My name is Lori G. Matthews and I’m a pantser. Don’t know what that is? Neither did I until recently. Sounds kinda sexy though, right? If you say it with a wink and head bob. Maybe add a finger gun. Here’s the definition of pantser in the Urban Dictionary: A person who writes by ‘the seat of their pants’ as opposed to a plotter, one who plans or outlines their writing. Describes me to a T. How did I become a pantser? Or a writer for that matter? Well, it all started four years ago when I discovered fanfiction. I was reading Clexa stories and was struck by a crazy…

Our first day in PR wasn’t too exciting. We got lunch at McDonalds because it was our quickest choice. I ordered a McChicken sandwich. Whatever the fuck that is. Haven’t eaten at McDonald’s in twenty years. Linda had a McBurger. They both came with McFries. It gave me McIndigestion. We got back on the road for our two hour journey south. Our first birding spot was ok. Got a few birds, but no Puerto Rican Tody. (That’s him in the picture.) That is my Holy Grail bird for the weekend. It was getting late so we continued the drive to our hotel in the seaside village of Parguera. Room was…

So, I’m working my way through the book. The “You are a badass” book. I’m reading slowly, as to properly digest it. One of the first things that stood out for me was being positive. Find the positives every day, list ten positive things every night before bed. Have positive energy, surround yourself with positive people, not negative Nellies. So I took stock of the people around me and I had a come to Jesus moment. After some self-reflection, I realized that I’m the negative one! I bring negative energy. Lori thy name is Nellie. I’m a damn pessimist, have been my whole life. Well, it’s time for change. Henceforth…

The wife shoves this book in front of my face the other day. It’s a self-help book, which is not something I usually read, but she does all the time. “Read this. It’s funny. And she curses.” Ok, funny with f-bombs. I’m in! And I like the title, because I foresee shouting, “I’m a badass!” all the time. I’d probably add, “I’m a fucking badass!” To make it that much more personal. So, I’m given the perfect opportunity to start reading on our flight to Florida yesterday, with our good friends Frontier Air. We wake up at 4am to catch our 630am flight. Unfortunately, we woke up in an ice…

We went hiking a couple weekends ago in the Pocono Mountains in Pa. It was actually a ski resort that has hiking trails on the other side of the mountain. It’s a popular destination, and there were quite a few people hanging around the top of the mountain sightseeing. It was mid-afternoon, there were four of us and our poochie. We look at the map, pick a trail, and head off. We started at the top of the mountain, so we go down down down. Which means at some point we need to go up up up. We’re not going far, according to the map. Maybe three miles, maybe an…

So, I went down to the Florida Keys a few weeks ago. Left the wifey at home and met a buddy of mine. I booked first class, cause it wasn’t that much more money. When I “priority boarded” (gloat gloat,) it was business first class, and the seats were like little cabins. There was one seat at the window, then aisle, then 2 seats, then aisle, then the one seat on the other side by the window. Just to give you the lay of the land. I was like a kid starting summer vacation, giddy as fuck. I had my own seat by the window. So, I looked around my…