Did you finish NaBloPoMo?

Well did ya?
If you did, then you get one of these.
You know what to do. Right click and Save as.

Miss Snark Got Dissed- Ouch.

If you've been reading Holly Lisle's diary site this week you may have noticed a little blip that led you to an ongoing debate at the site of Jenny Cruise. Apparently Miss Snark overstepped her boundries in a review and it is all the talk in blog land. Yep. Everyone seems to be weighing in on the subject. If you look at the comments you will see that most people seem to agree with Jenny.
I've never linked to Miss Snark. (you will note, I don't have a link to her site in my Resources section....I find her site a bit too much for my taste) In my humble opinion, she generalizes far too much. However, if you look at her site counter, she must be doing something writers like because she has tons of loyal repeat visitors.

Jenny had this to say," there was a definite God-I’m-amazingly-brilliant tone throughout"
Ouch! I hope I never say anything to tick her off. However, if I do...I want HER on MY SIDE.


P.S. I found the resource page I was looking for. Great stuff for writers
She has an amazing amount of programs and freeware you can download there. Check it out.
I have personally tried several items. Love 'em.

Oh, and we are in the midst of a snowy day here. We expect 10 inches. Yep...you heard me right.

Technorati Tags:Snark+ dissed, resources, snow

Plaza Lights will wait for better weather

I've been looking forward to seeing the Plaza lights for a while now. I got up this morning all excited about it. Then the sky opened up and down came the ice pellets. It rained, sleeted, thundered, and generally was a slushy, icy cold and miserable day outside.
No Plaza light visit for me.

I spent the day working on some articles, continuing to organize my computer and watching my adorable grandsons.

Oh, and I am completely frustrated! While I was blog surfing the other day I came across a great site. It had a ton of freebie s for authors. This site had shareware programs to play with photos, text pad programs, utilities, screen capture programs, dictionaries, and so much more. I can't find the blasted site now. Yes, I know about using History to find sites I visited. Well, it didn't help me. This site has a whole page of freebies. I wanna find it so bad. I need your help people. Please let me know if you know the page. It ends up with the ywriter programs as the last ones to download. All the programs are in alphabetical order.
Please lead me to the page.

Does Spam Flood Your Email?

Yikes, my computer spit tons of emails out and I almost got lost under the pile. I keep resetting the filters and yet the spam persists. What is the deal? Who keeps sending all this JUNK EMAIL?

Wading through email wastes time and keeps me from my creative process, yet is also kept me from thinking about my novel for a few hours. For that I guess I am grateful.

One a lighter note, I spent time today working on a new assignment. I am writing 20 artilces I've been commissioned to write as a ghostwriter. The pay is decent since it comes right before Christmas and my son will be coming soon and then my father.

I also got my Christmas cards out today... I will spend tomorrow getting those ready to mail.
So, all in all I am getting past the depression of ditching my novel. Thanks for the feedback folks It helps.

Technorati Tags:anti spam, novel, WIP

Writing makes me Happy.

My twenty month-old grandson has a new saying. "Playdoh makes me happy" He runs around saying this. The only problem is he likes to EAT the playdoh. EWWWW.

Now for me. I like writing, writing prompts, writing exercises and workshops, writing sites and other writer blogs. Okay... I am completely obssessed with anything having to do with writing and writers.
Yep. I'm a little nutty. What can I say?

Blog Browsing for fun

When your nose is stuffed up and you just ditched the novel you've been working on for several years, what do you do? Go Blog browsing of course! Yep. I spent the day browsing funny blogs and vegging out on the couch.
I bought something from a Yahoo auction and organized my folders. Pretty sad eh?
Perhaps I'll be back on track soon.
Look for my resource section to be beefed up soon now that I am more organized.

Technorati Tags:Blog browsing

Novel Changes may be in order.

I've been thinking of changing my novel into a novella or even a series of short stories. This is a serious decision. Reading up on characters and plot has lead me in this direction. My main character is based a little too much on ME. Everyone says NOT to do this. The realization of my mistake has brought with it a huge rush of depression and great doubts. Do all authors feel this way? I've been sick with this horrid cold for over a week and I wonder if my brain is just too muddled to make a decision right now.

Oh, and my blog went wacky on me yesterday. So life is kindy screwy right now. I think I'll just go back to bed.

