June 30, 2006

We can do this!

7-01-06-Pictures still won't load. I must be doing something wrong. It wouldn't be my first mistake! There was that one back in '77...
6-30-06-Pictures won't post today--maybe Google is trying to tell me something! I'll try again later.
Where have I been?-Writing! I'm close to completing Custer, and I also made some editing promises. You're not buying it, huh? All right. I've been playing! It's summer already!
Alaska Airlines and Red Bull-I try make it a policy not to question other people’s business decisions, but how smart is this?! Alaska has announced that they’re going to offer Red Bull, a high-energy drink, on their flights. Just what we need: a bunch of over-stressed passengers, possibly afraid of flying, strapped into a big metal machine thousands of feet in the air—hyped up on Red Bull….have mercy!
Word of the day- Honu (Japanese), turtle
Custer and His Naked Ladies- Still working on it. I’ll be posting bits of it soon. Stay tuned!
French email pal-still working on it. This was a New Year’s resolution, and it is challenging. I have the email pal, but have yet to start. So much to do, so much to do!
An Inconvenient Truth-Al Gore is leading the way. We can do this! Let’s get to it! Years ago, I became aware of the pollution problem and tried to attack it in my small way. I encouraged recycling (unpopular at the time), gardened organically (this made me the butt of many jokes, but my beliefs have been proven), made an effort to pick business and medical choices closer to home so that I'd burn less fuel, etc. There are so many things that we have no control over, it feels good to have an impact somewhere.

In the mail- As I writer, I love and honor all language. The Comanche Language and Preservation Committee has a dictionary out that is terrific. It has Comanche to English and English to Comanche sections. Price $34.00 that includes shipping and handling. They also have other language materials in a varied price range, some come with a CD to help with pronunciation. Contact them:
Comanche language and Cultural Preservation Committee
P. O. Box 3610
Lawton, OK 73502-3610

Quote du jour:
"A study in the Washington Post says that women have better verbal skills than men. I just want to say to the authors of that study: "Duh." --Conan O'Brien

June 15, 2006

I'm cranky today...

6-21-06- Chocolate! I need chocolate!
6-20-06- Getting better...
6-17-06- Still cranky...
6-15-06-I'm guessing the above photo was taken when I was about six--between the years of my Three-Turtle Summer and As Brown As I Want, The Indianhead Diaries. As I've said before, my novels have a lot of historical material in them. I did not say they were historical fiction at the time I published because I did not want to embarrass my mother (she is no longer with us).

The World Soccer Cup-McDonald’s has it right. On the Spanish language channels, their ad says me encanta (I’m enchanted). And I am. Never in my life have I seen such joy, passion, and anguish exploding from so many people in one place. And that doesn’t even count the people watching and listening around the world. As I write this, England has just beaten Trinidad 2-0. That little country did a great job—they’ll be back next year. Lookout.
Soccer is new to me. I saw my first game last fall, and it’s going to be pretty hard for the old sports, like baseball and American football, to interest me ever again. Just the thought of those wimps we have sitting on the sidelines during a football game, sucking on oxygen turns my stomach. That’s not a sport. It’s a bunch of dumb, out of shape jocks wearing padding on everything that doesn’t have a cup on it. Okay, I’m cranky today. Maybe I’ll feel better about a bunch of spoiled, pampered, over-paid athletes—some of whom barely get out of jail before game time—tomorrow. Don’t count on it.

In the mail- As I writer, I love and honor all language. The Comanche Language and Preservation Committee has a dictionary out that is terrific. It has Comanche to English and English to Comanche sections. Price $34.00 that includes shipping and handling. They also have other language materials in a varied price range, some come with a CD to help with pronunciation. Contact them:
Comanche language and Cultural Preservation Committee
P. O. Box 3610
Lawton, OK 73502-3610
(You know, of course, that I can’t direct readers to other people’s websites from here…)

Quote du jour:
“Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.” Ronald Reagan

June 06, 2006

Happy Birthday, Bob!

