In My Little Town

On reviewing

2012-01-19T07:14:00.000-05:00

My first book review appeared on ERB this week. Here's an excerpt: When I read a book, it’s as if I’m on a date. Some dates go well. We discover common ground, and the book and I stay together into the wee small hours of the morning. Other dates are like early scenes from a Hollywood romantic comedy, where the evening twists and turns and misunderstandings create distance. Words to Eat By: Five

Keep February Short

2012-01-13T13:31:00.000-05:00

If you know me, or if you've read this post, you know how I feel about the coming month. I've come up with a new plan to deal with my hatred of February. You can read about it at Curator Magazine. Here's an excerpt: I will go to great lengths to ward off the February blahs. In years past, I have decorated my home with tropical flourishes, distracted myself with games and group trips, tried to

Starting and Stopping

2012-01-03T16:08:00.000-05:00

I am a wuss. Example: I claim that I like to have my errand-running all planned and efficient, but this somehow leads to a billion different reasons to delay the running of the errands: Am I sure this is all the dry cleaning? Surely there is a coupon somewhere for that. It would be better if I waited until I was going out anyway, that way, I will waste less gas. Besides, it’s awfully unpleasant

Better living through facts

2011-12-17T07:55:00.000-05:00

I've been gone a while. Lots of good things going on. I'm back because I have a problem. It's not a big problem, but I think it's a common one in this age. I just read a post over at donmilleris.com ("Remembering Ludwig van Beethoven"), and it stirred a dilemma in me. Miller's post includes a note from Beethoven to his brothers. Beethoven's note raises great questions about life and artists.

On Football

2011-10-01T09:00:00.001-04:00

My latest essay is now available at The Curator. Here's an excerpt: We spend our autumn Sundays, each Thanksgiving, and the rare Monday, in the throws. We visit Ford Field; we stare at our televisions. Sixteen times every fall, we participate, identify, and scream — sometimes with joy, usually in pain. We are offsides; we are injured; we shake our heads and curse ourselves for wasting a

New personal essay

2011-08-05T07:38:00.000-04:00

My latest, After the Fourth, is available starting today at Curator magazine. An excerpt:The days surrounding July 4th normally trumpet the ease of summer, but this year’s music is different. It was Tuesday, the fifth of July, when the horns gave way to the unrelenting beat of the future.A careful listener would have heard the cues sooner. On Friday, my oldest went away with a buddy and his

Real produce, real answers

2011-07-27T16:24:00.000-04:00

What do you do about the tiny black bugs in the organic broccoli? asked a foodpickle writer. I know the answer, but I couldn't bring myself to post it there. We had these same tiny black bugs in our homegrown cauliflower when I was a kid. I would spend minute after minute at the kitchen sink, plunging the white heads into cold water and inspecting each and every floret. This sort of effort was

Summer is Here!

2011-07-26T15:46:00.000-04:00

Dear Bush Beans: You are a pain to harvest and process, but I love you. Especially drizzled in olive oil, simply seasoned, and grilled. All winter long I pine for this, the beginning of the summer harvest. Our local farmer's market had sweet corn and tomatoes and berries. My husband went with me for the first time, and he described me as practically vibrating. Things are a little slower in

Where I've Been

2011-07-08T12:49:00.000-04:00

Hiya blog readers. It has been a while. Summer has me in her grips, and she's not letting me go until I out-scarf the hot dog eating champion at Nathan's Famous. I'll post from time to time this summer. In the meantime, I'd love it if you read my latest piece, a "short imagined monologue", as published at McSweeney's Internet Tendency: A WOMAN, RETURNING TO THE WORKFORCE AFTER HAVING CHILDREN,

How to Be Cheap

2011-06-15T22:56:00.002-04:00

Some people believe that cheapness is innate and unchangeable. They believe that in order to be cheap, Mom's birth plan had to assume your birth in the back of the Vega, Pops cutting through side streets, hunting for the lowest gas price. If you were not to the tightwad born, don't fret. They can believe what they want; I believe you can overcome a generous nature. Here are some tips on how to

Sci-Nonfi: RoboRoaches

2011-06-10T08:32:00.000-04:00

On an otherwise unremarkable day in May, I spent time with high school students and neuroscientists and their remote-controlled cockroaches. Two live RoboRoaches on a lab table My essay appears in The Curator today. An excerpt: The students finish the SpikerBoxes; the cockroach experience begins. A few Blaberus discoidalis cockroaches will have a limb surgically removed. The legs, the

Fonetik Spelng

2011-06-09T08:04:00.000-04:00

One of my children has entered the age of phonetic spelling. It's an ongoing word obsession with this one: making lists, writing stories, spelling things out in refrigerator magnet... Can you guess the word?

