Friends, I've been on the fence for months. Frankly, I didn't post much at all in August. But I need to get my writing rear end in gear and having two blogs just doesn't make sense. I'm moving the Stream to its new home at Blogger.

I hope you'll come and visit me there - even become a follower of the Stream.

I may end up back here for some NaNo in the future, but, since I won't be participating in November 09, it may be awhile. JulNo is more my style since I have books I need to finish!

Come and see me over at Blogger!

Ciao!

X

The days of my life tend to meld together in a formless timeline. I sometimes envy those people who can recall with clarity where they were when monumental events occurred in their lives. The moon landing; the Kennedy assassinations; and so many others. It didn't strike me until late this morning that today is September 11th. Eight years ago, terrorists attacked this country and we - most of us - watched it unfold on the Internet in disbelief.

Put aside your party affiliations; put aside your flowery speeches and hope for the future or your predictions of imminent doom - and remember.

Remember the people who died because others don't like us. You can rail at the government 364 days-a-year, but today, just remember the fallen, their families, the rescuers, the sifters and sorters, the cleaners and sweepers, the shoulders they cried on and anyone whose world changed forever on September 11th, 2001.

Don't gripe in the security line at the airport; be glad that you can fly. Don't rue your loss of freedom; you're still free. But the world we live in has been forever changed by that morning.

In this rare, specific event, I find a memory. One of sitting in the building I still sit in today. Of watching CNN, MSNBC, Fox News - it didn't matter which - and seeing the unbelievable unfold. I remember the prayer circle we had outside of our offices; holding hands and praying with people we hadn't even spoken to before, beyond a mumbled, "'morning."

I remember a kinder, gentler America after the tragedy of 9/11. I remember people yielding on the road, holding doors at the store, biting back a retort because, after all, how bad is my situation compared to those poor souls.

The America we lived in before 9/11 is gone. But sadly, the America we lived in right after 9/11 is gone too. It didn't take long, a few months at most, before people were pushing and shoving, retreating back into their shells and assuming the me-against-the-world posture that doesn't help much.

But I hope that we can find that spark again - and I don't mean the urge to run off and join the Peace Corps - just an urge to be nicer to each other. I care if you don't love God but it doesn't mean I don't love you. Sure, I'll tell you that you, too, need to love God, but don't hate me because of my beliefs - I don't hate you because of yours. I'll yield to you in traffic, I'll give you a dollar in the grocery line if you're short. That's what we do in America.

Remember...and be thankful.

A psalm of David.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

X

I grew up in Central Florida, Tampa to be exact. We had a pretty significant Cuban population and the cigar factories, restaurants, etc. added a spice that livened our communities and city.

We just returned from Central Florida - about an hour east of Tampa and a little south of Lake Wales. La vaca sagrada! Nance and I went to Wal-Mart in Lake Wales and we could have easily been in Mexico City.  To coin a phrase from Seinfeld, "Not that there's anything wrong with that." I was just surprised by the sheer number of Latino/Hispanic peoples in the area.

In a time when Americans are crying out for jobs due to the unemployment rate nipping at double digits, why is there still such a need for imported labor? I've heard so many sad tales of people losing their jobs because those jobs have been shipped overseas; but how does that square with so many jobs in our own country going to hard-working immigrant labor? Do we not want to work anymore?

Sorry - just had to start with an overall observation.

( Read more... )

I'm not much for waving my faith around like a flag but this morning - wow - this morning Nance and I were privileged to worship at 1st Baptist Church in Bagdad, FL. This is not our normal church home but close family are members there and we heard that Jeff Slaughter was going to be leading worship this morning. For those of you unfamiliar with Southern Baptists, we love Vacation Bible School, better known as VBS. And the churches that use Lifeway material are very familiar with Jeff, who writes the words and music to all the VBS songs. In addition, Jeff uses sign language and other motions that really bring each year's songs to life.

Jeff was in town last night and put on a great concert and worship service for hundreds of children in our area. We couldn't make that show, held at Immanuel Baptist Church in Pace, FL - a much larger facility - where almost 800 folks praised the Lord in song.

But we were in Bagdad, not really knowing what to expect in this wonderful, small-town church. To put it bluntly, we were blown away. The Holy Spirit was definitely present and working. In addition to the great prayers and songs led by Jeff, Pastor Chet gave an invitation that led to at least one salvation.

