Saturday, December 26, 2015

Last Weekend Before the New Year

Now that most holidays have ended or about to end for the year, we come upon the last weekend before 2016.

It is a time to reflect, set goals, and make wishes.

A life less ordinary is a path unpaved by feet or innovation. Humans struggle with nature, nurture, and inner contemplation. How can the human race make the world a better place in 2016?

How can you make yourself in to a better person? Develop your gifts and aptitude? What do you want to share with the world? 

Is it art or poetry? Do you want to write a book? 

The world awaits people to learn, practice, and endeavor. Nothing ever worth doing is easy. So pick yourself up join a writing group or go back to college. 

In ten years, you will be ten years older. In ten years, will you be showing your talents to the world? Why not? The world will still be there and you will have aged. It is better to begin, then to never begin at all.

What is your 2016 goal?

Have a great and wonderful day!


Friday, December 25, 2015

T Minus 7 Days Until New Logo Reveal

This year, the New Year's opener will be the unveiling of Undawnted's new logo, design, and tag line. 

We are still deciding on our annual Tag Line. We are down to three contenders. We will be holding them to a vote early next week, so choose wisely!

Our redesign and logo are mystical and scifi at the same time. We are pleased with its creation. You never know, we may keep it around for awhile.

There will be a Sneak Peak at the redesign on New Year's Eve, so don't miss it.
"If life is like a handful of candy, then your confections should reflect the sweetness of your life."
~~DL Mullan


Monday, December 21, 2015

Welcome to Winter

It is officially the last season of the year. 


Have a Safe and Wonderful Holiday Season! 




Countdown to Yule

The UK's Telegraph has a countdown application and Winter Solstice is about 2 hours away.


Not everyone in the world celebrates Christmas. There are a number of different celebrations during this time of year. One of which is Yule.

Yule harkens back to Odin and Norse mythology. It is a time to butcher livestock for their meat, the mead/ale was ready in their casks, and the freezing weather was the death cycle of nature. 

The Winter Solstice became a celebration of life, and the upcoming renewal of spring. 

So this night of the longest darkness and shortest light, be thankful that tomorrow begins the cycle of renewal. 

For the Sonoran Desert: 
9h 55m
Tomorrow will be 0m0s shorter.

Enjoy the legends, the history, and the holiday spirit.




Sunday, December 20, 2015

Dreaming while Awake is Life's Gift

I have fallen asleep several times today. 

I would write or research then catch myself nestling into my covers for a nap. Even mental work can exhaust me. That is what happens with chronic illness. 

Still winter has set in early in the desert southwest and I have settled into my writing mode. 

Yule will be here on Monday. Winter solstice arrives and the death of the year commences. The only option is to descend into the belly of the beast to be reborn into mythical heroes in the awakening of spring. 

Read your Joseph Campbell. 

Even though there will be no Yule tree or presents, I feel so blessed this year. I am grateful for my little fur family, friends, and neighbors. Although the year has been challenging and I am still very ill, I see a bright future at hand. 

Writing is my first love. My personal joy. Now that I have goals to attain and be in love while accomplishing those goals seems to be a dream come true. 

I wish all my days are filled with awakening dreams of these special gifts.

I hope everybody has a great and wonderful day. 


Saturday, December 19, 2015

Sneak Peak: Apples to Oranges

I have been working on art as well as content these past few weeks.

Here is the book cover I created for my recipe, artistic, storytelling, educational cookbook: Apples to Oranges: Whole Foods for Whole Bodies. 

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, while an orange has more Vitamin C. Since apples to oranges imply comparison and contrast, this book will compare and contrast many different food topics while still entertaining you with art, poems, and recipes.

Here is an excerpt I have so far:
"And, cooking just like life is all about balance. In my years, I have spent more time in the kitchen than most teens and young adults. I have baked cookies, breads, bundts, cakes, and candy. I have cooked stews, chilis, ethnic foods, and American classics. I may not be a chef, but I am a down home cook."  

Thank you!





Saturday, November 14, 2015

Should We Cite Creativity with Mental Illness Labels?

A friend posted an article on Facebook about Highly Creative people being ADHD.  

i am highly creative and could identify with the list of attributes creative people have: not finishing projects, procrastination as a tool,and so on. 

What irked me is that we have labeled a creative process as a Mental Illness.  ADHD has been used to place children on psychotropic drugs, dismiss people, and make creativity a problem instead of an asset. 

With my creative quirks, I have had to learn to plan and budget my time. What gets done, gets done. Play time has to wait until I am done with important chores. I am on and off blogging due to my health problems as well as daily life can sometimes interfere. 

My elderly cat has been ill so giving him medicine, probiotics, and hand feeding him has been the priority over almost everything else for the last two weeks. 

For those people on the high spectrum of the creative pendulum, if we are raised to be self aware and understand how to cope with spurts of creative energy, the lows, and daily life, then we can become a very intuitive, mature inventor of ideas, creations, and life. 

The only reason ADHD was defined was to control creative energy in the classroom and home instead of allowing that energy to positively transform life. Not everyone is created to sit and be still, watch TV, or play video games. 

Some of us are born to change the world, one idea, painting, poem, or story at a time.  

So the next time the authorities want to label something that is perfectly natural, just remember what they do NOT want labeled and call it safe. I rather know what is in my food so I can choose to avoid mad scientist tech corporation syndrome than to label a child or person simply because their process is different.

If we have become too rigid as a society to be effective unless highly creative people are medicated, then we are all in big, big trouble.

Danger, Will Robinson.

So the moral to the story is let kids be kids, within the realm of common sense. Label your food, not your children.

Isn't it our lives anyway? 

Have a great and wonderful day! 








Saturday, October 31, 2015

Happy Halloween!

Today was a great day.

Not too hot. Not too cold. Just right. 

So have fun out there! Get plenty of candy to eat... for those stuck at home like me, here's a little Halloween History: http://www.villadepaz-gazette.com/2015/10/the-real-story-of-halloween.html. 

