Family

It's a totally simple yet utterly perplexing premise.

It's the people with whom you share genetic material, right? Maybe. Maybe not.

It's the people who raise you, right? Maybe. Maybe not.

When a concept can be defined with nearly unlimited variants, you have to wonder about the viability of the word to be able to convey a unified idea to anyone who hears it.

And yet. (Yes, I started a sentence with a conjunction. And I'll likely do it again.)

And yet... say the word family to anyone in the world and they will know know deeply. They will first think of their own family. If they can get past all the thoughts that process engenders, they may be able to conceive that your family (in all likelihood) differs a great deal from their own.

Beyond that, well, that's where all of life's greatest triumphs and tragedies reside, no? There are people related to me by blood for whom I have strongly negative feelings, while there are people I've known less than a quarter of my life for whom I have the fondest of feelings.

Your family is comprised of all those people you love - whether that be one person or a hundred and fifty. The people to whom you can turn for help, even if asking for that help is the hardest thing you've ever done. The people, regardless of their genetic composition, that form the basis of your life. You never know when they'll enter your life... or when they'll leave it.

I'd like to think I have something profound to say to close off this post, but I don't. I've just been thinking lately about all the folks I love and it's quite a list. A list I'm very proud of, at that!

Two Finished Projects and Some Fun

Like all the other (laundry) things I've been procrastinating, I've been holding on to pictures of some of my FOs for a while. (I recently discovered this term "FO" for Finished Object and its counterpart "UFO" for Unfinished Objects... me likey mucho.)

Here is a small afghan that I gave to a co-worker anxiously awaiting the arrival of his first-born:

I like it - it was soft and simple and easy and pretty. Doesn't get much better than that!

Here's my first full-sized afghan, for a good friend who needed something nice:

Again, it was simple, but it pleased me greatly to have the patience to finish something so large - it's about 6' long by 3.5' wide, my largest completed project to date.

And for a little levity...

I tortured my Noodle Dude by wiping water all over his face after we finished washing our hands. He hates it when his father or I do it... so we do it, every so often, just because.

(Yeah, it was as loud as it looks.)

Organized Doodles: A Friendly Little Game

I found this post over at Organized Doodles: A Friendly Little Game. I laughed so hard, really deep belly laughs, all the while ignoring my son's demands of, "What's so funny, Mommy?" Since he's only three-and-a-half and he doesn't really get poo humor (toot humor, well, he loves that), I didn't even try to relate the story. I can honestly say that we've had no poo stories of note in his whole life (so far) with the exception of being surprised at the sometimes prodigious amount of the stuff. But I appreciate having the oppportunity to laugh at other people's interesting adventures in kid-raising - Thanks Rick!

Feeling Artistic

The "Creative Spirit" has been lingering about our abode for the past several days (if she ever really left us at all). It's been a positive thing and a not-so-positive thing - we really have been avoiding the other sundry responsibilities that go along with homeownership and parenthood. As a result, we had to focus all of both of our attentions on the little Noodle Dude just to get him to eat one small serving of baked chicken (which he usually gobbles up without incident). It was frustrating in the extreme but I treated myself to a little R&R after the ordeal and finished this:

Wind-Fire

I'm not totally thrilled with the color job (or the photograph) but I am quite enamored of the media: pencil, sharpie marker, and watercolor pencils. These last are quickly becoming my favorite way to "paint". I haven't had much success with acrylics, oil pastels or tempera (see my previous attempt). The watercolor pencils, though, they seem easier and faster - and accomplish exactly the look I'm going for without a lot of theory or practice. Lazy? Maybe. Perfectly fine by an over-stimulated, high goal-setting wife/mom. So there.

I Love Ani

I have tried three times to embed a video of Ani DiFranco from an interview in Spinner without success. So I guess I'll have to settle for the link. She's a mommy now and the video of the same song ("Both Hands") from her website has her little munchkin in it. Cute. Enjoy!

Apparently, I'm a glutton for punishment. I just have to try again with her new song "Present/Infant":

Meme Avoidance

I'm not (really) ashamed to admit that I'm a meme virgin. I just Googled "What is a 'meme'?" I still don't get it. But I've been tagged (and I bet she thought I forgot), so I'll give it a go.

