Indy got his bandage off from his ACL surgery…hopefully the staples will be coming out soon.

I hope he doesn’t have too much of a hard time getting adopted since he’s an older dog and one of those big black dogs that people pass over.  He’s a really nice dog and has managed to be rather silly even while restricted to his crate.  He knows how to relax, but he also has a lot of energy, so he has plenty of good years left.  I do agree with the humane society’s assessment that he’s better off without cats (Enigma, Ophelia and Jebby concur!).

Little Miss Olive seems to have finally kicked her bladder infection and it appears that it was just an infection, not bladder cancer.  I’m perfectly happy if she continues on for quite awhile pretending that she doesn’t have mammary cancer!

Juno’s new food has been working really well for her sensitive tummy!

Turtle’s increased thyroid medication dosage helped her find her waistline!

Last, but not least…Sierra’s allergies are laying low.

Good Dogs!

Some cliches are obvious - they hit you like a bolt of lightning.  Other phrases or images seem more original…until you come across them in two totally different books that you happen to be reading at the same time (which, of course, just happened to me this weekend).

Is there any way to avoid this? 

Assuming that plagiarism is not a factor, there’s no way that you can be sure that nobody else has used your beautiful phrase.  Unless you’ve come up with something harvested from the depths of your own twisted imagination.  But even then, you run the risk that your phrase/description/metaphor won’t work for anyone who doesn’t share your twisted imagination.

I know some people who are masters of metaphor, but for many others, I feel like less is more.  You’re better off using simple, direct language, especially at the peak of an important scene, rather than attempting flowery language that ends up as dead as my garden in November.  The right words can enhance a scene, but dried up plants and weeds are really just a distraction from what’s important. 

This confessional post is brought to you by LaFreya, aka Karen Simpson, aka Grace’s Creator, aka Nyla’s Mom, who tagged me for my very first meme.

Here are the rules:

Link the person who tagged you.

Mention the rules in your blog.

Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.

Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.

Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.”

I can just hear some of you murmuring that you know damn well how quirky I am.  Save it for the comments section…which I get to moderate just in case anyone tries to overshare.

Here goes:

1) I have a thing for accessories - shoes, bags, jewelry…while this may not seem particularly quirky, it is for someone like me who is a pretty low-maintenance woman, and even more so for someone who works in the grassroots environmental advocacy movement.  We’re all entitled to our guilty pleasures, right?

2) While there are plenty of evil foods that I adore - including classics like chocolate, fries, and mac n cheese -  my favorite food is broccoli.  I used to beg my mom to make broccoli.  Love it!

3) A lot of revelations about my novel and intricate plotting happens in the shower.  I’m a shower thinker.  Instead of singing, I work out my characters and plot twists.  When I’m done with the shower, I throw on pajamas and race over to my desk to jot down notes or start typing.

4) Anyone who has ever been grocery shopping with me knows that I can’t stand the thought of warm dairy products.  I won’t buy things like milk, yogurt, or sour cream unless I’m at one of the stores closest to my house where I can rush them directly home to the fridge.  Maybe I was meant to be the person who transports coolers of transplant organs?  One of the obvious related things to this is that the concept of a glass of warm milk makes me shudder, so please don’t ever suggest that’s what I need to relax.

5) While I can sleep perfectly fine while the cats fling things from shelves, slam cabinet doors, and throw themselves against walls, or while the dogs rearrange positions 400 times (all within inches of me, of course) and chew nylabones on the pillow next to my head, I have the total mom instinct of flying awake if anyone whimpers, groans, or paces uncomfortably anywhere in the house.

6) I can’t keep plants alive.  You know those “air plants” that aren’t even in dirt, you just spritz water on them every so often?  Yep, I’ve killed one of those.  Last year I bought a perennial for my garden and it died within a week.  I guess I can maintain a flower bed of annuals for a few months because they’re destined to die anyway.  In my defence, I am very good at caring for four-legged mammals!  And at least I don’t have to worry about keeping plants in the house that might be poisonous to the critters.

Over so soon?  I suppose that’s enough quirks for one day.  Now it’s time to share the love….

Halley, Adrianna, Fritz, Jose, Mulitia…you’re up!  (Yes, I know that’s only 5. Looks like I need to find more friends who blog!)

