candlemas on February 2.

 

Humans throughout history obviously have not been in a hurry to get back to work in the New Year. The world’s major religions accommodate the reluctance by a host of various religious holidays to help the average human to ease into January.

 

Why are people slow to jump feet first into the New Year ?

 

We humans jump up and down for the New Year’s Eve celebration and are anxious for the New Year. Yet, at the stroke of midnight, we seem to ease off and step back.

 

Why is it after January 1, humanity seems slow to move bravely and confidently into January and the New Year ?

 

In my life time, I have noticed people may have to go back to work after January 1, but their heart is not in it.

 

Anyone can sit at a desk, keep the lights on and run the heating or air conditioning, but, to “do work” that accomplishes something requires the initiative to be willing to undertake tasks.

 

I have noticed that it seems to take about the first two weeks of January before people “get down to business” and “get back in the game” of earning a living.

 

It seems there is a cautious need to ease into a New Year like a hot bathtub of water by putting one toe in first.

 

Like an old steam engine, we seem to have a need to build up a head of steam to finally get rushing down the tracks into the present.

 

Perhaps, all of humanity is “A Bunch Of Lazy Bums.”

 

No doubt, everyone will have a theory or come up with a theory.

 

The best theory that I have come up with about the caution of a New Year is : Capricorn.

 

Salute The Goat

 

I applaud the ancient Western astrologers. Sometimes the ancient astrologers were “dead on” when they selected an animal to represent a cross section of humanity. They definitely got it right when they chose The Goat to represent Capricorn and the people born under that sign.

 

“Goats Are God’s Weed Eaters”

 

Capricorn is one of the most reserved signs of the Zodiac.

I grew up around livestock on a farm. My mother, the hog farmer, had hair goats to eat away the brush, sprouts and cedar tree saplings.

“Goats Are God’s Weed Eaters.” If a goat can nibble away at a half inch or inch thick sapling, then, they will eat it down to a stump. They, like their appetizers, which means they start with the the lush green leaves of a bush, vine or sprout first.

 

Goats can be curious. A kid might run up to you in the field and a billy goat might slowly saunter toward you to check you out in the pasture.

 

Ozark farmers in the 1960s took pride in their goats. Goats are not pretty creatures. They have a Minus Sign pupil in their eyeballs, which gives their faces a distinctive character.

 

All goats, billy goats, the kids and the female goats all have “chin whiskers”, which most people call, beards.

 

Wool goats have wavy or ringlet strands of hair that hangs down aound their body. In the winter time, poor old wool goats seem weighed down in a mink coat that seems bulky and heavy to carry and wear.

 

Don’t “kid”, (pun intended – on the farm, a child of a goat is called a, “kid.”) yourself, an old wool billy goat in the heavy wool coat can move and “charge” at you quickly.

You violate an old billy goat’s “personal space” and if he thinks you are a threat, head down and horns “locked” in your direction and he will come at you with the speed of an Olympic sprinter and the strength of a small bulldozer.

 

Ozarks farmers always claimed, “Goats will kill brush.” Goats will nibble saplings and vines down to stumps and roots, but, in time, Mother Nature will bring the brush back.

 

Goats Versus Sheep

 

Goats will eat grass down to the roots. Ozarks farmers never liked sheep because sheep would eat grass and the roots, which meant you always had to reseed and re-sod the pasture.

 

Grass seed is expensive when you have to buy several acres worth plus fresh topsoil and fertilizer.

 

Ozarks farmers know livestock can be “skiddish”, which means they frighten easy. A loud noise will send chickens and turkeys to the four winds. Horses, cattle and goats usually don’t frighten easy.

Early Bible writers obviously weren’t farmers or had a low opinion of humanity, every sheep I ever saw was stupid.

 

Sheep scare easy and you always have to watch them to make sure they don’t do something stupid like wander off a cliff or out of the field into the highway.

