My Two Blessings

Norman Rockwell Painting 1944 This weekend we will be mingling with 6000 other scouts at the Scout Expo.   It will be my first time camping out in eons so I don't expect to get much sleep.  I have the princess and the pea syndrome and can feel the pebble even through a dozen mattresses. So, you can imagine how I'll do with a sleeping bag and one of those thin sleeping pads.  Tylenol is my friend.  Since the expo is being held on an Air Force Base, I've been reading all the rules and regulations that go along with that, as well as what is expected of the boys.   Interestingly enough, no electronics.  The boys have to leave all their gizmo's at home for the weekend.   James is still trying to talk me into letting him bring his nintendo DS with him so he can play it before he goes to bed.   I imagine after a day of walking, lots of activities and noise, he's going to curl up and pass out rather quickly.   I had been c...

  Happy 50th Birthday to Robert J. Sawyer Today Robert J. Sawyer has the honor of joining me in the "50's club".   What a great birthday present - He has been selected as one of the six nominees for the 2010 Hugo Award in the Best Novel category for his book "Wake."  Excerpt from Chapter one:   Not darkness, for that implies an understanding of light.       Not silence, for that suggests a familiarity with sound.       Not loneliness, for that requires a knowledge of others But still, faintly, so tenuous, that if it were any less it wouldn't exist at all: awareness      Nothing more than that.   Just awareness - a vague, ethereal sense of being . Being ...but not becoming .  No marking of time, no past or future --- only an endless, featureless now , and, just barely there in that boundless moment, inchoate and raw, the dawning of perception ... Makes me want to go ...

Spin By Robert Charles Wilson Back cover:  "The time is the day after tomorrow, and three adolescents---Diane and Jason Lawton, twins, and their best friend, Tyler Dupree --are out stargazing.  Thus they witness the erection of a planet-spanning shield around the globe, blocking out the universe.  Spin chronicles the next 30-odd years in the lives of the trio, during which 300 billion years will pass outside the shield, thanks to an engineered time discontinuity.  Jason, a genius, will invest his celibate life in unraveling cosmological mysteries.  Tyler will become a doctor and act as our narrator and as Jason's confidante, while nursing his unrequited love for Diane, who in turn plunges into religious fanaticism.  Along the way, human-descended Martians will appear, bringing a drug that can elevate humans to the Fourth State, 'an adulthood beyond adulthood.'  But will even this miracle be enough to save Earth?... " " Spin " is the 2006 ...

Wannabe Writers is  hosted by Sarah of Confessions of the Un-published and is a writing group for the un-published and anyone is welcome to join. It's a place where future authors can ask questions, share stories, and get feedback. Click ( here) to find more about how it works. Where I am in the writing process: I'm working on the first draft of Eyes in the Ashes and the story is progressing nicely, unfolding as I write. I deviated from the outline quite a while ago as the story evolved and went off in a direction I didn't expect.   My hero and heroine are currently trapped in some caves with the killer after he set off an explosion and he thinks they're dead.  Bwaahaahaa!!! My Current Problem :  There are simply not enough hours in the day to write which ties in nicely with this week's question.  And realistically even if there were more hours in the day, it still wouldn't be enough.  Just the way life goes.  Sarah's question this week : ...

Mind Voyages Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Challenge. Time for a flight status check and how I'm progressing with my Mind Voyages challenge. I didn't have enough fuel to get beyond earth's atmosphere and have been orbiting earth for a while. I'm coming back in to refuel and make sure I have enough fuel this time to get beyond earth's atmosphere. Plus ground control has been monitoring my activities, telling me I've missed a few in flight procedural and checklist reports and I need to improve my job performance as commander. So far I have finished: The Demolished Man ( review ) by Alfred Bester Dune by Frank Herbert ( review ) (1966 Hugo winner) Spin by Robert Charles Wilson (2006 Hugo Winner) Review will be forthcoming Under the Dome ( review ) by Stephen King (side trip) Eye of the World ( review ) by Robert Jordan (side trip) Now that I've refueled, will be taking off and shooting for the moon again. The following books are waiting for m...

