The Long & Winding Moo Two Decades On

Cead Mile Failte!

A Hundred Thousand Welcomes! (Irish)

Warning:

If you don't have a sense of humor, odds are we won't understand each other.

That is perhaps regrettable, but hardly tragic. Such is life. My philosophy is that life is way too short to worry about that. If you behave yourself, we will probably get along fine.

I am just a soul who likes to read, write and draw.

This is the only site I belong to for good reason. I visit other places, but I only belong here at this moment in time. However, nothing in life lasts forever so cherishing the good while it lasts seems like the right way to go.

I cherish this site, the friends I've made here, the people who created it, The StoryMaster & The StoryMistress .

I cherish them ALL.

My user name is 4Provinces, named after this pub that no longer exists in Washington, DC. (It closed November 5, 2011 and is now some sort of ghastly fitness center): 3412 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington DC is the address where 4Ps used to be.

My handle changes with my moods.

This is me as tHiNg:



Sometimes, in addition to being tHiNg, I am the suave Hooves of Fire, a Writing Bull.

This is me as HOOVES of Fire, or HOOvsie as my late brilliant friend Yemassee used to call me



This is me as COWser Soze:



Mainly, I am a reader these days. I support the site by buying memberships (one for me) and gift points, and by donating my time for judging "The Writer's Cramp"  one day a week.

I am more and more selective about what I agree to do and about what I choose to read. I like to be comfortable and not be pressured. When I feel pressured, I tend to avoid things.

I did sign up for Annette 's awesome "I Write in 2018"  and wrote a lot and now I have recently achieved my goal in "I Write in 2020" . I did that with the help of the Choconut 's great "Shadows and Light Poetry Contest" , "The Bard's Hall Contest" , brilliantly managed by StephB aka Rona Virus & Ⱳƹ₿~ŴitcӉ , the monthly official site contest and "The Writer's Cramp" . Those are the contests I am most comfortable with for a whole myriad of reasons.

I do not come here to be pressured or stressed or to feel uncomfortable.

A new activity I'm enjoying writing for is Solace.Bring 's "EXPRESS IT IN EIGHT" .

When I enter and write something for any of those contests or activities, I feel good about things. They are all very well run and encouraging endeavors. It is not always about winning or losing. Sometimes, it's just about writing something you are happy with.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I was born and raised in Maryland, in a suburb of Washington, D.C.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Originally, I started here on September 9, 2000 as another user name.

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Awards.

The honor truly lies in being nominated for anything and everything as there are all sorts of awards here.

Thank you to all my friends (known and unknown) who have ever singled me out for recognition of any kind.

It is very much appreciated by me and has lifted me up at just the right times.




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AWARDICONS!

The site introduced Awardicons on January 13, 2002. On January 16, 2002, I started my ongoing activity, one of the first of its kind on the site:

STATIC

One Writer's Favorites!  (E) Awarding, Listing & Highlighting Outstanding Writing and Creating For More Than 18 Years #327931 by ♥HOOves♥

To date, I have given out more than 580 Awardicons



MERIT BADGES!!

Merit badges were released on June 5, 2003.

To date I have given out more than 2,237 merit badges

Earning a nice badge now and then is all to the good. I merit badges and have commissioned 17 of them. The StoryMistress provides the brilliant creative genius to my suggestions..

Here they are:





It is a lot of fun to design and earn badges. You can earn them on the site in a variety of ways, as many as you can imagine.



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SPECIAL EVENTS

I always look forward to September, the site birthday festivities, and enjoying Reader? Check out 2233315 's

FOLDER

The Wdc Birthday Masquerade Party  (ASR) Everything pertaining to all the Birthday Masquerade Parties #1947104 by Reader? Check out 2233315

This is an activity that is open to EVERYONE!! I have found it to be an encouraging and inspiring interactive writing exercise. And it's fun and funny, too! Try it. You might love it!

I have never "won" by solving the mystery, but I always feel like a winner who had a great time. It's more about the writing and being a character to me. And being included. We all love that at times, don't we? The writing and interacting is the true gift there.





SOUNDTRACKING!

Out of that inclusive gem grew my beloved Soundtrackers, with Ms. Beth at the helm. At least, one good tHiNg led me to another, as is usually the case here.

We wrote about the music we loved and shared and she appreciated us and let us know it by reading and commenting on the entries posted. What fun that was! It brought me back to the music of my youth, which has been an amazing gift that keeps on giving over time. I was so motivated to write and share and read. The perfect activity at the perfect time.

I still enjoy reading Soundtrackers' entries and sharing music.

I will always be grateful and thankful to Ms. Beth for bringing me back to music of my younger days. I didn't realize how much I'd missed it..

