Blue Country Magic

Thursday Thirteen

2012-01-26T10:22:00.000-05:00

Today, I thought I'd list some books about writing. All of these are in my office somewhere.

1. The Chicago Manual of Style, current edition. This is a style guide, but it contains great information about important things like sentence structure, comma placement, and capitalization. For fun, check out the monthly answers to questions that people ask at the Style website. You will be amazed.

2. Guide to Fiction Writing, by Phyllis A. Whitney. Published in 1982, this is one of the best guides for writing genre fiction that I have ever read. Phyllis Whitney authored many award-winning books, mostly mysteries and "gothics." I read her work when I was growing up. This book, which covers everything from plot to characterization, appears to be out of print, but if you have an interest in learning how to create genre fiction, I urge you to seek out a copy.

3. Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus, Roget's Desk Thesaurus, Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Roget's Thesaurus, The Random House Dictionary, The American Heritage Dictionary. Yes, I have all of these reference books at my fingertips. What can I say? If you're a writer, you should have a couple of good dictionaries and a thesaurus or two at the ready.

4. Writer's Market, current edition, from Writer's Digest. I tend to buy these every other year instead of annually, because they can get expensive. They offer good advice on writing and on the writing business in articles that come before listings of places that might buy your work, though.

5. Writing the Natural Way, by Gabrielle Rico. This book advocates something called clustering, which is a way to make unusual connections, that I have used for 20 years to good effect.

6. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard. This is not a writing book, per se, but I find it inspirational in one way, and an example of what not to do in others. The book is filled with wonderful description, but I often get bogged down in the words. It's a good reminder to me to find that fine line between overwriting and explanation, and drawing in the reader. I urge every writer to find that special book that makes them think and helps them transition from reading to writing. This is that book for me. Dillard also has a book called The Writing Life that you might find more to your liking, if you want to read something by a Pulitzer Prize winner.

7. The Courage to Write, by Ralph Keyes. Many writers, myself included, suffer anxiety when they sit down. The fear? Is it good enough, what if it is good enough, what do I do with it, am I worthy? - it's a long litany that runs through the head. This book helps calm the jitters and offers up suggestions on ways to keep the blank page from becoming a monster in your dreams.

8. If You Want to Write, by Brenda Ueland. One of the best books for inspiration and conviction I've ever read. It was written in 1938 and is just as relevant today as it was then.

9. Steering the Craft, by Ursula Le Guin. My thesis professor at Hollins uses this book to great effect in many of her creative writing classes. Having had several of those with her, I have been through the book and its exercises a couple of times. Highly recommended for self-teaching and as a reminder of things that we sometimes forget.

10. Becoming a Writer, by Dorothea Brande. Another great inspirational book, also written long ago (1934) and still relevant today.

11. On Writing Well, by William Zinsser. A classic cheerleader's book that offers advice about writing without preaching.

12. The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron. Cameron's "morning pages" are a classic, and if you can do them (I can't), then you have a great start to your day. Every now and then I pull this out and try again, but I cannot get in the habit of doing three pages of free writing every morning. I hope you can, though.

13. On Becoming a Novelist, by John Gardner. Another book about the writing life and the kind of dedication it takes to become an author.

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 226th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

How Do I Look?

2012-01-24T10:50:00.000-05:00

I do not consider myself a stylish dresser. In fact, I think the word "frumpy" probably covers it better. I try to dress nice, but I lean toward a conservative look.

Most of my clothes are by Alfred Dunner, purchased at JC Penneys. In part, this is because of my fat butt and my pear-shaped body. I have a hard time finding clothes that fit.

While my weight loss has stalled, I am still attempting to keep the eating in check and trying to lose. I am down over 20 pounds.

At some point, I will need some new clothes. Actually I will need a new outfit or two sooner rather than later.

I want a make over. A complete, total "gosh who is that" kind of makeover.

Sunday night I found myself entranced with a show called How Do I Look? This is not something I normally watch. Indeed, I had never seen it before and didn't konw it existed. But it came on after reruns of Sex and the City and I was reading, so I didn't change the channel. And then the next thing I knew, the book was forgotten and I was watching slovenly women being transformed into lovelies.

I want to be a lovely.

However, it hard to be a lovely when you don't know how to be a lovely. I also have some bad habits. For example, I chew my nails, still, though not as much as I once did. I am overweight, of course, and I tend to lean toward comfort over fashion. I do not like things that bind, and I need good, sturdy shoes. I need my glasses, too.

Every one of these women in these make overs lost the glasses, turned blond, and put on high heels. They looked good, but they did not look comfortable.

Sexy, yes. But not comfortable, or very practical. And definitely not me.

When I was about 14, my father hauled me off to a beautician, I guess because he was tired of my shaggy hair. This is the only time I remember him taking an interest in my appearance and I don't know what precipitated it; maybe someone said something. Anyway, the cut was way out there, for me, so much so that later that day, when I ran into my cousins at the mall, they did not recognize me.

Photos of me throughout the years show a woman who never knew what to do with her hair. I had perms that were wild; when I see the pictures I can't believe I looked like that. These days my hair lays against my head, no perm, and the gray shows. But it is gray and unpermed because I discovered I couldn't deal with the chemicals in the hair coloring and permanent solution. They made me ill.

