Guest Blogger Tomorrow

There will be no book review today, but I will say I am reading Double Cross by James Patterson and enjoying it. I recently started reading his books again after reading I, Alex a year or so ago, and I admire his ability to keep a reader engaged. It's true that Alex Cross is a bit over the top sometimes, but so is James Bond. They are fictional super-heroes so they have to be bigger than life.

Whoops, this is almost a review isn't it.

What I intended to do this morning was introduce you to John Desjarlais, a fellow mystery author. Granted he is not as well-known as James Patterson, but he weaves a good tale. John is the author of Bleeder and Viper, both books of mystery that blend  Aztec myth and Mexican Catholicism. He will share a bit about how he studied to get the characterization of the Latina protagonist in Viper just right.
         
A former producer with Wisconsin Public Radio, Desjarlais teaches journalism and English at Kishwaukee College in Malta, Ill. A member of Mystery Writers of America, Desjarlais is listed in Who’s Who in Entertainment and Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.


About the Book:

            On All Souls Day, Selena De La Cruz’s name is entered in her parish church's “Book of the Deceased.” The problem is, she's not dead. And someone thinks she should be.

            John Desjarlais’ latest mystery, Viper, the sequel to 2009’s Bleeder, brings back fiery Latina insurance agent Selena De La Cruz. Working against time, prejudice, and her own Latino community’s suspicions, she reluctantly re-joins her old DEA colleagues to hunt a deadly drug dealer who is out of jail and systematically killing everyone who ever crossed him. Can they stop him before he reaches her name on the gruesome hit list?

            As in  the first book, Desjarlais sets the tale in the colorful small-town settings of “Sinnissippi County” of northern Illinois, this time expanding to Chicago to explore issues of immigration and bi-cultural identity against a rich backdrop of Aztec mythology and Mexican Catholicism.

            His historical novels and mysteries are available at Amazon.com.

                   For more information, visit www.johndesjarlais.com

Friday's Odds and Ends

My fellow Americans... no, wait that is the beginning of a presidential address, and this is not a presidential address, although it is about some of the presidential candidates.  We are still over a year away from the election, and already the news and sound-bites are getting tiresome. Rick Perry has called President Obama a traitor. Perry has also said that global warming  is not a problem, and even joked that the leading source of "supposedly deadly carbon dioxide" is the mouth of Al Gore.

Other than the fact that she is associated with the Tea Party, which has become just another self-serving entitiy, Michelle Bachmann seems to be holding in the name-calling and focusing on issues. It is not her fault that the media decided to publish that awful picture of her eating a corn dog at the Iowa State Fair and then lead the public down that suggestive path. Shame on the media for that one.

Instead of relying on the nightly news on television or the latest from CNN or Fox News online, the savvy voter would do well to research for themselves what the candidates stand for. To get in-depth information on all the candidates without media bias, here is a Website that has all 2012 candidates listed along with their policies, plans, and qualifications.

Okay, enough about politics. When I wrote Monday's post about young people making a difference, I missed the opportunity to mention a very special 9 year-old girl who lived near Seattle. New York Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote about her recently, and I saved that column. Rachel  Beckwith learned about Locks of Love when she was 5 and grew her hair out so she could then cut it and donate it to be made into a wig for a child going through chemotherapy.  Then when she was 8 she learned about an organization called Charity:water. Instead of having a 9th birthday party, she asked her friends to donate $9 each to Charity:water for water projects in Africa. This was on June 12, 201,1 and she set up a birthday page on the Charity:water website with a goal of raising $300.

On July 20, Rachel was critically injured in a car accident while traveling with her family. Family and friends started donating to her birthday fund and the amount raised passed the goal, and kept on going. Sadly, Rachel did not recover from her injuries, but she continued to give. Her parents donated her hair one last time to Locks of Love and her organs were donated to other children in need.

Donations continued to pour into the Charity:water site, and when Kristof wrote about this on August 12, the total had topped $800,000. Kristof ended his column by writing, "Youth activism has a long history, but this ethos of publis service is on the ascendant today - and today's kids don't just protest against injustices, as my contemporaries did, but many are remarkable problem-solvers.

"Rachel Beckwith, RIP, and may our generation learn from yours."

I chose these two topics today because the contrast is so telling. I used to tell those in the public sector to stop acting like children, but perhaps they ought to consider it.

Helping A Friend

Here is another offering from my friend, Slim Randles. Enjoy.... 

When the world dilemma think tank gathered this morning at the philosophy counter, the main topic of conversation was Marvin Pincus’s problem with the county.

The county wanted him to stop counseling people on love and tying flies to go along with it. Well, they didn’t mind the fly tying so much, but the counseling was to stop unless he had a college degree and a business license. There was general outrage and frustration there in the truck stop.

There were solutions to Marvin’s problem suggested, of course. They varied from 1. finding something else Marvin could do to enjoy his retirement (from Doc), to 5. declaring war on the county up to and including seceding  (from Jasper Blankenship).

Numbers two, three and four weren’t really workable and referred generally to impossible anatomical feats to be performed by certain county employees.

“Marvin’s hearing is next week,” Doc said. “I plan to show up and give them an earful. Ol’ Marve isn’t hurting a soul.”

Dewey hadn’t said much, nursing his coffee and sweet roll. It’s like that sometimes with deep thinkers. It takes time for an idea to ripen, to blossom. Finally, the king of the valley’s one-man fertilizer distribution system smiled.  “Got an idea,” he said. “I’m willing to sacrifice some labor and profits here … for the cause.”

“What’s the idea,” Dud asked.

“What would you think if I donated an entire pickup load of product to the front door of the county building?”

When the laughing died down, Doc said, “I believe I’d bring a shovel and help out.”

“I don’t know,” Jasper said. “I’m not sure they’d think it was out of place there. If I was younger …”

“If you were younger … what?”

“Well, I believe I’d go down and rearrange some county physiognomies.”

He sighed. “But the truth is … I never was as young as I used to be.”
 
                                                           ------------------

Brought to you by Slim’s new book “A Cowboy’s Guide to Growing Up Right.” Learn more at http://www.nmsantos.com/Slim/Slim.html

Monday Morning Musings

Who says young people today are shiftless and self-absorbed and nothing but trouble? That's what some folks think of teens, but the majority of young people do not fall into that classification. The teens that I know, and have worked with, are bright, helpful, respectful, and eager to make a difference in the world.That is one reason I was so pleased to see an article in Parade Magazine this weekend that celebrates young people who are participating in service activities.

The article starts by featuring Miranda Cosgrove, the star of Nickelodeon’s iCarly, for her work with  St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis where she visits patients and assists in fund-raising. “They tell you to give back because it helps other people, but you also get a lot out of it.”

