Book Research (This is so GROSS)

 If you know me, you know I can't go fishing because I can't do blood. I can't put the worm on the hook, I can't see the fish on the hook (caught by the mouth) and I can't possibly cut up a fish, filet it, and/or chop off its head and tail. That is JUST NOT going to happen. Now, that being said, I am perfectly capable of writing about it in full and disgusting detail if I needed to. I just can't actually do it. I can't watch Chicago Med without my fingers of my left hand covering my eyeballs most of the time - - and it's one of my favorite shows.  I can read about gross things, but then I start seeing them, and I can't hardly take it, so I have to go for a walk or pray through it. I can write about it, but then I can't read it back to myself easily - - still, the disposal of the bodies I write about have always been the focus of my murder writings, not necessarily the act(s) themselves. Murder is just that, murder. It's an act, but the lead-up, the cover-up, the disposal, and the trial prep -- those are interesting facts.

    Today, I'm writing the Murder Book! I've been threatening to write it for years now. I've written stories, grotesque and morbid, often way too macabre for my own brain, however, the book is another feat. The book is not just a story, it is a collection of facts, many stories leading up to and surrounding the main story, which is then separated out and told by others in the form of a trial, testimony, expert witnesses, and of course, verdicts.  I'm finally making the words mean more than just notes on cards.  I have in fact decided to dive deeper into the characters first so that I know who I am dealing with. I'm naming them, giving them reasons to survive and thrive. I'm addressing their backstories, finding out why they are connected if they are connected, and exactly how they may be forever forged by the ties that now bind them. Are these ties made of imaginary convictions or are they made of wire or hemp? Someone Had to Die. (The title of the book, Someone Had to Die)

    So, after laying down the sticks and bones of the main characters I'm going through Wikipedia to gather information and intel on a couple of would-be actors in the play was this a play.  Many true-to-life characters will be referenced in the book; one of which is the character, the real-life serial child molester, a killer, and found to be cannibal named Albert Fish.  Fish was the subject of a 2007 released film called The Grey Man, a movie my son was hired to act in (2005) and one I have only seen once after realizing the director cut my son's good scenes! WHAT? How dare he? Oh well, I have the stills from the event. I can say with complete honesty that my son was the best-looking cop on the set, bar none! (Side note, when Reuben was asked to tackle the stunt man who was doubling for the bad guy, he took the order a bit too seriously. My son played football at the time and was one of the state's leading linemen. Just braggin'.)

    I'm reading about Fish and I'm reading about another disgusting piece of shit named Peter Kutren. Kutren was known as the Vampire of Dusseldorf. Oh, the things these men did to people. I can't hardly stomach reading about it. Like I said, I can write about it, make it up, use these events and sickening descriptions to salt and pepper my own stew of tales, but nasty, nasty, nasty! I shake in my boots thinking about it, and I'm only wearing my socks!.  (I have to restate that, I do actually have on other bits of attire as well, I'm not sitting at my keyboard in JUST my socks..no, I'm odd at times, but not that way.) I just don't wear shoes if I don't need to. My preacher goes barefoot most of the time. I like my feet covered. I have the dirtiest socks this side of the Mississippi, but that's another subject to be discussed. I may actually put that in the book, who knows? I find a lot of really interesting and not-so-interesting facts to add to my notes.

    What's happening today is note-taking. The building, the getting to know who and what I'm dealing with. Next, I'll pop notes and tidbits in some sort of order, maybe make a skeleton of the timeline, go from there, and fill in the blanks. After I get the blanks filled in I'll remove and add more fillers and I'll change my mind completely, just because I can, then I'll put it back the way it was because I think it's good, and that's the plan for now.  It's worked pretty well in the past - - but this time I'm publishing!  I'm also testing the waters by leaking quotes and tiny bits of information online to see what sort of responses I get.  I've been emailed by about 4 of the characters so far; people I've cast in a shadow of a glance type modification(s) of a character. All of my good friends will be cast in the book one way or the other. They know this. I'm not asking permission, just letting them know. If they don't want me using their real names I won't (Except for Robin! Robin will be Robin because she is such a good Robin! It's a wonder British name and she fits it.)

    One of my new characters is based on a tiny woman at the pet store. She's given me permission to use her character in the book. She's even allowed me to call her by her first name, and I think I will.  There were plenty of women with the name Katie (Kathryn) back in the 30s and in Chicago.  She's a feisty one!  You have to watch out for the quiet ones you know. Another character is our friend Joakim from Sweden, he's allowed me to use his name as well.  A young adventurous weather student from a foreign country who just happens to follow the extreme weather wherever it leads him. We won't see much of Joakim in the first book, maybe a line or two, but he reappears in the 2nd book as it takes place in and around Norman, Oklahoma - - tornadoes!!  Oh wait, I can't give too much away now, can I?

    OK, gotta get back to the slaying of my brain now.  Wikipedia is a wealth of information about these historical figures, the time period(s), decoration, decorum, places, and settings. I've stumbled across a treasure for sure, but my spirit is turned when I realize that the victims of these killers were truly alive. They were real and human beings with love, fear, feelings, anxiety, emotional distress, and in some cases open torture. I cry just reading about them. When I think about the end, the day we know will eventually come to these barbaric men (and women), I am no more at peace with the innocent lives they took.  I just can't understand true psychosis. I never will understand it.

Photo Credit: Pinterest 

Book Prep. (The Time is Now)

 Just because I haven't published all of my books doesn't mean I haven't written them. It would not be out of left field to say I've written more than 100 books; it's just most people don't count journals or diaries as authored books. Let's see, each journal over the past few years has been over 220 pages and I've hand-written all of them. I could, if I wanted to, canon a few, type them up and produce one right after the other so that the official count could be, well, official.  I wonder if I could get even three people to read the contents of those dull and mundane "write" of passage. I doubt it.