Surprises in Concert

2011-06-07T11:17:00.000-04:00

I love concert surprises, when a band covers something unexpected or a special guest appears. I saw the Barenaked Ladies sing a bit of the theme from Titanic. I witnessed Eric Clapton invite Stevie Ray Vaughn onto the stage. I was entertained by the first and giddy at the second. Concerts hold other surprises too, sometimes even more memorable. I love to be blown away by the musicianship of the

Pomp and Circumstance and Meatballs

2011-06-03T08:29:00.000-04:00

June heralds a special period in my little town. No, not summer (that lasts for exactly 9 days in late July). Not road construction time (that's May-November). June marks the traditional beginning of open house season. Areas rendered in pink indicate communities that prefer swedish meatballs Michigan Open House Customs Here's what you can expect if someone invites you to an open house: A

Challenge

2011-05-31T09:05:00.000-04:00

Obstacle Race, Dornoch Highland Gathering 2007. Photo by John Haslam. I watched a little girl mount the side of a shopping cart and ride, cheering like a rodeo cowgirl. Later, she clambered beneath the basket onto the frame. Eventually she uncurled, emerged, and hopped past the checkout, touching only the grey squares. Unencumbered by a shopping list, coupons, the plans of the day, she goes.

Wordle of the Week

2011-05-30T16:05:00.000-04:00

You can make your own wordle here.

Music and Writing

2011-05-29T19:04:00.000-04:00

Writing in a crowded place is tough. Words float to my table like soap bubbles, and like a schoolchild, I follow them. The way a conversation moves; the way a person phrases his ideas; these things transport me. Being transported is fun, but if I'm trying to meet a word count or a deadline, it's bad. I need a way to drown out the voices. I turn to my headphones, but I sometimes find more soap

Librarians rock

2011-05-28T06:40:00.000-04:00

I've been working through my top 5 places to write, and we are now at number three, a conference room at my local library. When I'm trying to work something out, when I've got a lot of parts and pieces that need to be welded, there's nothing like a flat surface. A clean flat surface. An uncrusted-with-sugared-cereal flat surface. Beyond the giant tables, writing at the library is fantastic

First thing in the morning

2011-05-27T10:21:00.000-04:00

My dream morning grants me sleep until I awake on my own. Opening my eyes and grabbing my laptop without leaving my bed, I sit and write, uninterrupted. There's something about that moment. Ideas stir, sharp and fresh. The details of the day have yet to burrow into my brain. I've made no foolish choices that I need to regret. I have no sleepiness I need to suppress. Rare, this type of morning.

Well done blogs

2011-05-26T08:55:00.000-04:00

May marks a record month of blog writing for me. Social pressure from complete strangers is an amazing thing. Thank you for the encouragement, Michelle Rafter. It's also a record month of blog reading, and I've delighted in the people I've read so far. I plan to highlight some of my favorites over the summer. Three to get you started: Intralingo Lisa Carter is a Spanish to English literary,

My house, empty

2011-05-25T17:26:00.000-04:00

I'm participating in WordCount Blogathon 2011 (you can see a list of all participants here). Yesterday those interested wrote in response to the theme, "What are your five favorite places to write?" I posted my list, but I'd like to take a little time over the next few days to discuss each place. I type at this very moment in a full house. Sponge Bob and Patrick loudly help Mermaid Man and

Five Favorite Places to Write

2011-05-24T23:50:00.000-04:00

For the Blogathon 2011, we were encouraged to share our top 5 places to write today. Here are mine, just under the wire: 1) My house, empty. 2) My bedroom, in the morning, with the door shut, before I get my coffee. 3) A conference room at my local library. 4) A coffee shop, headphones in, listening to my favorite instrumental playlist. 5) Late night in the big chair. More on these later.

Flash Collaboration: Tips on Writing Your Bio Blurb

2011-05-23T23:37:00.000-04:00

Today I realized two things. 1) I miss collaborative art. 2) I hate writing my own biography blurb. So I sought input, and this is the result. Thanks to Tina C., Carol R., Dean S., Wendy S., Karen R., Betty M., Matt F., and Rene S. Writing Your Own Biography Blurb You are a rock star soccer mom and kitchen ninja, and it's time to let the world know it. It's time to write your biography blurb.

Haiku Sunday

2011-05-22T22:16:00.000-04:00

Intoxicating Wind Flower vessels form, drink spring's elixir, then burst, decanting their scent.

2011-05-21T21:53:00.001-04:00

Barely home today, but here's one thing I saw: a girl skipping while trying to play soccer.

