Thursday Thirteen #225 - Eclectic!

1. This week, I learned two new words and they both came from husband. The words are loblolly and haymow. A loblolly is a mud mire or mud hole, and a haymow is a loft where you store hay in a barn.

2. My work on my thesis has stalled yet again. Mostly I think about it, I look at it, and then I put it away. I need to have a first draft to my professor on January 31, so I really need to get my tail wagging. Procrastination is my middle name.

3. A little good news on the freelancing front: I've picked up a bit of steady work, at least for the time being. It begins next week.

4. Earlier this week, I spent time looking at the list of bills before the Virginia legislature this session. I was appalled at some of the really stupid things that these representatives bring to the table in hopes of having them pass as bills. There are bills ranging from deer hunting to regulations on the medical field to redefining the definition of a cemetery, and those are relatively minor ones. Some of these bills can do serious and lasting damage to families, lifestyles, the environment, and businesses. There are over 1,000 of these things listed at this site, if you live in the state and want to have a truly head-shaking and gut-wrenching (in the manner of what you might feel when you see how truly abysmal leadership is these days). This is how bad legislation is passed.

5. Asthma control has been foremost on my mind since the beginning of the year. Mine is currently a little out-of-control and I am hoping that a visit to my physician yesterday, which resulted in a change of medication, will sort this out. I find it hard to work on projects such as my thesis when I don't feel well.

6. My Nikon D40 DSLR camera has developed an issue. It is my favorite camera, though it is old (for an electronic device) and takes only 6.1 mb photos. My new Nikon P500 whips it in many ways but the Nikon D40 is like putting on my favorite slippers. I need to decide if I want to spend money to get it fixed, though. I have a feeling it could get expensive. And of course, Nikon doesn't make it anymore.

7. Some people do not blog enough. Some maybe blog too much. Others do it just right. Me, I just do what I want. I don't really know what other people think of what I do, but I do hope that my readers enjoy it.

8. I am still doing Weight Watchers, but after six months my enthusiasm has waned. I lost my motivation over the holidays. Any suggestions?

9. I recently had a marathon viewing of the extended versions of all three Lord of the Rings videos. I had not seen the extended version of The Two Towers and was very pleased with the additions it brought to the overall experience. These are my favorite films. I am very excited about premiere of The Hobbit, which comes to your movie theater in December.


10. My supermarket has competing candy aisles. One is filled with hearts for Valentine's Day and the other has Cadbury eggs for Easter. There is something profane about that.

11. A story last month about people dying from neti pot use has changed the way I create my own home-made nasal spray. I used to use water right out of the spigot but now I use distilled water. According to the article, some little critter in tap water crawled up in people's brains and killed them. I worry about a lot of things, but this was not one of them. Who knew?

12. One for the Money, a movie about Janet Evanovich's heroine, Stephanie Plum, opens soon. Advertisements for it are now on TV. I am hoping to go see it with a friend. We both have read all of the books. There's a trailer at the link.

13. Recently I have seen geese, robins, redbirds, cedar waxwings, sparrows, starlings, blue jays, and bluebirds. I think migration is on!

A cedar waxwing

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 225th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Books: Reversing Asthma

Reversing Asthma
By Richard N. Firshein, DO
Copyright 1996
370 pages

This book is out of print and available through used book sellers. Alas, I don't buy used books because I am allergic to book dust and old books tend to set off my asthma, ironically. It is not available on my Nook, either.

I checked this out of the local library. I wish it was still available as a new book purchase.

Dr. Firshein is an asthma sufferer himself, and he has an interesting take on the health care system and its treatment of this issue.

He is not in favor of drugs and advocates for vitamins, breathing exercises, dietary changes, and exercise in order to keep the condition under control.

In fact, he hypothesizes that asthma treatments are causing as much problems as they are solving. This has certainly been my experience. The drugs make me sicker than the asthma.

If you have asthma and have been searching for a way to control it without drugs, or at least as many pharmaceuticals as you might take, then this book should be helpful to you. I have started with the vitamins he suggests and have initiated the breathing exercises. I am hopeful that this will be a big help.

