For the Criminally Inane

So, I've made an observation. Beautiful people have easier lives. They do. There have been studies I learned about in my college edjemacation that talk about how people think better of people who are good looking. They think they are kinder, nicer, and beautiful people enjoy special perks--essentially people want to be friends with beautiful people. (I know this anecdotally, too, because I'm married to one of these blessed people who gets away with murder because he's good looking.) As much as we hate to admit it, we judge people based on heuristics. So, what do the rest of us "unattractive" or let's say less-attractive people have to offer? Growing up, since I couldn't make friends on my good looks alone, yep, you guessed it, I had to actually develop a personality. Now, I have to rely on my sparkly wit to win friendships. So when life hands you a beautiful face, just remember the rest of us have found other ways to get noticed, and that makes u...

I took an awesome creative writing course in college on short stories. When I told my teacher I wanted to write fantasy, he kind of discouraged me, saying I should write slice of life stories. Persuaded by his reasoning, I gave up fantasy writing in search of things of more literary value. Hmmm, looking back I think that was a mistake. Not that writing literary fiction or learning how to write literary fiction was a waste of time, quite the opposite, but I think there is some merit to reading and writing fantasy. First off, for me, reading fantasy is about escapism. It's fun to leave your world and completely delve into some other realm. Then you can safely come back and face reality. It's therapeutic. Second, I like writing fantasy because I can write about issues in a metaphoric way. (Uh-oh, one of those literary terms. That doesn't belong in fantasy writing...fantasy writing should be about fun.) Well, it is, but for me, there is a battle between right and wro...

One of my last good friends is moving this winter so you know what that means. I have to get out and make some new friends! I love making new friends. Friends are like handbags, you can never have too many. So, I thought I'd write myself a little tutorial about making friends. I should be an expert on this subject because I've moved nearly every two years in my youth and live in a high-turn-over area with lots of students, so I think I'm getting pretty good at it. First, smile a lot. Whether you are the new one or not, people like happy people, they're attracted to smiles. Why? Maybe people feel that if you're smiling you must be nice and nice people make great friends. Second, ask for and remember people's names. My hubby and I play this game at church to see who can remember the most new people's names. (I usually win, although he's got me a few times.) People like to be remembered and known. Third, ask people about themselves. This one ...

I'm always on the lookout for good teen fiction. A friend of mine recommended Ally Condie's Matched. She came here and her presentation was so cool. She had slides on the things that inspired her to write her dystopian novel. She talked about art, writing and poetry, music. She shared how her brother and brother-in-law were invaluable resources for learning survival skills. I'm going to be reading her book this week! Check her out!

No, that is not some type-o. It's National Novel Writing Month! That's right! For the next thirty days, I'm going to write a 50,000 word novel. So, I'm writing this to let you know if my facebook status updates, blogposts, emails and housekeeping are lacking, it's because I'm writing. I'll still try to blog about whatever pops into my head. For instance, I've got this great article my hubby forwarded to me that I'm dying to blog about. So stay tuned. Does anybody else do anything crazy like this?