Saturday, May 10, 2014

Three Bitches and a Bastard

Source


When you read a book, do you like to read 
the author's dedications and acknowledgements?

I am fascinated by these, especially when I consider
all the people who help shepherd a book into publication.










The biggest thrill I ever had 
reading an acknowledgement in a book
was in my sister Bertie's first published book
Why Kids Can't Spell:
A Practical Guide to the Missing Component
in Language Proficiency.



Sioux Lookout, 1963







Bertie and I:  Presenters
at CCIRA Conference,  2011

In part the acknowledgement read:
"My big sister, Louise, 
my lifetime mentor,
thanks for all your reading, 
editing, encouragement and enthusiasm."

Who knew that sweet little toddler
would write that to her big sister 
in the acknowledgement 
of her first book?









So this morning I was flipping through 
George R. R. Martin's A Dance of Dragons
while warming up in front of the fire.
Yes, our fireplace is on, and snow is forecasted for tomorrow!

I was brushing up 
on some of the minor characters
in the Free Companies 
which I had lost track of
reading late into last night.




George Martin at the San Diego
Comic Com International 2013

Source:  wikimedia



Low and behold ~
a page of acknowledgements!
George Martin began:
The last one was a bitch.  
This one was three bitches and a bastard. 









While I wouldn't think of putting myself in Martin's writing class,
I can certainly relate to the frustration 
inherent in the writing process.
Maddening frustration!

But unlike me Martin has people.
People like Stephen Boucher 
who keeps Martin's computer greased and humming,
and Ty Frank who tends to Martin's computer
when Stephen's not around.
Martin even has a webmaster, Pati Nagle.
By the way~ if you haven't read the Game of Thrones books
or watched the series on HBO, you are missing out Big Time!
Source:  A Dance with Dragons, p. 1017

My computer and I are having our latest go round this morning.
Poor thing is overloaded, and I am seeing 
the Spinning Wheel of Death everywhere.
If you have a Mac, 
and you challenge it like I do,
you'll know exactly what I mean.



Source
OMG!  You can actually Google
Spinning Wheel of Death
and get a picture of it.
And I thought we teachers at Sunrise
had come up with the nickname!


So I'm trying to compose my daily quota
of 500 new words for my manuscript,
and I get these messages popping up.
I'm out of memory in my MacBook Pro.



Source:  Wikimedia

You would not believe the shenanigans
I have gone through this morning
to outwit my pesky computer
and get this tinsy post written
and with images from 
my ever faithful Wikimedia.

So the long and short of it is,
my next Apple lesson is next Friday,
and I may not be able to post anything
until after then ~
If my trainer can unscramble the mess
I have made on my hard drive.

I can't write any more on my manuscript ~
no memory.

I can't work on my photographs ~
Aperture went toes up 
trying to digest my Moon House photos
for a post I was working on.

I can't even play Passenger performing
at the 2013 Pinkpop Festival on You Tube
(while working on all the above).
Forty-six minutes can pass in no time
when you are tearing your hair out!


 Pinkpop 2013


Do you think all this is going to stop me?
No way in hell!

I already have my own
dedications and acknowledgements
running through my mind!

Warning to Bertie:
I'm looking for paybacks,
sister dear!

I'll be back in a week or so ~
unless I can come up with a brilliant solution
to my computer's memory problems sooner.

One thing is actually working this morning.
Google's ads-just-for-special-me
are getting through A-Okay!
Hey Google, how about sending me a real bottle of rum
instead of Captain Morgan ads?

19 comments:

  1. Sorry about your computer... and I do know that spinning wheel since I made the move to Apple about 5 years ago.
    Sometimes, I think I'm out of memory, too!
    (Un)Happy Mother's Day... with the snow (boo, hiss) and cold (yuck) tomorrow.
    I'm heading out to try to protect some plants.

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  2. Hi Dreaming! I hope you were able to cover up your plants successfully. I've been hearing everything from one inch to nine inches of snow. We shall see! My being out of memory is my excuse for when I forget things. Every time I cram something in, something else falls out! I hope that you enjoy Mother's Day. Our plans are to be all snuggled in by the fireplace. Take care!