 

Wolves, coyotes or packs of wild stray dogs get in sheep, they run and get “mowed down” by the hungry predators. Goats initially run, but, then, some stop, turn and fight the predators.  Battered, beaten and bloodied, sometimes an old billy goat will win and the predator is dinner for the buzzards.

 

Goats Are The Weather Warriors

 

Goats are “sure footed.” Their hooves are designed to allow them to stand and walk in the most challenging terrain.

 

In wintertime in southwest Missouri, horses, cattle and sheep can’t always stand up in the cold, ice and snow.

 

Horses, cattle and sheep have to lay down out in the pasture because they can’t walk in the terrain and weather. Goats can.

 

One winter in my childhood, I witnessed goats unable to stand for a couple of days in the winter.

 

However, Mother Nature had dropped hail and ice mixed with the snow for a couple of days, so that one to two layers or sheets of ice coated the earth underneath the picturesque blanket of snow.

Roads were closed.  Snow plows with their weigh and chains on their tires were carefully trying to break through the sheet or sheets of ice that covered the asphalt under the snow.

 

When a ton-and-a half or two ton dump truck fitted with a blade to act as a snow plow finds it difficult to move along a road without slipping into a ditch, you have to give a goat in the field credit for trying to stand up.

For a couple of days, that winter, even a goat could not stand up.   When the animal tried to rise the hooves slipped and slid on the sheet or sheets of ice beneath the snow. 

The poor goat ended up spread eagle on the ground with his or her legs spread out to the sides.

 

The Dead Of Winter Remains Alive

In The Missouri Ozarks 

 

I believe that the severe winter was either The Winter of 1967 or The Winter of 1968. It was an “Arctic Winter”,  Heavy snowfall all winter long.  Extreme cold temperatures.  And power lines were down two or three times, during that winter.  It was a Frozen Hell. It was masochistic winter that tortured man and beasts in the southwest Missouri Ozarks.

That severe childhood winter of the 1960s is why when “The Experts” talk “Global Warming”, I laugh. 

In situations where “The Experts” talk and try to convince me of “Global Warming” and “Climate Change”, I challenge them to go spend a winter in the southwest Missouri Ozarks. 

 

If “The Experts” still have all their fingers and toes free of “frostbite” and have not “froze to death” out in the woods or the countryside come Spring, then, I might listen.

It does seem that there is a “Climate Change” because the southwest Missouri Ozarks, now, can receive a tornado in January.  However, where winter weather is concerned the temperatures are still bone-chilling and you get heavy snowfall.

Granted from the 1980s through the early 1990s, the winters in the southwest Missouri Ozarks did not seem as severe as in the 1960s.

Check with The Stone County Old Timers and they will tell you Mother Nature has a strange sense of humor about winter weather in the southwest Missouri Ozarks.  There can be two, three or a few years were winter seems almost mild. 

Just when people start to smile positive “Climate Change”, Mother Nature pulls out all the stops and you wonder if any person or animal can survive the cold and snow until spring.

The bright side of that devastating 1960s Winter in the southwest Missouri Ozarks was, in the spring and summer there were less ticks, chiggers and snakes because Mother Nature had “killed them off” with the severe winter.

 

The Naked Goat

 

Sheep farmers always claimed sheep wool was better than goat wool, but, in the 1960s in the Ozarks wool goat farmers had a market for the wool. Wool goats like young boys are not fond of “haircuts.”

 

Of course, in the wool goat’s case the annual “haircut” is more like a “bikini waxing” in that you have to remove all the hair, i.e., wool against the goat’s will.  Electric shears are faster.

Uncle Richard DeLong only had the manual scissor shears, which meant the bawling, moving, fidgeting wool goats would sometimes get their skin nicked by the shears.

 

The end result is poor wool goats with their “nicked shaving cuts” looked comical.

Think of a close friend in full body Long Johns pink underwear that the worn and frayed arms and legs seem at least one size too short.  Then, image the trap door in the back of the clothing, 

The poor goat’s sheared backside would wave the trimmed tail as the sheared animal with the fresh haircut quickly exited the pen to the freedom of the pasture.