    I have published six times I think. I have a couple of books ready to be published, and I have one that is just about ready to be put to the pen in its first fully developed skeleton form.  What I do usually (always) is buy a new composition notebook so that I can write all the thinking thoughts I have while I'm thinking about the stories that will be told in the book. There has to be a beginning, a middle, and an end, but because I believe the end should be known, I find myself working backward, but not in reverse chronological order by any means. I jump all over the place when I write. I think this thought, scratch it, come up with three new thoughts, and scrap those. I read and watch old shows to get ideas. I write more, scrap more, think more, and finally come up with the best idea there is; to ask the dog!

    I've been asking my dog(s) life questions and boundary questions for years. Rover was certainly the king of knowledge, by the time I was three he was two and we were inseparable.  He may have carried my sister's middle name, but he was MY dog! I don't think there will be much of a fuss about it when we all see Jesus. Nope, that dog, unless he is stuck in my grandfather's arms, will run straight to me! I know he will. If I have to take my gramps out by the knees to make that happen, well, there you go! LOL...you'd have to know...gramps only had one knee! 

    Tomorrow it is! Not only is it my baby girl's 32nd birthday, but it is also the day I decide to write down the names of all or most of the characters in the murder book. I'll also dial up a few interesting facts about each of them, and I'll try to start them out on their own to see if they leap off the pages and create the story on their own or if I'll have to still push and nudge a little. Tinny cheesy music may help a bit, the book does take place in the mid-20th century before Spotify, the internet, and even phones really. Most people didn't have them, only the police and other important people. Niki's character will no doubt need a phone. She's exotic. She'll have whatever she needs. Jeannie's character, on the other hand, will talk big about having her own phone and make a fuss about such extras, but hers is a more modest true-to-the-times story to tell. Her passage on the ship was not necessarily an accident, but she didn't have to pay her own way. She was a class A bargainer! A networker before networking was really all that big of a deal.

    It's happening!! I bought a few books from Amazon tonight to go through and get a nice little foundation of interesting facts and provoking thoughts going. An obscure author named Richard Miles wrote a couple of books in the 50s that may be of some interest.  He was an actor in Perry Mason before turning to the typewriter. He also became a teacher, and in one of his books, he murdered several faculty members of the school! I wrote a blog about doing something similar in 2021, and it cost me my job at the middle school where I was teaching! Some people don't have any sense of humor! Now, the Miles books will feed my brain - - and your interest indirectly, I suppose.

    This book introduces Nick Posh, the rough-cut detective with dual citizenship from both America and Great Britain.  His intentions to remain in America as much as he possibly can have been interrupted by a wee inconvenience involving the murder of a colleague several years ago. The wee inconvenience occurred when the body (or part of it) was found.  Something obviously didn't go as planned, and the truth was about to be shared before the courts. Just his luck, Nick's that is, that upon returning to the scene another inconvenience occurs; the only witness to the possible disposal of the body was unceremoniously murdered by his wife, a woman whose family more than wanted to never see Posh's face again.  Couldn't she have waited another week before sending the singer to his last curtain call?

    I can't wait!!  I'll probably not sleep well either. I'll be thinking of decorations from the 1930s in both Chicago and New York. I'll have to find books on Edinburgh from that time period, and do a bit of research to see when the libraries were open, what streets they were on, and so forth. It's not going to be a book full of too many fluffy details, but I don't want to make the mistake of inputting a 1970s wall hanging in a 1930s period book - - geez, that would embarrass me. Or would it? I could add a bit of Tesla teasing at that point and have little Barron Trump make an appearance, again, you have to know to know.

FUN TIMES!!

Photo Credit: ME.  This is my son Reuben from a movie shot in Guthrie, OK in 2005. It was a 1930's period film (NYC).  He was a rookie cop! In reality, he was just out of high school.  So handsome.

Food Frequencies (Who Knew?)

DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical doctor. These and all of my blogs pertain to me and are my opinion.

 Earlier I wrote about the human body and how we all vibrate at various frequencies. I am no more reminded of this than when I go to the grocery store and I am absolutely forced to notice the different types of people who are either trying to be in my way or they just sort of seem to get in my way. What does that tell you about me? I'm the person you may see either dodging you, or trying to lope around you with or without my basket, so I can get to the foods I need to get to. I do not and I will not wait on someone who can't make up their mind about what it is that they want. I've never been a patient person when it comes to dealing with the personalities of grocery shoppers or people in general if they just stand in the middle of the shopping aisles and stare blankly at the ceiling; it's worse when they are chatting with friends! Does that make me a bitch? It could; I don't know.

    It could very well be that I'm running on a different frequency than others and my go button has been activated while they are lumbering around in their slower movements. I'm not talking about people who are disabled; don't try to say I am. I am talking about able-bodied people who just get in your way at the store. Every time you turn around there they are. You avoid them, I avoid them, but you turn a corner and it seems they just reappear out of thin air, and inevitably that get in the way! It never ceases to amaze me how this happens. My daughter calls them NPC (Non-Playable Characters) I have to laugh a little when she does this. We just called them bumps on the log!  You just want to push them out of your way and scream, "MOVE IT PEOPLE!" but you never do because that would be highly rude - - if you're like me, you just make a slight huffing noise, and steer clear of them once again!

