Wergle Flomp Poetry Contest Entry (Nov 2010)

The humorous poetry contest goes on thru April, so I won't know anything until after that. I posted the poem under "Short Stories +" if you're interested. It's called "Sarcastica." Feedback welcome!

I will also submit it to Cafe del Soul where my first poem was published online.

Results - Flash Fiction Contest Entry 11/15

The person judging the contest fell ill, but she finally got better and judged. Again I was honorably mentioned, but for "best soundtrack" - I need feedback on my writing! I'm probably still writing at a high school level, not very mature...oh well. I'll keep trying!

where has all the conscience gone?

Does the wikileaks guy have a conscience? Does he think the leaking is for the greater good or does he even care? Does he care that he could be hurting or endangering people? Does he read what he puts out there? I wonder if he has a mother? What if someone close to him could be hurt by what he's doing? Would he care then?

And the government is stupid to add credibility to his leaks. If they denied what he was putting out there was true it might not receive as much press. Maybe less people would check it out. And if the info is ancient history, who cares?

When the other team figures out your game plan, it's time to change it anyway, right?

Don't cry about it. Deal with it. This site isn't going anywhere.

Reuniting

Hope everyone had a pleasant Thanksgiving. Ours was a very nice visit. Good food and everyone got along.

While I was away, I saw "It's Complicated." I was looking forward to it. I like Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, but I was disappointed. I hate it when Hollywood disses couples rekindling romances. There's plenty of love stories with people overcoming stuff to be together. But I don't like the movies with broken couples that hint at getting back together, then keep them apart. Movies like "The Breakup," "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "Stepmom." What's even sadder is that usually the kids (and the audience) are pulling for the parents to get back together. Then they don't and they tell the kids - there was a reason we broke up, etc. Well there was a reason they got together in the first place too.

Relating it to life - I want a happy ending for everybody! I wish people would stop giving up when the going gets rough. I'm glad I had such a good example of what it means to stick through the good times and the bad.

There is nothing positive that comes out of divorce. Period.

Black Friday

I've only gone out once on "Black Friday" and I never will again. Here's some encouragement to those brave enough to venture out on November 26.

Honk, honk!

Beep, beep!

I'm shoppin on no sleep!

Black Friday.

No you don't!

Yes I do!

No she didn't!

Boo hoo.

Black Friday.

Can't sit down
Must press on!
Walkin since before dawn!
Black Friday.

How'd you do?
I don't know.
Was it worth it?
I hope so!
Black Friday.

picture prompt entry

I like to enter writing contests. It helps me develop, I think. Last month this dumb picture came up as a prompt to write a story - I ignored it. Well, it either got a great response or a bad one because it came out again today asking for just an opening sentence. I like a good prompt, but this is just begging for a bad story. And after reading a few of the entries, I proved myself right. I had to add my own silly submission.

Curiosity got the better of Jane as she peeked in her daughter’s room and caught her in an awkward position with her fairy boyfriend.

(What a dumb picture!)

federal investigations

I read an article about a bust on Wall Street - a small insider trading network was exposed. The investigation is ongoing... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101123/ap_on_re_us/us_insider_trading_hedge_funds (I like some of the comments at the end.)

WHATEVER! Only people with lots of money are investing right now. And if any little guys are still putting their life savings into a get rich quick deal - shame on them! The public should be saving! Anyone who has money to use should be extra cautious about it and choose a slow steady investment. We all know Wall Street is CROOKED!

The problem here is, this is a mote. Federal investigators need to remove the PLANK in the GOVERNMENT'S OWN EYE FIRST! Who is keeping tabs on Washington's irresponsible spending problem?

Dogs are great!

Scrap the scanners, forget the feel ups.
Why doesn't TSA use BOMB SNIFFING DOGS?
Do they not trust dogs? Do they think the public will be afraid of the dogs?
They should be! Maybe just having the dogs around would intimidate ne'er do wells.

I think dogs are a great solution!

back to reality

I had a very nice birthday.

Today I had to take care of my husband and my youngest - both with yucky flu.

We'll see who makes it to Thanksgiving dinner...pray for us!

