Pictures On My Refrigerator

Does anyone remember the craze of collecting magnets to decorate your refrigerator? My mother gathered so many there wasn't a bare spot to be seen. You could trace my parents' travels by the magnet she picked up in gift shops every time they stopped somewhere.

A refrigerator's surface makes an excellent gallery for many items, including pictures. Over the years, I've taken advantage of the refrigerator in my kitchen to post on permanent view pictures I don't want to hide away in a album or drawer.

I just paused long enough to go examine what's in my refrigerator's display. It surprised me to learn the pictures there span four generations. The oldest is a group shot of my four sisters and I taken during a rare family gathering. Considering we siblings reside in places from Connecticut to Arizona, our get-togethers as adults, especially the opportunity to spend a weekend just we sisters, no extended family, have been very few. Can't recall how long ago this shot was taken, but has to be before 2000.

Only one of my sons has his picture posted prominently. I'll have to remedy that and I know just the shot I'll print and post. A niece recently sent me a picture of my older son taken while he was away at college. It catches perfectly this grown-up who never lost touch with his inner child.

The next generation is represented by my three grand-daughters. High school picture of the sisters and first day of third grade of the other. Since their families reside cross-country, spending time with them doesn't happen often.

There's a whole group of my great-grands, Lexi & Joshua. They are only a year apart in age and my favorite is the one of them in their latest Halloween costumes.

I like having the pictures such a prominent part of my every day. Each time I pass or open the door is an occasion for remembering.

Burying The Hatchet

There are times I come across a well-used phrase and I just have to satisfy my curiosity and learn its origin. Back when I was researching my novel  Twist of Fate which is set on the western frontier,I came across the expression "bury the hatchet" in my study of American Indian tribes.

Well, I knew that expression is often used in reference to a problem being resolved and the forgetting of past hurts.

What surprised me was to learn that many tribes would actually bury a tomahawk as a symbolic gesture of peace. Not all Native American practiced this ritual, but those that did took it seriously. In fact, if for some reason hostilities were renewed, the tomahawk just might be dug up as a declaration of war. Among the Indian Nations, burying a tomahawk  proved to be a more binding peace ceremony than those "peace" treaties the white man continually made and broke.

I've not taken the time to seek out a tomahawk...don't have a running battle with anyone at the moment that needs resolving. Not sure if any toy store stocks guns and tomahawks these days. I'm suspect our 'politically correct police' have outlawed them long ago.

An Old Saying

"Take down a peg or two"

Ever wonder where this saying came from? I did, so I went looking. All the early citations of the phrase have a religious context; for example:

Pappe with An Hatchet, 1589 - "Now haue at you all my gaffers of the rayling religion, tis I that must take you a peg lower."

 Joseph Mead's Letters, 1625 - "A-talking of the brave times that would be shortly... when... the Bishop of Chester, that bore himself so high, should be hoisted a peg higher to his little ease."

Samuel Butler's Hudibras, 1664 - "We still have worsted all your holy Tricks,... And took your Grandees down a peg."

If the pegs were some religious artifact, it isn't clear what they were. Various quantities and qualities have been measured by the use of pegs. It has been suggested that the pegs in question here were those used to regulate the amount of drink taken from a barrel, or those that controlled the hoisting of the colors (flags) of ships. Either of these might be correct 

In all my wanderings, I really didn't come up with a satisfactory explanation. But, when I hear that expression used, I have no problem understanding its meaning, do you?

Your name is mud

"Your name is mud"

Ever wonder what this phrase is all about? I did and went looking for an explanation.

Dr. Samuel Mudd is widely reviled for his part in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. He is the doctor who gave medical help to John Wilkes Booth's broken leg acquired in his escape after shooting Lincoln in 1865. Mudd was convicted of being Booth's conspirator, although the evidence against him was ambiguous and circumstantial, and many historians argue that he was innocent of any murderous intent.

However, 'your name is mud', was in general circulation long before Lincoln was assassinated. 

The word began to be used in a figurative sense as early as the 16th century to refer to things that were worthless or polluting. That usage was later extended to apply to people, as listed in the 1703 account of London's low life, Hell upon Earth: Mud, a Fool, or thick skull Fellow.

