It's Friday and the sun is out and the threat of snow is going away. Two years ago we had snow in May and then as early as October so I am not too upset about yesterday's flakes. I am working on this month's workshop/presentation I'm giving at the Chicago-North RWA Spring Fling Conference. There will be prizes and chocolates given out. I think writers are motivated by little things like that in a session. People learn in many different ways so when I do a presentation I try to include reading material, and hands on exercises as well as talking. That way I reach as many people as I can with my presentation.
Sometimes I'll be in a workshop and the presenter will say something that sparks an idea and then I'm busy writing down what's in my head and I no longer listen. So I don't mind if attentions wander. What do you like best in a presentation?
Friday, April 9, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
April 8
It is cold and we actually were pelted by bits of snow and rain. Shiver. I just glanced out my window and the lake is up. The fuzzy yellow seed pods are falling off the puzzy willow mixing with tiny snow flakes. Wading along the shore is a large blue heron with a black and white eye and an orange bill. He seems oblivious to the falling snow and petals. It reminds me of a Japanese scene reflected in the shimmering water. Lovely.
I hope your day is warm and your writing going well. cheers~
I hope your day is warm and your writing going well. cheers~
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
April 7
I'm afraid my blogging has fallen into a bit of a slump-in most part due to the sad shape of my computer and my horrible experience with a virus protection program that I can't seem to uninstall. But reading rants is certainly not why you take the time to check in, so I promise to stop that. And I ask you to be patient if the blogs are late because its a day to day thing.
The month of April is full of wonderful opportunities. I am enrolling for my third semester in the Master's program. I am presenting a workshop at the Chicago-North RWA Spring Fling conference April 23-24th. There will be a book signing and I'll have copies of DREAM MAN and MR. CHARMING there to sign. It is open to the public if you want to pop in. A portion of the proceeds go to literacy.
Spring is the time of severe storms but also the time when all the bulbs pop out to flower in their many lovely colors. It's a time of mud and muck and baby ducks and geese at the lake. I'm looking forward to the ups and downs that bump around before summer settles in. I hope you'll continue to share it with me. Cheers~
The month of April is full of wonderful opportunities. I am enrolling for my third semester in the Master's program. I am presenting a workshop at the Chicago-North RWA Spring Fling conference April 23-24th. There will be a book signing and I'll have copies of DREAM MAN and MR. CHARMING there to sign. It is open to the public if you want to pop in. A portion of the proceeds go to literacy.
Spring is the time of severe storms but also the time when all the bulbs pop out to flower in their many lovely colors. It's a time of mud and muck and baby ducks and geese at the lake. I'm looking forward to the ups and downs that bump around before summer settles in. I hope you'll continue to share it with me. Cheers~
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
April 6
As promised I am happy to say that wonderful author and inspirational speaker L. Diane Wolfe of Spunky fame has passed on the Beautiful Blogger award to me. According to the rules, I am to provide a link to the person who gave me the award (see above), name seven things you might not know about me, and pass the award along to seven other wonderful bloggers.
1) I lived on the Island of Guam for 18 months.
2) I've lived in over 14 places around the US-all I consider my home town.
3) I love twisty mystery TV shows like the X Files and Fringe.
4) I have an AA in Electronics Engineering and used to work on Top Secret satellite equipment.
5) I hate going to the spa and getting "pampered."
6) I make fabulous canned bread and butter pickles.
7) I used to have an incredible fear of dogs. (Strange I know since I now have two of my own.)
I hope you all have a great day and no one has the computer battles I'm still having. Cheers~
Monday, April 5, 2010
April 5
Last week I won a blog award from the wonderful L. Diane, I promise to blog on that tomorrow. Today I am ranting a bit. (I know I seem to be doing that a lot lately. sigh.)
I purchased new glasses complete with expensive lenses three months ago. Two weeks ago I noticed chips in the top edges. What? How? I've never had glasses chip there before. Were the lenses cut wrong to fit the frames? I did what any self respecting consumer would do- I took them back. This is what they told me. These are expensive polycarbonate lenses (Scratch resistant, etc.) and clearly I used some bad chemical to clean them and thus disolved them. Yes, that's right I must be at fault and those chips are actually the lenses crumbling. No, I said, I use what you gave me to clean them. Huh, they say, well... do you wear hairspray? Because if you use hairspray you can dissolve these lenses. Um. What??!! No, I don't use hairspray, much to the dismay of my fashionista daughter. Well, clearly I did something to the lenses but since they are under warranty I can replace them for half price. Half price? How much is that? $150. But I only paid $170 for the entire glasses three months ago. Well, when you use hairspray or say Windex on the glasses they dissolve and you have to pay for your mistakes.