Hope everyone is well at your house.

It's my birthday!

Make my day...Make a comment!

Megamind Movie Review

Just saw "Megamind."

Loved it! Lots of twists and turns. Lots of funny lines and gags. Kid and adult humor.

My family gave it 4 out of 5 diamonds ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊

(the 5th is a party pooper)

Mama Bear

My sister-in-law emailed this to me and now I'm sending it to you...

In this life I'm a woman. In my next life, I'd like to come back as a bear. When you're a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could deal with that.

Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that too.

When you're a girl bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you're sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute, cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that.

If you're mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too. I could deal with that.

If you're a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.

Yup, gonna be a bear!

Is there a down side?

Reducing the deficit

I watched two old guys (experienced and wise old guys) offer what I thought was a pretty good idea. Their committee was formed to try and reduce our massive deficit. I'm sure it's not as simple as it sounds. They presented that we should all pay a 16% or so income tax. No figuring out rules and tax laws, no crazy deductions. Just a straight % for all. Period. And they proposed cutting spending in every part of government. Again I say, sounds good.
The best part was, besides being simple and making sense, they worked on it with some young people. They said they liked working with the young people because other old people said it couldn't be done. The young people didn't think that way going in, they just said, "Let's do this!"

Here is the video.
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4425979/the-men-with-a-plan/?playlist_id=86925

So! Let's do this!

Nobody needs to see that

Been flying lately? Eww! I missed the full body scan this summer, thank goodness. And now the airport workers are getting cheap feel ups. Come on! Not only are these darn terrorists trying to steal our freedom - they're robbing us of our dignity!

I sent this note to the Transportation Security Administration. Couldn't hoit.

"I appreciate the lengths your organization is going to in keeping the public safe. I also know you're receiving many complaints about the invasive scans and body searches terrorists are making us resort to. I have to say I am avoiding air travel because of it.
My suggestion is to change to a better xray system. A complete, to the bone xray. I don't know the radiation ramifications, but I would rather walk through an xray machine than the two current alternatives. (Ever see Total Recall? Sci Fi here we are.) Thanks for your time!"

I'm sure they'll get right on it.

Flash Fiction Contest 2nd Entry 11/17

“Betrayal is such a harsh word,” I said.

“Hush! Just admit you stole the bear,” my light friend advised from my shoulder.

“Fine, if it’ll get you to stop bugging me. Now get! I gotta pee!”

“Wee!” she shouted. I flicked my conscience into the sky, but she never got upset. Maybe next time I should pluck her wings.

“Beware of the Were-Mer-Bear,” she warned before she disappeared.

Where? Mare? Bare? What the? Foolish, useless conscience.

Lost Connections

I've lost touch with many people I used to know.
I wonder about them. I found some on facebook a while back and it was fun seeing how people "turned out." (I had to quit because I got a virus from it)
There are still a few people I couldn't find.

It's sad that so many of us have to move around so much these days. We start to build relationships then have to move away. When I first had my kids we moved every couple of years. I wanted to lock myself in my house. I figured what's the point getting to know people when I'll be gone soon? Now, I've been here seven years (longest anywhere) and my closest friend had to move away.

It also makes me sad that not many people seem to be reaching out to find me. I guess I understand, being busy with our many activities, always something going on. But I thought I had close friends at the time.

Apparently distance makes you see who your truest friends are. The ones who bother to keep in touch.

Flash Fiction Contest Entry 11/15

Using the words: Betrayal, Sky, Wings, Light, Pee Wee and Bonus points if you can include this phrase: "Beware of the Were-Mer-Bear."

Here is my entry:
optional accompaniment, play tune #5:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/mendelssohn-bartholdy-midsummer/id373646828

The sun climbed slowly into the sky. The light cascaded onto her wings as she reached her lair above the lake and safely hid the treasure of her betrayal.

Pee Wee won’t miss his elfin talisman, Winona thought.

But Pee Wee felt its absence immediately. He woke and searched. He felt its compelling force from across the lake.

Must’ve been that mischievous flying centaur, he assumed.

He stomped off to fetch it. He paused at the lake to read the warning sign, “Beware of the Were-Mer-Bear.”

