Most of us have been held captive by winter’s hold for so long now. Too long.
We’ve been isolated. Stuck inside. Alone.
Consider Lord Byron’s take on solitude.
Thanks to Edie Melson of The Write Conversation for sharing her creative photo that so accurately portrays Byron’s words.
I believe Bryon suggests, rather than isolating, solitude stirs us to introspection, which in turn feeds our soul and nourishes our creativity.
Do you agree?
Sunday was a big night if you’re a movie fan.
I am and I’m not.
I love watching movies, but because I’m a writer, I tend to dissect the production, the story and the performances. That takes out some of the fun.
I’ve learned not to comment aloud after dodging popcorn, dirty looks and rather fluid sounds of shhh’s from those around me.
I love to watch the Oscars every year. It’s always a study in characterization.
For many years, I watched the Academy Awards with my dear little aunt. Sometimes stretched out together on her den floor or sometimes with long phone conversations afterward to discuss what had happened and who wore the best gown or which acceptance speech we thought was the best.
Aunt Bick was the consummate movie fan. Going to the movies was her most favorite thing to do. Unless you count watching the classic movie channel.
And, you always wanted her on your team in Trivia Pursuit. Her brain was an encyclopedia of movie trivia.
I think she got the movie-loving gene from her mother, my maternal grandmother.
When I was young, we’d catch the bus from Oma’s house to the Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas. I remember we’d sneak inside with a Scarborough’s shopping bag full of pimento cheese sandwiches and Fritos. Oma was frugal. :)
Watching the Academy Awards on Sunday I was reminded of these two lovely ladies.
Especially my aunt.
Whenever I came to town, Aunt Bick and I would head to one of the multi-screen picture show theaters. We’d grab a big bag of popcorn loaded with movie theater butter, and her favorite Dr. Pepper drink and watch as many of the year’s nominees movies as we could.
We never missed an Academy Awards television production.
So I was there watching last Sunday when Ellen DeGeneres ordered pizza.
I heard John Travolta slip up on Idina Menzel’s name and sympathized because I’ve slipped up on pronunciations more than once myself. Interestingly, his slip-up raised her profile more than if he’d pronounced her name correctly.
I loved that Lupita Nyong’o won an Oscar on her very first nomination. What an inspiration her acceptance speech was.
Matthew McConaughey’s tribute to his father in his acceptance speech brought a tear to my eye.
I pictured my Aunt Bick stretched out on a cloud staring down at the action.
What about you? Are you a movie fan? Did you have a favorite Oscar moment this year?
I’d never heard of Derrick Coleman, who plays for the Seattle Seahawks, until his team tromped our Denver Broncos. He and his team were amazing on the field.
Then I read an article in the Savvy Signing newsletter and learned Coleman has been deaf since he was three. He wears a skullcap under his helmet to secure water-resistant hearing aids during games and quarterback Russell Wilson takes his mouthpiece out during huddles so Coleman can read his lips.
Two other deaf defensive players have been part of the NFL – Bonnie Sloan was the first deaf player to play in the NFL in 1973 for St. Louis and defensive player Kenny Walker joined Denver in 1991.
Coleman attended public school where he played sports. Instead of giving up when other kids made fun of him and told him he wouldn’t be able to do something, he’d turn his hearing aids off.
His success on the field has made him an inspiration, but his actions off the field, have made him a role model.
He says he did the Duracell commercial so his story could encourage kids in the deaf community to fight for their dreams. His story as the first deaf NFL offensive player to play in a Super Bowl is awe-inspiring to all.
Coleman: “Nobody is perfect. I wear a hearing aid, some people have glasses, some people have depression. Everybody has something. But as long as you don’t let that get in the way of what you want to do, you can do anything you want to do.”
Watch the Duracell commercial and be inspired. [btw, I’m not promoting Duracell, but Derrick Coleman.]
We smile for pictures. We smile at babies. 
And puppies. 
We smile politely at friends or strangers.
Which smiles are genuine and which smiles are fake?
Here’s a quick interactive quiz from BBC to test your ability to spot the difference between a real smile and a fake one.
It’ll only take a minute. I’ll wait right here.
How’d you do? I’m sure once you figured out the secret, it was easier.
Crinkly eyes = a real smile. No wrinkles around the eyes, the smile’s a fake, or the result of too much Botox.
It’s true that intense fake smiles sometimes produce lines around the eyes . The cheeks will bunch up, making it look as if the eyes are contracting and the smile is genuine.
However, according to the experts when a smile is genuine, the eye cover fold – the fleshy part of the eye between the eyebrow and the eyelid – moves downwards and the end of the eyebrows dip slightly.
That’s the key to recognizing a genuine smile, check the eyes. 
Isn’t that a genuine smile if you ever saw one?
Fake or genuine I believe smiles are powerful. They spread optimism, happiness, and joy. Most of all smiles are contagious.
Leo F. Buscaglia says,
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”
YOUR TURN: Go spread some smiles.
In two days, on February 14, many people will be exchanging cards, candy, gifts or flowers with their special “valentine.”
It’s the day of romance named for a Christian martyr St. Valentine and dates back to the 5th century.
