Advice for Those Who Ask!
Dear Aunt Henny:
I
don't know if you can help me with my mother. Nobody else
has, but I'm desperate. I'd put my head in the oven but I've
been so depressed I haven't cleaned it in ten or fifteen years
- I forget - so it stinks of ancient grease and mouse remnants
(they sleep in there and occasionally die there too).
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Shutterbugs
Nancy Burchianti
Nancy Burchianti is a published author of a historical fiction, "One Branch of The Tree" (The Mersinger Pioneer Story). She worked seven years at a major newspaper writing feature/travel articles and doing spot news photography, winning several awards for news photos. Currently, Burchianti writes for Driving Digest (horse magazine) and is working on several travel articles and horse-related articles for other magazines. Burchianti lives in sunny Punta Gorda, Florida where she moved from St. Louis, Missouri in 1960. She is a six-year cancer survivor, having battled 3rd stage ovarian cancer and breast cancer. Burchianti is a baby boomer having been born in 1946, and enjoys riding her horse "Dasher", an Appaloosa gelding. She resides with her husband John and two cats.
I'll just bet everyone out there has looked at an otherwise wonderful photograph that was spoiled with a post growing out of the top of someone's head. At least that's what it looks like.
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The
Rut Climber's Guide
Dannye
Williamsen
Dannye
Williamsen’s upcoming book THE RUT CLIMBER'S GUIDE
was fueled by her professional background in management
and degree in psychology as well as her interest in the
field of personal growth. Her most recent publication
is an audio book titled IT’S YOUR MOVE! Transform
Your Dreams from Wishful Thinking to Reality. Other
books "in the works" include Metaphysical Minute-Philosophy
on the Run, a poetry book titled Uncertainty: Poetic Reflections
of a Woman from Youth to Mid-Life, and a novel. Contact
Dannye by email
or visit online at Networx
Publishing.
Put
Your Energy Where It Counts!
Have
you ever found yourself wishing you could find a group to join or
a friend so you could experience that feeling you remember from some
distant past, a feeling of really being in the flow of life? This
is a normal desire. When two or more persons get together with common
interests or goals, often you can "feel" the energy. People
have even been heard to say they get a "high", psychologically
speaking, from being with certain groups of people.
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Mom
in a Daze
Donna
Gunnels
Donna
Gunnels lives with her husband, family and
assorted pets but most of the time she pretends she
lives alone. She juggles family, work, and special
needs pets, but puts her foot down at chainsaws.
In addition to Penwomanship, Donna is a contributing
editor for Garden and Hearth. View her thoughts
on
the lighter side of working moms at Garden
and Hearth, Working Moms Department
The
Age Fairy
Yesterday
I was 25. Okay, well, it seemed like it was only yesterday. But I
was apalled to realize that when I looked in the mirror the other
day, I saw that a tiny map of the state of Texas had appeared on either
side of my eyes. Where had THAT come from? Why does my skin look suspiciously
like my mother's? And when did this hanging clothesline show up under
my upper arms? I remember reading a funny story once about a woman
who said she could wave at her neighbors without even moving her fingers,
just her upper arms. I thought it was amusing when I read it. It is
nothing but offensive now, and I can't believe someone had the nerve
to write about it.
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Petopia
Sarah Boyd
Sarah Jo Boyd received her BA in Psychology, along with her licensing to teach in 1980. She was a teacher for eighteen years and was actively pursuing a graduate degree in Counseling Psychology when her son was born. While staying home with him, she rediscovered her love of reading as well as writing. She has written articles and features for her local newspaper, a novel and several short stories. She lives in Tennessee with her husband, two children, eight dogs, a pet rat and a lizard named Mona Lisa.
Bess
Bess roamed our neighborhood for more than a week. She and another cocker could be seen skulking around the houses on the other side of the street around sunset. There is farmland behind the houses on the other side of the street, so I assumed she belonged at one of the houses on the far side of the farmland. After about a week I began to wonder if she was lost. She was just around too much of the time.
