I Stand With Texas (and that's sayin' something since I'm from Oklahoma!)

 Just in case you've been living under a rock, or you just don't keep up with such things, there has been a MASSIVE change in immigrant crossings over the past few months. It's been going on since the day Joe Biden took office, but it's been so much more aggressive lately, and a development of sorts has been developing quite rapidly at the Texas border. I don't know about the other borders, but the Texas border has seen a bit of action.

    Truckers and farmers in very large numbers have taken to driving to the border in their rigs both with and without trailers attached. Some of the rigs are farm combines and larger tractors; things you'd hope would remain off the streets, but this time is one of the few times we (others on the roads) honk and wave, and we even salute those brave men and women who have joined in the convoy to put a stop to this nonsense.

    We've been so patient, so very patient, and we've sought ways to help immigrants come over legally, but without vetting, and without some sort of record keeping, this has turned into a nightmare beyond imagination! Don't think for a second that it's just simple people with simple needs trying to make something better of themselves. That is not the case. For the most part, the ones coming over are men, younger men, not families, just men. They are truly invading our country.

    Too many of these people who are crossing by the literal thousands every single day are not doing so legally. They are from other countries other than those in Mexico and Central America. They are coming from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia, China, and other places. They aren't here to find regular work, and to bring their families over to make a better life; they are here to destroy our great nation from within, and they are being assisted in this grave assignment by none other than our own government. 

    To say Biden and his administration have committed TREASON is tantamount to saying you can hear the song of the cicada in the South!! IT IS OVERWHELMINGLY true and it is overwhelmingly wrong and we the people, WE THE PEOPLE are not going to stand for it. They crept their way into Office in 2020, but it won't happen again. This time we're taking back our country and we're starting to do it peacefully through the two very important groups who make America GREAT to begin with; our truckers and our farmers!! (THANK YOU!!)

    Thank you, Governor Abbott of Texas, for your stand. Thank you, Governor Stitt of Oklahoma as well. We will stand united. We will stand together. Oklahomans stand with Texas, and when that happens we are unstoppable!! You can bet your last hard-earned dollar that the folks of Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kansas, and others will too. We're sending truckers. We're sending farmers. We're buying t-shirts that show our support and tell everyone we can - - because your nation is ONE NATION UNDER GOD and until He comes to take us home, we will be indivisible. 

Buy your shirt here: I Stand With Texas Tee

Photo Credit: AmazonFashion.com 

Poo Update. (I know, right?)

 I've never been offended when people wanted to talk about their personal bowel issues because it's actually quite necessary to do so; it's just the when, where, and how they discuss it that can be a problem.  For me, because this is my own blog,  you may in fact catch me talking about my poo - - poo is what we need you know. When we can't or won't go it can be a real problem. Being able to express or release one's bowels can be a very happy and joyful occasion at times.

    So, I blogged about it a few days ago, here is the link, poo blog. In the blog, I describe a certain online product you can buy for about $28 a bottle, and the bottle will last you 30 days. I can't say a month as several months are longer than 30 days. It will last you 30 days, and the product advertising or reviews, even say it can take up to 60 or 90 days to really see the results you're hoping for. Let's say it's going to take you 90 days, and you're out $28 x 3, or $84 trying to get all the poop out of your body. That's not too much to pay really; not if you're about 10-20 pounds heavier with the stuff inside of you...just sitting there.

    The thing is, I don't like to pay that kind of money. I really don't. I'm a little stingy with my hard-earned money. I don't want to just "flush it down the toilet" as it were. (Joke...yeah, OK) and I don't want to just hope that something works if I pay for it to work. I did what anyone should do, I looked up the ingredients of the wonder pill and decided that most of what I found could and would work if taken in sufficient amounts.

    When it comes to anything that could have a laxative effect, you need to run it by your doctor and be sure that you can take it without any issues. I'm saying that both as a disclaimer and as a means of being realistic. You should consult your doctors anytime you try something new that will affect your systems and how they operate. Only you and your doctor know what you need. Don't let someone from the internet persuade you to do something; I mean that.

    I checked out the ingredients, and I bought them online through Amazon. Instead of buying the one product that had all the ingredients in it, I bought the ingredients separately, and in so much greater quantities too; for so much less! I bought about five or even six months worth of product for $36 and I added two ingredients that I had already at the house. I added the cayenne pepper, and I added the ginger root. The product they sell doesn't have psyllium husk, turmeric, vitamin C, or probiotics in it, but I added those as well. I don't know if I said so in my poo blog. (When I got the ingredients I had to do math to figure out how much to put into the mix and what quantities to use. It wasn't too hard, the amounts are on the back of the bottles.)

