Unplug those wall warts

Unplug those wall warts and save electricity. You know what I'm talking about, don't you? I'm referring to the electrical plugs for things that we don't use on a regular basis, but still use electricity when they are plugged into the outlet.

Go through the house and check to see if you are using the equipment. The wall wart that connects the phone to the electrical outlet is necessary. Believe me, you don't want your phone battery going dead. If the telephone battery is dead, then the phone doesn't work and you might need the phone in an emergency. However, there are other wall warts that remain connected to the electrical outlet consuming electricity, which go to items we don't use on an everyday or an emergency basis. Those can be unplugged and the electricity saved.

Make a list of the wall warts and their items. Then under each list when they are used, this way you can determine if the wall wart needs to remain connected to the electricity. Unplug those that are just consuming electricity and aren’t used regularly.

Thankful Thursday July 31, 2008

The idea behind Thankful Thursday is gratitude. No matter how difficult life is there an individual, once a week a person can find at least 10 things for which to give thanks.

Things I am Thankful for on July 31, 2008

1. My internet connection holds long enough to get a blog entry saved
2. Coffee
3. The way the sky slowly changes from deep velvet black to silk blue at dawn
4. Carrot cake for breakfast
5. Cereal for lunch
6. Canned meat products
7. Writing.com
8. Payperpost.com
9. E-mail
10. Intriguing spam subject lines that give me ideas for stories, poems, etc.

Authors Spotlight Challenge Day 3

It is day three of the Authors Spotlight contest on writing.com. I have made six entries in the book "Snow in the Valley", which I use for that contest. That book is located in my port Prosperous Snow's Port.

I have not completed today's yet. So far this morning I completed three reviews for task two, which I copied and pasted into the book. I still have to do the conversation for task one, which is strictly dialogue.

These tasks are challenging and fun. The tasks push me to go beyond my limits. So far in this contests I have written a poem and a children's story in addition to doing interviews, reviewing and stating specific expectations for the contest.

Sometimes I feel a bit stressed because of the deadline. I must post each day's work by 9:00 PM Pacific Time, which is 12:00 AM Eastern Time. Working within a deadline is interesting and enjoyable. I do not have time to worry about anything but completing the writing to the best of my ability.

I have decided to expand on the children's story after the contest is over. Right now that story is close to a flash fiction piece. I want to make it a short story and possibility give it a different title. The present working title is "I'm Lost".

I also think I will expand the dialogue I write for today's Task One and make it a short story. The working title for this is "Twin Talk". I think I will make "Twin Talk" a science fiction story. There is no specific genre for it now, all though it does have the looks of a love story. However, since I do not write love stories I am going to make it science fiction story with a love story theme. The children's story started as a Fantasy and I am going to leave it in that genre.

Daily Writing Challenges

Two days left before I set my next group of nineteen-day goal. Two days before I know how well I did on the present set of nineteen-day goals. I am not going to change the goals very much, all though I am adding one item to the writing goals. I am participating in a writing challenge on writing.com.

The challenge requires two writing task each day, which I post to a book item in my portfolio before midnight of the day assigned. This means I have to post them before 9:00 PM Pacific Time. I posted the July 28 task bout 7:00 PM yesterday and am working on today's task now.

One of the challenges is a poem and the other is to get to know the other participants in the present challenge and past challenges. I came up with an e-mail interview last night and sent it to some of the participants, but I have not heard back yet. In the meant time, I am going to post the questions and the e-mail message into the book I am using for that.

My next post on this subject will contain a link to my portfolio. I am going to put the challenge book item under "Featured Items" in my portfolio so readers can access it easily. Right now, anyone wanting to look at it must go to "Contest Submissions" because I have not updated "Map of my Port" yet. I am posting the e-mail message and question in that book this morning and then I think I will get another cup of coffee and work on the poem for the other part of the challenge. I will write more on this challenge in a later blog entry.

It Takes Persistence to be a writer

It takes persistence to be a writer. Persistence is a part of patience and a part of faith. All three are necessary not only to write, but to live. It takes faith to get up at 12:30 AM, sit down at a computer and start to write. You have to believe that the computer will boot the same way it did the day before, when you got up at 5:00 AM an hour after the alarm was suppose to ring.

It takes patience to wait for the coffee to brew, while you are staring at the screen wondering what you are going to blog about this morning. You go over the events of yesterday and realize that the drive to the pharmacy to pick up your mother's medication was too boring a subject.

It takes persistence to continue working, when you browser cannot find the web site address you just put in. You check the spelling of the URL to make sure it is correct and then try again. It takes persistence when your browser continues to get lost in cyberspace and cannot find the address of the web site where your blog is located.

After all this difficulty, your browser finds the URL. Now you can start blogging. So what happens next, your muse has a senior moment and you for get the subject you intended to blog about. Therefore, you do the next best thing you start typing the first thing that pops into your head, which is "It Takes Persistence to be a writer".

A Website with a wide variety of work boots

I like boots. I like looking at boots, especially when I am considering buying new footwear for myself or someone else. Work Boots USA has a great selection of high quality steel toe boots.