Asthma can be a very dangerous condition, leading to death. It is very frightening, too, when you can't breath, and there can be scarring of the lungs. It is the major chronic illness among children, and the numbers of asthmatics in the United States are growing every day. At least 20 million people suffer from asthma.

Medical doctors still aren't sure what causes asthma and why some people have it and others don't. However, it seems likely that air pollution, dust mites, cockroach remains and other allergens play a role in the condition.

Allergic reactions to food are also a likely culprit. The major foods that cause allergies seem to be nuts, peanuts, eggs, shellfish and fish. Other foods that might cause problems include artificial food colorings, wheat, citrus fruits, milk, chocolate and wheat products.

One of the several vitamins Dr. Firshein recommends is magnesium sulfate, which opens up air passages. He also recommends vitamins C, a B Complex, zinc, and Vitamin A.

For diet, he suggests an elimination diet to figure out the problem foods. He says to eat a lot of onions and garlic, as they help with asthma, too.

The breathing exercises are similar to yoga breaths. I suspect just making an effort to breathe through the diaphragm instead of shallow breathing in the upper chest can make a big difference for many people, myself included.

Robins (and a Starling)

My father calls robins that you see this time of year "mountain robins." I am not sure they ever actually leave, as I seem to see them all year long. My grandmother used to watch for robins in her front yard; she called them the herald of spring. She lived only 30 miles from where I do now, and it would be March before she would see the birds. I don't know if they've changed their migration or it was just how she noticed them.

This shot was taken with the digital zoom on the camera.
 I used a tripod and it worked better than I expected.

Cedar Waxwings

Cedar waxwings are small birds that live along woodland edges and near gardens. They have a high, thin call that sounds like zeee.

They are the bird with the yellow on them in these photos. The birds with orange tummies are robins; the black bird in the third photo is a starling.

Thursday Thirteen - Words Starting With "C"

1. Crazy-making is what happens when someone tries to convince you that up is down, black is white. The term is used frequently to describe abusive relationships, but it also applies to politics these days. What else would you call a governor's speech that says "I'm not going to raise taxes" but later proposes to increase the sales tax by 50 percent?

2. C-reactive protein is a substance that shows up on blood tests. It has something to do with inflammation. Mine is always high, but my doctor never mentions it. What is up with that?

3. Cholesterol is a waxy steroidal fat. It has an important biological process, but apparently scientists think too much of it is bad for you. There are dietary links, but mostly physicians simply want to give you a pill. This number on blood tests always gets a comment from my doctor. Both C-reactive protein and cholesterol have something to do with liver processes.

4. Choices are those things we make every second of the day, mostly unaware, that move us forward (or not). Making healthy choices in diet helps bring about good health; poor choices can lead to problems.

5. Chocolate comes from cacao beans. Dark chocolate can be a healthy choice, if eaten in moderation. Chocolate has flavonoids which offer an antioxidant benefit. If you don't know what the previous sentence means but think you're supposed to, don't feel bad. I don't really know, either, but it sounds good. This is my favorite food and apparently I'm addicted to it; I can't have it around the house.

6. Chuffed is a word that means "very pleased." I only learned this word in the last decade. Few people in my area of the world use this in day-to-day discourse, so I like to slip it in sometimes just for fun.

7. Churlish is another word I don't hear often in conversation; it means sour or having a bad disposition. As in, "My churlish family member fixed shrimp in almond sauce for dinner for my brother-in-law and me, even though I am allergic to shrimp and he is allergic to nuts." (I made this up. It didn't happen. Really. Although I am allergic to shrimp.)

8. Cilantro is an Old World herb used in seasoning; it is also called coriander. It resembles parsley, has a distinctive aroma, and it is used world-wide. You find it in salsa. It is thought to act as a cleansing agent in the body, meaning that it removes toxins such as heavy metals.

9. Cinnamon is a spice that comes from tree bark; in the U.S., a lot of what is sold as cinnamon is not true cinnamon, so be careful. True cinnamon has many health benefits, including help with regulating blood sugar. It is also useful for stomach ailments and indigestion. It also helps with inflammation.

