Writing is a lot of fun...though it can, at times, be a lonely pursuit.
Unfortunately, marketing sucks---largely because I seem to have no talent for it. In fact, my entire upbringing makes me wince at the thought of blowing my own horn. I suppose it must be nice to have no shame when it comes to self-promoting...but it still makes me feel uncomfortable.
Inspired by my son, Jason --- who is a gifted writer in his own right, and is trying to launch his own career as a game developer --- I've started up a new page on Facebook, hoping to drum up some interest in some of my writing, especially now that I'm about to release a new book. (Clouds of Darkness, for those keeping score at home...due out some time this fall). But I have my doubts about whether anything I do will succeed in attracting readers.
It seems that those who can, do...those who can't teach...and those who are awful at anything, but good at self-promotion, get rich. Doesn't seem fair...but if I can move from being awful to being passably mediocre at it, I suppose everything will turn out well.
JEFFREY CAMINSKY, a retired public prosecutor from Michigan, writes on a wide range of topics. His books include the science fiction adventure novel The Star Dancers, the exciting second volume in the Guardians of Peace-tm series, The Sonnets of William Shakespeare, and the acclaimed Referee’s Survival Guide, a book on soccer officiating. All are published by New Alexandria Press, and are available on Amazon, as well as directly from the publisher.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Under the Bus
Though we have all experienced it while growing up, there are few things more cruel than to be punished for something you didn't do. Even worse is to be punished for doing something noble...especially if you show some personal vulnerability while doing it.
With President Obama under fire for any number of reasons, and the NAACP taking heat for casting the Tea Partiers as racists without anything as mundane as proof, it seemed the obviously wise political move to react swiftly and forcefully when a member of the Administration---speaking at an event sponsored by the NAACP---made remarks that could be construed as overtly "racist": talking of her attitudes about helping a white farmer facing the loss of his farm while a lower level employee at the Department of Agriculture, she spoke of viewing it through the prism of race, and "not doing all she could" to help him. So, she was promptly fired from her job with the Obama Administration, and the NAACP issued a statement denouncing her. All without bothering to check with her first...since, after all, there is simply no excuse for racist comments.
The only problem was that the remarks quoted were not racist at all. Rather, speaking of her early days as a USDA employee, she was speaking over her personal struggle to overcome the racial attitudes she grew up with...and the need to overcome prejudice of all kinds in order to work for a better world.
Shirley Sherrod is probably not perfect; I may not like her politics, and it's entirely possible we wouldn't get along if we met at a party. But there's something sad---and curiously ironic---in having our purported guardians of racial attitudes rush to judgment, hurl insults, and threaten the livelihood of someone who's only crime was speaking candidly and openly about her own personal struggle to move past race and toward a place where people view each other simply as people.
Of course, this morality tale probably won't give our modern day race-baiters and civic Morality Patrol cause to pause the next time someone is quoted on a blog saying something that, at first blush, sounds a bit odd. But, at least, it should give the rest of us something to think about.
JEFFREY CAMINSKY, a retired public prosecutor from Michigan, writes on a wide range of topics. His books include the science fiction adventure novel The Star Dancers, the exciting second volume in the Guardians of Peace-tm series, The Sonnets of William Shakespeare, and the acclaimed Referee’s Survival Guide, a book on soccer officiating. All are published by New Alexandria Press, and are available on Amazon, as well as directly from the publisher.
With President Obama under fire for any number of reasons, and the NAACP taking heat for casting the Tea Partiers as racists without anything as mundane as proof, it seemed the obviously wise political move to react swiftly and forcefully when a member of the Administration---speaking at an event sponsored by the NAACP---made remarks that could be construed as overtly "racist": talking of her attitudes about helping a white farmer facing the loss of his farm while a lower level employee at the Department of Agriculture, she spoke of viewing it through the prism of race, and "not doing all she could" to help him. So, she was promptly fired from her job with the Obama Administration, and the NAACP issued a statement denouncing her. All without bothering to check with her first...since, after all, there is simply no excuse for racist comments.
