A fly, Sir, may sting a stately horse and make him wince; but one is but an insect, and the other is a horse still.
—Samuel Johnson
Linda G Hill’s One Liner Wednesday
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Tag Archives: Blogging
Silver Threading Writer’s Quote Wednesday
The Coastal Redwoods of California
California Coastal Redwoods
Mom-in-law near fallen redwood tree
Me and my mom-in-law
Kate near the trees
Coastal Redwoods
If you get a chance to visit California there are many beautiful sights to see. One I think is a must see are the coastal redwoods. I was born in San Francisco which is in Northern California. I met my husband there while we were both in college. I was at University of California San Francisco in the Nursing School and he was at Hastings Law School. Hastings is also part of the University of California.
In those dating days we enjoyed all the beautiful surroundings available in the San Francisco Bay area. From the beautiful city itself and all the great restaurants to the beautiful wine country that was not a far drive from The City. When you live around San Francisco you always refer to it as The City.
One area we visited was north of The City, the beautiful coastal redwood forests. There is a new freeway running up there now. But the original highway is still there as well. It is called The Avenue of the Giants. These trees are so awe-inspiring. They are some of the oldest trees on earth. When you drive past them you get a sense of being in a prehistoric forest. The height and width of the trees dwarf you as if you are in the presence of gigantic dinosaurs.
The trees are fire and bug resistant. The last time we made the trip to see them was on our 30th wedding anniversary. A forest ranger told us a sad fact. That the only thing the trees were vulnerable to was the wind that has been created by the new freeway that was built near them. It creates some kind of wind corridor. It is blowing some of them over.
Beware of the Ego with Blogging
“Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief.” –Jane Austen
Blogging can be quite an ego trip don’t you think? It can really give you a fat head. I think anyone who blogs needs to keep this in mind. It is more worthy to maintain our humility.
Nice things we can do for each other as writers is to read each others work and try to be supportive of each other. I have found there are bloggers out there who do this and I really appreciate and admire them.
Give a genuine complement. There has to be something about someone else’s efforts you find praiseworthy.
Vanity is not exclusively a female trait. It applies to both male and female bloggers equally.
Sunday Rest
“She broke his heart with one of her biscuits.”
Here we are at Sunday and taking a day of rest again today. I was looking for an image and found the one above. This old film sounds like it would be funny even today. Carter De Haven was a comedy star of silent films and worked as director and in production with Charlie Chaplin on The Great Dictator and Modern Times. His wife, an actor as well, often worked with him. Her maiden name was Flora Parker. I found a photo of them on Wikipedia as well.
They were a handsome couple. I have watched a few of the old silent films. The actors had to rely on conveying so much with facial expression. The old black and white and their heavy make up did not always bring out their good looks. We can see from the photo they were beautiful.
Many of the old films are lost forever. It is amazing to me that the film above was made almost 100 years ago.
Happy Sunday!
Cloudy Day, Light Gray
Cloudy outside the window. The kind of cloudy where the sky is mostly light gray. Not the kind of cloudy I like, the cloudy when the sky is blue with some assorted fluffy white clouds. Or the kind of cloudy that has some dark grays that indicate a storm may be coming. This kind of cloudy is just sitting there. Pretty bland. No storm portended. Just kind of drab. Subdued. Damping down my mood a bit.
It would be fun to be able to take my box of crayons. The big box that has at least 64 different colors in it. To color the sky timberwolf, periwinkle, cadet blue, silver, purple mountain majesty, and wisteria.
What kind of cloudy do you prefer?
The Pleasure of a Good Mystery
“Conflict and character are the heart of good fiction, and good mystery has both of those in spades.” –Diana Gabaldon
The DVD of Season 2 of Endeavour arrived by UPS today along with two books I had ordered. Notice that endeavour is spelled the British way. You know my American spell check now has a little squiggly red line under that British spelling. Oh well, I don’t care how they spell it I love this series. It is part of Masterpiece Mystery! on PBS. I have already watched Season 2 this past summer. I don’t remember every part of the stories so I will still enjoy watching it again. And my husband has not seen it.
The main character’s name is Endeavour. This is his first name. My English grandmother used to tell us that they used to name children with names that gave a purpose. I love the name and what it implies. Endeavour, like some of its synonyms such as be bold, dare, be courageous, brave, strive, utmost effort, one’s all, and one’s level best, is a good description of this detective’s character.