When the time comes to buy new clothes, that time some months away when I have lost another 20 pounds and absolutely nothing in my closet fits, I hope I have the courage to step out of the Alfred Dunner section of the department store and try something else. Even if I don't get a different hair cut, or stop chewing my nails, I can purchase different clothes.

Maybe it is time I decide who I want to be, eh? It's only taken an entire lifetime! Time to find my personal style so that the answer to "How do I look?" is ... SMASHING.

Books: My Summer of Southern Discomfort

2012-01-23T00:30:00.000-05:00

My Summer of Southern Discomfort
by Stephanie Gayle
Copyright 2007
Audio Book Version
7.75 hours
Read by Julie Dretzin

This first novel by a Pushcart Prize-nominated short story writer takes place in Macon, GA.

Natalie Goldberg, daughter of a noted civil rights attorney, is now a prosecutor with the Macon, GA district attorney's office. How she got there is part of the story - think heartache and betrayal and you won't be far off.

Now she's trying to find herself in her new surroundings. She's originally from Cambridge, MA and the job from which she is running was in New York.

The South takes a little getting used to.

Fortunately, author Stephanie Gayle manages to portray the south without resorting to caricature, and I was grateful for that. Her heroine is nicely portrayed and very human; she was someone I wouldn't mind getting to know and calling "friend." It's not always easy to portray a character to that degree. Her southern characters are done very well, too.

Throw in a capital murder trial for a girl who doesn't believe in the death penalty, and you have a thoughtful and occasionally gut-wrenching story about growing up, learning lessons, and finding yourself.

Highly recommended read.

Mark This One Off the Bucket List

2012-01-22T09:39:00.001-05:00

Last night, my husband and I went to the Roanoke Civic Center to watch Guns and Hoses. This was a hockey game played by members of local police and fire departments, with all proceeds going to MDA.

It was my first-ever hockey game. The only thing I know about hockey is that players are supposed to put a puck into a net.

That I had never been to a hockey game will not surprise regular readers, who know I don't spend much time with sports or attend venues with large crowds.

The announcer said there were 8,000 people in attendance at this game.

It was a family event, and there were little children running everywhere. Loud rock music played at various intervals, and I fear it must do something to the little tot's nervous system, as there was much twitching and shaking every time the music came on. I enjoyed watching them. I didn't take any photos of them because, well, they weren't my children and I didn't want to put pictures up of kids I don't know on my blog without permission.

The firefighters wore red, while the policemen wore black.

The showdown began!

The police team took the first point.

During an intermission, the firefighters did the chicken dance out on the ice.

During a second intermission, this firefighter did a little striptease to win the "sexiest player" title, as demonstrated by much yelling from the crowd.

We left with four minutes left in the game; the firefighters were losing and I assume they did not take home a trophy.

Still, everyone had a good time for a good cause! And we did something besides stay home on a Saturday night.

The Humidity of it all

2012-01-20T08:48:00.001-05:00

I am wondering how folks keep humidity in their homes during the winter months.

Increased humidity during the cold season can be beneficial. It helps with dry skin and stops static shock and static cling in clothes. Additionally, wood, leather, and other textiles benefit from having a little moisture in the air. If things become too dry, your woodwork and leather can crack or the paint might peel.

Mostly, though, humidity helps your sinuses. My husband and I both have sinus troubles, and regular readers know I also have asthma. Both conditions benefit from increased moisture in the air.

A hydrometer, available at any hardware store, will measure the humidity in the air. Humidity below 40 percent is considered low, but humidity above 50 percent is too high.

If the humidity is too high, you run the risk of mold growth, particularly if you keep the house heated at 70 degrees or more.

You can increase the humidity in many ways, and I think we have tried most of them. Low tech methods include leaving pots of water sitting around and letting that evaporate into the air. Wet towels will do the same thing, though I think you run the risk of mildew doing that. You can put a pot of water on the stove and let it boil, or place a kettle on the fireplace or woodstove and listen to it whistle.

Controlling humidity has been a battle for us for several years. When we built our home in 1987, we installed a whole-house warm steam humidifier. It worked rather like the toilet bowl in that it had a ball valve that lowered as the water in a little tank lowered. We had a humidistat on the wall and would set it for 40 percent and viola, we had humidity throughout the house.

The only thing we had to replace on this humidifier was the heating element. We cleaned it regularly because we have hard water, but after a few years it would corrode and we'd need another.

You can guess what happened. Eventually we could no longer find the heating element. Without that crucial part, the whole-house humidifier became useless.

Several years ago we replaced it with the newer version of the same thing. Alas, it was no longer the excellent product it was initially. It had a computer chip in it. It wouldn't work with the old humidistat on the wall, and it never seemed to regulate with the humidstat that it came with. We would set the humidity for 40 percent and the thing wouldn't turn on. We would set it higher and it would come on and saturate the house with water, which of course was not desirable at all.

We sent it back to the company several times for repair and work, but it never worked properly. I didn't trust it and would not go off and leave it running for fear I'd come home and find water oozing out of the heating duct work.

We looked at other whole-house warm mist humidifiers but decided that, in light of the fact that the new models all have been "improved" to the point of uselessness, that we would go with portable units in the house.

I bought an expensive warm mist humidifier for the bedroom, which we used successfully for two years, along with occasional use of the whole-house humidifier to subsidize it. Then the portable unit started leaking.

