Writers Notebook

Archived Messages from April 16, 2003 to July 13, 2003

Sorry that posted twice! I'm a bit of a computer moron.

Kim 7-13-2003 1:07

Hello. I'd posted in here a couple of weeks ago and just found your responses and welcomes (you guys write an awful lot! It's nice to see a friendly community of writers)and would like to thank you for your helpful comments and friendly words. Have a great night!

Kim

Kim 7-13-2003 1:06

Catholic Church???

We left the Catholic Church some years ago after the disclosure of the crimes of the priests. Went sans religion for several years, just recently rejoined the Lutheran church (the church the wife grew up in, and my folks once belonged to).

Somehow I feel more comfortable with that church, I think it was disappointment in the whole hierarchy of the Catholic church and their attempts to cover up, or hide the truth of the allegations.

There's a lot to be said about owning up to your shortcomings and trying to remedy problems rather then the new American way of throwing tons of money at a problem to try and make it go away.

Now if we just could do something about the trial lawyers....

Write on, make a difference!

Jerry 7-13-2003 0:21

Another wonderful rodeo day, tonight, at the bull ridding event, I saw something I'd never seen before at a rodeo.

The Bull was "Black Eye" a huge brama bull with terrifyingly large hones, I didn't catch the rider's name, and his ride was so very short, as he was thrown from the bull, his hand became tangled in the rigging, and he was being drug beneath the huge bull, hooves narrowly missing him every jump the bull made. The two rodeo clowns were doing their best to get the poor rider free, and after three tries, one of the clowns simply grabbed the cowboy, and more or less rode him, while untangeling him from the rigging. Once the cowboy was free, the bull turned on the clown (same one that nearly got gored last night) and rolled the poor fellow several yards with his head, again those huge horns trying to get at the soft flesh of the clown, but the professional rodeo clown came away unscratched, much to the relief of the crowd. He walked over to where the other clown and cowboy waited near the center of the ring, when the cowboy grabbed him and gave him a huge hug.

Now folks around here aren't much on hugging, and cowboys are the worst so that hug meant volumes to everyone who saw.

Rodeo's are such great fun. Don't know if we'll make tomorrow's the weatherman is threatening temps over a hundred and strong thunderstorms for rodeo time. Hate to miss it though as it's the last chance till this time next year.

Jerry 7-13-2003 0:11

PAMELA -- I won't get into the Roman Catholic Church "keeping secrets," but according to the Bible there's no new revelation -- the canon is complete. And as for that obscene wealth -- it does seem to be in contrast with the teachings of Jesus, who said "Do not lay up treasures on earth, but in heaven..." And it's pretty plain what he thought about those who would abuse children -- "better a millstone be tied around their necks and they be cast into the deep..."

RANDALL -- That's probably an apt one word description for Hancock's load, and 99% of the rest of the conjecture on the current whereabouts of the Ark of the Covenant. Do a GOOGLE search and you'll see what I mean. All of those "experts" contradicting one another, and many of them using the ever popular "refutation by character assassination" method of debate.

I won't claim that I know personally where the Ark is, but there's a reference to it in Revelation 11:19 that says: "And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament (covenant): and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail."

But I guess it's not fashionable to believe all that -- and there is that passage in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, that describes the people in the end times as curious, but:
"they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. And they shall turn their ears away from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."

PESTER -- maybe I'm just being uncommonly curmudgeonly tonight, but is your hat on too tight?

:-})

howard 7-12-2003 20:25

Hi all, love the notebook, many thanks for comments, hope you continue to enjoy. Love Pester.

Nobody is 100% switched on from when they wake up to the time they go to sleep, alternatively nobody is 100% switched off at any time; even when they are asleep or unconscious. If we so desired and had the will power, at any one moment we could (With a little practice) attend to everything that was going on around us, i.e. the position of our bodies, pressures, movements, emotions, thoughts, sensory stimuli. We would then be totally absorbed in the moment or moments, almost completely aware for a very short time. (Try doing this for any length of time and you will find that things gradually slip.) To do this is like waking up while you’re awake, to see things as if for the first time.

How aware are we generally, what do we miss as we progress through the moments that make up our lives? What is our peak switched on time, our trough switched off time? Can we be fully aware all of the time? Would we want to be?
In our daily lives, generally we pass from moment to moment almost totally pre-occupied with, what has happened in the past, what we think may happen in the future, what we should’ve done, how we felt yesterday, this time last year, what we regret saying to someone earlier; i.e. everywhere but in the present. In this flow of moments, we tend to miss our lives because we are usually, mentally somewhere else.

Let’s say for example, in the morning we wake up feeling refreshed and alert, at the very point at which we awake, we are a fresh being with no future and no past. Then we remember things, who we are, our present situation, what we did the night before, our hopes and fears, what we are going to do today; then we become ourselves as it were, we put on our personalities just as naturally as we would put our clothes on.
Yet, do we ask who we are, where we are going, why we are going there, what we want out of life, are we happy etc. Not usually, we drift along the line of least resistance. So we get up and quickly fall into our daily routine, we may be in a happy mood or a bad mood; (What determines this?) say that we are about 90% alert, (Probably optimistic but let’s go with it anyway.) we sit down to breakfast, we break a plate. What is our reaction? Does it depend on how we feel? Does it depend on the plate, was it a favourite plate, one of a set, valuable, was it our fault, did someone leave it in a silly place, was that person someone you love\like\hate, is it sunny outside, raining, warm, cold????

How much alertness have we already lost? Does the breaking of the plate spoil our day, have no affect, have a profound affect, what does this depend upon, also would our reactions be consistent if the same thing happened on another day, at another time????
Consider this a switch that captures some of our energy, how much, depending upon what importance we give it. We carry on through the day experiencing similar events\losses maybe the odd gain.
Typically, by the end of the day we will feel drained\heavy, pre-occupied and in need of some relief, we are now acting on a reduced level of ability and as a result may find that we do not cope so well with the later events of the day. If we let these losses build up without some sort of relief, (Or application of attention and understanding) we run the danger of some sort of breakdown. We all have different ways of achieving this release, some socially acceptable, some not, as well as some being counterproductive, i.e. causing other problems not necessarily seen as an end product.

Of course prevention is better than cure, if we can stop the build up of losses and their accompanying frustrations, we may avoid the problems that come with saving them for a big release, (Blowing our top)
Which, often comes with a cost of some sort. We tend to get upset when things don’t go our way; we try to control things beyond our control. If our happiness depends upon the outside world being a certain way, then our happiness as a result is fragile and likely to be shattered very often. Real happiness is an internal decision. If we stay in the moment, deal with what’s in front of us, have respect for ourselves and others feelings, our lives will improve.
It won’t be easy but life wouldn’t have many lessons for us if things flowed along perfectly all the time, people need problems, and in the analysis and creation of solutions for these problems do we develop and grow.

Pester Smemb 7-12-2003 17:21

Pamela - I'd send you some but they'd put me in jail, this stuff is class 2 narcotic, and I have to jump through all sorts of hoops just to get the damn scripts filled, that even when the druggist is one of my best buddies here in town. They tell me that the bureau is paying a bit over a grand a month just to keep me in the stuff, but it sure works good on pain.

It's rodeo time in Lemmon once more, the first installment was this afternoon, and what a wonderful day for it, the temps stayed under 85, sun shined all day, and just a slight breeze kept things cool even in the sun. This evening we had to dawn our jackets as when the sun left us in favor of the ghost moon, it took away the heat.

A bit of a change this year in the beginning ceremony of our Boss Cowman Rodeo, usually the two flags brought forth to honor are the Stars and Stripes and the SD State Flag, but this year in lieu of the SD State flag, honors were paid to the guide on of our local Nation Guard Unit, now stationed in Iraq furnishing drinking water to all the troops there. It was very touching bringing tears to the friends and families of those now placing their lives on the line to keep us free.

A very lively rodeo it was too, the last thing is, of course the bull riding, and it was some of the best I've ever witnessed, there were several near injuries, prevented only by the bravery of the rodeo clowns, one of which was himself attacked and rolled around the arena by a huge two thousand pound bull with horns so large one could hang close line from them. It's hard to believe he came away un-gored, I bet he'll have tons of bruises, as will a cowboy who suffered the same fate only to be saved by the Kevlar rodeo vests many now wear for protection from just that happenstance.

So another day ends in wonderful South Dakota, I hope all are well, and writing to their hearts contents.

WRITE ON!!

Jerry 7-12-2003 1:00

randall person i sasquatch have told of my cousin harry is yes the Yeti in that movie. and he was once in that crazy as you say lemon place. he does not keep a list of days so i sasquatch do not know if it was a friday but someone wearing blue boots and a red cloth on his neck wanted to see if he could knock down harry but could not. harry was angry but he did not try to speak. but he did as you say pass a gas and some were ill after. i must go.

sasquatch 7-11-2003 22:53

Randall

Evening!

Ben ... Randy Bear? I just hate it when my friends see through me! (Real Big Grin) Oh ... Ben...my pickup sits in the sun all day at work. I leave the sliding back window open, the side windows down about 2". I have an inside/outside temp gauge inside the pickup. As I left work today the inside temp was 121 F. Outside was 108 F The TV weather station reported 103 F for a high today. Why ... it gets so hot down here buzzards are often seen flying holding large umbrellas! IT'S TRUE! Why, a lot of people are now putting tubes of sunscreen on their hummingbird feeders so the little birds can rub it on and won't sun burn!

Pam...the Red Lantern is a working stiffs joint. It's usually full of truckers, bikers, mechanics, delivery drivers (ahem) and ranchers... Honestly, I was a regular for many years, but, alas, dropped out some time ago. I have a buddy who is the bouncer and he keeps things in line! Organized religion is most secerative, with, no doubt, more secrets than the CIA!

Must go...

Randall

Randall 7-11-2003 19:51

Just posted a new shorty in the workbook -- Thanks again, Mark!

howard 7-11-2003 18:14

PAMELA -- use this one: http://tinyurl.com/1cl9

or copy the entire line and paste it into your browser:

http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~geoffo/humour/flattery.html

for some reason it gets cut off at the ~ character.

Thanks for the complimen, but I'm really not that up on computer stuff any more. I used to work with a large customer set at IBM, then after I retired (was downsized) I worked on the helpdesk that I'd helped to build when I was at IBM. It was there I met Mark, who's way way ahead of anything I wver did in computers.

howard 7-11-2003 15:13

Ben

I'm sitting here at my brother's place in Kelowna. It's hot. But they tell me it's a dry heat, as opposed to the humidity we have on the coast. Right....I say when the temp reads 30 c (88 f), that it's still hot, no matter what you tell me. Hot is hot.

Pamela, I know I'm not supposed to tease the bear :-) but sometimes, I just can't help myself. I'm just a kid at heart. As for Rush and his commentary, well, 'nough said. You need only read him to see what he's all about.

Rachel: I do plan to attend, and so far, everything's looking like I will be there. I just have to look at the wife's work hours to know what's going on. But it's on the calendar hanging on the wall at home right now, and I'm out here...

It's been a great little vacation. The weather has naturally been hotter than spit on a griddle, and the wife's happier than I've seen her in a long time-not that she's not happy. We went on a quick tour of the wineries in the area one afternoon. The children stayed behind to swim in the lake and watch the dogs. We went to about three or four, did one long tour, and the others were just taste tests. Of course, my daughter was telling us that we were not setting a good example for her, drinking and driving I mean, until we explained that we weren't even drinking a total mouthful for every sample we tried. I guess she had this idea that we were having a full glass of wine at each place. I wish...I think if you added it all up, we had a glass and a half total. A guy could die of thirst with the amount they give you. :-)

Anyway, today we drive down to my other brother's place outside of Kamloops and Merit, up a long, dirt road, and to a ranch he's staying at as caretaker. He says to just walk on in, because the door's never locked. They used to own a nice house but lost it when the local town council zoned his house for a hi-way without telling them. They were trying to sell it at the time. It was ugly. They tried sueing the town council, went all the way to the Supreme Court, and got knocked down again because they were a day or two off on the original processing. They had to declare bankruptcy, and then ended up finding this huge place on this ranch, where all they do is monitor some radio during the winter time, and pay 300 for rent.

