Write with TLC

What now? The end of 2022 is upon us. In a few hours, it'll be 2023. How was your 2022? Funny how I haven't heard that question asked much lately. But then again, I've been housebound due to a foot injury for much of the last few months. As I've stated many times over, I don't really get the big deal about the end of the year and the beginning of a new one. Life goes on regardless of what number is on the calendar. That said, I think 2022 has been both good and bad, like most years. On the professional side, I'm rather happy with the progress I made on my poetry. I'm not as happy with the progress I made on the novel I'm working on. I'm happy with the cards and other products I've created on  Zazzle . I'm not as happy that both this blog and my cooking blog, Vegan Cooking with TLC , ended up rather neglected this year. I'm happy I posted more reviews on Reviews with TLC this year and figured out how I want to approach reviews going forwa

I have left another social media platform, Twitter. I had long considered leaving, but Elon Musk buying the company was the final feather for me.  I archived my data and deactivated my account. It didn't feel as liberating as when I deactivated my Facebook account, but that's probably because I hadn't really used Twitter in a long time. I'd also never used it quite like I did Facebook. I don't think I'll miss Twitter.  Based on what I've seen in the news thus far about how Twitter is now being managed, I'm quite certain I made the right decision. It seems the platform is headed in a direction that's antithetical to the way I live my life and the way I want to move about the world. Inviting hate into my life is unproductive. There comes a time when we have to decide if a company that is antithetical to our values deserves our patronage. I have decided neither Facebook nor Twitter deserve mine. The benefits I get from either one don't outweigh the

  The End of Democracy Will we see  The end of democracy coming The warning signs Blowing through our lives Like a cold winter breeze Drifting the snow of democracy Into drifts that drown us In a sea of snowflakes Dirty with the fighting It takes to hold on to  The freedoms we Believe to be protected As we go about our lives Ignoring as each one erodes Trusting those we put in power To put people over power Forgetting the addictive power Of power Convince ourselves We can change courses At our next reset The reset we believe is always there But what happens when The new beginning promised Erases all signs of our choice Will we fight for our representation Or will we turn on one another Allow tyranny to erase every clue To the past we hold up as sacred To the tradition we swear matters To the myth of what we never were Will we fight to become a Better democracy or give in to become Ruled by the fear that gives power To greed and leaves us all Wishing for a world We imagine but can’t qui

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Often when we long for one thing that craving is simply a mask for the thing we really want.  When I crave Grandma Stamm’s macaroni and tomatoes, boiled potatoes, or chocolate cake, it’s not the taste I want.  No one can ever duplicate her cooking even if they follow her recipes to the letter.  Grandma made those with her special love, and that’s what I really crave.  Grandma died twenty years ago, and I still long to spend time with her. She often expressed her love through cooking.  Every Sunday she fixed favorite dishes for family and friends she expected to visit.  There were no invitations, no RSVPs, no formality.  People wandered in and out of her house Sunday afternoon and into the evening.  They fixed a plate of food from the bowls and platters of food kept warm in the oven, played a game of cards, and chatted about the week past and the coming week.  She’d lay her cards down to greet the newest visitors, and after much protest, return to the game all the while informing the ne

An analysis of my life has shown me time and again how interwoven strength and vulnerability are. I can see times in my life when I struggled to be strong and when I hid my vulnerability. I have often put up a tough exterior to hide my incredibly fragile vulnerability as well as my incredibly fragile inner strength. It seemed like my inner strength intimidated people and my vulnerability offered them ammunition against me, so I learned to hide both behind a tough exterior. I feared having my vulnerability used against me and my strength scaring people  away . Hiding both my strength and my vulnerability became yet another mask I wore to  protect myself from the people in my life. I didn't quite understand how to be both strong and vulnerable with others without putting myself at risk.  Other times I'd overshare with people as a test to see who would stay and who would leave. I get to choose who sees different aspects of my life. I didn't understand the idea that some people

A name identifies a character and provides clues to ethnicity, gender, and familial relationships among other thing. Paying attention to the names assigned characters might seem secondary; however, those names can affect how a reader views each character's personality and identifies with the character. A name creates a relationship between the reader and the character. When a character reacts to their name, it provides the reader insight into the character's personality. When a character receives a nickname from another character or gives a character a nickname, the reader gets an insight into the thought process and personality of both characters involved. A nickname or lack of one can also establish the amount of intimacy or lack thereof between two characters. While a character's name rarely directly affects the plot, it can often allow the reader to understand motivations, see into a person's past and personality, and to identify with the character. When writing my

