tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72802632540311112972024-02-07T00:15:11.646-08:00mscynthia's blogThis blog is for the development of short storiesmscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-56298538816434534722012-12-25T17:11:00.002-08:002012-12-25T17:11:42.788-08:00Glass Slipper<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-54907335006522719042012-12-25T09:45:00.000-08:002012-12-25T09:46:14.349-08:00Disco Ball<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-8986910759211572202012-10-15T07:40:00.001-07:002012-12-25T09:46:00.012-08:00Book Signing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-16582901061909385992012-09-25T18:45:00.002-07:002012-09-25T18:55:00.086-07:00Opening Newsletter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-23348642159447640912012-09-25T18:41:00.002-07:002012-09-25T18:41:16.822-07:00First Newletter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-50523670485169888172012-09-25T18:36:00.005-07:002012-09-25T18:45:28.536-07:00Wedding Dresses - short story<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-55908065084405852092012-07-13T22:16:00.001-07:002012-07-13T22:20:59.483-07:00Show vs. Tell Entry<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt;"> July 13, 2012 -Show vs. Tell
Entry-</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt;"> Beforehand, a loud thud hitting a wall
came from a wrecking ball just within earshot of where Clarity was studying at
the library….</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt;"> To be shocked and jolted out of a
depressive stupor from that wrecking ball’s thud felt like my upper chest in
the form of a river dam had just been knocked away, resulting in a sea of
sloshing rain water, spilling into river water, with a torrent of fresh fallen
leaves doing a strange dance as they settled downstream… After the fact, the librarian put up a sign
that there would be nearby construction for the rest of the day. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 13pt;"> …No more depressive state, no more
reverie, that virtual impact at the back of my chest reminded me of just how a
sudden noise in a place so silent could make me feel like I’m in the middle of
a river unleashed from an impactful, pounding thud!</span></div>mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-9387304500495468842012-07-07T22:39:00.002-07:002012-07-07T22:41:20.522-07:00Tips On Show Vs. Tell<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Helpful Show vs. Tell Phrases</span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 13pt;">Beforehand a fire ensued, encompassing 4 stately
houses, in the outcome the firefighters were the true lifesavers… The young
survivors’ bewilderment was replaced with pink, purple and orange bubbles of
joy welling up inside, clusters of them in fact!!... Just waiting to explode
into even more super bright colors, and eventually escaping in the
form of innocent smiles of gratitude.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 13pt;">Beforehand, Clarity had poured two crystal bowls full with
overflowing amounts of m&m’s. The
neatly dressed devil in the fiery red suit sitting on her right shoulder had a
scrolling enticing checklist representing every single wonderful benefit of
devouring all of that candy. The arc of
his smile was as spanning as half the circumference of the sun, the rays of his
gleaming white teeth, second only in brilliance to the effervescent sparkle found
in his periodically winking right eye.
Even the heavenly dressed angel sitting on her right shoulder listened
intently as the checklist was read in its glowing entirety.</span></div>mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-2156285241237758712012-05-09T22:21:00.003-07:002012-05-09T22:21:27.758-07:00Cyberians<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Dr.
Chapman was going over his video log.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
asked the computer to repeat what it currently had in its databanks about their
influence on the Earth culture so far… </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Computer’s Voice:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Acegum was their product, it was a wonder compound
that used ‘sticky-gum-technology’ to clean women’s facial complexions and
hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dirt and oils just naturally
bonded to the facial cleansers and hair shampoos made from this compound and
then simply washed away after the lather phase of the cleansing process. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This compound was introduced to Earthlings by
a race of beings called the Cyberians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, instead of putting some of the monetary proceeds from sales
towards charitable causes, they built weapons of mass destruction with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stacy Malone was a college theatre major who
was a murder victim of one of their weapons of mass destruction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was killed with a retractable dagger that
sprayed poison into her system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She died
instantly both from the wound and the deadly poison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, the Cyberians have lost one of their
cells in each of their bodies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s kind
of like the missing-man flying formation that jet-planes fly where one out of
the jets leaves formation and flies off independently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are each missing a cell and therefore
will experience severe lethargy sometimes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Enter Clarity, a clear-thinking author whose blood samples contribute
healthy cells into the Cyberian cell pool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Essentially, her blood helps them move forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is self-publishing a book on
budgeting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book centers around meal
plans that are organized through
leather-bound-tri-panel-folding-dinner-menus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She creates representations of these dinner menus on graphical computer
software akin to a word processer mixed-in with a graphical interface.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this way she can create themes to her
menus with pictures, graphics along with the actual names and explanations of
the dishes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She can also organize her rolodex
recipe boxes and countless cookbooks based on these menus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are fun ways to organize what her family
loves to eat and plan a meal budget accordingly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During weeks when her budget is tighter than
other weeks, she might be relegated to serving a couple of different variations
of healthy vegetable bisque soups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clarity
will get very creative with her menus that have now evolved to encompass all
three meals of the day – breakfast, lunch and dinner.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Dr
Chapman was very pleased with the way that the computer voice Eden had assessed where the Cyberians’
position was situated in the young civilized Earth culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through research, Eden the ubiquitous computer voice told him
that that murder victim Stacy was slated to have had a son in the near future,
who was to be the one to unify all of Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Therefore her murder, had an intense backlash that resulted in one less
cell in each of the bodies of the Cyberian population.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">“Acegum
is our saving grace…” Chapman told his second in command, “…without it we would
have no way of compensating Clarity for her healthy blood samples.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">“Her
name is so appropriate also, her healthy cells give is the clarity and momentum
to move forward in our daily lives,” Sub-Commander Oliver replied.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">“….yes,
and she thinks that it is all for cancer research…In some sense that missing
cell in each of us, makes us susceptible to cancer, so yes, her contribution of
healthy cells through her donated blood samples is truly justified.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">“…very
good sir, I will direct research and development to step up the creation of
more Acegum,” Oliver said on his way out of Dr. Chapman’s hidden office cubicle.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">In
the meantime, one of Clarity’s pet projects was to help a family in which one
of the family members had lost his job and was involved in a drunk-driving
accident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was helping them to put
the pieces back together in their lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Dr.
Chapman, by this time, was aware of all of Clarity’s blogposts and he asked the
computer voice Eden
to relay this one to him, one more time….</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Computer’s Voice:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Clarity’s
Budget Blog #63</span></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Out of the blue, 3 different cars were
side-swiped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first car was backing
out of its driveway, when a red convertible sports car was barreling down the
nearby neighborhood, leaning right and plowing into the right side passenger
door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, it backed up hitting the
left driver’s side door of a parked car at its rear right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This drunk driver was in obvious denial and
just could not believe all the damage he was causing, because he managed to
back up into another parked car, scraping the left passenger door of it, before
passing out at the steering wheel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">A few minutes later sirens could be heard approaching
the disasterous scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edward, the name
of the man who had done all of the damage was out cold, wreaking of
whiskey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently he had been out
drinking all night because yesterday that morning, he had lost his high-income
job!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It had been heart-wrenching news for
him who was the father of four teenagers, to learn that at the moment, he could
no longer support all of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was no
means a top wage-earner, but Edward had done alright for himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edward’s story was the front page news bright
and early the next morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Fortunately no one was hurt from all of the car
scrapes, just of course Edward’s state of self-perception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many people distanced themselves from Edward
and his situation. I read on in the newspaper to make sure that the family that
was backing up from their driveway that unlucky morning had walked away from
the accident unscathed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that, I
took an interest in what would happen to Edward, because he reminded me so much
of my own husband Gary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently I
wasn’t the only one, because the local public access news studio followed
Edward as he was admitted into rehab.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Weeks later, the same news crew filmed him as he took computer classes
at the local community college to improve his job skills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Apparently there are independent aptitude tests that
you can take to see how much of the computer concepts you have a grasp of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To publicly see Edward go through this,
brought a tear to my eye because he was acquiring a lot of computer
knowledge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">His next step was to go to a job agency – yet he took
his time about it, because it seemed he wanted to re-assess the gift given to
him by God to bounce back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I saw in
Edward was that though calamity befalls everyone, the key is to be able to hold
your head up high and bounce back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Human
resiliency is such a fascinating trait and it could clearly be seen as Edward
marched up the job agency stairs to meet up with their representative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He turned a negative into a positive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Financially, I wanted to help so I graphically created
a menu for his family, had it printed and bound with a
beige-leather-backing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had heard that
his whole family loved seafood, so in the dish entrees, I made sure to include
lots of shrimp and fresh fish dishes, even lobster for special dinner occasions.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">I swirled on lots of whimsical graphics and made the
menu especially appealing to his wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Included with this package gift contribution from me were boxes of index
cards of all of the recipes that comprised the menu entries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had eight menus printed up, each of them
variations of the original Specialty-Seafood one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I dropped it off a their front door one
Saturday morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edward himself
answered the doorbell and was so appreciative and gracious in response to my
gesture of kindness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To this day, his
family and mine exchange Christmas cards every year and his passing troubles
remain a reminder to me of how just resilient a human being can be.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Dr.
Chapman was fully satisfied that he was abreast of what had been happening in
Clarity’s life…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">***************************</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">As
the conveyor belt hummed along producing haircare, skincare, cometics and nail
enamel products, with of course the ‘sticky-gum-technology-compound-acegum’ as
their prime active ingredient, he looked back and assessed that although the
global unification of Earth as one people was slightly derailed by one of their
weapons of mass destruction, causing their whole Cyberian race to become
wayward, their investment in the author Clarity and the book that she was
writing on food budgeting through the compilation of her blogspots, put them
back on track, giving them the momentum to survive.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">Meantime,
back at the Acegum website, testimonials poured in about their growing beauty
product line:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">“…These
shampoos and conditioners have really gotten my hair back into shape.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s now become voluminous, shiny and bouncey…”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">“….There
are no comparisons with the leading brands when it comes to Acegum’s skincare
line….they are miles ahead of the competition….”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">“……I
am astounded at how clean my hair feels after each washing, there is no milky
residue to weigh it down….”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">“….You
can rest assured that I will be trying the rest of Acegum’s product line
including their nail polish, because it will just glide on nail beds and adhere
to its surface as if it were baked on!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">The
Cyberians knew they weren’t perfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They had yet to contribute to a charitable cause, but that was because
of the anonymity that they faithfully stuck to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thank goodness that they did have funds to help Clarity pay for
self-publication in exchange for her ‘well-meanining-cancer-research-blood-samples.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Dr. Chapman’s mind, there was still a
balance in the continuum…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-38775693773954992242012-02-13T06:26:00.001-08:002012-02-13T06:26:17.497-08:00Charles<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The range of colors of the pastel chalks lured him to his easel day after day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was in the company of his nanny while his dad and mother were in England visiting relatives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charles was an inquisitive boy of eight whose grasp of computer concepts would qualify him for at least an interview with the leading Internet Service Provider.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His father had provided him with electronic books geared to boys his age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His favorite pastime was to create attractive web pages using his favorite software.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was true that the pages themselves were static because there was no back-end code to link the different parts of them to other pages, but visually they were captivating.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rugged terrain backdrops were Charles’ favorites in creating the web pages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a good animator too, so amidst these scenic surroundings were usually cartoon critters, complete with a park ranger.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charles liked to take walks and take snapshots of various oddities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sole water fountains in the middle of a vast park, low hanging branches off an aged tree, brightened by all the flowers surrounding it, they were all fair game for picture taking.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a result of his father and mother’s occupations, Charles was often uprooted from school to school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he stayed long enough at a particular school, his nanny rode on the bus with him, both going to and from school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The school bus just knew to drop her off at their house after dropping him off and to pick her up, before getting him from school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was their routine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His nanny was actually a relative of his mother’s and she paid careful attention to his safety and the keeping up with his schoolwork.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Nan, what is your most clearest definition of inflation?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charles asked Nanny Liz one day.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charles’ biggest stumbling block in his current school was racking up enough points to join the prestigious Future Leaders Club.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You didn’t necessarily have to win at the qualifying events sponsored by the club, but you were expected to participate.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Let’s see, inflation is when a car costs three times what it’s worth….because it’s got an inflated price tag on it, do you understand?” she asked.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I think so….that was one of the questions of the day for the Future Leaders Club and I can earn 30 points, if I’m able to understand and explain the concept of it….” said Charles.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Well, you can provide some examples while you’re explaining the concept of inflation….we’ll just have to come up with some…” Nanny Liz offered.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Start me off with an example Nan…” Charles suggested.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“When the local grocer has hired more helpers during the holidays and has suddenly realized that he’s going to have a harder time balancing his books at the end of his fiscal year because two shipments of carrots were accidentally lost in transport earlier on….well then he might up the price of your favorite gala apples for more than what they’re really worth….in order to break even,” said Nan.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“That’s an excellent example Nan…”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Yes, I liked that one too..”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What’s another one?” Charles prodded.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Well, say that a popular singer has recently been caught in a scandal and before the scandalous story is released to the public, the singer’s CD albums are pumped up a few dollars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s also inflation, because in reality……because of the soon-to-be-released negative publicity, those CDs will be worth very little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The unknowing public is in reality paying an inflated price for them….” Nanny Liz continued to explain.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What’s another example Nan?”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Let’s say that a real estate agent has agreed to sell two parcels of adjoining land to a corporation in the desert, but only one of the parcels has potential for water……Because she knows that the less desirable parcel will sell at below market price, she will inflate the more desirable parcel to increase her profit margin to a healthy level….” Nanny Liz said.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It seems like it’s all a matter of circumstance….” Charles concluded.