Moods and Writing

My son Thom said a simple sentence that struck me immediately. He said "Amazing what I can come up with when I'm in a good mood"... boy howdy, isn't that the truth!

Our many moods shift moment to moment and day by day.. so when we write in our journals (or sit to write something we hope will get published), the mood we are in can determine the outcome of what we are writing...

For writing in a journal this is something that shows readily.. if we are happy we talk about things that made us happy (or will make us happy).. if we are sad, we generally talk about serious matters, and if we are angry we usually attack something that bothers us.

But what about when someone is writing a book or something that will hopefully get published? Can it be a good thing? Or is it a bad thing? And do we notice the difference when we go back and reread or edit what has been written?

It makes me wonder.. it took me 2 years to write my mini trilogy .. could I have been in the same mood all that time? (doubtful).. so how did it effect what i wrote?

When I go back and read it I am not sure if i can tell what sort of mood I was in.. at the same time if i am doing edit on it, will i change things because now my mood is different? And will that make it better or worse?

I'm sure a down mood would be a good thing to be in if you are writing a sad chapter, like someone being sick or dieing.. and a good mood would be nice if you are writing something that is supposed to be cheery. But we can't control how we feel at any given moment, and so i sit and wonder how it effects all writers...

And I wonder why Thoms sentence made me think of all these questions in the first place! .. sheesh.

Up early...

Boy Howdy!...
So.. I am up early because the electrician is on his way and so is PSE&G. Today they will switch over the outside electrical lines. (don't ask what they are switching to! I only live here! may as well give me insurance papers to read... I just ain't gunna figure it out!)
Therefore: since all electric will be off again for a number of hours I came to put in a quickie post and read a few journals before I have to shut down.
Last night while IMing a friend I took a photo of those shelves I said I made in the last post and sent it to her. After I looked at the picture I guess I realized why I have such back pain yet. I have bulging disks in my lower back, so I have pain all the time.. but sometimes it seems better then other times, just never gone. Yesterday the pain stayed worse then normal, kinda figured that since i did things I don't normally do anymore building the shelves. This morning I woke and it seems every bit as bad. I really hope it eases up soon and hasn't "moved up a notch" to stay this painful. Well..not much I can do soooooo I'm going to post a photo of these shelves here simply because I don't have time for much else...

Ummmm, no the shelves are not painted... and noooo I'm not going to paint them!
My printer and scanner I cover because this house is so old and dirty and 9 cats full of flying fur (try that holding your tongue!). Under the shelves you see part of the De collection
Before my back began to pain me i enjoyed making some things.. granted they were "roughly" made but that's how i wanted them. I love the smell of wood at a lumber yard and love wood in general..
Ok I have to go read some journals before they turn off the electric here!

There's a Name...and then there's a name..

Since we spoke of names and how we got them in the last post, I thought I would list names from my story and speak of them briefly. (only because after talking about how names came about, and reading responses the character names popped into my head. So it's either write this or think about it for days!)

The list below are the Characters that I named for the story I wrote. A well known secret that I learned while I lived in California was that many of the Character names and names of planets in Star Trek were taken from Street names that were in San Fernando Valley (where I lived) and surrounding areas such as Hollywood itself. I can't begin to tell you how many times, as I drove around and had to find street names, that I would begin to laugh when I recognized it as a name of a character or planet in Star Trek!

This fact alone had me researching on the Internet for street names in different states and areas for possible character names I might need when i first began to write my story. So many of my names are simply street names! At times I would take that name or even a "normal name" and just change the spelling. Re: the name Emylee is indeed Emily... I simply put a twist on the spelling. Pretty much many names that had i's in them I made a y instead.

Other things I did to come up with names was to use just part of a name. Re: Kien. Kien is a giant in my story... his name comes from the last part of J R R Tol-kien's name..heh. But I pronounce it like the word "kind", without the d of course.

For the name B'Lena I took a lesson from Anne McCaffrey in how she shortened names of the dragon riders. And the name Rhys came directly from John Rhys Davies who I totally enjoy in his movies.

And my main title "Kesterwood Forest", well Kester was a street name close to where i lived in Encino California. I had quite a number of street names and variations listed and would go down the list each time a new character was about to enter the story to see if I had a name ready and waiting. If nothing seemed to fit for me, .. it would be back to the browser again!

Finding, changing and making up the names of Characters took some time but in the end it was a lot of fun matching names to the characters.

I find it interesting too how each individual pronounces the names of any characters in Fantasy books. It makes no difference how they are pronounced to that person until you meet someone who read the same book and you begin talking about it and find they pronounced it differently. Then you begin to wonder which way is right! But of course, both are, because that's how each of your deciphered it.

As I look down the list of names I notice how in Fantasy, very few names are simple, like John or Carol.. I wonder how making up such fantastical names all began?? If anyone has a thought on that I think it would make a good post! (and leave a link on whatever my lasted entry is so we can all go read it!)

Lastly I will leave this link of Art attempts I have made of only a few of the Characters listed below, in case you want to see if the name fits the looks of the character.

CAST OF CHARACTERS (and others met along the way)

(In Alphabetical Order)

Abbercorn……………… .Staff owner
Adara…………………... .Daughter of Elesmyr & Madira
Aldebar………………….Tree People
Alwen……………………Adopted father of Aldebar
B’Lena…………………..Swamp Lady
Ballew…………………..Cook at Redfurr Inn
Begira………………….. Worker at Deer Dance Inn
Berwyn………………….Owner of Deer Dance Inn
Bisbee……………………Female Dwarf, would be cook
Blyn……………………..Giant leader, father of Koree
Bugtussel………………..Owner of Bugtussels Inn
Cylin…………………….Mother of Berwyn
Dadwer………………… Cook at Redfurr Inn
Daere……………………Giant
Daragon……………….. Dragon
Dobbins……………….. Inkeeper Hobbs Hold Inn
Don-key-o-tee…………..Donkey
Draymen……………….. Giant, friend to Bisbee
Elesmyr…………………Staff owner
Emylee………………… Daughter of Adara
Fawke…………………. Dragon
Firestorm………………. Ancient Dragon
Forester…………………Old man in Kesterwood
Founa………………….. Wife of Leidesdorn
Galbraith………………. Wife of Abbercorn
Glyder………………….. Eagle
Grenloch……………….. Owner of Crosswicks Inn
Greyloch………………..Staff owner
Greymaulkyn………….. Son of Greyloch & Kaelyn
Hetford………………… Wolf man, leader of the wolf pack
Higbee…………………. Bisbee’s Uncle
Kaelyn…………………. Wife of Greyloch
Kayne………………….. Giant
Kenbyra…………………Staff owner
Keeva…………………...Giant
Kien……………………. Giant, friend to Abbercorn
Koree……………………Giant, wife of Kien
Laika…………………… Male dwarf, friend to Abbercorn
Lander…………………..Dragon
Laurasya……………….. Wife of Kenbyra
Leidesdorn………………Half brother of Abbercorn’s
Lilith…………………….Foundling of Kesterwood Forest
Kinseeker………………..Dragon
Lucas-Rhys…………….. Laika and Bisbee’s son
Lupi……………………..Wolf
Madira…………………. Wife of Elesmyr
Nabreena………………..Tree People
Nanny Kathryn………… Servant in Elesmyr’s castle
Narian………………….. Tree People
Odile……………………Cave Dwarf, friend of Abbercorn
Ohm…………………… Landling
Olwen…………………. Cave dwarf Leader
Pantyra………………….Owner of Eatery
Parka…………………… Dolphin type animal
Ravendor………………. Apprentice to Greyloch
Rayne………………….. Owner/ Eagle Landing Inn
Rhys…………………… Abbercorn’s Owl
Roseberry……………… Worker at Bugtussels
Shakira………………… Adopted mother of Aldebar
Skyy…………………… Dragon
Stray…………………… Lupi’s cub
Travis………………….. Foundling of Kesterwood
Weslwy………………… Servant in Elesmyr’s castle
Wulf…………………… Wolf

