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Monday, December 31, 2012 23 comments

Never Mind 2012, Let's Review 2009 & 1994 :)

Aloha,

I wanted to finish 2012 with a smile, so here you go.

If you've heard of Michael Flatley and know what Riverdance is, scroll to the SECOND video below...especially if you have some Greek or Irish in your family :)

And if you *don't* laugh, no matter your heritage, I owe you a glass of water *with* fresh lemon :)



However, watching the first video is well, brilliant, too.


Here's the SECOND video:





Happy New Year and may all your dreams come true.




Friday, December 21, 2012 24 comments

Interview with Tammy & Merry Christmas :)

PATIENCE...

Aloha,

 



If you've ever wondered about life as an anti-interview, you gotsta check out my interview with Tammy Theriault.

Tammy is hilarious and her questions are like none I've ever seen before - (I'm just happy I escaped from O'Koopmans Island in the Lambfervan...)



Huh?

Read about it here - but be warned, Tammy is actively looking for her next challenge. Do you have what it takes to scratch your head and belly laugh at the same time? If so, click here.



In related news, this will be my last post until Jan. 2 when IWSG kicks off the New Year :)

My sincere thanks to every single one of you who took the time to read - and comment - on my many different posts.

I may not be the poster blog child for "following a set theme or schedule," but, I am a better writer because of your input, support and friendship.

Onward and upward, I say :)

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year from the Koopmans Ohana to you and your Ohana.

God bless and if you are in need of a smile: May the Farce be With You.


...IS A VICTORY :)


Monday, December 17, 2012 30 comments

In Memoriam...

Aloha,

For years I've been joking about life as we know it ending in December 2012 - and never once did I believe it actually would - but the world did end for dozens of families from Newtown, CT, this past Friday.

As a parent to an infant, a toddler and a five-year-old, I can't imagine - I can't fathom - being one of the twenty sets of parent who dropped their child off at a safe, secure school and who later received the worst imaginable phone call.

Why are we going wrong - as a people?

Along with the shooter's mother and six adult women, twelve girls and eight boys, all aged six or seven years old were murdered Friday.

SIX and SEVEN years old....

Guys, where are we going wrong - as a nation?

There is NO political agenda here and I don't have the answers.

All I can say is that I grew up in the '70s, and it was safer. All us kids knew each other and the other parents smacked us as needed - and all because our communities were tight-knit - but they're not anymore.

Why?

"Social" media may be a part of it - and here I am using Blogger to help clear my thoughts, but again, I have no idea how WE can change.

I do know, however, I'm going to do my best to be a better neighbor and a bigger part of my community.

I'm going to screw the carbon footprint and work harder to pay it forward.

I'm going to leave behind a loving hand print the next time I shake a soldier's hand after buying him lunch, or get a high five from a parent who's helping me coach my son's T-ball league.

The world will not end on Friday, but it will, it will as dozens of funerals are held in Newton around the same time frame this weekend.

Lord, please let us never forget the twenty angels and the women who were taken so sooner than anyone should have wanted.

Lord, be with their parents, their loved ones, and Lord, please grant the strength to those who read this to step forward in thier own communities.

This has to stop - and WE can stop it - if we believe we can.

Amen.


Friday, December 14, 2012 26 comments

"___Fest": The Aftermath



Aloha,

I’m in the middle of WIP edits, so here be short, sweet post.

 

As Cheers, _________ BlogFest went from an idea to reality over the last few months – and then morphed into ___Fest, a lot of my blogging focused a little on that no-hyperlink guy who, earlier this week, was so awesome to open his doors to a posting of roastings.

When Monday swung around and ____Fest went LIVE! I knew already that we have an awesome community, but I was absolutely blown away by the positive response.

More than One Hundred and Forty (none related to me) signed up AND participated in ___Fest, and from what ____ said, he himself visited nearly 200 blogs during the first seven minutes of the fest, (he is a bit of a slacker, I'm sorry.)

