Category: Uncategorized (Page 2 of 9)

My go-to page for calm is watching an Osprey cam set up near Boulder, Colorado.

So cute.

Sure, nature is sometimes a “bitch” and things happen to the cute little things, but when things go right–it’s so comforting to slip into a bird-pair’s tiny little world.

While in France (again, humble brag), I didn’t hear one thing about a shooting or death from gun violence. Not one thing for 3 weeks.

I looked up gun laws for France: “No civilian may carry any weapons in a public place. A special form allows a civilian to apply for a 1-year carry license, which allows them to carry a handgun and a maximum of 50 rounds if they are “exposed to exceptional risks to their life”. In practice, these licenses are only issued to politicians.”

Not sure I would want “only politicians” to have guns, based on current news, but still…

Can we at least look at common sense gun laws for the U.S. With respect to the Second Amendment, was the intent of the amendment that every living person over the age of 18 shall have a gun–even a paramilitary or military-grade rifle?

I tire, as many do, of thinking about finding an exit while in the grocery store or big-box store.

I tire of wondering if it’s safe to go to a sports event, a concert, even a party.

I grew up in rural Colorado, learned to fire a rifle (okay–a 22, but still).

Comment sense anyone?

This is a bit of a humble brag; I found it hard to reboot my writing after returning from an almost 3-week trip to Europe (via one of those scheduled cruises).

It was wonderful and educational. Got to see parts of France that I’d never seen. Some good, some bad. I learned that Europe has many of the same problems we do in the U.S.; crime such as pick-pockets and a few violent episodes (nothing like our gun problems here at home; homelessness (the homeless have tents in Europe too and also prefer to live under bridges).

Once home, aside from jet-lag, I find it hard to restart a project that I’d started or left unfinished. I approach it with a certain dread. Re-reading my work after I’ve been away from it sometimes leaves me frustrated. It’s not good enough. It needs a whole lot of work. I might just pitch it and start over.

I know I’m not the only writer (such as it is) who deals with this.

With the exception of perhaps Stephen King and Danielle Steele, who profess to being able to write through anything. Everything. All at once.

I recently tried ChatGPT, google’s chat bot. I read on a writer’s forum about using it to generate ideas, validate ideas or even generate plots based on ideas.

I’m sure it’s got a ways to go before it replaces writers completely, but it can write poetry, write new jokes and do intensive research (although it usually boils research down to about five points or so.)

I typed in an idea I have for a new novel, and got more than I wanted or needed from it: validation.

“This is a great idea for a publishable novel,” it started.

There it was, validation for an idea that I’ve failed to get from any human (aside from my husband, who usually thinks my ideas are great).

Most of the time, I keep my ideas to myself, other than to share on a writer’s forum or group, or to my husband. Otherwise, any attempts to talk about writing bring comments akin to “well, bless your heart,” or “you can always try.”

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want someone to tell me all my ideas are great–I know they are not. I know that after years of writing, I will not be Steinbeck or even Danielle Steele on the other spectrum. I do like a little validation now and then that I’m not completely wasting my time, and that I shouldn’t regret giving up wanting to throw beautiful pottery and selling it on the side.

Validation from an artificially intelligent program…is it really validation? Has it been programed to give positive feedback? I didn’t ask it to love my idea.

So many questions, but I think I’m hooked.

I, like many others, have wrestled with anxiety and fear. Mostly, I have had what people call “irrational fear,” of things that will probably not kill me (like speaking in front of a large group, or a small group for that matter). My anxieties and fears have had consequences. I once changed my college major to one that didn’t require the “Speech 101” class. When I was a girl, I “threw” a spelling bee when I realized that winning would require unwanted attention.

Lately though, I’ve realized how rational some of my fears are. I am less afraid of my daughter traveling to Africa on safari with her husband and MY grandchildren, than I am of them going to a concert in America.

I’m less afraid of my other beloved daughter becoming a member of her chosen airline’s 1K club (I am a notable white-knuckler during turbulance) than I am of her shopping at a mall.

I, for the first time in my life, have added such fears to my fear-list as going to Costco or other big-box stores, driving on the freeway in rush-hour, and thinking of my grand-children being dropped off at school.

The world seems scarier now. I believe it IS scarier now.

Whether its the fault of movies, guns, video games, mental illness, or any other factor–we have to figure it out.