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Thistle Cove Farm
Sandra Bennett
Sandra Bennett has an undergraduate degree in Recreation, Parks and Tourism from VA Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. Her kith and kin have been homesteaders in Appalachia since the mid-1700's and she is both farmer and shepherd in the Appalachian Mountains of southwest Virginia. Sandra is a freelance writer and photographer and has been published in What I Learned From God While Cooking (edited by Cristine Bolley and published by Barbour Press), Sheep Magazine, Chesapeake Family and other publications. As a lecturer, teacher, speaker and photographer she travels worldwide to teach others about Appalachia, tourism, small family/hobby/female farming, niche development, marketing, public relations/promotions and the wonderfulness of being an Appalachian American. www.thistlecovefarm.com www.thistlecovefarm.blogspot.com
www.homesteadblogger.com/thistlecovefarm
The
Work of Women's Hands
Traditionally, women have been involved with providing two of the three needs as noted by Abraham Maslow in his Hierarchy of Needs. Food, shelter and clothing are the three essentials of life; all others are wants. By its very nature, the work of women's hands is fleeting and ephemeral but absolutely imperative to the existence and well being of humankind.
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In the Spirit
Reverend Marti Keller
Rev. Keller explores topics of everyday spirituality; prophetic witness; religious feminisms; and intra-religious teachings. She is especially sought for her contributions exploring the place of Judaism within and without Unitarian Universalism and for the indivdual. www.revmartikeller.com or www.revmartikeller.com/cyberpulpit
On wanting to be a Nun
My brother, my twin brother, and his wife were in town visiting, having traveled 14 hours by plane from their longtime home in Northern British Columbia. When we were young, in our late teens and early twenties, David and Jeanette looked just like Sonny and Cher, at least to me. I still have a picture of them when they got married on a patch of park at a busy intersection in Palo Alto, California in l968, both of them dressed in Indian attire, East Indian that is: David in his collarless Nehru jacket and Jeanette in a peach colored sari. The two of them, long-banged Sonny and Cher look-alikes and in love: still are, 31 years later. Not only did my sister in law look like Cher when we were young and> best friends, but she was also Catholic.
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The
Write Stuff
Questions from Writers, Answers from Jane
Allen
Jane
Allen, M.S., M.F.C., is a career coach and a freelance
writer. Before transitioning to coaching, she was a
psychotherapist. Jane lives in San Francisco.
Unexpected
intersections...Amazing moments of synchronicity. Please
tell me your story at Connecting
Stories! Need writing advice? Contact
Jane Allen by email.
Dear
Jane - Every rejection I get feels like the drip, drip, drip
of failure to me. How do I deal with that? - Dejected and
Rejected Freelancer
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All Sports Mom
Paula Schmitt
Paula
Schmitt is a writer and the "All Sports Mom"
to four boys, and one daughter, living in Central Vermont.
When she's not swamped in laundry, grocery shopping
and writing deadlines her hobbies include dusting, cleaning
bathrooms and traveling to her son's sporting events.
She writes a regular column, Mommy Mediator, at JustForMom.com
and a column, The All Sports Mom, at SanityCentral,
RaisingOurKids,
MommyHullabaloo,
Penwomanship and ShowMomTheMoney.
Paula has been published in the Herald of Randolph, Adopting for Tomorrow magazine, WriteFromHome,
Witwords, Iparentingstories,
ThePhilosophicalMother
and several other parenting sites. In between her kids
play dates, music lessons and unexpected sports injuries
she is attempting to write her second non-fiction book.
Her first book, Living In A Locker Room: A Mom's
Tale of Survival In A Houseful of Boys, will be
available spring of 2005.
To
read more of her columns and parenting tips visit www.paulaschmitt.com and for some much needed adult conversation send her an
email.
Child
of Mine
I
gaze out the back kitchen window to see you sitting peacefully
under a maple tree, while the leaves are gently floating to
the ground. A robin has perched on a limb and captured your
thoughts. I watch as you smile and reach towards the sky.