After the service, I went up front to speak to a couple of friends that are members at FBC Bagdad; Jeff was patiently autographing CD's, shirts and just spending time with and talking to anyone who had questions for him. As Nance got her CD signed, Jeff called me over and we had - I don't know what you would call it - an annointing; that's the closest I can come to describing it. Jeff sensed God at work in my life and we shared a few minutes of heartfelt discussion about what God was revealing to him about His purposes in my life.

All I can say is that Jeff truly has spiritual gifts, obviously led by his wonderful piano playing, songwriting and singing, but within that man beats a heart that is truly given to God.

Jeff is a living testament to the greatest commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

You just don't see that kind of honest, humble sincerity, grace and faith in today's reality show world. Thank you God, for sharing Jeff with us this morning.

X

Conor has left the nest. He drove away this morning, disappearing into the rising sun as he headed off to college. He was staying with his cousin Chase in Clearwater tonight and will head to Webber in the morning for pre-season check-in. Two weeks of two-a-day and more soccer practices, then we'll be down for orientation on the 24th.

Our son is now a man - may the Lord God bless and keep him.

X

My wife recounted this phrase to us in Bible Study this past Sunday. A patient of hers was telling of how, when she was frustrated, she thought to herself, 'Jesus is coming next Friday,' and whatever the situation or conflict, it didn't seem like such a big deal.

This morning, I took Dale (our German Shepherd) out, as usual, just before dawn. As we walked toward the south forty, Dale snuffled around and I windmilled my arms trying to work out the night's stiffness. Looking up, I saw a brilliant silver-white ball shining down from the west. Through the broken clouds, the full moon was setting and its brightness had yet to be dimmed in the lower atmosphere.

A little to the left and higher in the early morning sky, another light shone. Much smaller than the moon but equally incandescent, a star peeked out from behind a swath of cloud. My first thought was, '"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."

Silently thanking God for showing me such beauty as is in His creation, Dale and I wandered back into the yard and there in the east, another star beamed, even brighter than the westward star. Now, I thought, 'For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.'

This beautiful example of God's creation stuck in my head and as I read the Bible this morning I found even more comfort and hope in Psalms 103:8-12...

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Jesus may not be here next Friday, but our hope remains undimmed, as we carry the promise of His return in our hearts.

X

Okay, yesterday's post was silly; and it wasn't even Friday. Somehow, I had to top that for the real Friday silliness. Thanks to a great soccer blog over at The Beautiful Game, I was able to come up with this gem:



As every player and fan knows, but won't admit, diving is getting out of control in today's game. Maybe we could get Mr. T. over to the UK in time for next week's Premier League kickoff! On second thoughts, they probably wouldn't care for the tank.

Enjoy your weekends, soccer fans and writing friends!

X

I don't know if this qualifies as a meme, but I somehow got on the subject of Chuck Norris facts this morning - and it just won't go away.

I had never seen this one before and found it inexplicably hilarious. I'm better now, but I had to post it.

WARNING: If you are going to respond with your own favorite CN fact, please, keep it clean! I don't know Mr. Norris personally, but I do know that he is a Christian and would not care for some of the more crass 'facts' that are attributed to him.

Thanks in advance,

X

Anderson has been at Manchester United since May of 2007 and in all that time - he has NEVER scored for the Red Devils. Today, he finally opened his account with this superb free kick:



Congrats to Antonio Valencia as well; the new signing showed up the veteran midfielder above and scored his first goal in his first game for his new club. It wasn't pretty but it counted! The build up was pretty skillful and United deserved the win.

X

One doesn't often think of Tuesday morning when contemplating celebratory blogs. But this morning was truly different. I often spend my drive time in contemplative mode, giving thanks for our many blessings and asking God to help those in our family and others whose needs have come to our attention. Prayer is often looked at in a variety of unflattering ways in our society. And when people hear that I pray while driving, they have this picture of me pelting down the highway, weaving in and out of traffic with a beatific smile on my face - eyes closed tightly.

I may be a Christian but I'm not an idiot! :-)

Although initiated at a very young age into the hands folded, shut-eyed posture of prayer, I have since learned that to believe God would only hear me in this position is a bit - excuse the pun - short sighted. I mean, we're talking about the Creator of the Universe here; surely he can hear my prayers as I obey all traffic laws, drive 5 miles an hour under the speed limit and mentally put forward those in need of His mercies?

I'd wager that my attention is more in tune with the road than those talking on cell phones or even worse, texting. I digress.