Anyhoo, in the immediate aftermath of the Best. Fest. Test. (that I’ve been involved with) I tip my beloved LA Angels ball cap first to:




Second, THANK YOU to all my dear Bluddies (Blogger buddies.)

Reading the oh-so-different flash fictions was SO. MUCH. FUN.

Along the way, I watched a video, read a poem and even saw the effort it took to bring a stick mini-Alex to life. :)
Courtesy: Elise Fallson

 
(You all have an amazing, creative mind – I swear! You should be a writer! Isn't that easy to do? And, you’d be great at it.)

(While ___Fest is over, there are rumblings of another different, but similar in a differing way Fest for Christmas 2013, so watch this space…)

Remember, nothing is impossible…except for the Rangers resigning Josh Hamilton. :)

Finally, I would be bereft of all social skills if I didn’t mention the person who made this possible:

____ _ _________ !

 PS… ____ is announcing the winners of ___Fest today, so click here to find out who the lucky bloggers are :)

Oh, if you’re wondering, I’ve written about ____ so much that the _, _, _, _, letters on my Qu_rty k_ybo_rd are worn out…


J
Monday, December 10, 2012 78 comments

ALEXFEST 2012: Let The Roasting, er Posting Begin :)

Aloha,

FINALLY!
 

Houston, we are a GO! for “AlexFest.”

For full details and background, click here.

So, while Alex J. Cavanaugh is an awesome blogger, he’s also an enigma. J

To help crack the code, here’s four questions that the AlexFest participants plan to answer:

·         In +/- 20 words, what does Alex look like?

Alex is cau-cajun, about 5 feet, 9 inches tall, weighs 160 pounds, has brown eyes and shoulder-length dark hair. (I have noooo idea.)

 
       ·         In +/- 20 words, who could play Alex in a documentary? (Living or dead.)

OK, don’t laugh, but I just described a young Tom Cruise! What? You can’t handle the truth?

 
      ·         In +/- 20 words, who does Alex remind you of?

A Tom Cruise-looking Arnold Swartzeknickers who’s been sent back in time to promote the rebel Bloggers of Publishedia.

 
      ·         In +/- 100 words, (excluding the title) write flash fiction using all these prompts:

·         Cavanaugh

·         Ninja

·         IWSG

·         Cosbolt

·         Guitar


Cavanaugh looked at the smoldering Borg.

“Without him, I’ll only post 1,694 ISWG comments before 9 a.m.”

The Ninja Captain looked at his lieutenant.

“Why did you shoot?”

“It attacked the Cosbolt – we need that Fighter,” said the Scottish-looking lassie. “We need more power – to post!”

Close to reaching his word count limit, Cavanaugh strummed his guitar, humming Last Christmas by WHAM! (his favorite boy band.)

 
“Lieutenant, are you willing to be a Borg?

“Yes!” said the trigger-happy officer.

“You’ll need a new name…”

She scribbled three words.

“Sure?”

She nodded.

“Morg the Borg. I like it. Let’s do this.”

 

(For Bonus Points:)

·         In +/- 40 words, leave a comment for Mrs. Cavanaugh - thanking her for sharing J

 Dear Mrs. C,

You have a keeper in young Alex. He’s a great man, but a BIG Cheers to you for all the weekly time needed. It’s amazing how hard Alex works to make us look better (except for me – the lost cause not even FABIO can fix :)

                                                                    ### 

Two winners – chosen by Alex this Friday, Dec. 14 – will each win one prize:

FIRST PLACE: A signed copy of CassaStar.
GRAND PRIZE*: A picture of Alex and a download of him playing the guitar he just bought for more than $100 :)

(*One caveat: Alex asks the picture or download NOT be shared online.J)
PS: If you’re still interested, the Linky List below remains open until late Wednesday evening (EST.)


Wednesday, December 5, 2012 44 comments

ISWG; a Marathon & the End of the World

Aloha,

It's Insecure Writer's Support Group time, so where am I this month?


