An Author Is Coming! An Author is Coming!

Author Alert (woooop woooop woooop!)* (What? That's my best Star Trek red alert sound.)

Sara Walter Ellwood, contemporary western romance author will be stopping by next week to run the gauntlet of Tongue in Cheek author interview questions as well as the sea monkey S.A.T.s. You don't want to miss that!



*See? I sounded just like Star Trek.



And you doubted me. Ha!

Those Blues Storytellers

A few years ago I wrote a small post on my admiration for the blues and their creative turns of phrases. But the storytelling that goes on in those songs always astounds me. The vivid descriptions with few words is something I hope to come close to some day in my own writing.

Here's Shemekia Copeland, an outstanding blues singer whom I've admired for years, performing Never Going Back to Memphis.



The full version of this song on her album is a little over seven minutes and well worth it.

My favorite lines-
There wasn't a thing that man couldn't sell ya.

Cops walked in
Dog pullin' on a chain
Lookin' for a woman ran in from the rain
They sat out front eating fried chicken
While I sat shivering in a shed out behind the kitchen.

And that final verse gives me goosebumps
 
The river is risin'
Sky's gettin' darker
My mind keeps playin'
some old Junior Parker
Three days waitin'
All alone by the tracks
Lyin' to myself that man's coming back
He said he'd come around unless he was dead
guess he took another woman or a bullet in the head
I'm never goin' back to Memphis.

I love to listen to the lyrics of a song. The Man usually disregards most of the lyrics and focuses in on the melody. What do you primarily tune in to when listening to music? Are there any songs right now that you're really into? I'd love to expand my repertoire. So lay them on me in the comments.

Damn Deer

So I got T-boned by a deer tonight as I ferried the oldest Urchin to dance class. It ran right into the side of the minivan, crunching the handle of the sliding door.

Sigh.

There's still a tuft of fur jammed in the side of said door handle. It was one of those times when there was nothing I could have done. It shot out of the woods at top speed like the hounds of Hell were on its heels. Or at least a pack of ill-tempered and slightly rabid squirrels. And head butted the side of the van. I saw it get up and move off in the rear view as I kept going.

At least the person tailgating me in the snowfall didn't run it over. They were (barely) able to stop in time.

All in all, it could have been much worse.

So, any deer collisions in your past?

Dancing Inspiration

I've been having a better 2013. Thanks for asking. My writing has been progressing, and I've been writing much more consistently this month.

But I've also become much busier. I need to take my mother's advice when someone asks me to volunteer for one more thing. She told me, "No, is a complete sentence." No further explanation or expounding necessary.

So here's what extra I'm doing in 2013. I'm the president of my local chapter of RWA. (Which has really taken up a good chunk of my time with some new projects/problems dropped in my lap.) I'm coordinating my daughters' school off site environmental field day. Including the development of curriculum related activities/outdoor lessons that are aligned to the state Science and Environmental standards. Which I will then teach volunteers how to implement. Provided I can round up said volunteers. And I volunteer in both my daughter's classrooms at least once a week.

This isn't including all the taxiing of the urchins to their Brownie meetings/activities, dance classes and public library activities.

I think I'm going to have to disappoint the blue haired old lady contingency and bow out of the New Years Eve committee for this year.

So I was looking for some inspiration and came across this.



Which reminded me of this video by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.



Which had me remembering this happy skippy little ditty by them that I love.



Which lifted my spirits and made me want to get up and dance on my own.

So life is good. Busy, but good. Hope 2013 is treating you right!

Got much going on right now? Something making you get up and dance? Do share!

Girls Night In at Chez Quinn

The Man, God love him, works full time teaching and part time on the camera crew for the local AHL (hockey) team.Which means he works for them on weekends.

Which means the Urchins and I get to do special Mommy girly things. Now if you've been around here for a while, you know several things. A) I'm not right in the head. 2) I'm not very girly (I get a haircut once a year and ride a motorcycle for crying out loud.) III) I work hard to not be my demographic. I run around yelling SKEW! SKEW! wherever I go. It's my goal in life to be that one outlying statistic that throws off everyone's data.

So it will come as no surprise that Girls Night In was quite different than what poor unsuspecting people who stumble upon this blog might think. But as we all know, Tongue in Cheek is not for the faint of heart or the uninitiated.

To the question, "What do you want to do for girls night in?" I receive the instantaneous and deafening duet of "STAR WARS!!!!!!!!!!" (yes, it needs that many exclamation marks to really get across the decibel level that was reached.)

And so it was that after an all-Urchin request dinner of peanut butter sandwiches on potato rolls and new England clam chowder. Washed down with peanut brittle and fruit leather. (I abstained from the fruit leather.) We snoogled up on the couch under copious blankets with each other and our stuffed animal of choice and watched the original Star Wars.

The oldest Urchin, who is eight, watches in enraptured and reverent silence for the duration. With only a few words of praise for the cleverness of Princess Leia and the dreaminess of Luke Skywalker.

