Wednesday Wanderings – A World Is In the Eyes of the Beholder

I wonder what Alice felt like when she landed in Wonderland. Okay, so she might have been a little sore from the fall, the wind might have been knocked out of her, and although they don’t tell you, she might have even come close to, you know, peeing her pants. I mean really falling down a hold in the side of a tree for what must have seemed like forever, well that’d be scary enough to make it happen.

But once she was there, once she’d taken the pills that made you tall and made you small, once she was walking in the woods along the trails, wonder what she thought. It’s not ever day you have animals talking to you. A rabbit who’s always late and Cheshire Cat whose smile is the last thing to disappear. Then there are the twins Tweedledee and Tweedledum and a caterpillar smoking his hookah pipe, which by the way must have made him feel all sorts of good, because that was one relaxed dude.

All of those…hmmm…unusual characters and Alice hadn’t yet met the Mad Hatter or the Queen of Hearts. The March Hare throws one crazy party. If there was ever a place where “food fight” could be a good word this is it.

I don’t recall her crying like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, calling out to her family members wanting to go home. Well, she did swim in the pool of tears, but let’s face it Dorothy cried for Auntie Em why more than Alice ever mentions home. Maybe there wasn’t time with all the zany moments happening around her, or maybe our Alice was wanderer, who loved a sense of adventure. Maybe this was the world she wished for instead of a boring get up, brush your teeth, get dresses and do the same thing all over again then next day. Growing up can be such a bummer.

Light bulb moment here – Maybe this is why we’re writers and readers, or both. It’s a time that we escape to our own wonderland. When I’m seeing as slate gray clouds with lightening flashing across them and huge peddles of rain falling as I write a scene, you might not see it exactly that way when you’re reading. Your sky may be more ominous, the sky more of a metallic gray with buckets of rain, flooding anything in its way. We always make up stories or get swept away into them. In a sense this is when we don’t have to be all grown up with the pressures of the real world around us.

Maybe our little Alice saw things way she wanted to see them. Perhaps the Mad Hatter wasn’t mad at all. Perhaps the Queen of Hearts was truly her school principal who enforced the rules or to detention you went.

Either way, Alice saw a world just as she wanted to see it, just as she was meant to see it. And that, my blog friends is the Wednesday wandering of the week.

Hugs,
Vicki

Tuesday Ten - All About Twilight

Hey SB Jane - LKap and I wanted to welcome you to the blog for the summer series of Tuesday Ten. Just a little info about you for our readers. SB Jane teaches in a land far, far away...wait that's not right, that's sort of the beginning of Star Wars. But she is a teacher it's just the far, far away part we're not sure about. Could be SciFi, where the kids float about their chairs while she teaches through a computer monitor, or maybe it's in the Wild West with everyone sittin' around the campfire and branding cattle. A small exclusive school with the coolest and zaniest kids could be her classroom. Or it could be a normal everyday classroom where the kids use #2 pencils and have to take test and have homework. One thing we know for sure, where ever SB Jane teaches the kids are lucky to have her.

Here's SB Jane and her first Tuesday Ten:

Thanks Vicki and LKap for having me here this summer. I'm looking forward to sharing my Tuesday Ten's with you and hoping you'll share some of yours with me.

In honor of tomorrow's release of Eclipse, I had to do my first Top Ten all about the Twilight series! So without further adue...here are the Top 10 things I love about the Twilight Saga

10: The easy way to now sort your friends (Team Edward or Team Jacob?)
9: Jacob's fight for Bella's affection.

8: While we're on the subject of Jacob...oooh those ABS!!

7: The incredible job Stephenie Meyer did of drawing us into the Twilight world - how many hours of sleep did I lose because I just couldn't put it down?!

6: The Cullen family - There are so many small details I could do an entire 10 on them.

5: The scene in the first book when Edward and Bella are at dinner.

4: Alice - she is just all around adorable, incredibly stylish, and the kind of girl it would be a blast to be friends with.

3: SPOILER ALERT!!! Bella and Edward's honeymoon

2: Edward's devotion to all things Bella

1: The fact that at midnight tonight I will be watching Eclipse!! This book was my favorite of the four and I can not wait to watch it come to life on the big screen.

What's your favorite Twilight moment? I can't wait to read your comments and I'll see you next Tuesday! :)

Ciao,
SB Jane

A Change Is Coming

So it’s been a while since I’ve blogged with any regularity. I could give you all the reasons (most if not all of them very valid), but I’ll spare you the boring details. Trust me, they’re not that exciting.

It’s not January so it’s way too late for New Year’s resolutions. And I’m not a true believer in them anyway since it’s usually things we want to do yet most often times do them for a few weeks, or months at best.

