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Time Machine Tuesday: June 18

 


 Disclaimer: I do not actually own any form of time machine, nor is access to a time machine implied in this feature. I am, however, curious about history, stories, patterns, and interesting tidbits of many kinds.

It is in that spirit that I share Time Machine Tuesday, a jaunt through fascinating tidbits of history – as discovered on Wikipedia – one Tuesday at a time.

Maybe that is just a little like having a time machine,after all…

Today is June 18, 2013: the 169th day of the year (170th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 196 days remaining until the end of the year.

On this date in history:

Dr. Sally Ride at the pilot’s panel. Public domain image via Wikjmedia Commons.

 

Observances:

And now, a personal magic carpet ride through time…Although I was not there, my parents were married on this date in 1965, at my grandparents’ house along the Hudson River. They were young and in love, and are still married to one another, today.

That concludes our journey for this Time Machine Tuesday. Please gather your belongings, and enjoy your present!

What were you doing, on this date, a year or more ago? Would you like to share? If you have a blogpost, a photo, or a memory to share, or if you have something to say about today’s post, drop it into the comment receptacle below!

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Coffee and Conversation: Because of Pokemon (reblogged from The Unfettered Life)

 

Grb cuppa and a comfy set, and let’s chat a while.

It’s Monday again – and, around here,  that means it’s time for Coffee and Conversation.

 

When I was six, my family was driving on an interstate highway late at night. Streaks of headlights and taillights painted the dark. For the first time, I  realized that each  car held  people living their lives, lives as important to them as mine was to me.

 

I wanted to see what those lives were, and to share my own…

 

Here, each Monday, I strive to reach that understanding through offering ideas and tidbits from my life.  Settle in for a while, and share something of yours…

Without Star Trek, I would not be as fully who I am as I am today.
Without Pokemon, Jeremiah would be less fully who he is, too.
It is not for any of us to dictate what should fire the soul and imagination of another.
It is for us to treat our passions, and others’, as valid portions of our lives, perhaps the parts that define us most wholly and clearly. It is for all of us to claim, and help others to claim, the great loves of our lives – regardless of whether they seem utterly wasteful to others.
Click the link below to continue reading!

The Unfettered Life: Because of Pokemon…..

Jeremiah playing Pokemon HeartGold, about 9 years old….

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Read a Little…Rockin’ Revelations: ROW80 Update, June 16, 2013

Curious? Click here!

Along with writing, I  took the kids to the playground, at Annalise’s request  on our one sunny day.

Jeremiah and I watched this TEDMed Talk together,  inspiring  deep conversation (and an interest in watching more of this type of programming), and lots of hugs.

I had insights into his mind, and,  I was struck by the way he thinks, expresses himself, and looks to the future.  He’s growing up, and it’s fascinating to be a part of.

I also read two books on my Kindle…Cathy Yardley‘s Rock Your Plot and Rock Your Revisions. These seem  just-right  for the way that I write, and I will  use them experimentally for my July Camp NaNoWriMo efforts, and for the August and September revisions of Chameleon’s Dish and Bounded by a Nutshell.

As we close in on the last days of the round, I am seeing the next steps, while also deeply enjoying where I am now.

Here’s  a peek at my recent doings:

Noveling:

Complete Blood and Breath by June 15. - Target attained June 16!

  • Chapter 19; Scenes 2 -4 and Epilogue completed.
  • It took five years, but i have a completed rough draft!
  • WIP Total: Completed at 103, 825 of ~100,000 words.

Complete To Be or Not to Be (double volume) by October 31. -On target.

  • (Will net two complete WIPs, once sorted).
  • Write 25,000 words /non-NaNo month, till complete.
  • Chapters Thirty - Thirty-Two completed.
  • Chapter Thirty – Three planned.
  • Monthly total: 10,236 of 25,000 words.
  • WIP total: 122,985 of ~ 200,000 words.

A to Z post stories -Complete by June 30.

Plan WIPS.

Trueborn Weft (no title yet): -On Target.

  • Completed Niaan’s story arc –14 of 14 stories completed.
  • Added arc and planning notes to Scrivener files.
  • Deciding the beginning point and  general flow.
  • Rock Your Plot – I read and highlighted this book during this session.
  • I have done the exercises for part one.
  • I’ll continue on, hoping to finish all of them, for this WIP, by July 1, in time for CampNaNo.
  • I will then  have a flexible, very useful plot in place before beginning, for the first time ever!