The only problem was that the remarks quoted were not racist at all. Rather, speaking of her early days as a USDA employee, she was speaking over her personal struggle to overcome the racial attitudes she grew up with...and the need to overcome prejudice of all kinds in order to work for a better world.
Shirley Sherrod is probably not perfect; I may not like her politics, and it's entirely possible we wouldn't get along if we met at a party. But there's something sad---and curiously ironic---in having our purported guardians of racial attitudes rush to judgment, hurl insults, and threaten the livelihood of someone who's only crime was speaking candidly and openly about her own personal struggle to move past race and toward a place where people view each other simply as people.
Of course, this morality tale probably won't give our modern day race-baiters and civic Morality Patrol cause to pause the next time someone is quoted on a blog saying something that, at first blush, sounds a bit odd. But, at least, it should give the rest of us something to think about.
JEFFREY CAMINSKY, a retired public prosecutor from Michigan, writes on a wide range of topics. His books include the science fiction adventure novel The Star Dancers, the exciting second volume in the Guardians of Peace-tm series, The Sonnets of William Shakespeare, and the acclaimed Referee’s Survival Guide, a book on soccer officiating. All are published by New Alexandria Press, and are available on Amazon, as well as directly from the publisher.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
A Modest Proposal for Balancing the Federal Budget
It's no secret that people in this country are furious with our Federal Government for wasting our money.
In any given year, we spend billions on pet projects for various congressmen that do nothing for the country, but which they deem indispensible to their own bids for re-election.
Various proposals have been floated over the years, from a balanced budget amendment, to priority-based budgeting. But the red ink just keeps piling up, and the Government keeps on doling out money like drunken sailors. And in recent years, it doesn't matter much which party is in charge; the only thing that changes is which set of well-connected cronies gets to gorge itself on our hard-earned money ---money which we give up because we can't boycott paying our taxes without going to jail.
I think the better solution is not to keep forking over more money to the government; we'd be better off demanding that they spend no more money than they take in. To that effect, my own modest proposal has been to pay the President and Congress out of any surplus funds---ie, money left over after we paid all our bills. Kind of like what happens to the proprietor of a small business, only with free health care. If we don't have a surplus...or we're bleeding money that year...they don't get paid. I think that probably would do more to balance the Federal budget than any number of laws, amendments, or protests by angry taxpayers.
JEFFREY CAMINSKY, a retired public prosecutor from Michigan, writes on a wide range of topics. His books include the science fiction adventure novel The Star Dancers, the exciting second volume in the Guardians of Peace-tm series, The Sonnets of William Shakespeare, and the acclaimed Referee’s Survival Guide, a book on soccer officiating. All are published by New Alexandria Press, and are available on Amazon, as well as directly from the publisher.
In any given year, we spend billions on pet projects for various congressmen that do nothing for the country, but which they deem indispensible to their own bids for re-election.
Various proposals have been floated over the years, from a balanced budget amendment, to priority-based budgeting. But the red ink just keeps piling up, and the Government keeps on doling out money like drunken sailors. And in recent years, it doesn't matter much which party is in charge; the only thing that changes is which set of well-connected cronies gets to gorge itself on our hard-earned money ---money which we give up because we can't boycott paying our taxes without going to jail.
I think the better solution is not to keep forking over more money to the government; we'd be better off demanding that they spend no more money than they take in. To that effect, my own modest proposal has been to pay the President and Congress out of any surplus funds---ie, money left over after we paid all our bills. Kind of like what happens to the proprietor of a small business, only with free health care. If we don't have a surplus...or we're bleeding money that year...they don't get paid. I think that probably would do more to balance the Federal budget than any number of laws, amendments, or protests by angry taxpayers.
JEFFREY CAMINSKY, a retired public prosecutor from Michigan, writes on a wide range of topics. His books include the science fiction adventure novel The Star Dancers, the exciting second volume in the Guardians of Peace-tm series, The Sonnets of William Shakespeare, and the acclaimed Referee’s Survival Guide, a book on soccer officiating. All are published by New Alexandria Press, and are available on Amazon, as well as directly from the publisher.
Friday, July 2, 2010
An Afternoon of Blood
One of the pivotal moments in the history of the United States occurred 147 years ago today, on the second day of the battle of Gettysburg.