Technorati Tags:psychological thriller, novel, WIP, depression

Something screwy going on with blogger

I tried to put this silly image in my blog and suddenly my blog disappeared. I found some template of an old blog and things went wacky from there. I'm not sure this post will even appear today. I'm going back to bed.

My house smells good today!

I'll give you a big hint...I'm not cooking. I will be eating a great meal though. Lucky me. My caregiver has had the turkey cooking for several hours now and it smells like we will be eating soon. She just put the rolls in the oven. Her homemade rolls are so mouthwatering I am ditching the diabetic diet today and going all out. Yep, that means pumpkin pie, pecan pie, mashed potatoes, gravy, yams and the whole mess of fixins.

It is Thanksgiving. I have earned the right to cheat on this special day. I've been so good. I've lost a bunch of weight over the past two months.
So, enjoy your holiday. If you live somewhere that it is celebrated.
Oh, I hear the baloons at the Macy's parade were a bit bothered by the wind and had to fly fairly low. Sounds dangerous to me.

Technorati Tags:thanksgiving, holidays

6 Quick Tips for Nano Writers

By now you are either well into your Nanowrimo book and feeling good...OR
you fell behind and you are beating yourself up for not meeting your goals.
Let me give you some advice.

1. Not everyone can write on command. Writing a book in under 30 days is grueling. We all have lives to live, jobs, children and commitments. If you didn't make your goal, don't let it get you down. Trying, writing words on paper is more than many "so called aspiring authors" will ever do. Give yourself credit for having tried. (Pat yourself on the back)

2. Give your protagonist a tragic past. This gives the reader something to identify with and works well to give you a lot to write about. Oh, if you don't know what a protagonist is, you are in serious trouble this late in November and you should consider browsing the Nanowrimo forums for the rest of the month and drinking soda or coffee as you find ways to waste time.

3. Check for character consistency. Does your character have blonde hair in one scene and then you accidently call her a brunette four chapters later because you were so tired when you were typing that you forgot what she looked like. Do a "find" for the word "blonde" or the word "brunette" this can be a lifesaver.

4. Dont edit until you think you are finished writing. Editing slows down the writing process and makes you go backwards. I've found myself actually erasing pages when I stop to edit pages or scenes.


5. Keep supplies handy in every room, in your purse, and anywhere you think inspiration might hit. I write down ideas at night when I dream about my characters. I keep a notebook in my purse, and I have pens and paper in every room (yep there too...) of the house.

6. Don't be afraid to write scenes out of order. Most of the experts I've heard from have said it is good to "know what your ending will be". I've written mine already. Perhaps that is why I'm stcuck in the middle. However, I like knowing the ending is already written.

Technorati Tags:nano, advice+ writer

Every Kiss Begins With Kay

Argggh. Are you tired of the commercials yet too? I know I've seen enough Christmas commercials already. Couples kissing. People shopping. Blech! What happened to Thanksgiving? It seems to have disappeared in the minds of the big companies and the corporate world. My next door neighbor put his tree up last week. Yep. He has a tree in his window with blinking Christmas lights. I want to scream. What the heck happened to waiting until after thanksgiving to start with all the lights and ornament stuff?
Every other word is about some "special deal" or how you can "wrap up the wow". Well what about people who live on a limited income? What about people who have to pay their personal property taxes in December? What about people who can barely afford to feed their families? This is a stressful time of year for them.
yes, I am in one of those groups.... or should I say all of those groups)
Good News though..... My son is coming home for Christmas. Yes, the US NAVY has a heart. He has one week leave. He told them how sick I've been and he gets to come home for a visit. I'm so happy. I haven't seen him since last Christmas. Happy Dance.

Technorati Tags:christmas, commercials

5 reasons I'm not ready for Christmas!

1. Quite frankly the stores seem to skip Thanksgiving and that really ticks me off.
2. Personal property taxes are due at this time of year in Kansas. (Humbug)
3. Who wants to shop right now? The malls are a zoo.
4. The reason for the season has been completely forgotten.
5. I'm too poor.


I think I'm cancelling Christmas this year.
Yep. That's my idea. I'm going to ignore Christmas. No presents. No cards. I'll save a bundle. I won't get stressed out and I won't have to cook a huge meal. Sounds like a plan.

Technorati Tags:Christmas, humbug

Funny stuff

Sometimes you need a break from writing.
I took one this afternoon. While perusing sites I found some cool places to play.

