Boy am I tired.

Spring -- grass cutting -- Cardinal Baseball
What more could a man want?

I don't remember a year when I had to cut the grass twice in March.  Are you kidding me?  I'm tired, exhausted even, which is silly because I had help today.  I didn't have to do it all by myself.  Jean and Megan both pitched in. Still, I'm exhausted.  It's the weed eating that really gets to me.  I have a bad back and lately, I have had arthritis or something in my shoulders.  It just hurts.

I'm still coughing from the respiratory infection that I've had since March 9, but I do feel better.  I just don't know how I will be affected by breathing in a host of pollen and gnats and other things I'd rather not think about.  I have been taking enough medicine to sink a battleship.

I'm restless at this point in my life.  I'm happy, don't get me wrong, in almost every area.  I think it's my work that bothers me the most.  I'm getting too tired to do all the work required to really keep up in teaching.  It's especially bad with two night classes in addition to my full-time job at North County High School.  The two night classes are composition classes so I am always grading papers.  I'm not sure what I would like to do besides teach.  I'm not sure if there is anything I could do, or more likely, anything anyone would want to hire me to do since I'm 53.  I'm not whining here; I'm just expressing my thoughts.

I'm going to be spending some time in Iowa City working with the ACT program.  From what I have read about Iowa City, it is the kind of town I would love to live in.  A lot like Cape Girardeau, I think. College town.  Lots of cultural and literary events.  Damn, I would love that lifestyle.  One of my students asked me the other day if I would have done anything different in my life if I had the chance to do it over.  I had assigned them a journal topic with that same prompt.  I thought for a minute and this is what I said.   I believe if I could do it over, I would not have gone into teaching.  I would continue being a graduate assistant until I got my master's degree in English.  Then, I would have started work on my PHD.  I would have liked to give creative writing a real shot.  I would have liked to be a writer.  Instead of teaching high school as a back up, I think I would have wanted to continue teaching at the college level.  I know.  Would haves, should haves, and could haves are enough to drive a person crazy.

Teaching has been rewarding in many ways, but I am so tired.  So tired.

I still haven't given up my dreams of writing full time, and I am still writing quite a bit.  I write for the ACT test often.  It's a good part-time gig, but it isn't the kind of writing I envisioned myself doing a long time ago.  I am still doing other writing.  I just finished a screenplay that I like for a rough draft.  It needs a lot of work though.  I think I'm going to start work on another one.  Tongue Tied is a dystopian piece that I have worked on as a novel.  I think it would be a good movie.  Maybe, with the hunger games success, dystopian movies will get big, and I will be able to sell one. Hunger Games, like Harry Potter, will be a very successful franchise.  They are amazing books.

Finally ... Success

I have finished the rough draft of my screenplay:  The Fall Of Knight.  I hope it is the mind-blowing psychological drama that I had in my mind when I set out to write it.  Now, the hard work begins.  I have to revise, revise, and revise.  I want it to be no more than 100 pages when it is all revised and streamlined.  I think I can do this without too much trouble.  I just don't want it to be too weird that people won't get it.  There is that possibility I'm afraid.

I did my bike tonight after being a little inconsistent this week.  I missed it.  Yeah, believe it or not.  I missed the exercise.  I never thought I would ever say something like that.  When I let the exercise slide, I also let the eating well slide.  One step forward and two steps back.  The story of my life, but at least I am trying which is more than what I have done for the last 30 years or so.  I have been sedentary most of my life.

I have a lot of work to do this weekend.  It's going to be busy.  If I ever get caught up, which isn't likely to happen, I have some books I want to read.  I have Stephen King's book about the assassination of John F. Kennedy and I have two Terry Brooks books I need to read.  I'm behind -- where I spend most of my life.

I am going to sign off for now.  Good night one and all.

Poetry defined.

I used to write poetry, and I loved writing poetry.  I don't know why I quit.  It challenged me in a number of way -- to make the biggest impression in the smallest number of words.  To snap someone's head off with the force of an image.  This is what poetry is.  It isn't sentimental claptrap; it is tiny blades scraping off skin so that the blood beads up and drips into the dust that will one day cover us all.  Ah,  I  remember now why I quit writing poetry; mine was always depressing.  I guess I don't write it much anymore because perhaps I am not as depressed as I used to be.

Here's a challenge.  Define poetry by using one sentence employing a poetic device.

