Ah, Maria, the End is Near
If Maria Theresa, Queen of Austria, was feeling her age by 1780, it isn’t hard to understand why. If she’d had only two children instead of sixteen, and those two were Marie Antoinette and Joseph, that would have been enough to age Mother Theresa prematurely.
Toss in fourteen more, the rigors of not just running, but re-building the Austrian Empire from practically the ground up, starting this at age twenty-three, with no formal training, in what was very much a man’s world, and the fact that by 1780 she had long ago given up a physically active life; she was feeling every minute of it.
In the first years on the throne she could ride at a gallop for hours, she could and did literally dance all night, night after night. Meals were spare and taken on the run. She must have cut quite a figure. Indeed, many visitors, mainly male, wrote about her striking physical appearance. Some of these fellows quite fell in love with her at first sight.
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A Tiger at Vilas Zoo
You all know I was in Madison not too long ago. We hooked up with Heather and wandered around looking at monkeys, birds, and various four-footed type beasties. Probably the most gorgeous and photogenic was the tiger.
When we arrived he was sprawled out in the shade of a tree, panting. So I wasn’t the only one who thought it was a hot and humid day. Once I saw him, I tried to take a picture. I could swear he saw me holding up the camera and decided to perform. He came over to the fence where I and a now-growing crowd stood. Problem was, you couldn’t really get a good picture of him from that angle because of the heavy bars.
Not that I’m complaining about the bars dividing him from us. No, no, no. I was grateful. Really. But like I said, not a great photo op.
That’s when Mr. Tiger took off for the glass fronted viewing area. Yippee! I rushed over to take pictures.
I foolishly didn’t take my nice camera. I took my old one because it’s much smaller and easier to haul around. Foolish me. While Heather was snapping off a whole bunch of good ones, I ended up with mostly this:
Sigh. Well. Maybe next time.
Meanwhile, you’re welcome to go check out Heather’s versions: Word Trix: Here Kitty, Kitty
Grand Scheme
“Or I’ll be a racecar driver or a rock star or a tattoo artist. So I don’t need to learn algebra.”
“Maybe so, but you aren’t going anywhere until your homework is done.”
Monkey Man hosts the 160 Character Challenge. See what you can write in 160 characters or less, spaces included.
From Montana to Wisconsin and Back
This was previously posted at http://www.RomanceRoundtable.com
Have you all been waiting to hear about my trip? It was one of those “slice of America” things that covered enough ground to make you realize what a big place a single country can be.
We started off in Montana.
It only takes about seven hours to get from close to the boarder with Idaho to Wyoming if you drive straight through. We would have made it easily if we’d started at a reasonable hour, and hadn’t had an ear infection sending us off to a hospital. The hospitals in Billings are really pretty, but there was no soap for hand-washing in the bathroom.
When I think of Wyoming and South Dakota, what I think of is this:
Hot Topic
Jill: Careful with that. It’s hot.
Jack: Then hand me a hot pad.
Jill: Not that kind of hot. I mean I stole it from my mother.
Jack: Oops. I guess it was the other kind of hot, too.
Jill: Uh-oh.
Today’s theme is hot.
Previously in Jack and Jill: Framed Portrait
The rules for Photohunt can be found here.
Be sure to visit the home page.
Suzie’s House 180: Inviting a Lawyer to Lunch
Buttered green beans, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, dinner rolls, Jeff’s mouth watered as he watched what all hit the dinner table. Cole slaw, grilled chicken, steak, he started getting nervous, though there were plenty of people sitting around the table, so maybe this much food was justified. Peach pie, salad, croissants, another chicken, Jeff broke out in a sweat.
When Suzie cooked this much, even with Vin, Miranda, Suzie, Ben and Gene and two girls Jeff didn’t recognize plus himself, it meant she had some huge favor to ask. Since he was the only one here from whom she might ask this huge favor, it meant she was going to hit him with it tonight.
He hoped whatever it was wouldn’t make him regret stuffing his stomach, because he didn’t get home cooking like this very often.
A Rain-Scrubbed Day
The close, feted darkness of the house behind me,
warm, but confining in it’s demands and restrictions
I stand in the doorway
looking on the greens of leaves and grass
made impossibly bright by new rain come and gone.
This rare bright day of fresh air beckons
but so do the needs of those within.
The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Flash Fiction 55 is hosted by the G-man, a host with the most.
