BRAINPAN LEAKAGE

I know a lot of Wendys…

I realize that’s kind of odd, but throughout my life I have come to know several Wendys. Or, in one case, Wendi. There’s also Wendie, as in Wendie Malick, but I don’t actually know her. I’ve just seen her on TV, so she really doesn’t count.

And, these Wendys are all across the board as to personalities and professions. There’s a blond Wendy who was a Flight Attendant for TWA – remember them? TWA, I mean, not Flight Attendants. Although, I could certainly wax nostalgic about how Flight Attendants used to be Flight Attendants, and not psychopathic hall monitors who seem to think they are Air Marshals. In any event, I have no idea what TWA Wendy is doing these days. I haven’t seen her in years, but I did use to joke with her quite a bit and call her an Airborne Waitress. Fortunately, she had a good sense of humor about it.

Then there’s small Wendy. I have no idea what she is doing, or what she grew up to be. I met her shortly after I graduated high school. My dad and I went on a hiking trip in Colorado, and we had set up camp in a public – but little used – camping area halfway up a pass in the Rockies. Small Wendy and her parents were camping in the same area, albeit several sites over. She developed a crush on me because she thought I looked like John Denver, and would come over to our campsite whenever she saw us out and about. Her parents even sent her over with leftovers from their dinner – they had an RV with a kitchen – because they felt sorry for us having to eat freeze dried rations.

And, there’s “Mistress Wendi”. That’s where the Wendi with an”i” shows up. That’s not her real name… Well… Not when she’s just being her normal self. It’s more of a moniker attached to the alter ego of a friend. Based on the honorific I’m sure you can figure out what she does for fun. We’ve been friends forever, and she was an invaluable source of info when I was researching the Miranda novels.

There are others, but I don’t want to bore you too much. I mean, all I am doing is rambling about women named Wendy. There was, however, a particular Wendy in my life who wasn’t exactly a friend. She also wasn’t exactly an enemy. She was, for lack of a better description, a thorn in my ass. I have no clue what happened to her, but I think of her often, believe it or not. Well, maybe not often as in often. More like whenever I am startled by something and jump out of my skin.

I was all prepared to write the story of why this happens to be when I received notice that one of my recent workshops, which had been videotaped at an event, was now online. I was watching it to see how it came out and lo and behold, there I was, right there on the screen telling the story about this particular Wendy in order to illustrate a point. So, rather than toss a whole ‘nother mess of words out there, here it is, from my lips to your ears.

(Video Courtesy of Spiraling Up Video Productions)

Moral of the story?

Don’t let your guard down around anyone named Wendy. Especially if she has a roll of Scotch Tape in hand…

More to come…

Murv

Okay, I’ll be honest, this is going to be one of those short and sweet postings. I’m up against a deadline – not right up against it, but it definitely now falls under Visual Flight Rules – so I’m not free to “blawg” like usual… Still, the title does have a bit of a dual meaning.

1. I’m off in the land inside my head where I am not necessarily me. I’m just some random cluster of glial cells that happens to be taking notes.
2. There’s another place out on the web where people might think I am me being someone who is not me, but in a real sense of the word is actually me. But it’s not.

Make sense? Nope… Doesn’t to me either…

Let me see if I can explain –

As far as number one goes, I’m writing. I have a manuscript deadline to meet. Of the two, I think that was probably pretty self-explanatory.

As to the oddball number two…

There’s a blog out there called Ripped From The Pages…

RFTP is a blog (duh, Murv, you just said that), and it is written by characters – primarily Felicity O’Brien – from the Rowan Gant series of novels. It details things going on in their lives outside the boundaries of the books. Some folks, quite understandably, have assumed that it is me penning these entries.

Well… It’s not. Now, I know I often speak of merely being a stenographer in the world of my characters, and yes, I still maintain that position. However, in this particular case I am not even the stenographer behind the prose. As it happens, a dear friend, fan, and co-creator of the “Official Unofficial M. R. Sellars Fan Club – Murv’s Stalkers” is the voice behind Felicity and her blog entries.

So that we are clear, YES, these blogs are officially sanctioned by me, and I do see them prior to public release. I also provide some of the pictures that are used (though not all, by any means)…

Why am I telling you all this? Well, you see, here’s the thing. Sometimes folks will leave comments on the blog addressed to me. I don’t always see them unless “Felicity” tells me about it, or I just happen to surf by there. “Felicity” has pointed out that she is writing the blog, and not me – however, I am willing to bet that many are just assuming those notes are from me being silly – or  personality dissociative…

Well… It’s not. There’s a “Felicity” behind “Felicity” on Ripped From The Pages… And you know, sometimes she even fools me…

More to come…

Murv