Here's mine, "Poetry is tiny blades scraping off skin until life drips out."  (poetic device: metaphor)

Now, you try it.  The best definitions will get ... will get ... my hearty congratulations.  Sorry, poets don't have much money.

I love to read poetry, and I'm amazed at people who can write the kind of poems that move me -- sometimes in ways I can't even explain.  That's the beauty of poetry.  You don't explain it; you just feel it.  I wish I could move people with my writing the way poets have moved people with their writing.

Monday's gone.  Just over a week until I go to Iowa City to work with the ACT people.  Looking forward to it.  I expect to learn a great deal and hopefully make a good impression on them while I am there.  I still have much work to do in order to prepare myself for it.

Beautiful spring weather today.  Lots of sunshine, warm temperature.  I know it's almost April, but what we're having right now is more typical for May here in Missouri.

Well, I should go now.

T.G.I.F. (almost Saturday)

I have relaxed this evening since I don't get to do it often.  I did write on my screenplay.  I have about 87 pages finished.  I think it's going to come together eventually.  When I finish the draft, I'll have to do some heavy revising, but that goes without saying.  I was reading a writing book the other day, and it said that a screenwriter shouldn't take months and months to finish a screenplay.  It's only 120 pages, so if you averaged just three pages a day, you should be able to get a draft done in less that two months.  I would like to do two screenplays every year.  This writer also said it's a good idea to always have more than one project to work on so that you can avoid writer's block and wasted time if you get blocked on one for very long.  I think I may focus my writing on young adult characters with mental illnesses.

I do have a second screenplay in mind.  It's my dystopian novel called Tongue Tied.  I need to work on it some more.   I have a plan to put one of my screenplays --Dark Woods, I think or perhaps another one on Amazon Kindle singles just to see if anyone would ever read it.  I think it would be a really good idea.  I have the directions.  I just have to do it.

Jean and I ate out tonight at my favorite local place, Baylee Jo's.  Their busy season has started, but the food and service we got tonight was excellent.  We also went to Alco and looked at some things there, but basically we have been lazy.  I like lazy.

If you are ever in the Arcadia Valley, stop at Baylee Jo's and get some barbeque.  Good food, good people.

I am still here.

I have not posted for a while so I thought I should briefly check in to let anyone who reads my blog that I am not giving up "the common joe" but that I have just been really busy with a lot of things. The faster I go the less I travel. My tires are spinning in the mire. But, oh boy, when they catch, I will tear out of there. I am doing too much. I know there would be those that disagree, but I am constantly doing something I have to do and very rarely doing what I would like to do. I know; we all face the same things, so I will not say anything else. Today is my mom's birthday. She would have been 77. She was just too young at heart to have to die. It's just not fair. So, as you might guess, today was not a good day for me. I am sure that the rest of my family felt the same way. Well, that's enough for tonight.

Procrastination Destination

Spring means wasps, and I hate wasps.

I'll never get there.  "There" is the place where I'm totally caught up.  The place where I can take a deep breath and relax.  I won't even get "there" during the summer when the school year is over because I teach summer classes.  Even if I didn't have classes I wouldn't get "there" because I have writing that I need to do.  The more work I have the more I procrastinate; I'm thinking it's because of that feeling of sinking in quicksand.  Are you ever going to get out of it?  I'm not.  I will never be caught up.   Henry David Thoreau was right when he said we need to simplify.  (I think that was from Thoreau.)  How do you do this when you have so many obligations?  I have to tell you; it's exhausting sometimes.

A few summers ago we went to Michigan.  The most heavenly feeling I had during that vacation was the times I just sat on the beach next to the Lake and watched and heard the water as it lapped onshore.  Most relaxing sound in the world.  Peace is like a river or a lake.  I don't know how many of my readers believe in the devil, but I do.  I think the biggest weapon he uses against us is giving us things to keep us too busy to stop and think about what we are doing in our lives.  Even if you don't believe in some evil entity in the world, I think you'd have to admit that we are so busy going and doing and working and even playing that we never think about who we are or what we are doing.

It's a beautiful day here in Missouri.  It got up to 82 degrees, and we had some wonderful sunshine.  I'm in the southeastern part of the state.  The western portion of the state is getting some heavy rain.  We have had such weird weather.  Over 20 inches of snow in Arizona, where it is supposed to be warm.  The problem in Missouri with extra warm weather early is that the allergy season gets underway sooner, stays longer, and hits harder.  Bugs, especially ants and wasps (which scare the crap out of me) will be especially numerous this year.  I even cut grass.  I never cut grass in March.