What can I say? Go here to make your own.
I was goofing off and checking out other writer sites when I came across the generator site and found this gem. I spent about a half hour just playing. You know you want to play too.

At the generator site you can make your own:
vinyl record George says
concert ticket Condi says
official seal Arnold says and much more!

The cool thing is.... you can type in your own message, pick your pose and in some cases the colors. You can email these images or use them on websites or whatever. Total fun. I didn't get ANY writing done today. I've decided I cannot write until this horrid cold/flu is over. My mind is not working well enough to plot out characters and contribute to any work in progress.

Technorati Tags:generator site, fun, writing<

Comic Relief And Cursing

Yawn. Check out those teeth eh? Couldn't even keep my eyes open for comic relief. They are doing a show to raise money reubuild after Huricaine Katrina However, I did catch a bit of it while typing out this entry. Somehow I had it in my head we were watching CBS. I nearly fell over when the cursing started. I mean you just don't hear that kind of language on regular TV. This guy was going on an on about something I couldn't type here without a "R" rating. And somebody bleeping every other word. Turns out the show is on HBO. Of course. You can say "kitty" (substitute word) as many times as you want on HBO.

Whoopie said something about a simulcast on TBS. I can just see the scrambling to bleep out all the cussing. Yikes.

Sleeping nearly 20 hours a day right now. I guess my immune system needs to replenish. I hope this changes soon. I'd like to be able to function again.

Technorati Tags: comic+ relief


I think I finally figured out how to do Technorati tags. Wow!

Anti Spam Software

Have you checked out any anti-spam software lately? Are you tired of SPAM taking over your email box? I have several email accounts and quite frankly I use my filters effectively but I still manage to see an awful lot of spam every day. I'm thinking about investing in a decent anti spam program like Askimet. I'll be asking Santa. My CA security center charges me extra to use the anti spam so I haven't uploaded it. Instead, I use a freebie program. Holly Lisle uses the Askimet and swears by it. I cannot make up my mind.
It must be exhaustion from wading through all the SPAM in my email. LOL.

I thought I would add the randomizer as well. Please leave a comment if you stopped by.

Technorati Tags:anti spam, personal

Hotmail is down. Yuck.

What on earth was I thinking? My advice for today... set up an email account that does not rely on a free service to log in. I cannot even read my email today. HOTMAIL is down. I keep getting a silly refresh message. Yeah, when do I get to read my email?
Thank goodness I have 5 other accounts. Too bad none of them are related to my writing.
Well, live and learn. I will be changing my email immediately.

Technorati Tags:hotmail

Sick and Tired of Being Sick and tired

That is it! This cold or whatever is taking over and it has me as its hostage. I'm not happy about this. Beth (my protagonist) is on strike, the dog needs a bath, the dishes are piling up in the sink, the laundry basket is overflowing and I cannot seem to function except to blow my nose and cough endlessly. I've had it!
I'm climbing back into bed until Spring. Don't wake me.
Humbug.

Technorati Tags:illness, protagonist

More conflict

After the initial conflict I got stuck. The rising tension is where I'm struggling. Beth isn't experiencing enough trouble. Yes, she is stressed out, but she needs to have one bad thing happen after another. See the graph.
[Materials from Pedar Hill's site again]
I realized I needed more catastrophes. I need to raise the stakes. Beth has to be near the end of her rope or my readers won't route for her. I need them to be praying for her to be hoping she wont give in to the darkness. I need my readers to identify with her and hope for her. Her goal has to seem unreachable at this point. She has to seem beaten. Then, and only then can I introduce the denoument. The Black moment. The instance where Beth will draw upon all her inner strength....all she has learned up until then and then she will use it to defeat (ooops....no telling) Well you get the idea.

