Grimm TV Show - The Moment You Lost Me

Okay. Squeaky the Squirrel hasn't much to do with Grimm.  I needed a picture, though.  He fit the bill.

If I could recall an exact moment when the show lost me, it was when he didn't listen to his aunt and stayed with Juliet.

Oh, Grimm.  You started out so strong. Nick was great.  So was the Monroe, Sgt. Wu, Adalin Shade, the aunt, and the mom.

But you got too soft.  Everyone starting feeling bad for Nick. Everyone became his friend.  That made it boring and saccharine.

You know what you should have done? You should have had Nick break things off with Juliet.  You should have made him hate himself for that.  You should have him alienate himself from Hank. You should have kept Captain Renard as a baddie, too.

You know who would have been a perfect antagonist to Nick Burkhardt?  Nick Burkhardt.  Nick could have hated being a Grimm.  He could have lived in his teardrop trailer while he defeated the bad guys who crossed his path. Maybe he could have accidentally killed some good guys, too.  He could have drunk his sorrows away while become a kick @ss Grimm.

You lost me when everyone began to love Nick. You could have kept me if you'd given me a reason to pity him.

You know how you could have closed the show? With him quitting police work and Grimming altogether.  He could have found a new girl to marry (who didn't know about his past), had a kid and secretly taught him/her the ways of Grimming. Then, for the final episode, have some bad guy come and kill him off.  But you know what? That version of Nick would have been okay with that.  He had it coming, and it was a relief.

Ah well.  It was a pretty good first half season.  Thanks for the entertainment.

On Rabid Squirrels and Lifespans

I have no idea if this squirrel was rabid or not.  All I know was that it was getting far too close to the kids at a local playground.  It walked right by us.  Stopped a while, sat on a cement wall and then on the memorial bench.  

We kept our children away from the squirrel and watched as it did its seemingly intentional wandering.  

Truth be told, I was kind of scared and entranced by it.  Was it looking for something?  Was it out of its mind?  

I think that I was kind of jealous of it.  Imagine running through a park, being pulled by nothing save for your own inner thoughts and introspection.  Imagine the luxury of getting lost in thought.  

According to Wikipedia, squirrels in the wild can expect a lifespan of 2-6 years.  Not very long. Maybe they are entitled to their moments of oddity and getting lost in thought.  

If I'm lucky, I'm looking at another 50 years on my lifespan.  One day, I might have too much time for introspection.  With that in mind, I'll go back to busy thoughts and practices of child-rearing, writing, dinner, and family time.  

Cyndia Rios-Myers

A Link That's Made Me Think

My Kind of Heroine

I Think.  I'm Going to Work On It.

Jeff Gerke wrote a great article for Writer's Digest on how to introduce your hero (or heroine). He says that a good move is to have a small stand-alone story, or scene to introduce your heroine.  

I've come up with another bad @ss heroine.  My prior introduction to her had her performing a very mundane task for the company she worked for.  But because I read the article above, I think that I am going to start the book with the "action scene" that's meant to fuel the action in that first book.  I'm hoping to sell my readers on my heroine's characteristics before I get to the middle part of the book.  

But now, I'm wondering about balance.  If I start the novel with a lot of action, should its middle part be calm, and the end be about more action?  Or is a novel with a slow build the way to go?  

Okay, so you are probably wondering what this novel is going to be about.  I'm going to give you a hint:

That might not be much to go on, I know.  I hope you understand my need for secrecy.  A writer's gotta protect their intellectual property, you know.

Until the next!

Cyndia Rios-Myers

Late Update!!!

I know.  It has been about FOREVER since I last updated this blog.  I know; I owe you guys some answers.

So, what have I been up to?  Well...I'll share.

Let me tell you about homeschooling parenting!  Or not.  Yes, it is tedious, but it is not the reason why I've been staying away.  The reason why I've been staying away is laziness.  Also, I've kind of slowed down my fiction writing (but not my researching) in favor of writing essays.  Why? Well, fiction is fun, but there is something about writing short bits of real life, formative experiences with others.

