Evolutionary Plume

Comcast provides good service

Friday night we had a brown out--just a couple light flickers but for some reason it took our our Comcast router--we guess it must have just been old since we have a good surge protector. Anyway, we got weekend delivery of a new router and I'm on the network again, just in time to pull off materials for critique, finish up 2007 finances and do my colon cleanse--some good with the absolute dregs.

Ideas for Valentine's Gifts

I shopped around for some great ideas to buy grandchildren, children and other younger loved ones and came up with a few suggestions. Read more> I was pleasantly surprised by the number and style of offerings in children's cards and where to find them. We were at the Muckleshoot Casino yesterday to meet my parents for lunch. Their $2 truffles in flavors like Orange Liquor looked to kill for. I settled for an ice cream cone.  Poetry also makes a neat gift, think travel poetry and gifts for poets. And then there's just spending time with those you love the most.

Coupon Chief Helps Save Money on Valentine’s Gifts at Target

Coupon Chief can help you get ready for Valentine’s by providing discount coupons at your favorite store. Target has some deals on beauty and fragrance, candles, and stationery. One offering has $5 off a $50 order. While shopping at Target, I noticed all sorts of dollar items perfect for children in case you're not buying toys. If ordering online from Target, deals include free shipping. Other ideas from Target include making your own flower arrangement using one of their vases and women’s loungewear.

Family and Funerals

Family are arriving into town for the funeral of a family member so I'm working items between visits. Also visited my parents today, its been several weeks since I've been having health difficulties. I keep expecting life to settle down but it never does. It's nice to see some of the out of towner's since its been quite some time. The worst part of it all is I have to do health prepwork instead of spending time with them.

Writing, the actual stuff

Spent the day working on two scenes--one partial, one okay--got the dialogue but need the setting and emotion etc laid into place. Had two articles published in Associated-Content. Yesterday critiqued three chapters.

Preparing to pack

One of the hard parts about being out of town and working is needing to grab all the needed supplies together for the trip so that when I'm there I'm not always searching for the required materials. This may enforce a new level of discipline on me. The difficult part about writing a scene with a lot of information is preparing a blend of emotion, sensory data, scenery, action which take advantage of the richness of the data. It's probably the most difficult part of writing science fiction because the precision needs to be there, but so does the imaginary flip the pulls it out of today and into tomorrow. Post-apocalyptic stories can have a combination of futuristic, current technology and even some survivalist skills. Makes it an interesting blend.

Human Touch Massage Chair a Key to Relaxation

One of the nicest experiences I had was provided by a chiropractor. Before having the exam, he had patients lie on a massage bed to help relax those stiff muscles that contribute to locked vertebrae. The Human Touch Massage Chair offer a similar experience. The chairs come in a rich variety of upholstery to enable them to fit into your living room décor. The website offers descriptions of the individual chairs, comparisons between different chairs and an overview of the product line. Basically, rollers mimic the actions of a masseuse down the length of your body. Three width settings help reach any part of your body. Foot and ankle massage are also support. This is a paid post.

Working short story, research, the novel

Strange how long 500 words can take then they fall off your fingertip in a burst and there's more. Read through my first chapters trying to get level set. Working slowly. Lots of changes coming into my life.

Two favorite Middle Eastern multicultural music selections from Christmas

My husband and I have trouble finding each other Christmas gifts--so we started a tradition of buying music. It makes a fun adventure and spices up our music life since we tend to play music rather than watch television. My two favorites that I bouth are the Idan Raichel Project, a moody, lyrical song fest with touching lyrics and an unusual mix of traditional musical instruments and musicians from the middle east. It has a distinctly African rhythm and sound and enjoyable vocals. A seond selection, Desert Rose 2, features selections from a variety of artists from the same region. This collection is decidely more upbeat and danceable sound, it makes a quite fun listening experience. When we made our purchases at Silver Platters we found they had instituted an new card based discount system instead of the old coupons--they will give you credit for your old coupons.

Free Piano Lesson Newsletter Helps You Learn to Play

An ideal pastime for seniors, playing the piano can become a good way to keep your mind active, hands busy, and life filled with music. If you’d like to learn how to play, or become more proficient, the Piano lessons & piano chords web site can provide you useful information for free. The instructor Duane Shinn has a degree from Oregon State University and has taught since 1965. He also sell lessons, but his newsletter provides the first 101 lessons for free. This has to be a great deal all around.

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