Technorati Tags:Pedar Hill, writing , WIP, protagonist

1st page of my novel

In the Silent Darkness January 1977 Suspended in a hazy place in time, eyelids heavy as the morning fog over the bay, senses not quite awake, the young girl stirred. Far from her comfortable warm bed, her bare foot scraped along a dirt floor. A damp, penetrating cold surrounded her, creeping deep into her bones. Her mind searched in those last frantic moments before waking. What’s going on here? Rubbing her eyes and moving around as she did most mornings, she found things were wrong. All wrong, in fact. Her sheets must have come off in the night. Moaning, with her first tenative movements, she fumbled for the blankets to cover her ice-cold arms. Finding none puzzled her only to a degree. As she shifted, every muscle cried out as if she fought evil spirits in her sleep. Perplexed at the dirt collecting under her fingernails, her eyes fluttered open again trying harder to shake the morning cobwebs loose. Then, a feeling of dread flooded her heart. Piecing together fragments of the previous day brought some clarity to her morning horror. She was not tucked safely in her bed having a nightmare. Oh God. It’s not my imagination. I’m really awake. It wasn’t a dream. Panic, oh I can’t panic. What do I do now? What mother could lock their eleven-year- old in the cellar? Why? Why me? Am I really so horrid? Does anyone know I am here? When will she let me out? Wont they miss me at school? Oh God, please let this be over soon. I’m afraid. Tripping and fumbling many times in the darkness, not a speck of light to guide her, she half-walked, half-crawled along the rough cement wall to connecting wall of the single car garage. In less than a moment, her elation over finding the rough, wooden doorway in her dark hell-hole, was replaced. A hurried examination of the padlocked door found it secure as expected. Turning around she’d almost stumbled over the bottom stair leading up to the kitchen. No chance she’d get out that route. She’d heard the lock engage last night. Right then, a biting cold set in every muscle and joint as if the warmth had been sucked up the stairs with Kathryn’s final slam of the door. Still the optimist, she’d crept toward the steps several times, only to stop on the first or second step, gasping for air, fear causing her to hyperventilate. The only other way out, through a side door, seemed miles away. Not a sliver of light illuminated her path to freedom. Shoving, kicking and pulling at the door proved fruitless. It had been blocked. Always thorough, her mother, Kathryn left nothing to chance. Unable to escape, Beth shifted her focus to lighting up her private hellhole. Finding the string to the only light in absolute darkness had been an achievement. Oh thank God. Light. The devastation nearly knocked her over when the peaceful yellow glow didn’t appear. Feeling around on her tiptoes she’d discovered the bulb missing. You rotten bitch! Each frantic beat of her heart pulsed above her right brow. Ker-thump. Ker-thump. Tears welled up in her eyes. Struggling to control her emotions she let her mind travel back to the last few words her mother screamed at her in those brief seconds before slamming the door. “I will not have a common criminal living in my house!” “But… but…” “Criminals regularly served time in dungeons. I sentence you to the dungeon. Remove your clothing. Everything but your panties and tee shirt.” Sobbing uncontrollably she’d stripped down to her underclothes. For the first hour she’d thought her mother would break down. No, not in Kathryn's world. She would open the door when she was good and ready and not before. After waiting for her mother for what seemed like hours, Beth gave up waiting, she slumped down on the ground, began talking to herself and ended up crying herself to sleep. No. Kathryn had been deadly serious. She’d carefully laid out rules for Beth as the resident criminal: Absolutely no noise, no attempts to escape and of course, Bethcould never mention this “punishment” to a living soul. Beth knew trying anything would yield nothing but serious regret. For now, with no plan to escape, and no idea how long she would be imprisoned in a darkness deeper than midnight, her heart and thoughts raced as it slowly sunk in. I need to go to the bathroom. I hurt everywhere. I’m starving. God, are you there? I’m so afraid. Please help me. Her empty stomach growled. Sitting as still as a stone monument, she heard noises above her. She strained to hear, yet could distinguish nothing more than mumbles. The silence began to work on her, stealing pieces of her soul, draining away her confidence, her strength, and her convictions. Frustration and rage erupted inside her. Terror and adrenaline coursed through her veins. Frantic and discouraged, she plunked onto the dirt floor. A peculiar musty smell wafting up as the dirt settled. A smell she already hated. Alone, she rocked and whimpered, her face buried in her hands. Warm salty tears slid down her scratched and tender skin. Trapped in the silent darkness, her body shuddered. end Technorati Tags:WIP, 1st page

Novel Structure

Seems I'm not the only author struggling with my first novel. In the past few weeks I've found so many aspiring authors I've lost count. I stumbled onto a site tonite that had an interesting impact so I thought I would share what I found.
You introduce the reader to the setting, the characters and the situation (conflict). Plot Point 1 is a situation that drives the protagonist from their "normal" life toward some conflicting situation. This is what the whole story is about. (ideas and image are from Pedar Hill's site)

Basically, Beth (my protagonist) is facing her past. She will confront Kathryn (the antagonist) in California (her worst nightmare) be kidnapped again, overcome her fear of death, her fear of relationship failure and living alone the rest of her life.... She will ultimately face off with her captor Kathryn in a life and death struggle (resolution)

My question is this: Is the story at all interesting? Does it sound too much like a Lifetime movie? Will anyone want to read it? Do you?