Have a safe and wonderful Halloween night! 




Thursday, October 22, 2015

Halloween Festivities

Autumn is here and the first of the holidays besides the equinox is Halloween. 

So in celebration of the spooky, Undawnted will be publishing some new and old favorites in compliment to the season. 

Who can resist the pull of the unknown, macabre, and dark? 

Have a great and spooky day!

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Let's Go Back to the Future

Who would have thought an 80's movie could have such an impact?

I love the Back to the Future movies. What fun. What a treat. I thought once that I would become a movie critic because I had seen so many movies in my youth.

We had a movie theater that had current movies for $3 and popcorn and a drink also cost $3. That fit on my tiny teenage budget. Movies were my getaway. My holidays. My weekends. 

I knew movies were not real and just enjoyed them as entertainment, and escape. Today as a writer, I look back at my movie days and understand that a story is a combination of character and plot. Movies were a great way to learn what works and does not work when building your own fantasy world.

I am very grateful to live the day Marty McFly came to in the future. Chronic and disabling illnesses make everyday feel like you have no future, but today marks a significant change in history. Now we can see how far we have come and yet to go. 

And, where is my flying car anyway?

Have a great and wonderful future day!




Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Autumn Chores

With the cooler temperatures, comes the need to clean the garage out. 

The neighborhood bulk trash event is also a great time to weed out what is not wanted anymore. I did a lot last week and now I am paying the price. I fell flat on my face. 

If there was a sleep marathon, I would win it hands down.

Between my last post until now, I have been trying to get my house organized. I do this reorganization once a year so I can pile all my unwanted items into a box and send it to the thrift organizations. My motto is if I have not wanted, needed, or looked for it in a year, then it is gone. 

I am a recovering pack rat so I try to make sure my home is clutter free once a year. 

You would be amazed what you can collect and not even realize it. I write characters with these types of quarks. From being neat freaks to skirting OCD, characters are people too.

Now back to my organizing.... you wanna help? 

Have a great and wonderful day.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Welcome, Again

This date is the official start to Undawnted.

I am a creative thinker: artist, poet, writer. I am set to publish original chapbooks, novels, and the lot. I hope you will join me on my quest to discover how imagination is fearless. 

"Undawnted is where imagination is unpredictable, insatiable, and undeniablely ...unleashed."

Let's start this adventure, again ;)

Have a great and wonderful day! 

Domain Change Soon

I have had the www.Undawnted.com domain for awhile and wondered when the right time would be to direct it here.

Well that day has come. I am working with the internet gods to get this change complete. So look for our new address.

Thank you!

Have a great and wonderful day!

Monday, September 7, 2015

Welcome Authonomy Friends

Sad day to know that Authonomy, an online writing community I have been involved with for nearly eight years, is closing at the end of September 2015.

We have shared our hopes and aspirations of being published authors. We have laughed, cried, and cheered. 

Now welcome to my new format.  Please browse around and leave a comment. 

It is nice to know in the vastness of the world wide web that writers connect no matter the medium.

Thank you!

Monday, August 31, 2015

Up 'n at 'em

This morning was really pretty in the Sonoran Desert. 

In the summer after staying up all night to avoid the extreme heat, I welcome the sun and all her glory. A few years back Venus and Jupiter were high in the eastern sky from 3am until the sun rose. My traveling companions. 

Now the rotations have shifted. Venus comes up later about 5am in the east. Don't fret. Jupiter and Mars are not far behind and when cool October mornings come around, all three will be very, very close together in our sky. I cannot wait!

I have been updating my blogs, publishing some poems. I have been doing the bored to death thing. I get like this during summers. Summer is just not that exciting to me. I know we have the monsoon storms, but those only happen when the geoengineers are being stupid or generous. I cannot figure out which. ;) 

I really do hate the toxic chemical laden, ecoterrorism being played out in our skies and no one seems to notice. I notice. I was raised with blue skies. I do not know what those lines are doing up there but to damage our ice caps and ozone lawyer. Yeah, and they say it is us. Nope! It is "them." 

So if you can wake up extra early, especially at the end of October, the alignment of those three planets should be spectacular. 

I for one cannot wait to fill up my camera's memory with the memory of a life lived. 

Have a great and wonderful day!

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Harmonious Crickets and Desert Heat

My house is full of cricket song.

I have been hoping for the kitties to eat them all, but I guess the babies are full of other things instead.  In the early morning hours, if I am able to see Orion, I can hear the locusts too. The desert is alive and well. 

Even though it is hot and muggy with a chance of geoengineering, I still love my home.  Still I cannot wait for the autumn storm track to swoop down and cool the desert off.

Have a great and wonderful day.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Convergence

I added a link to the site: Convergence

This blog is my hub of all my other blogs! I needed to get them all in order so I would stop forgetting to update certain ones. I am forgetful.

So have fun seeing my posts of politics, art, science, medicine, and mysticism. 

Good thing I have that all straight now.

Have a great and wonderful day!

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Hot, Dry, and Sunny with a Touch of the Holidays

The desert is a strange place to live.

Heat and monsoon storms can make the summer months nearly unbearable. The rest of the year, except for six weeks in the winter, makes up for this hot uncomfortable weather. I for one cannot wait for autumn.

I have been searching for a way to be celebratory in the fall without falling into the religious/consumer trappings of the modern world.

If you want to give thanks or presents, why is it only on designated holidays?

Governments or churches should not be setting the standard. As a free thinking adult, I should be setting my own course. I should be my own role model.

So as the heat lingers I have been plotting my days of celebration for this autumn. From simple meteor showers to feasts, my non-conformist ways should not make my life dull or uninviting.

If you could make your own holiday schedule, what would it be?

Have a great and wonderful day!  


Monday, August 17, 2015

Updates to the Site

After having my migraines, it appears I had a bit of insomnia, so I updated some items here on the blog. 

Our Online Chapbooks page now has chapbook images and poems designated to each book.

