Write From the Soul

      By now most of us are experiencing some Spring weather. Maybe a few flowers have begun to pop out where you live, or the air temperature has warmed up a bit. In Atlanta, Spring has totally sprung. We're awash in dogwoods and azaleas. If you follow the television meteorologists, we're well past the "extremely high" range of pollen. More like the are-you-kidding-me-who-can-breathe-with-all-this-pollen range. And the temperature? Well, last weekend it was 85 and I was sitting by the pool.

       Communing with all this nature leads me to sharing with you the stories of two incredible nature lovers. One man, now passed, brought the artistry of nature to "life" in wrought iron; the other man, still alive and kicking, brings out "life" in plants through topiary sculpture.

              Philip Simmons, a master traditional craftsman, became interested in blacksmithing at the age of eight. He just knew a blacksmith would be his career. An apprenticeship at age 13 with an established local Charleston, SC  smith began his lifelong obsession with ironwork- first in the traditional way [shoeing horses, fixing wagons, making/repairing tools] then  by fixing wrought iron fences and finally switching over to artistic craftsmanship as he designed and created fences, gates, railings, and window grills all around Charleston and later the world.  His  pieces usually contain three-dimensional animals or plants, sometimes so real looking, you have to touch them just to be sure it's iron. I know all about Mr. Simmons because I've written a picture book biography about him. I hope to be subbing the manuscript shortly.

      A writer friend of mine, told me about another South Carolinian she's writing about, a man named Pearl Fryar. Mr. Fryar, moved into a neighborhood in Bishopsville, where in the 1980s an individual-of-color wasn't welcomed partially because the community thought he 'wouldn't keep up his yard'. He decided to use his creative spirit to form a unique topiary garden with a message. A message he literally cut into the ground: Love, Peace, and Goodwill. He also wanted to win the community's "Yard-of-the-Month, just to make a point! No one told him the plants he rescued from the compost piles behind his local nurseries, couldn't or wouldn't grow and flourish. No one told him the plants and trees couldn't be "trained" to grow into specific shapes.So he planted them, nurtured them, grew them, trained them, and developed an extraordinary garden that horticulturalists around the world- not to mention tourists- come to see and admire. Oh, and yes, he did get Yard-of-the-Month. Can you say, yard-of-the-decade?

        These two men stay with me; their hearts, their souls, their connection to their communities and giving back to others, it resonates within me. I can't help noticing all the commonalities these two men share:

            Philip Simmons                                         Pearl Fryar 

• Came from meager beginnings                                           Same
• Gained strong work ethic from his elders                            Same
• Grandparents who raised him were farmers/fishers            Father was a sharecropper
• Loved working with children, sharing knowledge                Same
• Received recognition for his craft on a national level          Received recognition for his        before recognition from his town.                                          craft from State before his town
• Strong connection to nature                                                   Same
• Strong connection to his church and his community            Same
• Inspiration to others, role model/mentor                                Same
• Unpretentious about his skill                                                   Same

Trust me folks, these are both inspirational and interesting men. If you're curious to know more, check out the documentary called A Man Named Pearl, available at Netflix or the web site   Also check out
 The Philip Simmons Foundation.   Both sites have photo galleries to admire their incredible work.

       I hope the next time you see a tree or plant in a spiral or with an unusual curve, you'll smile and think of Pearl. Or the next time you pass a wrought iron fence or gate, you'll notice if it contains a bit of nature. As for me, thinking of these two men not only brings me a smile, it warms my heart and makes me want to reach out to others and offer a hand.


Thank you Mr. Simmons and Mr. Fryar for sharing your gifts and your spirit with the rest of us. 

Write From The Soul

National Poetry Month

     Yup, April is the month dedicated to poetry. When I taught elementary school, I'd put out a huge plastic bin filled with poetry books in April and ask students to try out 3 or 4 books, find a couple favorite poems, then write them down. Next I'd have them pick one, copy it neatly [yeah, yeah, that's part of the teacher handbook to remind kids to write legibly], then illustrate the poem. 

Not only did it provide a beautiful bulletin board [hey, coming up with creative bulletin boards monthly was sometimes tough!] but it demonstrated the depth and breadth of poetry to kids who sometimes thought poetry was just nursery rhymes.

   Often the kids would ask me if I had any favorite poems. I would begin to recite a few verses from A. A. Milne, creator of Winnie the Pooh. Such as:

Halfway Down 

by A.A. Milne

                                                                 Halfway down the stairs
                                                                 Is a stair
                                                                Where I sit.
                                                                There isn't any
                                                                Other stair
                                                                Quite like
                                                                 It.
                                                                 I'm not at the bottom,
                                                                 I'm not at the top;
                                                                 So this is the stair
                                                                 Where
                                                                 I always
                                                                 Stop.

