Oh yeah, I’m a writer!

It seems lately like most of my freetime is being spent on my crafting hobby.  Okay, it doesn’t just SEEM like it - it IS being spent on my crafting hobby.  But today I got a package in the mail that reminded me that I need to try to make more time for my other hobby - writing.

I have had a poem published in a local poetry/literary journal called Poesia.  In addition to the two copies of the spring issue, I also received a check for TEN WHOLE DOLLARS!!!  Can you say Etsy.com money!?

You can check out the publisher’s website here, and perhaps you’ll get a kick out of the extremely opinionated editor’s rant about some of the local poetry slams and open mic nights.  He’s good for a chuckle.

Now, I need to go organize my craft room…

Today, cont…

At the request of my readers, I am posting the text of an email I sent to the director of Model & Talent Promotions.  You can read the initial story about this group here… I suggest anyone who is interested in working with them check out their portfolios or clients first. 

Not surprisingly, I haven’t gotten any response from the guy.  I’m sure he thinks I’m some kind of conservative, uptight beeatch who hates sex.  But I think he’s a disgusting pig  thinly disguising his actual job as a pimp behind the “talent agent” title.  So I guess we’re even.  Dang, I should have included that bit in the email…

Richard -
 
I just wanted to let you know that I saw your representatives at Springfest yesterday, and immediately decided my daughter would NOT be speaking to you about working with your agency.  They were lovely young ladies, and I’m sure they are very nice, but the three or four I saw walking up and down Dickson Street were dressed like prostitutes.  I do not consider the tiny little skirts and high heels and tee shirts tucked under their bras appropriate attire for a family festival.  They actually looked like they were headed to an audition for the Playboy College Campus issue.  And they were only talking to men when I saw them - they never approached my daughter or sister to give them any information about the agency.
 
Just FYI - I don’t have any problem with young women trying to get jobs as beer poster girls or Playboy models, but I was just shocked that the image you wanted to put out to the public went that direction.
 
In any case, if that’s the kind of image your models are asked to identify with, my daughter won’t be working with you.

Laurie Marshall

Today

Today was (and still is) a full day.  It is one of those days when it seems that no one planning events in our community checked the calendar (casually assuming there is one) to see what ELSE might be going on.  This morning, the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks had their annual plant sale.  On Dickson Street in Fayetteville it was Springfest.  In Bentonville, the Jr. League hosted “Touch-a-Truck”.  And finally, today is the Razorfest and the Red & White game at the University of Arkansas.

The day is only half over and I’m already ready for a nap!!

So, because I know you’re dying to know, here’s what we’ve done and have planned:

This morning I met my sister, Erin at the plant sale and we scored some lovely tomato and pepper plants on the cheap from the UA Horticulture Club.  Six nice-size healthy plants were only $4.00 - what a deal!  She also picked up some “hens-n-chicks” and I got a great little hosta to add to my growing collection. 

We went from there to the farmer’s market where I happily advertised my favorite theatre group, TheatreSquared by carrying my fresh cilantro and green onions in a little tote bag I got from them.  There were three thousand and seventy two dogs there, and my daughter Kelsey enjoyed getting some great pics of every single one.  She’s an animal lover, and on nice days local folks LOVE to take their dogs out on the town - makes for great photo ops.

After making our way around the square a couple of times we headed over to Springfest.  It’s a festival of sorts, and features booths and vendors of all kinds.  There are local tie-dye clothing sellers, jewelry makers, and folks from the biology and entomology departments at the UofA.  There were quite a number modern hippies out and about, and lots of information on recycling and watershed issues.  I always get inspired to be a better citizen of the earth at Springfest.  There were also some live performances by local dance and theatre troupes, street performers, and art shows, not to mention the yummy corndogs, funnel cakes, and fresh-squeezed lemonade! Something for everyone.

People watching was interesting today.  Lots of dads with babies on their chests or backs, the sight of which always make me smile.  As I said, tons of dogs of all shapes and sizes.  There was an interesting couple that my daughter got a pic of - maybe I’ll post it here later - she was wearing brightly striped rubber rain boots, a short flouncy skirt with a belt of sorts with gold tassles. Her hair was black and purple and put up in little perky pig tails.  He was in a green kilt.  When they came upon a local drummer adding a beat to the springtime festival soundtrack, the young lady seized the moment to treat the crowd to a wiggly, belly-dance inspired performance.  I love the people in my community.

