Shopping Adventures

I was at my local WalMart today looking for a new office chair, and some new shoes. I like the ones I found online better though. Naot and others are easier to find online when you live in an area where stores are a long drive away and even then pickings are slim. Since I'm not a big fan of walking around malls, this is great. It saves me time, and now, more importantly GAS. It's not that I need fancy shoes most of the time, but I still like to have nice shoes to wear on the rare occassion I actually go out.

Our Own Worst Enemies.

I wonder if there will ever be a point where as a writer I can look back at past work and not find some fault to pick on. I know when I've written things a long long time ago, they look awful now, but since I had gotten to the accepted publishing area I've found my work to have grown enough that it's not that, but there's always a line I'd have written differently. When I wrote the piece, whatever it is, I was happy with it. Editors were happy with it. Everyone was happy. Then a month, two months, a year later I pick it up to read again and while the story still moves me, there's always something to pick at.

I've read big name authors saying basically the same thing, but I wonder if it's just an over-critical mind, or a reality. I know a lot of authors say they do the same to other author's published works, and yet I don't too often find myself doing the same thing to other author's works. Perhaps we're our own worst enemies sometimes.

Put A Spark In Your Blog

Want to make money? Oh heck, who doesn't? For writer's there is a really interesting option. Most of you know I've been doing sponsored blog posts for quite awhile now, and it's gone fairly well for me, finally I got to have my tax preparer give me a shocked look of awe when I did my taxes this spring for last year. Up until then, for the past several years as a writer, while I always had some income, it was usually far outweighed by my expenses. Not last year. Whew. Nice.

Well, there were some interesting--you can read that as painful and difficult--problems in the blog advertising world late last year. Now, Izea, also known as PayPerPost has developed a new blogging system called SocialSpark to help bloggers interested in earning a little extra cash with their blogs overcome the difficulties set in motion back then.

SocialSpark is a totally different animal, and yet, quite the same species from it's relative PayPerPost. It operates in much the same way, but has many extra benefits, as well as allowing for more opprotunities for advertisers to reach out to bloggers individually to offer opprotunities.

A very user friendly interface gives Social Spark a fun platform to work in. It also allows for greater interaction between bloggers themselves to associate and befriend fellow bloggers--hence the Social part of the moniker.

Social Spark has a firm code of ethics that includes:

-100% Audit-able In-Post Disclosure

-100% Transparency -100% Real Opinions

-100% Search Engine Friendly

Give Social Spark a look and see how you can make money, make friends, and make your accountant really happy. You'll be glad you did.

Strike Fear In Your Heart

What can give a writer a heart attack faster than a double cheeseburger with extra large fries? The words FATAL SYSTEM ERROR.

That coupled with your computer is infected (oh let's make it interesting -- 362 instances of infection) can give any writer a coronary. The above scenario was me two nights ago. My old trusty computer, a mere infant at 4 years old--okay, in computereze that's extreme old age, but for me it was still doing it's job and working fine--more importantly it had ALL my files on it. Yes, some files were backed up on my external hard drive, and thankfully safe, but some--(foolishly some very important ones) were not.

Gone.

Gone forever.

Rest in peace old faithful.

Cry for a few minutes over all my manuscript files gone. Yep, that was the foolish part. I had all my article and short stories backed up, but... my manuscripts, gone. Gone for good. Well except for the published hard copies, but if I ever wanted to do anything with them again I'd have to re-type all 300-400 pages of any of them.

Not that I ever would. I mean I haven't messed with old manuscripts in all the time since they went into print, but hey, you never know. They key here is I CAN'T. That is the painful thing that hangs in the back of my mind.

Gone.

Gone too soon.

Before you think I'm sitting here in a pool of tears, let me tell you that every cloud has a silver lining, even if it's caused by one hum-dinger of a storm.

I have a new computer (thanks to a really REALLY great husband).

Couldn't really afford it, so I feel kind of guilty saying I LOVE IT.

It has the new Windows Vista op system, and I was shaking in my boots because I remembered back when I got my last computer how much I hated XP after being so used to 98SE.