I'm Live at my domain.

http://www.writewize.com
My New Domain.

Well, my new site is certainly NOT finished. I linked it to this blog. Let's call it a good start.
By house... I mean my domain. Yep. The long awaited site. Go here to see it.
I have resources, writing links, markets, etc. What I don't have yet is a way to put ads and webrings. So, I'm keeping this site until I figure things out.
I also plan to link articles from article city and ezine articles.com back to the site.

I sold a few articles to a ghostwriting service. Now I wonder who got rich from that venture?
I will give you a hint-- It wasn't me. Yeah, I found the articles easy enough. I can do a Google search just like anyone else. I know my own words. The guy is making big bucks linking my stuff back to a site where he sells something. Ooohhhhhhh. That made my blood boil.
I had "sucker" plastered all over my forehead on that one. Not again though. Not again.

Not feeling so good

As you can see by the uhhhh graphic, I don't feel so good. I slept yesterday. I turned down a writing gig. (gasp) Yep, I did. Called the doc this morning and re-scheduled an appointment so I could crawl back into bed. I look a lot like that image.... sad to say.
I think Holly gave it to me by osmosis. (just kidding hon)
See everyone soon.
Oh, the creative process seems enhanced during high fevers. Try it sometime. Weirdest thing.

Dreams helped my character.

I'm worn out. This lupus flare-up is kicking my tail. I slept most of the day and I am still tired. All I want to do is sleep. My body needs rest. I'd like to say I've been pounding away at the keyboard...but I haven't been. I can barely keep my eyes open.

Too bad. I did record some great plot ideas though.

I figured out what to do with Beth.
My dreams helped me. I have the ending, and the first 8 or so chapters I kept getting stuck in the middle. Two new characters introduced themselves to me in my dream last night. They told me who they were, what they needed to accomplish, why they bothered to show up, and how long they needed to hang around. Pretty cool eh?

One of them is a complete stranger--she meets the girl when she goes to the hotel bar for a little "liquid courage". The two start talking and drinking... they spend two days and nights together doing really crazy things and facing fears. They help each other face parts of themselves they never thought they would face.

The second "new" character is Penelope. Originally I thought she would play an extremely minor role. As it turns out, this character craves attention. She has begged me for more exposure. LOL. I don't want to give too much away. *should add about 80 pages*

Found this jem at Typing Chimp

This article uses quoted work from Typing Chimp
Using Stress to reveal your character:
"Once you know your character's inner workings, it's easy to bring out these qualities when they're in a tough spot.

Characters change or act differently when under fire. A tough cop can suddenly break down and cry or a meek librarian can leap into battle. What happens to your character in tough situations? "

Tip #1:
Know your character's arc. Where is he or she going? Is she going to overcome some weakness or slip further down into mental instability? When the first signs of trouble arrive in the story, we may see a glimpse of which direction the character is going in his or her arc. For example, a weak-willed sloth may get motivated to help someone, pulling a child from a burning car. The other option is to go the complete opposite way in the arc so we see a glimpse of them in a state of complete unhealthiness. For example, a weak-willed sloth may watch frozen while the car burns. Either option relates to where the arc is going and both add drama and conflict to the story.

Tip #2:
As a story progresses, the tension level generally increases. This ascending tension level creates changes in the character. Lower levels may cause a character to slip further down the scale into unhealthiness. For instance, a shy guy who can't overcome his shyness may find himself in front of the whole school and suddenly passes out or can't speak. Higher levels will usually drive a character to face these fears to be able to get out of the stressful situation, thereby curing the problem. For example, someone who has been in denial about something may be forced to face the truth. This is exactly what is happening in my own WIP right now. I cannot believe I found this article at this exact time. It feels like fate that I read it right now. It is kind of eerie. I needed to read it. The help it provided cannot be measured. I bow down to typing chimp.
Or, if the same shy guy from above suddenly learned terrorists were about to attack the school, he may make a stand and grow very healthy, very quickly--which leads to a more pronounced, definitive arc. He was heading that way anyway, the stressful situation helped him move more quickly down the road.

