RSS Banner


Comparing Climates

Posted by: DL  /  Category: Enviromental Matters, Life Matters

People all over the world view their ideal climates very differently, according to their own personal taste.  Some people like the sun and warm weather; others like cool air, with rain and breezes, for most of the year.

I have lived in several states in the USA, as well as living abroad, during my short lifetime.  The three states that I tend to think of most often when thinking of the “good times” are usually California State, Washington State and the state of New Jersey.

Living in these different states, at one time, are very different than living in other states, as you can imagine.  The climates couldn’t be more different.  They are like night and day. People who like one state don’t usually like the other, because they are so different.

Southern California is nice most of the year, sunny, breezy, pretty dry, with mildly warm weather.  Going to the park, on picnics, driving around and all of these things can be planned in advance without much looking at the weather channels for details. You can almost guarantee that you’ll have a fun outing without getting rained out. But, when the end of Spring and the beginning of Summer emerge, forget about it.  The heat turns up and it becomes unbearable to most folks, even to native Californians.  When you step out of the air conditioned environments and go out into the raw elements, you feel as if you’ve stepped into an oven.

Western Washington State is known to have a pretty mild climate, year round.  In the Winter, its cold but not extremely cold (may snow on occasion, but doesn’t usually stick much); in the Summer it’s warm, but not extremely hot.  But, the problem with our state is that it’s almost always gloomy or rainy, most of the time. If you see that you’re having a sunny day, with warmer temperatures, you’d better go out now, before the weather changes.  Because you’ve got to monitor the weather channel pretty closely to see what they predict will be going on that day.  Being rained out of amusement parks, water parks, picnics, etc. are pretty common place.

Northern New Jersey is what I consider my home since I was born and raised there during most of my childhood years.  But, Northern New Jersey is anything but mild.  In the Winters, it may dump 3 feet of snow on you, in the middle of the night; and in the Summer it is so humid and sticky that you feel as if if you ever would try to take a running leap from the ground onto a wall, you’d absolutely stick to it. Just like a little fly.

I guess the moral of the article is, every state and country has it’s own benefit.  It really depends on your point of view and your personal taste.  Some people like warmth; others like cold; others like the urban, busy lifestyle; others prefer to live in the country, on a large piece of land; yet others want to live on the beach and breathe in the fresh salt sea air.  But, everyone must stay where they feel it’s the best for them, all around. Not only a place with a great climate, but also an affordable city and state, with a good dotting of relatives or friends, good schools, or whatever matters are important to you the most.  I think it’s lots of fun to live in different places and travel around to see the vast differences from state to state, country to country.  You never know whether the grass really is greener on the other side.

Mini-vacation on a budget

Posted by: DL  /  Category: Enviromental Matters, Family Matters, Life Matters, Money Matters, Social Matters

Since almost everyone is suffering without much money nowadays, most people think vacationing is not possible. When in fact, they can take a mini-vacation and enjoy themselves just as much as a lavish expensive vacation would have been.  But, they can have a vacation on a budget.

They can call friends or family members that are within a few hours drive of them, pack lightly, and drive to that destination.  They can tell the people they are going to be visiting in advance and ask them to look up fun things to do in their area that may be free or very cheap. They may take you to parks, camping areas, fishing, boating, kayaking, or just to see beautiful trails and the sites.

Set a daily budget for your trip and try your best to stick to that number.  If you can only afford $50 a day (excluding gas) you may decide that you can’t afford to eat out and go to all the different costly amusement places.  So, you may decide to purchase groceries and make sandwiches, take it along with you, and then go to amusement parks. It’s really how you look at things and decide to tweak your plans to fit your budget.

The idea of a vacation is to get out, breathe in the fresh air and be out of your usual day to day grind.  Of coarse if you have more money to spend you can go to more expensive places including (but not limited to): amusement parks, aquariums, zoos, restaurants, museums, historical areas, etc. These places charge a costly fee per person, so you may have to take turns going to pricey places on certain days and inexpensive or free places on other days.

The point is, you don’t have to prove anything to anyone. Just do things that you and your family find fun, and don’t worry about impressing anyone with tales of being on the open waters of the Bahama’s (on your vacation).  Sometimes the simple mini-vacations can mean a lot more to you and your family than being on a big vacation abroad could have been.  Becuse you can do things together as a family unit, and grow closer over the long drive and time together doing the simple things…

Frustrations of a Writer

Posted by: DL  /  Category: Life Matters
If you’ve already read about us in the ABOUT section, I’m sure that you know that I’m a freelance writer.  My preferred genre is Horror/Thriller.  Ever since I was a young child, I remember being mesmerized and amazed by several different movies, not knowing that most of my favorites were originally books written by Stephen King.  There was something very imaginative and off the cuff about his writing and movie styles.

My 5 favorite movies of all time are:
  • The Shining (Stephen King)
  • Delores Claiborne (Stephen King)
  • Misery (Stephen King)
  • Single White Female
  • The Christmas Story
Most of the movies and stories that I am interested in have a good plot, their fair share of blood and guts and of course are written well.

I am on the long journey down the LETS GET PUBLISHED route.  I’ve written 8 short stories, put together as an anthology, and I am currently working on my first novel.  Honestly, I was overwhelmed with the task of writing 50,000+ words to create a novel, but I took it step by step and it’s nearly complete.  I’m just doing the fine tuning and doing my own proofreading before trying to submit it to a agent.

My husband has tried his best to submit my short stories to literary magazines online, but we honestly are very busy in our day-to-day lives, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to keep up with everything.  I long to find a good medium or connection so that I can have my novel(s) published and go from there.  But, still here I am undaunted.  I WILL NOT allow myself to become discouraged and cut myself off at the knees, before attempting to get somewhere with my novels.

I would have to admit my writing style is similar to:

  • Dean Koontz
  • Anne Rice
  • Stephen King

These authors are among my very favorites and they really sharpened my senses and opened doors that were unimaginable to me, prior to having read them.  I don’t get much time to read, what with my day-to-day tasks as well as raising my young son, blogging, and writing.  But, I try to juggle my tasks and hope that in the future with the success of this site, that I will have more time to complete all the fine detail work to make my books and blog all the better!

I’m here to say, no matter what you’re interested in, don’t give up!  Keep on keeping on, until the final breath escapes your lungs.  It may seem morbid, but don’t forget- there’s a horror writer in me!  You can do anything you put your mind to, you just need to have the drive and will to keep on going, even when every door seems to slam shut in your face because eventually, with persevearance and not getting personally offended by other’s comments, you will make it!  You’ve got to keep positive and tell yourself that there is nobody like you out there in the world, and that someone will realize that you’re a jem in the rough and with a little work, you will really become a valuable asset to that field.