I had History International channel on and they were doing Battles B.C. David and Goliath. Can you imagine, David with the slingshot and Goliath just STANDING there? Goliath looking at the Israelites and saying "This is the punk who's gonna fight me? You must be joking. Then David hitting David with the stone. Who was the clown who called out, "lucky shot!" David calling out, "Who's the punk now?"

I have spoken about donating blood to save a life before. We had our blood drive today, but I am going to bring humor into it. I go through the list of the drugs that may preclude you from donating. Then they ask you to state which sex you are. In my case it is pretty obvious. Then they ask if you were born in certain sub-Saharan African countries. I look at my skin and shake my head.
Then I can't resist more silliness. The vampires will stick you and take your blood. Probably not clever, especially when you lay back and they are armed. You even get to bleed on command. Thirty-one people went to give blood, twenty-three were successful. Shucks, unsuccessful in donating blood.

Last night's show poor Yerbie heard the Internet stream and my voice and kept looking for me. Pandora could care less.

You can now view my show Meeting the Writers on the Internet feed on Access Tucson if you have Quick Time. http://ping.fm/sET6m

Public Speaking for Shy Writers. This is the link for an article I did on it and I am looking to build it into a workshop.

Sorry, Boston July 9th. It is those J months LOL! Can you imagine if I mixed it up with January?

Will be in Boston the weekend of June 9th.

If you want to learn how to write memoirs for your family, last night's guest on my show Dee Dees will show you how. Just a pitch for her.

BBC America now broadcasts old episodes of Star Trek the Next Generation. The guest was a scientist and baseball fan in a dream replaying the October 3rd, 1951 National League Playoff game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants in upper Manhattan's Polo Grounds. My parents were Brooklyn Dodgers fans and it is almost sixty years later but heartbreaking. The following is Giant broadcaster Russ Hodges' call of Bobby Thomson's at bat against pitcher Ralph Branca.

"Bobby Thomson... up there swingin'... He's had two out of three, a single and a double, and Billy Cox is playing him right on the third-base line... One out, last of the ninth... Branca pitches... Bobby Thomson takes a strike called on the inside corner... Bobby hitting at .292... He's had a single and a double and he drove in the Giants' first run with a long fly to center... Brooklyn leads it 4-2...Hartung down the line at third not taking any chances... Lockman with not too big of a lead at second, but he'll be runnin' like the wind if Thomson hits one... Branca throws... [audible sound of bat meeting ball]

There's a long drive... it's gonna be, I believe...THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! Bobby Thomson hits into the lower deck of the left-field stands! The Giants win the pennant and they're goin' crazy, they're goin' crazy! HEEEY-OH!!!'' [ten-second pause for crowd noise]

I don't believe it! I don't believe it! I do not believe it! Bobby Thomson... hit a line drive... into the lower deck... of the left-field stands... and this blame place is goin' crazy! The Giants! Horace Stoneham has got a winner! The Giants won it... by a score of 5 to 4... and they're pickin' Bobby Thomson up... and carryin' him off the field!"

Glad Dad was not here with me watching that Star Trek episode. I can hear it now. Sixty years removed and I STILL can't escape it.

Meeting the Writers tonight I had Toastmasters member and expert in helping you write your personal history Dee Dees. It was a great show because of her.

Wawa is a grocery chain in Southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It also is WAWA for West Africa Wins Again. You got bumped on Wednesday from the flight? There is another flight Saturday, what are you complaining about? If you were in a rush, why are you here in the first place. Doesn't it almost sound like a kid. You can't get on the flight? Wa Wa. Can't get your exit visa? Wa Waaaaaa. Just a different way of life no better no different. From David Lamb's book the Africans which is now a bit dated.

I am picking on one of my favorite operas, Lucia di Lammermoor. The opening scene is men dressed to look like the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. They are singing passionately. What Donizetti, the composer may have known but not told was why they were really passionate. Scotland has cold wet hillsides, they wanted a few wee drams, but the intruder raided the strongbox. Now there is passion for ye! :)

Just watched a two hour show on National Geographic about the settlement of the Americas and the impact.

A new friend is really an old friend who you just discovered and was waiting for you.

