Silver Linings (original) (raw)

On Writing

August 8th, 2006 (09:46 pm)

current mood: cheerful

It seems to take me so long in between life to ever update my blog. It’s not because I don’t think of it. More because life calls me away and I can’t find time to do it.

I am trying to get back into the swing of treating writing like a freelance business. It takes some focus. But I am continuing to find new markets and submit my pieces. The majority don’t pay, but sometimes it’s worth it to get the message out.

Just received an email looking for 500 word testimonies about God’s mercy and healing in our day to day lives. I definitely have one of those. The thing that I especially liked about this offer was that they wanted time pieces. In other words, they were looking for pieces that didn’t just look for one prayer miracles. But situations where people have prayed for years and perhaps healing has never come, but God has still proved Himself faithful. I think that that is definitely something that needs to be shared. God is a God of wonders and incredibleness. But it’s wrong to confine Him in a box and say that if He is going to work then He’s going to always do it within twenty-four hours or seven days. Sometimes there are long periods of waiting. Waiting without answers.

The Tue-Rah series is progressing slowly. But it is moving forward. I am so much in love with these characters now. And I feel like I know them inside and out. Each one is different. In some senses, I feel like a mother. I realize that that must sound very strange. But I do. And it really helps in the writing. They’ve grown as I have.

On the subject of writing epic novels though, the only thing I can say is that maturity wreaks havoc with plots and produces incredible discoveries at the same time.

Thoughts on Movies

July 31st, 2006 (10:01 pm)

Sometimes with movies, you must suspend judgment, in that you can’t take everything that happens seriously. Almost every movie, regardless of how well done it is, can be torn apart with simple reasoning. Star Wars, Indiana Jones, The Mummy, Princess Diaries, etc.

But perhaps I should backtrack. There are some movies that make perfect sense. But they aren’t usually as pleasant to watch. The movie, Pirates, made in 1986 is a very accurate and disturbing portrayal of what pirates were really like. While there are some attempts at humor, for the most part, it is a dark and frightening movie, filled with shocking exploits of real pirates (though even in that, they had to cut down on a great deal of what actually happened. Most of the crimes are merely suggested or heard off screen). And there are others of the same caliber. Intended to teach and inform, rather than entertain.

So it would be better to say that most movies directed for entertainment have plot holes, things that don’t make sense. Some are much better than others, but, in general, it seems that it takes different sorts of people to applaud different sorts of movies. The characters within the movie are what capture our imagination, along with the setting. They connect us and we suspend our belief of reality.

I always find it interesting to talk with people about the movies they like and why. As a writer, it reveals what people like, don’t like, and what draws them in. Ultimately, it is the characters. They make or break the movie. If it hadn’t been for Jack Sparrow and Will Turner, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl wouldn’t have been what it was.

Just some odd little musings as I am watching movies here at home.

Working at Wal-Mart

April 29th, 2005 (07:05 am)

So far, work at Wal-Mart has been great. I’m not working in the deli right now. It’s still in the construction part of work. So I’m working just about everywhere else it seems. Day one, I did work in the food department. Day two, I worked in Health and Beauty. Day three, I worked in Lawn and Garden and wherever else I could find something to do. Day four, I worked in Domestics. So far, Domestics has been my favorite.

Other than work, I’ve been trying to get all of the other things I need to get done accomplished. It’s been more of an uphill battle since I’ve fought a viral infection all week. I’m coughing bad today. Worse than yesterday. But I can’t call in sick. Thankfully, I’m not contagious. Otherwise, it would be a totally different story.

Getting on the computer has been the hardest thing, unfortunately. I miss writing as much as I used to, but when I get home from work I don’t want to go down to the basement. Otherwise, I won’t see my family at all and they really are on the top of my priority list. Soon, I’ll be able to afford a laptop though. I’m looking forward to that. It’ll be so nice to be able to work upstairs again. I had no idea how much working in a room without windows affected me.

So to sum it up, my main deadlines are for the church newsletter and Teen Light. I think I can get Teen Light finished up today without a problem. Sarah and Elise, the two girls who are helping me with the edits, did a sensational job about getting them back to me on time. And this evening, I have to whip something up for the church bake sale tomorrow. So whatever I don’t get done today, I can finish tomorrow.