The section of fiction, Drabbles, Microfiction, and Novelettes, was added with an sample drabble. 

I am hoping to add more images so those individuals who save their favorites to Pinterest can do so in the future. 

I hope you enjoy the updates! 

Have a great and wonderful day!


Sunday, August 16, 2015

Back in the Saddle

I am still ill and still recovering from bad reactions, but that is my life.

I have been doing some creative research and hope to have images of a new book cover soon. It is an exciting venture. 

I renamed a book that I have been unhappy with the title as it stands now.

So have fun, talk amongst yourselves...  and catch up in the Reading Room.

Have a great and wonderful day!

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Paranormal Personalities Are Humans Too


I was doing a little research into the paranormal this evening and ran into story after story about personalities in the paranormal field who have allegedly done wrong. 

It is sad. 

If you are in the pubic eye, you need to step up.  That is just reality. You need to be beyond reproach.

As fans we also must remember not to place others on pedestals, reality television people are humans too. Mistakes are made. Stress is paralyzing. We must make sure to be good fans.

With that all said, I have read some disturbing articles about scamming people and not living up to expectations. That is not cool. 

It is a sad day when you try to support someone and that person does not support you back. 

I have ran into a similar situation and the person in my view is a fraud. We all deal with people like this in our lives. Some are just overwhelmed. Others believe you owe them a living. How do you know the difference? 

When you do not receive a product you have ordered or money returned. That is how. 

How would you deal with the scammer in your life?

Have a great and wonderful day. 


GeoEngineering Does Not Exist

My home was rocked by two sets of violent thunderstorms today.

We got hit by lightning, thunder, dangerous winds, and rain this morning around 9am. Twelve hours later, we got slammed again. 

When the newscasters and weather personnel use terms like "unusual," well that happens in Mother Nature. But when these people start using words like "freakish," you sit up and take notice.  

That is what happened today. We had Freakish storms. Paging Dr. Frankenstein...

Yeah, sure, geoengineering does not exist. That is why there are lines in the sky. Tic Tack Toe formations drawn neatly above me. X's that mark the spot or curve patterns not associated with the nearby airports are probably hallucination as well. 

 I think as adults we are to put away childish things like peer pressure and conspiracy theories. 

We need to look at the facts. 

We have strange weather patterns, toxic chemicals in the soils, and lines in the sky that are only of recent development. 

GeoEngineering does not exist, sounds very childish indeed. 

Next, are people going to say Global Warming is real when the Earth's temperature is directly influenced by solar activity?  Oh, wait, they already do.

Put down your toys, everyone. It is time to realize adult concepts of secrecy and treachery. 

GeoEngineering is real and is messing up our weather. Any more questions? 

Have a great and wonderful day.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

The Dog Days of Summer

Tomorrow will be 1m45s shorter.

 Yeah, yeah, yeah... promises, promises.

Summer cannot end soon enough. I live in a hot and arid location. It is great to live here most of the year, except June through September. 

Before I was taken ill, I loved the heat. Now, my body cannot regulate itself as well to extremes in temperature be it hot or cold. The heat of the desert creates more lethargic days and days filled with migraines. Some headache cycles can last for ten or more days. 

So I am regulated to the indoors, only to venture out into the night. That means I try to sleep days and only do chores in the early morning hours with the rising sun. 

Winters are a little different. I am up by mid morning and back in bed by mid afternoon as I cannot get warm without the direct sunlight. So somewhere in the middle I do my one hour of chores, grab a shower, and hunker down until the sun warms my home again.

What a life! 

I feel like I live on a bed life preserver. 

I hope this coming winter I can get some creativity flowing again. This spring and summer have been harsh on me. Mean people, especially, have reared their ugly heads and my body cannot take the stress. Migraines, sleepathons are amongst the notables. 

But I am ready to start getting my art and writing out there again. I do not know exactly where as of yet. I am working on it. 

I am making a plan and checking it twice. 

Maybe this time the planets will align to come to my aid and not to my determent. 

How do you cope with life interfering with your plans? 

Have a great and wonderful day! 


Saturday, August 8, 2015

Ghost in the Hallway

I have had my fair share of haunting experiences in my life.

I have been on ghost/historical tours. I have ventured out and did my own ghost investigations. I have channeled and done mediumship. I have read for others. I have done tarot and rune readings. I work with crystals.

The universe is a concerted mirage of vibrations. When we leave our bodies to the next plane of existence, we too become vibrations. So the idea of another vibration in my house is not daunting to me. 

I am rather curious, but firm. I do stand my ground.

I was in my bathroom brushing my hair when a movement caught my attention. I turned and saw a human form shadow on my hall wall across from me. There was no way I was making that shadow. I observed it rock back and forth then disappear. The shadow person was on the other side of the wall next to me and their consistency was manifesting a shadow across from me.

I knew it was not my imagination when my Bombay cat, Riley, ran into the bathroom and hid under the shower curtain. She came from that room and was scared out of her mind. She only runs and hides like that during thunderstorms.

So I said in a loud voice: "Only Love and Light are allowed in this house." I spewed some more stuff to let beings know, my house is a safe house for light workers and light beings. Evil, exit, stage left. 

I guess I have another outline for a scene or short story. Plus now I have to smudge!

What is your paranormal experience?

Have a great and wonderful day!!! 



Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Recovery, It's Not Just for Addicts

I am trying to recover from biotoxin illness. 

My immune system collapse due to employer negligence with industrial chemicals including the misuse and overuse of pesticides.

As I was getting back on my feet, my family allowed a leaky sink to cause my second collapse with toxic black mold.

...but my real medical, clinical symptoms and skeletal condition were just in my head. That is what I was told repeatedly.

Now that my family disowned me, I am recovering inch by inch with miles to go. Every inch is sweet. Of course, every set back is frustrating too. 

When you have a chronic and debilitating illness and people like your family make fun of you, it is really difficult to want to have camaraderie again. I have noticed that when someone is at a distance, I feel better. Our relationship is good.

