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Newsletter May 2000 Issue Page 2
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-- By Joe Villa
There is an old saying that “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”.
This column is not meant to be negative, but if I hear, “Are you ok”,
one more time, I am going to scream. Well anyway, now that I said
that let me get on with it and try to explain myself.
Webster defines intention as “a concept considered as the product of
attention directed to an object of knowledge.” and defines good as “deserving
of respect or praise”. Therefore when we consider someone having
good intentions, we must mean that if they are worthy of our praise or
respect there must be a prior knowledge of the subject they are focusing
their attention towards. Right? Though Webster defines the words
that way, usually just the opposite is the case when someone says, “at
least their intentions were good.” This means that the person tried
to help even though they had no real “prior knowledge of the subject”.
For instance, people who do not have Ataxia can not fully understand our
everyday struggles. For their credit they do try, but when something
happens the standard, “Are you ok?” or “Can I help you?” is heard. YUK!!!
As is plain my attitude right now is one of frustration. You see
I am learning about humility. It is a humbling experience when even
the easiest of tasks are difficult. There is not a day that goes
by that I don’t choke on a glass of juice, or start a conversation and
not be able to finish it. To make matters worse, the only thing
keeping my walking somewhat stable has been my physical therapy.
Which has also helped me with the knee pain and muscle spasms, but now
Medicare says, “No more PT, because we don’t pay for maintenance, just
improvement.” Well enough about me personally, let’s get back to
intentions.
Through the years, I have found that the people on the InterNaf have
true, “good intentions.” As one person put it in her response to
a welcome post,
“Welcome ------ to INTERNAF. U will find allot of support here. Your input
will be
valuable and I along as everyone on this list will enjoy getting to know
u better.
On the InterNaf forum, we have had several people join who really felt
they had no where to turn for information. The doctors were uninformed
or as one person put it,
“I don't think I would know much of anything without your input- my neurologist
doesn't
seem to care what I have.
There are support groups out there, but not everywhere yet. So sometimes
we truly feel alone as one person put it,
“I belong to the southern part of India. When enquired , I came
to know that there are no person from this part being diagnosed as Freidrich's
Ataxia.. So it is a feeling of isolation and depression that I am going
through. I need able support from you people.”
When you tap into the true intentions (as Webster defined) results will
be profoundly better and responses such as this Member put it,
“Thanks so much for your encouragement and information.”
Another had this to say,
“I want to thank whoever responded to my post. I feel so relieved to know
I
am not alone. Thanks again for putting my mind at ease!”
It is here on the InterNaf and the support groups that we draw our greatest
strength from. We are not alone, there are so many others who know
what we face each day. Some are physically worse off and some better
then ourselves. However, I think I can say with a surety the intentions
of everyone here are good.
In closing let me leave you with these words from a Mother of an Ataxic
child,
“Thank you all for your supportive and encouraging words. I don't feel
so
lost and alone with this disease. I feel that I can get some insights
on
her condition from all of you. I hear your fears, concerns and some very
interesting problems that her doctors never told me about. “
Just a thought and God Bless!
The Disabled
Writer's Network
- By Rawnie Dunn
My computer has been going in and out [mostly out] for
a week and I don't know how much time I have to get this out so without
further ado here's a collection of very large, somewhat interactive writing
sites filled with great primarily free resources:
Authorlink
"The award-winning news, information, and marketing service for editors,
literary agents, writers and readers..."
http://www.authorlink.com/index.html
correspondent.com
"...a service of EPNworld, is the fastest growing network of top independent
journalists. EPNworld connects members of correspondent.com to commissioning
news editors globally." -free to qualified professionals
http://www.correspondent.com/
F I C T I O N E E R
general resources; also focuses on specific genres, such as fantasy, romance,
mystery and suspense
http://www.fictioneer.com/
Institute for Alternative Journalism
"IAJ is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening and supporting
independent and alternative journalism..."
http://www.alternet.org/an/
Check out the hilarious NewsQuirks http://www.alternet.org/
Inkspot
a favourite with writers
http://www.inkspot.com/
Mightywords
Mainstream writing site with good resources; $15,000 writing contest http://www1.mightywords.com/writerscorner/home.asp
Moondance
"...to represent the diversity and uniqueness of all creative women."
http://www.moondance.org/
Screenwriters & Playwrights Home Page
http://www.teleport.com/~cdeemer/scrwriter.html
Sunoasis Jobs for Writers, Editors, and Copywriters
"dedicated to bringing the job to the writer, the writer to the job."
http://www.sunoasis.com/index.html
THE TV WRITER HOME PAGE
kinda funky
http://www.tvwriter.com/
Writing Corner
240 page site; clear and friendly
http://writingcorner.com/
There are hundreds of local online Writers' Groups throughout
the world. Find one for your locale at Ask Jeeves http://www.ask.com/
. Here's a sample:
Writers Cramp West Seattle
http://www.forwriters.com/writerscramp.html
Stockport and District Writers' Circle: UK
http://www.swcircle.freeserve.co.uk/
San Francisco Bay Area Writers' Groups
http://www.enclave.org/write/index.html
The Federation of British Columbia Writers
http://www.swifty.com/bcwa/
The European Federation of Freelance Writers
http://www.eurofed.org/main.html
Following are some terrific inline newsletters:
Oasis 2000
Subscribe: oasis-l-subscribe@topica.com
About.com Guide to Freelance Writers
To add a new email address or remove your email address
from this newsletter, visit
http://freelancewrite.about.com/gi/pages/mmail.htm
and click the
subscribe or unsubscribe button.
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send the following commands (exactly as shown) back to "majordomo@samurai.com":
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QWERTY - FicTech/Fictioneer Newsletter.
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Whew! This is like waiting for a guillotine to
drop. ...think 'A Tale of Two Computers' would sell?
Internaf
Newsletter May 2000 Issue Page
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