Pfah! No freak of nature is going to keep me from getting my…CHOMP!

It is what it is...

I am tired of hearing that phrase. It's popping up way too much.

It started out as a good way to say, "Accept what can't be changed."

Now it's taking on a more negative connotation, "Take it or leave it."
Shouldn't we be saying, "It is what it is, unless I decide to do something about it."

Complacency is not acceptance.

Underappreciated

Ever feel like you don't get enough accolades for all you do? Me too.
It seems like if we do what is expected of us and things are smooth, that's it. No awards of appreciation or "Way to Go!" unless something spectacular is accomplished.

But if we mess up - we sure here it then.

It's the same with God. If my life is going smoothly, I don't pay Him much attention. But if someone gets sick or something bad happens, the prayers are flowing.

I am going to try to equal that out. More thanks and less complaining...

BLFC #2

(single sentence story contest entry for November)

It wasn’t enough that she squashed him, took out his heart, ripped it into confetti and threw it all around while she danced on his remains, she had to make sure he was still breathing, that he hadn’t forgotten her, then lured him back to her lair, tricked him into loving her again, ate him alive and spat him back out.

People Worth Remembering #1

Let me tell you about the "Grandma Sub." Her name is Nancy Gabriel. I have no idea what her age is because she may look older on the outside, but inside she's a spry young chicken.

This amazing person epitomizes not only aging gracefully, but defiantly. Even the students see how special she is and remember her fondly (my oldest son included). She is full of energy, sharp as a burr and hilarious. She has a jampacked planner where she keeps her calendar of events (besides subbing, she sells Avon and she's president of her condo association!) and jots down inspirational quotes. When she was younger, she lived in Mexico City for a while. You'd never know she was fluent in Spanish by looking at her. ¡Increible!


I've only spent a couple of hours at different times with her but I was impressed and inspired by this awesome lady. She has such an extraordinary past and a continues to hold a positive zest for life. When I grow up I want to be just like her!

Cooperisms 2

I wasn't going to post this, but it's just too cute.

Everyone knows what number one and number two are, right?

My youngest likes to go number three.
(That's both at the same time.)

The boycott worked

Amazon responded to my email and said the bad, bad book was no longer for sale. YEAH!

And I'm sure it's not just me, the author was on The Today Show so it received a bunch of negative press.
But that was fast!

Amazon is forgiven.

I believe I may boycott

Amazon let a pedophile publish a "how to" book. I will not give the link.

They say they don't discriminate in the interest of free speech.

In the interest of not supporting illegal, disgusting filth and greediness, I will not be using amazon.com for my xmas shopping this year and plan to tell them so.

Texting is dumbing us down...

Texting is great - for the quick, "WRU?" (where are you) or "TY" (thank you) or "PMURN!" (pick me up right now - yes, I made that up.) But, really, it's a good brief communication tool. It lets you pause, send a message (pls p/u dinner) and keep moving. And you don't have to respond right away - unlike the phone where you have to keep talking until the conversation is over, what a drag. (ha ha)

I see three major texting abuse problems on the rise (besides the obvious illegalities of sexting and TWD - texting while driving):
1) LIVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS ARE AT RISK - Young people are not learning how to communicate face to face (or speak on the phone). They even text each other standing side by side! Some pre teens I know think they have boyfriends or girlfriends but their whole relationship, from "r u my gf?" to "im brkng up w/u" is all via text (which isn't necessarily a bad thing at that age - safe distance). They won't figure out how to overcome their shyness this way. Face the awkwardness!

2) ENGLISH IS NOW HISTORY - Texting is finding the shortest way to say something, inventive abbreviation. Letter writing lessons are becoming obsolete, punctuation is for making creative faces, and spelling? there's an app for that...

3) ONE MORE LINK TO "RISKY BEHAVIOR" - I just read an article that discussed results from a teen survey linking "hyper texting" (120 + texts/day) with "risky behaviors" - sex, drugs and alcohol. Apparently the same parents who are not monitoring or setting limits on texting aren't monitoring or setting limits in the other parts of their lives. Makes sense to me. PARENTS NEED TO BE THE BAD GUYS! It's only temporary and they need boundaries! Your relationship will be awesome when they grow up if you do it right. Deal with it!

