Merry Moomas!

December 25th this year is going to be a busy day.  It is Christmas Day for Christians, the first full day of Chanukah for Jews, and...

(reposted from 2012)

A Kemetic Orthodox Holiday

Happy Moomas!

The Feast of Thanksgiving Offerings and the Establishment of the Celestial Cow, which we sometimes call "Moo-mas" for fun, begins 25 December, 2016.

Establishing the Celestial Cow
Feast of Thanksgiving Offerings
Djehuty sends Bast and Sekhmet to guard the Two Lands

Two great goddesses come forth from the Keeper of Wisdom (on that day) to protect us and keep us safe. Bast and Sekhmet, Ra's Eyes, mighty lionesses Who guard and guide, preside over this holy day and honor us with Their special presences. Make offerings to all three with prayers for protection and guidance as the Gregorian year makes another turn.

Celebrate! The anniversary of Hethert, the Great Cow, becoming Nut, the multitudinous sky, is upon us! Greet Her in the starlight and Her Father, Ra, in sunlight, as Day Sky and Night Sky become one! Offer honey and warm drinks to Her, to sweeten Her disposition toward you, and to bring the prosperity of the starry heavens into your life. It is also a time for merriment and gift-giving.

The Festival of Establishing the Celestial Cow and Placing Offerings Upon the Altar

This long name says it all -- (this is) a three-day festival of gift-giving upon the return of Hethert-Sekhmet to our land, as observed in the lengthening of the days in the Northern Hemisphere where Egypt lies. However, unlike Kemetic New Year where the emphasis is upon giving gifts to each other, the Celestial Cow/Feast of Offerings days are geared toward giving gifts to Netjer, and Netjer's House in the form of gifts to our temple and temple community.
 
(If memory serves, this was originally written by Rev. Tamara Siuda in 2007)

Also written by Rev. Tamara Siuda, in 2009:

http://www.nisut.org/2009/12/teh-ceiling-cats-cow.html#more

A humorous retelling of the Establishment of the Celestial Cow in "catspeak".

Happy Holidays everyone!!

We, the people... (RANT)

Welcome to another US Presidential election.

<ugh>

What is it about these contests that we're always dragging everyone down into the mud?  

I understand that a person's character matters.  For example:

Trump:  Considered a mysoginist who assaults women sexually.
Clinton:  Considered an enabler for covering up for her husband's infidelities and threatening his victims to keep quiet, even the ones who claimed rape.

Trump:  Has law suits against him for various business deals.
Clinton:  The Director of the FBI admitted she had lied to them about the emails, a federal offense.

Trump:  The Trump Foundation
Clinton:  The Clinton Foundation

Trump:  Won't release tax returns (although not legally required to).
Clinton:  Gets millions of dollars for speeches she kept secret, and apparently admitted to a politician's need for a "public" stance on an issue versus a "private" stance (trust issue? hello?).

As the King of Siam (Yul Brynner) once said; etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

My biggest complaint?  

It's not with the candidates themselves so much, or even their campaigns.

It's with the mainstream press.

Why is the press focusing on this crap to the exclusion of the real issues facing the nation?  How about ISIS?  Illegal aliens? Open versus closed borders? National security? (oops - Hillary won't like that one) Temperament and the nuclear button? (oops - Donald doesn't want to go there) 

Now I'm not saying that the press shouldn't report these things.  Of course they should (although I don't believe they do that evenly between liberals and conservatives).  

No, I'm saying that not only should this be done evenly (as in, time spent on a particular topic), but should be side notes, not the main story.  We need to vote for someone whose plans for the country line up with our own beliefs.  A candidate may be considered immoral, but we can't legislate morality.  Nor should we try to.

Unfortunately, I feel like the candidates' real plans to handle the big issues are getting buried in the sensationalism of sexual misconduct, threats of lawsuits, and tweets.  

I'm old enough to remember the days of Walter Cronkite, the most trusted man in the country at the time he was a news anchor on television.  No commentary, just the news as it happened.

I know there was a time when a politician's private life was kept private (John Kennedy, anyone? And yes, I think he was one of our best presidents).  

Now it all depends on which newspapers you can pay off to cover you in a positive light and smear your opponent in a negative light.  It's really sad that our politicians can't even run honestly, much less govern honestly.  