As I finished my prayerful thoughts this morning, I noticed a few minuscule drops of water on the windshield; expanding my field of vision, I saw the beginnings of a bright rainbow off to my left. As the interstate made it's twists and turns toward Escambia Bay, and I approached the bridge, I marked that the ends of the rainbow were both in the water.

In other words, I was driving through the rainbow as I crossed the bridge. There are a variety of mythological and scientific explanations for rainbows - and I'm fine with the science behind them. It's nice to think of some little red-headed Leprechaun minding a pot of gold, just waiting for me to stumble upon it, but this morning, as my heart and mind were fresh off a conversation with God, it occurred to me to thank Him for one more thing:

I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which [is] between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that [is] upon the earth. [Genesis 9:13-16]

It's not really important how God allows His creation to display the rainbow - the science behind the event in no way diminishes the reminder that God loves us and wants us to be here.

Good Tuesday morning.

X

Well, here we are; Friday. A couple of footy-related items. The first is a video (below) from the English FA (Football Association) that is a humorous take-off on the classic Take it to the Next Level ad from Nike. Supposedly it's designed to inspire more interest for lads and lassies (of all ages and skill levels) in the UK to form teams and join the FA. Be warned, there is at least one bum shot and a wee bit of tummy upset results. But it's cheeky and funny so...



Second, our oldest has done the deed - signed to play footy for a college, that is. Webber International University in sunny Central Florida welcomed him to the team in this announcement.

Too bad it's not a full ride, but at least he gets to live the dream for one more year at least.

Younger brother is only a couple of years away (and mentioned in the above announcement as well!). Although, I think he's looking at Stetson. Hey! How about a nice cheap public university?

Happy Friday!

X

...and you know what that means! Premiership Football is about to return!!

I have to say that this off-season has been better than those I've suffered through in the past. The Confederations Cup started out a laugher for the US Men but they buckled down and put on a heck of a show to bag second place. We've had World Cup Qualifying, the Gold Cup and heck, even the MLS has had some decent games. The Galaxy, the team everyone loves to hate on, looks like becoming a dangerous squad. The jury's still out (except for some fans in L.A.) but Beckham appears to be committed, for the time being at least.

On to the predictions for Premiership glory!

Carlos Tevez will be the most interesting player to watch this term. He feels hard done by Sir Alex Ferguson and, despite a late offer, left the Red Devils for their cross-town rivals. He tried to soften the blow by saying, "I could've gone to Liverpool," but seriously, it was always Manchester City he was bound for. The two Manchester derbies will be crackers!

Although a Red Devil fan myself, I have to be honest and say it will be extremely difficult for Fergie's boys to bag an unprecedented fourth straight league title. Not impossible, but very difficult. Leaving my heart at home, who will finish top?

1. Liverpool: It hurts me to say this, but with very few losses to the side that pushed Manchester United to the brink last time, this season is make or break for Rafa's squad. If Torres and Gerrard stay healthy and the rest of the club contribute as strongly as last time, look out.

2. Manchester United: Early signs are good that the new #7 is serious about making an impact. Early days, but I like the effort and the determined expression on Owen's face after scoring (OK, 2 goals against Malaysia isn't like beating Barca) - he's on a mission. Lots of folks are picking my Red Devils to fall to 3 or 4 but how many times have we doubted SAF, only for him to pull a rabbit out of his hat? Who will it be this year? Owen, Rooney, Berbatov, Macheda, Nani (yes, he's still there!), or Valencia? Someone else? You can bet I'll be bleeding Red and black all year long!

3. Manchester City: All that money can't be wrong, can it? 3 and 4 are a toss up for me. Can Mark Hughes find the right mix? Can the Manchester Blues defense hold up their end of the bargain? They'll have the attacking options but only time will tell.

4. Chelsea: They haven't lost much - unless you count John Terry (if he moves to the 'other' Blues). Anelka and Drogba are as potent a scoring pair as you'll see in the Prem this season and the midfield is still formidable. If Ancelotti works out better than Scolari, the Londoners could go as high as 2.

5. Arsenal, Aston Villa, Everton: Take your pick; although I like Everton to continue as the bridesmaid to the big four. I'm not counting Wenger out but I just don't see the quality in the Gunners week in and week out. Villa? Eh, not loving the Villans, despite the great work O'Neill has done there.

Best of the rest: Can Fulham continue to defy the odds and produce results? Dempsey is really coming into his own and I'd love to see Landon Donovan get a call from the Gaffer. They really need some more attacking options at the Cottage, especially with Zamora likely leaving for Hull.

