Procrastinating About Writing...

Children

2005-06-02T12:33:00.000-07:00

I really don't understand what is happening with children in the 21st century. All of these stories came from the news today...

LONDON, England -- Police were continuing to quiz two 11-year-old children Thursday arrested on suspicion of trying to murder a five-year-old boy after releasing three other young suspects.
The boy, named as Anthony Mark Hinchliffe, was injured during an incident in woodland near a medical center in Dewsbury, northern England, between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Tuesday, West Yorkshire police said.
He was found near the scene with a number of bruises to his body and marks to his neck, prompting speculation that the injuries had been caused by the child being hanged with a rope.
Police originally arrested five children -- two girls and three boys all aged 11 or 12 -- none of whom were related to the victim but all said to be from the local area.
Two boys were released overnight after they were eliminated from the inquiry and a 12-year-old girl was later freed after police made an unsuccessful appeal to magistrates to be allowed to question her for longer.
A boy and a girl, both 11, remain in custody and detectives said they were still trying to trace three other suspects.
"The injuries looked quite horrific in themselves," Detective Superintendent Andy Brennan told reporters on Wednesday.
"He has marks around his neck which could be consistent with ligature marks," he said. "It's too early to say whether these were caused by a rope around his neck."
Hinchliffe's father suggested the boy might have been abducted."Apparently he's been taken from the garden to some woods," he told ITV News.
Police said they could not rule out the possibility he had been abducted but said further details about what had happened would not be available until detectives spoke to the boy.
Hinchliffe was now being interviewed by specialist officers after being released from hospital.
"Clearly, it will be a painstaking account that will be taken from him covering all aspects in relation to how he ended being in the location he was found and what has taken place," Brennan said.

Ex-principal, two students charged in Ohio school sexual assault case
By NICK JULIANO
Associated Press Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Two students were charged Wednesday with sexually assaulting a mentally disabled girl in a high school auditorium. The former principal was charged with failing to notify police.
The case generated criticism because school officials did not immediately report the allegations to police and said they feared negative media attention if they did.
The 16-year-old girl told a teacher at Mifflin High School that she had been dragged into the auditorium March 9 and forced to perform oral sex on at least two boys as other students watched and one boy videotaped, according to investigators.
Two boys, Brandyn Hobbs, 15, and Timothy C. Armistead, 16, were charged with juvenile counts of sexual battery and kidnapping.
Regina Crenshaw, who was removed as principal because of the incident, was charged with failing to call police. If convicted, she could get anything from probation to 30 days in jail.
Crenshaw said Wednesday she did not break the law because the girl’s father called police and the school district’s policy on when to call authorities is contradictory.
“I did not expect any criminal charges to be put on me. This came as a total surprise, total shock,” she said.
Authorities said an assistant principal at the school warned the girl’s father not to call 911 because he did not want to alert the news media. The girl’s father ignored the request.
The district has moved to fire Crenshaw and a hearing before an independent mediator is set for Thursday. Three assistant principals at the school were suspended and reassigned.
Superintendent Gene Harris said the district will continue to train staff on proper procedures, but said attention should be paid to what students did — not just what adults didn’t do.
Gary Shroyer, attorney for the girl’s father, said his client was pleased with the criminal charges.

7-year-old Florida boy suspected in beating death of infant sibling
By VICKIE CHACHERE
Associated Press Writer
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A 7-year-old boy beat his baby half-sister to death with his fists, feet and a two-by-four because he was jealous of the attention the girl was receiving and because she would not stop crying, police said Wednesday.
The State Attorney’s Office is deciding whether to file charges against the boy in an attack that rattled even veteran homicide detectives.
“The veteran detectives who worked on this case have never seen a case with someone as young as a 7-year-old show so much violence and so little remorse,” Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.
The attack occurred May 22 in Tampa, where the boy had been visiting his father. Seven-month-old Jayza Laney Simms was dead on arrival at the hospital where her parents rushed her.
The boy confessed to killing his sister a week later when detectives confronted him with the evidence, McElroy said.
The unidentified boy was not taken into custody and is living with his mother while prosecutors make their decision on whether to charge him.
Police said the father and his girlfriend were outside visiting with neighbors when the boy came to them about midnight on the night of the attack and told them the baby was “bleeding.” They found the girl with a bloody nose and said she wasn’t breathing.
The Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office did not immediately return telephone calls for comment Wednesday.

9-year-old girl charged in fatal stabbing of 11-year-old in New York
NEW YORK (AP) — A 9-year-old girl fatally stabbed an 11-year-old girl in the chest with a kitchen knife during a fight over a ball, authorities said.
The 9-year-old, whose name wasn’t released, was charged with manslaughter.
Police spokesman Paul J. Browne told The New York Times that he was “unaware of anyone younger implicated in such an act in New York City.”
The victim, Queen Washington, 11, was pronounced dead at a hospital.
“I don’t understand how this could happen,” Joyce Porter, Queen’s grandmother, told the Times. She said Queen’s mother had called her earlier that afternoon. “She told me, ’Queen is dead,”’ Porter said, adding, “It was over a ball.”
The girls had been playing together at the 9-year-old’s apartment, but the girl’s mother had stepped out to borrow something from a neighbor, police said.
A spokesman for the Brooklyn district attorney’s office said the case would go to family court because the girl is younger than 14.

The excitement of journalism

2005-06-02T11:34:00.000-07:00

This editorial, snagged from the Grand Forks Herald, is all about journalism, and how it gets in your blood. These are the great stories.

Grand Forks Herald
A mall manager once was asked what he did when he entered a competitor’s mall. “I look up, and I look down,” he replied.
“I look at the ceiling, the light fixtures, the signage, the trim, the floor. I look at all the things the public never looks at.”
With that in mind, permit us a journalists’ look at the ceiling, fixtures and floor of one of the biggest stories in newspapering in years: the identity of Deep Throat, the world’s most famous anonymous source, now revealed.
The close scrutiny simply shows a master reporter at work. Most of the press attention rightly is going to former FBI official Mark Felt. But here’s a salute to Bob Woodward, the Washington Post reporter and editor who developed Felt as a source and has earned every typesetter’s point and pica of his reputation as a reporter extraordinaire.
Start with the simple fact that Woodward kept the secret. Imagine: For 30 years, the (other) best minds in journalism have followed every lead, chased down every rumor and pumped every Woodward acquaintance for information, but without result.
Woodward’s lips were sealed. He told his then-partner, Carl Bernstein, of course, and his editor, Ben Bradlee, about Deep Throat’s identity. Though even Bradlee didn’t get the information until some years after Watergate, Bradlee’s memoir revealed.
And that was it. Nothing could break the pledge Woodward had made to not publicly reveal the identity until after Deep Throat’s death. Mind you, the secret did break: In 1999, the Hartford Courant pointed to Felt as Deep Throat, based on the news that the son of a person-in-the-know had told the secret to a friend at summer camp.
But that person-in-the-know was not Woodward, but Bernstein, whose son, Jacob, had learned Felt’s identity. This suggests, of course, that Bernstein was less-than-discreet in his own household with the all-important information.
As late as Tuesday morning, when told the news that Felt himself had told all, Woodward and the Washington Post “could neither confirm nor deny” the information. Only after they were convinced that Felt indeed had told all (and was not under duress in doing so) did they confirm his identity as Deep Throat.
Now, that’s keeping a secret. No wonder Washington insiders up to and including Presidents Clinton and Bush have opened up to Woodward. They know — they just know — he’ll honor his reporter/source agreements to the end.
Then, there’s the less obvious fact that Woodward developed Felt as a source in the first place. Why did one of the top officials of the FBI bare his bureaucratic soul to a then-young and little-known reporter for the Washington Post?
Because Woodward is very, very good at this beat reporter’s skill: He gets people to trust him and open up. We’ll learn the details of his and Felt’s meeting and relationship in time. But right now, it’s enough to note that Woodward has shown that same skill over and over again, in a string of best sellers that have served up astonishing details about the way Washington decisions get made.
Basically, the fixtures in this mall are spotless and the signs are to die for. Woodward is a master craftsman — and for fellow journalists, it’s inspiring to watch him work.

Stem cell silliness - editorial

2005-05-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

Democrats and Republicans alike are pushing for a quick vote on the Senate floor on embryonic stem cell research, despite threats from President Bush to veto the bill.
The bill, which would lift Bush’s 2001 restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, passed the House yesterday with a 238-194 margin. Not enough to override a presidential veto, but enough to pass the bill with strong support.
Now it goes to the Senate.
If the bill were to pass, research would be done on days-old embryos, allowing scientists to search for much-needed treatments and cures for diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
Embryonic stem cells could lead to more successful organ transplants and more.
The full scope of research potential is yet to be determined, but the cells hold endless promise in the scientific community.
Left over from invitro fertilizations and other procedures, these embryos would be discarded if not used for research, despite opponent’s claims that a program of “adoption” could be put into place.
Suggesting that the use of these embryos, which have no real opportunity to become babies, for research is an attack on the Bush’s “culture of life” is right up there with banning birth control.
The results of this research could prolong or even save countless lives.
“Being pro-life also means fighting for policies that eliminate pain and suffering,” Rep. James R. Lagevin of Rhode Island said yesterday.
For once, the House and Senate are in agreement, looking at identical bills on the issue. A quick vote from the Senate and a stamp of approval from the president are what is needed to put this issue to rest and let our researchers do what they are paid to do – save lives.

Wednesday

2005-05-18T15:08:00.000-07:00

Hello Wednesday.

Life has been crazy, and there’s no sign of the storm letting up any time soon. I suppose at some point we just resign ourselves to these incredibly insane lives that we are living.
The kids are good, work is good, school is good. All are busy! The kids have less than two weeks of school left, then it’s summer, and a week after that they are off to Arizona. A little stressed about that, but trying not to think about it too much. Last summer was rough.
The house is keeping us busy, too, with lots of unpacking and tons of projects going on. We want to paint basically every surface of the house, but we have to move one thing at a time - because everything costs money, don’t ya know!

Writing...well, I write an editorial three times a week, and a few news stories, so that keeps me a little busy putting words on paper. But it’s really not enough, and most days I’m feeling like I’m not putting the proper effort into that. What to write about is always the big stress, and figuring that out takes so long, how much energy do I have left for the actual writing process?!?

