Great Gifts 2 Go

**This is an article that was written for a client. The client has since not paid for the piece and refuses to communicate in any way. The downfalls of freelance writing sometimes. Since the article has not been paid for, it is still my property and is being used in my portfolio. It is also listed on my other blog, themickiholley.blogspot.com.** Quartz versus Granite When thinking of high-end finishes within a home it is expected that granite will be visible in the kitchen and in the bathroom. However, there is another material that is creeping up on the heels of granite and becoming a very popular and safer alternative. Quartz has the high end look but is durable, easily maintained and very safe. Quartz comes in a wide array of colors and textures to fit any kitchen or bath décor. There are heated debates everywhere as to which is better, quartz or granite. Granite lovers valiantly defend their beloved, all-natural stone while quartz lovers will fearlessly tout the virtues...

I was walking down a lonely street thinking about one of my friends, who just a few months earlier, was alive and well. Now he is resting peacefully next to his great-grandfather just outside of Moscow.   A shudder ran down my spine as I recalled that fateful November night when the world came crashing at my feet. I received an urgent call. It was his mother. She told me I needed to go to the hospital at that very moment. I tried to question her, but she continued to shout, “My boy is dead. They murdered my boy.” Frantically I drove to the emergency room. I found his mother sitting in the waiting room, sobbing silently. I asked the doctor what had happened to my friend. “He was shot seven times in his abdomen,” was the doctor’s only reply. His hysterical girlfriend, Sascha, ran toward me screaming that I was the reason he was there. Sascha calmed herself after she realized that she could not overpower me. We sat in the cold, sterile waiting room. The smell of death was cling...

To my readers and fellow bloggers, This past month has been very busy for me. I have been ghost writing for clients around the world, therefore have had little time to create new content of my own for my blog. I will hopefully be posting new content within the next week or so.  I have a few new things in the works including my professional portfolio at themickiholley.blogspot.com  where everyone can see more of my work that is completed and has been published under my name. God bless to you all. Micki

According to Wikipedia , “serialism is a way of composing music using a series of notes in a particular order and using this to build up a whole piece of music. These series and patterns can also be applied to other parts of music (like how loud or soft it is).” In other words, serialism is the way the notes are arranged in a specific series for a piece of music to come together with the appropriate sequence of sounds and repetitions that compass the entire piece. For those not familiar with music composition, this can be a difficult concept to grasp. It can be compared to the fundamentals of ice hockey for the sports fanatics wishing to understand the concept of serialism. In ice hockey, you must be able to skate before you can pick up your stick and start learning to pass the puck. The same can be said for serialism, you must first understand the notes before you can put them together into a composition. After learning to skate, you learn how to shoot the puck. This can b...

What are Musical Modes? Musicians use modes within their work to add extra flavor and to keep the piece from becoming too mundane.  When working with a musical piece the musician must bear in mind music theory and its relevance to the piece. There are seven known music modes and in order to master theory, these modes need to be memorized. The seven modes are Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian (also called Mixo), Aeolian (also known as the natural minor scale), and Locrian. Each mode produces a unique sound. According to Music Modes: Shifting Into High Gear , the Lydian mode tends to lend a sense of excitement to a piece. The Dorian and Aeolian modes project a sense of solemnness into a piece. No matter if you are learning to play an instrument or composing a piece of music these modes are very important in the development of music.

She awoke with a cry of terror on her lips, the stench of sweat clung to her nostrils, her heart refusing to slow to a normal rhythm. As the terror of the nightmare flashed vivid photos through her brain she whipped back the covers and leaped out of bed. The wildness of her eyes still focusing on the horror she had dreamed, she stumbles across the hall to watch her daughter sleep in bliss. Tears of relief roll down her cheeks and she walks on shaky legs toward the bathroom. She flips on the light and stares at the haggard face looking back at her. When did she become so haunted? Her eyes, almost black in color, held fear and uncertainty, her complexion pale and lifeless, her once glorious mane of chestnut hair now ragged tangles falling to her hips. She strips her body of the faded cotton nightgown and steps into the cold porcelain bathtub, draws the plastic curtain and puts the hot water on full blast. As the water cascades down her body, she allows the tears of uncertainty to f...

The Bible teaches us to live our lives to the glory of the Lord and to be Christ with skin on. There are so many “Sunday” or “ Holiday ” Christians who have the ability to talk the talk however fall flat on their faces when it comes to walking the walk. I heard on the radio this morning a new Christian talking about how she had thought once she gave her life to Christ it would be an easy transition. She did not count on her flesh rising up and becoming a stumbling block on her journey to become Christ with skin on. She never expected that becoming a Christian would be so hard. For those who do not know the Lord or are “Sunday” Christians, you will not fully grasp the struggles that a true Christian faces from day to day. You must be a shining light that beckons the saved and unsaved alike. Your every action is scrutinized by the unsaved and dissected as they try to determine if you are sincere in your belief or if your belief is some sort of cult. Your every action is also watche...