Fifteen teens from across the country were picked for Parade's All-American Service Team, and they were selected because they have done something significant in their communities, or even across the world. Rujul Zaparde from New Jersey was cited because he started a non-profit that helps build wells in India, and Charlotte Bilski from New York was cited for organizing an effort to gather donated medical supplies and send them to Haiti following the devastating earthquake there.

Charles Orgbon III from Georgia, is CEO of Greening Forward, a nonprofit that has helped 6,000 students recycle 10 tons of waste and pick up enough litter to fill 25 homes. Charles is only 15 year old. Imagine what he will do at 25.

Conner Danzler of Maryland founded Health Through Humor, an organization that has distributed 11,000 joke books to hospitals in 19 states. Laughter really is the best medicine, and he is doing a wonderful service.

Right here in my community I know a number of teens, and younger children, who take part in the annual Winnsboro Service Day, cleaning up property and painting homes for senior citizens and the disabled. Teens from my church do the same type of service projects,  and many of them collect food for the food pantry.

What about you? Do you know some young people who are deserving of some special recognition for what they are doing to serve their communities?

Friday's Odds and Ends

Political commentators are all projecting which Republican candidate has the best chance of winning the party nomination for president based on the amount of money he or she can raise. Very little is said about the qualifications that candidate would bring to the office. So sad.

Maybe we should all vote for the candidate who is willing to donate his or her campaign war chest to all the folks who have been without jobs for the last year - or longer - so they don't have to lose their homes.

House Speaker John Boehner and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi say they will end the congressional page program, an initiative that brings high school students to Capitol Hill to work alongside elected officials. According to a report at Beliefnet. com this  decision was made without consulting most members of Congress.  Instead, it was made based on a recommendation by two private consulting firms that counseled Boehner and Pelosi that the program was no longer needed, in part due to “advances in technology” that have made having pages in the U.S. House less essential.

Perhaps pages are not as essential for transferring papers and information as they once were, but the opportunity for young people to experience government at work is.... Wait a minute. Do we really want our young people to learn that government is all about taking care of your party and your friends in high places? Maybe it would be better to keep the young folks home on the farm where they won't be corrupted.

On a lighter note, I read a column recently by Ishita Sharma, a volunteer columnist for The Dallas Morning News, that focused on "balancing your tortoise and your hare." Sharma suggests that we all rethink the formula that seems to drive so many people today: "More + bigger + newer + faster = better." We need to find a balance between all the busyness that drives us and periods of calm and relaxation. Sharma mentioned having seen a sign on the door of a fitness center "Fast Yoga" and realized it was an oxymoron. But she also said that was a sad reflection on the kind of life most of us lead.

So let's give ourselves permission to take fifteen minutes of our morning, and another in the afternoon, to just be, and not do anything. Close our eyes, take a few deep breaths, relax and....  Oops, almost fell asleep there.

Separation of Church and State?

I'm a bit confused. Aren't we supposed to have a distinct separation between church and state? So why are evangelical Christians allowed to cross that line at will?

Mind you, I am a Christian, and I espouse all that the religion stands for. I just don't espouse politicians using religion to launch their political campaign. Yes, I do mean you, Rick Perry. And I don't espouse those politicians who flaunt their religion as if that somehow makes them a better president, or senator, or congressman, or political candidate.

If one is truly living a religion, whether it be Christian or one of the other fine religions, there is no need to manufacture sound bites to tell the public how connected he or she is to a God. And a public measuring stick of a candidate's worthiness should not include questions about religion. Those are not allowed in any job interview, so why are they allowed in determining a candidate's qualifications for office?

In a recent column, Ruth Marcus proposes a take-home exam that candidates should respond to before the 2012 elections. It has a single question that deals with the new congressional super-committee overseeing the national budget, asking where candidates would find the savings that are proposed in the recent debt-ceiling deal. The column is worth reading because Marcus tells candidates they cannot put a spin on their answers. They have to come up with specific and concrete plans, not just hyperbole.

It is also most interesting, because no where does it suggest that God is in any way involved in this mess, despite the fact that Rep. Tim Scott, R-SC, said "divine inspiration" was the force behind his opposition to Speaker John Boehner's initial proposal for a debt-ceiling deal.

Too often those in office, and those seeking office, throw out these references to God because it does seem to appeal to some segment of our society, but to me it makes them come across as phonies. Are they just pretending to be holy to gain support? Then I can't help but wonder what else they might be pretending about.

If you have thoughts on this topic, I welcome responses in the comments.

Monday Morning Musings

I came into my office earlier to write a blog entry and had to fight with my cat, John, for my desk. He has decided this is his favorite spot and does not like me disturbing him so I can use my keyboard. He is so big that he is draped with his feet hanging over the edge of the desk, blocking access to the keyboard.

When I try to move him, he decides that must be an invitation to play, so he starts batting at my hands. That can be quite dangerous as he has huge paws, all his claws, and has not learned that to play with a human's hand he must retract his claws.

My plan for the blog, however, was not to write about John.

Tonight I am going to audition for the play, Arsenic and Old Lace. I'm hoping to get to play one of the central characters and work with a director that I really respect. He gave me my first major role a few years ago, and I learned a lot working with him.

One of the things I learned was the importance of blocking a show, which basically means planning out the movement of players on stage. I knew about blocking from a director's standpoint, but not so much from a player's standpoint. You have to know when and where to move, and that is especially important when you have more than one or two people on stage. If there isn't some planning, it can be a bit of a mess with players trying to avoid upstaging each other.

On the other hand, the blocking can't be so rigid that it doesn't leave room for the actor to make it all appear natural, and it is crucial that what happens on stage looks natural. 

In thinking about all that, I realized that the same principles apply to writing. We have to have some basic plan for how our story is going to move, even though sometimes one of the characters will take it in a new direction. We can let that happen to see if that is going to work for the story, and if it doesn't, we can rein that character in.

It is also very important to block, or choreograph, scenes with a lot of people in them. The big climax scene in Open Season was very complicated with action taking place inside a house, just outside the house, and on the street in front of the house. I actually drew a diagram of the scene, like I do of a stage when I am blocking a show, and I put all my people in their various places. Then I planned out the POV switches and how they would flow one to the other and then to another.

Writers, how do you handle complicated scenes?

Book Review - "A Cowboy's Guide to Growing up Right" by Slim Randles

Today I am a guest at Buried Under Books  with a fun piece about a cat. I have shared several stories at that blog about my cats, and this one is about  my son's cat, who swears she was held captive here. Hop over to the blog if you get a chance and see what Stache had to say about the experience of living here for a while.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming....

There's something about a cowboy. Fans of some romance novels find a guy in tight jeans and a Stetson the sexiest thing alive, and I will admit a nice tush is... well, a nice tush. What I like most about a cowboy, though, is character. The kind of character that Slim Randles describes in his book, encouraging people to adopt some of the cowboy ways, like honesty, integrity, hard work, and an appreciation for the land and the animals.

