Books and Works

Review of, Karma Doesn’t Kill, by Yvette M. Calleiro

Hi there, just posting my latest review. Enjoy.

Some Background:

JT pulled the short end of the stick when he was given his life’s journey. With a convicted felon as a dad and a drunk as a mom, there weren’t many positive influences in his life. When his mom’s boyfriend began sharing his marijuana with JT, his father fought for custody and won.

Life on his dad’s farm was simpler. JT started turning his life around until one tragic event sent him spiraling again. All choices have consequences. For JT, those choices left him staring down the barrel of a gun. Could JT rise above his circumstances, or would karma have its way with him?

My Thoughts:

This is a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of bad decisions and failure to heed sound advice. Indeed, we do reap the harvest of our actions and words.

JT is a young man conflicted by the competing affections of his divorced parents. Life with Mom means a home plagued by addiction and a shiftless existence. Dad keeps him busy on the farm, doing an honest day’s work while fostering a strict adherence to responsibility.

But storms come for us all and the doozy that hits JT and his Dad wipes out the bridge between them. To make matters worse, JT starts down a bad path that leads to life-changing consequences and haunting regrets.

I recommend this short story for young and old alike because moral crossroads can appear at any stage of life. Karma doesn’t discriminate.

Meet Yvette:

Yvette M. Calleiro is the author of the Chronicles of the Diasodz fantasy series, HYPE, and two short stories. As a heavily addicted reader of both young adult and adult novels, she spends most of her time pseudo-living in paranormal worlds with her fictional friends (and boyfriends).

When she’s living among real people, she is a middle school Reading and Language Arts teacher. She’s been sharing her love of literature with her students for over twenty years. Besides writing about the various characters that whisper (and sometimes scream) in her head, she enjoys traveling, watching movies, spending quality time with family and friends, and enjoying the beauty of the ocean.

Yvette lives in Miami, Florida, with her incredible son who has embraced her love for paranormal and adventurous stories. She also shares her space with an assortment of crazy saltwater animals in her 300-gallon tank.

Stop by her blog: Yvette M. Calleiro

https://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com/

Some Beautiful Artwork For Your Tuesday

I recently stopped by my parent’s house while heading home from a ski trip. Seeing all of Mom’s painting on their walls reminded me of this post. This was originally posted on November 11, 2022. (Over to you, Past Mark):

I have a special treat for you today, an interview and artwork from a very talented artist. She’s not just an artist, but also my Mom. What you’re seeing here today is but a fraction of the wonderful oil paintings that grace the walls of my parent’s home, and ours.

This painting celebrates the trees in a farmer’s field down the road. The farmer had trouble with wolves. The trees were destroyed because the cows were too attracted to the Crab Apples. Glad I painted a picture of those lovely trees.

How did you get into painting?

As a timid child, in a large immigrant family, I started school at the age of six. I had teachers that encouraged my drawing ability. My love of art grew, as I grew. After my marriage, I moved to a farm, where my husband and I raised four children. It was a good time, and I did try to find time for art, but at first it was water colors. Later, I discovered my real love was oil painting. It is such a relaxing and forgiving medium; no rush, and if I don’t like something I can just paint over it. Oil painting is best done in layers, anyway.

Lighting is everything on a finished painting. The daylight gives it an authentic sheen that becomes more mysterious by lamplight, so the picture is never quite the same. That is what I love about oil paintings.

Based on a photograph. MacDougall Mill in Renfrew, Ontario, Canada.

What is your favorite subject to paint?

I try to diversify, but the easiest for me is trees. I love doing skies and landscapes. Bright, cerulean skies, with whitish puffy clouds and shadows, is a great way for me to start a painting.

A peaceful fall scene. Again, from my imagination.

Do you enjoy listening to music while you paint?

Music is a staple in my life. I especially love listening to beautiful hymns. I am so thankful for easy access to talented, Christian musicians. I almost always listen to music as I paint.

No longer used by humans. Left for wild animals. A sad and lonely painting.

If you could go back in time and learn from a famous artist?

I would love to learn from the 16th century artists, who mastered skin tones and shadows. Someone like Rembrandt. I like art that attempts to portray the natural world, over modern art, though some of those can be quite striking also.