Oh, I gotta run now. I see the wife's up--and it's only 8:40--so I have to put away the trappings of civilization and run back out to play with her. She's laughing and smiling, and she's only talking to the dogs...I say this, because she is not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination. She likes her sleep.

So long folks, and Randy-bear, relax and have a nap. I wish I could sit with you and have a couple of cold ones some day. You seem to have a good sense of Ha-ha, but Texas is a long way away, and driving down there with my wife at my side, well...she'd rather not. :-)

ben 7-11-2003 11:49

Lordy, 3:30 A.M. and can't get to sleep, probably because I have to get up to give a friend a ride to work in the morning.

Howard, I tried that link but there was no place to enter my name (except to register) and I looked around a bit but couldn't find the humour stuff. You are so good with computers, have you thought about teaching a class at the library or to underpriviledged kids or something like that? You're funny too, liked that about screwing up being one of the five basics...

Jerry, wow, I AM impressed, you turned off Rush? Can you send some of that medication down here, it sounds great! Seriously, good for you for deciding to think for yourself, I'll be interested to hear some of your new thoughts.

Mark, got your note about moving my shorty, I copied it and went to Shorty Forum and hit new post, but then "paste" was grayed out. I guess it's floating around somewhere out in the ether, I wonder where it goes?

Randall, the Section Hand sounds like it would have great CFS but the Red Lantern sounds kind of fancy, I think I might prefer the Crazy Lemon Bar and Grill (Harry can be my date). Hope Debbie is feeling better, a 5 day headache isn't a good thing (has she had a check-up lately?). Glad she felt well enough to go see Johnny Depp but I think the eye make-up would distract me. That book sounds fascinating, I admire people like you who read deep serious stuff. I usually just read escapist fiction and get the more educational material the easy way: from TV (learning, biography, history channels). There has been noise for years (don't know where I've heard it) about the Catholic church keeping information from people, in particular the secret told to the girls at Lourdes by Mary. It's said that it denounces the Catholic church, not surprising since they are even worse than politicians (how can they possibly reconcile their obscene wealth with the teachings of Jesus?). I'll bet the erudite Howard knows something about this. I hope I don't offend any Catholics but hoarding gold and jewels when children are starving is NOT spiritual (not to mention protecting child abusers).

Well, I guess I'll go dig in my latest bag of books from the library and see if I can find one to put me to sleep...

pamela 7-11-2003 4:52

It's been a long dry spell as far as writing is concerned, but tonight I stuck a shorty in the shorty notebook (THANKS MARK WE NEED A WORKBOOK!)

Yes, I still plan on re-registering as an independent, just can't stand the CRAP both sides are throwing about, heck I even turned off Rush Limbaugh, and haven't listened to Thompson any more either, time to think for myself about things as I see them. (Could be bad medication???) NA.

Be well all, and WRITE ON!!

Jerry 7-11-2003 0:23

Randall

Hey!!!

Hi Pamela, works for me! And I know just the place! The Section Hand Restaurant for a chicken fried steak and then mosey over to the Red Lantern club for a few rounds of ice cold Lone Star on draft! Debbie is recovering from a 5 day headache. She is okay now but, honestly, I was worried over her. Still, displaying female fortitude, she managed to drag me to the movie last night. Pirates of the Caribbean. Not bad, unless seeing Johnny Depp in eye liner and eye shadow for a couple of hours bothers you.

Sasquatch...welcome back big fellow. Say...is there any truth to the movie Harry and the Hendersons? If so...send Old Harry on down to Texas. I would like to see Harry enter the Crazy Lemon Bar and Grill on a Friday night... Whatta hoot!!!!

I am reading Graham Hancock's THE SIGN AND THE SEAL. It is his search for the Lost Ark of the Covenant. Scary stuff. Mr. Hancock's research is staggering. His search details the Knights Templar in the Temple of Solomon, 1119 AD, to Azum, Eithopia the reported resting place of the Ark and the current guardian Gebra Mikail! Though no one will ever know the entire story of the Ark, if half of his assertions are correct there are a group of people, throughout recorded time (and beyond) who are privilege to a lot of information hidden to the common folk.

One interesting section (construction of the Ark) covers Moses interogating God, before the burning bush on Mount Sinai, "...asked the name of the strange and powerful being who addressed him." God replied "I AM WHO I AM." (This has always fascinated me, the name of God.) Hancock continues "... I AM WHO I AM...was, I discovered the root meaning of the name Yahweh used in the Old Testament - and subsquently bastardized in the Authorized King James Version of the Bible as ‘Jehovah'. This name, however was no name; rather it was an evasive formula based loosely on the Hebrew verb ‘to be' and written as ‘YHWH' " (Interesting, huh?) "Known as tetragrammation, these letters reveal nothing beyond the active ‘existence' of God and thus continued to conceal the divine idenity from modern researchers every bit as effectively as they had once from Moses. (!) Indeed so potent was their mystery that no one today could even claim to know exactly how they should be pronounced; rendering the tetragrammation as ‘Yahweh' by the insertion of the vowels ‘a' and ‘e' was, however, the accepted convention."

Mr. Hancock's point; "The importance of all this from the biblical perspective was that the deity knew, and pronounced, the name of Moses; Moses, by contrast, only managed to obtain from Him the ritual incantation ‘I am who I am'. Henceforward, therefore, the prophet was bound to answer to God and to do His bidding; likewise all his sorcery in the future would derive from the power of God, and from the power of God alone."

That is some heavy shit. I believe to accept the above paragraph we should understand that this was "the biblical perspective." Mr. Hancock's text extends to 514 pages. His well documented referances are listed from page 517 to page 588!

Great reading!

Night all

Randall

Randall 7-10-2003 23:22

CLick on this (or paste it into your browser) then enter your first name. These computers are finally starting to act cordial!

http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~geoffo/humour/flattery.html

howard 7-10-2003 22:28

PAMELA -- "Screwing up somehow" is one of the five basic things most people know how to do on the computer!

:-})

howard 7-10-2003 16:03

I was just informed that those haiku error messages were the winning submissions in a SALON.COM contest held nearly five years ago!

I wonder if any of our stuff is winging its way around the net? Another good reason for the secured workbook!

howard 7-10-2003 16:01

I just checked out the Workbook and realized I had posted a "Passion" shorty under Works In Progress, I used that thing that said it was a thread to shorty night but I prabably screwed up somehow (I only know five things on the computer). This time I saw a Shorty Night category but it wasn't right in front of me last time (learning!).

pamela 7-10-2003 15:19

Howard, forgot to mention before, those Haiku error messages were great, so nice and yet to the point. Simplicity.

Jerry, you jest, join the Independent party, no way! Then who would we hippie radicals (or maybe I'm the only one) spar with? It does all get frustrating, though, especially since we can have interesting debates and decide how we would run things but it's all theoretical and we really can't do much of anything. Too bad about the windmills, it would seem logical to focus on wind, sun and water for power but logic does not always rule (which is what is so frustrating). I'm liking your middle east plan, we could just make the whole area the 52nd state, they could call it The Energy State on their license plates:). No kidding, though,you might want to skip the news for a few days and see what happens; watch a dumb sit-com instead that will make you laugh or turn the tv off and go do something else, it will be good for your blood pressure. For an interesting diversion, you could always take your wife (sorry, I forgot her name---more brain cells down) to that cafe and see if the guy who calls her name is there (she laughed wickedly). I liked your dumb jokes, they used to say in Alaska that the men were men and the women won the Iditerod (sp?) but I guess that changed last year.

Does anyone else here sometimes get some kind of subliminal urge to go and buy some talcum power and puff it all over yourself? Don't know where that's coming from...

Andrew, do you have a secret alter ego like someone else here? I'll never tell. Regarding sequels, I think it is good to include some background simply because it may have been a while since someone read the first one and they might have read many books in between and could use a little refreshing. It doesn't have to be narrative, it could be done in conversation between some characters talking about the past, Howard's post in the workbook is a great example of imparting information through dialogue.

pamela 7-10-2003 15:10

Hello,
New Toronto men's magazine "Hi Octane Magazine" is preparing its first issue which will be out already this November 2003. We are currently seeking freelance writers which are interested in gaining exposure and experience. Our first issue is financially limited, (we can offer your advertisement and exposure). We are planning to have these sections: Men's sport, Music, Sex, Dr. Dirty Octane - your sex and private issues, Business, Women...
Please contact us at info@hioctanemagazine.com if you are interested.
Sincerely
Zdenka Micka
www.hioctanemagazine.com

Zdenka Micka - Hi Octane Magazine Hi Octane Magazine 7-10-2003 13:09

ANDREW,

In answer to your question, I think you must determine if the sequel is a continuation of the story in the first book with the same main characters experiencing the action, or is it is a different story with some of the same characters and the same universe. If the plot of the sequel is different than the first book then you should write the book for people who never read the prequel. On the otherhand, there are sequels that are merely a continuation of the first book. These are those books that build up to a situation that is not resolved in the first book. In that case forget about readers who haven't read the first book.

Some sequels are not sequels at all. They are situations where the story was too large to fit in one 100,000 word book and so the publisher had to put out two 100,000 word books to present it. STAR TREK books do this all the time and I find it irritating. Anyone who buys book 2 or 3 in a series of Star Trek books who has not read book 1 or any of the previous ones will be very confused and disappointed. The latest example is ST:Voyager HOMECOMING. This book resolves nothing. It only builds up your interest. You must wait for ST:Voyager THE FARTHER SHORE for that. Fortunately these two books came on the market a month apart. Other examples are THE GENESIS WAVE, books 1 and 2 and KHAN: THE EUGENICS WARS, books 1 and 2.

Stephen Lawhead comes to mind. He has written lots of series. In his King Arthur books they could each be read discreetly, but then there is his Celtic Knot series which are three books that really should be read in order. Though they would be better understood in order, they could be read out of order because each individual book is written in first person using differing points of views in each book. Each book has a distinct goal and purpose.

As far as putting in back story, that is a tricky situation whether or not a book is a sequel. The new wisdom on this matter being spouted in the writer's conferences I have attended ( and I think it is good advice) is do NOT dole out all the back story at the beginning of the book or all in one lump. The reader does not have to know everything. Let the reader learn the important parts of the backstory as the plot unfolds. Spoon feed the back story a little at a time. In a sequel if the reader wants to know everything, let him go back and read the first book, which he should have done in the first place.

Rhoda 7-10-2003 12:26

Andrew - I think a quick review of major points should exist, possibly in a preface section of the new book. Why? Well there are lots of folks out there that may in fact buy the second book without knowing of the existence of the first and find themselves totally lost in the new one.

I have in fact done that, and the recap was great help. Also the second volume was the main reason I got the whole series.

I am so sick of the news as of late, I may in fact join those who have given up TV news! The same for the nuts that run our great nation in DC.

Will I tear up my membership to the Republican party? Probably, I am going to the voter registration section of City Hall and changing my registration independent, with visions of being letter-telephone free of the RNC. (They call about once every six weeks wanting money I need much worse then they)

The constant bickering sickens me.

Could the druggist be putting something in my pills to cause the change? Could be, but more power to him!

Jerry 7-10-2003 11:55

Ok, fellow Cyber-Buddies, got a new poll for everyone:

When dealing with the beginning of a sequel, should one:

a. Just continue on with the story with no recap of the previous book, assuming the reader has already read it.
b. Recap the major points of the previous story.
c. Put in a Glossary of terms needed to understand the story, (i.e. Races, planets, Character, Etc.)

It seems to me that having to recap the major points would be somewhat repetative and not really necessary unless it is from a character's memory or flashback.

Please let me know your thoughts on this and as always, they are greatly appreciated.

p.s. Sorry I missed Thursday's Shorts night.

Andrew the Pestersome One 7-10-2003 10:20

Pamela - yep, billions on nuclear waste disposal. Now seems to me I just saw on some TV show on I think Discovery or some such channel where there hasn't been a new nuclear plant built in the USA since the TMI accident, and there are no plans to build any in the future so it's probably a moot point, well maybe not I guess there are still some running.