Although, in the end, we may have no one to blame but ourselves.  The press knows that we won't pay attention to the less than sensational news when there is so much dirty laundry to decry.

Maybe we need to demand better from our news agencies, and not just our politicians.

Here endeth the rant.

pleasantly confused (long post is looooooooooooong)

Pleasantly confused.  That's a doctor's nice way of dictating that the patient is a bit... well, confused.  As in Alzhemier's dementia, or some other medical malady that causes one to forget things.  I find it a tad amusing, and it brings a bit of lightness to an otherwise heavy situation.

Of course I sometimes manage to forget things as well.  Okay, not just sometimes.  A lot.  Things like why I walked into a certain room, or what it was I wanted to do next, or even to check the lists I make of things to remember so I won't forget them...  Things like writing in my blog, for instance.

I blame it on all of the surgery I've had over the years.  I swear the anesthesia manages to kill off brain cells, particularly those involved in memory; and this year, I had not one, but two more surgeries.

For those who didn't know, I had my right hip replaced at the end of February.  I had the surgery on a Friday morning and was sent home that Sunday evening despite running a fever.  I was told that I was simply dehydrated and to just drink more water.

Sadly, I was back in the hospital - and surgery -  a week and a half later.  It looked like I had a raging infection, and when they cleaned it all out, there was certainly plenty of stuff to clean out.  Mind you, I wasn't running a fever any more - hadn't for days - and the whole thing seemed far too much like other bouts of panniculitis I've had, particularly associated with surgery and/or severe bruising - both of which cause inflammation of the fatty tissue under the skin.

Panniculitis is defined as: ...a broad spectrum of diseases that involve inflammation of the subcutaneous fat layer of the skin.

My first bout was back in the mid-80s when I was in a vehicle rear-ended by a drunk driver.  The seatbelt caught me as it was designed to do, but the bruising to my left breast ended with a complete mastectomy to get ahead of the "infection" (a full week and four surgeries later, they finally decided they'd gotten it all, not realizing that the more they cut, the more inflammation they caused, and the worse it seemed to get).  Yes, I ran a high fever.  Not unusual for panniculitis, but it is a rare disease, so most doctor's have never seen a case (or even heard of it, most likely).

Yes, there was a lot of "discharge" that looked like it could be pus.  They cultured everything and tested for everything and - guess what?  Nothing.  Not one thing grew out.  Of course, there wouldn't be anything growing from inflammation; it's not an infection.

My next bout was about 6 months later when I went in for reconstructive surgery.  Once again I ran a high fever, started oozing lots of icky looking stuff (check out serosanguineous fluid).  Yes, it's kinda yellowish and tinged with blood - pus, right?  Nope.  Just normal bodily fluids collected around the area of inflammation.  Luckily for me, my plastic surgeon discovered that a basic reducing dosepak of Solu-Medrol worked miracles.  The drainage dried up, the fever was gone, and the wounds started to dry up and heal - all within 24 hours of that first dose of corticosteroids.

Fast forward to the mid-90s when I was in a minor fender bender.  My left knee struck the dashboard and a few days later, sure enough, another one of those "lumps" appeared.  Hurts like Hades, too.  Unfortunately for me, my plastic surgeon was on vacation in another country (skiing, if I remember correctly) so I got someone else who, like most doctors, wouldn't listen to me.  At all.  We called my surgeon's office and they got a message to him, and apparently he talked to the dope - uh, doctor - "taking care" of me, because he started to change his tune.  A little.

I have to take a moment to sing the praises of my plastic surgeon, Dr. Drimmer.  He actually came home from vacation early to take over my case.  How many doctors can you say that about?  He's still in practice, last I heard, so if you're in central NJ and need a good plastic surgeon, be sure to look him up.  He's the best!

Sadly, far too few doctors will listen to their patients.  When my older son was about 5, he fell on his scooter and jammed the handle bar into his thigh.  He immediately had a huge bruise, and I knew it was going to mean trouble.

