Transcendental pinning

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Walt Whitman's use of free verse became apprec...

Walt Whitman’s use of free verse became appreciated by composers seeking a more fluid approach to setting text. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

So, a couple of hours ago, I was happily scrolling through my Pinterest feed when I came across a quote by Walt Whitman.  I thought up some clever quip to use in the description field, hit the Repin button, and then decided to double-check something before I posted it for all the world to see.  It’s a good thing I did, because as it turns out, I had my nineteenth-century American authors mixed up.  (I always get Whitman, Emerson, and Thoreau confused.)

 

Of course now, after having spent the last couple of hours reading about Walt Whitman, the Washingtonians, “O Captain! My Captain!“, the Wilmot Proviso, and a few other random things on Wikipedia, I have absolutely no idea what that clever quip I thought up was anymore.  Heck, I couldn’t even remember why I was reading about Walt Whitman in the first place till I clicked over to my Pinterest tab and saw that I was in the middle of pinning something.

 

But I guess that’s just the way it goes.  This has been one of the longest weeks in recent memory and I don’t suppose it will get much better in the next day or so.  But!  Come Friday, I’ll be entering Pitch Madness, so that’s gotta count for something, right?

 

Okay, that whole last paragraph doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.  I’m tired. I’ll blame the time change.  And then I’ll go to bed. 😀

 

(c) 2013.  All rights reserved.

 

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Star Trek quilting frenzy!

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In an unusual turn of events, a recent home remodeling project led to a crafty weekend of sorts.  How, you may be asking?  Well, I’ll tell you.  And to keep it from getting boring, I’ve got pictures!

The last weekend of February, Seymour and I loaded up the zoo and took a road trip to visit his parents in the bustling metropolis of Ankeny.  On a quest to find some stencils to use in our bedroom, we headed to Jo Ann Fabrics.  That was a very bad idea.  We left much poorer than we went in, our arms full of fabric.  But oh, was it ever cool fabric!

We left with two types of fabric and two types of projects in mind.  Project number one: Tie blankets.  I’ve made one before, and it was fairly simple.  I felt confident that I could help Seymour’s mom figure it out, especially since Thumper has one in his crib and we were going to make the blankets together (no more doing things long-distance like the time we tried to make a fitted sheet for his cradle mattress).  Project number two: Pillow cases!  Because what good would a new blanket be without a new pillow case to go with it?

Winter in Iowa

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Snow Cat

Snow Cat (Photo credit: clickclique)

I’ve had it with winter.  Specifically, I’ve had it with all the white crap Mother Nature keeps dumping on us.  I nearly got stuck at work yesterday because the city does such a lousy job clearing the streets, and the same thing happened again today.  After narrowly avoiding the embarrassment of having to ask my boss to give me a push, what happened?  I came home and promptly got stuck in the mouth of my driveway, with the back end of my van sticking out into our very narrow street.

I was stuck so tight that after the kids and I tried to get out for about ten minutes, I went across the street and asked the neighbor for help (Seymour wasn’t home yet).  It took the two of us a good half hour and maybe a little more to get my van free.  The city I live in (yes, I know, it’s a small town, but that’s how we refer to our municipal government) doesn’t do any better when it comes to cleaning streets than the city I work in.  So in short, I’ve had it with winter.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  When the sun shines on newly fallen snow and it sparkles like a thousand diamonds, I love it as much as the next person.  I appreciate the beauty of snow.  However, I hate dealing with it.  I hate driving in it.  I hate shoveling it.  I hate cleaning it off of my car.

But at times like these, I often think of a joke my dad shared with me once.  It’s about winter in Iowa and, given the trials I’ve had with the snow today and the fact that it was three years ago today that I lost him, this seems like a good time to share it again.  I’ve posted it before, but here it is again in all its snowy glory:

Dear Diary. . .

Castle of Dreams

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Today I had the pleasure of guest posting over on my good friend Andrea Baker’s blog.  She’s been running a series called Castle of Dreams and I’m delighted to participate in it.  My contribution concerns the palace in Lokana, where my book The Lokana Chronicles and my current WIP are set.  It was a whole lot of fun to write.

