Rae Roy

[caption id="attachment_4713" align="alignright" width="300"] Image created using Bit Strips.[/caption] Most have heard of the Golden Rule , even if they don't know that is what it's called. It takes the form of, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Also, "What you wish upon others, you wish upon yourself." Bernard Gert's 10 Moral Rules are below: (1) Do not kill. (2) Do not cause pain. (3) Do not disable. (4) Do not deprive of freedom. (5) Do not deprive of pleasure. (6) Do not deceive. (7) Do not cheat. (8) Keep your promise. (9) Obey the law. (10) Do your duty. But there are problems with blindly following the moral rules above, which is why Gert himself states that they aren't absolutes. What if the law says to kill a person? Do we then decide to rank the values? Well, the first one says do not kill, so maybe it supercedes the rest? But we kill plants and animals to survive. I kill a bug when it inv

[caption id="attachment_4711" align="alignright" width="300"] Image created using Bit Strips.[/caption] It's pretty hard not to enjoy the week ahead being 4 days long. Last week was a short one too :) I'm thankful I wasn't part of the accident that happened just before I reached the 417 by Greenwood outside Pembroke on my return drive to Ottawa. Sadly, a man lost his life and two others are in critical condition. It was a very rainy drive home and visibility wasn't great. Lots to do tomorrow as my colleague leaves Wednesday for a 3 week holiday in Florida. Lucky her. I'm going to try and get one of our shared responsibilities moving while she's away. I need to finish my short story this week. I think it's pretty much done, but I'm trying to decide if I need to describe minor characters or not. These are medics, so I feel like their appearance and such isn't critical to the story. The Chiaroscuro Reading Series is happe

When I first started having food issues, it seemed everything was making me sick. Indeed, I thought I must be allergic to corn because there are very few things corn is not in. Also, food smelled awful. Theatre popcorn smelled like urine. Other milk products smelled rancid. The bread aisle smelled like a brewery and made me feel ill. Imagine sitting in a theatre surrounded by people eating food that smells like urine. I stopped going for awhile. Since starting Plaquenil in December and going completely gluten free, my sensitivity to yeast has reduced and things smell like food again! Vinegar still hurts my tummy, but I believe that is due to the lack of moisture from having Sjögren's Syndrome being combined with acid. I seem to be very sensitive to precooked grocery store bbq chickens. But that could be gluten contamination. I've been tested for Celiac's and it came out negative, but I could be intolerant. My symptoms are in line with intolerance rather than allergy. I'

[caption id="attachment_4713" align="alignleft" width="300"] Image created using Bit Strips.[/caption] Do you ever wonder about how people come up with their ideas? Some are quite obviously filling a need most intuitively understand. The Slap Chop ( "You're gonna love my nuts!" ) provides a safe way to chop or dice things expeditiously. Onion Goggles , well who hasn't felt the burn from cutting onions? In one of Neil Gaiman's books, American Gods, I swear he was describing a creature that eats a man from its genitalia. I'm sure the "man-eating vagina" is not an uncommon nightmare or trope. Some of my writing ideas come from the weirdest places, such as just touching a book about origami. You'll understand what that applies to when I get The Page & The Magician finished and published. But what about games? Some are simplistic. There are nearly one hundred forms of solitaire all from the same 52 card deck that can

[caption id="attachment_4711" align="alignright" width="300"] Image created using Bit Strips.[/caption] There is  snow in the forecast , but Spring has arrived! Take that Queen of Narnia ! Any snow that comes won't last long and the flowers will break through the wet ground. Soon the land will be covered in green grass. The trees will bud and flower too. Easter is early this year. I'm looking forward to a visit with my family and old school friends assuming the weather cooperates. New projects are starting at work! I'm almost done my short story! My taxes are done! I have chocolate! Lots of good things are happening, so forget about the "crow storm" as my dad calls it. Besides, it's usually winter's last hurrah before the flowers spring up. Ciao, R~

[caption id="attachment_4712" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Image created using Bit Strips.[/caption] I completed the second draft of my story, so I'm writing a quick post of the most prominent stories from this week. Sad - An RCMP officer in Ottawa took his own life. Happy - Jared from the Subway commercials got beaten in prison . I have zero sympathy for sexual predators. Sometimes I think I should feel bad about this, but children are one of our most precious resources and adults like him disgust me. Excited - Anonymous has declared war on Donald Trump! Hopeful - I'm starting a new treatment soon to better manage my pain. Unsettled - Given that I just finished writing a story that features an unknown pathogen... This outbreak in Wisconsin is freaking me out just a tiny bit. Well, that's all I have the mental capacity for tonight. Ciao, R~

[caption id="attachment_4713" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Image created using Bit Strips.[/caption] I believe I was told at some point in time why we have Daylight Savings Time (DST), but I can't remember. Lately, I've been advocating for its demise, but I wondered if that is really the right way to go. Perhaps there are good reasons why we still do it? Some Things about DST Its purpose is to provide more daylight during the summer months. Countries near the equator don't do it. It can save energy depending on use of things like air conditioning or heat. Early morning accidents increase slightly, but are offset by fewer late night accidents. Incidents involving pedestrians increase during the fall. It potentially boosts the economy because people want to go out more and shop when it's brighter out. In its beginnings it was a gradual change of 20 minutes on four Sundays in April and September, for a total change of

