MoxieLife

midsummer nights dream and the death of bottom

Goodness! What a long blog holiday! We have been a busy bunch. On Saturday we went to Fayetteville to attend a People to People meeting for My Sparkly Girl. It is a travel program created by Eisenhower. She was nominated by a former teacher who just adores her, little does he know that $6,000 just isn't in our budget. They showed this great video of the trip in London, Wales and Ireland, they talked about the opportunities, then they told you the price. There was an audible sigh in the audience as the parents realized that this was a dream that they wouldn't be giving our children.

I have to say it is a horrible sales tactic to mail your child official looking documents and letters, call them on the phone, and say how important it is for them to attend the meeting. That they have been "nominated". Then after they have sold the program to the kids they drop the price on the parents. It was like going to hear about time shares, but worse... and there was no microwave to win!

After that let down of a meeting we headed off to the Village Inn to eat breakfast for lunch. We all think that breakfast should be served all day... it is the perfect food! No where in Eureka Springs, our home town, serves breakfast all day and we miss it fiercely.

Then off to Target to get Dakota a baby present... for the shower on Sunday.. which was incredibly attended!

Finally we land at the University of Arkansas Drama Department's University Theater. (This after getting lost due to faulty mapquest directions, a parade blocking the street, and a basketball game!) We watched a Midsummers Night's Dream and it was wonderful. They set the play in India and it was a perfect fit. They had performed the weekend before so they were comfortable in their roles... almost too comfortable. During the "death" scene of Bottom he killed himself over and over for 7 minutes. He even cut off what looked like the larges penis in the universe! It was straight out of Monty Python. The audience just laughed and laughted. Gross, but great fun!

Well, we recovered from our very full weekend and we are back!

running with scissors... do we really want to go there

As some of you know I have a tortured relationship with my mother. We have always been civil and at times even kind, but there isn't a lot of love there. Sometimes wounds go to deep to heal completely. Normally I am fine with all of this, but recently the film Running with Scissors was released and I was so frustrated by the apparent ability of screwed up boys to take thier horrible childhoods and create books/films from them. I don't know what makes men more capable at seeing the possibilities in dredging up all of those unpleasant memories.

I ponder, often, what my memoir would be like. Where would it start? My first memory of my mother is crouching behind the cedar bushes while the ambulance is rolling her away. It is such a raw feeling that I know it is a real memory and not the kind that is produced by seeing photos from when I was young. This was not a Kodak moment.

I also think it would be hard to be completly accurate and it would have to be just "based" on my real life... that way I could move things around or completly delete things that have happened.

All I know is that with the sucess of David Sedaris and now Augusten Burroughs I am wondering if, after My Sparkly Girl heads off to college, I could take all that green shag carpet, gold couches, sirens, smoke and chaos and create something great. Who knows, maybe all of that WAS for some purpose.

crafty and spot on at thimble

I have been reading this blog for quite a while now. I love her craft work. It has a certain simplicity that I don't see in some of the other craft blogs. She blends an amazing sense of style and older images, items, and ephemera to create something quite pleasing. Her pin sets are adorable and if I was flush with cash I would purchase each one and rotate them on a regular basis.

I especially love her reviews of books and blogs. She goes out and finds the things she loves and posts them in a wonderful fashion. I have found many fun sites because of her. I also like that, unlike me, she isn't the least bit whiny. What a great attribute!

So, go spend some cash at Thimble and poke around her altogether amazing craftiness!

forced friends

Now that I am at home and not working at an office I realize that I kind of miss that forced friendship that happens between co-workers. I miss not kvetching about the boss, or the client from hell... or celebrating the wins that happen when a team works together. I miss going to lunch with folks who I like and don't like.

It is an interesting thing when you are forced to get along with people and that happens in school and on the job. These are people that you don't choose to affiliate with and are just thrown together to make it work. It is a great dynamic. Granted, while working or in school people tend to complain about those they work with, but when it is gone you miss it. Or at least I do.

I don't have a group of friends that I go hang at the local cafe with. We don't just drop in on a night and there are folks to grab a cup of coffee and spend an hour talking about the latest. So, I miss forced friendships. They are a peek into other peoples lives, a way to share the days events, and a celebration of who we are on the day to day level.

If you are one of those who are pretty solitary you can look here, here, and here for some insight on making friends... forced or not!

not a good day

Let's just say that this weekend might be a bit of a bust.

My dear partner in crime ran into the propane tank. (He is fine, but... well he ran into the propane tank.)

My coffee maker is on the fritz.

And we are a bit broke.

Other then that I am sure all is well. But today it just seems kind of crappy.

Ok... but I did enter this contest so I feel a little better!

a very special interview with Competizione

I have been entering contests ever since I could read. I would scan the back of cereal boxes, the newspaper, and the local grocery store to see if there were contest. When I was 10 I won the largest pumpkin at the grocery store for my colored, collaged, and glitter extravaganza that I created on their "Color a Pumpkin" contest. Then in high school I entered the local newspapers "5 Ingredient Recipe" contest. I won that with my grandmothers vinegar cucumber salad recipe.

