Life in the fast lane--where's the on ramp?

By Pat_B - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Journal

Friday, August 20, 2010

The Write Place, at the right time -- a stranger joins the group

The group met last night at Borders: Alan, Chuck and me, the rag-tag end of the writers' group. Alan was led in by his wife, who's brilliant and devoted to him, has a sense of humor. Clearly he functions because of her TLC. She replaced his hearing aid batteries in the few minutes before the... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:33 AM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Thursday, August 19, 2010

fwd fwd... I usually delete. but this one was neat.

A Trip To Wal-Mart Yesterday I was at my local Wal-Mart buying a large bag of Purina dog chow for Biscuit the Wonder Dog, my loyal companion. I was in the checkout line when the woman behind me asked if I had a dog. What did she think I had, an elephant? So since I'm retired and have little to do,... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 4:10 AM | add or view comments (6) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

School Days

Yesterday was the first day of school at St. B's across the street. I had posted the last installment of the Home for Christmas story and looked up from browsing my favorites to see the old familiar ritual taking place again. Angelic little girls in their spanking new uniforms, blue plaid skirts,... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 4:32 AM | add or view comments (7) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, August 13, 2010

Pick your genre: thriller, spec fiction, mystery, then write

I read that advice somewhere. Pick the genre first. Go to the bookstore and visualize where your novel would fit on the shelves. Bzzzzzzt! Wrong! This might be good advice if we were robots, if our mental computers included an insta-plot program with a template for today's best-selling genre:... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 6:08 AM | add or view comments (6) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Ten times ten and back again -- heat wave

I believe today is the last forecast day of 100 degree heat in the St. Louis area. We're supposed to have a "cold wave" and a high of only 89 by Sunday. The big news is that the nights will cool down to around 70, maybe a couple degrees cooler, and people in their 75th year can walk a mile in their... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:20 AM | add or view comments (3) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Back to normal

While my daughter was here his past week, we went out to eat almost every day. But food wasn't the point. She's a bit of a miracle worker. Her dad, who's been hypersensitive about wearing his oxygen in public, meekly kept it in place because she told him to. He was able to maintain back and forth... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 4:31 AM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

How's the weather? Hot! Hot! Hot!

Do we like it? Not! Not! Not! But we know it's sure to change if it didn't, it would be strange It's global warming come to thrill next summer may be warmer still Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 9:13 AM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, August 9, 2010

Big Happy Monday, lots going on today.

It's dentist day. In a couple hours I'm heading to the dentist's office for my regular 3-month maintenance, and I'm actually looking forward to it. Nothing better than the feel of a just cleaned and polished set of choppers. Later Mr. Handyman's coming over to measure and give me a bid to install a... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 6:40 AM | add or view comments (4) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Summertime

Summertime and the livin' is easy fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high... For years that was my favorite song of all time. I didn't know it was from "Porgy & Bess," didn't know it was out of the folk or blues tradition. I just knew it was beautiful and wistful and I understood the mood of it. I... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 4:55 AM | add or view comments (6) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Data mining computer virus...

My friend Q runs a computer repair shop. He is science-minded, cleans and restores hard drives, and keeps up with and removes infections and attacks from the internet. Lately, he says, he's found more and more new and sneaky little apps designed for data mining. They've slowed down and caused... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:31 AM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

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Sometimes you have to write it down in order to learn what you really think about life, what it means, how to do what's best. Sometimes you need feedback from someone else to put things in perspective.

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