Speaking of writing, I do have five short little writing assignments to do tonight. I keep looking at them and thinking it’s too much work and I don’t feel like it, so then I put it off, and it doesn’t get done. Well, now I’m pretty well out of time, so I better get my butt in gear!

2005-05-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

My baby's opening night is tonight, so in honor, here's the story that I wrote for the paper...

Lights come up tonight on theater season finale

The house lights dim, the curtain rises…it’s opening night for the season finale of the 2004-2005 Entertainment, Inc! theater season. Beginning tonight, the crew is presenting Hollywood Arms, a drama/comedy directed by B. Michael Quale.

Four engagements are slated at Williston’s Old Armory Theater. Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, Monday. On Saturday a dinner theater performance will begin at 6 p.m. at the Elks Club, and a matinee will be offered Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are still available for all of the shows, but reservations are recommended.

Hollywood Arms is an auto-biographical look at the life of Carol Burnett, written by Burnett and her daughter Carrie Hamilton.

Carol Burnett’s character in the story is named Helen, Quale explained. “As near as we can tell, all of the other characters names are true or close.”

The story begins in 1941, with Helen as a ten-year-old girl. The young Helen is played by Beth Ryan, a sixth grade student from Ray.

“It was a big commitment, to drive in from Ray for practices several nights a week,” Quale explained. When Ryan’s father, Vern Ryan, agreed to make the trip back and forth with her, he was encouraged to try out for a part, as well, joining the cast as a cop.

Hollywood Arms is set in the “less than luxury apartment” in Hollywood where Helen moved from Texas with her grandmother, “Nanny” at age ten.

“These days we would call it a dysfunctional family,” Quale said. Helen’s mother, Louise, lives in an apartment down the hall. “(Her mother) was not her primary caregiver, in part, as we discover, because she is sinking into alcoholism.”

Nanny, who is played by Susan Snyder, is the main character and a big influence in Helen’s life, Quale said, along with Louise, portrayed by Paula Swenson.

Two men also play major parts in the story of Helen’s life. Her biological father, Jody, is played by Justin Parkinson, also a newcomer to Entertainment, Inc!. “(Carol Burnett) had real fond feelings for her father,” Quale explained, as the play illustrates. “He is an alcoholic and does not function well, but he tries to be a good father, tries to be in her life.”

The other man in her life is her step-father Bill, played by Brad Dokken. “Bill is a positive influence, but ends up checking out because he can’t put up with (Helen’s) mom,” Quale said.

A few other characters add to the flow and help to tell the story, including the apartment manager, Dixie, played by LeeAnn Clark, and her son Malcolm, played by David Esterby. Malcolm becomes a companion to Helen, a much-needed friend in a sometimes difficult situation.

“Some of the things they did to make a living were less than legal,” Quale explained, so two police officers are also a part of the story. They are played by Vern Ryan and Matthew Rolfson.

In the second act, it’s 1951. Helen is a young adult, 20 or 21, gone off to New York to begin her career in musical theater and comedy. The “older” Helen is played by Stephanie Lorenz. Abbey Stoner rounds out the cast as Helen’s younger sister, Alice.

“It’s interesting, knowing this is someone who became a celebrity and made it,” Quale said. The play tells a story of survival. If the story has a message, it is probably “it can be done.”

“One way she did it – survived – was because she didn’t realize how dysfunctional her life was,” Quale added.
Theater-goers will get a flavor of what life was like in Hollywood in the 40s, and while this show is not the sketch comedy Burnett is famous for, people who are familiar with the Carol Burnett show and Mama’s Family will see the basis for some of the characters.

“The show is entertaining and interesting, and I think you develop a lot of respect for Carol Burnett,” Quale said.

He adds that the language may be a little bit stronger than some members of the community may be used to, though it has been “cleaned up” some. The play portrays some adult situations and uses some adult language.

The selection of Hollywood Arms for the group was all about doing something a little different.

“We like to look at a nice variety,” Quale said. “This show is a chance for our actors to stretch.”

He added it is also a “ladies’ piece,” with strong parts for the women actors in the community, after a strong male show was offered earlier in the year.

“We like to appeal to just about everyone” with the shows offered throughout a season, Quale said.

“The cast has been really fun to work with,” Quale said. “Theater groups are notoriously exclusive…but we pride ourselves on being quite the opposite. You’ll see some people you’ve never seen before, it’s exciting.” Actors come from varying backgrounds and levels of experience.

Hollywood Arms is the final show of what has been an eclectic season for Entertainment, Inc!. The next show will be announced at the end of the summer.

For reservations and more information, contact the box office at 577-3179 or visit the office at the Old Armory, 320 1st Ave. E. The office is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Any remaining available tickets will also be sold at the door.

Random story thoughts

2005-05-12T14:21:00.000-07:00

I had a thought the other day, an idea that has been sort of rolling around in my head for a series of short stories, perhaps a novel.

The setting is a small rural town, and the idea is that each chapter (or short story) tells the story of a different character. Not like their whole background or anything, but a story about them - a scene from their life.

In any story there are secondary characters. One of the secondary characters in chapter one will be the main character in chapter two, and so on. In this way, one person would introduce you to the next, and you would sort of develop a whole picture of this small town.

A young woman wants nothing more than to get out the small town where she has been born and raised, the place she feels trapped because of her single mother and the expectation to care for her and be there for her. She works as a grocery checker in the supermarket, where she waits on a young man named Danny.

Danny is set up to take over the family farm, but what he really wants is to go to Hollywood and try to make it as an actor. Danny has a brother, Michael, who has just come home from college for the summer. Danny would give anything to be Michael, free of the family farm and the expectations that go along with being the oldest. He doesn’t tell anyone, just keeps it all inside.

While Danny is expected to stay at home, the family has accepted that Michael, the younger brother, is set to go out on the world. He is a college student with a bright future, and everyone is so proud. But Michael looks at Danny and wishes he could trade him places. Michael confides in his longtime girlfriend, Amy.
The next chapter would be about Amy, and so on and so forth.

It’s still a developing idea, and who knows if I even like these particular story lines, but it’s a thought, and now it’s down on paper. Well, sorta. If I printed it, it would be...

Suicide bombers editorial

2005-05-11T15:02:00.000-07:00

Suicide bombers killed at least 60 people today in a new round of attacks in Iraq. Bombs went off outside a police station, a market, and in the capital.

This is only the most recent in a long line of reports on suicide bombers in the country – they seem to be a terrible part of an already difficult and terror-filled daily life there.

But what is our fascination with death and destruction? Why are these reports making headlines day in and day out?

The attention seems to be the equivalent of driving past a car accident and backing up traffic because everyone has to turn to look.

This particular fascination, though, is much more dangerous. The attention these attacks are getting is not only hard to look at (and hard to look away from), but they are perpetuating more violence in the war-torn Middle East.

If a young extremist wants to make a splash, get attention all over the world for their cause, what better way to do it than blow some people up?

Especially if the media from every continent is going to rush in with their video cameras and their reporters.
People died, there’s no disputing how horrible these attacks were. And how very newsworthy.

But perhaps if the media focused a little less of their attention on the acts of these suicide bombers, there would be less incentive to make an impact by blowing something up.

Runaway bride editorial

2005-05-06T15:03:00.000-07:00

A week ago, Jennifer Wilbanks, now coined “The Runaway Bride” had the nation looking for her after she had seemingly disappeared into thin air during an evening jog in her hometown of Duluth, Ga.

For three long days, her family stood before the news cameras, terrified and alone, and pleaded for her safe return.

An enormous amount of time and resources was poured into finding the woman. Search and rescue crews worked into the night.

Three days after her disappearance, Wilbanks showed up in New Mexico, tired and hungry, but unharmed.

At first she claimed she had been kidnapped by “a Hispanic man and a white woman,” but that story quickly unraveled, when experienced interviewers started to ask tough questions.

In the end, it seems Wilbanks just ran. Maybe it was cold feet at the prospect of the huge elaborate wedding she was about to be the centerpiece in, maybe it was something more. Either way, she was never in any danger, and a lot of people wasted a lot of time and energy.
So what now?

Duluth Mayor Shirley Lasseter has requested that Wilbanks repay the city for the costs of the search and perform community service. This seems the very least Wilbanks could do, after putting not only her family and the city through an incredible ordeal, but the entire country, as the event quickly drew national coverage.

As of yet, Wilbanks has not responded to the Mayor’s request, and the city is considering taking legal action to recoup its losses.

For what ever reasons, this woman made a big mistake that hurt a lot of people. As she seeks counseling and tries to work through her own issues, its important she does the right thing. The city of Duluth should be repaid for their efforts.

An update, long time coming

2005-05-05T14:40:00.000-07:00

The amount of time since I have posted here is crazy! Some probably thought I had fallen off the face of the earth. Where did March and April go?

Alas, here I am. It’s been a wild and crazy month (two? three?) but things are finally starting to settle down again. Some day I will look back and wonder why I tortured myself so, I think.

Here we are in May, and I’m finally taking some deep breaths and catching up on all of the things that have been left to the wayside while the world got in the way.

We are moved, once again. This time, hopefully it will be a much more long term sort of deal. We are living in Williston, North Dakota, a town about an hour from the Montana border, out in the plains. It’s a nice little town, and we like it quite a lot so far. Well, if you ignore the wind, that is.

We came into the middle of a bit of an oil boom, so to say housing is short would be a huge understatement and leave you with the complete wrong idea. Really what we have here is a total lack of housing. Add to that things like the fire that took out an apartment building last weekend, and you’re left with a lot of people living in hotels and other short-term sort of housing situations.

So we looked, and we looked, and we looked some more for a place to rent. Nothing. We thought, well, maybe we’d buy something. Next to nothing there, too! After a week of looking at everything, we came upon a little house that we liked quite a lot, and decided to put an offer in on it.

Then the stress and the waiting starts, of course. They accepted our bid, but that was only the beginning. All in all, we ended up being in a hotel room for six weeks before we got into the house -- which just happened yesterday.

Perhaps I’m not putting enough emphasis on the last six weeks. Picture this -- five people, two adults and three children, in a hotel room. Not a suite or anything, just a plain old hotel room, with two beds and enough space to walk around each. That was about it. There was a fridge and a microwave, and a desk, and there the room ends. To say we were cramped...well...

