Z is for Ziggy Stardust

I'm a big David Bowie fan, and Ziggy Stardust is my favorite of his songs. I totally love it. But I don't really have anything else to say about it, I just needed a Z word. When I listened to Ziggy recently I thought, that will work! So, here's to Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

It's a big thrill to be finished with the A-Z Challenge! I want to send a huge thank you to the Challenge hosts:

Arlee Bird's Tossing It Out

Jeffrey Beesler's World of the Scribe

Alex J. Cavanaugh

Jen Daiker's Unedited

Candace Ganger's The Misadventures in Candyland

Karen J Gowen's Coming Down the Mountain

Talli Roland

Stephen Tremp's Breakthrough Blogs

Many thanks to these great bloggers!

I've had a great time trying to come up with A-Z topics, and meeting so many fabulous bloggers. Thank you to everyone who stopped by here, and I am looking forward to keeping up with all of the wonderful blogs I've discovered. Congratulations and job well done to all of my fellow A-Zers!

Have a great weekend, all! :)

Y is for Youth, and Dogs Training Them

This is a re-post of an article I wrote a few months ago for the Circle Tail blog. Unfortunately, due to a lack of funding, the Dogs Training Youth program was not able to operate this Spring as intended. But I still think the work of the program during the past three years is very inspiring, and I hope Mr. Addis will be able to start Dogs Training Youth up again in the future. Mr. Addis' story is a testament to the power of the human-animal bond, and to the extraordinary impact the unconditional love of a dog can have on both young people and adults.


Former Circle Tail Inmate Handler Works to Help Troubled Youth

Victor Addis' life changed the day he started working with Marlys Staley and the Circle Tail dogs at the Ross Correctional Institution in Chillecothe, Ohio. Now, he is using what he learned from Circle Tail to change the lives of at-risk youths.

Victor's first Circle Tail dog was Lena, a pregnant beagle that no one else in the dog program wanted. Lena gave birth to 12 pups in Victor's cell and, as Lena had mastitis and couldn't produce milk herself, Victor spent a hot summer bottle-feeding all of her pups, often missing dinner so he could tend to the puppies. Victor says he wouldn't change the experience for anything, as it was the beginning of his new life.

He later moved to the London Correctional Institute, a lower security facility, and had the good fortune to be there just as Marlys was getting the London dog program started. He signed up to learn how to work with the service dogs in training, and went on to train so many service dogs that they became his specialty. Victor says he read all the dog training books he could get his hands on, and learned as much as he could from Marlys, taking notes whenever she would give training sessions at the prison. He still considers Marlys his mentor, and consults with her regularly.

When Victor was released from prison in 2003, he knew he wanted to continue working with dogs. Eventually, he formed Dogs Training Youth, an organization to help at-risk youth by exposing them to the joy and unconditional love of a dog.

The program started modestly, with Victor meeting with a handful of kids from his neighborhood who had taken an interest in his own dog, a beautiful Rottweiler named Cassie. Victor, Cassie, and the kids met weekly at Dorl Field in Norwood, Ohio, and Victor taught the kids how to work with Cassie using a clicker and other methods of positive reinforcement. Eventually, the kids started asking Victor if he could show them how to train their own dogs, and Dogs Training Youth was born.

The program, which only operates in the spring and summer due to weather and the lack of an indoor facility, pairs at-risk kids with local rescue dogs, and helps to teach the kids responsibility and respect for other living creatures through their work with the dogs. As Victor states, he sees things "start to click" for the kids as they work with the dogs, and they become excited and confident as they see what they and the dogs can accomplish together. As the kids gain more confidence and self-respect, they are less inclined to turn to the street looking for a sense of belonging.

Dogs Training Youth is getting ready to start its fourth season, and Victor is expecting as many as 13 kids to participate this year. Each one will have the opportunity to change their lives with the help of a dog, just as Victor changed his own life through the dogs of Circle Tail.

X is for Generation X

I'm a member of Generation X, and I've always thought that belonging to this generation could be a serious blow to your self-esteem if you believed the majority of what the media had to say about it.

Supposedly, Generation X includes anyone born between 1965 and 1980. When I did a google search for Gen X, the main words that came up to describe us were "ignored," "forgotten," and, of course, "slackers."

Gen Xers were also described as nothing more than the people who came after the Baby Boomers, as if we were the younger siblings who could never quite measure up. Even the name is pretty sad compared to the far more colorful Boomers and Millennials. Generation X sounds like a bunch of clones or zombies from a science fiction movie.