To be honest I wouldn't want one in my neighborhood but what's the answer?

Just heard that the windmill thing in California is under attack now that some birds have flown into the props and been killed. There goes wind power, and just when the good folks up in North Dakota were building hundreds of those dang windmills up there, it's ALWAYS windy in North Dakota. Why is it windy in ND many ask, those in ND know why, simply because Montana blows and Minnesota SUCKS! or at least that's what I heard.

Yes we make fun of some of our neighbors, the old saying MONTANA where men are MEN and sheep are SCARED!

Ok enough stupid jokes, but your right nuclear waste is a problem and nobody wants it in their state, understandably, maybe were simply not ready for cheap economical energy, after all there's still tons of oil under Iraq and what the hell we own IRAQ now and IRAN seems to be right up there on the hit list, what next? Well hell lets take Saudi Arabia too, they don't have a democratic government and they don't treat their women like we do.

Jerry 7-10-2003 0:46

Carol, you are sooooooo wonderful! Thanks for the positive comments on my prologue, would you believe I actually shed a few tears of relief? Since people were reading it but not commenting, I was getting paranoid that is was because it was so terrible. This is part of my recent re-write and I just did the whole thing in this new way, I'm so glad that at least one person liked it.

Howard, oops, sorry, I thought you were voluntarily retired. College sounds like a cool thing to do, especially if it's free. You are so creative and intelligent, I'm sure you can find something to do. Ouch indeed on the giant stick under your fingernail! The asexual pronoun site was fun, none of the words sounded too good, though, did they, or is it just because we aren't used to them?

Mary, I see the point in having the shortie be a quick off-the-cuff deal. I haven't been here too long so don't know what the heck is going on; I guess giving a little more time would be good for people who don't check in every day (we all seem to come and go a bit) or just don't have time to do it that day. Another Libra, yay, there are a few of us here. Sunny, I think, or maybe Heather and possibly Rachel (Rolls With Horses). No, there's nothing wrong with my memory, is there? (Sound of brain cells dying)

Sasquatch, you hairy doll, so nice to see you again. Is it summer where you are? Do you shed when it gets hot? Surely other Yetis don't mind getting close to Yeti or there would never be any little Yetis. I liked your joke, you have a good grasp of the lanquage for a Bigfoot. Is is true what they say about big feet? I go now.

pamela 7-9-2003 22:54

A friend just sent these -- have you ever seen them, VIV?

Here are 16 actual error messages seen on the computer screens in Japan, where they are written in Haiku. Aren't these better than "your computer has performed an illegal operation"?

The Web site you seek cannot be located, but countless more exist
--------------------------------------------
Chaos reigns within. Reflect, repent, and reboot. Order shall return
-----------------------------------------------
Program aborting: Close all that you have worked on. You ask far too much
------------------------------------------------
Windows NT crashed. I am the Blue Screen of Death. No one hears your screams
-------------------------------------------------
Yesterday it worked. Today it is not working. Windows is like that
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Your file was so big. It might be very useful. But now it is gone
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Stay the patient course. Of little worth is your ire. The network is down
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A crash reduces your expensive computer to a simple stone
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Three things are certain: death, taxes and lost data. Guess which has occurred
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You step in the stream, but the water has moved on. This page is not here
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Out of memory. We wish to hold the whole sky, But we never will
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Having been erased, the document you're seeking must now be retyped
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Serious error. All shortcuts have disappeared. Screen. Mind. Both are blank

(I know the feeling!)

howard 7-9-2003 22:42

Hi All!

Sorry about the lurking lately. Life demanded my attention. Hate when that happens!

I believe there was a question on habitual boo-boos when writing. Yep, I have them all the time. I know there's one word that starts with a "d" that I constantly misspell, but I can't for the life of me think of what it is right now. Then there is my overabundance of starting sentences with "And" and "But". For now I let them flow in, later I'll go back and use the find feature of the program to do my editing.

I just got done commenting on a couple of the shorties on the WB. I promise since I commented, I will offer up my own work tomorrow for an equal chance of pointing out some of my writing habits that need work. :) Passion hmmm? Since the WB is secure, maybe I'll even try a future scene for my novel. Oh, but I need to write! It's been well over a week and I'm having withdrawal!! hehehehe

Carol 7-9-2003 13:10

Nope, guess not.
Some browsers don't do the blinking any more because it was deemed too aggravating.

PAMELA -- "Luckily" retired? I guess I am fortunate enough to be able to collect my retirement, but I'd really rather be working. It's a blow to the self esteem to see my wife have to get up and leave for work every day.
I'm seriously thinking about going back to college to learn something useful. That way at least I'll get to ride in to work with her (she works there) and I'll get to go tuition free, because of her union contract.

howard 7-9-2003 10:59

SASQUATCH! Welcome back! Don't wander so long!

MARY - maybe you need a <.font> tag in front of that.

howard 7-9-2003 10:54

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lianchun yang talc 7-9-2003 4:15

Pretend that the word 'passion' is blinking in my last post! ;-)

Mary 7-8-2003 23:25

Hi guys!

Geez Louise, been away a day and already missed so many posts!

LAURA: I don't tend to say the same things over and over, but I do repeat myself quite a bit.

PAMELA: I am a Libra too! Coincidink?

RE: SHORTIES: OK, now I am not absolutely positive, cuz I have only been around here for three years and shortie night is older than that, BUT when I first started giving out the topics it was supposed to be something written on the spur of the moment just for fun, no stress. Sometimes only a few sentences even. What I posted last week is certainly not normal and took me a little over an hour, most of that time was spent bitching at WordPad for no real reason. (That is another subject!) HOWEVER, being a forward-thinking woman of reasonable compassion, if the majority of us want more time (which it seems is the case), then by all means! I will from now on, strive to have the shortie topic posted by Monday morning for the following Thursday's shortie night.

Obviously I have missed it this week and the past several months as well so there shall be no dunking, tar & feathering, or any other sort of torture for a missed deadline on my part. Hehehehe

All that said, I will now post this week's shortie topic for your enjoyment:

PASSION

(crossing my fingers that my html isn't showing)

Mary 7-8-2003 23:23

greetings humans persons i sasquatch the wandering Yeti have returned. pamela person you say hurricanes but even when you name it male it is still a hurricane and not a himmicane. ha ha i sasquatch make Yeti joke i think. but to us it does not make a big difference. Yeti all look alike unless very close, and who wants to stay very close to most Yeti? this is why i wander much. i must go.

sasquatch 7-8-2003 22:02

PAMELA -- Google shows 465 hits on "Asexual pronouns," one of the more enlightening ones being:

http://aetherlumina.com/gnp/

howard 7-8-2003 21:51

Hey, guys, I'm gainfully employed! Well, I start tomorrow and have to train for a week at minimum wage (below poverty level but that's the American way) but it is certainly better than no job at all! Thanks for kind thoughts; Howard, even though you are luckily retired, I appreciate the empathy about how rotten it is for us hard-working folks to be screwed-around by Big Business but hey, sorry to be redundant, but it's the American way.

Jerry, you are a hoot, thanks for the giggles. I agree with you completely, those darned tree-huggers have no right to interfere with Big Business' right to pollute the planet as much as they want. I'm sure that future generations won't mind paying billions of dollars to maintain the nuclear waste (with a half-life of 10,000 years) we produce for our energy today and hey, they can learn to get along without the products of the oceans when the nuclear waste we are dumping there kills everything in it. What do we care, we won't be here, right?

Rolls With Horses, thanks to you too for your encouraging words. How are those horses, anyway? I checked out your shortie entry and LOVED it, see posted reply. How is that darling Seb, still tipping his hat to the ladies?

Randall, how is my new best friend Debbie? If I ever make it back down to Texas maybe we will all have to get together for some good chicken-fried steak and political discussions (and perhaps a Lone Star beer).

My last few posts have forgotten to say hello to Pester Smemb, whoever he (or she?) is and to tell him/her how much I enjoy his/her thought-provoking comments. (Gosh, if the women's libbers can get hurricane's names changed to men's, why can't they come up with an asexual pronoun?)

Mark, still didn't get to the workbook through the address but added it to my favorites and There It Is! Viola!

Mary, where is your delightfully cre-e-e-e-py self? What is the subject for this week's shorty?

Sunny, so good to see you back again. Happy Birthday to you, one of my oldest and best friend is a Cancer. Rides on Harleys with husband sounds like a really cool thing to do. Much sympathy to mom on losing ability to drive, I just saw a show about that. Hooray for you on upcoming book, I forget, what is the subject?

Hello and hugs to Eddie, Nikki and Anita. How are things going in the UK?

Love to all,

pamela 7-8-2003 21:29

Try this:

Go to http://www.google.com

In the search box type Weapons of Mass Destruction

Click the "I'm feeling lucky" button

Read the error message carefully.

Jerry 7-8-2003 12:15

PAMELA -- not personally, I'm retired. But it's maddening to see today's workers treated the way some of the major corporations are doing. Lay off a dedicated $15/hr worker just to replace her/him with a $7.50/hr worker is Not Right!

OUCH! department -- I was mowing the lawn a few weeks ago, and you know how they keep saying not to reach into the chute while the mower is running? No, I didn't, but I did grab the end of it to lift it to clear an obstacle. As I gripped the end, with my fingers curled under it, I hit a stick or something. Immediate, excruciating pain! Whatever it was, it hit across my fingernails, and the ring finger on my right hand started to bleed like crazy! I wrapped a rag around it so I could finish without getting blood all over, then went in and cleaned it up as best I could. It swelled up quite a bit, and I made a tiny cut across the base of the nail to relieve the pressure. It worked pretty good, and a few days later it stopped hurting.
Then Sunday afternoon I bumped it, and felt a stabbing pain right at the base of the nail. I looked and saw something where I thought was a blood blister from the earlier hit. I poked at it with my pocket knife, yes it hurt, and hooked out a splinter of wood nearly a quarter inch long, that had been sticking straight through the base of the nail. Hadn't seen it before, because it was hidden by the cuticle (what's left of it). Immediate relief! Doesn't hurt a bit now, except when I bump it, but now I've got this funny looking hole that'll probably take a few months to migrate up to the end of my finger.

Moral of the story -- never eat kim-chee for breakfast...

howard 7-8-2003 11:36

Ok so I was half asleep last night, populations of the Dakota's North - 690,000 South 740,000.

Jerry 7-8-2003 9:24

My birthday seems like a good day to come back to the Notebook. (I'm a Cancer, too, Randall! ;-)

Like others, I've been lurking and loving it, but didn't have enough energy until now to jump back into the fun fray. I'm still running back and forth to Baltimore to check up on, and spend time with, my mom. She's doing well, but has been told that she can't drive anymore, and is not happy about that. My brother and I have managed to line up drivers for her, but she's mourning the loss of her independence, along with the loss of my father.

I just heard from my editor that she'll have the suggested revisions from my first draft back to me by the end of July. Then I'll have August and September to get the changes in by my October 1st deadline. I don't know what their proposed publication date will be, but I'm getting psyched!

I envy those of you who have been enjoying the woods this summer. I miss the days of carefree summer camp and everything that went with it. My husband and I took an evening ride on his Harley the other day, and the cool foresty air was fantastic.

Good luck with all your endeavors -- especially your job, Pamela, and your manuscript, Andrew.

Enjoy the writing!

Sunny 7-8-2003 9:07

Pamela - I once saw a nuclear plant, Three Mile Island was the name, drove by it once when I was in the Army and transferring from the DC area to Minnesota. That's about as close as I'll ever be to one of those things, and I don't miss them a bit. Up here in the great Buffalo Commons we get most of our power from the Garrison Dam on Lake Sakaweja about a hundred forty miles north of here. There's also a coal fired plant near Center where my son has his house, not that we need lots of power around here since both North and South Dakota combined have less population then a small city in most states.

We do like it like that, and with such a small population (160 some thousand in the North, 170 thousand in the South) we have fewer criminals and such too. Now there has been a dramatic rise in drug offences now since the druggies up here discovered they could make Meth in the trunk of their cars as they drag main, and our prisons are overflowing with those idiots. Also confined with the druggies are the idiots who get drunk and drive on our fair streets, also a major offence in these parts.