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

Junk mail pile up

I hate waste. This is the worst time of year for it too. So much junk mail. Today my youngest got the mail for me and he kept dropping all the magazines and flyers on his way from the mailbox.

But it isn't just in the obvious forms. The stuff I really hate is the sneaky stuff. The extra ads, coupons and offers in my bills. Even attached to the stinking envelope! And the extra receipts. Please take our survey online for a coupon. My paper recycling piles up so fast!

If anyone really cared about saving trees, they would start with a ban on junk mail of all kinds.

I should help too by banking online. I guess I'm just not ready to let go of the physical bills and checks. It just seems too easy for people to mess with my bank account, or make mistakes, transpose a couple of numbers and poof, no money! It's happened to me a couple of times, only with small amounts, thank goodness. But leaving it all up to computers is just too scary. Some day. But not today.

Misunderstood

Email is great.

I have been unleashed on the public recently - a couple of dinners and meeting new parents. I don't get out much, besides subbing, so my adult interaction is a little rusty. This means that I have a lot to say that's been bottled up and it doesn't always come out right. So if I have ever offended anyone with my sarcastic, untamed wit, please excuse me. I don't mean any harm...

This is why I really like email (and now blogging). I can proofread my words before I send them. This isn't foolproof either, but it's much better than blurting out "That's hilarious!" when it wasn't meant to be a joke...did I mention my hearing is going, too?

Texting is a whole other story - I dont abbreviate 2 much 4 fear of misunderstanding, I get that enough as it is.

Walking in Sunlight

For a smile...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lgpebLB7u4

Anywhere with Jesus

I'm experimenting with youtube...enjoy =)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxP5En1YVOE&feature=youtube_gdata

I'm proud of my husband

Surprised?
Well, he is actually smarter than I usually give him credit for. He loves sports and is a great manager. He knows how to deal with the public. And he is a detailed organizer. All these qualities make him an awesome coach and leader in our local sports organizations. He just showed me how he revamped our community baseball league's website. It's pretty darn good and I wanted to tout about it:

http://masonamateurbaseball.org/

I'm sick of cancer!

I know too many people that have had, survived, died from or are dealing with cancer! I always thought it would get me some day too. But I hate it!

The only prevention is: Eat better (more colorful produce, less junk), exercise more (or at all) and go to the doctor. But my favorite is laugh more! (seriously!)

Please do this, especially if it runs in your family. I will too! HA HA J

Football Fanatic

Well, it was great to get that rant about football out of my system a couple of weeks ago. We haven't had to worry about the point spread rules lately, so it's been more fun watching the games. Here is a link to the highlights for the week:

http://ohioflagfootball.com/locations.cfm?location=Mason-West%20Chester

My son is in it twice, pulling flags off "Browns" left and right. Only two games left in the season.

Then on to basketball...

Buying a politician

I want to know where all the money comes from that supports candidates. Millions and billions of dollars!!! Fundraising, lobbying, big businesses and organizations. Does anyone else see a problem here? Why does it take so much money to get elected?

1. I assume most is for advertising and travel. SOLUTION: most of that could be saved by using the internet, facebook, etc. That is still "free" for now.

2. I also have a bad feeling that a lot of money goes to digging up dirt on the opponents and damage control when their own secrets come out. SOLUTION: put all your dirty laundry out there: "Here is the website of all the bad things I've done. Everyone makes mistakes. I've learned from mine and I'm not afraid to tell you about it." Honesty would be refreshing! ULTIMATE SOLUTION: Be a good person to begin with!

3. This money could do much more good elsewhere! Like pay down our incredible debt! Invest in our country and let the people vote for themselves.

4. Finally, if big corporations and organizations are paying for candidates - who do you think they have to report to? It's not the little people. I want a candidate who says "no" to big contributions. I would vote for them! Then they report to us!

Now go vote, if you haven't yet! And as my mother says, "Pick the lesser of the two evils!"

Election Day 2010

Go Vote!

Get 'er done!