It’s just one of those days.   The kind of day where nothing seems to be going right!   That is my current saying and the guys just love it.   As I walk into the locker room, they know something is wrong.   There is a hush that falls over the room.   I just look at them and keep walking.   I go into Coach Ashton’s office and close the door.   He asks me what’s wrong and I tell him that I cannot play that night.   His face hardens and he tells me that I had better have a damn good excuse as to why I can’t play.   I tell him that Darren had just knocked me through a door and that I had severely bruised ribs and my left arm was also severely bruised.   Coach Ashton just chuckled and said that I needed to learn how to dodge Darren better and that was no excuse to let my team down.      So I walk out of his office to get ready to suit up.   Before I do, I check the roster and see that I am in goal.   There...

I actually wrote this paper in October 2007 and came across it when doing research for another paper. This is a controversial topic, but I felt that I should share this paper...and I strongly feel that the Obama administration has followed in the footsteps of the Bush administration in terms of domestic spying... Thanks for reading.... ~Micki The Spy Game When Was The Line Crossed? What thoughts race through your mind when you hear the term “spying”? For most we visualize 007, his glamorous lifestyle, his leading ladies, and his ability to get the information needed while keeping his dinner jacket impeccably clean. Those who understand military a little better will probably envision ordinary people going into dangerous situations for the sole purpose of obtaining secret information to aid our government and military. Now think on this term “domestic spying”. For the idealists, they are probably picturing June Cleaver cleverly obtaining information about her neighbors and such w...

Are You An Abigail? Meek, Gentle, Humble Creature of God You may be asking yourself, “Abigail?” Yes, that’s right, Abigail. We meet Abigail in 1 Samuel. She is married to a most despicable, barbaric cad, Nabal. “His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Celebite, was surly and mean in his dealings.” (1 Sam. 25:3 NIV) Nabal is brutish whereas she is intelligent and beautiful. She possesses both brainpower and loveliness. Abigail puts both to work quickly when she learns from her servants of Nabal’s crude responses to David’s messengers. “David sent messengers from the desert to give our master his greetings, but he hurled insults at them.” (1 Sam. 25:14) Upon hearing of this distressing news, Abigail gathers offerings and races to intercept David. She does so without telling her husband. As David and his men of four hundred descend toward the camp of Nabal, Abigail intercepts, armed with “tw...

Train the owner? Many would look at you as if you had lost your mind. Why train the owner? Well the answer is simple. In today’s society many people view their pets as disposable and are expecting the perfect pet. I am here to inform you that there is no such thing as the perfect pet. I know many of you are thinking that Fluffy or Snickers was just the perfect dog, almost human in fact. But think really hard to when Fluffy or Snickers first moved in…is it coming back to you now? The first night of anxiety, the first potty accident, and the first pair of shoes chewed. Granted, the good memories exceed the bad ones, but the bad ones are still there, therefore, not perfect. But you were able to work through those mishaps and bad manners to cultivate a pet that, in your mind, was perfect and had carved a specific place in your heart for eternity. Many people do not understand that to own a dog is a huge responsibility and to make it a socially acceptable canine is an even bigger res...

As I walked into the threatenly dark, silent room, my blood started racing through my arms and legs. My stomach began tying itself up in knots. I felt as if someone had closed an enormous fist around my stomach. I silently watched the lifeless figure lying on the cold steel table. The oxygen was being pumped in and out of her lungs, in and out, in and out, over and over again. A monitor with thin red zigzag lines, beeped rhythmically. There was a maze of what seemed to be hundreds of tubes, running across her face and down her arms. She looked so helpless and weak. Her once vibrant, rosy complexion now seemed sallow and translucent. Her beautiful sky blue eyes that sparkled like the sea on a bright summer day now sparkled no more. Instead, they merely stared blankly at the ceiling. As scalding tears skated down my face, I felt my arm moving towards the plug. I knew what was happening, but I could not stop it. I felt my fingers close around the icy god. My eyes moved ever so slowly ...

What’s a woman to do in a society that is still male-dominated? That is the question that every woman who desires to get ahead in her respective fields has asked. I know that it is a question that has plagued me since being passed over for a promotion at a local community college. I was passed over for a position that I had been training for two years. That promotion was given to a male employee who had been in the department for under a year. When asked the reasoning for the choice, my supervisor explained that the male employee had something extra to bring to the table. Since that disappointment, I have had the shades ripped from my eyes and I see the struggle that women endure in the workplace. Oh, sure, we have our "equality". If earning less money for the same position, being unable to better our position in a company and being made to feel as if we should still be bringing the coffee and bagels instead of participating in the lively meetings. Searching for a posi...