I couldn’t begin to write his biography. He led an interesting life, full of a myriad of vocations and locations. He was a thinker, above all. A design engineer by trade, he was forever inventing a better mousetrap.

Aerospace, television and radio electronics and medical technologies were some of his many fields. Due to his role in defense aeronautics, he was exempted from serving during the great wars, instead working on military contracts for Lockheed, Boeing and other homeland defense contractors.

He invented and held the patent for an electro-magnetic linear-drive motor that he built into the first portable electrocardiogram machine. Its purpose was to allow patients’ hearts to be monitored and recorded while engaged in active exercise (such as the treadmill.)

Daddy had in-depth theories about the demise of the dinosaurs and the creation of the planets. He loved nothing more than chatting about his thoughts and studies with anyone who would listen. He was an articulate arguer, as well.

He once worked as a stand-in for Clark Gable. When Gable walked off the set during a pay dispute, Dad was put into his place for a few distance shots. The movie was “Boomtown.”

Another time, his story goes, he was sitting in a bar in Kansas City when a couple of well-dressed thugs surrounded him, mistaking him for a “syndicate” guy.

I will be forever thankful for the things he taught me. When other little girls were playing with dolls or jumpropes, I was seated in the garage, soldering iron in hand. He gave me my first job, as a draftsman, where I drew spec drawings for his medical electronics company. He instilled in me a love of a diverse range of music; Motown, country, pop, Big Band. We often danced in the living room until we were both winded. He also taught me to bowl. He was a friend and wonderful father to his five children. He was a champ.

My father succumbed to heart disease almost 14 years ago. I still miss him, every day.

Happy Birthday, Daddy.

As some of my followers know, I am and always have been very involved with our local school districts. I’ve logged countless hours in the classroom, chaired events, served as a PTA executive board member. I attend district meetings, act as liaison between schools, and sit on the SCV Education Foundation Board. I’ve watched with saddened interest as our embattled schools deal with unprecedented budget cuts; listened to our downtrodden but courageous superintendents and administrators share their frustrations; sympathized with educators, many of them close friends.

So when the local high school district announced earlier this week that they were dispensing with promotion ceremonies for 8^th grade junior high school students, I immediately took interest. The estimated savings is $40,000.00, not an insignificant amount. What makes this even timelier is that I have an 8^th grade daughter, who’s been planning her attire for this morning event, normally held at our nearby community college.

I wish it didn’t have to be, and I mourned the news for about a day. The schools have promised to acknowledge their successful exiting students in some way on their individual campuses.

Frankly, I was surprised and actually disappointed in the response by the community. The students, understandably, are upset, and have rallied in opposition. Chalk it up to their age and that egocentricity young teens hang their hats on. It makes for great texting and Facebook chatter, another reason to dis the authorities. Except for the electronic methodologies, we did the same thing. What’s really upsetting to me is the number of parents and other adults who are up in arms. These must be folks whose heads have been firmly buried in sand over the past year or two, as the rest of us have watched this very serious budget disaster progress. Teachers, admins and clerical staff are losing jobs. Furlough days are taking students and educators alike out of the classroom. Class size reductions, something our schools have been so proud of, are history. Programs are competing for funds to stay alive.

Forty thousand dollars can save an art or music program. It can buy copier paper for the production centers. More, teachers can gain back those precious instructional days that would have been spent on promotion activities. Is it really so hard to let go of a pomp ceremony to celebrate our children having survived two years of middle school? What kind of message does that give them?

Let it go, parents, aunts, neighbors. Instead, spend that energy on thinking about what you can do to help our schools get through these next, few—euphemistically called “lean”—years, and explain to your outraged middle schooler that life will go on.

• Small press month
• Women’s history month
• National Nutrition Month
• National Kidney Month
• American Red Cross Month.

See anything interesting yet? Maybe you’re not up to a whole month of anything, so consider this: it’s Read an ebook week! Yes, those annoying tree-huggers are back, admonishing you for still reading paper books! I’ll admit to reading both, although I prefer the “e” variety and have for many years. Do I have a dedicated ereader? Yes, and no. My ereader is the granddaddy of all ebook reading devices, the Rocket eBook, and it’s like 8 years old already. Heavy, clunky, but adorable.