If you think the mental picture of a freshly sheared wool goat is funny, then, visit a farm and help a farmer at wool shearing time.

 

Hair goats have the same “work ethic” and eating habits of wool goats, but their hair is more like a windbreaker in the sense that while it keeps them insulated in the winter they can easily move around.

 

In the spring, a hair goat naturally sheds the hair like dogs and cats do at the right times of year.

 

Hair and wool goats were also used to provide milk, cheese and as a source of meat.

 

I am a “picky eater” country boy.  I never drank goat milk, ate goat cheese or goat meat. I have put a big nipple on a bottle and fed baby goats from time to time.

 

Goats Adaptable Livestock

 

Goats are resourceful livestock. They seem to adapt well to almost any terrain, although I would not recommend trying to raise a “pet goat” in a Madison Avenue New York City apartment.

 

Goats love plants. They do not discriminate between briar bushes, orchids and prize roses, so you definitely have to fence goats off away from gardens and flower beds.

 

Goats don’t require gas, electricity or catalytic converters; sorry OPEC.

Goats are environmentally friendly and they provide biodegradable nutrient rich fertilizer for your lawn or pasture.

 

Capricorn Humans

Samuel E. Warren, my father, Uncle Richard, Uncle Hobert and Uncle Joe DeLong were all born under the sun sign of Capricorn. My Rising Sign is Capricorn and I have worked with many Capricorn natives in my life time.

 

The goat is not as pretty a mascot as a ram, bull or eagle. Yet, the goat is a steady, determined, industrious, hard working, resourceful creature that braves terrain and weather to carry out it’s life mission. Goats are curious and have a subtle sense of livestock humor.

 

Talk to a farmer or watch hair or wool goats in a zoo or petting zoo and you will wonder if God has a sly sense of humor because the noble characteristics of goats do seem to be ingrained into Capricorn humans.

 

In my experience Capricorn human are conservative, cautious, curious, deliberate, determined, resourceful, and hard working.

 

If there is a fish or sea aspect to Capricorn, then, I consider it the sense of humor. Capricorn humans have a subtle sense of humor that often flows past their fellow humans.

 

Saturn The Ultimate Foreman

 

A Capricorn human’s biggest challenge is always Saturn, which a person might call Fate. In ancient Roman mythology, Saturn ruled agriculture, liberation and time. In a early 21^st Century sense, then, Saturn is “The Business God, who decides promotions, schedules and time off.” The ancient Romans identified Saturn as a “God Of Wealth.” The ancient Romans had Saturn pegged as “The Work God.”

 

As “The Boss Of Bosses”, the bottom line is the ancient Romans realized that Saturn was not going to “cut them any slack.” Saturn was not going to go out of his way to give anyone “time off” or “promote” a person if they didn’t “earn the promotion.” And, Saturn was  “ A Grade A Rule Book Stickler,” who demanded “by the book, all the time, no exceptions.”

 

Obviously, Saturn had to be a pagan God, because no human would ever want to work for such “A Dictatorial Boss.”

Saturn ruled agriculture, which meant farming and food.  In an early 21st Century perspective Saturn or Fate is the God Of Agribusiness. 

As a God Of Wealth, Saturn signed the paychecks and As the God Of Agriculture, He got to say, who got to Eat and who went Hungry.

 

The only time, the ancient Romans ever “Got to Stick It To The Boss” was once a year at the annual festival of “Saturnalia,”

At Saturnalia, the ancient Romans had free speech, switched jobs, ate like pigs, partied like wild men, got drunk and gave gifts. Sound like an office Christmas party ?

 

Bingo !

Saturnalia was celebrated December 17. Today Saturnalia is celebrated December 25. The “get even with your boss” pagan god party became the Christian Christmas holiday

 

Historians have not discovered why the date moved from December 17 to December 25.

 

Crafty Christians

 

Early Christians however, when they “stole” or “ripped off” pagan ideas liked to “Christianize” them. For instance:  Christian churches were often built on pagan worship sites.