10. Citizens are members of a community. Citizens should have responsibility to one another and to their government. In the U.S., the government is made up of citizens who participate by voting and serving on elected boards and other governing bodies. The US government asks very little of its citizens; mostly it wants us to shop.

11. Clans are people related by blood or marriage, like a tribe. People can be clannish in that they stick together over certain things, or because they are exclusionary and leave people out of other things. I don't hear this word used much anymore.

12. Clerics are clergymen or holy men, usually. You sometimes find them as a class of healer/fighter in video games. When I played Might & Magic (a very long time ago), I used to play as a cleric.

13. Clouds in the sky are water or ice particles suspended at high altitudes. Clouds have many shapes and science has given those shapes names. Certain types of clouds will offer up specific kinds of weather. I used to know a lot about this, but I have mostly forgotten it.



Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 224th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

The Full Wolf Moon, This Morning

These are shots of the full moon taken this morning, Tuesday, January 10, between 7:20 a.m. and 7:45 a.m.

Lasso the Moon, George

The Full Wolf Moon shone brightly last night, bathing the farm in an ambient light that showed us the silhouettes of deer grazing in the fields. The dim glow made the trees look ghostly.

Full Wolf Moon, January 2012

The moon fascinates me and I like to try to photograph it. Last night it was late when I attempted to capture it with my new Nikon P500 point-and-shoot camera that I received for Christmas (thank you dear husband).

The shots are okay but I like it best when I can get the deep seas of the moon in the picture. They are in shadow here. The only time I've ever successfully caught the dark shapes of the moon are when there is also a little evening or morning light from the sun available to help me out. Otherwise I overexpose the picture.

I am eager to try this again when I have a little leftover sunlight to see what happens with this camera.

Word Processing's Future?

This morning as I was tooling down the road thinking about this and that, with the wind in my hair and enjoying the extraordinary 60 degree January day, I pondered many questions that puzzle humanity.

Among those concerns was when I might upgrade my cell phone. I still use a Nokia from 2005 or so. It does little but work as a phone. No camera. No keyboard. No apps.

So I use my desktop, laptop, or Nook color for Internet access. A lot of people don't, anymore. They use a phone.

But I also use my computer for writing. I use it to make blog entries. Or write articles. Or short stories. Or my thesis. Or 12-page papers for class.

I can't see myself composing a 12-page paper on an IPhone, I don't care how many Gs it has. I need a decent-sized keyboard and some good white space when I am writing.

So many people won't need a desktop or a laptop for Internet access. But what will they use to write a letter, I wonder? Will things just continue to be short - 140 characters and you're done? Because 140 characters is about all I can handle on a little phone keyboard.

I am reminded of typewriters and how things have changed. When I started out working in an office, way back in 1981, I used an IBM Selectric typewriter. There were no computers.


I also had a typewriter at home. I bought one in 1985, a Brother. I still have it and I took this picture of it this morning:

I recently learned I can still buy ribbons for this,
and I started using it again. Can you believe that?

However, I could see that change was coming. I have mentioned before that I had a Commodore 64 (a very early personal computer). Once I realized I could type something on a screen, save it, print it out, and go back and edit it, I knew that typewriters would become a thing of the past.

So I am wondering now what writing will morph into as technology continues to push boundaries. Perhaps the iPad, with its built in touchscreen and keyboard there, is the answer. I look for documents to change - formatting will become less important, for instance, and short and sweet will be the norm. People like me, who tend to be, well, wordy, for lack of a better term, will be shuffled aside in favor of those who can write in 140 characters. Heck, we're already being shuffled aside for that.

Most people, of course, don't write, or at least, not a lot. However, I think people actually are writing much more - it's one reason why freelancing has become less lucrative. All of those Facebook status updates and tweets equal a lot of words (even if they are abbreviations or symbols). So really there is a lot of writing going on. It's just that it is short. And perhaps relatively meaningless, in the long run.