Tip #2:
As a story progresses, the tension level generally increases. This ascending tension level creates changes in the character. Lower levels may cause a character to slip further down the scale into unhealthiness. For instance, a shy guy who can't overcome his shyness may find himself in front of the whole school and suddenly passes out or can't speak. Higher levels will usually drive a character to face these fears to be able to get out of the stressful situation, thereby curing the problem. For example, someone who has been in denial about something may be forced to face the truth. Or, if the same shy guy from above suddenly learned terrorists were about to attack the school, he may make a stand and grow very healthy, very quickly--which leads to a more pronounced, definitive arc. He was heading that way anyway, the stressful situation helped him move more quickly down the road.

The article goes on to discuss dialogue--my weakest area. The one area I need to pump up and use more often to reveal more about my characters, to reveal more about the story itself.

Tip #3:
Dialogue is affected by stress. In most "modern" stories, talking a lot or rambling is seen as unhealthy, while not talking is seen as healthy (not always true in real life). At the lower levels of stress in the story, we might see a character's mind rambling, confused, and experiencing disorganized thoughts. Under serious stress, this same character may experience a moment of clarity no one expected, including herself. Whether you put such a moment of high stress early and deal with the fallout during the rest of the story, or later in the story where it would come in handy for the hero (or villain) is up to you.

Stress can be a TOOL for an author.
Thanks typing chimp I like your create a character page too.
I just can't afford your software. :(

I need to buckle down

And write. My novel has been calling me. I've neglected it all week. (smack)
Beth is so desperate to get on to the next scene she appeared in my dreams several nights this week. Now, you know you are in trouble when your protagonist starts pestering you in your sleep.
Tonight we went out to dinner. We ate at Montana Mike's. It was so nice to go out. We talked over the dinner table for nearly two hours. It was fantastic. We need a better social life. I enjoyed our dinner.
I have a ton of writing resources to organize tomorrow for this site. (I'm almost ready to unveil the new site) Happy squeal.

Top 5 Things I'd Rather Do with my Blood Glucose Tester

I don't know about everyone else, but I HATE poking my finger every day. When I'm sick my blood sugar goes all over the map. This kidney infection has my numbers jumping from 238 all the way to 68. I feel dizzy and tired. My body needs extra hours of sleep and I'm not sure I will feel rested again until the infection is gone. With NO immune system I'm not sure how long it will take to get over this stoooooooopid thing! GRRRRRR. Can ya tell I'm frustrated?????
Today is one of those "mad at Lupus" days. Go figure. I have six mouth sores, my arms are all rashy and I get dizzy every time I stand up.... what does all that mean... I am in yet another Flare up of my stinkin' Lupus. And I can blame it all on the dumb kidney infection.

1. Jab someone else with the lancet.
2. Eat chocolate. Oh rats I had to give that up.
   
3. Complain.
4. Think up lame excuses and forget to test. LOL
5. Count the freckles on my arm instead.

Unfortunately, none of those methods give me a record of my blood sugar so I have to test it the proper way. Gotta run.

MUST SEE BLOG!

Um, Sorry if this offends anyone. After the late night voter results I just HAD to do this. The "voices made me do it" (just kidding)

Bloody Sunday Video
Be sure to turn on your speakers.

I'll be waiting with uh "baited breath" to see what he has to say at his press conference today.

In The Nick of time

Phew. I'm posting late tonite cuz I had so much to do. Articles to write etc. The life of a freelance copy writer/ghostwriter/grandmother/concerned citizen etc...

So, I think I'm gonna try to hack this blog. I wanna make some changes. I get bored. If the whole thing looks like weird code in a few days, you will know why.

Does this thing have a spine?

Why the shocked look? Let me explain. I went to an art show on the local college campus this evening. My caregiver is an art student. ( I think I may have mentioned it a few times but it is worth mentioning again)
So, here's the scoop.
The professors have a showing of their art each year. Tonight was the night. We dressed up and went to go check it out. When I say "we" of course I mean the grandkids, went with us. You just cannot walk out the door with these cuties. We dressed the boys in pin-striped pants, white shirts, and matching vests. To say they looked adorable is an understatement of the biggest kind.
We are milling about viewing art, gossiping, etc and of course every person there has to comment on how great the boys look. How awesome Jaden (the older brother) is and how big Dawson (seen in the picture) has gotten.

