"Life is a foreign language; all men mispronounce it."  Christopher Morley

The Office of Senior Affairs, reported a couple of years ago, that more than 50% of the boomers, will retire POOR!  I believe it!  It's no wonder...that with all the greed in this country...a person can't even save much for retirement and lives paycheck to paycheck all during their working days!  A big black-eye for the country!

I have zero-tolerance for those unambitious people, who yawn their lives away, and don't accomplish much of anything along their journey!  The 'wasted days and wasted nights type'...who just party their lives away!  Some people in life take more than they give...and some people give more than they take! 

There's always volunteer work in life, which is one of the most honorable professions in the land, etc.  I have volunteered in the past, and hope to do it more in the future.  Everyone has a huge selection of projects to volunteer for...which can be so rewarding and can give you that feel, good, feeling for sure! 

As far as hobbies are concerned...so many things are so expensive today, that many retired people can't get involved with a hobby that costs so much.  Getting started and on-going supplies can get so expensive in this greedy world we live in, etc.

In my case, I was a woodcarver for over 30 years, and I participated on over 40 arts and crafts shows all over the state of New Mexico (USA/where I'm from)  The cost of wood carving was not high, and I enjoyed it while I did it.  In 2009, most of the art shows are gone now, because of the high cost to promote them. 

One of the least expensive things a person can do is writing!  Writing costs practically nothing!  Since I gave up wood carving and took up writing in August, 2006, and to my delight, over 80 of my articles have been published on more than 475 websites on the Internet.  There's nobody more shocked than I am, and what a great feeling of accomplishment!  Learn more at the following link;

http://humordoctormd.homestead.com/articlespublished.html

It all started by placing my articles on an article directory, and website owners take the articles and publish them, etc.  Learn more;

http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jerry_Aragon

"Life is a moderately good play, with a badly written ending!"  Truman Copote

As a novice in writing (2009), I can give the reader a few tips, as to what I think is important in writing, etc.  I'm far from an expert in writing, but here goes...

Title:  I think the title of an article or a book, is the most important item. If the title does not invite curiosity of the reader...the reader will never stop to take a look, etc.  The title must serve as a "hook" for the piece, and grab the attention of the reader.  I have a list of about 20 articles that I'm working on, and the titles change all the time, to try to get the best one. 

The title should be short...and tell the reader what the piece is about, etc.  I don't change the titles of my articles often, but when I have done so, it has paid off.  Example;  I changed the title of the article entitled, "Here's the Skinny On How I Lost 40 Pounds, about six months after I wrote the piece...and it took off into space, and left all the other articles in the dust!  I wish all my articles performed this well. 

Keep It Simple, Stupid! (KISS Principle);
I bought a book through a book club one time, that I didn't have a chance to look at the book before I bought it.  It was a book on ideas and creativity, written by a Ph.D at Stanford University.  The book was filled with technical terms and 40 and 50 dollar words, that I couldn't understand, that I read the first chapter and glanced at the rest of the book and threw it away!  My vocabulary is not very large, but even if it was...I would NOT use all these 40 dollar words in my writing pieces. 

I try to keep my writing pieces as simple and unstandable as possible.  The use of these technical words, only serves to confuse and frustrate your reader...so why use them? 

Interesting:  I've been in the humor business for over fifty years of my life, and when I built my website, I knew there would be plenty of humor...and there was and is.  But, I had to have more than that. I had to build a website that was interesting, too!  To do that, I had to write articles on various subjects, that would be interesting to the visitors.  The writer MUST write interestingly!

Over the years, I have had more comments, that my website is more interesting...than amusing...and that's what I wanted!  If a person sees a movie; reads an article or a book...that piece has to be interesting...or the viewer will find something else to do! 

"Life is a sexually transmitted disease, and the mortality rate in one hundred percent."  R.D. Laing

Style: Style is similar to our fingerprints, and what makes us all different.  I believe, you must have your own style in writing, or you will never succeed.  There's only one Lucy; one Erma Bombeck; one Liberace; one Elvis and so on.  You can't copy anyone at anything, etc.  You MUST be yourself!  I write to make myself happy FIRST...and then I hope somebody out there will like what I do as well. 

Story-telling ability:  The woman who wrote the Harry Potter series (R.K. Rowling), has been gifted with great story-telling ability and imagination, or she would not be successful as she is now.  I think a person can have three degrees...a Ph.D in English; communications and journalism...and still write poorly and uninterestingly...boring...bland...suck!  That's because that person has a command of the technical aspects of the English language...but doesn't have not much of anything else! 

