CHAOS IN EGYPT

Over 100 Egyptians dead on the streets of this ancient city. Tear gas (canisters plainly marked Made in the USA) used on looters. Military tanks (Abrams made in the US) and riot-gear-clad troops attempting to keep peace with non-violent reaction. F-16 jets, supplied by America, have now been added to the mix.

First Egyptian citizens, later the military, guard the priceless antiquities in the museum after thieves broke in, destroying several irreplaceable relics, while searching for gold. Before the world, the image of a 3,000 year-old civilization is crumbling, because of the unbending stance of one man.

Mubarak, always backed by whichever U.S. administration in power, gave lip service to the ordinary people after the shock of riots penetrated his inner sanctum. The citizens, in turn, called for employment, education, price cuts, and an end to the police state. When their President offered no reforms, only a change in HIS government in the form of a new vice-president (the same guy who worked with our CIA in order to have supposedly subversives tortured in Egypt)the people spoke: off with Mubarak! Leave the country! We don't want you--or the son you've groomed to take your place."

In my heart I can see the kind, smiling Egyptian military men sitting in my home twenty plus years ago. I know most of them are retired by now. Their beautiful, highly-educated wives, so gracious to this American working woman, are playing with their grandchildren today. But their younger children, even their sons and daughter's in their thirties, may be among those industrious, unemployed adults who have taken to the streets of Cairo this week.

Have we Americans been blinded by Mubarak? Could we only see the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel he upheld? Was it possible we closed our eyes, giving this man who smells like a dictator clad in the clothe of democracy, free reign?

If so, shame on us!

The country of Egypt is fragile tonight. This writer is torn by what is truly the right road for this magnificent land to take. Is a reformed Mubarak the right choice? Is the opportunity for a democratic election of leaders by the citizens proper? As in Palestine, there is a danger in this last choice.

The Islamic Brotherhood stands waiting to send Egypt back into the Dark Ages where those women I respected so much, clad in their beautiful, soft pastel-colored brocades, will be shrouded in black from head to toe, walking, not beside their proud husbands, but two steps behind, their voices silenced forever.

I am so sorry that for thirty years we sanctioned a man who thought his own people deserved less than the freedom to live a good life in a country they took such pride in. But I'm also scared of the direction the people may take.

May God and Allah do what is best for the ancient land.

I DON'T WANNA WRITE. OR DO I?

Procrastination? What's that? Oh, you mean like rearranging my office because I don't want to write? Or filing/cleaning out files because I have no idea what my next project will be? Or running off to purchase more supplies instead of, as some expert writers proclaim we should do, sitting at my computer until the muse danced? Or maybe I've taken on so many outside responsibilities in order not to have time to write?

As most writers, I tend to have more fun when I am "in the mood" to write. I am also one of those writers who can produce very well to a deadline so...if I have a special project I really want to complete or keep my novel moving, I type up a deadline schedule for myself and stick it above my computer.

If I am away from my computer and cannot use my laptop, I still work to my deadline. I dig out the pad and one of the ten or so pens I always have at the bottom of my purse, and continue a chapter, work on a character sketch, or draft the next part of my article or a chapter in a nonfiction book. Or work on a lesson plan for one of my classes. The deadline is in my head as I travel and I know I must make up for the time away from the computer in this way.

I've never missed a real deadline or seldom miss self-imposed ones either. So I guess deadlines work for me no matter who gives them.

I have a bi-monthly deadline for my inspirational newsletter and for lesson plans for each of the weekly classes I teach. My self-imposed deadline/promise for the newsletter is to mail it out no later than the firt week of the designated month it is due. I gather all the submissions I've received and chosen and write the fill-in articles to go along with them. Though self-imposed, this is one deadline I won't allow myself to miss by procrastination.

GOD IS GOOD

Those of you who read this blog, and aren't a believer, will have to put up with my praises tonight--or click off this blog. I should always remember who is in control of my life--even the most minute parts of it.

I pray for others each night but, except for requests for improved health, safe travels, or His leadership for my day, I seldom pray for myself. I mean some things are just too frivalous, right? Wrong! God knows what we need, or don't need, and He is definitely in control. He proved that to me when I prayed about my Nook problems. Silly, huh?

I prayed that, if God meant for me to use this new-fangled electronic equipment, He would help me find out how to access the Internet on my new Nook.