I would like to reinvent myself if I possibly could.  I don't know how I would do it, but I would sure like to.  It might be a post-mid life crisis, I don't know.

I've been listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn today.  I have lately become a big fan of the blues.  This doesn't really surprise me because the blues are closely related to one of my favorite kinds of music: southern rock.  ZZ Top, Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrs, 38 special, Marshall Tucker etc. I guess I am a redneck, but I don't care.

Well, I have nothing interesting to say.  I am going to sign off.

Grass is Greener

So much so that I had to cut it today.  My wife wanted to do some yard work, which we needed to do.  After spending quite a while picking up branches, I put a little gas in my lawn mower and tried to start it.  Well, since it started right up, I felt like I couldn't waste the precious commodity gas has become, so I started cutting the grass.  Two hours later -- because apparently my mower gets much better gas mileage than I thought -- I finished up.  I'm glad to get that first mowing finished, but I am definitely feeling it.  Our yard is so rough the first time I cut it.  It wipes me out to get it done.

I am watching the Harry Potter movie marathon today.  I had forgotten a lot of the story, and I had also forgotten about how "magical" they really are.  The stories are so good.  I am also watching one of my favorite T.V. Shows called Once Upon a Time.  I love it.

I'm having trouble focusing right now, so I am just going to sign off.

I've got the "My NCAA bracket's got busted" blues.

The Opening Scene of "Fall of Knight" takes place at  a river.




Beyond repair.  That's how badly my NCAA brackets are going.  Mizzou and Duke both lose to 15 seeds.  I had them both in the top 4.  Well, one Missouri team, the St. Louis University Billikens has advanced to the next round but will likely face the number one seed.  Now, if St. Louis won, I wouldn't care if my brackets are destroyed beyond repair.

I still have the Cardinals and the Blues.  One team is going to make the playoffs and the other is just getting ready to start the season.  Hope springs eternal every March and April for baseball fans across the nation.  Fortunately, here in St. Louis, we always seem to have a competitive team.  If I lived in Chicago, I would probably watch soccer.  Though the Blackhawks have generally been a great hockey team.  In fact, they just recently beat the Blues in overtime.

I'm still coughing and hacking from this upper respiratory infection I have.  It must be caused by a virus because the anti-biotic I'm taking doesn't seem to be helping very much.  Maybe it's just a tough case.  Honestly, I'm just coughing.  I haven't even been coughing up much, just coughing and coughing and coughing.  I am just getting older, and I think that makes me more vulnerable to stuff that comes along.

I'm posting the first scene of my screenplay here.  I'd welcome any comments anyone would have about it.  This is not formatted correctly because it lost all of its formatting when I cut and pasted it into the blog.  I think you can make it out well enough.  Enjoy.

The big thing I wanted to accomplish with this opening scene is to establish some subtext -- that something is going on below the surface of the action that no one actually wants to come right out and talk about.


EXT. ALONGSIDE A RIVER - DAY

A pop-up camper sits in a long line of other pop-up campers.

LORETTA KNIGHT, a pretty woman in her early 30's with long black hair sits over a Coleman gas stove and cooks breakfast.

Though dressed in a figure-swallowing sweat suit, she is still pretty.  Her hair flows gracefully over her shoulders, and her steel-blue eyes sparkle.

Two children, twins about eight years old, sit in lawn chairs.  DEAN and DEE DEE KNIGHT have wrapped themselves in blankets to ward off the chill.  Like their mother, they have jet-black hair and the same startling eyes.

JAMES KNIGHT, their father, a man who is in his late 30's but who looks much older emerges, disheveled from the pop up.  Loretta glares at him.  Dean and Dee steal furtive glances at each other.

LORETTA
I hope you won at least.

JAMES
Let's just say that the last inside straight will pay off our camper.

He shivers and wraps his arms around himself.

JAMES
It's chilly.

LORETTA
Florida's warm.

DEAN
And free.

JAMES
Don't give me your attitude.

LORETTA
Me or Dean?

DEE DEE
Dean's right.

James sighs and then kneels so he is at eye level with the two kids.

JAMES
Nothing is ever free with my brother.

He straightens back up.

LORETTA
It's not like we have anything they would want.

JAMES
That's the problem.  Besides, what kind of vacation would we have in a condo?

DEAN
On a beach.

DEE DEE
Next to the ocean.

LORETTA
With no loud obnoxious drunks playing poker all nigh.