"In the book of life...the answers aren't in the back of the book."  Charlie Brown

Approach/voice:  In late 2006, I wrote the piece entitled, The Negative Side of Humor, and it was this piece, that gave me the confidence to write other pieces in the same fashion.  It was written in a hard-hitting way...a tell it like it is article!  At the time, I considered revising it and toning it down a little, (no profanity), but I went with it.  In April, 2009, and among 117 articles in my writing portfolio, this piece occupies the #6 spot, and I couldn't be more proud!  This has allowed me to write a dozen or more other pieces in this same fashion or apporach...when necessary, of course!  All this also comes in under the heading of style. 

"Life is just a bowl of pits!"  Rodney Dangerfield

There's no free lunch:  Forget the magic dust...as you will have to do your homework...like it or not!  Most of us have been out of school for many years, and have forgotten much of what we learned.  In my 40's, I completed three writing courses...the Writers Digest course; the National Writers Club course and a creative writing class at the University of New Mexico. 

It took me about 18 months to complete, but you don't have to spend a lot of money on writing.  You can go to the library or to a community college, and update your skills in writing.  If you choose to put out shoddy work anyplace, you will not see anyone return to read anthing else you produce...and you can take that to the bank, etc.    

Legacy in writing:  Have you ever thought of what you will leave behind when you hang up your sneakers?  Will it be a pile of debt for your children and memories of a bad attitude?  You can leave your articles (that's if you get published) on the Internet, for all the world to see...and it could be forever! 

"Then give the world the best you have to offer, and the best will come back to you."  Madeline Bridges

I thought it would be helpful to the reader, to list my top 30 articles, as they have finished at the directory for the month of April, 2009.  This way, the reader can get a flavor for the topics I write about, and how they have done over the past 2 1/2 years, etc.  The numbers located just to the right in (parenthesis) are the number of times the article has been published on the Internet.  My top 30 articles are as follows: (the reader can tell what each piece is about by its title)

Article portfolio: 117 articles;

Articles published on Internet: 86

Number of articles published on websites on the Internet; 480+

My two #1 articles are as follows; one is a serious piece and the other is a humor piece;

- Article: Here's the Skinny On How I Lost 40 Pounds;  (serious);  This piece is running away from the pack at both my directory at EzineArticles.com and at Authors Den (writing site), and is leaving all the others in the dust!  I wish all my articles performed this well.  (hits/views)

Article: Halloween: The Two-Headed Monster (humor); This piece leads the way...having been published on 35 different websites on the Internet!

At the end of 2 1/2 years, and at the end of April, 2009...here is a list of my top 30 articles (hits/views):

The 30 articles break down this way: 17 are of a serious nature; 13 are humor or humor-related;  Needless to say, I'm quite pleased about the results!

1) Here's the Skinny On How I Lost 40 Pounds ( 23); 2) Music: The Beginning of Rock and Roll For Me (1955) ( 22); 3) Smoking Sucks!  How I Quit Smoking (25); 4) Discrimination Against Older Workers (Ageism) (22); 5) Does Life Begin at 40? (17); 6) The Negative Side of Humor (21); 7) The Positive and Healing Power of Humor (15); 8) The Seriousness of Depression (23); 9) I'm Proud to be an American Veteran (8); 10) My Personalized License Plate Reads; SLOWPOK (19); 11) Auto Racing; Ladies...Start Your Engines (25); 12)  The English Language is all "Greek" to Me (21); 13) How I Saved My Dog Daniel (17); 14) Alcoholism and Tough-Love (14); 15) Diabetes On the Rise (10); 16) I Refused to Raise Two Mama's Boys (6); 17) Humor Helps Us All to Cope With the Aging Process (14); 18) Is Bald Beautiful? (12); 19)Halloween Party: The Two-Headed Monster (35); 20) Get Up...Dust Yourself Off...and Try Again (13); 21) Just say NO to Dirty Humor (23); 22) Don't Golf My Way (14); 23) Life's Embarrassing Moments (17); 24) Good Writing Requirs Good Speling and Grammer (9); 25) Peer-Pressure...It's Everywhere (5); 26) Humor 101 For Dumbos (14); 27) Sabrina; Another Smoking Casualty (24); 28) You Can't Please Everyone...So Don't Try (14); 29) Legacy; A Gift of Writing (19); 30) Taking Chances With My Ideas (20). 

"Everything has been figured out...except how to live."  Jean-Paul Sartre

Seniors and retired people in this country, probably have the most time to upgrade their skills in writing, and writing can be affordable.  Because of their longevity, Seniors probably have the most good stories to tell as well.  This is good for Seniors...heck, I'm a Senior, too!  Get inspired...get motivated...get going...is life passing you by? 

SITE MAP For Hopelessly Lost Souls;
Copyright; 2008; Jerry Aragon/The Humor Doctor
Website name; humordoctormd
http://humordoctormd.homestead.com