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 |   Here you will find my daily journal of small stones and inspiration! |
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Okay, Lyn's a Witchy Woman  , before next Monday I am going to saute some brussel sprouts! Maybe I might even like them! I will let you know! |
It's Wildcard Monday! Prompt for March 10, 2014 I recently rediscovered the usefulness of the library ( *Blush* ) even after working here all year, and began looking more and more in depth at the covers of books. What book are you reading now? If you aren't currently reading a book, what is the next book you want to read, or what is the last book you finished? What drew you to that book? Look specifically at the cover design, the back cover, and the inside flaps. What makes this book one that would stand out on a library shelf? Right now I am reading two books. The first is Henry David Thoreau's Walden and Civil Disobedience. I have had this book since college and this is the first time I am reading it. I took an American Lit class and read Emerson and thought I would enjoy Thoreau. I just haven't taken the time to read it. The cover is interesting because it has a picture of Liberty, unknown artist, on it. The other book is The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon. I have to read this for work. I have just finished reading All Quiet on the Western Front and A Separate Peace. I seem to be on a classic's quest! Does anyone have a classic that they love and read over and over again? When I look at the library for books I am usually at their used book sale. I like going on the last day when you can get a bag of books for $2. I have been known to spend $10 and I brought home 75 books! I usually look over the spines of the books looking for familiar authors. I grab all the Mary Higgins Clark, James Patterson, Kathy Reichs, and John Grisham novels I can find. (Sometimes, I come home with several copies of the same books, LOL) I then look over the books looking for titles I find intriguing. Usually , these books are outside of my normal reading preferences. I will pick up a romance novel or historical fiction. If I am not paying much for the books it won't pain me too much if I don't enjoy it!  Tell us about some of your commuting experiences to work. Is it enjoyable or horrific? If you work from home, what is it like not to commute? How did you turn your home into a work environment? I live 3 miles from work, so my stories are few and far between. I can think of two times in the 20 years I have worked there that stick out! Once, in the middle of winter I was driving to work when I experienced a white-out. For those of you lucky enough not to live in a snowy area, a white-out means that it is snowing so badly you can't see anything. I could not see the front of my car. I didn't know if I was even still on the road. I knew I couldn't just stop because I didn't want to get stuck, so I just drove slowly on. When the snow finally cleared I was barely on the road but man that was scary! The second time I was headed to work on Black Friday, at 4am. I was tired but driving safely when all of a sudden 3 deer ran out in front of me! Needless to say that woke me up! I got to work and my heart was pounding! Fruits or Vegetables? I like some of both. In the summer I love grabbing a tomato and eating fresh off the vine. A cool watermelon slice is wonderful. Give me a plate of raw broccoli and carrots, add some dip and YUMMY! Apples, grapes, bananas.... I love them too. Just don't feed me cauliflower, brussel sprouts, peaches or apricots! |
Prompt for March 9, 2014 Provide your thoughts/opinions on a newspaper/magazine article or a radio/television news story from the past week. And if you feel inclined, let loose and blog about your week. Also, feel free to comment on your favorite blog entries from your fellow challengers from the preceding week, though this is not required. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/54608050/ns/local_news-rochester_ny/t/henrietta-superv... An update on my blog from last Sunday. Henrietta Town Supervisor Jack Moore has come out against the Casino. The only problem, no one thinks the town has any say over whether we get a Casino or not. The Senecas have a program in the state and it will be up to the Governor to decide whether we get it or not. I worry somewhat that Jack Moore knows this and came out against the Casino to remain in good standing with his constituents knowing full well the Casino was going to end up in Henrietta anyways. He then would be in a no lose situation; where he has gained the trust of the town while gaining the income/ more jobs from the new casino. He will get the benefit in the next election for having the casino and new jobs and tourism (assuming the casino does not fall through) so economically it will be a win AND he will still have the votes from those who were against the casino by being able to say that I was against it from the beginning. I hate when politicians play both sides. I am not sure that is what is going on but it sure appears that way. I must say that I know Jack Moore and he has always been a great businessman/agriculturalist in Henrietta, but I feel in this instance he is a politician playing politics. |
