Reflection and Changes

It's that time of year--when we spend moments in reflection of the past year in order to create our goals and plan the changes we wish to make in the following months.

In honor of change... a little music.

Wizards in Winter--Happy Holidays!

Maddux Lights - Wizards in Winter from Joshua on Vimeo.

Hark the Herald Gutenberg

Hark! the Herald Angels Sing. The words to this traditional Christmas hymn were written by Charles Wesley and first appeared in 1739 in Hymns and Sacred Poems.

In 1840 Felix Mendelssohn was commissioned to create a cantata to celebrate the quarter centenary of the invitation of movable type printing, by Johanes Gutenburg. An excellent moment in time to celebrate to my reader/author mind. It's quite a stirring piece, I guess. :)

Finally English musician William H. Cummings adapted the music to fit the lyrics we know so well.

Here's part of the original cantata

Hallelujah Flash Mob

Cowboys & Aliens

Finally--a mix of two things I love!
Cowboys and Aliens. Starring Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig.
Watch the trailer here.

I'm makin' candlesticks

I think.

Writers like to categorize ourselves--the most common monikers being plotter and pantser. Here's a great blog defining us in other, unique ways--The butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker.

http://writerunboxed.com/2010/10/29/the-butcher-the-baker-the-candlestick-maker/

Which one are you?

Puzzled over Star Wars?

Take the Star Wars puzzle challenge. http://www.starwars.com/games/playnow/puzzle/

But don't spend too much time there. Surely there's other things you should be doing.

SplurgenShitter

Fave youtube of the week--writer's time management

November 3--National Start! Eating Healthy Day

Start! Eating Healthy Day signifies the dedication of the American Heart Association's Start! initiative and its partners (such as Subway Restaurants) to the health and wellness of every community.

Start! is the American Heart Association's national initiative calling on all Americans to create a culture of physical activity and health to live longer, heart-healthier lives.

Visit http://www.startwalkingnow.org/ and download free tools like the Holiday Healthy Eating Guide. And look for your local Start! Heart walk.

NaNo Day 2--Music to Cheer You On

Cranky!

It's National Cranky Co-Worker Day. Now, I don't know if that means you need to join them in their crankiness or simply be understanding. Or avoid them.

A couple days ago I was one of those cranky co-workers--although a good deal of the attitude was for fun. In my guise as the lunch lady, I work hard planning meals I think my kids would enjoy--and trying out new items to vary our menus. However, there's a couple classes this year who have a thing for the alternative main dish--peanut butter sandwiches. On this day, way too many kids chose peanut butter, even when I explained the main item was one of their favorites (pizza) simply in a different form.

I should know better.

I frowned and told the kids I was cranky since they wouldn't try my good food. Yeah, like that worked. "But I like peanut butter." And, in truth, better they eat a pb&j rather than nothing!

The next day, one of the kindergarteners asked me if I was still cranky. I made a silly face and said 'no', and was rewarded with a smile.

So, be kind and understanding to your cranky co-worker today. The reason may be nothing more than a peanut butter sandwich!

Today is also the National Day of Meditation. A good way to counteract the crankies. And help them, and yourself, feel calmer and more in tune with your surroundings.

Whichever day you plan to celebrate, enjoy.

Playing for Change--Song Around the World--Stand By Me

Stand By Me from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

Playing For Change
Song Around The World

Favorite Blog of the THIS Week

And it's only Monday!

The Write Soul-- Learning How To Swim Over The Internet.

Photo credit: click from morguefile.com

This is gonna be a great week!

Favorite Blog of the Past Week

Nathan Bransford is away from his blog for the week and has had some excellent guest bloggers.
This blog, by Quill, 'Writing Practice, What Works For me' is filled with great possibilities. Well worth the time to take a look!

Make sure you read Scooter Carlyle's comment!

Unadilla Hog Hunks--The Bartling Brothers

Remember these brothers? Muscles, hair, smiles, hair, book covers, hair?

Today the Lincoln Journal Star has an update of the Unadilla hog farmers.

Check the article out here

As a teaser..."Jim, 44, lives on the farm near Unadilla. He's divorced and has two sons -- one a student at Doane, the other being recruited to wrestle at Ohio State.
He and his sons work out most nights at the gym the brothers built in Unadilla.
And for the record: Jim recently did 52 wide-grip pullups. He bench-pressed 225 pounds 40 times without stopping. (His chest: 51 inches.)"

