Don't Panic Picture Prompt - July 30

Here’s this week’s picture for the Don’t Panic Picture Prompt.  I should note, any picture I don’t remember to put a credit for is one of my own.  I am always very careful to credit pictures taken from any other sources.  I am not as careful at crediting myself.  Just wanted to explain that bit.  So, here’s your picture for this week:

This was taken by me at a visit to Sea Life Minnesota Aquarium

As usual, the link is open until the end of the day, Central Standard Time, on Monday.  Pass the word and come have a little fun.

Book Review: Elric of Melnibone

This week I’m reviewing another older science fantasy book.  It is Elric of Melnibone by Michael Moorcock.  It was alright, but nothing I’d rave about.

The basic premise of the book is that Elric is the king of a race that considers themselves to be superior to this world’s equivalent of humans.  The Melniboneans are generally pretty blood thirsty war like people.  Elric is not.  This sets up the clash in this first book between Elric and his cousin Yyrkoon, who is the next in line for the throne and a typical Melnibonean.  There is a fair lady involved as well.

Now, to be fair to Moorcock, he did write Elric as an antihero.  Elric as the antihero is fairly mild.  I didn't find that I disliked him all that much.  In fact, I as pretty neutral toward him.  I think the thing that I struggled with the most in this book is not this, though.  It’s that his world went a little too far out there for me.  I felt like there were too many bizarre or unusual aspects to the world that it almost became hard to connect to.  I had to think too much and go back to re-read passages for a book as short, fictional and supposedly for enjoyment as I thought this one was going to be.

In the end, it isn't a book I would endorse with ringing enthusiasm.  But it isn't one I’d tell you to skip either.  Let’s call this one a book to eventually get around to but not a high priority reading list book.

Random Sunday - Family Reunions, Blueberries and Work

I’m tired today.  Not feeling too random either.  We’ll see how this post goes.

I spent most of the day Saturday at a family reunion.  It was pretty fun even though I didn’t know most of the family there.  The sad part is that it is my family.  My grandma’s brothers and sisters and the following generations of their kids and grandkids, etc.  The part that I didn’t like was that it was 3 hours away.  That was fun taking my 11 month old that far.  He actually did better than I thought he would.  Although he didn’t sleep at all on the 3 hour ride back home.

I also found out this weekend that my son really likes blueberries.  I mean really likes blueberries.  I’m surprised he didn’t end up with a tummy ache from the amount of blueberries he ate over the weekend.  But it is better than candy.

My final randomness for the evening – I go back to work tomorrow.  I don’t want to.  I am really enjoying being a stay at home mom.  So this ought to be interesting between school, work and my son.  Definitely time for the hubby to step up with some housework.

First Lesson

At first I struggled a little with this week's Don't Panic Picture Prompt.  It's a bit late because I spent the day at a family reunion yesterday.  But, I realized this morning that it fits in well with the Dusseldorf serial.  If you've missed parts of that story, follow the tab at the top labelled One Night in Dusseldorf and you will be linked to the rest of the series.

I heaved a sigh and scrubbed at my face.  How had my life come to this?

“It is difficult to understand how all of this can exist.  I assure you, though, it does and it is vital to life as you have known it that this world does co-exist.

“Why?”

“Imagine what the world would look like without any color,” I grimaced as she continued, “That is what it would be like without this world living as well.  All belief in and thoughts of magic and dreaming of fantastical creatures would never happen.  This world gives the ordinary world the gift of imagination and inspiration.”

She let me mull her words over in a comfortable silence, waiting for me to come to terms with everything.

“Okay.  So, magic exists.  Werewolves exist.  What is it Kris and James claim I am again?”

“A druid.”

“And what is my job in all of this?”

“Yours is a special job.  You are a protector of the natural balance.”

“What does that mean?” I interrupted.

“There cannot be life without death.  Light is defined by darkness.  That is what the natural balance is.  You have been given powers to help protect that balance.  The ordinary world does not understand this, not to the level they need to understand it.  That is part of why the earth is being destroyed faster than it can be repaired right now.”

“So what am I supposed to do about it?  I can’t change that.”

“But you have skills that will make a difference.  Have you ever seen the photograph of the gorilla with a small butterfly perched on its finger?  The gorilla is just studying the butterfly.”

