Category: Random

I recently posted this on my guest blogging group, Petit Fours & Hot Tamales, and thought it would be applicable here as well. Hope you enjoy! And yes, I will try to do better with blogging on a more regular basis!

In reviewing my recent blog posts, I’ve noticed how many subjects relate to writing, tips on writing, etc. It occurred to me there’s a life tip I wanted to share, one that resonated with me and seems a good reminder for us all.

In short, “You’ve got to enjoy your life, cher.”

Wait. Don’t panic. I’m not yanking out reruns of The Sonny & Cher Show (heaven forbid). For those who don’t know, “cher” is a Cajun slang term for friend.

During a recent visit to New Orleans to see family, I met up with a friend at a local hangout. I love local hangouts, the kinds of places where fascinating people converge. I’ve met all sorts of folk: an FBI agent who rescued people from roofs during Hurricane Katrina, a blacksmith who travels across South Louisiana to shoe horses I used to admire and pet at the farms when I was younger, restaurant owners who claim they know the right way to cook crawfish.

But one man in particular struck me. During heavy rains in 1995 when most of the city flooded, he lost everything. His life turned upside down, but he chose to rebuild. Ten years later, Hurricane Katrina happened. He lost everything again. He rebuilt once more, taking the scattered pieces of his life and somehow molding them into a reason to keep going. Stunned by his persistence, even his choice to not relocate elsewhere, I asked how he managed to survive 2 such major losses and what kept him going.

He offered a wide grin, and there was a gleam in his eye as he said, “You’ve got to enjoy your life, cher.”

He proceeded to tell me how much he loved the region, how sitting at the edge of a pier and fishing under a crimson sunset made all the hassle of rebuilding worthwhile. He spoke of living each day, and more importantly, enjoying each day.

I’m the poster girl for stress, but when things get too overwhelming, I try to think back to interesting souls I’ve encountered, particularly the one who said, “You’ve got to enjoy your life, cher.”

Hey all,

Ah! Elaine is finally posting a blog! Yes, it’s true. I’m finally coming out of the woodwork – I feel I must because there are issues which need to be brought to light.

So today’s post is…Wake Up, America! Start using some common sense!

Someone I know put the line, “People are getting stupider and stupider” into his writing on several occasions. And it was funny in its context and on the right occasion, true. But now I think we’ve moved past humorous and we’re into scary.

I had to jump on the bandwagon of writers because this is something that needed to be said. News around the writer world is that a high school English teacher in Snyder County, Pennsylvania, is now under public scrutiny and condemnation (Scarlet Letter, anyone?) because she is a published author in her spare time.

HELLO? Unless the teacher is doing something illegal, she is allowed to do whatever she wants in her spare time. This one teacher writes some steamy edgy romances. They may not be to everyone’s liking (in reality, the more erotic genre is not my favorite either) BUT it’s not illegal. She uses a pen name and has never mentioned her books or her writing career to her students.

What happened? The wrong parents found out. You know the kind. They’re the parents who keep lawyers in business because they want to sue the school because little Johnny didn’t get to use the swings first at recess. They claim he suffered mental trauma. These types of parents then blossom into ones like now, trying to get this English teacher fired because she writes in her spare time. And then enter in the mob mentality, throw in a little Puritan ethics, and there you go.

I did want to share a couple of things. One is a link to my fellow buddy and writer Anna DeStefano, who wrote a blog post on this topic. Another is the video below of one of her former students created in response to this craziness, because I think he’s right-on accurate about how people are behaving.

Please, America. Wake up. If we turn everything into a one-size-fits-all world, shove-each-other-thru-the-Happy-Meal lane, we’ll all wind up like walking zombies. Being different is not necessarily a bad thing. Fear gets people behaving in crazy ways. Please. Stop the madness.

And let those of us who love to write continue to do so, no matter what the subject and no matter where we work!

Hello all,

Yes *hangs head in shame* I have not blogged in quite a while. In fact, I was distraught to notice just how LONG of a while it had been. Sorry and hoping 2011 will be a better year!

And I’m even going to cheat a bit and post some links here to recent guest blogs I’ve made. Yanno, when I wasn’t blogging here. *hangs head in shame again*

So enjoy and do keep coming back to check on my blog! Thanks!

Welcoming the Unexpected

What do Symbols Say About You?

Fresh Perspectives/Fresh Beginnings

See Challenges as Opportunities

Manageable Bites

For those of you who don’t know, I’m originally from New Orleans. Grew up there and then moved away for college, but it’s still what I consider “my hometown” even though I don’t live there anymore.

August 29 will mark the 5-year anniversary of Katrina. The storm changed everything, and I’ve done poetry and other posts to remember the 8/29 date in the past, but this year, I’m doing something different.

Someone posted this link on Facebook and I watched it. It’s Vince Vance doing a talking-song while showing footage of the city. There’s such a duality to New Orleans. People love it, hate it, it’s one thing or it’s the other. But the truth is, New Orleans is both. It’s so many things, wrapped into one. That’s what makes it so rich.

So watch this clip. Very worthwhile.

Happy Saturday all :)

I got a late start this morning…too many nights this past week not getting enough sleep. So, in my inhaling caffeine and stumbling across various web pages to get myself motivated to write, I came across a page I’d bookmarked that I knew I’d want to come back to.

And wow, am I glad I did.

Click here to watch a 10-minute interview with award winning screenplay writer Paul Haggis.

Seriously. It’s worth 10 minutes of your time. Even if you’re not writing a screenplay.

He talks about the writing process, about always taking on projects that scare him, always taking on projects where the possibility of failure is high–because those are things that question the human condition and that’s what he wants to attempt. I found it to be incredibly inspiring. No matter what you do for a living, it’s worth 10 minutes to listen to the gems in this clip.

Elaine