That was my favorite verse. I even remember counting the stairs in our house so I could find which step was 'halfway down'!

Another favorite, also by A. A. Milne,  seemed to just roll off my tongue. [And watch the commentary about the title name!]
                                                                    Disobedience

                                                                    by A. A. Milne

           

                                                                    James James
                                                                    Morrison Morrison
                                                                    Weatherby George Dupree
                                                                    Took great
                                                                    Care of his Mother,
                                                                    Though he was only three.
                                                                    James James Said to his Mother,
                                                                    "Mother," he said, said he;
                                                                    "You must never go down
                                                                     to the end of the town,
                                                                     if you don't go down with me."

Now many kids might be perplexed that a three year old was taking care of his mother. I, on the other hand, thought it made good sense. After all, at a very young age, I demanded to know why everything had to done my parents' way, WHY couldn't it be done MY way?!!! 

[Okay, being in charge seem to be a genetic trait in my family.]

 

So did any poetry stick with you from childhood?

Some Things Just Drive Me Crazy!

   I'm in that wonderful place called Oh-Crap-I-Have-To-Put-My-Income-Taxes-Together  and I'm going a little crazy. 


For me, despite all my promises- following the visit to the tax prep folks- to be more organized the next year, to diligently keep all the receipts together including medical mileage, and monthly statements from the health insurance people, tax time looks like a big storm blew through my living room and dining room carrying with it forms, receipts, lists of what needs to be recorded on the form sent by the tax prep people, and torn pieces of 5 x 7 index cards with category labels scrawled hastily on them.


The process inevitably involves a call to the bank or the stockbroker for some missing 1099 (which will absolutely show up the day after I get the taxes done.) Today the stockbroker informed me that in order to send me the confidential info via email, they would need to first send me an invite of sorts, to an online site where I must devise a super secret password, then go back, after said password is accepted- just wait- and plug it into the online site that asks for the secret word.


Alrighty then. I found the place for the super secret password construction. I imagined as a 30 year former teacher and a current aspiring writer that I would breeze through that baby, get my info, and move on to the next tax chore, uh section.

There were 8 steps to creating a "successful" password. Most were the usual mandates: 

• you MUST have at least 8 characters 
• you MUST have at least one numeral 
• you MUST have at least one lower case letter and one upper case letter. 

Then I was stumped.

• You MUST have one non-alphanumeric character.

Okay, what the heck was an alphanumeric character so I could be sure to include a NON one???
The teacher in me said: break the word apart and figure it out...alpha sounds like alphabet so maybe it means letters and numeric refers to numbers. 
So are they telling me I have to include something that isn't a letter or a number? 
What do I have to do, create a cypher  or a new language in order to get my financial statement?????

The only thing left on my keyboard beside the TAB, CAPS LOCK, SHIFT, and ENTER buttons were the asterisk, ampersand, parentheses and the like. It seems to me that we're always being reminded to leave out symbols like dashes, dollar signs, and percent signs. Now someone is refusing to give me access to my own account unless I stick in some kind of squiggle? 
Well, here's what I think about that      ^#&**@# !!!

Of course, it took me 10 minutes of trying a wide variety of passwords until I happened upon the stick-in-a-squiggle idea.  Then it only took three minutes to get the actual info I needed, and that included the printing time. Sheesh! Some things just drive me crazy!

While I'm grumbling over passwords, does it bother anyone else that we need to remember so many different kinds of passwords??

There's the PIN for the ATM, and the phone, if you want to protect information and numbers from prying eyes. Then there's the user-name and password to sign in to some email accounts or web sites. And then just when you think you can remember all those- unless you use the same on for everything with is a very big NO-NO we're told, you are treated to secure emails leading to secure sites that need secure super secret passwords that are multi-syllabic, ancient language-based, having  no sequential numbers or letters in them and need  NON-ALPHANUMERIC CHARACTERS!

I know we're told not to keep a list of said user-names and passwords just in case someone breaks into my house and bypasses all things of value and heads right to the computer and scours the desk for the list of my user-names and passwords in order to possess the key to all my wealth and blog posts. But hey, I'm keepin' one of those lists just in case my brain spazes out and I can't remember which non-alphanumeric squiggle I chose in which password.

So what drives YOU crazy???

The Good, The Bad, and The Help-Out-Others campaign



I suppose I could tell these in the title order but I'd much rather get rid of the bad first and move on to all the positive stuff :-)

The Bad.    

