JUNE 2013 NEWS/BLOG
Welcome to the official site of Los Angeles-based, freelance writer/illustrator Ross Anthony. That's me. I invite you to peruse my BOOKS, sample ART, check out my SERVICES and SITES, scroll this box to read my quirky NEWS tidbits, and CONTACT me with your thoughts, comments, or feedback. Talk to me about your current projects, perhaps I can help. Enjoy.
Wonder RA-6/1/13
A Chili Day RA-5/8/13
Citizen's Arrest RA-5/1/13
Planet Earth RA-4/21/13
"CHILI FOR HOMELESS" thru 4/30! RA-4/1/13
Book Proposal RA-3/19/13
Cold Weather & Warm Books RA-3/6/13
Scroll My News RA-APRIL 2013
Want new post alerts emailed to you?
A few days ago, just after sunset, three planets made a little triangle in the western sky. Did you see it? Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury, all huddled in a little pool table triangle like cue balls floating in a turquoise sea. It was thrilling. I jumped up and down. With Pluto downgraded out of the planet club, that meant I was looking at half the planets in the solar system all at once -- the triangle three, and the planet I was jumping on. I live on a ball like that. I live on a wandering star. I'm an alien to some other being out there. Life, death and planets whizzing around the sun -- it's all a magnificent, magical, mystery. So why is it so stupidly simple to slip into autopilot and miss the view? How about you? How often do you look up at those twinkling stars? And when you do, what do you wonder about?
My Newest Film Review: Man of Steel
My Next Quality Writing Wordshop is June 15th at: RAword.com
Our Next Sound Event is June 22th at: RAINplay.org
"I think of my true love - sappy, isn't it?" -Anon
"so sorry to have missed it -- can you still see it without a telescope? I'll send you a pic we took up in the mountains of the moon" -Donna
"Space inside of a watch...moves so much.why is space not taught more in public schools?" -Scott
"That's a cool mini-essay, Ross. I just forwarded it on to my husband, siblings, nephew, kids, and kids-in-law." -Rebecca
"Yes I am a stargazer too - and out there everything is a great mystery - and wonder! - did it all start with Big Bang? - or has it always been there? - no matter what the answer is - if there is an answer? - we are part of it all -and should appreciate our being here more than we do." -Erik
Turned out I knew of three homeless folks on the west side of LA. They were easy to locate because they seldom strayed from their particular park bench or underpass. Plus, they populated their locations with a surprising amount of stuff. So, I cooked up the chili, put it in recycled plastic containers, and headed west. The first fellow was trying to get some sleep. He had a blanket over his possessions and his self. I would have assumed that he wasn't "home," if I hadn't happened to see him repositioning the blanket. To read more click: Chili4homeless. Btw, I'm screening "Great Gatsby" tonight, so I'll have that review soon. Currently, I'm working on a writing project and an illustration project. The former is for a man honoring his father with a biography. I'm not the ghostwriter, I'm the "with." And the later project involves painting ducks in a pond for a therapist who helps kids manage their feelings. What are you working on?
My Newest Film Review: The Great Gatsby
My Next Quality Writing Wordshop is May 11th at: RAword.com
Our Next Sound Event is May 25th at: RAINplay.org
"The Legend of 1900." -Anon
I hiked the rocky trails bounded by snow-capped mountains in North California's Mammoth Lakes area. The Manzanar Pilgrimage brought me up that way. One of WWII's "relocation centers" for the Japanese-Americans that were rounded up and "detained," Manzanar is a somber reminder of how fear, greed, and racism can trample our most treasured American values. As one of the speakers said (and I paraphrase), "The pilgrimage is not a stroll down Memory Lane; these issues are just as important today." Former internee and writer, Hank Umemoto read from his moving book which meanders between his experiences at Manzanar and his quest to hike the mountain beyond its barbed wire fences.
It's perfect: blue water, great temperatures, hills, valleys, sandy beaches, skiing even! I'm sure I'd get dry throat on those other planets. And 8 months between sunsets on Venus - where's the romance in that? So, I've been trying to use less plastic and gas. (My motorbike Chili gets 70mpg!) How about you? What are you doing to be nice to the world? (BTW, I once backpacked all the way around it.
"Winds that can lift you into skies. Waves that can be surfed." -Phil
"she provides us with what we need - spiritual and physical - in spite of the fact that most of our time we behave like spoiled selfish teenagers." -Erik
"My part in hiking is that we pick up stray bottles, cans, wrappers..." -Lily
"LOve MY Circle Earth. that was one of my first books from you" -Natasha
"I'm trying to stop people from throwing trash out of their windows." -Nicole
These chilly days remind me that it's time to cook up some chili for the homeless. You can help! Now through April 15th when you buy (directly from me) a signed copy of my uplifting book Zen Repair and the Art of Riding Chili I'll cook up a cup of chili for a homeless person.
See photos & read stories from past Chili4homeless.com
After two months of careful consideration a publishing house has passed on a book proposal I sent them at the beginning of the year. A rep from this publisher impressed me during a panel discussion at a recent book convention. The chat inspired an idea for which I wrote a few chapters and drew up a book proposal. As you all know, I'm fiercely independent, so submitting a proposal proved a bit of a philosophical challenge for me. Since the impetus for the book surfaced as a result of the rep's talk, I rationalized that sending her the proposal first made sense. Btw, when publishers "Pass" on proposals, it often times has nothing to do with quality or content. My proposed book is a lovely idea and I absolutely intend on producing it as an independent writer/publisher/illustrator. I'm looking forward to writing it into ebook reality. I may even re-illustrate it. Are you curious?
"Hmm, maybe I'll release it a little at a time like these newsfeeds." -RA
"Sure, then as an ebook collection?" -Kelly
"Yeah, maybe. Let me think on that." -RA
I've always liked readers. But I didn't always read. As a kid growing up in the Midwest, I much preferred wrestling my friends in the snow
to wrestling written words on the snowy white page. Reading wasn't my friend. But, I befriended readers.
They could tell me juicy stories, amazing facts, odd wonderful details, all without the frustration
of me having to read. Even though, just like me, the readers on my chilly city block never left the neighborhood;
when they finished a book, they had something I didn't have - that feeling of returning from a faraway place.
And even in the depth of winter, those journeys branded each of them with a warm bronze tan.
"What a lovely piece, Ross -- almost poetry!" -R.N.
"My brother wrestled in the snow, I sat on the steps with my book!" -Hank
"nothing like a good book
to take you out of yourself and into a whole new place." -Mary
For a while now, been brainstorming a new method to deliver my enews to your front door. Then it occurred to me to use my front door! Right here on my front page - you can scroll through the newest goings-on, most recent quotable quips, my freshest film & book reviews, etc. You can even chime in! Took me 1/2 a day to code it. Kind of looks like a Kindle screen doesn't it? Or am I kidding myself?
"Do they still deliver newspapers?" -marcy
"chiming in to say, cool illustrations." -Sharon
Great. Type you email address here.