Because life tastes better with a side of jam

Goofing Off

Liz Jamar — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:22:00 GMT

So I have been completely slacking my attempts to blog every other day. No one to blame but myself. Right now i am listening to some Dick Dale and my fingers can't type fast enough. The beat is really kickin' and I can't help but type to it. Ahhh.........

So I guess you are here to get an update on what i have been doing he last few days. I played in the 12 inches of snow Dallas got. I have been working on a short story. I am working on my writing assignment and well work. Plus I did the character profiles for Reverend Tim and Zeke. I can’t leave out the research I did on the Greyhound bus station in Las Vegas.

My first care package to my soldier will be sent out tomorrow. It would have been today but I forgot it was Presidents’ Day. I am working on my second letter. I still have no idea what to say in these letters.

I have been reading a lot of articles on writing. That just sounds weird to type. Reading on writing. Eh, oh well. I need to start reading my Grammar Girl books and actually read some fiction books. I don’t know what genre I want to write so I am having a hard time nailing down a book to read. I also start reading a book and hate the POV so I stop reading. I also have an issue with the book boring me. Maybe it’s because I can’t focus while I am reading. I have gotten worse with reading over the year. I use to read all the time as a teen.

Ok well can at least say I blogged today even though it is 300 words of utter crap.

Have a good one.

Lizard

This is a one - two punch

Liz Jamar — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:55:00 GMT

So, I slacked off again and I am now making up for it. I am combining my Military Monday with Writing Wednesday.

Exciting news, last week I got my soldier delivery letter, meaning I got my soldier’s profile. It’s a girl!! I’m not that shocked about them giving me a girl, excuse me woman. I’m just really excited to start this project. My sister-in-law had chipped in on some stuff for my first care package, which is packed and waiting for the packing tape. I will post pictures as soon as I have the tape and repack.

I felt so overwhelmed at the store trying to decide what to get first. Right now I just have a general list of things she needs. It was really hard deciding between everyday snacks and hygiene products. So I settled on a 50/50 mix and saved some stuff for the next package.

Writing my first letter to her I felt kind of weird. But I am the worst at breaking the ice in person, so I am not surprised I can’t do it very well in writing. So I stuck to the basics of Hi my name is….I thanked her for her service on behalf of my friends and family. Told her about my job and about my cats. Really such boring information, I figure it’s just a conversation between two people.

And now for something completely different….I love that Quote

I have reached a new point in my NaNoWriMo. I have decided that the backstory for my main characters will be a series of web blog prequels so to speak. It is just a little something to put out in to the world to promote the eventual publication of my book. The best part is that is you do not have to read these stories to understand the book.

And so now I must prepare the new title for the book and take the old title and expand it to the new stories

And so the boyfriend has put in the movie the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I am looking at the screen more than the computer screen. I will see you for Fit Friday, but I highly doubt I actually blog about being fit.

It's Wednesday...Eek

Liz Jamar — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 01:30:00 GMT

Wow, so guess what I just figured out. It’s Wednesday and that could only mean one thing. Writing Wednesday or Writer Wednesday; I haven’t quite got that worked out yet. I really thought I had one more day to get this blog done. I mean why not? All my other blog posts have been a day behind.

So what should I write about in my first writing blog? Oh yeah, here is an idea. I will take this time to write about of my new favorite writing guides The Grammar Devotional from Mignon Fogarty. This is one mighty book, full of daily tips for a better life of grammar. The best part, you’re going to love this, is that the book is portable. Okay, the illustrations are awesome and there are word searches, too.

My biggest problem right now with the book is that I am not reading it like I should. Oops, it is completely my fault. I have set it aside and forgotten about it. But now it is out and in plain sight. In fact when I am done with this blog I will be catching up on reading. With the way the book is written that will be an easy read. So keep an eye out for more of my thoughts on this book.

If you are interested you can sign-up for the Grammar Girl Tips at http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/. And you follow the Grammar Girl onTwitter and Face Book.

Lizard

P.S. I am still waiting for my adopted soldier profile. This is day 7 of 7-10 business days. Ugh, I am not a patient person. I can’t buy Christmas presents early because I want to give them out as soon as I get them. Ta!

