* Go See Cathy C. *

My blog buddy, the scathingly brilliant, Ms Cathy C. Hall, is having a contest. If you like to read funny musings, find out info about writing contests and calls for submissions, or any variety of interesting tidbits about life, you will love Cathy C.! Please go visit her blog and see what'cha think. If you become a follower, you're in the drawing for a $20.00 Barnes & Noble gift card!


Here's the "rules" taken directly from Cathy's blog:


Introducing the Big Bang B & N Followers Contest! Here's how it works: You tell your followers about Cathy C. 's Hall of Fame and her brilliant contest. They scurry over here and follow me, telling me who sent them (and leaving contact information). One lucky NEW follower will win a $20 gift card from Barnes and Noble! And there's more...the faithful follower who sent them ALSO wins a $20 gift card! YAY! I'm ending the contest on January 24th; new followers can post a comment on any post during that period, as long as they fill me in. So spread the word, my faithful friends and followers. I'm in a hurry to bang out my goal of getting over 100 followers. (Cathy)


Speaking of followers, I'd like to welcome my two newest ones. Holly and Paul Joseph. Welcome!! Thanks so much for stopping by and becoming a follower. I'm obviously doing something "write" here! ☺

"I've got the most scathingly brilliant idea!" -- Mary Clancy (from the movie The Trouble with Angels.)

* Mutual Birthdays! *

♫♪ They say it's your birthday. It's my birthday too, yeah. They say it's your birthday. We're gonna have a good time. I'm glad it's your birthday. Happy birthday to you! ♪♫
by Lennon/McCartney

 Yes, today is my birthday and it's been a great one. Why? Did I receive lots of expensive gifts? No. Did I receive at least ONE expensive gift? Nope. But I did receive thoughtful, perfect gifts, loving hugs, birthday cards in the mail, tons of birthday wishes on facebook, e-mails and texts. Oh, and a phone call or two. What could be better? Thanks to all my family and friends!

This is my friend "K" and I at a tea room where we had our birthday lunch today. We've met for lunch on or near our birthday just about every year for many years!

I have other friends who share my birthday, too. There is "C" who used to be a neighbor of mine in our old neighborhood. There's "W" who's an (old!) high school pal. He and I went on one date in high school. It was a Girl-Ask-Boy Dance. And, I just realized this evening that a blog friend, Rachel Cotterill, is also celebrating her birthday today! Happy Birthday!

(Here's some celebrities born on January 6th, too. Loretta Young, Danny Thomas, Carl Sandburg and Bonnie Franklin. That's just a few of many, but they are my favorites.)

(google image)

"A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip."  ~Author Unknown

Mark Twain Censorship?

When the local news was on TV last night, I wasn't really paying attention until I heard the words Mark Twain and censorship in the same sentence. That made me take notice and turn up the volume. The story reported was about the publisher New South Books.

They have decided to change a couple of words in two of Twain's books, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, and offer them in one volume, without the "n" word and the one considered hurtful to the Native Americans.

I am not a racist and was brought up to believe that all people are equal. Nobody in my family ever used the "n" word. NOBODY. Did I know that word existed? Of course I did. I grew up in the 1950's & 1960's. I knew all about the Civil Rights Movement, race riots, marches, etc. News about that and the Vietnam War was splayed on TV every day and night. Vietnam was horrible in so many ways, and I was also upset to see so much suffering and injustice in my own country.

But I don't intend on making this a huge political statement. I just think it is WRONG to change words in classic books!! Yes, we all "get it" that there are words that aren't "nice" and that most likely offend some/many people....but we can't go around changing every single word in every single book that offends people!! That's just nuts. Think about it this way....Uh oh! There are words in Gone With the Wind that need to be "updated". They might upset someone! Then there's some in Catcher in the Rye. Oh, and what about Fahrenheit 451, Catch-22, etc.

I Just Don't Get It.

"Don't let schooling interfere with your education." -- Mark Twain

“When you reread a classic, you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in you than there was before” -- Cliff Fadiman

Happy Monday!

I'm feeling happy and productive today! The "happy" part is usually a daily thing for me, although it waned a little with the passing of my sweet dog last month. The "productive" part has been missing for quite some time, due to various reasons. As of this past weekend, though, I began living.....not a "new" me...but a "renewed" me!

The Ronald bought this coffee cup for me as a Christmas gift after I saw it in Borders.

The outside was cute enough with its curved shape, large handle and Christmasy decor.

 

But when I looked inside and saw what it said, I just had to have it!

It is SO ME!

I received other pretty coffee cups this year, too, and a cute tea pot-tea cup gift set. I'll post photos of them some other time. I just wanted to say a quick Hello for today and to wish everyone a joyous, blissful day!

"There is no try. There is do or do not." (I heard Tommy Smothers say this on a PBS special the other night, but when I looked it up just now, to give proper credit to it, it's attributed to Yoda, from Star Wars!)

A New Year - A New Blog Design

In keeping with my New Beginnings attitude, I decided that I wanted and needed a new blog design. I searched for ...um....hours....and finally found the one I liked the best! You are looking at it! It's a free template called Book Tree Template from Blog Templates. What could be more perfect for me? It has books, coffee, papers and a tree!  

