Spencer the Dog Steals the Show

Find out why Spencer the dog stole the show and why he's admitting that's he superior to Tasha the dog. Join us at Dogs Rule Cats Drool,




(Tasha the dog)



(Spencer the Dog)

Replaced By Texting

Who would have thought that texting or Instant Messenger (IM) would replace the important role that kids played in the communication between their parents? Growing up in a generation before e-mail my parents talked to each other by yelling back and forth across the house. Mom yelled from one end of the house to the other but dad being unable to hear through the walls never heard anything after she yelled his name.

“Why does your mother have to mumble, does she think I can hear through walls?” grumbled dad.

It was up to us kids who heard every word of moms request to tell dad what mom had said. We were expected to send his reply back to mom.

“Dad, mom was asking if you wanted spaghetti for dinner.” my brother said.

“Tell her that’s fine with me.” replied dad.

Of course, my brother yelled it to back to her as he stood next to dad.

“Mom,” shouted my brother, “Dad said he was fine with eating spaghetti.”

Then unexpectedly my father slapped my brother on the shoulder.

“Hey, why did you hit me?” Asked my brother.

“Haven’t I told you not to yell through the house,” said Dad.

The rest of us kids hid the smiles on our faces behind our hands.

Today texting has eliminated the need for yelling and has become the silent communicator between my husband and me. Our conversation sounds like this;

(text received) “What time is dinner?” he asks.

(I send a reply) “How does spaghetti sound?”

(text received) “Sounds good to me.” He says.

No yelling required! The kids have been replaced by texting.

Now, if someone would please invent a mute button for the rest of their endless chatter.

Yes We Can Change - Add Education, Goals and Challenges to your To Do List!

“It is never too late to be who you might have been.” George Eliot, writer
(1819-1880)

Why do we give up on learning and not challenge ourselves to learn more? Is it because learning gets pushed to the bottom of our “To Do” list? How many people have settled for less because they didn’t want or were unwilling to push themselves that extra step to finish a degree, earn a certification or write a novel? We are capable of so much more, but does that voice of doubt hold us back?

I have reached my first milestone, completing all lower division Math classes in order to transfer to the University. Yes, it feels good. I have gotten past the hurdle when the voice of doubt would have told me I couldn’t do it and I would have normally dropped Math, being that it was my worst subject. Always, I would promise myself that I would take the classes again later. Well, there comes a point where there are no more next semesters and that voice of doubt begins to sound like a broken record. For all of us today, education and goals are so important and it will unlock more doors and provide us with more opportunities than without it. I’m reminded of a saying from the writer George Eliot (1819-1880) “It is never too late to be who you might have been.”

How do you know when it’s time for something bigger and better in life? Each of us is searching for that ultimate point in life to be able to say we did it. Have you seen the cartoon of the man and the little angel that sits on his right shoulder encouraging him to do something and then the little red devil pops onto the left shoulder and provides a doubtful response to all that the angel encourages? Listed below are some ways to silence that little red devil – the voice of doubt and pursue your goals.

You can’t do better than that! Let your mantra become, “I can do better than that,” and repeat it over and over again.

You’ll be old by the time you finish! Guess what? Time waits for no-one and you’ll be older anyway whether you take the time to get an education, write that novel or not. Probably you’ll be a lot smarter than you were and maybe, making more money.

You’ll have to sacrifice so much it will hurt: What will you really be giving up? Assemble a team of supporters to help you while you pursue your educational goals or take that class that could move you to the next pay level or write that novel. Sure, it will be an uphill battle, but the reward is worth it.

Stop doubting yourself and keep an open mind. Give yourself all the encouragement you can muster. Quoting Barack Obama in his acceptance speech winning the Presidential Election in 2008, “Yes, we can change.”

Good Luck in all your endeavors.

The L.A. Times Book Festival through the Eyes of a Small Press Author

At the Los Angeles Book Times Festival April 25 and 26 I had the pleasure of meeting one author in particular. Marilyn Meredith, http://marilynmerdith.blogspot.com author of No Sanctuary. One of the highlights of blogging about Hollywood stars and famous book authors is being able to meet them in person. Marilyn was signing books for all her fans and gave away an extra special gift for those who bought a book, it was, her first Tempe Crabtree novel, Deadly Omen. Marilyn shares with us her experiences at the book festival at The Real Hollywood blog.

