Klingons Rule!

Klingon & Me

"Live Long & Prosper."

Oh wait, wrong species.

I spent the weekend at Stellar Con, which is another way of saying I hung around a lot of people who know way, way too much about 18th centuary London, werewolves, vampires, space, mythology, witches, swords, ships, and other aspects of life most of us don't give more than a passing glance.

The picture above came about from a promise made to my husband, a former teenage Sci-Fi fan. "Promise me if you see a Klingon you'll get a photo," he said, pressing the digital camera into my hand. I promised.

So at the conference, I approached this very nice if wrinkled foreheaded woman as seen above and without thinking, blurted, "My husband wants a picture of me with a Klingon. Would you mind?"

That's me. Always making friends.

I was there b/c, even though I don't write Sci-Fi (although I've had a very cool story brewing in my mind about witches for some time now), the conference offered workshops on dialogue, plot, self-editing, etc. Well worth the $30 and not only did I meet a Klingon, but a Storm Trooper and Darth Vader as well.

Although it was a geek fest (sorry, but if you were there you know, it was), it was still a fun and interesting geek fest, and these geeks have some serious knowledge swimming about their brains.

Plus, I can't bring it in my heart to slam any conference that had the following advertisement. I'm paraphrasing b/c I threw my booklet out, but for some upcoming "Con," the ad read something like:

An absolute must on your "To-D0-Before-I-Die" list. Cross off "have a threesome" and include this conference instead! C'mon, be realistic. The threesome thing is just never going to happen.

Someone on the P.R. staff deserves a raise.

I'm off! Warp speed, Sulu. (I can't pull that off, can I?)

Ow ow ow

Interesting. I won't get out of bed and exercise on the weight machine and treadmill in the comfort of my own home. Rather, I feel the need to be up at 5:00 am, warming the car up by 20 after, driving 30 minutes to a gym, and only then exercising. I could have been done with my daily workout by the time I parked if I'd just stayed home.

But I'm bored. Bored, bored, bored. I will always love Billy Blanks and Tae-bo, but I simply can't face another tape. I can force myself on the treadmill to run a few miles, but I'm not doing any weight training.

Hence, the gym. I'm on a one-week trial membership, today being Day 1. My intent is to go every day and try new classes. However, I did a "Pump" class this morning which is one hour of lifting weights in an icy cold room while Pat Benatar screams punk rock love songs over a loudspeaker. I can take Pat. It's the one hour that scares me.

I did it, but I know, I just KNOW, I am going to wake up crippled tomorrow. You just can't dive into a class like that and expect to walk away unscathed. And here's the thing about aging...it takes longer to heal. When I was 20 and sore from a workout, it lasted an hour. 28, lasted maybe a day. Now at 34, it's 3 days of Tylenol and heating pads. I'm absolutely terrified of what my body will do when I turn 40. Probably drop into a short coma to heal.

The grass is always greener with me. For the past 2 months I've been thinking, "I want to join a gym, I want to join a gym." Now that I'm there, I found myself thinking, "I could be at home, I could be at home."

Maybe I'll try one of their yoga classes and see if I can get my mind to shut up.

Made My Day...

I received one of the best compliments today that I've ever been given. It absolutely made my day.

I went to a Toastmasters meeting. I used to belong, years ago, and decided with my teaching and writing on public speaking, it would be a good time to re-immerse myself.

The meeting was at noon. The second speaker was a young man named Kevin. When he began his speech, my thought was he was new to speaking. Then I didn't have another thought until the end of his speech. I was too busy being memorized and astounded by the speech this man delivered.

His topic was "Sincerity" and Kevin delivered a speech called "I was afraid," in which he proceeded to list all the things he (and all of us) are afraid of: measuring up, making our families proud of us, being accepted, hoping we fit in at work, making good choices, managing money, driving away our personal demons.

I wish I could have taped Kevin's speech to show to my public speaking classes because it was the perfect example of what I tell them over and over: You don't have to be a "perfect" speaker. You just have to connect with your audience and be real with us.

Kevin was real. His eye contact could have been better and he swayed a little too much but it didn't matter. He riveted every audience member with his depth and openness. He was himself during his speech, through and through, and that is what any audience member is seeking. A real person talking about things that matter to them.