JAMES
If you didn't want me to play --

LORETTA
Forget it.

DEAN
Did that pretty lady play?

JAMES
Of course not.

Loretta looks at James and then at Dean.

LORETTA
What pretty lady?

JAMES
It doesn't matter what pretty lady.  I don't play poker with women.

He hugs Loretta, but she stiffens and breaks away from him to tend to breakfast.

JAMES
Yeah, it's pretty chilly.

LORETTA
Dee Dee and I are going to the outlet mall this evening.

DEAN
Can I go?

LORETTA
No, you need to spend some quality time with your father.  We'll be late.

JAMES
If he wants to go --

Loretta glares him into submission.

JAMES
Maybe we can build a fire and do s'mores.

LORETTA
I wouldn't bet on it.

Update

The river and the dark are important symbols in my screenplay: The Fall of Knight

Well, first I have to say something controversial, so one of my best friends can -- as he tells me -- correct my error.  Yesterday, Mitt Romney was being interviewed and he was listing all of the things he was going to eliminate to help end the deficit.  He rattled off about a dozen things, but not once did he say, "eliminate tax loopholes for the very rich."  Ah, well said, Mr. 13% man.

I'm sick.  Of course, I've whined about that for three days now.  The problem is that despite all of the junk I'm taking -- everything from over-the-counter cough syrup, nutritional supplements, and an anti-biotic that is supposed to be helpful in the treatment of whooping cough which has been going around North County schools -- I am not getting any better.  I'm coughing all the time -- virtually non stop.  I can't sleep.  This is my second day off from work, and I don't know if I am going to go in tomorrow either.  I have a bunch of sick days built up, but I don't like to use them.  When I get back to my classroom after missing two or three days, it takes me a day or two just to get things back to normal -- well, as normal as I can be.

I wrote about five pages of a screenplay today.  I like where it's going though it still has some rough edges.  I'm also going to make quite a few changes from my original script.  I have a good story in me somewhere, but I just have to uncover it -- just like skeletons in a closet.

Baseball opening day is coming up fast.  In the meantime, the Rams are trying to put together a winning team.  They spent 50 million dollars on a free agent cornerback.  They made a fabulous trade with the Washington Redskins who had been lusting for the Rams' number 2 pick.  Also, the Blues are doing well.  Then, there is the Missouri Tigers basketball team that has a legitimate chance of making it to the final four.  I would love to see Missouri and Kansas play for the championship.  Yahoo has this contest going, and despite not knowing what I am doing, I filled out five brackets.  In one of them, MU and KU was the scenario.  It's spring.  It's easy to be optimistic.

We are supposed to have record-breaking temperatures in Missouri today and it is going to be in the 80's the rest of the week.  April weather in March.  I love it.

Well, I best go.  I'm sorry if this is boring.  If it will make you feel better, I'll tell you I have a fever.

Home sick and bored despite the fact I have tons of things I should do.

Let me talk about writing a little bit before I get into how sick I feel.  That way those of you who just want to read a little writing advice can get through that quickly and then skip the last few paragraphs.  I think that's fair enough.

I want to encourage fiction writers and screenwriters to pick up a copy of the free screenwriting software called celtx.  You can google it and find it without much difficulty.  Celtx formats screenplays, plays, and fiction, plus it has a lot of other helpful tools.  It's generally very user friendly and I find it to be very helpful to me and my writing.  I have problems with my novels being too bloated, so one of the things I have attempted to do is write my fiction as screenplays while I am writing them as prose at the same time.  I find that I am getting to the heart of the story when I do this, and I stay away from adding any useless narrative that takes away from the story.  I find it to be very helpful.

With Celtx, you can actually do a storyboard of your story to keep it in focus also.  There are other advantages to the software, but these are some of the ones I have experimented with.  That's Celtx, and it's free.  You can get supplemental things that come with it for a small fee, but the program is fully functional with the ability to print and export files without having the extras.  I use it.  Several years ago, I purchased a copy of Movie Magic Screenwriter, and I love this program also. But had Celtx been available when I purchased Movie Magic, I would have saved myself some money.

The respiratory infection I have battled for a few days has gotten the better of me, and I am home sick.  I hurt from all the coughing I have been doing.  If it doesn't get better today, I will probably stay home tomorrow also.  I do not get sick often so I have many sick days built up.  Common sense tells me it is better to stay home until I get over the worst of it than to go into school and cough over everyone else.  Between the nutrition supplements I received from my chiropractor and the prescription from the doctor, maybe I can get the best of the infection before it gets the best of me.
I will probably rest and sleep for most of the day although I do have to import grades before tomorrow.  Fortunately, our system is online and I can do it from home.

