Tremp & Trump (#atozchallenge)

“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.”

― Mark Twain

Stephen Tremp

         What came to the mind of Hilary Melton-Butcher of Positive Letters...Inspirational Stories when she considered the prompt of "Manhattan"? 

 I think of Chase Manhattan ... Stephen Tremp's hero in his trilogy ... Breakthrough .... and also the land of high-rises ... 

        Like Hilary this was one of the first things I thought of as well.  Stephen Tremp was one of my earliest blogging friends and the first blogger whose book I read.  Did I like Breakthrough?   In a word--yes.   You can read more at my Amazon review (if you visit please click that the review was "helpful") or read my Tossing It Out review.



     
         Breakthrough is the first book in a trilogy that includes Opening and  Escalation.  This is an action packed series that has wormholes, international intrigue, and some interesting spiritual speculation.   I highly recommend Tremp's trilogy.   For more information visit Stephen Tremp's blog. 

Donald Trump

        Change the "e" for a "u" in Stephen's last name and you get Trump as in Donald Trump.  Hope Stephen Tremp doesn't mind sharing blog space with Donald Trump, but when thinking of Manhattan these days it's hard not to have Donald Trump come to mind.  After all, over the past year anyone who hadn't previously heard of Donald Trump has heard of him now.  Donald Trump has been a huge force in shaping the direction and image of modern Manhattan as well as politics.

       Like him or not, the Donald is everywhere so he might as well make an appearance in my Manhattan themed April A to Z series.  Trump has his Manhattan Tower along with many other buildings throughout the city and the world.   The Donald first announced his presidential bid from his golden Trump Tower setting from where many of his interviews have taken place.

       Most of you have probably already heard his life story of starting out in Queens under the guidance of his father who was a real estate developer.  Early on Donald had his eye set on Manhattan as his promised land.  He achieved the success he sought in Manhattan and made a name maybe bigger than he ever imagined.  On the other hand, the man has an ego as big as the city so maybe he did see this run for president of the United States in his mind's eye all along.  Whether it's a matter of brilliant strategy, successful visualization, or whatever the case might be--Donald Trump could potentially be the next President of the United States of America and Trump Towers could be the second White House except it will be gold.

         We'll have to see where this story takes us.   As it is now, this presidential campaign of 2016 for both tickets has been one crazy ride that I don't think even the most imaginative writer could have come up with and if they had written this story before it actually happened everyone would have said, "Ridiculous!  A story like this could never happen!"

          The thing is, it has happened and seems to be getting crazier than ever.  But as they say, truth is stranger than fiction.  And this story doesn't even involve wormholes.  Not yet at least.  If wormholes do become a part of the upcoming chapters I don't guess I'll be all that surprised.

 This photo depicts Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

          Have you read any of Stephen Tremp's Breakthrough trilogy?  Have you been following the presidential campaigns very closely?   Where do you see it all going?    Where would you go if you could transport yourself through a wormhole?

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Winners!...and those dagnab losers

         Today's post deals with a few real winners and a controversial question about what some may think of as a "win" but I'm not totally sure that this is the case.  Stay with me now as I participate in the cover reveal for the the next installment of what has been one of my favorite book series.   Then I will announce the outcome of last weeks Battle of the Bands on Tossing  It Out.  Recognition of a winning blogging debut.  And more questionable government actions where one has to wonder what exactly is the cost of winning.


ESCALATION is on its way!

         I discovered author Stephen Tremp early in my blogging career and soon became a champion of his book Breakthrough.  This contemporary action sci-not-so-fi adventure is the first of a trilogy featuring professor Chase Manhattan.  The second book Opening raises the stakes in an international intrigue that threatens the existence of the world as we know it.   The upcoming third and final book of this series has a title that indicates that we are in for even bigger things.  This book is Escalation.  The nuclear blast on the cover hints at something scary.  I'm looking forward to the release of Tremp's Escalation to see how this whole thing ends up.

