Via Sia

Vacay - Day 4 – August 26th, 2014

2014-09-21T10:31:00.001-07:00

View of Hollywood sign from Studio 19

Simi Valley had a much slower pace than L.A. It still had people living on top of one another and sprawled out within the confines of a valley, but it was still a much more comfortable atmosphere than we experienced yesterday.

New York Facade and Subway entrance

There were two main places in mind for today: Paramount Studio and Studio City for a taping of The Odd Couple that was scheduled for opening this fall on CBS. But before those were scheduled to happen, we had to fuel up – with food. The car tank was still looking pretty amazing despite all our stop and go travels up and down the west coast.

Our hostess suggested a place called the Firehouse Café. There is a little café in my hometown called Mugshots and it was run as a business by police officers. So, a placed called Firehouse Café – quite obviously – was themed, too. It had photos of firemen, especially the retired ones or those who passed on in the line of duty, and framed articles about the heroic efforts of firemen putting out the wildfires that California would suffer during the long dry months of the summer season.

The breakfast there was large portions and only cost $17.10. And as soon as it was done, we returned to the friend’s house to shower and pack up for our day out.

First stop, back to L.A. for a tour of Paramount Studios. This was the cheapest tour offered at $53 a person. Warner’s tour was a dollar more a person and Universal was more an amusement park attraction plus a tour and cost almost as much as going to Disney Land.

Cafe in Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull

We arrived early and were parked across the street. This was good because we were able to get a good photo of the gate where executives and actors would come and go. We went along a side path parallel to the gate to get signed in with security and brought out to a waiting area, al fresco. Momentarily we were walked down to the gift shop where we picked up some water and used the restrooms. Then we waited on the rest of our group. There was a young lady who was our guide who stopped by our table as we waited and talked with us a bit to find out where we were from. She was a native of L.A. – born and raised – so learning we were from Michigan brought on a lively discussion about the rigors of living in a sub-tundra. She never experienced such colds that plummeted below zero before and couldn't imagine surviving that way for months. When she went to Arizona where her parents moved, she had described the 40-degree cold nights as insufferable. Poor thing.

Good Luck Gate

Anyway, we first stopped at a podium with famous people photographed for their shows that Paramount owned. Next was a prop warehouse where items from the newest Star Trek movies, Transformers, and Bad Grandpa were housed. I regret not having taken a photo of anything there, but my battery on my phone was running low and I was hoping for other photo opportunities. Our tour continued on a extended golf cart next and we were told about Studio 19 being haunted by the little girl from Poltergeist. Even though Poltergeist wasn't filmed in that studio, she was a fan of Happy Days and that was where it was filmed. Apparently Scott Baio was reported to have felt someone leap on his back for a piggy back ride during a taping of Charles in Charge. We moved on to a place where Lucille Ball and Ricky Ricardo once had dressing rooms on the set – and how Lucy had the door of his dressing room cemented in because of all the women who would visit. There was a daycare nearby and a small stretch of greenery where parts of The Brady Bunch were taped for the outside of the school.

I loved watching Cheers and was surprised by one story where the actors would exchange the fake alcoholic drinks for the real thing and challenge each other. Once such challenge resulted in them running around the studio naked, finding some wet cement and embedding their hands and footprints with their signatures. Apparently, Woody Harrelson couldn't remember it happening, but the hand and footprints matched his size.

Susan Sarandon and I have the same sized hands

We went to the New York portion of the set where the last Indiana Jones movie had a scene shot. That excited me since I am a big fan of those movies and Harrison Ford. Our tour guide had a tablet that she played certain scenes on from YouTube. There was taping recently done there because the fake subway entrance had a marker on it. The streets are full-sized and there were a lot of car commercials shot there as well – especially the ones with the giant hamsters.

We were a quiet group and had very few questions, so the tour moved on quickly. Our tour guide didn't seem too thrilled with that. I think she would have preferred we were more engaging. There was a parking lot that was specially designed to be filled with water and surrounded with blue screen for “ocean” scenes. The opening to their theater was converted to a hotel lobby for another Harrison Ford movie – Clear and Present Danger or one of the other Jack Ryan films he did. And there was a gate that you touched for good luck. We all touched it. I only hope it brings me the luck I desire.

The tour ended and we had a lot of time before were needed to be in Studio City for our studio audience experience. We decided to find the Chinese Theater. It was crowded. The walkways and parkways were overloaded with tourists from every corner of the world. I found so many handprints and footprints that amazed me. Susan Sarandon and I have the same sized hands. Shirley Temple was such a small child when she placed her prints into cement. The top cast of Harry Potter and Star Trek the original series had a block of their own. The Harry Potter cast even placed their wands into the cement. John Wayne had tiny feet for the impression of such a large man.

To the side of the Chinese Theater, there is an entrance to another mall where there was musical stairs to walk up and down. It was interesting, but only half of the stairs were working.

On our way back to the car, we walked along some of the Walk of Fame. I was disappointed I couldn't find Robin Williams hand/foot prints or Hollywood star, but I saw so many others. It was lunchtime and we needed to move on.

A note to be aware of: there is no parking on the side streets on Tuesdays between noon and 3pm. Even though it may look like there is plenty of parking spots and the large print on the signs say you can park from this time to this time, look for the fine print for the exclusions.

Traffic was getting insane as everyone was on Wilshire Drive looking for someplace to be, probably for lunch. We nearly got hit at an intersection by someone flying through while we were driving safely and within reason for speed. I finally did a little research and found someplace closer to our next place to be over in Studio City. It took us through some steep foothills to get there, but the traffic calmed down and we found ourselves in another place of slower pace and a calmer atmosphere. It was called The Counter and it was a place of custom built hamburgers. There were organic options, vegetarian options, and antibiotic and hormone free beef available on the menu. I had that with spinach, tomato, Swiss cheese, and pickles with a basil pesto sauce and grilled vegetables. It was delicious! I don’t think I ever had a better burger in my life.

The CBS studio was just down the road from The Counter and we arrived at the right time as a good portion of the audience seating was already filled. It took the better part of an hour and a half for the seating to be filled. Our MC was Mark Sweet, who we discovered was from Detroit originally. It was his job to keep the studio audience engaged, let us know the setup of the scene we were about to see, and explain terminology of the business such as tag, reset, etc. It was exciting to be there, seeing the actors I have only seen on a static screen moving back and forth in front of me as alive and real as I was. Seeing this side of filming was also an eye-opener. The seated audience was up by the lighting for the stage and there were screens in front of us that we could see more of the action on that appeared just as we would see it on our television screens back home. We were limited in how many could go to the restroom at a time, especially since whenever one woman stood up to go, at least twenty more tried to join them. Honestly, I could hold it like a camel. Or maybe I don’t have a sympathetic bladder like other women.

To get us started, our MC had a dancing contest. There was a pregnant woman - who was two weeks from her due date - that decided to show off her belly dancing and a young Asian man from Hawaii who would do pretty much anything Mark asked of him, including removing his shirt and his theoretical pants. The scenes started and we were entertained by the actors and bloopers. It was slow at first, but soon the actors relaxed with this new audience and were interacting with us. We were given sandwiches, water, and candy during the taping – which was wonderful as we were there for five hours. The bloopers were getting more and more fun to see. Thomas Lennon was a huge goof and would do things to set off the crew as well as the audience. Matthew Perry wasn’t far behind and tormented us for not laughing at him tossing a half-eaten meatball David Foley put into his hand. We honestly didn’t see it as the camera panned after David Foley and we missed the action of the tossed meatball. The audience consisted of people from Ireland, Britain, New Zealand, Brazil, and other parts of the world I can’t recall any longer. One man from New Zealand entertained us and the crew with a rousing song from his country.

I could go on and on about the bloopers, retakes, observations, but I think I’ll save it for the book. Needless to say, it was the best night of my vacation and I would love to do it again. But, it was time to go, and we had to find someplace still open to eat.

Pizza sounded good and easy and there was a place with high marks on the internet called Reno’s Pizzeria nearby. It ended up being the best pizza I can remember having. The restaurant was pretty bare of people at 9:30pm and the owners appeared to be Sicilian. It reminded me of the pizza described in Eat, Pray, Love when the author was in Italy. Pizza there was around $30 with the drinks.

Stop by next week for our last day in California.

Happy Reading!

Vacay - Day 3, August 25th, 2014

2014-09-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Waking up hungry and early seemed to be the rule here in California. This time, however, we had a good plan set into place for breakfast. On our way to Diana’s the day before, we passed a place called Norm’s that boasted steak and eggs for a really good deal. We looked up the address in Costa Mesa and went there first thing. While steak and eggs sounded good, we still had our usual; coffee, two eggs over easy, hashbrowns, bacon and whole wheat toast. It was still all under $20 and much larger portions.

After breakfast, we returned to the hotel to pack up, shower, and prepare for the next part of our vacation. We were heading north to spend some time in the Los Angeles, Venice Beach and Hollywood area before arriving in Simi Valley where my boyfriend’s friend lived and where we will be staying the next couple of nights. First on our list of things to do was visit the big donut.

It was actually Randy’s Donuts’ big donut. As we were still in the plane approaching LAX, my boyfriend – who had the window seat – noticed the giant donut as we flew over it. We are both huge Marvel fans, so getting a selfie in front of the giant donut Tony Stark was sitting in during a scene in Iron Man 2 was on our list. It was a lot of fun. Too bad we were so full from Norm’s that we didn't same Randy’s Donuts. It said on the side of the building that they were the best donuts in America. Funny thing is, the scene from Iron Man indicated there was an area to dine inside, but it was actually just a walk up restaurant. Might as well been a food truck. In fact, there were a lot of walk-up food places and food trucks in L.A. Probably because there was limitations on available parking.

Next on the list was Venice Beach. I was forewarned that there were a lot of characters there, and they were right. As soon as we got a couple of shops in along the sidewalk, there was a medical marijuana “hospital”. A man in bright green scrubs with pot leaves all over it was standing outside. It advertised $40 for the evaluation (and later along the shops it would be $30). We must have passed three or four of those.

We stopped at a shop to get a shirt as a It was a very hot day, despite being close to the ocean and feeling the breezes coming off the water. We were both sunburned at the end of the day.

I came across Zoltar. Any “Big” fans out there? As I was having my photo taken in front of it, a couple stopped by to comment. The man had large, almost crazed eyes, as he insisted he wasn't on drugs and Zoltar would talk to him as he walked by. I smiled politely and nodded. We tried taking the photo again and the woman with him – who had a particular style what pronounced her stomach butt – insisted I needed to smile several times. I really wasn't keen on getting advice from a woman wearing a tube top and short shorts that were at least two sizes too small for her, hence the stomach butt crack that was showing. Plumber’s crack in the front can be as nauseating as from the rear. We eventually removed our shoes and socks and walked along the long expanse of sand toward the ocean to walk along the shoreline. A few waves came up on us suddenly, soaking our shorts. We went along for some time to a little finger of land jutting out and I found some shells that were interesting and kept them.

We also came across what at first appeared to be another shell, but I noticed it was a by-the-wind sailor. It was a jellyfish I was reading about before I came on this journey. Apparently, the little sea creatures were being washed up on the western shorelines due to a shift in the wind whereas normally they would float along driven by the wind and living a very long, prosperous life. My boyfriend nearly stepped on it until I warned him it was a jellyfish. He asked if it would sting and since I knew it fed just like any other jellyfish from the article, I insisted it would. We went through the hot sand toward the skate park where we sat, cooled our feet and put our shoes and socks back on.

