Hey, friends! I'm wondering if you can help me out. I'm a tad hyper about a BIG IDEA I had last week. I'm doing a little research and could really use your help.
1) Is there a non-profit out there that you think is doing a FABULOUS job with their blog, website or Facebook page? I'm not exactly looking for ultra-creative. I'm looking for someone doing a great job of engaging their audience.
2) What about businesses? What business comes to mind as a business that really engages consumers via their marketing? (In the Kansas City area, we have Spin Pizza and the Hospital Hill Run who both have engaging content on their Facebook pages. I'm interested in finding more businesses or causes like these two who do it right!)
Thanks for any help or insight you can give me!
Well, I've been absent from LJ again. Sigh. Twitter and Facebook are just too darn easy and seem to fit better with the scattered way I lead my life in the summer. But, here's my Friday Five:
1. I went to Clearwater Beach, FL for a few days this week for work. I have had this awesome part time gig for the past eight years, and I traveled to our annual meeting to discuss how they can use me more now that my baby is going to kindergarten. The cool part is that whatever we come up with will still be flexible and I will get to choose the work I do--which will only be the things I think are fun. Such a great situation to be in.
2. I got to Clearwater early and had all afternoon to play on the beach. My first stop--a run on the beach. The hotel staff told me to turn right out the hotel doors so I could have more "privacy." I shrugged and followed their directions. Who needs privacy on a run, I wondered. I started down the beach, where people were practically piled on top of each other in the water and sand. About a quarter of a mile down the beach, I realized I was running alone. Just me and the birds. WOW! I ran 2 1/2 miles in one direction (tracked with the handy dandy Garmin watch I got for my b-day) and encountered 10 people at the most on the run. WOW! Who gets a whole beach to themselves in the middle of the day? THAT was SO amazing.
3. The next day, my knee hurt too much to do it again, but I walked the beach and took pictures. I think I could live on a lawn chair on that beach and be a very happy person. Who needs anything else???
4. I'm home again. Within an hour of getting home, I had to put my girls in time out. They behave quite differently for their dad than they do for me.
5. I am SO excited for my next big adventure--heading to LA for a week for the SCBWI national conference.
Kansas SCBWI has planned a rip-roarin' conference for children's writers and illustrators. Yes, we got authors! Bruce Coville, Cheryl Harness, Jennifer Brown, Dian Curtis Regan, LD Harkrader. We got illustrator Tom Nelson, agent Ted Malawar of Firebrand Literary, editor Eve Adler of Henry Holt and Company. We got manuscript critques and portfolio reivews and sessions on characters, voice, humor, structure and more!
The theme is: The Wild Wild West: Wrangling Words and Works of Art. Come have fun with us, Kansas style!
Get the lowdown here. Hope to see you there!
Here's what we came up with. I love that I'll be able to think of all my friends on every mile of my run! The list has 60 songs...and I did keep some of the slower songs on there because...well...I like them! There are several on there from many of you!
Just five months ago, I HATED running. Seriously hated it. Yesterday, while browsing my LJ, I ran across two posts I made in January--before I started running. One mentions how much I hated running. The other mentions how I need to "lose this stubborn 30 lbs."
I've worked out for two hours per day (M-F) for years, but I've never been a runner. One day in January, I decided it was time to keep up with all my skinny, fit friends. I started running, a 1/10 of a mile at a time, alternating with walking until I could run a mile. One day...and it's never been this easy since...I discovered I'd run three effortless miles. That day, I decided I'd call myself a runner.
This weekend, I'm running my first 10K (I did a few 5Ks in the spring) and in January, I'll do the Disney Half Marathon. (If you've been hanging around my blog, you already know all this stuff. Sorry for the repeats!) Oh, and I lost that 30 pounds...32 to be exact!
My point: If I can do this, so can YOU! Running or run/walking is good for you. Start slowly. It's okay to walk.
If running is not your thing, how about joining us for the 100 Push Up Challenge? We're doing 100 consecutive push ups by mid July. All the cool kids are doing it!!!
Me with my trainer after the Trolley Run in KC, playing around and showing off our muscles :-)
the one writing all day with her butt glued to that chair!
I've set a goal of being able to do 100 consecutive push ups in six weeks. I ran across this program that is supposed to make it easy for anyone--even if they cannot do more than a few push ups now--to do 100 consecutive push ups in six weeks' time.
Would you like to join me? It takes just minutes a day, and you can have arms of envy. Swim suit and tank season is here! Have beautiful arms by the time you head to the LA Conference! You could even show me your push up progress in the lobby off the Hyatt!
