And the Winners Are...

Today is the day I got to draw for winners of the free copies of Fightball: Dying of Suck by Kris Wehrmeister

It was done with minimal technology. I wrote all the names on slips of paper, wadded them up, and threw them on top of my current crochet project.

Over the course of an hour I blindly reached for a crumpled bit and unfolded. I did this three times, because...three winners.

Since I use blogger as opposed to the wildly popular and evidently more user friendly WordPress, I have no idea how to get in touch with two of those winners.

They'll have to find me. Or perhaps I'll have the author track them down, she is the one who has to mail those crisp copies out.

In the meantime, I will simply type randomness as I consider my next attempt to locate and inform the winners.

I crocheted a briefcase for the grandson. (He will not be required to carry it in public.)

I wrote a fiction on the other blog. Elsetime & Otherwhen (pssst...I don't do the funny, I leave that up to Kris, I do the weird.)

I wrapped Christmas presents.

I need to get on the tree thing, I only have one so far this year. That is unacceptable, this is what Christmas at my house is supposed to look like.

I need to find a way to notify the winners.

I need Kris to reply to my twitter message.

I suppose a nice person would get on with the posting of the winners' names.

Wonder what's for dinner tonight. I think I forgot to get something out of the freezer.

Ok, enough of that.

The winners are:

Angela of A Work in Progress


Kim of Glimpse from a Distance

and.....

Patricia Lynne at Patricia Lynne, Independent Author

So winners, be excited! (Especially the part where I twitter found you, bwahahaha!)

Once you've received that extra special prize, READ IT and laugh out loud!

Then make sure you mosey on over to Amazon and leave a review.

In the meantime I better go rummage through the freezer...

Nano Rant

I'm taking a few minutes from the Nanowrimo insanity to Rant about the experience.

For those not in the loop, nanowrimo stands for NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth. That's where all the writers in the universe jump into the crazy pool and attempt to crank out 50,000 words in 30 days. Those days being November 1st through 30th.

Maybe not all writers. Just those of us who need the kick in the behind to create a good, daily, writing habit.

Wait, not that either. That's me, I needed the butt kick.

So I sat with the laptop and looked at the blank page and said, "Hmmmm."

Okay, so I planned, kinda. I'm not much of a planner though. I'm what is called a pantser. That means I start a story with no clue where I'm going.

Actually I usually know how it starts. And where I want it to end. It's the getting there that is a mystery to me.

I wasn't disappointed. I started with the crazy idea of using some flash fiction I'd written over on the other blog, Elsetime & Otherwhen. I picked some random stories with completely unrelated characters and threw them together in an adventure.

And those that know me, know that there is likely magic, monsters, and probably some strange twists along the way.

About those twists.

I have been regularly surprised at some of the stuff these characters are up to. I start thinking about what's next and all the sudden these strange happenings fall out of my fingers and onto the page.

What?

I also had a full set of characters. Characters that I didn't know very well. It's that flash fiction thing, they only existed in about 500 words or less.

Probably explains some of the surprises. Now that they have more time they aren't shy about letting me know more about them. Like these new characters they meet along the way.

Wait.

I'm just getting to know you guys and you throw more characters at me??

And I found that I'd be creating an entire new world. Which needed flora, fauna, and a map.

I need a map.

Oh dear.

Don't get me wrong, I'm having fun.

I've attempted Nanowrimo twice before and halfway through I failed. Never finished.

This time I'm going to reach that 50,000 words.

The characters said so.

Wednesday?

Been keeping myself entertained.

I've managed to write some stuff. You are more than welcome, in fact encouraged to check out the other blog, Elsetime & Otherwhen where I hide write the weird stuff I see in my head and relate the stories those voices keep telling me.

And for reasons I can't explain, I have begun crocheting Christmas presents. I have attempted this in the past.
It has never gone well. I clearly remember wrapping up half finished projects for my family. Strangely those projects never did get finished.

