The Twin Towers

While browsing through some high school photos - I found this picture. I was in New York City with the Porterville Panther Band. I couldn't believe it -- the Twin Towers are in the background.

That's me - in the blue shirt, second person in. My little sister, Lily is in front.

Leader of the Band

***** For the latest entry on Frank "Buck" Shaffer -- click here. *****



Panther Band in Washington D.C. - that's me - the first "L" in Porterville.

We have the most amazing man in Porterville, California.

Frank "Buck" Shaffer is someone I love and respect and have known for many years. And today I got to interview him for a hometown newspaper story about Unsung Heroes.

I have always admired Buck and always knew he has done so much for our small community, but sitting in his home - interviewing him - I was in awe while listening to all he has done.

If I had to name one person who has had a huge impact on Porterville, that would have to be Frank "Buck" Shaffer. He started the Porterville Christmas parade, the Veterans Day Band-a-Rama, the City of Hope Spectacular -- and The Fabulous Studio Band, to mention just a few things.

He was Porterville High School's band director for many years. He took a tiny band and made it grand. He has led our band from sea to shining sea - as they performed at venues across America. He was there for Disneyland's grand opening ceremonies - and every year thereafter for 32 years. He has directed the Porterville Panther Band at Carnegie Hall, Squaw Valley Winter Olympics of 1960, Seattle World's Fair, six Rose Parades, represented California in Philadelphia on the fourth of July of 1976, performed at half time shows for the Los Angeles Rams four separate years, led the band through 35 years of CMEA Superior Ratings, led the band through four recordings (Capitol Custom), played at least 185 half-time football shows, led the band through 345 DIFFERENT parades all over America and has had 37 annual concerts to a packed house in Porterville. (at the Porterville Memorial Auditorium in the Frank "Buck" Shaffer Theater -- named after him. Outside, he has a star on the sidewalk walk of fame.)

I still remember marching under his direction, 1973-1976 -- four of the best years of my life. During that time, I marched the Hollywood Christmas parade every year, Disneyland every year, did two Rams half-time shows, met and shook Vice President Ford's hand when the band played for him while he was in Fresno campaigning. In fact, he told me I had a beautiful smile. Buck also took us to New York City, Washington D.C., Arlington National Monument - Cemetery, Philadelphia -- a 10-day tour of the East Coast, where we toured the Statue of Liberty, The United Nations, Montecito, Gettysburg, Amish country, the White House, U.S. Capital, Lincoln Memorial, U.S. Treasury, the Smithsonian -- the list is endless.

His Fabulous Studio Band has done even more -- including several tours to the Orient, Japan and Korea -- and they have completed many domestic tours as well.

The hour and a half I spent with Buck was precious and priceless.
Writing the story will be an honor.
But how can I give enough justice to the story -- this man is incredible.
I was also very touched by a few things he shared with me and a favor he asked of me.

Thank you, Buck Shaffer. For the gift that you gave me -- the gift of music and for believing in me. Thank you for putting a song in my soul.



This is me in 1976 - you can't see my long hair
I was an Orange Blossom
the first "L" in P-O-R-T-E-R-V-I-L-L-E,
we marched in front of the band.




If you want to know more about Buck Shaffer -- please visit: www.buckshaffer.com
or read the story I wrote: HERE

For other Porterville High Band, Monache High Band, Fabulous Studio Band and other band stories click HERE.

Saying Goodbye

I had lunch with my best friend today. We meet occasionally for coffee or for lunch - always hitting unique little places or interesting sounding restaurants.

Today we went to a little Mediterranean place. We had humus and Tabouli salad and gyros.
And then, he decided to tell me -- he's moving to Sacramento -- next month! Huh? "What do you mean - you're moving away?" I just sat there for a moment, trying to absorb what he said. His mother is elderly and needs him. (I can certainly understand that.) But it was still sad.

This guy is my baseball buddy. There has never been anything else. Just friendship. He loves my girls and we've known him for years and years. We always meet at the Oaks baseball home games and often travel to some of the away games together. We go out for icecream in the summer and hot chocolate in the winter.

Baseball starts in two weeks - it just won't be the same without him.
Michael is like family. I can't believe I'm losing him.

I'll miss you Michael!

School District Lines

My heart is breaking.

I have spent all morning fighting (ok, just talking until I'm blue in the face) with my daughters' schools.

Apparently, for the past five years, we have been attending the "wrong" schools. No one ever told us. No one ever stopped us when we registered - so with one daughter having a year to go in high school and the other about to start high school - they expect us to move our daughters to the new school next fall.

The deadline to apply for a lottery to attend a different school was in December. (They can't understand that we didn't apply because no one ever told us that we weren't attending the right schools to start with. Apparently the boundaries changed several years ago but no one told us!) Oh, we live on a corner. If I cross the street to the west, she'd be ok. If I cross the street north, she'd be ok. My corner (and my house only) is the only one affected on this block. Next to me is a church, so obviously, they don't have children. I am the only house on the block that it affects.

We have lived in the same house for 15 years. The girls have gone from kindergarten through now to school with their friends. If I move her now - I might as well move her to a new town!