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charles had his hopes up of racking enough points to someday join the illustrious Future Leaders Club….then came the news from his folks that they would have to move again…..meaning yet another new school for Charles.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charles’ parents, Bianca and Barry were textbook authors in the field of college level computer concepts and their research often took them to worldwide locations.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The scare in their finances happened when their partners dropped out of their writing agreement and for about three years, nothing of either of his parents works were published.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their finances were in the red, near bankruptcy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Barry and Bianca had leveraged everything in buying real estate off the coast of some remote island and the dry-up in incoming funds left them unable to pay bills.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first Charles had no idea of his parents’ situation, then Nanny Liz clued him in on what was happening and his world turned completely upside down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly, because of his parents’ financial situation and also because the number of website designs he had created were amassing, he was now trying to find a way to make them marketable, to make them more attractive and appealing.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The common thread Charles!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s what I’ve come up with,” Nanny Liz was beside herself with glee at her latest epiphany.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What’s the common thread about Nan?” Charles inquisitively asked.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Well, when you’re wearing different outfit pieces and you want all the clothes to match, you look for a common thread color……then when you’re designing your web pages, with all the different parts and pieces to it, I suggest you look also for a common color, a common thread color….if you will,” Nan was really onto something now.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Till that point their discussions had been about politics and finances, but now this was about something fun and different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was something about what he was actually involved in….</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nan continued, “Take all the different patterns and pictures on a particular web page and imagine them to be different outfit pieces, then take a length of sewing thread – a color that will match all of your pieces and make it ‘the common thread.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the pieces have to match the common thread and the particular color of that thread will become the ‘accentuating color’ of your web page…”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I see….so say the common sewing thread color of a page I’m designing is green, then the accentuating color of that page will be green as well?”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Correct, you can have some of the lettering done in green or an animated accentuating flower in that same shade of green as well, even if it’s just a diving line in the same color…” Nan said.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I really think that you’re onto something!” Charles said excitedly.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I bet your father knows enough HTML code to bring your web pages to life….I’ll bring this up with him and your mother right away…” Nan said.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While Nan phoned his father, Charles went into his bedroom to count just how many static web page themes he had created…he came up with 52.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His father and mother were due home at the end of that week and when they got home, they discussed the possibility of contacting some software companies who might be interested in Charles’ designs, now that Charles had understood about the common thread color technique.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seemed that there were website page auctions taking place, but only known to a few select website designers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon hearing about them, Barry instantly began working with Charles to implement Nanny Liz’s common thread technique and Bianca began to document the entire process.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The web pages became beautiful creations that left positive impressions on the general public’s eye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They knew this because they participated in some of those auctions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Software companies, Internet Service Provider representatives, and top business people from across the industry attended them and Charles’ designs stood out as some of the more innovative ones.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His mother Bianca gave names to the different themes and his father connected all of them so that clients could rifle all through 52 of them by means of a slide show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course Nanny Liz offered advice regarding the accentuating colors added to each page.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Barry and Bianca eventually found new writing partners and continued on with their textbook writing and research, while Charles worked with Nanny Liz to refine their web-page-generating process.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nanny Liz summed everything up by saying that, “….although stormy weather tossed everyone astray for a while there,” that however now, “…all is fine with the world again…”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-84219305581050778432012-01-30T13:20:00.001-08:002012-01-30T13:20:40.234-08:00Friends of Alexandra<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"> </span> <span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The beach balls bounced unattended on the cement ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of her friends had rushed indoors for the ‘suggestion-box-contents’ readings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two or three of them sat cross-legged around the coffee table on the plush carpet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Four or five of them sat down on one of the comfortable chairs and finally Alexandra sat in the middle of everything with her three-ring binder and pens in hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The big momentous wedding occasion was to take place in three months time and all of Alexandra’s girlfriends had put in their last-minute suggestions into a big plain pink box.</span> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coming from different backgrounds, their common bond was that they all volunteered at the local orphanage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kessa and Keosha were sisters who were from a mixed Hispanic and Black culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their parents were originally from South America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keosha was a women’s literature author and her friendship with Alexandra went beyond the boundaries of the halls of the orphanage because they both enjoyed writing and would critique each other’s work well into most nights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her other close friend from the group was Lizette, who was born of French parents and was brought up in their native language.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had actually known Alexandra since they were very little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The five other girls were friends of the more guarded inner circle of members composed of course of Kessa, Keosha, Lizette and Alexandra……</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the suggestions was to have the words, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thank you for attending…..</i>right next to each name on the place cards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The last few months the girls had glued fabric and lace onto ‘mini-scrapbook-souvenirs’ for each of the 300 guests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their insides were all identical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They contained pictures of the happy couple as children, then as teenagers and finally as a happily engaged couple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Towards the back of each of the mini-scrapbooks were the business cards of the stores where the bridesmaid dresses were from, the flower shop and the caterer’s as well.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alexandra’s wedding dress, which only she and her mom had seen so far, afforded a lavish profile of her exquisite figure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It had a lace bottom and the beadwork was more focused on the bodice, with the highest amount of concentration along the dipping waistline.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The table cloths were going to be a very pale yellow, marked with light pink and bright pink wedding bells.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The napkins were going to alternate between the colors of light pink and fuchsia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The different segments to the bridal reception were going to be highlighted by the ringing of digital wedding bells.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were going to introduce each segment of the wedding reception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alexandra, with her translucent skin and brunette hair was a prominent member of the Women’s Fiction Writing Group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She often reminded people of one of the characters she wrote about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her green eyes focused intently on the details of the suggestions given by her girlfriends. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally she made a mental list of the ones that she would probably use.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They snacked on wedding cake samples from the bakery while Alexandra told them which suggestions she agreed with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A copy of her new book of short stories for each guest, she felt would be okay, but she also wanted a couple of her girlfriends to read one or two of the stories during a slide show presentation of pictures of her and George.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She and George had known each other since Freshman college and she had begun planning their wedding that day when they first met.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Planned for the reception lunch, she really wanted to have a lot of pictures of George and her shown on the projector screen while the hip sounds of 80’s music played in the background.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The different segments to their relationship would fillow a timeline highlighted by their weekends spent watching movies at the cinema and generally just walking around, holding hands and taking in the town in.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bridesmaids dresses were going to be pastel green because green was Alexandra’s mother’s favorite color and Alexandra knew that she couldn’t have come this far, without her mother’s financial support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The skirt bottom to these dresses were going to be cut along the bias so that their white high heeled pumps were going to peek through as they walked, and also so that the hem would slightly touch the ground as it trailed off in the back.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alexandra liked the idea of having the centerpiece vases of each of the 30 tables to be interspersed with small and medium-sized pink balloons tied to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Written on the balloons were going to be the couple’s names <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Alexandra and George.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">She also liked the idea of having a wedding picture of her and George adorning the front of their thank you cards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The framing trim of the thank you envelopes will mimic the look of intricately embroidered stamped pink butterflies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These were but a few of the suggestions she wholeheartedly agreed with!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the other suggestions she explained to her girlfriends, she would try to incorporate into the wedding plans as best as she could…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only formal gathering after this luncheon of hers, was the rehearsal night for the entire bridal party at the church and the rehearsal dinner following it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that, the big day would arrive…</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">* * * * * * *</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“…Time to go sweetie,” Alexandra’s mother said as she rapped on her daughter’s door.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I’ll be right there mom…” Alexandra said nervously.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The church was only two block away, but Alexandra was almost in danger of being late for her own wedding.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The guests as they arrived at the church had that elated-yet-confused look because they didn’t know where to be seated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ushers eventually helped everybody to their seats.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bridal party was ready to make their entrance through the double doors leading into the main church and to ready the way for the blushing bride, Alexandra….</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The processional music started on cue and everyone in the pews were in appreciation of the beginning procession of the bridal party as bridesmaid after bridesmaid, paired with a groomsman paved the way for the bride, who was on her father’s arm.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before that, Alexandra fidgeted with her long white gloves that tapered off with lace trim to her elbows and she slowed her breathing and inhaled deeply two or three times.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Alexandra, you’re not about to run a marathon….just let yourself breathe normally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t worry so much, you and George will make it through the ceremony just fine,” her father told her with a knowing wink.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“…I couldn’t sleep all of last night dad, and I’m trying to keep myself looking like a poised and polished young lady despite the sleep deprivation…” Alexandra vented.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“…You have the right to be nervous, just remember that we all love and support you on your big day…” her father said with a grin.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the double doors closed again…..and the wedding march was played….</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alexandra’s bouquet of long-stemmed cascading white roses was the perfect touch to the vision that she was, as she started her march down the aisle on the arm of her loving father. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Everything’s cheery and happy</i> she wanted to say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However those were currently the specific moments where being proper and demure were the two characteristics people noticed right away as one made your way to the altar.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will everyone stand up and give me a cheery hooray - for making it through the wedding ceremony in tac, thus far</i>....most likely not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was glad for her self-regulating reality check thoughts…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;">She then walked past her mother, who seemed to say to Alexandra …<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this is a moment of extreme solemnity….sweetie….</i>with her eyes….<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">please focus!</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus….went the ceremony and the reception followed and everyone was in good spirits, especially the bride’s father, who only that morning, spent a half an hour looking for his trusty shoehorn.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For every momentous occasion in his daughter’s life, Cesar had spent half an hour looking for his shoehorn, but after it was found, the rest of the day would play itself out beautifully.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The weather was ominous and the reception hall was partly Oceanside, overlooking miles of gorgeous beaches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone was safe inside after making their way from the church three miles away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There had been tremors across the globe, and the high winds and backlash of the waves were nothing new to that time of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However Alexandra’s dad Cesar kept wishing that everyone could be safely seeing themselves home soon.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, came the fair warning from the local authorities about possible tidal waves hitting the local shores and as each guest made their way out of the hall, Alexandra and George bid each of them farewell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alexandra’s only regret was that she didn’t give her speech to properly thank her mother and father for everything that day….</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow though, everyone knew as she shone brightly that day, that Alexandra was grateful and thankful for the both of them…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-47673246819576868272012-01-13T22:11:00.001-08:002012-01-13T22:11:30.536-08:00---Update-----<span style="font-size: x-large;">Karate Mom has been re-updated!!!!</span>mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-88535631620564231672012-01-04T19:33:00.001-08:002012-01-04T19:33:39.140-08:00Cookie Cutter Wednesdays<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">There was a clatter of cookie cutter shapes in varied forms and sizes as they hit her kitchen island countertop.<span> </span>The granite surface shone brilliantly in the morning sunlight and Sally’s weekly mission to do her therapeutic baking was now at hand.<span> </span><i>Today, regardless of what happens, at this moment in time, I am happy!</i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>The sugar cookie mix was her favorite and they only sold it around Christmastime.<span> </span>In the box, was contained six bags of cookie dough mix and she bought as many of these boxes every year.<span> </span>She added the melted butter and the egg to her mixture and since she was going to roll it out flat, she added two tablespoons of flour to stiffen it a little.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>She recalled her conversation with Bradley a few months earlier… </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“Why are you pouting?” he had asked.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>I had then answered, “Because the dog ran away with my young neice’s<span> </span>rag doll and halfway buried it next to the thorny rose bushes.<span> </span>Guess who they’ve asked to help dig it out?<span> </span>That’s right, yours truly…Also, because there was a hurricane in the midwest and now guess whose plane trip to pick up a shipment of antiques for the store, has been waylayed?<span> </span>You guessed right, if you guessed me.<span> </span>Plus because my bank account is nearing nil, my last day at the Antique Shop is tomorrow and I have no immediate job prospects.”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Bradley then said, “I see that you’re having a pity-party, you’re just feeling sorry for yourself.<span> </span>First off, you have a lot of responsibilities that need tending to, and you know that keeping yourself busy always does you good.<span> </span>Now go get cleaned up and wipe the tears off so we can take a walk around the park.<span> </span>How’s that?”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>During our walk around the park, he had then asked, “Why did you buy that pink scarf, when you said that you had to buy a gift for you mom?<span> </span>Let me guess, you lost sight of your shopping goals and now you’re panicking because your mother’s birthday is tomorrow.<span> </span>If you hurry, you can buy her something from the store still, they don’t close for another hour…and don’t forget to get a birthday card for her too.<span> </span>Now, what has happened to your finances?<span> </span>Time doesn’t stand still for too long you know, eventually you’re going to have to pay off your credit card balances….That makeup you’ve got on, was just too bright for earlier.<span> </span>You should apply those colors for when we go out to dinner tomorrow night.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Rolling out the cookie dough with her favorite rolling pin, she even recalled the conversation they had a year prior on her twenty-ninth birthday….</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“Why are you pouting?” asked had Bradley.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>I had then answered, “They needed to make some cut-backs in the budget at the office, and I’ve been asked to leave….<span> </span>I somehow have lost the drive to work full-time and I’m afraid that you’ll no longer see me as the go-getter that I used to be.