Interview with Robert Tippett [rtippett97]

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Interview with:

Robert Tippett [rtippett97]
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WRITING

	What did you first read? How did you begin to write? Who were the first to read what you wrote? I seem to recall it was the Dick and Jane series, with Sally and Spot making regular appearances. I began writing with paper on pads, which had solid blue lines and some dotted blue lines in between. I wrote with a really fat pencil. I can't recall how I ever sharpened that pencil. I remember my first grade teacher, Mrs. Wright, would read my papers and circle the errors in red.
	What is your favorite genre? Can you provide a link to a site where we can read some of your work or learn something about it? I guess non-fiction is my favorite genre. The word genre is actually French, and it simply means, "type or kind". When I write, I have to write about what I know. I have no talent writing my imaginations. I have a trunk full of fictitious novel ideas, started but never finished. I always tell myself, "Who are you kidding? No one will believe that." I have over 40 articles listed at Helium (www.helium.com), and if you search my name, then click on my name after you click on one article, you will see that I have written articles in many categories. That means I have an opinion on many topics. However, I would not call myself a writer of any. I have a specific topic that has made me call myself "writer", and I have stated that topic in my profile on Helium, as well as in a few articles under "religion".
	What is your creative process like? What happens before sitting down to write? I used to write poetry as a teen, and into my early twenties. Marriage somehow sapped me of my enjoyment from writing poetry. When I wrote poetry I never felt that I was the true author of the words I wrote down. I felt that I was channeling poems from some dead poet-song writer, who needed to get a few more works down on paper. With paper only existing in the physical realm, I would become the vehicle for that genius. My creative process would begin when I would hear the voice in my head say, "Hey, write this down." Then words would flow, over and over repeating, until I could find a pen and paper and sit down to write. Sometimes the voice would wake me up while I was asleep, forcing me to get up and write, before it would leave me alone and let me go back to sleep. Again, my ex-wife ran that spirit off. I have been filled with a new spirit, since 2001. Once again I write because I am being told to write. I am being told to write on one specific topic, a topic that has enough words to fill about ten books. I have written two of those books so far; but now I am rewriting the first book. The first book was 740 pages long, on 8 1/2 x 11 paper, single spaced, 10 font. It was as big as an Atlanta phone book. I am now rewriting it as smaller books, to turn one book into at least three. I am going slower when I write now, because I have to tell the voice to stop long enough for me to edit my work. Editing is something I am learning on my own.
	What type of reading inspires you to write? It depends on what I am writing about. I do enjoy writing about the Episcopal lectionary on occasion. I write my interpretations of biblical passages, without knowing (most of the time) what others have said the meaning was. When I write well, I get most of my inspiration from an angel that sits on my right shoulder. He tells me what to write by whispering to me. I just wish I was a better typer, so I could keep up with him.
	What do you think are the basic ingredients of a story? Truth. A little explanation as anecdote. Truth. (Repeat as often as necessary)
	What well known writers do you admire most? I always found Kurt Vonnegut an amazing writer. He had such a grasp of the pitfalls from human frailty, while writing in such a way that made the complexities of life humerous and simplistic. As a kid I loved reading the Earl Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason) paperbacks.