Work Boots USA has a wide selection of work boots brands, such as CAT, Wolverine, Bates, Converse, Rocky, etc. A customer can search for work boots either by brand or by style. In addition, the customer can see "What's New" in work boots or look at "Best Sellers", "What's Hot" or "Featured Brands". Some of these boots even come with free pairs of socks.

Work Boots USA customers can click on the picture of the boot. The next page that comes up shows the boot's regular price, Work Boots USA's price and the amount the customer saves. In addition, there is free shipping in the USA.

Sponsored by Work Boots USA

Monsoon Season in Las Vegas

It is monsoon season in Las Vegas, Nevada, and I am setting in my living room at my computer. If I look out my living room window, I can see the partly cloudy sky. The clouds are grayish white and there are huge patches of blue sky between them. The humidity is up, but there does not appear to be any rain on the horizon.

I have not checked the e-mail account that receives the local weather report, so I cannot say for sure about the rain. However, since this is rather dry monsoon season, I doubt that rain is predicted. I would not mind some rain, but I am not going to hold my breath. We have only had a little rain this season.

August is about here, so perhaps we will have some thunderstorms. I remember an August when we had crisps lightning bolts hitting the ground. One of the things I enjoy is setting inside my house, watching the rain, watching the lightning and listening to the thunder. I also like sitting on the enclosed patio and listening to the rain on the metal roof. I have set and watched the rain or listened to thunder in a long time.

Perhaps it would help if I used a thunderstorm in a story. I have three short stories I am working on and a thunderstorm would be good in one of them. The story I am thinking about concerns birth or rebirth. Thunder and lightning storms always seem to fit in a story about rebirth. Of course, that is only my opinion, , it comes from growing up in Oklahoma, and storms there sometimes came with tornados.

Early Voting Starts Today in Nevada

The primary eleection is scheduled for Tuesday, August 12, 2008, but early votes starts today. Early voting in the primary election occurs between Saturday, July 26 and Friday, August 8, 2008. There are several early voting sites across the Las Vegas valley. Some of those sites are in supermarkets and some in trailers at various locations. I heard on the news the other night that they expect about half the eligible voters to vote early.

My mother and I are both going to vote early. The official sample ballot arrived yesterday, so I am going to set down with it this afternoon sometime. I will look at both the candidates and any questions on the ballet. Then I will mark my sample ballet, so that when I go to one of the early voting sites I can get through quickly. If I get through quickly, I will not hold the line up and I can get on with my day.

We vote early every year. I vote early because I work the polls on August 12. My mother votes early because she does not drive and goes with me when I early vote.

The Atlantic Blue Finned Tuna

I received a newsletter today, which contained information on the Atlantic Blue Finned Tuna. These intriguing and powerful fish are about to become extinct. The 6 foot long blue finned tuna weights 500 lbs. These beautiful fish, which can swim up to 50 mph, propelled through the water by huge crescent-shaped tails. According to the newsletter the problem is over fishing.

The European Commission closed the blue finned tuna season in the Mediterranean early. A research vessel, called the Marviva Med is documenting what is occurring to these fish. View pictures of the research expatiation at Marviva Med Photos.

Blue finned tuna swim

unable to out run over exploitation

by humanity.

I will write another poem about the blue finned tuna later. I am not sure precisely how to approach a poem on this subject. I will have to do a littler more research on the tuna and consider what form to use for the poem.

The Doorbell Ring at Midnight

The doorbell ring at midnight has a nice sound to it, almost like a mystery novel. This event occurred last night or rather early this morning. At least, I think it was around midnight or there about. I looked at the clock and, I think it said either 11:15 PM or 1:15 AM; something like that anyway.

The doorbell ring three times and woke me up from a sound sleep. I sit straigh up, looked around. I got up, went to the front door and looked out the door's window. I saw no one standing on my front stoop, so I opened the door and looked out. I saw only the trashcans setting in he driveway under the stone pine tree, where they were setting when I went to bed. I went to the living room window and looked out my car was still there. I found my keys, went outside, rolled up my car windows, checked to see that my mother's walker was still in the back seat and locked the car. I am going to roll up the windows and lock the car doors before sunset from now on.

The only thing I heard was a police siren; at least I think it was the police and not an ambulance. If you listen carefully to them, the two sirens sound different. The difference in the sound of a police car's siren and an ambulance is slight, but there is a difference.

After I locked the front door, I found my prayer book and went back to bed. Before going to sleep, I said a prayer of protection. I know I said a prayer when I went to bed about 10:30 PM, before the doorbell woke me up, but I cannot remember whether it was a prayer of protection or not. Anyway, that was my night. I am awake, at least I will be awake; after I have had a couple of more cups of coffee.

Writing on Thankful Thursday

Everyday of the week should have at least one positive theme, that way if things go wrong during the day the entire day is not lost to unhappiness. Thursday's theme is gratitude. Finding ten things to be thankful for helps me get through the day.

