Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Posting Progress

Sorry for the absence of a post yesterday but there were technical difficulties I still quite haven't figured out. So, today is just letting you know I am working on it, and also to let you know something interesting is coming, I hope.

Tomorrow, peoples.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Rethinking

I have been organizing and re-organizing my thoughts about what I should and should not do next with this blog, and am currently stymied.

*******

This blog is OPEN TO SUBMISSIONS on Wednesdays! Any takers?

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Alive and Breathing

Today I can honestly say I feel like an almost pain free person! This past week (so far) has been one of those horribly cold weeks which sends my arthritis into absolute hissy fits and causes me to either lie flat on my back and moan (but not quite curse my fate), or sit in my chair and do pretty much the same thing.

When these flare ups come there isn't a normal amount of pain I can expect. The pain varies from going-to-make-you-pass-out-little-missy to just-going-to-stay-here-and-annoy-you-for-hours-on-end. Both are...unpleasant. When it hits the annoying stage there just isn't much that can help ease it: it is annoying and consistent in its annoyance. When it is PAIN it is downright impossible to breathe almost. Since Saturday night it has been fluctuating between these two extremes and it hasn't been pleasant. So, I have watched movies and not done any writing, which annoys me too.

Now I am feeling better. The pressure has changed and the temps have warmed up, which is really good for the old joints.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

???

I don't get it.

Monday, February 20, 2006

wants

I want a new back.

I want a new shoulder.

I really want the yuckiness to ease up just a wee bit more so I can say I can actually relax.

Snap Shots

Sitting quietly at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee before her, Alison watched the steam rise from the dark liquid. It was one of those "snap shot" moments she always enjoyed. Outside her window snow was piled up for six inches and the dogs were busily playing in it, romping and chasing each other. The sound of cars was joyously absent because of the snow. Not many would get out in weather such as this. It was a blessing for the most part.

Gary had headed out before day break to make it to work. He took the snowmobile this time. He had to take it in to work for about two days out of the year. He had already taken it out six times this winter.

Jenjen and Sarah came running for the back door. Alison smiled as she opened it just as it would seem they would both slam into it. It always amazed her how much they trusted her to have her eye always upon them and the door to miraculously open. What would they do in a couple of weeks with just Gary to take care of them for about a week while she was in the hospital?

Alison pushed the thought from her mind.

Saturday, February 18, 2006

Xia dai Gao Fei, or Full Contact, a Review


Full Contact is one of those movies you will watch and either like, or not. It stars Chow Yun-Fat as a thief with a good heart. He plays Godfrey who is a kick-ass martial artist and looks really good riding a motorcycle in tight jeans. I was quite surprised at how good he looked in this movie. I am used to seeing him in the police dramas where he is playing a hard smoking, gun toting cop. In those movies he is in a three piece suit or at least a suit jacket. For Full Contact (done in 1993) he is younger, and giving a tough showing for his character of Godfrey who is double crossed by his best friend Sam, who even marries Godfrey's "widow", Mona, and makes a life for himself in the criminal world in Hong Kon.

The character of "Judge" played by Simon Yam is one of the most flamboyant homosexuals I have seen portrayed in a while. His boyfriend is so nelly you can't help but want to walk up and slap him for no other reason than being nelly! (There are some of you out there who will understand exactly what I am talking about!) And you would crack up doing it!

Judge is a bad guy. He makes no pretenses about it. He has stolen some ammo from the United States government and plans on selling it for a considerable profit. Godfrey helped to steal this ammo and was shot, by Sam (Anthony Wong ) when the robbery was complete. Why was Godfrey shot? Because it was a personal favor to Hung, another really bad guy. Judge agreed. It was business.

Godfrey escapes a burning house with the daughter of the innocent family that Judge and his gang killed. The girl is badly burned. When Godfrey is in the boat escaping the bad guys and fast approaching police in Thailand, which is where the story begins, he discovers a little black and white dog that doesn't have a name apparently and so the three of them make it to safety to a Buddhist monk.

The monk helps Godfrey's wounds heals and Godfrey, in turn, helps to take care of the girl.

Through the entire movie you can see how Godfrey wants to make everything right. He wants to give the girl money to make up a little for her being so badly burned and for the killing of her parents, which he feels is his fault. He wants to show Sam people can be good, and, as a thief, no one should ever get hurt during a robbery. It is more than just honor among thieves but "honesty." As for Mona, Godfrey is still very much in love with her, but he lets her make up her own mind, after all - he didn't get in touch with her to let her know he was still alive.

