by injecting him with his own faeces!!!!
Yep - another one that makes you say 'WTF?!?!?!'
There are no reports on the toddler - but as the report says this was an 'attempt' - then we can all but pray that he is recovering and will be cared for by people who love him more than themselves and that the mother also gets help for Munchhausens so that she cannot do this again.
http://blogs.app.com/saywhat/2009/04/23/mom-injects-baby-with-feces-to-kill-him/
Okay - so to be fair I was not expecting any part of this to be easy.
I guess like many in beginning a novel I had not realised the amount of work that is entailed just in prep.
I enjoy reading - I devour books.
I have done book reviews and been very honoured by a couple of authors asking me to write reviews.
I have dabbled in little bits of writing for myself - a lot for friends and patients, articles now and again, short stories (but not for a while).
I have enjoyed dabbling in writing since being a child and therefore like many have always had that dream of becoming published author.
So - as mentioned in my previous entry - in being approached by a published author I was gobsmacked - a change of pace and genre for him and a chance for me to unleash my 'talent'!
Then the work begins - and in a totally different way to anything I had done before - after all - this is for a novel!
I did some research - talked with my co-author - did more research and then it hit me just how much work all those authors I read have to put in before even beginning writing.
So - in knowing the story line - which has of course been refined a few times, realising the importance of character profiles, creating those characters so that I can work with them and know them thoroughly, refining the storyline yet again, still devouring books for pleasure and actually getting some basics on paper - I was beginning to feel at times like a Zippo without the flint - just through sheer admiration of what authors actually go through.
I had good feedback from a friend who actually made me think about a couple of things in a different way. I cannot even begin to say how helpful it is to have someone to bounce ideas off - someone you know will be honest and question things if needs be.
I had good feedback from my co-author - who said I obviously knew what I was doing and although flattered, I was also very much in the, 'huh? I have not got a clue - I am going with what I feel!' frame of mind and also realising that I am still a little nervous too.
But amidst the nerves is that excitement of my storyline and idea, my characters - naming them was a joy I tell ya and then researching to make sure the names were not too close to any in use especially in the same genre - their profiles - my blurb - and the prologue and first chapters were deemed as more than good enough.
The word synopsis came up and hell - I have been working on that and I can now understand why a lot of authors call it 'the dreaded synopsis'.
I know I still have bits of research to do throughout - things that keep popping up as the story progresses.
I know I will be refining things and doing at least another 2 or 3 rewrites.
I know I will probably get turned down by a lot of agencies and publishers before finding the right one - I may hit lucky with the first one but I am not pinning my hopes on anything other than hard work on promoting it too.
The one thing that overrides all of the hard work - half of which is not covered here as I do not have the experience yet - is the buzz!!! It is truly exhilarating. The 'weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee' feeling when you know you have written something that is just right - well I am not going to say it is better than sex - but you get what I mean!
It is my little world I can create and hopefully bring some enjoyable reading to others and be able to take them into that world as so many authors do with me when I read their books.
One day - I AM going to be able to say - 'hey - I'm an author' - but until then - my undying respect for the work authors have to do is in full flow.
Sometimes you see something and you just have to post it - this one I saw courtesy of a reddit user.
The best bit in the info here:
".........on the advice of a passing sailor, the stem of the sailor's pipe was inserted into her rectum and air was blown into the pipe's bowl through a piece of perforated paper."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_smoke_enema
I wonder if after having smoke blown up their ass if they could blow it out again afterwards!!!
"Violence against women and girls is unacceptable in any form."
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith
I agree - it is. It is also as unacceptable for men to suffer from any kind of violence also.
Soooooo here we go again. The Government is in the mire about several other things going on so they roll out 'old faithful' as they do every couple of years or so - and the Government before them - domestic abuse' - to try and look as though they are actually going to attempt something valid this time and deflect from other issues for a couple of days.
So the latest idea - the 'Abusive Partners Register'..... okayyyyy!
