Patrick O'Scheen's Blog, page 17

100 Words— The Wedding/Dark Secrets 5/11/13

(prompt photo 5/11/13)
Dark Secrets

The cathedral was empty this Saturday morning. A tuxedo clad man sat glumly in the rear pew, head in hands. Only a brief few hours earlier there had been a crowd. The bright sun had shown in through the multicolored windows adding the air of a festival. The church had been filled with the gaiety of new hope. The people had laughed and whispered quietly among themselves. The light blue dresses mixed with the black formal suits and all of his family had packed into one side of the hall, waiting, hoping– delighted that he was finally going to marry.

For more 100 word posts — http://everydaygyaan.com/2013/05/100-words-on-saturday-week-10/

the Versatile Blogger Award!!!

Thank you Stephen Tremp for your kind support in giving me this award. Now as a relatively new blogger I’m just beginning to understand awards and how they work…so everyone forgive me if I make a few mistakes. I’m err NOT very versatile!

Here’s the rules!

Rules of The Versatile Blogger Award, should you choose to accept it. You don’t have to accept if you don’t want to:

1. Display the award logo on your blog.

2. Thank and link back to the person who nominated you.

3. State seven things about yourself.

4. Nominate fifteen bloggers for this award.

5. Notify those bloggers of the nomination by linking to one of their specific posts so they get notified by pingback.

Now for the seven things about me…

I am painfully shy! That’s right and I know some of you don’t believe this. Every time I’m on the internet I am working on this problem. If I can put myself out on-line, maybe someday I can do it in a non-virtual reality. So–in the mean time–I can just hope that everyone is patient with me.

I blush easily. Yes…pink. Maybe this goes well with my first revelation of shyness. I will never be able to write truly erotic material because I would blush to death.

I love cats. Now this comes as no surprise to most of you!

I love dragons…again no great reveal.

Only 3 more….

I hate to talk about pain, hospitals, operations…if they are my own. Oh, I’ll be happy to discuss yours!

I love children. No, not for lunch or as appetizers. In general I like kids…maybe its the profound honesty they bring to any situation or the unconditional love.

I walk, run and even fly in my dreams… I can even visit friends and lovers sometimes. Yes…that was me eating Tacos on the sun!

Now comes the hard part… Nominations. I want to nominate everyone I know and –in fact– I may need to—-to hit 15! there is no ranking to this order. Just random as you ran barefoot through my thoughts….

1. Francis Guenette — she is an amazingly versatile blogger!

2. Jennifer Garcia — again a wonderful set of skills

3. Laura Crean – I am jealous of her abilities

4. Steph Rogers — what did she say?

5. Valerie Davies –amazing posts

6.Mona Rodrigues — a talented write and relatively new blogger

7. Sarah Remy kind friend!

8. Vincent Mars — because he deserves many hats

9. Debbie Doglady — because she isn’t a catlady

10. Charmaine Gordon –I can’t even begin to say enough wonderful things about Charmaine!

11. Ella Quinn –simply because she is Ella!

12.Mona Karel – a talented lady

13. Charlee – great sci-fi smart girl

14. EM Castellan - because I have been reading her blog forever

15.Last here but far from least…a man with a great book!

Terry Gildow terry deserves some recognition.

Super Sweet Blogger Award

Apparently Marian Allen thinks I’m sweet… So I’m accepting the sweet blogger award.

I want to thank all of the little people and the gummy bears and especially Marian!

Thank you so much!

Cookies or cake?

I’m a cake man…love that sticky sweet!

Chocolate or Vanilla?

Pistachio hits the spot! What can I say I’m a nut!

Favorite Sweet Treat?

I like Pina Coladas and walks on the beach….

When do you crave sweet things the most?

Is this really a question you ask a guy?

Sweet nick Name?

I don’t suppose Kitty or Stripes count…

For the Award, here’s how we play! Winner takes all!!!!! Oh, wait never mind— different game!

The Rules:

Thank the Super Sweet Blogger that awarded you.

Answer five Super Sweet questions.

Include the Super Sweet Blogging Award image in your blog post.

Nominate five other bloggers.

Notify your nominees on their blog.

The Five Super Sweet Questions:

Cookies or Cake?

Chocolate or Vanilla?

Favorite Sweet Treat?

When do you crave sweet things the most?

Sweet Nick Name?

I would like to nominate:

Kandy Kay Scaramuzzo –Even her name is sweet!

Corinne Rodrigues —a super nice friend

Vrindavan Rao –A wonderful person.

Galen Pearl –a wise choice.

Irene Cortez — a super sweet lady.

Do You Like Trains?

(courtesy of Wikipedia)

I have always been excited by the rumble and fury, the unknown destination. As a child I would stand by the tracks and court disaster–trying to flatten a small object like a penny. Even now that I am older, if I hear the whistle I search out the engine. They have never lost their fascination.

I suppose blog trains are slightly different. Certainly they are easier to board and more comfortable. I enjoy the imagery of watching the country pass by outside the window while the constant clack of the tracks resounds beneath your feet. there is always something exciting about a train ride! It carries the air of vacation, the promise of new!

Trains are almost a thing of the past today. Sleeper and dining cars almost non-existent. It pains me to think that they only make excursions now to foster the fantasies of a bygone era. People are in a hurry to get from point A to point B. I have no objection to speed and I understand the necessity… I just know in my heart that the journey is often more important than the arrival.

Take from that statement what you will. Do you like trains? Do you like to walk? Happy journeys to you all!

