Stuart Blair in Adelaide, Australia conducted an email interview with me recently. It turned out very well and was released today.
To catch the interview, simply email your request (to be added as a subscriber) to the following email address. It's free and a lot of fun to see what's happening Down Under in the Sci Fi world!
scifireporter@yahoo.com
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In other news:
Jackie and I took advantage of the great weather this weekend and rode bikes for 15 miles one day. We walked the next day. Our legs are fine but we have to do something about the saddles of our bikes, for sure!
I have everything memorized for Friday's test with the Police Department (I've applied to become a Communication Officer and Dispatcher) and am waiting with 'bated breath to have it behind me so I can get on to the next step, if next step there be. I had to familiarize myself with "Dispatcher Speak" (Adam, Boy, Charles, David, Edward, Frank, George, Henry.... X-Ray, Young, Zebra, etc) and abbreviations so they won't slow me down during the test.
Bought some plants for the walk-way in front, thinking we'd be having a Broker's Open House today, but the Realtor cancelled until next week. (What we have here is a failure to communicate. Grrrrr....) I hope the plants continue to look as great next week as they do right now!
All for now. I need to get some breakfast under my belt and go get a li'l pencil sharpener. Friday's test requires two sharpened Number 2 pencils and I don't use pencils at all, so the ones I do have haven't been sharpened yet. They will be soon!
Enjoy the interview and please let others know how to access it -- and this blog!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
This, From Jaycee of Ventura County...
I’ve been wondering why so many people want to cling so tightly to this notion that Barack is all talk and no specifics, even though there is clearly little difference between the two candidates on policy proposals. It’s campaign spin, obviously, but it really seems to resonate with the uninformed for some reason.
It occurs to me that maybe people are just listening to snippets of their stump speeches, and they hear Hillary deliver her laundry list of proposals while Barack talks more in broad themes and soaring rhetoric. That’s just style, people; let’s not mistake style on the stump for a lack of substance. I suppose it’s just a question of taste, but when I listen to a stump speech I want to be inspired. I want to hear in broad terms where the candidate intends to lead us. If I want policy specifics I read books or policy papers.
The most that Hillary or Barack can say at this point anyway is what they want to do if elected. What they are actually able to do in office depends entirely on their ability to rally public support and play well with others. We aren’t choosing a dictator or CEO here. You can’t simply get elected and implement your wondrous plan. You have to convince a sizeable majority of legislators that it’s in their interest to work with you.
How many Republican legislators are going to think that it’s in their political interest to help Hillary Clinton score a major political triumph like a government mandated health care system? I can say with confidence that the number will be pretty close to zero. Their jobs depend on voters whose knees jerk in unison at the mere mention of Bill or Hillary Clinton. Government mandates aren’t wildly popular with this crowd either. What good is a plan that stays on paper?
Barack doesn’t start out with thirty five years worth of bad blood and a bunker mentality. He respects those he disagrees with and they know it.
We need to decide here what it is we really want.
Are we only interested in chalking one up for our side or are we serious about getting things done for the American people? With little to distinguish between them on policy proposals; the important question is not which candidate has more experience or the better plan. The real question is which candidate can best rally public support and enlist the cooperation of traditional political enemies to address the challenges faced by the American people?
I think the answer to that question is pretty obvious.
From FirstRead http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/02/14/664089.aspx
Superdelegate Dilemma and the Democratic Party
I have just one comment to make to the superdelegates: If you steal the election for Hillary Clinton, when the mood of the country is so obviously for Barack Obama to become the Democratic nominee, you will be stealing the election as surely as Bush did in 2000 and 2008. If you want Democrats to vote, for sure, for the Democratic nominee, you'd best follow the will of the people.
I would be saying this same thing if I favored Clinton and the situation were reversed.
For once let's have a real contest (not a bartered and battered one) and get the person most of us apparently want as the nominee...
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Frankly, I imagine that even the superdelegates are being swayed by the candidacy of Barack Obama, so the above may be a moot point. This is a historic event, no matter which way it works out for the Democratic Party. I just know that, while Hillary can break through the "glass ceiling" for women in this country, Barack can break through it for ALL people -- and that, to me, should happen sooner than breaking through it for one sector of the population. It's time for America to live by its stated fundamental values and ideals. It has been a long, long time coming...
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Response From Alison Winter -- (Senorita Invierno)
Received this lovely email from Alison in the U.K. Her perspective on the U.S. system is worth the read. Many other Brits and a few Aussies, Germans and Japanese have told me they're for Obama, too. So I know the world is watching...
Just a note to say sorry to hear about Poppy. Very sad. I just remember the photo of her in that tree from your book!
Well done for your activism as far as Obama is concerned. The rest of the world is hoping for a Democrat - mostly because we take a beating when the Republicans are in! I have to say I warm much more to Obama than Hillary, but the idea of John McCain makes my blood boil.
The only reason I can understand what is going on is because, like so many Brits, I've watched The West Wing. As fictional as it is, it helps to educate us on the U.S. political system which is vastly different to ours. It looks like a bit of a game show, to be honest! However, if Martin Sheen was president the world would be far more peaceful!
If America is to re-capture it's name built on freedom, diversity and opportunity, then Obama is the obvious choice. I get quite angry with the 'women vote' or the 'black vote' idea - really, if people vote based on such irrelevant detail then they should have their vote revoked!!!! [Emphasis Kris's.]
So much more interesting than British politics. Our parties are the same (our main two, Conservative, who don't care about poor people and any problems in the world, and Labour, who say they do but are actually also conservative when no-one's looking. Privately educated white boys agreeing with everyone else!) The third party - the Liberal Democrats - do care about green issues and are much more open to international relations. I am a member of that party, though they are a minority party. They opposed the war in Iraq, for a start!
Hope springs eternal....
I'll leave you with a hug. Keep up the good work. Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words..... etc xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Don't forget to keep up with Alison's doings and ponderings at
http://senoritainvierno.blogspot.com/
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Washington State Caucus -- What a Circus!
I just returned from caucasing for Barack Obama in my precinct. I was a Precinct Captain --more or less by default; only one of the participants had ever caucased before; I hadn't either. That sweet gal became my mathematician, because I'm an utter failure when it comes to convoluted mathematical formulas.
44 people showed up in our precinct -- by far a record -- and we caucased and garnered 11 delegates for Obama and 3 for Clinton. It was quite a coup, because at first three folks signed in as undecided/uncommitted and one signed in as a Kucinich supporter.
A Clinton supporter was invited to speak first. She said a few words -- very few, perhaps fifteen seconds' worth. I asked for more speakers on her behalf, but no one else came forward (of the eleven who had signed in as supporting her). Then I asked for Obama supporters to speak. When no one stepped forward, I gave about a minute and a half spiel about why I feel he's what the country needs right now and how I felt he was more than an equal match for McCain. I also said that while a Clinton candidacy would break through the glass window for women once and for all, an Obama candidacy would break though every kind of ceiling for everyone whose futures are presently conscripted, not just women.
The three undecided and the Kucinich supporters switched to Obama on the second go-'round, and even one of the Clinton supporters switched her vote to Obama. So all movement at our table on the second and final vote was toward Obama.
It was the same at every other table in the place, apparently -- and well over 4,000 people showed up to caucas. As I turned in my paperwork at the end of the event, the man overseeing the entire event was saying, "Based on what I'm seeing, Obama swept this place today."
Obama is going to sweep more than our caucus location. I believe he's going to go all the way, as he should.
He's the man for these times. People want to feel hopeful again and to know their futures aren't going to remain stagnant under "same-ol' same'ol'" political machinations.
Listen to what people are saying around you. The hope and excitement over this year's Presidential race is palpable.
For good reason!
Friday, February 8, 2008
WOW! What a Turnout in Seattle for Obama!
I drove to Seattle this morning to see Barack Obama in person at Key Arena. The place holds 17,000 people comfortably and 20,000 uncomfortably -- and every nook and cranny was packed beyond capacity. But there still wasn't enough room: 3,000 more people stood outside Key Arena in windy cold and drizzle, but stay they did, for every word, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The doors opened at 11 but Obama didn't speak until 1:10 or so. At about 12:15 other officials began to file in and take up the microphone to say a few words. A local musician went on and on interminably about a new song he had written for Obama, and then showed a music video of a choir singing it that went on and on and on. We could have done with much less intro and the music video alone... but that was the only missed beat in the event.
Just before Obama came onto the platform, Congressman Adam Smith, one of the first people to start the ball rolling in Washington State for Obama's campaign, was introduced and warmly welcomed by the crowd. He then introduced Mayor Nickels who said a few words.
The big surprise came next. Out came Governor Christine Gregoire, who surprised and pleased the whole place by announcing,then and there for the first time, her support for Obama. Democratic Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell had earlier in the month announced their support for Senator Clinton, so we all were wondering if the Governor would follow suit, but she tickled everyone in attendance with this energetic, skillful and joyous announcement.
When Obama came on, the place roared, stomped, yelled, screamed and chanted, "Obama! Obama! Obama!" and when he said we, as a nation, can reclaim our soul (I'm paraphrasing the content of his messsage), the crowd chanted, "Yes, We Can!" echoing an earlier speech he made that has morphed into a campaign song that's running wild in cyberspace. (It's also available on his website at http://www.barackobama.com/.)
He spoke for about 45 minutes. He had the people in the palm of his hand. I was near tears before he came on as I looked around at the rainbow of colors, creeds, nationalities, and both genders of all ages-- all gathered and with such hope and enthusiasm in their eyes and stances.
I can't even imagine a better way to move forward than with Barack Obama. He has captured our imaginations and has transformed a ho-hum sense of inevitable sameness within the political system into an electric, energetic, hope-filled movement.
He has a very large percentage of the world thinking "Yes, We Can!" again.
And yes -- we can -- with leadership like his!
The doors opened at 11 but Obama didn't speak until 1:10 or so. At about 12:15 other officials began to file in and take up the microphone to say a few words. A local musician went on and on interminably about a new song he had written for Obama, and then showed a music video of a choir singing it that went on and on and on. We could have done with much less intro and the music video alone... but that was the only missed beat in the event.
Just before Obama came onto the platform, Congressman Adam Smith, one of the first people to start the ball rolling in Washington State for Obama's campaign, was introduced and warmly welcomed by the crowd. He then introduced Mayor Nickels who said a few words.
The big surprise came next. Out came Governor Christine Gregoire, who surprised and pleased the whole place by announcing,then and there for the first time, her support for Obama. Democratic Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell had earlier in the month announced their support for Senator Clinton, so we all were wondering if the Governor would follow suit, but she tickled everyone in attendance with this energetic, skillful and joyous announcement.
When Obama came on, the place roared, stomped, yelled, screamed and chanted, "Obama! Obama! Obama!" and when he said we, as a nation, can reclaim our soul (I'm paraphrasing the content of his messsage), the crowd chanted, "Yes, We Can!" echoing an earlier speech he made that has morphed into a campaign song that's running wild in cyberspace. (It's also available on his website at http://www.barackobama.com/.)
He spoke for about 45 minutes. He had the people in the palm of his hand. I was near tears before he came on as I looked around at the rainbow of colors, creeds, nationalities, and both genders of all ages-- all gathered and with such hope and enthusiasm in their eyes and stances.
I can't even imagine a better way to move forward than with Barack Obama. He has captured our imaginations and has transformed a ho-hum sense of inevitable sameness within the political system into an electric, energetic, hope-filled movement.
He has a very large percentage of the world thinking "Yes, We Can!" again.
And yes -- we can -- with leadership like his!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Poppy and Deaken -- Together Again Across Rainbow Bridge
Sad but inevitable news: I had Poppy, my black-and-white cat, put to sleep this morning. She would have been 17 in April but developed internal tumors over the course of the past several months and started to hurt and yowl, so it was time. This is every pet owner's most difficult decision: When it's time to release a pet from its suffering, it is so very hard to do...
But I take comfort in knowing that she is with her "papa Deaken" again, the serval "dad" she missed so much after he was put down 12 years ago at age 17 1/4. (You can read about Deaken and Poppy's relationship in my book about DeForest Kelley; expect to laugh and cry!) To see the two of them together -- an African serval cat and a domestic short hair a fourth his size -- playing and cavorting together was something I will never forget.