Gratitude is a spiritual attribute, which means one does not have to have material things to give thanks. However, one does have to look for the objects of gratitude, sometimes it is difficult to see anything to be thankful for when financial difficulties arrive. Looking for gratitude items is a good exercise; it helps a person get through the day. It helps me get through the day.

When giving thanks an individual does not have to say a prayer of gratitude. Anyone can be grateful, no matter what belief system a person practices. All an individual needs to do is list the things he or she is happy to have in his or her life. Those things, gratitude items, can be spiritual or material. The idea is to make a written list or a hard copy of the gratitude objects and put them somewhere easy to find.

Today I am thankful for

1. My internet connection holding long enough to get some work done on line
2. Having enough coffee and coffee filters in the house to make several fresh carafes
3. The beautiful blue sky I see outside my living room window
4. The way the morning light reflects off my garage
5. The morning prayers I said upon waking up
6. The dream I had before I woke up this morning
7. That yesterday, Wednesday, was trash pick-up day in my neighborhood
8. That I woke up before 2:30 AM and had two loads of cloths already dried before Mom got up
9. Having an air conditioner that works properly and cools the house
10. The stone pine trees that shade my driveway

Writing Changes my Mood

Only two things that will transform my bad or negative mood into a good mood, one of those is prayer and the other is writing. That is one reason I keep an off line journal, I can write about my mood and the reason for it in "Writing My Spiritual Journey". In that journal, I write letters addressed to The Glory of God.

Writing those letters helps me learn about myself, which is important for a writer. In order to write anything, I have to know my strengths and my weaknesses. By making journal entries to someone else besides myself frees my writing and self-reflection. This helps me learn about my faults and bad habits, which in turn help me to overcome and change them.

I find that my muse works when I make daily entries into that journal and my gratitude journal. Both "Writing My Spiritual Journal" and my gratitude journals are off line. I attempt to make daily entries in them at least once a day. My gratitude journal entries list ten things I am thankful for each day. I do not have to make the gratitude all at once, if I can find ten things to be thankful for in the morning that is wonderful, but not always possible.

Keeping those two off line journals also assists me to keep track of my achievements. One of the things to be thankful for is achieving or exceeding my word count goal the day before. Sometimes it is easy to find ten things I am thankful for and difficult at other times. However, looking for the gratitude items is worth finding them, because writing them down helps change a bad mood into a good mood.

Writing after a long and difficult night

It is early Tuesday morning. The sky is still black velvet waiting for the approach of dawn. I did get a little sleep last night, but I am not sure how much. It was a long and difficult, actually I should say painful, night. The problem is that I have only about 16 1/2 teeth in my mouth and because of this; I cannot chew my food properly.

Since I cannot chew it properly, it does not digest the way it should. In addition, I have a tendency not to drink the proper amount of water. The results of these two things sometimes causes pain and I spend the night wondering if I am going to live. If I had health insurance then I would go to the ER during these episodes, but I have no health insurance. Since I do not have health insurance or teeth, I have to be miserable during these episodes.

I am going to get teeth in August, the dentist is going to pull all my teeth and put in a complete set of false teeth. I am looking forward to that. In the mean time, I will be more careful to chew my food carefully or as carefully as I can without a full set of teeth. I will also drink more water.

I am also going to continue to blog about the experience of not having a full set of teeth and the problems it causes. I write, so what is the use of having an experience if I do not write about the good or the bad experience. Maybe I will also write a poem about it, this depends on what else inspires my muses today.

Sleepless
I toss and turn
attempting to find comfort
from the pain of my own foolishness.

Life without a full set of teeth
makes everything difficult
and does not encourage good health.

Perhaps I should look deeper
then the obvious reason
for not taking care of my teeth
when I was younger.

A New Work Week Begins

I am sitting at my computer and looking out my living room window. The sky is still dark with no indication of the coming dawn. I am listening to the washing machine move from the rinse cycle to the final spin. I have a cup of coffee on a wooden T.V. tray set up beside my chair. I have said most of my morning prayers and am waiting for breakfast time in about thirty minutes or so.

I have made one entry in my Gratitude Journal and need to find nine more things I am thankful for today. I am more optimistic then last week because I have focused on prayers this last weekend. My week always begins better when I focus on saying my prayers.

This week is full of writing and work objectives. While it is true that writing is one of my jobs, I also work part time outside of the house. This means I have to make sure I get writing time in at irregular intervals throughout the day. I have a telephone hook up to the Internet (not DSL yet), so I cannot use the phone when I am on line.

I cannot use the phone when I am online and I cannot get online when I am using the phone. I have several business calls to make today and tomorrow, which means I am going to have to do online work after 5:00 PM. I have to make sure the line is open so that when I leave a message the people can get back to me.

Leaving the phone line open is incontinent, but not difficult. I have several projects I can work on while waiting for people to return my phone calls. I no one gets back to me before 5:00 PM on Monday or Tuesday, they cannot get me on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday before 2:00 PM, all though, Thursday and Friday I may be home earlier.

