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By:
Sara Burrier,
on 5/6/2015
Blog:
warrior princess dream
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Made it to the middle of the week, and we're all still alive! Norah is getting some rest, and hubby stayed home, now sick too. Thankfully, I still haven't been hit with it, just a scratchy throat and runny nose..... allergies?
Wednesdays I try to make into web work days and painting if I can squeeze it in. I work on my Etsy shop if it needs attention, my personal website, and the Iowa Watercolor Society website...which I volunteer my time to do.
Today it was updating my Etsy shipping profiles to now allow calculated shipping costs. Yay! I really hate over charging people for shipping, and now I don't have to worry. Thank you Etsy.
I have also discovered today that I may need to invest in covered trash baskets. >_<
I’m going random today!
Why don’t people use question marks anymore? Does it have to do with that weird vocal inflection many have adopted that turn every statement into a question? (Sorry, I still use them.)
Tu Books imprint recently announced the first annual New Visions Award. The award will be given for a middle grade or young adult science fiction, fantasy, or mystery novel by a writer of color. See the full submission guidelines.
When did we flip the script from alphabetizing by last name to doing so by first names?
The Tamarind is a quarterly publication, publishing four online issues a year, in the form of a professionally designed zine on Issuu. An interactive, comprehensive edition will be posted online with web extras, including additional submissions, interviews, and advice columns. The first zine will be focused on IDENTITY and the call is out for submissions that tackle this issue head-on by unraveling the many layers that one’s South Asian based identity can have. Deadline: 25 June.
Judy Blume interviews Tayari Jones on 19 June webcast at 7:00pm. Both are Algonquin Authors.
I hope you haven’t been missing Malinda Lo’s Gay Pride Month postings!
Coming in October from Tu Books: Diverse Energies featuring stories by Paolo Bacigalupi, Ursula K. Le Guin, Malinda Lo and Tobias S. Buckell
“In this collection of original and rediscovered stories of tragedy and hope, the diverse stars are students, street kids, “good girls,” kidnappers, and child laborers pitted against their environments, their governments, and sometimes one another as they seek answers in their dystopian worlds”
I’ve only met a few of my blogger friends in person, but would really love to meet more of them from all around the world, wouldn’t you? Take the opportunity to
express your interest in an international book blogger get together that Liyana and Tarie are currently proposing.
The DSC Prize invites entries from publishers for the 2013 award which is open to authors across the globe writing on or about South Asia – its people, culture and diaspora. The Call for Entries will remain open till June 15, 2012, for works of literary fiction based on South Asia, published between 1st Jan 2011 and 30th April 2012 in English, including translations into English. The winner will be announced in January 2013 at the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival
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Me Being Me Tagged:
wednesday
To celebrate LiLa's WTF Wednesday. I have some of my own to add:
- Sandra sites discord? Sandra Bullock is citing "discord and conflict of personality" as means for divorce. How about man from hell sleeps with scanky woman, lies, cries at Oscars, and then claims sex addiction. She's too nice. (oh yeah - and isnt her baby cute? :)
- Homeless man dies on street and nobody notices? What is the world coming to? The poor guys saved some ladies life, got stabbed, she left the scene, and many people walked by and did nothing. What ever happened to watch out for your fellow man. WTF
- Amy Winehouse in hospital. Again? Who is paying the medical bills for this? Seems like she has a permanent bed in some facility with white walls and Ivs. And for bruising her ribs? WTF
- Pamela Andersen as a brunette? It doesn't work. My grandma has better wigs than that. DWS spends $1,000 on each person'a weekly spray tans but the show gets their wigs at a Halloween shop? WTF.
- Courtney Love - need I say more? Ok I will. What happened to your face? And how did you get on The View with that song? Oh yeah, and just in case you forgot - you don't cuss on The View either. Your whole interview was bleeped which didn't do much for your image either.
What about you? Come across an WTF honorable mentions this week? Share them with us all so we can enjoy them too!
For those of you who don't know - Sarah Mylnowski's new book Gimmee a Break has just been released.
This book's premise is awesome. Basically, right before Senior Prom, Devi drops her cell phone in a fountain. ItJust her luck's it's broken and only calls one number...her number.
At age fourteen, three years ago!
Now, she can tell herself all the right things to do because she's already done the wrong ones.
On Twitter, Sarah was asking people what they would tell their High School self.
Here are my top 10 pieces of advice:
1. When you and your friends want to see what it's like to drink beer and cheer... trust me when I say - it' not fun nor worth the backlash. Just say no!