I didn't get to ride my bike last night because I felt really bad.  I slept almost all evening.  I'm getting really sleepy now and I feel as if I might be getting a fever.  I won't complain anymore about the way I feel.  I don't want to be one of those people who gives his whole medical history when someone asks him how he's doing.  I'll get better in the next few days.

One Day from Monday

My numbers are down for my blog.  I guess what the common joe has to say isn't incredibly interesting.  I'm not sure what I could do to build my readership back up.  It would be nice for me to get some feedback on writing projects I'm working on.

You see, my problem with this blog is that I have no focus.  I'm not specific enough to get a big following.  Sometimes I write about politics; sometimes, I write about what's going on in my life, and sometimes I write about writing.  I don't want to be a blogger who whines the whole time.  Nor do I want to give off the aura of the Network anchorman on the movie Network which starred Peter Finch.  I'm not much of a "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore" kind of person.  I've always been low-key.  I don't holler -- I'm definitely passive aggressive if anything.

I filter most of what I think, and it comes out when I say it, in a much more civil way.  The only exception is probably in my writing.  I've mistakenly written some letters and emails when I've been angry that I probably shouldn't have.  Emails are especially bad.  You can get those things in the mail with a push of a button.  That can be dangerous.  I also lose my temper sometimes when I am on the phone.  I don't like talking on the phone anyway.  The only nonverbal communication you get on the phone is tone of voice.  Texting is even worse, and I don't even do that.  People have discovered all kinds of ways not to speak with someone face to face.  Kind of sad.  The art of conversation is fading away.  We will find ourselves in the world of 1984's Newspeak, not because the government is trying to control our actions by controlling our conversations, but because we won't know how to use real words anymore.  Just think about it. Nations and culture didn't begin to evolve until communication grew easier.  Now, that we are communicating less and less face to face, will we sink back into the pit of Neanderthalism?  When God wanted to scatter the countries, he destroyed their common language.  I love to study how language evolved.  Perhaps we should be looking for ways to keep language from devolving.

Back to my blog.  I'm not sure what I should do.
Today, I'll just finish up with a couple comments about the past couple of days.  Friday was uneventful really.  We had a half day of professional development at school, but then I came home and rode my bike for 11 miles.  Our daughter is also home for her spring break.  It's so good to have her back.  She won't be home too many more times before she gets married.  That's in May.  Sigh.

On Saturday, Meg and I drove down to lake of the ozarks where Jean had gone for a conference.  It was so nice to be on the lake even though we didn't do anything spectacular really. We went out to eat at the Italian place there called Delmonico's.  Then we stopped at an ice cream place called the Stone Cold Churn -- I think.  I had this chocolate concrete thing that was delicious.  We went to a couple of the stores and then came back to the motel.   I sat out on the balcony for a while and watched the stars.  The lights reflecting off the lake were beautiful also.  It was warm too.  About 60.  I sat out for a half hour or so and just thought about how much I'd like to live on the lake.  Well, any lake.  It humbles me.

I didn't sleep well last night because I have a really bad cough.  It reminds me of the days when I'd smoke and get bronchitis.  I haven't smoked for over 10 years.  I'm guessing it's just some upper respiratory thing, but it is really getting too me.  I don't feel sick. I'm just hacking my fool head off. This evening, I rode my bike.  It was hard because I didn't ride last night,  but I got in 8 miles.  I am going to go and think about what I could do to make my blog interesting.  Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

New Music

I am listening to a band that I discovered through of all places Taylor Swift.  I love her song "Safe and Sound" so I looked up the group the Civil Wars and began to listen to them just to see what they sounded like.  Wow!  I love them.  I love the acoustic, folk feeling they bring to their songs.  I'm amazed by their music.  At any rate I have become a true fan.  Thank you Taylor Swift.  Taylor isn't really too bad herself.  I'll be glad when she grows up a little and starts writing more "adult" music.  She's still a little too teeny boppish for me.  I was listening to her the other day and decided that she was the country version of Katy Perry.  Don't you think that is a good way to describe her.

I love these two:  The Civil Wars

I was a little disappointed today to find out that ACT hired someone in house to take a position I thought might make a good fit for my talents.  Oh, well, I firmly believe things happen for a reason.  Either there's something else out there or I'm supposed to be exactly where I am.  I just am not looking forward to what will be happening to education in the next few years.  I can retire next summer but most likely won't.

