Evolve & Change

I don't think of myself as an extremist. I try not to shout "the end is coming" from the rooftops.
But I do believe it's coming. Not the end of the owrld, but the end of our age of convenience, luxury and laziness.
The end of taking a hummer to the grocery store and spending more on gas than we do on food for our families. The end of sports figures who earn in one year what I will not see in ten; to play a game. A game.
There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of people playing baseball who get paid enormous amounts of money...to play a game. Same with football and basketball. Take a guess at what Michael Jordan earned in his prime.
$31.3 million. That's before his $47 million in endorsements.
I see the end of that kind of income for a basketball player. Even a really good one.

The price of gas being what it is, we have already seen a huge number of people start to examine the way they get around. There are a growing number of people who have no choice but to use public transportation because they cannot afford a vehicle. The maintenence, insurance, and repairs are all more than the monthly income; and that is BEFORE the gas is pumped into it!

There are folks who see the way the world is "progressing". Some of us are learning how to be a little more self-reliant. We're learning how to make our own bread so that when it costs more than is reasonable, we have an option. We're learning how to make jam so that we no longer need to run to the grocery store across town where it is cheapest. We are re-learning the fine art of family fun night, we are teaching ourselves the crafts that may one day prove useful. Why pay $20.00 for a scarf when you can knit one for a $10.00 investment in needles and yarn? (Remember, those needles will pay for themselves again with the next project.) Some of us are learning how to grow lettuce, carrots and radishes in an apartment so we are not forced to pay $10 for produce from the grocery store the next time we want a salad.
Some of us have gone even further and are learning how to survive.

How to build a fire and keep it going. How to build our own homes. How to grow fruits and veggies that we can put by and ensure our families will eat during the winter. Some are even learning how to raise chickens so they have fresh eggs. Some are learning how to build with what nature gives them, like trees and stone. We are learning how to install solar panels so that our families experience little discomfort when the power goes out as it did on August 14th, 2003. I can tell you that many of my neighbours had no way of cooking their dinner that night, and many were lured to my patio by the smelling of cooking bacon. More than a few were shocked to see me happily making bacon, eggs and toast for dinner! An investment in a barbeque two years before and cast iron pans changed our menu possibilites dramatically. Because I knew that anything can happen.

Our world might not end anytime soon, but I do know that it's changing. I see it in our weather patterns, our rising cost of living, and the many ways we are dependent on someone else to provide our food.
It's time to change that while we still can.

Birthing A Character

It occured to me while in the shower that writing is very much like giving birth and raising a child.
A writer gives birth to characters by deciding what they will look like, how they will respond to certain situations, their likes and dislikes, their habits (good and bad) and where they will live. As the story progresses, the characters define themselves by interactions with others.
Just like my sons.
The characters define their personalities, figure out what kind of morals they have and how they will be remembered; all by responding to stimuli and interacting with others.
Just like our kids.
Writing a novel stays with you, for better or worse; just like children. You have to decide how to live with your creation once it's published and has an ISBN. Sometimes you aren't so proud of a certain passage, other times you hang on to a section that you can barely believe came from you. Some folks want to keep going; create these new lives again and again.
Sounds a lot like parenthood to me.

I've been giving thought to reworking a couple of old stories, tweaking and adding on; renovating them I suppose. I've been checking out markets while I do this, and one of my favourites, I see, does not take submissions widely available on the web. Hmm. Well, I can understand that. As a reader, I don't want leftovers. I want something new and fresh.
So if I want to submit to that market, I need something with a strong female protagonist. No problem there, I write those anyway. If I were an editor, I would want to read a piece that's going to change the way I think about my day. A piece that makes me stop and FEEL something.
Okay, strong female lead.
Emotion.
A story that makes a difference.
And then I realize, I don't have a single piece that fits that bill that has NOT been seen before.

Back to the drawing board, or in this case, the keyboard.

I owe, I owe, so it's off to work I go.
More later.

