The A-Z of Melody McDonald: “D” if for Drawing #AtoZBloggingChallenge

One of the things that Melody enjoyed doing more than anything else was drawing. She wasn’t too bad at it, either. Okay, so she would never win a prize competing against the Italian or Flemish artists. She might have had a chance against Picasso, because at least her results were understandable to someone with a normal mind-set. A frog looked like a frog and a horse looked like a horse… sort-of… With a little training she might have had hope.

Anyway, her Gramma Mary abetted her in her endeavors. Actually, all of the McDonald kids were aided and abetted by Gramma Mary, because she provided endless amounts of paper, and pencils were always there. Gramma Mary worked as a draftswoman for the U.S. Navy at San Pedro, California. And there, she was able to get her hands on pads of paper of two sizes, nicely stapled and ready to go.

She wasn’t stealing; this was recycled paper of a sort. When a project in her office was finished, the paper, instead of being shredded (this was before those times began) the papers were lined up, cut to size and stapled. They were the put out for the disposition of everyone in the office. And she would gather up a goodly amount and give them to the kids the next time she saw them.

And they made good (or bad) use of them. Melody had so much fun drawing seasonal scenes. At Halloween, she would draw haunted houses with rickety fences around them and ghosts stretching out of windows. There would be bats flying in the sky, jack-o-lanterns sitting on fence posts, and witches flying across full moons. Sometimes she would even draw clouds across the moon so all you could see would be their hats or shoes. So much fun!

And they had never-ending amounts of crayons, so those pictures were always colored after being drawn.

Christmas was time for Santa Claus, winter scenes, Christmas trees, snowmen, snowy skies, sleds plum full of presents and of course, the reindeer. I especially liked drawing Rudolph. I also liked drawing winter scenes and hanging them all over the house. I guess they just reminded her that it was winter, since there wasn’t that much snow falling on the ground there in Southern California.

There were horses in fields eating, running, rearing on two legs. Bugs, butterflies, giraffes, rabbits. The two animals she wasn’t very good at were cats and dogs, strangely enough.

She still likes to draw, especially for the enjoyment of little children. She still can’t draw cats or dogs, though.

 

 

“C” is for Church and crocheting #AtoZBlogging Challenge

Melody has always enjoyed going to church. As a child, she attended the Methodist Church together with the rest of her family. The Christ Church by the Sea Methodist Church the family attended was a fairly well-known historical Church on the Balboa Peninsula in Balboa, California. Melody sang in the church’s children’s choir as a “half note” (aka alto). Choir practice was held every Saturday morning; since the church wasn’t far from her Grammy and Grampa Jenkins’ house, they always went there after practice.

During the summer after Melody finished the fourth grade, a new church in the area offered a morning Bible school. The church, the Upper Bay Baptist, was just around the corner from their house. It had been built on the land where a small green grocers had been, where Melody had gone to buy fresh eggs and milk (she took fifteen cents and came home with change; try and do that now!).

Christ Church by the Sea 

When Melody was in the fifth grade, her friend Veronica decided that Melody and another friend, Steve Even, should get married, so the three of them headed to the Baptist Church around the corner and, hiding under the stairway, Veronica gave a fairly convincing sermon (remember, they were only ten years old); after Steve slipped one of his father’s gold cigar rings around Melody’s ring finger, Veronica pronounced them man and wife. She didn’t mention kissing the bride because that would have been just too icky for words—even Veronica realized that.

A few weeks later, Melody forgot to take off her cigar ring and it melted in her bath water, but by that time Steve had moved away with his family, destination unknown. They’d been friends for a long time, and Melody mourned his loss for a long time…

The following year, the McDonalds stopped attending the Methodist church, and Melody, remembering how much fun she’d had during the summer, returned to the Baptist Church. She became a helper during the summer class and grew very close to the members of the church. They became like a second family to her during the period of the great upheaval and its aftermath; during her time there, she progressed from childhood to her teenage years and into young adulthood. She lived through the pain of seeing a young man she’d had a crush on get drafted into the army and his subsequent death in Viet Nam.

