  Noticing Newbies
This week: Birthday Traditions Edited by: Tornado Dodger  
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Birthday Traditions
With all the celebrating lately around the site, you might be inspired to write a story with a birthday theme. The types of stories you can write centering around a birthday are endless. "The WDC Birthday Bash Blog Relay" in particular has had some wonderfully creative 'birthday' prompts for their challenge. Have you ever written a birthday themed story or poem? Did it incorporate any special tradition?
In researching this newsletter, I found many fascinating traditions from around the world. Here are a few I chose to share.
 England - Fortune Telling Cakes and Bumps. Certain symbolic objects are mixed into the birthday cake as it being prepared. If your piece of cake has a coin in it, then you will be rich.
Hungary, Italy and Brazil - Pull on the earlobes. When gifts are open, everyone pulls on the earlobes of the birthday person and says a little rhyme. The rhyme is translated into English as follows "God bless you, live so long so your ears reach your ankles".
Ireland - Birthday Bumps. The birthday child is lifted upside down and "bumped" on the floor for good luck. The number of bumps given is the age of the child plus one for extra good luck.
South Africa and Ireland - Presentation of a key at age twenty-one. On the twenty-first birthday a key made of anything from paper to aluminum foil to silver to gold is presented by the parents as a sign that the child is ready to unlock the door to their future.
Ecuador - Pink Dress. When a girl turns 15 there is a great celebration and the girl wears a pink dress. The father puts on the birthday girls first pair of high heels and dances the waltz with her while 14 maids and 14 boys also dance the waltz.
Jamaica - Floured. There is singing and dancing to the beats of reggae music. The birthday child is floured.
Vietnam - In Vietnam everybody's birthday is celebrated on New Years day. "Tet" is the name for the first morning of the New Year. On the first morning of Tet, parents, siblings, relatives and close friends congratulate children on becoming a year older by presenting them with red envelopes that contain "Lucky Money," or li xi.
I'm interested to know what exactly being 'floured' consists of if anyone has that information.  The next time you're inspired or prompted to write a story centered around a birthday, consider incorporating a tradition that makes your story stand out like one of the traditions listed above. Does your family have any special traditions you'd like to share? I'd love to hear about them. 
Hope you enjoyed this article. If you would like to share your thoughts, please send me a note using the box at the bottom of this newsletter.
Write and Review on! ~ Brooke
[Related Links] 
This month's links are to activities that will help you improve your writing while having fun at the same time.
"Good Deeds Go Noticed" [ASR] by Diane 
"The Writer's Cramp" [13+] by Sophurky 
"Invalid Item" [] by A Guest Visitor
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Here are some talented new member's items that caught my eye. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
Excerpt:
"You know the significance of the eleventh celebration. And it's part of an ambassador's job."
"I know, but the Ratias will be there. That incident on Audell..."
"Audell was one in a hundred birthdays, Minot. You have nothing to fear. As always a full security detail will accompany me."
~  ~
Excerpt:
When a person believes that they are meant for something greater, does it just stem from our own desire to improve ourselves or is there really something special in our destiny that we have yet to fullfill?
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Excerpt:
It has been eleven years to the day by Earth time, but truly it had only been three and a half by the sun of Terranova. The days are long here, and the nights feel even longer. This will be my last entry, and it will serve as a memorial to those who stayed.
~ ~
Excerpt:
The noises kept on playing in my head. The slow creaking of the door opening won't quiet down. The occasional glint from a pair of eyes looking across my side made me shiver. Darkness was covering our bodies in the open room, only lit by the dim moonlight shining through the windows.
~ ~
Excerpt:
Last night, I hosted a birthday party for her and the attendance list included some two hundred people. The guests included an array of Savannah's most prestigious lawyers, businessmen, surgeons, and pompous windbags.
~ ~
Excerpt:
The conversation was with my friend Jen and centered around the subject of vegetarianism. For those of you with very strong opinions one way or the other, this is not going a blog about whether or not one should or should not eat meat. That is a highly personal choice. In the past, I have tried going without meat but I find myself hungry. Frankly, a hungry Lisa is a cranky Lisa.
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Excerpt:
His captors locked him in a dark room with a naked lightbulb dangling over a table. On the table a bunch of gift-wrapped boxes of various sizes waited. Max rubbed the back of his head, it still throbbed.
"It's your birthday, Mr. Wallace," A garbled voice said over an intercom. "Start opening your presents."
"Who's there? Where am I?"
~ ~
Excerpt:
There'd be cake, but it wouldn't be a good cake. Tara wanted chocolate with chocolate icing. She never got that because 'it was too messy'. Birthday cake had to be yellow cake, with strawberry and banana filling with whipped cream icing from D'orsy's.
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Excerpt:
Growing up in Duncan, Oklahoma, in the late 1950's-mid 60's was home-made peach ice cream at its very best. No one I knew locked their doors at night or when they went to work. Keys dangled from car ignitions all over town. Miscellaneous children traipsed in and out of neighboring homes as if they belonged in all of them. Life seemed - and probably was - much simpler way back in those good ole days...
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Excerpt:
Johnny was sitting in his backyard one sunny summer morning on the tire swing he and his father had put up. It had been last summer before he went off to Iraq for a year. It was the best and saddest day of Johnny's life. They picked out the biggest oak tree in the backyard and he carried the tire while his dad swung the rope over a big thick tree branch. Once they got it all put together they spent the whole afternoon out in the backyard.
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I received some wonderful feedback to my last newsletter [#4592] "Don't just write words. Write music." and I'm proud to share it with you.
From sawilson
This article was wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing.
You're welcome. Thanks so much for writing in.
A submitted item from 7632l
From Olivia
thank you for this it was very helpful
You're welcome. Thanks for writing in.
A submitted item from Damian S
From: Sweethonesty 
Brooke,
This information was truly something I needed at at time when my writing is beginning to take flight. I made a copy of it and plan to refer back whenever I get into a block mode. Many thanks. I look forward to whatever other words of wisdom you will choose to bless us with. Write on. Sweet Honesty
Aww, how sweet. Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts. I hope you enjoy today's birthday edition. It's not as in depth as usual because I also penned the Horror and Love/Romance Newsletters this week. 
Here is an email comment from newsletter [#4005] "Is Writer's Block a Myth?"
From: LovesWriting2 
Thanks to all for the great advise/suggestions. I will take each one to heart. Also thanks for the many many resources, they will keep me inundated for days! LOL
Elizabeth
Awesome! I'm so glad the information will be useful to you.
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Noticing Newbies: September 07, 2011 Issue [#4601]
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