2. Never ever perm naturally curly hair, crimped bangs don't look good, Sun-In is not good for your hair, and don't use baby oil on your skin in the sun (it is true, the sun causes wrinkles and it will matter later!)
3. Parachute pants, Jammers, fingerless gloves, leg warmers, jelly bracelets, swatches, shoulder pads, stirrup pants, bright blue mascara, yellow eyeshadow, & anything neon are NEVER...EVER cool!
4. Duran Duran will not be the next Rolling Stones. Ralph Macchio doesn't look as good through adult eyes. Appolonia is not as cool as you think she is. Prince forgets his name. Miami Vice dudes are not nearly as hot as you think. And, even Bon Jovi realizes his hair is too big.
5. CB is not the only guy you will ever love. But I think you should stay away from anyone else who comes along before the age of 21 (especially the guy in your 8th grade Home Ec class because that will be the biggest heartbreka of your life. Oh yeah, and it DOES NOT work out. Just know you will find the one and you will get married. Contrary to what yo believe, you will not be a spinster or alone FOREVER.![]()
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By:
Shelli,
on 2/17/2010
Blog:
Faeriality
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Mardi Gras Updates
The winner of Tuesday's Daily Prize Drawing is ...
Kristi from Sisters in Scribe
You win a free package of Carolyn Howard-Johnson's ebooks: The Frugal Editor and The Frugal Promoter. 
Please email me your email address so I can hook you up with Carolyn. Congratulations and thanks so much for following me and participating this week!
For rules and schedule, go here.
Marketing to Indies (Marietta Zacker, Nancy Gallt Literary Agent and Indie Bookstore Owner)
Don't forget to Follow me and comment on this post for a chance to win today's Daily Prize! Today's prize includes a query OR/one chapter critique from Marietta along with a follow up phone call to discuss!!! Good luck!
Hi Marietta. Thanks for celebrating Mardi Gras with us this 
week!
Hi Shelli, thanks so much for giving me this opportunity to share a little bit about myself while adding to the conversation about marketing and children’s books.
FYI: Marietta is pronounced (Ma-Ree-Eh-
Congratulations to...
Jean Reidy!!!!
Jean - you can email me offline at [email protected] to schedule your consultation. :)
By Anatoly Liberman
Wednesday’s child is full of woe, and so was Wednesday’s Germanic father, the great and formidable god Woden, known in Scandinavia as Othin (the spelling is Anglicized) and in Germany as Wuotan (those are phonetic variants of the same name; in early Scandinavian, w- was lost before o, and in German, long o yielded uo). No one is sure about his descent, but he must have risen from the lowest depths to the highest peak of power and kept an army of select warriors ready for the last battle with the giants. He knew that this battle would result in the end of the world, with law or order gone and his troops devastated, for he and the other gods would perish. But the inevitable end did not deter him from preparing for the final confrontation with chaos. Anyone burdened with such knowledge would be full of woe. In England, the god’s name must have had the variant Weden, a form that has been preserved in the word Wednesday (Woden’s/Weden’s day) and numerous place names like Wednesfield.
The medieval Scandinavians told many tales of Othin’s deeds. For nine days he hung from a tree (it was a self-inflicted torture); then he pierced himself with a spear, bent down with a terrible scream, and picked up the runes. Why anyone needed the runes (those are letters of an alphabet whose origin remains a matter of debate) is unclear. They appeared in Denmark at the beginning of the 2nd century CE, someone’s puzzling gift to an illiterate populace, and were used for magical purposes (or so it seems) and for short, often undecipherable and usually uninspiring inscriptions reminiscent of modern graffiti (“so-and-so carved the runes”), but old age lends them glamour. Othin sacrificed one eye to obtain wisdom, and when someone saw a one-eyed male with a hood covering half of his head, he knew who his terrible guest was. Usually such a visit did not augur well. Othin also stole the mead of poetry from the giants. At a certain stage he became a god of death, and in later folklore he is remembered as the leader of the Wild Hunt, a parade of animated corpses flying through the air. He presided over Valhalla (also an Anglicized form), and those who fell in battle were invited by valkyries, warrior maidens, to join him there; the guests spent their time fighting by day and feasting at night. Once Othin promised eternal friendship to Loki, a suspicious character, a god whose loyalties were given to the giants and whose ties with the Other World are unmistakable.