I've taken all the lessons to learn how to use my white cane  correctly. I've done the day walks, the night walks, the walk-with-your-eyes-closed walks [only with my trainer, of course] and I've made the necessary changes and improvements. Then last week, I had the 'perfect storm' of conditions, on the sidewalk I had my town fix/replace for me.

I fell.


The cane tip swept over the edge of the cement, the grassy area happened to be lower than the cement area, the tip happened to get caught in the quarter inch opening between cement squares, and the flexible band in the cane meant to give the walker some, well f-l-e-x-i-b-i-l-i-t-y popped that cane right into my ribs, knocked the breath out of me and I came face-to-face with the sidewalk.


Let me say....big time OW-CH!!!

 I thought I'd cracked my wrist, my kneecap, and a few ribs.

Someone was watching over me, though, and sent a guardian angel in the form of the gentleman who does maintenance around our condo complex. He saw me sprawled on the pavement [not a pretty sight], pulled over his truck, helped me up, and drove me home THE BLOCK. Yes, this event took place one block from my home. After a whole morning of taking the bus and train to do errands. Hmm... I seem to remember reading that most accidents take place within a mile of one's house. Who knew that included close encounters of the pavement kind.

The good part of this bad news is the x-rays the next day showed nothing broken. [Yeah let's hear it for having some extra body padding. I bet those knobby-kneed, skinny chicks would have broken their bones!]  
So I'm hobbling around making alot of "ow" and "ooh", sounds and an occasional  curse word. And don't get me started on the joys of underwire bras and bruised ribs! [Oh too much information? Sorry]

The Good.

 I applied to go to the Highlights Foundation Writers' Workshop week at Chautauqua, NY. It costs mucho dinero, but everyone I've spoken to who has been says it's so worth it; mentally, emotionally, maybe even spiritually changing for your writing career. And I was accepted! I was given some scholarship money. [three cheers!]

So the week of July 16-23rd, I will be living, breathing, sleeping writing, surrounded by writers, and a complete enclave of creativity. Oh, and did I mention that in Chautauqua, all summer, there's a festival of music, theater, lectures, and art going on???? 
And of course, writing. 
I thought the national/international SCBWI conference in LA last summer was overwhelming and stimulating and full of creativity. Be still my heart, will I survive this writers heaven in July?

Just a teeny tiny additional point...that's the week of my birthday. Happy Birthday to me, but it's peanut butter for breakfast and lunch until then. :-)



Help-Out-Others campaign

We've all  been shocked, horrified, and saddened by the trauma and tragedy in Japan. When writers in England put together an auction to raise money for the Japanese Red Cross, they were overwhelmed with offers to help.

So some American authors, Greg R. Fishbone among them, picked up the gauntlet and set up a site called Kidlit 4 Japan. Authors and editors have offered signed books or  manuscript or query letter critique for people to bid on. It started this week and will continue for probably the next 2 weeks. There are picture books, middle grade books, YA books, as well as writing craft books and services. If you don't need anything for yourself, consider family members, or others who might appreciate an autographed book. Not to mention, you'll be helping out those who need our help in Japan. I made a bid and will find out tomorrow afternoon if I am the winner.
Here's the link if you're interested:  Kidlit 4 Japan


Here's another opportunity to help out others.


This coming weekend, an organization near and dear to my heart [and eyes] The Foundation Fighting Blindness [FFB], will hold their VisionWalk at Piedmont Park, rain or shine [and right now it looks like it will be rain]. Donations are used to fund research to find treatments and cures for individual losing their sight [like me] to retinal degenerative diseases including Retinitis Pigmentosa, Macular Degeneration, Stargaardts [ juvenile macular degen], and Usher's Syndrome [severe hearing loss coupled with vision loss]. 

I know when I've contributed to other charities, I wonder if my  5, 10, or 20 dollars even make a difference. Let me tell you, they do. Before treatments or drug therapy is approved, there must be human clinical trials. Did you know that each trial can cost millions of dollars? These clinical trials are usually delayed not for lack of participants or lack of treatment plans, but simply because there's not enough money to conduct them. And every week or month or year they're delayed means hundreds of people, including kids, lose more sight. Sometimes all of it. 

So please believe that every dollar, any dollar, is useful and can help out others. Maybe even someone you know [like me] or a family member.

Donations can be sent in through May so don't let the passing of the actual walk worry you. On behalf of the Board of Directors of the local FFB chapter, I thank you, those who have already donated and those who might, for considering this organization. 
Your donation, by the way, is tax-deductible and can be made anonymously if you like. Here's the link:
FFB VisionWalk

Return From the Great Beyond

       Before you start wondering about the title, let me tell you that I have been without Internet access for 2 weeks.