There is a lot of action in this movie. There is a lot of blood. There is a rawness that may turn some people off. Through the entire film there is an honesty of brilliant character that simply cannot be denied. It is a great action movie. It is also a very thinking movie in the way Godfrey goes about his revenge. It is a love story with many complications.

I say, see it. It's good.

Friday, February 17, 2006

Poetry

Turmoil
By H.A. Handy
Copyright (c) 2006 by H.A. Handy


Hurting
Like the slow ache of death itself
Swirling into nothingness
Existing in everything

Rejected
Accepted
Words meaning nothing
Yet somehow everything

Lost
Inside and out
Torn in two by
This

Feeling
Wondering where to begin
How to end
Is there an answer

Because
There doesn't seem to be
A beginning
To anything

Grief
On so many levels
Trying to hide its result
Trying to forget

Times
Past in shadows and happy mists
Voices that still rumble
With laughter and joy in my dreams

Causing
Me to wonder
Where am I supposed to be
In the present

Past
Turmoils bubbling from the depths
Joys rising and falling like waves
Lost inside everything.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Girlie Goodness and Thoughts of the Random

It is late, yes, but I did not want to retire and have my dear little blog without having an update, and, quite honestly, I just wanted to put down a few thoughts before going to bed.

Thought #1 - I had my hair done today. I had it cut and styled. It doesn't look exactly like what I want (the Madonna hairstyle of current video goodness), because my hair was very damaged and needed some TLC in the cutting department. So, it is feathered and leathered and it looks cool. Now all I need is hairspray, mousse, and some hot curlers to keep everything looking the way it does now, or, should I dare say, even better? When I was through with my hair I went out into the mall and wandered over to the nail place and made myself an appointment to have my nails done and my eyebrows waxed. It is time I actually start taking care of myself as a girl, you know. It has been a long time coming between actually taking care of myself and just letting things fall as they may.

Thought #2 - I have a new favorite show. I haven't mentioned it before to anyone yet because it sort of makes me blush. The show is Project Runway. The show where new designers come out and try for their fashion designers creds. It really is a good show and I have fallen in love with it. I hope there will be a third season.

Night all.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

My World

I have two on-line homes it appears. Here and over at Livejournal.com. I have two places I adore, simply because they are mine. They are mine just as writing is mine and no one else can really share in the creating of a story, but they can share in the reading of the story. I am beginning to believe whole heartedly in Neil Gaiman's ideas about writing - you have to have an ego, and a big one. Plus, you don't always take yourself too seriously, that's when people screw up about their writing, like Anne Rice did (does?).

Currently I am preparing to work on a new piece I am going to call "I Am Edgar." I have never put down a title before, really, not here. I've always had initials. Why am I changing my mind now? Because if Cherie Priest can do it, so can I. I really am more confident of late. Besides, how am I going to brag and complain if you don't know what I am talking about?! Also, this title is shorter. It doesn't take an entire minute to type it out. This helps immensely.

This one is not science fantasy, but, I think, full on science fiction. I'm not exactly sure where it is going, but I do have an opening scene. As time progresses and as the story unfolds, more details could come of it. I'm happy with this story, but also a little concerned: It feels BIG. It doesn't feel very much like a short story, but it could possibly be. Also in the Writing World I need to work on WHRTTT (it's a LONG title).

Can I do the Cherie Priest thing and work on two books (oh no! I said it!) at once?

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

The Real Saint Valentine

In roaming the Internet for the history of Saint Valentine, I was amazed at how much hooey there is associated with Saint Valentine's Day. It seems people are more ready to believe the saint never existed or that this is just a nice "Christianized" version of a pagan holidy. What was most shocking is how the Catholic Church has relegated Saint Valentine and Saint Nicholas to "possibly" having existed and they have been taken out of the list of Saints recognized by the Catholic Church!

Still, some people have located the true story, or as true as we can get it these days, of Saint Valentine and this site truly has a wonderful way of wording the story. It sounds almost verbatim from the teaching of my priest.

God Bless you Saint Valentine!
History tends to be confusing and vague, but despite several different possibilities for his identity, it is believed that the actual Valentine who inspired this holiday was a priest during the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius II.

