Living in Arizona, a border state, there is a law currently being battled about in Washington that will have some affect here. That is the law on immigration, and it would make being an illegal citizen a crime. I've listened to the debate and discussion on the topic in my own house, and while I think some regulation is needed this might be going too far. The law has no provisions for day laborers that come here to work during the day in the border cities. These individuals would also be breaking the law.
I think what has caught my interest most of all in this situation in recent days are the student protests. Students are walking out to protest the law, and today I had my own experience with this. As I've mentioned before, I live next door to a junior high and there is an elementary school right next door to that on the other side.
Earlier this morning, I was standing in my kitchen talking to my brother when I heard some hollering outside, I looked and dozens of junior high students were walking past my apartment building. They had walked out in protest. It reminded me of a similar walk out I had done during my junior high years in protest of Desert Storm. It lasted all of half an hour, but I did something.
Later on this afternoon, my brother told me that one hundred and five students had walked out, and they were all going to be suspended for doing so. This bothered me. Yes, they walked out, but when I did the very same thing about fifteen years ago, I wasn't suspended for the action. I believe they have the right to peacefully protest. The school feels otherwise I guess.
Do you think suspending the students is right? I know they left campus, but they seemed to return just as quickly. The fact is they did what they could to make their voice heard. I think that's important. To me it almost feels as if by suspending the students it is suppressing their rights to speak up and be heard. They might be only in junior high, but I've met some teenagers that age who are quite intelligent. These youngsters will be voting in just a few years time.
On another note, I have chosen a new Blog of the Week. This week, I'd like you to hop on over and say hello to Lisa at Fragile Industries. She is another writer working in several genres from nonfiction and poetry to BDSM. She emailed me this afternoon shortly after placing her bid, and after taking a look at her blog I knew there was not one doubt that it would be chosen for this week's Blog of the Week honor. I'm sure you'll find her thoughts quite interesting, so please take a moment to hop on over to her blog and say hello! Tell her Gina sent you over.
288. Suppressing the voices of tomorrow
287. Editing and a sick Mikey
Mikey wants to say hello to everyone. He is actually sitting in front of monitor as I type, watching the letters as they appear on the screen. He is doing a bit better. As I mentioned in my last post, he had come down with a cold. We thought he was on the mend Thursday, but he had a really bad day on Saturday. So bad that I was ready to take him to the 24 hour vet if need be.
The poor little guy was so congested it sounded like a freight train in my room. I kept an eye on him, and Sunday he woke up a lot better. We went to get him some meds to help the congestion, and today he's doing even better. He just needs to get rid of his sneeze. That is taking a bit longer, but the meds we got do seem to be helping. He isn't sneezing nearly as much today.
I think I even developed a sympathy cold because I had the sniffles all weekend too. I was so worried about my little guy that I didn't get much done at all. I have gone through another round of edits on the short I've been working with my mentor on. While working on it today, I had an idea for another scene. My mentor had mentioned the short possibly needing one more scene involving the heros having sex, and I think I found a way to do it and throw in a twist as well. I'll try to work on that later on tonight or during the week at some point.
My main priority is making sure Mikey gets all better from his cold. He's so tiny he had me worried. I hope you're all well. More soon.
286. Blogiversary
It's been a few days since my last update. I've been playing nurse to a sick kitten. Yes, Mikey came down with a case of the sniffles. He looks to be on the mend, but he wasn't feeling all that great. It looked like it was a reaction to one of his vaccinations. Just as when humans get their flue shots, they get a little bit of live virus in order to combat a worse outbreak of the disease. The same happens with kittens, and he came down with symptoms on Monday. Yesterday, looked to be the worse of it, but today he woke up and he was his old self again.
I knew I couldn't let this day go by without posting though because it is a very important today in my blog's history. Today is my first blogiversary. It is also the one-year anniversary of my now oldest cats arrival into our family. A very special day on those two accounts.
JJ is a little over a year old, and he is enjoying his new companion. JJ has actually quite taken with Mikey. He acts like a big brother or father to the little guy. It isn't shocking to find Mikey actually lying curled up on top of the older cat, and yes I did take a picture with my camera. I'll post that when I get the roll developed.
