T-shirt Toting Vet - Guest Blogger Sue F. Miller

I'd like to share with you something Sue F. Miller wrote and I had the opportunity to read. As my father and step-father are both vets of these wars I felt I had to share. In this way I hope to show my support once again (see blog post "Airports and Service Men 12-19-11) for those who are in military service to our country. So, to the guest post...

I quickly rushed me and my cart to the back of the Ingles grocery store in Black Mountain, North Carolina to ask the meat man a question. After he had given me my answer I headed to the deli side. As I neared the end of the fish section I passed a nicely dressed man, tall medium build, wearing a new khaki-green colored T-shirt. In the logo area I saw the Vietnam Veterans colors. He looked sharp.

As I passed him I remembered when my husband used to wear his cap with the Vietnam colors announcing he was a vet of this war. He stopped wearing it. When I asked why he told me he kept being stopped by other vets, so much so he could hardly go anywhere without being delayed while they shared their stories or asked questions. Where were you stationed? What was your group? What did you do? How long where you there? All of them eager to be a part of others who had shared their job of saving the American dream, because no one else wanted to know or listen. No one else understood what it meant to be a Vietnam Vet. And there were so many of them.

Now this man in the grocery store, by his shirt, told everyone he was a veteran of Vietnam. It quickly occurred to me he wanted to be acknowledged or he would not be wearing this shirt. I turned my cart around and came back to him and said “Welcome home.”

His arms opened wide in surprise. He looked at me, smiled a big smile as he said, “Thank you.”

I do not know what he thought, but I could tell he was grateful someone took the time to tell him this. It was important. This wanting to be seen and honored by the “Welcome home,” very few of our service people got this when they returned from Vietnam. To this day they are still locked into being stranded in Vietnam; the war that never was, the war where they lost their innocence. The war the American politicians said was not a real “war.” Crashing in on me from this one man in a grocery store was the pain from which my husband hid for years. This man in his new Vietnam War T-shirt brought home to me the enormous struggle my husband, and others I’m sure, went through to connect again with family and friends.

I found myself consumed with tears as I left him. Why am I crying? I do not know. As I got close to the deli I found my husband, he saw my tears flowing. I could not stop them. He took me in his arms as I sobbed my story of the T-shirt toting vet to him. He said, “That is how all of us feel.”

My first husband came back emotionally wounded from Korea, that other “war” that wasn’t deemed a “war.” Both of my husbands served in undeclared wars, wars which we did not win. So they were denied honor, medical and emotional help until now. In 2012 they are the older generation of veterans, and they have not forgotten. They know what our young men of today are going through, and what they will have to face when they return from combat. This older generation has a voice now they did not have in the 1950’s, ‘60’s and ‘70’s. They were too young and too wounded, and the worst thing of all, abandoned by their country. 

I am still crying as this huge debt still remains unpaid.

Images from:

 http://www.zazzle.com/vietnam+tshirts
 http://www.cafepress.com/mf/33955296/macv-vet_tshirt

Sherlock and Merlin

Benedict Cumberbatch "Sherlock"

Okay I’m going to post here about something silly but interesting to me because I’m a fan of both Benedict Cumberbatch (Can you believe his name is for real?!) and Colin Morgan. The first is the new “Sherlock” and the later is the new “Merlin.” At first I thought the one was the other though at an earlier age, but no. Not only are they not the same person, they are not related at all, which makes the look-alike’s a bit spooky to me because they are so popular at the same time!

 

Colin Morgan "Merlin"

I enjoy both series and watch them on Netflix. I’ve watched all the Sherlock they have so far, and almost all of the Merlin. Seeing these two actors I’ve been surprised not to hear any mention of how similar they look. Not exactly of course, but close enough!

Okay, here are some photos for examples. I look forward to seeing more of these two, and wonder what your opinion is?

