Writers' Asylum Inmates Plot

Well, it sounds good. The Writers' Asylum met tonight. Again we were only three. Kathy had a family emergency ... or two. Her son took a knock on the head yesterday and the guinea pig died this morning. I do not think there is a connection. Thankfully, the GP was the only fatality but they are in mourning.

We talked a bit about what we aren't doing, what we want to do and NaNo approaching.

We did a writing exercise with a "progressive story". Cassie started a story, handed it off to me. I wrote the next bit and handed it off to Doug. It was fun and interesting how a small gray mouse, wearing a straw hat with a feather and plaid suspenders and named Theodore S. Muse came to life. I asked Cassie if she has time, to transcribe the story and share it with the other members. If I can I'll share it here.

The next formal meeting is set for Thursday, October 21, at 6:30.

We also set up the 14th & 28th as online meetings for anyone who can be online.

We enjoyed our meeting a lot. Even with just three we had a good time. That progressive story was amusing and is a good way to get the synapses firing a bit. But I got to tell you, I'm really not feeling very good. I do have some kind of bug. I just feel sick constantly. I'm going to bed now and hope that in the morning I'll be better.

NaNo is coming: 32 days = 4 weeks & 4 days!

Ron's Challenge

Link Three-Minute Fiction : NPR

During our visit last night, Ron tossed me a challenge. Actually, it is the above site where there is a writing contest posted regularly. I haven't had time to do more than skim it but NPR is a reputable entity so I am posting it here for my online writing friends.

I may try this when the next round opens up. It looks fun. And who know....

Tell Me It's Friday!

Please. I am really not feeling well today. I've been sick all morning. I feel absolutely "grotty" as Jilly says. I don't know what that means but is sounds terrible. That's how I feel.

You have to understand something. I don't get "sick" when I'm sick unless I'm really very, very sick. I never throw up and if I do, get me to the hospital because I'm really ill. No, I just feel like garbage. My stomach has bothered me for days. I've had headaches, lethargy, and a general all over ache. I need to lie down... badly.

I just went to lunch with Carolyn. We went to Bob Evans and I had potato soup. They have the best potato soup in the world. Small squares of potatoes sitting in a thick cheddery soup with crumbled fried bacon and scallions on top. Mmmmm, Sabrosa!

Anyway, it was good. And I had banana bread. That's delicious, too. But I still feel lousy. I'm annoyed by it because I have writer's meeting tonight. Last thing I want is to entertain but I don't want to cancel. I've been looking forward to this for two weeks.

I may just have to leave early and try to rest for a few hours. I don't know.

A Nice Evening to Watch the Leaves Fall

I've had a really nice evening. Ron arrived around 5:30. We decided to meet at my house rather than at a restaurant. We spent the evening, until 8:30 on the back patio talking and catching up on what is going on in our lives. We are both careful to avoid politics and religion since we are at opposite ends of the spectrum. This makes the conversation lots more fun because you can't talk about things that irritate the other person.

We came in at 8:30 because it got too cool for me. Being from Michigan, he is a bit more cold blooded. But I think it had even gotten to him. He drank a pot of coffee. He brought the coffee and we made it here. Dunkin' Donuts apparently sells ground coffee. I don't usually drink coffee at night so he had that 12 cup pot to himself. I told him he wouldn't sleep tonight. He says he has trouble sleeping anyway. With that much coffee in him, it is no wonder.

He just left about 30 minutes ago and I'm now showered and in my bed blogging before I turn out the lights. I vowed to myself to try and get in bed earlier tonight and see if I can rest. I felt sick most of the day. I still do not feel well but I did have a lovely visit with my friend.

He flattered me. I'm the only woman he likes to talk to. LOL, I don't believe it but he swore it was true. Apparently, I don't annoy him. I told him it was because I overlook the things that annoy me in him. He agreed that was probably true.

I needed the laughter. When he left he told me that we needed to talk more often. I agreed. Good friends are hard to find and when you do, you shouldn't forget to keep in touch. Having people come here to spend an evening talking and laughing does more for me than any pill. I feel better when they leave.