Today here in Lemmon there was a meeting at the auction barn cafe of those who are damn mad about those damn cops picking up drunk drivers when they are coming from wedding dances (I have yet to figure out where they found a law allowing drunk drivers at weddings?) I drove past the cafe and saw nearly a hundred cars there. It's going to be interesting to see. Sure glad I don't wear that badge here anymore, I did back in the 70's and the parents of these idiots were driving drunk back then too. Some things never change.

At any rate I guess nuclear power may be a bad thing, can't say for sure since as Randall pointed out there have been no deaths caused by that production method here in the good old USA (the power of fair minded laws and educated workers a thing now of the past it seems), but I also don't see a drastic need for that type of power when it's only the enviromentalists who complain of the pollution from the coal fired plants, oh and those same environmentalists who complain at the use of fossil fuels at oil powered plants, oh and those same environmentalists who complain about our hydro-electric power plants since once in awhile a fish gets ground to bits in the impellers of the turbines.

Seems if those same environmentalists would have their way we would not have power, and thus no computers, no TV, no radio, no telephone, no anything but books (now that's a good idea!).

But then again they would then be complaining that we pollute the air with the kerosene that we burn in the lamps, and the trash from the batteries in the flashlights, and so on and so forth. Seems you just can't win.

I think what would probably satisfy those environmentalists would be the total removal of all human's from the face of the earth so mother nature could have her way with the planet. No wait a minute, didn't the human species come from that self same mother nature? If so than aren't all those things OK, after all they were made by humans who are after all a product of mother earth. Would you deny the wolf his den, the bear his cave, the bird his nest?

Ah the heck with it, lets just leave things as they are, and look out for those damn drunk drivers...

It's been a long day, but it's so very nice to be home again.

a belated happy independance day to all we USA'ns.

Jerry 7-8-2003 0:33

Hey, Rolls With Horses! (Rachel, now how did you know I was talking about you?) A $2000 per month pay cut? Jeez, I wish I MADE that much (I know prices are higher up yonder, though). But good for you in being critical of government waste, even if it was being wasted on you (snort, chuckle). Thanks for well-wishes on job, hopefully tomorrow I will be employed.

Randall, man, I gotta love ya! I'm glad I'm not alone in driving you up the wall but have the good Debbie to help :). About the nuclear insurance, I just think we should have a CHOICE about whether we want to subsidize an industry or not and that people in an area where a plant is proposed should be informed that they are not insured when asked to decide about having it there. This act covers accidents caused by faulty construction and operation too. My stepfather worked on a plant in California and saw welding seams that were so faulty they could be seen by the naked eye, without the usual x-rays. When he reported it to his superiors, they basically told him to keep his mouth shut, hey, no liability, no worries, right? Truthfully though, Randall, I do think ours is a great country and guess what, I even think Bush did a darn good job after 9/11 and I cheered along with everyone else when we bombed the heck out of Afghanistan. I just think we need to be careful and keep our leaders and government in check sometimes because power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Mark, thanks for info on connecting to workbook. Remember I tried the address before and it didn't work yet, I guess it is set up now. Your second post was interesting, but you mistakenly wrote it in Greek, I didn't understand a word.

Howard, frustrations on the job front too?

G'night, my cyber-buddies,

pamela 7-7-2003 23:37

oops -- forgot the "http://" before the web address. If you don't put that there then your address gets appended to the Notebook's.

PAMELA -- See there? I always type it from memory, but this time I got in a hurry. I would have been better off having the address on a note; that way I couold copy-and-paste the right adress

and maybe take a spelling lesson with the time I save

Mark workbook 7-7-2003 23:18

LAURA -- I just stepped through the registration process in both the blog and the workbook. Both were fine. email me.

Mark Workbook 7-7-2003 23:13

LAURA -- the blog will not let you register, that's true. The workbook will.

I believe the blog is set up to take comments, but it will not let you register and use it for your own posts the way the workbook will

Mark 7-7-2003 22:57

Mark, it won't let me register.

Laura 7-7-2003 22:50

Randall

Hi Pamela... interesting article. (Long Pause) And since I am in a irrelevant mood tonight I might say ... if one is involved in a nuclear accident, life insurance won't do a whole lot of good. As for family members ... insurance is a recognizable hedge against the death of a loved one. I just increased mine BTW.

My friend ... in order to see the future we must view the past. Right after we left Utah in 1984 a coal mine fire killed dozens of coal miners there. I knew several men who worked in that mine. I tried to call one right after that, Gail, but he never answered my call. So I don't know. Since then, I have heard of numerous coal mining fatalities...but I have yet to know the name of one person killed in a nuclear generating plant accident in America.

http://www.msha.gov/MSHAINFO/FACTSHET/MSHAFCT8.HTM

US Department of Labor web site...

Pamela, from 1970 till 1992 there have been 15 accidents with five or more fatalities in the US ... a total of 197 miners killed.

In the five worst coal mine disasters since 1940 ... 471 miners have died.

The three worst coal mine disasters in the US from 1913 - 1907 ... 884 miners died.

The worst coal mining disaster in America was Monongah 6 & 8, Monongah, West Virginia in 1907 when 362 miners died.

At the following web site...

http://www.endgame.org/industrial-disasters.html

This is a list of major industrial disasters. The list does not include deaths and destruction due to dangerous workplaces and unsafe products. In the U.S. alone, it is estimated that 10,000 deaths occur each year due to routine industrial accidents; another 100,000 deaths occur due to occupational disease; and 30,000 deaths and 20,000,000 serious injuries due to unsafe consumer products. This list also does not include an estimated 90 percent of cancers which may be environmentally induced (that is, from industrial products and by-products). The list also does not include wars over petroleum and other natural resources, or deaths and destruction due to accidents at weapons plants or armories. (RH. Note the absence of nuclear generating plants)

Non US energy related accidents is headed by Chernobyl, Soviet Union. I might add that the one time USSR did not have the safeguards that America's nuclear generating plants demand.

"Chernobyl nuclear power station in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic chemical explosion at the station's fourth reactor and an uncontrolled graphite fire that followed led to the release of more than 450 radionuclides, comprising about 3.5 per cent of the fuel stored in the reactor core. Official reports put the immediate death toll at 31, but it is widely believed that many more died in the first hours and weeks after the explosion. The Ukrainian government has estimated the number of deaths among clean-up workers alone as 7,000-8,000. (David R. Marples, in The Long Road to Recovery: Community Responses to Industrial Disaster, edited by James K. Mitchell (United Nations University Press, 1996).

http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu21le/uu21le00.htm#Contents

My friends may have died in December 1984 at the explosion at the Wilberg Mine in Emery County, Utah which killed 27 miners. Scofield, Utah suffered a coal mine disaster in 1900 that killed 200 miners. In 1924, 172 miners died at the Castle Gate, Utah coal mine disaster.

So what are you saying Randall? Oh, I agree Pamela, when mismanaged ... nuclear generating plants will kill you stone cold, graveyard dead and everyone else in the vicinity for that matter...for many years down the road. No doubt about that. But America's nuclear plants have not killed one human, while hundreds of coal miners have died for the search for energy. The energy that made America great.

Randall

Randall 7-7-2003 22:43

My biggest thing I still don't catch all the time is repeating the same words in a different order. I will start things out well but then the next sentence I will say the same thing only different.

The other thing I have trouble with is alternating sentance beginnings.

Laura 7-7-2003 22:34

Still no workbook?

Laura 7-7-2003 22:31

Jobs? Wanna talk jobs? Can you say aggravation?

http://tinyurl.com/ga0f

howard 7-7-2003 22:23

PAMELA -- oops -- just finished that google and realized that I have TWO homepages. One at stny.rr.com and one at dyndns.org.

duh

STNY is an internet provider and that page is part of the service they provide. But since it is only 5meg of space and I would need more for all this, I built the workbook and blog and have a chatroom started and have them all on the PC on my desk. DYNDNS.ORG is a redirecting service for people like me. My IP address is subject to change; dyndns allows me to track the change and they still send you to my desktop PC even when my address changes.

Mark Workbook 7-7-2003 21:53

Hi Pamela,

Good luck on the job front. I have been thinking of different work from time to time. I, in the past year have taken an almost $2000.00 per month pay cut. Most of it by choice. Some if it was likely due to some very sarcastic suggestions I made about our government being fiscally irresponsible. I think those came back to bite me in the ass. I should be more cautious about the examples that I give... I finalized my pay cut the other day. It was a little strange to do. In a way it felt good, in a way it felt like I was being idealistic and stupid. In the long run I will be better for it, as will my family and that is kind of what it comes down to much of the time.

Like I said, good luck to yah girlie :o)

RDRKO

Rolls With Horses 7-7-2003 21:52

PAMELA -- Getting to the Workbook?

Once there, you can bookmark it and then go to it anytime just by using bookmarks (Favorites in IE)
You can memorize the web address and type it in every time you want to go there
You can copy the web address and paste it on your own home page as a link, then go to your own page and click the link
You can copy the web address to a Notepad note, then later bring up the note and copy from there to your browser address line
You can do a google for mlenihan. Right now it takes you to the workbook -- probably because I set that up before I had a home page

I'm sure there are other ways I have gotten to web pages; I'm just not recalling them this instant. I *do* have a homepage set up now, complete with homemade artwork and links to the Workbook and my on-again-off-again blog. The link that folllows this post will take you there.

Mark Homepage 7-7-2003 21:15

Randall

Hey!

Andrew ... go for it my man!!!

Pamela ... the path of enlightenment to your character (for me) opened with two words. "...Libra ... gal." (GRIN) My beloved wife, Debbie, is a Libra ... and she can absolutely, positively, certifiably ... drive me right up the wall. Some of her political statements send me through the roof achieving escape velocity! I am probably responsible for more UFO sightings than genuine alien vehicles.

"Uh, Red. Is that a flying saucer, or is it the wine?"

"Nope. George, the wine's just fine. Looks like Randall on re-entry. Must of been arguing politics with his wife again. Looks a little steeper than usual though. Head down looks like. Better git them shovels, we may have to dig him out ... again"

My sons favorite question always seemed to be, "Hey! Why is dad bouncing off the wall?"

"No big deal." my daughter laughed. "They just got back from voting. He'll be buying shingles tomorrow and patching the roof."

"No big deal then?"

"Nah," my daughter answered. "SOP. Hey! I got a new video game..."

You see I am a Cancer ... THE CRAB. And I am ... Debbie is a true Libra, in that she will agonize over anything. A tube of toothpaste, which one to purchase can be a major decision. Making decisions is difficult for her annnnnnnnnd, to me, she will invariably sort through the chaff and make the wrong one. Especially voting!!! I mean, to me, it's just a matter of ... buy the darn thing ... make the call ... right or wrong ... George or Al and lets move on! Bless her heart, Debbie's reasoning process are as enigmatic to me as Dr, Stephen Hawking's theories of Black Holes and Space Time Singularities. Her view of politics are ... well, more in line with Joan Baez. My political beliefs are somewhere between Dr. Billy Graham and the Waffen SS. (GRIN)

You know, a fellow Texan once sang. "It's hard to be humble when your perfect in every way." Oh I know! I know! "Can't wait to look in the mirror cause I'm better looking every day! To know me is to love me...I must be a hell of a man..."

Jerry ... thanks for the heads up. I don't know why that battle fascinates me. Must be some sort of Native American, calvary trooper, cross-dressing, out of body, mis-identity, involuntary transference as a long-haired Liberal in a Daisy painted Volkswagon bus with a single shot rifle surrounded by freaked out Conservatives using 8 shot Winchester rifles riding Unicorns with vasoline covered horns!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Where is Rush when you need him?!

Outta here...