Whatever. That was fifty (OMG) yes, fifty years ago.
Things are different now.  I'm old.

So Many Things to Do, So Much Life

It's been a long couple of weeks.

Two weeks ago was the loss of my long time fur friend, which I wrote about here.

Last week was a crisis of the extended family which I will not write about. It's not my story, but did have an impact on my immediate family.

But now I have hauled my butt back to the keyboard.

I need to get back to my story,  Renewal, that I've been writing on Wattpad.com.
I need to keep working on my random flash fiction stories on the other blog Elsetime and Otherwhen.

And I need to get back to the things I'm trying to accomplish around this house.

I did manage, in my time away from working, to reorganize my kitchen.

Get my Christmas horde semi-controlled.

My project now is to go through the gazillion pictures scattered around this house. They have been tossed into boxes, haphazardly slipped into albums, and many are still in the envelopes from which ever photo service was used to develop them.

Pictures of Christmases past. Many of my parents with my daughter. Some pictures from the distant past of relatives gone long before I was born.

I call it my ancestral archeology.

There are still farmer's market to browse, since the garden was not at its best this year. I've been able to get some canning and freezing done, but not as much as I'd wanted.

Although, I did succeed at sauerkraut this year!

And of course my long love affair with yarn. I'm trying very, very hard to use up the yarn stash before I buy new yarn.
(No, no I'm not.  I already have new yarn plans.)

So...enough boring life. Off to elsetime. To write stories of otherwhen.

The Rants ARE Alive and Mostly Well

Well, is this not the saddest thing ever.  I haven't been here in a year and a half.  Hopefully I can get back more often.

Things have changed, the restaurant that had begun to be more pain than pleasure is now a thing of the past Tennis' Ramble Inn closed its doors for good on May 31st. It was a wild weekend. Too many hours worked, so many customers in mourning. We had a great thirty years. But it was time to end.

Due to that ending, I am temporarily unemployed.  And. I. Love. It. It's been thirty-two years since I've been out of a job, and that was only a month. Yes, I will have to find some form of employment, but not for a little while. I plan on looking in September.

This summer is mine!

It has been only two and half months since I've worked, there was the selling of equipment and gutting of a building to be done before it was all over.

So how have I gone from seventy hour work weeks to too much time on my hands?

The first week was spent luxuriating in sleeping in every morning. Until 5:30 am.

Hey, that was sleeping in, I'd been getting up around 4:00 am for years.  It has stretched to about 6:30 now, with the occaisional 7:00.

The hardest part was figuring out what to do. I had a gagillion plans. Including getting back to writing.  The other blog, Elsetime & Otherwhen has seen a little action. But it took some time to get back in the swing. There are a few new stories on the other blog.  And I've been putting some of my older stories (edited a little) onto WattPad.  I'm even working on completing one of my never ending works in progress.

I had to get a scheduling app, I wanted to get so much done I ended up overwhelming myself and accomplishing nothing. I ended up with Schedule Planner Pro for my Kindle.  It has issues now and then, but suffices for my purposes.

I set aside time each day to write. I schedule my daily "chores", things the husband was doing since I was at work ten to twelve hours a day. Each day is scheduled a "big project", rearranging the living room, harvesting crops from the garden. We pulled the fish tanks out of storage and got them up and running again. I needed to organize the Christmas tree hoarde, So much more to do,

I have been doing more at home cooking. Even baking bread! And the kitchen has been organized better. One thing done on the list,

For the first time since we moved back to the family home, I've had time to pick enough of the wild raspberries to make jam.  The Best Crop of Peas ever has already been picked, shelled, blanched, and frozen. Corn and green beans are coming along. And why would anyone ever plant more than one zucchini? That's all I have, but it's making more than I know what to do with.

That is likely enough Rant for today.  But as things progress, I'll be back.

Or you can find me on twitter @2old2tap
And Pinterest, same handle.
I'm here and there on the internets, See you there.

