National Novel Writing Month

Well, well, well...NaNoWriMo in just under four days...

Last year at this time I had a stack of notecards, all sorted by the colors that indicated their information (green for character info, blue of potential quotes/interactions, red for scene details, etc). There was a sense of "Will November First ever arrive??" I contemplated cheating by starting early and just counting that which I'd written as of the official start date.

This year - as veteran of a NaNo 09 win - I'm both cocky and distracted. Back then I knew I'd have no problem. Right now I'm worried that there won't be enough novelty to keep me inspired or that I won't find the going as easy as last year because of my commitment to other projects taking up my available time.

I have the excuses lined up, of course. "Whirlwind trip to Illinois" coming up. "Too many stories in my head" for me to decide upon. "Committed to my volunteer work" which is more necessary that my personal goals.

Fortunately I recognize these as excuses. They are - in reality - no different from the challenges of other WriMo's (or is it NaNo-ers?) and like the other participants, I simply have to organize my plate to fit all my victuals.

Or I can treat NaNoWriMo like a dessert; it will be on a separate plate, waiting for me to finish my main plate so I can enjoy it like a reward.

Wisdom of Marcie #2

When you buy bar soap, unwrap it from its plastic packaging and store it in the linen closet. Not only will it scent your towel, it will "dry out" and last longer in the bathroom when put into service.

Wisdom of Marcie

Always comb your hair before you get into the shower. It keeps the loose hairs from clogging your drain.

The Goddess of Strife and the Big Blow

Hello, friends.

I took Sunday off because it was simply too nice to be inside.

I'm posting late today because the weather here in CO was a big blow. There's a personal weather station up the street (that posts its info on the InterNets)which was showing gusts of 30 mph and sustained winds of 20. We've had brown-outs around here often enough that I dared not have the computer on, in case we lost power. I had a UPS but that failed just last week.

I think the other reason I've been lackadaisical about posting is the WAG #23 I put up the other day. Part of it was the fact it hit close to home, being that the dear husband and I are motorcyclists. The other part was the inspiration of the story, which was someone on Facebook who I feel takes too many chances.

The world is a dangerous place, and I am sometimes bothered by my relative safety. I have at least three friends (possibly more) who have had issues with stalkers. Granted, they're all better looking than I am, but this has never been something I've worried about. Do I put a big social shield out? Perhaps I exude a sense of "Don't Fuck With Me?" that keeps all but the nastiest people away?

The Dear Husband and I were discussing a news story he saw about the Colorado Preppers. One of the members was boasting how he and his family had enough food to tide them over for a year, in preparation for a disaster. It seemed a bit excessive, while at the same time, we have enough food to hold us over for at least two weeks, should we get snowed in. We have our own well and a generator and headlamps and sleeping bags and a tank full of LP... I guess we're preppers too.

Rebel preppers, cuz we don't hang out with other preppers.

Is it the motorcycling that has made us into such cautious people? On a bike, you can't trust other people to behave properly behind the wheel, and when they don't, YOUR safety is in your hands and your anticipatory paranoia.

The years of being cavers certainly have driven us towards self-sufficiency. When bad things happen in a wild cave situation, it's easy for the situation to go pear-shaped really fast. That's the time when 'self-rescue' is the hope and 'full-rescue' is the nightmare. The Texas Region caving community (for a while) was listing the phone number of a funeral home in case of emergency.

Okay, that was just an asshole thing to do... but it did kinda sum things up.

Anyway, we're of a self-sufficiency bent, and part of the process is to anticipate what can get you into trouble. No, we don't lock ourselves in the house and never leave - we do like to enjoy life, after all - but we have gotten into the habit of not provoking trouble. The Goddess of Strife is a mean old bitch, and she'll get you whenever it pleases her.

Well...I've rambled enough. Tomorrow is Suesday, writer's group, lunch with a fellow writer, trip to the grocery store, human interaction. Hope you enjoy it, too.

Snow! Do you believe it?

I couldn't believe it when I awoke in the middle of the night and found snow falling. I went back to sleep, and when I got up again in the morning, I was surprised all over again.

SNOW! It's May 12th! We're not in the mountains! It's just over a month until Summer begins!

What is this white stuff?!?!?!

Sigh...welcome to Colorado. By noon, it was entirely melted and gone.

6th Annual Online Auction for Diabetes Research

I am committed to blogging every day, even busy ones like today. I shall not fail! I will succeed!