No other Scandinavian (and, presumably, Germanic) god had so many various functions, and for several centuries scholars have been trying to reconstruct every step in his career. One of the main clues to their reconstruction has been Othin’s name. As a rule, the nature of things cannot be inferred from words. This also holds for divine names, which sometimes tend to be misleading when it comes to the deity’s function rather than origin. For example, another great god of the Germanic pantheon was called Thor (Thursday is dedicated to him). Thor meant “thunder,” but as time went on, Thor turned into a giant slayer, and the extant myths preserved few traces of his link to stormy clouds, thunder, and lightning. The Greeks believed that Aphrodite was born from the sea because her name suggested this descent to them (aphros “foam,” stress on the second syllable), and she was worshipped as a goddess of seafaring. Yet they may have been deceived by folk etymology.
Everybody who has studied the place of Woden/Wuotan/Othin in the religious beliefs of the pagan Germanic tribes has turned to the help of etymologists. I will skip the older hypotheses and dwell only on the conjecture that I find convincing. The Greeks knew a goddess called Ate (stress on the first syllable; the second vowel is long). Like so many other deities, Ate is a personified quality. She was the personification of moral blindness and of the inability to distinguish right from wrong. In the earliest myths of the human race, good and bad, right and wrong never bothered the gods, who did only what was expedient. According to the Iliad, Ate duped Zeus, and he flung her from Olympus to earth, where she wanders about, treading on our heads and causing infatuation and delusion.
The first serious students of Greek looked for some Germanic cognate of Ate/ate beginning with w-, but the idea to connect the adjective woth- “mad,” the root of Woden’s name, with Ate did not occur to them. Yet, as has recently been shown, the two are probably related, and their relatedness makes sense. Our distant ancestors populated the world with the hosts of dangerous “spirits,” all of which caused pain and derangement. Thus, giddy is related to god, dwarf to dizzy, and troll to droll (originally “looking foolish”), if my etymology of dwarf and troll is right; the derivation of giddy from the root of god is secure. Elfin meant “raving mad,” and a shot from the elves brought on lumbago. I share the unpopular idea that bog, the Slavic word for “god,” is indistinguishable from Engl. bogey/bug(bear). Supernatural creatures filled people with awe and were worshipped out of fear. Being possessed by a god (enthusiastic, from theos “god”) could lead to ecstasy (in that state one produced great poetry and saw the future) or madness. Othin, let it be remembered, stole the mead of poetry. But he could also blind his opponents. In his dealings he was unscrupulous, and his perfidy is a recurring motif in the tales told of him. The best-known cognates of his name are German Wut “fury” and Latin vates “seer, prophet; poet” (the same root as in Vatican). Yet these are secondary meanings. The story of Woden apparently began with the loss of rational thinking.
Thor did not preserve his ties with the sky, but Othin managed to live up to his name. Whenever madness and fury took possession of humans, the results were attributed to Othin. A solitary traveler or accompanied by a few gods, he suddenly appeared in a tale told by Snorri Strurluson, the great Icelandic mythographer of the 13th century, with a retinue of berserks. Since berserks fought like crazy, understandably, they needed affiliation with Othin. The myth of the mead of poetry must have been old, for “madness” and “poetry” are among the meanings of the same Germanic word. Mead was a potent drink, and people believed that inebriation, like madness, contributed to ecstasy and the emergence of the poetic gift. We no longer look on alcoholics and drunks as particularly inspired. When shamanism spread among the medieval Scandinavians, it was natural to associate a shaman’s trance and some of the corresponding rituals with Othin, and fury made him an ideal god of war and death, as well as the leader of the wild hunt. It is sometimes said that the name given to a newborn baby will affect its life. My linguistic superstitions do not go so far, but I have little doubt that (W)othin/Woden had a name that shaped his entire career. Ate too could have developed along the same lines, but Zeus got rid of her and saved his family (but not mortals) from many troubles. The mythology of the Germanic speaking peoples turned out to be grimmer.
The Romans identified Woden with Mercurius. Latin Mercurii dies has come down to us as Italian mercoledi, French mercredi, and so forth. All of them mean “Wednesday.” The old gods, it seems, never die.
Anatoly Liberman is the author of
Word Origins…And How We Know Them as well as
An Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology: An Introduction. His column on word origins,
The Oxford Etymologist, appears here, each Wednesday. Send your etymology question to
[email protected]; he’ll do his best to avoid responding with “origin unknown.”
Marketing Muse
Check out these tips on how to market fiction!
To Pick or Not to Pick
O.K I have a bone to pick! (no this post is not about picking bones!)
Yesterday, am taking a walk with my daughter. Its gorgeous outside, my little boy is in the stroller.
Along the way, my daughter is skipping and singing.