I've been busy with some, but here's the latest one I wrote for Military Spouse Magazine.  Check it out:

http://militaryspouse.com/articles/hanging-up-the-sea-bag-as-retirement-quickly-approaches/

Another Cemetery Visit - Fort Rosecrans National Cemetary

So, our son likes visiting cemeteries.  Because it amuses me, we go.  He likes to comment on the ages of people when they die, the names, and how sad it is when he sees the graves of babies and children.  I agree.  I also like to use the opportunity to explain to him that life is short and so very fragile.  I hope that the lesson resonates with him.

A beautiful view for a final resting place.

What we discovered is that spouse and dependent tombs face one way, while veteran/active duty service member tombs face the other way.

The tomb of a female service member.  Do I want to be buried in a national cemetery?  I do not know.  

I love how much this interests my son.  More cemetery visits to come!

More Gorgeous Skies

I do love taking pictures.  One of my frustrations with driving is that I cannot steer my car and take pictures at the same time.  There are so many funny things out there!  There are so many moving things, too.  Luckily, the skies around our home provide great scenes for me to photograph:

I was going to make up a blog post that discussed the types of clouds and weather that might come, but decided to settle for writing a post that talks about pretty skies.  Here they are.  They speak for themselves.

San Diego Central Library

I have a confession to make.  I am not much of a library person.  I know, I know...  How can a writer say that?  E-Books, I tell you.  They are wonderful!  You can get great books for cheap or even free, and you don't even have to leave your house!  But of course, leaving your house is a good thing to do.  How else would anyone become inspired?  

I used to be a very avid library patron.  I had tons of books on hold and I constantly had new ones at home.  Some library systems are great.  The Anne Arundel County Public Library System is one of the best.  They always had every single book I wanted (even if I had to go on a waiting list here or there).  The San Diego Library is not that bad, either.  Still, we aren't huge patrons of it.  My husband loves e-books, too, and loves to buy reference books instead of checking them out.  And of course, we made a little boy who feels the same way about books - he likes to buy them instead of borrowing them.  Still, here's a few pictures of our visit to the wonderful downtown library:

I checked out a couple of magazines on homeschooling, and my son checked out a couple of books about Braille (a topic he is currently obsessed).  We walked around the gorgeous, three floor building and then left.  

It is definitely worth checking out.  

Gorgeous Skies

Hi Folks!

I know that it's been a while since I lasted updated my blog, so I thought that I would do so today.

What has been inspiring me?  Well, the interviews I've had for the book series I'll be writing soon.  That's exciting.  Other than that...not much.

But still, there is always something gorgeous to see if one simply chooses to take a moment and look:

So, stop and have a look around.

About the Title - The Song of the Sleeping Grass - (What Is Sleeping Grass?)

The Song of the Sleeping Grass tells the story of Becky Medina, a woman who was dumped by her soldier husband, and replaced with a new wife.  It's sad.  It sucks.  It is kind of a true story, too.  

But the title - where did that come from?  I'll tell you.  Becky (the book's protagonist) is a music lover.  Every hard time that she has had in her life, she can identify with a song.  When she meets the person who will help her heal her wounds, she mentions the music that helped her get through the bad times.  

But what is the "Sleeping Grass" part about?  Well, Becky is Puerto Rican, and having been to the island on vacation, she'd seen the Morivivi plant: 

Like the plant, when stricken, Becky closes up tight to protect herself.  But not for long - as soon as time and sunlight allow, she spreads herself open again to live - again.

But you be the judge - read The Song of the Sleeping Grass to see just how someone can recover after so painful a heartbreak:

The Song of the Sleeping Grass on Amazon

Scenes from a Target Visit

On a very rare period of alone time, I went shopping.  I went to Target today in hopes of finding some slippers for my son.  They had no slippers in stock.  None.  I checked the shoe section, the baby section, the big boy section, and the little boy section, too.  I even asked an employee.  Sigh.  So, no slippers.  But I did see these cute boy shoes:

I didn't get them though, as my son's feet grow fast.

I also saw these cuties:

But I didn't get them, as they are made of pleather, and I really have no occasion to wear these cute boots in my favorite color - blue.

But then I saw these guys:

Very cute boots, but they also stayed at the store.  I have no use for cute, green/blue half boots right now.  In pleather.