	Deep down inside, who do you write for? When I write to publish, I write for a public that does not realize it should read what I write. As I write, I imagine seeing people reading my work and being moved to act, in one way or another, because of what I have written for them to know. After I publish and realize no one knows I have written anything, deep down inside I try to imagine how I can state what I must say, so people would be attracted to read what I write. That motivates me to keep writing and publishing. Perhaps, hidden deep down in my psyche, I write for Kilgore Trout and Vincent van Gogh. They too never achieved the recognition they wanted to see; but I'm not going to cut a finger off or anything.
	Does reader feed-back help you? Of course reader feed-back helps me. It lets me know someone has read something I wrote and was moved enough to tell me what he, she, it thought. Feed-back also helps me try to fit something to the reader's needs.
	Do you share rough drafts of your writings with someone whose opinion you trust? I trust my wife to read rought drafts. I value her opinions, and especially her gramatical tips. I just wish I had her abilities in proofing. She is one smart gal. She catches everything.
	What discipline do you impose on yourself regarding schedules, goals, etc.? I write every day for at least four hours. By that I mean I sit with Word open and a document begun. When holidays come, or vacations, sometimes I take along the laptop to keep up with this regimen; but when I am not in my office I usually do not write. I realize there is life to live, and often you need to experience life to be able to write well. I still feel guilty, so after a couple of days crying and moaning about having to start back writing, I get back on track. I am happy when I produce four pages of text. This can be on any topic, in any mode of expression (blogs, my blog, my book, simple thoughts, scripture reflections, etc.). I am happy if I work all day on editing something I wrote the day before.
	What do you surround yourself with in your work area in order to help your concentrate? My writing often requires research, so I sit in front of my computer, just in case I need to look something up online. I keep a dictionary on the desk; but usually I look up the meaning and spelling of words on online dictionaries.
	What has been your experience with publishers? I have found the big-name publishers to be as untouchable as the book I bought to tell me how to solicit my books to publishers said they would be. Big-name publishers do answer query letters ... eventually. However, I would rather spend time waiting for an Ovaltine decoder ring to come in the mail. After following all the procedural stuff set forth, a wait is better rewarded when one gets something that is not all it was pumped up to seem to be. Hands down that beats getting a piece of paper that says, "We're sorry, but did you think you did something important?" Some of the reject letters let me know that at least some human being at a big-name publisher actually read my query. I knew that because they would indicate the name of my book in the rejection letter. That almost seemed encouraging. Still, most would simply send the same xeroxed form letter they sent to 99.9% of the query letters they found in their "no need to hurry" bin. Half of those would not even bother to make a xerox of the original rejection letter. That seemed to have been lost long ago, and for years they had been copying copies, yielding poor quality-off center reject letters. I wonder if any of those companies understand karma? I also found the print-on-demand "publishers" I trusted to be untrustworthy, if not outright scam artists. Because of my experience with those, I bought some ISBN numbers and became a print-on-demand publisher myself. So far, I love myself as a publisher. I haven't screwed me once on royalties, and I never have to wait more than a few seconds for a rejection.
	What are you working on now? I am writing a book that will explain how to understand the art of puzzle solving, when the puzzle box top is missing a picture of the finished product. Amazingly, it is harder than you imagine and easier than you think.
	What do you recommend I do with all those things I wrote years ago but have never been able to bring myself to show anyone? If you live anywhere near a place that could be struck by devastating natural disaster, make three copies of everything and place those copies in multiple safe places (metal boxes preferably), with no two being in the same geographic region. I learned that lesson the hard way, when I lost most of the writings of my youth to the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina.

