Putting it in perspective.

I know, I know, I've been lax about posting the past couple of months. I do have an excuse. Well, several actually. No, really, I do. At the beginning of our holiday break, I rear-ended hubby while we were biking and ended up sprawled on the street with several bruises, scrapes and a cracked rib. And I needed to meet my publisher's deadline for my next book and was falling behind. Good news is that because it hurt just to breathe, I couldn't do much of anything but sit and got a lot of writing done.

Then, when I was almost healed, I ended up having two Meniere's attacks in a row. This disease causes severe vertigo and tinnitus during attacks and impedes normal function. I tend to go into denial between attacks and pretend that I'm normal. Then, wham! I get hit with another reminder that I'm, well, just a little bit different than most. Hubby is great to me during these times but it's hard not being able to walk straight for a day or two and then being unstable for another day or two. I sometimes mope.

So, while I was having a pity party, and doing a fine job of it, I got news that my younger brother was diagnosed with severe osteoarthritis. Can you hear the brakes squealing? Yep, that put an instant halt to my party. This is devastating news for anyone, but especially for someone who was a body builder and karate instructor and is still religious about going to the gym. My party was over. My brother lost his only son to an impaired driver three years ago, so he's no stranger to hard times. He's taking this current news with more bravery than I would. We commiserated, with me just trying to keep my mouth shut and listen.

Everyone has challenges in their lives and, thanks to my brother, I've learned that mine are not nearly as severe as I sometimes want to believe. So my pity hat hangs in the closet now and it's time to support my brother again. His disease is progressive, like mine. But unlike mine, his causes a lot of pain, sometimes on a daily basis, and makes it hard for him to do things I take for granted, like walking up a flight of stairs. He was acting all brave and whatnot, so I told him to go ahead and have a pity party, with balloons and a big pity cake. He's earned it. After that, he can be the brave one if he wants. Thanks to him, I have yet a new perspective on life. That mine is pretty great.

Todd Davis Memorial Scholarship

It's the new year and now is a great time to decide on your annual donations. My seventeen-year-old nephew died in 2008 from injuries he sustained in an automobile accident with an impaired driver. My brother and his wife have set up a scholarship in his memory if you wish to donate. Anything is appreciated and is tax deductible.

Todd Davis Memorial Scholarship

The Todd Davis Memorial Scholarship is open to all University of Houston—Clear Lake (UHCL) students who have volunteered their time at UHCL for leadership events such as, but not limited to, the ones mentioned above.

There are three ways in which you can donate in Todd’s memory:

1. www.uhcl.edu under the “give to UHCL” tab.” Just be sure and select “other” in the gift designation box and write “for the Todd Davis Memorial Scholarship” in the memo box just above the “Personal Information” section on the page.

2. or you may call Kim Herhold at UHCL at 281-283-2036 and pay by credit card over the telephone. Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express are accepted.

3. or you may mail your check to: UHCL, Office of University Advancement, Attn: Kim Herhold, 2700 Bay Area Blvd., Box 318, Houston, TX 77058

Note: please write “Todd Davis Memorial Scholarship” in the memo section of your check. And please check with your employer’s HR department to see if they participate in a matching gift program.

New interview and eBook contest!

Time	Thursday, January 6 - January 7
Location	http://moonlightlacemayhem.blogspot.com
Created By	Dana Davis
More Info	Award-winning and SynergE bestselling author Dana Davis will talk about her Teadai Prophecies fantasy trilogy and other goodies at Twilight Thursday at Moonlight, Lace, and Mayhem. Visitors will also have a chance to enter a contest for a free eBook copy of Deadly Fate: Book One of the Teadai Prophecies.

The Bird Who Doesn’t Fly.

If you’ve ever read my bio, you’ve probably seen my crazy parakeets mentioned someplace. Believe it or not, birds have neuroses just like humans. Ours are no exception. Each bird hubby and I have ever had came with its own personality, quirks and prejudices. We currently have two budgies who are mates. The female used to fly all over the place, landing on things she wasn’t supposed to be on. We called her a "naughty birdie" and laughed at her escapades. Once our other birds passed away, she and her mate were left alone. Birds can go into depression when they lose a friend but these two seemed content to be together. Their grieving didn’t take more than a few days and then they were fine, eating their veggies and fruits and playing with their toys again.

