Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

Kimberly A. Cook

Who Is Going To Report On The Squirrels?

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by Kimberly A. Cook           (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Girding myself for the big change coming to my life next month; the daily newspaper goes to Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. While this may not seem like a big deal to digital natives who popped out of the womb with a laptop, for us vintage folk it’s a major life change.

A furry friend in Camp Sherman, Oregon. Who knows what he might be plotting?
A furry friend in Camp Sherman, Oregon. Who knows what he might be plotting?

It is part of my morning routine to fetch the newspaper. One letter writer to the paper wanted to know how he was going to explain it to his dog who gets a treat when he brings in the newspaper. I’m thinking that guy is going to have to become Santa paperboy and place a dummy one outside on the porch each night.

Wondering how all this switch to the web was going to actually affect the reporters, the Sunday edition offered up this explanation of how the reporters would send in “Twitter-bits” of news, I’m going to call them, then the “curators” (formerly called editors) will try to muck all these bits together, grab a visual and throw it on the web. Okay, he said it better, but that’s what I’m thinking it sounds like.

Read the article here: http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/09/peter_bhatia_digital_focus_mea.html

SO, it seems speed wins in this new era of digital journalism, but I thought that traffic safety ad said speed kills. We shall see. But even more fun for me was the serendipity I will miss of the daily paper where I found a huge squirrel article on the flip side of the editorial article. Titled, “Zapped by Squirrel Power,” in our paper, it is a reprint written by Jon Mooallem with the New York Times News Service.

Fascinating article about why the power grid goes down when squirrel’s  fry themselves by making a “bad connection.” I love squirrels. But this writer has been tracking how many squirrels are causing power outage havoc. Talks about how the power grid folks are trying to prevent squirrels from coming to bad endings.

Which made we wonder if the squirrel scientists are talking to the power grid engineers or if we can’t get some behavior squirrel modification training programs going. Those thoughts confirm I need to get off knitting sabbatical and get back to writing because my muse is running rampant with scissors.

So when I went to find the link to the original squirrel article, imagine my surprise when it ranked as one of the top New York Times articles right now. Squirrels are big nationwide. Who knew?

So what do power squirrels and my daily newspaper going to a four-day publication schedule have in common? I’m hoping they both don’t toast themselves in the process. Because the feature articles I used to write for the newspaper and my blog posts now are both longer than a “twitter-bit,” and they take some time to write; and that’s not a bad thing.

(Squirrel article here. You know you want to read it.) http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/opinion/sunday/squirrel-power.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Got Time For Some Fluffy Friday Fun?

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by Kimberly A. Cook             (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

Rainy Friday here in Oregon. That’s okay, we need the water to put out the forest fires and water my garden.  Over the Labor Day weekend I did a lot of purging and cleaning around the house, so I rewarded myself watching the Gabriel Iglesias Aloha Fluffy comedy special on tv. Too fun!

Sinbad is on of my all time favorite comedians, I’ve seen him in concert several times and laughed so hard my cheeks hurt the next day. Plus, he’s an Air Force veteran, so he double rocks. One of my favorite things about him is he doesn’t need to use swearing to make me laugh; that takes talent.

Gabriel is the same way. This clip is from his Hawaiian concert last year. Take some time for a few good laughs when he talks about the movie “Magic Mike.” And yes, of course, that was a must see movie for me and my girlfriends when it premiered; Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey? Who cares if it had any script!

You can see more of the Aloha Fluffy special on YouTube. It rocks!

Happy Quirky Friday!

Seen A Lost Pirate Or Super Hero?

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by Kimberly A. Cook               (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Back to writing. Last Friday I stocked up on school supplies again, it’s a disease, then headed out to the parking lot. Happened to see two pirates walking past my car and into the store. Oregon is a great place for creative minds.

An interview in The Oregonian with Brian Michael Bendis described why he up and moved here and brought a big part of the Marvel comic franchise with him. I loved one line in the article where he talked about going out and about and seeing fun folk here in the land of Oregon.

“As you get older, you don’t leave the house as much, but when you do leave the house, as a writer or artist, you want guaranteed inspiration,” Bendis said about Portland. Read the article here: http://www.oregonlive.com/movies/index.ssf/2013/09/brian_bendis_interview_top_sup.html#incart_river

Writers observe, record and imagine new and old worlds. What better place to do that than on our everyday errands? We must keep an open eye and mind to watch for unexpected surprises, like pirates in the parking lot.

I wanted to know when the official Portland Pirate Festival was this year, so I checked out the web site http://portlandpiratefestival.com/

It appears even our pirates are having trouble this year, so the next big festival is Labor Day weekend 2014. Perhaps those parking lot pirates were in search of another festival. One never knows. Need to mark it on my calendar.

Keep your eyes open matey and your notebook in hand. One never knows when pirates or super heroes may show up on your watch.

It’s Time For Duck Football!

