Story Time

2012-02-10T13:56:00.000-08:00

The bloodwork is done. What's fascinating is that although I can't stand to watch them stick a needle in my body, I can watch the blood go through a little tube and into the glass vial. It was the first time I had actually watched. Did you know that blood is such a gorgeous color? Rich, deep burgundy color.

They tell me that everything looks okay. After testing my blood and the secretions from various orifices, nothing negative has been discovered. This is all good news of course.

Then there's the bad news. I also had a mammogram, sonogram, and chest x-rays. I have a large mass in my left breast. So later this month, I will be getting a biopsy and then seeing an oncologist.

I'll have more news after those events. Not to worry, I'm doing fine. As I've said, I am prepared for what ever happens. So tata for now.

2012-01-30T17:03:00.000-08:00

Old age is catching up to me. After almost 10 years, I'm finally getting back to seeing the doctor and having tests done to find out if my body is healthy or not. Some tests have already been done and I'll get results in a couple of days. Other tests are scheduled for later this week. I'll be honest with you, I hate doctors. I hate being poked and prodded and stuck and lectured. I hate sitting in a waiting room with a bunch of sick people coughing and sneezing and sniffling. I hate sitting in the little examination room all alone, staring at glass jars of cotton balls and Q-tips and gauze patches. If I had my druthers, I'd never go. But I suppose I lost my druthers when I got old.

It doesn't seem quite fair, does it? We live long, fruitful, healthy lives. We spend decades loving and caring and helping. We try to do the right thing. We want to be good people. And we are repaid in our old age by saggy wrinkled skin, achy, arthritic bodies and illnesses for which there is no cure. Nor will we see a cure in our lifetimes, no doubt.

I have lived all of my adult life with an incurable disease. But Muscular Dystrophy has been more of an annoyance and irritation than anything else. I suppose I've been fortunate that it hasn't been any worse then it is. Although I've been in a wheelchair since I was 26, other than that I've been relatively healthy. Now, at 64, my body is aging at an accelerated rate. That tends to happen to the severely disabled among us. Do you know how they say that 60 is the new 50? In our case 60 is the new 70. I fully expect to get some bad news with my test results this week and next.

I'm not worried about it. I am a realist. I have always been philosophical about life and death. My ultimate demise may come sooner rather than later and, frankly, I'm okay with that. When I was 17, I was given a year to live. Of course, I've outlived all of those doctors and I'm still here at 64. Knowing that I filled my life with all the wonderful things I could do. I'm very proud of going to university in my 30s, of the businesses that I have run, the volunteer work that I've done, and my close ties to my family and friends. I have no regrets. I have no bucket list. Everything that I would have liked to have done, I have done. As I said, I'm a realist, so I never put surfing on my bucket list. Neither did I include climbing Mount Everest or running a marathon.

So if the news is not especially to my liking this week, I think I'll mostly be okay with it. Not that I am eager to shuffle off this mortal plane any time soon. I'd like to stick around and do more fun things, eat more chocolate, enjoy the company of those nearest and dearest to me. But I'm old. And my body is failing. It doesn't seem fair, does it? Work hard, be a good person, yet end your life all too often weak and in pain.

Kind of sucks.

Jack London

2012-01-19T14:53:00.000-08:00

Just read Jack London's Call Of The Wild. WOW! Can't believe I never read it before. Loved it. Brilliant! Am starting White Fang already. Have read Burroughs, Verne, Welles. How did I miss London all these years?

2011-11-27T18:00:00.001-08:00

I suck at Mancala. Tried to read up on stategies, etc. but I'm only getting worse. Aaargh!

2011-11-22T13:25:00.001-08:00

Download my book, FREE! http://tinyurl.com/6twdq7f

And share this link with everyone you know. "At The Lake", late 60s, remember what it was like? It's all here! Enjoy!

Annual Update.

2011-11-21T00:50:00.000-08:00

It's after midnight, Sunday night. Actually, I suppose that would make it Monday morning. The Monday before Thanksgiving. I have much to be thankful for. I won't make the list here. It would go on for a very long time. I guess I should mention a few things that have happened since my last post. One of our dogs, Betsy, died this summer. She just went out into the backyard and laid down and was gone. We were heartbroken as you can expect. Molly, her mother, handled it better than we thought she would. About a month later, we heard that a young family needed to find a home for two 8-month-old cats, sisters, because their baby was badly allergic to them. So we brought home Maxine and Katie to be a part of our family. It's a slow process, but the dog and the cats are getting along well and Katie and Molly are quite fond of each other.

The bookstore is still running, although not doing as well as I would hope. In today's economy, money is tight and books are a luxury. Add to that the new popularity of e-book readers like the Kindle, the Nook, and various others, and good old-fashioned paper books are not as popular as they used to be. It affects all of our businesses, those of us who sell rare and out-of-print books.

