Scribble and Scrambles ~ Scenes from my NOT SO QUIET Quiet Time

So. When I read my daily Bible passages I always have company.


Here are their thoughts from top photo down.





"SIGH!!!! Snork. Pout."




"Put that book down and get me some food, or else!"




"Pay attention to me, Grandma?"

Scribbles and Scrambles - Picture Perfect Adventure

The Saturday adventure was a photo shoot for dogs.

Yup.

Twenty-three wanted some professional pictures of her double-troubles.

We hauled a bag full of props and helps to a local park and met our photographer friends.

The pictures are ones I snapped while attempting to keep peace. Many other photos, most that displayed various scenarios of "what were we thinking poses."

In order to photograph in shady spots to avoid the annoying shadow issues, terrain challenges cropped up.

Big ones.

Pictured is the photographer slowing while falling down the hill. Twenty-three saved her. Probably because she wanted the whole roll of her babies.

Yes, adventure it was, with many blurred photos as a subject decided to lurch for the dangling treat reward for sitting and staying. One-at-a-time close-ups required many face cleanings because the treats caused faucet drooling behavior and the lurching, lunging and pacing ended up pasting slime trails on a dog sibling face.

Double shots were even more of a challenge. When one looked obediently at the camera, the other would pull out a psycho-squirrel face or would lunge the opposite direction.

But, we should have some keepers.

And we definitely have some stories.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Peace Out or Actually In - Part 3

I think Kim's comment on yesterday's post concisely sums up my thoughts. But since I'm currently in ramble mode...I will continue to do so.

I blog because I can connect with others on a different level than in my day-to-day, face-to-face connections. I've discovered that I have had some pretty honest heart-to-heart conversations with folks I've never met and maybe never will on this earth.
Deeper conversations, at times, than with those friends I could drop in on right now if I felt like it. I met one of my best friends through an online critique group. And as we shredded each others' work, we discovered that what we had in common was greater than writing fiction. Others have become intimate strangers. I've had strangers contact me and ask me to pray for them. That is kind of an awesome and humbling blessing. Still others have lashed out at me. One man wrote a hate-filled e-mail that horrified me and then made me stop and remember that words have power. He was reacting to what my words stirred up in him.

I blog because I have peace and I want others to find it, too. (See, that's how the topic of peace turned into three days of rambling with barely a mention of peace.) I have peace because I have God's mercy, grace and love. And frankly, life can STINK like an outdoor garbage can full of plastic bags full of dog poo on a freakishly hot August afternoon. If I can post something that makes anybody laugh through the stink, or rethink the stink, or move beyond the stink, then that's what I want to do. Sometimes we just need to know we aren't alone on this hurtling orb. Sometimes we need to see the truth through a different lens. Sometimes we need to escape from the stink and recharge. That is what blogging has become to me. A chance to share something, anything that may make a little bit of a difference in someone's life.

Maybe that's not so far from where I started. And that takes the pressure off. I'm not pretending to be what I'm not in an attempt to impress someone who might send me a contract.

Okay. I feel better.

Serenity now. Have a wonderful weekend. The weather in Iowa is amazing. Blue skies, sunshine and in the 60's. The dogs and I walked already. I've posted my blog post for the day. I have my Bible sitting next to me waiting for me to spend a little time with it. I'm selling some jewelry tonight. Dinner is done. And the things that are sad and twisted in my little world are things I can give to my Jesus. And that is something I'm planning to do right now.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Peace Out or Actually In - Part 2

But somewhere along the way. This drive to be published has dwindled into a vague sense of acceptance of the fact that I probably won't be birthing a book. Right now, though I have the starts of a dozen books and stories on my hard drive, a few of which are a mere 20K words from being finished first drafts, I have no desire to write those stories.

Maybe it's because my personal journey isn't where I thought it was. I have the title and an outline for an awesome book on step-parenting but that story has taken a road I hoped didn't exist. My story would not be the encouragement that I'd hoped it might be. Not at this point. At this point I'm just surviving and am hoping that the road that I hoped didn't exist is a short road.

So why did a suggested blog post about peace open a vein here? About blogging? Good question. Maybe if I circle around a bit and ramble, the thoughts will jell into something tangible.

Why do I review books? And movies?