Yes, yes, I sound pessimistic and have every right to. They drag this horse out to trot every couple of years with different plans being spoken of for a couple of days and then nothing more is ever heard.
Do I have a right to say anything - do I know what I am talking about in suffering at the hands of an abusive partner?
YES - for a few years I did just that. Raped almost daily, beaten daily without fail, sometimes a quick few punches, more often than not beaten to the point of not being able to walk properly because of fractures or just sheer pain, not being able to see out of my eyes properly (I had one that did not care if anyone saw me with black eyes and a bruised face - he thought it made him look big and hard).
I was not allowed to go out - not even to ante-natal classes because there were other men there (with their partners having their baby but hey ho - they were men). Every couple of months or so I was forced to stay awake for a week and sometimes 2 weeks straight and was beaten if I fell asleep. You're wondering how he did it? He was sick enough to put an alarm on hourly to wake himself up and then beat me more because he was tired with having to wake up every hour.
I got to breaking point - I picked this man up by the scruff of the neck and slammed him against a wall with a knife pinned against his throat and told him if he came near me ever again I would kill him.
I have my faith to thank that I did not go that one step further and actually kill him there and then.
I was lucky - I found the strength and got away. To be honest I had a crap childhood and had been in the pit of abuse too much to let my children suffer at the hands of it. He had not touched the children - but I was not going to give him the chance to harm them in any way either - they deserved better from me as their mother - momma bear - to protect them properly. I did make sure he went to prison after I knew he did not know where I was and that I had a secure injunction which would be acted on - the police WERE immensely helpful in reassuring me of this and were there when he wanted to collect clothing - which ended up being taken by the garbage collectors by accident - uh huh!
They were kind and considerate and treated him as the burden and not me.
The APR will not work for one major reason - it is DOMESTIC abuse they are aiming at. Within the home. That means years of fear and being trapped for most people whether they are adults or children.
A conviction will be needed for people to be placed on this register - too many people in any form of abuse are afraid to report domestic violence. For a majority of cases it is still reliant on the person who has been beaten/abused to press charges.
Abuse is about power and fear.
The sad thing is a government using domestic abuse as something to be thrown around to take the focus off other things every year or two years. They talk for a few days then nothing else is heard about it - as is seen now from the weekend when the register was first mentioned - it was mentioned on Monday and Tuesday then nothing more.
People's fear and terrible conditions in living in abusive households should not be taken out to trot for the sake of a publicity stunt or any other reason.
It is sick and sad that so many people will have seen the proposal for the register - whether in abusive households or not and thought the same as myself, 'yeah yeah, they got this one out to play again.'
It is about time the government used a different ploy to divert attention from other issues - or even better - actually did something about them and about domestic violence so that people living in fear can actually believe that there is hope for them to get away - that something in the form of real action will be done to help them - rather than talking about crap that just will not work no matter how much the government try and dress it up with little bows.
Bows come undone!
Ohhhhhh this pissed me off when reading it.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5780725.ece
Carrying on from Blair's failings, Brown's lot are continuing to make sure that we end up with nothing to be proud of whatsoever in Britain.
We have one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates anywhere but the new idea from the Government is - do not teach your kids right from wrong when talking about sex.
I have 4 kids - 2 of them are teenagers - 18 and 16 - that age.
I fully agree that sex should not be made something to be afraid of or seen as something dirty or immoral.
HOWEVER - I am not about to stop teaching and reiterating to any of my kids to have respect for others and most importantly themselves when it comes to sexual relationships with others.
Healthy relationships - whether of a sexual nature or not - are based around respect for the other person - but more-so in relationships where sex is involved.
Respect comes from having morals and values for oneself initially so that they may be used throughout one's life.
Apparently we should start the 'big talk' with children as young as possible.
WHY?
Children should be children and like adults each one is different as to the information they can take on board and process. Talking with children at too young an age can cause all sorts of problems when they are unable to process the information appropriately and become confused.
