This came to me by e-mail. I just had to share.
'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.'
--Rebecca- age 8
'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'
--Billy - age 4
'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'
--Karl - age 5
'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'
--Chrissy - age 6
'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'
--Terri - age 4
'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.'
--Danny - age 7
'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss'
--Emily - age 8
'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.'
--Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)
'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,'
--Nikka - age 6
(we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)
'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.'
--Noelle - age 7
'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'
--Tommy - age 6
'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'
--Cindy - age 8
'My mommy loves me more than anybody
You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'
--Clare - age 6
'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.'
--Elaine-age 5
'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.'
--Chris - age 7
'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.'
--Mary Ann - age 4
'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'
--Lauren - age 4
'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image)
--Karen - age 7
'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.'
--Mark - age 6
'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'
--Jessica - age 8
The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.
Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.
When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,
'Nothing, I just helped him cry'
All in a day's reading
Today I'm reading a book by an author that has been around for a long time. The reason I state this is because I've encountered all sorts of things that make me wonder if an unpublished author tried to submit this exact story, whether they would be able to get it published. The funny thing is, I really have enjoyed the book. As a matter of fact, I've enjoyed it a lot more than some things I've read by newer authors. It has a very simple conflict for one thing. By simple I don't mean weak, I mean there isn't a lot of tragic past for either the hero or heroine that point to childhood trauma or hurts. They, very simply, wounded each other years earlier and are trying to find their way back from that hurt. There's not a lot of snappy dialogue exchanges that go no where. There's not a lot of hot sexual drama. There is, however, conversation about why they can't be together. And there's emotional tension between them.
The writer's voice doesn't knock me out. There's a lot of day to day stuff that happens that is fairly mundane and has nothing to do with the romance. It's not the sort of story that I would have guessed would keep me interested. There's no mystery to keep the pages turning. Not a lot of sexual tension. I'm utterly baffled. But unlike many short contemporary books I've picked up lately, I started it, and I'm going to finish it.
Every book I read teaches me something about my own writing. I haven't yet determined what this one has taught me, but when I do, I'll come back and revisit this post.
Today goal: Get another contest entry judged
Yesterday's accomplishment: Saw Golden Compass
What I'm grateful for: Days when the weather people are wrong about it snowing 4-6 inches
The writer's voice doesn't knock me out. There's a lot of day to day stuff that happens that is fairly mundane and has nothing to do with the romance. It's not the sort of story that I would have guessed would keep me interested. There's no mystery to keep the pages turning. Not a lot of sexual tension. I'm utterly baffled. But unlike many short contemporary books I've picked up lately, I started it, and I'm going to finish it.
Every book I read teaches me something about my own writing. I haven't yet determined what this one has taught me, but when I do, I'll come back and revisit this post.
Today goal: Get another contest entry judged
Yesterday's accomplishment: Saw Golden Compass
What I'm grateful for: Days when the weather people are wrong about it snowing 4-6 inches
August Rush
I was in the mood to cry tonight. So, I took my daughter to see the movie whose trailer made me cry. I didn't cry. I wanted to, but I didn't. Not because of the movie. It's good. I think I'm just wound too tight to let it go. That's something I don't do well, just letting go. My friend Annie cries a lot. That sounds strange, I know, but she's always had an easy time letting her sadness loose. I bind it up and tamp it down. A survival instinct.
For those of you who've read my earlier blogs, you know I'm a huge fan of the Law of Attraction. August Rush is a 2 hour commercial for it. August wants to find his parents and keeps saying, I must play the music so they can hear. Basically he plays all sorts of instruments, believing his music will draw them to him. And guess what. It does. The critics call the movie a fairy tale. I disagree. I think this movie is about faith. About being able to manifest what's important to you. How can it not be amazing to achieve something impossible, in the face of everyone's skepticism, by the sheer power of your belief in it. The law of attraction in its perfect form. Sure, it's a movie. So, of course, there is a huge concert in Central Park that brings all our players together. You can see it coming from a mile away, but that's the magic of the LOA. By focusing on what was important, the music, and by surrendering to the universe, he achieves his dream of finding his parents. How cool is that?
For those of you who've read my earlier blogs, you know I'm a huge fan of the Law of Attraction. August Rush is a 2 hour commercial for it. August wants to find his parents and keeps saying, I must play the music so they can hear. Basically he plays all sorts of instruments, believing his music will draw them to him. And guess what. It does. The critics call the movie a fairy tale. I disagree. I think this movie is about faith. About being able to manifest what's important to you. How can it not be amazing to achieve something impossible, in the face of everyone's skepticism, by the sheer power of your belief in it. The law of attraction in its perfect form. Sure, it's a movie. So, of course, there is a huge concert in Central Park that brings all our players together. You can see it coming from a mile away, but that's the magic of the LOA. By focusing on what was important, the music, and by surrendering to the universe, he achieves his dream of finding his parents. How cool is that?
The stuff we collect
Do you have a lot of stuff? You know what I’m talking about, things that you hold onto because someday you might need or use it? The older I get, the more of this stuff I have. Gifts that people gave me that I’ll never use. Things that I bought for myself that won’t work out. Clothing that is hopelessly outdated that I might someday be able to “fit into” once again. (Let’s not even talk about my book collection or the various “important papers” that should be filed.)