I know they're together again, just across Rainbow Bridge, where Deaken has four legs and Poppy has her health and vitality back. I expect to see them when I get to heaven. If there are no animals in heaven, it won't be heaven to those of us who have an affinity for all of God's creations.
But I take comfort in knowing that she is with her "papa Deaken" again, the serval "dad" she missed so much after he was put down 12 years ago at age 17 1/4. (You can read about Deaken and Poppy's relationship in my book about DeForest Kelley; expect to laugh and cry!) To see the two of them together -- an African serval cat and a domestic short hair a fourth his size -- playing and cavorting together was something I will never forget.
I know they're together again, just across Rainbow Bridge, where Deaken has four legs and Poppy has her health and vitality back. I expect to see them when I get to heaven. If there are no animals in heaven, it won't be heaven to those of us who have an affinity for all of God's creations.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Hey! I'm Working For Barack! (As a Volunteer)
Starting tonight from 5 pm to 9 pm I will be helping "man"the phone banks here in Tacoma for Barack Obama!
I applied to help at his website (http://www.barackobama.com/) and received a call this morning from a lady named Stephanie who asked if I have time to volunteer evenings until the Washington State caucus comes around on February 9th. I'd be happy to do that! I can imagine nothing better to be doing in the evenings, and I'm good on the phone. The call center is just four miles away, so it'll be a breeze to get there and help out. Wish my Obama t-shirt would get here so I could wear it to "work"! Maybe they have one there I can get...
I'll take a resume and letters of recommendation along to the Obama station in case there are people looking for a good employee during the day. It would be so great to work with people who share my enthusiasm for Obama, and perhaps even to work in the political arena in some capacity.
What's amusing and exciting is the way even the Kennedy family has been split by the Democratic prospects: Maria Shriver (Governor Arnold's wife), Ethel Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, and Senator Kennedy have all come out for Barack while I believe all of RFK's kids have come out for Clinton. They must have some interesting discussions around their dinner tables -- as we all should! Good people with good intentions often have differing opinions on who should be the party's nominee. That's healthy as long as we keep it civilized and safe!
This will be a record-turnout year for voting, I believe. People are energized and invested in the outcome in a huge way. It's exciting! I hope all of you who live in the U.S. will get involved in the process in your spare time. I mean in an active way -- helping to get out the vote, encouraging people not to sit on the sidelines. Even if you're a Republican or an Independent or a Greenie or a Whatever, I want to see you out there having your say. That's what makes America great. When we all get involved, we get truly representative government. When we sit on the sidelines, we "deserve" what we get -- and it's usually pretty dismal. BUT NOT THIS YEAR! IN 2008 someone new will be elected President! Who do you think can best energize and redeem our nation in the eyes of the world? If you keep it civil, I'll be happy to publish your opinions here in my blog! Have your say but remember -- one of these candidates will be our next President and I want deference and respect shown within your comments. Civility is the premier sign of civilization. I'm sick of the Circus Maximus, kill or be killed, ambiance that too many "commentators" are using to make their case. It doesn't serve America well...
Let's resurrect Bobby Kennedy's goal: "Some men see things as they are and say, Why?' I dream things that never were and say, 'Why not?'"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6xyhBMMFlY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Bo-LShvZXY&feature=related
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I walked this morning for 45 minutes (fast!) and my Realtor will be by at 3:00 or 3:30 so I can sign papers to lower the price on my condo by $5K. We need to get it sold by March 22nd if we're going to get the house Jackie and I found that we love so much. Please keep me in your prayers for that...
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Happy Birthday, Jackie! And More...
Today is Jackie's birthday. (Jackie is my younger sister, for those of you new to this blog.) She and I had to celebrate it yesterday because she's on her way to a memorial service in Oregon this morning and may not be back until tomorrow sometime. We went to Red Lobster for lunch and had a good time. Then I went to her house and bathed her two wee dogs for her and washed their bedding, to take that task off her plate for the weekend. She said that was the best present of all!
It's cold outside but Pierce County has largely escaped all the snowing and blowing that has been in the news lately. Snoqualmie Pass across the Cascade mountain range has received national attention for its record snowfall over the past six days. It has been closed to through traffic since Tuesday except for six hours, when yet another avalanche put the kibosh on any more travel.
I used to live just on the other side of Snoqualmie Pass. in Cle Elum (klee-ell-um), Washington. Rarely does it need to be shut down. It's a major artery so many of our food supplies come across it. Even the alternate routes across the Cascades were blocked by heavy snows and avalanche danger much of the week, so if vehicles needed to get across, they had to go south and travel along the Columbia River (between Washington and Oregon) to do it. The problem with that was that at 60 cents per mile in gas for the big rigs, it was a route too far and would have caused carriers to lose money instead of making it, so most drivers elected to sit tight and wait for the highways to become passable again... No one could tell, from hour to hour, whether or if the roads would be safe again, so it had to be really frustrating for drivers.
Here in the Tacoma area it's cold and occasionally a little wet, but I've been able to walk outside the past two days. The exercise is keeping me from going stir-crazy while I apply for jobs left and right. That's a good thing!
Jackie promises to be back in town by the time Super Bowl starts. She is the official "game house" for Super Bowl every year. Wendy is taking on the responsibility of gathering the party goods, since Jackie isn't here to do it.
I always go over for Super Bowl Sunday but never watch the game. We gals gather in another room (unless the Seahawks are playing) to talk or do crafts or play with the kidlets. The men are glued to the TV set watching every play and nuance as though the fate of the world rested on what happens there. It always cracks me up -- more than a little. I would run in and say, "Hello! It's just a game!" but fear assassination..
I wish people were as focused on the upcoming election of a new President -- it has far greater consequences -- but that isn't exactly a "team sport" unless the house is filled with like-minded people, and believe me, Jackie's isn't. We're all over the map as far as who should lead us for the next four to eight years, so we steer clear of that topic for the most part (except that I got Jackie an Obama-based birthday card yesterday -- she scowled and then laughed).
It's sad to realize that the issues that most affect us -- our religion and politics -- are two topics most people don't bring up in "polite company." One reason I'm not crazy about one-on-one conversation is that it's nearly always excruciatingly (to me) superficial; no one wants to carefully or seriously discuss (meaning listening carefully as well as talking convincingly) the issues and the feelings we have about candidates, God or anything else that's of such a personal nature. We're fearful of causing someone else to become self-conscious or self-righteous or in any way seriously impassioned, so we don't discuss much at all! That has always bothered me. I remember nights as a teenager when we ONLY discussed the most important things in life as we lay on sleeping bags gazing up at the trillion and one stars in the sky. No one castigated anyone else for believing anything, whatever it was. It was all on the table... we could wonder and compel others to wonder "What if ---" right along with us.
I am compelled right now to wonder what our nation would be like with another President Clinton, with a President Obama, with a President McCain.
My heart utterly sings when I think of Obama as President. The notion makes me feel completely peaceful, as though I'll be able to take a complete breath and feel good about government and getting involved again.
My heart is not as happy (although it's content) contemplating a President Clinton -- not because I don't think she'll do a good job, but because she comes with so much baggage that half of the nation despises her -- quite unfairly, in my opinion. The spin meisters have spun such a web of gossip and innuendo about her that her actual shape and intentions are completely obliterated. That's shameful. It's barbaric. And frankly, it stinks!
But my heart almost stops considering a President McCain. He's thoughtful, caring, and fully capable of presiding over this nation -- as are the other front-runners on both sides. I just sense that he's not on the same page as the rest of the country and that he's dedicated to seeing to it that we "win at all costs" in Iraq. I don't think we'll head in the direction we should, as fast as we should, if McCain wins this election. He's a military man in an increasingly military world. I'm glad he's on our side, but I'm not sure we can afford more militarism at a time when it's so easy to steal, buy, sell and dispense weapons of mass destruction on all sides. I know we need a strong military -- perhaps now more than ever -- but other methods need to take to the forefront if we're ever going to get other nations to stop rattling sabers and hating us. We're viewed (I think incorrectly) as imperialists even by our own allies! America needs to do as much listening as we do talking (and dictating) to others.
I'm just not sure McCain is the man for the hour we're now in. I honor him as a human being and as a war hero. I like him. We need him in this struggle. He provides balance and wisdom and substance. But the perceived "imbalance of imperialism" at the moment can, in my view, only be off-set by someone with fewer ties to the old regime, to the earlier thought processes that brought us to where we are now: as a nation under a cloud of suspicion across the globe. Much of the suspicion, I hope and pray, will clear when Bush goes, but it will still take some doing to remove the tarnish from our nation's honor. We're a good country, one that shows people that living together despite differences is not just a dream, but a quantifiable reality.
I think we need a peacemaker, a diplomat, someone who will get America back on track with our original purpose and direction.
I think Barack Obama is that man.
It's cold outside but Pierce County has largely escaped all the snowing and blowing that has been in the news lately. Snoqualmie Pass across the Cascade mountain range has received national attention for its record snowfall over the past six days. It has been closed to through traffic since Tuesday except for six hours, when yet another avalanche put the kibosh on any more travel.
I used to live just on the other side of Snoqualmie Pass. in Cle Elum (klee-ell-um), Washington. Rarely does it need to be shut down. It's a major artery so many of our food supplies come across it. Even the alternate routes across the Cascades were blocked by heavy snows and avalanche danger much of the week, so if vehicles needed to get across, they had to go south and travel along the Columbia River (between Washington and Oregon) to do it. The problem with that was that at 60 cents per mile in gas for the big rigs, it was a route too far and would have caused carriers to lose money instead of making it, so most drivers elected to sit tight and wait for the highways to become passable again... No one could tell, from hour to hour, whether or if the roads would be safe again, so it had to be really frustrating for drivers.
Here in the Tacoma area it's cold and occasionally a little wet, but I've been able to walk outside the past two days. The exercise is keeping me from going stir-crazy while I apply for jobs left and right. That's a good thing!
Jackie promises to be back in town by the time Super Bowl starts. She is the official "game house" for Super Bowl every year. Wendy is taking on the responsibility of gathering the party goods, since Jackie isn't here to do it.
I always go over for Super Bowl Sunday but never watch the game. We gals gather in another room (unless the Seahawks are playing) to talk or do crafts or play with the kidlets. The men are glued to the TV set watching every play and nuance as though the fate of the world rested on what happens there. It always cracks me up -- more than a little. I would run in and say, "Hello! It's just a game!" but fear assassination..
I wish people were as focused on the upcoming election of a new President -- it has far greater consequences -- but that isn't exactly a "team sport" unless the house is filled with like-minded people, and believe me, Jackie's isn't. We're all over the map as far as who should lead us for the next four to eight years, so we steer clear of that topic for the most part (except that I got Jackie an Obama-based birthday card yesterday -- she scowled and then laughed).
It's sad to realize that the issues that most affect us -- our religion and politics -- are two topics most people don't bring up in "polite company." One reason I'm not crazy about one-on-one conversation is that it's nearly always excruciatingly (to me) superficial; no one wants to carefully or seriously discuss (meaning listening carefully as well as talking convincingly) the issues and the feelings we have about candidates, God or anything else that's of such a personal nature. We're fearful of causing someone else to become self-conscious or self-righteous or in any way seriously impassioned, so we don't discuss much at all! That has always bothered me. I remember nights as a teenager when we ONLY discussed the most important things in life as we lay on sleeping bags gazing up at the trillion and one stars in the sky. No one castigated anyone else for believing anything, whatever it was. It was all on the table... we could wonder and compel others to wonder "What if ---" right along with us.
I am compelled right now to wonder what our nation would be like with another President Clinton, with a President Obama, with a President McCain.
My heart utterly sings when I think of Obama as President. The notion makes me feel completely peaceful, as though I'll be able to take a complete breath and feel good about government and getting involved again.
My heart is not as happy (although it's content) contemplating a President Clinton -- not because I don't think she'll do a good job, but because she comes with so much baggage that half of the nation despises her -- quite unfairly, in my opinion. The spin meisters have spun such a web of gossip and innuendo about her that her actual shape and intentions are completely obliterated. That's shameful. It's barbaric. And frankly, it stinks!
