Tag Archives: murder mystery

Murder Makes Me Feel Less Lame

I begin my Lame Post Friday post on Friday but fear I will not finish it till Saturday.  I am on my Tablet,  pecking in one letter at a time with the stylus.  Once again I am unable to add a headline.  That will be my excuse.

My real excuse, unfortunately, is that I have waited till too late and am too tired to make a decent blog post.  I guess that is not much of an excuse but is in fact the reason.

A picture from a long ago walk.

Once again I put in a picture to show the passage of time.  In the first paragraph I mentioned pecking in one letter at a time with the stylus, but I’m afraid I was letting predictive text do the talking, I mean typing.  I keep losing my stylus and have to use my fat finger.  It feels fatter on my phone than on my Tablet, but still.  My fingers are a lot more clever when they work together, as right now as I ten-finger type (I love typing; it is so much fun!).  There’s a metaphor for life:  everything is better when we work together!

And that, if you like, was a bit of half-baked philosophy suitable for Lame Post Friday.  Only I don’t think it was half-baked; I thing it is the truth.  For example, I felt much better about Lights, Camera, Murder!  after the cast had met and started working together.  It is going to be great!  My actors will make it great!

They ponder the clues.

Here is a shot of my last cast making Shooting at the Grange great.  I like working with a movie theme; it give us all a chance to be real hams.  Oh, who am I kidding?  We can ham it up in all my murder mysteries.

Who, her? Be a ham?

One more shot of a great actress.  I knew some of the lines I wrote were funny, but I didn’t know how funny till Mary Jane put her special spin on them.  I love theatre!

So I have gone from a late, lame post to raving about theatre, my own murder mysteries, and the casts that make them wonderful.  I think that is work enough for a Saturday morning, and I adjourn for another cup of coffee.  Once again, thank you for tuning in.

 

It’s Been Murder on my Blog!

I guess this has been a Blogger’s Sick Week.  I have been plagued by terrible headaches.  I try so hard not to whine but sometimes find embarrassing little whimpery noises coming out of my mouth.  Luckily nobody else has heard them.  Even more fortunately, my bosses at work believe me when I tell them I have a migraine and need to go home.

Oh dear, what a boring post this is turning out to be!  I don’t suppose it matters, though.  I am on my Tablet which still won’t let me put in a headline.  I will try to finish this in the morning, when I will feel more like sitting up at the dining-room-table-top.

This was taken at the Inspire Moore Winery.

I put in a picture to represent the passage of time.  It is now early Friday morning and I am at my dining-room-table-top, ten-finger typing and waiting for the coffee to perk.  I think it finished perking while I searched for an appropriate picture.

Ah yes, coffee always helps.  When I write letters to my sister Diane, she likes it if I give her a blow by blow of where I am and what I am doing while I write.  I tend to use the same technique with my blog.  Is a blog like a letter to anybody who chances to click on it?  Discuss amongst yourselves.

I may wear the same dress in our upcoming production.

I was going to share the posed picture of the cast of Fabulous and Fatal, which I have shared many times, but opted for an action shot instead.  This was the murder mystery we presented to benefit the Herkimer County Historical Society in 2019.  I use the picture because last night I was at the first rehearsal for Lights, Camera, Murder!  the murder mystery which will benefit the Historical Society on Saturday, Nov. 11.  Yes, it is close.  We put these things together quickly.

So there you have it:  an apology for my absence and a Preview of Coming Attractions.  Am I back to daily blogging?  I hope so.  And I hope people will continue to tune in.

 

October Memories

I guess it’s another Late Post Week (when you put it in caps it looks like more of a thing) as I sit here Friday morning making a Throwback Thursday Post.

I love it!

I go back to 2016 and one of the first pictures I ever shared in this blog.  It is from Pumpkin Junction in Sauquoit, so I can give a shout-out to one of my favorite local businesses.  I don’t think they had this particular display when I was there last year, but there was still plenty to look at and enjoy.

Isn’t he handsome?

Here is my late, dearly missed husband Steve that same year.  We used to have all kinds of Mohawk Valley Adventures together.

I’ve shared this suspicious bunch before.

Another kind of October adventure was our presentation of A G.R.A.V.E. Murder to benefit the Herkimer County Historical Society.  I must do some more work on Lights, Camera, Murder! the next murder mystery, coming up Nov. 11 (preview of coming attractions).

Must work on my front porch!

And here is  my front porch, with past Halloween decorations.  So far this year, I don’t even have lights.  I hang my head in shame.

To complete the post, and the shout-out of the first two pictures, I will add that Pumpkin Junction is located at 2188 Roberts Rd., Sauquoit. They are open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m, daily through Oct. 31.  Check it out!

 

Who Got Rubbed Out?

Hello, and welcome to another Throwback Thursday Post.  What will I throw back to this week?  No doubt something I have thrown back to before, but you’ll have that.

Would you trust her?

