* More Calls for Submissions - Writing and Photography

No time yet for posting info and photos about my visit with my cousin, but I came across a couple of Calls for Submissions I wanted to share. First: Chicken Soup for the Soul has just added two books that need your stories!

For Parents of Children with Autism or Asperger's
If you are the parent of a child with autism or Asperger's, we invite you to share your story about raising your child - the ups and downs, the effect on your family, your child's special attributes and talents, and the lighter moments too. You may use a "pen name" on your story. These stories will provide advice, comfort and insight to other parents in the same situation. The deadline date for story and poem submissions is September 30, 2012.


Great Advice for Making Changes in Your Life
Have you ever read a Chicken Soup for the Soul story that had a wonderful nugget of advice in it that made a difference in your life? We are looking for stories that contain great pieces of advice, whether they are little things that improve our everyday lives, or major epiphanies that can change a life completely. Topics we will cover include advice related to work and personal relationships, marriage, parenting, health and fitness, finances, constructive criticism, taking chances, and following your passion. The deadline date for story and poem submissions is August 31, 2012.



Right now there are currently SIX books accepting submissions, FOUR more besides these two.


** NOTE: the following is taken directly from the Chicken Soup for the Soul website:

If the story or poem you wrote is published by us, you will be paid $200 upon publication of the book plus you will receive ten free copies of the book your story or poem appears in.

~~~~~

Open to Interpretation: Deadline TODAY, May 1st! Accepting poetry and prose pertaining to selected photos, with a theme of Intimate Landscape. Check it out! Very cool!

Also at Open to Interpretation: Deadline June 26th. Accepting photographs for a theme of Fading Light.

** NOTE: the following is taken directly from the Open to Interpretation website:


Publication and Awards

$1000 Cover Award
$300 Judge's Choice Award Photography
$300 Judge's Choice Award Writing or Poetry

Being selected to be part of this publication puts you in great company with other photographers, writers, and poets. This publication is dedicated to providing a place for artists to gain recognition and exposure for their work. All participants chosen, if so desired, will have their name, web page and/or mailing address indexed in the book so as they can be contacted directly regarding their work.


Check out the websites, put your thinking cap on, position yourself in your chair, your fingers on the keyboard.....and write!! Or take photos, as the guidelines state. Best of luck to everyone!






"I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn't photograph them." -- Diane Arbus

Calls for Submissions - Anthology

My fabulous friend, Pat Bubash, is putting together an anthology: "Marriage Blisters.The irritating spousal behaviors that rub you wrong or like a painful blister: raw." 

Isn't that a great title? Doesn't it make you want to read all about it? And, doesn't it make you want to contribute some of your darling, wonderful, and sometimes annoying husband's behaviors??  And don't worry. Everything will be confidential. No real names used.

Here is one of her quotes about her new book: "I refuse to believe that any couple has NO complaints - impossible, when we share space everyday with our other half. I know George Clooney(10 plus that he is) has to have one irritating behavior - maybe smiling too much!"


Pat is an extraordinary woman. Just look at her credentials! Marriage counselor, author, speaker. She published "Successful Second Marriages," in 2009. It can be purchased from Amazon in both paperback and Kindle edition.


Patricia Bubash, M.Ed, LPC
Counselor / Author / Speaker
Stephen Minister
St. Louis  314 842 5460
http://www.successfulsecondmarriages.com 


When thinking about a marriage counselor you may think: Serious, Straight Forward, Soft Spoken.
And yes, Pat has those traits, but she's also a warm, friendly, and funny woman. I'm so grateful that our paths crossed a couple of years ago at.....where else... a book function! At a library!


If you're interested in learning more about submitting a story (or more) for this anthology, please contact Pat at:

patriciathecounselor@successfulsecondmarriages.com


And tell her, Becky sent me! (yes, the very forgetful Becky who was supposed to post this days ago, but I made sure I did this morning, before my cousin and I begin our day.)

Wandering Wednesday

As far as my rant yesterday, I really don't know what all the changes will be when all is said and done, and I decided to Go With The Flow and not waste [any more of] my time stressing over it! (But I can still be mad, right?!) AND, I googled Free Blogs, and found a couple that I messed around with yesterday. Also found a couple that weren't free, but were reasonable. I'm ready to just wait and see. And as Doris Day always sang  --  ♪♫ Que Sera, Sera. Whatever will be, will be.. ♪♫


* Also, I apologize for not responding to your comments lately. I honestly appreciate everyone who reads my blog, and especially those who take the time to leave a comment. AND, I've also been terrible about getting around to read all the blogs I love. I'm going to try to do much better on that. *