But my heart almost stops considering a President McCain. He's thoughtful, caring, and fully capable of presiding over this nation -- as are the other front-runners on both sides. I just sense that he's not on the same page as the rest of the country and that he's dedicated to seeing to it that we "win at all costs" in Iraq. I don't think we'll head in the direction we should, as fast as we should, if McCain wins this election. He's a military man in an increasingly military world. I'm glad he's on our side, but I'm not sure we can afford more militarism at a time when it's so easy to steal, buy, sell and dispense weapons of mass destruction on all sides. I know we need a strong military -- perhaps now more than ever -- but other methods need to take to the forefront if we're ever going to get other nations to stop rattling sabers and hating us. We're viewed (I think incorrectly) as imperialists even by our own allies! America needs to do as much listening as we do talking (and dictating) to others.
I'm just not sure McCain is the man for the hour we're now in. I honor him as a human being and as a war hero. I like him. We need him in this struggle. He provides balance and wisdom and substance. But the perceived "imbalance of imperialism" at the moment can, in my view, only be off-set by someone with fewer ties to the old regime, to the earlier thought processes that brought us to where we are now: as a nation under a cloud of suspicion across the globe. Much of the suspicion, I hope and pray, will clear when Bush goes, but it will still take some doing to remove the tarnish from our nation's honor. We're a good country, one that shows people that living together despite differences is not just a dream, but a quantifiable reality.
I think we need a peacemaker, a diplomat, someone who will get America back on track with our original purpose and direction.
I think Barack Obama is that man.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Early A.M. Ramblings....
Drove to the gymnasium for Casey's game at 5:45 p.m., but there were two strange teams on the court warming up for the 6 p.m. game -- with Casey's gang nowhere in sight, so came home again. Don't know what happened; the schedule must have changed this week. Didn't want to wait around an hour to see if she was in the 7pm time spot...
Tonight at 7 I will be trying out to see if I can become a contestant on Jeopardy (unless I forget to logon and try out at the proper time)! There's an on-line test to take at that time for folks living on the west coast. I really enjoy Jeopardy and can usually do a pretty good job playing it. Some categories are beyond me by miles -- I'm not much into popular culture the past thirty years or the sciences, but even with those, many of the clue-driven answers are often so obvious that I can guess the correct questions based on those alone. It's worth a shot. I'd also be a good Wheel of Fortune contestant -- and maybe even a pretty decent ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A FIFTH GRADER contestant... but that's dicier!
I have submitted my resume for a couple of freelance copywriting gigs in the area and am waiting to see if I get either or both of them. Just read another book on starting and running a copywriting business. It doesn't look like rocket science and I'd enjoy 95% of it (that's a very high percentage). It's just scary to think about doing! I would love it, though -- being my own boss, working from home... I'm disciplined enough to do that, and there are no distractions here. I bet I could do it. I just need to develop a client list, so have registered at Elance and Guru.com and at other freelance websites hoping to get a few gigs and some buzz about my abilities from new clients. If you hear of anyone needing web content or brochures, flyers, newsletters, or other copy-heavy projects, please keep me in mind. I'd be happy to quote a price after I hear the scope of the work...
I went to bed at 9 and slept like a log 'til about midnight or a little after.. awoke in prayer! I really did! I came awake praying for a number of concerns and people... That has happened a couple of times before. They weren't frantic or anxiety-driven prayers at all.... they were mostly thanksgiving and affection-based prayers for friends or family members going through an uphill struggle on some level. I'll menton a few of them so you can join me in prayer:
My sister Jackie lost one of her long-time friends this week: Bruce Lindoff, who she went to school with. Bill, Bruce's twin, was actually closer to Jackie, but Jackie always told me what a treasure both Lindoffs were to her when she was in school. So my heart and prayers went out to Jackie and to the Lindoff family. Bruce was in Hawaii having the time of his life with his wife -- snorkeling, playing golf -- when he just sat down in a chair (after snorkeling) and was gone. Even though sad, Jackie said, "What a way to go -- in Hawaii, in the midst of doing everything he loved -- and without a struggle." We should all be that fortunate when it's our turn to go -- but not at age 53! That's just too sad. Bruce and his wife have a son and a teenage daughter. Please keep the Lindoff family in your prayers.
I also prayed for my own situation, asking God to keep me strong and positive and to not allow Satan to mess with my feelings of self-worth during this period of unemployment. I also asked that He would keep me focused on attaining the kind of work He placed me here to do, using my pen (er, keyboard these days!) to persuade, encourage, guide and entertain people. My best suit and greatest passion has always been the written word. There's a place in this world for people like me, or God wouldn't have given us the drive to keep at this day-by-day since childhood the way He has...
What else? Wish there were more. I'd like to keep writing, but don't want to bore you, so will hush now until something else crosses my mind that seems worth sharing.
The one-year anniversary of the launch of this blog is right around the corner (February 23rd). Time sure flies when we're having fun! I hope these effforts are keeping you entertained and informed . Sure would love to hear your appraisal of how I'm doing "so far" and what else I can do to make our time together here even better! Let me know. That's how I grow!
Tonight at 7 I will be trying out to see if I can become a contestant on Jeopardy (unless I forget to logon and try out at the proper time)! There's an on-line test to take at that time for folks living on the west coast. I really enjoy Jeopardy and can usually do a pretty good job playing it. Some categories are beyond me by miles -- I'm not much into popular culture the past thirty years or the sciences, but even with those, many of the clue-driven answers are often so obvious that I can guess the correct questions based on those alone. It's worth a shot. I'd also be a good Wheel of Fortune contestant -- and maybe even a pretty decent ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A FIFTH GRADER contestant... but that's dicier!
I have submitted my resume for a couple of freelance copywriting gigs in the area and am waiting to see if I get either or both of them. Just read another book on starting and running a copywriting business. It doesn't look like rocket science and I'd enjoy 95% of it (that's a very high percentage). It's just scary to think about doing! I would love it, though -- being my own boss, working from home... I'm disciplined enough to do that, and there are no distractions here. I bet I could do it. I just need to develop a client list, so have registered at Elance and Guru.com and at other freelance websites hoping to get a few gigs and some buzz about my abilities from new clients. If you hear of anyone needing web content or brochures, flyers, newsletters, or other copy-heavy projects, please keep me in mind. I'd be happy to quote a price after I hear the scope of the work...
I went to bed at 9 and slept like a log 'til about midnight or a little after.. awoke in prayer! I really did! I came awake praying for a number of concerns and people... That has happened a couple of times before. They weren't frantic or anxiety-driven prayers at all.... they were mostly thanksgiving and affection-based prayers for friends or family members going through an uphill struggle on some level. I'll menton a few of them so you can join me in prayer:
My sister Jackie lost one of her long-time friends this week: Bruce Lindoff, who she went to school with. Bill, Bruce's twin, was actually closer to Jackie, but Jackie always told me what a treasure both Lindoffs were to her when she was in school. So my heart and prayers went out to Jackie and to the Lindoff family. Bruce was in Hawaii having the time of his life with his wife -- snorkeling, playing golf -- when he just sat down in a chair (after snorkeling) and was gone. Even though sad, Jackie said, "What a way to go -- in Hawaii, in the midst of doing everything he loved -- and without a struggle." We should all be that fortunate when it's our turn to go -- but not at age 53! That's just too sad. Bruce and his wife have a son and a teenage daughter. Please keep the Lindoff family in your prayers.
I also prayed for my own situation, asking God to keep me strong and positive and to not allow Satan to mess with my feelings of self-worth during this period of unemployment. I also asked that He would keep me focused on attaining the kind of work He placed me here to do, using my pen (er, keyboard these days!) to persuade, encourage, guide and entertain people. My best suit and greatest passion has always been the written word. There's a place in this world for people like me, or God wouldn't have given us the drive to keep at this day-by-day since childhood the way He has...
What else? Wish there were more. I'd like to keep writing, but don't want to bore you, so will hush now until something else crosses my mind that seems worth sharing.
The one-year anniversary of the launch of this blog is right around the corner (February 23rd). Time sure flies when we're having fun! I hope these effforts are keeping you entertained and informed . Sure would love to hear your appraisal of how I'm doing "so far" and what else I can do to make our time together here even better! Let me know. That's how I grow!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Veddy Interesting!!!
It's week three of my unemployment adventure. I've lost six pounds by exercising a lot, and have rested and have applied for upwards of thirty jobs that are listed in this area (or are for telecommuters). Nothing yet, but have a few bites and some interest.
The race for the presidency is becoming veddy interesting. Of course you already know I'm for Obama, and was happy to see so many Kennedys come out for him. That was a relief for me; I was worrying that perhaps I was "wishful thinking" that Obama was a worthy heir to the legacy that was cut short by assassination (twice) over forty years ago, but after hearing Caroline Kennedy say she wanted a President who would inspire her own children, and that Obama is her choice for the next President, that felt good. I was also glad to see Senator Kennedy endorse him, but more wary than with Caroline. Senator Ted brings baggage and a lot of anti-Kennedy sentiment with him, and the last thing I want to see happen is a rift/chasm develop again between people of differing opinions. I want our next President to bring people together and create the kind of America that knows we're all interlinked, that when one American suffers unjustly, we all are diminished by that suffering. I think Barack (Barak means "bless" in Hebrew -- interesting, huh?) Obama is just the man for such a time as this. Senator Clinton, bless her heart, brings too much vitriol and animosity into the mix, and her husband is being crass and clueless as far as what he has been saying to try and turn the tide back to Hillary. I wonder if his heart bypass has affected his reasoning abilities. (Not an uncommon side effect of heart surgery.) I still think Bill Clinton's presidency (notwithstanding Monica) was one of the best and most representative of all of them, but the winds of change and the urgent desire among Americans for a new kind of hope are just palpable. I haven't sensed this kind of anticipation since RFK's candidacy. I'm totally jazzed.
I like McCain but see in him a continuation of policies engendered by the current President...and frankly I don't see much worth continuing from the Bush administration. I especially wonder what McCain would do about Iraq. Warriors are warriors, and it's hard to get them to consider options that don't require weapons. To a hammer, everything else is seen as a nail, something to be pounded.
Think about the Cuban Missile Crisis and how President Kennedy's military advisers were itching to engage Khruschev, which could have touched off a nuclear war. I think we're best de-escalating provocative actions. We have made our point -- that attacks on America will not be answered with a whimper, but with muscle: military, financial, ideological and practical. With boycotts, financial seizures, embargoes, measures and other methods of retaliation. But when we respond "in kind" to insane acts, the hatred burns that much hotter and the gulf separating ideologies just gets wider. Fight fire with fire and eventually both houses will burn down -- and all sense of proportion and justice will go right out the window...
On other subjects...
I went to Wal-Mart this morning and saw a slew of new STAR TREK (original generation!) greetings cards and some wonderful wacky, wild, very funny political greeting cards. Jackie has a birthday coming up (Groundhog Day) as does Margot Worthington (Feb 12th), so of course I had to get cards for them. Jackie is a Republican to the core, so I got her an Obama-based birthday card that will crack her up! (We agree to disagree on politics; we're both peaceable about allowing others to make their own decisions on who should be President). Margot is an original generation fan, so I got her a card with Spock on it, only because it was perfect!
I have registered to help the Obama campaign in Washington until the caucus late in the second week of February; haven't heard back yet, but just registered last night, so it would be pretty freaky to hear back this soon. But time's a 'wastin' and I have the time, so I hope someone calls me soon and gives me some marching orders!
My car might have a transmission problem, so I may have to get a new (or used) one very soon. I'll probably get a Kia Rio. They get 41 mpg and only cost $8K new and have a good warranty and good reviews. I'll decide on that when I get my next work... sooner if the Saturn craps out!
(Nice Saturn.... sweet Saturn.. I need you right now... please hang in there until I have a job again!) I have the money in savings -- I just don't want to use it, in case I need it, before I get a job.
Tonight is another basketball game for Casey's team, so I'll be there at six.