Yep, it took a little while to get used to Vista, but wow... I have to tip my hat to Microsoft, they really came up with an interesting and fun operating system with some really cool new features.

I've heard a lot of complaints about it, but I think they're widely due to people feeling overwhelmed by the difference between the old and the new. It is so much different than it's predeccesors.

It took a long time to download all the updates for devices, but everything's up to speed now, and oh boy I'm happy.

On another side note--I got HIGH SPEED last week. Yes, out in the middle of nowhere I'm finally in the modern age of Internet. About time huh? That's the way it is out in the country, light years behind the rest, but when we finally catch up, yahoo, we're rollin and happy.

It's A Good Thing

I think the whole country is on a diet. I know I am, but there's no fear of feeling like I'm alone in it when every second or third commercial I see on tv, or ad in a magazine, or online is for weight loss pills, exercise equipment, or some other diet aide. It's a good thing really. As long as folks research what they are using and feel comfortable with what they're getting. Some of the claims are a little outrageous to my mind, but I don't have to use pills because I'm happy enough taking things slowly. I think too many people, myself in the past included, are caught up in the 'right now' need to see results. It takes time to get rid of the pounds safely. At least, as long as I see the ads I know I'm not the only one going through the struggle though. And for a nation that is one of the heaviest on the planet, that's a good thing.

In Real Life

When I watch movies, or even read character descriptions in books, I sometimes think 'man, those characters must use a lot of anti wrinkle cream'. I mean think about it, do you often see an unattractive hero or heroine, or an aging hero or heroine complete with wrinkles and sags? Of course not, wrinkles are not romantic. Saggy bodies are not sexy. The problem with that is we as a society have begun to equate such ideals as we see them on the screen, or read in a book with reality, and all of the signs of aging as a curse. Sure, there's nothing wrong with doing everything you can to look your best, and that includes cosmetics and creams, and well we all know the nip and tuck business has never been more profitable as its realm has left the confines of Hollywood and you find face lifts and boob jobs in Nebraska as often as you do in California. What's wrong with a hero or heroine that has a few wrinkles, or sags a bit though? Wouldn't it be nice every once in a while to see someone you can honestly identify with as a leading man or woman? I watched the movie 'Charlie Wilson's War' the other day. It was fantastic and I loved every moment of it, and then I watched the behind the scenes features of this true story and got to see the real Charlie Wilson. He's not a bad looking man, but well, Tom Hanks beats him hands down... would it have been a real crime to make him appear a little more like the weathered 'cowboy' ladies man congressman he was in real life?

Level of Sophistication

Sometimes, when I'm writing, I wonder how the 'other half' lives. I mean some of the characters I write about live far more extravagant lives than I could ever dream about. I've been to the homes of people in that class. The types that not only have a bar in their 'entertainment' area, but a bar with a sink, and built in consoles for storage of expensive bottles of wines, and other liquors, even wine refrigerators to keep the bottles perfectly chilled. Me, I use the plain old refrigerator in my kitchen. A couple of bottles, or a box (yep, that will give you an idea of the level of sophistication we're talking about here) of wine, and I'm good to go. Still, it's nice to dream about having such luxeries even if I'd rarely use them. It's nice to have people come over and offer them a fine glass of chilled wine from the bar rather than pulling out the box from the fridge.

The Impact of Illness

Since my family is going through the impact of a member going through cancer treatments, I've found The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch to be an inspiring and helpful look at the struggles he went through dealing with cancer, and his philosophy of life to be enriching. My mother-in-law is living with me now because she can't cope with every day things such as making food, or remembering her pills due to a run of chemotherapy, and even if another look into that life weren't helpful in the practical sense, it is invaluable in feeling like you're not alone in the things you face when going through it. There's really nothing that can adequately prepare you for dealing with cancer treatment personally, or helping a loved one deal with it. You can see others go through it and never realize the toll it takes on the entire family, the friction that can arise between family members in how to deal with the patient, the fear, the worry, the exhaustion of caring for someone going through the treatments. You do it because you love them and want the best for them, but you just don't realize how tremendous the impact will be. This is an inspiring book for anyone, but if you, or someone you know is dealing with cancer directly, it's almost required reading.

