200 Random Followers Celebration!

WoW! 200 followers may not seem like that many compared to those who have say...1000 or more. But I feel I have gathered you to me rather like a mother hen contentedly clucking. "Come my sweeties. Come, come, come."

I was going to have a contest. But then I realized this is more about CELEBRATING that competing. So, to celebrate I have put together a GIFT BASKET. All YOU have to do to win it is be a follower and post a comment. You have until Friday, April 1st to post. I will then put all your lovely names into my Cat in the Hat hat and hubby will draw one (1) name. The winner will be announced on Monday, April 4th, which also happens to be the letter C in the great A to Z Challenge.

And what do you win?

THIS!

The ARC of Elana Johnson's book POSSESSION! Plus a lovely tatted (by me) floral bookmark AND a delectable bar of All Natural Dark Chocolate With Deep Forest Mint.

My thanks to each an every one of you my Random Followers. (Now, imagine sitting back reading this book, munching on that chocolate and being able to mark your place all a the same time!)

POSSESSION

Last week a package from Simon and Schuster arrived in the mail. "Odd," I thought,"I doen't remember ordering anything." Imagine my surprise (and delight) when I opened it and saw Elana Johnson's book, POSSESSION. She assured me I must have signed up on her ARC and swag request form.

This is the first ARC I've ever gotten. Also, I don't usually do book reviews. So, like Vi, I'm breaking my own rules.

From the back cover: "Vi knows the Rules: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

"But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinker's hands, but she's wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up the Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous: everything Zenn's not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up Zenn.

"This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play."

POSSESSION is a fast-paced novel. I read it in five days, which is pretty quick for me. I got sucked in by the first page.

Vi longs for her missing father, hates her angry mother, and mourns for her dead older sister. It's no wonder she's a confused rebelling teen. One minute she's madly in love, the next she's madly in hate. All the while she's struggling to be her own person in a world where individuality is suppressed through mind control.

I liked Vi. She has spunk and, without realizing it, a great deal of courage and strength. Lies and deception swirl around her yet she keeps on trying to make sense of her life and to find out her place in this strange world of high technology.

There will be no spoilers here. It is enough to say, Vi has to make a choice, and I was NOT expecting it to end as it did.

Good job Elana!

By the way, hubby read the first few pages and was also sucked right into it.

Good-bye Victor

I learned on Friday that an old friend, Victor Hall, passed away. He was just 61 years old. His mom and my mom were best friends growing up together on St. John waaaaay back in the 1930s. Victor was part of the Bish Mob (as my mother called us) who were a group of boys I hung out with as a young teen.

One of the things the Bish Mob liked to do was go to Trunk Bay when it was loaded with tourists and stage fights. Fully clothed, three, four (sometimes as many as six) boys would all act like they were attacking me. I'd be screaming, running. They'd be chasing, capturing , and throwing me into the water. Once we thought we had a fair amount of attention we'd stop, shake hands, thank each other for a very nice game and say, "That was fun. We should do this again soon." After that, we'd change into our suits, hang our clothes out to dry on the seagrape trees and act like normal people at the beach. Victor was a part of that. He looked vaguely like Jimi Hendrix.

As young adults in our 20's he had a bar call The Kite above Peter Bay. Me and two other friends along with Victor played music there, entertaining tourists who wandered up the hill from the National Park Camp Ground at Cinnamon Bay. Victor played a mean kalimba. We had a lot of fun.

In later years he moved his bar out to Coral Bay and I hear it was featured on "Good Morning America." He became quite knowledgeable about local herbal remedies for various ailments and was known as the Bush Tea Man. You can see a picture of his original bar at Peter Bay and hear an interview with him here. He was an interesting character.

Once I moved to the states I lost touch with Victor. Still I will always have fond memories.

Good-bye Victor. Happy sailing. I bet you'll be accompanying other musicians with your kalimba, playing to the stars.

Random Thought Thursday

Today's quote is from Chief Sitting Bull.

His Lakota name was Tatanka Iyotake. He was not only Chief of the Sioux Nation, but was also a Medicine Man.