When she was twenty, she joined the LDS Church, which she continues to frequent up to this day. Last year’s A-Z challenge tells that story.

Crocheting came into Melody’s life at a fairly young age. It all started when her best friend came over the same day Melody was scheduled to for a week-long visit to her Grammy’s house. Lynn had brought over a new project: her mom, Sylvia, had taught her how to embroider. She looked very smug as she drew the needle in and out of the fabric, while Melody looked on, green with envy.

When Grammy and Grampa came to pick up Melody, Grammy looked at Lynn’s smirking face and the envious darts shooting from Melody’s eyes, and quickly assessed the situation. She walked calmly over to Lynn and asked, “What’s that you’re working on, Lynn dear.” Lynn told her and she patted the girl’s arm and replied, “That’s very nice dear”, and walked over to a horrified Melody.

After they had settled comfortably into the car, and Grampa had driven out of the driveway,  Grammy asked Melody if she would like to learn how to embroider. Melody looked at her eagerly. Would she ever?! After they emptied her suitcase and put her bike in the garage

and her clothes in the drawers, Grammy went into her special closet and pulled out a box filled to the rim with   embroidery thread, needles and bits of cloth. By the time Melody was an expert with the chain stitch and cross stitch.

But that wasn’t all she’d learned: she loved the look on Lynn’s face when she pulled out her new crochet hook and yarn and chained and worked a single crochet in each chain stitch.

Melody became so proficient by the time she was in junior high school that even the teachers watched her as she crocheted her own sleeveless sweaters during lunch time. That ability has stuck with her even today, and has also provided a means for earning money.

 

Copyright © Mary Purpari. April 4, 2016. All Rights Reserved.

The A-Z of Melody McDonald: "B" is for Books and Birthdays

Melody is a book fiend. As a child, she had a number of books that were hers, but most of the books she read either came from the Costa Mesa Public Library or were school textbooks. That is, until she finished reading all the books in the children’s section of the library.

That is when birthdays really came into the picture. Well, all right; birthdays in the McDonald household were almost as exciting as Christmas and Easter. And Thanksgiving. Actually, Melody’s birthday was really exciting because Melody’s birthday was two weeks before Halloween and, more often than not, she got to have a Halloween party and invite all of her friends over in their Halloween costumes and then they’d all go trick-or-treating together (after she’d opened her presents, naturally; the other parents were quite happy to let Ross and Honey take over that chore).

But, I digress. The really, really good part of birthdays was the table at breakfast time. There was always a huge mountain of birthday (Dudley Dursley, yours was nothing compared to the McDonalds’) presents piled in front of their place. And a good part of the presents on the table on October 16 were BOOKS!

Melody loves books, and even then she considered them to be friends. The worst punishment that could be inflicted on her would be to sit on her bed without a book to read.

It was also the worst punishment for her parents, because they never knew what other things Melody would dream up during those book-free hours. It was especially terrifying the year she had that chemistry set…

Melody had a growing set of The Happy Hollisters by Jerry West, the Nancy Drew books, The Hardy Boys and the Dana Girls. There was a special Christmas book that had been Honey’s (her mother) and several others of Honey’s childhood books, including the Bobbsey Twins and several books about girls living in foreign countries, like Yumi San of Japan. Her Gram gave her a book published in 1850 about Harold, the Last of the Saxon Kings, which she had won as a child in an essay competition.

One year Melody received three classics for her birthday, Gulliver’s travels; Alice in Wonderland; and The Jungle Book. They were wonderful, but Melody had one book that she loved with all her heart: The Giant Golden Book of Natural History.

Unfortunately, an upheaval in the McDonald household caused the loss of all of the books Melody had received. New books began to pile up, including continuations of Nancy Drew and the Happy Hollisters. Melody still mourned the loss of her Giant Golden Book of Nature, but her Grandma Mary found something that brought a certain amount of relief: the Life-Time Natural History series. Those books brightened Melody’s spirits, with a new book every morning.