But when someone is in touching distance of me, well, I am uncomfortable. I guess when someone is abused as I have been that being shy of close connection is not unusual. It's a survival mechanism. 

And, I am a survivor. 

If you do not understand the illness, then support the person the best you can. Be positive but not harassing. Believe me, the ill person will be grateful you care, but do not be disappointed that the ill person remains ill. 

My family thought that I should be able to run around and do chores for them. Or, do all my chores. So when I did not get better from their constant hounding and negativity, my family told others I was an addict and psychotic, which no one with an M.D. or Ph.D. could ever prove even with blood tests. Many terrible things were done to me as a result.  

But recovery from a prolonged illness has many of the hallmarks of recovering from an addiction. First, all your friends are not your friends anymore. Most, if not all, your family ignores you. Your requests for help and support go largely unanswered except for people who are paid to help and support you.

The only difference between being ill and being an addict is understanding from society. Addicts get support groups and therapists. I don't. Addicts receive adequate medical care. I don't. Addicts get legal services and protection under the law. I don't. Addicts have people who they can turn to... well, you get the picture. 

I am not ill by choice. Others chose this path for me. I hope one day people with invisible disabilities like chronic, lifelong illnesses will receive the same societal understanding and respect as others do already. 

It's not a crime to be ill, but it sure does feel like it. I had to go through a Disability Review recently, which I passed because I am truly ill, but the treatment I received placed my health and life in jeopardy. The situation was not fun and I nearly died. 

I am not okay with what happened to me especially since my family tortured and imprisoned me. 

Like Kermit the Frog said: It's not easy being green."

So, what will you do to help your elderly or sick neighbor? They could really use your helping hand at least once a month. If your whole neighborhood assisted others who cannot help themselves, America would be a much brighter place.

Thank you!

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Melted Chocolate Dreams

Chocolate, how could you do it?

You broke my heart. I loved you. I worshiped you. I enjoyed you. 

How did you repay me? You repaid me with GMO crappy, store bought cocoa. How could you? 

So in my efforts to make sure my diet is clean and healthy, I am switching anything I find that is not healthy over to the better quality version. Chocolate is no different.

GMO free chocolate that I buy is through an online source. So of course, I had to have some shipped with my regular items on one of the hottest weeks of the summer. By the time I opened my package, the chocolate was liquid. 

I could swish the chocolate back and forth in its little baggie. I laid the bag flat on the highest shelf in the refrigerator to see if I could make a chocolate bar out of the melted chips. A few hours later and I have a candy bar. Yay, me! 

Even though you broke my heart with your corrupted DNA, I still love you, chocolate. I am hooked. Now I have a new version to love you by. A version that will not lead to illness or inflammation.

Love me, leave me... or just buy GMO free!

Have a great and wonderful day!!!

Monday, August 3, 2015

The Perfect Coffee Table Bowl

I am a shopper.

More importantly, I am a Clearance Shopper. I have been eying a few items on ZGallerie, but on my budget I cannot afford anything at this store anymore... so I thought. 

I am browsing, collecting data for my Pinterest boards when I click on the Clearance section. 

Low and behold, there is a bowl for my coffee table I wish I could have. At over $60 with the shipping and tax, there was no way my little wish could ever come true, until last week. 

That bowl was under $18. Yeah, I had to do the double take too. So with hope in my heart that there was enough in the end of the month budget for a trinket, I placed the item in the shopping cart and pressed the Check Out Button.

Then I could see what the tax and shipping were going to do to the price. When all was said and finished, the price was under $26. I could not believe my eyes, or my budget. I just had enough. 

Now, one has to ponder: is the item worth it? do i really need it? I could still walk away. 

I pressed the next button, and the next one. 

Excitement surged as I finally after all these years of being sick, broke, and discarded, I was able to buy something nice that I can look at every day and know that with time and mad budgeting skills, I too can afford even high-end clearance sales. 

The only scary part is when Fedex placed the poundage on their tracking site. 17.1 pounds for a bowl. What have I gotten myself into? I hope the bowl does not break my coffee table! 

I know. I need a new hobbie. I have more pressing matters like writing and editing chapbooks and novels, getting my artistic creativity back on track, and doing what I need to get better. I have been doing that for over eight years now. So I have not been slacking ;)

Every once and awhile, you need to do something for you and only you.  Remember that when you see something you want and it does not break the bank to acquire it. 

Have a great and wonderful day!

Friday, July 31, 2015

Crickets and Meandering Migraines

Migraines are wonderful.

They are wonderful for screwing up your schedule, causing immense pain, and terrorizing your life. 

I am ill and migraines are a cyclical answer my body gives me about the condition I am in. It's not pretty. Sometimes, it's just not something that is easily overcome.

With this last round this week, I found myself in the dark with no noise and plenty of ice packs, only to be serenaded by a cricket in my closet. I moved my shelving. I squirted him with some watered down apple cider vinegar... nothing would shut him up! 

Finally, I banged on the wall a few times and he got the message. I was so not interested in him as a man. He needed to hop to another bar. 

So after he got out of my closet and into another part of house, or he got eaten by a kitty, my migraine left my head. Well, head. Then the pain went down to my left shoulder. It stayed there for a long time. Then as the pain was exiting my shoulder it went to my left wrist and eventually to my left ankle. 

You're guess is as good as mine. 

I hope you have a great and wonderful, pain free, day!

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Tomorrow will be 1m29s shorter

Autumn cometh! 

October is my favorite time of year, so I will post how the days get shorter in anticipation of fall. 

What is disturbing is that stores are already placing their Halloween items out. I do not believe autumn should start at the end of July. I don't believe Xmas shopping should happen until the Monday after Thanksgiving. 

It feels that Americans have gotten away from the joy of the holidays. Halloween is to dress up and spend time with your friends. Children should believe October 31st is a magical night that will give them memories for a lifetime. 

