tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64112188838909083912024-03-14T14:32:55.434-04:00Waccamaw's LegacyRandom thoughts and musingsMissiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-84705302242016690692010-12-09T16:15:00.001-05:002010-12-09T16:21:20.243-05:00Laughter and TearsAs I have been slowly remembering who I am and what I am, I have noticed that laughter and tears are returning in copious amounts. Now before you advise me to start taking those little funny pills or talking to those nice gentleman in sterile white coats, please be advised that the outbreaks in emotion are appropriate. I laugh when things are funny, amusing, joyful, and when something, or someoneMissiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-13804555039873638882010-10-03T11:14:00.000-04:002010-10-03T11:14:38.408-04:00Shall I Try Again?I have not written in several months for many reasons, but I dearly miss the comfort which I received from the joy of writing and the support which I derived from my readers. My blog is eclectic....you never know what I will discuss, think, scream, cry, attack, satirize, quote, etc. My writings are mine....some are from the heart, some are from writing prompts, some are reality, and some are Missiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-26747871587374720422010-07-03T08:47:00.000-04:002010-07-03T08:47:18.633-04:00BloggingBlogging has been a form of discipline I have been using to keep me writing. Lately though, I have noticed that what I would want to write or what I do write is not something that I would necessarily want people to read. Do we go through phases where this occurs? There are too many heart-felt emotions that run through my last writings (non-published) and I know that these are writings for which IMissiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-31133413630267473382010-06-26T12:39:00.000-04:002010-06-26T12:39:24.932-04:00Missed Connections?Computers have really taken over everything in this world. One thing that society had become accustomed to seeing in our daily newspaper was the personal ads where all sorts of people try to hook up with all sorts of other people who go by strange code names. Now the computer appears to have taken over this task also.
Craig's List has their version of these personal ads and one Missiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-39718924236729085132010-06-25T13:34:00.000-04:002010-06-25T13:34:36.262-04:00Untitled Poem (1978, 1981)
In 1978, during a particular heart-breaking time in my life, I wrote a poem that was quite special to me. It was not difficult to write as the poem quickly wrote itself, but it was quite difficult to go through the experiences which would create the poem. In 1980/81 while taking a mixed media class, our assignment was to write or bring in a favorite poem or a story for children that cried out Missiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-78106085522900650482010-06-23T19:58:00.000-04:002010-06-23T19:58:34.689-04:00Memories and HurricanesFor some reason while I was walking on the property today, I was swept back to about three days before Hurricane Hugo struck the SC coast. At that point, no one knew where it would hit, and I was not terribly concerned (after all, I grew up with hurricanes). But that morning taking my son to kindergarten, I noticed the beauty in the oak trees on our way. The SC low-country is blessed with many ofMissiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-72641906213071983402010-06-22T09:55:00.001-04:002010-06-22T12:13:28.636-04:0050 Things I Look for in a Man
I wanted an easy-to-write topic this week, so I decided to tackle the first of this week's writing assignments from Mama Kat's Writing Workshop. My first thought was that this will be so simple, but it's not. It may be one of the hardest thing I have ever written. It is also apparent that an entire essay could be written about each one! I completed my list, Mama Kat, but fifty is extremely hard Missiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-38249080836005966422010-06-16T13:58:00.001-04:002010-06-16T13:58:42.728-04:00No InternetMy satellite connection will be down for the next 5-10 days. I can't wait to get back.Missiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-72010206885651333062010-06-15T14:43:00.000-04:002010-06-15T14:43:32.949-04:00Horses and HeatI was complaining yesterday about the heat (at 3 pm, it was 98.6 outside with a "real feel"of 107) and how much I hated summer, but the horses were really the ones suffering. After their morning breakfast, I turned the three beasties out into the pasture and kept a careful eye on their water supply all day. Now these horses are reasonably spoiled. When they are turned out to pasture, they still Missiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-11380414363668339682010-06-14T09:50:00.000-04:002010-06-15T12:10:41.178-04:00Hideous KinkyI bet that title got everybody's attention! Seriously, I just finished reading Esther Freud's Hideous Kinky, and I am disappointed. It was on the list of 1001 books to read before you die (which generally has not let me down), and the blurb on the back of the novel sounded like something I would really, really like, but it didn't work for me. The narrator is a five-year old English girl who is Missiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-20915896109511406912010-06-13T06:56:00.002-04:002010-06-15T11:07:44.617-04:00Hansel and Gretel and RichardGrimm's "Hansel and Gretel" has been interpreted in so many, many ways. Is it about child welfare, infanticide, the transformation from children to adults, a contrast between the peasants and the upper class, maternal cannibalism, child abandonment issues, and I could go on and on. BUT....
maybe it is just about a very young child who merely pulled the stove open and sat down? Missiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-22593251099066138152010-06-12T19:47:00.000-04:002010-06-12T19:47:38.856-04:00RichardRichard (not quite two) who will be 25 in November of this year. I've always liked this photograph.Missiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-48046905699125212402010-06-10T22:22:00.001-04:002010-06-11T10:36:29.205-04:00Kostova's The Swan ThievesI thought that Elizabeth Kostova had done an outstanding job with her novel The Historian until I read her second novel, The Swan Thieves. Without even going into the plot, I can tell you that her descriptions of artists and their paintings and their feelings have caused me to wonder where my sketch book is and if I have any charcoal (and I am not an artist by any means). This novel deals Missiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-85716100527432912052010-06-09T17:16:00.001-04:002010-06-09T17:19:00.956-04:00Farriers and Horses and Charles DickensIsn't this a wonderfully unbecoming photo of my farrier trimming the unbroken beast's hooves? Last time Sunshine spent her time being absolutely horrible, but this time she was very good! Of course, as you can see, she does not have much room to move!