Recently during a conversation, a friend described me as being passionate about my beliefs. This was stated as a compliment, and I took it as one even though it made me feel a bit uncomfortable. Over the next few days, I reflected on this statement "you're passionate about your beliefs" and finally understood why it made me uncomfortable. I can certainly understand why someone would think I'm passionate about my beliefs, but I don't think I am. I am very passionate about my values but not so much about my beliefs. I am fairly certain this is where some readers are ready to shout "semantics", but it's not, really. My beliefs are subject to change when the facts supported by research warrant the change. My values, on the other hand, are much harder, some impossible, to convince me to change. I have cultivated my values over the course of my life in a way that informs my life, how I live in the world, and how I interact with others. I am proudly passion

April is designated National Poetry Month . We are encouraged to celebrate poetry. by reading poetry, writing poetry, and sharing poetry. All poetry all the time for a month.  Then in May, we go back to our normal attitude toward poetry, whatever attitude that might be.  I'm fairly certain the intent is to remind people to embrace poetry all the time, but it doesn't seem to work that way.  People who truly love poetry, love poetry all year round. People who want to love poetry, tend to get nostalgic and determined during National Poetry Month. Those who hate poetry... Hhmmm! I guess they probably think National Poetry Month is a waste of time and energy, but I'm not really sure. Those who are apathetic toward poetry probably just don't notice National Poetry Month at all. As a reader of poetry, I appreciate the attention shift to poetry. I appreciate seeing poetry show up in places I didn't notice it before.  I appreciate people sharing poetry they normally wouldn&#

As my husband drove our gold Ford F150 Lariat out of Lexington, Kentucky turning off Man O' War Boulevard on to Winchester Road, the landscape changed from stores and businesses to horse farms with black fences and pristine green pastures fronting beautiful homes - the kind of homes reminiscent of the glory days of Kentucky horse farms, large and stately. Horses grazed lazily in the fields swatting flies from their backs with their tails. Humidity laced the air causing our air condition to work harder. I opened my window just a little expecting the scent of overheated horse and manure to waft toward my nostrils. For just a moment, my mind tricked me into believing those odors were there. Those were the smells I remembered from this area. Instead the smell of exhaust mingled with hay and trees. I could no longer taste the freshness of newly cut clover on the air. Traffic whooshed by us interrupting the stillness of the farm community reminding me that progress exists everywhere. In

Not many people send cards these days, or at least not many people I know do. I used to make my own cards. I wrote the poems and used photos taken by either my husband or me. It was fun to create cards for family, friends, and colleagues. I sent many cards that expressed a special connection to a friend, family member, or colleague. Some were more universal. Over time I slacked off on sending cards, especially after the printer I used to print cards broke down. Eventually I started sending store bought cards again for a variety of reasons but mainly because I like sending cards to people I care about. It wasn't quite the same as creating my own, but the sentiment was the same. Over the years, several people expressed an interest in buying my cards to send to people in their lives. After giving it some thought, I did some research. I decided to make some of the cards I created available for purchase on Zazzle . I have started uploading my portfolio of cards. I hope my cards will ins

Far too many people seem to think there should be no consequences for their actions no matter what while also thinking other people should face consequences for theirs. I don't understand this thinking. I was raised to always be prepared for the consequences, good or bad, for my actions, good or bad. I don't always like those consequences, and there have been times I desperately wanted to avoid them.  Every time I start thinking like that I hear my parents' voices in my head saying "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime." and my science teachers teaching me Newton's Third Law  "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." These message instilled in me that there are consequences for which I need to be prepared. My words, my actions, even my thoughts have consequences, even when I'm the only one aware of those consequences. That doesn't mean there isn't context to apply to situations that can possibly mitigate

Recently while looking for a way to address my waning ability to focus, I remembered a presentation on ways to get back on track when one's writing suffers I'd been asked to give a few years ago. I dug through my files and found it. As I read it, I realized many of the items could apply to anyone, not just writers, who felt overwhelmed, stuck, or discouraged while working on a project, but I also realized I've developed new techniques since.  So, before we start, let's take a moment. I'd tell you to close your eyes, but then you couldn't read the next part. Take a deep breath and exhale. Another one. Let go of your day. Focus your thoughts on a project that you're struggling to complete. Don't focus on the why, just on the project itself. Imagine it completed and how you feel. Imagine abandoning the project and how you feel. Imagine working on it and how you feel. Now, I suggest you close your eyes as you imagine all that again while you slowly inhale an

Sometimes we're going about life and all seems to be running smoothly. The bills are paid. Work is going well. There's even a few dollars in the savings account. Family and friends are healthy and happy. Pets are doing well. We even have time to play. Life is working. We relax. We think "I could get used to this." Then boom... boom... boom... Life interrupts itself. Still, we're certain we can handle what's coming our way. This one thing and that one. It throws our schedule all wonky, but it's temporary. We can handle it. We know we can. We set up systems and plans and schedules because we know that's the best way to keep on track or at least stay close to on track. But... Life has other ideas. The next thing we know, our priorities have completely shifted and we're doing good to keep the basics done because life has decided all our planning is a joke. Life sets out to prove that all those ways we learned to cope with the expected unexpected won