Don't Think of Yourself in 'Those Terms'

Okay, it's the big day. You know that big day. The one that comes around annually. The one that when you're young you hope someone - anyone - will remember, but as the years go by you pray everyone will forget. Which has to be a lie because here I am.

My friend Cadence gave me a gift certificate to this really cool site - Decalgirl They sell 'skins' for your computer to personalize and beautify it. Last year I bought 'Hal' an image of the computer on 2001 - A Space Oddysey? Now, I'm trying to decide between these three. What do you think?

Cool pixies

Aah, my colors

Awesome, Saturn up close and...

Aren't they beautiful? I may have to have two.

A friend of mine used to say, when someone asked her how old she was, "I don't think of myself in those terms..." I've always loved that. The older I get the more I view birthdays as a new chance to get it right, to enjoy the magical mystery of what's ahead.

Here are some fun quotes about birthdays:
"For weeks I've been telling him not to buy anything for my birthday, and he still forgot to bring me something. Tanya Noe.  (Tell me you haven't done that or heard it. ;))

"As one cat said to another: Birthdays are like fur balls 0 the more you have, the more you gag."
Maria Morgan. Unless you think about the alternative, Maria.

"Gray hair is God's graffiti." Bill Cosby. (Don't you just love Bill's humor.)

"Women, don't get a tattoo. That butterfly looks great on your breast when you're twenty or thirty, but when you get to seventy, it stretches into a condor. Billy Elmer (Just when I was considering it...)

"I was going to take you out to lunch on your birthday but you already are." Ouch, that hits home. 

Do you have any favorite jokes or birthday stories? How you look at birthdays? Were you one of those who made fun of your parents when they were in their thirties?

May Contain Nuts turns one

Happy Birthday, May Contain Nuts!


Don't you just hate it when you miss somebody's birthday? I feel so so bad. I'm so sorry, Michael. What can I do to make it up to you?

When you discover you've missed a birthday, there's always a temptation to regift the person with something on hand. Something quick. "Here, I got this for you, but lost track of time…"

So, I think, what do I have on hand that I could give MCN for it's birthday. I know, I'll send you my old lottery numbers. No, they weren't winners, but they're probably still useful, eh? I mean the numbers are perfectly good, they just didn't happen to make it on the right lotto ticket.

And what about that lovely clock I got two years ago. It's still new. I never could figure out who to give it to. The Hartford Insurance logo on it makes it unsuitable for some but you could always paint over the logo. It's a rather spiffy little clock.

Ah, but even better there are the glow in the dark planet and stars stickers you apply to your ceiling to give your office that little extra pizzazz. Inspiration for those uninspirational writing moments. I took them down two years ago and each one still has the sticky clay stuff on the back. Handy.

What the hek! I'll send them all. You deserve it for creating such an original and entertaining blog.

Many Happy Returns…

The Muse Reigns

I had a great birthday on Monday. One of the best because I had a great week leading up to it.

It wasn't one of my biggest writing weeks but muse-ically it was fine.My writing reached a level I've been waiting for, in organization, production and inspiration. It was like the Avatar soundtrack on the Visualizer of Itunes -vibrant, fluid, exciting. My imagination showed up. Three or four mornings I awoke with full scenes in my head. I was able to work on three stories at the same time. I persisted even through reformatting my hard drive and losing time reloading software. Obstacles appeared and I still accomplished my writing goals. It was like muse fireworks.

I tried out a new software program that is a great brainstorming/story organizing tool - you may have heard of the Snowflake method. This is the new software that was designed around that concept. You can use it at the beginning or any point during your writing. (More on that later.)

The difference, although I guess it could be the moon phase, hormones (or lack thereof), a good horoscope or a cosmic birthday present, was the return to using a planner.

The night of the Super Bowl - DID I MENTION WE WON IT? -OH RIGHT! I lay awake going over and over the game. Then came these little worries about tasks I might forget to do. That's when I realized, I've been devoting way too much time in the last several years to worrying about forgetting something. For the last two weeks, that hasn't been a part of my day because I took those concerns and gave them to the Day-Timer to hold for me.

This has loosed my muse. Let's see if it lasts. The real key is in letting it go once you've written it down. And in being disciplined enough to then look at the list when you finish writing and get those tasks completed. I'm still working on that part, lol. And the 400 word a day minimum in the journal was responsible for over 5k of the 13k I wrote.

Of course, the biggest birthday present was the Saints win. Everyone around here just felt happy for the last two weeks which cranked up to euphoric with the surprising win on Sunday.

Monday, the big day, I went to see Avatar, again. I realize Avatar wasn't for everyone, but for the musician, artist and writer in me, I loved the soundtrack, the vibrant beauty, and the hero's journey. Inspiring entertainment and food for my muse. Top that off with a real food - Chicken Florentine crepes from IHOP, and my favorite cake, Devils food chocolate with 7 minute frosting, baked by a friend, and the week was perfect!

Update:
By popular demand...

Hope you had a good one too! Tell me about it.