2009 has three Friday the Thirteenths

The first Friday the Thirteenth of 2009 is in February. The first day of February falls on a Sunday. When a month begins on a Sunday then it has a Friday the Thirteenth. I still don't see why thirteen or Friday is unlucky either separately or together.

The idea that a day of the week or a number can be unlucky intrigues the writer in me. The reason for Friday the Thirteenth being unlucky calls for a little bit of research. What I do know is that the numeric root of thirteen if four, which isn't unlucky in itself. However, thirteen is considered unlucky, while the one and the three, which make up the thirteen are consider lucky numbers because they are odd numbers.

Dear Blog

Dear Blog,

Writing a letter is a method of journal writing. The writer chooses someone, a person living, dead or imaginary, and writes a letter to that person in his or her journal. I use this method myself in my Gratitude journal and Writing My Spiritual Journey.

It allows the writer to free his or her mind and just write. As I said, the writer addresses the letter to anyone. The writer can address a character in a story or novel. The letter can even be from a character in a story or novel. I does not matter who the writer addresses or is from, just as long as it is a letter.

The last part of the letter is the closing, the normal closing of “Yours Truly” or “Sincerely” work fine. However, I prefer to use closing appropriate to whomever I am addressing in the letter. For instance the closing in my Gratitude journal is "Thankfully and Gratefully Yours".

Your blog author,
Poet 999

Life is interesting

All right, life is interesting, expensive, and a pain. That's why it's better to put everything in God's hands each day. In the past year or so, I've found that putting everything in God's hands is the best way to deal with the tests and difficulties of daily life.

When I don't put things in God's hands, then the problems, worries overcome me, and I fret. When I fret I don't get anything achieved. When I fret I can't write a decent poem much less anything else. However, when I put everything in God's hands then I don't fret because I know that the Divine is handling everything that I have no control over.

I still have a problem sometimes figuring out what God controls and what I control, but eventually the answer comes. This afternoon, I'm in a much more positive mood then earlier in the day. I find that worries usually hit me about noon and this prevents me from writing a decent sentence or making a blog entry. That's why I normally like to make my blog entries of a morning, right after I say prayers.

Lately, however, I've been sleeping late and then have to make phone calls between 9:00 AM and 11:30 AM. That means I haven't been able to make early morning entries. I've decided that, instead of not making any entry at all, I will make my daily entry not matter what time it is.

Writing about the cold

I am tired of being cold. Never mind that I live in Las Vegas and we have no snow in the valley. It maybe snowing in the mountains surrounding Las Vegas, but there no snow is falling in the Las Vegas valley. I am still cold, the air feels chilly and I am drinking a cup of Hobo soup.

Snow or not I am still cold. I cannot turn the central air unit up enough to keep the house warm because we are lucky to pay the power bill now. I have a sweatshirt on and I am going to put a sweater on under it if the soup does not warm me up.

I am tired of being cold. I want to be warm again. My mother is tired of being cold and she is tired wearing layers of clothing to keep warm. She put three or four blankets on her bed at night. I added two blankets to her bed last night and she removed one. Tonight I am putting that blanket on my bed. Not that it will keep me any warmer.

I turn the central air unit down at night, so that it does not run all night to keep us warm. and run the power bill up. This power bill (due February 6) we can pay, as for the one coming up; I have no idea and I am not going to worry about it. I am tired of being cold. I want to be warm again.

I know that the eastern part of the country has snow and power lines out. I am thankful we do not have snow. I am thankful we still have power. I am thankful that we had leftovers to make Hobo soup. Tomorrow we will have Hobo stew because I found some leftover chicken in the freezer to make the soup into a stew.

I didn’t get as much done as I wanted to

I didn't get as much done as I wanted to this weekend, despite the fact that I didn't take the time to post to any of my blogs. Therefore, I will no longer put off posting while I'm doing housework or something else. The housework will get done even if I have to stay up and do it.