Sure enough he too developed one of those awfully painful lumps, and off to the doctor we went, who sent us to a surgeon, who of course wanted to do an incision and drainage to clean out the infection.  *sigh*  I warned them that they wouldn't get much "pus" out as the inflammation hadn't been at work for more than a few days.  It usually takes a week or better to build up a large collection of serosanguineous fluid (for us, anyway).  I told them to give him the Medrol.  She looked at me like I'd grown a second head (a look I was all too familiar with by then) and said she didn't know what that was.  C'mon doc.  Solu-Medrol, a common corticosteroid.  She knew what it was, she just wanted to make sure I knew what I was talking about.  Even then, it didn't help.  She still had to go slice him open to find out I was right.

I've had other bouts - when I had an emergency C-section, when I had a hernia repair (from the C-section, yay), even when I was pregnant and had to give myself heparin and insulin injections - each of which caused their own little painful, red lumps, which eventually caused a fever, and... great.  Here we go again.

The biggest problem is the rarity of the condition, and how much it looks like a basic infection.  Doctors look at it and see the redness, the warmth, the lump, the fever, and eventually the drainage, and are convinced they're looking at an infection, not some "funky liquid fat thing".  If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck... right?

Well, I got news for you doc.  This duck is actually an ugly duckling -  a swan, not a duck at all.
 
What burns my buns the most is the how much the doctors balk against listening to their patients.  I understand that they have to have an extraordinary amount of confidence in their ability to properly diagnose and treat their patients, or they'd never cure or save anyone because they'd be too busy holding back, wondering if they're doing the right thing.

But is it really asking so much that part of their decision making includes what the patient is telling them?  What do I know? I'll tell you what I know, if you'll listen.  You may know more about medicine than I do, but *nobody* knows more about this body than I do.  I've been living in it for over 50 years now, you know (52 as of tomorrow, as a matter of fact).

Now that both of my sons have also been diagnosed with it, I have an even bigger reason to stick to my guns and beat the doctors over the head.  I've known my boys their entire lives.  We've all three had biopsies that came back showing panniculitis.  My older son's biopsy actually came back as Weber-Christian panniculitis; younger son's was simply panniculitis, and my biopsy came back as vasculitis with underlying panniculitis.

We're lucky in that we found a dermatologist who listened to us and did the biopsies and has - over time - eventually agreed to simply treat us with the steroids when we come in with yet another inflammation.  Most doctors insist on trying the antibiotics first and watch it get worse for a week, then they want to torture us some more with incision and drainage, debridement, and wet-to-dry dressing changes... oh, yes.  Torture just beings to describe the hell I went through that first time.  I was in the hospital for a month, and those "wet-to-dry" dressings changes lasted for almost two weeks before they could do a skin graft.  Imagine an open wound, gauze and saline - you let it dry, and once a day you rip it off to take as much dead tissue with it as you can.  Now imagine that open wound is the size of half your chest, down to the chest wall, and around under your arm.  *shudder*  Yes, I have PTSD.  So sue me.

The last time I took my older son in to an Urgent Care, just a couple of years ago, I got the same old song and dance.  He even brought in a student doctor to show him how this needed the debridement and wet-to-dry dressing changes and... NO.  I stopped him right there, got up, and said c'mon kiddo, we're leaving.  We'll take you to the dermatologist in the morning.  The doctor didn't even look at me, just said "Fine." and walked out.  The PA at least looked up panniculitis and saw that I could be right, but she had no authority to over-ride the doctor, and in the end even she convinced herself that the doctor was right.  They didn't let us leave for almost an hour, waiting to see if I'd change my mind.  Sheesh.

So the next morning we saw the dermatologist, got the steroids, and he healed up just fine.  No antibiotics needed, much less all the rest of that mess.  I wanted to go back and rub it in that doctor's nose, but figured it wouldn't do any good anyway.  Not to mention I'm a wimp, and it takes a lot to get me riled up.  Mama bear will protect her cubs, but once they're okay, it's easier to just let it go, you know?  It's such a rare condition that the odds of someone else seeing that same doctor for the same thing are about slim to none (maybe even in the negative numbers).

Back to my latest round - after the second surgery, they sent me to a long-term rehabilitation facility for six weeks of IV antibiotics.  Three weeks in I was ready to go home.  More than ready.  I finally talked the attending into giving me the steroids.  He said he's just put in the chart that "the patient insisted".  I told him fine, put in there that I beat you over the head, I don't care.  Just give me the stupid steroids already.  And hey, guess what?  I started to get better!  What a surprise!  (/sarcasm off).  So I finally got to go home, even though I had to finish up the other three weeks of antibiotics "just to be safe."