He opens his book with this, "Every cowboy knows there is a great deal more to being a grown up than getting tall and inheriting the ability to reproduce." Then he goes on to offer advice on how to grow up with character in this little book from Rio Grande Books.

In just sixty-three pages, Randles offers such sage advice as "Do the right thing, even when no one's looking" He also encourages readers to be passionate about their work. Don't just work for money, or fame, or power. Find something in your life that gives you a reason to get out of bed everyday with a sense of excitement. If it isn't your job, then find a new one, or find a hobby that brings joy and satisfaction to your life.

He also extolls the benefits of finding a mentor, whether that be someone in your workplace, or someone who is an expert at something you do for fun, like playing guitar. "It's easier walking through deep snow when you follow someone else's trail."

That quote ends the chapter on mentors, and each chapter ends with a little quote to cement the lesson. The chapters open with a quote, as well, and those quotes are well worth reading, even if you don't read the whole book word for word. Although I do recommend that you do.

A Cowboy's Guide to Growing up Right is a quick read, but it is also something that you might want to go back to often for the encouragement and sage advice. On top of that, it is classic Randles writing that is often funny, poignant, and cuts to the heart of the matter. No wasted words with this cowboy.

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FTC Disclaimer:  The author sent me this book in the hopes that I would review it. But he knows me well enough to understand that I only review work I think is well-written. This one is. I did not benefit monetarily from this arrangement, although I do hope that he does by selling a few copies of his book. And since the one he sent me is signed, it will go on my shelf of autographed books, so I won't even make a dime by reselling it.

Friday's Odds and Ends

Wasn't it just last year when Texas Governor Rick Perry was running for re-election that he repeatedly said he was not going to run for president? Maybe he meant just not in the near future which translated into, "not until after I'm elected governor."

I, for one, will not vote for someone who is not a man of his word. Oops, that leaves out most political candidates.Is there someone out there who will say what he means, and then do what he says?


As this awful heat wave blankets Texas, parts of the Midwest, and all of the deep south, heat advisories are the lead on the evening news. Followed by the number of people who have died because of heat-related issues. A recent broadcast news story was about pre-season football practice for high school. college and pro athletes, and how many have died because of excessive heat. The newscaster said that coaches are not sure how to deal with the problem because there are no written guidelines.

Ummm, has anyone not heard of using some COMMON SENSE? Yes, I am shouting. I was shouting when I heard the story on the news and my husband told me to calm down before I broke something. I think he was protecting his beloved TV from the shoe I wanted to throw at it.

Surely the game of football is not so important that it is worth risking another life. At least three heat-related deaths on practice fields have been reported in the past week, two high-school football players from Georgia and a coach in Texas. Four high school players in Arkansas were hospitalized for dehydration on Wednesday.

According to a newsstory from CNN, some experts say that parents should petition for rules to protect their children from this danger, otherwise the danger will continue.

Why wait? Surely the game of football is not so important that it is worth risking another life. If coaches and athletic directors don't have enough sense to curtail these practices without a piece of paper telling them to do so, parents should pull their kids from the program. I would chain my kid to the bedpost before I would let him or her take such a risk. I wouldn't want to be the next mother crying on national television because my son or daughter died for the sake of a game.

Speaking of the heat. In Texas consumers pay an extra dollar a month on their electric bills, and the money is to go into a fund to assist the poor and elderly pay their electric bills. We were given the impression this was a protected fund, but in reality much of it has been diverted to balance the state budget. This year $130 million has been collected for energy-bill assistance, but only $28 million has been provided to those in need. This despite the fact that the need has risen.

This is so unconscionable, I don't even know how to respond, except to say, "Shame on you, Texas legislature."

A Bit of Humor

When I was writing my weekly column for a newspaper when my kids were young, it was always a challenge each year to come up with something to write about the summer break from school that wasn’t just a rehash of past columns. I thought maybe people were getting tired of my “I hate Summer” columns, but a friend assured me otherwise.

“No, Maryann,” she said. “You’ve got to keep writing this. If you suddenly started loving the summer break, that would leave the rest of us looking like the worst mothers on earth. So accept the gauntlet, carry the flag, give us a game plan.”

How could I refuse?

I worked for two weeks on a plan I thought was perhaps the best summer vacation survival guide ever, but it only took two days for my kids to destroy it.

The shining glory of said game plan, which I considered definitive, succinct, and perhaps worthy of someday being etched in stone, were my edicts:

Thou shalt not wake up the household before eight o'clock in the morning.
“But you didn't say I couldn't sing."

Thou shalt not fight.
"This isn't a fight. It's a police action."

I guess I should have covered more bases. I amended that edict to read:  Thou shalt not fight or engage in any sort of skirmish, duel, war or uprising. That should be clear enough for them.

Thou shalt not bother me with trivial details when I'm working. 
"Grandma just called from Detroit. But I told her you were too busy to talk."

Thou shalt complete all chores before noon.
"Mom, your bed's not made and its twelve-o-one."

Thou shalt co-operate.
"We are co-operating. David's helping me get this Twinkie away from Michael."

Once the fun of breaking edicts was over, there was nothing left but this deep pit of boredom. We dipped so low, we were reduced to inane activities such as conducting a contest to see who had the most mosquito bites in unusual places.  (You do not want to know the details of who won.) Then we endured 14 hours of "Love Boat" reruns with a test afterward to see who could remember the most lines of dialogue.

