Honoring Our Fallen

From a speech given by Father Richard Welch, president of Human Life International, in 2000. It's still relative today: "On this most solemn holiday, we must stop and consider the great sacrifices that others have made so that we may have the freedom and prosperity we enjoy. Let us consider what those valiant warriors were fighting for...and let us honor each and every one of them...with a prayer, and a pledge to restore to this nation the honor, morality, values and love of God for which they gave their lives. Their true memorial is the nation and culture we create from their sacrifice."

Amen.

Friday Funny

Introducing the first volume in the series "How to Understand Women":


LOL!

Writing Gripping Fiction

Nathan Bransford has a terrific blog post yesterday about creating reversals in our fiction. You may have heard the advice: Make things really bad for your hero...then make them worse. But in between there you need to have the hero think that just maybe things will work out after all. Ups and downs will build compelling fiction that will be hard for your readers to put down.

Man Meat Monday

Friday Funny

Funny Quotes

Sometimes, when I look at my children, I say to myself, "Lillian, you should have remained a virgin." --Lillian Carter (mother of Jimmy Carter)

I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: "No good in a bed, but fine against a wall." --Eleanor Roosevelt

Last week, I stated this woman was the ugliest woman I had ever seen. I have since been visited by her sister, and now wish to withdraw that statement. --Mark Twain

The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible. --George Burns

Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year. --Victor Borge

Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint. --Mark Twain

I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury. --Groucho Marx

My wife has a slight impediment in her speech. Every now and then she stops to breathe. --Jimmy Durante

I have never hated a man enough to give his diamonds back. --Zsa Zsa Gabor

Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat. --Alex Levine

Money can't buy you happiness... But it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery. --Spike Milligan

I don't feel old. I don't feel anything until noon. Then it's time for my nap. --Bob Hope

Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you. --Winston Churchill

Maybe it's true that life begins at fifty. But everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out. --Phyllis Diller

Pantser vs. Plotter

This Saturday at my local RWA chapter's meeting, our guest speaker Kathleen Baldwin is going to present "The Secret Life of Pantsers". Where do you fall on the pantser versus plotter scale? You might be a frustrated pantser living in a plotter's world. Why do you write the way you write? Explore how your creative mind operates. Plotters and pantsers alike will benefit from discussing tricks, tools and delightful games that make a writer's life easier. The creative mind is fabulously brilliant but also temperamental. Learn how to nurture and protect your unique type of creativity.

To make your reservation, go to Saguaro Romance Writers.

Man Meat Monday

I'm in a cowboy kinda mood today...

Friday Funny

A man walks into a restaurant with a full-grown ostrich behind him. The waitress asks them for their orders.

The man says, "I'll have a hamburger, fries and a coke,' and turns to the ostrich. "What about you?"

"I'll have the same," says the ostrich.

A short time later the waitress returns with the order "That will be $9.40 please," and the man reaches into his pocket and pulls out the exact change for payment.

The next day, the man and the ostrich come again and the man says, "A hamburger, fries and a coke."

The ostrich says, "I'll have the same."

Again the man reaches into his pocket and pays with exact change.

This becomes routine, "The usual?" asks the waitress.

"No, this is Friday night, so I will have a steak, baked potato and a salad," says the man.

"Same," says the ostrich.

Shortly the waitress brings the order and says, "That will be $32.62."

Once again the man pulls the exact change out of his pocket and places it on the table.

The waitress cannot hold back her curiosity any longer. "Excuse me, sir. How do you manage to always come up with the exact change in your pocket every time?"

"Well," says the man, "several years ago I was cleaning the attic and found an old lamp. When I rubbed it, a Genie appeared and offered me two wishes. My first wish was that if I ever had to pay for anything, I would just put my hand in my pocket and the right amount of money would always be there."

"That's brilliant!" says the waitress. "Most people would ask for a million dollars or something, but you'll always be as rich as you want for as long as you live!"

"That's right. Whether it's a gallon of milk or a Rolls Royce, the exact money is always there," says the man.

The waitress asks, "What's with the ostrich?"

The man sighs, pauses and answers, "My second wish was for a tall chick with a big butt and long legs who agrees with everything I say."

Graceless Under Pressure

There was a fire at the house next door to me last night--their storage area and carport went up in flames, cause unknown at this time. Their carport is roughly 10-12 feet away from my carport. Being roused from bed by looking out of my bedroom to see a wall of flame shooting toward my house is not pleasant. Panicking while trying to move my car out of the driveway and getting the door hung up on the outer wall of the house, thereby trashing said door, is not pleasant. Realizing that I am neither calm nor collected when under pressure...not pleasant.

But good to know for future reference. LOL Thankfully everyone made it out without injury, and there is minimal damage to the outer edge of the roof of my carport.

My poor car, on the other hand, will have to be towed to the body shop today because I can't close the door. It's ajar by about half a foot.

Half a foot. Because when I got the door hung up on the house, I did it twice. Twice. (Insert heavy sigh here.) Heroine material I am definitely not.

Man Meat Monday

Welcome to the new week!

Friday Funny

Happy Friday!

Additions to the Chicago Manual of Style

I came across this on Fangs and Clause and wanted to share it here.

Man Meat Monday

Rawr!