Images from:

liveinternet.ru

fanpop.com

digitalspy.co.uk

benedictcumberbatch.co.uk

Tristan, a Musician

Music is a life force that not only humans produce. Nature has many ways to gentle a stressed out spirit, to give peace where no peace can be found. Those among us who can hear music in their minds and hearts and put it on paper, give voice to it, play an instrument that allows that one to share it with the rest of us I find reassuring and uplifting. These artists remind me of all the beauty and good in human kind. It is also an amazing ability to be able to produce, literally out of the air, a sound no one else has ever heard before. To put a string of words together which haven’t been strung quite that way before. As unique as a pearl necklace, sometimes at first glance we don’t notice the differences, only the similarities, but then the sound changes, creating a new image in our minds and we realize this isn’t a song we’ve heard before.

Here is a musician trying to live his dream: to make music and live by it. He has a gift with words, phrases, meanings and how they are put together. He is a poet with his poems strung on musical cords. There is a song “I Hope You Dance” sung by Lee Ann Womack that came out when my children were young. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV-Z1YwaOiw  I often listened to it and thought of my little ones and wished those same things for them, just as she did when singing it for her daughter. Tristan, this musician I am writing about here, is singing, playing and “dancing” with his music, the rhythm of his life, taking the risks and putting his love on the line. He is constantly finding an open door when one closes behind him. He keeps on going and I hope, later in life, he won’t have regrets because whether he wins or loses, he’s done what he set out to do. Try.

Here is a video of him and a friend singing a song he wrote. Also so a link to hear a bit more of his style. If you like it let him know on YouTube and FaceBook. https://www.facebook.com/tristanmusiconline. Pass it on and let your friends in on it too. If you don’t like it, well that’s okay too, because that is what creating is all about. You can never please everyone all the time. But who’s trying to do that anyway? Let the music play…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsIYiKyXZ54&feature=autoshare

 http://www.reverbnation.com/tristanmusiconline#

Florida Writers Conference

My how time flies when you don’t have internet. Ugh. Mine went down a few days ago and I just got it back yesterday afternoon. While waiting I did errands, went to my writers’ group meeting, and wrote. I’m averaging ten pages a day right now and that makes me so freaking happy! Today the muse is hiding but I’m getting ready to go and chase her.

For those of you who write please check out this video on Youtube. I hope you find it interesting and informative.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDSqqiGValE 

And on top of that, on October 18, 2012, multi-award-winning author R.J. Ellory will present a daylong seminar sponsored by the Florida Writers Foundation. This workshop is open to the public, so come with a friend. I am going to be there. 

This all day workshop will take place the day before the Florida Writer’s Association Annual Florida Writers Conference, being held October 19-21 in Lake Mary, Florida. I am very excited about this conference as it’s the first one I’ve attended in quite a few years, and to add to my leaping and bounding, Evangeline’s Miracle has been nominated for the conference’s Royal Palm Award! I hope you will all send positive thoughts to the novel and wish me luck in winning.

Now, I’m heading off in search of my missing muse…

 

Images from:

Floridawriters.net

Writing and a Puppy: My Muse...

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged here. I started a new blog about our new addition to the family, Napo, on the adventures of raising a puppy. We haven’t had a puppy for thirteen or more years and this is a new experience for me/us because the advice on doing everything with him, training, housebreaking, crate-ing, has changed so much.

I have been writing, just not here. My consultant on my current work-in-progress is VERY busy at the moment in London, so I’ve set about working on another WIP. This project has stewed in my mind for about three years and now seems ready to show itself. As I write and questions come along with the story, I fret a bit, searching for the answers. Then, as I keep my fingers working, I find the words just walk off the keyboard. This is the exciting part about writing a first draft.

I was going to say that I don’t like writing first drafts for the most part. That I really like the editing part that comes in all the proceeding drafts, but I realize when the story comes in a flow, that isn’t really true. I like both for different reasons. First drafts are dizzyingly hard but necessary and exhilarating when they come in waves of fantastic production. I know I’m not alone in thinking of writing as hard. Even when you love something, it doesn’t mean it’s easy. Like Napo. I adore him, love him, can’t get enough of him, but housebreaking him, teaching him what is acceptable and what isn’t, is hard. Discipline is hard, for me to keep with myself in my writing, for me to teach him, but in both cases it must be done for the outcome to be satisfactory. I learned this with raising my two children. I learn this with each novel I write, again and again. It is an ongoing process, the “Neverending Story”, ha ha.

