Query?

So,  I am not sure which is worse...  the waiting game or flat out rejection.  I have experienced both now and I have to say...  I really can't tell which one I prefer.

The waiting game is hard... never knowing, always wondering if today will be the day...  but at the same time you can tell yourself that they just haven't gotten to it yet, or maybe they never received it...  or...  something that doesn't mean you have to face the fact that they didn't want what you have to offer...

The rejection notice at least lets you stop waiting and waiting and wondering...  but then...  you stop wondering and you just know...   they do not want what you have to offer.    Both ways kind of suck.  I will recover, I will go on and continue to submit until I have exhausted the list of literary agents... and then I will start in on the publishers.   I promise, I won't give up easily.   Still not sure what I prefer though....

Until next time... write on!

Web nanny sucks!

I hate the fact that I cannot reach my blog from dialysis.   I can bring it up to read, but not to post or edit or even track.  Which means I have to write it in Word and then copy it over at another time…  poor me  ;(   I do love that I can change the stamp on the post to the time and date of when I wrote it and not be stuck with the time and date that I actually have to post it.

There are actually a lot of things that I cannot view while on the internet at dialysis…  things that are interesting and entertaining and that I do not need the 'web nanny’ to protect me from.  Anything with streaming video is a big one for me.   I am stuck, sitting in a chair in a big boring room and I cannot even watch a stupid cat video someone shared on Facebook.   Hulu?  Forget it…   No Netflix or Direct TV to pass the time either… nothing. (yes, I do have a TV, but my DVR has me spoiled and I don’t like watching commercials.)    

I believe that the block is there to prevent anyone using the network to visit inappropriate sights and stream porn in the dialysis center.  That makes sense, since there are children here…  no wait…  no children AT ALL.  So who are they trying to save?  Maybe they’re afraid that the staff will watch internet porn all shift and neglect us.  Really?  I am supposed to trust these people with my life, but they cannot be trusted to stay off the internet porn?     I also cannot go to FB without a secure connection and it blocks most blog pages,   hobby sites and a lot more.  What I find most interesting about the block of all things cool is that I can go to fanfiction.org;  which, in reality, is the biggest distributer of text base porn there is.  So,  since I cannot sit here innocently and read something educational,  or watch kitten videos or repeats of 80’s television or even a romantic comedy I have probably seen a hundred times….  I will go back and read some more poorly written, DENSI porn.   Shhhhh…  don’t tell them though,  the web nanny will take it away.  

Until next time...  Write on!

Annual Meeting

Today I attended the annual meeting for the Girl Scouts of Maine.  I go almost every year and have served as the delegate from SinCA (my region of Girl Scouts) for most of the years I have gone.  I enjoy the meeting each year and it is never as boring as it might sound to some. 

The day starts early (for me) since the gathering generally starts around 9AM and the meeting is held in Waterville.  I have attended meetings at other locations, but it has been at the Waterville Elks Club for the past few years.  Waterville works nicely because Girl Scout volunteers, board members and staff from all over the state attend the meeting and they try to hold it in a central location (Geographically that would be Milo, but Waterville is just SO much more central in reality.)  The elks club has a nice huge room to accommodate the large turn-out, it works, so they stick with it.    

Every year, a centrally located service unit (region of Girl Scouts) hosts the event.   This year’s meeting was hosted by the Chickadee Service Unit and they did a nice job.   The hosting unit is charged with decorating, having SWAPS (hand-made trinkets) and doing the opening and closing flag ceremonies.    The tables were all adorned with centerpieces consisting of flowers made from spray painted bottle caps on dowels…  they were cute and everyone attending had one to take home.  They also did a very nice flag ceremony and just about every adult in the room held their breath as the girls walked the flags past two chandeliers -  without incident.

The actually meeting part of the annual meeting is generally brief and painless.  The biggest duty of a delegate is to vote in new board members and give the final vote on any amendments to the policies.  It is the policy for the nomination committee to present a single slate of officers and new board members for the delegates to approve.  It seems kind of pointless, but it does make sense.  If we had to select from candidates there would have to be way more prep time, time for delegates to study their choices  etc.  as it is, the nomination committee seeks out interest and qualified candidates, researches them and decides who should be on the board.  The delegate vote is simply a formality at this point.  The amendments can be different, discussion is possible, though it is generally past the point of really requiring further discussion.  As with the vote most years, everything passed unanimously. 

Each year at the annual meeting the graduating seniors in attendance are recognized and the bridge to adult ceremony is performed.  They were 27 graduating seniors there and about 90 this year state wide.  It seems like a high number, I hope it means girls are staying in scouts longer.  Adult recognitions were next -  they give numerals and awards for those celebrating more than 25 years, in 5 year increments.  Then they also award a handful of outstanding volunteers.  They did a nice job this year presenting awards without putting the audience to sleep.  Some years it goes a bit long,  this year we were actually ahead of schedule. 