It might take a while longer to change things around a bit and try to get it exactly the way I want it, but for now, I'm pretty happy with it.

Again, I wish you all a Happy New Year, filled with joy and bliss!

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day." -- Edith Lovejoy Pierce

HAPPY NEW BEGINNINGS!

Happy New Year! And thank you to everyone who reads my blog, whether you comment or not, and whether you're a follower or not. I would like to say Thank-You to my newest followers, though.....but I'm not sure who I welcomed last! I'll just include the last six, and that should cover everyone....I hope!  Welcome Anila, loveablehomebody, Karen Pledger, Joyful, Garnet and Pink Apple!

To continue with yesterday's theme of regaining my passion for writing, I'd like to share some other information.

** While Googling for information the other night about "finding my muse", I stumbled across a very interesting blog Image & Verse. Rob Kistner and his wife Kathleen are a multi-talented couple. They write poetry, essays, and short stories. They are also artists of furniture design, collages, various artwork, etc. There are quite a few blogs listed for writing prompts and one for photography. Please visit their blog and find inspiration, as I did!

I contacted Rob to ask permission to post the following poem, which he graciously agreed upon. It can also be found in his archives here: Image & Verse (archives)  (Please do not reprint this anywhere without receiving Rob's written permission.)

Fickle Muse

•
Wee hours,
with the sane asleep,
this poet’s steeped
in conflicted inspiration.


Promptings vague,
I am filled with doubt,
words tossed about
the unyielding empty page.


I start, then stop,
to write, then not,
now clear, then caught
in merciless hesitation.


Fickle muse,
let’s be off with you!
I’ll start anew
when free of quandary’s cage.

…

rob kistner © 2007

Ah....oh, so true! Thank you again, Rob, for allowing me to share your poetry with others.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** My second piece of information is this: A New York friend, who is involved in the publishing industry, knows of my writer's block angst. We spoke on the phone recently about it and in her desire to help me, she offered a gift that is so unbelievably generous and from her heart, that I'm pretty sure I squealed when she said it. When I complete my book, she is going to take me to lunch..... in New York City!! Woo-Hoo!! I think I was speechless for one of the few times in my life! Can you say "in shock"?? (and don't even think about commenting or e-mailing, asking me who this person is, because I would never divulge her name!...Plus you probably wouldn't know her, anyway, but she is special to me!)

I ended yesterday's post with "Look Out World, Here I Come."

How about...Look Out New York, Here I Come!!

"A friend is what the heart needs all the time." -- Henry van Dyke

Finding My Muse, Once Again

My writing brain finally kicked back into gear yesterday. It's been stuck for so long. I'm consciously aware of some of the reasons.....the hustle and bustle of Christmas preparations, losing Tiger Girl, trying to force a couple of stories for contests and calls for submissions, promoting three anthologies, etc. And then there are those often times lurking thoughts of Who am I kidding? I don't have enough talent to be doing this! etc.

But while cleaning up the kitchen and listening to the radio, the old gears unclenched and I felt my muse returning. It began when I heard Darius Rucker singing. I love that man's voice. He first became hugely successful with the group Hootie and The Blowfish back in the early 1990s. I don't know the story, but somehow he wound up being a country music star now. I say Congratulations! I greatly admire people who reinvent themselves. That's a big part of what I believe about my life.

Encarta Dictionary says this about reinvent: to invent something again, or bring something back into existence, use, or popularity after a period of neglect or obscurity. to change radically the appearance, form, or presentation of something or somebody.

I didn't discover my passion for writing until I was...uh....kind of old! Sometimes I wish I would've discovered it when I was a lot younger.....but things wouldn't have been the same. I wouldn't have the wisdom I have now....what I know about life.....what my life is and has been about. And it took the near death of my estranged father (in May 2001) to trigger those deep, hidden emotions, which flew from my fingertips to my keyboard...and voile'.....a writer was born.

So, I'm getting back to being organized about my writing deadlines and what I want to write about. I've found my muse...again. And I'm reinventing myself, somewhat....again.

And a HUGE Thank-You to Julia Christie for leaving a sweet comment on Tuesday's post which included these words: "...looking forward to a wonderful new year and hearing that your book is finally available!"

How can I not be excited and eager to finish my book, when I read something like that?!

Look Out World -- Here I Come!

"I believe that dreams—daydreams, you know, with your eyes wide open and your brain machinery whizzing—are likely to lead to the betterment of the world."-- L. Frank Baum

* Tea Cup Tuesday *

I'm very pleased to join Terri of Artful Affirmations, and Martha of Martha's Favorites for Tea Cup Tuesday!

(I posted these photos earlier this year, but wanted to show them again now, since it's the last Tea Cup Tuesday in December.)

I bought this darling set at a thrift store for $3.00!

I love the "poofy" parts of the cup!

The stamp says: Royal Albert, Bone China, England.

Flower of the Month Series. Set of Twelve.
"Holly" No. 12

An appropriate pattern to show on this December 28, 2010, Tea Cup Tuesday!

Happy New Year, everyone!

"Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons." -- Ruth Ann Schabacker