Want to find out more about these exciting characters from No Sanctuary? Click on the links below from the authors virtual book tour:


Memories of a Simpler Time, http://valleygirlmusings.blogspot.com/2009/03/memories-of-simpler-time-interview-with.html

Author creates blog for her novel, http://valleygirlmusings.blogspot.com/2009/03/author-f-m-meredith-creates-blog-for.html

Thursday Thirteen with a Character from No Sanctuary, http://valleygirlmusings.blogspot.com/2009/03/thursday-thirteen-fm-meredith-author-of.html

Review of No Sanctuary
http://valleygirlmusings.blogspot.com/2009/03/real-hollywood-reviews-no-sanctuary-by.html

The Hollywood Trivia Interview
http://valleygirlmusings.blogspot.com/2009/03/hollywood-trivia-interview-with-fm.html

Marilyn Meredith blogs
http://fictionforyou.com
http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/
http://rockybluffpd.blogspot.com/
Stiletto Gang: http://thestilettogang.blogspot.com/

At The Sound of the Beep Leave Your Name and Number

Have you had enough of those harassing sales calls, or people asking you to donate money, enticements to refinance your home loan or others? Well, I got so tired of the same calls that I decided to play their game. I left this message for incoming calls on my answering machine.

...... I’m not here right now and if you’re calling for a donation, I’m afraid that as a taxpayer all my money has given to AIG and other institutions that have asked for bailout money. Better luck next year.

If you’re the attorney calling for Suzy Homemaker, I’m sure you are a smart guy, after all, you passed the bar exam, but don’t you think that after so many years of leaving the same message with no return call you might ask yourself why? Get a clue, Suzy doesn’t live here, never will.

If you’re calling from some mortgage company and wanting to provide me with the latest and greatest home loan, sorry I’m fresh out of patience to do all that paperwork.

If you’re calling from my kids schools to tell me one of them is sick, besides leaving a message here, which means I’m not home, put a little effort into finding me and call some of my emergency numbers listed on file with the school.

If you’re calling from the doctor’s office with test results please don’t list the human anatomy parts, they are other people picking up these messages.

If you’re anyone else calling with, I hope, some wonderful news leave a message. .........


** I would love to hear the phone calls that you get.

Hollywood Trivia Interview with Doug Hewitt author of The Dead Guy

Author Doug Hewitt stopped by my blog The Real Hollywood earlier this week during his month long virtual book with Pump Up Your Book Promotion and he answered some Hollywood Trivia questions. One of the questions asked him if he happened to be shipwrecked on the same deserted island with the television characters on the show Gilligan’s Island how would he entice seven different individuals to read his book? Other questions dealt with a game show question, an acceptance speech others. Come on over and check out the answers.

A chapter excerpt of The Dead Guy is available at Doug Hewitt’s website



ABOUT THE BOOK:
Jack Thigpen (www.hewittsbooks.com) works in Detroit, nicknamed The Motor City, the perfect place for a fraud investigator who specializes in car insurance scams. He is on a case he believes is a typical, low-level crime, but it quickly turns into a situation with ominous international consequences. Ironically, as he is targeted for death because of his investigation, Jack is diagnosed with a fatal disease that is untreatable, a disease that will end his life within months. And instead of killing Jack, the hit man shoots Jack's best friend. Struggling to come to terms with his impending death, Jack vows to track down his friend's killer.

Jack plunges into the world of corrupt car dealerships, chop shops, and fraudulent auto repair shops. He is soon swept into the darkness of Detroit's criminal underbelly to uncover the truth about power struggles within organized crime rings. Death is staring him in the face, but Jack doesn't back down. He pushes ahead, plowing through perilous roadblocks planted by his enemies, propelling himself toward the finish line and a teeth-gritting, heart-pounding conclusion.


Pump Up Your Book Promotion
“We take books to the virtual level!”
www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com

What's in Your Mailbox

The U.S. Postal Service must think I am a rich woman with all the bills they continually deliver to my mailbox. It does become rather depressing to receive nothing but bills, but once a month I look forward to my writer’s magazines. Recently, an author’s book arrived in the mail. Of course, I had requested the book from the author so I could write a review, but wasn’t sure which day it would arrive.