Places They Journeyed..

Aldenwood
Bolder Mountain
Brookshire
Cenji
Cinderville
Colderwood
Crosswicks Inn
Dark Woods
Deer Dance Inn
Dragons Keep Mt.
Eagle Landing Inn
Elberon River
Higbee Hollow
Hobbs Hold Inn
Jesypp Village
Kalispell River
Kesterwood Forest
Lotha Forest
Maligwyn Falls
Mt. M’Vena
Redwood Forest
RedFurr Inn
Solace Swamp
Southumberland
Stonevale
Timberwick
Valley of Lost Souls

What's in a name?

So.. Paula Lambert emailed me the other day and before she hit the send button she asked me one last question:
P.S. I knew your name was Pat, but what is the history behind "DesLily"?
I will gladly tell you (but believe it or not, most of you can probably figure out the answer already), but in return how about you either leave the same information about your "computer name" or write about it in your blog and leave me a link in comments... is that a deal??
I realize some of you use your real name but many do not so let me know the story behind your "stage name"!
My story is a simple one... it begins by saying: A O L hahaha.. yep, every name I tried when I first got AOL was used! I tried names for hours until it dawned on me that my friend Annie was using the name DesAnnie (for nearly the same reason I was going to try DesLily)..so I tried the name and it took!
Here's the dirt with AOL... you cannot use apostrophes or spaces when coming up with your log on name.. therefore, the "real name" i was trying to have was: De's Lily ...( De's = DeForests Lily= he called me that a few times after I had done the Lily Tomlin impersonation.).. TaaaDaaa.. De's Lily! But I had to take out the apostrophe and push the names together... DesLily. Annie who was already my friend and a member of De's Fan Club had cleverly used the name DesAnnie, so I tried doing the same and came up with DesLily.
It would end there except that after some time of talking with a few people on line one person asked me to call them, and I did. When we spoke on the phone she called me Des (Dehs) Ohhhh, so it came out sounding different then De's Lily.. and became Dehslily sounding... and i really got to like it! (I even like it better then my real name lol)
Anyway... that's my answer and I'm sticking to it! hahaha.. Now, you can tell me YOUR story if you have a name that's not really your own, or blog about it and leave a link!!

Moderating comments...

I am sorry to say that for a while at least, I have to moderate comments.. Yesterday someone kept trying to leave a comment "ad".. I deleted the first one. Not 5 minutes later they did it again.. I deleted that one... and put my comments to be moderated. This morning I found they tried to do it again.. so for now I have to approve comments. I don't like doing that and all comments will be approved even if I don't like them.. as long as they belong to the blog and not an ad to get you to try something or go somewhere... Meanwhile, thanks to anyone reading and leaving comments along the way..

DesLily

ok.. well blogspot is once again not letting me bring pictures to my blog.. it starts off ok saying it's bringing it then the box turns blank... I've rebooted.. i've restarted aol... I've closed and opened my blog..nothing works.. so... for now what i want to post here IS posted on aol:
http://journals.aol.com/deslily/HereThereandEverywhere/ I know some don't like to go to aol anymore, but after 3 hrs of trying to get the pictures here i give up... it did this the other day too, I hope it clears up before i give up on blogspot altogether. I don't have 3 hrs a day to spend trying to bring photo's here..sigh

Meer-ly Making an animation..

One of the two things I did today was to play in PSP.. been a while since I've done anything but size a pic and "buttonize" it for the journal. Most of that is because I can't clone in PSP 5 on XP... sigh.. so.. I transported the pictures to my old machine that has Win 98se on it where I can clone!

Once I had them there I used three pictures.. (sized them down to show them in the journal)


This is the first picture.. I took this and colored it (when I found it, it was only a drawing).. then I proceeded to animate the arm with the finger pointing. I did this by making two more frames with the same picture and moving the arm a little in each frame and saved them all. So, now I had 3 pictures of the cartoon..



Then I took this picture of BooBoo Kitty and sized it down to what I needed. Then I cut him out and put him on with the cartoon. I put it on each of the cartoon pictures in exactly the same spot. ( I had to go back to one frame and move it one more pixel so it wouldn't move around when running the animation.)





Then I took part of this picture and cloned in a background...

Good Friends... good times

I happened across this photo and decided to post it. Going left to right, the picture is of Sue (the gal you read about in other posts that we did pranks on at conventions), and Annie from Texas, and myself.

It's obvious to me, and Annie and Sue, that we were all much younger when the photo was taken. For one thing I had alot less gray hair! We were also a lot thinner and had less wrinkles.. heh.. 'nuff said about that part.

I don't remember which convention this was taken at.. though if anyone remembers, it will be Annie. She doesn't forget much!

What I do remember though, is all the fun we had at the conventions. Since whoever the guest was (usually De) was only was on stage for an hour each day, that left plenty of time to spend money we shouldn't ..and to get into some sort of trouble.

I hope Annie posts some of her remembrances of some of the conventions sometime.
One time, at a convention in Denver, (they had the greatest conventions there!) Annie, who at that time mostly got around in her battery driven scooter, but still could walk some with the aid of leg braces and crutches, had taken off with some other friends to do some sight seeing, while I stayed behind with others.

When she was on her way back to the convention hotel, she called me and asked if I would bring her scooter down to the lobby for her. Well, duh.. of course I will!

I began to push the scooter into the elevator, when it finally struck me that it would probably be simpler if I just sat on it and drove it... heh.. not the brightest light bulb in the package all the time ya know!

