WIP Wednesday

Weeeeel, to make a long story short, still editing, not getting too far  LOL Actually, I think I am making progress, but I've been rehashing a few chapters I thought were done :D You always find something else to change, right? :)

I finally got to read Blood Promise by Richelle Mead also. Loved it...not my favorite in the series, and she's breaking my heart with Dimitri!!! But great book :D

How is everyone else doing?

Monday's Muse

First of all, I want to wish a very happy birthday to my adorable son, Connor. He is 6 today! My baby's getting big!! *sniff*

Secondly, I have discovered that I am going to very quickly run out of back-stocked poetry and for someone reason, the new stuff just isn't flowing ;-D So, Monday's are going to be reserved for poetry (mine or other people's) or just general musings.....because as much as I love my blog, I've got too much going on to let it become a source of stress :D

So for today, I will share with you a poem that choked me up a bit (admittedly, not a hard thing to do, but still, this is share-worthy) :) As far as I can tell, this is Anonymous. If I discover otherwise, I will update with author info.

Crabby Old Man

When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in North Platte, Nebraska, it was believed that he had nothing left of any value.

Later, when the nurses were going through his meager possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.

One nurse took her copy to Missouri. The old man's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the St. Louis Association for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on his simple, but eloquent, poem.

And this little old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem winging across the Internet.


Crabby Old Man

What do you see nurses? . . . What do you see?
What are you thinking . . . . When you're looking at me?
A crabby old man, . . . . . . Not very wise,
Uncertain of habit . . . . . . .With faraway eyes?

Who dribbles his food . . . . . And makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice, 'I do wish you'd try!'
Who seems not to notice . . . The things that you do.
And forever is losing . . . . . A sock or shoe?

Who, resisting or not . . . . . Lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding . . . The long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking?. . . Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse . . . You're not looking at me.

I'll tell you who I am . . . . . As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, . . . As I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of Ten . . . . With a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters . . . . . . . Who love one another.

A young boy of Sixteen . . . . . With wings on his feet.
Dreaming that soon now . . . . . A lover he'll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty . . . . My heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows . . . . . That I promised to keep.

At Twenty-Five, now . . . . . . . . I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide . . . . . And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty . . . . . . . . . My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other . . . . . . . With ties that should last.

At Forty, my young sons . . . . Have grown and are gone,
But my woman's beside me . . . To see I don't mourn.
At fifty, once more, . . . . . . Babies play 'round my knee,
Again, we know children . . . . . . My loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me . . . . . My wife is now dead.
I look at the future . . . . . . . . I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing . . . Young of their own.
And I think of the years . . . . . And the love that I've known.

I'm now an old man . . . . . . . . And nature is cruel.
Tis jest to make old age . . . . . Look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles . . . . . . . Grace and vigor, depart.
There is now a stone . . . . . . . . Where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass . . . . A young guy still dwells,
And now and again . . . . . . . . . My battered heart swells.
I remember the joys . . . . . . . I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living . . . . . Life over again.

I think of the years . . . . . . . . All too few, Gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact . . . That nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people . . . Open and see.
Not a crabby old man . . . . . . Look closer, see ME!!

Friday Funnies

I think I did pretty well, considering I started out
with nothing but a bunch of blank paper.
~ Steve Martin

Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.
~ Alfred Hitchcock

Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.
~ Benjamin Franklin

Titles, Titles, My Kingdom for a Title!

Well, with my novel winding down to completion, I decided it was time to give the poor thing a name. After all, I can't just go around calling it Untitled (although the thought does appeal to me, let me tell you!)

I generally suck at titles. Every now and then, I'll get lucky and one will present itself to me. I think I have the title of my next book all picked out, but then, I thought that before I started this book as well. However, it turns out that the book is nothing like what I planned it to be...and therefore, the title I had chosen no longer works.

So, my crit partners and I have been brainstorming and stewing and agonizing (at least on my part) over what to call this nice little stack of papers I've got going. And so far...it is still nameless. We do have a few front-runners, but nothing concrete so far.

