10/31/2005

Halloween

Halloween is finally here. The boys have their costumes and so do I - I am going to be a teacher from Hogwarts. My costume is pretty darn sweet - if I do say so myself. Phillip is the grim reaper - although that’s not the face I think of, but hey, when you’re nearly 10 (3 days!), you have to have a mask…come on…. John is going to be a kitty-cat. He’s adorable. I will update with some pics soon.

sparta at 7:07 pm

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10/26/2005

Just a thought

Christmas is coming sooner than you think. Soldiers’ Angels

sparta at 12:17 pm

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From Sgt. Hook….

Tuskegee Airmen Recalled I don’t know if any of you are reading Sgt. Hook - but you should be. He’s one helluva guy - and I missed him a lot when he went off the air a while back. I mentioned that already - but felt like saying it again. Anyway - in other mil blogs:

There’s Michael Yon’s reporting - always interesting. The Deuce Four are some of my heroes. I haven’t read all of the entries yet - they are long - but I’m getting there. He certainly shows a side you don’t see from the MSM.

And Stryker News focuses on the Army’s Stryker Brigade. I just found this one - so I haven’t scoped it out too thorougly yet - but the news seems interesting even to us civilian types, and the pictures are nice.

sparta at 12:16 pm

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Philosomatika

I love to listen to radio streaming on iTunes when I write. Philosomatika is my fav - it’s under Electronica. Why? There’s very little in the way of vocals - and it has a major under beat. Nothing like some thumping bass to get your fingers moving. What do you listen to? or do you listen to anything? (And yes, I posted this over on Write, Pam, Write, too - I like some cross-over…)

sparta at 1:03 am

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10/25/2005

Well……….

Here I am. I am alive - just very busy. Went yesterday to an IEP meeting for Phillip. He will receive some speech and OT (occupational therapy) services through the school - even though he’s homeschooled. Cool! I will have to drive him there and back, of course, but that’s a small price to pay for his getting the services. We also need to find him a good Tae Kwon Do (or other martial art) school in our area. I think he’s really starting to miss it - and it would be good for him.

NaNoWriMo is coming soon! AUGH! Plus, we have Allison’s birthday (Friday), Halloween (Monday), and Phillip’s birthday (Thursday) … MORE AUGH! Allison will be 18! 18! Can you believe that?! and Phillip will be 10! OMG! TEN! How did my little baby boy get to be 10 already? Sorry - Mommy Moment there.

How is everyone else doing?

sparta at 10:39 am

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10/19/2005

Joining a contest…

So, Demented Michelle is having a Halloween contest. You have to blog about a trick you played on someone and post it on your blog. Well, I have a humdinger. (*Note: Names changed to protect the guilty from any lawsuits by the innocent - or something like that….)

A friend of ours, let’s call her Monica, had come over to visit us in Columbus. She was a little blue because her new squeeze - we’ll call him Bob - was actually down near Cincinnati - which wasn’t far from us. We visited for a while, and then came up with the grand idea of going down to visit him there. In the meantime, another friend of ours, let’s call him Ted, had also come to visit. So the Hubby, Monica, Ted, and I all climbed in our car and off we went. On the way down we decided that Bob needed a prank. Something good - something to shake him up. We rubbed our hands together and cackled with evil glee as the plan began to emerge, and Monica filled me in on things I would have to know.

6 p.m. Bob’s Hotel

I walk up to his hotel room door [she had the room number], and I knock. Not expecting anyone, Bob yells out, “Who’s there?”

“Sally!”

“Who?”

“Sally! Come on, Eddy, open up!” [Eddy had been his nickname in college; very few people knew it - and certainly no one in Cincinnati … or so he thought] Timidly, he opened the door. His face was confused, blank - I intended to make it worse. Not waiting another second, I immediately hugged him while screaming, “It is you! I was right!”

“Excuse me?”

“I saw you in the lobby earlier, and I thought, ‘That has to be Eddy!’ I bribed the desk clerk - a friend of mine - to give me your room number. How are Anna and Tony? Did they ever get married? I lost contact with them after they graduated. You guys all left me. {this was further info that only those in the know would know}” [From the stairwell now we could hear loud noises; Bob/Eddy let his gaze flick that way, and I immediately became ‘nervous’]

“Um - aren’t you going to invite me in? I really need to….” [Before the door opens, we hear a male voice yell “Sally!”; there is my hubby, looking pissed, and as he starts toward us with another “Sally!” I start to shove Bob into the room, trying to follow him. Hubby catches up with us.]

“Sally! What the hell are you doing up here?” [We tried to keep it down - we didn’t want to bother the other guests]

“Nothing, Ray. I was just visiting an old friend and….” [Ray turns his heated gaze to Bob/Eddy at this point, who is flat against the wall near the door looking more confused than ever - bordering nearly on right-freaked-out]

“Did you invite her up here?” [Now Bob/Eddy is in a pickle. If he says yes, Ray might just beat the crap out of him. If he says no, Ray might just start in on Sally. So Bob/Eddy does what many would have done - he says nothing.]

