Great Quote

Found this in "The 8th Habit" by Stephen R. Covey:

"Remember, any time your emotional life is a function of someone else's weaknesses, you disempower yourself and empower those weaknesses to continue to mess your life up. Yesterday holds tomorrow hostage."

Spock couldn't have said it better.

Here's To You - Writing Toasts

Remember the whole cat book due by August thing ( Click hereto read about it)? I received an e-mail yesterday from another editor at Publications International who wrote they have a book on toasts coming out and are looking for writers who can contribute 150 toasts for weddings, birthdays, graduations--all under 50 words. 

On a sugar high from the chocolate I'd confiscated earlier in the day from Blair, I cheerfully agreed to submit 3 sample toasts by Monday afternoon.  I have to write one for a wedding, one for graduation, and one for retirement.

How do I get myself in these ridiculous situations? I can't write toasts!  I have no clue!  But now I'm obligated to turn in toasts because I don't want to blow my chances on being selected for the cat book.  Saying I'll turn something in and then going back on my word would not set a good impression.

So I expect to be sitting in a chair for the rest of the afternoon, glazed eyes staring out a window as I desperately try to think of words to rhyme with "congrats." (Rats? Mats? Big hairy bats?)

I'm such a moron to keep placing myself in these situations....

Class Cancelled

Just confirmed that my Get Published! The Ins & Outs of Magazine Submissions class for Saturday is indeed cancelled.  There was one bright spot, however.  The college administrator said she called the one person who'd signed up and the woman was terribly upset that the class wasn't going to run.  Cheers me up in a weird sort of way.

I'm still convinced there' s a great market out there for the class.  I can't even count how many people I run into who, when I tell them I'm a writer, launch into the "I've always wanted to be a writer and here are my ideas" speech. The writers are out there...I just need to do a better job marketing to them.

Blair is working this Saturday so I'll still make use of the time and get some work done.  I have an article for The Toastmaster magazine due at month's end that I've done a ton of research for but haven't written word one.  It's just a matter of getting started.  Looking at all the research and trying to figure out who to structure the article is overwhelming.  What I'll do on Saturday is give myself a "play day" with the material, meaning I don't have to construct the article, but can just write random bits that may or may not find their way in.  It's funny that I KNOW I'm tricking myself into writing the article and yet the trick works every time.  Apparently I'm not too bright.

Sherlock Holmes I Am

Blair and I have a running joke that he is incapable of surprising me.  I always find out ahead of time.  For example, we were cleaning house Wednesday night and I wanted to tidy up the pile of CD's sitting out. 

"Where are the CD cases to these?" I asked. 

"In the car in the middle section between the seats," he replied.

I went out to the car and looked in the middle section but the cases weren't there.  I popped the trunk, figuring they might be in there.  They weren't, but I discovered something better.

I came back into the house waving the Wal-Mart bag that contained the newest Harry Potter video.  "Look what I found!" I said.

He grimaced.  "That was supposed to be a surprise for us to watch this weekend. Why were you in the trunk?"

I kissed him.  "Because I rule, that's why."

THEN, after we were done cleaning, he brought me 2 Dove dark chocolate candy pieces.  I LOVE dark chocolate and am not to be trusted around it so I usually have him hide candy from me. 

But the next day while Blair was at work, I was craving chocolate.  I figured he had bought a bag of it.  But where would it be?  I checked a few obvious places like the closet and dresser drawer.  Nothing.  Then I applied my Vulcan-logic.

He's much taller than me, so the hiding place would be somewhere high, where I couldn't easily reach.  But not high enough that he'd need a ladder to get to it.  Plus, he brought me the candy right after we finished cleaning.  Which led me to the top shelf in the bathroom closet where--BINGO!--I found the bag of candy.

I had it laying on the kitchen countertop when he got home. 

"How did you find that??" he sputtered.

I shrugged.  "I'm just that good."

Now if I could only find those missing CD cases...