So, when the elevator doors opened at the lobby, I drove the scooter out .. went thru the lobby.. where a young man behind a desk smiled atme and I smiled back.. and then I drove it outside to find Annie.

I found her pretty quick and got off of the scooter and told her I would run ahead for some reason that i can't think of right now.. anyway, she was safe with other friends and now seated in her scooter.

I went back into the hotel with another gal and as I passed the young man behind the counter I thought his eyes were going to bug out of his head !...and his chin dropped to the floor! (if you've even seen anyone in total SHOCK, it would be this guy!)

Realizing that he had seen me DRIVE out in a scooter ....and then WALK back in on my own two feet...the gal with me quickly informed him, "It's a Miracle!" and we both walked off ready to cry laughing. That poor man didn't know that I was only riding it for someone else, heh.. gotta love it when you pull off a joke that you didn't even know was going to happen hahaha.

I realize it's a "ya hadda be there" moment, but just so you get an idea of what I saw.. it was a little like this: ..well actually.. it was A LOT like that! heh..

The Pill-popper...

Sigh.. it's going to be a really Lo-o-o-o-o-o-ong three weeks trying to give Missy a pill each day.
She already runs and hides when she see either David or me walking. Now, she's even figuring out "about what time" we will try to assault her by trying to shove a pill down her throat. It takes the two of us to accomplish this, and even with that it's a struggle.

When we took her to the vet and the vet said they would give her the first pill it was a riot! One.. two... three, times she managed to spit it out, even though these professionals know how to give a pill to an animal.

So,.. out came the long tube affectionately called a "pill popper".. this tube you can put the pill on one end and be able to push it far back into the mouth of the animal so that they can't get it under their tongue to spit it out.

Heh.. Missy managed to spit it out 3 more times, before it actually got swollowed.

Any guesses how thrilled we are trying to do this??

Missy is one of the older cats, at least 13 yrs old according to vet records, plus no one is really sure since she, like all the others, is a stray. So, she could be older. Her fur is no longer as nice as it used to be, and she's had to have dental work done before. All in all, she's the first of the cats here that "I" have tried to give medicine to, that I haven't been able to do without feeling like I might be hurting her. Maybe she just has more fear then the others and so reacts like we are trying to "do her harm.".

Whatever it is... this is NOT going to be a fun time folks.

p.s. wow, blogger must be having problems! It took me 2 hours to be able to upload the photo!

Announcement

This is my youngest son Thom... I'm sure there was a time when being the youngest didn't sit well with him..but now that he is.. ummm, a tad older, I'm sure he's glad he's "the baby".
I just want to let you all know that Thom has started a journal and invite anyone that would like to check it out, to do so!

His journal is called CSI: Inquiring Minds Wanna Know. (this link will take you to his aol journal.) He also keeps a mirror copy on blogspot .. interestingly enough it is ALSO called: CSI: Inquiring Minds Wanna Know and this link will take you to Blogspot.

He's just learning and getting started so anytime anyone see's something they can help with feel free to leave a comment! lol..

Meanwhile... I hope y'all have a HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!

Lost Day..

Well.. yesterday was a lost day ..

After I hurridly put that post in, the electrician showed up at the house. David was having the old breaker box changed to upgrade and be safer.. For them to do this we were without electricity for almost 6 hours! (that's the longest the computer has been turned off during the day time lol.. I leave it on even when I'm not in front of it.. lazy, I hate to keep logging on and off, so i leave it on) No heat either.. thankfully the house was only "cooling off" by the time he had things wired back up and the heat returned.

When David came home we had to bring two cats to the vets. Missy, had been sick and was on antibiotics and needed a urine test to determine if all was well again. (it's not.. 3 more weeks of pill giving!... to a cat who is now DETERMINED NOT TO GET PILLS!)


And we took Peanutchew to get her nails clipped. It seems that since I open my window in my room some, and because it's very close to a tree... well... she thought she could attack the resident squirrel and made some small tears in the NEW screen..heh.. didn't go over will.. so "clip clip".. not that having her nails clipped will detur her any the next time she see's that squirrel!

So... that was another 86.00 at the vets! These cats have it made! They are all strays (9) and he gets their shots each year (even though they are inside cats) and anything they need done! One needed dental work to the tune of 600.00 ! Free stray cats huh? yeah right!

You should see when David grocery shops lol... 6 bags and 2 are full of cat food each week! Now I dare anyone to tell me there isn't a blinking red neon sign on Dave and Jims heads saying: SUCKER! hahaha

Duh!

Well... no use in being "not with it" unless ya show it! I musta been having a Senior Moment (it can't be a blonde moment.. my hair is gray!) Oh! no, no, it's not a Senior Moment... it was a brain fart! Yeah, that's the ticket! A Brain Fart!

That's when you do all the right things and then turn around and screw it up lol..

I made a boo boo down on the entry Hollywood's loss.. sheesh.. I did all the right stuff.. even Googled the right name to get the picture.. then I proceeded to write the wrong name!.. Not just once.. not just twice.. but THREE TIMES! (I have more brain farts then I have brains!) Sigh..
Anyway, finally someone had the courage to point it out to me in an email.. I thought it awfully nice to be discrete about it , thanks Karen.

It wasn't Jean Stapleton that passed away it was Maureen Stapleton.. and I knew that! I KNEW IT I TELL YA! grrrrrrrrr lol But I will admit I am horrible with names, and obviously Jeans Stapletons name is out there a lot more than Maureens name since Jean did All In The Family, and is still living and breathing the way the rest of us are. (Sorry Jean.. I didn't mean for you to meet your demise before your time!)

So now it's straight.. On the left is Jean on the right is Maureen and on the bottom is Archie reminding me that my brain was once again in the toilet! heh.

Patrick's Tuesday Two

Tuesday Two - Episode 21

THIS WEEK'S TOPIC: ANIMALS

QUESTION A:What is the most exotic animal you've ever actually come into physical contact with? If you've never touched an exotic animal, which one would you most like to touch?

or

QUESTION B:How do you feel about zoos? Do you think that they are a valuable resource to encourage an appreciation of nature, or a harmful industry that only exploits animals?

Remember: choose one or the other...not both!

This is not even a choice for me since I was so lucky to have volunteered at Shambala Preserve for a few years.

While there I had some contact with a number of exotic animals. The Tiger, Kirby, was amazing and Daisy the Cougar was my personal favorite of the animals that live at Shambala.

To me the one I felt most nervous over was Timbo the Elephant. I know it was just because of his size, but I was nervous anyway. It always amazed me how calm Chris was when he was with his Elephants. It's a true love story between Chris and the elephants.

I've also held a, rather large, albino Burmese Python, petted a Leopard and held a lion cub.
However, the one I think most impressed me (and unfortunately I don't have a photo) was a time a Snow Leopard visitied Shambala. Talk about fur feeling like silk! Gorgeous, gorgeous animal.. that would be my choice for the MOST impressive exotic animal.

