whereisjodi.

Person A: An individual who uses her own money to travel to a dangerous, war-torn country to administer aid and comfort under wretched conditions simply because she loves Jesus and wants to help her fellow man in His name.

Person B: An individual who kidnaps Person A at gunpoint, murders her friends and holds her hostage for six weeks while attempting to blackmail the world community into allowing the aforementioned war-torn country to return to the dark ages.

Whom should we blame? According to an AP story about the response of the South Korean public, Person A is at fault. She should have known better than to try to help alleviate the suffering of her fellow man and stayed home in her warm, comfortable bed. Some government officials are even calling for Person A to repay the costs the government expended in trying to obtain her release, including an alleged secret ransom payment.

"The Protestant churches should thoroughly reflect (on their behavior) with regard to why such demands have been raised."

Why indeed. The article I read credits so-called "liberal" paper Hankyoreh with the above statement. How is it possible the blame is falling on these victims?

Posted by authorjodi at 03:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

From what I remember, the first week of school usually included some sort of "tell us about yourself" assignment. I gather that's still fairly common because last week my best friend had her speech students give an introduction of another student as their first activity. Again, as I recall, there wasn't much to it -- you didn't get a worse grade if you said you liked chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla, the point was just to share a bit about yourself.

Not so in a Pennsylvania kindergarten class. When a boy followed one of the teacher's suggestions and had his mother come in to read a story from his favorite book, officials stepped in. The book? You guessed it: the Bible. The teacher "suggested" the boy's mother read a book about Halloween and witches instead because merely reading a story from the Bible in response to a "getting to know you" assignment about what was important to the student was deemed proselytizing.

I guess I shouldn't be too surprised when many states outlaw a teacher reading their personal Bible on their personal lunchbreak because that might offend someone.

Posted by authorjodi at 01:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

• Thank God! The last of the South Korean hostages were released today.

• According to a new study, less than half of published scientists worldwide endorse the theory that man is a major cause of global warming, nor that global warming is a catastrophic phenomena.

• A car dealer in Florida is taking heat for producing ads in Spanish for the regular network channels. I didn't realize this was news -- I saw Spanish ads in New Mexico last year on several major stations -- but apparently this man is "destroying America."

• A "huge new abortion facility" in Chicago was built by Planned Parenthood after their sub-company allegedly lied on building permits. In response to the news, 1,200 protesters showed up over the weekend.

• And finally, disheartening news out of China about their one-child policy. A woman who was forced to have an abortion in her last month of pregnancy is suing the government for redress.
  

Posted by authorjodi at 09:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In less than an hour the Boise State Broncos will be opening their new season against Weber State. I just got back from running a couple errands and there were blue and orange t-shirts everywhere I went. Makes me wonder how long the enthusiasm will last if we don't live up to last year's game-of-a-lifetime...

And speaking of football, I have a question to throw out there. Does anyone else find the maelstrom over Michael Vick's dog-fighting a little bit mystifying? Let me be clear -- I'm not advocating animal cruelty and what he did was definitely wrong -- but how many NFL stars have been arrested for beating their wives and/or girlfriends or driving under the influence or gambling or using illegal drugs? Quite a few, am I right? I just find the response of losing 100 million in endorsements, indefinite suspension and jailtime a little bit...umm...excessive and somewhat out of proportion compared to all the other offenses professional players commit where they only get a slap on the wrist. Something seems out of whack to me.

However, this is not a sports-themed blog so I'll leave it at that and go dig out my BSU t-shirt. It's been AWOL since the big Bertha clean-out so I have a few piles to check.

Posted by authorjodi at 05:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've created a new category called 'Book Two: RoS' for blogging about my second novel. If anyone can guess my tentative working title from 'RoS' I'll give you something from my vast stock of leftover book tour chatchke's. I've got t-shirts, bookmarks, cd's given to me by radio stations, etc. Of course, you'll have to register to comment if you haven't already because I've finally given up the fight and am blocking all but registered users. I realize this means commenting will go from practically non-existent to nearly nil, but I'm sick to death of deleting spam every day.

