Rumpled Words

1. I hate the color ... 
white: white walls, white houses, white cars, white pants, white fences, white shirts, white socks, white shoes, white underwear, white bread, white glue, ... it's all either boring, too hard to keep clean, or sticky. And oh..the blank white page ... sssssCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

2. I hate the TV show ... The View. I'm motivated by stress and aggravation, so I only watch it when I need a jumpstart to my morning. I hate Oprah and Dr. Phil too.

3. I hate the taste of ...
 parsnips. I haven't had to eat one since I was a kid. And I think they are kind of white-ish anyway.

4. I hate the smell of ... fish and coffee.


5.I hate the word ... loser

6. I hate the sound of ...
 things scraping against concrete, people chewing

7. I hate the song ... Midnight At The Oasis ... so many songs from the 70's were so putrid, that I stopped listening to the radio in that decade. Now I only like really weird folk or world music, like Tuvan throat singers and that kind of stuff.

I was upset over something tonight, but after a fair amount of kvetching, settled down to eat a sandwich. The spouse asked me if I liked horseradish, and I thought he said, "Are you LIKE horseradish?"

And I said, "Yes, I am a little bitter."

He looked at me funny, and I said, "Oh, you didn't mean for that to be a simile?"

He said no, he simply wanted to know if I'd like to try Wasabi.

Whoopsies.

The WORK now stands at 14,030 words. I have a beginning...about half a middle .. and an end. The other half of the middle will probably run about 6,000 to 8,000 words.

I've printed it all out, and now I need to go through by hand, and make more revision notes.

I had gotten totally bogged down in the middle, so I skipped to the end, and wrote the last two chapters, which revealed a good bit about what needs to happen before then.

The goal is to have it complete and to crit partners by the end of the month.

In addition to my in-person group, I will be looking for more eyes for swapsies. I've already agreed with a couple of you. When I get closer to the time, I'll let you know.

Ahhh... the printing is done. Now I need to punch holes and get it all in my notebook.

Look what I got today ....





He was signing at the local Christian bookstore.

Whoo-hooo ... I can only hope that one day people will be lined up waiting for my autograph. He walked in with a child slung over his shoulder, and seemed a little awed that there was already a line.

I got a pic of me with him too, but I don't know how to get photos off my phone. Yeah ... I know.

I am not participating in the 15 minutes a day challenge, because most of this summer I've averaged 2-3 hours a day. But, on the days I do only get in 15-30 minutes I feel okay about it. And then there was that week where I just stopped, because I scared myself into thinking I could finish.

I often compare writing to sewing, but last night I realized there is one BIG difference between writing and sewing. When you sew, you have all the materials with you: the fabric, the thread, the trim, the buttons, the zipper, the pattern. Everything. But when you write, you have to somehow find the things you need to complete the story - the characters, the plot, the subplot, the imagery, the action - out of the air.

Wouldn't it be cool if there were a story store, like there's a fabric store? You just walk in and say, I need a motive, three similes, and a bottle of adverb remover.

Both my blog and and my website have been changed from kpluta to lillpluta, but if you type in the kpluta you should be automatically redirected. This is actually the same ol' blog, I just bought a rename token. For some reason, I had some coupons collecting in my inbox, so I got it for a slight discount.

After learning that some people thought I was up to three different people, I figured I'd better errr...consolidate, especially since I'm in sub mode again.

And yeah ... I'll still answer to Kay ... as that's what I've always been called. But henceforth, in the kid-lit world, I'm Lill ... except to the diehards or long time friends who just can't make the switch.

Yeah, there's a real soap opera behind my name and the reason why it's barely been used, which a few of you know, but I'm saving it for fiction.

Lill

.... I've made a few changes on my bog ...

In a slump?

All your sentences turning out the same?

Characters flat? Boring even?

Consider making minute changes in your own appearance in an attempt to feel fresh, new, and creative again.

For instance, dye your hair red and get some funky reading glasses ....

Thanks to cynthialord, this has been a delightful week seeing where everyone lives and getting glimpses of different parts of the world.

There are a lot of lakes in Oklahoma. We go bike riding at Lake Hefner. We have mid-week picnics with my husband at Lake Draper. But we have a mighty pretty little lake just down the road from us in a city park. The boys go fishing there sometimes.










That little white dot toward the lower- center-right is a bird. Some sea-birdy looking sort of thing you wouldn't expect to find in the middle of Oklahoma.




And that brings us back to my neighborhood and the end of the road.

Do you know how hard it is to capture fireworks on a camera, especially a little moderately priced digital camera? But I did it anyway. These pics are taken from the top of my sons' playset in our backyard. The fireworks are from the Baptist church's big extravaganza last Sunday night.

The results are in, and John's kid's hands down favorite was....