May God bless all who read this in the way they need it most.

Things Are Good

April 18th, 2005 (10:04 am)

current mood: accomplished
current song: none

Spring is definitely here. It is so gorgeous outside, I hate to be cooped up in the basement. Sure wished that the laptop worked. It may work all right this afternoon. I’ll just have to make sure that it doesn’t overheat. I’m calling the computer Jack-Jack now after the baby in the Incredibles. There’s a few too many similarities, lol.

I’m not sure how I’m going to do my exercise today. I had another nasty eczema outbreak, and while I can still walk, sweating’s going to sting like fire in my veins. Maybe if I keep a damp rag with me I can deal with the problem before it becomes an issue.

Dad took the highschoolers laser tagging yesterday. They had a great time, even though not too many showed up. Just about a dozen. Still though, it meant something to them that he hosted it.

The scholarship search is going fairly well, considering. You can read more about that here: www.livejournal.com/users/hs2college And for those of you who are wondering how I have time to update all of these blogs, the answer is, I don’t update them regularly and I’m a multi tasker. :-D

I have so many projects to finish up. Right now, the scent of fresh air is about to drive me up the wall. I want to run outside and write, but for now, I’m trapped down here. I might as well put the energy to good use and get some cleaning, organizing and exercising done. This morning, I’ll get the majority of my research done and then I can turn on the laptop, see how it does with some simple word processing and such.

But things are going good here. We spent Saturday cleaning up the yard and outside, along with many other things. Have lots of new stories which I need to put into words. Definitely a couple of devotionals. Now to find markets.

May God bless all who read this in the way they need it most.

Retakiing the SAT

April 5th, 2005 (11:31 am)

Well, even though Indiana Wesleyan hasn’t gotten back to let me know whether I’ve been accepted or not, (and I did call in to check on the admissions status) I’ve gone ahead and set up an appointment to retake the SAT. Friday at 9:00. They’re letting me take it in the school.

To be honest, I’m not as scared as I thought I would be. I am pretty sure that I understand how to use my calculator now and if I don’t, oh well. They’ll take the best of both scores. I’m just doing a quick review on the verbal part of the SAT, since that wasn’t where I really had issues. Math is the killer. I know that a lot of people say that it’s easy. But my brain devotes itself primarily to construing mental pictures using nothing more than words. Factual equations and algebraic expressions soar over my head, though I would love to be able to compute like the mathematic geniuses I know.

I need to double check online and see how the SAT has changed, because now I know that at the least I will have to write an essay. I like that thought. I just wish that I could save a copy. Writing an essay poses some difficulties, such as running out of room or editing. But one thing I’ve learned as a freelance writer is how to throw it all together and create a cohesive piece. At least, I’m past the stage where my mind would skip ahead and whole words and sentences would be lost in the translation, lol.

Yesterday, I went to the library and managed to find some older scholarship books. Among the newer ones, though was How to Go to College for Almost Free by Ben Kaplan. That was actually a book that I had been looking into purchasing but couldn’t find reviews for. Now that I’m reading it, I’m really enjoying it but am also thankful that I didn’t buy it. It’s an excellent book, don’t get me wrong. But there’s not as much in there for a homeschooler to sink her teeth into. Which just intensifies my resolution to write a book called How to Pay for College when You’re Straight, White, and Homeschooled.

One of the things that comes to my mind as I flip through the leaves of this study guide (How to Prepare for the SAT I) is how everyone’s strengths differ. My cousin, who is a whiz at math, told me that I would do great at the math section because it was ‘childishly easy’. But this is coming from a man who got a full ride scholarship due to his math grades. We talked a bit and found out that his weakest point was in the verbal, which is where I excelled. My other cousins all agreed that math was the easiest. When I came back from taking it the first time, I insisted my experience pointed the other way.

