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The Search for a Bloomin’ Idea
I’m a day late. I was supposed to publish something for group writing on May 1, and I had what I thought was a great idea for it, too. You see, my branch of Christianity has this one fairly unique concept. One of our founders came up with it. It is exciting stuff and works well within the theme. I thought I would use the title, “Let the Flowers of Spirit Bloom.” So, I started writing. And I continued writing.And I realized why I have six books on the subject. It pretty much needs a book-length treatment. But I didn’t think y’all would be wanting to read that much. So, I summarized. And then I summarized the summary. But, it was still too long. So, I decided to approach it through a story. Well, that was not working out either, so I went back to the drawing board of ideas.
My other initial thought had been to write on the creative process, how to make ideas bloom, as such. But I think I have written about that before on Ricochet. I have changed computers recently and don’t have all of my old content easily available. (In other words, I’m too lazy to fire up the old computer.) I could search Ricochet, but I’m not sure what I would search on. Or I could look back through my archive. Except that there’s a problem with that since we converted to Ricochet 4.0, and Max is working on the problem, but he had a death in the family and will be gone for four days.
“Blooms?” I thought, “Have I got any stories about blooms or flowers?” Well, I thought of a great one involving an old boss of mine and corn and my father and roses, only I vaguely recall writing about that before. Did I post it on Ricochet? I think I did. This has the same problem as writing about the creative process and finding it with a new computer and Ricochet 4.0. Okay, let’s assume I did write that before and it was for Ricochet. Do I have any other flower stories? Well, there is the saga of the cacti, which is a tale that took place over about sixteen years, but there were no blooms involved, unless one counts the bloom on my eldest brother’s cactus, but he and his cactus were really peripheral to the story. Alright, so no cactus story. There was the time in high school that I planted a garden and had flowers such as zinnias and sweet peas, but really it’s not much of a story. That summary could about take care of it. Boring.
Alright, so then I thought of poetic forms. I know a lot about that subject. But I can’t think of any forms directly related to flowers or blooms or blooming ideas. I don’t know why there wouldn’t be. There are forms named after someone who raises poultry, the poulter’s measure. That came about because the poulter’s measure is thirteen, sort of like a baker’s dozen, and the form is rhymed couplets of lines that are thirteen feet long with a cæsura that is usually written broken into two lines, so four lines for the rhymed couplet. It’s related to several other forms, such as hymnal measure. There are also plenty of forms named after people, like the Standard Habbie named for Robert Burns. What’s that? How did they get Standard Habbie out of Robert Burns? Well, there have always been three versions of the names short for Robert. For instance, you have Rob, Bob, and Hob. You might know Hob best from Robin Goodfellow, which is where we get Hobgoblin. Likewise, there is Robby, Bobby, and Hobby. Now, Hob and Hobby have fallen by the way over the years, but a couple of centuries ago, they were still in vogue. The Scots tended to convert the o’s to a’s, so for instance, Tom became Tam, such as in Tam O’Shanter.
Robert Burns was often known as Rabbie. Likewise, Hob and Hobby became Hab and Habbie. For some reason, the Scots also preferred the “ie” ending to the “y” ending. They also tend to spell Charley wrong as Charlie. Silly Scots. But anyway, that is how Robert Burns got the Standard Habbie named after him. Still, I couldn’t find any forms that were named for flowers or based on flowers or anything like that. I could find forms named after animals and even after fancy hats, but no blooms. I thought about creating a new form just for the occasion, but by this time I was already running late.
And then I had it! A fantastic idea came to me that fit the theme perfectly. I happened to be in the other room, so I raced back to my computer and sat down to write. And … wait, what was that idea? It is a scientific fact that one forgets things when one goes through doorways. Just get a little distracted along the way, and Poof! something is forgotten. “Why was I coming into this room? I know there was a reason.” Thus, I have been racking my brains for hours. What was that fantastic idea? It was so perfect, no other idea would do to write on. Was it about some other area of expertise I have? I was in the kitchen when the idea came. Capers are flower buds. No, nothing about that. Was it about teas? Lots of herb teas are made from flowers. No, I don’t think my idea was about teas or teapots.
Maybe it didn’t have so much to do with blooms as with ideas? Was it about databases? I know a lot about databases. I build databases at the drop of a hat. But really, the creative part of databases is in knowing the subject it is applied to, not so much in building the database.