Meanwhile, now that I'm home and mostly recovered, the time has come when I need to seriously get down to work on RoS if I'm to finish a first draft by the end of the year. In that vein, I give you a movie about procrastination which I saw over on Hal's site that perfectly illustrates my writing process:

Posted by authorjodi at 01:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

The Taliban has reached an agreement to release the South Korean hostages in exchange for their government's promise to withdraw troops by the end of the year and cease all missionary work in Afghanistan. I won't give a shout of joy until the Taliban has actually come through on their end of the bargain, but praise God for this positive step forward.

On the other hand, no more missionary work in Afghanistan? Apparently that includes humanitarian work done by believers trying to help their fellow man in the name of Jesus. I don't think this bodes well for other humanitarian organizations in the region... 

Posted by authorjodi at 01:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Thanks to Stacy, I just watched an Al Jazeera report featuring the two South Korean Christians freed by the Taliban -- the most amazing part was that a woman initially chosen to be released gave up her spot for another. Please remember to keep praying for the 19 who remain in captivity.

Posted by authorjodi at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Last night I popped my head in to say goodnight to my dad and he pulled me in to watch a few minutes of Primetime. They were doing a story on some dude who said angels came to him and told him he was the second coming of Jesus, with Christ's spirit in him. The worst thing was that he had a load of followers, many churches and a worldwide ministry. I couldn't stomach too much, but what I saw said there was no more sin because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross...so you could basically do whatever you wanted. His followers were also getting 666 tattoo'd on their body for some unknown reason.

Meanwhile I read about a series CNN was doing about God's Warriors or something like that, highlighting the "fanatics" among Jews, Muslims and Christians. Unfortunately I've had scheduling conflicts and missed all three nights, but I'm hoping they'll replay them sometime so I can take a look. Seems to me they're working pretty hard to make Evangelicals look as evil in the eyes of the world as Jihadists, but maybe I'm just being paranoid.

...And the sadness. Right after I post I'm going out to rip the vinyl siding off of Bertha so I can put her up for adoption sale. Anyone want to buy a slightly used RV, or perhaps trade for an old clunker and some cash? She was a good bird but the time has come. Of course, I've just told the Lord that I'm taking the step of faith to put her up for sale but He's going to have to bring a buyer if this is His will since it's not the most opportune time of year to sell...

Posted by authorjodi at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Over the past year or two I've made no small amount of fun of my dad for calling me at all hours to tell me about the latest segment he's watched on his favorite program -- Book TV on C-SPAN. Sadly, this past weekend I got sucked into a program myself. I blame genetics.

I watched a talk given by John Lott, author of Freedomnomics, and the 40-minutes or so that I caught was fascinating. When I tuned in he was talking about writing and how it wouldn't be worth it for him to spend a year or two writing a book if he'd only be paid a little over the cost of actually printing the pages. He was using that as an example for the price of drugs in America and the fact that it costs 800 million to a billion dollars and takes 8-10 years to bring a new drug to market. Therefore companies can't just charge twice what it costs to produce the pill and survive.

One explanation he gave that stood out to me was the reason drugs are cheaper in Canada and Mexico, something I have never understood. According to Mr. Lott, apparently there are World Trade Organization rules that force drug companies to come to some sort of price agreement with the government in other countries or the government can take their patent after two years and give it to someone else. In other words, Canada can tell our drug company we'll let you sell this drug for twice what it costs to produce, take it or leave it. If the company refuses, Canada takes the patent and has one of their companies produce it themselves. If that's true, it sure seems like something close to extortion to me...

He also asked us to imagine we were in charge of a drug company, considering beginning the process to find a new cancer drug. What if we thought there was 100%, or even 50%, chance that the next President will be someone who has sworn to do some price fixing on drugs. Would you begin the 8-10 year, billion dollar process or would you decide not to bother? He brought up childhood vaccinations as an example -- since the government has regulated the price we've had no new drugs in that line because the research is too costly.