 

If the move to December 25 was to “Christianize” the holiday, early Christians “outsmarted themselves” and did Saturn a favor by moving the holiday from Sagittarius right smack dab into “Capricorn” a Zodiac Sign ruled by Saturn.

 

The W Word : Work

 

Whatever mythological God rules a sign is considered the “ruler” of the sign, so since Saturn rules Capricorn, Capricorn humans are “the employees of Saturn.”

 

If you move the mythological religious god concept to a philosophical and psychological concept then you can swap the name, Saturn, for the word, Fate.

 

Look at your calendar, from December 22 until January 19, during the Zodiac Sign of Capricorn; haven’t tasks seem more time consuming?

Doesn’t it seem to take longer to get even the minor jobs done?

Even if you were able to take time off from work for Christmas and or New Year’s: doesn’t it seem that now your work has piled up and you are paying for the time off ?

 

Time is another trait that the ancient Romans attributed to Saturn. Saturn truly was an “Equal Opportunity God” because He didn’t discriminate. Saturn made “everyone work like a dog.”

 

Regardless, whether you call the ruler of the sign, Saturn or Fate,

 

Capricorn humans always seem to really have to earn their “pay” in Life. They work hard.

 

Capricorn humans don’t seem to get “the breaks” that people born under other sun signs seem to get on the job.

 

However, when a Capricorn human earns a promotion, award or honor; they “earned the recognition through hard work.”

 

Some sun signs can be a boss’ “pet”. In my life time, I have noticed, seldom, if ever, is a Capricorn a “bosses’ pet.”

 

Fate or Saturn keeps a Capricorn human’s “nose to the grind stone.”

 

When you look at the month of January and wonder, “Why does it seem the New Year always seems to get off to such a slow start ?”

 

Consider that Capricorn is the steady sign, which is conservative and steady; not fast and impulsive. Saturn or Fate demands due diligence, hard work, attention to detail, procedures by the book and hard work.

 

Short cuts usually just mean more hard work or going back and fixing the mistakes caused by short cuts. Saturn The Ultimate Foreman is looking over your shoulder.

 

Fate is in charge !

Saturn is in charge !

 

Aquarius En route

 

On the bright side, look at the calendar. A shift change is coming.

 

January 20,Aquarius The Water Bearer reports for duty. Aquarius is more laid back, more flexible, and tends to think “Outside The Box.”

While Capricorn demands rules, regulations, procedures and wants to “Do It The Way It Has Always Been Done”; Aquarius usually takes the risk of tossing or, at least, putting aside the rulebook.

 

Aquarius is an air sign, which means you can breeze back in to the daily responsibilities of Life.

 

Keep in mind, the ancient astrologers chose “Waves Of Water” as the glyph or logo for Aquarius, which should be a subtle reminder to let your emotions ripple along on the job.

 

In the Real World, when Mother Nature adds significant amounts of cold or hot water to air the result is an ice storm or thunderstorm that can grow violent.

 

Violent air creates hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones. Try to learn to heat up and cool down at regular intervals in your work day, so that you don’t let the stress of daily life cloud your judgment and send you thundering in the wrong direction.

 

Best Wishes for Clear Skies and Smooth Sailing !

 

Sam

 

Links

Twelve Days Of Christmas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Days_of_Christmas

Old Christmas Day

http://www.christmas-time.com/cp-old.html

Feast Of The Epiphany Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Epiphany

Candlemas Time and Date.Com

http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/common/candlemas

Capricorn Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capricorn_(astrology)

Capricorn Astrology Online

http://www.astrology-online.com/capricrn.htm

Capricorn Sun Sign Zodiac Signs Astrology.com

http://www.astrology.com/capricorn-sun-sign-zodiac-signs/2-d-d-66920

Saturn Mythology Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_(mythology)

Zodiac Sign Dates

http://www.whats-your-sign.com/zodiac-sign-dates.html

Star Cats Personal, Relationship, Family Astrology

http://starcats.com/

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Flip Flop Pitchers’ Contest Photos by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

 

 

 

Flip Flop Pitchers’ Contest

Elyza Tanahale dashes to claim her “Flip Flop.” Ranyiel Saldana, Elyza’s cousin watches in the background and awaits his turn.

