Thanks for the Techy help

Thanks to those who left me comments about how to put links in the sidebar.  With your help I got it figured out.

Instead of cross posting excerpts to Making The Rounds…  I  will post the most recent five links in the side bar.  Continue to go To BC Magazine to read my General Hospital recaps, news, and spoilers.

Toledo OH Smoke Free?

On December 7 of last year a law was enacted that was supposed to make it illegal to smoke in public places in the city.  Why then did I have to cut my evening short on Saturday because I couldn’t breathe in the smoke-filled bar and why do my clothes now reek of nasty cigerettes.

I supposed someone is going to comment that if I don’t want to be around smoke I shouldn’t go to a bar, but the fact doesn’t change it is a law.  A law that has gone unenforced.  That is all set to change May first.  According to local press not only will new fines be levied, but they could be retro-active – dating back to that December 7 date.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want huge fines levied against the establishment in question. I know they can’t afford to pay them and it would likely be the end of a place I like to hang out in and spend time with friends, but the fact remains the rights (and health) of those who don’t smoke should  not be superseded by those who do.

The right to smoke is not part of the bill of rights, neither is the right to damage my health.  If those who smoke wanted to be able to continue to do so, they should have turned out and voted.  The thing is, I think they did.  And that’s the thing the most indignant of smokers don’t realize, they are in a minority.

Trying to Sort it All Out -

I’m trying to figure out how to put a sidebar widget over there  —–> that will list links to the last five published Making The Rounds instead of making entries here with clips and links.

Soon as I figure it out the sidebar will be the way to find the column on BC Magazine.

Making the Rounds at General Hospital – Difficult Decisions

Yesterday on General Hospital:

Sonny signed the divorce papers, as difficult as it was for him. You think we’d be lucky enough to be able to move beyond this same dead-end story that’s been going round and round for weeks, but no. When Carly put pen to paper, she just couldn’t follow through, and spent most of the hour trying to find the strength to end her marriage to a man she admits she still loves. Lulu stopped by seeking advice on love from her cousin, but immediately saw past her problems and tried to be a confidante for Carly and help her with her difficult choice. In the end, she gave back advice the older woman had once given her – follow your heart…

(Continue reading at BC Magazine.)

An American Idol Wish

Even though I watch AI, I don’t often write about it.  Often, just because I don’t feel like I have anything to add to the conversation than what’s already been said. Tonight, less than 30 minutes before the results show airs, I’m going to put a few wishes/predictions into print.

  • Sanjaya should go home. I’m all for the underdog. I love Phil. I was a Taylor and Elliot fan last year. Sanjaya is not an underdog, he’s just stayed beyond his talent… by about five weeks.  Besides – he absolutely murdered one of my favorite songs last night, “Something to Talk About.”
  • Phil deserves to stay, even if it’s only one more week.  I’ll grant he’s had some rough weeks up till last night, but man did he ever bring it with the Keith Urban. And to say ‘This is what I want to sing,’ well, buddy, why haven’t you been singing in that style all along.
  • I wouldn’t be totally shocked to see Lakisha go. I know she’s been a favorite but she’s been sliding for two or three weeks now.It just might be her turn.
  • But if I was putting money on it, I would say it’s going to be Chris.   And even though I said I would be content if Phil outlasted Haley… I really want to see him go just one more week. After last night, he deserves it!

Making the Rounds at General Hospital – Sore Separations

Today on General Hospital:

Thanks to the interference of Mr. Craig – or I guess it’s Bronsan now – Patrick and Robin are back to butting heads and screaming at each other at the nurse’s station and in front of patients. Patrick, who tends to be overly dramatic to get his way, tried to keep Sonny in the hospital one more day. Robin accused him of doing it just to get a rise out of her. Maybe it was just to keep her close by; he’s confused and hurt by her change of tune, and as he displayed today, still suspicious of the reasons why.