First, the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you. See above.
2. Post the rules on your blog. Here they are!
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself. See below.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Six (sechs, six, sei, seis) Non-important Things About Moi

I like French. The language, the country where it originated, La Francophonie - and I occasionally butcher it with as much grace as I can muster. Excuse me while I do some more boucherie... Si vous parlez français, venez-ici pour un jeux j'ai trouver: http://www.xs4all.nl/~tluif/EngFrans2.html

I used to LOVE watching those crap kung fu movies where all the dialogue is dubbed and the barely existant plot is mostly related to some sort of vengance/retribution.

Hmmm... I'm trying to think of things I might not have mentioned to my friends, the ones most likely to even read this post...

I take on certain characteristics of the people around whom I spend most of my time. I don't realize I'm doing it right away and once I am aware, I usually just hope that the person I'm immitating doesn't notice. Or doesn't care.

I'm a little obsessive about daydreaming. I do it a lot. Really, I leave my mental back door open all the time, just in case a nice Spring breeze blows by. I'm sure it annoys people who are trying to talk to me about important stuff while I'm in la-la land. But I can't help it; I started doing it so long ago I can't/don't want to slam that door now.

I'm a late-blossoming Sci-Fi geek. I love Stargate in all its incarnations and especially Jason Momoa (Whoa momma, yummers - I'd swing from his dreds ANY day). I'm a Browncoat (Ay, ay, Captain Tightpants) through and through. But I never read any of the stuff as a kid.

Holy crap, I've been working on this post for a long time. Too many things to stop and search.

I was terrified, thanks to my great-grandmother, of indians when I was a kid. In particular, I was afraid that they would be hiding under my bed. When I was in fourth or fifth grade, I pushed the matress off my bed onto the floor between the bed and the outside wall so that (kid logic follows) if an indian came in the room to scalp me, he wouldn't see me and he would continue searching elsewhere for hapless victims. I never have completely discarded the fear that something might be lurking under the bed, but it no longer strikes me as being (insert war-whoop here)-type. More of the dark, insidious creature that likes to grab ankles sort.

Urgh - I'm crapping out on the last part of the meme - the blogger from from whom I received the tag and the blogger who tagged her are the only two bloggers I know personally. If I cultivate more friendships in the future, I'll come back to this section.

There you have it! Now, it's almost 10 p.m. and my Mr. Momoa is coming on in just a few minutes. Later!

Yes, We Can

To my mind, this is a beautiful example of the way music can send a message more powerfully than the unadorned words in the much same way that color brings a photo to life.

A "Gaggle" Got Me Going

Gaggle
–verb (used without object)
1. to cackle.
–noun
2. a flock of geese when not flying.
3. an often noisy or disorderly group or gathering
4. an assortment of related things.

gaggle. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gaggle (accessed: February 05, 2008).

I looked this word up (on my fourth browser tab this sitting) because I was reading a newsletter from a link in my email that talked about writers establishing websites for themselves. I have had a couple blogs, this one included, that I have kept up only sporadically and a domain I have never used... Just like the last domain I never used prior to both the hosting and the domain running out. (Fifth browser tab opened to check and see who's using that old domain - hmmm... not terrible: http://www.craniumstudios.com/)

Anyway, I was thinking of my currently unused domain/hosting services and began to ponder text for it. What else does a writer do if not ponder text, eh? I envision some melding together of my like-minded friends' talents and in such a vision, some of the intro text might look something like this:

Our gaggle of gals boasts impressive talent in a variety of creative milieux. Passion for community in its myriad forms brought us together and we've all grown thanks to the experiences we've shared. Now we would like to share those experiences with a larger audience.

I know, it's raw, but I like the words "gaggle" and "milieux" - And I know what I mean, so let's just call this a rough draft. Maybe I'll lose the alliteration at the front end.

Okay, so here's the call (don't worry, I'm sure I'll make it again in person) - To all my Black Hats and other like-minded female folk, I would like to extend the invitation to launch Persnickety Me with me. I might need some whipping (won't that be fun?) to keep at it, but I need (on so many levels) to complete this one thing. I'm happy to find space for links, arts & crafts for sale, recommendations, articles, whatever floats anyone's boat. I'm learning the computer side so it might be very basic at first, but I've got a couple tricks up the proverbial sleeve.

See you all real soon!

Playing at Painter

I've been playing in my son's tempera paints this evening, enjoying myself, but wishing I had some actual idea of what I was doing. To bring it to this point, I then had to take a picture on my digital camera, upload it to Google's Picasa Web Album, then figure out how to embed it here. I'm sure plenty of folks have figured this out prior to me, but it felt like a bit of a coup for me.

coup n. - 1. a highly successful, unexpected stroke, act, or move; a clever action or accomplishment

I guess I was paticularly pleased with myself because it didn't take a day-and-a-half to figure it out, which indicates (to me, at least) that I'm finally gaining some proficiency with this blogging thing.

