ATTACK MODE

Hi…

I’m back from the States…

And all I can say is…

AAHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Invaders struck!

Oh, not my home…

My files on my computer!

And unlike a couple of weeks ago…

The files are not in Dropbox this time.

Yesterday…

I noticed my computer was acting funny.

And so I had Microsoft Security Essentials check…

AAHHHHHHHHH!!!!

A Trojan attack!!!

Seven of them to be exact.

I then removed them…

And cleaned up all the malware that invades daily.

Everything seemed to be fine until this morning…

I opened up the file that my blog posts are in and…

AAHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Of course I searched,

Nada!

I think the time has for ME to go into attack mode...

I'm going to invest in an Apple computer.

I’ll use this Windows PC for writing only…

And the Apple for researching the Internet…

And social media.

Whatever the cost of a new computer…

Is definitely worth preventing…

The agony of losing files of my writings.

What about you?

Been attacked lately?

Ever?

And BTW…

I was on Facebook when the Trojans attacked…

So be warned.

Always, Em-Musing

CAN'T KEEP THIS

23,000 words!

LOST!

Dear God!!!

My stomach dropped!

My heart sank!
Where were they?
Not to mention all those hours of writing, creating...
Wasted! sank!

**segue**

To the other day...

When I was at my chiropractor…

She tells me that her sister is a hoarder…

And that her sister who is in the States…

Will be in an upcoming Hoarders episode.

I, of course was sympathetic to her face…

But as I left her office…

I felt smug thinking, I’d NEVER hoard.

**segue**

Earlier this morning…

I was at my computer, fingers poised to write when…

Hmm?

Where is the file ...

On that story I was writing a month ago?

I searched my documents—nada!

I searched the recycle bin—nada!

Where the~*blank*~ is it?

Fifteen minutes later—oh ha, ha...

DUH!

I found the file in Dropbox of all places.

Thank God!!!!

But before that..

I looked through all my files…

Geeze!

Why did I have so many files I don't need?

But then I remembered thinking…

If I send this file to the recycle bin, I’ll be sorry…

Because I never know if I’ll need it.

But truthfully?

I can barely remember many creating these files.

And that’s when…

**segue**

Every episode of Hoarders…

Came into memory...

The part when the hoarder’s family..

Rummages through the hoarder’s junk…

And the hoarder goes, “No! Not that!” 

I may use that one day!”

The family members rolls their eyes…

And every TV viewer, like me, swears, “I’ll never hoard.”

Well, I'm here to tell ya...

I AM a hoarder...
At the digital level.

What about you?

Have you looked in your document lately?

Are you a digital hoarder?

Or a hoarder on any other kind?

Always, Em-Musing

A SAMMY SENDOFF

Last week…

I posted about how hard it was…

To hit the ‘send’ button…

For a submission to a publisher.

Well yesterday I hit 'send'...

My manuscript & synopsis went to the publisher!

YAY!

And...

I also sent...

A query and 10 pages...

To an agent.

YAY!

And as I hit 'send'...

I couldn't believe it!

I heard singing!

It was my manuscript, synopsis & query singing...

Or at least they sang to me through Sam Cooke

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX6QlnlMqjE

Obviously my submissions are happy…

I’m happy…

And hopefully publisher and agent will be happy too.

So?

Do you sing a happy song when you send off your stuff?

And are you old enough to remember Sam Cooke?

Always, Em-Musing

MUU MUUS & MARGARITAS

A few years ago…

I, my sister and two cousins…

Got together in Florida…

And because we are—the Baldwin Women…

We can’t just get together…

We have to play when we’re together.

Well, it started off innocently enough…

I found matching muu muus for each of us…

(because don’t all women wear muu muus?)

I made some margaritas…

And well...

The rest is recorded here in full digital color.

We toast us being together again…

 

Just a sip…

Perhaps more than a sip

 

Uh, oh. Tequila hits fast

We honor the tequila god

 

And pray we don't hurl...

 

And then, Yeah Baby!!!

The force is with us. We didn't hurl.

 

And as all good things must do...

THE END.

Or course no names, other than my own…

So as to protect the reputation of...

The Baldwin Women! 

Have a great weekend...

May the force be with you...

Or the tequila...

Or whatever spirit moves you.

And as you can see...

Never mix muu muus & margaritas.

Always, Em-Musing

SIRIOUSLY?