Bob in Italy at 10-years-old
6-08-06-Happy birthday, Cousin Bob! Bob is the cousin I grew up with in Oklahoma in the 50's. He was the inspiration for Carlos in As Brown As I Want, The Indianhead Diaries. I don't know how old he is today (we have a don't ask, don't tell policy), but here, he was ten. He was in Italy courtesy of the U.S. Army, that had stationed his father in Europe.

I remember many stories of Bob, but I won't relate them here--that's your present, dear cousin! And I still have that photograph of you with our grandmother--with you picking your nose, so don't mess with me!

Quote du jour:
"You don't know about me, without you have read a book by the name of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," but that ain't no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly, he told the truth."
Mark Twain

June 05, 2006

Meaner than a rattlesnake and dumber than adobe...

©2006 Dick Hooper

Photo note: There are four turtles here. Not three. Okay, it was A Four-Turtle Summer, and Grace had to dump a man who was meaner than a rattlesnake and dumber than adobe...

6-05-06-How low can he go? A failure at everything presidential, President Bush is now trying deflect attention from his many, many failures, stir up some right Christian anger, and get his fellow Republicans re-elected to office. Never mind that he’s dividing the country even further. People, it’s crunch time, why don’t those guys—both sides—get down to work and get something done? People are being killed in the streets—and I mean here—not in Iraq. Children are hungry; according to MSNBC, 29% of our children are hungry. That’s pitiful! Jobs are few and low-paying. Add to that: immigration problems, corruption, and healthcare woes. And more. Why are we so dumb?! Let’s throw these bums out! Let’s elect someone who can do the job!

Quote du jour:

"Yes, it’s hard to write, but it’s harder not to.” Carl Van Doren

June 04, 2006

"She doesn't deadhead her roses."

© 2006 Dick Hooper

6-04-06-the above photo was taken by my husband at the Point Defiance Garden Show yesterday. It’s digital. I took some photos with my Nikon, and I should have them back sometime before Christmas—that’s Christmas, 2007. Why do I buy those rolls of film that have enough shots to document an elephant’s birth from conception to birth? It was probably on sale. The last roll that I took out of the camera has been misplaced. After spending two years in my state-of-the-art toy, it is now lost. Augh!!!

As I writer, I love and honor all languages. The Comanche Language and Preservation Committee has a dictionary out that is terrific. It has Comanche to English and English to Comanche sections. Price $34.00 which includes shipping and handling. They also have other language materials in a varied price range, some come with a CD to help with pronunciation. Contact them:
Comanche language and Cultural Preservation Committee
P. O. Box 3610
Lawton, OK 73502-3610
(You know, of course, that I can’t direct readers to other people’s websites from here…)

Quote du jour:
“She doesn’t deadhead her roses,” Mickey whispered, accusingly. Custer and His Naked Ladies, a novel by Janelle Meraz Hooper, unpublished

June 01, 2006

Do the French make wine or sour grapes?

The author, in a A Three-Turtle Summer

6-1-06-
Lance Armstrong-An independent investigation has exonerated Lance Armstrong of any drug use in the 1999 Tour de France. Again. I thought the French made wine? It sounds like they’re just making sour grapes.

Bono-News clips of Bono in Africa recently have reported that residents of Mali, in Northwest Africa, are growing organic cotton to send to market. I wonder if they’ve ever tried to market those beautiful fabrics they make? I’d buy some!

Custer and His Naked Ladies-I’m still working towards my October first deadline. It’s getting crowded in my tiny office. So much so, that I’ve enlisted my ironing board for another table. Oh, well, it’s used for little else!

In the mail- As I writer, I love and honor all language. The Comanche Language and Preservation Committee has a dictionary out that is terrific. It has Comanche to English and English to Comanche sections. Price $34.00 which includes shipping and handling. They also have other language materials in a varied price range, some come with a CD to help with pronunciation. Contact them:
Comanche language and Cultural Preservation Committee
P. O. Box 3610
Lawton, Oklahoma 73502-3610

(Pst! I wonder if they have a website?)

Quote du jour:
In my emails : “Early to bed and early to rise, work like hell and advertise!” unknown