katysd

So today, for the very first time, I entered the brand spanking new Esther Nixon Library in Jacksonville, Arkansas--it opened last Saturday. I must say my heart was pounding when I pulled onto that squeaky clean, extra-black asphalt parking lot. And when I walked through the doors, I just wanted to jump up and down and SQUEEEE!! It's so beautiful. It's so amazing. It's so clean and shiny and contemporary, and glass, and steel, and organized, and full, full of books. <sigh> And it's such a huge, huge change from the small, damp, dark, leaky-ceiling-ed building it replaced. I took some pics with my cell phone, but there is so much glass and the sun streamed in, so my pics were crappy, but trust me when I say it's gorgeous. :-) Oh, and did I mention the stainless steel mobiles in the children's area???

I am SO proud of the people of Arkansas for caring enough to vote for the millage increases that it took to build this new library and others around the state. Libraries are truly an investment in our future and it's wonderful, that even in this economy, people recognize that. 

Okay, I'll admit it, for years I never had the appreciation for poetry that I should have. I wanted to enjoy the gorgeous flowing rhythms, the precise word choices, and all the rest, but, for the most part, it just wasn't happening for me. Anyway, a few months ago I took a poetry course through Indiana University and I discovered the wonder of Elizabeth Bishop. Oh my...the woman can paint the most gorgeous word pictures. I ran across some other fab poets as well--Langston Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Thomas Hardy, and Dylan Thomas, to name a few. But of all the poets I read, Elizabeth Bishop's work seeped into my soul. 

So, my question for you is--If I love the work of Elizabeth Bishop, what other poets would I likely adore?kellyrfineman I expect to hear from you. Your blog stimulates my poetry bones! :-)

TIA!

Katy</span></span></div>

Yeah.

Your Word is "Peace"

You see life as precious, and you wish everyone was safe, happy, and taken care of. Social justice, human rights, and peace for all nations are all important to you. While you can't stop war, you try to be as calm and compassionate as possible in your everyday life. You promote harmony and cooperation. You're always willing to meet someone a little more than halfway.

Family and Friends.

Love, Laughter, and Gratitude.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone! 

 Deb Wiles is such an amazing writer--such an amazing woman. Even if you don't read her blog, take the time to read this:  www.deborahwiles1.blogspot.com/.

Thanks for all your wonderfulness, Deb! :-)

I received an e-mail last week from someone who had discovered my pb, FARMER MCPEEPERS AND HIS MISSING MILK COWS online. The e-mail was from Susan Lawson,  the coordinator for  the Storybook Project. I'll admit, at first I was skeptical (I've received plenty of requests for book donations), but the more I read, the more intrigued I became. What a wonderful, worthwhile project. With Susan's permission, I've pasted her e-mail below. If any of you have pb's (pb's or early readers only, please) that you'd like to donate, Susan's contact info is included. Granted, I have never met Susan in person and I really know very little about her organization, but her e-mail touched me. A copy of FARMER now sits tucked in an envelope on the corner of my desk addressed to the Storybook Project. I'm sure Susan would be happy to answer any questions you may have. Please read on if you'd like to contribute--

I am writing on behalf of an organization that I work for Lutheran Social Services of Illinois.  I am the Storybook Coordinator for a program called the Storybook Project.  Each month, I and a group of volunteers enter Southwestern Illinois  Correctional Center in East St. Louis.  We bring in 240 new children’s books each month and allow each inmate to select a book for their child.  The inmate is then allowed to read it onto a cassette tape which I later mail with the book to their child.  Last month alone, our program enabled 82 men to send out over 100 story books to their children for the month of October.  Needless to say, I am always looking for organizations or individuals that are willing to donate books to our program.  Since I am unsure if you would be interested in helping, I decided to send this message of inquiry.  We use both religious & non-religious based children’s books for our program.  Below you will find our website, I thought you might be interested to know more about our organization.  Know that your time and attention are deeply appreciated.  May God Bless you with his abundant favor!  
 
http://www.lssi.org/
Love In Christ,
 

Susan Lawson,
L.S.S.I. Storybook Coordinator
2309 Holiday Lane
Maryville, IL  62062
618-920-8997
email: susan.lawson@charter.net 

If you haven't seen lisa_schroeder's news, hop over and check it out. Go, Lisa!!!

www.twitter.com 

This may be old news to some of you guys, but it's relatively new to me. It makes me think of FaceBook's status update--only with a character-count restriction. Is it beneficial to me as a writer, or just another time suck? The jury's still out on that one. But at this point, it's fun--so why not? If you'd like to follow me, I'm katysd.

 ...good book days? I picked up four requested books from my public library this week and I can't wait to dig in--having a new pile of books is better than presents under the tree. Here are the gifts waiting in my TBR pile--TROUBLE and THE WEDNESDAY WARS by Gary Schmidt, THE AURORA COUNTY ALL-STARS, Deb Wiles, and OCTAVIAN NOTHING by M.T. Anderson. Ahhh...now comes the dilemma--which one shall I read first???

Now that I've somewhat refreshed my memory on how to upload photos (after only 2 hours of intense cursing!), I'll share the cover of my fourth nf book from Kidhaven. Taaa-Daaaa!

