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.

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.

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.

Virginia mountains

"FOOD Inc", "Planeat", Being vegetarian

    It  has been a busy semester. I have had an extra class and we have looked at the theme of food. How interesting could "that" be, you might ask?
   Food today in the US, perhaps in other Western countries as well, is mostly mass produced, on a scale, I and my class learned, that is really not so healthy. We read part of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and  saw part of the movie Food, Inc. Both about mass production of food in America. So, putting food on an assembly line is not so bad, right? Well, the assembly line doesn't help, but before the food hits the assembly line, the way it is produced is, well, not so healthy. We feed cows and chickens grain that is mostly likely genetically modified, and put antibiotics and growth hormone in there so the beef and chicken grow big and fast. In Food, Inc. a woman farmer showed how the chickens were "so heavy"  for their frames that they could only walk a few steps and then sat down. And they were always inside and didn't see the sun or grass. Is this natural? (Should we care?)
    If we don't care about the animals we should care about the end product -- food that is very manipulated, at least where meat is concerned. Vegetables conventionally mass produced have a lot of immune system compromising pesticides on them. Organic vegetables are better. Organically raised meat "can" be better (depending on what USDA laws are followed). But my students saw our mass produced food is not all that healthy.
  And a fellow teacher showed the film Planeat  and it provided info on studies following vegetarian protein (nuts, beans, lentils), unlike animal protein, will not increase heart disease or cancerous tumors. Vegetarianism can prevent tumor growth! Wow, what an idea, enough to make me a full fledged vegan! 
    But I do like meat. I don't need steak but I need to eat some meat. But I am going to try for some vegan days (no milk either) each week. That will be a challenge. Hey, if studies show vegetable protein is healthier, then why not?
    

Intestinal Issues, Enjoyed having my "gran kitties"

          Well, you never know when it comes to health issues. Someone I know in her forties had a stroke the other day. The last time I was at the doctor it seemed my blood pressure was borderline high. I hope it doesn't continue that way, though it's likely as my father had high blood pressure many years. But, unlike me, he got his weight down to where he was very thin and lived a number of years like that (till last summer, when he passed on). We all wonder what exactly is coming next, but I 'm told by a very spiritual friend that the monarh (?) butterfly that flitted by me in October was his way of saying he was in a better place.
           A few weeks ago I had a pain in my side and thought it was intestinal blockage. That weekend oldest Son came for his cats. At his apartment they said he had to get rid of his gray and black kitties and he wasn't going to do it. So he brought them to our place to "cat sit" while he hoped they would inspect his apartment and say all clear. After a month they finally told him they were coming over on one particular day, and so they didn't see the kitties!
           I call them kitties but they are long and thin, the length of full grown cats, at least. The black male, Sirius, would come and stay on my lap over an hour at night as I watched TV. Jean, the gray one, would stay on my lap 20 seconds and jump off! She would also jump around if she bumped into something and knocked it down. They knocked over pictures, DVDs, and ran after things that rolled, from balls to spools to cat toys. They were entertaining, though cleaning their big litter box was not. The closest I am coming to grandchildren, it seems.
          Right after Zeb left I went to the doctor and found out that pain was from a pulled hip muscle. His prescription? Oh, pain medicine. Nothing about putting cold/ heat on it and easing into using it again. Typical doctor. I was also constipated. Took the "Miramax" 4 days and this week it seems to all be coming out! I hope I can be regular again. That stuff comes from petroleum (!) so it can't be too healthy, me thinks!
           While here I took Zeb to both the "peace garden" and nearby "Stadium Woods" of VA. Tech. They need to preserve that small woods. It has oaks in it that are maybe 300 years old, so old you can't put your arms around them!

Busy With School, Coats today aren't heavy

      During  the hectic "Black Friday" day my son got me up at 4:30 A M! It was insane to get to Burlington Coat Factory that early, but everyone else was doing it so we thought why shouldn't we? We missed our exit and had to turn around  and got to the store at 5:30 A. M. There were maybe 4 people in the store! What was the rush?
      It took me awhile to find a decent coat. It seems that nowadays, coats are so much thinner and have less of a lining than when I was a lot younger. Do the manufacturers think there will be 'global warming' and it is therefore healthy to wear thin coats in winter? Can you survive in a thin coat in the northeastern states?
     Even in Virginia it  can get cold. I tried on a goose down (I assumed it was goose) filled coat, but it had no real lining and  it seemed paper thin. I bought it and wore it outside. My son said, well, you have a month to decide to bring it back, but I didn't want to "come" back. So we shopped next door in Big Lots and then I brought it back. And bought a different coat, that was very furry on one side. It "seemed" warm anyway, and had a better style but the down filled one. But it was a little big -- guess I could line it with extra sweaters if I need to. Is it healthy to make winter coats so thin nowadays?
      School has kept me busy and soon the grading and classes will be over for the semester. Then I have to work on "another" new course, and finish my satire. My mystery novel is seemingly going nowhere just now.