Writerly Presents for the Holidays

 Fun, Gifts, Life, Supportive  Comments Off on Writerly Presents for the Holidays
Dec 042011
 

It’s holiday time: time for eggnog, coquito, for bowls of chili, for snow and of course presents. If you have a writer friend, why not hook them up with a gift for the holidays?

Here are some ideas…

 

  • A well made journal. 
  • A five in one Pen. What writer wouldn’t want one of these?! 
  • A portable scanner, which is a dream come true for any paper hoarder. 
  • The Storymatic game just because it’s fun.
  • A yearly planner with lots of room to write.

 

  • Bookmarks. I don’t care what anybody says, bookmarks will always be in style.
  • A classic book collection like this:
  • This shirt because it’s hilarious:
  • This mug because sometimes you need a little inspiration. 
  • And last, but not least, the real secret to happiness (Just kidding… kinda).  🙂 

Well folks, there you have it. Numbers eight and nine were gifts ideas I learned about from the Writerland blog. Check out Meghan Ward’s post for more gift ideas for writers.

If you need even more gift ideas then look no further than Design Sponge’s 2011 $25 and Under Gift Guide. It’s not geared towards writers, but it’s a pretty cool list nonetheless.

Good luck with your holiday purchases and please remember that the best gift is an unexpected one. Am I right? I think I am.

Happy holidays!

*All images link back to the original photo source.

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The Wii: An Endangered Species

 Electronics, Fun, Humor, Life, Parenting, Prioritizing Your Time  6 Responses »
Oct 262011
 

This is the true tale of one Wii’s survival against all odds.

Call me Wii. I was developed by Nintendo back in 2006. Wii’s come in many colors; I am white, classic, original. Over my lifetime, I have been touched, poked, and pushed by many hands, but most dangerously, a few weeks ago by a three-year-old. He found a jar of pennies and decided that I was a piggybank. He stuffed the coins inside and his parents did not notice. So there it sat; the copper coin destroying my insides like a cancer. For some reason my agonizing pain wasn’t apparent. A few days later, they caught their son red-handed, stuffing pennies inside of me again! They picked me up and shook. The newly inserted coins fell out. Woo-hoo! It felt good until they stuck it in – a disk! I felt it grind against my bones. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! You should’ve seen the looks on their faces when I made that sound. They were frightened, scared of the repair fees. They ejected the disk and contemplated what it could be: a scratched eye, a twisted piece of metal? And then it hit them, what if there were more coins stuck inside?! Bingo. They shook me again. I rattled and they knew.

Let’s fast forward to two weeks later when a package of tri-screw drivers arrived in the mail.

Yes, I was saved! With the mom’s laptop on hand showing her how to open and repair a Wii, she went to work on me like a surgeon removing a tumor. To view the youtube video she used, please click here.


For two hours, I watched her every move: a screw here, a screw there, a pad lifted, my insides opened.

Under the metal, in the drive was a lone penny trapped inside. She maneuvered it out and I was saved. She put me back together again and turned me on. I worked!

It was worth the painful two-hour surgery just to be able to work again.

Parents: protect us Wii’s. We are a fragile bunch. Put us somewhere high where three-year-olds can’t reach. Thank you.

This cautionary tale was brought to you by electronics everywhere. Please protect them, even from your own children, especially from your children.

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Second Campaigner Challenge

 Campaign, Connecting, Fun, Writing  41 Responses »
Sep 222011
 

It’s time for the second campaigner challenge via Rachael Harrie’s blog.

Here are the rules:

Write a blog post in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, but the blog post should include the word “imago” in the title and also include the following words: miasma, lacuna, oscitate, and synchronicity. For an added challenge (to be included in the word count) make reference to a mirror. For a greater challenge, make your post exactly 200 words.

Here is mine:

Her Imago

A gasp of air, a beating heart, and a flushed face; these are the signs of a broken girl.

She crashed onto the floor. There was a buzzing in her head followed by silence.

They met when she was a child. She’d known him her whole life. The lacuna between them was immense and uncomfortable. Most days she would dream about the father she wanted, but today all she could focus on was the floor needing a good scrub; a hands and knees job.

She tried to ignore the past, but the miasma was too much now. It was time to go.

There were rules she had in order to keep herself sane: a sharp focus on logarithms, the latest Hollywood gossip, and exercise. They always calmed her down.

Her bedroom was a prison. She looked in the mirror and oscitated. The phone rang. It was her mother asking her to move back in. The synchronicity of events amazed her.

Tomorrow she would leave. In a few years, she would be out of her house too and under her own rule.

She crawled into bed and fell asleep counting down the days towards freedom.

Thanks for reading!

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Ten Random Facts

 Campaign, Chicago, Connecting, Fun, Life  17 Responses »
Sep 132011
 

I got tagged by Allie Wilde to provide ten random facts about myself. Thank you Allie! So without further ado, here they are:

1. I am Polish and Puerto Rican, but I don’t speak Polish or Spanish fluently.

2. My first real rock show (without my parents) was as @ The Metro in Chicago when I was fifteen. I saw Face to Face and I’ve been addicted to music and shows ever since.

 

3. I lived in Krakow, Poland for a small period of time in my twenties. I miss hot wine in barrels and random conversations around the square.

