Mark Twain

Be careful of reading health books. You may die of a misprint. - Mark Twain

Mark Twain is certainly one of the inspirations behind my writing. I love his wit, humor and even his dark cynicism that many people today would find completely unacceptable. Even though I am over 1/4 Native American, I find his overt hatred of 'Indians' understandable considering the time in which he lived. His disdain for religion and God was also understandable even though I consider myself a devout believer. I believe one of his best dislikes was his intolerance of all things French. He didn't like the French, but in light of recent developments in the political world, I believe he might find some support for his opinions of our French allies. I wonder what he would think of them now? I wonder what he would think of America now? Would he recognize it at all or would he think he'd died and gone to France? I wonder what acid remarks he might have rebuked his detractors with? While my sainted grandmother was born with French as her native language, I can only say that I had always thought myself part French, but then I read the history of the Cajun/Acadian peoples and learned that they probably weren't French at all and were actually cast out of France before they were cast out of Nova Scotia (formerly known as Acadia). Then they were kicked out of New York by the 'Americans' and finally set down in the swamps of Louisiana (French again!) A strange story, but well, there it is and so that leads me back to my original thought of the day. What would Mark Twain have said to my French reviewer who saw fit to give me a one star rating on Amazon? I think he would have said something scrumptious, but then I thought "Hey! The thing speaks for itself!" The review is on The Red Cross of Gold II:. The King of Terrors. At first, it may not be evident why I would be laughing over it, but then consider this... Why would he buy the second book if the first book was so disgusting? Isn't that like saying "Hey, this spaghetti is awful! Give me another plate full so I can make sure." D'oh!!! LOL.

Yummy!!! The Bittersweet Story

Today, January 19, 2010 marks the bittersweet end of the 2010/2009 Nog Season or Season of Nog. The last jug of Nog in my refrigerator will be consumed and shared by members of the household today in a poignant ceremony that will mark the beginning of the long fast between now and the next Nogfest. Fortunately for me, there will be only two participants today... myself and the Puglet. Of course, she will not be having the spiked variety even though she will have the honor of pulling the cork from the Captain Morgan's Private Stock. I alone will indulge in the honorary drinking of the CMPSw/Nog.
Again, fortune favors the foolish. When I was researching the various magickal rituals needed for my Red Cross of Gold Series, I learned many, many interesting things about the mystical religions of the world including, but not limited to, the practice of Wiccan Arts. I almost gave up my Neo-Natural Religious beliefs to join the Wiccan Movement when I learned that they celebrate the Spring Equinox by drinking Egg Nog! Since there are no commmercial brands available in stores at that time of year, several recipes were offered on the various sites I visited. I tried a few of them and found them not only easy to make, but delicious and yummy as well. Again, I was elated to be American! Only in America can we pick and choose what parts and portions of the various religions we might wish to practice without fear of stoning, beheading, whipping, drowning, shooting, shunning and/or any number of other less than welcome practices. I have since added an additional Nog Season to my own Neo-Natural Religious customs in the form of a Spring Equinox celebration that includes lots of homemade Nog, Captain Morgan's and crazy, fun-shaped straws. Of course, Puglet cannot drink from a straw, but she can pull the cork form the Private Stock like an expert even though I do not allow her to imbibe. She doesn't care, she simply laps up the Egg Nog from her special Nog Dish... hey! I wonder if Nogdog likes Egg Nog? Anyway, I will begin the countdown to Easter and the Spring Equinox tonight at midnight.

Big Surf/Tough Turf

Over the holidays, I thought I might take in some sights, see a few shows, watch a few movies, do something different. So I took myself off to the beach to see if I might perhaps meet some new people, gain some new insight, collect my thoughts, and OK, all right, maybe meet some new girls or ladies as the case may be or might have been.

I purchased the latest fashionable swimsuit available, Dolce & Gabbana, that's Eye-talian and I got a good deal, too, because they were 2009's line and were marked down from $395.00 to $285.00. How could I go wrong? The fellow at the store assured me that he had a pair of these trunks and he had picked up hundreds of good-looking women at the beach. His goal, however, had been to pick up two ladies at once and he'd not been able to do it... yet. So needless to say, I am proud to announce that I did indeed meet and I daresay exceed the salesman's goal. The two young ladies you see in the picture were all over me within minutes of my lying down on my sun-towel and slathering on a half of a bottle of PF 65 sunblocker (I like the pasty look as opposed to the roasted lobster pose). I highly recommend PF 650 PSI load-blocker sunscreen in the future.... if there is a future.

Red Roses

I can never decide whether I like yellow roses or red roses better for purposes of a romantic nature. But I saw this picture when I was browsing around on the web looking at possible illustrations for some of my upcoming works and I couldn't resist it in light of Valentine's Day coming up. Of course, I won't be able to use it on my February release for Omar, the Prophet since it would not be quite suitable for his story. Especially since he will be more likely viewed as a portrait of the Anti-Christ rather than a Knight in shining armor. But I'm thinking that somewhere I'll be able to use this picture on some future publication. What do you think?