If you can't do one push up with proper form, you can start with push ups on your knees! I want everyone on board with this.... because it's good for us!
So...who is in??
So far, I've recruited Write_HB, bookhouseboy, and Zabablue from Twitter.
Also,
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
carriejones Take the initial push up test and post your starting number in the comments below. We'll start on June 8th and post our final results on July 18/19. What do you have to lose? You can only get stronger!
Tell your friends!
Carrie made a community for us so we can keep up with progress over there: http://community.livejournal.com/100pupc
****
(If you are new to my blog and want to know more about me, see the info tab or visit one of my other blogs: www.cookingupstories.com / www.kidlitcentralnews.com )
Friday Five
1. My baby is now an official pre-school graduate! Kindergarten, here we come!
2. I realized today that I finally have strong ankles! Yesterday's run (7.5 miles) was the first to not cause any ankle pain. This is big news because I want to keep upping my miles...since I have a two half marathons planned at the end of the year.
3. Did I mention that my next running goal will be to run a marathon? I'd like to do one of the Rock and Roll Marathons in 2010. (Seattle, Vegas or San Diego).
4. After that goal, (maybe 2011?), I want to do the Great Wall Marathon, which includes 5164 steps!
5. Oh, yeah...I'm still writing. The preschool picnic/graduation was a HUGE source of inspiration. I need to finish that chapter book I've been working on. But I have a few PB ideas to play around with. Those kids were hilarious!
Happy Weekend! The school year is almost over for us. HOORAY!
Friday Five:
1) We may have been exposed to the swine flu! A friend of the girls' (she takes classes at our dance/theater school) has a confirmed case. She was almost well when the test came back positive, so it appears to have been a mild case. Hoping not too many of our friends (or my kids!) were exposed.
2) The end of the school year is killing me. Projects! Concerts! Field Day! Field Trips! Teacher Appreciation Week! All these things need parental commitment. I don't know how parents work full time during this time of year!
3) Speaking of concerts, the kids had a multi-school strings concert last night. All the elementary and junior highs that feed into our high school had an orchestra concert with the high school kids. It was a big 5-12 concert...and it was surprisingly good. Wow, those kids get good in high school. Ab's 5th grade orchestra...still a little screechy! It was fun to see what they can do with arts in the schools. I love that A had orchestra three times a week, music class twice a week and chorus twice a week this year! (Plus art class, computers and library)...all in elementary school. This is one of the things that makes me glad we live where we do.
4) It's the weekend! Hubby and I are going out for a change. The kids are all sleeping over with a family we are friends with...so a fun, kid-free, no-worries night out!
5) I REALLY want to do this 5K: Mud and Muck, Kansas City's Dirtiest 5K. Doesn't it look like the greatest, messiest fun???
5.1) We (Sue F, KS RA, and I) booked our room for the SCBWI summer conference. Can't wait to see all my writer friends again! If you met Jenn and Kate, who were also with me last year, they are coming too...and Jenn is a coolio speaker this year!
1. Busy day! I'm running 3-5 miles, working out with my trainer, meeting the KC area writer girls for writing at the coffee shop, picking up race packets...and hopefully having a relaxing night.
2. Race packet = I have another race this weekend. This one is four miles near the Plaza in KC. I'm running with a group of girls from the gym. I'm psyched!
3. Last night was the 5th grade musical. SO cute! It was fun to watch all the kids shine. A was especially self-conscious because her part required her to flirt with a boy character. The entire fifth grade has spent the last two weeks making fun of her. After the afternoon show for the school (as opposed to the evening show for the parents), the music teacher praised her in front of the whole fifth grade...and told them she got the biggest laugh. THAT was all the praise she needed to turn it up yet another notch for the performance we saw. I think people enjoyed seeing my shy girl be something other than a shy girl!
4. I'm finally starting to feel like my old self. The creative juices are flowing....and big ideas for my future are a' brewin'.
5. Is anyone else getting excited about the 2009 SCBWI LA National conference? Whooo hooo! Can't wait to see all my friends again!
This Friday Five is brought to you by FAR FROM YOU by Lisa Schroeder.
1. I finally started catching up on some reading. First order of business--buy and read FAR FROM YOU by my pal Lisa.
2. I just opened the book to peek. I wasn't planning on reading (er...devouring) it. I was supposed to save it for my spring break adventures.