Sheesh - I'm sleepy. I'll leave my photo of my amateur painting up for all to adore (hahahaha) and climb in the bed... That's still unmade. At least the sheets are "hork-free"!

21 Days, Multitudinous Habits

What got me thinking about all the habits I would do well to improve upon? Kitty hork. Hork is our generic household term for anything that spews forth from the front end of our centuries old feline fellow. He donated a rather generous hork to the carpet in our front living room this morning before I could skid stocking-footed into the vicinity to alter his trajectory. Tragic.

Further pontification on the subject reminded me that we've been displaced from our bedroom for a whole week due to an unfortunate combination of Kitty hork and a poor habit of mine. Laundry. The great demon whichs spawns itself anew with each passing day. A dear friend says she rather enjoys doing this hellish task - here's her blog, where you can psychoanalyze that proclivity.

So the question becomes: on which poor habits should I first focus my attention? Laundry inattentiveness, nail-biting, procrastination, less-than-optimal eating/exercise routines, poor skincare regimine? (Yes, friends, there are others, but need I air all of my "dirty laundry" in order to make my point?) One of my son's favorite TV channels is running a campaign called Kick One, Pick One - Get rid of a bad habit and replace it with a good one. I think it's reasonably admirable; kids by in large watch an inordinate amount of television, something we've had limited success curtailing. Might as well be pumping SOME good messages into them!

I'm almost sure my husband would suggest that I tame the hulking laundry beast first. It too often occupies the majority of the floor space in our (quite large) master bathroom. One time when I cleaned it all up, Noah came in and cried, "Oh no!" because he missed his climbing pile! That's kind of sad. And don't suggest that I turn the job over to hubby - I promise, he does quite enough as it is. Plus, I would have to teach him how to do it and that just seems, well, pointless.

I think my steam has run out - apparently I need refueling. Had my tea already, but I've been up for two hours with no actual food. Plus, writing this post has been so interrupted by normal morning functioning that I've gone quite off course. Two loads of laundry are in progress, so I guess this could be considered Day 1 of 21. Let's see where we go from here!

More Matisyahu

Really, just totally freakin' nifty. (Plus, the Noodle-dude CRACKED UP when he started beatboxing. Made me play the clip about six times.)

January by the Lake

I decided today that it was rather unlikely that the outdoors would come to me and that instead I ought to go to it. So I bundled up the Noodle-dude and we drove to the dam in Buford. Some of the parks were closed, but we found one that was open. After meandering down a sloped sidewalk, we went off-road and hiked through some goose poo down to the water's edge. We climbed down some rather large boulders I am quite certain are supposed to be underwater (at least, when there's no drought about). We walked among hundreds of little empty shells belonging to some mollusks long since gone or dried up too. Noodle sang out how he loved the dirt and the trees and the little nuts and the moss. Made an Earth-child mommy's heart so proud. I think I have found a suitable (and MUCH cheaper) replacement for my unused gym membership!

Matisyahu

Sleep, Precious (Lost) Sleep

I should, by all rights, still be asleep. It's my day to sleep in, yet I am awake at my normal time. Why, you ask? My sweet old man Kitty. Decided he was going to sit beside our bed (on my side) and caterwaul. It's so rutting early that I had to adjust the monitor brightness since my eyes were being burnt from my skull. (Why that brings to mind the thought of solitary confinement is beyond me. Like I said, I should still be asleep.)

However, once awake, I started thinking. Always my downfall. I thought that I needed to start writing in my blogs more (hence the post). I thought about adding some of my crafting to this blog since my life is relatively without drama (just as I like it, thank you VERY much!). I thought that I'd like to fall back asleep but my brain refused to cooperate.

I've just gone over this post to check for errors - Oh the egregious blunders one commits while tired and typing in the dark! Hope I caught 'em all...

Not a Writer?

I haven't been in the mood to write for a while... Like going on over two months or so. Really one of the oddest things I've ever experienced. I just don't feel like it. It's not as though I haven't had ideas for stories or I haven't had time or anything. I just don't FEEL like writing.

And now my smallish person is making demands on me to prevent further exposition... Perhaps there will be more later.

Merry Christmas!