Writing on Sunday Time

Why is it that time seems to pass slower on Sunday then any other day of the week? I get up at the same time, but the day seems to pass slowly. The day seems to stretch out into the infinite future. They day feels as if it has not beginning and will have no end.

This feeling is an illusion, of course, because the day will end. Today the sun will set behind a cloud cover. It has been cloudy all day. The clouds do not give Sunday the feeling of being eternal. Something else about Sunday seems to make time pass at a snails pace and time seems stretched to its limits as the day wears on.

I have always thought that it odd that Sunday seems endless, while the rest of the week days and Saturday pass quickly. All my life, Sunday has seemed to pass slowly, perhaps its because Sunday is the first day of the week and I am being prepared for the coming days full of excitement and worry. Although today, I am not worried about anything.

It could be my imagination that time passes at a different rate then anyother day of the week. Still Sunday's seem to pass slower then any other twenty-four hour day.

I am writing on Sunday time
and I feel the slowness of the day
the joy of rest at the beginning of the week.

I am writing on Sunday time
attempting to put into words
the feeling of the seconds creeping into minutes
and minutes crawling into hours.

I am writing on Sunday time
and the words come as slow as
molasses in January
when the snow lays deep in the mountains
and everything in nature wants to sleep.

Saturday Traffic in Las Vegas

I went to the store to the pet store and the Ninety-Nine Cent only store this afternoon. Before I backed out of the driveway, I said a prayer of protection and it is a good thing I did. Driving in traffic was all right, all drivers were following the speed limit and driving defensively. Every driver on the road was watching what he or she was doing.

I parked in front of the pet store, went in and bought what I needed. I had someone help me load the stuff into the car. I backed out and started home and someone else almost hit me while I was driving through the parking lot. The pet store I went to is a shopping center with several other stores. The car that almost hit me was backing out of a parking place in front of one of the other stores. The car did not hit my car because my breaks worked and there was no car behind me when I put on my breaks. The driver in the car that almost hit me did not seem to notice I was there; he drove off without a look back.

I am not sure what I am going to do with this experience, other then a blog entry. I suppose I could write a poem about it. I could just as easily put in in a flash fiction story. Maybe write something from the other driver's point of view. The driver of the other car was a man, so that would be a bit of a stretch for me. Normally, when I write I use a woman's point of view and voice, but that does not mean I cannot write from a man's point of view. I am not sure how good it would be, but it would be a good writing exercise.

Write about a recurring dream

Daily Writing Practice Prompt for Friday, July 18, 2008. This is a day early, but it was the first one in the Daily Writing Practice Prompt folder, so it is the prompt I am responding to.

Write about a recurring dream

My recurring dream concerns my Grandparents' house in Blackwell, Oklahoma. In the dream Mom and I have returned to Blackwell and are staying in the house. The reason we are in Blackwell varies with the dream.



The constants in the dream are my grandparents' house, Mom and me, and the fact that we are about to leave and return to Las Vegas. Usually we are in the kitchen, but sometimes we are in one of the other rooms of the house. All the rooms look the same as they did when I was growing up.



There are usually other people in the dream. Sometimes relatives I have never met, sometimes my brothers or sister, and sometimes cousins who grew up around me. In one dream, there were even strangers who I knew in the dream, but had never met in my waking life.


In the last dream, which occurred two or three months ago, Mom and I had returned to Blackwell to attend my Grandparents' memorial service. We were getting ready to leave and had packed up everything we were taking back to Las Vegas. My cousin wanted to know what to do with the house and everything we were leaving behind. We told them to go ahead and sell the house.

The interesting thing about this dream is when it occurs. It usually occurs right before something changes in my life. The change does not have to be a change of address; it can be a situation change or a change in mental attitudes. The dream always occurs right before some type of important change in my life.

I am not in a writing mood

I am not in a writing mood. All though, I am not sure I know how to describe or define a writing mood. To write all I have to do is sit down at the computer and start typing. I think the problem is I feel weary and on the verge of tears.

Perhaps I need a vacation, not from writing but from my surroundings. I am not getting a vacation this year. I thought a few months ago, I was going to take a vacation and go out of the country for a while, but I am not. That may be one of the reasons I am weary and down. There are other reasons as well. There are way too many reasons to go into here.

If I let the reasons, I am down, not depressed, but down or is the word blue. As I was saying, if I let the reasons I am down stop me from writing, I will never write another sentence. So not being in a writing mood is no excuse not to write. The thing is to write through the mood. Just continue to write whether in the mood or not.

The idea is to sit down and write. Write about anything that comes to mind, but do not let anything stop the writing. Write about the mood, write about the weather and write about the reasons for not going on vacation or reasons to go on vacation. Just write and continue to write. Keep a personal offline journal and a blog. If it is difficult to say things in the blog then put them in the offline journal.

Words is the nineteen day theme

My theme for the nineteen days between sunset July 12 and sunset July 31 is words. I am focusing on completing at least two short stories and a novel. In addition, I will make at least one entry in this blog every day. My daily word count goal is 2,500 to 5,000 words. That is a lot of words, however, I will have an extra focus for this nineteen day.

