Social Media

I have spent the day at a social-media seminar at Drake University. I am overflowing with tweets, posts, alerts, readers, feeds, etc.

I am networking and discovering new blogs such as: catch-26
svanaartsen
andydrish.com

Let me process all this and come back tomorrow.

Thaw

Drip Drop.
Drip Drop.
Snow piles melt
Run down the walk
To the street,
Slow and sure.
Drip Drop.
Rays of sun
Burn through the mound out back.
Once white and pure
Now a brown mess.
Drip Drop
Drip Drop.
The snow is gone
But there is no green grass.
And then,
Just when you think spring has sprung.
A flake falls.
So white and clean.
Then two flakes, then three
They add up
Slow at first
Then fast
Coat the dirt, the sand and grime
So white and pure
Cold and bright
What a sight

magazine lover

Hypothetically speaking, if you see a cart sitting in the parking garage of the public library with magazines on it and nobody is there to claim them is it stealing if you take one of them home with you? Especially if it has a cover like this? Seriously, who can resist cupcakes? I'll be honest. I flipped through this issue at Barnes and Noble recently and wasn't willing to fork over $5 for it (and I wonder why the magazine industry is floundering these days). The real kicker is that this is a magazine that I subscribed to at work, so normally I would have a copy to enjoy myself and not have to mooch off B&N, but those days are gone for now. So when I saw an innocent copy sitting out I grabbed it...

Writing

I don't feel like a writer these days. But even as I type that I wonder what a writer really is. Do you have to be published to be a writer? Do you have to write every day? Do people have to know that you write? And even though I can answer yes to each of these questions, there is still a part of me doesn't always feel like a writer. A voice in my head says I'm not creative like so and so. I don't have a blog that I post to frequently enough, or that very many people read, etc, etc. (Can you see what a personal critic I am of myself?)

I started leading another creative writing workshop at the Mitchelville Women's Prison last week and one of the first things I said to the women is "A writer is someone who writes." I guess I should listen to what I say and take it to heart.

When I was an editor I wrote. It was part of my job description, and I got paid to do it. But even before I was an editor I was a writer. I think I have always been a writer. It's something that is a part of me as much as my curly hair, love of dark chocolate, and love of the sun and a good book.

I have been doing some writing during this time of transition, looking for jobs, whatever you want to call it. Most of it has been personal journaling, but I've also done some writing for an online magazine, veritasmag.com. I forget that I'm always writing, whether I realize it or not. Maybe it's just typing e-mails or writing a cover letter, but it's still writing. I'm expressing myself through words on the page. In my mind I think I tend to elevate the title of writer as something or someone that I can't possibly achieve. That's when I need the little voice in my head to gently remind me that "A writer is someone who writes." And at the end of the day, regardless of what the words say, I can always find something to write about.

I just discovered ted.com. The first talk I listened to was Elizabeth Gilbert's talk about Genius. I enjoyed her book, Eat, Pray, Love and loved what she had to say about the creative genius. If you have 19 minutes, it's definitely worth checking out. Hopefully now I will take a little over the pressure off myself and let myself write.

This is my first experience with ted.com, but I'm fascinated. I guess it's been around for 25 years, so I have a lot of catching up to do! TED stands for: technology, entertainment, and design. Each year there is a conference with 50 speakers who have 18 minutes each to talk about their passion in these areas. Past speakers have included Al Gore, Bill Gates, and Bono.

Winter Comforts

I'll be the first to say that I was more than happy to turn the calendar page on January to February. Does anyone else think that having 31 days of January is just a little too brutal? Obviously the past month has been particularly rough in my world besides the cold, snow, and ice, but today it's in the 40s and sunny. The sky is blue and water is trickling down the side of our building, pooling on the sidewalks, racing toward storm drains.

There are a few comforts that I've found during these long, dreary days and most of them revolve around food or drink of some sort. There's the obvious homemade chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese and tomato soup. But if you're looking for a tasty, warm drink, consider spiking your hot chocolate with coconut rum. As Lynn would say it's the only way they drink hot cocoa in the islands. And don't forget chili and cornbread. I think I could make this every single week and Adam wouldn't complain. And of course he loves the leftovers it promises. I am always up for a good tuna noodle casserole (sometimes I cheat and make it from the box) but Adam prefers my tuna salad sandwiches, so that's where our fish quota came from today. What are your best winter comfort foods?

On a more random note, I was doing my weekly shopping at Hy-Vee yesterday. And you know how you kind of zone out when you're shopping. You have each aisle memorized and turn on auto-pilot and go. Well, maybe it's just my favorite Hy-Vee in Windsor Heights, but they've reorganized! Nothing drastic, but the tuna is definitely one aisle over, the cereal and granola bar aisle looks different (I haven't figured out what it is yet) and the juice and soda are now in the same aisle. A very helpful man, with a smile of course, asked if I was finding everything OK and informed me that they were updating their stock, getting rid of things that didn't sell and bringing in 600 new items! We'll see what's new next week. But for now I have to pay closer attention.

Also, I finally finished reading Anna Karenina! It is quite the accomplishment and I realized I'm not quite ready to put it back on the shelf. It's been sitting around for over a month and I think the coffee table will look naked without it. So I'll leave her out a few more days. But now I'm ready for some fluffy chic lit and mindless beach reads as I head to Florida to visit family this weekend and soak up some sun.