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Monday, March 31, 2008

Back to Iraq

Short and to the point today - just two items:

1) My wife has been working on an armed forces quilt that will hang with some of her other quilts in the Colorado Governor's Mansion this spring and early summer. Like my writing is for me, her quilting is a way to cope. She was so excited to share a year's work with the kids and I when she finally finished it tonight.

Then she cried for hours. I think she thought that finishing this quilt would make the demons go away. It didn't.

The demons never go away.

2) U.S. Army Sergent Keith Matthew Maupin's parents have their son back. Almost four years after his convoy was attacked and he was taken prisoner by Islamic Terrorists the Army has recovered and identified his remains.

God bless them for giving their son when our nation called. I know the war is an unpleasant topic for most of you but he went to Iraq because America asked him to. It is a debt that none of us can repay. I feel humbled in my little day to day issues when I look at their pain and sacrifice.

our lives may not be the same since my little blond girl came back but she came home and for that I am forever grateful.

Two other soldiers are still missing in Iraq.
Over 2400 remain unaccounted for in Vietnam
over 75,000 from WWII.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Fed Bailout of Individual Mortgages?

Today is a good day to talk politics.

The Iraqi government is in a full fledged battle with Al Sadr's boys in Basra. Hillary can't get her story straight - It was like totally awful with like bullets flying everywhere and the Bosnian Muslims attacking in hordes. OMG!!!

... and my good buddy Barack keeps singing me sunshine songs while birdies fly around his (and Cinderella's) heads. WTF?

Today CNN had a story focused on the fact that there is more traction in Washington to bail individual homeowners out of the mortgage mess.

Again - WTF!!!

Lets be honest folks - did you really think your fifty-five grand a year salary could pay for that five hundred thousand dollar house? Because of you folks, the itty bitty little house next to the one I rent costs four hundred thousand dollars. All these folks drove the market up and up and up on wishes, prayers, pixies and fairy dust. Those of us who were responsible, didn't get that reverse ammortization, interest only, resetable mortgage because we had the brains of my twelve year old.

In his defense - he stopped picking his nose at seven so we're pretty sure the elevator goes all the way to the top floor. What about the rest of you?

I used my head and didn't drop into the hype and now when home prices are resetting into more intelligent levels where I might be able to afford a decent one, the government is going to bail everyone out. That will just cause the average home price to hold steady at an untennable level while banks won't even give mortgages to people with good credit.

What ever happened to personal responsibility?

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Gettin Published

I was commiserating with a friend (English teach/writer turned lawyer because somebody has to feed the dogs and kids) today about how hard it is to get published these days when he reminded me that Ive been published a buttload.

Buttload BTW is my word for the day and means; lots, oodles, more than average in a a quirky sort of way i.e. I like you buttloads.

He's right, I've been uber fortunate to get my stuff into some major U.S. papers and magazines with global reach so I should really stop bitchin and get back to writing. For those of you who fantasize daily, like I do (when I'm done with Scarlett Johansson and Jello) about being an author, you realize that it's not about what you've already done but what's coming next.

I tend to work on a screenplay or two and a couple of novels all at the same time. If I do it that way, whenever one of my characters isn't behaving the way I'd like them too, I just move on to the next one or the next project. Its a huge perk of being a writer - if you don't behave, I won't invent you. I'll let you shrivel up and die and disappear into the great nothing and no one will ever know you even existed.

Its harsh but its good for the soul to have power over something sometimes. I'm married and have kids so I have power over nothing. For me, power over my character isn't so much a nicety as a need and let me tell you; I have needs - did I mention Scarlett Johansson and Jello?

Anyyyyway - Its not being published that drives me, although the car does need a new alternator and my middle son has a hollow leg, oh yeah and the border collie needed surgery last week.

I write because I want people to feel, if only for a moment, the way I feel, the way my characters feel when they live their lives. Getting cash on the side would be cool but to me its more about sharing the emotion and the day to day that make up the here and now. One day, one or more of my novels will sell and the vet can cut up the dog without fear of that look in my eye - you know the one measuring the balance between surgery and the final shot.

Of course to get there, I should probably go find an agent.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Cliente Nueve

Here we are almost five years from the invasion of Iraq and I have nothing to say about the matter. OK, thats not exactly correct, I sold that to a newspaper this morning so I can't share it here.

I do however have lots to say about Client Number Nine. Yes you guessed it, I have to wade in. Afterall, its become apparent that it isn't just Governor Spitzer's poll numbers that have been dropping. I wonder if Bill Clinton could call and give him a couple of pointers?

Little things like:

1. Dude - next time use an intern
2. I know where you can get a good price on Havannas
3. Hilliary would have killed me if I'd sent for take out.

I know I shouldn't be making fun of a man who got caught following the wrong advisor but isn't that something we all learned back in college. It is also amazingly funny to me that he is America's premiere crime fighter.

There are one or two sobering thoughts that go into this:

1. The money he spent on a piece of a$$ for two hours could pay off my wife's debt to the Army for overpayment of combat pay when she was medevac'd out.
2. Do you know how many homeless vets he could have fed instead of feeding something else to someone else?

** The most sobering though of all: While new York Governor Elliot Spitzer was cheating on his wife and the people of New York in a D.C. hotel, a U.S Army Staff Sergent was killed at Camp Beuhring Kuwait.

Of the people by the people and for the people

yeah - got it.

Something That I like to Listen to when