Is the day coming when paper won't matter at all? I certainly hope not. I am not keen on putting my private thoughts "in the cloud" where God-knows-who might stumble over it. When I think on all of the things I have hidden away in private little journals, pages stuffed in closets or in many cases actually shredded and burned, I am glad that it's not online. And now that Facebook is tracking you all the way back to the time of your inception with its new "timeline" feature, I'm really glad that I wasn't making status updates about things I did as a teenager. Can you imagine being 48 years old and having that stuff pop up as some random status reminder? Good grief.

That is way off topic. Sorry. Back to wondering about word processing.

Anyway, the future is already here. Check out this link I found to a gadget anticipated in 2020. It's worn on the wrist.

Instant keyboard.

Thursday Thirteen

It's a new year, and a strange one, at that. This is supposed to be the year the world ends, according to some. Or it's a new beginning, the Age of Aquarius, according to others.

I personally figure I will continue to put one foot in front of the other, unless I drop dead from a heart attack or I'm hit by a train or something, and not much will change. But you never know. If there is change a-coming, I'm hoping it is for the better and is of the kinder, gentler nature.

Anyway, I thought I'd offer up 13 predictions (or maybe just things I'd like to see happen) for 2012.

1. The commercials for the elections of 2012 will be so stunningly bad that people by the millions will turn off the TV channels running them. The 24-hour TV news stations will wither and die, leaving a lot of blow-hards without work, and they will all retire to their large estates to leave the rest of us alone for a change. The resulting quiet on the air waves will help introduce a more peaceful, less stressful atmosphere to all the world.

2. Several hundred people will drink killer kool-aid like the Jim Jones folks did in 1978. This is because they don't want to burn up when the asteroid hits or whatever they think will happen. This could happen at the feet of some Mayan temple, so I hope those authorities are prepared for this kind of eventuality.

3. The stock market will be crazy this year, up and down, and the economy will continue off-kilter. However, it will level out and begin to improve in 2013. The improvement will not be in anticipated ways, however.

4. On December 25, after the world hasn't ended as predicted on December 21, a new period of peace and harmony (aided by the lack of TV news as in #1), will come to the forefront. All of the anger and rancor, especially apparent in the last 11 years, will dissipate and people will regain a lot of the common sense that was lost in Millennial Fever. People have grown really angry and mean in the last decade; have you noticed?

5. For me personally, these things will happen: I will finish my thesis; I will graduate with a master's degree, I will look for work or go back to freelancing (or both). I also hope I finally finish several projects I have started, and write lots of words.

6. People will realize that humanity has indeed contributed to climate change, and they will stop complaining about regulations that are put in place to clean the air and keep down emissions. Being asthmatic, this one has a particular place close to my lungs because I like breathing. It's kind of important.

7. Sunspots will knock out cell phones and wireless Internet access for a good portion of the world for 10 days. People will suddenly realize that they can look one another in the eye, touch each other, and have a conversation that doesn't involve looking at a screen. The new connections will have immediate, positive impact and will change the way young folks relate to one another and to their elders.

8. Speaking of elders, the up and coming generation will realize that the older folks have a lot of knowledge and things to offer to the world, still, and they will place their elders in a spot of honor, and not want to simply shove them aside and out of the way. They will realize that the old folks are people, too, white hair and all. It will usher in a new age of selflessness.

9. My husband would like to see the housing market pick up substantially so that his construction business will boom. So I hope for him this happens.

10. While I'm hoping for lots of peace and love in 2012, I fear there will instead be a lot of bombings and crazy events. Many people actually want the world to end, for some reason, so they will do whatever they think necessary to ensure this happens. I am expecting some really terrifying acts to occur.

11. Someone will invent a new technological toy that will take the world by storm, but ultimately it will end up being the One Ring, and Frodo will have to destroy it. That may not happen until 2014, though.

12. Gasoline will become obsolete, and transportation will change dramatically for Americans as they convert to solar-powered single-person transportation units. Some of these will be able to fly through the air but they will not be airplanes or jet packs, but something not yet conceived.

13. I will forget that it is Thursday on the first Thursday of the year, and not do my Thursday Thirteen until Friday morning after waking up at 2 a.m. and realizing what day it is. This is not a prediction. This is what really happened! Yikes.


Happy New Year, Anyway!


Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 223rd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Burning the Bad

So on the first day of the year, I wrote down on a piece of paper four items that I considered to be bad habits that I wanted to do away with.

Then I burned the paper.

It took a long time for this to turn to ash!

The idea behind this is that I am leaving these bad habits behind me. With the new year, these problem behaviors or activities will vanish, up the chimney with the smoke from the paper.

Now, it is five days later, and I cannot remember all four items on the paper. I can only remember three of them.

Does that mean I no longer have the bad habits?

Or does it mean I have old timer's at an early age?

What could the fourth have been?!?

Any guesses?

Squirrels

Power Words

Last Thursday, Yolanda left a comment on my blog. She was a new visitor, so I checked out her blog in return.

She had noted that she was going to use EXPLORE as her word for the new year.

I loved this idea. And then I read a Guidepost article by author Debbie Macomber who said she does the same thing. She takes a word for the year. An interview with her can be found at this link.

This was enough for me to figure I was being led to find a word for myself. A power word.

But a single word? I am finding this difficult.

I have four words on my mind, instead. Those words are PASSION, INTUITION, COURAGE, and CREATIVITY.

They are all related, at least in my mind, so I wondered if there might be a single word that I missing.

One that covers all four.

PASSION means any powerful emotion, want, or desire. I chose this word because, while there are many things I enjoy doing, there are very few things that I absolutely must do or I will feel like I've lost a part of myself. Writing seems to be something I am passionate about, but I am not sure I am passionate enough about it. Certainly I am not passionate enough about a specific project, and I think that is what I am looking for. That writing project that I absolutely have to work on, every day.

INTUITION means perception of truth without reasoning, or quick insight. This word came to me when I was doing some reading over the New Year's Eve, and then it turned up again in a tarot card reading yesterday. My intuition is something I generally do not trust, but I also think the things I write from intuition are generally much better than the things I write from a different space.

COURAGE means able to face difficulty or danger with firmness and without fear. I chose this word because it seems to me that fear stops me in my tracks with alarming regularity. Sometimes I think it wouldn't take much for me to become agoraphobic and never leave the house. So I want to be stronger and feel more able to stand up to the breath of the world, instead of letting it blow me over.

CREATIVITY means original thought or expression, able to create. As in, writing a poem, or making a drawing. I chose this word because it something that means a great deal to me, but it, like courage, is something that seems elusive to me.

I don't think there is one word that covers all of that. Perhaps what I need is a power sentence instead of a power word.

Something like:

For 2012, I will have the COURAGE to find my PASSION and I will use my INTUITION and CREATIVITY.

Words have power; they can be as hard as a fist when used improperly.

If you have a power word or a power sentence, I hope you will share.

More power to you!

Happy New Year!

Wishing you the best year ever! Happy 2012, everyone!

Nature Says Goodbye to 2011, too!

This rainbow appeared out my window this morning at about 8:10 a.m. What a great thing to see on the last day of the year!

This last was its end. I did not go look for gold;
I had already found that in the beauty of this morning.

Adios, 2011

Well, it's almost another year. I am excited about 2012. I have a college graduation to look forward to in May. I will have another degree and that will be a nice feather in my cap.

I am hopeful that the economy will turn around, too. I am crossing my fingers that I will be able to find a new career doing something I enjoy. The masters degree will help, perhaps.

Also, I plan to continue my weight loss, so I am really looking forward to buying a new wardrobe, complete with accessories, before the end of the year. That will be fun.

This last day of December will be a quiet one for my husband and I, and that's a good thing. Yay for calm endings!

I hope 2012 brings us all many good things in life. Many blessings to you, dear reader, as the year ends and a new one begins!

Bring it on, 2012!

Thursday Thirteen

I just read back over my list of resolutions for 2011, written on January 6 as a Thursday Thirteen. I wanted to see how I did.

I didn't do too badly. I did okay on seven out of the thirteen. Better than half. Many of them were health-related, and I have some of that under control. However, new issues have cropped up.

But anyway, with the new year coming up, I thought I'd finish out 2011 with a list of resolutions for 2012.