The one animal I haven't had a "close encounter" with that I would like to is a Giraffe.

Hollywoods Loss..

So.. we lost yet another actor, sigh.. Maureen Stapleton. The movie I loved most that she was in was Cocoon (and return of..) That is one of those movies. You know, one of those that when it's on television I have to watch it. Sadly, with the passing of Maureen Stapleton, the only one of the fine actors below that is still alive is Wilford Brimley, who you can now see doing commercials.

Which got me to thinking... there are a number of movies I feel the same way about. Sometimes it's the movie itself and other times it's a certain actor or actress that I can't seem to let go by once I know their movie is on. A few movies are those of younger actors .. like anything with Dakota Fanning. Another movie i have to watch is Rudy ... and always cry. My brother always watches The Color Purple and cries at that one. (heck if he even talks about that movie he begins to get choked up!)

But for the most part I have found that many of the movies that I have to watch are stories with older actors and actresses. Now that I am old myself one might think that is why they are have to see movies to me. But that wouldn't be true.

One of my favorite movies from when I was very young is called The Enchanted Forest, and starred an old actor named Harry Davenport. That old man was such a good actor that I wanted nothing more then to live in that forest with him.

Filmed in Cinecolor this is a remarkably effective story about a lost child (Billy Severn) raised by an old Hermit and who is taught about life amid nature in the forest. Endearing character actor Harry Davenport (Dr. Meade in Gone With The Wind) is just wonderful as Old John with his dog Bruno at his side and pet crow on his shoulder.

I think it was then that I began my love affair with movies containing older actors. There have been a number of movies with the story revolving around one or more of these actors, and as I thought about it today, I realized what really good stories they are. And how I wish there were more movies like them. They are almost always seasoned actors, having been in many movies, and having stretched their talents with oh so many parts.

It makes me wonder why many actors and actresses of today have gone so far as to ruin their own looks with all the plastic surgery and such. While I know it's true that there are fewer parts for the older actor and actress, I also know that the ones that do come out.. are really great stories.

Some of those favorite movies of mine (the ones i can't pass up) are: Cocoon (naturally), Driving Miss Daisy, Fried Green Tomatoes, Batteries Not Included, How to make an American Quilt, On Golden Pond and Whales of August.

A few of these star Jessica Tandy, whom you already know i adore. (and her real life husband Hume Cronyn). Others in these really great movies are: Morgan Freeman, Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn, Maya Angelu, Bette Davis, Lillian Gish, Vincent Price, Ann Sothern, Harry Carey Jr, Kate Hepburn, and Henry Fonda.

Now I know those of you under a certain age, may not even know some of those names,but you can count on one thing... they were fantastic at their craft. Note that I said "were", because most of them are gone, however, there are a few (very few) that are still alive.

If I were a movie maker, I would find some really great stories to be told and round up as many of our older actors and actresses as possible and hire them to make movies before they too are gone.

A Letter or Two

Well, today I did something I haven't done in a while.. I mailed out two letters for autographs.
I wrote a letter to Meryl Streep and one to Angela Lansbury. There are times you never hear back from those you write to but I hope I hear from these two. But if only one of them responds, I hope it's Angela Landsbury.

Who hasn't seen Murder She Wrote? I bet there's no one out there that, even if they didn't follow it, at one time or another nearly everyone has seen at least a part of one of the episodes. I love the old reruns. There were many people that wanted guest shots on her show and it's always neat to see who's on with her.

The reason I chose to write to Angela Lansbury is because I saw her on a talk show pushing the movie Nanny McPhee, since she has a part in it. Since i watch reruns when they show up I had forgotten how long ago the show was on. She had aged, but gracefully..! I didn't want to miss an opportunity to let her know how much i've enjoyed her over the years.

Something i learned by helping actors at the autograph shows is how much they like hearing that their lifes work was appreciated... and that they aren't forgotten.

When I went to IMDb to research Meryl Streep before writing her , I found out she was born in the same hospital i was!! (5 yrs after me but hey.. she's a small town born gal!)

Sunday night was a good night for television for me (which is rare when more then 1 good thing is on). Early in the evening the History channel was running some story about Bill Shatner (Captain Kirk himself!..eh.. well, I knew if it was about him it would be about Star Trek too and I might see some pics of DeForest..which i did lol)

After that the History channel ran a program about the making of the original Star Wars series... Ooooooo a chance to see George Lucas! (I don't miss a chance to see him!! heh)

Following that was another show starring Shatner called "How Bill Shatner Changed the World".. with a title like that I had to see it lol. Of course it was about how Star Trek stirred imaginations of many people who in turn developed the cell phone and instruments to do things Dr McCoy did in his Sick bay..

Some will still say Star Trek was a dumb show.. but not to those who it inspired to invent "gadgets" such as cordless phones that led to cell phones...just because they saw a communicator on Trek and then wondered if it could be made "real"!! It was a good show, Bill was actually funny as he hosted the show.

After all the sci-fi stuff on the History channel Grey's Anatomy came on!! (George is so cute..even with his chop job hair cut lol)

I can't remember the last time there was more then one hour in a row of good television worth watching! So, all in all.. a good t.v. night!

As I sit here writing this, the television is on (it's always on for company even when i pay no attention to it) with the news, talking about the Tornadoes parts of the country had...as I grow older I swear it gets scarier and scarier ..not knowing where is even safe to live anymore. I think I just remembered why I hate the News.

Patricks Saturday Six Episode 100 !

1. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #79 from Cat: If you could trade places with one person in your family for a week, who would you choose? And would you want to trade as they are now, or sometime in the past (or future)?

Hard question when you don't have much of a family to begin with.. so, thinking hard on this I guess I would say my mother, back when she was young and first married to my father. I say this because i never met or knew him and it would at least let me know him a little.

2. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #80 from De: What were you doing 1 year ago this month, and are you more or less satisfied with your life today?

Not much has changed. My brother's health has declined so I have more to do for him.. so more depressed over it all. Satisfied? Well, as they say the alternative would be worse so i guess i take what i can get.

3. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #81 from Lisa: Do you prefer watching television over surfing the internet?

Another hard choice.. i love love love movies. But even with so many channels many times none are on.. so it's really about 50/50.

4. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #82 from Antonette: Outside of the U.S., where would you live and why?

Hmmm, never thought of living anywhere except the U.S.and I've never visited any to say that's where i'd like to be. I guess i'd just say anywhere that there are beautiful mountains and forests.

5. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #83 from Elton: When you leave your home, do you ever feel paranoid that you've left something behind?

Nope.. never think about it. But sure hate it when I discover I did leave something that i needed.

6. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #84 from Laura: What song or songs would you want played at your own funeral and why?

First off I don't plan on having a "funeral".. but if i did, let them play what they want.. I won't be there to hear it!

A Little More on Being a Writer.. then I'll hush up!

I guess my "whats a writer" post stirred Karen up enough to make a whole post on it. When I read it I found myself zooming in on certain sentences, so i copy and pasted them here along with flashes of thoughts that went thru my head as i read them.

The real test of writing is whether complete works are actually being produced, at a level of quality likely to attract readers. The degree to which the writer is inspired, driven, or even previously published is irrelevant

Ok, I can see the part about producing a finished piece of work, be it a book or an article. I just wonder how one knows it's of a quality likely to attract readers? I think we can all agree that, similiar to a movie or a painting, the attractivness is in the eye of the beholder. So.. just because "I" like it doesn't really mean it is a quality others will be attracted to. So how does one know?
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A would-be writer who waits for inspiration will probably produce very little of value.

The words in this sentence that flew out to me were very little of value.
But I then question: who determines what is of value and what isn't?
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A writer who writes compulsively suffers from a mental disorder called hypergraphia,

Ahhhh !! This may well be an answer I have needed to know! Thank you, thank you, thank you Karen! It may well be the crux of all the questioning I have done about what is a writer!!

I once shared a home with another female who would tell anyone who would listen that "so and so launched her career as a writer, " and consistantly referred to herself as "a career writer".

Once, years prior to our meeting (when she was a teenager, and she was in her 40's when we were roomies) she wrote a story and sent it to an actor. The actor in turn had it put in a magazine, thus she had claim to the title "writer". However, it was not written with intent of being published, SHE did not seek out publication,.. it was all luck. (Also she was never paid for the piece)

From teenage to 40, still claiming to be a writer.. she wrote only in her journals. No articles, no books... just journals. Private, hand written journals. So, I ask.. did she really have claim to the title of career writer?
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And someone who is deterred from writing by the belief that she doesn't have the right stuff is throwing away the chance to be proven wrong.

I know where this line came from, and I can only speak for myself, that I was never deterred from writing.. but from seeking an agent or publication. Probably because good is not good enough, neither is very good.. only excellence is accepted. (well, ya ain't gunna get it from someone who only got thru high school lol) Add to the fact that at my age I've had my fill of "not being good enough".. so the thought of the rejection letters sits a might uneasy.
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After that, unless you really only have one story you want to tell (and probably even then), you need to write something else, or at least something more.

And if lightening only strikes once? And what is More? Is is writing in journals? Is it writing many letters? What if it's YEARS between writings because... maybe life has to bring the wisdom or the will or whatever it took to come out and write the first time??
***************

assuming you have at least a modicum of literacy and good judgment.

Utoh, lol.. that pretty much leaves me out LOL.. I think I have decent common sense, but that doesn't mean it's good judgment lol..
****************

But you'll never get there, for sure, if you don't write it, or don't finish it, or don't try to sell it.

Hey! two outta three ain't bad! lol.. sorry.. getting silly now lol.. It's a very true statement, but if i read Karen right.... you can be a writer and not be an author.. but if you want to be an author you must do "part 3"(sell it)...

Oh, the horror of it all..

The cat pictured above is Winkey...I want you to take a good look at her.

Cute huh? Big beautiful eyes, gorgeous fuzzy fur...she only has 3 1/2 legs, but that's how she was when she came knocking at the door here as a stray. Her coat is like silk.....innocent looking wouldn't you say?

Take a better look.

You are looking at the face of a killer cat! Yep.. she made her first spring kill today! The weather here in New Jersey suddenly turned spring-like so i opened a few windows for a while. (my mistake) In came a fly! (A fly? In March? gawd.)

Although she is overly fed real cat food, Winkey went into Hunting mode..

She stalked.. she jumped.. she batted (she probably even cursed some!) until she got that fly under her furry little paw... and then.. and then.. (gross) SHE ATE IT! Aggggggggggg! And I was witness to it all!

I took this picture of her as she indulged herself by getting into a favorite sleeping spot after her heroic kill. She sure looks pure and innocent, but don't let that sweet face fool you... there's a real killer lurking inside!

Yesterday..

Yesterday evening I had a really nice conversation with Karen ( Mavarin ). Our chat began about Fantasy Fiction Books, it also ended about books. (just to prove women CAN retain the subject matter at hand).

In between Fantasy Books we also talked about Writing, and thoughts on What is a Writer?. Which made me retire with the thought in mind to do a little more research on the matter.
The first thing I did was to find the definition of the word Writer and I came up with the following.

Writer \Writ"er\, n. [AS. wr[imac]tere.] [1913 Webster] 1. One who writes, or has written; a scribe; a clerk.

2. One who is engaged in literary composition as a profession; an author; as, a writer of novels.

Writer's cramp, Writer's palsy or Writer's spasm (Med.), a painful spasmodic affection of the muscles of the fingers, brought on by excessive use, as in writing, violin playing, telegraphing, etc. Called also scrivener's palsy.
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which led me to this: related: Synonyms: author More general: communicator, literate, literate person
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Continuing my search I came across quotes about Writers

"Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers." George Eliot

How can I believe in God when just last week I got my tongue caught in the roller of an electric typewriter? Woody Allen

The cure for writer's cramp is writer's block. Inigo DeLeon

Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamp post how it feels about dogs. Christopher Hampton

A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people. Thomas Mann

For a true writer each book should be a new beginning where he tries again for something that is beyond attainment. He should always try for something that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. Then sometimes, with great luck, he will succeed. Ernest Hemingway

Reporter: A writer who guesses his way to the truth and dispels it with a tempest of words. Ambrose Bierce

A good writer is not necessarily a good book critic. No more so than a good drunk is automatically a good bartender. Jim Bishop
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I was told once, by a friend who is a published author a few times over, that if you don't burn to write, don't even bother to try to get something published. I pretty much took this to heart, as it wasn't the first time I heard it. But I sometimes wonder how true it is.

It's also said that everyone has a story. I believe that to be a very true statement. So, if i think of that.. then is it really true you have to burn to be a writer if there is maybe but one story inside of you to come out?

I was once in conversation with an old schoolmate. We both suffer with depression . After emailing for a time this schoolmate said to me.. we might make each other more depressed if we keep this up, why don't you write me a short story and then we can discuss it, and keep our minds temporarily free of depression.


For reasons i cannot explain, I began to write a fantasy story. No biggie.. just some little tale. After all, way back when I was in school, I was pretty good at BSing my way thru 500 word essays, or 1,500 word term papers etc. I should be able to bs enough for some short Fairy Tale.

What I didn't expect was to enjoy it.

What I didn't expect was after having a few friends inquire what I was up too, and when telling them I was writing a little fantasy story, they asked to read it .