Writerly Habits

2011-05-20T20:27:00.000-04:00

Today, Advice To Writers posted a Garrison Keillor quote: When writing loses touch with the beautiful surface of the world, it loses its way. You always want to be in touch with how things look and what people say and what they call their dogs. This reminded me of a favorite exercise and a favorite practice for writers. A favorite exercise This is from Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies

Chayefsky's Notes on Network

2011-05-19T17:19:00.000-04:00

This is a happy day for me, as I spent some time with an interactive feature, The Notes Behind Network. The best part is the UBS programming grid. It lists shows like Celebrity Canasta, Young Shysters, Pedro and the Putz ... I can only imagine the treatments Chayefsky kept in his head. His titles would make great prompts, I think. Beyond the grid, the feature includes a list of Chayefsky's

Worth checking out

2011-05-18T06:50:00.000-04:00

Here are a few sites worth exploring today: At Comment Magazine (thanks to my editors at Curator Magazine for sharing this), Carey Wallace links spiritual and creative discipline. This is what undergirds my discipline in my best moments: the dazzling beauty and variety of the things God wants to speak into this world, the honour of being able to repeat some of them in my own voice, and the

Grown Up Cooking: Chuck Roast

2011-05-17T21:04:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine once described those days where you take care of all of the little things as a 'grown-up day'. I think I understand: setting up my slow cooker in the morning makes me feel grown up. After a full day of good but atypical work, it's great to come home and know that dinner's almost ready. I posted this recipe back in March 2010 at my very neglected food blog (you can visit it by

Foster on Leadership Part 2

2011-05-16T13:27:00.000-04:00

Today is my last day teaching on leadership. As a part of the curriculum, I included a few interviews with leaders, in the hopes of giving kids real-life insight. The following is the second half of my interview with Jerry Foster, Vice-President of Research and Development at Plex Systems. You can read part 1, covering contemporary challenges and important traits for leaders, here. How do you go

Foster on Leadership Part 1

2011-05-15T15:05:00.000-04:00

Last week, I ran an interview with Asa Lane on what it takes to be a successful musician. If you missed it, you can read the full article here. This week for my students, I've interviewed Jerry Foster (JF) on the subject of leadership. I'll publish part one today, part two tomorrow. What are the challenges of leadership today? JF: There is so much information coming from so many different

Recommended: The Lost Thing

2011-05-14T09:11:00.000-04:00

My friend Carol suggested a short animated film to me, The Lost Thing. I recommend it to you. Here's the trailer: Oscar-winning, visually stirring, with a great story. It makes me ask why, in this story, does the creative, the fanciful, the experimental, the fun need to be segregated? Why does the regular world of the narrative have no place for the magical creatures encountered? How is this

The Doorstep of Summer

2011-05-13T23:02:00.000-04:00

It feels like summer here in my little town. In honor of that, I thought I'd repost this for my newer visitors and subscribers. Glad you're here! Wonder Unexplained phenomena. That's what it was to me, running around in our shaggy crabgrass at dusk. One minute, I'd be gooofing around with a Frisbee, and the next, a glowing orb throbbed ever closer. Through the treeline, over the corn,

Sticky Songs

2011-05-12T08:11:00.000-04:00

Sometimes a song gets stuck in my head and I don't mind. This is one of those songs. Is there a song you don't mind having on mental repeat?

Morning and Marigolds

2011-05-11T07:55:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, guest blogger tasmith1122 wrote about and shared haiku in a post titled "Capture the Simple Things." I thought I'd take her advice and attempt this form today. The marigold opens, lifting from leaf into light. Every bird stirs. As The Rascals would sing, it's a beautiful morning.

Capture the Simple Things

2011-05-10T08:06:00.001-04:00

(Today's Blogathon theme is haiku. My friend and fellow writer's group member writes poetry, including this form. She graciously agreed to guest post for me. Check out her blog here.) What is a haiku?I’m not going to tell you. Well, to be more precise, I’m not going to tell you everything. There are many sites (and I’ll list a few) where you can go to find out where haiku came from and what

Musician on Goal-Setting

2011-05-09T06:21:00.000-04:00

I'm currently teaching four classes for junior high/high school students. One is a class on leadership. As a part of the weekly lesson, I interview a leader and share his or her insight with the group. This strategy came out of a very short preparation window: I didn't have a lot of time to read and research using traditional methods, but I do know some amazing people. I chased a couple of them

The Tool Box

2011-05-08T08:25:00.000-04:00

I have lots of things I could say about my mom, but today, I thought I'd share a story that says more than a card or a list. It happened almost 20 years ago, and it's a perfect illustration of the sort of person my mom is. Twenty years ago this year, my husband and I got married. His family were, and are, big churchgoers. My future mother-in-law's peers (the church ladies, I would have called

My lens

2011-05-07T14:29:00.000-04:00

(I don't normally blog on the weekends. This month, however, I've signed on to post once a day every day, so I'll be looking to put up something short. Perhaps it will become a series: pictures? Metaphors? I'll figure it out. Feel free to post your suggestions!) Do I love the sunshine just so I can look at the world through sunglasses? The colors are just a little more vivid through this lens.

