WATER ~ WHALES ~ and KENDALL GREY

I bet you thought I would take today off. After that A to Z Blog Challenge just about everyone involved will be laying low for a day or two. Trust me, when I say I would too, BUT there is something I want to tell you about today ~ 1 May 2012.

FIRST, watch this. My friend Kendall is an addict and she needs your help with her addiction. PLEASE, take a minute to listen to her story.

INHALE, an urban fantasy romance by Kendall Grey, is now available in paperback and e-book for Kindle (MOBI) and Nook (EPUB). INHALE is the first book in the JUST BREATHE trilogy. Kendall is donating all profits from the sale of the trilogy to programs that educate people about whales and the challenges they face. HOW COOL IS THAT?

INHALE

   Strangers in reality, inseparable in dreams…

‘After years of suffocating under her boss’s scrutiny, whale biologist Zoe Morgan finally lands a job as director of a tagging project in Hervey Bay, Australia. Success Down Under all but guarantees her the promotion of a lifetime, and Zoe won’t let anything – or anyone – stand in her way. Not the whale voices she suddenly hears in her head, not the ex who won’t take no for an answer, and especially not the gorgeous figment of her imagination who keeps saving her from the fiery hell of her dreams.

Gavin Cassidy hasn’t been called to help a human Wyldling in over a year, which is fine by him. Still blaming himself for the death of his partner, he keeps the guilt at bay by indulging in every excess his rock star persona affords. That is, until he’s summoned to protect Zoe from hungry Fyre Elementals and learns his new charge is the key to restoring order in the dying Dreaming. He never expects to fall for the feisty Dr. Morgan…nor does he realize he may have to sacrifice the woman he loves to save an entire country.’

*This book contains graphic language, sex, and some violence. Not suitable           for readers under the age of 18.

**The author will donate all profits from the sale of the JUST BREATE trilogy to programs that educate people about whales and the challenges they face.

***Kendall and I encourage you to consider purchasing an e-book instead of a paperback. E-books save, trees, cost considerably less, and bring in much more money for the whales.

For more information check Kendall and INHALE out at:

BLOG:http://www.kendallgrey.com

FACEBOOK:http://www.facebook.com/KendallGreyAuthor

DESPICABLE TWEETS:http://www.twitter.com/kendallgrey1

GOODREADS: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5108885.Kendall_Grey

NEWSLETTER: http://eepurl.com/hmcmg

Z

This is what I was doing on Sunday instead of writing my 'Z' post. Country Music concert at the beach. 

Can you blame me?

‘WHAT ARE WORDS?’

Z is for…before we go there; I just want to say how relieved I am that this is over. I mean, it has been fun, kinda. I’ve met a whole bunch of new and interesting people, kinda. And, I proved that I could do it – with a whole lot of help and encouragement. BUT all the same, it was eating my brain.

I hate to admit it, but I’m that totally undisciplined, rebellious, somewhere out there (I know there should be some sort of punctuation here, but for the life of me I don’t know what – more proof of the brain eating) soul and having to blog six days a week with a basically prescribed topic and using a minimum of words so you guys would stick with me, was almost more than I could bare. So, I say ZOUNDS we’re DONE.

ZOUNDS {an old English ‘minced oath’ coined by William Shakespeare: a contraction of ‘Gods wounds’ referring to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ, formerly used as a mildly blasphemous oath ~ BTW a MINCED OATH is an expression based on a profanity or a taboo term that has been altered to reduce the objectionable characteristics}

And here you thought ZOUNDS was merely an expression of anger, surprise or assertion. 

I find it interesting to know where some of these words come from. This brings me to something that really bugs me... Our common language is getting more and more profane. Today, you hear words on the TV and radio that were on lists of ‘words you can’t say in public’ just a few decades ago. Many of them are those pesky ‘minced oaths’. My least favorite and my rant for today is the word SUCK. Everybody says it. Unfortunately, even I have reduced myself to saying it a time or two, BUT I really dislike that word unless I’m trying to explain to a small child how to get liquid up through a straw.

People who would roll up in a ball and die of embarrassment before they would use the infamous F-word because it’s slang for sexual intercourse and just plain impolite, have no trouble saying SUCK all over the place. Do you realize that SUCK is slang for oral sex? Yeah, think about that. Do you think about that? Do you think when you say some of these words? Like I said earlier I’m an undisciplined, rebellious, kind of out there (still no idea what punctuation should go here) soul. On an earlier blog I admitted to being a sinner and heathen, BUT I do think about saying this particular word, most of the time.