Escalation Synopsis:

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones” - Albert Einstein

      In Escalation, the final installment to Stephen Tremp’s Breakthrough Trilogy, a seemingly innocent discovery in Einstein-Rosen Bridges, or wormholes, becomes a Pandora’s Box—opening doors to other unexpected and unpredictable realities such as parallel universes, time/space travel, and an evil hitchhiker from another dimension.

      Chase Manhattan has survived attempts on his life from numerous sources in his effort to destroy the technology. But he is far from safe. Now Chase and his cohorts must not only break world renowned physicist Professor Nicholas Fischer out of prison a second time, but also smuggle him across hostile borders in Europe and the Middle East to prevent events threatening to spiral into World War III.

      At stake: an end to Western civilization as we know it. The result: an epic clash where science and the supernatural take center stage, vying for mankind’s destiny. The setting is global as the world divides into an East vs. West climactic battle. The action is swift, adrenaline-charged, and non-stop. Unending twists and turns will keep the reader turning pages and wanting more.

      Together, Breakthrough, Opening, and Escalation follow the lives of the unlikely participants from innocence to a coming of age through sacrifice, betrayal, passion, lust, unconditional love, and hope. Escalation will appeal to fans of modern-day science fiction, action, and horror.

    If you haven't read Breakthrough and Opening yet, you still have time to catch up to the action that precedes Escalation.   Find out more at Stephen Tremp's Blog.

Battle of the Bands Results (10/1/13 edition)

      I was somewhat surprised at the outcome of this song battle.  If you missed the entries you can listen to the songs here.  My Battle pitted Dee Dee Warwick's version of "You're No Good" against the hard rocking rendition recorded by the band Potliquor.  

      Even before Linda Ronstadt made her version of "You're No Good" a hit in 1975, I heard this song on an album by Potliquor.  This group's album blew me away with a powerhouse line up of tough rock and roll songs.  The version of "You're No Good" by Potliquor is the one I was most accustomed to hearing before Ronstadt took over the airwaves with it and essentially made the song her own.  Potliquor's version is still my favorite and that's the one I'd pick over Warwick's very pleasant and listenable original take which I'd never heard until I was trying to decide on the match up for Potliquor.

     Despite my vote, Dee Dee Warwick's old school pop version of this song wins with 11 votes to Potliquor's 10 votes.  Close but no good enough.  Three write in votes (2 for Ronstadt and 1 for Swinging Blue Jeans) might have swayed things but since I had no indication which way to go regarding the official candidates, we don't know what could have been.  One thing I'm pretty sure of though is that Ronstadt would have probably won if her version had been included.

   

     The official winner of this round on Tossing It Out is Dee Dee Warwick.

For the winners of the Battles on the other participating sites:

Faraway Series

Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends

Your Daily Dose

DiscConnected

A Winning Blogging Debut

      If anyone hasn't heard of Alex J Cavanaugh or the Insecure Writer's Support Group then welcome to my blog.  Alex's group has been so prevalent in the world of blogging that they'd be hard to miss.  So just in case you missed it, The Insecure Writer's Support Group has it's own web site that is an ever growing compendium of helpful information for all writers. There is also a new FaceBook group that has been all abuzz since opening up.  Check it out if you haven't done so already.  

U.S. Government:  Losers!

     Lots of bloviating buffoons on all sides are claiming that they're winning the debacle of the shutdown and financial crisis that looms ahead.  They're all idiots are far as I'm concerned.   Logic and common sense are being tossed out along with the baby, the bathwater, and all of the rest of us citizens.   Nothing is making much sense anymore as smoke screens and misdirection are being used to divert our attention from what's really happening. 

     For example over the weekend we received the news about raids in Somalia and Libya where Navy Seals killed one of the alleged perpetrators of the Kenyan mall massacre and captured a high profile terrorist in Libya.  Yay!  