~~~~~

I won't be posting anything new until at least Sunday night. One of my cousins and her husband are coming to town. I'm SO excited because we've only seen each other twice since we were little girls, and I've never met her husband! She's bringing some old photos to share, too. ☺

  ~~~~~

(photo taken by Becky)

The Ronald and I are really enjoying bird watching. We have one bird feeder in our back yard (in above photo) and three in the front, all hanging from tree branches. My favorite is the cardinal. The males seem to have a particularly brilliant color this year. I have no idea if it's mating season, or what...but when I see and/or hear one, I must stop and revel in their charm and beauty!



Do you have any plans for the weekend? What brings you joy?




"In memory everything seems to happen to music." - Tennessee Williams

* TO ALL BLOGGERS *

TO ALL BLOGSPOT FRIENDS ~~~~

THE "NEW" AND "IMPROVED" BLOGGER GUI << whatever GUI means....IS GOING TO BE

FORCED UPON ALL OF US, IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS. AND WE ARE BEING TOLD

THERE IS NO WAY TO KEEP OUR OLD (AND MUCH MORE USER FRIENDLY, UNIQUE,

BEAUTIFUL) TEMPLATES, HEADERS, BACKGROUNDS, ETC.

I'VE READ MANY COMPLAINTS IN DIFFERENT COMMENT AREAS, BUT I REALLY

DON'T THINK ANYONE AT GOOGLE/BLOGGER IS LISTENING. I ALREADY SENT THEM

MY FEELINGS WITH THIS: "IF I WANTED A PLAIN AND BORING BLOG, I WOULD'VE

USED WORDPRESS!!" (sorry to all the Wordpress users...but that's how I view them.)

IS THERE ANYTHING WE CAN DO?? I REALLY DON'T KNOW. AND IF ANYONE HAS

INFORMATION PROVING THAT WE'LL STILL BE ABLE TO HAVE OUR OWN CREATIVE

LOOK....PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT OR E-MAIL ME.

HERE'S WHERE I FOUND THE MOST RECENT INFO:

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2012/04/better-get-into-new-blogger-gui-soon.html

  ** I am angry! How about you?! **

* Additional Info - 5:00 PM, CDT *

I've been searching for alternative, free blogs, that are user friendly AND have unique/creative templates, etc. So far, I've been playing around with www.simplesite.com. Please check out mine!http://www.simplesite.com/beckywritergal and let me know what you think...so far! I only have 1% of info on it! :)

"They paved paradise...And put up a parking lot..." -- Joni Mitchell

* Nostalgic Sundays *

Time for Another Nostalgic Sunday

 

Off and on for the past couple of years, I've thought about the cardboard sewing cards I had when I was a little girl. They were lightweight cardboard, about 6" square, and had drawings on them, with holes punched in certain areas. The set also came with colorful yarn lengths that had the little plastic coating at the ends, so they wouldn't unravel.

(Above two pictures are from Kim

at Musings from Kim K.)

 

Here's one from Back 2 Vintage

See the "sewing" around Wendy on the left, and the tea pot on the right? I didn't  have these exact cards, but I had hours of fun with mine. They were great because they could be used over and over.

(google image)

Another favorite of mine....Paper Dolls!

And I LOVED the Lennon Sisters.

My family watched them every week on

The Lawrence Welk Show.

 Since I had two older sisters, I always felt like I was Janet,

 the youngest Lennon sister.

We even sang and harmonized a little bit.

I have such wonderful memories of my early years.

What about you? Did you have sewing cards and/or paper dolls? What were your favorites?

 

* Welcome to my newest follower, Anne from A Little Fur in the Paint. (Love that title!) I hope you'll stop by often and always enjoy what you read and see! Thank you! *

"There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again." ~Elizabeth Lawrence

* Calls for Submissions/Contests *

On Tuesday while lamenting about not having enough time for everything.....blah, blah, blah, I could've easily typed those few words that were actually about the contests and calls for submissions that I wanted to share. Duh!

So, without further ado ...(ahem...wasting more time)... here are just a few, that may be new to you. There I go, writing bad poetry again. Someone stop me, please!


Terri Weeding’s SUMMERTIME Little Ole Humor Writin’ Contest: No Fee
(I didn't see a Deadline, but did see this: Next Contest Opening Date: June 20, 2012 
http://terriweeding.com/little-ole-humor-writin-contest/


Women Who Write 2012 International Poetry & Short Prose Contest:
Entry Fee: $12.00 DEADLINE: June 30, 2012http://www.womenwhowrite.com/Submit.html

The Dream Quest One Poetry and Writing Contest: Entry Fee $5.00/$10.00

DEADLINE: Postmark by July 31, 2012

http://www.dreamquestone.com/rules.html


Chicken Soup for the Soul: Calls for Submissions, Various Deadlines
Currently there are SIX anthologies that need your stories. A couple of them are recently posted, too. It's always a good idea to check their website often.
http://www.chickensoup.com/form.asp?cid=possible_books


These are just a few that I happened upon. I'm only familiar with Chicken Soup, but the other ones do look legit. And don't forget....you can't get published or win anything, if you don't at least TRY! Enter. Submit. You never know! Good Luck!

"The role of the writer is not to say what we can all say but what we are unable to say." - Anaïs Nin

* To Do Lists *

What kind of things are on your To Do List? Mine just seems to keep getting more added to it, and hardly any crossed off. Go to post office and mail packages. Pick up photographs from art contest. Type up those notes from that meeting a month ago, that I've promised to different people. Do a blog post about different anthologies and contests I want to mention. Read those three library books I borrowed and already had to renew. Contact so-and-so about a guest blog post and book give-away. Write. Write. Write. Calls for Submissions, Contests, and my memoir. Add a zillion more things I need and/or want to accomplish. There's 24 Hours every day, yet even when I'm very careful about not wasting time, I feel like I don't have much to show for it when midnight rolls around. (Notice I haven't even mentioned house cleaning or laundry!)

Every day for the past week, I've told myself that TODAY is the day I'll reply to comments. I'll answer e-mails. I'll get to many of the blogs I want to stop at, read, and comment on. And another day goes by, and it's 12:30am and I have to get some sleep.

Well, at least I did work a lot on a chapter for my memoir the past two days, and I'm very pleased with myself for that. As The Ronald always says, "I've got that going for me!"

"How long a minute is, depends on which side of the bathroom door you're on." ~ Zall's Second Law

* Writers Make the World Go 'Round *

Two nights ago, I watched a fascinating interview on TCM - Turner Classic Movies. The actor Peter O'Toole (79 years old) told riveting and charming stories of his life before and during his stage and screen career. He's probably best known for his role as writer, T.E. Lawrence, in Lawrence of Arabia. Mr. O'Toole recounted hilarious tales about himself and one of his co-stars, Omar Sharif, during the filming of the famous "charge" scene, and how both tried to stay in the camels' saddles. (Can you believe they didn't use stunt men?) He talked at length about his various roles and co-stars and was highly entertaining.

(Lawrence of Arabia - 1963)

(age 79 - 2011)

Toward the end of the interview, Mr. O'Toole spoke about his writing. He's written two memoirs; Loitering with Intent: The Child and Loitering With Intent: The Apprentice. He said he is working on his third book, but didn't specify what it was about. But, he did say this about writing:

I love it, the writing process, but I don't have to like it. It's so frustrating. You feel you've written rubbish and you tear up the papers and walk around the room in circles. But it's a love affair. I like getting down there and putting on to paper. I never wanted to write until I was 40 or 50.

I didn't use quotes with the above, because I'm sure I don't have it verbatim, but it's very close. I especially enjoyed learning he didn't think about, or want to write until he was "older." I'll definitely check out his memoirs. If his writing is anywhere near as marvelous as his acting, then he's been given more than one precious, gift of talent.

One more thing. Sometimes we forget that although it takes a very good/great actor to create extraordinary performances.....none of it can happen without superb writing.....Writers make the world go 'round.....

* Also.... Welcome to my newest follower, Karen. I hope you'll stop by often and always enjoy what you read and see! Thank you! *

"Writing is a kind of performing art, and I can't sit down to write unless I'm dressed. I don't mean dressed in a suit, but dressed well and comfortably and I have to be shaved and bathed." - -- Peter O'toole