My edition of the writing.com Fantasy newsletter is due by 8:59 AM Pacific Time on Monday, July 21. I still have a few reviews to do, so that I can include some stories in under the Editor's Picks. I also have to complete the writng of the newsletter, but I have the theme. In fact, I have a good start on that newsletter.

I decided to focus on a theme because I had trouble the last nineteen days achieving the writing goals. Part of the problem was worry, I let worry interfere with achieving my goals. Another problem is the game Free Cell. I played it too much. Now Free Cell is my reward for achieving or exceeding my daily writing goals. If I achieve the goals, then I can play Free Cell, but if I do not achieve the word count and writing goals, I cannot play the game.

I am going to have to hustle to achieve the goals today, because I got a late start. This time it had nothing to do with Free Cell. Because I stayed up late downloading an upgrade to my firewall (I really have to get DSL) I woke up late this morning and did not get any online time. Then when I got home from work, I took a nap. After I woke up from the nap I had to go pick up my Senior Citizen Food Allotment.

The Advantage of Aging for a Writer

For a writer, one of the advantages of getting older is memories. A writer has many memories, both good and bad, of his or her childhood. The writer can use these memories as starting points for essays, poems, flash fiction, short stories, or novels. It does not matter what genre a person works in, because you can use the memories for the characters in the story.

These memories come back to use at the oddest times. This is why a writer needs to carry a pen and paper journal at all times, when an incident or food brings back a memory note the incident or the food with the memory. For instance, I went to the Feast of Words (Kalimat) yesterday. The lady who provide the refreshments served cake and whipped cream, both made from scratch. Watching my friend make the whipped cream brought back memories of my Grandma, who made whipped cream from scratch when I was a child.

I am not sure just yet how I am going to use the memory. I will probably write a poem about it, but I could as easily use it in a piece of flash fiction or a short story. True I write mostly science fiction and fantasy, but I can use a memory like that in either genre. That is the beautiful thing about memories; you can apply them any way you want.

I enjoy writing about my grandparents. In fact, I have several poems about them, which I am going to compile into a chapbook. I just do not know what to call that particular collection of poems. I am going to have to pray about a title for that collection. I have found that when I cannot think of a name for a story or poem, prayer helps and I soon receive inspiration.

A new Nineteen days of writing begins

Jamál (Beauty), 1 Kalimat (Words), 165 BE – Sunday, July 13, 2008 abut 5:38 AM PDT

It is Sunday July 13 and a new nineteen days of writing begins. My total word count goal for each day is between 2,500 and 5,000. During those nineteen days, I intend to complete a novel, a short story, write a poem each day, and make at least one daily entry in this blog.

I am working on a poem manuscript called The Year of the Poem, which consist of 365 poems written from March 21, 2008 to March 20, 2009. After I complete the manuscript, then I will begin the rewrite on it. In the mean time, I have to rewrite a novel in addition to the one I am completing.

Besides writing, I work part time outside the home, all though, I am not sure that I should call it work. I enjoy my part time job, so it does not feel like work. There has to be a term for a job that you enjoy and get paid for at the same time. Perhaps, I am still dealing with issues I learned growing up, which was that you did not enjoy your job. That is something I am going to deal with in my off line journal Writing My Spiritual Journey.

Zenni Optical on FOX news

ZenniOptical.com has great prices because they sell their own frames. ZenniOptical.com has great prices because the manufacture their own frames, which they sell direct to the customer. This lets them sell prescription glasses beginning at $8.00. On Fox News, Melissa Painter, a consumer reporter, did a story on these products. Take a look at the story about Zenni on Fox

Sponsored by ZenniOptical.com

They Don’t Burn Trash Anymore

Jalál (Glory), 19 Rahmat (Mercy), 165 BE – Saturday, July 12, 2008 about 5:51 AM PDT

This is Saturday, trash pick-up day in my neighborhood. Weekly review day, time for me to review the past week past and see what I need to change. This is also the last day of Rahmat (Mercy) and time to set goals for Kalimat (Words). What does all this have to do with trash and not burning trash anymore?

Changing bad habits is like taking out the trash, it is something you have to do everyday. I can remember my grandfather taking the trash out to the alley. He would carry it out and put it in a huge metal barrel, with metal lid that went on it. Then, when that can was full, usually once a week, he would burn the trash that was in the barrel. He usually burned trash on Friday afternoon, because the city would pick the trash up on Saturday. By burning trash on Friday, he made sure that the fire was out and there were no embers to sit the trash truck on fire.

After he carried the trash to the alley, he would wash the containers out that went back into the house. Grandma then put the container in whatever room they belonged. As I said before, taking trash out is like changing bad habits, it is a continuous process. It is a never-ending process because it is a daily process. You have to be vigilant or you forget something; sort of like forgetting to empty a trash container in the house by carrying it contents to the outside trashcans, if you forget you will regret it later.