After a while, the female began to fly less and less. She seemed content to sit in the cage and have her mate feed and preen her, which is how male budgies get their groove on, if you know what I mean. The vet checked her out and couldn’t find anything wrong with her. We even learned that some birds are content to stay in their cages and refuse to come out. But she’s a bird and birds are supposed to fly, right? That’s what we think, too. But after coaxing without success, we left her alone, figuring she would come out on her own eventually. Everyone once in a while, she would sit in the doorway and get startled by her mate and come out. But she hadn’t flown in so long that she had no strength in her wings and went straight to the floor. Instead of flying back, she would just waddle around – she’d put on a little weight – and sit under the coffee table. Her mate would join her on the floor and they would sit and preen. When she wanted to go back into her cage, she couldn’t get enough height, so she would waddle to me and wait for me to offer my finger as a perch. I would hold her up a few feet from the cage and, when she felt like it, she would fly back.

This was the only exercise our girl was getting. She had turned into a full-on couch potato, complete with waddle weight, and we decided to do an intervention. I began to take her out of the cage, whether she wanted to come out or not, two to three times a day and hold her on my finger until she flew back on her own. Hubby’s afraid he’ll squeeze them too hard, so I do birdie meds and anything else that involves holding them against their will. I don’t mind at all. I got nipped at the first week or so because she didn’t like me taking her out. Yes, it hurt, but after having animals my whole life, I’m used to it. Besides, how would you like a humongous hand reaching in through your front door and grabbing you? I know I would put up a fight, so I certainly can’t blame her for that. Her nips were a warning, not an attack, and she never drew blood.

After the first week, she stopped nipping at me and allowed me to hold her, knowing I wouldn’t keep her in my hands for long. Birds don’t like their wings held, even if they refuse to fly with them. Our little birdie even began to lose a bit of her waddle weight. I found this encouraging and would take her farther and farther from her cage every three days or so, until she grew more confident and got excited about these short flights. Her mate seemed to enjoy having her out again, so we put their birdie play yard up. This is a wooden platform with ladders, ropes and other toys. We placed the play yard in its previous spot, about ten feet from their cage at a higher elevation. They loved to play on it in the past but hadn’t since our girl decided not to fly any longer. This time when I took her out, I put her on it. She flew back to the cage with no problem at all and even sang a jaunty tune afterwards. Hubby and I did a little happy dance.

Then, yesterday, our girl came out on her own for the first time in months, flew to the play yard and back to the cage. It was just like old times. We did soft cheers of encouragement, and her mate sang his little heart out. After that, she did a half lap around the family room. We will continue to encourage her to fly and cheer her on when she does. She’s no longer “the bird who doesn’t fly”.

Contest winner!

Thanks so much to Clare Dargin and to everyone who stopped by for the interview. Congratulations to Manjiri, who won the eBook contest. Happy New Year!

Interview and eBook contest!

Interview with Dana Davis and free eBook contest! Happy New Year! Family members not eligible for the contest. Wednesday, December 29 at 12:00am - Saturday, January 1, 2011 at 12:00am.

http://theembraced.blogspot.com

Twas the Night Before Deadline

Twas the Night Before Deadline
Adaptation by Dana Davis (my apologies to Clement Clarke Moore)

Twas the night before deadline, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even my mouse.
The sticky notes hung by the computer in rows,
In hopes that my muse soon would make a show.

My characters were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of plotlines danced in my head.
And computer all booted, and hand on my mouse,
I’d just settled my brain for a long writer’s joust.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the desk to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the glass.

The moon on the pool and the landscape lights
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects in sight.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature woman in flowing apparel.

The little odd woman, so lively and loose,
I knew in a moment it must be my muse.
More rapid than eagles her course she came,
And she whistled, and shouted, and called out my game!