    I added the vitamin C and the other ingredients because I take them every day and they too are in powder form, so it made sense to add them to the mix before I blended it. I use my last 2 or 3 ounces of coffee, a bit of protein powder, and about a tablespoon of chocolate syrup too - - because I can.  I pour in about 1/2 ounce of Apple Cider Vinegar. Any more than that and it starts to taste really funky. I may add another 1/2 ounce of it later to lemon water, and that really helps with the sides of your colon - - stripping off any goo or gunk that may be hanging around.

    The thing is, and you can ask your doctors this, a lot if not most of cancers start in the colon. Cancer isn't our only concern though. There are a lot of ailments that start right there in the colon. That's why the doctors ask you to have it checked and cleaned as you get older. We don't drink enough water, and we should. I do, but I'm not the norm in that arena. I'm not necessarily normal in any arena really, but that's another blog entirely.

    So, the powder I made, the Jude Poo, is going to last me about five or six months. I'll keep you updated. I'll expect results in a few weeks not months, because I do exercise, I do drink a lot of water, and I do pray over the matter. Prayer is a key factor in all of my daily habits; it could be a good thing to add if you haven't done that already. God made me. He knows I need to poo to stay healthy and happy. There's a reason people say things like, "You're full of ..." and so forth. Being stuck or stuffed with it can make you irritable. It's not fun. 

    Today's update is a basic one. I started the program yesterday, and all is well so far. I have had my "movement" and it was normal for me, but I want greater results. I want to truly be able to say that this is an amazing decision. I want to see myself weighing 20 pounds lighter in a month. I want to reach my weight goals by April; we'll see if that happens. It's not just about poo at that point. I need to keep lifting weights and working out, walking, drinking water, and you know, eating correctly, and getting enough sleep. It all works together.

    Have a blessed one. Get out there and exercise if you can. Make a point to praise God for all He's done for you, and all He will do for you too. He listens. He smiles.

Photo Credit: Farmtohome.com

1211 (Slacking)

 Here it is Saturday, and I don't want to write. I'm not going to consider myself a total slacker, however. I'm going to watch two movies and see if I can get a few more clues and/or ideas for the book. I have in my mind what I want to say. I have a plan for this story, that story, etc., but I'm just sort of lacking the motivation to make it all happen today. I've been on a reading binge, which isn't a bad thing.

    Today is January 27, and I'm fairly certain I'll write either tomorrow or next week. I'm not really in any hurry, and I don't have to have anything penned by any time soon; it's just me putting myself under pressure, so I have decided not to do that. I'm going to read more, watch old movies, think, exercise, sleep, and take hot baths. That really sounds like an amazing plan.

    It's about 32 degrees outside, but the wind is kicking up and making it feel so much colder. I think the dog decided to pee really quickly so she didn't have ice sticking to her butt. She told me in no uncertain terms that we were running back to the door and we had just barely stepped out of it. She knows. She's not one to fool around when it comes to cold weather.

    Her being so persnickety about being outside brought to my attention that there isn't a dog in my book yet. I'm on chapter 15 and there is no dog. Who does that? I think Alistair will need a good dog soon. I'm wondering if he'll find one on the way home from school or if his dad comes up with one during his course of work.  You just never really know. Ama could use a dog too, she doesn't leave her house much other than to get groceries and go to church. She could use a dog. We'll have to dog this book up - - that may be what it needs.

    Until then, I bid you farewell, and a good evening. I'm about to choose which old-timey movie I want to spend my time with. It's gotta be about murder so I can get an understanding of what people said during the 30s and 20s about murder, science, and things like that. I listen and I learn. I like learning.

Photo Credit:  Wikipedia.com

Pecan Sandies. Because They Do Matter.

 I must give credit where credit is due, and that would be to my father, Reuben Wayne Stringfellow because he brought home the first bag of pecan Sandies I ever ate.  I am not about to say whether or not they were Keebler brand. I have no idea what they may have been. I can tell you this, my father was Scottish, and he probably never bought name-brand cookies, candies, or anything when we were kids. He may have bought Braum's ice cream, but that's an entirely different matter.

    So, the pecan Sandies or shortbreads that we eat today (in my house) do vary from the name brands to the off-brand names. The only criteria they must have is that they are in fact good tasting. I can even say that the cost of the bag is secondary to the taste of the product. I can go that far. That being said, I decided to do the side-by-side taste test this morning just to see if there really is that big of a difference between the two brands that are currently in my house.

