Why research is fun...

Things I've learned while researching for my latest wip:

• you can start a fire by mixing potassium permanganate and glycerin, two common items in a survival/first-aid kit.
• a handful of termites is about 550 calories of yummy goodness
• grasshoppers are a great source of omega-3 oil
• there is such a thing as a grizzly bear - polar bear hybrid. It's rare, but it has happened both in captivity and in the wild
• dragon skin body armor is really cool
  
  

• Ka-Bar knives have been around for over 100 years (though not always called that) -- here's how it got it's famous name:

Soon after its introduction in the mid-1920's, the KA-BAR trademark became widely known and respected. There have been many versions of how the KA-BAR name came to be, but all evidence points to a letter received from a fur trapper. This particular fur trapper's testimonial turned out to be the most significant ever received by the company. He wrote, in very rough English, that his gun had jammed and that he had therefore relied on his knife to kill a wounded bear that was attacking him. In thanking the company for their quality product the trapper described using his knife to kill the bear. All that was legible of his scrawled writing was "k a bar". The company was so honored by this testimonial that they adopted this phrase and used it as their trademark, KA-BAR.

This is why I love being a writer.
What's the most interesting piece of information you picked during WIP research? Enquiring bloggers want to know!

Human Again

I finally feel somewhat human again. The cold came on fast, but looks like it's tapering off to a simple bit of stuffiness... no nagging chest cough, etc. *knocking wood*

Oops - looks like I missed my Tuesday... In the News yesterday. Or maybe... I did it but it got sucked into the Large Hadron Collider :)
Speaking of which, I didn't realize how much of our dinner table conversation revolved around that little bit of science news until I heard my four year old say to a friend of his,
"I know two Adams. You, and Adam Smasher!"
Get it? BWAhahahahah

Have you seen FRINGE yet? I watched again last night. Very cool - a little bit sci-fi, a little bit crime drama. It's filling the void that the X-Files left many many years ago. And keeping my 'wtf' neurons firing until LOST comes back.

Writing... Jeez, you'd think I'd mention this topic more since I'm a writer and all.
Now that the kids are back in school (my youngest goes to JK in the afternoons now - whoopee) I actually have a few hours a day. Most days, anyway.
I've been setting up office in the local library, which is conveniently next to the school, so I don't loose a half-hour of travel time. Seems to be working as I'm actually getting a bit of a word-count!
But I'm hesitant to discuss the 'what' until I'm sure I can pull it off. The genre is a bit of a departure out of my comfort zone (like and erotica author HAS a comfort zone - LOL) so we'll just see how it pans out. But the point is, I'm excited about it. And if I can hold my writerly ADD off for a bit longer, I might actually finish this wip!

The Kinsons go wild

It was a very germy weekend at our place as both Mr. Wylie and I have miserable colds.

(course, he has a Man Cold which is soooo much worse)

We did manage to get out with the kids on Sunday for a slow but lovely nature walk. Taking a page from Thomma Lyn's blog, I'll share a few of the photos. I desperately need help with focus and composition, but let's master one art form at a time, shall we?

For instance, this photo is meant to show the contrast between the summer-lush green leaves and the yellowish orange arrival of fall. But the bright sky washed out the colors. A different angle would have worked, methinks.

And this is the lovely path we were on. We did get more adventurous and cut through the bushes in places, but the conservation area we visited has this wonderfully maintained path for people with strollers, joggers, etc.

This is fungus on the base of a old tree stump. I don't know why I found this so fascinating... maybe because it reminds me of the coral formations in Bermuda's shallows. Focus isn't perfect, but at least you can see what it is. The pics of my kids, on the otherhand... not so good, so I'm leaving those ones out.

You may call me Indy.

I is sick...
sore throat,
stuffy head,
body aches,
YUK.

No energy to blog, so I leave you with this:

Your Soap Opera Name is

India Fitzgerald

Get Your Soap Opera Name Generator at Quizopolis.com
http://www.quizopolis.com/soap-opera-name-generator.php

We're still here!!

So the second episode of Fringe was on and it was... well... okay. Just okay. Didn't grab me like the first one did, although it had some intriguing moments.
I'm disappointed, only because I wanted to LOVE it. Will I watch again? Yeah, probably, but I won't cancel any plans for it.
And the serial killer storyline left me jonesing for Dexter!

