Holiday shopping etiquette

Where is it written that when the frenzy of the holiday season is underway, that it's OK to be rude, pushy, and generally undesirable in a shopping environment?  It's supposed to be a time of year for coming together.  You know...peace on earth, good will toward men and all that jazz.  Where is the peace and good will? It has been scarce in my neck of the woods, that's for sure.  Out shopping yesterday, I encountered people blocking store isles without any regard for the backed up traffic behind them.  This is a normal occurrence in a shopping situation; however at this time of year with so many people out and about at the same time, it becomes even more frustrating.  Then there were those grabbing for the same items at the same time and being, well...just grabby!  It was rude and discouraging to encounter such inconsideration.  I remarked to the cashier that they need store police to keep people moving and give out citations for habitual offenders.  Like, the ones who drive their cart on the left side.  This isn't Europe, we drive to the right and all traffic whether it be by vehicle, on foot, or store cart, is always to the right! I don't understand why people don't get that concept.  When they drive their car to the store they drove on the right, of this I’m certain or there would have been many accidents on the streets along the way of people driving on the wrong side.  But when they get in the store...there are some poor unfortunate souls with some brain cells that just don't kick in when it comes to store cart navigation.  Please be kind.  Not just at Christmas, but all year.  It doesn't take any more effort.  It's simply a matter of attitude adjustment toward other people.  How would you want to be treated? That's how I try to see things and live accordingly. 

That ends my holiday frenzy rant.  Against my better judgment, I do have some more shopping to do.  I'm a last minute kind of person (I can't live without the aggravation) so I'm going to venture out again today to finish up my holiday shopping. I will be courteous and smiling through it all, I hope you will too.  Peace on earth, good will toward all.  

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Some Christmas trivia for you:

Alabama was the first state to recognize Christmas as an official holiday in 1836.  The last state to declare Christmas as an official holiday was Oklahoma in 1907.

Animal Crackers are not really crackers, but cookies that were imported to the United States from England in the late 1800s. Barnum's circus-like boxes were designed with a string handle so that they could be hung on a Christmas tree.

Christmas trees are edible. Many parts of pines, spruces, and firs can be eaten. The needles are a good source of vitamin C. Pine nuts, or pine cones, are also a good source of nutrition.

Hug somebody today! My sweet grandson will be here this evening to spend the holiday week with me and he will get lots of gramma hugs!  

Peacefully yours,
~ K

Juxtaposition

Isn't that a cool word?  I'm always on the lookout for cool words.  It's part of the can't-breathe-without-words thing I got goin' on.  The Encarta definition:

"to place two or more things together, especially in order to suggest a link between them or emphasize the contrast between them"

I'm also always on the lookout for cool music news.  This week there was juxtaposition in the music world.  This article got passed around on f/b.  It's more than disappointing to see what the popular music preferences are.  At the same time, I received a tweet that Guns n' Roses has been selected for consideration inducting them into the rock n' roll hall of fame.  Could there be any more juxtaposition? The comparisons are extreme in the contrast between them.  Katy Perry** holds the same number of number one singles from one album as Michael Jackson?  Really?  People can say what they will about Michael, he did live a very unconventional life, but then what musical genius has not?  And, I'm really not one to compare "normal".  Normal is relative.  What is normal for my life, may be bizarre to someone else.  It's common with creative people who are eccentric in their lifestyle. A dear friend who is a musical genius told me: "Genius is part madness, crazy is just the fun part!" I'm so grateful for artistic friends who understand.  The obsession to write can be a lonely existence and it's nice to know there are others who understand, but that's a whole 'nother blog I could (and will) write about again eventually. 