My back is screaming out tonight, and I have a hacking cough I cannot get rid of for some reason.  I've been eating cough drops during the day and taking cough syrup at night.  I don't feel sick really; I'm just coughing so much I hurt.  Honestly, I'm more worried about my shoulders than anything else.  I have felt pain in them for several weeks now.  It's bad enough that I can't really throw a baseball.  It feels like muscle tears but it's in both shoulders and I didn't really do anything to cause it.  The only two possibilities I've come up with are that I have arthritis up there or some weird form of carpal tunnel syndrome.  I type a lot, but I don't know if that's it or not.

I have been sucked back into American Idol again.  I think the girls are better this year.  The one girl who sang "I Will Always Love you" was absolutely amazing.  She did Whitney better than Whitney, and I like Whitney Houston a lot.  The world lost a great talent when it lost her.  Such a beautiful woman also.  So sad.

I have resumed writing on my screenplay and it's going well.  I think anyway.  Sometimes I just don't know.  Without some kind of feedback it's hard to tell.  It's hard to write in a vacuum.

I need to go now.

Notes from the night

I don't have anything clever to say but I thought my title was clever.  I'm waiting for my wife to get out of her class, so we can go home, and I can get a good night's sleep.  Out of 12 people in my night class, seven were absent.  I don't know if it's a case of some pandemic going around or if it's a case of I didn't get my bibligraphy cards and essay doneitis.  Well, when they come back, they not only have their bibliography cards due, and their essay, but another essay due too.  Missing night classes -- especially those which only meet once a week -- is like stepping into quicksand. You're in over your head and suffocating before you even know you have been trapped.  I've told my students that if they were absent they still needed to send their work into me via email.  So far, I have received no emails with attached work.  I don't know; it seems like our country's work ethic and individual pride in trying to do the best that one can do has suffered in this country.  I guess I can't change the way other people act.  All I can do is change the way I act toward other people.  I'll do the grade slashing and the handing out of zeroes and F's.  That's all I can do.

I'm feeling a lot of pressure on a lot of different fronts lately, but I guess I will persevere. (sp?) 

I am starting to feel thinner.  I think my bike riding is helping me.  Once I get to where I'm feeling really comfortable with it, I'll add in some cutting down on the food I eat.  I hope I can drop the weight off this old body of mine.  I think losing weight will help me with my sleep (snoring is horrible) and with my knees and back.  Honestly, I know it hasn't been long, but I feel as if I am accomplishing something.

Tradition

I can't believe I'm blogging when I should be doing my school work, but I've been reading a writing book that tells me to make time to write regardless, and this is one way I can write.

In my literature class today, we read Shirley Jackson's story, "The Lottery."  If you've not ever read it, you need to.  It is so spooky in some ways, but the story's message about tradition inspired me to write a new crossbyte, something I've not done much lately.

When destiny calls your name, make sure that you're not deafened by the screams of foolish tradition.
Crossbyte


Before I get a lot of flack about traditions that families love, let me remind you of the adjective "foolish."  Read the story, and you'll know what I mean by my crossbyte.


I have kept riding my bicycle daily since I got it.  I'm averaging about seven or seven and a half miles a day on it.  It has to help my cardiovascular system and my weight.  If I can lose some weight, then my next step would be to do some strengthening stuff.  I need to build up strength in my arms and in my knees.  Several years ago, I had an automobile accident, and I never really completed my PT as I should have.  Therefore, my right knee especially is weak.


Enough about fitness and other stuff.  I'll be signing off.  

The Eve of Battle: Lancelot Excerpt

The attacking dragon shrieked in pain as it climbed the sky and fled Rithrell. Then, she turned, flapped her wings twice, and then settled on a part of Camelot’s walls not destroyed by the dragon’s breath.

Arthur stared at the magnificent beast and was too stunned to speak.

“You have saved us, Friend,” Merlin said.

“When a dragon goes rogue and begins to kill men against the code of honor, it is my duty to intervene, but I go only so far as to stop the dragon. I will not interfere with wars that men start. You are on your own there, Merlin.”

“I understand … How’s your egg?” he asked, tryingto relieve some of the tension.

“My egg is now a female dragon named Merlinetta.”

“I am honored.”

“You should be,” Rithrell said. She flapped her wings and drifted into the air. “Goodbye, Merlin.” 

