Come As You Are Party: Hiding in Plain Sight

Image by annca from Pixabay

I go through stretches of time where I tend to be very open about myself because I want to educate people about what it's like to live as someone who is seen as a pariah. By teaching people through my lived experience, I hope to open minds and hearts so that perhaps others won't have to be as lonely, ostracized, broken and broke as I've been.

I don't think it's worked very well. 

Sometimes I say "fuck it" and do it anyway, because maybe my words are what someone else needs to hear.

Sometimes I withdraw.

At this point, I'm withdrawing and restructuring.

I've decided that the Horror Harridans blog is, overall, a really stupid place to share my poetry. I've started publishing my poetry and sometimes submitting it to other places for potential publication. It's possible that readers think my poetry is pretty damn horrible, in which case it belongs on a blog called Horror Harridans. Like Trent Lane, I've been thinking about changing the name of the blog, but I'm not sure what I'd change it to just yet. Maybe just Team Netherworld Creations.

In any case, if you still have a burning desire to read my poetry, it can be found at--get ready for it--my poetry blog, which is currently called Dark Hearts Love Too.

If you appreciate reading the mental health stuff, it can be found at the Crazy Creatives Cheerleading Camp.

If you want to find out what's going on at the Grover Hotel, including cooking tips and products I'm selling and/or recommend, Good Stuff from Grover is where you want to be.

I'm still going to cross-post snippets on the Horror Harridans blog, but if the snippets are all you want, you'll probably prefer the official Naughty Netherworld Press blog.

If book reviews are your thing, head for The Ornery Book Emporium.

For product reviews, affiliate marketing, and things of that nature, head up to Aunt Cie's Attic.

If you want to read about philosophy and such, try One Love.

Maybe you just want animal posts. In that case, you can follow along at either Animal Anarchy or Aww the Animals.

Maybe you just want pleasant pictures with no bitching. In that case, you are looking for Cie's Wonderful World.

Want nothing but shitposts? Then That's So Netherworld is where you need to be!

This is something I wrote back in 2014. 

My writing may seem like so much weird shit to those who happen upon it. It may seem the product of overactive imaginations, oversensitive hearts, people who can’t hack reality but whose sober thought processes conjure up scenarios way weirder than any drug trip.

That may be how my work appears to the casual observer.

My stories are actually saying:

The stuff that’s going on in the world hurts me so damn bad to witness.

I just want to make a world where things are maybe a little crazy, often a whole lot of fun that I'm never able to have in reality, and where everything turns out okay in the end.

If that’s crazy, then I'm proud to be crazy. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Real Cie

(aka Cie Cheesemeister)

aka The Ornery Old Lady

Head Buttmunch in Charge

Team Netherworld

Wordy Thursday + Ornery Reviews: Chill Factor

Genre: 
Romantic Suspense

Rating:
Two of Five Stars for Goodreads and Audible

Disclosure:
This is a duplicate of my review of this product on Goodreads.

If readers purchase a copy of the book through the above link, I make a small commission from Amazon. The book isn't so bad that I refuse to link to it, it just was not my cup of tea. If you like tawdry thrillers, you might enjoy it.

I listened to this as an audiobook, and if I had taken a shot every time I found myself blurting out "oh, for Chuck's sake," (what I actually said rhymed with Chuck) or "ew," I would have been unconscious on the couch oozing alcohol out of my pores. 

It became clear pretty early in the game that this book was not going to be high on my list of favorites. Every one of the male characters aside from Scott, the eighteen-year-old high school senior and long-suffering son of the school's abusive athletic director, was odious. Ben was a passive-aggressive mysterious hunk. Dutch was a macho cop with anger issues. Wes was a military wannabe and an abusive husband and father. William, the pharmacist, was a creepy little weasel.  

These characters sound interesting, but they were tropes. From the moment that Lilly decides that she "shouldn't play the feminist card," I knew it was going to be one of THOSE books where the "strong, independent" female character learns that she needs a man to complete her. Most of the story's sex scenes were cringy because I can't stand it when women give in to passive-aggressive macho men. 

I finished listening to the book because I was curious who the killer was, and I have to admit, it was someone I didn't expect. Still, the ending seemed forced. Overall, I was not impressed.

Ornery Owl

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors on Pixabay

Watkins Wednesday: Win Free Vanilla

Who wants to win free Watkins vanilla plus an assortment of other goodies worth approximately $100?

If you do, click this link or the banner above!

You can also order Watkins vanilla and other products through my page. Or become a consultant for just $14.95 through March and get discounts on all your baking and other home needs. No quotas, no need to sell anything to anyone ever, unless you want to. The $14.95 covers your back office and promotional materials including your own website, built and maintained by Watkins.

Now, what is so great about Watkins vanilla?