A year ago when I began this blog, I wasn't all that sure how long it would last. I didn't know if I could find content to fill it with. I didn't know if anyone would even care to read anything I had to say. I thought it would be something I started, and it would die off as many other blogs have done.
Well, here I am a year later, and I am still blogging. Now I know I don't update every single day like I used to, but when you manage three blogs that becomes harder to do. My review site and my blog at Media Village both need daily updates for me to stay on top of things in regard to the entertainment world, so sometimes my personal ramblings need to wait a bit.
I've changed a lot in the last year. I know from time to time I might have a post full of cryptic ramblings about people and events in my personal life, but I figure writing about things troubling my mind is better than letting the thoughts sit and fester there. I have changed though. A year ago, I was in a much different place than I am now. Both personally and professionally. I know I have a long way to go, but I know I'm getting there.
I've made so many wonderful friends since I've began blogging, and I know I need to be a better blogger and get back to commenting more again. I still do comment where I can, and I read a good number of blogs daily. Sometimes I wish there was more hours in the day to get all I want and need to get done completed, but there isn't. I've learned so much about the world and those in it by reading the blogs of others, and I don't see myself stopping blogging anytime soon. So Happy Blogiversary to One Writer's Rambles!
285. Kittens are like babies ...
They are on their own schedule, and they don't care what time you went to bed the night before either. So the past few days, I have found myself getting up earlier and earlier. I think I was up at 9am today, and I already find myself getting sleepy now, and it is only 11pm here. I had wanted to edit today, but I've been tired all day.
Today I attended a chat over at Divas, and I won one of the chat giveaways. I'm excited to receive a copy of The Prey by Allison Brennan. She led a wonderful workshop this past week in the Diva's classroom, and I plan to print out and go over her lectures tomorrow or Monday.
Tomorrow, I will be going to the annual fair at my family's church. It's a family event we go to every year. My dad and I spend a few hours together eating junk food and going through the bake sale and white elephant sale. All the money goes to a good cause, our church, so it is an afternoon well spent. My going though means Mikey and JJ get their first test alone for a few hours. I'm hoping I come back to two happy cats and my room in tact.
Check out my new Blog of the Week. I had a number of blogs to choose from this week, and I wish I could have picked them all, but this week I went with Confessions of a Stuffed Lamb. I went for the cuteness factor! The blog tells the tales of a stuffed lamb as it travels the globe, going from person to person. I think its an inventive idea, and everyone should go take a look! Tell them you saw them on Gina's blog!
I'm tired now, so I'm heading off. Maybe even heading off to bed. Busy day tomorrow!
284. Update on Mikey and Writing
First off, Mikey says hello. I took this a couple of hours ago. I found a different web cam capture program that worked a bit better than the one I was using. He's been here at home over forty-eight hours now, and he's doing well. Other than one accident, a little eye muck, and an upset tummy because he had been digging into the older's cat food, Mikey has been completely fine.
He was too young to give him some of his vaccinations. Some you can't give until he's at least ten to twelve weeks old, so I was told to keep an eye on him since he's only going to be seven weeks old. What people don't know is I'm the type of person to look at my cats if they even sneeze. So every thing Mikey has done over the last couple of days has me heading over to google and reading several sources. I know you can go overboard, but I'm just making sure everything will move along well with the new addition to the family.
He's an active little guy though. No sneezing, and the eye muck is a normal color. He is always near me, and he is getting along with the rest of the family just fine. This morning he woke me up at 8am biting and scratching my head and other places. He wanted attention. Little did he know that I went to bed at 3am.
Last night, I put the last period on the current work in progress I've been working on since September's failed submission. I took the suggestions the editor made, and it turned into totally different story. I would have had it done sooner, but I was working on another work in progress, and my non-fiction writing took precedence. Things are finally slowing a bit with the season of the television nearing its end soon, so I'm hoping to really tackle things this summer.
I've been working with this current work in progress with my mentor the last month and a half, as I've mentioned before, and she's giving me some great suggestions as well. Now that I have sort of have an end, I can work on polishing it and submitting it again. I've already decided which of my two works in progress left to tackle, and I did a little editing on it today.