I don’t want to resort to encouraging all four of my grandchildren to move to Australia. Or Canada. If everyone does that–American is just exported its problems.

In spite of having 3 or 4 movie streaming platforms in addition to cable t.v., my husband and I (who are movie buffs), find it hard to find good movies to watch.

I like a few series that he’s not into (Succession, for instance), but we occasionally find a 90-minute Netflix movie we like.

The last move we went to was “Banshees of Inishirin,” which we both hated. I got the connection between lonely and bitter people living on an island off the coast of Ireland, and the civil war going on in Ireland. But, to me the “comedy” was mean and pointless.

And, a donkey dies (I hope you didn’t see it yet–or hope you never see it).

I read a writing forum where the subject of the day was: “Can I kill a dog in the first few pages of my novel.”

The consensus was, “not unless you’re writing sci-fi or horror.”

Mostly, the writing forum consists of mystery writers, many of whom are cozy mystery writers, who will tolerate murder and mayhem as long as it’s not a child or animal. I agree–I expect there to be a murder or other crime against presumably–a person and not an animal or child.

I also expect it to be resolved in the in. Justice, and all that.

Anyway, the only thing on at the movies right now is another John Wick move (12 or 14?) I’m done with too much violence in a movie, and if any movies qualify, it’s John Wick movies.

Keanu, can you do something else please?

Love this group and the website. WWW.WomenWritingtheWest.org

I have at least 10 books downloaded on Kindle. I usually take this on vaca with me, but our vaca has been thwarted by Covid (hubby) once again. Luckily he tested before we packed for our trip, but just barely.

I have several books in the queue ready to read. I like physical books because it reminds me that they are there to read (as in, turn off the t.v. and read).

Here’s my list:

Death in the off Season (Francine Matthews) mystery

Will Trent mystery (because I’m also watching the series)

Valley Fever (Katherine Taylor) (forgot why I bought this)

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner (for book club)

Lessons in Chemistry (to see if I could recommend to book club)

Secret Life of Bees (because I’ve never read it)

The Maid (because it’s on the bestseller list)

These books should last me for 6 months

Lately, George Santos is in the news. He’s the guy that lied–well, about almost everything and still became a member of the House of Representatives.

Talking with people, I’m hearing, “Everybody lies or embellishes their resumes.”

Do they? I grew up Catholic (now lapsed), but I was taught that lying was one of the more serious sins. That part of my childhood has stuck with me. Not to say I’ve never lied. Do white lies count? I remember being taught that “lies of omission” are a sin. I now believe some things shouldn’t be said either to protect the innocent or the guilty.

When I got my first “career” job out of college (hate to admit that I didn’t graduate college until almost 29 years old), I “lied” on my resume that I had a degree. I got the job. I DID get the degree about 1 month later (I had 1 more class to finish). I stayed awake at night fearing that I would be found out.

Nobody fact checked me obviously. I went on to have a long career (ending with delightfully, a pension), and also got a Master’s Degree while employed at the same organization.

Not that everyone should have truth beaten into them from a very young age (it causes a degree of OCD), but truth and trustworthiness should count for something.

With fact-checking so easy these days, who would lie and make up stories?

Lots of people, I guess.

Honestly!

Voting takes time. You have to research a little to vote. Colorado has made it easier than ever to vote. Unlike some states, we have mail-in ballots, which have proven to be quite legit.

I was recently on a neighborhood blog site (you might know the one). People were complaining about the cost of eggs, especially in Colorado Compared to other states.

Seems like in 2020, we Coloradans passed a bill stating that by 2023 we would have 100% cage-free eggs.

Well, it’s now 2023, and coincidentally with outbreaks of bird flu, it’s expensive to make an omelette or cake these days.

We all want the chickens to be healthy and happy, don’t we? I think I voted yes on that very bill (being an animal rights enthusiast–I fall short of being an activist), but maybe there were cost-effective ways of giving chickens a free range life. Maybe if we wanted happy chickens, we should have thrown in some government funding.

This got me thinking; how many voters did or did not vote for this bill? I’m guessing many people complaining about the price of eggs, didn’t vote, didn’t read anything about the bill, or didn’t care until the price of eggs hit them in their pocketbooks.

Colorado makes it easy to be informed as voters. We get numerous booklets describing the bills and who is running for what office. They give us pros and cons of each.

None of us knows the unintended consequences of how a certain bill will play out, but we can at least inform ourselves–and vote.