I tried to resist.

I swore I would never get political on this blog. But I think I’m going to have to break that promise to myself. I have no problem discussing differing views, but NO FLAMING allowed. None. Not even toward the candidates. Sorry. It ain’t gonna happen on this blog. It’s okay if you have a different opinion than I do. It’s okay if you don’t like the candidates. It is NOT okay to personally attack anyone. K? I will initiate my autocratic right to delete any comment that I think is personal and inflammatory. You’ve been warned.

The one thing I want most in this world is peace. In my opinion the war we’re fighting has nothing to do with the attack on our country and everything to do with oil. It sickens me. (BTW, I said during the 2000 election that if W is elected, the first thing he’ll do is finish his daddy’s war. I’m smarter than a 5th grader.)

Seriously. I’m trying so hard to resist being political. You just don’t know.

So I’m going to give in. I am. I can’t hold it back any longer.

I’m scared that our country may not recover from its current state. I’m terrified that Sarah Palin may be in line to be the next President. (let’s face it: John McCain is old and not in the best of health.) Plus,I can not believe that more people are not outraged with the past 8 years, the state of our economy, and the state of our country.

It’s insulting that this woman was chosen. It was totally a political move. It’s not even about her experience or lack thereof, it’s about what she stands for. The more I find out about her, the more disgusted I am. This is NOT a woman I want to be in the White House.

While serving as Mayor of Wasilla, to save the city/community money, Palin billed sexual assault victims anywhere from $300-$1200 for their rape kits. Sure they used the excuse of being able to bill insurance companies when they could…Aw. thanks. Just one more reason for the insurance industry to raise premiums. And what about those victims who were uninsure? Tough titty. Of course, they would never charge a victim of a burglury for gathering evidence. I guess it’s cheaper to conduct an investigation of a house violation than a body violation.

She slashed funds by 20% for a program that gave teenage moms and their babies a place to live while they worked and saved money. It’s nice that she and her family can support Bristol’s choice but not every girl has a family to back them. And cutting almost $2 million from that program shows exactly how Palin feels about teenage pregnancy. Actions over words, madam.

Palin asked the Wasilla librarian about the process for having certain objecitonable books banned (no books were named) and when the librarian balked at any form of censorship–Palin fired her. NIIIIICE. Sure, she finally relented after a huge public outcry of the citizens, but come on…she FIRED HER for taking a stance against book banning. (NY Times article. You may have to register to read it, but it’s free) As a writer, this makes my butthole pucker.

This woman doesn’t belong in a position of power. I’m sorry. She victimizes victims, takes money from those who need it the most (but she allowed her family to expense $43,000 of instate travel. Yes, I know they’re allowed a per diem as the first family, but please, don’t talk about cutting “unnecessary state spending” by charging rape victims or taking money from teenage moms who are trying to get on their feet when you’re allowing your daughters to fly all over the state for dinners and parties.) And she is all for banning books. There’s other stuff out there…but these are the 3 things that tell me this woman doesn’t think before she acts and that is not a person I want to have control over the nuclear codes.

And this certainly isn’t the direction I think this country needs to head in. There. I feel better now. Thanks for letting me spew. It’s been killing me.

Now for some humor. Michael Palin for President

and now the REAL hammer story

Maria is so cute. She posted her hammer story because I threatened to do it for her. Go read it. But don’t forget to come back, because I’m going to tell you what really happened.

So one day last week, Maria calls me.

Maria: (in an excited whisper) Mel!
Me: What?
Maria: Dave Hernandez is in my house!!!! (yes, she used 4 exclamation points in her whisper)
Me: (confused because Dave Hernandez is a fictional character in her current manuscript BUNCO BABES GONE WILD) Um…his name is Dave Hernandez?
Maria: No. He looks like Dave Hernandez! He’s so damn cute! He’s probably only 24. Hang on, I’m going to go check on him. (muffles the phone. Muffled question. Muffled giggling.) I’m back (breathless)
Mel: Are you panting?
Maria: No. Am I? He’s so damn cute!

Then we talk about writing for a few minutes and other stuff and we hang up. Fifteen minutes later.

Maria: (in an excited whisper) Mel!
Me: Yeeees?
Maria: I think he knows I’m watching.
Me: Probably. You should totally ask him if you can take a picture or sneak a picture of him. I’m dying to see the man who can make Maria Geraci pant.
Maria: I’m not going to take a picture of him!
Me: I would. But whatever.