A Return to the Rants for a Life Update

So here I am, back at the old blog.  It's been almost a year since I've posted here.  I usually spend my words on the sister blog, Elsetime & Otherwhen.  That's where I stretch my creative writing muscles.  Though lately they've been stiff and unmoving.

Doesn't mean I'm totally idle, though.  I have been busy.

The restaurant eats most of my time.  Seven days a week, ten to twelve hours a day.  For the last year.  We listed it for sale back in August.  I'm ready to move on.  Just waiting for a buyer now.

So, since the Muse has been silent lately, I've found other things to do to entertain myself.

***

My newest adventure is DIY-ing.  I've started making my own chemical free stuff.
Stuff like...laundry soap, shampoo, lotions, sugar scrubs, and shower steamies.  My next experiment will be in making my own soap.
When I started, it was just for fun.  It's also less expensive than the store bought products.  As I learn more about the chemicals and additives in the commercial brands, it is beginning to be a lifestyle choice.

(And it's fun as well.)

***

Of course, I still have my ongoing love affair with yarn.  And bowling (a love/hate relationship).  And I'm already starting to get spring fever.  Ready to start sorting seeds and get the gardens going.


In the last month I read several books, which was wonderful.  It had been far too long since I just curled up and read.  Most have been books by my writerly friends.

Eric Storch's "Impenetrable Falsehoods"
Cameron D. Garriepy's  "From the Earth to the Moon"
Lance Burson's "The Ballad of Helene Troy"
"Echoes in Darkness" an anthology featuring many of my writing friends.
"Precipice 13" the second collection from the Write on Edge group, where I post my stories when I can find them.
"Embryo 2" by JA Schneider

Next on the list is Stephanie Ayers' "Til Death Do Us Part"

There are so many more I've read or are on my to read list.  Most of them by indie authors I've met on Twitter or Facebook.
Patricia Lynne, Andrew M. Crusoe, Tui Snyder, Molly Campbell, Shelton Keys Dunning, JM Gull, Rayne Hall....I can't name them all.  But, give the indie authors some support.
Someday I hope to be one of them.

***

As to my own writing, I have been slowly working on cleaning up a few stories.  Trying to put something publishable together.
A friend has also been trying to construct a real live web site for me.  Hopefully it'll be up and running in a few months.  I will undoubtedly make her crazy with tweaks and whistles and bells and stuff.  Between her job and mine, the building will be slow and careful.  Fair warning, when it is done, I'll be trumpeting all over the social media.

***

That's about it, I think.  You may see me lurking in the corners of Twitter, @2old2tap, or hanging around the Facebook sharing cat pictures.  I have even been know to haunt Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, and even Tumbler every now and then.  Don't hesitate to wave if you see me.

Quarterly Update?

Yes, yes.  I know it's been four months since I bothered to write here.  It's just that I never seem to have anything much to say.  At least in real life.  Now go visit the "sister blog", Elsetime & Otherwhen, and you'll see where I'm wasting spending my time.  And words. (I write weirdo stuff, just so you know)

So, now a trek into the last few months of my Real Life:

I lost one of my key employees at the restaurant, so I've been on 7 days a week since late August.  That is hopefully about to change.  I've got a plan, should have a day off every week starting a week from now.  Fingers crossed.

In December my third grandchild was born.  Another granddaughter.  She was born a toddler, 10 lbs, 15 oz.
And she is, of course, beautiful.  Just like her mother and siblings.

I'm not one for resolutions, so I didn't make any.

I have, though, promised myself to work harder on my creative writing.  So far, so good.  That means the "sister blog" has been getting a workout the past week.  Here's hoping I can keep it up!

Let's see....

Oh Yeah!  For those that follow my tweets or my Facebook feed, you all know I'm a Christmas tree lover.  I managed to do 14 trees.  I've threatened to let my friends and followers help me with color combos next Christmas.  We'll see if I can remember that for a whole year.

That's been about all the excitement around here.  Hope to be back here sooner. <3

I've Been Busy

It has been a hectic few weeks.


