The NaMos are Coming! The NaMos are Coming!

This might be a November project…

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November is one week away, and that means NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo are, too!

If you’ve been thinking about reinvigorating your blogging or are finally ready to stop procrastinating on that book you’ve always wanted to write, these two great events (and communities) can give you the jolt of motivation you need.

NaMo what now?

NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo are short for “National Novel Writing Month” and “National Blog Posting Month,” respectively. In the first, writers commit to writing a 50,000-word novel between November 1 and November 30; in the second, to posting every single day in November.

310,095 participants started the month of November as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.

– NaNoWriMo 2013 at a Glance

Although the two events are separate, they share a history: NaBloPoMo started in response to NaNoWriMo, when a group of bloggers who lacked the time or inclination to write…

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Cleaning and Mourning

Fifty three years of accumulated stuff, relegated to the attic. Two college degrees, two previous marriages, ten years of teaching middle and high school, and a handful of semesters of teaching college public speaking.
And now, one mother who has passed away. This is the impetus for a thorough cleaning and a simultaneous reckoning of the “stuff” I have chosen to save.

Some of it is pretty common. Christmas decorations, roller skates, on old oak headboard and footboard. My Barbie collection, softball gloves, luggage, and art. College notebooks. High school mortarboard and tassel. As I dig deep, I find some treasures.

A Handmade “Slam Book” from Junior High, where we rated each other as friends. Brutal pre-teen popularity angst.

A Bride Doll. Still in its original box. And it’s original wedding gown.

A journal from my senior year, with shared writing between my high school sweetheart and I. Frank in its sexuality, filled with desire, and expressions of love. And bad poetry.

A picture of me in “old-timey” clothing, from Myrtle Beach, from the summer I ran away and “joined the circus,” sort of.

An electronic typewriter, before there were computers.

A leather briefcase. An overhead projector. An electric guitar signed by Hank
Williams, Jr.

My mother’s Noratake China. Each piece was carefully wrapped in newspaper. It is now displayed in my china cabinet. It has been a long journey to get to this point. My second-hand china cabinet looks like a the real deal. I worry about where to move my alter.

Autumn in the Deep South

Living in a hot, humid climate makes the slow progression to Autumn all the more beloved. People can go outdoors again without risking heat exhaustion, dehydration, or fear of spontaneous combustion.

It’s a sweet little season that usually last from late September to Early November. Yes, there will still be really hot days once in a while, but mostly it’s temperate, and we get an anomaly known to other parts of the world called a “breeze.” It reminds me of childhood summers in Oklahoma, where there seems to always be a breeze, and you know it’s there because you can feel it on your hairs, and your face, and your neck: you can hear it in the leaves that sound like muted castanets, and the wind chimes ring, arisen from their summer dormancy. You can smell the change that is coming because you notice a musty smell, as green foliage starts to decompose.

It is in this season, this wonderful season, that I love being a Southerner, with all it’s contradictions. I love being a maker, a crafter, an artisan, too, because I’m am inspired by the changes taking place and the way they awaken my senses.

Our small city is alive with festivals and fairs. Indeed, this whole state wakens from its sweaty slumber, wipes it brow, and celebrates. And if you can look beyond the surface, with an eye for history, you can see and feel the celebrations of the old days: village fairs, autumnal equinox celebrations, events of athletic competition, wares for sell, communities gather outdoors, and there is marching, and sharing, and face-to-face communication. A spell has been lifted, and we are alive again!

It’s in the midst of change I feel the most joyful and alive. And it’s something I can depend on. The seasons will change. Just hold on a little longer.

iPhone 6: keeping up with the technology

Yes! A blogger who leather crafts, too!

Art's Musings, etc.

Handmade kangaroo leather iPhone 6 case

As I’ve mentioned many times in this blog, I’m slow at making things. Everything I do is one at a time and really the opposite of efficient and high throughput. This is one of the main reasons I love making things, and it is also one of the reasons why I have my “day job“.

Life in my day job as a professor at a major university requires lots of grant support, which has become very tough these days. NPR recently ran a series of stories last week about biomedical funding at the NIH. Pretty accurate…and pretty depressing. I’ve been fortunate to be successful recently, but it can still be stressful thinking about the next few years. It is always hard when there is a lot of financial pressure on something you love to do. That is one reason why I like being slow and inefficient…

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Dear Dream Reader

You know I want you to read this. So just do it. I have a connection with you. Yeah, a kinda geeky love for words, and images, and creating stuff. And art. We have a mind meld. Yet, you know that I know that you know we both have tons of new stuff that we can learn from each other. And that’s the attraction, right? We both crave to be schooled.

Oh my, that’s good, if I do say so myself.

Read me.

Teach me.

I want to reach you.

The Meaning of Happiness Changes Over Your Lifetime

Adding blogs to follow in my Reader. Thought this one is worth re- blogging!

Center for Advanced Hindsight

The following is a scientific and personal article written by CAH member Troy Campbell about happiness.

One lovely afternoon, I began chatting to my grandpa. I was completely unaware he was about to say something that would change my view of happiness forever.

In the middle of our conversation, I felt a lull so I pulled out the classic question. “If you could have dinner with one person, living or dead, who would it be?” I couldn’t wait to talk about my long list of dead presidents, dead Beatles, dead scientists, and a really cute living movie star. But I was also really eager to hear what he’d say.

Then he simply answered, “My wife.”

I immediately assured him it’s not necessary for him to answer like that. We all knew he loves his wife, whom he eats dinner with every night and was currently over in the other room…

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Who am I? Why am I here?

I am taking this blogging 101 class from WordPress.

I am a woman who came of age in the late 70’s. I had to hide my copies of Ms. Magazine from my dad.

I have no children, so imprinting my virtual DNA into cyberspace is one of my ways of passing on a part of myself.

I think this will be more satisfying than getting a new tattoo.

stormy Leather

Listen to your gut

My dear girl friend’s wondrous musings.

Kickin' Cancer's Ass

Quick update: Several of you asked about a bald shot so here it is. Today I went to see my mom and enjoyed flying down the highway in my little convertible with my bald head rocking out to Michelle Malone (one of my favorites). Kickin’ cancer’s ass and having fun whilst doing so. I am finally in what I’ll call the new normal. I’ve strung together a lot of emergency-free days and am feeling really good most of the time. YAY!

Listen to your gut

I lost my dad to Alzheimer’s several years ago, and I have an elderly mother who had back surgery last year. Those of us who are fortune enough to have parents who live into their 80’s and beyond are familiar with doctors and usually become quite comfortable taking a key role in healthcare discussions and decisions. You learn that sometimes you have to push doctors when you know something isn’t…

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