I get free books. Offers come daily and sometimes people just send them to me. But here's the deal. Most of them don't change my life or complete me. Most of them are okay or even good. Some have valuable information for me to take and ponder. But it is a rare book that takes my breath away. I'm not in love with just the ability to write beautiful phrases or an exquisite scene that I can smell, taste and feel. Characters don't usually jump off the pages and grab me by the throat or heart. Most of what I read leaves me as it found me. Maybe with a tear in my eye or a chuckle still vibrating in my throat but the written thoughts and words don't pierce my heart. The same with a movie except that I don't get many free movies. Speaking of free. After I invest hours of my time into a free book, reading it, then write a review, well, lets just say this is not about the perks.

So why do I blog? Is it narcissistic? I love to see my words in "print?" Or am in love with my own opinions? Hmmm. I don't think it's narcissism. I can go weeks without updating my status on Twitter or Facebook. My life just isn't that interesting and I don't think others are waiting for something rich and fulfilling from my fingertips.

Not done yet....

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Peace Out or Actually In - Part 1

A blog I subscribe to throws out challenges every once in awhile. They come up with a seasonal or creative topic to write about and we are invited to post our thoughts on their blog and then they pick a handful to highlight the following week.

I guess the benefit is that if I write something really terrific and people subjectively love it, I might get more readers or receive some sort of kudo. (Probably not the chocolate covered kind.)

So this concept got me thinking. I know you love it when I do that. Why do I blog?

If I decided to be brutally honest I'd tell you that I don't really know.

At all.

I did when I started. When I started blogging I was a wannabe writer with book ideas dancing in my head and some hope that if I worked really hard and put in loads of spit and polish and elbow grease and old-fashioned nitty gritty I'd eventually be published in hardcover. And when I was published I'd have an awesome platform from which to promote my book. After all, I'd have blogged about fascinating things and given out teasers and whetted appetites with witty, juicy and deep comments that left readers begging for more.

That's one of the reasons I began to do book reviews, too. To make my name recognizable in the tiny Christian publishing industry. My secondary reason was because all the authors I admired mentioned that a writer reads and learns from what she/he reads. And how better to learn than to sort information into some sort of logical format that spells out what makes a story good, believable and moving and what makes a character come to life? So there you go, writing a review does that.

That idealistic chick described in the preceding paragraphs has grown up a bit. I've attended writer's conferences, poured over articles, how-to books and had my stuff shredded and rewritten by the best critiquers around. I've entered far more contests than I'd like to admit. And I've stared at blank computer screens hoping for inspiration and the words with which to describe it.

To be continued.

Scribble and Scrambles ~ Words of Wisdom

I have nothing profound, amusing, droll, random or clever to post. So, therefore, I will leave you with this quote.



Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.

Helen Keller

Scribbles and Scrambles - Leash Lessons ~ Entanglements

A few weeks ago I shared a spiritual and/or common sense life lesson I learned while walking Lily and Lola.

Guess what, there's more.

As you can see by the enclosed picture, Lily and Lola don't just have problems with distractions and wandering. They also have issues with entanglements.

Most of the time they are simultaneously doing their own things which is why my arms have grown longer over their lifetime.

Lola is obsessed with birds and bugs but will ignore most of them however she occasionally encounters a magical flying/hopping object that requires her immediate and enthusiastic attention which ends up looking like a sudden leap to the right. Lily favors the left where her nose is to the pavement and she is living life vicariously through other dogs, humans, wildlife and litterers.

But when they get together in double single-minded focus they are capable of moving me, and I mean literally. Just try to pull 140 pounds of unbridled yet focused enthusiasm aware from a truly odoriferous object on the path or carelessly tossed waffles or biscuits. (Yes, we've encountered both.)

So that brings me to my thoughts about entangling myself with others. I do it entirely too much. Especially when drama whispers in a loud offstage one-liner. If I had a dollar for every time my emotions whirled out of control over someone else's issues or problems I'd be a rich woman. Oh, I can ignore some drama...most of it actually. But every once in awhile a situation so needy of my time crops up and I stop, turn, tangle myself in it and leap right. Or I spend sometimes too much time with my senses focused on others' stuff that I miss the whole point of a walk on a perfect sunshiney day and get caught up in garbage that wasn't my mess to clean up.