On July 2, 1863, a professor at a small college in Maine, had ascended to command the 20th Maine. On the second day of the battle, Col. Joshua Chamberlain was ordered to take his regiment to defend the extreme left flank of the Union lines on a hill known as Little Round Top at all costs. Soon after taking their position, they came under a fierce assault by the Confederates, who realized that turning the Union flank at Little Round Top would let the Confederates send the Union forces scattering, and win the battle.
After repelling assault after assault, with his men exhausted and almost out of ammunition, Chamberlain realized that his men could never withstand another assault by the Confederates. Reasoning that the enemy was probably just as exhausted...and perhaps running low on ammunition themselves, Chamberlain concluded that if they could not withstand another attack...and could not retreat from their position guarding the Union flank...his only option was to attack. Ordering his men to fix bayonets, and in the face of another Rebel assault, they charged down the hill....breaking up the Confederate assault, turning the near-disaster into a rout, saving the Union from defeat on the second day of battle, and setting the stage for the fateful third day...when the Union center would face Pickett's Charge.
For his extraordinary bravery in the face of almost certain defeat, Joshua Chamberlain was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
JEFFREY CAMINSKY, a retired public prosecutor from Michigan, writes on a wide range of topics. His books include the science fiction adventure novel The Star Dancers, the exciting second volume in the Guardians of Peace-tm series, The Sonnets of William Shakespeare, and the acclaimed Referee’s Survival Guide, a book on soccer officiating. All are published by New Alexandria Press, and are available on Amazon, as well as directly from the publisher.
On July 2, 1863, a professor at a small college in Maine, had ascended to command the 20th Maine. On the second day of the battle, Col. Joshua Chamberlain was ordered to take his regiment to defend the extreme left flank of the Union lines on a hill known as Little Round Top at all costs. Soon after taking their position, they came under a fierce assault by the Confederates, who realized that turning the Union flank at Little Round Top would let the Confederates send the Union forces scattering, and win the battle.
After repelling assault after assault, with his men exhausted and almost out of ammunition, Chamberlain realized that his men could never withstand another assault by the Confederates. Reasoning that the enemy was probably just as exhausted...and perhaps running low on ammunition themselves, Chamberlain concluded that if they could not withstand another attack...and could not retreat from their position guarding the Union flank...his only option was to attack. Ordering his men to fix bayonets, and in the face of another Rebel assault, they charged down the hill....breaking up the Confederate assault, turning the near-disaster into a rout, saving the Union from defeat on the second day of battle, and setting the stage for the fateful third day...when the Union center would face Pickett's Charge.
For his extraordinary bravery in the face of almost certain defeat, Joshua Chamberlain was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
JEFFREY CAMINSKY, a retired public prosecutor from Michigan, writes on a wide range of topics. His books include the science fiction adventure novel The Star Dancers, the exciting second volume in the Guardians of Peace-tm series, The Sonnets of William Shakespeare, and the acclaimed Referee’s Survival Guide, a book on soccer officiating. All are published by New Alexandria Press, and are available on Amazon, as well as directly from the publisher.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Presidential Implosion in the Gulf?
Unfortunately, Obama's reaction to events in the Gulf are starting to reinforce all the doubts many people had about him during the election campaign. Even his erstwhile supporters are starting to turn against him. And once a liberal loses Jon Stewart, disaster is already nipping at his heels.
I guess we'll see if he can turn it around...but each day the oil keeps gushing, it will only get worse for the president's image.
JEFFREY CAMINSKY, a retired public prosecutor from Michigan, writes on a wide range of topics. His books include the science fiction adventure novel The Star Dancers, the exciting second volume in the Guardians of Peace-tm series, The Sonnets of William Shakespeare, and the acclaimed Referee’s Survival Guide, a book on soccer officiating. All are published by New Alexandria Press, and are available on Amazon, as well as directly from the publisher.
I guess we'll see if he can turn it around...but each day the oil keeps gushing, it will only get worse for the president's image.