I don't know exactly how it is that I find myself on the computer so early this morning. I think it has something to do with waking up, starting to think, and... well, that was all she wrote for my time in the bed. I had to come into the computer room to Google something and then I had to look up something related to my Google search on Dictionary.com. Now I'm on to a blog entry and wondering why my keyboard is misbehaving. Bizarre.

I just learned how to spell tangential - I thought there was no "i". Yay me.

So... Merry Christmas to all and to all a good day

Urghl...

Wasn't my last post about having not posted in too long of a time?!?! (I wouldn't know; I haven't read my blog since the last time I posted - TWO months ago!)

So I'm sitting here listening to my friends Spiral Rhythm. They're vunderbar! (Don't shoot me, I really don't speak any real German.) I'm reveling in my new job at one of the "world's leading confectionary companies". I'm blessing all the heavens above that there is very little DRAMA in my life at the moment. I'm thinking of leaving my husband (who won't answer his cell phone) a note to tell him that our three-year-old had a poop so big it clogged our upstairs toilet. (What?!? ME use the plunger, WHATEVER!) I'm in wonder at the fact that this is the first thing I've written in over two weeks... what's more, I think I'm okay with that fact. I'm wondering when my good friend Kit is gonna "pop" and welcome the newest member of our Wednesday mommies' group.

And I'm tickled with my silly self for coming up with "smart-soundin'" tags for this post. Anyone out there know XML? I'm trying to learn and could use a few astute pointers, web resources, etc.

Love ya's all!

Aha-ha-ha-ha

Amazing the things we begin and allow to lapse and start over and forget about and try again...

I've been reading (and re-reading) a comforting book called "Making Your Creative Dreams REAL" by SARK. It's a very forgiving way of following your OWN path toward the dreams you have, be they outlandish or practical or somewhere in between.

From it I've been learning a lot about my own creative process - not only the measurement of my progress, but truly of the process itself. I dream of being a well-fed, published writer. I think I learned to be a storyteller when I was very young so it's a dream that's been nurtured since I can remember. It's also a dream that's ripe for moving into it's next phase, shifting its incarnation from a hidden, little-shared state to (at least) peeking out into the big, glorious, scary, wonderful world.

Another suggestion SARK offers is to make microMOVEments - these are small steps that eventually add up to bigger and bigger accomplishments. My past two weeks have been full of these small steps (plus a few of what I call macroMOVEments) and has resulted in my having a mostly clean, somewhat usable craft room for the first time in many, many, months.

Just in case I never get to say it anywhere else, thanks SARK!

My "Good Friday"

I am to be laid off from my job tomorrow. I was not really surprised to find this out, but still had a moment of tentative fear.

Then, as I glanced over the things on my desk, my eyes landed on the calendar, which showed that tomorrow, Friday, April 6, 2007, is Good Friday (the Christian holiday).

I thought this relatively amusing since I have been wanting for a while to be rid of the burden of my workplace. This morning, just to remind myself that I can make it through these last two tedious days, I looked up the definition of Good Friday on Wikipedia:

"Good Friday is a holy day observed by Christians. Special prayer services are often held on this day with readings from the Gospel giving accounts of the events leading up to the crucifixion. Mainstream Christian churches view Christ's crucifixion as a voluntary and vicarious act, and one by which, along with resurrection on the third day, death itself was conquered."

It is a celebration of DEATH ITSELF [BEING] CONQUERED!!!

How apropos... I am so happy to experience this "little death" (oh wait, that's Shakespearean language for "orgasm" - haha - still somewhat appropriate, I guess) and know that new life awaits just beyond!

I am going back to my roots, banking on my passions combined with my talents instead of just my "abilities" - such a lack luster term. The thought alone causes my heart to swell with positive anticipation - and that is how I am sure that I am headed in the right direction!

The Beginning of the End

And the start of something new!

As with all things, a cycle of my life is reaching its conclusion. I celebrate the coming of this end because it brings with it the promise for a reinvention of my world.

For the first time in my long, somewhat tumultuous career history, I have been confronted with a layoff. It, luckily, didn't strike out of the blue and I find that the simple knowledge that the path is set has begun to open many other doors of possibility.

It won't be a "walk in the park," but I feel strongly that I needed this weight removed from my shoulders before I could stand tall again.

Let's all hope that this will give me more time and space (and energy) to return to those things that nourish my spirit - Like BLOGGING!

Of All Things Time

I have often had the sense that certain parts of my life are flying by with a startling rapidity while other parts drag on like a decaying corpse sealed in time by an embalmer's ministrations...