    Keebler was the control cookie. The Aldi store brand is the challenger. When I set the bags one on top of the other for the photo I realized for the first time, that the portions were the very same. They were both 11.3 ounces. I don't think I even thought that would be possible, but it is. They are. The Keebler cookie is slightly smaller in circumference but slightly denser in texture, and they are in fact the same weight per bag, with the same number of cookies in each bag.

    The Aldi bag Sandie had more tiny slivers of pecans, and they were not as smooth as the Keebler brand either. I could turn them both at an angle and see the obvious roughness of the Aldi cookie. I'd say by comparison that the Keebler is a little Scotsman wearing a kilt with fashionable hose and polished shoes. It may have a vest, blouse, and jacket with a tie, where the Aldi cookie is also a Scotsman wearing a kilt, but maybe he's not so inclined to pull up his socks, and he's got on a pair of laced-up black boots and he's not wearing a jacket or vest, but a rough and wooly jumper (sweater for the Americans). That is the difference between the two cookies.

    How do they taste? To be completely honest I needed to try two or three from each bag to be sure, but I gave the Keebler more points for denseness and the Aldi brand for less greasy aftertaste. It's not as if Keebler has a greasy aftertaste, but it's there sort of faintly lingering, where the Aldi cookie was a little less noticeable. I would give each an 8 on a scale of 1-10. I like them both. I will buy them both. The difference in cost was fairly significant if you must know.

    The Keebler cookies were purchased at Winco, which is cheaper than say Target, Walmart, or another named store. They were $3.79 for the bag. (The Keebler bag opens on the top with an easy-to-open pull thing, whereas the Aldi cookie bag does not have that type of opening.) The Aldi brand was $2.99, so you're talking a good .80 difference, so that's roughly .... math. That's math, that's what that is. It's .80 less for the Aldi bag.

    So there you go - - a taste and side-by-side comparison between two of the finest -- you can do your own comparison if you need to. I would. I would go out there in the big bad world and pick them both up and just test my theory!! I double-dog dare you, and that means you have to do it....unless you wanna be called a chicken!

Photo Credit: Me.

ZuPoo vs. JudePoo

 It seems that every year some new "guru" with that obligatory young, liberal, and hipster look comes along and tells all of us that we should stop all the unnecessary dieting and we should give up our gym memberships because all the workouts, the time spent running on the treadmill and doing so much cardio is just not what we need to do. Our belly fat, they tell us, is only there because we allow it to be. We did it ourselves, and we're the only ones who can remove it.

    I'm not saying that the good folks behind the latest "fat burner" pills called ZuPoo are saying we're never to pick up another barbell or that we're not supposed to juice the greens again, but they sort of kind of said it in their advertising. They have some guy with a three-day beard looking all sexy in his loose-fitting sweats, pushing his agenda, or their agenda, and I decided to look a little closer at it....and at their agenda, too.

    According to the internet, which all of us know, is always correct, (right?) the ingredients found in the ZuPoo product are as follows (not in any percentage order): Magnesium, Cascara Sagrada, Fennel, Apple Cider Vinegar, Ginger, Cape Aloe, Burdock Root, Bentonite, Milk Thistle and Cayenne.  REALLY? We already knew that these ingredients could do the job of moving our bowels. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to go through the list and literally say "yep" each time we run into a supplement that another company used to claim the very same thing!

    How many of us have done the whole apple cider vinegar lemonade thing? How many of us tossed a bit of cayenne into the stew to bring up our temperature a little so we could burn a few more calories? We all do it. Well,  here's my take on it. I have a take you know, because I'm not paying $25.00 a bottle for a 30-day supply of something that generally takes 3-6 months to see the results I'm looking for. NOPE.

    I went on Amazon and I bought the same ingredients in powder form (except the Apple Cider Vinegar. I can pour that into the mix) and I'll make a shake out of it so I can drink it once a day and be done with it. I'll even add psyllium husk as well as turmeric because I'm really just that cool. I'll add it to a juice I would have juiced such as carrot or cucumber with an apple and there you go - - one healthy holy-moly 8-10 ounces of colon cleanser to chase the devil right out of you.

    I may have to sideline it with a good dose of Milk of Magnesia, but it can be done. I'll post the results as I get them and that way you'll know if I'm just a raging lunatic or if maybe I'm onto something. The ingredients cost me $36.00 and will last more than 120 days. I think the smallest bag of powder for the bunch was the fennel, and you only use a little of it anyway. I think I'll get 120 days out of the powders. Even if I only got 60 days I'd be on top, but I think I can get at least 120.