At the end of our street, there is an apartment complex. It has windy sidewalks through it and we always go through there because it is a nicer walk than staying on the street. (Don't even get me started on the sidewalk issue here!)
As we are walking through the complex, we come to a ratty old bush. And growing in the bush, is one single pink rose. My thought goes to: it only takes one. Which seems to be my daily mantra as I sift through the query process.
My daughter is thrilled and says: "Look, mommy that's pollination!" (She loves the Bee Movie). She squeals and proceeds to tell me all about pollination and how seeds move from flower to flower.
Then she says with wide, hopeful eyes: "Can I pick it?"
I usually always say no because most of the flowers we come across are in people's yard and that would be rude, not to mention probably illegal trespassing. I certainly don't need a 5 year old fugitive.
This time, I give in and say: "Sure honey."
She squeals again and picks the long beautiful rose, which again is not from anyone's rose bush or garden. Keep in mind, this is an apartment complex with hedges around it that are in the common area.
So who would care right?
Wrong.
Just as her little fingers pluck the puffy, sweet smelling pink bloom, a lady screams (and I mean screams) out from across the court, "OH NO!!!"
Now, first of all I never see anyone in this apartment complex because we usually walk before people start getting home from work.
Second, we NEVER pick anything. We don't even roll over grass and we don't even try to sneak into the apartment pool.
So of course the ONE time I let my daughter sneak a sample from nature is the ONE time some crabby old lady decides to make a stand.
The lady yells at us again, "Why did you just do that? That's awful!"
My daughter's eyes grow wide, almost as if she is about to cry. She whispers, "Mommy, am I in trouble?" This is a little girl that ALWAYS follows the rules. The one who actually reminds me of the rules because I actually forget them.
I turn to the lady and say, "Hi, my daughter found this random flower and picked it from a this bush."
Lady: "Why would you do that? It wasn't yours."
Me: "Oh no. We didn't take it from anyone's garden or anything. It was just stuck in this random bush."
She shakes her long, wiry white hair and proceeds to ash her cigarette as her white cockatoo perches on her shoulder squawking "hello, how are you?" in his polite birdy manner (which was actually much more polite than the old lady)
I apologize and say, "I'm sorry, have a good day."
I walk away (OK so I Stomped away) steaming. For 1/2 the walk home, I kept telling my daughter "It's OK. We didn't do anything wrong. Some people are just grumpy. We apologized."
Was I trying to convince her or myself?
You see, I am someone who cries if the person next to me cries. I am someone whose feelings are made of some kind of really fragile stuff even though I may come across as tough. I cry at commercials, I cry in movies, I cry to songs. (Sounds like I cry all the time but I dont) I am also someone who gets stuck on certain things. Someone who gets appalled at other people's actions. Someone who feels awful and beats herself up for days if she does anything wrong or hurts anyones feelings. (obviously - b/c I am still bothered today)
But to imply I am disrespecting nature? I celebrate Earth Day. I recycle. I pick up trash when I see it. I pay money every month to plant trees to offset my family's carbon. I even give enough to offset my neighbors carbon. I never let my daughter kill bugs and teach her to respect nature. I spend some time every day appreciating this world we have. So I am slightly offended and annoyed that it was implied I disturbed something sacred.
Maybe we shouldn't have picked the flower. I get that.
So what is my beef???
1) Why did she care? Granted maybe we should not have picked it. But technically it was a weed right? I think people focus on these smallish things when there are huge things to care about. If we all focused our energy on something bigger - like war or plastic or criminals, we'd be better off than yelling at a small girl for a single flower.
2) Why did she have to yell? Didn't she see my little 5 year old cringing away in fright. Didn't she see the joy on my 5 year old daughter's face as she help the rose in her hand, proudly. Was it necessary to yell and disrespect us like she THINKS we disrepected a flower?
3) Was she really so "earth conscious" that she was bothered by the picking of a single rose that was not even hers to begin with? Or was she mad because she wanted to pick it?
I don't know but here is my take on Flower Lady?
If you are smoking and ashing on the lawn with a wild rarish bird confined as a pet that lives in your dingy little apartment whose wings you've clipped so he remains a prisoner while you make him learn dumb human phrases as he dreams of flying in blue skies......
....then my daughter can pick a flower.
Who's with me!
What do you think? Was it awful to pick the flower?
