Sherri Cornelius

I’d just gotten in from grocery shopping (that’s why I look so good), and guess what I found on my doorstep! This is the package I’ve been waiting for: the book that Marta made for me. It’s a gift which combines all my loves–art, fiction, and hand-crafted…ness. The book is The Labyrinth House, one I gave a critique a few months (a year?) back, so it has sentimental value, not to mention I’ve been wanting to get my hands on some of Marta’s art, and now I have it. Here’s a link to her art page, Words Are Art. Go browse…buy something. One of these days it will be worth ten times what you paid, mark my words.

My 10-year-old daughter loves to look at Marta’s pictures, so she is thrilled with the book, even though the story is too old for her. I need to put it under glass so she won’t smudge it with all her touching. I’ll do that after I read it again.

Looking at my gift, I see inspiration, anticipation, friendship, and beauty. It touches me so deeply that I’m not sure I can even see all the ways it touches me.

I’ll stop gushing now. I just wanted you to see it.

Why is my dryer suddenly making everything smell like fish? There’s been no fish anywhere near my house in months. And if there had been, why would it be in the dryer? Seriously, why?

I’ll be visiting with an old college friend this week. I’m nervous and excited at the same time. Excited for the normal reasons, because I like her. Nervous for some normal reasons and some abnormal ones: I’m embarrassed at my behavior in college; I used to be hot and now I am not; I’m not involved in musical theater (or music, or theater) in any way, and I feel guilty leaving it behind; I hate accommodating the stupid fragrance allergy (“Please jump through these hoops for me. I can’t guarantee it will be worth it.”).

But you know what? I feel fantastic. I think I may have gotten my fingernails under the edge of the fragrance/sinus/migraine problem. I’m meditating and avoiding fragrance and not dwelling on it. Wallowing in self-pity really does make it worse, and so does stress. I’m not saying it’s not still a problem, but I have enough experience with it (almost a year) to know what to expect, and that makes it easier. I’m not mad about it anymore, and I think that’s the main thing. Jen has been understanding about it, so for that I am grateful. Not that I expected any different. I remember her as a classy, friendly girl, and I can’t wait to see her again.

I’ve only re-met one other college friend, and that was a few years ago. We talked and visited many times, got good and caught up, but fell out of touch as happens with people like Danny and me, and my last email went unanswered. He might have changed jobs by that time, because it was a work email. I felt like I should have tried harder to keep up with him, but finally realized that it was only half my responsibility.

I feel fantastic

I feel like posting, and so I shall. Let’s see what comes out, how’s about it?

I bought a juicer over the weekend, thinking ahead to when we have more tomatoes than we know what to do with. Hubby drinks a lot of V8 when we can afford it, so this summer he can have all the V8 he wants, because he’ll be making it himself. Hopefully the carrots and cukes will come up well, too, and he can add those. Truthfully, it’ll be more like V3 or 4.

So now I need to quit buying things for a while so I can keep our credit card manageable. I’m still  looking for jobs I can do from home for a little extra money, because writing ain’t paying the bills. Neither will editing, but at least it will be a good addition to my resume if I actually get the job. The sample chapter was sent back to me with corrections and comments about my editing; basically, I did too much. I sort of planned it that way, though, thinking it’s always easier to see the line if you cross it, and since I have absolutely no actual editing experience I thought it possible I would err on the side of timidity if I didn’t just jump in. So now I have a better understanding of what to do, and hopefully I’ll get a chance to do it for real. Still waiting on a response to my second attempt, and I’ll let you know what happens.

I’ve decided against having a contest for my 30,000th hit. My parties always fall flat, and I don’t have anything to give away anyhow. I do have a bunch of old writing mags that I’d be glad to send out just because. Probably 25 of them, so I could divide them up. If anyone’s interested, comment and I’ll post more details.

I can’t let the day go by without mentioning this: My bud Ian Healy signed with an agent over the weekend! After an exciting week in which he  considered several other agents, he finally settled on the one who shares his love for his superhero universe. Feels good, doesn’t it, Ian? Congratulations!

Another big congrats to Ben and Kristy, who brought their first child, Mallory Jane,  into the world this weekend. Best wishes to all three of you. I think you’ve already gotten a great start.

A nice, gentle rain is falling. I think I’ll go enjoy it.

(Did you say it?)