We sat in the shade of the park for a while to watch the skateboarders and people mingling about. I noticed a peculiar thing – people wear the oddest things here. There was a teenage girl wearing a long sleeve denim jacket with short shorts on, and flip-flops, but wearing one sock. Then you would have several women wearing barely-there bikinis, followed by girls wearing bikini bottoms, but hoodies over the tops. Men would be in short denim shorts with long, curly hair and no tops, but bronzed and squeezed enough that they looked like topless women from behind. Then, there was Muscle Beach. There were a range of men and boys from young to quite old; fat to trim to scrawny. The sounds of weights being dropped and grunts almost beat out the din from the waves of people suddenly crowding the walkway. I didn't recall it being that busy when we first arrived. I was getting hungry and crabby about how people around here simply continued walking straight at you instead of moving aside. It was pretty unnerving to not have anyone show you the courtesy of nodding and moving aside as you performed the same courtesy so you don’t run straight into each other. I was getting pretty tired of dodging mindless, sightless drones.
souvenir and again to get a cold drink for me.

Pinwheel sculpture in the open mall before the Farmer's Market

The Farmer’s Market was something that was supposedly a place to see and eat, so we put in the address to the GPS and were on our way. We ended up parking about a block out of the way, went through another outdoor mall into the Farmer’s Market. There were a lot of unique foods there, but we went with Chinese. It was $21, but good sized portions. We wandered around afterwards and found some delicious chocolate turtles to get and snacked on those as we finished wandering and headed back to the car. It wasn't what we were expecting at all. Overcrowded, open air Farmer’s Market with permanent stalls. The most interesting thing I saw was the organic produce section – also where we got the chocolate truffles – that had so much more in variety than we see in Michigan.

Since it was almost 2pm, we still had a great deal of time to spare before we wanted to head up to Simi Valley. His friend didn't get home until after 6:15 and we didn't want to just walk in after a long day of work. So, we went with another of my friend, Diana’s, suggestions – Santa Monica Pier.

Stairs at the end of the pier

We parked right on the pier itself. There was an amusement park next to the parking area – and quite frankly, I was amazed there were spots to park in. There were a lot of people on the pier. As soon as we got out of the parking area into the main thoroughfare, there was a Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant – first one I ever saw up close. I drove past a few, but never stood in front of one. There was also a kiosk indicating this was the end of Route 66. My boyfriend’s dad drove Route 66 on his motorcycle so he got a photo of that and sent it to his dad's Facebook. Along the thoroughfare there were pier performers. One guy was calling people in to make a semicircle around him. We joined in. I feared this would be one of those deals where he would bring in people from the audience to be part of his act. After watching him break dance for a while, that was exactly what happened. As we were leaving – I certainly didn't want to become part of the show – my boyfriend was grabbed by the performer from behind. Don’t worry, he escaped – but barely. At the end of the pier was a restaurant.

View at the end of the pier

People were fishing at the end of the pier. There was several tiers of stairs to walk up and down from the top half of the restaurant to below deck. We could see the barnacles encrusted along the pylons beneath the pier. There was also a section telling the entire history of the pier. I was amazed to discover I was walking on history – 105 years old!

After an hour we were ready to see something else, so Rodeo Drive was next. There was metered parking at a park – with real grass - uphill from the main section of Rodeo Drive. We were stuck behind a woman in a Lamborghini, showing it off for all the men on the sidewalk. The muscle car had a throaty purr that was near deafening. The walk down was interesting. After taking a selfie by the sign, I noticed the shops would have people standing in the doorways, but as we got closer, those people disappeared. It was as though they judged us as unworthy of being greeted nor even seeing them as we walked by.

We found a side street that took us into a quiet area with a pyramid like glass roof of a little atrium of some sort on a lower level. There were shops in there too and a lot of women covered up from head to toe like a Bedouin going into those shops. One was a beauty salon. The went around that corridor, walked down a bit further and crossed the street to head up another side street with cobbled stones.

Sitting area of atrium

A lot of people were in the beginning of this street taking photos of themselves with the street going up in the background. I haven’t the foggiest if this was significant, but apparently a lot of other people did. I’m not as Rodeo Drive savvy as they were. It was a nice little place. Tiffany’s was up there; complete with an outdoor café setup around it with a small wrought iron fence. Next to Tiffany’s there was an art gallery. We went inside and were treated to seeing the work of Salvador Dali, complete with early sketches. There was even original bronze statues by Dali on display. My boyfriend, the art major, was excited with the find. While we were in there, a man greeted us and explained the exhibits and generously to let us know of other art exhibits in the area to look into. One of them was the Getty Center. When we had seen all the displays – and maybe some that wasn't part of the exhibit on accident – we left and continued on our way. The road curved around and descended into steps with a fountain at the bottom. Again, people were taking photos of themselves by the fountain. Must have been a famous one I wasn't knowledgeable about. As we continued on, we passed a salon where they were giving out samples of a product line called Adore. One of the ladies asked if I wanted to come in for a free sample for the eyes. I suspected it was a pitch – I was right – but getting Rodeo Drive treatment wasn't to be passed up. Apparently, there is a deal once a year where they pull people in from the street and let them try out their eye treatments that they give to the stars during the Emmy’s. The deal is that the products that normally sell for $600 are going for $199. While I loved the instant results - and that she evened up my eyes so I didn't look like a stroke patient - there was no way I was going to spend $200 there. I said no a couple of times before I was allowed to leave and we returned to the car.

By that time it was a good idea to start toward Simi Valley. It was already rush hour which adds on time to an hour long drive. We figured we could get something to eat when we got to Simi Valley and his friend would give us a nice place to go. We got in as she was having her dinner. We dragged our things to the room she provided us. The bathroom was shown to us and she gave us an idea of her schedule for the next couple of days then told us Don Cuco’s would be a good place to have a nice dinner. We dressed up a bit for this occasion. The restaurant was dimly lit with loud Hispanic music. A lot of families were there including one table with at least two newborns with them. We both got dishes that comprised of three different meats and a variety of veggies, rice, and refried beans. We were stuffed before we got halfway through our plates. Probably didn't help we ate quite a few freshly made chips with salsa while we waited. I also had a couple glasses of wine and he had several beers. We still had a bottle of wine waiting for us when we got back. We opened that and shared it with his friend when we returned. She was watching the Emmy’s and we chatted while we all finished off that bottle of wine.

Another day came to an end with us falling asleep, exhausted from our fun-filled, long days. Visit here next week for Day 4 and….

Happy Reading!

I dedicate this post to Walter Burl Owsiany, Jr. who rode the great and scenic Route 66 and was present in his younger son's thoughts when we visited Santa Monica Pier - the final stop of Route 66. Walt was a storyteller all his own and he made an impression on me in the brief time I had known him that encourages me to keep living life and telling my story. Walt passed away on 09-07-14. His memorial will be on 09-14-14 from 1-4 EST. I invite my readers to spend this time honoring him. If you have a motorcycle, go out and rev its motor at 2:30pm EST for a "rumble salute". Or fondly recall those you know who love the open road in a moment of silence.
Walt, you will be missed.

Peritus sed numquam obliteratus

Vacay - Day 2, August 24th, 2014

2014-09-07T09:35:00.002-07:00

Day 2 started earlier than anticipated and cloudy. Since we didn’t get to sleep until almost 11pm Pacific Standard time, you would think we would wake up around 8-9am. Nope, 7am. And, we were starving. So we got around and did a search of breakfast places. IHOP was well-known to us, so we opted to go that route. It was way more expensive with smaller portions than we anticipated. IHOP soon hit our “Do not try again” list - at least in California. We actually liked IHOP where we live - it was one of the places we went on our first date.

Afterwards, we had some time to waste while we waited for the time to meet up with my friend, Diana Murdock. We were planning on meeting her and going out for lunch around 1pm. There was a strip mall called Irvine Spectrum nearby, so we decided to walk around there. Most of the shops were pretty cookie cutter – Nordstrums, Hot Topic, etc. – but there were some unique places we haven’t been to before, like Dave & Busters. Oh, we have one around us –not very close, though - so neither one of us had ever been to one. It didn’t open until 11am, so we had to waste time before we could waste time there. We walked around and became quite thirsty. It was a dry heat around 88 degrees Fahrenheit; the sun was bright and baking us from overhead in the open pathways of the mall. We looked in at a few places and discovered none of them had air conditioning – what an odd thing to discover in the valley desert of California. We finally decided to stop at The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf place to get a caramel ice blended drink and frozen tea with fruit. It helped me cool off, at least. As we were enjoying our drinks, the place started to get crowded. It was after eleven at this time, so we hunted down Dave & Buster’s again.

It was open and already filling with kids. We purchased a card and put on some tokens and played a few games. There was a neat flight simulator game we both enjoyed, but the tokens ran out, the kids crowded in and we took our leave. It was past to noon at that point and we decided to put in her address into the GPS to get going.

Driving along Huntington Beach, looking toward the Pier with Ruby's

We caught her off guard by arriving sooner than she anticipated, but the gate was open and there she stood in all her pastel pink glory, waving her arms and having the biggest grin on her face as she directed us in and closed the gate behind us. We had a brief tour of the house after she finished with her bean sprouts. I had thought her brother was there, but later discovered there was a strangely placed mirror that showed me a funny angle of my boyfriend so it looked like he was in the other room instead of behind me. Having never met her brother before, I had no idea what he would look like. I only could tell it appeared there was someone else in the house with us that disappeared on me after we passed the mirror. I was thinking I had a ghostly encounter until we returned and discovered the mirror placement and my misinterpretation.

We loaded into the red Jeep she was borrowing from her brother after releasing it from its tarp and getting all its quirky mechanics figured out. It was a great ride with the wind in your hair, chatting away serenely with a woman I never met in life before, but had felt a very strong bond with from the start. She drove us to Huntington Beach, describing along the way routes her son would take on his bike and his first impressions of the city life after have lived in rural Idaho. Parking became a slight disadvantage when we arrived – it was lunch time and the beach, which didn’t make for a good combination when you were interested in eating lunch on the beach. We had a little bit of a hike, but nothing major. Then there was a wait at Ruby’s. The time flew by as Diana and I chatted on and on. We had a ton to catch up on. My boyfriend enjoyed the view of the water at the end of the pier while we waited for our table to be called and managed to see a pair of dolphins in the water. Diana and I were so immersed in our conversation he had no chance to interrupt and let us know what we were missing. At this point in the conversation we were discussing our writing. I’m working on a short story for a mermaid anthology that she introduced me to, she recently finished writing a fairy tale for another anthology and I told her what I was hoping to do with this blog.

Our table was called and we ordered. I got the shrimp tacos, she the veggie tacos, and my boyfriend got the breaded shrimp and fries. I think I drank three glasses of water. You work up a thirst with all that talking.

Afterwards, we went across the street where there were street sales going on at the shops. I found a couple of necklaces for my girls ($6.99/each) and a couple of sunglasses (2 for $16). I had lost my white pair in the Kalamazoo River while kayaking with my boyfriend, so I was pleased to find another pair I liked. There will be some photos in the next post with me wearing them. Diana found a backpack for her son. Only my boyfriend didn’t find what he was looking for in sunglasses. Most of those kiosk style vendors had all the same variety of sunglasses we had already seen at Irvine Spectrum. There may have been a few pairs that were different, but they just weren’t what he was looking. (Since we got home, his favorite pair broke. Wish we had put extra effort into finding what he liked.)

We returned to Diana’s place and talked about metaphysical things. Strange happenings, the mirror phenomena, experiences with spiritual people in the area, our path and if we’re still working on our spiritual paths. She lives in a busy place and keeps busy, and I have been busy with new things in my life; therefore, neither of us were happy with our current state of progress. It’s a push, sometimes, to focus on oneself. To be immersed, even for 17 seconds, in one thought can seem to be the most impossible thing in a world that expects you to be able to do at least five different things at once in that time frame. I think getting back into writing will give me more focus in that area. Just what I am doing now helps me to slow down and take a look at myself and my life. Getting my thoughts together and stringing them into coherent sentences to write this blog post has given me more focus. Then the added focus for the writing and reading assignments for my class at Western Michigan University has pushed me further along my course. I don’t know how you can’t find a bit of cathartic release in writing down mundane thoughts and finding golden nuggets of self-discovery within them. But, I’ll save that for another blog post.