And this was the shining example my friend thought I could be?

~~~~~~~~
Excerpted from my humorous memoir, A Dead Tomato Plant and a Paycheck, which is still under consideration for publication.
For more fun, hop over to The Blood Red Pencil, where my friend, Tracy Farr is reviewing the reviewer.

Monday morning musings

I hate to keep yammering on the same topic - actually, I don't. I keep hoping that if enough of us yammer, our esteemed government will pay attention.

As we teeter on the brink of Congress making another decision that could be a colossal mistake, Ian Bremmer, author of The End of the Free Market: Who wins the War Between States and Corporations? writes that the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio is above 84 percent. What that means is that we are closer to being unable to repay our debt than ever before.

Has this little fact escaped President Obama and others who pushed to raise the debt ceiling?

To close that gap, Bremmer says that "U.S. Consumers will have to pay higher taxes, save more money, delay retirement, and accept less generous pensions and health care benefits."

Again the onus is on the average American instead of the government we elected to protect the interests of all Americans. Does everyone remember the bail out that gave billions of dollars to banks and corporations, bypassing the poor guy who was losing his house? How well did that work out for the average citizen?

It's always business as usual in Washington: The government bowing to the pressure of lobbyists to protect big business while the American tax payer pays, and pays, and pays.

Is anyone out there willing to buck the system?

Friday's Odds and Ends

Here's an interesting comment from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates responding to a question about why the U.S. continues to treat Pakistan like an ally even though its government has proven untrustworthy. "I would say based on 27 years in CIA and 4 and a half years in this job, most governments lie to each other. That's the way business gets done."

It is so sad when diplomacy has turned into hypocrisy. I remember when it was a badge of honor to be able to have it said of you, "This is a woman of her word." I remember when a handshake could close a deal and the handshake would be honored no matter what. That type of honesty and trust built integrity and integrity is the backbone of character.

According to a recent article by Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus, some people are paying $2 and $3 hundred thousand dollars for playhouses for their kids. I couldn't believe it. That is more than the average American pays for a home. The people with the money and the means to built such extravagant installations for the amusement of children make no apologies for what Ms. Marcus calls, "such grossness." She quotes Dan Burnham, former Raytheon chairman as saying, "It's adorable and worth every penny."

I support Ms. Marcus's suggestion that parents ask a delivery man for a leftover refrigerator box and buy the kids a set of markers and a roll of duct tape. Then "send the kids out to design their own magical cottage. After it rains, throw away and repeat."

When I read that, I thought of how much fun the kids at the Youth Drama Camp had making a barn out of... you guessed it, an old refrigerator box.

Nathan Heller would like us to rethink the slogan "American as Apple Pie." In a recent article he put tongue in cheek and proceeded to list all the reasons "The dessert is gloppy, soggy, undeserving of its vaunted status-- and just plain old un-American."

I know he meant this all in fun, at least I hope he did, but I wish he would have left my favorite dessert alone. I like my apple pie in a bowl with milk, then it doesn't matter how gloppy or soggy it is. Berry pie is good the same way, and I have fond memories of my grandmother letting me have pie or cobbler for breakfast. Hey, I was getting my fruit and milk, wasn't I?

What about you? How do you like your pie?

Balancing the National Budget

As President Obama and Congress keep the financial woes of the country locked in partisan politics many are concerned for senior citizens, the handicapped and our military because of threats to stop cutting checks to Social Security, Medicare, and government payrolls.

Wait a minute. There's a better way. When personal finances get a little tight, do folks cut out basic needs such as food and housing? No. They start cutting the extras, and nobody can legitimately call Social Security an extra or an entitlement. We, and our employers, have paid into it our whole working lives, and if President Lyndon Johnson had just left it alone and not put the money into the General Fund, there would be no shortfall for Social Security.

And to even consider cutting military pay and benefits is an outrage. If the government can't find a way to pay them, then bring them all home.

So again, I call for cuts at the top of the budget, starting with Congressional benefits that include free healthcare, outrageous salaries and retirement packages, and more paid holidays than the average worker. And by the way, they voted to receive their annual raise this year, while Social Security increases have been frozen because there has been no increase in the cost of living. Or so they say. Obviously, they have not shopped at my supermarket.

Another huge savings could be made if we stopped sending so much aid to other countries. Sure, we should step up when there has been a disaster, but do we have to send billions of dollars? And the billions we are sending to countries that have had no recent disasters - like the funds going to Pakistan - should be stopped. I know we are trying to buy their loyalty, but have we?

Come on, Washington. Be smart about getting us out of this financial mess, and creating more debt is not the answer.

Having a bit of fun

I know. This is Tuesday and I don't normally post on Tuesday's, but I thought you might like to have a little fun with us at the Blood Red Pencil today.

I'm a regular contributor to the Blood Red Pencil blog, and today we are featuring the authors behind the book, Write More Good, a guide to editing that is sure to get you fired. The book is a spoof on the AP Stylebook and is quite funny. We do a regular Ask the Editor series on the blog, and I thought it would be fun to have them answer questions today. No telling what kind of answers we will get, so if you have a moment, stop on by and join the fun.

Monday Morning Musings

Drama Camp is officially over. We had our last production yesterday and the response from the audiences was great. We had over 80 in attendance Saturday night and about 70 on Sunday. It is quite a challenge to put a show together in just two weeks, but it always seems to work. The kids did a terrific job and garnered lots of laughs and applause throughout.

Now I have my routine back and when I came into my office this morning I saw a very large spider. Maybe it wasn't as big as my fear made it, but thank goodness for my cat, John. He must have thought the spider was a small rodent because he pounced on it and killed it.

In last Thursday's Dallas Morning News I read a column written by Leonard Pitts in which he took journalists to task over the lack of integrity in the profession. The article was in response to the recent debacle at News of the World.  According to a Gallup poll quoted by Pitts, the general public ranks journalists between auto mechanics and lawyers in terms of ethics.

It is apparent that that code has been severely diluted in recent history. It used to be that the tabloids were the newpapaers known for sleazy journalism and reporters who crossed every line to get a good story. More recently we have heard of reporters from major publications fabricating stories or plagiarizing in attempts to further their careers.

The code that I learned early in my career, and that Pitts reminds us in his article is that "One avoids conflicts of interest. One does not plagiarize. One does not buy information. And one does not hack the voice mail of a missing child."

Okay, that last one was not specifically in the code that I learned, but I was taught to respect the dignity of the people in the stories I was pursuing. In that way I protected my integrity, as well as the integrity of the publication for which I was working.

Book Review - Swept Away by Marsha Canham

Back in March when authors who are part of the Backlist E-Books group were participating in a special sale, the book that kept popping up as a best seller on Kindle lists right along with my One Small Victory, was Marsha Canham's Swept Away. 

At first I thought her book was another contemporary suspense novel, and I was really surprised to discover it is a historical romance set in Regency-period England. The story does have a mystery, and there are some suspenseful moments when the hero and heroine are in danger, but I had a hard time seeing a close connection to my book, until I thought more about the heroine of Swept Away.

Annaleah Fairchilde is a strong woman who wants no part of the conventions of society, and she finds an ally in her Aunt Florence, who long ago thumbed her nose at what is expected of a woman. While visiting her aunt, Annaleah finds a half-drowned, mostly naked man on the beach. She pulls him out of the approaching tide and he is eventually brought to her aunt's house, and her aunt recognizes him as Emory Althorpe.

Being a romance novel, there is of course the attraction between the two central characters, but the story also encompases a mystery and adventure. Emory is being hunted as a traitor to England, responsible for Napoleon's escape from Elba and suspected of a plot to save Napoleon from exile to St. Helena. Annaleah believes in his innocence and becomes involved in his attempt to discover the truth about himself and reveal the identity of the real traitor.