The turtles

2011-05-06T08:30:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I went out with my camera and tried to visually capture spring. I stopped at a small roadside swamp that we always pass slowly. I have no idea if this place has an official name; there's no sign posted. We call it Turtle Pond. Logs and stones dot the water, giving the shelled residents plenty of places to sun themselves. At different points in the season, we'll see twenty or more

A Change of Scenery

2011-05-05T16:31:00.000-04:00

On a gravel road about 5 miles from here, in the fall, there is a patch of woods that once owned me. My bus ride took me by that spot for much of my childhood and I never tired of it. If I became distracted and didn't see it, I felt cheated. The house sitting on the edge of the treeline was my house; I imagined that I would live there, rooms lit by the glow of hickory leaves in some fantastic,

Top 5 books on writing

2011-05-04T22:52:00.000-04:00

Today's theme for the 2011 Blogathon is your top 5 books on writing. Here's my list: 1) Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, Anne Lamott. You can get a feel for her style by downloading an archived interview from this Writer's Digest link. (Caution: salty language.) 2) Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer, Roy Peter Clark 3) Keep It Real: Everything You Need to

Frosty in May

2011-05-04T07:28:00.000-04:00

Yesterday in my little town, it was rainy and 46 degrees F, and yet The Breakfast Guru and I chose to sit around with my car window down for about twenty minutes. Here's the reason: We still have an old-fashioned, seasonal, drive-in A&W. When you order a combo 'for here', they don't ask you what kind of soda you want with that; they know. The car hops serve you root beer in a frosted glass mug

Creative Nonfiction Dilemmas

2011-05-03T12:40:00.000-04:00

I struggle when I write personal essays. The writing isn't the struggle. I enjoy striving to tell it straight and true, discovering real life moments worthy of examination and wonder. It's a satisfying process, from the glimmer of an idea to the first words, from the crafting and shaping to that final bit of polish. It's good work until that moment when I have to send it off to a publication or

Rediscovery through teaching

2011-05-02T20:20:00.000-04:00

Teaching is an act of rediscovery. Land ho ... that's one skinny mitten Over the past two weeks, I've had the privilege of teaching on leadership, interviewing skills, and writing powerful paragraphs. Each class has reminded and encourage me to renew my commitments to basic things. A class on leadership stirs me to consider vision and values. How can I help students see who they want to be?

A post a day

2011-05-01T21:26:00.000-04:00

I've signed up for the 4th Annual WordCount Blogathon. I'm looking forward to the challenge of posting every day in May, in the spirit of the following quote from the amazing screenwriter of Network: Artists don't talk about art. Artists talk about work. If I have anything to say to young writers, it's stop thinking of writing as art. Think of it as work.PADDY CHAYEFSKYAs quoted at Advice to

Reading about writing

2011-04-30T07:28:00.000-04:00

Reading about writing is like admitting you are a poverty-striken serf. You, unable to make your ground bear fruit, glean advice from the fields of the greats; you marvel at their estates; you are moved by their work. Each grain of wisdom glistens. Upon sitting at your own keyboard, you wonder if you'll be able to make even a biscuit from this harvest. Then you wonder if, rather than pounding

Greatest version of a great song

2011-04-27T15:42:00.000-04:00

Right now, Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill's great version of a great song, "How Great Thou Art", is going viral. More than 3 million hits in four days is impressive. Here's the YouTube clip, if you haven't seen it: Who can deny her talent? And who can deny the guitar work of Vince Gill? They are extraordinary musicians, and I appreciate their artistry. As good as this is, it is not the best

Beyond self-expression

2011-04-26T12:18:00.000-04:00

It is a privilege to be on staff with Curator Magazine, a web publication of International Arts Movement (IAM). Today, I feel this more strongly than ever before. This post moved me. Written by IAM founder and visual artist Makoto Fujimura, it powerfully expresses a way to think about and respond to global catastrophe. A quote: Artists are generative by nature, but our current obsession with

Cover Me

2011-04-13T10:58:00.000-04:00

Is a great song defined by its arrangement and instrumentation, or is it something else? Earliest version of "Purple Haze?" Here's a lyric for you. Is it country/bluegrass, pop/r&b, or punk? You say you stand by your man. Well tell me something, 'cause I don't understand. You said you love me, oh, and that's a fact. And then you left me, said you felt trapped. Well there's some things you

Self-Centered Songs Revisited

2011-04-09T23:19:00.001-04:00

Just read a recent article on our worsening narcissism and decided to post this again, originally from September 2009. Enjoy! I've been thinking about some of the concerns with the Twitter and the Facebook. Is this self-centeredness unique to this generation, or are they just new ways to express an old truth? For your consideration, here are my top 5 self-centered songs of all time: 5) Easy to