"Now Dashes! now, Spaces! now, Paragraphs and Verbs!
On, Comas! On, Clauses! on Headers and Blurbs!
To the top of the page! To the margin and title!
Now type away! Type away! Type away, writer!"

As dry leaves that before the wild monsoon fly,
When she meets with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So into the house the course she flew,
With a bag full of ideas, my lovely muse true.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard in my brain
The prancing and pawing of each little refrain.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Into the office my muse came with a bound.

She was dressed all in letters, from her head to her foot,
And her clothes were all garnished with phrases and words.
A bundle of ideas she had flung on her back,
And she looked like a fairy, as she opened her pack.

Her eyes-how they twinkled! her dimples how merry!
Her cheeks were like roses, her nose like a cherry!
Her droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the skin of her chin was as white as snow.

The stump of a pen she held tight in her teeth,
And the nouns they encircled her head like a wreath.
She had a round face and a little loose bun,
That bobbed when she laughed, like a hummingbird tongue!

She was chubby and plump with ideas for my shelf,
And I laughed when I saw her, in spite of myself!
A wink of her eye and a twist of her head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

She spoke not a word, but went straight to her work,
And filled all my sticky notes, then turned with a jerk.
And laying her finger aside of her nose,
And giving a nod, out the window she rose!

She danced and she laughed, and gave out a whistle,
And away she then flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard her exclaim, ‘ere she flew out of sight,
"Happy writing to all, and to all a good-night!"

Dana's travel pics.

I've had a lot of interest in my world travels so if you'd like to see more photos of places I've been, please visit my facebook album. http://www.facebook.com/danadaviswriting/posts/140198536035063?ref=notif&notif_t=feed_comment#!/album.php?aid=154743&id=591073862

You don't have to be a member of facebook to see the pics but if you are a member, I'd love for you to friend me. And please let me know that you saw this post on my blog. Thanks and enjoy!

Dude, I’m Driving Here!

I’m just guessing, but I think maybe Phoenician driving habits are related to the intense heat frying people’s brains during the long summers. Or perhaps it has to do with the mysterious Phoenix lights in the sky altering people’s interpretation of reality. Or maybe it’s the dust. Whatever the reason, driving here is a test in all the skills they tried to drill into you during driver’s ed class. Remember those old simulators that logged your response times? Remember laughing with relief when the kid chased the ball in front of your fake car because you just barely missed taking him out? While kids chasing something into the street is a fabulous reason for keeping your senses open, its other drivers I tend to worry about most. Thankfully, my horn is in good form, as I tend to use it more here than I ever did while living in Los Angeles.

Now I tend to go about five miles over the speed limit at any given time. Yeah, I’m a rebel. But seriously, I like to arrive at my destination with me and my car in one piece. However, since the freeway cameras were removed here, things have gone back to the way they were before, and driving in Phoenix freeway is tantamount to maneuvering the Indy 500 track with bad drivers behind the wheels. And, for some reason, Arizonans don’t realize what turn signals are for. Or else, they just can’t find them.

Like most of my freeway excursions, I felt lucky to make it home from the last one. So, there I am, driving along in my cute gas sipping car, not talking on a cell phone, not putting on makeup, or eating, or gazing at my GPS map, or any number of things I could do instead of actually driving, when one of these Indy dudes decides to change lanes. With no signal. And straight for me. Now, if I remember a bit of physics, no matter how hard one wishes it, two objects can’t occupy the same space at the same time. Sadly, this basic physics lesson tends to get ignored around here. Quite a bit. So with my heart racing, no escape route in sight, and an awful image of my cute baby’s front end being removed, I pressed the horn, while yelling through my closed window, “Hey, dude! Stay in your own lane!” Luckily for me, the other driver must’ve remembered his simulator training, because he swerved back into his own lane, thus avoiding an increase in both our insurance plans.

But before my heart could get back to a normal rhythm, I spot a huge Indy truck coming up fast in my rearview mirror. This dude seemed to think that tailgating me for several miles would make my car disappear. Um, the left lanes are there for a reason. Really. Anyway, after passing several exits, he gave up on me and merged into the right lane to ride another dude’s bumper. For some reason a lot of drivers have the same misinformation as Indy truck guy and think that tailgating will cause the car ahead of them to evaporate, which explains why freeway accidents here tend to involve three or four or even five vehicles. I’m still trying to find out which page of the driving manual has this information so I can bring it to someone’s attention.