It's Creation Saturday! Prompt for March 8, 2014 It's Saturday! Did you get to sleep in? Make a few creative excuses for why you were able to sleep in this morning. If you didn't get to sleep in, what woke you up? Oh, I got to sleep in! Maybe I forgot Daylight Savings Time starts Sunday and instead of setting the clock ahead an hour I set it back an hour. The dog decided to let himself out this morning and I got to sleep in. I got abducted by aliens and after they took me to their spaceship and probed me they gave me a sleeping potion. I ate magical mushrooms and the little mice shut off my alarm clock! Needless to say I got to sleep in! |
It's Funny Friday! Prompt for March 7, 2014 Who is your evil twin? Write about the mischievous deeds that he/she has done today. Oh my! I have no evil twin, I AM THE EVIL TWIN!. This is according to my husband. I have a tendency to plot evil (harmless) things all the time, everyday! I am a friendly person but I have a sarcastic, mean streak that I tend to exhibit often. I have a quick wit that seldom misses a beat to add a comment. If I am provoked you better run! This can be fun but I have a feeling it can be bothersome to those around me. I think at times my sarcasm and quick wit can be a bit much to those who know me. So, do I banish the evil twin to the cellars of my mind or do I let her roam free. Unabashed in society, to work her magic in social situations. Perhaps, I should check the shackles in the dungeons of my mind, I think even if I banished her, she'd find a way out!  BCOF: Are you able to drive? Were you? What do you remember about learning how to drive, if you did? If you didn't, why didn't you? I took Driver's ed in High School but did not get my license until I was a junior in college. That was a long, long time ago! However, two instances stand out in my mind from those long drives learning how to keep between the lines. The first instance is when my oldest brother took me out in his Pickup. We drove to the next town over to see the site of a derailed train. I did really well driving there and back home. Then my brother told me to back the truck into the driveway. For some reason my head could not figure out which way to turn the wheel when backing up. The truck, no lie ended up SIDEWAYS in the driveway. So Dave told me to pull her forward again and try it over. Again, the truck was facing the trees in the front yard. He tried to calmly tell me to park it and we went inside. We ate dinner, with the truck sideways in the driveway! The other incident occurred when my Mom took me out in my father's car. We went out on some back roads to practice k-turns. These are not the easiest things to do, though I am pretty good at them now. The only problem when I was out that day is these back roads did not have curbs, they had huge ditches on both sides. I managed to stop right before I put my dad's car in one of the ditches. Needless to say, Dad never found out how close to the ditch I came! |
Mac or PC? (One word answers aren't interesting to read, so please expand on your opinion) I am a touch late but I had a busy day yesterday! I would say PC to the answer, mainly because many programs are specifically designed for PC vs the Mac. Other than in grade school, I don't believe I have ever used an Apple computer. Now, I do use an IPad at work for several applications. It works fairly well and when we do have issues I would daresay the issues are more at our end than with the Apple brand itself. I really would not have been able to answer this question without first posing it to my husband who explained the difference, of course with his own opinions imbedded. |
| 30 Day Prompt : What is something you did as a kid that you still enjoy doing today? Or, what is something you did as a kid that you wish you could still do today? Oh, this is too easy today. I would love to go sledding like I did when I was younger. We would drive to Mendon Ponds with the toboggan hanging out the trunk of the car or resting in the bed of my brother's Ford pickup. It would hours that we would zoom down the hill, trying at the bottom to navigate between the trees and wind up on the frozen pond below. Then Dave, my oldest brother would grab the cord for the sled and we would trudge to the top of the monstrous hill, turn around and zoom again. Several times I fell off the back half way down. On of the last things he would say as we got into his truck, snow covered, soaked to the skin would be "don't tell Mom you were on the pond". We would get home and my mother would shoo him downstairs to change and she would have me take off my outer clothes in the garage, they would have snow caked in crevices you never knew could be in snow pants. After, I would get into snugglely warm clothes and wait for the hot chocolate and I would blurt out "Mom we went on the frozen pond!" I don't have the strength, gumption, or energy to go sledding anymore. Even if I did I don't think I could convince anyone to go with me. Looking at the size of the hills