1. Write my thesis. This has to be done if I am to graduate in May with my masters of arts in liberal studies degree. I have about 20 pages but am seriously running out time.

2. Graduate. Obviously this is the next step after the thesis. It is step two leading to the next item.

3. Find work. This could be a job "working for the man," as my husband calls a salaried position, or a strong return to freelancing, or adjunct teaching, or something I haven't even thought of yet, but it needs to happen.

4. Continue with Weight Watchers. I lost about 25 pounds, then the holidays came, and I've fallen off the potato cart and landed in the potato pile. Or something. Anyway, I need to get back to this in earnest.

5. Find an organization to volunteer with. I spent 10 years volunteering as an appointed member of the county's library board, and my time ends December 31. I enjoy doing things that help the community, so I will be looking for someplace to give of my time. We'll see what comes about.

6.Exercise. I did well with this until September of this year, when I was overcome with health issues that basically stopped most of my exercise efforts. However, I have started back on the treadmill, albeit at a little slower pace for now, but I have hope that I will be able to manage this.

7. Keep my journal. I used to journal every day. Then I stopped, and I have not been able to pick it back up again. Part of that is because I began blogging instead of journaling, but writing in a journal, which is private and secret, is much different than writing for this blog, which is read by oodles of people I don't know. I need to do both, and better. I want to reread The Artist's Way and go from there, I think.

8. Write fiction. Most of my writing career has centered on nonfiction. My thesis is creative nonfiction, which is to say, mostly nonfiction with a lie or two thrown in. I would like to try my hand at writing fiction, though.

9. Finish my local history things. I have started a couple of local history books and I have a local history blog. I need to work on all aspects of this. This project has languished for several years now and I want to finish it.

10. Organize the closets. We have lived in our house for 25 years. We have stuff crammed everywhere. I have slowly been tossing things but it seems more stuff comes in than goes out. I am interested in moving some things out of here, somehow.

11. Read the books in my to be read pile. I used to only have a couple of books in my to-read pile at a time; now I have shelves full of books that I want to read but seldom have time to get to. I would really like to make a dent in this pile before I go spend all of the Barnes & Noble gift certificates I received for Christmas. But I have a feeling the gift certificates will be spent long before I have made a dent in the book pile.

12. Learn website design. This is something I sort of know how to do but I don't know how to do it well. I would like to take a class or something.

13. Take a vacation. I haven't had a vacation away from home, at least not one that involved more than an overnight stay, in almost three years. I think I am overdue.



Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 222nd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Post Holiday Blues Mini-Rant

One of the most difficult things about Christmas is the after-Christmas let down.

For two months, we have all of this build-up. Santa's coming! Stuff! Snow! Sleds! Bikes! Clothes! Parties! Purchases! Shiny glitz and glitter!

It's heady and exciting, not only for children, but also for adults who are busy trying to win or show their love and approval. How much do I care? Well, a diamond necklace worth! See? If you weren't my friend, would I give you this gift card?

The Christmas carols begin before Thanksgiving - poor ol' Tom turkey not only loses his life, but also his importance - and Santa arrives in a helicopter in early November. The sales start now, too. Buy at the three-week-before Black Friday walapoloza! Lowest prices of the season - until next week.

And then we have the big day. Rattle! Shake! Unwrap, untape! Looky here! A gizmo, a doodad, a whopsniggle! A hug, a kiss beneath the mistletoe, another piece of fudge.

Three days later? The toys have been sampled, looked at, maybe discarded. The new clothes are washed, ironed, and hung in the closet to blend in with the old. The new tools are in the tool box, the new camera's been tested. The fudge is gone. All that's left are old wrinkled oranges and a little bit of cider.

Not to mention it's cold outside, and who wants to go to the store when the wind is blowing 40 mph? Not I. Or is it me? How about you?

Of course, if you have items to return - that's so much fun - then you might be out and about. Clock's ticking on getting the right size or the refund. The stores are getting stingier about that, too.

So it's over. Now we have nothing to look forward to except the new year - and how happy is that going to be, with Mayan end-times prophecies hanging over our heads, making everyone crazy? Some people will take this to heart - they will sell their houses and lose their lives.

