Thank you very much -

Angel May (of Angel May's Growing Pains) has sent me a lovely bouquet. I shall treasure it.

That's a great thing about virtual bouquets. They stay fresh forever, don't they?

This one comes with homework. I'm supposed to tell you seven things that you probably don't know about me, then send the bouquet on to seven more people.   Okay. First things first. Here are seven things:

1. I am vain about my fingernails. That is only natural, I must say, because I have great fingernails! ;>)

2. I am afraid of flying bats -- not bats as such. (Oh, and not baseball bats. Mousey bats.) As long as the bat clings to a wall or sits on a wire, I think he's a cute little fellow, but the moment he starts to fly, I, too, fly -- into a panic. I think I hear the batty sonar, and it makes my ears crazy. (That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.)

3. I smoked a pipe for a little while, when I was very, very young.

4. I tried to learn to water ski, but I gave up after sixteen attempts to stand up. The fellow driving the boat said I was "very game". That was after the pipe smoking, but still quite a long time ago.

5. My recording career began and ended when I was five years old. I recorded "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" in a booth on the boardwalk in Atlantic City.


6. My first celebrity crush was on Mario Lanza, with whom I fell in love when I was eight. He was much older.

7. I am always hungry. I started to modify that statement to read "I am nearly always hungry," but changed my mind. With very few exceptions, I have always felt at least a little hungry, and even when I didn't, I could eat. (If I am sick and I lose my appetite, I am REALLY sick.)

Okay. That's it. Everything you wanted to know about me but were afraid to ask.

Now to the fun part - passing it on:

1. I am delighted to be able to send a bouquet to Eberle, and to her alter egos, Platypuss and Pinky, whose new blog, Platypuss-in-Boots, is a joy to read.

2. Although she has a houseful of  awards already, I would like to send a bouquet to Poetikat, because there's always room for flowers, and she certainly deserves them. Maybe she can keep them over at Kigo of the Kat. She's only just started spending time there, so perhaps there's still room for some flowers.

3. If you haven't been to visit Doc Pammy DuMond, D.C. at FeelingFabulousDarling, I recommend that you have a look there. Pam is a chiropractor with some excellent advice for those of us who spend way too much time sitting at computers. In gratitude to her, I proffer a bouquet.

4. Julie of Literary Jules is another newcomer to the neighbourhood,  and again, I recommend that you pay her a visit. She is a great hostess with some fascinating insights. From me to you, Julie.

5. John Hayes has a new blog. It's called The Days of Wine & Roses, and it offers All Poetry, All the Time.  I applaud the blog and its theme, and I hope John will find room for a simple vase of flowers there.

6. Elizabeth Stelling (ChefE) at TMI is one of the busiest people I know, and I would like to send her a bouquet in recognition and appreciation of her hard work both at Friday Photo Shootout and at her own blogs.

7. Jeanne, of The Raisin Chronicles, is an inspiration. I have been shamefully truant from her blog -- along with pretty well all my favourite places -- during NaNoWriMo, so I offer her a bouquet with thanks and apologies for my absence. I'm B-A-C-K!

I'm away now, to drop off notes at these seven blogs. Thanks again to AngelMay for the bouquet and the opportunity for a little introspection.

Bat clip art from http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/halloween/bats.shtml

Home again, home again....

...after a delightful, if short, visit with Angel May. We talked and talked, and we ate and ate. It was perfect. A lot of our talking was about writing, both hers and mine, and about our insecurities around writing. We spent part of yesterday at the used bookstore, William James Bookseller, where I bought books about writing by Natalie Goldberg (a long-time favourite) and Lawrence Block. I also bought The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Beating Writer's Block, by Kathy Kleidermacher.

I thought it might be useful some time - but it turned out to be immediately helpful. There are some great suggestions and exercises in there, and inspirational quotations, too.

AND: The author recommends blogging as a writing exercise. Ms. Kleidermacher is now one of my favourite authors.

Note to Angel May: I see that the book is available on Kindle.

Note to self: Remember to take a larger suitcase when you go to visit Angel May. You should know by now that when it's time to come home, you always end up struggling  to fit half a dozen newly-purchased  books into your suitcase, which was full when you left home.

I didn't write as much as I had planned on the boat, but I did write some, and I spent time gazing out the windows at the scenery, which I should do more often. Then I sat down and wrote about what I saw.

Now it's back to work, and back to writing at my usual place.

A Room with a View

Okay, this isn't the view from my room. It's the view from the balcony -- but it is the view that I saw first thing this morning, because I am living in the lap of luxury, being pampered by my dear friend Angel May. We have only two days together, so we are making the most of them by talking and talking and talking. In a few minutes, we're going to wander downtown and do a little window shopping. I bet we'll end up in the bookstore again, though where I'll put any books I might buy, I do not know.

I was sitting on the ferry yesterday when I realized that NaNoWriMo was well and truly over. It was a strange feeling. I think there should  be more than one NaNoWriMo a year, because I seem to respond well to the carrot/stick approach.

This post is just to let you know that I'm alive and well and luxuriating on the Olympic Peninsula. I'll check in on all my bloggy friends as soon as I can.