My Top 10 List - Cancelled Too Soon

It's that time of year again. When we're bombarded by everyone's top 10 list. Top 10 baby names, top 10 news stories, top 10 worst movies, top 10 worst moments, best moments. So here's my list: The Top Ten Prematurely Cancelled programs, my vote for shows I loved for far too short a time.

1. Moonlight - a fun, sexy vampire that got prematurely staked by the writers' strike.

2. Firefly - the powers that be didn't even think it was important enough to air the first episode first. Sounds like network sabotage to me

3. Dirty Sexy Money - My guilty pleasure

4. Enemy Within - Love Christian Slater

5. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - A quirky behind-the-scenes comedy show with Matthew Perry and the writers of West Wing

6. The Unusuals - a very quirky police show with characters that were truly different

7. Men in Trees - did I mention I like quirky?

8. The Bionic Woman - Much better than the original IMHO

9. The Dollhouse - Another Josh Whedon show to hit the skids. I guess Fox just doesn't know what to do with dark and original.

10. Tales of the Gold Monkey - still waiting for this one to come to DVD. Donald Bellasario are you listening?

So what shows do you think were cancelled much too soon?

Twelve Thousand, Six Hundred and Ninety Six Words and Counting

That's right. 12,696 words. I've counted every last one of them and can hardly believe it myself. I've just completed the first week of the National Write a Novel Month exercise and am loving it. My goal is 1666 words a day and I'm really amazed at how easy it is to accomplish -- even having a full time job and doing all the other things I enjoy doing. I don't claim to be writing anything I'd care to show anybody, but the exercise in speed writing is invaluable even if the actually manuscript isn't.

The freedom of not having the time to edit, or think, unable to even take the time to ponder the perfect name for a character, has brought the fun back to writing for me. It's turned into a personal quest as I move forward each day, not looking back, not knowing quite what I'll find around the next corner. I'm not even sure which genre I'm writing. There was a dead body on the first page, but now there seems to be a romance heating up between my heroine and some doctor that showed up around the 10,000 word mark. And I don't care. I'm enjoying the journey. I'll follow it, wherever it should lead.

The part I didn't expect from this month long exercise, was how it is flowing into other things in my life. Maybe it's the sense of accomplishment I feel each day as I get my minimum daily word goal completed. Or maybe it's just the energy spilling over, but I'm not only writing, I'm cleaning, organizing and exercising. Anyone who knows me will tell you these are rare moments indeed. Next thing you know I may be opening a cookbook! Look out Martha Stewart!

National Novel Writing Month

Today officially began National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWrNo (nano nano, anyone?). What is it? A challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. Thousands of people across the world have signed up for the challenge. Will they all make it? Doubtful. Is it worth it? Hmmmm. I wasn't really sure until today.

I signed up for the challenge last week. I've always wanted to do it and this was the year. Up until this afternoon, though, I wasn't sure I was going to follow though. It's not like I don't have enough taking up my time this month -- or any month for that matter. And I've never been that ambitious writer who's willing to sacrifice everything for the craft. I have kids, I have a grandchild, I have an elderly mother, I foster animals for a pet rescue group, I bead, and I have tons of housework I've been avoiding for ages and I have two novels in the works. So, the challenge to write a novel in a month's time didn't seem like something I really needed right now. But would anytime be the right time?

I wasn't even sure I was going to make the attempt until I started writing at 2:30 this afternoon. 1753 words later, I'm still dazed. I hadn't expected the words to flow as they did. I hadn't expected the ideas to flow.

When I sat down at the computer, I had only a vague idea of what I wanted to do. No plot, no research, I was writing cold. The challenge of finishing a novel in a month forces me to keep moving forward. There's no time for editing, for refining, or for looking up the perfect word. I couldn't even spend time figuring out the names of my characters. One of them is named after my TV set, another after my favorite Muppets character. I grabbed whatever came to mind and went with it.

It's incredibly freeing to spout out 53,000 words in a month's time. It's made writing fun again. It doesn't matter what I write, just that I write it. And who knows, I may just have the germ of a novel when I finish, one that's worth refining and polishing into a book I can be proud of.