This is another ridiculous act in the Government continuing with the creation of it's 'fuck you' society which is only capable of saying 'fuck you' in return - because they are not expected to have any respect for anyone and sadly not even for themselves.
This brainchild came on the wave of a boy becoming a father at the age of 13.
Maybe if he had been taught morals and values and that maybe obtaining an education, becoming a functioning member of society and learning respect for others and himself - that maybe - just maybe - he would not be having sex at such a young age or maybe even knowing enough to use a condom to prevent pregnancy and reduce the risk of disease.
His more open sex education classes that the government brought into schools are obviously working!
It is about time this Government got on with the job of governing and stop nannying and trying to be every child's parents - because if I made as much of a fuck up or half the suggestions that the Government makes in how to be a parent and let's just let the little darlings run around and bonk each other stupid and then we can send them to school so they can learn what sperm tastes like - then my status as a mother would definitely be looked at.
Like many, I have dabbled in writing for myself but never gone as far as getting anything published. For those of you that have read my other blog on 'blogger' or have seen my page on 'myspace' - you will have also seen that I occasionally write book reviews - and I have had the honor of having had 3 authors ask me to write reviews for their books.
One of said authors - Andrew Towning - I have known since May last year. He is a published author of 2 books (thriller/spy genre) and is presently putting the finishing touches to his third for publication.
Whilst talking he mentioned towards the end of last year that he wanted to leave that genre for a while and try something different - with a co-author - someone who was capable of writing but who maybe had not had the opportunity to get published - in the crime/thriller genre. Let's be fair - it is the fastest selling genre around the western world - we all want to know what makes criminals tick - hail the hero and boo the baddie!
I'm getting to my little secret - really!!!!!
So - not thinking for one second he was talking about me - we got to some minor pussy-footing around the issue and different ideas - I was chuffed to be asked!
Sending ideas back and forth and he said they were good and would work! So now Andrew and I are co-authoring a book!!!
Now it is the serious stage of character profiles, settings, getting basics on paper etc and it is FUN!!!!!
I am really doing this - and have to kick myself now and again to remind myself it is real!!
I have a dear friend - Dan - a very talented writer himself - who is keeping me grounded - making me think about things when I go too high into the clouds - whom I know will not flatter me and will let me know if something is not quite right. His friendship is invaluable to me as his company on this journey.
My brain is fuzzy, my nerves are all over the place - in wanting to do this but also in working with someone already published 3 times and feeling somewhat inadequate - but so grateful to Andrew for this amazing opportunity and his belief that I can do this too.
It is a door that remains locked to many for various reasons and I have an opportunity to, if not charge through it, at least tip-toe through it and take a good peek!
So - wish me luck - I will need it!!!
In Japan, 7 people were rushed to hospital suffering from various things including limb paralysis and breathing trouble.
Fugu (blowfish to you and me!) can only legally be prepared in Japan by chefs that hold a valid license for the said purpose!
It is 100 times more poisonous than potassium cyanide - yet is popular with thrill-seeking gourmets (death is a thrill now?!?!?!).
Still..... it takes all sorts huh?!?!?
Headline: GOAT DETAINED OVER ARMED ROBBERY
Now - they are not confirming this - but they do have the goat in custody!!!!
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE50M4XT20090124
In one of their own online newspapers (link below) - the Nigerian Government made an appeal for this story to be disregarded - but that it is under investigation.
So if this is a hoax - which would be disregarded as a kind of April Fool prank here - why is it under investigation?
Does this mean the goat is still in custody one wonders?
http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20090127150073
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000796XXM/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller
Most of the customer reviews for this are pretty funny - but the first one which I have posted below is simply hilarious!!!!
Ok for cleaning teeth, not so great for killing ants.., December 3, 2007
By
Nero Goldstein "Bemused by a Muse"
(The Great Nation of Texas) - See all my reviews
Picked this up for use in one of my kid's 'diversity' projects in school (Great Success!), and stuck the leftovers in the cabinet next to the baking soda.