I am a bad blogger!

A very bad blogger!!

All of a sudden, various hecklers stood up and shouted from the loud, AdSense-d crowd...

Flog him!

Aye!

Flog the Blog!


Yikes! Sorry, but I have been so terrible commenting back these last few weeks, but there is a good reason:

Although I blew my Dec. 1 deadline, I have - 24 minutes ago - finished the first draft edits for WIP#1.
It goes now to the “main character,” Donald Braswell, my wife and several generous-with-their-time Critique Partners for the “Fresh Eyes” test.

All this ahead of a Jan. 1, 2013 appointment with a professional editor in San Diego…

And if all goes well...

what could go wrong?

 ...I'll have a finished and polished ms to showcase at the Southern California Writer’s Conference in mid-February.

I’m also running the Honolulu Marathon this Sunday, but the last time I trained was about a month ago.



What is there to be insecure about?

Er, hello…the end of the world in sixteen days?

Oh.

 
Monday, December 3, 2012 41 comments

AlexFest Linky List & "And You Are...?" Blog Hop


Aloha,

Today, I’m participating in the And You Are…? Blog Hop.

Hosted by Emily R. King and Tammy Theriault, the answers to the fun questions are below, but before I bore you all to absolute tears… an update!

Signups to the Cheers, Cavanaugh BlogFest are up to 113 as of Sunday evening.

There is still time to sign up for “AlexFest,”  and remember, if we get to 200, I will be posting a video on YouTube of me dancing the Bald White Guy Hawaiian Hula…, so come along and join the Par-tay J

Full details here and the Linky is posted BELOW :)

 

OK, so who am I and why am I here…

 

1. How many speeding tickets have you gotten?

 ONE – and that was a week after I moved to California with my then-new Mustang GT (Ahh, the memories of speed and not listening to the latest Wiggles CDJ)

2. Can you pitch a tent?

 Why would I pitch a tent when I’m working hard to pitch my WIP? Seriously, people.

3. What was your worst vacation ever?

 My friends would say “every vacation I was a part of,” but I hesitate to agree. For me, it was Magaluf, Spain, 1987.

A group of us lads were out and I was later detained (cough) by Spanish cops for “slightly exuberant activity involving a cold, bubbly beverage.”

They kept me downtown for hours, trying to extract a $50 “fine” from me, but that was the rest of my money for the vacation, so I was like, no way, Jose. (He was amazed I knew his name.)

Eventually, they let me go, whereupon it took *hours* to find the white-painted hotel we were staying at.

By the time I entered the room, I expected to find phones ringing and faxes burping out stacks of important-looking paper as my friends frantically worked with the Irish Embassy and Spanish Authorities to get me back safely.

But, no.

I was the first one back. The lads were still out partying ;)

4. What was the last thing you bought over $100?

 A Sony Tablet two months ago – which I promptly lost on an airplane last week…

5. We're handing you the keys to what?

 A new minivan J (The ghost of my old Pony is snickering, but whatever, dude.)

6. What was the last meal cooked that made even you sick?

 Breakfast in Paris (1992) – it was an egg omelet made during another “event” with a different set of The Lads.

7. Fill in the blank: Oh my gosh! Becky, look at her butt! It is so big. She looks like _____?

Yo mamma. Sorry, Becky, but it’s true.

8. What was your first car?

 A 1985 Pontiac Sunbird – convertible. Bought when I lived in Key West (1996) and driven for a couple of years before I moved to Chicago.

9. Your best friend falls and gets hurt. Do you ask if he/she's okay or laugh first?

 If it’s one of The Lads, I will always take pictures first, post them somewhere online and then ask if he’s OK. If it’s my wife, you know I gotta take care of The Lady first J

10. What's the worst song ever?

 Anything by Justin Berber Carpets.

 
###

As promised above, for anyone wanting to sign up, here is the Linky List for ALEXFEST :)

 
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