When Anna from FSB Associates asked me if I wanted to review The Mayo Clinic Diet I jumped at the opportunity, mainly because it is written by the weight-loss experts at Mayo Clinic .  The folks at the Mayo Clinic are the #1 experts in health as far as I'm concerned and various family members have relied on their expertise over the years. Along with the book,  the Mayo Clinic Diet Journal is available to record your daily progress.   The book has three sections. Part one is Lose It !.  The section  details a two week quick start way to lose those first 6 to 10 pounds and gets you ready to go, suggests 5 habits to add, 5 to break and 5 bonus habits to adopt.   Part two is Live It!    5 chapters composed of setting goals, eating to the pyramid, practicing portion control, burning calories and review.   Part three is All The Extra Stuff !  8 chapters about finding your healthy weight, nutrition, the Mayo clinic pyramid, ho...

This is how we are all feeling today!   Yesterday our cub scout pack joined in on Creek Week which is an annual event doing an area wide creek clean up for the county.  Fortunately our designated park and creek clean up was close to the house.  After wards,  the sponsors hosted a barbecue, entertainment by Radio Disney along with some games and contests.   We had time enough to head home, shower and rest before heading off to the celebration.  We each received a t-shirt and hot dog lunch for our efforts, along with the thanks of many people. The night before was the monthly pack meeting in which James den did a skit performing the itsy bitsy spider.   They tried doing it like the Bingo is my namo song, leaving out bits for each round.  James had a case of stage fright but managed to get through it. Last week I unplugged and managed to write almost every day for about an hour. The story is progressing and I've come to the realizat...

I'm feeling the need to unplug and concentrate on my writing this week.  So while I'm off chasing my muse, day dreaming and following my characters where ever they may lead, I have a few links to some posts to ponder. We all want to travel and explore the world, but sometimes we just can't afford it.   An interesting list of an array of 100 books that will let you travel the world without leaving home.  Do you like Book Trib with all the amazing links to book bloggers.  Well,  I found one similar that links all the crime writers blogs: Crime Spot .   Through Crime spot, I found out about this wonderful book David Morrell of  The International Thrill Writers Association and critic and interviewer Hank Wagner's  Thrillers: 100 Must Reads. It is coming out in July and I've already pre-ordered mine. I just have to share this with you because it is written by a friend who was my roommate once upon a time and I simply loved it:  ...

Once upon a time, I came across this challenge and thought it was interesting.   Then Heather J asked if any of her readers were brave enough to accept a dare .  I took her up on the dare and she dared me to do the following and gave me 10 months to do it in and finish by April 10, 2010.   And, yes this is my vlog debut - my 15 minutes of fame. Watch The Princess Bride Watch Willow Watch The Last Unicorn  Watch Labyrinth Watch at least 3 episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess Read Dune by Frank Herbert  Read The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan Read The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley  Read Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey  Do a video blog about at least one of these items  I managed to read all the books and watch the movies.  However, I didn't have the time to find or watch Xena.   I watched Xena, Warrior Princess back when it came out in 1995 and it was pretty hooky back then.  ...

Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show  By  Frank Delaney Front Flap:  "She sprang from the womb and waved to the crowd. Then she smiled and took a bow."  And so we first meet Venetia Kelly, the beguiling actress at the center of this new, spellbinding, and epic novel by Frank Delaney, the bestselling author of Ireland and Shannon. January 1932:  While Ireland roils in the fun-up to the most important national election in the Republic's short history, Ben MacCarthy and his father watch a vagabond variety revue making a stop in the Irish countryside.  After a two hour kaleidoscope of low comedy, Shakespearean recitations, juggling, tumbling and other entertainments, Ben's father, mesmerized by Venetia Kelly, the troupe's magnetic headliner, makes a fateful decision: to abandon his family and set off on the road with Miss Kelly and her caravan.  Ben's mother, shattered by the desertion exhorts, "find him and bring him back," thereby sending the b...

DK books - We love their books and use them all the time for lessons.   I recently came across this video and wanted to share it with you.  Be sure to watch it all the way through or you'll miss the surprise! The story behind it. The video originally was created for a DK sales conference and as in all things made it into the blogosphere. As my son would say "How cool is that!"