The holidays are finally over. Whew! Not good ones this time. They were okay, I suppose, but I've had better. Lots of stress at home this time. Lots of customers in the store who were less than jolly, and I guess it rubbed off on me. So, yeah, I'm glad to have the holidays over with. I worked tons. Every premium paid day I could work; I did. So I'm exhausted.
But enough about that. the last couple of months have been...interesting. We discovered my eldest son has an allergy to shellfish. Thank the Goddess he had only a slight reaction consisting of hives. It was scary, let me tell you. Then we discovered I have asthma. After three different long-term treatments, we finally found one that I don't have a reaction to. One of them gave me all kinds of side effects...everything but the erectile difficulty and blue lips! One of them made me moody and forgetful...not fun. Even my regular customers at the store were wondering what was going on. But now everything seems good. Of course, it's not been cold, so it's a little hard to know for sure. All of this was put in perspective for me yesterday. An elderly customer came in with a question about the lottery, and my manager talked to her for a few minutes. About two hours later she came back and asked me if she had lost her winning $10 ticket in our store. So my boss came out of the office and talked to the lady. All of a sudden, the customer starts to cry. "It'll be okay." my boss assured her while she patted the elderly lady's arm. "No, it won't. My son is dying." our customer sobbed.

Wow.

What do you say to that?

So, yeah, it put my day in perspective.

Last night, I was talking to a friend on the phone, and among other topics, she suggested I look into writing short stories since I don't have the time I used to write with. Anthologies, she suggested, or perhaps a serial tale.
Hmm. So I've been looking into that. But of course, one needs to have a short story first, right? So now I'm looking at a couple of my older pieces that could use a good dusting and polishing.
I'll let you know what happens.

In the meantime, visit my website and read some of the writing of my talented friends and peers.
http://www.dragonsquillandink.net

Wow, it's been too long since I added an entry to the blog. I blame work. I'm an assistant manager now, and won't be for very long.
I'll be stepping down as soon as my boss has her vacation.
I decided on this for a few reasons, not the least of which is the increased stress and reduced family time.
I was raised that family comes first, and I'm unable to even have a game of cards with the kids right now, unless I do my paperwork early.
Anyway, it's all got me thinking about what I want from life, what I want my legacy to be, and how I want the kids to remember me at my funeral. I don't want my kids to look back and think 'she wasn't there when we wanted her'. I want to be remembered for putting my family first, putting them above the job. After all, right now, we have a comfortable life. We aren't starving, the kids have plenty of amusing distractions (aka toys), we are taking steps to spend more recreational time (gradually, so I don't get too much resistance) as a family.

Why did I feel the need to persue a promotion I didn't really want? Good question, but at least I came to my senses before the company gave me my own store. Oh, they tried, but I escaped by the skin of my teeth, thanks to my manager. The pursuit of the almighty dollar isn't all it's cracked up to be. Now, don't misunderstand me, I'm not the type to quit life and job and become a hermit. I couldn't if I wanted to; not with three kids. But if we're doing fine with the money that we do have coming in, and we're not happy because I'm always working either in the store or on paperwork, why work harder?

I want to pick up my hobbies again. I want to pursue gardening, and write more. I want to learn the skills that will allow us to live comfortably should "guerrilla existance" become necessary. I want to pick up my quilting again and stop having to make excuses for why my parents Christmas gifts are not finished. In short, I don't want to work my way into headaches, stomaches, panic attacks and stress leave; which is what so many managers are suffering from right now.

I don't expect that the boss will take it well, and I don't expect her to understand.
I only hope she won't give me the silent treatment.
Taleweaver

Good morning one and all, and happy easter!

