New Site Address

I've been able to fix this site since I recreated Scrungy's Creator to Scrungy and Friends, but I like the new Scrungy and Friends much better.
I'm sorry for inconvenience...due to my dumb blogging difficulties.
This site will remain here for the archives, but the real Scrungy has moved on.
Please join Scrungy and Friends at here.

=^.^=

Y

This Site Got Broken And Has Been Recreated As Scrungy & Friends

Ka-Pow!

On Thursday I set out to change my blog page from a two column template to a three. I saw my mistake as soon as I hit the button. In a panic I did something else and messed things up for good. I saw the damage as it happened and it's not fixable. Nor do I want to even try. I like the new site I've created much better, the title and the link. It's not much different than Scrungy's Creator, except that it gives me a better opportunity to create a life for Scrungy and his friends on the web.



So please reset my link and come over to http://scrungy.blogspot.com/ where you will be greeted by Scrungy & Friends.


I'm sorry for the inconvenience. After a few tears and a hissy fit, (there was no chocolate in the house at the time) I calmed down and began to redesign a new site. Because my old one was at a point of no return, I just forged ahead with a different site and address. I hadn't planed on moving away from Scrungy's Creator, but I'm hopping everyone will recognize me when I sign in as Dorothy with my photo of Gretchen and myself.




I'll soon be moving my archives because I want to keep them all together, but the comments won't be with them from this point back.

I'll check this site often until I'm sure everyone got the word and has found my new home.

Thank you all for your patience and friendship. I enjoy each and every comment you've all made and the friendships that have blossomed from them. I also enjoy meeting new friends and hope that I will continue to increase my circle of friends over at Scrungy & Friends.

Thursday Thirteen #15

Here are 13 reasons why I should not have gotten out of bed today!

This post comes with a warning...I'm having a bad day. Read at your own risk.

Click on the picture to make it bigger.

1. I didn't want to get out of bed today. I wasn't feeling well and should have stayed put. I finally convinced myself to get up and go to the computer...big, big, big, mistake! I broke my site!

2. I couldn't leave well enough alone, I had to try and fix it! I nearly cleaned it clean off the map.

3. If I had been satisfied with the layout of my first site I had I wouldn't be having a problem right now!

4. I wanted a three panel template and thought I saved my old site and didn't! That's because I don't know what heck I'm doing.

5. Now my html template thingy on this bog is not working and I can't refix this site! I'm tired of reading all the help stuff...my mind has turned to mush, my butt has turned to stone. My cat hates me because I haven't moved from this spot since I got up. I didn't listen to my inner voice, I should have been writing instead of screwing around with a new layout...again!

6. I've started working on a new site with three panels, but I won't have it done for awhile. I'm tired of sitting here being frustrated.

7. I've already spent my entire afternoon, trying to figure things out. Wasted...wasted...wasted! Oh, I think I said that already...refer to the cartoon above, please.

8. I been having really bad thoughts all day about just not blogging anymore.

9. I will lose all my archives and have to start over with new ones. Uck!

10. I will keep this old site up for awhile while I'm figuring things out. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day. Maybe this day never really happened and I'll wake up tomorrow and everything will be the way it used to be.

11. The new site will be called Scrungy's Creator II (I think) now I'm beginning to think that was a really dumb title in the first place and maybe I should just come up with a whole new identity.

12. It will be dark soon and time to go back to bed! yeah, for once I can't wait. I've accomplished nothing but producing dark clouds. I'm going to go eat something besides peach pie, something nourishing and healthy...watch TV maybe...then read. Today never happened...today never happened...today never happened.

13. Maybe this is a good thing, Right? I should always learn from my mistakes? Someone please tell me I'm right!



The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

Wordless Wednesday

Cats on Tuesday

This reminds me of Scrungy and his freinds as kittens.

The following is an excerpt from Scrungy: Abandoned

Scrungy had never been allowed to be out of Deedum or Zera's sight; likewise, the king's kittens were also not allowed to leave the tower, unless escorted by their father or receiving their instructions from the guards. As restless and curious as kittens were, the four males were not content to spend every day of the summer scooting around the rocks and crevices of the tower. One August morning after Scrungy, Sarlin, Diesel, and Mott had finished their lessons with Asanka and Arjuna, the four-month-old kittens decided to sneak off and go to the edge of the forest. Scrungy had been telling them about how he had crossed the abandoned field and about the huge tree where he spent the first two nights after he had been dumped. They had decided that they were now old enough to do what they wanted and they tracked off through the forest to the edge of the abandoned field.