I honestly do not know if I could trudge up the hill anymore! Alas, youth escapes me!  e:starb} e:starb} You get to spend one hour with any person you choose - living or dead. Who is it? What do you talk about? What do you hope to learn from them? I am going to go all nerd on this one! I would want to discuss The Scarlet Letter with Nathaniel Hawthorne. I have read this book several times for classes and each time I was disgusted by the amount of times we had to dissect the meaning behind every little thing Hawthorne wrote. If I could just have an hour with him I would ask, "Mr Hawthorne, when you wrote The Scarlet Letter did you intend the reader to read the book front to back and digest it as a whole piece of literature, or did you want us to stop and think about every symbol you may ,or may not, have put into it? |
| BCOF Prompt: Basically, do you scrapbook, make photo albums, travel blog when you take trip. I have always done a hybrid of photo album and scrapbooking. I have been to Galveston Island, Texas; Mt Rushmore; Gettysburg. For each of these trips I have a binder with photos, memorabilia, and sugar packets; yup kets from the trips. I journal all the photos and pamphlets. I goes it is a scrapbook but without the frilly edges and frames and such! I love reliving these trips through these books and there are among my favorite possessions. Blog City Prompt: Mardis Gras; do you attend, where do you go, what costume would you wear? I have never been to Mardi Gras but if I were to go I would go to Galveston Texas, fourth largest Mardis Graas celebration, I believe in the country! My sister went thi9s year and had a blast. I did not know until I read the prompt that there were different costumes for the event. I had to Google it! After seeing the various ones I decided I would be the Mardis Gras Jester. If anyone reading this has ever had a "conversation" with me you would know why. I have quite the sense of humor and I think jester would suit me fine! There are many new, fantastic changes happening around WDC. What thrills you about the community we call Writing.com? On a broader note, what does Writing.com mean to you? How would you "sell" a community like ours to a writer friend of yours who is looking for a good writing site? What thrills me the most is the sense of community. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that I could make such wonderful friends on a website. Everyone truly cares about everybody else, at least as far as I have seen. I joined because a freind had liked the page on facebook, I thought I would stay on the free part and write a novella. I then found The Writers Cramp and began writing poems. I think that is how I met Dave  . Then I met Marci Missing Everyone  . All of a sudden I was writing poems, many many poems. Dave and Marci taught me that though I thought I knew what I was doing there was much to learn. So , I decided to take a class and went to the "basic" package so I could have enough space for the assignments. Now, I was off. I joined several groups and entered many contests.Well, this month will signify one year that I have been on WDC! I now have a poetry contest and a raffle running! What a difference a year makes. I have told several friends who write about this site and they have joined as well! What does WDC mean to me = FAMILY |
| BCOF Prompt- You find a message in a bottle. What does it say? Do you write back? Do you throw it back? I think this poem I wrote back in February will answer all the important questions! "Invalid Entry"  Blog City- What was the last thing you got butterflies in your stomach, excited for. It would have to have been 5 1/2 years ago when I got married. What an exciting day! Beginning a new life with my one and only, and then flying to Washington for the honeymoon. I had never been on a plane before and I am very afraid of heights so I was extremely nervous about the plane ride. I can't think of anything since that has made me as nervous as that did! 30d Blogging Challenge Prompt: What was a time in your life that was worthy of a movie, short story, etc. I honestly have no idea of a time in my life worthy of a short story or anything. So, in the nature of creative writing I will make something up.... It was the thirteenth of October,the cold autumn wind blowing through the alleys whipping up old plastic bags and the stench of the dumpsters. I hadn't been in the city long but I was going to make a go of it. I just finished my third audition and this time I felt for sure I would get the part. I just knew I was going to play Scarlet in the remake of Gone With the Wind. I was going to be much better than Vivian Leigh, too. The director said I showed potential if only I could come back later that afternoon, after the auditions were over. I knew what that meant but I wanted the part. At about 4pm just as the sun was beginning to set I showed up on his couch, with my lawyer. Not only did I get the part but I owned the studio after that as well! Hahahahaha! Check out my new raffle :
my new contest:
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| http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20130820/NEWS01/308200024/henrietta-... They are trying to build a casino in the town I live in. I don't know if I care one way or the other about it. People who are Pro- Casino say it will bring new jobs and tourists to the area, Anti-Casino people are claiming the Casino will bring crime and other problems and the tourist will stay in the Casino and not frequent the area around the Casino. I can see both sides. The Casino will bring new jobs and tourists to the Henrietta area, it may bring crime (but crime may come just the same) and potentially people coming to the Casino may find nothing in the area to visit. My main problem is with a group who is trying to stop the casino. The group called NoMoreCasinos is promoting the crime and lack of tourism in an attempt to keep a casino from the Rochester area. This group, from what I am lead to believe, is a group of investors from Batavia and Canandaigua two cities in western NY. You may wonder why two areas 45 miles away from Henrietta a so against a casino going there. Well, that is an easy question to answer. Both these cities have casinos in their area. A casino in Henrietta could possibly cut into the amount of people visiting their casinos. I understand their concerns. but don't tell me negatives about a casino trying to scare me into letting you keep your profits. The bottom line to all this is when a controversial subject arises and a group forms to stop it, make sure the group doesn't have ulterior motives! Just another Shameless Plug! I have started a new contest and EVERYONE is invited to participate!
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| ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` BCOF Prompt: Prompt: National Compliment Day What's the best compliment anyone has ever paid you? This prompt was easy. I had the answer as soon as I read the prompt. The best compliment has to be when anyone compares me to my Mom. She was the sweetest most patient person ever! She raised 4 kids as a stay at home mom and rarely complained. Now, don't get me wrong she wasn't a saint but she was as close as a sometimes-church-going- Lutheran could be. She rarely would hurt anyones feelings and would go out of her way to help people out. So when people tell me that I remind them of her, I know that I am not being my usual sarcastic, snarky self. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I used to think that it was okay to kid people about weight or looks as long they thought it was ok and funny. I now understand that it was just as hurtful because the person probably was only acting like it was funny. This all stems from when I was in grade school. I used to hang out with some of the "nerdy" boys and we would play chess and games at lunch and generally have a good time. One of the guys used to call me Tubs n' Bells (too long of a story to tell now). He called me that mainly because I was overweight. I acted like it was funny because he was supposed to be a good friend of mine. Looking back on this, over 30 years later, I realize that I was hurt by this name calling. I would go home sobbing because he made fun of me but I wouldn't let him know what he had done. There is no reason that anyone should have to make fun of someone else. It is not funny to pick on others, whether they laugh at the joke or not. They may be laughing on the surface but deep down somewhere they are hurting. You are rubbing their face in something that they already know. I knew I was heavy, I know that I am heavy! You don't need to tell me or make it funny. It is not funny, IT IS WHO I AM! You don't need to try to make it funny. It isn't. The weight is not easy to take off nor is it fun. But again it is me. I hate to admit but I have been known to make fun of others. I have even made fun of other peoples' weight issues. Talk about a hypocrite with double standards! I need to remember other peoples' feelings just as others' need to consider mine. Respect is a two-way street. ********************************************************************************************************************* |
| I am thinking about starting a raffle and a poetry contest in March. Keep an eye out for them. I will post links when I set them up. If you have any ideas for who the raffle should help this month let me know... |
| Prompt: Today, is International Tongue Twister Day. What tongue twisters do you know? Do you enjoy doing them with your family? Have you ever included them in your writing? Oh man do I have a story about a Tongue Twister. When I was in elementary school I had a lisp. I could not pronounce the SH sound, whenever I did it came out ssss. This is a problem for any youngster but imagine being a young child named Sharon who can not manage to pronounce her own name. I went to speech therapy for the seven years I was at the school. Because of this speech impediment I had several sentences that I needed to repeat to train myself how to say the sh sound. Therefore, she sold seashells at the seashore became a favorite. Now, I tend to pronounce it she shold sheashells at the sheashore. I still hate to speak in public and at times I need to make PA announcements at the store I work at. I have told them I would rather not but they have me do it anyways. I told the one manager about the impediment, he said he would never believe I had a problem. It is amazing how much that affected my life. |