Oh - and in order to get to the school across town, we have to walk/drive past the school in question. (.4 mile from our home. The other school is further.)

I am so frustrated and my younger daughter is devastated.

She called me from school - totally freaked out. Last week we signed her up for high school. She's been accepted into their marching band (few Freshman are) and into the advanced band and into their Wind Ensemble band. (top of the line band- by audition/permission only - they meet at 7 a.m. daily)

My middle daughter is the No. 1 student at the school - will they make me pull her out too? If they do - she'll be devastated.

I keep telling myself that things will work out -- but I didn't feel positive after leaving the district office. We missed the lottery system for attending and they said chances of getting in are slim to none.

I may have no choice but to move. If I have to move in order to have my daughter's life be uninterrupted - so be it. I'd hate to. We've lived in the same home for so long. But what other choice would I really have?

The Swallows are Coming - the Swallows are Coming

Four more days. Then, I'll be heading to San Juan Capistrano to take my elderly mama to see the Swallows return.

It's amazing. How do these birds migrate to Goya, Argentina, only to return year after year -- always on the same day? March 19. I have never seen it in person, but I do see it every year on the news.

My mama grew up in that area as a little girl. But, the last time she saw the birds, she was 10 years old. That was 75 years ago! She's always longed to go back and year after year and when I see it on the news, I regret that I didn't take her.

This year I'm taking her. Last Christmas, I wrapped a child's book (the only one I could find) about the Swallows, and while she opened the present, I played the 1939 classic "When the Swallows Return" -- she opened the gift, saw the "gift" certificate and hotel accomodation info and broke down crying.

Now, you should see my mama. She's like a little girl. For the past three weeks, she's talked about it every day! Telling me stories of how the Mission bells would start ringing when the birds are spotted in the city. And how hundreds of them are suddenly seen, flying to the San Juan Capistrano Mission. Sometimes she wipes away a tear, but mostly, I can see her drifting away to another time -- and I can almost see them -- flying, closer and closer and bells ringing and people cheering..... I can't wait...

It's going to be a bit bittersweet. You see, my mom has always said that she did not want to die before going back to see the swallows.

And, at 85, I realize that I need to treasure every day I have with her.

Four more days. Then we will go see the Swallows return...

March 23, 2006 : Edit to Add
I guess it is true - you can never go back again. My mom was a little disappointed that we did not see the Swallows that she remembered. She saw two or three - but that was it. I tried to explain that these were scouts -- and that the weather had prevented them from arriving. (lots of rain the past two weeks) But she insisted that it didn't matter - there were dozens of scouts on the days prior to the thousands of Swallows that would arrive. But, we had a nice time. I got to spend time with her and we laughed and talked a bit. I got to see a group of Swallows (about 25 of them) that flew by me as I sat in the gardens of the mission at San Juan Capistrano; but my mom was enjoying the mariachi and folkloric dance show and had requested to stay by the stage. (we were there five hours and she enjoyed her front-row seat to the show for two hours of it) I enjoyed walking around and entering the gorgeous church! (Catholic churches are so awesome)
Well...as it turns out -- swallows also arrive in Three Rivers (20 minutes away from me!) LOL -- so, I might take my mom to the Swallows Return celebration -- just for fun.

Spreading Sunshine

Besides writing, I am also in the medical field. I work approximately three to four hours a day for a paramedical company. Most of my work involves centrifuging and shipping blood, urine and drug-screening specimens. But, sometimes, I do electrocardiograms on people who are buying life, disability or health insurance.

Today, I had such an appt. And the woman (about my age) I went to see was in a very bad mood and by golly, she was going to make sure I knew it.

She proceeded to make my life miserable. She was negative. She was downright rude and nasty. Everything I asked her to do, she would complain loudly and tell me that she never did it that way last time she had the exam.

I decided to continue to smile and be nice and make her my project for the day -- I was determined to make her say something nice or at least make her smile.

The exam part was professional. I took her blood pressure and tried to say little things to her but she ignored me or sneered at me or just glared at me. I responded each time with a smile.
(I can be stubborn too - I figured the more I smiled and the nicer I was - the angrier she was getting - and to be honest, I wanted to laugh.)

When we got to the EKG - I commented on her cute monkey socks (she glared at me) and I chatted about my daughter loving monkeys.

It wasn't until I mentioned my daughter was Down Syndrome that she started to relax. I saw that it worked and I told them how she was just like a little monkey, always wrapping herself around me as a baby.

By the time we were done with the EKG, she was a different person. She thanked me for the exam and apologized several times about not being in a good mood when I arrived. I just smiled and said I hadn't really noticed, that I just figured she was nervous -- after all, I probably would be if some stranger came to my home to take my blood and have me semi undress. She started to laugh...just a little. I smiled, walked to the door and told her to have a great day. Her smile was so sincere by this time and she wished me a good day.