    Let the games begin!!

Photo Credit: LinkedIn.com

1211 (Chapter 14 is done) 45% done

 It doesn't seem like a big change really, but I have crossed a threshold in the book. I'm now genuinely in the book and writing about the house that is the star of the book. The Garvey House is an 8-unit apartment house that is situated in an affluent sort of area, just north of the downtown metroplex in Oklahoma City. Keep in mind, that it is not real, it does not exist in reality. The address I am using is part of one I lived in during my very young years as an adult - - if you call it that. I had barely graduated high school, so yeah, I was legal. 

    The 14th chapter was written today, laying some groundwork for the book's main character Nick Posh. He'll investigate things, dig up things, and literally nail someone in the process. He'll be looking for reasons to pin anything on a suspect to get him off the streets because he believes him to be dangerous. He's on a mission and nothing will stop him. 

    There will be quirks! There will be odd-ends. There will be "Can that even happen?" questions, and there will be shaking of heads. It happened to me, so I know it can happen. I'm pulling out the stops on this one. I'm going to have fun with it and get as much of it out there for the world to enjoy. If I happen to stretch the truth a bit in the process, well, you know I'm fully licensed in creative writing, and I have that right! I have no qualms about it - - let the games begin.

    I only wrote one chapter today, I won't consider myself a slacker until I either do that three days in a row, or if I don't write anything at all - - then I may consider my means, methods, and ways, but until then I am on track to finish the book in about 10 days, and then I can read through it, make corrections, have it published and call it done. I do want to go through it really well, and not have to make more corrections to it after it's published, so I may wait a week after it's written to take it up again and check it for mistakes. 

    I think it best.

Photo Credit: Zillow.com  (This is the actual house I lived in. My unit was upstairs on the left.)

1211 (42% done) YES!!

 So, I've written about 42% of the book, and I think it feels about right. I'm about to write Chapter 14 tomorrow, and that means I'll hit about 29-30 chapters when I'm finished. I think that's about right. I wrote chapters 12 and 13 today. 

    Besides following up with the matron of Garvey House as to who and what lived in the place, Posh brought his wife over to meet the once very popular vaudeville superstar of the stage Mercedes Kuhlman. She was billed as Mercedes Renee, a French and Indian Cajun queen from the bayous of Louisiana, but the truth of the matter is, that Mercedes was born into a very influential and affluent German family; albeit she was in fact from the state of Louisiana. The promoters did tell the truth about that.

    We learned about a case that will foreshadow the characters in the next few books. I like to drag a red herring in when I can to do the build-up to the build-up. There are funny moments, fun moments, odd and strange moments, and we're about to meet a host of new characters who don't necessarily live at Garvey House but something or someone brings them to the place. It is where the action takes and took place.

    One thing Mercedes says is that you don't have to be an Albert Einstein to catch on to a few things that go on at the Garvey House, but it may make things a bit less complicated if you saw the world through the lens of another great mind of that time - - that of the little Tramp, himself. You just never know who may or may not show up on that brick and concrete porch at 1211 W. Garvey. You just never know.

Photo Credit: India Today

1211 (35% done) YEA!!

 First, just let me give a big shout-out to my good friend Tex who I now has been religiously reading every blog and every social media post I have been able to produce lately. You don't know how much that means to me. I love technology...I'm not good at it, but my daughter is, and she showed me the ISP of several frequent flyers;  you're one of the top contenders, Tex!! Oh, you have made my heart sing.  You have danced on my soul, and I appreciate it. Thank you. If I can bring a smile to your face, I will praise the God we love, and consider it a blessing to do so.

    That being said, my book "1211" is 35% written. What? Yes, it is true. I am getting into it now. Let me say, I'm loving it. Mercedes is about to describe the women of the house, and we're about to find out that there's a ghost of a chance that someone dead is still very dead in the basement and he's not being all that quiet about it. 

    There's an arson to report. There's a car show coming up, and the First National Bank will suffer one of its biggest robberies tomorrow -- not in true time, not in reality, don't go off telling the FBI that I said I was robbing the bank! No. The bank in my book is the First National Bank, and in my book, this very very fictional, not-real book, it will be robbed. Do you think I made the point that it isn't really going to happen? I hope so. Of course, I would die laughing if they were robbed tomorrow and I am sitting here with this blog out there in front of God and everyone.