Children have a knack for finding a way to entertain themselves. When Elyza, her brothers, sisters and cousins got together New Year’s Day in Barangay Baras, Leyte in the Republic of the Philippines, they found a way to entertain themselves.

“Flip Flop” is the nickname given to sandal footwear in the Philippines. Many of the “flip flops” that children and adults wear are the basic “shower clogs” that Americans wear getting into and out of the shower.

 

My Cousin, Bill DeLong, had a reputation in the DeLong Family of being a champion horseshoe pitcher.

 

My Filipino and Filipina, nephews and nieces “flip flop” pitching is basically the idea of horseshoe pitching, which is a popular past time sport in the United States. Instead of stakes, my nephews and nieces placed an empty tin can several yards away from the starting point.

Nikon Photos by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

 

 

 

Links

National Horseshoe Pitchers’ Association of America

http://www.horseshoepitching.com/

 

Horseshoes Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoes

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

I Welcome Readers’ Comments by Samuel E. Warren Jr,

Readers are welcome to write back

 

I

Welcome

Readers’

Comments

 

Ready, Aim, Flash !

My Nikon F3 with motor wind, flash bracket and the Nikon flash gun is the basic photography setup that U.S. Air Force photographers assigned to base photo labs and as “Combat Camera” photographers carried to “shoot” photo assignments in the 1970s and 1980s.  Some of the photographers actually used a Sunpak flash gun.  I used a Canon AE-1 Program camera to shoot the majority of my military photography for base newspaper articles. 

Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

 

I love to write.

 

I enjoy reading feedback from readers.

 

I know there are those Spam robots out in cyberspace that lock on and generate all kinds of junk.

Human Readers Welcome

 

Humans, real readers are always welcome to send me comments and I do reply.

 

My blog platform is Word Press. My theme is the FREE Word Press Journalist theme.

 

I let Word Press catch the majority of the spam and then check the folder to make sure, real comments aren’t being vaporized into oblivion.

 

If I have answered a particular question numerous times, then, I don’t respond because the answer or one exceedingly similar is already in the reader’s comment section of my blog.

 

I like to get feedback from readers. I like to know I inspired a reader or gave them an idea that they can use in their life.

 

 

 

 

Alien Readers Welcome

 

However, every few days I sit down and read my blog comments from readers.

I glance at the comments and the first ones that get deleted are the ones that look like a warehouse full of adding machines exploded because there are strings of numbers thrown into the message.

 

If an extraterrestrial intelligence is trying to communicate with me: “Dear Alien Life Form of Unknown Origin. My name is Sam. I ain’t a mathematician. Disengage your communications keypad and use the alphabetic one. Thank you.”

 

To all my friends at the Search for Extraterrestrial Life, i.e., SETI, if the Andorians, Klingons, Romulans, Vulcans or little green men email me, then, I’ll forward a copy of the email to you guys and NASA.

 

Relax, Mutual Unidentified Flying Object Network, I’ll forward a copy of the same email to you and The Center For UFO Studies In Rockville, Maryland.

 

Back in the world of human readers, I do glance over every email comment that I get on my blog. Some are obvious “Locked On And Trying To Use Your Blog To Be A Spam Spreader,” which means when it is obviously a ploy to use the blog, then, I delete the spam.

 

Advertisers Buy An Ad

 

I watch for the advertisers that try to promote everything from ambulance chasing legal services to spiffy new SEO software to up your statistics to search engines. Those emails get vaporized by the delete key.

 

I’m An English Bad Boy

 

Bad boy that I am; I break English rules. I write English to communicate.

 

I do not write English to teach it.

 

As a child, English teachers engineered “All The Rules Into My DNA”

 

The English teachers hardwired the information by requiring me to “Diagram Sentences.”