INTERNET

Where can we see some of your work online?

I have a website called Pearls of Nostradamus. www.pearlsofnostradamus.com I recommend clicking on the "This and That Archive" for something more than a blog article. www.pearlsofnostradamus.com/TNTarchive.html I have a blog also www.pearlsofnostradamus.com/blog.html I also have 40-something articles posted on Helium www.helium.com Search my name there

BLOGGING

What is your blog address? What subjects do you deal with?

www.pearlsofnostradamus.com is where my web page is. There's a place to click to blog. I deal only with Nostradamus' Prophecies, letting people know the true meanings of the quatrains and letters he wrote, explaining it all. I have a group set up on Facebook, named, "Serious About Nostradamus". Everyone is welcome to come and read what I have posted there. However, it is not like a normal blog, where idiots are allowed to roam free, dropping feces everywhere, urinating all on the walls, and then laughing like jackals at anyone who has a logical thought. I act like a Catholic nun with a lead ruler then. Like the name states, one has to be serious about the topic, which means the decorum requires logic without bias.

PERSONALITY

	How do you find the balance between working to live and living to work? I love what I do. Therefore, I cannot call it work. I also do not earn a salary from my "work", or make enough money for it to be considered a "living". Living is a requirement of life; and sometimes living means work, while sometimes it means play. The best times of life come when you enjoy whatever it is you do. I earn a feeling of satisfaction at times from my work. That is enjoyable. At other times I feel I could do more, when work takes a serious lean and I have to stop working. I never take work home with me. I see "living" is a nessary interruption to "work".
	In moments of tension, what techniques work in calming the mind? Often, I can hear my mind squeaking, like it is twisting into knots. That is followed quickly by tension. This usually comes on when I am trying to take someone elses philosophy and pretend it is mine. To calm my mind, I just start thinking like me. That is so easy even I can do it; and it calms me pretty quick.
	You have nine wins in a row in a game of roulette: do you continue because you are on a good run, or abandon the game because statistically, it is your turn to lose? I gave up gambling in order to focus full-time on vows of poverty. Statistics say only fools gamble. Gamblers say, "If you can afford to lose, it is not gambling."
	Is there any superstition that makes you change your behaviour? I can't talk about superstitions or something bad might happen. Sorry.
	Does knowing someone's zodiac sign help you to better understand that person? As a certified and licensened astrologer, I must say this is a trick question. Since there are twelve signs in the zodiac, and every person has each of the twelve signs in their chart, knowing only one sign would leave you guessing about a person more than it would leave you understanding them. I always found the best key to better understanding a person is to look at the many different aspects in their chart (one at a time, and presuming they knew their birth information so I had prepared an accurate chart to read) and ask the person something like, "How does this play out in your life?" Imagine if you were suffering from some need, which had you seek out a psychologist. It would be useless for you to sit in his or her office and say nothing, expecting that psychologist to tell you secrets about yourself, just by looking at you. If I found one who would try such a trick, I would get up and leave. Also, realize this: Imagine asking the same question to a cook, only stated as, "Does tasting the type of flour help you to better understand the cookie?" While flour may be the most quantiful ingredient, it is not the only one, nor necessarily the most important.