My tastes vary widely when it comes to music.  I like most any rock and classic rock, unless it's Jethro Tull or Joe Cocker.  You know how when you have the compulsion to stand in the middle of the room, cup your hands over your ears, let go a blood curdling screech that would crack the china and shatter crystal?  Yeah, me too.  That's what either of those two artists do to me.  It's involuntary.  If a song by one of them comes on the classic rock station, which they do all too frequently I might add, I go into my wretched contortion expressing that I've gone over the edge.  Otherwise, I'm pretty easy going about music.  I don't consider myself a music snob, although I do have my favorites that are fixtures in the rotation.  Everything Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers, The Refreshments, The Toluenes, John Fogerty, yes...Michael Jackson, Pink, Tom Petty, Eagles, Goo Goo Dolls, Chris Isaac, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Pink Floyd, Cindy Lauper, Beastie Boys, Motley Crue, Guns n' Roses.  The list could go on indefinitely, the point being my music tastes are diverse and what I listen to depends on what moves me at the moment or when my mood needs changed.  Music will often bring me out of a funk when nothing else will do. It frequently saves me from myself.  "Pink" ~ "Don't Let Me Get Me" (trust me, it's a great song).

The main point is, our music history defines us as a generational culture. I have an overwhelming fear that at the time of my passing, one of the symbols of the time will be that a Katy Perry-esque whoever the new sham of the month is, had a song at the top of the billboard charts! Could there be anything more embarrassing to denote our music culture at that time? Ugh...I can only hope someone will be astute enough to look at my music library either online or in my cd cabinet and make some sort of reference to the fact that I did have good taste in music. Just one of the little things we are defined by and judged for, so it matters.  If I were being buried, I would demand that my favorite CD's be buried right along with me for everlasting comfort, however, I've left specific instructions that I be burned and ashes dumped in an urn, stoically placed on a mantel so I can spy on everyone in death and give them the bajeebers from my ashes haunting their presence whenever they glance my way.  No need to make any changes from this world to the netherworld.  The engraving on the silver plate on the front of the urn to state simply: "She lived vicariously through music."

What do you want to be defined by in your lifetime? What do you want known about you when you die? Is wondering what people will think when you've passed on to the music gods in the sky something that bothers you?  Yeah, me too. If you are being buried, what do you want written on your headstone?  I think about these things.  It's later than we think. 

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If you'll turn your attention to the top right ---> , you'll see I've added two new categories for Kindle purchases.  For KDP Select members, "Random Encounters" and "Bright Lights" are free!  You can't beat that, not even with a set of drum sticks.  Click on the book covers and it'll take you where to download to your personal Kindle.  This program doesn't allow Kindle sharing and you can only get each book you "borrow" one time, but it's a great opportunity to read great stories for free and pass the word on.  Just my little gift at the holidays.  A personal request when borrowing the free books available for any author, please go to the Amazon listing of the book and write a short review.  For independent authors, that is very important to us! We want to know what readers honestly think about our stories. It doesn't need to be a novel, just a short statement telling what you like about the story. I've written a few myself and I can tell you, the gratitude I get from authors is very satisfying.

Because the freebie at KDP Select requires they have sole rights to electronic format, "RE" and "Bright Lights" are only available there now in e-reader form.  You can still get paperback copies (my favorite way to read) at my website .

Hug somebody today! I'm still refraining, which means I feel really bad for whoever ends up being in the hugging position when the urge strikes me again.  Lookout!  :-D 

Musically yours,

~ K

**I hope I didn't offend anyone with my opinion of Katy Perry's, oh hell...I'm not even gonna call it music! Don't get your knickers in a knot.  I don't care for it, frankly I don't care for anyone who simply has no talent and should be making an honest living doing something more suitable, like inside a plastic clown wearing a headset, asking "do you want fries with that?"  I won't judge you if she's your taste in...ahem...music, but this is my blog.  I can speak openly about what I do and do not like, so get over it  *wink* :-D 

My Name's Joe, I'm The CEO

The sound quality is good, but it's really loud so turn your speakers way down! This is awesome! I love Tom Petty's insight into corruption in the music business.  I admire his bold criticism of  sleazy side of the industry and this song is about that.  This song is a rant about creating music idols strictly to generate revenue for the record companies and those who haunt artists and make money off of them.  I saw him live (one of the best rock shows I've ever seen!) and he was proud to announce that show was brought to us by us, his show was being funded by ticket sales and he had no corporate sponsorship whatsoever, and he refused to give in to those who want to ride on his coattails and make money off him.