So I bought another portable unit for the bedroom, a different kind because of course the one I had purchased before was no longer available. This was a cranky appliance; it used mineral pads to keep down mineral deposits and if they were not situated exactly so on its little spot, it wouldn't run. It also required distilled water, and we were using over 10 gallons a week. I was glad when its water holder developed a leak, too.

Meanwhile, the whole-house unit became so unreliable that using it at all became out of the question. So we turned it off forever.

Two years ago, we bought a large cool mist humidifier. We put that in the hallway, and used a small, cheap warm mist humidifier in the bedroom. That worked well and we were able to control the humidity levels.

Cool mist is evaporative humidity, but the humidifier uses a fan to force the moisture into the air. Warm mist creates a steam. Warm mist is actually better for sinus conditions, but it heats the water.

All of these units require daily cleaning and a weekly maintenance routine. I'm not going to say I did it every day, but I think I was as diligent about cleaning the machines as most people would be. Maybe more so because, with my allergies and asthma, I really needed for the machines to stay in proper working order.

This year we again used the large cool mist humidifier. The weather here has been tricky, and it's been dry and warmer than normal. I've had a difficult time keeping the humidity at a good level. We switched to a small cool mist humidifier in the bedroom, too, mostly because it would use tap water and not distilled water.

In both of these, we used a humidifier cleaner product to keep down bacteria and mold.

After the new year, my asthma kicked in. It seemed I could breathe better outside and away from home. I couldn't find the problem. Something in the house was bothering me. I looked everywhere for mold or dust. I watched my diet to see if I was eating something I shouldn't.

Finally, earlier this week, I took a flashlight and peered into the motor of the large cool mist humidifier. Along the ridges of the underside of the fan, down inside where I couldn't reach to clean, and where you couldn't see without turning things upside down and taking things apart with a screwdriver, I saw a bit of mold.

I am highly allergic to mold.

I threw the humidifier outside immediately, and set to work spraying Lysol and checking to be sure there was no mold growth in the area where the humidifier had been sitting.

Whether or not this was the problem with my asthma, I don't know, but it seems likely. This morning, for the first time this month, my peak flow meter numbers (used to monitor your breathing) are out of the "caution you're in trouble" range.

It also is very apparent to us that in order to humidify the house, we may have to purchase new appliances every year. I will not have something that has mold in it in the house, and obviously there is no way to clean every part to guarantee that there is no mold. Purchasing a new item annually seems to be the only way to ensure no mold. But that will get expensive.

So I am curious. Do other people have this problem? And if so, how do you deal with it? Any recommendations?

Thursday Thirteen #225 - Eclectic!

2012-01-19T08:58:00.002-05:00

1. This week, I learned two new words and they both came from husband. The words are loblolly and haymow. A loblolly is a mud mire or mud hole, and a haymow is a loft where you store hay in a barn.

2. My work on my thesis has stalled yet again. Mostly I think about it, I look at it, and then I put it away. I need to have a first draft to my professor on January 31, so I really need to get my tail wagging. Procrastination is my middle name.

3. A little good news on the freelancing front: I've picked up a bit of steady work, at least for the time being. It begins next week.

4. Earlier this week, I spent time looking at the list of bills before the Virginia legislature this session. I was appalled at some of the really stupid things that these representatives bring to the table in hopes of having them pass as bills. There are bills ranging from deer hunting to regulations on the medical field to redefining the definition of a cemetery, and those are relatively minor ones. Some of these bills can do serious and lasting damage to families, lifestyles, the environment, and businesses. There are over 1,000 of these things listed at this site, if you live in the state and want to have a truly head-shaking and gut-wrenching (in the manner of what you might feel when you see how truly abysmal leadership is these days). This is how bad legislation is passed.

5. Asthma control has been foremost on my mind since the beginning of the year. Mine is currently a little out-of-control and I am hoping that a visit to my physician yesterday, which resulted in a change of medication, will sort this out. I find it hard to work on projects such as my thesis when I don't feel well.

6. My Nikon D40 DSLR camera has developed an issue. It is my favorite camera, though it is old (for an electronic device) and takes only 6.1 mb photos. My new Nikon P500 whips it in many ways but the Nikon D40 is like putting on my favorite slippers. I need to decide if I want to spend money to get it fixed, though. I have a feeling it could get expensive. And of course, Nikon doesn't make it anymore.

7. Some people do not blog enough. Some maybe blog too much. Others do it just right. Me, I just do what I want. I don't really know what other people think of what I do, but I do hope that my readers enjoy it.

8. I am still doing Weight Watchers, but after six months my enthusiasm has waned. I lost my motivation over the holidays. Any suggestions?

9. I recently had a marathon viewing of the extended versions of all three Lord of the Rings videos. I had not seen the extended version of The Two Towers and was very pleased with the additions it brought to the overall experience. These are my favorite films. I am very excited about premiere of The Hobbit, which comes to your movie theater in December.

10. My supermarket has competing candy aisles. One is filled with hearts for Valentine's Day and the other has Cadbury eggs for Easter. There is something profane about that.

11. A story last month about people dying from neti pot use has changed the way I create my own home-made nasal spray. I used to use water right out of the spigot but now I use distilled water. According to the article, some little critter in tap water crawled up in people's brains and killed them. I worry about a lot of things, but this was not one of them. Who knew?