The Bartling brother past wasn't all that long ago for romance authors and readers. It's great fun to catch see waht they're up to now!

Word Smile Day 2010

One day in 1963, Harvey Bell, a commercial artist from Worchester, Massachusetts created the smiley face. We all know how commercial the smiley has become, and worried about that prospect, Harvey declared the first Friday in October to be National Smile Day.

Smiley faces know no politics, no geography, no religion and for at least one day a year, neither should we.

Since the first Friday of October, 1999, we've been celebrating World Smile Day. Dedicate yourself this year to this one day of smiles and acts of kindness.

Click on the poster and visit the official World Smile Day site.

Rude? Or Not?

Not being a fan of the highly overrated young man, I think this is hilarious. But I can just imagine the number of girls wearing this tee shirt, little pink hearts and all.

Beware of the Book

A proclamation for this week...

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is essential to our democracy, and reading is among our greatest freedoms; and

WHEREAS, privacy is essential to the exercise of that freedom, and the right to privacy is the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one's interest examined or scrutinized by others; and

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is protected by our Constitution; and

WHEREAS some individuals, groups, and public authorities work to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label "controversial" views, to distribute lists of "objectionable" books or authors, and to purge libraries of materials reflecting the diversity of society; and

WHEREAS, both governmental intimidation and the fear of censorship cause authors who seek to avoid controversy to practice self-censorship, thus limiting our access to new ideas; and

WHEREAS, every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of American society and leaves it less able to deal with controversy and difference; and

WHEREAS, Americans still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression, and can be trusted to exercise critical judgment, to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe, and to exercise the responsibilities that accompany this freedom; and

WHEREAS, intellectual freedom is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture; and

WHEREAS, conformity limits the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend; and

WHEREAS, the American Library Association's Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year as a reminder to Americans not to take their precious freedom for granted; and

WHEREAS, Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them.

It's banned books week 2010. 
There are many lists of banned books--and many reasons people find to ban them. Me? I'm all for banning the people who think they can decide what I can read. I understand some issues may not be politically correct in this 'enlightened' age...but books--even fiction, maybe especially fiction--contain our history. If we hide or ignore that history, what is to become of our future?


Here's a list for your perusal. How many of these were assigned to you for reading in high school and college? As a Nebraskan, I'm surprised at the Willa Cather books listed!

1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
6. Ulysses by James Joyce
7. Beloved by Toni Morrison
8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
9. 1984 by George Orwell
10. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
11. Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov
12. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
13. Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
14. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
16. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
17. Animal Farm by George Orwell
18. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
19. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
20. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
21. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
22. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
23. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
24. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
25. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
26. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
27. Native Son by Richard Wright
28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
29. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
30. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
31. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
32. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
33. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
34. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
35. Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
36. Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin
37. The World According to Garp by John Irving
38. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
39. A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
40. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
41. Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally
42. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
43. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
44. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
45. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
46. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
47. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
48. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence
49. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
50. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
51. My Antonia by Willa Cather
52. Howards End by E. M. Forster
53. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
54. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
55. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
56. Jazz by Toni Morrison
57. Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
58. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
59. A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
60. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
61. A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor
62. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
63. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
64. Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence
65. Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
66. Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
67. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
68. Light in August by William Faulkner
69. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
70. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
71. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
72. A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
73. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
74. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
75. Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
76. Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
77. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
78. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein
79. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
80. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
81. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
82. White Noise by Don DeLillo
83. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
84. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
85. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
86. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
87. The Bostonians by Henry James
88. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
89. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
90. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
91. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
92. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
93. The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles
94. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
95. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
96. The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
97. Rabbit, Run by John Updike
98. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster
99. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
100. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie

The best thing to do during Banned Books Week? Go out and read!

T-Rex on the Interstate!

It was a calm, uneventful drive home from a food show in Grand Island. Until, at the Milford exit... a life sized T-Rex!

I'm sure I swerved a bit when I saw it. I hadn't heard of a dinosaur invasion. But, it appears there has been one--in the form of a Dinosaur Museum and Haunted House just to the south of the interstate.

It's kinda difficult to take a picture going 75 down the interstate, but when I got home I turned to a trusty search engine and found out all about this new Nebraska attraction.  Here's a bit from the news.



I'm pretty sure I'm going to be visiting!

