Doing More and Defiance

I have been doing some thinking and re-thinking about how to do more writing. As in blogging. As in more often. I actually have several ideas on this subject. Now that my vestibular therapy has been put on hold that I am not going twice a week my doctor appt load feels much lighter. For a while there, I was just so tired from going to a doctor of some kind every day. As in literally every day.

When I think about that it sounds ridiculous. I used to work every day. Once upon a time. Now, doctors appts four days a week just takes it out of me. I am completely wiped. And that may be just one appt or stacked appts. It doesn't matter. However, I used to fit those things in around my work day. It is nuts.

Anyway, I am back to thinking that I need to try and blog more often. So, even though it might not seem like it from where you are reading, I am actively working on ideas. For instance, one of those ideas is reworking the letter meme that I did a while back. The 30 Day Letters. Remember those? I have been tossing around ideas about starting another blog entirely calling it "The Letters I Only Write In My Head." Believe it or not, there are TONS of those. And I can date them, more or less, back to when I wrote them... the significant ones anyway. And then there are the ones I am still writing... lol. Or not writing. Since they are in my head. Or I could just turn it into a 30 Day meme adjusting it around the one I already did changing the recipients. I could leave some the same since the letters would now be different. Strange how that works... You can give me whatever feedback you have on this. I will probably go with my gut, but I am interested in your opinion anyway.

Well, that is just one of my ideas. I have others. I just wanted you to know I was actively thinking about it and not just SAYING I was.

In other news, for those of you who like Young Adult books, CJ Redwine is giving away two copies of her newest book before it hits the shelves. The book is called DEFIANCE and she has set it up that you have to come up with your own review blurb based upon the synopsis of the storyline. She kindly gave us some of the blurbs already out there. Some of them were very funny. This is my contribution as a blurb:

"Any girl who deftly wields a sword has my undivided attention. The fact that she also kicks butt in hand-to-hand combat only seals the deal. This book is a must read." ~Your Daily Dose

I think that they did a nice job with the cover. Makes me want to dig out all of my episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and start over again. Although, I am fairly certain there are no vampires in this book. Just a lot of fighting with swords and stuff like that. Still pretty awesome.



In totally non-related news, since my botox injection procedure for my migraines I have had one day that my migraine was mild enough that I took absolutely no pain medication. That is a first in ten years. It actually made me wonder what a no headache day would feel like, AND to think it might be within my grasp. That thought made me so happy that I thought I might actually burst with it. The truth is that I haven't had a no headache day in so long that I have forgotten what that feels like. I really look forward to remembering.

Bullets and Ribbons

I am going to shoot some bullets at you and then celebrate my bloggy good fortune with you.

• Shelby, my dog, is doing oh so very well after her surgery. They removed her leg all the way up to the shoulder. Her incision was very long for such a little dog, but she was a champ. It took her a few days to find her new center of gravity and then she was good. She is now running, jumping, playing, etc. I find that I have much to learn from her resiliency.
• My parents are in therapy (that now makes all of us), separately, but there you go. It appears to be working. They are actually talking through their issues. There. And at home. And there have been no more instances where-in I have felt uncomfortable. However, I am prepared should that happen again. Funny, how just knowing what you WILL do takes the nerves away.
• I got botoxed for my migraines on Thursday. Yikes. I cannot see the pleasure in doing that for fun. We are now waiting and seeing. If it makes a difference in my migraines in the next two weeks, it will be considered successful. If not, it won't. Simple as that.
• I happened to catch the end of Kenny Chesney's concert on youtube. It was the kickoff for his new record: Welcome to the Fishbowl. I have seen him actually live in concert two times.
• The first time was at a fair in Michigan when he had maybe one song on the radio. No one really knew who he was. He was the Opener. I do remember someone yelling some off color remark to him from the floor and he blushed so hard that I could see it from my first row cushy seat just under the awning. I thought it was the cutest thing I had seen.Ever.
• I was thinking about that blush when I saw him the second time at the Columbia Civic Center for his No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem tour. I don't remember how many times he had been named Entertainer of the Year at that time. The Center was huge. It had a huge screen for those in the nosebleed section. And he came up in an elevator under the floor. Women were throwing their panties at him. He would catch them and throw them backstage, and never miss a beat. I sighed and quietly said a goodbye to the boy who blushed all those years ago. He was long gone. Fame had worked him over good.
• Anyway, I still enjoyed that concert. He is doing a lot more writing I think. His stuff really comes from the heart. He likes writing about that boy he was, the man he is now, and how he got here.