I hope you’ll head on over and check it out.  While you’re there, have a look at some of the other entries in the series.  Not all are fictitious entries; there are also posts about very real castles, including Kenilworth Castle, which figures prominently in Andrea’s book, Worlds Apart – Leah, recently published by Taylor Street Publishing.

And now, I’m off to bed.  It’s been a long and busy day, full of work and good food and good friends and great family and fun and I am exhausted!  Happy Friday! 🙂

(c) 2013.  All rights reserved.

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The power of prayer

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Tonight on my drive home, I was able to see the lines on the road for the first time in 48 hours.  It was an amazing feeling, knowing where I was at and where I was going.  If only I could feel that kind of certainty all the time.

(c) 2013.  All rights reserved.

 

Sweet therapy

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Today has been a day of dashed expectations and…interesting results.  If you follow me on Twitter, then you’ll know that today’s forecasted 30% chance of a trace to an inch of snow turned into yet another raging blizzard.  We’re supposed to get five to nine inches now, we’re in a winter storm warning till noon tomorrow, and the wind has once again been blowing like a banshee.  This time the speeds have been around 20-30 mph with gusts a little higher.  I left work early after hearing how treacherous the roads were; it was a nightmare of a drive that necessitated some cookie therapy.

Once I got the boys up from their much-delayed naps, I started on supper.  Since both the older kids are with their other parents today, I had to leave Cricket and Thumper to their own devices in the living room where they could be contained while I threw some chicken in a pot with some rice and cream of mushroom soup (delish, by the way).  When I came back, I found them sneaking out of my book collection, phone and books in hand, and Thumper pantsless.

So it’s a Monday. . .

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. . .and I needed a little cheering up because, well, you know – it’s a Monday.  Luckily, I found these waiting for me when I arrived home:

Now that's what I call comfort food.Photo by Kay Kauffman

Now that’s what I call comfort food.
Photo by Kay Kauffman

Don’t they look delicious?  I’m trying to be good and not eat them all but, well, I have no willpower.  I’ll be lucky if they’re still here come morning. 😀

I mean, really, who can resist the power of the Girl Scout cookies?  They’re like $3 boxes of crack, only addictive.  Well, more addictive.  You know what I mean.  Also, it’s late, I’m tired, I may have had one or two or ten of them by now, please to insert my usual litany of excuses here, thankyouverymuch.

And now I’m going to try to sleep off the yummy yummy cookies (that were not made with real Girl Scouts (please, dear God, tell me someone other than me gets that so that I don’t feel quite so silly)).  It was a long day at work today, but an okay kind of long for once, so hopefully that’s a sign of things to come.  Here’s hoping everyone else’s week is off to a great start!

(c) 2013.  All rights reserved.

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So way back in November, my book club had its very first meeting.  The book we were supposed to read was The Perks of Being a Wallflower and I completely forgot to check it out until about a week before the meeting.  Naturally, my local library didn’t have it.  Neither did the one the next town over.  Fortunately, the library where I work had it.  Unfortunately, it was already out.  So, with a week to spare, I asked them to put it on reserve for me and prayed it would come in with enough time for me to read it before my meeting.  Then I headed to Barnes & Noble to see what ridiculous price they wanted to charge for it.  I left the store empty-handed, my hopes of reading the book before the movie crushed even further.

A couple of weeks ago, the library called.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower was in – did I still want it?  Despite the fact that the meeting I’d wanted it for was three months passed, I figured, why not?  I’ve heard great things about it and I’d really like to see the movie, so let’s see what it’s all about. . . behind the cut!

The stories we tell ourselves

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From the moment we are conceived, we are part of a story.  And once we are born, we begin to tell our own stories.  New plotlines are added every day; new characters and plot twists pop up like dandelions in new spring grass.  These stories shape our personalities and color our interactions with the world around us; the stories we tell ourselves affect every aspect of who we are and who we will become.

icy

Photo by Kay Kauffman

Stories shape, and sometimes even become, our worldview.  But when that worldview is challenged, how do you respond?  Such challenges are often met with outrage, sometimes even hostility.  People throughout history have paid the price for their inability to rewrite their own sagas, sometimes losing sanity and life.  As ink jockeys, we know that all writing is rewriting, but what about the ordinary storytellers of the world?