Blog tour link- http://tinyurl.com/DreamerBlogTour

How Do You Stay Positive?

Sometimes attitude is all I have. Snow –like cold dark thoughts— clings more easily than sunshine. It can be difficult to keep ahead of the bad weather or the bad mind-set. Everyone has down times or bad days. Pain makes some of those difficult to shrug off.

Here’s what I do:

Engage in positive conversations. In real or virtual frames staying happy is an active endeavor. Find something– even the simplest topic– that you enjoy and talk to someone about it. It can be as easy as engaging a friend on Facebook about a picture or telling your child which cereal you like. Keep it simple and listen or read the responses. Look for what makes the other person smile and you might reflect that emotion.

Commit an act of random kindness. Help someone. Even the tiniest effort can go a long way in improving emotional state. It can be an open effort where you receive praise or –my personal favorites— the kind of thing that no one but you will know you did. Examples are easy—- A kind word on a blog goes a long way, a compliment to a stranger, picking up a piece of discarded trash, putting a few dollars in a charity jar,helping someone carry groceries or other items, or even a smile on Facebook or at the store. You’d be surprised how much a smile can help!

Engage in self-expression— drawing, writing, blogging— It doesn’t matter if you demonstrate pain, anger or joy, let the emotions flow. Like a good cry at a sad movie, you will feel better afterward.

Move. Sometimes exercise can help. In the face of extreme pain it can be difficult, but the endorphins released can often be worth the effort. There was a time that I lifted weights to deal with emotional upsets and it works! Generally now I’m the dead weight I lift, but the principle is the same.

These are ways that I cope. What do you do?

Dreamer Blog Train Pushes off Today

Starting with a meet and greet at Tour Headquarters and plenty of seats left for passengers on the cars

http://readingaddictionvbt.blogspot.com/2013/05/blog-tour-dreamer-by-patrick-oscheen.html

I’m hosting the tour on facebook 7-15th with a party hosted by Vicki Rose Stewart on the 14th! Come check it out!

http://tinyurl.com/amazondreamer

Did you think…?

Did you think that you’d ever write a book? Become a published author? Go to the moon and back again?

Well I was certain that I’d go to the moon. At the age of nine, I knew that I would be leaving my footprints there in the soft dusty soil. I would bound about in the low gravity doing high flying acrobatics until my grandmother announced it was lunchtime. Back to Earth…

We all have handicaps. Some of us can’t spell, some can’t rhyme and even some don’t seem to know a comma from a semicolon. On a good day, I’m lucky to find my feet and hope that no essential parts have dropped off my body. When you have all of your fingers and toes—-even if they don’t work—-life is relatively good. Staring at the keyboard never wrote anything…

Never did I ever consider myself a writer. However, I have always liked to tell stories. One day it just happened—I put words on paper and opened my heart. A book was born, half insanity and half passion. Not everything needs to make sense.

Blog Tour http://tinyurl.com/DreamerBlogTour

Excerpt from The Digger

        All the time in the world —and no time at all. Nate washed muddy hands in the rushing current. Spring time always meant floods. He scanned the dig site and sighed, wiping sweat from his forehead and inadvertently replacing it with a large black smudge mark that extended to his chin. The rain had begun mid-morning and it threatened to dull his afternoon with a constant patter of interference. Maybe it would make more sense to quit for now.

            Trying to scrape some of the mud from his boots, Nate scratched at his feet with a stick. He looked into his truck, and noticing the slick black of the dirt covered surfaces decided not to bother. His transportation—like everything in his life—was covered in a thick layer of dirt.

            Nate shook his head as the raindrops continued and increased in number. Any work he did today was going to be lost. Conceding his failure, he drove back to the house, the huge tires of his modified pick-up splashing through the puddles. Maybe the rain would stop after lunch.

            A mid-day meal had been a luxury of late. Nate pulled out a box of cereal and hunted for milk. He had the good sense to sniff the carton before pouring and the odor sent waves of nausea through his body. Adding water to the sugared puffs, he stripped off his clothes and tossed them into the laundry before launching himself toward the television.

Local news flashed terminally boring. Floods were expected to cover most of the lower river plateau…great. Nate wanted to hurl his bowl at the weather man in frustration. He needed to dig. “If you want me to excavate so badly, why don’t you stop the rain!” He waited as if the walls might reply and then sighed into the silence.

Quiet Conversation— 100 Word challenge

            I look at the alarm clock on my nightstand and stare in confusion at the woman beside me—she is still asleep and I have no recollection of inviting her into my bed. Sitting up, I realize the room is cold and I hurry to slide back under the covers. I curl around her and whisper a kind word into her ear. She turns and nuzzles me. A few moments of silence are followed by her light laughter. “I needed you last night.”

            Our gazes meet and lock. My vision clears and my memories stir. “You can tell me anything.”

A link to the challenge — http://everydaygyaan.com/2013/05/100-words-on-saturday-week-9/

Weekend Warriors– 5/5/13 from Seer

Xavier lives a double life. He spends his time aboard the ship, Dorianne, and inside a game reality where he plays the role of knight.

The winds blew in little gusts from the beach as the knight gathered the picnic basket from the ground. It was a long walk back to Kareth. After an hour of waiting in the morning sun, it was apparent she was not coming. He wondered what it meant. Had some affair of State kept her away–or was this a message? Xavier would give her another chance, a thousand more chances. The young knight was strong in every way… except when it came to Margo.

Do you think that maybe he is in love?

For more of the weekend warriors —- A link to http://wewriwa.com/