<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483212887093370021</id><updated>2011-07-07T21:42:54.647-07:00</updated><category term='This is another excerpt from a story I&apos;m writing.  You like?'/><category term='Costa Rica'/><category term='I was mesmerized...'/><title type='text'>Aspired Author</title><subtitle type='html'>I'm a author and I REALLY want people to critique my work!  I really don't mind negative comments as long as they provide advice!  So read my excerpts/poems...</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://aspiredauthor.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3483212887093370021/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://aspiredauthor.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>GotShovel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06693696057943855692</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_NWRXFUC_5Kc/SkQg8xXu-yI/AAAAAAAAAAM/aU-JiwG62sU/S220/Cookie+Monster!.png'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>4</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483212887093370021.post-6992670800899792119</id><published>2010-04-20T14:30:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-04-20T14:37:13.160-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Costa Rica'/><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_NWRXFUC_5Kc/S84bRTq6AkI/AAAAAAAAACI/yFcMKGG-tJk/s1600/Beach+Landscape.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_NWRXFUC_5Kc/S84bRTq6AkI/AAAAAAAAACI/yFcMKGG-tJk/s400/Beach+Landscape.JPG" width="400" wt="true" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Georgia, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif;"&gt;It &lt;span style="color: #cc0000;"&gt;smells&lt;/span&gt; like salt and funnel cakes. I stand, &lt;span style="color: #cc0000;"&gt;watching&lt;/span&gt; the &lt;span style="background-color: #d5a6bd;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: purple;"&gt;wa&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: magenta;"&gt;te&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: #20124d;"&gt;rc&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: #0c343d;"&gt;ol&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: lime;"&gt;ors&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; of &lt;span style="background-color: #20124d; color: cyan;"&gt;teal&lt;/span&gt; churn in steady currents before they reach up, bend over, and crash down onto the pebbly shore in a tumble of &lt;span style="background-color: #20124d; color: lime;"&gt;seafoam&lt;/span&gt;. I &lt;span style="color: #cc0000;"&gt;hear&lt;/span&gt; the sound of the waves crashing, bubbles &lt;span style="background-color: #4c1130; color: lime;"&gt;foaming&lt;/span&gt;, gulls shrieking madly, and the utter &lt;span style="background-color: cyan; font-family: &amp;quot;Trebuchet MS&amp;quot;, sans-serif;"&gt;droning&lt;/span&gt; of rushing water as it sweeps over my feet. &lt;span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;Goosebumps&lt;/span&gt; prickle up my legs and my toes sink into the now-slimy sand. The &lt;span style="background-color: #674ea7; color: orange;"&gt;salty&lt;/span&gt; breeze &lt;span style="background-color: #351c75; color: lime;"&gt;lifts up my hair from my shoulders as I feel&lt;/span&gt; the &lt;span style="color: #783f04; font-family: &amp;quot;Trebuchet MS&amp;quot;, sans-serif;"&gt;grains&lt;/span&gt; of salt sting my eyes and race over my skin. &lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;, Courier, monospace;"&gt;But I’m not cold.&lt;/span&gt; The sun’s &lt;span style="background-color: orange; color: #660000;"&gt;warm&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="color: black;"&gt;breath&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;bathes&lt;/span&gt; me. I take one step forward and &lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;enjoy the feel&lt;/span&gt; of &lt;span style="background-color: cyan;"&gt;the cool sea&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="color: blue; font-family: &amp;quot;Helvetica Neue&amp;quot;, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;gushing&lt;/span&gt; at my ankles. It sends a &lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;, Courier, monospace;"&gt;shudder of anticipation&lt;/span&gt; up my spine and my heart pounds. With the &lt;span style="background-color: #6aa84f;"&gt;gritty seashells&lt;/span&gt; embedded below my feet, I anxiously take another step forward...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3483212887093370021-6992670800899792119?l=aspiredauthor.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://aspiredauthor.blogspot.com/feeds/6992670800899792119/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://aspiredauthor.blogspot.com/2010/04/it-smells-like-salt-and-funnel-cakes.html#comment-form' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3483212887093370021/posts/default/6992670800899792119'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3483212887093370021/posts/default/6992670800899792119'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://aspiredauthor.blogspot.com/2010/04/it-smells-like-salt-and-funnel-cakes.html' title=''/><author><name>GotShovel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06693696057943855692</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_NWRXFUC_5Kc/SkQg8xXu-yI/AAAAAAAAAAM/aU-JiwG62sU/S220/Cookie+Monster!.png'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_NWRXFUC_5Kc/S84bRTq6AkI/AAAAAAAAACI/yFcMKGG-tJk/s72-c/Beach+Landscape.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483212887093370021.post-8846368949462128721</id><published>2010-02-16T14:27:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2010-06-07T17:57:34.821-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Dead-End Dream</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="color: purple; font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;, Courier, monospace;"&gt;It &lt;span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif;"&gt;crumples&lt;/span&gt; me all &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: purple; font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;, Courier, monospace;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: purple; font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;, Courier, monospace;"&gt;The shudders that &lt;span style="background-color: black; color: white;"&gt;break&lt;/span&gt; me until I bawl &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: purple; font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;, Courier, monospace;"&gt;It &lt;span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"&gt;builds&lt;/span&gt; like a wall&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: purple; font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;, Courier, monospace;"&gt;The feeling that everything’s just going to &lt;span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Georgia, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif; font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: white;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #660000;"&gt;f&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: #990000;"&gt;a&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;l&lt;/span&gt;l&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color: #0b5394;"&gt;...