Trueborn Warp (Working title: Perchance to Dream): – This will be  carried to Round 3, I think.

  • Began Spock‘s story arc – 1 of 13 stories completed.
  • Created planning notes folder, file, and began notes of early impressions.
  • Read Rock Your Plot.

Blogging:

Continue throughout round:

Sharing posts from all blogs. – Target attained!

  • I did better than last session, even getting a bit adventurous with my hashtags! =)

Commenting according to my posted schedules. - On target. 

  • I am getting more comments, and may need to evaluate my schedule and reply process – I began answering comments as part of my cycle on Thursday, throughout the day Friday, and on into Saturday, then Sunday. Hmmmmmn…..

Completed by May 15:

Create resource lists for all features, and add to them in an organic and ongoing way. Very late, but on target for end of round.

  • Nothing yet.  Next session.

Completed by end of round:

Build and maintain scheduled posts two weeks ahead for each feature.  Moving this goal to Round 3. – pending.

By End of Round:

Draft plan for website hosting expenses (where will money come from?). On target.

  • I will be saving most of my spending money. Currently: $240 of $350 saved.
  • No new money this session, thus far.Only $110 to go!

Networking:

Continue throughout round:

ROW80 updates and sponsor visits: Target attained!

  • Visited a few extras this session, to make up for so many late visits the last few days.

Comment on posts and share as inspired. Target attained!

  • Yes, and yes.

Use in features where appropriate. Target attained!

  • Yes, one.

Create discussions around new thoughts. Target attained!

  • Yes.

Facebook and Facebook Groups : On target.

I fell away from my groups over the last months. Reconnect, participate, share.

  • I poked my nose in here and there, and not much else. Busy writing and blogging.

Twitter:

Visit on Tuesdays and Fridays; read, share, tweet, comment. Target attained!

  • Wednesday -extra happy day on TweetDeck.
  • Also Wednesday, I downloaded Tweetcaster for my Kindle, but haven’t played with it yet.
  • Remembered my Friday, and spent most of the day in #wordmongering sessions….to the benefit of my word counts! Yeah, two stones with one bird! =)

Real-life:

Continue participating in activities and connecting with friends. This tends to slide during busy writing times; take advantage of natural lulls to feed my social spirit. On target.

  • Get-togethers seem iffy, at the moment.
  • Plans for taking the kids to a movie cementing.
  • We will host my nephew, age 13, July5-8 (Annalise’s birthday)
  • The kids and I will be gathering with many unschooling friends for early July camping.
  • Hoping to get together with a childhood friend who was Lise’s Parelli horsemanship instructor a few years back.

And how about you? Are you happy with what you’ve created, lately?

My most recent fortnightly (or so) long term goals evaluation.

Progress on my Blogging Action Plan

Progress on my Noveling Action Plan

It’s a BLOG HOP!

 

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Sunday Sampler for June 16, 2003

Assorted lovelies for your reading and viewing pleasure….offered up on a pretty blog platter!

I love learning and stretching my perspective; I love sharing what I find with others, and learning and stretching more in the process.

I offer up this virtual Sunday paper, filled with things I have read and enjoyed recently, in the spirit of learning and sharing.

And now, this week’s buffet of ideas….

Creating:

Learning:

Relating:

  • Moscow Subway’s Stray Dogs: What to do when your shelter and the place you eat are miles apart? Become asubway-hopping canine, naturally! Behavioral evolution in progress.

Inspiration:

Hows and Whys:

Smiles and Laughter:

Share your opinions, editorials, and ideas for future topics or articles in the comment receptacle below…and may the rest of your weekend be filled with restorative wonder!

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Saturday’s Share: A Natural

Caption: Annalise with equine friend Jody and human friend Kresney.

 

It’s time again for Saturday’s Share – reflections and impressions inspired by images from daily life.

This week, I offer this photo of Annalise, at age 5, during her first solo ride. Yup, that’s my little girl up there, looking so natural as she sits confidently bareback while my childhood friend, Kresney, leads her through the field.