Diana’s son needed to be picked up, so we called it and packed ourselves back into the car to head back toward our hotel room. I’m sad to say, we forgot to get a photo of each other together. It wasn’t that we were pressed for time or over-involved with anything in particular, but we were using the time to acquaint ourselves again with each other and filling in each other on the details of our life that we completely spaced the common practice.

Back at the hotel, we went for a refreshing swim in the pool to cool off again and decide on our next adventure for the remainder of the day. We decided seeing a sunset on the beach would be the best thing to wrap up this day and my boyfriend did some research online to discover some places around Laguna Beach that were highly recommended. We put in an art museum address into the GPS in order to find the beach setting that was getting such great reviews and headed out.

We arrived with an hour to spare before the big event, so we took the time to walk along the pathways provided, skirting other tourists, enjoying the landscaping and artistic flares everywhere. Laguna Beach, like most of that part of California, was full of art museums, enclaves, exhibits and learning opportunities. The winding cement path took us down toward the beach where you can see how the water cut into the rocks lining the beach. I hunted around for “treasures” – starfish and sea anemones or urchins that would wash into the tide pools – but didn't find any. The likelihood of finding them in an evening tide would be rare and a far greater treasure, but it would be more likely to find as the morning tide went out and left these sea creatures behind. Several photo shoots were occurring around us. A bride and groom and their bridal party were getting themselves shot with the crashing waves coming up behind them. A pregnant woman and her husband were getting their photos done not far from the bridal party. Several amateur photo shoots were happening between daughters and mothers, mothers and sons, fathers and daughters, etc. I wasn't to be without my photos and caught a few with my boyfriend as well.

The beach was shrinking away to a small strip of wet sand, so we returned up the winding and steep pathway to follow it along the cliffs of Laguna Beach where we found a nice overhang with a bench provided. Only a cement balustrade and iron railing kept you safe from the long fall below. The bench was hard stone, large enough to fit many people wishing to enjoy the view and curved to mimic the curvature of the overhang. There were many people crowding the area as we all watched the sun begin its descent into the flowing waters of the Pacific. Palm trees provided a silhouette against the sky along the shoreline in the distance and clouds continually kept us alert to whether we will see the final plunge or not. Cooling breezes came off the ocean along with briny scents and the melodic sounds of the waters below; moving with synchronicity with the moon’s pull.

People were getting photo opportunities with the descending sun behind them. Several people were walking their dogs along the path. Some stopped to greet a couple with their lazy dog rolling around on the walkway. It was great fun to watch a poodle try to engage the lazy pooch in some play. It managed to get to its feet and watch the poodle carry on with some bemused chuffs and rumbles.

Then the sun descended and all the people started speaking in hushed tones and the focus became more on the event than anything else around them. Only the children seemed to not notice the grandness of the sun slipping into the cooling waters of the Pacific Ocean in a brilliant display of gold. The rippling water reflected the gold, and the rocks glowed as if they were made of the precious metal, too. Twilight descended upon us and the remnants of the sunset still glowed in the clouds as we worked our way out of the crowd, back toward the car. It was time to find dinner.

As richly as we have been eating lately, we wanted a light dinner and opted on Olive Garden for some salad and breadsticks. The drive progressed into darkness rapidly and we found ourselves driving through several art openings and passing art centers as we climbed into the nearby mountains. We were descending from the mountains again as we arrived to our destination. It was crowded in the vestibule, but the bar was open and we decided to eat there. We had a couple of cocktails and some wine and appetizers before the salad came. Breaded mozzarella, fried zucchini, and calamari were a rich beginning to our dinner of flavorful salad.

Afterwards we returned to the hotel room and fell asleep almost instantly.

Happy reading!

Vacay - Day 1, August 23rd, 2014

2014-08-31T18:05:00.002-07:00

Hurray for the Vacay!

So, Day 1 was mostly uneventful. We got up around 4:30 am EST, showered and finished packing and hit the road. We had a 2.5 hour drive - including bathroom stops - to Chicago to get to the airport for our flight. We stopped at Speedway and picked up a couple of breakfast sandwiches and a couple of caffeinated drinks for the beginning of our trip. The drive was foggy, but humid. The dew point was at 75 degrees with 100% humidity. The fog seemed to burn off after awhile, but returned the closer we got to Chicago. In fact, as we got into Chicago, the Sears Tower looked like it was floating inside a cloud - the fog was that thick. The funny part was getting a text message from my friend, Diana Murdock, at 6 AM (that's 3 AM her time) asking if we arrived yet. LOL!

Getting tickets and passing through security went more quickly than getting a shuttle from the parking lot to the terminal. Seriously, they went by us as we got out of the car and started unloading it, but since we weren't ready, they didn't stop. We walked to the nearest shuttle stop, but none of the shuttles were driving by it. So we hiked it over toward the train that was shut down due to construction and finally had a shuttle stop for us.

We went inside terminal 3 and handed over our driver's licenses and checked one bag, which went through its own security check before we did. We had one carry on and my purse to take on the flight. Then it was time for our security check. We were smart and had flip-flops on to make it easier to get off for this part of our journey. It was my first time going through the new full-body scanners. I haven't been on a flight since 2003, so a lot had changed for me.

Everything went smoothly and we were on the terminal. There were no seats available at our terminal, but we were early enough to check out a shop down from the terminal and get second breakfast at the McDonald's across from our terminal. By the time we got back and our food was ready, they were boarding the flight and we had a couple of seats available for us to sit down and could enjoy our breakfast sandwiches and drinks before our section was called. Unfortunately, they received word that there was construction at LAX that is delaying our flight for another hour, so they unboarded the plane.

We people-watched during that time. There were a number of interesting characters available to watch and laugh about at O'Hare Airport. Funky hairstyles and clothing choices was my favorite part, but we also had a number of sailors - both men and woman - walking up and down the terminal hall. I didn't take any photos because I really wanted to have my phone for photos later in my vacation.

They started calling sections again and we decided to take turns going to the bathroom to keep our seats. While I was waiting for my turn, they called the first class section. I decided to take a chance and look over to see who that might be. There were a lot of uninteresting people in line, but third back was a tall blonde woman dressed all in black with a small backpack on. She looked so familiar as she waited for the three people ahead of her in line. She turned slightly and I could barely make out her profile, but the sense of familiarity increased. When my boyfriend came back from the bathroom, I asked him to look over the woman carefully and tell me if she doesn't look like Jane Lynch. He said she had a strong resemblance and we should take a closer look as we get on the plane. We IMDB'ed her to get a fresh idea of what Jane Lynch looked like as we waited to be called up. I was hopeful. This trip was about visiting a place where I could see celebrities first hand and this may be my first of many encounters.

Finally, our section was called and we were in line to board. Slowly we inched onto the plane as people held us up by putting their carry-on's in the overheads and moved around the seating arrangements - getting in and out as people arrived for their inside seats and such. The plane wasn't nearly as full as one would expect. There were several empty seats, in fact.

And First Class finally was in sight. As we inched through, I looked through the seats that were already occupied with individuals wrapped in red blankets with ear buds in and sleeping or on the verge of falling asleep. It made me wonder if these people were allowed to stay on board to be so far gone already. All the seats in First Class were taken - upon first sight. The last row of seats on the left were occupied by a couple of technicians that were in the process of fixing the seats, especially the one by the window. Jane was in the first row of coach on the right and avoiding eye contact. Her arms were crossed - her face looked cross too. I don't blame her for being upset having to wait even more for her comfy seat. First we waited because of an unexpected delay, and now her seat was broken. As much as I wanted to tell her I love her game show, she obviously wasn't wanting any attention, so I opted out of delivering her words of praise. If I were in her position, I wouldn't want to hear anything from a fan, either. It was definitely Jane Lynch, though. There was no doubt about it. My boyfriend agreed, it was definitely her and we gave her the peace we would have liked if in her situation. Jane, if you ever come across this blog, please know, we had nothing but compassion for your situation and we love the Hollywood Game Show. Keep bringing on those celebrities to get drunk and make them do goofy things - it's crazy hilarious!

While our flight started at 10:30 instead of 9:25 and we were expected to arrive in LAX at 12:30 pm instead of 11:25 am, we still had many hours of flight ahead of us. Fortunately, the flight experience was wonderful. Virgin America had little screens on the back of every chair, plenty of room for my boyfriend's long legs, the ability to make orders on the same screen as you watch free satellite TV or play free video games. I fell asleep watching a YouTube of the King of Random. It was pretty cool with a lot of random facts. We had white wine with cheese, crackers, and fruit as a snack on the plane, plus some on-the-house drinks. We did have to get up and use the facilities and stretch our legs during the flight, but with so many open seats, it was easy to do that as well.

Then, we arrived. And it was time to use the restroom again. Unfortunately, there was a ginormous line in the ladies, and not a one of them a celebrity to gawk at. Oh well, do your business and get out. Then, we went to get luggage. Ours was the fourth one on the carousel, so that was pretty sweet. Then we had to wait for a shuttle to take us to the Alamo rental place. A little more time than we would have liked being as hungry as we were, but it was pretty quick to go on the kiosk, fill in all the needed stuff and pick out our car. We went with a bluish silvery Hyundai Sonata. It was big compared to my boyfriend's Toyota Scion. We loaded up, got our GPS hooked up - bringing that was smart as it would have cost us $5/day to use Alamo's GPS - and found the nearest Subway for lunch. Wow, was that more than I bargained for. For the same thing back home, it cost under $10, but in L.A. it was almost $16.

So here is the kicker, my boyfriend was telling me he found a site where it tells you how much a $100 is really worth per state. For instance, in Michigan, $100 is more like $105. In California, $100 is more like $88. Ouch, my wallet is hurting just talking about it. I probably should have done more research on that before going. But, I was there, will have to be more savvy in my search for places to eat. A little 16 ounce bottle of water was going for $3 in Cali where I was used to buying a liter of water for $1. Needless to say, I was pretty thirsty most of the time.

So, we have lunch and a car, and we put in the address for our hotel in Irvine. Boyfriend was so great at finding bargains online. At Hotels.com, this place was going for $96 a night and was close to Costa Mesa. It boasted the "I" experience on the website and it was probably the most comfortable and quiet room I ever stayed in.

We arrived about 45 minutes after we left Subway. Traffic wasn't as bad as it could have been and what we ended up experiencing later, but it was way more congested than we were used to. I think traveling south was what made the traffic lighter. In fact, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Irvine, Newport Beach and Laguna Beach traffic was way better than Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Hollywood, and Beverly Hills traffic.

We arrived at the hotel, checked in, discovered the additional cost of $18 a day for parking and took photos from our window. All the photos on this post is from our hotel room the first day. We were on the seventh floor and had a fantastic view of the mountains. After unpacking, we headed for a dip in the hot tub and pool. We had the place to ourselves after another couple left. shortly after our arrival.

