Paying It Forward & Winter Contests

A week ago today I wrote a post about Paying It Forward and Random Acts of Kindness.  The first five people who responded with a comment, saying they would like to participate, will be receiving something homemade from me. They are: TK Richardson, Kathy Matthews, Estrella, Sioux, and a new blog friend, Jen Daiker! I'm not super creative, so please don't expect anything fancy!  Also, please e-mail your mailing address to me, and I plan to have your items made and sent by the end of February.Ooooh, the pressure is on!

Also, Hello & Welcome to my two newest followers: Rose Cooper, and Antonio! I hope you always enjoy whatever you see here.

I have different topics I wanted to include tonight, but I recently found out about 2 contests that are nearing their deadlines. I'm sure that every one of my writer friends could come up with something to submit, because there's both fiction and non-fiction, including memoir, essays, articles & prose. Give it a look. You just may start off your year with a winning entry!

Winter Flash Fiction Contest: Short fiction, open theme (no porn or gore) 500 words or fewer. Free critique upon request. Enter online or by mail. Fee: $7 per entry or 3 for $20 (limit 3 entries). Prizes: First - $100, second - $50, and third - $25. Winning entry posted, winner profiled on website. Deadline: postmarked Feb. 10. Info at: www.thewritehelper.com.

Dead of Winter Nonfiction Contest: Memoir, essays, articles, prose. Must be nonfiction of 2,500 words or fewer. Free critique upon request. Enter online or by mail. Fee: $10 per entry, limit 3 entries. Prizes: First - $150, second - $75, and third - $50. Winning entry posted, winner profiled on website. Deadline: postmarked Feb. 10. Info at: www.thewritehelper.com.

"If you want to write, write. This is your life. You are responsible for it. You will not live forever. Don’t wait. Make the time now, even if it is ten minutes once a week." — Natalie Goldberg

* Groundhog Day *

(This is a repeat from last year. I love this movie and it just seems appropriate to repeat it.....ba-dum-dum!)

HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY!

And now, a few words and photos from one of my favorite movies: "Groundhog Day", starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell.

"Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don't forget your booties 'cause it's cold out there today."

"Hey now, don't you tell me you don't remember me 'cause I sure as heckfire remember you."



"NEEDLE-NOSE NED?...NED RYERSON?" ..... "BING!"

"IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL! ..... LET'S LIVE HERE!"

(photos courtesy imdb.com and archive.dailypicture.net)

"Love is the answer. Shine on us all. Set us free. Love is the answer." -- EMI Music Publishing, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
(P.S. I know this song is not used in the movie, but I love the music and lyrics, and it's perfect for the ending. Bill Murray's character is finally set free....when he realized love was the answer.)

** It's Begun **

This is the little picture that my AOL Weather Box has on it for today. I've never seen so many different symbols for ONE DAY of weather before! I think the weather forecasters just may be right. It's already begun sleeting and freezing rain here. I'm all nice and warm and safe inside. Got lots of firewood, my little transistor radio, pens and pencils and paper, flashlights and candles. What more could a writer ask for?? Well, I also have water and diet soda....OH, and wine.....ooohhhh, I better make up a few pots of coffee and tea, and try to keep them warm, too...Just in case, ya know!  

Wherever you are.....Stay warm and safe and blissfully serene!

(And I feel the need to post the same quote as yesterday's. It just fits so well.)

"What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness." — John Steinbeck (Travels with Charley: In Search of America

* The Quiet Before the Storm *

According to every one of our local weather forecasters, and even The Weather Channel, a huge section of the country is going to get pounded with ice, sleet, freezing rain, thunder snow, wind, and blizzard conditions. And that includes where I live. The local guys and gals keep referring to the "Blizzard of '82", and that's 1982, which I definitely remember. And they've also mentioned the ice storm of 2006, which I obviously remember, too. (I'm not totally short term memory challenged!)

Anyway, I'm ready to be inside for the next few days. Writing. Blogging. Possibly cleaning house...but I doubt it. Maybe do a little laundry..maybe. But mostly, I'm going to WRITE. I am so into getting my memoir finished, and now that the Saturday Writers first meeting of the new year is in the history books, I can relax and breathe....at least for a few days!! If you'd like to know more about Saturday Writers, please click on the link and you'll be at our new blog. I'll be updating it while our website is being revamped and brought up to date.

A big welcome and thank you to my two newest followers: Melissa Ann Goodwin & Kim Sloggett! Thanks so much for stopping by and wanting to come back from time to time!

Have a beautiful, blissful week everyone.....and stay warm and cozy...wherever you are!

"What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness." — John Steinbeck (Travels with Charley: In Search of America)

* Pay It Forward *

This evening, while scrolling through the list of blogs I follow, I found "Pay It Forward" on The Wright Stuff. What a wonderful idea!

~The Rules~

ME:  I will create something handmade to send to the First Five People who leave a comment on this post saying they would like to participate!

YOU:  To play along you must be willing to repost this and do the same, offering something handmade to five other people. (At this part of The Rules, it didn't say the five people must be the first five to leave a comment on your blog, but that seems to be the thing to do.)