So, I left Target empty handed.  I got in my Jeep and left.  However, I had to wait, as the RR Crossing Sign lights began to flash:

I watched as these two guys signaled the obvious (a train was coming):

Then, I watched the trolley go by:

San Diego has an excellent trolley system.  I'd ride it more if I wasn't so controlling with my time.

Watching and waiting...

I saw some interesting people inside of the trolley.  I took their picture, but it didn't "take."  

The shopping visit wasn't fruitful, but the time alone was.  When I'm alone and not distracted, so many interesting questions pop up in my head.  For instance, why in hell aren't there any slippers to be found in Target in February?  Or, why is that guy folding a blue blanket on the side of the street?  Or more interesting, where is everyone going?  Will they get to where they want to be once they arrive at their destination?


Cyndia Rios-Myers

Scenes From a Bike Ride

I took my kid on a bike ride this morning and snapped a few pictures.  Nothing majorly inspiration jumped out, but a few garage doors did.  You see, we live in a 1960's California Rancher, which we like, but our garage door is falling apart and is in need of replacement.  However, we deeply dislike the look of aluminum garage doors, with their long rectangular sheets of metal that are devoid of character.

With that in mind, I took some pictures of "period" garage doors that appeal to me.

The bad thing about vintage garage doors is that they open out and far - like a few feet out.  But they look so nice!

Just a pretty flower whose name is unknown to me.

I love the details with this garage door.  You just don't see that with aluminum doors, unless you are paying a lot of money for them.

This white one is pretty plain.  I'd advise the owners to go ahead and replace it with an aluminum one.

Again, great detail with the contrasting colors, squares, and numbers going down the middle.

Love the rhombuses on this one.

Pretty flowers.  I do love pink.

And finally, our garage door.  I love the design of it.  I would HATE to see it replaced with a boring aluminum one.  

So, I don't know what we'll do.  Maybe nothing.  We do have to repair the cracks in our driveway, though.

Don't Discount Humor

I was in the market for refrigerator magnets, but not just any kind of refrigerator magnets (I have plenty of funny ones and business ones, too).  I was looking for the kind of magnets that are a clip that allows you to attach multiple sheets of paper to it (a must when you homeschool a child).  

I pitched the idea to go the store finding magnet clips to my husband as an outing.  Sure, we go funner places, but sometimes simple outings can be surprisingly...inspirational.

He asked me where.  I took a breath and told him that I would like to go to a dollar store.  He stared at me.  I stared back.  We don't usually go to dollar stores, as we have preconceived idea that everything there might not be of good quality.  He suggested Target.  I told him that we should try the dollar store and then maybe Target if the dollar store didn't work out.  He suggested Target, again.  I was firm and told him that we'd try the dollar store.  

So we went.  There were nice cars in the parking lot - newer model Hondas and even a late model Ford F150.  I was feeling good about it.  Then I saw a sign and felt better about it.  

Just what is "For Life?"  Your savings?  Maybe.  Because it cannot be the items you purchased there, as they must be made of inferior quality to be so cheap.  Still, I appreciate the lack of explanation in regards to the sign's message.  

Then I saw the message on the truck noted above: "Low Prices Born Here and Raised Elsewhere."  If you don't give it enough thought, you might not understand that the advertisement is alluding to the fact that other stores will "raise" their prices, while this store "births" them here.  (True story: it took me a lot of time figuring out just what the heck they meant.  Were they saying that they birthed their products and then had them grow up elsewhere?)

But my favorite sign was this one:

What in God's name does "99.99¢" mean?  How much money is that?  I don't get it.  It doesn't compute.

Still, I searched the store for refrigerator magnet clips.  I didn't find that, but found a turkey baster and a mug.  I then saw the long line of customers waiting in a line for the sole cashier at the store.  We left the store, the mug, the turkey baster, and 20 minutes of our life that we will never get back behind.  

Yes, we went to Target. $7.95 were spent on a pack of OXO Softwise Kitchen Magnet Clips.  Overpriced?  Absolutely.  But these bad boys are supposed to be able to hold up to 15 sheets of paper.  

It was a relief to be there.  There were lots of manned registers to be found:

Also, they spoke money in a way I could understand:

Still, lessons were learned.  I won't discount the entertainment value that I can find in discount stores (I am not going to apologize for the bad pun).  You have to take amusement wherever you can.

Cyndia Rios-Myers