When people do attempt to provide some sort of identity for the Gen Xers, it's never flattering. I saw this article from the 1990s, and had to laugh at this description of the Generation X stereotype:

"cynical, hopeless, frustrated and unmotivated slackers who wear grunge clothing, listen to alternative music and still live at home because they cannot get real jobs."

Well, okay then.

Except for the grunge and alternative music, which wasn't a negative, I never knew anyone who fit this ridiculous stereotype. The people I knew were going to school and working full-time jobs, and trying to make their way in the world just like young adults of every generation. I never knew any of these hopeless basement dwellers who played video games instead of working, and supposedly defined my generation.

Really I think the whole generation thing is silly anyway, and I wonder why it ever got started, and who came up with these names in the first place.

But even if I do find it silly, I'm glad for the Generation X label in this case, as I couldn't think of a single X word to write about for this post. I'm grateful to my sister for suggesting Gen X, and I'm very glad to be done with this letter.

Two more to go! :)

W is for Writing Advice

I've spent a ton of time in recent months reading writing books, taking writing courses, and visiting writing sites, and I have found more wonderful advice than I could ever possibly list, or even remember. At times I have felt like I've gone a bit overboard, and I need to take a step back from reading about writing and just focus on the writing itself. That's one reason this A-Z Challenge has been great for me, as it's helped me to become more disciplined about writing every day. I hope I'm able to continue with that discipline once the Challenge is over.

But back to the writing advice, I have to say that there is one book that has resonated with me more than anything else I have read so far, and that book is Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. I read it recently, and it's not only my favorite writing book, it's one of my favorite books I've ever read.

I've seen this book mentioned on several blogs so I know lots of people have already read it, but I just wanted to share this one paragraph as it really spoke to me, and made me realize that I have been worried about the wrong things with writing. I've worried that if I don't get published immediately I will be a failure, and I've worried that there is no point to what I'm doing if I don't write the next War and Peace or some other masterpiece. But this paragraph made me remember why I started writing in the first place, and it had nothing to do with either of those worries.

"I just try to warn people who hope to get published that publication is not all that it is cracked up to be. But writing is. Writing has so much to give, so much to teach, so many surprises. The thing you had to force yourself to do - the actual act of writing - turns out to be the best part. It's like discovering that while you thought you needed the tea ceremony for the caffeine, what you really needed was the tea ceremony. The act of writing turns out to be its own reward."  ~ Bird by Bird, page xxvi

The idea of writing being its own reward is something I had kind of forgotten about, but it is the absolute truth. Of course, I still want to work towards publication, and that is my goal, but I need to remember that no matter what happens, I will still be doing something I love, which is writing. And that alone is a priceless reward.

Near the end of the book, Ms. Lamott sums her views on writing up, and this paragraph was another one that really resonated with me. I felt like she was describing me here.

"No matter what happens in terms of fame and fortune, dedication to writing is a marching step forward from where you were before, when you didn't care about reaching out to the world, when you weren't hoping to contribute, when you were just standing there doing some job into which you had fallen." ~ Bird by Bird, page 235

 

I can't imagine a better way to look at writing and, for me at least, it is definitely a "marching step forward."

This book is the best writing advice I've ever received, as it made me remember that the writing itself is what really matters, and whatever writing I'm doing is okay. It doesn't have to be the next masterpiece, or the next NYT bestseller (although I'd sure like it to be!) to matter. If it's a blog post about Count Von Count, that matters too. ;)

It's fun and I love doing it, and that's reward enough. I'm really grateful to Ms. Lamott for reminding me of this, and I know I will return to her book again and again. To anyone who hasn't read it, I can't recommend it enough. 

V is for Von Count

I was originally going to use vampires for my V post, as I love vampire characters and stories. But then I really couldn't think of much to write beyond the fact that I love vampire characters and stories. So, I decided to write about the first vampire character I ever loved, Count Von Count.

The Count rocks, and I still totally love him. I found this clip on youtube, and I love how he enters the scene with his cape half over his face. I also love the crazy laughter, and the lightning and thunder.

I read that in later years The Count was toned down and made friendlier, over concerns that children were frightened of him. I don't know if that's true as I wouldn't have still been watching Sesame Street then, but if so it seems kind of a shame to me. Maybe I was a weird kid, but I was never frightened of The Count. I thought he was awesome.

