Monday, January 28, 2013

The Broken Window

Has anyone besides me ever gotten into trouble for something you didn’t do? Probably. But for me, it seemed to be a habit because it happened a lot - still does from time to time. Just recently, I was blamed for tearing a hose off the fuel pump at my job - until they actually looked at the surveillance camera footage and saw it wasn’t me. (Would have been nice if they had checked that first). When I was a kid it wasn’t always that easy to prove my innocence but usually, I did find a way to get out of things without suffering any ill consequences, as in the following story.

I was nine or ten years old at the time. An apartment building was being built across the alley from my house. A neighbor friend of mine and I loved to ride our bikes in the piles of dirt. One day, when we’d stopped for a rest, I picked up a dirt clod and threw it through one of the open windows. No glass had been installed yet and we didn’t see any harm in tossing a few more dirt clods through the window hole. A little more dirt on the dirt floor inside couldn’t hurt anything.

We soon grew tired of throwing dirt and went back to riding our bikes. That might have been the end of it except some other kids had seen us and decided throwing dirt clods looked like fun. For the next few days the other kids took it upon themselves to move as much dirt from outside the apartments to the inside, one dirt clod at a time. Then one day, when we all got home from school, the windows had been installed. Of course that fact didn’t at all deter the neighboring kids from their fun and it wasn’t long before one of the windowpanes was broken.

Before the shattered glass had settled to the ground all of the other kids were long gone. My friend and I had done nothing wrong and so we stayed. The next day after school, we again went to ride our bikes on the mounds of dirt. And then suddenly, there were four or five men who appeared out of nowhere - and they were mad! One of them, evidently the boss, was yelling and cussing at us, asking us why we’d broken out the window. It did no good to tell him we weren’t the ones responsible, he didn’t care what we had to say. He’d talked to someone across the street and they told him we rode our bikes there everyday. We were going to have to pay for the window, he said. Then he added, that he wouldn’t call the police if we’d tell him where we lived.

I may have been only a kid but I was no fool. Remember I said getting in trouble for things I hadn’t done was sort of a habit of mine? Well, that habit had taught me at least one thing and I knew better than to tell the guy where I lived. He wanted to talk to my parents, and that wasn’t going to happen - not if I could help it! But neither did I want to lie to the man. So, my friend and I just took off riding as fast as we could - away from the construction site and in the opposite direction from our houses.

Returning home an hour or so later, we half expected to be greeted by a cop car - but there were none. Neither of our parents mentioned it so apparently, the guy hadn’t figured out where we lived. In a few weeks the apartments were finished and we never saw the man again. For once, I had won! I wasn’t sure exactly what I had won since I hadn’t been guilty in the first place, but it was nice to feel as if I’d gotten away with something.

The whole reason I’m telling this story is that I was reminded of it the other day while driving past those apartments. I was slightly amused to see that a window was broken. The same window. Great, I thought, as my smile faded and I quickly drove away. I wonder if I’m going to be blamed for this?

Bruce A. Borders, author and songwriter, has over 500 songs and more than a dozen books. Over My Dead Body, The Journey, and Miscarriage Of Justice, his latest books, are available on Apple I-Pad®, Amazon Kindle®, Barnes & Noble Nook® and Sony Reader®, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords. Now also available in print at many online retailers or at www.bruceabordersbooks.weebly.com. The popular Wynn Garrett Series Books are now available on Barnes And Noble® at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/?series_id=867526 See Bruce’s Smashwords Profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BruceABorders

Monday, January 21, 2013

Dog Food

For the past year and a half, I’ve tried to stay away from politics on this blog. A remarkable feat, I might add, since I am very passionate on my political views. But, I figure everyone is bombarded with politics everywhere else so I choose other things to write about. However, to remain undetached from the current issue is proving too difficult. I have to say something. No, this isn’t going to turn into a political blog. Next week, I’ll return to one of my usual topics. For now, indulge me in the following.

So, Obama wants to usurp the authority of the U.S. Constitution and take away guns? And New York is presently in the process of attempting to nullify the 2nd Amendment rights of the citizens there? And Congress is considering several bills, which would drastically infringe on all American’s right to keep and bear arms? “Dog food,” is what I say.

These demented politicians above are not alone. There’s Biden, Feinstein, Pelosi, various other congressmen and senators, state legislators, and then the public figures. The list is really quite long of morons who have no regard for the Constitution. The gun-grabbers seem to think now is the time; outlaw guns, and/or confiscate them and imprison offenders. Never mind the words of the 2nd Amendment. “Shall not be infringed,” apparently has no meaning to these traitors to our country. By hook or by crook, they seek to relieve all of us of our arms. Again, I say, “Dog food!”

The anti-gun crowd, who want to disarm America, is not limited to solely to our country either. China has called for the complete disarmament of US citizens, and the U.N. is still actively pursuing its worldwide ban on firearms. Question - Since when does anyone in any other country have a say in our laws or our Constitutional rights? They don’t. But that fact seems to be not a matter of importance. The whole world is caught up in a frenzy; thinking, at last, they have an opportunity to rid us of firearms. I repeat, “Dog food.”

No doubt, I have some readers, if not all of you, thoroughly confused at this point, wondering just what dog food has to do with the discussion. Maybe this will help.
Message to Obama, lawmakers everywhere, the U.N., China, celebrities, and the world at large: Want my gun? Dog food. Alpo dog food. Specifically, “Come And Get It.”

