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 |   A Journal to impart knowledge and facts |
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July 22, 2015 I'm going to start today to record on a daily basis whatever happens to strike my fancy. So, it is a very cool breezy day. I just posted 5 short book reviews to The Monthly Reading Challenge. I'm suppose to put away some winter wood today from the woodpile outside but I'm playing hookey from work to write so starting this blog will get done. I'm having a daily fight with a flock of English Sparrows that are trying to take over my barn. They are making a terrible mess so they have to go. I have destroyed several nests so far they don't leave but they get out of the barn when I am around. I'm just starting the fight so I guess I don't know how far I have to go to discourage them. I'm trying not to spread myself to thin on WDC because I find so many things that are interesting here and I am trying to work on a new story. I really enjoy sitting at my desk with a cup of tea and reading blogs on WDC. |
Talk Tuesday! Tell us something you learned about a couple of your fellow challengers this month. Only Two huh?  Cinn is so busy she can't hardly believe she made it through the whole blogging month. Rah, Rah, Rah, for Cinn.  Lilli-Alis Volat Propris believes the group are real people and had a good time blogging this month. Yes!  . Whether we make it through or not it's always a good time at the 30 Day Challenge  |
Motivational Monday! Actor Tom Selleck, born on this day in 1945, once said "I realized I really liked the screen. I knew it was a challenge, but I wasn't afraid of risk." What are your thoughts on calculated risks, and have you taken any when writing? I'm taking one now. I'm studying poetry. I never studied poetry as just a specific subject before.( possibly there was a section in high school English class. It would have been very short and not impressive.) In two lessons I've learned all kinds of things about writing. I've found enough information in the last two weeks to think that if you are a writer, no matter what you write you should know how to write poetry. Sometimes I think I've been living my life backwards. I learn things I should have known after I succeed at doing something interesting. I'm not a fan of Tom Selleck since he had his ex-wife blackballed by his brotherhood so she could not get work. Nevertheless I like some of the shows he has starred in. She sued him and he lost. When a brotherhood or sisterhood is blackballing someone so they can't get a financial hold on their lives, beware. It's often because the person did something that is good for society. Beware of such insensitive shenanigans. Happy Trails, Apondia |
Creation Saturday! It's been a long month and it's almost over, so I'm gonna go easy on you. All you have to do is pick one song- any song (with lyrics)- and write a parody of it. The only catch? Your version must take place in a retirement home, and should include the words stagnant, bare, and refrigerator (please bold them). Make sure you also let us know what song you're destroying *Laugh*...have fun! Happy Birthday! The people in the retirement home decided to throw me a party. surprise!! Happy Birthday to me. My refrigerator is bare. I dumped all the food out. It was stagnant who cares. The old folks knew I like to eat so they filled my frig with ice cream, cake and candy.  ![Merit Badge in Reading
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~Minja](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Reading-2180.gif) Read to Learn  bye |
| Prompt: Share with us a memory and/or recipe of a favorite family meal or dessert. [Fivesixer Alive sig [#1393823] My sig from Tanin, Writing Warrior.] So, what does everyone like to eat? Today I made one of my favorites: Salmon Patties: Open a can of salmon: Gently remove any skin that may be sticking to the meat. I do this because I think the skin gives it a stronger taste. Break up the pieces of salmon in to a bowl. The cans of salmon I buy usually have one whole fish in them. Add One large handful of whole oatmeal to the bowl. Add One large egg ( if you use smaller eggs or like more egg you can add 2. Mix it all together very well. (I use my hands but you could use a mixing spoon if you prefer). Also, if you use one egg but want a little extra sticky you can put in a couple tablespoons of Olive Oil. I heat a pan with Olive Oil and a table spoonful of butter. Then form the salmon mixture into patties and put them in the hot pan. Cook until they are crispy on one side turn them over and cook until crispy on the other side. These make good sandwiches or just eat them with french fries or other side dishes of your choice. I ate mine with a spring salad today. They reheat very well in a microwave so keep them cool in the frig if you don't eat them all in one setting. My can made about 5 today so I have some left for a snack. Happy Eating. |