This moment was magical. Here we were, on the road I grew up on, with a friend I’d known since she was this same age, on a beautiful late spring day, watching Annalise fulfilling a lifelong dream…

It was perhaps the first time that I saw her as truly separate and independent of me. Yes, I had orchestrated this event, and I’d driven her the mile up the road to Kresney’s house…but this was really between the three of them, and I was the observer.

She had several lovely interactions with horses that summer, learning about equine behavior, diet, anatomy, and handling. She led horses through the pastures and out the gates, played games, and was the first person to ever sit on Chico the miniature donkey and Hannah the filly. She hung out in a pasture full of horses, Kresney right there to scoot her out of the way if need be. She was fearless and capable and sure of herself.

And then, the inevitable happened. Kresney’s house had been on the market; she and her husband had bought property a couple of hours from us, and were preparing to build there.

The house sold, and the hours spent with horses came to an end.

For now.

We hope to get to visit Kresney again, amidst the ongoing nature of all of our lives.

But, until then, we have these memories, this image – and a girl who found something within herself on the welcoming back of a mare.

Thoughts about what I’ve shared, this Saturday?

Is there a particular moment when you saw your child as independent of you, pursuing their own dreams, while you were in the background?

Can you remember when you first felt your own independence?

Feel free to drop a comment, image file, or link into the receptacle below – I would love to hear from you!

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Friday Frolic:Water Play

Did you see THAT?!

It’s time for Friday Frolic, our weekly visit to Youtube, to see what wonders we can find to kick the weekend off right….let’s see….yup!

This week, I offer you….

FUN WITH WATER!

Normally, mid-June finds us indulging in wet fun…this season, though, has been rainy and chill far more often than hot and dry.  Our lawn is lush and shaggy (we mow; it rains. We mow; it rains)…but we miss the other forms of water…sprinklers and fountains and lakes and pools.

Maybe this post will give the weather a little nudge…

2 Babies playing in the water

Funny cats in water, EPIC

Funny puppy walks on water

Dog Dives to Bottom of Pool, the Deep End

Cute children playing in water fountains at Hanbat Arboretum

Water fountain  show at Lotte Department Store in Busan, South Korea

Want more water fun? Less? Something completely different?

Drop your comments into the receptacle below, and maybe we’ll be delighting in YOUR favorite videos, soon!

Wishing everyone a delightful Friday, and a glorious weekend! =)

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Thursday’s Treat: Standing Up School

Something sweet to round out the week!

 

Thursdays can be tricky…well into the week, too far from the weekend…so, as a public service, I’ve reserved this space for interesting tidbits and snippets I’ve picked up around the Internet.

Description:

This week’s  Thursday’s Treat comes from: Youtube.

My daughter, who loves Minecraft, art, moviemaking, and humor, and who has never gone to school, showed this to me yesterday, and I laughed out loud. I knew I wanted to share it….and it’s shorter than a successful bull ride!

You could watch it a few times, just for the giggles!

I hope this brightened up your Thursday with a chuckle or two! =)

Remember to drop your comments into the receptacle below – would you like more Minecraft? Something completely different? Let me know!

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Wait a While, While I Wrap Up:ROW80 Update, June 11,2013

Curious? Click here!

So, we’re almost to the end of Round 2, and my plate is arranged. I am settled in for the feasting – the focused, end-of-round wrapup and evaluation.

The surreal space of my last update has given way to…

Words.

Words.

Words.

(And Enterprise!).

I am writing! Thousands of words, between Monday and Tuesday, and more today.

The ideas are flowing, the conflict is escalating, and I am beginning to see the climax of Blood and Breath.

In seemingly unrelated but deeply interconnected news, I cleaned and reorganized the kitchen counter, and some surfaces in my bedroom. I called the vet and made an appointment to get Achoo spayed.

Yup, wrapup is a productive time…

And now, a peek at my recent doings:

Noveling:

Complete Blood and Breath by June 15. - On target.

  • Chapter 19; Scene 1 completed.
  • Chapter 19; Scene 2 planned.
  • WIP Total: 97,687 words.

Complete To Be or Not to Be (double volume) by October 31. -On target.

  • (Will net two complete WIPs, once sorted).
  • Write 25,000 words /non-NaNo month, till complete.
  • Chapter Twenty-Nine completed.
  • Chapter Thirty planned.
  • Monthly total: 2,668 of 25,000 words.
  • WIP total: 115,272 words

A to Z post stories -Complete by June 30.