Then we were famished. We went back to the hotel room, rinsed off, changed and researched places to eat. I was in the mood for fresh caught fish. The first place we found was called the California Fish Grill and ended up being a chain restaurant. It was California's version of Panera Bread, but with fish. So our next place was in Newport Beach. It was called Blue Water Grill. There was at least a fifteen minute wait and we got a nice table out on the deck right on the pier. It was beautiful to be surrounded by the boats and water as the sun set. I tried oysters on the half shell for the first time. It was not terrible, but not my favorite either. Now I can say I've had them. I ordered the Jumbo Shrimp Linguine and my boyfriend ordered the tilapia. The jumbo shrimp was large, perfectly cooked, and seasoned deliciously. The tilapia was buttery, well-seasoned and melted in your mouth like mashed potatoes. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. We had some cocktails and wine with the meal. I had my first Mai Tai - it was so yummy, but definitely put me over the pleasant buzz the wine and first cocktail had me at. I don't remember the name of the first cocktail, but it was more sweet than alcoholic tasting with a light tartness. It was tasty, but reminded me of Koolaid.

We went for a walk after dinner. It was dark and cool and there was a Bachelorette Party going on at the restaurant at an adjacent pier. Then we had a fifteen minute drive back to the hotel and we crashed the blissful crash of the exhausted traveler. First day is done. Join me next week for Day Two.

Happy Reading!

Vacay!

2014-08-20T08:21:00.001-07:00

Hurray for the Vacay!

I know you probably can't understand the excitement I am feeling right now. But, imagine you haven't gone on a true vacation for the last sixteen years and the other times you've "been somewhere" it was coupled with a major move or more involved with children than yourself. I adore my kids - don't get me wrong - but often those trips are close to home and more work than play - as many of you parents are perfectly aware of.

So, here I am, on the precipice of this vacation that was nearly twenty years in coming. The idea occurred to me that I have been in so many of the states, but haven't been to this one and I know a couple of wonderfully talented authors who live there - one of which I will be meeting for the first time!!

So, I plan to take notes of every day I'm there and will post a blog each week afterwards to describe the day. Did that make sense? Each week, I'll describe one day of my vacation. I'll get into details of where we went, who we saw, what we saw, and how much we paid. Why not. Usually when you go on vacation, it's the great money-spender of the year aside from Christmas, but I'm determined to have fun without digging too deeply into my pockets. I've been putting the research in, so soon it will be time to see if it "pays off."

Keeping my phone on and out for photos that I will post within the blog posts and ready to have a memorable time! Warning: Phone does not take the best of photos, so here's hoping they will be totally worthless.

Happy Reading!

May the Fourth

2014-05-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

Today is May the Fourth! May the Fourth be with you.

I don't know how many out there have ever seen one of the Star Wars movies, but I've seen them enough to know practically every line. I've played drinking games to the original trilogy, played the card games, roleplayed in chat rooms, and had the Star Wars themed Trivial Pursuit game. I can't imagine life without a Star Wars. I quote from the movies constantly. I love the scene where Leia confesses she loves Han as he is being put into carbonite. When someone is laughing at my expense, "Laugh it up, fuzzball" is a great line. I even speak into my hands in a Vader voice: "Luke, I am your father" for my kids. They love it. It's so cute when they say, "No you're not, you're my mother!" And I say, "And you're not Luke!"

It's an American Icon of pop culture. It's relate-able to our human experience - fighting for the rights of all sentient-kind. We can root for the underdog, whiny kid from a backwater planet (that ironically has very little water), and see the Big Bads take a fall due to the fuzzy, little Ewoks.

How much as Star Wars effected your life? Are you traditional, original trilogy followers, or follow all the movies? Have you read any of the books related to Star Wars? How do you feel about Disney purchasing the franchise and changing Star Wars Lore?

Oh, yes. The books we read in the late 1990's no longer will have a hold on the lore of the next set of movies according to an article I had forwarded to me that you can view here. While the author appears to be well versed in Star Wars Lore, he doesn't seem to have a lot of good to say about it.

Happy Reading!

Silence: Golden or Broken?

2014-02-26T15:51:00.000-08:00

Ever hear of the phrase, "Silence is Golden"? Yeah, I have too. There is so much meaning in silence. I often quote a line from Bambi when my children go flying off at the mouth on what they observe. "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." They are so familiar with the saying, they often say it with me. In this case, if you don't have anything positive to say about a person - whether it’s true or not - it's best to just be pleasant by not saying anything. Is this the golden silence?

According to The Phrase Finder, this is what is meant. In fact, they go into the history of that saying that can be dated back to Ancient Egypt. Even that civilization knew to keep some things to themselves to keep the peace. Once a word is spoken, it can't be taken back. Even the Apostle Paul berated the women for gossiping and indicated it best they remain silent in the church; he knew what stirring the pot with gossip could do to undermine the workings of the church, even in its infancy.

I often default (well, let’s not say default, how about frequently) to silence in order to collect my thoughts, judge my emotional response to something, judge my responses as appropriate for the time and people hearing them, or simply to just collect the general ambiance of a place and the people in it to mull over later. Our experience in this life is abundant with scenes that affect us. Do we ever stop to contemplate what in our environment is driving us? Maybe some quiet reflection is all that is necessary to help us to develop our own thoughts and responses outside of what we believe is “norm”. We are so driven by society’s norm, that maybe just a little cerebral workout is necessary to change the “norm”.

But, society often dictates for us what is normal. Silence can be construed as rude, or hiding something. It can be considered a manipulative tactic. And it can push labels off on individuals: snob, dumb, weak. And those labels are stuck on there with this amazing adhesive called “words”. Someone said it, someone heard it; therefore it must then be true. Once a word is spoken, it can’t be taken back.

There are so many forms of silence. There is the silence of nature. Ever just sit back and listen to the silence of a sunset? It’s wonderful beyond words.

I love the silence that ensues after my children have gone to sleep and all the electronics are off in the house.

I enjoy the silence of prayer and meditation; it seems like I can hear my own thoughts more clearly in those times, but I also feel like I can hear the universe in those moments. When the two don’t match, time to shut down the mind and slip into the universal quiet to reconnect.

There is also the unfortunate silence of death. We will miss those who have slipped into this silence. But their laughter and voices live on in our memories. In silence, we can hear them more clearly.

I try to write in silence, but I find that I just can’t. Music inspires my rhythm and generates sparks of electrical current from brain cell to brain cell until they all connect and I’m into the flow of writing practically nonstop. One-way flight to 1,000 words, please, and thank you. And I have to admit, sometimes I can’t get to sleep in silence. I have the TV on with the timer set so it won’t go all night, or I have my guided meditation CD in my computer going as I listen to Esther Hicks soft, melodious voice as she delivers Abraham’s message of the Laws of Attraction. That’s a positive-thought process of creating your own destiny. It has nothing to do with come-hither looks to brawny men.

What do you do in silence?

Happy Reading!

The Evil Social Media

2014-02-03T17:29:00.005-08:00

The Evil Social Media

I never was one to watch any reality TV. In fact, the only thing close to reality TV I watch is Ghosthunters on SyFy because I love watching the science evolve in that area of research and the personal experiences of strange phenomena the crew have during the show. But that is not the evil this particular blog is all about.

This is about social media. I get we are in the electronic age and this is now the current trend on how to communicate with our peers, family, friends, co-workers, even acquaintances. But, I wonder how real it is.
Do you feel your Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Google Plus profiles are true representations of your personality? What can you gain from them you can’t from other sites? Do you get news feeds there any different? How about sporting events? Weather? Is it the games that are the enticement? How about all the ads?

Now let’s ask the grittier questions. What do you know about the personal lives of your “friends” on those social media accounts? Is it positively uplifting? Is someone divorcing? Someone having a hard day? What did they have to eat? Where have they been? Is there too much a person can know about another’s life without it being intrusive?

I’ll say.

I think Twitter is fairly safe. On the profile page, you can have a short description – within the same range of characters as a regular post (140 characters). And “characters” means spaces too. Which means the amount of detail about yourself is limited. You can put in your marital status and number of kids If you like, but what does that really tell about you? Hopefully not too much. I only have about half as many followers as I am following and keeping up with 774 followings isn’t a piece of cake. I miss a bunch. I do, however, enjoy Pinterest shares on Twitter feeds and occasionally sharing a recipe I’m trying. I stay away from photo postings of personal stuff, but I do put my blog posts there. Being an aspiring writer, I follow others in the same boat as myself as well as the accomplished writers and publishing companies. I try to stay abreast of new developments in that area and to give my fellow writers support. Overall, I rate it as a benign place to “socialize”. Or maybe it’s my use of it that makes it so.

MySpace I have issues with figuring out how to setup my page and what to follow. It’s changed so much since I first heard about it. Even the original code I had in there for my page setup is all messed up. Is it just me, or has it turned into a place for just music? As a matter of fact, it’s been so long I’ve been on it, I don’t remember how to sign into it anymore. So, moving on.

Google Plus…. Does anyone use it other than being forced to by Google on their androids? I put people in my circles, but I don’t ever see anything from them. I notice my phone has a tendency to back up my photos into it – which I appreciate, really I do. If I decide to post them, I can; otherwise they remain hidden from everyone in my circle – which is like two. Those poor two souls never get to see anything of my photos. Oh well, such is life.

Facebook, however, seems to be the place where you can go and completely intrude on another person’s life just by being a silent observer. You can get a person’s email, phone number, marital status, number of kids, photos of their kids, photos of them (the bathroom selfies, OMG!), where they have been, where they are, what they have been eating (I’m staying clear of your house if you are having tacos again), as well as a regular accounting of their general well-being. And, quite frankly, I was tired of the constant posts about Paul Walker, gun laws, the constant reminder that its flipping snowing like the devil outside (I can see that out my window, thank you), and Obamacare. I will miss Candy Crush Saga the most, I think. So long, Level 215. It was nice seeing you, but since I deleted my Facebook account, my phone thinks it should steal the few lives I get every hour by randomly crashing because it can’t find the FB account any longer. That’s just another level of stress I don’t need. I also removed the stress of thinking someone can find photos of my children and use them for advertising or stalking my kids at school. I realize now that Facebook had sucked me down a deep, dark hole of constantly needing others approval. Now I don’t think about what other people are thinking about my profile and what I post. The notifications have ended and so has that false sense of belonging whenever someone liked something I liked or posted. That doesn’t define me. I do. Without that particular social site, I might even have energy and time to blog, write, read, and seek out only the important things on the Internet that truly inspire. I can research new things to post blogs about. I’ve already begun the process of planning it in my head. And I’ll have the time and resources to do it without the mental distraction of who did what today on Facebook. Facebook, you rank in the stank.

I realize Twitter never pulled me into its web as Facebook did. MySpace and Google Plus were bland and had a confusing structure, so they didn't take much time from my life. And now I've removed Facebook from my life, it will move on (my life that is; although I can see Facebook will survive my absence, so will I survive its absence). I can see myself becoming more productive in all things relative to my life already.

Happy Reading!

Sticks and Stones

2013-06-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

Sticks and Stones

Because I have become so sick and tired of all the branches (e.g. very large sticks) in my yard from all of the storms we have been experiencing, I decided to talk about stones today. Don’t get me wrong; I love my trees and Michigan’s summer storms, especially after the dry summer we experienced last year. I am just a little tired of the spring clean-up being extended and making playing in the backyard (and having a fire) a bit more hazardous.

But, I digress. I came here to talk about stones. Sound boring? Wait. I’m about to reveal something that isn't widely known. You know of some very well-known stones, right? Come on, think about it. Not gemstones, and not Petoskey stones. I’ll give you another hint. It’s in the shape of a ring. If you are thinking of wedding bands, I’m going to be extremely disappointed in all of you. STONEHENGE is the correct answer. Well, while they sound really awesome, it’s awfully expensive to go overseas to view them and I've heard you can’t even touch them anymore due to erosion. I can tell you of some stonehenges in the United States that you probably weren't aware of before. A couple of them are in my native state of Michigan, just you still can’t touch one of them – they’re a bit hard to get to.

