My Novels

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Brief Update

My new Nikon camera will arrive tomorrow -- at least that's the UPS tracking info. I can't wait! I do hope to develop into an amateur photographer; it's always been a passing interest, but maybe I'll devote more time and effort to it now. Mostly I'll probably take pictures of landscapes/pets/wildlife around this area. And I have always wanted to create a photo collection of old broken-down barns, houses, etc. I'm currently reading a lot of material about photography, so that's keeping me busy too. While I will always post some photos here, I may also develop a website just for my photography eventually. We'll see, I suppose.

Anyway here's several photos taken with my old cheap digital camera yesterday. We had thunderstorms, a cold front coming in, so the sky was ominous and yet beautiful, which prompted me to snap a few pictures.





And here's a picture of my new wooden shutters for the window in our den/TV room; DH built these, and I love them because I can open them during the day and brighten the room, then close at night for privacy.



Sunday afternoon we went to see the movie, "Walk the Line." I must admit it was waaaay better than I'd thought it would be. I came away with a better understanding of June Carter, since I really didn't know much about her. I've read Johnny Cash's autobiography, and knew a lot about him. It's definitely worth seeing, since the story is inspirational and the music is just like attending a concert (except that Reese Witherspoon CAN sing, and unfortunately June couldn't).

I have some sort of mild cold; feel congested and tired, sore throat, but hopefully it'll pass soon.

And that's it for today.

Friday, November 25, 2005

Had a great T-day!

Believe it or not, I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with ALL my family. My youngest sister, her husband and my nephew all showed up! She seems a truly changed person, and though she's gained weight (mostly due to meds to prevent schzioaffective problems) she was more like the sister I once knew...before drug abuse and mental issues took over. We were all so glad about that, and hopefully, she'll stay well. One can never tell, but like the quote says: "Hope springs eternal."

I seem to be in an exceptionally GOOD, HAPPY mood now. Maybe this will last through the holidays, if I'm lucky.

Yesterday I finally decided on a new digital camera and ordered it from TigerDirect online. It should be here next week sometimes, which will be well in advance of my birthday on Saturday. I selected the Nikon Coolpix 5200. Got a bargain in a refurb, way less than the $500.00 price for a new one. Partly I was impressed by a photographer who uses a Nikon D70 at her blog Blue Ridge Blog. She posts stunning landscape pictures of that beautiful region, and though the Nikon I'm getting is not exactly like hers, I'm sure it will be a vast improvement over the tiny cheap digital Concord I've used for several years.

And speaking of that camera, here's a recent picture I wanted to post, taken in the past few days.


Princess wearing a sweater I made her after she was shaved! Posted by Picasa

More when I have time. I'm excited about the camera, and can't wait to start "practicing" and learning all the new features. I hope to then post a new picture almost daily!

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Happy Thanksgiving to All

I hope everyone who reads my blog will have a great Thanksgiving Day with family and friends. Or if you prefer solitude, then a peaceful, quiet day.

DH and I will be spending the day at my sister's house, with family. It should be a nice gathering, since we all get along well -- with the exception of my youngest sister who has finally gotten out of jail. Her bond was conditional, and depends on her NOT causing any disturbance at my mother and step-dads' home. Since she physically attacked them, and that was part of the reason for her arrest (as well as long-standing drug abuse) she will probably not show at my other sister's house on T-Day.

I do dread the Christmas holidays. And I'm thinking seriously of taking a hiatus from this blog until it's all over. I am always morose, sad, miserable from the beginning of December until New Year's Day and just hate to have a "pity-party" or pass along my bad mood to any readers. Of course, my birthday is in early December and that only adds to my depression.

At any rate, life goes on here. Unfortunately another cat appeared at my back door last night; and naturally, I fed it. "It" turned out to be a female, but very young...probably around 6 months or less. I DO NOT need another black-and-white FEMALE cat; I have 7 now, but I'm a sucker for a hungry critter so I'm feeding her --for now.

DH has a lot of vacation time to take before the end of the year, so he'll be home more and we'll be busy with one project or another around here. I'm sure that may help me avoid the worst of my bleak "holiday" mood.

The renter in our city house had a minor problem with the heating unit last week, and we actually went inside to assist her. I was glad to see that everything is in good shape, at least as well as we left it. Also, I was surprised to see her two dogs are very, very well-behaved; she had them shut in a bedroom, and when they started to bark she said, "Hush!" Believe it or not, they did! No more was heard than a low whimper the whole time we were there. Heh, I'm impressed; my cats won't do a thing I tell them! :-)