Ran out of toothpaste, and remembered how you're supposed to be able to use baking soda to clean your teeth, so of course, I accidentally used this instead, and Wow! all I can say is, my teeth have never been cleaner! They sparkle, they tingle, and for some reason, they STAY clean now, no matter what. Highly recommended!
However, when I ran out of that fire-ant killer powder stuff, I figured I would try some for that too.
Big mistake!
Boy, it sure did not kill those ants!
Fortunately, those suckers get slower as they get bigger, so I have been able to use a shovel to take care of most of them, one at a time though, the sneaky devils.
And the darn trash man refuses to take them away..
I would have given this product 5 stars for the teeth and the project on embracing diversity, but I deducted one star because of the giant mutant ants.
How to win a competition hands down.
In response to a radio competition 'what is the weirdest thing you have eaten?' - a female caller said 'little girls.'
She of course did not know this at the time - she found out many years later when the butcher her mother went to at the time was arrested for the murders of girls and mincing them up and selling them as meat!
How the heck would you feel knowing you had been eating children for a few years? Sick or 'well - didn't know what it was but it was yummy!!!'
http://yeahthatsodd.com/2009/01/19/i-ate-little-girls-for-two-years-it-was-delicious/
Well to be fair - what the heck did they expect?!?!?!?
One of the funniest statements in this story has to be:
"In no other part of Europe is the Church's influence as strong on politics and citizens' lives as in Italy," he added. ('he' being Raffaele Carcano, national secretary of the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics.)
Altogether now ....... 'well duhhhhhhhhh!!!!'
Okay so everyone is entitled to their point of view and the bus ads are not going to be to everyone's taste - especially for those of us that believe in God.
It would be nice to see what the outcome would be if Christian religions wanted to do the same thing? Would it be allowed? Would they dare not allow it after allowing these in England?
The one thing that puzzles me - if these Atheists do not believe in God or religion - they sure as hell spend a lot of time trying to look like a religion themselves and trying to convert others to their beliefs!
Fans of Winnie the Pooh are said to be appalled that the return of Winnie the Pooh to the Hundred Acre Wood will include psychological analysis for the bear’s ‘chronic binge eating’. Other changes will see Eeyore diagnosed with depression and prescribed ‘Prozac’ before being re-housed in a council donkey sanctuary.
The updated Winnie the Pooh had not been expected to incorporate quite so many negative aspects of modern life, but the publishers said that contemporary readers would expect some sort of analysis and explanation for the dysfunctional behaviour of so many of the famous characters.
‘Pooh is undergoing treatment for an eating disorder related to feelings of low self esteem’ explained cognitive therapist Jim Rouse, ‘He feels that he is a bear of little brain so he compensates for his feelings of low self worth by binging on honey and condensed milk’.
Tigger has been prescribed Ritalin for his behavioral problems, which are believed to be ADHD related, and this has calmed down his ‘bouncing’ behavior. Beetle was destroyed by a council infestation officer who visited the wood to condemn Eeyore’s house as uninhabitable while Kanga has been forced into work by the government’s policy of getting single mums into the job market. Having completed a course in childcare, she now struggles to make ends meet in a low paid children’s nursery job while Roo spends most of the day in childcare, which eats up most of her earnings. Social workers are concerned that Roo is now becoming an overweight child because he doesn’t get to play outside as much as he did. DEFRA have a number of questions pending about pig welfare issues and the introduction of non indigenous Kangaroos into the 40.4685642 hectares woods.
Christopher Robin is currently in care due to his negligent parents allowing him to roam on his own in the woods. He had already been served with an ASBO for repeatedly polluting a local river with sticks, while Ofsted are said to be concerned at local education standards which has left most of the inhabitants of the area unable to spell words such as ‘Owl’.
