Pondering

What does this image make you think about?

Is It Worth It?

Things take time. More than once, I have wondered if I really have the time to write. Kids, girlfriend, hobbies, work, blah, blah. Almost all of that has to come first. Hell, this year hobbies even have to come first, too. (Just not enough money to spend on Christmas this year, think large family)

Where do I find the time to sit down and write? I don't. The time finds me. A fifteen minute break happens along and I jot down a few notecards. They don't even have to be part of what I am working on, they just are. I trust my subconscious to tell me where they belong. Plus, when I need an all around nifty scene, I can flip through and just go with it.

When I am working with residents who don't talk, I tell them a story. Wahoo! I got a scene already fleshed out. If it was good, I remember it. Either way, the resident at least gotten some entertainment.

Free hour before work, you say? Hah! Just write. Don't edit, backtrack, or look outside the window. Print it out and do it later. If you don't trust me, trust PBW.

Fifteen minutes until dinner is done and I am digging out the hardcopies and editing. Snip here, chop there, and I am done with that part. Then, when I am blocked in front of the computer, I can type-in those edits.

Some say that I am missing out on life. To me, these moments would only be wasted by not writing. But, writing is the way I express my life. I want to be published, so I want to do the work. Someday, I will get there. Come hell, high water, or "no" time.

Shacking Up

Talyn arrived today! I have a feeling that a torrid affair is beginning in about 5 minutes.

Obviousness aside. I will be busy for a few days reading! Please, forgive me if I forget to post.

Thank you, PBW, for this wonderful gift. Also, my gf is estatic to have a typewritten list to take to the bookstore with her.

The kind words from Holly made my day, thank you. I really wish I could call-off from work so that I could spend the entire day reading. Such is life.

More on life and books later.

My Film

Thanks to Steph:

Ingmar Bergman Your film will be 58% romantic, 29% comedy, 49% complex plot, and a $ 55 million budget.

Your life will be portrayed on film as an intense psychological drama, likely with some actresses screaming at the camera (Persona), or maybe a pleasant chess game between the Grim Reaper and a Crusader (The Seventh Seal). This Swedish director's films are intensely scrutinzed and studied in colleges all over the world to this day. This means that most Americans still don't understand his films! Still alive, he released in the U.S. in 2005 his first film in 23 years (Saraband), and he can still take on one more project to make your film biography. If curious, start with his films Wild Strawberries and Smiles of a Summer Night.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 77% on action-romance You scored higher than 23% on humor You scored higher than 86% on complexity You scored higher than 98% on budget

Link: The Director Who Films Your Life Test written by bingomosquito on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

No Freaking Clue

Lately, I have been finding it very hard to center myself. My normal multi-tasking is becoming insane. Instead of knitting while I watch TV, I am knitting, watching TV, thinking about work, planning the next day's to-do list, etc.

All this jumbling up in my head is doing absolutely nothing for writing. NaNo is approaching and I have no freaking clue of what I am going to write. No plan, no ideas, blank slate here.

On top of that, the hardest part of my year is starting. Holidays, gas bills, birthdays, school field trips, blah, blah, blah just don't make life any easier when we barely scrape through without the added expense. I think I should get paid overtime just for showing up to work! Wouldn't that be nice?

The shiny side of the coin? I have my girlfriend, kids, and friends to keep my going.

Promo

Who said that authors must spend money on promotion? Not me.

With new techniques in on demand printing (not publishing) anyone can design theirs own coffee mugs, t-shirts, aprons, etc. Even better, it is easy. Just a few clicks of some buttons and away you go.

Let readers who want that mousepad to buy it themselves. Wahoo! No more wasted money on gadgets that aren't remembered. Buy a few yourself, use them as prizes, then send everyone else off to buy their own.

All kidding aside, a few of these sites are really neat. Imagine the gifts your kids could make their grandparents. A coffee mug that is actually safe to drink out of. Put your kids handprints on an apron without the mess of paint. Send Christmas cards with your kids' picture as the stamp. It just sounds so fun.

Cafe Press
Zazzle
Spreadshirt

Joy

Holly started it, now Carter is sending "The Search For Joy" my way. Leave it to Holly to start a meme that is not only fun, but thought-provoking.

