Categotry Archives: Totally Random Picture
Return of Internet
I lost internet access for a few days last week. Frankly it’s been poor for a long time. I’ve replaced my router and modem so many times. Like in the past, my signal just deteriorated badly. It seemed it would come back for a few minutes when I called the ISP tech support. I’d get a solid connection, feel silly for calling, and hang up. Over and over. Eventually the tech support was fast enough to actually “help” me. They […]
13 Words
Guess who is trying to come up with a Thursday Thirteen after bad time? 1. National 2. Novel 3. Writing 4. Month 5. is 6. in 7 November. 8. How 9. many 10. words 11. have 12. you 13. written? I’m up to 40,000 already. It’s one of my better noveling years. The photo is from dolphin chasing in Bali.
10 Years
I missed my ten-year blog anniversary. It came and went last September. I didn’t notice. A lot has changed in ten years. Back then I lived in a different city, though still Western Montana. My kids were in grade school. My world revolved around parent teacher meetings, cooking, cleaning, and this newfangled thing called the internet. Avon – the publisher, not the location – held a contest for new authors. I participated in that contest. It is still vivid in […]
The Lap of Luxury
The Girl is moving out! She signed her first rental agreement and is loading up her boxes. In a matter of mere…. Well, whenever she gets around to it. Considering the disaster area she calls a bedroom it could be a while. She tells me it looks worse than it is because of the packing process. I’m pretty sure there aren’t even available paths to get around. As the the pet spiders she was raising under her bed, I’d rather […]
Back to School
The totally random picture above is a bus stop on Rinca Island. It reminded me of the shelters built by ranchers for their children to wait in for a school bus.
Friday Plan
Last week I mentioned I was thinking about making some new plans for my Friday posts. Only two people commented, and the poll thingy isn’t working right. One said she liked my photo and saw lots of potential in it. The other that he’d love to see Fiction Friday 55 brought back, or I could post anything I wanted. After thinking about it, I decided to simply substitute my own pictures and do a story of 100 words or less […]
Friday Fictioneers Poll
Most of you know already that I participate in a blog hop called Friday Fictioneers. The challenge is to write a short story based on the picture they provide in 100 words. The hubmaster for the hop is currently occupied with promoting her books and getting the next one out. She does not feel she has the time to produce a new story each week. As a result she is re-running old pictures and the stories she wrote to go […]
Forest Fire Season
Forest Fire Season has already begun. Who knew? Apparently the fires started to the East of me. Normally the wind will blow them further East along with the jet stream, so it isn’t too surprising I hadn’t noticed the smoke building up in the valley. The surprising and scary part is that the fires started in February. It seems the central part of Montana had an unusually warm and dry winter. 50 deg. F in the middle of February? Yeah […]
Telemarketer
I’m rude. When a telemarketer calls – be it human or machine – I cut through the chit chat to say “take us off your calling list” then hang up. Well, normally. But a particular number kept coming up wanting to discuss “issues of concern to your location.” The actual human on the other end wanted me to answer two questions. Only two. 1)Who did I support in the upcoming primary. 2)How firm was my decision. There was no follow […]
I Write Like
It’s click bait. Only it’s the way click bait should be, with something of actual interest on the other side of the click. I happened to notice a button on someone’s blog this weekend. It’s a program that supposedly matches your writing style to that of famous writers. The first thing I put in was my Friday Fictioneer’s post, “Stairway to Heaven”. The result – I write like Steven King. Well, I can sort of see that. But I suspect […]
Candi Sambisara
Candi Sambisara was the first of many temples we visited on this trip. It was also the first serious test of my trekking poles. For the first few minutes it scared me spitless. There I stood at the top of a hundred steps, no railing, and a left hip with no cartilage left. After all I’d been through the year before I was painfully aware that I no longer knew what I was or was not capable of. I couldn’t […]
NaNo and Family
I am particularly blessed because my family not only understands my need to write, they enthusiastically join me. Since I’m by far the most experienced in the field, our in-house word wars have hardly been fair. I generally take a handicap of a couple hundred. This hasn’t exactly sat well with either Mr. Al or The Girl. Even when they would win if we counted the handicap, they weren’t satisfied. They both wanted to out-write me straight out. This year, […]
Kid Quotes
1. The Girl: I’m allergic to sewing. I break out in stress. 2. The Girl (Walks up with cat): Organic purr machine. 3. The Girl: Literary works are such downers. Unless it’s Shakespeare. Then it’s satirical and horrifying. 4. The Girl: Mainstream culture is only mainstream because it’s convenient for a lot of people.
13 Bloggie Habits
I’ve been posting regularly to this blog since 2006. In that time I’ve picked up a few habits. I’ll leave it to you to determine if they are good or bad habits. 1. I always, always, always go to the blog of someone who leaves a decent link with their comment and find something to comment on. When I can, I do it in less than 24 hours.