Which reminds me that the same thing happened with the flu vaccine -- all production went overseas because a certain Presidential hopeful got the price fixed in such a way that it was no longer financially viable for American companies to stay in the business. Thus, when one of the key British producers lost half their year's stock a couple years ago we were left with a shortage.

Finally, a really good point that I think deserves consideration. He said altruism is a wonderful thing. No one wants to charge grandma so much for her drugs that she has to eat dog food because that's all she can afford...but forcing someone else to be altruistic on your behalf is just wrong. Giving cheap or free drugs to our elderly now on the drug company dime is costing the younger generation the benefit of the new drugs they could have researched and developed by the time I become the elderly.

Whether the government should be giving free or cheap drugs to the elderly is another discussion altogether, perhaps plumbing the depths of your feelings about socialism...but we should be able to find another way to care for our aging than forcing the big bad drug companies to foot the bill. Reminds me a little of Ms. Clinton's speech about taking profits from the big bad oil companies and putting it into R&D for alternative fuels...

It's just madness -- either we're a free market society or we should just give into socialism altogether. Threatening companies who choose to excel that we're going to take your money because you did too well is ludicrous. Threatening to lop the heads off the companies who rise above only encourages mediocrity.

Posted by authorjodi at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Have you ever heard of that expression? I got my bell rung? I just returned from an evening at the lake with my folks, some older friends and an MAF couple who is just beginning deputation. What a fun evening we had trying out my dad's summer toy: the wake surfboard. Thankfully I didn't get my bell rung tonight as I did at the lake a couple weeks ago. That time the world didn't stop spinning until the boat was pulling up alongside. It was, however, quite a bit colder and it might have been our last boating trip for the summer as the dam is being lowered a foot a day.

Interesting conversation with the boat next to us when we were pulling out. They said "how was your night?" We responded. They asked the MAFers "why did you move to Idaho" but then didn't give them time to respond and went right into the bad economic opportunities in Idaho and how we'll all be better off when we kick those Republicans out of office. Alrighty then. That was the end of the conversation and we both went our separate ways, but I had to just laugh. Of course they're super entitled to their opinion, but I found it incredibly funny that they so vehemently expressed it, conversationally out of left field, as their third remark to total strangers. Oh well.

Posted by authorjodi at 08:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"Fifteen Christian families from a tiny community of only about 1,300 people are making plans to leave their homes and work behind so that their children will not be forced by the Canadian government to attend 'sanctioned' schools where evolution is taught."

Apparently members of the Mennonite community in Quebec have their own schools, similar to our Amish and Mennonite communities. Children are taught the usuals, but this particular school is not following the required governmental curriculum including teaching on evolution and alternative lifestyles.

The worst part: "provincial officials have threatened the families with legal action, including the potential loss of their children to state control, if they do not abide by the mandatory education curriculum."

The Education Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying "We are not trying to prevent them from living their life the way they want, but they have to obey the law when it comes to educating their kids."

Yeah right. He might just as well have said you can believe whatever hokey, old-fashioned things you want to believe, but we the government are going to step in and teach your children what's really going on and you and your beliefs will go the way of the dinosaur. Sounds like the Canadians have been listening to Richard Dawkins.

How long do you think it'll be before we follow suit in America?

Posted by authorjodi at 05:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I haven't felt much like posting the last several days -- I think I've been in a little bit of shock at the rapid return to a more normal life evidenced by moving into my parents basement for a few months and beginning to ask myself how I'll attempt to make some money in this phase. :p

However, I have been glancing at the news and a few headlines caught my eye. In no particular order:

• The Palestinian Authority continues to show its love of peace and harmony, this time by naming a soccer tournament after a well-known terrorist. The winning team was named after a group of jihadists.

