kaitlynk

Morning Coffee w/Kaitlyn – 1/3/19

By kaitlynk on Thursday, January 3, 2019

January 3, 2019

Dearest Readers,

Today our Earth makes its closest point of approach to Mr Sun, getting as close as 91,403,556 miles, a phenomenon known as perihelion. If we are so close, how come it will be ten below today? In July we will reach aphelion, when we are the farthest away from the sun.

MORNING BRIEFING
Here are some things you may find interesting to know:

Newsmaker Line
Border Patrol agents are now shooting tear gas across the Mexican border in an attempt to keep people from coming across the border illegally.

This is wrong.

You know, we appreciate secure borders as much as you do. We also appreciate the benefits of a robust immigration policy because anyone who denies the influence immigrants have had here over the centuries have either forgotten their history lessons or never learned them in the first place because unless your last name is Tonto we’re all descended from immigrants.

But we should be better than throwing tear gas across the border.

Almanac
In 1521 – Pope Leo X issue what is known as a Papal Bull – a really official proclamation – excommunicating Martin Luther from the Catholic Church. Luther had had the nerve to question assorted Church teachings and practices.

In 2000 – The final daily Peanuts comic strip runs. It featured Snoopy sitting on top of his dog house with a typewriter and a note from creator Charles M Schulz announcing his retirement. The Sunday strip ran for a few more weeks, the final running on February 13th and it was probably not a coincidence Schulz had died the day before.

Your Hit Parade
#1 songs on this date in 1970:
Hot 100 – Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head…B.J. Thomas (1st of four weeks)
Soul Chart – Someday We’ll Be Together…Diana Ross and the Supremes (4th of four weeks)
Country Chart – Baby, Baby (I Know You’re a Lady)…David Houston (1st of four weeks)
– Chart data courtesy of Billboard.

Numbers Racket
10,607: the continuous number of days the US has been at war.
$21.909: the number of dollars, in trillions, of America’s national debt. – Source: usdebtclock.org
671: days until 2020 election.

Philosophy 101
It is not possible to run a course aright when the goal itself has not been rightly placed.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
English philosopher

A lot of this world is knowing where you are going. As we heard somewhere you are not going to climb Mount Everest wandering about the Gobi Desert and those that get on in this life do so because they have a plan for it. It’s a plan that stems from deep inside, telling them the life they are meant to lead. Successful people then have the courage to and live that life and the patience to see their paths through to the very end. They ensure their goals are rightly places, and they live the lives they were meant to live, life’s great prize.

Have a good day, and many thanks for reading.
Kaitlyn

Morning Coffee w/ Kaitlyn

Morning Coffee w/ Kaitlyn – 1/2/19

By kaitlynk on Wednesday, January 2, 2019

January 2, 2019
Dearest Readers,

Yesterday we talked about how the first of the year is a wonderful time to focus on new goals. The second day of the New Year is the time to start getting to work. Now, goals are not achieved in a day, so it won’t be done all at once, but every day we must take steps toward our goal’s accomplishment. The longest journeys begin with a single step.

Today I am starting work on my new novel, Katy and Markie: Love and Lust. What small steps are you taking today?

MORNING BRIEFING
Here are some things you may find interesting to know:

Newsmaker Line
Our government’s budget impasse continues. House Democrats, who take control Thursday, unveiled a series of bills designed to re-open the government, but don’t hold your breath.

We should be surprised at none of this. This past November a fractured and bickering America reelected a fractured and bickering government and we can only blame incumbents and the media so much. The fault for this is ours. We elected it and we got it; none of this should be a bulletin because We long ago stopped holding our elected leaders, or ourselves, really, accountable. Freed from accountability, our leaders will ensure fiascos like this will continue until we start demanding otherwise.

Almanac
In 1860 – The planet Vulcan is announced at a gather of scientists in Paris. Theorized to be in orbit between the sun and Mercury for reasons that would make no sense to you or me, Vulcan’s existence wasn’t entirely disproven until a solar eclipse in 1919.
In 1974 – Having nothing better to do as his administration collapses, President Richard Nixon signs a bill making the national speed limit 55 mph. A law that could not have been more ignored had they given prizes for non-compliance, its repealing would begin in 1987.

Your Hit Parade
#1 songs on this date in 1982:
Hot 100 – Physical…Olivia Newton-John (7th of ten weeks)
Soul Chart – Let’s Groove…Earth, Wind and Fire (6th of eight weeks)
Country Chart – Love in the First Degree…Alabama (2nd of two weeks)
– Chart data courtesy of Billboard.

Numbers Racket
10,606: the continuous number of days the US has been at war.
$21.910: the number of dollars, in trillions, of America’s national debt. – Source: usdebtclock.org
672: days until 2020 election.