Relegation Zone: 

Congratulations to Birmingham City, Burnley and Wolves, all of whom made the jump to the big show for the upcoming season in the Prem. Will they stay up? No telling, at this point. Last season, Hull came out great guns and then barely held on to avoid the drop. Stoke struggled early on but good home play and a generous helping of grit and determination out of the Britannia saw them finish strong. Only West Brom couldn't sustain the form needed to avoid heading back to the Championship.

The debutantes this year appear a hardy bunch. Between showing composure and some quality in the cup competitions, Burnley won through a playoff to earn their call up. They may have what it takes to win enough home games and garner enough points on the road to survive. For me, Wolves is a sentimental choice and won the League Championship to gain automatic promotion, but they let in an awful lot of goals, so they'll have to stiffen up in defense if they want to stay and play with the big boys. I don't have much to say about Birmingham City - don' t know much about them, sad to say. Hopefully that will change as we get into the games.

18. Hull City - I like Phil Brown but I haven't seen enough movement in the off-season to warrant continued success in the top flight.
19. Portsmouth - Like Hull, Pompey has been quiet in the transfer market. Although none of the current Premier League teams will drop with the thud heard when Newcastle went down, Pompey looks a likely candidate.
20. Birmingham City - I know; I don't know them so I can't give you any facts to support my position. But one of the newbies has to go back down. If nothing else, history will bear me out.

Kick-off is at 12:45 GMT on August 15th and features Chelsea and Hull. Until then, enjoy the preseason, international friendlies, etc.

X

It's Sunday evening and I'm tired. I know I need to write more but I just can't. Too much drama today.

I'm over 19K now, well behind the 30K I should be at and looking to coast the last 12 days. Oh well.

I console myself that the total word count for Night's Edge is over 27K, counting the 8K + I started with at the beginning of the month. I know I can't really count that in my JulNo total, but it makes me feel better :-)

A new week is rising, with new hope and new opportunities.

Bon Soir.

X

I love the show, but that's not what I'm talking about this morning. Monday, this week, was the last day I wrote - and I didn't even get a full word count for that day. I knew I was falling perilously behind, but I couldn't pull out of the vortex created by life, work, illness...

After reviewing my last chapter, I am pleased to note that it's not as bad as I expected it to be - it's fairly decent, in fact. Certainly enough for me to build on and move forward.

The bad news? I'm still at a paltry 17.2K for the month.

The good news? With an Herculean effort, and a hair over 2300 words a day from now through the 31st, I can still smoke JulNo like a cheap cigar.

To paraphrase Hans and Franz from SNL, "It's time to pump me up!"

Gotta go write :-)

X 

The best laid plans...

The weekend was supposed to give me an opportunity to catch up my JulNo word count. Last week was busier than expected with my lunch hour writing slots being overtaken by work. The cheek! Unfortunately, I did not get to make as much progress as I wanted over the weekend, and so, counting today's quota, I'm 4,633 words behind. To put a more pleasant spin on things, assuming I can hit my 1,613 words for today, I'm actually only trailing by 3,020 words. With a little elbow grease and inspiration, I could make that up over the next week by just putting up another 500 or so words a day, above and beyond my normal count.

One of the hurdles I was contending with this weekend was a big meeting between my three main characters. This is a pivotal moment in the story where the motivations of the two protagonists are explored and I have to flesh out some history of my world, establish a believable reason why they should embark on the quest that is the primary plotline of the novel, etc. The scenes included in these chapters are very heavy with dialog, which for me is ALWAYS harder to write.

Still, I'm in the hunt, all is not lost and I have time to get caught up. And, if worse comes to worse, I can always narrate, like I had to do in November when things got tight!

A good week to all!

X

JulNo started off very well but due to work and other life issues, my word count has fallen behind. Nothing I can't necessarily catch up on but it will only get more difficult from here on out.

Still, it's Friday, and one has to stop and smell the roses occasionally. This morning I was driving to work with a jazz mix playing. When I say mix, I mean a very eclectic mix of loosely categorized jazz. As I drove over the bridge, Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen came on. I really love the version I have on my MP3 player because it's sung by Janis Siegel and features in the 1993 film Swing Kids. Amazon's review says: 

"This strange movie with a niche subject--jazz-loving, dance-loving German kids persecuted by Hitler's men--almost works, thanks to a good cast who seem devoted to the unusual story line. Director Thomas Carter doesn't bring the necessary stylistic oomph to the musical sequences, something that might have pushed the whole production to another, more interesting level of Hollywood dream. Kenneth Branagh makes a particularly effective, wolf-in-sheep's-clothing Nazi official."

