Cleopatra:

Thanks for your sharing your perspectives. We look at the world  through our own experiences and outlook, and if your comments are indeed a reflection of your experience and outlook, it makes them all the more genuine and interesting.

I agree that when you make up and tell a story, you can, and often tend to, weave some of your own life into it. The degree varies from story to story. Story writing is, in an odd way, like cooking. You can either fetch the ingredients from your kitchen garden or buy them in the market. Which one you do more of will depend on the dish you are cooking. Sometimes you may even order the entire meal from a restaurant and serve the food  in the same plates that you served your own cooking. The beauty of writing, as I am beginning to find out, is that it is in your power to take any person and turn him into what you want. You can glorify them or vilify them. You can make him/her roll on the floor at your command. Talk about the proverbial mouse that roared. Only  a writer or an artist can  make a mouse roar if you think of it. Someday biotechnology might be able to do the same thing but till that day comes, writing is the only way for me to  make the lion squeak, the pig fly, President Bush dance and the sun rise from the north.

Futhermore, I often find it more fun to write about people, places and events that may not have anything to do with me directly. It is a great way to learn about other people and explore their worlds. It can get boring to write about yourself and your life after a certain point.

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I got a text  message the other day saying  "Kati thank you, thank you bhaneko". I guess I have been doing a lot of that on this thread so maybe I  should stop now. :)

It's been great talking with everyone and hope to meet you all on another  thread  at another time.