I went out of my way to be nice  about it.  The attending even dictated that I was a "pleasant but rather unfortunate" patient.  I'm sure he thought I was confusing my infection for something else - at least, until the steroids kicked in.  So yeah - I guess I was "pleasantly confused".  I'm convinced that two more surgeries and all that general anesthesia will do that to you.

Does anyone know a doctor who specializes in rare skin disorders?  I could really use one - and more importantly, my boys could use one.  I won't always be around to look out for them.  I can only hope they've learned enough over the years to know when it's an infection and when it's panniculitis, and when/how to beat the doctors over their collective heads.

So anyway, that's how my year has been going so far.  At least my hip doesn't hurt any more.

I  think this is where I was going with all of that whining and complaining... I forget...




 

Just some random randomness...

PATTING MYSELF ON THE BACK: A crocheted baby blanket I made using a new pattern I'd never done before. Not too bad, even if I do say so myself.  ;-)

 

THE MOST RECENT SUPER  MOON:  It was so bright, it looked like the sun rise instead of the moon!

 
PRETTY: A recent Vegas sunset.

 
FUNNY:  Sean and his "plant man" from school. Yes, that's real grass growing out of a nylon stocking full of dirt.

FATHER'S DAY:  Hubby and me mugging for the camera at our favorite pub, The Three Angry Wives.
 

 

LOOK, UP IN THE SKY:  It's not Superman, but rain has been so rare here the past few years that a rainbow is a pretty big deal.

 

The Wilson Van, Spazmatics & DJ Fresh to rock 3 Daughters 8/16/14

We interrupt your normal programming to bring you this important message... :-)




We now return you to your regularly scheduled chaos.

Boxing in the streets of Syria

Passing this along for "Fighting" Fr. Dave - please share!

Playing catch-up

Here we are in the middle of May already. The weather here in Vegas is heating up, and the spring winds are a blowin'. This is a common occurrence every Spring, so much so that the local weather people have coined a phrase for it: The Blow-Dryer Effect. Walking outside in 90+ degree heat with 30+ mph winds is about as fun as it sounds. :P

Meanwhile, here's a few pics from things we've done recently, just to get y'all caught up. :-)

 

During Spring Break, Sean and I took a trip into Los Angeles, CA. This is the store front on Wilshire Blvd. of Whimsic Alley, a Harry Potter themed shop. They also have collectibles from Dr. Who, Lord of the Rings, and even Steampunk-type costumes. There's a book shop, a candy store, a wand shop, a collectibles shop, and a school uniform shop (amongst other things). Definitely worth the trip!



Inside, Sean points to the doors at the entrance of the Great Hall. The Great Hall was closed and is only opened to those who book a party in there. We took a quick peak between the main doors. It is quite impressive.  

 

They also have some very interesting signs to keep folks out of the back rooms (across from the restrooms):

DRAGON TAMING IN PROGRESS
DO NOT ENTER
If you value your life.
(I wonder if they have the Hungarian Horntail back there...)





PIT OF DISASTER

Don't even think about entering

(Would that be in the Forbidden Forest, or at the bottom of the Black Lake?)

 


POTION CHAMBER
KEEP OUT
(Can't you just imagine Prof. Snape behind that door?)



 

 

 
 This is (a replica of) the phone booth Mr. Weasley used to take Harry into the Ministry of Magic for his hearing before the Wizengamot. (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)



 


More recently, Bob took a picture of Robby, me &  Sean outside one of our favorite restaurants - Claim Jumper. Mother's Day 2014



 

Just for fun, I took a close-up of Coco - doesn't he look sweet?

 

Here's Bella enjoying a sunbeam on the front stairs.

 

I need to get new pictures of Tigger and Luna, too.

 

Oh, and here's the latest pic of Homer:

He likes to redecorate his tank by knocking things over and digging out spaces under them.

 

Yep, we have a bit of a zoo here, but I love it. <grin>

 

For my birthday, Bob got me a 6mo renewal of my Ancestry.com subscription, so you know where I'll be for the next several months (clicking on leaves!).

