K.E. Skedgell

Yeah, I was late this week. I was having a rather bad day yesterday, so I didn't get around to posting the next RSOTW. But here it is, something that I think most of us that live anywhere where it snows can appreciate: Heywood Banks -- Wiper Blades Album -- Difernt (1999) o winters here with all the ice n snow n the surly slush upon the road the salty spray upon my window makes me wish that i'd replaced my wiper blades my wiper wiper wiper blades my wiper wiper wiper blades my wiper wiper wiper blades i wish that i'd replaced my wiper blades salty spray from semis that do pass they turn my windshield into bathroom glass i turn the knob but i come to the conclusion that i did not fill up my washer solution my wiper wiper wiper fluid my wiper wiper wiper fluid my wiper wiper wiper fluid i wish that id replaced my wiper fluid my wiper wiper wiper blades my wiper wiper wiper blades my wiper wiper wiper blades i wish that i'd replaced my wiper blades down the...

S eriously! Because I'm getting tired of being bombarded with spam messages (most of them from my The Next Big Thing post), and since no one ever writes me an actual comment anonymously, and I'm tired of seeing new comments pop up in my email only to be spam, I'm disabling the ability to comment anonymously. Sorry if it's any inconvenience to the real people out there and are not spam bots, but like I said, no one comments anonymously, and I'm tired of dealing with it. I hope it at least takes care of some of the spam. Have a good one!

Today I share two songs for the Christmas season. Enya - Oíche chiúin (Silent Night) Album - Oíche chiúin (Silent Night), First Release (1989); And Winter Came (2008) Oíche chiúin, oíche Mhic Dé, [Silent night, night of God's son.] Cách 'na suan dís araon, [Soundly in slumber, the pair together] Dís is dílse 'faire le spéis [The pair and love, watching with affection] Naoín beag gnaoigheal [The small bright beautiful child,] ceananntais caomh [darling little one.]   Críost, 'na chodhladh go séimh. [Christ, calmly asleep.] Críost, 'na chodhladh go séimh. [Christ, calmly asleep.]   Oíche chiúin, oíche Mhic Dé, [Silent night, night of God's son.] Aoirí ar dtús chuala 'n scéal; [Shepherds first heard the tale] Allelúia aingeal ag glaoch. [The angels crying out Alleluia.] Cantain suairc i ngar is i gcéin [Lovely chanting near and far.]   Críost an Slánaitheoir Féin [Christ, the saviour himself.] Críost an Slánaitheoir...

S o I took a break from writing yesterday because I had the itch to draw something, but when I got pencil in hand and paper on desk, I couldn't get my hand to draw what my mind was seeing. Hate that! I wanted to draw this image of my character Izsák, servant boy to my main character Vlad, sitting in a window seat gazing through the window with a leg bent upon the seat of the bench and his foot tucked beneath his other leg, holding onto a pillow. I can still see it in my mind, but I'm so out of practice with drawing the human form, which used to come so easily, that I couldn't get the position right. I drew comic book characters back in the day, all the time, and that was how I got used to drawing the human form in many positions. Nope, couldn't do it today. I made several sketches trying to get it right but I gave up and went to trying to draw his face. Key word, trying . Eventually, though, I hit the jackpot, sort of, and came up with this profile sketch: Izsák, ...

So, it's 12-21-12, and I feel fine! Jill Tracy - Doomsday Serenade Album - Diabolical Streak (1999) We'll meet again, my dear, on Doomsday Pigs will be flying through the sky Upon the 12th of Never Half a quarter past forever Stricken with the Rapture We will watch the world's demise   We'll meet again, my dear, on Doomsday A hint of Armageddon fills the air Now that Hell has frozen over And the sun is growing colder We'll be drawing closer Because there's no more time to spare   We'll meet again, my dear, on Doomsday A shower full of frogs and toads But as bleak as it may be Apocalyptic reverie Hand in hand we'll tiptoe Through the carcasses and bones   The air is too thin to breath on Doomsday At last we face the reckoning And blood will fill the sea Cobwebs will cover you and me As flames engulf the remnants Of this grand catastrophe   It's Doomsday It's Doomsday ___________________________________________...

I got bored of the autumn trees look, so I decided to go with this winter-themed look, at least until the end of winter (though winter has yet to show around these parts.). What do you think? Also, I wrote another 2400 words the other day. My writing just comes in spurts, I suppose. Getting that much closer to the end, thank goodness. I'm already over 170,000 words into this novel, almost where I was when I wrote it the first time 15 years ago, and I'm only about halfway through the story of the original draft (which I have to split into two, no questions asked). The original draft is mostly irrelevant now, but some of the plot points remain. Im'ma gonna have to do some chopping I guess when editing time comes and do some real tightening of the prose, but I'll worry about that when the time comes.