No Rain Last Night

There was a storm warning for Southern Nevada yesterday. It did not rain in the section of Las Vegas I live in last night. That was a disappointment; I enjoy watching thunderstorms because they remind me of my childhood. They also give me good ideas for poems and stories. I have not written a thunderstorm poem or story in a while.

I do not need to watch a thunderstorm to write a poem or story about one. I have plenty of memories from my childhood that I could use. However, sitting in my living room or on the patio and writing about a storm while it is occurring is different from writing about one from memory. Memory colors the events surrounding the storm. When you write about a storm that is taking place around you feel the threat and the emotions first hand.

Yesterday clouds gathered, but it did not rain in my area. I noticed the humidity and I had a little bit of heat rash, but there was not rain. Rather like a spring day in Oklahoma, except that there were clouds. I remember humidity in Oklahoma without clouds. At least in Las Vegas when there is humidity, there are clouds. Actually, hat sounds like a good idea for a poem, which will probably end up being another bitter love poem.

Most of my love poem, unless they are mystic love poems, turns out bitter. Maybe that is why I do not write love stories, because they would turn out bitter. I do put love interest in some of my short stories, but those usually turn out bitter. Perhaps bitter is not the right word here, in the short story I submitted to Short Shots the official writing.com contest, the love interest turn out to be a traitor.

I Changed my Profile

I changed my profile, for the reason go to Poet 999 - A Butterfly Emerges from Her Cocoon and see the entry "Changing My Introduction". As you can see, in the new profile I put the themes for each of my blogger blogs. Each of the blogs has a different subject and theme. The theme for this blog is writing, specifically it is a mixed genre blog.

Since I have a specific word count goal for each day, I am only going to enter dates myself once every nineteen day. This way every word I write goes toward achieving the word count for that day. Those are my plans at this time, however, I reserve the right to change my mind on the subject of dating my entries.

Therapies for Numerous Serious Diseases Found in Women's Menstrual Blood

In the prime of her life, a woman needs to take control of her health. One way for her to do this is to find out what health issues she will face in the future. In later years, a woman may face health problems such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, heart disease, osteoporosis, and Parkinson’s disease. A woman's menstrual blood contains clues to future health problems. A woman can find these clues in the stem cells that the menstrual blood contains. To find out more go to Celle Client Testimonial.

C'elle's research and technology helps women take control of their health issues. C'elle helps women by providing a safe, easy, and non-invasive method to collect the stems cells found in a woman's monthly menstrual fluid. No matter how busy a woman is with housework, children, or career, she can take control of her future health issues in the privacy of her own home. Using this method, a woman can collect the menstrual cells, which are stored at low temperatures (called cryo-preservation) for use in potential therapies. In the prime of her life, a woman needs to take control of her health and C'elle gives her one way to do this. There is a monthly calendar to mark your cycle on C'elle website.



Taking Control: Future Therapies for a Host of Serious Diseases May Be Found in Women's Menstrual Blood

July 07, 2008: 01:28 PM EST


OLDSMAR, Fla., July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- With today’s hectic lifestyle, where most women are juggling careers, family, relationships, and a host of activities, the idea of possibly facing a serious illness in the future is not something that readily comes to mind -- especially when a woman is in the prime of her life. But what most women don’t know, is that the key to treating a number of possibly life-threatening diseases that she, a parent, a sibling or even her children may face in later years, such as osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, may be found within her own body -- in vital stem cells, which can now be harvested from her own menstrual blood.

Now, thanks to the revolutionary research and technology of C’elle, a service dedicated to providing women with a safe and easy method of collecting and preserving stem cells found in her menstrual fluid each month, even the busiest woman can take control of her future, right in the privacy of her own home. With C’elle’s non-invasive collection process, menstrual cells are processed and cryo-preserved (stored at a very low temperature) for potential cellular therapies that may be used in the future. These self-renewing cells one day may even be used for sports medicine or cosmeceutical treatments, such as anti-aging therapies.

"C’elle enables and empowers a woman to take control of her future health, and possibly of those genetically closest to her, in a fast, painless and stress free way," said Michelle Kay, Marketing and Sales Manager for C’elle. "We live in exciting times, as science and technology are discovering how extremely valuable menstrual blood stem cells really are, and the enormous treatment potential they represent for future therapies. C’elle’s ongoing research is supporting these promising findings."

For more information about C’elle, please call 1-877-892-3553 or visit www.celle.com.

Every Created Thing has a use

Fidál (Grace), 15 Rahmat (Mercy), 165 BE – Tuesday, July 8, 2008 about 6:02 PM PDT

Every created thing animal, vegetable, mineral, etc. has a use. Some creatures I suspect was put here simply to give us something to be thankful for, while others (and this is just my own opinion) were put here simply to irritate or be pests. The pests, of course, can give a writer's muse something upon which to meditate.

Take ants, specifically the little tiny red ants. My grandmother, or was it my grandfather, called them "piss ants", I am not sure why. I never did ask the reason my grandparents called them that. However, it is a good name for them; it is a good name because that is what they do. Those little tiny irritating stinging creatures piss a person off. All though, I think that is what pests are supposed to do.