 

Idea pops into my head   check
Scribble it down on random piece of paper  check

Write first draft by the seat of my pants  check

Write second and third drafts  check

Edit, edit, edit, edit, edit, edit ad nauseum   check

Write query & synopsis   check

Research agents and publishers  check

Send query, synopsis & partial   check

Get a request for a full   check

Edit, edit, edit, again!  check

Attach the full in a file in an email to publisher  check 

Hit Send!   **choke**

Hit Send!   **choke**

Hit Send!   **choke**

Hit Send!   **choke**

HELP!!!!

I need SIRI…

To hit the ‘send’ button for me!!!

Siri is the only one who can do it...
After all…

Siri has no emotion…

Siri has no stakes in this submission…

Siri is just a submissive…

Siri has no qualms about submitting…

My submission.

LMAO  Now!
So for the fun of it...
I actually went to my iPhone...
And asked Siri, "Can you send my submission?"
And her answer:  Who? Me?
So I guess the job is really up to me to...
Hit 'send'. 
Lord!
Why is this so hard?
Is it only me?

Or is the worst and scariest part of writing…

Hitting the ‘send’ button?

Always, Em-Musing  
FYI...Siri is actually a voiceover talent
named, Susan Bennett from Atlanta.
Siri in Norwegian means, 'beautiful
woman who leads you to victory.'

CHOICY SITUATIONS

I came upon this the other day that I wrote:

Memories…

I don’t know how the mind works…

So that truth gets morphed into a story…

That you can live with.

We always have to come out the winner, don’t we?

I wrote it awhile ago…

And at the time I wrote it…

I had been in a conversation with my daughter…

When we were remembering a stressful situation…

She and I were in.

But her memory of that time…

Was vastly different than mine.

We argued that what each remembered...
Was the real truth…

Obviously she thought her memory was right…

And I argued that my memory was right.

But how can that be?

I then realized both of us…

Had our own reality of that situation at that time…

But what was the truth?

I’ve been thinking about this…

And it made me think of us authors…

And the stories we write…

And how we make our heroes and protagonists…

Always come out the winner.

But in life…

We can’t always be right…

Can’t always be the hero…

Unless that is…

We rewrite reality…

Just enough so we can live with our actions.

This concept is not new…

I remember lines from the song, Memories…

Sung by Barbra Streisand…

“Has time rewritten every line…

What’s too painful to remember…

We simply choose to forget”

What about you?

Have you ever rewritten your reality…

Because you couldn’t bare to own up to the truth? 
Or?
Have you ever written about a hero...
Who didn't win in the end?

Always, Em-Musing

NOW FEAR THIS

I don’t respect fear…

Of course there are things in this life…

That warrant caution…

(or a weapon)

Before plodding forward on something.

But I think fear can be used…

As a convenient excuse...

And though convenient…

It’s a crippling way to live...

Especially the ‘I’m afraid to fly,’ mantra.

OK, here’s a scenario…

If a loved one is critical in another city…

And the fastest way to get there is to fly..

Will you shelf your fear…

And fly before they die?

Or will fear cripple you even then?

And if you overcome your fear and fly then…

Why can’t you overcome fear now…

So you can enjoy life to the fullest?

Trust me…

I’ve flown with many a twisted gut...

But the older I get…

I’ve had to look fear in eyes…

And slap the f*#*king bitch and say...

“You think you’re stronger than me, fear?

You think you’re going to stop me, fear?

We’ll just see about that.”

I mean really?

How old do I have to be…

To be the conqueror over the fear within…

To be all that I hope to be...

Before my knees won’t bend…

Before my minds starts slipping…

And a cozy bed in a nursing home is beckoning…

And there I am in soggy diapers?

So?

Does fear ever hold you back...

And prevent you from doing what you want—now?

Or?

Have you over come any fear?

Always, Em-Musing

OH, BABY, BABY

Can’t ya just tell…

That this baby…

Was gonna grow up to be about something?

I mean, c’mon!

Look at that face!

Truth be told…

She was a challenging baby…

What some call a ‘spirited’ child…

It was as if she had a full-grown personality…

In a baby’s body.

I had the pleasure of watching this cutie…

And all her antics…

Until she went to pre-school.

Well, she’s ten now…

And her high spirit is paying off.,,

Already she has…

Written and published…

Numerous short stories in the local newspaper.

Wrote three TV ads…

And performed them in my daughter’s living room.

With my other two grandkids who she directed...
And is now working on the sequel…

To a vampire movie she wrote…

And actually recorded…

With special effects and all.

I mean, c’mon!

This grandma has bragging rights, no?

Can I get a virtual hi-five?

Always, Em-Musing