The Midnight Dog Wash

I tried to sleep last night.

I went to bed at 9:03, even thought I had the opportunity to stay up and watch TV.

But I went to bed.

But I was rudely awakened by my little dog SCRATCHING.

Standing on top of my and scratching and scratching and scratching.

I was ready to strangle her but it wasn't her fault.

She has very dry skin and it is worse this time of year.

But she was miserable and so was I.

So.......at MIDNIGHT, I could not stand it anymore.

I jerked her out of bed and THREW her in the tub.

I gave her a nice long bath with her medicated shampoo.

She whined and cried.

I wanted to whine and cry.

But after our little Midnight Dog Wash, I dried her off, put her back on the bed, wrapped her up in a blanket.

And guess what.

She went to sleep.

And so did I.

Characters coming alive.

I would love to write a cozy mystery.
I like the genre, I think I understand the basic formula and I've had some pretty good ideas lately.
The question is:
What to do about the characters?
I read a mystery writer's web site and she said her characters push their way "on stage" in her imagination and demand to be heard. They insist on being listened to.
What if my characters are shy?
What if they have stage fright?
What if they need to be coaxed along?

How do I coax them out and give them a self-confident voice?

Yeah, I do believe.

I do believe.
I believe in ghosts and I believe in aliens.
I don't know why people don't.
Oh and I believe in BigFoot or Sasquatch too.
Ghosts?
Sure. They are around.
People are energy.
People have souls and sometimes people have things left unfinished.
I think they may linger.
I think they may be lost or confused.
They may be angry but I don't think they will hurt you.
You may hurt yourself if you are afraid of them.
But I don't think they will hurt you.

Aliens.
Now aliens are a bit harder to explain.
But I think they are here.
I think they have been here for a very long time.
No, I don't think they built the Pyramids.
But I think they are here.
And if they aren't here already, they are trying to get here.
I don't know why.
But they are real and they are around.
If we can send probes to Mars and Saturn and land on the moon, why do we think that other life forms can't be sending probes here?
Maybe they are just curious.
Maybe they have the same concerns we do.

BigFoot?
I think Bigfoot could be real sure.
As vast as this planet is, there is no way we could have explored every square inch of it.
We don't know what's out there in the wilderness.
It's huge.
Why couldn't there be something out there that no one's ever seen?
Who know what's out there?
I think Bigfoot's real.
I do.

My migraines, they are a'changing.....

Okay, this is getting a little weird.

I am not really worried because I don't think there is anything bad going on and I don't think there is anything anyone can do about it but my migraines (that I have had since I was about 18) are changing and doing some bizarre things that they have NEVER done before. I will mention it to the doctor when I see him in March though, since it is a change.

It just started this month. The last two migraines I have had, I have experienced (at the peak of the migraine) a left sided facial spasm involving my upper lip and my left eye. It feels very strange. I have no control over it and I can't do anything to stop it. My upper lip kind of curls and I can feel a little spasm under my left eye. They don't last very long (30 seconds, I don't know..) They feel like they are lasting 5 minutes but I know that isn't the case.

I looked it up on the computer and found a case study of a woman who experienced almost exactly the same thing with her migraines. It's called Hemifacial Spasms. So it is real, not just my imagination. I just want to make note of it and keep track so I can tell my doctor when I see him in March.

It's not scary but it is VERY interesting.

Excuse me, Mr Travolta.

Excuse me, Mr. Travolta.
You are one of the few people who probably has enough money to BUY all of Haiti.

Would you mind hopping into your personal 737 and flying a planeload of supplies down to Haiti?
Oh and would you mind paying for all of it too, while you're at it?


RESPONSE 6 MONTHS AGO:
Go away. I am secluded in my private compound. Leave me alone.
I am facing my own personal tragedy.


RESPONSE NOW:
Sure! Gas up the jet! Load up those supplies. Oh,
By the Way......make sure you get a GOOD picture of me waving out of the window, I'm so damned cool, I can fly my OWN Jet.

Jet? Jett? Hmmmmmmm.....
Oh yeah Jett. It's what he would have wanted me to do.

Oh so now we're supposed to care...

Okay..I'm sorry.
It was not really my intent to turn this into an "anti-Haiti" blog.
That was not really my intention at all.
And you can call me cynical or unsympathetic or just plain mean and hateful.
BUT that being said:
I am having a REALLY hard time with all of this fund-raising and "help the Haitians" rhetoric, especially the celebrities who are suddenly so compassionate about Haiti.
Six months ago NO ONE COULD HAVE CARED LESS ABOUT HAITI.
People were living in poverty, barely scratching out an existence.
No one gave a flying fig about the corruptions and the poverty, the lack of decent medical care, poor nutrition and general desperation of the population.
It wasn't even a blip on the radar screen.
If all of this support and all of this money had been funneled into Haiti and been properly used (and not stolen and exploited by the local gangs and thugs) the place may not be the cesspool that it is.
But Nooooooooo.
Six months ago, no one was doing telethons and fund raisers.
Six months ago NO ONE CARED ABOUT HAITI.
So NOW, we're supposed to care?

Give me a break.
Cynical...maybe I am.
Hypocritical? No. I refuse to say I care when I really don't.
Honest? Yeah.
Politically correct? Obviously not.

The Anderson and Sanjay Show

Okay, now don't get me wrong here.
I actually like Anderson Cooper.

I think he is a passionate journalist and I felt really sorry for him when they teamed him up with the foul-mouthed Kathy Griffin on New Year's Eve.

That was one of the most uncomfortable, embarassing shows I have ever seen on television.

Ireally felt bad for him and hating watching him, squirm.

I felt every moment of the nervous laughter.

It was sad and unfortunate.

And I actually like Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

I think he would have made a fine Surgeon General of the United States.

I was actually kind of disappointed when he turned down the appointment.

I think he would have done an excellent job telling kids not to smoke and not to get pregnant.

He would have been very good at talking about Aids and Swine Flu and the importance of losing weight so you don't get diabetes when you reach 60.

No problem.

The problem I am having, however is watching the ongoing 'Andersen and Sanjay Show' on CNN for the last week.

These guys are their **STARS**.

They are eveywhere, tirlessly "reporting" the news, wearing their khaki t-shirts and jeans, rescuing children from mobs of looters and doing delicate emergency brain surgery under the worst of the worst conditions.

Where does the news (what there is of it) start and their performances stop?

Is it GRANDSTANDING for the cameras or is it genuine compassion?

I just don't know anymore.

****************************************************

BREAKING NEWS:

Another Earthquake Magnitude 6.1 hits 35 from Port Au Prince.

OH Crap. It had to happen.

******************************************************

Everyone (and I mean everyone would have been better off if the first one had been BIGGER to begin)

**************************************

And just one other very politically incorrect question here that I cannot help asking:

How come all of the worried adoptive "parents" that we have seen wringing their hands on CNN have been WHITE???