First Chapter Gets Third Place

The first chapter of my novel about the soccer-coaching grandpa has won third place in the Kansas Writers Association. That should mean something. Got a boatload of red marks from the judge, including some unforgivable typographical errors. If my submission had been perfect, would I have gotten a higher prize?

Still Bemused

And still have no answers as to why I saw the Ghostbusters vehicle in downtown Olathe recently. Going west on Loula Street.

Ivan, at the Thursday coffee group, says there is a guy in town, who lives not too far from where I saw the Ghostbusters vehicle, whose hobby (business?) is making duplicates of vehicles that have been seen in the movies. Maybe what I saw was one of his products. Rick says he knows which house Ivan is talking about and will show me some day.

Harry? FDR?

I love my badge of Bill Murray as FDR.

But I can't believe the reaction when other people look at the badge. Either they are completely puzzled, or they frown and say, "Truman?"

It's amazing and amusing, Harry Truman being the president who immediately followed Franklin Delano Roosevelt. They don't mistake FDR for Eisenhower, or Nixon or or the one who kept hitting people with his golf balls or JFK or LBJ, it's only Truman

Me, the Badge Lady

No, I don’t have a badge-maker, but I know where I can borrow one, in another state. The owner of the badge-maker (I’ll leave you to determine why anyone would want to have their own personal badge-maker) says he can make three badges a minute while watching television. As you might surmise, the badges he makes are mostly the same design. When I make badges for him, I make whatever he has designed.

But that gets boring, always the same design, so for fun, I make badges for myself from images I find of my facebook friends. If your picture is not on facebook, I PROBABLY will not be able to make a badge for you. I’ve made badges of people who are in my writing group. I made one badge of a writing colleague, and then she posted a different photograph, this time of her posed in front of a tiny little mechanical typewriter, so I made another badge of her, this one focused on her hands over the typewriter.

I’ve made lots of badges of Bill Murray, and often wear one on my lapel. You see, I’m desperate to have lunch with Bill Murray some time and hope that this six degrees of separation thing will work in my favor some time and I’ll actually be sharing a grilled cheese sandwich with Bill.

Bill Murray tail-gating at Clemson, buying potatoes at a local market? Bill, if you are going to be buying potatoes anywhere in Olathe, would you please let me know?

I’m not getting anywhere in my efforts to find someone who knows someone who knows Bill Murray. Even my tire repair guy doesn’t know Bill Murray.

The baristas at the Kansas Coffee Company recognized my Bill Murray lapel badge, and have agreed that the next time I am in, probably for a delicuous Wild-Cat (read tuna) sandwich, I can leave my business card and that way they will have my telephone number readily at hand and they can call me the minute Bill Murray steps through the doorway. I only live about seven-eight blocks away. They have promised me that they will call me immediately.

My tire guy doesn't know Bill Murray, either. Tim -- that's not his name, but that's what he'll be called because that's the name of the company -- was very interested in my lapel badge, a picture of Bill Murray which I think is from The Rum Diary, but I can't be sure. Tim leaned 'way across the counter to get a better look at my lapel badge, admired it profusely, but sadly, confessed that he doesn't know Bill Murray personally. I won't hold it against him -- I'll still take my vehicles in there for tire service.