Yesterday was a red-letter day for me. Freckles (my beagle) and I went for a walk in the morning, to allow him to "do his thing" before I went to work, and we were welcomed to the end of the street by a red fox! It stared at us for a couple of minutes before taking off across the cornfield, but it stopped half way. It became distracted by a couple of crows and it was interesting to watch it try to catch them. Of course, my grand hunting hound only stood there and watched. We watched it until it ran behind a house across the field. It was a little disappointing to it go. On the way back, I spotted some maple seedlings growing up between the sidewalk panels, so I just had to come home and go and relocate a couple. Now before you all start hollering at me for disturbing nature, you need to know that the landscapers are going to trim any and all greenery with a weedwacker next week. So I'm only prolonging the life of those seedlings. My folks and I used to do the same thing up north. We lined the front part of my parents property with cedar seedlings, and almost all of them grew quite nicely with a little TLC.

I'm still doing research into eco-friendly building methods. I've been doing some reading on earth bag building. Basically, the idea is that you fill bags with non-contaminated earth, and use this as the foundation for all walls. The sheer mass of the walls helps regulate temperature as the sun heats up and cools during the course of the day. This is also a wise way to build in earthquake regions because the walls are more flexible than those built with metal framework.
Adobe is also an ancient building technique that is enjoying a rebirth. There are adobe villages in the American Southwest that have lasted hundreds of years, and if that doesn't convince you that there is something to these methods, then nothing will. Another perk I didn't know about before is that earth shelters absorb sound, smells, moisture and moderate humidity. This means no mold, a more silent home, and a more comfortable environment. All at a fraction of the cost we would pay for a home like the Jones have down the street. And there is no reason for a owner built home (or even one partially owner built) to loo like something out of the seventies. With a little foreplanning and logic, a home could be designed and created that will be pleasing and envied instead of ridiculed. Did I mention the inexpensiveness of natural building?
If you'd like to know more, or know someone who would enjoy it, get a grip on a book called "The Art of Natural Building", edited by Kennedy, Smith, and Wanek.

Well, time to get a kidlet in the tub, talk to you later!
Carolyn

A friend pointed out to me that it's been a long time since I posted a blog, so here I am.

I suffer from the bad habit sometimes of getting too into whatever reasearch I'm doing for my latest book/story. For the past number of years, I've been captivated with the idea of homesteading. My family and I did try some sort of self sufficency many years ago, in Northern Ontario. I was teaching myself how to trap and track, grow vegetables and herbs, we started to raise chickens for eggs (although, truth be told, they made me nervous). I learned how to make a stone wall, how to make my own bread, how to preserve and scads more. But my one regret was that life dealt me a deck of cards that took me away from all that. True, I am happier these days; in a new relationship with two great kids and a pretty good job...but it seems that my heart really wants to just get back to the land.

Last year I joined a urban homesteading mailing list, pleased as all punch that there were others out there who felt as I did. I am now a co-owner and still thrilled that so many of us share the same enthusiasm for being a little more self sufficent. I have found so many sources for information that it can be mind boggling, it's hard not to dive head first into it all.
You might be wondering why this fascinates me so, well, let me explain.

When Hurricane Katrina made such a mess of things in New Orleans, it became clear to me how dependent we, as a society, have become. So my housemate and I started talking what if's. Not to far from here there is an old, mostly abandonded farmhouse, and it was my idea that if something were to happen, we would go there. The property has an older, but neglected garden, nearby running water and is on a main road. I thought (and still do think) that if a disaster strikes, I'm going to think of my family first and deal with the trespassing and squatting laws later. I have enough foraging skills that I could keep us from starving; but then I got to thinking...it wouldn't be enough. We would need to know how to provide for ourselves. The government would be too slow, it would up to us to keep us alive. Now, you might be thinking that this is an alarmist atittude, and maybe it is; but I am sometimes jolted awake at night by the knowledge that if disaster happened; I'm not ready.

I'm not going to run out and build a bomb shelter or stock my spare room with "in-case" food (although I do know folks who have done this), but what I am doing is learning the skills necessary to not only survive, but live in eventual comfort. I can sew quite well by hand, I'm learning all about eco-friendly building techniques (more on that later), re-learning how to make a fire the old way, and doing my part in trying to get a community garden running. There's more too, but my point is that I'm doing and not just worrying any more. I still want to get a piece of land and do things our way; but I recognize that I will probably have to keep working at my job to put enough money by. I'm a realist.
An impatient one, but a realist.

