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Category Archives: Musings and Odd Thoughts

Creative Non-Fiction

The Boys!

15 Mar

Those of you who follow this blog know that back in November, I had to put down the last of the three cats who lived with me for more than 20 years. It was hard on my wife and me. We view our cats like most people view their children. I some cases, better. We had set aside the bowls and litter boxes and tried to get used to not being greeted at the door at night or have someone laying on our lap while we watched TV.

Sunday morning, two weeks ago, my wife and I set down our coffee cups and in unison, looked at each other and said, “I think I’m ready for more cats.” It was a little creepy but not unusual for us to be on the same wavelength without previous conversation. We actually waited for the animal shelter to open before we showed up on their doorstep looking for our new “children”. We must have been patient that day.

We didn’t find anything that day. However, after surfing the web a little, my wife found a pair of cats who needed to be adopted together as they are inseparable. They survived the tornado that tore through north Minneapolis last year and were placed into a foster home with the Humane Society.

They are inseparable!

They are inseparable!

One visit was enough. These big boys (20 pounds each) are typical two-year olds. Marble and Herman love to play and get into trouble. They will be indoor cats so the rabbit that these two are watching has nothing to fear from them.

""Rabbit!"

Life is good as we get to know each other. Thankfully, they have not learned to walk on my keyboard while I write…yet.

 
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Posted by on March 15, 2013 in Musings and Odd Thoughts

 

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Don’t be My Valentine

13 Feb

My amazing wife of over three decades and I have celebrated a total of one Valentine’s day. Our first. I showed up at her apartment and she handed me two wrapped boxes. I asked what these were for. Needless to say she was devastated. So, to make it up to her, a took her downstairs to our favorite bar, paid for a pitcher of dark beer and an order of fried cheese curds, and played the one video game the bar had. She soon forgot about my lack of enthusiasm for the holiday.

Before you all jump on me as being a total ass, let me explain a few key points.

1) I was in college and broke. (See #2 below)

2) We usually pitched in for the beer and cheese curds so, it was special that I paid for the whole evening. (She had a job, I did not.)

3) Once she realized my reasons for not celebrating this silly holiday, she has never complained. Not once in our entire marriage. When the boss is happy, I’m happy!!!

My apathy towards Valentine’s Day began in elementary school. We were required to give EVERYONE of the opposite gender, in our class a valentine. That included the really smart girl sitting in front who always laughed at me when I gave the wrong answers and my ex-first love who jilted me at the swing set during recess. The words, “Be my valentine” simply were not believable. This went on until Jr. High School when open rebellion by the boys of the class ended this requirement. Oh we still gave a few to the girls we really liked, or the ones we secretly wanted to spend more time with. Ah, young love! 😉

Fast forward ahead to college. Like most college students, I began questioning everything, from religion and politics to media and the reasons for holidays. Radical thinking was the order of the day. So when the subject of this holiday came up, the reasons to not celebrate it were easy. Driven , like most holidays, by the retail industry and the media, flower and candy stores generate most of their annual revenues from this one day. Jewelry stores also rake in the profits from men who are cowed into buying their “sweetheart” a bauble.

I asked myself  what is the purpose of this holiday. Beside keeping the jewelry, candy, and flower industries in business, it is to show love and affection to the one(s) we care about the most.

Next question: Why do we set aside one day a year to do this?

Answer: Is it because we are too lazy or self-centered to show these individuals how we feel throughout the year. That, to me, is completely unacceptable behavior!

Maybe I’m wrong here, but when I found someone I really cared about, I went out of my way to show them how I felt throughout the year. I still do. Waiting for one day in February as just too long to wait. Gentlemen, I apologize if I set the bar high here. But, this is one area of great importance to me. It’s actually easier than trying to remember one day in February. Ladies, If your man treats you well and shows you how he feels throughout the year, give him a little slack if he drops the ball in February. It’s only one day for crying out loud.

My beautiful wife gets “Happy Saturday” presents, girls nights out, sparkling baubles, various kinds of fresh-baked shortbread, and even the occasional massage. They come to her throughout the year without warning. On the flip side, I am regularly surprised with “Happy Saturday” presents, archery/hunting equipment, boys night out, time to write, and occasionally my favorite home-cooked meal. This reminds me of “un-birthdays” from Alice in Wonderland.

So, instead of celebrating Valentine’s Day, celebrate un-Valentine’s Day with me 364 days a year.

Happy Un-Valentine’s Day!!!

 
23 Comments

Posted by on February 13, 2013 in Musings and Odd Thoughts

 

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500 a Day (FAD Challenge) in Review

01 Feb

On December 1st, 2012, I started a mini writing challenge proposed by fellow blogger, Shannon M Howell. The challenge was to write 500 words a day for 62 days, (Dec. and Jan.). On one hand that’s a lot fewer words than the 1,667 a day required during NaNo. However, it lasts for twice as long. I thought the number was something I could hit. Also, different types of writing were acceptable, blog posts, magazine articles, Christmas letters, etc. However, the main focus should be on the current WIP.