Did you see it? What did you think? Are there any new fall shoes you're looking forward to??

postscript: (ha!! I meant SHOWS, of course... thanks Shelley!)

Today marks the one week anniversary of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) going online. And guess what? We're still here! Yay - the planet didn't get sucked into a man-made black hole, we didn't pop into another dimension (at least, I don't think so) or blow up into cosmic dust.
Yet.

Waterworld, fo'real!

Welcome to the second edition of

Tuesday... In the News

Makes it more official to have a title, don't you think? And I hope the little voice in your head puts on a Walter Cronkite voice, complete with little pause between 'Tuesday' and 'in the news'.


Flooding, rising sea levels due to global warming, sinkage due to the extraction of ground water... all have contributed to the plight of a village in the Philappines that, due to the aforementioned, has been underwater for the past four years.


Yes - sounds like an even worse version of that Kevin Costner movie, but can you imagine what life must be like for those poor villagers? The chest deep water means without a boat you are literally house bound, kids are prohibited from playing outside and jogging is completely out!

Sure, I jest, but the thought of wading through garbage and raw sewage is too much to consider before my morning coffee. I mean, disease, sanitation, bad hair... the implications of living life under these conditions hardly need expounding.


Here's a newsclip:

Dang! I can't get the embed feature to work. Grrr. Here's the link. The video is only 1 1/2 minutes long.

Why hasn't the Philappine government rescued these poor folks? Relocated them??
It this was happening in YOUR country, wouldn't you expect (hope for) federal aid?
Discuss.

Fringe - The show, not the edging on my pillows.

With no intention of spending a night in front of the television, I switched on the old weather channel last evening about 8pm to see how much of Ike's remnants we were in for (moderate rain, a little blowy) and accidently hit the wrong channel. I stumbled on a show called Fringe, which I'd never heard of, or anything about, and something in that 10 seconds, before I realized my mistake, caught me.

Caught me good.

'Cause I didn't budge.

Not even to refill my tea.

Call me blissfully ignorant, but I'd never heard anything about this show, yet when my husband came in the room, after about 30 seconds he says "Is this that new show, Fringe?"

Okay - so apparently there's been some buzz... *head back in Hadron Collider*

It's like a cross between X-Files and Lost... WHAT COULD BE BETTER?!!?? After making that connection, I later learned it's a JJ Abrams production. Uh, yeah... makes perfect sense.

It's got all the requisite ingredients -- fast moving, mysterious, interesting characters (a mad scientist and heroine who's not annoying - yay!), captivating, creepy in an I-want-to-believe sort of way, and it starred Pacey -- what's not to love?

Furthermore, I recognized a few Toronto locations, so with an obvious Canadian connection (Joshua Jackson , born in Vancouver, is indeed a dual Canadian/US citizen) I felt a sense of obligitory patriotism, hence my non-guilt over a missed evening of writing.

Follow?

I believe it will be airing on Tuesday nights after House. Again, PERFECT! I'll be sitting in front of the television anyway, so it won't disrupt my life other than making a double batch of frozen grapes.

Have you heard of this show? Did you watch it?? Whadya think???

The Challenges of Writing a Series

I'm letting Amy Ruttan do all the work today... She's got a terrific post over at Six Degrees of Sexy about her experience writing a five book series.
And she's sharing the covers of her upcoming books!

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend planned. For me, it's a trip to the city for our monthly RWA chapter meeting, a chance to catch up with my friends and meet new writers. Not to mention the incredible shot of motivation these get togethers provide.
How 'bout chu?

Thomma Lyn: this picture is for you. A PUFFIN...

Bad Disney Movie or Puffin Poop?

I ran across this little interview of Matt Damon talking about Sarah Palin's run with McCain on YouTube. I've never put much stock into what celebrities have to say about politics because...
well really,... do I have to explain?
But this was pretty spot on, imo.

Without further ado, I give you Mr. Damon...


LOL at bad Disney movie. Straight to video!

