Thursday, March 31, 2011

Ramble from phair

Tonight I poked phair for a ramble about her announcement at her site that I thought was very intriguing, so here you go.
E very nicely offered me a chance to ramble about a new addition to my site. The section is for my next manuscript, Eternal Blue Sky. It is a work of about 15 thousand words so far. When it is done, it will be about 100 thousand. I've got a lot of work to do with it. But, I'm a writer…that is what I do.

So, why is this news worthy of a ramble?

I've created a space on my website just to house this project. It is called Build A Novel. True to the title, I will be building this story on line. My subscribers will get to watch it grow and change over the course of the coming months. Additions, subtractions, cross outs, and misspellings along with horrible grammatically errors will all be right there for the world to gape at.

This is either going to be an amazing on line experience of creativity or a virtual traffic accident which begs to be watched. Personally, I hope it is a little of both.

You can only view Build A Novel if you are a member of my website. Membership includes the Dirty Story of the Month Club and monthly on line chats with me. Total cost is $19 per year.

Oh sure, it would be great if I didn't need to charge anything but it would also be great if my mortgage company had a better sense of humor about me not paying them on a regular basis. This is not the case. Sadly, Snidely Whiplash still works in the banking industry and, apparently, he's the CEO.

So, to keep Snidely's lash of my back, the cost to subscribe is $19 for a new 12 month membership starting in 2011.

That price locks in, by the way. It will always be your subscription rate if you become a member in 2011. Just ask the 2010 members who have a locked in rate of $13 per year even if they don't renew immediately. That is their rate for as long as the site runs. Unlike cable companies which give better rates to newer members, I want my die hard fans to know how much I appreciate their support. You folks literally make the difference between the words getting written and the pages staying blank.

phair

There you go, I say check it out. I'm a member are you? In the end supporting our writers is up to each of us. Tell her what you think.

Now enjoy your update!

Peace, Health and Happiness and please lets see if Japan can get a break.

Elisa

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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Secret??

I don't think you're using that word in quite the right way, folks.

The BBC News just announced that "President Obama has secretly authorised covert assistance to rebels seeking to overthrow Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi" and "He recently signed a secret document".

Secretly authorised and signed a secret document.

Can't be that bloody secret if it's all over the 10 o'clock news, now can it??

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I will get round to responding to you all, honest. Had a pretty decent day. Got rained on this morning, dug post-holes, got filthy dirty. Fun. Came home, showered & then went out for dinner with my cousin and a couple of friends. We went to the tapas bar. I didn't spill anything, break anything, or drop anything. I didn't knock the waitress over, or cause her to drop anything. No food went into orbit. I reckon that counts as a pretty successful meal.

Then we went to the film club to watch an art-house type movie called Room in Rome. It was best described as "weird". I have had plenty of casual encounters but none like this. And I think if I ever did have one like this I'd be tempted to check myself into a padded room at Colney Hatch, not a hotel room in Rome!!

Got lots of nice pressies, too. Stuff from both my sisters, and my nephew, and my cousin. Though my (remaining) brother forgot it was my birthday - again.

I guess sharing a birthday (although ten years apart) is one of the reasons I'm close to my cousin. After all, when you've babysat someone and read them your equivalent to a bedtime story, for several years, (Rudyard Kipling poems - I think she still likes to listen to Gunga Din!!), when you did a bit of growing up in the same house, you share a birthday, you have the same taste in tv & films (mostly) and she's smart enough to support the same football team, you kind of wind up as best mates.

It's a good life.

See you next week, goodnight and may your God/s go with you.

Ze

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Busy weekend

But first. Elisa - aw mate - did you have to... Thanks for the good wishes though. The kid says thanks, too.

Right, yeah, busy weekend. Protest march in London last Saturday, against the swingeing cuts our present government is making in public services (and the hatchet job it's about to do on our beloved NHS).. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. I've been on a few marches in my time. (Save the Whale; LGBT Pride; Anti-Trident; etc.) But this one?? This was phenomenal.

Firstly because it looks as if close to half-a-million people turned out. The largest I've been on until now was 200,000 on a CND anti-nukes march back in the Greenham Common days.