First the bad news. I missed my goal of 31,000 words. 😦  The reasons, Work, holidays, flu, sound like excuses so I won’t bore you with them.

Now for the good news. Over the past 62 days, I have averaged nearly 350 words a day, added 12,000 words to my WIP novel, and have a good start on a new project. I knew that I don’t write fast. That’s why I never tried NaNo. However, I found out that when my mind and the keyboard do get in sync, I tend to average 500 – 800 words at one sitting. Apparently my mind thinks in blocks of this length. If I then take a break, I can come back a little later (time permitting) and turn out another 500 – 800 words.

The numbers listed above are all well and good. However the best part of this challenge is what I learned about myself as a writer. I found that lunch hours and quiet Saturday mornings at the cabin are my most productive times to write. I am more creative when I am pantsing a scene versus writing from an outline. However, I produce more words from an outline. Either way, I usually write the bare bones of the story during the first pass. Revision is where the five senses are added to description and the plot tension is enhanced.

Having more than one project to work on is good for me in the long run as I get inspired from one story and it carries over to the other one. Also, an epiphany hit me when I realized that evil characters are actually fun to write. Believe it or not, this was new territory for me. It’s about time. Now I can really get going on the middle section of my WIP. “Run thief, run.” Mwaahaahaa!

Most importantly, the experience created some writing habits that I can carry forward. My blog posts have become more regular, for one. Writing every day is not as important as writing on those days when I have determined that I should. However, I do try to write something, even if it’s only 100 words, every day. I’m still working out the best time for me on weekends when I’m not at the cabin. She who must be obeyed stated that if necessary she would start sending me to my room. 😉 You’ve seen my room. That just might be the winning ticket.

All in all this was a good experience. Those who tackle NaNo have my respect, but I will not be joining you in November. I could be talked into the FAD challenge again. Shannon, are you with me? Maybe we can drag some others along for the ride.

Armed with the knowledge gained during this little exercise, I made some realistic goals for 2013. Confidence is high that this year will be a good writing year for me.

 
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Posted by on February 1, 2013 in Musings and Odd Thoughts

 

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The Sweet Science

28 Jan

Going to a professional boxing match these days is like wearing a fur coat. A lot of people say, “That’s just disgusting!” even though they don’t really know what it is they are condemning. What they “know” is what they are told by the media. Sure, on the surface, boxing is just two people beating the hell out of each other for a specified period of time. (Please notice that I said people and not men. The number of women boxers is growing daily!) But like any sport, there is so much more going on than what the average spectator sees. Over the past eleven years I have come to appreciate boxing as something other than hand-to-hand combat.

First let me say that I am not a boxer, nor do I play one on TV. However, I am close friends with a professional boxing trainer (Ron) and a boxing promoter (his son-in-law, Tony). They are passionate about their sport. When they are not training or competing, they are talking about it or watching it. As a rule, boxers are not overly aggressive psychopaths. In fact, most of the fighters I know are intelligent, friendly, and genuinely nice people who just happen to like to square off with someone under the rules of the game.

Ron has trained some top-notch fighters, Caleb “Golden” Truax and Matt “The Predator” Vanda to name two. Both have fought nationally televised fights. As a former fighter with more than 100 wins, Ron knows the “sweet science” of boxing. I enjoy listening to him talk about his fighters and how they are trained. The first thing that you realize when you talk to Ron is that he cares about his fighters. He loves the fact that they love the sport and he goes out of his way to help them succeed. Ron started training fighters in his garage,Slowly, he built up a dedicated group of fighters and started a full-fledged gym. He reminds me of coaches I used to have. They were teachers/professors who loved sport.

By listening to Ron “The Professor”, I have learned to watch boxing in a different way. The technique of throwing the different types of punches is precise to get the most power, speed, and accuracy. Fighters learn to use angles to find cracks in their opponents defense. My favorite is the footwork. Each of these techniques is difficult to learn and perfect. Adding them together so that they are useful is crazy hard. Then, as Ron likes to say, it gets interesting when you add in the fact that someone else is trying to knock your head off while you are using these techniques. Talk about difficult!

More often than not, I watch a fighter’s feet. If they have good footwork, they will have power and speed. That’s science talking, not me. I am not talking about dancing around the ring.  I’m talking about the short shuffle steps that keep the fighter’s feet under him and provides leverage for the jab. The side step that opens up a straight right hand or hook to the body. Good footwork means good balance. As Mr. Miagi says, “If balance good, boxing good. If balance bad, may as well pack up and go home.” Okay, I took some liberties with that one, but it’s still true.