Behold, my friends , the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love!

Spring. A time of renewal.

Spring. A time to look forward.

Spring. A time to sing with the birds, dance with the stars, laugh with the wind.

Spring. A time of hope.

These photos were taken a few years ago after good winter and spring rains. It's drier this year and the flowers will not be as abundant. But still...

A field of firewheels

Bluebonnet

Agarita

Rayless daisies

Blackeyed Susans

Columbine

Iris

...hope springs eternal. What do you hope for this Spring?

A Little Good News and a Contest

These are difficult, trying, emotional days. Most of the time it seems I'm right of the edge of tears.

I don't know about you, but a little good news has helped me. So I thought I'd pass it on.

***

Maybe you've heard? A turn for the better has taken place for the lives of a few precious children thanks to a bust by European police of a huge Internet pedophilia ring. You can read the story here. This means a lot to me as I worked for 23 years with abused, neglected and emotionally disturbed children. My thanks goes out to those who smashed up the ring and my prayers go out to the children who have been rescued. May they find peace.

***

Here in the Hill Country of Texas, Spring is slipping into place.

Our lawn is making its annual comeback.

Redbuds and pear trees are in bloom.

Wisteria vines are draping their long large purple clusters over ancient arbors.
There it was, ah, a sulphur butterfly.

And the mockingbirds are singing again.

***

If you've read my blog for a while, you know I hate plastic. Impossible to live without (as it shows up everywhere made into everything) impossible to live with (we are drowning in it, turning our planet and oceans into a plastic waste dump) I moan and groan and bitch and do everything I can to reduce, reuse and recycle.

This is NOT an advertisement.

BUT... if you're into buying sodas...

Pepsi has now come up with a non-plastic plastic bottle. That's right, next year they will begin test marketing a vegetable based biodegradable bottle. I'm so excited I could pee my pants! Read all about it here.

***

HEADS UP!

I am now very close to the 200 follower mark. What a pleasant surprise! Thanks to ALL of you. When I reach that auspicious number I will of course have a CONTEST which, of course, will be interesting and I hope unique. There will be a PRIZE.

Got any good news you'd like to share?

Thank You and Other Randomness

FIRST: A BIG THANK YOU to all of you wonderful bloggers who visited over St. Patrick's Day, left a comment, and/or became a new follower. I really do appreciate it.

SECOND: I'm a VERY excited winner. Sangu at Echoes of a Wayward Mind, offered up a SIGNED copy Talli Roland's book, THE HATING GAME (also available at Amazon Kindle) and and my name was drawn. It's coming all the way from England. Thank you Sangu and Talli!

THIRD: A while back Sherrie Petersen at Write About Now passed on to me the Beautiful Blogger Award. I like that it's lavender, kind of goes with my color scheme. Thanks Sherrie!

I'm supposed to list seven (7) pet peeves. So here goes.

1. That the English language and/or someone clever hasn't come up with a good and proper neuter pronoun so we don't have sentences like this from Ralph Waldo Emerson: No man is quite sane. Each has a vein of folly in his composition. Personally I don't have a problem with using "man, him, he, his" as a collective pronoun for all us huMANs.

But here it is rewritten: No human is quite sane. Each has a vein of folly in his/her composition. Okay, but awkward.

Or: No person is quite sane. Each has a vein of folly in their composition.

2. Which leads right into using "their" with a singular noun. As in, "The sun was shining on their back." GAK. It should be, "The sun was shining on their backs."

3. "This is arguably the best solution to the problem." People (reporters in particular) use "arguably" A LOT! But if it's the BEST solution then it stands to reason that it CAN'T be argued. Therefore what I think people mean to say is that it is INARGUABLE, in other words, that there can be no argument, it's THE BEST. The sentence should read, "This is inarguably the best solution to the problem."