•  The Arkansas Legislature made a bit of a booboo in the last session...they legalized marriage for anyone under the age of 18 as long as they have parental consent. Apparently they were trying to say if someone was pregnant under 18 they could get married with the folks ok, but an errant "not" got into the text so anyone not pregnant under 18, etc. The funniest part is that the Governor will have to call a special session if he wants to fix it before the regular legislative season begins. Until it's fixed, 10- and 11-year-olds, or infants, will be allowed to marry.

• Some Indian tribes have been scamming illegal immigrants, selling membership in the tribe as a way to smooth the citizenship process. It's a total crock, but they're making money left and right.

Posted by authorjodi at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I spent most of yesterday attending a funeral and other associated activities -- in case some of you were wondering what caused my sudden and unexpected race across the country, that's the event I was endeavoring to make.

Today I started trying to arrange the room in my parent's basement which will be my home until the end of the year. Thankfully it's not quite 100 degrees outside, but I do have to keep switching between working outside in Bertha and working on the computer in the ac'd basement so I don't swelter. I keep reminding myself that at least it's dry heat -- no humidity in sight! ;)

I'm trying to get Bertha cleaned out as quickly as possible so I can settle into this new stage a little sooner. To be honest, it's a little bit weird being back and I imagine it'll take some time before I find the right rhythm for the next several months.

Had a fun book fact related to me a couple days ago -- apparently the English teacher at our local Christian high school found my book in the library, read it, and thought so much of it that she put it on the required summer reading list for her Honors English class. I never even considered that market...I'll have to try to figure out how to crack into more schools.

Posted by authorjodi at 01:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

After the blown tire and vapor-lock detours, I had 750 miles left to cover yesterday. Thankfully, by the grace of God, I rolled to a stop in front of my folks house in the early evening. I think I heard Bertha give a sigh of relief, but that could have just been my imagination. ;)

It was more than weird to drive into town after such a long absence and I know I've a bit of debriefing and decompressing to do. My first inclination this morning was to put a sold sign on Bertha and run up to Albertson's to pick up a job application...but I think I'll give myself a few days before making any rash decisions. Meanwhile, it's just good to be home.

Posted by authorjodi at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by authorjodi at 05:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ok, I guess I made too much fun yesterday because I only managed to get into one new state today. And I did something I hadn't done all year long. Namely, I blew out a tire.

I got up this morning after a lovely 9-hour siesta and drove one mile to the next exit for gas. After that I traversed a mere 10 miles before a horrid sound and a quick application of brakes and a slow death-crawl to the side of the road. Whipping out my trusty cell and Good Sam membership card, I commenced holding for 30 minutes, before finally connecting to someone who could contact someone else who could help.

Turns out the 'someone else' was in Terre Haute, a couple hours distant. Meanwhile, I'd decided I should probably wait outside because I was only about a foot off the road and trucks kept flying by at high speed, rocking poor Bertha mercilessly. I put Cali in her carrier and had just sat down in my lawn chair at a safe distance when a policeman pulled up. Apparently it's safer to wait inside...so I laid on my couch for the next hour and a half and waited for wonderful, handy Dennis to arrive and save the day.

My spare was still in good working order after a year riding on Bertha's backside and a mere 30 minutes later I was speeding down the road. I only covered 400 miles today which is significantly less than the goal, but I began to hear strange noises from the other tire -- which I probably should have mentioned Dennis checked and advised changing sooner rather than later -- so I got worried and began looking for a Wal-Mart to stay in so I can hit the tire shop first thing tomorrow morning. Plus it started raining as it got dark so it's not a bad night to stop early.