3. I couldn't put it down.
4. I had tears streaming down my face. I had to leave the room so the kids wouldn't see me crying. I read as I stood in the bathroom with my tissues, not realizing I'd cry through the last third of the book.
5. It was that good. If you haven't read it yet, you MUST!
1. I had a nice writing day yesterday with crcook</lj> . Last week, we did an exercise that helped my WIP a ton. You'll get to see the results of our work when Colleen posts at ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
kidlit_central</lj> next. (Which happens to be tomorrow, so go to![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
kidlit_central tomorrow!)
2. I loved the Tina Fey interview in the new issue of O! magazine. Tina talks Gov. Palin, improv, writing. (There's also another article in there about luck being more of a state of mind than luck. Basically, you prepare yourself mentally for good things to happen. Extroverts seem to be better at finding "luck." They are out there, and social, and create more situations for "chance encounters" that create luck.)
3. My local friend, Jennifer Brown, who is a humor writer and children's author had a great post on her Facebook page about the pressure to be funny.
4. This made me think about that big-super-friend-locked post I did about Acting for Authors and how excited I was about this topic last summer.
5. Points 2, 3 and 4 above made me think it would be fun to have an Improv for Authors workshop--not so much to learn to act, but to learn to use improv as a tool for creativity and writing prompts. Improv games give me so many ideas! Honestly, I've never actually done improv, but watching my kids' acting classes do improv has sparked many a story idea.
6. Which made me think abou this improv game you can try at home. Play this game with your kids and their friends (or a friend's kid). Gather 10 random items from your house. Pretend you are aliens and you've just stumbled upon a time capsule containing these items. What do you see? Pick up an item and begin using it as the alien might. The item cannot be used for its original purpose. (A shoe might be a flower pot or a phone or an elevator button that blasts you into space.)
7. My critique group rocks. We met last night, and they had lots of great feedback on my manuscript. What great WIPS everyone has! I can't wait to see more of all their projects.
8. So much about motivation is just playing a mind game with yourself. Yesterday I ran--and you all know how much I hate running--by convincing myself that I could do it by running 3/4 around the track and walking 1/4. I tripled my normal number of laps this way. (Which is still nothing impressive, but I tricked myself into running longer...and that's a good thing!
9. I read four Twilight books in four days last week. Just like![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
kellyrfineman , I lost weight! For me, it was another mind game--if Edward can have self control and not eat Bella, I can stay away from that pizza! I've lost six pounds the last two weeks! One thing I'm doing is making foods that have lots of flavor--things that seem like treats instead of "diet food."
10. My new exercise bike arrives tomorrow! I go to the gym five days a week. I wanted the bike so I could do a little extra at night (on days when I'm feeling like I really did a bad job with my eating...or when I had to rush through my workout at the gym). PLUS, my hubby is still cute, but I'm sure his heart isn't in as good shape as he looks. He is horrible at getting to the gym, but is going to make an effort to work out at home. AND, A really needs to start doing something since she's not doing any sports. Ballet is good, but doesn't burn enough calories.
Whew! I made it to 10!
Borrowed from
lizzy_lyn Your Word is "Love" |
 You see life as possibility to form deep connections with a few people. Relationships are the center of your world, and you always take time to bond with those you love. You are caring and giving. You enjoy helping those you love. And when it comes to romantic love, you feel passionately ... even in a very long term relationship. |
My computer crashed today. I have done a horrible job of backing up. My manuscripts are safe. Most of my pictures are safe. I might not be able to get my holiday photos and videos, all the movies I've made recently, the list of Kidlit Central bloggers and their assigned January / February dates...and my whole iTunes library (yes, that one would be the most expensive mistake of them all.)
When Hubby got home from work, he looked it over. "Yep. Looks like the hard drive."
He went out after dinner to buy a new hard drive.
He put it into my computer.
The hard drive was not the problem.
This could be good news. It might mean I can pull my files from my computer.
We will pop my old hard drive into his Dell laptop (just like mine!) tomorrow to see if we can retrieve the files. He's also having someone take a look at the computer to see if it is something simple, something worth fixing.
Hmmmm...I may get a new laptop out of the deal. Too bad the one I have is barely 18 months old.
1) We spent the day at home, as A was up all night sick. We're hoping no one else catches the tummy bug.
2) The other two helped me make meatloaf tonight. We made a healthier version including finely-chopped mushrooms, onions, carrots, peppers, garlic and black beans mixed with hamburger. I was happy they ate it! At first they grumbled a bit, "I'm not eating mushrooms!" After I reminded them that they wouldn't be cooking with me if they refused to eat dinner because they knew what was in it, they happily ate their scrumptious dinners.