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Back to the start -

At the beginning, I started writing fan fiction in 2000 and had great gobs of fun doing that. Eventually I branched out.

I tied for the win in one of the earliest writing assignment contests here on what was then Stories.Com, held by NL* and she made me this signature as part of my tying for the win in the contest, for my first handle here.




Once upon a time, I wrote a complete original novel here in this nice folder ---> "Sara's Port"  One of these days I might even edit it if I get some energy.

I also have written a variety of short stories in various genres. ----> "A MOOveable Feast" .

In addition, I write poetry, some of which is contained in this folder --------->"Fade Into Half Notes" 

Over the years, I have completed more than 900 Product Reviews on this site - here are some samples of my product reviews. Doing them has helped me keep track of things I've read and seen as the old internal memory stick fades at times now.

Hadley   (Rated: 18+)

ASIN: 0899197353
ID #111911

Product Type: Book
Reviewer: ♥HOOves♥
Review Rated: 18+

Setting:
Story Plot:
Length of :
Usefulness:
Overall Quality:

Amazon's Price: $ 31.00

View Review · Buy Now!

Hitler, Chamberlain and Appeasement (Cambridge Perspectives in History)   (Rated: 13+)

ASIN: 0521000483
ID #112711

Product Type: Book
Reviewer: ♥HOOves♥
Review Rated: 13+

Setting:
Length of :
Usefulness:
Overall Quality:

Amazon's Price: $ 27.14

View Review · Buy Now!

I also have hosted several group campfires, including

CAMPFIRE

A Poem A Week Campfire I  (18+) Extinguished After 4 Great Years and 121 entries of Writing Poetry! #722499 by ♥HOOves♥

&

CAMPFIRE

The First Wal*Mart on Mars  (18+) Wacky Cow pioneers light a campfire all the way to Mars, Still Funny After Many Years! #807368 by ♥HOOves♥

& in 2017 I had...

CAMPFIRE

Rhinestone Cowboys & Vietnam   (13+) Vietnam Era Memories Revisited in 2017 - Before Cell Phones & Internet, There Was Life! #2130711 by ♥HOOves♥

I am now happily participating in my good friend, Princess Megan Rose 's wonderful campfire:

CAMPFIRE

Bright Horizons, New Beginnings Campfire  (ASR) Hooves and I are starting a new Campfire. We love doing these. They brighten our days. #2245397 by Princess Megan Rose

!

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As for received reviews, I have learned over the years to appreciate all reviews because they represent views.

This is my freshened policy on giving reviews. "Flappers & Yappers Ride The Wave"  I reward people who send me nice reviews, but most of my reviewing is now limited to whatever catches my attention on any given day.

Know what?

I forgive you for not wagging your tail when you see me in your in-box. If you act up, I turn around and walk away.

All I ask of you in general, is that you treat others the way you yourself would want to be treated and I will try my best to do the same for you. We don't always get to our goals, but we try. I now forgive all who have or will fall short.

Writing, reading and reviewing can be therapeutic in times of grief and loss that we all face as part of life.

While among the living, I myself am fortunate and blessed to have a VERY BELOVED and loving miracle of a spouse, who has miraculously survived a healthcare ordeal in 2011 of unimaginable proportions.

My aforementioned canine family member also helped me a lot when it came to putting all things into perspective..



This is the look below that my teen-aged puppy dog gave me when I tried to get her to do something (like look at the camera) that she didn't want to do.





Or maybe she just ate a tasty bug.

So there.

Maybe, after all it isn't all about ME.

It was about HER.

She passed away in the horrendous year of 2020 and is very much missed and loved forever.

I am one lucky tHiNg/hooves to have had such a loving family and a loving Basset Hound for such a blessed time.

I hope that I have helped all of them in some small way with their own journeys.

Learn to embrace experiences of all sorts and write about them!

FOLDER

Ireland's Four Provinces   (18+) 5 trips to Ireland so far, Finding My Heritage With My Love #2078426 by ♥HOOves♥

Traveling to Ireland, photographing it and writing about it literally and emotionally saved my life in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Before that, I went there in 1990 and 1993. If you are fortunate, writing about your adventures will lead you to your own light as well.

I wish you all the best and God's speed, unless you are mean to me or others. Then, I (at least temporarily) wish you a pile of steaming cow pies at your door. HAND DELIVERED by tHiNg.

Hooves is a pretty simple concept, after all.

Whether you "get" Hooves or tHiNg is up to you.

The bottom line is to be nice here and elsewhere or go read a book until you feel like being nice. It is okay to agree to disagree.

Open your



I am opening mine in hopes of a lovely reuniting at Rainbow Bridge someday with my Boo.



Ta Ta & MOOOOOOOOO

© Copyright 2002 ♥HOOves♥ (4provinces at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.

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