Category Archives: Uncategorized
Coming Out
The stigma surrounding mental illness has to stop. Cate Reddell at Infinite Sadness . . . or Hope? brilliantly addresses this topic.
If your first thought is that this post is going to be about either my sexuality, or someone elses, you’d be forgiven. Coming out used to be about being presented to society, and more recently it’s been about coming out of the closet. Usually the gay closet. I’m not about to do either of these but coming out is something that I’ve been thinking about in terms of mental illness.
Lately I’ve been reading a number of blogs and articles about the stigma of mental illness, and more specifically the stigma of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). And each time I’ve finished feeling a little frustrated, like we haven’t quite hit the nail on the head yet in addressing this problem.
That’s why I started thinking about the way in which sexuality, and more specifically, different kinds of sexuality have been moving toward a more acceptable space in society. I know…
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Doubly Lieb
I feel as bubbly as a schoolgirl.
So much excitement and blog love.
The positive and honest woman behind Surprise Mama has nominated me for The Liebster Award, my second! My goodness, one was an honor, but two! How much can a modest woman take? I’m not going to turn any of it down, mind you.
I am going to pass on the whole 11-11-11 bit of the Liebster and opt for a modified version of the rules as it’s my second time around.
First, a shout-out to Surprise Mama. Motherhood catches us all by surprise, I think, but she is candid about how her life has been transformed by unexpected motherhood. She has a great photograph of all the toes in her family as the header of her blog (are those really yours?). And she still believes in handwritten thank-you notes – a girl after my own heart! Thank you, thank you, thank you for thinking of my little ol’ blog as one of your nominees.
Surprise Mama posed eleven questions for me to answer, which I will now attempt to do.
- What is your favorite book that was made into a movie (and was the movie any good?) Hmmm . . . that’s tough one. The movies usually pale in comparison to the books and some of my favorite books have never been cinematized (is that a word?) – which may be a good thing. But Fahrenheit 451 has been bopping around in my head lately. I love that movie in a strangely stark sixties sort of way.
- Vanilla or Chocolate? Oh, most definitely chocolate.
- What is your proudest moment? When I catch one of my daughters being kind / taking care of one another.
- What is the best job or volunteer position you have ever held? Running my campus’ chapter of Habitat for Humanity
- Sneakers or stilettos? Sneakers.
- If you were to teach a class, what would it be called? Journalling as a coping tool
- If you were to take a class, what would it be called? Knitting 101
- What is the best gift you have ever received? My husband’s love
- What is your favorite blog (besides your own)? I’ve been stalking The Red Tent lately.
- If you could travel around the world, what five destinations would you be sure not to miss? the stone house my great-grandfather grew up in in Ireland; the back alleys (or would that be allée, ha!) of Paris; Provence; Italy once again; my friend’s kitchen in New Brunswick for a cup of tea.
- What scares you? Loss of control (I know, I’m working on that).
Go to Surprise Mama’s Liebster post and visit all her fine nominees. Or go to her site eleven different times and send her view-counter off the charts!
Thank you for double the Lieb love, Surprise Mama!
Fresh (fresh), Exciting
Just call me Kool and the Gang!
WordPress editors deemed my latest post ‘press-worthy’; that is, good enough to be featured on the ‘Freshly Pressed’ page. Woo Hoo!
Insert video of Wayne and Garth bowing in unworthiness here.
I am so pleased and honored and grateful to the folks at WordPress for sharing my work. And to all of you who came to read it and hang on for the ride! A thousand thank yous!
Long Live the Lieb!
So I’ve been slacking this Lent and on week second-to-last made a half-hearted attempt at giving up something. Actually, my schedule made it for me. I’d noticed that the last few Sundays I hadn’t been logging on / checking in on my blog, Facebook, e-mail – all that fun stuff that sucks up inordinate amounts of time. I’d been filling my time with family, house stuff, etc. And since this occurred on the day of rest, I saw it as a sign that perhaps I should leave that time untouched by multi-media’s dirty little mitts. Yes, it is a bit rationalization. No, I didn’t put it to particularly good use in praying or praising the Lord. (Though my husband and I did take up watching Mark Burnett’s interpretation of the Bible – ha!) I did, however, want to check my stats and inane Facebook updates more than ever. Has my soul grown by fighting that temptation?