OK, I’m done. We’re done. A to Z is now officially over.


I posted this late last night and left off a song for ya.

I wonder if Sir Paul even knows what he is talking about?

Y

‘WHAT ARE WORDS?’

Y is for…before we get there I’ve got a few things to say, so sit back and get comfortable.

OK, folks, we’re down to the wire and the letter Y. I have got to admit my brain is A to Z fried. I asked for help on these last four letters of the alphabet and I got it.  W was probably my best post for the challenge, so if this one makes you crazy go back and read that one again. I’ve also reverted to one of my all time cop-out blog post tricks (just post a Youtube video of music – Hey, when you’re this beautiful, you just can’t be clever all of the time)

Anyway…here’s my Y post. I only ever get to hear this song once a year. Actually, I haven’t heard it for two years because I own it on an LP (yes, real vinyl), and when I moved to the Caribbean all the vinyl moved into a storage locker in the States.

Jeez, FAE, shut it and give ‘em the music.

Here, enjoy YOGI YORGESSON (take note that’s a double Y). Hope you can get this little ditty out of your head quicker than I can.

X

Listen to the Beach Boys "Just Because"

Listen to this because it's my ALL TIME favorite Beach Boys tune.

‘WHAT ARE WORDS?’

X is for XENOPHOBE {someone who has the fear of people who are different from them self}

XENOPHOBE what a strange thing to be. Where I live, in the Caribbean people are different. Very few people are actually native to the island I live on. Many of them come from other islands in the Caribbean, some from the US and other countries. It should be an interesting mix but I have found that there are many a XENOPHOBE here. I’m wondering, if you’re afraid of people who are different, why on earth, would you come to a place like this?

I read an interesting story yesterday; a little trick that might work great for a XENOPHOBE.

This guy goes into a bar…not any bar BUT XENON’s Lounge in Reno, NV (a real place or so I’m told. Sadly, it’s not there anymore.) Anyway…after a few drinks (alright a lot of drinks) said guy plays the same song over and over and over and over again in the jukebox, until he clears the place out of everyone who unlike himself, really likes that particular song. I don’t think he’s a ZENOPHOBE but this little exercise would sure help anyone suffering from this little phobia clear a room of folks different from themselves.

And you thought X was going to be hard.

{definitions courtesy of Wikipedia or Wiktionary}       

A to Z Challenge – Want more information? Go right over there to that little A to Z A Badge, CLICK and see what it’s all about. While you’re there checkout some of the other participants. It’s fun. You will like it. Go on now, you know you want to.

W

Listen to Tom while I tell you a story.

‘WHAT ARE WORDS?’

W is for WISHES – WILDFLOWERS – and even WUNDERBAR

WISHES {a hope or desire for something}

WILDFLOWERS {a flower that grows wild, meaning it was not intentionally planted or seeded}

WUNDERBAR {a German expression used in English which means wonderful}

For a couple of years I lived in Alma, Colorado. Alma is famous for being the highest incorporated town in North American (sorry Leadville), for more reasons than one. At that time Alma had about 60 residents (mostly old folks and hippies) about 40 dogs and one goat named Hartzel.

While I lived in Alma I was employed as the town clerk. I worked out of my home. It was me and the mayor and town council. On my birthday, one year, we had absolutely no money, so we decided to take a drive up Mosquito Pass (not a real good idea in February). We proceeded to get stuck in a snow bank and had to walk out to the local VFW Post (yeah, it was located on the Mosquito Pass road). The boys at the Post bought us a drink and called “The Alma Hooker”.

That’s when I met Mickey Micek, the owner and operator of ‘The Alma Hooker’ (the local wrecker). When Mickey learned it was my birthday he took us back to the AOB (Alma’s Only Bar – which was located across the street from the other bar in town. Ah, come on there were 60 people in this town,of course, that included small children and babies) and bought us beers while he told his story.

Mickey and his brother had escaped from Czechoslovakia to Austria by swimming the Danube. I think Mickey was about 13 years old at the time. He was one wild mountain man, livin’ the ‘American Dream’, in one wild and wide open town.

A few years later Mickey was killed down in the flat lands just outside of Denver trying to outrun a train. They brought him back up to Alma to bury him at Buckskin Joe, the old time local cemetery. It was winter again (Alma was 10,300 ft above sea level, it was winter there a lot), I had come down to the old town hall to unlock that cold, drafty, haunted building. Mickey was a big horseman, so somebody brought in an old horse drawn hearse to carry him up to Buckskin Joe. They had the ceremonial rider less horse with the empty boots turned back and the whole deal. He was gonna be buried like a true American hero.

