SHADES OF...

I'm posting over at my writer group's blog...
http://www.mvrwa.net/2012/10/shades-of-readers.html

Catch me over there.
I'm actually in Ohio now...
To visit family...
And to vote...
(you know Ohio is a swing state)
So my posts may be hit or miss...
Depending on my schedule.

Always, Em-Musing

ENERGIZED TRIP

My trip to Guadalajara was fantastic.

Unfortunately, my ability…

To upload the photos I took to my computer is not.

However, I can share this:

Guadalajara is a mix of old world charm and crafts...

With a bustling metropolitan flair…

That's nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains.

While I did buy furniture I needed for my new home…

Which was the purpose of my trip...

My most memorable time….

Was a side trip that my taxi driver, Geraldo…

(who I hired for two days to schlep me around)

Took me too—Foco Tonal…

A spiritual place about an hour away…

In the city of Octolan.

Legend has it that in ancient times…

Gods from the heavens visited here…

And when they left…

A healing energy source remained.

In 1994…

A spiritual healer visiting his friend…

Found three vortexes of energy on his land.

They constructed an open temple…

Here’s the owner’s own words…

“It’s a point of energy where you can establish

direct contact with the divine. It is the entrance

to another dimension. Everything that we ask

for consistently may be granted, because

communication here is immediate.”

(a photo that I can't upload was supposed to be here)
There have also been documented physical healings...

And even NASA and National Geographic visited several times.
I did stand in the circle...

And I did/do believe.

So?

Every visit a spiritual or energy place on earth?

Do you even believe they exist?

Always, Em-Musing

LICKED

*sigh*

I was going to post some pics from my travels..

But yesterday I got a review of my manuscript…

And I think I’m heading for a Mick Jagger moment…

My nineteenth nervous manuscript breakdown.

“It is crude humor rather than say, more refined or

even snarky. Everything the heroine says is rough

around the edges and therefore she is not coming

off the pages as smart. It isn't funny because more

often than not it's gross. Example: calling the neighbor

"Fat Ass".”

Well, in my protagonist’s defense…

She’s in the middle of a midlife crisis…

There’s nothing refined about that…

And her husband is having an affair with the neighbor.

“Yes, humor, like books, is subjective. But you have to

always keep the audience in mind. Readers of this genre

don't want to read about a women overly focused on her

own genitalia and all that goes along with it.”

*sigh*

Maybe I’m just a gross person after all…

Because the kind of humor in this story…

Is the kind my friends and I laugh about all the time.

The kind of topics…

You don’t want husbands or boyfriends to hear.

“The execution and content of her thoughts and

conversations isn't the best of choices.

The lack of intelligence in how she handles 

all of the above is a major drawback.”

*sigh*

My novel is neither saccharine or sugar coated…

It’s an outrageous, irreverent, and often poignant journey

into the heart and mind of an emotionally crippled women.

She did like my voice though.

I’ll give myself time…

My wounds are still fresh…

I’ve got a lot of licking to do…

To find perspective…

And the oomph to edit.

Hope y'all are having a better day than me.

Always, Em-Musing

DUH BAIT

I'm tired...

Got back last night from my travels...

Haven't even unpacked... 

But I did catch the debate.

And I gotta say...
I’m not so much getting tired of politics… 
As I am of all the lies…

Or should I say, untruths?

If I could invent one thing..

I would invent THE ZAPPER...

A cross between a lie detector and a taser…

So when politicians are asked questions…

And they tell an untruth...

They’d get—ZAPPED!

“Congressman will you…”

ZAP!

“Mr. President, are you…”

ZAP!

“Governor, have you…”

ZAP!

“Vice President, are those your real teeth?”

ZAP!

Besides being amused (at least I would be)..

We’d find out the real truth…

Of course some ‘group’ would object…

Saying that politicians’ ‘right to lie” are being violated.

But truthfully?

I’m frustrated!

I want the truth and nothing but the truth.

If only politicians and the media…

Would just give us the truth…

I think you, I, and the rest of the country…

Can draw our own conclusions…

Don’t you?

If you had The Zapper…

Who would you zap?

Always, Em-Musing

GUADALAJARA

Buenos dias…

I’m heading for an early flight to Guadalajara…

To drink in a new cultural experience…

And...

To shop.

The artisans there are known around the world…

Also, there’s a huge furniture section…

Similar to High Point in N. Carolina…

That's known to make fantastic furniture.

Buying there, even with shipping…

Is less expensive than buying locally.

Hope to take some pics and share next week.

Hasta luego.

Em-Musing

WHAT'S IN YOUR SCOPE?

There’s just something sexy…

About seeing a guy in fatigues…

With an automatic rifle…

In Wal-Mart.

OK, OK….