Still waiting

Liz Jamar — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 01:21:00 GMT

Well, I am still waiting on the profile for the soldier I have adopted. So as it sits I really have nothing to add. I am not even sure what to write in my first letter. But I guess that will come to me when I get the profile.

In the meantime I'm not sure if you have noticed, but I have in fact posted this on a Tuesday, and I am watching NCIS.

Well that is all for this evening, good night…

Lizard

A plan for everything

Liz Jamar — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 04:50:00 GMT

So I have finally decided to organize my blog into different categories for different days. Since I have so much on my mind on any given day i thought a more organized approach would be best. I'm not a very organized person so we will see how long this will last. Good times...

So on Monday's I will explore Military Monday and or Music Monday. Right now I am taking Tuesdays, but you can join me on Wednesdays for writing Wednesday. Thursdays will also be an off day, for now, however I will jump into Fridays with Fitness Friday. Bringing the week to a close will be Sims Sunday; I play Sims 2 and have decided to share that with you. I’m not sure why I feel like it needs to be shared but I am going to do it anyway.

So what exactly does this mean? A whole lot of blogging. Here is the rundown of the topics I plan to cover.

Military Monday / Music Monday –

I recently adopted a soldier through http://www.adoptaussoldier.org/. I am currently waiting on my soldier’s profile with baited breath. I hope to post my experience with that on this blog. What the adoption entails is one letter a week and one care package a month. Now, what I plan on writing once a week is beyond me since my life is not that interesting, but maybe somebody overseas won’t mind the mundane existence I have. I am really excited to start this project. Many of my friends and family have promised to help me with the care package. It seems like something everyone wants to do themselves but nobody has taken the steps to do it. So I am the first for my group.

Music Mondays will fill in the gap. I plan on discussing my favorite music and let you know how I am doing with my guitar playing. I keep slacking off and ignoring it. Hopefully I can stay more motivated now that I am making it a weekly blog instead of a daily thing.

Writing Wednesday-

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Here I will post my writing or mention things I am reading or blogs worth checking out. Any writers out there can contact me about posting your writing here if you would like. Since I am involved in a writing course I will be posting my class assignments here as well.

Fitness Friday-

So dark little secret I am over weight. So I will be posting my weight loss adventures on Fridays, stuff like recipes exercise plans (Trust me they are all still plans right now) and other things I may be doing to lose some weight.

Sims Sunday-

I love building houses and characters in the Sims 2 (I have Sims 3 but some of the features I love about 2 didn’t make it into that version, boo) so I will be adding pictures of the things I build in this part of the blog.

So enjoy and let me know what you think as the weeks go on!

Lizard

Life's Lessons

Liz Jamar — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:06:00 GMT

In this week's blog I would like to take you back to April of 2003. Probably the most depressing April of my life. I say that because April of this year was pretty bad too, I will get to that later. This blog is really about life, death and how I am overcoming grief.

In April of 2003 I watched my mom and dad cry. My world came crashing down and my big brother, Scott, was gone. He was killed in a Blackhawk helicopter crash on April 2nd in Iraq. It was a completely random crash, they were not shot down. A short description: they were flying at night, behind another Blackhawk. They flew out over a lake on a moonless night. From what the investigation revealed the pilot was disoriented with stars above him and stars below him. Their job was to make a turn at a certain point, flying at a low altitude to stay out of enemy range, the pilot of this Blackhawk made the turn too low and hit a small island on the lake. That's really all the detail I want to go into on this blog, this post is not about the crash itself, but about the days and years following the crash. If you are interested in learning more I will tell you one day. I have seen the pictures of the crash site and knowing about g-force I can say that all six men in that helicopter died on impact or maybe before. No one suffered and they did not know it was happening.

Two weeks after the crash we were able to have the funeral. Scott and I grew up in Sweetwater, Texas. You know, the area of West Texas famous for Friday Night Lights. Nothing beats a West Texas high school football game. I remember walking into the funeral home unaware of what to expect.