Posted by authorjodi at 06:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Pretty good for only one day's driving! Of course out west it'd take a lot longer day's drive to get through five states...but to be fair I only went through the upper tip of West Virginia which turned out to be about 15 miles wide...and in the spirit of full disclosure I'm only a few miles into Illinois. ;)

I've parked between a couple running semi's and am very glad to be stopped after a little over 12 hours of rolling movement. The day didn't start off too well when I had to pay 14 smackers to drive the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Thankfully I could steer a different course for the majority of the way and didn't have to pay through Ohio and Indiana, but I'm wondering just what exactly is wrong with those states' administrators that they have to bilk their citizens. Free roads man! Viva la West Coast! :p

Ok, it's obvious I've been driving too long, I'm getting a little loopy. I'll tell one more story and then go to bed. After I got off the turnpike I was getting onto another freeway and got confused because the direction I thought I should be going was labeled westbound, but I was looking for the eastbound onramp. After a few moments of confusion, I realized I've been looking for the eastbound lane for almost a year and in actuality, yes, I did want the westbound lane.

Once is a slightly humorous anecdote, but unfortunately it happened again a few hundred miles down the road when I saw a sign out of the corner of my eye listing a detour for the eastbound lane of the freeway I was on. I quickly veered off before realizing DOH! I'd done it again. Hopefully I'll remember which direction I'm going a little better tomorrow!

Posted by authorjodi at 08:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Several months ago a woman contacted me by e-mail that she'd read my book and thought we might possibly be relatives. We corresponded from then on and, since I was going to be in the area visiting another relative, she asked if I'd come do some kind of meeting. So, yesterday morning I drove out to Lancaster, PA and had my last scheduled event of the book tour.

I'm a little melancholy this morning. Once I get done writing up an entry about yesterday's events I'll be hitting the road. It took me almost 11 months to make it to the East Coast, but I'll be trying to mad dash back west in four days -- almost makes me think I need to make another trip doing the opposite loop. ;)

If I did set out again I'd be sure to make another visit to Lancaster. I borrowed my aunt and uncle's car, and more importantly, their handy dandy gps doohickey <which I told them caused me to stumble into covetousness>. The woman I'd been corresponding with had set up a 'meet the author' event at her retirement community but we weren't sure how many would show.

When I arrived we had a marvelous lunch at the local hangout <whose name escapes me for the moment>, then she took me for a stroll around the community. Let me tell you what, this was one fine place to retire. Everything was immaculately kept, lawns, buildings, etc., and there were loads of activities and groups in the midst of about every type of business you could need. A coffee shop, a grocery store, a medical clinic. Not too shabby!

Turns out we had 17 women show up and we sat in a big circle and just had a Q&A time. About half of them had read the book, so I started with a synopsis for the other half and went from there. We had a wonderful discussion, lots of questions from many in the group, and the hour went whizzing by. Afterward I sold eight books which was also lovely considering how much gas I'm about to burn through. ;)

My host and I never did figure out our relative connection, but we didn't let that stop us from having a marvelous chat. After the meeting my great aunt took the two of us on a drive through Amish and Mennonite farm country which was absolutely gorgeous. Miles and miles of lush, green crops and neat as a pin farmhouses. I even saw a sod house which I'd only ever read about.

I left the retirement community with fresh homegrown tomatoes from the community garden, some gas money and a new friend. On to my great aunt and uncle's for dinner and another marvelous chat. We decided we hadn't seen each other since my grandparents 50th anniversary years before, and prior to that they'd seen me as a child. They had many stories I'd never heard before about the family, including one where my dad led his brothers into nailing their youngest brother by his overalls to the fence when they went on construction sites. I may have to confirm that one for accuracy since I can't imagine my sweet father doing such a thing. ;)

I also found a piece of info I'll endeavor to remember -- many times I've been asked 'where do you come from' or something similar in regards to my geneology. I've never cared a fig and always claim many generations of American, but my great aunt pulled out the geneology and showed me I'm about a 15th generation American since John Cowles came over from Wales. I wonder if Sean Connery or Catherine Zeta Jones will take my call now since we're practically kinsman... :p

Posted by authorjodi at 07:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Just kidding. Actually, the study says Prime-Time TV is not gay enough. ABC got graded "good" for having 171 hours, some 15% of their total programming, that was "gay-inclusive." Ugly Betty and Brothers & Sisters helped bump up the grade, including Betty's casting of the "first series regular transgender on a network comedy."

