July Words of Wisdom

She Who Loves the Beach

No words can express

The depth of her contentment

As she walks along the beach.

As the waves lap against the shores

They create the rhythm of her life.

Balmy breezes kiss

Her sun-bronzed skin

And she wonders...

Could there ever be a greater destiny

Than to be born with a love

For the treasures of the sea?

Here, she is home.

--Suzy Toronto

Dieting humor

If only it were this easy.

Office hours

Gotta admit, this twisted the knife big time

This popped up on my Facebook feed last night:

Although I'm pretty sure my apartment had been rented out sight unseen by the time I vacated and did the walk-through a week ago Tuesday, I'm also pretty sure that isn't my old apartment. I hope. I mean, they had to re-carpet, repaint and deep clean before a new tenant could move in. On the other hand, how long does it take a place with a maintenance army to turn a vacancy around? It sure looks like my old place.

And while I hope Boo Boo does enjoy his first fireplace, it sure looks like he has a lot to learn about enjoying his first fireplace. Maybe he could learn from a pro.

Crap, that does look like my apartment.

Nice world-class city ya got there. Be a shame if it turned into a third-world shithole.

San Francisco needs to get its shit together.  From the article:

The city's seedy underbelly leaves behind other forms of hazardous waste too. A February NBC report revealed that in addition to feces, downtown San Francisco is polluted with more garbage and used syringes than some of the world's poorest slums.

Dr. Lee Riley, an infectious diseases expert at the University of California in Berkeley, told NBC reporters that in some parts of the city, the contamination is "much greater than communities in Brazil or Kenya or Italy."

Getting stuck by a used needle can pass on diseases like HIV and Hepatitis B and C. San Francisco has one of the largest HIV-positive populations in the US, with an estimated 16,010 people living with the disease.

I won't even include any of the photos from the article - they're just disgusting.

This comes on the heels of this article where the president of the city's visitors bureau discussed how the situation is getting worse and affecting San Francisco's tourist trade. From the article:

"The streets are filthy. There's trash everywhere. It's disgusting," D'Alessandro said, adding he's traveled the world, and San Francisco stands out for all the wrong reasons. "I've never seen any other city like this - the homelessness, dirty streets, drug use on the streets, smash-and-grabs.

"How can it be?" he continued. "How can it have gotten to this point?"

Remember, this is the man whose job is to glorify San Francisco, which tells you something about how far the city has sunk.

I keep wondering if one of the writing conferences I attend will announce San Francisco as a location. They're planned well in advance, so there would be time for SF to get its act together, but as of right now I'd take a pass on an event there even though it's just a quick and easy Southwest flight away, there's no way I'm walking the streets of San Francisco under these conditions.

I'm already missing out!

233

Bigger and better than these sorry pictures make it look.

Sophie's fireplace... :(

I should have gotten a better shot of the balcony. Too late now.

Called it

Pedophiles have begun publicly rebranding themselves as "MAP" (Minor Attracted Persons) and embarking on their march toward "acceptance" in earnest. Called this when The Brother and I did our KCRW's The Last Thing You Would Expect project in November of 2013, which was inspired by this post from August of 2011.

As I stated in the earlier post (and my opinion hasn't changed):

I don't even have children and I still feel a natural, instinctive desire to want to protect them from anyone who would do them harm, especially from pedophiles and the idiots who defend their action and inclinations. Here's an idea - stop coddling criminals and start sympathizing with people who really need and deserve it: Their victims. And think of the children for a change.

Given how many child porn arrests and convictions I've been seeing in the media recently, I'm really curious what is emboldening them to make this push now. And they're doing it by attaching themselves to the LBGT community. Gotta wonder how that community will respond.

Updated 7/14/18: Because oops, I forgot to include a link to the original story that prompted this post. Just moved last weekend and it didn't go well, so I'm a little scattered right now. Will do better next time!

It just got shorter

The importance of the right font

I agree, as much for the message as the aesthetics.

H/T to Write On! on FB for bringing a little joy to the day before I move to a place that was 117 degrees today.

*Sigh*

Maybe next year.

Fireworks in the Marina

They did their usual exceptional job.

The next time I talk about moving away from the beach, kick me in the ass please

Thank you.

Submitted for your approval - June 2018 edition

Considering I spent the first half of the month blocked and the entire month prepping for a move, I was surprised I ended up getting anything submitted this month.

I submitted a very short story to the Writers Police Academy's Golden Donut Short Story Competition. This is a fun annual contest. They give you a photo (see this year's here) and you have to write a story based on the picture that is exactly 200 words, including a title, which is required. Winner will be announced at the WPA Banquet in August. The award is actually very pretty, with the winner's name etched in it in glass, and not in fact a donut, which I think would be hilarious. Bonus: I submitted it on June 18, a full thirteen days before the deadline. I think that's a new personal best.

There were a couple other markets I wanted to submit to, but packing for the move took over and I had to pass on those. Once I get moved and settled in my plan is to spend the rest of the year submitting as much as possible.

I also found out that I didn't make the quarterfinal cut of the Script Pipeline TV Contest. I had entered my old Better Call Saul spec last December. It was already out of date (but still less than a year old) at the time, and I'm guessing the fact that the contest was open until June 1 of this year didn't help that situation. It's also the second consecutive TV contest where it looks like they much prefer original pilots to specs, as those were the majority of the scripts that made the cut. A BCS script did make it, so I'm pulling for that guy.

Other news: Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles announced that they will reveal the authors and stories selected for their next anthology on July 18, so fingers crossed. And as I type this I realize that when they do, I will no longer be living by the ocean and that makes me sad. Wonder what kind of stories I'll be writing while cooped inside the next few months to escape the scorching San Gabriel Valley summer.

Image snicked from somewhere on the internet. If it's yours please let me know so that I can give credit where credit is due.