I finished my fundraising stint for Muscular Dystrophy.  My friends and family helped me raise $505.00 for the MDA.  Thanks again to all who contributed cash and moral support. (this is the worst pic ever!)

The derecho that blew through on June 29th left a big mess in the yard.  We're still cleaning up.  We were one of the lucky households, we never lost power.

I played with my other blog, Elsetime & Otherwhen, a little.  Added some new pages to try and organize some of the related stories.  Actually wrote something too!                                            

Finally got almost all my profile pictures changed out since the haircut.

And been busy with work as usual, restaurants are demanding creatures. 

Oh, and spoiling grandchildren.  OHOHOH!  Grandchild number 3 is on the way!  Due in November.

That's it.  For now....



Random Rambles from a Day Off

I should be ashamed.  I haven't posted here since February.  I have been writing.  Sort of.  On my other blog. Elsetime & Otherwhen, where I practice my writing.  Cause I am a writer.  There.  I said it, or wrote it.

Now, from the more mundane world of me.  I was going to do this yesterday, but just didn't get it done.

Yesterday was my day off.  And it was a good one.  I managed to get the kitchen cleaned, again.  Get a roast in the crockpot and write a couple hundred words on a story I'm playing with.  All by noon.  Go Me!!

Then I did a lot of nothing.  Isn't that what days off are for?

Yes.  I thought so.

I have been busy though.  The restaurant takes a lot of my time.  Worrying about the restaurant takes a lot of my time.  Although things have been going a lot better than this time last year.

And the garden is doing well.  Already harvested radishes and peas.  The green beans look good, and the tomatoes are blossoming already.

I canned some peas and froze some.  I've eaten most of the radishes.  I have this awesome recipe for cooking them. 

Just take some radishes, small can be left whole, halve or quarter larger ones, add some green onion, saute in browned butter for a bit.  Then add about a half cup of water, salt and pepper to taste, cover and simmer until fork tender.   MMMMM!

I've also been obsessively been spinning yarn.  I have a drop spindle and apparently way to much time to waste.

Next I want to save for a ridiculously expensive loom so I can weave my yarn into something useful.  I had the opportunity to play with a loom a couple weeks ago.  So much fun!

What else can I babble about?

Hmm.  Oh yes.  Grandchildren. (You knew that was coming, right?)  The grandson is my great love, he's so smart and quite the character besides.  The granddaughter, (yes I love her too) is such a handful!  Very independent and headstrong.  She has to be watched all the time or she's into something.

That's about all the excitement in my world.  How about yours?

My Intro

Hello Story Dam Peoples!

I'm Renee.

I'm looking forward to meeting everyone over the next couple of months.  I'm doing the insanity called NaNoWriMo, so I may be a sporadic poster in November.

So far? It's good days and hard days.  It's really not as easy as I hoped to write crap!

I used to write in high school, but then got involved with a job and life.  I returned to writing, after 40 years, through The Red Dress Club, now known as Write on Edge.  I have enjoyed it thoroughly, and am looking forward to get into writing with Story Dam.  Brandi and Brandon have really put a great thing together here.

Besides writing, I enjoy bowling and crocheting, and all other fiber arts.  If there's a hook or needle and some kind of string, yarn, or thread, I love it.  I've even spun some of my own yarn with a drop spindle.

Oh yes, and my BIG enjoyment right now is my grandkids.  Because they are just awesome.

I keep two blogs, one (this one) for everyday stuff, I call  Random Rants
The blog I use for creative crap, er writing is Elsetime & Otherwhen

I also spend a lot of time on Twitter  @2old2tap

Thanks again to Brandi and Brandon for this opportunity!

Come Write With Me

I started this blog ten months ago. September 2010.   I'm an intermittent blogger. Sometimes I have a story to tell. Most times not. My life is not full of excitement.

When I first met bloggers on Twitter, I tried to read my little group daily. I did a good job.  I convinced myself I could do this, too. After all, I'd kept a journal for years.