What I didn't expect was positive response of enjoyment.

What I didn't expect was encouragement to continue and make it longer by asking questions that it left them with.

What I didn't expect was someone saying, Thank you for sharing your world with me.

I began and ended the short story in a reasonably short amount of time. (Senior Moment of recalling exact amounts of time) There was enough encouragement and asking me to continue what I had started, that I took a look at it and said something to the effect of it was a good idea because I didn't want to let go of the characters I had created.

3 years later I had written enough words to fill a small Trilogy. (I had researched some information on writing books and each had the word count to be considered a book)

I didn't set out to become a writer.

I didn't set out to write a book or to become an author.

So.. Where did this phenomenon come from and why? What am I? Is there a name for someone who writes but does not actively seek out an agent or publisher? And why can't I let it rest? Why do these characters stay in my head?

I don't feel like a writer. As I read the definitions I can't really put myself in any of those categories. Maybe because to "me".. a writer is someone either getting paid to write, or at the very least trying to be published.

Possibly, it's a very individual thing. What is your definition of a writer?

More answers..

sassydee50 asked me another question. (glutton for punishement hehe)

Now what made you decide to get into animal rescue and all those photos?

Ummm.. I'm not sure what you mean by animal rescue.. if you mean how did i get to help out at Shambala Preserve in California, well I knew someone who did volunteer work there and when i moved there asked if i could help .. wound up helping out for a few years before the earthquake made me stick closer to home lol.

And as for photography.. hmmm, i'm not a photographer by any sense of the word LOL.. i just had my camera and zoom lens and take (took) lots pictures lol.

Then am4039 questioned: Is Kevin Sorbo a nice guy?

Yep, I'm glad to say he was very nice. Though I do think he's changed some over the years. When he first began conventions as "Hercules" he was almost shy of all the attention. That seems to have faded away lol. But then, now he's a daddy a few times over which he was proud to show me the new baby pics of his 2 week old baby girl named Octavia.

Wonderful things these digital cameras, Kevin whipped out the camera and started showing off pictures that were still in the camera! haha..

Oh by the way here's some updated news on Kevin: Kevin will star in a remake of the 1970's movie "Walking Tall" - set to start shooting in January 2006!

And Betty asked yet another question !

"Pat, how does one find out about autograph shows? I've lived in several different areas and have never heard about them where I live and I actively read the paper for events such as this, etc.

You can always do a search under autograph conventions or sci fi conventions or autograph shows. When you find them you will notice that some shows are always in the same place once or twice a year.. others have shows in different states through out the year.

My going to these type shows began in Florida when I lived there. Vulcon advertised doing a Sci-Fi Convention and they were having a guest.. it was George Takai (Sulu) of Star Trek.. just for the heck of it I went with my youngest son Tom.

As we sat in the restaraunt at the hotel having coffee in walked Sulu (George) and his friends, they sat close to us and .. you know the old saying oflaugh and the world laughs with you?.. Well.. George laughed at something. I can promise you that you have never heard such a laugh in your life! My son and I got hysterical laughing at his laugh until i was crying! That was all it took.. I was hooked lol lol. I can still start laughing just thinking of his laugh!

It was also Vulcon's "Sea Trek" (a convention on a ship) where I first met DeForest.. and the rest of that is "history".

Here is a list of some websites you can check out..

http://www.farthestreaches.com/autographshows.htm (NASA/ astronauts.. if you go to a show to get autographs of Astronauts have lots and lots and lots of money!)

http://www.tzconvention.com/

http://www.creationent.com/calendar.htm

http://www.worldfantasy.org/

http://www.dragoncon.org/

http://www.vulkon.com/upcoming.htm

http://www.geocities.com/leecoke/index.html (this is a list of book signings but also at the bottom of the page it lists conventions)

http://www.supermegashow.com/

http://www.showstopperstars.com/

http://www.monstermania.net/

http://www.hollywoodcollectorshow.com/ (this is the show i helped at when in CA)

http://www.dragoncon.org/

http://www.chillertheatre.com/ (this is the show I've helped at in NJ)

http://www.autographcollector.com/shows.htm (just found this one.. it lists shows in many states)

I was asked a question..

The other day in comments Sassy asked me what I did when i lived in California that I met so many actors... well.... my work had absolutely nothing to do with my meeting them!

I was a Receptionist/ Secretary for an Insurance Company for most of the time I lived there with the exception of a job I had for several months being a phone representative for a computer program.

For the last 3 years of my job with the insurance company the supervisor did all she could to make my life miserable hoping that i would quit. But since I have nothing but a high school education, plus the fact i was in my 50's, I wasn't about to leave... So for 3 years i cried each morning before I went to work. And after they finally found a way to fire me (everyone had to reapply for their jobs ..along with added work of course.. and they said i wasn't qualified.) I had a job that was very enjoyable. Working for a computer program called Traffic School To Go. Two people were Entrepreneurs and I was their only phone representative for several months, then they merged with another company and wanted someone who spoke Spanish as well as English.. so i lost that job. After that it was downhill.. no one wants to hire an old person. I won't go into it as it's too depressing.

Anyway, while there i went to many conventions and got to know most of the Star Trek people (since I already knew DeForest..) and then Autograph Shows popped up. I began to go to them and helped out a few dealers. The people running the show got to know me and eventually began asking me to help some of the "guests".. I think the first person I helped was Gordon Scott, he played Tarzan in the 1960's...

After that I helped a number of others including Dorothy DeBorba of the Little Rascals,

and Lou Ferrigno (The Hulk) I made this out of 3 photos I have of Lou...

(have to show this one.. tough job, but ya know.. I hadda help!)


and others including those I wrote of that have passed away.

Here in New Jersey I did help Ron Harper, a television actor who would be best remembered in the following television shows: "Land of the Lost" (1974) TV Series .... Uncle Jack
"Garrison's Gorillas" .... Lt. Craig Garrison
"Wendy and Me" (1964) TV Series .... Jeff Conway
"87th Precinct" (1961) TV Series .... Det. Bert Kling


And then there is Kevin McCarthy.. who i adore. he just turned 91 yrs young.




And the last show, as you know if you read my journal, I helped Kevin Sorbo (Hercules/ Andromeda)
(another of those tough jobs..heh)

I've been asked if there is anyone I wouldn't help at one of the autograph shows and the answer is .... Ooooooo, yessssssss.. you couldn't PAY me to help Gary Busey or David Carridine. 'Nuff said.

Patricks Monday Make Good

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
Name up to seven books you own that you've read more than once.


Can I just laugh now? I just posted my books for Scalzi's Monday Photo Shoot! Take another look at them! I've read them ALL more then once, many more then twice, and plan to read them again!