ME:  So, I left a comment on The Wright Stuff and if I'm correct, I was the fifth person! Yay! That means I'll get something homemade from her!

YOU & ME, BOTH:  All handmade "gifts" will be sent sometime in 2011. Mine will be sent by the end of February...or else I'll forget! ☺

Here's how she describes herself in her Profile: "I am a writer, an artist and a dreamer. I am on a journey following my heart. It promises to take me to some incredibly exciting places. Won't you join me?"

Wow! Sounds like my kind of person!.....Except for that artist part....me...not so much!
So what about you? Would you like to share your creativity with a few others? If you're not artistic (see above!) you could send a  handwritten poem or a handmade greeting card. I think it sounds like a wonderful, giving idea!

I was involved in a different Pay It Forward adventure a month or so ago, but I didn't blog about it because I didn't want it to look like I was bragging...but then something really cool happened a week ago...and I decided to share it. BUT, that will have to wait for another day, because this post is just about this particular giving of your time and talent to make someone else smile. Kind of a random act of kindness....which I so love....even if it's just to smile at a stranger in the grocery store....ya know?
"Each contact with a human being is so rare, so precious, one should preserve it." -- Anais Nin

* And The Winner Is......*

I wasn't surprised and I doubt if anyone else will be either....but the odds were in her favor. The winner is: Faith Hope Cherrytea! Congratulations and please e-mail me with your mailing address, so I can send your goodies!

Thanks to each and every one of you who commented and suggested book titles. Some of them are really very good, and I'm setting them aside in my "Possibility File." 

Hey, that reminds me of a movie that I just love. It's: Last Holiday starring Queen Latifah, 2006.
She's a lonely woman who doesn't do much of anything in life, except work, save money and DREAM. What made me think of it now was....She kept a large scrapbook of "possibilities"....where she kept news clippings, recipes, photographs.....of all her dreams. I'm not going to give it an entire review, but if you've never seen it, I highly recommend it!

Speaking of dreams.....You know what mine is..... Seeing my memoir on the Best Seller List!

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." --Anais Nin

Words, Wonderful Words...And Music, Too

Since I don't drive in rush-hour traffic anymore, and most of my errands are taken care of near my home, I'm not in my car long enough to listen to CDs much. When I do get on a highway, though, I like to take some of my own music along...because...you know, all those commercials on radio stations...they make me nuts! And, I don't have satellite radio, either.

SO, today, I had the pleasure of driving along Hwy 270, 40, 364.....(those numbers make me want to either shout "Hike"...or WOW, those are the measurements of a huge, strangely built woman!)

While be-boppin' along, trying to stay as near as possible to the speed limit, I listened to my Jason Mraz CD, "Mr. A-Z". When I finally got my mind to quit wandering up and around, and in and out, about all the things I was concerned about, I began to really hear the lyrics. If you're not familiar with Jason Mraz...oh my gosh... he writes amazing songs. Below is just part of the lyrics about him leaving a message for his girl friend. The song's title is: "Did You Get My Message?"

..."Do you ever wonder what happens to the words that we send
Do they bend, do they break from the flight that they take
And come back together again with a whole new meaning
In a brand new sense, completely unrelated to the one I sent"...

Those words just captured me today. I sang along and felt so alive and happy.
Beautiful words.....beautiful music...


"It takes some silence to make sound
It takes a loss before you found it
And it takes a road to go nowhere
It takes a toll to make you care
It takes a hole to make a mountain" from the song "Life is Wonderful" by Jason Mraz

* Contest Prizes! *

Hey Everyone. Don't forget to enter my contest! Do so before midnight tomorrow (Jan 25)

I realized I didn't make it clear when I announced the prizes. There will not be 4 winners. There will be just ONE WINNER. Winner takes all!!

Tomorrow at midnight CST, I'll do the random drawing for the winner of my Name My Book Contest. If you don't know about it and want to enter, or already entered and want to do so again, hop on over to this post and leave a comment. There are NO RULES! You DO NOT have to be a follower. Enter as many times as you want, but each time must have a title suggestion for my memoir. *As I mentioned on the originial post, the winner will be chosen by random drawing. The book title suggested is not guaranteed to be used, it is just a suggestion for the contest.*

Now, here's what everyone's been waiting for. The announcement of the PRIZE(S) to be awarded!

1) Three votive candles from Yankee Candle: Lilac Blossoms, Home Sweet Home, and Ocean Water.

2) Cheery pink & green note card set, complete with envelopes & matching pen.

3) A 7 x 7 hardcover book: Great Kisses...and Famous Lines Right Out of the Movies, compiled by Timothy Knight

4) A 8 x 10 hardcover book: Home Rules, Transform the Place You Live Into a Place You'll Love, by Nate Berkus

~~ Some fabulous prizes to help you get through another winter month! Plus, candles...and a romantic book of onscreen kisses, with comments and quotes....What could be better for next month's Valentine's Day? And I say...give them as gifts to yourself!! You don't need no steenking Valentine....Be your own valentine!! ~~

Hugs and happiness to you all today....wherever you are....Find and Follow your Bliss!!

"Always serve too much hot fudge sauce on hot fudge sundaes. It makes people overjoyed, and puts them in your debt." -- Judith Olney