“Yeah.  It’s by Olga someone.”

“Correct.  She is a druid.  Her photography inspires people in the ordinary world to take steps to correct the natural balance.  That photo alone inspired thousands to donate to gorilla preservation funds.”

I nodded, “And when the gorillas are rescued and their habitat preserved, all sorts of other things survive as well.”

“Exactly,” she smiled.

Wandering

Here's the next installment of Kris, Emma and James's story.  If you've missed some, follow the tab labelled One Night In Dusseldorf and it will link you to the previous entries.

Kris started to talk but his words droned in my ear making no sense.  In a fog, I turned and walked away into the woods not paying the slightest bit of attention to where I went.  It felt as if I’d been sucker punched.  All the crap Mom told me before she died was real.  I always believed it was just drug-induced ramblings from her treatments.

Looking up, I found myself in a clearing.  A small pond sparkled in the center of the lush green grass dotted with tiny purple flowers.  I flopped down at the edge of the pond.

“God I wish someone could just explain all this to me in a way that makes sense,” I muttered throwing the occasional pebble into the water to watch the rings ripple away.

“He is a good man, you know.  Rather impatient, particularly for a faoladh, but a good man never the less,” a soft voice came from behind me.

I whipped around half rising and ready to fight.  The waif of a woman before me was clearly no threat, though, so I sat back down.

“What?”

“Kris.  He’s kind, loyal, honest.  A bit blunt and impatient sometimes but it’s a small price to pay.”

“Who are you?”

The glimmer in her eye told me what her words did not.  I didn’t really want an answer to that question.  At least not yet.

“I can understand how you are feeling right now.  You came back to the old country to look for your sister.  You feel responsible for her, more so since your mother died.  Kris will help you.  He will find answers for you.”

“How do you know that about me?”

“Did you not just wish for someone to explain this to you?”

“Uh, yeah.”

She reached over and smoothed the wrinkles in my brow.  The touch of her hand brought a wave of peace that washed over me like a tidal wave.  My instincts said I could trust her.  Somehow she must have read that thought in my face somehow.”

“Trust those instincts.  Yours, unlike modern people, will not lead you astray.  They are part of your birthright.”

“As a druid.”

She nodded.

“This really is real.  I haven’t fallen down some hole into never never land or been fed some acid or ‘shrooms or something?”

She shook her head with a slight smile.

The Parking Lot Battle

This week I combined the prompt from Write at the Merge with the prompt at Trifecta.  The brilliant minds at Write at the Merge gave us pictures of a pink scooter and a crocodile.  Trifecta gave us the word charm, as in to charm an animal.  Here's what I came up with:

            I pounded on the steering wheel of my truck.  I couldn't believe she’d done it again.  This was the third time that blond haired witch cut in between parked cars to take a spot from me with that horrid Mary Kay pink scooter of hers.  Who on earth would choose to drive a scooter that color anyways?

            I circled the parking lot for fifteen minutes looking for another spot contemplating ways to get even with that evil woman.  At the twenty-minute mark, a place opened up in the very back of the lot bordering on the large drainage pond.  It meant I’d have to walk close to a mile, but at least I had a place to park.

            My truck rattled its typical death wheeze as I turned it off.  Looking up and taking a deep breath before getting out into the stifling Florida humidity, I saw the answer to my dilemma.  I had a way to get back at that bleach bottle blond.  My door creaked open and I tip toed to the back of my truck.  I dug around and got out a few supplies.  Then, I went to make the acquaintance of the large crocodile sunning himself near my truck.

           With a few quick preparations, I was able to charm the massive creature.  He got up and lumbered off into the parking lot.  I smiled, put my things away, and began the hike.  Along the way, I saw my scaly friend again.  He had cozied up to that Pepto-Bismol pink scooter and went back to sleep.  Revenge is sweet.

Don't Panic Picture Prompt - July 23

It’s time for the next Don’t Panic Picture Prompt.  Here’s the picture:

Dialogue by Olga Gladysheva on Fivehundredpx via Pinterest

As a reminder, there are no real rules to this – just have fun!  You have until next Monday night to link up.

Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story Book Review

Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut’s Story by Michael Collins was a fun read.  Be warned, it is a book written for older children and adolescents.  Collins does a nice job of explaining some of the science for readers who may not be familiar with the concepts.  He also is careful to write in an easy to read and fun tone.