I've probably promised to post more often in the past. I won't make that promise now but I will try to post more frequently. I'm trying to find a way to make one of my books available for free. I have the file in PDF format but I have no place to put it online so that I can direct people to the URL to download it. Once I get it stashed somewhere, I will let everyone know, here and on Facebook and twitter.

Thanks to Dragon NaturallySpeaking software, I should be able to post more easily now. Version 11.5 is incredibly accurate. Enough for now. Thanks for reading this far.

A WHOLE YEAR?!??

2009-11-17T20:05:00.000-08:00

This is more than a little embarrassing. Where does the time go? Okay, it goes into relocating my book store, and flipping two houses for fun and profit. And I still wouldn't be here if it wasn't for a friend (Hi Rach!) asking about blogging and reminding me that I have this page.

Update: Betsy is fine. You wouldn't even know she had been in an accident or has Stage 4 hip dysplagia. Fooey on that doctor who wanted me to put her down.

No time to write lately. Maybe this winter.

Favorite book of all time: Tarzan of the Apes by ERB. Yours?

Latest Book Released!

2008-11-17T11:07:00.001-08:00

Cyd Ropp and I finally finished our post-apocalyptic scifi novel and it's available on the Lulu website in our store there. It's called Reality Crash and we think it turned out pretty darn good. We based it on a screenplay we wrote a decade or so ago. The script made the quarter-finals at the Austin screenplay competition twice, but never sold. So we decided to novelize it instead. Check it out.

2007-11-25T14:18:00.000-08:00

End of summer blues

2007-09-26T23:30:00.000-07:00

Summer is over and with it the fun of writing a scifi novel with my writing partner, Cyd. We still have a few rewrites to do, but without the intensity of writing long distance every day for months. We used GoToMyPC.com and telephones. It was great. Feedback and critiques from our readers has been mostly positive, so that's encouraging.

On the homefront, all is well. Not much to report. Just waiting for winter.

New Book in the works

2007-06-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

Some years ago, my writing partner, Cyd, and I wrote a screenplay called Reality Check. It got to the quarter-finals at Austin twice, and a couple of prodcos showed some interest, but nobody bought it. So it sat.

It's a good story. We always like it. Post-apocalyptic science fiction action/adventure. No aliens or space ships, just future technology in a devastated world.

So we decided to rewrite as a novel. We've been working for over a month now and today we'll finish the first draft. And we like it. We hope to have it done before the end of the year and cross your fingers for us that we find a publisher. Lulu is a last resort for this one.

Book published, painting done etc.

2007-05-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

Driftwood is done and published. It's on amazon, like At The Lake is, but all four of my books are on lulu.com. Check them out.

I did my first oil painting a few weeks ago. It's positively awful. Like a five year old did a paint by numbers blindfolded. But I learned a lot about mixing colors and brush techniques and stuff, so the next one might not be so embarrassing.

Betsy has reached a plateau in her recovery. No better or worse than before. But still a happy girl.

The next book is percolating.

2007-02-22T21:58:00.000-08:00

Two weeks with a horrible head cold and I've gotten absolutely nothing creative done. Aargh. Sick sucks.

Spring. I need it to be spring soon. Sunshine. Flowers. Blue skies. Spring.

Still crazy...

2007-02-14T15:34:00.000-08:00

And still not done with the latest book, the one with the short stories and poems. I've changed the title to Driftwood, Afloat On An Ocean Of Eclectica. I found some old stories I had written, typed way back before computers. I need to scan them, rewrite them and get them into the book. Then I'll be done.

In the meantime, Betsy is nearly recovered. As well as she's going to be anyway. She clumps around and is pretty clumsy, but she's happy as hell to be able to walk and run. We're happy too.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T15:28:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

From the left, my Bob, my cousin Beth, her husband Fred, and me. And in the foreground, Molly and Betsy. Christmas dinner, 2006. It was quite a year. We finally moved into our house. We got our two dogs. Bob had a couple of good gigs on the east coast. I published my books and am nearly done with the next one, the book of short stories.

And, sadly, I lost my Dad this year. He was the sweetest, nicest guy on the planet and his sudden passing was devastating. It was back in April and I still miss him so much.

I'm really looking forward to '07. I still have much I want to write, and now I'm getting back into sketching and painting. I like impressionism so I might try my hand at that, particularly with those gorgeous mountains right outside our back door.

I wish all of you a wonderful 2007, too.

Holiday Greetings

2006-12-24T10:54:00.000-08:00

Betsy is doing so much better. She's still pretty uncoordinated, but she can walk and almost run. She's the one in the back. Molly, her mom, is in the foreground. The Christmas decorations are faux, applied to the photo at pikipimp.com. I don't dress up my dogs in clothes. But CGI is okay for Christmas.

I promised myself I'd finish the latest short story by Christmas. I got close, but then I thought it might work to extend it quite a bit more. I like the characters and I think I can continue with their adventures. Something to think about.

Happy Holidays!

Doggie news

2006-12-08T16:32:00.000-08:00

On Halloween morning, it was a Tuesday, our two dogs got out of our fenced yard by digging under it. One of them got hit by a car. It was bad. At first she was paralyzed from the neck down.