Rounding a corner from the hallway into the chapel I saw the flag draped coffin. The breath left my body. I'm not sure how I did it but I made it down the isle between the pews to come face to face with my worst fear since Scott had joined the Army. What you need to know about my brother is that he was a career Army guy. He joined the army in 1990 with one goal in mind. To become a helicopter pilot. He never gave up on that dream and finally after applying several times through his career he was finally given his wish. He spent the year of 2002 in Korea training. He, of course being Mr. Popular back home, was head of the class and chose to fly the blackhawk.

I was able to see him that Christmas, he was so excited about going over. He was telling us about all the cool things the Blackhawk could do. His eyes lit up as he explained different maneuvers. Then like any good brother he held me down and farted in my face.

Scott and I were never that close, our nine year age difference was a big gap. As I was becoming "cool" enough to hang out with he was leaving for the Army. When he was stationed close to home I was too much of a cranky teen to go visit him with my parents, I had my own thing going on. I always told myself I could see him later.

We were able to have the funeral service at out high school football field, where Scott had briefly played football and I marched in the band years before. It was an amazing site. The town had turned out in full force. The high school choir was there, as was the football team. I remember turning to the crowd and seeing what had to be over 400 people. It was breath taking.

Two days after Scott's funeral my grandmother died, I was pretty close to her. She was in bad health so it wasn't a big shock, in fact she had no idea Scott had passed. A couple of years later my grandfather died. Both of these grandparents were my mom's parents. I was extremely close to my grandfather, a retired Air Force man, it was like losing Scott all over again. You know they say that when someone close to you dies you can feel it. I felt his death. In fact I woke up at 2 am with this weird feeling in my chest. Almost a panic attack kind of feeling.

Maybe a year or two after that my dad's mother died. I was never that close to her as she lived in another area of Texas. I do have fond memories of her though. She was just a small town farm girl who never learned to read or write. I remember one summer she stayed with us and killed a rattlesnake with a water hose. Yes, we have those in West Texas, too.

All of this brings me to this year and the second worst April of my life. This past April I lost my mom. A heart attack.

Until just recently I have been a slug. No direction, no goal. Going to work day in and day out, miserable. Always wanting to be somewhere else. Letting the death and bad stuff weigh me down. I have been in and out of financial difficulty for a while. When things look good it seems the bad is waiting right around the corner. I haven't been the most positive person. Of course I hold it all in too until i snap.

I turned 30 this year, in Vegas, since turning 30 things are turning around. I finished my first NaNoWriMo. My writing has improved tremendously. I am making long term goals like planning vacations (LA this summer I hope) and getting something published. I feel like I have been more productive in the last few months than i have in my whole life.

I have a new goal as well. I want to start an organization to help people in my position. Creative types who have lost a family member in Iraq or Afghanistan who need a creative outlet. You have no idea how hard it to talk about losing family to this war. If you mention it every one wants to comment on how we shouldn’t be there or want to talk politics. It gets ugly fast, most people I talk to about it forget that I have lost someone and the conversation is about that not their political beliefs. My brother wanted to be there. That's all I have to say on that front.

Ok back to my organization, got a little sidetracked. The goal is to give family members a way to express their selves without being lectured. Writing has helped me get through it, maybe I can inspire other to follow in a creative way. It's a broad area and I am still refining my idea, but you get the point. So if anybody has any tips to help me find funding or how I can do this please tell me.

I am open to talking about my brother any day of the week so e-mail me at lizjamar@lizardjam.com. But remember any political outbursts on email or my comments sections will be deleted. I am hear to help people, not start a debate. That’s what the local media is for.

Until next week my friends, be well!

P.S. If you want you can read the following essay I wrote for an writing class, it's an intersting little ditty about the actual funeral and the first headstone for Scott's grave. My brother did enjoy his practical jokes...

I knew this day would come, I never dreamed it would be this soon.

On April 12, 2003 I had one of the saddest days of my life, yet it was cheerful. On that day my family and I laid my big brother Scott to rest. He had been killed on the second of that month in Iraq in a helicopter accident. He came back to the United States a hometown hero, after a thirteen year commitment to the US Army.

