Friday, May 29, 2015

Here Comes the Sun


No, it's not Music Monday, but we've had a pretty soggy time of it here in Texas so the title seemed fitting.

We're nearing June and we've had so much rain. We've needed it, there's no doubt, though maybe not so much all at once. I have to imagine that just about all our 254 counties should be out of drought conditions by this point. According to one station, our local PBS station, this is the wettest month ever in recorded history. I can well believe it.


My yards are saturated, and puddles sit for hours. The lawn leaks down the driveway for hours as well.


I can't say I'm displeased with the fact that I've had the lowest electricity bills for the last two months since we haven't had to run the AC much, but I'm ready for some sunshine and, yes, some heat.


Have a great weekend--may the sun be with you!



Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Blast from the past...


So back in the day, I was a fan of General Hospital. Remember Luke and Laura, Robert and Anna, Patch and Kayla? Well, GH also launched the musical careers of at least two young artists--Rick Springfield and Jack Wagner.

Who remembers Frisco Jones??



Imagine my surprise as I'm watching the Hallmark Channel series, When Calls the Heart, last week and I see this character and I'm thinking, "man he looks familiar."

I finally see some credits and think--goodness gracious, that's Jack Wagner from General Hospital!

Jack Wagner these days...


What a difference a few decades make!


Monday, May 25, 2015

Music Monday


Weekend before this one just past, I went to my in-laws house. We had a lovely evening visiting and eating (food's always so yummy) and listening to music. We also played dominoes, which was great fun. We got talking about how Forty-two (a domino game) was much like Spades (a card game) and I remembered how much fun I'd had as a teen learning to play Spades with my dad and step-mother. And I determined that I needed to play Spades or Forty-two more often.

But as this post is supposed to be about music, let's talk about that. My father-in-law loves music and what get together is complete without it? Now, FIL loves all kinds of music, but we ended up with some really classic country, which also reminded of my dad, who also love all kinds of music.

You know, they just don't make country music like they used to, so today I'm going to share a couple of my favorites from when I was growing up (the 80s).

Overall, I'm not and never was a huge fan of Willie Nelson, but I love his cover of City of New Orleans.

 
Johnny Cash is another country music/folk music/gospel music great of the  50s, 60s, and 70s. It's hard to choose just one favorite, but I'm going with one of lighter tunes, A Boy Named Sue.


And last but not least, let's add a feminine voice to the mix. How about Helen Reddy? I really only know the songs featured on her Greatest Hits album, so let's go with the song that rocketed her to stardom.



Hope you had/are having a wonderful long weekend. Remember those who died that we remain free...




Friday, May 22, 2015

Pushing Past the Self-Doubts and the Fear


For the past two months I've been hard at work on a brand new book. My track record is abysmal when it comes to actually finishing, I will admit, but I really love these characters and really do want to share them with the world.

The last two weeks have been a struggle for me and this is probably the point at which I've given up and quit in the past, but I've continued on even if I only worked on it for half an hour, fifteen minutes, five minutes...

(This is how I feel--overtaken by doubt and fear...)

It probably wasn't the best timing to take a particular online class either as now I'm worrying about that aspect of my book. I will admit to not working on it at all for a few days here and there, and reading when I should have been writing/revising. It definitely helped get me back to work to have writer friends encouraging me to stick with it and asking to read the book. (Well, that also a little scary, frankly.)

So I've put on my big girl panties and gotten back to work with determination to get the story to a good enough state to send to one of my critique partners. (She's not too scary.) She keeps asking for it. I'll see what she has to say and then make yet another pass at it and see where it stands.

I thought this was appropriate--end of story, you know THE END...

Anyway...




Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Special Delivery from London via Germany


Look what I got!!!!!! Fan girl swoon moment, let me tell you--

 Sherlock Holmes played by Benedict Cumberbatch.


Mycroft Holmes played by Mark Gatiss.

I have a dear friend named Janie Crouch--we're online writing buddies. But we're also Sherlock and Benedict Cumberbatch fan girls. We seem to be the only two in our shared circle of friends and I can't tell how fun it is to gush over the show, the characters, and fan fiction.

Recently, Janie moved to Germany as her husband got transferred there for his job... And since she was so close to London when the Sherlocked convention took place, she was lucky enough to be able to go.

