Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing

William Shakespeare wrote a play about “it” where the Hero was a woman.  No Shakespeare wasn’t ahead of his time by making a woman the hero. She was really a Hero in name only. (Hint if you’ve missed the pun, read the play.)

The question is, “Why is nothing important?” I mean we hear about it all of the time and we all use it repeatedly as an answer to questions asked, but better left unanswered. For instance, as teenagers when asked “What are you doing in there?” We’ve all yelled back through the bathroom door “Nothing.” Were we really doing nothing?  Nothing certainly seemed important at the time.

When a group of Washington insiders were caught invading the Democratic offices in the Watergate hotel they claimed that they were doing nothing criminal. Was the nothing they were doing really that innocent?  They certainly wanted to accomplish nothing in the worse way, so it must have been important to them at the time. Since a number of them served time in prison for doing what they claimed was nothing the courts must have felt that it was important.

In 2001 the employees of Enron were told that they had nothing to worry about. Their company was solid. The stock holders of the company were told the same thing “Don’t worry, there is nothing wrong with Enron. By November of that year nothing they should have worried about cost them $11 billion dollars. That would seem to mean that nothing was very important.

Nothing has many different meanings. For instance, when you’ve been sick for a week and a good friend comes over and cleans up your apartment for you, you say “Thank you.”  When they reply “Oh it was nothing,” they really mean “You’d better remember this the next time I ask to borrow fifty bucks.”

When you ask “What would you like for Christmas?” and he responds “Nothing, you’re all I want.” That translates into “A new I-Pad would really be great.”

When you ask “What can fix for dinner?” and she replies “Nothing I’m not hungry.” That translates into “Why don’t you surprise me with something wonderful,” or “I just ate the last brownie and I’m full of guilt.”

How about “There’s nothing I can do about it.” Translated as “It’s too much of an effort,” or “It would cost too much.” This leads me to believe that nothing is really something.

I know that some of you in the back of the room are asking “Why is he writing about this?” The truth is that I had nothing to write about today.

If anyone asks what you’re reading, just say NOTHING.

Why Write a Book?

Why Write a Book?

That’s a question that I’ve asked myself many times in the last few years. The answer to that question has several parts. The first is that I have a story to tell and the easiest way to tell it is to put it down in a book. Oh I know you’re saying why not just make a ballad about it and sing it on street corners. Well it’s hard to get people to stand around long enough to hear the entire story.  And if they only hear a part of it what will they think.  I mean what would you think if you only heard about Scrooge’s first ghost trip into the past? Not all that satisfying, and he would remain a mean, stingy old man for all times. Tough luck Tiny Tim.

What if you only heard the part about the Greeks getting into a huge wooden horse? Would you think it was going to be a surprise party, and they couldn’t afford a pinata? Where did they get the wood for the horse and who just happens to be able to construct a horse large enough to hold a number of men in the first place. What about those Trojans? I mean, who after a ten year long siege thinks that the enemy is just going to leave and give you a giant wooden horse for your efforts?

OK so ballads are out of the question. Why not just write a very short story that people could read in just a moment, say 140 characters. It could go something like this “It was the best of times it was the worst of times. The French aristocracy was really mean to the peasants. A woman does a little knitting and someone loses their head.” Brief enough but not really very satisfying.

So that brings us back to the idea of a book. Why tell the story in the first place you ask? I think that for some of us the story roams around in our heads and refuses to go away until we write it down. Suppose we just wrote it down and then put it in a desk drawer. If you’ve ever done that you know that the characters will haunt your dreams and that drawer will shout at you every time you pass it by.  That either makes you psychotic or driven.  I prefer to believe that I’m driven to write and pass along what I’ve written.

There are no great truths in my stories.  Perhaps an occasional moral but nothing to drive the reader to reform their lives, unless they want to. I write for the fun of it and I hope that you the reader will find fun in reading.  I suspect that may the basis of why a large number of writers write.

Time Out

The first book that I’ve placed before the public can be found on the Amazon-Kindle catalog. It’s called “Time Out,” which turned out to be a less than brilliant title since there are other books with the same title.  The next time I’ll do a little research before selecting a title. (Note: Because of this failure in originality, to find the book you need to add my name to your query “Tomaszewski.”)

It falls into the fantasy-scifi mystery area. The lead character is a brilliant assistant college professor who just happens to be able to stop time. When he does this he slips into his own little world, which is identical to the world he just left except that there are no other living beings in this one.

We find him in the opening pages faced with a dilemma.  Does he reveal his ability, which up to that moment has remained a secret held by one, or does he jump into an inferno to save a young woman about to become the barbeque flavor of the month.

Personally I found it to be a fascinating read, but it’s possible that I may be prejudiced.  As this was my first attempt at driving the public wild with desire for my stories it’s priced at the bottom basement price allowed by Amazon. So take a chance, who knows you might like it.

My Eclectic Pen

Eclectic: Selecting what appears to be the best in various doctrines, methods, or styles.  Composed of elements drawn from various sources.

Pen: A small enclosure for animals. An implement for writing.

I think I’ll go with the second definition of both words. I like to write, but haven’t been able to limit myself to one single genre.  Oh almost everything I touch is of a fictional nature, but facts keep slipping in there and as friends have mentioned before I have the habit of telling a story that is based of real events or people.

Why I’m Here

Not everything that I write is worthy of publication, and so I will occasionally be placing pieces here that will never be available for purchase. Keep copies just in case I ever become a famous author.  I heard that Picasso used to pay his bar tab by drawing a picture on a bar napkin. The bar keep took them I think in part because he felt sorry for the as yet unsuccessful painter.  Just think of what the collection of those bar napkins must be worth today. Of course if he didn’t keep them.  So a word to the wise, keep copies.

To be completely honest I’m starting this to promote any books that do see the light of day.  I’ll let you know what category they fall into so that you don’t end up reading a “youth” book when you’re looking for adult mayhem.

So far there are works in: “Youth,” “Science Fiction-Fantasy,” Mystery,” and “Inspirational.” The only one available is on the Amazon-Kindle E-books site, and it’s titled “Time Out.”  It’s mystery, with science fiction-fantasy leanings.

Who I Am

I am not young, in body. I come from a generation where computers were found in science fiction, and people held hands while they had intimate conversations. (Yes that’s right it would make it hard to text that way.)

Today I would be lost without my computer, and “Spell-check” is my best friend.  I’ve tried to download a “Spell-check” app for my mechanical pencil but I haven’t had any luck so far.

Why You Are Here

Perhaps because you’re curious.  Perhaps because you want to be entertained.  Hopefully you will find things here that will be the answer to both of those quests.  And so, on with the entertaining.