She flew away as Arthur and Merlin watched.

“I cannot believe my eyes,” Arthur said.

“In the darkest of nights, the stars shine their brightest.”

“Look at us, Merlin. We are trapped and have no hope of escape.”

“We have one hope.”

***

Lancelot and Trilesa walked back to Rodney's village. "I lived in Rittlock's house ever since I was a child.

I don't even remember how I got there. All the time I was pampered and petted I thought I was his child. The true story is I was being groomed to be his wife."

"Someone just gave you away to this evil king?"

"It was part of a political gift. Protection in exchange for the child. That sort of thing. It never made sense to me. While I lived under Rittlock, he was always involved with women. I don't know why he would accept me in exchange for protecting someone."

Lancelot stopped suddenly. "You cannot go with us when we attack him."

"I have to go. I want to see him killed so that I can get my freedom. I will not feel as if I have a life until he is gone. Lancelot, you don't know how evil he is. He is a demon personified."

"I know that somehow this relates to my quest."

"Your quest. I had forgotten it. What does it mean?"

"I don't know what it means. I only know it must be done if I am to have peace. It's my penance."

Only Rodney and a few of his men were still awake when they returned.

"Lancelot, join us."

Lancelot and Trilesa sat at the table.

"We're going over the plan to attack Rittlock. He has manpower, so we need surprise. His stronghold is on the sea so we can get right up on the city walls without being seen."

“How do you expect to sail a ship right up to the walls of the city without being seen?"

"We will not be on the sea."

Fractured Fairy Tale

Do you remember the old Saturday morning cartoons called Fractured Fairy tales?  Every few weeks, I do a children's message in church which I call Fractured Faithful tales.  Sometimes they go over well; sometimes they crash and burn.  Someone told me I needed to publish them.  Well, I know that they aren't good enough to publish because many of them are just too silly.  Others contain inside jokes that only members of my congregation would get.  Besides, I know they just aren't good enough.  But I thought that maybe my blog readers might light to hear one every now and then.  So, here goes.  A transcript of today's fractured fairy tale.

***Once upon a time, there was a mean little girl called Ima Littlebrat.  One day a new girl named Jesse moved to Ima Littlebrat's school.  Jesse was cool and everyone wanted to be friends with her including Ima.  So Ima walked up to Jesse in the cafeteria and said, "What do I need to do to be your friend?"

Jesse pointed to a little girl sitting all by herself and said, "Go talk to that little girl."  This upset Ima very much because she did not like the little girl sitting there.  Her name was Sheeza Weirdun.  The only time Ima talked to Sheeza was to bully her.  "What am I supposed to talk to her about," Ima said.  Jesse answered, "Talk to her like you always do."

That was easy Ima thought, so she walked up to Sheeza and started saying all kinds of bad things to her.  The things were so bad that I can't even write them down in this story.  When Sheeza started crying, Ima came back to Jesse and said, "Now, can you be my friend?"

To Ima's surprise, Jesse said, "No way!  If you can't be friendly to everyone, I can't be friends with you."  So Jesse walked over to the little girl Sheeza and the two of them became great friends.

Ima learned a valuable lesson that day.  We should be kind to everyone.
The reasons we should be kind to everyone  are these:
First, how can we expect other people to be kind to us if we are not kind to them.
Second, what we say to people when they are young can affect them their entire lives.  If you are nice to people when they are young they will turn out to be nicer when they are old.  We have the ability to build others up with kind words or tear them down with mean words.  We should be builders and not destroyers.
Third, Jesus tells us to be nice to others.  He told us that it was easy to like the people that liked us, but that we are also supposed to love our enemies.  He also told us to love others as we love ourselves.  There's also scripture in Matthew 25 that says that when we treat people a certain way, it is like we are treating Jesus the same way.  If we're mean to others, we are being mean to Jesus.  If we're kind to others, we are being kind to Jesus.

Think how much better the world would be if we were kind to each other.***

Thus ends this fractured faithful tale.  At any rate, I try to think of some similar story to tell the kids each time I do the message.  The last time I gave the children's message, it was about the wolf in sheep's clothing.

I plan on posting another excerpt of Lancelot later, but I'm guessing this is about all you can handle of me for right now.  So, I'm signing off.

More Stickies

We had a nice party at the home front for Max.  Cake and ice cream, roast beef, and turkey, chips and dip -- lots of junk food.  Of course, I ate too much, but if a person can't cheat on the weekends when can he?