    Well, I found out that it could very well be the food I'm eating that causes me to be so prepared to move. I am being literally energized and ramped up with higher frequency vibrations when I eat well. Sluggish foods make you feel sluggish, while open oxygen foods, vibrantly colored foods, and great essential oils such as peppermint, speariment, and clove can get you charged! Rose oil in your water or carrier oils such as coconut oil when rubbed into your skin will soak in and charge you with freshness and energy...and you smell great the entire time! Who knew? God knew.  An avocado vibrates faster than ramen noodles, just sayin'.  It's true. You load up on fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and lemon water and you're set to go, friend!  Many of these types of foods, and you knew this, will boost your metabolism so you want to move; comfort foods don't really do that.  Comfort foods tend to slow you down, which is why we go to them when we're upset. 

    CHOCOLATE is one of the comfort foods that is both high in vibrational frequency and it has great healing properties. If you must grab comfort food in the future think about that, and grab the darkest blend you can find or stand. I personally, don't like anything over 70% Cacao. I can, however, eat a great deal of under 70% chocolate in as many forms as it comes in, this is a fact. I'm not above pouring it into chocolate milk and eating a piece of chocolate cake with my double chocolate milk - - just before dying of cacao overload and thinking maybe I shouldn't have done that. 

    Today, I made a really healthy and energized smoothie, and like a dummy, I added two drops of spearmint to a 16 oz tumbler. I should have only added ONE drop, but I wasn't sure if I saw it drop or not. It dropped! WOW...I wasn't quite sure what to do at that point other than to drink the damn thing. My breath is amazing! Let me just state that fact. I have to get a better dropper. You can add lemongrass, peppermint, clove, spearmint, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and all sorts of essential oils if you want. Most have characteristic healing powers for your immune system. Some will help with anxiety, stress, inflammation, and even some assistance with constipation! I add psyllium husk to a smoothie if that's the issue. JUST 1/2 teaspoon folks, you don't want to overdo that one. READ THE LABELS. DO NOT INGEST an essential oil that is not to be ingested. Check with your doctor or at least a health food advocate online. Oils such as tree oils should not be ingested.

    You can buy or print out from the internet, a frequency chart so you'll know which foods are great for you, but I bet you already know most of them. If it's green it's usually good for you, but the leaves are better than the solids. Fruits are awesome, some more than others. Mushrooms are amazing!! Get some.  Think about what is going into your body and how it will affect you. Meats are good for you, but they don't vibrate at all. They are dead. Raw foods are better than cooked foods.  Obviously processed foods are out the door when it comes to frequency count, but you can get some help with adding live or raw veggies (salad) with your meats and lower frequency foods like bread.  

    NOW...for the big big secret that everyone has been waiting for. What makes the difference in your spirit and your mind as far as these frequencies are concerned? Well, when you are vibration at a higher frequency you are more positive. Think of the two ends of a battery.  If you're negative your frequency is so much lower. You're dead around 25 Hz and we run between 62-72 when we're healthy.  Just eating better makes you think better. Fact.  Cancer can cause us to run around 58 or less, and this is one very good indicator to a doctor who checks your vitals when you are sick and go in to be examined. They may or may not share with you what your Hz count is, and you may need to ask.  You really can help yourself out of disease and illness if you catch it early enough and listen to your care provider about your diet. What goes into you is what you are using to sustain you. It only makes sense to put in the good stuff and to lay off the bad stuff.

    Does that mean we don't ever get to cheat? No! Of course not!! Enjoy yourself, but be aware of the amount of lower-frequency foods you're adding, and when you start to feel a bit sluggish or lethargic, get up, move around, eat a piece of fruit, put a dash of spice into your dinner, and flush it all with water, not carbonated sugared drinks. I'm not being mean when I say alcohol can kill you - - my grandpa used to say, "If you're ill it will heal ya, but if you're well it will kill ya!"  He grew his own garden folks, and he smoked a pack of cigarettes a day! He never drank though. I bet he could have added another 10-15 years on that 91-year-old body of his.  He went to see Jesus later in his life than most did. Gramma made it to 99.  I don't remember seeing either of them eating a Little Debbie's snack cake; just for the record.  I never knew you could buy a plum at the store. I just knew they came off the trees in my grandparent's garden.  I've been a bit higher frequency for a while!

Thank you, Jesus.

    

Photo Credit:  Ebay.IE

Frequency and Attraction (Not the Law of Attraction)

 Years ago, when the book "The Secret" came out, and everyone (including myself) was in awe of all the things that seemed too real to be true, we (collectively) fell for all the bright and shiny words coming out of the mouths of these so-called professionals. Were you one of them? Were you like me? Did you start thinking all you had to do in order to bring more goodness, wealth, and health to your life was to think it? I think we all found out really fast that the load of crap they were pushing was great as far as they were concerned. Millions of people were duped into buying their books and going to their movies. Millions of dollars and other currencies were spent and shared with those producers and authors; but how much actual goodness, wealth, and health materialized for the buyers?  I suppose that's a question to be answered on an individual basis. 

    There may not be anything to the SECRET of thinking something and having it materialize, but there is a lot to be said about the holding of positive thinking and the letting loose of anything and all things negative.  There are many scriptures that back up the facts, not theory, of thinking positively and bringing to ourselves goodness from God.  All things good do come from God, and all things bad do come from Satan. It's not a question of whether or not this fact is true; it simply is.  That's not to suggest in any way that if something bad happens to us that we must have sin in our lives, or that we're somehow bowing to Satan and asking for his assistance in a matter. Nope, but we do live in a fallen sinful world and there will be bad things around us at all times. It is, therefore, imperative that we continue to think of and worship Christ.