So I'm hoping now that things finally seem to be settling down on the cat front, the writing front can take off. I still miss Bobo, and he's only been gone six weeks. I still haven't given up hope though.
283. Meet Mikey
Meet the newest addition to my family, Mikey. He is a seven week old red tabby male that my family brought home from the local animal control today. We first saw him on Saturday morning with his momma and two sisters. They had been brought in together last week. He became available for adoption yesterday, and we were fortunate enough to be able to grab him before another family could.
He's feisty and a bundle of energy already. That kind of surprises us because he just had surgery to have him neutered this morning. When we picked him up at 12:30 this afternoon he was raring to go. My other cat, JJ, seems to be getting along with him fine. JJ wants to play already, but Mikey is still a bit unsure of his surroundings still.
This picture doesn't give you a true sense of how adorable he is because it was taken with my web camera while I was holding him. The little guy wouldn't stay still. I do have a roll with some free shots, so expect better pictures soon.
The kitten business has distracted me from my writing the last week or two, but now that we have found our perfect match and he is home, things should pick back up in no time.
282. Coming Clean
I love when things go as planned. When you develop some kind of routine really. You know when things happen, and when you need to do something. I may not be the most organized of people. My room is a bit of a mess. Clothes more than anything because I keep everything. I have some clothes I've probably had since my high school days in my closet somewhere. I just don't throw much out. I guess that makes me a bit of a packrat.
When it comes to getting things done, I like to know my schedule. When I add responsibilities in my life, I even like to know when I'll have time to focus on those as well. I like to fit things in, and when I know something isn't going to work I can easily take it right back out. I know sometimes things can come in and screw up your schedule, so some flexibility is always good. My family always wonders how I get anything done with the messiness of my room. I just do.
I guess I do the same process when it comes to other areas of my life. If something isn't working and I know it isn't, I figure out how to make it work. I always hear the only one that can fix you is you. Before I used to depend on people to fix me, but they never really did the job. You're the only one that can pull yourself back up when you're spread on the ground.
Sometimes I've felt that I was on a train going in circles. It was moving, but it wasn't moving forward. The people around me were all sitting there on this train with me, and all I wanted to do was get off. I got off the train about a week ago. I knew things were making me unhappy, and I knew something needed to change.
My focus is on other things now. Things kept pulling me away, forcing my focus elsewhere. I knew that couldn't keep happening. I've said this before - in life sometimes you need to make the unpopular decision in order to find your own happiness, in order to get things done. Only you can make your life work. I guess it took me a bit longer to figure out what had to be done.
281. Sick kitty and the Oscars
Well, I got some bad news on the kitten I was planning to adopt today. We were supposed to bring home our new addition yesterday, but he wasn't feeling all too well. They asked us to leave him there until today. Well, when we called this morning, we were put through to the pound vet and told the kitten has an irregular heartbeat, and they weren't sure he was the best fit for us because of it.
They know we just lost a cat recently, and while the kitten might live a full and happy life, there is a chance he might not. They don't want us to go through the pain if something happened to him. I appreciate them being honest with us. We do still plan to make that addition to the family. We just need to find the right kitten for our family.
The pound said they have some new kittens available tomorrow, and my brother has a girl on the team he coaches whose family just had a litter of kittens too. There is no lack of kittens looking for good homes. It just takes finding the right one for you. We want one that will fit with our family. Our cat JJ needs the perfect best friend too. I'd have hated to adopt the cat we had originally planned to, and then put JJ and us through the loss of another family member.
In other news, all you Oscar buffs out there, come join me today over at the Media Village forums to dish all about the Oscars. I will be holding a live discussion with a fellow Media Village forum leader starting with the Red Carpet coverage and moving through the final curtain drop tonight. Head on over to here to join Libby and I. She's already there talking, and I'll be joining her soon! Join us!
280. Changes
First of all, I've changed the backdrop and colors on my blog here. I had been meaning to for the last couple of weeks now, but I just hadn't done it yet. I was actually pondering doing a complete overall to my blog's look, but I haven't really found a template that I like that someone else doesn't already use. I want to be a bit unique.
