Not the New Normal, Just the Old Crazy
About Me
I was raised in an ancient village between Munich and the Alps. With a DAAD scholarship in my pocket, I left my idyllic home in Bavaria for some prickly pear cactus in the Texas Hill Country to study anthropology and photojournalism at the University of Texas at Austin. Texas was all attitude, just like Bavaria.
Here is where the “Keltenschimmel” (Celtic Stallion) was born. My home village has a number of ghosts on St. George’s Hill (Georgibichl). Legend has it that this tiny chapel was built on a Celtic sanctuary. Needless to say, my excitement went haywire when an archeological find of that time surfaced in the village. I let my high school heroine put a number of stories together, which got her in major trouble. Love was asunder too. So the Celtic Stallion rides again in my novel.
About “iMAKINations”
- i = international, eye, the pronoun that stands for me & myself
- MAKIN = masala (spice blend), my family name
- nations = the 3 nations and continents our family represents
About My Track
Since having read my first book, I had always wanted to write one. I got to task with local reporting in high school and worked my way through many genres of publishing, from news features to editing college textbooks, My articles have appeared internationally. I have worked at Bavarian Public Radio, survived a stint as a small-town newspaper photographer in Texas, and served as Production Editor for Harcourt Brace College Publishers. I even honed my skills with pharmaceutical editing for a while.
My first novel, “Der Keltenschimmel,” was published on Amazon after many years of consolidating the narrative. Keltenschimmel thrives from the raucuous stories inside the main drama: a precocious teenager throws herself into ill-fated love adventures and ends up seeing ghosts. Since then I have guided a number of books to publication on Amazon at the BookProShop. My second novel, “Im Schatten des Lone Star,” a Texas Western, is in the works.
Words are magic. To create my world, I don’t need paint, or clay, or brick. A pen and paper will do. As some people stand up and shout, I sit down and write. Writing puts me in control. I can make anything happen. It’s magic!
I am not a woman of many words, but I like to play with them. If you need a pen for hire or help with your book production, contact me at makin_anna@yahoo.com.
My favorite saying: Wherever you go, there you are.
About the Blog
Reality, Insanity, and Recipes
My blog is about reality and insanity and why we get confused between the two so many times. In the end, humanitarian survival boils simply down to “Apostle” John’s saying: “All you need is love.”
You’re not crazy for “believing” in global warming. It would be insane to ignore it when you see in front of your own eyes. Global warming is a reality. Now let’s deal with it. That’s an example I might write about.
I might also write about gun issues in America. Guns are perfectly real, but our justifications for them are quite insane. We have moved on from front-loaders to precision exterminators. Keeping those out of only the hands of “crazy” people won’t do.
Because how do we know who is crazy?
Here comes the Catch 22 movie from 1970. Go see it! Captain John Yossarian wants to bail out of an air mission by pleading insanity. But there’s a catch:
— A catch?
—Sure, Catch. Anyone who wants to get out of combat isn’t really crazy, so I can’t ground him.
—Let me see if I got this straight. In order to be grounded, I’ve got to be crazy. And I must be crazy to keep flying. But if I ask to be grounded, that means I’m not crazy any more—and I have to keep flying.
—You’ve got it! That’s the Catch.
So who is crazy now? Anybody can snap a trigger at some point.
You can’t wish or think or write or explain problems away. Or ignore the logic of a choice, or the consequences of a law, or the effect of a contract. That would be insane!
Examples of reality and insanity within our society or behaviors fly by each nanosecond on our computers. Buzzwords are ablaze and drive the media. What’s the “new normal?” In the old days we called it “tolerance,” or “reason,” or the “middle.” At least some of us believe that the strangest behaviors can still be modified.
Some of my topics will cover real examples of
- reducing the ecological footprint
- accidents, providence and synchronicity
- good deeds, bad thoughts and character development
- healthy and practical advice that is neither solicited nor guaranteed
- progressive conservatism, liberal nostalgia, and other contradictions
- paying it forward the original Native American way
- fun stuff that needs mentioning
- food for thought or eating
- and all kinds of insane things.
Finally, why recipes? Food is a reality. Do we eat because we must, or because we enjoy? Food and cooking is a great gauge for our life spirit and awareness. You are what you eat. And what you eat comes from the environment. Your nutrition shows your faith, self-care and stewardship of family and earth. You can also express your insanity with it.
In sum: One person’s insanity may be another’s reality. Topics may vary. But as long as we can peacefully coexist and learn from each other, we’ll have plenty of food to share.