<span> </span>Plus, I don’t have a resume ready to submit to potential employers at the job faire.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Bradley had then advised…</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“You should re-group and take an over-all look at where your life is heading.<span> </span>I think that it’s going pretty well, in a pretty decent direction.<span> </span>However it’s up to you, to create an environment for yourself that will be self-supportive.<span> </span>Only when you can truly take care of your self financially, can you really truly feel independent about yourself, and you have it in you to do just that.”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>I was jaded about the world around me….and Bradley was concerned and had asked….</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“What has become of world politics, that’s got you avoiding it like the plague?<span> </span>It’s not meant to be a soap opera, it’s not supposed to be an exciting event all the time, but you should care about what’s going on, regardless.<span> </span>When was the last time that you went to the gym for some exercise, because according to my calendar, it’s been about a year.<span> </span>You and world politics obviously don’t mix.<span> </span>People are talking about world events as they happen, and you…well, it takes you about two to three weeks to read about the same things, because that’s when you’ll do your research.<span> </span>You seem to feel like current events should be left alone to stew while you get used to what’s just happened, a sort of siesta out of life….that goes on for weeks at a time.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Since those days, Bradley and Sally, have become a happily married couple, yet just this morning he asked, “Why are you pouting?”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“….because I ordered the wrong lipstick, and now it’s too late to order the right one because not only has it sold out, but it has also been discontinued.<span> </span>Plus, I got orange marker on a new top, and I’m just hoping that because the marker was the washable kind, that it’ll just wash off.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Sally was jarred back to reality.<span> </span>She rolled out the cookie dough some more and went to work busying herself.<span> </span><i>This was Wednesday after all!</i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Her collection of cookie cutters could rival that of any baker’s in town.<span> </span>She had cookie cutters that were shaped like hearts, bunnies, rainbows…you name the shape and if it was a cute one she probably had it.<span> </span>Her heart sang as she continued to roll out the cookie dough to its proper thickness.<span> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Sally then used the cookie cutters to create the adorably-cutely-shaped cookies.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Bradley then entered the kitchen for a cup of coffee….</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“What’s really got you worried, what do you want to address?”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“Bottom line, I’m not exercising…”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Sally was wearing her fluffy pink and purple sweater, with her red tee shirt underneath for extra warmth.<span> </span>Bradley thought she was in good shape.<span> </span>He gave her a kiss on the cheek…</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“Gotta go…”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Sally knew exactly what it was that was bothering her.<span> </span>Bradley’s boss’ wife had been asking her and Bradley to double-check all the preparations she was making for an upcoming party and it was simply eroding into her time!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Upon arriving at work, Bradley had a pile of reports he had to sift through.<span> </span>He called upstairs to the information desk and asked for the year-to-date number of reports that had been sent to his office since January.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“52 sir,” was the answer and <i>how many remained on his desk currently?</i><span> </span>This he could answer himself – 13 reports.<span> </span>Bradley was compiling facts and figures for a forecasting report that he would turn over to his boss Clyde.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>A little while later….</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“I’ll be at Silver’s Athena,” he said.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“Okay, Bradley,” Athena replied.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Silver’s Dry Cleaners was just down the block and Bradley knew his 15-minute break would be stretched a little bit in going there, but he had accidentally picked up the wrong suit the other day.<span> </span>Bradley stopped off at the trunk of his car, took out the suit to be returned and then went on the eight minute walk to Silver’s.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>At the Dry Cleaner’s…</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“Hello Mr. Silvers,…..I’m returning this one for my own suit.”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“Oh yes, Bradley, I meant to call your secretary and tell her about the mix-up…..I’m so glad you noticed it on your own!” Max Silvers said.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“….it was an honest mistake Max…”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“Here’s the correct one Bradley….thanks for your patience,” Max said gratefully.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“See you next time….,” with that Bradley double-timed it back to his building garage, while carrying his suit over his shoulder.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span><span> </span>As soon as he had his suit in his car, he took the stairs two at a time back to his office, and was just rounding off his break in 20 minutes flat.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>His boss Clyde looked in his door and couldn’t help himself, “….five minutes too late…..Bradley?”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span><span> </span>“Ah…..h..h.…actually I’m working through lunch today Mr. Roberts,” Bradley concluded.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“I was just kidding Bradley…..” Clyde could be such a busybody sometimes.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>At the catering facility, Cathy was busy tallying up a customer’s order when Bradley called in.<span> </span>Clyde’s wife Elaine had asked Bradley to double-check her tracks – mainly to make sure she had correctly planned her and Clyde’s silver wedding anniversary celebration.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>This had been their conversation earlier that morning…..</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“Bradley, I called the caterer’s and asked them to have the ice sculpture of the name ‘Roberts’ to be done in calligraphic letters, would you please double-check that I put in the request correctly?”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“Of course, Mrs. Roberts…”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“Please call me Elaine…..also the floral arrangements must have little ribbons tied to the stems of every other pink rose.<span> </span>Could you double check that I made that request properly, as well?” Elaine had asked.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“Of course…” Bradley said as he jotted down all the particulars.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span><span> </span>“…one last thing Bradley, the champagne….you know that I myself am a teetotaler….could you make sure it’s Dom all around?<span> </span>Every table should have a bottle…with a spare,” Mrs. Roberts instructed.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“Dom Perignon it is ma’m….”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“…and the after-mints, make sure they’re the chocolate kind…” Elaine requested.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“Yes ma’m….”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“I’ll be in touch with soon to make sure everything else gets double-checked….bye for now Bradley,” with that Mrs. Roberts hung up.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Bradley hadn’t known Clyde and Elaine Roberts that long, but he knew that they were his two favorite people.<span> </span>Clyde had hired him recently and was always ribbing with him.<span> </span>Plus Elaine trusted him and Sally to keep things running smoothly with her social gatherings and humanitarian projects.<span> </span>He immediately called Sally to hand off Elaine’s list of requests to her.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Sally was on her way out the door, headed for the market, when Bradley’s call came in to ask her for help with Elaine’s preparations…</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“You know that I love both Clyde and Elaine dearly, as if they were my own parents, but I can’t always drop everything for their sake,” Sally pleaded with Bradley.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>“It’ll just be till their party dear…that’s all!”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>A week went by and it suddenly became the norm once again to bake cut-out sugar cookies for herself.<span> </span>In previous years it had been a het and miss, but that day was the fifth Wednesday in a row she had done this for herself, and she began calling them, <b><i>Cookie Cutter Wednesdays.</i></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span><span> </span></span></i></b><span>Elaine’s list had to be double and sometimes triple-checked, yet it somehow all got accomplished!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span><span> </span></span></b><span>It was the night of the big gala gathering to celebrate Clyde and Elaine’s 25<sup>th</sup> Silver Wedding Anniversary and everything was beautiful!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Elaine had fashioned a hand-made scrapbook for the happy couple to store their anniversary memories.<span> </span>In the card, inserted in photographic corners were four different business cards of professional even planners.<span> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>The note read, <i>“In Case You Can’t Get A Hold Of Bradley Or Myself, Don’t Hesitate To Call Any One Of These People….”</i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span><span> </span></span></i><span>Sally valued time to herself, yet she dearly loved Clyde and Elaine.<span> </span>Her mother didn’t raise her to be rude, so her note to Elaine was her way of standing up for herself….yet doing so in a proper manner.<span> </span>Cookie Cutter Wednesdays had that way of giving her clarity….</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Madelaine was inundated with phone messages. <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">Where</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">was</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">Victoria</span></i><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">?</span></i> This business of theirs was supposed to have been a partnership, not a sole proprietorship. Here she chanted her mantra: <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">Promoting</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">physical</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">fitness</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">establishes</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">daily</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">hope</span></i>. </span><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> Creating the memory databanks for WorkingOut.com had been mainly Madelaine’s forte, but once everything had stabilized in their day to day business cycle, both she and Victoria were supposed to have been evenly manning the office. Circuit training, aerobics, hip hop dance, strength sculpting, all types of exercise had been converted into 3D animation exercise videos for their business.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> Eighteen actors and actresses with exercise training had been hired and choreographed to do the stomach crunches, the pull ups, push-ups, calisthenics, weight lifting and dancing to make all the moves look effortless. They had all been hooked up to sensors as they went through all the motions of choreography and had been electronically attached to the advanced computer equipment to capture their movements.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;"> Where</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">was</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">that</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">bagel</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">tray</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">with</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">all</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">the</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">fruit</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">juices</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">and</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">protein</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">supplements?</span></i> they had all clamored in unison in an effort to get through one of the days during the 3-week filming. Again the mantra: <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">Promoting</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">physical</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">fitness</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">establishes</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">daily</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">hope</span></i>.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> The different characters had been rendered, using computer animation. It came out as a virtual dance studio with a cast of participants with catchy-sounding first names who were there to motivate, stretch and uplift the clients of WorkingOut.com.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"> How</span></i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">come</span></i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">the</span></i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">computer</span></i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">driver</span></i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">interface</span></i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">to</span></i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">this</span></i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">dance</span></i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">video</span></i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">is</span></i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">no</span></i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">longer</span></i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic; letter-spacing: -0.05pt;">working?</span></i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"> The software interface from the WorkingOut.com website was meant to act as a driver interface complete with password permissions so that each client user could download the workout videos. Once they were on the client’s hard drive, they could burn them on DVDs and watch them on their DVD player at their leisure. Of course, once the most recent popular computer operating system came out, the driver interface became antiquated. Needing the updates, that newest driver at this time, was not yet available on their website.</span></span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;"> When</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">were</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">the</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">lawyers</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">going</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">to</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">get</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">back</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">to</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">them?</span></i> She recited her recurring mantra here: <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">Promoting</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">physical</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">fitness</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">establishes</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">daily</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">hope</span></i>.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> That had been the question on Madelaine’s mind the following day.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;">An elderly man had injured himself doing one of the strength sculpting videos and was threatening to sue their company, if he couldn’t come up with some kind of agreement with them.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> When one signs up with the website, there is that obligatory disclaimer stating that one should get the okay from their doctor before performing any of the exercises. Bernie, the elderly man had produced the written note from his doctor stating that he had indeed been fit enough to go through the rigors of the trendy routines. However, while doing one of the squatting moves, he pulled a hamstring and because of his advanced age, was now having a hard time recovering.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> Both Madelaine and Victoria had told the lawyers they were going to go so far as to pay for physical therapy for Bernie, in order to avoid litigation. Physical fitness was, after all their business, and getting Bernie set up with a therapist was definitely within their realm of influence.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;"> Why</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">were</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">the</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">reviewers</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">so</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">harsh?</span></i> In Victoria’s absence and while procrastinating for getting to her other business tasks, Madelaine read some of the reviews since the launch of their new website: <b><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Bold;">Another</span></b> <b><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Bold;">Internet</span></b> <b><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Bold;">Exercise</span></b> <b><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Bold;">Fad,</span></b> read one review; <b><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Bold;">Not</span></b> <b><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Bold;">Such</span></b> <b><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Bold;">an</span></b> <b><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Bold;">Original</span></b> <b><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Bold;">Idea,</span></b> read another one and the one that really hurt the most was; <b><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Bold;">Do</span></b> <b><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Bold;">They</span></b> <b><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Bold;">Really</span></b> <b><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Bold;">Think</span></b> <b><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Bold;">They</span></b> <b><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Bold;">Can</span></b> <b><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Bold;">Compete?</span></b> However, as startups go they were in the same league as the most current of websites. The only truly rosy review was one written by a website reviewer who had been a relative of Victoria’s.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;"> Promoting</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">physical</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">fitness</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">establishes</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">daily</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">hope</span></i>, she wrote spontaneously on a handy piece of paper.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;"> Let’s</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">have</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">amateurs</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">rate</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">the</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">DVDs,</span></i> was Victoria’s thinking. She had taken copies of the exercise DVDs to the local men’s and women’s sporting clubs and had different groups try them out. They were of different age groups and she encouraged everyone who liked the products to go ahead and rate them on the WorkingOut.com website, emphasizing that they were free to leave comments.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;"> Let’s</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">advertise</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">on</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">free</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">social</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">networks.</span></i> Tell a friend and spread the word, that had been their message when they spammed the networking websites with ads promising a better leaner physique from trying out their exercise animation products.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> In the meantime, a retired scientist who no longer believed in the powers of exercise, was secretly cursing the spam he was getting in his inbox from none other than WorkingOut.com. <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">Where</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">had</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">they</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">gotten</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">his</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">email</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">address?