With our lives

Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives.
~ John Adams

The original concept of Memeorial Day has become minimalized, as have other holidays. Christmas is not about Santa but the birth of Christ. Easter isn't about a bunny but of salvation. Veteran's Day, Washington's and Lincoln's Birthday, all of these days, reduced to promoting sales and/or having parties. Don't get me wrong I like a good sale but not on those days. Don't lower the ideals just to put money in your pocket. I also like a good party. And I think that for some of these holidays we might be subconsciously celebrating that we are alive, at least a little. That's ok to do as long as we remember and appreciate the true ideas and meanings that are the basis for these days. For that is what's important. . .to remember.

Let's bow our heads to all the men and woman who, from the inception of our country through the centuries to the present, gave the most they could give. For without them, where would we be now.

The Pit

Sometimes I feel critiquing is like walking a path permeated with holes that are lined with pointed sticks. You're just not sure which way to go to avoid falling in. And if you don't watch out, you might drag someone down with you or you might not help that person at all.

How far can you go, should you go? How much does the author, of the work you're looking at, want to hear? Does being kind, help? Is there such a thing as being too critical? I know it's hard to read evaluations of your ms. I have, at times, gotten my back up about some comments. (Yes, dear reader, unfortunately it's true.) I like trying to discuss the remarks made by the person, explain what I was thinking. If they can see what I was attempting maybe they could give me suggestions on how to make it clearer. But most people don't want to confer; taking such actions as a challenge to their opinions and that can start a whole new situation. Been there, done that, don't want a repeat performance. But if you want to be a good writer, you have to be able to shoulder the constructive critisim. I know, I know, I should listen to my own words. But I am getting better.

Which brings me back to how far should you go? What do you do when you critque someone's work? That's my question for you. Care to respond? ~ Donna

PS- Please don't criticize my picture/layout. I really wanted the picture between the 1st and 2nd paragraphs. After over 4 hours of copying, trying to get the picture to load (my computer wouldn't open up the file) and reading the little help suggestions, I finally e-mailed it to Blogger and this is where it landed. Hey, I was just happy to finally to get a picture up. My first picture. Yay!!!! : )

55

I just turned double nickel today. Well really yesterday, since now we're an hour and 19 minutes into the 4th of May. We had a simple celebration consisting of a pizza and for dessert a Baskins and Robbins mud pie with mint chocolate chip ice cream. (You can tell which one I favored most just by the amount of details I gave to each.) Love my ice cream and chocolate.

My husband, daughter, her boyfriend and I played Uno. Now that might not sound too exciting and well it isn't, but we got into such a stupid mood. Bad jokes and the retelling of dumb situations we remembered, had the bunch of us hysterical. We swear there was something in the pie.

It was good to laugh so hard and to look at them wiping their eyes. That was my present, though I know they didn't plan it to be because who knew those moments of sitting around a table with a worn out deck of cards would turn out to be so funny. Money could never buy that. And the present wasn't just for me. It's those times that make us close and remember what we liked about each other. It brings us together even when we're apart later on.
Here's hoping you share some presents with your loved ones.

Where Can She Be?

Since things have calmed down, I figured ok let's get back to writing. eh eh. I've got my hero and heroine, I know basically what's suppose to happen and I know the ending but . . . . My muse, as skitzy as she was, has definitely left the building now and the words and ideas I had are running in circles or jumping off the cliff into the abyss. Jeez. Maybe I could leave a trail of Reese's Piece's leading to my room to draw her out? Nah, if she's anything like me she'd want Lindt dark chocolate truffles. But then she'd have to fight me for them. I'm sure that won't help the relationship any. : )

To make things even more difficult, this will be written in the third person, which I don't feel comfortable doing but I feel it is the POV to use. (My first ms was in the first person and I was able to get into my character so much easier.) So I'm reading more books with that POV trying to see how everyone does it without head hopping. Will this help, I'll find out soon enough.

And to top it off, when I sit looking at the blank page I start to wonder if I should even be writing a romance. I know my strength is more towards action and fight scenes. I know you can have both in one story but action stories are faster paced and romance needs to go slower in order for the reader to relate to the couple. Ah, I'll figure it out or I'll put it up and try something else. Wish me luck!

Scales

An idea occured to me as I drove to work this morning. If, at your death, your heart was weighed, as the ancient Egyptians believed would happen, which way would the scale tip?
What constitutes the goodness or badness of a person? Can we make up for past transgressions? I guess it depends on your beliefs.

If you got a peek at the scale say every twenty years, would you change your ways if what you saw was unfavorable? Would you run off to the nearest soup kitchen, plant a tree, take in a stray or reach out to someone you didn't know? Or would you say the heck with it I'm screwd anyway, and continue on the same crappy path?

It all comes down to choices. Some large, some small. Some that are realized, some that are intangible. Those we can live with and those we can't. Should I eat the apple or not.
Sssssssssss

Better

I'm sorry for all my venting. I was depressed. I've decided to not participate any more with that Sci-fi group. I feel better now. Looking forward to the Luncheon in June with my other group. "Talk" to you next week.

Life's strange

Well people, a lot has happened since I last posted anything. There have been meetings, discussions, readings of members views, lies, deception and accusations. There will be a civility policy and a dispute resolution procedure created in hopes to stop this from ever happening again.

I got my scores back from my entry in the Betwwen the Sheets contest. The judges had me as average with scores of 39, 48, and 36 out of 60. At least my husband thinks I'm sexy. : ) But I wanted feedback and two of the judges only gave me about two lines of comments besides their scores. The third wrote something for almost each question. That's what I was looking for. They all seemed to agree that I should get into the character's heads more. Oh well, I'll put that story aside for awhile, maybe even longer. I've got another story I want to do.

On the lighter side, I finished judging the 4 entries for the Daphne. I'm going to a "girls night out" dinner with three of my friends. Hanging with friends is something I very, very, rarely do. So I'm kind of psyched. Maybe I can talk them into hitting a bar too. I won nine books at Barbara Vey's blog party. I guess they'll be arriving soon. My daffodils are blooming and that always brings me a smile. And my family is doing pretty well. Hope you are too.
~ Donna