That's half of a month, or14 days, or 336 hours....well you get the point. It has felt like for-ever. It really does feel like I have  returned from another time and place.

Was this "Sabbatica" planned? Nope. 
Was it intentional? Nope. 
Was it by choice? Nope. 

It was created by my desire to "upgrade" my Internet access. Woopee, it didn't work. At all. 

Not only did the Internet speed not increase, it decreased. Then it stopped completely. 

And the email? Well for a few days I could receive mail but could not send it, then it stopped too.

The reason I was bummed by this has to do with the non-profit organization I volunteer for, The Foundation Fighting Blindness. Our fundraiser walk is the end of March and I was planning to contact more people about a donation. Not without Internet.


    I hear you saying: just call up the provider and get some tech help, right? Yeah, four techs later- and I mean after looooong phone conversations with 2 techs and 2 standing-in-your-house tech visits- I still didn't have connection. 

Oh, and let me tell you about the many, many, many reps I had the privilege to speak with; all of whom asked me if I had called for tech help yet.  
Each one preceded to inform me that the previous rep was incorrect in the information I had been given.

The correct-now incorrect-now-correct-now-incorrect conversations went something like this:

Rep: You need to cancel the  blah-blah service and then we can put in a ticket for the former blah-blah service you had.

You have to wait 48 hrs after canceling one service before putting in the next service.

Rep: You need to put in an order 24 hrs after canceling one service. 

Me: I already did that, 2 days ago. 

Rep: There is no record of canceling the blah-blah service.

So I'll put in an order ticket for the new (old) service. It will begin in 48 hrs.

Me: I was told 2 days ago an order was put in for the blah-blah service and it hasn't started yet. 

 

Rep: There's no record of requesting to go back to the old service. Obviously the person you talked to didn't follow through. I'll put in the request, it will be 48 hrs before it goes into effect (now 2 days later than originally promised.)

Me: Where is my service?????

Rep: The computer says you never returned the equipment for the blah-blah service and we can't request the new (old) service until you return it.

Me: I sent it UPS 4 days ago and here's the tracking number to prove it. (Rep goes and checks it and comes back to say it had, in fact, arrived but was never recorded)

Me: Now that you've noted the return of the blah-blah equipment, why don't I have Internet yet?

Rep: Oh, we can't switch you back to the old service; it doesn't exist in your area.

Me: How can that be? I'm in a multi-family community and my neighbors have it.

Rep: Well the computer says you can't get it.

After threats to go to the TV consumer advocate fix-it guy and an interlude of canned music, PRESTO! The old service was available in my area and a service ticket was put in to begin...you guessed it, in 48 hrs.

Here's the best part... after each conversation, the rep-knowing that the convo had been recorded on their end- mentioned that their goal was to provide excellent service and if I got an email or phone call asked about that specific rep's service, would I say it was excellent? I told them I hoped it was an email because they'd have to provide my Internet service in order for me to answer!

I went through several more reps and promises of 48 hrs before the Internet arrived at 1:00 PM today.

All I can say is if you're thinking of switching to a certain service provider [ no names but it only has 3 letter and one of them is a repeat] that promises the fastest Internet speed and ease of connection.... RUN as fast as you can the other way!!! Don't be fooled by their slick ads or commercials or promises of reduced rates.

Now I have 2 weeks of blog posts from all my blogger buds to read, and a bazillion tweets and Facebook posts to scan. I'll work on the blogs tonight, but if there's something you want me to know that I might have missed on Twitter or Facebook, you better email me the news.

Oh and by the way, that wonderful service provider changed my email address! It's no longer g_handle@ bellsouth.net, it's now g_handle@ att.net

As far as I'm concerned, contact me at: kidlitgail@gmail.com 

I'm seriously thinking of eliminating my connection to this swell company all together.

Sorry about the rant, but it feels good to get it out on the Internet. Stay tuned for another post tomorrow to find out what else happened in the past 2 weeks.

Upcoming Book Launch!

If you've been around the blogosphere for any length of time, you will most certainly know of  LiLa, the sister writing team of Lisa and Laura Roecker. Their debut novel, THE LIAR SOCIETY, launches on March 1st! 
                          
The main character, Kate Lowry, is an edgy, 21st century Nancy Drew with pearls and pink hair who receives an email for her best friend who happens to be dead. Yeah, you read that right, bright pink hair and dead friend.