I tend to be a strange assortment of joyous and angst-ridden. But, I have always followed one rule: The less you like in life, the fewer opportunities for happiness there is.

I understand that there are things that everyone doesn't like. What happens when your list of dislikes becomes longer than your likes?

My latest post about joy isn't about sex, love, blah, blah. It's about winning a book. To be honest, I am happy that I can now read Talyn long before I would have been able to buy it. But, getting something that I have been drooling over isn't joy. That moment of receiving is actually the anti-climax. It's the mix of goodness that the action carried. Sheila cared enough about Talyn (and Holly) to think of and to spend a lot of money on this contest. The time, books, postage, etc. (Almost one-quarter of what I make in a month if not more, I'm guessing) Holly is signing them for us then sending them to us. The caring and kindness shown to us, the readers, is more than most would.

My girlfriend is constantly saying that I find happiness in the little things. It's true. If you can't find a little joy when you son lets his three-year-old cousin play with his favorite toy, where will you find it? I find joy in seeing the good in the world. Where do you find it?

And here are the rules:

THE SEARCH FOR JOY

Search your blog for the word “joy” used in the context of “happiness.” If you cannot find the word in your weblog, you may use any of the select list of synonyms below.

joy — amusement, bliss, cheer, comfort, delectation, delight, ecstasy, elation, exaltation, exultation, exulting, felicity, gaiety, gladness, glee, good humor, gratification, happiness, hilarity, humor, jubilance, liveliness, merriment, mirth, pleasure, rapture, regalement, rejoicing, revelry, satisfaction, wonder

If your weblog does not include a built-in search engine, then you can use Google to search it only for the word you wish to find.

If you’ve found the word and it was not used facetiously or sarcastically, good for you. All you need to do is link to your earlier entry, and write a few words about that joyous moment. If, however, you have no joy (whole words only) in your weblog, you must dig deep in your soul and find something wonderful in your life right now. One little thing that fills you with warmth, that bubbles you over with quiet happiness, or tickles you with its good-hearted hilarity, or makes you glad you just took a breath, and are getting ready to take another. It doesn’t have to be anything big. A smile someone gave you; your cat on your shoulder; the way the light angles through your window and casts rainbows on your floor. All it has to be is something genuine, something real, something that matters to you.

Because we all need joy in our lives, and need to take the time — from time to time — to recognize it. And sometimes, we need to pass it on.

Even if we’re a big pain in the ass when we do.

When you’ve dealt with your own joy, pass the quest on to five other bloggers.

Ronn
Stationary Queen
Melly
Sheila-Because she will have a lot to be joyous about once the deadlines are smashed
Holly-Because she started it. Neener, Neener, Neener. lol

Like Minded

Thanks to Carter,


.:Venus:.

"You thrive on balance in all aspects of your
life. You have a great deal of passion and when
it comes to love, you like to play games. You
have a tendency to search for something better,
a search which always seems to come up short.
You have difficulty finding satisfaction in
life, but you have a great ability to get along
with almost anyone."


. : : Which Astrological Planet are You? : : . [10 Gorgeous Pics!]
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Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

That ungodly shaking is really only me jumping up and down for joy. Really!

:Intermission while Heather dances for joy and sings:

Okay, I can sit back down again. Sheila and Holly have just made my day. My month, actually. Thank You!

:More singing and dancing:

Whew. Fat girls shouldn't be able to the Happy Dance. I get to read Talyn before it comes out in paperback.

:Singing and dancing resumes:

Now is Forever

"Now Is Forever"

the past is all that's gone,
the future is yet to come.
this moment is all our own.
we should live this way,
just building up our day,
now and forever.
the past is all that's gone,
the future is yet to come.
this moment is all our own.
we should live this way,
just building up our day,
now and forever.

we should think about,
what we got right now,
cause the good things are made up of time.
smile to your problems,
leave the past behind.
never forget this.
find the truth in your soul,
keeping you alive.
going on from minute to minute.
don't shade the future,
with all that's behind.
live for today.

the past is all that's gone,
the future is yet to come.
this moment is all our own.
we should live this way,
just building up our day,
now and forever.
the past is all that's gone,
the future is yet to come.
this moment is all our own.
we should live this way,
just building up our day,
now and forever.
don't shade your future,
with what you don't have.
keep your mind on that's here today.
now and forever,
build the future now.
keep this mind.
though you will take your time,
to get what you need,
but you'll do it step after step.
yet to come is all that's gone,
learn to live this moment.
live for today.