Valentine, or Valentinus is credited, along with St Marius and his family, with assisting the Christian martyrs during their persecution by Claudius. At that time it was a crime to provide aid and comfort to Christians. Claudius had also issued an edict forbidding marriage. He believed married men made poor soldiers because they grew attached to their families. Therefore, to guarantee a steady supply of soldiers for his empire, Claudius abolished marriage and cancelled all engagements.

Valentine invited young lovers to come to him in secret, where he joined them in the sacrament of matrimony. Claudius learned of this "friend of lovers," and had Valentine brought before him. The emperor, impressed with the young priest's dignity and conviction, attempted to convert him to the Roman gods to save him from otherwise certain execution. Valentine refused to renounce Christianity and instead, attempted to convert the emperor, thereby signing his death warrant.

Thrown into a dungeon, and tended by a jailer named Asterius, the young priest had only the barest necessities of life. His one comfort while awaiting execution was his friendship with Asterius' blind daughter. She befriended the kindly priest by bringing him food and delivering messages for him.

In the last days of his life, Valentine, through his deep and abiding faith, miraculously restored the sight of the jailer's daughter. He also converted Asterius and his daughter to Christianity, an act which would result in their eventual execution by Claudius.

On the eve of his execution the priest wrote a farewell message to the girl and signed it "From Your Valentine," a phrase that would live on long after its author died. He was beaten and beheaded on February 14th, 273 AD/CE, outside the Flaminian Gate (now the Porta del Popolo but known for a time as the Porta Valentini) in Rome. According to legend, a pink almond tree, a symbol of abiding love, blossomed near his grave (the girl planted it there by his grave other sources say).

In the 4th century Pope Julius I built a church in honor of Valentine. In the 7th century Pope Honorius I restored it and it became a very popular pilgrimage site.

The valentine has become the universal symbol of friendship and affection shared each anniversary of the priest's execution -- Valentine's Day. Valentine has also become the Patron of those couples who are engaged to be married.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.(John 15.13)

Monday, February 13, 2006

84 CHARING CROSS ROAD, A Review

Sometimes it is wonderful to just sit quietly and watch a good movie without explosions or intrigue of the dastardly sort, but intrigue of the heart and head as you get to know someone. This is what the movie 84 Charing Cross Road does without being a romance, which is absolutely wonderful.

It stars Anne Bancroft as an American writer Helen Hanff who sparks up a correspondence with bookseller Frank P. Doel who is played by Anthony Hopkins. Helen is in New York City and Frank is in London, England. Through their letters and his sending Helen books, we see the friendship grow and sparkle and the people learn how to be friends long distance.

84 Charing Cross Road is based upon a true story and it has the feel of something that could be true. There isn't any romance possible, because of the distance, but at the same time there is a deep love involved between these two people, and actually the entire book shop because as acquaintances grow they tend to pull in other people.

If you want a good story, and good acting without having to figure something out (I know, it doesn't happen too often, but it is fun when it does), then watch this movie.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

SILVER HAWK, A Review

"Did your crack-crack attack really shatter the glass?"

"I'm not sure if it was my crack-crack attack or the force of Wolfe's punch!"


Michelle Yeoh does a wonderful job portraying the masked superhero type woman in this wonderful martial arts movie.

As a little girl, LuLu (Michelle Yeoh) trains at a Shaolin temple in martial arts and her best friend, Richman (Richie Jen), is always going on about standing up for justice and portrays himself as the superhero to all of his school, but when it came down to the fighting it was LuLu who really did it, and enjoyed it.

The movie opens with Silver Hawk having a major fight with guys in a semi-truck. Of course the fight went outside while the truck was still moving and she was having an obvious good time in beating up on the bad guys. It was so bad of a beating the bad guys actually tied themselves up! And just what was inside the semi that they would attempt to fight so hard for? A panda cub which Silver Hawk got to play with for a little while before heading on her merry way back to her other life of being an heiress.

In the meantime, Superintendent Richman (Richie all grown up now) is having a hard time finding this Silver Hawk and arresting her for being a vigilante. Perhaps it is needless to say his martial arts are still not as good as LuLu's was.

The two friends meet and Richman does not recognize his long lost friend for a while, but when he does, their friendship is quickly rekindled and he vents to LuLu about how Silver Hawk is causing him problems. Of course, LuLu considers Silver Hawk to be a crime fighting good guy and tells him so, but sweetly and with a beautiful smile.