This morning, after hubby left for a pool tournament, I drug out the WiFi installer's paperwork one more time before calling AT&T, hopefully for help connecting. I fired up the Nook, punched in the one password I had only tried one time before (not the ones I tried umpteen times before), and it connected immediately! I was so astonished. And it could only have been an answer to my prayers, His guidance back to that one password, and His approval of my becoming more of a techie.

I can't wait to download the Bible.

BIRTHDAYS +NOOKS=FRUSTRATION

Saturday, January 22, was my birthday. And, no, I refuse to tell you how many years "young" I was. I hate when someone discribes anyone over 65 as "young." Honey, we are not young. We are on the sunny side of the end of the road and how we walk, ride, or run down that road is up to us. I plan to live every day of my remaining life to the fullest, hope I can do unto others as God would have me, and have a heck of a good time doing it all. Even though I'm not young, I don't have to act old.

I think I made a mistake though when I asked for one of the newest techie things for sale. I read a lot. Do I read a lot! You can tell by the stacks of books in each room, the filled bookshelves in my office, the two cartons of books in our storage area, and the fact I can't pass up a used bookstore or Friends of the Library. I've been looking at eReaders and, maybe envisioning the disappearance of all these books, hubby decided to surprise me with one for Christmas. Not that we hadn't looked at them everywhere we went.

Feeling I might not enjoy reading books on a screen as much as others, I told him not to purchase a higher-priced Nook or Kindle. He gave me a lovely eReader, easy to navigate through, and it had free classics to read. But I could never get it to connect with my WiFi and it had no way of connecting to my computer for downloads. So I returned it two days after Christmas.

A friend got a Nook and loved it. I went to a demo, heard the differences in it and others and, with extra birthday money from hubby, purchased a Nook. I have learned how to navigate it easily; I love the idea of downloading those books from B&N, Amazon, all the ebook sellers. But, again, I cannot connect to my WiFi.

I've spent hours with B&N and online with AT&T, the place where I purchased my WiFi router and my Internet service. I spent as much time on my own attempting to solve my connection problem. My next step is to talk to a real person at AT&T tomorrow. Maybe that will work. My next step, if it doesn't, is to let my computer guru, Jeff, see if he can find the problem--that is if he is available in the next 12 days, which is what time I have left to decide whether I want to keep this Nook or not.

Today, in the middle of my frustration, I came to the realization that I threw away an entire day that I could have spent writing. I have a deadline for the last of my columns. I have two classes to do lesson plans for this week. I am sort of mad at myself for thinking new techie stuff is such a big deal, when the only thing I want to do is write. And have someone read, and enjoy, the words I put on paper.

I don't think this is progress.

The Year of ...

I'm so far behind in this new year already I don't know what Year of the....it is. That's what happens when you let holidays and cruises take over your life. I do, however, know that I was born in the year of the dragon and my husband was born in the year of the rat. And we are not supposed to be anywhere near each other, much less married, according to these Chinese predictions. Needless to say, we didn't pay any attention and have been married for over 33 years even though we did another dangerous thing and got married on Friday the thirteenth.

So much for predictions. That includes the predictions of what this year will have to offer all of us. We make our own good luck. We work hard at what our passions are in life. We writers must ignore the omens, do our research, conduct our interviews, write our short stories or poetry, edit, rewrite, and submit--that will happen if we are diligent, not because of some sign of the zodiac or some prediction of astrologers. And, though not all of you will agree, I believe God is in control of my destiny and he gives me the knowledge, the words, and the direction to be published or not.

I don't make resolutions but I do set goals. I probably have pretty much the same goals year after year. Most years I fail--not due to anyone's fault but my own. This year my goal is to have more published, to complete a poetry chapbook I have been working on for years, and to submit/publish more nonfiction than I have in the past few years. I did accomplish publishing goals in 2010; I had many poems accepted for publication, I completed my columns for The Storyteller Magazine on time and they were accepted/published, and I assited other writers in becoming published.

Assisting other writers is always on my goal list. I love teaching and leading other people who have this passion for writing. I am continuing my Word Weavers writing class and my memoir class at a retirement facility. I am going to be teaching a class for beginner writers that will be open to the public of all ages on Saturdays so all ages (and working people) may attend. I love this craft and want to share, and be shared with, what we all have to offer.

What is your goal for the year?