Marketing Muse - Eco-Friendly
These are the best ways to market with the earth in mind:
- Blog/Blog Tours
- Website
- Twitter
- Social networking (Facebook, Myspace)
What on Earth?The Book Industry Study Group released a report with the Green Press Initiative last year estimating that the publishing industry “produced a carbon dioxide equivalent net emission of about 12.4 million tons in 2006, and a net emission of 8.85 pounds per book sold to consumers,” an amount that’s not unusual for manufactured products. Each year, according to the Green Press Initiative, over 30 million trees are used to make books in the United States alone, while the newspaper industry consumed 8.7 million metric tons of paper last year.
If you feel guilty about buying a book. Check out Eco-Libris . It's a new green biz that lets book readers balance out the paper used for the books they read by planting trees. You pay for trees to be planted based on the number of books you bought. They send you stickers for the books that read: "One Tree Planted for this Book." This is for those of us who have not moved to the Kindle yet ;)
We writers can be green too!
- When drafting your work, use both sides of paper.
- When it's ready to be trashed, recycle that paper.
- Recycle those print cartridges.
- Only print when you have to.
- Instead of printing articles on line, bookmark them and keep them in a folder.
- There are places that will refill your printer cartridges.
- Use daylight, watt-saver bulbs in your work area.
- Recycle the batteries for anything you use.
- Check with your local electronics store about recycling or your local landfill or donate it.
- Use reusable pens or pencils.
- Donate books you have read or do not use.
- Turn off your computer at night and unplug my equipment.
- Be sure to read submission guidelines so you don't mail manuscripts to those who don't want them.
- Use recycled paper.
- Look for agents who are equery or esubmission first. (if you have a choice :)
- Go paperless - scan all documents and store as files.
- ProQuo is a free service that with a few clicks of your mouse, you can reduce the junk mail and paper clutter.
- Replace paper to-do lists and notes with electronic ones.
Fav "Green" Finds for Writers
- Buying a new computer? You can go to Energy Star and see what laptops qualify as eco-friendly and energy-efficient.
- Sometimes I just want to write with a great pencil. I found these Smencils that smell great and are made from recycled newspaper!
- Did you know that you could buy a laptop bag and charge your laptop? Now you do! here are some fun bags too.
- Sweats (or as I like to call it - activewear) -am I the only one who writes in these items? (Sorry honey!) Comfort is key....
- Am I the only one who writes in slippers (fall/winter) and "stop global warming" flip flops (spring/summer). Check out these fashionable ones. They are eco-friendly - so now you have an excuse to!
- What writer does not use a coffee mug? here are some cute ones that are eco-friendly with eco-messages. We writers love our messages :)
- I love taking notebooks with me in case I get a brilliant idea. I love these recycled paper notebooks.
That's it!
Happy Earth day!
Marketing Muse - All Hands on Deck
Have you heard of "Tweet Deck"? It is an application that makesit easy to follow people on twitter. I love it. It organizes your tweets and if you want - you can put a tone so you know when a tweet comes in. INstead of going to twitter - you just view your Tweet Deck and can see everything from tweets, replies, to direct messages. Try it!
LA Bound
I've made the leap!
I am definitely going to LA this year for the SCBWI Summer Conference. I wanted to go last year but hemmed and hawed so I've already booked my hotel room at the conference rate. Room with a View!
And I found a great deal on Air Tran for about 300$ RT. What?!
Now I am just anxiously awaiting the schedule. I am up for a speaker role in LA, but not sure if it will pan out. We will see. Waiting to hear from Liz on that front. I'm already scheduled to speak at MidSouth this fall. Carolinas asked but it is the same weekend so I think I'll be doing that one in 2010.
Only bummer about the LA trip is that I have to take the red eye back on Sunday night. So I will miss Monday. Poop! Of course - my daughter's school starts early this year. And her first day in Big Girl Kindergarten is that same Monday. I cannot - will not - miss that.
So I'll be going in on Thursday morning to pal around and will have to jet out on the 10 pm Sunday - arriving at 5am Monday (please don't let it be late or cancelled!)
I'm feeling it this year. I am ready to put the investment into going. I am so excited and cant wait to meet some blogger friends. I know Suzanne Young is going as well as some others.
Who else is going? Leave me a comment and let me know. Maybe we can all have a meeting place. I feel like I know some of you so well. Its like Internet dating right. It'll be weird :)
Anyone looking for a roomy? I'm not sure yet if I am going to stay alone or with a roomy. Can't decide!
Doesn't matter. I have a room with a view and hope in my heart.
Marketing Muse
The other day, Sarah Davies from Greenhouse mentioned it was critical for every author to be sure they learn to speak well. The way you speak and present yourself in public is part of your brand. Are you funny? Engaging? How do you look? It is all a part of the brand image you are building.