I think the only thing that didn’t cause me to smile today was the sight of some girls representing the Model and Talent Productions modeling agency.  They are new in town, and have contacted me about my daughter, who has spoken to another agency in town about being a model.  I don’t know where they got her name, but I assume it was some kind of list somewhere.  Anyway, we came upon three girls walking in front of us, and I said “Oh look, the Hooters girls are out…” but then I saw they had tee-shirts on with this agency’s name printed on them.  They were wearing very high heels, tiny little short skirts, and had their tee-shirts tucked up under their bras a-la Girls Gone Wild.  My assumption is that they were supposed to be walking down the street looking for young people who might be interested in joining their agency as a model, but amazingly enough, they were only seen talking to men who didn’t look like they had a career on the runway in mind.  I’m not exaggerating when I say they looked like prostitutes.  I almost said something to the head of the agency, who was sitting at their booth as we walked by, but decided I wouldn’t embarrass the “models”.  I will absolutely be sending an email though, to tell him that there is no way my daughter will be working for an agency who allows their models to “advertise” by dressing like they’re auditioning for the latest Playboy College Campus issue.  I’m no prude, so if I found them offensive, you know it was bad.

While I was hanging out with hippies and prostitute-wannabes, Hubby took the boy and one of the girls to the Touch-a-Truck event.  We went last year, and have some great pics of Griffin sitting in giant tractors, on motorcycles, etc… this year they added a helecopter!  They had a great time, and now Hubby is watching the NFL draft (McFadden went no. 4!!!! WOOT!!!).  Tonight we’re going to the football game to take a look at the team as they play under our new coach, Bobby Petrino.  Should be fun.  It’s a GORGEOUS day… get out and enjoy it!! (but feel free to comment first…)

Boy Toys

yet another blog title that had you thinking…

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours cleaning out my son’s room. He’s three-and-a-half, still within the acceptable age range of allowing mommy to do his cleaning for him. He did help, however, so don’t start hanging that label on me that is reserved for mothers who baby their sons into adulthood. Those women are gross.

Anyhoo, I started by thinking I’d spend thirty minutes or so, needed to just get his floor to a place where I could vacuum and put clean sheets on his bed… standard stuff. But then I decided it was also a good time to get some yard sale cleaning done. I’ve volunteered to host the 2nd annual sale my mom and sister and I have, and I figured there were probably a few things in his room that he doesn’t play with or that he’s just too old for now.

I was right.

Two hours later (or more, I didn’t keep track), I had several laundry baskets and one other basket and a plastic shopping bag FULL of toys! Holy CRAP! He’s only three for criminy’s sake - how’d he acquare all this STUFF!!!???  I think when I was three I probably had three toys to call my own. There was the rocking horse my grandpa made me, a doll or two, I’m sure some crayons… that’s all I can think of. Oh, and a Fisher Price dollhouse came into play somewhere… not sure when, though. I’m sure my mom will comment and disagree, but she’s prone to exaggeration, don’t pay any attention…

Yeah, it’s crazy. I can’t believe all the stuff. Anyone that has a baby/toddler - you might want to browse the selection when we have our sale. I’ll keep you posted.

new job

Man, I’m so DONE with talking about work!!!  But I was offered a new job today that I’m really excited about, so I’ll share just this much more…

My current job is called a “fundraiser” position, but really it’s a sales job. I’m working for commission, I clock in and out, and only get thirty minutes for lunch. It sucks. So, I applied for a part-time position as fundraising coordinator for an organization called H.O.P.E. Inc. It’s not going to pay me much more than I’m allegedly going to make at my current job, but because the current job’s income is based on commission, each paycheck is different. Call me boring, but I’d rather be able to count on a paycheck of a set amount each month. 

More importantly, though, is the fact that this new position will allow me to grow as a development professional and build on my skill set and prior experience.  My duties will involve coordinating fundraising events, soliciting sponsors and other donors, and managing volunteers. I’m so excited. It’s going to be great to finally get back on the path to being a development officer that I started down over 4 years ago.  It was an interesting detour, but I’m glad to be back on the paved road.

It’s good to be the parent

Remember when you were mortified by your parents because they said or did something TOTALLY uncool in front of your friends?  Your friends would knowingly roll their eyes in sympathy, understanding your pain… and sharing your desire to grow the hell up so you could do the same thing to YOUR OWN kids.  (you see where I’m going with this, right?)

Kelsey and I were in the bread aisle the other day, and Olivia Newton John’s “A Little More Love” was playing on the musak.  I was singing along… because it was just a great opportunity to encourage the sure as clockwork “Mom, PLEASE!!” reaction from the girl.  And because, who can resist singing along to that song??? 