       But wait, how much did these operations cost the U.S. and how valuable was it all to us?   I don't know that much about all of this but it sounds suspicious to me and not very impressive when you really start thinking about the facts.  Besides, we are bringing the captured terrorist back to the U.S. to stand trial?  How much will all of that cost us in the end?  If we keep him in a prison, how does that benefit most Americans?   How many other terrorists will be shaking in their boots and deterred from other acts against those they deem as their enemies?   

      I don't know what's coming in the weeks ahead, but Stephen Tremp's Breakthrough book series is probably closer to the truth than anything we'll get out of our self-serving government.  

Winners in the Government Shutdown Fiasco

      There have been many individuals and groups who have been fighting for all of us who are not part of the elitist government.   The Obama administration has been playing politics to get their way and won't listen to reason where it comes to things like keeping parks and historic sites open.   There are places and agencies that have little to do with anything concerning this government show that have been shuttered for the rest of us.  

      Kudos to people like Ed Mitchell, mayor of my adopted hometown of Maryville, Tennessee.  He and his county government are offering to pay to keep the Great Smoky National Park open during the shutdown period.  There have been other stories out there of various entities offering to step in to keep things going where it affects the livelihoods of businesses and employees who just want to keep their own heads above water.  Ed Mitchell and others like him are the real winners during this time of American political stupidity.

      Have you read any of Stephen Tremp's Breakthrough series?   Were you surprised by this Battle of the Bands outcome?   Have you heard of any heroes trying to step up to keep open the places the federal government has shut down?    Where do you think this whole government fiasco is heading?

  

Related articles

• Battle of the Bands: You're No Good
• Intelligence insider: Syria, World War III & the hidden objective
• Government Shutdown: Tantrums Escalate
• Target is Still Iran: Clear Cutting the Middle East and the Coming Blood Bath (Mapping World War III)

The Roller Coaster Ride Continues: a review of Stephen Tremp's OPENING

         Today I'm guesting at Stephen Tremp's Breakthrough Blog so make sure you visit there, but while he's busy hosting me I thought I might tell you my opinion of this new book Stephen Tremp is touting.

        Even if you missed my Monday post where Stephen was my guest, most of you probably are aware that he has begun a blog tour to kick off the release of his new book Opening.  I had an advanced reader copy of Opening so I've already read it.    So while Stephen's busy and can't hear me, let me tell you what I really think about his book:

       I am a big fan of BREAKTHROUGH, the first book of the Chase Manhattan series, so I was looking forward to OPENING.  Author Stephen Tremp has not only not disappointed with the the new installment, but also raised the bar in OPENING, providing a slick complex action thriller.

      The story continues where the previous book left off. The struggle between opposing factions of scientists trying to gain control of briefcases that contain what could be the fate of the world expands on a worldwide scale as statesmen and nations become involved in a tense standoff.  Powers and principalities may be leading the world toward a potential Armageddon.

     The scope of the story is breathtaking and the action is non-stop. Along the way I started to become concerned that Tremp was losing control of the story with too many things happening too quickly.  However, skillfully the pieces of the story are brought together into a climax that left me excited for the next installment of the series.

      All of our favorite characters from the first book are back in fine form as we are introduced to new and equally memorable players in the story.  The events are so plausible that at times I was nodding in agreement thinking, "Yeah, that could happen."  The story is cued directly from current world events and scientific breakthroughs.   There's nothing overly difficult to understand here since the technology comes across as clear and realistic.

      Although this book is written in such a way that it will stand alone, I would recommend readers who haven't read the first book to start with BREAKTHROUGH before reading this.  It's not a necessity, but starting with OPENINGS is something akin to climbing aboard a roller coaster in the middle of the ride--you'll miss a lot of fun.  The two books together provide a great ride, but on it's own OPENING is an entirely satisfying reading experience.

       I'll definitely be on board when the next book, ESCALATION, comes around. I think once you've read OPENING you will too.