Other networks didn't come out quite so well which I assume is the whole reason GLAAD released their study. I've got a study I'm considering releasing -- about how every one of the major networks gets a failing grade for their negative <or absent> portrayals of Evangelical Christians. Maybe if I come up with a snappy acronym for my organization I can get some news coverage. How about ECAAD <Evangelical Christian Alliance Against Defamation>? Ok, I know, that's not very creative...

In other news: are your elderly relatives getting too difficult or expensive to take care of? Maybe you should outsource them to India. 

Posted by authorjodi at 01:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Are you a redneck if you go out in the middle of a thunderstorm with a kid-sized umbrella to prop up your power cord because you're worried you might get electrocuted but the only thing you can find to protect the cords is a couple of plastic bowls and when you lean down to arrange things your kid-sized umbrella is too small to cover everything so you get soaked all down your back but meanwhile you decide the bottom bowl is going to fill quickly with a lake of water and for sure electrocute you so you flip it over but then the whole apparatus is in danger when the top bowl keeps flying off in the wind so you have to search for rocks to hold it in place all the while getting struck by massive sheets of rain?

Or is that just called incompetence? ;) 

Posted by authorjodi at 09:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My recently graduated cousin just walked in the door with a pair of shoes he'd swiped from a vacant lot. He told me that shoes hanging on trees or wires meant drugs were available for purchase in the area. It's that kind of factoid that makes me feel out of touch and rapidly aging -- although I've never purchased drugs in my life, I used to at least know what things meant! ;)

Another item that made me feel old today was when my aunt told me about colleges going to co-ed rooms. I was hacked when I heard about co-ed dorms, then co-ed floors...but apparently students put up a stink about the fact that homosexuals were allowed to live with their lovers, but heteros could not. Therefore...co-ed rooms.

I didn't go to a school with pink and blue sidewalks, but we could only see how the other half lived when we had our once-a-semester open dorms. When someone like a maintenance man or our visiting father came into the dorm we had to get a special dispensation and yell "man on the floor" all the way down the hall. Co-ed rooms. Wow. That not only makes me feel old, but old-fashioned.  

Posted by authorjodi at 01:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by authorjodi at 08:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Homeschoolers have surpassed their public school rivals, outscoring them on the ACT test for the tenth year in a row.

A seven year old in North Carolina chased an armed gunman out of a convenience store where her mom was working.

And in not so weird news, the Buddhist government in Cambodia has banned door-to-door evangelism because it "disrupts society" and "causes other insecurities." 

Posted by authorjodi at 08:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A judge in New York has ruled evidence of "hatred" is unnecessary for a prosecutor to pursue a "hate crimes" case against three men arrested for the death of a homosexual man.

Because they allegedly thought "this is an easy way to rob someone," the three men apparently went onto a homosexual website to lure a man into meeting them, whereupon they robbed him. He then ran into the street trying to get away and was struck by a car, later dying from his injuries.

I'm all for throwing the book at these three men -- the book for premeditated murder in New York is 15 years to life and I'm inclined to vote for life. However, because the Big Apple has a Hate Crimes Act, the book ratchets up to 20 years to life.

So let me get this straight. Criminals have been looking for "easy targets" for centuries, but now the punishment for victimizing certain individuals is significantly higher. Those three men could have logged onto a knitting website and lured a little old granny out of her apartment, robbed and murdered her, and her life would be less valuable in the eyes of the law when looking at sentencing.

You can't have equal protection under the law when crimes against certain individuals are more protected.

If that isn't enough to convince you hate crimes laws are bad news, the article I read referenced a recent column by Janet Folger that listed the following cases of hate crimes enforcement:

• Madison, Wis. David Ott, a former homosexual, was arrested for a "hate crime" for sharing his testimony with a homosexual at a gas station. He faced a $10,000 fine and one year behind bars. Seven thousand dollars in legal fees later, [he] was ordered to attend re-education classes at the University of Wisconsin conducted by a lesbian.

