Soul Searching in the Wee Hours

Y'all know that I'm a Netflix junkie. The range of material in its library never fails to surprise me. Lately, I've been on a history/documentary jag and they offer a lot of excellent material. I particularly enjoy PBS' American Experience Series which delves into the people and events that shaped our country -- from Dolly Madison to Roberto Clemente.

Last night I watched its tribute to Eugene O'Neill -- arguably the greatest of American playwrights with four Pulitzer Prizes and the Nobel Prize to his credit -- and my favorite playwright. I'm not certain why it practically tore my guts out but it did, so here I am writing this in the wee hours. Like most writers, O'Neill draws from his life experience -- and what a painful experience it was for him. The late sportswriter, Red Smith, said: "Writing is easy... just open a vein and bleed . . ." and if any of you have ever read O'Neill's autobiography-based "Long Day's Journey into Night", it will not surprise you that he was completely drained by the time he finished the book.

Why am I boring you with this? Because watching that documentary set off a bout of enlightenment and pain for me. It explained why I can't finish a lot of my writing projects or even talk about others. Will this epiphany make me face my demons? I don't know. What I do know is that knowing they are there is an excellent start.

Happy Blogging!!!!!

Kay

Tuesday Random Thoughts

I'm really getting dedicated around here. I knocked a lot off on my 'gottado' list yesterday -- even some of the tasks that I hate and have been on my list far too long. Unfortunately, there's still a lot to do. Have y'all ever noticed that when you start on a task, at least three or four more rear their pointy little heads?
Still, I'm trying to maintain momentum and hope to have everything shipshape by the time I have my surgery. Recuperating goes better in a clean house where I can find everything in my not so humble opinion.

* So the high and mighty are talking about 'rescuing' Social Security. Excuse me? Last I heard Social Security was solvent. I think it's a grab at us elders. What cracked me up was this quote from consultant Ana Rappaport:

"The issue of elderly poverty for women, however, might need further attention. 'We need to remember that for four out of 10 older women alone, and for a very large number of the bottom third of the population economically, Social Security is virtually all they have in retirement,” Rappaport said. 'And that is not likely to change although one might be able to reduce that number.'"

All I can say is Ms. Rappaport needs to call me and I'll explain the cold hard reality of being an poor old lady to her.

* Kent McKamy, one of my favorite New Yorkers, sent this video along and I enjoyed it so much that I simply had to share it! I think y'all will, too. I have never been a fan of Kiss but this raised my opinion of them more than a couple notches.



* Alaskans have a hilarious sense of humor as demonstrated by this 47 second video from an event in Ketchikan. I hope y'all laugh as hard as I did!



* I'm glad that some of y'all enjoyed the River Stones project. I put all of them here. I liked the discipline of coming up with an idea/comment each day and have missed it since it ended. I'm thinking of continuing it and also using it as a place to write about other things as well. Y'all are welcome to stop by and see where my mind is taking me. I joined Fiona's Writing Our Way Home community and I think it could be an interesting adventure. I also hope I find time to participate.

Speaking of time, I'm off and running. It's errand and shopping day and the list is not short. Sigh.

Hope y'all are having a great day!!!!

Happy Blogging!!!!

Kay

River Stones 1/10/2011

Blame and denial by certain factions, entities and individuals will not solve the travesty that's occurred in our country. Am I angry? Damned right!

Kay Dennison

River Stones 1/8/2011

Every time I think that I'm making some progress in getting things organized, I find something else I need to organize.

Happy Blogging!!!!!

Kay

River of Stones 1/6/2011

I finally picked up my new prescription at the pharmacy. I don't take anything that comes with two pages addressing the possibility of suicide. I'm only crazy -- not stupid.

Happy Blogging!

Kay

River Stone 1/5/2011

Getting a panic attack when there is no apparent reason for one is both disconcerting and annoying. It tells me that there is something very wrong but I can't begin to fathom what it is . . . so far. Maybe I've just been worrying too much or thinking too much.

Happy Blogging!!!!!

Kay

River Stone 1/4/2011

Re-adjusting one's dysfunctional sleep patterns can be an seemingly endless exercise in frustration. I feel like Sisyphus and the rock.

Happy Blogging!!!!!

Kay

River Stones 1/2/2011

I think it's really rather strange that I only have pork and sauerkraut for supper once a year because I really enjoy it. Maybe someone long ago told me told me that it's only to be eaten then. I've decided that will change: it fits my criteria in the kitchen these days perfectly: easy, quick, cheap, re-heatable.