By the time Melody reached high school, she discovered the Salvation Army and Goodwill. Her rummaging brought to light a 1918 copy of Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar and an 1892 English version of Pinocchio, as well as a brand new version of Peter Pan without a publishing date. She also bought the entire James Bond series in paperback version. And can we EVER forget the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, bought at the Tic Toc store around the corner?

A couple of those books are in Italy, but the others? Who knows?

Melody now has a huge bookshelf stacked with books; she also has a floor and chairs stacked with books... A tee-shirt she likes to wear says it all: So many books to read, and so little time.

Do you have a favorite book or series of books? Do you still have any that thrilled you as a child?

 

 

 

Copyright © April 2, 2016 by Mary Purpari. All Rights Reserved

The A-Z of Melody McDonald: “A” is for Animals

 

Melody loved (she still does) animals of every kind. She made no distinctions. Believe it or not, she even loved rats; that was before she met sewer rats, though. In fact, her love for rats waned a little when her male, Big Stuff, ate the female, Spot. That action did not endear him to her. She still likes mice, though, as long as they help pay the rent.

She did have a few animals that she liked best, though. They weren’t necessarily any particular type over another unless, of course, they were horses. Horses were the animals that populated her dreams. She dreamed of riding Pegasus high above the world, just like Bellerophon. However, she loved her pets, such as Pink Ears, Missy and Butterscotch, as much as she loved horses. The first two were her pet bunny and her beloved best buddy, a sweet Sheltie (dogs are also a girl’s best friend, despite the song about girls and diamonds). Butterscotch was another four-legged friend: a bedraggled, drenched orange kitten that came to live with Melody during the time covered in book two.

There are a million tales that could be told about Melody’s love for animals, but I’ll just quickly share a couple of the most unusual (Unusual, that is, for most people; they were just run-of-the-mill for Melody).

Melody and the baby snake

Baby Diamond Back rattlesnake

One year, during the family’s Labor Day picnic at Big Bear Lake, she saw a very small snake slithering toward their picnic table. Delighted, and wanting to show that she was not only great at catching lizards but also at catching snakes, she snuck up behind the little snake. She thought it would make a beautiful addition to her terrarium. It wasn’t very big, about seven inches long, but when she started leaning over to grab it, her grandmother caught sight of her and looked down at the little snake that had attracted Melody’s attention.

When she saw exactly what kind of snake it was, she reached down, picked up a big rock and slammed it down on the tiny snake, just as it started to reach up to Melody’s hand. Astonished, Melody began to cry and asked her grandmother, “Why, Grammy? It was so cute. Didn’t you see how it was standing up so I could catch it easier? And now it’s dead.”

Her grandmother tried to explain that if it had bit her she could have died, but Melody was inconsolable and refused to talk to anyone until her Gramps cut the rattle off the dead snake and handed it to her. He explained that, even though the snake was only a baby, its bite was just as poisonous as an adult snake’s.

That was the last time Melody ever tried to pick up a rattlesnake. She caught lots of other snakes, lizards, frogs and toads, but never another rattlesnake. She had the rattle for a very long time as a reminder.

The snails

Common garden snail

This is a much shorter and to the point story of Melody and her reasoning.

One day, Honey (Melody’s mommy) had just finished cleaning the house, and was resting on the couch. At the time there were only three children, although Kenny was on his way. She thought the children were taking a nap, but she should have known better. A rustling sound caused her to look up. She gasped at the sight that met her eyes. She didn’t think she’d ever seen a more disgusting (or comical) vision in her life: there, standing in all her five-year old glory, was Melody, covered from the neck down in… snails.

Her excuse? The snails were in in a hurry to get into a cool place before the sun got too hot and dried them out. They were too slow and asked her if she would give them a ride. She did, and since the coolest place she knew was the house, that’s where she took them. Honey was so flabbergasted that all she could was point toward the door and say, “out”. Melody hung her head and followed her mother’s instructions, explaining to the snails on her way out that they were going to have to find another cool spot, outdoors.

These were just a couple of examples of Melody’s obsession with animals. There were so many more, that they would require a thousand books to contain them all (okay, so maybe there would be only a hundred). ;)
If you find it hard to believe these things really happened, you can always ask my mom; she remembers!