IDEAS

	Did God create the world in seven days, or do you believe in the theory of evolution? To finally set this issue to rest, God created the world in six days. He rested on the seventh. Now that that is settled, try and understand that the use of "day" is metaphor. Think about it. Before anyone was created that would know what the concept of "day" was, God was almost finished with His work. (For novices, human beings were created near dusk on the sixth day.) One has to realize that a "day" means a phase of Creation. A phase began with the light of the phase's newness (the dawn of an idea), and ended when that light was extinguished upon completion. The "theory of evolution" is stated in Genesis, several places. If one knows how to properly read Genesis, one can find evolution from one "day" to the next (evolution of the physical universe, and evolution from plants, to animals, to human beings). There is nothing in Genesis that is incompatible with any scientific model that ages the earth, or theorizes about the general nature of geological occurences. Please keep in mind that Darwin was quite fallible in parts of his theory; and he admitted as much.
	To what percentage do you believe in statistics? Since statistics is a branch of mathematics, where numerical data is crunched into many shapes and forms, what is not to believe? I believe in statistics 100%. I also realize that statistics are like matches. Some are good for lighting campfires. Some are good for lighting cigarettes. They can be used for good or bad, like just about anything else can be. Statistics are very good for selling lies in advertising. They are good for the people making money off the lies, bad for those getting lied to by statistics. Some people use statistics as reason for snagging some of that taxpayer money that government officials haven't spent yet. If you quote statistics well enough, to the right people, sometimes those government money overseers will pass out free money for gathering more statistics, in grant form. I do believe in all of that, because I have seen it all firsthand. It exists. It is real. Keep in mind that without statistics guys would struggle socially. Statistics are good so men can have something to talk about betweenst themselves, because without sports stats to banter about guys would just stand around and say nothing a lot of the time. However, from time to time statistics inevitably will get stacked against you, telling you you cannot get something you really want. To grasp the brass ring, often one has to go against the statistics.
	Do you believe many illnesses can be caused by the mind? I believe all mental illnesses are caused by the mind. I believe there are many people who take special drugs for mental illnesses. Therefore, many illnesses are cause by the mind.
	Do you believe it is true that humans only use 10% of their brain capacity? I thought it was only 5%, and I thought that a generous estimate. However, I wasn't putting a lot of thought into solving the problem. Certainly, not enough to find belief riding the crest of a surface thought like that.
	Do you think tipping is a good custom? Before I went to France I looked up some things to do, so a tourist would fit in best. One thing I found was about tipping customs. In France the people's lives are based on income, even if they work in a restaurant, so the "tip" is actually part of the price for the meal. In other words, one cannot eat and skip out on the server, or leave some lousy tip. The server's livlihodd depends on the tip. They can pay their bills, based on tips being a documented part of their salary, based on the percentage added into the cost of dinner. Still, an actual tip left on the table, in France, is a statement about how well one liked the service. One only has to toss down a few coins, the equivalent of 35 cents or so. That tells the waiter-waitress, "Thanks. Good job." As a custom, saying a thank-you is good and necessary. Here, in the United States, a tip has become a custom that reflects on the type of person the tipper is, based on many petty criteria. In some cases it shows how little one cares about others.
	Do extraterrestrials exist? The prefix "extra-" means, "outside, beyond", such that "extraterrestrial" means, "from beyond earth." Based on that definition, I say no. That said, I do believe there is more than is known about living beings that are reported as "aliens". On Star Trek (the original), it used to begin by saying, "Space, the final frontier". I believe we know more about space than we know about what is under the waters of the earth; and I know we know more about space than we know about what is inside the earth. We live on the surface, while Osama bin Laden lives in caves that only a few people know exist. There could be a whole other world of beings living IN earth. Underwater and inside the earth are still frontiers of our planet, still unknowns. If there are people in amazing flying saucers, I think there is a much higher percentage of probability that they come from an ancient earth civilization, which went underground 10,000 years ago, but make day trips to the surface for some needed essentials. The time it would take to reach earth, coming from the closest star (other than our Sun), would take light years of travel (thus some spaceship with "warp drive"), and that makes that possibility prohibitive. The average American worker would piddle away a whole afternoon on the Internet, if left unsupervised. Imagine what having a light year or two, being cooped up inside some hunka hunka flying metal, without direct connection to the home planet would do. Ask me about "interterrestrials".