I had to run back home for something and was at THE stop sign in Alma when the truck in front of me started to back up. He had a big four horse trailer hooked up so he didn’t see me, actually I don’t think he looked (everyone was pretty preoccupied). I saw him coming at me at the very last minute and couldn’t get my truck in reverse fast enough so I hooked my thumbs around and laid on the horn. He hit me with enough force to break my thumb. That hurt like a @#$%. Anyway…I had to ‘buck up’ and get through this ordeal.

We had to walk up to Buckskin Joe behind the horses. It was cold and the snow was at least three feet deep. Mickey was laid to rest in the hole they had pick axed into the ground the night before. They literally had to cover him with stones until spring. In the spring his grave would be covered with wildflowers once the earth settled. We all walked back to town for a real ’wake’ at the Silverheels Saloon (Alma’s other bar). Everyone decided my thumb was broken, so they kept buying me drinks until it didn’t hurt anymore. Actually, nothing hurt for awhile, not even my heart.

Mickey was finally completely free. Laid down among the wildflowers. I WISH he hadn’t tried to outrun that train.  I WISH he had lived to be an old man followin’ that dream. I WISH I had known him longer and heard more of his stories. He had an interesting accent and used to say some strange things. I can’t remember if he ever said Wunderbar or not but he certainly was.

When I asked a friend with word help for these final few posts, he suggested Wunderbar. That and a post about bars knocked this old memory loose. While it made me sad for a few minutes, it also made me reflect on how much God loves me to have put so many interesting and Wunderbar people in my path. There are no coincidences.

Sorry for the length of this post. I just needed to tell this story. Excuse me while I go and explode.

{definitions courtesy of Wikipedia or Wiktionary}

A to Z Challenge – Want more information? Go right over there to that little A to Z A Badge, CLICK and see what it’s all about. While you’re there checkout some of the other participants. It’s fun. You will like it. Go on now, you know you want to.

V

‘WHAT ARE WORDS?’

V is for VIRTUE {1. moral excellence; goodness; righteousness 2. Conformity of one’s life and conduct to moral and ethical principles; uprightness, rectitude 3. Chastity; virginity; to lose one’s virtue 4. A particular moral excellence 5. A good or admirable quality or property: the virtue of knowing one’s weaknesses}

To have VIRTUE or be VIRTUOUS seems like a pretty tall order. I can certainly apply number 5 to myself,(I know first hand my own weaknesses – never thought of that as a virtue) as far as the rest of the definitions go; I’m not so sure. Moral excellence – do we strive for it? Is it important? Maybe not as important as it should be. I admire it greatly.

{definitions courtesy of Wikipedia or Wiktionary}

 A to Z Challenge – Want more information? Go right over there to that little A to Z A Badge, CLICK and see what it’s all about. While you’re there checkout some of the other participants. It’s fun. You will like it. Go on now, you know you want to.

S, T, & U

“WHAT ARE WORDS?’

S is for SPELLING {the writing of one or more words with letters and diacritic}

T is for TOADY {one who flatters in the hope of gaining favors}

U is for UNIQUE {existing as the only one or as the sole example; single, solitary in type or characteristics}

I’ve been AWOL again. Having a bit of a struggle with this strep infection in my arm and the medication. I think the worst is over. So once again, I’m on catch up and have three words for you covering the letters S, T and U.

If you’re a writer SPELLING is pretty important. Have you ever noticed that there are some words that your brain refuses to wrap around. I have a list on a ‘white board’ over my desk of some of those pesky rascals. Most of my SPELLING problems are typos combined with my mild dyslexia. I send letters scurrying all over the place and then I don’t even notice those little red lines ‘Word’ uses to signal misspelled words. BUT sometimes, I create typos that are actually words. One of my favorite expressions of dismay or disgust is ‘Oh carp!’ If you follow me, you’ve probably seen that one before. Recently I’ve had a new one pointed out to me. I seem to like to go places, or do something, TOADY. Occasionally I’m TOADY all over the place. Hope you’ve figured out that should be TODAY.

Hopefully my UNIQUE way of SPELLING doesn’t put you off too much. Hopefully you’re laughing with me and not at me. How about you? Got any UNIQUE ways of saying/spelling/misspelling certain words?

{definitions courtesy of Wikipedia or Wiktionary}

 A to Z Challenge – Want more information? Go right over there to that little A to Z Badge, CLICK and see what it’s all about. While you’re there checkout some of the other participants. It’s fun. You will like it. Go on now, you know you want to.