Simple Words

My wish to you . . .
May the new year be gentle and give you what you need.
(It may not be what you want but if you have what you need, you'll get by.)

Hugs ~ Donna

Christmas Tree Nazi

Christmas traditons are always fun, like putting up the tree. As we were begining to decorate ours my mother called. I figured I'd talk to her a bit while my daughter and husband put on the lights. No big deal, right? When I got off the phone I came out to see one bare tree. Jeepers they couldn't even do that, I thought. Now I'm angry. My daughter is annoyed at me for grumbling and says she'll put on the damn lights, (my husband is safely tucked away in the family room). Are we having fun yet?
"No I'll do it", I tell her.
"Well I'll help", she replies.
She goes on to tell me that I'm soooo picky when it comes to hiding the wires from the lights no one wants to do it without me supervising.
"If you want to know someone who's really picky you should see your grandmother", I said. "Where do you think I get it from?"
Ah tradition, handed down from one generation to the next!

By the way, they let me do the garland by myself. It's more calmer that way.

A Blessed Day

I don't know when exactly it started but you hear most people wish others a Happy Holiday instead of Merry Christmas even when Hanukkah has long past. I've been doing it too. I know there's other religions but this time of the year, this day of December 25 is for Christians. Why can't the words Merry Christmas be taken for what it really means: wishing that person a wonderful day with family and friends, peace, and the strengthening of faith whatever it might be.

Merry Christmas everyone!

hugs~Donna

Hank Phillippi Ryan +

The Long Island chapter of Sisters in Crime had a talk given by Hank Phillippi Ryan which I attended yesterday. She's an investigative reporter at Boston's NBC affiliate. She's won 26 Emmys and 10 Edward R. Murrow awards, plus many others. And she gives a great talk. Over the past year I've been in quasi contact with her through The Red Jungle Writers blog, so I was excited to finally meet her. Of course, just like at Michele's book signing, I didn't speak too much because my brain kind of comes to a halt when in a group. But she's warm, personable and funny. Definitely someone you could sit down with over a cup of coffee. Though I might feel a bit awkward at times for she doesn't cuss. As she explained if it isn't part of your regular vocabulary then the chances of slipping while on the air is practically nil. Makes sense, right? I never thought of that. It's a nice little tidbit to know.

Some items she covered in her How to Write a Better Novel were: explore your world - research, interviews, visiting -what are it's boundaries; choosing your sound bites - dialogue; visual - make your story as visual as can be- always push it, and don't panic - realize you have a problem, face it and keep going. It's never as bad as you think. Good advice.

It was nice to get out and be with other people. I got to start doing more of this. : )

Ok now for the +. It's my rant for the week.

New Jersey will be holding it's third black bear hunt starting tomorrow and it will go on for six days. They say there's approximately 3,500 bears of which about 300-700 will be taken depending on who you read or which news report you listen to. Over 5,000 permits have been issued for this hunt. Some hunters have been baiting certain areas for weeks trying to better their odds. Some sportsman!

All of this is happening because bears have increasingly been in contact with humans. They're in backyards, disrupting garbage cans, interacting with pets sometimes seriously, etc. Ok, I can understand the resident's concerns and not all of residents share them BUT we as humans destroy and/or take over habitat with a disregard to the consequences and then complain when something happens. We took over their neighborhood. We pushed them into smaller areas because of our developement. Then we get upset when they try to survive. What did we think was going to happen? We disrupt the balance of nature. This is not just a single incident. We do this to all the animals, all of nature because we think we're better, superior, deserving, entitled. In my own personal opinion - Bull____! The key here is balance and that includes controlling our own population. I could go on but I think you get the idea.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Hi All. Since I've been deliquent in my postings I thought I should wish you all a wonderful holiday now. May your loved ones be with you to share the day. If not, give a call or say a prayer if they are no longer here.

I hope you don't have to work that day or report at some ridiculous hour on Friday. I won't rant but that can put a big damper on the spirit since the whole idea is to be thankful for what you have with family and friends.

I know what I'm thankful for. I'd like to hear what things make you warm inside. So share a thought, a story, whatever. I'm all ears. :)

~ Donna

Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

I enjoy Halloween. I don't go crazy with decorating and such but to me it's a fun time, a kind of magical day. A day to be something you're not. When my daughter was little I made all her costumes. I'd ask her what do you want to be, anything. She was a goldfish one year - challenging. Another year she was a green dragon with a hot pink belly, green feet with purple toes, alternating colored scales going down her back, a long tail and wings. This put my sewing skills to the test because I had to alter the pattern. I know how to sew but I'm far from what you would call a seamstress. She was the cutest little dragon in N.Y.. I wish I could post a picture of her so you would know it's not just a mother talking.

I still go trick or treating - I did tonight with my daughter. We didn't go to too many houses just enough to get the feeling of being a kid again. I actually giggled, something I'm not prone to do, while we waited for someone to answer the bell. We only had one complaint from an old lady. She said it was late, it was 6:30. She said we were too old, my daughter is still mistaken for a teenager. At least we were dressed costumes unlike half the teenagers that came to my door. But she gave us candy anyway. We went to one more house after that because we didn't want it to end on a sour note. The man there was nice and gave us each a handful of candy. Much better.

As I write this a smile comes to me as I think of going from house to house, waiting in anticipation for someone to answer and saying "trick or treat" . It's sometimes good to act like a child again. It refreshes. For a half an hour I wasn't a 55 year old mother-wife-person, I was an excited 10 year old. We should all allow ourselves this pleasure and more than once a year. Let the little kid inside come out and see what happens.

Crime Lab 101

On October 16 I had the pleasure of touring the Suffolk County Crime lab with the LIRW. I know I should have talked about it last Sunday but gee I don't know what happened but I just didn't get to it. (I think I was engrossed in the book THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE. Sorry.) Anywhooo, it was great seeing the evidence room and the labs.

I especially liked the ballistics room where they compare the markings on the bullets. The guys that work in there are whacky or at least seem to be going by how they've decorated the room. We didn't meet them. It was sort of like CSI meets the Addam's Family. On one wall there are skulls of different animals sitting on a shelf. A stuffed animal sat in a corner. I didn't check to see if it was real. Sitting on the edges of two framed displays of ammo were small figurines about one and a quarter inches tall. They're all different. Men and women of all types, shapes and dress, done in a comical way. Leather bound folders on shelves tucked into a corner held back issues of the American Rifleman from 1970-2003 and stero microscopes sat on the back table. Definitely a interesting eclectic array of items.

Though the electron microscope made my heart go pitter patter (yeah, I know I'm weird), the firearms vault was my second favorite room. Oh you should have seen all the guns, from machine guns to revolvers to cute little derringers. I know some gun enthausist is cringing at the word of cute. There was even a cane gun. We saw the firing tank which isn't anything spectacular, kind of ordinary looking, but it was still cool to see.

An autopsy was being performed and we all took glances into the room when we passed. Some of us were bothered by the sight while others, myself included, had trouble looking away. The body didn't look real. And I don't think it was because I wasn't wearing my distance glasses, others said the same thing. It was real alright. It was somebody's son. A reason for someone's grief.

But that's what this lab's about -death. What really struck me were the individual stations where the employees worked. I saw quite a few collages of personal photos if the person faced a wall. Photos, statues and buttons with funny sayings adorned the shelves at other locales. Each seemed to try to help the worker fend off the repetition and sadness that probably permeates a job like this. Who could blame them. I'd do the same thing.