It may have been pure coincidence that our books were so closely together on those Kindle lists, but it also may have been because they both have strong women leads, and readers are always ready to cheer for a protagonist who steps up to the conflicts and challenges instead of sitting back and letting the men handle it all.

Swept Away is  a well-written book with a complex plot and lots of adventure. The historical aspects were well-researched and came across believable. I really liked the characters, especially Aunt Florence, who had some of the best quips in the book.

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

FTC Disclaimer: I bought this book myself and made no promises to myself, or others, to do a review. It was just to satisfy my curiosity. The author may benefit from this review in that a few more people might buy her book, and I suppose in a round-about way that may benefit me if our books are still on some of the same best-selling lists. Perhaps I should go check.

Friday's Odds and Ends

This is the last day of drama camp. Wow, it has been an intense two weeks. We have had twenty-four campers ranging in age from six to thirteen, and they are a creative, energetic bunch. The good thing is that they have put together a great show in this short span of time, even though they have worn this old lady out.

I love working with kids and seeing them so excited about theatre and learning more about how to make a story and characters come to life on stage.

In lieu of my normal mini-rants on Fridays, I thought I would just share some links to some of the blogs I like to follow that have good content. First up is Mystery Writing is Murder - home of mystery author, Elizabeth Spann Craig. Wouldn't you know it. I just clicked over to her blog to discover she is "Gone Fishing" for a week and a half, but she left some links to some helpful posts for writers.

Another helpful blog for writers and readers is Straight From Hel by Helen Ginger. She has interviews with authors, book reviews, and insightful articles about the business of writing. 

I often check in with Elspeth Antonelli's blog It's A Mystery, where she does some amazing pictorial essays.

Terry Odell also shares pictures on her blog, Terry's Place, on Fridays with her Friday Field Trips. Often the photographs are from her son, Jason, who is a professional photographer, and he is featured today with pictures from the Badlands of South Dakota.

There are also a couple of blogs that I contribute to. The Blood Red Pencil focuses on writing and editing advice and information. Criminal Minds at Work is written by a group of mystery writers and the topics range from reviews to tips on forensics. All Day, All Night, Romance Diva's is written by a number of us who all share the same first name. Hence the reference to the song, "All day, all night, Maryann, down by the seaside sifting sand. The content here is heavily focused on things romantic, but there are also posts that cover industry standards and changes, and other things related to writing in general.

Advice for the lovelorn

Heading into the last three days of the Youth Drama Camp. It has been fun, but I am anxious to have my days back. LOL  Here is an offering from my friend, Slim Randles for you to enjoy.

Things were going kinda slow down at the Fly Tying Love Center and it bothered Marvin Pincus a lot.

He found it hard to believe that, out of all the people in the valley, none of them needed love advice and the proper type of fishing fly to illustrate it. He had the sign made and put in the yard, and he’d obviously had great results with the Jones kid and good ol’ Dewey. Since Marvin’s advice to Dewey to shower before asking a girl for a date, Dewey Decker, the Fertilizer King, had had several dates with nice young women.

Now the fishing-fly earrings part of the business was going great. Women all over town were wearing dingle-dangle earrings with Marvin’s point-clipped fishing flies hanging therefrom. He learned that short ladies tended to go for the smaller dries, like Griffith’s Gnats and Royal Coachmen, and the taller ladies leaned toward salmon streamers. Some of the ladies slipped Marvin’s wife, Marjorie, a couple of bucks to help buy more feathers and hooks.

But on the love advice front, there was a dearth of heartbroken customers.

“What would you think,” Marvin said, “if I ran an ad in the Valley Weekly Miracle?”

“For what?” Marjorie said at breakfast.

“You know … love advice.”

“Well, you have the sign out front. I think everyone in the valley already knows about it.”

“But they’re not coming in.”

Marjorie smiled. “Honey, some people find it hard to talk to others about their personal problems. That’s probably it.”

Marvin got a piece of paper and began writing. Then he’d scratch it out and start again. This went on through both bacon and toast.

“How’s it coming, Honey?”

“About got it right, I think, Marge.”

“May I see it?”

He handed it to her.

The best love advice in the valley, tied up with the appropriate fishing fly. Call the Fly Tying Love Center for an appointment. Results guaranteed.

“What do you think?”

Marjorie just smiled and nodded her head. What she thought, however, was that retirement isn’t for sissies.

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Brought to you by Slim’s new book “A Cowboy’s Guide to Growing Up Right.” Learn more at http://www.nmsantos.com/Slim/Slim.html

A bit of humor

NOTE*  The second week of drama camp starts today, so I will be busy again all week. I'll be sharing some bits of humor in my regular posts, and I thought I would start with a piece I wrote a few years ago for The Blood Red Pencil blog.  I got my start writing a weekly humor column for a suburban newspaper. Primarily it was about family, but occasionally, I would write about the joys of the writing life. I took some of those old columns and shared them with the readers of the BRP blog, and now I share it with you.  Enjoy....

When I sold my first short story to a magazine a few weeks ago, we were all happily playing Howard Hughes around here for awhile. My husband was planning his retirement, the kids were picking out houses in the country and I had visions of never having to look at another price tag" again before I bought a dress.

I suppose we're all entitled to our glory dreams and it sure was fun while it lasted. But now that the excitement has died down to a dull roar and the rejection slips have started to litter my desk again, we have resigned ourselves to the fact that perhaps we'll have to wait awhile before we start recklessly throwing money around buying mink coats and hamburgers.

Anjanette has given up her dream of a whole new bedroom set with maybe a new bedroom to put it in. David has gone back to mowing lawns to save the money for his new mag wheels and Michael is collecting cans for recycling to keep himself in spending money. I've resigned myself to another year at least in the bargain basement, and unfortunately, Carl still has to get up every morning and go to work. (Someone has to keep me in typing paper and postage.)

Meanwhile the check isn't even cashed yet. I'm afraid to· cash it because I know it will be gone all too soon; and besides that, it's still a big thrill to go in and look at it every now and then. (I know that will pass, since it only took me two weeks to stop opening the magazine every five minutes to see my name in the credits.)

From here on in, no other acceptance will probably ever mean as much or create quite the stir that this one has.

Someday, discussing the terms of a sale with an editor in New York will be old hat. I won't have to try to act cool and professional on the outside while on the inside I'm jumping up and down for joy.

Someday, I won't call my best friend to announce, "You are now speaking to a famous writer person!"

"Who is this? Is this some sort of crank call?"

Someday, selling stories will all be part. of the routine around here and no one will stop by with champagne to celebrate. The kids won't be announcing it to every creature that moves up and down the block, and my husband won't run around the grocery stores making sure the magazine is prominently displayed. (I told him I didn't get any royalties, but he did it anyway.)

But until that someday rolls around, I guess I can stand all the excitement just a little bit longer.

Book Review - Dear Cupid by Julie Orloton

Kate Bradshaw writes a popular "Dear Cupid" Web advice column, but finds it difficult to offer positive advice after her painful divorce. She would like to tell every reader to "dump the bastard and move on." Not exactly the kind of pithy advice her boss wants her to give.

In an attempt to regain the perspective that made her column popular, Kate leaves her native Texas hill country for a business trip to L.A., where she practices her flirting technique on the first attractive man she sees, movie special-effects man Mike Cameron. If she can successfully get his attention, maybe she can start believing that she has what it takes to offer advice to the lovelorn.

While I found that set-up a bit of a stretch, I hung in with the story and I'm glad I did. It was a pleasant read, and the interplay between Mike and Kate's son, Dylan is truly engaging. Mikes persistent, yet gentle efforts to get Kate to trust herself and trust in love again, was equally engaging. He is definitely a different kind of hero, but no less a hero than any other good romance novel.


Dear Cupid was first published in hardback and mass market paperback in 2001 by St. Martin's, and the author released the e-book this past June. Right now it is available for only 99cents.