So when the big day finally came yesterday and we were moving into our house, you can only imagine our excitement. For one thing, the kids have been sharing a bed. Yep, three kids, one bed. Now they each have their own rooms, a first for the girls. They’re very excited about that!

The house is big, with three bedrooms, a bathroom, a livingroom, a kitchen and small dining room upstairs, and a bedroom, bathroom (with jacuzzi tub), office, lounge (with wet bar) and utility room downstairs. The backyard is fair sized and fenced in, so everyone is happy there.

The job is going well -- keeping me busy, for sure. Now that I’m getting settled in, I will probably find more time for writing, which I haven’t been doing a lot of lately, so that will be good, too.

I have been writing editorials, which is kind of fun. Right now I write them three days a week, and before too long I’ll probably take over writing them daily, so that the sports writer doesn’t have to write them on the other two days (though it is of a benefit that we have someone local writing them a couple of days a week, because he understands local issues better than I do).

I like the chance to express ideas in that forum, though at times it is a bit of a challenge, because they are unsigned, or “staff” editorials, so that takes away the ability to express a personal opinion a little -- I have to keep in mind that I am speaking for all of us, just a bit!

School is still keeping me busy, too. I’m taking a media class that is strangely biased, and mostly anti-media, so I spend about a third of my time holding my tongue, a third of my time defending my position, and a third just not bothering to read people’s posts to the message board because I know they’ll get on my nerves. There is a strange amount of ignorance and stupidity in the world, I will never quite fully understand why.

I know that someone is going to ask, so before you do, no, I really haven’t been writing much. I sketched out some ideas one day last week for a series of short stories tied together, but then when I sat down to start writing on one of them, it didn’t really flow, so I abandoned it. At least for that particular day.

I have the house to myself this weekend, from tonight until sometime Sunday, so perhaps in between the unpacking and the cleaning and all that monotony, I’ll find the time to do something productive. Well, aside from homework, and working on Friday and Saturday, and, and, and...

Smoke alarm editorial

2005-05-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

It has been a tragic week for the city of Williston.

As we mourn the loss of three young people and gather together to raise funds for the medical care of a small boy, all because of a tragic fire this weekend, we look to our own families with a sick feeling in our stomachs and think, ‘What if it were us?’

When the news came out that 80 percent of the smoke detectors in the burned apartment building were disabled, it served as a strong reminder.

Have you checked your smoke detector lately? According to the Center for Disease Conrol (CDC), homes with smoke alarms have almost half as many fire-related deaths compared with homes without smoke alarms.

A 2001 Reuters survey said that 94 percent of households contacted had at least one smoke detector not working. The main reason detectors were not working: batteries that had been removed or not changed.

The CDC recommends that working smoke detectors be installed outside each sleeping area and on every habitable level of a home.

Twice a year, at the beginning and end of daylight savings time, we are reminded to check our smoke detectors. Replace the batteries, make sure they are plugged in, get a new one if you need to. The expense, especially when weighed against the lives of your loved ones, is very minimal.

Don’t wait until the next solstice to insure your family’s safety. Right now, while it’s fresh in your mind, go around your home and check the smoke alarms. Pick up a package of batteries on your way home from work and replace all of them. In any areas where a smoke detector is not currently present, install one.

You just may save a life.

Those interested in making a contribution to help defray medical costs for five-year-old burn victim, Bastian Doney, can make a donation in care of Gate City Bank of Williston. Checks should be written out to Bastian Doney and directed to Gate City Bank, 422 Main St., Williston.

Do something before its too late - editorial

2005-04-28T14:49:00.000-07:00

Boy, 10-years-old, charged with first-degree murder in father’s death.
16-year-old kills seven before turning gun on himself in school shooting.
Teased 13-year-old teen kills friend with baseball bat.
Teen kills grandmother, then shoots, injures self to cover.

The pattern developing here isn’t your imagination. Each of these stories, tales of tragedy involving out of control young people and terrifying choices, was a headline in the last couple of weeks somewhere in the United States.

So was this: Police handcuff five-year-old in Florida kindergarten.

The controversial video of an out of control five-year-old being handcuffed by police has started arguments across the country.

“The image itself will be seared into people’s minds, when you have three police officers bending a child over a table and forcibly handcuffing her,” John Trevena, attorney for the child’s mother, told the St. Petersburg Times. “It’s incomprehensible.”

He’s right. It is a disturbing image, seeing the little hellion burst into tears as police slap handcuffs on her.

But the image that is even more disturbing, the one that will be “seared into people’s minds,” is what happened on the video before the police were called.

In the 30 minutes of video tape, filmed as a self-improvement exercise for the teacher, you get the entire picture of an out of control child.

Pig tails and all, she tore up the classroom, broke things, and acted up to the point the teacher had to remove the other students from the classroom.

Later, in the assistant principal’s office, the girl climbed on tables, destroyed files, and made a huge general mess.

Through out the course of this time, she repeatedly punched both the teacher and the assistant principal.

Yet the adults in charge, because they aren’t allowed to touch students or speak too sternly with them, were literally reduced to begging this little girl to stop. The child was in control of the situation, and she knew it.

School officials tried to call the girl’s mother, but she said she was unable to leave work. Left with limited options, the assistant principal called the police.

The police officers who responded probably didn’t have to handcuff the child, who quieted down as soon as police arrived, but maybe they did.

The lesson of having police called may not have been enough to convince this obviously difficult case – the memory of the cold steel on her tiny wrists may have been necessary.

Besides, this wasn’t her first time at the rodeo.

This girl has obviously had run-ins with these officers before. One of the officers can be heard in the background on the video saying, “Remember me? I was the one who told your Mom to put handcuffs on you.”

An important lesson could have been learned from this morning, if it had been reinforced properly. Unfortunately, this girl’s mother has insured that she won’t learn anything from this lesson. She’s being played as the victim here, in the media, and soon in the courts.

People all over the nation are in an uproar over the image of this five-year-old being handcuffed.

But all we have to do is think back to the headlines above – all those kids doing all of those terrible things, and the reason this action was absolutely necessary becomes clear.

If police and other adults in the community don’t step in now, this little girl is going to wind up as one of those headlines. If this is what she is like at five, imagine her at ten? Fifteen?

As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention...

To view the entire video: http://www.sptimes.com/2005/04/22/Southpinellas/Video_shows_police_ha.shtml

Energy editorial

2005-04-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

In a country where 70 percent of the oil we use goes into our gas tanks, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an energy bill Thursday that doesn’t address fuel efficiency.

It doesn’t stop there, either. This energy package brings on a strange sense of deja-vu. It is almost exactly the same bill that couldn’t make it through the Senate last time around.

Were they thinking maybe they could just sneak it through this time?

Once again, the bill allows for the opening up of the Alaskan Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, a practice that will have a permanent impact on the previously protected area.

Development of the Alaska refuge has been a contentious issue for nearly a decade, and a sticking point for the energy bill on the Senate floor.

Environmentalists fear a spider web of drilling platforms and pipelines would harm the area's polar bears, caribou, migrating birds and other wildlife.

And for how much oil? For what price are we willing to sell our souls?

Once again, the bill ignores requests for higher automobile fuel economy requirements. Opponents of the addition said it would cost jobs in the automotive and fuel industries.

According to statistics, the sale of SUVs was up 23 percent last year, while the sale of economy cars was down 10 percent. Yet gas prices are at all-time highs. People are complaining, but what are they doing?
A San Francisco study said gas would have to soar over $3 before most people would consider leaving their cars at home and taking public transportation.

So instead, Americans continue to drive their SUVs to work, and the automotive industry in this country struggles anyway. Go figure.

The energy bill isn’t just about things being left out and destroyed, though.

Backed strongly by the White House, the legislation includes incentives to increase domestic production of crude oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear and other energy sources.

In fact, over the course of the ten years, these subsidies and incentives would reach over $12 billion. An additional $1.8 billion in incentives will go to the development of less polluting “clean coal” projects.
What affect this money would have on gas prices is unclear, with some experts saying prices at the pump could even increase as a result.

The package also includes a requirement for refiners to use five billion gallons of corn-based ethanol by 2012, a 20 percent increase over what the industry is expected to produce this year, and a nice boost to farmers.

But the good will likely be lost as a result of the bad, when the bill reaches the Senate, where a block is already pledged. And why wouldn’t it be? The bill lacks a key element – compromise.

Megan's law editorial

2005-04-22T14:47:00.000-07:00

Designed to protect children from sexual abuse, Megan's law was named for a New Jersey girl killed by a sexual predator.

The law requires that sex offenders be registered upon release, so parents and community members can be notified of their presence in the neighborhood. Addresses, descriptions and photographs must be released.
Megan’s law has done positive things in a lot of communities, but it’s far from perfect.

While offenders are forced to register with the system, many fail to inform law enforcement when they relocate. No one knows how many have slid off the radar.

Equally as disturbing is the time limit placed in the legislation, which allows an offender’s registration with the system to lapse after 10 years.

This is the tenth year since Megan’s Law was put into affect, and tens of thousands of sexual predators are about to be removed from the registry.

There is still time to do something about it before it’s too late, but a strong message needs to be sent to our legislators in Washington.

Strengthen Megan's law, for the sake of our children.

Filibuster editorial

2005-04-20T14:52:00.000-07:00

Don’t bust the filibuster

A movement is making its way through the U.S. Senate to strike the use of filibusters against judicial nominees.

A filibuster is extended debate used in the U.S. Senate to delay or prevent a vote, a tradition that goes back to the beginning of our Senate and the early days of our country.

Indeed, it is a rule written by Thomas Jefferson himself, for the specific purpose of preventing the majority party from running rampant over the minority party.

Known as a cloture, the vote to stop a filibuster requires 60 members of the senate. The specifics of the rule have evolved over the years, but in 1975, the required number of votes to end a filibuster was changed from two-thirds (67) to three-fifths (60) of the 100-member senate.

The requirement of this super majority has the affect of nudging the two sides toward a compromise. Meeting in the middle has a long history of positive leislation and strong nominees. But it will require only a simple majority to end the use of the filibuster in regards to judicial nominees, and a vote is likely in the coming weeks.

In a Senate dominated by one party, the filibuster is an important tool, helping to maintain checks and balances. In this case, the tool would be used to block extremist candidates for the supreme court. The filibuster allows one member of the senate to have a voice - tying up legislation on a key issue they are outnumbered on.