    I have been reading lately about other types of frequency and attraction, and in doing so I am opening up a more intellectual awakening in my mind and body through the education of learning about the various levels of frequencies in food! Who knew? I certainly didn't realize that food has a frequency level or count. It makes more sense than ever when you begin to study it and you find out that green leafy vegetables actually have a much higher frequency than refined sugar, caffeine, or pasta wheat.  It just makes sense to realize that good and healthy foods such as carrots, beans, and nuts will have a higher and more effective frequency than cotton candy, Dr. Pepper, or artificially flavored cake donuts!  Did you know, and I know I didn't know, that one of the HIGHEST levels or frequency counts can be found in dandelion stems? WHAT? We throw them out as weeds! Seriously, they probably have the cure for so many things but we just cut them down and remove them thinking they're a menace to our lawns! Could we be this stupid? (No need to answer that one.)

    Another thought hit me between the eyes regarding frequencies and it makes again, so much sense.  We as people vibrate somewhere between 62-68 Hz on average, (not discussing Chakra, that's of the Devil to confuse people) but we have an almost unique frequency frame or structure. Each of us literally has a different color or vibration that maybe no one else has, or maybe they do.  What if, and there's no direct evidence for this that I know of, we were attracted to those people who have extremely similar frequencies to our own? What if we find ourselves following those people, thinking about them, hoping for them, seeing ourselves in them, and maybe we start praying for them or wishing they would seek God's light so they too can be closer in unison because we feel somewhat pulled away from God when we realize that they (the person like us) is being pulled away from God?  Maybe it's vibrational. Maybe it's impossible to stop the connection on a very very molecular level, one so minute and intimate that we couldn't explain it unless we were rocket scientists!

    Can our frequencies change? Yes, our bodies can, and our minds can, but not the soul. It is not possible for the soul to change after it has been sealed with the Holy Spirit.  Before it has been sealed it must change in order to accept Christ, but once it has been sealed, it is sealed and is no longer subject to being taken back by Satan or given away by the person him or herself.  It belongs to Jesus, and what the Father has given to Jesus through His own sacrifice, cannot be reversed, changed, altered, or taken. John 10:29 confirms that one, “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.”  NO MAN, including the man or woman who is the saved person. They can't decide to leave the fellowship and sin constantly and then find themselves in Hell should they die. No, they will have sorely disappointed the Father and Jesus, but they are saved eternally. They will NOT be blessed, and they will fall into folly. They will reap the consequences of their sin, and they will destroy their work and their reputation perhaps, but they are sealed by an unbreakable oath.

    Knowing that I can literally benefit my body now using higher frequency foods, I will begin doing that more often. I mean, I eat really well now, but I am still showing myself little favor when I drink my coffee with all that caffeine. That just means I will have to counter that with more nuts and green leafy spinach!! (Giggles) I will and I am trying to be as good to myself as I can be. We're not on this Earth forever, we will be in Heaven forever if we are saved.  If I can make this life more pleasurable and healthy I'll do it. If I can find those to who I am attracted through the same vibrations and frequencies through Christ, I will. I think we need to help our soul and mind as often or as well as we treat our bodies.  It just makes sense to do so. There are some people I see, hear, listen to, and find zero attraction to either physically or otherwise. Then there are those I am unable to break away from mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  I may not be close to them physically, but my soul reaches for their company to worship with them. I can't explain it.

    I can listen to Praise music from every band imaginable, but only a few grab my heart and my soul. Only a few have spoken deeply to me as if to say "Yes, we are the same".  When that happens I know I have found a bond that I didn't create. I  know I have found a vibration that not only works, but it is true.  I can't and I won't explain it, I'm not a scientist by any means, but what I am is certain that all things were created by the same God, the same Jesus, who literally took my sin to His grave, and it was buried. When He arose on the 3rd day, my sin stayed right there in that tomb.  I could say,  "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, life is worth the living just because He lives." That's the better way of explaining it anyway. 

    

Photo Credit: Matterhatter.com

Rescinded. (Not Cool)

 A friend showed me today something that I knew, but maybe I wasn't really willing to look hard enough to make it stick in my head.  She showed me a map of the United States as it pertains to educational levels and ranking. Guess where the State of Oklahoma fares on that map?  We are dead last at #50!  We are the WORST state as far as implementing our educational instruction to students. I know why, I absolutely know why, but we're not allowed to say it. We're not allowed to voice our opinion or show vital evidence as to why it is that kids in Oklahoma (and most all of our states) can't and won't receive a good education.  We can't say it because it's considered racist. We can't say it because it would mean admitting our folly.  We can't say it because the higher-ups will only poo-poo us, fire us for saying so, and nothing will be achieved. NOPE...just let the kids stay ignorant, that's their plan, it would seem.

    Yesterday, I had the privilege of running into a student I had taught at an inner urban district. I hadn't seen the kid in three years. I hardly recognized him, he had grown so tall. He recognized me immediately and gave me a hug. "Dr. Stringfellow!" he said, "I thought I would never see you again, someone said you moved to Scotland!"  He's not wrong, I almost moved to Scotland a few times between 2018 and now.  He and I talked for about thirty minutes really, and he had things to say about his education. He thanked me for being a hard-ass teacher. He claimed out of the several teachers he had in high school, I was the ONLY one who demanded that he get his work turned in and that it be complete.  He said without me encouraging him to read he would not have, and now he reads about a book every two weeks just for fun.

    After he left the school in 2018 he decided to not return to classroom study, but to take the rest of his courses online. The Pandemic helped with that decision of course, but by that time he was already involved with learning through online coursework.  He graduated in 2021 and has been going to college recently, and again, he chose to do it online for the cost and convenience.   When I told the kid that I had just accepted a position with a federally run program up north of our city, he knew exactly where I would be teaching. He laughed and said "Yeah, with my attitude and everything, if I had not chosen to finish online my parents were going to make me go there! It would have been funny to have you as my teacher again! I would love that."  He was a typical kid with angst, no worse, no better than most, but he was smart. I liked that one. He had potential.