The Two Hit Wonders

2011-04-06T10:00:00.000-04:00

We were in the car, me and the breakfast guru, and "Twilight Zone" came on the radio. (Not the show, of course, the song. Also known as "that other song by Golden Earring.") We put forth the effort to sing along: "Help, I'm slippin' into the Twilight Zone," we sang with confidence. I have no idea what the guru sang next. I went with something about Ethan Frome. We began to discuss the

Free

2011-04-03T09:45:00.000-04:00

Free, I often say, is my favorite price. It is also a fine condition, as The Soup Dragons recognized in the 1990's. When you're a kid, 'free to do what you want' is the stuff worthy of a quest. One of my kids was dreaming of freedom. Sadly, the dream eliminated me: What if we didn't have parents, what if your were dead? the child said with enthusiasm. You would want that? I asked. Yes! the

Literary scenes

2011-04-01T07:45:00.000-04:00

I'm excited to share my new piece at The Curator, To Tame A Friend. An illustration from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery A little bonus information: 1) We named the untamed feral cat "Deck Kitty". DK is still around, watching us and taking small risks of getting closer, particularly when there's a patch of sun in which to rest. 2) When I first read "The Little Prince", it was

Rebel Yell

2011-03-31T09:12:00.000-04:00

One of my kids woke me up this morning because 'something in the closet was freaky.' I couldn't go back to sleep, so I thought I'd tune in to 93.9 The River and write a song of the day post. 5:16 a.m.: "Eyes Without A Face" by Billy Idol. My childhood nights were haunted. Each shift in light was an apparition, every noise worth pondering. I slept so lightly that a speck in the atmosphere would

unnatural-isms

2011-03-30T09:10:00.000-04:00

(My friend suggested that I should do a short post a day as a response to a song. This is my first.) On Monday, I was trying to clean my house, honest I was, but my iPod went all crazy. I popped it into the speakers and put on a favorite playlist, Summer 2010. Everything started normally (Robert Randolph's "Ain't Nothin' Wrong With That") and then, weirdness. Instead of "Airstream Driver", this

Class dismissed

2011-03-29T08:37:00.000-04:00

Dear diary, it's been two months since my last blog post. (I believe that sentence is a mixed metaphor. Ahh well.) During my time away from the blogging life, I took a class in creative nonfiction from Creative Nonfiction. The class, Basics in a Nutshell, covered the personal, profile, immersion, and fact-heavy essays. The course satisfied my desire to learn, to improve as a writer, and to test

My Blizzard Project

2011-02-01T11:26:00.000-05:00

The promise of a snow day or two encourages me to take time unburying treasure: a collection of cookbooks and recipes, many of which once belonged to my grandmother. Stop by my food blog, Real World Foodie, if you'd like to know more. The image on the left is found here, created from low temperature electron microscope images. Are we too far removed from the holidays to sing, "Let it snow, let

Mellow

2011-01-27T10:59:00.000-05:00

I am enjoying the quiet of my life this week. Last week I whirled through the unusual. Teaching, writing for a deadline, interviewing and being interviewed for a class, going away without the kids for a food/shopping weekend with my mom and sister: four things that are not regular parts of my schedule, piled onto the usual. Something had to give. My priorities shook out as follows: 1) My

King of Dramatic Vocals

2011-01-12T09:35:00.000-05:00

Former Styx frontman Dennis DeYoung, with 57% of the vote, is the official IMLT drama king vocalist (see inciting post here). Who's cryin' now, Steve Perry? Thanks for playing along, readers, and thanks to those artists who bring a sense of something grand to the stage. You inspire us to hold a fake microphone in one hand and beat our chests with the other. Better still, you inspired Dana Carvey

Pop Tart Fantasyland

2011-01-08T22:01:00.000-05:00

Before I get into it, let's properly acknowledge the Pop Tart. A friend, just one week ago, described the Pop Tart with a phrase, something like "cardboard-y perfection." I believe she was a strawberry with frosting and sprinkles gal, untoasted. I'm more of the brown sugar cinnamon type, or chocolate fudge. Toasted, please, and with frosting, of course. Who's running around eating naked Pop Tarts

Old jobs and new goals

2011-01-07T10:12:00.000-05:00

I was once a Red Lobster assembler. Imagine how much damage you could do to that dress with a gallon of cocktail sauce! Twenty-some years later, I still tell a tale or two from my time at the Lobster. I went from naive hostess, to harried cashier, to quick-tongued server in a matter of months. When short-staffed in the kitchen, the management would sometimes ask me to pick up a shift in the

Music Madness Tuesday

2011-01-04T15:25:00.000-05:00

Out-to-breakfast is a vacation sacrament. It produces two things: a need for the Ritual Nap of 11:30 creative bursts The napping is now over. On with the burst. We chose this very morn to turn from our dish-weary kitchen and sit on the holy vinyl at our local coney. The head priest of this rite went with the sausage-gravy-covered Southern omelet. I chose sourdough French toast. We began the