The resident Art Historian, a devoted dog lover who has no children had been eyeing Dawson all evening. She'd made the usual comments about his size and how cute he was. She went on the accuse Dana (my caregiver) of spoiling the young man by holding him 24 hours a day, when suddenly, with the slyest grin Dana offered Dawson up with open arms.
"Would you like to hold him"
" Who me"
"Sure, go ahead" Dana suddenly plopped Dawson into the professors arms.
She fiddled with the three month old for a few minutes trying to get his attention and make him smile then, with all honesty she looked around at the people gathered and asked them collectively, "Where's his spine?" She kept trying to gather him up and make him stand up in her lap. Everyone around bust out laughing. I actually had to sit down my knees got so weak.
The poor infant wiggled about in her lap like a rag doll. Thank goodness this fella has a good strong sense of balance and his neck was strong. She sort of held him like a sack of dog food.

I suggested she sit him down and clap his hands like "patticake" because it would make him smile and coo. He is seriously at that smiling stage. She practically had a cow.
"Ew, he had his hands in his mouth" ---

Now, I was really going to bust!!! Oh my gosh, you might catch a germ.
Overall, those moments made my night.

I mentioned I would blog about the whole situation and she didn't mind at all. Thanks you know who!
(names withheld to protect the innocent) LOL

Oh yes, I also got an email about this site today. Since it was art related I decided to share it.
Be sure to visit it and have fun. You will like it if you enjoy Jackson Pollack.

It felt good to leave the house. Exhausting, but good. Now I'll probably sleep for three days straight. The art.... it was worth the trip. Fantastic. I really liked two specific pieces. There was a painting of a woman in a bathrobe that was so lifelike. The other piece I flipped out for was a pair of glass flip flops. I have to admit I liked a lot of what I saw.

I missed seeing the work of a certain fiber art teacher. She knows who she is.

Please Vote

Vote Please. It is a right, a privledge, and something we all need to do. Goodness knows I've had enough of a few things. I don't want to get all political here so I won't. HOWEVER....

• won't you be glad when these ridiculous tv ads are over? I know I will.
• aren't you ready for lower gas prices?
• wouldn't you love to see a politician who doesn't smear his/her opponent?
• don't you just dread the end of Oct/beginning of Nov television ads?
• Do you wonder how they will screw up computerized voting results?
• Don't you think we should all just write in "Snoopy for President"
• forget a woman president--we may be headed for a doggie prez.... LOL
  

Amidst all the sex scandals of the world, pastors having sex, and buying drugs, overseas wars and arson fires I thought a little voter humor was in order.

*If I offended anyone I humbly apologize* Here at writewize the "Show must go on"

I promise to get back on the subject of WRITING ..... soon. (this kidney infection has my brain cells scrambled. I am sleeping a lot..... I'll be normal again very soon.)

The Case of the missing Post.

Hey, I "aint" playin' no sad violin here. (how many mistakes can ya find in that sentence...or should we just go for the whole blog entry)?
I posted an entry about the horrors of footnotes vs endnotes and POOF....it is gone. Explain that one.
Did I post in someone else's blog? I don' drink so no funny biz was involved. Though I am under the influence of some new medications for this blasted kidney infection which has me sleeping an extra 5 hours during the middle of the day. One sec I am watching tv and then zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

So, you wannna be a writer?
Step1 --How many errores in this blog?
Step2 --Name soem resources on the Internet for finding jobs.
Step3--Sign and LINK to my blog (muwhaaaahhhaaa)
just kidding

But it wouldn't hurt. In about two weeks when I unveil my completed site I hope emerging writers will be pleased. Until then....... I hope everyone enjoyed the joke.

Redheads Rule the world

It's true. The rest of the world just doesn't know it. Think back. If you have gorgeous red hair (like me) you probably endured horrific teasing as a child/teen/pre-teen/young adult and might still catch the odd comment now and then. Face it-- the rest of the world is just GREEN WITH ENVY!!!!!
I'm 44 and not a gray hair in sight. Most of my friends have been applying nasty smelly hair dye since their twenties. Not me. What you see is what you get. The color is natural BABY. God made this pretty shade. Oh, it has changed too. When I was a kid...my hair was the color of a copper penny. In my teen years it was a lovely auburn color.