12. One for the Money, a movie about Janet Evanovich's heroine, Stephanie Plum, opens soon. Advertisements for it are now on TV. I am hoping to go see it with a friend. We both have read all of the books. There's a trailer at the link.

13. Recently I have seen geese, robins, redbirds, cedar waxwings, sparrows, starlings, blue jays, and bluebirds. I think migration is on!

A cedar waxwing

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 225th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Books: Reversing Asthma

2012-01-16T14:02:00.002-05:00

Reversing Asthma
By Richard N. Firshein, DO
Copyright 1996
370 pages

This book is out of print and available through used book sellers. Alas, I don't buy used books because I am allergic to book dust and old books tend to set off my asthma, ironically. It is not available on my Nook, either.

I checked this out of the local library. I wish it was still available as a new book purchase.

Dr. Firshein is an asthma sufferer himself, and he has an interesting take on the health care system and its treatment of this issue.

He is not in favor of drugs and advocates for vitamins, breathing exercises, dietary changes, and exercise in order to keep the condition under control.

In fact, he hypothesizes that asthma treatments are causing as much problems as they are solving. This has certainly been my experience. The drugs make me sicker than the asthma.

If you have asthma and have been searching for a way to control it without drugs, or at least as many pharmaceuticals as you might take, then this book should be helpful to you. I have started with the vitamins he suggests and have initiated the breathing exercises. I am hopeful that this will be a big help.

Asthma can be a very dangerous condition, leading to death. It is very frightening, too, when you can't breath, and there can be scarring of the lungs. It is the major chronic illness among children, and the numbers of asthmatics in the United States are growing every day. At least 20 million people suffer from asthma.

Medical doctors still aren't sure what causes asthma and why some people have it and others don't. However, it seems likely that air pollution, dust mites, cockroach remains and other allergens play a role in the condition.

Allergic reactions to food are also a likely culprit. The major foods that cause allergies seem to be nuts, peanuts, eggs, shellfish and fish. Other foods that might cause problems include artificial food colorings, wheat, citrus fruits, milk, chocolate and wheat products.

One of the several vitamins Dr. Firshein recommends is magnesium sulfate, which opens up air passages. He also recommends vitamins C, a B Complex, zinc, and Vitamin A.

For diet, he suggests an elimination diet to figure out the problem foods. He says to eat a lot of onions and garlic, as they help with asthma, too.

The breathing exercises are similar to yoga breaths. I suspect just making an effort to breathe through the diaphragm instead of shallow breathing in the upper chest can make a big difference for many people, myself included.

Robins (and a Starling)

2012-01-15T08:12:00.000-05:00

My father calls robins that you see this time of year "mountain robins." I am not sure they ever actually leave, as I seem to see them all year long. My grandmother used to watch for robins in her front yard; she called them the herald of spring. She lived only 30 miles from where I do now, and it would be March before she would see the birds. I don't know if they've changed their migration or it was just how she noticed them.

This shot was taken with the digital zoom on the camera.
I used a tripod and it worked better than I expected.

Cedar Waxwings

2012-01-13T08:21:00.001-05:00

Cedar waxwings are small birds that live along woodland edges and near gardens. They have a high, thin call that sounds like zeee.

They are the bird with the yellow on them in these photos. The birds with orange tummies are robins; the black bird in the third photo is a starling.

Thursday Thirteen - Words Starting With "C"

2012-01-12T08:36:00.001-05:00

1. Crazy-making is what happens when someone tries to convince you that up is down, black is white. The term is used frequently to describe abusive relationships, but it also applies to politics these days. What else would you call a governor's speech that says "I'm not going to raise taxes" but later proposes to increase the sales tax by 50 percent?

2. C-reactive protein is a substance that shows up on blood tests. It has something to do with inflammation. Mine is always high, but my doctor never mentions it. What is up with that?

3. Cholesterol is a waxy steroidal fat. It has an important biological process, but apparently scientists think too much of it is bad for you. There are dietary links, but mostly physicians simply want to give you a pill. This number on blood tests always gets a comment from my doctor. Both C-reactive protein and cholesterol have something to do with liver processes.

4. Choices are those things we make every second of the day, mostly unaware, that move us forward (or not). Making healthy choices in diet helps bring about good health; poor choices can lead to problems.

5. Chocolate comes from cacao beans. Dark chocolate can be a healthy choice, if eaten in moderation. Chocolate has flavonoids which offer an antioxidant benefit. If you don't know what the previous sentence means but think you're supposed to, don't feel bad. I don't really know, either, but it sounds good. This is my favorite food and apparently I'm addicted to it; I can't have it around the house.

6. Chuffed is a word that means "very pleased." I only learned this word in the last decade. Few people in my area of the world use this in day-to-day discourse, so I like to slip it in sometimes just for fun.

7. Churlish is another word I don't hear often in conversation; it means sour or having a bad disposition. As in, "My churlish family member fixed shrimp in almond sauce for dinner for my brother-in-law and me, even though I am allergic to shrimp and he is allergic to nuts." (I made this up. It didn't happen. Really. Although I am allergic to shrimp.)

8. Cilantro is an Old World herb used in seasoning; it is also called coriander. It resembles parsley, has a distinctive aroma, and it is used world-wide. You find it in salsa. It is thought to act as a cleansing agent in the body, meaning that it removes toxins such as heavy metals.