So, I would sporadically throw a post out, I'd read posts from my first little group. My "network" began to grow a bit.

It got harder to keep up my reading. It got harder to find interesting things to write about.  But?  I like to write. When the mood (muse?) is with me.

So, silly me, I started a second blog in November.  A place to write poems. Create stories. I kept it hidden. Until February.  I took a deep breath, and tweeted the link to my other site, Elsetime & Otherwhen.  And in February, I wrote my first post for a prompt from The Red Dress Club, a blog site for people who want to write and get feedback from other writers.

I've written flash fiction, fantasy, a poem, many memories, and even a short horror story. Some of my stuff is badly done, but I think I've improved a bit.  I don't do all of the prompts, sometimes it's time issues. Sometimes I'm just blank. But I appreciate that it is there.

So, if I haven't posted here for a while, click the link on the right, the one with the glowy kitty eyes.  Chances are I've written something over there. It may or may not be of interest.

It may inspire some to join me in this adventure in writing. Anyone can join.  If you write somewhere else, let me know.  I'll find a day to fit you into my reading list.

The more the merrier.

My Daughter is Da Bomb!

I posted about memory for a writing prompt.
But I couldn't remember all the words for one of the songs I listed. Within minutes my daughter, the smartest kid in the known universe, found and sent me the lyrics. And here they are:

"Song-Fong-Lo was painted on a saucer
Wing-Tee-Wee was on a fan
Song-Fong-Lo he came across her
On the dressing stand. 

They both had travelled many miles on the sea
Each gave the other smiles of sweet sympathy

Song-Fong fell in love with Wee ,
Singing tenderly
Wee, please come with me
And let's  go back to dreamy lotus land

There 'mid flower fair
I swear to love you, love you
'Neath the magic moon above you

Wee, I love but thee
Just wait and see 
That wondrous dream I've planned 

I'll leave my saucer
You leave your fan
And let's go back to dreamy lotus land

Wing-Tee-Wee as soon as he had spoken
Came from off her silken fan
In her hurry she was broken
No more can she stand. 

Poor little Song-Fong with the tears in his eye
Stands all alone and wishes he too could die

As he dreams the dreams gone by
Each night he must sigh,
Wee, please come with me
And let's  go back to dreamy lotus land

There 'mid flower fair
I swear to love you, love you
'Neath the magic moon above you

Wee, I love but thee
Just wait and see 
That wondrous dream I've planned 

I'll leave my saucer
You leave your fan
And let's go back to dreamy lotus land"

The Most Useless Post Ever

It's been a long week.

Work was not a fun place this week.  Had to "break up" with a long time employee.  That was one of the hardest things I've had to do.
Home was a little better.  Hubby dear has suddenly become the happy house husband.  Which is awesome!  I've been working a lot more hours lately, so it's great to come home to no housework.  He is retired, so it's okay.
While paying my water bill this month, I got to talk to a human!  And was told my bill was way higher than it should be and there must be a leak.  I explained we'd just repaired a running toilet.  She said, NO.  Bigger than that.  Oh no. 
We checked everywhere for water. Nothing.
Friday, I came home to a mess in the kitchen.  Hubby dear had torn the bottom out of the kitchen sink cabinet.  Wow.  It goes directly to a crawl space under there.  There was copper pipe.  Coming from the ground.  Going?  Nowhere, it was capped off.  And leaking like an artisan spring.  Wonderful.
It was a line, that 50 years ago, was hooked to a washer that was on the long gone back porch.  Really?  When that remodel was done in the '70's, we couldn't have taken care of that?
Evidently not.
However, through the purest form of dumb luck, we found line in the basement that was feeding it.  It is not feeding any more.  Fixed.  YAY!

Also this week, on a kinda positive note, I made my first clumsy attempt at fiction at the The Red Dress Club with this post Whispers .  I make no promise of quality.

Now I'm just working on relaxing.  I know there's some wine here.  Somewhere.