Randall

Randall 7-7-2003 21:12

{Pamela}

Hey, Jerry, good to see you back after your trip, glad you had a good time. I discovered a good show too, it's called "Speaking Freely" and it's on PBS. Saw Oliver Stone the other night and he referred to our government as facist. He said the definition of facism was a corporate-controlled government. Sounds familiar. There is much talk in our state about a proposed nuclear facility and, since others reprint Rush (although I know of only two people who like him) I would like to enclose a recently published letter to the editor of our newspaper:

"Nuclear Accidents Not Covered By Insurance"

"Before we allow Lousisiana Energy Services to build a uranium enrichment plant in our state and transport radioactive waste along our highways, we should first be informed of whether this facility will be covered by the Price-Anderson Act.

Originally passed in 1956 to aid the burgeoning nuclear power industry, this law limits the liabiility of anyone responsible for a nuclear accident to an amount far below the actual damages that could be caused. In l956, damages from an ENO (Extraordinary Nuclear Occurence) were estimated at $7 billion when Congress limited the liability to $500 million. This is in the form of an insurance pool contributed to by plant owners and represents an absolute ceiling; injured parties do not have the usual recourse of suing the company responsible for their losses.

The Price-Anderson Ace is periodically reviewed, and the dollar amounts are raised but the liability limit remains a mere fraction of potential damages.

Lest business and homeowners think that their own insurance would cover any loss of property, they must think again: There is a clause in their policies excluding damage from nuclear accidents and, in fact, full insurance coverage cannot be bought, not even from Lloyd's Of London.

It's funny how those touting the virtues of their nuclear facilities fail to inform the public that they are not adequately insured and that the company does not guarantee the safety of their operations as other businesses are required to do. Or maybe it isn't so funny after all."

I hope, Jerry, that Jim Thompson, who is neither Democrat nor Republican but is for the people, will encourage people to think for themselves and possibly protest against a government which so blatantly furthers the causes, and profits to, Big Business, at the expense of the American public. Have you ever heard of the Price-Anderson Act? I doubt it. It is a well-kept secret that we, the people, who live near the nuclear facilities and have the most to lose, are subsidizing the industry that puts us at risk to lose our homes, businesses and lives. There is a clause in Price-Anderson that calls for Congress to act to reimburse victims of accidents that may exceed the liability limit; in other words, we pay for it ourselves. My daughter Jenny was little when I became involved in local nuclear protests (we did stop a "fast breeder" reactor) and learned stuff that gave me nightmares (read "The Secret Papers Of The Atomic Energy Commission" for spine-tingling thrills). I hoped to publicize the Price-Anderson Act but then became afraid that Jenny could be left without a mother (a la Karen Silkwood) if I actually started to make a difference. It was also so depressing that I retreated, and now I just write occasional letters to the editor.

Andrew, best of luck on your submissions, good for you for getting something finished and sent in!

There once was a gal up in Canada who was called "Rolls With Horses" by the local Indians. She seemed to be a normal wifey and mother (of a darling boy who tipped his hat to the ladies) but really she went "Bwah-ha-ha-ha" when no one was looking.

Mark, is there any way to access the Workbook other than through the link on your posts?

I've got a line on a job, please cross fingers for me or I may end up living on the street (it's not that far away).

Peas,

pamela 7-7-2003 20:34

Andrew!

Good luck! Be sure to let us know what happens :o)

RDRKO

Rachel 7-7-2003 17:11

Randall - Here's a link to a fantastic re-enactment of the Battle of the Little Big Horn, put on by the fellow I referred to below. It's a fairly big file, I downloaded it so I could listen at leisure 23 meg MP3 file. The thing is two hours long, and done with "imbedded" reporters and live interviews (what would it have been like if we had radio back then?). Even have folks with the Indians and such. Not done by pro's so it's a bit rough in spots but a fantastic look into what happened.

Jerry Battle of Little Big Horn LIVE 7-7-2003 17:08

Well folks, 'tis finally done! There are six copies of my MSS on thier way to six publisher prospects, so we'll see how this turns out. My fingers are so crossed it hurts. Then again, I have a huge file folder of rejection letters that hold the results from previous prospective publishers as well. Only time will tell. I've re-edited this MSS so much it bears almost no resembelence to it's original form, so maybe this time will be different. We'll see. Wish me luck.

Andy

aNDREW 7-7-2003 16:04

HI all - back from another four days camping at a nearby lake, had a super 4th celebration down there, it was hot and cold running campers, there were several campers at each site, lots of great fun and meeting old friends, even ran into several relatives that I haven't seen in a long time.

Lots of inspiration for witting, but I missed shorty for this week, I may get to posting one yet should the muse tap me on my shoulder.

I guess I've said before that I like Rush, and many here do also, many hate the guy, and he's simply that sort of fellow. I did, however rediscover a truly great talk radio host who is more to my liking. He's the guy that used to call all our rodeo's, and once served in the SD Senate. He's neither republican nor democrat, he just wants to see America first, not any party platform but just what's good for the nation.

Isn't that what all those knuckle heads in DC are supposed to be doing?

At any rate his name is Jim Thompson and you can check him out on his web-talk link below.

Enough politics, I know this isn't a politics form, I just got a bit excited listening once again to this fellow, the dumb thing about it is that he plays on our local radio station daily and I've not been listening. Shame on me.

His show starts at 1:00 PM Mountain Time, that's 2 Central, 3 Eastern, noon on the Left Coast. God only knows what time it is in all the other zones that check in here.

I found an old writers source book from 1989, it's filled with hundreds of how to's from great writers of that year and gave me a bright idea on a software program that I'm going to try and write, designed to organize a novel. If I don't forget where I put that book....

Litter - When we got home this morning, I checked our post box and there was your book, I can't wait to get into it, my daughter is already after me to finish so she can read it.

Jerry Jim Thompson on the Web. 7-7-2003 14:47

Mary & Pamela,

Hi gals :o) I am with Pamela! I wish that we had more time. How about Shortie Week? Could it be a Thrusday to Thrusday run? I posted what I had completed as of Thursday night. I only got three of the five in, well, and the idea for my fourth ;o) I didn't want to post it rough, but did anyway. Fire at will (grin/winks). Just kidding, the stories are quite harmless.

On the matter of not being what people expect (Bwah, ha, ha, ha). Dr. Evil, baby finger to the side of the mouth ;o)

Mark,

I am not sure that I posted my shorties to the right place. I am still having a bit of a hard time in sorting out how to move around in there. I do like it though.

Take care all.

RDRKO

Rachel 7-7-2003 12:45

Mary, Yes, who knows what evil lurks behind normal facades? I am a generally laid-back, loving, mellow Libra hippie gal (except when Randall starts talking politics!) but my writing usually deals with darkness on a grand scale. I did just post the prologue to my novel in the workbook, looking to get some feedback from you guys. I'd like to post a warning, though: some people who have recently suffered a loss or tragedy may not want to read it at this time. I did contribute a shorty once, a few people here made suggestions for them from time to time, but could we have more than one day to do them?

pamela 7-7-2003 7:45

Pamela: Thanks! I have been called worse. Hahaha I am kinda warped though. I seem like the 'girl-next-door', soccer mom type, but I don't think like that. I suppose I shouldn't pigeon-hole soccer moms either, really. Surely they come in all flavors too! Innyhoo, thanks for reading the shortie contributions! Maybe we will see something from you in there this week????

Mary 7-7-2003 2:08

p.s. I will be adding something up in the biography section about myself and my intentions as a writer sometime in the next day or so. If anyone else would like to add themself. Feel free to get in touch with me.

7-7-2003 1:51

Hello all: Well. Westercon is over and I will have more time to concentrate on such items as forwriters.com and the Notebook. It turned out to be an excellent conferennce with lots of opportunities for new writers, especially in the POD and E-Book markets and others treeware vendors. On the thursday before the con got underway Fran and I went diving at Cove 2 at Seacrest at West Seattle and did a dive to 109 feet for around 30 minutes. Visibility was somewhat miserable, but we got down to around 95 feet and encountered a five to six feet six gill shark that swam close enough that if we had reached out we could have touched him/her. We did not. We just looked on in awe and wonder as this beautiful creature swam leisurely into our focus and then out of it.

Take care everyone. Will try to take a closer look at the Workbook script and perhaps implement closer to home and perhaps work out the details. Might be nice to begin doing collaborative writing again. As well as pieces for review.

Oh, and the Writing for Business workshop has turned out to be greatly inspirational in getting started again on writing and looking upon myself as an author with the need to impart his words to my word processor daily with the gentle touch of my muse weighing ever so slightly on my shoulder.

Love you all and hope all are deeply and repturously involved in their writing pursuits.

Jack Beslanwitch 7-7-2003 1:49

Happy Sunday, Everyone,

Ben, Ben what were you thinking, haven't you been warned not to tease the animals? Now you've got Randall quoting Rush quoting the Christian Science Monitor, ye gads! Don't you know that America is Wonderful, Kind, Perfect, and Beyond Reproach and that everyone else in the world is Just Jealous? (Grins and apologies, Randall)

Mark helped my digitally-impaired self get set up for the WB and I sure like what I've read there. Great jobs Mary and Mark on your shorties. Mary, you are good and cre-e-e-e-py!

A friend helped get my car back to my place but broke the battery terminal completely off when trying to clean it. After waiting a couple of days for another friend who was going to take me to the auto store, I finally decided to walk there myself. It was a hot, sunny day, I was bored, decided to take a walk, right? Remember how the skies opened up and I got drenched when going for gas on Monday? Don't ever walk anywhere with me! Yes, it happened again, only this time, there was hail too! What's UP with that? Got the terminal and got my car running myself, thanks.

Well, you northerners are losing a cohort, my brother in Juneau is separating from his wife and moving here with me for a while. A company he does part-time sales for has openings in a nearby town, so here he comes! I'm sorry about his marriage but it will be great to see him, we've only gotten together a few times in the past 20 years.

Litter, congrats on the upcoming grandchild, I am SO ready for some!

pamela 7-6-2003 19:06

Hello everyone again!
I'm back. I have just enough time to write a little bit, I have to go into work soon.
Thanks HOWARD, Grandpa's going to have surgery in little less than a month from now. He should be fine.
My brother turned 14 today.
My dad's yelling at me to get off, so I'll be back later (hopefully).
Till Niagara Falls!

Elaine 7-6-2003 16:39

Ben,

Hi guy :o) Do you plan to attend the Shoreline group on the 20th?

All,

My baby sister just had her 21st birthday yesterday. I can't believe she has grown up! She even has a young man in her life.

Hum... I leave for vacation in a few days. We will go to Revelstoke with our family and some dear friends. I love to get away with Glen, Margaret and their crew. We all go back a number of years. They were both in our wedding party, we were in theirs, we shared a house for a time. Man, we have shared many kinds of different times with these folks. This trip should be a blast! We will hike, canoe, swim, hike, hike and then hike a little more. There is rock climbing and the works. I'm most interested in the hike and canoe aspects of the trip. I might do a little bouldering, but don't plan on any real climbing. Shesh! I can't believe how pumped I am about this little jaunt. I'm so excited that I do beieve I will go cook! Weee ha!

RDRKO

Rachel 7-6-2003 11:07

ELAINE -- Sorry to hear about your grandfather -- I hope all is well. Ithaca College has both programs you mentioned, but it's rather ex$penSive to go there.

RANDALL -- Dunno if I'd like to use "Mormon Crickets" for bait, but I imagine they'd be effective. We saw them on the Navajo Reservation outside of Vanderwagen NM a few years ago, along with horned toads and other critters.

Language bug-a-boos? I still have to stop and spell out the "I before E" words, and I have the awfullest time with picnic and barbecue. I just got an interesing-looking book by Bill Bryson, called Mother Tongue -- "English and how it got that way." He also wrote *A Short History of Nearly Everything which I also picked up. They're both in my "winter stash" reading stack. Too much to do right now, to allow any concentrated reading.