Two years ago I moved from a house into my townhouse. I had more storage space in the house, so of course, I had more places to “hide” all the stuff that I’d accumulated. Part of the reason I downsized was to have less stuff. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot less stuff, I just have less space. It makes me feel claustrophobic and unproductive.
They say clutter is depression. A few weeks ago I went through my house and eliminated quite a bit of clutter. Now, I’m going to go through again with a firmer hand. Closets, boxes, shelves. It’s time to donate a few gently or never used items.
Do you have a clutter problem or is there a place for everything and is everything is in its place?
Today’s goal: Take my daughter to August Rush
Yesterday’s accomplishments: I got that pesky U3 off my flash drive
What I’m grateful for: Good customer service at Best Buy
Two years ago I moved from a house into my townhouse. I had more storage space in the house, so of course, I had more places to “hide” all the stuff that I’d accumulated. Part of the reason I downsized was to have less stuff. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot less stuff, I just have less space. It makes me feel claustrophobic and unproductive.
They say clutter is depression. A few weeks ago I went through my house and eliminated quite a bit of clutter. Now, I’m going to go through again with a firmer hand. Closets, boxes, shelves. It’s time to donate a few gently or never used items.
Do you have a clutter problem or is there a place for everything and is everything is in its place?
Today’s goal: Take my daughter to August Rush
Yesterday’s accomplishments: I got that pesky U3 off my flash drive
What I’m grateful for: Good customer service at Best Buy
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
What usually takes me 15 minutes to drive took an hour tonight. I love living in Minnesota. I'm trying to teach my daughter about sarcasm. Eight-year-olds are very literal. Tonight, however, when I said that I love living in Minnesota, she understood that I was being "sarcastic."
Four inches last Saturday, three today, one more Thursday and four to six next Saturday. Yuck! Of course, it's a lot better now that I don't have to shovel my driveway. I live in a townhouse and the association takes care of that. Gone are the days when after a tense, exhausting drive home I'd then have to spend another hour blowing out the driveway and shovelling the front sidewalk. Now, I get to sit in front of my cozy gas fireplace and listen for the sweet sound of the plow. There's nothing better!
Today's goal: Rearranging some scenes
Yesterday's accomplishment: Got started on the new WIP
What I'm grateful for: Not having to shovel
Four inches last Saturday, three today, one more Thursday and four to six next Saturday. Yuck! Of course, it's a lot better now that I don't have to shovel my driveway. I live in a townhouse and the association takes care of that. Gone are the days when after a tense, exhausting drive home I'd then have to spend another hour blowing out the driveway and shovelling the front sidewalk. Now, I get to sit in front of my cozy gas fireplace and listen for the sweet sound of the plow. There's nothing better!
Today's goal: Rearranging some scenes
Yesterday's accomplishment: Got started on the new WIP
What I'm grateful for: Not having to shovel
Procrastination
Tonight, instead of jumping into my new wip, I'm blogging. With my daughter staying with her grandparents this evening, I should have come straight home and thrown myself into work. Instead, I'm surfing the net, browsing my new RWR and putting off facing the blank page. I don't know why I do this. Once I get started, I can go for hours without stopping. Its just that getting started thing that I have trouble with.
I did no work this weekend. I was a lazy slug. Two days with no reason to leave the house, and I neither read nor wrote. It's frustrating that I waste so much valuable time, but I can't bring myself to sit down and work. Maybe that's my problem. I use the term work. I put in 40 hours a week at work. Then I come home and do housework. Then I think about writing in terms of work (and frankly, if I intend to have this as a career, that's exactly the way I should approach it). There's a little kid inside me screaming when do I get to play? And a cloud hanging over my head from which a voice booms: if you're not writing you're never going to submit anything and you won't be published.
Is it any wonder I have a hard time putting fingers to the keys.
There's a fear of failure tied up in it too. If I don't finish the book, I can't send it out, and they can't send it back. Oh, I know all that good advice about pulling myself up by the bootstraps and striding forward, etc. And I remind myself of that often. And really, I'm not afraid of rejection. But, it's like the dentist. The longer I can avoid it, the better.
I feel better now that I've whined and vented. Thanks for listening. You've been a great help.
Today's goals: Get started
Yesterday's accomplishments: Gathering energy to begin again
What I'm grateful for: The lack of a deadline, except for what I've imposed upon myself
I did no work this weekend. I was a lazy slug. Two days with no reason to leave the house, and I neither read nor wrote. It's frustrating that I waste so much valuable time, but I can't bring myself to sit down and work. Maybe that's my problem. I use the term work. I put in 40 hours a week at work. Then I come home and do housework. Then I think about writing in terms of work (and frankly, if I intend to have this as a career, that's exactly the way I should approach it). There's a little kid inside me screaming when do I get to play? And a cloud hanging over my head from which a voice booms: if you're not writing you're never going to submit anything and you won't be published.
Is it any wonder I have a hard time putting fingers to the keys.
There's a fear of failure tied up in it too. If I don't finish the book, I can't send it out, and they can't send it back. Oh, I know all that good advice about pulling myself up by the bootstraps and striding forward, etc. And I remind myself of that often. And really, I'm not afraid of rejection. But, it's like the dentist. The longer I can avoid it, the better.
I feel better now that I've whined and vented. Thanks for listening. You've been a great help.
Today's goals: Get started
Yesterday's accomplishments: Gathering energy to begin again
What I'm grateful for: The lack of a deadline, except for what I've imposed upon myself
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