Schmoozing

Creative people often work in isolation so some of us will do anything to see other humans (adult humans). This weekend, I boarded a plane and flew to Manchester, NH where my good friend Joyce picked me up and drove me to the Poland Springs Campground. Here I get a chance to schmooze with all these amazing writers and friends. We work, we laugh, we talk, we eat, we drink, we eat, we drink, we laugh more… you get it. My hubby has been away quite a bit so I totally needed this break. On Monday, I’ll be back to work and busy but for now, I’m so happy being surrounded by support and love. 

Tags

 Most bloggers know about tags but for those who don’t, they are the words or phrases you assign to your journal postings to organize them. Theoretically, if someone wanted to know "about me" they could click on the "about me" tag on the left side of my journal page and all of the journals I’ve ever written with that tag would be available for them to peruse. I didn’t know about tags myself until April 4th of 2007 (I started the blog on Sept. 26th, 2006). I use them with other people. For Kelly Fineman, for instance, sometimes I have a poetry form question and can go in and check for her posts regarding a sonnet or haiku.

What is interesting about my tags is that they change in font size depending on how many of the entries are tagged that way. Recently, the "conference" tag has been growing at a steady rate along with the "writing" tag. You can pretty much tell what I’m spending my time on that way. You can also see what I’m not working on…illustration, reading books. Ah, well… to every thing there is a season. 

May you find peace on this solemn day.

My Election Story

 Today carriejones has a great post on why you should vote and why local elections are so important. I thought I’d just throw in my own personal story. 

In 1996 I ran for the Maine State Legislature. (As Carrie is doing now.) I was 25 years old, my husband was away on his first Navy deployment, and I was teaching full time. I had always been involved in politics as my parents were very active in DC local politics. They used to throw fundraisers all the time. This is where I learned how to shake hands confidently and tell someone my name while looking them in the eye with a smile. (Not an easy task for many.)  Maine is an interesting place and there are really two types of Mainers.  The born in Maine, northern, "ayuh", yankee ingenuity and independence mind, and then the summer-people-who-love-Maine-and-see-it-as-heaven mind. The later type are called people "from away." I am "from away." Moreover, I got there through a husband who was in the Navy. (Keep this in mind.)

 First I had to compete against two other Democrats to be nominated. I won the primary handily. I was young, enthusiastic and well spoken. I stayed on message (environment, education, economy) and knocked on many doors. In the general election, I was pitted against another new politician, the son of the local car dealer. This guy had money, and name recognition, and rested on his parents’ laurels. The election got a little nasty when he accused me of being a "Washington Insider" (I left when I was 18) and a carpetbagger (I stayed in Maine for 15 years until our recent move).  I knocked on more doors, answering his accusations. (2000 total) 

On election day, I visited polls and then waited with my friends for the outcomes. The race was tight. I had won in most of the towns but the last town hand counted their ballots and so we waited. In the wee hours, we got the numbers and I had lost. Lost by 51 votes. We asked for and got a recount but there was no significant change. If 52 more people had voted for me, I would have been elected. That’s not a whole lot. In his term of office, my opponent was only present 25% of the time. He was rebuked for playing water guns in the state capital. Needless to say, he did not run again. So if you think your vote doesn’t count, your wrong. Please register and vote for the whole ticket.

Monday in Maryland

A lot has been going on for me recently which means that every once in a while, I have to shake my head to clear some more space. Perhaps I am so groggy because we got back to Maryland at one in the morning after the 12 hour drive from Maine. We were in Maine to clean up  and fix up our house for the new tenants who move in today. The problem with cleaning and fixing for others to enjoy is that it makes me say snarky and grumbly things about my hubby. For example, "Why couldn’t you finish that trim when we lived here?" Or about myself, "How hard would it have been to wipe the disgusting finger prints off the door sill." Or about the garden, "Why do you have to be so beautiful and blooming when I won’t be here to enjoy it." Never-the-less, the renters are a kind family, and I’m sure they will enjoy it. 

It was definitely a list day. I couldn’t focus well without one. Mostly conference related work as we are getting closer to the September 15th deadline for workshop proposals. I have to tell folks that we are getting wonderful submissions but are short on illustrator submissions. (Not surprising, but if you know an illustrator who should propose a workshop give them a nudge.) Also I’ve received a couple of submissions directly to my email and these cannot be accepted. We have an online application at the following URL.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pTX9tH90r_7dHsW9536RyKQ

In other news. We have a Birthday! So here is a  birthday breakfast for you Jo Knowles. What do you mean it’s not breakfast time? It’s always breakfast time, especially when it is your birthday. See you soon dear.

(I know I need a new Birthday illustration. I’ll work on it.)

 In eight minutes I will swing into action making PB & J’s, prodding small children out of bed, and nagging them toward the bus. Thank goodness they are not big enough to take the middle school bus 6:30 or the high school bus 7:00. I just said good-bye to hubby. September is full of business travel for him (three weeks in a row but home for weekends.) We are headed to Maine for two of those weekends. One to visit his family and attend the Great State of Maine Air Show. (Bring your ear plugs.) The second time to take me to my writers schmooze. I can’t wait.

