TREASURE TROVE

TREASURE!
Buried treasure!

I found some!

It must have been fate…

Since I was blogging about pirates…

Because isn’t buried treasure what pirates find?

OK, it wasn’t a chest of treasure…

It was one tarnished old dime…

And a pair of earrings…

Silver frog earrings, to be exact.
See?

I found them…

While I was planting Stella Doro lilies in my front garden.

And what’s odd to me is…

Usually women lose just one earring...
Not both.

And what’s even odder, or a coincidence…

Is one year I counted frog and toad populations…

For the Metro parks with  my daughter.

And I can tell the calls of Western Chorus, Spring Peepers…

Wood, Green, Bull and Gray tree frogs…

And American and Fowler toads.

Impressed?

Yeah, I know…not a big deal.

OK, how about this…

If you saw the movie Pirates of the Caribbean 4…

Then you know Barbosa caught and used red frogs as a weapon.

See? 

A coincidence, no?

Still not impressed.
OK, then impress me…

Ever find buried treasure?

Or what’s the strangest thing you ever dug up?

(and I hope it wasn’t a body)

Or...
As a writer...
Have you ever made any of your characters unearth something?

Always, Em-Musing

AYE, MATEY

I saw Pirates of the Caribbean 4 this weekend…
And all I can say is, “Aye, yai, yai.”

Or perhaps I should say, “Eye,eye, eye.”

(a bit too much eye make-up this time Jack?)

I think this was the best one so far.

The action and special effects were great…

And I loved, loved, loved Ian McShane as Blackbeard…

But more…

I loved it because Jack was in love.

In the first three movies…

Jack was just a swaggering, swashbuckling scalawag.

But in this one…

He was a man in love with Penelope Cruz.

No, there weren’t any love scenes…

But there was lots of sexual tension.

And doesn't that always make for a great story?

So for me...

Just give me a good story, a hunk and sexual tension...

And I'm happy.

And way before I fell in love with Johnny Depp/Jack Sparrow..

I fell in love with Tyrone Power/Henry Morgan.

(no, I wasn't on earth when this came out...

but I remember seeing it on TV)

So?

Love sexual tension?

What's your favorite movie or novel?

Always, Em-Musing

WRITER THONGED TO DEATH

Since living on my own since, well…

Four years now…

I’ve choked or somehow haphazardly…

Almost caused my own demise…

Or at the very least…

Almost caused grave bodily harm…

And always by unlikely culprits…

Like the jalapeno pepper I popped in my mouth…

Causing my throat to slam shut!

Note: there is no Heimlich for slammed-shut throats!

Or the vitamins and herbs I choked on.

Note: You need a FULL glass of water to swallow a handful of pills.

And then just yesterday…

A thong almost took me out.

As I stood on one foot balancing…

While putting the other foot in the leg opening...

Of my thong

My big toe got snared in the lace…

Causing me to lose my balance…

Which then caused me…

To hurtle head first towards the hardwood floor!

Thankfully, I pitched sideways and fell into the bed.

Note: perhaps next time I should sit down when putting it on.

Note: perhaps it’s time to give up thongs.

Note: perhaps this was TMI?

Note: I only blogged about this because one of my writer friends
         at coffee yesterday  said I should.

So?

Have you ever been the victim of an unlikely culprit?

Always, Em-Musing

OFF WITH THEIR MISTAKES!

The other day, I turned my laptop on…

And a pop-up popped up informing me…

That I had some registry errors.

A few minutes later another pop-up appeared…

This time I needed to download a new version of something.

Then lo and behold, another  pop-up alerted me…

That something was detected, I needed to check it out.

And with one quick keystroke...

All were instantly fixed.

So this morning…

Turning on my computer I thought…

Wouldn’t it be great if there was software…

That after you put in your manuscript at night…

Would give you pop ups in the morning…

That indicated…

There are holes in your plot

Your voice isn’t clear and strong enough

Your first paragraph and page don’t have a strong hook

Cut out the adverbs

OK, OK, OK…I can hear you now…

A beta reader, critique partner or editor can point out these.

But in my universe…

The manuscript software would…

Tah, tah tah, TAH!

FIX all the errors…

With one flick of a computer key!

So you wouldn’t have to be bogged down…

With the mundane…

Your time would be used only for creating fantastic stories.