    The thing is, I don't have that job up north now. Today, the HR department decided that since the State hadn't gotten around to giving me my updated license to teach, they would offer the job to someone who had the license in hand. WHAT? Are they nuts? Just because it hasn't been processed doesn't mean it's not binding, legal, and authentic.  They didn't want to "take the chance" of being audited by the same state or even the Department of Labor and they claimed if they were I would have to have a copy of the license framed and posted. I have a COPY of it, but the state is 8-12 weeks behind in processing, and they can't give me the original. That is NO REASON to rescind an offer? Not when I've already turned other offers down, and I've paid for the renewal of the license on their word that I had the job. I am FURIOUS with these people.

    I guarantee you they are going to offer the position to someone who doesn't care and won't care, and won't find ways to encourage the students to do their work. They'll pick an introvert who can't find their ass from a paperweight, one who won't get off their bum and walk around the room to help the students. How do I know this? Because 90% of our teaching staff is like that in our state. We have so many couch coaches and so many don't-bother-me-I'm-on-my-phone teachers, that the kids are forced to find answers on their own phones, and most of the time they give up after a minute and go back to playing games or looking at things they shouldn't be engaged in looking at in the first place. This state has REAL PROBLEMS and they won't let us say anything or do anything to fix it.

    What could we do? Well, to begin with, only allow students into an English-speaking and taught classroom who have the ability to speak, read, and write in English. If they can't, they need to have other facilities for them to learn so they can participate rather than pulling the scores down collectively for the entire school, district, state, region, and even at the national level. Did I say that out loud? I did. The next thing(s) they could do is limit the classroom sizes to 20 maximum, and level those students out to have the more progressive students in one class, while the others are categorized into classes with students who are at the same level so that the teacher isn't trying to teach 11 levels in one classroom! It's impossible! Don't give a damn about people thinking a child is singled out. If they can't meet the cut, they go to another classroom where they can!  

    They could also enforce discipline and consequences for poor behavior and poor performance, you know like we had when we were growing up? When Oklahoma wasn't number 50 out of 50 in educational rank.  Discipline and accountability for performance is what is utilized in Japan, China, Russia, Israel, Germany, and many other countries that produce great scientists, writers, and mathematicians. It's crazy to me that they even allow the Arts or sports to any child who can't read or write at the school grade level he or she is enrolled into. Why would we want students to yes, WASTE THEIR TIME, on Arts and/or sports if they can't first read, write, and do simple or basic Math?  Arts are GREAT and should be taught but not to those who can't muster enough common knowledge to even survive in the big bad ugly world. If they can achieve at their stated school grade levels, by all means, introduce them to the Arts. They can only become better by doing so.

    Who am I?  I only have a Ph.D. in Leadership of Higher Education. I may as well be spitting in the wind before thinking the people in the position will do something will do anything whatsoever. We have one-third of the teachers this year waiting for the State to do their job. One whole third of the teachers in the WORST educational state, just waiting to be given their certificates so they can teach. One-third will not be hired or allowed into the rooms until they have their certificates. We can't force the State to push them. We can't do anything but wait, but you would THINK that those in a position to do something would REALIZE that we are still certified. We just don't have the PAPER in our HANDS. We have the education in our hearts and our minds and the experience(s) on our resumes.  Torpedoes be damned! I'm so sick and tired of the chaos and the moronic mindset that those with positions have, while those of us with the willingness to make a difference are told to sit this one out.

    Let me tell you about another student I ran into last week. She was in another class, another year from the kid I saw at the mall, but she was nevertheless my student.  She didn't and wouldn't speak English. She refused. She faked or cheated her way through classes. I stopped her in my class. She was expelled from my class after I proved more than 10 times (ten) that she was cheating. It took 10 times before they decided to move her to another class, where she cheated of course, but she was not called out for it.  Where did I see her? She was waiting tables at the restaurant I was eating at. I left her a tip of course, and in her native tongue, she thanked me.  She used broken English to tell me she has five children now. She has no husband and this is her own means of employment. I was kind, but I was firm. I told her to go back to school and learn a skill.  She told me TO MY FACE, that she would but she doesn't speak English well enough to go to college because college professors can insist on students speaking English. (Yes, we can)

    I'm not being mean. I'm not being nasty. I want a good education for everyone, literally EVERYONE to be given the best education, but that will not happen if we don't do something about it right now! We have to get off our own stupid asses and fix this before it turns in the bottle and all we have left is the damn dead worm! Will I be heard? No.  Why won't I be heard? Because there's still money being given to school districts who crank out what they can without checking to see if they have the ability to even know how to spell Oklahoma!

    

Photo Credit: Lumenlearning.com

Naming the Characters in the Murder Book

 This part can be tricky.  You don't want to just come out and say the name of the person or persons on who you base (some of) your characters, you want to allude to them rather than state it. For instance, I wouldn't call the dead guy Steve. Steve is just so...used. It's not a name that would stand out, but then again, the guy taking his last step over the edge of the cliff at the start of the book isn't really known. He's in fact rather bland. He's made mistakes, he's lied, but he's not quite popular enough to be any more than just a corpse, so maybe I will call him Steve. Is Steve a Scottish name? The man is a life-long Edinburgh citizen, born just before the 20th century. I may even allow him the courtesy of having been born in a hospital. Maybe he'll be less exotic than some, but not as blase as "Steve".  We know his wife, the "Plain Jane" isn't really called Jane. She'll be given a suitable boring name for her suitably boring existence. She did murder a man, so there's that, but she's otherwise as entertaining as mud. 

