Archive for the ‘Blogishness’ Category

What It Means To Be A Writer

Michael Anthony is an Iraq War Veteran and is the Author of: Mass Casualties: A Young Medic’s True Story of Death, Destruction, and Dishonor in Iraq.

Five Tips to Writing an MFA Personal Statement

So, I’ve decided to get myself an MFA in creative writing.  I’m applying to four different universities and I’ve been killing myself for the past few weeks trying to write my personal statement.  I’ve been scouring the web, reading books, talking to people and doing everything possible.  I’ve done over a dozen drafts and here’s what I’ve learned so far:

20 Ways to Improve Your Mood and Enjoy Your Life

We’ve all had those days when we “woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” and we just couldn’t help but be miserable. Sometimes, this mood will last days, or even weeks, and it begins to take over our lives. With so many potential causes of stress (i.e. job, family, finances, etc.) it can be difficult to look beyond the stress and see the good in life, but it is
important that you try. A happier mood can start a positive cycle in your life, and a better outlook can, in turn, make you feel better.  When you are happy, others want to be around you. A happy mood can improve your health and help you get better sleep. Work can seem easier, more fun, and your day may appear to go by faster. This change in mood doesn’t have to be difficult. There are many small things you can do to improve your mood each day.

Semper Fi-bulous – The Life Of A Gay Marine (Done Before the Repeal of DADT)

With a dozen Marines on either side of him, Marc Winslow marched down a sullen dirt road.  “Hoo—rah,” he screamed as the drill instructor called cadence.   Marc looked to the left and then to the right, with heads shaven to the skin, faces free of stubble, and a snarl of the lip, each Marine was indistinguishable from the next.  His shoulders were back, his head was held high, after months of training, he was finally one of “the few, the proud,” he was a Marine.

4 Tips That Will Make Your Job Application Stand Out

It’s hard enough to get the job of your dreams, but doing so in the middle of a worldwide financial crisis is an even bigger challenge for anyone. Fresh graduates from even the most reputable universities around the globe are unprepared to compete against experienced employees who have been laid off from their previous jobs.

If you’re in this kind of situation, you can simply give up your hands and try to find a lesser job that’s easier to snag. Or you can try to make your resume look as good as possible, whether or not you’ve had prior job experience.

Catness: What Makes a Cat a Cat

Do you ever just get those random thoughts that pop into your head?  Maybe its a fact, joke or quote that you heard from a professor, friend or family-member, but regardless of its source, it just pops up out of nowhere.

Today, for some reason, the idea of catness popped into my head.  What is catness?  What makes a cat a cat?  If most people were asked what makes a cat a cat, they’d most likely come up with a list like: a cat has four legs; a cat has fur; a cat has whiskers; a cat chased mice; a cat purrs, etc.

Battlestar Galactica – Can Emotions Die?

I’ll be the first to admit it, I’m a total Sci Fi nerd.  And I’ve been watching that TV show Battlestar Galactica…I won’t get into details about what the show’s about, but I’m on season 3 and the show has got me thinking about emotions.

There’s a certain spectrum of emotions that people feel and some people can and will live their entire lives without feeling certain emotions–and that’s a good thing in most cases, kinda.  A white, middle class, christian, protestant, male, etc, will most likely never know the feeling of oppression.  An African-American who grew up down south in the 1950′s, someone who’s still alive today, carries with him the memory of those emotions, the memory of what it FEELS like to be oppressed.   Like cigarette smoke on a carpet, it will always be there and you can’t wash or beat it out.  But here’s my question…

Bright Yellow Sun – Original Poem

Of my countrymen
I dreamed,
All of us looking
At each other
In different ways
Beneath white clouds,
On a tiny blue planet,
Rotating around
A bright yellow sun.

Me, my fellow Americans
And all creatures:
Laughing, crying,
Hurting? and loving?

We spin
And the rotation
Is felt
From planet to planet
And universe to universe
Nothing can stop our rotation
From being touched
By everything,
And nothing ever will

Michael Anthony is an Iraq War Veteran and is the Author of: Mass Casualties: A Young Medic’s True Story of Death, Destruction, and Dishonor in Iraq.

Veteran Wellness and The War Within – Guest Post – Part 2

The Veteran Code of Health’s fourth chapter focuses on Nutrition.  After subsisting on military rations for any extended period of time, the definition for what qualifies as food could easily get distorted.  Yet with the body turning over approximately two billion red blood cells every second, you literally are what you eat.  Thus, the following rules should be implemented when determining whether or not it should be on your plate:

–if God didn’t make it, don’t eat it.
–if you cannot pronounce an ingredient in a food, don’t eat it.
–if it hasn’t been on this earth for 5000+ years, don’t eat it.
–if it won’t keep your dog alive, don’t eat it.
–the more ingredients in a food, the worse it is for you.

Akashic Records – My Reading about Writing

So…the other day I came across someone who was offering to read my Akashic Record for five bucks.  I’ve heard about the Akashic Records from a few of my more mythical friends, and I decided to give it a shot.

The way this works is, a special akashic reader (a psychic) will go into the records (through deep  meditation, etc) and then will find an answer to your question.

Question:

“How do I take my writing to the next level?”

Answer:

Thank you for your order and for allowing me a glimpse into your Akashic Records. It is always an honour.