Thanksgiving should be a time of celebration and giving thanks. Gratitude for all the sacrifices people have made to make America great, while not forgetting the terrible things that befell the First Nations who are now on reservations. 

Christmas and other end of year holidays should not come at the expense of other holidays or traditions. I mean, really, do we need Black Friday? 

No, course we do not. 

What we need are a nation of people who care and have moral/ethical behavior. A 99c flat screen tv is not worth the time a father or mother has to be at work to serve you and be away from their kids during the Thanksgiving holiday. 

We should be paying a fair wage so no one has to work on the holidays. Or, receive food stamps. Or, live out of their vehicle., 

While I love October, Halloween, the holidays make me think about how I conduct myself around the holiday season.

What will you do to make the season brighter for someone else? 

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Writing about Controversy sends Stats Up

I should bitch out foreign governments on my blog more. 

It was fun to watch my reaction to being told I was responsible for an EU law make my stats soar to new heights. Did I hit a nerve? Or do more people want to hear the truth?

Art, writing, creativity in general are supposed to reflect humanity back onto itself. So we can see other people's perspectives and walk in their shoes. Tonight, I decided to take a stand against a law that has nothing to do with me. 

If someone comes to my blog, that is their choice. If blogger or other third parties have applications or wares that can be used with their sites/blogs, well those are people's freedom of choice to have them or not. I have software to tell me if a site is not safe but I can go if I choose to do so. 

Same thing with my blog. If you choose to come here and read, great. Thank you very much for your patronage. If not, well perhaps next time.

But to make a blogger list about cookies, it's bullshit. 

My computer, my internet connection... my responsibility if I go here or there. Next webmasters will have to list their underwear sizes and that is just unseemly. Keep it to yourselves, folks.

So that is why I had the reaction I did earlier. It is NOT my responsibility to tell you everything about my blog. It is the surfer's responsibility to make intelligent, educated choices. 

I use software to keep me safe. EU, why don't you? 

I guess it is time to resurrect Radio Active Dawn. Full of opinions and cuss words about the abysmal governance of unelected/elected politicians. 

Have a great and wonderful night!

EU, I Could Give a Rat's A$$

So I get back only to find the EU, European Union, making me comply with their laws:


If you want to know about cookies on this site, ask Blogger. I have no idea. I don't know the laws over there and I don't want to know. It's bad enough over here with all the nonsense laws being passed for corporate control. 

If you are in the EU, you better get your government under control.

As for Americans, this example is what people are talking about World Government. 

Get Involved. Reject Corporateacracy. Break up Mass Monopolies.

 Thank you.




Saturday, May 9, 2015

Stand by

Technical issues abound.

I love technology but sometimes it is a pain. It is either the modem or router slowly dying on me. At least with the modem the internet service provider has to replace that one. The other is on me.

I just wish they would make up their minds. 

On or off? Reboot? 

So when this issue is resolved, I will update more. Isn't life fun? 

Have a great and wonderful day.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Plastic Grocery Bags, Love 'em or Hate 'em

The debate has come to the Valley of the Sun: ban plastic grocery bags!

How about ban the fascists? Are we allowed to do that? I think we need to start considering it.

When I piped off on our local news's Facebook page, I read another person's comments that said: grocery bags have been biodegradable for the last twenty years. Twenty years? I had to check it out.

Low and behold, I find this company: Alibaba in  China. It is true. Then why the issue? Cities and towns do not want to spend the money to recycle these bags properly so the campaign begins to outlaw them.

Can you say stay out of my beeswax?

Governments should not be legislating my light bulbs or grocery bags, politicians should be doing the people's business, not trying to parent us.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Mind, Body, and Soul

My old art and poetry blog/website is now going under rapid changes.

Mind, Body, and Soul is a place where someone who is sick with Environmental Illness will find books, research, and much, much more.


Have a great and wonderful day!

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Jumping through Hoops

I love when you have your life set up and then someone updates your browser.

I had everything set up: information fill in the box, so I did not have to remember and type all the time. Then Firefox updated and the add-on I used was no longer useable. I lost password access to many different places including this blog.

@#$%^&*!!!!!

You can fill in the blanks from there. 

So I had to send information to my email, then my phone to verify that is it indeed me. 

I am happy to say that all my memory is not all fuzzy. I had a decent recall for items long forgotten. I know am going to reimage my old blog. I think I know the perfect creative measure. I will return and give you the blog name and url. 

Have a great and wonderful day!


Saturday, March 14, 2015

Would You Like Some Whine with Your Dinner?

Funny how people will whine about doing something instead of actually doing it.

"But I don't want to... Can you do... Why should I have to..." We have all heard the excuses of someone who does not want to pull their weight. It is like if they whine, carry on, or waste time, a fairy god mother will swoop down and do whatever it is that is causing the two year old tantrum for them. 

I do not get it. If you did not whine and bellow like a dog on his last legs, the chore or item you did not want any part of would already be done. 

People do it all the time. Procrastination, they say. Unmotivated, others say. But who's to say?

Sound like anyone you know? Just like in real life situations, characters in our stories have the same faults and behaviors. When creating characters make sure to give them an attribute of someone you know.

Have a great and wonderful day!

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Miscommunication or Misdirection

I had an informative conversation of late.

Someone believed that bullying me and acting as a martyr would somehow convince me of something that was not reality. I had the empirical data. I had done the research. What was I missing?

In the course of that evening, I learned a valuable lesson in what people will do to get their way.

I ended the conversation with we'll agree to disagree. The other person decided to act like I threw unfounded accusations at him. Yeah, good luck with that. I can deduce quite nicely by myself, thank you.

When these types of situations arise, I like to walk away the best that I can and give myself time. Heated discussions never end well. So I just end them.

Even in adversity, a writer can learn from human interactions. Just like the article: Immersion Reading is Good for the Soul, delving into the human psyche as one or more characters can also help you understand real humans. Plus you can create three dimensional characters in your stories.