9. Cinnamon is a spice that comes from tree bark; in the U.S., a lot of what is sold as cinnamon is not true cinnamon, so be careful. True cinnamon has many health benefits, including help with regulating blood sugar. It is also useful for stomach ailments and indigestion. It also helps with inflammation.

10. Citizens are members of a community. Citizens should have responsibility to one another and to their government. In the U.S., the government is made up of citizens who participate by voting and serving on elected boards and other governing bodies. The US government asks very little of its citizens; mostly it wants us to shop.

11. Clans are people related by blood or marriage, like a tribe. People can be clannish in that they stick together over certain things, or because they are exclusionary and leave people out of other things. I don't hear this word used much anymore.

12. Clerics are clergymen or holy men, usually. You sometimes find them as a class of healer/fighter in video games. When I played Might & Magic (a very long time ago), I used to play as a cleric.

13. Clouds in the sky are water or ice particles suspended at high altitudes. Clouds have many shapes and science has given those shapes names. Certain types of clouds will offer up specific kinds of weather. I used to know a lot about this, but I have mostly forgotten it.

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 224th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

The Full Wolf Moon, This Morning

2012-01-10T13:35:00.000-05:00

These are shots of the full moon taken this morning, Tuesday, January 10, between 7:20 a.m. and 7:45 a.m.

Lasso the Moon, George

2012-01-09T07:49:00.002-05:00

The Full Wolf Moon shone brightly last night, bathing the farm in an ambient light that showed us the silhouettes of deer grazing in the fields. The dim glow made the trees look ghostly.

Full Wolf Moon, January 2012

The moon fascinates me and I like to try to photograph it. Last night it was late when I attempted to capture it with my new Nikon P500 point-and-shoot camera that I received for Christmas (thank you dear husband).

The shots are okay but I like it best when I can get the deep seas of the moon in the picture. They are in shadow here. The only time I've ever successfully caught the dark shapes of the moon are when there is also a little evening or morning light from the sun available to help me out. Otherwise I overexpose the picture.

I am eager to try this again when I have a little leftover sunlight to see what happens with this camera.

Word Processing's Future?

2012-01-07T13:23:00.000-05:00

This morning as I was tooling down the road thinking about this and that, with the wind in my hair and enjoying the extraordinary 60 degree January day, I pondered many questions that puzzle humanity.

Among those concerns was when I might upgrade my cell phone. I still use a Nokia from 2005 or so. It does little but work as a phone. No camera. No keyboard. No apps.

So I use my desktop, laptop, or Nook color for Internet access. A lot of people don't, anymore. They use a phone.

But I also use my computer for writing. I use it to make blog entries. Or write articles. Or short stories. Or my thesis. Or 12-page papers for class.

I can't see myself composing a 12-page paper on an IPhone, I don't care how many Gs it has. I need a decent-sized keyboard and some good white space when I am writing.

So many people won't need a desktop or a laptop for Internet access. But what will they use to write a letter, I wonder? Will things just continue to be short - 140 characters and you're done? Because 140 characters is about all I can handle on a little phone keyboard.

I am reminded of typewriters and how things have changed. When I started out working in an office, way back in 1981, I used an IBM Selectric typewriter. There were no computers.

It looked like this:

I "borrowed" this from somewhere on the Internet.

I also had a typewriter at home. I bought one in 1985, a Brother. I still have it and I took this picture of it this morning:

I recently learned I can still buy ribbons for this,
and I started using it again. Can you believe that?

However, I could see that change was coming. I have mentioned before that I had a Commodore 64 (a very early personal computer). Once I realized I could type something on a screen, save it, print it out, and go back and edit it, I knew that typewriters would become a thing of the past.

So I am wondering now what writing will morph into as technology continues to push boundaries. Perhaps the iPad, with its built in touchscreen and keyboard there, is the answer. I look for documents to change - formatting will become less important, for instance, and short and sweet will be the norm. People like me, who tend to be, well, wordy, for lack of a better term, will be shuffled aside in favor of those who can write in 140 characters. Heck, we're already being shuffled aside for that.

Most people, of course, don't write, or at least, not a lot. However, I think people actually are writing much more - it's one reason why freelancing has become less lucrative. All of those Facebook status updates and tweets equal a lot of words (even if they are abbreviations or symbols). So really there is a lot of writing going on. It's just that it is short. And perhaps relatively meaningless, in the long run.

Is the day coming when paper won't matter at all? I certainly hope not. I am not keen on putting my private thoughts "in the cloud" where God-knows-who might stumble over it. When I think on all of the things I have hidden away in private little journals, pages stuffed in closets or in many cases actually shredded and burned, I am glad that it's not online. And now that Facebook is tracking you all the way back to the time of your inception with its new "timeline" feature, I'm really glad that I wasn't making status updates about things I did as a teenager. Can you imagine being 48 years old and having that stuff pop up as some random status reminder? Good grief.

That is way off topic. Sorry. Back to wondering about word processing.

Anyway, the future is already here. Check out this link I found to a gadget anticipated in 2020. It's worn on the wrist.

Instant keyboard.

Thursday Thirteen

2012-01-05T18:00:00.000-05:00

It's a new year, and a strange one, at that. This is supposed to be the year the world ends, according to some. Or it's a new beginning, the Age of Aquarius, according to others.