Don't you think 2012 will be a year to remember? And remember it we will, because I don't know about you, but I'm planning on having the post-holiday blues again next year at this time. I don't believe in prophecy.

Books: The Forest for the Trees

The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's Advice to Writers
By Betsy Lerner
285 pages
Copyright 2000, 2010

This is an advice book for writers. That said, I was a little disappointed in that, while the first pages described me perfectly, in the end I came away without really knowing how to get over and around myself in order to move forward. It's long been a problem and I guess I was looking for a magic bullet. Apparently, there isn't one.

The first chapter of the book, titled "The Ambivalent Writer," is me. The chapter starts out like this:

Do you have a new idea almost every day for a writing project? [yes]Do you either start them all and don't see them to fruition or think about starting but never actually get going? [yes]Are you a short-story writer one day and a novelist the next? [maybe not so much but I haven't yet found any other genre than newspaper article writing that fits like a good shoe]

The author goes on in this same vein for most of the first page of the first chapter and into the second page of the first chapter, ending with, "How is that some no-talent you went to high school with is being published everywhere you look? Or how some suck-up from graduate school is racking up prizes and being interviewed in the Arts section of The New York Times?" I have asked myself that question more than once. I think most writers have at some point.

She also writes this in the first chapter:

You have something to say, something you may feel desperate to express, but you have no idea how to go about it. As a result, you are highly impressionable; everything strikes you but nothing sticks. You are volatile and vulnerable, but the energy it takes to quiet the voices leaves you depressed and listless. Every time you hear an author exchange barbs with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, or browse you local bookstore, you think: I could do that. You are both omnipotent and impotent.

All of this struck a mighty chord with me, and I read on eagerly, hoping that at last someone would tell me how to get out of my own way. Alas, that was not the case. The book validated me in that I am not alone, but it did not really offer a solution, unless finding an editor who will hold my hand and support me while I try to find my words is the answer. However, being an introvert who scarcely leaves the farm for groceries, I don't really see how I might go about finding this person.

Anyway, I enjoyed the book and I do recommend it to any writer who has self-doubts or who flagellates herself on a nightly basis because she's not where she thinks she ought to be at this point in her career. If nothing else, it will enforce the message that you're not alone in the struggle, and perhaps this will make a difference.

The author has a blog at the link above where I first listed her name, and while I have looked at it briefly I haven't studied it. Maybe the answer to my quandary is there, but from what I see on the page today, I am thinking not. Obviously it's a personality issue shared by many.

Other personality types also have issues with their writing, and she has chapters for those folks, too.

The second half of the book talks about the publishing industry, explaining what editors want, why books are rejected, and how to make contact with agents. If you've written a book or novella or something and are ready to take it to the next level, that is, out of your drawer, you might find this very interesting. It's an intriguing back-door look at the process.

The author, Betsy Lerner, was a book editor for a long time before becoming an agent. She knows what she's talking about.

But she didn't have the answers for me.

10 Shots of Christmas

Christmas is a two-day celebration for us. First, we have folks over to our house on Christmas Eve.

This was the merry table!

My cousin Matthew, his wife Gina, and their daughter Madison.

Madison liked the Christmas tree.



My brother Loren at the table. Something happened
 to my Canon camera and it started saving pictures
in tiny little format. Maybe I hit a button.

My nephew Trey needs a hair cut!

My husband, James, and two nephews,
 Emory and Chris.

My mother-in-law, Eunice, kicked her shoes off.

On Christmas Day, we go to my mother-in-law's house for presents and a dinner. I received a new Nikon P500 camera for Christmas, and I took these photos with that.

My nephews and my brother-in-law examine each other's presents.

My sister-in-law, Jennifer, and my mother-in-law watch the men.

The helicopter from the loving aunt (that'd be me)
 was the hit present of the evening.

Merry Christmas!

May you find much peace and happiness on this day and all others.

Luke 2:8

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.

And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;

for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

“This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
 
“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

***

Thank you for reading Blue Country Magic! I'm very grateful to all of you for taking time out of your day to share with me.