 

If I don't post again sooner, I hope everyone has a safe and fun summer. Stay cool! Don't forget the sunscreen, don't leave kids or pets in the car, and stay hydrated, alright?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wait... when did it get to be February? January is gone *already*?

One month down, 11 to go...

They say time flies when you're having fun (no idea who "they" are). Guess I've been having loads of fun. :D

So Punxatawny Phil saw his shadow yesterday, predicting six more weeks of winter-like weather. I have to say, he's probably right. After a month of above seasonal temps, we are now hitting a stretch of below normal temps. That means it will hit freezing every morning this week. Brrr!!! We're not used to that out here in the southwestern desert.

We are now awaiting the appearance of Mojave Max. For those who don't know, Max is a tortoise. He "lives in Red Rock Canyon in Las Vegas, NV.  Every fall the hot Las Vegas weather cools off, and Max goes into his burrow to begin brumation.

When will he emerge? That is the question all of our contestants need to answer. "

Yep. There's a contest and everything. Take a stab at it if you like. I recommend looking up his previous appearances though (anywhere from mid February to mid April)  if you need a hint or two. I know I do, and I live here. :D There's a link to a .pdf on the contest page.

Moving right along...

Anyone been following "The Following"? I'm still writing reviews/recaps for HonestReviewsCorner.com on Wordpress. Take a peak if you would. Constructive criticism always welcome. :-)

And in other news...

One of the gifts I got for Christmas is the "Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook" (thanks mom!). It has some really good recipes that I've been trying. Here's a couple of pics:

 











I've also tried Irish Soda Bread (yum!) and Mashed Parsnips (YUCK!). The pork roast came out well, but the breaded pork chops I need to try again. And Cornish Pasties are the cat's meow! :D

Last, but not least, a friend asked for pictures of our Christmas tree because it is Star Trek/Star Wars themed with Hallmark ornaments, so here ya' go!

 

Capt. Janeway of the USS Voyager

 
Capt. Picard of the USS Enterprise D

 
Cdr. Data of the USS Enterprise D

  
Cdr. Riker of the USS Enterprise D

  
Communicator

 
Shuttlecraft Delta Flyer

  
Dr. McCoy of the USS Enterprise

  
Commemorative Stamp

  
USS Enterprise

  
Shuttlecraft

  
Romulan Warbird

  
Shuttlecraft Galileo

 

Darth Maul from Star Wars Ep. 1

  
Obi Wan Kenobi from Star Wars Ep. IV
  
Gungan ship from Star Wars Ep. 3
  
Storm Trooper from Star Wars

 

Guarded entrance to Dumbledore's office, with Harry Potter

  
Harry Potter with wand and invisibility cloak
  
Harry Potter Quidditch match

 

Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story

  
Woody from Toy Story

 

Our Christmas tree

 
My 6' 2" son next to the tree

 

Our fireplace (yes, it's real - no it's not really that white :D )

Sleepy Hollow, Season 1

Just a quick note - did anyone else see the two-part season finale for Sleepy Hollow last night?


Are you going as nuts (about having to wait until Fall to see where this is going) as I am?


Definitely falls under the heading of "be careful what you wish for..." I  mentioned that Jeremy Crane should be more important than just the reason for the freak of the week his dad killed in "The Golem". Kudos to the writers, but damn - that was NOT what I had in mind! :D

Happy 2014!

According to IslandIreland.com, this is an every day Irish toast:

"May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past."

I once read a similar saying that has stuck with me lo these many years:

"May the worst things to happen to you in the new year be no worse than the best things to happen to you last year."

Either way, the sentiment is the same. Think of the best thing that happened to you last year; my wish for you is that in the new year, even your worst day will still be better than last year's best.

Like every year, this past year was full of ups and downs for me, and I expect this new year will be too. The good news is the ups beat out the downs, every year.

Here's another Irish toast for you:

"'Go mbeire muid beo ar an am seo arís.'
May we be alive at this time next year.

I think that kind of sums it all up. If I live to see 2015 (which I certainly expect I will), then 2014 could have always been worse. Right? 