Here's a T-I-C article about the letter C that y'all might enjoy:

http://bbspot.com/News/2003/07/letter_c.html

and a couple of interviews with Douglas Adams (HGTTG) that I haven't heard yet, but plan to real soon:

http://www.wiredforbooks.org/douglasadams/

Too hot here -- gotta shut this thing down before it cooks the motherboard (haven't got the A/C installed in this roome yet).

howard 7-5-2003 16:27

Hello everyone!
Sorry I haven't written in a while. My grandpa had a minor and a massive heart attack a while ago and we rushed to Michigan to get there in time for a surgery that didn't happen. My parents then left for Virginia while I stayed behind with Grandma. (They're the ones missing out, I had ice cream everyday!) (Sometimes even twice!) But I had no Internet access out there. I miss being on here and it feels great to be back. I haven't found a college yet, but I know i'm going for Music education and English (Creative Writing). do any of you know of a good college that I should apply too? I really don't know where to look. Well, everyone else here is good, myself included, I wrote a little bit more since school's been out. I'm very glad. I love to write. I have to go, my parents don't want me on here too long during the day. Wait a second...I'm a senior! AAAHHHHH! It's still unbelievable. Oh, i got senior pictures taken, that was fun. Well, now it's time to go. I'll drop by sometime later. Hopefully soon,
Till Niagara Falls!

Elaine 7-5-2003 15:46

Randall

Happy Saturday!

Mary ... Yes indeed! I misspell the word "thoes" every single time I write it. (See!!) And I tend to fill up paragraphs with "the." Annoying. Thank the Lord for spell check!

Uh ... file this under gardening friends. As in, you thought you had problems with a few pests in the tomatoes...

Fire? Drought? Insect infestation? All in Deseret?

THE TIMES-NEWS (current on-line issue)

http://www.nephitimesnews.com/

Nephi, Utah

"The Mormon Crickets are at it again! Where are the seagulls? The ongoing battle against hordes of Mormon crickets is continuing in Juab County this year. Actually, it is continuing throughout the west this year and Juab County is just one of the victims.

"The crickets, which are actually katydids, are insects with voracious appetites that are eating their way through crops, flowers, and anything green. They have reached plague-like levels around the West due to this year's warm winter, an early spring and years of drought. They will eat anything--sagebrush, alfalfa, wheat, barley, clover, seeds, grasses, vegetables and each other.

"At a density of one cricket per square yard, they can consume 38 pounds of forage per acre as they pass through an area," said Loyal Clark, a spokeswoman for the Uinta National Forest. The widespread infestation is particularly epidemic in Utah, Nevada and Idaho. In fact, Utah agriculture officials estimate 6 million acres will be infested this year before the critters die. That figure is more than double last year's cricket population.

"It's pretty much everything from central Utah on down," said Clark.

"In Eureka, Juab County, the crickets swarm by the hundreds on roads, farms, and local homes. After tires run over the creatures, a brown, gooey juice makes roads slick. Mature Mormon Crickets are big with some more than two-inches long. The Eureka area has tons of the crawly, aggressive crickets again this year.

"All down through Richfield and Fillmore, in that geographic area, reports are that is what is being hit the most." Experts are fearing this year's infestation could be the worst in decades.

An estimated 5 million acres are infested in Nevada. Officials in southwestern Idaho say the infestation there is the worst since World War II.

"Near Eureka in Utah County, Elberta and Goshen, residents are having similar problems. Crickets are, currently, moving at a mile a day, and the expectations are that at least $25 million in total crop loss will occur as a result.

"The Mormon cricket doesn't fly but can hop and crawl a mile in a day and up to 50 miles in a season. Before they die in the fall, they lay the eggs that will become next year's swarm.

"Some farmers think the state agriculture department, claiming that the problem should have tried killing the eggs laid during last year's epidemic which may have been more effective than attacking the mature crickets.

"However, the state agriculture departments counters that they are working hard to keep the insects in control and have more crew on the ground this year than in the past and are spending more this year than is past.

"The crickets are an old problem in the west. In fact, the crickets are named after an 1848 infestation that attacked the fields of Mormon settlers. In that infestation thousands of seagulls arrived on the scene to eat the crickets and eliminate the problem. Thousands of seagulls have come to aid in the current infestation BUT there are just too many crickets.

"The chief weapon being used by farmers and the state department of agriculture is carbaryl, an insecticide commonly known as Sevin, said Clark. "The poison is mixed with bran and spread before the crickets as they advance," said Clark. "The crickets eat the bait and die." The result is that the poisoned carcasses of the dead are eaten by other crickets which then die as well."

Hmmmmmmm ... quite a problem, eh? I wonder how crickets are for fish bait?

Randall

Randall 7-5-2003 15:08

Hello everybody. Just checking in.

Here is perhaps a new topic for discussion:

Old writing habits- hard to break?

I mostly am wondering if any of you catch yourselves making the same writing flubs time after time, or do you eventually straighten-up?

For example, I have to really watch my repeat use of certain words like 'just' or 'really'. I don't even notice I am over using them until I read back what I have written. They feel natural to me as I am writing, but they muddy up my sentences. I have found that I can go through most of what I write and just remove those words (among others) numerous times without changing the sentence at all, and tighten the work.

It is annoying to go through a freshly written passage, only to realize I had done it again...will I never learn? Sheesh.

Just for the record, I see the words 'just' and 'really' several times in this post, and I think every one of them could be removed without missing a beat. But I won't take them out just so you can see what I mean. (See what I mean! I did it again!)

Anyone else have any annoying little writing twitches they can't shake?

Mary 7-5-2003 11:08

Randall

Evening!

Ben ... I agree ... mostly. I too have a geological outlook on life. All things must pass, so to say. Pamela and I swapped a few barbs as intelligent people are wont to do. I am, indeed, disgusted with the constant political wrangling that clouds every single cotton-picking thing in America these days.

As to why other people love American ways and products, but hate Americans? It's a fact of life. And nothing new... But Ben, America is not an empire and "(democracy) ... and what works for it (America) now, isn't going to work for another country, like say in Africa, or Asia." That democracy doesn't work for everybody will be a shock to millions of Europeans, occidental and oriental, who have just thrown off the yoke of Communist domination. Iran is now on the verge of democracy (I hope) and China is moving every day closer to democracy via capitalistic tendencies. Even a one time enemy, Vietnam is edging that way. So, these governments are becoming aware of a potent force ... people power, perhaps people power economy? The global economy will bring tin pot dictators to their knees eventually, North Korea, for example because they need money. Funding. Imprisoned people, say the Eastern Europeans in 1990, when they became aware of what was available in western culture revolted and down came the wall. So to say that democracy will not work for everyone (Africa or Asia) is, basically a racial slur. Humans are capable of great things and given the opportunity democracy will flourish whatever the race.

I will ask Pamela for forgiveness, but this editorial from Rush speaks the truth. From a post several months ago... My Canadian friends...I disagree with Rush's statement on Canada. This comment was posted before the fine Canadian men were killed by friendly fire.

IT'S HARDER TO SPREAD GOOD THAN EVIL

Rush Limbaugh

September 11, 2002

In this country and the world today, there are many people who agree with the bizarre statements made by Nelson Mandela in Newsweek. Many people, including most students and many elected officials, agree that the United States is imperialist and that our military is the focus of evil in the modern world. The truth, of course, is that we're the most giving nation in the world.

We have no empire. We do not invade or annex. We liberate. Despite the talk of the resources we use, we use those resources to feed, clothe and protect the world. When Nelson Mandela or one of these terrorists sees America, they ask, "How did they do this in less than 230 years? We've been around here for centuries, and we still can barely muster working toilets." It is this that the terrorists see, folks – and it makes them envious.

Yes, envy. They look at the U.S. and see what they thought they were supposed to become. That's what they thought their religion promised them. I'm not speaking of all of Islam here or Muslims in general. I'm speaking of the militant extremists, particularly from the Wahabi sect, who looked at those towers and said, "How did they do that when we can't even pave a road?" If I were a citizen of a country that had been around thousands of years, and was still basically a sand pit, when I looked at America, I would want to come here, not to tear this country down.

DO THESE PEOPLE THINK AMERICA IS JUST AN ACCIDENT?

If these people ever stop blaming America, they'd have to blame themselves. That's how somebody got hold of these hijackers when they were very young, and filled them with hate at an early age.

Hate is an instinct. You don't even have to know anybody to hate them. But love, it's not an emotion you can turn on and off. You either do or you don't. You have to work at liking people. Disliking them - hating them, for some – is easy. It's the same thing with good and evil, and that's why it's hard work. But, it's worth it, because who would you rather see win out day-to-day, year-to-year, in eternity - good or evil? Question answered. They understand the desire to be free, but they don't understand how it relates to capitalism.

Consider the fascinating piece in Wednesday's Christian Science Monitor if you agree with this notion that this country is evil and imperialistic.

The theme is its opening line: "Compared with past great powers, say the Mongols or Romans, America wields a light touch." We rebuilt Europe and Japan. We let the Philippines and Puerto Rico opt for independence.

We didn't stay in any of the nations where we've sent troops to go to war. We even paid for the land we won from Mexico in our war with them, at a time when some (even Mexicans!) called for the United States to absorb all of that nation into our territory. Imagine if Canada's neighbors were Iraq or Nazi Germany or the USSR or imperial Japan or any powerful empire. Would they sleep so well at night? The Boy Scouts could crush Canada with zero casualties, yet we let them opt to keep welcoming in terrorists and to thumb their noses at us on Iraq.

"But Rush, if good is so good, why is it so hard to triumph over evil? Why is good content with what it is, even as evil metastasizes?" Look, we're trying to spread freedom, goodness and democracy in the Mideast. Yet evil seems to be able to take over these places in a snap, even in parts of this country. Goodness always is going to be the tougher battle, just like doing the right thing is always going to be much harder than doing the wrong thing, just like love is always going to be a little harder than hate.

Hate is an instinct. You don't even have to know anybody to hate them. But love, it's not an emotion you can turn on and off. You either do or you don't. You have to work at liking people. Disliking them - hating them, for some – is easy. It's the same thing with good and evil, and that's why it's hard work. But, it's worth it, because who would you rather see win out day-to-day, year-to-year, in eternity - good or evil? Question answered

Enough said...

Randall

Randall 7-4-2003 23:18

MARY -- Nice piece of craftsmanship there, yourself, in the shorty section.

I made a new place in the Workbook just for shorties, it,too, will be visible only to registered users from the Notebook. We can make a new topic each week for shorties and keep them week-by-week in their own topic pockets. That way we can have one section for stuff we want to post for critique and one section we cna post for fun and practice (shorties). Too late for this week; we'll start shorties next week, OK? Meanwhile, I have to go through the user list and give everybody I recognize permission to see and use the Shorty forum.

Mark Workbook 7-4-2003 20:17

MARK: Thank you for contributing to Shortie Night. That was a very sweet bit.

No others? Perhaps you are all working on it? hehehe

Next weeks topic might be more inspiring, I can only hope.

Happy Independence Day to the USA!! We are off to a picnic, then my mother's pool. Ah, relief from the heat.

Mary 7-4-2003 13:57

Ben here.

Haven't been here for a while, but well, that's how things go. Been trying to organize some music for a planned bar-b-que blow out later this summer in August. Summer holidays are here, so I don't get the computer as often as I would if school was in. Besides, I've been changing the carpeting in the entranceway and putting in lino (that's tile in case some of you don't know). The older dog doesn't seem to like it too much. I heard she went running down the stairs and couldn't stop....tumbled right down to the bottom. She doesn't go downstairs except with ver-r-rrry careful steps now. It's only for a while. We wanna put a runner down the middle of the steps to make it easier for all of us.

So I didn't get any writing done last week, and just got here to last night to try and catch up. Good luck! :-)

I see Pamela and Randall are having a good tete-a-tete with the old political slant. I like that, and I want to throw my two-bits worth in.

Let me just say: It doesn't matter anymore. The world will always hate the U.S.--I don't mean this in a bad way so please don't be offended by it--but it's a fact of life. The U.S. is, for lack of a better word, an Empire now. Like Rome before it, like the British they threw off, like Greece and Egypt too. It's young, comparatively, and with any luck will hold on for a little while--just long enough for me and my loved ones to have had our run at life before Old Glory falls, as inevitably it will. I say this because all nations fall, and empires fall the hardest. America wants to democratize the world. They want everyone to accept their form of government because it works for them. But it doesn't work like that. American democracy has changed and grown over the last two hundred odd years--(oh yeah, I forgot, happy fourth of July)--and what works for it now, isn't going to work for another country, like say in Africa, or Asia. It's a global world now, and when the big boy on the street falls down and skins his knees, people don't offer to help. I don't want to get into a big discussion on the domestic policies and foreign policies of my neighbours to the south, let me just say that they suck. Simple as that. We've just learned to live with them up here.