In the summer it looked a little like wheat if I got a bit of sun. In the winter it would get a bit brownish auburn. You can probably still find me if you have really old Sears magazines and you look in the shorts and socks pages. Yep, you guessed it....I was a child model in another lifetime. It was my long legs they wanted. I also did a Campbells Soup commercial. To this day I cannot eat tomato soup. Blech.

Lately my hair is turning a bit dark reddish brown due to my meds. But...not gray. *evil laugh*
My little sister has a ton of gray and has to dye hers. Ha ha ha.

I spent the day doing HTML tutorials and sleeping. I did follow the randomizer to a few sites.
Thanks to those who came to mine and commented.
I can't wait till the kidney infection goes away and I start feeling better. I am dragging my sorry behind....
till later
ciao

Dumb people and the word "is"

Are I the only one? <---------notice anything WRONG HERE. Have you noticed anything unusual lately? Do you pay attention to the news, television programs, public speakers, your neighbors, etc. Do you just cringe when they say, "is" instead of "are"? This week alone I kept a tally sheet next to me while I watched evening television. When I hit 30+ I hit the roof. What native tongue do we speak? This is a basic concept here. The verb --to be. But, go figure...our own president cannot figure out how to pronounce nuclear. You know nooo kle er Here is a tip. The dog is lying down. 1 object
The kids are playing outside. multiple objects Real frickin easy!!!!

Okay, soapbox lecture over!

Wordpress is calling my name

I'm jealous. Other people who have WordPress can do things in their blogs that I just cannot do. They have the best plugins and things just seem easier. I regret the switch I made to Beta.
I found out I cannot even import all my posts over if I wanted to due to Beta and that burns my you know what.
so.... I have decided to move my main website to my new domain and link that to a blog at wordpress.
sigh.
Rough day today. I'm suffering through the third kidney infection in the last 3 months. My arms look like pin cushions from all the IV attempts they made in the ER trying to get blood and get an IV started. UGGGHHH. They finally got the IV going in the top of my hand (which hurts like a bugger now) and of course I have bumped it about 14 times today.

You've heard of bad hair days... Well I had a bad body day. Felt like crap.
No writing advice today.

However..... on the horizon. I am going through an email course and I do plan to start an ezine of my own in the next two weeks. So STAY TUNED.
My ezine will be up and running by Thanksgiving.

Had to add this.....just found it. ==================>>>>>

News of the Weird

Just had to have my funnybone tickled today. I found some hilarious news items.
This one was in the Daily Telegraph in London (sometime in September)
In September, the headmistress of the Dvergsnes primary school in Kristiansand, Norway, proposed that boys be taught to urinate while seated, in order to reduce splashing and mis-targeting, which burden the cleaning staff, but many parents and politicians reacted bitterly. Said Vidar Kleppe of the Justice and Order party, "It's a human right (for a boy) not to have to sit down like a girl," adding that the school was "fiddling with God's work."


Oh, and then there is the one about the soccer coach who drew a smiley face on her stomach. The coaching association didn't approve of her "lifting her shirt" to make her 7 and 8 year old team member's laugh. It just didn't fit with their image.

Any time you need to laugh...just head over to your local newspaper or Google "weird news"
I had a chuckle.

Hey, happy NaBloPoMo and Nanowrimo.

Too Many Energy Drinks?

I knew someone would do a study sooner or later. Kids are consuming too many energy drinks laden with sugar and other caustic junk. Is your pantry or fridge filled with Red Bull, Monster or even Gator Aid? The stuff is okay from time to time but kids don't need to drink it every day.

What to do when you are Bored

Okay, I've been browsing a bit today. You get to see what I found.
Uncle Orson's Writing Lessons -- a must see.
Ten Mistakes Writers Don't See see if you make the same mistakes.
The Generator Blog a source for games and code generated fun.

Check these out! Have fun, learn something. Make a button like I did.

Nano Begins!

Well, I made a decision. I just cannot do Nanowrimo. Uggh! I've decided to do the Blog version instead. My health has been a serious factor.
I spentMonday night and Tuesdaymorning in the Emergency Room. It wasn't pleasant.
I have another kidney infection and that kicked in another bout of colitis. I must say that morphine by IV does help with colon pain. I was so out of it yesterday I don't remember much except the evening.