Ever perplexed about comments you have received in a rejection or from members of your critique group? I try to be a good listener and really hear what editors, my agent, or my writing friends recommend, and then make changes accordingly.

But every once in a while, someone gives advice that totally "clicks" and you have the proverbial light bulb moment. That happened to me recently.

HERE WAS MINE: 

The comment was that I might be sacrificing some character development for humor. I internally argued that a humorous novel doesn't have quite the depth of character development as a literary novel. But after a similar comment along those same lines, I experimented with letting my characters' emotions run amuck.

To my surprise, my comic MCs let me know that they are multi-faceted, and that they can be funny and deep. From now on, I'm officially giving them permission to have some light bulb moments of their own.

So I survived my first child going to college and guess what? The thought of it was worse than the actual event.

It's been a couple of weeks now and it gets easier all the time. I knew she would be coming in for Labor Day and I thought I'd be counting down the days until she arrived, but I'm not. I'm still excited she's coming, but Friday will be here soon enough. So yay - I did it!

Hadn't been to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago in awhile, but since teachers are free - why not?

Here are some fun pics from Tuesday:

Who doesn't love the seahorse? It's the only
species on Earth that the males
get pregnant. (I wonder if that hurts
their macho image....)




Amazing view at lunch - probably
my favorite part of the day. Chicago
has a gorgeous skyline!



Hit the city, folks - lots to do! :)

First timer at the ALA and here are my impressions:

1) For me, it was in my hometown, so totally worth the half-hour drive (especially with my writing buddy and super glam friend trinasotira who is always fun to spend time with. She even made a fabulous and hilarious YouTube about our ALA adventure:

2) I only paid $25 for the exhibit pass which more than paid for the amount of free ARCs I brought home. Check out my book loot:

Yeah, and apparently that's a good thing! :)

I spent a week with four teen girls and have heard every nasty, perverted  lyric possible. Think of the crudest thing you've ever heard, and there's a song about it. Hmmm....all that hype about YA novels including unnecessary foul language and gratuitous sex scenes? Hard to believe that anything in a novel can compare to some of these lyrics by famous artists:

Yeah, I know! I have to tell my husband not to sweat the few swear words that leak out of my kids' mouths. Compared to what they listen to, my teens are practically role models for the Vienna Boys' Choir. :)

The countess revealed that her husband has a new Ethiopian squeeze and suggested that Kelly doesn't have any friends. Kelly retorted that she did, but I doubt it. Who'd want to be her friend? She is so full of herself, there's no room for anyone else.

Bethenny proved once again to be the sanest, wittiest chick on the show. I think what you see on TV is the real deal with Bethenny, as shown by her revealing that she's having trouble meeting the right man. She's friendly, sarcastic, likes to drink, and is sensitive. Bethenny rarely whines and tells it like it is, which is why we all love her.

Big mouth, uneducated Ramona is like a fly buzzing around when you're trying to sleep––she bugs the crap out of you, but you're too tired to get up and smack her. When Ramona's feelings get hurt, she attacks  in a vindictive way, instead of saying that the other person hurt her feelings. Grow up,Ramona!

Jill is a bit loud and over the top but will either defend you to the death if you're right, or call you on the carpet if you lie, which she did to Ramona when she tried to make it seem that she'd spent way more time developing her company than she did. Bravo, Jill!

Kelly just takes up space and might have early onset Alzheimer's because she says things and then acts like you made it up when you repeat what she's said. She makes Paula Abdul look like a genius.

And this was only Part One - can't wait 'til next week!

I'm sad Allison went home on American Idol. Wah!

Adam Lambert's talented, but he's getting creepier all the time.
Anyone see the resemblance here?


Tim Curry
Rocky Horror Picture Show

So many to pick from! The colors are gorgeous, the smells tantalizing. Spring flowers remind me of my childhood when I'd pick flowers to bring to my teachers or when we'd cut some peonies from the yard and bring a few ants inside with them.


Here are a few of  my all-time favorites:

Hyacinths                           Tulips                        Bleeding Hearts                  Lilacs

How about you? What are your favorite spring flowers?

Looking for something different to do with your family or friends this summer? Try a tour!

I went on a food tour in Portland a few months ago and it was a blast! And I just found out they have two different food tours in Chicago too - and many other big towns as well. They're usually 3-hour narrated walking tours, have a limited number of participants, and involve tastings at a myriad of sites. I'm buying tickets for the Chicago tour for this summer. YUM!

Check it out here if you wish www.chicagofoodplanet.com/ but even better, see if there is one in your hometown.



I also want to check out the Weird Chicago tours, started by fellow LJeradamselzer!

I guess I'm just a tour type of girl. Got any other ideas for crazy fun this summer?

I know I have several months yet, but in August, my oldest daughter  Kaitlin will be heading off to college. And as much as the two of us have been arguing about curfews and rules this year, I'm dreading the day I have to let go and send her into the world on her own.

She'll do fine - it's me I'm worried about. :)

Logically I've always known that my kids were mine to raise - not to keep - and that I'd have to let the butterfly out of the cocoon so to speak, but that fact doesn't make it any easier on my psyche.

I think the conflict comes with my own worries about my role as a human. I know I'm much more than a "mom," but I guess that role is the one that particularly defines me first and foremost - and the whole readjusting of my persona  leaves me feeling a bit empty inside. My twins still have two years to go until college, but I know that time will pass like a cool breeze.