Perhaps being attracted …

To an assault weapon is over the top…

But there really were two Mexican marines…

With M16’s slung across their shoulders…

In line ahead of me at Wal-Mart...

And they looked hot.

What can I say?

Am I bad?

And what about you?

When it comes to the opposite (or same) sex…

What pulls your trigger?

And do any of your novels include weapons?

What kind?

Any of them sexy?

Em-Musing

P.S. There’s a marine base close to where I live.

      They patrol the waters. Makes me feel safe.

THE KILLING SIZE

Size does matter…

When it comes to what I'll kill.

Let me explain.

I don’t mind killing…

Little things…

Like eeeny weeny ants…

When they're in my cupboard...

Or even a little bit larger ants.

But as the bugs get bigger…

My conscience kicks in.

I don’t know why I think…

Killing a fly is more OK…

Than killing a big beetle or grasshopper.

And killing a beautiful butterfly…

Seems like a crime against nature.

Why? Because it's beautiful?

So is killing something ugly OK?

And I don't mind snatching a weed out...

But the thought of cutting down a tree? No.

The other day…

A tarantula wandered into my  unfinished house…

Before I discovered it…

The workers killed it…

Its body was in pieces…

Hairy legs strewn everywhere…

And, if you can believe it…

(me, who has spiderphobia)

I actually felt sorry for it.

If it had been the size of a knat…

I wouldn’t have cared.

But this tarantula was big enough to be a pet.

And now I’m wondering….

If living things are equally special…

And I’m not talking about an animal ready to kill you…

Shouldn't killing a mouse...

Feel as bad as…

Killing an elephant?

So?

When killing living things…

What size matters to you?

Always, Em-Musing

BLINDED BY THE TEETH

OK...

Here I go again.

Did you watch the V.P. debate last night?

I did…

And within minutes…

I had to run and get my sunglasses.

If you watched the debate…

You know why.

Poor Joe Biden was criticized for smiling…

But there’s nothing wrong with Joe’s smile…

It’s his teeth. Specifically the veneers.

Too white. Too bright. Too unnatural, and…

Too spooky!

And I’ve seen these spooky white teeth before…

In Hollywood…

In the mouths of stars.

I’m not against white teeth…

I’ve had mine whitened professionally…

But only to their original color.

When white teeth glow in the dark…

And glare under stage lighting…

Enough to make TV viewers squint…

I say enough dentists!

Stop making your patients look ridiculous.

And plastic surgeons? You’re also guilty…

You go too far.

In my humble opinion…

Joe has that pinched and pulled look…

Where was his adversary to say…

“OK, nip and tuck Joe, but not too much!”

There’s a Nissan commercial running on TV now…

That shows a man who…

Every time he’ attempts to do something ‘over the top’…

A car horn honks, letting him know—enough!

Hmm?

I see some job creation here—horn honkers…

They’d be in plastic surgeons and dentists offices…

And when the doc or dent suggests a procedure…

That will make the patient look ridiculous….

The horn honker honks the horn!

So?

Did you watch the debate?

Were you blinded by the dental light?
And here's the horn honking Nissan commercial for reference.

Always, Em-Musing

NAME THAT BABY, ER TUNE

I hate to admit this…

(and please don’t tell my family)

But I gave more thought…

To the character’s names in my novels…

Than to my two daughter’s names.

I know…

What kind of mother am I?

But in my defense…

I chose names after songs..

So I could sing lullabies to my babies...
That had their names in it.

And just so you don't think I'm a complete idiot...
The names (and songs) also happened to be…

Popular during the late ‘60’s early ’70’s.

What can I say? I’m not very original…

For my characters, however…

I researched ad nauseam…

To find the most fitting name…

To match their personalities…

The match the timeline of the story….

And even for the ‘meaning’ of the name.

So?

Am I alone?

Do/did you spend more time…

On your character’s names…

Than your kids?
And how do you go about...
Naming your characters?
 

Always, Em-Musing
P.S.One song is by Donavan, 
the other, The Beatles.

SEE THE OLD MAN

So? 

Have you see it?

The HBO special—Hemingway and Gellhorn?

I did.

Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen are fantastic...

As are the visual effects…

That edit both actors in actual archival film clips.

Phenomenal!

I have a confession though…

I’ve never read Hemingway…

And I’d never even heard of Gellhorn as an author.

Now I want to read both.

But no matter how much awe I’m in…

Of Hemingway as an author…

I can’t say I admire or aspire to have a life like he had.

He seemed so tortured…

Was quite a drinker…

Was married four times…

And in the movie there were all the innuendos…

About his sex life.

(I confess—I Googled to find the details. Not much.)

And later in life he committed suicide.

Sure, Papa Hemingway may be considered...

One of the greatest writers in modern history…

But I ask you…

When you’re lying cold in the grave…

Or you’re nothing but ashes on someone’s mantle…

What do you want your legacy to be?