We were raised in a small town out in west Texas, Friday night lights land I call it. Scott, nine years older than me, was Mr. Sweetwater, our hometown. Senior class president, choir president, volunteer, even played a season or two of football and baseball. His after school job, radio disc jockey for our local, one tower radio station. You know the kind of station with an AM and FM and they both played the old twang of country music. So it came as no surprise that our home town of which we had both moved out of years ago, showed up in force to his funeral.

Our family was lucky enough to have gotten permission from the only high school to use the football field, a real live bowl first of it’s kind for Texas high school football, to have the ceremony. There must have been at least 400 plus people filling the seats that warm and way entirely too sunny Saturday morning. My first sunburn of the season I recall one of his tricks I imagine. He loved picking on me. Even in death he was finding ways.

I was in awe watching the honor guard fold the flag from his casket. The neat corners and the precise counting of ever move before every fold. The silent marching and handing over the flag to a general who will be forever nameless to me. The tears in our father’s eyes as he was handed the flag.

As the chaplain spoke of green valleys and life I was left to my own

thoughts. My two nephews sitting next to me off in some game of their own, too little to understand what was really going on. I heard a strange noise yet recognizable noise and giggling. I looked down at my nephews.

“E.J.,” said my oldest nephew. “I farted.”

“I know, I heard it,” I said quietly to him, laughing silently.

That was Scott’s favorite thing to do in silence at family dinners. He taught his boys well.

The rest of the funeral went in a blur. Taps played then the 21 gun salute, or maybe it was the other way around. I do not recall. The burial took place in a town about three hours away where our parents live so that they could be close to his grave site.

Weeks went by and the head stone arrived for his grave site. My parents had visited it often after it was laid in place. I went to see them for his birthday and decided to visit his grave by myself. I looked down and began laughing.

Only Scott would have let this happen. A mistake that had gone unnoticed all the way from the makers in West Virginia through our parents to me. A mistake I think from him just for me. His way of getting one more poke at his little sister. The joke in his headstone:

CW2 Scott Jamar

Dec. 15, 1870 – April 2, 2008

Iraqi Freedom

An update and a begining

Liz Jamar — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 01:27:00 GMT

So I haven't updated this thing in awhile and I keep saying I will. (It's been 63 days since my last post if you are counting) My music project got put on hold for NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. You can check it out at http://www.nanowrimo.org/ for more details.

Now that I have written 50,000 words of utter gibberish, I am not sure where to go from here. I want to polish the piece but find I am lacking motivation.

In other news I have found out that Twitter is my friend. By staying social with fellow WriMos (Other NaNoWriMo writers) I was able to stay on target and finish. It is great to have such a wonderful support group. Plus the NaNo folks sent out some motivation word sprints.

Now that I have my novel out I am going to try to post more regularly, maybe parts of my NaNoWriMo, maybe article of thoughts. Like what the hell gives the bank the right to have such bad customer service. Or how long does it take to order from the McDonald's drive thru? I have some other doozies lined up too.

Until my next post I will be tweetinglike a freak. Sometimes it is important, sometimes it is not, sometimes it is harassing the good people at The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club. (I have way too much creative energy and not really doing anything to unleash it)

Here we go, the hook to gain some readers when they pick my book in the book store. (I dunno it's cold and I can't think.)

As the evening sky lights up with a fiery hue, the neon signs hum to life. A preacher takes a drink, a comedian takes the stage, the acrobats do their tricks. An illusionist silences a crowd and a band plays on. The city comes to life and the people fill the streets. The street performers juggle, while others strike a pose. The fountains dance and a volcano explodes. Pirates are tempted while the lions sleep. Up and down the busy strip a man is there to hand you a slip for a girl that will surely pose. There is even a street where the sky comes to life, hotels and casinos from yesteryear offering a variety of fare. Check it out this one is hot, every buffet serves a lot. The slot machines buzz and hum, but coins are no longer won, instead replaced by canned sounds and paper tickets. People come from far and wide starry eyed to see the lights. They come with dreams of riches but leave barely hanging on to their dreams.