| War Chest Wednesday! From a previous challenger... Have you ever been robbed? What kind of robbery was it? How did it change your life (or did it have no lasting impact)? If you've never been robbed, how do you think you'd react to it happening to you? Before you read this you should know this is only a small part of my life story the whole one would make a good movie or book. But, most of it I decline to tell. Yes. I have been robbed? For many years someone has been removing things from my home. It became serious in the 80’s and 90’s. Some jewelry was stolen from me that was important to me. Plus, over the years horse tack came up missing, horse medicine came up missing. Hay was stolen. Food was removed from the shelves in the kitchen. Tools were removed from the garage. A picture of my grandparents was ripped in half and the part of my grandmother was removed. (It was later returned anonymously and I taped it back together.) The center was stomped out of a painting that I had in my possession from my dad’s old house. It was of two children crossing a bridge and an angel was keeping them safe from a break in the bridge and a raging storm. Some items are returned after long periods of time. Some items were never returned. Yes, There is a lasting emotional and psychological impact. I never know if something is lost or stolen, and I scream a lot if I get under to much stress. There is a lot of things I won’t take time to tell. At first we continued to call the state police (since we are in a rural environment the Pa state police were called). They would send out an officer who would take a report then question the neighbors to see if anyone had seen anything suspicious. This is actually an ongoing situation. One officer told me that a local brotherhood was involved and they would not do anything to them unless someone could catch them in the act. Another officer sat down on my front porch and spent quite a little bit of time explaining how the state police families and any one who is actually trying to be honest and law abiding can be targeted for these kinds of thefts. It was as much harassments as it was theft. Because there could be long periods of time between the thefts and the returned items. Another police officer (1993 to 1996) gave me a booklet that said if the thefts were not 1500 dollars in value the police would not bother to find out the why’s. When I told that to people I knew one male acquaintance became agitated and went to the state police and asked if it were true. The police backed down and said it was not legal for them to say things like that all theft and harassment was relevant and prosecuted. About this time the State Police in Pennsylvania were being sued for harassment of some women who took them to court and won. This also included death threats to me on the telephone at one period of time. We had official taps put on the phone which we had to pay both Verizon and the State Police to do. The police stopped that but said they wouldn’t prosecute the perpetrators because they were teenagers and it would spoil their lives. It slowed down some while I was going to college then stopped entirely for awhile. I saw a television talk show that expounded that one of the ways to bust the situation is to tell people about it. So, now I do. The latest was in 2015 (I think that is the year) some things were coming up missing from my horse barn. Plus, someone stabbed my horse in the legs. The policeman who investigated was given a name of someone in the neighborhood. He gave me a number to call if it ever happened again. ( This was after a someone dumped gas on a horse a few miles from here one night and set fire to the horse. No one was ever arrested for this either.) He said he put a permanent stop to the situation? In winter of 2016 someone took a cross from my bedroom and took the police number card from my desk and took the identity tag off my dogs collar. At one point they changed the drain on the laundry tub in the basement and when I fixed it with the proper drain (yes I fixed it myself) I found the dog tag rusted in the trap. It was removed from the dogs collar one summer night when he was in the dog pen. It was a tag made of bronze so the rust cleaned off well and I returned it to the dogs collar. Then, the cross was thrown onto my bedroom floor just after this Christmas. I doubt I will ever see the telephone number the police gave me to call again. This started up after I bought and gave away several copies of “The Case For Christ” so the cross , dog tag, and telephone number maybe caused by Keith. Plus, this summer someone stole a can of gas from the garage when we were doing hay from our field. The police told Keith on the phone they would not come out and investigate because whenever they ask people questions in this neighborhood the people lie to the police. Last year someone hacked my Face book account and google asked me to try to make it secure with new pass words they also gave me the computer numbers of the hackers and state addresses of those computers which turns out to be possibly relatives of Keith’s. I rarely use that account so I’m not bothered by it. I have so much information about this type of harassment. I know more about the situation now. I know some of who the perpetrators are. They don’t have adequate reasons to do these things just local superstitions. I live in an A-frame house. Every once in awhile someone starts a rumor that it is a pyramid. Often people pull scriptures out and try to make trouble for someone in the area. Or, they get up in a church and tell the members to pray for some sinner or another. In “A Most Curious Murder,” by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli I found this quote,”I’ve been praying for you.” “ And, I’m alive anyway.” A sarcastic but true comment by one of the characters. Anyone out there if you are being harassed in this way get a lawyer and tell everyone you know it is the only recourse I believe. ![Merit Badge in From My Heart To Yours
