When you get, obtain, purchase (whatever you call it) a house of one's own it is a big deal. You can put holes in the wall wherever you want. You can keep the lights on all night (though you wouldn't since "you" are paying all the bills now!), you can landscape and decorate however you want. You have a "place to stay".
We have lived for years in substandard student housing. It was very "close" to where we work, but it was in the midst of student partying and we older folks didn't quite fit in. Will we fit in in this new neighborhood of families and such? Sure hope so. We want to fit in somewhere and get to know our neighbors -- I think we will have things in common. Having a place of one's own is a responsibility, but also fun. It is something to feel upbeat about!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Pursuing Writing Seems healthy, can be frustrating
It seems the writing life (and by that, I mean striving to be a writer and learn more about it) agrees with me. I will be moving soon and I have a plethora of notebooks, hopefully with intelligent, helping writing material in them or ideas for writing articles and books. My oldest son has reminded me he will one day toss my magazines I save. But will he save my very own notebooks, especially the ones with some humor? Humor is good for your health and sometimes the writing life too.
So I "helped" my writing life by going to a writer's club meeting at a fancy new library to learn about the publishing business. It is interesting that our speaker, Kathleen Delaney, had lived out in CA. and written about the wine industry there. Wines -- made from grapes grown in a certain soil, picked at a certain time, fermenting for a certain length of time. It's very much an outdoor occupation, an interesting kind of work. And they say some wine is good for you, although, as a breast cancer survivor I'm not "supposed" to drink alcohol -- don't know if it's the sugar content (did you know cancer "loves" sugar) or the alchohol. Sugar all around is not too healthy an option, although a Dr. Wright says xylitol may actually prevent tooth decay (and is used in some gums).
Anyway, guest speaker Delaney has some unique cozy mysteries out -- one is out by Poisoned Pen Press: And Murder for Dessert. She pointed out that she took adult extension courses to learn how to deal with things like structure, form and creating relationships in her writing. I think a lot of people just interested in memoirs could do something like that.
Our meeting was at the "Tah Mahal" of libraries -- the new "Southside Library" in Roanoke, VA -- wow, with its big Marquee out front, like a half mile from this "edifice," and tribute to reading. There was a huge parking lot with a spacious downstairs. And besides book shelves there was an auditorium where they were showing a movie, and snack bar nearby (what? in a library, what is this, Barnes and Noble). And upstairs a private reading room with a fireplace (what is this, somebody's house) and with a big paperback book section too. The reference rep sais it only cost around $15 million. Your tax dollars at work. And man, did they work! I need to come back sometime, for dinner and a movie! Ah, and also books, maybe books on writing.
So I "helped" my writing life by going to a writer's club meeting at a fancy new library to learn about the publishing business. It is interesting that our speaker, Kathleen Delaney, had lived out in CA. and written about the wine industry there. Wines -- made from grapes grown in a certain soil, picked at a certain time, fermenting for a certain length of time. It's very much an outdoor occupation, an interesting kind of work. And they say some wine is good for you, although, as a breast cancer survivor I'm not "supposed" to drink alcohol -- don't know if it's the sugar content (did you know cancer "loves" sugar) or the alchohol. Sugar all around is not too healthy an option, although a Dr. Wright says xylitol may actually prevent tooth decay (and is used in some gums).
Anyway, guest speaker Delaney has some unique cozy mysteries out -- one is out by Poisoned Pen Press: And Murder for Dessert. She pointed out that she took adult extension courses to learn how to deal with things like structure, form and creating relationships in her writing. I think a lot of people just interested in memoirs could do something like that.
Our meeting was at the "Tah Mahal" of libraries -- the new "Southside Library" in Roanoke, VA -- wow, with its big Marquee out front, like a half mile from this "edifice," and tribute to reading. There was a huge parking lot with a spacious downstairs. And besides book shelves there was an auditorium where they were showing a movie, and snack bar nearby (what? in a library, what is this, Barnes and Noble). And upstairs a private reading room with a fireplace (what is this, somebody's house) and with a big paperback book section too. The reference rep sais it only cost around $15 million. Your tax dollars at work. And man, did they work! I need to come back sometime, for dinner and a movie! Ah, and also books, maybe books on writing.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Working the computer can be stressful
I thought for a while I didn't have my "antivirus" gizmo working. I am not the most computer savvy and and was worried I could get a virus and ruin the computer and what was saved to it. Then, I bought a version and it didn't do squat. So I went to "find" it on the computer, opened it, put in what I thought was the "license" info and it seemed to activate. Then I restated the computer and it said it had no antivirus protection! In state of stress I contacted the company and in the meantime it seemed to straighten itself out now "I think" it's working! Phew.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Did some walking yesterday
Here I am, lollygagging when I should be working on my writing. I tried to follow a member blogger's advice on how to do a caption and I guess things have changed and you can't do that anymore. I want to put a caption below this picture of the mountains and yet, there is no "draft" function that allows me to insert a caption. Anyway, these are mountains in Virginia and I walked, for health and to help my Master Naturalist organization, at a place in the Jefferson National Forest called Glen Alton. It is a farm in the middle of nowhere in the woods! Very scenic, with some interesting paths and wetlands too.
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