Ravenous

Source: Uploaded by user via Mary on Pinterest

 

I’m loving my new book: Ravenous: A food lover’s journey from obsession to freedom by Dayna Macy.  Here’s an excerpt:

“Salt, grease, tasteless pulp in my mouth,” he says, koan-like. “I can never eat

enough corn chips to be satisfied because there’s no there there. And if I

wasn’t paying attention, I’d keep eating them to try to get what isn’t there.

“Compare this to an orange,” he says, “which is sweet and tastes like sunshine.

When you taste something, don’t only let your mouth respond. Let your heart

respond. There’s a lot of food in this world that doesn’t have much to offer

your heart.”

Wishing you sunshine in your stomach, in your heart, and in your world! 

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The dying art of good penmanship

Source: google.ca via Karyl on Pinterest

 

 

I wish I could have handwritten this post!  I have decided to work on improving my penmanship.  It has gotten sloppy due to laziness and lack of practice.  It’s a beautiful thing to write beautifully and it’s not all about content.  I love pictures, and good penmanship is a beauty to behold.

Here’s a good article I found on handwriting: 8 Easy Tips to Improve Your Handwriting.

I just learned that National Penmanship Day takes place on my son’s birthday: January 23rd!

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The beauty of young families

Source: digital-photography-school.com via Michelle on Pinterest 

Last weekend I saw about 3 sets of beautiful young families.  When I say young families I mean parents who are in their 20s with little ones in strollers.  There is something so sweet about them.  The parents are so young themselves and they seem happy and energetic.  They seem undaunted by the great undertaking of raising a family.  They have not yet gone through the stormy teenage years and beyond.  I know that I am romanticizing here.  That’s ok.  I know these two young parents are tired and scared.  But what I saw last weekend was a glimpse of joy and fun and being untethered.

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Giving books wings

Source: theblogonthebookshelf.blogspot.com via Emma on Pinterest

 

I am not a collector of books.  I am a giver away of books. Sure, there are a few I keep: the odd poetry book, reference books, books of art and craft, bibles and prayer books, language books. I love cookbooks. But what I read most are novels and I don’t often reread novels. Novels have wings. They are meant to fly and soar. While I’m reading a book I’m always thinking of who I know that might like it. When I finish it I give it away and I don’t want it back. In that way books travel and soar and I like to be a part of that.

 

The palpability of handwritten letters

Source: crushculdesac.tumblr.com via Angela on Pinterest

 

Why do handwritten letters mean so much more than emails?  Is it because you are actually touching the thing your friend touched?  Is it because it took more effort than just typing and pressing send?  Is it because it’s historical and old?  Why?

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I said blogroll not cinnamon roll!

Source: myrecipes.com via Gret on Pinterest

 

Just like cinnamon rolls, your blogroll should not be too big to eat.  Overly long blogrolls are intimidating and tiresome.  I would like to keep my blogroll to 10 blogs but that is difficult.  At the moment I have 13.  The number of blogs, and what I choose to feature, changes from time to time.  It’s a fluid process, like life.

My blogroll is a combination of blogs I like, blogs I think you might like, and blogs that are on subjects of interest to me.  It’s not just blogs I follow.  Sometimes I use my blogroll for myself.  For example, there may be a blog that I can’t easily follow (it’s not on WordPress or Facebook).  So I put it on my blogroll for easy access.   I try to update my blogroll from time to time.  My tastes change.  Blogs die.    I hope you will a moment to check out the blogs that look interesting to you and in doing so maybe fin a new blog friend or two. 

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Mistaken for a Muslim Woman

Last night I was at the airport waiting for my driver.  It was late and very cold.  I was coming from Memphis where it had been about 30 degrees warmer.  I put on every piece of clothing I had in my bag and covered my head with a scarf. While waiting, there was a Muslim-looking woman.  I say Muslim-looking because on that night I was a Muslim-looking woman too.  She smiled at me as if to say, “Hi sister.”  I smiled back but felt a little uncomfortable.  I wasn’t trying to look Muslim but I was aware that I did before I even saw her.  Should I tell her that I’m not Muslim?  It was silly.  Who cares. She smiled at me. I smiled back.  We are sisters.  I am Christian.  She is Muslim, probably, but who knows for sure.

The picture above is of me in Morocco about 6 years ago.  I can pass for many things: Puerto Rican, Dominican, Ethiopian, Muslim.  I am none of those things.  I am Christian, of African descent (most likely West African), English, Irish, German and French.  Most importantly, I am human.

Birthday Card System: Never forget a birthday!

Source: google.com via Rachel on Pinterest

 

I have a system for birthday cards that enables me to send cards to my loved ones on time and pretty much without fail.  My sister-in-law, smart girl that she is, suggested that I share it.  So here it is:

First you need a birthday book like this:

You don’t need a fancy one.  All you need is a calendar.  Gather all your birthdays and keep them here.  This is your birthday bible.  The last week of the month, get out your birthday book with your supplies: birthday cards, stamps, address labels and post-it notes.

Go through the next month, find your birthday people, and write out your cards to each one.

As you complete each card, put it in its envelope, address it, put a stamp and a return address label on it.

Now here comes the important part: Put a post-it note on it with the date it should be mailed.

Now put them all together in a stack in order of date to be mailed.

I keep my stack at work.  Each morning I take things that need to get mailed that day.  I take off the post-it note and it’s ready to go – already addressed and stamped!

The good news?  Your loved ones get their cards on time!  Try it!

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Turning my blog into a book

Source: Uploaded by user via Karyl on Pinterest

 

I had a marriage blog called I Love This Husband & Wife Stuff: 365 things I love about being married.  When I got to the 365th thing, I decided to stop.  The blog is still online but I am no longer adding posts.

I wanted some physical record of the blog so I made it into a book on Blog2Print.  It is a personal keepsake.  But I also wanted to make it into a book to sell on Amazon.

I have been working on this book for a few  months.  Whereas writing the blog was mostly fun and exciting, turning the blog into a book is tedious and requires discipline.  I still want to do it but when I sit down to work on it it’s just not fun.  And, I like to have fun!

I guess that’s where commitment and hard work come in.  Just like marriage isn’t always fun, when you want to do something important or good, you have to push though the challenges and difficulties.

There is no substitute for hard work.

Thomas A. Edison

So, that’s where I am now.  I have about 127 pages of text from the blog and I’m about a third of the way through.  Have you converted a blog into a book?  Are you considering it? If you have any tips or encouragement you’d like to share I’d appreciate it.  Thanks.

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Staying motivated to write a children’s book

I’ve thought a lot about children’s books lately.  I wrote one last year. It’s about pies.  The themes are girls, friendship, cultural diversity, baking, and fun.  When I wrote the book I had planned to illustrate it myself.   I tried but was not happy with the pictures.  So the project has hung out on the shelf so to speak.  I am anxious to pull it out again and edit it and start looking for a publisher.  But, I’ve been procrastinating.

A friend has written an excellent children’s book about a dinosaur.  I love it.  She found an illustrator and the pictures are gorgeous.  I am so happy for her.  A work colleague has also written a couple of children’s books reminiscent of Dr. Seuss.  Very fun to read, indeed.   

It’s inspiring to be surrounded by all this kid book creativity.  I hope it will encourage me to keep working on mine and not give up.  Creative ideas need nurturing, feeding or they will die of malnourishment.  The hard part is keeping up the energy of the project when you feel discouraged.  I’ve read that discouragement is Satan’s most powerful tool.  I believe it!

The key to combating discouragement is having faith and having fun.  I need to believe in my project, pray for my project and have fun with it. 

How do you keep yourself motivated?  

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