The youngest Urchin, however, cannot last more than a minute without asking something. It's mainly, "What did R2D2 just say?" Or the closely related, "What did Chewbacca just say?" To which after 100 askings I replied, "He said, 'tell the Youngest Urchin to be quiet.'" Which elicits some very Chewbacca like noises and a brandished fist from the five year old.

But a good time was had by all. And the next morning, I initiated them into the wonderful world of Mark Hamill on The Muppet Show.



I thought the oldest Urchin was going to keel over from laughing so hard. A girl after my own heart.

I have to admit, I am of an age where I saw the original Star Wars and this episode of the Muppet Show when they came out. And they made a big impression on me. But now, hands down, my favorite viewings of these were this past weekend.

So what are your fondest Star Wars memories?

T.i.C. 2012 in Review- Finally

So have you noticed that I haven't been very keen on reviewing last year? The hostile polka takeover notwithstanding, it was one of the hardest years of my life. I'm trying to change my perception of it and look on the bright side. My oldest daughter and my father DIDN'T die in the same week. And I had a whole extra year with my beloved dog. But I'm not quite there yet. So let's do this thing.

Here is a truncated version of what went on at Tongue in Cheek during 2012.

January
I handed over my taxidermied 'Possum Queen crown to the 2012 winner. I extolled the virtues of the band OK Go. And I gave the 2011 wrap up. Also late. Hmm, I'm seeing a trend.

February
In February, the first rumblings of discontent in the Eastern European Polka community reached my trailerhood. I got an awesome Valentine's Day present from The Man. I ruminated on the different search items that got you to me (including possum ninja and big belly overalls.). And I had my annual Groundhog Day freakout.

March
The Polka terrorists took over Tongue in Cheek. (I advise against watching the clip. I'd hate to be responsible for what happens.) I was able to get a message out to my loyal readers that the Polka Mafia was going down. The Polka Empire struck back. But the gnomes and rednecks were victorious in the end. Though not without some casualties.

April
The party celebrating the definitive victory over the lederhosen wearing enemy went on for days. I finally had to boot out the squatters. Then since you, gentle readers, were exposed to large doses of polka due to the takeover, I felt it my duty to stage a group polka intervention. I then obsessed about my writing.

May
In May I went to the local roller derby to watch a bout. It was awesome. My BFF went mad, demanding that we would be going mechanical bull riding. Then my father had a heart attack. And then just a few days later my oldest had an emergency appendectomy that became very complicated.

June
Got the oldest Urchin home and repaid all your kind words with reruns for the rest of the month. Sorry about that, but things were a bit busy with recovery efforts.

July
The oldest Urchin had a six week recovery time, plus easing back into things slowly after that, so July is also a bit sparse. Though, of course the sea monkeys, who always fight dirty, made a territory grab that month. They expanded their terrain from the upstairs bathtub to the fish tank. They are still continuing their efforts to control the freakishly large carny goldfish living there.

August
August brought a real grab bag of musings. I postulated on Sea Monkeys and carny food as I prepared for the fair in the back yard. I went to the roller derby again. And I harkened back to my old boy bands of yore. Menudo anyone?

September
September brought more roller derby, vigilante knitters, and more Sea Monkeys. Among other things.

October
In October, I showed signs of getting old, my mother came to visit, spurring a new hobby interest that involves roadkill, and I wished you a happy Halloween Ray Harryhousen style.

November
Author Delynn Royer stopped by and answered the standard interview questions here at Tongue in Cheek. She scored well on the Sea Monkey S.A.T. portion. I shared some music from modern blues singer, Seasick Steve and bemoaned the evilness of voice mail. I supported some local authors (Natalie Damschroder and Megan Hart) at their book signing. And strange things were heard from the back of the minivan.

December
I lost the best dog I'd ever known to cancer and I turned into a chrysalis. Again.

So there it is in all its nut shell glory. A brief recap of 2012 here at Tongue in Cheek. I hope last year treated you better than it did me.

Here's to a happy, healthy 2013 for all!

Bratz-Precursors to the Alien Takeover

It has long been my belief that Bratz were invented to smooth the way for a hostile alien invasion. Their rise in popularity will make the masses much more accepting of their new alien overlords.

Check out the similarities in their physical features.

Pic from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bratz

Note both possess the abnormally large slanted eyes. The lack of a definitive nose. The tiny body with huge head. Glam up this green one and you'd have a ringer. Wait, they already did that!

pic from the bestdolldress

So now they are beginning the subjugation of the younger generation through savvy toy marketing. You can tell they've done their homework. They know us well.

I of course, envision something like this happening in the very near future.

And have already begun programming my own urchins against the indoctrination of alien space invaders. Every time they see a Bratz or their equally evil counterparts from monster high, they immediately say things like, "Eeeew, Mommy. Look! They're so ugly!"

And it makes my heart glow with paternal pride that I have given them the rudimentary defense against the impending alien invasion.

Up soon, the Tongue in Cheek 2012 year in review post. Until then, Citizens!