You might remember Doreen from my post about her first book, Bristol Boyz Stomp. She’s a great friend and a […]
Category Archive: People
It’s gratitude Monday, and I’m so fatigues, a little discouraged, and I feel so behind, [tweetthis]I want to […]
I hope you waited patiently for Part 2 of of my take on NPR’s “Fresh Air.” Siddhartha Mukhera won the Pulitzer […]
I got my final chapter back into bed – Again. Whew! I hope that insolent child stays where […]
In Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird she tells us that after we think we’ve tucked our story into bed, it […]
I heard this on NPR’s “Fresh Air.” Actually, I heard bits of it on two separate trips. It’s one of those broadcasts that fascinated me so, I had to find it on the internet and listen again.
Siddhartha won the Pulitzer Prize in General Non-fiction for The Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer in 2011. He’s like the Carl Sagan of medicine. He explains things in a way that both simplifies and enthralls.
First a little biography on Siddhartha: He’s an oncologist and a cancer researcher. He has a PhD from Stanford University of Oxford where he studied cancer-causing viruses and he’s a graduate of Harvard Medical School. Siddhartha works on discovering new treatments for cancer using innovative biological methods.
“Fresh Air” talked to him about his new book The Gene: An Intimate History. I took notes from the 45-minute podcast to create my post. Although this new book has a strong cancer component, it encompasses much more.
According to Siddhartha, the “Centerpiece of the book is that biology is not destiny. But some aspects of biology and some aspects of destiny are commanded very strongly by genes.”
I admit, I’m a little jealous of Pierced Wonderings’ vista of color each week. New Orleans splashes across my screen until I swear I can smell bourbon and my skin itches from briny water of the sea mixed with the muddy Mississippi. When the sun beats through my office window in the afternoon, and Jen’s photos grace my monitor, I can feel the sultry heat of the South permeate my nerve endings and widen my synapses. If only I had Mardi Gras to photograph….
Last week I visited Indian Prairie Elementary School. The school just turned 25 years old. The K-5th grade school began with Mrs. Kathleen Savage and she retires this year. Things have changed a lot since she began teaching, mostly due to technology.
Now we have fewer books and more hands on learning.
Mrs. Savage writes plays and every student who auditions gets a speaking part.
A month ago, I readied myself to attend BAM16. This is one of my two favorite conferences for writers. These are my “birds of a feather.” I met friends I only knew virtually, reconnected with friends I made last year, and got a whole new gaggle of friends. For anyone thinking about attending next year, I highly recommend grabbing a roommate. Sure it cuts down on cost; but the best benefit is the lasting friendships. My roommate from last year, Pam Lutrell, and this year’s Julie A Wallace are now two of my favorite people. Pam’s Over 50 Feeling Feeling 40 made me begin to feel more confident about fashion and style. I still feel a bit more like Style from the Stylus, if you know what I mean. Still, Pam and the other style bloggers pumped me up.
Julie, from WordStormCasserole came in a day early and had a leg up networking with the other bloggers. She literally crammed me into her gaggle of friends and before long, the five of us became the ClownCarChronicles (Midlife Bloggers Gone Wild.) We formed our own Mastermind group and plan to meet once a month to keep each other accountable.
Again at this conference, my mind swirled with ideas about monetizing, ambassadorship, and branding. What is my brand, anyways? I want to be known as a good writer. A storyteller. I want to get my novel published so I can proudly call myself a novelist.
So what’s up with the lip prints, perhaps you wonder. While at BAM16, we each got a lip-reading. Jennifer Connolly, from A Well Styled Life suggested I try a shade of the complimentary lipstick just a bit brighter than I usually wear. I picked Cover Girls “Outlast” in shade 925. Wow! That shade really does brighten up my face. Thanks Jennifer.
Not that I really believe in fortune-telling, but everyone came back happy about what they heard: “Your creativity is about to break through to something big;” “You are on the verge of a partnership;” “you’re a natural-born caretaker:” and more great things like that. So here’s what I remember hearing.
See those holes in your lip print? That’s a sign that energy is escaping. You have many irons in the fire. Perhaps more than you can keep track of.”
Whoa Mama.
Today is CeCi’s birthday and I’m spending the whole day with her. The BAM-16 Conference seems like just […]
Well this morning I woke from an interesting dream: I dreamt I was sleeping and woke rested and […]