Happy New Year--September Style

I 'celebrated' a birthday last weekend with friends and family. And a beautious angelfood cake with icing so sweet it made my teeth hurt. A wonderful time.

A friend, who also recently enjoyed a birthday, spoke of how she considers her birthday the start of a new year, a time to make changes and resolutions. I thought that a marvelous idea, really much better than starting anew on January first. There's just something about that time when everyone's making resolutions--knowing they're probably going to fail anyway.

Been there too many times--done that just about as many.

So, I'm taking Eve's words to heart. I've started a new year in my life, and it's going to be grand!

Making changes is hard. Concrete boots at the bottom of the river have nothing on the holding power of my current habits of procrastination and non-activity. I'll admit it. However, I have made steps in the right direction. And plans for more steps. One step at a time.

Don't cha just love platitudes?

Did you know there's only 100 days left in 2010? So, for one of my changes, I'm joining with others in my local RWA chapter, Heartland Writers Group, in a Power 100 Challenge to write at least 100 words a day for 100 days. Returning to a firm habit of daily writing will not only keep me on track as an author, but make my soul smile.

photo by John Shaver

Happy New Year!

Favorite Post of the Past Week

Nathan Bransford ~~ When Dreams Become Expectations

photo by John Shaver

A Song to Start Your Meowerning

Bubbles as good as Sparkles?

As a way of lifting prayers to heaven?
As a balm to the soul?
Brilliantly so!

Find out where *lizzie writes

Stop by the Classic Romance Revival blog and see where I do some of my writing.

I even cleaned up a bit for you.

Who Needs to Proofread?

Zombies Walk in Lincoln!

http://www.lincolnzombiewalk.com/lineup.html

Saturday August 28, 2010

I Write Romance!

Friday the 13th--Cake Wreck Style

One of my favorite places to visit online is to Cake Wrecks, where professional cake decorating takes on new, and delightfully sinister meanings.

Especially on this... Friday the 13th!

Writer friends will especially enjoy the TSTL aspects.

To realize a dream, you must have a dream to realize. -Mark Victor Hansen

Old Spice Spoof--Go to the Library!

My friend Mary the librarian (yes, Mary, not Marion--arrrgh, the musicals are running rampant in my head!) found this and I love it, so can't resist passing it on here!

Enjoy! And go to the library!

I can't resist...

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I Write Like...

With all the 'What (name of book or movie) Character Are You', and 'What's your fantasy/vampire/robot name' dohickies roaming around the web, here's a fun one for writers. Paste a bit of a WIP or blog into the analyzer and it'll tell you who you write like. I'm pretty sure this is based on word choice and sentence structure--things like that, but it's fun!

This write like is for work in progress Starway to Paradise.

go here!

I write like
Ray Bradbury

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

A Visit from Billie A. Williams

 Welcome to Starr Words, Billie! I'm so glad you're stopping here on your blog tour! 

And readers, don't forget to leave a comment to be eligible for prizes...

Each person who comments on your blog will have a chance to win either a  $100 note pad, a $100 pen, or a $100 bookmark magnet. (They all incorporate the hundred dollar bills into their design)

Everyone that comments and sends me their email address  (starrauthor@hormail.com) will receive a bookmark with the cover of Money Isn’t Everything and one lucky winner will get an autographed poster of the cover of Money Isn’t Everything.

For the readers/commenters Billie will draw one name from all the blog sites to get an autographed copy of the print version of Fin, Fur and Fatal another Mystery in the Zodiac Sleuths Series. (That is stateside – if the name drawn is overseas or Canada-- it will be a download version.)

 So comment away, m'friends!

And check out Billie's recipe at mz *lizzie cooks

And now, without further ado...

Dilemma: Entertainment or Donation to Your Favorite Charity In Today’s Economy? Why Choose, You Can Do Both.

Named best-seller by her publisher in May of 2010 Billie A Williams
donates 25% of her royalties to light up Amberg, Wisconsin for Christmas.

In today’s economy sometimes it’s a tossup between affordable entertainment and a charitable donation. Billie A Williams solves this dilemma with her, appropriately titled book, Money Isn’t Everything, released May 2010 by Wings ePress, Inc. Publisher, by donating twenty-five percent of each of her quarterly royalties to the Amberg Community Action Association she hopes to help buy Christmas decorations and lights for the streets of Amberg.

This is Williams twenty-ninth novel with two more scheduled for release one in July and one in September of 2010.

