so far, so good

My grandmother (Nannie Bricker) has been released from the hospital -- although I'm not certain she should have been, yet -- and is resting back at home. She really does look much better, and we're keeping an eye on her while she finished recovering

Are we there yet?: Character Behaviors I Hate

Are we there yet?: Character Behaviors I Hate: I read so much in my spare time, so I have the opportunity to notice patterns of things happening with amateur writers. I'm an amateur t...

grandmother better; nephew sick

Only have a minute to update you: Grandmother's looking much better! They put some kind of heavy duty bug juice into her, but she's still weak and may be in the hospital for a few more days.

If you still have any prayers available, you might divert some to my nephew. My sister posted this, which pretty much says it all:

"Back from cardiologist with Christian. Next step is 2nd opinion with ped cardiac surgion at Riley for possible surgery. PDA is bigger (hole from aorta to pulmonary artery) that should have closed at birth. Small chance of no surgery. But if no surgery, always chance of bacterial endocarditis (infection around sack of heart). Appreciate any prayers."

So. Yeah.

illness update

My grandmother is still in the hospital with pneumonia, but she seems to be looking better and thinking better, too. They had her in isolation for awhile, for reasons I'm not entirely clear on ... which concerned those of us who cleaned her home after the ambulance took her, but apparently it was a more or less routine precaution thing.
Just to be safe we kept Emily out of the hospital yesterday, as she's on antibiotics and her immune system is a bit compromised at the moment. I just finished a round of antibiotics last week, myself.

You know, I like to think of myself as a glass half full kind of guy ... but so far this summer has really sucked. Just had to vent, there.

prayers for Grandma Nannie

I'd appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers for my grandmother Nannie Bricker, who's back in the hospital in CCU and, I think, much worse than when she was in the hospital earlier this summer. At age 87 even a minor problem can be major, and it appears she may have full blown pneumonia.

Field was hot, road was hotter

So, medics cleared me from the fire scene and after a meal, a cool shower, and five or six gallons of fluids I'm 100%. Okay, 70%.
 103 degrees is a bit warm for fighting hay field fires. On a related note, I doubt I'll be able to get the melted road tar out of my socks ... I discovered during rehab that firefighting can have some odd dangers.

The Challenge of Short Story Promotion

The Challenge of Short Story Promotion

            “Still, if writers can do anything it’s research. Well, they can write, hopefully, but they can also research, so I researched how to promote myself. What’s the point of writing if nobody reads it? That’s when I discovered, to paraphrase an old expression:

            When it comes to publicity, only certain things work. Unfortunately, no one knows which things.”

You say you want a Revolution … Any volunteers?

You say you want a Revolution … Any volunteers?

Adapted from my 2006 Independence Day column, here's a look at what might have happened if 1776 attitudes were just a bit different ....

America and Andy Griffith

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Independence Day -- and that we all take some time to remember what this holiday is about, and how much we should appreciate the courage, sacrifice, and forethought of our founding fathers.

It's perhaps ironic that just a day before the Fourth, the world lost an iconic symbol of Americana with the death of actor/comedian/singer Andy Griffith, who passed away at age 86. Many of us remember Andy from his leading roles on the TV shows Matlock and, of course, The Andy Griffith Show, but he had many more talents, including gospel singer. He was also a standup comedian, or more like a humorous storyteller in the Mark Twain/Bill Cosby mold. Here's the audio (with fun illustrations) of his famous story "What it was, was football", from way back in 1953:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNxLxTZHKM8

Speak of the Devil: Sorry, John, But Naming The Country After Yourself...

Happy Independence Day, everyone!

Speak of the Devil: Sorry, John, But Naming The Country After Yourself...: "Doctor Franklin, I appreciate your sentiments most deeply, but I don't believe we can get away with adding chocolate as something we have...