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Showing posts from January, 2012

Close Call

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We almost died today ... and nobody even knows it. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating just a little, but we did narrowly missed being hammered by a bus-sized asteroid. Seriously. Today, at about 10:30 am, asteroid 2012 BX34 missed us by only 36,750 miles. That's so close, it actually flew between the Earth and the Moon! Although I cannot be sure, since the asteroid did not actually pass close enough for me to take samples, I'm fairly certain that, if the asteroid would've hit us, it would've broken up on Earth's surface, releasing dangerous space mold spores that would turn humans into zombies, bringing about the zombie apocalypse. And that's not the first near collision we've had. Earlier in the week, a smaller asteroid passed us just on the other side of the moon. Sure it was small, and it was far away, and it probably wouldn't have made it through the atmosphere, But I'm pretty sure it too contained zombified mold spores. So, you see folks? I

The Ballad of Daleville Dan

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Just thought I would post my latest in a long series of rants about all the stray cats running through my neighborhood. Don't get me wrong, I normally like cats, but these particular cats seem to have chosen my front yard for their community gathering, shitting, territory marking, and fornicating place. This little dity came to me after my dog ran off chasing a cat the other day.  It was innocent, really. My grandson was at the house and wanted to go outside. He opened the door, and my dog spotting a cat in the front yard, so he quickly tore past my grandson, out the door, and after the cat. Well, we all know by now, my city "aint got no ordnance 'gainst cats." (a direct quote from our local police station) but they sure got one for unleashed dogs. Did I mention my dog was not wearing a leash? So, here goes. This is a poem, or song, of sorts, sang to the tune of the Beverly Hillbillies theme song. This here's a story 'bout Daleville Dan And how one day

Honoring King

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" I n the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." ~ Martin Luther King Jr. I would like to dedicate this special post to the memory of a visionary, and in celebration, not of his death, but his life. This Monday we all enjoy the holiday of Martin Luther King's birthday. Of course, his birthday actually fell on January 15th, but in order to allow as many holidays as possible to land on a Monday, we instead, celebrate his birthday on the third Monday of January. We should all be thankful for this holiday as it traveled a rocky road coming into being. Campaigning for this holiday began shortly after King's assassination, but many resisted it. Some believed that King's contributions did not warrant a holiday. Others were dead-set against it because of King's personal opinions on the Vietnam war. The state of Arizona nearly lost its hosting of the Superbowl when it cancelled Columbus day to be replaced by MLK day.

Flexible Facts

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Catchy title, right? I do what I can. Many people say the media gave us our current President. It’s true. In fact, the media will probably give us our next President, whether it is the same person, or another; it will likely be someone the media (read major news channels) decides upon, and supports. The same thing can, and should, be applied in writing. Remember, you are the writer, and your job is to influence the reader in a way that helps them understand your characters. Good, bad or ugly, you want the reader to see that in a character. All that stuff you hear writers say like “I let my characters write the story” – that’s bullshit. Writers create characters for the story. Or, the characters that writers create, guide the story. If a character doesn’t work in a particular story, or grows in another direction, the story becomes different – a new story. If one insists on keeping the same story, then the characters must change. Here’s an example, almost a how-to from di

Bring in the Calvary

Yeah, I know I wrote earlier that I was going to be all up in your face this year on the blog. It's all part of the real me. But here's something else from the real me. I know not many people know it, and if I do say so myself, I hide it pretty well, but I do have a heart. Somewhere out there in the blogosphere, I heard a small peep. It wasn't much, but it was there. It was a cry really, of another person in some kind of trouble. Well, of course I ran to the nearest WalMart restroom, and stripped to my undies. Hey, don't laugh, it's a tough economy, and one cannot expect a superhero to wear a full set of clothes. Actually, another blogger on my blogroll posted a link to an author of YA books, and a Mother needing help. It seems she's had a string of bad luck starting with a troubled birth of her last child. It went downhill from there with the loss of her job, and a screwed up payment system. So, what she's asking for is just a little something to ge

Indolence and Rabelaisian Discourse

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Nature abhors a vacuum - Francois Rabelais I’m a little late on this post, being that the New Year came and went nearly a week ago. Truth be told, the realization that 2012, the much hoopla’d year in which everything is suppose to happen, from electing a new President to the end of the world as we know it, is now firmly seated in the present, brought about some reflection on my part. Now, more than ever before, I’m beginning to feel the pressure of time (or lack thereof) bearing down on my brittle bones. What about you? Do you feel it too? It was in December of 2008 that I received a phone call from a hospital worker telling me that my father had been found in his trailer after having a stroke, and airlifted to a hospital in Seattle. Just when I thought the news could not possibly be worse, the woman on the phone goes on to tell me he was in a vegetative state with chances of recovery unlikely. But that wasn’t all. She continued to tell me that they were waiting on my decision t