I can always tell how good or bad a year it is going to be in Las Vegas by how quickly it takes the "piss ants" to appear. They seem to be bad this year. A friend of mine said the best way to get rid of them is to use talcum powder or baby powder. It seems the little buggers clean themselves and the talcum powder clogs something inside them. It makes sense to me, especially since I have come up with a story to use the irritating little ants as characters. I am not ready to say specifically how I am going to use the ants.

I think I will write a poem about them as well. That way I get three items from few little irritating stinging creatures. Therefore, I guess I should be grateful for the ants, because without them I would not have a blog entry today. Without them, I would not have a short story idea or a poem idea.

My Writing.com port

Now that I have a Premium membership at writing.com I want to reorganize my port. I am going to give it a theme, but I am not sure just yet what it will be. Since my handle is Prosperous Snow. I will use something to do with snow.

I chose Prosperous Snow because it is the meaning of my middle and first name. I switched it because Snow Prosperous, does not sound right. However, Prosperous Snow seems to have a ring to it. Maybe I am the only one who hears the poetic ring of the name, but I think it has a ring to it.

Completed and Submitted

Kamál (Perfection), 14 Rahmat (Mercy), 165 BE – Monday, July 7, 2008 about 6:50 AM PDT

I completed and submitted the entry for July's Short Shots: Official Contest at writing.com. The title of the story is Incident in Mountain View State Park and its a science fiction story. The story inspiration was a photo of a brown bear and her cub.

The story is in Prosperous Snow's writing.com portfolio under the folder Contest Submissions. There are several other pieces in that folder as well. I am in the process of moving poems and stories to other folders. I am also going to update the Map of My Port. This is all going to take some time.

I had enough GPs in my Gift Points account to get a 2-month Premium membership. I am working toward a 12-month membership now. However, I decided since I had enough GPs for a 2-month membership, I would get that and them save GPs up to get a longer membership. I have wanted a premium membership for a long time now, so Saturday I decided to go for it. Well, I think that is all for now - Write On (as we say on writing.com).

A Good Beginning to a New Week

Jamál (Beauty), 13 Rahmat (Mercy), 165 BE – Sunday, July 6, 2008 about 7:33 AM PDT

It is a good beginning to a new week. I woke up this morning in a good mood. My mother woke up this morning in a good mood. I have not checked the news yet today, so as far as I am concerned the world woke up in a good mood. All though, that may be an exaggeration since at least half the world is going to sleep rather then waking up.

It is a good beginning to a new week. Last night before going to bed, I bought a Premium membership on writing.com. I checked my Gift Points account and realized that I had enough GPs to get a two-month premium membership, so I bought the membership. I have wanted a premium membership for a long time, but felt I could not get afford one. However, since I have bought the majority of my upgraded membership with GPs, I decided to go for it.

It is a good beginning to a new week. Mom is sleeping back in her own bed. I took her to the doctor on Thursday and he was satisfied with the way her leg was healing. So I put the table light back in her bedroom, the one that goes next to her bed, she made her own bed and she is now sleeping in her room again. She is happy to be sleeping in her bed again and I am happy she is sleeping in her bed. I still have to do something with the hospital bed in my dinning room, but I will get that taken care of.

Writing about Dawn in Las Vegas

Jalál (Glory), 12 Rahmat (Mercy), 165 BE – Saturday, July 5, 2008 about 5:13 AM PDT

As I sit looking out my living room window, the sky above my garage slowly transforms from deep ebony to blue. The sun is rising above Sunrise Mountain; it has not crested the Mountain's peek yet nor risen above the east part of the city.

However, dawn is approaching the change in the color of the sky proclaims Sol's return. A new day is about to wake the city from its fit full sleep. Las Vegas does not truly sleep, either during the night or during the day. Part of the city is always wide-awake no matter what time it is. Las Vegas is a 24/7 town, cannot close its eyes and sleep restfully through the night. Somewhere in the city, there is always some type of activity.

Dawn is a special time in Las Vegas; it is the point between the city's two natures. The city's nighttime activity and people are preparing for rest. The city's daylight business and citizens are waking up and getting ready to begin their day. The city seems to pause for a few seconds, perhaps in meditation or prayer, before the new day starts.

The sky above my garage is now pale blue, almost white as the sun nears the horizons. The sun's rays are transforming the sky and announcing the coming of daylight. Morning is here, it is time for another cup of coffee and breakfast considerations. It is time to stop and say prayers, meditate, drive home or drive to work, depending on an individual's plans for the day.

Writing a Fourth of July Poem

Istiqlál (Independence), 11 Rahmat (Mercy), 165 BE – Friday, July 4, 2008 about 10:22 AM PDT

How do I write a Fourth of July poem with out sounding trite? I have written several Independence Day poems over the years, but none of them every satisfy me. Some of them sound trite, while others do not capture the spirit of the day. I am not going to stop writing poems on the Fourth of July, but I am going attempt to plan them more, which is the theme of this entry.