Money Isn’t Everything. It isn’t love, it isn’t security and it can’t buy loyalty. It can be a tool –OR—a murder weapon and it can be a donation to a worthy cause.

Best-selling, award-winning, multi-published author, are a few of the honors bestowed on Williams since her first published essay “Dandelion With Angel Wings,” hit the pages of Thema, Literary Magazine in the year 2000. Her first novel, Death by Candlelight, soon followed in 2001. More releases followed every year since, some under a pseudonym and they now total thirty-four, with five of the published books being nonfiction dedicated to the art and craft of writing.

Every one of her published books gives twenty-five percent of her royalties to a worthy
cause, charity or organization.

Money Isn’t Everything is available in bookstores, online, from the publisher or autographed copies from the author. Won’t you join her and help celebrate Christmas in Amberg. To learn more, check out her many releases and read some excerpts, go to http://www.billiewilliams.com

     MONEY ISN'T EVERYTHING,
               A Mary March Mystery/Suspence
May 2010 release
ISBN 978-1-59705-443-2 (electronic)978-1-59705-592-5 (print)
MARY MARCH is a CNA at Idle A While Nursing Home
When she discovers elder abuse and financial
mis-dealings, misappropriation of residents funds--
she puts on her sleuthing mind and sets out to find out
who, why and how. Dr. Tanner Irish and her friend
Penny Lane try to help. Jayde Blarney is out to see
none of them survive let alone spill the beans.


The next stop on Billie's blog tour is with author Janice Kaat!

Blog Tour Stop Tomorrow

Tomorrow, July 8th, author Billie A. Williams will be making a stop at Starr Words! Come on by and find out a little about Billie's love of giving--and mystery.

Flowers and Memories

When I moved last July, I dug up a few flowers to transplant at my new home. July in Nebraska is not an opportune time to be transplanting much of anything. Including people! But these were plants that came from my Grampa's garden, flowers that had moved with him as long as I can remember--and even before I had memories. So I couldn't leave them behind.

With fingers crossed, and my brother's help, we transplanted iris, daisies, peonies, and what my family has always called Burdetta lillies after my grandmother.

Knowing peonies take a couple of years to settle in when they're divided and transplanted under good conditions, I was delightfully surprised when one of my plants had a single blossom.

 Smaller than the mega blossoms next door, still, isn't it a beauty? For another brave Nebraska peony, take a look at Mary's beautiful blooms.

I didn't worry about the daisies. They're efficient growers and love to spread. That's what I'm counting on. 

Burdetta lillies--These are special, like the iris I posted about earlier, because they were part of the flowers my great grandfather helped plant along local highways. There are still a few places where the long ago plantings still bloom along the road, making a trip down a slower paced, shady highway a treat. I watched the area where I planted them carefully and hallelujah--they prospered and bloomed. 

 
With these flowers around me, memories of my grandparents are strong in my heart. The memories--and the flowers--will follow wherever I go!

**Photos courtesy of John Shaver

Nothing Else Matters

There are songs that stick with you forever. This is one of mine. I could put this music by Apocalyptica on an endless loop and listen over and over.

Missing Lost already!

chaos and stars

"One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star."

~~Nietzsche

Snuggies

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody [Original Version]

Amazing Creativity Tool

Chris Dunmire's Novelty Pen Writing Humor: The Amazing Creativity Tool (TACT)

Yellow Iris

The weather has been cool...to the point of seeing your breath in the early morning. 
and I have yellow flowers blooming in my yard.

But they're not dandelions. It's kinda early...

Thank you, Grampa, for the lovely reminder of your love.

Old Book--New Trailer

This book was fun to write--my first foray into non-fantasy romance. The story came about partially because everyone in my critique group at the time had characters with the same names--Logan, Mollie, Rachelle. So of course, I had to join them in using those names. 

The title, of course, comes from the song... so let's fall in love!

Pirates' Bane?

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Happiness

Happiness sneaks

through a door

you didn't know

that you left open.

~~John Barrymore

Free Fall-A Writer's Personal Journey

Somewhere around the beginning of the year, I started working on a new book. And suddenly ran into a ton of issues. Let me just say, it’s difficult to think clearly when your body decides to attack itself and there’s not enough healthy red blood cells to keep you from exhaustion and carry oxygen rich blood to your brain. Hemolytic anemia. With no apparent cause. Although this condition may have contributed to some of my unclear thinking... it’s only a small part of this year’s journey.