Okay, I guess the rest can wait. If you missed my very long V-Log. You can backpedal through here and watch it. If I ever do that sort of thing again, I will learn how to EDIT so that it is much shorter. There is definitely such a thing as too much Robin. If you want proof of that, ask my mom. She will tell you.Now, let us move on to the bloggy portion of this event.

Gossip Girl over at ~~Whatever~~ honored me with an award. These are the rules.

1. Post the rules on your blog.

2. Name five of your most fabulous moments, either in real life or in the blogosphere.

3. Name five things you love.

4. Name five things you hate.

5. Pass the ribbon on to five other bloggers. (Leave them a comment to notify them of their win.)

5 of my most fabulous moments, either in real life or in the blogosphere...

1. Every single time I have been onstage for a show. I can't really differentiate one show from another because they are all fabulous. But when I am onstage, I know I am alive.

2. All of the time I spent at summer camp. That was like soul food.

3) The moment my junior high school bully came up to me the first day of high school like we were buddies because she was lost. It was a big high school. She had intimidated the crap out of me for three years and she blew it in one day because THAT DAY I saw her for who she really was and she lost all of her power over me. In fact, they all did. They were all just insecure people trying to feel bigger. For the first time in three years, I was FREE. They only had power over me because I gave it to them. That day, I took it back. It was AMAZING.

4) The day I read ILLUSIONS by Richard Bach. It totally changed how I saw the world.

5) The day my first boyfriend said, "You're beautiful." I had been told I was pretty on the inside and had a great personality, etc. But he was the first person who ever said I was actually pretty on the outside. Until he said it, I didn't believe it. I think it is sad that you need one other person to say it before you can accept it as a truth about yourself. However, until that moment I believed all sorts of things about me but that was NOT one of them. I will always love him for that.

Name 5 Things You Love

1) A book that you cannot put down and must read in one sitting.

2) Just about any Joss Whedon series.

3) Just about any game (card, board, etc.)

4) I am still Jonesing for Marshall Mathers. Is he ever going to put out a new record????

5) Pretty much anything that touches my heart and makes me laugh, cry, feel inspired. This can come in pretty much any form and that is what makes it so great. The world is full of inspiration and hope and love and beauty. I love all of it. I want to eat it, swim in it, pour it over my head, pet it ( if it's my dog), hold it close, and let it go.

Name 5 Things You Hate

1) Cruelty

2) Disrespect

3) Lack of compassion

4) People who take advantage of those weaker than themselves. Manipulators. Liars.

5) Arguing over politics and religion. You're just asking for trouble.

Pass this on to 5 Other Bloggers.

1. Liza at Middle Passages. She is in a writing thing and needs blogging material.

2. Jasmine at Yellow Rose of Texas. Just because.

3. Chris at A Deliberate Life. To help her get back into the blogging thing again.

4. Mary the Food Floozie. Because I would like to read about something other than food...lol.

5 Mary at Spilled on the Kitchen Table. This is actually up her alley:-)

HERE'S TO YOU WEDNESDAY

SURPRISE. Drum roll please. I present to you HERE'S TO YOU WEDNESDAY. With love. It feels like I have been working on this post *forever.* I debated waiting and posting this tomorrow so that it would land on the right day. But, that makes it one day later (in my mind) rather than actually on the nose. Gah. Yeah, I was shooting for last Thursday. And then I would read something after that and think... well, I can work with that. And so it goes. The reality was that everything was harder. Or maybe I am out of practice. I don't know. What I do know is that I had a really tough time narrowing down the ultimate choice for some of you. As in Really.Tough.Time. And I am frequently surprised when some of you ride similar blogging tracks so that I dedicate the same footage to two people. That always blows me away.