“No Sanctuary”, by author F.M. Meredith is the latest in the Rocky Bluff mystery series. Rocky Bluff is a fictional town in the California foothills with a comparable small town feel to that of Mayberry in the Andy Griffith television show. The town comes to life and so do the Rocky Bluff police officers and detective to solve the mystery of one woman’s murder that involves two churches, two ministers and two wives.

Be sure to look for my review at The Real Hollywood during the author’s virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion. She will be hosted all week at The Real Hollywood starting Monday, March 16, with interviews, guests post, Thursday Thirteen, and a book review.

You can find out more about the author, her book, “No Sanctuary and the Rocky Bluff Police blog at and read the first chapter of the “No Sanctuary”,


The previous books in the Rocky Bluff series are Smell of Death, Fringe Benefits, Bad Tidings, and Final Respects.

Cell Phone Tales - Can You Hear Me Now?

Did Verizon overhear my conversation with my kids because now they are using my famous line “Can You Hear Me Now” in one of their television commercials? It’s the commercial where the Verizon technician walks around to different locations and asks “Can You Hear Me Now?” Could I possibly collect royalty payments from Verizon, since I was using the phrase before them?

Being a working mom means most of my parenting during the day has been conducted by way of a phone call to my kids at home. Count the number of times I use the phrase “Can you hear me now” in this phone conversation.


Hello, are you there. Can you hear me now? I ask.

“Yeah mom, I’m here”, moans my tired son. I don’t understand why he’s still tired as he’s just now crawling out of bed and it’s already early afternoon. I’ve been awake for half the day and feeling like I need a nap. Trying to be understanding, (after all he did work an eight hour shift and was getting home when I was going to bed), I politely say

“After you wake up and get something to eat would you please wash the dishes.” I’ve always heard that silence is golden, except from the person on the other end of the phone call.

“Did you hear that? Hello, can you hear me now?” I asked into the receiver.

“Yeah, I’m here mom,” my son replies.

“What are you doing?” I ask, hearing silence and thinking the connection has ended I ask,

“Can you hear me now?”

I hear a delayed answer “Oh yeah, I’m watching TV”, he says.

“Did you hear what I asked you to do?”

“Yeah, I heard it”

“Are you going to do it?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get to it.

Arriving home after an exhausting drive from the end of a very long day I notice the dishes are still piled high in the kitchen and my son is sprawled out on the couch in front of the television.

“Why didn’t you do the things I asked you to?”

“What did you ask me to do?”

“I asked you to do the dishes.”

“You did?” he says with complete shock registering on his face.

“I called you from work.”

“You called me?” he seemed more puzzled than before. “Don’t you remember I kept saying can you hear me now?

I don’t remember talking to you mom, really I don’t.”

Now I’m wondering who I did talk to. I’m sure it was my son. I couldn’t have dialed a wrong number and gotten someone who sounded just like my son.

I think it’s time to change networks to “The Housekeeper” and never again would I have to say “Can You Hear Me Now?”


** Dear Reader **
How many times did I use the phrase, “Can You Hear Me Now?”

Let me know in a comment.

Punxsutawney Phil Sees Shadow: Six More Weeks of Winter

The world’s most famous groundhog saw his shadow Monday morning, predicting that this already long winter will last for another six more weeks, according to the Associated Press.

I wonder with a cold winter already on the east coast was there any question that winter would continue for another six weeks? Did they need a groundhog to tell them it would?

What is the magic of this groundhog being able to predict what the next six weeks will hold? According to German superstition, if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on Feb 2 - the Christian holiday of Candlemas - winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says, spring will come early.

Since 1887, this little groundhog named Phil, has seen his shadow 97 times, hasn’t seen it 15 times and there are no records for nine years.

My paternal family line is from Pennsylvania and they lived near Gobbler’s Knob, a tiny hill in Punxsutawney, 65 mile northeast of Pittsburgh. My paternal grandmother, born in 1904 used to share stories with us of the local townspeople and farmers who would hope for an early spring and were quite disappointed when Phil predicated that winter would continue. After the family moved to California in the 1950’s she would give her sympathies to no-one in particular, but thinking of the remaining family having to endure more winter weather.

Dear Reader: Where are you living? How cold or warm is the weather in your local area?

Superbowl 43 - The Game or the Commercials

Do you watch the Superbowl for the game or the commericals? Read what I watch it for and who I spotted in a commerical at The Real Hollywood.