Category Archives: random thoughts

Jul27

Not really have much to say

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Just that I’m leaving with my alter-ego, Jillian Chantal, in the morning for the National Romance Writer’s of America conference in Orlando.  I’m chained to my desk at the moment trying to put  out all the fires here at the day job.  I have gotten several stupid emails from other attorneys and answering them is bogging me down.  Just FYI, if you email me about a case, give me the dang case  number so I can find it AND another FYI- don’t ask me to sign documents on a closed case.  DUH!  It’s closed for a reason.  IT’S OVER!!!  No way to file the document even if I had the authority after case closing to sign the dang thing.  If you’re gonna play ball in my ball field, learn the rules!

Ok. rant over. Back to my regularly scheduled work.  Gotta get it done so I can get out of here and not fret too much.

ball field

FIRE!

shackled to my desk

Jul23

Rocking Chair Picture

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Was discussing the haunted lighthouse last  night with friends and I told them about this shot I got in one of the rooms upstairs.  At one point while we were in the room, a live woman was standing right by the chair, rocking it and and acting like she was going to sit down.  She didn’t- she was asked not to sit down by the guide.  The guide told us that the chair was brought in from somewhere else and that it sometimes rocks on its own.  I took a picture of it as we left the room. My friend had felt a cold spot near that area of the room- she was over to the far left of the chair (out of the shot).  

I don’t recall this mark on the wall – wonder what it is.  I also don’t recall anyone standing where the big white spot is.  Not saying there wasn’t a person there, just don’t remember it and it could be a white tee shirt. Right?  

It was also pitch dark in the room- I had no flash on- don’t know about the redness of the shot either. None of my other pictures have any red in them at all.  What do you think? 

Jul21

Life is Short

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and you never know when it’ll end.  One of my former clients who always had a great story to tell and who I planned to use as a source for some of my fiction, has died. Quite unexpectedly.  He was a former Navy Seal and motorcyclist. He  had a patch on his on his jacket that said, “psycho bitch magnet”  and it was true. He seemed to attract the wrong women. Now he’ll never  have a chance to find the right one.

  He was hit from behind as he turned into his neighborhood on Monday.  By a guy in a SUV.  He was taken to the hospital by helicopter. They put him in a medically induced coma  and he never regained consciousness.  He passed away at 3:45 this morning.  My world is a  little less bright today.

Amazing stories of  his days in the jungles and hot spots of the world died with him.  It’s ironic and very sad that what guns and enemies of the United States couldn’t do was done by a careless old man driving his car and following a motorcyclist too closely-  Brought down on a city street, in his own neighborhood. 

K.M., you will  be missed.

Jul18

Sea Cucumbers

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My sister recently returned from Australia. She spent one night at the aquarium- in Sydney, I believe.  She shared her pictures with me and she had some great ones.  One in particular brought back a funny memory of my senior year in high school.  One of the advantages of living on the Gulf Coast is the great classes our schools are able to offer. I took oceanography as a senior.  Part of our class assignment was to catch some salt water sea life and maintain a salt water tank. We went seining in Pensacola Bay and caught shrimp and other sea life in our nets. Each tank had a team of four lab partners. My team consisted of me and three dumb boys.  We had the only tank in our class with a sea cucumber in it.  It was quite a fat little dude.  The boys,  in an effort to embarrass me, named the thing “Dick.”  They would laugh and poke each other, trying to get  me to react to the name, “Dick.”  In revenge, I started calling it “Richard.”  Even then, the boys couldn’t  best me! 

Here are some Aussie “Richards”:

Jul16

Crumbs

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I got a recommendation to visit one of these places in  NYC.  They are cupcake shops.  Check  it out:

I got chocolate and #2 son got vanilla. Spouse got the brownie.  None of were overjoyed. The cakes were kind of dry.  It was 8 pm when we got them and I didn’t eat mine til the next day. Maybe that was the issue. Don’t know because the person that recommended it is a Manhattanite and she said they were delicious.