</span></i> Warren was working on a project that entailed writing articles about the planets of our solar system. He really believed in directing his mind to discovery and exploration of other worlds, and he paid very little attention to anything to do with diet or exercise. He was consumed with scientific facts.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> One of those facts was the circumference of each of the planets. Another fact was the number of moons orbiting each one. In fact, the laser light show at the planetarium was one of his evening highlights once a week.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> Then a scare for him . . .</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> Warren’s cholesterol and blood pressure readings had suddenly gone through the roof. Urgently he had to think about the here and now – about his health as opposed to distant planets and future explorations.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> He remembered the website WorkingOut.com from the spam he received earlier on and he had a myriad of questions for them. So, he clicked on the ‘Contact Us’ button at the bottom of the website and typed this away on his computer keyboard . . .</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;"> How</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">much</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">water</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">should</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">I</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">be</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">drinking?</span></i></span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;"> Will</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">my</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">health</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">insurance</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">cover</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">your</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">fees?</span></i></span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;"> How</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">do</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">I</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">get</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">started?</span></i></span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;"> What</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">about</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">nutrition?</span></i></span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> In fact, his email to them was composed entirely of questions. Madelaine that faithful day, which was the third one that Victoria had gone missing, fielded Warren’s questions.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> Victoria had apparently taken a vacation without leaving word because she had been over-wrought with stress. She eventually came back after two weeks.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;"> At hand, Madelaine wanted to ease Warren into the exercise mindset by telling him about the targeted body parts of each of the videos. From the elevated levels of his health scare, she recommended that he do some of the stretching and yoga moves first, followed by some of the easier dance movements.</span></span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> She explained that WorkingOut.com was there to offer a unique home service with the goal of getting everyone fit and healthy. Warren felt so much at ease with the rapport that he had established with Madelaine, that he sampled some of their exercise video animation packages immediately.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Supplement the exercise videos, by taking a brisk afternoon walk around the block,” Madelaine suggested in a later email, “ . . . and don’t forget your water and to reward yourself for all this exertion.” <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">Did</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">Warren</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">need</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">his</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">own</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">health</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">mantra</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">at</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">this</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">point?</span></i> she wondered.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> At first, Warren couldn’t muster enough energy for the extra walks around his block, and he remedied this by hurling a myriad more of questions towards Madelaine.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;"> How</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">will</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">I</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">know</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">if</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">I’ve</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">improved</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">my</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">physical</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">fitness?</span></i></span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;"> Can</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">you</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">recommend</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">a</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">dietary</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">supplement</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">for</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">extra</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">energy?</span></i></span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;"> Is</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">there</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">such</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">a</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">thing</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">as</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">not</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">making</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">enough</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">progress?</span></i></span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> Their rapport by now included pictures of Warren that he sent in as attachments with his emails. In fact Warren became the first official case study for WorkingOut.com. Madelaine in their latter communication, allayed his fears of him seemingly showing no improvements, by saying that based on his pictures, <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">he</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">indeed</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">was</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">looking</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">happier</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">and</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">healthier.</span></i></span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> Four months down the road, his bad cholesterol level had gone down and so had his blood pressure vitals.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> “How can I thank you?” Warren asked.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Just keep up with the exercise videos in order to stay healthy,” she replied.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> To Madelaine’s credit—<i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">Promoting</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">physical</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">fitness</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">in</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">this</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">case,</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">really</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">did</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">establish</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">daily</span></i> <i><span style="font-family: NewBaskerville-Italic;">hope</span></i>.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> Warren had a revelation . . . . He felt that although the study of planetary exploration was one of the first things on his list, keeping tabs on his health also meant appreciating his own Earthly backyard!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-81884789112382024482011-12-28T06:00:00.000-08:002011-12-28T06:00:07.706-08:00Karen Sylvester<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Karen Sylvester was materialistic. She graduated as a marketing student from the University of Redley last June. She would eventually work for a marketing firm that catered to the average and plus size woman. Her other jobs in the past included taking depositions for a friend’s dad’s law firm, as a photographer’s assistant checking lighting numbers and delivering newspapers from the back seat of a Honda motor-scooter. </span><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;">As a photographer’s assistant, it was her job to check the light meter in between shots. The lighting director would then adjust the luminosity according to what the photographer preferred it to be. When it was her job to take depositions, she would gather information from the lawyer’s clients and each client’s friendly and neutral witnesses. In delivering newspapers in the early mornings, she rode on the back of that motor-scooter and slung newspapers on each appropriate doorstep.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.15pt;"> She loved to go to the nail salon to get acrylics on her fingernails and a traditional pedicure on her toe nails. She loved brilliant colors atop the acrylics, bright oranges, purple-lavenders and even yellow. Her pedicure color was always a hue either just darker or lighter then her nail color. Her natural hair color was brown, but she had it done in black from time to time as well. She always had her hair cut in long layers, keeping her hair long, shiny and sleek. The dark color contrasted and added a sparkle to her blue eyes. She often put a balm on her hair that melted into an oil in between the palms of her hands. This she put on, from the roots to the ends. Whether her hair was nourished enough, she didn’t know, but as long as it was shiny, she thought that that was important and to her liking.</span></span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> Her face makeup foundation, she did in a light beige color to bring out her eyes. She moisturized excessively and reaped the benefits of softer, smoother skin than what she was born with naturally. She usually smeared her face foundation on and blended it with a makeup sponge, then added a sweep of gray-black eye shadow, just to the contours of her eyelids, then dusted her whole face with face powder, swept her cheekbones with a dusty rose color, and applied two generous coats of mascara on her eyelashes.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> Her taste in clothing was club wear, even to work but she tried to dress down her style so that is always fit the conservative atmosphere, like donning a light weight shrug or fitting a blazer over her ensemble. At specific nights, she loved to go club hopping, preferring the retro disco scene to the hip hop or overly grunge scenes. She was there to party and spend most of the night just dancing. She didn’t feel comfortable dancing alone otherwise she would have, so she had a list of single eligible guys to call upon to be her disco dance partners. As you would agree by now, Karen was somewhat materialistic. She always needed funds for her hair balm, club wear, matching high heels, makeup to get that “approaching to natural look,” not to mention the manicures, pedicures and timely hair appointments to keep her hair in silky long layers.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> She was oblivious to everything, but the sights of the city of Harlem in New York tugged at her conscience. Many of the young mothers there were on welfare, struggling to make ends meet. The point was that these women were trying for a better life, and the turning point for many of them, was when they had children. At that point, it was not only themselves of concern, but also the lives of their children.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> Karen decided that she was no longer going to have different jobs. She would keep the marketing job she had currently. Her job at WebPrints, Inc. was to create the web page ads sent via email representing several of the department stores as well as specialty stores.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> What finally landed her the job doing marketing work via web ads through email for WebPrints, was a chance meeting with their department supervisor. Karen was having coffee at a mall café during the noon rush hour, when seating was limited. She had an empty chair at her small table. David Henner from WebPrints, looking exhausted from back to back meetings, asked if he could sit down at her table. She graciously said yes, and eyeing the job application she was filling out for the retail department of one of the stores he represented, David in return for her kindness, inquired what position she was applying for?</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> “<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span>.<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span>.<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span>. for the women’s clothing department, in sales,” she answered.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> David went on to ask her if she had a college degree, hoping to coach her on some of the questions she would encounter on the application. He was pleasantly surprised to hear that she held a Business degree in Marketing from Redley. He immediately gave Karen his business card. None too soon later, his pager went off, with a text message calling him to another meeting. His coffee in hand, became coffee to go. He reminded Karen to please call him in the morning of the next day. His card read Marketing Supervisor of WebPrints, Inc.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> Her days after getting the job with David’s company, was to sort through a virtual bin of background graphics and apply them to the dynamic web ads sent out. She played with Photoshop all day, cutting, pasting, overlaying and creating web print ads for these various department stores and shops.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> Having just broken up with her boyfriend, she tragically felt an overwhelming need to pull herself up from her sorrows, by helping others live the dream, which was to provide an escape, by going out once in a while. So she wrote a business proposal and collaborating with five of her closest friends, secured a loan with First National Bank.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> They opened the Basement Store. Karen literally found a basement in the building of one of the department store’s corporate offices. She took all the extra or overstock clothing from the stores she designed web layouts for and filled the Basement with them, making sure that the room of course was air conditioned and clean. She even consulted with OSHA for the safe handling practices of the merchandise, and also to ask what the temperature and cleanliness level of the basement should be.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> The modeling shoots for the outfits often had numerous photographic shots, that would never make it to the print sheet, so she bought these at a discount, usually straight from the photographers. She made an online catalog and populated it with all the overstock fashion. She used her sense of style to pick out only the clothing that she would wear herself. Her five friends did all the fulfillment orders and regularly organized the rapidly changing merchandise.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> Initially, she had to work to maintain her shiny hair with innumerable products, her flawless “natural-looking” skin through facials and make up and of course, those all encompassing club wear of hers. Sadly, those were the very reasons she lost her one serious boyfriend, because she was going nowhere, except clubbing. If her ex-boyfriend could see her now, he would see how resourceful she’d become.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> She stayed on with WebPrints and with her supervisor David’s permission, programmed in a code on various webAds sent to internet addresses of less affluent residents, giving them the option for huge discounts. The Basement overstock web store catered to residents who were close or were at the poverty level. She sent a survey out to assess the incomes of those below 10K and those were the recipients of the discount codes and the club wear line from the Basement. This was her pet project. And after searching for the right job and overall lifestyle that would give her happiness, giving people down on their luck the inside scoop, gave her a sense of purpose.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> She continued to go to clubs, dancing to retro disco music. The Basement became the disco ball in her life. Outside of the Basement, she was the all-consuming responsible adult. No more job hopping and all boyfriend relationships were handled like a mature adult.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.15pt;"> She had in mind to vary the club wear with Pasadena Rose Queen Judging wear, but after careful deliberation with her colleagues, they decided to keep it simple and just provide an escape for the struggling women out there through club wear.</span></span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"> Life was short, Karen reasoned, so escape once in a while. Offering overstock club wear to the less affluent was her way of nudging everyone, who may not have experienced the “club scene,” to do so.</span></div><div class="Textbodystandardindent"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.2pt;"> Her life was once a mudslide, now the weather has cleared and her motto is: If you can’t dance regularly to the beat, then it’s best to bring that disco ball’s ambiance into your everyday life!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-26660616802747217152011-11-21T20:45:00.000-08:002011-11-21T21:02:33.557-08:00Daily Diary<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> <span style="font-size: large;">Mandy emerged from the fabric store, bags of colorful material and patterns in her arms. She made a beeline for her car and drove home to the sounds of the soothing music of the contemporary music station on her radio. What was it that mom always said about shopping for fabrics? <i>Make sure you have your sketches with you, so that you can pick out just the right material for what you want to sew!</i> Mom was always so full of great advice. So Mandy had had her hand-drawn illustrations with her and off she went peeking in from aisle to aisle of glorious fabrics. She was like a kid in a candy store. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Lavenders, pinks, yellows, peach-like colors, all sheer and see-through pieces for layering on top of solid, bolder blues and purples. Those were her initial choices as she loaded up her shopping cart earlier that day. <i>Make sure you have enough thread,</i> was another favorite advice of mom’s. Upon reaching her town home, she immediately went into the kitchen to make herself a hot cup of coffee because she definitely wanted to be awake for the creative dress-making process that she was about to start on. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> She took a glance at the faux light pink stretchy leopard print and updated her plans on the creation of leggings by adding that print to her collection of legging fabric material. <i>You can never go wrong with leggings,</i> was another of mom’s trustworthy advice. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> After a couple of swigs of her creamer-laced coffee, off she went cutting the patterns out. She then used glue and pasted the thin pattern paper onto more sturdy regular brown wrap paper. She was on a roll and didn’t want to stop to answer her suddenly ringing phone and let it go to her answering machine. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “It’s me Leah,” blurted the machine. “Where is the Daily Diary? I’m next in line to write in it and I’ve already got a few thoughts I’ve been going over to put in it . . . . Will call you back later, bye for now!” with that a clicking of Leah’s phone could be heard hanging up. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <i>The Daily Diary right</i>, Mandy remembered that she was indeed the one chosen to start off her circle of friends one circulating diary. She held up a pink and yellow paisley print and wrapped it around her shoulders. <i>This will make a nice simple bolero,</i> she thought. She already had the orange bangles to go with the outfits she was going to produce that day. However, she noted that Leah was right about their collective Daily Diary project. So, she reached up on her top shelf and brought down an average-sized ocean blue faux leather bound diary and took a moment to admire the rainbow of colored leaves embossed on it. In raised letters all of her friends had agreed on, and had paid the stationary store to title it <b>‘Daily Diary.’ </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> She sat down and wrote, </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i> Dear diary, </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> You are the brain child of twenty collective friends who want to write down their thoughts, as a sort of shared consciousness on paper. This entry will be the first. Who knows, perhaps there will be several volumes of a collective diary collection? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> My day went okay today and I’m happy that I bought enough material for some leggings, simple tops, a bolero and smattering of short skirts. I bought some nail polish for everyone, including mom because they make great party favors. I’m planning a get-together to celebrate mom’s birthday this March. In fact I’m centering this entry around cooking, friends and gatherings . . . </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> You sure do remember things like that extra garlic on your shrimp scampi that made you appreciate it more, or that pickle relish in that sandwich spread that mom made special just for you. We all have great memories when it comes to food. Do you remember that time that you celebrated the end of freshman finals with pizza and buffalo wings? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Or the time you made fresh mashed potatoes with that new masher for Thanksgiving dinner from your roommate? Or the time you baked fresh chocolate chip cookies for that English professor who wanted to publish your paper in the university press? Or that time that you celebrated getting your puppy with a banana split? Or that time that you grilled pork ribs on the Bar-B-Que just to impress that special someone? Or that time that you sliced some oranges, apples, plums, pineapples and even papayas, and then topped the whole thing with red and green grapes, in an effort to lose enough weight to fit into that designer dress? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Or the time that you whipped up vanilla and banana health shakes to energize you for those all-important rigorous workouts? Or when you cooked that vegan spaghetti in order to lower your body fat level enough to do the splits? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> We have all had those moments, and the food accompanying those memories always stand out. How about that simple pleasure, when you baked blueberry muffins and enjoyed them while reading the morning paper and sipping coffee? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Eating good, wholesome cooking would only result in a happier me. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> How about that time that you enjoyed chocolate pudding while turning page after page of your favorite novel? When we write journal entries, time stands still for those moments we write about. Each moment we choose to write about, goes into slow motion and then, while the rest of the world is still bustling, those moments hold still just long enough for our minds to pick up the nuances that we want to remember about them. We freeze each memory frame, so that we can describe them in detail. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Those details, like what we were wearing, what was on our minds, and the expressions on the faces of those around us, are woven in and out of our journaling, and that’s how memories are captured. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The colorful platters, the beautiful centerpieces, the table settings, plus of course how the food tasted and made us feel, make our entries spicy, funny, sweet, scrumptious, delicious. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> When writing in one’s personal diary, making time stand still, gives us clarity in how to describe specific moments. When you add food to the mix, it can make journaling a composition of fun, happy moments—pages that will entertain and make you feel grounded in this rapidly changing world . . . </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> —end of diary entry— </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> A little while later, during the early part of March . . . </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Leah was carefully wrapping the wide peach ribbon around the gift box. She wished that she would have bought two of that sweater within. Fuzzy sweaters were such a welcome addition to her closet this time of year, but this particular one would be a gift to Mandy’s mom. After all Mandy had gotten her the job with Seasonal Sports as a data entry staff member. With the gift box all ready to go, Leah was anticipating Mandy’s gathering of girlfriends at the lodge. They were celebrating Mandy’s mother’s 70th birthday. She looked forward to sitting by the fire and sipping hot cocoa, with the marshmallow pieces inside. She looked at the clock, she would have to get a move on, if she wanted to get a good parking spot. She gathered her brown locks into a ponytail, carefully securing it with a purple elastic band. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> She phoned Mandy . . . </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “ . . . I’ll be on my way really soon, who all is there already?” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Just a few of the girls . . . still missing a few . . .” Mandy said on the other end. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “I’ll see you then, shortly . . .” Leah said hanging up. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> There had been something strange going on at work, there were discrepancies in some of the data entry figures and she wanted to talk to Mandy about it, particularly away from the office, so the lodge would be the perfect place to make her inquiries. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> At Seasonal Sports where everything in the corporate office was done up so post modern chic, although the data entry positions were at the bottom rung of the corporate ladder, there was a certain satisfaction that came with working there. Positions in the company, were coveted far and wide by the surrounding communities and the occasional out-of-towner who came to make CoastEnd Valley their new home. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Leah took a few minutes to write an entry in the Daily Diary . . . . </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <i>Dear diary, </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The mall was hectic today! I couldn’t get a parking space big enough for the car, so I ended up occupying part of the space next to mine—but it was a necessity, so I wouldn’t bang any doors (particularly mine!). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Who said the economic indicators have taken a down turn? There were lots of shoppers! Luckily Mandy’s favorite store had sparse customers—I was able to breeze in and stumble my way out, joining the massive crowds on the walkway, coming away of course, with an attractive sweater for her mother! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I wanted so desperately to stop by the make-up counter at Sinestro’s and try on that gleaming pink lipstick, but to no avail—I had to get home to get ready for the party. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Here now, is my formal entry to this Daily Diary. It is a re-accounting of one of my days spent at Saturday fashion school at the Trend Institute . . . </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Good design in products goes a long way into reducing the carbon footprint—that was my message for my fellow fashion design students that day when I was the teacher’s aide. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> As far as I was concerned, precious stones were the only truly remarkable carbon footprints. I have a fascination for the setting, mixing and the matching of jewelry rocks that verge on being described as my base passion in life. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Many products leave carbon footprints, and it makes it worse when they aren’t the right fit for their intended use. This could only happen when the acute condition of improper design happens. Poor design whether in the high tech world or the beautiful fashion scene, results in products bearing wasted carbon footprints. As the teacher’s aide for that day, my message at the Trend Institute to all my fellow students, was to stay in school and create products with appeal, in order to reduce the carbon footprint of garments with poor design. I admit that it was a little bit of a ‘tongue-in-cheek’ attitude, but it grabbed their attention and earned me an ‘A.’ </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I have a flare for fashion design that stems from a strategy using garment creation based on precious stones. Matching garments to jewelry based on the color hue, then the cut, fringe and slants from the stand point of pairing the dress with the model’s jewelry has been the basis of a class they teach at the Trend Institute at CoastEnd Valley for years. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Treasure Rocks were what the natives had called precious stones when I went on safari in Africa for my eighteenth birthday. The jewelry created from those stones, the only true carbon gifts (in my mind) from nature and the acknowledgement of which, is my way of contributing to the reduction of unnecessary carbon footprints. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Ms. Danning, why are bad designs in any occupation so bad?” the instructor had asked me. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “I feel that you should always strive for excellence in whatever you create. Badly designed products not only cause a lot of market aggravation, but they take up a lot of unrecyclable space. Everything eventually will get recycled because nature is powerful enough to work its magic over time, but we must do our part by producing products based on education and invested know-how,” I then explained. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “What are you saying . . . that manufacturers aren’t allowed to experiment and output wasted materials?” the instructor had persisted. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “What I call manufacturing faux pas, are just wayward designs. My attitude towards reducing the carbon footprint is not entirely from a materialistic take. True, there are some really bad products out there, but product avoidance is not the answer. The answer is to stay in school and help to produce the most useful, environmentally conscious things that people can not only use, but that they can truly appreciate,” I then emphasized. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “What is your theory based on Ms. Danning?” was her last question for me. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Precious Stones, as far as I’m concerned, they are nature’s example of what carbon products to produce. I’m just saying that good design in products goes into reducing the carbon footprint,” you could have heard the strain in my voice at the point. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> With that I was dismissed from class that day. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <i>Good design goes a long way into reducing the carbon footprint.</i> I had quickly glanced at my emerald-encrusted wristwatch and knew that that still held true. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> —end of diary entry— </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> With that, Leah closed the Daily Diary and got ready to hand it off to Cassie at the party. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> An hour later, she pulled up to the lodge, with her boots keeping her feet warm and dry during the drizzly weather, she marched up the steps to the lodge and was warmly greeted by some of the girls from work. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Setting her gift for Mandy’s mom on the cutely decorated gift table, she began to mingle with the growing group. Mandy in a warm sweater dress and fashionable boots descended the lodge staircase, just as Leah took her first sip of cocoa. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Hi everyone, thank you all for coming, it’s good to see all of you. I hope you’re all enjoying the good food. Just in the adjoining room are some electronic interactive games, complete with a dance pad and microphones. Please feel free to belt out show tunes, or learn the next dance craze. Overall, let’s have fun . . . the cake-cutting will be in an hour, followed by the gift-opening . . . . love having you all here!” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Mandy was always the perfect hostess, Leah had never known anyone more gracious than her. She managed to steal Mandy’s attention for a crucial 15 minutes. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Mandy how I can I break this to you? There’s some funny numbers and figures being entered into the database—a lot of it on my end . . .” Leah confided. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Take a deep breath Leah, tell me what’s bothering you about the figures . . .” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “I wouldn’t have even thought twice about it but I saw the Master List and compared the figures from there, with what I was given to enter into the system. Some of the numbers are off, by as much as 10 dollars at a time. The monthly annuity checks are made out to investors of Seasonal Sports, and those additional 10 dollars here and there, add up to contribute to money in excess of what’s due to them. I wouldn’t have even noticed it, had I not seen the Master List . . .” Leah was clearly worried. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> She tried not to worry too much about her findings from work and managed in the short time that she was at the lodge, to hand off the Daily Diary to Cassie Shane. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The party eventually wound down, and a week later in another part of town, Cassie could be seen rummaging through envelopes of letters from her mail. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Cassie Shane was the fashion editor of TrendyThoughts magazine and received hundreds of letters from young girls on a weekly basis asking her <i>how to get the look? </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Young girls also liked to send her the virtual type of mail by way of email. The overwhelming number of them were questions regarding the topics of how to move in the direction towards positive change. Many had amassed tons of fashion articles from the magazine to pick through to look for words of wisdom on how to get the look. Some of the topics were on low rise jeans, others were on highlighted hair that had already been lightened to some degree. Other articles deemed it a positive endeavor to slather cosmically swirly nail polish on. Of course, one could never go wrong with deep rich colors for eye contour. Articles on everything from detoxifying beverages, which included water, to artificial sweeteners, to just about anything food trendy were must reads in order to learn about hydration and nutrition. In all the articles, the message was that nothing was as visually captivating as images of change . . . of transformations . . . </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> That day, Cassie’s schedule was going to be a nebulous one because she didn’t yet have a handle on the numerous tasks ahead of her, when an email reached her from a certain Zoe Monroe. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Earlier, she had gone to the local market and picked up the local paper and said “hi” to Sandy behind the cash register and proceeded to go down the chocolate aisle to pick up her weekly stash of yummy chocolate bars. She checked out the paper while she was in line waiting to pay for the chocolate when she read about the upcoming community business owners meeting in the local news section. <i>She should be present at that meeting,</i> she thought. After all she did a sort of annual yearbook for that area’s residents. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Her one stop most mornings was this local market to get the paper and to get her chocolate fix. Other venues for early morning stops were usually dotted by the many brewing coffee pots in town. It also depended on what supplies she needed to get in the early mornings. A bath for Happy, her pet Dobie would always most likely have resulted in a trip to the Vet Center because they had pet grooming accommodations there. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Then came Zoe’s email that day and she felt that the communication that had transpired between the two of them was going to be the perfect entry for the Daily Diary. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> So she began to write . . . </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i> Dear diary, </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> This was the recent back-and-forth-email between Zoe and myself regarding the topic, ‘getting the Look.’ </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Email: </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Dear Cassie, it’s me Zoe Monroe. I am now a senior at Stadium Valley High School. In a year’s time I’m being graded on a major school project as the director of the senior fashion show. Help! What do you look for to get the look? I’ve read a couple of your articles in TrendyThoughts, but everything </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">seems so nebulous right now, how do I begin to organize my thoughts towards a successful fashion show? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Cassie’s Reply: </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> First of all Zoe, start out simple. I would recommend that you go out and buy (of all things), a simple bottle of nail polish—any color whatsoever that you want it to be, preferably something that will uplift your mood and give you some inspiration. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Let’s say that you just bought purple nail polish and that you’ve painted your fingernails already. Look at the mini-artwork you’ve created on your nails, admire it, then put pen to paper or fingertips to your keyboard to document what comes next . . . </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Slowly begin to buy fashion pieces that match your fingernail polish—it’s that simple! Everything you buy will of course be for the fashion show, so if you start now, you’ll have all your pieces when it comes time. Now to match that purple polish, buy a matching lengthy belt to hang loosely around your hips. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The next time you buy nail polish again, let’s say you get a bubble gum pink color, buy two or three pastel camp shirts (maybe one with a paisley design) to go with it. Then your next nail color might be a sky blue one. In that case buy a pair of frayed cut-off-at-the-waistline, low-rise cropped jeans in light denim. Are you beginning to see a pattern emerge? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Your thinking may have started out nebulous, but now we’re giving it structure, something you can dig into. When you come across that pearl white nail polish and you put it on your fingernails, get yourself to a dress store and purchase that beige, trendy career skirt suit to go with it—it’s all about the fashion show after all and in this way you can budget it all out by buying a few pieces at a time. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Remember, let your painted fingernails do your guiding for you, no one at the store has to know that you’re using them to match outfits and accessories. Why in fact, you can build a database out of your purchases and tie them into the web, by using the nail polish colors as the indexes. As you know, more than one garment, piece of jewelry or accessory will go with a particular nail color, so group those items together and use a color that will match each of them as your index hue. This is where it gets technical, use a computer programming language like PHP to query your database. With a list of nail polish colors as indexes (and you should end up with a range of about 50 of them) bring up all the pieces that go with a particular color you are querying and then the magical part will be to mix and match. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Believe it or not diary, Zoe Monroe went on to put together the most successful fashion show in that school’s history. I was on hand to document everything for an upcoming fashion article in TrendyThoughts magazine. My idea of using nail polish colors as indexes for purchasing clothing pieces to populate fashion databases has now set the trend for many consequent magazine issues . . . </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> —end of diary entry— </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Eventually, when it came time for their next friend Heather Blake to make an entry into the Daily Diary, Heather was at a loss for words, because she felt emotionally distraught over losing the one steady job she had had in the last six years. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> All the friends discussed what Heather’s options were and Leah came up with at plan . . . . </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> She went and approached senior management at Seasonal Sports and explained to them there were discrepancies in the figures she had been entering for the various shareholders accounts and suggested that the local paper might be very interested in investigating some of the accounting anomalies. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves Leah,” Bob had muttered under his breath somewhat uneasily, “I’m sure there’s a logical explanation to all of this.” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Well for the sake of the argument, let’s pretend I <i>had</i> been mistaken in what I saw with the figures . . . might you possibly have two openings in your marketing department—one for me and another for my friend Heather?” Leah ventured to ask. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here . . .” Bob grunted. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Well, it won’t take me any time at all to call up the paper. Again, would you know of any openings in Marketing?” