LJ idol 04.13: "Current Events"

[anamacha]

Homelessness. Alcoholism. Drug abuse. These are some of the ills that face our society today. What if these had a common cause? What if these ills had a common cause that could be addressed and treated? What if they could be made better

Comments

[chite]

This is another really good entry!

[anamacha]

thankyew! What did you like about it?

[chite]

First and foremost, it is really well written. I spent years as an editor, and I really appreciate when I read an essay that looks like it has taken time to write and edit.

Second, it's really informative and very different. If I have to read one more article about the elections or how this country is going to the toilet, I'm going to scream. I really appreciate that it is an issue that has personal relevance to you, but that you kept it a personal essay, rather than sinking into glurge. I like that you stayed focused on the topic and didn't simply use an article, digress from the topic of the article, and write an open-topic entry.

[anamacha]

wow. Those are high compliments taht I deeply appreciate. I'm glad you thought it was informative and different; it felt to me as if I was just rehashing the article I used, and that it wasn't very different for me. I've written about my injury before, and for this competition. So.

Glurge? What's that? I'm not familiar with that bit of slang.

Thank you so much for your kind and truthful words.

[chite]

Glurge = dripping with sap. I kind of use it to describe the stories that intend to tell a cautionary tale and yet leave you saying "awww" at the end. We all do it. There's nothing wrong with doing it. It gets votes :) But I think that it sometimes takes away from an important topic. This isn't an "aww" topic; it's a serious topic.

OK, so I have a friend with a brain injury and a cousin with one. So I'm sensitive to the topic.

[anamacha]

glurge. Gotcha. Thanks.

Yes, it's a topic which I find deadly serious. As I drive to pick up my 8 year old daughter from school, I pass by a middle school that's letting out around the same time. The street I am on is a busy one -- 6 lanes, I believe. I am amazed at how many of these kids play dodgeball with their lives; how many of them cross the street against the light; how many of them jump in front of cars. Personally I think the world might be a better place with less gangbanger punks, but if they knew what I know ... man.

This is one that I'm nopt going to sugarcoat for anyone. Sorry to hear about your friend and your cousin -- what happened with them?

[chite]

My friend was in 2 car accidents within about six months of each other. She ended up unable to keep a job because she couldn't focus on work and had a hard time even getting a job because loses what she's talking about in the middle of speaking. It's really sad.

My cousin had something happen to him when he was an infant. No one talks about what happened, but it was definitely a head injury and it happened in infancy. For as long as I've known him he has had trouble with speaking and writing.

Kids are the same everywhere, I'm telling you. I live at the end of a winding road, and I cannot even begin to say how many times I have come around a bend to kids literally playing in the road. I warn everyone coming to visit to be really slow on that road because of the kids.