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| Talk Tuesday! What are you reading? Tell us what's at or near the top of your TBR (to be read) pile, and why you're interested in it. I'm presently reading Illuminae (the Illuminae files_01) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. It's a space adventure. I'm also reading 3 or more new poems per day, The Poem Collection ( the Greatest Poems of all Times). Plus, I have a stack of books that should be read. "the School of Good and Evil" by Soman Chainani is at the head of the list because it is a library epublish book by Overdrive. Due in 6 days.  I'm looking forward to reading "DEAD STOP" by Barbara Nicklas. this is the second book in a series about an ex-marine that joins the railroad police when she is discharged. I read the first book in the series and really enjoyed it. The first book featured a group of homeless ex-soldiers that ride the rails illegally. I'm over the limit in things to do. We had a sudden thaw so I spent yesterday cleaning barn. And, I was away from home Friday and Saturday so I am still catching up on home, to do list for those days. I don't mind, busy in the winter is just a way to keep away from cabin fever brought on by snow. Plus, I was able to take my dog out for a much needed walk because of the thaw. ![Merit Badge in The Monthly Reading Challenge
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Tell us about a time you made the most out of a bad situation...and if you'd do anything different should you be put in a similar one again. OK you asked for it. I was teaching a grandchild in a home school. The evaluation teachers kept giving her really bad evaluations. Then, they would come up with solutions for her to try out. Before long they were loading her with so much extra work she could barely think straight. She was only 6. She had not gone through kindergarten and even though there was home school kindergarten they insisted on starting her in first grade. That means she was not prepared for the first grade curriculum. They kept insisting that she could catch up to the grade level. At one point,an evaluation teacher, tried to draw in another person to help her. In a 3 way telephone conversation she tried to make me look as if I was the one who put her in the first grade curriculum, but when I started asking pointed questions and told them my back ground the 3rd teacher on the phone wanted to know what was going on and why I was being targeted. Eventually, my daughter moved out of the state and took her daughter with her. She blames the state educators for the entire situation. Plus, I discovered later, that the educators were being coached by relatives of mine who work in state education. They are against home schooling because it would mean a decrease in job opportunities that their own children and grandchildren have as they grow up. People who have moved into home schooling their children have done it because they are not satisfied with the public school systems. I applaud people who have had to buck the system in this way. As, a child I grew up in a group of people who at holidays always got together and had things to say about how they were teaching. If you knew some of the things I heard you would be locking your children into private schools. If I was ever in a similar situation I would be fore armed with knowledge. I did not find out who pulled all the strings until after I was not homeschooling anyone, and I had never home schooled anyone, so I was at a disadvantage. I am in a similar situation now as my dentist has a friend or relative of my relatives working in her office. I get treated badly there at times. I have always believed I may have to consult a lawyer before the end of my life. I once was approached by a women who saw some stupid thing being done to me. She told me she sued people and they quit. A teacher at the college where I studied, told me he knew some of my relatives and knew things they had done to me. He said if I ever wanted to sue he would help. Just having people stand up and tell me they know what I have gone through helps. I'm not happy with the thought that I might have to use the law to live an ordinary life in the USA. What does that say about our country? Anyway, I just read "The Lie Tree" and kind of laughed throughout the story because it is such a great picture of how gossip can destroy lives. Then this morning I read a story in "The Pennsylvania Game News" about some men who were in WWI. When the war was over they were having trouble returning to their former lives. They used to hunt so, they went out to hunt Bear together in hunting season. It was a misty morning, they were each standing in a different part of the terrain. One man heard one shot. Not long after he heard another shot. He was afraid to approach his friend in the mist because of the shots being so far apart so he called out and crept up to the place carefully. After all these were soldiers with PTSD. He found the cartridges from one shot and blood on the ground. So, he