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Let’s just say that you are driving a hard bargain, but the paper will ask you for some proof . . . .” Bob said, standing his ground. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Yes, and the copier in the copy room has been working overtime, just for that purpose, I can assure you . . .” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Now, now . . . . maybe we can work something out . . . give the marketing supervisor a call Monday morning Leah. I’m sure there’s room for you and your friend Heather in that department,” Bob paused, “will there be anything else?” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “No, no, . . . not at all. you have a good rest of the morning Bob!” with that Leah snuck back to her cubicle and composed an email to ask all her friends to meet her at their favorite eatery after work. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> She couldn’t believe her luck! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> In time the Daily Diary overflowed with the written voices of the friends from CoastEnd Valley. It kept them close and followed their lives as they inevitably aged gracefully. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-71523763074523188902011-11-06T08:34:00.000-08:002011-11-21T21:01:11.798-08:00"Replenishment"<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">A drop in the river, someone thought to treat it like a wising fountain and tossed a nickel in it.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> The young boy whose nickel it was, had seen it done at the mall’s ornate water fountain numerous times, but he was nowhere near there now, and he so desperately wanted to make a wish.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> <i>Flags to Delight</i>, that’s what he wanted to call his store when he would become of age and be mature enough to manage his own business.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> So a nickel here, and a penny there…three dimes over here and a quarter somewhere else to boot, each coin would eventually bring him closer to his wish.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> This was David Alistair, a young boy with wide open eyes and a big dream to target them on. That big dream of his, was to open a store of custom-crafted flags in his hometown of Cornertown. It wasn’t a lofty dream, it was <i>grand</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> David wore buttons, that he made himself using a button-maker kit his mom gave him for his 12<sup>th</sup> birthday. The button he was wearing today read, <b><i>It’s Good To Dream</i></b>. Yesterday, he wore one that said, <b><i>It’s My Birthday In 10 Days!</i></b>...and so it went, David had a customized button nearly everyday, and an indelible dream that was etched in stone.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “….Sweetie, here’s your milk, take it into the living room and grab some cookies to go with it…” Charlotte Alistair was such a doting mother.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Mom……when’s grandma’s birthday again?” David asked.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Not till next month….why do you ask?”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “I’ve made six buttons for her….one for each decade she’s lived…”David’s wide eyes gleamed with pride.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “….I’m sure she’ll appreciate the buttons sweetie….now don’t forget your chores after your milk and cookies….and David, where did this new book on the kitchen table come from?” Charlotte asked with great curiosity.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Yes mom, it’s a book about the stock market…”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Fifteen years later, after having read more than his fair share of books on the stock market, David Alistair became a somewhat cynical grown-up…..</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> David, having left behind his dream of one day owning a flag shop, had become a stock broker on Walls Street. He was at his second home in Altertown, when he dropped the newspaper onto the coffee table in dismay. The stock option to buy into a fledgling manufacturing corporation was no longer available. The company Urbanite Tools manufactured industry standard hardware tools. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> David still believed that even with the computer age upon us, the nuts and bolts of society still needed tools to maintain it. Even the plants that used robotics to increase employee output still relied on hardware tools for repair. This current news did not start the morning in a good way for David, but he had to push himself out the door. His appointment with Dr. Chapman was just an hour away, giving him the time to stop by the local coffee drive-thru.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Meanwhile on the other side of town, Christopher was almost late for work, he actually worked for Urbanite Tools. He was the dispatcher for the Urbanite trucks that delivered the tools to various venues. He helped to make sure each of the twenty-five local trucks were equipped with the hardware merchandise and that the drivers had their destination addresses on hand. He too, had an appointment with Dr. Chapman, but his was during his lunch break.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Inside the offices of Urbanite Tools, Danielle was smelling the aroma of the brewing coffee and was wondering to herself, exactly what time the Board of Directors was going to have their meeting that day? As one of the founders of Urbanite Tools, she had a great chance of being voted Chief Executive Officer by the board members. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> She too had answered an ad put out by Dr. Chapman seeking out volunteers for a mental wellness test. In exchange for coming into the test, each participant would receive movie passes for two, good all throughout the year!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> There were twenty phone calls to Dr. Chapman’s office the day that the offer was announced over the radio, but he narrowed the candidate count to five and now three of them had appointments with him at different times this sunny Tuesday. The other two, had appointments for the next day.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Then outside Marion’s house, the sprinklers had come on and another routine day lay ahead for the Sanders family…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Marion was a housewife with four active bank accounts. They were checking accounts that she paid certain bills out of. The first account was with Bustling Bank and it covered these expenses; groceries, dry cleaning, ballet lessons, exercise classes and coffee splurging expenses. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The second account was with Stellar Bank and it covered these expenses; soccer expenses, karate classes, diet supplements, hair appointments and exercise DVDs. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The third account was at Starling Bank and it covered; the mortgage, house insurance, vehicle insurance, landscaping, the purchasing of new vehicles and the exterminator. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Finally the fourth account was with Beeline Bank and it covered; clothing, vacations, donations, computer equipments, electronic gadgetry, CDs and household cleaners.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> This was not a comprehensive list of all of Marion’s expenses, but if she was going to run a household and treat it like a business, then her husband Gary wanted her to learn how to budget. Gary took care of all of the other miscellaneous expenses.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> What was different in Marion’s life now, was that she wanted to write a book on (of all things) financial budgeting because she had become quite an expert at it. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> She used a popular spreadsheet called EXPAND and tallied everything. She wrote checks from the four bank accounts for each of the corresponding expenses they covered. It was brilliant how Marion’s life had become so organized.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> She had shoe boxes to keep her receipts separate and when her husband had set up a computer scanner for her to use, she scanned in images of all of those receipts and so then, she had electronic images of them also.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> She began a newsletter about the changing micro-economy that she managed. She wrote that the soccer uniforms for her son that year were in short supply, so she had to anticipate his getting taller and buy next year’s larger size too. She wrote that the exercise DVDs had become more intricate in their physical fitness difficulty level, so she didn’t have to buy as many.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> She wrote about the pumpkin pie mix at the grocery store and how there had been a run on them just the other day and the best Internet places to acquire pumpkin mix coupons.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> She formatted all the articles neatly in their little bordered boxes, complete with clip art. These newsletter blogs became the material for her would-be self-published book on budgeting that she wanted to appropriately title “A Budget From Marion.” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Marion felt that this was the way that she was going to give herself a salary. The proceeds from the book sales would become her own personal fund source. This was going to be her project, her own personal creation to pay herself.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The problem manifested itself by way of the self-publishing fees. She needed $250 to initially pay for the fees, plus periodic marketing fees which she figured she would save up for from the initial book sales.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> She was well on her way, because she pushed aside money from the dry cleaning from the Bustling Bank account and the charitable donations expenses from the Beeline Bank account. However, Marion ran into problems because no matter how she divided the financial pie, there was only so much to go around. She wanted all of this done without her husband noticing any of it. After all, this was her project.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> To take her mind off of her financial worries, she answered Dr. Chapman’s ad as well, because she wanted to surprise Gary with the free movie tickets that were good for an entire year, for their wedding anniversary.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> At the medical office….</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Dr. Chapman pulled down three books located in different places from the upper shelves, in a one-at-a-time-sequence. The whole front side of the shelf shifted to the right to reveal a hidden control room. His office was or course locked from the inside out, from any unwanted visitors…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> There was a visual of a tall tree with a mini-satellite dish perched on top of it….waves of transmissions splitting the air as the communiqué between his home planet, where that tree was planted and his office on Earth began….</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Do you have the psychological questions,” his commander asked from across the galaxy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Yes, we’ll find a candidate soon. I’ve narrowed the field down to four possible ones,” Dr. Chapman answered.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Can you give me some background information on these four?” Commander Laser asked.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Yes, David is a stock broker, Christopher is a dispatcher for Urbanite Tools and Danielle is on the Urbanite Tools’ Board of Directors. Plus of course there’s Marion, a very busy housewife. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Dr. Chapman and his people have a wayward gene cell, it prevents them from moving forward in life. His race of beings are called the Cyberians and they desperately need down-to-earth human cells that have the potential of superseding the wayward cell found in each of them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> 10 days later, out of all the survey applicants, Dr. Chapman knew that they had found their subject specimen – it would be Marion. Her answers shone brightly out of all the applicants….</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Here were her answers…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>Is half of anything ever enough?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I would be happy with even one fourth of anything. Life is bountiful and even half of anything is plenty enough.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> What was the most profound sentence that you ever heard?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “It’s a boy!” when my son was born, because there is a link between us, one that I share with my daughter too. Children are such miracles of life. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> Is marketability the key to wide-spread influence of a product?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-size: large;">I will soon have a self-published book that will be my very own product and yes I definitely think that letting people know about your product is the way to sell it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> Do you prefer to feel the rays of the sun on you or are you more apt to sit in the shade?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Oh, I love being both out in the sun, as well as being in the shade. Each has its advantages. It depends if I’m wearing sun block or not.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> When you’re driving your car, do you prefer to have talk radio on or regular music?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I love regular music, but if the topic on talk radio is also interesting, I will listen to that too.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> If you could play any sport for a living, what would it be, would you make up one that suited you?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The key I’ve found to sports and exercise is repetition. If you do five push-ups, followed by five jumping jacks, you will have done an exercise set. It’s just repeating a movement for a few different repetitions. In my mind, exercise is just repetition and sports performance is just the result of exercise preparation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> What are the top five names that you would give to an iguana?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Larry, after my butcher; Tiffany, after my hairdresser; Gary,after my husband; Dustin, after my son and; Kate, after my daughter.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> If you wanted to amplify the theater sound for an orchestra, what expert would you turn to?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Dustin has a good friend whose a D.J. and knows a lot about acoustics. His name is Leonard and he would know how to amplify the sound in a theater.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Days later….</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Marion, you’re a healthy specimen for my research. It has to do with er…er.. cancer. Yes, that’s it. I would like you to donate blood samples so that I can observe your healthy cells. How does that sound to you?” Dr. Chapman asked.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Well, yes, but I might have to charge a fee, you see I’m saving up for self-publishing fees…” Marion said.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Yes, we can accommodate that, plus marketing fees too – if you need them,” he continued.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Dr. Chapman recognized that Marion had made something of her life and although her answers seemed ordinary, they were very normal compared to the other applicants’ answers, some of which were way over the top.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Therefore, Marion solved her problem of how to pay for her self-publishing fees and Dr. Chapman and the Cyberians received an influx of Marion cells to combat that one wayward cell that each of them had.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> For Marion, it was a replenishment of money and for the Cyberians, it was a replenishment of good cells.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-42605126975367568272011-10-26T14:16:00.000-07:002012-01-13T22:09:53.107-08:00A New Short Story - "Karate Mom"<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt;"></span></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">What is the best metaphor for the karate punch? <span> </span>In other words, what is the best way to execute one?<span> </span>As the proud mom of kids in a bustling karate class, Chloe often wondered how her kids could pick up on the techniques so quickly, and seemingly, so easily as well.<span> </span>All this went on, while she sat dumbfounded in the parents section, nodding and smiling and trying to be as congenial as she could possibly be.</span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal"> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>She generally pretended not to be lost in the class…</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>The kids learned a few different moves every week, twice a week and they are tested at two to three month intervals for the acceleration of each belt.<span> </span>Chloe is one of those parents who was constantly reading the flyers put up on the bulletin boards or any documentation for their next belt testing – just basically anything worded towards their karate goals, so that she might glean something from the whole process.<span> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>What the real treat is when some of the teacher’s female assistants teach his classes.<span> </span>They are way younger than Chloe and she knows that if they can master their way through the art of karate, then maybe she can too (albeit as a bystander mom).</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>She was reminded of stuffed animals….</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Drop a cotton ball into a teddy bear (instead of batting) and punch it down…for proper stuffing.<span> </span>In other words compress and as it puffs up again, compress it some more.<span> </span><i>Do this,</i> she thought with a solid, yet appropriate…PUNCH!<span> </span>That was the technique that Chloe came up with - <span> </span>to drop in a piece of stuffing, then punch it down– with a compressing motion.<span> </span>In other words; drop in a stuffing object, then punch to compress and stuff again.<span> </span><i>Same went with that karate kick</i>….she told herself.<span> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span>Stuff-compress…</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>The karate teacher adored all his students and wanted them to excel.<span> </span>She went over it, over and over in her mind, and it was a <i>valid</i> punching style, that crossed over most of<i> </i>the karate moves…</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>When Chloe discussed her stuff-compress technique with the instructor, he likened it to the drop-kick technique, where you drop a boxing glove from up on high above, then you punch it when it comes to within striking view.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span><span> </span></span></b><span>Now<b> </b>believe it or not,<b> </b>Chloe used to be more athletic, and back in college….</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>She herself took karate lessons, and it had been one of the most awesome times of her life. </span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>She’s now constantly trying to watch her weight and she’s been told that even too much of any healthy food could cause weight gain and that exercise was always the key.<span> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Chloe’s other college sport was bodybuilding….</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>She took Bodybuilding 101 was her other physical education elective.<span> </span>Lifting weights gave her strength.<span> </span>That class had its share of written tests, as well as a check of how well you could keep a log of the number of sets and repetitions of the different exercises you did.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Chloe then graduated onto a bodybuilding show….</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Then came the moment, when Chloe was approached by her instructor to participate in the college Bodybuilding Championships.<span> </span>It was going to be her first amateur bodybuilding show ever and she was so excited!<span> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Let’s just say that she weighed in at 117 pounds for that night of the competition.<span> </span>That was the most important part for her, that she had made weight.<span> </span>At that time, that made her feel comfortable.<span> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Catching back up to the present Chloe is not just a karate mom anymore…<span> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>In all that transpired between Chloe’s college days and her present life, she became an online greeting card artist. </span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span><span> </span>Her designs are fun, whimsical, unique and different.<span> </span>Everywhere she went, she was reminded that there was a woman within that wanted to be sculpted out of the few pounds of padding she had added to her weight since college.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>The museums she frequented to get ideas for her greeting cards as well as the numerous books she had read all inspired her to reach within herself to become the best that she could be, to emerge from that transitional sedentary attitude that she had come to adopt.