~~~~~~~~~~~

FTC Disclaimer: I purchased and reviewed this book of my own free will. I was not compensated in any way for the review, and I am guessing the author does not even know I did it. Even though I am not normally a fan of romance novels, I decided to give this one a read because I met the author online and I was impressed with her writing in posts to groups and her blog. (Authors, the quality of your writing everywhere does matter.) I was also influenced by the price. For 99cents, I thought I would take a chance. Does that mean I would only buy another book from this author if it was priced that low? No. I will probably buy one of her other books once I have read a few of the other ones I have loaded in my Kindle.
NOTE: I wish the author would change her last name to Smith so I knew how to pronounce it.

It’s not crazy, but it should be

The Youth Drama Camp is going well and is so much fun, but it is also very time-intensive. Two weeks to prepare for a production and mount it? Whew! Not to mention finding new ways to keep almost 30 kids engaged and focused. 
Today I'm sharing a bit of nonsense from my friend, Tracy Farr. Since the current mission is the last one for the Space shuttle Atlantis, I thought this reflection on the end of the Apollo missions would be fun to share.  

I don’t know how it happens – it just does. One minute I’m lounging on the couch sipping on a tall glass of sweet ice tea, when all of a sudden, WHAMO! a crazy idea comes to mind – such as: If I took a shower after mowing the yard, maybe my armpits wouldn’t smell so bad.

These little crazy ideas usually plop on my shoulders like bird droppings, and there’s nothing I can do about it – like this one: Want nice smelling armpits? Don’t mow.

For example, the other day while I was reading about the Apollo missions and how much astronaut stuff was left behind on the moon, the craziest idea of all time splattered right on my noggin: Want to get rid of a lot of moon junk and make a little profit? Sell it on Lunar eBay.

NASA wants to send man – which probably also includes woman – back to the moon. There’s a lot of space junk up there just lying around, gathering dust. When they get there, woman will mutter something about how man doesn’t know how to pick up after himself, and then tell man to clean it up (that’s her primary mission). They’ll slap sale stickers on everything, upload digital pictures to Lunar eBay, Twitter about it for awhile, and wait for the profits to pour in.

FOR SALE: Vintage Lunar Rover. Has 15.25 miles on the tires, electric engine is still good, but hasn’t been driven in awhile. Winning bidder is expected to pay for shipping which comes to about 45 cents per mile (.45 X 238,857). What a steal! Good luck on your bidding. If you have any questions, I’m “AstroDude67” on Twitter.

“Beth, come here. You’ve got to see this.”

“What is it this time, Ricky?”

“Why do you always talk to me that way when I find a good deal on Lunar eBay?” Ricky asks. “I want to bid on one of those moon buggies. It may cost a couple of million, but the shipping’s only $107,500. So, what d’ya think?”

Believe me when I say, you don’t want to know Beth’s response.

By the time NASA closed down its Apollo program in 1972, six crews of astronauts had been to the moon, 12 men had actually walked on the lunar surface, and an estimated 300,000 pounds of man-made “debris” was left behind in order to bring home 800 pounds of rocks. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, but then again, I’m not a rocket scientist.

Wait a minute! Is it possible the folks at NASA were thinking ahead? That they left all that stuff up there on purpose for the sole reason of selling it one day on Lunar eBay? Is it possible they KNEW?

“Buzz, this is Houston Mission Control, can you hear me?”

“Affirmative, Houston.”

“Buzz, try not to hit those golf balls too far. We’ll need to find them in about 40 years. Selling just one of them at auction could pay for the entire Apollo program. Do you copy?”

“Roger, Houston. Slice it into a sandpit, make a few bucks. No problem.”

FOR SALE: Two vintage golf balls hit by Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the Par 3 Lunar Municipal Golf Course. Please review payment options. Credit cards or cash only. We do not accept Pay Pal. Good luck on your bidding. If you have any questions, contact “AstroDude67” on Twitter.

Yep! Those NASA guys are pretty smart!

Of course, there are some people who have “bad” crazy ideas, choosing to believe man never made it to the moon. They believe the whole thing was a hoax orchestrated by NASA in order to win the Cold War. Yes, they do believe man-made debris is scattered on the moon’s surface, but they think it’s there because NASA dropped it from a low-orbiting rocket to hoodwink the rest of us.

These naysayers did a lot of drugs in the 60s and 70s. They probably get “earth” and “urethra” mixed up.

I undoubtedly believe that man has walked on the moon and will do so once again. It’s our ability to recognize and take advantage of “crazy ideas” (the good kind) that will one day take us to Mars and beyond; it’s our crazy ideas that define us and make us who we are.

So the next time you catch me lounging on the couch when there’s yard work to be done, just remember – I’m contemplating a crazy idea that just might change the world in which we live. The snoring helps me think.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tracy Farr is a teacher living in East Texas and drives a school bus for the fun of it. In his spare time he plays the banjo, but never on Thursdays.

Simple Joys of Summer

This is an essay from my friend, Slim Randles, that seemed to fit on these sweltering days of July. I would love a creek to play in.I'm posting this Tuesday evening instead of Wednesday because I hit the publish button before I meant to. LOL Chalk it up to me being a bit brain dead after a day of the drama camp. It is fun, but it is also very tiring. Not to mention getting in a car that has sat in the sun all day in temps above 100. Ouch! But you didn't come here to hear me whine, you came to be entertained, so without further delays.....

There is in the splashing of the creek a great spray of diamonds. As each youngster sails like an  astronaut out on the tire swing, then releases the hold on the earth to flail, suspended in time and space for that brief second or two, there is a timelessness, a postponement of all things evil and destructive, an affirmation of joy.

The swimming hole in Lewis Creek has been there since Indian times, of course, and the tire swing was probably preceded by simply a rope with knots in it.