So, I’ll start with America’s Stonehenge. It’s located in Salem, New Hampshire and they have tours offered for a fee (you can even snowshoe and see alpacas). No visa required! It’s a fantastic touristic attraction and no one knows for sure who built it or when. It could be as old as 4,000 years old. William Goodwin was known to have done some quarrying around the area, but others are convinced there are pre-Columbian and “Old World” evidence. But there is evidence of Native American occupation at some point too. Sounds like a great place to visit and see for yourself what you think is really there and how old it really is. Circa 1907.

Then there’s Sam Hills Henge which is a replica of England’s Stonehenge located in Maryhill, Washington. This was built as a memorial dedicated to the fallen of Klickitat County in World War I. He was a bit confused about the function of the original Stonehenge, believing it was a place of human sacrifice. He’s reportedly buried at the base of the bluff it was built on overlooking the Columbia River. Circa 1931.

For my southern friends and acquaintances, you can always go visit the Georgia Guidestones. Located in Nuberg, Georgia, this replica has its origins deep in mystery. No one knows the true name of the person wanting it built. A granite company near the site was approached by a man reportedly called “R.C. Christian” who was carrying a model of the Stonehenge in a shoe box and had very specific requirements of it. The company built it and became $50,000 wealthier, but the “R.C. Christian” disappeared from existence after making the deposit. There are several messages in many languages carved on the six stones that make up this replica, one of which demanding we not become a cancer on the earth. Circa 1980.

For the fun-loving, quirky folks visiting this page, you might want to see Carhenge. Apparently, this all started with a family reunion and also became a memorial. Wish mine were so fun! (Uh, reunions, not memorials.) So, for my Midwestern folks, a visit to Alliance, Nebraska will bring you to the site of some ancient cars (or classic as the case may be) set up like the ancient stones of Great Britain. It’s a mechanic’s delight! Be sure to visit the site’s new visitor’s center and the adjacent car-art sculpture park. Circa 1987.

Then there’s Stonehenge II in Kerrville, Texas. Not actually stone, except for the single limestone piece the idea sprung from, but steel frames covered in plaster. There are some Easter Island heads at this site too. Guess it Al Shepperd thought that another Stonehenge would be better than a fake UFO crash. I would have gone with UFOs just to be different. Circa 1989.

Now, I’m asking you…FOAMHENGE? I think we are way too far away from stone to be even close to interesting now. But, if you want to see a foam replica of Stonehenge, you can see it in Natural Bridge, Virginia. Circa 2004.

And the last ridiculous one I’m going to talk about before getting serious again is Stonefridge. Ok, I’m just going to say it, the guy who built it was a bit nuts. Adam Horowitz spent nine years working on a 200+ refrigerator monument that looks like Stonehenge, but is not even remotely close to replicating it. It just looks like it – with painted refrigerators. And he decided to have it made by workers wearing loincloths and using teepee poles, ropes, pulleys, and muscle to build it. He totally set himself up for the vandals who reportedly set off bombs inside the refrigerators. Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico. Circa 1997. Thankfully removed for good in 2007.

Ok, so back to Michigan. In 2007 (how ironic is that?), researchers from Northern Michigan College were using a new sonar system to map the bottom of Lake Michigan for evidence of historical events since archaeology cannot be successfully conducted underwater. During the scans they found old cars, a ring of stones, buggies, boats, Civil-war era piers, and a stone which appears to have a mastodon carved into it. The stone carving hasn't been verified by the “experts” yet since none are trained in scuba diving, but some believe that it and the ring of stones it was a part of could date back 10,000 years. That is when humans and mastodons were believed to be in that part of Michigan (Grand Traverse Bay). These are just another set of standing stones found in the Michigan area. Beaver Island has a stone circle discovered in 1985 (again, there’s some irony in there if you’re a Back to the Future fan).

References to some of these incredible and incredulous information is in part from an NBCNEWS.com article entitled “America Unhenged: 7 great Stonehenge Replicas”, although America’s Stonehenge doesn't sound like a replica…. Oh well.

Happy Reading!

Discouraged

2013-06-24T19:05:00.001-07:00

In a word…discouraged

Well, exactly what I thought would happen did directly after my editor looked over and marked up my novel. I lost my desire to write more. I think about all the time I put in just to feel like it’s not good or good enough for public consumption. Seeing all the blocks, all the nit-picking details requested, all the sections being written out and the sections requiring rewrite has effectively put a stop to my writing. If you have noticed, I haven’t blogged, I haven’t gone on Twitter, I haven’t pulled up any of my drafts to work on…. It just wasn't worth seeing all the red anymore. I haven’t even been reading and seeking new inspiration. And at the same time the world seems to be taking on black and white dimensions instead of the full color brilliance I am so used to.

I need to write, though. Even as discouraged as I am, I know in my heart and deep in my marrow that this is what I must do in order to feel complete. Has anyone felt this discouraged and off course before? Have you found your way back?

I could use a few pointers….

Warning: Graphic Photo Within

2012-10-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

WARNING!! GRAPHIC PHOTO WITHIN THIS BLOG

Surprised?

I know. You were probably expecting far worse, so this should be a source of some relief. This was the surprise awaiting me when I came home from work today. This is a nice surprise. I praised and praised my cats for the gift - because it keeps the rodent population down and that means there will be fewer in my house and in my inhumane traps.

But, don't you wish more sites came with some sort of warning regarding the content?

Recently, I was seeking costume ideas. Having lost a significant amount of weight, I wanted to wear something tasteful as I took my children around for trick or treating. I mean - goodness - I haven't lost that much weight, but it does make me feel better about myself to want to be noticed a wee bit.

Since one child is going as an angel and the other a cheerleader, I thought I would have a costume as a Disney character. This is the type of stuff I found:

Unfortunately, my children were looking over my shoulder while I was doing the search and pointing out how they were pretty dresses and giving their input on which one I should get. I don't know about you, but I don't remember any of these Disney characters wearing dresses that short and revealing. I'm just a mom trying to find a costume to wear alongside my kids, but it appears like the majority of the women seeking costumes are college-aged women intending to party it up on Halloween. Well, that's the impression I'm getting from the type of costumes available in these search engines.

I explained to the girls that Mommy wasn't comfortable wearing so little clothes on a very cold Halloween night while trick-or-treating and moved on in my search for something less revealing. So, I looked for more generic ideas such as fortune teller, pirate, etc. and all of my size were taken. Guess the other moms got to them first. After hours of searching I finally found the perfect costume:

And just in time too. There are none left. This was way more the type of costume I was hoping for. Tasteful and non-threatening and long enough that I might not need a coat.

On a side note, there is a Zombie Walk in Kalamazoo, Michigan this weekend to try for the Guinness World Records. My sister plans on going and asked me to join her and her boyfriend. They are going as hippie zombies. This created a hunt for another costume - a scary one that won't be appreciated by my offspring. I am going as a corpse bride. I'll try to get photos and post them in a follow up after the weekend.

So, now for the readers to chime in. How many parents out there still dress up for Halloween?

Happy Reading!

The Never-ending Triathlon of Life

2012-09-20T18:01:00.001-07:00

Ever feel like you're juggling too much? That could be the reason why you haven't heard from me since July. Since the draft of my paranormal romance was completed and I found beta readers to assist in critiquing it, I've been juggling that with work and the kids heading back to school. I even managed to work a bit in the back yard and started working on weight loss (have to look good for that author's page and all the websites that will be going up as a result; please see the new badge on my blog).

So, add all that up, sprinkle in some major cleaning activities, fair trips, four new goldfish to take care of, birthday parties, vacation bible school, and very little me time and you have one tired out writer mama who dropped the ball on her blog followers. I would apologize, but I'm sure many of you have had the same things happen in your life. So my apology will come in the form of a follow up.

As a follow up to the last post, I have to say that two out of five beta readers have given me their input on the book; very favorable responses both of them. I've been editing the draft and am up to the middle of the book so far. I've added in two chapters and a prologue so far along with the editing. I'm having a slight problem with formatting, which I am going to try to hold off on fixing until I'm done with the editing. Once I'm done with editing and formatting, I will have to find an editor. Anybody know anyone reasonably priced?

After the editing, I'm hoping to snag a few ARC readers to do a preliminary read and review on the book before I actually publish. My goal is to have all this done to have a release date between December 1st and 15th. ~knock on wood~ Anyone have a spare four-leaved clover? I may need to borrow a silver horseshoe for the front door, too. People have those laying around, right?

Until next time....

Happy reading!

Unfinished Work

2012-07-09T18:33:00.001-07:00

Hello, Sia followers!

Did you ever have way too many irons in the fire. Having a yard for the first time to work with has given me way too many projects to do outside. I managed to finish using Mold Armour to get the disgusting green mold off the outside of my house and it's a beautiful baby blue again (I didn't put the mold there in the first place; that was the previous owner). I got rid of that awful pile of wood and I even have a deck, table, and grill set up. I still need to get a photo of my new shed too. Still haven't used it - need some tidying up first - but it will really improve the state of my yard. Then, there's my most recent addition to the yard - an unfinished tree bench. I would have had this done back in June, but the screws kept acting stripped and pulling apart as soon as you finish a section. Then between long hours at work and the heat wave/drought we've been having, I've been trying to stay in the A/C to keep cool and hydrated. So, it remains unfinished.

Another unfinished project is the raised bed I was supposed to have gotten put together last summer to start a garden in. I had these big plans to start with one raised bed and put chicken wire around it for a place for the sugar snap peas and green beans to grow. And, if it was successful, I was hoping to add another each summer until I am able to have enough produce over the summer and some to freeze and can. Well, that hasn't happened either. Which, considering the drought, might be a good thing.

Some people believe one of the reasons why spirits still walk this earth is because of unfinished business here. I really hope my unfinished yard work doesn't become my unfinished business - roaming my yard and wailing about the work to still be done. Oh, wait.... Did that last week. Ok, moving on.
So, yes, I believe in ghosts. I've been on ghost hunts and have been slowly collecting all the equipment I would need to help in measure activity. I have an EMF detector, my phone has an application that supposedly picks up voices, and I have dousing rods. I even took a class and have a signed certificate saying I have completed a ghost-hunting course that included hands on experience.
Recently I have practically become a specter to my Twitter and Facebook friends and family. I've been so wrapped up in doing anything but go on the computer and finish the draft of my first Atlantean book that I am sure you all have been wondering where I have been and what I have been up to. Well, I was afraid. Honestly afraid of finishing the first draft. I was afraid to get the book out there to be criticized and found lacking. I was afraid of editing - because I felt like I would be cutting up something I poured so much of myself and my life into. I was afraid of costs to get a hard copy to beta readers. I had found just about anything and everything to be afraid of. But, I should have been afraid of never finishing.
Needless to say, the draft is done and now I am in the process of brainstorming cover ideas to give myself a wee break before I dive into editing. Anything keeping you from finishing your life's work?
Happy Reading!

Starting Fires

2012-07-03T18:03:00.002-07:00

I have a story to tell you about an outdoor experience I had at the beginning of June and some insights I received while working at it. Imagine you have a pile of wood like I have shown above. Yes, this is a real pile of wood. It was nearly the height of a man of six feet. My children, myself, and my ex-husband had gathered this wood together over the course of a week or two and it has been sitting in my yard, marinating. I was planning on having a birthday party outside at my place and had to be rid of this monstrosity. I was taught that to get a fire going, you have to start little fires, and, considering its considerable size and mass, I knew I would be putting these little fires all around until it caught.

It
took
me
an
hour
to
get
it
to
look
like
this:

Then it blessedly took off!

Patience and perseverance was necessary to get the blaze needed to consume the monstrous horde. The insight I received from this work was that people are often setting off small flames in their lives, hoping to find the all-consuming blaze. That was too metaphorical. To put it bluntly: exploring relationships hoping that one day they will find their one true love. Or, enjoying the small flames, but moving on as soon as they blow out in search for the next brief fire to enjoy the small warmth from and never nurturing something into the blaze it could be. If I had given up 15 minutes before the little fires took off, I would not have accomplished the goal I set out to achieve and that huge pile of wood would still be cluttering up my back yard.