(And before you ask me why I would say that, remember I work in a sawmill, this is NOT a holiday, and there's no such thing as Free Trade if it doesn't benefit both countries...27% duty on lumber? Hello! They've shut us down for the day today. And now the mad cow scare, all over one dead cow that they've possibly traced back to an American prgnant cow brought into the country five years ago? Is this political fall out because Canada didn't support the war against Madman Insane? Yeah, I wonder why people feel intimidated by America.)

My niece went to Thailand a couple of weeks back for a wedding that didn't work out because of the SARS scare--and people are calling it an epidemic down south(?). More people die of the flu in a given month world wide than have died of this thing. Anyway, the mother of the bride made it in. She's a transplanted Canuck, a nurse, living in Texas now I think. She calls herself an American now, and my niece laughed and said you'd think she was born down there the way she was talking. She was told by everyone in the wedding party NOT to tell anyone she was American. They have hotels there that state right up front: "Americans not welcome". And why is that? Americans are okay most of the time aren't they? Until they go out as tourists and try to be like regular people. I work with a guy who said that down in Mexico, in the fancy resorts there, the Americans try to pretend they're Canadians because the Canucks get better service. Pretty smart thinking actually. Until they open their mouths. A Canuck says: Waiter, may I have another drink please? An American says: Hey boy, bring me a beer. Don't they think people know the difference?

So, I'm sorry, I went off again. But it doesn't matter what the world thinks about America, does it? Walk softly and carry a big stick. Foreign aid? "What's in it for us?" Common human greed, and unfortunately, not just an American claim to fame, but pretty well universal. Famine in Africa? "We helped them once, they didn't handle it right the first time, so why should we do it again? They're all corrupt down there anyway." Terrorists? "Nuke 'em all, an' let God sort 'em out."

So if one American voice speaks out against American folly, and another tries to defend it, niether of them is right, and niether of them is wrong. It's their right to speak for or against, to slander or defend. One says there are WMD's and it's just a matter of time before they find them; the other says I think it's gonna be a long, long, time. Don't sweat the small stuff guys...Pamela's right. (Just kidding Randall.)

Make love not war, it's more fun and doesn't hurt as much. I'm not anti-American, I just don't want to be one in my lifetime. In one hundred, two hundred years, Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will all be one big country; it will be an economic "must" because the European nations will become one nation just to survive. They will become the next superpower...but we'll all be dead by then, and who cares? I don't. I don't worry about things I have no control over. I have no control over world events--I barely have control over the events in my own life--and I say, let me live my apolitical life; let me play with my dogs, love my kids, and keep healthy until I die. SARS? Mad Cow? West Nile? WMD's? (yeah right) Who cares anymore? We used to say: Live fast, die young, and leave a good looking corpse. Ever seen a good looking corpse?

So Litter, after having gone through all of that, I hope you're still with me. Thanks for the info on thanes and Glamis. I'm going with the wooden buildings because they burn better. I also found out Glamis was nothing more than a hunting lodge, and there was no thane there until after the 1250's...my story's in the 1050's.

And howard, (I hope you're not mad at me after having read all of thet), I will be looking for those books. I wrote them down, plan to do a search on-line, but think I might have to resort to the good ole library.

Now I have to leave. Going away on a well deserved holiday next week and have to get ready. We're staying up here in Canada though. I don't like the idea of traveling in the States...we are a mixed couple after all, and the thought of driving through the southern States frightens us both, no matter what anyone says. We plan on going into the interior, to the Okanogan and Osoyoos area, near the border--which is rather ironic since I live closer to the border here, than I will be there.

Have a good one, see you in about a month.

ben 7-4-2003 12:52

Yes, it's me, AGAIN!

Just wanted to let you know that I have kicked off shortie night and posted my contribution over at the Workbook.

Mary 7-3-2003 21:23

Hi All.

Falling behind with catching up again – Just found out that I'm going to be a Grandfather in November! However, the father-to-be has decided he doesn't want to be a father at all and is causing a lot of trouble, stopping just short of violence. I must have driven about more today than for the last month, doing the needful.

MARY – I'll answer your mail soonest. And I go for MS Word!

I'll get back on track with bookplates and things, soonest also.

All good things,

Litter my stuff 7-3-2003 17:30

Don't forget everyone: Tonight is SHORTIE NIGHT. You can post short shorties here, or Mark has graciously made a home for them over at the Workbook. (I will be posting mine over there.)

Mary 7-3-2003 17:11

Mark: You know, I never really thought of it, but you are absolutely right about not using all the features of the full Word program anyway. Whenever I am doing a plain text document, or copy/pasting some text into another application, I usually use Notepad. I don't think I have ever even opened up WordPad. I should check it out and save myself some disk space. Thanks.

Mary 7-3-2003 16:57

MARY -- Yup, at the time I sent you the message in workbook, I also changed your login to make WIP visible. I moved your Shorty note from 'test' to WIP also (tho' now it's from 'root' not from You).

On the Wordprocessor front. Every version of Windows has Wordpad, which is Word-Lite. To me it has never been worth the money to buy and install MSWord. 80% of users use only 20% of its features. I use Open Office. It's free, it reads and writes Word and Word Perfect files; that means I can write a document in Open Office, save it as a Word file, send it as an email attachment to someone who uses Word and they will never know it was done on another program. WordPerfect should allow you to do the same.

Most offices these days will say send files in Word 6 format. Well, duuhh, that's WordPad and it comes free with Windoze (if anything in a $289 box is really free).

One other option is to use your favorite word processer and Save As .rtf file. RTF means Rich Text File. It saves most formatting (italic, bold, font sizes and styles, etc). I made all my resumes that way and they can be opened by anyone with a computer.

My favorite all-time word processer is Ami Pro by Lotus. There is still a small group of Ami users who use it for desktop publishing. Ami does picture and column sizing and word wrap as well as PageMaker. I used Ami for a job at Universal Instruments where they produced marketing brochures and sales proposals.

I'm still finding my way around in Open Office and may even break down and spend $60 to buy Star Ofice. Star is Open with help files and support. During a series of exchanges with Heather I discovered its page layout and page numbering functionality. Heather sent me a sample to read, I sent it back laid out and numbered. Took a couple of tries, but once it was done, I knew this was stuff you cannot do in Word.

Mark Workbook 7-3-2003 14:27

dear lizzie you are so cool. thats so raven you guys are great. kimposiple you guys are great
love cari..................

cari carter 7-3-2003 11:29

Ok guys, I have heard enough to know that I will definitely be putting MS Office on this PC. Now, to find those disks...

Thanks for the update Mark. It seems I missed a lot of the Workbook background info while I was away. The Works in Progress section of the Workbook is appearing for me as of late last night, so I guess I am all set.

Be well!

Mary 7-3-2003 10:25

MARY -- I've used both WordPerfect and Word, and much prefer MS Word. Most people have at least the capability to read a WORD document, and from what I've seen, if a publisher will accept an attachment at all, most prefer it to be in MS Word (.doc) format. Many of them request the file be embedded in an Email. Dunno about a whole ms, though.

howard 7-2-2003 23:21

Mary - I've used both word and word perfect, in fact for my first venture into the writing world, back in college all I had was word perfect. I managed quite well with that software, even in it's early guise and even used it to lay out our newly found college newspaper. That was before I discovered Word. I'd never go back. Why, well I think nearly everyone in the world has access to Word, not so the second rate Word Perfect. Another reason, it's being part of a suite of programs MS Office, and all that goes with that, including ease of transfer of data back and forth between the pieces of software.

The computer I have now came with Word Perfect, and I even tried to use it for a short time, bringing back fond memories of my time in college, but then reality crept in and I quickly ripped WP out of the system by it's very roots and installed Office 2000, then later upgraded to Office XP when I found a copy laying around unprotected as it were.

I guess another reason I'd switch is that most of the writers guidelines I've read over the years (the ones that accept online submissions) require Word formatted documents, I guess a fellow could save as in WP and select Word but it just adds another step, also should you send work to a buddy over the internet, most would have access to Word not WP.

Of course that's just my opinion.

MAN IS IT HOT~~!!!

Randall - it was once my pleasure to slam the door of the crowbar hotel on an Ass _ole who kicked a dog to death for dropping a load on his lawn. The deed was done in front of several young kids who, I'm sure still have nightmares from the trauma of the whole thing.

Sadly he only spent a night in jail awaiting arraignment, then his "golden" name caused the charges to be dropped and he laughed all the way home. (One of the top reasons I don't miss being on the PD anymore!)

Jerry 7-2-2003 23:04

VIV, MARY, PAMELA -- Workbook 101:
The Workbook has two sections: one public and one private.

In order to see the private one "Works In Progress," you must register and then have your registration modified (by me) to make that area visible to you.

Password? Logon Name? That's up to you. But it's advisable to use names and passwords you will remember. I have a couple of internet names and passwords I use and a different set for programs here on my PC.

This is different from the Workbook Jack wrote a few years ago, but this one came ready-made and I just tweaked it here and there. Jack is evaluating it and considering it as the program to use officially. The more we use it, the more we will know about its features and foibles.

Mary is right about using the Workbook for large pieces; it keeps the Notebook from getting too heavy too soon. I like the way this Workbook keeps replies right with the original and you can scroll down to look at the original whil you compose reply. I also like the "New Post" indicators to show me right away where there is material I have not yet read.

Additionally, if you want to reply but not make it visible to everyone, you can send a private message; it's like having a little email system right within the workbook. When you log on, in the group of links at the top of the page, there is an indicator to show if you have any messages.

Mary, I would comment on your advice to Viv that she "shack it up at Mark's place," but maybe I'll just sit back and know I'm in the right spot.

Mark Workbook 7-2-2003 22:11

VIV: No, this new machine is a desktop. I haven't really had any problems with XP, it just isn't what I am used to working with. So far, all my programs are working well, such as Norton and WordPerfect.

WordPerfect is another issue for me. I am used to Word, so this is all new. Learning what options are where is a pain. I knew my old PC and programs like the back of my hand so this is a major adjustment.

Any writers' opinions on the two different programs from anyone who has used both? Word vs. WordPerfect??? Which do you prefer and have you run across compatability/format issues with publishers who accept digital submissions? Which format is the most acceptable in the trade market?

Would love to hear from people on that because if WordPerfect isn't the most recognized format, then I am going to switch back to Word. No sense in learning the different software if it isn't what I will be using.

If it weren't for the familiarity side of it, I would have to lean toward the idea the WordPerfect is more powerful. It seems that way at first glance. (The formatting is more confusing, so it must be.) LOL

Mary 7-2-2003 21:30

MARK: I started a new topic at your Workbook for people to post their shorties in, but as I read some older posts, I am getting the sneaking suspicion that there is another section of your forum where we can post password protected work that I didn't know about yet.

If that is the case, I am afraid I may have confused the matter instead of making it simpler. Sorry!!! Please let me know what to do.

Mary 7-2-2003 21:20

Mary, I'm looking at buying a new laptop. Is your HP a laptop? Mine is going slowly out on me...first a keyboard, then a battery, then a hard-drive, then this or that or the other. A piece at a time it's falling apart. Although I repair it, it's not the same.

I need something light, less than 5 pounds because I carry it everywhere. The next day I'm exhausted with my 8 pound hefty little Dell.

I hate my Windows XP. Since I loaded it I can't get outlook express...can't load my Norton....can't... can't the list goes on and on.

I also don't like the Power Point format in XP. Doesn't have my friendly little notebook template!

It's a little too slick for me. Still, like you, I'm trying to get used to it.

Viv 7-2-2003 20:45

Hi VIV!

I would have to say that if what you write for Shortie night is just something small for that single purpose, then just post it here. If it is an excerpt of a larger piece that you have bigger plans for, then you might want to shack it up over at Mark's place.