Learning Patience

Yesterday morning I was letting the dogs out and noticed a rabbit huddled in the sun next to the house. Not wanting to disturb him, I ushered my clueless canines into the house and went about my day. At noon another puppy bathroom call took me outside and the little bunny was still there. This time I brought my camera and took some pictures. He didn't move a muscle. Two hours later he was still there. The last time I checked on him the sun had set and he was still there.

As I rushed through the day today, overwhelmed by what I need to get done, I thought of my little brown friend. I don't know if he was getting his daily dose of vitamin D, or was just enjoying summer's last hurrah. That's when I decided to kick back and relax. If a rabbit can sit in a garden an entire day without moving, I guess I can enjoy the here and now for at least an hour. So I'm kicking back, enjoying a cup of cider and enjoying the rest of the day.

A Different Kind of Family Reunion

There are all sorts of reunions. Family reunions. High school reunions. Reunions of veterans. The reunion I attended on Saturday was the reunion of a village. Venjan, a beautiful little town in the northern part of Dalarna, Sweden, was the home my great-grandparents had left to build a new life in Minnesota. Over 20% of Venjan's population emigrated to North America, many of them coming to Minnesota; many of those coming to Isanti County. On Saturday, over 200 descendants of those villagers came together to share their stories, their histories and their culture.

In some ways it was a reuniting of families. Over thirty people traveled from Sweden for this reunion. I met the descendants of my great-grandfather's sister, Anna Sigfridson, who had stayed behind in Sweden. Some of them still live in Venjan.

Some of our Swedish visitors wore the beautiful traditional costumes from Dalarna. And some brought their accordions, concertinas and fiddles. I sang along with songs I hadn't heard since I was a little girl and my grandmother and her sisters would gather around the piano and sing the songs their parents had taught them. It was a wonderful day and the time we spent together went much too fast.

I was invited to visit Sweden and hope to make that trip next summer for the Venjan festival in Sweden. One of the homes of my great grandparents is not only still standing, but being lived in!

Trip's End

Yesterday (Friday) was relaxing, if not a bit frustrating. We started out at the Alexander Ramsey house, the home of Minnesota's first territorial governor. I had never been there and really looked forward to going inside what is one of America's best preserved Victorian houses. Despite the brochure that said it was open on Fridays, we found the place closed, open on Saturday and Sunday only. This was the third historical site we had found closed during our trip. So I called ahead to our next stop, the Sibley House. Henry Sibley was Minnesota's first governor and it, too, was only open on Saturdays -- but only the first and third Saturday of the month.

Our next stop was the beautiful town of Stillwater. Thankfully, it was open, as was the Warden's House, the home of Stillwater Prison's wardens. The Younger brothers, once part of Jesse James' gang, were incarcerated here after being captured in Northfield, MN and there are some photos of them on display. The Warden's House was filled with lots of artifacts from the early 1800s, including a piano and a spattekaka tool, used to make delicate meringue cakes that were decorated with live flowers. I had read that the house was haunted, and so was on the look -out for ghosts. And I wasn't the only one that saw the spinning wheel start turning on its own when no one was near it!

The prison itself, sadly, was destroyed some years ago when some young boys set it on fire. Fortunately, the culprits were arrested when one of the boys tried to turn the others in and collect the ransome money.

The Victorian architecture of the town is still well preserved and a number of them have been turned into incredible B&B's. While I've never stayed at one, I'm sorely tempted. I may need it to recuperate from this "vacation."

We wound up the trip today by going on a tour of the Wabasha Caves. Once a speak-easy and night club, the country's most famous gangsters tripped the light-fantastic here. The tour guide was funny and entertaining and looked a bit like Tom Hanks. The old night club, too, is haunted. We were shown a photo taken of a little boy at a wedding. Next to him was a whispy white figure of what looked like a small boy and behind him a smokey character with a white hat.

Monday it's back to work!

Day Whatever and 1,000 miles later -- but who's counting?