Happy Blogging!!!!!

Kay

River Stone 1/1/2011

When I read Lia's blog, Yum Yum Cafe, this morning I realized that contemplating New Year's resolutions was not what I needed. The better approach is a New Year's revolution. After an tumultuous 2010 on several levels, it's time to seriously consider some major changes and muster the courage I know I have stashed somewhere in the clutter in my poor damaged brain and move forward.

Happy Blogging!!!

Kay

A River of Stones

I discovered A River of Stones via my friend Elaine of Kalilily Time and, with her encouragement, I am going to participate in it. I need to focus more on my writing and hope it will help.
If any of you are interested, you can click on the link above or the widget in the sidebar.

Hope y'all are having a great day!!!!

Happy Blogging!!!!!!!

Kay

Yikes!!!!!! A Major Motion Picture!!!!

One of my favorite mystery writers is Patricia Cornwell. Her Dr. Kay Scarpetta series is a really excellent!! I've read all sixteen books in the series. I received her newsletter in my email a few days ago and it brought the news that the latest book, "Scarpetta" is being made into a major motion picture. The website has the info in detail.

Sigh. Yawn. Now I don't know about y'all, but more often than not, I find that when books I've read are made into movies, 99.9% of the time I'm disappointed. Now I'm intelligent enough to understand that a lot of revision has to be done to condense a book to the length required for the silver screen and that some screen writers do better than others at understanding what's essential to the plot and characters.

What's got me frosted is casting. They are casting Angelina Jolie in the title role. After reading the entire series -- all sixteen books -- I think I ban say that there is no way in hell I can see her in that role and I'm sure other Scarpetta fans agree. Somehow I simply don't see what the producers were thinking as she really isn't the right 'type' to play Kay Scarpetta. (Nor is she the right type to play Kay Dennison. lol) I have not been impressed with Ms. Jolie and have decided that I will not see this film as the writing will probably as bad as the casting. I try to avoid getting annoyed when possible so I doubt that I will see this film.

It's been my experience that anytime Hollywood gets hold of a mystery series detective, they botch it. They did it to Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder and John D. McDonald's Travis McGee (although the latter said he never let them do it again). They've done it time and again -- botching plots and casting badly. Adapting is one thing; changing stories completely is another. I'd like to think Ms. Cornwell is maintaining a certain amount of creative control but with the choice for the title role, I think not.

I rarely like movies made from books. They have to cut too much from the story so my feeling this way is no great surprise. And yeah, as far as I'm concerned, the only Bond ever worth a damn was Sean Connery so take my thoughts with a grain of salt.

The reason I wrote this is that I wondered if any of y'all are fans of this series and want to know what you think.

Happy Blogging!!!!!!!!!!

Kay

Update: Exciting News!!!!!!

As I've mentioned before, one of my favorite places for writing practice is Smith Magazine's Six Word Memoirs. The idea is to state your story in six words. I love it because I have a tendency to ramble (Bet y'all didn't notice that, did ya? lol) and it's an exercise in conciseness. I don't stop there nearly as often as I'd like but life intrudes, dontcha know?

Anyway, this morning I got the following email and went nuts!:

Your Six-Word Memoir is a finalist-- but we need your name!‏

Dear Six-Word Memoirist,

You're getting this email because we're working on our next book of
Six-Word Memoirs, and we like [at least one of] yours a lot. Please take
a moment today to log in to your SMITH Magazine account and provide your
accurate full name. As in our previous two bestselling books, we credit
each memoirist by first and last name, and can only consider submissions
for which we have this information.

Thanks for sharing your stories!

six-word memoir co-editor

Yeah, I'm just a finalist but to be chosen from the thousands on their site feels pretty damn cool and I am honored! If I make the cut, I get a free copy of the book AND I can add it to my writing credit. Published is published whether its six words or six thousand, it adds to your street cred in the world of writing.

Okay, here's the problem: I didn't save anything I submitted there and I've been going nuts trying to find them on the site and haven't found the dozen or so or more things I've submitted so I can't even guess what they liked. Wahhhhhh!

Guess I should go see what I've written at First 50 Words -- my other favorite writing practice site and salvage what I've written there and yeah, I need to practice writing.

I'll keep y'all posted, okay?

Happy Blogging!!!!!!