Certainly 2013 wasn't the worst year of my life. I'm still standing - well, sitting at the moment - but I'm here. I have a whole new year to learn new things, develop better habits, make more friends, fix more wrongs... oh sure, I'll hit some roadblocks along the way, and some I'll have to find a way around because I won't be able to climb over them... but the best part is knowing I won't have to face any of that alone.

So here's to you, my family, friends, friendly acquaintances, partners in crime, all:  

Slainte !
(Gaelic for Health ! or Cheers !)

Now, I guess I'm supposed to make some New Year's Resolutions. My normal resolution is to not make any new resolutions 'til I catch up with the old ones. But that's a bit vague, so I'll try to be a bit more specific.

1.  WRITE: During NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month) this past November, I finally wrote over 40,000 words for my new novel. I have so much more I want to add to it, so much I now think is crap that needs to be tossed, and only so much time and energy to do it in. Nonetheless, my goal is to finish "That Sunday in March" before next November, so I can start a different novel for NaNoWriMo 2014.

I've also started writing TV show reviews for "Honest Reviews Corner". Okay, so I've only written one so far, but with new episodes of "Sleepy Hollow" and "The Following", I'll be submitting more. Constructive criticism welcome. Check it out at: http://honestreviewscorner.com/2013/12/11/sleepy-hollow-the-golem-s1e10/

2. IMPROVE MY HEALTH: Yes, I need to lose weight. Again. No, I don't expect to ever look like a super model. Going from my current size 20 down to a 16 is a reachable goal. That's 40-50 pounds, but then again, that's only one pound a week, tops. I can do that.

Yes, I need to develop better sleeping habits. No, I don't expect to get a solid eight hours every single night. I'd be happy with a solid six hours most nights, for starters.  

Yes, I need to exercise more - which will help with the weight, sleep, and even arthritis issues - but I don't expect to be running any marathons this year, either. Walking the dog around the block every day is a reachable goal. Notice I say goal; I don't expect to start out walking the dog around the entire block every single day. Ain't gonna happen.

Yes, I need to focus more and waste time less. Who doesn't? No, I don't expect to be supermom all year. Adequate-mom is doable, with the occasional supermom day thrown in for good measure.

3.  CLEAN HOUSE: Yep, my place is way overdue for a good spring cleaning. No, I don't mean "clean house" in the reorganize the staff way; I literally mean things like dusting, deep cleaning the carpets, cleaning up the yard, donating a ton of books to the library, donating a bunch of clothes, and tossing a bunch of trash I've left sitting because "it's still good and we might need it some day". I'll have to start while it's still winter, and will be lucky to finish by autumn, so spring cleaning is a bit of a misnomer. Nonetheless, my goal is to get the place cleaned up. Booyah.

4. CLEAN MY INTERNET HOUSE TOO: Yes, I'm on too many lists and social media things like four Twitter accounts, Facebook, four Gmail accounts, three cox.net email addresses, Wordpress, Scribd, Pinterest, several forums on various topics from "Phantom of the Opera" to Ancient Egypt, and probably a dozen or so other accounts I can't even remember right now. I've subscribed to so many lists I can't count them all, and sometimes I have two or even three email addresses receiving the same posts. Time to dig out ! And last, but not least:

5. RELAX AND ENJOY LIFE: Plain and simple. My new mantra will be "relax and enjoy". I'll need to work on ways to do this, of course. The basic counting to ten, taking a deep breath, "going to my happy place in my mind", and basic meditation are all good, but I need to get much better at those skills as well as developing more. I'm open to suggestions. ;-)

So there you go. That's what my 2014 is going to be all about. For at least a day or two, anyway, until life decides to throw me a curve ball or toss in a monkey wrench or insert-your-favorite-euphemism here.

If you haven't guessed by now, I've got quite a bit of Irish in me. So I'm going to leave you with a few more Irish sayings to mull over in the new year. Enjoy !

"A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures."

and:

"Don't give cherries to pigs or advice to fools."
 

Meet the newest member of our family!

 

Ta da! Meet Coco (formerly Coconut), a Shepherd-Chow mix we adopted this past Saturday. Although his paperwork says he's about 6-1/2 months old, the veterinarian says he's closer to 10 months. I might just switch that birthdate of 6/2 to 2/6...