The combination of meanings of 'decaying and worthless' and 'extremely' was enough for the association of it with someone's name to become an insult - hence 'your name is mud'.

Why Comparing Apples and Oranges?

  I want to thank Facebook friend Richard Weatherly for this photo.

A reader asked what was the significance of my blog's title...Comparing Apples and Oranges. When I began to write this blog, I had no idea what I would choose to write about. I just knew I wanted it to be informative and entertaining. But, as they say, different folks need different strokes, so...

Comparing apples and oranges has to do with a long-standing difference between my husband and myself. He's a pessimist...his first answer is always "no" and first to point out the negative aspects of a discussion. I, on the other hand, have been called an optimist...usually willing to seek out the positive.

When a difference of opinion on a subject appears to come to a stand-off, our continued arguments fall on deaf ears because we are seeing the situation from two different perspective. Our only recourse when one or the other recognizes this, is to ease the tension by pointing out we are comparing apples with oranges. Over the years, we've come to an understanding...we basically agreed to disagree.

It's taken many years to come to this realization,but ever since we've started doing this, it's really ease the tension.

Thinking about this, I wondered how that aspect could be applicable to writing. How about developing those opposing viewpoints in two characters, each determined to convince the other of their rightness? And all the time they are really talking about two different aspects of the argument. Can't wait to find some place to try this out.

Something Bloggers Need To Remember

This blogging is something I'm still learning. So,whenever I come across articles that I find helpful, I'm happy to share. Some of them are obvious and others, like #5 and #7 were things I never considered. The following tips came from Reuters News Agency and I found them very informational for bloggers. 

1. Be interesting.
2. Be conversational — raise questions, invite contributions, discuss what’s happening on other blogs, leave some loose ends, and respond to comments made by readers.
3. Link to external sites with relevant information.
4. Monitor other bloggers in the same space and attempt to build reciprocal links with them.
5. Tag posts so that they are easy for search engines to find.
6. Inject some personality into posts, and include observation and anecdote.
7. Credit the original source of all content embedded in posts.
8. Make use of multimedia whenever possible and think about a post’s layout.
9. Make sure posts are seen by a second pair of eyes before publication.
10. Place a link to blog posts on relevant social media.
    

Let's Hear It For Writing Contests

How do you feel about  writing contests? Our local writers'group, North East Texas Writers Organization (NETWO for short), is holding a contest especially for writers who are teens...and it's free with prizes. You can find out more about it on our website: www.netwo.org.

We'll also be once again sponsoring a a short story contest in conjunction with our yearly conference held in April. Named to honor a member who gave so much to those of us following, the information about the Jory Sherman Short Story Contest is also on the website.

I'm a longtime subscriber to C. Hope Clark's excellent newsletter, Funds For Writers http://www.fundsforwriters.com/. Here are a couple contest she reported in last week's issue. I think you can use Paypal to pay the entry fees.

65 LITTLE WORDS WRITING COMPETITION
http://creativecompetitor.com/65-little-words-creative-writing-competition/65-little-words-writing-competition-february-2015/
ENTRY FEE £2 (OR FREE TO MEMBERS).1st Prize: £260. 2nd Prize: £195. Deadline February 10, 2015. You have just 65 words or less including the title to write a complete story. It's a tough one, but you can do it,and we look forward to receiving your submissions. You must use the photo published online.

THE PARK BENCH WRITING COMPETITION
http://creativecompetitor.com/creative-writing-competitions/writing-competitions-2015/park-bench-writing-competition/
£3 ENTRY FEE (FREE TO MEMBERS).1st Prize: £195. 2nd Prize: £150. 3rd Prize: £100. Deadline February 28, 2015. Using the photo for inspiration, you have just 1,000 words (including the title) to write a complete story that captures the imagination of the reader. To be in with a chance of winning this writing competition, you must include the park bench in your story.

If you've never been confident enough to enter a writing contest,let me encourage you to take that step. I find the undertaking stimulating and the endeavor to write something to enter challenging. It makes me stretch my writing muscles.