Long Time, No Entry

I'd apologize, but lately I'm tired of being apologetic! No excuse really, mainly procrastination. I have been taking pictures to post yet hesitating. I have a few to share today.

It's now summer in the South, which arrived today with heat reaching 90. The remainder of the summer will be sweltering in the extreme, time to walk the dogs early or not at all. Early evening is fine for a park without cement walkways; otherwise the street pavement is too hot for my doxie, Oscar.

Little bitty Muffin has settled in, seems to be part of the pack now. A 3-pack...no, make that a 4-pack, since I always think  I'm the leader. Hardly. Not sure but it seems more and more, Muffin tries to lead, though she will defer to Rambo on occasion.

What else? I'm having a lot of back/shoulder pain, probably due to the herniated discs. Trying to survive with it, but have to take Advil more than I like. Maybe a doctor's visit in my near future.

My youngest sister died several weeks ago, and I'm still not ready to write about that yet. The sorrow and sadness, grief is too fresh for necessary perspective.

So without further ado, here's the recent photos:

  All 3 dogs on sofa, though Muffin was about to get down

 Rambo & Oscar...with Oscar burrowed in, as usual!

Ms. Slinky -- oldest cat at near 15! Looking good too!

  Bitty Kitty, probably 8 years old (she was stray at farm)

Mr. Mister, can't say a stray, since he lives in my garage. Here he's lounging in the open doorway near sundown.

    Where I spend a lot of time -- at the computer!

A weird picture I took of myself. The flash in the mirror with that background...strange look, I thought.

Lastly, I am reading more on my Kindle, and also watching Mad Men on Netflix; I watched The Walking Dead and The Killing as well. Today I installed a new cable modem, and my speed is even better -- sure do enjoy Netflix!

And with that, I'm outta here.

Another mad, mad world event

I was sick, some kind of stomach virus, for most of last week. In fact, Thursday and Friday I didn't see the news. When I did turn on the TV Friday night, all heck was breaking loose; the hunt was narrowing for the boy/boys responsible for that marathon bombing. Sad. They did get one of them alive, so maybe the LE officers can find out why that happened.

I felt better Saturday, but only got down a little food. Today I was more like myself, and even managed to take all three dogs for a neighborhood walk. I'm proud to say that Muffin walked faster than my other two; she's definitely good for walks!

A little history on Muffin -- one of my neighbors found her and her brother pup in a box on the side of the road! She rescued them, gave the other pup to a friend and kept Muffin. They apparently didn't have the time to house-train her, and ended up just making her stay outside. I'd seen her many times on my walks, and my grand-niece said they wanted to give her away. For one thing, neighbor boys were picking on her and she was getting snappy, and would soon cost to get spayed. Their two girls had grown tired of her (sigh)...and well, frankly, she was just too much trouble for them. So when my grand-niece said they wanted to give her away, I said I wanted her. Alas, too often that is the story of people who won't/can't take care of a dog.

I had NO trouble house-training her -- just showed her the doggy door, and she watched my two go through it which she imitated. Just that easy.

Unfortunately last Wednesday, Rambo jumped on her and she screamed like she was dying. I was in the yard, scared me to death, but he didn't hurt her--just rolled her around. I have no idea why he all of a sudden decided to put the smack down on her, unless he thought she didn't understand he's alpha dog. He got a whipping/stern scolding though (didn't hurt him, but he KNEW he'd crossed a line!). At any rate, Muffin was a bit standoffish and nervous for a day or so, but is now back to her usual frisky self. She has NEVER tried to challenge or dominate Rambo or Oscar, so I just don't understand the altercation.

In other news, I attended a seminar about estate planning last week; it was interesting and informative. Tomorrow I plan to call for an appointment with the lawyer who specializes in estate planning. I have a Will, but have decided to make some minor changes, as well as look into trusts.

The weather has been hot/cold, hot/cold...but that hasn't stopped the grass from growing!

I'm loving my Kindle, and have it loaded with a ton of e-books. I'm also still editing/proofing my remaining novels to get online at Amazon as soon as possible.

And now for some pictures!

                        My dogwood in full bloom

       Muffin in her outfit, which says: Princess has arrived!

Muffin in the backyard today

Muffin & Rambo, doing what dogs do! 