I got to my car and as I drove away, I felt really happy. I could have let that woman ruin my day. I could have cussed all the way home (Ok, I don't cuss)

So, next time you meet someone who appears to be miserable - just bear it. Remember, you'll soon leave. But in the meantime, see if you can make it your mission to bring a little sunshine to their life. If you succeed, you'll both feel great.

I'd like to think she went on to have a great day. I know I did.

Puppet Masters

More on this later - but I just wanted to come in and save my result.

I'm off to the CMEA - California Music Educators Association - music festival, which I'll get to write about for tomorrow's paper -- and I kind of doubt I'll get back to this tonight.

Thanks Dawno (saying this in a nice and sweet, but sarcastic, way)

No. I love Dawno. She's one of the best things that happened to my life these two years - she and everyone else at AW. I can't imagine not knowing them.

Well - This is what it said:

"You belong in the Puppet Masters. Your world is filled with hidden foes. You trust no one, and you know that someday you'll find and destroy the bad guys hideout."

NOTE: I was going to explain about this fun quiz and why I believed I got this answer - but to be honest, I am too busy and not particularly interested in this - so I'm not going to bother.

~ SS 3/13/06

Forbidden Shed

I wrote this a long time ago. I remember it as if it were yesterday. It is a true story.

I was only 4 years old when I first stumbled across the dark shed behind my home. It was hidden behind a thick wall of elderberry trees to the rear of our landlord’s L-shaped lot.

I often played behind a brush in my back yard. I liked it there. No one could see me. But I could see between the slats of the boards and, more than once, I watched our landlord, Mr. Neiman, walk towards the elderberries. He always stopped, looked around and then would sweep aside some brush, exposing dark wood, before stepping through.

"There’s a secret room back there,” I said to my brother once.

But he didn’t believe me, or maybe he wanted me to believe that there was not.

At 11 years of age, he seemed to know everything and he warned me not to get too close – the place was crawling with large beetles, he had told me.

But I wasn’t afraid of the beetles and I wasn’t afraid of adventure. But I was afraid of Mr. Neiman.

Two cherry trees stood just beyond the tall wooden fence separating our yards. I often climbed the fence to reach the branches. I’d cling to the tree, stuffing cherries into the pockets of my dress – and into my mouth – to keep my hands free for climbing.

I would prefer to wear jeans but my mother wouldn’t hear of it. Jeans were no attire for little girls.

I was on this fence one day when I saw the Neimans walking down the street. The Mrs. was not always well, so it was not often that they went for a walk.

Knowing I had a few minutes to explore before they returned, I climbed over the fence and slowly walked towards the brush. My heart raced as I glanced back. Not that I expected to see them, for I knew that they would be gone awhile. But I was afraid that my brother would see me and that would be worse.

I stopped and studied their home. It was always dark in the main house. Once in a great while, a small light could be seen in a back window.

The children in the neighborhood were afraid of the two-story home. The brown home was said to be haunted.

There was no lawn, only bark and mulch and roses and wild flowers of every color. Mrs. Neiman always hunched over her garden, pruning or planting. And Mr. Neiman would water.

“Cheri’ take some flowers to your mama,” he would say to me in his husky voice, and then gesture to me.
“Come, come. Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you, my little Cheri.”

He liked calling me Cheri’ – more than likely because of my love for cherries, I thought.

Every now and then, usually on the first of the month, my mother would send me to their home to deliver the rent. It always took a long time for them to open the door.

I always prayed it would be the Mrs. But every now and then it was her husband.

“Come in. Come in, my Cheri’,” he would say every time in his husky accent. And I would step just inside the dark room. A large upright piano stood near the door, dust clinging to every inch of it. I would squint, unable to focus in the dark. There was furniture cramped into every corner, yet the old couple moved as if they were in a maze, fast and with a purpose.

Mrs. Neiman rarely spoke but always smiled. I often wondered if she spoke English. She seemed harmless, yet the children in the neighborhood feared her. I didn’t. I feared him.

I’d stand quietly each time as he scribbled a receipt. And it was during these short visits that I picked up tiny pieces of their history. Mrs. Neiman had been born into royalty in Austria but fell in love with a German soldier during World War II. Her family disowned her. They ran away, married and immigrated to America.

I had asked him once if they ever had children. They did. Twin girls. But they died. Mrs. Neiman wiped away a tear as Mr. Neiman spoke. Then he quickly shooed me out of the house. I never asked again.

As I approached the shrubs, there was no question about it, I could see the old wood – dark, splintered and faded in some areas. There were no windows, or at least, none that I could see -- only one door and one large padlock. But next to the door was a hook – with a key.

Shaking, I spread the brush and stepped in, careful not to disturb any potential beetles.

I quietly turned the key and slowly opened the door. I expected the room to be dark but a window on the back wall brought in just enough sunlight to glance around.

I stood still, mouth open. I could not believe my eyes. Never in my life had I ever seen such a thing – picture after picture of naked or scantily-clad women on the walls. Some of them were standing, some were sitting, others were bent over, but each one, beautiful, with long hair, big eyes, ruby-red lips and the roundest breasts I’d ever seen.

