Five Word Friday

Today we’re celebrating five words from Mom’s June story. Truth be told, the story isn’t finished yet, but we grabbed five words anyway. We’re sure it’ll be finished in six more days… Wait. What? SIX MORE DAYS??!!?? Blerg.

16. Turkeys – My turkey toy is one of my favorite shaking toys. When I get it going just right, the turkey kicks me in the head over and over. *sigh* Good times…

72. Blankets – I love blankets. Whether I am on them, in them, under them, or near them, they make me happy.

Mom is happy when she is on the ball, in the zone, under a deadline, or near the surprise ending. She’s all of those things right about now.

4. Music – Mom taught me to dance so I could make people laugh when we go to work at the VA and the library. I don’t even need music! Just chicken…

#dancetillyoureblurry

88. Storybooks – Writing storybooks is Mom’s favorite hobby. She always wishes she can get another book or eBook published. But no matter what happens, she writes them anyway. She can’t help it. When I do therapy work at the library, kids read storybooks to me.

Even if the books are about cats, I listen politely to them anyway.

649. Selfie – Last week was National Selfie Day. Taking a selfie is tough for me because… well… paws. Thank goodness Mom helps me so I can be like the cool kids.

#nofilter #iwokeuplikethis

 

 

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Inspirational Quote of the Week

“Waiting for inspiration to write is like standing at the airport waiting for a train.”

~unknown~

When you have to write a story a month, there is no time to wait – for a train, a plane, or an inspiration! Mom is 28 words into her June story for the 12×12 Challenge. OK. It’s not 228 or 428, but 28 is a start. Plus she is busy Mind Writing.

Whenever we are out walking she Mind Writes about her main character, his goals, his issues, his problem, and how she will increase tension and take the story where it needs to go. Also, when we are out walking – while she’s Mind Writing – she watches me like a hawk. She says, “Don’t eat from the ground.” and “Don’t go near the edge or you’ll fall in.”

and “Oh, $#%@! Not another street nap!” But of course it is.

It always is…

Mom’s June idea came from her list of Storystorm ideas.

It’s an old one, but caught her eye, got her thinking, and surprised her a little. It’s fun when that happens.

At the park, a duck caught my eye. I watched it swimming. Then it surprised me a little. It wasn’t even a duck. It was a cormorant! It dove deep, swam a long time, made a hundred splashes, came up with a fish in its mouth, and ATE IT in one gulp!

Not the actual cormorant.

Truth be told, I didn’t know whether to be happy for the cormorant, sad for the fish, or sorry for myself because once Mom shared her tuna sandwich with me, but it didn’t look like that was about to happen at all.

Not the actual tuna sandwich.

I’m glad I wasn’t standing at the airport waiting for a train when all that cormorant excitement happened. I think I’ll wait at the kitchen counter for some tuna now. Can’t hurt…

 

Five Word Friday

Today’s 5 words come from Mom’s April 12×12 story.

17. Mother – We celebrated Mother’s Day yesterday. I am not allowed to go shopping, so I gave Mom kisses and cuddles instead of a gift.

I also put my bony head on her arm for a while. She said, “Patooie. Dog spit.” and “Ouch. I think my arm is paralyzed.” and “I love you, Cupcake, but please get off me!”

98. Skinny – When Mom first found me at the rescue named Purrs and Pups I was kind of skinny. Plus kind of naughty and kind of nervous with lots of bite marks on my head and some bugs in my belly. Mom had a lot to work on.

My Gotcha Day.

She fixed me up, just like she fixes up some of her stories that have bugs in their belly.

33. Dolls – I like to play with dolls. They’re actually more like stuffed (or unstuffed) animals, but I like them better than bones or tennis balls. I cuddle with them

and act like they’re my babies.

Plus sometimes I try to hatch them like eggs.

2. Running – I do running a lot. It’s for protection. Moving target and all that… Mom says, “These floors don’t stand a chance.” and “This is why we can’t have nice things.” And then she calls me the name of Psycho Crackpot.

 

146. Hiding – When running doesn’t work, I do hiding.

Stranger danger!

It also keeps me safe from scary things.

Mom is not hiding from her 12×12 Challenge this month. She started a new story for May and even though it’s not quite halfway through the month, she’s halfway through the story.

 

 

Inspirational Quote of the Week

“The bad news is time flies.
The good news is you’re the pilot.”

~Michael Altshuler~

Time flies A LOT when you’re a doggie. You wait for Mom to come home.

You wait for somebody to play with you.

You wait for friends to come by.

You wait to get chased out of bed.

I’m not the pilot of ANYTHING around here. I’m mostly waiting. And watching time fly by.

Mom has been writing a picture book a month for her 12×12 Challenge. She nailed it in January, February, and March. Here we are halfway through April and so far, she hasn’t written a book or an opening sentence or a word or even a letter.