Well, I will fail in one regard, and it's only a minor setback. I had intended to tell you on May 1st about the Brenda Novak's 6th Annual Online Auction for Diabetes Research. http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/Home.taf

However, it's never too late until it's over, so please follow the link and take a peek. Ms. Novak's auctions have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in much need funding. There's a variety of options; perhaps there's something for you too!

National Letter Carriers Food Drive

Please go through your pantries today and find a can or package of nonperishable food. Tomorrow is the Stamp Out Hunger collection day. If you and four of your neighbors were to put out one can each, that could provide enough food to make one evening meal for a destitute family.

The National Letter Carriers, the US Postal Service, Campbell Soup and many worthy organizations are sparing time and effort for this. Please spare the cause a can or two of soup or rice.

Thank you.

Yay! It's Tuesday!

Today is Tuesday when my writers group gets together at the local library. Although I normally bring a chapter of my manuscript for the group to critique and line-edit, lately I've been fine with just listening to the contributions of the other members.

I think part of it has to do with my shift in concentration from getting the MS perfect to getting my query refined so I can get on with selling it to an agency or a pub house.

At first I dreaded the whole 'pitch' aspect of writing, but I'm starting to like it more and more.

Such is Life.

Who'll gimme five bucks?

Went to an estate auction today. Got a little caught up with the excitment and ended up buying a cooler I don't need and a crap load of assorted greeting cards that I didn't know were inside.

Got a nice matching garment bag and suitcase with a Jordache label on it. I'm not quite sure if I should use this travel set or sell it as antiques. I mean, seriously! Jordache? What's up with that?

Still, everything cost me a TOTAL of ten dollar, so I guess I'll just write it all off emotionally as the cost of entertainment. I had a pretty good time, all in all.

Top Ten Signs You're Too Old For Trick Or Treating

(Got this from a 'viral' email pass-around a couple of years ago)

Top Ten Signs You Are Too Old to Trick or Treat

10. You get winded from knocking on the door.

9. You have to have another kid chew the candy for you.

8. You ask for high fiber candy only.

7. When someone drops a candy bar in your bag, you lose your balance and fall over.

6. People say, "Great Keith Richards mask!" and you're not wearing a mask.

5. When the door opens you yell, "Trick or..." and can't remember the rest.

4. By the end of the night, you have a bag full of restraining orders.

3. You have to carefully choose a costume that won't dislodge your hairpiece.

2. You're the only Power Ranger in the neighborhood with a walker.

1. You avoid going to houses where your ex-wives live.

"Random Acts of Folk Remedies" or "Mother of Invention?"

Okay, this really should be on the website of my friend Mustang Rider, since her blog is all about living green, living simpler, living easier, but it's so small and random, I'll just toss it on here.

On occasion when I cook pasta sauce (large quantities frozen for future use), my house begins to smell quite a bit like Luigi's All Night Spaghetti Factory, and since my sauce usually cooks down over the course of a coupla hours, it rather permeates the house. My quick fix is to turn on the central air blower for a couple minutes and then spray odor-neutralizing into a couple of the intake vents. A few minutes later, the entire house has a vague scent of the fragrance without my having to walk around the house spritzing every corner. (My idea is useless, of course, if you have radiators. Sorry.)

Another "folk remedy" I discovered recently was another use for Swiffer dusters after they're used up; sticker burr removal! Here in eastern Colorado (and particularly on our ~3 acres), we have an annoying abundance of sand burrs, and now that it's fall, their spiney hooks have dried hard, making them very painful to remove by hand. My husband was doing yardwork yesterday and came into the house for help removing the burrs from his back (don't ask; I didn't). As it happened, a very used Swiffer handduster was nearby, so I took a quick swipe. IT WAS MAGIC! I got the seven or so off his back and then removed the two or three dozen from his pantleg (he'd done the other one outside by hand). I've never seen those things come off so quickly and easily.

If you come by sometime this week, you'll probably find me wandering around the property looking for other miracle cures with a Swiffer. Goatheads, here I come!!!

A New Venture?

Last night was another meeting of the writing group I'm trying to start at the local library. Once again, I did not have anyone attend who wished to join my merry little group...BUT... it turns out that there is already a writing group in town, so I'll join that. We all learn from each other. :)

Colorsmith Graphical Worm

The Colorsmith Graphical Worm is still going strong, but it needs more submissions. If you have an interest in messing around with Photoshop (or graphic software of your choice), please feel free to join in the fun!
http://colorsmith.net/worm/index.html
Anyone can submit. The only real requirement is to fit your artwork into 600 pixels wide by 450 pixels high by 72ppi. For the sake of aesthetic and flow, try to match the artwork to the previous work in the project, and the way to make certain you 'lock in' your spot is to sign up on the forum.