Of course there are bad guys in this movie - a guy, Wolfe, who has prosthetic arms and a big black guy with some nasty moods who is none other than Michael Jai White from Spawn fame. His addition to the movie was actually quite good and added a different dimension to the movie itself.

Yes, the movie itself is campy, it has props and wonderful wire fu, but the story in and of itself is excellent and well told. There are a lot of flicks I would not like to watch again once I have seen them, but this is one where I would like to own and see it again, and probably again.

Silver Hawk is one of those perfect movies to see when there is snow on the ground and you want a good movie to enjoy. So, go out, rent it, buy it, enjoy it.

Friday, February 10, 2006

Mindless Observation

I have a cold. A nice fresh cold. I feel like crud. Reading has been something my eyes just don't want to do, so the TV has been on and I have actually been watching it. At first I didn't realize I had thoughts roaming through my head, like ideas for a story, thoughts of recipes, ideas for different spice combinations, etc.. It surprised me.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Things and Their Mommas

You know, it almost galls me how things can get blown out of proportion. It appears that if you draw a cartoon about Muhammad people can become violent, but if you draw a cartoon of Jesus, which happens every single day somewhere, then it is taken and life goes on. Some laugh at it, some just shrug and go on. It seems the Muslim world can poke fun at anything and everything, but can't take it back. I think this whole entire mess is quite out there, and not in that cool, artistic sort of way. Deal with it people.

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/world/religion

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

"I'll be sore in the mornin'."

That's what Hellboy says once he has finished fighting the big baddie in Hellboy and it sort of fits for me today.

This past weekend was the celebration planned for Hubby's birthday, but that didn't happen the way it was planned because there was un-planned-for snow which just took the fluff out of most of it, but Hubby has had a magnificent time this weekend which was what was wanted.

For myself, I am looking forward to just relaxing for today and tomorrow and letting everything else just come as it should beginning on Thursday. Lazy? Possibly. Necessary? I lean toward, YES.

Monday, February 06, 2006

We Lost It Again

Yes, we most certainly did. We lost the portable phone again, and it is the only phone we have in the house that rings. And now it's dead. It's dead and it doesn't ring any more which means the house phone, land line is pretty much useless except for out-going calls. I have threatened going out and buying another phone, one that will ring when someone calls, but I haven't done it yet. Part of me wants to keep the silence and the phone quiet in the house. Another part of me wants the phone to ring so I will know when someone is calling me. So many parts to one person and a problem. Isn't that always the way it is?

I know in the end we will find the portable phone and be able to put it on the charger and have something that will ring when someone calls, or I will actually break down and go and get another phone, perhaps two (one portable and one cheapo for the computer area). Right now, however, there is silence for the most part in the house when the television isn't on or I don't have music going. It is relaxing that way, but, sadly, it can't remain, not forever. It would get quite dull around here if I couldn't talk to people in the end.

Saturday, February 04, 2006

In just being bored and actually relaxing around the computer, I found some interesting things. What do you think?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=326072154999008590 - I have been to martial arts demos before and am always impressed by things I see there. I am really glad someone put this up.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=468519686284969837 - When we used to do this back home the sheriff got called!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2899771876757809023&q=funny - Just too funny! Soldiers burning weed while reporter tries to report on it! I'm sorry just too too funny!

Friday, February 03, 2006

Loftiness and Chicken Fried Rice

Today I had some chicken fried rice for lunch from one of my favorite Chinese places. In the fortune cookie was the following:

Your future is as boundless as the lofty heaven.

This really impressed me and made me think. I think Iam going to tape this one to the monitor so I can have it in plain sight for a good long time. I need to be reminded of this and of reaching for all the dreams.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

A Look At Self

A Look at Self
By H.A. Handy
Copyright (c) 2006 by H.A. Handy

Time and space swirl and mix
Creating memories, creating who we are

No wonder it is hard to change,
Though not an impossibility.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Have You Ever Noticed the Words?

Pure Imagination
ARTIST: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Music and lyrics: Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley


Come with me and you'll be
In a world of pure imagination
Take a look and you'll see
Into your imagination

We'll begin with a spin
Trav'ling in the world of my creation
What we'll see will defy
Explanation

If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Want to change the world, there's nothing to it

There is no life I know
To compare with pure imagination
Living there, you'll be free
If you truly wish to be

If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Want to change the world, there's nothing to it

There is no life I know
To compare with pure imagination
Living there, you'll be free
If you truly wish to be