4. Long ago I learned, "that" is for things, "who" is for people. Even the well known are guilty. Tim Robbins said: I love iconoclast. I love individuals. I love people that are true to themselves, whatever the cost. It should have been "I love people WHO..." I read/hear it all the time for example: "The firefighters that went to the house saved the women." To my ear it should be "The firefighters who went..." THAT is for THINGS, WHO is for PEOPLE.

5. How about this: "She's as good of a truck driver as any man." GAK again. It should simply be: "She's as good a truck driver as any man." Get rid of that of!

6. Over used words and cliches. (Of course I'm guilty myself. Forty lashes with a wet noodle.)

7. People who moan and groan and complain. Particularly now. I've had the following anonymous quote stuck to my computer for some time now: Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

And now dear little bloggers who may this blogger read, I pass on to ALL of you, The Beautiful Blogger Award.

Tell those near and dear to you that you love them. Smile at a stranger. Hug up your pet(s). And remember to be thankful for every little thing you have.

Luck o' the Irish Blogfest!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! To celebrate I am participating in Colene Murphy's first Blogfest. You can find Colene at The Journey. From there hop around to all the bloggers who are participating and read their contributions.

Colene's instructions were simple. "Write a 200ish word flash fiction entry about something to do with SPD (real, fantasy, whatever makes your pig squeal). OR, you could also write about a memory you have of a past SPD. In the end, we aren't being picky. Just make it goooood and make it about St. Patrick's Day! (Leprechauns, luck, gold, green, clovers, beer, celebrations, etc. Funny, touching, horrifying, dark, fast-paced, romantic, etc.)"

Without further ado, here is my story.

Patty and the Magic Pig

Long ago there was an island that was a kaleidoscope of color.

One day a man name Patty appeared. With him was a magic pig. When the people saw this pig they were amazed, for it was a color they had never seen before.

Whatever the pig touched turned that strange new color. The people loved it so much they asked Patty to have his pig walk among their plants. Soon all the land was bathed in the bright new color. But with each step of her foot, each snuffle of her snout, the color seeped out of the pig until all that was left was a small patch on her right rear leg.

A little girl came to Patty and begged him, “Please, our yard dying and my mother is ill but a little new color will make her well.”

The pig settled down among the dying plants and the last of the color seeped out of her skin. When she rose, lo! there were four bright new green leaves on the plant. The mother, upon seeing it, was instantly cured.

And that’s why Ireland is green and why a four leafed clover is good luck.

Frozen in Time

They must have been caught in the freeze. Or did they die in the midst of procreating?

Life is so tenuous. So temporary. I am thinking of those who are suffering in Japan and New Zealand, still suffering in Chile and Haiti....Give what pennies you can.

The Earth is a harsh mistress and benevolent mother. She provides us with everything we need. But the price of admission for existing on this beautiful, living planet is that when she yawns and stretches, we humans suffer. I doubt there is any place on Earth that is entirely free of possible natural disaster. Hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, they happen because Earth lives. And because we live on Earth we are left to deal with consequences. Someday the caldera that is Yellowstone will explode. Someday the San Andreas Fault will make a big move. Still we build our lives by rivers, below dams, along coast lines, on fault lines, on open plains.

It couldn't be otherwise. We humans are like that, tenacious, determined, stubborn, and courageous. Those who survive natural disasters and human atrocities pick up the pieces of their broken lives and keep on living.

In the midst of breaking hearts and tears, we breathe. It's called Life.

Random Thought Thursday

Today's quote is from Maya Angelou.



If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love. Don't be surly at home, then go out in the street grinning "good morning" to total strangers.


Isn't this something we are all guilty of? Why is that? Would we be embarrassed if we weren't polite in public? Or is it that we are comfortable enough in our own homes to let the ugly out? Have you snarled at family and smiled at strangers?

I have.

Let us resolve to give those smiles to our dear ones. They deserve them, particularly when we've snarled at them.

Good Morning Starshine

My mother was always the first to rise in the morning. Once out of bed she was moving and ready to go. She got up early, 5 AM to 6 AM most of the time. She'd make the first pot of coffee and spent that hour or so getting ready for the day. I think the early morning was her time, a moment in space to herself when she could read, meditate, think about things. There were no distractions. Her girls and husband weren't awake yet. In looking back, I see now, it was the only time of day where she was beholden only to herself.