Actually, I'm not sure there is a chance of me staying up all night to do housework. Last night I went to bed about 7:30 or 8:00 PM and got up about 5:30 or 6:00 AM. I have to move the alarm clock into my bedroom so that I can hear it. I used to have an alarm clock I could hear all over the house, but the new clock radio isn't as loud.

I did get some stuff accomplished over the weekend. I put a trashcan out on Friday night for pick up Saturday morning. I began the process of putting both Mom and my debts into a spreadsheet. I decided that my creative filing system leaves great deal to be desired. Therefore, I am in the process of revamping my filing system.

I have a lot of writing to catch up on, therefore I may or may not stay up all night tonight to catch up on it. I may not stay up to do housework, but I will stay up to write. I am in a positive and energetic mood this morning, despite or perhaps because of the weird dream I had last night.

The mystery of the missing Spoons

I want to know what happened to all our spoons. Mom and I used to have two complete sets of flat ware. Now all we have is knives and forks, with a few mismatched spoons. We are missing both teaspoons and tablespoons, but we have fewer teaspoons then tablespoons.

All right, the logical explanation is that someone inadvertently threw into the trash, which is probably what happened. However, a logical explanation doesn't make a very good story. I am looking for a plot to a story about spoons. A story where the spoons get thrown into the trash is boring and not a good story.

Therefore, rejecting the logical explanation what are some other good explanations for the missing spoons? I suppose it depends on the genre of story. In fantasy stories elves, gnomes or some other fantasy creature could steal the spoons, but why would they take only spoons and leave both the knives and forks behind.

If it is a science fiction story, you replace the elves and gnomes with aliens from another planet or star system. However, we have the problem of motive of why they only take spoons. Those are intriguing speculations for a writer of fantasy and science fiction.

I am doing only necessary writing this weekend

I am doing only necessary writing this weekend such as posting to my blogs and writing my daily poem. Cleaning house is taking priority over everything. My mother wants to clean house by herself, without any help from anyone. However, at 87 she is slowing down a bit.

I am not sure what she is going to say when I do other things besides taking out the trash, but it is necessary. Even writers have to do housework. It should be an interesting experience doing it with Mom. Normally I do housework after she goes to sleep, but we have changed to the low wattage light bulbs and the light they give is not as bright as the old high watt light bulbs. True the last longer, but the light is dimmer. About the only thing I can do at night is laundry or dish washing, it is difficult to sweep or mop floors by the light of a dim bulb.

Sometimes Morning writing is Easier

Sometimes morning writing is easier,
without the distractions
that occur later in the day.

Sometimes morning writing is more difficult
because the day's desires
breakdown the doors of solitude
and shout warnings
of disasters to come.

Looking for place to store stuff

Spring is approaching and it is time to start spring-cleaning. You always have a few items that you want to keep, but have no place to put them at home. This means looking for storage facilities in your city or state.

Your Storage Guide by Simply Self Storage gives the location of their facilities in several cities and states. You can brows by categories if you need a specific type of storage facility or you can look under your state to find a location near you.

I found a location in Henderson, Nevada. I live in Las Vegas, which is extremely close to Henderson. This storage facility is easy to find with individual alarmed units and access codes.

Sponsored by Simply Self Storage

Writing about patience

Patience is a virtue
that’s almost impossible
with a slow Internet connection.

Even playing a game of Free Cell doesn't help;
the downloads are so slow
with a telephone connection
that I could complete almost all
1,000,000 games
before my information is downloaded.

And now my family and friends
are complaining
because my telephone
is always busy.

I want to play paintball

Playing paint ball is on my list of things I want to do. I want to play woods piant ball or bushball using a theme. Woodsball and Scenario paintball look and sound like the most fun to play. I have checked the tactical paintball gear.

I have looked at the TIPPMANN A5, Spyder PILOT ACS, and Spyder V52. I have also looked at a new item the JT TAC 5 Camo Paintball Players Kit. I am looking forward to playing Scenario paintball in the woods.

Sponsored by pntball.com

This day in history

Today is one of those historic days that we will read about in the newspaper in the coming years. Today Barack Obama is inaugurated 44th President of the United States. The TV stations are filming the inauguration and events surrounding it, which will give our descendants the ability to see the events rather then just reading about them.