Personally, I thought it worked very well! It's on my to-do list to watch it again, if nothing else, for the soundtrack alone.

It wasn't until I watched a clip before writing this post that I realized Bale was in this movie - I saw it once - while staying at a hotel in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, of all places.

Janis Siegel, as some of you may know, is a founding member of the Jazz group Manhattan Transfer. I wish I could've found a clip on YouTube of the song sung in the film, but the version below is from the film, just with a picture of Ms. Siegel instead of footage from the actual movie. I hope you enjoy it.


Have a great weekend everyyone, and if you're involved in JulNo, good writing!

X

One reason I am not wealthy is that when I have money in the bank, I usually spend it on something. It appears that I trend to that behavior in WriMos as well. After replenishing my word bank a little bit last night, I have dipped into it again today. But, I am still on track. After all, wasn't it old Bill that said, "The play's the thing?"

LOL - JulMo - sounds like something Curly would say. "JulMo, look at the JulMo; nyah, nyah, nyah!"

Wow; it's only day 4 and I'm weirding out already.

Quick stat update:

Total WriMo words written: 6,938
WriMo target for day 4: 6,452
Words over target: 486
Total words written for Night's Edge: 15,206 (This includes the words done pre-JulNoWriMo)

Okay. I feel a little better. Do you have any idea how hard it is to write interesting stuff about a character walking through a cave in a big mountain. Notwithstanding the link that Sherry sent that suggests I should have written something like:

a) Raven levitated and flew through the cave, dodging pigmy rattlers and killer gnomes
b) Raven ninja-chopped her way through a slew of blind cave zombies while searching for the shape-shifting wizard that holds the key to her quest (wait a minute, I kind of like that one)
c) Raven has to use her bare forearms to lift a nearly molten-hot iron pot that release a hidden latch, opening the secret door to the wizard's lair, allowing her to escape a slavering herd of giant cave rats. (If the iron pot leaves dragon and tiger tattoos on Raven's arms, that would be copying.)
d) all of the above

If all I wanted was to make money selling bad literature to 14 year-old boys, I could....

Wait a minute, let me go back and rewrite some of that last scene...he he he he he he...I've got an idea....

X

p.s. Happy 4th of July, everyone.

I felt bad about doing bupkis this evening. I suppose I shouldn't but I need to put as many words in the bank as possible.

A few stats after JulNoWriMo day 2:

Total WriMo words written: 3,658
WriMo target for day 2: 3,226
Words over target: 432
Total words written for Night's Edge: 11,926 (This includes the words done pre-JulNoWriMo)

Right. That's enough. Time to call it a day.

Bon soir.

X

...but I'm not. As an affiliate member of the star-studded Written Remains writing group in Delaware, I should be following our leader's advice and packing some extra word count into my JulNoWriMo bank. Sigh. Maybe in a few; I'm still pondering how I am going to build my next scene and after that, how my two main characters are going to meet. So, about that footy (slang for soccer or more accurately, football).

I think there is a move afoot in the UK to embarrass the heck out of as many millionaire footballers as possible during the upcoming Premier League season. Here are three examples of new kits (uniforms, strips, etc.) that top clubs - and Newcastle United - will be wearing on the pitch (field):

1. Newcastle United: This is without a doubt the most horrid shirt I've seen in recent memory. Even the Tampa Bay Buccaneer Creamsicle uniforms were better than this! This must be punishment for the Tynesiders getting relegated to the Championship (the league below the Premier League). Shudder!

No comment.

2. Manchester United: Ugh! My team has gone and tried to do retro on their modern jerseys. It's bad enough that they're in the last year of their AIG contract and I have to take all the stick when I wear my jersey with the big A-I-G letters on the front. It's a nice looking kit but...it's AIG. So some bright spark decided, let's make it even worse. I'll let you decide...

It's like Rooney is screaming, "Get me out of this shirt!!"

3. Tottenham Hotspur: OK. I admit it. Next to Manchester United, I like Spurs the best. It's painful to see some designer squiggle yellow all over their classic white and navy kits. And the all-yellow one? They might be mistaken for another London club - heaven forbid.

Keano is saying, "Go ahead - make fun of me - just one more time."

One idea I heard over at the Telegraph's web site is to let the fans have a go. Or at least, let them vote - I bet we end up with a lot better looking kits than the ones that are being trotted out this season.

Sigh.

X