Do Leopards Ever Change Their Spots? What About Stripes on a Tiger?

We've heard the saying, a leopard never changes his spots . . . or is it a tiger can't change his stripes? Which is it? I guess, after my slight google search, it's leopard.

Why does this have anything to do with my life?

A Heady Love Affair

I'm reading a great book about the ambassador to Germany during Hitlers rise to power. One of the main stories that the author focuses on is the story of the ambassador's daughter, Martha. She was a bit of a romantic to put it lightly. She slept around a lot with a lot of men, even when she was married, and with many, many married men. She hopped around a lot. 

Still I see some of my life in her. There are moments when she writes that hit me right in the heart. 

Lot to Love

My BFF told me to go read the Thornbirds by Colleen McCoullough. It was an interesting choice. I remember my mother reading it when I was very young because she was inspired by the mini-series. So, I must have been in third grade since it came out in '83.

So I took a month or so off to focus on enjoying a good book. I read so much non-fiction and text books and articles, it's nice to sit back and enjoy a read. And, it's a terrific book. Lyrical. Like reading James Dickey or Patrick McCormick (two of my favorites), so I'm glad she recommended it. 

Problems with Ducks

 Anyone who reads this blog knows I have a problem with ducks. 

I have a long history with ducks, none of it good. And it keeps getting worse. I don’t know which I dislike more, ducks or squirrels. Kinda a toss up really. 

Risk and Unease

I finished Risk the other day. I’m in the UK, I have some time, I read a Dick Francis I’ve never read before. If you’re surprised by any of that, then you don’t know me well. 

I forgot to post the first line, so I’ll do it here. 

I Want to Go to This Cafe!

I’m great with deadlines I’ve found. I do NOT wait till the last minute. In these Master’s level classes we are always doing work in teams. I’ve found that in work that requires a team, I’m the task master and the leader, even if the team doesn’t want it. Imagine, since I’m reading this series, Hermione Granger. That’s me. When the assignment comes in, I do it. My papers are completed the first week the syllabus comes out, not the night before. 

But this cafe (see HERE) would still be a great thing for me, or for those who wait till the last day. 

Now I Remember Why I Hate Ruck Marching

As another update in my workout series (see HERE) . . . Well, it's May 1st, which means I have started the USAA Ruck Marching Challenge to help stop soldier suicide! 

I remember now how much I hated ruck marching. Slow, long boring, . . . ugh! But, it was different and fun to a degree. Wow, does a fella ever have some time to think on a ruck march? 

Repost of Douchery

Every now and then I check out some of the posts that are being viewed by followers. I get about 300 blog viewers a month so it's not easy to determine what's being followed at any one time, but there are some gems that stand out, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why.

This is one of those times.

Hard Truths

As the savvy reader will know, I use this space to catalog information for novels and ideas for stories. There my Great Lines thread (HERE), my Last Lines thread (HERE), Evershade thread (HERE) and now the Everyday Sox thread (HERE).

Well, as a part of the story I'm developing for Everyday Sox - it's already written, but it needs to be refined - there is a character who is the foundation for the main character, the lodestone, the stabilizing agent. He's a speaker of plain truths. 

More Shorts

As I wrote before (HERE),  I like to read short stories before hitting the sack. There's the aspect of the "blue light" and sleep soundness, there's the relaxation and calmness that comes from reading, plus there's that feeling of completion at the end of the day of finishing a little story. 

Sadly, I'm a bit tired of Alfred Hitchcock stories, which is too bad cause I have about 200 of his books of short story collections on my bookshelf. So I went ahead and switched horses midstream.