And secondly because of the mix of people. There were the sort of people you'd expect to find on this kind of march - young left-wingers, university students, and and working class trades union members - but there were also professionals, mothers with toddlers in push-chairs (baby buggies), middle-aged, middle-class, usually Tory-voting, W.I. members. There were urban working-class, rural middle-class. There were OAP's (senior citizens) and secondary-school kids (high-schoolers). And it was all good-natured and responsible and law-abiding. (Except for a handful of more radical activists who broke away from the main march & caused a bit of a dust-up in Oxford Street).

The only bad thing about the whole day was the singular lack of food choices in the motorway services (freeway rest area) on the way home. So I had to eat fat-filled, greasy, junk (Burger King "fries") and wound up getting coach-sick. (Coach = long-distance bus).

Then on Sunday I took advantage of the good weather and dug the allotment over, ready for the new season of veg growing. (Glad I did because the weather has turned cold & damp again and I don't fancy doing it this weekend).

I was glad to get back to work on Monday for a rest!!

Ze

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Announcement...

Reminder to everyone please wish our favorite Grunt a Happy Birthday...

Ze looks forward to more of them I am sure...So I can be first...Ze (and her cousin Aries) I wish you both a spectacular day and may the years hold many more.

Happy Birthday Mates...

From our Hoelscher-Hodge household to yours!
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Monday, March 28, 2011

Ramble from UK

I'm wiped tonight and am especially pleased to present a ramble. Don't mind me, I'll be snoring in the corner while UK handles things.
Ramble – a set of keys...

With a smile you might make the day a bit brighter for those who catch sight of it, but a good heartfelt laugh will carry father, beyond the line of sight, around the corner and with an echo it might even carry on...

Laughter is the sound of joy and happiness, laughter is a catching tune, the music of life, and an instrument you always carry with you and one you do not need to tune! Laughter like music speaks to the soul through the ear.

The ear is a powerful organ and music is a key that can reach through the ear to memories locked away. A simple tune can bring back memories of your life... a group of friends, the first time..., the last ...

If you put together the tunes that caught your ear at the turning points in life - the good times and the bad - you have the soundtrack of your life! You can tune in any time you want. If it gets too heavy you can turn off the music for a while or you can play a different tune.

Music and laughter are powerful keys; one can set you off on a walk down memory lane, and with the other you can bring joy to those around you.

We carry this set of keys with us every day, wherever we go – why not use the keys? Keep in touch with the story of your life, play the tune that matches the memory of a joyful moment or just turn up the volume on the radio when it's played on air. Laugh with your partner, friends, co-workers or a fellow shopper – if it's not too weird - to share a fun and joyful moment. Maybe you can put a smile on someone's face today!

Yes - I know I'm rambling...and I might as well admit that "the soundtrack of my life" was really not an original thought of mine, but one put forward by "Bookish Butch".

UK


Thanks, UK. I'm so out of it I had E give me a witty remark to put here..."Some days I want to throw the keys away." There you have it. I will now try to stay awake while playing Zooreeka with the kids. *yawn*

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Sunday, March 27, 2011

Announcement Night

Nikki Dodgen has asked us to pass along some info that may be of interest to all you Melissa Good Fans.
My name is
I have the great honor of being allowed by Melissa Good to start the first Missy Good fan page on Facebook. At the Missy-Good-Fan-Page I am trying to grow our community of fans who enjoy Missy tales and who are looking for a place to discuss the stories. Also fellowship, fun, trivia and games are mixed into post generated throughout the week. Even Ms. Good adds two cents here and there with member questions or ponders.

This fan page is not a profit making scheme - I am admin'ing for pure pleasure and true fandom of Xena and Uber Xena alt/fiction. I have enjoyed these tales for many years like a secret indulgence often wishing to chat with others about the themes, content or possibilities but due to the type of story many friends laughed at the notion. At Missy Good Fan Page the forum is open for all kinds of discussion. Over 140 people already have joined - I think more will too if the word gets out about a place for fans. I hope you will
mention this page in a future blog so others can come and fellowship.

Again Thank you
Nikki Dodgen
Okay Nikki, I have mentioned it and I am sure many folks will check it out. Once again, a new Facebook page dedicated to Melissa Good. Enjoy!

Peace, Health and Happiness.