Philosophy 101
When will the world learn that a million men are of no importance compared with one man?
– Henry David Thoreau

This life is very personal. Of course, we all have family and friends and their attendant obligations, but at its core, we must live our own life. No one can do it for us. Those that get on in this life are those that realize this and work to make something happen for themselves. Successful people have the wisdom to know the life they were meant to live, the courage to go and live that life and patience to see it through to the very end.

Each of us has a responsibility, to ourselves and our fellow humans, to do this. Our lives and our planet works better when we do.

Have a good day, and many thanks for reading.
Kaitlyn

Morning Coffee w/ Kaitlyn Uncategorized

Morning Coffee w/ Kaitlyn – 1/1/19

By kaitlynk on Tuesday, January 1, 2019

January 1, 2019
Dearest Readers,

Good morning. It’s New Year’s Day, January 1st. Today marks the beginning of the 2,019th year of the Common Era (what used to be known as AD) and it is the start of the final year of the second decade of the 21st century. Time certainly does fly.

We don’t know about you, but we got to bed early last night.

MORNING BRIEFING
Here are some things you may find interesting to know:

Newsmaker Line
January 1st hasn’t always been the first day of the New Year. For a long time, the date corresponded with assorted religious festivals and it wasn’t until 1752 that England and her colonies started observing the day on January 1st and the first country to do it was the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (portions of present-day Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Ukraine and Belarus) in 1362. Today it takes 26 hours for the entire planet to ring in the New Year with the first places to do so being Samoa, Tonga and Chrismas Island at 5 am Eastern Standard Time(EST) time on December 31. The last major inhabited place to ring in the New Year was American Samoa at 6am EST New Year’s Day and some uninhabited islands followed an hour later.

Almanac
In 1502, Rio de Janiero is explored by the Portuguese. They were greeted by a samba band and buxom young women in thongs.
In 1808, the United States banned the importation of slaves. From now on, if you were going to slave in America, you had to be born here.

Your Hit Parade
#1 songs on this date in 1972:
Hot 100 – Brand New Key…Melanie (2nd of 3 weeks)
Soul Chart – Family Affair…Sly and the Family Stone (5th of 5 weeks)
Country Chart – Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’…Charley Pride (5th of 5 weeks)
– Chart data courtesy of Billboard.

Numbers Racket
10,605: the continuous number of days the US has been at war.
$21.910: the number of dollars, in trillions, of America’s national debt. – Source: usdebtclock.org
673: days until 2020 election.

Philosophy 101
This is the moment of embarking. All auspicious signs are in place. – Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao

A new year is a traditional, and good, time to set new goals because all of us are able to say this is what we are now and this, this is what we are going to be tomorrow. Every moment is positive and all our goals, hopes and dreams are captured at this moment. Tomorrow, we can begin the work on putting the foundations under those dreams. Today, we enjoy and even revel in them.

What dreams are you chasing this year?

Have a good day, and many thanks for reading.
Kaitlyn

Character Q&A's

Character Q&A: Meg, The President of the United States – Nat’s Story

By kaitlynk on Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Kaitlyn K Character Interview Tear Sheet
Character: Meg
Book/Short Story: Nat’s Story
Inspired By A Real Person?: No. I see her very clearly in my mind’s eye, of course, and she is very real to me, but she is completely made up.

Q: Madame President, welcome…
A: Thank you. It’s a pleasure to be here. I think.

Q: Please, state your vitals and how you ended up in Nat’s Story.
A: You’re kidding? I’m one of the most famous women on the planet. Anyone who cares knows everything they want to know about me.

Q: If you please. It’s sort of like signing in on What’s My Line. A tradition.
A: Sighs, but it’s a smiling sigh. My name is Meg and I am the president of the United States. I know Nat because I paid him $5,000 to have sex with me.

Character Q&A's

Character Q&A: Madeline – The Benjamin Chronicles

By kaitlynk on Monday, October 1, 2018

Kaitlyn K Character Interview Tear Sheet
Character: Madeline
Book/Short Story: The Benjamin Chronicles
Inspired By A Real Person: No. Madeline is a composite character based on several women I have known over the years.

Q: Madeline! We’re glad you made it. Please, state your age and how you ended up in The Benjamin Chronicles, and anything else you think we’d like to know.
A: Madeline. 53 in the book, a bit older now. I was bored and wanted to have sex with another man. I love my husband, he’s a preacher, dearly and he puts out regularly, but crap, I’ve only had sex with him for 30 years. I wanted someone new before I died.

Character Q&A's

Character Q&A: Anna, The Benjamin Chronicles

By kaitlynk on Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Kaitlyn K Character Interview Tear Sheet
Character: Anna
Book/Short Story: The Benjamin Chronicles
Inspired By A Real Person: Yes. A female security officer I knew whose real name was Laura.