| Prompt: Pepsi or Coke? Well, I love Diet Pepsi and Pepsi Max. I REALLY love Pepsi Max, however , my husband does not like it when I drink Pepsi Max. He seems to think it makes me a wee bit hyper! I probably does. The only problem exists during NASCAR season. My favorite drivers, including Tony Stewart, are part of the Coca Cola Family of drivers. So on Sundays from Daytona through Homestead, I drink Coke! Pepsi is a sponsor of Jeff Gordon, I can not stand Jeff Gordon! |
| ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Gee I can't imagine what animal I would be! |
| I have always enjoyed watching the TV show "In the Heat of the Night". Right now I am watching the 1967 movie "In the Heat of the Night". It is a very telling story and I would encourage everyone to take the time to watch it. I hope everyone enjoyed Valentine's Day, I know that Writing.com made me feel extremely special because of all the Birthday wishes I received. You are a special community and I feel honored to be part of it. If you are new to WDC, I encourage to become involved with some of the groups. Join a group that focuses on your particular genre. Through the group you will get to know individual writers and then you will find friends. Through these people you will find other activities and groups to become involved in. That is how I got started. I joined WDC last March to write a novel (no, haven't finished chapter 2 yet). I soon discovered the gift point system, and that you can accumulate them by entering (and winning) contests. The first contest I learned about was The Writer's Cramp. I entered a few times, sometimes with short stories and occasionally a poem. I then signed up for newsletters (great sources of information) and found Stormy's Monthly Contest. Somehow, along the way, I found The Poet's Place Cafe and wound up making friends with some very good poets Including Marci Missing Everyone . I then began writing more and more poems and learning more and more about writing them. By writing more I began to be reviewed more and learned about The Simply Positive Group and Sisco's Good Deed Group, run by SHERRI GIBSON  and ~ Santa Sisco ~  respectively. These are wonderful groups to become involved with and you will find even more friends this way. This is a beautiful community and I hope everyone finds there niche here! |
| The BCOF prompt was to create a Writing Themed restaurant and make up a list of items served.... Welcome to "The Ink Well" Cocktails: The Gatsby (Gin and Tonic) Entrees: The Old Man and the Seafood Platter Pencil Skirt Steak Salmon wrapped in paper |
| Watching the Olympic Opening Events... How many can remember the 1980 Miracle on Ice! I was nine and I can still see my whole family around the living room chanting USA USA USA! Good Luck to all the athletes competing from ALL the countries! |
| BCoF Prompt: What is your opinion of classic literature (Sophocles to George Orwell and everything between) I love the classics! Some of my favorite books include The Great Gatsby and Wuthering Heights. What I don't like how high schools teach the classics. Granted, it has been 25 years since I was in school but I have a feeling that English Lit classes haven't changed too much. My main problem with English Lit classes is the fact that they dissect every book to the point the piece no longer looks like a whole. The perfect example of this is The Scarlet Letter. When I was in school this book was forced upon us. We had to analyze each chapter and explain why Hawthorne used certain words when he did. It made a difficult read worse than it had to be. By analyzing sentence by sentence the reader lost sight of the major work. I have since reread this masterpiece... for fun! I read it as entertainment and enjoyed it immensely. I believe there are many classics read in HS that the students might enjoy if they could just read the whole novel without the BS of analyzing each "the". Just for fun think back to HS and one of the classics that you hated. Now go to the library and borrow it. Read it cover to cover as ENTERTAINMENT and see if you like it better! |
| Prompt: If you got one whole day where you were both unable to feel any pain and be totally indestructible. What would you do with that 24 hour period time? It's your moment to be a Super Hero This one is easy. I would run to the University of Rochester and tell the researchers to do whatever necessary and find a cure for cancer. I figure if I am indestructible they can hit me with any type of cancer and treatment. Hopefully, within 24 hours they would learn enough to find a cure! That being said I hope that all of you will take the time to read my blog from yesterday. It concerns the same topic of cancer. Please, if you are on facebook consider checking out the following link: http://www.chevrolet.com/purple-roads-world-cancer-day.html |
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