Things were running so far ahead of schedule they moved several things up on the agenda and we still had to socialize for 25 minutes while they finished preparing for lunch. Dessert was actually served while waited.  Cake.  Yumm.    Lunch was served buffet style.  Garden salad, bow tie pasta salad, green beans, tiny baby carrots, pasta primavera, fried chicken and rolls all lined four different buffet lines so nobody had to wait too long.  We were sent up by table and things ran very smoothly.   It was all delicious. 

Things wrapped up rather quickly after lunch. A beautiful poem about Girl Scouting in 1956 was read and the election results were announced.  Overall it was a very pleasant meeting.  I bought a few things at the travel Girl Scout shop (including another tote bad)  and we all received a six pack of commemorative 100 year Girl Scout glass Coke bottles to take home.  More Collectibles!  -  just what I need…  J

I look forward to attending next year’s meeting.  These kind of things help renew my energy towards making Girl Scouts stronger in our area. 

Until next time ...  write on!

Dog attack :(

Terrible story today about a 3 year old girl in Farmingdale who was mauled by a 100 lb rottweiler.  My first thought when I read the headline was 'thank God it wasn't a pitbull!'   It is a tragedy no matter what breed the dog was; a dog is dead (shot and killed by an officer responding to the scene) and a little girl is in the Shriner's hospital with head injuries, several surgeries ahead of her and a long recovery.  A grandmother will never be able to forget the images that the event has burned into her head.  Apparently she threw herself over the girl to protect her from the dog after the initial attack.

So,  what happened?  It seems that the dog was chained to the side of a barn, wearing a choke chain.  The girl wandered into his area and was attacked.  The dog's collar then broke and he was able to continue the assault on the girl and her grandmother who had stepped in.   EMTs then responded to the scene and the dog was so aggressive that responders could not treat the child.  The dog was then shot and killed by a police officer.

Who is at fault?  The dog?  The child?   In my opinion there are couple of people at fault and none of them are the dog or the child.   The idiot who treated this dog so poorly as to chain him outside by a choke chain in an area that a child could wander into is the biggest one at fault.  Aggressive dogs should be contained in a fence that keeps others out of the dog's range.  Chains do nothing to protect others from a potentially dangerous dog.  Also, if you have an aggressive dog,  why would you add to the aggression by using a choke chain?  Choke chains (I prefer the term walking collar)  have their uses, and I don't deny using them; however, they ONLY belong on a dog when the other end is attached to a leash being held by a human.   A walking collar has nothing to stop it from tightening around a dog's neck, causing discomfort, possibly pain and eventually stopping the dog from being able to breathe.  All of these things could INCREASE a dog's natural tendency toward aggressive behavior.   NEVER EVER should a dog be hooked to an immobile object by a 'choke collar', nylon or chain.   It is cruelty and neglect and is unacceptable.   The dog here never had a chance.

The next one I would hold at fault here is the adult who was responsible for the child.   A three year old should not be allowed to wander into the area of a dangerous dog.  A dangerous dog in this scenario would be ANY DOG.  People need to realize that ANY dog with teeth is a potential danger to a small child.  Dogs do not always see children as they would other humans.   Often dogs, even 'nice dogs', see children as threats or as lower beings that need discipline (a nip or bite) either view can cause a small child to get bitten or even seriously injured.     I do understand though, sometimes 3 year olds get away from you and bad things happen.  This is what happened here...  so sad.

My children grew up with a couple of very large German Shepherds.  My family was always convinced that dogs were going to eat the babies.  They never did.  My dogs were taught from the start that the children out ranked them.  My kids hand fed the dogs, placed them in their crates (or helped).  But, most importantly, the children and the dogs were always supervised whenever they were together.

Here is a link to the article in the KJ....  http://www.kjonline.com/news/3-year-old-Farmingdale-girl-rushed-to-Maine-Medical-Center-after-dog-attack.html

Until next time...  write on.

Title? who needs a title?

In the interest of blogging as often as I can, I  am writing this even though I still have not come up with that Earth shattering topic that will change the face of the planet as we know it and cause millions of readers to flock to my blog for daily enlightenment.  I guess I should have known when I called "Boring Blog"  - oh well.

Today was writing group and I got a little more written in Prophecy Poem.  6 stanzas in chapter 3.   I just need a plot and I will be on fire!  Right now it could still be "Willow" and I am determined NOT to write "Willow."  I also got a little further in my novel.  I am about half way through chapter 28 now.  I know I said I was going to finish chapter 28 a few days ago, but it is slow going.  I just chip away at it, little by little.  I know one of these days the muse will return and it will get finished.   I also worked a bit on my new short story about a surfer who finds that he can breathe under water.  It is different than anything I have ever written before.