That’s my new superhero alter-ego. Super-Chipper Girl blinds the bad guys with her dazzling smile, and giggles them into submission. Her weaknesses are rainy days and reality checks.  However, her super-chipper energy shield is self-healing, so chinks don’t stay long.

This whole thing started as my self-deprecating joke on Twitter and somehow…evolved. Darcknyt got an idea for a Super-Chipper Girl header, Falcon joined in, and the final result is what you see above. Then I bragged about my new header to Ian, who became inspired and promptly whipped me up a lady to go with the theme.

Pretty cool, huh? I’m keeping the new header for a while. It’s fun.

The kids are back in school, hubby is back at work, and I’m where I always was. The temp will climb to the mid-fifties today, so my guess is that most of the ice/snow will be melted by this evening. The rest will melt tomorrow when it gets in the mid-sixties.

Good thing we took advantage of the sunshiney weather yesterday to play in the snow. Neighbor Lady saw us playing outside and brought her grandkids over to play with us. Since we ere outside the fragrance wasn’t too much of an issue. Whenever I caught a whiff I just moved further up-wind. I’m a be-near person, not a stay-away person, so it was weird trying to keep my distance from them.

This is the same neighbor whose daughter has been fighting cancer, don’t know if you remember, and I was watching the granddaughter from time to time before I realized the smell her shampoo was a trigger for my migraines. I wish I could do more for Neighbor Lady, because she’s the only one who can take up the slack with her grandchildren while their mother is ill. I appreciate Neighbor Lady’s understanding. If you have a moment to spare, could you say a short prayer for the family’s healing?

In other “news”, I had planned to call my agent today. I’m at a crossroads, as one book is losing momentum and the new one is just starting its submission life. I emailed my list of questions to Sara almost two weeks ago, and as it became clear my email got lost somewhere, I figured she’d probably rather have a phone conversation.

Only here’s what happened: I sat down to make that call at 9 a.m. my time, which would mean it was 10 a.m. her time. Got ready to dial, and the phone rang in my hand. It was my brother, checking to see if I had done a bit of business we’d talked about, which I hadn’t. Time was of the essence, so I called the business, hung up, called my brother again, hung up, business was done in a half hour. Prepared to dial Sara, again the phone rang. This time it was a wrong number. Hung up. Checked email while I waited to see how it played out, if the phone would ring again. After 5-10 minutes it hadn’t, so I thought about calling again, and just then my mother called. By the end of  that conversation an hour had elapsed.

Mind you, I’d not had one call before I tried to call Sara, nor one since I decided not to. I’ve had enough experience with signs to know it’s best to heed them. The call can wait till another day.

Isn’t that a beautiful, kreativ* logo? So my old friend DarcKnyt (old in Internet years) has passed this award on to me, and I must say I am honored. It always surprises me when someone likes this place. The question that came with this was hard to answer, since I’ve only recently started feeling creative after a long dry spell.

List six things that inspire your creativity.

1. Nature. When I commune with a tree or talk to a squirrel it fires me right up.
2. Spirituality. I love to ponder the human/spirit connection. It’s a theme that often shows up in my work. It’s probably why I write fantasy.
3. Conversation. This might spark my creativity more than anything. Even when I’m only conversing with myself, speaking ideas out loud seems to stimulate my brain.
4. Writing with pen and paper. I don’t know why I didn’t use this device before. If I’m stuck on the computer, writing on paper unsticks me.
5. Books. Reading other people’s work gets me to thinking about my own. If it’s a good book, I aspire to be as good. If it’s bad, I get a boost because mine is better.
6. My office. [updated link] That place, all mine, into which no negative energy may pass, calms me and makes me receptive to creative impulses.

Pass the award on to 7 more kreativ bloggers. Gosh, looking at my sidebar is looking at a blog graveyard. I really need to update that thing. I don’t have 7 people to pass the award to (some on my sidebar have already received it), but I do have a few who astound me with their creativity on a regular basis.

1. Marta, Writing in the Water
2. Raquita, WOBL in Training
3. D. Lynn Frazier, Writtenwyrdd
4. Ian T. Healy, Perpetual Writer’s Blog

If you’re not reading these folks you’re missing out. They embody creativity. (I just noticed all the ladies’ blogs start with the letter “W”. Heh.)

Link back to the person who gave you the award. Done did that up yonder.
Link to the people you are passing it on to and leave them a comment to let them know. I’m gonna go do that right now.

Thanks again, my buddy DarcKnyt.