As I mentioned in my last blog post, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. Things have been changing. As odd as it might sound, every few months or so I make these changes in my life because things change. People drift away, or I lose touch with them. It isn't because of any negative reason. Change just happens. It's a part of life.
This time around the change was sort of forced on me with the disappearance of my cat. The day it happened it was actually the day that would have been my mothers 68th birthday. I found it a bit odd he chose that day to run off, but he did. My cat was truly my best friend. I used to be with him almost 24/7, and I thought if I ever was to lose him for one reason or another it would destroy me.
A year ago, I was in much different frame of mind. I honestly thought there was a chance that I wouldn't be here. I didn't want to be on this planet anymore. I'm not sure what changed my outlook. I started this blog, and I got a kitten. You really can't be sad and depressed when you're taking care of a six-week-old bundle of energy. It's impossible really.
I thought if some major change was to come to pass, it might take me right back down into that well of despair I found myself last year. If any major change could do it, I thought it would be the loss of my cat Bobo. Sure, it was hard to lose him, and I still hope he returns. However, by losing him I learned how much stronger a person I now was. I didn't break. I didn't shatter into a million pieces as I suspected I might. I'm dealing with it.
Seeing this strength in me that I didn't think I had made me think about my life. I'd been feeling everything was perfect except in one front. No matter what I did I knew I wouldn't be totally happy by not changing things on this one front. I know I might not be the easiest of people to get along with. When it comes to my friends, I want people to be there that I know think of me more than just this person they know through so and so.
Friendship is one those things that I've noticed changes all the time too. I don't know why it does. People drift apart and then come together. People sometimes totally drift apart. Sometimes one changes and the other stays the same. When that happens, sometimes the friendship just ends. It's hard when you try to talk to someone and nothing clicks anymore. Their interests are no longer your own. It's all a part of life though.
I've spent a lot of time on my own lately. I've spent my time writing, and in some of my downtime I've returned to a hobby I used to once enjoy a great deal. I found a way to make it new again, and I'm finding myself enjoying it again. This hobby is role-playing, the act of putting yourself into the mindset of a character and then portraying that person. I've done this for years, and I see it as another form of writing. You talk to people as your character, and you don't who it is truly on the other side. You just know them as this character. I'm having fun though, and I'm not letting it interfere with my work or my writing. It's a nice little release at the end of the day.
This weekend and this month I know I need to tackle some more on my work in progress. I want to get it done, and then submitted somewhere. I need to do one thing at a time though. I'm trying to get back into blogging again. I need to be a better commenter too. I still read. I just went into my little shell for a bit. Hope you're all well. More soon.
279. Dry Spell
Where does the time go? Here it is already the first of March. Sometime this month is my one-year anniversary with this blog. I'm not sure exactly when, but I know it is this month. I know I don't update this blog daily like I used to, but I haven't had all that much to say lately. Perhaps, I'm going through some type of dry spell. I'm busy working on my other sites, and things are also moving along fiction wise. A bit slow, but they are moving forward.
I'm up to the point of confession in my work in progress. My one guy has to tell his best friend that he wants him, and I have a great way to do it. I wrote the scene that leads up to it a few days ago, and now I just need to write the confession. My plan is to hopefully tackle that this weekend.
I know Sunday will be crazy. I'll be hosting a live Oscar discussion over at Media Village with a fellow blogger and forum leader. We'll start with the red carpet and go through the last award. It'll be an all day event, but I'm looking forward to it.
No word on my cat. Thanks to those of you that keep asking on him. Today is actually his tenth birthday, so I'm missing him a bit. This weekend, my family has decided to adopt a new kitten. We're prepared if my cat is found or decides to come home to take care of all three. My brother found us an adorable kitten at the local pound. We just needed to wait for the waiting period to end for his family to come claim him. They found him in a box with his littermates outside of a school a week or two ago. Sad story. Six weeks old and dumped. I'm sure he'll enjoy living here. We look forward to bringing him home Saturday at the latest.
I hope to put an end to this dry spell with this blog soon. I'm just dealing with a lot of changes, and it is making me think a lot. While you're here make sure you check out my Blog of the Week. I have a new one this week, and I'm sure you'll find this week's choice interesting!