kenwendland.com

I’ve mentioned wanting to write something a couple of times now. I’ve never really started because I never really had a good story idea. Now I have one. I was just sitting in front of the computer about a month ago when I got the idea for a story. I don’t know why, but a general idea of a story just came up in my mind. Over the next few weeks I kept thinking about it and it developed into what I think is a good story line.

I have worked out a basic outline that I’m going to try to follow. I know that I need to stay flexible and let the story unfold as it will. I’ve read a book about how to write, and I think I’ll read it again. It’s titled “On Writing“. It’s a book written by Stephen King, and I felt that it did a lot to explain the writing process. Hopefully reading through it one more time will help me make a better story out of my idea.

As for what the story is about, I don’t really want to say right now. One thing I do remember about Kings book, On Writing, is to never let someone read the rough draft. I may not tell anyone what it’s about untill it’s done. I may not even tell anyone then. We’ll see how it turns out and I’ll make that decision then. In the mean time, it has been an interesting process to start putting it down in print. I’ve read through the first few pages that I’ve written about 20 times. I keep changing little things. I need to stop doing that and just write the rough draft. I can come back a tweak it later. That’s another little tidbit that I remember from Kings book, but it’s hard to do. I guess that’s why they pay him the big bucks.

Personal

I did a little research on the subject and read that Cinco de Mayo is not the independance day of Mexico like many people believe. Mexico declard their independance from Spain on September 15th, 1810. So why do they celebrate Cinco de Mayo. The 5th of may signifies the victory of the Mexican Army over the French at the Battle of Puebla about 100 mile east of Mexico City.

I went to read about this only because I was curious as to why we in the United States celebrate a Mexican holiday. This doesn’t really explain it, but now I know what Cinco de Mayo really represents.

So I come back to my question. Why do we in the United States celebrate Cinco de Mayo? I’m not really sure about that, but here are my thoughts about it this year. On May 1st, 2006, hundreds of thousands of hispanic workers all over the country went on strike for a day. They said they wanted to show us, US citizens, that illegal immigrants are an asset to our economy, and that we need them. They chose to stay home instead of work, shop, or do whatever it is they do in our country even though they are not supposed to be here. They organized protest in our streets to demand rights that they do not deserve.

I propose that we as US Citizens also protest. I suggest that we boycott Cinco de May. There is no reason for us to celebrate the freedom of a neighbor that sends its poorest citizens into our country. There is no reason to celebrate for people that do not want to assimilate into our culture, or even learn our language in a lot of cases. I propose that we help them to celebrate their freedom better by helping them return to their home and be free there.

I like a good burrito, but for me this year, Cinco de Mayo is canceled. I’ll wait and have my burrito next year.

Random Thoughts