So this conversation went south, but there are ways to glean positives from the negative.

Have a great and wonderful day.
 

Monday, March 9, 2015

Immersion Reading is Good for the Soul

Have you ever loved what book you were reading that could not put it down? You did not hear the phone? Or could not finish your book until you spent 24 hours reading it all the way through the first time?

In the article: Reading Literature Makes Us Smarter and Nicer, Time Magazine explains that ""Deep reading" is vigorous exercise from the brain and increases our real-life capacity for empathy."
“Deep reading” — as opposed to the often superficial reading we do on the Web — is an endangered practice, one we ought to take steps to preserve as we would a historic building or a significant work of art. Its disappearance would imperil the intellectual and emotional development of generations growing up online, as well as the perpetuation of a critical part of our culture: the novels, poems and other kinds of literature that can be appreciated only by readers whose brains, quite literally, have been trained to apprehend them.
So go ahead, enjoy your book binges!

It just means you have a better understanding of the world around you.

Have a great and wonderful day.


Source: Time

Friday, March 6, 2015

Humans, We're Not so Human After All

So, you think you are human: Homo sapien sapien. 

You may not be so human after all. In the article: New Ancient “Mystery Human” Species Identified Shakes Up The Theory Of Evolution, humans discover that our DNA is not so human, but a collection of interbreeding species from long ago. 

Just face it: your ancestors were sluts. 
“What it begins to suggest is that we’re looking at a Lord of the Rings type world – that there were many hominid populations.” - (1) Mark Thomas, evolutionary geneticist at University College London.
According to DNA samples and cave excavations, more than one type of hominids exists along with our ancestral links. 

What information can be gleaned for today's writers?  Even humans are crossbreeds from different times and peoples. With science fiction, alien races would have the same impurities. In horror, zombies, vampires, and werewolves could harbor from a different sect of the human, or inhuman ancestry. What combinations could be exploited to develop new horrors and aliens for readers.

The Lord of the Rings could be reality. 

What can a writer, artist do to show how these influences have changed the way we look at ourselves in genres that reflect our own natures back onto us?


Source: Collective Evolution

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Dressed to Express Discontent

So there was a bit of a controversy surrounding a blue and black dress on social media recently.

Did you see a blue and black dress, or a gold and white dress? 


The middle dress is the example placed on social media that made everyone lose their minds. The dress on the right and left of the middle dress are the two color differences that created the uproar. 

I personally see the gold and white dress.

Wired says that makes me wrong because the dress is actually blue and black. I say no. I am correct. If I have to change my RGB settings to view the color of the dress then something is wrong with the image to begin with. When I shop online, I buy clothes and accessories, each has come as I have seen it on my monitor. Why should I have to change anything?

My brain and ocular receptors pick up light differently. Perhaps my blue eyes have more rods than cones, or the other way around. That brings up another fascinating point... what iris color predicted which color duo? 

It is known that brown, blue, green iris colors affect image perception. The question is how much? That should be a study about how we view images.

In writing, a character with color blindness or a species from another planet that cannot see a shade of a certain color would be a fine example on how a writer can use the differences in the way humans see and reflect those differences back at us.

Have a great and wonderful day! 



Source: Wired

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Geek Supply Run

Someday when I defeat brain inflammation, injury, and damage, I will again need geek supplies.

Oh, who am I kidding? I always need geek supplies. Someone had this link: http://www.cognitive-surplus.com/ on their facebook page and I snatched it! So now I pass on the website to you.

Everyone needs a little geekiness in their life.

Have a great evening!

Babylon 5 News, Fanfiction

Remakes, reboots... re my asteroids.

From my understanding this reboot will be in movie form and not about Babylon 5 the station. It will be about something else. Someone in the comments section yelled: Psi War!  Since JMS likes to shine the light on history and politics, I think we are going to be in for one hell of a ride.

Or, I will be doing a lot of fanfiction writing. 

If you like Babylon 5 and fanfiction, I have a neat story for you. It is called Circles We Find Ourselves In.  Take a read. You won't be disappointed. 

Until then... hey, JMS: why not do a reboot of VR.5? Fox left that unended and unsatisfying.  

And, one word of advice on the B5 reboot: leave us a happy ending this time... after Marcus Cole died, I pretty much lost interest in the coming fifth season. So remember to throw the audience a bone, not all love in unrequited. 

Thank you! and have a great day.


Source: Blastr

Monday, March 2, 2015

Feline Domestication: It's All About Them

Cats are really their own best friend, but they like us nonetheless.

My friend had made mention that she read an article that made the declaration: cats domesticated themselves. So much for dogs. The cats have it! 

With human agriculture and grain storage attracting rodents and mice, cats entered our world over 12,000 years ago. Let the cat worship begin! Well, they did start it. 

Today's domestic cats come from a small variety of wildcats. 

This study also explains why my little grey tabby calico wanted outside so bad. She lives out there with the others who have wandered my way. While the study explains her genetics, it also explains the indoor, never want to go outside, cats I have as well. 

Good to know it is not me.

Have a great and wonderful day! 



Sunday, March 1, 2015

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

The North American Southwest is in for a rainy few days.

The clouds, actual real clouds, have inundated the skies causing the sun rays to weave in and out of them as well as give some passing showers. Nothing too heavy, rain to make the day feel soggy. 

I have spent my weekend watching Babylon 5, seasons 3 and 4. Pivotal, prophetic, and masterful, this television show from the 1990's is a gem. I wish more science fiction shows would be so informative. What is happening now is history repeating itself and MJS loved to write from historical context.

When I write, I love to base some of my aspects on writers I believe have a very keen intellect when it comes to human nature, historical perspective, and philosophical inquiry. I remember as I write what makes me want to watch the show more, or reread a section of a novel. 

MJS of Babylon 5 and Timothy Zahn of the Star Wars Extended Universe are two of my favorites. Not my only favorites, but if I feel I am stuck, I can always pop in a DVD or read a chapter and feel better about what needs to be done in my story. 