Molon Labe.

Bruce A. Borders, author and songwriter, has over 500 songs and more than a dozen books. Over My Dead Body, The Journey, and Miscarriage Of Justice, his latest books, are available on Apple I-Pad®, Amazon Kindle®, Barnes & Noble Nook® and Sony Reader®, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords. Now also available in print at many online retailers or at www.bruceabordersbooks.weebly.com. The popular Wynn Garrett Series Books are now available on Barnes And Noble® at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/?series_id=867526 See Bruce’s Smashwords Profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BruceABorders

Monday, January 14, 2013

Climbing The Ladder Of Success

As I’ve written on a couple occasions in this blog, my son recently went to Lineman College to be a climber and now works as a tower tech climbing steel towers, poles, and other structures. Basically, anything that has to do with electricity and sticks up into the air, he climbs it. I should have known he’d be in that line of work long ago - when he was only a year old.

One summer, both of my daughters were visiting my parents for three weeks and most days my wife worked well into the evening. That left me at home with my son in the afternoon. I needed to paint the house and not being the patient type, I didn’t want to wait until the weekend. My son was a year old but not yet walking and figuring he couldn’t crawl too far, I spread a quilt on the grass, piling a few toys around him. Then, I got out the paint and a brush.

The upper level on our two-story house was set back with the roof of the lower level extending out. This made it nice for painting the wall of the second story - after I’d set a ladder in place and climbed the ten feet to the roof. I painted for fifteen or twenty minutes, stopping every minute or so to check on him. Everything was fine, and then...

The next time I turned around to look, I didn’t see him on the quilt. He was nowhere in the yard either. Dropping the brush on the roof, I quickly made it to the ladder. Ready to climb down and start a search; a manhunt, or babyhunt as it were, I saw him - halfway up the ladder and still struggling to climb.

Not wanting to startle him, or take a chance of knocking him off the ladder, I did what any slightly crazed parent would do - I jumped. I wasn’t nearly as old as I am now so the jump, or rather the landing, didn’t hurt me any. In about two seconds, I was on the ground, ready to catch him if he fell while I climbed up the ladder to reach him. It all ended well, except for me. I think my son’s first experience with climbing took a few years off his Dad’s life!

Over the next few years, the kid continued to climb - just about anything, seemingly not afraid of heights at all. As I’m sure he would point out, it’s really not the height or even the fall that will get you - it’s what comes next. Not that he has much to worry about, he’s had lots of experience; been climbing since he was a baby - literally!

Bruce A. Borders, author and songwriter, has over 500 songs and more than a dozen books. Over My Dead Body, The Journey, and Miscarriage Of Justice, his latest books, are available on Apple I-Pad®, Amazon Kindle®, Barnes & Noble Nook® and Sony Reader®, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords. Now also available in print at many online retailers or at www.bruceabordersbooks.weebly.com. The popular Wynn Garrett Series Books are now available on Barnes And Noble® at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/?series_id=867526 See Bruce’s Smashwords Profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BruceABorders

Monday, January 7, 2013

The Fine Art Of Plagiarism

I should preface this blog with a disclaimer. As a writer, I’m not a fan of plagiarism. I don’t want other people plagiarizing my work and neither do I wish to plagiarize another author. In fact, I’m quite certain that plagiarism is ultimately more work than coming up with something new and the results are usually not favorable. There is really no art to plagiarism, except if you happen to be a cynical kid in school and not afraid to risk getting into trouble. That’s where my story comes in.

I was in the fifth grade and given a writing assignment - an open writing assignment. I could write about any subject I chose as long as it was original and at least 500 words. We’d just discussed plagiarism in class and due to my devious nature I decided to show off what I’d learned - in my own satirical way.

I began the short essay with a definition of plagiarism (that the teacher had given us) and stressed that it was never a good idea, for a variety of reasons, which I listed. These reasons had also been given to us by the teacher. Then, I moved on to citing some examples. I copied, word for word, a lengthy paragraph from the encyclopedia and commented that to use the paragraph, claiming it as my own, would be a classic case of plagiarism. Furthermore, I pointed out that even to rearrange the words and sentences and then present them in the new order (which I did) would still qualify as plagiarizing another author. In both examples I was careful to point out that I hadn’t written the material.

I then re-wrote the paragraph in my own words and stated that this would be an acceptable method of research and reporting. Ending the paper with a recap of the dangers, pitfalls, and possible consequences of plagiarism, I said such a practice was never okay and should be avoided by all writers.

Out of over 500 words, I’d written no more than a handful of my own. I turned in the paper - and much to my surprise, got an A! Either my teacher was really dense and missed the fact that I hadn’t included much original content at all, or she’d seen the irony of what I’d done. Or perhaps she was glad to see I’d been paying attention. Maybe she appreciated all the thought and hard work that I’d put in to make my point. It did take a lot of work - and time. It would have definitely been easier, and faster, to just write about something else. But, it’s hard to argue with a good grade!

Bruce A. Borders, author and songwriter, has over 500 songs and more than a dozen books. Over My Dead Body, The Journey, and Miscarriage Of Justice, his latest books, are available on Apple I-Pad®, Amazon Kindle®, Barnes & Noble Nook® and Sony Reader®, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords. Now also available in print at many online retailers or at www.bruceabordersbooks.weebly.com.
See Bruce’s Amazon Author Page at www.amazon.com/author/bruceaborders or view his Smashwords Profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BruceABorders