Now, I don’t believe that that makes me a worse student or them worse students. It’s just that their talents lay with math and mine with writing. Of course, we were still sinking in the same boat since one was hard for us and they don’t ask you what your preference is when they hand you the books. Otherwise, I would have requested an all verbal SAT.

Right now, I’m searching to discover which sections are no longer included in the new SAT. To the best of my knowledge, the only things that have been eliminated are analogies and quantative comparisons. I won’t miss either. Ah, looks like I found an article. Sigh. The essay doesn’t scare me. It’s the math. At least math has a set formula.

Okay, well, things aren’t looking so good on the SAT. At least in the math section. A lot of the testing is going to be focused on Algebra II using advanced math terms. Oh, boy.

Well, must be off and get studying. May God bless all who read this in the way they need it most.

Singing at the Nursing Home

March 29th, 2005 (04:15 pm)

current mood: lonely

Well, I’m growing rather nervous here. No particular reason. Whenever we’re waiting to go to the nursing home, the lead footed butterflies come to do a little dance. This time in particular, but that’s because there’s so much else going on. Not only do I have to drive, but I’ve got to remember to take care of a lot of things as well. Nothing major, but being a perfectionist, I tend to focus in on the deadlines and the things that I’ve got to do.

I’ll be so thankful when it’s all over. I love cheering the older couples up, but at the same time, I’m glad to be done, because I do get nervous. Funny in one sense. It’s not that these men and women are critical at all. Not in the least. But I’ve never had any training as a singer, nor has my sister. The only sound equipment available is the CD player we bring and we can only turn it up so loud. Ah, yes. Which does bring me to a lot of prayer since I want to do the absolute best that I can and make sure that these men and women enjoy it.

Back from the nursing home. I don’t know that we did so well. We did the best we could. I think the people there enjoyed it. Unfortunately, we found out that our clocks are about five minutes slow. It just wasn’t the best situation. And when we got home, I pulled up to check the mail and accidentally broke part of the mailbox.

Have I had better days? Yes. Definitely. Is this the worst? No. Just not the easiest. I’ll be glad when Mom and Dad are home. I miss them. May God bless all who read this in the way they need it most.

Recovering

March 28th, 2005 (05:56 pm)

Finally, this bronchitus/cold/allergy attack/whatever is on the way out. I thought it was going to hang around for another week, but I’m glad it hasn’t since Sarah and I are going to the nursing home on Tuesday to sing. We’re singing three of the Amy Grant songs, which we’ve done before. We just didn’t have time to learn anything new. What with the construction, school and everything else. Life seems to slip by fast, doesn’t it?

This week, I’ll be working on the Teen Light website a good bit and taking some more courses with Front Page. That should be interesting, so finally I will be able to understand some more about Java scripting and HTML. Thankfully, what I’m doing right now is more or less gathering links and putting them into the pages.

Trying to fight the forces of sudaffed. It’s not supposed to make you drowsy, but it does me. It makes me feel greatly disoriented. But still, it helps and I can function. So long as I don’t put the cereal in the fridge and the milk in the pantry ;-)

Yesterday when we got home from our Easter dinner, Mom got out the hardboiled eggs. Reuben and Samuel helped her dye them and I helped keep it under control, while Dad was at the evening service. We did learn some interesting things from the egg dying. The food coloring liquid doesn’t make nearly as rich a color as the food coloring paste. This was the first year we used the paste and the blue (the main one we used the paste for) turned out incredible. It doesn’t work so well when you combing paste and liquid. So next year, we’ll probably do it all in paste.

Still in the search for the proper agent for Identity Revealed. My goal is to find about twenty and then send out a mass proposal, though each proposal will be tailored so that it fits the guidelines. Rather time consuming, but it’ll save me a few years. No, that’s not an exaggeration. Seriously, if I took each of these agents at the time they say, it would be ten years before I would have all this done. Most of them don’t respond within six months, some take a year. It’s not breaking the law, so I’m going to do the dreaded ‘mass mailing’. LOL

That’s all I have time to report for now. May God bless all who read this in the way they need it most.

