7Windows Is A Niche Publisher of Works With Diverse Content And Broad Appeal
7Windows Is A Niche Publisher of Works With Diverse Content And Broad Appeal
Primitive, Frank, and Relatable Rhymes,
Depictions of Life’s Circumstance
In the Raw Artless Tenor of Our Times
I believe that enlightenment is best achieved by engaging and exploring alternative points of view, that opinions and convictions are best formed empirically, and that perspectives be tendered without apology. They are merely what we believed to be true at a given point in time and are subject to change. That’s how it works when one continues to grow.
I have abiding regard for embracing diversity and inclusion, the import of the phrase “you do you”, a practical(pun intended) appreciation for the premise “I’m Ok, You’re Ok” and the precepts “Do No Harm” and “Leave No Trace”.
Writing about my stuff forces me to scrutinize it more and gain a better understanding of it. When all my rumination and filtering mechanisms like ethics, morality, and legality are complete, I have more informed opinions and maybe a conviction or two, definitely better equipped to be part of the greater discussion.
I don’t pigeon-hole myself as Democrat, Republican, Liberal, or Conservative, but merely a free-thinking 60s-era poet who realizes that health is fundamental to both life and the pursuit of happiness, that liberty should be color-blind, and that big business will never think beyond next quarter's earnings report to put our country's best interest ahead of their bottom line. Protecting the environment or even their own consumers is paradoxically secondary to them, which is irrational, unreasonable, and illogical, the triumvirate if stupid. Oops, my sense is all that makes me an unabashed woke liberal.
My poems are profoundly personal expressions as are all forms of art and ask only to be perceived without bias, or critique. I have no illusions about the impact of my work or my significance. Nor do I apologize for its tenor, or fret over how others might judge it, or me for it. For to do otherwise would inhibit free expression, and a reticent self-conscious poet is doomed to idle melancholy.
Naively, I hope my writing fosters just an iota of awareness in the ignorant and some clarity of conscience in the culpable.
Like most things in life, the least complicated solution is often the best solution. Golf is no different, especially for older and weekend golfers for whom the solution is so simple it's ignored.
Ridge was in the golf business for a long time, as a student, player, pro shop owner, master club maker, fitter, and teacher. His father was also a lifetime PGA member so golf has been a dominating influence since his formative years.
Ridge owned and operated Magee Golf Company, a golf retail, repair, and PGA-accredited teaching facility for nearly 25 years. Believing his customers were his best advertising, Ridge offered free lessons to all his “new" club buyers as long as they owned the clubs. He averaged 15 lessons a week, 45 weeks a year for the last 16 years before he retired.
During those years Ridge isolated 3 key elements that effortlessly and instantly improved everyone's ball striking.
He shares a career's worth of wisdom that will help you defeat your toughest opponent, yourself.
7Windows Publishing
Bitz O' Wiz Tp Educate, Inspire & Motivate
Or more precisely, a compilation of educational, inspirational, motivational, and thought provoking pieces I have published over the years in a variety of publications.
Topics range from God’s plan and immigration to being your own boss and gun control.
My mantra since I began writing about the stuff that keeps pokin’ at me has been “Tempt Enlightenment by Engaging and Exploring Alternative Points of View.”
When you ponder and scrutinize viewpoints other than your own, new insights and perceptions are introduced and the collateral effect are revised perceptions and enlightened points of view.
These are the acorns of enlightenment that grow into the strong personal convictions that define us.
Doing your due diligence gives you confidence in your convictions so you can express your opinions and be part of the greater discussion.
I ask that while you read My Sense Is… you accept that these are merely my points of view, based on what I believed to be true at a given point in time and rooted in my liberal nature.
One Bloke’s Pragmatic, Prophetic & Pontifical Perspectives On People, Piety, Politics & Policy
I believe that enlightenment is best achieved by engaging and exploring alternative points of view, that opinions and convictions are best formulated empirically, and that perspectives should be tendered without apology. They’re merely what we believed to be true at a given point in time, subject to change, and nothing for anyone to get their panties in a knot over. Hell, we might feel differently next week. That’s how it works when we continue to grow.