On top of the regular, misinformed dudes on the road, during winter months, like now, the snowbirds flock to town. No, I don’t mean white birds. I’m talking retirees from places where it snows and gets really, really cold and icy and stuff like that. They come here for the winter months to swim, or something they can’t do back home. And let’s face it, no Phoenician in her right mind would go in the water when it’s a freezing 68 degrees outside so they pretty much have poolside to themselves. Now, while I’m a fan of older people - I’m even friends with some - I do wish those unfamiliar with Phoenix driving habits would curb the desire to get behind the wheel if they don’t really have to. Having to break and swerve to avoid some old dude doing 45 on the freeway is a heart-pounder, especially when the Indy vehicles dominate the other lanes, and makes a treacherous drive for the rest of us who try to stay somewhere near the speed limit.

Now, I know what you’re probably thinking, that giving the single finger salute would be a solution to some of these problems, or at least make one feel really, really good. But this is Phoenix. And everyone is packing. And I don’t mean gum. I have enough stress without getting shot and ending up on the six o’clock news. So, dudes, my middle finger is officially on hiatus. At least until I get back home to LA, where I can give it a serious workout without fear of losing it.

Repost of final Egypt blog post from myspace - with photos!

Okay, so this is the last installment of my Egypt trip. I decided to save some fun and interesting stuff for this one. Like Greek and Roman graffiti and artwork on ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. Luckily, the Romans plastered over the hieroglyphics instead of painting or carving directly on them. This actually preserved them so when Egyptologists chipped the plaster off or it crumbled from age, the hieroglyphics were still there.

Here in the states, we’ve seen 19th century graffiti on ancient petroglyphs. In Egypt, you get Greek graffiti on hieroglyphs. But tourists aren’t the only ones to deface ancient property. In Italy, we saw ancient graffiti in Pompeii and other places. The same goes for Egypt. You’ve probably heard of a guy by the name of Rameses/Ramses II. We learned some interesting things about him. Like his name and/or statues and obelisks seem to be everywhere in Egypt. I don’t think we went too many places where we didn’t see something about him. Of course, he was a Pharaoh, but I’m beginning to think he was also a bit full of himself. After all, he scratched out his father’s name to carve his own in its place. And I believe he was the one who surrounded Queen (the only female pharaoh) Hatshepsut’s obelisks in stone so they couldn’t be seen. The men following her reign tried very hard to erase her existence. We were told she stole the throne from her young stepson and it really ticked him off, but I also think the patriarchal society back then had a lot to do with trying to erase her. Luckily for us, Egyptologists rediscovered her and added her back into the history books.

Unfortunately, Rameses’ II tomb in the Valley of the Kings was closed when we were there but we got to see other burial places.

Repost of Egypt trip blog - photos added!

Here is the original post from my old myspace blog about my recent Egypt trip. You may have read these blogs but I'm moving the most recent ones here. I've added photos.

Egypt part 1

Hubby and I just got back from Egypt, a trip we’d been planning for some time and a place both of us had wanted to visit since childhood. But who hasn’t, right? The first thing we noticed in Cairo is the traffic. Lanes are optional, horns mandatory, and accidents minimal to non-existent. We were as likely to see an 18 wheeler as a donkey on the various roads, which consisted of everything from smooth concrete to potholes and speed bumps. While riding with our driver, Mohamed, who enjoyed joking around, I tried my best to decipher the horn signals.

They go something like this:

1. One tap, mainly used for pedestrians – I’m coming, get out of the way.
2. Two taps – look out other cars, buses, donkeys, trucks – I’m coming through.
3. One long blast – hey, buster, look out, you’re drifting into my area.
4. A series of toots – howdy, everyone, how’s it going

After the entertaining ride from the airport to hotel, we were greeted with a nice view of the Nile River from our balcony. Surreal to think we were finally in Egypt, where ancient Pharaohs had once ruled this land. The next morning we drove to Giza to visit to the pyramids and sphinx. Not only is it humbling to stand in the shadows of these massive structures from a 5000 years ago civilization, squatting, hunching and just plain crawling into the hot tombs, is a feat in itself, and one I wouldn’t have missed. Cameras aren’t allowed in the tombs but we got plenty of pics from the outside.

