Love Blogfest!

Love is in the air….

Well, here it is Valentine’s Day.  Its importance has exploded and become a rolling industry all on its own.  What are the big indicators?

The day after the ‘Happy New Year!’ stuff was taken out of the stores, the Valentine candy was on the shelves.  The Christmas cards were out of the Hallmark windows and the hearts were in. 

Women do not worry about what to give their men; they really don’t have to worry.  It is the male population that scurries around looking for cards and gifts.  I am fairly certain it has to do with sex. 

The commercials have recently struck me for their placement and flow.  Commercials mostly seem disjointed, with no connection to each other. This set was a surprise.

You should see the REALLY big bear!

First, A GIGANTIC teddy bear (as advertised by Vermont Teddy Bear) is referred to as “Hunk of Love”.  It is six feet tall, and touted as the ultimate for the girlfriend.  The catch phrases:  Where Size Matters, and Sure to Pay Off for You. Hunka love

Second was the Pajama Gram commercial, with awfully cute size 2 young women prancing about in fleecy pajamas.  The promise is:  Sure to Heat Things Up, Appeal to the Sexy and Sweet Side. Heat things up!

Third was a stretch at first but made more sense later.  It was:  5 Hour Energy drink.  It comes in a small bottle and promises, no, absolutely guarantees that this little bottle will give the drinker renewed energy. 

Then the connect-the-dots became a little jagged.  The creativity lost its flow.  The fourth commercial was for Alka-Seltzer which should provide instant relief for heartburn.  Perhaps romance involves over-eating and excessive alcohol consumption?

Cheerios is good for all members of the family....

Fifth was Whole Grain Cheerios, which has been shown to lower cholesterol. I gather it contributes to all the members of the family.

And, dismally, sixth was regarding Hip Replacement Law suits.  It is true: an active life style will cause joint damage.

Feeling hot and going strong....

So, there you have it.  The string of commercials started strong and steamy, went through the stages of man, ending with hip replacement.

Perhaps I am being hasty in dismissing the connections.  All that was missing was a Viagra or Cialis advertisement between the 5 hour Energy drink and the Alka-Seltzer.  Did I miss that commercial?

Please click on the Love Blogfest beneath the Blogfest Photo, and go to Siv Maria's site to follow other views on Valentine's Day!

Reflections of the A-Z Blogfest

Mirror, mirror (courtesy of Bing.com)

A reflection typically is what one sees when looking into a mirror, or a shiny surface.  Looking at this past month, I have observed:

*  Discipline—creating and planning, then writing on an almost daily basis required me to adhere to a deadline. Forethought and having a notepad & pen was necessary at all times.

*  Introspection—looking into myself, and pondering how to approach an assignment differently each day.  Questioning myself about what I wanted the reader to experience was always in front of me.

*  Variety—I like humor, I can be dark, I like to turn ideas over and relate them to something else totally opposite.  I like narrative, I like dialogue.  I like to see God in all the events I observe. This allowed me to explore all those ‘likes’.

Summarizing, this was a great experience, demanding and gritty at times.  I grew as a writer.
This was a daunting task for the A-Z team.  Thank you for your diligence, craziness, and encouragement.  Go to the following link for more reflections:  tossingitout.blogspot.com

"O" is for...

The dictionary is one of the favorite bound books in my house.  I have always randomly looked for interesting words.  That, of course, made me a bit of an oddity in rural environments.  I looked for the words with the most syllables, words with the fewest vowels, words that had a Latin base, etc.  But I never looked for the words that scared me the most.

Through intense research and years of child-experience, I have found the ONE word that absolutely sends chills through me.  It is the word, “OOPS!”  Its close cousin is “OH, NO!”, and a first cousin-once-removed is “UH-OH!”

                                                                                                                            

I can feel you all nodding, because you understand.  Anytime someone says either of those words, and it is heard from another room, a variety of images pop up.  An old vase inherited from a great-grandmother, who received it from Queen Victoria?  On the floor in pieces, and your cat saunters away.  The Hans Solo limited edition something-or-other?  The four-year old boy leaves in a blur, as he runs out the room, a leg in each hand.  The fantastic Italian veal something that you spent a fortune of time and money on, and which you are taking to a very important dinner in five minutes right after you change your clothes?  Spilled all over the living room carpet, by some one who thought he/she would help you by loading it in the car, since you are fifteen minutes late and he/she is really pissed off at you for taking so long.

Or, how about this?  You just spent a few hours on a re-write of a re-write, creating a query letter to the publisher, who expressed extreme interest in your writing.  You hear the famous “OOPS!” and rush in to find your coffee spilled over the keyboard, sparks flying, and the computer crashing, while your teary-eyed child/grandchild/spouse/casual friend/beloved friend/neighbor  looks blankly up at you.

Oh, yes.  Forget about names of monsters, diseases, horrific imagined events.  On the everyday level, where we usually operate, the scariest word of all is “OOPS!”

 Many thanks to Arlee Bird and his awesome crew of fellow bloggers.  Please go to the following to check out other posts!

http://tossingitout.blogspot.com