Now, I realize that if this book ever hits the shelves, chances are good someone somewhere up the line is going to change the title. So I try not to get too attached anyways. But still, a catchy title can help snag some attention. So, here I stew. If this keeps up, I may make this my next contest. Name my book and win a gift card! Hehe....I'm only half joking :D

How about everyone else? Do you have problems picking titles? Do you get attached to your titles, or do you just give it a name so you've got something to stick in the query? Anybody got an extra title they aren't using? ;-D

WIP Wednesday and a Reading List Update

Still plugging along on the edits...chapter 3 is making its last round through the crit trenches, chapters 1 and 2 are as good as they are going to get (for now) and I have made it through chapter 12 on my own last run through (chapter 10 is in the second to last crit round) :D

The new blog is up and running.

And I managed to read this week! I finished The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner. Very interesting, great book. I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys a good historical. And I am currently halfway through Diana Gabaldon's new book in the Outlander series, An Echo in the Bone. Loving it as I have all the others :D

How is everyone else doing?

How to Use those Pesky Apostrophes

Now, I know these are simple rules that most people know. But, a refresher never hurts :) So, here we go.

To show possession:

1. Noun's that do not end in an "s"

In this case, simply add an apostrophe and an "s"

Examples:

John's car; Stacy's house; Jerry's book; Lupe's lipstick; Frank's wife; Lisa's dress

2. Noun's that do end with an "s"

In general, you'd add an apostrophe and another s

Examples:

The witness's testimony; the dress's hem; Chris's paper

But when the extra "s" makes the word hard to say, the apostrophe is just added to the end of the word. This has become a matter of preference as well. When it comes to words that end in "s," you can either add the extra "s" or just leave it with an apostrophe.

Examples:

Mr. Rogers' house; Socrates' essays

3. Plural nouns

With plural nouns that end in an "s" or "es," add the apostrophe to the end of the word

Examples:

The ladies' room; the teachers' meeting; the parents' appointment; the beaches' tubular waves :D

4. Plural nouns that do not end in an "s" or "es"

Add an apostrophe and an "s"

Examples:

The children's library; the women's luncheon

5. When you are talking more than one person

This one used to trip me up. If you are showing the possession of something by two people, only the second person gets the apostrophe

Examples:

Tom and Michelle's house; Jerry and Michael's car; Mike and Laurie's kids

6. Abbreviations and Years

When dealing with abbreviations and years, add an apostrophe and an "s"

Examples:

the CPA's accounts; the FDA's ruling; the USSR's economics; the USA's treaty; The 1980's; the 1320's

Plural examples:

the RNs' graduation; the PhDs' dissertations; the MAs' classes

Contractions:

For contractions, the rule is pretty easy. Just use an apostrophe wherever there are missing letters.

Examples:

Can not = Can't; Did not = didn't; Should not = shouldn't; madam = ma'am; Hide and seek = Hide 'n' Seek

Its and It's:

Its = possessive form of it. The book has a picture on its cover. The dog has a bug on its nose. The car has mud on its hood.

It's = contraction for "it is" or sometimes "it has." It's raining today. It's cold in the auditorium. I'm sorry you hate the rules, but it's always been this way. ;-D

Monday's Muse

First of all, today is the launch of my new blog, Papers, Prose and Poetry. So if you need any help on research papers, essays of any kind, or tips for writing various forms of poetry, head on over!! No worries, I make those dreary assignments as fun as I can :D

Now, since I still haven't written anything new, here are a few more of those 20 word poems that I wrote for those contests. And I am still looking for another site that does this. I've sort of come up with a version of this myself. It's not as fun, since you can't move the word tiles around, but there are still a limited amount of words from which to make up a poem. Lots of fun :D



You passed a thousand streets
Never forgetting your way
Musty memories
Childhood friends
Love always despite the years


A summertime afternoon
Children laugh
Dangling feet in the cool brook
Rocking chair creaks
Delicious prairie breeze
Love at home


no peace from the drought
nor clouds
only strife
the sun ever watching
The end of life


struggling to move
limbs like logs
eyelids heavy -
push out of the sheets
I love morning