I have the children's sermon tomorrow.  I think I have all of it laid out in my mind.  I just have to find my scripture to go with it.  It's another one of my fairy tales about a bad little girl who learns a valuable lesson about friendship.

I'm going to write on my screenplay tonight.  I'm into it at the moment so I need to keep at it.  I have a writer friend of mine with a critical eye who is going to read the first 30 pages or so for me.  I am doing some significant rewriting in the pages I've completed (about 70 or so) and as a result, I don't know if I can give her 30 good pages or not, but I can do at least 15 to 20.  I'm turning my story around so it isn't quite as negative as it was.

I watched part of the Mizzou game earlier.  They had a commanding lead, but I haven't watched any of it for quite a while.  I'm not much of a basketball fan at all.  I will watch them in the March madness playoffs, but for the most part, that will be it.  I have a little bit more interest in the Blues hockey team.  I don't watch them either, but I imagine I will watch them if they go into the playoffs.  I'm primarily a baseball/football fan.  I'm anxious to see if the Rams can turn their franchise around, and if they can, will they stay in St. Louis.  The Rams rejected the city's first renovation plan for the stadium to make it one of the top tier stadiums in the league.  I think the Rams will move myself, so we should enjoy them for the next two or three years.  I guess I could become a Chief's fan.

As you know, I am also a huge fan of any kind of music just about.  When I want to work, I listen to a series of music developed by psychologist Dr. Jeffery Thompson.  He has several different sets, but I listen frequent to the Creative Mind system.  It is tremendous.  There is something to the adages that music can stir the soul, soothe the savage beast, and if it be the food of love then play on.  It honestly makes me more productive when I listen to it and work.  I'm not sure if it has the psychological benefits the creator claims or if it just eliminates distractions and helps me to focus.  I've not tried his collection for deep sleep and relaxation, but I am tempted.  I know something people think the idea of music having such power is absurd, but I beg to differ.

I bet I could ask any one of you what songs you remember most or for you younger generation, like the most.  The ones you select will have some kind of emotion associated with them.  It's amazing to think about.  Music has been such a big part of my life, and I don't sing or play.  Honestly, I don't know if I could exist without it.

Well, I have a date with a bicycle soon, so I should be going now.  Tomorrow, I'll post another excerpt of Lancelot and the Tides of Time.  It can still be purchased at www.buckscountypublishing.com

Stickies

Pop-up camper: important for the first scene in my screenplay

Stickies and postits in case you don't understand are my blog entries that I write when I just have several things on my mind I'm thinking about and I'm not ranting on any one particular item.  They are in the form of little notes like Post its or Stickies.

The Rams new defensive coordinator is being investigated for giving bonuses to players who hurt other players while he worked with the Saints.  So much for the four pillars we had under the previous regime.  I want our team to play good and hard, not cheap.

I rode my bicycle 6.75 miles this evening.  I spent a half hour on it while I was watching my recording of the American Idol girls from the other night.  I don't remember exactly how many calories it said I burned, but it was somewhere around 140.  I am in the biggest loser contest at the school, and when I weighed this morning, I was down 3 and a half pounds from last week.  The exercise helps, I know, but last week I truly overindulged and gained a few pounds, so technically I'm back where I started this week.

I wrote a few pages on my screenplay today.  I entered the first fifteen pages in a screenplay contest. Though it won nothing, part of the consolation was that you got honest feedback on your work.  My feedback set off a few epiphanies and I have begun rewriting with renewed zest.  I needed that because I was at a dead end.

The ACT people accepted another one of my articles, so I'm good there too.

We're having a birthday party for my great nephew tomorrow that should be fun.  He's on the verge of walking now.  It will only be a matter of time.

I'm getting sleepy, so I should just go ahead and post this.  Have a good weekend everyone.

Post its

Rode my bike for half an hour, burned 140 calories, did about six and a half miles -- this after my class that went from 4 to 7.

While I was riding, I watched American Idol.  I've not really watched it much this year.  The top 13 are okay.  A few are weak.  I like Erica Van Pelt -- her deep voice is sexy.  The fact that she also did a Heart song also endears her to me.  I don't think she'll win it; right now, I don't think I could say who would have the best chance.  You never know about the fickle American public.  There was a teeny bopper kid that did not make it through.  He was the kind of kid that a lot of the young girls would vote for.  He is a good singer, but he isn't a star.

Not much else going on with me tonight.  I guess I'll write another time.