I personally figure I will continue to put one foot in front of the other, unless I drop dead from a heart attack or I'm hit by a train or something, and not much will change. But you never know. If there is change a-coming, I'm hoping it is for the better and is of the kinder, gentler nature.

Anyway, I thought I'd offer up 13 predictions (or maybe just things I'd like to see happen) for 2012.

1. The commercials for the elections of 2012 will be so stunningly bad that people by the millions will turn off the TV channels running them. The 24-hour TV news stations will wither and die, leaving a lot of blow-hards without work, and they will all retire to their large estates to leave the rest of us alone for a change. The resulting quiet on the air waves will help introduce a more peaceful, less stressful atmosphere to all the world.

2. Several hundred people will drink killer kool-aid like the Jim Jones folks did in 1978. This is because they don't want to burn up when the asteroid hits or whatever they think will happen. This could happen at the feet of some Mayan temple, so I hope those authorities are prepared for this kind of eventuality.

3. The stock market will be crazy this year, up and down, and the economy will continue off-kilter. However, it will level out and begin to improve in 2013. The improvement will not be in anticipated ways, however.

4. On December 25, after the world hasn't ended as predicted on December 21, a new period of peace and harmony (aided by the lack of TV news as in #1), will come to the forefront. All of the anger and rancor, especially apparent in the last 11 years, will dissipate and people will regain a lot of the common sense that was lost in Millennial Fever. People have grown really angry and mean in the last decade; have you noticed?

5. For me personally, these things will happen: I will finish my thesis; I will graduate with a master's degree, I will look for work or go back to freelancing (or both). I also hope I finally finish several projects I have started, and write lots of words.

6. People will realize that humanity has indeed contributed to climate change, and they will stop complaining about regulations that are put in place to clean the air and keep down emissions. Being asthmatic, this one has a particular place close to my lungs because I like breathing. It's kind of important.

7. Sunspots will knock out cell phones and wireless Internet access for a good portion of the world for 10 days. People will suddenly realize that they can look one another in the eye, touch each other, and have a conversation that doesn't involve looking at a screen. The new connections will have immediate, positive impact and will change the way young folks relate to one another and to their elders.

8. Speaking of elders, the up and coming generation will realize that the older folks have a lot of knowledge and things to offer to the world, still, and they will place their elders in a spot of honor, and not want to simply shove them aside and out of the way. They will realize that the old folks are people, too, white hair and all. It will usher in a new age of selflessness.

9. My husband would like to see the housing market pick up substantially so that his construction business will boom. So I hope for him this happens.

10. While I'm hoping for lots of peace and love in 2012, I fear there will instead be a lot of bombings and crazy events. Many people actually want the world to end, for some reason, so they will do whatever they think necessary to ensure this happens. I am expecting some really terrifying acts to occur.

11. Someone will invent a new technological toy that will take the world by storm, but ultimately it will end up being the One Ring, and Frodo will have to destroy it. That may not happen until 2014, though.

12. Gasoline will become obsolete, and transportation will change dramatically for Americans as they convert to solar-powered single-person transportation units. Some of these will be able to fly through the air but they will not be airplanes or jet packs, but something not yet conceived.

13. I will forget that it is Thursday on the first Thursday of the year, and not do my Thursday Thirteen until Friday morning after waking up at 2 a.m. and realizing what day it is. This is not a prediction. This is what really happened! Yikes.

Happy New Year, Anyway!

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 223rd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Burning the Bad

2012-01-05T13:18:00.000-05:00

So on the first day of the year, I wrote down on a piece of paper four items that I considered to be bad habits that I wanted to do away with.

Then I burned the paper.

It took a long time for this to turn to ash!

The idea behind this is that I am leaving these bad habits behind me. With the new year, these problem behaviors or activities will vanish, up the chimney with the smoke from the paper.

Now, it is five days later, and I cannot remember all four items on the paper. I can only remember three of them.

Does that mean I no longer have the bad habits?

Or does it mean I have old timer's at an early age?

What could the fourth have been?!?

Any guesses?

Squirrels

2012-01-03T12:13:00.003-05:00

Power Words

2012-01-02T14:26:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday, Yolanda left a comment on my blog. She was a new visitor, so I checked out her blog in return.

She had noted that she was going to use EXPLORE as her word for the new year.

I loved this idea. And then I read a Guidepost article by author Debbie Macomber who said she does the same thing. She takes a word for the year. An interview with her can be found at this link.

This was enough for me to figure I was being led to find a word for myself. A power word.

But a single word? I am finding this difficult.

I have four words on my mind, instead. Those words are PASSION, INTUITION, COURAGE, and CREATIVITY.

They are all related, at least in my mind, so I wondered if there might be a single word that I missing.

One that covers all four.

PASSION means any powerful emotion, want, or desire. I chose this word because, while there are many things I enjoy doing, there are very few things that I absolutely must do or I will feel like I've lost a part of myself. Writing seems to be something I am passionate about, but I am not sure I am passionate enough about it. Certainly I am not passionate enough about a specific project, and I think that is what I am looking for. That writing project that I absolutely have to work on, every day.

INTUITION means perception of truth without reasoning, or quick insight. This word came to me when I was doing some reading over the New Year's Eve, and then it turned up again in a tarot card reading yesterday. My intuition is something I generally do not trust, but I also think the things I write from intuition are generally much better than the things I write from a different space.