Today a new era begins in American history. Many of us born in the early and middle part of the last century never expected to live to see an historic event like the one happening today in Washington, D.C. My mother was born in 1921 on a farm in Oklahoma. I was born in 1946 in a hospital in Blackwell, Oklahoma.

My mother and I have voted in every presidential election since we came of age. In 2008, Mom voted even though she was still using a walker. I worked the polls, so two of Mr. Obama's campaign workers picked Mom up and took her to the polls. I cried when I saw my mother walk into the school where I was working. She came in voted and the two workers took her back home.

Today one of the entries in my gratitude journal is giving thanks for both my mother and myself living to see an African-American become president of the United States. America is making progress as proved by the election of Barack Obama to the highest office in the country. America is making progress, but it still has a long way to go. Those of us over the age of 50 who remember and witnessed the events in the last century, which led to this day have the duty to write and blog about our memories of American culture as it was then and give thanks for the changes.

Reviewing my writing over the last nineteen days

Kamál (Perfection), 1 Sultán (Sovereignty), 165 BE – Monday, January 19, 2009 about 7:02 AM Pacific Time

A new workweek begins today, as well as a new nineteen-day period of writing and goal accomplishment. I achieved or exceeded my daily word count goal about 75% or 80% of the time. I raised the daily word count minimum about January 1 19%, which took the count from 2,500 words to 2,975 words per day. This is a push, but I think I can accomplish is over 50% of the time.

Right now, the only work I'm doing is on line. However, I expect to go to a new location with my part time job soon. All though, I haven't said anything in this blog (at least I can't remember saying anything) I've been obsessing over finances. I would say worrying, but the way I do it is obsessing rather then ordinary worrying.

This morning I woke up in a more positive mood then in the past few days. Normally it takes me a couple of hours to stop focusing on my worries and start focusing on writing or other activities. I think the reason I'm in a positive mood today is that we went out last night to a spiritual meeting. Going to spiritual meetings and socializing helps with worry and depression.

A regularly scheduled spiritual meeting occurs every nineteen days that I normally attend. However, I haven't attended for the past four or five months for one reason or another. At the time I thought the reasons were valid. I'm not sure now especially since not attending seems to have a detrimental affect on my mood and therefore my writing. I'm not as creative when I worry, plus when I worry I tend to be more depressed.

Writing about my visit to the Dentist

I may be the only person in the world who enjoys going to the dentist. I haven't always enjoyed those visit, but I changed my mind last year. I now enjoying going to the dentist. I went to the dentist again on Friday, January 16.

On Friday, the dentist checked the healing of my upper gums and pulled a tooth from my lower jaw. My next visit is for February 19 (I think), at which time he will pull the other four teeth in my lower jaw. Then I will get the other half of my dentures. I'm used to the upper plate and eating with it. I have to admit though, that I'm having a bit of a problem eating raw veggies. I have found that I have to cut some of them up into smaller pieces to chew them.

When I get my completed set of dentures, I am going to go to one of the casino restaurants in Las Vegas and have prime rib. I will order raw horseradish with my meat, so my gums have to be healed, but I don't think that will take long.

I showed my blogs on ACOBAY

I joined ACOBAY new networking site yesterday, January 17. I posted Poet 999's Thoughts about Writing and Other Stuff and Poet 999 - A Butterfly Emerges from her Cocoon under the Anything category. When I posted the blogs I attached two pictures to them. One of the photos is an old high school photo and the other is of me reading at a Poetry Reading.

I am so excited, I can hardly wait to post some more of my stuff. I think the one next things I will post is a poem about my family with a photo attached. I know that I am going to enjoy being a member of ACOBAY.

Sponsored by acobay.com

Planning my writing week on Saturday

It's Saturday and I'm planning my writing week. This is the day, I review the past week's achievements and plan next week's actions to complete or begin projects. There are specific actions I have to take in the coming week, which have little or nothing to do with writing projects. However, these actions make creative writing easier.