I can't even pick out favorites! The fact that I keep them and re read them makes them all favorites at one time or another!

My main reason for reading fantasy (besides being able to leave the "real world") is Characters. If a book has characters that I find interesting or lovable or funny (etc. etc) I'm hooked! Then, I don't want to let them go. I want the author to keep writing using the characters so they remain in my life! So it goes to figure, the more books that author puts out using them.. the more I keep reading them!

I cringe when a character I like dies. But always hold out hope that since it's a fantasy and lots of wizardly things going on.. that maybe.. hopefully.. they will return somehow.

Fantasy books pretty much are always good against evil stories, of one sort or another. They contain the likes of Fairies, and Gnomes, and Wizards and who knows what else.. and they always manage to take me away from where I am. And that's something I will always be grateful for.



I have been known from time to time, to dabble in a little reality though. If you looked closely at the books below you will see a few books about our space program. "Moonshot" is one of my favorites.

I've talked about how I feel about the space program before and how much the astronauts are my real life heroes. So that pretty much says why I've read some of those books.







Occasionally, I read a biography too. If I have an interest in the person it is about. One of my favorites there is "An Open Book" by John Huston (Director/ movie actor/ father of Angelica Huston)













But my very first ever re-over book was J R R Tolkien's The Hobbit. And I can safely say I read it more then twice before I went on to The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I was so in love with this book that my first purchase was in paperback.. my second purchase of it was in hard back, and my THIRD purchase of it was a special edition which included Tolkien's own artwork of it.

All in all, I want to talk and fly on dragons, fall madly in love with Belgarth the Sorcerer (among others!) , and live happily ever after in Hobbiton! Think I can do that?

... Ya think?

Scalzi's Monday Photo Shoot..

Your Monday Photo Assignment: Your Bookshelf

So, what are you reading? I want the visual evidence:Your Monday Photo Assignment: Show us what's in your bookshelf right now.

This weeks assignment for John is to take a picture of your "reading material" (you can't fool me he's hoping to see his books: The Ghost Brigades and Old Man's War somewhere on your shelf! Sorry John, I read Fantasy not Sci Fi.. I promise however to go see it in the movies if they make it there. I love watching Sci Fi !)

Well, my books are sorta scattered since i live in one small bedroom of the home of my brother and David. There were in boxes for ages but the basement started getting damp so i had to try to squeeze them where i can.. piled high and higher in my room. But here they are! You wanted 'em.. you got'em!


A few of these containers have the same amount of books behind them as you are able to see...heh.. I also tend to reread my favorites.. which are most of what you see.

Right now I am reading Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman's book "Dragons of Summer Flame". It's another book that ties into the Dragonlance series. (Fantasy/ Fiction)

What?! No Wheaties?

I guess i needed a smile today, so I opened an email sent to me by my "x" sister in law, and found this joke.. now, I don't normally pass jokes on but something about it made me really chuckle.. so.. I am going to post it here.

Right after I complain about Shop Rite grocery store NOT HAVING MY WHEATIES BOX WITH APOLO OHNO ON IT! Aggggggggggg! Now I will probably never get it! I wasn't going to do it as a "collection" thing. I just wanted to cut the front panel off and keep it lol.. dang.. i was ticked off to see old baseball players on the boxes when the Olympics should have been on them! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Oh, and did anyone see the Oscars? My "twin" Lily Tomlin was on! And she got to appear with Meryl Streep!! They were the best of the whole show!!

Is it me or did they just not seem as glamorous as they have other years? For reasons I don't understand the whole show just didn't have ... something.. i am not sure what. But I didn't even think the set was nice.

If you watched it let me know your favorite or most unfavorite part...

Ok.. done with the rant and the Oscars.... here's the email that was sent to me.. a conversation between God and Eve...

"God, I have a problem."
"What's the problem, Eve?"
"I know that you created me and provided this beautiful garden and allof these wonderful animals, as well as that hilarious comedic snake, butI'm just not happy."
"And why is that Eve?"
"God, I am lonely, and I'm sick to death of apples."
"Well, Eve, in that case, I have a solution. I shall create a man for you."
"Man...what is that, God?"
"A flawed creature, with many bad traits. He'll lie, cheat and be vain.All in all, he'll give you a hard time. But he'll be bigger, faster and like to hunt and kill things. I'll create him in such a way that he will satisfy your physical needs. He will be witless and will revel in childish things like fighting and kicking a ball about. He won't be as smart as you, so he will also need your advice to think properly."
"Sounds great," says Eve, with ironically raised eyebrows, "but is there a catch?"
"Well.....you can have him on one condition. "
"What is that God?""
"As I said, he'll be proud, arrogant and self admiring..... so you'll have to let him believe that I made him first. And it will have to be our little secret........ you know, woman to woman."

A Day of Remembering..

Today is the day of the Oscars. Where they celebrate the new movies and the stars that are in them and the people that make them happen. We don't see the producers and few directors. We don't see all the people that make the special effects or the lighting or the camera people. But they are celebrated just the same.

Lately some of my posts have been mentioning actors that have recently passed away. And so I choose to take today to think of three actors that I had the privledge to work with in California, that also have passed away.

I never got to know them as well as I knew DeForest but I did have quality time talking with them and getting to know them . All three of them I grew to care about and always looked forward to seeing them again.

The first one is Norman Fell....

To many he was the ever funny Mr. Roper on Three's Company. I have one thing to say before I give you information on him from IMDb.com, and that is: he was just as funny in person! With only a facial change Norman could make you laugh, and he did this readily when he was in public doing an autograph show. A strange thing.. i never realized his birthday was the same day as mine (same DAY, not the same year! Though I think I feel like it) until I looked him up for the following information.

Date of birth ...24 March 1924Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Date of death .....14 December 1998Woodland Hills, California, USA. (cancer)

Norm, as his friends called him, is listed in 152 appearances in television and movies
Norman Fell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1924. He graduated from Temple University with a bachelor's degree in drama. During World War II, he was an Air Force tail gunner in the Pacific. After the war, he studied acting and obtained small parts in television and on stage. His first regular TV appearance was in the comedy series "Joe & Mabel" (1955). His best known TV role was that of Stanley Roper, the landlord in the very popular "Three's Company" (1977), which debuted in 1977, and its short lived spin-off, "The Ropers" (1979).
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The second person I am remembering today is Dan O'Herlihy. He is probably most remembered as the lizard in The Last Starfighter, named Grig


What a nice man he was. He enjoyed talking to everyone and was the proud father of Gavin O'Herlihy, who is also an actor, and another son who is an Architect.
Date of birth......1 May 1919....Wexford, Ireland Date of death .....17 February 2005Malibu, California, USA. (natural causes)

Dan was listed as being in 126 movies or television shows...The Last Starfighter (1984) .... GrigRobinson Crusoe (1954) .... Robinson Crusoe were his most popular roles.
Dan earned a degree in architecture from the National University of Ireland. Later he took minor roles at Dublin's Abbey Theatre. He was spotted there by movie director Carol Reed, who cast him in "Odd Man Out".