Tomorrow night is the writers meeting. I don't know how that will go. I hope it will be good. I'm sure it will. I like my writing friends. I'll tell you how it goes.

Now, bed. I'm tired. Stomach still doesn't feel good and I wasn't much for eating today. I had salad at McDonald's. I couldn't finish it. It just didn't taste that good to me.

Hope you all have a good evening.

Wednesday Winds Down

I'm getting ready to close shop for the evening. Twenty-five minutes to go. My friend from Michigan, Ron, is in town and is supposed to stop by to visit. We talked about going out but I asked him to come over and watch leaves fall. As long as I have coffee, he said he'd be fine with that.

I'm tired. Very tired and I just don't feel like sitting in a restaurant eating food that I don't feel like eating. I've not felt well for two or three days. Actually, last night and this morning I felt sick on my stomach. I don't know why. I thought when I got up I was going to be sick. I got better but lunch, a salad at McDonalds, was not good at all. I have no desire for supper. So, I'll fix a pot of coffee and we can sit and chat.

I do not know if I'll be back on today. Probably not. Once my guest leaves I'm going to bed.

I did hear today that my brother should be here Monday to work on the house. Hope so! I want to get it done.

Hope you all have a good evening.

What Day Will It Be?

Will it be another Monday? Or will it take on it's own identity? I'm undecided.

At the moment, I didn't have a good morning wake up. My upper back was hurting and my knees. I'm cold and I really wanted to sleep in for about another hour. The central unit has been off since Sunday. The temp inside is 70. That has become too cool for me since Jerry died. Not sure why but I was always was cold-natured anyway and bundled up in the evenings. Seems worse now is all. I'll be breaking out the electric blanket soon I suspect. I could wrap up but the weight of the blankets hurts my knees and feet. But I do love to snuggle under lots of blankets.

I'm finishing up my breakfast while I do this post and then headed to work. It dawned on me that I have to feed my brother while he is here so I need to sit down and come up with a couple of ideas. I don't cook anymore, remember? So, I suspect I'll be cooking these casserole meals that go a long way. Must remember to invest in disposable plates, utensils and cups.

I lay in bed last night and did nothing but watch Perry Mason shows on Hulu. I still love the show. And I listened to an old Abbott and Costello radio show. They are still funny. I wonder if the ever imagined they would be funny 70 years later?

I have nothing else to say.

Things I'm Looking For

This blog started out as one thing and morphed. No idea where it is going but let's see.

I'm looking for a good sleep. I'm here, tucked up in my bed... well, on my bed. I have decided to call it quits for today. I'm glad the day is done and that I don't have to face Monday for another week.

I'm looking for a good idea to blog about. I'm not sure I have a real blog in me tonight. I need to go over and start plotting my nano idea but I am not quite ready. I usually like an idea to simmer a bit before I try and put it on the page. If it is any good it will hang around and expand. If it isn't it fades.

I also am looking at ways to generate the drive to write. Haven't found it yet. Must look under the bed.... whoa, maybe not a good idea. Never seen those before... wonder ... hmmmm.

I'm looking for a million dollars. I didn't lose it. I'm just hoping to find it.

I'm looking for other things to do after work that will take me out of this house for a short time in the evenings. I don't want to join the Y again. I don't actually like it.

I'm looking for something to make my hair grow. Since Jerry died, I've lost about 50% of my hair. What little is growing back is white. I don't mind white. It's just a lack of color, pretty much reflects my state of mind and life.

Did you know that stress and aging causes the body to produce an excess of amount hydrogen peroxide in the scalp and this in turn causes hair to turn white. It bleaches it. Stop the production of peroxide and you stop your hair turning white. Simple. I suppose I'm looking for a way to stop the HP production. At the current rate, I expect to be totally white in two years . . if I have any hair left.

I'm looking for ways to cut utility cost. I want OFF the grid! B@$#@^&! I hate Vectren.