My goals for tomorrow (later today)....  continue to work on cleaning out the van,  take my Dad out for his birthday lunch,  select 4 things to take to Good Will  -and try like heck not eat and drink everything in sight! I am WAY over my dry weight and I am hoping to catch up at dialysis tomorrow night.

This is all I can come up with for now...  comment with topics, writing ideas...  ANYTHING!

until next time...  write on!

Boring Post....

I want to write this blog and I have been trying to come up with a solid topic to write about.   I thought about writing about how cute my cat is, but that is what instagram and tumblr are for.  He is cute though. 

Then I thought I could tell a story about my kids, but, truth is, they aren’t very interesting.  Oh,  my daughter slept til noon today, then she, then read a book…  woopty doo.  BTW,  my husband is boring too.

I could discuss my experiences as a struggling writer…   I did send another submission to a literary agent last night.  This time a Ms. Hawk at the Bent Agency.  We’ll see what she has to say.  According to their website, they reply either way;  which is nice after waiting with no word from the last two places.

There is always poetry, I could write more poetry to this blog….

                        Blogs should be interesting and well thought out

Not boring and depressing- that’s not what they’re about

I want to write something everyone will enjoy

A good blog is like Slinky, fun for a girl or a boy

Movie reviews and thoughts for the day

Parenting tips, crafts and creative ways to play

Traveling journals and photos galore

No a blog should ever be a grueling chore

So I write here in Boring Blog of my daily strife

My thoughts, my hopes and in general, my life

I hope readers will read, but if not, you see

It’s OK, I really only write this blog for me.

I had to turn off the TV for the afternoon.  The Boston Marathon was bombed today and it is overwhelming for me to think about.  I have several friends and possibly family near the area.  Everyone is OK as far as I know (thank God for Facebook) but it is still just way too close to home.   My prayers for all those involved, those injured, their families, those who witnessed it and those who responded.  I hope it serves to bring our communities together once again and makes us just a bit stronger.  I also am reminded that there are places in our world that go through things like this on a much more regular basis.  They live day to day not knowing where or when the next bomb will take someone away from them…  it is humbling.

Please leave a comment and let me know what topics I should blog about in the future...

Till next time… write on…

I can Blerg too :P

OK,  I am blogging again.  I need to write and I need to start getting in the habit of writing daily.    I know I have said it before and will, I am sure, say it again in the future.   I am going to do my best to stay current and blog frequently. 

Here goes:    Lately I have been having a hard time getting past my current novel’s chapter 27.  I am at a point in the novel where I really need to just get it written and done so I can move on to other projects.  Some of the best advice to writers I have ever read was ‘don’t get it right, get it written.’  I have no idea who said it originally, but I like it.  So, today I am writing chapter 28, no matter what.  It may stink, but it really can’t stink more than the 20 or so chapters I wrote at break neck speeds during Nanowrimo. 

National Novel Writing Month… otherwise known as Nanowrimo is in November.  Brought to you by the Office of Letters and Light and information can be found at Nanowrimo.org.    Nano is when novelists, of all levels, pledge to write a novel of 50,000 words within the month of November.  No one ever has to read said novel, and that is probably for the best.  I love Nanowrimo because it encourages me to just write.  Write without editing.  It easier said than done and I do not claim to have perfected it.  I cannot help but correct typos (that I notice) and fix misspellings as I go.   I do, however, leave the real edits for later.  Sometimes, come December, when I look back to what I wrote, it isn't pretty, but it is written.   I then have a baseline from which to build a better crafted story.   

Often the dialogue I write quickly, without over thinking it, is the most natural dialogue I ever write.  Dialogue is not usually well thought out in the real world.  Very few people think before they speak.  A lot of dialogue is reactionary and tends to flow quickly in reality and I find that the less I think about it as I write, the more natural the conversation between characters feels. 

The other parts of my story written during November tend to need a lot of polishing.  I promise you, I know the difference between their and they’re, and too, to or two.  It is funny how, when typing at top speeds, these things tend to mix themselves up on the paper.  Another problem is that I tend to think I typed one thing when I actually typed something different or left out an important word altogether.  It is not until I go back and try to decipher November’s work that I find all the misfirings of my brain. Interesting how it all seemed good when I typed it; someone must be going into my files and messing with me!  

My intention is to write in my blog every week and update all my wonderful readers on all that I have written since my last post…  I hope you both enjoy it!

ALSO:  Boring blog will be the only blog I attempt to write in.  Might as well have 1 general blog where I can blog about any topic and be free to just ramble.