Quick thoughts this morning

2011-01-03T09:02:00.000-05:00

1) Maybe morning isn't the best time to write a blog post. What have I done that's worth talking about before 9 a.m.? 2) The calendar says January 3rd, but the actual new year starts today. All calories eaten over the weekend, all slackerly behaviors and general unmotivation, are hereby placed in the 2010 vault. You're welcome. 3) As far as resolutions go, I'll have a lot of the usual: work out

To see yourself

2011-01-02T14:35:00.000-05:00

To see yourself in the life of someone else is a powerful experience. "as we forgive", a documentary revealing the reconciliation of the Rwandese people after genocide, served as a reminder today of the power of forgiveness. I knew it would be difficult to watch, I knew my heart would break for the survivors who lost parents, spouses, children. I did not know that, upon hearing the pain of

Names

2010-12-16T18:44:00.000-05:00

"What's in a name?" Shakespeare had his Juliet ask. I recall the line because naming people and places is a struggle for me in writing fiction. One reason? News articles like this, which includes government officials accused and convicted of accepting bribes. A couple of the bribe-rs were affiliated with a company named Synagro. Synagro. If I read that name in a novel, I might accuse the author

Neil, baby

2010-12-15T11:39:00.001-05:00

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2011 is official. The list includes Dr. John and Tom Waits, two artists that most people are not afraid to claim. Dr. John makes me happy, and our old dog, Jersey, was named after a Tom Waits song. The list also includes Darlene Love and Alice Cooper. I've got no personal connection to Darlene Love, except my affection for this: Alice terrified me when

Tis the season

2010-12-10T08:27:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine posted a poem on risk from a soup kitchen in Detroit. I don't have a lot of time to polish anything this morning, but I just want to say to my friends, and anyone else who might stumble into this blog, that this holiday season can bring many needs and opportunities to the surface. If you are experiencing a need, take a risk and share it. Everyone goes through something. Nine

Embracing my dark side

2010-12-09T11:27:00.001-05:00

Here’s a modern-day bad word in some circles: competition. Maybe the word shines where you live, but around here it’s tainted. When my oldest was little, he was in two beginner sports. Both had scheduled games, but the adults emphasized “we don’t keep score”. My family figured we could suffer through that, but then came T-ball. Imagine the point of view of a competitive 5-year-old who’s been

A Sense of Revival

2010-12-07T11:25:00.000-05:00

December heralds a season of preparations and celebrations, bursting with family and friends and fun. For some. For me, it is a harbinger of doom, an implosion of dread. My husband works for a shipping company. We are thankful for my husband’s job, but our gratitude does not change the fact that it is tough work in December. The weather, the volume, the long hours, all this devours our Christmas.

NaNoWriMo and Rewards

2010-12-06T10:47:00.000-05:00

The National Novel Writing Month encourages people to attempt to write a first draft of a novel, 50,000 words or more, in the month of November. I made it, and I’ve taken some things with me. I’ll be posting them over the next few days.When it comes to first draft writing, I’ve been shackled by the need for ongoing rightness. From Wikimedia, Bill Woodrow's 'Sitting On History', John McCullough

Goal Trouble

2010-11-10T12:10:00.000-05:00

I've encountered two problems regarding my 50,000 word goal for NaNoWriMo: 1) I didn't feel like writing on Sunday. I think this will be a problem every Sunday. It's a packed day, always, happily revolving around church and family. My solution: Screw my actual life priorities! Naww, that's not going to work. I'm going to up my daily word count target, and declare Sunday a day of the minimum. The

Play

2010-11-05T11:25:00.000-04:00

Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play. --Heraclitus, Greek philosopher November 3-4 report: Daily NaNoWriMo word count met both days, although it is challenging. Been thinking a lot about the value of this sort of effort. For me, it is a way to connect the act of writing to my more natural creative process. I come from a theatre background, and I

Software Crush

2010-11-02T17:10:00.000-04:00

Dear Scrivener 2.0, I have a total crush on you. I know you are just flirting to get me to buy your software: you freely reveal your features and benefits, tease me with your easy NaNoWriMo templates, provide ways for me to collect my ideas, giving them the space they need to come together and grow. All this so that one day, maybe I'll put out the cash and you can have your way with me.

The kids are alright

2010-11-02T01:04:00.000-04:00

A winter or two ago, I decided to take a crack at a writing discipline of a thousand words a day. This is a rewritten excerpt from those days, appropriate, I thought, after the first day of NaNoWriMo. This is the goal, a goal of a thousand words. A day. So what do I really want to write about, what do I want to cover?A thousand words. I need to hit a thousand words. What was that? It sounded

NaNoWriMo Preparation #5

2010-10-26T17:37:00.000-04:00

Project Name: NaNoWriMoTarget Task ListA4 Buy small gifts to give to the children throughout the month, sort of like a NaNoWriMo Advent calendar. Include new underwear, paper plates and bowls, shelf-stable milk, and a family photo to remind them of how nice they look when properly groomed.