It is one of the summer lodestones of our existence.  Each summer we have to make our pilgrimage in the hot sun to the hole below the little waterfall, to the place were Lewis Creek widens and deepens for the benefit of hot, dry people before becoming just a creek again. And in this widening of the creek, this sacred place in our summer lives, we also play witness to the passage of years.

Across the creek from the tree with the tire swing, the gravelly bottom extends gently with almost no current for ten feet or so. This is the baby beach, where squealing tots are allowed to cool off without benefit (or hindrance) of any more covering than the smiles of their parents. As the children grow, they venture farther out into the current of the creek and test their strength against the forces of nature.

By the time a youngster is eight or ten, the seduction of the tire swing becomes overwhelming and the flailing of the arms and legs against the blue of the sky begin. Later still, when gangly becomes fluidity and sleekness, and we want to make catlike moves to attract the opposite sex, the tire is used as a swinging platform for exquisite dives into the deep part of the creek where the big trout lie in cold holes.

And as we age, and we watch our children come to love the hole in Lewis Creek, and as we sip lemonade in the shade as our grandchildren work their ways up the swimming hole chain of life, we can look at the splashing of the creek and see, with each sleek dive,
with each laughing bellyflop, the diamonds of the creek sent skyward, and the laughter stays with us and keeps us strong and makes us feel rich, and fortunate.

It is unnecessary to say Lewis Creek is an important part of our lives, because it, along with so many other treasures of the years, really is our lives.
   
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Sponsored by: www.pearsonranch.com.  Farm direct, delicious, California navel & Valencia oranges.

Slim's Web site  And check out Slim's books: Sun Dog Days, Raven's Prey, and The Long Dark.

Monday Morning Musings

The summer drama camp for young players starts today at the Winnsboro Center for the Arts, so I will be incredibly busy for the next two weeks with the camp and for the show we will do at the end of the camp.But I'm not complaining, mind you. It's just an excuse to play for two weeks, and we will have a lot of fun.

I started doing this camp for kids about six or seven years ago, and we have had one every year since. It is always so much fun to work with young people and encourage them to explore their creativity. The purpose of the camp is to help kids be comfortable on stage and teach them elements of acting, staging, costumes, make up and more. I have worked with so many kids over the years, I have lost count of how many, but quite a few have stayed involved in productions at the center.

One young teen who started in the camp five years ago just sent me a message on Facebook, thanking me for helping him find his stage voice. I remember how hesitant he was to speak up when delivering lines, and now he is quite an accomplished actor, starring in his school's UIL one-act play last year.

This year I will be working with two young women, who both started with me as Young Players when they were in elementary school. One just finished her second year as a theatre major at Washington University in St. Louis, and the other just graduated from high school and will be going on to college to minor in theatrre. They will bring a new level of expertise to the camp, and I am so thrilled to be working with them.

The camp is very time intensive, both during the actual camp hours and preparing for the show in the evenings, so I will not have time for blogging. Thank goodness I can always borrow from my friends, Slim Randles and Tracy Farr, so I will be letting them entertain you most of the time for the next two weeks. Although I may blog from the camp if I have time, so stay tuned.

The Anonymous Client

By JP Hailey (Parnell Hall)

ISBN: 978-1-936441-22-8,

e-book edition released 2011,

232 pages.



This is another fast-paced novel featuring criminal defense attorney, Steve Winslow. The protagonist is clever and so is the novel. It’s also slick, amusing and entertaining. The author has a good sense of his readers and their likely primary interests. He also has a good eye for detail and a finely-honed ability to use words to their maximum effect.

The novel begins and ends with personnel problems in Winslow’s office, a nice counterpoint to the main theme. The problem is a little fillip that adds some rhythm to the book. In the beginning, Winslow’s sole employee, Tracy Garvin, complains of being seriously under-worked.  That’s because her boss has a tendency to not appear in the office for weeks on end, and that’s because Winslow has few clients.

One day, as the novel opens, a letter arrives. It contains ten one thousand dollar bills. Thus is laid the basis for a very entertaining, very complicated murder and blackmail plot. As is the case with other novels in this series, the plot is a morass of mis-direction, tricky timing, private detectives, and a lot of both internal and external speculation and dialogue. The book is rife with minutia, details that enhance and color the reader’s perceptions of what has just happened, what it may mean and where the story is going next.

Set in New York City, Hall and his protagonist mine the rich variety of setting and character in mostly excellent ways. There is considerably less action in the novel than is often found in crime fiction except for the courtroom scenes which are among the most compelling I have ever read. Dialogue heavy, with sometimes arcane legal maneuvering; these scenes crackle with urgency and tension as we watch the nimble attorney skate along the edge of legal chasms while trying to save his client, sometimes without even knowing who his client is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carl Brookins www.carlbrookins.com http://agora2.blogspot.com Case of the Great Train Robbery, Reunion  Red Sky

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FTC Disclaimer: Again, I have no idea if Carl Brookins was paid, or blackmailed, or otherwise influenced to write this review. I doubt if he received any monetary benefit at all. He progably had to buy the book, then take time away from his own writing to read it and write this review. So, all things considered, it is possible he went in the hole.  I'm probably the only one who benefited directly as I did not have to write a blog entry today.

Friday's Odds and Ends

Thomas Sowell had a thoughtful column this past week answering the question, Does Constitution still matter in modern times. This was in response to commentary following the Supreme Court's decision that it is okay to sell violent video games to minors. Some analysts have said that the Constitution is out of date because the framers never envisioned  a world with computers, the Internet, and violent video games. Sowell writes, "Most people have enough common sense to know that a constitution does not exist to micromanage particular "events" or express opinions about the passing scene. A constitution exists to create a framework for government - and the Constiti\ution of the United States tries to keep the government inside that framework."

Thank you Mr. Sowell for pointing out what has been wrong with people's thinking about the Constitution. Here is a link to the entire article. It is well worth the read.

In a recent column Michael Lind wrote that conventional thinking about fossil fuels is wrong. He stated that there is enough natural gas and coal to sustain us for centuries. He also mentioned the studies being done by companies and governments in the U.s. Canada, and Japan to find ways to obtain energy from gas hydrates, which mix methane with ice in high-density formations under the sea floor. "The potential in gas hydrates may equal that of all other fossils."

Lind may have been trying to sound hopeful and encouraging, but I found those facts extremely disturbing. How long can we continue to take things out of the earth before we have more severe reactions than what we already have. Let's do a little physics experiment. Make a ball of rice, breadcrumbs, small nuts, and hold that all together with a paste of flour and water. When it dries, start taking bits of the rice and some nuts out. After a while the ball is going to crumble and fall apart.

Sure, that is a very simplistic example, but it illustrates what is wrong with the thinking that we can continually take from the earth with no bad effects. And the idea of messing with the ice under the sea is just ludicrous. It is melting from the surface of the earth faster than anyone can imagine, so we want to disrupt the foundation?