Michael Druxman, a close friend, said he was famed for his sense of humor. He recalled him wearing his lizard costume while driving home from the studio after filming his role as a friendly reptilian alien in The Last Starfighter.

Father of actor Gavan O'Herlihy.and of architect Lorcan O'Herlihy
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The third and final actor was the one of the three that I knew best, having had the privledge of helping him at a number of shows. His name is Jonathan Harris. Jonathan had a wonderful sense of humor and would make me laugh the whole day we were together. Johnathan and his family lived in Encino, not far from where I lived. He told me once that the house he lived in was thevery house that Walt Disney had built for his daughter.

I had received a letter from Jonathan telling me he was coming to do a show here in New Jersey and he would see me in a few days.. when I went to the show he wasn't there. I heard he had gone into the hospital... and he died the next day.


Date of birth ......6 November 1914Bronx, New York, USA Date of death ......3 November 2002Encino, California, USA. (blood clot in the heart)

Born Jonathan Charasuchin in the Bronx to impoverished Russian-Jewish émigrés, Jonathan Harris worked as a box boy in a pharmacy at age 12 and later earned his pharmacy degree at Fordham University. The desire to act proved overwhelming, however, and he forsook this promising trade for the theater, shaking off his thick Bronx accent and changing his surname to one easier to pronounce. After performing in over 100 plays in stock companies nationwide, he made his Broadway bow in 1942 with "Heart of a City" and entertained WWII troops in the South Pacific.

Following his introduction to live television drama in 1948, he ventured off to Hollywood and made his film debut, co-starring with Alan Ladd and James Mason in Botany Bay (1953). However, it was TV that would make him a household name - first as Bradley Webster in "The Third Man" (1959) opposite Michael Rennie, and then the role that made him a cult icon, Dr. Zachary Smith, the dastardly, effete stowaway on "Lost in Space" (1965), with Harris easily stealing the show week after week as he botched and mangled all the good intentions of the Robinson family to get back home to Earth. Unable to top this achievement and seriously typecast as a plummy villain, the remainder of his career was spent with great relish providing voice-over work in commercials and animated cartoons.

I miss these people, there was a time they entered my life and made me happy to have had the chance to know them.

And the point is?

In a little while I will be going grocery shopping with David. I have found that each time I do this (once a month) it scares the living beegeebies out of me.

Many times my mind wonders, how the heck did we get to this point? A point where many of the people living in America can't afford food. A point where people have to make choices like, do I eat or get medicine?

If my, not very good ,memory recalls anything about American history.. when people arrived here from other countries and found the American Indian, they bartered with them. (later they bartered them right out of nearly everything they owned, but that's a whole other story) Back then, there was no Money involved.

Yet today, money has nearly become matter of fact .. i mean think about it.. the huge salaries sports figures and actors get. More money then they could ever spend in a life time, and .. and.. they keep getting MORE.

Don't get me wrong. They have a talent not everyone has. They too work hard for a salary... it's just that the salary is way out of hand.

We really can't compare Apples and Oranges, yet you see it all the time..: re: a teacher or fireman should make more then a football player. I don't think that's really what's wrong... What's wrong is how was it ever allowed to get out of hand? Why wasn't there some sort of cap on the salary ? Why has it come to a point where, more and more this land is producing either Millionaires or Poverty stricken people? Middle class has all but disappeared.

Middle class now means that in any given family, both have to work. Both...which means, no more mother at home for the children. If they choose to stay at home with their family over "money"..they find their self in that poverty level.

There's just so much I don't understand. And it seems money is at the root of most all of it.

For instance, medicine and the cost of. I don't get it.

When did discovering a medicine that aids other human beings become big business instead of a case of helping other human beings?? Doctors.. used to care. Now they are taught NOT to care, don't get involved in feelings at all.. Old time doctors knew every patient and everything that ailed them... WITHOUT reading a file. Even back when I was a kid I never heard a doctor ask: what medicines do i have you on? They didn't ask because they KNEW. Again.. money pushes them.. get the patient in and out for the next one.. the more i see the more money i make... and they do this because? Because the alternative is to care, have less patients and wind up not so well off for all their efforts. What's wrong with this picture?

Strange isn't it? Gosh, I can hardly wait to go grocery shopping so i can see all the stuff I can no longer afford...

Tidbits

Jiminy Crickets.. it snowed ... again!

The forecasters can't make up their mind if we will get 1-3 inches or 3-6 inches. I'm thinking maybe they should forget predicting the "amount" and just stick to the fact that it's going to snow or rain or whatever..sheesh

I have to admit, that although i could very easily live without snow... the few times that it snows big flakes, and there's no wind, so that it comes straight down.. it really is beautiful. It did that for a short time earlier, now its small flakes again. The roads are beginning to get covered so I guess we'll get more then flurries. (darn) However, there is a chance it will turn to rain too... that would be good..no shoveling involved lol.

To change the subject...

Take a look at this!!!!!

That cutie pie, Apolo Ohno went and got himself on the Wheaties Box!! Dang, now I have to buy some Wheaties! I hope that box is in stores around my area!

The breakfast of Champions.. well.. yeahrightsure, that may work for 23 yr olds like Apolo, but why do I think it ain't about to do anything for this old bod? heh. As far as I know, there has yet to be any miracle food for restoring old bodies. But, if one comes out ... I'll be first in line!

Well, I started this early and got distracted, so now it's evening.. and the "inches" of snow was a washout! Oh yes, we are happy about that!! We got some rain in with the snow so all that is on the street is some slush.. but that will be dangerous tonight as it freezes.. so I hope anyone in the area of this weather drives safe!!

I guess I should have mentioned more that Darren McGavin did when i posted his passing.. many people BEING MUCH YOUNGER THAN I.. of course didn't know about Riverboat. Truthfully, I don't know why that show jumped into my mind! I mean.. it wasn't like it was just last year! lol.. anyway, Karen did remind me that he was the father in "A Christmas Story". Now that movie I know many of you know!

Weeelllll.... poop. *sigh am4039 let me know in comments that Jack Wild died on March 1st. His major claim to fame was as a child actor.. he played the artful dodger in Oliver. He was 53 and died of cancer. Dang it... now there will be two more I hear of! Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. At least maybe I won't hear of them until the Oscars in the Memory part. Gads, I hope this is it. (but I said that already didn't I?!)

This post sure relates to the title of my journal, "Here, There, and Everywhere".. what a hodgepodge! And to top that I didn't even post it yesterday when I wrote it. It must be a moon thing, sigh.