Apr 3, 2012
Last week I parked my patootie on my patio chair (say that five times fast!) and photo’d the flock of feathery friends. (Oh, c’mon, you may be rolling your eyes, but you gotta admit, that’s some awesome alliteration!)
My own version of Zaboomafoo! Doesn’t this one remind you of a sloth or lemur peering out from the branches? 
Peek-a-Boo, I see you. At least, I think I do.
Budding Beauty.
One Cactus Wren.
And its mate.
I also saw Longfellow and Izzie, our yard lizards; but they didn’t want their photo taken.
I bought flower seeds: the kind you just sprinkle like crazy over the yard and see what takes, and I also bought a Topsy Turvy Tomato Hanger. As those grow (or not), I’ll update those photos. Right now, well, there’s nothing to photograph.
But at least Spring is in the air, and it’s a nice air. 72, sunny, and not a smidge of wind today.
Finally.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Apr 2, 2012
There’s still time to win your own copy of the Unemployment Cookbook!
Just click here for the original posting and read for details!
Also, “like” New Inklings Press on facebook (the link is in the above linked posting) for your third chance to win.
Good luck to all!
Apr 2, 2012
That’s a tough question. A very tough question. Because I’m pretty sure before I learned to talk, I learned poetry. My mom was, and still is, an avid reader. She read to me since birth. As I’ve often blogged about her, she’s instilled my love of words. I’m fairly certain that I recognized poetry and prose long before I “knew” anything about them.
I can’t be sure that I correctly recall the first poem I ever memorized, but The Itsy Bitsy Spider comes to mind. That, and perhaps any rhyme from Winnie the Pooh.
And Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss rocks! I grew up on The Cat in the Hat, and loved loved LOVED when Mom would read to us from The Cat in the Hat’s Dictionary.
Once on a weekend afternoon, Mom was busy in the kitchen (another love she shared with me!), so my brother and I asked Dad to read to us from the Dictionary.
Poor Dad! He gave up after five minutes, because my brother and I kept telling him, “Make the voices like Mom does,” “That’s not how Mom reads it,” and “You’re doing it wrong.” I can see the frustration on his face. He tried, he really did; but a deep man’s voice can’t compete with a soft mother’s inflections when it comes to the imagination of two young children.
And while I still can’t be sure what the first poem I memorized was, this prompt certainly brought back fond family memories.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Apr 1, 2012
Happy Anniversary! Or, Happy Birthday! Whatever you want to call it, HAPPY CELEBRATION!
It’s been a year – a whole year! – since I first started this blog. What started out as my take on staying Christian in the single/dating world, has turned into “Frankly, My Dear…”: my blog about me.
We’ve gone through some growing pains and growth spurts. I’ve changed and revamped and finally settled on what I think is a working formula: Faith, Family, Food, and Fun.
It’s because of you, my encouraging readers, that I keep at it. Because of your touching comments, your great suggestions, your push to keep going.
And I just want to thank you. Without knowing what I was capable of, without the great support of so many, I wouldn’t have known my own worth.
So thank you.
This cake’s for YOU.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Mar 31, 2012
Yesterday I received a comment from an unknown person to a post I wrote about a month ago. I was really hesitant whether or not to “approve” the comment for posting, because the writer seemed a bit inflammatory, the comment seemed like it was baiting me for feedback, to be defensive.
And while I wanted to delete the comment, or defend my writing, I chose to do neither. As a writer, I’m obviously a proponent of free speech. Just because I don’t agree with what someone says, doesn’t mean they don’t have the right to say it, even on my own blog.
Now, obviously I’m not going to allow abusive or profane remarks. This one was neither. It was someone who disagreed with, and perhaps misinterpreted, what I said. That’s okay, too.
What kind of writer would I be if I didn’t accept a little criticism now and then? My blog is just that: my postings of my feelings, my thoughts, my world. What kind of self-centered person would I be if I only kept it to myself? How does that fulfill my goal of being an accepted writer? And just as my blog is mine, others’ comments are theirs. Who am I to belittle their thoughts, their feelings?
On the other hand, leaving a comment for the sake of stirring things up is pretty… well, it’s ridiculous. So after re-reading what that person wrote, I deleted it after all.
It’s not that I don’t want others to have their say. It’s that my blog is not gonna be their playground for pushing and shoving. And that’s exactly what it felt like. This person was trying to instigate conflict.
And to that, I say, no thank you.
I can find a buzillion better uses for my time, my efforts, and my blog.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