One of the actions I have to do is carry the trashcans to the curb on Tuesday night. Trash pick up day is on Wednesday and Saturday, this particular Saturday is recyclable collection day. Therefore, I don't take the regular trashcans to the curb because I like to focus on getting all the recyclables out.

This coming week I have to complete my edition of the February writing.com fantasy newsletter. I have to finish the letter from the editor and decide on the editor's pick stories. I also have to finish my "Dear Me" entry, post it in my port, and submit it to the contest.

These are the first items on my "to do list" for the coming week. In addition, my mother has an appointment with an eye doctor. Since we are going to have to wait a while, I'm going to take a book to read. I know I have more items for the "to do list", but I can't think of them right now.

Reinventing America

According to ubercool.com's webpage Reinventing America, America faces many challenges in 2009. This webpage gives some intriguing suggestions on ways American's can reinvent America. Some of the suggestions include becoming thriftier and simplifying our lives, both of which everyone can achieve.

Sponsored by ubercool.com

The Roar of Trucks in the Morning

It's Saturday morning in Las Vegas. I hear the roar of a truck somewhere in the neighborhood. I'm not sure whether it is the garbage truck, the recyclable truck, or just an ordinary truck. It's about 6:30 AM and today is recyclable day in my neighborhood. At least, I think it's recyclable day.

They pick up the recyclables every other Saturday morning in this section of Las Vegas. January 3 was the last recyclable pick up; therefore, this is the Saturday that is scheduled for recyclable collection. We separate the recyclables into cans and plastic bottles, paper and glass. Last night, a friend took all of the recyclables in my garage to the curb.

I'm going to have to put the recyclable day on my planning calendar. If I don't then I normally don't get the recyclable bens carried to the curb because I forget the dates of the collection.

The roar of truck in the morning
remind me that recyclable day is here,
reminds me to look at my carbon footprint
and make it less visible on the earth.

January 2009 it the time to begin keeping Rehabilitation Promises

January 2009 is the time to start keeping rehabilitation resolutions. Promises Treatment Centers treats vicodin addiction in addition to numerous other adictions. Promises rehabilitation program, which is rooted in the 12 Step model, uses several different evidence-based programs to treat drug and alcohol addiction.

Promises has two treatment centers, one in West L.A. and the other in Malibu, where they treat various types of addiction. Not sure what to do about Cocaine, Alcohol, Oxycontin (Oxycodone, Codeine, Heroin, Meth (Methamphetamines), Benzodiazepine, Vicodin (Hydrocodone), Propoxyphene, or Barbiturates addiction? You can contact one of Promises admissions councilors at 866-390-2340. Do you want general information about drug detox? Go to the website and click on Detox - General.

Now is the time to begin keeping those drug and alcohol rehabilitation resolutions. Now is the time to talk to check out Promises Treatments Centers. The drug treatment modals and strategies Promises uses are medically monitored detox, psychiatry, holistic, counseling and psychotherapy, stress management, and cognitive-behavioral methods.

In business for 20 years, Promises was created by Richard Rogg to provide an environment for the treatment and the healing of drug and alcohol addictions. The Malibu center is in the Santa Monica Mountains, while the West Los Angeles center is located between the Pacific Ocean and Beverly Hills, both beautiful environments for the healing to occur.

Sponsored by Promises Treatment Centers

January is half over

January is half over and there is about thirty days until the T.V. broadcasting changes. I will no longer have a television. I will still have a T.V. set, but I won't be able to watch because it won't pick up the broadcast. I'm not sure whether I will be happy or sad about that. In order to pick up the broadcast, I'll have to get a new T.V. set.

The priority now is a new refrigerator and DSL, in that order. I need a new fridge because the one I have is on its "last legs". I need DSL because I'm sick of the slow download time and I could get more work if I had DSL rather then a regular phone hook up to the Internet. This means that a television set is last on the priority list. And it may go down even farther if my keyboard keeps acting up.

My computer keyboard misses letter periodically. This means I have to go back and type them in, which cuts down on the amount of words I write. It also causes me to forget what the next word, sentence or line should be when I'm working on a poem. I guess I will miss the T.V. set but I'm not sure there is anything I can do about it right now.