Next time, I'll tell you all about those eco-friendly building methods I mentioned earlier.
Taleweaver

Of Jobs, Markets and 5 yr Old Cheese

I’ve got a relatively new job and I can honestly say that I’m really enjoying it, much to my surprise. I work in a convenience store. Now, I can hear some of you scoffing, but think about it, when you run out of milk, or cigarettes or need chips in a hurry, who do you think sells it? People like me. Who do you think give the best customer service? People like me. Now that I have that off my chest, let me tell you what I USED to do. Once upon a time I worked as a member of the recruiting & dispatching team at a temp agency. Well, someone’s (NOT MINE!) sex drive and adulterous ways literally screwed me out of that job, and I found myself laid off and with a family of four other mouths to feed. So I took a job I never really wanted in order to make ends meet; working in a food processing factory. Suffice it to say it was nasty, cold and an hour and a half (on public transportation) commute…one way! So then, a family friend suggested the present job to me. After much pros & cons list making, I applied, interviewed and landed the job. I’ve already expressed an interest in the empty assistant manager position, and if things continue in the current vein, it looks possible.

So I’ve been working my tail off to prove myself, to the point of working nearly 82 hours in 13 days. Today (Aug 27^th) was a much-enjoyed day off. This morning my Sweetie and I went to the Farmer’s Market here in Cambridge. We were lucky enough to great some great deals, as well as try something new…5 year old Canadian cheddar. Even my kids like it, and one of them is VERY picky! We got crookneck squash, which is almost impossible to find in our neck of the woods, fat corn on the cob that wouldn’t fit on our dinner plates it was so huge, gorgeous amber honey, and organic potatoes. We also bought crunchy apples for the kids that I cannot eat due to a pesticide allergy, blueberries, raspberries, the aforementioned cheese, a plump chicken, sausage and the nicest, tastiest tomatoes that tasted better than my own.

We had a feast for dinner tonight. I barbequed chicken, she made homemade biscuits with the new honey, melon, berries, tomato slices, cucumber slices, corn on the cob and man…are we STUFFED!

I can’t recommend farmer’s markets enough to you folks. Track down your local market and let’s support the farmers. Not only is local honey good for your allergies, but the only way to keep our farms is to support the folks who work in the fields. So while the summer is still here, deny your grocery store some of your hard earned cash, and save our farms by buying local.

Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox now, but if you want to share your thoughts with me, I can always be reached at

roseanddragon@hotmail.com

Enjoy the update and support a farmer today!

Carolyn aka Taleweaver

Books and What Makes A Difference

I was having a conversation with a friend just this afternoon about books and fiction, and what stands out. We also discussed formulaic fiction, and how it leaves the reader wanting. I can remember one book I've read in which the opening line was something like "It was raining the day I died." It was Roseflower Creek, and I've never forgotten how that book broke my heart. It had an opening that made me sit up and take notice, and I haven't read anything like it since. I've also recently read "Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood", and it too stands out among the crowd, if for no other reason than it's style and voice. Too often, we can watch a movie made from a book, and yawn because the movie is not unique. This one is. Reading the book is like watching the excerpts that ended up on the editing room floor. It's follower, "Ya-Ya's in Bloom" has the same sassy style. It's also addicting!
As an author, I have learned quite a bit in recent years about both good and bad writing. What will make a story or article melt into the pool of obscurity, and what will make a piece stand alone. I admit that my own novel was quite the learning curve. Nowadays, I want a book that will stick with me as much as yesterday's oatmeal. I want fresh characters, dialogue that makes sense. I want purpose and morals, lessons hidden like pearls in muddy oysters. I want to remember a book long after I've returned it to the library, or it's owner, or tucked it away with my other books.

What about you? What makes you remember a book? What will make you fork over your hard-earned dollars for the printed word?