Perhaps.
Perhaps the Lord has rewarded me! This past Sunday afternoon, I was speaking on the phone with my mother. She mentioned reading my latest posts and excitedly announced that I’d gotten an award. What? You have to go on and check, she exclaimed. But it’s Sunday . . .
Waiting until Monday morning to read the exciting news made my nomination for The Liebster Award that much sweeter. Who deemed me worthy enough? Which of my readers enjoyed my writing enough to choose me amongst all those out there?
Tieshka, that’s who!
Many, many thanks to Tieshka for awarding me with The Liebster Award. I found her blog, Jardin Luxembourg, by way of her post about a micro-brewery tour with friends. A weekend getaway tasting small batch, hand-crafted beer? Sign me up. And she even hiked the next day and managed to think about cleaning her house. She may be my hero.
She shared the rules of The Liebster Award with me:
- Proudly display The Liebster badge!
- Thank the person who nominated you.
- Share eleven random things about yourself.
- Nominate eleven blogs/bloggers worthy of the award (who also happen to have less than 200 followers).
- Answer the eleven questions asked of you.
- Pose eleven questions to your nominees.
So, on to the sharing of eleven random things about myself . . .
1. I’m thinking right now that random is easier said than done.
2. I wear orthotics (which is a fun word to say).
3. I really don’t like Justin Bieber but thought those with Bieber fever might appreciate my play on words in the title.
4. Plus, I love alliteration!
5. I am a word geek, in case you couldn’t tell.
6. I apparently intimidated a waitress last night when she tried to take away my half-eaten dessert thinking I was done. I was not.
7. I just bought a bird cage, but do not, nor plan to, own any birds.
8. I have been in a writers’ group for nearly two years now.
9. My new favorite driving music is The Lion’s Roar by First Aid Kit (Thanks, D!)
10. I want a chain saw.
11. I am not a psycho-killer, Qu’est-ce que c’est
And in the event that they still want to associate with me after that, I’d like to nominate the following blogs for The Liebster Award:
- I’m Fine, But Mommy Has Issues
- Nailing Jello to a Tree
- Living in Evanescent Increments
- Tiny Steps, Big Journey
- Half Past Normal
- Sorrygnat, World Citizen
- Under the Big Blue Sky
- The Red Tent
- mindbodybrew
- What Would She Think?
- Infinite Sadness . . . or Hope?
The eleven questions Tieshka offered for me to answer:
1. How many siblings do you have, or are you an only child? I am an only child.
2. What is your favorite vacation spot? Alone with my husband, preferably with a bottle of wine.
3. Are you afraid of heights? The edges of them!
4. Can you swim for at least half a mile? Um, no.
5. Which blog have you enjoyed writing most (topic)? Chopping Potatoes.
6. What two foods do you detest? Vegamite (sorry to my Australian friends) and anything so spicy it makes my nose run.
7. What is your favorite sport? To play? Basketball.
8. Would you rather wash dishes or take out the trash? Surprisingly, wash dishes, though you wouldn’t be able to tell looking at my kitchen sink!
9. Have you ever traveled outside of the country you live in? Yes.
10. What is your favorite cartoon (or used to be when you were a child)? Garfield.
11. Do you prefer to use a PC or Mac computer? I am a Mac convert.
Hmmm . . . now what do I wish to know about you? I feel like I have to channel my former self circa grade eleven/sixteen years old. It is fun, though!
1. Why did you start your blog?
2. What’s your grandest dream?
3. What’s your favorite color?
4. Name the favorite room in your home and why.
5. What’s your favorite word? Okay, two – I know it’s hard to choose.
6. What do you put off in order to write?
7. What do you do instead of writing?
8. Where’s your favorite spot to write?
9. Have you ever been to Spain?
10. What’s the last meal you cooked?
11. What’s the last song that got stuck in your head?
Thank you to all the bloggers whose writing inspires and thoughts provoke. I hope you accept and share the blog love. For, I love reading.