It has been years now since I have clipped coupon entries or sent interesting stories to win a prize, but a few weeks ago I stumbled onto a blog that is created solely for Blog Contests and that "I just might be lucky" feeling returned. I entered several of the contests. I even won one! But even more interestingly it has become a great way to explore blogs that I may not have ventured out to. I have asked Jeanette to be part of my first "Blog Cast" Interview and she graciously accepted.

Competizione is a great concept for a blog how did you come up with the idea, Jeanette?
It’s funny, actually. During the last couple of years I've developed a number of blogs with careful thought and planning. Competizione, though, was created on a whim, simply because I was tired of missing contest deadlines!

It’s evolved quickly, though, from the original idea of simply listing contests to something much bigger. Because not only did we realize it would be a great way to drive traffic to blogs, we also discovered it could be an opportunity to highlight the creativity of bloggers, who we've found hold some of the most imaginative contests on the Web.

You started Competizione in October 2006... just recently, what has been the moment that you have felt most successful?
I feel the most successful when bloggers I respect give positive feedback and encouragement.

You and your four kids work on the blog together, how much time do you dedicate to it?
My four grown kids help me run the site. Between us we spend about four hours a day on it. I spend about an hour in the morning before getting ready for work and then usually a couple of hours in the evening. We’re putting a lot of time and energy into it, because we believe in our vision for the site.

Are there any funny stories about things that have happened on or through Competizione?
Something that struck us as funny--we decided to hold our own contest (where entrants write an essay about a contest experience) and realized we were a contest site holding a contest about contests.

If you could give one piece of advice to a new blogger what would it be?
Oh, I’m so bad at picking one of anything! Ask me what my favorite book is and I list ten. But, I've narrowed it down to two. The first is: have fun. If you don't enjoy it, don't do it. The second is especially for those looking to reach a wide audience, and it's: create a “purple cow” as Seth Godin calls it. Keep reimagining, reinventing, reworking until you’ve made something so remarkable people tell everyone, “Hey, you have got to see this!”

Jeanette, thank you so much for letting us in on why you are creating this hub of contest information. As part of this I wanted to create my own contest. You and your site are inspiring contests throughout the web!

The Running Amuck Contest Contest
Tell a story about a contest you won and the prize you received. The best or worst story will win a custom record bowl filled with random things (who knows you may love these random things!) made by My Sparkly Girl. We will wrap this contest up on November 30th (Mark Twains Birthday). Post your entry right here!

winners all around

It was a good night for challengers to the incumbents of my little town last night. Every challenger won in the Alderman races. Quite an upset. It looks like we passed the marijuana initiative as well. We have a new mayor... Congratulations to all the winners.

The big news of course is that Nancy Pelosi is going to be the Speaker of the House. I had a little Kodak Moment cry over the fact that she is the first woman to be Speaker. It seems like I am so old and it is just happening for women. Equality is slow business. She is fantastic and I am THRILLED to have her in the House!

Now really though the biggest winner of the night was ME! Yep, you heard right. I won the THRILLVILLE contest at The Zero Boss website. I can't wait to get my goodies. So, others may rule the nation, state, county or city, but I will be running my own Theme Park! How cool is that? Very, folks. Very.

i wanna be an art scout!

Art Scouts! For the Girl Scout in all of us there is a new site devoted to doing crafts and getting buttons! What a fun concept. I know that My Sparkly Girl has wanted a more grown up version of Girl Scouts ever since the end of the Senior Troop and this may just be the perfect thing.

Art Scouts has new Button activities added bi-weekly and you can send an email with suggestions for buttons that aren't created yet. All you have to do is follow the instructions to recieve your button. This can include writing, searching the web, and there is an optional journal that you can download to record your progress on each Button.

When you are done with the BUTTON you email what you have learned and made and you will be listed as a BUTTON HOLDER in that activity. You can even get 1" Buttons along with a card of completion for a nominal cost.

So, you have learned a new skill, gotten a Button to prove to the world just how great you are, and can feel good that you did it all without having to sell the deadly but wonderful Thin Mints!

Happy Crafting!

The fine print:Art Scouts is © 2006 eliza metz, all rights reserved unless permission granted. Artscouts(tm) is not affiliated with the GSA or any of its affiliates.

i wish we could skip thanksgiving

and JUMP right into the winter holidays. I am so ready to decorate our little house from top to bottom with holiday cheer. I am thinking of doing a little tree in every room and I think this pink feather tree would be perfect for My Sparkly Girl! It is so cheery. I know that they want a real tree in the living room, but I am fine with fanciful fun trees everywhere else. Now, if I could figure out how to put one in the bathroom.

get out the vote

It is that time of year again. Voting time! Now, those that know me know that I wish that I could have everyone vote just like me. Because that is imposible it is my hope that everyone I know or even those that just click on my blog will get out and vote. There really are no excuses to not voting. It has always been embarrasing to me that the US has such a low voter turn out. Other countries fight huge wars over the right to vote and we casually decide that voting isn't our thing. Not to be dramatic, but people die for the right to vote. It is embarrassing.

To encourage you to vote I have made a little button for you to place on your blog that states that you have voted. Go ahead download this little baby and display it proudly to your faithful readers that you are an active participant in the democratic process.

You Rock! Go Vote!