Lay vs. Lie or DRESS SHOPPING?

No. I did not forget. :)

It's been a crazy busy day, with the highlight being the fact we found my daughter a gorgeous floor length formal dress at a consignment shop for only $39. Much better than the $175 for brand new dresses at the mall.

Man, I wish I had an unlimited source of money, because, DANG, she did look gorgeous in the $175 dress!

But the $39 dress is pretty, too! And she's such a good sport. She felt spoiled just to go and try on dresses.

So ... please, come back on Friday, and we'll try again to finish the lay versus lie post! :)

What's the most you've ever spent on a dress? Did you wear it more than once?

WRONG! Lay versus Lie

After reading the comments from my last post, I decided to tackle the lay vs. lie issue; imagine my frustration when I visited the Grammar Girl's website and read this:

 

"... I love Eric Clapton, and his song Lay Down Sally can actually help you remember the difference between lay and lie ... because he's wrong. ... If you're more of a Bob Dylan fan, you can remember that "Lay Lady Lay" is also wrong.”

 

*sigh*

 

Yes, of COURSE, the website goes on to explain in great detail the difference between lay and lie; however, I felt it necessary to take a brief pause and listen to the songs that are "wrong":

 

 

So, now that we know what's wrong (??) come back on Wednesday, and we'll tackle what's right.

haha

 

Or you could just work hard to choose words other than lay and lie.

:)

Facebook Fun

A couple of Facebook quotes to help get you through the week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a great week! :)

REVISING: Scenes

"A well-constructed scene has a mini-arc of its own: a beginning, rise and climax or reversal at the end" -- Donald Maass (WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL, p. 174).

Book Review: PUKKA'S PROMISE

Are you a cultural conformist? A few days ago, I would have answered, NO! But after reading this book, I realized, I have succumbed to the cultural demands and mantras regarding dogs.

 

Our two-year-old Beagle-Maltese starting marking his territory, inside the house, and we figured time to get him “fixed.” Before we made the appointment, the thought occurred to me, I should check this book sitting in my to-be-read pile and see what it has to say about neutering dogs.

 

Yup, there’s a chapter on that, and so I skipped right to it and imagine my surprise when I read that while spaying and neutering dogs does save millions of unwanted animals from dying unnecessarily in shelters, altering your dog and denying him of essential sex hormones could end his life prematurely. But what about marking and humping, you know, those “undesirable” traits that we’ve been taught as a culture can easily be resolved by castrating your dog? I felt like an idiot when I read (what I really already knew down in my core) that a dog can be trained to behave appropriately. If a dog is exhibiting undesirable behaviors, look to his person in charge.

 

Now, don’t get me wrong, Kerasote does an excellent job of presenting both sides of the issue. There are benefits to spaying and neutering, but these are NOT the only options if your reason for altering your dog is merely birth control. There are other procedures that can accomplish this – tubal ligation and vasectomy just to name two.

 

The essential sex hormones can help protect your dog from cancers and orthopedic injuries. “In North America, hemangiosarcoma is the leading cause of death for Golden Retrievers, a good reason to think carefully before spaying or neutering a dog from this breed” (page 340).

 

There’s also a chapter on immunizations. Yes, your dogs need to be immunized, but do they need all of those shots every single year? Studies are finding that many of the immunizations actually last much longer than originally thought, and giving your dog unnecessary immunizations can eventually comprise his health. And if you never board your dog in a facility with a large number of dogs and never take your dog to dog shows, why are you having him receive bordetella and coronavirus shots which prevent kennel cough?

 

I was highly impressed with the content of this book, but I was also very impressed with Kerasote’s ability to weave technical and medical information into the writing without boring me out of my mind. Kerasote doesn’t just tell us what experts he interviewed and the information gleaned from them, but he also describes what that expert looked like, what he or she wore, and where they sat during the interview. Kerasote takes us on the journey with him.

 

This is the first book by Ted Kerasote I’ve read. I highly recommend it, and I am looking forward to reading his other books as well.

 

If you love dogs at all, even an ounce, this is a must read book.

 

 

What are you reading?

THINK before you REVISE!

Hopefully, you are WAY smarter than I am, and when you read the passage below, you will think to yourself, "Well, of course!" I, on the other hand, read it and had to think very hard and ask myself, "Is that why my current project is taking so long to revise?" SHEESH.

THINK before you REVISE. It could save you a ton of time and effort!!!

Deborah Halverson writes, "Create a revision list that you can work through item by item during several different passes through the manuscript. Prioritize your revision list so that big-picture items (such as character, plot, and setting work) are first, followed by smaller items (such as language tweaks). You want to start big and finish small to avoid revising specific sentences that may be completely omitted when you fix a bigger problem" (p. 203, WRITING YOUNG ADULT FICTION FOR DUMMIES).

Okay. Back to work.

:)

How Great Thou Art

I could post something on the topic of writing, but instead, let's watch a video. :) A country version of my favorite hymn. It's makes my soul sing. :)

Life of a Writer ...

Agent of Change

"Main character is always the agent. That is, she's always choosing, always acting, always moving the plot by her behavior" Veronica Roth (page 10 of the bonus material in DIVERGENT).


Is the main character of your WIP making choices and acting, or is she being acted upon and reacting to the choices of other characters?

Inner Conflict

"Whatever drives the main character ... make sure it is an inner conflict as powerful as any outer conflict could hope to be: urgent, unavoidable and full of an emotional appeal that anyone can feel" - - Donald Maass (Writing the Breakout Novel, p. 172).


What drives the main character of your WIP?

Hey - You're Okay! You'll be Fine!

I just finished watching another great TED Talk featuring Ze Frank. In the talk, he explained the history behind this song which was very moving. Here is just the song ... and beware, there is some weird static at the end. Enjoy the song and carry on!

 

 

Oh but then I discovered there are a bunch of homemade videos for this song, and now here is the best one ... if you like animals ... this one made me cry!!! And the audio is much better than the one above.

Have a great weekend, and remember to just breathe! :)

Oh, and if you'd like to know more about the story behind the song, check this out:
http://www.zefrank.com/chillout/