Mary 7-2-2003 20:36

Mary, Thank you for the shortie! I needed that! Do we post our shorties here or in the other spot?

Mark: Found the place. Got set up. Could you send me some information on the grail? Could use it! Site seems pretty foreign, feel like I've gone to another country. I'm glad it's secure though.

Viv 7-2-2003 20:18

Hi guys.

Back again, and loving my new PC. I bought another HP Pavilion, because I absolutely loved my first one. I still mourn her at times, but this new one is so much more. It will take me a while to grow into it I believe. This one is the 505. I have named him Jack.

Not really caring for XP, but I suppose I will get used to it. I don't hate it enough to wipe it out and put Windows 98 on here. I liken XP to the scratchy tag in the back of a new t-shirt. Once you wash it a few times, it doesn't bother you as much.

DSL kicks butt! No more wimpy dial-up. Enough said about that. Those that have it understand, those who don't have it already want it whether I hype it up or not.

OK, someone mentioned that Shortie Night has been patiently waiting for a guiding light. I don't have one of my typical one-word themes, but I do have a spring board for you guys:

Tomorrow night, the shortie night exercise is to depict a scene in which the protagonist is missing one of his senses. Whether it be hearing, sight, smell or touch, make it an integral part of the conflict, or an obstacle to the resolution of the conflict. Let your imaginations really go wild with this one.

Ok, gotta fly. I will be back tomorrow to see what we all come up with.

Mary 7-2-2003 19:52

Randall

Hello friends...

Mark... good thought on Buck! Although I would like to tell him of another place a LOT hotter!

Well Viv, guess I'd better expect an influx of inquiring children from across the pacific. (GRIN) The Alamo, well...maybe not the Alamo per se...but the surrounding area is so commercialized it detracts from what happened there in 1836. Still... progress ya know ... The Alamo is a grand place to visit, always gives me goose bumps. I often wonder, would I have stayed or scrambled out the back door with Mr. Rose? When death approaches would I (any of us) opt out (if possible) or accept the inevitable?

Anyway...try the weekdays if you are ever in San Antonio, weekends are a little crowded... I am home today. Back problem...the muscle not the spine. I haven't seen Buck since last Friday when we exchanged terse hellos. Had a treadmill heart stress test yesterday. A good report from my heart doctor and "See you in three months Randall." (REAL BIG SIGH OF RELIEF!!!) I went right out with my wife and daughter and celebrated with a jumbo chicken fried steak, onion rings and an extra side of mashed potatoes!

Uh...Viv ... Lone Star beer is widely recognized as the "State Beer" but a local brand "Shiners" is the "In" crowd favorite. Pearl beer is another but Pearl has a taste similar to "Moose Head" if you recall my post some time ago. (Grin) Qualify ... I don't drink anymore (okay, okay! ... or less) so there's no telling what the boys and girls in Austin or San Antonio are drinking these days...

FYI gang. I mailed Viv a box full of items related to Texas...Pamphlets, maps, magazines, etc... She sent me a T-shirt of the Tokyo subway system on it. My daughter grabbed the shirt and it dissapeared into our version of the Bermuda Triangle (her room where things go in and are never seen again.)

Better scoot, my back is firing up again.

Oh...belated Happy Canada Day to the gang up north... And remember Canadians ...The Eyes of Texas are upon you..." (Grin)

Randall

Randall 7-2-2003 19:28

So here I am still wondering not exactly aimless, not exactly aim-full, happy, yes, reasonably content perhaps. Having found out many things particularly about myself, life is no easier since knowing and knowing how to change are two different things. I find that I still do what I used to do and what I know bears no real fruit. My patterns of behaviour are too strong a part of my adopted self, I need more time, fortunately I believe I have it.
I’m getting there, there being a state of raised awareness and development. Life it seems often helps but also gets in the way, the obligations of civilisation and bodily attachment. I see a statue of a man who fought in a war and I ask myself could I be that man, was I indeed that man, my answer now is, quite possibly, who knows.
What, in life matters. I’ve decided or reasoned that happiness is a natural state, though far from being necessarily a permanent one, what would be the point of that. The same no doubt as permanent misery, we appreciate the highs more when we’ve experienced the lows, if we survive hardship we are stronger for it. Providing we keep aware of the greater aspects. Life is to be enjoyed and used to learn and develop, perhaps to help others to do the same along the way. No other meaning to life makes any sense to me and being human I’m attached to things making sense and see nothing wrong with such an attachment.
If it’s unreasonable to expect the universe to make sense; so be it. If my expectation is wrong I care not for I’d have, and live my life in no other way.

I see a pigeon searching for food and I think is that pigeon any different from you or I, we’re all searching for something, some of us may not like to admit it but all things have a purpose, for without purpose in life and nature things do not go on, they decay, slow up, stop and die.
I see the city centre, feel it pulsing and unlike in my negative moments where I often feel that it is ugly, dull and pointless, I now see it as fine, interesting and vibrant. I see the people now also in a positive light, being purposeful in their own ways, just doing their best like myself to enjoy life the way they know best, trying to cope with what they’ve got. The city is colourful, exciting and warm. A city doesn’t have to have a meaning since it’s full of people and in the people is all the meaning it needs. There are so many sounds, so many colours, so many sensations it is so real you know you’re alive when you can sense so much going on.
In this state just sitting in the heart of the city I am detached from my normal every day life and it feels good. It’s like going on holiday without having to go away. I’m in the present and I know that I can tune in to this state any time I wish, though I’m wise enough to know that I’ll forget from time to time and fall asleep. Ah sleep, is there a difference from being asleep and being absent. When we are asleep where indeed are we, another plane, another world, another life, is it any the less real? Sometimes when we’re supposed to be awake we are quite asleep and yet in this state our bodies can be performing quite complicated tasks; indeed we can appear to be very much there, even when we’re mentally somewhere else. Perhaps a small part of us stays in touch with reality and keeps watch while we flit off to a different plane, world, mental zone who knows where but we most definitely leave.
It would appear that the physical, being course, is governed by something finer i.e. the mind which is subject to the body as well as to nature; all pervaded by consciousness. Is it not reasonable to assume that there may be something finer than consciousness, or that consciousness is subject to something else. Is it not the normal route of science to find that things do not just end. Where does life fit into all this, without mystery what sort of life could there be? Are we not always going to wish that we had better minds, better control of our bodies, greater consciousness etc, when would we be satisfied.
When we’re born we’re open to new experiences, we tend to see things very clearly, we don’t alter, what we see with our minds, as we do later on. A little older and we take people and events at face value, we learn to make judgements about good and bad according to what we want, later on we’re forced generally to accept other peoples’ ideas of good and bad, according to how they themselves see the world.

Experience, though a good thing, can be very bad, because we approximate future events according to our previous experiences. Generally we become lazy and pre-judge. Instead of seeing things and events for the first time, in order to save time, work or energy we predict and say to ourselves, ‘Yes I know this situation or person, I know what happens here, long before we have any justification in doing so. The fact that it is sometimes (but rarely) justifiable is a big stumbling block since this helps us to cling to our prejudging habits.
Because of the status quo with regard to the way we continually make unjustified judgements about people, it is very difficult for us to communicate with each other, we do not see each other as we really are, as a result we do not hear what we’re saying, we hear what we expect to hear, or we already know what is being said, so we fail, even to listen; we lose meaning and fail to understand each other.
So here I am again, another me, since we can never be the same person twice, we change with time and where am I at this time, growing, present…perhaps. Even when we know our many parts or at least that we have many parts, how can we know which part is in mode at any particular time, if we are consistent maybe we at least have a guide, though if we’re in a rut, then this consistency will obviously do us no good, since it’s likely to have led us there.
I or the feeling of I is something I’ve never not had, even in my most unconscious moments there is still for me a feeling of I over and above what is happening to me. Quite separate from the feeling of being connected to every other living thing, or non-living thing for that matter; I love all people but I do not feel that I am all people. There are people who say they know. We cannot trust them, we must not rest on faith, we must know for ourselves.
We are fine beings when we raise ourselves above our natures, our bodies want to survive, we survive whatever. Our bodies and minds though both fine things are little more than clothing for the self. When I say self I speak of the individual self within, as tied to the universal self but with its’ own identity. When we look at people we do not like, when we really look with an open mind, then we may find that we are interested in them, that we fear them, or openly admire them, our dislike may have come from a lack of understanding; our past gets in the way of us knowing them.
I can only guess that love is a binding force, an affinity between living things, as if love just wants to be together. I’ve heard it said in ‘knowledgeable’ circles that every thought has already been thought, that no original thought exists.

This would of course negate almost every thing we work for in our lives, what would be the point if it’s all been done before, don’t worry, it may not be true, even if it is true what difference does it make if you can still enjoy it.
Pretend you don’t know anything (Which is probably true for us anyway) and get on with the business of procuring pleasure for yourselves, things may not matter, but act as if it does and fun can still be had in abundance.
It’s also been said that we are in essence all the same, this again denies individuality and negates our normal existence. These are hard ideas to stomach, you don’t have to accept them, but if you do and your world crumbles, what does it say about the world that you have created for yourself. Can you accept the idea of inanimate objects or atoms, even, having ‘consciousness’ which gives or holds them in their form. Is it just as reasonable to accept that atoms just are in much the same way as we are asked to accept that God\ consciousness just is.
Why do we act, why do we do things, if our natural state is all consciousness, all knowledge and all bliss; why then would we involve ourselves with the material universe at all, particularly as it can lead to misery. Our attachments, desires and fixations lead us to misery, yes, but we also gain pleasure from our attachments and satisfied desires; choosing to desire and attach to things does not necessarily lead to misery the problem most certainly begins, when we become identified with our desires and attachments, thinking that we need them to survive.
Coming from our natural state it is clear that we choose to involve ourselves with the physical universe. Perhaps all consciousness, knowledge and bliss, is not what it is cracked up to be, or maybe our picture of it is not accurate. Perhaps the finer part of us is just life-human spirit, or something that perpetuates life; why should we suppose that this mystical part of us is, all knowledge, all consciousness and bliss, because the idea appeals to us, we want to know and are very much afraid of admitting that we do not know, yet not knowing can be fun.

Pester Smemb 7-2-2003 17:34

Sorry, Mark, (instead of Howard) I know it's you who have done the workbook for us, and thanks! I look forward to reading some of the stuff on there and posting a little of my own.

pamela 7-2-2003 11:40

Hey, Ya'll! Howard, I registered for the Workbook. Was I supposed to use my Internet password or a new one? I used my old one in case it was going to be matched to me, I hope that's okay. I read you guys talking about restricting access but thought that would be done automatically with we Forwriters members, glad it got cleared up. I wondered too about posting writing and whether it would be considered previously published (wouldn't that be great to finally finish a huge book only to find it couldn't be published because of offering portions for critiques!). Eddie, I'll pass for now on the links to your regiment, I'm depressed enough without thinking about international politics and badguys right now (but I did enjoy those other pictures that showed your cute legs a while back :}). Carol, thanks for hugs, I needed them. I plan to quit smoking one of these days (better than my previous view of never wanting to quit) and I think I will try hypnosis, have you thought about that? The aids that feed you nicotine might help with that craving but for me, I don't know what I'll do with my hands! Hope Teekay isn't freezing her bum off down there on the bottom of the world. If anyone likes thrillers, I just read a good one by Greg Iles, "Mortal Sin," also involves computers, pretty interesting. Very complicated, multiple-viewpoint plot, I find myself analyzing how he pulled it all off, hoping to get some pointers.

pamela 7-2-2003 11:37

Mark, Rachael: Is there a new place to post...a secure place made by Jack? Help! I'd like to find it! I miss writing stories and having the fun of showing what I'd done to you all.

Carol, I failed miserably. Not a great day. I had a rat race going over this stupid computer classroom. Anyway, the cigarette machine called me over and stole 300 yen from my pocket. It gave me a pack of my favorite brand in exchange. Disgusting. I have to smoke these now or I've wasted 300 yen...how's that for a lame excuse.
Kidding aside. On Saturday I'm buying Gitanes. They are horse manure. I'll get you a pack as well if you don't quit by then. They literally stink like horse manure and f