The traveling days just kept getting longer and longer and dragging myself to bed each night was an effort, let alone opening my computer. The last two days I have flew past more of the Twin Cities and southwestern Minnesota than I ever knew existed.

Wednesday was another day of drive-by shootings. Me driving and Karen shooting - pictures of store fronts, post offices, houses -- all the places that had any connection with a crime from our gangster past. The site I got the biggest kick out of was the Victorian home that the Hammes beer family once lived in. I doubt their heirs still occupy the residence, but in the front yard is a wooden carving of the Hammes bear. I was surprised Karen knew nothing about the bear that danced through all those beer commercials, but I guess it's a Minnesota thing.

Thursday we drove down to the Minnesota Viking's Training Camp in Mankato. The place was packed and I dropped Karen off while I found a place to park. Anyone who knows me, knows I'm not a sports fan. I wouldn't recognize a Viking linebacker from a Twins shortstop. So when I wandered up to a crowd of people standing by a gate, waiting for a player to notice them, I just started taking photos. Several very nice young athletes came along to sign autographs. I didn't recognize any of them, but some of them were pretty cute. So, while seeing a real live Viking up close gave me no special thrill, I enjoyed the eye-candy.

After the Vikings it was on to the Sioux Uprising of 1862. I'm embarrased to say I knew nothing about this segment of Minnesota history and, thanks to Pawlenty's budget cuts, I didn't learn a whole lot more (more on that in a later post). We visited historic Ft. Ridgely and the Lower Sioux Agency, both of which were closed, so we were only able to wander around and read the signage. We also stopped at various monuments commemorating the people that were killed during the uprising -- White settlers and Native Americans. While I had seen the bison statue across from the Mankato library many times I had no idea it honored the 38 Sioux who were hanged after the uprising.

The biggest glitch in our ride home was Delano. Avoid it like the plague. It is the worse or the worst example of Minnesota road construction season. We were driving in from the southwest, it was dark, and we saw the signs that the road into Delano would be closed. I assumed there would be a detour around the town. There wasn't. All roads leading into Delano were closed. I expected Rod Serling to step out from the darkness and explain that the whole town had been abducted by aliens. At that point, I wish I had been. We had to drive all the way back to Buffalo and catch a detour there. Not something I wanted to do after a day of driving. Arghhh.

Day 4 - 726 miles later

I was much too tired to even attempt to blog last night. Didn't even look at my e-mail, so you know I was dead on my feet.

While I like fictional crimes, Karen prefers the real deal and is very big on "collecting" crime sites. It's kind of like birding, without the binoculars. So, Tuesday was spent visiting the scenes of the infamous Ma Barker gang. Who knew they had shot and killed a man while changing vehicles in Como Park. Or that they had kidnapped the Hammes beer heir? I don't quite get the thrill of standing outside a house where they had tossed a bottle with a ransom message through a window as Karen does, but I did enjoy our tramping through some St. Paul cemeteries.



I've always marveled at the gorgeous statues that grace the tombstones. Some of the older grave markers were worn, the lettering barely readable. Most of these early markers were made of sandstone. I think it's sad that over the years, the final resting place of some of these people will no longer bear their name. And as the years past, there's no family members left to care. Although, some of the older markers had been replaced with new marble stones.


After the sun set, we walked across the Stone Arch bridge and got some lovely shots of the new 35W bridge. It's frustrating that the best Minneapolis skylines are seen from the freeway. I have yet to find a safe place a person can stop to take a photo. If you know, please let me know!

Day 3

The Timberline Inn where we stayed was great. It has that log cabin look and we had a balcony overlooking a tree line of white birch and oak trees. It was quiet and I really wish I could have stayed a couple of extra nights.

Breakfast was back at the Little Bohemia Lodge. I think they had it in for us there. Last night we had dinner, which was very good, but we noticed that all the other tables had baskets of bread. We didn't. And this morning with my pancakes I got one of those little containers of syrup, like the ones you get at McDonalds. All the other diners had bottles of syrup on the table. Weird.