NanoWriMo Preparation #4

2010-10-22T15:03:00.000-04:00

Project Name: NaNoWriMoTarget Task ListA3 Like Ricky, send a letter to yourself: only make yours more alpha and less numeric. To outline, or not to outline, that is the question. It would seem that fiction writers gravitate strongly toward one position or another. I've written a thing or two, and I tend to "write-talk" my way to the story. I free write, I get a concept, I write or talk

NanoWriMo Preparation #3

2010-10-19T09:37:00.000-04:00

Project Name: NaNoWriMoTarget Task ListA2 Read a tremendous amount of fiction I've decided to steep my brain in novels before tackling NaNoWriMo in November. I've just finished "The Manual of Detection" by Jedidiah Berry. A surrealist twist on the mystery genre, I enjoyed it. Up next, "The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet" by Reif Larsen. After that, if it's still October, what would you

NaNoWriMo Preparation #2

2010-10-15T17:20:00.000-04:00

Project Name: NaNoWriMoTarget Task ListAA1 Renew vow to time management On the day we came together over a cup of coffee and my first Franklin Planner, I pledged to spend the first moments of every day thinking of you.I confess my failures:the Sega Genesis Golf period, the AOL chat and forum phase, my wanton soft-tip dart throwing,countless hours spent writing my own eulogy, my current

NaNoWriMo Preparation #1

2010-10-14T15:47:00.000-04:00

Project Name: NaNoWriMoTarget Task ListA1 Learn to use a calculator Yesterday, in a wild moment of overconfidence, I was doing math in my head. I said it would take 1,334 words a day in the month of November to achieve my goal for National Novel Writing Month. This would have left me almost 10,000 words short. The correct figure is 1667. If only all of life's problems were as easy as

Gearing up for NaNoWriMo

2010-10-13T08:52:00.000-04:00

I am not a novelist. I am not a fiction writer. What on earth am I doing signing up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)? I'd like to claim peer pressure made me do it, but that's not it. It would be fun to say that I've always dreamed of writing the Lesser American Novel, but that's not it either. The concrete goal draws me: 50,000 words in 30 days. The marathon nature intrigues and

A Morning Person

2010-08-27T07:24:00.000-04:00

Normally, my husband's alarm clock processing is pretty smooth:Set alarm to play the same CD at 6:03 a.m. Hit snooze a cajillion times Get into the shower by 6:50 a.m. Something went awry. The day before, the alarm didn’t go off, or he slept through it, or something, because he flew out of bed at 7:15. In his mind, he was running a whole hour behind. According to my math, it was a mere 20 minutes

Wonder

2010-08-24T08:49:00.000-04:00

Unexplained phenomena. That's what it was to me, running around in our shaggy crabgrass at dusk. One minute, I'd be gooofing around with a Frisbee, and the next, a glowing orb throbbed ever closer. Through the treeline, over the corn, taking the occasional surprise turn before turning back toward its obvious goal: me. What it was, exactly, was a matter of speculation. A neighbor had told us of a

All Signs Points to Spring

2010-03-16T10:53:00.001-04:00

Crocuses? Bah. Robins? Who needs 'em? In my little town, where the state highway meets the road into town, we have an old school, drive-in A&W. It closes in the late fall, and when it reopens, well, you can be sure it's spring. We stopped yesterday, and nearly everything about the first trip to A&W for 2010 was right. When I handed the kids their food, they treated it like a sommelier handles

Huntin' Math

2010-03-02T17:23:00.000-05:00

I've been married for 18 1/2 years to an outdoorsman. Some of the implications of that have been enjoyable. I love to cook, so preparing venison and pheasant has been a satisfying challenge. It might be a little 1950's housewife, but I enjoy how much this makes him feel good about providing for his family. Secretly, I like being married to a fella with his kind of passion. Time spent outdoors

Real World Foodie

2010-02-26T13:56:00.000-05:00

February. When I read the word, it sounds a lot like Jerry Seinfeld saying Newman. It is accompanied by back, neck and shoulder tension. I start thinking about February in November. The leaves are off the trees and I think, "Ah yes. Bleakness. The return of bleakness. I remember being beat down by you, back in February." Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year's Eve come and go. I am mostly

Pet Peeves

2010-02-23T09:08:00.001-05:00

I love you, pet lovers. I love that you take joy in your animals. I confess concern that some of you must take your animals everywhere. I once had a run-in with a lady carrying her tiny pooch in Macy's, who said to a disapproving make-up counter lady, "Well, what do you want me to do? Leave him HOME?" I recognize that this is an extreme case. Despite noting FortiFido on clearance back in

