Sunday Stroke Survival~ Odds,Ends, and Thanks!

Thank you for all the good wishes and concern about my hand and my fall. Y'all make it the best of a bad situation. I do appreciate you. My left hand is better. See all you naysayers out there it wasn't broken. You know who you are.

I call this blog the Murphey Saga because nobody would believe what life throws at us on a daily basis unless I write about it. My tagline remains the same although I'm not writing (book or article wise) right now. Because my stroke and my life IS getting in the way of my love of writing and storytelling.

I thought I would explain this to the fifty odd new followers and readers (maybe more) of this blog that didn't know. The title came about in the Compuserve Writers Forum too many years ago. It was in answer to a response I got to a post. I don't remember what it was about now.

I answered, "The Murphey Sa-a-aga-a. The ongoing story of a family in a small town in Georgia. Where the Luck of the Irish and Murphy's Law collide in writing. A soap opera so unbelievable that if it was truly on-air you would not watch it because it had to be fake."

There you have it. That's the reason behind my title of this blog. Any questions?

Notables-

• I reached 100,000 hits on my blog this week. That figure boggles my mind. Maybe if I had written 1,000 blogs it would be feasible, but 100,000!
• The second thing is I've written just over 500 blog posts. That has to be a record of some kind for me. I didn't think I had that much in general to write about my life. But there is so much going on, I can't help myself.

Thanks to the Stroke Tribe.( Amy, Dean, Barb, Rebecca, John to name a few) No matter what. They've got my back. Through them I gain

valuable information so I at least sound more creditable. When I talk to professionals about what works and what doesn't, new innovated techniques, and their support has been invaluable during this recovery period since my strokes.

My cheerleaders along this journey from the Compuserve Books and Authors Forum (Zan Marie, Sara, Lara to name a few). We tag-a-long after each other like long time pals though we have never met in person. Thanks! You brighten my days.

Without all of you I couldn't have reached these numbers. Aw shucks! Y'all have got me bawling now just thinking of y'all. OR, maybe it's just my PBA kicking in again. Got ya!

Well, rehab has stopped for the time being while I wait for my next series of Botox injections. Spasticity has raised its ugly, fat head once again.

But something is different this time around. The spasticity doesn't seem as bad. Yes, I'm hampered from moving as much as I did when the Botox first started working. But I am still able to move instead of being drawn up. I'm happy to say the Botox has worn off totally in my leg. The ankle was so unsteady that walking was down right a dicey proposition at times. And no, it didn't stop another pressure sore from coming up.

Speaking of pressure sores, I'm not so sure that's what I have going on with my foot. A large blister will form under the callus on my foot where the AFO rubs. Sort of like you get when you wear tight shoes. When the blister pops it takes the callus with it leaving an open wound. This wound gets bigger and deeper with each occurrence. In that way it's like a pressure sore. It is also from pressure of walking while wearing my AFO. Still fighting the insurance company for a new one.

Yes it takes ointments and wet/dry dressings to heal like a pressure sore. It takes a doctor or me to cut away the dead tissue with a scalpel at the edges to heal.  But is it really a pressure sore...I dunno. I take the same attitude with it as dealing with Southeastern Legless Lizards...

1. If it looks like a snake
2. If it moves like a snake
3. If it has a forked tongue like a snake
4. Has dead, glassy eyes like a snake...

It is a snake! Quick kill it!
Therefore until I'm actually told otherwise...these are reoccurring pressure sores. I don't feel like taking the same advice about this lizard though. As long as it stays away from me...it can live.

Probably sometime next week I'll tell you how the week went. Once again, it's the continuing s-a-ag-a of the Murphey household.

Nothing is impossible with determination.

Monday Mailbox ~ Spams with a Point

Spams are just irritating. Does anyone with half a brain, like me, actually click on the links or buy their products?

In the 50s to 60s, it was door-to-door salesman from vacuum to insurance and everything in between. In the 70s thru the 80s, it was mass mailings where your mailbox may held two pieces of bonafide mail you wanted to read. Starting in 90s it was the age of telemarketers which continues today. Now with the internet being huge, it's spams.

I hit delete or spam on most of them. There is one exception. That's where my blog is concerned. I must sift through EIGHTY pieces of Spam a day. Why do I put myself through the this? Even though spams are regurgitated  mass e-mail to anyone who does not have a filter in place, some have points for thought. No, I don't take them all that seriously so you don't have to call those nice, young men wearing white coats.

They do have some key thinking points for me like...

• Blog header
• Is the title of my blog effective
• Content
• The overall look and feel of my blog

They spams keep me always questioning, "Can it be better?" and "How can I make it better?" I know I'll never reach perfection, but settle with what I'm happy with right now. Yearly I evaluate my blog/website performance overall with tweaks made during the year. It got just plain tiring to change everything every three or four months.

I've been spending time with Ali Cross, who I "met" during the Indierecon online conference developing a logo and tagline to better emphasize my blog. I've got the tagline for the newsletter set that perfectly describes what I write, Suspense with a Soul.

No, I'm not going to change the look or background of this blog because it works for me right now. The good Lord knows, and my readers, this blog format has gone through numerous changes over the last couple years

The logo and design are a bit trickier. I am too much! Literarally.

I have too many nterests! To narrow it down to two or thee elements is short changing who I am. While I dream of narrowing my creative talents, I ask myself, why should I? Personally I'm thinking of a juggler with items I do up in the air.  But I digress...

My blog header is Murphey Saga because < cue the soap opera music> my life is a bad soap opera.

My tag line about writing but life gets in the way, is true and something all writers face. I didn't only write about writing or strictly for my readers, but how life impacts everything we attempt to do. A real picture of the writing life, family, and about me. Isn't that what people want to know?

As far as titles of my blogs go, I'll admit sometimes they need a little help. I've seen the "7 Ways to Improve the Widget" type titles and may actually click on them. But mostly it is inane clicking and browse reading.

That's just not me. I like to chat and that's the way I approach my blog. I believe in the soft sell and relationships. Now don't get me wrong, I can do the hard sell. I was once described as being able to sell salt to man man in the middle of the Dead Sea. At times, that approach is necessary, but in a "Meet the author" type website? 

Yes, this blog is a sales tool. Over on the right, I have my books and where to get them, about the author, book trailers, and assorted other sales pitch things. If someone wants to take the time to read it. Yes, I mention certain books I've written and writing because that's what I do, I am a writer, but I am so much more.

Because I'm an eclectic, but focus individual. I write about everything. Be it my stroke, my writing, my family, or vent about injustices or food for thought. That's my content. I could focus all my attention on one aspect or other but then I would be writing thirty blogs instead of just two with bleed overs in both. Sometimes with some adjustments one blog written will have ramifications on the other one, and I'll cheat and publish it on both sites. Wherever life impacts me at any given moment, that's what I write about.

So do you look at spams any differently?

Keep writing and loving the Lord