While the singing and the average-every-day embarassment was mighty fine, the parental gods were smiling on me…  Just as I finished my best “will a little more loove make it righ…IIIIGHT!”  a cutie pie of a boy walked around the corner of the ice cream case and headed up the aisle toward us.  I’m fairly certain he was close enough to hear my amazing vocalizations, and to make it even more perfect, Kelsey didn’t know he was there yet because she was facing the opposite direction.  At just the right moment, I said “Kelsey, quit singing, geez…”  and just as she started to say “I’m not!” she caught sight of Cutie Pie coming up on her right. 

The priceless look on her face - OH MY GOD!!!  It was hysterical!!!!  Her mouth was open to say “I’m…” and her eyes got wide and cut to her right, and she just froze.  Oh how I wish I had the video surveillance from the store.  *sigh*

Parenthood can sometimes be quite rewarding.

Summer vacation revisited

This was the year we were going to take the kids and meet some family and spend a week in one of our favorite places in the world - Nova Scotia.  Hubby and I spent our honeymoon there in 2005, and we’ve been dying to get back ever since. 

Unfortunately, it’s just not going to happen this year.  The reality of the situation is that it would cost over $3000 just to fly us up there.  Add to that the rental house, the rental car, the gasoline, activities, passports, and food… we’d be spending close to $7000 for six days.  In the end, it’s just not the right thing to do.  We need to do several things here at home in order to enjoy the house the way we want to, and we have a few bills we need to pay off.

So, now we’re trying to come up with ideas for our vacation stateside.  We did Orlando a couple of years ago, so that’s out.  I really like the idea of San Francisco, but Hubby was there a lot with a job he held a few years aog, so he’s not so interested.  We also thought about the Northeast (Hubby’s never been to NYC) but we want to be as thrifty as possible. 

Anyone want to suggest some family-friendly places to go?  We love outdoor activities, but don’t want to spend every day canoeing and hiking.  We can eat in to save $$ but we’d like to have options…  where should we go??

Short story

I’m a writer, so of course it brought a flutter to my soul and a smile to my lips when my oldest daughter informed me this evening that she’s had a story in her head and was starting to put it on paper. It’s about a geeky girl who doesn’t have a date for prom. A popular guy loses his date at the last minute, and asks the geeky girl - even offers to buy her a dress. What a nice Popular Guy!

 Sounds a little Cinderella-ish, right? Sure, until you hear the title:  “Kisses and Sex”.  

Um, what??? 

I asked “Where does the sex part come in?” while I tried to manually Botox my eyebrows into resembling a calm expression. Lord knows I want to read THAT part. I have to make sure she’s not operating under any misconceptions… make sure the public school health-class education I pay for is doing it’s job. Harumph!

Maybe she just knows already that sex sells… an author doesn’t have to feel bad about the reader getting to the last page and saying “What the?… where’s the sex part???” if said writer already has a nice little royalty check in her wallet. Maybe.

A literary challenge…

A friend of mine, Denise, who is a fellow crafter on Etsy.com tagged me with this challenge:

 1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five other people.

Lucky for me, my nearest book is a vintage tome I picked up as potential collage fodder called Always Ask A Man by Arlene Dahl.  She’s an interesting character, Ms. Dahl.  She’s Lorenzo Lamas’ mom, and was a model and actress in the 50’s.  Apparently, her schtick was that femininity is the key to winning and keeping a man, and modern women (when she wrote the book in 1965) were on a fast train to Spinster Town with all that independent thinking they were doing.  The book was in it’s third printing according to this copy… I’m sure it was one of Gloria Steinem’s faves.

Anyway, on to the challenge… Page 123, then five lines down…

“When you’re standing on the dark-haired side of the fence, you’re inclined to think that blondes have the best of it.  You may even be tempted to jump that fence, working on the old theory, ‘If you can’t lick them, join them.’  If that’s the case, let me coin a new cliche: Look before you bleach!”

For my taggees, I choose Stacy, Laurie, David, Marcy, and Julie!

Conversation with a toddler

G’s laying on his belly in the tub, humming and talking to his plastic dinosaurs, which are also in the tub. 

Me: Hey, how’s it going? Are you swimming?

G: (looks startled)  You go away.

Me: You want me to go away?

G: Yes.

Me: What are you doing?

G: Nuffin.

Me: Are you playing with your wee-wee?   Yes, we call it a wee-wee.  Call me old fashioned.

G: Yeah.

Me: G, it’s okay to play with your wee-wee in the bathtub.

G: Oh!… You go away.