Editorials and television commercials across the country have accused Democrats of unconstitutional behavior in trying to block nominees, of abusing the system and public trust. How quickly we forget.
In the past, the procedural roadblock has been used for such conservative issues as protecting gun rights and stopping pro-union measures. This is why it’s not just the Democrats who are kicking and screaming over the proposal – Republican senators have joined Democrats in giving daily speeches on the subject. It’s a slippery slope from taking filibusters from one arena to elimating them all together. And it sounds strangely like changing the rules to fit the current need.

Agreed, filibusters are not always used for good. The longest individual speech was given by J. Strom Thurmond, the senator from South Carolina, when he spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

But that was his right, and taking it away would be a grave move.

Teen birth rates down - editorial

2005-04-17T14:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks to some very hard work by advocates across the country, teen birth rates are down, after decades of increases.

A new and interesting study on teen pregnancy was released this week, showing a dramatic drop in teen pregnancy rates across the country.

North Dakota boasted a 23.4 percent decline in the study. In 1991, there were 35.5 teen births (per thousand teens between 15 and 19), down to 27.2 in 2002.

The study was done by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. More information can be found at www.teenpregnancy.org.

By no means is the problem licked – thousands of children are still born to teen mothers each year, and for many, this means being born into poverty.

But the work of organizations like this one, along with strong sex education programs in schools and the availability of information to our young people, have combined to shed some positive light on the epidemic.
Congratulations on a job well done. Keep up the good work!

Students should have right to choose - editorial

2005-04-15T14:54:00.000-07:00

Students should have right to choose

The presence of military recruiters in American high schools is not a new concept. From the time students are 15 or 16, they are inundated with phone calls, visits and mail urging them to join up.

Arguing that low-income students with fewer options are being targeted by recruitment efforts, one high school in the Seattle school district has chosen to take on tradition, attempting to bar recruiters from their school.
The choice didn’t last.

The Seattle public school district quickly stepped in and put a stop to the ban, pointing out a little-noticed provision of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The act not only allows military recruiters the same access that college and corporate recruiters have to students, it requires school districts to release the names and contact information of all high school students to recruiters.

What does military (or corporate, for that matter) recruitment have to do with an act that was pitched as education reform that would bring more accountability to our schools?

This example of legislative abuse is a clear invasion of privacy for these young adults.

It goes beyond just targeting specific students or subjecting young people who are not mature enough to make an educated decision to a barage of recruitment tactics.

Young people should have the right to choose what they do once they leave high school. In order to make informed decisions, it is important that they have access to all information, including access to military recruiters who can explain the option of service to our country.

But it’s a choice. One to be made by the students and their parents and families. Not by the federal government.

Privacy rights, especially those protecting children, have been fiercely guarded in this country. It is important that we continue that protection, starting with reform to the No Child Left Behind Act.

Editorial - meth laws

2005-04-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

A new law is working its way through the legislature that would require people buying certain types of cold medications to provide identification, and would limit the amount that could be purchased at one time.

Led by Oklahoma, eight states are looking at similar legislation.

Illegal drug makers chemically alter and cook the decongestant pseudoephedrine into the highly addictive, synthetic stimulant meth. Cold pills are an easily obtainable form of the ingredient, and many retailers have been regulating their purchase for some time now.

Meth labs are dangerous, smelly and toxic to children who are often exposed to the "cooking" of the drug. Meth use has become an epidemic in our country, hitting the midwestern states and our area especially hard.
The rub for many people with this legislation is simply the inconvenience of not being able to make their purchases any way they see fit. But how far are we willing to go out of our way to protect our children from a dangerous drug?

As far as it takes.

With methamphetamine use on the rise across the country, we’ll take the inconvenience of having to go to the store more often for our medications.

With meth use creeping into our schools and threatening our children, we’ll take the hassle of having to remember to bring identification to the store to make our purchases.

We’ll do our part to keep meth labs out of our neighborhoods by helping to make the ingredients more difficult to acquire. And we won’t even complain (whine?). Much.

Education should be priority - editorial

2005-04-06T14:58:00.000-07:00

The North Dakota legislative session is in its final stretch, and one of the most important issues they face is education.

The backwards logic that leaves education funding for last is like paying off all of your credit cards before you make your mortgage payment. The idea is that there might be extra money left over, leaving more money to spend on education.

Of course that’s never the way it actually happens. Anyone who is juggling a budget knows there is never quite enough money to fund the last thing.

Any financial advisor will tell you it makes much more sense to pay the important things first.

If the education of children, who are the future of this state, really is a priority, it should be at the top of the list, not the bottom.

While other states are looking at pay raises for teachers, full-time kindergarten programs and other important education funding projects throughout the session, education in North Dakota gets pushed to the bottom of the list.

Some logic needs to be applied to the legislature’s approach to education funding – it might be a refreshing change.

Spam editorial

2005-04-05T14:56:00.000-07:00

Spam conviction won’t be the last

Spam. It’s become a dirty word these days, bringing to mind that in-box filled with offers for low-interest mortgages, potency drugs, cheap software and pornography.

Not to mention the attempts at identity theft, or the ever-present fear of viruses.

This week in Virginia, the first “spammer” to be convicted of a felony in the United States was sentenced to nine years in prison for bombarding all of us unsuspecting Internet users with junk e-mails.

With any luck, the prosecution of Jeremy Jaynes, the former “king of spam,” who once made a reported $750,000 off the illegal e-mails, will send a clear message to the Internet community these e-mails will not be tolerated.

Though the constitutionality of the law that allowed this conviction is still being argued, the action is a refreshing one.

Virginia may be pioneering this Internet clean up, but they won’t be alone for long.

In the future, look for more states to be passing laws that protect e-mail users from spam, the same way we are protected from telemarketers and junk mail. And, look for more people to be convicted for the invasion of our in-boxes.

It’s about time.

Amtrak editorial

2005-03-30T14:59:00.000-08:00

Don’t pull the rug from under Amtrak

Amtrak could be in trouble, and in rural areas like Williston where the train helps to connect us to the outside world, that could spell trouble.

Despite increases in the number of people riding their trains (last year a reported 25 million passengers), the Bush administration’s budget calls for completely dropping funding for the rail system.

Rather than sending the 34-year-old national railroad system spiraling into bankruptcy, the country should look at ways to update and improve.

A novel approach would be to look at the successful train systems overseas. The French Trand a Grand Vitesse (TGV), for example, has seen proper funding and expansion in past years, and ridership is through the roof.

If Amtrak had more and better trains offering services at higher speeds on better infrastructure, millions of Americans might give up their cars or plane tickets and take the train, especially with fuel prices at record highs.

This would reduce congestion on the country’s roads, cut down on pollution and enhance the value of residences in areas serviced by the trains.

Rather than looking at an abrupt cutoff of the $1.2 billion federal funding Amtrak is currently receiving, this administration needs to think to the future.

With some new life injected into it, a quality rail system could have a strong positive impact on our country.

Editorial - Social Security

2005-03-29T14:45:00.000-08:00

In the social security debate that has been raging in recent months, a voice seems to be missing.

Those in their 20s, 30s and 40s are most affected by this argument, yet it seems to be the young contingent that is sitting this one out.

Perhaps it’s because social security just sounds so darn far away. No one wants to think about getting “old” - you won’t have to think about that for ages! Right?

Then again, perhaps the things they say about young’ns are right - they’ve become complacent about government and world affairs, too disinterested to take a stand about anything.

Perhaps the argument simply isn’t being directed at the younger generation. Congressmen speaking at colleges across the country are talking about defending a system put in place in 1935. That sounds like ancient history.

Reporters interview people who are dependent on social security for their livelihood, spinning stories of little old ladies having their checks taken away. Sounds unfortunate, though there isn’t much that can be done, right?

But guess what? That little old lady (or man) could be you. So why are we letting the argument fall on deaf, uninterested ears?

Why aren’t we out there - contacting our congressmen, writing letters to the editor, making our voices heard? Surely there’s not something better or more important on TV.

Cleaning out my desk

2005-02-24T16:00:00.000-08:00

I'm slowly working toward moving out of my office, and I'm going through some files in my desk. Here are a few random things that were on my computer.

Blog I love

I'm not normally a big feminist, but this professor definitely draws my interest and gets me thinking.

http://ladida.org

Gifted links --

http://www.pitsco.com/Resources/gifted.htm

http://www.bsd405.org/gate/traits.html

http://helendowland.terminus.net.au

Essentials of WISC-III and WPPSI-R Assessment

Bye bye tonsils

2005-02-24T11:44:00.000-08:00

I've had a rough couple of weeks, recovering from having my tonsils and adenoids out, something that should not be done in one's twenties. It's been interesting, but I'm already feeling SO much better. My throat is killing me, but it'll pass. Already I'm discovering new and exciting things - like, I can breathe through my nose! I don't know that I have EVER been able to breathe through my nose, even as a kid. Lol. And I can swallow pills! Even with a terrible sore throat, I can swallow pills a thousand times easier than I could with those big stupid tonsils in the way.

I'm really excited to see if I am actually healthier now. I'm already sleeping better, which is a huge step. I don't wake up tired in the morning (though right now I still wake up pretty sore, so I'm not super excited to get out of bed just yet, but it's getting better). Very exciting feeling. Yay!

School stress, sorta…

2005-02-10T19:56:00.000-08:00

I’m taking some classes this semester – considering going back for the “big degree,” and thought I’d see how well it works to add a few classes to my busy schedule. Nothing super heavy, a history class, a class on reading fiction, and a business class (thought it might come in handy). It’s been going well, and for the most part I can keep up without any real strain on my schedule.

Ha, ha, ha. Then comes midterm time. This week, I’m preparing to be away from the office for a week because I’m having surgery on Monday, and this week also happens to be midterms. SO! I’m trying not to stress, but I am feeling more than a little bit behind. Tonight I came home from work at 4:30 to write my English assignment – two papers on the analysis of the characters from a short story by Flannery O’Conner. Not one, but two. And due by 8 p.m. Oh yeah, and did I mention I didn’t bother to start them before tonight? Oh, I pulled out the assignment several times, I read the story over carefully, and I even put some thought into it. But I hadn’t written a word until tonight. So, in between helping the kids make valentines, having dinner and spending time with the family, I had to lock myself in my office and do some super quick writing. I pulled it off, with HUGE thanks to my super wonderful husband, who not only kept the kids out of the office so I could work, but also edited the assignments when I was done.