I jumped on a mini-trampoline for 35 minutes yesterday while watching Oprah (after spending 35 minutes earlier in the day walking "with" Leslie Sansone on her DVD) and did a number on my left hip; it's aching in a tiny spot this morning, so I'm foregoing exercise today to allow it to recover....
What else?
Oh! Billie Rae Walker just interviewed me again (for an update on my new De book) for a STAR TREK newsletter. If it's accepted, and she gives me permission, I'll include a link to the newsletter when I get it.
Stay tuned! If you can't wait that long, you can always access our FIRST-ever interview at STARTREK.COM. Here's the URL to take you directly to the interview:
http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/features/specials/article/30875.html
And here's a link to a Treks in Sci Fi podcast I did with Rico Dostie at about the same time during STAR TREK's 40TH anniversary:
http://www.treksf.com/podcast/Treksf.com_79_Real_McCoy.mp3
Hey, Rico, it's about time for a follow-up podcast interview, isn't it?
The race for the presidency is becoming veddy interesting. Of course you already know I'm for Obama, and was happy to see so many Kennedys come out for him. That was a relief for me; I was worrying that perhaps I was "wishful thinking" that Obama was a worthy heir to the legacy that was cut short by assassination (twice) over forty years ago, but after hearing Caroline Kennedy say she wanted a President who would inspire her own children, and that Obama is her choice for the next President, that felt good. I was also glad to see Senator Kennedy endorse him, but more wary than with Caroline. Senator Ted brings baggage and a lot of anti-Kennedy sentiment with him, and the last thing I want to see happen is a rift/chasm develop again between people of differing opinions. I want our next President to bring people together and create the kind of America that knows we're all interlinked, that when one American suffers unjustly, we all are diminished by that suffering. I think Barack (Barak means "bless" in Hebrew -- interesting, huh?) Obama is just the man for such a time as this. Senator Clinton, bless her heart, brings too much vitriol and animosity into the mix, and her husband is being crass and clueless as far as what he has been saying to try and turn the tide back to Hillary. I wonder if his heart bypass has affected his reasoning abilities. (Not an uncommon side effect of heart surgery.) I still think Bill Clinton's presidency (notwithstanding Monica) was one of the best and most representative of all of them, but the winds of change and the urgent desire among Americans for a new kind of hope are just palpable. I haven't sensed this kind of anticipation since RFK's candidacy. I'm totally jazzed.
I like McCain but see in him a continuation of policies engendered by the current President...and frankly I don't see much worth continuing from the Bush administration. I especially wonder what McCain would do about Iraq. Warriors are warriors, and it's hard to get them to consider options that don't require weapons. To a hammer, everything else is seen as a nail, something to be pounded.
Think about the Cuban Missile Crisis and how President Kennedy's military advisers were itching to engage Khruschev, which could have touched off a nuclear war. I think we're best de-escalating provocative actions. We have made our point -- that attacks on America will not be answered with a whimper, but with muscle: military, financial, ideological and practical. With boycotts, financial seizures, embargoes, measures and other methods of retaliation. But when we respond "in kind" to insane acts, the hatred burns that much hotter and the gulf separating ideologies just gets wider. Fight fire with fire and eventually both houses will burn down -- and all sense of proportion and justice will go right out the window...
On other subjects...
I went to Wal-Mart this morning and saw a slew of new STAR TREK (original generation!) greetings cards and some wonderful wacky, wild, very funny political greeting cards. Jackie has a birthday coming up (Groundhog Day) as does Margot Worthington (Feb 12th), so of course I had to get cards for them. Jackie is a Republican to the core, so I got her an Obama-based birthday card that will crack her up! (We agree to disagree on politics; we're both peaceable about allowing others to make their own decisions on who should be President). Margot is an original generation fan, so I got her a card with Spock on it, only because it was perfect!
I have registered to help the Obama campaign in Washington until the caucus late in the second week of February; haven't heard back yet, but just registered last night, so it would be pretty freaky to hear back this soon. But time's a 'wastin' and I have the time, so I hope someone calls me soon and gives me some marching orders!
My car might have a transmission problem, so I may have to get a new (or used) one very soon. I'll probably get a Kia Rio. They get 41 mpg and only cost $8K new and have a good warranty and good reviews. I'll decide on that when I get my next work... sooner if the Saturn craps out!
(Nice Saturn.... sweet Saturn.. I need you right now... please hang in there until I have a job again!) I have the money in savings -- I just don't want to use it, in case I need it, before I get a job.
Tonight is another basketball game for Casey's team, so I'll be there at six.
I jumped on a mini-trampoline for 35 minutes yesterday while watching Oprah (after spending 35 minutes earlier in the day walking "with" Leslie Sansone on her DVD) and did a number on my left hip; it's aching in a tiny spot this morning, so I'm foregoing exercise today to allow it to recover....
What else?
Oh! Billie Rae Walker just interviewed me again (for an update on my new De book) for a STAR TREK newsletter. If it's accepted, and she gives me permission, I'll include a link to the newsletter when I get it.
Stay tuned! If you can't wait that long, you can always access our FIRST-ever interview at STARTREK.COM. Here's the URL to take you directly to the interview:
http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/features/specials/article/30875.html
And here's a link to a Treks in Sci Fi podcast I did with Rico Dostie at about the same time during STAR TREK's 40TH anniversary:
http://www.treksf.com/podcast/Treksf.com_79_Real_McCoy.mp3
Hey, Rico, it's about time for a follow-up podcast interview, isn't it?
Friday, January 25, 2008
The Cost of One Day Of War In Iraq ... What Else Could Be Done That Money?
Thanks to my big sister Laurel for sending me this link...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wnq6cD5jk1Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wnq6cD5jk1Q
Thursday, January 24, 2008
What's A'Happenin'
For an unemployed person, I sure have been busy lately! Today I renewed my driver's license for another five years and walked an aerobic three miles (so far) in my house (to the accompaniment of the first of Leslie Sanson's Walk at Home Walking Slim DVD) ... and it's just past noon in my time zone.
I went to Torchbearer's (the elder set at Church ForAll Nations) yesterday from ten to noon for the first time, but not for the last time, unless I get a job right away and can't go again. Tonight I plan to go to church for the women's ministry get-together, and tomorrow night I'll go to a potluck at Pastor and Mrs. Wuerch's in the evening.
The spiritual support I receive right now (from both heavenly and earthly realms) is very helpful. No matter how "worthy" a person feels on a regular basis, when they lose their job it can be more than a little depressing! I'm fortunate to have lots of emotional support from all around the globe at a time like this. It keeps me feeling more peaceful than I would otherwise, for sure! And hopeful. I know I'm in God's will for this time in my life. So whatever happens next will be a definite step forward in my ability and willingness to "let go and let God" direct my steps.
This week I also attended Casey's basketball game. Last week I attended both games she played.
It's a heap of fun to watch seven year olds play basketball... and to see how quickly they improve over the course of just a few games. This year the teams are co-ed, so the girls are getting a dose of male competitiveness. It has kicked their own adrenaline into high gear as well, making them much better than I think they would be otherwise.
The weather outside my window is downright frigid. It drops into the low twenties (Fahrenheit) at night and rarely gets above freezing in the daytime right now. This is unusual for this neck of the woods.
The interesting thing to note is that there are buds on trees and bushes already, and ducks and geese that should be flying south are flying north again -- so even before Pauxatawny Phil pokes his head out of his burrow in Pennsylvania on Groundhog Day, I am going to prophesy that spring is on the way. My cats are shedding again; that's a dead giveaway too.
There isn't a lot else to report, which is why you haven't heard much from me lately. I was very sad to hear about Heath Ledger's death... I didn't know a thing about him before he died, never having seen any of his portrayals, but Hollywood is really down-hearted at the news in a way I don't often see, so he must have been quite the actor with decades' worth of potential. It's always sad when a young person dies... and it seems to be happening so often in the Hollywood crowd these days. I surely anticipate more, unless the drug culture there is vanquished.
I'm pretty ticked off at what lengths the Clintons are going to in order to discredit Barack Obama. I think it's going to backfire on them. They need to lighten up. I like both Hillary and Barack, but think Hillary is too divisive a person to lead as well as Barack might. Too many people really find her repulsive. Again, I don't understand why they do; I just know they do. Barack doesn't have that kind of baggage. He has given people real hope. He's a tipping point candidate.
I continue to pray that the best candidate will get into the White House, whoever God deems the best candidate to be. Only God can see into candidates' hearts and minds, and only God knows what will be coming against the U.S. during the next decade... I just hope that whoever the candidates are on both sides will be someone we all, as Americans and as citizens of the world, can be proud of. It has been far too long since that has been the case...
Monday, January 21, 2008
Martin Luther King, Jr. -- He Had a Dream...
Today we remember Martin Luther King, Jr., a Baptist preacher who changed America in myriad ways but did not live to see his dream become as much a reality as it has. Today a black man, Barack Obama is running for President -- and is winning races and offering hope to millions -- red, yellow, black, brown and white citizens all over the world -- as he goes along.
I remember the days before Martin Luther King Jr was on the scene. I was a white kid in a white bread world living in the Pacific Northwest. Black people were rare up here back then. The first two black people I knew were my Sunday School teacher and her son Walter, who was in my class. I adored them, so had no "racist" baggage weighing me down -- and wasn't aware anyone else had any, either. I had never heard the "n" word uttered. Kids have to be taught to hate and to fear and to have an "us versus them" perspective; they aren't born with it.
It was during the school integration era when police were setting fire hoses and German Shepherds loose on "Negroes" that I had my first look at the way racism can disfigure an otherwise attractive white face. I watched on television as white people shouted, screamed and belittled school-age children whose only "crime" was being sent to a school that hadn't accepted black children before. I remember asking my mom, in horror, "What country is this happening in?" I was horrified when she responded, "It's happening in America." It was beyond comprehension to me. "Where?!"
And I began to feel, palpably, on the side of the "underdogs" in the fight. Even when H Rap Brown or Stokely Carmichael would get in-our-faces and scare us with words of revolution and "taking what is rightfully every American's to have", I would think, "If I were black, I'd probably be feeling exactly the same way. Racism is unfair and it's cruel and I'd be mad as a hornet if I were black."
Then along came Martin Luther King Jr., a man of peace and love, a man of the cloth, and I knew instinctively that racist white people would have to take a step back and listen to him instead of becoming more afraid and defensive as they were doing with other spokesmen. Like coming to Christ, a call to conscience cannot be compelled -- it can only be gently offered if it is to achieve a desired goal.
Martin Luther King Jr was the way forward. Because he lived and gave his life in the cause of making sure all Americans were "free at last," today we are a better nation in this regard. Still not a perfect nation... equal opportunity is still a goal to be achieved... but would any of us who were there at the time want to go back to the way it was then?
My friends are now a rainbow of colors, nationalities and creeds. I can't imagine life any other way. When we see all people as fellow sojourners along life's road we realize that everyone wants the same thing: to be loved, respected, and given the same chance to provide for themselves and their families as everyone else. When we deny this to anyone, we deny ourselves all the creative, positive contributions those denied would have given to the world -- and that's a crime beyond measure.
It all comes back to the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
What a concept! Why O why haven't we tried this one concept all over the world? Just once, for perhaps a decade? We'd be utterly transformed... and would never want to go back.
"Remember..." An Excerpt From My Next DeForest Kelley Book
Several people sent me "I remember De!" messages yesterday on what would have been his 88th birthday. I tried to locate an earlier essay that was published in newspapers, called REMEMBERING DeFOREST KELLEY, but it's on a disc that's unaccessible right now, so instead, I'll give you a sneak-peek of my next book,THE ENDURING LEGACY OF DeFOREST KELLEY: ACTOR, HEALER, FRIEND.
Following is the working draft of the intro to the ACTOR section of the book. It's copywrited, but if you'd like to use it for publicity purposes at any of the STAR TREK or DeForest Kelley websites, just let me know and also append this: "Author Kristine M Smith's first book about DeForest Kelley is DeFOREST KELLEY: A HARVEST OF MEMORIES, garnering 5-star reviews at Amazon. She is seeking additional contributors to her next Kelley book, of which the preceding has been a preview. Fans, friends and co-workers are encouraged to tell their stories of meeting or knowing De -- or of simply loving him from afar. Send your reminiscences to Kris at KRISTINE M SMITH AT MSN DOT COM."