Steppenwolf -- Magic Carpet Ride Album -- The Second (1968) I like to dream yes, yes, right between my sound machine On a cloud of sound I drift in the night Any place it goes is right Goes far, flies near, to the stars away from here Well, you don't know what we can find Why don't you come with me little girl On a magic carpet ride You don't know what we can see Why don't you tell your dreams to me Fantasy will set you free Close your eyes girl Look inside girl Let the sound take you away Last night I held Aladdin's lamp And so I wished that I could stay Before the thing could answer me Well, someone came and took the lamp away I looked around, a lousy candle's all I found Well, you don't know what we can find Why don't you come with me little girl On a magic carpet ride Well, you don't know what we can see Why don't you tell your dreams to me Fantasy will set you free Close your eyes girl Look inside girl Let the sound take you away You...

Clannad - Caide Sin Do'n Té Sin? (What is it to anyone?) Album -- Banba (1993) Since the video has the words in it, here's the translation: I went to the fair and sold my cow For five pounds of silver and a yellow guinea of gold If I drink the silver and if I give away the gold O what is that to anyone else. If I drink the silver and if I give away the gold O what is that to anyone else. If I go to the leafy woods gathering berries or chestnuts, Plucking apples from branches or herding cows, If I stretch out for a while beneath a tree relaxing, O what is that to anyone else. If I stretch out for a while beneath a tree relaxing, O what is that to anyone else. If I go for a night-visit and for dancing and sport, To fairs and races and every gathering of that sort, If I see happy people and if I'm happy with them, O what is that to anyone else. If I see happy people and if I'm happy with them, O what is that to anyone else. People say I'm without riches no doub...

H is portrait, that is. For the past eight days I had been working on my latest art project, a graphite portrait of Oscar Wilde. My writing was put on the back burner for the entire time I worked on this, the reason because I was just too caught up into drawing this picture, and I was anguishing over the current scene. Nothing was coming out like I wanted, so a little time away was in order, and what better way to take a break from writing than to draw something, especially if that something is Wilde. So, without further ado, I will take you on a photo by photo progression of my work. Also, the photo quality is pretty crappy, not professional in any way, just so you know. Days 1-2: Outline of Oscar complete. I started the outline by doing some minor tracing (yeah, I cheated a little) with my light box just to get the major lines down, then I drew in the finer details of which even those changed as I progressed with the drawing. I started that on Dec. 1st, but couldn't fini...

Adam Hurst -- The Secret Album -- The Secret (2011) Cello and piano, one of his best songs in my opinion, but much of his music is great. And he's a snappy dresser.

I n my previous post I mentioned an art project I was working on. Well, today I finally finished it. Woo hoo! I was getting antsy to have it done and over with by the time I got about 3/4 of the way through, which isn't anything out of the ordinary for me. Behold, my latest graphite drawing entitled: All That Remains -- Ruined church of Zelemér, Hungary Click for larger view. The photo reference came from a search on Google Earth, which you can see here . From what I've read, the ruins of this church are the last remains of a medieval town that had once existed around it. I did take liberty in changing a few things from the original photo, like the removal of the footprints in the snow and the poles for the power lines in the background. The original drawing has far more finer details than what the photo shows and isn't grey. I did draw it on white paper. I need to invest in a light box (or have the boyfriend build me one) so I can take better photos of my drawing...

D raw draw draw! No! Write write write! Draw! Write! It's a rather nice predicament to have, since so rarely do either of the muses come around at the same time. In my teen years the writing and drawing muses were close pals of mine. Nowadays, not so much. And I miss that. The writing muse has been coming around a lot the last few years, which is really nice. The art muse is like that friend who lives far away that you rarely get to see, and when she does stop by, you make the most of it while she's there, because she ain't a stayin' for long. Right now the two muses are vying for my attention, and it's great, especially since I'm not working I have the time to share part of the day with both. Currently I'm working on a graphite drawing of a ruined medieval Hungarian church, it's remains the only thing left of a village that had once surrounded it. After that I really want to start on a portrait of Oscar Wilde  because I think he is just...

Blue October -- 18th Floor Balcony Album -- Foiled (2006) I close my eyes and I smile  Knowing that everything is alright  To the core  So close that door  Is this happening?  My breath is on your hair  I'm unaware  That you opened the blinds and let the city in  God, you held my hand  And we stand  Just taking in everything. And I knew it from the start  So my arms are open wide  Your head is on my stomach  And we're, we're trying so hard not to fall asleep  But Here we are  On this 18th floor balcony...  We're both flying away.  So we talked about mom's and dad's  About family pasts  Just getting to know where we came from  Our hearts were on display  For all to see  I can't believe this is happening to me and,  I raised my hands as if to show you that I was yours  That I was so yours for the taking  I'm so yours for the taking and That's when I felt the ...