Around lunch time we headed toward Ashland and Bayfield, Wisconsin. As I had once lived in Ashland, it was like going home. But my, things can change in 15 years. More big box stores have moved in, while a lot of the little shop owners had moved out leaving emply store fronts. I stopped by the home of an old friend, hoping to suprise her, but as I suspected she was at work and we couldn't stay.

Day 2

There's not much to the town of Manitowish Waters. No cell phone service. No WiFi. I thought I'd be smart and type up my blog entry in MS Word and just paste it into my blog when I got home today. No such luck. Guess there's no cut and paste with Google's Blogger. Nothing seems to be easy these days.

Little Bohemia did not disappoint. For those of you who have not seen the movie "Public Enemies", this is where they shot some of the movie and where the actual event -- a shoot out between the FBI and John Dillinger and his gang -- took place. There are still bullet holes in the walls and windows and the old dining hall looks much the same as it did in Dillinger's day.

There's an interesting display of personal items the Dillinger gang left behind when they made their getaway. There was an old tooth powder tin (did they have toothpaste back then?) and a tube of Burma Shave. Having grown up looking for Burma's clever roadside signs, it was kind of cool to see the actual product. There were also several tins of chewable laxatives, making you wonder if all that bank robbery was taking its toll on the guys.

Road Trip!

Today was officially the first day of my vacation. My friend Karen, from Pennsylvania, is joining me for the adventure. When it comes to getting to know your home state, there's nothing like having an out-of-state visitor.

After picking Karen up at the airport this afternoon, we stopped at the Mall of America. A stop to this huge mall is never quick and after making several stops, including the Vikings store and B&N, we were off to Ft. Snelling, Minnesota's first National Historic Landmark

Construction began on Ft. Snelling in 1820. Camped nearby was a Dakota Village and a fur company. For almost 30 years it was the hub of the Upper Mississippi. During the Civil War it was where volunteers for the Union Army trained. During WWII it processed over 100,000 G.I.s. The visitor's center and fort were closed by the time we arrived, but it was still interesting to walk around the old fort and enjoy some of the paths.

Tomorrow we're hot on the trail of John Dillinger, heading out to Wisconsin and the Little Bohemia Lodge.

Sometimes the most interesting things at the zoo aren't in the exhibits

Minnesota is lucky enough to have three wonderful zoological gardens; in Duluth, St. Paul and Apple Valley. Yesterday, my granddaughter, Alanna, and I were at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley enjoying the new Russia's Grizzly Coast Exhibit, and the just-opened Woodland Playground, a dream come true for kids who are part mountain goat. The new Gateway Plaza with it's water-play was especially inviting in the warm summer sun. But with all of the new exhibits and entertainment available, we spent just as much time watching the wildlife outside of the exhibits as we did the animals in them.

There was the chipmunk who thought he was hiding from us as we sat in the shade of a tree enjoying our lunch. There were the hundreds of bullheads, swarming near the shore of the lake. Newly hatched, these hardy fish were no bigger than my thumbnail. Alanna was especially fasinated by a small turtle that bobbed in out of the water, too slow to catch any of the baby bullheads.

My point? Nature is all around us. Feeding the giraffes is a opportunity not to be missed, but don't overlook the miracle of nature that surrounds us each day. It's priceless.

Richard Castle in Print

If you've been following "Castle" on ABC, and wonder if best-selling author Richard Castle is as good as he thinks he is -- as a writer, I mean -- you'll soon be able to find out. Castle's protagonist, Nikki Heat, will be making her literary debut on August 10. That's when ABC will begin running the first half of Heat Wave. For 10 weeks, a chapter a week will be revealed to eager readers. No word as of yet as to who is ghost writing the book, but on September 29, it will be available in print (at favorite bookstores everywhere I presume). The publishing date coincides with Castle's first episode of season 2. This is all part of ABC's efforts to tap into the amazing power of online social groups to support a show which hasn't been doing that well in the ratings. It's a great show, one of my favorites, and I applaude the network for getting behind it and not cancelling it at the first sign of trouble. Check the show out at http://castletv.net/