Yes! That’s what I would create if I was queen.

And speaking of queens…

While I was down the rabbit hole yesterday researching…

Alice in Wonderland, Queen of Hearts and...

Common mistakes in manuscripts...

I came upon this agent’s blog…

Adventures in Agentland…

That has an Alice in Wonderland graphic.

(by the way, what’s the correct punctuation for blog titles?)

Isn’t that so synchronistic?

LOVE when that happens.

So?

What would you do…

If you were Queen/King of the Universe?

And you can’t say the obvious…

You know, end war, starvation and such…

You have to play this game my way

Oh, please, please, please play with me.

Always, Em-Musing

THE HOLE SWALLOWED MY BLOG

Well…

I went down the rabbit hole this morning.

And didn’t come back to post…

My original idea for my blog...

Until three hours later.

You see, I was going to write about me…

Being the Queen of the Universe.

(OK, that sounds crazy, I  know…

But I’ll explain it tomorrow)

It all began when I was researching…

(Yes, I even do research on my wacky thoughts)

And stumbled upon some websites that I just had to follow.

Like Alice following the rabbit…

My curiosity kept wanting to know more…

And I kept falling deeper and deeper...

Into learning about Joseph Campbell’s book…

The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

And then Christopher Volger’s book…

The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers

Here’s a blurb:

The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers is a popular screenwriting textbook by writer Christopher Vogler, focusing on the theory that most stories can be boiled down to a series of narrative structures and character archetypes, described through mythological allegory.^[1] Vogler based this work upon the writings of mythologist Joseph Campbell, particularly The Hero with a Thousand Faces, and holds that all successful films innately adhere to its principles. The book was very well received upon its release, and is often featured in recommended reading lists for student screenwriters.^[2][3][4]

^{And so you see…}
After reading Volger’s twelve “Stages of the Journey” of the hero…
And learning that this formula...
Was used by George Lucas in Star Wars…
And in other movies like Indiana Jone, The Matrix, and more…
I'm going to see if implementing this formula...
Will work in my W.I.P.
So?

Have you ever heard of Campbell's or Volger’s books?

Ever put either to use in your novels?

Always, Em-Musing

P.S. My favorite quote from Campbell is"

Follow your bliss

BITE ME!

Well, the jury’s out…

Whether I have shingles or…

BED BUG BITES!!!

A friend of mine saw the bites and said,

“Bed bug bites! I know, I’ve had them.”

My oldest daughter, (the scientist) looked at them and said,

“Bed bugs!”

My younger daughter (the attorney) though…

The one whose house I stayed at said,

“Well, if it’s bed bugs, you brought them in.”

Really?

 “You brought them back from Mexico!”

“But!” I countered…

“I didn’t get bites until I stayed at your house for the weekend.”

“Doesn’t matter. You brought them in with your luggage.”

“But I’m not getting any new bites at my apartment.”

“Doesn’t matter. Youy brought them in.”

Well, I’m not even sure what my bumps are from…

So in the interest of saving my grandkids…

From a possible bed bug attack…

I guess I’ll have to go to the doctor for a diagnosis.

And just as important…

Being that I’m going to RWA nationals soon…

I want to make sure I don’t get anymore bites…

So I don’t look like a freak...

Walking around the Marriott Marquis.

Oh, and speaking of the Marriott Marquis…

For all those of you who are going either to RWA Nationals…

Or just NYC…

Here’s a link to a current bed bug registry of hotels in NYC.

http://bedbugregistry.com/metro/nyc/recent/

EEW!

To think there's an actual official registry is really creepy...

But obviously really necessary.

So?

Ever have bed bug bites?

Always, Em-Musing

FASTEN YOUR STRESS LEVEL, IT'S GONNA BE A BUMPY RIDE

This weekend, I babysat my four grandkids.

I had looked forward to it…

It’d been awhile since I watched all four together.

All was going well…

Well, except for grandma bitchin’ like a banshee…

“If you kids don’t stop–blah, blah, blah!

(and if you've got kids, you know about the blah, blah, blah)

It was just about bedtime when–

“Grandma!!!!! Something’s wrong with the baby!”

I ran into the room where they were playing…

The two-year-old was slumped on the floor…

Glassy-eyed, and burning up!

I took his temp. 103!

I immediately went into medic mode—Tylenol, cool rubs.