It's kind of funny though, as I have mild OCD and can be compulsive about counting. It's nothing debilitating, but it's just something I've always done, counting things like steps and tiles, etc. When I watch The Count now I can't help but feel like the poor guy has a really bad case of OCD, and that's why he can't stop counting. Regardless, I've no doubt he helped generations of kids learn about numbers, and how to count.

I'd like to write my own vampire story someday, and have been kicking ideas around in my head. I don't know if it's possible, but I hope I can find a way to work in some sort of homage to my first vampire love, Count Von Count.

U is for U2

I love music, and U2 has been one of my favorite bands for what feels like forever. U was another tough letter for me, (although most of the letters in the second half of the alphabet seem to be!) but when I thought about it, U2 seemed like a perfect choice.

I first started paying attention to U2 in the early 80s, around the time of the War album. A band from Ireland was practically unheard of in the US at that time, and it seemed very exotic to me. I loved the militant drumming of Sunday Bloody Sunday, and the song itself was impossible to ignore. I wanted to hear more.

When I came upon this video on youtube some time ago, it felt like a time warp. I remembered being an excited adolescent, watching MTV (at my friend's house as my parents didn't have cable at the time) and wishing I was there in the rain at Red Rocks.

As the 80s progressed, I started working at Arby's, my first job. I worked the late shift one summer, and closed down the restaurant each night. The Joshua Tree was the most popular album in the country at the time, and I remember playing the cassette on a boombox after we had locked the doors. We'd sing along to With or Without You while we washed mountains of dishes and cleaned dirty floors and tables.

When I finally got my first cd player stereo in the early 90s, U2's Achtung Baby was the first cd I ever bought. I still have the cd, and it remains one of my favorites.

The 90s went on, and I got distracted by too many other things to pay as much attention to music. I lost interest. But in the early 2000s, I watched U2's 2001 concert at Slane Castle in Ireland, and I became a fan all over again. The band was a lot older, and so was I. On some level, it felt like we'd grown older together.

When I watch this performance of what is probably my all-time favorite song, I almost feel as if I am there too, under the stars in Ireland, next to a centuries-old castle.

I think what I love most about music is that it can provide an escape from the doldrums and routines of every day life. When I listen to music, for a few minutes or a few hours, I can be transported to another time or place. A time when the world seemed much simpler, and responsibilities were few. A place where I may never have actually been.

Or, in some cases, a magical place that exists only in my mind.

I'll show you a place

High on a desert plain

Where the streets have no name ~ U2

T is for the T Cats

When I graduated from college and got my first apartment, one of my main goals was to get a pet of my own. I ended up getting two, as a friend of my brother's who worked for the Humane Society rescued a mother cat and her kittens, who had been born on the street. She asked me if I would like two of the kittens, and I jumped at the chance.

They were two tabby cats, and I named them Tigger and Thomas. A friend dubbed them "the T cats." For the next twelve years, the two of them were my little buddies and constant companions, with me through moves, job changes, going back to school, more moves, more job changes, and all the general ups and downs of life.

When Tigger was 12 years old, he was diagnosed with a heart problem. His body deteriorated quickly, and within a few months, the vet also found a cancerous tumor in his abdomen. It was clear there was nothing to do for him but put him to sleep. I stayed with him when the vet put him down, and I cried my eyes out. I knew it had to be done as I couldn't allow him to suffer, but that didn't make the decision any easier.

Thomas was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 10 years old, and for the next 5 years, I learned more about treating feline diabetes than I ever wanted to know. I almost felt as if I could be a vet tech myself. Thomas was at the vet so much, he became a favorite patient of the staff there, and almost like Norm on Cheers. When Thomas and I would walk in the door, the receptionists and technicians and veterinarians would turn and yell "Thomas!" Everybody there knew his name.

He managed very well and lasted longer than anyone expected when he was first diagnosed, but when he was 15, the disease had taken its toll and his body started to shut down. Once again I found myself putting a beloved pet to sleep, and it wasn't any easier the second time around.

While Thomas outlived Tigger by 3 years, I still always think of the two of them together, and it's impossible to think of one without the other. They were a package deal.

For 12 years, they were inseparable, and only apart when one had to go to the vet and the other got to stay home. They were my T Cats and, at least in my heart, they're together again, where I know they'll always remain.