JEFFREY CAMINSKY, a retired public prosecutor from Michigan, writes on a wide range of topics. His books include the science fiction adventure novel The Star Dancers, the exciting second volume in the Guardians of Peace-tm series, The Sonnets of William Shakespeare, and the acclaimed Referee’s Survival Guide, a book on soccer officiating. All are published by New Alexandria Press, and are available on Amazon, as well as directly from the publisher.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Brothers in Song
It's said that music touches something deep in the human heart, summoning emotions that we don't always realize we had. When music has been a large part of someone's life, familiar sounds can also trigger memories that envelope the soul and, if you're lucky, can make the years disappear.
This was the case for me this weekend, when I returned to a glorious weekend of fellowship and musical communion with my college choir, the Michigan Men's Glee Club. It was wonderful seeing familiar faces, including many that I hadn't seen for nearly forty years. They're older now, of course...and one of the things we found we shared was the experience of a naive college kid looking into the mirror at some aging stranger each day. But when we sat down and began to sing, time simply melted away. The music all came back without effort, and raising our voices in songs we'd sung together brought back more than our youth: we found ourselves moving with the same nuances and swells we'd shared in another day, and spent the entire weekend helping each other make the audible magic that human ears recognize as music and our hearts feel as love.
The event itself was a unique confluence of events: it was the Glee Club's 150th anniversary, and the Club and some of the alumni had spent the last five years planning to bring us all together. Some arrived on Thursday, many from far away --- in all 35 states, and a half-dozen or so countries --- and we spent all day Friday, and much of Saturday preparing a concert. We divided into groups by generation, and except for the oldest group (whose director, Philip Duey, passed away years ago) we largely sang with the same directors we sang for in college: my group was the only one with three directors, as we spanned a time of transition for the club, during the 70s and 80s.
Each group sang three numbers, pieces we'd sung together as kids in college, at a time in our lives when the entire world was before us, and life and reality hadn't yet made us come to grips with careers and families, mortgages and responsibilities. Mine sang two spirtuals from the Club's repetoire --- Ain't Got Time to Die, and Soon Ah Will Be Done --- as well as The Last Words of David by Randall Thompson, the piece that clinched our place as the best men's choir in the world back in 1971, and ensured my group's place in Glee Club history. Our rehearsals were like time machines: before long we found ourselves once more moving through time and sound as a single group, focused and intent on making beauty come alive in song.
We also worked up several numbers as a group --- a number of old "Michigan Songs" that the Club always sings, and the Ave Maria by Franz Biebl, a piece some of us had never done before...and which, quite frankly, scared some of us, at least a little: it was a piece that was new to many of us; it involved an antiphonal choir (the current Glee Club, which would be performing from the balcony); and we had only two days to pull it all together!
We had a wonderful banquet on Friday night, and as Saturday's concert approached we all knew we were creating something special. But as much fun as the rehearsals were, they could not approach the magic of the concert itself, which was remarkable: our sound was as incredible and thrilling as ever. Each group had a different sound...the older singers enjoying a rich bass sound that only comes with the years, and the younger singers possessing a lighter, more youthful sound that was just as entrancing.
My wife and son, who came to hear it, said it was amazing and moving. They were awed by our dynamic range, and the breathtaking precision we showed throughout the concert and across all the different groups. And both were entranced by the sound of it all...as we were ourselves, since many of us had forgotten (or, perhaps, never realized) just how good we sounded back when we were kids, or how forgiving Hill Auditorium is to a singer. We sang in voices as low as whispers, and in ringing crescendos that shook the foundations and hung in the rafters. The effect on the audience, as well as the singers, was electric. And in the end, the Ave Maria...the piece I was so worried about...moved my wife to tears.
Blended together by shared memories and traditions, united by a common love of singing, we spent the weekend working once again toward a common goal: sharing the joy we find in singing with anyone who wanted to come and hear us. And for a few hours Hill Auditorium was bathed in sound, as memories washed our souls and made the years melt away like mists on a foggy morning. We were, for a time, home again...young...and timeless.