I suddenly see the need to start reconnecting with all the different sides of me––teacher, friend, wife, and writer––and I'm looking forward to living all of those roles to the fullest as well. Cheers!

I woke up this morning as a woman who has been married 20 years. To the same man, no less! My wedding day doesn't seem like yesterday, but it doesn't seem like two decades either. Here are the then and now photos. Guess which one is which, lol.

    

Okay, you can stop laughing at my bangs. We did our own hair and makeup back then to save money. Now my teens can't even go to a dance with a guy they barely know without spending more than I spent on my dress,veil, hair, and makeup put together. I look different and have added a few pounds and kids since then, but I don't feel all that different inside. Forever in my 20's, I guess....

My last post got me thinking about musicals, so I thought I'd share a few more favorite snippets  this week.  Here's one of my favorite scenes from Joseph, but truly, I love nearly every song from this production:

Ah...remember this one from Fiddler on the Roof? Tradition. Just watch a minute or two and you're instantly brought into a singing, toe-tapping mood.

If you're in a meeting and you have a paper and pen in front of you, are you doodling on the side of your paper? I sure am. According to this Seattle Times article, you are what you draw.

Some doodlicious notes:   

- in order to be an official doodle, the mind must be focused on something else. Focused doodling is art. The good news is that if your boss complains that you doodled during his talk, you can make him aware that doodles are mindless. Of course, the "something else" you were focused on might not have been your boss' agenda, but don't mention that.

- there was actually a commissioned study on doodling. And we wonder why our economy is bad?

- people who draw flowers are dreamers while boxes signify a feeling of being trapped.

Since doodles signify what's going on in someone's brain, next time you see someone doodling, go ahead and psychoanalyze them!


And if you need a place to doodle while you're on your laptop, bookmark this site: www.onlinesketchpad.com/

Whoa, check it out. 


17 states have this provision in the books if needed, and over 100 school districts already have 4-day school weeks in place!

Longer school day and Fridays off? What do you think?

Everyone has their favorite holiday meal, but us Poles bring baskets containing traditional Polish foods to an Easter Saturday church service. This tradition is called Swiecone. Each item in the basket is symbolic, representing something specific for the Easter holiday, according to users.rcn.com/salski/No26Folder/Easter_Folder/Polonia_Easter.htm

-- The white linen or lace napkin that lines the wicker basket may be perceived as the shroud the enwrapped the body of Christ;
-- the Easter Lamb, made of butter or sugar (rock candy), but also of dough, wood, plaster, fleece or even plastic, symbolizes the sacrificial Paschal lamb, in other words Jesus himself, whose banner proclaims the victory of life over death.
-- Easter eggs symbolize new life; just as a chick pecks its way out of its shell, so too Christ rose from His tomb to bring us the promise of eternal life.
-- bread, either a slice of ordinary rye bread or a special small round loaf imprinted with a cross, symbolizes ‘the bread of life, a metaphor for the God's grace.
-- meat & sausage are symbolic of the Paschal lamb or Christ resurrected, His victory over death and His promise of eternal life.
-- horseradish is one of the bitter herbs of the Passover which foretold the suffering of Christ on the Cross. It is also symbolic of life in which one must accept the bitter with the sweet.
-- vinegar symbolizes the sour wine (our English word "vinegar" comes from the French vin aigre -- sour wine) which Jesus was given on a sponge to drink while hanging on the cross.
-- salt symbolizes that which preserves us from corruption and adds zest to daily life.
-- cakes and confections symbolizing the sweetness of eternal life can now (follow weeks of Lenten self-denial) be freely enjoyed in celebration Christ's Resurrection.

Happy Easter! Wesołego Alleluja! Do you have any favorite family or religious Easter traditions?

With all the social networking, software, and writing program choices available to the world at large, how much emphasis should be placed upon using and/or teaching these little dillies in schools? As a teacher, I'm excited by using technology to teach, and I have to say, the kids are excited to use computers every chance it's offered.

But many elementary school teachers feel that they just don't have time to head to the lab and work on researching and keyboarding skills. They say they need to teach kids to read, write, and do math proficiently and don' t want to waste precious time on extraneous skills that aren't tested––which is definitely true. Standardized tests don't test computer skills. But does that mean they're not important?

So my question is: Should computer usage be a regular, integral part of the curriculum? If so, at what age and what amount of time?



We live in a world that is driven by technology, and as such, I think it's our job, or the technology teacher's job if we had one, to teach our students how to navigate that world.

When I started the year, my second graders didn't know how to log on, or even what log on meant, much less do research. But I persisted, despite the roadblocks and the millions of questions.  I'm happy to report that, after 8 months of regular, almost weekly usage, my seven and eight year old students have come a long way. They can log on, use some common computer lingo, understand that you can type in a word in the google window and it will find resources for you. They know how to find an image and how to print it out so they can use it in a report. They can read bits of information and hit the back arrow if the website is too hard.

Are those skills akin to climbing Mount Everest? No. But even the Olympiad had to start somewhere. I do feel it is the job of primary teachers to get the kids in the lab for at least 30 minutes per week and teach kids the basics. Otherwise, you're relegating it to the upper grade teachers (which is my usual job) to teach keyboarding when the kids could be learning how to do Power Point presentations and delve into using multiple resources for research. But many teachers, and perhaps parents too, think technology should take a back seat.

What do you think? What age is the right age to teach and use computers in schools? How do you feel as a parent?