In Memoriam

This post is dedicated to the memory of Rocky and Scruffy. Beloved family pets.

Within hours of each other, our much loved Gerbil and Hampster passed on to the great squeeky running wheel in the sky. I can see fluffy white scruffy now, running around Hampster Heaven with a jowl full of seeds and anything else he can sniff out. Little brown Rocky, his partner in crime, lurking in the dark shadows of the heavenly throne, keeping his eyes open and his nose twitching for anything interesting that might pass by.

May the sunflower seeds be plentiful there, the bedding be cleaned often, and the water tube never run dry.

Blessed Be

The Joy of Writing

The Joy of Writing

Why does this written doe bound through these written woods?
For a drink of written water from a spring
whose surface will xerox her soft muzzle?
Why does she lift her head; does she hear something?
Perched on four slim legs borrowed from the truth,
she pricks up her ears beneath my fingertips.
Silence - this word also rustles across the page
and parts the boughs
that have sprouted from the word "woods."

Lying in wait, set to pounce on the blank page,
are letters up to no good,
clutches of clauses so subordinate
they'll never let her get away.

Each drop of ink contains a fair supplyof hunters,
equipped with squinting eyes behind their sights,
prepared to swarm the sloping pen at any moment,
surround the doe, and slowly aim their guns.

They forget that what's here isn't life.
Other laws, black on white, obtain.
The twinkling of an eye will take as long as I say,
and will, if I wish, divide into tiny eternities,
full of bullets stopped in mid-flight.
Not a thing will ever happen unless I say so.
Without my blessing, not a leaf will fall,
not a blade of grass will bend beneath that little hoof's full stop.

Is there then a world
where I rule absolutely on fate?
A time I bind with chains of signs?
An existence become endless at my bidding?

The joy of writing.
The power of preserving.
Revenge of a mortal hand.

By Wislawa Szymborska
From "No End of Fun", 1967
Translated by S. Baranczak & C. Cavanagh

Wild Wild Weekend

Yes.
There was a plotting party.


A wild and raucous group of writers stealthily converged at a mobile home hidden deep in the Quartz Mountains.
(Only Jo and Tammy -- who had yet to arrive at the time of this photo -- can tell you how deeply hidden)

Blood was spilled, bodies buried, aliens sighted, and hot sweaty sex was everywhere. I can't disclose more or I would have to kill you.

It was sworn in blood and sealed with a spit-in-your-palm handshake, "What happens at the trailer, stays at the trailer."

I'm Back

Wonderful Anniversary.

Leaving tomorrow for a "Plotting Party" but will be back on Sunday. I know I'll be seeing some of you there.

Can't wait.

I'll Be Back...

Very old photo.








This is a quick announcement.

Friday (July 7th) is my 25th Wedding Anniversary. My husband and I are having a big party and I'm going to be very busy the next few days. I'm probably not going to be online much until next week. If any of you should happen to miss me, that is the reason.

Have a Happy and Safe Holiday Weekend.

Variety is the Spice of Life

I absolutely love the odd or unusual. Especially people who are a little off center from the norm. We are all so much richer for the diversity they provide.


(Okay. Maybe part of this is because I've always lived a teenie bit outside the box myself. At one time my book collection was so extensive that I had to store them in boxes, cover them with cloth and make furniture out of them. When I married my husband I had to get rid of approximately 3000 books to make room for him. I would like to tell you that those were most of the book collection, but I really do try not to lie. Ben has been known to throw his body between me and a book store. The books are a little more under control today, but...

I want everyone, RIGHT NOW, to go to Ammanda McCabe's website and read the post she just posted on eccentrics. These people are fascinating. I'd never heard of "Emperor" Norton of San Francisco, who proclaimed himself to be "Emperor of these United States and Protector of Mexico" in 1859.

Go. Now. Read.
I should create a word document and start collecting these people.

* Speaking of eccentric check out the oassdomination link on Gena's blog.

***Jenn's New CAR!!! (How my family has spent its last week)