Stormy Update, Something Light

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Let’s get right down to brass tacks – I’ve still got two more really heavy posts to get out but we’re going to take a break and do a dog post.

Chew toys make life bearable.

This afternoon, instead of being outside in the 93 degree heat, the bozo twins are basking in the air conditioning and chewing artificial bones. Yeah, sounds silly, but the real bones splinter sometimes and these are more controllable.

Note the use of the paws to hold the victim. All dogs use the paws to some extent – I think Shelties could deal blackjack in Vegas with their dexterity.

I’m hoping to catch some video of Stormy and her new non-barking ways. I bought a super soaker squirt gun the other day. She started barking without reason at a neighbor and I just triggered a blast in the opposite direction and whacked the garage wall. That got her attention. Two + two = a soggy Sheltie. Since I pulled the trigger it’s been blissfully quiet around the ranch.

So, it’s Friday tomorrow and I’ll put something out there to gaze at before the weekend. Perhaps we’ll head to the rifle range and take pictures there? Or a diner? Or, more likely, the back yard where there’s a tree I’m trimming out. That would explain the gouge on my leg.

Ooooh! There’s the topic.

See this space tomorrow for a near bout of idiocy.

Take A Deep Breath And Read The Whole Post.

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Today’s post will be full of unpleasant truths and things that many don’t want to hear. But I promise that it will be worth your time to read it in its entirety. I promise to do an ABBA video or a Stormy story this week to make up for this longer post. It’s about 3,000 words and it works best if you read it all.

Before diving into the topic at hand, I’d like to say a word about the press in this country. I’m including myself in the club as I write this blog for you to read, whether or not certain members of the United States Congress agree that I’m a journalist. At a minimum, I’m an editorialist.

Every thing you read, everything you see on television, everything on the internet, and everything you hear on the radio is designed to sell you something. This includes public figures and “personalities” who babble in front of rallies. Each and every single one of us is interested in your buying our sponsor’s product, following our Messiah, or buying our books. Sometimes it’s just the power trip of knowing that you have 4.67 million people who tune in to your show every week. I am part of that crowd.

I did not start this blog for altruistic purposes. I thoroughly enjoy it now, and I love the open channel I have with my readers. I’ve made a determined effort to use it for good at least once a week. But I very grudgingly began this a few years ago because I’d been told, repeatedly, that if you ever wanted to sell a book you needed a blog. Fine. I’ll start a stupid blog – I don’t have to enjoy it – I won’t write much – etc.

So, there’s my motivation right up front – I want you to buy the books I write once they are published. In the meantime, it’s all free, baby.

The rest of the press is the same. They want you to buy something whether it’s a tangible product or an ideology. Keep that in mind as you read the rest of this little gem. Continue reading →

Interview With Judy Liautaud, Author of “Sunlight On My Shadow”

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When I first started working in the voice over world a local children’s book author hired me to do the work on her interactive software. Entitled “Times Tables The Fun Way!” it was not only the best paying job I had that year, or the next, but also it forced me to do over twenty different voices for the work. I still love going to her website (www.citycreek.com) and listening to the samples. She made me a much better voice over talent with her kindness and expectations.

Judy in my spacious interview office – known to most of you as “Starbucks”

It is with pleasure that I present an interview with the author of Sunlight On My Shadow: A Birth Mother’s Journey From Secrecy to Renewal, Finding A Way to Heal From Shame and Regret, Ms. Judy Liautaud.

Judy’s book: Sunlight On My Shadow

A little preface is in order. The book is not for children. And there are some frank words about intimate relations in the book. I happen to think that they were vital to the story line. But it’s not something I’d give to my 8 year old nephew as a summer read. This is an excellent book for adults interested in the topic of a birth mother searching for the child she gave up for adoption in the late 1960s. Judy’s own description of the book is: “Suitable for adults and teens – with parental guidance.” I agree. But if you wear your “big girl/boy pants” you’ll be just fine. And, I honestly believe, much better after reading the book. I loved it.

Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page. Continue reading →

Sponsorship Sunday – Week Eleven – Bylove

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Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page.

Again this week I ask that you take a few minutes and read about my little friends in Haiti. Your sponsorship, just a few dollars a day, makes a huge difference in their lives. Just over a dollar a day meets either their medical or educational needs each day. That donut you got at the coffee shop can be turned into a changed life. Not a bad way to think about it at all.

Thank you in advance for your kindness.

This week’s child is: Bylove

Bylove

Bylove has a heart for God. When asked his favorite activity he will tell you it’s playing, singing and dancing for God. Bylove is one to encourage other kids and he will be the first to help out when needed. Bylove wants to be an engineer when he grows up and he likes studying French. You will most often find Bylove on the playground and playing soccer or basketball. Bylove’s prayer request is that he will be able to finish school.

It is my hope that one of you will find your heart touched by this child and take up a bit of Christ’s work by sponsoring them for an extended period. My wife and I are sponsoring a pair of sisters and I look at it this way – I only gave up a fast-food dinner each day to change the life of a child. Healing Haiti will do the right things for these children and I have full confidence in their work. I am not affiliated with them, they don’t endorse this blog, nothing like that at all. I just love kids (can’t be Santa and not love children) and know that Grace Village is the difference between life and death for many of these children. Please open your heart and prayerfully reflect on the opportunity God’s giving us to sponsor these children. Some of them have come out of slavery and have some of the toughest lives you could imagine prior to Grace Village.

Just click the link and it will take you directly to the page where you can sponsor this week’s child. And if God is particularly good and that child is sponsored when you get there, please grab another smiling face and change their life instead. My goal is to put Sponsorship Sunday out of business as quickly as possible and take that day off each week. Thank you. God bless you for your generosity.

Some of the finest people you’ll ever meet. The hands and feet of Christ.

Friday – Must Be Rib Recipe Day.

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After sucker-punching you all with my crock-pot chicken recipe, and failing in my duties to secure a Famous Dave’s Recipe from his latest – Famous Dave’s Barbecue Party Cookbook – I had to do something special to make up for all of my shameful behavior.

Today, and with great pride, I present my own recipe for ribs.

The secret to great ribs is to ignore my first 25 years of cooking them and check in during the most recent 5 years. Yes, I destroyed many racks of ribs by being pig-headed and not preparing them far enough in advance. No matter what anyone says to the contrary, you have to slow cook them before they go on to the grill if you aren’t going to smoke them. I have the option of a grill or a smoker with my Bubba Keg. Many of you don’t. So today’s recipe starts out in the oven and moves to the grill for finishing. Oh, yeah – lots of pictures to entice you as well. Continue reading →