Plan WIPS.

Trueborn Weft (no title yet): -On Target.

  • Continued creating Niaan’s story arc –8 of 14 stories completed.
  • Added to Scrivener files for arc and planning notes.
  • New insights will affect general flow of WIP!

Trueborn Warp (Working title: Perchance to Dream): -Pending.

  • Will begin after completing Niaan’s story -perhaps not until Round 3

Blogging:

Continue throughout round:

Sharing posts from all blogs. – Pending.

  • In the paraphrased words of Sergeant Schultz, “I shared nothing…..NOTHING!”
  • It wasn’t intentional – I was simply too busy writing!

Commenting according to my posted schedules. - Maybe.

  • Monday – I honestly can’t remember. I have been writing, and blogging, a LOT!

Completed by May 15:

Create resource lists for all features, and add to them in an organic and ongoing way. Very late, but on target for end of round.

  • Only the Coffee and Conversation feature is without, at this point.
  • I will create that with my next post.

Completed by end of round:

Build and maintain scheduled posts two weeks ahead for each feature. Moving this goal to Round 3. – pending.

  • I have 3 WIPpet Wednesday posts and two Friday Frolics pending in drafts.
  • I am contemplating a change in how I post to features. More on this in round 3.
  • Pending.

By End of Round:

Draft plan for website hosting expenses (where will money come from?). On target.

  • I will be saving most of my spending money. Currently: $240 of $350 saved.
  • Only $110 to go!

Networking:

Continue throughout round:

ROW80 updates and sponsor visits: Target attained!

  • I caught up!
  • Here is the full list!

Comment on posts and share as inspired. -Pending.

  • Yes, and no.

Use in features where appropriate. Pending.

  • None this session.

Create discussions around new thoughts. Target attained!

  • Yes.

Facebook and Facebook Groups : On target.

I fell away from my groups over the last months. Reconnect, participate, share.

  • I poked my nose in here and there, and not much else. Busy writing and blogging.

Twitter:

Visit on Tuesdays and Fridays; read, share, tweet, comment. Target attained, with adaptations!

  • I meant to open Tweetdeck on Tuesday, but never did.
  • I did open it today (Wednesday).
  • I participated in several #wordmongering sprints. Big fun, and I got my writing in for the day in a more social way.

Real-life:

Continue participating in activities and connecting with friends. This tends to slide during busy writing times; take advantage of natural lulls to feed my social spirit. Target attained!

  • Working on two get-togethers that may or may not pan out this week.

And how about you? Are you wrapping things up? Resetting? Gearing up for Round 3? Feeling the rush, or deep in panic….?

My most recent fortnightly (or so) long term goals evaluation.

Progress on my Blogging Action Plan

Progress on my Noveling Action Plan

It’s a BLOG HOP!

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WIPpet Wednesday: Upon Waking

It’s #WIPpet Wednesdayagain!

The purpose of K.L,Schwengel’s brainchild is to encourage writers to move their WIPs to publication by posting excerpts related to the date.

Until July, I will be posting excerpts from two of my Trueborn WIPs (works-in-progress);

  • Chameleon’s Dish, a Trueborn Weft Series fantasy novel.

  • Bounded by a Nutshell, a Trueborn Warp Series Star Trek fan fiction novel.

These two series are interwoven. The plan is to offer the Warp Series fan fiction freely, and eventually publish the original fantasy Weft Series for sale.

This week, we return to Chameleon’s Dish. I played with the math a little to choose today’s passage: Trouble is, I had the day wrong once again (I drafted this post and last week’s together, and I didn’t joy down how I played with the erroneous date).

So, today is June 12, although I thought it was the 11th, and there are 14 very short paragraphs. If you like jumbling numbers, have at it! =)

We are back with Henry, a boy of about 11 years, living in Elizabethan England, near London, and the mysterious girl-child he rescued…a girl he has named Nockatee (which is Seminole Indian for “I don’t know”, although I don’t know how Henry came to know that…yet.)

Nockatee has been with Henry a day or two, and wakens to find that she has damaged a book he loaned her.