POLITICS

	How do you define your political position? What is the ideology that inspires it? For some reason, define your "political position" seems best answered as, "doggie style", or "missionary", or something more perverted. I feel dirty even saying the word, "politics." This means I have no affinity to any recognized form of politics, and if there is a recognized form that fits my ideology, then I automatically reserve the right to disagree with that form. At best, I would consider the world a better place if it could realize the positives of something like "conservative anarchy." For some reason, most people hear the word "anarchy", and think of it like I when I hear "politics." Anarchy simply is a lawless state, which means there are no tickets for "ignorance of the law." There is no law, so there are no tickets. This does not mean everyone is free to riot, loot, burn, and shoot people. Everyone who has been raised with an ounce of moral values, and had a pound of intelligence, plus over 20 years of experience breathing air, should have developed an internal set of laws, which would keep one from trying to screw everything that moves, before it itself got screwed. That is what we have too much of already, due to the politics that establish laws so loosely they fit no one. Of course, if the world was completely ruled by conservative anarchy, there would be no big nations to deal with. Conservative anarchy works best in small, local environments, where people tend to have similar moral values. It is the unwritten law of the family-neighborhood-region, where everyone has differences, but self-preservation means everyone has to work together as one.
	What matters more in deciding your vote: the party, the candidate, or the ideas? Whoever is in office needs to be thrown out of office. I vote against "incumbents," regardless of party, person, or stated lies called sales pitches, which requires many, many other liars to go along with that "idea" for anything to happen. Anyone who runs for office should be charged with a misdemeanor crime, and forced to pay a fine. Representation for the House should be determined at random, like some 60s writer once said, "Chosen from the phone book." Whoever heard of someone campaigning for jury duty? Whoever heard of an organization designed to raise money to advertise someone to be a juror? I think only the mafia, and other crime syndicates do such things, secretely, because it is so frowned upon by the vast majority of people, who call themselves "human beings." I want my jurors selected at random because it has a better chance of actually becoming a true reflection of how the people, overall, would act in the exact same circumstance. The random selection is necessary, and selected jurors reluctantly take leave of their regular lives, for a temporary time to serve the people. I would rather have a random crook (an abberation of selection) be my representation in the House of Representatives, than a 30-year professional political crook (paid under the table by lobbiests and party moneybag holders). I also do not want 98-year old Seantors, or 84-year old Supreme Court justices, pretending to be serving the people, when its more about hanging in as long as possible, before tagging the hand of the next young party favorite to take their places. When my mother was forced to live on a fixed income at 65, all public representation should be a reflection of what the people get. In my opinion, all "parties" mean "corrupted".
	Do you think religion has a place in politics? Israel is a theocracy. Only Jews are citizens in Israel, thus only Jews get to vote. Last I looked, Israel was a political entity. Saudi Arabia is a theocracy. Islamic Law is the core of all Middle Eastern politics. The point I want to make here is this question is biased, such that it leans one to answer, "Oh my, of course there is no place in politics for religion." That is a moronic answer. The United States of America is (as of the 2000 Census) over 75% Christian. Simply by that fact, which is a statement that many American citizens checked off that statistic in the Census survey, "religion" is an important personality aspect, for a VAST majority of American citizens. The question is then, "How would a person deeming him or herself to have enough religious values to deem him or herself a specific form of religion not act political, within the parameters of their religious values?" It is idiotic to think someone of religious values cannot share in politics, simply because of religious values. What if the question stated, "Do you think Americans have a place in politics?" As for the concept of Democracy, which is (by definition) "majority rule", if the 75% of Americas voted to change the USA from being a Democratic Republic into a Theocratic State, the question would cease to exist. Religion would be all of politics, where only 25% of the people (called the MINORITY) would have to suck it up and get by without any rights of citizenship. That is the concept of Democracy. However, the 75% Christians do not think keeping the minority from having a voice is fair to the minority. Now, that is religion in politics. Religion teaches toleration, which is allowing that there will always be a minority that thinks completely differently than the vast majority. However, that tolerance has allowed the loudest of the minority to stand on soapboxes, shouting about how bad it would be if religious people did that to the minority (a woulda-coulda situation, not reality). Those political radicals are trying to teach and sell a concept that religion in politics is bad, so the minority can make laws taking the rights of the religious away. If anything, that is "religion in politics", simply because an atheist (or Communist) view is a religious view (an absent belief view), with all religion closely associated with philosophy, where politics is philosophy. As long as people have any views on religion, of any type, those views will become political. Therefore, the question is irrelevant. As long as the United States does not require the Pope of Rome to okay what our Congress, Courts, and President want to do, there is Separation of Church (Roman Catholic Church) and State. There NEVER was any thought by the founding fathers to remove religion from the hearts and minds of those who would practice politics for the nation.
	Should parties that want to eliminate democracy be allowed to participate in democratic elections? A "democratic" election is one where everyone votes, and someone is elected with 50% +1 of the total vote (or more). In the American Presidential Election of 2008, 131 million Americans voted. The total population is estimated (lowball figure) to be around 300 million. The total number of people who voted was only 43.7% of the population. The only way that would truly be considered a "democratic" election, would be if the 169 million people who did not vote were sent a letter, saying, "You are no longer a citizen of the United States, because you failed to meet the mandatory requirement of voting." A country of 50 states, spread over vast regions, with over 300-million citizens, is way too big for a two-party system. It is way too big for one person to impress 50% +1 people to vote for him or her. In oligarchies (which we have now), the minority will try anything to eliminate democracy. The Republicans did it in the 2000 election (and probably 2004 also), while the Democrats did it in 1960 (and in a much more polished, subversive way - a very dangerous way - in 2008). So, both parties are for the elimination of democracy. That is the only way they can rule the world.
	Why did the economies of communist countries fail? The word "fail" has to be understood as "planned failure", or "feigned collapse." Then, one can see the wide-view of a Cold War, where the economic battle made a strategic shift around 1989. The Soviet Union did one of thse "scared goats" tricks, where they just threw in the towel and begged for mercy. Guess what happened next? The USA went in loaning money left and right to the former Iron Curtain countries, which meant the Russians could save for the next phase of the war. Meanwhile, the economic war that so many fools said Ronald Reagan won, is about to become an American bankruptcy. The Soviets tried to bankrupt us, but failed at that in the mid-1980s. Now they have the advantage, especially with the Chinese doing a "masked tag-team wrestling" act on the U.S. Dollar. The situation has almost reached the "Check" state, not far from "Checkmate."