For example: for me when I speak, I try to be organized in though but flexible, informative but engaging, funny, yet relaxed. I usually wear jeans when I speak - not trashy ones but I don't wear a suit or business attire. I want to be approachable. That is all a part of my brand.
Here are a few resources to begin learning speaking skills. Everyone can get a head start.
- Toastmasters- International organization to help people overcome public speaking fears and speak more effectively.
- SpeechSkills - help you achieve the impact you want to have on your audience.
- SpeechMastery
Tips to to speaking well:
- Be passionate.
- Be enthusiastic.
- Be natural.
- Let your body language and/or voice reflect your personality.
- Be there to genuinely teach the audience something
- Dress well
My Unlucky CharmsYesterday, I
definitely had a lucky day.
After getting a lucky email on being a
Quarterfinalist in the
Amazon Breakthrough Novel award (which BTW I am so glad it is not called the "This is a good read" award. Sounds much more dramatic with Breakthrough Novel! :)
All day, I celebrated how lucky I was to have my life, my family, and my friends.
Then, being the pessimist and sarcastic gal that I am, I started thinking of all the unlucky things that have
happened to me that turned out to be lucky.
Here are just a few:
Should your proportions be small?- Unlucky - When I was 3 - 12, I was a competing gymnast which made my shoulders develop to be quiet broad.
- Lucky - But now, no matter how big my mid-section gets, my waist always looks thin b/c my shoulders are so broad!
Out on the Streets
- Unlucky - When I was about 10ish. I got dragged by a dog when I started my own dog-walking gig for the ONE dog that lived on our street. It was a huge sheepdog and I got dragged down the street on my face. A scab on my lip made me look like Hitler - at least that is what the kids said in my class.
- Lucky - Now I know not to wrap my hand up in a leash and not to buy a sheep dog. Also I vowed to never be a dog walker.
Moons should probably stay in the sky
- Unlucky - When I was about 11 and went to horse camp, I mooned a car. It so happened to be the camp director.
- Lucky - I learned how to deep clean a horse stall and did not become a stripper due to the total humiliation.
Clean-up on aisle 9
- Unlucky - When I was 15 my dad made me work at the local Kroger to make my own money. Kids laughed at me as I bagged groceries for their moms.
- Lucky - Today, I am very aware of the changes in grocery prices. And I always let the person at the end bag my groceries so they feel included and useful.
Vans are all that!
- Unlucky - my dad made me drive his huge Chevrolet Van as my first car. It was blue and white and had an airbrushed sign from Panama City, FL that said, USS Johannes.
- Lucky - Lots of lessons here. 1) all the cheerleaders could fit in my car. 2) When I hit a mailbox, there were no dents (at least not in my car. Mailbox? Not so lucky.), and 3) I am a dang good parallel parker today because of it. Oh yeah - and I learned that being cool - is all in the attitude.
Don't drink and cheer.
- Unlucky - When I was a senior in high school, I along with a few other cheerleaders each drank one beer before a game and....of course...got caught. How were we caught you ask? To make a long story short - I was the only one who told the truth in the Principal's office. We were suspended for 3 days and kicked off the squad right before Homecoming. Total despair at the time.
- Lucky - Now I realize, honesty is not always the best policy but all you have in life is your intergrity:) Ok so that was a canned answer. I realized that one beer was not worth it - I should have gone for 6. Oh yeah, I also learned not to drink and cheer.
A broken heart
- Unlucky - after 10 years and living with my colleg sweetheart who also happend to be my crush in 6th grade - the guy (who we can call - "Mr Jerky Pants" for fun) - called off the wedding 2 weeks before the date (and yes that was after after all the bridal showers had happened, all my money was put down, and the gifts received/open and some even used....by him! Can I get a collective groan from the peanut gallery?)
- Lucky - I met my husband 9 months later and am the luckiest wifey in the world (trust me he has it made too ;)
A job is not everything
- Unlucky - When I worked as a VP at a bank, I lost my job due to a weasel attack during a political windstorm.
- Lucky - I decided I wanted to be a writer and started my own marketing biz. More importantly, I now do what I love....write and write and write.
See how that all works out?
So celebrate your unluckiness - if you study it hard enough - you may just find your great luck!
Thanks for all your congrads on my day yesterday!
Hey everyone
Just wanted you to know that my MRI was rescheduled for tomorrow. UGH!
I got all the way out there this morning and even climbed into the stupid thing.
Believe it or not - the dang thing broke 5 minutes later!