"This is the tree that I slept in," Scrungy exclaimed. "See, here is the cavity that the squirrel had her nuts in."

Looking up into the branches of the tree, Mott cried, "Wow, this is a giant oak. Look how far up the branches go. We can race each other up to the top!"

"Yes, let's go," Scrungy shouted.

Diesel and Sarlin hung back as Mott and Scrungy scooted up the trunk and out onto a low-hanging branch.

"What are you afraid of, Sarlin?" Mott cried. "Look how much fun we can have. These branches are wide and the bark is thick. It's easy to grasp with our claws. Come on! Don't be a scaredy-cat!"

"Father will be very angry with us for even being here," Sarlin pouted. He peered through the high grass and weeds that shielded them from the field. "We better go back home."

"Nonsense, Sarlin!" Scrungy cried. "We're old enough to be out here, aren't we? Your father always said that cats in the wild grow up much faster than domestic cats do. So we gotta be at least six or seven months old compared to a house cat."

Diesel was torn between wanting to be sensible like his older brother Sarlin, or go up into the giant tree and have fun with Mott and Scrungy. Finally, his urge to scurry up into the tree overwhelmed his desire to stay on the ground with Sarlin. He bounded up the massive trunk and joined his brothers on the lowest limb. "Race you to the top!" Mott shouted and all three scampered up through the branches to the top of the tree.

The old oak that stood as a sentinel to the cat's kingdom was home to other creatures as well, creatures that the kittens had not yet had the opportunity to experience. Very near the top of the tree was a hollow filled with sleeping raccoons, a mother and three babies. So far the kittens knew how to climb up and had just reached the top when the mother raccoon left her hollow and climbed up after them. Scrungy had gone out on one limb, Mott on another, and Diesel was still clinging to the main part of the trunk when the mother raccoon surprised them. Her hissing and snarling, the baring of her very sharp teeth, narrowed eyes, and flattened ears frightened the kittens. Diesel was the closest to the raccoon and began to climb faster until he managed to reach the limb that Mott was clinging to. The mother raccoon was wise enough to know that she was too large for the branches that held the kittens, so she held her position between the two branches. Sooner or later the kittens would have to start down, and then she would make a meal of at least one of them.

Sarlin, still on the ground below, became terrified for his brothers and started to cry. "You're going to die! All of you are going to die! If that creature doesn't get you, you will fall and then you will die!"

To Scrungy, clinging to the highest branch in the tree, Sarlin looked like a large white mushroom growing out of the tree roots below. He could barely hear Sarlin's cries. He could see Mott and Diesel across from him, crying and clinging to end of their branch together with all their might. He knew he had to do something to distract the large beast from her position so they could get past her.

Bravely, Scrungy had started to inch his way towards the center of the tree and main part of the trunk leading down when a large brown and black, tiger-striped tabby bolted up the trunk and lit into the mother raccoon from behind. The two animals, locked in a fierce grip, tumbled over branches as they fell to the ground. As soon as they landed, the raccoon took off running and disappeared into the thick underbrush.

The large, unknown cat lay lifeless at the base of the tree. Sarlin cautiously approached the injured cat as Scrungy backed down the trunk and joined him beside the tom.

"Who is he?" Scrungy whispered. "Is he dead?"

"I think he is still alive," Sarlin whined, "and we are in so much trouble." He looked up into the tree at his brother's still clinging to their branch. "Scrungy, they're still up there. What are we going to do?"

"Don't panic, Sarlin," Scrungy cried. "First we have to get some help. This guy is injured, and one of us needs to go get Deedum and Zera."

"Not me!" Sarlin shouted. "I'll never find my way to your place. I've never been there before—remember?"

"We've got to do something, Sarlin. That beast could come back at any minute, then what?"

A deep, but weak, voice startled them as the creature they were standing over groaned. Instinctively their fur stood on end, their ears went flat against their head as they barred their teeth and hissed. "Calm down, boys," the voice said. "I'm not dead, I've just had the wind knocked out of me."