 

Then, as a reporter, I had to memorize the “Strunk and White” gospel on grammar and nit-noy English to the extreme.

 

Uncle Sam demanded that I “memorize”, live and breathe, “The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual.”

 

I see correct and proper English in my sleep.

 

English To Communicate

 

I am not on Her Majesty’s official staff and I am not writing a book for publication, so I write to communicate.

 

I write for fun.

 

Two – Ton Type

 

One of the major rules of English that I break often is the “Old All The Same Thoughts In One Paragraph Rule.” Back in the days of Shakespeare that silly rule might of made sense.

 

Then again, Will Shakespeare didn’t have a cell phone.

 

Poor Shakespeare, he never got a facebook account or got to type: LOL.

 

Legions of lawyers, doctors, academics and others who love those bureaucratic English paragraphs with their 40 sentences and the jargon bloated sentences don’t realize that all the professional vernacular words are weighing down their eyes.

 

The two tons of type that scholarly documents and legal paperwork rely on to make a point are a format technique that scares off readers. When your eyes scans a page and there are thick blocks of type, your eyes want to jump somewhere else.

 

Two tons of small artistic squiggles on a page tells your brain this is going to take some digging to get through all this type and make sense of it.

 

English Always Fashionable

 

I use the journalism layout technique.

 

Reporters know the eyes dance over words.

 

Important words get uniforms and ball gowns, which translates to big point size type and fancy fonts.

 

Too many sentences in one paragraph is a badly tailored suit. It doesn’t appeal to the eye and suit the mind.

 

English has to be “fashion conscious” to be read and understood. Words have to tempt the eye to get the reader.

 

English In A Bikini

 

I try to put my English in a bikini.

 

I go for short sentences. If the idea is too long and too many sentences start to fill out the paragraph, then, it is breast augmentation time for the paragraph.

 

English In A Bustier

 

If the paragraph starts to look to busty to my eye, then, I step into the literary closet of my mind and look at the wardrobe. I space between the sentences. If the paragraph still seems busty, then, I will add line art or a photo.

 

If I can’t find the appropriate art or photo I step back into the literary closet. I look at the sentences and chose a nice bustier.

 

After all, the right subhead pushes the copy up and out at the reader.

 

The point of any article is to get the words in your face and before your eyes so they will be noticed.

 

Comma Conversion

 

I like commas. They are cute and cuddly in their own way. English teachers do not like comma splices.

 

The cuddly comma outlines a series of words and sets off phrases for the eyes.

 

I worked in a radio station and sometimes we had to splice tape to splice out “Ah,” “Umm,” “Dah,” “Ur,” “Er”, and other unintelligent sounds. I like commas. I like splices.

 

Samuel E. Warren Junior English

 

The English speaking countries of the world have their own take on how to use, communicate, spell and arrange English to make sense in their countries and cultures.

 

Americans spell theater with the er. British spell theatre with the re.

 

Americans spell Manila one way. Filipinos spell there capitol city, Maynila.

 

English is a global language because it is flexible and adapts. English never lets silly rules drown out the language’s natural communications ability.

 

English’s flexibility is the reason why English thrives.

 

English as a language adapts.

 

Even a writer can tweak the Commandments Of English and “Yea, though, thou, might offend scores of English professors; who cares ?

 

If the message gets through to readers and your communication is understood, then, English as a language did what it is designed to do – it communicated !

 

In the 1970s, IMHO scribbled on paper would not mean anything to anyone.

 

Thus, like the BFF teenagers with their text messaging cell phones, I tweak English to suit my communication needs.

 

Warren Wonder Words

 

I like words.

 

Some words like War, Death, Land, Life, Love, and some others are not suppose to be capitalized because they are not “Nouns”, which, a noun is “a proper name of a person, place or thing.”

 

I capitalize War because War kills people, destroys property and lays Land to waste for decades to centuries.

 

I capitalize Death because it comes to us all.

 

I capitalize Land because the bloodiest Wars in history are always fought over Land, whether the War is a domestic Civil War or a foreign War, the bloodshed and Death toll demand that Land not be trivialized as lower case.