With Napo to keep me company during the long days alone at my desk, I find I am re-energized. The words come; the story makes its way out of my mind/heart and onto my screen/paper. I really do LOVE this part of a first draft. Filling up a blank sheet, and knowing there are more words coming, is literally thrilling and addictive.

This is what writing fulfills in me. Accomplishment. When the words flow, I feel alive and worthy. I won’t celebrate yet, not until this first difficult part of the job is done. Then the champagne will flow and I’ll give little Napo a treat. Because by the end of this first draft, he better be housebroken too!  

Images from:

tessfragoulis.wordpress.com

unm.edu

New Website Look At www.lisabuiecollard.com

I am SO excited! I hope you will tell all your friends (not only to ready my book) but to visit my website NOW and check out the new look and feel of it. We’ve been working on it for quite some time and it is finally up!

The new site will also integrate with this blog and my Facebook page at

 https://www.facebook.com/EVANGELINESMIRACLE
Also, Evangeline's Miracle is available in hard copy from my site as well as Amazon.com. Ebook is available on Amazon.com as well.

If you are looking for a website designer, check out http://www.ink2art.com  !!!

Guest Post - Marjorie Buie-Collard, my daughter

 

Last night I went to go see “The Dark Night Rises.” I loved it. The way Tom Hardy played Bane was perfect. The cadence of his voice didn’t fit his persona but that fit his character perfectly. Especially towards the end of the film when you discover exactly what kind of man he is, the difference in voice and body means that much more to the audience and their feeling for him. At least it did to me.

 

But after watching it, all I could think about was how no one could hold a candle to Heath Ledger’s “Joker.” And that got me thinking about Heath Ledger. I grew up with him. I remember seeing him in “Ten Things I Hate About You” and instantly falling in love (which is exactly what young girls do with the newest heartthrob). Later I saw him in “The Four Feathers.” The truth is that after seeing “The Dark Knight Rises” I am feeling a huge sense of grief.

I grew up with Heath Ledger, and honestly I feel as if his portrayal of the Joker was the tip of the iceberg that was his talent. I saw his evolution. Ten Things I Hate About You, The Four Feathers, A Knight’s Tale, Casanova, Brokeback Mountain, The Dark Knight, and ultimately The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Just to name a few. I feel privileged to have been able to watch his evolution from heart throb to actor. A real actor. I feel that there are actors, and there are actors. Heart throb actors with pretty face and a dazzling smile appear in flick after flick. They stay pretty for a while, and disappear. Unlike Leo DiCaprio. He made women swoon in Titanic. And he had me on the edge of my seat during Inception and Shutter Island. He evolved. And Heath Ledger? He instilled in my mind what terror looked like. Sounded like. I am grieving for the loss of a brilliant young actor who, though I never knew him personally, I felt connected to.

I met him when I was nine years old and I miss him. I didn’t think much about it at the time of his death I guess. But I do right now. His shoes were large ones to fill, and Tom Hardy did a damn good job. But I feel as if the world loved and let Heath Ledger go too easily. Young talent has been used, wasted, and lost. And the world grieves for a week and moves on. But why must it be lost at all? Why does our society let this happen?! Heath Ledger. Brittney Murphy. River Phoenix. Tupak Shakur (Who rapped about what truly mattered, not what was simply convenient or popular). And that’s simply naming those that come immediately to mind. And those are just the ones who were famous. How much young talent, potential, and hope is killed every day? The Bible says that it is the indifference of good men that allows evil to continue, to thrive. Not a direct quote, just an interpretation.

Tupak Shakur

My grief comes from the loss of someone I loved, but also from the loss of so many sons and daughters that parents must grieve for before the right and good time, no matter whether they are actors, singers, soldiers or nine-to-fivers. I grieve for the world we live in that allows it. People can say “No! That’s not true!” But it is. Loopholes in the system. Justice being confined by an infinite amount of red tape. Our society allows it. If it didn’t, it wouldn’t be happening. Children wouldn’t be dying. Talent wouldn’t be snuffed out and buried long before its time.

Photos from:

http://www.en.wikipedia.org

http://www.superherostuff.com

http://www.popwatch.ew.com

http://www.thehiphopupdate.com