I love to learn new things. I’m excited to hear and understand other writers’ processes. How they plot. Come up with characters. Find interesting new worlds to write about. And then I’ll take bits and pieces and add them to my own way of doing things.

So when my local writers group, Heartland Writers Group, sponsored a weekend workshop featuring the Roses Colored Glasses Writing Bootcamp, I was there. Let me just say, no matter what your pre-writing routine is, this is a GREAT workshop. If you get a chance to work with Delilah Devlin and Elle James--take it. (In fact, the next online class is scheduled for May 31-June 26--An excellent way to start your summer writing!) Granted, my brain function wasn’t up to snuff, but I did come away with a good handle on this pre-writing process.

Then... I started to write.

One chapter. Had to start it a couple times, but finally, it got where I though it would do the job, and I could move on.


Second chapter. Ripped from me word by word. Even the word ‘the’ just would not come easily. Talk about over-thinking everything. A new idea...arrgh, the stress of trying to decide where in the tale it would best fit. I was taking forever just to write a paragraph.

Finally, after a stint in the hospital, I was diagnosed, medicated (don’t even get me started on steroids. They’re doing their job--but the side effects? I can deal. I can...as long as it gets me healthy again) and getting back to some sort of a functioning normalcy.


But my writing was still as bound up as an innocent in a torture chamber. When at a place like this, it is so difficult to see past the ‘can’t’. And oh too easy to wonder if I’d used up my share of talent. Yikes, did I have talent in the first place? Is there anything left?


Then RWA (Romance Writers of America) came to my rescue. The April 2010 issue of the Romance Writers Report arrived in my mailbox. The very first article, Jo Beverley’s Once More Into The Mist, spoke directly to what I needed to hear. It’s okay when pre-plotting doesn’t work.


She calls it ‘flying into the mist.’ I like that. Fits very well with my love of fantasy and paranormal romance. Jo first gave a talk about flying into the mist at the 1999 RWA conference. You can find the text here. It’s well worth reading.


The basics--there is no right way to write. Some authors do a ton of pre-writing work while others do a minimal start up and just get right into the story. I know this--but reading the words again, at this precise moment of time and need, was liberating. And a Jo states, a validation that my process and I are okay.


I’ve always considered myself a pantser--you know, just writing by the seat of my pants--although I do occasionally do a bit of pre-panning now. You kinda got to when so many tales are series related. Usually I’ll start with taking care to name my characters, think about a couple of things that I know need to happen, and let the tale flow from that. That’s what works for me.


Each of us has to find the process that helps us create the best stories we can. I admire folks who are able to pre-plot and then write. I will continue to listen to their processes and learn from them. Who knows, there may be a book in me that needs to be more plotted before I start. And I know how to do that plotting, how to arrange goals and conflicts with appropriate motivations. You never can tell when you might use those helpful skills.


But for right now--for Take a Keltic Chance--I need to set aside my preconceived notions and take a stand next to the mist. (or perhaps in this case it’s a place next to the world between worlds.) Spread my arms. Open my mind to the tale my characters need to tell. Take that leap of faith.


But instead of flying, I think I’ll free-fall awhile and see where the story takes me.

One of my favorite songs...

The tough guy way!

http://www.wimp.com/toughguys/

Feeling my Age--Part One

Yesterday I spent a little time browsing magazines at the store. And I came across a Tiger Beat. They still do Tiger Beat? Wow! So, I took a few moments to glance more closely at the cover.

Wait. Who's Justin? (Please, don't inundate me with who he is, or how cool. I get it, okay?) But, doesn't he look kinda like...

Well, maybe it's just my old eyes. Not that I enjoy 'dating' myself (Yes, I am a bit older than my profile picture) but thinking about Tiger Beat brought back some fond memories. Tiger Beat's been around since 1965 but didn't become truely popular until later in the 60's with The Monkees. I watched the Monkees on TV--my Dad let me choose one half hour of TV a week. I chose the Monkees. He, uh, didn't like them, so went to bed. That meant I got to watch Laugh-In as well. But that's another story.

I didn't really have to have my monthly issue of Tiger Beat until the early 70's though. That's when Donny started showing up on the cover. Along with Jack Wild, Bobby Sherman and David Cassidy. Folks remember David well for being a Partridge, but what about Bobby? He was the youngest brother on TV's Here Come The Brides.

