INTRODUCTION to this section:

             (updated and edited 5-14-2019)

      I suppose that many writers/poets, etc., might have someone else write their introductory section . . . so it could be written in third person . . . and . . . the well known person could say, Rish was this way or Rish did that, etc., etc.. But since---because I've never been a rich man [yet =0)]---I've had to do all the things I do by myself. I've done this throughout my life...teaching myself by spending a LOT of time in research and experimentation on HOW to create what I have created.

 

So, since no one knows me better than "I" know me... AND, because I find that I keep coming back to this section and changing parts of it regularly, if I had someone else write it . . . I would THEN have to keep asking someone else to change it.  So, it's only logical that "I" will write it, and keep it current and relevant to the present. So, I'm sorry, but this is all just my lil' ol' website...everything you see was all put here by me. So. that's my INTRO to my INTRO. [giggle] I hope you enjoy meeting lil' ol' RISH.

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WARNING; I am a WRITER . . . and I LOVE to WRITE!! So, I write a lot about a lot of topics on this site;  so, you are very welcomed to read as much or as little as you wish . . . hopefully, my poetry, stories and music are more interesting anyway . . . =0).

 

MY NAME:

 

First off, RISH is an unusual name...that I LOVE. Why? Because it fits who I am.  There have been a number of people who have asked me, "Where did that name come from, I've never heard it before?" And, I tell them, "Neither have I . . . me and Tigger, we're the only ones . . . and we both bounce!" And, because I'm a dancer . . . that's true!! =0)  But, to answer that question seriously, "From whence did the name come?" I will just say that it came from a "Spiritual experience" and Heavenly Parents in my life; and, so, perhaps, one could say that my name came from heaven; and that's about all I can say about that, because, to me...it DID.

 

THE VOYAGE and BEGINNING:

      I am one who believes that just about everyone can feel their best...when the child within them is set FREE!! And...THAT is what I do!! As you will see as you read [and narrate] what I write...I set the child inside ME and YOU...FREE; to be lil' kid once again. 

 

     This  was brought to my attention recently [updated 1-14-2019] when I was sitting in the living room of my son Jonn and his family, and one of his children [my grandchildren] asked me to tell them the GWAFGANWANGO story. After I did that one and THE WALNUT SHELL, my daughter Javee sitting close by said [to paraphrase], "That in the instant you started to tell the stories made me immediately feel like a child again!" And , she said that she was drawn into the scene I portrayed. THAT is exactly...EXACTLY what I am trying to do for EVERYONE who hears my stories!!! So, that was GREAT to hear. I have piloted my work from age groups from kindergarten to high school to adults...always with the same reactions and results; as I use my kid voices and dramatized narrations...people are drawn into their own inner child. I LOVE what I do.  

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     Now to a whimsical story of my beginning...I've tried to explain it all to my wife, but she just snickers; you seeeee, it was a sunny day . . . many, many years ago . . . and I remember how impressed I felt to see how green and beautiful it was when we landed here. I was told that I was on a very "special mission" for my planet and people.  Then the door opened . . . and I felt a forceful lil' push [or, was it a kick(?)] as I fell to my bottom and slid down the bumpy ramp . . . THEN, I heard the door swishing closed behind me, and then . . . I faintly hear the muffles of laughter . . . as the rocket ship just zipped into the skyyyyyy . . . and just left me there with my hair blowing in the wind.  I did faintly hear the words, "We'll be back to get you . . . . . . someday!!!" But . . . since they never did tell me what my mission was to be, I sat there dumbfounded [or was it just plain ol' dumb?] . . . not knowing what to do next.  So, I looked around (as I was in some farmer's field about 160 cubits from the nearest structure) and saw that my silver suit wasn't going to cut it; so I borrowed some clothes from a line in the backyard of that structure . . . and started walking on the nearest road.  AND . . . since that was 933 years ago---AND I haven't seen my shipmates since---I think that, perhaps, I've been abandoned!! And, if you were to ask my wife . . . she could probably explain WHY!!!!