Inspiration is key. It is priceless. Anything that removes a block is just as awesome. 

Have a great and dry weekend!
 

Friday, February 27, 2015

Chateau Du Medan

Paul Cezzane painted the Chateau Du Medan as seen here below.


Chateau Du Medan

Let's stand on the shore
and reminisce about the past
near the shores of the Chateau Du Medan.

A nice warm day rises
with clouds streaming away,
sunbathing as we all wish to do.

The sun rides the ripples
in the river below
to tell us to dance the day away.

What a wonderful time
of green meadows, white clouds,
blue skies, and yellow sun.

I too remember in my dreams
the Chateau Du Medan
as the respite for my waking soul.



Source: Nice Art Gallery

RIP Mr Spock

It seems legends are becoming myth.

Another old Hollywood actor passed away today. A man who had been in film and television since 1951 then went on to become a science fiction icon: Leonard Nimoy as Star Trek's Mr. Spock. The character reflect our humanity back at us. 

Sometimes too well. 

Like Robin Williams before him, he will be missed. Hollywood is losing its icons as surely as it produces the next generation of them. Today, we sit and read over the accomplishments of the son of Ukrainian immigrants.

Since James Doohan passed away ten years ago, I guess Scottie really did beam him up...
 


Thursday, February 19, 2015

A Good Day

Today was hectic. 

Manageable in some parts, unmanageable in others, this day was a cornucopia of ups and downs. When I settle in for the evening, I usually chat someone up on Facebook. Well, someone told me I was the good part of their day. 

That is a wonderful feeling. 

I don't know if anyone has ever conveyed that to me before. People do not say things like that in today's society. You're are just supposed to guess.

Do you like me? Or am I annoying you? I guess I will stick around until you throw something at me...

What a way to live.

 And, here you thought I wasn't going to be buttoned down since I rearranged Undawnted... yeah, no. I cannot help but to be me. Cats, and all. 

Have a great and wonderful day!

 

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

More Illustrations for Your World

Out with the old and in with the new as it were.

Undawnted has been doing a little adding and subtracting lately. 2015 is seeing a re-imaging of the Undawnted brand. We have added World Building samples in the form of Storyboards & Designs:


as well as short excerpts to illustrate how these elements can improve your writing and assist new writers in their endeavor to create their own unique worlds. 

Have a great and wonderful day!

Monday, February 16, 2015

Lost Cat Equals Lost Mind

My little black, orange, and white calico went missing for a whole day.

I thought she escaped outside. Nope. I looked high and low inside. Still no cat. WTF? Was she interdimensional? 

So after calling her all day and evening and not remembering seeing her anytime in the morning, I was a little more than concerned. I even fed everyone their soft food without her showing up. I was flabbergasted. 

So I watched my usual television shows. One had a very sad ending, but I ended up crying because I could not find my defenseless indoor cat. She was born and raised in my house. She has no other reference. She could easily be hit by a car.  Or worse, she could be eaten by a coyote. 

The desert is fraught with danger. 

Well, crying seems to be the kitty calling card. She came out of her hiding place like nothing happened. I am sure she found some spot to nestle into where my human eyes could not see. 

Anything to make my lose my mind seems to be fair game in my house. 

In writing, our characters can come into similar situations. It is good to note feelings and anxiety in your own life and to be able to transfer them to your characters. So I need a character with a cat that plays hide and go seek like a method actor.

And, I wonder where she learned it from?

Have a great and wonderful day.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Vultures and Telemarketers

Vultures. 

We all know them. We have had these people in our life but have you ever seen one? A  real, wild vulture? 

I have. 

I was able to cross this item off my bucket list before I had a chance to put it on. One day someone brought me a gift in his hands. Someone had discovered a baby vulture. I petted its head and then washed my hands for several minutes just in case. My close encounter with the carrion kind was over 10 years ago, but I still remember it. 

To pet a wild, carrion bird is awe inspiring. So fragile but so grand. Carrion birds are necessary to the ecosystem. To meet one is a very humbling experience. 

So earlier this week when I viewed six vultures gliding on the air toward their nesting trees a couple miles away by the river front, I remembered my personal introduction to a baby one. 

But there are other types of vultures. People vultures. With my illness and being disabled by it, I have had my fair share of vulture run-ins. Even now, I have to deal with a situation I should not have to because other people feel entitled to what is not theirs. Vultures.

As I slept in my bed one night, someone called at almost 3am. I did not bother to even pick up. After days of incessant ringing, I answered. The sad situation was it was a telemarketer. The Asian sounding woman on the other end was looking for a Josh. Really? Josh Gates, perhaps?

After I trashed her dreams of finding Josh, she made the travel opportunity available to me. Wait for it... I'm sorry, I am disabled and cannot travel. Let the guilt trip for calling my ass begin. Well, I doubt that company will be calling my unlisted, Do Not Call List number again. 

Vultures. 

Have a great and vulture free day!


Wednesday, January 28, 2015

One of those Days

I hate being chronically ill.

It is like breathing through a straw with bubble gum stuck on the end. There is no way around it. You've been served by mother nature. In my case, work and family added to the complications. 

Still there are some advantages to being dog sick: sleep, more sleep... and well, sleep. 

That also means putting my hopes and aspirations on the back burner. I have to do business first like cooking, cleaning, bills. If I have enough energy at the end of the day, I might get in a television show on my rabbit ears or write a few pages over a weekend.

Right now, I have a headache that wishes to be a migraine. 

Joy. 

Well,  I am off to nurse my poor head.

Have a great and wonderful day.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Herding Cats

That is what my week has felt like.

I know you cannot herd cats. I have some. Herding is not an option.

Humans however... I had to write a person's lawyer about their negative albeit criminal behaviors. Why can't some people act like adults? You're guess is as good as mine. Then there's going to the store. When you are ill and disabled, a store a mile away seems like a continent away. I feel that I need to find an online solution to grocery shopping. 