But my favorite? Jack Wild.

Hey? Isn't that the same haircut?

For a brief history of Tiger Beat, visit here.

And Visit the current online issue!

Winter Doldrums

Everybody you talk to lately is down on winter. Too much snow. Too much cold. Too much fog. Snow days from school. No snow days. Slick streets. Potholes. When did my windshield washer fluid run out? Ah, there's an endless list of things to complain about.

But what does complaining get us?

Nothing. Except maybe a headache and another snow storm!

So, smile. Winter will be over eventually!

The Hokey Pokey

What if it is what it's all about?

Congratulations Sadie!

Ch. Roundtown Mercedes of Maryscot--or Sadie for short--Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show 2010. This beautiful little dog was a repeat terrier group winner, and winner of other prestigious Best in Shows over the past year. Sadie was my pick, too!

(AP Photo/Henry Ray Abrams)

And of course, congratuations to the other group winners...

Ch. Starline's Chanel--Whippet

Ch. Robobull Fabelhaft Im On Fire--French Bulldog

Ch. Cordmaker Field of Dreams--Puli

Ch. Willowick Tallteam--Brittany

Ch. Allure Blazing Star Alisaton--Doberman Pinscher

Ch. Smash JP Moon Walk--Toy Poodle

And now...I can give my remote punching finger a rest...it's back to the Olympics!

Which Julia said this?

"Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it"

                                ~~Julia Child

Will there be answers tomorrow??

Drawing Heaven

State of Emergency

City government here has declared a state of emergency...because of pot holes.

Uh, no duh. Anyone who's been out on any street knows the joy of zig zagging around alignment wracking holes. Oh, my poor tires. I took an alternate route home the other day and nearly lost my car in the grand canyon of potholes. Stretched from one side of the lane to the other, and of course on-coming traffic kept me in that dangerous lane.

So, personnel has been shifted so more crews can be out on the streets today, busily packing potholes with fresh asphalt. With the fix last? Until the next pass with a snowplow.


Drive safely no matter where you are...the pothole plague can strike anywhere!

Doctor?

Call me fangirl!

Batman 1966--the villain

The Riddler!

Batman 1966

My brother is a huge Batman fan...his man cave is full of collectibles and objects d'bat. His SUV has bat insignias--as does his arm.

So, how can I let this day pass without comment?

The TV series Batman premiered on this day in 1966. Happy day to all you Batman fans!

Does anyone know Batman's first arch nemesis? Check back later!

New Years Goal--a balanced diet

Happy Birthday Hugh Brannum

One of my favorite delights as a child was Captain Kangaroo. While I loved the exploits of Mr. Moose and Bunny Rabbit and thought the Captain was pretty cool with his big pockets and jingling keys... my favorite character was Mr. Green Jeans. Today would have been his 100th birthday.

Mr. Green Jeans always reminded me of my Grampa...so it's no wonder I related to him so well. And in remembering him today, it makes me wonder how much my belief in him shows up in the story characters running around in my head. I can't say I've written a character who is exactly like Mr. Green Jeans (or Grampa) but I'm sure that bits and pieces will continue to shine through now and again.

So, what do you think? How much do our childhood likes--and fears--reflect in our writing?

From TVAcres...Mr. Green Jeans - Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum starred as Mr. Green Jeans, the chief aide to Captain Kangaroo (Bob Keeshan) at the Treasure House on the children's program CAPTAIN KANGAROO/CBS/1955-84.


Mr. Green Jeans got his name from the clothes he wore (a green pair of farmer overalls), and because of his interest with the outdoors. He visited the Captain with a variety of interesting items including cute little animals.

Brannum also portrayed other characters on the show like The Professor, Greeno The Clown, The Old Folk Singer, and Mr. Bainter The Painter.

Before his long running role on CAPTAIN KANGAROO, Hugh Brannum had been the host of his own local New York show entitled UNCLE LUMPY'S CABIN that aired daily on ABC at 5:00PM from August to November 1951. The series was described in a letter to the New York Times as "a composite or synthesis of the old-time values we all like our children to know."

Earlier in his career Hugh had also created and narrated a weekly series of folksy "Little Orley" stories which orchestra leader Fred Waring used on his radio program in the 1940s.

Born January 5, 1910 in Sandwich, Illinois, Hugh Brannum died of cancer on April 22, 1987 at his home in Sailorsburg, Pennsylvania. He was 77 years old.