Here is the recap of what is going on...

This used to be a weekly event landing typically on Thursdays. It is my hope that it will be a weekly event again some day... The best (or worst) part is that I am not going to explain why I chose "whatever" footage for each of you. If, you watch your footage and are scratching your head at the end, well that means I didn't do a very good job. However, all is not lost. You can email me at rarichards68@gmail.com and ask me what I was thinking when I chose that particular piece of footage off of youtube and connected it to you. And then I will tell you. Then I will start sending up prayers that I haven't offended the crap out of whoever is on the receiving end of that email....lol. Because, honestly, I will tell you right now... I admire all of you enormously so I really hope that doesn't happen.

Also, this is not an exclusive venture by any means. I hope that you will take the time to watch ALL of the footage because I don't pick bad footage:-) I also hope that you might check out the blog of the person I dedicated the footage to because they are pretty darn awesome. If you haven't figured this out yet... I pick the footage based on something that you've written or something that I've gleaned from your personality. Think on that for a while... If you are having trouble watching the entire video (meaning it is being cut off on one side), click on it a couple of times and it will take you straight over to youtube. If you click on the four squares at the bottom corner of the video, it will enlarge it to fill your screen. The escape key will bring it back to normal size. The back arrow will bring you back to my page.

Now, let's get this PARTY STARTED!!!!

This one is for everyone:




This one is for Phoenix at Res ipsa loquitor:




This one is for Leah at Dip N Dots:




This one is for Gossip_Girl at ~*~Whatever~*~:




This one is for JJ The Disconnected Writer:




This one is for Liza at Middle Passages and Shoes at Red Shoe's Chronicles:




This one is for Cinderita at The Adventures of Cinderita:




This one is for Judy at Life...Minute by Minute:




image found on facebook

If you ever wanted to look me in the eye

Okay, so I had this strange dream Monday that I was singing in a public bathroom. I was just getting into the song when another voice that sounded very much like me joined in. That person sang from the safety of the stall. While we were singing people started filtering in. Most of them I knew from various phases of my life, but some were strangers to me. At some point, I realized that the person in the stall was me. Just a younger version of me. Weird? Yes. Enough to make me quit singing? No. I continued to sing by the sink, while she carried on from her place in the stall until we finished the song. And then everyone clapped. I felt afraid, but very accomplished at the end.

It was a song that I have always liked, but it is too high for me to really sound good. I do better with lower songs IMO. I spent days ruminating on this one. I decided it was about stepping outside your comfort zone. Even though I sing karaoke, and sometimes badly, I am still doing it in a forum where people are expecting singing. It is safe to say that a public restroom is not that forum.

Here is the song by Suzy Bogguss. It has been recorded by numerous folks. However, if you want to skip it, you can. I recorded a VLog that I intended to be short. Well, short for me. I had a terrible time figuring out how to do it at all. Then, I couldn't figure out how to edit it. Ugghh. I was shooting for five minutes. Ten minutes max. And this is what I got. Hand smacking forehead.




However, it is likely the most insightful Daily Dose of Robin you will ever get. For.What.That's.Worth. I guess for $.50 it will get you a gumball.

My Sweet Dog

The biopsy came back for my sweet Shelby and it was cancer.

Cancer and I have not been seeing eye to eye lately. Or maybe we have been seeing too much eye to eye lately. Not sure which of those is more accurate. Either way, I have seen more cancer in the last year and a half than I ever dreamed possible.

The vet said that the cancer was aggressive, but often is in animals. However, it was in her leg and she could live without her leg. We had x-rayed her body a couple of weeks ago with no signs of cancer. Good sign. The thing was that in order to really be sure of getting it all was to remove the leg. Before that, we would x-ray her again to be sure it still hadn't spread into her body. No point in putting her through a surgery if it had spread into her body.

All of this has happened very quickly. We got the biopsy Wednesday and she is in surgery now. She might come home tonight.

Last night she was still running around the house. It gives me hope. She will recover from this and still run with the same spirit as before. She has such a positive energy.