Fun With Character Sketches

I spent several amusing hours this weekend writing character sketches for my upcoming series. I was having a little trouble translated the characters from the roleplaying game where they originated to the paper. Then, I came upon a scene in  a Harry Dresden book by Jim Butcher that seemed like the perfect vehicle for exploring…

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The Up Side of Hypocrisy

I grew up in the “Anti-Victorian” generation of the 60s and 70s. Of all sins and crimes, hypocrisy was the worst, the ultimate of evil. A parent saying “Do as I say, not as I do” was mocked and derided. What a hypocrite! What an idiot!   So, once I became a mom, I tried…

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Christmas Giving

Last year, we adopted the Christmas tradition of having the children give something to charity. At the suggestion of a friend, we chose Heifer.org, a wonderfully cool organization that gives poor people living animals and teaches them how to use them, so that they can make a living from them — rather than just giving them…

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No Longer A Mink

Folks, thanks to the discerning eye of our friend Evil Dave, this blog is no longer about the Minks of Arhyalon (Vison) and has returned to the original purpose of being Visions — with the second ‘i’ — of Arhyalon. (A vison is a type of mink. ) And for those of you who are…

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Space Limericks

This took Honorable Mention in a Space Limerick Contest: Dear Wash, can you keep me from anger? I beg you, do not bump or bang her Just soar like a leaf Or you’ll have ground beef I’m a cow in Serenity’s hanger!                                                   — SuccatashMore winning Space Limericks.

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Twenty for Prayer — November 2007

Again…only for those interested in praying. Of no literary or amusement value: This month, our subject is:  diseases that are no longer yielding to medicine. When I was in New York in October, the papers were full of cases of people who had been killed by Staph infections that would not respond to any known medicine.…

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Father and Song

When John was young, his father played the ukulele and sang songs John thought his dad had written, but which turned out to merely be old favorites (such as “Seven Old Ladies Stuck In A Lavatory.” )  The opposite has happened to my kids. John has made up additional lyrics to songs that my kids…

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