My Theme for this Year’s A – Z Blogging Challenge #a-zchallenge

So, it’s that time of year again. Well, yes, it IS Spring time again – I think: they’re talking about the possibility of snow again…sigh – but I was actually referring to the yearly A-Z blogging challenge that takes place every April. It consists of writing an article on subjects that go from A-Z, consecutively. They give us Sundays off for good behavior, so that we can regain our strength for the following week. This will be my fourth challenge and, truthfully, I’m really looking forward to it.  The first time I participated, I was gung-ho about the idea when I first heard about it. And then, I forgot. Naturally. But then, Russ reminded me and I asked Corinne Rodrigues if it was okay that I was a couple of days late. I wasn’t taking part in it officially, but I did pretty well.

Anyway, tomorrow will be the first day of the challenge, and I thought it might be an interesting idea to write about something near and dear to my heart. WAIT! She HAS my heart. Yes, I have decided to dedicate this year’s challenge to the…

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE!

A-Z of Melody McDonald! Okay, so most of you are probably asking who is Melody McDonald? Melody McDonald is a not-so-fictitious rendition of myself, mostly in the Old McDonald had a Funny Farm series as my child self, but also in a more grownup stage, in a series of short stories.

Many people think that children are simple to understand; they’re young, they haven’t had many experiences, they haven’t got the foggiest idea what’s going on in the world, they are quick to forgive, they’re easily made happy, and so on and so forth. But really, children are way more complex than their parents have ever suspected. Old McDonald is a carefree, not so fictional look into the not so carefree and simple life of a child, interpreted by Melody McDonald (aka Mary McDowell) and her siblings: Jan, Mark, Kenny and newborn Chas. The fictional part consists of actual conversations and the Ferris wheel scene. The latter could actually have happened, it just wouldn’t have been Mark – it would have been Kenny, who turned out to be the mechanical genius in the family. And, although not precisely fictional, I downplayed most of the actual events. I figured that if parents read just how wild we really were they wouldn’t let their children read the book(s).

Children are complex people. They have their own likes, dislikes and views of how the world should be. They have their own fears, strengths and weaknesses, which parents may look on as silly or even without real meaning, but they are very real to a child.

I have been blessed with a very strong memory; I can remember things that happened (not everything, but a great deal) when I was still living across the street from my grandparents, on the Balboa Peninsula way back in the early-mid-fifties. This is not always such a great thing, believe me. However, it works out just fine while defining my alter-Ego, Melody McDonald. I hope you will enjoy her "simplicity" and her crazy idiosyncrasies.

And so, Onward and Upward to the A-Z of Melody McDonald! See you tomorrow!

P.S. If you look for my name on the List of Participants, at the time of this post, it was 723, but it might change. :D

What to do about Digital Piracy and/ or Plagiarism

Okay, the big moment has arrived. It took you two years to write your book, another to find a publisher, and now, after another year of reading and correcting proofs and Okaying your cover, and waiting out printer’s delays, the book is ready to be sold. You can’t believe it and you can’t help jumping up and down, while visions of autograph parties and your book’s title as number one on the New York Times Best Seller List dance through your head.
If you’re like me, you’ve already typed your title and name into your favorite Internet search engine and are just waiting to see your name in print. Oh yes, you cry unabashedly, it’s there! I see it at Borders and Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Oh wow! Look at this! It’s even on Target and sites from Japan and Korea and India. Even Australia and Ireland. Oh man! J.K. Rowling, watch out! And then you see it.


The Evil Deed There, in front of your eyes, is one of the things that authors fear most: someone is offering free downloads of your book! Your jaw plummets to the floor as your heart leaps to your throat; your face turns puce as smoke flows from your ears; your visions fizzle away as you think, Oh my heck! What am I going to do now? And then, the nerve. They have some gall! All my hard work, down the drain. So, in other words, someone has violated your copyright without your express permission.(1)
According to Section 501, “Anyone who violates any of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner…is an infringer of the copyright or right of the author.” A copyright provides the owner of a work with certain exclusive rights, which are listed in Section 106 of the copyright law. These are the right to:
· Reproduce the work in copies;
· Prepare derivative works based upon the work;
· Distribute copies of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by    rental, lease or lending;
· Perform the work publicly;
· Display the copyrighted work publicly.