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  3. Happy Mother's Day to you! I usually read non-fiction books, as well as books about animals and positive stories such as the Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

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    1. Thank you, Linda! I hope that Mother's Day has been a happy day for you. I loved the Chicken Soup for the Soul books. I've read so many animal stories over the years to my kiddos ~ school and nieces and nephews. Have you ever read "Stellaluna" by Janell Cannon. It's a picture book that is just amazing. Another children's picture book that I love is "Howling Hill" by my favorite Will Hobbs. When my mother was dying of renal failure, I read aloud to her. This was the last book we shared, so it means more than I can express. It's all about family. Have a happy week!

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  4. Well that is some interesting words from him lol surprised he didn't go on and on like he seems to like to do. And yep, computer issues suck a ton. Damn things should just run

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    1. Yes, Martin can go on and on, but he's brilliant none-the-less! I figured out a solution to the computer conundrum. Duh ~ so obvious ~ use my old one. So tomorrow I'll be back in the groove. It has been SNOWING here throughout the day. The ground is so warm that it hasn't been accumulating too much. Yay! Have a great week!

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  5. I always read the dedications and acknowledgements, always! So, my dear, just remember, my name is spelled K -A -Y, got it? HA! Have a great weekend!

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    1. Got that! K-A-Y! I hope that you have had a great Mother's Day with Richard and Christopher!

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  6. What a dear sister you have!
    I am an every page reader!
    I need the book "Why Adults Can't Spell"!

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    1. Hi Terry! I'm rewriting my comment to you ~ my computer seems to have eaten it! I hope that you have had a nice Mother's Day, in spite of the rain, wind, and snow! Thank goodness for Google ~ It can figure out just about any phonetic misspelling in and put the right spelling out. My spelling really went downhill over the 25 years I tried to pound spelling into my second and third grade kiddos. At the end I was sticking apostrophes in front of every final s, and I was screwing up there, their, and they're! Too funny. Have a great week!

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    2. And yes! My sister Bertie is a dear, dear human being. I am so proud of her ~ you have no idea! I have two other amazing sisters and a one wonderful brother who loves to push my buttons!

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  7. You are having a frustrating moment. Hopefully soon all will be well and you can get back to writing. What a sweet sister to dedicate a book to you.

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    1. Hi Peggy! I hope that you have been enjoying Mother's Day! We have snow and rain and wind today. Yuck! But we have a lovely fireplace and a bottle of wine. I found such an obvious solution to computer problem once I stepped back from the blankity-blank machine. Use my old one temporarily! Duh! My sister Bertie is something special! All three of my sisters and my brother are the best! We are very close even though we are spread across three countries. Have a good week!

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  8. Happy mother's day Louise! Technology &55#@.{~^**+! is wonderful. :)

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    1. Thank you, Mark! I hope that you have had a good day to! I will immediately check out this website! Have a great week!

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  9. Louise, that might be my favorite post title EVER! I also read the Acknowledgements but I don't know that I've seen one quite that funny. Sorry to hear about all the computer issues ~ that is BEYOND frustrating. Hope you can get it all sorted out soon because I miss you when you're gone too long. :-) Hope you're having a lovely, lovely weekend..... XOXO

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    1. I hope you are having a lovely, lovely weekend too, Audrey. I'm betting that Alain and girls made Mother's Day very special for you.

      I realized ~ Duh! ~ that I can use my old computer!!!!! So for this week I'll be writing on that. It still works, and this afternoon Terry booked a tour of the Eiffel Tower for two weeks from tomorrow on it. We have only two full days and three evenings in Paris. We're going to spend most of our time just being there ~ but for sure the # 1 thing I wanted to do was the Eiffel Tower. That and coffee/croissants at a street cafe.

      My niece Sara is studying French in Dijon, France this year. I had hoped that we would be able to meet, but her final exams start on the week of the 25th. She's going to try and get an advance peek at the exam schedule to see if she can meet us. But, if I can't see her there, I'll see her in Nova Scotia this summer. Along with Ron and Jim. (From Sophie's View and Ocean Breezes blogs), and oh so many other awesome people!
      Have a great week. XOXO

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  10. O dear.. fun with technology lol.. Happy Moms Day! (and yes, I do read the author's dedications and acknowledgements, but only after I've read the book, and only if I enjoyed it haha)

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  11. Hi Jan! Happy Mother's Day, just a little late! I hope that you had fun. I've been spending my morning, after a trip to the dentist in a snowstorm, deleting, deleting, deleting ~ to make room on my hard drive! Have a lovely day! XOXO

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Thank you for your comments! I appreciate them very much.