This series is a prequel about Inspector Morse which you may remember if you are a fan of British mysteries. This is Morse as a young man just starting out in police work.
His superior is Detective Inspector Fred Thursday. No he is not like our Joe Friday. He is a mentor father-figure to Morse. They have been developing a great relationship and bond.
Endeavour is very intelligent and can sleuth out the cases before anyone else. It is a joy to follow along while he solves the mystery. He has a couple of nemeses who do not appreciate his stellar abilities. These nemeses are usually trying to get him into trouble or block his success. Though not as bad as a Professor Moriarty type nemesis.
The stories are complex and do not allow a quick resolution. That adds to the enjoyment. If you like mysteries and have not had a chance to see this series, I highly recommend it.
Do you like a mystery? Do you like British mysteries? American? or both?
Of course, I have my favorite American mystery writers like Michael Connelly and his Detective Harry Bosch. I like Henning Mankell’s Wallander books. There is a Canadian mystery writer I really like. Her name is Louise Penny and I love her Inspector Gamache.
How about you?
All Quiet on the Western Front
Today, November 11, is Veterans Day in the US. It is when we remember the veterans of our wars. It is too bad we have so many wars to remember but we can not forget the men and women who fought in them even if we hate to remember the wars.
I have noted that many of the British bloggers are remembering Armistice Day. My husband always reminds me that Veterans Day was originally remembered here for when WWI ended as well.
Just recently we watched one of our classic DVDs All Quiet on the Western Front. It was based on a book by the same title written by Erich Maria Remarque. The film was the winner of the 1930 Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director. This was before my time but I have been aware of this film for quite a while.
Even though this film was made long ago it still has a universal appeal and message. The setting is WWI but it could apply to any time and place.
It is about a young man and his friends who are caught up in the nationalistic fervor of their country during WWI. They are idealistic when they enlist and go off to fight for their country. The young men quickly become disillusioned and it becomes a fight for survival. This film gives a realistic depiction of what is what like for the soldiers who fought in that war.
The message of the film is the great human waste of war and how it swallows up our youth with all their potential lost.
Day of Rest
Now that I have found my voice I am getting tired of hearing myself talk.–D.
Introverts do not like making small talk. I think blogging daily is like trying to make small talk. I wondered if blogging is for introverts at all. I googled the topic and found an old blog about it. It claimed that introverts like to blog because it is easier for them in that they do not have to talk to someone face to face. That is probably true but on the other hand to endlessly blah, blah, blah is not the introvert way.
So today I am taking a day of rest from blah, blah, blogging. Happy Sunday!
Do you think bloggers are introverts or extroverts?
|Nano Poblano| among other things.
Zombie Fishing in Lake Michigan
When I first saw the headline in the Huffington Post it did pique my curiosity. Oh no! Could this be another environmental disaster? There have been stories about zombie fish. Thank goodness they are not some horrible mutant caused by toxic pollution. The fish become zombies because they are shocked with an electric current so scientists can study their health status. The fish recover and are released back into the water. Although some people argue that being shocked with electricity is not a great experience for the fish.
Another zombie nature story that is not as benign. I was upset to read about zombie bees. There are so many accounts nowadays of the severe environmental stresses on honey bees. Now there is a parasitic fly that has been invading the bee colonies and using the bees as a host for its eggs. As a result of this parasite the infested bee’s behavior becomes very erratic and they demonstrate zombie night-time activity. Fortunately they die right after they begin to act this way.
So when I saw the headline that they were fishing zombies out of Lake Michigan I reluctantly clicked on it. I was relieved to find that it was not about any poor creature, neither human, animal, fish or insect becoming a zombie. Turns out a Halloween barge with a bunch of mannequins dressed as zombies sunk during windy weather. Now they are fishing them out of the lake.
I can see this as being the impetus for a good horror tale. ” Yup, we were out there fishing those zombie mannequins out of the lake when we noticed one of them looked like it had flesh rotting off of it. Then it’s eyes opened and it let out this high pitched inhuman scream……..” Or maybe a new reality TV show like ” Already Dead Catch.”
Huffington Post: Crews Have Been Pulling Zombies Out of Lake Michigan
|Nano Poblano| among other things.
Notes Tied On The Sagebrush 