In addition, to a new fridge and DSL, my mother needs a hearing aid in both ears and she has cataracts. Both the hearing aid and cataract surgery are expensive. Therefore, they are going to go ahead of the television and probably other things as well, with the exception of the fridge.

My only entertainment may be on line and writing from now on. I'm still going to have to find something to entertain Mom. All thought, my mother does enjoy house cleaning, doing laundry and dishes. There is only so much housework, which she can do in a day. I think we will miss the daily news more then anything else.

An interesting website for Fantasy authors to check

I was surfing the internet this last week end and I found an intriguing website. The site called Seventh Sanctum and it has tools for writers, as well as artists and gamers. There are random monster and character generators. In addition, there are contest and other interesting sections for any one interest in fantasy and science fiction. It is a good place to hang out and get your muse working.

Since I just found it, I haven't investigated all the generators and contests yet. You can be sure I will in the next few weeks. I'm always on the look out for interesting websites with contests for writers, artist and gamers. I will have to admit that it's been a while since I played anything but Free Cell and Spider Solitary. Those two games are on my hard drive and I don't have to get on line to play them.

Let's face it, with a telephone connection to the internet playing interactive games is a bit slow. I think what I need is either DSL (which is what I want) or a cable modem (which I may be forced to get). I will have to get the cable modem if I get cable T.V. because my T.V. sit won't work after February unless I get cable or satellite. If it was just me, I would forget the entire T.V. all together and get all my information off the internet, but my mother and I share a house, so keeping the T.V. is necessary.

Writing a Grocery List

Now I know why my Grandmother always made a grocery list during the week. Grandma and Grandpa Newland went grocery shopping on Thursday or Friday afternoons. They never went to the store between grocery trips unless it was an emergency, i.e. unexpected visitors.

I have never made a grocery list because I could always drive to the store during the week or after work and buy what I forgot. However, that is not a good option anymore because of the gas prices and the fact that I sometimes take a bus. Going to the store for things I forgot is becoming too expensive (gas prices) or too inconvenient (taking the bus). I am going to have to make a list starting today.

As it is, I am going to have to go to the store for something I forgot to get yesterday. I cannot leave it until the next trip because it is an essential. My only excuse, which does not hold water, is that I did not check to see if we needed the item. I am going to have to go to the store for toilet paper.

I am a writer and you would think that I could remember to get an essential paper item. I forgot, so I am going to have to go to the store after it. I am going to go to Food 4 Less because that and the 99-cent only stores are the place I buy most of my groceries. It's cheaper to go to Food 4 Less and get an 8 or 12 count package then a 4 count package of toilet paper. No more, I am making a grocery list beginning today.

The Saturday Morning Silence is Broken

The barking of a dog breaks the Saturday morning silence. I set the aluminum trashcan down and put the trash bag I am carrying in my left hand on top. I glance right and left but don't see any dog. I turn back on the street, pick up the morning paper and start toward the house.

The dog comes up behind me, barking all the time. He sounds vicious, so I continue to the house rather then taking another trashcan to the curb. I left the front door unlocked when I went out to get the trash. I open the door and go into the house. Only then do I look back to and see the dog standing in my driveway barking at me.

The dog large and completely black, he isn't a huge dog, but his barking sound vicious so I remain in the house. I'm not going to risk a dog bite by taking another can of trash to the curb. I stay in the house about five or ten minutes, then I go back out and get another trashcan to carry to the curb.

I don't see or hear the dog this time. He has disappeared as quickly as he appeared. The logical explanation, of course, is that the neighbor who owns him took him back in the house. Logical explanations are fine, except when it comes to using experiences similar to this in a short story or a poem. Logical explanations don't make good plots. I am going to use this experience in a short story or piece of flash fiction, but I don't think I'll use the logical explanation for the dog's disappearance.

A writer should always follow her gut instinct

Actually everyone person should follow his or her gut instinct because in 99.9% of the instances the gut feeling occurs there is a good reason to follow it. Most people ignore thier gut instinct and that is when they have problems.