De-nesting

2010-02-09T18:14:00.000-05:00

I realized, back in January, that I have nine months. Nine months until my littlest little one transforms from preschooler to ruler of the known world by way of kindergarten. For many moms, including those who mostly stayed home, shipping the baby off to class is a sad day. I know. I've seen strangers and friends race ahead of their child's bus on the first day of school. They line the school

The Mohawk of Outrage

2010-01-04T08:43:00.000-05:00

The goal of standardized gestures in elocution is clarity for both the sender and receiver. Few modern moves are more clear than The Mohawk of Outrage, which can be seen across the wide expanses of office cubes and public transportation. The heel of the hand should be aligned with the temple 2-4” off of the head. Fingers should be spread apart, but with ease and without strain. The

The Cell Phone

2010-01-03T09:02:00.000-05:00

Here we have “The Cell Phone”. Hand should hold the screen of the phone away from the body. Typically hand is raised at or above eye level to begin. Once eye contact is established with the audience, the device should be brought to a more easily viewed or heard position. Particularly useful when things go south on a call, and you want other people in the room to share

LOQtion 2k10: The Cheese

2010-01-02T07:43:00.000-05:00

This begins a series of instructional helps for anyone interested in modern elocution techniques. Note the particular bent toward non-verbal communication. In today’s society, with earbuds and bluetooths, effective communication with the people you’re actually with looks more and more like a silent movie. The Cheese This gesture is used to display an item or items of

Best 'truth in advertising' phrases

2009-12-16T10:27:00.000-05:00

Just now, in my junk email, I found this: R0lex Repl!cas: Gorgeous looking craftsmanship I decided that this is one of the finest, truest titles on a junk email ever. Our anonymous copywriter is not claiming that the product is made with great skill. Could it fall apart as you take it our of the box? Absolutely. But it looks gorgeously made, and somewhere, somebody is going to want that. I

Manger deLuxe

2009-12-08T20:36:00.000-05:00

I was going to do a jokey bit of writing, because my house is far from festive right now. I was going to claim trendsetter status for the 'authentic Christmas' set: just let the kids go wild, bedrooms can grow into even more of a pit, trash may remain strewn about ... I was going to say that I'd put a cease and desist on all vacuuming, stop the flow of propane and let the temperature drop in

But It's on Clearance!

2009-12-05T15:13:00.000-05:00

I just love finding special products like this one, for dogs too good to drink from the hose, dogs bored with mud puddles, dogs with a discriminating palate ... I wonder if there's special doggie stemware for this - and if you have to switch glasses for the parsley flavor.

Up and up

2009-12-01T17:56:00.000-05:00

Lately, one of my latent skills has been called up to the surface. I can juggle. I am not using juggling as a metaphor. I can't, for instance, juggle laundry and dishes and home-cooked meals and writing. If I could get one of those things done a day, I'd be doing well. Or better than today, anyway. I am speaking of literal, simple juggling. I'm not sure exactly how the word got out about my

Maiden voyage ends in disaster

2009-11-28T10:36:00.000-05:00

This delightful truffle of fiction was written by my friend Jennie, the winner of the Blog Attic contest. "Oh, oh," you may complain, sounding like a Sweathog, "we were supposed to vote and she went over the word count." Boo-hoo all you want, Horshack, she's the sole entry. Plus, it's funny. So quit whining and get reading. And next time, enter the contest. Neither of us

Blog Post Contest

2009-11-09T13:37:00.000-05:00

Way back in October, through the magic of Google's Webmaster Tools, I discovered that my blog has an attic. Upon that day, I went to work, creating a crack team of highly analytical robo-monkeys to reveal the implications of this find. For the record, that is why I have been unable to post for 16 days. Robo-monkeys. Not making excuses, but it was tougher than it sounds. I spent nearly four of

The Blog Attic

2009-10-22T07:06:00.000-04:00

My blog has an attic. I discovered it after I set-up Google's Webmaster Tools. It promised insight into my blog, statistical data and objective information galore. I love objective data - and being a web master. It made me feel like Donkey from Shrek (I'm a web master, I mastered the web), and who wouldn't want that? It didn't mention the attic, but there it was, a secret panel in the 'links

Neighbors

2009-10-15T23:44:00.000-04:00

Crappy. Of late, crappy has become a favorite word of mine, as in, “I’m crappy at housework.” Or, “That piece for the newspaper turned out really crappy.” The former, of course, is a truism. Being crappy at laundry, and dishes, and other regular tasks of womandom has been a defining characteristic since I was old enough to wade through the clothes on the floor in order to

WT5: upsides to a power outage

2009-10-07T21:45:00.001-04:00

Here in my little town, we lose power when the wind changes direction. Any wind. Any change. Last November, they predicted that we'd be out for at least three weeks if Obama became president. Imaginary scare tactics aside, living here means dealing with bugs, and critters, and hours or days without electricity. Here are my Top 5 upsides to a power outage: 1) Disguises the dust.