Perhaps one of the things I liked the most about this book was that it told the rest of the story of the Lunar Landing.  Most people are very familiar with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin and their role in the Apollo 11 mission.  Not as many people, me included, know about Michael Collins’ role.  To put it short and sweet, he was the one who stayed aboard Apollo 11 and picked Aldrin and Armstrong up after their moon walk.  But, life aboard Apollo 11 while the others were on the moon was not as easy as one might assume.  Don’t worry.  I won’t spoil the surprise for you.

While this is technically a children’s book, I’d recommend it to most people.  Collins gives the reader a great history lesson without the reader ever realizing it until the book is over.  Check it out, it’s worth it!

Random Sunday - APA Style and More

Here’s something that I ran into today that really makes me wonder.  In APA style formatting, you have an abstract, an introduction and a conclusion (among other things).  All three of these elements say pretty much the same thing.  Why is that?  If I am to use this format in a graduate program in psychology, wouldn't one think that the people reading this are smart enough to figure out what I’m saying without having to repeat it three times?

My son has learned to climb things.  This is not a good thing.  He now attempts to scale most anything he can find.  The chair, the couch, people, boxes, the dishwasher and the refrigerator are all fair game as far as he is concerned.  This goes right along with trying to explain to him (remember, he’s 11 months old) that chewing on the dishwasher is not permissible.

Is there something going on with spiders this year?  I hate spiders.  With a passion.  There isn't much that will totally creep me out like spiders and similar creepy crawlies.  And it seems like there are more spiders this year than there have been in the last several years.  Yesterday I had to kill two spiders in my kitchen before I could make breakfast.  All while my son is sitting in his high chair banging on the tray with his hands yelling because he’s hungry.

There’s my randomness for this Sunday.  See you next time!

Immortal Butterflies

Have you stopped by the Don't Panic Picture Prompt?  If not, the link will take you there.  Write a bit and stop back to link up!  Here's my response...

I took this picture at the Minnesota Zoo one year.

            “They’re beautiful,” she whispered, watching sapphire wings accented in topaz flutter in the tree.

            “They’re very rare.  Most people go their entire lives without seeing one.  You’ve been blessed with seeing two.”

            “Why are they so rare?”

            “Because the gods chose to make it so.”

            “But why?”

            The woman sighed and looked down to study the tiny girl standing at her side.  The child’s long tangled blond hair glowed in a nimbus around her head.  It wrenched the woman’s heart to see this child looking so like a carbon copy of her mother.

            “It is said that only those who have experienced a profound loss will see one.  Most people never experience that kind of loss,” the woman studied the little girl’s face to see any sign of understanding.

            The child’s brow crinkled and her lips puckered a little but her eyes never left the butterflies.  Only when they eventually flew away did she look up at the older woman.

            “So you and I got to see two because Mommy and Daddy are gone.”

Questioning

Trifecta gave us an interesting weekend challenge this weekend.  Using only 33 words, write a piece using the words water, ring and stage.  Here’s my entry.  As always, be sure to check out other uses of these 3 words in a 33-word piece.

It had a ring of truth.

The water stopped.

They walked away

Thinking they’d won.

He knew better.

He smiled,

Finding Triumph

Even in Defeat.

The lights dimmed.

The stage cleared.

Silence reigned.

Swimming Pools and Grad School, Oh My!

I had every intention of coming up with some brilliant response to Write at the Merge’s prompt this week.  Instead, all I could come up with was basically the scene out of the beginning of The Avengers where Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a Scarlett Johansson, was conducting her interrogation while tied to a chair.  I didn’t figure ripping that scene off would constitute a brilliant blog post.  Then I got distracted playing with my son in his swimming pool at my mom’s house.  What can I say, cute baby in the water on a 90+ degree day – how can it get any better than that?

So, instead you’re getting a little more of my ramblings instead.  Besides, my brain is fried from reading a ton of responses to a discussion question for grad school.  It amazes me how poorly some of these people in grad school write, at least for these posts.  Some of them have basically copied straight out of the textbook with no original thought.  Others have written such short posts it makes me wonder if they even understood what they wrote.  I’m not trying to imply that I have these uber-intelligent posts and am blowing people away with them.  But, I mean, come on people!  Show some effort and some smattering of independent intelligent thought!  It is a master’s program, not undergrad.