What to Do in Case of Infringement You are now faced with the problem of how to proceed. The first thing I did was to see if I could – by informing the infringer that he was violating my copyright – convince him to take my book off the free download list. He did—for about two hours. I tried several more times and then, in the end, gave up. When I spoke to my publicist about it, she tried also, with the same result.
So what comes next? If your publishing company is big enough, they may have a group of copyright lawyers connected to the company itself; however, as in my case, you will need to find legal counsel, because copyright infringement is a civil matter that must be taken care of in a federal court. It is useless to turn to the Copyright Office, because it only writes the law; it doesn’t have the responsibility of enforcing it.
Another good idea is to register the copyright so that, in case of legal action, you will have better opportunities with registration of the work before or within three months of publication, statutory damages will be available, and the recovery of attorney’s fees may be available also. You must have a registration certificate (or a rejection of an application for copyright) in order to begin a case for copyright infringement in a federal district court. A copy of the work sent to oneself is not a valid option for a registration certificate, nor has it any legal or evidentiary value.


Where to Find Legal Assistance Since the Copyright Office doesn’t offer a list of available copyright attorneys, the job of finding one falls on your own shoulders. There are several ways of finding one, including looking in the yellow pages or your favorite search engine. There are several other places to look for a copyright attorney or one specialized in intellectual property, arts or entertainment, such as your local or state bar association; Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts in your area should be able to help you find free or reduced price legal assistance, and local law schools might possibly have programs in Intellectual Property or Arts and Entertainment Law.
A complaint may be filed with the FBI, in the case of criminal copyright infringement - where the infringer willfully violates the owner’s copyright for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain. The Agency has two main divisions that investigate these crimes: the Cyber Division regarding all property crimes regarding all digital and electronic crimes, and the Financial Institution Fraud Unit for all other intellectual property crimes.


Damages Awards Copyright owners whose works have been violated are entitled to actual damages undergone and any profits received by the infringer. However, if, at any time during the time spent waiting for the judge’s decision, the owner decides that he or she would prefer to receive an award of statutory damages he could receive a minimum of $750.00 and a maximum of $30,000.00, at the discretion of the court. If the copyright owner can prove that the infringer willingly violated the copyright – knowing that the work was under copyright law – the court could possibly increase the statutory damages up to $150,000.00. This is part of the reason that it is important to register your work as quickly as possible. I hope that no one has to look on internet and see their book or other creation being offered free, like I did. But if you do, know at least that there is something that can be done to recover what has been done. It will probably take time and a lot of effort, but only we can help to eliminate digital piracy.
_______________
Information for this article was obtained from the following sites:
¹ Story based on the author’s personal experience


Copyright Office: http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-infringement.html http://www.publicdomainsherpa.com/copyright-infringement-definition.html



This article originally appeared on the Suite101.com website on March 17, 2011.
©Mary Purpari March 17, 2011. Renewed © March 03 2016 by Mary Purpari. All rights reserved.

Mary Purpari is the author of the book Old McDonald had a Funny Farm under the name Mary McDowell. The book is available in e-book format on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Old-McDonald-Had-Funny-Farm-ebook/dp/B00BAKH33G/ref=la_B00B56T2WK_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413429653&sr=1-1

The Elixir of Life

Throughout the millennia of human history, perhaps the most sought after treasure has been the key to Eternal life: the continuance of life without passing through death.

                                                                                         History of the Elixir

The Elixir of life

Most ancient cultures spoke about a draught that would prolong life indefinitely, or even bring a dead being back to life, even more glorious than before. In fact, alchemy was already flourishing during the 3^rd or 4^th Centuries B.C. in Asia and the Middle East. In fact, the word elixir originates from the Arab term Al eksir اکسیر, meaning panacea, or Al iksir, meaning composite or mixture.