Phew, so now that that is behind me...eek, I have to 800 word essay questions for the history class due by 5 p.m. tomorrow, then a three page business paper due by Sunday (though I imagine she meant Monday, and wrote down the wrong date…). Gee, I missed school!

And on a positive note...

2005-02-07T11:53:00.000-08:00

It seems like all I ever do here is complain. Perhaps it's time for some good news.

Last summer when I was looking for a job, I looked at lots and lots of jobs in lots and lots of places. We had some criteria in place, but it was fairly flexible, and we were interested in quite a few things. When this job came open, we fell in love with the town, and the fact that the job (mostly the money, and the "level" of the position) was less than perfect was overridden.

Well, we've been here six months, and we still really really love the town. Everyone has friends, the community is nice, the people I work with are great. But...

This weekend I was offered a position I just can't justify turning down. The job is a managing editor position at a daily paper in Williston, North Dakota. Okay, so perhaps North Dakota is not exactly our dream place, but it's close to family, and the job is a really great offer. Financially it's a big step, and career-wise, it's a leap. Maybe two.

I'm quite excited that the publisher had the confidence in me to offer me the job - though we are sort of dragging our feet about moving. We love it here, but sometimes we have to make difficult decisions because they are what is best for our family. And this looks to be one of those times.

So in amongst all the craziness of the next two months - me getting my tonsils out, Justin acting in his first play with the Planet Earth Players, work and life - we will be moving half way across the country. Um, again.

I think its time to settle down for a while, though, so hopefully this one is for a while. A couple of years, anyway. Williston always seemed like a nice enough place when I've been there before, and the people I'm working with seem nice. The job pays well, the benefits are great...

So there. There's my something happy to write about for today. I'm sure I'll be back soon, whining about something writing related. :)

What to write?

2005-01-28T11:59:00.000-08:00

Ever since I was a small child, I have known I wanted to write. But then there's the dilemma. What do I want to write about?
I feel like I'm floating through life, trying to find that thing that is mine. That thing that I can make my subject, my are of expertise, my niche, and run with it. I've tried a few things, even gotten the hang of a thing or two...but I always seem to come back to trying to find THE thing.
I think I would like to write non-fiction books (though I would always do a little fiction writing on the side, I think), but what about? There are a lot of things I enjoy, but none really enough to make them my "thing."
"Write what you know," they always say, and that's the problem. I need to figure out what it is that I know.
I'm a mom, so I know parenting things - but so do lots of other moms. And a lot of them are better parents than me, so who am I to tell them how to do it?
I'm a writer, but not an especially successful one, so that seems like a strange topic to take on.
I've always had an interest in local and family history, but where and who? And it's not really a big enough market to make it my niche, is it?

I'm not sure what else I know.

This would be the main purpose in going back to school - to find an area of interest. Maybe there's something hiding out there that I haven't even discovered yet that I can be totally passionate about. Maybe.
Or maybe I'll just float through life, waiting to find my niche, and writing about the things that interest everyone but me. Well, or no one, depending on what day of the week it happens to be.

Catching up a little

2005-01-14T15:30:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in a long time, so I'm probably due.

Writing for personal reasons has been sort of stale mated the last few months. I sort of go through phases where I write or don't, and right now I seem to be going through a "down" time. I write for work, of course, and that may have something to do with the lack of interest in writing for personal reasons, but then again, it may not.

The last month has been a little crazy.

In December, Justin and I took the kids to Arizona so they could spend the Christmas break with their father, and he and I were on our own. It was kind of nice to have some couple time, but really not so nice to be away from the kids over the holidays.

We went to a place called Pine Top, Arizona, which is up in the mountains, and spent two days (I was really, really sick, and basically we spent recovery time there!). It was a really gorgeous unit from our time share, and we would love to go back there sometime with the kids and spend some time. It was really nice.
We left there Christmas morning, and drove to Las Vegas, where we spent five days. Neither of us had ever been to Vegas, so we did all the touristy stuff. You know, the show at Circus Circus, the topless show girls show, all the "strip" stuff. We had quite a lot of fun, though it got old by day five (especially the smoke, and missing the kids), and we were definitely ready to go.

The last two days we spent back in Phoenix, where we rested up for the big drive home and fought with computer issues (we ended up being without an internet connection for the entire trip - which was a big shock!).

On the way home, we took the kids to see the Grand Canyon, which was big new excitement. Well, except it was rather cold, and we didn't have a whole lot of time to spend screwing around. They were sick, and having them out in the air was not the best idea, so we wanted to get back on the road and get them home.

The drive home was pretty uneventful - sick kids are pretty quiet on road trips. We got home and they had to miss a day of school to go to the doctor, and Ella is still on antibiotics two weeks later.

Argh!

We came home to five or six inches of snow, and were up to two feet by the end of the week. It just snowed, and snowed, and snowed...

So now we are settling back into life. Moving through January at what seems a rocket pace. Everyone is doing well, and waiting for spring!

Leaving tomorrow - happy holidays

2004-12-21T18:30:00.000-08:00

This has been such a long week already - I just looked at the calendar and couldn't believe it's only Tuesday!
Well, we are leaving for Arizona tomorrow. The kids will be spending the holidays in Phoenix, and Justin and I will be trying to take a little vacation, at least making at attempt at enjoying ourselves and not moping around for eight days. We'll be spending some time in Arizona and some time in Las Vegas, and there are lots of things to see, so...*shrugs*
Just trying not to think about it to much.
My mom has been here - had planned to be here to spend Christmas with the kids until things changed, and will now be getting on a bus tomorrow to go spend the holiday with her brother in Tacoma. I suppose that works out okay for them, because neither one of them will be alone on Christmas. I feel guilty, but not a lot I have any control over.
Work - there's another thing I feel guilty about.
Ugh...guilt isn't going to get me anywhere. I think I'll go drown myself in some pizza and pepsi before I have to go to a city council meeting. Woo-freaking-hoo, eh?
Merry Christmas, or some sh*t.

Bleh, bleh, and more bleh

2004-12-16T15:43:00.000-08:00

I don't know what my problem is. I'm not sleeping, I'm walking around in a daze all day...I sort of feel like I'm sitting around waiting for something awful to happen. Wow, it's a really unpleasant way to live my life!
Last night I curled up with a cup of hot "tension relieving" herbal tea and tried to get ready for bed early, but even with lights out by ten, I was tossing and turning all night long. I hate that feeling when you look at the clock and keep thinking about how many hours of sleep you are going to get. "Well, it's 11, so if I go to sleep now, I'll get eight hours....well, it's one, so if I go to sleep *right* now I can sleep for six hours..." Argh! Before you know it, it's 3, or 4, and you're wondering if it's worth going to sleep at all.
Not pleasant. Not pleasant at all.
So, my mother is going to be here day after tomorrow, and was planning to spend the holidays with the kids, but the judge just got my response to her *ahem* order yesterday, so who knows when I'll hear back from her. As far as we know right now, it's entirely likely we will be told to hit the road in six days for Arizona. SO stressed about how we will pay for that if that's the way it goes.
The car itself is going to be like $500, then we have to pay for gas, food, motels ... and if that's just for the trip there and back, what in the HELL are we going to do with ourselves for the two weeks we are there?!?!
Stress really doesn't even begin to cover it. Let alone the anger that builds up every time I think about the fact that he is being enabled, yet again. He honestly believes that he can do anything he likes, and people just keep reinforcing it. SO crazy. I can't wait for the day he drops off the face of the earth. It couldn't possibly be soon enough.
I really want to go home and snuggle my munchkins on the couch, but I've been missing a lot of work lately - and if I have to be gone next week, eek, I should be getting my a** in gear!
Of course, that brings on a whole new problem...I'm having a really hard time making myself work. Super understatement of the year, but we'll run with it. I haven't written a word except on Tuesdays when I absolutely freaking have to in weeks. Days go by when I just stare at this computer screen, like I have nothing to do. Well, hello, I have lots to do! I'm just not doing it. Why? Grrr.
Speaking of which, I should go see if I can track down at least one story today. Make myself at least mildly useful.

Fictionally challenged

2004-12-08T11:13:00.000-08:00

I have been feeling quite thoroughly fictionally challenged lately. Who knows what the deal is - stress, busy life, procrastination - what ever it is, it certainly feels like I should be doing something about it.

It's been close to a month since I wrote a word, I suppose sometime around when I abandoned by NANO project. Not only have I not picked that up, I haven't touched the multiple other projects I have in the works, either.

Sigh...for someone who writes for a living, I certainly seem to be the queen of writers block.

Average Thursday

2004-12-02T11:13:00.000-08:00

I've been sort of drawing a blank on writing lately, so I haven't been doing any, like anywhere except work. (And even there, it seems to be a stretch, needing a deadline to get anything finished.)November is done now, and I think my final word count on my Nano-novel got to about 12,500. In fact, I'm fairly sure I didn't write a word past about the 15th of the month. Oh well. There's always next year. And now I have a partial project to add to the other partial projects that *might* get done some day...

I have two blogs to catch up, tons of writing that I have been putting off, work that I don't feel like doing, and a headache starting. A doozy, if the side affects are any indicator. There are a lot of things I could be doing if I felt like it. The list of articles I should be trying to track down this week seems endless. But instead, what I really feel like is staring off into space, or going back to bed. I'm quite sure neither is a viable option at this point.

Yesterday the munchkins had their school conferences, which was kind of fun. They are both doing super well, and Cam's teacher had some thoughts on Ella and the whole skipping kindergarten concept. Informative and interesting, from a teacher with 30-some years of experience. Always good to get a little professional opinion on something you've put some thought into.

Well, I should probably go at least make an attempt to do some work...

Something cool, but quick

2004-11-19T15:05:00.000-08:00

Getting a migraine, so really don't feel like writing. But came across this blog I wanted to share...

http://tequilamockingbird.blogspot.com/

I really enjoyed this woman's writing, and will definitely be back to check it out more, sometime when I'm not getting a migraine.

The little "about me" sort of thing going on down the side made me smile. Very honest, real, and well, familiar.

Writing and November

2004-11-10T20:33:00.000-08:00

Well, the NaNoWriMo isn't going as well as I would have liked, but that's sort of a big duh, right?