PHILOSOPHY

	For you, what is "the good life"? A "good life" is one free of worry and fear. This allows for health of body and mind, and allows for love to radiate outward from within. A "good life" is not measured by things, although comforting things will surround you.
	What is the secret to happiness? Love is the "secret" to happiness. It sounds so simple, but many people struggle to know love. This is due to them searching outside themselves for love, thus happiness. Happiness is laughs, giggles and smile, which are easily generated around those we love.
	What is a friend? A friend is someone who remembers your birthday and knows how to tell you, "You're wrong," when you are wrong. A friend always has time to talk.
	Does the soul exist? The soul exists, yes. Now, imagine this: Just like there has been no new matter created, nor has there been any old matter lost, since Creation, all souls follow the same law. All souls have been around so long, the body that hangs around a soul now is like a new suit. Like all new suits, they will eventually wear old and need to be replaced. However, the question, thus the answer here, does not address what happens in the "changing room", where one goes to try on a new suit.
	Where does science end and ideology begin? The question should be reversed, since ideology came well before science. I guess the best way to answer it is to ask, "Where does the left hand end and the right hand begin?" Can't I have two hands at the same time?
	Your own definition for beauty If I was blind and you did not know that, would any answer I gave be mistaken for a sighted answer? Beauty is truly "in the eyes of the beholder," which means it is not seen through the eyes, as much as it is felt through the heart. Beauty can be anything that delights the senses and warms the emotions: a smell of familiarity; the taste of home cooking; a touch of caring; the sound of innocence; a sight for sore eyes; and a thought shared without words being spoken.
	What is God? God is the source of this dream we call life.
	If the ticket price for a football match is twice the regular price for those 12 years of age or older, and your child turned twelve yesterday, what age would you say your child is? My child (son) is now full-grown, and is 7'2" tall. When he was nine years of age the people operating the "all you can eat" buffet, where "kids under 12 eat for half-price", started asking to see some proof of my son's age. Therefore, when he was twelve I felt good knowing that paying full price didn't require an explanation. My daughter was never into sports, so I never had to worry about this question with her.
	If you were a millionaire, what would be your charitable work? I began doing charitable work in 2001, full-time. Since then, I have lost everything I once valued, and am nowhere close to being a "millionaire". Now that I have reached a point where my being more charitable would be assisted by more money, I rely on a higher power to provide for those needs. To make donations to my cause, contact me.
	Your sins and virtues. My sins are too many to list. My virtues come from having not committed all possible sins, while asking sincerely for forgiveness for those I have done.
	On your death bed, what do you think you will regret not having done more of in life? If I die on a bed, what's to regret? If I vaporize shortly after a lightning quick flash of bright light, I'll regret having not had a better impact on the way the world is going now.
	What will your epitaph be? Here lies R. Trippet. Rest in peace. Jeeez. They still mispell my name!