        Don't tell Stephen I told you this.   Just go buy his books.

       Stephen Tremp is author of the recently released suspense thriller OPENING, the second book in the BREAKTHROUGH series. You can visit Stephen at Breakthrough Blogs.  For $1.99 Opening is available for download at:

Amazon for $1.99
Smashwords for $1.99

         Have you read Breakthrough yet?   Have you ordered a copy of Opening?  



   

Related articles

• It's Here ... The Image For Opening!!! (breakthroughblogs.blogspot.com)
• The Naked Ninja and Other Random Facts (alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com)
• Someone, please built this: the zero-gravity roller coaster (toddpack.com)

Awards Jan 15

          Sorry for the hastily drafted post, but I wanted to acknowledge a couple of awards that came my way over the past month or so.  There is at least one more that I have not yet run across in my e-mails and I will be sure to recognize any others in an upcoming awards post.

First, from Stephen Tremp at Breakthrough Blogs I've received the Meat and Potatoes Award.  Almost looks as good as the dinner I had at Longhorn Steakhouse.  Thanks Stephen--I'm always up for a good steak.

Meat and Potatoes Award from Stephen Tremp

"You Inspire Me Award" from Yvonne Lewis

The ever-inspiring Yvonne from Welcome to My World of Poetry passed me this You Inspire Me Award.

Isn't it great how much we all inspire and support one another in our blog community.  Thank you Yvonne for another award.

           And that does it for this Saturday.   Thank you all for reading and be watching for some big news that will be coming soon.

Stephen Tremp: Guest host

        Not long ago I posted my review of Stephen Tremp's Breakthrough.  I'm a big fan of this book and Stephen's blog--he has had some real interesting information that he has shared with us.  Today we have the honor of a special guest post by Stephen Tremp which is a part of his current Breakthrough Blog Tour. 

         Stephen is such a helpful guy and is always ready to share the information that he has gained from his writing journey.  Today's post is sort of a continuation of his post from yesterday that appeared on Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog.  On that post Stephen discussed the topic of "near-future science fiction" and some of what influences his writing.  Today he expands on this:

“We do not really have any idea what else is out there, but there is no reason to believe we are the only intelligent beings in the universe. That would be arrogant and asinine. There is no reason to believe whatever else is out there will necessarily have to obey the same laws of physics we do.” –Nicholas Fischer, Professor of Physics, M.I.T.

Hyperspace Theories: a space of more than three dimensions, are concerned with space beyond the three ordinary dimensions of space we are familiar with. Modern theories of hyperspace suggest our universe may exist in a higher-dimensional space. These higher dimensions are not forbidden by the laws of physics. Recently, scientific theories such as string theory have emerged in which our universe is really made up of additional spatial dimensions, although most civilizations since the dawn of man have believed the same thing. Are physicists merely reinventing the wheel?

Parallel Universes: set of hypothetical multiple universes--one of which is ours--that compromise everything that exists, including space, time, matter, and energy--sometimes called the Multiverse.

Hyperbeing: a being that lives in dimensions above and beyond our three-dimensional world of length, width, and height.

What could a hyperbeing , existing in dimensions above and beyond our space-time continuum, be capable of doing in our three-spatial world? Theoretically, they could appear and disappear in our world at will. They could look through walls. Reach into an object without opening it and take things out. They could perform feats that are beyond the capabilities of those living in our three-dimensional world.

Think about it. An angel, or hyperbeing, would have the ability to see a sickness inside a person (living in our three-spatial universe) and easily reach in, grabbing the sickness, and pulling it out without the use of an incision. This is what we refer to as a miraculous healing. They do happen. Something to think about as you drive around town running errands today.


Conversely, demons could move back and forth into our three-spatial world and appear as boogey men in the closets or under the beds of young children. They could appear as angels of light, UFOs, Big Foot, and other creatures and monsters that countless people claim to have seen over the millennia.