This scene appears as originally written, cleaned up a bit for an audience. I think it’s only fair to say that I have had a few plot tribbles occur since, and this scene may look quite different in the next draft…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


She awoke, the corner of the book jabbing into her cheek painfully. So it had been real, and not a dream….but now, some of the pristine pages were bent and wrinkled from her sleep…..

Henry was sitting in his chair beside the still-blazing fire, and it did not seem that he had slept more than a few moments, given his bleary look.

“I damaged your book. I’m sorry. In the bundle are some coins; I do not know how they are valued or what worth they might have, here. But you may take them in payment for this book.”

“I give it to you as a gift, Nockatee. I love books, but I don’t think I need this one as dearly as you do. It minds you of your father, does it not?”

The tone in his voice said he already knew it was so. “He used to read to me,” she said, uncertainly. She had a dim shadow memory of a tall, quiet man with a sonorous voice who made the stories seem as though they were playing right there in her mind as he read. He was warm and comforting and patient, and she learned much from the time with him.

“I miss him – and I can scarce remember him……..” A tear fell on the page, and she was surprised by it. “I am not given to tears,” she said.

“You have lost your father, your home, and yourself, Nockatee. Tears seem to me a fine way to cleanse some of the hurt of it. Are you hungry? – there is more bread and cheese, and if you feel like it, dried meat, as well.”

It’s an Open Invitation to join us!

She looked around her – her eyes obeyed her better than she remembered them doing, since she awoke in his company. It was a small but comfortable room, with one bed, but no mattress….no, there was a mattress, but he had brought it to her…..

“You have not slept, Henry.”

He seemed surprised that she had noticed, and more surprised that she spoke it. “It didn’t seem wise to leave you asleep without a watcher…..you must have injured yourself in the fall – “

“I do not fall.” She wasn’t sure how she knew that, but she knew it to be true. She would not have fallen, unless something had forced her from her branch.

He didn’t ask her how she knew, or act as though he didn’t believe her, and that made her like him even more. He nodded, and said, “Your injuries seem great for a simple fall, Nockatee. I wondered if something happened before, while you were in the tree – something that took wakefulness from you and smote you to the ground. Do you know why you were there?”

Something about his calm and measured attention to these unknown matters of her life, the way he was working through the mystery, tugged at her soul familiarly. It minded her of someone, but she did not know who, now.

~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~

 


Comments? Questions? Observations? I love feedback! Drop it in the comment receptacle below – and click on the button above to read more great excerpts from other #WIPpeteers!

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Time Machine Tuesday: June 11

Disclaimer: I do not actually own any form of time machine, nor is access to a time machine implied in this feature. I am, however, curious about history, stories, patterns, and interesting tidbits of many kinds.

It is in that spirit that I share Time Machine Tuesday, a jaunt through fascinating tidbits of history – as discovered on Wikipedia – one Tuesday at a time.

Maybe that is just a little like having a time machine…

Today is June 11, 2013:  the 162nd day of the year (163rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 203 days remaining until the end of the year.

On this date in history:

Observances:

And now, a personal magic carpet ride through time… as we visit my post, right here, from one year ago today.

  • We had a saying when I waittressed at Yellowstone‘s Old Faithful Inn – in its season, at that time, the fifth busiest restaurant in the world.  We used it especially at lunchtime, when the crowd coming in post- eruption of Old Faithful –  hungry, tired, maybe slightly deflated people –  merged with the group desperate to get out to the boardwalks or balconies in time for the next “show” –  harried, impatient people who didn’t usually seem to relaize that the geyser has been doing its thing fairly reliably for a really long time, hence the name! – and creating a logistical nightmare for the staff …

The full essay can be read at ROWin’ Strong and Steady. The middle is a ROW80 update; scroll through if you aren’t into the year old minutiae of my writing goals. On the other hand, it cold be like an archaeological dig, of sorts, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Original Old Faithful Inn Dining Room. By the time I got there in the spring of 1998, the back wall had been removed, and more seating added in the “New House”. The fireplace is still there, and magnificent. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons; public domain.

That concludes our journey for this Time Machine Tuesday. Please gather your belongings, and enjoy your present!

What were you doing, on this date, a year or more ago? Would you like to share? If you have a blogpost, a photo, or a memory to share, or if you have something to say about today’s post, drop it into the comment receptacle below!

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