3) Kansas SCBWI has a January 24th workshop coming up: New Year, New Tactics. I'll be speaking on "Show. Don't Tell," and started digging up examples today. The fabulous
lauramanivong (and others) will also be speaking.4) I've resolved to lose this stubborn 30 pounds. I was all ready to work out with my trainer and had gotten the girls mentally prepared for the trip to the gym. The plan was derailed due to #1 above. Fortunately, the eating portion of the equation worked out today (see #2) because I definitely didn't get my heart pumping (beyond scrubbing the bathroom surfaces).
5) My house is going to be a pit until the kids go back to school. I feel like all I do is follow them around to pick up their crumbs, dishes, toys, markers and clothes. Speaking of clothes, the dryer is broken--and I have a lot of bedding to wash. Tomorrow, we'll tackle laundry and taking down the Christmas decorations.
Many of you have already posted your word for 2009. I first saw this on Cindy Lord's (
cynthialord ) blog a few years ago. Last year, I joined in and chose Balance, Peace and Joy as my theme for the year. I wasn't enjoying writing any more and needed to find the joy again.In January, I dropped a bunch of commitments (and slowly added back the ones most important to me). Other than blogging, and keeping up on the kid lit news, I didn't do much with my writing until I went to the SCBWI Summer Conference. Hanging out with my writer friends was exactly what I needed...and by fall, I reclaimed my joy for writing.
When school started, I began meeting friends for writing dates, rejoined my critique group, became the Kansas SCBWI Assistant Regional Advisor, wrote a first draft of a chapter book, launched a new blog (www.cookingupstories.com) and relaunched (with the help of lots of writer friends!) Kidlit Central News (www.kidlitcentralnews.com).
I've envied so many of you this year as you've landed book deals and watched your books become reality, gaining readers, receiving awards. It was with pride that I wished for the same sort of success my friends had, being thrilled for those of you who worked for it and earned it.
2008 was a year for finding balance. I did that. I also found the joy. Now that I feel like I have my act together, choosing a theme for 2009 is pretty simple. My word for 2009 is:
I'm a great believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work, the more I have of it.
If you already voted for Yohannes, vote again! I was already a Yohannes fan. I love what he's doing with Ethoipia reads. I already voted. Now, I've voted again.
Jane Kurtz took our Flat Ana with her on a trip to Denver last week. Ana had her pic taken with Jane and Yohannes. We'd love for the real Ana to be able to show her class the picture and say that Yohannes WON the CNN Hero of the Year contest. You have to admit, it's cool already, but that would be WAY cool.
Here's the scoop. Please vote!
Thanks, Jane, for taking Ana with you on your trip! And, thank you to all my Kansas friends who showed Flat Ana a good time last week!
lillpluta has done a fantastic job putting together a Halloween-themed post at kidlit_central today. You must check it out!GREAT prizes by our writers at Kidlit Central News. (Plus, if you click on my link, you can see what Halloween fun The Word Chef was up to this week!)
www.kidlitcentralnews.com
We're having a Halloween scavenger hunt at
kidlit_central tomorrow. Knock on our door for some tricks, writing tips and some amazing treats! (prizes!!!)kidlit_central ) on Friday! Halloween fun, writing tips and prizes galore! Check in Friday!
If you live in the Kansas City area, I hope you can attend. Either way, please help us spread the word about this event.
Party with the STARs! is a community awareness event to benefit The STAR program.
WHEN: Friday, October 17th from 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
WHERE: Indian Creek Community Church at 121st and Blackbob Rd. in Olathe.
ENTERTAINMENT: Join us for an evening of entertainment by Jeff Scheetz, Timber Crew Tap Company, Storling Dance Company, Maxxas
Dance Company and others in celebration of The STAR Program.
ADMISSION: This event is free with a suggested minimum donation of $10 per person.
WHAT IS THE STAR PROGRAM?
The STAR program gives at-risk youth opportunities to realize their purpose, develop their drive and gain discipline through the performing arts. The STAR Program works with youth organizations to custom-design programs for their youth that meet their particular needs or desires. By connecting with youth through a variety of arts disciplines--theater, dance, music, and visual arts—The STAR Program helps youth realize they have the power to change the course of their lives. Available to students in each program are opportunities to perform in special presentations, video, audio recordings, live stage productions, and concerts. Students also have the chance to see live performances by professional artists and companies.
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