 

I capitalize Life because we all live it.

 

I capitalize Love because it is a significant human emotion.

 

From time to time, I will capitalize those English words known as articles and prepositions like The and Of. In a phrase, I want the words to stand out. When I put the word The with a word like car, I want the reader to know I am writing about The Car and not simply a car someone on the planet.

These two cabins are in Galena, Missouri on the banks of the James River in the Missouri Ozarks.  Galena, Missouri in The Ozarks is the sight of The Last Official Public Hanging In The United States Of America and The Show Me State Of Missouri.  Famous United States 7th District Congressman Dewey Short is a native son of Galena, Missouri.  Galena gained notoriety in the 1930s as The Hometown of George Leonard “Shock” Short one of the most successful bank robbers of The Depression Era because his O’Malley Gang robbed banks throughout the Midwest and is one of the only gangs to successfully pull off two bank robberies at the same time. 

Photo by Samuel E. Warren Jr.

Ozarks English

 

 

I grew up in the Ozarks. Thus, if I am in my country boy mode: “Reckon I is gona’ go and write them thar little ole’ words any way I darn well please. If’n ya don’t like it. Well, yous don’t have ta’ read my article. I hain’t gona loose none of my shut eye time over it.”

 

Al Capp made a living poking fun at The Ozarks and “The Beverly Hillbillies” made the TV studios money poking fun at The Ozark hillbillies.

 

I grew up in The Ozarks, so if I want to use, talk or write “Ozarks’ English”, I reckon I have a better right than the people who never set foot in The Ozarks.

 

Spelling

 

Spelling, I believe is important. However, I will misspell an English word to make a point.

 

Magick – I always spell the word magick with a k.

 

Aleister Crowley’s spelling idea works. With the k on the end of the word, then, the reader knows that you are writing about supernatural, paranormal, or universal unseen forces in Life, which I call, “magick.”

 

When I write the word, “magic” it means I am writing about entertainment or stage magic.

 

I usually am a good boy when it comes to spelling. I might do the old Photo or Foto word switch every now and then,but usually I do not “purposely” misspell a word.

 

Spiritual English

 

I, God and Satan are “old drinking buddies.”

 

From time to time, I write about my immortal friends.

 

I will capitalize He when I write about Satan. After 21 Centuries, He has earned a captial H and daily headlines, show He isn’t retiring anytime soon.

 

God understands that I am one of those people that believes every object in Life has to have at least two parts. Everything in Life, at some level, is at least, one half of a whole.

 

Genetics reveals, all little boys genetically are first little girls. If the genetic material moves in a certain direction then the little girl is born a little boy – so, much for “The Macho World Concept.”

 

God grins when I capitalize the S and put it in front of he to create She. I sometimes write about Him, The Creator Of The Universe, in a Her sense.

 

Incidentally, when you are a Supreme Being; you don’t have “gender” and “orientation” issues. God asked me to pass that along the next time I did some religious English writing.

 

Now, that I have told readers to feel free to email me there comments, your writng is up to you.

 

English Professors Chill Out

 

I have outlined my use of English, so that the English Professors Of The World can relax with a glass of sherry or port and curl up with their favorite leather bound Shakespeare play or Lewis Carroll’s “Alice In Wonderland” tale.

 

English Professors relax and chill out. English is a language that changes. The beauty is English can change and still communicate ideas that are understood.

 

I have outlined my approach to spelling English words, which means I know how to use my “Spell Checker” software and usually I do.

 

However, alas, I am still a mere mortal, so I make mistakes. Sometimes a word sneaks by me.

 

Oops, I’m human.

 

I have outlined my religious and spiritual approach to English, so “The Holy People In The World” can go ahead and bad mouth me.

 

 

 

 

I am Sam The Writer. I am Sam The Photographer.

 

If you want to send me comments about the articles and photos in my blog, I am sure I will enjoy reading them. I do reply. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I appreciate the readers, who take time to comment.

 

Sam

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.