I spent most of the day typing what I wrote into the computer. I am up to almost 29k words so far. Hot day... I am tired though.

To add to that for my niece I am looking for my female friends to be role models for her.

Got a note from my niece Jilly. I am proud of her, because she is striving to get all A's and is a referee for soccer matches. She is showing entrepreneurship and drive.

Revisions in your book. Today at our Saguaro Romance Writers meeting, our long distance member Judy Duarte spoke about about when to have revisions and when not to have revisions. If an editor wants it, you should do it. There are also bad vs. good rejection letters. and how to tell. In the morning, we had different tables discussing different writing issues. My wife Elaine and I discussed ten rules for a successful critique group.

I saw a man today, with a swastika tattoo on his neck. As someone, who has visited Auschwitz, Nuff said.

The immigration bill Arizona just passed doesn't solve the problem of illegal immigration. It just targets folks who might be our citizens. It just makes it easier to pick on certain people. Don't get me wrong, I do understand police profile people. The profiles vary worldwide depending on what they have. Their experience and computer programs like Comstat will narrow certain profiles to certain criminal activity. All this bill does is make it possible for bad police officers to pick on certain people.
If you want to solve illegal immigration deal with enforcement and the hiring of illegals, don't target folks here legally, because they "look" like illegals.

Bad Cop, no doughnut. I posted this a while ago, it is a sign Homicide Detective Jenny Luke has over her desk. I am addicted to the show the First 48, and keep an eye on it for my writing.

Where are my glasses? Good thing they are plastic. While I was in the shower, Pandora found a new toy. Ah, kittenhood.

I spilled some mouthwash on the bathroom floor. I bent down to wipe it up. Pandora was on top of the shower and wasted no time jumping on my back.

Allowing voting on characters. I have a male and female co-leader of the expedition in my African explorer book. Should they fall in love?

Imagine a modern corporation with Victorian type language in reprimands. Your wanton and flagrant disregard has cost the company time and money.

Pandora is typing. Is there anything this cat can't or won't do?

I did some work, but Yerbie was lonely. He knocked some magazines down, now he is proud of himself.

The volcano is steaming again. Welcome to Thor's sauna.

Love on the Nile is a book about the exploration of Sir Samuel Baker and his wife Florence. Now, there would be one heck of a romance novel.

A friend made me think of an old friend from South Africa named Mark de Kiewet. I lost touch with him and wonder if he is OK. After I visited South Africa, he told me much of his story.

I reviewed the authors who are definite for next years Tucson Festival of Books. I have thirty committed, including a couple of New York Times authors. Who want to join the party.

I am watching Top Gear, they were at 17,000 feet, and Jeremy was complaining about not being able to breath. Shut up and you can breathe!

I am updating an old post on volunteering. I have learned networking, AV, and recruiting skills I can think of off the top of my head.

Iceland is enjoying her power rush with the volcano and the Navy. Picture James Bonds' Dr. No, only the setting is Iceland, not Jamaica. The Norse Gods turned out in force. What for, Thor? It is a new meaning to April Showers. Well, the natives are getting pelted as well.

Pandora is displeased. I put Noxema on my feet. She sniffed and wrinkled her nose.

So the rest of the world does not take little Iceland seriously. Open the vents! The Prime Minister cries. The volcanic ash went everywhere.

The crash of the plane in Russia with the Polish government officials was a tragedy for the country, along with the 2005 death of Pope John Paul, who might have been the best known and greatest Pole to ever live. As my role model and to me adopted uncle Piotr Tomasik said at the time, he was our national treasure and we are mourning him. More about Prof. Tomasik in upcoming posts.

Katastrofie samolotu w Rosji z przedstawicielami polskiego rządu była to tragedia dla kraju, a także śmierci w 2005 r. papież Jan Paweł, który mógł być najbardziej znanym i największym Polakiem, który nigdy na żywo. Jak mój wzór do naśladowania i do mnie wujek Piotr Tomasik przyjęte powiedział wówczas był nasz skarb narodowy, a my go żałoby. Więcej o prof Tomasik w nadchodzące posty.

The United States 2010 Senseless. Here are some of the questions. Race? The 5th at Belmont Park? Eyes? Two. Sex? Yes.

