Yearly Archives: 2008

KUDOS!!!! NJOY Alternative Smoking Device

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[mirror post from Kudos & Kudzu] I am happy to report that my newest purchase regarding my health has proved an effective and outstanding solution. I speak of the NJoy Alternative Smoking device. This was my Xmas gift to myself. I knew that one of my biggest obstacles with quitting was my oral fixation. Yes, I’m orally fixated. My pleasure-center is my mouth. I like to talk, smoke, laugh, sing, drink coffee, have a beverage all the time, wear flavored lip balms, kiss, (and other intimate things)…to name a few examples. What i missed more than anything else whenever I … Continue reading →

What I’m Getting Myself for Xmas.

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When I was in college during the early part of the 90’s, (my second foray into academia) I had to do one of those presentations for speech in which your group invents a product and then does the sales pitch to the class. I ended up with a bunch of dead beats in my group who didn’t want to work on it because they had a party to get to, beer to drink, etc. Most people who’ve been to college, know that drill…. So–I did most of the work. I came up with a product called “Life Light” which was … Continue reading →

Gun-Toting Sleepy-head

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Sound. Sound. Bad sound. Door. Opening door. Danger. I sat up in bed, suddenly awake, my pulse pushing at my neck. I did hear the door. The shlink of the deadbolt, to be precise. Someone had broken in. I reached down to the space between my bed and nightstand for the automatic I kept there. Thumbing the safety off, I crept out of bed to investigate. Halfway down the hall, I realized I didn’t have my glasses on. I worried I would not be able to see who it was. I’d hate to shoot my best friend who surprised me … Continue reading →

Mapping your Settings

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I have always been a stickler about authentic detail in my writing. This trait has forced me to find innovative ways to make that happen. Google Maps is one of those tools I use. Novelists have to deal with many details while composing their books. One of the most challenging, if you are concerned about verisimilitude–an air of authenticity–is setting. Many times I have set my story in a place I’ve never been. Then, as the story evolves, I find that the logistics of moving characters around becomes problematic, because I’m not sure where one location is, in relation to … Continue reading →

iGoogle for Ideas & Reference

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  One tool that I use everyday has proven invaluable to my writing. It also has value in other areas, but for the purpose of this post, I will address iGoogle for writers. If you are not aware of iGoogle, it would behoove you to change that. iGoogle allows you to personalize your information searches. You can gather, track and monitor all areas of interest, and all in one place, on one page. You add widgets or modules to a certain tab, which you can also create. I have a writing tab where I place all modules concerning writing. This … Continue reading →

Writer’s Block UNblocked.

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  Most writers eventually ask the question: “I’m really stuck with the plot/storyline of my novel. Do you know of something that will help me?” Here’s a list of things you can do to get unstuck. 1. Research. One thing that has always worked for me is new information. Do some reading about elements of your story. I’m not talking about style–I’m talking about research. For instance, read information about the city in which you’ve placed the story. Location can often become somewhat of a character in its own right. Read about any of the other elements in the story–like … Continue reading →

What Happens When I Leave the House

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As most of my readers know, I am shackled with an older car that is systematically falling apart. I hope one day to enjoy the benefits and joy of having a car I don’t feel like I have to park out of sight when meeting someone at a coffee shop. But alas. I won’t belabor the point, as that cross has already been carried. Since reading every last book I had in the house, I had to replenish my supply, and make a trip to the Library. This is usually an exciting event for me, being the intellectual geek I … Continue reading →

The A.I. of Theists:

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(Or, “Who’s the Pinhead, Now, O’Reilly?”) [Excerpt from my book, Supernatural Hypocrisy: The Cognitive Dissonance of God Cosmology] THE ARGUMENTS GIVEN BY many theists, especially those of the fundamentalist variety, can be referred to quite accurately as A.I.–Artificial Intelligence, AKA Arrogant Ignorance. Poster boy for this concept? Bill O’ Reilly. On a segment of his show, O’Reilly had Richard Dawkins as a guest, but Dawkins was not treated as such. In his usual, haughty, overbearing, arrogant manner, O’Bully made sure that Dawkins never had a fair opportunity to respond, and it was blatantly apparent that Bill-O had absolutely zero respect … Continue reading →

Obama wins. Us too, maybe.

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There will be thousands of people writing and commenting about this momentous event in history, but of course, I still have to offer my part. The most surprising thing to me, beyond the overwhelming nature of Barak Obama being elected, is that when that announcement went up on the CNN screen: Barak Obama Elected President …I began to cry. The reaction surprised me. I didn’t even cry when Bill Clinton was elected and I was so thrilled when that happened. I think there are things underneath this, running strong in many of us. It represents the chance for the nation … Continue reading →

Temporal Anomaly?

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Something weird happened to me. One of those things you don’t really notice until you think about it. Yesterday, i went to bed at around 2:30 a.m., and as usual, continued reading the last of a book. I finished the last few short chapters and then got up to do the ritual things before bed, got back in bed and started a new book, read for about a half hour (no more than a hour), reached to turn the lamp off, and saw that by the clock it was something like 7:30 a.m. I thought–that can’t be right, then recalled … Continue reading →

Early Voting for Idiots & the Insane

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I took advantage of early voting today. As soon as i joined the already long line, I became starkly aware that I reside in a retirement village, because the only person in the line younger than me was drooling on a teething ring. There was a confusing amendment about allowing idiots to vote. Proposed Constitutional Amendment No. 1 NOTICE TO THE PUBLICPursuant to Article 19, Section 22, of the Arkansas Constitution, the 86th General Assembly refers the following constitutional amendment to a vote of the people on November 4, 2008. Each elector upon voting his/her ballot shall vote for or … Continue reading →

Whining Pariah

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Colorado…….I’m sure there are kindreds out there (I do have a fabulous best friend, 2 hrs away, but i mean OTHERS). I am so anxious to meet all the people in the social groups I’ve joined online already. The degree to which I want this move is palpable; I can think of little else, and my level of stress reflects my fear that it might be delayed, or–unimaginably–not possible at all. Here, where I am, I always feel like a stranger in a strange land. I feel like the pariah. (Don’t forget, this is the Bible-Belt). I feel like most … Continue reading →

Anything But Zen

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Disclaimer: This post in no way represents any doubt about what I believe as far as religion. This is just part of the journey when you seek the truth. Some of it will be hard for your emotional-self to assimilate. But I believe that solutions exist and writing about it, talking about it, is my way of finding those solutions. This morning, after letting my dog, Giz out, and making coffee, I went back and opened the door to call Giz in, and instead of his name I just shouted, “Helloooooo!” A sign of Ginkgo Biloba deprivation? Early onset Old-Timers … Continue reading →

Things i don’t need.

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  I don’t need ovaries, nor the monthly hemorrhaging that evolution has foisted upon me; this survival mechanism meant to perpetuate the species via progeny. I have not and will not ever experience life in my womb (apparently not even of the pleasurable, stimulating variety, if present is any indication of future). Even if i were young enough to bear children, I neither have the desire nor the likelihood of doing so as a lesbian who would never, by definition, sleep with a man, and could not fund the artificial process. I don’t need that lizard brain interpretation of the … Continue reading →