The Chinese were probably the first to have a written record of the elixir of life, written around 650A.D. by the Chinese alchemist Tan Chen Yae Ch’eh and entitled “The Great Secrets of Alchemy”. The elixir was so revered that there is a list of Chinese emperors who died from its use, beginning with the Ming Dynasty emperor Jiajing, whose demise was caused by an overdose of mercury—one of the major ingredients in most recipes.

Indian legend has it that just a drop of Amrita (the elixir of life) was sufficient for the imbiber to gain immortality. Earliest mention of the elixir in India took place at around the same time as its use in China. It is unknown as to whether the Chinese passed the idea down to the Indians or vice versa. As with the Chinese, the elixir was also known to be an active ingredient, working with the philosopher’s stone, in the process of creating gold from common, but both cultures were more interested in the healing and continuation of life aspects of the elixir.

The elixir came to life in Europe during the later years of the medieval era. The Comte de St. Germaine (who was reputed to be several hundred years old) and Nicholas Flamel were both accredited with being alchemists who had created the elixir. It was also called the Universal Tincture.

The elixir continues to fascinate mankind even today, and several recipes have survived the ravages of time. I would like to present one that originally comes from Germany and was translated from German to Italian to English. IF you decide to try it, be very careful to follow the instructions exactly, and to then try it out on something other than yourself—like a dead plant, perhaps.

The Recipe

Take 50 pounds of pure zinc argentite also called Bismuth’s mineral, completely without quartz; the whiter and more silvery the latter is, the more universal spirit it has. Break it up into little pieces; put them into a wooden barrel at night, when the moon is almost full, out in the open air, so that the stars can work on it. In this way, the mineral will be heavily saturated with the universal spirit, taken from the air and the moon. Near the end of the lunar cycle, place the mineral in well-closed wooden or clay pots, so that it can’t be touched by sunlight or air, which would contaminate it and completely eliminate its curative powers.

Take several pounds of the saturated mineral and place it in a number stills that have been surrounded by glass or soil that will render them fire-resistant; close these containers with four layers of canvas and bladder that have been coated with: beaten albumen, rye flour, red lead that has been mixed with a little bit of minced slaked lime; mix and when the lutum has dried, distil over well-regulated heat for 12 hours, slowly for the first 3 hours, then a little higher for the next 3, and then very high for the last 3 hours, after which a deliciously sweet white water will emerge.

This water, aka Aqua Alba Suavis Dulcis Spiritus vini philosophicus, will need to be filtered 3 times, very gently, into a gourd, which will make it even sweeter and completely pure, transparent, and clean. Marvelous and nearly miraculous things can be made with this heavenly, magnetic water, which has the pleasant, strong aroma of violets.

Take a pound of this universal mineral water, placing it in an ampoule with a glass stopper, the opening upwards. One third of the ampoule must be left empty. Place the ampoule in front of a window, leave without disturbing for four weeks. You will see it increase, become heavier and fill the entire ampoule.

Universal Tincture or Elixir of Life

The discoverer of this particular recipe has said regarding its usefulness: “It is a bath in which the king and queen wash and cleanse themselves, appearing a thousand times more splendid and lovely than they were naturally… If you take a dried weed, or flowers or a small lemon tree, completely dried and withered and place it in the [tincture], with the roots still attached, in a large bowl for 8 days, this little tree will return to life, verdant and growing flowers, as though it had been planted.

“If you put the [thus resuscitated] plant, flowers or tree into the soil outside, they will no longer wither for many years, flowering continuously and bearing fruit twice a year.”

He also said of its spiritual quality, “It is truly a great wonder of nature to recognize the magnetic forces in this manner and see how the astral spirits have such a great harmony and relationship with the mineral spirits. During the period in which the ampoule rests in the air in front of the window you will be highly amazed to see a marvelous reflection of fluctuating solar rays; it’s as though the rays were strongly and violently attracted by the ampoule.”

This recipe is also one of the main ingredients required for preparing the Philosopher’s stone, the base for transforming common metals into gold.