COURAGE means able to face difficulty or danger with firmness and without fear. I chose this word because it seems to me that fear stops me in my tracks with alarming regularity. Sometimes I think it wouldn't take much for me to become agoraphobic and never leave the house. So I want to be stronger and feel more able to stand up to the breath of the world, instead of letting it blow me over.

CREATIVITY means original thought or expression, able to create. As in, writing a poem, or making a drawing. I chose this word because it something that means a great deal to me, but it, like courage, is something that seems elusive to me.

I don't think there is one word that covers all of that. Perhaps what I need is a power sentence instead of a power word.

Something like:

For 2012, I will have the COURAGE to find my PASSION and I will use my INTUITION and CREATIVITY.

Words have power; they can be as hard as a fist when used improperly. While I was looking up power words, I came across a little video that vividly demonstrates the power of words:

If you have a power word or a power sentence, I hope you will share.

More power to you!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T07:38:00.002-05:00

Wishing you the best year ever! Happy 2012, everyone!

Nature Says Goodbye to 2011, too!

2011-12-31T08:34:00.001-05:00

This rainbow appeared out my window this morning at about 8:10 a.m. What a great thing to see on the last day of the year!

This last was its end. I did not go look for gold;
I had already found that in the beauty of this morning.

Adios, 2011

2011-12-31T07:25:00.003-05:00

Well, it's almost another year. I am excited about 2012. I have a college graduation to look forward to in May. I will have another degree and that will be a nice feather in my cap.

I am hopeful that the economy will turn around, too. I am crossing my fingers that I will be able to find a new career doing something I enjoy. The masters degree will help, perhaps.

Also, I plan to continue my weight loss, so I am really looking forward to buying a new wardrobe, complete with accessories, before the end of the year. That will be fun.

This last day of December will be a quiet one for my husband and I, and that's a good thing. Yay for calm endings!

I hope 2012 brings us all many good things in life. Many blessings to you, dear reader, as the year ends and a new one begins!

Bring it on, 2012!

Thursday Thirteen

2011-12-29T00:30:00.000-05:00

I just read back over my list of resolutions for 2011, written on January 6 as a Thursday Thirteen. I wanted to see how I did.

I didn't do too badly. I did okay on seven out of the thirteen. Better than half. Many of them were health-related, and I have some of that under control. However, new issues have cropped up.

But anyway, with the new year coming up, I thought I'd finish out 2011 with a list of resolutions for 2012.

1. Write my thesis. This has to be done if I am to graduate in May with my masters of arts in liberal studies degree. I have about 20 pages but am seriously running out time.

2. Graduate. Obviously this is the next step after the thesis. It is step two leading to the next item.

3. Find work. This could be a job "working for the man," as my husband calls a salaried position, or a strong return to freelancing, or adjunct teaching, or something I haven't even thought of yet, but it needs to happen.

4. Continue with Weight Watchers. I lost about 25 pounds, then the holidays came, and I've fallen off the potato cart and landed in the potato pile. Or something. Anyway, I need to get back to this in earnest.

5. Find an organization to volunteer with. I spent 10 years volunteering as an appointed member of the county's library board, and my time ends December 31. I enjoy doing things that help the community, so I will be looking for someplace to give of my time. We'll see what comes about.

6.Exercise. I did well with this until September of this year, when I was overcome with health issues that basically stopped most of my exercise efforts. However, I have started back on the treadmill, albeit at a little slower pace for now, but I have hope that I will be able to manage this.

7. Keep my journal. I used to journal every day. Then I stopped, and I have not been able to pick it back up again. Part of that is because I began blogging instead of journaling, but writing in a journal, which is private and secret, is much different than writing for this blog, which is read by oodles of people I don't know. I need to do both, and better. I want to reread The Artist's Way and go from there, I think.

8. Write fiction. Most of my writing career has centered on nonfiction. My thesis is creative nonfiction, which is to say, mostly nonfiction with a lie or two thrown in. I would like to try my hand at writing fiction, though.

9. Finish my local history things. I have started a couple of local history books and I have a local history blog. I need to work on all aspects of this. This project has languished for several years now and I want to finish it.

10. Organize the closets. We have lived in our house for 25 years. We have stuff crammed everywhere. I have slowly been tossing things but it seems more stuff comes in than goes out. I am interested in moving some things out of here, somehow.

11. Read the books in my to be read pile. I used to only have a couple of books in my to-read pile at a time; now I have shelves full of books that I want to read but seldom have time to get to. I would really like to make a dent in this pile before I go spend all of the Barnes & Noble gift certificates I received for Christmas. But I have a feeling the gift certificates will be spent long before I have made a dent in the book pile.

12. Learn website design. This is something I sort of know how to do but I don't know how to do it well. I would like to take a class or something.

13. Take a vacation. I haven't had a vacation away from home, at least not one that involved more than an overnight stay, in almost three years. I think I am overdue.

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 222nd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Post Holiday Blues Mini-Rant

2011-12-28T11:29:00.001-05:00

One of the most difficult things about Christmas is the after-Christmas let down.

For two months, we have all of this build-up. Santa's coming! Stuff! Snow! Sleds! Bikes! Clothes! Parties! Purchases! Shiny glitz and glitter!

It's heady and exciting, not only for children, but also for adults who are busy trying to win or show their love and approval. How much do I care? Well, a diamond necklace worth! See? If you weren't my friend, would I give you this gift card?

