A freaking year already!?

This blog is a journey that started on January 10th of 2014.  Well, to be honest, it started around my 11th year. That's when I remember making a clear decision anyway about what I wanted to do for a living, but it may have started even before then. Sometime while in elementary school, for a class project I wrote to an author of a book I liked. The teacher had us mail the letters to the author, care of the publisher. To my amazement, the author wrote back!  She was very nice.  I remember her book was about horses and horses took up most of the conversation.  It was then that I realized writers were real people, just like you and me!  It was quite the epiphany.  I've always had all these stories rambling around in my brain.  I wrote one down and let my mom read it.  I had only written about two chapters. I can still see her face as she looked up at me with pride and told me that she had to know what happened next and to keep writing.  It was an overwhelming feeling that I could reach others like that and bring them enjoyment. The same enjoyment I got from reading books.

Over the years I've put my writing on hold to live life. And life can suck the muse right out of you. I am also awful at outlining a story all the way through.  I see scenes in my head and I try to make them come to life on a page.  But to make a story that has a beginning, a middle and an end.  To bring conflict to the characters and create characters that the reader will care about?  Well it's a lot easier said than done.  Every writer I've ever talked to or read about says, you can't get into writing for the money. You have to get into it because you have a story that has to be told.  I have many, but getting them all out on paper before my inner critic can sweep in and tell me it's crap and it sounds just like every other story out there is unbelievably hard.  But I'm not ever giving up.  NOT EVER!

Thanks to the inspiration of a dear friend, whose simple faith in me that I will someday reach my goal, I started this blog.  (On a side note, that inspiration still gets me in the feels every time I think about it.) I started this blog in the hopes that it would get me writing more.  I think it has achieved that goal if nothing else.  It's also fun.  I am hoping this next year will be the year I write more, much more, that's my goal.  I hope to post more here and write more for me.

If you are reading this, thank you, thanks for taking the time out of your day to read my ramblings. To my friends and family, thanks for the love and support.  I couldn't do it without you!  Have a wonderful new years and be on the lookout for more from me in the new year!!

Christmas songs that really aren't Christmas songs

I haven't written a new post in a long time.  I never seem to be able to think of anything to write about. The other day I was thinking about songs that get played at Christmas that really aren't Christmas songs.  People are funny what they pick up on.  Then one of my fellow bloggers talked about one of the songs I always think about and I'm like doh!  Your random thoughts need to be blog posts goofball!!

Anywho, the first song is Baby, It's Cold Outside.  This is not a Christmas song.  When I was a kid I watched old movies with my mom, especially musicals.  I have seen every musical Esther Williams was ever in!  I loved her, she was the queen of sass in her time and she was a fabulous swimmer. She always had these big, synchronized swimming numbers in her movies.  So there's a movie called Neptune's Daughter 1949 with Esther, Ricardo Montalban, Red Skelton and Betty Garrett (an amazing character actress).  Ricardo is putting the moves on Esther and she's like, no way, hence, the song.  Then Betty is putting moves on Red and he's like, no way!  It's classic movie gold.  But somewhere along the way, someone recorded a duet for a Christmas album and then bam!  It's a freaking Christmas tune.  Uh, not really.

The other song that actually makes me cringe when I hear it at Christmas time, even though I love it, is Dolly Parton's Hard Candy Christmas.  Um, seriously, does NO ONE pay attention?  This is a song from the movie Best Little Whorehouse in Texas 1982 for crying out loud!  It's a song being sung by a group of hookers being thrown out of their brothel people!!!   It has NOTHING to do with Christmas except that it has the word Christmas in it!   I love Dolly, she's one of the most talented song writers in the world and I love this song.  But it's not a freaking Christmas song!!!!   

Who knows where traditions start but it scares me what song will get picked up next for a new Christmas jingle.  Maybe something fun by Megadeth.  Actually, that might be kind of awesome. LOL! By the by, if you've never seen either of these movies have fun trying to find them but they are both worth it. I own Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and I might have to go start building a Esther Williams movie collection.  Peace my friends!