Well Pandora got fixed, but it does not help me. She is still attacking my toes.

Pandora got fixed today. She was inquisitive on the ride, rather than angry. She is taking it easy now. Yerbie was patient, I could not have food out until after she was in the carrier.

Continuation of next show for Meeting the Writers. Here is Dee Dees Website. http://ping.fm/iZqjs Learn how to write your life stories.

The next show of Meeting the Writers will be Wednesday April 28th at 7:30 Mountain Standard Time. I will be interviewing author Dee Dees. Please contact me with any questions before the show.

How Yerbie got his name. After a young man from Kazakhstan named Yerbolat. Yerbie just came into my head and it went from there.

Yerbie was feeling neglected. Pandora has a date with destiny tomorrow.

Pandora was miffed because I was paying attention to Yerbie. Wait a minute, he is my little buddy and was here first! LOL!

Pandora, why do you hate my toes so much? Ouch! I don't need an alarm clock!

Had Rico Austin, author of My Bad Tequila on Meeting the Writers tonight. Enjoyed having him very much. The next show will be in two weeks, April 28th with Dee Dees.

The year is 2040 and the Chinese are running the world. I am too elderly to care. I am in the nursing home with my buddies. We were the delinquents in the home, until the new regime. Now, we have to eat healthy and exercise every day. Except for breakfast, which is Congee every day, you can't complain about Chinese food. Just once, some pancakes would be nice.
According to writer Martin Jacques though, China now rules the world. I am too old to care.

The backdrop out the Northern window of the chapel was the mountains. A bright warm sunny spring day in Tucson. It was the memorial service for Denny Fox, husband of our friend and Saguaro Romance Writers chapter member Roz Fox. In the time we have been here in Tucson, I am sorry we did not get to know Denny better. He seemed like a wonderful guy and role model. All sorts of funny stories were told at the memorial, making it a celebration of his life and those around him. Denny had been a Marine, and three Marines played taps and handed Roz a flag. Very touching day.

Finished reading Martin Jacques book When China Rules the World. There are problems with this upcoming scenario. Many things can change. China, because of the one child per family policy has 119 men for every 100 women. Unless as one book put it, they are going to become like Ancient Sparta, they are in for a rough ride. Many very angry young men. Bad combination.
If his premise comes true, it will not matter. If not dead, I will be too elderly to care. That is for the next post. My nursing home, when China rules the world.
China was dominant for most of the worlds history until the Industrial Revolution. People predicted in the '80's, Japan would ruin the United States. Now what? Yesterday's prediction can go askew. The most accurate predictions I have every seen were from General Sir John Hackett's book The Third World War. So far, much of what he predicted has happened.

My parents once had a very unpleasant cat they named Mopey. The name fit. Mom got her from someone who had to get rid of her, because his fiancee was allergic. The cat loved him and few others. My niece Jilly is accustomed to cats. She went down to pick Mopey up (Jilly might have been seven or eight at the time). Mopey hissed at Jilly as she did with most people. Most seven year olds might have been afraid, but not Jilly. She had a hurt look and hissed right back! Mopey avoided Jilly after that and everyone else laughed. Mopey was so bad, I am a cat lover and I was happy to hear of her demise.

This is part of a letter I wrote to my niece this morning on life lessons I wanted to share.