 

MEANWHILE:

     Meanwhile, I have kept a low profile. I'm sure that you ALL are very aware of just how ornery people can be about "planetary discrepancies." So, for the past 933 years I've had to move about here and there . . . doing this and doing that . . . so as to not be anywhere longer than a normal human lifetime. I was quite the big thing back in the 50's, but, very low key since then. AND, where as people seem to be getting plastic surgery to keep their youth, I have had to get it to make me look old; and they have done an AMAZING JOB . . . don't you think? I don't think that I look at all bad for 933. =0)

 

A NON-FITTER:

     I suppose because of all of this, I would describe myself as an Oddster-Oldster; I'm sure that most of you reading this have felt the same way . . . that you "just don't seem to FIT in" the "normal world" at one time or another, right?  Well, I feel the same way, only all the time. It was many years ago that I started feeling like I just didn't fit in the usual ways of "humanoidum" and I have tried to figure out why ever since. Have I figured it out yet? . . . you may ask; nope, I haven't. And, though I joke about the interplanetary experience explained above, still, at times it feels to make more sense than being born here on earth. =0)

 

     Figuratively speaking, in my life, whereas the "masses" of the world rush to form a line here or there as life goes by, ME, I seem to naturally have to begin another line, on my own, "some way/somewhere" else; only . . . people get behind the worlds' "LINES," but no one gets behind mine!! =0( But, really . . . that's okay . . . I'm 69 years old now [my last birthday], and I've had some time to adjust to all of that.  But, I know that some of you readers have similar experiences in life . . . but you may not have been able to adjust to that too well yet, either. But, hang in there...and  just give it time. If you always choose GOOD choices, that serve others and harm no one else, then, being DIFFERENT is a GOOD thing.

 

     So, in my life and times, circumstances---for the most part---have me now . . . and in the past . . . spending a lot of time . . . by myself.  So, when one runs into this scenario [and I'll bet many of you readers have] . . . you just have to adapt, right?  And learn how to be---and survive ALONE. So, I have  . . . and I do adapt.

 

     So, as you would expect from the previous paragraph, I've become accustomed to spending a lot of creative time all alone, and enjoy the creative part of that state called "alone" very much!! One of my life's themes comes from the poet Edgar Allan Poe . . . when he stated in the first quatrain [four lines] of his poem called "Alone;" 

 

                             "From childhood's hour I have not been

                               As others were — I have not seen

                               As others saw — I could not bring

                             My passions from a common spring"

 

 

These lines describe exactly how I feel about my life in this world.  

 

 

FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH:

    I've always been a religiously based being from my youth up. Though our family of five kids and our single Mom weren't "Church Goers" in a regular sense . . . we DID go on Holidays . . . sometimes to an Episcopal Church, and/or a Lutheran Church. 

 

     Even as a little lad, I remember the luring impulse and desire to kneel and pray by my bedside before I went to bed . . . not because anyone taught me to---although my mother ALWAYS talked favorably about the Lord---I just had that kind of Spirit inside me; it has always been there . . . and will always be . . . because it's such a part of who I want to be . . . and who I am.  I was 21 when I found The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I love this faith and have always been devout for the past 49 years. IF any of you are interested in knowing what my chosen Christian church is all about, I write much more about it under FAITH and RELIGION on my HOME page.  I LOVE talking about  and sharing my faith . . . because IT . . . IS my life and who I am.

 

 

I WILL NEVER GROW UP!!!

     As well---regarding WHO I am---I'm of the playful lot; and there is one aspect that the Lord taught His people that I have down PERFECTLY . . . and that is when He told them to be as a little child!!  Again . . . about this aspect, if you were to ask my wife, she would say that I have that perfected . . . way down to the age of maturity of a 1-1/2-year-old. You will see this in my poetry, too. So, bottom line, I LOVE CHILDREN!!!  'Cause I is one!!!. Speaking of children . . . I wanted to have 13 of 'em; so's I could have a football team, and a baseball team and cheerleaders, etc., etc.. BUT, Since my wife was the one that had to actually HAVE the children . . . we only had seven.  I admire so, and---were it appropriate---I even kinda envy those husbands and wives that decide to---and DO---have lots of children. I love the Psalms, and one of my favorites is 127;

 

"3. Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

4. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

5. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them . . . "

 

 

I would LOVE to have had like 18 or so children. That's where the LIFE is of life. We are a society these days that fail to even replicate our own species . . . with couples having none, or one or two children per family. I could go on and on about this, but I won't.

