Best part of the 11th Annual AAGP Conference--Reconnecting with friends Most fun at the conference--Mingling with the multiple Board members in the Presidential suite Favorite workshop session--Priceless: Increasing Your Value to Your Employer Yummiest meal--Braised Lamb shank at the Hyatt Regency Hotel Biggest Austin letdown--Threadgill's Best Austin experience--The Bats, The Bats, The Bats
Thanks to my good friend Anne, I found the trailer for the new Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland movie. Looks to me like he played some American McGee's Alice before pulling this one together. Can't wait!!!!
Highlights from SCBWI-LA include but are not limited to: hanging out with our wonderful AZ RA, Michelle and the rest of the AZ crew, connecting with the heart inside Richard Peck's amazing speech, the fun of seeing Holly Black do math, the timeliness of Esther Hershenhorn's coaching tips, seeing SCBWI friends like KJ and Jo, making new SCBWI friends like Rachel and Debbie, and re-connecting with the SCBWI community.
In some ways it was a challenge, mainly the travel and being away from home again so soon, as I had spent 20 out of 28 days traveling and staying in hotels.
But the value is always there for me, and I always return with a fresh desire to continue writing and working toward publication.
Many say that you should write just because you love it, that publication is not the be-all, end-all, and in many ways I agree. But I also believe that there is no sense in having a transmitter without a receiver. I write to transmit my ideas, to share them with others who will connect, to tell my stories in the hope that someone, somewhere will find meaning and value in them, a place to escape, encouragement to dream, something to relate to.
I send my characters out in the hope that that others will get to know them and learn to love and/or hate them, see them as real as I do, and hopefully become friends with them.
Stories touch the inner core of who we are. Books can help us see the world in a new way, help us to understand ourselves and others, give us hope that we can rise above the daily struggles and personal and social limitations.
Leaving today for the annual SCBWI Summer Conference in LA. Woohoo!
Part of me is not looking forward to the traveling part, since in the past month I spent 2 weeks in Washington, DC and most of a week in Tucson. I just got home last Thursday and here I am off again.
But the SCBWI conference will be so worth it!
I am looking forward to seeing all my LJ-SCBWI friends.
So, a good friend of mine hooked up my step-daughter, Aura (who is interested in forensic photography), and me to tour the Phoenix Crime Lab.
And, to quote Aura, "That was way better than the TV shows."
We weren't able to go into the actual labs, as that could potentially compromise evidence. However, we got to see plenty through the windows and our host was exceptionally kind and extremely knowledgeable.
We had originally planned to go see the lab last week, but our host couldn't accommodate, because he had to attend an advanced Blood Spatter training. How cool is that?
Sorry. I can't help it. That stuff just fascinates me!
(Because of my field service work with Baxter (many years ago), I recognized a lot of the equipment, and the whole place made me sort of miss being around labs. Although, I certainly don't miss the on-call hours and travel.)
Here is a link the Crime Lab photo section of the Phoenix Police Department website:
It is with great sadness that I sit here and type this. While some people are not reptile fans, I became one 30 years ago, when I was introduced to my first Rainbow Boa. He was the size of a pencil and fit my wrist like a bracelet. I named him Quetzalcoatl after the feathered serpent god of the ancient Mayans, because he iridesced in the sunlight, reflecting rainbow colors of blue and green and purple.
He was always calm and gentle, even winning over the hearts and minds of persons who had previously feared snakes. And he knew me. When I would hand him to someone to hold, he would invariably stretch out across the gap between us and try to come back to me.
When he was bracelet size, we went everywhere together. When he grew to be larger, long enough to wrap around me like a belt, we still traveled extensively, only I put him inside my shirt where, wrapped around my waist with just his head poking out between the buttons, he could watch where we were going without frightening strangers.
One day, when he had grown even larger, he decided he wanted to learn to drive and crawled out of my shirt and onto the steering wheel of my car. Unfortunately, that put an end to our regular forays out into the world. After that, we only went out in the yard for crawls, and sometimes a bit of tree climbing. We also did a bit of Belly Dancing together; he seemed to genuinely enjoy performing.
Over the ensuing years, we grew apart a bit, but we never stopped caring for one another. I know there are many people who may read this and think, “Good grief. It was only a snake!” And it is true that he was never much for snuggling, and I know he had a brain the size of a pea, but after 30 years spent together, I am truly going to miss him.
One thing I can be certain of, he had a good life. The average lifespan of his breed is around 15-20 years. His ripe old age of 30 made him the equivalent of about a 110-115 year-old man. Not a bad run, although I suppose crawl is more apt.
I think of him now, *sunning himself beside the Rainbow bridge, or flying, like his namesake. And I am glad to have had him in my life.
*This image of him by the bridge was given to me by a dear, dear friend, Anne, in her note of comfort and it is so apt, I can't see him any other way now.
Last night, from just before 8:30pm until a bit after 9:30pm, we shut off all the lights and computers and sat in the kitchen playing Scrabble by the light of several candles.