Okay.  I’m off my soapbox.  For now.  We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Cracks in Reality

Trifecta's prompt inspired me to return to a serial piece I've been working on for a while now.  The prompt is

CRACK
1a : a loud roll or peal <a crack of thunder>
  b : a sudden sharp noise <the crack of rifle fire>
2: a sharp witty remark : quip
3a : a narrow break : fissure <a crack in the ice>  
  b : a narrow opening <leave the door open a crack><cracks between floorboards> —used figuratively in phrases like fall through the cracks to describe one that has been improperly or inadvertently ignored or left out <a player who fell through the cracks in the college draft> <children slipping through the cracks of available youth services>
4a : a weakness or flaw caused by decay, age, or deficiency :unsoundness
  b : a broken tone of the voice
  c : crackpot
5: moment, instant <the crack of dawn>

As usual the entries have to use the third definition and are between 33 and 333 words in length.  Be sure to check out other responses here.  If you've missed some of this story, follow the tab at the top labelled One Night in Dusseldorf.

If I’d felt a little unsure of myself before following Kris into the woods, now I felt down right lost.  I glanced around trying to find some sign that I was dreaming.  There wasn’t one.  I even tried pinching myself, convinced I must have fallen through some crack into Never Never land on my way out to the little chapel.

People don’t just turn into animals, I thought.

The air around the wolf shimmered again.  Then, the wolf was gone.  Kris was standing in its place.

“Give me your hand,” his rich baritone flowed around me, soothing and reassuring me.

I hesitated.  Kris waited.  I reached out feeling like I was in one of those slow motion movie montages.  Kris took my hand and placed it on his chest.

“See.  I am real.  What you saw is real.”

“How?”

“It’s magic.  Literally.”

“How can you exist and the world doesn't know?”

Don't Panic Picture Prompt Is Back!

The Don’t Panic Picture Prompts are back.  They will be posted on Tuesdays.  You have the whole week to write a response and link up.  That’s it.  Please try to keep posts to under 500 words as anything much longer than that makes it more difficult to read and critique.  That being said, I am not about to start counting, so I’ll leave it up to you to decide how long of a piece to post.

                                    

Now.  On to the picture prompt.

Book Review: A Wizard of Earthsea

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin is an old school fantasy novel.  It is a short, fairly quick read.  At least for me it was.  I liked the old school style, though.  It wasn't too fast paced.  Le Guin paced the novel a little slower than most books today are which I appreciated because it allowed her to develop the characters and world in subtle details that I think can be missed. 

The first half of the book is the story of Ged’s childhood and how he ended up becoming a wizard.  Ged is the one to be impatient and rush.  Ogion, his master, is more patient and takes his time.  While this is a pretty average pairing of over excitable student and wise master, the way Le Guin approached it was refreshing to me.

The second half of the story covers what happens when Ged is out on his own.  He has to clean up a figurative mess he made while at the school for wizards because he was in such a hurry to prove himself.  There are some powerful lessons in this second half if one chooses to look for them.

Overall, I enjoyed the book quite a bit.

Random Sunday: The Color Run and Other Things

While I am sitting here distracted and not doing my schoolwork, I figured I’d write a few blog posts.  That way I can schedule them to go up throughout the week and it doesn't look like I’m neglecting my poor blog as much.

I ran in The Color Run today.  It’s a 5K run where they throw colored powder at you at various points along the way.  It was a blast.  If I could find runs and things like this to do on a regular basis, staying in shape would not be nearly as much of an issue.

While my husband and I were at The Color Run, my dad took my son to Sea Life Aquarium at the Mall of America.  I would have loved to see my son’s face.  He’s 11 months old and is totally in love with tropical fish.  The bummer is that he didn't take a good afternoon nap.  Thankfully, bedtime ended up early tonight as he crashed.

Is it just me or does housework feel like a continual losing battle, one that never ends?  I did the dishes so there was not one dish in the house dirty the day before yesterday.  We were gone all day yesterday so the only dishes we had were like three plates in the evening.  Tonight, I’d swear they multiplied or called all their friends over for a party or something because the whole sink and part of the counter are full.  I don’t even remember using most of them!