In the last photo, it's easy to see how much larger Rambo is than Muffin. I took her to the vet a couple weeks ago and she weighs 7 lbs. I could hardly believe it because she is so tiny. However, I plan to have her spayed in a few weeks; I wanted her to be adjusted here before putting her through that and maybe stressed out. That is partly why I was so angry/upset at Rambo since she'd been doing well, even beginning to be playful...till he pulled that stunt. Oh well.

With that, I'm outta here for now.

Bridges of Blount County

Friday was a fun day. My sister & brother-in-law drove here and we all went on a tour of the covered bridges in Blount County -- which adjoins the county I live in. All three bridges have been recently redone and a car can drive across them. That is what we did, then parked and walked around the beautiful early spring landscape.

All the bridges are located in rural areas, and the scenery is serene and rustic. I got lots of photos which I'll share at the end of this post.

We stopped at a great barbecue place and ate lunch. Really tasty food and wonderful atmosphere.

After seeing the bridges, we drove to a nearby Toyota dealership and I drove a new Prius C. I'm seriously considering either a Prius C or Nissan Leaf (all electric). I loved driving the Prius, couldn't tell any difference from a regular gasoline car.

I am having car trouble and spent a huge amount on repairs last week. Unfortunately, though I was having the air conditioner worked on, I ended up with a power steering issue. Tomorrow I'm taking my car back and hopefully the mechanic will fix what he tore up while working on the air conditioner! If not, I'm going to be real angry and have to write about this experience! Stay tuned.

We're supposed to have storms later today, but I think I can get in a quick dog walk if I leave after this post. So without further ado, here's the bridge tour:

The Swann Bridge (my maiden name!)

Approaching the bridge

One of the longest in the state

The Locust Fork of the Warrior River

You can read more about this bridge at this link: Swann Covered Bridge

Horton Mill Bridge

Another view

The creek beneath the bridge

A trail beside the creek

The Easely Bridge

Lessons From The Titanic Movie

I've been prowling through a lot of my past fiction/poetry/short stories and found this essay for writers I thought would be as instructive as it was back in the 90s, when I first posted it at my now-defunct website.
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Lessons from the Titanic

I'm always fascinated with movies, but rarely do I go to a theater and watch a movie on the big screen. I made an exception for Titanic. If ever there was a movie to see on the big screen, this had to be it!

However, as a fiction writer, I'm always interested in the elements of entertaining drama; I was curious why this version of that awful real-life tragedy had captured such a huge audience, as well as numerous Academy Awards. I had to see for myself!   [There have been several other movie versions, but none as productive at the box-office or as award-winning.] 

As the story unfolded, it became obvious why the public and Academy found this version so riveting and heart-wrenching. It wasn't just the special effects, though certainly those were spectacular; nor was it the meticulous attention to authentic details (which had been more or less verified by the undersea exploration of the Titanic's remains). No, it was one factor above all else: This is good storytelling.

First off, if you're an aspiring creative writer, I recommend you go see this movie -- and keep a critical eye out for the fantastic dramatic techniques that keep the audience enthralled. If you can learn those techniques, and if you have talent for writing, then you can possibly become an excellent creative writer.

What are those elements? Well, if you've never taken a creative writing course, I beg you to avail yourself of that necessary foundation. Once you have, you'll be able to watch any movie, read any novel, and instinctively get a feel for what entertains and conveys important thematic stories to the public.

In Titanic, we have specific characters to identify with; and not just any characters, like average citizens, but a gorgeous, seemingly rich young, unhappy woman; a handsome, but poor, talented, struggling artist. What person couldn't put themselves into one of those doomed characters' roles? Then, we're given someone to hate: a super-wealthy, snobbish s.o.b, to whom our heroine is engaged. Always give us someone to dislike, even if we may be allowed to glimpse why this character has such flaws. In Hollywood versions, there is usually no development in that direction; but in novels, it is a nice touch. The suspense isn't so much about what happens with the ship: We already know that. The suspense is what will happen to the characters we're emotionally involved with. And then to top it all off, we've got a moving, evocative love story -- one which doesn't have the standard happy ending, yet manages to give us a worthwhile message: become a survivor!

For Hollywood, such movies come along once in a blue moon; but to artfully blend high drama, meaningful theme and recreate an authentic tragedy with amazing special effects that puts the audience right in the monstrously large sinking ship...it's no less than utterly stunning.

Writers can learn from this movie; and the public can learn something meaningful as well. Go see it, you'll be glad you did. 

[Update Note: Or if you've seen it a long time ago, watch it again with focused attention on the dramatic elements.]