According to my spreadsheet, if I write 1970 words for the rest of the month, I can still make it. So I suppose that isn't out of reach...when you put it that way. (Though I'm not sure that's accurate, now that I think about it!)

There seems to be a lot of tension around my house, though I'm not sure why or what to do about it. My usually quite happy and easy going husband seems to be angry or defensive a fair portion of the time, but says nothing's wrong. Not sure how I'm supposed to process that, but I imagine it's not helping either of us write 50,000 words in a month. Maybe he's just being a moody writer. :)

I poked around at some blogs for some interesting things to post, and found nothing. Instead, I think I'm going to go veg on the couch with my crabby honey. Maybe I'll give him a bj, that should cheer him up.

I like blogs. :)

2004-11-05T16:15:00.000-08:00

I was surfing around, looking for places that might list cool blogs. Here are a couple I found, but I'm still looking. :)

Blogarama

And another:

Just some randomness...

2004-11-05T16:12:00.000-08:00

Bleh, feeling like crap and wishing it was the weekend so I could stay in bed all day. But it's not, so I'm upright, even if I'm not accomplishing a lot.

The NaNo project is going well, though today I've been sort of in a stalled funk all day because I don't feel like thinking. So here I am, eating lots of chocolate and trying to keep my head above water. I'll have to let you know later if it's working.

No use crying over spilt milk, but this blog entry grabbed me when I was reading earlier...

Congratulations, America.

Congratulations for voting like an abused housewife who won't press charges while she's bleeding from 4 different places and her kids are crying in the corner, to be forever tortured by the pain they've witnessed.

Well spoken, but *ouch.* Look where our country is.

Read the rest of this statement, and the entire Zoozings blog, here: http://www.livejournal.com/users/thezoo_drawer/

Not often I read poetry, but this guy made me smile. Couldn't have been his comments on Bush. *wink*

http://unbearablebobness.blogspot.com/

I'm not totally sure why, but I don't sit in front of the tv and watch movies often. But a couple of nights ago, Justin and I rented Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with Jim Carey and this whole random cast (Kate Winslet, Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst, etc.). I would definitely recommend it, it made us smile. I like couple movies that aren't all sappy and silly.

NanoWriMo writing partner

2004-11-02T13:58:00.000-08:00

So I was all stressed about November and in need of a writing partner who could kick me in the butt regularly and keep me in line...when who should come along, but the love of my life, deciding he wanted to try his hand at writing a science fiction novel. :)

I came home from work yesterday and he had two progress charts hung on the wall, one for me and one for him, so we could track our progress. And I definitely think if he sticks with it I will feel incentive to stick with it, too. It's a lot less lonely that way, for sure.

Sooo excited for him, and his story idea is really great. :)

Ohhhh...and one more thing for the election. I've already done this, but for the rest of you:

http://www.marryanamerican.ca/

A little election commentary

2004-11-01T15:53:00.000-08:00

With election day tomorrow, I couldn't resist the urge to throw in a thing or two here. This is important stuff, people, don't let the day pass without making your voice heard!

Uh....what was that Mr. President? Bush-isms.

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blbushisms.htm

Take the votergasm challenge

http://votergasm.com

This one is interesting. 100 Facts and One Opinion, from The Nation.

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041108&s=facts

94 reasons not to vote for Bush

http://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/Story.asp?ID=4624

If that's not enough? Here are 1500. :)

http://www.thousandreasons.org/listB.html

Soccer Moms against Bush

http://www.dlbarton.com/seriously.mpg

Just for laughs - Bush as a pretty, pretty girl

http://www.georgewgirls.com/

Apparently I'm a marker...

2004-11-01T15:21:00.000-08:00

What kind of writing utensil are you?

Marker

You are insane. You need to see a shrink.

Click Here to Take This Quiz
Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Stress, as I try to figure out why I do this to myself

2004-10-30T21:14:00.000-07:00

So, tomorrow is the 31st, and the final day for planning before diving into November, and 30 days to write 50,000 words. Um, hello, McFly? Are you crazy, or what?!?!

So, now that that is out of my system...

The planning is going super well, but of course there is the stress that it will get me through a few days, and then I'll come to a dead end. Trying not to think about it, but it's entirely possible, likely even. Hopefully that's where my other half kicks in and either A. Kicks me square in the butt, B. Locks me in the computer room until I write 2,000 words a day, or C. Withholds sex until my word count is caught up. I have a feeling C would work most effectively, but we'll see which he opts for. *grin*

I don't even have the energy to procrastinate today, I think I'm going to go check out the movie Jus and the kids are watching.

Poised and...well...poised, anyway

2004-10-28T15:40:00.000-07:00

So...my normal projects are put aside, my outline is, for the most part, written. And I'm all ready to go. But darn it, I can't start for three more days! NaNoWriMo has drained me of all energy to write that isn't already wrapped up in work, and some of that energy as well. So here I am, poised in the *ready* position, writing nothing.

* * *

As a warm up for NaNoWriMo, I did the 24 hour short story contest last weekend. If you've never tried it before, you should. It's never worked into my schedule before (I think I have signed up three times or so, but something has always come up and I didn't end up writing anything), but I had a lot of fun with this one. At ten a.m. (I think it's noon central, it's ten for me. :) ), you get an e-mail that tells you the topic and the word count. Then you have 24 hours to write the story and return it to them.

Mine came out so easily, Justin took the kids to the post office and to get their hair cut, and all I needed was a quick edit after they got home. Kind of a confidence booster, because things don't normally come out that easily for me!!! If you're interested, you can check it out here - - http://www.writersweekly.com/misc/contest.html

They have them quarterly, and the next one is January 22. I have my calendar marked, do you?

Narrowed it down

2004-10-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

I ran the ideas I had come up with by Justin, and he narrowed it down to two, then I picked one. So here's my story...

Katie Steward is a pretty, popular, out-going seventeen year old. She has a boyfriend who buys her flowers and takes her places and seems really great, and her girlfriends are a bit jealous. She seems like the girl who has everything she could possibly want.

Her life isn't perfect - she's popular, but no homecoming queen, good boyfriend, but not the star quarterback. She gets good grades, but she's not going to college on a full-ride scholarship or anything. She's pretty, with long brown hair, a slender build, big green eyes...but she's not drop-dead gorgeous or anything.

Her family life is less than ideal, especially since her older brother, who she continues to be very close to, has moved out. Her parents work a lot, and are both pretty unaware of what she does or thinks or feels. They live in their world, she lives in hers.

When Katie disappears, seemingly into thin air, her brother comes rushing home from college to help find her. He takes on her disappearance as his personal mission, and as he gets deeper and deeper, he discoves an entirely different Katie no one knew anything about.

Can he find out what happened to his little sister before it's too late?

Character Sketch

2004-10-27T13:03:00.000-07:00

So NaNoWriMo is growing near. I've picked my topic, I have most of my outline ready to go. At this point I need a character sketch for my main character, Eric.

Who is Eric?

Um..

Eric is 22, in his third year of college, living off grant and scholarship funds and not needing to work, because that would take away from his studies. He drives a silver Mustang GT he got as a graduation gift from his parents, but sort of resents the car a little, because it's a symbol of some of the affection he feels like his parents have withheld from him and his sister.
He is always the strong one in every situation. People turn to him for advice and help when they are in trouble, and he always steps up. He's a smart, kind, fun person, someone with a lot of friends that people like. He has a great relationship with his baby sister, they've been close since she was small, though he isn't especially close to his parents. They sort of stuck together.
Eric's ambition is to do something that makes a difference. He hasn't really figured out what that should be yet, but he's thinking he'll go to law school and see where that leads him. He has had fleeting thoughts of politics, or becoming a lawyer, but hasn't really found the thing he can sink his teeth into yet.
His weakness is his dependence on himself. Other people expect him to be strong, so he winds up carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. When he's having trouble, he tends to keep it to himself and try to work it out on his own.
Eric's hobbies include reading - he devours everything, and is known to make the occasional reference to fiction when he talks. He is very intelligent and likes to cultivate that.

Character points - like things he tends to say, foods and drinks he likes...?

Birthdate - December 27
Height - 5'11"
Weight - 175
Sort of an average body type, lean.
Dark brown hair, worn fairly short, green eyes that show his emotions to a tee, whether he's happy or sad, angry or laughing.

NaNoWriMo

2004-10-19T22:53:00.000-07:00

Well, it's nearing the end of October, which means November is just around the corner. And we all know what November is, right? Um, right?

Okay, so just in case you don't...November is National Novel Writing Month. The challenge? To write a 50,000 word novel in a month. Yes, for those of you who are math freaks, that IS 1667 words a day (rounded up cuz I don't know how to write .67 of a word, and I'm pretty sure if there was a way, I would have figured it out by now). Why did they pick a short month, by the way?

At any rate. This year blogger is getting involved in the project, which is very cool. Here is the link for info on that: http://www.blogger.com/knowledge/2004/10/blogging-your-novel-part-one.pyra

Okay...so last year I got three days into it and gave up. Can I do any better this year? Who knows. But I do know that if I am going to do it, I need an idea!!! Last year I was going to write this sort of science fictiony thing that Justin came up with, but I think part of the reason that bailed was the lack of interest in the idea. So I need something that is much more ME this time.

So....I have set up a blog for my NaNoWriMo entry. It can be found here: http://nanowrimo2004crysta.blogspot.com

Conspiracy Theory

2004-10-19T18:39:00.000-07:00

It's Tuesday, and I'm deadline, so I really don't have time for procrastinating...but my head is about to explode. So I have to for a few minutes, or there is going to be a very big mess. And I imagine no one wants to clean up little bits of my head all over my office. They probably couldn't even get a vacuum all the way into this little space, and they'd likely have to paint the walls...

All day long, well, all week long to be honest, I have been working on stuff for the political issue of the paper, which is coming out tomorrow. And I am finally finished! Phew. Deep breath. Now to come up with something for the front page...*eek*

It's been an exhausting week, and with all of my energy going into writing hundreds of inches of copy for that, I haven't had much energy for my personal writing. Tomorrow, though. Tomorrow I should have the entire day, with nothing planned but grocery shopping and cleaning up my office. So write I must. I have this scene of Ruby that I have been sort of mulling over, and it's probably time to put that down on paper. Poor Ruby has been on the verge of having a birthday for weeks!