Scrungy and Sarlin relaxed. "Who are you? What—where did you come from? I've never seen you in the kingdom before," Scrungy said.

The large stripped tabby got up off the ground and shook his body to remove the bits of grass and leaf litter that clung to his fur. "That's because I am not from around here. I was just coming into the forest from that road out there, and I saw your dilemma. You boys don't know how to climb a tree very well, do you?" He glanced up at Diesel and Mott, still clinging for life at the top of the tree. "My name is Wahdee. What's yours?"

Scrungy blurted out their names. "I'm Scrungy, this is Sarlin, and his brothers who are still up in the tree are Diesel and Mott. Can you help them get down?"

Wahdee's booming laugh nearly toppled the pair. "I'm not going after them. I've already fallen once today. Besides, you seem to have made it down all right, Scrungy. Last I saw before I hit the ground, you were just as far out on your limb as they are on theirs. Why don't you go back up and show them how it's done?" Wahdee continued to laugh.

Scrungy frowned at the large cat that had just saved them from certain death. "I—I don't remember how I did it. I was just so scared that you were dead, and the next thing I remember I was on the ground beside you."

Wahdee laughed even harder. "Well, you best be remembering soon because that mother raccoon is bound to come back and seek out her youngins. Go on," he urged, "you did it once, you can do it again. Besides, how good of a tom are you going to make if you can't climb a tree proper?"

"I'm going to be a big strong cat," Scrungy insisted. "I've been taking lessons." Scrungy streaked up the tree trunk to a safe place in the crook of a branch nearest Diesel and Mott.

"You've seen me do this once already," he shouted out to them. "Just watch me do it again. That cat who saved our lives down there, said that the mother raccoon will be coming back looking for her babies soon. So you better learn real quick how to back down out of a tree. Besides, what good are all our lessons if we don't know how to get in and out of a dumb old tree?"

Scrungy slowly backed down a few feet and waited for Diesel and Mott to follow his example. Soon, shaky and scared stiff, Diesel turned his tail towards the trunk and carefully backed off the branch that he'd been clinging to until he got to the main trunk then scrambled down it to the ground and safety. "Come on, Mott, you can do it, too." Scrungy called to him. "It won't look good for Asanka and Arjuna if we can't get ourselves out of a tree. You've seen us do it, now I'm going down to the ground and wait for you."

Mott shut his eyes and timidly backed down the tree the way that Diesel had just done. When he hit the ground he turned to his brothers and Scrungy and groaned. "I'm too young for this."

This is copyrighted material and only for the purpose of this blog, please respect it as so and just enjoy reading it here. DBB

Thursday Thirteen #14

Thirteen actors that I have a crush on…and the movies that made me fall in love with them, all of which I would watch over and over and over again. These are my favorite movie men and even though I've listed only one or two of their movies….I like everything they've ever made.
Some are long gone from the silver screen and others have only gotten better with age.

In no particular order:

1. Harrison Ford – Indiana Jones

2. Richard Gere – Pretty Woman and Chicago

3. Pierce Brosnan – Bond, James Bond, of course

4. Kevin Costner – Message in a Bottle and Dragonfly

5. Tom Selleck – High Road to China

6. Cary Grant – Father Goose and Operation Petticoat

7. John Wayne – The Quiet Man

8. Rock Hudson – Man's Favorite Sport

9. Patrick Stewart – Jean-luc Picard, Captain of the Starship Enterprise

10. Mel Gibbson - Braveheart

11. Sean Connery – Medicine Man

12. James Garner – Notebook

13. Sam Elliot - Conager

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

Wordless ~Full of Love~ Wednesday

Photo in an emal - author unknown

Mike the Mysterious: Episode 6: Writer Wannabe

Mike, The Writer Wannabe

Mike had been out in the living room in his basket and still wearing that silly feathered hat for over a month now. I was getting worried about him. I was thinking it was time for a change of scenery. I must have broken the spell he was in when I moved the living room sofa back to its winter position, against the wall. I finally persuaded him to put the orange and black hat and cape away until October. "Besides, you're getting very dusty, Mike!" I complained to him.