I turned and ran as fast as I could. I never looked back and as I climbed the fence, I saw the Neimans walking back. I didn’t care. I was safe in my yard. Breathing heavily, I noticed I was so nervous that I was clenching my hand into a fist. I slowly opened my hand -- and panicked. I held a key in the palm of my hand.

Very Busy Weekend

Have you ever heard of Melissa Borders Stevenson?

I met her on Saturday. She had the most amazing one-woman show I've ever seen.

I went to a really nice luncheon (perks of being a member of the press -- enjoyed chicken crepes and a spinach salad) and stayed for a presentation by Mrs. Stevenson.

She portrays women in history. The women selected for Saturday's performance were Eleanor Roosevelt, Julia Morgan, Charlie Parkhurst and Harriet Tubman.

I had heard of Roosevelt and Tubman - those were obvious. But shame on me for not knowing who Morgan and Parkhurst were. (I did look it up before I attended but prior to getting the assignment, I did not know who they were.)

I'd love to talk more about it but I will wait until my story runs (next Friday) and then I can come back and tell you more.

If you ever hear of Stevenson performing anywhere near your town -- by all means, do yourself a favor and attend. You won't regret it!

Finally catching up

I have a new freelance record this month -- I have had more stories than I could almost keep up with. Don't get me wrong, it was very exciting and I loved doing it, but there were times that I felt overwhelmed.

Besides my regular weekly story for the Fresno Bee, I took on a couple of extra stories for them. Add to that the stories from World Ag Expo (two to three a day for a week) and my agriculture stories -- 10 stories about the county's top 10 commodities, and some regular stories for the Porterville newspaper -- and we are talking more than 30 articles in one month's time.

But ask me if I love it?

YES!

If I didn't have four children and an elderly mother to look after, I'd jump at the chance of getting back on with my old hometown paper. My editor had stopped by a couple of weeks ago and told me that there was a Features Editor position open as well as a general assignment opening.

I keep telling myself that I am waiting for my magazine-writing career to take off. I'm getting close. I have not heard from Readers Digest about my two submissions, but I did get an interesting offer to write an article for a trade-journal magazine. That is just the beginning!

This will be another busy week for me. I will be covering the California Music Educators Association music festival for three of the four days. I love band and love to cover any band-related stories. Plus, it does not hurt that I will have two daughters performing there too.

I still need to complete three agriculture stories, and I have my first interview for the trade-journal story scheduled on Tuesday.

When it comes to my novel, I have not worked on it much. I'm too busy with everything else. I am going to concentrate on completing all of my current assignments first.

Then I can return to my happy midnight writing!

Oh - one more interesting bit of information. I have signed up for a writers' workshop in Southern California. I'll be gone from April 28th to the 30th. I'm very excited about it.
I thought of going to the Mad Anthony Writer's Conference in Ohio, also in April ( especially since I found a great deal on airflight) but I decided against it since I have several other short trips planned in the next couple of months.

Meeting Arnold Schwarzenegger

I met my Governor today. In fact, he shook my hand. It was great.

The wait for him seemed to take forever - but it was worth it. I know many around here are constantly putting him down - but I believe in what he has been doing.

Today he was discussing his Strategic Growth Plan - a $35 billion investment to maintain and improve the state's levee and flood control system and to provide for safe and reliable water supplies for California's future.

I was at the World Ag Expo to cover his visit and to cover the expo. I ended up writing three stories today.

I have been covering the Expo in Tulare, CA every day this week. (two to three stories a day) I have loved it. It feels great being a member of the press and getting all the perks. Special VIP parking, private golf-cart escorts, etc.

We have been treated like royalty at the media trailer that they set up for us. We have comfortable chairs/couches, all the drinks, candy, meat and cheese cuts, yogurt, ....you name it, they have it for us.

Yesterday I got to interview some members of a Nigerian delegation. I've spoken with people from Japan, Canada, Australia, Netherlands and Australia. Today I spoke with the California agriculture secretary and I got to follow Arnold around as he toured the grounds.

Today I ran into a former news editor I once worked with. He's with another paper now and when he heard I was freelancing, he invited me to come out and write for them too.

Today was fun. And, it's such a big high for me to open up the next morning's paper and see my stories on the front page.

I love my job!

Five Weird Habits

Five Weird Habits – tagged by Joanne

The Rules: The first player of this game starts with the topic “five weird habits” and people who get tagged need to write an entry about their five weird habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next five people to be tagged and link to their web journals. Don’t forget to leave a comment in their blog or journal that says “You have been tagged” (assuming they take comments) and tell them to read yours.

Ok Joanne – these are things that my girls have told me are just plain weird!

1. Every time (and I do mean EVERY time) I wash dishes, I sing Donny Osmond or Tom Jones songs. My earliest recollection of this strange habit -- I was 12 years old.

2. I can not throw out a newspaper unless I visually scan it first. There are times I am a week behind (subscribe to 3 papers) – and I wish I could pick them up and throw them out. But, I can’t. I will pick them all up, automatically throw out all the ad inserts, classifieds, comics, and usually sports (except for baseball season) and then I’ll set them aside until I have more time. It usually takes me a couple of hours to go through a week’s worth.

