A Wonderful Cure for Dyslexia

One of my favorite British authors (and online bud), GP Taylor, loves to visit schools to promote his books. He does it not only for that purpose however. Mr. Taylor really hopes to instill a love of reading in every child. Quite admirable, I would say.

In any case, his new book, The First Escape (The Dopple Ganger Chronicles) is causing a nice stir. I believe one of the characters is named after my cousin, Saskia. Just kidding!!! I thought it was such a coincidence since Saskia is not all that common. Maybe it is in England. Who knows?

Anyway, I'd love for you to read the story of how this book actually helped a young girl deal with dyslexia. Amazing really. Here's the link to a very short but inspirational article. And btw, major movie studios in the US are after this one. Congrats, my friend.


Watch these inspirational videos by GP Taylor. They are pretty awesome.






Gatekeeper GP Taylor The Dopple Ganger Chronicles

Thursday Thirteen Ed # (um sorry can't remember)

Thirteen Ways to Handle/Honor The American Flag

American Flag etiquette . . . there is code . . . do you know it?

American Flag Info

1. The flag should be lighted at all times, either by sunlight or by an appropriate light source.

2. The flag should be flown in fair weather, unless the flag is designed for inclement weather use.

3. The flag should never be dipped to any person or thing. It is flown upside down only as a distress signal.

4. The flag should not be used for any decoration in general. Bunting of blue, white and red stripes is available for these purposes. The blue stripe of the bunting should be on the top.

5. The flag should never be used for any advertising purpose. It should not be embroidered, printed or otherwise impressed on such articles as cushions, handkerchiefs, napkins, boxes, or anything intended to be discarded after temporary use. Advertising signs should not be attached to the staff or halyard.

6. The flag should not be used as part of a costume or athletic uniform, except that a flag patch may be used on the uniform of military personnel, fireman, policeman and members of patriotic organizations.

7. The flag should never have any mark, insignia, letter, word, number, figure, or drawing of any kind placed on it, or attached to it.

8, The flag should never be used for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything.

9. When the flag is lowered, no part of it should touch the ground or any other object; it should be received by waiting hands and arms. To store the flag it should be folded neatly and ceremoniously.

10. The flag should be cleaned and mended when necessary.

11. When a flag is so worn it is no longer fit to serve as a symbol of our country, it should be destroyed by burning in a dignified manner.

12. Over the Middle of the Street: It should be suspended vertically with the union to the north in an east and west street or to the east in a north and south street.

13. With Other National Flags: When flags of two or more nations are displayed, they are to be flown from separate staffs of the same height. The flags should be of approximately equal size. International usage forbids the display of the flag of one nation above that of another nation in time of peace.

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When Angels And Serpents Dance

Does that title spark a little bit of interest? Curiosity, at least? How about Payable On Death? All sounds rather ominous, does it not? It is the Gatekeeper's blog after all. What can one expect? So it is, that Lady Gatekeep will "steal" the rest of this story from kid brother's blog, Time 2 Stand, since I know he would not mind. It is a rather wondrous blog and worth you while, I might add. Much wisdom to impart, I say.

I do miss Calvary Chapel, oh so much, Pastor Raul was the one who put me on that straight and narrow path almost 32 years ago. Where has that time gone? Yet, the Lord has made my home at NewSong and a fine House it is.

In any case, we would like to draw your attention to the EXIT FESTIVAL this June. It's a free concert and headlining shall be those rockers (with haircuts, I believe), POD (Payable On Death). You won't want to miss this. Grab all those young ones, stuff them in vans, horse-drawn carriages, Hummers, whatever, just get the neighborhood kids there! Amen.

"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it" (Isaiah 30:21 NIV).

POD: "When Angels and Serpents Dance." I've decided to put up the link instead of having the video here since I've gotten a few complaints about running those automatically. God bless you guys and have an awesome Summer reaching our world for Jesus.

The Neighborhood Chronicles: The Hatfields And McCoys?

Now the Gatekeeper is a single mom trying to raise a teenage boy. And a lovely boy it is. This child will bang on his drums till the symbols crack and has attached his Ipod to very, and we should say very again and again, loud speakers. Yes, the once peaceful neighborhood has fallen into a sound trap: Avenge Sevenfold, Kutless amongst others.

Of course, said child, is also very moody which does him well when the director screams action. Have you seen my young Prince in Iron Man yet? Oh please do not blink, he only received about 10 seconds of face time for two weeks of work. Of course, the paycheck was reward enough. Not to mention the fun he had with all those stunt men.

In any case, back to the neighborhood. Young Prince has had a few difficulties with boy next door. Once upon a time they were friends. But for reasons we should probably not mention here they have begun to feud. Perhaps it is the different lifestyles -- one is a skaterboy, the other a rapper -- which, of course, should not be a factor for church-going boys. Nonetheless, there we are, enemies, rivals whatever the case may be.

Young Prince L. has had his share of participating in boyish pranks including "ding dong ditch," throwing watermelon rinds over the fence, accidentally skating into neighbor's trash cans, throwing dirt against garage door and scaring their little girls with a Halloween mask (on Halloween night). Oy, what is a mother to do. Lady Gatekeeper has talked with moody Prince and asked for help from pastors but alas, once the Prince has been provoked he does tend to lash out. It seems that now, when something goes wrong in the neighborhood it will be forever more blamed on the Prince.

I take no issue with neighbors to the right for defending their son, as will I defend mine. When the two began to argue and fists began to fly adults next door decided to fling open my door and order me to stop it. Or something like that. Voices were raised to young Prince and words were said by neighbor that will be engraved in Prince's heart forever.