 

It's only been 2+ years, but I'm going to try again--not that I have anything more interesting to say than I did two years ago. Anyway, I have a sunny new background and I'll see if I can keep up this time. :-) 

I've almost finished the freelance work that has consumed gallons of my time for the last three weeks. I've had an awesome time doing the research and writing, but it is a relief to see the end in sight. Here are a few things I learned while working on this project--

***The cure for self-doubt is to just keep plugging away.

***When your nose is stuck three-inches deep into a research book, the phone is guaranteed to ring at least once.

***I'm WAY more spoiled than I realized. Most people work 8 to 5 EVERY day.

***It is possible for me to write 2000+ words per day. Darn, I should have gotten one of those nifty counters.

***Three weeks is a really short period of time to research a topic and write 18,000+ words.

***I'm only truly happy when I'm writing and I'd do it again in a minute. :-)

A houseful of college students. 'Nuf said.

If you exclude the pounding headache that's been hanging around, it's been a really nice day. A front came through last night and we got some much needed rain and today's weather is absolutely wonderful. Bright, clear turquoise skies, a nice breeze, and low nineties. What a relief from the past couple of weeks.

Also, I'm really proud of myself. I recovered our barstools in this pretty fabric I found last week. This was my first attempt at recovering anything, so I'm happy about how nice they turned out. Here's a pic--



Our kitchen and family room flow into one another and a while back (Thanks to an Artist's Way date) I bought some new curtains for the family room. They're gold and rust and a dark forest green. So after I got the curtains, I had to get new gold and rust pillows for the couch and loveseat. And that called for new gold rugs in front of the sink and stove--which led to the need for gold barstool cushions. You know how that goes, right? Anyway, I think they are so pretty. And the best news is the material was only seven bucks a yard and the staples were three dollars, so I have very cool new cushions for a grand total of ten dollars. Yay!

This avatar shows what it looks like at my house lately. Man, is it HOT!

What's the weather like at your house?

Katy

My husband and I drove down to Little Rock tonight to watch a minor league game. I adore the ballpark--Ray Winder Field. It's one of the five oldest minor league parks (built in 1932) still in use and, unfortunately, this is the last year the team will be there. The city is building a fancy new stadium on the riverfront, which will be nice, but it will never be Ray Winder.  I tried to remember how long I'd been going there. It made me just a little sick when I figured it out. ;-) Let's just say over 30 years.  When I was about seven, my mom and brother and I stayed until 3 am to finish watching a 22 inning game. When I was twelve, I took tickets at the gate and even got paid for it! I thought I was so grown-up when I'd go into the office after the game to pick up my check. I wish I could remember how much it paid--probably something like five bucks. Oh well. The summer I was 14, I didn't think they could start a game without me. I didn't miss a single game for two seasons. Even when when I was late because my cousin was getting married, I still made it--in a dress and heels, no less.I mean, there simply wasn't time to go home and change. When my husband and I were first dating, we'd been hiking earlier in the day and I'd sprained my knee. We'd planned on going to the ballgame that night, but it was difficult for me to walk. We decided to go anyway and when we got out of the car, he carried me all the way in. And when our son was old enough to take along, Ray Winder was his first trip to a baseball park. Ah.... memories. Here's a link if anyone wants to check it out-- http://www.ballparkwatch.com/visits/ray_winder.htm

Enough of the sappy stuff though. What I really wanted to write about were a couple of observations I made at tonight's game. Have you ever seen anyone play that  "head on the bat" game? I don't know the actual name, but it is hilarious. Two people go out onto the field and they each have a baseball bat. Each person puts his/her forehead onto the end of their bat with the bat's other end on the ground.  As the music plays, the participants spin around and around as fast as they can while keeping their forehead on the end of the bat. When the music stops, they race to a finish line. Obviously, they are WAY dizzy, so the run is great fun to watch. Note:  If you are a woman (or a man for that matter) DO NOT attempt this game wearing a skirt.

Another fun thought--since we were kids we always thought it was so clever to wait for the snack-selling guys to holler out, "Peanuts, Popcorn, Cracker Jacks," and then we'd holler "Alka-Seltzer!" Didn't do that tonight though. :-)

One other observation, and I hope I don't offend anyone when I mention this. If you are a (how can I say this nicely?) ummm... pleasantly plump woman wearing a too short cami with ultra-low cut jeans and a turquoise thong, please try to restrain yourself from shaking your groove thang when the speakers blast out MC Hammer's Can't Touch This. Trust me on that one.

Can you tell I'm bored this afternoon? I know, I should be working, but I'm playing instead. Hardly anyone even reads my journal, so I don't know why I'm fiddling with it. But it's fun to do something different, I guess.  I could either do this or play Snood--the game that  annemariepace so kindly addicted me to. Thanks a lot, AM! :-) If she ever sends you the link, I'm warning you--DO NOT go there!

Well, I'm trying something new. I'm going to be 45 this year (YIKES!) and while I know I'm not old, I also realize I ain't getting any younger. I figure if I'm going to do this writing thing, I'd better quit wasting time. It's taken me this long to know without a doubt that writing is what I want to do with my life, so it's time to go for it. Time to go that extra mile.

Since the first of June I've vowed to try to do something writing-related a minimum of five days a week.  So far, I've done really well. I've sent out magazine queries, reworked old ms, worked on new ones, researched new markets, started research on a new nf project, subbed a couple mss, sent clips and a list of published credits to some educational markets, and a few other things. I'm anxious to see where, if anywhere this gets me. We'll see. Stay tuned....

Happy Father's Day, Dad.

I miss you, but I know our hearts are still together, even after all these years.

Love you.