3. This is not really weird – ok, part of it is. I can not go to sleep unless I pray for my girls (small prayer- I touch their forehead and we close our eyes and I say a small prayer) That part is ok. But then, I sing my girls their “night-night” song. Mind you, my daughters are 22, 15, and 13. And they would be embarrassed to death if their friends knew. Odd thing, they are so used to the prayer and their song that when I am sleepy and forget, they’ll come looking for me to say goodnight and stand there, waiting for me to do the silly verse I invented when they were toddlers. When my daughter went to Hawaii with the school recently, I joked with her about recording the night-night song so that she could take it with her. A few months ago, my 13 year old called me from a sleep over and whispered, “I’m calling for the night-night song” – and of course, I sang it to her over the phone.

4. I love fresh figs. But, it is such a short season and they are so hard to find. Therefore, I have a notebook where I have jotted down the location of every single fig tree that I have ever run across. There are 8 in Porterville, 5 in Visalia, 1 on the side of the freeway on the way to Los Banos....etc. No, I never steal figs. In fact, I've never had a fig from any of those trees. (except for a former one in an empty lot by the baseball park, but it's gone now - removed to make a parking lot)

5. This one goes back to when my daughters were little. Every time they saw a cute animal on television, they'd say "OHHH" or "Ahhhhh" (but really loud and exagerated) and it was followed by "how cute" "how sweet" or "how adorable" -- somehow, I picked it up from them. It used to drive my husband crazy, we'd be watching television and a fuzzy animal would be shown and we'd all oohed and ahhed loudly. Well, we still do it. Doesn't matter when the animal pops up -- a monkey on Survivor or the little monkey on Friends -- "Ahhhh! How adorable!"


I did a quick search and at the time I checked, these people had not been tagged on this subject or they hadn't written on the subject yet, therefore, I choose to tag:
Emeraldcite
paint brush poet
(musings of a writing wife) Julia
ray wong
mac

AWMondayMemes

American Idols and Writers

I love American Idol and I love Simon Cowell. But, I do not like it when he tears a person down about their singing. Still, as some of the aspiring singers auditioned, I found myself laughing and asking myself: “What is she thinking? He can’t be serious. She can’t sing. Are they deaf? Does he really believe he has talent? What was that?”

Some of them were so totally off key and -- with no melody whatsoever! How can they believe that they can sing?

Then it dawned on me. Many writers might be the same way.

Last month I read Jenna Glatzer’s “How to Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer” and then, right there on page four, there it was – a sort of disclaimer. A list of “I’m assuming that...”

Among the things listed: understanding command of language, discipline and desire to motivate self, willing to do research, ability to not being crushed by rejections…

“And finally, I will assume that you’re actually a good writer” -- Glatzer wrote.

I was excited. I was answering as I read: “Yes, yes, yes, yes...”

Back to American Idol – isn’t that how they all are? Many of them won’t believe the judges when they are told that they have no talent. They believe they can sing. And I have to laugh all over again. And this time, at myself.

Am I one of those contestants?

Being novice about breaking into the magazine market, I practically swallowed this book. I underlined, high-lighted and placed colored post-its all over it. I kept a writing pad with me and I would jot down questions, situations, things to look up, and things to come back to… until my daughter asked if I was taking a class or studying for a test. I had to smile – yes, I was. It was such a great feeling. I literally spent about six straight hours on it.

And I did my homework.

I subscribe to a lot of magazines – like 10 a month. My girl friend does too. Some are the same ones but some we trade every month, and I read about 15 magazines a month. I started studying them, just like Jenna instructed me.

Then, after a week of devouring the book, I felt confident that a particular story idea was perfect for Readers Digest. I wrote the article proposal and forced myself to set it aside. I was feeling so confident, I polished up a filler I had been keeping around, and I mailed it in for fun. It was only 100 words and I would get $300. Wow. Then, I could say I got $3/word. LOL

I returned to my article proposal the next day, saw some little (but obvious) things to improve it, and I polished it up. I must have gone over it at least 20x.

Then I kissed it and sent it on its way.

I got busy with more research and writing and I forgot all about it –for about a week.

After three weeks, even though I tried not to think about it, I couldn’t help but get excited every time I opened up my email.

Then I started wondering if they would respond by email or (American-Idol thinking) –since my article was so wonderful – maybe they’ll just call me and talk to me. Or, will I get a “real” letter from them, complete with a contract.

Honestly, I wasn’t thinking the latter. It entered my mind and I smiled. I’m not totally clueless to how this works. More often than not, nothing will arrive. But, not in my case – I was so confident about the proposal, I knew I just had to continue the waiting game. Though, I did get concerned last week when I heard about a tragedy – but I won’t go into that today.

In the meantime, I asked a question on one of the AbsoluteWrite threads.

One person responded with:

“Not to burst any bubbles, but it's best to entertain a healthy pessimism regarding any specific submission. As a percentage, very little gets published compared to what gets submitted, and it's probably best to find yourself surprised on the upside later if they get back to you.”