On Monday, I noticed the woman on the next treadmill was jogging while reading a Kindle, placed on the magazine deck of her machine. She had to reach up every few seconds to press the spot that would turn the page as she ran. Very jazzy. Poor me, trying to read about Johnny Depp in Entertainment Weekly, while the overhead fan kept blowing the magazine’s leaves. Hrmph.

To celebrate REBW, my niece and I went to B & N yesterday and she scraped up $280 in cold, hard-earned cash (she’s 18) for a nook™ ereader. (Yes, it’s lower case. Go figure.) We were both so excited and spent quite a while playing with it later. While I am enamored with the upcoming Apple iPad, I am so not enamored with the $500+ price tag. So I’m going to wait a bit, get the feedback from my niece on the nook and see if I get a chance to test drive the iPad when it comes out. In the meantime, I’ll play with her nook. Say, look what she’s reading!

POINT SURRENDER is available for your nook, your Kindle, your Sony reader and even your Rocket eBook. Read it on your computer, your iPhone, your MACBook. Your Pocket PC, your Blackberry, your Palm Pilot. And even (shhh! – don’t tell everyone) available in dead-tree version! (On sale at B&N.com for $11.69!)

Happy Reading!

Two incidents prompt me to speak up. The first was my posting of a “Retweet” on Twitter recently. My cyber pal George posted that it was his birthday, further explaining that he has been “clean and sober for two years.” It wasn’t his actual birthday, you see, but for a recovering addict, a launch into sobriety holds as much importance. Instead of replying to George, I re-tweeted his joy, prefacing it with my own congratulations.

Now, my “tweets” are set up to post to my Facebook page. Soon, I received a FB message that a friend of mine was wishing me happy birthday and congratulations (on my sobriety, of course!) I’d forgotten, of course, that not all FB folks are Twitterers, and therefore do not understand the brief “RT” in the message as being a “forward” of someone else’s words. Oops.

The other incident is much more troubling. I sent an email to a very dear friend, asking about an upcoming charitable event we were sharing. She didn’t respond for some time (weeks). When she did write me, she ignored my email and her words seemed to convey a disconnect with me with regard to my participation in the event. Stunned, I waited a couple of days to answer, then wrote her a long, heartfelt response. More weeks passed, and I felt horrible over the whole affair. Sadly, I did disconnect myself from the event. I eventually decided I would call my friend, but before I could, that very day she called me.

My friend was in tears. She’d discovered I’d removed myself, couldn’t understand why. So what happened? She changed email addresses. None of my emails reached her. Instead of hitting “reply” to her email, I started fresh, using her old email address. Sounds pretty simple, but the repercussions were horrendous and heartbreaking. I should have picked up the phone when I didn’t hear from her the first time. Should have picked up the phone when she wrote me and I misconstrued her words. Shoulda, coulda, woulda.

Oh, the perils of cyberspace. Be warned.

More about last year, and this.

Taking care. I lost 13 pounds in ’09, and resumed the wearing of contact lenses. How did I manage the weight loss? Stopped eating sweets, stopped eating seconds, started walking more. Dancing with iPod-clone.  2010: Will continue to pay attention.

Oh, Boy. Yes, Boy George (O’Dowd) has had a profoundly bizarre life (IMO), and has in some way inspired the writing of Paulie Bingham. As it turns out, Paulie is a completely different character (so no worries, George.)  But after reading George’s bio TAKE IT LIKE A MAN (not recommended reading for haters or homophobes) and researching other so-called androgynous entertainers of the 80’s, I was compelled to write a story. It’s done, it’s sitting, and I’m on to something else for awhile.

Singapore.  Incredible trip to attend my son’s wedding. Monumental. What a beautiful city/country. I blogged about it earlier, so no repeat info here, except to admonish: don’t eat the durians.

New business. Wasn’t looking for it, but a new account dropped into my lap via a mutual banking acquaintance. Nice company in Bev Hills. Seems to be a good fit. Extra income is very helpful!

Coming up: Won’t call them resolutions. Goals, perhaps.

Get organized. As I mentioned earlier, I am drowning in paperwork. The amount of mail we get is staggering. Because I am involved in so much, I have multitudes of files for my charitable organizations, my accounting clients, my book marketing campaigns, my school work, and just the day-to-day garbajjjjhe that lingers because it doesn’t quite fit anywhere. This has got to stop, because it’s dragging me down emotionally!

