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Notes from a Garage

With John Gardiner

Two great notes; bottled water; and rockin’ in Chatham-Kent!!!!!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Life is passing with dizzying speed these days. It seems like I get up and it’s already tomorrow…..But, every once in a while, something truly wonderful happens in your life and you somehow know the whole ride is worth it. As most of you know, I’m struggling to be a writer in my real life…..have written many, many short stories, a couple of novels, a play, two musicals and a whole bunch of poetry. Although I’ve worked really hard at pushing my work out there, I’ve not been able to attract a commercial publisher so it’s really been tough sledding. Frustrating knowing you’re on the planet for only one purpose, but unable to earn a living at it. I sometimes feel like Vincent Van Gogh and can clearly understand why the man cut his ear off. Because of my inability to earn said living from my creative writing, I’m forced to do many other things in my life and my writing has to stay sort of under the surface. But then, you get an e-mail or two and things change. This past week I have received two e-mails that have helped restore my faith in myself as a writer. First, a fellow e-mails me about one of my short stories, Conversation with a Friend, which he has been saving on his hard drive for many years – and it has moved him in life. And even though he is currently down on his luck, my writing has somehow lifted him up and kept him going…..high praise indeed. And then, the one time drummer in the great one time band Spott Farm gets in touch about another piece of my writing that he’s come across on the net. I am a writer – it’s really the only thing I do well in life. And these two communications over the past week have only hardened my resolve to keep pushing the writing out there. I just somehow know that it will have life beyond me….and that’s really all that matters. I don’t really matter at all – it’s the writing. It’s why I’m here. And you likely didn’t read that here first!

Well, well, how about another rant? Let’s talk about bottled water for a minute. I thought – but I’m usually wrong – that bottled water was bad for the environment, because of all the waste plastic it creates, and bad for people, because of the bad stuff that leaches out of the plastic and into the people. So, how come all the big grocery store chains and the department stores and the variety stores and pretty well every retailer in Canada are not only still selling bottled water…..but are using it as a loss leader to get people into their stores? What in the world is wrong with us? Are we just totally and completely insane? Guess so! Anyway, I really don’t know why I’m bothering to compost and recycle and all that other stuff, when there is absolutely no political or social will to fix the environment. We won’t get serious about the environment until the world is about to end and we’re all about to be turned into mutants. I mean, I’m a smoker so one of the most persecuted people on the planet and let me just tell you that if you people in the anti smoking lobby would just turn the same type of energy into saving the environment, this place would be Eden. Anyway, I am disappointed that we are very selective when it comes to saving the environment or dealing with any other good cause. If there’s too much inconvenience or it’s gonna cost too much, we just carry on like there’s no tomorrow. Which, ironically, there might not be. It’s the way of the world.

Was out and about to some really excellent Chatham-Kent events over the weekend…..Started out over at Uncle Tom’s Cabin for the Emancipation Day celebrations, then off to Wheatley for the re-dedication of the Wheatley Harbour, then to Erieau for the big first annual Art on the Boulevard….Wow! What a weekend! And all three of these events really successful and special congrats to Mary Anne Patterson and her committee for putting it together in Erieau – that was a great event! Anyway, keep on truckin’ out there, Chatham-Kent…..lots of fun in the sun!!!

Out of time for another week…..hope everything is going well out there in the real world…take care and remember….”Hew to the line; let the chips fall where they may.”



John Gardiner is a 25-year-veteran of the community newspaper business, but he is also a prolific writer of moralistic short fiction he refers to as "emotional thoughtscapes" or "adult fables". Samples of his fiction can be found at:

He has also produced a noteworthy piece of humanist philosophy which can be found at: http://www.xs4all.nl/~aboiten/ad502.htm He welcomes comments on his work.