Developing character arcs? I have certainly been doing a lot of that lately in my writing. But would I even know how I do that? I think I’ve almost moved into the unconscious competent quadrant on that subject. It might be good for me to write about how I do it, but it was certainly not the great and perfect idea I had had.
Websites? I have created many Websites. I have even taught Web development and design. But, again, I don’t think the great idea, or maybe that should be capitalized as The Great Idea, that I had really had anything to do with Websites or Web design.
An idea bloomed within my head, but the bloom faded and petals fell, leaving no seeds behind. Thus here am I, staring at my monitor, a day late and a bloomin’ idea short.
Published in Group Writing
Lovely! I’ve so been there myself.
I particularly enjoyed the part of your essay which explained how that great Scottish politician, Robert “Habbie” O’Rourke, must have come by his nickname.
Opening a new browser tab has the same effect.
Yep. Same, same. There is a similar thing with Richard. There were the diminutives Rick, Dick, and Hick (or Hicke). We seldom use Hick anymore, even though it is still with us as a term for a person of rural origins, just as we use Jack for any man, such as in Jack of all trades. It can also be found in surnames such as Hicks (a Welsh/border version of Richards/Richardson/Pritchard) or Hickman (Richard’s man or servant).
Another Tam is a fellow now known better by his middle name, Thomas Sean Connery. Growing up, he was known in town as Tam Connery.
Going off a bit further, I mentioned the name Pritchard above. That started as “ap Richard,” with “ap” being the Welsh equivalent of “Mac” or “Mc.” And this shows the reason the Brythonic Celts are sometimes known as p-Celts and the Goidelic Celts are known as q-Celts. The split was based on the word for “son of.”
True.
Arahant, your post sounds like one of mine. In fact, I’ll describe yours in much the same way you once described mine: This is more like a tour through Arahant’s head than a post.
And you’re a day late. What’s got into you, Arahant?
I would say old age, but I’m not there yet, and certainly no competition for you.
Sheesshh! All that for a group writing explanation? You should have stuck with Plan A because now my curiosity button has been pushed. Is there a do-over button?
I’ll probably finish that up and contribute it later in the month.
Well, I know just what to reply in the comments.
But it would be rude to repeat someone else’s comment or to ignore what others have to say.
Those were good comments. Now, what was I going to say?
Write a story about the appetizer at a chain steak house. It’s spring in Virginia and I’m already up to my eyeballs in flowers.
I’m in Michigan. What’s spring?
I could go for a Bloomin’ Onion from Outback.
I guess I should actually read your post, though, huh?
No need to go crazy, there, Jim. Just talk about whatever strikes your fancy.
And that clarifies this. Since the Bloomin’ Onion is breaded, it’s not something I think about.
The memory-wiping doorway portal certainly has some potential, but I’ve noticed the same effect getting up off the couch. So there’s that.
I always forget what I’ve gone upstairs for. I’ve always told my kids that this type of forgetfulness is the Good Lord’s way of making sure we get enough exercise. :-)
When you mentioned your branch of Christianity and blooming, I was immediately reminded of Charles Spurgeon’s sermon “Supposing Him to Be the Gardener” which is the best and most valid out-of-context use of scripture I have ever seen.
We are off to a great start, as April showers turn to May flowers or blooming ideas. What we have here is a real gully washer of a brain storm!
This conversation is part of our Group Writing Series under the May 2019 Group Writing Theme: Blooming Ideas. Do stop by and sign up!
Zing!
Speak plainly, sir: it’s the best written hot mess we’ve had the pleasure of reading, right?
Forgive me for asking as I’ve yet to have the pleasure of The Pit, @arahant…was this sort of Gourmet Pit fare? If so, maybe we all oughta mosey on over. Thx for the morning chuckles :-)
Enter at your own risk. It can get very strange in there. Why, someone had never heard of steak soup:
http://ricochet.com/613964/pit-18-now-legal-in-most-states/comment-page-156/#comment-4482315
Uh huh…not exactly PC, is it? :-)
One of the designations for it is People I haTe thread.
“People I Hate on Ricochet” was the title of the first PIT, and consisted of folks laughingly calling each other out.
Except for Arahant. Everyone was bloody serious about Arahant.
And yet you dumped on enough fertilizer to grow a post, whether flowering or not.
Yes, and?