Instead I’m starting fresh. I’ve got a new line up and I’m thinking this will keep things running smoothly.

Here goes:

Monday Musings – thoughts about Writing…it is a writing blog after all. :)

Tuesday Ten – Ten things about, well pretty much anything. And during the summer we’ll have a guest blogger, SB Jane, who will be doing the Tuesday Ten.

Wednesday Wanderings – Rabbit trail day. Anyone who knows me – knows that I’m pretty good at rabbit trails. LKap’s been known to have a few rabbit trails which I think has come about from hanging with me.

Thursday Rambling – LKap’s day to tell it like she sees it, perhaps a rant, or really anything that’s on her mind.

Friday Fun – What kind of fun? Anything from jokes to yummy eye candy to what we’re reading at the time.


Tomorrow starts our Tuesday Ten with SB Jane and she’s talking all things Twilight. Come back to read her ten things and leave your own comments.

Yes I know, I’ve just started / restarted and today’s is supposed to be about writing, but really, you got start somewhere. :)

So, what do you think about the new line up? Is there something else you’d like to see?
And if you’d like to guest blog on one of the days please send me an email at vickilanewrites@yahoo.com. We’d love to have you.

Hugs,
Vicki

My Girls!!!

Since I haven't been writing lately - and I consider this blog another form of writing, I decided to let you see my girls...Aren't they adorable. ;-D




Brown/Red dog on her back is my daughters new pup - Betsey
This is when I love her best....LOL! No really she's a great dog, just lots of energy.

White/Blue (gray) dog is Pennelope
Again supposed to be my daughter's dog, but tends to be mine more. And yes that is a heart on her forehead.

Tan/white - this is my girl - Trixie
Who obviously is a ham for the camera. For a 3lb chiahuahua she's a little pistol, but then again I am her human mommy...LOL

Hope they made you smile like they make me smile.

Hugs
LKap

Women & Men, Oh How the Tides have Turned...

Was talking with a friend the other day that tripped this, as well as the conversations I've had with Princess and realized we, as women, have completely messed up men.

Yep, I said it!

Let's take the romance genre as an example of the man we want. Most of the women I know want an Alpha male. This is what they look for in a perfect hero. If he was a wuss the book (I'm pretty sure) wouldn't ever sell. They are looking for a male to stand up to them (and with them), but be man enough for us, as women, to be our own person.

Am I right? I know it's what I want.

But in saying that, I want to be my own person--with limitations. What do I mean by this?

I want to be treated like a woman should, like ladies used to be treated.

No, I don't want to do all the cooking and cleaning and taking care of the babies, but nor do I expect this completely from a male either. Don't get me wrong I've done it, and loved being a stay at home mom. But the flip side is that as a human being I didn't have the self-worth I needed to be a complete person. I like to work and bring home money and if someday I'm able to quit my job and work from home all the better. There is nothing, let me repeat this...NOTHING wrong with being a stay at home anything. It's the hardest job you'll ever have and I respect it.

What I don't respect is that there are more men out there thinking that women need to support them so that they can stay home and do nothing. I mean nothing. No cooking, no cleaning, no lawn work, no helping out while the woman works. This is not a real man to me.

Now, there is a caviat here - times are hard and there are those without work. Totally acceptable as long as they are willing to help out.

All of this became very clear to me when I was talking to my friend and my daughter's recount about the latest "tool" she's seeing. Most of them barely work, and even if they do I've found that she is still paying for things, like dinners, food for their apartments (ummm, she lives at home...), helping to pay their bills. And this one always gets me - she drives them around. WTH! So not a man of worth in my head.

This is my opinion of course--men should open doors for women (car, house, resturant...), Men should drive (I feel odd when I have to drive and HHB is in the passenger seat), which leads me to another new trend--men should come to the house to pick you up for a date, not the other way around, and men pay for dinners/movies, whatever. Sure if you're partners it comes out of the same account, but it's the principle in my mind.

Woman's rights haven't gotten us better pay, or equality - not that I can see. Sure, I can speak my mind and vote, but if there isn't a strong man treating me like a lady and respecting what I do--no thank you!

I have a great man of worth, so this isn't something I deal with except through friends and daughter, but I see/hear it so often it's getting painful.

Oh how the world changes. Yep, I'm sure glad I have an old fashioned man who believes that woman are still to be charished and taken care of. Am I old fashioned -- you bet! I want a man's man who works hard and takes care of his family and lets me help.

Whatever happened to the man who respected the woman? The cowboy on the white charger? The dominant (Alpha) to the submissive ? (couldn't resist throwing that in...LOL)

Are you seeing the same thing? Or have I lost my mind?

Hugs
LKap