I'm looking for way to get the repairs done very cheap.

I'm looking for a tall, dark haired man with dark blue eyes. He used to live here.

Barack Obama: the Great Unravelling of a One-Term President? - Telegraph

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Finally, some optimistic news! From the foreign press, no less!

I always get annoyed by the American press. Seems they feel they MUST make our current leaders look good, even if it means covering things up or blaming the previous leaders. LOL, that is not the case in the foreign press. The delight in pointing out our warts. And we should want that in our country. Warts are contagious. They multiply exponentially.

One term? Dear God, from their lips to your ear!

You don't have to write and tell me how much you love our current president and how wonderful he is. I can read that in OUR press. Although, a 42% approval rating would indicate that our press is sadly misinformed.

What I found most telling is the comments. People are pretty much the same the world over. Spite, bitterness, racism, nationalism, ignorance of other cultures ... only the locations change. One comment makes it appear that all blacks are carrying guns and knives and involved in violence. This could not be further from the truth! There are many productive and law-abiding blacks, just as there are some whites involved in gun carrying gangs. Of course we have a growing population of illegal aliens from Mexico in gangs and with that lovely Nafta crap they just drive in on big trucks loaded with the stuff.

Ok, don't get me started on that. I'll be getting mail. Anyway, found it refreshing that someone else doesn't like our administration. All I can say is someone better come up with a super candidate soon. We may have to elect an out of work CEO. There are a lot of them since jobs went east, west, and south.

The Correct Answer

Regarding my post about the error in the article about Native American event here in my town.
Here is the original excerpt.

"We've got people on sight giving on sight demonstrations about native animals, food and gardening, spear throwing, teaching them all about the culture, first hand."

Here is the answer.

"We've got people on site giving on-site demonstrations about native animals, food and gardening, spear throwing, teaching them all about the culture, first hand."

The word sight refers to vision. the word site is a location.

Here is the link to the article if you want to read about the event. It was poorly covered as far as I'm concerned. This is an event with 10,000 in attendance in two days? http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=13219906

Oh My! It's Back!

Monday, I mean. I'm about to leave for work in a few minutes. Got to brush my teeth and take my medicine. Pain levels are manageable at the moment. My leg is not hurting much especially. It was acting up most of the day yesterday. I do still seem to have either a cold or allergy. Hanging on this long I'm thinking allergy but what do I know.

It is 55 degrees! I believe the sun is shinning but I got up first this morning, so he's lazy.

I hate this time of year where it gets dark earlier and stays dark longer. Daylight savings time doesn't do a think for the winter or summer. You can't make a day longer or shorter. It does it all by itself.

I'm dreading the cold months for what it will cost to stay warm. I really hate it. Someone suggested a fireplace insert. I don't have a fire place and I doubt I could do the wood chopping anymore. I did a load of that as a teenager. We had a wood stove back when I was between 11 and 15. I cut wood a lot, with an axe.

Now, I'm at the mercy of the utility company. We are higher than any place I've checked and there is no alternative. It is really horrible. And so many will have trouble keeping their power on when these bandits jack up the rates again. They do it about ever six months.

O.k. off to the mine to shovel. Please say a pray for me today. I get very depressed on Monday's. I don't know why but going to work is very difficult. Hope you all have a great Monday.

What's Wrong with This?

Here is a quote from an article from my local t.v. station. There is something wrong with it. Post your answers below.

Educational Program Assistant Corbe Ashby says, "We've got people on sight giving on sight demonstrations about native animals, food and gardening, spear throwing, teaching them all about the culture, first hand."

Excitement Builds

   NaNoWriMo is coming! Five weeks and one day or 36 days. Already I'm getting the emails in my inbox. The excitement will only build from here. And wonder of wonders, I have an idea already! I dreamed it last night. Well, I dreamed and when I woke up I knew it would make a great plot for NaNo. I'm going to do some serious plotting in October, I hope, I hope. Already I have some idea to do an outline in my yWriter.