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: purple; font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;, Courier, monospace;"&gt;It &lt;span style="background-color: black; color: white;"&gt;deprives&lt;/span&gt; my soul&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: purple; font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;, Courier, monospace;"&gt;The image of our dreams you just &lt;span style="background-color: lime; color: white; font-family: Georgia, &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;, serif;"&gt;let go...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: purple; font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;, Courier, monospace;"&gt;And it &lt;span style="background-color: #134f5c; color: cyan; font-size: large;"&gt;floods&lt;/span&gt; over me&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: purple; font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;, Courier, monospace;"&gt;The realization of the lies I just didn’t see.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: purple; font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;, Courier, monospace;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3483212887093370021-8846368949462128721?l=aspiredauthor.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://aspiredauthor.blogspot.com/feeds/8846368949462128721/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://aspiredauthor.blogspot.com/2010/02/now-that-youre-gone.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3483212887093370021/posts/default/8846368949462128721'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3483212887093370021/posts/default/8846368949462128721'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://aspiredauthor.blogspot.com/2010/02/now-that-youre-gone.html' title='Dead-End Dream'/><author><name>GotShovel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06693696057943855692</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_NWRXFUC_5Kc/SkQg8xXu-yI/AAAAAAAAAAM/aU-JiwG62sU/S220/Cookie+Monster!.png'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483212887093370021.post-2939102920822386507</id><published>2009-09-12T12:32:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-09-12T12:33:19.393-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='I was mesmerized...'/><title type='text'>Horse Crazy, Gal!</title><content type='html'>'...It was the most beautiful horse I had ever seen! The mare was tall with a sleek back and long slender black legs that pumped gracefully with every step. Firm but feminine muscles curved perfectly over her shoulders, not too high and not too loose and a low willowy neck stretched out gallantly. The horse’s coat was a gleaming finish of appaloosa watercolors with a snowy white body dappled with black specks. From the neck to her head, was black with a white stripe at the front of her face. Black and white hairs blended with each other in the horse’s short-cropped mane and her long fluffy tail.&lt;br /&gt;I was mesmerized...'&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3483212887093370021-2939102920822386507?l=aspiredauthor.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://aspiredauthor.blogspot.com/feeds/2939102920822386507/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://aspiredauthor.blogspot.com/2009/09/horse-crazy-gal.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3483212887093370021/posts/default/2939102920822386507'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3483212887093370021/posts/default/2939102920822386507'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://aspiredauthor.blogspot.com/2009/09/horse-crazy-gal.html' title='Horse Crazy, Gal!'/><author><name>GotShovel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06693696057943855692</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_NWRXFUC_5Kc/SkQg8xXu-yI/AAAAAAAAAAM/aU-JiwG62sU/S220/Cookie+Monster!.png'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3483212887093370021.post-7440756403022187590</id><published>2009-08-01T12:42:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-02-16T14:12:07.322-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='This is another excerpt from a story I&apos;m writing.  You like?'/><title type='text'>Do Something!</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;...I started feeling that special urge to do something! Anything! The bravery built up in me as I inched closer to the edge of the harbor. I had to do this before it was too late! It was necessary! So I slid even farther…&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;And let myself fall.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"&gt;My stomach lurched. For countless seconds, I hung in midair, ready to climb back up. And then it came. Like cold cement, I slapped through the cool water. My eyes burned and I shut them as fast as I could. My skin shriveled. It was so cold!! I felt as numb as stone and for seconds, I could not move. I was sure my body was swept away when I fell and all was left was my lifeless spirit. The energy was gone and I could not feel my legs. My mind was frozen in great confusion until it finally snapped back to reality...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3483212887093370021-7440756403022187590?l=aspiredauthor.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://aspiredauthor.blogspot.com/feeds/7440756403022187590/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://aspiredauthor.blogspot.com/2009/08/blog-post.html#comment-form' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3483212887093370021/posts/default/7440756403022187590'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3483212887093370021/posts/default/7440756403022187590'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://aspiredauthor.blogspot.com/2009/08/blog-post.html' title='Do Something!'/><author><name>GotShovel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06693696057943855692</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_NWRXFUC_5Kc/SkQg8xXu-yI/AAAAAAAAAAM/aU-JiwG62sU/S220/Cookie+Monster!.png'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry></feed>