To end on a more upbeat note, a letter to the editor in The Dallas Morning News written by Arby Mason was clever. The headline was: Time-honored multitasking, and the letter read, "So, we're just now in the Age of Multitasking? That started when Eve had to cook apple pies, applesauce and baked apples while changing Cain and Abel's fig leaves and sweeping snakeskins off the front porch.

Casey Anthony - Did she or didn't she?

I didn't plan on writing about the Casey Anthony trial. I've avoided the topic since the beginning when the murder case first started to build around her. I didn't want to be another journalist adding to the media frenzy revolving around an extremely dysfunctional family and the death of an innocent child.

That stance changed, however, when I read yesterday of some people equating the not guilty verdict to the O.J. Simpson trial. The ink was barely dry on court papers when Tweets and updates on Facebook were making that connection.

In talking with my daughter about it last evening, I told her that I disagreed with the verdict, and she pointed out that we cannot convict someone of murder just because they are a bad parent. We also can't convict parents because we don't approve of how they behaved after the fact.

I still believe Casey killed her daughter. Maybe it was in a fit of frustration, but I didn't buy the whole accident story. However, the facts in the case support both the prosecution's theory and the defense theory as there is no conclusive evidence of where or how Caylee died.

The jury had to look at all the facts, and if there was even a shred of doubt as to Casey's guilt, they had no choice but to acquit. They couldn't say "guilty" because Casey told more stories that Aesop during the investigation. They couldn't say "guilty" because she started partying right after the baby went missing. They couldn't say "guilty" because Casey and her father disposed of the body after the so-called accident. And they couldn't say "guilty" because Casey looked guilty.

Casey still faces charges of lying to police and obstructing an investigation, but analysts think she will be freed tomorrow because of time served since 2008 when she was first jailed on the murder charge.

I wish it would all end there, but it won't. Now Casey is free to capitalize on the whole sordid mess, and I am sure that publishers are already courting her for the rights to her story.

So sad. A little girl dies and instead of grieving, her mother will make millions and continue the party life she started right after Caylee disappeared.

On a lighter note, I am over at The Blood Red Pencil sharing some stories about how gullible I have been in my writing career. Hop over if you have a minute.

Happy Fourth of July

Just making a brief appearance today to wish all my American friends a Happy Fourth of July. Hope you are having a wonderful holiday weekend with lots of friends, family, and good times. 

My long-time followers may recall that I also celebrate my birthday on the Fourth, although I am not nearly as old as the U.S.A. So I am partying all weekend with my husband and our son and our new daughter-in-law. Tomorrow, some of the other kids will be out and we will have a Texas BBQ. (That's barbecue for all you non-Texans.) So I will not have my regular posts today or tomorrow.

The kids like to come out to Grandma's Ranch for the Fourth because we can usually do our own fireworks show in my front pasture, but not this year. We are under a burn ban and fireworks are limited to a few places where the volunteer fire departments are set up to handle any flare ups that may occur. Some of the kids joked that if we couldn't do fireworks there was no reason to come for my birthday, but they were just giving me a hard time. They really like to do that.

Anyway, we are going to have to be satisfied with looking at pictures of fireworks from last year and the year before.

Friday's Odds and Ends

A five-year-old boy shot a four-year-old boy at a playground in Hillcrest Heights, Md., about 10 miles southeast of Washington, D.C.. Police wondert how a five-year-old had access to a gun.

Good question. Do you suppose it could be the fault of some irresponsible parent?

The judge in the Casey Anthony murder trial called a recess Friday just as prosecutors prepared to rebut testimony by Anthony's mother who claimed she -- not her daughter -- made suspicious Internet searches in the months before her 2-year-old granddaughter disappeared.


I understand a mother's urge to protect her daughter, but is this really believable? This whole story since the case first broke has read like a poorly plotted novel.


The NBA is in lockout, with the teams and the players unable to compromise on terms of new contracts. Owners want to reduce the players' guarantee of 57 percent of basketball revenue and weren't moved by the players' offer to drop it to 54.3 percent -- though players said that would have cut their salaries by $500 million over five years.


This seems to be a trend in professional sports, and I wonder when it became all about the money and not about the games. And, of course, as salaries and other expenses rise, so do ticket prices. So who pays in the end? The sports' fans.
 
Four months after Trent Schmidt was killed in a car accident, thieves broke into the Triumph Church in Greenwood, IN and stole musical instruments - including the bass guitar that Trent played. Trent was an associate pastor with his father, Stephen,  and his parents were devastated when the guitar was stolen. They made a public plea to the thieves to return the guitar, and apparently that worked. This past Wednesday morning Stephen and his wife were driving in the alley behind the church, and saw something that made them stop. The five-string bass guitar that Trent played at services at the church before joining the Army was left on the ground next to the air conditioner.

Guest Post from Slim Randles

Thank goodness I can always count on one of my friends to supply me with an article when I need something new for my blog. Slim is a terrific writer, and even though I no longer publish his columns in the online magazine I used to manage, he still sends them for me to enjoy and share. Thanks, Slim.

When we first noticed the baby sparrow, here at the house, it saddened us all. He had fallen from his nest and was slowly walking around the front yard under the tree while his mother and father had an absolute fit.

We knew we were looking at a dead baby bird, as it was only a question of who does it, where it is done, and how long before it happens. Years of experience in these kinds of things have taught us the finality of a baby bird falling out of a tree. Would the end come from a cat, or from a raccoon wandering up from Lewis Creek, or a snake? One of the problems with being a baby bird is that almost everything with teeth wants to eat you, and if you can’t fly, there’s not much you can do about it. We learned that picking the baby up and putting him back in the nest wouldn’t work, so we were forced to just watch his timid movements around the yard and whisper to him, “I’m sorry, pal.”

You might think that the older we get, the tougher our shells become to these little natural tragedies, but it doesn’t seem to work that way. Maybe it’s because we now have children of our own, and grandchildren, too. Maybe that’s why it actually hurts more to see a helpless baby bird today than when we were 11 and riding our bikes on the river trails.

Back then we were bulletproof, flexible, and immortal. But we learned things over the years. We saw people our age die. We saw younger people die. We accumulated our own little collection of personal tragedies.

Then the baby found the drain spout. Yep, that little rascal hopped into the drain spout coming off the roof and had sense enough to stay in there, coming to the edge of his “cave” only for meals from his anxious mother. A week later, I thought I recognized him sitting on a tree branch, looking smug. He wasn’t in the drain spout and I didn’t see any feathers around on the ground.

We live in an age of small miracles.
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Sponsored by: www.pearsonranch.com.  Farm direct, delicious, California navel & Valencia oranges.

Slim's Web site  And check out Slim's books: Sun Dog Days, Raven's Prey, and The Long Dark.