So, the fire blazed for a long while. I was always close to the flames trying to push in the branches with my bare hands closer to the blaze or watering the surrounding grasses to keep it from getting out of hand. Last thing my neighbor needed was a grass fire heading to his new home.

That was when the next insight hit me: when we have accomplished something, there is still work to maintain it. When you find the flame you've been looking for (whether a job, relationship, education, or enlightenment), you have to continue working at it or you will lose it. As an aspiring author, I have been neglecting my writing because I have been putting my energy in maintaining familial relationships, reading for a yearly goal, working overtime to get caught up to enjoy my vacations/time-off guilt-free, keeping up with my health issues, and keeping up with the yard work. I had plenty of excuses, but I was still neglecting something important to me and now I find myself with writers block - again. It's time to get back to work, regardless of the discomfort getting close to the fire will bring.

And like all great blazes, even this one began to die down.

Even at this level, the flames were hot enough that my face felt seared and puffed with redness as though I was sunburned. At this stage, I was gathering more around the periphery to throw into the center and risking my shoes in the hot embers surrounding the still burning limbs.

That's when I found this:

This snake was hiding under a large piece of bark trying to find a safe warm place to stay for the night when I stumbled upon it. We managed to eye each other cautiously without having any issues before I moved on with my task. I kept a wide berth of the area I found it in to avoid making it nervous. Unfortunately, the cold was increasing and the snake decided to look for warmth. The most promising warmth it was feeling was the fire mere inches from its cold-blooded body. So, naturally - although remarkably suicidal - it got closer to the fire.

I know this is difficult to see in this photo. The light was fast disappearing and I was a little unnerved to find the snake getting closer to the white embers. It didn't stop that close, but got even closer, especially as the flames died down to the hot embers. The snake acted like it didn't know it was in danger and continued to get closer and closer. I went around the fire, closer to its location, and it reared back and hissed and snapped at me threateningly. I understood and backed up, but it foolishly entered the hot embers and immediately began rolling in pain. I grabbed the hose and doused it liberally, but it lay belly up for the longest time, I was certain it had died. I approached it again, but again it rallied and snapped at me threateningly, even though it was wounded. And I finally left it alone.

The next insight I received was how people search for warmth like this snake did and end up hurting themselves. As though desperate in their loneliness, they throw away their good sense and self-preservation, taking unnecessary risks to have just a moment of warmth from outside of themselves. Sometimes the journey is uncomfortable and cold, but it is much better to seek out a safe, warm place by traveling through the cold, dewy grass than to go up in flames. And, when people are hurt because of bad choices, they often strike out at those who are trying to help, just as this poor snake did.

Back in February, I blogged about Past Revealed for Future Growth. In it I mentioned the Temple of the Sacred Flame. Lessons from the element of fire are often painful, but memorable. Recently I found a site that gives the location of the temple in Luxor, Egypt. The site mentions how this once great temple is now a retreat for those wishing to ascend. When you have succeeded in elevating your perceptions, you can move on toward the next room and the next insight. I succeeded in gaining insights in every day work without having to go all the way to Luxor, or deprive myself of anything in my daily life such as my work, children, family, food or goals.

Don't set yourself up to believe one thing only. Life is about the revelations to come and you can move forward if you just remain open to Possibility. Let go; let life move forward; and happy reading.

Have you Googled yourself lately?

2012-05-08T17:23:00.002-07:00

Ever try to Google yourself? I did today. I'm pretty easy to find between the Gmail account, Twitter account, Facebook account, Linkedin account, this blog, and the blogs I comment on. I even discovered today I'm the only person with my name (First and Last) in Michigan and the United States.
I wonder what the pros and cons are of having as much exposure to myself as I have. My grandparents are from the era that anything they hear in the news will happen to you. Identity theft is something I am being continually harrassed about at home. I'm constantly being reminded that I can endanger myself, my children, my finances, and my reputation if I put anything on my Facebook or Twitter feeds that would be considered "too personal". Since I'm the only person with my name, I would think it would be easy to find someone impersonating me.

But, being an aspiring author, you also have to consider exposure as a good thing. The more traffic to your blog, the better you'll be received into the community of authors you need to have as your support base. The better your writing on that blog, the more interest you'll receive from book reviewers, publishers, agents, etc. Word of mouth used to be your ally with respect to your reputation as an author, politician, caretaker and other pursuits. But in the age of technology, being found in a search engine so someone can see who you are, where you are from and where you are going is today's "word of mouth". If you are on Google, you just may be somebody.

"I'm ready for my close up, Mr. DeMille."

Happy Reading!

There is a Talented Author Within - Where did she go?

2012-05-06T06:57:00.000-07:00

The writing world is a fascinating place. From day to day you are in the groove and have the muse dancing around you singing your brilliance one moment, then at a standstill staring at a blank screen or piece of white paper the next. Sound frustrating? You bet!

There are some funny memes going around about the concept of a writer. Here are a couple of them:

These are definitely worth the words unspoken and implied. There are days where I read what I have written and feel like someone else wrote it. "She's a genius," I think. Then, I go to add to my masterpiece and feel like this:

Having that kind of week right now. I open up my documents and read a bit to get into the feel of the next scene and find myself staring at nothing, or managing to type only 100 words before I flounder and give up. I know the key to working through writer's block is to just keep writing, even if its nonsensical jibberish you'll only delete later. But, it can be daunting to write up 800 words of jibberish to just delete later and find yourself back at page 2 when you were on page 22.

I just want to move forward!

Happy Reading!

Easter Around the World

2012-04-09T19:25:00.004-07:00

I know this is a day after the fact, but sometimes the best time to reflect on something is after it already happened. After all, hindsight is 20/20 while foresight is often blind.

In Christianity, the celebration of Easter is about Jesus rising from the dead. He was reborn as a full man into the same life three days after his death. Why? To let everyone know his sacrifice was to cover their sins. He was the sacrificial lamb, so it would no longer be necessary to slaughter animals to cover their sins and appease God.

Baptism in Christianity is a symbol of rebirth as well. With Baptists you are fully immersed in water to symbolize you being buried in the earth with Christ and, as you are lifted up, you are born again into a renewed life where Christ is your center.

In Egypt, the Ankh is a symbol of rebirth. Look at the symbol. It looks like someone standing tall with their arms out. Where the heart would be there is a shield. A shield is a weapon as well as a means of defense. You cannot stop your enemy's sword without one.

The ankh is also called the "key of life" or translated in heiroglyphs as "eternal life". The gods were often depicted carrying these symbols, sometimes carrying two at a time. Isis in particular was known to be associated with this symbol and was also the goddess to have brough Osiris back from the dead.

In Greece, Persia, China, Israel, and other areas the Phoenix is the symbol of rebirth.

The phoenix must suffer pain and fire before being able to be birthed from its own ashes. An author colleague of mine, Angela Wallace, had done a fantastic job blogging on the Phoenix in June of 2011. Her research went into a book called, Phoenix Feather, which is a delightful read and it's available at Amazon.

The Native Americans have ceremonies where those leaving childhood behind to enter into adulthood receive a new name. This is a form of recognizing the death of one life and the entering into a new one. But, Native Americans, also believed in the existence of the soul and its rebirth into new lives. Warren Jefferson wrote a book entitled, Reincarnation beliefs of North American Indians, where he narrates a Winnebago Shaman's two previous lives and what happened inbetween them.

Then there is the ultimate symbol to represent rebirth, renewal, reincarnation: infinity. The twisting band goes on forever, never meeting its beginning or end because neither exist This is what I think of in terms of our soul: never-ending.

I'm sure there are far more to discuss, but what will I write about next year if I pen them all now?

I hope you enjoyed your weekend and have a fabulous week.

Happy Reading!

One of the Lucky Ones

2012-04-02T16:18:00.000-07:00

While I technically didn't get officially elected, I'm taking from James Garcia Jr.'s post and Tameri Etherton's post that I have been unofficially selected to be a winner of the Lucky 7 Meme. Thanks, Jimmy and Tameri! Happy Birthday to you both as well! So, with no further ado, let's see what we have.

Here are the rules:
1) Go to page 77 of your current WIP.
2) Go to line 7.
3) Copy down the next seven sentences, lines, paragraphs (I've seen it done many ways).
4) Tag 7 other authors.
5) Let them know.

I've elected to post seven paragraphs per item 3) above. Please be forewarned, there is very adult content here. I even had to change my blog's settings for mature content. This is from my upcoming first book of a trilogy on Atlantis. The current working title is Before Atlantis: From Mediterranean to Mesopotamia.

“How to service me.”

            Her will rose to the surface, wanting to do something violent to this man to protect her freedom, but she forced her docile expression to stay fixed. “I am a seeress of my people, not a whore, Yemeni, although I know there are followers of this army who are very well versed in the art of servicing men of your tastes.” She wanted to suggest he summon one of them, but held her tongue. The violence in his expression spiked and she was treated to another slap across the face, opening up her lip. She tasted her own blood, but didn’t wipe it from her face as she looked up at him with childlike hurt in her expression.
            “None of them look as fresh and rare as you, woman,” he said, his voice dripping with contentment with the blood on her face.
            She bowed her head feigning her acceptance of her fate. “Will I be yours alone or shared by all the men?” she asked in a meek voice.
            Yemeni looked at the men who brought her in and ordered them out to guard the entrance to the tent. Inwardly she grinned in triumphant. He came closer to her and grabbed her hair to pull her up. The pain that lanced through her skull was intense and caused her muscles to clench and try to curl away only to cause her more pain in her neck and shoulders as he nearly dragged her to a pallet with cushions adorning it. He threw her on the cushions and began to peel off his robes. She sent a quick inner probe to ensure her child was safe, then rose to her knees and grinned at him.
            Yemeni paused in removing his breeches at her strange smile. She curled a beckoning finger to him. Surprised, he moved closer and she put her hands on his thighs, ignoring the throbbing member jutting up at her from his breeches that still required removal. Her blue eyes bore into his. Suddenly, he collapsed beside her. Sighing, she rubbed her head at the ache and felt new warmth on her upper lip. Swiping at her nose, she discovered by the red smear on her wrist that blood was dripping from it. She sighed. Too much power use for her body. She will be helpless soon. She ripped Yemeni’s robes into strips and bound him. After ensuring his bonds were sufficient, she touched his temples and infiltrated his mind, trying to find something good to work from.

Chapter 14

Ashur was in no condition to give commands. No nightly attack would happen. No one wished to risk harming Nimuan while she was in the enemy camp and Ashur was coaxed away from the front line by his mother in the early morning hours. She took him home and managed to get him to sit on his pallet in his room. She fixed him some tea and brought it to him, startled to find him in the exact place and position she left him in. Light was beginning to brighten the sky as she knelt before him and cupped a hand to the cup she handed him that steamed. His grip took the stone cup, but he simply held it.

Now for the seven nominees. So many have already received this wonderfully fun award, so it will be a difficult choice.

1. Rose Pressey
2. Angela Wallace
3. Amaleen Ison
4. Kait Nolan
5. Michelle Krys
6. Jackie Miller
7. M.E. Franco

If it seems random, it was. I tried to go through my Twitter follower list and looked at a bunch of you to see if you have 1) a blog and 2) not received this award yet. I'm looking forward to seeing what those lucky 7 have for their WIP excerpts.

Happy Reading!

Movie Scenes - Fun stuff

2012-03-28T17:44:00.002-07:00

Movie Scenes - Fun Stuff

Ever have a movie you can watch over and over again and laugh at the same scene each time? The sad truth with me is that I enjoy watching movies multiple times and there are some that one particular scene will always get me to laugh. Here are the top five I would recommend.