Fans are undoubtedly familiar with De’s portrayal as Dr. McCoy on the original, iconic STAR TREK® television and motion picture series. This is probably the way most of today’s fans became fans, watching him interact with the crew of the Starship Enterprise. As we all know, McCoy’s on-again, off-again irascible tendencies covered a heart of gold that was sold out to his patients, to his mission, and to his crewmates (yes, even Spock). There was no doubt about that. Time and again, he offered his life for theirs, as they had for his.
A television host in Colorado, a huge fan of Westerns, once regaled De and his Good Day Colorado audience with an almost “word-for-word” recreation of some of De’s lines from “Warlock,” a better-than-most Western starring Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark, and Anthony Quinn. Pretending to be De’s character Curly Burne in the movie, the host did a fast draw, then stopped short when he realized his opponent (Fonda) had out-drawn him. Much to De’s delight, the host flailed helplessly as he “backed down” from the confrontation he had engendered, and then jumped to another aspect of the same scene. “And just before that, where you’re trying to goad him into this gunfight, you say, ‘Oh, them pearly handles of yo’s … they’re enough to blind a man’s eyes. You really ought to stop polishing them that way, por favor, you know, the way you always do… Someone ought to just take them pearly handles from you and rough them up a bit, you know?”
When the host finished his faithful rendition of the scene, De’s eyes shone and his grin was as wide as Colorado itself. He took a brief look into the studio audience – the largest audience for that particular show, ever, filled as it was past capacity with TREK fans imported from a STARLAND convention nearby – and he laughed. “You know,” he told the show host, then pointed at his fans and said, “They know! If this wasn’t a television show, I could tell you a story about that very scene…” And he left it there. The show host undoubtedly asked for, and received, “the rest of the story” backstage.
For those who haven’t heard it:
Days before the scene was filmed, the director had told De that the Princess of Greece, Princess Sofia, would be on the soundstage the day he was scheduled to shoot the scene. De thought he was joking, because this particular director had a dry sense of humor. “I thought maybe he meant Sophia Loren.”
Sure enough, when the day arrived a very real Princess Sofia and her large entourage gathered on the upper part of stairway in the “saloon” where the filming of this scene was about to take place. The visitors to the set were out of camera range.
“At first,” De recalled, “I was very nervous – not necessarily because the Princess and her people were there, but because in this scene I had to do a fly-away – that’s a move with a gun where I flip it and it goes into my holster, with any luck at all – and I had been practicing this move, but it was nowhere near certain I could get it on the first take, or even the second.
“Henry Fonda was away that day – Tyrone Power had passed away the week before and Fonda was at his funeral – so his lines were read to me. In this scene, I’m supposed to goad Fonda into a fight, and when I do, his gun is out of the holster in a flash and I realize I’m done for unless I back down, so I quickly, and as humbly as this hombre can, back down. I do the fly-away and it goes in perfectly; a big relief to me. Then I start backing away, with a little wave to Fonda, toward the bat-wing doors, and… this wasn’t in the scene… I trip backward over a chair! As I went over, I called out, ‘Oh, shit!’
“Well, you could have heard a pin drop. All of a sudden I remember Princess Sofia and her people are standing on the staircase watching this whole thing! So I crawled out through the bat-wing doors on my knees! And on the other side of the doors, the director looks down at me and says, ‘De, I’ll bet you sat up all night trying to think of what to say in front of the Princess of Greece.’
“As it turned out, Princess Sofia didn’t know what that word meant. But when I went to the commissary for lunch that day, everyone stood up and applauded me! It was all over the lot what I had said in front of the princess!”
Okay, now you know about the outtake. Go and rent or buy the movie and see what De, a conscience-ridden bad guy hanging with the wrong crowd, does when confronted with the enormity of his gang’s depravity. In a way, he becomes the hero of the motion picture, in my opinion. ‘Nuf said.
Curly Burne in Warlock was one of De’s very few good-natured bad guys. Most of his portrayals were so cussedly ornery and demonic that he was often hired to snarl at the likes of Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, Audie Murphy, the Lone Ranger and the Bonanza boys. If you haven’t seen his other portrayals, you are missing out on some of the best acting ever in Westerns. (A top-notch and complete filmography of De’s entire acting career can be found at Karen Halliday’s website: http://www.klhalliday.com/DeKelley/Index.htm. Check it out, rent some of the films at your local video store, and feast your eyes on ACTOR DeForest Kelley If you don’t have Internet access, ask a friend to download the site for you, or visit a library to download it.)
Be forewarned, however: Before watching any of De’s Westerns, you may have to divorce yourself from any knowledge of Dr. McCoy (and that takes some doing!) in order to truly appreciate his pre-McCoy portrayals. Remind yourself beforehand that McCoy had not yet been created and that De’s cowboy portrayals were the rationale the network had for believing that STAR TREK’s audience could never “buy” DeForest Kelley as good guy Doctor McCoy, which is why he wasn’t in the first pilot of STAR TREK. You will understand their concern after seeing him in these earlier roles!
In my opinion, De deserved a Best Supporting Actor award for a number of his bad-guy portrayals in motion pictures, among them: as Toby Jack Saunders in APACHE UPRISING and as Wexler in THE LAW AND JAKE WADE. And a Best Supporting Actor television award wouldn’t have hurt for his role in THE HONOR OF COSHISE, a BONANZA episode. The fact that De’s character bites the dust in so many of his Westerns – whether soon or late – just underscores that his scoundrels had to die or the audiences would have gone home with nightmares, and the tales told -- most of which were morality plays in disguise -- would have fallen flat!
De was asked at numerous conventions about how he managed to portray scoundrels so ably, when he was obviously such a gentleman. He said, “When I was a boy growing up in Georgia, there was a Sheriff who looked as though he couldn’t wait to find someone stepping out of line so that he could shoot him. He just looked like a snake to me; coiled and ready to strike. He was one of the role models for some of the heavies I played. I figured if I could capture that sheriff’s ominous aspects, my portrayal would be convincing.”
When De was in the hospital the last few months of his life, he related that one of his and Carolyn’s best friends for over 60 years had told them, years ago, that she would never believe De in a bad guy role and so that’s why she had never gone to see him in one. “When she said that, I became a bad guy right in front of her, just to show her I could do it. Well, I when I did, it scared her so badly that she started to cry! So I started to cry! I had to apologize! I wanted to convince her I was an actor, not scare her half to death! It was just awful…”
In APACHE UPRISING, an AC Lyles film, De portrayed a sociopath, Toby Jack Saunders, a man so void of decency and conscience that he exuded malevolence from every pore. The role haunted De even years later. He reflected, “I sat up half the night last night” (in the hospital) “thinking what a no good son of a bitch Toby Jack was. In the script, he was supposed to ride into town and when the town mongrel came out to wag a barking hello, I was supposed to pull out my gun and shoot him. Well, that was too much for me. I told AC I couldn’t do that. I told him I would establish his character some other way.”
He did! I had a nightmare about that hombre after seeing APACHE UPRISING!
De was one of very few actors in the late 40’s and early 50’s with a “crossover” career, working in motion pictures as well as in the new medium of television. For the most part, motion picture actors felt it was “beneath them” to work in television. As a struggling young actor, De wasn’t allowed the luxury of that lofty an opinion of himself; his focus was on keeping a roof over his and Carolyn’s heads. His list of credits from the 40’s 50’s is mind-boggling: he appeared in over 100 different series episodes, as well as in fifteen motion pictures, mostly as heavies, ne’er-do-wells and scoundrels.
Occasionally he appeared in a role as a hapless fellow falsely accused of a crime (in motion pictures, FEAR IN THE NIGHT and ILLEGAL, and in television, the Bonanza episode THE DECISION). The despair, anger or panic he showed in these portrayals was spot on. Viewers could vicariously experience this poor fellow’s dilemma as we sweated for him, hoping against all hope that his innocence would be discovered before the executioner could do his fatal job. In the case of ILLEGAL, our hope is dashed. Seconds after his execution, the truth is found out, too late to save him. The consequences are agonizing for the star of the show, Edward G. Robinson, who suffers the tortures of the damned for the rest of the picture. De’s role in this movie is small, but pivotal.
Another small but powerful role in RAINTREE COUNTY captures the attention of the audience as De -- the only Southern soldier seen in the film in a seminal role -- rides in on a horse and is felled by a bullet. For the next ten minutes or so De’s unnamed character plays with Lee Marvin’s mind in an attempt to get him to let down his guard long enough so that De can shoot him and escape to get help before he bleeds to death. The charm and easy attitude of De’s character is utterly captivating. The audience begins to hope that these two enemies will bury the hatchet and strike some kind of mutually-acceptable deal that will allow them both to survive the intersection of their lives as soldiers. Alas, it is not to be… and the men meet their end in a sudden showdown that is both a surprise and an outrageous obscenity to the audience.
“What a shame,” we sigh – and then we realize the sentiment is the epilogue for the entire sorry history of the Civil War in which men like these, with personalities and potential for greatness, fought and perished. These two men embody, in a palpable way, the obscenity of war. In other times, they would likely have been fast friends and would probably have been willing to lay down their lives for each other…
Many of De’s roles were small, but very few of them were insignificant. The power of his performances proves the adage, “There are no small parts, only small actors.” Any time De appeared in anything, his character seemed to be the true north for that particular type of human soul. He got inside his characters and breathed life into them. His heavies were not cardboard caricatures; they were people largely unaware that they were deviating from a norm; they were simply responding to cards that had been dealt to them since childhood. Their stories and actions were made perfectly understandable given their wounded psyches, and no word of exposition had to be written to explain them; we just knew because De-the-actor seemed to know.
De made bad guys bad, but he also made a number of them somehow pitiable, fearfully and wonderfully accessible. He allowed us to inhabit them as easily as we could the hero of the piece, not happily, not willingly, but with a sense of morbid curiosity, the way we examine mothers who drown their children or Hitler or Ted Bundy, people who irrationally embarked on workable plans to carry out successive, horrible deviant behaviors. We don’t know how they got there, and we realize that if we understood them we would be just as whacked out as they were, and yet we try to figure out their pathology as if figuring it out would make us safer.
Following is the working draft of the intro to the ACTOR section of the book. It's copywrited, but if you'd like to use it for publicity purposes at any of the STAR TREK or DeForest Kelley websites, just let me know and also append this: "Author Kristine M Smith's first book about DeForest Kelley is DeFOREST KELLEY: A HARVEST OF MEMORIES, garnering 5-star reviews at Amazon. She is seeking additional contributors to her next Kelley book, of which the preceding has been a preview. Fans, friends and co-workers are encouraged to tell their stories of meeting or knowing De -- or of simply loving him from afar. Send your reminiscences to Kris at KRISTINE M SMITH AT MSN DOT COM."
Fans are undoubtedly familiar with De’s portrayal as Dr. McCoy on the original, iconic STAR TREK® television and motion picture series. This is probably the way most of today’s fans became fans, watching him interact with the crew of the Starship Enterprise. As we all know, McCoy’s on-again, off-again irascible tendencies covered a heart of gold that was sold out to his patients, to his mission, and to his crewmates (yes, even Spock). There was no doubt about that. Time and again, he offered his life for theirs, as they had for his.
A television host in Colorado, a huge fan of Westerns, once regaled De and his Good Day Colorado audience with an almost “word-for-word” recreation of some of De’s lines from “Warlock,” a better-than-most Western starring Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark, and Anthony Quinn. Pretending to be De’s character Curly Burne in the movie, the host did a fast draw, then stopped short when he realized his opponent (Fonda) had out-drawn him. Much to De’s delight, the host flailed helplessly as he “backed down” from the confrontation he had engendered, and then jumped to another aspect of the same scene. “And just before that, where you’re trying to goad him into this gunfight, you say, ‘Oh, them pearly handles of yo’s … they’re enough to blind a man’s eyes. You really ought to stop polishing them that way, por favor, you know, the way you always do… Someone ought to just take them pearly handles from you and rough them up a bit, you know?”