All the while anticipating…

That I might have to pack up four kids and take them to the ER.

After putting the other three to bed…

I put the baby to bed and laid down with him…

I didn’t want to take my eyes off of him.

I then set my Droid’s alarm for 2…

So I’d be sure to give him his next dose of meds…

As I continued to rub his head and neck with a cool cloth…

I drifted off to a fitful sleep.

At 2, his head was cooler, his fever had broke…

I then drifted off again…

Only to wake up in the morning and find…

Hundreds of red, blistery bumps…

ON ME!

(I’ll spare you the photo)

Was it the sheets? (different laundry soap)

Fleas? (the dog had slept with us)

Bed bugs? (unlikely)

The baby was fine though. No red bumps and no more fever.

Of course I Googled and–SHINGLES.

Really?

The symptoms were right.

Except I wasn’t in pain and I didn’t feel sick…

And the bumps weren’t itchy too much.

I then read that an outbreak of  shingles…

Can come from a weakened immune system or…

Stress. Hmm?

Of course the articles didn’t say how much stress or for what duration.

So could stress from freaking out about the baby…

Cause my shingles?

And that was my weekend.

How was yours?

And have you ever had shingles?

Always, Em-Musing

REEL ME IN

I did it again…

I read another pirate book…

During my travels to the Caribbean.

The first pirate book I read was Michael Crighton’s Pirate Latitudes…

And on this trip it was Tim Power’s On Stranger Tides.

I don’t know why I’m fascinated with all things pirate, but I am.

Hmm? Is there a pirate genre?

Or gene?
Anyway…

With the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie out…

You know I’ve just got to see it.

And so I Googled the movie times for it and–

OMG!

It’s Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides!

OMG!

I didn’t know that the movie was based on the book...

When I decided to read it.

I guess I was attracted…

To the skull and crossbones on the cover…

(yes, cover art wooed me)

And the treasure of the story to be discovered within.

But alas…

My friend told me she saw the movie…

And despite Jack Sparrow still being so good to look at…

With all his swaggering and swashbuckling action…

And let's not forget his eye make-up...

She still thought the movie stunk.

Aw.

Well, because I read the book…

I think I owe it to myself to see it.

What about you?

Have you seen it?

If you have, I’d love to hear your review.

And have you ever read any pirate books?

Always, Em-Musing

CLOWNING

Out of all the sights I saw…

While on vacation in Mexico…

It’s the two clowns…

I remember most.

I spotted each at different locations in Playa del Carmen.

The were In full clown regalia and makeup…

Clodhopper shoes and all.

Hmm?

Where was the party?

But it didn’t seem that there was one…

They were just walking around shopping…

Like everyone else.

And what was even odder…

No one paid any attention to them.

Hmm?

Is dressing like a clown going to be the new “look”…

Like hippy bohemian now, and what goth, punk used to be?

And then suddenly…

A metaphor appeared in my mind…

As garish as the red noses on the clown’s white faces.

I’m going to RWA Nationals in a few weeks…

And  being an unpub’d author walking around the conference…

In search of an agent…

Will I be as obvious as those clowns…

Walking around town…

In search of a party?

So?

How does/did being an unpub’d author feel to you?

Always, Em-Musing

WEIGHTING

I’m back from my working vacation in Akumal, Mexico.

Ha!

Little did I know the working part…

Wasn’t going to be me working on my spiritual retreat.

Oh, sure, I met with the architect…

Went over the plans…

And yada, yada, yada.

But the real working part…

Was me…

Working on me.

Seems when there’s a huge life transition…

Such as the recent death of a spouse of 36 years…

(we were separated for four years, but still close)

It’s amazing how much baggage you accumulate.

Funny…when I packed…

I was worried about the physical weight limit of my luggage…

And making sure I was 40 pounds or less (Spirit’s new limit).

Too bad there’s no emotional weight limit…

On how much sorrow you are allowed to carry in life…

But then, how would one even begin to measure it?

And what does 40 pounds of regret look like?

Or too bad there are no restrictions…

On which emotions you’re allowed to carry with you.

What would 3 ounces of liquid ire look like?

I did have a restful, meaningful, joyful time while in Mexico…

And after working through and sorting out my baggage…

I definitely was lighter on the flight home.

How do you handle baggage?

Always, Em-Musing