I asked for the manager. She gave me the same story- Windex, hairspray, etc. Then offered to replace them for free if I swear not to use Windex or hairspray this time. (Which I didn't use last time.) Then she looks at me and says- oh, do you cook? I blink. Yes, I cook, all the time. "That's it then," she says. The heat of sticking your face in the oven to pull out things and standing over the sink to strain noodles probably is what caused your glasses to crumble."
(Pause. blink.)
She said that-seriously. So the answer is to not wear my glasses while cooking and hope that I can see well enough so that the food doesn't hit the floor. Sigh.
Or better yet- in two years when my insurance will let me purchase new glasses, insist on lenses that aren't made of poly carbonate. sheesh. Okay, rant over. Thanks for listening. :)
I purchased new glasses complete with expensive lenses three months ago. Two weeks ago I noticed chips in the top edges. What? How? I've never had glasses chip there before. Were the lenses cut wrong to fit the frames? I did what any self respecting consumer would do- I took them back. This is what they told me. These are expensive polycarbonate lenses (Scratch resistant, etc.) and clearly I used some bad chemical to clean them and thus disolved them. Yes, that's right I must be at fault and those chips are actually the lenses crumbling. No, I said, I use what you gave me to clean them. Huh, they say, well... do you wear hairspray? Because if you use hairspray you can dissolve these lenses. Um. What??!! No, I don't use hairspray, much to the dismay of my fashionista daughter. Well, clearly I did something to the lenses but since they are under warranty I can replace them for half price. Half price? How much is that? $150. But I only paid $170 for the entire glasses three months ago. Well, when you use hairspray or say Windex on the glasses they dissolve and you have to pay for your mistakes.
I asked for the manager. She gave me the same story- Windex, hairspray, etc. Then offered to replace them for free if I swear not to use Windex or hairspray this time. (Which I didn't use last time.) Then she looks at me and says- oh, do you cook? I blink. Yes, I cook, all the time. "That's it then," she says. The heat of sticking your face in the oven to pull out things and standing over the sink to strain noodles probably is what caused your glasses to crumble."
(Pause. blink.)
She said that-seriously. So the answer is to not wear my glasses while cooking and hope that I can see well enough so that the food doesn't hit the floor. Sigh.
Or better yet- in two years when my insurance will let me purchase new glasses, insist on lenses that aren't made of poly carbonate. sheesh. Okay, rant over. Thanks for listening. :)
Friday, April 2, 2010
April 2
I wish you all a happy and safe holiday weekend- Easter, Passover or Spring Break, which ever you celebrate.
I spent the afternoon outside in the garden, cutting down the old ornamental grass and bundling it to recycle, weeding the beds, mucking the dog yard and creating a new winding bed in a corner of the yard where grass refuses to grow-think neighbors trees and lots of shade. So I dug it up today. I will add dirt and some of the same kind of bushes the neighbors have on their side of the fence and make it look deliberate. Perhaps a bird bath to go with it. I love Spring. Cheers~
I spent the afternoon outside in the garden, cutting down the old ornamental grass and bundling it to recycle, weeding the beds, mucking the dog yard and creating a new winding bed in a corner of the yard where grass refuses to grow-think neighbors trees and lots of shade. So I dug it up today. I will add dirt and some of the same kind of bushes the neighbors have on their side of the fence and make it look deliberate. Perhaps a bird bath to go with it. I love Spring. Cheers~
Thursday, April 1, 2010
April 1
I was sitting in my office with the window open enjoying the warm Spring breeze when I heard laughter and a woman's voice say, "April Fool!" More laughter joined in. I couldn't see who was talking or what the joke was but I smiled. Happy April Fool's day, everyone. I don't do fool's jokes and I hope not to be fooled too much. Still it's nice that it is finally April. The grass is slowly turning green and I saw crocuses and daffodils blooming in the neighborhood. It seemed like a long hard winter this year. Spring is God's promise that nothing lasts forever. Cheers~
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