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Coming away from sitting at the computer from what seemed like the entire day one afternoon she made herself a cup of tea and reflected on where her life had led her.<span> </span>With a smile, she started a journal and titled it “Woman Within.”</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>She began keeping a record of what she was doing to feel centered again.<span> </span>Within the journal, she pasted-in the front covers of some of her greeting cards and she wrote captions for each of them.<span> </span>There was a story behind each greeting card and from memory, she wrote about what inspired her to do each particular design. <span> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>The words didn’t come easily at first, but in time the pages became balanced between text and greeting card graphics.<span> </span>She became so interested in what she wrote that she signed up for a creative writing course at the local community college.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>With a backpack in hand, she sat down in the back of the class and absorbed her instructor’s lectures without raising her hand too much.<span> </span>Worlds of wonder began to open up for her as she read page after page of the accompanying textbook, which was filled with samples of the popular short stories.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>As part of the class assignments, she began to compose her own short stories and became aware that she had a knack for writing effective ones.<span> </span>She soon advanced to the intermediate creative writing class after that one and began to choose her topics selectively.<span> </span>Chloe did not write about the negative, she wrote about the positive things in life and she was always happy with the way each short story shaped up to be.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>She began to enter short story contests and began to set up writing deadlines for herself.<span> </span>She weaved in her artwork for the online greeting card site during her writing while still remaining karate mom for her kids.<span> </span>The writing gave her just the right amount of extra activity in order for her to back way from being so sedentary.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Chloe began to re-assess herself on a regular basis.<span> </span>Much like how she arranges her sock drawer as a beginning to taking inventory of her household, she will sit down and use her effective words to describe where she is in her everyday goals.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Mechanical and electronic parts periodically need systems checks, <i>so why not give myself a routine systems check too?</i> She began to query herself one sparkling day.<span> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>She joined online writing communities where she received feedback on her first few short stories.<span> </span>Chloe also joined an ‘online-weight-loss-through-diet-and-exercise’ group.<span> </span>At that point in her life, she finally felt centered again.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span><i>What is my assessment of myself today?</i> She would ask herself on any given day and the resulting ‘self-assessment-report’ was always dramatic.<span> </span>Mainly her goal shifted from once-upon-a-time trying to always ‘make weight,’ to now crafting the best individual short stories that she possibly could write.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Then something dramatic really happened, she strung together 23 of her short stories one day, and found that she had virtually written a novel!<span> </span>With a lot of tweaking, a good edit from a fellow writer and numerous cups of coffee later, she was ready to self-publish.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>The self-publishing company she signed with, immediately made e-books of both her short stories and her completed novel.<span> </span>Chloe couldn’t have been happier!<span> </span>She now had printed copies of her work both in print and in e-book format at her disposal.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Inside her Woman Within journal, she still added graphics form the greeting cards she had designed and they seemed to steer her writing and therefore, also her self-assessments because they were like junctions of where her life was heading.<span> </span>Each one continues to tell a story and each one is likely to be a snapshot of what she will write about next.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>One of her favorite advices from her creating writing teacher was to always ‘mix-it-up,’ to not stagnate and to always focus on the goal of being an effective writer.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span><span> </span>Some days Chloe still behaves as if she was still preparing for her first bodybuilding competition all those years ago.<span> </span>She still hydrates herself with lots of water and she still tries to inspire herself to go ahead and exercise.<span> </span>When the exercise doesn’t happen, she will do an ‘on-the-spot’ systems check.<span> </span>She will ask herself questions like <i>Did I not buy enough yogurt?</i><span> </span><i>Was I not honest enough with my trainer about my weight?</i></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span><span> </span></span></i><span>As far as exercise goes, she could never really pin-point a definitive analysis of her self-assessments regarding that, but with her creative writing, she was always right on top of things. </span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>Chloe is now always distracted with trying to figure out what her next short story will be about.<span> </span>Her outlook holds a lot of clarity these days because she will stumble upon story ideas that are so cute and funny sometimes, that she just can’t wait to start writing about them.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span> </span>She is karate mom, an Internet greeting card artist, a short story writer and now has become….a novelist!</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-16516053355241306742011-09-19T03:37:00.000-07:002011-11-21T20:51:06.207-08:00First Impressions - A short story<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">Laura knew that as an artist you can go back and detail clipart drawings before you add color to them.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> For the first pass, you can draw a young lady with a party dress on.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> On the second pass, you can add flowers to the dress and add a necklace around her neck.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Finally, to round it off, on the third pass, you can add a butterfly clip to one side of her hair.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> It can take many passes and you can take your time to complete a character’s look, but in real life, there are sometimes no second chances.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Often, once you make a first impression, there’s no turning back the clock…</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> These were the thoughts that were running through Laura’s mind, as she turned page after page of her personal organizer.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Then there it was, her interview with the Arts Center the following Monday.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Then, the Wednesday of that same week, she had an interview with the City Government’s Art Department.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> That day of the interview, Will Salliere was engaged in various activities as the manager at the local Arts Center and at that ‘seen-it-all’ age of 50, he could be quite discerning when it came to the ‘up-and-coming.’</span><span style="font-size: large;"> However in Laura’s case, he did notice her professional demeanor right away.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The outline of her skirt suit as she stood, waiting to shake his hand had classic lines.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Sometimes, you just can’t get away from nervousness and it was evident, though acceptable, considering the high profile of the position that she was applying for, that Laura had butterflies in her stomach.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> This was not a ‘make-it-or-break-it’ moment for Laura, because if things didn’t pan out in this interview, there were likely to be others coming her way.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Her nervous anticipation was always due to the amount of preparation she put in before each interview.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> She was always asking herself, <i>Would there be a payoff?</i></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Up to this point in her post-studies interviewing career, the answer had been a ‘no.’</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Looking back that same morning, as she sat in the comfortable chair of Will’s office, the one with the padded arm rests, she tried to remember the happy ‘busy-bee-buzzing’ of the last minute things she did to get ready for this moment…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Here was a recap of her day and her thoughts during that weekend before the interview….</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Ever since finishing her graduate studies, the ensuing weeks were usually scheduled with at least one interview.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Laura Usher was an up and coming artist.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> She had been drawing recognizable shapes and entities since she was five years old and now, as a young adult she looked forward to the corporate interviewing process.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The bubble-rounded edges to her clipart that she was known for back in college, created a small buzz in the local art community.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> She looked forward to meeting with the bosses of the company representatives who made their presence known each year during career day at the university.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Her fellow classmates had all gotten jobs right away after graduating, and she was one of the last ones to still be making the corporate interview rounds – nearly a year since graduation.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> She took one last bite of her sandwich as she once again glossed over her organizer, before phoning the automated banking system on her cell phone.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> She had to budget out her funds in order to look decent for her interview by checking her balances.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> The park bench she was sitting on, had that day’s classifieds that somebody left behind.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> She looked at the employment opportunities that it had listed before finishing up her lunch.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> One of the first listings was for a volunteer position at a local high school for designing posters.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Being a modern artist, Laura had art software on her computer that she was adept at using, so the poster-making position at the local high school seemed like something up her alley.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> She definitely would look into that, but for now, she needed to make corporate opportunities for herself.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> After figuring out what her bank balance was, she set off to shop for a button-up blouse that would go with her light gray business suit.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Her fruit smoothie completed her lunch, and she neatly left the classifieds for the next eager job seeker right where she found it, putting a small medium-weight rock on it as a paper weight.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> She waved <i>hello</i> to Hal from the local outdoor produce market, picked up a listing of the shows at the local playhouse and logged on to check her email at the internet café before finally entering the sliding glass doors to</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Marie’s, her favorite dress shop.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> She remembered that her light gray skirt suit had dark gray pin stripes on it, so she shopped for a blouse with suitable colors.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> She settled on a light peach color that she knew would be a nice contrast to the dark gray, while at the same time, it was subdued enough to not take away any significance from the interview process itself.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Then the aroma of the coffee jarred her into focus…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The coffee-maker had clicked on to automatic brew, two minutes after her alarm clock had gone off.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Her favorite liquid French Vanilla creamer had been poured into the piping hot cup. She usually took no sugar, because she had enough energy, without being overly hyper.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Her gray pin-striped skirt suit had just been picked up from the cleaners the day before, along with the newly bought peach blouse.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> She ate her cheesey omelet quietly while sipping her coffee.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> All she thought of was, <i>Would she be able to shout “hooray!” at the end of her interview today, or not?</i></span><span style="font-size: large;"> Of course, it would take a day or two, for them to get back to her.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Interview day at the Arts Center was marked by all the promptness.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Laura was prompt, Will was prompt, in fact everything went like clockwork.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> What made Laura confident and comfortable halfway through the interview was the topic of wizards that was brought up.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Laura is halfway between a computer newbie and a guru. </span><span style="font-size: large;"> Some of the computer jargon, she can grasp the meaning of easily and well others, she might have to look up and spend some time thinking about in order to get a good understanding.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> However, wizards were right up her alley.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Most everyone who has worked with computers enjoys wizards.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> At least, this is Laura’s personal feeling on the subject.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Wizards are like staging areas….Instead of immediately saving a file into a folder, a wizard will ask you a few questions about it <i>and </i>it will file it for you.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> In fact, the more options the wizard gives you, the better.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> It is like having a personal manager guide you through the filing and accessing process in a customized way. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The wizard will usually have a default folder to tuck all your files in, or if you’re more savvy than Laura, you can specify and create your own.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> The files at that point, are in virtual limbo, not having quite made it to their destination, but the wizard assures you the user, that with the proper settings they will be filed in a proper manner.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Will Salierre greeted Laura with a hearty handshake and offered her some coffee to get things started with their interview.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Hello Laura….would like some flavored creamer in your coffee?” Will asked.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “I’ll take some French Vanilla if you have it…..thank you.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Will was the managing supervisor at the Arts Center.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> The locals displayed new artwork once a month and he needed someone to catalog everything in a neat manner.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Preferably, he wanted someone with the know-how to set up an in-house intranet where he could personally log in and visually rifle through the different artwork on file, while at the same time be able to group them by date, artist and price.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Laura, let’s get started shall we?” Will directed her to the seat opposite his desk.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Then after a pause…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “First, tell me about your strengths.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> How do you see yourself as an artist amidst the other competitors in this field…?” he asked.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Laura with a pen she happened to be holding on to, in case there was immediate application paperwork that needed tending to, started to say nervously…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “….My biggest artistic strength stems from my ability to discern the thick or semi-thick, outline that perimeters a lot of artwork.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> I can follow the flows of the boundaries from the drawings and add my specific flare to them when I re-create them,” Laura answered.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “…However, what if there are no said boundaries to the artwork, what if the colors bleed to encompass the boundaries….what would you follow then?” Will seemed concerned.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “I simply create an outline from scratch by tracing a fresh one, while I’m re-creating the drawing.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> In this way, it would be up to me, exactly what would be outlined and how thick or thin the encompassing line would be,” she said somewhat nervously.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Good answer, Laura…” Will nodded approval.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> “Now, let’s get to the technical requirements for this job, shall we?”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “…I’m pretty adept at maneuvering through computer files.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> How technical are the requirements?” she asked.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Mostly, you’ll be working with a lot of wizards…wizards to upload an image of each artwork print, a wizard to type in a description, a wizard to manage any sales of any of the artwork.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Our internet programming team is very big on wizards.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> What are your experiences with dealing with these types of interfaces…mind you they’re not as scary as they sound…” he said with a grin.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “I am actually very thankful for wizards because they are a great way of entering data.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> They just make interfacing with groups of files fun and easy, because well…they’re intuitive,” Laura said.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> After a few more questions, Will wrapped up the interview with Laura….</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> “I’ll leave you to fill out the rest of the paperwork.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> It’s been a pleasure meeting you.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Please make sure you leave all of your contact information with our receptionist on your way out.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> You can expect a call with my decision in the next day or two…” Will gave her a firm handshake and left the office to let Laura finish up.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> There was a definite skip in her step as Laura boarded the elevator to go down to the lobby.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> All in all, it was a reassuring day, that she might find herself happily employed in the very near future!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> To play fair, Laura also went to the City Government’s Art Department interview as well.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> She had in her budget, to purchase a simple black business dress with a matching blazer.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> She used the same purse and shoes as was in the previous interview and while the last interview could be described with the word, <i>promtpness</i>, this next interview attempt was very much full of <i>apprehension.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Laura just couldn’t get a handle on this one.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> The supervisor for the city government job Mrs. Haisley, made a bad first impression on Laura.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Laura left a bad first impression impression on Mrs. Haisely.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Laura was late, because the guard at the parking area was in a bad mood and told her to park in the wrong place.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> She offered to get a cup of coffee for Mrs. Haisely while making one for herself at the coffee bar (Mrs. Haisley had initially welcomed her into the building at the lower floor cafeteria.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> That’s how immense this building was).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> It was a roller coaster ride from the very beginning and it was not likely to mesh into something good, so Laura just waited patiently until Mrs. Haisely shook her hand good-bye and they parted company with the proverbial <i>don’t call us --- we’ll call you<b> </b></i>from Mrs. Haisely.