She graciously sent me the autographed production stills of these two since she actually had her picture taken with them both. (I'm sooo jealous.)

They have been suitably framed and are hanging and spare nails in the dining corner of the kitchen for the time being...

(not the best image...at a bad angle {I'm short!}and with not so great lighting)


As a way of thanking Janie, I'm sharing the fact that Janie has a new book out--Untraceable from Harlequin. So if you read romantic suspense, take a chance and buy her book.



Monday, May 18, 2015

Music Monday


So there's this piece of classical music that brings a smile to my face every time I hear it. Part of that smile come from the fact that I recognize a piece of classical music by "sound" which is rare enough for me. But part of it is that I recognize it from a particularly amusing bit of television. The musical piece? The Thieving Magpie by Gioachino Rossini.

We're revisiting the BBC's Sherlock--the episode (The Reichenbach Fall) in which Jim Moriarty (the Professor from the original stories) breaks into the display of the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London... The actor, Andrew Scott, wasn't instructed to dance while he was doing his bit, but he did and it's brilliant. So for your viewing and or listening pleasure...

If you just want to listen to the music, choose this video...



If you want to watch the scene of Sherlock in its entirety with music and dialogue and the awesome Andrew Scott, choose this video...


Friday, May 15, 2015

TGIF Again...


Seems like it was just Friday, which is a good thing I suppose. Time wooshing by. No--wait--at my age, that's not really such a good thing.

But I've been busy. I hadn't planned on working on my craft (writing) this year, but I find myself in the middle of a six-month writer program and two online classes. It's not a bad thing, but along with writing and working and reading, not to mention taking care of the hubster, the dog, and the house, my time gets chewed up rather quickly.

But it is in fact Friday, although I have no idea what I'm going to this weekend aside from the usual writing, laundry, and grocery shopping.

Anyway, hope you have a super weekend.


Monday, May 11, 2015

The first soundtrack I ever owned...


My mom might remember, but I'll bet the rest of you will never guess. I might not have thought of it myself except last week while I listened to CleansingMusic.com's classical station via iTunes, I heard a song that immediately brought a smile to my face and the memories to my mind. And now I'll never forget!

Not only was it the first soundtrack I ever owned--and a vinyl record even, but the movie was the first movie I remember seeing ever, but specifically at a drive-in theater!

Are you just dying to know...?


The song--which I immediately started singing along with was A Spoonful of Sugar. Amazing how some things just stick with you. And for your listening pleasure:


Have a super week.


Friday, May 8, 2015

TGIF Friends







And tomorrow is writers group excited about seeing my writer peeps.

Have a super weekend.


Wednesday, May 6, 2015

The Luckiest Generation...?



Of a sort anyway...I was born in '68, was a kidlet in the 70s and a teen for most of the 80s. I definitely remember recording songs off the radio, I got my first VCR as a birthday/graduation present in 1986, and I remember watching Saturday morning cartoons with my mom.

I definitely love technology most of the time, but there's something to be said for simpler times.




Monday, May 4, 2015

Music Monday


Decisions, decisions... I had a tough time choosing a song for today, but finally decided on Brooks & Dunn. I've enjoyed their music for close to twenty years now and was sad when I learned they were going solo. They'd started off that way, dontcha know, but someone suggested they pair up and they did and the rest is country music history.

I saw them in concert once and it was fabulous. I wish I knew where my images were... Anyway, for your musical enjoyment today...

Caroline



Ain't Nothing 'Bout You



Have a great week!



Friday, May 1, 2015

The Best Show You Never Watched


Many moons ago, there was this show on ABC--it was called Sports Night. It was intelligent and funny. Unfortunately, it didn't last too long (two seasons), either because it was ahead of its time or because people thought it was a another sports show, when in fact it was a half-hour dramedy about the people who put on a sports show. There's no doubt it boosted the careers of Peter Krause, Felicity Huffman, and Joshua Malina. It also starred Robert Guillaume of Benson and Soap fame.

 (Available on Netflix!)

Our whole family loved the show, including the kids who were tweens and teens at the time it came across our radar. We'd watched it so many times all of us had lines of dialogue memorized and used to quip them at one another. A few still linger in my mind to this day.

If  you're ever in need of something to watch, give Sports Night a try. And let me know what you think of it.

You've been watching Sports Night on CSC, so stick around...