crept along the blood trail and called out again. Soon he found his buddy who was also following the blood trail. They found the bear dead. It had a would through the chest. Then the friend turned to him and said, he knew the bear was wounded and was coming around in a circle. In the mist it was going to try to get him. His military training and war experience showed him where the bear would come up from behind him and so when it attacked he shot it the second time in the head which was the death wound. During the years of the Reagan administration I noticed people breaking into groups. The unity brought about by WWII was waning. Now, people were becoming a Greek community or an Italian community or your church group was more important than other church groups. This was exceptionally prevalent in the communities around here. Everyone who had a reason to need monetary help, such as volunteer fire departments in every small community were trying to tie their supporters into a family scene so they would only support their own community. This kind of competition can become a bad part of any neighborhood l. It separates people. It makes an arrow of a group and a target of any individual. I guess that is why people spread so many evil thoughts about someone they think is an enemy. Years ago I learned to get to know people before I believe anything I hear about them. |
| War Chest Wednesday! From a previous challenger... What's your opinion on children starting school at age two or three? Wow!! No and no and no and no and no.  Why? Humans start learning as soon as they are formed well enough. Eyes, ears, nose, mouth, we take in sounds, sights, smells, tastes. Children are bombarded with learning from the beginning of their life. they need time to adjust and explore. Not all adjustment should be scheduled and regulated. Besides, if you want to bond with your children you like having them around at the youngest of ages. Maturity of thought is not always taught in a classroom. I was always glad for school holidays because my children were home. I even think children are more balanced if they have more holidays not less. I think schools are trying to re-regulate somewhat because homes now have both parents working to make financial ends meet. How is it going to work out? You should enjoy all your formal learning experiences. Let's not regulate every hour of our day. |
| Talk Tuesday! Some of your fellow 30DBC challengers have moved into your neighborhood. What are we doing for fun when we all hang out? So many things to do! We are hiking in our woods. Going on wildlife picture taking adventures. Brain storming days on my novel ideas. While we feed on pizza, popcorn, and new vegetarian dishes. Meetings to help anyone write anything. Days for sharing the books we read. Days to share the reviews we write on WDC. Summer is on its way. Bike riding trips on local bike trails are possible. Probably a hundred things here that are possible depending on the WDC social circle. Everyone will have input for this type of scene. What do you think is actually fun? I used to be in a local writing club in 1970's. It has long since disbanded. It would be nice to be able to participate in that kind of sharing again. |
| Lloyd Bridges: born on this day in 1913, once said "I'm foremost an actor. I feel embarrassed being compared to the guys who really work at it. I fake it, I make believe I know all about it, which is what you're supposed to do as an actor." What are your thoughts on this, in relation to the things you write? I've met people who can always tell you facts about any thing a group is discussing, with a great deal of smirking boldness And, I've stepped back and heard the gossips of the group call that person a know - it - all. I never agree with the gossip. I think there are people who as children are interested in everything around them, read a lot, explore whatever they see or here and probably ask questions of everyone around them. This continues into their old age. So, they actually do know a lot and often don't have anywhere to spill out their knowledge to the benefit of anyone until they find themselves in the middle of a group discussion. Then, they can be annoying. As far as my blog goes. I research most of what I write about. Anyway, I don't always find all the facts. And, when I write a story I have to research the oddest things in order to get the feel of what I want to write. Even actors and actresses do research about roles they are going to play. Doctor shows, crime shows, police procedures, the best actors and actresses spend time getting into character. Do they improvise? Probably, a lot. Improvisation in writing and in acting can make the story sing its own song, give it individuality. Try reading, The Lie Tree, by Francis Hardinge. Science takes and interesting turn in this story. The work as an actor probably takes a turn when dealing with the fans. Since fans may see the person as the character they play and not as a real person who has interests after the show is over for the evening. And, writers get into a story and live it while they are writing, but probably spend lots of time outside of the story cleaning house, doing laundry, and shopping for groceries. Stay Warm, Spring is on its way,  Apondia  |
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