The 1st thing that come to you when you wake up.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." -Joshua 1:9
This was the 1st thing that came to me as I woke up in the morning the other day. A bible verse. How strange. But this particular verse has meaning for me. The last time this verse was important to me or appeared in my life was 24 years ago.I was rustling with making a big move. Should I move to Nevada or stay here in Vermont. I saw this bible verse on my good friend's refrigerator, who happened to have a dad who was my minister. This verse hit me...It did not matter what choice I made...God would be with me and I had to have courage in what I do...so I moved to Nevada and it was an important part in my life. Vermont ended up calling me back and I met Katie my true love and soul mate when I came back. Now, this verse is up again. I don't think that I'll be moving to another state. I think this is encouragement for the housing moves we are making and for me to have courage in my pursuit to be a writer. All I know is no matter what becomes of me and my family in the choices that Katie and I will make, God will be with us.

Prospectives

We all have our challenges in life. How do you determine whose are greater than other? A Kid who has no home lives off the streets and scrounging for food every day. The business man who needs to make that deal so that he can get that big bonus so he can buy his wife the diamond ring she has been bugging him about. Which challenge is greater? Could it be prospective?
A challenge in my life is this writing. It Amazes me that putting words down in a entertaining and comprehensive structure can bring a salary in for someone. How much is writing worth to that homeless kid or that business man? Could it bring that kid out of poverty into a better life? Would the business man be happier? Like I said before... it is all prospective. Well, for this ones prospective; I write to write.What ever that does for me I will be happy.

Let the morning come.

Waking up and writing before anyone or anything is fully awake is refreshing. Everything is new and the air seems crisp even if I'm sitting in my cozy house. It's days like these that start the day out right.

This blog has always been a "me" blog. No one really reads it. Only those who I direct to it. I'm not even sure what key words you would type to find it. My wife suggest that I change the title. What would it be? "Shawn's writing journal"..."Memories of the O'Neil"...I think I will keep it "WooWoo stuff" for a while longer. Which, is a term I created for all those unexplained things in life (one of the phrases in my title). It seems these "wooWoo stuff" are less frequent. I think I am just less receptive to them in my busy days of not listen.

Starting the writer's habit

I have dedicated this whole blog to my dad. This is a way to remember him and to honor him. It is also a way for me to use my gift of writing. A gift that my dad would be proud of. I may not have been the perfect son for him or did things the way he would want me to do it. Especially when It came to fixing things. :) But dad would love to read what I write (and perhaps comment on it). So, the things I write from now on may not mention my dad, like I try to do in the previous posts. It doesn't in any way mean that I have forgotten him or dishonor him.I hope to think that what ever I write will honor him and make him proud to call me his son.

Could this be it!

I have a movie agent willing to look at my script! Thanks you Chris! I need to go over my script with a fine comb and write a few treatments for some more episodes. Boy, Dad would be bragging to everyone about this one!

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Happy Birthday Dad!

There would be a big sign hanging in the house "July 12th". This sign would have been put up on June 12th by my dad. This is my dad's day...His birthday! He would wake up at dawn and do what ever he wanted to do. Cathy knew better to have a "Honey do list." He usually started out fishing or just puttering around the house. He would eat what ever he wanted to eat and go where ever he wanted to go. This was a man who appreciated every moment that he lived. He would await the calls from all his kids and brothers and sisters.

Happy Birthday DAD! I hope you are fishing in Heaven!

I'm finally doing it

I just registered my script "Sabi Star" with the writers' guild! It cost $25. This Friday I will submit it to the Austin Film Festival. I will submit it electronically. The format is PDF file. I actual called to see if my script would qualify. It is a animation pilot for a series that I'm working on. I did not see such a category. It will be in the "Teleplay-Sitcom Pilot" category. I have to wait until Friday because we just do not have the funds to submit it yet. The Dead line is June 1st. Dad would be so proud and excited for me. He would be bragging to all his customers about this.

Rainy Spring...New Beginning

This is a very rainy start for spring in Vermont. In fact, I heard that we set some record for the amount of water we got. It is almost like a cleansing. My dad wouldn't like it because the fishing would be a little bit more challenging with fast flowing rivers.
I think of all those who have lost loved ones recently. It has been 8 years and 5 months since Dad passed away. There have been other deaths since dad. But, Dad was the closes person to me. I know a woman who's husband died unexpectedly and she is having a rough time with it (understandably). She has the support system but when it comes down to it...time seems to be the only true healer and the fact that one day you will be with those loved ones. Which I believe will happen. Everyone deals with this lost in their own way, I chose to start and continue this blog. For all those who feel that their world is completely turned upside down and there seems to be no ending to the pain...You are not alone and there are others out there that will help you with your pain.

The 1st mini skirt.

April in Vermont starts out dull than usually blossoms into something wonderful. A new beginning. I often think of one my Dad's favorite sayings..."When the weather turns warm...you see the 1st mini skirt and you have to look even if is a fat person." My dad's saying not mine.

April Fools day! A day my dad truely enjoyed.

April Fools Day! This is a day that my dad truly enjoyed (besides his Birthday). His jokes were harmless ones but funny. He especially like doing them to his brother and sisters and I'm sure they have stories to tell us about that.