Then we talk about writing for a few minutes and other stuff and we hang up. A little while later.

Maria: Oh my god!
Mel: What???
Maria: They had me come into that bathroom to inspect their work.
Mel: Was the work good?
Maria: Dave Hernandez stood in the doorway and made me squeeze past him. I totally rubbed up against his hammer! I think he did it on purpose!
Mel: You have to blog this.
Maria: What am I going to say? I rubbed up on Dave Hernandez’s hammer?
Mel: Exactly. If you don’t blog it, I will.

The end.

hi I’m a writer…

Okay, since my debut novel Bite Me! will be released next fall, I’ve been thinking a lot about Marketing. Since Fishdog is a marketing man (too bad he doesn’t work on Madison Ave. Then I could call him a Mad Man. *rowr*) we’ve tossed around ideas for a grassroots campaign and other ideas on how to reach YA readers.

It’s important to hit the mark with my audience. Like the Mac ads. Those hit the mark. They are a bucket of win and they make me laugh. They’re funny because they’re true. Take this one about Vista. (which is the reason I switched to Mac…)

I love these commercials. Actually, I spent most of this morning re-watching them. I know. I’m supposed to be working. Sorry. Here’s a link to 15 ads. 7 minutes of commercials that you pretty much can’t stop watching… Those folks at Apple know what they’re doing:

More Mac Ads

Which brings me to the new ads for Microsoft. Or what I like to call exactly what I don’t want to do when I’m marketing. Bore my audience to tears. I don’t get it. It’s not funny. Not even close. And aren’t they two years too late in responding to Apple?

Microsoft missed the mark in my opinion. Instead of spending money trying to ‘one up’ the Mac ads, they might should focus on trying to create a superior product. Because Vista sux ass. And btw, this is NOT the way to revive Jerry Seinfeld’s career.

And this brings me back round to my point. Marketing appropriately is important. And Microsoft? U R doing it rong.

manic monday…

I’m still beating the horse over at Fictionistas. This time with More Links!
Fictionistas

So I told y’all that Fishdog and Nemo did the paintball thing yesterday. Holy shit they came back all bruised up. And they were dressed head to toe in fatigues. Nemo even had on a 2nd pair of pants underneath is fatigues.

Behold the madness. Will somebody please explain to me how this paintball thing can possibly be fun?




dog with a bone here…

To continue my voting/apathy theme from yesterday. Here’s more information on how to choose your candidate…


Factcheck.org
has done the work for you. Check out the candidates’ acceptance speeches and if their walk matches their talk. Do not go into this blindly. Exercise your right to use your brain.

  1. Fact Check Obama
  2. Fact Check McCain
  3. Fact Check Palin

Couldn’t find one for Biden’s speech, sorry. I’m sure it’s there…

About fact check (directly from their website)

Our Mission

We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit, “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.


Voting is important. Voting well informed? Should be mandatory.

it’s Friday, I’m in love…

Yes, it’s Friday. And after I run the kids to school, I’m headed to Oxford for the weekend. I have some writing to do and we have a couple of appointments to show the house. Everybody keep your fingers crossed and wish us luck there.

I have to admit something…I’m having a very hard time not discussing politics here. Seriously. And it’s not because I’m afraid of disagreement, that has never been a problem for me. I am perfectly capable of disagreeing and moving on. But way too many other people are not.

So instead of actual politics, I think I’ll discuss apathy.

Apathy is a silent killer. It’s like a disease that just quietly grows and spreads from person to person.

I’ve heard a lot of people say they’re not going to vote at all because they don’t like either candidate. Or they will vote for the woman, or the ‘black’ guy because it’s about time. Blah, blah, blah. Or Daddy says we’re Republican. Or Daddy says we’re Yellow Dog Democrats.

No wonder our country is in such a world of hurt right now. Nobody can be bothered to make a decision based on their beliefs. Hell, nobody can be bothered to believe anything anymore.

Do me a favor, take some time to read about all the candidates. And not just what they put up on their websites…do a little research. It’s not hard.

Go here: PROJECT VOTE SMART

type in the candidates’ names and see if their voting records match your ideals.

or go here: WHO SHOULD I VOTE FOR
or (for fewer questions) here: VOTE HELP
Answer the questions and see where you fall percentage wise. You might be surprised. I was when I took the quiz during the primaries.