My father, on the other hand, was slow in waking up. He got his first cup coffee delivered to him in bed. One of his girls (or Mom) would quietly bring it to him, a stealth move, slip in and slip out as quickly as possible.

"Coffee, Dad." And the cup was set on the night stand. It wasn't that he was grumpy, he just didn't like getting up all of sudden, didn't like noise.

My sister, Erva was a bit more like Mom, just not so alert first thing. She liked her coffee but was relatively cheery. I was like Dad. Mumble, groan, pull the sheets back up, roll over, go back to sleep.

Erva and I didn't have alarm clocks. We had Mom. She believed in waking us up gently. She didn't think being abruptly awakened was a good way to start the day. She felt it would make all that followed seem edgy and anxious. She believed in calmness, subtly. Every morning she came into my bedroom, took hold of my big toe and gently shook it saying, "Time to get up, Sweetie." Or, "Wake up, Sweetie." Or "Rise and shine, Sweetie."

In 1970 Mom, Erva and I were in San Francisco saw Promises, Promises and Hair. On the Apollo Moon Mission, "Good Morning Starshine," was used to wake up the astronauts. The version they used is by Oliver, which is (IMHO) better than the original by the Broadway cast. It's a lovely little song.

Are you a hit-the-floor-running kind of person? Or a roll-over-go-back-to-sleep type? What does it say about your personality and how you approach your life, your work, your writing?

Remember the Alamo!

In this special Sunday addition I thought to take a moment to honor and celebrate those who fought and died at the Alamo 175 years ago today.

A few interesting fact:

The Alamo is in San Antonio, Texas.

Construction of the Misión San Antonio de Valero was begun in 1724. During the early 1800s Spanish soldiers garrisoned there began it to call it the Alamo in honor of their hometown Alamo de Parras, Coahuila. Alamo means "cottonwood" in Spanish.

Texians and Tehanos were allies with Mexico in its ten year struggle for independence from Spain which it finally attain in 1821

On February 23rd, 1836 the siege of the Alamo began. On March 2nd, Texas declared independence from Mexico. Four days later in a pre-dawn attack lead by Santa Anna, the Alamo fell.

Famous heroes who died include: James Bowie, William Travis, and Davy Crockett. But ALL those who died at the Alamo are Texas heroes.

On April 21st at San Jacinto Sam Houston and his troops (out numbered by nearly two to one) caught Santa Anna by surprise while he cavorted with a female. 630 Mexicans were killed compared to nine Texans. Santa Anna fled the scene and tried to disguise himself as a peasant, but a gold button glinting from beneath his rags gave him away. When he was returned to camp the 730 captured Mexican troops began to chant, "El Presidente."

Texas had won its freedom and is the only state to have been an independent country, its Lone Star flag flying at the same level as that of Old Glory.

Famous people born in San Antonio include:

Henry Thomas who played Elliot in the movie E. T.

Holly Dunn, country music artist

Joan Crawford, actress

Carol Burnett, comedian

Oliver North, Marine and political commentator.

REMEMBER THE ALAMO!

Random Thought Thursday

Last week my guest was Plutarch. I thought I'd continue along the same line with quotes from Ancient Athens.

Both have to do with same subject. I don't think I need to go into detail about the importance of a good beginning. That opening sentence, paragraph, page, chapter, all have to combine in a way that pulls the reader in and makes him/her want VERY MUCH to continue reading.

This is not (gasp) a new idea.

Euripides (480 BC to 406BC) the great tragedian wrote:

A bad beginning makes a bad ending.

Plato (428/427 BC – 348/347 BC) student of Socrates, teacher to Aristotle wrote:

The beginning is the most important part of of the work.

Alright, alright, alright.

I get it. It's been there all along, the signposts, the information, the knowledge, the wisdom.

Now...if I can only figure out how put it into practice.

Have you learned something "new" lately that's really as old as say... Plato?