Of course, as the sun falls and rises, reality always returns. And after the weekend there will still be jobs and families, mortgages and responsbilitites for all of us. But just as hearts are only as old as they feel, I hope I discovered the secret of eternal youth, something I can summon on command for the rest of my life simply by remembering this weekend, or hearing that glorious sound rising once again. There is, I think, a secret corner of the human soul that awakens whenever we come in touch with ourselves, giving us the power to make time vanish by tapping into something that makes us feel fully human, makes us part of something greater than ourselves, and connects us to others around us. I suspect we all have many such corners waiting to be discovered, needing only the barest trace of a memory to blossom into joy and wonder. One magical weekend showed me one such corner in myself: it seems I can make time disappear simply by waiting for a downbeat, opening my heart, and joining my brothers in song.
JEFFREY CAMINSKY, a retired public prosecutor from Michigan, writes on a wide range of topics. His books include the science fiction adventure novel The Star Dancers, the exciting second volume in the Guardians of Peace-tm series, The Sonnets of William Shakespeare, and the acclaimed Referee’s Survival Guide, a book on soccer officiating. All are published by New Alexandria Press, and are available on Amazon, as well as directly from the publisher.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Passing the Torch
Yesterday, the US Supreme Court gave me a bit of a going-away present: they granted our petition for review on the last case I argued in front of the Michigan Supreme Court, almost exactly a year ago.
The case is Michigan v Bryant, and it should be argued some time in the Fall. When we filed the petition last summer, I'd already offered to let one of our "new kids" take it over, since I'd already had an argument in Washington, and I was already officially "retired" --- even though it didn't feel like it at the time. It would have been a nice coda to my career...but I thought it was more important to give a boost to one of the younger attorneys in the office, rather than hog the spotlight for one last encore. Ironically, if the County hadn't made such an effort last year to broom out so much of its experienced legal talent, the issue wouldn't even have come up...and I'd be spending most of this year getting ready for my second trip to the mountaintop.
The case itself should be a no-brainer, involving the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment...and the State Supreme Court's curious belief that police confronting a citizen who's been shot, and is bleeding on the pavement, is not confronting an "emergency" situation sufficient to allow them to ask the victim "what happened"? As soon as the decision came out, it had "certiorari" written all over it...and the only real question was whether it was too goofy to interest the USSC.
I'm already planning to attend the argument...and though I am a bit disappointed not to get another chance to argue there, I think I made the right call last summer.
JEFFREY CAMINSKY, a retired public prosecutor from Michigan, writes on a wide range of topics. His books include the science fiction adventure novel The Star Dancers, the exciting second volume in the Guardians of Peace-tm series, The Sonnets of William Shakespeare, and the acclaimed Referee’s Survival Guide, a book on soccer officiating. All are published by New Alexandria Press, and are available on Amazon, as well as directly from the publisher.
The case is Michigan v Bryant, and it should be argued some time in the Fall. When we filed the petition last summer, I'd already offered to let one of our "new kids" take it over, since I'd already had an argument in Washington, and I was already officially "retired" --- even though it didn't feel like it at the time. It would have been a nice coda to my career...but I thought it was more important to give a boost to one of the younger attorneys in the office, rather than hog the spotlight for one last encore. Ironically, if the County hadn't made such an effort last year to broom out so much of its experienced legal talent, the issue wouldn't even have come up...and I'd be spending most of this year getting ready for my second trip to the mountaintop.
The case itself should be a no-brainer, involving the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment...and the State Supreme Court's curious belief that police confronting a citizen who's been shot, and is bleeding on the pavement, is not confronting an "emergency" situation sufficient to allow them to ask the victim "what happened"? As soon as the decision came out, it had "certiorari" written all over it...and the only real question was whether it was too goofy to interest the USSC.
I'm already planning to attend the argument...and though I am a bit disappointed not to get another chance to argue there, I think I made the right call last summer.
JEFFREY CAMINSKY, a retired public prosecutor from Michigan, writes on a wide range of topics. His books include the science fiction adventure novel The Star Dancers, the exciting second volume in the Guardians of Peace-tm series, The Sonnets of William Shakespeare, and the acclaimed Referee’s Survival Guide, a book on soccer officiating. All are published by New Alexandria Press, and are available on Amazon, as well as directly from the publisher.
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