He reminded me that I was supposed to be making him a new costume. A sparkly wizard's hat and cape. "We'll," I said, "that won't happen for awhile. So let's just put this costume away and pick out something else to wear. At least until it's time to pull out the bear's sweaters again." He frowned, but gave up his costume willingly. "It's been way to warm for this thing anyway," he groaned.

I gave him a good shake to get off all the dust that had accumulated on his melted back fur, and wiped the dirt from his golden, glass eyes. I could tell he was very appreciative of my efforts to spruce him up a bit.

So, today when I came into the office to turn on the computer, I found Mike already at the keyboard. He said it was time to write a story for Cat Tuesday and he was going to write his own story. I'd said I wasn't ready to do that yet, but he'd just jammed on a pair the bear's glasses; how he'd found them I'll never know, and started up the computer.

"I wanna be a writer like you," he stated mater-of-factly, and started clicking away at the keyboard.

"Wait," I yelled. That's my new computer. You're gonna mess things up. Move aside and let me do the typing. You just tell me what you want to say. Nobody, and that includes you fluffheads, is gonna use my keyboard!"

A wry glint flashed across a golden eye as he politely reminded me that Gretchen was allowed to blog, so why couldn't he blog, too? I had no rational answer that I could give him that didn't sound prejudiced against fluffheads, no matter how smart they were."Okay," I finally relented. "But if you mess things up I'm going to de-fluff you piece, by wiry piece.'
I'm sure the thought of being de-fluffed was horrifying to him. He didn't argue with me anymore, he just climbed up on the desk and started dictating to me.

"Okay," he began. "My name is Mike the Mysterious, as you well know, and I'm gonna write my memoirs."

"Wait," I said, holding my hand up to stop him from continuing. "Your memoirs? You have memories to write about?"

He just looked at me through a pair of yellow lenses that belonged to the bears, and stated: "I had a life once. Maybe it was a long time ago, but I did have a life."

"Sorry," I said. "Please continue."

"I need to get my thoughts together. Hand me a pencil, will you? And I'll need some note paper, those colorful sticky things you're always using will do. I'll need a Dictionary and a Thesaurus…"

I rolled my eyes as I watched him scurry about on my desk writing notes, thumbing through the Dictionary, the Thesaurus, and the spelling book I keep by the keyboard. I didn't even try to explain that the word program I used had a thing called spell-check.

Minutes ticked by while Mike made notes. Sticky note paper flew in all directions. I think he just loved the idea of scratching a few words and tearing off sheets of tiny paper and sticking them to things, more than he did in making serious notes about his life.
"Ummm, Mike?" I asked, after about twenty minutes of this activity. "Are we going to write today, or what?"

"Oh, yes," he squealed with delight. "Yes, just let me get something to nibble on first. All this thinking has made me hungry." Gretchen had woken up from her nap in her Crystal Geyser Box on the desk and had padded over to her munching table for a light snack. The distraction was too much for Mike, he flew across the desk to where Gretchen was happily scarffing down Temptations and solicited her for a few morsels.

I shouldn't have been surprised that Gretchen moved over so Mike could grab a few bits for himself. Had it been a real-life, furry creature, I'm sure Gretchen would have had a few distasteful words to say, maybe even a well placed swat to the nose…I don't think she's the snack-sharing type. But Mike is Mysterious and has a way with getting around things like sibling rivalry—in this case fluffhead annoyances. Besides, I think Gretchen's already aware that Mike can't really eat. He just pretends. So her little stash was in no real danger.

I had emails to answer and some blogs to look at so I let Mike alone for a spell. Next I noticed he'd found the extra pouch of Temptations and had taken over Gretchen's napping box. Would Gretchen allow him to do that? I looked around. Gretchen had departed for other parts of the apartment. She probably had to visit the little girlcat box and take a drink from the toilet.

I continued to blog, thankful that Mike was distracted from wanting me to write his memoirs. I glanced over at him after a few more minutes. He was enamored by the blue, foil packet that Gretchen's treats came in. It must have been like catnip to him, he got all glassy-eyed as he rolled around and bunny kicked the packet.

Okay, this was weirding me out. I took the packet of salmon flavored treats away from Mike and put them back in the cubbyhole on my hubby's desk. I noticed a few Hershey's chocolate bars stashed in there, too. Hmmm. I poked around some more and stole a candy bar for myself. He wouldn't mind. After all, it was chocolate, and when a woman comes across a chocolate bar, no matter who it belongs to, it's hers.