    Niki, my friend Niki, is in the book, as are my friends Jeannie and Robin. They will have to be given great names. Niki is Greek. We say she's "Greekian", so she'll be given a Greek name suitable and worthy of a more mature woman who runs a tavern and digs up dirt to share with the locals.  Vibrant and mysterious, a Greek goddess to some, at least one, (oh my, a clue) she will be honored with both a good name and a good position.  Jeannie is an American, she's exciting, she's fun, she travels, and she is the life of the party on the ship that leaves New York harbor for Glasgow.  She may even find the murder weapon that Nick is accused of using; one he may have tried to hide before returning to the shores of the mob-ridden city where he did or didn't do what others say took place.  Robin will probably be named Robin. It's a good solid British name.  Robin is both an American and a citizen of the UK, she is married to a handsome horseman, and together they ride, rescue, and rehabilitate old racing horses. How exactly does that fit into the murder? You'll just have to read more to find out, won't you?

    Most of the names of the characters are already known to me. I am not going to put too much of an effort into the names of the peripheral people who either show up and make arrests, hold court, or are witnesses in the case(s).  I will try to keep their faces straight so that if there is a movie made, no one will look too much like the other guy. There won't be a Tommy Lee Jones type because Nick Posh is rather hard, rather smug, and rather tainted. He's not as handsome as other men, but his body language drives women to dream of him, and a few to approach him. Niki may have a thing with Nick; that could be fun. I think he does play guitar, so there's that. Remember the guitar was left behind when soon-to-be-not-named-Steve took a header over the cliff.  He may not be the brightest bulb out there, but he set the thing down to relieve himself.  She survived.

    After the names will be the actions. I'm developing more every day and changing what I initially thought should happen.  I've got to come up with the name and characteristics of the man Nick is accused of killing. I have to tie him into the mix and create a creative way of disposing of his body. I think Dunbar had an expensive hotel on its shores at that time. I'll check to see if there was a back entrance to the kitchen. I'd not want the guests to feast on him necessarily, but it would make good conversation at trial; the faces of the witnesses could be priceless.  There will be no hiding or challenges with "Steve". He simply hits the ground thudding, tumbles, and breaks painfully.  The book isn't about him, but he'll be remembered, not only for the way he ended but for the exposure of his sins during his wife's trial prep. I have already decided she may never make the docket - - did I mention she had family in Glasgow? 

Photo Credit: Pinterest.co.uk

Character Flaws (We've all got them)

 As I'm building my novel, the one I call the "Murder Book", I have to be honest and say that I'm not completely sure I want to make some of the characters as cliche as they may already be developing.  I mean, I have a "Plain Jane" type woman whom I haven't named yet. She's Scottish, possibly from up around Aberdeen, I think I want her to have a Doric accent.  She's taller, thinner, and somewhat strong physically, as she's the one who pushes her bi-sexual husband over the edge of Arthur's Seat.  She'd have to have some sort of backstory to explain her abilities to do it. Maybe she works on the wharf. Maybe she's in healthcare and handles some of the larger more dense patients when others can't.  Maybe, just maybe, she's boring to look at, boring to speak to, boring to hang with, and her husband found as many excuses as he could to be away from home. Maybe.  I haven't decided.

    The year is 1931, and the story's locations span the globe from Chicago to Edinburgh, but there will be at least a layover in New York City's harbor area. The characters travel by ship rather than aeroplane; there has to be some romantic encounter at sea. I don't believe the wife would or could handle a torrid sexual affair, but the man could - - Nah, it will probably end up being my detective Nick Posh who has the love scene(s).  Nick is full, chock full, of character flaws, believe me. He himself is suspected of murder in a town just east of Edinburgh called Dunbar. Dunbar is a coastal city really, with plenty of great hubs and piers to hide a body if one needed to. Remember, it's not the act of murder, but the disposal of the body that really matters. Nick is a pro. He both tends to business and he knows his business. His return to Scotland wasn't accidental, discovering the body of the singer-songwriter was in fact, accidental.  

    The murder was just that, a murder. It really isn't the focus of the book. I still haven't decided if I'll keep the singer dead or have him found by Nick's terrier-dog "Hyde" (for Hyde Park) maybe three days after the fall. Maybe Hyde pisses on the man's face and we see him twitch? I may just leave him dead. He's not a good guy. He's not a truthful guy anyway. He lied to his wife, their families, the church, the parishioners, and the folks who tuned into their radios to hear him singing live at various times throughout the years.  Most Christians would have little to do with the man in 1931.  Should I throw in a bit of repentance? Maybe some tolerance? Should he be forgiven or given another chance? How many character flaws can one recovering addict have?

    The murder isn't the focus of the book. It's hardly a part of the book at all. It's like the first three minutes of a good cop show where the real or meaningful characters gather for the intel to be shown and seen; the real story is how Nick can find a way to escape returning to the scene of a previous murder and solve the one he found without being caught; without being another tight white curl on the Lord Justice's powdered wig! Nick's ability to weave in and out of trouble is amazing. For years he's avoided being connected to the gangster life of Glasgow by hiding in and/or around Edinburgh. When the mood hits him, or the timing is right, he books an overseas board on whatever ship is sailing at whatever hour is best to make his exit. Can there be a bribe offered for the Lord Justice this time?  We'll have to see.

    One thing is for sure, the singer-songwriter has run out of hymns and prayers with me. His best bet now is to cry to God before he gives up that last breath of his. The pen is not the sword they say, no sir, it is far more brutal and carries with it deeper cuts than any blade.  You may have pissed off your Plain Jane and received your rightful judgment; it was my pleasure as the author to see to it that the docket never carries her name within its bounds. Perhaps meaningless is just that, meaningless. Of no consequence whatsoever.  We'll have to see.

