In the Interim © 2009, 2020 by Vernon Miles Kerr, VernonMilesKerr.com, WritersClass.net In the interim ‘tween dark and dark We scrape, we scratch, we endure— Assuming import. As that interim narrows to a slit We scramble anxiously to gather Shreds of legacy, Scraps of relevancy, Hoping they will live
How to Write a Screenplay
Welcome to Lesson Two. Last time, I promised that Lesson Two would include some suggestions on navigating the ocean of information you’ll receive from the internet, some philosophical thoughts about the Film Industry and then a pep-talk on what constitutes a winning attitude on the part of a novice.
How to Write a Screenplay
Welcome to Screenwriting 1A. With this post you’ll notice a new writing category is added to our masthead, “DRAMA”. Around two years ago my friend and former Critical Writing professor, Manfred Wolf published his memoir Survival in Paradise – Sketches From a Refugee Life in Curaçao, http://www.survivalinparadise.com
English Phonetics in Plain Text © 2014 Vernon Miles Kerr (as “English Phonetics in Qwerty”) | © 2017 Vernon Miles Kerr (as “English Phonetics in Plain Text) Introduction English is unique among the Indo-European languages because it is only vaguely phonetic. Written English contains archaic, traditional spellings that are not phonetic but must
Canada Goose
Denver Colorado * December 2015 © Vernon Miles Kerr Early winter. From my lakeside apartment in Denver, I never tire of watching the thousands of transient Canada Geese come and go each day outside my window. As the sun fades, the lake begins to fill with uncountable flocks of these children of
Looking Over the Lake © 2015 by Vernon Miles Kerr, VernonMilesKerr.com Tired, retired; living on the 401K so diligently saved; Living the American Dream: looking over the lake by our apartments. Year after year, I’m privileged to witness the Canada Geese negotiate Their circumnavigations of the Continent. A chatty
Horticulture
I just returned from a project in Virginia Beach, Virginia. There was quite a contrast between snowy Virginia and Modesto when I returned. Although the two cities are almost the same Latitude, (a little over 36º N) Modesto has a Mediterranean climate thanks to the protection of the Cascade and
America's Team
A Solution to the Washington Redskins’ PR Dilemma As one of Native American ancestry, I proudly carry a card from the U.S. Department of the Interior entitled “Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood.” Although, in my case, the degree certified is a relatively insignificant “1/16,” I cherish the
Christian Love
In 1973 our family first stepped in to a church service of the Worldwide Church of God in the Senior Citizens Hall in Modesto, California. During the more than 25 years we were members of that church, almost every time there was even a minor change in the strict, fundamentalist
My review of Manfred Wolf’s book, Survival in Paradise, has been published in the San Francisco Westside Observer. Before being published in that journal I wasn’t familiar with how interesting the publication is. If you are thinking of visiting San Francisco, going to the Home Page listed in
Childhood Memories
© 2014 Vernon Miles Kerr What was it about those little two-and-a-half-inch model racecars, with their quality German clockwork propulsion systems, that bring back such fond memories? The clickety-click of winding the spring, then placing it inside a used automobile tire… Putting it in gear with a clunk of the tiny
Amnesty
My friend Manfred Wolf writes a regular column for the West Portal Monthly in San Francisco. Yesterday, he sent me a copy of his latest offering, which appears in the August 2014 edition. He has kindly given me permission to print both his column and my return email comments from
Alternative Political Paradigms
©2014 Vernon Miles Kerr Given the thousands of stars recently discovered having planets, it is realistically possible that advanced alien intelligence might well be watching our barbaric, primitive little race of beings. I wonder what they think of our one-dimensional political concept. Are they splitting a gut laughing at how
Politics
What is Patriotism? © 2014 Vernon Miles Kerr Like the previously examined concept, “Love,”[1] “Patriotism”, is one of those emotionally and semantically charged words that can mean many things to many people. In America, however, a few people practically deify the concept of patriotism, raising it to the level of
Agape
What is Love? © 2014 Vernon Miles Kerr What is love? The child’s answer: “The opposite of hate.” Our simplistic opinions of the universe, as children—even though seeming too pat—often contain more than a grain of truth. Maybe this is because much of the subtlety and nuance that
Corporate Bullyhood
©2014 Vernon Miles Kerr Since this is a blog by a writer for writers and the public as well. I thought it might be interesting for you to see how the previous post looked after suggestions made by the Editors of USA TODAY. The differences made the letter more concise