Jul13

The Best Advice I Ever Received

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Trying to change is sometimes not worth it

books in a stack (a stack of books)

The best advice I ever received was to stay true to myself, especially as relates to my writing process. I’ve tried two different times to change the way I work based on advice from friends that are also writers. Friends who think the way I write is crazy- I usually write 4-5 chapters in order, then the ending comes to me and I write the last chapter, then the second to last chapter. AND, I might even write a scene that comes to me and insert it somewhere in the middle. I do not do an outline. I let the story lead me. New characters pop up and cause some havoc with the protagonist. If I planned ahead, I’d never have the fluidity to have the story “happen.” 

The first time I tried to change, the joy was completely sucked out of my writing. I took an online class from a member of my RWA chapter. All the rules and instructions tied my brain in knots, so I had to let go of the teacher’s lessons and go back to my way. The other time I tried to change was very recently on the advice of another RWA chapter mate. She edits each chapter as she goes and then moves on. Tried that. Got bogged down at Chapter Two. Couldn’t move on. Edited the hell out of Chapter One.

That’s when I finally took that advice. Be true to your own process. So, I’m back to my wonky, wild, weird, writing style (How was that for alliteration?) and I am humming along again on my newest manuscript. Next time I’m tempted to change, someone please remind me that it probably isn’t worth it.

Jul12

My Mother

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Sometimes she’s a bit crazy. Yesterday, I was over at my parents’ house for Sunday dinner and my  mom was looking at all the little slips of paper with drs. appts on them. She had some for her and some for my dad.  She decided she better put them all on the calendar. When she got to one particular day, she said, to my dad, “La. You have two appointments on the same day less than an hour apart. Can  you do that?”

                                                                                  
I said, “did you just say  La?” 

My dad said, “yes, she did.”

My response?  “If I had a fictional character say that in one of my stories, some critiquer would say that word would never be used in a real conversation!”  

And today, she came by my house while I was at work and told my 16 year old that he better get up and get ready to go to the orthodontist before “your mother comes flying in here like a witch on her broom to get  you.”  THEN, she tried to deny saying it.  Shoot, any woman that would say La in a general conversation would call her daughter a witch. I just know it.

Jul11

Song Stuck in My Head

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Don’t you hate it when you get up with a song in  your head and can’t get rid of it? I’m there today.  Driving me around the bend-  round and round it goes, no matter what I do.  Am ALMOST looking forward to the sound of the vuvuzelas at the World Cup Finals today just to banish the sounds of Let My Love Open the Door from my noggin. Geez- that’s desperate, huh?

GO NETHERLANDS!

Jul8

Had to hitch a ride home today

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So got here early. Had to take the VW to the shop for an a/c issue. I know, I know, I have a brand new Volvo, why did I keep that VW?  Because I love it is why and because I drive it to Tallahassee every month to save the new baby some wear and tear.  Anyway, even though the VW is a convertible (you know the rule- only drive convertibles)-in Florida, an air conditioner is a MUST HAVE.  I had it fixed 9 mos ago and the new compressor went bad- thank God for the warranty on the one they stuck in there – so this should not be a big cost outlay.

Anyway, I tell you all that crap and now I’m to the point of this post.  I got out of the car and walked toward my front door and was practically attacked by this HUGE blue butterfly.  It had the markings of a Monarch but was a gorgeous blue.  I ran in to get the camera. The little bugger wouldn’t sit still. He was all over getting to the nectar of the flowers in the front bed and he was MAD at me for interrupting his dinner. He kept flying at my head like a kamikaze.  I finally gave up and came inside. I’ve always heard it was good luck (Of course, I don’t believe in luck) to have a butterfly fly around you.  I’m here to tell you, nope,  it is dangerous!  Check him out. AND don’t dare tell me he isn’t that big. He’s a beast.