"Boy, you are headed down the wrong path. Punk! You're not worth it!"

So there we are, a little lost, much sadness, and a boy who has been accused by the adults around him once again. He has admitted to me of certain pranks but he cannot understand why everything is blamed on him. Even when he was not here (he was away with his father) were accusations flung his way.

Nonetheless, instead of taking this any further young Prince and I have discussed what The Lord would require of us. I have told him to wipe the words that hurt away. That throwing stuff onto neighbor's property is never a good idea but that it will not lead him to hell.

Each day as we drive to school young Prince reads out loud a chapter from God's Word. We begin with Philippians. Not an easy pill to swallow . . .

Chapter 1: 9 ". . . that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10) so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ."

Chapter 1:21 "Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ."

Chapter 2:3 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves."

All this to say, young Prince needs lots of love and a good male role model (which btw neighbor boy seems to have from their church) and a little bit of understanding from the adults in his life. We surely do need to stop talking "AT" him and start talking with him.

"Finally brothers, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." (Philippians 4:8)

The Lonely Limo Driver

I have a most comical tale to share. Or perhaps, at one point, it might have seemed a little tragic. We received several Wedding Invitations from the same couple, one of which was addressed to our beloved dog, BJ. If it were the end of the story it would be funny enough.

Nevertheless, when the big day arrived and the ceremony was over, the guests proceeded to the Country Club for a nice reception. We waited for the bride and groom . . . and we waited . . . and we waited further still. Alas, to make the story much shorter than it really was, the Limo driver was a tad bit directionally challenged that day and drove them to a place far away from the Country Club.

Indeed, at that point it might have been a wiser choice to have taken heed of the Gatekeeper's advice and used the services of the rider and his horse drawn carriage. The invitation would have been a good source of info itself. Rather nice, wouldn't you say? Done online, I might add. A nice zoom feature which actually allowed one to see the quality of the final invite. It is a most romantic site for all one's custom wedding invitation.

Nonetheless, to get back to the story at hand. By the time Bride and Groom arrived at the reception, the food was gone, the bubbly had faded and many guests had exited the party.

It was late, of course, so the couple decided to head for the hotel room with empty stomachs and loads of presents. The remaining guests cheered them on and tipped the driver with a map. It did not help the matter and once again, the driver lost his way. Our dear couple finally made it to the hotel around midnight, tired, hungry but happily married.

British Author Lands Deal With American Publisher

This man is awesome. If you haven't read "Shadowmancer," pick up a copy today. Actually you can use our Amazon Search Box from my sidebar. That would help a lot. In any case, I've just finished "Mariah Mundi" and I really should do the review. I'll have it soon.

Of Plans, Automobiles And Travel Advantage

The days of summer are slowly creeping upon us and Lady Gatekeeper, her young Prince and Princess are once again in dire needs to rent a car. We must start these plans early so as not to have all those anxious moments hit us all at once, so to speak. Therefore, my friends, is it not a pleasure to be able to do such things on the internet? Rent a car right from your kitchen table. Yes, indeed, even a Gatekeeper can navigate herself through the Advantage dot com domain quite comfortably. A few simple clicks will apparently tell them what it is one wants to drive, when and where to pick such vehicle up and drop off cannot be easier.

Special rates on SUV's . . . that is what we would be looking at for long drives from the south side of the state to the north. I believe this baby could go for as low as $19.99 a day. Or perhaps, you would like to earn a free car rental day. Information on site . . . Good planning, I say.

In any case, it might be to your Advantage to use this car rental service and plan that vacation accordingly. I would imagine if one needed to rent a car one would use these services. So here's to having wonderful re-unions, holidays, and long-deserved vacations and, of course, having the means to get to our destinations without the hassle.

Beauty From Ashes

. . . of massive wildfires swept across hundreds of thousands of acres and destroyed thousands of homes and killing at least nine people in late October 2007.

******

I don't know why the above story from Voxant was cut off. But of course, I thought it would be all right to finish it for ya. LOL. In any case, I wanted to share the beauty. If you remember the fires from not so long ago, it's hard to believe something as pretty as these flowers could ever come from it. Beauty from ashes. I hope you continue to pray for firefighters everywhere.

Antelope Valley Christian Writers Conference

It is off to one more writers conference tomorrow. I must say that I'm a little nervous, traveling by myself, and driving over a hundred miles. This is after I attend my writers group in the morning before heading out to Lancaster in the Antelope Valley. The IRS promised my tax refund would be in my bank account on 4/25/08. Well, let's give them a few more days. But with the price of gas I am going to need that refund.

In any case, the AV writers conference is smaller than most. Just the way I like it. Of course, it could also be a little hazardous to my health. I am such a recluse and get very claustrophobic around people. Out of my comfort zone I shall go. Looks like I will be able to attend every workshop. No doubt I will learn too much and will need to buy the DVD's.

Needless to say, I am bringing five chapters of my book and shoving it in every publisher's face . . . nicely of course. And if you are reading this and are one of the publishers attending AVC then . . . . well . . . . never mind, I think I'm safe.

On other home news, Iron Man opens up tomorrow. Princes S. and young Lord Layne will go see it on Saturday. Let's see how much two weeks of work on that film gets Layne in face time. One can only hope. Have a great weekend and if you have the time come visit my blog at Yuwie. FYI, Yuwie bloggers average 50 comments per post over there. I'm just saying, it's nice to get read, so to speak.


Iron Man Article At AC


Gatekeeper Iron Man AV Christian Writers Conference