I'll be back on Sunday with a full blog about more music news, so stay tuned! Happy Thursday, ya'll...the work week is almost done and we'll be freewheelin' the weekend soon!

*Hugs* ~ K

Edin Road Radio

Happy Tuesday, ya'll!  Please join me today at 3:30 PST,  Edin Road Radio for an interview and reading excerpt of "Random Encounters".  There's also a  guest blog  as a preview. We're gonna have a steamy good time!

*Hugs* ~ K 

I Can't Breathe Without You

 

Words are a necessary component of my life.  We writers are a strange breed.  The one thing all writers I know have in common, we write.  Day.  Night.  At work. At play. In the middle of playing with our kids, socializing with friends and family, during dinner, during sex, while we sleep...every minute of every day, our dizzy brains are saturated with words and the obsession of putting them together in a story or prose of some sort.  We carry scraps of paper; frantically tap in little snippets of story lines or poetry into our Smartphone's or tablets that are ever within reach.  People who don't have an obsession with words, do not understand this.  Even artists of other genre's don't really get it, unless they are songwriters, then I think they do somewhat.  Writers could no more stop writing incessantly than stop breathing, it is an essential part our living beings.  Is it a blessing or a curse?  I think a little bit of both.  I have people become annoyed with me because I'm constantly writing, thinking about writing, spending far too much time right here in this spot, glued to my keyboard and fixed on my monitor.  There is an unnatural fear that if the words do not get physically on the paper or the screen that they will dissipate.  Gone forever, never to be in that particular order, making that so essential statement, telling the can't be lived without story or poem.  It's a bit of OCD, words meeting order.  There's a satisfaction and necessity in it that is like nothing else I can compare it to. 

So, say I'm flaky.  Get annoyed with me when I'm tapping into my phone while you're in the middle of telling me an oh so important event of your day, and it may very well be important, but the words in my head that need to be recorded in some fashion at that moment are like, well...like the need for a junkie to get a fix.  I honestly think I might implode if the words don't get in some order for me to work with them in solitude later.  I've written entire novels from just a line in a song ( "Bright Lights"  ) or from people watching sitting in a sidewalk bar in the airport in Phoenix ( "Random Encounters" ) or numerous pieces of prose and/or poetry from simple things, like a highway billboard featuring a picture of a dove that inspired "Broken Wings", which is featured in the anthology "LifeLoveLust"  . 

A dear F/B friend, Duncan Long who is a mega talented artist with many inspiring pieces to his credit, made a statement last week that inspired me to write about this subject.  With his permission:

"Explaining the creative mind and emotions that accompany it to someone who is not creative is like explaining colors to one of those unfortunate souls who has been blind from birth."

Check him out:  Facebook  and please visit his  website  and marvel at the awesome examples of his beautiful artistry.  There's also a poignant reflection of an artists psyche here at his blog .

Duncan pens it very well, and with few words I might add.  I admire that as I'm inordinately wordy.  Thank you, Duncan, for lending some insight to our wacky world. 

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I keep reading that being a writer is a business.  It must be treated as a business in order to become successful.  Certain business aspects need be applied when it comes to the selling part of publishing or self publishing, whichever your avenue, but to me, the most important part is being able to get the right words, in the right order, giving the right message and telling a good story or there isn't any business end to it.  If the writing isn't good, who will buy? Oh...people might be suckered in by a slick ad campaign, but won't stay there long when word gets around that the book is crap, or at very least over-hyped.  I enjoy writing.  Promoting...not so much.  Speaking of which,  I'll be back early in the week with details of my radio interview this week.  Streaming live.  Oy!