Once the meeting ended I approached Kevin. "I loved your speech," I said. "It was fantastic."

He thanked me then said, "Do you write articles for the News & Record?" (our local paper)

"Yes," I replied.

He smiled. "You're the reason I'm here! I read one of your articles on public speaking and Toastmasters and that's why I decided to check it out and join."

Hel-lo! How awesome was it to hear that? As writers we so rarely get feedback or hear anything about our work once it's published. I cherish the fact that this man who gave this wonderful speech that spoke to me said I was the one who got him there.

It was a a very, very good day.

E-mail Quiz

A friend sent me the e-mail quiz below. You're supposed to answer the questions, send to all your friends, they clear out their answers, replace with their own, send out to all their friends, etc. It's supposed to give you insight into your friends. Okay, who feels closer to me knowing I have double-pierced ears?
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1. What time is it: 7:22 pm

2.Where do you live? North Carolina

3. Nicknames: Squashy, Pookie

4: Piercings: Ears...currently two holes in each ear

5. What is the most recent movie you've seen in the theater? Million Dollar Baby - FANTASTIC!

6. Eye color: green

7. Place of birth: Bishop, CA

8. Favorite foods: cheese, peanut butter

9. Ever been to Africa: No, have the guilt over wanting to do the whole tourist thing vs. explotation. Knowing me, tourist will win. Pray for me.

10. Ever been toilet papering: Bet your ass

11. Love someone so much it made you cry: I suppose...

12. Been in a car accident: Several, thanks for caring

13. Croutons or bacon bits: Croutons definitely - NO MEAT!

14. Favorite day of the week: Mondays - Blind optimism that THIS is the week where I start to live the perfect life. Rather fond of Saturdays as well.

15. Favorite restaurants: anyplace that serves cheese and peanut butter

16. Favorite sports to watch: Wake Forest basketball and women's gymnastics

17. Favorite drinks: Grande cafe mocha decaf, skim milk, no whip

18. Favorite ice cream: Mint Chocolate Chip

9. Disney or Warner Brothers: Don't know, don't care

20. Favorite fast food restaurant: Wendy's by a landslide

21. What color is your bedroom carpet: Hardwood Floors, so the color is the same as whatever cat is shedding that day

22. How many times did you fail your driver's test: Never failed!

23. Before this one, from whom did you get your last e-mail: "Publishers Lunch"

24. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card: Black and White

25. What do you do most often when you are bored: read or watch a movie

26. Bedtime: 10 pm

30. Favorite TV shows: (God help me) : Gilmore Girls, Amazing Race

31. Last person you went to dinner with: My husband

32. Chevy or Ford: Is there a difference?

33. What are you listening to right now? the hum of the computer and husband downstairs cooking himself dinner

34. What is your favorite color: Orange. I love the fact that I can wear it too.

35. ocean or lake: Ocean

36. How many tattoos do you have: none yet, but I will! Just waiting to find an image that speaks to me.

37. Time you finished this e-mail : 7:28

39. How many people are you sending this e-mail to: 1

40. What bugs you the most? animal abuse, Republicans (yes, I am that judgemental) and people who are judgemental

41. What is your favorite quality in a friend? Being there, even if it's been years since you spoke. Also, the ability to make me pee my pants laughing. You just can't fake something like that.

42. What person do you admire the most? Honestly, this switches depending on what's going on in my life. On a consistent basis, I admire my husband for living his values.

43. Where was your best vacation? Wow, too close to call. Paris and Alaska rank up there.

44. How many languages do you know? Barely fluent in English.

45. How many houses have you lived in? I'd be here all night...about 18 as a kid, 2 apts. in college, 1 apt on my own, 1 apt with husband and we've been in our house for 10 years this August.

46. What is the most recent books you have read? The Time Traveler's Wife - Run, do not walk, to go get this book

47. What is your favorite season? It's always been Fall, but as I get older, Spring is gaining in popularity

48. What is your favorite Bible story? What's a Bible? =)

49. What is the worst job you ever had? I did telemarketing for 1 day.

50. What would you like to be doing in 10 years? Yelling at my agent that she damn well get me a better book advance because I have a mortagage payment to make on my villa in France