My friend Ann sent me a link earlier today, too, and I'm thinking of putting something together for that. More later, if I think of a brilliant idea. Not that I should be taking on new projects, considering the two unfinished novels and the flashing project! It's a conspiracy, I tell ya. A conspiracy to get me to spread myself so thin not a single thing gets done. I wonder who could be to blame...?

A writer to watch - and me.

2004-10-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

Thursday afternoon - I have notes in front of me to write what feels like my 80 millionth story on county commissioners (okay, that is an exaggeration - but when you are covering four counties, there are quite a few!!!), but I just can't make myself think about it anymore. I started looking at them at nine this morning, so I can probably safely put it aside and procrastinate for a while. :)

* * *

The other day I was working on this story about some locals who went to Washington D.C. for the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian. When he came in to chat with me, he brought in this massive pile of "stuff," including a dozen or so newspaper clippings, brochures, photos, a calendar, and all kinds of other things. So then after he left, I had the daunting task of sorting through it and trying to figure out what was usable.

Reading through the newspaper articles, I found that there were *so* many of them that were just junk (okay, we expect that from USA Today, but what's the excuse for the others???). Lol, then there was the one from the national Indian paper, which was visibly dripping with propaganda, and a few others, some good, some bad. The one that was taken out of the Washington Post was by far and away the best of the bunch, and I actually enjoyed reading it. So I thought the writer might appreciate hearing that, and I dropped him a line.

He replied today with a link to his website, and I had a really good time poking around, checking his stuff out. Read his journal from Christmas time a couple of years ago, a few articles he wrote, etc. Kind of cool - quirky and smart. All the things I tend to enjoy in a writer. :)

If you want to check him out (he even has a book, which everyone should add to their holiday shopping lists and ask Santa very nicely for), surf on over here: www.hankstuever.com - I think you'll like what you find.

* * *

Well, I bit the bullet and entered "Broken," a story I wrote a while back about a woman who secretly starts fires, to a writing contest. I sent it to the Missouri Review Editor's Prize in short fiction. I do suppose we will see. If nothing else, I took a bit of a risk, and that's kind of the point anyway....right...?

* * *

Writing exercises and random stuff

2004-10-11T16:42:00.000-07:00

By the way, when I post from work, I can't seem to get blogger to allow me to make links in the text. Sooooo, if something isn't linked, hopefully it will get fixed later when I read it from home. :)

* * *

I was working on this story about a local boy who just got back from Iraq, and I went to see what I could find out about his airbase. I was kind of freaked out to discover the sheer amount of information available to me with a simple web search. Like this craziness.

* * *

Writing Exercise

Think back to a time you were scared...

I brainstormed some ideas the other day, but I'm not sure I like any of them.

Think back to a time you were scared..

How serious should I get? The first time my baby went off to school,
when I found out I was pregnant, when I left my husband to strike out
on the world?

Falling in love when I'd been burned so badly before?

Think back to a time you were scared...

I lay awake, staring into the eyes of the man lying next to me as he
sleeps peacefully. The room is black, but my eyes adjusted long ago,
and I can see him clearly. His eyelashes flutter, and for a moment I
hold my breath, afraid I have woken him.

I've been in this place before, this falling in love. It was too late
before I realized the first time had been for all the wrong reasons. I
was stuck then, wondering how to get out of a situation that often felt
hopeless, terrifying, alone.

I tried to start this one the other day, but it just didn't come.

Think back to a time when you were scared...

Hell, how about right now, when I think about the prospect of George Bush being reelected as president of this country? What would that say about our people? And why the heck is it so freaking close?!?!?

Think back to a time when you were scared...

Not as easy as it sounds.

* * *

Let's see...I did end up working on One Lucky for a while this weekend. My word count on Chapter 20 was 1530 when I finished last night. Just five hundred words or so to sort of round it out and it will be finished. Hmm..it's Monday, so I *should* be able to do it by the Tuesday deadline I imposed. :) I think there are a few places where it could use some more explanation to the story anyway, so it should work out. Well, that and I need to decide exactly where it should leave off. Where it leaves off now is an okay place, but I already have the beginnings of the next chapter written, and I better make sure they match up.

Ruby...I have brought what I have of Chapter 5 to work today to work on. The writing I did last week went into Chapter 4, and now I'm looking for some sort of positive interaction in the family. The story line is that it's Ruby's birthday, and for once he doesn't do anything to ruin it. She feels sort of guilty, because she keeps *waiting* for him to do something stupid, and it doesn't happen.

Of course, the next day, he thinks since he's been so very nice to her for an entire day, he can go out with his buddies and do what ever he wants, leaving her to pick up the pieces. So it's not all so perfect.

* * *

I'm just full of random thoughts today.

* * *

Crappy mood, cuz we're having to deal with my ex's sh*t again. Grrr. He is so full of himself, he never lets anything go. I can't wait for him to get a life and find something ELSE to obsess about. Like anything but me.

Writing Contests

2004-10-11T13:42:00.000-07:00

I spent some time the other day looking up writing contests. I'm not sure why I do that, because I almost never enter them, but it's kind of interesting to see what's out there. I think I enjoy the process of finding out about them more than I enjoy the process of entering them.

I have entered a couple (like two, and neither one was anything serious) in the last couple of years, though, so I shouldn't say *never* --

Writing contests:

This one has a December 15 deadline. It has a photo prompt, a different one every quarter.
www.writecraftweb.com/wcSScontestguidelines.html

* * *

A little more serious contest, "literary" even. Entries have to be postmarked by October 15, which is Friday. I am thinking about entering a short story I wrote called Broken: http://www.missourireview.org/info/contestguidelines.php

* * *

By October 30: http://www.inkwelljournal.org/contests.htm

* * *

$5 entry fee through paypal

Think back to a time when you were very scared and write an essay about it. 300 words, double spaced.

http://www.writeitrightusa.com/pages/4/index.htm

October 30 deadline.

* * *

500 words, short fiction story
Whim's Place. Whim's a sweetie, I should probably write something to help support her little venture. :)

http://www.whimsplace.com/contest/contest.asp

* * *

From May 31 to July 1 each year, writers of fiction (I think that means me...?) can enter a unique contest called the TenTen Short Story Contest. The prize is $1010, and the story must be exactly 1010 words. There is no topic, but story must be literary fiction.

http://www.wordsmitten.com/fiction.html

* * *

I have never been a big fan of flash fiction, but in case I'm ever in the mood, here's a contest. There is a weekly constraint (this week's is that the story must start with :I could smell"), and it must be 600 characters or less, including spaces. Apparently this usually works out to about 100 words. I'm taking their word for that. It's called the "Fast Fiction" contest.

http://www.poewar.com/fastfiction.htm

* * *

SpecFicWorld has an annual contest for speculative fiction of 10,000 words or less. It's closed for this year, but it looks like their deadlines are in the spring, so any time is probably a good time to start looking at ideas for this contest. The prizes include publication in their magazine and anthology, which is sort of a nice little bonus to the smallish cash prize. The site is set up kind of cool, they even have a little bar that tells you how many entries they have received to date. (87 for the 2004 contest)

http://www.specficworld.com/contest.html

* * *

Okay, THIS contest interests me. Tobias Wolff is one of my favorite authors. Entries must be 8,000 words or less, and post-marked between Dec. 1, 2004 and March 15, 2005. Oh yeah, and I suppose I have the local girl benefit there, though they probably don't read bios.

http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~bhreview/tobiaswolff.htm

* * *

Hmm. By-line magazine, which touts itself as "The best little writer's magazine in America" has quite a list of ongoing contests. Their prizes aren't much, but do include publication, and give some specific guidelines which could be used for writing exercises.

http://www.bylinemag.com/contests.asp

* * *

Wanna write a feature-length screenplay? Here's a glitzy contest. It's about to close for this year, but it appears as though it is a yearly project. I suppose Justin would say the downfall is that it's Aussie.

http://www.thesource.com.au/big_australian_2004/index.html

* * *

This small press offers a no-fee contest for manuscripts, need to look into the details before submitting with them, but it's always a thought. They are looking at novels.

http://www.newriverspress.com/

* * *

Well now, a chance to use my powers for good. :) This is a contest for a $10,000 home make over, for writing a 250 word essay by October 31. It's about cleaning, lol.

http://www.fantastik.com/contest.asp

* * *

Desdemona is always great for a sexy little contest - here's one for stories of 1,000 words or less. November 1 is the deadline - I wonder if Jus has seen this for the story he wrote this summer?

http://www.desdmona.com/contestsubmit.php

* * *

Nothing wrong with winning a trip for writing...here's one for a mayonnaise company with a deadline of November 15. Winner gets a trip for two to an exotic locale, and ten runners up get $100. :)

http://bhgpr.com/contest.cfm?Contest=59

* * *

Christmas-themed story contest, where the readers get to vote on the stories they like best. This site is a serial site that offers a wide range of stories, and seems to have had some success. I wonder what it is people like about it? I read a few of their excerpts, and I didn't think it was anything terribly interesting. Maybe that's the wrong way of wording it. I didn't think it was especially well-written.

http://www.keepitcoming.net/christmas-contest.html

* * *

Amusing little political side note: The Mudville Gazette is pleased to announce the First Annual John Kerry Fan Fiction Contest . Entries may be submitted in comments, via e-mail (greyhawk - at - mudvillegazette.com) or as entries on your own blog - I'll link from here. Have at it. Have fun.

Sunday morning...um...writing

2004-10-10T10:30:00.000-07:00

Apparently procrastination can occur at any time, and weekends are not immune. Ha! Like that wasn't a given!

It's 10:30 in the morning on a Sunday, and I'm lying around in my pajamas. The girls are playing in their room, Cameron is at a friend's house, and Justin is in bed. Sounds like a perfect time to do some writing, right? Um...right?

I haven't even looked at One Lucky since we moved - I suppose it has been close to a month. I really should just pull it out and get cracking. But it's that time of the month, and I'm cranky and feeling yucky...and I sort of just feel like doing nothing. :)

*pulling on my boot straps*

Okay, okay. Maybe I'll just *look* at it and see what I can do. I imagine there's some perfectly good scene I've already written that I could procrastinate over by rewriting. :)

So, I have pulled out my notes, and the chapter I was working on when last I looked at this so-close but not quite finished project was 655 words, so nearly half written. The story line is all there, I imagine I can manage to fill it in and make it sparkle. That's what I do, right? Right?

Is there an echo in here?