Of course the Disneyland measles outbreak. Everyone is panicking. You and your unvaccinated kids are going to make us sick? That's logic. I swear people do not listen to themselves speak or write. If you are vaccinated, what's the worry? Or do people leaving the sham that is vaccinations actually know something you are too afraid to admit to yourself?

Research Linus Pauling Institute, research done on megadoses of IV Vitamin C. The cure for measles and West Nile Virus already exists, but that would take too much money away from large corporations. 

 Well, we are supposed to receive some type of rain here in the desert. The amounts keeps changing, lower and lower, as the planes are seen spreading something above the clouds. Great another toxin to detox. Like I don't have enough illness to go around. 

Okay, I am exhausted again. 

Time for some rest. Nothing on television tonight so I might fall to sleep with Youtube on. 

How about you?

Have a great and wonderful night!

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Spring is Here, Sports are Overrated, and Stories Abound

Yes, I know those in the upper and eastern portions of the United States are frozen.

In Phoenix, 80's are on their way! Good, I hate the cold. I hate snow even more. I did live in Iowa as a child and I am so glad we fled, I mean: moved.  

The only wish I have is that frigid weather would ruin the Super Bowl. Then maybe Arizona would not be cursed with having to host another one. 

I know that sounds harsh but sports are not important. Sports are for fun. Sports are not supposed to be a person's main focus in life or take up their extra cash.

Let's put it this way.... We pay men to play with a ball in several sports more than we pay our teachers to teach our children, people to watch our children while we are at work. It is really obscene once you put sports in perspective to the rest of our world. 

These examples demonstrate the failing of ethics and morals. Roman Gladiators and idolizing current sports figures are but two different sides of the same coin.

In writing, a writer can find the similarities between the past and present as well as what irritates him or her about their own culture and use that experience to create another society in fiction.

Perhaps writing about how cultures defeat their male worship sports binge might be a good novel to write.

That and the weather. I cannot wait for our nice warm weather to stay awhile, even if the temperatures do not ruin the Super Bowl. At least I will have a good time being outside again. 

Well, if the planes stop spraying lines all over that make me ill and cause breathing problems. Yeah, clean air days and blue skies would cure a lot of what ails me.


Saturday, January 17, 2015

Alls Fair in Love and War

Obviously whoever said that phrase never got the wrong end of the stick.

I sure did today. A shipment from a carrier had to be postponed by a day, which mean three since the next business day is on Monday, because of a mechanical failure. Awesome. I was counting on that supplement supply to be here today.

 It could be worse, I suppose. 

I just hope this situation isn't an introduction to the rest of the weekend.

I got tasks to do.

Have a great and wonderful weekend!


Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Chronic Illness and the Apathetic Sect

When people do not understand chronic, disabling illnesses, they tend to say the stupidest phrases.

"If you take a shower and exercise, you'll feel better."

That sentence is one that was thrown at me several times. If you have chronic fatigue, neither one of those suggestions are going to work very well, now are they?  So my family forced me to exercise by cooking my own food and doing chores. God forbid I was disabled by a terrible illness. I should get up and do for the household since I no longer could bring in a wage. 

That is the most irresponsible, immature attitude ever. 

I do not know how people justify this type of behavior on people who are ill. I have lived through some horrific experiences that I will not soon forget. How can I when the nightmares wake me? 

People believe that if you do not strike a person that no abuse has been committed.  That is not true. Some people believe what you have endured, you should just get over it. Stop throwing yourself a pity party. 

Yet, these same people will be upset if someone does them wrong. In cases like mine, my life was threatened and placed in danger on a continual basis. It is quite different then a perceived slight.

I may never be well and never "get over" my traumatic experiences with apathetic caregivers, but the drive to find well being will always be in my mind. For the best revenge is living well. I still have years to go before I reach that apex, but I have hope and determination to reach that goal.

What I like to do to diffuse the negative impacts of the past is to help others, educate others about how not to behave toward the chronically ill. I also like to take those emotions and dedicate them to writing, not the pity party people would like to foment.

After a nightmare or situation that manifests those terrible memories, I like to create digital art, write the back story to some evil foe, or write an emotive and engaging poem. 

Just because I have been abused and left for dead does not mean I have to carry the burden. Yes, I have low times and I do not trust others as I once did, but I do not run around with a pity party sign either. As a human, I have to touch the world a few times a month for food and supplies. I have had to learn to deal with others as compatriots and not combatants. 

I may have survived the battles, but does anyone truly win the war? 

Be kind to those people with a disability or illness if you understand or not. Sometimes the best support you can give someone is being present of mind and body. Would it harm you to have a board game night with your home bound neighbor? 

Have a wonderful but thoughtful night.


Sunday, January 11, 2015

Rainy Days for Lazy Cats

I confess: I am a lazy cat.

In human form, but in the spirit of a rainy, cloudy evening, I turned into a lazy cat. And, why not? It was a great day to be lazy. 

I like to watch a cat sleep. Cats are such peaceful sleepers in peaceful homes. They stretch. They blink. They go back to sleep.

Ah to be a cat and today I got to stretch and blink and go back to sleep.

Try it sometime. It is a wonderful experience.

Have a great week! 


Friday, January 9, 2015

Are Essential Oils Essential to the Recovery Process?

In the next stage of my recovery from a debilitating, chronic illness, I have ventured into the realm of essential oils. 

Essential oils have garnered quite the resume in healing circles. 

With my sensitive sense of smell, I have to be careful. My brain is on the look out for anything to attack, including me. So the slow process of retraining my brain has commenced.

I have decided to try peppermint first to cool down and repair my digestive system.  i can add it to cocoa. I can eat it straight in emergencies. I can also place some in carrier oils like olive and coconut to put on my skin. 

So far the effects are better than my peppermint filled mocha from Starbucks without the added sugar or fat... don't even get me started on the transgenic additives as well. 

Have you had your peppermint today?


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