When the host finished his faithful rendition of the scene, De’s eyes shone and his grin was as wide as Colorado itself. He took a brief look into the studio audience – the largest audience for that particular show, ever, filled as it was past capacity with TREK fans imported from a STARLAND convention nearby – and he laughed. “You know,” he told the show host, then pointed at his fans and said, “They know! If this wasn’t a television show, I could tell you a story about that very scene…” And he left it there. The show host undoubtedly asked for, and received, “the rest of the story” backstage.
For those who haven’t heard it:
Days before the scene was filmed, the director had told De that the Princess of Greece, Princess Sofia, would be on the soundstage the day he was scheduled to shoot the scene. De thought he was joking, because this particular director had a dry sense of humor. “I thought maybe he meant Sophia Loren.”
Sure enough, when the day arrived a very real Princess Sofia and her large entourage gathered on the upper part of stairway in the “saloon” where the filming of this scene was about to take place. The visitors to the set were out of camera range.
“At first,” De recalled, “I was very nervous – not necessarily because the Princess and her people were there, but because in this scene I had to do a fly-away – that’s a move with a gun where I flip it and it goes into my holster, with any luck at all – and I had been practicing this move, but it was nowhere near certain I could get it on the first take, or even the second.
“Henry Fonda was away that day – Tyrone Power had passed away the week before and Fonda was at his funeral – so his lines were read to me. In this scene, I’m supposed to goad Fonda into a fight, and when I do, his gun is out of the holster in a flash and I realize I’m done for unless I back down, so I quickly, and as humbly as this hombre can, back down. I do the fly-away and it goes in perfectly; a big relief to me. Then I start backing away, with a little wave to Fonda, toward the bat-wing doors, and… this wasn’t in the scene… I trip backward over a chair! As I went over, I called out, ‘Oh, shit!’
“Well, you could have heard a pin drop. All of a sudden I remember Princess Sofia and her people are standing on the staircase watching this whole thing! So I crawled out through the bat-wing doors on my knees! And on the other side of the doors, the director looks down at me and says, ‘De, I’ll bet you sat up all night trying to think of what to say in front of the Princess of Greece.’
“As it turned out, Princess Sofia didn’t know what that word meant. But when I went to the commissary for lunch that day, everyone stood up and applauded me! It was all over the lot what I had said in front of the princess!”
Okay, now you know about the outtake. Go and rent or buy the movie and see what De, a conscience-ridden bad guy hanging with the wrong crowd, does when confronted with the enormity of his gang’s depravity. In a way, he becomes the hero of the motion picture, in my opinion. ‘Nuf said.
Curly Burne in Warlock was one of De’s very few good-natured bad guys. Most of his portrayals were so cussedly ornery and demonic that he was often hired to snarl at the likes of Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, Audie Murphy, the Lone Ranger and the Bonanza boys. If you haven’t seen his other portrayals, you are missing out on some of the best acting ever in Westerns. (A top-notch and complete filmography of De’s entire acting career can be found at Karen Halliday’s website: http://www.klhalliday.com/DeKelley/Index.htm. Check it out, rent some of the films at your local video store, and feast your eyes on ACTOR DeForest Kelley If you don’t have Internet access, ask a friend to download the site for you, or visit a library to download it.)
Be forewarned, however: Before watching any of De’s Westerns, you may have to divorce yourself from any knowledge of Dr. McCoy (and that takes some doing!) in order to truly appreciate his pre-McCoy portrayals. Remind yourself beforehand that McCoy had not yet been created and that De’s cowboy portrayals were the rationale the network had for believing that STAR TREK’s audience could never “buy” DeForest Kelley as good guy Doctor McCoy, which is why he wasn’t in the first pilot of STAR TREK. You will understand their concern after seeing him in these earlier roles!
In my opinion, De deserved a Best Supporting Actor award for a number of his bad-guy portrayals in motion pictures, among them: as Toby Jack Saunders in APACHE UPRISING and as Wexler in THE LAW AND JAKE WADE. And a Best Supporting Actor television award wouldn’t have hurt for his role in THE HONOR OF COSHISE, a BONANZA episode. The fact that De’s character bites the dust in so many of his Westerns – whether soon or late – just underscores that his scoundrels had to die or the audiences would have gone home with nightmares, and the tales told -- most of which were morality plays in disguise -- would have fallen flat!
De was asked at numerous conventions about how he managed to portray scoundrels so ably, when he was obviously such a gentleman. He said, “When I was a boy growing up in Georgia, there was a Sheriff who looked as though he couldn’t wait to find someone stepping out of line so that he could shoot him. He just looked like a snake to me; coiled and ready to strike. He was one of the role models for some of the heavies I played. I figured if I could capture that sheriff’s ominous aspects, my portrayal would be convincing.”
When De was in the hospital the last few months of his life, he related that one of his and Carolyn’s best friends for over 60 years had told them, years ago, that she would never believe De in a bad guy role and so that’s why she had never gone to see him in one. “When she said that, I became a bad guy right in front of her, just to show her I could do it. Well, I when I did, it scared her so badly that she started to cry! So I started to cry! I had to apologize! I wanted to convince her I was an actor, not scare her half to death! It was just awful…”
In APACHE UPRISING, an AC Lyles film, De portrayed a sociopath, Toby Jack Saunders, a man so void of decency and conscience that he exuded malevolence from every pore. The role haunted De even years later. He reflected, “I sat up half the night last night” (in the hospital) “thinking what a no good son of a bitch Toby Jack was. In the script, he was supposed to ride into town and when the town mongrel came out to wag a barking hello, I was supposed to pull out my gun and shoot him. Well, that was too much for me. I told AC I couldn’t do that. I told him I would establish his character some other way.”
He did! I had a nightmare about that hombre after seeing APACHE UPRISING!
De was one of very few actors in the late 40’s and early 50’s with a “crossover” career, working in motion pictures as well as in the new medium of television. For the most part, motion picture actors felt it was “beneath them” to work in television. As a struggling young actor, De wasn’t allowed the luxury of that lofty an opinion of himself; his focus was on keeping a roof over his and Carolyn’s heads. His list of credits from the 40’s 50’s is mind-boggling: he appeared in over 100 different series episodes, as well as in fifteen motion pictures, mostly as heavies, ne’er-do-wells and scoundrels.
Occasionally he appeared in a role as a hapless fellow falsely accused of a crime (in motion pictures, FEAR IN THE NIGHT and ILLEGAL, and in television, the Bonanza episode THE DECISION). The despair, anger or panic he showed in these portrayals was spot on. Viewers could vicariously experience this poor fellow’s dilemma as we sweated for him, hoping against all hope that his innocence would be discovered before the executioner could do his fatal job. In the case of ILLEGAL, our hope is dashed. Seconds after his execution, the truth is found out, too late to save him. The consequences are agonizing for the star of the show, Edward G. Robinson, who suffers the tortures of the damned for the rest of the picture. De’s role in this movie is small, but pivotal.
Another small but powerful role in RAINTREE COUNTY captures the attention of the audience as De -- the only Southern soldier seen in the film in a seminal role -- rides in on a horse and is felled by a bullet. For the next ten minutes or so De’s unnamed character plays with Lee Marvin’s mind in an attempt to get him to let down his guard long enough so that De can shoot him and escape to get help before he bleeds to death. The charm and easy attitude of De’s character is utterly captivating. The audience begins to hope that these two enemies will bury the hatchet and strike some kind of mutually-acceptable deal that will allow them both to survive the intersection of their lives as soldiers. Alas, it is not to be… and the men meet their end in a sudden showdown that is both a surprise and an outrageous obscenity to the audience.
“What a shame,” we sigh – and then we realize the sentiment is the epilogue for the entire sorry history of the Civil War in which men like these, with personalities and potential for greatness, fought and perished. These two men embody, in a palpable way, the obscenity of war. In other times, they would likely have been fast friends and would probably have been willing to lay down their lives for each other…
Many of De’s roles were small, but very few of them were insignificant. The power of his performances proves the adage, “There are no small parts, only small actors.” Any time De appeared in anything, his character seemed to be the true north for that particular type of human soul. He got inside his characters and breathed life into them. His heavies were not cardboard caricatures; they were people largely unaware that they were deviating from a norm; they were simply responding to cards that had been dealt to them since childhood. Their stories and actions were made perfectly understandable given their wounded psyches, and no word of exposition had to be written to explain them; we just knew because De-the-actor seemed to know.
De made bad guys bad, but he also made a number of them somehow pitiable, fearfully and wonderfully accessible. He allowed us to inhabit them as easily as we could the hero of the piece, not happily, not willingly, but with a sense of morbid curiosity, the way we examine mothers who drown their children or Hitler or Ted Bundy, people who irrationally embarked on workable plans to carry out successive, horrible deviant behaviors. We don’t know how they got there, and we realize that if we understood them we would be just as whacked out as they were, and yet we try to figure out their pathology as if figuring it out would make us safer.
Friday, January 18, 2008
My New Book is Begun!
Its title is ENTHUSIASM, with a subtitle I won't be divulging right now. I've written the Foreword and will be adding to the book over the course of the next several weeks, as inspiration dictates. Its' about "following your bliss," something I'm endeavoring to do as I search for a new job, because I won't be happy for long if I keep putting off what God placed me here to do, which is: to encourage people to hope, trust and work toward their God-given goals, which are always disguised as "enthusiasms, passions, and callings."
I walked five miles today. It was chilly but I walked fast and worked up enough warmth to unzip my heavy jacket. My feet are sore right now; they're not used to that much walking all-at-once. I took two trips, an hour apart, to get to the five mile mark.
I want to remind De's fans to send me your reminiscences of him. I want to get my next De book published sometime before 2011, when the 45th anniversary or STAR TREK arrives. If I get enough additional contributions, I can publish it this year.
There just hasn't been enough "buzz" about it in TREK venues to let fans and co-stars know of their opportunity to contribute to it. I planned to mention it in Vegas during the "wrap-up" segment of my appearance, but the talk was amputated twenty minutes early and I had to leave out the mention of the upcoming book, THE ENDURING LEGACY OF DeFOREST KELLEY: ACTOR, HEALER, FRIEND. So if you have any clout in the TREK world, or know of anyone who does, please let them know I'd like to do an interview or podcast about De again so I can announce to fans that I need their contributions to complete the book. It's true that I could finish it myself, but my vision for it is that lots of fans will contribute. There are so many wonderful stories out there of ways in which De touched his fans and I want to include as many of them as I can... The contributions I've received already are terrific and I know there are a lot not yet written that should be written.
So get going!
I walked five miles today. It was chilly but I walked fast and worked up enough warmth to unzip my heavy jacket. My feet are sore right now; they're not used to that much walking all-at-once. I took two trips, an hour apart, to get to the five mile mark.
I want to remind De's fans to send me your reminiscences of him. I want to get my next De book published sometime before 2011, when the 45th anniversary or STAR TREK arrives. If I get enough additional contributions, I can publish it this year.
There just hasn't been enough "buzz" about it in TREK venues to let fans and co-stars know of their opportunity to contribute to it. I planned to mention it in Vegas during the "wrap-up" segment of my appearance, but the talk was amputated twenty minutes early and I had to leave out the mention of the upcoming book, THE ENDURING LEGACY OF DeFOREST KELLEY: ACTOR, HEALER, FRIEND. So if you have any clout in the TREK world, or know of anyone who does, please let them know I'd like to do an interview or podcast about De again so I can announce to fans that I need their contributions to complete the book. It's true that I could finish it myself, but my vision for it is that lots of fans will contribute. There are so many wonderful stories out there of ways in which De touched his fans and I want to include as many of them as I can... The contributions I've received already are terrific and I know there are a lot not yet written that should be written.
So get going!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
I'm A Free Agent Again!
Friday was my last day at On-Hold Concepts (www.onholdconcepts.com). I campaigned hard for a much-deserved raise in my hourly wage, but it wasn't accepted, so I was laid off, but with three letters of recommendation and with my own kind words for the opportunity. It was painful to go, for sure, because I loved it there. I was pretty miserable all afternoon on Friday! But now that I've had time to go through the "grieving process" in my head (denial, fear, anger, bargaining, and acceptance) at warp six, it's on to the next opportunity, with no looking back except in gratitude for the friends I made, the lessons learned (which made me much better at what I do), and the freedom to choose again!