Terri Schiavo

March 26th, 2005 (11:34 am)

So much has been happening in the past few days. Part of me wonders how God can even stand us. This whole situation with Terri Schiavo is a horrible one. It makes my blood boil. How anyone could be so inhumane is beyond me. Euthanasia is a subject that has been debated for a long time, and I’m not going to go into all the particulars of my opinion on it now, except that I disagree with it. But Terri Schiavo’s case is not a matter of euthanasia. Starving a helpless woman to death is NOT kind. It has even been reported that she wanted to live. This is a cruel, cruel destructive act that is beyond my comprehension. The emotions I feel are very strong. And I have to be careful as I choose my words.

I feel anger at the judge and at Terri Schiavo’s husband. I don’t know how anyone can be so heartless. But I back down in my anger when I remember that both of them are going to have to answer to God for their decisions. And I hope for their sake’s that they beg for God’s forgiveness before they die.

The only problems I have faced this week pale when I place them alongside Terri Schiavo’s suffering. I wish that there was something more I could do. I do not say that God cannot create a miracle for Terri Schiavo. It is very possible that He might. But it is also possible that He may take her home. I don’t know. But I hope and pray that something will be done about this. And I hope that the truth comes out and is told, instead of the liberal media trying to hide it or paint it a different color. May God bless all who read this in the way they need it most.

Brief Update

February 19th, 2005 (11:52 pm)

Much going on. Preparing to go and visit Indiana Wesleyan and learning a skit for next Sunday. Actually a monologue. Lots of writing news going on. Will post more later. God bless!

Cats, Ruanas, Water, and Goals

February 8th, 2005 (05:49 pm)

Today has been a good day at work, but my cats hate it when I’m gone. They make everyone else pay for it, that’s for sure. I don’t know why they can’t handle it. It’s not like I don’t’ pay any attention to them. I suppose that it’s very possible I may have spoiled them with all of the attention I give them. They are so cute and sweet though.

Well, we’re fairly certain now that my health problems were all caused from drinking too much water. I’m feeling so much better now. No more cramping. No more swelling. No more aching. No more headaches. I guess I was very literally drowning myself.

I need to get my chores done today if it’s at all possible. I’m hoping that I can get them done before or after dinner. It’s always great to get it finished before the end of the week. But we might be doing something together as a family which would be great too.

The ruana is just about done. I’m not perfectly satisfied with what it looks like. There is some bunching throughout. Nothing I can do to fix it. I would be fine if it was for me. But it’s a gift. And I want all of my gifts to be as perfect as possible. Oh well. I’ve just got to trim the edges and make sure the fringe is straight. Then I can wash, dry and fold it and ship it off. I really like the ruana pattern. It’s great for using up scrap yarn. I believe that it will be a permanent pattern to be considered when I need something easy to make with scrap yarn. It’s not quick though, that’s for sure, lol. I think I’ve got over two hundred hours in the thing.

My Quiet Time was really good today. I enjoyed it so much. There was a time when I didn’t. But as I am getting older and treating it more like a conversation than a formality, I am enjoying it more and more. Sure, there will be times when I will still have to make myself do it. But it’s a great way to start the day.

I got my goals fixed up for this week yesterday. Here they are:

1. Have a daily Quiet Time
2. Write seven devotionals
3. Finish cool blue ruana
4. Keep word log
5. Keep tracking
6. Answer all emails and letters
7. Exercise five days this week
8. Babysit (weather permitting)
9. Work on Dragon’s Scales
10. Edit Identity Revealed
11. Weekly $500
12. Write and submit book reviews
13. Submit at least eleven pieces
14. Research topics for articles and novels
15. Send out writing prompts
16. Work on Seven Pointed Star
17. Update journals and blogs
18. Transcribe notebooks
19. Send out proposal
20. Take care of myself
21. Add seven markets to database
22. Track submissions
23. Freewrite
24. Critique stories
25. Back material off on CDs
26. Jot down story ideas and article ideas
27. Work on Darys
28. Print off proposal
29. Have fun
30. Sort inbox
31. Make templates

There’s some other things too, but I didn’t put them up here. Well, I need to be going now. Tomorrow is shaping up to be another busy day. May God bless all who read this in the way they need it most.