1. The Tenth Kingdom (Miniseries, instead of Movie):

The scene is when a character from New York in this realm of fairy tales is trying to find the correct door to get to the main ballroom and save the guests who are going to be fed a death potion by the evil queen. There is a frog in this room with two doors. The frog said that one door will lead to a horrible death while the other will lead to where they need to go. The frog warns that he will tell them which door, but will always lie. The New Yorker grabs the frog, shaking him. You can hear the frog say, "Don't tough me there. Only my wife can touch me there." The New Yorker starts hollering at the frog about how ridiculous it is to have a door that leads to a horrible death. He takes the frog to a door, opens it and throws the frog in, who is swallowed up by fire. That was probably a much faster way to find the correct door than deal with a frog speaking in riddles.

2. Galaxy Quest:

There is a scene where Tim Allen's character is stuck on the planet and wakes up to a pig-lizard snorting at him. He thinks it's his foe and is trying to fight the creature off while talking on the communicator. His friends suggest he get digitized back to the ship but they need to test it first. They digitize the pig-lizard first and the creature is inside out when it shows up on the ship. "Commander Taggart" wants to know why everyone screamed and "Lt. Madison" (played by Sigourney Weaver) tries to blow it off as nothing and the alien says, "But the animal is inside out" in a deadpan voice and a smile on his face. They are trying to work out what to do when the creature blew up. The alien said, "And it exploded" in the same deadpan voice with a goofy smile.

3. The Pacifier:

I love this movie. You get to see a buff man wearing a baby Bjorn slung around him, taking on the challenge of a poopy diaper, and being teased about the size of his "boobs" by a bunch of girl scouts. There is a scene where Vin Diesel is talking with the mother of the children he will be watching over when the pet duck comes up from the side and bites his ear. I bust up every time I see it.

4. Oscar:

What is more funny than a crooked mobster trying to go straight? Sylvester Stallone trying to be a crooked mobster trying to go straight and unable to find the correct black bag. There were three black bags in this movie: one with $50,000 in jewels; another with $50,000 in cash; and a third with women's underwear. Every time "Snaps" Provolone (hey, one of my favorite cheeses) tries to bribe someone with $50,000 he ends up offering women's underwear. Those scenes always elicit a laugh out of me.

5. Last, but not least, The Princess Bride:

This one is the hardest because it happens to be my all-time favorite movie. There are so many places where I just crack up every time (we're talking in the hundreds of times here) I watch it. It just keeps getting better, every time I see it! But how do you chose from the scenes that are funny? There is the rhyming scenes between Inigo and Fezzik. I always laugh when Fezzik says, "Anybody want a peanut?" Then, there is the scene with Miracle Max. I do a fair impression of Valerie, his wife. "Liar! Liiiiiaaaarrr!!" And, of course, the battle scene where Fezzik has to put poor Westley's arms in a suit of armor to hold him up while he goes to push a door open for Inigo. If you haven't seen this yet, I apologize for all the spoilers. So, now that I have named three scenes, I have come to the conclusion on this one.

What's your favorite funny movie scene?

For my next post, come back just before Easter for a little religious education on its meaning what other religions share with Easter.

Happy Reading!

What's so Fun about Music?

2012-03-12T18:28:00.001-07:00

To the Muse Euterpe

Those of you following me on Twitter or Facebook will have noticed that I have been on a treadmill regime. The Muse of Euterpe is the Muse of Song. I'm going to list the songs in my playlist that keep me motivated and give you some thoughts about each as to why I selected it.

The Playlist on my Cloud Player is called "Move it Move it":

1. Funkytown by Lipps, Inc. (For some reason this is on every Just Dance game we have at home for the Wii and it has just the right sound to keep me going.)

2. Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5. (Ok, just more motivational dance-like music here.)

3. Mambo No. 5 by Lou Bega (I know it sounds like a strange choice, but it's like Swing music to me and I adore Swing music. Has nothing to do with the sexism. Nada.)

4. Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F) by Katy Perry (Don't be so surprised. This one cracks me up. You'll find a lot of Katy Perry in this list.)

5. Firework by Katy Perry (See! I told you! This was another one I took from our Wii Just Dance game.)

6. Brick House by Commodores (It's from the Muppets, and I adore the Muppets. Specifically its from "Muppets in Space". "She's mighty, mighty; letting it all hang out" says it all.)

7. Hot N Cold by Katy Perry (I imagine she's talking to a guy in this one, which makes me think I would love to say this to a few men in my past too; plus another steal from Wii game.)

8. Play that Funky Music by Wild Cherry (I am! Can't you tell by my list so far?)

9. Dynamite by Taio Cruz (I'm celebrating my life by working off my butt on the treadmill, duh!)

10. Closer by Nine Inch Nails (Ok, it's just raw and sexy as hell, ok? Wild, passionate, crazy and I love to slow my pace to it.)

11. I Like to Move It from Madagascar (I picture that goofy lemur dancing around, that's why! I try channeling the crazy creature into my limbs to keep moving, moving.)

12. Pump up the Jam by Technotronic ("Make my day, make my day!" Good music to walk to. ~shrug~ I know, nothing funny about that.)

13. Eye of the Tiger by Survivor (This happens to be one of my twin's favorite from the Wii. It also makes me feel like the sweat is worth it. If you check out my profile here, you'll see I adore tigers, especially white ones.)

14. Hips Don't Lie by Shakira (Because by the time this one begins playing my hips are screaming!)

15. Baby Boy by Beyonce (To go with the yummy photo on the left that I have printed and sitting on my treadmill to remind me of a good reason to keep going.)

16. I'm Too Sexy by Right Said Fred (Ok, this sounds crazy, but I like this one because I am imagining Vin Diesel strutting his stuff down a catwalk to this song. Love yah, Vin! ~wolf whistles~ Shake that boo-tay!)

17. American Idiot by Green Day (Good angry music. Sometimes it takes getting anger or laughter to keep you moving. Ok, to keep me moving! Picky, picky PC language. ~huff~)

18. Enter Sandman by Metallica (Because every workout playlist should have Metallica?)

19. Jump in Line by The Hit Crew (I've been crazy about this one since hearing it on Beetlejuice. But, it would totally freak me out if I just rose up in the air like Winona Ryder while listening to it.)

20. Rock your Body by Justin Timberlake (~facepalm~ You would think I wouldn't want a reminder of the 2004 Super Bowl, but I try to think about how I am rocking my body so it will look good enough for pasties? ~blinks~ Did I just type that? That is so not me. Who was typing that? Cat! Don't act so innocent in that bag. I know what you were doing when I was putting the laundry in the dryer.)

Happy Reading!

Birthday Humor

2012-03-05T21:25:00.000-08:00

Last Monday, February 27th marked my 37th birthday. And above is a photo of me as a baby. Aw, ain't I cute?

I'm going to step to the side of my current course of my journey to get into a part of myself I absolutely love - my sense of humor. March is then going to mark "Laughs via Sia". You can laugh with me or at me, I don't mind. I love an audience when I start getting into the "goof" mode.

Something that really gave me a laugh on my birthday was some of the cards I received.

The one from my niece and nephew read, "Happy Birthday to a special aunt who is one in a...

Million...open
Billion...open
Trillion, zillion...open
Bajillion, gazillion.

I'd go on, but that's as high as I can count!"

Can you believe they can count that high? One just turned eight and the other just turned five. They are just so smart! What are they putting in McDonald's fries nowadays!?!

Then the one from my sister read, "Happy Birthday, Sis (inside of a ballon held by a cat that looks suspiciously like my cat, Custard). You know growing up with you sure had a big effect on me...:

Inside: The cat's fur is all puffed up, its teeth are showing in a big grin with its tongue sticking out and a "finger" on the front tooth. "But don't worry - my therapist says I'm improving every day..."

I loved it! My grandfather's card was even more snort worthy (that's pretty major if you can get me to laugh until I snort). Unfortunately, I can't give you all the details on it since the card isn't here in my home, but I can say it was about nuts in the family and a squirrel proudly showing off his. O.o Ok, I know some of you just had your brain in the gutter. Get it back out and wash it off, it had a wallet with fold-out photos coming out like an accordion showing all his squirrelly family members in various poses. My grandfather is 84! Anything suggestive would send him into a heart attack, people. Not to mention he's the most prudish man I have ever met.

Then, of course, there was the walk down memory lane as I hunted down photos to send some a very special someone for her upcoming birthday. Here's a treat to my readers:

Look, I was a nerd! I played clarinet in high school marching band. Don't our antiquated uniforms suck? I swear those were from the 70's, maybe the 60's. All wool and not fun to wear at all in the summer.

Then there was the bonus find of my first book ever! "The Weird Weeks" was the title. I think I was in the fifth grade. Had my sister cracking up to read it. I just read it; there was no point to it. Somehow, considering the type of child I was, I think that was the point.

Ok, going to wrap this up. Next post expect around St. Paddy's day!

Happy Reading!

Musing on Muses - Melpomene

2012-02-18T16:59:00.000-08:00

A Tragedy: Ode to Melpomene and her sisters the Moirae

I had a problem and took it to the Fates.

Clotho, the spinner, I addressed first. “I wish to change my life,” I said.

Clotho, the youngest, smiled at me and said, "Go to my sister, Lachesis. I weave your life into being, but she picks your lot in life."

I turned to Lachesis, the middle-aged, to request, "I wish to change my lot in life."

"Your lot is now set and entangled with the lives you affect.”

So, I turned to her sister, Atropos, the eldest and asked, "Can you change my life?"

She turned her rheumy eyes toward mine and croaked, "The change I bring will end your life and you are young, yet. Disentangle your life and live it."

I turned to leave them, unhappy. But, Clotho spoke again. "Why do you wish for this?"

I turned and watched her spin. "I suffer."

Lachesis laughed. She plucked up a beautiful string and held it out to me. The colors of the ocean made up the strand, but the weave was broken and entangled with colors that did not match it. "You sought colors that didn't suit yours. It is no wonder."

"I thought you controlled my lot," I said.

"No, the gods decreed your free will," she answered. "I choose how much string you shall have."

I lifted the string to my face and studied its twists and breaks. Suddenly, I saw the design it should have. I saw my own mistakes.

Then a greater design had lain over my sight and it showed me a beautiful tapestry. I saw what I should have done and what I should have been.

"She sees," croaked old Atropos as she readied her sharp shears. Snick went the shears as they sliced through the string.

Down I went, my face stained with tears. The tears flowed into the wrinkles that had marked my face with age. I had waited too long to turn the page.

Past Revealed for Future Growth

2012-02-12T19:53:00.000-08:00

Anyone with a 401K should know that the above photo is good growth for your future. Few know, or believe, that this photo could also represent your karma over the course of past, present, and future lives. I'm not going to get into the "proof" of past lives as much as I'm going to reveal two meditations and the past life information passed on to me for my future growth in this incarnation. For each soul's journey, it is based on personal revelation that doesn't require others to accept for you to learn and grow from it.

Temple of the Sacred Flame

While I was with the Arthurian/Old Welsh pagan group, one person had a good idea to have a writing club of sorts. Once a month, we would get together and present something we have written that helps us in our spiritual growth. At the time I was working on finding an elemental representation for the four corners (that's another term for the points on the compass). I did west first, which was water and by far the easiest. Air was the second easier for east, and north/earth was fairly easy as well. The only hang up I was having was connecting with fire to get my elemental for the south.

So, I sat down in a meditation determined to break through the block. What I didn’t realize at the time was what the universe decided to show me as a result. I will write it below in a story form to give you the whole experience as I felt, saw, and reacted to it.

