Versatile Blogger award and Monday miscellanies...

Okay if I get this right... passing this on has certain rules, first link to the original awarder which I am happy to do. Donea at The Queen of Procrastination (click on the award to go to her blog!) awarded me with The Versatile Blogger a little over a week ago and I was quite surprised and thrilled but wanted to take a few days to think about who to pass it on to... 

So I would like to pass it on to Burrowers, Books & Balderdash for their creative endeavors as a team and as individuals- most particularly Rayna M. Iyers who had a spectacular picture story on the thirteenth of January. Check it out!!!  

Some all also have their own blogs: 

Rayna: Coffee Rings Everywhere and Snapshots of Bombay

Chary: BronxTales & Inner Musings

Cruella: The Giraffability of Digressions

Hart: Confessions of a Watery Tart

Leanne: Violaleanne

and 

Tara: Princess of Procrastination

Now: the seven (really seven???) things about myself: (WHO CARES?!?!?!)

~ I have a 23 year old daughter (yup! I'm that old! That's why you never see pics of my oldest two on here. I'd have to admit it. I keep them hidden on another blog)

~ I have a wicked toe pinch (I've picked up quite a few items over the years when my hands were full)

~ I played trumpet all through school. 

~ I was a DJ for a year and did the late night shift.

~ I nearly had my car stolen by a man who snuck in the back seat of my car while I was in a 7-11 but I cunningly clubbed him in the back of the head and flagged down a policeman. True story. 

~ I saw 20 cities in Europe in 21 days in January (1984). It was crazy-- don't do it! 

~ I hated ALL green vegetables and did not eat them until I was in college and I am still alive and healthy. 

It's Monday and my new day off although generally I would have to work part of the day. but today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day so I am off the entire day so I am going to take advantage of it and get some real Writing done. That means having music for inspiration, some champagne and no blogging (I'll have to catch up tomorrow folks!). Writing tip for the day... came first from Stephen King but was reiterated and heightened by my darling Mo: Read!    

Read authors who write better than you do, read books that inspire you to write better, that inspire you to write, that inspire you, and perhaps even intimidate. Don't read just anything read creative works!!!! Stephen King (who is NOT an author I admire by any stretch of the imagination) reads several hours each day because even he acknowledges that it helps his writing... and the more you challenge your reading the more your writing will be effected! 

Picture taken at Fahrenheit Books in Denver

Inspiration for Writing

Streams of Life
The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day

runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth

in numberless blades of grass

and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth

and of death, in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.

And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

by Rabindranath Tagore

Save the Dolphins!

It's not unusual for an animal as smart as a dolphin to be trained for it's entertainment value and though I am not a avid activist in these matters a cause has recently caught my attention that I thought I would bring to yours... I've never so much as darkened the doors of a hotel in Las Vegas apparently there is an exhibit at The Mirage, owned by MGM Grand International called "Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat." The pool the dolphins live in is reportedly located near a highway which cause them to develop respiratory diseases. In addition to this, the dolphins are subjected to extreme temperature changes. As a result many of the dolphins die from the unnatural causes.According to the article:

The dolphins perform tricks and flips for the paying customers and are given fish as reward. These are not natural behaviors for dolphins; they are trained and taught behaviors.

This exhibit has been the death sentence for many wild and captive-born dolphins. The Review-Journal obtained records from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration that includes an inventory of the dolphins at The Mirage and cause of death for those that died.

This is a cause that is near and dear to my heart. A few days ago, I wrote of my character's "animal spirit guide"-- I love dolphins and they are my "spirit guides" and I hate to see them so shabbily treated. Please sign the petition asking The Mirage to ask them to end their exhibit and if you are planning to visit Las Vegas, please avoid The Mirage and MGM Grand properties. For the sake of the most beautiful creatures in the ocean! For more information and to sign the petition sign the link below or click on the picture!You can find out more by going to my other blog... Meanderings of Wandering Mind.

An Award, The Blogging Community and my New Blog!

Not necessarily in that order..... but here we go!

I've posted a bit more on politics at Meanderings of a Wandering Mind - if you enjoy current events I'll be posting there at random times. Comments and suggestions are always WELCOME at either site!!!

I also want to thank Tara at Feel of Something New for awarding me with the Stylish Blogger award! It is always lovely to be recognized in such a way!

When I received the award on top of the others that I have received recently it reminded me that the blogging community is indeed a COMMUNITY. On our blogs we share our writing (which is often our most personal piece of ourselves, right? I mean we put our heart and souls into our writing!!!), our thoughts about writing, joys and sorrows about rejections, bits and pieces of our lives (so many cute kids out there! and Sara at The Unwrapping fell and had an embarrassing fall!) so we learn to know about each other though we may never meet each other face to face (though I have met a fellow blogger-- as mentioned before-- Conchscooter at Key West Diary was a terrific host when we traveled to Key West!) At any rate... As I read all your blogs (and I haven't been as active as I might have been as it has been crazy at work and I have been really busy trying to get things done and keep my own real Writing going) I have enjoyed getting to know you and appreciate the feedback I get from all of you which has been reflected in the awards so Thank you again!!!! 

Here is your moment of Zen...