My wife and I recently had the honor of sitting ringside for the Minnesota Middleweight Boxing Championship thanks to the bout’s promoter, Tony and his lovely wife. The fight featured Caleb Truax (20-1-1, 12 KO’s) and Matt Vanda (44-14, 24 KO’s). (Ron is currently training Caleb as Matt left Ron several years back.) Matt had the edge on experience, but Caleb is a technician. It turned out to be one of the best fights I’ve ever seen. Being very familiar with both fighters made it that much more fun. Watching each of them think throughout the fight, trying different tactics, trying to picking each other’s defenses apart. It was a war that both fighters wanted to win in the worst way. Caleb was the reigning champion wanting to retain his title and Matt wanting to go out on top. He had announced that this would be his final profession fight. At the end of ten, exhausting rounds, Caleb won by a decision of the judges.

Promoter Tony G is in the jeans with one of his partner's waiting for the main event.

Promoter Tony G is in the jeans with one of his partner’s waiting for the main event.

Ron (on far right) and Caleb (on left) before the fight

Ron (on far right) and Caleb (on left) before the fight

On the back of the tee shirts for Ron’s gym is a simple saying. “Respect, it is earned in the gym and kept in the ring.” As a non-boxer I will say this. I have the greatest respect for those who choose to participate in this sport. Technically and physically, it is as demanding as any sport I know of. I have always tried to live by the saying, “Don’t criticize a man until you have walked a mile in his moccasins.” I’ve seen enough to now I am too old to jump into this game competitively, but I will continue to watch and enjoy those you are young enough and dedicated enough to join this amazing group of individuals.

What I’m trying to say is that whoever started calling the sport of boxing the sweet science, truly understood it.

 
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Posted by on January 28, 2013 in Musings and Odd Thoughts

 

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When is a Prologue not a Prologue?

02 Jan

Much of my writing time of late has been spent, as it should be, on my current WIP novel, “Smoke and Goblet”. I wrote what I thought would be the opening scene quite a while ago. My writing group critiqued it and I made revisions. Thinking I had a solid opening scene, I moved on to writing other scenes that would round out the first third of the book. Several of these scenes introduced other major characters and gave additional exposition regarding the main conflict. While writing a scene introducing my primary antagonist, I hit a wall. The scene just did not feel right. It read like a flashback based on the preceding scenes.

I went to my storyboard and moved some scenes around. The logical place for this scene was the opening scene. I based this on the flow of ownership of the object that causes the main conflict in the plot and not on which character is introduced first. It just made more sense to me that the reader would want to know how the object got to where the protagonist obtains it. Also, it is a great set up to show just how nasty the antagonist is.

My dilemma came from several writing sources which stated, “Anything before the protagonist is introduced, is a prologue.” These sources further state that, “Prologues, with few exceptions, should be avoided.” Prologues require the author to write two opening scenes which cause the reader to start the story over. A prologue often contains characters other than the main characters of the story, is set in an early time, and/or is located in a different setting. It is a set up that may provide exposition the author can think of no other way to introduce to the reader. I have read novels with and without prologues and I understand what the writing sources were trying to say. I think most stories can do without a prologue quite nicely. That brings me back to the question of this post.

My opening scene introduces my antagonist, his evil personality, and the object which will be the main cause of conflict for the remainder of the story. The second short scene shows how the object changes hands before the protagonist is introduced and obtains the object in the third scene. I do not believe that the first two scenes fit the definition of a prologue as the timeline, antagonist, and conflict are consistent with the rest of the story plot. I’m not adverse to using a prologue. I’m just not sure that is what I’m dealing with.

So…when is a prologue not a prologue? Have you used a prologue in your writing? Did an editor ask you to either add or delete a prologue? What was their reasoning?

 
16 Comments

Posted by on January 2, 2013 in Musings and Odd Thoughts, Thoughts on Writing

 

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Me watching you watching me

18 Dec

Dear Friends and Acquaintances,

Yesterday, it struck me again how much information is available on the internet. What started out as a two-minute search for the properties of Bloodstone, turned into a three-hour session that covered topics ranging from geology to modern magic to Wicca to various other organized religions to the US Bill of Rights to personal information on a friend of mine. I found the Bloodstone information I was looking for in the first two minutes, but I just could not help myself. One question led to others. It is so easy to get lost in the internet and the nearly limitless amount of information house there. So, needless to say I fell farther behind on my FAD challenge word count.

Then, I jumped on the blogosphere, read a few posts, and made some comments. As I was commenting on a post, it occurred to me, again, how much personal information we share with others without giving it much thought. We talk about ourselves, our families, and our lifestyles. What we like to eat, to drink, where we like to go and things we like to do. Now, I am no longer as paranoid as I used to be in my younger days. I don’t post information about others without their expressed permission. However, there is still a little voice that tells me to pay attention to what goes on around me. People are watching what I say and do. 😐  Dun, dun, duuun!