After my body relaxed, my mind felt suspended between this world and the next. I could only see darkness until I opened my mind’s eyes and I was standing in another world.

It was night and I was just outside the stone gate of an impressive stone building. It was encircled with a stone trench in which a fire burned. The fire rode up the archway that stood as the entrance into the inner courtyard. I passed through the entrance and walked down a stone path to the temple. I knew this place. It was rectangular with obelisks on the four corners. Instead of a pyramid cap on the obelisks, a flame topped each one.

I ducked slightly on entering the stone temple and was greeted by servants who directed me to a room to the left where I could shed my clothes and put on a white robe. Then, I walked through another door on the right where stone benches were set within the middle of the room. Many were already seated in this room and there was a priest at the head of the room, softly directing a meditation. I sat down and followed the guided meditation to let go of things past, let go of my negative self and seek inner purification.

After the meditation, there was an antechamber to the right where a servant handed me a strigil and bowl of oil as I passed through into a larger room that blasted me with humidity. The oil was seasoned with specific herbs from the area to speed up the purifying effects of the sauna – one of which I recognized as cassia oil. The sauna also had benches like the meditation room, this time laid with cloth so the bench wouldn’t burn you as you sat on it. Here I applied oil to my exposed skin and use the strigil to slough off the excess as an additional meditation on purification. After the third application, it was time to enter another antechamber to have the servants take the strigil and empty bowl and hand me a thin cloth to serve as a towel as I pass through into another room to the right. In this room was a large pool. I handed a servant the cloth, then slid into the pool, my heated skin from the sauna was cooled by the tepid water and I swam to the other side to the exit. Another servant handed me a cloth and I dried myself the best I could as I entered into the next room.

This is the antechamber to the Sacred Flame. Knowledge of the legend of the Sacred Flame filled my mind as I walked into this empty chamber where two servants waited on either side of the door to the labyrinth. Legend around the Sacred Flame was that a god came from the sky and gave mankind the Sacred Flame, starting with the first priest and priestess to tend it. It was carried within an urn before the temple was built and the Sacred Flame itself gave instructions on what should be within the temple and be required of those coming to seek its wisdom. The labyrinth was a way of initiating the mind’s higher frequencies before seeing the Sacred Flame and those who do not achieve that higher frequency only saw a bowl in the center of the room the labyrinth ended at with nothing in it.

A successful person would see a flame within the bowl that needed no oil or some other flammable material to maintain its fire. No heat would come from the flame either, but it provided light immeasurable. The Sacred Flame would form a face to speak with or a creature such as a fire drake or dragon for the person to identify with. If bidden, one must climb the stairs leading to the large bowl and enter the flame for direct communication.

When I had finished the labyrinth walk, I met the bowl with a flame within. I was bidden to enter it for direct communication. Once inside the flame, I was shown myself as a Nubian priestess who once tended the Sacred Flame. I was shown that Nubians once ruled Egypt and this temple was located in the southern kingdom near the Nubian homelands. This was before the Great Pyramids were built. I had six children, all tall and strong and blessed by the Sacred Flame. Now the Temple of the Sacred Flame only resides in the astral and the Sacred Flame itself was separated into parts and distributed among the priests and priestesses to carry within their person to be reunited at a later date. War had torn down the temple and scattered its worshippers.

I asked what elemental should be my representative for the south. The Fire Drake was shown to me. And that ended the meditation.

Twin Flame Meditation

I wasn’t actively seeking my Twin Flame. I had no idea one existed until Guinevere showed him to me. I don’t recall much about the meditation, only I was in my special place I designed myself on the astral – an isolated and protected island with a four pointed hut, mountain, white beaches, lush jungle and natural springs and pools. I was in a garden within the jungle not far from the hut and sitting on a bench talking with Guinevere. We were arguing about the soul, whether or not it could be split and still reincarnate. She told me to come back to the hut and she’ll bring someone to prove it. So, I went back to the star-shaped hut and sat in the middle on a settee and waited. When Guinevere came back, she was with someone very special to me.

Guinevere wasn’t very tall and neither was I, but the man with her was well over six foot with broad shoulders. He was wearing a robe of green and white which made him look even taller and thin, so very thin. His features were boy-like and almost feminine. His blonde hair was dark, almost a brown, and hung down to his shoulders. His eyes were brown with hints of green, like hazel. His nose was petite, lips full, and had a high brow. Not exactly what I would say as handsome, but there was instant attraction. Something about him felt raw and familiar all at once. Guinevere made the introduction, “This is your other half; the Soul that was split from yours many lifetimes ago. I will leave you both to reacquaint yourselves.”

He came forward slowly and took my hands in his and looked down at me. “Do you remember me?” he asked.

I shook my head. I was afraid and not very trusting of my own feelings at the time. As much as I longed for something like this, I was also very frightened of it from experiences similar in the real world that were wrong and deceiving.

He sat beside me on the settee and began to tell me a story. He said he was a woman in the 1400’s in France during the time of Joan of Arc. He was a widow at the time and his name was Geraldine due to his mother’s German heritage. I, he said, was a nobleman who owned the lands the village he lived in at the time belonged to. I was somehow distantly related to the man who claimed to be king of France, but I was also a soldier. I was married, but the woman was sickly after giving birth to a stillborn child shortly after our first year of marriage. I had seen Geraldine in the village many times and was very attracted, but it was years before I began seeking her out and became her lover.

Due to the religious beliefs of the time, I never set aside my barren wife and took Geraldine as my wife. Geraldine became a “kept woman” and received a stipend each month which grew as she birthed another child she conceived by me.

I was speechless. I asked the obvious questions: What was my name? What were our children’s names? What did I look like? Why tell me all of this? I was told to go to the Akashic records to look up this life. If it is to be revealed to me further, I would have my answers. The guardians who protect the records would give me all I need to know in order to fulfill my work and destiny in this lifetime.

For several nights of meditation after this initial meeting, we continued to meet and talk. We shared chakra energy and talked about my karmic debt. I came up with the name Herald (like Hark the Herald Angels) as a pun on his role in being a messenger of “good tidings”. I begged him for information about himself and begged to meet him in person on the physical plane, but I was always denied and the begging always ended with him leaving my space on the astral.

Soon he was no longer joining me on the Astral. I was told by a guide that his time with me was up and I needed to move forward. It was heart breaking to not see him, but I had a lot of unfinished business and souls to meet and learn lessons from. With my focus on Herald, I would never move forward and find release from the karmic debt I have built up.

My fellow writer, and dear friend, DianaMurdock has written a fantastic blog post on this very thing.

What I found out recently was that he has never left me, only stayed away from direct contact. He looks different now in my mind. In the past seven years, his shoulders are broader, his hair shorter and darker and his thin body has filled out with lean muscle. He comes to me in a guide role now and helps me to recharge and raise my vibrational energy.

Reborn: Means having your Soul Rebuilt

2012-01-30T19:07:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: My previous post was not meant to be a stab at Christianity or the Baptist church. Both provided me with a foundation from which to spring into my spiritual journey and I would have been completely lost without having had these firmly beneath me in the first place. In other words, they provided me the milk and honey I needed in the infancy of my spiritual journey so I could be ready for the meat of it.

Now on to the second discourse....

Over the course of five and a half years, I lived in Florence, OR; Ellensburg, WA; Hereford, AZ; Sierra Vista, AZ; and Crestview, FL. Each move was costly and hurt my finances further. While in Ellensburg, WA, I returned to college and changed my name from Frances to Cassia.

Why?

Reason #1: My grandmother and I were both named Frances and shared the same last name (long story short, my mother was married four times and I wanted a stable last name). The credit reporting agencies and even the medical record centers continuously got us mixed up. I was hurting my grandmother's finances and they kept giving me store credit for senior citizens. Not cool to treat someone like a thief when its your mistake to begin with.
Reason #2: There is a Native American tradition among some tribes where when a person undergoes a rite of passage, or survives a natural event/disaster, or does something completely amazing, they would also change their name. Why is this significant to me? I am 1/32nd Native American. The name of my tribe has been lost when the last of my Kentucky family members passed from this life. Part of the tribe that was left was adopted into the Cherokee tribe, but our heritage has been mostly lost due to marriage outside the tribe. In fact, I look more like my German heritage with my blonde hair and blue eyes, than Native American. My grandmother is ~1/4th and she definitely has many of the characteristics from her Native American bloodline. For me, reclaiming this tradition is reclaiming my heritage as a part of my spiritual journey - which I will go into more soon.

When I finally returned to Michigan, my focus was on my mother's health. She was diagnosed with Hepatitis C and finally found a doctor who could treat it. She would need weekly injections and oral medication for the next 11 months. I came back to help her, get away from the ex-boyfriend, and start reclaiming who I am. I learned how to administer her injections, made calls concerning her medical treatment and medications, and even represented her with her need for disability. She couldn't see due to cataracts, so I also had to drive her to every appointment. It was me who finally got an ophthalmologist to admit she was legally blind. However, he wouldn't complete any paperwork in that regards because he wanted to simply perform a surgery to correct it. She couldn't have the surgery to correct it without insurance and the ability to work to have insurance. This was a big mess and her story to tell, so I will move on.

During this time I had a long distance relationship with another boyfriend who broke it off with me over the holidays and it threw me into a horrible depression. I hadn't learned my lesson. I was still changing myself too much to fit someone else. I had surgery to remove a ganglion cyst shortly before this and still had the pain medication around, so I decided to take a bunch of them. I came very close to overdosing one night and it was the latest ex-boyfriend's mother who talked me back from the edge of my despair. She is still a very dear friend to me today.

Then, I reached out to a friend from junior high who lives in Grand Rapids. We had kept in touch during my time out of state and my soul was starving! She had become a Wiccan and was working with the Arthurian/Old Welsh tradition. The Old Welsh tradition was based on the lore found in the Mabinogion.

And the preferred lore for the Arthurian portion was both the Mabinogion and Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory. (To the right is a statue of Arthur found in Innsbruck, Austria and to the left is Ceridwen, an enchantress from the Mabinogion.)

While staying the night at my friend's house, I had a dream where Guinevere came to me. She would be my guide and thus began my immersion into the world of pagan tradition. While the group of people I was with was in my age group and very open, still I didn't feel the sense of homecoming I've been looking for. But, I had managed to open myself to Insight, Past Lives, Intuition, Astral Projection, and enhanced my natural psychic ability (yes, I can see, hear, and feel ghosts and other energetic beings).

I was beginning to piece together who I was and who I was meant to be. My starving soul began to find nourishment it could be sustained on. The opening of my mind, led to the opening of my heart and I once again "fell in love". It started with a few letters exchanged back and forth with a man who claimed to be a pagan as well and was just coming out of ...prison. But, once again, it wasn't meant to be (whew!). It was, yet again, another long distance relationship that my clingy nature didn't nurture but choked out of existence. That's when my pagan friend suggested I start reading some books on co-dependency. I definitely fit the bill. So I read every book she suggested and started going to a local group gathering once a month.

The group work was great! After three months, I had switched my life around and became more independent instead of co-dependent. I started using my head over my heart. I still sucked at relationships and continued to go through boyfriends like they were toilet paper, but, hey, I gained a new confidence in myself which was very liberating. Right?

So, for my next post (near Valentine's Day) I will post some of my past life experiences, including the time I met my Twin Flame on the Astral Plane and found out about a very interesting past life I shared with my Twin Flame.

Until then...Happy Reading!

Internet Strike - Our Right to Freedom of Speech

2012-01-17T21:03:00.000-08:00

Join the blackout tomorrow January 18th for 24 hours and show the Senate and House we do not want this bill supported. Our freedom of speech is being threatened and as a writer I see this as another way to put manacles on us and limit creativity.

Click here to show your support of the strike and add your name to the electronic petition.