 

Anyway, he's a very sweet boy. A bit rambunctious sometimes, and of course we're dealing with house breaking him, but he's a good boy.

 

My thanks to Petco and the Friends for Life Humane Society. We have a new friend for a good 10-12 years, at least.

 

Y'all knew I couldn't go too long without a pupper in the house, right? 

Tom Deishley The Klingon

I'll always remember Tom hamming it up as the Klingon at our monthly meetings at Quark's. The USS Las Vegas met at the Star Trek:The Experience restaurant from inception to the day The Experience closed. I hope they find whoever shot him in his own home.

If anyone knows anything, please call Metro at (702) 828-3111, or Crimestoppers at (702) 385-5555

Sleepy Hollow - The Golem

I've just started doing TV reviews for Honest Reviews Corner online. Right now I'm working on "Sleepy Hollow." "The Following" is up next! :-)

Anyone interested, hop on over to Sleepy Hollow - The Golem S1 E10

Spoilers abound, so read at your own risk. ;-)

Let me know what you think!

NaNoWriMo - half way there!

So maybe a few of you noticed that I haven't been blogging at all lately.  No?  Okay. 

I *am* blogging today to mark the half-month point of National Novel Writing Month (otherwise known as NaNoWriMo, for those who didn't know - and yes, my nom de plume is Aimee Petit). I have finally decided to write my historical romance/fiction about Lt. Col. Wm. B. Travis, commander of the Alamo at the time of its fall in 1836 (see THIS post for more info on that).

But that's not why I'm bugging you. I'm bugging you to ask for your support. I, personally, would love a cheerleader or two encouraging me to finish this book - or, at the very least, get it up to 50,000 words by the end of the month.

However, the people at NaNoWriMo need financial support to keep their programs going. I'm proud to sponsor the YOUNG READERS PROGRAM, and I hope you will be too.

If you are then so inclined, please follow this link: My NaNoWriMo fundraiser page. Donate a few dollars to support writing programs for young'uns. Learning to use language to convey stories, using imagination to create characters and settings, and simply getting kids to write at all are more than worthy goals.

Thank you for your time. I now return you to your regularly scheduled chaos.



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I wrote my first novel because I wanted to read it.
Toni Morrison
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I wrote my first novel because I wanted to read it.
Toni Morrison
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/novel_2.html#vzSyZcDU0WXsAAoF.99

Also found on Brainy Quotes

I wrote my first novel because I wanted to read it.
Toni Morrison
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/novel_2.html#vzSyZcDU0WXsAAoF.99

I wrote my first novel because I wanted to read it.
Toni Morrison
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/novel_2.html#vzSyZcDU0WXsAAoF.99

Have a happy...

It's that time of year when we all start gearing up for Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Christmas (if you're British, anyway) and Happy New Year, to name just a few of the upcoming Happy Holidays!

Yesterday was Happy Halloween, and today is November 1st, Happy All Saint's Day.

But what's that you say? I forgot something?

Oh yeah, right! It's NANOWRIMO!!  This year I hope to actually succeed in writing that 50,000 word novel that's been swimming around in my head. Well, I have two of them swimming around, and I think that's been the hold up. I can't decide which one to write!

Therefore, if you feel so inclined, you can help me choose. On the one hand, I have a follow-up phanfic for "The Phantom of Les Andelys", a "Phantom of the Opera" story that picks up where the 2004 movie left off. If you'd like to read the first story, you can find it on Lulu.com at http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/aimeepetit (Aimee Petit is my nom de plume).


The other story I've been wanting to write is about William Barrett Travis and his fiancée, Rebecca Cummings. Most everyone has heard of Travis; commander of the Alamo during the siege (and then slaughter) by Santa Ana's troops in 1836. What most everyone does *not* know is that Travis was engaged to be married a second time when he left for the Alamo. Most people have never heard of Rebecca Cummings. I want to tell her story, what it was like to live, love, and lose someone to the Alamo. It would also be a work of fiction in that very little is actually known about Rebecca, but the events surrounding the Alamo are well documented, so there'd be a tad bit of a history lesson in there too.

Feel free to state your opinion in the comments. Either way, I'm doing NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month - sign up here! https://nanowrimo.org/sign_up ). Just let me know which story you're more interested to read come December! :-)