Evidently it happens ONCE A YEAR? Is someone playing a joke on me?
I really think my GA (Guardian Angel) is smokin' something. Maybe it is the almighty Gabrielle (then I could call him my GAG - that would be fitting huh?)
My hubby groaned when I told him. Because as some of you know, I have some weird ongoing battle with anything electronic - especially right now? And guess what? I think Mercury is in retrograde or is it Venus- AHHHH!
Anyway - even though it stinks I have to go back again and wait another day, I actually laughed. It is just like my GAG to pull something like this. He thinks he is soooooooo funny.
All I can say is: hardy har har to you!
I am definitely bummed b/c I want this thing to be over and done with - but what are you gonna do. It wasn't the poor technician's fault. He said to me - "Keep in mind it is man-made."
Well - isn't that just always the problem? Men? Ha! Maybe if woman made things we would be better off? (Just kidding guys!)
Anyway, I don't have time to do a real post today b/c I gotta get my kids, but Ill post tomorrow afternoon.
Thanks for all the well wishes! You guys are awesome!
Oh - and GA? Thanks for keeping me on my toes!
Just remember, payback is a B#$%2! ;)
PS Doesn't everyone's GA loo like this? Too bad for you :)
Marketing Muse: Starting 30 Days to Your Own Marketing
Everyday I will blog about how you can start a fabulous marketing campaign. Starting tomorrow, we will walk through identifying audiences, starting blogs, increasing traffic, essentials to web sites an more. Come back and join me for the next 30 days and take notes! Leave me a comment about your marketing questions and I will try to address them over the next 30 days!
Today's Tip: Wanna Tweet? Here is a list of people in the publishing business that are on Twitter if you decide to Tweet :)
Am I on Candid Camera?
For those that are too young to understand this, bear with me. There was a show when I was growing up (I won't say what year) that was very popular. Allen Hunt hosted it weekly and the show had concealed cameras that filmed regular peeps stuck in crazy situations. When the joke was revealed, Allen would say, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera." It was the Punked of the 70s-90s (Has anyone guessed my age yet?).
Here are all the reasons why I think Allen Hunt is my Guardian Angel:
1) I have to wear a neck brace for my inner ear infection. (Does this make sense to anyone else? Pulease?)
2) I have to take medication for my dizziness that has the side effect warning of.....you guessed it....Dizziness! (Hmmm which one should I choose?)
3) I trip over cracks that are not there? (And trust me, I've checked!)
4) I am the one in my family that pulls out the milk jug out of the fridge AFTER my daughter (Who DID NOT put the lid back on?)
5) I get to the end of the toilet paper roll when no one is home to help? (Luckily I keep a secret stash)
6)I pick up the check book with no checks on the only day I need it. (and on the same day I leave my debit card in my pocket at home)
7) When I am at Mexican Restaurants, the Mariachi band always pick me. (And it's always FELIZ NAVIDAD!)
8) Somehow the gas tank is on empty when I get in the car. (I am convinced my car has secret excursions at night)
9) I pull up to the gas station and am always on the wrong side. (You'd think I'd learn or does Allen change it? That is the question.)
10) At Einsteins Coffee House, the only delicioso fattening muffin left that I deserve and really really want and need is bought by the person in front of me. (Honestly, it ruins my day...*sigh*)
11) I only spill coffee on my shirt when I have a meeting to go to. (The days I am working from home, clean as a whistle)
12) I get the poopy diapers and my son only poops once a day! (I think my son and hubby have a pact.)
13)Something breaks (kid, dog, car or appliance) when my hubby is out of town.
14)The only day I finally follow my hubby's advice and lock the back door - is the day I lose my keys.
15) The day I drag down the trash to the street (my hubby usually does it), is the Garbage day off. (And I usually drop the bag or something gross I have to clean up.)
16) I step in the only piece of gum in the parking lot (please at least throw it in the grass!)
17) I get a big obvious zit right before some big event like a conference or something. (BTW - which in my 30s I should not get. Maybe I am channeling mY YA self.)
18) I say something dumb to someone important. (this happens way too often)
Oh and just so you know - these are the evil pranks my Guardian Angel Allen plays on me, I'm not this scattered!
(Am I?) Or maybe I am just this uncool and trying to find some excuse!
I sympathize with these poor people....but I laugh at them too!
Ok This guy's face cracks me up!!!
I am surprised no one starting beating the poor thing.