What has your Sunday been like?

Defining Purpose

Let me start by saying, I did write this piece pretty fast.  It was a scene that came to mind after reading the prompts from Write at the Merge and Trifecta this week.  It is a quick sketch as I am working on squeezing in some fun writing time between my 11 month old son, starting a new job later this month and grad school.  But I wanted to get back in the habit of responding to the prompts.  So, here it is.  I'm not entirely sure my use of the Trifecta word "Fly" fits the third definition, but I think it does.  If not, please let me know.  Either way, check out other entries at the links above.

            “I’ve been thinking,” a blond youth commented.

            “You know that’s a dangerous past time,” his teacher replied with a smile, “What’s on your mind, Jaris?”

            “What makes something what it is?”

            The older man’s brow crinkled and his wooly bear caterpillar eyebrows drew down to shade his dark eyes.

            “I mean, sir, the old saying about a bell being just a cup until it is struck.  But, that’s not entirely true.  One could strike a cup in the same manner as one struck a bell but it’s still a cup.  What makes the bell different, Marken?”

            Marken stopped walking, his brow smoothed, and his eyes lost focus.  Jaris waited while his teacher pondered his question.  After several minutes of still silence, Marken began to move down the trail, only at a slower pace this time.

            “Purpose,” he finally spoke to his pupil, “A thing’s purpose is what defines it.  Take the statues around us.”

            “What statues?” Jaris scanned the boulders they’d been passing.

            “Look closer,” Marken paused in their journey.

            Jaris circled several boulders before coming to one near Marken.  Rounding the backside, Jaris made out the weather worn features of a face.  Part of the cheek and nose were missing.

            “I didn’t know these rocks used to be statues.”

            “Exactly.  They lost their purpose.  Without that, they ceased to be statues and became rocks.”

            Marken leaned against the rock head while Jaris pondered this.  He knew his apprentice needed some time to think before he let the next question fly.  Marken even had an idea as to what it would be.  Too bad he didn’t have an answer.

            “I know I’m the chosen of the gods.  But what does that mean, Marken?  What is my purpose?”

And Now the Explanation

First things first - If I have done this correctly, this post should automatically post on 7/10/2013.  If it did - yay me!  If not, I haven't managed to figure out how to write a post ahead of time and schedule it for later.  That will complicate my life more.

So, now, assuming I did everything right, here's the explanation for yesterday's Ode to a Neglected Blog.

My son is now 11 months old.  He crawls like crazy everywhere.  I estimated that in one day he crawls more than a mile.  Yep.  He's very busy.  That means I am too.  Here's the other kicker with him.  My father has taught him to LOVE computers, iPads, phones - in short, anything tech.  That means no using computers when he's around.  Yesterday he managed to peel two keys off my laptop keyboard.  I didn't even know those keys came off until then.

I also lost my job late last month.  The hospital I worked for decided they were not going to continue to have my program.  So, I got laid off.  Luckily, though, I did get a job right away.  The best part is that I don't start the new job until the end of July.  So, for the month of July, I get to have time off, get paid my severance from the hospital, and be able to relax knowing I have a job to start later.  But that also means I have been working overtime to subdue the laundry and dishes that were about to stage a walk out in protest of their neglect.

The last major thing that has been keeping me away from my blog and the writing prompts is that I also started grad school about 3 weeks before I got laid off.  Thankfully, it is all online.  That means I don't have to spend the time commuting to classes.  But it also means I tend to have a little more leg work on my own to do at home.

So, in a nutshell, that's my life right now.  I am working on developing some new habits to squeeze in more personal writing time and not neglect this blog quite so badly.  Wish me luck and hope to see you around a little more in the near future!

An Ode to a Neglected Blog

Sweet blog,
I have not forgotten thee,
Nor have I forsaken thee.

Thy brilliant flashing cursor,
Crisp, black letters
And jagged page hits graph.

Mine sweet son,
Crawling as he does
Consumes time as baby food.

The laundry
Has staged a revolt
And brought the dishes with.

The professors post
Bi-weekly reminders:
"Thy scholarship must improve".

Bosses mine
Drove me off
"Thou art not needed."

But the time has come
For thou and I
To renew our acquaintance.