*******************************************
The Bunny Mystery by Adrian

Bunnies are small. Bunnies are round,
Bunnies are shy and don’t make a sound.
Bunnies are brown. Bunnies are white.
Bunnies are quick to hop out of sight.
Bunnies have ears. Bunnies have toes.
Where bunnies hide, nobody knows.
Bunnies have bottoms, bunnies have legs,
But what kind of bunny poops chocolate eggs?
**************************************************

The kids couldn't resist the poop part, and John would have totally loved this. Adrian please email me at kpluta-at-cox-period-net (remove dashes and replace appropriate words with punctuation).

Two other poems also received special mention from the family, and as soon as I get around to it, I will send you something via email either suitable for printing and framing or using as an avatar.

The first one is .....
******************************************************
Footprints by Diana Murray

When the snow has fallen, all is still,
Until white bunnies frolic on the hill.
I never see or hear them, but I know
They're here because their footprints mark the snow.
************************************************************
John's sister said this brought memories of her brother, and that she sees his "footprints" in the faces of the children everyday.

The next one is .....

******************************************************************
God Bless J's Family and Friends" by cocoskeeper

Little rabbit, soft gray fur
Whitens some in the winter brrr

Snuggles close to those he loves
Waits for the coo of springtime doves

Tulips bud and beckon him
Sniffs a blossom on a whim

Ears a-twitter, someone’s near
Mate and kits are who he hears

Down come raindrops then the sun
A colored sky for everyone

Hopping, thumping, summer bliss
Kits grow fast from sunshine’s kiss

Autumn comes and red leaves fall
Now kits are rabbits after all

And they thrive as rabbits do
Soft gray angels all year through
************************************************************
John's sister said this sounded like something John, himself, would write, and it made her think of him.

And here is a note from the family:

Please thank everyone for the poems. They were a pleasure to read and we enjoyed each one. Thank you so much for honoring John in such a sweet way.

Hugs to you from us all!

A, A, and A


All winners please contact me via email. Thank you! And thank you to all who participated! I will make this and the other post private in a week or two, so that if the poets want to seek publication for their poems they won't be out dangling around on the net.

This is a picture taken at Myriad Botanical Gardens. You can see the water stage where they hold the annual Shakespeare in the Park event, and to the right is the Crystal Garden.





There's a jungle in there. Literally.




And this is where OKC's new NBA team will play. Right now they are the Seatle SuperSonics, but they will be getting a new name, new colors, and a new logo.



A few more pics are under the cut.

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I promised we'd head to the city today, but instead of downtown I'm taking you to Route 66









More pics under the cut

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Photo taken from car window while zipping down I-44. No, I wasn't driving.

I know. It's flat. Sigh.

Tomorrow, I'll take you into the city. Promise. See I'll prove it.

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All eleven of the entries in the Bunny Poetry Contest have been bundled up and e-mailed to John's children. They will be choosing their favorite.

So many to choose from!

It's been a meh day here today. A couple of things caught in my craw that I really can't do much about. Plus, I've been cleaning out the garage to make room for the spouse's new motorcycle. Yee. Haw. Vrrooom. Vrooom. Phooey.

I'm rather bummed that everyone is going somewhere all nice and writerly. I feel like the eternal caterpillar.

And I've been digging through boxes of stuff in the garage, uncovereing memories. Sniffle. Sniffle. Sob.

As soon as I get done goofing around, I'm going to write.

This is the main road outside of my subdivision, or addition as they call them here. Notice the oil pump in the background. These are a very common site in Oklahoma, although many are no longer operating. You will find them fenced off in the middle of fields, along the highway, smack dab in the middle of a subdivsion ... errrr ... addition, just about anywhere. Some people paint them to look decorative.

This field will be the site of a new elementary school within the next two years. I don't think the farmer is happy. My husband and sons saw him root the "New School Coming Soon" sign out of the ground with his tractor one day. The land had either been sold or given to the church at the end of the road. The church then sold a piece of it off to the school system. There are actually two churches at the end of the road, one on each corner. There is a larger, more upscale subdivision next to ours, and then it's just fields.




If you look at my web page, with the artwork by lizjonesbooks you will see one of these little oil pumps, also called "grasshoppers" in the background.

Okay, I know it's supposed to be ONE picture .. but since when have I conformed? I edited this to one photo, but I'm putting the one below back, just because I like the lines. This is driving out of the addition to get on the highway which is just around the corner. The barrels are to keep cars off the grass when the big Baptist church holds their Freedom Fireworks Extravaganza later in the evening. There's a cornfield to the left and the ritzier addition to the right. They have an all brick fence ... us schlumps down the road have half brick/half wood fencing around our addition.

I'm joining in on cynthialord's challenge to post a photo a day of where we live. I won't claim Oklahoma City as my hometown; it's just where we've been deposited for the time being courtesy of the United States Air Force.

And I'll start with my own front door. I found this sign half-price at Target, and couldn't resist.



I promise I will get more interesting.

I'm extending the Bunny Poetry Writing contest to Sunday night at 12am CST.

Please leave your entry in the comments section of the following post.

http://kpluta.livejournal.com/300665.html

... and tomorrow it's time for Church! This is one of my favorite Lyle songs, and as always, he tells a good story with his songs.