Cheers!

The Worm (an update)

Okay, it's up and at 'em!

http://www.colorsmith.net/worm/worm.html

My graphic artist friend has made his "worm" official. He's taking contributions. Just check out the rules/guidelines here.

Look for both Sue O'Shields and Sioux O'Shields, as I have two additions to the Colorsmith Graphic Worm.

No Native Americans were involved in the making of that artwork. ;-)

The Worm

If you click on the images, they open into larger individual images. Hit back to return as they do not open in new windows.

Dressed For Success, WAG #13

“WAG #13:Dress for Success” Thanks to Peter Spalton for the topic idea! For this week, find yourself a stranger (Yes, we’re all turning into a bunch of WAG stalkers!) Notice what the person is wearing, and then imagine the process they went through getting dressed. Peter suggests: Add lots of detail so we understand what sort of person they are and where they’re going after they’re ready.

When a guy lives in such a small town, he knows everyone. Everyone knows him. Everybody knows him, his brothers, his mother, father, grandparents on both sides... hell, they even knew who his dad was screwing before Dad married Mom.

They also know Melinda. Sweet, luscious Melinda with the to-die-for figure and the big brown eyes. When they see him walking hand-in-hand down the street with her, they'd know she is his girl.

He glanced around for his alarm clock and growled at the realization it was buried under his dirty tee shirts and four Good Times soda pop cups. Angrily brushing aside black bangs still wet from his shower, he shoved the crap off his nightstand and read the time. With a yelp, he dashed to his chest of drawers where his mom stacked his cleaned laundry. Up there it was less likely to get dirtied by his other 'stuff', she said. A quick rifle through the pile of black tee shirts located the one with missing sleeves which he tossed onto the bed while shoving dirty laundry around the floor with his bare foot to locate his jeans. They were his favorite black denims, with the rhinestones outlining an arrow over the zipper fly and with chrome buckles up the outside leg seams. The pants were starting to look a bit battered from repeated wearings; he was pleased. If he was lucky, Melinda would be wearing her super-tight striped knit top and her satin slacks that showed every curve, and maybe people would notice his arms toned from hours of drumming practice. Yeah, he and Melinda would look good together.

His phone rang in his school bag. With another growl of frustration, he whipped his head around the room to find where he'd dropped his books, but the phone stopped ringing before he got to it. The screen said "Mellie", and he looked towards the roof in frustration. Damn, that girl's impatient!

He whipped his hair violently to shake off the extra water before pulling the tee shirt over his head. Two strides brought him to the mirror to make certain all the lettering was still there. Backwards he read "UNITED ROCKERS". The skull was just as dark front or back. Quickly he put on some wool socks and his dad's old Desert Storm Army boots, tying the laces tightly before covering it all with the over-long pant cuffs. Rummaging through the top dresser drawer, he found his three-inch wide leather wrist band, the one earring with a cross and a skull, and a simple silver nose ring. He donned these and checked the mirror one last time. He stared for nearly a minute and suddenly tore the collar of his tee shirt, rending it straight down three inches.

Good.

Okay.

Now to call the Sweet Mellie back. Gaughth was ready to go out.

********************************************************************

This was an exercise of the Writing Adventure Group. The criteria for the exercise is listed above. The info about the group and how to participate is below.

Writing Adventure Group

This is an open, online writers’ group. Anyone may participate. It’s helpful if you have a blog, but if you don’t have one, you can always get a free blog from wordpress.com.

Our purpose is to build a community of writers who help and support each other, and to hone our observational and writing skills by interacting with each other and the world around us.

Here’s how it works:

1. Adventures should take you 5-10 minutes to complete! We’re going for short and easy. This should not be like having a part time job. You may post your results as a few lines, or a few paragraphs. This does not have to be polished, but is an exercise only! See previous WAG posts here.
2. You will typically have one week to do the assignment and post the results on your blog. Deadline given at the bottom of the instruction post.
3. After you post your results, email THE LINK TO YOUR POST (not just your blog) to NixyValentine AT gmail DOT com. This way I can link back to you in the next post! Please include the word WAG in your subject heading. Please include the title of the post (if any) and your name as you want it to appear on the listing. If you do not do this, I will use the name as it appears on your email.
4. To get more people involved, please use Twitter, FB status, myspace, your blog, etc to tell your writer friends about the group and talk about your own writing adventure!