The new book will follow Christopher’s attempts to escape from his social worker and return with his animal friends to the woods, which he sadly finds have been bought by developers, chopped down and turned into executive apartments.
http://newsbiscuit.com/article/pooh-bear-diagnosed-with-eating-disorder-438
(Take a look at http://www.newsbiscuit.com/ to inject some light relief and humor into your day!)
Told in first person narrative, this is the story of Gabriel Swift, an orphan in 1820's England, sent to work as an apprentice to one of the greatest anatomists of the time - he helps prepare bodies for dissection. At the time it was only legal to use prisoners whom had been executed for this purpose - hence 'Resurrectionists' filled the severe shortage of bodies which anatomists could use - digging up fresh corpses and selling them.
The story tells of Gabriel's personal demons from when his apprenticeship fails to him becoming an opium addicted Resurrectionist himself.
Over halfway through the story there is a location and time jump to New South Wales 1836 - which I did find rather unsettling and awkward.
By the time I had finished the book it felt as though the time jump had been an imposed added extra by an impatient editor.
Although the writing style is good - there was little development in the characters themselves with too many 'walk-on' characters. The main characters were thin rather than full-blooded so it was difficult to care one way or the other as to what was happening to them.
The story itself lacked pace somewhat and because of the 'thin' characters I could see a lot of people finding this book not very easy to get into and enjoy, and be turning over a few pages to find the next bit of 'gore' rather than wanting to turn page by page because they are enthralled by the story. I did not find it to be the 'brooding gothic horror' it was depicted as although there are certainly moments which will make the skin crawl slightly.
I DID however enjoy James Bradley's writing style immensely. His place and time description in the first part of the book are excellent and his use of prose and turn of phrase are very well displayed - so I shall be looking at one of his other novels to see if this was indeed a one-off slow read.
Having gone from joking about what his bedtime stories to his kids must have been like - to somewhat mourning the loss of one of the best horror writers of my time - it is fair to say that I began reading Duma Key with a fair amount of trepidation rather than anticipation.
So, we have characters who seem to acquire psychic powers after accidents and retreating to Duma Key for convalescence - in the case of the main character Edgar Fremantle.
Edgar lost an arm in an accident - wealthy - and needing time to convalesce he is 'drawn' to Duma Key and to a house there - 'Big Pink' - with it's whispering shells beneath. He starts to paint - sunsets at first - but when his missing arm starts to 'itch' and more - he finds his paintings take on a prescience that become reality - for example - causing the death of a child murderer by leaving his face blank in the painting.
He is befriended by Wireman - who has his own story - and cares for the owner of Duma Key and it's properties including the one Edgar is staying in.
The portrayal of the characters - e.g. Fremantle's recovery, his anger, his depression show that King can still certainly keep his characters credible and real in the most bizarre of situations.
King's ability to still be able to tell a gripping story is what keeps the reader turning the pages - the reader knowing that under the deceptive calm of the island and the whispering shells that there will indeed be something 'undead' revealed. It is in these moments of unease that the page turning speeds up.
Horror may not be his main focus or impetus - but the usage of sanity as the worst form of fear is displayed remarkably throughout this book.
A page turner, good live characters and some 'undead' with some good fear thrown in - not too bad at all!
What the hell is wrong with some people that they would treat a person worse than they would a dog - or any other animal??
This poor woman was found so emaciated and dirty that her shoes were embedded in her feet!
We would all like to think that in being cared for when we are older that care is indeed what we will receive including any medical attention required.
Her son - her sole provider - 'provider' being used rather loosely here - said he did not have a good relationship with his mother.
To be able to sit day after day for possibly years and watch someone deteriorate to such an extent before your own eyes - simply through lack of normal care takes some doing.
Don't ya just know he would have been collecting/claiming money on her behalf too!
He definitely belongs in the 'people you will see in hell' pages!
http://blogs.app.com/saywhat/2009/01/05/woman-90-found-with-shoes-grown-into-her-feet/
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