This one was inspired by a poem by Eaton
13 Overpasses
I went on a road trip, and saw a lot more road than I like. For instance:
1. Squint. It’s there.
2. If you look closely under the over pass you’ll see the Butte strip mine. They dug out an entire mountain.
3. I just thought it looked neat. South Dakota? I lost track.
4. Wisconsin. Check out the bicyclist.
5. Wyoming
6. Minnesota
7. More Minnesota. Sorry about the bugs, but isn’t this a wild interchange?
8. Back to Wisconsin. Hmm. Maybe I should have sorted these.
9. So it isn’t built yet. It still counts.
10. Pedestrian bridge in Madison Wisconsin. It counts. Right?
11. Black Hills South Dakota. Check this one out – three layers!
12. Sorry about the bug splats. It says Continental Divide
13. Must be like driving in a cage, and there’s a bonus one behind it.
Ah Maria, A Long Distance Scolding
Watching Marie Antoinette take her place in the history books was not easy for her mother. Snubbing the king’s mistress would prove the least of Marie’s mistakes.
In 1774, King Louis XV died. The Dauphin became King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette became Queen of France and life did not improve. For Maria Theresa things became, if such were possible, even worse. France was still vital to Austria’s long term strategy of containing Prussia. Maria still had a very full plate, but her daughter becoming a French Queen did not make them easier.
In fact, Marie Antoinette as Queen was in a position to do incalculable damage. Of this possibility, she was oblivious. With her father-in-law dead and her husband on the throne, Madame Dubarry was no longer an issue. But Marie had returned to the unfortunate habit of intriguing with court favorites against politicians and others with whom she had a bone to pick.
Jackelope Jackelope
In keeping with Nessa’s Rabbit-Rabbit good luck charm, I’m posting a rabbit on the first of the month. Quick! Say “Rabbit Rabbit” in my comments to bring us both good luck. Better yet, post your own picture of a rabbit and we can wish each other good rabbit fortune for the month.
You may notice my rabbit is a little odd this month. It has horns. That’s because Mr. Al captured a wylie jackelope in the wilds of Wall Drug. Part rabbit, part antelope, jackelopes can be found in gift shops and tourist traps from Texas to Washington.
This one rides on my dashboard, and has a spooky way of turning around to look at my passengers instead of the road.
Welcome Susan Helene Gottfried
So while the cat’s away — that’d be Alice — this mousie gets to play here, huh? Cool. I can do that. I’ll even do it with style.
If you weren’t here last September 9, you may not know me. Maybe you recognize my name from the comments trail here at Alice’s Restaurant. But what do you really know about me?
We’ll start with the easy stuff. My name’s Susan Helene Gottfried, which is a long name for a woman who’s only five feet tall. And, like many of Alice’s friends, I’m a writer. I have three published books out in the world, and I’ve got at least three or four more in the works right now. Yep, three or four. I like to keep my writerly brain busy.
Now, to be fair, some of those books are going to be more of the Demo Tapes collections — short fiction previously posted on my blog, the Meet and Greet at West of Mars. Most of the books-in-progress fit right into my fictional world. You’ve even met some of the characters online, if you follow the Meet and Greet (and you should!). 
But when you get down to it, it makes perfect sense that the four members of ShapeShifter occupy the most prominent part of my brain. The romance of Mitchell and Kerri’s relationship makes me sigh and wish for their unrealistic ardor in my own life. Trevor’s flip, devil-may-care attitudes tease my own careful, restrained approach to many of the situations he’d rule through sheer outrageousness and his unfailing, unflinching respect for the truth. Think about that contradiction. Brutally honest outrageousness.
Those of you who already know Trevor, either through the books or because you’ve been to the Meet and Greet, are nodding agreement. That does sum up our favorite bass player.
I realize this can make it hard for a new reader to pick up any of my books and not have some prickly feelings where Trevor, in particular, is concerned. He puts on a tough front, referring to his best friend and surrogate brother (that’d be Mitchell) as The Big Idiot, Blondie, and all sorts of other vague (and sometimes explicit) insults. Trevor’s cranky, and most of my fiction is told through his point of view. That means you get his thoughts seeping through your eyes and into your brain.
Still, the readers who take the time to look beyond this carefully constructed front can see Trevor’s vulnerable side. The part of him yearning so desperately to be important and respected. Maybe even a hint of tenderness and romance lurks in there, too.
It’s what makes him so real, many of his fans drop me notes asking if he can come over for a visit. They flirt with him. And then, they beg me for more.
Keeping Trevor alive for my readers is darn difficult. But it’s also some of the most fun I’ve ever had as a writer. From the reactions of many of you, it shows.
If you’d like to meet Trevr via a free e-book copy of any of my books, say so in the comments over the next day or two. I’ll hook you up at Smashwords if you’ll promise to post a review somewhere, anywhere online. (and to further whet your appetite, I do link back to reviews from my website. So I’m giving you a free book AND a link in exchange for … a review? Slam dunk, as far as I’m concerned!)
