Freelance Editor

I've no problem making up stories, but there is more to the craft of writing. My strength might not be with the fundamentals, good old fashioned spelling, punctuation, or grammar. So, the day comes when a writer has to set aside their massive ego and let a professional editor do their job. 

Looks are often deceiving. Hard-nosed editors come in small packages. I know he doesn't look that tough, but he cut my first hundred pages without batting an eye lash.

Looking back on it now, I have to admit, the book did benefit from a professional's touch. 

With writing, the more perspectives the better. If you've read Sighing Woman Tea, or do so in the future, I would value your feedback. But I won't lie, I really do like Advil a lot more than the generic stuff. I'm sure it's because of the candy coating.

Rock, Paper, tea

Now, Rock, Paper, and Scissors is universal. I may have learned it before I learned to read. Rock, Paper, and Scissors is as American as ketchup. Right? Yep. Except ketchup is from China, and so is the game of Wazazu, the original Rock, Paper, and Scissors. You guessed it, from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) From China, it traveled to Japan and became Mushi-ken, before the game made it's way across the Pacific to America about a hundred years ago.

In England the game is called, ching-chang-walla, which makes sense when you think about it. If you doubt, try playing while saying, "Ching! Chang! Walla!"

Having a disagreement? No need to become upset. There's a fair and fun way to settle things.

Note: Before we play to see who will make the tea, I just wanted to let you know in advance, I'm going to take the frog. You can take the slug, but I can't see how a slug wins against a snake or a frog? Good Luck.

"Ching! Chang! Walla!"

Tea for the Tillerman

Thank you Cat Stevens. That was a fantastic album. What is a tillerman anyway? The word can be traced back thousands of years to it's Nordic roots. This Bronze Age carving of a farmer tilling his field is looks very similar to a petroglyph. I really like how the image has an almost arial perspective. Pretty impressive considering they didn't have Google Earth looking down on Gotaland in 1700 B.C.

The image of the farmer tilling his field brings to mind the ancient turtle shell script of China. The symbols are some of the earliest forms of writing. The characters are pictographic, meaning they come from representational pictorial drawings. Early Chinese Characters are derived from observations of nature.

This ancient oracle bone script is a pictogram of the moon. It become stylized over the centuries to the character below.

The Chinese system of writing called, Hanzi, came to Japan in the 5th century. In Japan, the characters are called, Kanji. The moon in Japanese is Tsuki. As in English, the moon also represent a month. Here on Kauai, Kanji is everywhere, and it's exciting when you learn the meanings. I know a dozen first grade Kanji, so only a few thousand to go.

This is the Kanji character for tea, or cha. Quick, run and look on the side of your green tea box.! Now, put the kettle on.