Thought for the day --

"Whenever one door closes another door opens ... but those hallways are a bitch."

Retweet from Silona....what are you waiting for?

Here's a video from a poetry slam in Austin, Texas back in December, 2009 from poet Gabrielle Bouliane. It's powerful, not simply because it is from an artist, but because it is from a woman who was told she had a year to live. And she didn't find any way out of it.

This comes at the right time for me, because I have almost carved my way out of the paperwork and health nightmare of the past few years. But the ADD and fatigue and insomnia are still wearing me away like a stone.

I don't have time to solve these things. They will resolve or not. I have to learn to write daily with these problems. I have systems for paperwork, for cooking and not burning myself -- I can have systems for writing and drawing.

Don't waste your time. You never know how much of it you have left.

Note to younger readers: Gabrielle uses words the FCC does not allow on TV. She's earned the right to use them. Have you?

Before I forget -- a review, and a book, you may want to read!

Writer Deborah J. Ross has a blog entry over at the Book View Cafe Blog on Jewish pirates in the Caribbean -- and trust me, you want to know about them! For those of you who missed this important event, in 1492 the Spaniards drove the Jews out of Spain -- and Portugal did the same five years later. The Inquisition was ramping up, too. Some Jews pretended to convert and hid their religion, while others fled. One of the places they ran to was the newly discovered Caribbean. They went in search of religious freedom, treasure -- and revenge. Some of them found all these things.

And in the end, with the help of Jewish pirates and several other nations, the Spanish Empire in the New World collapsed, cutting off their gold and eventually their empire. Certainly not what Spain thought would happen when they got rid of those nasty non-Christians.

At least read the review -- and there's a link to a video interview of the author, which Deborah says is a hoot.

Oh, go on and look! It's on my to-get list!

http://blog.bookviewcafe.com/2010/02/16/who-knew-the-secret-history-of-the-pirates-of-the-caribbean-or-what-disney-doesnt-want-you-to-know/

Video here: http://www.jewishpiratesofthecaribbean.com/

Titles: Either I nail them at the beginning, or it's a struggle.

I've finally finished my haunted dollhouse story, and it's ready to go. Except for one thing -- it needs a title. I can call it "A Haunted Dollhouse?" but that's a bit vanilla. Although the question mark does imply the crux of the story -- is this ghosts, con artists, an elaborate joke (and if so, on who?) My heroine does the best she can for the customer, and wins the day -- no matter what's going on in that dollhouse.

So, suggestions gratefully examined.