How important is being a brilliant author in the hereafter…

If the soul is tortured in the now?

What say you?

Ever read Hemingway?

And if you could…

Would you want a life like his…

To be considered one of the best authors of modern times?

Always, Em-Musing

Q SPOT

Oooooo!

MMmmmmm!

Oh, yeah!

Deeper…..

Uh huh!

Oh, yeah, don’t stop….

It feels sooooooo good!

Yes! That’s the spot!

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

What can I say?

A girl needs time alone…

With her Q-tip.

What’s that?

Oh, ha ha…

No, I wasn’t talking about ‘that’…

I’m talking about scratching an itch…

In my ear…

By wiggling around a Q-tip until…

NIRVANA!

So?

How do you scratch your itches?

Or…

How do you find nirvana?

Always, Em-Musing 
(see Friday's post for reference)

IT'S ALL IN MY HEAD

You know those outrageous headlines on the Internet…

That no matter how much time you don’t have…

You're curious enough to open the link anyway?

Yesterday…

I saw this headline:

GROSS THING LIVING INSIDE MAN’S HEAD.

Lord!

Ever since I was a kid and heard of earwigs...

I’ve been afraid of one crawling in my ear…

Not that I know where I and an earwig would be together...

But recently, I've been crazed...

Thinking something’s crawled in my head.

Why?

Besides the gigunda sized bugs here in Akumal...

There's also the tiniest, eensy weeniest, little ants here.

And they’re everywhere!

In my kitchen…

In my bathroom…

On my computer…

Even on me!

The other night in bed...

My ear itched...
And before drifting off to my usual deep sleep…

I imagined one tiny pest had crawled in my ear.

After a restless night…

I woke up with an even itchier ear, tormented...

Had a bug crawled in there? Was it still in there?

Since then…

I've been spotted…

With a hydrogen peroxide dipped Q-Tip …

Hanging out of my ear.

(lest you think I’m loco, my doc in the States recommended this)

So?

Did I check that video to see what was in the man’s head?

Hell no!

I didn't need a visual…

I’d already conjured several in my head.
So?
Are you afraid of earwigs?
Ever think something's crawled in your ear?

Ever admit to a crazy scenario?

Always Em-Musing

CRY ME A STORY

I love the American spirit.

If a hurricane hits, or a flood happens…

“We’ll rebuild!” is the American cry…

And by God, they/we do.

Since living here in Mexico…

I’ve noticed another propensity to cry…

Real tears that is.

Please know…

I’m not criticizing, merely observing.

(I love the culture here)

As I’m trying to learn Spanish…

I watch a lot of local TV…

And while I don’t understand all that I hear…

You don’t need an interpreter for tears…

Tears are a universal language all their own.

So there I’ll be, channel surfing, come to the news…

And there’s a story or situation…

Where someone is crying.

And then it dawned on me…

While every tragedy deserves tears…

U.S. news reporters do not go after the tears…

They find the bravado in survivors and victims.

And I love that!

Crying is also the main dialog…

On Spanish speaking soap operas.

Once again, I’ll be channel surfing, come upon a soap…

And sure enough, an actress is crying…

I’ll change the channel, come back a half-hour later…

The actress is still crying!

Though I shed my own share of tears...

I hate to cry, and more than that—I hate depression…

It’s why I don’t like the blues…

I don’t want to be entertained by depressing songs...

I can’t dance to the blues…

And I definitely don’t want to write or edit to the blues.

I think Steve Martin said in rIght in The Jerk…

“There’s something about those songs.

They depress me.”

So?

What about you?

Do you love the American spirit?

Got bravado?

Do you like the blues?

And if you do, please tell me why?

Always, Em-Musing

FLAG, THIS POST

Do you wonder about things…

That perhaps no one else does?

Do you see things others don't?

Is it the writer in you/me?

Or am I little off?

I wonder a lot...

So please don’t shoot me for my latest wonderment…

Which might seem irreverent…

But really, truthfully, and sincerely I’m not.

And I’m not being political either…

My blog is not for that.

But recently I've been wondering about news footage…

Specifically all the protests…

In the Middle East, and now other countries.

Of course the BIG wonder is: WHY?

And then…

I wonder about—flags.

I’m not kidding.

Where do the protesters get all the flags?

So fast?

Is there a major flag importer?

How many stores sell flags in these countries?

Back in the States and now here in Mexico…

If I wanted to burn a country's flag...

(trust me, I would never)

I don’t know if I could find flags…

From around the world so easily.

And then…

There are all those big posters and banners I see...

Especially those with photos of heads of countries.

Whenever I had a banner or poster made in the States…

It too at least a day, or two.

So how do these countries get their banners so fast?

All I’m saying is…

Some things make me wonder.

What makes you wonder?

Always, Em-Musing