I read an article this morning on Thai "body snatchers" (just before flipping over to check out Britney's bald head - she still has a pretty face). These folks are mostly Buddhist volunteers who outfit their own personal vehicles to be able to transport injured or expired people to the appropriate destinations (medical or morgue). They, because of their beliefs, pick up every bit of a person they can find so the person will be reborn whole in their next incarnation. What a genuinely morbid way to start a day that will inevitably (for me) include reading investigations about people suspected of committing insurance fraud... Perhaps it's high time I peruse alternative employment!

Disillusionment

Though it's at first tough to be confronted by a facade falling away to reveal the true (and in this case unpleasant) nature of a person, place or idea, ultimately it's rewarding. At the most basic level, the least that will come out of a situation like that is that you will be unlikely to repeat the steps that took you to that place.

For me, I believe that I will start with approaching work-related friendships with a bit more reserve. I found myself inadvertently in the middle of an unfortunate situation in the workplace due to a friendship I'd been cultivating for over two years. The fact that the friendship had survived one of us changing jobs had indicated to me that it may evolve; however, that does not now seem to be the case. The disillusionment came in the form of an epiphany that my friend was NOT going to be changing behaviors that were detrimental to her health and the health of her children, no matter how much she spoke with me about WANTING to change.

I admit to being a bit slow to change negative patterns in my own life and certainly some decisions to change are more difficult than others. This being a matter involving children, I felt that more expedient attention should be given in this case - at least, that is how I myself would have wished to handle it.

While I hate to see a friendship die, I am learning the value of letting those that have ceased to be of value to both parties go into the dust so that new friendships can be birthed in their place. I wish my friend well and while I imagine I may hear from her from time to time, I do not forsee us being able to return to where we once were.

Reconnecting

I've had the distinct pleasure of recently reconnecting with one of my cousins on my mother's side. We've had fun discovering how our lives have been both similar and dissimilar, reminisced about long ago Christmastimes and generally begun creating a friendship I hope will be long-lasting.

It makes me wonder how many of my other cousins would have an interest in rekindling family ties. I have cousins that range in age from my parents' age to my son's age who are scattered all across the country... What sort of fun might we all have if we could interact easily? It kind of makes me want to start building a family tree website where we could all "meet" and share our lives a little more frequently than we otherwise would. I know it's not a new idea, but it could sure be interesting!

Allocating Stolen Moments

So, perhaps I'm not the only one who utilizes time "on the clock" to accomplish tasks other than those assigned to me by my employer, but I'm sure I get some of the most creative use out of that time!

I've put together post card mailings, created web sites (and blogs), retraced family roots, paid bills, gone on online shopping sprees, caught up with current events worldwide, researched obscure subject matter, written short stories, slept (yup, slept), and even took time to just do nothing at all.

Which makes me think about a couple things in particular:

What if I had allocated those stolen moments to something truly productive or, in more specific terms, lucrative? How could I have (let's think business for a minute) leveraged my time and created a product or service from which I could earn income? I admit, I have done extensive research on different ways to make money; I've simply never followed through with any of them.

Also, I often wonder: if I was working in a field for which I had true passion, would I be as likely to look for diversions or would I spend those "free" moments hunting for ways to further my knowledge and experience in those areas I find rewarding? I want to believe the best of myself but I have to realize that almost everyone needs an escape from even those things they are most passionate about sometimes.

Finally, I have to reflect on those things I do have the most passion for at this moment (in random order):
Healthful Eating/Cooking
Writing
Crocheting
My Young but Maturing Family
Spiritual Growth (no definable path)

I know that even in the wake of an impending (inevitable?) change of employment, I know I will probably always have "stolen moments" during which I can continue to grow and evolve - and those moments mean the world to me!

Hippychick

I found a nifty little site while on my search for the elusive song "Hippychick" by Soho. Try searching lyrics sites for "hippie chick" and you won't even graze this one... Oh well, here's the video so you don't have to do your OWN search (be patient - there's a short commercial before the song):

Soho - Hippychick
Music Video Codes By Music Video Code

Workaday World Blues

I dislike some things about the way the working world works... Hmmm, that's pretty mild and a fairly generic statement to make. I strongly dislike the fact that when business sucks, especially in a small business, the people who are responsible for shouldering the heaviest load are the first to be "cut" from the budget. Little errors, the kind that are par for the course, are treated as major infractions and simply fuel the fire of "bottomline" thinking.