Photo Credit: AustralianDogLover.com

New Plot Twist for the Murder Book (fiction)

 You know how you're just looking through old connections, wondering how they have been after several months or even years? You start to think things like "Did I know they were that handsome?" or maybe "Were they always gay, or did I just never see it?"  Truth is often stranger than fiction, but I think I'll let truth have this one. I'll add the truth to the book so that in so doing the world at large can do their own due diligence as I have; they can find out the dark and torrid secrets that hang just behind the grey eyes of the fallen master who once held one of the highest of positions in his church.

    Mind you, the master, as I may call him, didn't start out at the top! No, his was a sorted story to be sure. There were years of self-abuse, family corruption, pain, and suffering from his inability to face who he was and what he wanted to be. Rather than standing firmly in a decision, he chose to hide and to drag countless others into the charade! It's no wonder he ended up taking a head-long plunge over the cliffs of Arthur's Seat at the hands of his homely "Plain Jane" wife, who while she knew he was gay, had also kept his secrets and the truth now shown so dingy and tacky upon her reputation as well.  Better a dead husband who no one knows has lied than to let him tell all and jam her gears as well.  The year was 1931 after all and homosexuality was still both an offense against the Crown, but also quite disgusting in the eyes of most civil-minded in Edinburgh!

    Was it just that he was gay? Could that be enough of a reason for the petty-minded soon-to-be-widowed wife to shove her glorified babysitter over the edge? She never really loved him, but he was useful in some ways. When she found him wallowing in the streets from drunkenness and from long-standing opium addiction, he was at least grateful to be inside, being fed was nice, even if it did mean he had to sleep beside her and pretend he was attracted. Her young son was fun enough and who knows, over time perhaps he could be "useful" as well. Could she have even imagined the influence her new husband would have on her boy? Was it safe to leave them alone? Was it true what the boy tried to explain a few times? Were they just "games" between "father" and son? I'd have cut him hard before the push! I might have even called the cops myself to admit I did it; I rid the world of yet another grotesque child molester! She couldn't face herself. She simply walked away.  No one even noticed. 

    Just before the end, just before her hands last felt the hardness of his flesh as she heaved with all she had, she remembered a letter her husband had written to her son as he was graduating from prep school. It said something about how brave the boy was; how he was in fact the "bravest man I know", and the thing is, he was hardly a man! The fact that her son had decided to live the life of a decadent was not necessarily appalling to the woman, but she couldn't convince him that good Christians would wrestle constantly with the Spirit inside of them if they were Christians at all. The boy wasn't wrestling with anyone. Was her husband? It didn't seem like he was to her -- it seemed as if he had set the stage for the boy.

    There wasn't even so much as a thud. She waited long enough by the side of the crag, to be sure he wouldn't be able to get a grasp and hold onto something or somehow manage to stand or climb back to the top. There wasn't much of a chance of his surviving the fall. She had truly meant to kill him.  In the shadow of the twilight skies, however, she hadn't noticed that he had sat his guitar down; he had laid it against the side of a tree. Though his crumpled body may soon be found, bloodied and broken, at least the innocent one would be spared. The music would live on. The notes would be played by someone, someone else whose fingers were not as deceptive as his when the old hymns were strummed across six inviting strings. 

    He ruined everything, she thought. He didn't deserve to share in this life now. Hadn't she saved him from the streets? Hadn't she given him a roof over his head, food, love, not to mention a child of his own? Would their daughter now wonder if her father was even telling the truth when he'd hold her and tell her he loved her? Was this new life he was choosing more important to her? She was only a child, but she would have questions. She would grow up believing Daddy jumped. Why should the little girl lose two parents over the choices of one? 

DISCLAIMER:  No, this wasn't about you, Tex!  It's fiction.

Photo Credit: Stargatecinema.com

Touring with Joakim - Part 2 (Norman!!)

 Laura was pretty busy today with personal commitments so I took Joakim to the best place in Oklahoma to see Sooner things; I took him to Norman, OK.  There, we visited the National Weather Center where NOAA, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration is, and Norman just happens to be the home of the great University of Oklahoma!  He loved it all.  First, when we went to the National Weather Center, with it being a Sunday, we didn't know if it would even be open to him to be able to see what it looks like inside. The thing is, he's with me.  When you're with me, sometimes you just walk through open doors. I used to crawl through windows, but I don't do that anymore.  Doors need to at least be cracked open a bit now, and it was. We went inside.  I told him we'd stay until we were asked to leave. He agreed. We stayed about five minutes!  The guard was really nice.

    He took photos of the inside of it, and I took photos of him being inside of it so he could brag about it when he gets back home and all of his weather buddies will see that he really did go to Norman, OK and he really did go inside the National Weather Center and see NOAA!  We have to brag sometimes about something, so why not that? It was actually my first time going inside the building as well.  It has a few really cool-looking gizmos, let me tell you!

    After NOAA we hit up the campus of the University of Oklahoma.  You can't visit Norman, OK, and not go to the stadium! C'mon now. We're civilized folk, you know. We have six (6) Heisman trophy winners from our university, and they are all captured in bronze outside the Memorial Stadium that houses about 80,000 of your closest friends on any given Saturday in Autumn.  We walked around a bit, but with 102-degree weather, it was too hot to really do more than just a brief glance around the place.  Next, we headed up to Denny's restaurant so we could have a great lunch. He had the steak, I had pancakes!!  You can do breakfast all day at Denny's and the portions are wonderful. 