Sometime in 2016, as Trump’s political shenanigans were transpiring in Washington, long-dormant emotions and sensibilities awakened in me, and I felt compelled to engage. Even though I was an adult, I was reluctant to voice my opinion because I was afraid if pressed, I couldn’t back it up, and I didn’t want to show my ignorance. ;-)
First I needed to figure out where my give-a-shit factor was on stuff. I found I have a broad and abiding regard for embracing diversity and inclusion, the import of the phrase “you do you”, a practical appreciation for the premise “I’m Ok, You’re Ok” and the precepts “Do No Harm” and “Leave No Trace”. Then I had a starting point to form opinions and ultimately, convictions.
I found that writing about stuff forced me to scrutinize it and gain a better understanding of it. With my rumination and filtering mechanisms like ethics, morality, and legality completed, I had informed opinions and some actual convictions. I was ready to be part of the greater discussion.
I don’t pigeon-hole myself as Democrat, Republican, Liberal, or Conservative, but merely a free-thinking 60s-era poet who realizes that health is fundamental to both life and the pursuit of happiness, that liberty should be color-blind, and that big business will never think beyond next quarter's earnings report to put our country's best interest ahead of their bottom line. Protecting the environment or even their own consumers is paradoxically secondary to them, which is irrational, unreasonable, and illogical, the triumvirate if stupid. Oops, my sense is all that makes me an unabashed woke liberal*.
This book is a comprehensive conglomeration of my perspectives about the people, piety, politics, and policies of the Trump era up until the Summer of 2024 when I had to stop. In the beginning, it was cathartic for me and the only thing I thought I could do to help thwart the idiocy of the time. But toward the end, it was consuming me and I needed a reset.
This is how I decided to put it to bed. I couldn’t just let it all evaporate into the digital ether, so I converted it into something more tangible as a historical remembrance.
. . .
* liberal | ˈlib(ə)rəl | adjective
1. willing to respect or accept behavior or opinions different from one’s own; open to new ideas. • (in a political context) favoring policies that are socially progressive and promote social welfare.
2. relating to or denoting a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise: a liberal democratic state.
…
woke | wōk
| verb past of wake1 adjective (woker, wokest) often derogatory
Alert to and concerned about social injustice and discrimination
...
These are good things, right?
Ridge wrote a golf column in an Arizona newspaper in the 1980s called “Golf Straight Talk” and wasn't compelled to write a book until the late 1990s when Ridge owned and operated Magee Golf Company, a golf retail, repair, and PGA-accredited teaching facility in central Florida. Golf was in his blood as a second-generation teaching pro, so he wrote about what he knew, helping duffers achieve golfdom. If you play golf you know what he means. That golf book was initially titled “Golf’s Brutal Truth; If You Suck At it Now, You Probably Always Will, Unless You’re The Exception”. Then later, in a more pensive mood he reworked and retitled the book, “Golf's Simple Truths; Guaranteed Better Ball Striking”. Much better I think.
Then 16 years later as political shenanigans transpired in Washington, long-dormant emotions and sensibilities were awakened, and Ridge felt compelled to engage. His writing during the next 4 years was largely directed at the political nonsense going on in Washington, but he also had numerous other pieces published on international blog platforms. Ridge is known for his distinctive writing style, characterized by his economy of words and dry understatement. Those educational, inspirational, and motivational pieces have been collected and published in Ridge’s second book “My Sense Is…”.
In early 2020 during the Covid lockdown, Ridge developed a taste for poetry as a more enlightened expression of his emotions and went on to compile a three-volume poetry series entitled “I’m Just Saying Is All” that has since been combined, expanded, and published in one volume entitled “All I Have To Leave Behind Are Words”.
In 2024, after retiring from the political scene, Ridge compiled his fourth book containing eight years of his political poems and articles into a manifesto of sorts titled "Manifestations Of A Mad Man".
Ridge’s books are available on Amazon, Apple books, and Barnes & Noble.
7Windows Publishing