I know, I know... two political posts in as many weeks. So NOT me, but I can't help it!!
We Canadians (or is that 'us' Canadians?) have our own federal election set for next month and it's not nearly as juicy as the happenings to our south! All we've got is the tasteless Puffin Poop ad to get our knickers in a knot over...



Ah, politics... the jokes practically write themselves.

Dark Matter: Big BOOM or Big conCERN

I thought, since the kidlets are back in school, that I'd throw an extra blog day in. Welcome to the first edition of

TUESDAY... In the News

Have you heard about the underground, 27 kilometer atom smasher they built on the France-Swiss border? (besides you, TL)
CERN's (that's the European Union of Nuclear Research) 4 billion dollar project, involving scientists from 80 or so countries, began in 2003 and is scheduled to crank up this week.

And yup... as with any scientific explorations, the usual camps are divided into "OMG - this is the coolest thing EVER and will help explain the big bang theory, anti matter, and the behaviour of quarks and gluons!!!" and "OMG - this is the end of the world!! Prepare to be sucked into a giant black hoooooooooole!"

My knowledge of general science is perhaps a wee smidge better than the average bear, but I'm no rocket scientist. I'm not even the assistant to the assistant of the rocket scientist's dog walker. So though I 'get it' -- I understand what protons, neutrons and electrons are... this Large Hadron Collider had me a little mystified too, until I watched this funky little rap by 23 year old AlpineKat (aka Kate McAlpine, US scientist working at CERN). She sums it up beautifully, with subtitles!

Check it out...



For some reason, the comment option has disappeared from this post!! (thanks, Julia, for pointing that out)
All the correct boxes are checked in Blogger's post options, so I can only conclude that the comment option has been sucked into the Hadron Collider's black hole...

drip...drip... It's damp in this cave!

Hola,

I'm in my writing cave today. Yeah!! Sweetness (aka youngest son) starts preschool giving me a whole 2 hours to write. WOOT WOOT

While I'm in the dark recesses of my imagination, I leave you with this thought of the day, sent to me by my friend Donna from Bermuda.

"Whatever you give a woman, she's going to multiply. If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby.
If you give her a house, she'll give you a home.
If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal.
If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart.
She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her.
So - if you give her crap, you will receive a bucket full of shit.
Love and appreciate all the women in your life."

Adios until Thursday

Why you need to read something DIFFERENT.

That's the basic theme of today's post...
but you need to go to Six Degrees of Sexy to see what sub-genre I've been dipping my toes into.

Tag, You're It! The Quirks Meme

I've been tagged! Ellora's Cave author, Debra Glass, nailed me in the Tag, You're It! game.
Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. List 6 unspectacular quirks you have.
4. Tag 6 bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each person’s blog to let them know they’ve been tagged.

Six Unspectacular Quirks About Wylie Kinson:
1. I eat Tic Tacs in twos. Never just one, never three. Twos and fours only. But not six because it's too overwhelmingly minty)
2. I'm a pillow whore. I sleep with three or four king-sized feather pillows and get very angry when my DH takes one. To the point where I had his little foam pillow monogrammed so he wouldn't 'get confused' and steal mine.
3. I eschew trends but then feel bitter if I miss something good.
4. I only eat Glosette Raisins at the movies. If I eat them outside of a darkened room with a big screen, I don't like them.
5. I can bite my toenails. And do. Which is why I try to keep them painted, cause then I don't.
6. I crave egg noodles and saurkraut mixed together. It started when I was pregnant and didn't stop.

Come on, fess up... do you share any of these quirks with me?

And I'm passing on this tag to: Amy Ruttan, Thomma Lyn, Julia, Robin and Bonnie.

Let's start September off right...

Oooo - I found this yummy test over on Michelle Rowen's blog. What a deliciously mindless way to start September!

Your result for The What type of MAN turns you on Test...

Exotic bad-ass

You scored 80% masculine, 59% athletic, 64% exotic, and 44% refined!

You want everything in a man at the same time! Masculine, built like a Greek god, exotic and mysterious and even some bad-ass in there too. I think you would really like Freddy Ljungberg, the Swedish soccer player. He's the guy on the right. But let's face it, the whole point of this was to look at a bunch of hot guys. If you liked what you saw, please rate my test!

Take The What type of MAN turns you on Test at HelloQuizzy

Have fun ;)