There are several events in my family background and my personal history, I could use. However, I am not sure how to incorporate them in the spirit of the day. The Fourth of July is more then just an individual or family celebration. The Fourth of July is the birthday of the country in which I was born and live.

Some family history from my childhood in Blackwell, Oklahoma, I could incorporate in the poem. The three years in a row we went to Lake Carl (I think that is how you spell the name) Blackwell. The events that stand out in my mind are near fatal events that occurred to members of my family. One of my cousins pulled a skillet of hot grease off on her, when breakfast was being prepared. One of my cousins set off a Cherry Bomb and the explosion threw pebbles and sand in his eye. My brother nearly drowned because the life jacket he wore in the water failed.

Other events that standout in my mind occurred at Lake Blackwell, just outside of Blackwell, Oklahoma. Most of those memories concern possible injury causing events as well. I realize that most of my childhood memories of the Fourth of July concern events that injured or had the potential of being fatal. I do have pleasant memories of the Fourth of July, of course. Eating ice-cold watermelon from my grandparents' garden and watching fireworks displays at night.

I have a three-day weekend coming up

Istijlál (Majesty), 10 Rahmat (Mercy), 165 BE – Thursday, July 3, 2008 about 4:23 AM PDT

I have a three-day weekend coming up. That is one of the advantages of working outside the home; I can now take three days off when a holiday falls on Friday. I am going to have to take Monday off, as well. Mom has a doctor's appointment and the only time he is in his office is on Monday morning. The rest of the time, he spends in the hospitals. Since it is a follow-up appointment, I feel she should see the doctor who saw her in the hospital.

We are not planning on going anywhere on the Fourth. There are just too many people in this neighborhood using illegal fireworks to leave the house. We can see the shows the hotels put on from where we live, so going into a crowd and paying to see them just does not seem like a good idea. I would rather stay home; watch the fireworks from here or on T.V. Besides I have too much to catch up on to go gallivanting across the city without a good reason, especially with gas prices the way they are. I would rather use the gas to get us to doctors' appointments and stuff like that.

In the early morning darkness

the lights of the city sparkle

in anticipation of the coming dawn.

Writing in the Early Morning

‘Idál (Justice), 9 Rahmat (Mercy), 165 BE – Wednesday, July 2, 2008 about 5:30 AM PDT

It is early Wednesday morning. I got up at about 3:30 AM and the alarm goes off at 4:00 AM. I put cloths in the dryer, made coffee and said prayers (not necessarily in that order). I am going to start checking the washer before I go to bed at night because I should not leave wet cloths in over night. I know from experience that I am not going to wash the wet cloths over that are in the washer, I will put them in the dryer of a morning and get on with my day.

I have gotten several paragraphs written this morning. I made an entry in Writing My Spiritual Journey Journal. I decided to change the format of the letter in that journal. I write letters to Baha'u'llah and this morning the format, for some reason, seemed a bit too formal. Therefore, I am changing the format of the letters to something less formal.

I have to be at work by 8:30 AM, but I live less then a mile away so I can start getting ready to go at about 6:00 AM. The garbage trucks come today and there are trashcans on the curb. Fortunately, someone else took them out last night. I have the check to see how close they are to the curb. All right, maybe I am being a little too "something or other" on this trashcan thing.

Writing in the early morning

is coffee to my muse

she wakes to the sound of a keyboard

like the soul wakes to prayers

or the body to a dark breakfast brew.

Writing about the Fourth of July

Fidál (Grace), 8 Rahmat (Mercy), 165 BE – Tuesday, June July 1, 2008 about 5:26 AM PDT

I have come up with several ideas for my Fourth of July blog entry. Most of the ideas have to do with childhood memories and the Fourth of July. When I grew up in Blackwell, Oklahoma, my grandfather always took us to a recreational area for The Fourth. I remember going to Lake Blackwell (I think that was the name of the lake outside of Blackwell) and Lake Carl Blackwell. Those were fun trips, my grandparents enjoyed the way we kids reacted to the pyrotechnic displays.

I am not going anyplace for The Fourth, again this year. From where we live we can see the beautiful displays the hotel casinos put on. There is not any reason to leave the house on the Fourth of July. Some of the neighbors (especially those with kids) put on fireworks displays of their own.

Title Ideas for Fourth of July blog entries

1. The Fourth at Lake Blackwell
2. Incident on the Fourth of July at Lake Carl Blackwell
3. Watching Fireworks in Las Vegas
4. Eating Watermelon on the Fourth of July
5. Independence Day in the 21st Century
6. Listening to Fireworks on July 4
7. The reason we (or I) celebrate the Fourth of July
8. Grandpa and the Roman Candle
9. The Fourth of July is for Family
10. My Grandfather grew his own watermelon
11. Neighborhood Fireworks Displays
12. July 4, 2008
13. Enjoying the Fourth of July
14. Individual Watermelons
15. A Lucky Fourth of July