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> After retrieving her car, Laura drove home slowly and when she reached home, she drew a straight line down the middle of a blank piece of paper.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> She labeled the left side <b>Pros</b> and the right side <b>Cons</b>.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> First came one for the list of pros, then to counter it, one written out for the cons.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>Pro:</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> I enjoyed Mr. Salliere’s countenance and professional demeanor.<b> Con: </b>While I enjoyed the casual atmosphere of Mrs. Haisely’s venue, I did not enjoy her aloofness. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>Pro:</b> I was immediately put at ease with the French Vanilla liquid coffee creamer at Will Salliere’s.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>Con: </b>While I enjoyed the coffee bar at Mrs. Haisley, she seemed more concerned with her next round of appointments.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i> </i><b>Pro:</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> The promise of working with computer wizards at Will’s is a plus. <b>Con: </b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> Mrs. Haisley was so distracted and in a hurry that we didn’t get a chance to discuss the technical and creative aspects of the job.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i> </i><b>Pro:</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> I felt so welcome and appreciated at Will’s and everyone was so prompt. <b> Con: </b>Mrs. Haisely didn’t make it a point to introduce me to her other team members at their offices.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i> </i><b>Pro:</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> They pay more a Will’s. <b> Con: </b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> It just seemed like the job with Mrs. Haisely was wired for someone else already.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i> </i>Pro: </b>I got the impression that everyone liked the friendly atmosphere at the Arts Center. <b> Con: </b>Of course any new situation, will take adjusting to.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> Pro: </b>If something should happen to my car, the Arts Center is only two bus rides away. <b> Con: </b>On the other hand, the City Government offices are all the way on the other side of town. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>Pro: </b>Maybe they’ll teach me how to create my own computer wizards at the Arts Center. <b> Con: </b>Mrs. Haisely had been so vague as to what the computer requirements for their job position truly had been.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b> Pro: </b>Financial stability is sure to follow after the job stability at the Arts Center. <b> Con: </b>I didn’t get the feeling that there would be any initial job stability with the City Government job, considering how frazzled Mrs. Haisely had been.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i> </i></b><i>In just a quick glance at the short list of pro’s and con’s from both interviews, Laura knew where her sympathies were and it didn’t have anything to do with how sophisticated their coffee making process was at either of the venues. It simply came down to first impressions.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i> I could draw a young lady’s dress on one pass. The on the second pass, add sprites to the graphic of the dress. On the third pass, I can outline it in purple. On the fourth pass, I can add a bright bow to it and on the fifth pass, I can color it in pink.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i> I would have many tries to get that dress to visually look right, but if I was wearing that same party dress at a dance and someone bumped into me with some chocolate cake, complete with chocolate pudding frosting and it got on the dress, there would be no way at the point to make a pristine first impression on anyone.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i> </i>The Ats Center and Will Salliere definitely made a great first impression on Laura, while Mrs. Haisely and her job offer did not.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Laura’s first impression therefore, was to go with the Arts Center should they decide to give her an offer.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Sure enough, they did!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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</div>mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-86666342910776392722011-07-26T15:12:00.000-07:002011-12-28T06:09:20.178-08:00Truckee 4th of July Parade 2011<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I submitted this article to the Sierra Sun Times: </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Imagine that the parade route was a string of shiny pearls singularly cascading, as it would itself into downtown Truckee.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Then each third shiny pear of that string was a contagiously happy float or entry.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> As a spectator at the finish line of the route, I cheered while periodically adjusting my straw hat, clapping and waving with all the patriotism that welled up inside of me.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> The Fire Trucks and law enforcement vehicles were impressive as they wound their way to downtown.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Then, there was this dance team that resembled a freestyle conga line.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> They wowed us with their hip and jazzy dance moves, keeping us all entertained – without appearing to look winded at all.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Then came the gymnastics team with their innovative moves, high spirits and beautiful costumes.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Then, there was the militaristic drill team, albeit they carried skis, not rifles.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> The camaraderie they enthused was nothing short of contagious!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> The equestrian ladies were beautiful, their male counterparts handsome.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> The horses brought smiles to the young ones.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> The saddles were reminiscent of the Old West (I just wanted to take one home for myself).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> The Western wear were the spitting image of days gone by, yet a reminder of how beautiful the United States of America’s history is, and all the awe that goes with it coming from the spectators who could have only imagined what it was like back then.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> Truckee is important, because it tends to leave indelible images of how the West was, is and may be – to come.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> The landscaping entry into the parade, complete with the people who work to keep the Truckee grounds beautiful, made an impression on me too, just as much as the freestyle conga line.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> They say that what you see day-to-day in any small town is a representation of the larger whole – well that’s what this year’s parade was all about in Truckee.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> The children in particular cheered enthusiastically, some of them with super water soaker guns – their way of amplifying all the good fun.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Did I mention the silly string?</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Many of the parade marchers were either soaked or attempted to be covered with silly string.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Some of those same parade marchers were equipped with water themselves – to be unleashed unto the crowd (I too got partially soaked!).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> I likened the on-the-move parade to a shiny string of pearls.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>Translation:</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> If it were a string of wooden beads, every second and fourth one would look like a shiny example of the Old West was.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>Translation:</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> If it were a luminescent string of crystalline amber beads, every third one would be a float or entry that shows off our fire and police enforcement, a modern-day cavalry in these parts.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>Translation:</b></span><span style="font-size: large;"> If it were a string of giant gumballs, each swirly bead was a red, white, and blue symbol of what America is all about.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> Then guess what?</span><span style="font-size: large;"> A cowboy shook my hand.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> He was dressed in authentic garb – straight from just participating in the parade – and my day became a happy and complete one.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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</div>mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-4577154098153612942011-06-24T10:51:00.000-07:002011-12-28T06:10:24.941-08:00A Take On Cloud Computing<div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: large;"> There is that buzz going around about cloud computing and the benefits it has to offer for the small and large businesses who may not have the computer memory storage capacity or the bandwidth with the faster speeds at their facility to do their data crunching. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> Testing software and running customer simulations from different angles to foresee any problems that may arise before their particular brand of service goes public, takes A) storage capacity and B) appropriate bandwidth for the faster transference rate between the customer input and the company’s servers.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> Cloud Computing seemed like such a novel concept to many entrepreneurs when it first became available that they had skepticism about the safety of their timely and sometimes sensitive data.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> At one seminar that I was privy to, the sales rep for a cloud computing facility answered the safety question by saying that the company could encrypt their data before uploading it to the cloud computing facility for processing.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> Chelsea Dale in my short story titled “Cloud Computing’ has landed an Internet business project entailing the handling of greeting card traffic.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> She will be responsible for creating software that will catalogue the different cards, tagging them with appropriate discount codes and generally making them available to the public via the Internet.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> Chelsea has a particular style to her programming known to a few select gurus as that must-have-a-staging-platform-first-style.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> She has to have one particular address in her memory cache to review incoming fresh data or even existing older data.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> She will interrupt the flow of her programming processing just to examine a particular variable or dataset.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> A greeting card discounted at 10% off might catch Chelsea’s eye for examination for example, and at some point in her software program, she will pull the tag name for that card – say it’s called NostalgicCard_11056 and put it say in the memory compartment 0x20f86 to test to make sure that it passes all integrity rules (from it being a black and white card, to being properly discounted) under stressful programming conditions and scenarios.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> In the short story “Cloud Computing,” I don’t go into as much detail into Chelsea’s must-have-a-staging-platform-first-style of programming and I instead focus on the fact that she was nervous about the whole aspect of entrusting her greeting card data to cloud computing people.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> Timothy London, the sales representative for CloudPresence.com (a fictitious company in my story) is very personable and confident about his company’s Internet services and he wants Chelsea to become as informed as possible about cloud computing, so she doesn’t feel as if she’s signing her life away when she signs on the dotted line.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> This is a very darling short story that has elements of computer software engineering complete with that entrepreneurial can-do attitude built in.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Cloud Computing gives Chelsea a second chance by offering her the storage capacity and transference bandwidth rate to test aspects of her software as she launches an Internet Greeting Card site for a client from her home office.</span></div>mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-61159700874735023202011-06-21T20:31:00.000-07:002011-12-28T06:11:17.968-08:00Commentary on 'Andrew and Sherry'<div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size: large;"> A close friend of mine is in an interacial relationship, her husband is Caucasian and she is Filipino-American.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> In the same vein, I wrote a short story in a collection of stories touching lightly on a relationship between an average Caucasian young man and his girlfriend from Somalia.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> It is an engaging story about the warmth that she brings into his family circle.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> You see his mother is ailing with depression and there seems to be no abatement and as depression gains speed in ravaging her zest for life, the planning of her son’s wedding gives her a last respite of happiness.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> In the end of the story, her doctor recommends not a new antidepressant for her to take, but merely adds to the one that she is already taking.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Her new daughter-in-law Sherry brings a warmth and energy into her family that had been previously lacking.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> Of course the fact that Sherry is from Somalia doesn’t automatically suggest that simply accepting a person from a different culture than you’re used to, will bring about a window out of depression.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Many people have romantic relationships from different cultures and the cultural divide is not always overcome.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Many times parents want their young sons and daughters to marry within their inner cultural circle.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> Having married outside of her own culture, my friend’s parents were very accepting of her husband while they were still courting and so in my short story I write the same way of the mother-figure Angela.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Her depression is fictitious, but her acceptance of her Somali-born daughter-in-law Sherry is very similar to how my friend’s entire family just loves and embraces everything about her Caucasian husband.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> Everything from visiting Filipino eateries,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> to the first Filipino-sponsored dance they attended, were just precious moments for my friend that she was probably too over-conscious to appreciate at the time that they were taking place.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> At my good friend’s wedding, everyone in her immediate family was present, except her dearly-departed sister (who died just two years prior).</span><span style="font-size: large;"> It was a happy occasion, as so many weddings I’ve attended since.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> “Andrew and Sherry” does not have a particular wedding scene to it, although it is clear that the young couple was married and that Sherry was accepted into the family.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> There is a scene though, where both Sherry’s future mother-in-law Angela and her are each perusing bridal gowns for her.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Angela’s excitement at how Sherry will look at the wedding is something everyone can relate to.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> As I recall from the beginnings of my friend’s interracial courtship and marriage, it was actually her own insecurities of not being accepted as a couple versus anyone’s objections (and to tell you the truth, there were no objections to them being together), that often got the best of her.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"> If I were at someone’s interacial wedding today, I would gladly be one of the loudest to yell, “Cheers!” during each toast to that happy couple.</span></div>mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-40251518150498223122011-05-06T23:17:00.000-07:002011-12-28T06:12:17.272-08:00An Abandoned Farmhouse <span style="font-size: large;"> Like a paintbrush sweeping color onto canvas, I like the way authors convey their thoughts in a myriad of ways. Historical romances are one way of fictionalizing relationships set in real places from the past and during real events.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> I went to the other end of the writing spectrum though -- into the future and of what might be...I am writing a science fiction novel originally titled "Alecner," but may be called "Eden" when it's all finished.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> For now, my short stories hold my interest, they are the results of an ember of creativity -- that's still left over. There are 19 in the collection. My twentieth will be called "Psychological Tests" and it is based on 5 individual beings who each take a test, much akin to the one that uses ink blots, only these are charcoal and pastel renderings of different settings and surroundings.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> One picture might be of an abandoned farmhouse, with hay still strewn about in its adjoining barn, as if the people left in a hurry. Another picture might be of an enlarged rendition of a pizza with the 'works,' sitting on a restaurant table, alongside it, a note bearing the words, 'ThankYou.' In all I will have the five fictitious people give their thoughts on these pictures.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Then, up above the evolution spectrum, a group of overlooking inhabitants will analyze the Earth psychologist's findings from these tests and give their version of a 'progress report' on where really mankind is....</span>mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-33576232655298045872011-05-06T23:16:00.000-07:002011-12-28T06:13:36.359-08:00Back Cover Blurb From My Book <span style="font-size: large;">This is the excerpt from the back of my book:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> "Taking the time to reflect on the simple pleasures of life is one of the themes of this short story collection. Rooting for the underdog is another one. Seeing one's reflection on the social pond of life, and establishing one's take on what you see in the background provides for a vast amount of writing material. Come and visit the characters of this collection, just to see how the author defines who's doing what in her fictitious neck of the universe. Immerse yourself, and maybe you too, will make reading and appreciating short stories one of your pastimes."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> "Cynthia J. Cordell writes with a love for the whole process of creating and inventing new, everyday short stories. She has a fascination for the art of crafting stories that touch people's lives."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> The book, titled "Sharing Short Stories," is available directly from the publisher (the book is self-published through) Xlibris. It can be found at:</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">http://www.xlibris.com/sharingshortstories.html</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> If you click on the link, currently, it will tell you that it is temporarily unavailable. This is because I am doing a revision on it (made possible because it is print-on-demand publishing), but I should be done with the revision process in about a week's time. If you should pick up a copy....Happy Reading!</span></div>mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280263254031111297.post-11360483520733257012011-04-29T05:36:00.000-07:002011-12-28T06:14:24.714-08:00Initial Blog <span style="font-size: large;"> Hi everyone, welcome to my blog! Let me tell you about myself, I write short stories. I have a collection of short stories currently self-published with Xlibris titled "Sharing Short Stories."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> I also design greeting cards with GreetingCardUniverse.com and I hope to do a collection(s) of cards based on the themes found in my book of short stories. They center around family, career, weddings, mental wellness, Internet sleuthing, engagement relationships, computer jargon and (of all things), science fiction themes!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> So yes, I will attempt even to create greeting cards with a science fiction theme, so stay tuned....because I'll be dotting this blog with images of those greeting cards!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Take care for now.</span>mscynthiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988127806367769222noreply@blogger.com0