O-Dark-Thirty

My buddy Major Rex plays Fallout 4 a lot. When he gets bored, he just makes a new character. He plays on Survival, the hardest level you can play. In Survival you suffer fatigue, hunger, thirst and pestilence (I might have added that last one). So I thought I'd give a Survival character a try. The most annoying aspect is you can't save the game. You get an auto-save each time you rest, and if you ever played FO4, you know that beds just aren't that easy to find. If you die, you go back to the (only) saved game you have – the last spot you slept. Played for forty minutes and some radroach kills you? Yeah. You'll see that pest again. Oh, and there's no fast travel. Now when one of my settlements come under attack I have to wonder – is it worth the trek across the countryside to try to help? Or will I die in the attempt? I have no idea yet what the consequences of failing to help are – and I've failed often. I finally went to the Major after a co...

Limerick Castle in Ireland (I think) Shouldn't there be a hidden meaning - something funny? There once was a girl from Kazoo Who walked wearing only one shoe Said she when I asked "It's all in the past. I left my left shoe at the zoo." Yeah, but can you play with the words? There once was a girl from Odessa Who wore a blue and white dressa Said she with a smirk "Don't be a jerk. Without my dress I'm a messa" Or it can be really personal (this to you, Leba) I know a lovely librarian who moonlights as a barbarian Adept with big words and slicing with swords She really is quite contrarian

Word count is a huge topic in writing circles. Short answer - Tell the story until you're done. For a standard fiction novel, aim to write 100K words or so and edit it back down to 85K. Even though there are fabulous guidelines, every beginning author thinks they are the exception. None of us are exceptions. I love short stories. I love to write them. I love to read them. It's like eating a bag of potato chips. Bag open. Salt, oil and chips consumed with gusto. Bag tossed. All without sitting down. Here's my word count for my currently published stories: Preparing for the Fiscal Cliff 5639 - nonfiction My Mother-in-Law Misadventures 28554 - memoir The Duel: A Von Crapp Brothers Tale 1364 flash fiction Safari in the Mist: A Von Crapp Brothers Tale 9226 short story Psychic Toll Call 841 flash fiction Print Your Own Booklet Using Microsoft Word 2974 how-to ...

Dr Bailey Smith spoke at Sagemont today. Most people are familiar with the parable of the wheat and tares. If not, read Matthew 13:24-30 before we begin. Jesus told them another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping , his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.   Pastor Smith commented before the heart o...

We met Mr. Earl Smith the other day and he shared the wisdom of his father, CE Smith, with us. Here you go. Link to a father's prayer on Youtube. Before you complain, think of three blessings you have. Once you get to the third blessing, you should forget your complaint. If you can't think of three blessings, then you might want to think about your life, and look a little deeper. God blesses those who revere Him and follow Him. If it's wrong, just don't do it. Don't bother trying to bend the rules or justify what you're doing.  Just. Don't. Do. It. If you're praying to God, then you must be willing to wait on him. Pray, then wait for an answer. (Cautionary tale here is Abraham's wife Sara, who took God's plans into her own hands because she couldn't wait.) Don't take bible verses out of context. Know the whole story. I loved the example CE Smith gave his son. He opened Little Red Riding Hood and turned to the page where ...