Mom has not been the pilot of anything around here. She is mostly waiting. And watching time fly by, just like me.

She promises herself that she will get busy tomorrow. She will not just get busy being busy, she’ll get busy being productive! She will jump into the cockpit and fly.

I might jump into the cockpit,

but I have a feeling time will still fly by me while I wait for something fun to happen…

Mom will scan her idea list, pick an idea or two, decide on some characters and a setting, and for sure START WRITING. Tomorrow. First drafts are allowed to stink, so yay. She’s on it.

I will wait and maybe get to the park or Petco or the dog park.

Or maybe I will just play by myself for a while.

Five Word Friday

Today’s five words are from one of Mom’s recent stories.

16. Gingerbread – Lots of times when Mom puts a doggie into one of her stories, she names it Gingerbread. Gingerbread is her favorite food. Sometimes at Christmas, she lets me taste a gingerbread man.

Mostly, she does NOT like sharing gingerbread. She eats it all till she gets a gingerbread-belly-ache.

42. Fingers – These days, while my “fingers” are resting, Mom’s fingers are busy busy busy at the computer.

She is in the 12×12 Challenge, so she is writing a story a month even if it stinks. Also, she is revising a story a month even if it kills her. Three months and 6 badges in, she’s doing OK.

Resting fingers… I’m doing OK, too.

8. Licked – There’s pretty much nothing in a 10-mile radius I have not licked. I am a floor-licker extraordinaire.

I also like licking dishes, mugs, the sofa, shoes, faces, fingers, and books. If you smile when I lick your face, I will lick your teeth. Teeth are delicious!

Also, strawberry shortcake is delicious!

64. Snowflakes – Snowflakes are serene, peaceful, and beautiful.

Plus, sometimes they are crazy-windy, slippery as heck, and way too deep

and way too cold to be allowed to touch my delicate belly.

53. Faces – When kids come to read to me at the library, Mom and I watch their faces. Some stories make them smile a lot. When there are difficult words to read, their faces look worried and scared. Mom helps them with the hard stuff, I give them kisses and lick the pictures in the story. That usually brings back the smiles.

29. Flowers – Soon there will be a million flowers everywhere around my neighborhood.

Flowers grow just like Mom’s stories. They start as tiny seeds. Then they get lots of attention, and the next thing you know, they’re big and beautiful. If only the lawn guys could take care of the stories like they take care of the neighborhood flowers. Then Mom would have more time to play at the park with me!

Vote for me! — UPDATE

Some of you may have watched the show TMZ on TV and already know that I didn’t win the final Best in Show video competition. I am happy to have the consolation prize for finalists which is $500. Woot!

Today, Mom and I went shopping at Petco to spend some of my winnings. I got a new hoodie, a teddy bear, a cookie shaped like an ice cream cone, and some chicken flavored toothpaste. Yup. That’s worth $500. I’m sure Mom wouldn’t embezzle any of my money….. But just in case, I’m keeping an eye open for a new iPad, shiny new boots, or anything cashmere.

 

 

 

 

Hi Blogville friends!

Hollywood has finally recognized me for the talented doggie that I am. I’m a finalist in the TMZ Best in Show Challenge. If you have a minute (It actually takes less than a minute), click the link, pop onto the website, and vote for me! Thanks!

 

Click here to vote for Cupcake! Ballerina Doggie.

 

Inspirational Quote of the Week

“What is this character thinking?”

“How does she feel about this?”

“Why is he afraid of that?”

“Who makes her happy?”

These are questions that Mom’s critique group named ConnieLindaJenVijiLaurieandOtherJen ask her about her work. They ask these and many other questions to help Mom to investigate deeper into her characters, their motivations, their feelings, and their goals.

Mom is clearly in the branches, but she needs to dig way down there in the roots.

I am not a doggie who digs – at least not outside.

What?

Sometimes, I dig the pupper cover on the sofa to get it out of the way.

And sometimes, I dig the covers on the bed to make a comfy nest for sleeping while Mom is in the shower.

Of course, as soon as I get the pile just right, Mom comes out of the shower, gets dressed, and chases me off the bed.

Seriously? WHY??

Then I am forced to dig the blanket in my own bed.

Today, Mom dug into the robot vacuum. She dumps the trash cup every day. But just like with her critique partners – when the app told her to – she had to dig deeper. Extractors, filters, edge sweepers, contacts, and sensors were removed, checked, cleaned, wiped, polished, and returned.

Apparently, some of this grossness (ALL of this grossness) is my fault.

*gulp*

I’d like to speak with my lawyer…

Mom says, ” I’m ankle-deep in dog hair, here!” and “How can you shed so much and still have fur?” and “I’m going to save all this hair, make a new dog, and throw you in the garbage.” and…  well, after that I stopped hearing her. I have ALWAYS wanted to get into the garbage. This may be my big chance!