I wanted to join into the funof preparing for the book's arrival, however, buying a pink wig or *gasp* changing my hair color to pink ..... I don't think so. However, the fabulous LiLa have offered to temporarily dye my hair (okay, so they colorized my photo, don't be so literal about it!). Without further ado, I bring you 'pretty in pink'

                                                                







Yeah, okay, it's not the photo I'd send with a resume, but hey, it IS festive!

I also asked the ladies a few questions about launch day. Love their answers!




Welcome Lisa and Laura! So glad to be a part of your book celebration. How about answering a few Qs for the crowd?

LiLa: Glad to be here. Fire away!

Launching a book is kind of like preparing for the Oscars, I'm guessing, so what are you two going to do that day to prepare?

Well...Laura will brush Lisa's hair and Lisa will make-up Laura's face. And then we'll jump up and down and scream together. And then want to throw up. We're more nervous for the book launch than we were for our weddings!

If you were to ask your kids to help promote the book, what do you think they would do? (Well, maybe not Ben whose  probable choices are sleep, cry, eat, or poop)

They would most definitely dye their hair pink if we let them. The girls have been dying to get their paws on our pink extensions and even Jack might join in on the fun. And pearls are a no-brainer. Lydia has her own pearls and can't wait to break them out on the big day!

If someone wanted to give you a present on launch day, what would you want to get?

A Xanax and the guarantee that it will work as promised (as opposed to making us pass out, speak gibberish or otherwise embarrass ourselves.)

Name a song that would fit perfectly with your mood/feelings as THE LIAR SOCIETY  heads out into the world?

I'm So Excited. The Jessie Spano version because it's just so much more entertaining.

Just how many twizzlers do you think you'll consume on launch day?

One Family Size pack each. It's not going to be pretty.

Okay readers....pull out those unused Xanax and ship them off to Lisa and Laura; it's fine if they're expired, it will just cut the potency issue.  DISCLAIMER: Just kidding....about the sending the pills, not the potency stuff.

Maybe it would be better to send some Twizzlers instead. I'd vote for cherry but a variety of black, strawberry red, and cherry red would be okay too.


Bottom line, good luck ladies on the launch. I KNOW it will be great! And for those of you who can't make it to Cleveland- home of the LiLa- there will be an online launch party on March 7th right here. Hope to see you there.

Write From the Soul

Picture courtesy of http//lydiakang.blogspot.com

      A Late Start to a Day of Blogging 

Sometimes I discover great blogs and great ideas a day late. This time, I hit it on the exact day. One Significant Moment At A Time is having a blogfest today. While I might be late to join the fest, I can still participate in the fun. The following questionnaire has been used, frequently, on the program, The Actor's Studio, but it was originally developed by French journalist, Bernard Pivot for his television series.


Who knows....maybe you'll learn something new about me. Or yourself when you think about the questions.


What is your favorite word?    

 Friendship is one of my favorites. Having friends and being a friend is part of my essence.
 
 What is your least favorite word?

Intolerence. I find it upsetting when people are intolerant of the differences between us. 
 
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

Music can really activate the creative side in me as well as the spiritual. Usually it's quiet, peaceful music but I've been known to find rock n' roll and Motown songs to be a spiritual experience!  

What turns you off?

Bullying. It's. Just. Not. Acceptable. I dealt with it personally as a child and as a teacher, I was compelled to help students who suffered through it.  

What is your favorite curse word?

I wouldn't say I have 'a favorite', but but I use sh*t the most frequently. (I know... bad girl.)  

What sound or noise do you love?

The sound of a young child laughing. Just writing about it makes me smile. Who could be mad when a toddler giggles?! (Okay, so now you know I'm a teddy bear.)  

What sound or noise do you hate?

Screechy sounds on a chalkboard *shiver*. Oh, and when I was younger, the sound of a teakettle whistling endlessly drove me crazy. Now? Not so much.  

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

Well, I've been a teacher for many years, I was a pharmaceutical sales rep, now I'm a writer. Hmmmmm.... I once fantasized about being a professional dancer. 'Course that was 30+ years ago and *%#^ pounds ago!

   

What profession would you not like to do? 

Although I greatly respect these professions, I could never be a doctor, nurse, police officer, firefighter, coroner, or mortician. Blood, guts, and dead people creep me out.  

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Well, I'd just be glad to talk with my Dad again. I miss him a bunch. However, if the Big Guy or Girl were to meet me and make a statement, I'd like to hear that I lived a purposeful life and helped others. I think that's a good way to close out the book.

Anyone care to share a few of your  responses to these Qs?