Hubby(Ray) turns back to me(Sally), and we begin whispering heatedly. We let little snippets of “You’ll be sorry,” “Don’t be mad,” “My woman,” and “Only a friend” escape, and just when Bob/Eddy could take no more — Ted entered the door way. A word about Ted - Ted is a tall guy, and somewhat large. So Ted walks in and states in a British accent, “Excuse me, I’ve come here for an argument.”

And then I (Sally) whirl around, hold out my hand, and in my own British accent say, “That’ll be 5 pounds, please.”

“But I paid already.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Look an argument isn’t simply the nay-saying of whatever the other person says.”

“Yes, it is.”

“No, it isn’t.”[and so on…..]

Now, Bob/Eddy has a look on his face equivilent to the one I would expect to see on someone who had just spotted a man with three arms. Here are three people in his room: One large guy who seems nuts. Another guy who just a moment ago looked in need of a restraining order. And a girl - who was arguing for her marriage one moment, and is now doing a Monty Python skit. A girl who seems to know him, but he doesn’t remember. He has no idea what’s going on or who we are - but there’s that whole bit about my knowing his former nickname - and the names of people he knew at college - and just as it looked like he might short circuit….

Monica walks in among us all and says, “All right, this has gone on long enough - it’s entirely too silly!”

And Bob/Eddy looks like a drowning man finding a life preserver! He stammers a bit before coming out with, “You!” Then we all burst out laughing!

He took the joke pretty well over all - we were all introduced and went to dinner. It was a nice visit - and he paid for dinner! even better! It was a great set up - and one trick I will never forget!

sparta at 11:11 pm

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10/17/2005

Way cool —

Orson Scott Card has a new online ‘zine called Intergalactic Medicine Show. Very cool! Go read! It’s good for you!

sparta at 11:26 pm

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10/16/2005

He’s back!

Sgt. Hook is back! Both to the States and to his blog! I am so happy! He’s one helluva guy - go check out his site!

sparta at 6:59 pm

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New look!

You may have noticed (for my regulars) that the look of the site has changed! :-) This is, in part, due to the fancy dragon artwork you see in the top right corner. This was found at Dee Dreslough’s site. Thanks, Dee!

sparta at 2:30 pm

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10/13/2005

Escape Pod

Okay - this is just way cool. Escape Pod is an eZine in podcast format that is short or flash science fiction/fantasy/light horror. I have heard the editor on several other podcasts (I Should Be Writing is one). The whole concept is great. And they pay for story submissions. Okay, they prefer previously published works, but will consider really good first time submissions (Uhem, Monster - are you listening?). I’ve only heard one story so far myself, but it was good - and the voice they used (not the author’s) was easy on the ears, if you know what I mean. So go - download/subscribe - listen. It’s good for you! Especially those who have commutes - and you know who you are….

sparta at 10:03 am

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10/11/2005

Something Handy

PDF Online is a handy thing. You upload a file - it converts it to a PDF and mails it to any email address you give it. Haven’t used it yet myself, but it seems useful.

sparta at 12:58 pm

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10/10/2005

And yet another one lives!

I also have my “business” page set up - finally - at: See Pam Write. I am looking for some freelance work - both creative and technical. We’ll see what happens…..

sparta at 12:26 am

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10/9/2005

It Lives!

My other web home Write, Pam, Write! is up and going! Yay! It will be the home for all my posts about writing - well, most of them anyway - and samples of my work. It was a bit of work, but now it’s done! :-) Enjoy!

sparta at 10:24 pm

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10/7/2005

*sigh*

The Firefly movie was fan-f*cking-tastic. That’s all I’m saying. :-) Oh, and BIG points to hubby for taking me.

sparta at 4:56 pm

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10/6/2005

Wow - so many blogs!

I read - on a daily basis, mind you - 34 blogs! I’m not kidding - I’m not inflating numbers here - I’m serious. 34! It was just startling to me that there were that many in my bookmarks folder, and I had to share. How is everyone else doing?

sparta at 6:32 pm

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I have reasons…honest….

It’s not that I’ve forgotten any of you - or don’t love you - or anything like that. I’ve just honestly been busy - or tired from being busy - or watching Firefly. Oooops - did I say that last one out loud? Eep! Yes - I admit it - every night before bed I’ve been watching an episode of Firefly instead of blogging here. I can’t help it. That show is just so damn good! I can’t believe they canned it…mid-season even. AJ plans to take me to the movie Serenity tonight. {little squeal} I can’t wait! I will post a non-spoiling review tomorrow. Also - I have two new sites in the works. I just decided that I like this site just the way it is, dammit, and so instead of overhauling this site, I’m creating two others. Crazy? Maybe. But it let’s me have things the way I want - and after all, it’s my universe, isn’t it? :-)

sparta at 2:18 pm

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