I have figured out that all of my problems are caused by one of four things.

1. I did not follow my gut instinct
2. I procrastinated
3. I was unable to say No
4. God loves me and gives me tests to develop my soul's wings

Following the gut instinct is important for writers because either it keeps us out of trouble or it gives us ideas to incorporate into our writing. Following the gut instinct, like making a fresh pot of coffee in the morning, is an essential part of a writer's day. Life is too short to ignore the gut instinct, which our ancestors developed during the process of survival. The gut instinct, in most cases, keeps us out of trouble and allows us to live for another day.

An interesting website for writers

I found an interesting website for writers while I was cleaning out one of my e-mail folders. The website is all-acronyms.com and it gives the definitions for over 600,000 abbreviations.

You can find abbreviations for business, technology, education, government, etc. You can see the acronyms just searched or the top five of the day. This is a good place to research acronyms and their definitions. So check it out and have fun with acronyms.

Writing on the First Wednesday in 2009

This is the first Wednesday in 2009. The first hump day of the year and the first full week of the New Year is half over. I am struggling to make my new word count goal and unclutter the house at the same time. In the past six days, I have managed to make the daily word count goal three days. So far I have a 50% goal achievement rate.

I haven't gone back to my part time job yet this year. I'm going to a new location, which has not been assigned yet. I have one small check in my purse, which I have to deposit today. I have half a tank of gas and need to stop at a full service station to have the fluids checked under the hood. The only thing I can't check and fill on the car is the transmission fluid and that's the one I want to have checked, but the station I go to check all of them.

I think I have enough coffee to last the rest of the month. I writer without coffee to drink in the morning has no reason to stop composing a piece and reread what she has written. All right, maybe that isn't true, but writing and coffee seem to go together. Especially since I haven't smoked in over thirty years.

Have a Happy Wednesday today and the rest of the year.

Taking a Break from Uncluttering

I'm in the process of uncluttering, I'm looking for something I can't find. I'm getting frustrated that I can't find it, therefore I thought I would take a break and make a blog entry. If I don't take a break to make an entry, then I will continue looking and won't get an entry made today either.

All right, I know it is my own fault because I have a creative filing system. By creative I mean I can't find what I'm looking for but I still have everything filed and in a place. Part of the problem is procrastination. Part of the problem is that I would rather write then do anything else.

Piece by piece I unclutter
my filing system
looking for what I can't find.

At least I got a short poem out of the entire experience. I will of course have everything uncluttered and properly filed by March 20. That doesn't help me now though because I need the item I'm looking for today or tomorrow. Tomorrow now, which means I'm probably going to have to make some calls the first thing in the morning, if I can't find it tonight and get it faxed in the morning.

Oh well, I've probably blown it anyway so there isn't any use panicking. I'll just continue to look and figure out what else I have to do in the morning. Perhaps taking a break and doing something else will help me focus and remember what I did with stuff I'm looking for.

I wrote my first AmeriKu today

The AmeriKu is an American Haiku invented by poet Joseph Randell Sherman. The form is four line with a syllable count of 3-5-3-4 respectively and is unrhymed. Mr. Sherman has an example of this form at AmeriKu. The themes and subjects for this form are nature, spiritual or a combination.

Below is my own attempt at writing this form. This poem is the second one of this type I have written today. The form may look easy, but sometimes making sure the syllable count is correct is difficult. Especially when looking for the right word that fits the syllable count.

Stone pine boughs
wave in winter's wind
dawn rays warm
wind chill factors.

I wrote my first Personal-Ku yesterday

A Personal-Ku is a form of poetry. It is a variation of a Haiku and AmeriKu (I am going to have to research this form). To write a Personal-Ku, you take the syllables of your first, middle and last names, which become the syllable count of the poem's lines. My information for the form comes from a writing.com poetry contest called Personal-Ku. The Personal-Ku can have one or more stanzas.

