Christa Allan

Home from the ACFW Conference.
Fifty-four pounds of papers to grade.
A suitcase to unpack.
Visions of plots dancing in my head.
More later.

In 1980, the New Orleans Saints football team was dubbed the ‘Aints. Losing an “S” wasn’t so bad considering they’d lost their first fourteen games. Fans–well, them maybe just ticket holders who couldn’t afford to pay people to take their tickets–would show up at the Superdome carrying paper bags. To wear over their heads.
In the [...]

Check THIS out!

My husband is ensconsed in his “man room” watching a movie that features one or more of the following: crunching noises (could be cars or bodies), projectile blood-letting, arsenal appropriate weaponry, chase scenes involving cars, helicopters, aliens, or any combination thereof, and an “oops” word or two or fifty.
I am in the “family” room, sans [...]

Sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
Who knew we’d be referring to the Department of the Interior?
Allegations, according to reports from the Associated Press, include [but certainly aren't limited to] the following: use of alchohol, marijuana, cocaine; inappropriate sexual relations with subordinates; accepting gifts of golf and ski trips and dinners; and working part-time as private [...]

The Times-Picayune
Saturday August 30, 2008, 7:23 PM
FILMMAKER MICHAEL MOORE CALLS GUSTAV TIMING “A GIFT FROM GOD”

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore, best-known for his documentaries “Roger and Me” and “Fahrenheit 9/11″ told MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann on Friday that projections that Hurricane Gustav could hit near New Orleans on the opening night of the Republican National [...]

The approach of Hurricane Gustav has prompted Louisiana State University to move up the kickoff for tomorrow’s season-opening football game against Appalachian State to 10 a.m., a university spokesman said Friday.
“Public safety concerns override game-day concerns,” said Charles Zewe, chief spokesman for the LSU System, adding that the decision was made after consultation with the [...]

As of Wednesday afternoon, this is the five-day forecast for Hurricane Gustav. Perhaps, by the time you read this on Thursday, the forecast line will have shifted. Or not.
If you look at the state of Louisiana, you’ll see a tiny circle of water near the toe. I live directly above that circle.
Am I dealing with [...]

NOPD PHOTO
The New Orleans Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in the identification of an unknown male, wanted in connection with vandalizing one of city’s crime cameras.
The bare-chested man climbed the ladder with a can of spray paint in his hand, and looked straight up into the crime camera lens. Police say he [...]

Along with the predictable issues involved in acclimating to a new school year–waking up early, talking for six hours a day, standing for six hours a day, retraining my bladder to the bell schedule, remembering the fine art of standing for a thirty minute duty outside while eating a hot meal and drinking a lukewarm [...]

Stay tuned. Blog to come.
My root doctor appointment (Landy, my stupendous hairdresser) rescheduled an hour early, so I’ll be back later on this afternoon to write my blog.
In the meantime…don’t run with scissors.

WORDPRESS and I are having issues this morning. It won’t allow me to post pictures. I’m experiencing an alien invasion of my body. Yesterday i slept 20 out of 24 hours, woke up for three hours, went back to sleep for 10 hours, and I’m–somewhat–awake.
Perhaps I need Sigourney Weaver or Ghostbusters. I’ll leave you with [...]

If stupidity could be packaged and sold, supply and demand would dictate it wouldn’t be valuable. There’s just too much of it.
And on the heels of yesterday’s [poor excuse for a] criminal, I bring you….
“The wife of back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin told a jury she wished her husband really had drowned.”
Try to follow this without [...]

KATY MC KENNA RAYMOND WON THE DR. GARY CHAPMAN BOOK, LOVE AS A WAY OF LIFE, WHICH IS FEATURED ON MY BLOG FICTIONARY.
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I’ve decided that my blogging life, especially with two of them (blogs, not lives…but a clone might be nice) needs to be organized. Lord knows, something in my life needs to be organized. [...]

I have more ideas for books than I have sense, and with the new school year yapping at my heels like a rabid chihuahua, I’m desperately flinging words onto paper and into the computer. And, in the meantime, I’m attempting to piledrive that obnoxious internal editor– the one who perches at the top of your [...]

1. Pre-heat oven.
2. Add Rubik’s Cubes
and Pick-Up Sticks.
3. Enjoy!
more about “Western Spaghetti by PES“, posted with vodpod. Thanks to veryshortlist.com

I, for one, am delighted that the Brangelina twins have arrived, and mom and babies are well. The birth certificates show that Knox Leon was born at 6:27 p.m. and his sister Vivienne Marcheline a minute later. Knox weighed in at slightly over 5 pounds, and Vivienne weighed 5 pounds.
Darryn Lyons, owner of Big Pictures, [...]

I’m spinning plates on several new ideas for books, which mostly consists of untangling plot threads like strands of cooked spaghetti thrown in a bowl, calculating how much chocolate I have to consume to generate a brilliant beginning, and wondering if Google is tracking how many times I search.
Once the story starts looking more like [...]

My son, Michael, sent me this link. 
It answers the question, “I’m working HOW MANY hours to fill my tank?”
Three hours for me.