With that, I'm outta here. Posted by Picasa

Thursday, November 17, 2005

A Forever Love Affair

Oh writing, my love...what are you to me?
More than anyone can know...for you are to me -- ALL.
When the wind blows outside my window
Howling for changes, for diversions,
Urging me to abandon this harsh conviction,
I cover my ears and let tears
Have their way with me:
Boring nights in front of mindless TV,
Trying to evade the Call,
Trying to soothe the hollow ache without you, writing.
But then the night comes when I sit again
Wrapped up with my creativity,
And knowing heart and soul is forever yours, writing.
It isn't that I want it this way...
Alone and unknown, perhaps always unrecognized,
It's just that you, my talent, command
And there is no manner of escape --
Not in pleasurable pursuits or idle restlessness,
Nor in subtle daydreams, which only spawn story ideas:
Every occurrence, every person, every nuance of an event
Is but another idea, another story, another reason
To write, to bring life to airy nothingness...
Creating, dreaming, living or loving,
It is all just part of the art of capturing
Life's fleeting images in written words...
A writer's gift to make it come alive for others,
To portray significant themes for all eternity.
So writing you are to me -- ALL.
Should I forsake the Call,
Whispered from earliest childhood?
Or should I heed it and go forward
Blindly into that maze of artistic souls
Who struggle, write and then tumble into oblivion?
In the end,
It doesn't matter about recognition or success,
For writing is a relentless master
That turns talent into a forever love affair.
And writers must write or be damned!

~~~~~

Sometimes it helps to re-read my past poems; this one in particular speaks to EXACTLY what is wrong with me these days: no creative writing! Without that love, life is a dark abyss for me (and perhaps ALL writers).

A real quote by Einstein

 
 Posted by Picasa

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Someone said it better...

And that is a writer's worst fear: nothing can be written in a way that hasn't been before -- probably far superior to anything moi can do. Yeah, I'm in a mood.

DH has been home this week, and we've spent most of our time working around the house and land. His saddle/tack trailer is now set-up, clean, and full of stuff to sell. It wasn't too much work getting that done, just time-consuming.

Unfortunately we've still had NO rain here, and my allergy problems continue to worsen. I am taking anti-histimine OTC, but sometimes it wears off and I itch all over, have runny nose, sore, irritated eyes. Not a picnic. There's no prediction of rain in the weather either. Ah, suffer...suffer...suffer!

I only went on a bike ride one day this week, due to the allergy flare-up. But I've been using my air-bike regularly. Haven't lost any weight, just maintaining. Can't get motivated to lose more...or do anything much with enthusiasm these days. Bad case of the blahs...and with the dreaded Holidays looming, I'm not feeling optimistic.

One bright spot: I'm planning to get a new digital camera for my birthday around Dec. 3rd. Have several prospects online I might buy. When I do, I will hopefully get some sharp, clear pictures to post with my blog updates. I believe I've become more an amateur photographer than writer lately.

Had to have Princess, my Persian cat, shaved at the vet Monday. Since the cat's living area is heated in cool weather, she shouldn't have any problem coping. The knots in her hair had gotten terrible, though I always try to avoid that. She hates for me to start pulling or tugging on knots, and they always develop in her long, thick hair.

And now for those who have said it better in the following quotes:

From ASH: "God is dead, the Jews assasinated Moses and an asteroid is heading straight for us."


Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp;
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

---Dorothy Parker, Resume --1926


"Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I am not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

Last, this excerpt which aptly describes my current state-of-mind:

"There is an Eastern fable, told long ago, of a traveler overtaken on a plain by an enraged beast. Escaping from the beast he gets into a dry well, but sees at the bottom of the well a dragon that has opened its jaws to swallow him. And the unfortunate man, not daring to climb out lest he should be destroyed by the enraged beast, and not daring to leap to the bottom of the well lest he should be eaten by the dragon, seizes a twig growing in a crack in the well and clings to it. His hands are growing weaker and he feels he will soon have to resign himself to the destruction that awaits him above or below, but still he clings on. Then he sees that two mice, a black one and a white one, go regularly round and round the stem of the twig to which he is clinging and gnaw at it. And soon the twig itself will snap and he will fall into the dragon's jaws. The traveler sees this and knows that he will inevitably perish; but while still hanging he looks around, sees some drops of honey on the leaves of the twig, reaches them with his tongue and licks them. So I too clung to the twig of life, knowing that the dragon of death was inevitably awaiting me, ready to tear me to pieces; and I could not understand why I had fallen into such torment. I tried to lick the honey which formerly consoled me, but the honey no longer gave me pleasure, and the white and black mice of day and night gnawed at the branch by which I hung. I saw the dragon clearly and the honey no longer tasted sweet. I only saw the unescapable dragon and the mice, and I could not tear my gaze from them. and this is not a fable but the real unanswerable truth intelligible to all."
--Tolstoy, from Confession

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Belated update

What's my excuse? None to offer.

There's the usual suspect: been busy. I went to the house in town yesterday, planted some small hedge bushes alongside the driveways. Someday I will probably move back there, and the hedges will provide more privacy. Fortunately this morning we actually had some light showers, and that should help the plants survive.

On the other hand, it is still very, very dry here. We're way behind in rainfall for this time of year.

More bad news from here: the farrier DH used for horse-shoeing...died unexpectedly last week. He had just turned 60, and "seemed" to be in good health. Since he was found in the roundpen with a horse, the friend who found him thought, at first, the farrier been kicked in the head by the horse. However, later the coroner, upon medical examination, ruled he'd died of a massive heart attack. This is about the fourth or fifth male (50+) who has had a heart attack (including DH) in this immediate area the past year. I would say there's something in the water, but I believe it is something indeed in the FOOD!!

And perhaps I'm stupidstitious, but it seems odd that this farrier, whom DH had just began to use two months ago, died suddenly. Prior to then, DH had used a farrier on the other side of the county, but it was more convenient to have this nearby farrier do our horse-shoeing. I wonder if this house now is reaching out to grab others! :-o Add the death to another bad event for 2005, the Year from Hell.

Next week DH is off for vacation. We actually got a head-start on putting in electricity/water to the barn and small trailer/garage. A friend rented a ditch-witch Saturday morning, only used it about an hour, so he brought it by here and DH dug the deep trenches for the lines. He already has most of the lines in, the ditch covered. So that eliminates one of the largest chores we had to do on his time off. I'm sure there will be plenty to keep us busy though.

In my last entry I mentioned how greedy pharmaceutical companies have become, and this excerpt from my research is an example:

Lipitor, for example, is the most popular drug ever sold in the history of the world. Lipitor does more than $9 billion in sales per year (that's more than one million dollars per hour, every hour of every day, 365 days per year).

Ah, so it goes...