Problem: These additional spatial theories have yet to be detected let alone proven. They fall under the realm of theoretical physics which seeks to explain and predict physical phenomena. But this does not mean extra spatial dimensions do not exist. And its not stopping today’s physicists from moving forward discovering breakthroughs in these areas.


In the Bible, angels and demons take on all kinds of shapes, sizes, and colors. There is a class of angels that can appear in full human form. Demons too, who can perform lying signs and wonders. No wonder paranormal, vampire, and sci-fi books are so popular. Perhaps, as the Bible teaches, people are three-fold beings: body, soul, and spirit, and it is the spirit of man that connects, but not necessarily understands, these strange paranormal events every civilization since man first walked this earth claim to have experienced.

Currently, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN are racing sub-atomic particles and colliding them at near the speed of light in an effort to detect the secrets of the universe.

I encourage people to follow events coming out of CERN and follow leading physicists as they seek to understand our world. Be prepared to start thinking of our world to involve things we cannot perceive with our five senses and perhaps redefine how we perceive the universe and our place in it.

Please join me tomorrow as I visit Shannon O’Donell at Book Dreaming as we discuss the new SCIENCE FOR KIDS tab on my blog.

Stephen Tremp is author of the action thriller Breakthrough . You can visit Stephen at Breakthrough Blogs where Breakthrough is available for purchase and download to all eReaders.

If you feel this blog is worthy, go ahead and make my day. Retweet it

            

An Irresistible Saturday Awards Post

Irresistible Blog Award

I received this lovely award from Yvonne at Welcome to my World of Poetry.   I had seen it on Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog and thought it looked rather nice.  Now I have one of my own.  Thank you, Yvonne, and I'm glad you got your computer problems taken care of and are back with us.

Here are a few blogs that I find irresistible (I could name a few hundred!):

The Optimal Optimist is a nice place to get a positive message and give your day a smile.

Hollywood Spy has the scoop on movies and entertainment--and Dezmond's pretty cool.

Elizabeth West at Graphomaniac always has something interesting to say.

Lynda R.Young at W.I.P. It has plenty of helpful information to offer.

Please accept these awards if you wish and feel free to pass them on to any blogs that you find irresistible.

If you readers wouldn't mind, drop by these sites and give them a big hello and tell them you saw it here on Tossing It Out.   Hopefully you'll find these blogs as irresistible as I have.

Time Change

          My NaNo novel is called Time Light.  I talked about it this past week and offered a brief synopsis.  I'm still listening to your comments and suggestions so be sure to stop by and give me your two cents.  If fifty of you leave two cents I'll have a dollar!    My NaNo train has left the station and so far the novel is on track.  I'm hoping for a couple of days with big bursts of steam that put me well ahead of schedule, but if I keep my current pace I'll be doing fine.   And speaking of time, don't forget to set clocks back in the U.S. for the end of Daylight Savings Time--it seems like it really came late this year.



Blog Train Rolling

        As my NaNo train rolls along, so does Stephen Tremp's Breakthrough blog tour.   Stephen's been offering up some great information on the other stops and will be visiting Tossing It Out on Tuesday with a truly fascinating topic that will make you think. 

        I'll be keeping up with my NaNo progress, but I don't want to bore the Non-NaNo-ers with too much.  After all, those of you who are signed up can check me out on the NaNo site.  My username is "wordleeness" and you can find out more about me, my novel, and my progress on the NaNo site.

        My Monday post will be a quirky look at some blog weirdness--or is it all something that is much more sinister that it appears to be.  Maybe some of you will know what's going on.  Then on Thursday I'll salute those who have served America as I observe Veteran's Day.






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Stephen Tremp's "BREAKTHROUGH": A Review

           When I first started blogging in September of 2009, one of the earliest blogs I came across and began following was that of Stephen Tremp, the author of Breakthrough.  Stephen often referred to his novel in his blog posts and discussed some of the technology that appears in the novel.  I was intrigued by the subject matter that Stephen discussed on his blog and about the concept of the story presented in Breakthrough.  And besides that, Stephen Tremp came across as one heck of a nice guy.