• St. Petersburg, Fla. Five Christians including two pastors were arrested at a homosexual rally for stepping onto the public sidewalk instead staying caged in their officially designated "free speech zone."

• Elmira, N.Y. The Elmira police arrested seven Christians for praying in a public park where a homosexual festival was getting started.

• Crystal Lake, Ill. Two 16 year old girls are facing felony "hate crime" charges for the content of their flyers.

• Philadelphia, Pa. Arlene Elshinnawy, a 75-year-old grandmother of three, and Linda Beckman, a 70-year-old grandmother of 10 (along with nine others), were arrested for sharing their faith on the public sidewalk.

Posted by authorjodi at 08:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I wonder if Cali's predilection for plopping near the computer has anything to do with the issues I've been experiencing the past couple months. Maybe there's a little cat hair floating around in the motherboard...

On a completely different topic, after almost a year on the road I've figured out the key to marketing a book successfully and I'm convinced it's going to make me a bestselling author next time around. I'll write the book, then publish it under someone else's name. Someone who's a salesperson by nature and not afraid of anything. Perhaps I can convince my brother... :p

Posted by authorjodi at 02:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by authorjodi at 09:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I arrived in Pennsylvania safely after stopping for gas and a very important item at an RV dealer I passed. Note to self: never again waste precious cash buying two bottles of toilet bowl odor-controller chemicals. I purchased two big bottles when I set out last September and just recently opened the second one. Unfortunately, I soon had probably cause to read the back of the bottle and discover that the chemicals didn't retain their effectiveness after freezing in Boise over Christmas. Let's just say that, owing to the rather ripe conditions, that particular stop was high on my list today. ;)

After dinner tonight my relatives took me bowling. My first score was 66, my second 121 -- so based on my progress I'm confident that if we'd only played one or two more games I could have earned my 300 ring. ;) Did you know you could get a ring for bowling a perfect game? I didn't until tonight. I never much liked bowling, but a big honkin' ring is something I could work toward.

Posted by authorjodi at 08:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"Blogging is very intense -- physically, mentally," she said. "You're constantly scanning for news. You're constantly trying to come up with information that you think will mobilize your readers. In the meantime, you're sitting at a computer and your *** is getting wider and your arm and neck and shoulder are wearing out because you're constantly using a mouse."

I'm sorry, but I laughed out loud when I read this story of bloggers trying to form a union. I'm not generally a fan of unions anyway, but one for nerds who sit in their closet or basement <or RV> writing in their freetime? Get real!

Not coming as a complete shock, the article says this movement is headed by a "loosely formed coalition of left-leaning bloggers." I imagine most right-leaning bloggers, such as myself, are too busy trying to figure out how to get more readers so they can attract more advertising dollars so they can buy gas for their motorhome... ;)

Posted by authorjodi at 07:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"(Hello) Kitty is a cute icon for young girls. It's not something macho police officers want covering their biceps."

So says the acting Chief of the Crime Suppression Unit in Thailand. He's created a punishment for police officers who commit misdemeanors such as parking illegally or littering -- they have to wear a hot pink Hello Kitty armband. The "shame" and "guilt" is supposed to keep officers from doing it again and possibly keep them from committing more serious offenses.

I thought that'd be a great story to start off with as I return from my lakeside hiatus. Somehow I haven't been able to kick-start my brain back into gear...reminds me of how I used to moan about being back in my cubicle the first day after vacation. ;)

Actually, I'm trying to kick-start more than just my brain -- my motivation has taken a serious hit as well. I'm heading up to Pennsylvania today to stay a couple days with another aunt and uncle, then I'll pop through Lancaster to speak at a book club. After that I'm steering Bertha onto the long road home...some 3500 miles to cover on the way back to Boise. Speaking of which, I'd better wrap up because I hear I've got a very small window of time to drive through D.C. and Baltimore without hitting the worst of the traffic.

Posted by authorjodi at 07:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)