Sunshine was definitely not overjoyed at the prospect, but I was very proud of her. She has also improved with "being caught." Missiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-74711557498896257282010-06-08T12:06:00.001-04:002010-06-08T12:58:29.197-04:00Teaser Lines from The Swan ThievesTeaser lines:
I can't really describe my first impression, except that it had made me give a little scream out loud before I could stop myself, because it was a vision of a woman everywhere, a woman spread across the surfaces of the attic in small parts and versions, repetitions - dissected, cut into pieces, although without blood. Her face I knew already, and I saw it dozens of times around the Missiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-29905826850590451682010-06-07T12:35:00.000-04:002010-06-07T12:35:32.461-04:00Dime Novels On June 7, 1860, Beadle and Company began a series of books that they called "Beadle's Dime Novels." They were printed on inexpensive paper with cardboard covers and usually cost a dime although some sold for a nickel. These novels were known for their shocking, bright covers and titillating content. Dime novels quickly became a bestseller with Beadle publishing approximately two novels perMissiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-60044216447324667622010-06-06T19:12:00.000-04:002010-06-06T19:12:49.496-04:00Necessary SinsLynn Darling's Necessary Sins is the autobiography of a marriage through courtship and the death of the husband. Lynn Darling and Lee Lascaze, both of whom worked for the Washington Post, began their romance while he was married. He was much older and establishment, while she was a 1960s wild child. Darling's poignant story caused laughter and tears. Surely writing this novel was an exercise in Missiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-42593912577403005882010-06-05T18:03:00.000-04:002010-06-05T18:03:07.720-04:00The House on Tradd Street I decided to read Karen White's The House on Tradd Street for its local color and to see how a non-native would handle "my" Charleston. The story focuses on Melanie Middleton, a real estate agent, who inherits an historical house below Broad, two days after she meets its owner. The novel is a well-written mystery which I never quite figured out before the ending. I also kept waiting for a love Missiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-90846637569776022962010-06-04T18:05:00.001-04:002010-06-04T18:29:56.565-04:00Still Taking It EasyWell, so far I have been holding to my plans. I did curl up with a good book last night and fell asleep with the book open. I woke up this morning, fed the cats, dogs, and horses, moved to the living room, turned on the computer, and alternated between reading and computering (new word that I may have just coined). Yesterday, I bought the kitten a cat toy which has even get him busy! I did take Missiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-17605847773822055952010-06-03T20:26:00.000-04:002010-06-03T20:26:19.411-04:00Reading and RelaxingJohn has gone out of town until Saturday evening leaving just me here. I have decided that I am going to do the bare minimum and spend my time reading (and writing and computer stuff, but mostly reading). Let's see...what do I have to do: quick trip to the grocery store, feed myself, feed dogs, cats, and horses. Oh, and sleep. I can handle that!
I've got fourteen books sitting here waitingMissiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-83545845770311748202010-06-02T21:19:00.001-04:002010-06-02T21:59:26.352-04:00James Ellroy's The Black DahliaI checked out this novel from the library with trepidation. It had appeared on the list of 1000 books that we all should read before we die, but I kept telling myself that it was about Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia. I have read more than enough about this case and watched too many shows. But...the novel is only minimally about Short. The main focus is on the relationship between two policemanMissiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-3120388648129726082010-06-01T08:01:00.001-04:002010-06-01T08:01:00.936-04:00An EgretMy son texted me yesterday to say that he was sending some pictures of a creature that he spied outside his window while taking a break from work.
Missiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-33567200362028205302010-05-31T13:15:00.000-04:002010-05-31T13:15:00.611-04:00Adversity Yesterday I found myself wondering about the strength of the convictions of my generation and those that follow, and today I am marveling at strength of character during adversity. On May 31, 1495, Cecily (Duchess of York) died after having survived grief that would destroy most of us. Let's look at her chronology:
1415 - Cecily, the youngest of twenty-one children, was born to Joan Missiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-15109185016112194532010-05-30T12:27:00.000-04:002010-05-30T12:27:56.104-04:00Beliefs and ConvictionsJoan of Arc was burned at the stake on this date at Rouen in 1431. It made me wonder how many of us are as committed as she was in her beliefs. This led me to thinking of my Huguenot ancestors who left France because they refused to practice Catholicism. I have always been in awe of their courage and of their beliefs. Basically, they only had a few choices: convert to Catholicism and remainMissiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6411218883890908391.post-42676409038406091652010-05-28T14:44:00.000-04:002010-05-28T14:44:59.794-04:00Anne BronteAnne Bronte, the daughter of Patrick Bronte and Maria Branwell, was the youngest of six children and one of the three literary Bronte sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne). She was born 17 Jan 1820 in Thornton, but in April of 1820, her father took a permanent position as curate at Haworth. This is the home that Anne would know and where all three Bronte sisters would write their novels. The home Missiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09986574353339408749noreply@blogger.com0