The Egyptian people are friendly and love to chat and after crawling out of one of the ancient pyramid tombs, hubby and I were laughing about something. Don’t remember what. Maybe we were just punchy from the heat. But a man stepped to us and said to my husband, “You have good wife. She worth a million camels.” Now, I wasn’t sure whether to be flattered or insulted, so I chose flattered and laughed all the harder. The man grinned and repeated his statement, patting me on the shoulder.

So, not only did I have an awesome time in Giza, but I’m also worth a million camels. Go figure.

Part 2

We took a day trip to Dendara (Dendera), which is just full of history from ancient Egypt to the ancient Romans and Greeks to Ptolemy, who are said to have made alterations to the temple and even built structures here. We arrived before any tour buses and got a chance to walk around this area while it was quiet. This made the site all the more special for us, especially when gazing up at columns and walls filled with ancient hieroglyphics. You can see some of the original paint color here, too. We even had a chance to walk into some of the underground tunnels. Ancient Egyptians decorated everything with hieroglyphics, one reason I love them so much.

Part 3

While seeing the great pyramids in Egypt was a dream come true for hubby and me and one we’d both been dreaming about since we were kids, I have to admit, the Valley of the Kings in Luxor may have been even better. Various tombs are in this area. Two of the most famous being that of King Tut and Ramses II. The colors in some of the tombs are so well-preserved, you’d think they were painted recently, but some are over 3000 years old. Three-thousand! While that’s a blip in geological time, it’s huge for us mere humans.

And a topper to this marvelous cake is King Tut’s mummy. Yep, his actual mummy is in his tomb. We stood right next to it. The sarcophagus is amazing, but to be right there with the king himself in his own burial chamber, well it’s extremely surreal. While photos are allowed driving up to the Valley of the Kings entrance, cameras are no longer allowed inside. So, I've borrowed some photos from friends who were there a few years ago to share with you, along with the ones I took.

Dana's Blah Blah is moving back to blogspot!

I had moved my blog to myspace because I have a lot of followers there but with the recent changes myspace has made, the site is just not feasible any longer, so I'm coming back here. I am in the process of moving a few entries here but this may take a little time because I have photos posted with many of them. I hope myspace readers will come to blogspot and I will post bulletins whenever I have a new entry. Thanks so much to all my followers for your patience and loyalty.

Happy reading!
Dana

Egypt trip pt 4

Graffiti and other goodies - Egypt trip pt 4 - now at Dana's Blah Blah Blog http://www.myspace.com/danadaviswriting/blog

Living in the Wild, Wild West!

Well the wild ride is over! Read all about it at Dana's Blah Blah blog - Living in the Wild, Wild West http://www.myspace.com/danadaviswriting/blog

Valley of the Kings - Egypt trip pt 3

Valley of the Kings - Egypt trip pt 3 - now at Dana's Blah Blah blog. http://www.myspace.com/danadaviswriting/blog

Egyptians, Romans and Greeks, oh my - Egypt trip pt 2

Egyptians, Romans and Greeks, oh my - Egypt trip pt 2 at Dana's Blah Blah - http://www.myspace.com/danadaviswriting/blog

I’m Worth a Million Camels – Egypt Trip – Pt 1

I’m Worth a Million Camels – Egypt Trip – Pt 1 - new post at Dana's Blah Blah Blog http://www.myspace.com/danadaviswriting/blog

Genealogy and fiction writing.

Genealogy and fiction writing - new post is up at Dana's Blah Blah blog. Enjoy! http://www.myspace.com/danadaviswriting/blog

When a publisher asks for shocking changes

When a publisher asks for shocking changes - now at Dana's Blah Blah blog. http://blog.myspace.com/danadaviswriting