No broken bones, but swelling around the spinal cord and possible nerve damage. She was in the hospital two and a half weeks (quite a vet bill!) and is now recuperating at home.

She's on Prednisone, a corticosteroid. She's improving but it's slow going. She has a lot of spirit though, and we hope for a full recovery at some point, although we know it could be months and months.

Needless to say (funny how we say that before we feel the need to say something anyway) I haven't done a hell of a lot of writing. I did some work on that short story that I've been stuck on since forever. And I started my autobiography. Actually, not the full story of my life, and it'll be published under a pen name with names changed so that I can tell the juicy details. I'm having fun with that one.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, folks.

And a Happy New Year!

The Prodigal Returns

2006-10-14T12:40:00.000-07:00

The Prodigal Returns

About a month and a half ago, we adopted two adult dogs, older dogs, both females. Molly is around six or seven and is the mother, and Betsy is three and is her daughter. They're both mutts and absolutely beautiful. Large dogs, gentle, wonderful. So most of my time has been spent with them. It's like having a couple of two year olds around the house! So rambunctious and playful. So fun. We just love them like crazy.

So I haven't done much writing on the Green Wool book. I do have plans for it though and I think I'll soon be back at work on it.

At The Lake is selling slowly on amazon. My efforts at publicizing aren't doing much good yet. Hopefully, word of mouth will help. So far, everyone loves it.

Winter is coming. We had our first bit of rain today here in the desert. Just a sprinkle. And it's pretty cold out there. Around sixty. Brrrrrr. I've got a space heater running here in my office.

Holidays are coming. I've already started my Christmas shopping. It's not even Halloween yet. lol. Hooray for online shopping.

I'll try to post more often for the three of you who might have stumbled across this blog. ttfn.

Another Sunday

2006-08-20T12:14:00.000-07:00

Another Sunday

I don't know why but this week I decided to try my hand and mind at writing haiku. I've done three and quite like them so I'm going to do two more and include them in Green Wool.

I didn't hear back from any of the newspapers so my press releases might have gone into the circular file. Oh well.

But sales are going nicely on amazon. I've sold a dozen or two so far. And there are reviews on amazon and b&n besides Jeff Cohen's. They seem to really like the book. Hey, I'll never get rich on this thing but that's okay. I just want people to enjoy it, maybe get something out of it.

Happy Sunday, folks.

Press Releases

2006-08-17T13:33:00.000-07:00

Press Releases

I'll be sending press releases via email and fax today to our local newspapers, one of which is an eight page weekly (one of the reasons I love living out here.) I hope some of them will run the story, or better still, call me for more info. Wish me luck.

Got Distribution

2006-08-14T11:32:00.000-07:00

Got Distribution

Thrilled to report that my novel, At The Lake, is available on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. And author Jeff Cohen gave it a very positive review on amazon. Very cool.

Passing

2006-08-12T01:09:00.000-07:00

Passing

Right after returning from Vegas, my dear friend Lois got a call that her father had passed away. Needless to say, the next couple of weeks were intense. But at our ages, we know we'll be losing those near and dear to us. Among my friends, very few have parents still living. We're a bunch of middle-aged orphans.

I finished that difficult short story yesterday. Got misty as I typed the last sentence. It was a hard one to write, and emotional (because of the content.) I'm glad it's done. The next one will be humorous, if I have any talent in that direction. I'll find out soon enough.

Back From Vegas

2006-07-29T16:47:00.000-07:00

Back From Vegas

Arrived home last night. Had fun. Only gambled away $20 on one machine. That's usually enough to get rid of the urge to splurge.

Having a tough time getting back into the writing mode of thinking. Maybe another day or two of rest before I open up Word and start again.

Website done

2006-07-25T11:42:00.000-07:00

Website Time
I was able to finish my site yesterday and it looks good. Just a few pages with a few links. I like the style. It looks "Lou-ish."

Worked on the story some more. Seems I need to do a section at a time, meaning a segment of his life. I'm trying to carry a theme through this (subltly) and yet show his growth as a person. Yet I still need to keep each segment brief. The idea is that this is his life flashing before his eyes just before he dies.

So I do a few sentences and then go away. It floats around in my subconcious for a while and then the next piece pops into my head. I mull it for a while and if I think it works, I head for the keyboard. In case I haven't mentioned it, this is a difficult one. I've never done a story like this before, not the subject nor this particular structure.

Off to Vegas tomorrow.

Flashbacks

2006-07-24T11:48:00.000-07:00

Life Flashing Before Your Eyes

I've never written something like this in prose before. In a screenplay, I can write a "series of shots" or a "montage" of shots which can visually convey someone's life flashing before their eyes just as they're about to die. Doing something like that in prose is challenging, to say the least. I don't want to do "shots." I want to do "scenes" complete with dialogue and emotion. I'm working on it. I have a few pages done and so far, it feels like this will work.