I applied for about sixteen positions Friday evening and Saturday and already have three responses, all of which pay better than I was getting, so God is up to something. I also have an idea for a new book, so I'm going to be working on that over the course of the next two weeks.
I am taking two weeks off -- except for a typing test mandated by one of the potential employers, and except for looking for more opportunities so I have as many options to choose from as possible -- because I've been working for a year without a break and need to "vacation" now if I'm going to have one this year. So now's the time...
Every word spoken to me since Friday afternoon has been divinely-inspired -- I have never gone four days without reading more appropriate-to-moment books (Re-Position Yourself by Bishop TD Jakes; Demon: A Memoir by Tosca Lee; and Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling, by Wayne Dyer), hearing a more spot-on Bible study and sermon (you can hear the sermon at http://www.churchforallnations.org/; click on Media and select the audio or video version), or receiving more unconditional love from family, friends and former co-workers. It has been one of the loveliest four day spans in my lifetime! And that, too, is a result of divine grace. The vibration of love is very strong...
In reading Demon: A Memoir by Tosca Lee I inoculated myself against the common tendency to allow the "negative" in this situation to make me fearful. I understand now, to the core of my being, how much God loves me (loves us all -- this isn't an arrogant statement) and how much he hungers for me just to trust Him and the process, even when it doesn't go according to my plan -- which was simply to have my true value to the company validated in dollars. (It has been said, "We make our plans, and God laughs." But God laughs at Satan's plans, too, when He knows we're firmly in the palm of His hand and cannot be influenced by the Father of Lies and his minions). I have always known -- have always been told -- how much God loves us, but until I read Demon: A Memoir, I don't think I had it spelled out for me quite literally enough (connecting the dots) that I could fully rely on the "hype" of being that precious to the Creator of the Universe. As David said in one of the Psalms (a paraphrase), "What is man, that you think so highly of us?" I finally understand what we are to God. It's just amazing what we are to God!
Then I read Re-Position Yourself by Bishop Jakes. Strange, how I ordered this book two weeks ago and it arrived on the exact day I most needed to read it! This book is a salve for the soul of any person with a dream for their life that has not yet been fully realized. Bishop Jakes is a masterful theologian and motivator. He basically reassures the reader that God doesn't give us any dreams that He doesn't want us to accomplish, and that the giftings we have are given by God so that our dreams will become goals -- and then accomplishments.
Wayne Dyer's book Inspiration echoes Bishop Jakes, but from a "vibrational" perspective. He talks about (among many other things) the higher, faster vibration of love and creativity as opposed to the lower, slower vibration of fear, jealousy, anger, and apathy and says that the higher energies are the ones to stay in vibrational harmony with. If we will do that, "nothing shall be impossible" (this is a biblical quote) because we will be in-Spirit with the living God, with the source of all that is good, all that is God (whatever you conceive God to be). Jesus reminded us that he is with us always, even to the end of the age. So the "message" to take from that is, "If God is for you, who can prevail against you?"
Again, Tosca Lee's Demon: A Memoir made it perfectly clear that the cards are stacked: God's plans to make us victorious as his image-bearers will prevail. I believe that in a way I'm not sure I ever have before... Although it's a work of fiction (demons do not write, or ask ghostwriters to write, their memoirs) it's biblically sound and utterly riveting. Lee uses similes and metaphors that carry you along, which makes it impossible to put the book down!
Anyway, I just got an email asking me to apply for a $48K/annually job... so guess I'd better sign off for now and answer at least this one before I take my vacation... wouldn't you agree this is wise?
Keep me in your heart and prayers -- and as you do, be sure to vibrate to the Faith Factor, not the Fear Factor!
Thank you!
HUGS!
I applied for about sixteen positions Friday evening and Saturday and already have three responses, all of which pay better than I was getting, so God is up to something. I also have an idea for a new book, so I'm going to be working on that over the course of the next two weeks.
I am taking two weeks off -- except for a typing test mandated by one of the potential employers, and except for looking for more opportunities so I have as many options to choose from as possible -- because I've been working for a year without a break and need to "vacation" now if I'm going to have one this year. So now's the time...
Every word spoken to me since Friday afternoon has been divinely-inspired -- I have never gone four days without reading more appropriate-to-moment books (Re-Position Yourself by Bishop TD Jakes; Demon: A Memoir by Tosca Lee; and Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling, by Wayne Dyer), hearing a more spot-on Bible study and sermon (you can hear the sermon at http://www.churchforallnations.org/; click on Media and select the audio or video version), or receiving more unconditional love from family, friends and former co-workers. It has been one of the loveliest four day spans in my lifetime! And that, too, is a result of divine grace. The vibration of love is very strong...
In reading Demon: A Memoir by Tosca Lee I inoculated myself against the common tendency to allow the "negative" in this situation to make me fearful. I understand now, to the core of my being, how much God loves me (loves us all -- this isn't an arrogant statement) and how much he hungers for me just to trust Him and the process, even when it doesn't go according to my plan -- which was simply to have my true value to the company validated in dollars. (It has been said, "We make our plans, and God laughs." But God laughs at Satan's plans, too, when He knows we're firmly in the palm of His hand and cannot be influenced by the Father of Lies and his minions). I have always known -- have always been told -- how much God loves us, but until I read Demon: A Memoir, I don't think I had it spelled out for me quite literally enough (connecting the dots) that I could fully rely on the "hype" of being that precious to the Creator of the Universe. As David said in one of the Psalms (a paraphrase), "What is man, that you think so highly of us?" I finally understand what we are to God. It's just amazing what we are to God!
Then I read Re-Position Yourself by Bishop Jakes. Strange, how I ordered this book two weeks ago and it arrived on the exact day I most needed to read it! This book is a salve for the soul of any person with a dream for their life that has not yet been fully realized. Bishop Jakes is a masterful theologian and motivator. He basically reassures the reader that God doesn't give us any dreams that He doesn't want us to accomplish, and that the giftings we have are given by God so that our dreams will become goals -- and then accomplishments.
Wayne Dyer's book Inspiration echoes Bishop Jakes, but from a "vibrational" perspective. He talks about (among many other things) the higher, faster vibration of love and creativity as opposed to the lower, slower vibration of fear, jealousy, anger, and apathy and says that the higher energies are the ones to stay in vibrational harmony with. If we will do that, "nothing shall be impossible" (this is a biblical quote) because we will be in-Spirit with the living God, with the source of all that is good, all that is God (whatever you conceive God to be). Jesus reminded us that he is with us always, even to the end of the age. So the "message" to take from that is, "If God is for you, who can prevail against you?"
Again, Tosca Lee's Demon: A Memoir made it perfectly clear that the cards are stacked: God's plans to make us victorious as his image-bearers will prevail. I believe that in a way I'm not sure I ever have before... Although it's a work of fiction (demons do not write, or ask ghostwriters to write, their memoirs) it's biblically sound and utterly riveting. Lee uses similes and metaphors that carry you along, which makes it impossible to put the book down!
Anyway, I just got an email asking me to apply for a $48K/annually job... so guess I'd better sign off for now and answer at least this one before I take my vacation... wouldn't you agree this is wise?
Keep me in your heart and prayers -- and as you do, be sure to vibrate to the Faith Factor, not the Fear Factor!
Thank you!
HUGS!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
"Demon" A Powerful Read!
I’m reading a work of fiction (horrors! What’s the world coming to?) called DEMON, by a fantastic first-time author. It’s incredibly good. It’s about a guy who meets a demon and finds out what it’s like to know you’re damned, from the demon’s point of view. The author is a Christian and she has done a wonderful job of making it seem real, and creepy, even sad! It’s no wonder demons are out to grab a few more of us in any way they can. It’s gonna be lonely separated from God with just other demons – they want some "human" companionship when they get where they’re going!
When you get into the storehouse of cherubim and seraphim information and the place they hold in the hierarchy, it seems weird to think they would ever want to be anywhere else, but those who saw Lucifer as "shining perfection" (the way God made him) and decided to worship him (a created being) rather than the Creator made a choice to go that way because it seemed harmless to do so – as we all do when something or someone "outshines" our Creator in today’s world – whether it’s riches, celebrities, stuff, whatever…
I’ve been guilty of it myself … at times on a weekly basis. I always repent as soon as I realize I’m heading in that dangerous direction.
It’s not always easy to remember that the only One worthy of our worship and efforts is God. Because he’s invisible and usually quiet, it’s easy to forget unless we keep a mantra going inside us: "O Worship the King…. Lord of heaven and earth."
Who else can measure up, after all? Only He who made the heavens, the cosmos, the things seen and unseen, the atoms, microbes, cells, sinew, hair, land, waters is worthy of awe and worship.
There are some amazing things in the world, and people, but all were created by God, all are His handiwork… so our gaze should extend beyond them.. to Him!
Monday, January 7, 2008
Obama For Me!
I spent Saturday evening watching the Presidential candidates debate and then watched C-Span coverage at Jackie’s home on Sunday, and have decided that I am going to start visibly supporting Barack Obama’s candidacy (wearing T-shirts, putting bumper stickers on my car, etc.).
I like all four of the Democratic contenders and would vote for any of them should they be the party’s nominee. I like a couple of the Republican contenders, too, (Huckabee and McCain), but not as well as I like any of the four Democrats currently in the forefront.
I sense a renewed hope in America for America because of the Obama candidacy – something I haven’t felt since Robert Kennedy ran for President in 1968. I pray several times a day that Obama’s candidacy will not end as Bobby’s did – for if it does, I think the citizens of this country, black and white, will become utterly despondent for yet another significant period of time.
The American voice, in all its diversity, needs to be heard and I think Barack Obama is the candidate most likely to be its figurehead and founding father. He will gather around him the best and brightest and will know he needs to perform as perhaps no other President has, to establish once and for all that there should never again be a color barrier in this country -- to any position.
We’ve been in a political wilderness of sorts ever since Watergate. Very few Americans have the sense that politicians are little more than grown up-looking adolescents… almost gangs but lacking guns… so intent on fighting across the aisles that nothing ever gets done to heal and help America. I am sick and tired of it.
I like Hillary, and wish she were better liked, as her policies are sound and her dedication is huge, but I’m afraid that if she gets in, partisan bickering will be renewed and will continue unabated. It’s a real shame, because she’d be a terrific President and would break the gender barrier, but I just don’t see a lot of America rallying around her the way they have Obama.
I also like Edwards and Richardson, and would love to see all four Democratic candidates (and Bill Clinton) in Obama Administration positions, but the leader America needs now is Obama. He is drawing Dems, Republicans, Independents, young and old, into his camp – and that’s a good sign!
And I saw Obama’s wife on C-Span and she’s just as amazing as he is! I was riveted by her talk yesterday. She is charismatic, smart, wise, tough, tender and tenacious. She’ll be a phenomenal First Lady!
One of Obama’s bumper stickers reads "got hope?"
I do now, finally -- once again! When I see white-bread Ohio and New Hampshire voting for Barack Obama in the majority, it’s impossible to be as pessimistic as I have been for the past almost 35+ years.
The Hebrews spent 40 years in the wilderness before they were allowed into the Promised Land, mostly because of unbelief and bickering. (Sound familiar?)
God is at work. I think Obama will take us across the Jordan this time – as long as his Secret Service men and heavenly angels work hard to keep him safe.
I think he’s gonna win! And I think it will be a HUGE step forward for America!
WAHOO!!!
I like all four of the Democratic contenders and would vote for any of them should they be the party’s nominee. I like a couple of the Republican contenders, too, (Huckabee and McCain), but not as well as I like any of the four Democrats currently in the forefront.
I sense a renewed hope in America for America because of the Obama candidacy – something I haven’t felt since Robert Kennedy ran for President in 1968. I pray several times a day that Obama’s candidacy will not end as Bobby’s did – for if it does, I think the citizens of this country, black and white, will become utterly despondent for yet another significant period of time.
The American voice, in all its diversity, needs to be heard and I think Barack Obama is the candidate most likely to be its figurehead and founding father. He will gather around him the best and brightest and will know he needs to perform as perhaps no other President has, to establish once and for all that there should never again be a color barrier in this country -- to any position.