           Stephen has been valiantly promoting Breakthrough on mostly his own efforts, which takes some creative ingenuity and a strong positive attitude.  He has not only shown both, but took a rather incredible one step further when earlier this year he took the original version of Breakthrough off the market and released an improved revised version of the book.  This shows some real dedication to his craft and to his audience and he should be admired for that.

             In August I was one of the fortunate winners of a book give-away that Stephen held on his blog.  With the new version of Breakthrough in hand, I was now able to read this book that I had been reading so much about.  I will be honest.  I had no idea what to expect and my expectations were rather low.  Boy! was I ever wrong, and in this review I'll tell you why.

             In a nutshell, the story concerns quantum physics professor/adventurer Chase Manhattan who becomes involved in a quest to recover and destroy stolen technology that is to be used for nefarious purposes by a treacherous enemy group and to clear the technology's innovator, an MIT professor and researcher, who has been charged with a murder.  In a fast-paced story the action rapidly shifts back and forth between Boston, which is in the grip of a major snowstorm, and sunny Southern California. 

            A well drawn cast of characters drew me into the story.  Chase and his friends are likeable, with intelligence and humor.  They are not superheroes by any means and are flawed by weaknesses and bad judgment.  They are characters who seemed very real.  Likewise, the bad guys are villainous, but we see their very human qualities as well.

            The story is very well researched.   The settings are so well drawn that I felt like I was right there in the middle of the story.  The action scenes are so vividly written that I felt like I was watching instead of reading.  Cinematic is the best way I can describe Stephen's writing--the reading experience was almost like watching a movie.

            One good thing about this novel is that it is more of an amalgam of genres then strictly one specific genre.   Breakthrough would primarily fit in the action adventure category, but it also has elements of science fiction, suspense thriller, and romance.  Science fiction fans will enjoy the theoretical concepts of travelling through worm holes, but those who don't care for sci-fi will be pleased that the book does not become bogged down with complex technologies and theories.   The story takes place in today's world with ideas that have actually been studied by scientists.  

           There is enough action and romance to keep fans of those genres pleased.  Stephen also adds enough humor to keep the reader entertained.  In fact, the pacing of the novel is something that made the book such a pleasurable reading experience.  The chapters are short and the writing is succinct.  The reader is fueled with exciting doses of action, and then brought down for a breather that leads to the next action packed sequence.  The book has good writing by an author who demonstrates that he knows the formula for producing best-seller caliber writing.

           Breakthrough is a book that will please just about any audience.  There is very little profanity in the book and what does appear seems appropriate and not gratuitous.  Likewise with sex scenes, there is nothing graphic, but only very tastefully written sequences that are integral to the story.  There was nothing in the book that I can recall being offensive in any way.  I could recommend this book to anyone.

            Allowing that the book is part of a trilogy, I can accept the somewhat abrupt ending as the lead-in to the next novel, Opening, which I hope is not too long in coming--I am anxious to see where this story is going next.  Stephen gives us a preview of Opening at the end of Breakthrough.    Reading this sample filled me with anticipation about book number two.  It sounds like there are some very intriguing concepts still to come.

           My recommendation is buy this book!   It would also make a great gift for the book-lovers on your Christmas and birthday lists.  

Available from:

Barnes and Noble

Amazon

Visit Stephen Tremp's blog for additional information about electronic editions of the book and other details about the author and his work.

Stephen Tremp will be my guest on Tossing It Out on Tuesday November 9, 2010.

Tomorrow I will be starting my focus for the remainder of the week on Marvin (The Old Silly) Wilson and his new book Beware the Devil's Hug.  On Wednesday Marvin will join me on his tour for an interview.  On Thursday I will offer my review of his book.