Ok – that’s fine. I agree with that. But, then she went on to say:

”As to the more general sense, best is to find a few people whose opinions you respect (a good writing group is helpful) and try to get an assessment of whether you're talented enough to pursue it further or whether you're being self-delusional. And remember not to shoot the messenger.”

There it was – a statement from one of the judges. At least it was a kind statement.

But, here I was – an American-Idol-type writer – reacting to the statement.

WHAT??? What do you mean, "am I talented enough to pursue it further?" And what is this about being Self-delusional? Phooey!

(Remember, don’t shoot the messenger)

I didn’t.

One of the things I am known for is that I am always telling everyone: “Don’t ever let go of your dream.” One of my dreams is to be published in magazines. I believe it will happen. And, if it doesn't happen this month, there's always next month.

Until then, I’ll be right here – writing. And watching American Idol.
And, for all of you new writers -- you have to get Jenna Glatzer's Freelance Writing book. You'll be glad you did and when it is your turn to perform before the judges -- you can smile and feel confident that you've been coached by a professional.

The Rule of Four Meme

I was just thinking that if it weren't for meme's -- there would be little posted on my blog, at least lately. Then, I read a similar comment from Mac on Dawno's site.
I have been very busy with freelance writing assignments. I counted today and I have 22 for February and it's not even the middle of the month yet! That's fine. Baseball season is coming up and I need to buy a season pass.
So...for now, I'm going to post this last meme that I ran across on Musings of a Writing Wife

Four jobs you've had in your life:
1. Radio show host assistant (station identification voice; commercials, assisted dj, answered the request line) - KTIP Porterville, KCOK Tulare
2. Worked at my family's record shop on Main Street
3. Emergency Room Nurse - later, School Nurse
4.Newspaper Reporter / later Freelance Reporter

Four movies you could watch over and over:
1. The Rookie
2. The Man in the Iron Mask
3. Groundhog Day
4. Under the Tuscan Sun

Four Places you've lived:
1. Laredo, TX
2. San Antonio, TX
3. Porterville, CA
4. Visalia, CA

Four TV shows you love to watch: (I watch TV Monday-Thursday / some are recorded)
1. Monday: Medium & 24
2. Tuesday: American Idol & Commander and Chief
3. Wednesday: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (every night)
4. Thursday: Survivor / CSI / Without a Trace

Four Places you've been on vacation:
1. Tulum, Yucatan - (Caribbean)
2. Hawaii
3. Europe: Paris - Belgium - Netherlands
4. Victoria, British Columbia - Canada

Four websites you visit daily:
1. The Fresno Bee
2. The Porterville Recorder
3. several close friends' websites/blogs
4. AbsoluteWrite.com (minus small breaks)

Four of your favorite foods:
1. chicken piccatta
2. steak
3. fresh fruit
4. sauteed mushrooms

Four places you'd rather be:
1. Tulum on the Yucatan Peninsula - my favorite place to vacation
2. Xcaret - also in Caribbean - Paradise!
3. In a bookstore
4. Home. It's my favorite place to be.

Category tags: AWMondayMemes

Taking a break from AW boards

Last September I joined an online writers group - Absolutewrite.com
Writers can ask questions and learn about writing, bounce ideas off each other, critique each other's work and have fun online with games and chat (via postings).

I also found myself addicted to the site and I would spend up to six hours a day there. I still worked -- submitting magazine queries, working on a child's book or writing my novel -- but I always had the boards on in the background. And, I found myself taking more and more breaks to go in and check it out. It was the first thing I did in the morning and the last thing I did before going to bed.

So, last week, after being assigned 15 new stories -- I decided it was a good time to take a break from the boards. I told myself I could only go in once a week -- which I did Sunday and only for about an hour.

The first three days were the hardest. But on the fourth day, I found that I could make it through an 8-hour day with minimal withdrawal symptoms. :-)

I haven't missed it too much, but I've been really busy with my new assignments. I spent a six-hour day last week getting organized, setting up interviews and taking a drive to visit a few farmers. I've since interviewed a cotton grower and a dairyman and I have a few more interviews set up for this week. (Among other things, I'm writing about the top 10 agriculture commodities in my county.)

I miss you, my AW friends -- and I'll come back soon. But for now, I'm doing what I love the most -- I'm writing.

January 30: AW Monday Meme #7

AW Monday Meme #7Today's little quiz is about computers and you.

1. Do you remember the first computer you ever used? If so, tell us what you remember and why you were using it.
My first computer was in 1983 and it was a Commodore 64. I mainly used it to write stories and to play some neat "Olympic" games. It contained a program that I loved where you could be an olympian athlete - you pick the sport and the nation and compete against the computer for the gold, silver or bronze. It also had National Anthems for many countries. One could ski, swim, participate in skeet shooting...the list was endless. And it was such fun and a big hit with my family. I remember hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas family gatherings and everyone would gather around the "computer" and play games or just check it out. We sold it several years later when we got a "real" computer. And I missed it so much. I kept wishing we had kept it.