We’ve been in a political wilderness of sorts ever since Watergate. Very few Americans have the sense that politicians are little more than grown up-looking adolescents… almost gangs but lacking guns… so intent on fighting across the aisles that nothing ever gets done to heal and help America. I am sick and tired of it.
I like Hillary, and wish she were better liked, as her policies are sound and her dedication is huge, but I’m afraid that if she gets in, partisan bickering will be renewed and will continue unabated. It’s a real shame, because she’d be a terrific President and would break the gender barrier, but I just don’t see a lot of America rallying around her the way they have Obama.
I also like Edwards and Richardson, and would love to see all four Democratic candidates (and Bill Clinton) in Obama Administration positions, but the leader America needs now is Obama. He is drawing Dems, Republicans, Independents, young and old, into his camp – and that’s a good sign!
And I saw Obama’s wife on C-Span and she’s just as amazing as he is! I was riveted by her talk yesterday. She is charismatic, smart, wise, tough, tender and tenacious. She’ll be a phenomenal First Lady!
One of Obama’s bumper stickers reads "got hope?"
I do now, finally -- once again! When I see white-bread Ohio and New Hampshire voting for Barack Obama in the majority, it’s impossible to be as pessimistic as I have been for the past almost 35+ years.
The Hebrews spent 40 years in the wilderness before they were allowed into the Promised Land, mostly because of unbelief and bickering. (Sound familiar?)
God is at work. I think Obama will take us across the Jordan this time – as long as his Secret Service men and heavenly angels work hard to keep him safe.
I think he’s gonna win! And I think it will be a HUGE step forward for America!
WAHOO!!!
Friday, January 4, 2008
Caucus Results...
Obama and Huckabee won the Ohio caucases last night. Gads, if they end up being the candidates, it will be a hard choice, even though I’m a Democrat. I like them both. (I guess that means I’d vote Democrat… unless I discern something between now and then that just won’t fly in either of the two Democrats.)
I’d love to see the race/gender barrier broken this time out… and Clinton (although she’s less well-liked than her hubby) is probably the woman most likely to do it. Barack Obama is certainly the man to do it. It’s real hard not to like him. He’s not as experienced as other contenders, but he’s smart and will gather around him a Cabinet that is and that will advise him wisely (lots of Clintonites and others, I’m sure… if they don’t turn him down… which would be dumb and viewed as sour grapes).
I’d love to see an Obama ticket with Edwards or Clinton as the VP (or vice versa, if Obama loses his first place ranking). And if Huckabee and McCain hooked up for the Republican ticket, I’d be happy with that ticket, too.
At least in either case we’d have leaders that America could be proud of again! I am so sick of the way the present administration has besmirched the planet and our reputation in the world. It’s sadly pathetic. He’ll go down as the worst President ever… and that’s a shame, but he just refused to be anything more than his own self-(and-cronies) centered worst, until relatively recently when he decided that maybe “his way or the highway” isn’t the most prudent course for the planet. He’s even warming to the threat of global warming – a freaking MIRACLE in itself!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Merry Christmas
Christmas
All hearts come home at Christmas
Memories of Christmases past bring people vibrantly back to life – people who have long since passed to other realms. And any less-than-perfect memories of most of these people have faded and are now surprisingly insubstantial, leaving only their true essence to flicker in holiday candlelight.
Wounded people wound people. It isn’t intentional; it becomes instinctive at an early age. The only loved ones who will ever hurt you deeply are those you love deeply (and who love you to the uttermost limits of their wounded abilities to love).
Forgive them. It frees you to love them again, and it frees them, wherever they are, to find some peace.
You can do this with living people, but it’s usually easier to start with people who have passed on. Forgiveness is key to "the peace that passes all understanding." Start with forgiving yourself for any part you had in the mutual wounding and animosity, whether intentional or unintentional.
If we can all get just this far, imagine the repercussions for a world at war! Swords into ploughshares, lethal missiles into loving missions, a world that knows it must hang together or all in it will eventually perish in the same moment.
The world has too-dangerous weapons to allow our egos to be in charge of anything anymore. Surrender to peace and see where it takes us. We’ve never tried it before worldwide – and yet it’s what we all crave – peace to pursue our lives and care for our loved ones…
MERRY CHRISTMAS – GOD BLESS US, EVERY ONE!
Friday, December 21, 2007
Wahoo! We’re only working half a day on Christmas Eve here at On-Hold Concepts (www.onholdconcepts.com), and we don’t have to get here until 9 am on the 26th! That’s terrific!
The company owner gave me an iPod Shuffle for Christmas, so last night I set it up and downloaded some of my favorite songs from decades past. How the technology allows so many songs on one teensy weensy gadget is beyond me, but I’m enjoying my iPod Shuffle tremendously! There’s a lot more room for songs, but it took me three hours last night just to choose the fifty I chose! I bought a few Johnny Mathis, a few Robert Goulet, a few Elvis, a few Kenny Rogers, some Simon and Garfunkle, and lots of singles by many, many artists – Celine Dion, Dan Fogelberg, Amy Grant, Michael W Smith, Tree 63, Casting Crowns, Josh Groban… and on and on. Whee!!! It’s great to be able to pick and choose off albums, because I usually only like a few of the songs on any one album.
One item got onto the ipod automatically – the Sci-Fi Pulse interview I did with Rico Dostie last year about DeForest Kelley. It’s over an hour long, and needs to come off, because it isn’t something I’d listen to more than once every blue moon (if ever; I saved it to email to others). I can’t figure out how to isolate it so it won’t start playing… but will figure it out soon! In the meantime, I just push "next" whenever it comes around. But it’s taking up a lot of space on my iPod, so I need to find out how to delete it from there!
Yesterday’s holiday party was great fun. It was also a retirement celebration for one of the ladies who worked here for almost twenty years. And we enjoyed a "white elephant" time after a wonderful dinner, which was a lot of laughs. The boss couldn’t be there – that was the only bummer. He was at Seattle-Tacoma airport picking up his 89 year old mother, who had been stranded in the Dallas Airport all night long! She flew from Houston to Dallas and then her flight was grounded. Her trip should have taken three hours – instead, it took over eighteen, so she was very weary and beyond ready to be arrive – and Chuck was right ready to pick her up after such an
unfortunate and unforseen ordeal! Poor gal! I bet she’ll think twice about flying anywhere, ever again, at her age! I’D think about it at MINE!
The Realtor will stop my my condo tomorrow morning at 9. He canceled last night because a storm was supposed to come in. It didn’t… but boy, was it FRIGID this morning. The sheet of ice on my windshield (all over the car, actually) was THICK! It took fifteen minutes of running the car to get the ice to melt away I could see out and drive. That’s unusual around here…
Christmas Day scant hours away now. Wheee!!! Monday night I’ll stay at Jackie’s (it’s a tradition, so we’re all there when the kids awake and dash toward the tree). Just think… next year at Christmas time, God willing, I can sleep in my own bed on Christmas Eve and just walk upstairs when I hear the scuttling of little feet. Now, THAT’S lovely to contemplate!
In case I don’t get to this blog between now and Christmas, please accept my warmest Christmas greetings for a blessed day!
PLEASE TAKE TIME TO REMEMBER THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESUS!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
O Holy Night....
My favorite Christmas songs are O Come Emmanuel and Mary, Did You Know? My mother’s favorite Christmas song was The Little Drummer Boy. (Mary, Did You Know hadn’t been written by the time she died, or I have a sneaking suspicion it would be her favorite, too…)
If you don’t know the words or the songs, you can look them up by doing a search on O Come Emmanuel + lyrics in your search engine. Same with Mary, Did You Know? And if you don’t know the words, please do the search and read them. If you can find a musical rendition on line (they exist; I’ve heard them), listen to them if you haven’t heard them.
Both of them make me cry the first time I hear them every year…
I think The Little Drummer Boy resonated with Mom because she was alive during the Great Depression and knew great need and of so many peoples’ inability to "give" anything of "earthly" value to the Christ Child. When the little drummer boy asks if he should play his drum for baby Jesus, and Mary nods, and he plays, Jesus smiles… that gets me, too. Jesus wants our hearts and our love, because he knows our obedience will follow… and his blessings will follow that, in abundance!
Before I was born again, I thought Christians must live awfully boring lives. Not only boring, but judgmental and nit-picky, too! Boy howdy, was I wrong! I have been more alive during the past nine years than I ever was before, except perhaps as a very small child, 5-10 or so. (I was terribly sick and scrawny until I was five and don’t remember much of those days except for Mom rubbing my back and singing songs to me as I lay on the couch.)
The (practicing) Christians I know are full-out surrendered to letting God’s spirit direct their paths. When I allow that, I bless and am blessed. When I pull back into my "old" self-protective, reactive ways, I suffer, and those around me suffer, too, even though I try to isolate when I’m feeling low. Others suffer because they don’t get the "Christ in me" when I pull back. They always notice and always ask if anything is wrong when I get quiet or uncommunicative.
If you ask almost anyone to describe me in one word, the word is "enthusiastic." That thrills me, because it comes from the word "entheos" which means "God in me." The Jewish people have Emmanuel – "God with us." Christians enjoy Entheos – "God in us" (via the Holy Spirit).
I know that when I give The Holy Spirit carte blanche with my mind, emotions, will, intellect and my personality, people get blessed. And when I get tried, or stressed, or miffed, the "old" me takes over and becomes a giant pill – or can, if I succumb to the temptation.
The great thing about being born again is that the experience of becoming a blessing rather than a bother is so enjoyable that it encourages itself! I can’t stay mad anymore… or bored… or ticked… I start giggling and laughing whenever I decide I have a "right" to be proactively cranky or isolationist. I used to feel "pride" and what I considered "righteous indignation" when I was miffed. Now I realize that my Adamic nature is trying to grab hold of me again, and I respond by thinking about that… forgiving it… and getting bored with it. The process always returns me to ebullience and joy. Every time. Being cranky and judgmental just takes too much energy! Joy gives and gives and gives -- and rarely gives out unless I’m close to exhaustion!
I haven’t had even ten Christmases yet in my life where Jesus was the sole reason for the season. In a way, I’m luckier than most (nominal) Christians who more or less take Jesus for granted. Since He has become my dearest friend, all I can think of is how blessed I am and what a blessing He is. And I know I want to be like him "when I grow up," and as I grow into the fullness of this new experience of being an adopted child of the Most High God.
Christmas is my favorite time of year. And it doesn’t have a thing to do with presents. It has everything to do with Presence!
Thank You, Father God, for loving us so much that you sent your only son to die as a substitute for all of us, who have fallen so far short of our mandate to be your image-bearers and to reflect Your light and love. I try to fathom a love that great. I don’t know of a single terrestrial father who would give his son in the way you gave yours to save all of us from the penalties of our transgressions against Your Word and direction… and even if there were such a father, his son could not accomplish what yours did at Calvary. He canceled our sin debt and threw open the Holy of Holies to each of us so that we can elect to walk with You again in the Garden forever. It had to hurt to do that… it had to be hell to see your son endure all He did to win us back. I will not forget Your love and Your sacrifice. You love us beyond our comprehension or understanding…beyond our own abilities to love! One day we will love as you do. Until then, help us reflect as much of You as our dirty lenses will allow… and clean and polish and de-smudge us in every way possible so that the reflection off us will reveal Your Face and Your Love. It is in the precious Name of Jesus I pray. Amen, amen, and amen!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Try This On For Size and Let Me Know What You Think!
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1601820
You can find out more about Joe Vitale at his website: mrfire.com
You can find out more about Joe Vitale at his website: mrfire.com
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Friday, December 7, 2007
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Can't Imagine Anything Better to Send You Tonight Than This Wonderful Link....
Enjoy and consider...
... how best to bestow your dash!!!
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
"We live in a world of theophanies. Holiness comes wrapped in the ordinary. There are burning bushes all around you. Every tree is full of angels. Hidden beauty is waiting in every crumb. Life wants to lead you from crumbs to angels, but this can happen only if you are willing to unwrap the ordinary by staying with it long enough to harvest its treasure."
-- Macrina Wiederkehr
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