Do you have an obsession with getting the words to come together in a certain fashion?  Yeah, me too.  Take a break from feverishly jotting things out, and hug somebody today!  Due to my recent declaration of isolation, I have not, and I probably won't but nothing says you can't or shouldn't.  I'm going to partake in my other creative obsession and bake some cookies. 

Solitarily yours,

~ K

ah...the eighties

Just nod if you can hear me...

Still recovering from the post turkey coma, eh?  Yeah, me too.  It's difficult to be creative when all your brain wants to do is sleep off the tryptophan overdose.  Yet...I've managed.  I've continued working on two new projects to get into print.  I'm currently designing a clever cover for "If I Weren't So...".  There have been rumors in the past that title might change, but I'm very fond of it and I think I'll keep it.  I'm also putting together a collection of my short stories, and I'm working on the cover to go with that one which will be quite clever as well.

So...how's your Thanksgiving weekend?    Have you eaten leftovers to your hearts content and shall not long for turkey and trimmings again for a while?  Yeah, me too.  Annoying relatives gone home?  It's nice when family comes, but it's even nicer when they go.  I'm a solitary kind of person and I really value my isolation.  It keeps me off the streets and out of the bars and, I'm a lot more productive here at my keyboard on my own.  It's easier to keep life simple under those terms.  Not a lot a keyboard can do to offend me, well...except batteries go dead and I gotta stop everything to replace them, but that's a pretty easy fix. 

I find it's a delicate balance with relatives.  Some I purposely stay far away in distance so I don't have to deal with so much drama, others are close by and I don't want to be any further away from them than I am.  Remember the family get togethers growing up? Yeah, me too. Both my mother and father had large extended families and we spent many holidays jockeying back and forth between hers and his.  Mostly hers, cause you know...mom always wins.  I think it's partially because women by nature tend to be more clingy with family, and partially because married men who manage to stay married know that if mom isn't happy, nobody is!  Anyway...having so many relatives was somewhat crowded for me.  Even as a small child I remember feeling like I was lost in the crowd and sometimes couldn't see my way through the crowd of wall to wall people.  Oh, there were fun times.  There was much laughter and reminiscing about when those grown ups were growing up, uncles who would sneak out behind the garage to share the flask, my grandmother didn't allow any booze in the house as she was a faithful fundamentalist Christian, which probably explains part of my adjustment issues of this day, but I digress...and there was always the fanny patting and pinching of various in-laws who thought nobody saw them flirting, but I know I'm not the only one who noticed, which I'm sure caused some violent scolding and hair pulling on the way home for some tipsy uncles.  Ah, yes...those are my childhood holiday memories.  What are yours?  Any hair raising stories of growing up that you go out of your way to avoid repeating now as an adult?  Yeah, me too.

Hey, did ya'll know you don't have to own a kindle to be able to read on a kindle?  I can hear ya'll shout in disbelief, "K, how can that be?"  I'll tell you, if you haven't already done so, just download kindle for PC.  You can read on your desktop, laptop, tablet, what have you...it's the coolest thing since organic bacon!  Shhh...I haven't announced it anywhere else yet, so ya'll are the first to know that I've finally caved and made "Bright Lights, Money & Show Biz, Honey" available on kindle for the absolutely insane, unheard of price of .99 for a very limited short time, so get there soon or you'll miss out!  Just a little thank you from me for everyone who has requested it (bugged me incessantly) and have patiently waited.  Good things do come to those who wait :-D 

As always, paperbacks of all my books are available at my my website .  I just got "Random Encounters" re-printed with the cool reviews on the back cover, so if you haven't ordered one yet, now is the time.  And don't forget, there will only be 100 of the limited edition paperback version of "Bright Lights" with the silhouette on the front, so order soon so you don't miss out on that.  Shux...I'll even autograph 'em for ya', and as always you get "LifeLoveLust" as a bonus for some extra chuckles at my ramblings. 

Have ya'll recovered from all the holiday overload of hugging and ready to start all over again? Yeah, me too.  Hug somebody today!

Solitarily yours,

~ K