The Christmas carols begin before Thanksgiving - poor ol' Tom turkey not only loses his life, but also his importance - and Santa arrives in a helicopter in early November. The sales start now, too. Buy at the three-week-before Black Friday walapoloza! Lowest prices of the season - until next week.

And then we have the big day. Rattle! Shake! Unwrap, untape! Looky here! A gizmo, a doodad, a whopsniggle! A hug, a kiss beneath the mistletoe, another piece of fudge.

Three days later? The toys have been sampled, looked at, maybe discarded. The new clothes are washed, ironed, and hung in the closet to blend in with the old. The new tools are in the tool box, the new camera's been tested. The fudge is gone. All that's left are old wrinkled oranges and a little bit of cider.

Not to mention it's cold outside, and who wants to go to the store when the wind is blowing 40 mph? Not I. Or is it me? How about you?

Of course, if you have items to return - that's so much fun - then you might be out and about. Clock's ticking on getting the right size or the refund. The stores are getting stingier about that, too.

So it's over. Now we have nothing to look forward to except the new year - and how happy is that going to be, with Mayan end-times prophecies hanging over our heads, making everyone crazy? Some people will take this to heart - they will sell their houses and lose their lives.

Don't you think 2012 will be a year to remember? And remember it we will, because I don't know about you, but I'm planning on having the post-holiday blues again next year at this time. I don't believe in prophecy.

Books: The Forest for the Trees

2011-12-27T00:30:00.000-05:00

The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's Advice to Writers
By Betsy Lerner
285 pages
Copyright 2000, 2010

This is an advice book for writers. That said, I was a little disappointed in that, while the first pages described me perfectly, in the end I came away without really knowing how to get over and around myself in order to move forward. It's long been a problem and I guess I was looking for a magic bullet. Apparently, there isn't one.

The first chapter of the book, titled "The Ambivalent Writer," is me. The chapter starts out like this:

Do you have a new idea almost every day for a writing project? [yes]Do you either start them all and don't see them to fruition or think about starting but never actually get going? [yes]Are you a short-story writer one day and a novelist the next? [maybe not so much but I haven't yet found any other genre than newspaper article writing that fits like a good shoe]

The author goes on in this same vein for most of the first page of the first chapter and into the second page of the first chapter, ending with, "How is that some no-talent you went to high school with is being published everywhere you look? Or how some suck-up from graduate school is racking up prizes and being interviewed in the Arts section of The New York Times?" I have asked myself that question more than once. I think most writers have at some point.

She also writes this in the first chapter:

You have something to say, something you may feel desperate to express, but you have no idea how to go about it. As a result, you are highly impressionable; everything strikes you but nothing sticks. You are volatile and vulnerable, but the energy it takes to quiet the voices leaves you depressed and listless. Every time you hear an author exchange barbs with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, or browse you local bookstore, you think: I could do that. You are both omnipotent and impotent.

All of this struck a mighty chord with me, and I read on eagerly, hoping that at last someone would tell me how to get out of my own way. Alas, that was not the case. The book validated me in that I am not alone, but it did not really offer a solution, unless finding an editor who will hold my hand and support me while I try to find my words is the answer. However, being an introvert who scarcely leaves the farm for groceries, I don't really see how I might go about finding this person.

Anyway, I enjoyed the book and I do recommend it to any writer who has self-doubts or who flagellates herself on a nightly basis because she's not where she thinks she ought to be at this point in her career. If nothing else, it will enforce the message that you're not alone in the struggle, and perhaps this will make a difference.

The author has a blog at the link above where I first listed her name, and while I have looked at it briefly I haven't studied it. Maybe the answer to my quandary is there, but from what I see on the page today, I am thinking not. Obviously it's a personality issue shared by many.

Other personality types also have issues with their writing, and she has chapters for those folks, too.

The second half of the book talks about the publishing industry, explaining what editors want, why books are rejected, and how to make contact with agents. If you've written a book or novella or something and are ready to take it to the next level, that is, out of your drawer, you might find this very interesting. It's an intriguing back-door look at the process.

The author, Betsy Lerner, was a book editor for a long time before becoming an agent. She knows what she's talking about.

But she didn't have the answers for me.

10 Shots of Christmas

2011-12-26T11:19:00.000-05:00

Christmas is a two-day celebration for us. First, we have folks over to our house on Christmas Eve.

This was the merry table!

My cousin Matthew, his wife Gina, and their daughter Madison.

Madison liked the Christmas tree.

My brother Loren at the table. Something happened
to my Canon camera and it started saving pictures
in tiny little format. Maybe I hit a button.

My nephew Trey needs a hair cut!

My husband, James, and two nephews,
Emory and Chris.

My mother-in-law, Eunice, kicked her shoes off.

On Christmas Day, we go to my mother-in-law's house for presents and a dinner. I received a new Nikon P500 camera for Christmas, and I took these photos with that.

My nephews and my brother-in-law examine each other's presents.

My sister-in-law, Jennifer, and my mother-in-law watch the men.

The helicopter from the loving aunt (that'd be me)
was the hit present of the evening.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T07:45:00.004-05:00

May you find much peace and happiness on this day and all others.

Luke 2:8

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.

And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;

for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

“This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

***

Thank you for reading Blue Country Magic! I'm very grateful to all of you for taking time out of your day to share with me.