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After a Meaty Week.....

             This has been one meat filled week on Tossing It Out.  This upcoming week I'll change the subject.
I hope more of you will join us on Monday for The Soundtrack of Your Life Blogfest.  You can read about it at the top of this page and sign up on the Linky List.  As of the moment I am writing this we have thirteen participants so we have space for you.  Tell us about you and the songs that would accompany a recap of your life.

           The rest of the week I've not planned yet, but I'm still trying for shorter posts.  I seem to have a problem keeping my word count down. I'm still working on this.  Do you ever feel that your posts are too long?

       I was so delighted to see an acknowledgment given to me by Mary at Giggles and Guns.   Mary featured a post around a comment I had made on a topic that I know is familiar to many of us--finding motivation and inspiration to keep writing.  I usually don't have that problem, but I guess that also kind of goes back to my long-winded blog posts.  It's such a pleasant surprise to visit a blog and find yourself featured in a post.  Thanks, Mary, for the ego boost.

       Then there's someone who's been getting his name in many other blogs this week after the trailer for his upcoming book was released.  Most of you probably already know Alex J. Cavanaugh's great blog and have probably already seen his book trailer, but in the event that someone out there has missed it then check it out:


       My good wishes to Alex and to his book CassaStar which will be released in October.

       Speaking of books and authors, Stephen Tremp's adventures in publishing are almost as exciting as his book Breakthrough which is soon to be rereleased.    Not a typo--- re-released!   If you missed Stephen's story check out his blog--it's an interesting story.

And now let the games begin:
          I was tagged by Jules at Trying to Get Over the Rainbow. It started a little iffy for me when I saw that she had disclosed the contents of her purse. To my relief she asked me to empty my pockets. Okay that's easy enough--not that much there.  I normally only deal with four pockets.

         Pockets have always been an important part of my clothing. I must have a pocket in my shirt and don't often wear the few pocketless shirts that I do own. My pants must have ample pocket space--never know what I might have to carry. Here's the rundown of what I usually have in my pockets when I leave the house:

        In my shirt pocket I have a rarely used cell phone just in case I need to make a phone call; a business card holder that currently holds cards with my blog address just in case someone is interested; and, of course, a pen just in case I need to write something down.  Eventually I hope I will require different business cards where the blog address is just a part of the whole, but currently that's all I'm advertising.

I use three pockets in my pants.  My back pocket contains a well worn wallet with ID's, credit cards, and other cards that I occasionally might need.  I've had this wallet for several years and will probably use it until it's about to fall apart.  In fifty years I think I've owned less than ten wallets.  I like to get maximum mileage out of them.  They're kind of like a pair of shoes that really get comfortable.  I hate to toss them out.

My left pocket contains keys for two cars, a front gate, and my house.  Car keys have gotten so much more complex than they used to be with alarms and keyless ignitions and all.  I used to carry a pocket knife in my key pocket.  Now the keys are about all my pocket will hold.

I rarely use cash, but I always like to have some just in case.  Now most places will accept credit cards no matter how much you're spending so I use them for nearly everything.  The cards I use give me points for each dollar spent and I can redeem those points for nifty gift cards, free hotel rooms, or cash rebates.  It actually seems like a better deal if you pay off the balance every month like I do.  The real problem is that in using cards the companies and the government can keep track of every dollar you spend, what you buy, and where you are when you buy it.  That seems pretty scary, but they can find out this stuff regardless.  It's all spooky, but is in line with things predicted in the Bible.  Guess that's getting off track and is a topic for a future blog post.

           And that's what's in my pockets most of the time.  Thank goodness Jules only tagged two people so I'm going to do the same.  And since they both seemed to think it was funny that I got tagged then I will tag:

Alex J. Cavanaugh  and Yvonne at Welcome to My World of Poetry. 

Have a great weekend!  Stay cool if you're where it's hot, and if you're where it's cold then I wish I had your weather.