Lightening the load. Speaking of those charitable orgs, I need to quietly step away from some. Not looking forward to doing that, it’s not easy, but something’s gotta give!

Tasting life…and wine. The 4^th annual Relay For Life Wine Tasting is coming to my backyard on May 8^th. Am putting together a committee to ramp this thing up a bit this year. Despite the less-than-stellar economy, it might be our best year yet.

There’s more, a lot more, but I tire of windy blogs.  Back later.

Coming Soon! (Honest)

Aside from the notion that I am, in fact, going mad, everything seems to be fine.

Everyone is quick to say, “2010 will be better!” Even in the bank today, a customer—a stranger to me—called out the same, asking for my concurrence. I do believe that people everywhere are ready to feel better. They are ready for recovery, and their attitude may just be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I hope so.

About 2009? What do I remember? What influenced me?

John. Although most things take no particular precedence, one event does stand out above all the others: the death of our friend John. Nothing quite so profound has happened to me before. Nothing pervaded my mind so completely for so many weeks and months. The shock notwithstanding, the empathy I felt for his widow—my best friend—was, and is, enormous. Unbidden, the memory of her phone call still haunts me. It’s not something you can forget. Nor was John someone you could forget. If a man’s wealth is truly measure by the love and grief of his survivors, John was a very rich man.                               Other things….

Going back to school. So proud of myself for doing it. I enjoyed my classes, I worked very hard, was rewarded with good grades. 2010: Will resume classes in February.

My family. Hubby had to change jobs, but is working and fully recovered from his health scare of a year ago. Major thankfulness on that front. Kids are now working (yes!), and happy at their jobs. Daughter went missing, alien teenage girl took her place. Still looking for the original, but the replacement turns out to be not so bad.

My writing career.  Finished two novels, nearly finished a third. CAPE SEDUCTION is a great book, probably the best I’ve written, has a wonderful cover I had the pleasure of designing myself, and will be released soon. OLD ENOUGH, another middle grade mystery, is yet to be submitted. (My bad.) My WIP, UNMASKING PAULIE BINGHAM, is nearing completion and at the moment is a long book. Of course it will be shaved down, eventually, and I don’t look forward to that prospect. JUST LIKE JAY, a short story for Sisters-in-Crime/Los Angeles’ upcoming anthology, MURDER IN LA LA LAND, will be published this spring. Huge, puffed-out-chest-pride on that one. 2010:  Will finish Paulie’s story, will start third paranormal lighthouse mystery. Will try to work on getting OLD ENOUGH at least submitted…

Part Two to follow…..

School’s Out

School is done, for now. Political Science was a great class, I learned a ton of stuff that I somehow missed the first time around. Like, did you know the Democrats are the liberal party? Okay, I’m joking. But seriously, I enjoyed the class, finished with a 97%.

Crossing Cultures, my diversity-requirement cinema class, turned out to be much better than I thought. The sad thing was not getting to know more of the other students until the end. I did, I suppose, labor under self-imposed intimidation, being in with all those decidedly younger students. But honestly, most of them were really nice. I did my final project yesterday, a Power Point-backed discussion of my original screenplay for Unmasking Paulie Bingham. My presentation included photos of glam rockers Marc Bolan, David Bowie, Slade, George Michael, Iggy Pop, Elton John and Boy George. I backed them with audio snippets from “Rebel Rebel”, “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” and “Miss Me Blind”. I talked about the history of glam rock and difficulties those rockers who were gay faced in hiding the fact. I related it to the struggles faced by the characters in my story. It all went “swimmingly” well. A+.

We had a pot luck lunch, and snacked while everyone gave their presentations. There were students who worked for a charitable organization (L.A.’s “Dream Place”) over Thankgsgiving; a girl who described the hardships her Vietnamese parents faced as boat people; a girl who exposed the fact that our community doesn’t take care of its homeless population very well. There were four people who visited the Museum of Tolerance; a guy who works with mentally challenged children and adults through the “LET ME SAIL” program. And last, a young man who made his own >2 minute film about fear between students on campus. The film was great.

I was sad that it was the last day. I made a few friends I’ll likely not see again. I hope to see Melinda, the instructor, next spring, if I can take her Film Aesthetics class. She’s a smart, savvy lady and we got along well. A class like that is more like a treat than a task.