It's never reflected upon that, for example, if sales was doing the things they needed to, we wouldn't be having discussions about who might be "let go". We would be working so hard the days would fly by (still making minor mistakes, mind you) and they would be talking about hiring more folks.

That's the real trouble - companies would rather let go of a decent employee than fire a bad one and they'd rather train someone new after a round of layoffs when they could have just hung on to another through a drought. I realize I'm being vague and I hope to goodness the "talk" will be over soon. It's just the sands through which we must slog until then that get to me.

Some Things Happen...

And you don't always know the reason for them right away. It takes time to integrate the experience into your concept of life and the world and then some day it just dawns on you, "Wow! That's why I saw/learned/dreamed/felt that!" It's a refreshing experience when the epiphany finally comes and you can take a deep breath.

I know life works cyclically, too - Sometimes you're in an up cycle and sometimes it's the other direction. While most people who aren't cynical, depressed or masochistic prefer the up, it's definitely valuable to have them both: for regeneration, rebirth, learning and just to have the sense of peace that accompanies reaching the top of the long climb up the hill and seeing the beautiful landscape beyond.

"I can see clearly now, the rain is gone..."

I'm DIZZY!

Ok - So I was mildly chastised (thanks for the push, though, Kit) for having neglected my lonely little blog... Good thing they let your account stand unused indefinitely (I think)!

I am working my way into a new venture, a new stage of my evolution as it were. I'm working on developing a modest website dedicated to healing the tumultuous relationship so many of us have with my favorite four-letter word: FOOD.

It's important to me to start working on my goal and a wise person suggested a website because of the possibility for a more instantaneous type of gratification than might be avilable through other methods. I hope to use the contacts I make through the site to extend my abilities to share with people the struggles I (and so many others) have had with food - and show them that there is hope for healing.

One way I hope to accomplish this is through a book of recipes accompanied by the stories of those who gifted the recipes to me. Another is the development of a program I can personally teach to people who want to learn more about food as a way to nourish more than just their bodies; it's about so much more than mere physical sustenance.

I understand that baby steps (with an occasional leap off a cliff) are probably the best way to approach my new venture. There is so much for me to learn! But with each thing I learn, whether about nutrition, business or web development, I put myself that much closer to my goal of having a truly meaningful career - a "lifestyle" that I have designed myself, not just allowed to "happen" to me.

This post is a bit stream of consciousness, eh? Yeah, well, my mind traveling in so many directions at once tends to make my writing that way, too. Go figure!

Thanks for stopping by!

I have that CD already?!?

Ok, here's a bizarre phenomenon - I was upstairs in my Craft Room rummaging for some CDs I like to load into my laptop. (That would be so that I can block out the sounds of my little person's Signing Times DVDs while I write.) So I'm going through a big bin of them and I see a CD in there that I didn't know I had. This was a good thing because recently I had contemplated buying said CD, but hadn't wanted to spend the money.

I took the CD downstairs and loaded it in iTunes. Then the songs started playing once they were all imported. I recognized the first song and thought, "Oh, I must've heard that one on the radio." The second song began and I thought, "Oh, they must've played that one on the radio, too." By the time the third came around and the fourth and I recognized them all, I started to realize that I (apparently) had listened to this particular CD several times and knew all the songs rather well... Yet I'd somehow forgotten I even owned the blasted thing...

I'm sure any number of things contributed to my memory loss (lack of sleep, no exercise, poor diet - oh, two-year-old son). Still, it was disconcerting. I was truly shocked when I saw the CD in my bin and truly had no memory of it until I started playing the songs.

I think that falls under the heading of having way too much stuff - eBay, here I come!

Getting Started on a Story

I am so excited. I have just been doing some research for a story idea I had and I think it's all going to work out well. I started writing the story a couple days ago after reading an article about Grain Amaranth early last week. It's amazing where story ideas find their genesis!

I will be posting the story in chapters on storywrite.com and hope I can get at least a few people hooked to help me along during its development. The plan right now is to write it from the points of view of two different characters, one in first person and the other in third person. It's not a new concept (see the Bartimaeus Trilogy and Anne Rice's Beauty series), but I think I might be able to pull it off.

I don't want to give too much away (just in case anyone actually reads this post), but two distant cousins inherit property from an elderly uncle and find friendship, a new purpose in life and some old family secrets in the process. There's a lot of ground to cover and I think I might have found an idea that's actually long enough to translate into a book.

Tentative/Working Title: Raising Amaranth

Here's me wishing me luck!