    After lunch, I informed Joakim that he would be face-to-face with the best-looking man ever to walk the face of the Earth, and I hoped he was OK with it.  He laughed, but then later admitted that my son was in fact an amazingly handsome man. No one has said otherwise!  He enjoyed meeting Reuben and his wife Josie. He was able to see how Josie decorated the house in true Americana style. He loved it. We headed off to the mall, but not before we visited a western store called Atwood's. I tell people Atwood's is half livestock and half human. You can get your feed, tack, and medicines there for animals, but you can buy boots, hats, guns, and ammo as well.  He hadn't really handled a gun before today, not really, and he was able to do that. He didn't get to shoot it though. We may have to go to the gun range someday. It may be a few visits down the road.

    After Atwoods we walked the mall in Norman to not only show him the smaller pleasures of middle-class living but also to get my steps in! I can't really walk at night right now due to the heat, so we put in about 5000 steps or so there. That was really great.  He had never seen rolling animal carts that people here rent to trolly around the mall when their kids are really tired or just want to have fun. The little slow-moving trolly-type carts are dressed up as bears, lions, elephants, and such, and they are just really fun for kids to ride and wave at people. We always try to make it as fun as we can for the kids when we see them.

    Home it was!! Eventually, all things come to an end, but we did stop by Sonic for a cold one before taking him back to the hotel.  You're not going to do yourself a favor if you visit Oklahoma and don't visit Sonic at least a couple of times. I bought him a slushie and we headed back! He can't say he didn't have a very fun day. I may not be the most entertaining tour guide, but I did make him laugh, told him lots of stories, and let him know about Jesus.  You can't come to Oklahoma and visit me without hearing about Jesus, it's a thang - - my thang!  Gonna happen.

    Overall, I think it's fun having guests for a few days. It would be exhausting if I had to do it for a living, but I bet I'd be really good at it if I did get paid to do it. I could maybe even manage a costume or two. LOL...just kidding. It is FAR too hot to even think about it - - nope, just going with the shorts and t-shirts. I think the most important takeaway from today's visit(s) is that he has photos of himself at OU's Memorial Stadium and with the bronze statues of our 6 Heisman trophy winners. He's been to the NOAA, the Lloyd Noble Center, and he met the most handsome man to ever walk the face of the Earth! Not everyone can say that - - he can.

Good day!!  Good company!!

Joakim with Baker Mayfield!!

Photo Credit: Me

Touring With Joakim!

 If you ever come to visit (first, I have to know you) you'll be subjected to doing what real Oklahomans do, not necessarily what the world thinks we do.  I mean sure, there will be horses involved; that's a given.  We took Joakim (I call him Dwight because "Jo-a-kim", when you say it out loud sounds like "Yoakum") around the city again today. He's here from Sweden to visit Laura and since she's not the happiest of campers when it comes to driving, I drive.  He's not a driver at all, so there's going to have to be a day when I take him to the parking lots and let him try. That's something he can't do in Sweden!

    Today, we went to Alligator Alley, a famously wonderful little shop that houses a few interesting reptiles including actual alligators. You can get right up next to them (they are in sealed tanks) and you can see for yourself why it is that you don't want an alligator as a pet.  The store is a go-to when you want a lizard, snake, tortoise, or even a ferret. I told you, I think I told you, yesterday, that we took Joakim to the pet store. We do that. We go to pet stores a lot!  Laura has her lizards and we are constantly in and out of these stores buying crickets.  While we are there we may or may not happen to pick up a Ball Python or two. I do anyway.  Today it was the Uromastx!  Laura bought it. OF COURSE, SHE DID!!  I was teasing Joakim and telling him that his main job today would be to stop Laura from purchasing another lizard. He failed. I mean, he did try, I have to give him that much credit.

    After Alligator Alley we hit up another Oklahoma store, Hobby Lobby! If you have not been to one, you need to set aside time and money. Both time and money will be spent when you go to a Hobby Lobby store. If you're into making things, or just having really cool home decor, you'll find Hobby Lobby is chock full of ideas to both imaginatively create, and/or just to buy already made.  They always have candles and things on sale, so you can't walk out empty-handled. Today, July 16, they were busy loading up the west side of the store, which is their seasonal side, with all the pumpkins and pumpkinny things out there! It is FALL/AUTUMN in Hobby Lobby, but you have to get it quickly, as Christmas will be there in September!

    After Hobby Lobby we tackled EARL'S BBQ!!  As mentioned in a few blogs, when you come to or through Oklahoma City, you must, must, must, stop at Earl's on Reno and Meridian. You have to say hello to the manager and operator J.T. Simmons, and get the state's best-smoked ribs and/or pulled pork or brisket sandwiches. His menu is basically the same as any BBQ joint, but there is no beating his slaw! Joakim tried the Earl's Binge, which gave him a sampling of all the meats including brisket, ribs, pork, and smoked bologna. It came with a few sides. He'll be stuffed for a minute. You have to do okra if you come to our state. It's the law.

    We'll let the man rest for a while, get him over his food coma before we take him to the Arabian Horse Show down at the Fairgrounds. That may be something he and Laura can do without me. I am not a foo-foo horse person. I prefer dirt and western rodeo-type shows. The Arabian Horse Show is rather formal. The audience doesn't have to dress up of course, but the animals and their people are gussied up pretty well.  They'll enjoy the beauty and the elegance of each horse. Laura will likely walk him back through the stall areas so he can see what really takes place. We are nothing if not thorough with our guests!

    One thing Dwight saw today that they don't have in his country is panhandlers. We forget about the details here. I wouldn't have thought to ask if he had them. He was wondering why they were walking in and out of traffic and begging for money. I wish I could tell him we didn't have this problem, but we have this problem. Most are respectful of the motorists.  I do think that in this heat, they need to wear ball caps or hats and have water to hydrate. I may go back and take them some! We just never know what another person will see that we take either for granted, or we're a bit jaded and just don't want to see it anymore. (Guilty)

Photo Credit: Me