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by Kimberly A. Cook                            (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Got quite a lot of feedback from the Ranger folks about Tuesdays’s post, a big thank you to everyone.  And here it is Quirky Friday once again. For those getting a long weekend off, stay safe and enjoy it. For those working to keep us safe during the weekend and all the time, thank you.

It’s been a wild August weather month and this long weekend gives me something to look forward to; Ducks Football is back! So while I try to keep up with Chip Kelly and the Eagles, I get to watch the Ducks too. Life does have its rewards.

To get everyone in the football mood, here is a favorite performance by Puddles and the University of Oregon Band from last season. Can’t wait to see what they do this year! Happy Quirky Friday!

What Do We Do When Our Dream Sails Away?

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by Kimberly A. Cook                 (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

I’m one of those personality types who need closure, tidy endings, aka a wrap-up. Not that I have control issues – much, but according to my Myers-Briggs INFJ category, leaving possibilities open for eons raises my blood pressure. With that in mind, I am blowing my own cover and saying goodbye to a volunteer project I worked long and very hard on, the USS Ranger Foundation.

Long story short, we tried to bring  a retired USS Navy aircraft carrier 125 miles upriver from the Pacific Ocean to her new life as a Museum, Memorial, Education Center, Tourism and Special Events and Emergency Preparedness site. In 2005 I attended a Foundation board meeting with a marketing plan draft and got thrown on the Board of Directors. Literally. Figured they needed some Army blood amongst all those retired sailors and pilots, I guess.

Worked my tail off on the project until work and family needs made me step back in 2008, but I maintained the Foundation’s phone line. Fast forward to July 2010 when I needed to turn the phone line over to the Foundation’s Development Director. Shannon Chisom and I bonded, especially when she finally met the person who everybody would tell her, “Oh, Kim used to do that.”

It was an exciting time with the Foundation since a potential site had finally been secured in Fairview, Oregon. I volunteered to set up Twitter and the YouTube Channel for the Foundation, since I figured I could manage that with the day job, writing and family. The first day I met Shannon I went from posting two Spec Ops Cat videos on YouTube to interviewing the mayor of Fairview. Ha! Mission creep struck and soon I was the Online Media Manager and handling the Foundation’s Facebook page, Twitter, Zazzle store, Pinterest, posting to the Main Web Page, and producing 25 YouTube videos, in addition to a thousand other things.

In the end, our dream was not to be. We came close, very close. Throwing grenades and horseshoes close. With amazing support from the City of Fairview staff and citizens, plus all of East County, government entities and our elected representatives, we damn near did it. U.S. Navy budget constraints and time did us in. USS Ranger was to be bid out for scrap as a package with her de-commissioned sister carriers sitting in Bremerton, Washington and the Navy couldn’t wait any longer. With more aircraft carriers coming off active duty, they needed moorages. We got that word directly from the Secretary of the Navy’s Office.

When the news came last winter, the Foundation still worked behind the scenes hoping for a Hail Mary. Didn’t work. We never had a “final meeting” for our Team Ranger Staff and volunteers. We closed the Foundation office and put items in storage. It took several months for the Board of Directors to decide what to say on the web site. Recently I closed the Twitter and YouTube accounts, Zazzle is next.

It broke my heart to lose USS Ranger. She is a historic aircraft supercarrier whose like will never be built again; Navy ship building needs have changed. She was a decorated Vietnam War and Desert Storm veteran plus a movie star in “Top Gun” and several other films.

My greatest regret is she did not get to live on in retirement to serve again honoring the men who sailed on her, those who flew off her and never returned and those who died on her decks. In her new role, Ranger would have been a memorial to all women and men who served in all branches of the Armed Forces, active, reserve and guard.

So I want to thank all the Ranger veterans, all our veteran helpers, Team Ranger staff, volunteers and citizens who worked hard and fought to save the great Gray Lady. We didn’t give up the ship, but we lost her anyway. I had the honor and pleasure to go aboard Ranger in 2005 and 2012. Since I want to make sure we keep a part of her legacy alive, I posted her final YouTube video I made on Spec Ops Cat’s channel for all who want to see it again.

The video also shows what you can do with a still camera, a Flip video recorder, some paid music, creativity and some practice. You can almost move an aircraft supercarrier. We had a dream and we went after it big time. Will I miss USS Ranger and the vision we had for her? More than you will ever know. Will I give up dreaming big? Never!

My favorite photo I took of the great Gray Lady, USS Ranger, in January 2012. She is truly the "Top Gun of the Pacific."
My favorite photo I took of the great Gray Lady, USS Ranger, in January 2012. She is truly the “Top Gun of the Pacific.”

Enjoying The Dog Days Of August?

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by Kimberly A. Cook           (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Here it is Friday once again and summer is quickly moving along. Take the time to enjoy these precious days of good weather and frolic. Take a lesson from these happy Hungarian pooches who know how to enjoy a day at the beach.

Happy Quirky Friday!