Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome, come on in…
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Profile updated 2007.0515:
Hello, I’m cpneb. There are two poems and two stories that are the beginning of a universe-wide saga; I'll provide more on these in a later update.
Poetry and Science Fiction are coming your way: a unique combination, I know, but, then again, I’m a unique individual (code for bizarre and weird).
On February 28, 2007, my legs began to tell my brain that they were going on vacation. This was an unplanned vacation on their part, and quite inconvenient for the other parts of the body. I took an ambulance ride to the local hospital the next morning when I could neither get back into nor get out of my bed (and, yes, ladies, the paramedics were hunks: I received that confirmation from my wife!)
A week later, 6 MRIs (and the appropriate medication for 3.5 hours of tests), I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. If you watched West Wing, I have the same version that President Bartlet has (recurring/relapsing), the same as the late US representative from Texas Barbara Jordan and Teri Garr (so, I’m in some good company, and I feel like I have a chance). I am mad at the disease, because I’ve had it for 17 years, and it’s been hiding for all that time, resisting diagnosis. Oh, well, so much for any planned late night writing and forum-posting session (and a sigh of relief for several folks on other platforms in which I participated.).
I went from basically lower-limb paralysis to walking out of the hospital in 21 days, and I’ve read and deleted 8,250 of the 8,500 emails that awaited me upon my return (spam, spam, spam, spam...). At this time, I’m back to about 75 percent (measured by physical therapists) and holding of my previous mobility. In the meantime, real-life (work and family) and writing/reading will keep me busy.
I must give a more-than-heartfelt ‘thank you’ to my wife and kids: they took all my fear onto themselves, and allowed me to concentrate on getting well. And, they got the house ready for me to come back in and maneuver in any circumstance (from wheelchair on up). Love like they display cannot ever be re-paid: I can only hope to prove to deserve the affections that they have shown me over this time.
My wife: Gentlemen, if you ever have someone who loves you 1/1000th as much as I have, you too will be blessed beyond belief
About me:
I started writing in elementary school (grade 3), and haven’t stopped since, with the exception of some small breaks. That’s been awhile, since I’m over the mid-century mark (but, just barely).
My love for writing, both word and music, I have to blame on my mother (who spent my formative months before I was born listening to the Texaco Opera on the radio: not the norm in West Texas, by a long shot).
My love for people and dealing with their differences started with several elementary school bullies and changes (in first grade with only the teacher speaking English, and none of the students being illegals: welcome to the barrios!). This continued into my junior high and high school days (it started with a crush on a cheerleader/singer in my classes (who has since become an actress and married to a well-known actor and since has become a mother): lots of big, fond smiles) and the fact that I married my high-school love (years later) who was a member of the Drill Team in the early 1970s, the days when cheerleaders and drill team members wore hot pants under the far-too-short (for the school administration) shorts: brains, beauty, and a sharp wit all rolled into one, and still looking disgustingly wonderful (her, that is: she can pass for several years younger or whatever age you want!) 20+ years later.
I grew up reading Rex Gordon, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, David Drake, Phillip Jose Farmer, and every other science-fiction book I could get my hands on thru all of my public school and collegiate years.
Spider Robinson nabbed me with his puns (be afraid, be very afraid) and Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon tales, and David Weber has hooked me forever since then with his wonderful Honorverse.
Between the Airplane series of movies, anything Mel Brooks (It’s twue! It’s twue!), The Last Waltz, and almost all kinds of music (from Bach and Arriaga and Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Mass’ to Bonnie Tyler to Willie Nelson to Wynton Marsalis to Bono to Tom Lehrer to Charlotte Church and The Band) and reading (Tom Clancy, Schindler’s List, religion, philosophy, business, telecom, information technology (yes, I’m a geek, but I don’t do code: project management and requirements management are my fortes), I’m having a wonderful life; well, except for the fact that the kids boomeranged on me and the missus, but we’re working on that….
Me? African-American father of two blonde-haired, blue-eyed kids (look just like me), and a classically-trained violinist, composer, arranger, and tenor (and, not just in my dreams!) along with IT project manager, telecom domain expert, and a methodologist.
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My “I love me” section: what others have said about my work in other publishing platforms (just two: I try to keep the ego small enough to get thru the door):
One writer/reader wrote:
'neb, I think you are by yourself with what you do, and believe me, that's a good thing! No one else writes like you do, and has never expanded on minor characters as much as you have.
Another wrote:
This author has taken an approach that has never been done, and has crafted a series of stories that explores in greater detail a number of characters that have never been explored in such a manner, with a depth that belies description.
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A note: the link to the actual windows and their history that continue to inspire me is provided below:
http://www.sierravista.org/windows.htm
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What you’ll see in the upcoming months are poetry, science-fiction works (short stories and starts of novels) that I’ve been working on (and working, and working, and having been rejected, and rejected, and…) and, simultaneously, material for a book for corporate managers that, hopefully, will help them remember why they are in business.
Please, feel free to leave feedback. I really enjoy reading it and it is my intention to reply to all reviews. PMs are appreciated, as well. Thank you for your patience and thank you in advance for your reads and reviews.
Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends….
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