Don’t be apathetic. Don’t choose a candidate based on lack of knowledge of the issues. Please.

begin rant

Had to run to the store real quicklike tonight because we were out of beer needed a ream of paper and other assorted sundries.

USA Drug is about a half mile from the house and perfect for a quick errand.

Usually.

I load up my basket with my 6 items. I get in line. And I wait.

and wait.

The clerk seems a little slow (I don’t mean slow as in slow. I mean just not in a real big hurry.) But we finally get to the lady in front of me. She scans her 40 million items and the lady hands her coupons.

This is where my head nearly popped-the-fuck-off.

The clerk took each coupon and found the exact item in the bag before she would scan the coupon. The lady gave her at least 10 coupons. She had 5 bags full of shit.

It took the clerk another 10 minutes to scan the coupons. I wish I was kidding.

They did not open another line, so of course, by the time the clerk finished, there were at least 5 people in line behind me.

I nearly screamed at her. Instead, I tweeted. I felt amazingly better after that.

/end rant

in which Mel looked Death in the eye


Okay, so maybe that’s a little dramatic, but still. I had a scary moment this morning so I think I’ll share.

The story really doesn’t start with this morning…it starts a couple of days ago when we noticed one of the back tires on the Civic was low. It has a slow leak and we just haven’t replaced it yet. I know. Stupid. But whatever.

Gustav had shown up in full force and it was raining in sheets Tuesday morning. I didn’t want to take the car to the gas station and check the air because the traffic is always really bad on rainy days and I knew we’d be late for school. I took the Prelude, which was a bad idea because it doesn’t have air so the windows fogged up. Not safe.

Yesterday Fishdog took the Prelude. He too realized that was a bad idea.

The rain never let up and we never took the Civic to the service station. Yesterday afternoon, Nemo (formerly known as Ian) had cross-country practice (yes, even in the Tropical Depression….run Forrest run!) I just had to run him about 5 blocks away. So we hopped into the Civic, drove a quarter of a block, turned onto the next street and did a 180. SRSLY. We were going all of 5 miles per hour. I turned onto the street and wound up facing my neighbor’s house. Freaky.

But it was all good.

Now comes to the part where the Grim Reaper tapped me on the shoulder…

Gustav is still here. Rader (who doesn’t have a nickname for some reason) and I leave early so I can go get gas and air up the tire. The service station is a half a mile away. I’m about halfway there, we’re approaching the S curve in the road and I make sure I’m crawling because of what happened yesterday.

Didn’t matter. I take the curve VERY SLOWLY and wind up in the other lane facing the opposite direction.

THERE IS A CAR COMING! Thank God they saw and stopped.

Rader is hooting and hollering “Do it again, Mom!”

I wave to the oncoming car and thank them for not killing us, drive up to the next street, turn in, back up and head toward the gas station again. Undaunted. (sorta)

This time, I managed the S curve. I get to the station. They are out of gas (not kidding). But they do have air–which really was the most important thing.

Anyway, I made it home safe and sound. And this weekend, I’m getting the brakes and tires replaced.

Unleash a cure for CF

Okay, every once in a blue moon, I do something nice. It’s true. Seriously. Stop laughing.

Anyway, now I’m asking you all to do something nice with me. Are you ready?

Unleash Your Story is trying to make a difference.

Unleash Your Story

A combined read-a-thon and write-a-thon that challenges readers, writers and published authors to unleash their stories and make a difference.

Our goal is to raise $10,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the leading organization in the United States devoted to cystic fibrosis.

Date:
September 1, 2008 to September 30.

Since I’m currently revising and not writing, I have donated. It doesn’t take a lot. Even $10 will make a difference.

I chose to donate to Colleen Gleason’s team for two reasons.

  1. she has a ten year old son who was diagnosed with CF at six weeks old.
  2. I really like Colleen’s books and anything that gets her to write has my support.

Read her story here.

Please join me in supporting Colleen. CF is an ugly genetic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. Just 20 years ago, CF used to have a very low life expectancy(10 years old)…but now, thanks to research (made possible by fundraisers like UNLEASH) these kids can live into their forties. This is a miracle made possible by donations.

I have a friend who has 2 kids with CF. Can you imagine? Let’s work to stamp out this disease all together. Click the banner to donate. Seriously, just $10 will make a difference.




Support COLLEEN GLEASON! Let’s put an end to CF, together.

Leave me a comment if you’re participating or if you’ve donated.