Good morning Jilly,
It is a beautiful sunny morning in Arizona, though the errand your Aunt and I have to go on is not sunny. The husband of a friend died and we have to go to his memorial service. These are the people in our writers chapter you will meet when you come to visit. I was writing earlier. Tomorrow we have two meetings, both in Barnes and Noble. The first meeting is our critique group. We help each other with our writing. The second meeting is for our book festival next year. It is mostly the same people.
I am going to tell you something about public speaking. You can read about it all you want, but eventually you have to do it. It is like swimming. You cannot be a theoretical swimmer. I gave up my Toastmasters membership after nineteen years. I treasure what I learned, but the writing does more for me and it was time to move on. That happens in life. This leads me to a life lesson I am going to teach you, to try and prevent you from learning it the hard way. You will not be good at everything, but learn all you can. Your Mom and I told you when I was there how hard I had to work in school, because it did not come naturally to me. First, I am going to tell you a story about public speaking. I hated it, to be honest. The first time, a committee chair asked me to speak to what was called a small group. There were fifty people there. I was terrified. Then, my job required me to speak to community groups, mostly senior citizens. At the Senior Citizen center, they have oxygen for the seniors. It is bad, if big hulking former weighlifter me passes out. Try and imagine the article in the local newspaper. So I joined Toastmasters. I never thought I would stay nineteen years. I stayed because I was still getting something out of it.
I hated diagramming sentences in English class in school. Now, I wish I had paid more attention. I write, so grammar is important. Your Aunt Elaine and I joke about being grammatically challenged. She has been writing longer than I have. When you write, everything you learn is filed away. You just never know when it will come in handy.
Now, I am going to ask you four questions:
1. What do you like most about school?
2. What do you dislike about school?
3. What are your goals?
4. What motivates you?

I took a day off from work and attended the first planning meeting of the Tucson Festival of Books for next year. Any Romance authors who know me, please contact me. I can make no guarantees, but will see what I can do. If not next year, there is always 2012.

I asked a co worker from Congo how to say s**t in Swahili for my African explorer book. He told me Swahili is a polite language. My Rwandan partner in crime, Anastase, knows how to plead the Fifth now. Maybe, I will change how I do the scene.

Pandora is in heat. Good grief. I had to tell the neighborhood tomcats, I am cleaning my gun.

I don't care if you are knocked down. Do you get up?

Pandora got on top of the shower door, while I was in the shower. One of these days, she is going to fall. She can fall, as long as it it not on my head.

It really does take a village. My favorite niece in New York, Jilly wrote to me. She will be thirteen. Sharp as a whip and interested in the world around her. If I can do the right thing and introduce her to others who will, and help with relevant advice, I will have done my job.

I borrowed a weed whacker from my Mexican born neighbor. I only bring the Mexican born fact up to make a point. He is one of us. When I talk about neighbors helping neighbors, this is what I mean. I read in Time that people at the Tea Party demonstration in Senator Harry Reid's hometown of Searchlight, Nevada chanted for President Obama to return to Kenya. First of all, his father was from Kenya, not him. Second of all, criticize his policies, not him as a person. The Tea Party does bring up debatable issues, but please keep it civil and the racial factor out of it.

I was speaking with several writers about luck. I just finished a new biography about Willie Mays. I realized he was lucky to have entered the Major Leagues when he did as an African-American player. If he had been ten to fifteen years older, he would have been too old for African-Americans being accepted to Major League Baseball. The Negro Leagues taught him a certain degree of barnstorming showmanship. He already had an enjoyment and brought pure joy to what he did. He was lucky the Giants picked him up and his first manager, Leo Durocher loved him like a son. For Willie wore his heart on his sleeve. He had all that raw talent and baseball smarts, but he still had to be in the right place at the right time, with the right people.

You cannot eat an elephant in one sitting. Rwandan philosopher Anastase Ahorwabaye.

Yerbie was feeling very neglected. It was HIS turn for attention. For all I know Pandora is still passed out in the sink.

Finished my authors list for the Tucson Festival of Books. Now, take a bow, Michael. Tomorrow, there is another project.

Michael, you have to get Pandora off the shower door, she can't get down. I went in the bathroom and she jumped on the sink. Must be animal magnetism.

I was going to wash my hands in the sink, until I realized Pandora was sitting in it, cool as you please. I considered washing my hands anyway, but was not sure I wanted to deal with a wet kitten.

Was out performing errands and fixing things. Then, I sharpened some of the garden tools. I kept saying I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, but this is ridiculous.

But I have no thumbs! Pandora cried through her meows. She got into the cabinet, got the package of cat treats down, but could not open them. I still need the humans! They have the thumbs that I do not.

Recently, thirty of our governors received notes saying they had to leave office in three days or be removed. It it was an April Fools joke, it was not very funny. You vote people out if you are unhappy with their performance. Society has become uncivil if we allow such a thing. Who would serve with such threats? (No matter how they may anger us).

A friend came up with why the cats go after the printer. It is really run by hamsters on wheels inside. Some low tech there.