 

     I LOVE having as much fun as children do. So, my wife and I laugh often and heartily; and, I spend hours writing and illustrating fun and odd poetry and stories . . . and composing music and lyrics for CHILDREN up to the age of 120 years old . . . of course, to ME, [at 933] that is just a babe in arms. Those over 120 can have my stories read to them, as I doubt if they'd be able to lift the book =0) . . . as I've discerned from the way I've seen you humans grow old . . . by age 120, you fall short . . .=0) But, I mean that in the nicest way possible. =0)

 

PLANETARY HUMOR:

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     SO, "Who is RISH?" . . . as this section is suppose to be explaining? Well, I am a fellow who, like you---the reader---is trying to answer that question, for myself, daily . . . and, as each moment, day, month, and year passes, I learn a little bit more!! Though I joke about being from another planet in humor; in truth, for most of my life so far . . . I feel like I truly am.  

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STARTED WRITING:

     So, one thing I chose to do---as my father Glen use to say, "Do the best with the tools you have to work with" . . . I have tried to take his advice. And WRITING "IS" one of those "tools."

 

     I started writing poetry wayyyyy back in 1971.  It all began one day when, while in a phone booth, I heard that my wife Karolee was pregnant and we were expecting our FIRST BABY. I was in Roseburg, Oregon playing bass guitar or a band and sleeping in my car. . . and spending my days in a public park . . . reading and trying to share The Book of Mormon with passer-byes. 

 

When I heard that AMAZING news while in a phone booth . . . THAT's when I felt inspirted to write a poem. It was about my on-the-way baby boy. And, from there . . . my poetry in volume  just grew and grew and grew . . . to where now, today, I have hundreds of poetic creations not only in poetry . . . but also in lyric in song. Only now---after all these years---am I starting to publish and share these volumes . . . starting with a few at a time.  

 

So, that TOOL I mention above came to pass in that I started discovering that I LOVE to write!!  It IS my passion. I LOVE being expressive and I LOVE my mind and how it works . . . and I TRULY LOVE the catalyst that is the basis for all that I am . . . My Heavenly Father. He and my Lord are my Heros. Over the years their teachings and examples have helped me to learn the process of how to live happily.

 

GOALS FOR BODY AND MIND:

     I know that this may sound like a lot to many, but, I knew as a young man that; 1. I only have one life to live on earth, and 2. that I only have one body and I only have one mind with which to live it. SOOOOO . . . I knew that I'd better take care of what I have; so, I've worked for many years to live a good life in precision . . . and take care of myself by;

 

1. Purifying my body and mind by watching what I eat and drink and put into my body . . . to me, I see my mind to be like a Farari; so, I  wouldn't take a FARARI off-roading and putting anything in it's tank; so, too, what I put into my mind by way of sight, hearing and eating . . . is closely monitored.  By wiping away all use of contaminants from my life that would want to destroy the power of my precious mind and the strength of my body [i.e. by staying away from, alcohol, cigarettes, weed, drugs, coffee, and green teas and, of course, being aware of what and how I eat]; I figure this . . . "No matter what kinds of goals and dreams anyone may have . . . they AREN'T going to get it done without HEALTH of body, mind and Spirit. 

 

 2.  Purifying my Thoughts by being careful of what I take into my mind . . . by staying away from all immorality, improper and degrading words, and by viewing appropriate materials and eating healthy foods.

 

3.  Keeping good company, and choosing friends who have the same kinds of goals that I do. 

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     So, likewise, this site will be a place that is full of good and wholesome thoughts, words and entertainment. Hopefully, it will be a place that lifts your Spirits, makes you think, makes you laugh and smile, builds your faith, helps your loneliness, and is just a nice place to visit. 

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     Perhaps---and hopefully so---it will help inspire you to discover your own wonderful talents and skills . . . and do something with them. I believe that one of my callings in life is to help you and others to find the wonderful potentials that are inside each of you; because there ARE

many . . . if you just ask your Heavenly Father to help you find them, He WILL help you do just that.  I know...because He's done it for me, too.

 

     ENJOY my site . . . and, if you have a good and positive comment to share, please, send me an email at the address below.

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Thanks for stopping by...

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RISH