---Eiffel 65

One of My Wackier Posts

Free to Good Home:

Basset Hound: Three years old. Well-behaved. Only chews up notecards that are in order, ready to start writing from. Likes to visit the local nursing homes for her extra petting requirements. Thinks a 65 pound dog is a lap dog.

Miniature dachshund: One year old. Will want to stay outside for hours. Will want to pee on your freshly mopped floors as soon as she has come in. Wakes up the master of the house with her cold, wet nose. On. The. Back. Of. Your. Neck.

Pardon my fat legs and unclean house. This was taken Christmas Day 2004. Butch was about 9 months old and Princess was about 3 years old.

Scenery Change

I know that I've been promising a change for quite a while now. Tada!

New Stuff:

• My Just Bought and On the To Buy lists are now in a slideshow.
• In addition to my handpicked quote, there is a quote of the day.
• NaNoWriMo progress meter is up thanks to this site.

Please drop me a line about the new template. Is there anything you'd like to see or improvements I can make? I want to change the background color, but so far nothing has looked right. Ideas, anyone?

Tagged

Well, Holly went ahead and tagged me. But, I suppose I won't get mad since it's her birthday. At least, I think I read that post right. Anyhow.

The Tag:

1. Delve into your blog archive.

2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).

3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).

4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions. Ponder it for meaning, subtext or hidden agendas…

5. Tag five people to do the same.

And the result:

"Men don't have to deal with the added weight, sore breasts, swollen ankles, or anything else associated with pregnancy."

I was ranting about opposition to birth control. I don't have to worry about that. If I become pregnant from not being on the pill, I'd better get a movie deal or Lucy* has some splaining to do.

The bigger tickler revolves around the ranting I was doing privately to become pregnant. How's that for passive agressive? As I have found my senses, (pregnancy in my biological family has a history of being extremely dangerous) there are no mini-dykes in my belly.

What a relief! The boys have hit teenage rebellion and sarcasm. I have been taught my lesson. But, I have more than enough nieces and nephews to eat sugar cookies while drinking Red Bull. I always give them a snack just before sending them home. *evil laugh* My kids' aunts and uncles are finding out that turn about is fair play. *end evil laugh*

Enough rambling, who do I want to tag?

I don't always like following rules and most of the people I would tag, have been. So, I'm changing it up.

Repost your absolute wackiest post. You know you want to. So simple, yet so very fun. Note: Please do this when you have time. I don't want to make anyone miss a deadline.

Holly
Sheila
Carter
Ronn
Steph

Have a good day, y'all.

What Yarn Am I?

You are Dishcloth Cotton.
You are a very hard worker, most at home when
you're at home. You are thrifty and seemingly
born to clean. You are considered to be a Plain
Jane, but you are too practical to notice.


What kind of yarn are you?
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My Favorite Color

Thanks to Holly for the link. Turns out that I am my absolutely favorite color. Wahooo! At least, I'm getting one thing right with my life. ;)

you are turquoise #40E0D0

Your dominant hues are green and blue. You're smart and you know it, and want to use your power to help people and relate to others. Even though you tend to battle with yourself, you solve other people's conflicts well. Your saturation level is higher than average - You know what you want, but sometimes know not to tell everyone. You value accomplishments and know you can get the job done, so don't be afraid to run out and make things happen. Your outlook on life is bright. You see good things in situations where others may not be able to, and it frustrates you to see them get down on everything.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Slacking, Somewhat

I know. I have been absolutely horrible about posting. Well, I am just plain out of witty things to say. The new work schedule, stress at work, blah blah blah is getting to me.

Thank goodness that I am not published because my muse has left me. Heck, I am starting to stutter. Every single one of my stress busters is stressing me out, too. Writing, knitting, crochet, TV, yada yada. Not one dang thing helps anymore.

Anyone have an idea or hundred laying around that I can borrow for a little while to destress? I don't normally drink, but I'm on the verge of getting so sloshed that I have to hold onto the floor to keep the room from spinning while I'm laying down.

Damn, even this post sounds stupid.