The taste is what makes it so great. Use it in your baked goods. Make a fantastic buttercream icing. Mix Watkins vanilla and a little honey into plain yogurt for a natural treat, where you control the sweetness levels. Put a little vanilla extract in your coffee. Once you've tried Watkins vanilla, I'm sure you'll agree that it is a superior product.

• Made with natural flavors

• Ingredients all-natural derived

• No artificial flavors

• No artificial colors

• Non-GMO

• Corn Syrup Free

• Gluten-Free

• OK Kosher Certified

• Made in the USA

I became a consultant to get discounts on my products, and I'm hoping to spread the word about Watkins to my community. I'm extremely shy and not much to look at, so I figured the best way to do this was to let the products speak for themselves. This summer, I will be setting up a booth at the local rodeo and displaying the products plus featuring samples of candy and baked goods made with each of the extracts. 

I purchased all of the extracts plus some hand lotions for samplers, totaling $167. I paid only $137 as a consultant, plus I earned points on my order. 

I hope you will look into the Watkins opportunity and will take the chance to win free vanilla plus other goodies you're sure to enjoy.

~Cie the Ornery Old Lady~

A Pot of Poetic Gold

All right, it's nowhere near as good as finding a pot of gold, but from March 17 until March 21, 2020, you can pick up the Ornery Old Lady's first book of poems absolutely free. But don't wait because, on March 22, the price returns to 99 cents.

Enjoy varied verses from melancholy to wacky in this virtual treasure trove of rhyme and free verse. Grab your copy today!

Why would you wait? Getting a good thing free is the second best thing to finding a pot of gold. And if you decide that the Ornery Old Lady's thing really isn't your thing, well, you spent exactly nothing to make that discovery, so you still come out ahead!

Ornery Owl

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors on Pixabay

Come as You Are Party: Meet the Critters of the Grover Hotel

There are 3 cats here at the Grover Hotel. Giorgio is the oldest. He is 17. His former human family were jerks who had him declawed and then dropped him at the shelter when they got a new cat and Giorgio behaved like a normal cat and hissed at the newcomer.

Tara is 10 years old. She was born on 9 September 2009. I adopted her and her little half-brother or cousin at the same time. Sadly, he had to be put to sleep due to kidney failure on his 6th birthday, 17 July 2015. 

I've never gotten over losing him and I have a tattoo in his memory on my left shoulder.

Bart is 9 years old. He was adopted after Giorgio's housemate got out of the apartment that my son was living in at the time and we were never able to find her. 

Giorgio was lonely and we had seen Bart at the shelter while looking for Tori. Since Bart and Tara became housemates they have enjoyed playing together. They are evenly matched and love to roughhouse and chase each other.

For those who haven't had the displeasure of virtually meeting me previously, I'm Cie, AKA the Ornery Old Lady. I'm a former home health nurse, and caregiver, now disabled. I live here at the Grover Hotel with my son Michael, who will be 30 in May. 

My son is a creative person who enjoys working with his hands. He does woodcarving, primarily chip carving, which is a relief style. If you have a design in mind, you can email me at chartley65@gmail.com and I'll put you in touch with him.

Visit the Artist

Ghost Town Grover may seem gruff at first, but he's just protective of the ole Grover Hotel. Don't tell him, but he's just about the un-scariest ghost you'll ever meet.

Visit the Artist

Cactus Clem is one of a kind. He's a mutant cactus man. He doesn't eat solid food, but he sure does love to drink, and he ain't picky about what he's drinking. Beer, ditch water, lemonade, whiskey, white lightning, more beer, it's all the same to Clem!

Do not challenge Clem to a drinking contest. You will lose. Alcohol doesn't get Clem drunk. He just likes the taste.

I hope you've enjoyed meeting the people and critters that reside here at the Grover Hotel. Feel free to stop by anytime. Our virtual home is open 24-7!

~Cie the Ornery Old Lady~

Ornery Owl

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors on Pixabay

Animal Anarchy Blog

Good Stuff from Grover Blog

Blow Your Stack Saturday: Why Blogging Awards are No Reward

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

This is a response to a post on Hugh's blog regarding the problems with blogging awards.

Please don't give me an award for this post!

When I was new to blogging back when pterodactyls filled the skies, I very eagerly participated in blogging awards, being quite excited to receive them. 

"Someone likes what I'm writing!" I said excitedly. 

However, the bloom came off the rose fairly quickly.

I had people get really nasty with me for giving them blogging awards, telling me not to annoy them with that crap. I genuinely didn't know I was doing anything wrong and felt really hurt.

I found receiving blogging awards to be more stressful than enjoyable. Fortunately, they don't come up very often anymore, but if they do, I decline them politely. Honestly, there's no reason to be nasty about it as some people are.

~Cie the Ornery Old Lady~

Ornery Owl

Free Use Image from Open Clipart Vectors on Pixabay

Heeding Haiku: Raindrops on Rose Senryu

Photographer Unknown

raindrops on a rose

rain mingles with fallen tears

raindrops on my face

~cie~