Friday afternoon

2004-10-08T16:07:00.000-07:00

It's been a quiet day for me, the third in a row. Which probably means I should be out doing something, but when there's nothing going on...I should consider becoming one of those people who create the news. :) I could go about the streets, planting rumors in people's ears and then finding out what they do with the information. Ha! It sort of fits in with the name of the paper. "The Star." We do get occasional phone calls from people who think we are the tabloid "The Star."

Okay, so my "other" website is in serious need of a major update. From what I'm told that is possible now, so I should really consider getting to that soon. It's rather overwhelming, and I haven't been in the mood lately. That really doesn't make it any easier.

I need to do something with my writing resume, too. Start developing a profile and see what I come up with that is of interest. Perhaps a running list of bylines in the newspaper should be added to that, too, so that I can access them more easily without having to dig through and find them. But then again, the links probably wouldn't work, because the site changes every week. So have to rethink that.

Let's see...some ideas are needed here to expand that writing resume. I need to be submitting to some magazines, but which? What do I want to write about? I really need to settle on an area of specialty, and get my butt in gear over it. I keep coming back to parenting, but is that because it's easy?

So, apparently the concept of this blog is to give myself a hard time about writing. Thus the title. Some day I will wake up and realize what I am doing RIGHT NOW is called, by some, WRITING. But for right now, I'll just hide in my little world of denial. It works well for me.

I have been saying for ages that I would like to have a column that I can syndicate, but I really haven't come up with any great ideas. One idea I had was surfing with your kids, but web links can get so long and crazy, they aren't really great for written mediums that are off line. That idea needs some thought, I think.

What other ideas do I have? Brainstorm, brainstorm, brainstorm...

I love books, and books for kids would be a cool topic, but could I find enough books that I really liked to keep up the column? And is it done and done and done again, and tired now?

With the world of blogging, commentary is quite popular, but who cares what some 20-something journalist from some weekly in central Washington has to say? Not a whole heck of a lot of people, certainly not enough to go syndicating something.

So. Back to square one. What else ya got, Crysta? Huh? Huh?

Going downstairs for some fresh air.

Well, while was downstairs, I was accosted to do an interview. Very interesting chat I just had with a tribal member who went to Washington D.C. for the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian.

It's a gorgeous museum, with lots of really interesting little tidbits and great pictures. To check it out, go here: http://www.nmai.si.edu/

Well, now it's quarter after four, and things are winding down for me (though they're still going like mad downstairs!). I think I will spend some time going through the notes about this museum, and then I'll head home for the day. Ugh, and then there is this pile of newspaper articles to read on it...

Crud, I didn't work on Ruby at all today. Maybe tonight. Or, well, this weekend. :)

Just wasting some time

2004-10-07T10:34:00.000-07:00

I am always coming across these cool websites I want to check out, and I need a good place to write them. I hate to start a blog where there is a possibility the king of the assholes will have access to them, but I also hate to let him go on controlling everything I do!

Blogs I'd like to check out:

Ann's blog: http://blog.whimsplace.com/index.php?blog=2&c

Banned for life (this is a cool little journalist thing, with all of the terms used in the media that people wish would just GO AWAY! Very clever, and fun to read): http://www.tommangan.net/banned

The Spokesman Review website links to local bloggers, which is kind of a cool deal. Maybe some time I'll flip through those and see if there are any others of interest.

Justin and I were talking this weekend about writing an editorial on the whole Swift boat advertising thing. We looked up the entire text of the congressional hearing that a quote was being used from, and I just felt ill instantly. The way these people twisted words...oh my god!

The movement John Kerry was part of at the time is called the Winter Soldier, and there is lots of information out there.

People who have analyzed the misinformation of the advertisements, book and website belonging to the Swift Boat campaign...

http://swiftvets.eriposte.com/

The Washington Post article I just read said both sides were misleading...but I guess I'm not sure how you decide who to believe. The side that says he didn't do what he says he did are the same people who are claiming that he made all of these accusations about what happened.

On to other topics, cuz this one is depressing...

Do I have any funny travel stories to tell? Lonely planet has a competition, with the deadline Nov. 30. It's 1-3,000 words, so if I had an idea, I could just whip it out quick-like for fun. :) http://www.lonelyplanet.com/journeys/humor/

The next 24 hour short story contest is October 23 http://www.writersweekly.com/misc/contest.html

Planning a birthday party for a special girl (I can't believe she's going to be four!!!). Here are some sites with ideas:

(This one has a definite Kiwi feel to the language. Could easily have been Michelle that wrote it, lol.) http://site.mumsweb.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=437

I'm thinking, based on the fact that she has no big ambitions for something extravagant, that simple (like Jus wants) is going to be the way to go. Her big input is that she wants a pink cake, with nothing on it but candles. :)

Small Successes

2004-10-05T03:18:00.000-07:00

Woo-hoo! Well, yesterday was a good day for my writing goals. :) I wrote a little less than 1800 words on Ruby. So I'm off to a good start! Today is deadline day, so I haven't had any spare time to work on it today (ugh, and then you factor in the fact that I feel like death warmed over cuz I'm coming down with something evil...), but perhaps now that I have today's stories done - assuming nothing new and odd happens in the next few minutes - I'll have a little time. :)

Weekends and Goals

2004-10-04T10:25:00.000-07:00

Monday. Not a lot different from any other day, really, except that I am at work on the computer instead of at home on the computer. Exciting, eh?

The weekend was okay...Friday night I was up most of the night because I got this awful e-mail from Dallas, and then I couldn't fall asleep. Damn it, I'm tired of dealing with the two of them. I wish they would just find someone new to harass. Almost wish the king of the assholes would find a new girlfriend so that the pressure can be taken off me and the kids.

Of course, then she would have to live with what I lived with for five years....*shudder* Nope, can't wish that on anyone.

We did a lot of lying around this weekend - watching tv, working on the computer. We downloaded all of our home movies onto the computer, and have been having a really good time editing a movie of the kids. :) Then we'll have to move on to our trip to New Zealand, and our wedding... LOL.

I didn't get any writing done this weekend, which is frustrating, but not all together surprising. I need to set some tangible goals so I can get some projects finished.

Ruby - 4,000 words a week. If I write 1,000 words four days out of the week, it's a very attainable goal.

One Lucky - One 2,000 word chapter by Tuesday of every week, first chapter to be finished October 12. That was the original arrangement, there isn't a lot of reason it can't be kept up, just because the deadlines aren't there anymore. (Kind of a bummer, but the site I was writing the serial for shut down.)

Those aren't such big goals...1,000 words a day with one day off. I can do that! (Notice the affirmation? Think it's working??)

Of course, sitting here thinking about it isn't getting it done...

Head in the clouds

2004-09-30T15:03:00.000-07:00

It's 3 in the afternoon, Thursday, I think (though the days do seem to blend together at times!!!

I have been working on a few projects all day - a little of this, a little of that, but nothing terribly exciting. And I'm tired of staring at it. :) Brought some work from home for when I had spare time, but haven't sat down to look at it yet. Thought I'd get my juices flowing a little bit first with a bit of a writing assignment.

Not sure what the writing assignment should be just yet, though. :)

I am thinking about getting my masters degree on line. I'm one of those people who could just go to school forever though, so I have to put some thought into whether I think it will actually get me somewhere, or if I just want to go study.

Well, what I'd really like to do is write from home, but if I had a solid degree under my belt and an area of expertise, I think I could write books and columns and do pretty darn okay. Not sure what I would want that area of expertise to be just yet, but I'm feeling that out as I go. I know I enjoy writing about kids, and about education, but that hasn't really gelled into an actual career goal yet. For now I'll just hang out here, developing a clip book and moving through life at the pace of a weekly. :) We like where we are living quite a lot, so I think we would like to stay here for two years, then make some decisions about where we'd like to go next.

Sigh...if I was a lucky sort of person, by the end of those two years, I would have gotten the king of the assholes (my affectionate name for my ex, like it?) out of my life, and we could move to New Zealand, where I could write in a nice little place on the beach and Justin could spend his days doing his computer programming/game design. But is it that sort of world? Doubt it. Maybe we can get a court to say that we can do it anyway.

Well, my novel isn't writing itself, and neither are these articles, so I better get to that.

Drawing a blank

2004-09-29T16:45:00.000-07:00

It is a Wednesday afternoon, 4:45 p.m. I have a pile of stories on my desk that need writing and/or addressing, but I'm just not into it right now.

So here I am, wasting a few minutes before I go home (and go back out again for the Open House at the elementary school). I thought to myself...when was the last time you did a free write? So...

But then I pull up the page to start writing, and my mind draws a complete and total blank. What should I write about? I would say that I am falling into that mindset where all of my "writing" energy is zapped by work writing, but I wasn't writing nearly as much as I should have been before I re-entered the working world, so I really can't blame that. Maybe I'm just a bum. :)

My novel sits on my desk - waiting for someone to lavish some attention on it, but the two times I have gotten it out since we moved, I have put it back away later, untouched. I just didn't feel inspired.

The goal was to write a thousand words a day on it, and one chapter of One Lucky a week, so that I could wrap both projects up. So much for that. Maybe I need to set myself some stricter standards and actually MAKE myself do it. But how do you do that? How do you set aside time that doesn't even feel like it's there in the first place?

I work, I spend time with the kids, I watch the news with Justin. Sure, I could be writing then, but then I wouldn't be spending time with him. So there!

I really would like to finish up One Lucky - it's *so* close. For crying out loud, it's about darn time I quit being so scared to finish something and just made the leap. How will I ever know if I'm any good if I don't put it out there and find out???

60,000 words, thirty chapters...

Eeek, then what? Actually finishing something and having it published? Do I DO that?

I have about twelve million things going for work right now (no exaggeration what so ever, to be darn sure), in all kinds of different directions. Seems like every time I turn around, there's something else I should be writing about. Ah! But that's alright, because soon I'll catch up, and I'll be trying to figure out what the heck to write about THIS week. :)

Let's see...what else is new? My munchkins started school this week, which is very cool for them. :) I'm thinking I might start them a blog. That way their "father" and other relatives can check out what they have been up to. Might be something fun to do, and then a cool little keepsake sort of journal to have. :) I should look into that tonight.

Alright, well, it's five now, so I should probably head home and get ready for this little do-da this evening. Perhaps I'll actually take the initiative to write another day.