4. I got married at The Society for Arts, a Polish gallery on Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago to one of the coolest, most interesting people I have ever met.

5. I believe that Puerto Rico is paradise on earth.

6. I want to live out the rest of my days with my husband and son in Barcelona, Spain.

 

7. I sometimes have violent, end of the world dreams. When I wake up, I have to look out the window just to make sure everything is as it was the day before.

8. I am a serious coffee person. I like to drink it hot or cold at all hours of the day.

9. I haven’t eaten a hamburger in over fourteen years.


10. I can’t write unless my house is in order. It’s a focus thing.

That’s me in a nutshell. Thanks for reading. 🙂

I want to thank Allie for tagging me, and now I’m going tag a few fellow writers of my own.

Tag, it’s your turn to give some random facts about yourself: Kathleen Isaac aka Grillyfish, Beth Kemp, Katharina Gerlach, and T.B.McKenzie.

*Please note that with the exception of the Barcelona pic which I took, none of the other images belong to me. I have linked the images back to their original owners.

Have a great day everybody. 🙂

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 Posted by at 12:50 pm

What I’ve Done Over My Summer Vacation (So far)

 Chicago, Fun, Life  1 Response »
Aug 162011
 

I’ve been enjoying this Chicago summer with my two favorite buddies and it’s been great. There’s something about sitting outside and sucking down a gluten free beer that’s just absolutely delicious.

I also love checking out new and old Chicago festivals. They remind me of why I love this city so darn much! This year I went to Burger Fest (the new) and ate several veggie sliders. Tasty! I also visited the Puerto Rican Carnival, the Printer’s Row Book Fair and the ever-so-popular, Taste of Chicago (the old) and they did not disappoint.

Another festival I couldn’t miss even if I tried was the Wicker Park Fest as it was right outside of my window. It was certainly a good time.

If you get a chance to visit Chicago in the summertime – DO IT! There’s always something to do, see or try.

Check out what I’ve been doing this summer:

 

Just so you know (as if you couldn’t guess) this song does not belong to me. It belongs to the fabulous Lily Allen and it’s called, “Take What You Take.” Isn’t it lovely?

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My Show Not Tell Crusader Challenge Entry

 Chicago, Crusade, Dreams, Fun, Writing  12 Responses »
Apr 182011
 

The last Crusader challenge has fallen upon us and here it is:

Show Not Tell Crusader Challenge: In 300 words or less, write a passage (it can be an excerpt from your WIP, flash fiction, a poem, or any other writing) that shows (rather than tells) the following:

  • you’re scared and hungry
  • it’s dusk
  • you think someone is following you
  • and just for fun, see if you can involve all five senses AND include these random words: shimmer, saccadic, substance, and salt.

Here is my entry:

Her eyes grew wide, her face hot, her heart pounding. A growl roared from her stomach. Shut up, shut up. She darted forward and stepped ever so carefully on the cracked floor. Reaching an icy brick wall, she placed her cheek next to it letting the cold sink in before licking. She cringed at the saltiness and wiped the disgusting taste from her tongue.

A boom shook the place; the vibrations ran through her body like a subwoofer. Did somebody push over a dumpster? She spun around, her foot caught. She pulled on her ankle. Rubber soles slapped the floor. She yanked it out and ran.

“Who’s there?” she screeched.

The hairs on her forearms stood up as the edge of the doorway made its way under her fingertips. She reached down. A cold, metal knob saluted her. She twisted. The door flew open. Darkness dripped from the hallway. She sprinted down the corridor; her hands shaking, her eyes saccadic. She grabbed her chest and felt around the pockets of her pants. Her inhaler was gone. There was a wheeze, a misstep, a fall. Get up dammit!

A light shimmered in the shadows. She used her last bit of energy to pounce like a panther and push.

It was dusk, but the streetlamps illuminated the downtown sky. A congested sidewalk filled with laughing tourists passed. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she rushed across the street, bumping into people along the way.

“Watch where you’re going moron.”

A smile crawled on her face. She was alive and still in Chicago. She took a deep breath. It smelled like rain on top of hot concrete.

It was the substance crazy dreams were made of.

***

The end for now.  To learn more about the Crusade, please visit: Rach Writes.

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You are what you do, you are what you think

 Connecting, Crusade, Fun, Writers Quiz  8 Responses »
Feb 232011
 

Hello all,

In light of going through every crusader’s blog and following them through Google and Twitter, I thought I needed a break. Something tells me you need one too. This is why I took a few minutes to create a Writer’s Quiz called You Are What You Think. It’s a celebration of how much alike we all are as writers. It’s all for fun though, so don’t take it too seriously. You can check out the quiz here: The You Are What You Think Writer’s Quiz.

This year is going much differently than last year. It’s as if the universe opened up and is showering me with gifts or maybe my outlook on life has changed. Whatever it is, I’m grateful. I asked for support and I got support. Lots of it came through the crusade, which has been a blessing for me. So, kudos to you R. Harrie for recognizing that we all needed that writer connection.

I’m sorry crusaders, but I haven’t had a chance to buckle down and read more than one or two of the posts on any given blog. Adding everybody has been intense and taken quite some time. It has been my life for the past four days. I will eventually make the rounds again to read and comment on some of your posts.

Thank you to everybody that is following my blog or following me on twitter. I wish you all well with your writing endeavors.

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