I'm 44 (in the recent past:) A Picture Essay...

Aloha,

OK, so it's just gone 12:27 a.m. HST, and I'm late with my post, but it's OK, 'cos it's my birthday.

(Leans back, makes multiple butter-churning motions with both hands.)

Originally, I wasn't going to do a birthday post, because, well, 44 isn't very wow, is it?

Plus, I haven't felt much writerly wow-ness flowing lately from my middle-aged, wrinkled fingers...

Did I really let my CPs read that chapter?

But wait!

I received a wonderful shout out Thursday when Alex "no-hyperlink-needed" Caughtanut gave me a Vonderful shoutout.

Those familiar with my meanderings will know that, in general, offering up writing-based positive feedback makes me uncomfortable, and I am a rare one to bang on my own bodhrán.


Hmm, I can probably rework that last scene, let me think...

But, I was blown away by the amount of people who took the time to mention me in the comments following Alex's "V" post.

I mean, seriously.

I *was* having a really bad week with edits (my whole reason for going dark this month) and everything felt as flat as a squished pancake some road-maker drove over with one of those big rolling-pin machine thingies. (See what I mean :)

And, then YOU all picked me up - and you didn't even know I'd fallen.

Ya gotta love this community - and I do :)

Alex, I will be forever grateful, and to those who commented: Thank you sooo much.

Shoot man, 44 rocks, and this is one birthday I will never forget.


Yes, Mr. Pulitzer-Pacifier, I did write that. No, no, one will be enough.


 

 PS... A few people asked if I could show a full-frontal of SIGGY, so here you go :)

They say it's the end of the Rainbow... no wonder it's hard to find!

Boston STRONG: Friday was a great day for the Good Guys

Aloha,

I was hoping I'd be able to write something like this much sooner than later.


Watertown is a safer town today because of the public's willingness to listen to and assist the local cops.



 Photo Courtesy: Matt Rourke/AP

Boston is a STRONGER, safer city today - thanks to the efforts of the Boston Police and Fire Departments.




Courtesy: Aram Boghosian for The Boston Globe

Massachusetts is a safer state today because of the efforts of multiple law enforcement agencies working together.



And while we never know what will happen tomorrow, for at least today, the United States of America is safer because the public knows that when something bad happens, the Good Guys can win - and today they did - with just a little help from their friends.



Courtesy: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

In the midst of the good feelings I have this morning comes the need to remember - and never forget - the victims.

My sincere thoughts and prayers go to each of the injured, and this post is dedicated to the memory of the four people whose lives were lost as a direct result of the Boston Marathon bombings:

MARTIN RICHARD, age 8

 

 

 

KRYSTLE CAMPBELL, 29

 

 

 

 

LINGZI LU, 23, of Shenyang, China

 

 

 

 

MIT Police Officer, SEAN COLLIER, 26

 

 

Finally, while Lady Liberty may be hurt with sucker punches from above, or bombs on the ground, she will *never* be defeated.

And, those who attack her need only to remember the wrath - and the long memory - of a woman scorned...



BOSTON STRONG:

Anger & aftereffects of the Boston bombings

Aloha,

Ever since I trained for my first marathon in 2001, running Boston has been a "bucket list" item for me.

For a long-distance runner, the Boston Marathon is the World Series or the Super Bowl - I always brag to my friends about running so-and-so race in X amount of time, but whenever I meet anyone who's done Boston, I always tip my cap.

I easily could have been in the race Monday (I got a call from Ireland and a text from Florida to make sure I wasn't...) so while not personally involved in the bombing attacks, I'm reeling like most of us from the effects of another attack on our country - and our way of life.


To hear that an eight-year-old child was among the dead, and that the injuries to more than one hundred forty people will most likely forever leave mental and physical scars fills me with a deep anger toward those bastards who tried to again change us with another low, cowardly blow.

Well, it didn't work - and it never will, do you hear me?

I was excited to run my tenth marathon this December in Honolulu - now I'm determined to finish in under three hours and fifteen minutes, which will allow me to qualify for next year's Boston Marathon.

And when I do, I will proudly wear a Boston T-shirt to honor those who were directly affected yesterday.

It's not much, I know, but I want to do my part to show the terrorists that *we* are stronger, more unified than they ever will be.

There were 27,000 people running the Boston Marathon in 2013.

Wouldn't be great if 54,000 people ran it in 2014.

Hopefully I can be one of them.

IWSG: Insecurity is thrown under the bus & C is for Positivity

Aloha,

It’s time for another episode of Insecure Writers Support Group, hosted by the one and only Alex Cavanaugh.
As this is A-Z month, (I remember, way back in the '00s, we used to call this one "April", ah the good ol' days) so as things are a little different this month, I'm not here to share an insecurity, but rather a positive.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to power down on my regular scheduled posts for one main reason: My blog was eating its young.

I imagine most of us have limited time to write/blog. For me, I write Sunday to Thursday from about 9 p.m. to midnight with Friday and Saturday off.

I like to post about three times a week, so I start with fifteen hours a week, and each post takes on average three hours, which leaves six hours a week for "real" writing.

Not bad, you might say... and generally I would agree, but hang on, Twitter takes thirty minutes, email sucks another hour of my life that I shall never regain. Then, guest post prep/updates take another thirty minutes... now I'm down to four hours a week.

Still good, I hear you say, especially as I'm "only" doing edits for the memoir I wrote.




Papa, it's been 15 mins, you're stuck with me.
I'll sleep better, promise :)






Now, add in the intangibles like various children not being able to sleep, not wanting to sleep or Papa falling asleep in front of the keyboard... and all of a sudden it's late Thursday evening and I've done zero "real" writing.

All. Week. Long.










The good news is that in the past couple of weeks things have completely flipped. I'm up to date on my guest post commitments, I have no posting schedule and my blogging stress levels are below catatonic levels.

I'm having so much fun here in the dark that I wanted to come back to the light and share the news:

It's OK to step back from blogging and focus on why most of us are here in the first place: To write a kickin' great book that will be read by at least dozens of family members :)

Sure, I miss not doing A-Z, but I miss more that my book is not already sitting on your shelf - and it ain't ever gonna get there until it's polished, "locked" and published, God willing :)

Good luck to everyone doing A-Z and see you in May :)