“Just Like Jay”

I’m excited to report that Top Publications has just issued a press release for Sisters in Crime’s  Murder In La-La Land (which will include my short story, “Just Like Jay“), with a publication date of May 2010. There is talk that the anthology may be out in time for the L.A. Times Festival of Books. That would be super.

Works in Progress

Relay For Life

Happy Hannukah

Have a great week! (Note:  For some reason the formatting is screwball on this post and I don’t have the patience to fix it. Sorry…

I sat down on the edge of the couch, dishtowel still in hand, and watched Art and Paul singing “Bridge Over Troubled Water” together, the tall, Einstein-haired tenor and his less tall, white-haired partner in song beside him. My throat swelled, and I started weeping. I was overcome by the “Sounds of Silence” and “The Boxer.” Why?

The powerful lyrics? The memories of high school? The very fact that these two mega-talented performers are still so…mega-talented? Heck, they didn’t even need girl backup singers to hit the high notes! It was emotional, let me tell you.

The line up for the show was listed as Stevie Wonder, CS&N (Big fave of mine), U2, Metallica, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Simon & Garfunkel. But did they tell anyone in advance that also appearing was Mick Jagger, Sting, B.B. King, Jeff Beck, John Fogerty (CCR), Buddy Guy, Annie Lennox, Jackson Browne (another fave), Bonnie Raitt, Fergie, Ozzy Osbourne, Lou Reed, Ray Davies (Kinks), James Taylor, Patti Smith, Jerry Lee Lewis, Smokey Robinson… and I’m sure I’ve missed several. Oh! Billy Joel, too.

Talk about crying…Stevie Wonder paid homage to Michael Jackson, singing “The Way You Make Me Feel” – and broke down during the performance. It seemed to be triggered by the line, “My lonely days are gone.” Shiver! I cried too, just watching Stevie so broken up. But he recovered and finished the song with style.

Obviously missing was Eric Clapton, whom, I found out later, was ill. 2009 inductee Jeff Beck was hauled in as a worthy replacement. And speaking of Beck, he must sleep in formaldehyde – this guy doesn’t look a day over 40. Okay, maybe 50 (he’s 65).

Can you tell I’m excited? They really mixed it up, too, performers singing with other performers, things you’ve never seen nor ever will again.

So who was missing? Well, they couldn’t possibly have put all the inductees into one show, but missing for me was Tom Petty, Bob Seger, Steely Dan, Paul McCartney (remember him?), Carlos Santana, The Eagles, Bowie, Elton, Rod. To name a modest few, of course.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whew. When I go off on a tangent, I really spin out. Now a word from our sponsors.

Ready for great holiday ebooks? Join Echelon Shorts between December 1-December 12 as they celebrate 12 Days of Great Reads!  During this celebration, Echelon Shorts will be brining you the best new holiday releases and posts each day from the authors. Find mystery and romance, mainstream and fantasy, thrillers and young adult stories. The release schedule includes short stories from Carl Brookins, Austin Camacho, Mary Cunningham, Lois Carroll, Christine Verstraete, Michelle D. Sonnier, Lance Zarimba, Karen Syed, Yvonne Walus, Jeffrey Martin, Vonnie Winslow Crist, and Regan Black.
Stop by http://echelonshorts.com to find these posts and stories and for your chance to win free ebooks!

Okay, back to your regularly scheduled blog. I’m overdue on talking about ebook readers, so will try to fit that in later this week. BTW, on another topic, has anyone seen MJ’s “This Is It?” I’d really love to, and I’ve heard it will be out on DVD. Looking forward to seeing that. I just saw “Up” this week and what a cute movie that is! Might watch it again before it goes back into the red & white envelope.

Well, cheerio, must get dinner made…

Now, there’s never any question in my mind, he’d be on the cover every year if I was the ballot box stuffer. How is it that he has such appeal? I can’t think of any of my friends who don’t just find him the no-questions-asked-I’d-be-there guy to go to for dream-come-true-making.

Wordy today. Sorry. I’m so glad there’s no stupid rule about being SMA more than once, because Johnny took the title in 2003. The article mentions that he hid in the bushes the first day of daughter Lily Rose’s preschool (in France). She was crying so he took her home. Softy!

