# 58 SCRAPPED BLOGS

A new game and a new Mem.

Obviously I take blogging way too seriously. I know that because of the volumes of blogs I have scrapped. I’ve got three heavy binders filled to capacity with blogs I’ve published, but if I saved all the blogs I scrapped, I would have "Scrapped Blogs"; Volumes 1 – 42 already.

And thinking about scrapping stuff, I have to marvel at how bloody long it took me to realize how valuable ‘scraps’ can be. That vegetable peelings and coffee grounds could be discarded in my garden and would add badly needed mulch to my 100% clay soil. And the years it took me to recognize that cloth scraps, though ever so tiny, if saved, can make a colorful and stunningly beautiful quilt. And the many years it took for me to realize that rain water has a magic that kicks plants up a notch, that tap water cannot duplicate. And the many years it took me to realize that the rigidity of the rule that dogs should not be fed table scraps is a bunch of malarkey. After all, I would hope that dog food is initially made from human food and if it isn’t, then I might as well be feeding my dog the can rather than the contents. And too many years to realize that olive oil is the best kind of additive to benefit dry skin. Far better than any expensive luxury product. And that cooked leftovers do not have to languish and crawl around in the back of the fridge if I just freeze excess portions immediately. And many, many more realizations. So long in coming. But enough of that soliloquy – now back to writing.

So when it comes to writing, what was I thinking? More writing has gone in the garbage than I have ever saved. And when one has a good reason for discarding something, that’s okay. Anything that stinks, shows signs of decay, putrefaction, crumbling, or toxicity needs to be scrapped. But when one doesn’t have a good reason for scrapping a thing, that is a disgrace.

I wish now I had initially set up two Blog Sites. One for "Scrapped Blogs" and one for those that passed serious scrutiny. Thinking about others’ blogs, I note many have their writings artfully catalogued and sorted. There is Health, Personal, Family, Political, etc. but I’ve yet to find a category labeled "The Rubbish Bin" or "Scrapped" that I can actually root through and read. I think such a category would be fascinating. Like searching for treasures in an old haunted house or panning for gold in a fast flowing river.

And this thought leads to another digression. Another seemingly totally irrelevant thought. Are you keeping up?

And that thought is this. Sober we are what we want others to perceive us to be. But when inebriated, we become what we truly are. In fact, many psychologists say that the thoughts expressed by a highly inebriated person expose their deepest and truest feelings. So similarly, perhaps when one is writing disconnected thoughts, without a plan, without a theme, without caution of political correctness, without a perceived audience, that is where the true soul of that individual is exposed. And to clarify for any who hold their own suspicions about what I’ve been drinking, one doesn’t have to be inebriated to write in the disconnected way that I am writing at this very moment.

All that aside, I do other reasons, besides chaos and confusion, for scrapping what I scrap. And if I treat those reasons as a ‘Mem Game’, this is what I would have to say about the writings that I scrap:

1. Words cannot aptly define these thoughts.
2. These are words that might offend someone.
3. Too much about "me".
4. I want approval and this isn’t going to work.
5. If I can’t write any better than that, I should quit.
6. Oh Whoa – I’m back to sermonizing. That will never do.

But today I’m no longer going to make blogging such a serious business. I’m going to lighten up. I’m going to stop value-assessing everything. And I’m going to publish scraps. In fact, what you are reading right now is a bit of recycled stuff from the ‘Scrap Bin’. Can’t help wondering if you’re entertained or downright miffed.

Either way, this blog has a purpose; it has a challenge. The challenge is I want you to play the Scrapped-Blog Mems Game or else publish something you’ve pulled from the Rubbish Bin. Of course, you’re also welcome to comment on any of the other digressions in this blog as well.