This is my friend Laura as the vampish Zelda Helsinki in Rubbed Out at Ruby’s,  one of my favorite murder mysteries.  I think I need to do another 1920’s one.  The clothes are so fun!

They all look like murderers to me!

Here is the whole cast, including my late, dearly missed husband Steve (in the back, third from the right) (oh, I guess he’s third from the left, too).  They were all great people to work with.

They might be holding me up, but you can’t prove that at this late date.

I might as well make it a Ruby trifecta.  Here I am, in red, between two Kims.

The chalk outline looks like he’s dancing.

It seems I do not have a whole lot to say, so I put in another cast photo.

Wait a minute! She wasn’t in the cast!

This is the picture I had meant to open with, because I have spent the last few days sweltering, as have many people.  I think my brain got steamed, which could explain my inability to think of much to say.  However, I see I am over 200 words.  Score!  Stay hydrated, everyone!

 

Small Wins on Non-Sequitur Sunday

If I manage to finish and publish this blog post, I will have made all my weekend posts on time (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday).  Some might argue that I do not have much room to feel pleased with myself over it.  After all, daily on time posts are what I am supposed to do as a daily blogger.  Still, I like to celebrate every small win.

For another example, earlier today I was at a big box store and took my purchases to self-check-out.  When I finished, I said to the employee who was standing right there, “I made it all the way through without needing help, are you pround of me?”

“Yes,” she replied, “It makes you the best customer of the day!”  I complimented her on her hair (it was really pretty, thick and brown in one big braid) and went about my business.

She looked fabulous.

I thought it was time to add a picture to pep things up.  Before I could find anything remotely apropos in my Media Library, I saw this one of my friend Mary Jane in Shooting at the Grange, the murder mystery we did in April to benefit Salisbury Grange.  I need to spend some time working on new murder mysteries (Preview of Coming Attractions), so perhaps it is apropos.

I am having a pretty OK Sunday myself.

I am once again watching an episode of Columbo.  I enjoy watching Columbo on a Sunday night.

I guess that makes this a kind of a Non-Sequitur Sunday Post, not my usual day for such things.  Still, it is a Sunday Post on Sunday.  Like I said, celebrate the small wins.

 

Technical Difficulties on Tired Tuesday

Yestersay was a common or garden Tired Tuesday (still the tiny letters on my Tablet and no predictive text or autocorrect; what’s that about?). I pulled a muscle at work, but it was not one of my blogposting muscles. Well, peripherally I guess it was, but really I have no good excuse.

So, what, is this post going to be entirely me whining about not making a post yesterday? SAY IT AIN’T SO! Now my predictive text would have given me the whole phrase after I had typed in “SA”, a great savings in time. Additionally, I just noticed that in the previous parahraph, “autocorrect” came out “autocortec.” Autocorrect would have caught that and fixed it. Ironic, yes? Or do I set the bar too low?

OK, so I guess it’s a post of me whining about technical difficulties. Quick, throw in a picture (once again, my predictive text thingy would have helpfully chimed in with “to pep things up”).

Once again, I am unable to add a caption, but this is the magnificent cast of Fabulous and Fatal, a murder mystery we presented in 2019 to benefit the Herkimer County Historical Society, a wonderful memory.

Come to think about it, I have to get moving on another murder mystery for them. So I begin with a whine and end with a preview of coming attractions. It will have to do for a late Tired Tuesday post.

What Was I Using My Brain For?

I am taking a Blogger’s Sick Day.  I did not even make it through a full day at work.  I know what some of you are thinking:  that I overindulged at Fratello’s Pizzeria in Frankfort last night and paid the price today.  It’s not true!  I indulged the exact same amount as usual, perhaps a little less than sometimes since I avoided deep fried anything.  I feel most ill-used.

Who could be un-cheered by Tucker?

I thought I would throw in a picture to pep things up, before I was lost in a morass of whining.  This is from September 2018, making this also a Throwback Thursday Post.  It is my friend Tucker as Renwick Spaulding in Donate to Murder,  the character and mystery I referenced on Tuesday, if anybody remembers.

I can’t really settle my mind to this post.  It’s my stomach that is doing me dirt.  I can’t help thinking that if I only ate or drank the right thing, I would feel better.  However, if the Ginger Ale I got out of the machine at work didn’t help, I have no great hopes of the food I have in the house.  Uh oh, whining again.  Quick, throw in another picture.

Nice side eye.

Here is a shot from The Brain That Wouldn’t Die,  one of my favorite cheesy horror movies.  My brain would and did.  However, I think the picture also qualifies this as  Non-Sequitur Thursday Post.  Who says I can’t multi-task?

 

Still Shooting (for an On-Time Blog Post)

Before this blog at last segues out of All Shooting at the Grange All The Time,  I would like to use up the last four pictures I took on Saturday.  For a late Tired Tuesday Post, I thought it would beat whining about how tired I am (more than is warranted, I feel) (both my tiredness and my whining).

One actor is blurry; I am nobody’s idea of a good photographer.