    Tonight will be a good night. I'll read more of my Perry Mason story, the one I'm gleaning information to spice up my book a little. I do that. I don't plagiarize God knows I'd hang myself first; I do borrow things and recreate situations. I do give credit, and I also twist and uncover ways to say the same things someone else said without being a thief about it. There is nothing new under that old ball of fire in the sky, you know, so I can say something that someone else said without being held accountable to anyone. I am very careful not to be a boo-bear in those terms.

    So, Elaine found out today that her husband had been intimate, or maybe he had been intimate with a very famously gorgeous superstar after they had said their international goodbyes about eight years prior. She's not going to let that happen again - - no sirree!! She's got her painted nails dug very deeply into the man, and he doesn't want to be anywhere but where he is.

    It's a good book. I like it.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia.com  (Mabel Normand)

1211 (Finished with Chapter 9) Woot!

 If I'm going by all the other novels I've written, then I have to say that the average word count is about 86,000 for each. I'm at 25,000 basically, and that means I'm more than 25% finished. I'm about 29% finished. Woot!!

    Right now, at the end of Chapter 9, I'm about to bring Nick back to the front porch of 1211 W. Garvey to talk with Mercedes about the women who live in the large housing unit. She's explained the behaviors of all the men who live in it, but the women may prove to be the undercurrent of the murky waters that seem so still and quiet above their rocky beds.

    I'm keeping MacRae and Ferguson in the picture by adding conversations with them. Posh just met a new helper who will prove instrumental in proving his father's murder was in fact a murder, and maybe he'll get somewhere with the new District Attorney of Canadian County; maybe someone can be investigated and brought to justice. We'll have to see what happens.

    For now, suffice it to say I am having a blast writing this particular book. I knew I would. I knew it would be a fun and eventful time for me. I'm making crap up, I'm recalling things that really happened, and I'm just living the life...the life of an author that is, not necessarily the good life. I'm living my life.

    One of the things I love about this book is that it can't be too weird or peculiar. Nope, this one is one quirk after the other, and with good cause. I lived that life for a while in a creepy old house that had a history to not only speak of but to keep quiet about. Yep, you guessed it, there really was a 1211, but I can promise you I didn't murder anyone there; he was dead long before I got there.

Photo Credit: Canva.com

1211 (Chapter Six is DONE!)

 I don't know why I took almost a full month off from writing, but I was just not feeling it. I was not there. It was not there. I was and am thinking of other things. I need to stop that and keep the flow going. The writing is what I need and the writing is what will happen. Thank you, Jesus.

    So, I'm about to start Chapter 7 of the book now, having just finished 4, 5, and 6 today. I'll probably do 7, 8, and 9 tomorrow, and then at least 2 chapters a day from Monday through Friday, so that's another 10 chapters. If I'm at 7, 8, 9, tomorrow, and then 10 more, that's 19 chapters expected by this time Friday, and if I do 3 more on Saturday and three more on Sunday, that's 25!! Woot. I could be so close to finishing the book!! Oh my!

    It doesn't always happen that way. As you see, I took off a month and just hit it hard today. I'm loving it, and I'm about to start the process where I pull out the cards and start writing what I think should happen from one chapter to the next, but I'm not quite there yet. I am not at the point where the characters are branching off and doing things that begin to take over my brain yet - - it's coming, I promise you that.

    I've got one of the 9 household residents described. She's a hoot. She'll have visitors and "visitors" coming by to see her soon enough. Right now, the family is getting all settled into their new city; they just got married, they'll find a home soon and little Alistair will enroll in school. He'll be going to the same school my mom went to; just so you know. 

    I'm really looking forward to writing this book. It's quirky, fun, uplifting, interesting, weird, and downright strange at times. I can't wait to dig into it and really get the stories going. Some of them actually happened to me, that's why I'm so excited to leak them to the world and pretend I have no idea what I'm talking about...all the while I laugh in one of those subdued voices.

    Soon, and very soon, there will be naked people in the hallways, and bathtubs overflowing without anyone taking credit for the prank. There will be mishaps, murder, mayhem, and mayonnaise, and when I say that I am implying that the mayonnaise could have something to do with the mishaps, murder, and mayhem. It's a ride...it's a whipping-the-head-around ride, and I am so looking forward to writing it. I don't care if I don't sell a single book, I am going to have too much fun writing this one. I may write two just so I can get all these stories out of my head!

    Good luck trying to stop me from laughing, because this story, this book is a killer - - and then again, the murder was so long ago that it's a bit dusty at this point. 

Photo Credit: Getty Images Westend61