Rules

Well, there really aren’t any. This is an experience, not a classroom. There is no wrong way to do this!

To get the most out of this, I would suggest visiting the other participants’ blogs and linking to them from yours to build the writing community.

If you have an idea for an adventure or have questions or comments about the group, write to nixyvalentine AT gmail DOT com.

www.nixyvalentine.com

Cave Wedding Photo, As Promised!

I still can't find the photo album containing the pictures of our wedding, but while I was looking for the backpacking hammock, I stumbled upon the photo printed in the local newspaper. It was part of an article set right above the photos from the watermelon seed spitting contest (I think a boy scout won).

The cave was Illinois Caverns. The newspaper was the Waterloo Republic-Times. The year was 1990.

I Love The Library

The local county library system is opening a new facility in the town that's a few miles south of us. Now, I liked the old facility just fine, but it sounded like they were outgrowing things pretty quickly, and like an indulging grandparent with a favorite grandchild, I can't deny pleading demands.

I just received an email from the library telling me that the new 'digs' will be opening on May 30th. Cool beans, in and of itself, but the email went on to say "will include the official ribbon-cutting, square dancing, a Western-style BBQ supper and ice cream social, trick-rope lessons for kids, storytelling, performances and more." The performances include "an acoustic jam session. Musicians from all around are invited to bring their fiddles, guitars and banjos to join in and play for fun."

Now does that sound like a great way to launch a library or what? I may even go and take pictures.

The Professional

“WAG #10: The Professional” As we go through our days, we’re surrounded by people doing everyday jobs: the guy that reads the gas meter, cashiers, bank tellers, security guards, doctors, circus clowns… This week, your assignment is to observe someone doing a job (their profession should be one you don’t know that much about). Describe him/her and also what they’re doing, why they’re doing it (as best you can tell), and how. Feel free to use your imagination, but don’t forget the concrete observation! Special thanks to Lulu for this week’s topic idea!

The Professional

Another box of mail. It was heavy, of course. Paper is an amazingly dense material, and when concentrated into 18 gallon plastic tubs with torn handles, it gets a bit difficult to heft those tubs into the small delivery truck, but she did it without complaint. After all, the mail must get through!

Gently, she rubbed her hands together to ease the stinging scratches on her palms. Of course, the handles were torn; it was quasi-Government equipment! She’d been around long enough to remember the old canvas bags, to recall how damaged the mail could get when those bags weren’t handled right, and they usually weren't! She was also senior enough to remember having to walk the route pushing that silly cart around. No, she didn’t want the old days back. She preferred things exactly as they had become.

Especially that day! Okay, so the next day was Mother’s Day and maybe her son or her daughters would break away from celebrating the holiday with their own children, but even if they didn’t, she would be perfectly satisfied with herself for being a mom.

With a small shove of the overfilled baskets already there, she made a little extra room for a few empty baskets. Last year, her route had done her proud, and although she’d put their generous contributions in her buckets emptied of their delivered mail, she still had loose boxes and cans in her truck. This year she wanted to be prepared.

A satisfied sigh escaped her as she pulled the cord that lowered her rear door. Carrying mail was a job, and she was still glad she had one. Participating in the National Association of Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger National Food Drive made that job just a little bit more special. Okay, so maybe it took her nearly twice as long to service her route, but she couldn’t think of a better way to spend that afternoon than to help relieve the angst of a mother who had perhaps lost her job and could no longer feed her children. It just made Mother’s Day that much more wonderful.

This Saturday May 9th is the annual food drive sponsored by the US Postal Service, the National Association of Letter Carriers, and Campbell Soup. If you remember, please search your pantry for a few canned items that you can contribute to this very worthy cause.

The Twelfth Rose for Mother

This coming Saturday the United States Postal Service and the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) are hosting their annual food drive. I've always been impressed with how clever and effective this effort has been year after year. As giving and generous as I try to be, my good intentions are often stymied by how convenient (or rather INconvenient) something may be to me. With this food drive, all you need to do is set your item(s) out by your mailbox and the Letter Carriers do the rest.

And how poignant this is taking place right before Mother's Day! How painful can it be for a mother to see her child go hungry for want of food? Maybe this year you can give your mom one less rose and spend that saved three dollars on a couple of cans of soup or healthful vegetables. When/if Mom points out that the florist miscounted, you can explained that you gave that twelfth "rose" to a mother whose child needed a nutritious meal. I can guarantee your mom won't hold it against you!

Bless you all!

For more information about the USPS/NALC drive, please see:
http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2009/pr09_046.htm