2. Do you remember the first computer you ever bought for yourself? What was it - if you know details like how much memory it had or anything funny about it, share!
We got a 486 computer from Office Max in Fresno. It had a 100 mb harddrive and 1 mb of RAM. We used it in our business. But it soon was almost worthless. It didn't take long for us to fill it to the max and everything suddenly was in super-slow motion.

3. What kind of computer are you using right now? Any particular story about you and your computer experience you can share?
Believe it or not, we have five computers at home and one at the office. All three of my daughters have computers, I have a 3 ghz computer running windows XP and a 200 gb harddrive with a dvd and cd burner. I love my computer. My girls have similar ones. Also, I have a Dell Inspiron 2.8 ghz laptop and two BlackBerry's, 7290. (pda) which I have sync'd to my online calendar and to my computer address book. I can't imagine life without it.

4. Is there one thing about having a computer that is particularly important in your personal history? Something you wouldn't have done or known unless you had a computer? Some big change having one made in your life? - for example, I (Dawno) met my SO 15 years ago because I bought a Commodore128 that had a floppy disk in it for an online service called Q-Link. We would never have met if I'd bought a different computer.
Wow. You would have to go and ask, didn't you? Some time ago - and I do mean a long time ago - like 11 years ago -  I had a dear friend from church who had moved to Holland. I decided to "look" for him. I went online (Compuserve) and never found him - but, I did find the Netherlands forum. And it was not long before I had lots of Dutch friends and they started inviting me to visit....so, I bought me a ticket to Holland, left my three babies behind and left. I was 32 at the time. I guess none of that would have happened if I didn't have the one office computer.  I made some wonderful friends and have had five different people from Holland come to visit me.

Monday: January 23: AW Monday Meme #6

I just realized that I never did last Monday's (1/23) Meme. Shame on me. Well, better late than never. Here it is.

AW Monday Meme #6
Recipe Meme

Open your refrigerator. What is the first item on the left at the front of the 'fridge on the top shelf.

Open the food cupboard closest to the stove. What is the first food item on the right on the bottom shelf (you may go up a shelf if your bottom shelf holds pet food or non-food stuff)

Find online or create for us from your imagination, a recipe using those two things as primary ingredients.

OK - I found I had two grilled chicken breasts on the top shelf to the left. And, the cupboard closest to my stove (which normally only holds spices and cans of kitty food) ended up having a jar of peanut butter. I knew instantly what I could make (mole) but I googled anyway. And I was shocked. I found one site that had 225 recipes calling for chicken and peanut butter as the main ingredients.

You can find this recipe: HERE

CHICKEN SATAY

2 1/2 lb. boneless chicken breasts Marinade: 6 cloves garlic, chopped 4 tsp. coriander 4 tsp. light brown sugar 1 tbsp. black pepper 2 tsp. salt 1/2 c. shoyu 4 tsp. ginger, chopped 2 tbsp. lime juice 6 tbsp. oil 1/4 c. fresh coriander, chopped (for garnish) Mix marinade ingredients. Cut chicken into 1 1/2-2 inch cubes. Add to mixture and marinate at least two hours. Chicken Satay: Thread chicken pieces onto one end of satay sticks. Broil or much better, barbecue, baste with marinade. Serve with peanut sauce for dipping. Peanut Sauce: 1 c. chunky peanut butter 1-2 tsp. hot chili sauce 2 cloves garlic, crushed 3 tbsp. honey 1 tsp. cayenne pepper 1/4 c. lime juice 1/4 c. shoyu 1/2 c. peanut oil Mix ingredients together. Should have a sweet/hot peanut flavor. Taste and adjust ingredients accordingly. Submitted by: Laura Bryan

So, there you have it. Next time I want to say "There is nothing to eat" -- I'll look at my available ingredients and then google a recipe and viola! I'll come up with a creation that will fascinate my family. Thanks Dawno!

January 18: Last of this and that

Was one of my goals for the New Year to blog more often? I can't remember or maybe I am trying to -- conveniently -- not remember.

But something happened - I got tagged. So, now I have no choice but to blog today.

AW Monday Meme : I was tagged by: jdkiggins

Dawno picked up a meme at Halspacejock’s site for this week’s jogging of our brains. Here it is.

Last Live Music Show Seen: CCR Revisited - February 2005. It was great. I love Creedence Clearwater Revival music. Proud Mary, Susie Q, Down on the Corner -- to name just a few. I had fun. It was a good show.

Last CD Purchased: Garth Brooks "The Limited Series" six-disc boxed - Christmas 2005

Last Thing Cooked: Chili Verde and Mexican rice and beans for the family. And I didn't even taste it. I heard it was delicious. I'm coming up to my 30th reunion and am on a diet involving tuna, steamed rice, vegetables or salad. And I've done great on it. I ate that while everyone else had the chili verde. I was so proud of myself. And I've lost six pounds this week.

Last New Thing Eaten: nothing new and not much lately - have been on tuna for two weeks. (though I do get to eat a treat now and then. Yesterday I had a coconut pattie - delicious!)