My first, middle, and last name all have two syllables in them. This gives my Personal-Ku a total syllable count of six, with two syllables for each line. The poem I wrote yesterday had to do with my dentures and shrinking gums. I am going to write a new poem for this entry.

Hot black
Coffee
Heaven.

Note to Poets: If you are not sure about the syllable count of a word look it up in a dictionary or go to Dictionary.com to check the number of syllables.

One Writer's Reflections on 2008

2008 was both an interesting and stressful year. All interesting years are stressful because boring and mundane years are uneventful. Many happened in the world and in my life during 2008.

The most interesting event during 2008 was the U.S. Presidential Election. America has a new president, which will make for some interesting headlines and late night comments in 2009. The next most interesting event in America was the gas prices. The best thing that I can say for the price of gas was that it reminded me of a yo-yo.

In my personal life, I had all my upper teeth pulled and a new false plate put in. The dentures should generate numerous poems. I may even use them in a short story or a piece of flash fiction. I haven't decided yet. In addition, I got a new job. On the down side I didn't get as much writing done as I wanted, but I did learn a great deal about myself and the way I work.

For an eventful, interesting and stressful year, 2008 wasn't that bad a year. Last year could have been worse. All though, I suppose you can say that for any year in which the economy goes down and people are looking for jobs.

I'm going to look for ways that I can make 2009 a better year. I suspect improvement in 2009 will come on individual levels and each person needs to find ways to make the year better.

Writing My Wish List for 2009 – Item 1

I want a new refrigerator. The brand is less important then the attributes of the fridge. I do not want a rrefrigerator with an automatic icemaker or water dispenser. I want a refrigerator with a freezer on top and in the lower part separate compartments for eggs, meats and veggies. I want a refridegator that is economical to operate and does not use a lot of electricity.

I want a black fridge because it will go with my new extra wide holes toaster and my coffee maker. My microwave oven is white, but I want a black refrigerator. I think black appliances in the kitchen make the kitchen look classy. I have always wanted a kitchen that looked classy.

I drink bottled water most of the time, so a fridge that dispenses cold water is of no use to me. As for the icemaker, I enjoy making ice the old fashion way. I enjoy putting the water in the ice cube trays and putting the trays in the freezer. I like looking in the freezer to see if the water is frozen and then I enjoy removing the ice from the ice cube trays.

Reading the Obituaries and Naming Characters

All right, at my age reading the obituaries can get a little scary. After all, I am 62 and many of the deceased are close to my age. However, I do not let he scary part stop me from looking at the obits and finding names for characters.

The obituaries, like cemeteries, can be very good places to find character names. The way I do it is to find a first name that strikes my fancy and then pick another last name for the character, if I am going to give the character a last name.

If the character is for a fantasy story, I seldom give them last names. Instead, I pick a town they come from or a career. I use a different method when naming characters in science fiction stories. Those I often give last names, but I spell the names in an unusual way.

In addition, to using the obits and gravestones to find characters names, you can use spam messages. Simply pick one of the names in the sender line or read enough of the message to find either a first or a last name for the character. I always pick a different last name for the character rather then using the last name the goes with the first name in an obit or spam message.

Ten ways to tell if your New Year has started Right

Ten ways to tell if your New Year has started Right

with apologizes to David Letterman

1. On January 1, your bank account is not overdrawn.
2. The first thing you drink on New Year’s Day is a nice tall glass of ice water.
3. You still have half a tank of gas left over from last year.
4. You do not have to go to the grocery store before making the first pot of coffee of the New Year.
5. You remembered to fill the sink with water before brushing your new false plate. This way if you drop the teeth in the sink you do not break them.
6. You said a prayer the first thing after getting out of bed New Year’s Day.
7. You paid the past due phone bill on December 31; therefore, you were able to get online on New Year’s Day.
8. You wake up after dawn on New Year’s Day instead of before dawn and are happy that the alarm clock turned itself off.
9. You exceeded your word count goal for New Year’s Eve and have begun the New Year with a New Writing Plan, which includes a 19% increase in your daily word count goal.
10. You have a new extra wide-holed toaster for toasting bagels in the New Year.

Happy New Year