I’ve been working hard on my novel. Writing, reading craft books, and thinking. A lot of thinking about who my character is and what he would really do. Trying to let him write the story and not insert myself too much. Since he is loosely based on my older son (9), I’ve found myself delving deeply into I.’s personality. All characters need a flaw, and he certainly has them (as do we all). As a mother (a jewish mother : )) it is hard to believe that my son could have any, so the journey into this character and into this book (with an anti-semitic and bullying plot) is emotional.

Once the kids are on the bus. I’ll settle down with a cup of tea and my laptop and write another couple of chapters. Hope I can revise the first draft by schmooze time. Until then, I’m looking forward to cool nights, loons on the lakes, and you all.

Five on Friday

 1. Hooray for LJ. I have rich text on Safari. Thank you.
2. I find that I like to work in sweeping waves. All novel. All newsletter. All conference. Unfortunately that doesn’t take dates, deadlines, and billable hours into consideration. I’m learning to manage my time better.
3. For me, a big part of writing is reading about writing. I just got the 2009 CWIM and found some great inspiration. Nancy Lamb’s, The Writer’s Guide to Crafting Stories for Children is one of my recent favorites. 
4. With all of this writing, illustration (art in general) has disappeared from the schedule. I’ve been plotting, composing in my head and I’m eager to find a time to follow through. Still, I’ve decided to generally focus on writing and leave the illustration to someone else. This is only giving me passing waves of sadness. Perhaps I’m too overwhelmed to miss it. 
5. Exercise has also disappeared from my schedule.  I tried to go walking with my hubby in the mornings but late nights watching the convention ended that practice. Maybe we’ll start up again this weekend. 

(I know I said five but I didn’t talk any politics at all yet)
6. What a historic line-up of candidates. It makes for a very exciting election but do not be caught up by any candidate’s historical first. I choose to back Obama because of his focus on the future of this country. I believe he is a candidate who will work to find common ground, will nominate supreme court justices who protect our civil liberties, and will focus on the complex issue of economy/education/and environment. I believe he is honest, and intelligent and I urge you to join me in supporting the Obama/Biden ticket. If you have specific questions about policy and feel you haven’t heard enough, go to http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ and find out more. Be educated, be active. Vote.

The Convention- night two

The following is an excerpt from the end of Senator Hilary Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention. Her speech was truly unifying as she outlined what is at stake in this election. As she says, “we don’t have a moment to lose or a vote to spare.” Click here for the video and full text. Note the  poetry of the speech: the line breaks, metaphor, and the use of repetition. I know they must have teleprompters but they are amazingly invisible in the video.

“My mother was born before women could vote. But in this election my daughter got to vote for her mother for President.

This is the story of America. Of women and men who defy the odds and never give up.

How do we give this country back to them?

By following the example of a brave New Yorker , a woman who risked her life to shepherd slaves along the Underground Railroad.

And on that path to freedom, Harriett Tubman had one piece of advice.

If you hear the dogs, keep going.

If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.

If they’re shouting after you, keep going.

Don’t ever stop. Keep going.

If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

Even in the darkest of moments, ordinary Americans have found the faith to keep going.

I’ve seen it in you. I’ve seen it in our teachers and firefighters, nurses and police officers, small business owners and union workers, the men and women of our military – you always keep going.

We are Americans. We’re not big on quitting.

But remember, before we can keep going, we have to get going by electing Barack Obama president.

We don’t have a moment to lose or a vote to spare.

Nothing less than the fate of our nation and the future of our children hang in the balance.

I want you to think about your children and grandchildren come election day. And think about the choices your parents and grandparents made that had such a big impact on your life and on the life of our nation.

We’ve got to ensure that the choice we make in this election honors the sacrifices of all who came before us, and will fill the lives of our children with possibility and hope.

That is our duty, to build that bright future, and to teach our children that in America there is no chasm too deep, no barrier too great – and no ceiling too high – for all who work hard, never back down, always keep going, have faith in God, in our country, and in each other.

Thank you so much. God bless America and Godspeed to you all.”

The Convention- night one

Well friends, last night Michelle Obama spoke with what I can only describe as relaxed elegance. She stayed on-message speaking about hope and change. Mrs. Obama stood as a sort of witness for the kind of man Barack Obama has been and why he is the one to lead us into the future.  Her references to this week’s anniversaries of  Women’s Suffrage and The March on Washington hammered home the historical importance of this election. I feel in my heart that this Thursday will bring us a speech for the history books and I’m taping it for my kids to watch. 

The Obama children were delightful as they interacted with their father on the huge LCD screen behind them. (Senator Obama was in Kansas City watching his wife with a host family there.) The kids spoke with their Dad who is just Dad to them. They told him they loved him and said hello to the host family. They hogged the microphone as any kid would do.  The Obamas, I thought, are a family like my family, like so many families across this country and the world. And it was that moment of intimacy that made me tear up a bit. I’m sure that that is just what the planners hoped for. It worked.

(Speaking of Women’s Suffrage… if you are reading this blog and you are not registered to vote, STOP, DRAG your mouse, and CLICK on over to Rock the Vote or Declare Yourself  who have FAQ’s and registration forms available. Or, go to the closest Department of Motor Vehicles (Many state have “motorvoter” laws that register you to vote when you get your license or car registration) or Town Office to get registered to vote. In most states you have to register 30 days before the November 4th election.
If you didn’t have a chance to see her speech last night, here it is.