Saturday, April 23, 2011

New story ideas

The Adventures of JBK13 - a series of young reader stories that tell of 13 cousins and their adventures, together as a group and as individuals.
Katrina, Missy, Beth,
Zurich, Ethan, Henry, Daphane,
Thomas, Christina, Victoria, Ivy,
Louisa, and Adelle

Zurich's Mountain - the quest of a young boy to get to the top of a local mountain, and see what resides at the top.
Ethan and the Bike - a young boy's bike goes missing, and it's up to Ethan and his cousins to find it.
Henry - Ghost at the Arcade - Henry's quest to be the top winner of his favorite game is thwarted by the sudden appearance of a ghost that threatens to shut down his local arcade.
Daphane - The Girl with the Golden Hair - While shopping at the local mall with her friends, Daphane is witness to a shoplifting crime. But the only fact about the person they can remember is her Golden Hair.
Thomas - A Day at the Space Center - As Thomas and his cousins take a trip to the Space Center, their trip is interrupted by unmarked black SUVs swarmming the complex, and the public being asked to leave the premises. What is going on? Thomas and his cousins aim to find out!
Christina - A Place to Call her Own - Because Christina comes from a family of 6, finding alone space is hard to come by. Until one day, while trekking through the woods behind her family's new house, Christina comes across a place to call her own.
Victoria -
Ivy -
Lousia -
Adelle - Every Day is an Adventure - The life of Aspie

Need more ideas, and need to get those ideas down in print.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Story Ideas, first thoughts

Zack's Mountain: An independent freelance photographer loses her father to cancer, and inherits a family cabin in the mountains of NC.  She struggles to deal with her loss but manages to keep her sanity by writing and turning to her love of photography.  She discovers that the cabin in the woods holds a few secrets of its own.

Cynthia's Cottage: A young girl living in a cottage finds friendship a in an English countryside, surrounded by wildflowers...

Under Maddie's Bridge:  One never knows what will be found under a bridge.

Teddy's Rocket: A boy intrigued by science builds a rocket that he hopes will fly him to another planet.

A Cheer for Valerie: Encouragement, hope, and a dose of self-esteem boost.

A Portrait of Ingrid:  Love, innocence, and admiration

Everett's First Ride: A young man's first car provides the most memorable ride of his life.

Katherine's Lullaby:  Soft, soothing

Diana's Crown: An only daughter surrounded by brothers lives life like a princess

The Music of Harrison:

Abbie's Garden:  Sweet, unique, wildflower garden and the peace within the walls.

Lydia's Style: Punky, wild

Brooke's Shadow: A girl and her horse

Monday, April 4, 2011

Driving... my thoughts

Mondays. I really don't like Mondays. 
They make me ill many times - physically and emotionally, and mentally.
It starts with the alarm clock telling me that the weekend is over. 
And it never gets better.
Having to drive my daughter to school, and myself to work, I have to deal with drivers.

So I have compiled a small list of my driving Pet Peeves

I encounter, on a regular basis, drivers who:

Do no put on headlights in the early AM, cloudy days, or when the sun is setting (the lights are for ME to see YOU, I dont really care if you don't need lights to see where you are driving);
Think they can text and drive, but lack the attention span to do both, often weaving between lanes, changing lanes from a turn lane to a travel lane without looking to see that a car may already be in said travel lane;
Talk on their cell phones and drive, but lack the attention to do both, again, weaving and changing lanes without looking;
Change lanes without using a blinker, because they are distracted or because they feel they own the road;
Turn on to a side road without using a blinker (see reasons above);
Stop in the middle of the road for no reason (again, no blinker);
Roll through a stop sign (if no car is seen, safe to proceed, right?);
Speed through a yield sign (because no car is seen);
Speed through school zones (no cops, no radar, who cares, right?);
Blantantly run a redlight  (dramatic increase in speed);
Speed through a yellow light when there is plenty of time to stop;
Turn on a red light in to oncoming traffic (my personal favorite: someone from across the way is making a left turn on green arrow);
Turn from a side road in front of oncoming traffic (and do not get up to speed in front of said traffic);
Go slower than the posted speed limit for no apparent reason (Sunday drivers?);
Use a pause-and-turn lane for their own personally travel lane to get around a long line of traffic;
Same people who use the P-n-T lane have to dart back in to traffic because... someone else is actually using that middle lane to... Pause and Turn!!
Same people who use the P-n-T lane make it to a traffic signal only to dart back in to the normal travel lane, having sped past a long line of cars heading in the same direction;
Pass a semi on the highway only to squeeze in between said semi and a car slowing down, causing the semi to slam on brakes, or worse, go off the side of the road (which I have personally witnessed).

Actually, I have witnessed all the above... some several times a day.

I understand that not all people are perfect, and not all people can be a perfect driver.  I'm not asking for perfection, just that people pay attention.

Yes, I have many pet peeves when it comes to driving.  There are many people that get glares, imagined (and not so imagined) hand gestures, and at least once a day, someone will get the "Idiot of the Day" award. This is the person I deem to be the stupidest driver of the day because of a really stupid driving maneuver.

I say, if you can't talk on the phone, text, smoke, eat and drive a stick shift car - get off the road.  Save the rest of us.  And bring our insurance rates back down.

That is my rant for today.

Until next time,