It has officially been a shitty weekend
First Bernie Mac, then Isaac Hayes. We've lost a lot of talent in two days.

My favorite Hayes composition was Cafe Regio's from the soundtrack of Shaft. Have a listen. You might not recognize the title, but the melody will probably sound familiar.




Thanks for the music, Isaac. God rest your soul.

I Feel Very Sad
I just heard about the passing of Bernie Mac. I, like a lot of other people, I'm sure, prayed for his health when I learned of his hospitalization. He was mentioned on the news just yesterday morning as remaining in the hospital, and I remarked to my husband that I was really worried about him because it had been a week or more, and pneumonia, a disease that can have many complications, is especially dangerous to patients with chronic lung diseases.



His obiturary states that he was inspired to become a comedian when his mother, who'd been crying at something, began to laugh when seeing a comedian perform on The Ed Sullivan Show.



A lot of us are crying now, Bernie, because you were taken from us.



Rest in peace.

How quickly I forget

I promised my newsletter readers that I'd be posting a special musical column throughout August, then yesterday I went and said I wouldn't be back until after the weekend. Sheesh!

Anyway, here's the musical choice for this week: I Do Love You, first recorded by its author, the late Billy Stewart, around 1965. The song was later recorded by GQ around 1977. Sadly, Billy Stewart was killed in a road accident early in 1970 at age 32 and did not live to see his song revived. Incidentally, someone in GQ must have been a big fan of Stewart's, they also recorded his composition Sitting in the Park.

Which do you prefer?

Okay, now I can say those four beautiful words, "Have a good weekend!"



Billy Stewart




GQ

I'm Getting Excited

First of all, I lost 6 lb.

Second, something remotely resembling a routine has been emerging in the two weeks I've been riding to work with my husband. (No, we don't work at the same place, but our respective offices are just five minutes apart.) I've even worked in 20 minutes for exercise, which has given me more energy.

Finally, as I get more into the reading over of what I've already written on my overdue WIP, I'm finding that I truly like what I've written. I'm having fun with my heroine, who is more visibly flawed than most of the others I've created. Not that she has a port wine birthmark or some physical flaw, but it's her personality. She's refreshingly, sometimes even brutally, honest . . . at least she thinks she's being honest. You know the type. When a news story about a truant kid who gets run over by a school bus airs, she's the who says, "That's a shame . . . but if he'd brought his ass to school like he was supposed to he'd still be alive."

My story is taking on a definite shape, the characters are jumping to life, and I couldn't be more pleased about it. While I've still got some writing to do in a relatively short period of time, I've read over the first 135 pages and am more than satisfied with them. Unless I find I've contradicted something said earlier, these pages are as good as turned in.



I'll be busy tomorrow, so I'm going to wish everyone a good weekend now.

They used to ask, "Paper or plastic," so why do they just ask "Credit?" now???

Now, y'all have heard me complain about retail clerks who always seem to think that I'm paying by credit rather than debit. (I know this because they say, "Credit?" instead of "Credit or debit?") This weekend I was in the post office (Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin) and distinctly heard the clerk ask the gentleman in front of me, "Is this a debit card?" to which he replied, "Yes." I was next in line, selected my postage and handed the clerk my card. The next thing I knew she was handing me a credit card slip to sign. I asked her why I had to sign for a debit purchase. She sputtered a bit and rather sheepishly said, "I ran it as a credit card." I reminded her that she'd asked the previous customer if he was paying by debit, but yet she merely assumed that I was paying by credit. She then gave me the lame excuse that my card didn't look like a credit card.

A couple of things to point out: 1) My card has the word "debit" printed on the lower right corner, just like any other debit card. 2) My purchase was $4.22. And the real shocker, 3) Both the clerk and the customer before me were white.

I faxed a letter of complaint to the manager on Monday. I don't give a hoot if this clerk believes that black people are so poor they have to charge $4.22 worth of postage, but I expect to be treated with the same respect as anybody else. This was the most blatant display I've seen yet, where a clerk actually presumed I was paying with credit and ran the card that way without even asking.

The manager called me that same afternoon to apologize, give me that spiel about how she was certain race didn't enter into it (yeah, right), and assured me that she would reiterate to her clerks that they are not to make any assumptions or presumptions, but are to clarify with the customer about the method of payment.

Does anyone else besides me run into this?

Latest progress, and also why it's pointless to try to please every reader

Here is an early review of Once Upon A Project that someone posted on an Internet review site (which one really isn't important):

"This is the first book I have read by this author and I must say I read the book in two days!!! It was very well-written and the characters had substance. I also liked the fact that the stories were based on older, more mature characters. I would recommend this book to others."

Not too shabby, eh? Well, this is a review that recently posted:

"This book was very slow! It was very difficult for me to get involved in the storyline. I would not recommend."

'Nuff said.

Now, moving on, I still haven't defined what precisely is my damn problem. This weekend just flew by. I'm late getting invitations out for my mother's 90th birthday celebration, we're still unpacking (I finally found the tablecloth and doily overhang for my bedside table), and on top of that we're giving a party next weekend. (I've made it clear to my husband that no one is to go upstairs, since that area simply is not ready to be shown.)

So here's my latest count:




As you can see, I'm feeling awfully sleepy these days. Just about every day a new subplot comes to me, and I know that this will be a really juicy page-turner, but for some reason it's taking me forever to get it done. In the meantime my editor called me Friday (which was D (deadline) day, and my agent is on vacation.

I'd better get cracking. I've got a phone call to make.

Cross your fingers for me.

Friday Fun

I recently heard a cover of the Deniece Williams classic, Free, by Corinne Bailey Rae. While not bad, it made me long for the original, and that gave me an idea. (Okay, so I'm supposed to be writing, but I don't mind telling you I took the night off. I'm in desperate need of some "me" time. I'll post my little bit of progress later today.)

Many songs have been covered by more than one artist. Let's have a little fun. Which of these tunes do you like better. I will warn you, this is a toughie.




Marvin Gaye




Gladys Knight and the Pips

So what'd'ya think?