This shot shows the stage, which we only used briefly.  The actors thought it would be better to stay amidst the audience, and I agreed.  We have a lot of Actor’s Choice in my murder mysteries, although I reserve the right to all final decisions.

Another blurry actor, but what a fabulous outfit she has on!

As I said before, it was very uncomfortable for me to watch the mingling without participating.  To me it is the most fun part of the shows.

You wouldn’t believe this was the guy with the bugs in Donate to Murder.

One of the other fun parts of these shows is seeing actors play different roles.  Tucker, for example, was the dashing leading man on Saturday but previously played the creepy Renwick Spaulding.  I was thinking about writing a mystery called Renwick’s Revenge (preview of coming attractions).

A better view of the fabulous outfit, including the boots.

The actor on the right (as you may have noticed, I do the thing of referring to both male and females as actors) is new to my murder mysteries.  She came on Tucker’s recommendation, and a good recommendation it was!  The other two, a mother/daughter team) participated last November in He Laughed Himself to Death.  I was delighted to work with them again.

So I have gone a whole two days without definitely committing to another murder mystery, although I know a few groups who would like one.  Well, perhaps with no commitments or definite plans to actually perform it, I might just start writing a few notes on Renwick’s Revenge. No promises.

 

 

About That Murder Mystery…

Regular readers may be anxious to know how our murder mystery turned out, and I kept them in suspense by neglecting to post either Saturday or Sunday.  Or perhaps I flatter myself.  For anybody just tuning in, I refer to Shooting at the Grange, which we presented to benefit Salisbury Grange on April 29.

She welcomes you to my blog post.

I foolishly did not get pictures of each character, but I did take a few shots while the actors mingled with the audience before the scripted part of the performance.

They got a big crowd.

Everybody seemed to be having a fine time.  For my part, I was a little uncomfortable, because I am usually one of the actors.  I wanted to be out there interacting with the audience, dropping clues and dissing the other characters!

The Grange volunteers were very sweet.

They served pulled pork, corn, potatoes, cole slaw and rolls.  The actors and I ate after the performance.  It was delicious!

I should have gotten a closer shot of that glamorous character.

The whole thing went pretty well.  The audience seemed to enjoy it.  The actors did a good job.  The Grange people are hoping we will return with another murder mystery,  perhaps this fall.

I personally need to take a break.  When I mentioned this to a co-worker on Friday (incidentally, I had named the victim after this particular co-worker), he said, “Then on Monday, you’ll say, ‘I have an opportunity to write another murder mystery.’ ”

Who, me? Write another murder mystery?

 

Still Flustered, No Longer Friday

As flustered as I was on Thursday, I remained so on Friday.  So much so that I did not make a blog post.  Part of me says, why call attention to my failings?  Just make the blog post.  No one will care if it is late.  If they do, as a co-worker of mine used to say, they’ll get over it or they’ll get therapy.

Once again making this blog  All Shooting at the Grange All The Time,  my mission, if I chose to accept it (just to throw in a ’70’s television reference), was to print out and photocopy programs for our murder mystery, which goes up today, April 29 at Salisbury Grange.  A cast member has revised the program I had first typed up, a mere one page outlining the setting and characters.  She had also made up little forms for people to write their guesses on.  My cast members always go above and beyond!

I love my cast.

My problems were mostly of timing.  I wanted to go to Basloe Library in Herkimer to print them.  They close at five and I believe like to shut down the computers a half hour before closing.  I get into town just before four, filthy dirty from my job (I add, in case anybody thinks I am complaining, that it is a perfectly good job and I am washable).  I prefer to shower and change before inflicting myself upon places.

As the great philosopher Mick Jagger said, you can’t always get what you want. I went to the library dirty. Nobody complained.  They are always very nice there.  I found out they also make copies, charging the same that they charge per sheet for printing.  In hindsight, I wish I had just printed out 80 copies and had done with, but I wanted to get fancy.

Back home I contacted a couple of retail places that do copies, hoping I could also purchase colored paper to copy on.  Did you know you cannot just call a store and talk to a person any more?  Your call has to be “directed” and sometimes you have to listen to an automated voice and press a bunch of numbers first. Technology! Sheesh!

After that annoyance (yes, yes, I know it is a first world problem!  Once again, Sheesh!), I found out that the places I called charge as much or more as the library! I decided to give my money to the library.  A quick look at Facebook told me Frankfort Free Library was open till seven.  Sweet!

I took a fast shower and hurried to a store which does not need a plug from Mohawk Valley Girl for fancy colored paper.  Feeling I now had plenty of time, I stopped at Valley Wine and Liquor, where they were doing a tasting of Apothic Wines.  I’ll have to write a blog post about that (preview of coming attractions).

In Frankfort I discovered that Facebook had betrayed me.  The library had closed at five.  Alas!  I gave up the mission till Saturday morning.  Since I was in Frankfort, however, I went to Fratello’s Pizzeria for some food and relaxation.

Wow, look!  I am over 500 words!  If you have read to the end, I offer you my most sincere thanks.