ERIC AITKEN A Personal Website ericaitken.com
Once there was a very vibrant poetry presence in the White Mountains. It seemed as if almost everyone was a poet. Now poets seem to be an endangered species, but perhaps they are still out there, so the Lakeside Writers Group that meets every second Saturday of the month at the Center for the Arts, at 251 N. Penrod Road in Show Low, invites you to come by and say howdy. If you have something to read, so much the better, but even if you don't, feel welcome to come by anyway. We like an audience.
If you are a writer, whether it is stories, family histories, or anything else, and you want to read it, the Lakeside Writers Group's long held suggestion has been to bring up to six pages of 12 point Courier, double spaced. To us more modern sorts, that is the equivalent of 1400 words in whatever font and point size you wish, as long as you read it and we don't.
Most places you look to find out when Jesus was born say it was 4 BCE or earlier. They are all wrong. How can I say this with such certainty? Click here and I will explain it all.
The Tragic loss of Desiree Marie Goodwin
On July 2nd, 2015, Desiree Goodwin died in a road accident in Linden. She was just 12-years-old. 
Her brother was severely injured. You may have read about it in the White Mountain Independent on July 10th. Desi's grandfather is a neighbor of ours. I've set aside a page on this website to honor and remember Desiree. The link to Desiree's page is on the left.
Please pray for her brother's full recovery.
As we are wisely counseled in Scripture, time and chance happens to all. We are not perfect, and our lack of perfection is not our fault. But we can always be comforted by the truth that He who sees when a sparrow falls, sees our loss and our need, and is the source of all comfort. He loves his children and promises Paradise.
Was Paul Cherry your friend?
A little over a year ago, we lost Paul Cherry, long an instructor at Northland Pioneer College. I've found during the past year, that Paul had many who liked him, and some who loved him. I've set aside a page to remember Paul. The remembrances of some of his friends are 
on that page. Maybe you have something you wish to submit to remember Paul. He was very helpful to me in my efforts to be a writer. Just click his image at the right.
Having your own website is pretty neat. It allows me to appeal for a composer; give my thoughts on Bonnie Prince Charlie, as well as George Washington, Elijah, and more. And what I think could be the cause of some of the troubles we face today. This is just the start.
I've put links to several of the pages on this website in the form of small panels or pictures. They are all clickable. They are all links.
Where did Northern Flight go?
If your wondering what Northern Flight is, or more accurately, was, it was a large format annual published by Northland Pioneer College for many years. Printed on quality paper and measuring nine inches by eleven inches, it was a venue for the students of NPC to display for the community and the world to see, their finest writing, photography, art, and poetry.
Originated around the time of the nation's bicentennial by the college's first Student Activities Director, it proved to be an invaluable asset to NPC and its students, and yet sadly in recent years it just seemed to fade away. I've added a page in the hopes that some other good folks may feel as I do. Somewhere around I have a number of issues, mostly from the eighties, but on my Northern Flight page, I've listed all the contributors to the 1987 issue in hopes they will authorize me to include some of their art, photography, and writing on that page.
Credits where credits are due, or not
I believe if you write something, or take a picture, or paint something, in fact, if you create anything, your effort should be acknowledged. It is shameful how on the internet people freely swipe creative works born of the hard efforts of others, and use them without even c
rediting the artist or writer who created them. People who would never even consider sneaking into your house and absconding with your grand piano, will steal your intellectual property (which might be even weightier). What is it about the words Thou shalt not steal that they do not understand?
In seeking to give credit, while I'm usually successful in tracking down the creator of a work (although sometimes it is not easy), sometimes I'm not successful. On my credits page, after a polemic of sorts about Bonnie Prince Charlie, German Geordie (George II), and other people, I list all the credits, for all the pictures and writings used on my website. If I do not give credit, it is because I have been unable to find it (or maybe I just missed it). If you know, or suspect, the creater of an uncredited work, please let me know.
My kingdom for a tolerant composer—well, not really
From the time I was thirteen or fourteen, I have planned poems, novels, plays, and songs and operas. I've only published three books, two novels and one of short plays. But at least I am able to write other stuff. What I cannot do is write music. Back in my teens I used to write what looked like music. How close it came to actual music, I do not know. If a person as
pires to writing operas, and I use the term rather loosely for anything set to any kind of music that tells anything resembling a story and is performed on a stage, being unable to write music, or evenplay music, is a fatal flaw.
To try and remedy that problem, the solution seems to be if I could find someone who likes to write music and would be willing to collaborate. Hey, there could be worse collaborations. I could be looking for someone willing to stand still with an apple on their head while I shoot arrows hoping to hit the apple.
I've given some examples of some of my plans for stage works, but I have many others. I just got tired typing. Anyway, you know how to contact me. I've got email links plastered all over this website.
And one thing leads to another
The other thing that the one thing leads to (that sounds awkward)... I'm pausing to start over. At the end of the page pleading for a composer, one of the works, actually, group of works, I describe, is a cycle of operas, or whatever they are, based on the legendary history of the Scottish nation.
While, just like the historians, I don't believe that the legends are true, or at least, completely true, never-the-less I find them intriguing. Partly it is the stories themselves, but also because, 
every time archeologists dig up some facts, they never seem to contradict the legends. Take for example the Scots wearing tartan plaid. Not long ago, archeologists found the ancient remains of a long dead people who wore something that seemed to be tartan plaid about two thousand years ago, in a place consistent with the legends. To me that is quite amazing.
The legends start with Jacob, whom God renamed Israel. They tell of Jeremiah and the daughter of Hezekiah, the last king of Judah, who according to some of the legends was named Scota, and gave her name to Scotland. Other of the legends have a different story, but that is what legends are like. Sometimes, you get to choose the ones you like.
George Washington didn't sleep here, but...
As I mention on my George Washington webpage, I believe way too many people do not realize how important Washington was. He was much, much, more than just the first president. In many more ways than one, he was the father of America. We think of the founders gathering and collectively creating this country, but where the governing was concerned, and with how it should be governed, much of the credit goes to George. He could have been king.
In the capitol building, in Washington, there is a fresco in the dome of the rotunda depicting the The Apotheosis of Washington. Literarily this would be the raising of George Washington to be a god, but I wouldn't take that too seriously as it is a work of art and not a theological statement. It is a style of art honoring a person of great renown. Anyway, it wasn't George's decision. He seems to have been a humble man.
On my George Washington webpage, I try to draw attention to some of the things that demonstrate the reason for his greatness, and why he really deserves his own day. In the United States, Christopher Columbus, who may, or may not, depending on your historical sources, have been a person of depravity and evil, has his own day, but the true statesman, without whose efforts and good offices the United States as we know it would never have existed, does not have his own day. I think that is shameful.
And last but not least (in my opinion, its my website)
Is ME. Moi, whatever that means. I think it's French. I have a page devoted to my literary works.
And now for the last word...
Every time you read about the birth of Jesus, or watch something on television, they say he was born in 4 BC or earlier. Its a date that just about everyone accepts, but is it true? The problem is, it does not agree with Bible chronology. I decided to find out. If you would like to know what I found please click HERE.
Email: contact@ericaitken.com
© Copyright 2015 Eric Aitken All rights reserved.