Last Thing Bought: A beautiful heirloom-quality chenille bedspread. I LOVE it. There is this little thrift store in town called "Rescued Treasures" and I like to browse in there every now and then. I saw it and grabbed it! It is in excellent condition. And....it was only $10.00 I could not believe my eyes! I took it to be cleaned and it now graces my antique wrought-iron bed.

Last Gift Received: The book: "Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer" by Jenna Glatzer. It was supposed to have been a Christmas present but it arrived late. I love it!

Last Piece of Clothing Bought or Received as a Gift: Five very nice sweaters from one of my favorite stores at the mall. I rarely shop there, only on special occasions. Unfortunately, going out of business so everything was 70-80 percent off.

Last Embarrassing Experience: I like to sing in my car. I was really going at it, holding up my cellphone and pretending that the antenna to it was my microphone, when I glanced over and the car next to me was watching and the people inside laughing at me.

Last Totally New Experience: Sadly, I can not think of anything. That means I need to get out there and try something totally new!

Last Foreign Country Visited, if any: I've been to Canada, Mexico and through Europe but the last foreign trip was to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I loved the cobblestone streets and especially Yelapa.

Last Big Achievement: Writing. Having my story accepted for the anthology "Stories of Strength" -- which really motivated me -- I've been working on a novel and I've submitted five magazine queries this month - I'm very proud of that.

For this meme I'll tag: I'm tagging Frank and, if she is still around, Lady of Prose (If you are reading this: I have not been able to get on your blog site today)

Jan. 18: Return to Meme No. 4

The original entry here was a duplicate - which has been removed. But there was no sense in leaving this blog blank. So, I came back in to fill it with one of the Monday memes that I had missed.

AW Meme No. 4 - The first one of 2006

1. What is your most hated and dreaded household chore. Why? Cleaning out the refrigerator. No matter how hard I try, things always get lost in there and about once a month, I'll find little containers with white fuzzy growth inside. I would rather do anything, except clean the fridge.

2. Do you ever drink out of the beverage container or always pour a glass? Always from a glass or cup. I have never in my life taken a sip from the container unless it was a personal container (bottled water, soda, etc.) Though...I don't mind sipping from same bottled water, etc. as my girls.

3. Over the counter pain relief: Asprin, acetominiphen or ibuprophen? (if those aren't your options, what are?) I take ibuprophen and acetominophen

4. What was the first car (or motorcycle if that's the case) you bought for yourself? I started working at the hospital and had no car - so I bought myself a (yellow) moped. I loved it. I then saved up some money and three months later, put a down payment on a little car - cute little yellow thing. It was a Mercury Capri Rally Sport - very cute and sporty.

5. It's a lovely, sunny weekend day. What would you go do if you could do whatever you wanted to do (within your usual means). I would take a drive up to Horse Creek near the lake and take a hike up the river to my favorite water pool. It's so gorgeous - and so quiet. Just have to watch out for rattle snakes.

6. Name your favorite board game. My mom loves Aggravation. I'm not much into board games, but I play it with her every time I see her. It means a lot to her and I enjoy visiting with her while we play.

7. How many blankets do you sleep under and how many pillows do you use? One pillow - all the others get removed from the bed. I sleep under one blanket and I must have my sateen sheets. Without them, I can't sleep well.

8. How many pets and of what type do you currently live with? You may name them if you wish. Four dogs, two cats (all neutered and spayed) and one hamster

9. Biggest grammar peeve. Nothing really bothers me.

10. Favorite flower or other plant, should you not be into flowers. I love vines and morning glories. I love tulips, daffadils and hyacinths (Spring flowers) I couldn't have just one favorite.

I'm not tagging anyone because this already passed.

Jan. 3: Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone!
It seems that with each passing year, time speeds up and zooms by me - and I, literally, don't know where the year goes. That was not the case this year. This was my debut freelancing year - and I loved it. It was a productive year.

Some of my writing accomplishments for 2005

• finally left my newspaper job to pursue other writing endeavors (but I miss the newspaper so much)
  
• finally said "no" to being secretary and a board member for baseball booster club (after 7 yrs)
• wrote a short story for anthology Stories of Strength - my first published story
• learned a lot about book promotion (this will come in handy with my next book)
  
• finished a manuscript and mailed it off
• finished a childrens' book and mailed it off
  
• recorded a commercial for Bakersfield Californian newspaper/magazine - and got paid very well for it. (fluke thing too - I was speaking with someone about a writing assignment and the person on the phone said I had a great voice and before I knew it, one thing led to another)
  
• debut Nanowrimo - I didn't make it to 50k because of other commitments and my freelance assignments - but I did start a new novel and I love it and can't wait to finish it
  
• joined AW - best thing I ever did (and I made some awesome friends along the way)
  
• I registered my name
  
• started my own website
  
• started this blog
• took an online journalism class
  

I'm sure there's other things - but these are the ones that stand out.

New goals for 2006?
I will work on my novel - finish it and polish it and begin looking for agent representation.
Submit two magazine queries a month
Complete two more Childrens' books
Continue to freelance
Attend my first Writers Workshop

There are personal goals too - but I left those out and concentrated only on writing goals.