Whereever I May Roam

Depending on what type of traveling I'm doing (and who is paying the bill) I like to stay in hotels. Now most people probably wouldn't argue that point, but trust me, when in 'livestock/farm' mode there are other options -- staying in spare stalls in the show arena--sometimes necessary if security is an issue, sometimes just nice because the work just starts after the show day ends, and preparing for the next day's show often means being up until midnight, so sacking out at the show barn just makes sense in that way as well, it is also a lot of fun to be a part of that after hours commradarie that takes place between all of the 'stay at the barn' crowd. In some cases the barns are not all that pleasant, but for the last two reasons we want to stay 'at the barn' without staying 'in' the barn, so we stay in the trailer. Now it's okay, I mean we have matresses, and portable cots, and most of the comforts of home from coffee makers to portable DVD players, so it's not exactly roughing it (depending, of course, on your idea of 'roughing it').

But there are times I just do not want to stay in a barn, or in a trailer no matter what 'comforts of home' we have with us, so, that area of life being what it is, and costs being what they are, and the fact that we are paying for it, means I'm on the hunt for cheap hotels. What's really nice now is that even the cheaper hotels usually come with small refridgerators, coffee pots, even complimentary coffee making supplies as well as full-sized beds (okay that goes without saying, but just for comparison, a bed beats a cot, no matter what kind of mattress you have for the cot). I think age has something to do with it too, in years past, sleeping in the show barns had a sort of excitement that went beyond the necessity of working late, and even the fun of the after hours crowd... it was just fun period... lately, that boat has sailed and achy bones and chilled muscles overtake any 'fun' of sleeping in a barn at night.

Showing is still great though.

It does make me enjoy book tours and such much more. I'm not footing the bill then, and the hotels are just that much nicer--as a rule. At least, up until now I've never been asked to stay the night in a book store. LOL

If You Don't Use It--May as well Loose it.

Moving is one of the most stressful things you can do in your life. It's not just my opinion, that's a fact. First you have to find the 'place of your dreams' if you're lucky. Then you have to find enough moving boxes to pack up a lifetime of junk, and then you have to lug it all into a big van and move it, and unload it again... but you know what? In my opinion that's not the REAL stress in moving. The real stress is unpacking it all again. By the time you finally get it where you're going you're so tired from the whole ordeal you just want to get it over with as soon as possible and you hunt and peck for the necessary items leaving the rest for later. Why did I get on this rant? Because I had to go into my basement the other day to replace some fuses. I've lived here for 13 years, and I really hate the basement. Well, that side of it anyway. The one side is a nicely finished living area, but the 'fuse side' with the hot water heater, the furnace, the sub-pump, and all that gritty, grimey stuff is well, creepy. I don't venture in there often. Not without threat of disaster, or at least, a lack of electricity. It is also a huge storage area. Well, the other day I had to venture into the dark abyss of that windowless side of the basement, and guess what I had to stumble over and around to get to the fuse box---yep, you guessed it. Thirteen year old unpacked boxes of stuff that never made it upstairs. I think I'm going to have to force myself to go down there again and lug those boxes up and toss them in the trash on the next trash day. I mean really, if I haven't used any of that for the last thirteen years, chances are pretty good I didn't need that stuff in the first place.

Thinking Outside The Box

You know, I like to find unique ways of decorating. I've used big rope cable outside to lash together logs for a rustic hewn look, and even thought of using theater rope and posts to highlight areas inside. There are other uses for that stuff that is why I originally looked at it. When we go to shows it helps to cordon off our grooming area to keep people from getting to close to the goats grooming stands, or the horses cross ties. For sales like we go to the first Sunday of every month, they make nice section markers too. Sometimes you have to think outside the box to have a unique set up that looks cool, and is still functional.