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It's All About Me
Business Advice by JoAnn Hines
Hines
facilitates multiple "Ask the Experts" and career
guidance forums in addition to writing for several women's publications.
She travels extensively as a speaker, coach, and consultant;
however, her passion and talent compel her to make time for
individuals. Hines is an accomplished leader, mentor, consultant,
publisher, and e-commerce expert. As a leading woman in the
workplace she has won numerous leadership awards and exemplifies
her title, Chief People Packager. She champions her endeavors
as a "packaging coach," implementing innovative, effective,
and measurable initiatives to advance women. contact JoAnn by
email or visit
online at www.womeninpackaging.org.
Perception is
Not Reality for Women Business Owners
I
recently read an article about a women president in a non-traditional
field who was invited to speak at a major industry event. One of her
observations was that during the course of the conference most of
the people that she met thought she was the secretary of the boss.
I know similar circumstances have happened to a lot of us -- especially
when you are the only woman in the room.
The
same preconceived notion is made about you as a woman business owner.
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Lee's
Book Nook
Lee Ambrose
Lee
Ambrose is a wife, mother of three grown daughters, grandmother
of several small grandchildren, and has spent more than
thirty years as a registered nurse. She shares her home
in Naples, Florida with her husband Tim and two kitties
- Maggie (her kitty muse) and Callee (so named for the
penname Lee uses when writing under an assumed name).
She is an active member of Story Circle Network, an organization
dedicated to helping women write and share their stories.
The
Laying on of Hands by Brenda Rhodes Miller
(Harlem Moon Broadway Books; 2004; ISBN 0-7679-1556-9)
Reviewed
by Lee Ambrose
Meet
"Miss Muchie" - an engaging character and the voice
of The Laying on of Hands.
So nicknamed by her Papa, Muchie's real name is Charlotte
but her family has a tradition of attaching strange and unusual
names to each member - names that sometimes were as interesting
as the life stories of the individual. In Muchie's case, Papa
said that she was his "muchie sweet girl."
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Live
Well, Buy Well
By
Lisa Kays and Lori Kays
Customer
Service in America: Serving Whom?
by
Lisa Kays
Forget
Red Alerts. There is a new state of emergency in America and it's
the sad state of customer service. America's retailers are coming
dangerously close to approaching the low levels of service provided
in less developed, non-materialistic societies such as those found
in Africa. And that's just sad.
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Finance Finesse
Camille Hopper
Camille
Hooper, CPA, holds a Bachelor's degree in Accounting
and a Master's degree in Taxation from Florida Atlantic
University. She is currently the Director of Finance
for the St. Lucie County School
Board. She lives in Port St. Lucie, Florida, where
she is currently at work on a ystery novel.
Are
You Making the Most of Your Benefits?
Unless
you're fortunate enough to live off the proceeds from your
writing, you probably have a job to help make ends meet.
But
a job is more than just a paycheck.
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Look to this Day
Joyce
Faust
Hello Readers!
I decided to name my column “Look to This Day” because each new day we are given a new opportunity to make changes in our lives, create a new reality and to enjoy each day’s splendor, from dawn through night. The entire Sanskrit verse the line is taken from follows.
Look to This Day . . .
"For yesterday is already a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision;
But today, well lived, makes every
Yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to This Day."
Such is the Salutation of the Dawn.
(from Sanskrit writings-source unknown)
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Women
Write Right
Dian
Moore
Dian
Moore is a Freelance Writer, Editor and Reviewer living
in the northern panhandle of West Virginia with her
husband and three dogs. Together they have three children.
Her business, Hands
for Hope, is based on the pledge that “Together
we can reach the stars” and she promises her clients
to present them to the world at their very best through
creative writing and presentation. She
has been published in Faithwriters Magazine, Central Appalachian
Christian News, BookPleasures.com, Applecart Magazine, Sisters
in the Lord and other publications.
Active Voice vs.
Passive Voice
How
many times in your life have you resolved to live a more active lifestyle?
In the future, do you plan to beef up your activity? It's good practice,
not only for your health, but for your writing, too.
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