The article doesn’t say anything about Dark Shadows, the film he is reportedly making with pal Tim Burton (read about it here, but it does use words like “profound elegance,” “arresting magnetism,” and “timelessly hot body.” Somebody hand me a fan!

(BTW, for those who are dying to know, both Pitt and Clooney are also two-timers with PEOPLE SMA. Other listees this year include Josh Groban, Patrick Dempsey, all the new vampires courtesy TWILIGHT/NEW MOON, flamboyant gay/glam rocker Adam Lambert, Phantom Gerard Butler, hunks Will Smith and Hugh Jackman… you’ll just have to get this issue!)

Miley turns 17 today. I went looking for a photo of her and ran across some pix bordering on sex-kittenism. Disappointed, not surprised, but not too worried. Like I said on another blog this morning, she’s a teen, a very famous teen, it’s going to happen, get over it. She’s a product of the biz. I still think she’ll be okay.

Still thinking about song lyrics.  They’re not always about the happy times. There’s a lot of great heartbreak out there.

There’s the leaving…

“Oh, I know you’re going, but I can’t believe—it’s the way that you’re leaving.

It’s like we never knew each other at all, it may be my fault…” Phil Collins, In Too Deep.

The regret…

“And I’d have fought the world for you
If I thought that you wanted me to
Or put aside what was true or untrue
If I’d known that’s what you needed
What you needed me to do…”  – Jackson Browne, Sky Blue and Black

The apology…

“I’m sorry that I hurt you
It’s something I must live with everyday
And all the pain I put you through
I wish that I could take it all away
And be the one who catches all your tears…
…I just want you to know… I found reason for me… to change who I used to be… a reason to start over new… and the reason is you…”  -Hoobastank, The Reason

Ultimately, the goodbye:

“But I will remember you
Will you remember me?
Don’t let your life pass you by
Weep not for the memories.” – Sarah McLachlan, I Will Remember You.

And the bitterness:

“You took a hammer to these walls,
Dragged the memories down the hall,
Packed your bags and walked away.
There was nothing I could say.
And when you slammed the front door shut,
A lot of others opened up,
So did my eyes so I could see
That you never were the best for me.”  Daughtry, Over You. (Chris, BTW is one of People’s top 100…see pg 158)

Like I said, I’m wordy today. But I’ve been absent so feel I need to fill in some space. Do penance.

CAPE SEDUCTION is still coming, gang, I promise. Let’s blame it on the economy. Yeah, that’s it.

I have a 23 lb turkey and two hams in my fridge. I’m going to attempt to make an apple pie, ala Alton Brown. Were that Alton could be here to help!

Have a fantacular Thanksgiving, all.

I am full of interesting thoughts today. Been playing lots of great music lately, spinning classic rock and new tunes that speak to the heart. I have a little MP3 player that’s loaded with lots of my favorites, from Boz Skaggs to Rob Thomas, Richard Marx to Boy George. Lyrics are sparking reflection and inspiration. So many good songs!

Starting next week, I’ll be posting old and new favorites. Please help me— share yours, one or two lines that inspire you, make you feel, whether it’s a good feel, a melancholy mood or just gets your feet movin’.

I’ll prime the pot with this. Of course this is a gimme for me, since it’s been one of my most favorite romantic songs of all time.

“You’re my survival, you’re my living proof, my love is alive and not dead.”

He was once called “Mr. Romantic” and he can be my cryin’ shoulder anytime he wants. It’s become a wedding reception favorite, has been heard in more than one major motion picture, and I have an acoustic version that makes me swoon. This song is 12 years old. Do you know it?

~ ~ ~

The Lioness

I was interviewed this week at Writers in Residence. Always fun, always great hanging out with the Jackies—Houchin and Vick. Check it out when you have a free moment.

Animal update: Moesha got a haircut! OMG, it cost me $200 because she had to be fully sedated, but it was well worth it. She is a new kitty! Those mats were hurting her, adding to her already borderline testy moodiness. They fairly shaved her, gave her a “lioness” cut. Her tail looks like a paintbrush! She is so much happier and healthier now. Not the best picture, but I’m lazy.

~ ~ ~

I see the Christmas stuff is beginning to sneak into the stores. It will be here before we know it. Maybe we can keep each other sane over the holidays.

Have a brilliant weekend!