Temporary Hiatus

Sorry for delays in posting. I have to take a brief break because, frankly, I'm swamped right now.

Writing clients, plus my second screenplay, plus a short novella for the NaNoWriMo competition this month... all have me buried in work and words.

For the month of November I'll be turning "comments" off because I simply have no time to moderate them all. Plus, there are a few commenters not following the rules (which I've stated several times but which they choose to ignore). I'll rewrite terms to make it a bit more clear and turn comments back on when I return to regular blogging in December.

Meanwhile, my posts will be quite sporadic over the next 4 weeks. Sorry about that.

I'll leave you this weekend with a few quotes to ponder:

"Many of the things you can count, don't count. Many of the things you can't count, really count." Albert Einstein

"The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is." Winston Churchill

"What's interesting about a writer is not himself, but what he manages to see outside of himself." John Updike

"The human physiology is part of the cosmic physiology. Every rhythm of the universe therefore naturally has an effect on the individual and vice versa." Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

"In this inconceivably enormous universe, we can never run out of energy or matter. But we can easily run out of brains." From the book, Profiles of the Future, by Arthur C. Clarke

Celebrating Independence

As many of us are celebrating Independence Day here in the USA this week, and with a national election on the horizon, I've been getting a few requests from new writing clients of late relating directly (and indirectly) to the political arena.

I'm not sure how many of these new projects I will be taking on as yet.

You see, I've been buried in a 72-hour non-stop crash course in screenwriting for a potentially new television series for a fairly large network. I'm only one third of the way through the "treatment" and "overview" stages ...and ready to dive into the presentation script. Well, 4 episodes of script, actually. And I'm LOVING every minute of it!

Even so, I did decide to "test the temperature of the waters" out there on the political scene, since writing copy is my bread and butter writing full time from home.

I was a bit surprised by some of my findings.

For example, did you know that "...nearly three-fourths of 17- to 29-year-olds say they're registered to vote." [source]

Equally interesting is that "a recent CBS-New York Times-MTV poll finds that one-third of Americans aged 17 to 29 have visited a presidential candidate's Web site and that 15 percent say they've been to a candidate's MySpace or Facebook profile."

(Sidenote: They don't know yet what's happening behind the scenes at Time4me. I'll tell you more next month.)

I'm curious to see how this young group will be influencing the next elections, considering that -- 1968 was the last year when the USA registered a voter turnout better than 60 percent -- and then factor in the results from the poll referenced above.

I'm guessing there might be more than a few politicians seeking to beef up their web presence.

Speaking from experience, writing for the Internet is different than writing emotional t.v. campaigns, snappy radio spots and slick 4-color brochures.

And yet, in all cases, WORDS MATTER.

Happy Independence Day to all my visitors, relatives, friends and neighbors. And belated Happy Canada Day to our neighbors to the north. Stay safe and enjoy the fireworks!

PS: Special thanks to Debbie and Scott for an excellent show Saturday night! We loved it!

Storms Chasing Through Indiana

Whew! What an afternoon! Our little guy was just getting of the Kindergarten bus when the edge of the storm hit our area. Although one lightning strike hit one of the trees over our house, we luckily had no major damage.

The storm systems to the south and to the north of us in Indiana were much more brutal. Valporaiso got hit pretty hard -- check this story out in the Post Tribune.

Speaking of storms, have you heard about what's brewing on "Flyash Mountain" over at the Schuringa/DenDulk calf CAFO? I'll bring you an update soon.

Also, check out what's been happening in Delaware:

No results have been released from the unannounced inspections in March and April by the Environmental Protection Agency. The inspections have sparked concerns from state agricultural officials, including those on the Delaware Nutrient Management Commission.

Here's a link to the article.

Meanwhile, the "wheels of justice" are turning slowly on the IDEM vs. DeGroot Dairy LLC and Johannes DeGroot case. Check out more here.

In personal news, something truly incredible entered my WAHM world yesterday. Not sure where it will lead, but it could mean a remarkable change in direction for my writing career -- a small door opening on a lifelong dream. I'm still "pinchng" myself while I wait for the package to arrive.

A lot of writers out there would sell their souls for an opportunity like this ...and I gotta tell 'ya... I feel truly blessed and humbled all at the same time. I'll tell you more about it in a couple months. Can't say anything more right now.

Meanwhile, I'll be back tomorrow with one of the 5 articles I mentioned in WAHM Monday. Stay tuned and stay safe.

WAHM Mondays Mean Massive Action

Being a full time work at home Mom (WAHM) means Mondays can get pretty hectic around our home. WAHM Mondays are usually a day of massive action for my clients, so I rarely get to post long articles... unless I've already done some of the groundwork for each.

I have five rather large articles in the pipes for this blog, all of which are at various stages of research prior to being ready to write them. Here they are, in no specific order;

1. Pet Food Follow-Up and FDA Shake-up: It's not so much what they are telling you. It's more about what they are NOT telling you that makes this story alarming.

2. Acrylamide Connection: ...and more from the world of nutrition research. Some of this is making BIG headlines in Europe, yet by comparison the silence over here is deafening.

3. Blowing in the Wind ...and Harming Crops?: Many of us are aware of the air particles attacking us on a daily basis, but what's blowing on the wind these days that could seriously impact crops in Indiana this year?

4. Some Answers, More Questions over Honey Bees: Updates on research and more news regarding the disappearing honey bees appears to be serving up more questions than answers. But there are a few theories which appear to be getting scientific support now.

5. Science History - Lessons Learned?: You might think we've come a long way in the field of science, but then politics and profits step in. Here's why we need to think twice before believing everything we read in some science Journals.

By themselves, each of the above are HUGE topics -- and important for many reasons -- but I just haven't had the time to piece everything together yet to let you know what I've learned.

Being a full time work at home mom also means plenty of interruptions that you wouldn't ordinarily find in the workplace.

Not that I'm complaining... I absolutely LOVE what I do, and being able to flex my schedule to meet so many different demands on my time is priceless.

But it also means hobbies, such as this blog, often don't get a lot of my time some weeks. To let you know I haven't abandoned my readers here, I'll be doing WAHM Monday posts on a regular basis to at least keep you up to date on some of the topics I'm working on which I will be bringing to you soon.

Meanwhile, if one of the subjects mentioned above interests you most, post a comment to let me know and I'll do my best to complete the topic that is most popular based on readers comments.

Otherwise, I'll continue working and completing them in random order ...whichever gets done first will appear first.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.