My friend, Charlene Ross, has been blogging at skirt!.com since August 2008.  Charlene’s Blog is listed here in the sidebar.  If you haven’t added it to your “must reads,” I suggest you do it now.  She is hysterical, talented and psychic.  Well, I’m not totally sure if she’s psychic, but she KNEW that skirt! was where she’d  first be published.  Her essay, “A Smaller Version of Our Lives,” was published in the December print edition of skirt!.  She has invited me to join her and the other amazing skirt!setters.  You can now catch my blog on skirt!.com (Ventura).

Charlene was kind enough to introduce me in a flattering post to her blog.  I am grateful for our friendship and am honored to join the skirt!setter community.

1.) The film, “Friends With Money” (Nicole Holofcener)
2.) The lyrics, “The more I see the less I know” (”Say Hey” Michael Franti)
3.) The book, “A Prayer for Owen Meany” (John Irving)
4.) The film, “Little Miss Sunshine” (Michael Arndt)
5.) The lyrics “That’s why it hurts so bad to hear the words that keep on falling from your mouth” (”Why” Annie Lennox)
6.) The book, “Simple Abundance, A Daybook of Comfort and Joy” (Sarah Ban Breathnach)
7.) The quote, “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle” (Irina Dunn)
8.) The lyrics, “I mean to tell you all the things I’ve been thinking deep inside my friend (”Crush” Dave Matthews)
9.) The book, “Silence of the Lambs” (Thomas Harris)
10.) The quote, ” Why is it that when we talk to God we’re said to be praying, but when God talks to us we’re schizophrenic?” (Lily Tomlin)

Charlene Ross, a friend and writer from my writers’ group, who was featured as a “Guest Blogger,” is the Muse of the Month on skirt!.com.  She is a skirt setter, who blogs regularly on the site.  If you want to smile, follow her postings.  Most of the time, not only am I smiling after I read them, I’m wiping the tears from my eyes from laughing so hard.  She’s continues to be an inspiration to me. 

On Thursday morning, I went to Starbucks to write.  It seemed like a inviting place to have some tea, sit and write away from the demands of my home.  I ordered a Chai tea latte.  It was warm out, so I decided to sit outside, away from the unusually loud music.  The din of the morning crowd must drown it out, as I’d never noticed them BLARING music in this particular Starbucks.  As I sat down, I realized the speakers also blare the outdoor patio.  I took a seat anyways, moving an ashtray first.  I challenged myself to write without letting distractions effect me.  I opened my notebook and reacquainted myself with the characters, I got so intimately involved with on my retreat, where I was able to hear them and follow them to places I never dreamed of. Continue Reading »

Friends at Infinity Sport & Fitness asked me to write testimonials about the results I saw after doing boot camps, personal training and group training with them. I submitted the statements below. You can read more about the “fun” I had by clicking on the “weight/boot camp” category. The 91/2 inches and 10 pounds lost was actually after TWO boot camps, I never measured myself after the third one, but I did buy smaller jeans, and that’s all that really matters. I’ll let you know if they use them and where. Continue Reading »

On a recent business trip, I ordered dinner in my hotel room. When the food was brought up, the delivery guy was shocked to find a silent room. He said, “It’s so quiet in there, you’re not watching TV?” I said, “Nope, just doing some reading and writing, I’ve been around noise all day, I need the peace and quiet.” That night, I accomplished a lot and was secretly grateful my DVR was recording Joshua take the top prize on “So You Think You Can Dance.”

I actually look forward to being in different environments where time stealing habits can’t take me away from writing. Surfing the internet or television, talking on the phone and puttering around my house are some of those time thieves. Ah, the appeal of a writer’s retreat; a place to go and get away from the “noise” of life. However, since a retreat is not in my near future unfortunately, I have to discipline myself more to turn away from those activities and dig into peace and quiet where inspiration can create lots of writing!

Finally, someone in North Dakota visited this blog.  Thanks to Google Analytics, I can see that every state in the U.S.A. and 35 countries have viewed this site.   Thank you for your continued support.