If we can’t have ‘scrubs’ fogging up the TV screen, seeing the biting angst is the next best thing. By week’s end Patrick is to have his eyes opened, and I’m anxious to see how he steps up to not only save Robin and Nikolas from Craig, but I’m guessing he’s going to play a major role in taking down the bad guy.

(continue reading at BC Magazine.)

Emotions in Print

I almost wrote a song about you today / but then I tore it all up I threw it away…

 

It’s not the first time I’ve quoted Bowling for Soup’s “Almost” on these pages, but this time it’s probably a bit more relevant.  

 

I’ve been focusing on the emotions of my characters in my rewrite, trying to make the words as visceral as possible.  So, I’m at this moment when two characters who vowed their relationship was going to be ultra-simple and purely physical admit to each other they are in love.  It’s a lot more powerful and a larger turning point than that description implies. It’s the moment everything changes.

 

As most writers (I think) my own emotional (baggage) is a source for those emotions. So… I’m contemplating trying to think back to when the emotion of love was all power and all changing. When did it make my heart race, my stomach drop, my mouth go dry and my body posture completely change?  A name and face from my past came to mind and all those sensations I just mentioned course my body like a shot of electricity.

 

Just for the heck of it – or maybe because I’m an internet stalker – I drop the name into Google and hit search. To my amazement, about a dozen links come up. I’m even more amazed to find when I click on the first link to see a current picture of said person. Boy, there isn’t anything more powerful or more impressionable than the first time you give of your heart.

 

It’s been often said first love lives forever. I don’t know if I believe that so much as the impression it makes on the young.  (Most are young when you feel that surge for the first time). It is the stuff songs and poetry are written about, and some twenty years later it’s still extremely relevant in my writing.

 

Making the Rounds at General Hospital – Ghostly Aftermaths

Making the Rounds… will now be bringing you recaps, commentary, news, and spoilers on a daily basis.

Today on General Hospital:

Tracy and Luke are beginning to realize there is much more to their marriage of convenience, as is a surprised Alan’s ghost, but it hasn’t stopped him from interrupting attempts at romance between the two. While Luke and Edward thought the haunting was actually Tracy’s guilty conscious, Monica was sure she was up to some scheme. She asked Tracy to prove she was being haunted by having Alan divulge her favorite intimate activity. She was red-faced when Tracy relayed his answer of “oopsie daisy.”

(Continue reading this article at BC Magazine .)

Making the Rounds at General Hospital – Ambushed!

It wasn’t only Sonny and Jason who were ambushed this week. Sam is being set up for a huge fall by Amelia and. Lucky will most likely be emotionally destroyed when he learns of Elizabeth’s lies.

Carly and Jax headed off on their trip to Montreal and this time, much to Michael’s dismay, Sonny didn’t try to interfere. He stood behind her supporting her as she reminded the boys they were grounded and even told her to have a good time with Jax, but qualified it with “just be true to yourself and your family.” When Michael voiced his displeasure with his mother running off with Jax, Sonny simply said he was giving her room to come back to him.

(Continue reading at BC Magazine.)

Making the Rounds at General Hospital – Bond Style Intrigue and Love Triangles Galore

(Recaps, scoops, spoilers and news about General Hospital, this column is originally posted at BC Magazine.)

Big things are on the horizon for Making the Rounds… and they begin with the column going from a weekly to (eventually) daily recaps and news. So check back often.

April 9′s and April 10′s episodes were a mix of Bond-style intrigue and love triangles lightly tempered with off-beat comic relief.

Michael’s plan to force his parents to kiss and make-up (locking them in the basement of Carly’s house together) just might have worked had he not opened the door just as the two-some were about to kiss. Instead, they came together as a parental unit and handed down severe punishment on him and his younger brother and accomplice. On one hand, Michael had a point.

If he’s manipulative, he’s learned from the masters – his parents. On the other hand, how old is this kid anyway? I find myself more and more annoyed by him every time the writers give him lines. They have Michael in the body of a ten-year-old with the manipulative nature of the teen set. How long before they age him and let him date Maxie? Hey, that would be a pretty good pairing! …

Continue reading at BC Magazine