So, you NaNoWriMo friends, start your engines! Pick up your pens, laptops, or get thee to a terminal. It's coming.

(I wanted to use the Jaws sound track here but don't think I can from email postings.)

Liberating the Trash

I can't believe how much junk we accumulate and how many tools! I mean, I must have found a few dozen drill bits. I think what would happen is he'd buy them and once used he'd lie them down in a box and then couldn't find them in that mess out there. He'd buy another set. I found a brand new set, unopened! But where's my drill? I think Dave may have it. I hope so.

We hauled out several items that were remodel related but that I do not think will be usable. And I really just want the mess gone. I still have some wood in the back but I'm waiting because if scraps are needed there are there. There is also some molding that we used in the den for the trim and I will need matching stuff to finish it. But the rest? We'll see but I suspect in the spring I'll finally be shut of it all.

Mike took the new weed trimmer, which is not a very good one to me, and did some of the trim around the yard. And he hauled the old fence poles from the top of the old chain link fence to the street. A guy just stopped and said he wanted them. Fine by me. One man's junk...

O.k, got to go give the boy a haircut. He's been patient and long suffering... for a while to hear him moan about it. I may be back later.

It feels good to throw things away. I'm not sure why.

Beautiful Saturday

I'm on my way out to have lunch with Mike. I just finished doing two months of bank statements. Thank goodness I'm so anal about keeping track of my spending. I'd have probably been in a mess. LOL, but I only had a few items I had failed to enter. The fudge from my disastrous attempt at a solo holiday. A couple of small payments I'd made via phone also were missing. I hate doing those kind of payments for that reason. If I'm not where I can make a not and put it on the desk, I forget it.

Anyway, Mike and I are headed out and he will come help me clear the garage again. I hope to get a lot of stuff disposed of this weekend. I'm going to get rid of stuff in the house too, I think. I have tons of books I think I probably should get rid of. I never touch them anymore and they are just taking up space. That's foolish but it is very hard for me to get rid of books.

The day seem lovely and at noon it is 73F. That's awesome! Back later to fill you in.

The Knobe Effect | Futility Closet

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People vote based on such skewed logic.

When Garden Gnomes Attack

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I'm probably going to look for this. Be sure and view the video on this page. LOL!

Einstein's theory of relativity works on a human scale: the higher you are, the faster you age - Telegraph

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I'm fascinated by such stories. Perhaps this is why those beach bums seem eternally young?

It Friday in the state of Indiana!

I'm glad. As a result, I woke less dreadful. LOL, that is a state worse than depression.

Please pray for Sarah. I got a call last night she'd had to go to the hospital. She is in Kentucky with her mother visiting relatives. My caller was her other grandfather. He said she has a blockage in her intestines. I'm hoping he meant she was impacted. Dave called me later and repeated his words and said she had a UTI. I haven't talked to Becca so have no idea if that is correct. They gave her mother a scrip for antibiotics for the UTI and told her to give her apple juice for the other. So that sounds like constipation.

Anyway, pray for her please. You all know I worry myself sick over her.

I'm stiff this morning and achy. I had a headache all afternoon yesterday and last night. Went right to sleep when I turned the lights out at about 10:45 so I should be rested.I'm not exhausted but one never knows. Just have a pain in my neck, knees hurt a bit, hip is painful. My feet bothered me a bit when I got up but are a bit better. My lower back is just awful. I know it is from sitting all afternoon in that training but I can't help it.

No, I'm off to the mines to dig the endless hole from which there are no gold nuggets or diamonds.

Kopi Returns!

To my NaNo friends of the Smoking Pen forum: Kopi popped in and is alive, although not exactly well. But she's back!

Writing for Dollars

I actually have a book called that. They made about $15 off me.

For my writing friends.. a friend sent me this link. I share it freely. Go ye and do likewise.

Newsweek - Who Needs a Publisher

Incidentially, the guy who was selling 4000 of his books a month? If he was charging $2.99 each he was making $11,960 a month!

Let's get writing, ladies!