REUNION

JoElle,
enjoyed reading the update on your activities. You're some busy person. It will be interesting to see how things work out with the library contact. I'll check out your new website.

Hi JoElle,

Good idea to put all the blog posts on one site. I lost forty-eight of my blogs posts (the site owner decided to delete the posts without contacting me). I'm tracking the posts down on Google and posting them to my Literature & Fiction blog (which is flourishing and attracting the same volume of traffic as the previous website had done). So, she did me a favour by forcing me to find a new audience. I hope it works for you too!

luigie wrote:

Hi Shelagh
Rugby! What's that?
When is cricket season

Wales tripped up. England were lucky.

I read EVERYONE's posts.
It was sooo nice to catch up on what everyone is up to.

Abe, your idea for the reunion was brilliant!!!

~ JoElle the Elf


ps - I KNOW Madhatter (Rhett) is a mover and shaker. I've seen her bellydancing photos!

Marie Pacha wrote:

Good morning everyone, or good afternoon as the case may be.

Abe,
Thank you for telling me about the reunion. As promised, here I am.

I have indeed been busy as last year waned and the new year began. I completed a ghostwriting project (a memoir) and am now tweaking it and adding a little more content. My client has lived a life that contrasts dramatically to my own and yet there are similarities between us that made the work a real pleasure. She was easy to interview and willing to talk. Both of which were necessary to complete the project.

I completed one large and complicated editing project in early Dec. and replaced it with three others in the interim. The largest of those is nearly completed. Although I do some proofreading as I go, that's not my major role in those works. I'm there to make the stories flow better, make sure verb tenses are consistent throughout, and still maintain the authors' voices and not override them with my own. That can be difficult.

It is detail work. It is challenging and I've learned a great deal in the process.

The book MJ and I co-authored is going through the final stages of editing and then will be checked again for format. Later this month we'll begin work on the first sequel.

Yep, I've been busy.

For Betty:

Unfinished Dream

Have you ever wakened,
in the middle of the night,

sensing something missing,
knowing all was not quite right

Felt a gentle tugging,
deep within your mind,

a memory, so fleeting,
of something you can't find?

Seen a fleeting image,
behind your lidded eyes,

was it there,
or just a fantasy,

someone in disguise?

Have you ever wandered,
to that shadowland between,

hoping to regain it,
to discover what it means?

To see if all we live is real,
exactly as it seems,

Or if the answers lie within,
in our unfinished dreams.

Dear Marie,
Thank you for the beautiful poem.


I will have it framed and it will hang here in my office so I can see it every morning. What a lovely way with words you do have!

I am glad to see everyone here again. All of you have been working on your own unfinished dreams. Me, I have been growing strawberries, picking strawberries, worrying about bugs on strawberries, wondering where all the bees have gone and if it will freeze again this season.

I have begun to write a memoir in WIP. I hope I can do it so it is not just another tale of child abuse. I wish I had more of Rhett's humor and could find ponies under the poop!

Love,
Betty

Betty...

Wish you could come to our writers' conference here in Tallahassee. I am working on a presentation on the use of humor in writing.
Still, I would think it very difficult to add humor into something as sad as a childhood filled with abuse. Very difficult.
But, you have found your pony beneath the pile, hon. Just the fact that you have made a successful life with your family--hm...maybe you've found a whole stable of ponies!!!

I was touched to see how many remembered Rainbow, Lane, and Dick during this reunion.

JoElle
Mentioning those who have passed brings sadness and I foolishly refrained from mentioning them. It is especially hard when there was contact with them. In the case of Rainbow, I remember being surprised at his pleasant British accent. He hung in there until he could no longer even hold the phone. Talking to Dick was always a pleasure. I often read his blog posts and it's as though he were still here. I never had contact with Lane but know others who have. Those who have touched us will never be forgotten.

Hi JoElle! It's so good to see you here again! I've wondered about you and how things were going on the road. You're a busy little elf! And still having fun! Happy to hear that.

Rainbow, Lane and Dick live on forever on these boards, and that is very comforting.

Marie, your poem is really beautiful!

Rhett, I, too, would love to write with your gift of humor. Wish I could be there at the conference! You're an inspiration!

Love,
Helen

What a great thread, Abe. Thanks for starting it.

Hi Shelagh

Quote :

Wales tripped up. England were lucky.

Yep! I guess England enjoyed their trip......
As they say in boxing "we was robbed".......
I wish I could say that, we were beaten 'fairly and squarely'.....no excuses.
But that ref .........only joking
Wait until next time......Harri Tudur to the rescue

Wales need to sort out their line-out and England have too much slow ball -- I could make a cup of tea in the time it takes for the ball to come out of the ruck.


You'll have to send Harri Tudor up to Scotland to knobble the Scots before they arrive at the Millennium Stadium!

I hope the reunion isn't over - it's so great to hear about so many people and the exiting things they are doing as well as the complications in their lives they are working through.

I have an exciting book signing at Blair Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary Saturday, February 13 at noon. My book, Ghost Orchid has characters who walk the boardwalk there and comment about the relationship between its beauty and their lives. Nine of those points will be numbered on the boardwalk with a flyer to guide readers and feel the emotions of the characters. How grand that will be!

I'm working through some life challenges and I'm grateful for my writing career that pulls me away from my real life - and also gives me the camaraderi of colleagues.

Don't forget that it's Valentine's Day on Sunday, DK. Make the most of the romantic aspect of your book.

Good luck with your book signing, DK. The setting is perfect.

D.K.,

What a great and unique way to have a book signing!

Knock 'em dead!

Thanks for the support! I have to credit the manager at Barnes and Noble, Coconut Point Mall, Estero, FL for the suggestion. I just worked it out with the executive director at Blair Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary so that it would not detract from the swamp's beauty.

Hmmmm
We have a problem.....Please be patient
Here comes Harri One thing we always win is the singing......
Mind you the Scot's come a close second With "Flower of Scotland"(I love it) then "Advance Australia fair" and in fourth place "The Star-Spangled Banner"

Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi,
Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri;
Ei gwrol ryfelwyr, gwladgarwyr tra mâd,
Dros ryddid collasant eu gwaed.
(Cytgan - Chorus)

Gwlad, gwlad, pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad.
Tra môr yn fur i'r bur hoff bau,
O bydded i'r hen iaith barhau.

Do you remember this? Wasn't it fantastic?

Hi Shelagh
Yeah! That Haka standoff was fantastic......
Scotland were also fantastic on Saturday .....But they imploded in the last 5 minutes, conceding 17 points.
The most amazing comeback in a rugby international ever.
As the saying goes " It's not all over until the fat lady sings"
I hope that saying is still politically correct!

Wow! We think our game is tough, as we hide behind all our padding.

Ann

Ann,

Rugby Union is the best sport on Earth. Rugby League men are made of iron but Union men have to think -- there are so many facets to the game. The psychological edge of the Haka is a powerful tool at the start of the match -- but it is just the beginning. The rucks and mauls are psychological battles and in the heat of battle players lose their cool and are yellow carded (sent off). Scotland had virtually won the match on Saturday with just six minutes to go ... then they went down to fourteen men against fifteen ... then down to thirteen men against fifteen. It was a spectacular exhibition of self-destruction and absolutely entrancing.

You can see the highlights of the match here:

http://www.rbssixnations.premiumtv.co.uk/page/RBSSixNations/0,,12785~1946790,00.html

Wales face an even tougher match in a fortnight when they travel to the Stade de France to take on France. Can't wait!

If some wants to watch a rough sport, Rugby is it. Take the pads off American Football players and the game would be entirely different. I suppose it would be the survival of the fittest - or toughest.