Since I am giving out so much information on myself, I thought it would be a good idea to keep track of who it is I’m giving this information to. WordPress, to my knowledge, has not seen fit to provide who stops by to view my posts so, I must take matters into my own hands. I decided to create a clone. The clone would need a disguise to ensure no one would know it is me. It cannot sleep and should be easy to care for.

For reasons which I will not get into in this public medium, I have a close relationship to the Rabbit/Hare. Yes, I know they are very different. I am a biologist for crying out loud. However, many people think they are the same thing and I am not inclined to take the time to explain it every time the question comes up. That’s what the internet is for.  🙂 But I digress. I looked through 80,000 images and found a self-portrait which now resides at the top of my blog site.

So, beginning now, I will always be here, watching you watching me!

 
6 Comments

Posted by on December 18, 2012 in Musings and Odd Thoughts

 

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Tribute to my “daughter” Libby

04 Dec

I woke up Monday and went about my morning routine. That is, of course, until I went downstairs to feed Libby. But there was no meow saying “Good morning, I’m hungry”. There were no bowls to fill with water or dry food. There were no pee pads to pick up and throw away. There was no furry little face looking at me through the bars of the gate. Only the darkness and silence of the family room at 5:30 AM. You see, Friday, after I got home from work, my wife and I took Libby to the Vet for the last time. I had no intention of putting her down when we left the house. But, I had no idea how far she had deteriorated in the last three months.

Libby was the last of my three “children”. For the past twenty-two years, there has been at least one and for a long time three feline members of my family. My middle child, past away from kidney disease at the age of seventeen. My eldest child succumbed to fluid on the lungs at age 22. And my youngest, Libby, left us Friday night due to complications from thyroid disease.

Libby came to us on a spring morning. I found her hiding under the house. We call her our unwed mother because at the ripe old age of nine months, she was VERY pregnant. She looked like she had swallowed a softball. She was half-starved and was the most pitiful creature you ever saw. We fed her for a day or two and then had to make a decision. She was ready to deliver and we were on our way out-of-town for the Memorial Day weekend. I did not want to leave her and come back to a litter of kittens or worse. Based on her obvious malnutrition, I doubted the kittens would be healthy. The alternative was to take her to the animal shelter and place a finder’s hold on her. She would be examined, fed, and cared for until we could get back from vacation. We could then make a final decision on whether to bring a third cat into our home. The down side was, if she had the litter while we were gone, we would not be told the fate of the kittens unless we placed a hold on them as well. This I’m told is standard procedure for animal shelters. This decision was almost as difficult as having Libby put to sleep 18 years later. We finally chose to only hold Libby and prayed the Shelter would do what was best for the kittens.

When we returned from our trip, we prepared the house of the new arrival. Our existing children were locked in one area of the house with their food, water and litter boxes and the rest of the house would be free for Libby to explore for a few days until she was adjusted to her new surroundings.

When we picked Libby up from the shelter, she was a different cat. She had indeed delivered while we were gone. (That is how I wish to think it happened. I do not know what happened,nor do I want to know.) She was five pounds lighter than when we dropped her off. Half of her body weight had been kittens! But, she was healthy. We paid for vaccinations and care. Then, we took her home.

Over the next few days, there was a lot of sniffing under doors and paws being stretched under doors trying to reach each other. Libby roamed the house at will and chose to mostly, ignore the bedroom. There were obviously two very interested felines wanting to find out who had invaded their territory. Finally, on Friday night we let the three of them see each other for the first time. There was a few minutes of hissing and posturing with me standing by to separate them if necessary. Fortunately, a pecking order was soon arrived at and peace returned to the household.

I treated the cats like family. Each had their own food and water bowls. Each had their own litter box. My wife and I made sure we spent quality time with each one every day. It may have been wrestling with the big male, or having them chase a light around the room, or maybe just giving them a special massage of their own. Whatever it was they each returned to attention they received many times over.

I treated the cats like family and they reciprocated. After a serious car accident that left me on my back in a recliner for thirteen weeks, my children would take turns getting up on the recliner and laying, spread eagle, over my shattered knee. The warmth of their little bodies and their energy covered my knee. The added weight also helped during rehab exercises. 🙂  I believe to this day, that they were a big part of my knee healing. They knew I was hurt and made sure that at least one of them was with me 24/7 for entire recovery.

Sometime in the future, we will again add a couple of furry members to our family. Once the pain of loss has subsided and we are ready, we will find two felines who need us as much as we need them. Until then, I will remember, “Little Mr.”, “The Lover”, and the “Unwed Mother” and know they are waiting for my wife and I at the rainbow bridge.

 
6 Comments

Posted by on December 4, 2012 in Musings and Odd Thoughts

 

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