A buck eighty-two

So I'm new to this whole STEEMIT thingamabob, and I have to admit it's all a little bewildering. Oh, the blogging and videos and music "channels" and what not - I get that. Another social media platform. Cool. But the STEEM thing? It's worth money... how?

I don't know!! I've read the white and blue papers (was hoping to find some mention of the T.A.R.D.I.S. with no luck), but it all sounds kinda like the grownups in a Charlie Brown cartoon... If I had hair, I might pull it out trying to figure out where the money COMES from! But I cut the hair all off about 5 years ago, so...

Anyway, as of the time of this writing, my profile appears to be worth $1.82, hence, the title of this post.

Hey, I'll take it. Better than being worthless, or worse yet, owing money. So I got that going for me.

A buck eighty-two!

So I write classical music mostly, some jazz, and a little dabbling with progressive rock and experimental stuff - nothing too "out there" really, just for kicks. I will arrange for just about any instrumental group. I've not really done any vocal arranging, other than the odd piano/vocal/guitar kind of thing here and there.

My prose leans somewhat toward the academic in content, but toward the mundane in context.

"What?"

Oh, excellent question! What I mean is that, since I used to be a teacher once upon a time (long long ago, in a galaxy -well - right here), I tend to be very thorough in my writing. I try to cover the topic in detail. And yes, I'm quite capable of tossing out some $5 words when the need arises, but I figured out a long time ago that you don't have to show off your vocabulary when explaining things.

People tend to dislike that kind of thing, unless they're academics.

So I tend to keep the cookies on the lower shelf, if you get what I mean. Big words are great, at the appropriate time. Small words are good anytime.

Unless you're an academic....

But I digress! Now what do I write ABOUT? Life, mostly. Oh, I've dabbled in some fiction. Used to play D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) back when it was called AD&D (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons), 2nd Edition, published by a company called TSR. Now it's on edition 5, if I have kept up, and owned by Wizards of the Coast. Things change. But back to my point - I wrote a lot of adventures for my game group. If you've ever played, you know that what is "written" or "planned" can go off the rails in under 13 seconds. There is a lot of improvisation - storytelling on the fly! Writing a "normal" story (anything outside of D&D or other role-playing games) lets you be in charge of every character, as the sole author. But I've also found that I don't like it quite as well.

So my writing is more about life. I've made myself sick writing about political topics since the 2016 election. I've backed off of that in a big way, because no matter what opinion you lay out there, people get ugly. SO ugly! Now I'll be honest, I'm rather fond of the Libertarian Party's idea of limited government, and I tend to fall into being conservative when it comes to the budget. Overall, I'm fairly in the middle on most topics, and that's probably why I get so frustrated at times. I see both sides, and gee, I wish I could get so up in arms about "TOPIC X" but you know, the other guys have a point, too, so.... Therein lies my conundrum.

So, I've stepped away from the politics for the most part and focus on writing things that people can put to use in their everyday lives. I'm a Christian (wow - there went half my readers!! lol), and I'm not ashamed of that. I respect those who hold other faiths (or no faith at all), and I appreciate the same respect when it is returned. But I don't expect it, and I don't demand it. What I do hope is that I can share something that will help someone get through the day just a little bit better. And yeah, I'm gonna mention God, the Bible, Jesus, and maybe even the Holy Ghost (CAN I GET AN AMEN!?).

So that's me. Here I am. So be it.

Maybe I'll add pictures next time.... ;)