A playful winter scene from my imagination. Happy times!

This scene is from our backyard, on a calm winter evening.

A peaceful scene, and something from the past. A farmer’s wife wife bringing him an early supper. They are offering up a prayer of thanksgiving to God.

Thank you, Mom, for being a guest today, and for everything you’ve done for us over the years. We love you very much. But, there’s one last very important question. How did you manage to raise such an angelic, oldest son?

Ummmhmmm . . . (nods and smiles) 🙂

Meet Wendi Bierman:

Wendi Bierman was born in Holland and immigrated to Canada at the age of four, as part of a large family. She grew up in Pembroke, Ontario, Canada, and had a happy, busy childhood, with church every Sunday. She became a follower of Jesus at a young age, and has remained a Christian all her life.

As a teen, she loved roller skating, reading mystery books, learning to play music, and singing. Wendi married a farmer and moved to Athens, Ontario. They have raised four children, now married and enjoy eight grandchildren. Each one of those grandchildren has received a painting of themselves, at age seven, doing something they liked to do. Something for them to remember their grandmother in later years. Grandpa has added to this by making the lovely frames.

Wendi is thankful for everyday, along with the gift of art and painting that is in her soul.

Chickens, Coops, and Sweet Chili Lime Poetry

Sorry, I’ve been doing a lot of bird themes these last few posts, but I couldn’t resist bringing this one back from September of 2023.

I’m guessing that since you’ve seen the cover photo and the title, the element of surprise about the content of this post has been somewhat dampened. Yes, this is a pic of the newest members of our chicken family. A pair of Barred Rock hens.

It seems ‘chicken math’ is a thing! According to local lore, our four birds will soon turn into twenty-two. Hmmm . . . two plus two equals twenty-two. Makes sense? Just how this miraculous arithmetic works, when no rooster is present, is beyond my pinheaded comprehension. Perhaps they duplicate and divide, like cells in the body.

The above photo shows them in their briefly temporary smaller coop. We just got them yesterday and my daughter has yet to name them. But to her credit, they are beautiful birds and do look a tad bit alike.

We plan to move them into the coop below, ASAP. What’s not shown here is the exceptionally large run now attached to it. Plenty of room to ‘chicken’ in the great outdoors. We have to be careful out here because of the high rate of predators.

That’s it for the fowl news. Here’s a little attempt at poetry. It’s in the style of a Triolet. Anyone who’s ever had to deal with the frustration of watching their favorite snack get stuck in a vending machine will appreciate this, and hopefully get a chuckle, too. 🙂

My tummy grumbles, my eyes shed water,

 Sweet chili lime chips crumpled against the glass

Nose pressed to the pane, I beg the fraudster

My tummy grumbles, my eyes shed water

I jab the button, my mouth starts to bluster

Penniless wit is offered by all who pass  

My tummy grumbles, my eyes shed water,

Sweet chili lime chips crumpled against the glass  

Who’s the Boss?

This was originally posted in March of 2022.

Who’s the Boss? Our pets or us? Yes, they give us joy, company, affection, and life would be dull without them, but we do feed and house them. Let’s face it, we’re suckers for our pets.

There’s no shirking of duties when Sage is around.

“Make him share, Dad, or I will!”

Wordpecker

So this year I’ve been noticing more woodpeckers around here. Thus far, there’s no damage to any of our trees, and the males haven’t used our gutters as territorial war drums or an avian dating app.

Now, just suppose one of these head bangers decides to use his noggin’ as something other than a jackhammer. Maybe, just perhaps, he watches some old timey movie through a window, and sees a telegraph being used. He lip reads and figures out that some dude named Samuel F. B. Morse came up with a code.

He’s new on the dating scene and wants to dazzle the ladies. Not just resort to the prescribed tree knocking that his old man taught him as a nestling.

Poetry is not my writing staple, but I’m feeling a limerick today. Having just typed a mouthful, I’m sure you can “guess” the theme.

My name’s Ben, I know Morse, it’s absurd.

Dot, Dot, Dash; please don’t Laugh, I’m a bird.

I love spruce, oak’s too hard; swing and whack.

It’s a skill! Ooh, a snack!  

I can read. One, two, cat! A WORDpecker!