Q: Welcome Anna. You’ve already advised me you are not going to reveal your age…
A: Yeah, don’t even start with that. No fucking way.

Q: …so why don’t you tell us your nationality? It’s not clear in the book. You are stunningly beautiful. Tall, dark skinned with long, thick black hair. Not too thin, either. What’s your heritage?
A: I have very large boobies, too. Don’t forget that. I am Puertorriquena. I was born here, but my parents are from Puerto Rico.

Character Q&A's

Character Q&A: Emily, The Benjamin Chronicles

By kaitlynk on Sunday, September 16, 2018

Kaitlyn K Character Interview Tear Sheet
Character: Emily
Book/Short Story: The Benjamin Chronicles
Inspired By A Real Person: Indeed. Ms Emily has actually inspired a couple of characters. Yes, she knows about them.

Q: Welcome to the interview! State your name, please, and your age and, because you are based on a real person, your relationship to Kaitlyn.
A: Emily, mid-20s-ish. In the story at least. That was written several years ago and in real life I’m married with a daughter now. I no longer teach, either, leaving the working life to raise our rugrat. I’ve known Kaitlyn for years, though we’ve only seen each other a few times. We adore each other very much.

Q: You and Benjamin have a long distance friendship in the book. Is that based on real life, too?
A: Yes. Kaitlyn and I both know the man Benjamin is based on. And I tended to talk with him when I was single and having boy problems. He was funny and had a way of cutting to the chase of how his gender behaves. Neither of us has ever been sexually intimate with him, though, and talking during my boy crises is where the similarities with real life ends.

Character Q&A's

Character Q&A – Ed, The Angel and The Captain

By kaitlynk on Thursday, September 6, 2018

Kaitlyn K Character Interview Tear Sheet
Character: Ed
Book/Short Story: The Angel and The Captain
Inspired By A Real Person: No. Ed is completely made up, although his hair is similar to Archie Bunker on All in the Family.

Q: Ed, welcome. What is your full name?
A: I have no idea. You seldom give your characters last names, which means we can’t answer questions like this. All I am known as is Ed.

Q: Very well. You are, of course, Angel’s father. You left when she was three and you didn’t see her again until about halfway through the book, over 20 years. Did your first meeting with Angel go as you expected?
A: Biscuit. I’ve always called her Biscuit. No, it didn’t go as I thought it would but I had no expectations. The Captain had warned me not to and he’s a smart man so I took that advice.

The Writer's Life

The Writer’s Life #9 – August 8, 2018

By kaitlynk on Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.
– Jonathan Swift

Being a writer is fun. You see a blank page and your mind is dancing with the inspiration to say what you feel needs to be said. All of us can stare at a block of stone, but only an artist will see the finished sculpture. Some stare at a plot of dirt and don’t see much else, while a gardener already sees the fall harvest.

All of us can see something others cannot because all of us have different talents and ambitions and all of us have a vision that is unique to us.

For some, mere survival is the only vision they can muster. Some have a vision that will transcend time and be remembered for ages. For most of us, for most of us, though, our visions are more down-to-earth. My neighbor wants to make a quilt to show at the county fair. I want to write something you want to read. You, no doubt, have a vision that means something to you, a reason you get up the morning and work hard to overcome the obstacle that looks us in the mirror every morning.

No matter what, the artist in all of us should see the life we were meant to live and then have the courage to go and live it, no matter what it might be.

xoxoxo

Kaitlyn K

The Writer's Life

The Writer’s Life #8 – August 7, 2018

By kaitlynk on Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Every human is an artist. The dream of your life is to make beautiful art.
Don Miguel Ruiz

Sometimes it may not seem like we are an artist. Sometimes it seems like we are barely treading water or muddling through our days. We spend our time reacting to what is happening around us, to the demands presented by others, which is the utter antithesis of being an artist, which is merely answering to what moves you from deep inside.

But we are! Every single one of us one of us is an artist. Now, we may not be a painter or a carpenter or a writer, but each of us is creating our own life and every day is a blank canvas. We can let others dictate what we put on it, or we can take steps to ensure that what we put on our canvas each day is our own creation.

This is not always easy. Every day there are distractions, from the mundane to the tragic to the seemingly splendid. Every one of them must be overcome because they are taking us away from creating the work of art that is our life. Now, I’m a writer and every day I sit down to say what I feel needs to be said. That’s me. It may not be you. In fact, we are all different, so it probably isn’t you.

So what is you? What masterpiece are you creating? We should all be creating our own art, regardless of what it is. To do that, to fill our life’s canvas with our dreams from deep inside is life’s great prize.

xoxoxo
Kaitlyn K