It was fun, especially since we don't get to play games together very often these days because everyone is so busy.
However, I can't imagine trying to write and/or read by candlelight all the time. I would need more than bifocals in short order. Even if they printed books in type as large as Scrabble letters.
It would be cool to have a way of finding out how many people turned off their lights and electronics for the hour, as well as how much energy was saved. Does anybody know where to get stats on that?
At any rate, we not only got to feel good about saving energy, we got in some good quality family time together. So, all in all, a win/win.
They're building a wall. A thick, gray wall right outside my office.
I can see it from my window as I sit at my computer, working diligently, composing the next in a never-ending series of hopeful requests.
It is growing taller day by day, this dark expanse of blocks and mortar.
It seems it will soon completely block my view of the sky. The scenery won't be much missed. It used to be a lot filled with discarded appliances, vagrant refrigerators, lonely dishwashers, and down-on-their-luck oven ranges, crowded beneath the city sky.
Then one day, my poor, sad neighbors disappeared. Their cluttered campground became a vacant landscape of dirt and weeds.
Yet, there was still sky.
I fluctuate between feeling like Poe's Fortunato in the Cask of the Amontillado and an extra in a Pink Floyd video.
After a three-week illness in February, during which time my blood pressure decided to act like it was on an elevator headed for the top of the Chrysler building, the doctor put me on blood pressure meds. I spent two weeks feeling exhausted and miserable. So, he changed the meds about a week ago.
Guess what? The meds are working, I am still tired, but I am nearly feeling like myself.
I have been busy all day without collapsing into a stupor! I have been working, writing, editing, and playing with my new toy of total awesomeness--Mac Dictation.
Oh, yes. That's right. I can now speak and have my words typed out for me without ever having to touch the keyboard. True joy for someone like me who types really fast with four fingers, but not nearly as fast as someone who types with all their fingers. I've used it for e-mails, business documents, and am beginning to use it for my creative writing. In fact, I'm not typing this post. I'm speaking it. Woo hoo!
It even knows how to spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Why? Because it's an Apple product. And it rocks.
So, I have been sick for three weeks now. What started as a cold turned into severe bronchitis.
I have no energy to write or draw, so instead my brain is giving me intricately convoluted, yet realistic, dreams. While I'm not getting the sleep I need, they are quite entertaining, and perhaps there is usable stuff in them for when I begin writing again.
There is much sadness in my heart. My sweet Ethel passed away yesterday.
She was my precious baby for fifteen wonderful years and I miss her terribly.
I just happened to stay home from work with a cold yesterday, so I was here when she began to have seizures. Unfortunately, there was nothing the emergency vet clinic could do for her, but at least I was able to be with her as they eased her way.
Her mother gave her to me when she was less then two weeks old. Far too young for her and her three siblings to be without a mama kitty. Mama was a stray that wandered into my yard already pregnant. I fed her and made a birthing box for her out behind my tiny apartment. One day, shortly after giving birth, when my door was open to let in the fresh air, she tried to bring her babies into the apartment and hide them under my broken down couch. I had no litter box, so I explained to her that I couldn't keep her and her babies inside and I put them back into the birthing box.
The next morning, when I went out to check on them, she was lying dead in the yard. I was heartsick. She must have known she was going to die and had been trying to make sure her babies would be cared for. I bottle fed them and cleaned them and did everything a momma kitty would do to the best of my ability.
When it came time to find them homes, I diligently interviewed the prospective caregivers for the other three kittens. But I kept Ethel as my own. She was sweet and loving up until the moment she left me. And now my heart is full of sad.
I have come to believe that the year actually begins on my birthday, which just coincidentally happens to be the Winter Solstice, as it truly is when the earth begins its long trek back from the long, cold winter.
So, it isn't much of a surprise that for many years I have stayed in on amateur night. However, this year, I took a couple of days and nights off to go on a quest and kill evil beings. After a hiatus of nearly two years, I let myself be drawn into a computer game, in this case, NWN-Shadows of Undrentide, which has been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years. (Luckily, I hadn't upgraded beyond the software.)
It was a lot of fun, and while I did not finish the adventure, I truly enjoyed blowing off the real world responsibilities for a couple of days.
I am still drawing. I am working my way through a stack of drawing books that show how to draw people and animals and some that teach dragons, wizards, and mythical creatures. This too has been a relief from other things.
As for the traditional "New Year," I am looking forward with hope. I plan to celebrate the inauguration of a promising new president. I'm ready for positive changes and abundance.
No matter when you celebrate it, I wish us all a joyous and prosperous new year.
That's me. A Winter Solstice baby. Born at the edge of the year, on the shortest of days.
Thank you to all who have thought of me on this special day and especially those who have sent me well wishes and birthday greetings.
May you all be well and glad in body, mind, and spirit at this, the rebirth of the world, and may this fresh new year bring health and prosperity to you and yours.
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