"Enough!" I told Mike. "Either you get back over here and tell me what to write, or take a nap. I've got work to do."

Mike looked up at me with widened, glazed eyes. For a moment there I was afraid for the candy bar I held in my hand. You don't suppose Mike wants chocolate, too? Naw, I reminded myself. He's just a fluffhead. A quirky little piece of melted back nylon and…hmm, what was he made of, really? I had to take a look at his tag. Aw, yes, "Ty Inc © 2000 (hmm, he's just seven years old? how on earth could he have memoirs?) OAKBROOK, IL., REG. NO. PA—oh geesh, I had to get the magnifying glass—1965 (KR), ALL NEW MATERIAL, CONTENTS POLYESTER, FIBER & P.E. PELLETS IN CLOTH BAG, HANDMADE IN CHINA, CE." Well, that told me nothing. Whatever the outer material was, it certainly was defective. All but his legs and tail had melted in the dryer.

"Hey, come on, Mike!" I startled him out of his salmon flavored induced trance. "Let's get going here I've got other things to do today. I've also got to produce a story for Cat's on Tuesday."

"Oh, dear," his apology was a bit slurred. "Where were we? Ah, yes…my memoirs. Grab me that yellow legal pad, will you?" Mike shuffled across the desk, stepped on a few keys 3lzj;oirtiasfj and settled himself on the note pad by the hard drive, a small pencil tucked behind his ear. "It all began, a hundred years or so, ago; in a land very far away…" he paused, looked up at me over the tops of his glasses, "so far in fact that I'm afraid you've never heard of it, D."

Okay, I was beginning to see that this project was going to take longer than I thought, not to mention the stretch his imagination was going to take. I took his dictation without comment. He was pretty good at story telling actually, and I told him so. In the fluffhead world his story could possibly become a Best Seller.

Mike grinned, and as I was editing a few details, he had scurried back across the keyboard, stepping on a few more keys jwerjgno;ijheoiujtu9235hr and settled himself back in Gretchen's napping box. When I looked up he had my cell phone open and was punching numbers with his thick, black stub that he had for a paw.

"Hey, Mike! Not my cell phone!" I grabbed it before he could punch send. "Who in the world are you calling?"

"My agent," he said.

New Award

My sweet friend in Belgium, Gattina, gave me the Blogging Star award.

The Blogging Star Award, has been created by Barb at Skittles'Place . She has created it for bloggers who shine their light throughout the Blogoshere, with humor, creativity, or with their kind and thoughtful natures.

I'm honored to be thought of in that way on the Blogosphere. Thank you, Gattina.

I'm supposed to display this award on my blog along with a link to who gave it to me...that would be Gattina at Writer Cramps. I am to mention that it originated at Skittles' Place so Barb can follow it's journey. Feel free to pass it on to any blogger(s) you think should have it.

My first thought went to Thomma Lyn. To me she is Super Star Blogging Star. Her light certainly does shine bright throughout the Blogosphere with her humor, creativity and her kind and thoughtful nature. She's a friend to all the bloggers that she meets. Her cats, the Ballicus, also deserve this award just as much for the same reasons. Marilyn MonREOW and Chairman Mao. So since Gretchen is the better part of me, I'll let her have the honor to present them with this award from her site.

Barb at Skittles' Place probably didn't imagine that such an award as this will fly through the Catsblogosphere....which just goes to show ya, never underestimate the power of cats.

I have one other Blogging Star to give this award to, because of her friendly efforts and creativity. Paula at Basset Knitter. Not just because she is my daughter and I'm proud of her, but because of her blogging talents, her gift of friendship to all she meets. Her light shines brightly, too.

Short Story Writing Month Challenge Begins

The Short Story Writing Month challenge starts today. The sign-ups have been extended through the weekend. For those of you wishing to participate in the event you still have a chance to join.

The first contest of the SSWM for the best opening sentence has been posted. I've already posted my first sentence, "Ever play the game, button, button, who's got the button?"

You can still enter this first contest... It's open until September 8th. Just go to SSWM site and post your first sentence in the comment section.