[caption id="attachment_4711" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Image created using Bit Strips.[/caption] This is a hard week for me to think positively. This "spring ahead" time change has been linked to heart attacks, car accidents, etc. Moreover, there is no reason to continue doing it in today's world. And it often screws me up for months. I'm not hungry at proper times. I can't sleep at proper times. Lack of sleep makes me cranky. By cranky, I mean I'm likely to snap at people But it does usher in the spring. Or the rainy weather that will melt the remaining snow and water the growing plants. Speaking of growing plants, my tomatoes have all sprouted and the peppers should by tomorrow or Wednesday. It's time to plant scallions next. The rest I can direct sow a little later. I better add planters and soil to my todo list for later this month. [caption id="attachment_2441" align="alignnone" width="71

[caption id="attachment_4712" align="alignright" width="300"] Image created using Bit Strips.[/caption] Here's what I found around the web this week. Nostalgic: What do you get when you combine Rainbow Brite and The X-Men? This . So adorable! Proud: I have published a short story on Amazon and Smashwords this week! Check my Shorts page for the details. Hopeful: Service animals are wonderful. Read about Luke and his dog Jedi . I love the Star Wars hat tip! Shocked: There was a big cocaine bust in Ontario this week. A man from Ottawa and his mother are among those charged. This is not the first time the woman is making headlines though. Apparently her daughter has been missing since 2012 . Scared: There was a shooting near my home . It seems the year I bought my condo was quiet. Thankfully I wasn't in the area at the time, but last year there were several stabbings. Apparently he was a criminal. Happy: I got some good news

I have a short story available for purchase. It's a noir horror piece. You can read more about it on my new Shorts page !  

[caption id="attachment_4713" align="alignleft" width="300"] Image created using Bit Strips.[/caption] My focus is mainly on martial arts today. It seems like such a small thing. One foot slightly positioned inward instead of being directly behind my knee. A couple of inches? What's the big deal? A couple of inches is everything in iaido (eee-eye-doh). We aim to cut no deeper than six inches into anything and more often we only want to cut only one or two inches into it. Two inches is nearly the full depth of my neck. One inch is often more than enough to sever tendons and arteries. There's no need to bury the sword into the target. Two inches the wrong way and you completely miss your target. In our foundational kata, Ippon-me Mae, having my foot a couple of inches inward means I don't have the power I should to slide forward and I may miss completely. But I think it's been a rampant issue in many other areas beyond the plethora of kata t

[caption id="attachment_4711" align="alignright" width="300"] Image created using Bit Strips.[/caption] I'm a little short on cash this week, but I'm mostly cool with it. I paid more of my credit card debt off than perhaps I should have last pay. In the end, it'll work out. I can eat and pay all my major bills with only hydro being late. It's slightly uncomfortable, but I really only have to get through tomorrow before it's pay day. My ISBN account was activated on Friday, so I'll be working on getting a short story up this week. It is a horror piece from that slightly dark and twisty place inside of me. Of course Amazon and the other places like Kobo will take their cut, so I don't expect that to help my cashflow much. It's a year where I'm having to budget pretty finely to ensure I can pay for the writing conferences and iaido seminars that lay ahead. I'm a little upset at myself as I somehow got sidetracked. I wo

[caption id="attachment_4712" align="alignright" width="300"] Image created using Bit Strips.[/caption] It's Friday. We made it! Plenty happened this week: Sad: A lion in the Ottawa-area was euthanized . He escaped from his enclosure and posed a threat to the community nearby. There was not enough time for a sedative to take effect and ensure the lion didn't eat a human. I hope they truly do learn from this and no animals are harmed in the future. Some are advocating for this zoo to close as the previous owners were neglectful and had the animals living in substandard conditions. Others are saying to give the new owners a chance. Awestruck: Congratulations, it's an... island!  While California may be worried about sinking into the ocean, a volcano in Japan is creating new islands. Perhaps the world reconfigures itself at will and we just need to follow its lead? Fascinated: Dragon eggs!  It never ceases to impress me how diverse th

[caption id="attachment_4713" align="alignright" width="300"] Image created using Bit Strips.[/caption] On today's installment, I am wondering about perspective. The photo is of Lake Louise in April. Lake Louise is absolutely gorgeous in the warmer months. It's still stunning in winter though a little dismal. Perspective as an artform is "the art of drawing solid objects on a two-dimensional surface so as to give the right impression of their height, width, depth, and position in relation to each other when viewed from a particular point". But that impression will depend on the place the artist is drawing from, how tall they are, and how their eyes function, just to name a few variables. Perspective is also, "a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view". In writing, we attempt to show the perspective of another human being, but it often has a piece of ourselves in it. We also use point of view li