Long Live the Lieb!
God Bless the Tow Truck Drivers
For straightening out our stupid mistakes.
For risking their lives to save ours.
For their counsel while tending to car trouble.
For being a ray of hope in an otherwise dismal day.
The Next Big Thing
* LATE BREAKING NEWS! I am pleased to announce a last minute addition to The Next Big Thing Blog Tour. Annie Cardi, a fellow New Englander writing young adult novels, has joined us. Please follow the link to her blog as well as the links for the two other writers at the end of this entry. Thank you!
2013 is off to an auspicious start.
As last year came to a close, the lovely and talented Heather Rigney invited me to join her on The Next Big Thing Blog Tour. Heather and I met in our first lives as middle school teachers (though our school was having an identity crisis as one of the few named junior highs remaining in the state). We reconnected in our second lives as writers, attending an institute together at Rhode Island College. Her work is witty, quirky, and entertaining, involving zombies, mermaids, and, yes, junior highs. Her blog, Mermaids Love Sushi, showcases her wit and joie de vivre.
Before I could even digest the questions I’d be responding to as part of the tour, RK Bentley – friend, blogger, writer extraordinaire – hit me with another invite. Rob’s comics have graced my personal library for decades. Within the last year or so I’ve been fortunate enough to see his scifi novel, Where Weavers Dare, take shape in the writers’ group he organized. Rob is an integral part of the local writing scene and he shares his “ramblin’s” about that and his other passions on his blog, RKB Writes.
As part of The Next Big Thing Blog Tour, Heather and Rob answered questions about their current work, much like a published author would do to garner support for their latest book. I think I speak for all the authors taking part in this tour that we do so in the hopes that our writing will, in fact, be the NEXT BIG THING!
So here goes:
1) What is the working title of your book?
Next in Line
2) Where did the idea come from for your book?
Ironically enough, a kitchen remodel. We totally gutted the kitchen in our previous home and a plasterer came in to patch things up. He was so knowledgeable and kind that we learned a lot about his personal background, which got me thinking about family businesses and legacies.
3) What genre does your book fall under?
young adult/realistic fiction
4) Which actors would you choose to play in your movie rendition?
I’m really fighting the urge right now to call on the cast from My Big Fat Greek Wedding; my main character’s name is Dmitri Tslakas!
- Maybe Zachary Gordon from Diary of a Wimpy Kid could play him.
- Camilla Belle for the lovely yet unassuming Francesca.
- Olympia Dukakis for Gram? Sorry, couldn’t resist.
- Mandy Patinkin with a beard for Spiro, Dmitri’s dad.
- Isabella Rossalini for Maria, Dmitri’s mother.
- Can I get Max Cascella from his Doogie Howser, MD days for Dmitri’s friend, Anthony? This whole thing is wishful thinking, right?
5) What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
Dmitri, a seventeen year-old sculptor, is trying to build his skills and his strength – to hone his craft and stand up to his father.
6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Any takers? I’d like to see what an agent could do for me.
7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
~ two years, in fits and starts.
8) What other books would you compare this story to?
- Takeoffs and Landings by Margaret Peterson Haddix
- Lord of the Deep by Graham Salisbury
9) Who or what inspired you to write the book?
- My plasterer and his teenage son on the brink of adulthood
- any kid who’s trying to get out from the shadow of his or her parent(s) and stand on his or her own.
10) What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
- Dmitri has undiscovered family history that ties him to the past as well as his father’s expectations pushing him toward the future.
- He is an amazing, naturally talented artist.
I’m so honored to be part of this blog phenomenon! A big thank you to Heather and Rob. I’d like to share the love with two very talented writers both of whose work I highly enjoy and which you should check out, too (They’ll have their posts up in about a week).
Chopping Potatoes 