From the movie Becoming Jane: 

“What is she doing?”

“Writing.”

“Can anything be done about it?”

…doesn’t understand why the big cats won’t play with her;

…is fearless in the face of Sierra’s rather large face;

…has the largest feet I’ve ever seen on a little female kitten (not counting Hemingway cats)…someone is going to be a big girl;

…thinks all laps are there for her to curl up on, even when the lap is on the toilet;

…has finally stopped covering my pants in kitten snot; and therefore,

…will only continue to comandeer my bathroom for another couple of weeks and then she, like the dozens of fosters who left the Feldstein pack and went on to find homes of their own, will return to the humane society as planned.

She’s a sweet little kitten who will get along in whatever home she ends up in.  My cats have made it clear that they’re not interested in adding to their ranks, so who am I to argue?

…you start drooling over things like “30 of the Most Creative Bookshelves Designs.”

These bookshelf stairs are pretty cool, too. 

My whole life I’ve wanted to have a room with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, complete with rolling ladder.  I still love that classic look, but now these give me something else to think about!

(Okay, time to stop daydreaming about my fantasy library and get back to writing.)

What happens when a bunch of writers come together and hole up in a lodge in the winter?  No, it’s not The Shining.

Writers, like any other group of people, have a lot of things they don’t agree on.  There are different religious views, different political views…even different views on writing.  Some people want nothing more than to see their book on the shelves; others seem to think that the hunger for publication diminishes the act of writing.

But we don’t chase each other around with sharp objects and, despite questionable spiritual activity in the house (according to some), redrum never appeared on the walls. 

Instead, it was a weekend with a group of people that understands that every conversation - especially the controversial ones - are fodder for future stories.  You don’t even have to be involved in the conversation to reap the benefits!  A group of people that thinks it’s perfectly normal to disappear within your own mind or to sit in a crowded room and ignore everyone around you while you mentally map out the next page or dump your thoughts onto the keyboard.  The rest of the world may think we’re odd at times (or a lot of the time), but when we get together for a retreat, we’re among our kind and can focus on the work.  We can also whine about plot and characters and scenes to an audience that’s sympathetic even though they don’t get to actually see the book.  There’s also a lot of laughter and silliness.

After four days, I finally feel like my second book is buckled in the harness and ready to pull me along.

Thanks PW!

http://icanhascheezburger.com/

Then again, if you think about your cat talking, you probably already know about this site…

While LOST is on hiatus (only for another week and a half!), some well-meaning friends put Showtime’s Dexter in my hands.  So, I dutifully lost sleep while visually binging on the first two seasons of the show as quickly as possible.  The show is fantastic. 

It’s based on the novel “Darkly Dreaming Dexter” by Jeff Lindsay (which I own, but haven’t read yet), about a man who is a blood spatter technician for the Miami police department by day and a serial killer who takes out murderers the system let loose by night.  The premise alone should give you an idea of the wonderful characterization in this series.  The main character, the protagonist, is a killer who has some serious issues.  But you like him because he’s charming and does a lot of good things (although you’re often left to wonder how much of it is an act and how much he’s sincere about…you’ll have to watch it to really get that).  But Dexter isn’t the only complex character.  Nearly all the characters have their sympathetic moment and the moments you want to see them go down (or get killed by Dexter, despite his moral code).   Even the characters who are portrayed as almost all “good” still have depth and their goodness is important to Dexter’s character, which makes it significant.  This show is an excellent example of how to create balanced characters. 

 And it’s fun to watch.

It’s not just lead and it’s not just China…and it’s not just human toys.

Toxins in children’s toys have been all over the news.  Various independent organizations have begun testing pet toys, too.  Some of them (unfortunately, some of my dogs’ favorites!) are full of lead!

Why should we care?

Obviously, we’re concerned about our pets.  More pets are dying of cancer now than ever before.  Pet toys are made to be chewed on, which means a more direct ingestion of any toxins.  But this is also a potential risk to the humans in the house, too.  The toys are handled by family members (sometimes inadvertently chewed on by children, too) and as they’re broken down, whatever is in the materials becomes part of the household dust that we inhale. Not a pretty picture for anyone involved.

Hopefully we’ll all be hearing more about this soon as the pet toy manufacturers come clean (or are forced clean) and give us safer alternatives!