Bad Company -- Shooting Star Album -- Straight Shooter (1975) Johnny was an school boy When he heard his first Beatles song Love Me Do, I think it was And from there it didn't take him long Got himself a guitar Used to play every night Now he's in a rock 'n' roll outfit And everything's alright Don't you know? Johnny told his Mama, "Hey, Mama, I'm goin' away I'm Gonna hit the big time Gonna be a big star someday" Mama came to the door With a teardrop in her eye Johnny said, "Don't cry, Mama, Just smile and wave goodbye" Don't you know? Yeah......yeah.....   Don't you know that you are a shooting star Don't you know Don't you know Don't you know that you are a shooting star And all the world will love you just as long As long as you are Johnny made a record Went straight up to number one Suddenly everyone loved To hear him sing his song Watchin' the world go by Sur...

I 'm pretty proud of myself tonight. I finished a chapter within two days, about 4300 words total. That's fantastic for me, since it usually takes me a week to squeeze out a chapter or two. I got two chapters done in less that a week, 8,900 words in all. I'm getting closer and closer to the end of this first book in my series. If I can keep this momentum up, barring nothing coming along and ruining my mojo like usual, I should have the first draft finally,  FINALLY , done by the end of the month. The next chapter I'll be starting had pretty much been pre-written a year ago when the idea for it came to me and I wrote it out so I wouldn't forget it. Most of it will remain much the same as I had originally written it without a whole lot of major tweaking, so assuming I am left alone to work on it tomorrow (the boyfriend will be home from work, need I say more) I should be able to finish it and begin the following chapter (eh, he'll be out in the garage all day, I ...

So, I got tagged for this about a month ago by writer  Katie S. Pendergrass   but I had been too lazy to participate. Shame on me! But now I will finally participate.  What is your working title of your book? Draculești has been the working title for many a moon, but since my story is going to be a series, I thought it might be better suited as the over-arching title for the series, and have individual titles for each book. For the first one which I'm still working on, the idea for the title just came to me the other night: Draculești - Blood of the Dragon, Tooth of the Wolf . Where did the idea come from for the book? Way back in the day when I was a young lass (19), I had an idea to write a book on how the son of the Impaler came to be a vampire and his vampire exploits after his "turn". It was only meant to be about a hundred page story, instead it grew into a crappily written 190,000 word novel. At the time I thought it was some pretty go...

Alicia Keys -- If I Ain't Got You Album -- The Diary Of Alicia Keys (2003) Some people live for the fortune  Some people live just for the fame  Some people live for the power yeah  Some people live just to play the game  Some people think that the physical things  Define what's within  And I've been there before  But that life's a bore  So full of the superficial  Some people want it all  But I don't want nothing at all  If it ain't you baby  If I ain't got you baby  Some people want diamond rings  Some just want everything  But everything means nothing  If I ain't got you  Some people search for a fountain  That promises forever young  Some people need three dozen roses  And that's the only way to prove you love them  Hand me the world on a silver platter  And what good would it be  With no one to share, with no one who truly cares for me  Some people want it ...

I swear, my cat has some sort of mental connection to me, because every time, or nearly every damn time I open one of the documents to my novel to start working on it, Biggie has to make a pain in the ass of himself. As of typing this, he is sitting on my lap content, but usually he can't just sit on my lap like a good kitty, he has to pull on the zippers of my jacket, he has to get up and stand in-between me and the computer, making sure his fluff tail is in my face, rub his face on the corner of my desk and give it a bite for good measure. If I don't allow him on my lap, he tries to get on my desk where he and the other cats aren't allowed, or bite my foot or chew on my peace lily or do something else naughty just for the attention. It isn't that the cat never gets attention, he gets plenty of it. He just decides the best time to do it is when I'm trying to work, or trying to sleep. He's cute, he's fluffy, and he has no shame exposing his fluff to th...

Dead Can Dance -- Summoning Of The Muse Album -- Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun (1987) When my writing muse goes missing in action, perhaps I ought to play this song. Ha!

 Lakeview Cemetery, Nash ville MI. Photo by Rhonda Cook   V ampires have been a passion of mine for twenty plus years, ever since my friend Jennifer introduced them to me in our early teens (and to Ouija boards and ghosts and other fun things). Her and I would go for walks through the local cemetery, a place we often hung out since it was so quiet and peaceful, and one of the prettier small town cemeteries I've been in, but I could just be partial. Another friend, Samantha, and I often walked the cemetery too, and it was her and I who wrote vampire stories together and stories about many other things, spook and non-spook alike. Something about the mythical creature has always allured me, perhaps it is my fear of blood (and needles) that, in some ironic way, has kept me intrigued with them. Or maybe it's their immortality, or strong yet weak nature. Maybe because they are denizens of the night. Whatever it is, I don't think about why I like them, I just do. Lake...