Marketing: The Five senses
- Hear - Use podcasts, book trailers, songs on your web sites, playlists
- Sight - use appealing colors, brand your materials, be visible, use different channels
- Touch - high quality products, professional papers, give them something to take away
- Taste - Offer chocolate at signings, etc. (Don't scoff - people always go for this one)
- Smell - Ok so 4 out of 5 ain't bad. :) Unless you can offer some type of scratch and sniff or aromatic candle.
I've lost my marbles & I'm off my rocker?
For those of you - in addition to my hubby - who have suffered through my complains of a long-standing ear infection.
This blog's is for you. But before you exit out of the blog assuming it is boring - trust me this is interesting.
And just think, today - you'll be able to say "learn something new every day".
Diagnosis.
After months of ear infections and dizziness/vertigo, I finally went to see an ENT.
Evidently I have a vestibular disorder (which never sounds good) which means my vestibular system is lazy/weak. (which also doesn't sound good)
BTW - try saying vestibular disorder 5 x.
WTF is a vestibular disorder you say?
Let me clear it up for you.
It's when calcium particles called otoliths (or otoconia) become inappropriately displaced into the semicircular canals of the labyrinth of the inner ear causing dizziness, vertigo, and insanity.
Still confused? Me too.
Maybe this will help.
The otoliths become displaced by AGING, (check! how depressing) infection (check), head trauma (from slamming my head against the wall) or labyrinthine disease (3 for 4 ain't bad). and then become free-floating within the inner ear.
Changing the position of the head causes the otoliths to move, which in turn causes the endolymph to stimulate the hair cells (Don't ask) , causing vertigo.
Any movement which involves changing the position of the head including getting out of bed or rolling can aggravate this condition. (Which means EVERYTHING! Think how much you move your head!)
Say what? Translation please ?
I just think it is a nice way of saying I have lost my marbles or am off my rocker. Also means I feel drunk all the time. Now, if it was just for a day, I'd get you to give me a woot woot! But this is most of the time, I'm now over it and long from craving my favorite dirty martinis.
So what now?
That's right physical therapy. (you mean there are no drugs?)
So for 200$ a pop! - I have to go through tilting exercises to shift the otoconia back into position.
You know those little games you play where you try to get the little annoying rolling ball back in the little tiny hole by tilting it (throwing it/stomping on it/beating it/breaking it) around.
That's it.
BTW - I hated those! Now I live as one - I realize it's a skill I should have mastered. Ironic huh?
It also means, I have to write post this while hanging upside. (No, just kidding :)
What has this taught me?
It is amazing how connected everything is in our body. Our ears connect to our stomach, eyes and ankles (again don't ask). The messages from the vestibular systems feed by vestibular nerves into the vestibular centers (nuclei) in the brainstem. These centers also receive input from the eyes, muscles, spinal cord, and joints.
I also take my body for granted.
Did you know?
- Your ear is (somehow) connected to your eyes and stomach. That's why when you have an ear infection you see weird spots and get nauseated easily.
- The smallest is the stirrup bone in the ear which can measure 1/10 of an inch.
- The antennae of the Butterfly are supposed to act as hearing organs.
- Clams hear with their feet.
- Bees do not have ears.
- Some scientist believe human ears evolved from fish gills.
- Mammals are the only animals with external ears (flaps on the outside).
- A giraffe can clean its ears with its 50cm (20 in) tongue.
So what does this mean?
- I'm fine. I will get better.
- Things could be much worse.
- And I've stopped drinking.
- I don't have to work out.
- If I get pulled over and suspicious of a DUI - I will fail the walk in a straight line test.
- I have a reason to ignore my hubby:) Though miraculously, I can still hear my kids fighting (yes they do that even at 5 and 18months ugh)
- I cannot be a type-rope walker.
- Dancing is out of the question.
But you know what - if I lay down with my head at a 33.33% angle - I can still write - so things could be worse! Right?
Looking deeper
For those who know me, you could probably guess that this amount of information is not enough for me. I - of course - always look for a deeper meaning and universal sign from the Big Boss. I believe our bodies talk to us and give us messages especially when things are out of balance. (No pun intended!)
So it makes sense because I am in my head waaaaay too much.
So I found this online: Those who have sensitive inner ears (Wait, does that mean lazy?) , have an interior perception of truth as if it were told to them; and they speak and write it obediently, delighting in it, and perceiving that it is true because it agrees with their interior life.
Learn something new everyday. Just think - I may have raised your IQ a couple points.
Thanks for listening! (No pun intended.)
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I love the rhythm of Wandering Around Wednesday. I have my fingers crossed tha this will become a regular feature here.
Thanks! Maybe… I’ve got to get settle into all this newness first!