Elisa

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Saturday, March 26, 2011

Saturday

Another short update for y'all. Have at it.

Tamara

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Friday, March 25, 2011

TGIF

Spring is in the air and I like it. Came home from work and spent an hour in the yard (at this rate weeds will get done in December). Hoping to get a bit more outdoor time this weekend. Need to create a nifty dessert and deliver it tomorrow afternoon when we get Tamara to her comic book store for the bi-weekly pick up.

Light update, perhaps you can catch up from the rest of the weeks worth. Enjoy.

Peace, Health and Happiness.

Elisa

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Thursday, March 24, 2011

The usual....

Tomorrow is Friday and I'm happy about that. I'm not as ready for it as I was last week. I caught up on my lost hour of sleep. Things at school have gone well. We survived the full moon anyway. It seems like we have an uptick in fun stuff when the moon is full. The super moon was no exception.

Our plans for the weekend include a dessert delivery, comics pick up and discussion of possible chores for the kids to do each week. We're about to sync up and have all three kids on the same week. That's going to be weird. Part of our discussion will need to include ideas for equitable tv time. Duncan with his Xbox Live tends to be a hog. I foresee fun times ahead in the Hoelscher-Hodge household, don't you?

Tamara

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Wednesday, March 23, 2011

A Star has Gone

Hollywood lost one of its great, larger-than-life, characters today. And the world is a slightly dimmer place.

Dame Elizabeth Taylor died today aged 79.

I was never that keen on her as an actress, most of her movies weren't really my cup of tea, although I did love the line some film critic wrote about one of her less profitable over-the-top productions. "Cleopatra barged down the Nile and sank."

I did admire her for all that she did for AIDS awareness and AIDS victims though. She put herself on the line at a time when Hollywood - hell the USA - wanted to bury its head in the sand and pretend the world didn't exist. Dame Elizabeth stood up and made her voice - and the voices of people with AIDS - heard around the world. She did an amazing amount for AIDS charities, she was a good friend to the gay community when most people with her kind of fame acted as if gays were pariahs who should be removed from sight, if not from society.

She was flamboyant and totally outrageous, and she didn't give a monkey's what people thought about her, but maybe that's why so many gay boys loved her.

The gay community has lost a friend. The AIDS network has lost a champion. A bright light just went out. She will be missed.

See you next week. Goodnight and may your God/s go with you.


Ze

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Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Spring is Sprung, Der Grass is Riz

It's a quotation so the bad grammar is intentional. It continues I wonder where der boidies is. It's a bit of nonsense verse I learnt as a kid, it's called Spring in The Bronx. I had a whole book of nonsense poems like that. Stuff like "I eat my peas with honey, I've done it all my life, it makes the peas taste funny, but it keeps them on the knife" I think my favourite was I Wish I Was a Little Grub which went something like this

    I wish I was a little grub, with whiskers on my tummy,
    I'd crawl into a honey pot and make my tummy gummy.

See - now you know why I'm bonkers. Other kids had nursery rhymes, I had
    The chicken is a noble beast
    The cow is much forlorner
    Standing in the pouring rain
    A leg on every corner

But anyway, as I was saying - spring has arrived. And the weather has been beautiful this week. Warm & sunny. All the daffodils are in bloom in the woods and parks (just in time to be stolen for Mothering Sunday), and the forsythia in the garden is spectacular. The birds are singing their little lungs out. Or croaking them out if they're the sort that can't sing. And I got a contract for the new housing development. Six months work!!

It's great to be alive.

Ze

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Monday, March 21, 2011

Sharing....

It's fun and we could use the ramble...so send it on, because I obviously have nothing of value tonight.

Peace, Health and Happiness.

Elisa

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Sunday, March 20, 2011

Back to It

We're back to work tomorrow and here's hoping everyone has caught up on that lost hour of sleep.

Tamara

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Saturday, March 19, 2011

A beautiful day in Shoreline....

The sun arrived and spent the day with us. I got up and cleaned off the roof and gutters, then the back porch. Finished off the day with some wood chopping and stacking. Now inside to rest and take ibuprofen for my very sore body. It really needs spring and summer to arrive to get out of its sluggish winter mode.

Here is hoping the day went well. Enjoy your updates!

Peace, Health and Happiness.

Elisa

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