I can't see what will 2011 bring!

The ending of 2010 wasn't the greatest for me because I got the flu. Being sick during your vacation is awful. The only good thing is that you do not have to take time off work. Luckily Katie is a nurse so she took care of me. I hope this year will get better.

Dad past away 9 years ago just before Christmas. So, Christmas hasn't been the same since. We had to recreated new traditions keeping those old ones live in our memories. I'm not saying that Christmas is ruined because of what happened...it has changed. We still wake up early to the squeal of happy children (you can't open those presents until mom and dad have their coffee. You can open you stockings, though). The kids rip through the wrapped Christmas gifts in seconds (which took us minuets to wrap). It's all good! Now, it is the start of a new year! I can't wait to see what will be in stored!

Christmas is almost here!

There is only days before the kids wake us up at some unnatural hour of the morning to open Christmas presents. This ritual has been one that has been past down for generations (I assume my Dad and Mom had the same enthusiasm as I did and what my kids have). One tradition that I kept that my dad started was..."you kids can open your Christmas Stockings when you get up..but...you have to wait until we get up to open the presents." Now I understand why he did this....sleep.

My Birthday

44 years ago my Dad was celebrating that he has a boy, Me. He was so proud and excited because He was such a traditional man. Having a son was a really big deal...he wanted to pass the family name on through his oldest boy. One promise I gave dad was to call his friend, Denis on my birthday, because that is what he did every November 4th because of an incident that Denis was involved with because of my birth. I have kept that promise so far.

Happy birthday Dad!

Every year on June 12th a sign with big red "July 12th" would be tacked up on the living room beam. This was so that no one would miss my Dad's Birthday. He would make sure that it was there for at least a month and some times longer. He would wake up at the crack of dawn and do what ever he wanted to do...It could be fishing going a walk in the woods. At 12:01 midnight he would sit in his LazyBoy chair and say "I can't believe that my birthday is over...yea, my Dad cherished this special day and I encourage that everyone should have the same attitude on their birthday. Well, HAPPY BIRTDAY, DAD! Love ya!

Writing for Life

The time has come for me to write. I have started this blog to honor my father, write out my feelings and experience with dealing with the loss. I have also started this to write. It is opened to the public. So, anyone who stumbles across this can read it and make comments if they like.
My father had his opinions of what to do and he may have tried to encourage me to do "what is right" (according to him in a lot of cases) He would give his two cents than leave it up to me to make the decision. He would encourage this writing but he would also say "don't give up your Day job". Well, Dad, I have not "giving up my day job" but I am working towards creating a new opportunity for myself and my family...by writing. Perhaps one day with hard work and luck You all will be reading something from Shawn O'Neil.

Messages

Once in a while I receive what I call "messages". They are usually a one sentence statement. I could rationalize it as my subconsciousness coming to the front or I could call it a message from God. This is something I always debated with myself...is it really God or is it just me thinking about an issue so much that my brain still works on it subconsciously and finally puff a one sentence pops into my head. Regardless of what it is...they are usually profound and they some times (believe it or not) are prophetic. I would prefer it to be the later, though. Well this blog has been dedicated to my dad so most of the themes that I write usually involve him. One of the "messages" I received was "My dad gave me something" I mention this to my wife and her immediately responded was..."it was Finn" You see Finn was born after my dad died and he always wanted me to have a boy (I may have mentioned this in a previous post). We were giving it one more try and I indicated that this would be the last child no matter what sex the baby was. I even got "the operation" before I even knew what we were going to have. Finn was born and he does so many little traits that my dad use to do. My Dad would had been very proud of Finn (although he would be proud of all his grand kids) but Finn in my father's eyes is the heir to the O'Neil Throne.

Spring is within smell

Yes, If you walk out side and sniff...you can smell dirt, fresh air, a certain texture in the air that, well, smells like spring. It isn't quit here but it looms like hope of better days. Spring is usually a fresh start. That is what awaits me...a fresh start...My job will be changing. I will be in the same organization but will have a different role. I'm neither happy nor sad about it. I just need to take it as it comes. I know my dad would have had words of wisdom like this or he would have said "how can they (meaning my work) do that to you without consulting you first". After thinking about it he would have both. Oh, well at least I have a job.

It has been a long time!

I have not written in a long time on this blog. I guess I am not a blogger. But regardless I will use this as a tool to enhance my writing progress. Hopefully I will get good enough to keep it up and add thing as I go.
The main reason for this blog or I should say the 1st reason I started this blog is for my dad. It has been seven years since he moved on to that next adventure. It seems short yet it seems long if that makes any since.

Going to Washing DC

I haven't written on this for a long time. This site is considered my personal (but Shared)site. So Grammar and spelling isn't as important as other sites. (although I will try my best to correct things). I will be heading down to see President elect Obama be sworn in. I received tickets from the Bernie Sander office (thanks Senator Sanders!) My two daughter will be heading down with me. I was asked by a local news channel (wtpz, channel 5) to blog for them (not here but thier own blog). Click on the title and it will lead to our adventures in DC. My Dad would have been bragging about this adventure. (and would have giving me "the talk" about what to do in a big City).