According to the embellished version of the origins, Saint Valentine, on the evening before his execution, wrote the first “valentine”, addressed to the daughter of his jailer, and signed the greeting “Your Valentine.”
If you’re shy about expressing yourself with words or cards, try these “signs” from Signing Savvy, the online ASL Dictionary.
Moi, I’m not shy about romance or telling the ones I love how much I love them on this special day. After all, I do write love stories.
Sunday was Super Bowl #48 and Ground Hog Day.
Denver Broncos didn’t do so well, which made for a tough day for fans and some very quiet Super Bowl parties as all hope for a comeback failed.
The mythological Punxsutawney Phil, who has been predicting whether winter is over since 1887, gave a nod to the game with this year’s prediction poem:
“A Super Bowl winner I will not predict,
But my weather forecast, you cannot contradict,
That’s not a football lying beside me
It’s my shadow you see
So, six more weeks of winter it shall be!”
Not the report I wanted to hear. What about you?
Like the Denver fans’ hopes of a Super Bowl win, all thoughts of warm weather and sunshine arriving early have been dashed away.
The news will not be well received by most of the U.S. considering the extreme cold that has blanketed so much of the country this winter.
There is a bit of hope because Phil’s predictions have been correct only 39% of the time, according to the StormFax Weather Almanac and records kept since 1887.
I’d say the ground hog could be wrong again except the Farmer’s Almanac predicts “a wave of storminess stretching almost from coast to coast, bringing a wide variety of precipitation types as well as strong and gusty winds.”
It’s time to remember all the good things about winter –
• snowmen
• hot cocoa
• warm blankets
• and curling up by the fire with a great book
If you’re unsure what to read, check out The Pendant’s Promise or Love in the Morning Calm.
Both books are available in paperback and for eReaders. The stories will warm your heart and make you forget about the weather outside.
Happy Reading!
We spent last week in Houston, Texas where an uncharacteristic winter ice storm came through.
The whole city shut down. Southerners know how to sweat. Not slip, skate, and slide.
My experience is that’s true of ice and rain! Rain leads to flooding in Houston. Ice and snow cause frozen freeway ramps. Houston drivers handle neither very well.
Winter storm weather is our norm in Colorado, but Texans just aren’t trained for it. Actually, they are disastrous at it, if the broadcasts from traffic cams testified.
It was COLD. I have to give them that. I’d forgotten how the humidity makes thirty degrees feel like -30. I spent the entire time shivering.
Friends and family questioned how I managed the cold in our Colorado mountains.
Simple: Dry cold. Road equipment to clear the ice and snow. And a roaring fire!
Lots of people in the southern states and east coast have been shivering for weeks now while we watch our November snowstorm that dropped 20″ of snow evaporate. Go figure!
So if you’re shivering today, stay warm.
If you’re a writer, don’t let the shivers keep you from the keyboard. Bundle up, grab a mug of hot chocolate and let the words blaze.
We’re three weeks into the New Year. How are your resolutions working out?
Goal setting reminds me of eating at a cafeteria. All those choices and, as my grandmother would always say when I could barely lift my food tray–my eyes become bigger than my stomach.
That happens with setting goals. We’re so energetic and eager to start over after the hustle and bustle of the holiday season that we overextend. We set our expectations too high.
If you’re like most of us, those good intentions for a new start to the year are slowing falling away. Why? I think it’s because we set vague or unattainable goals like these.
So if you’re feeling down because your resolutions aren’t happening, look at your goal. Have you set the standard too high?
Adjust and move on.
If you’re a writer, take to heart the advice in the poster. I bet you’ll discover your eyes aren’t bigger than goals.
Today is the day set aside to wear and enjoy a hat of your choice and style.
It’s not really a “National” day. There’s been no act of Congress declaring it so. Some hatter wanting to sell his product probably originated the celebration.
Hats do come in all sizes, shapes, colors and styles. There’s a hat to fit every head size and personality.
Hats can …
In the early 19th century, a woman didn’t go out without her hat.
Today women can choose whether they wish to wear a hat or not unless they are attending the Kentucky Derby then a hat is necessity. After all, The Derby is a chance for a woman to express her inner Southern Belle.
National Hat Day is a fun day to express yourself. Wearing a hat is much like getting into costume, you might be pleasantly surprised to see what type of character you become.
Grab YOUR chance to display your favorite headgear. From the fantastic to the sublime, no rules or no limits.
Why not wear several different hats throughout the day?
That’s right. January 8th through 14th is the official week for letter writing.
My friend Janie Carver clued me with her blog.
Then Edie Melson listed Letter Writing Week in her January holidays blog.
The intent of the week long observation is to
W-R-I-T-E a letter
with a pencil, chalk, marker, crayon or ink pen
not with your fingers on a keyboard or a touch screen.
That means you dig out some of that ancient stationery you’ve been meaning to pitch, grab a writing instrument and put words on the page.
No word-processed message.
No email message.
No text message.
No typewriter. (Do people even use those anymore?)
Not a clever card even if you add a personal message.
I suggest a thank you for a Christmas gift, a hello to an aging friend or relative, a note of gratitude, or reconnecting with someone you haven’t seen in a while.
As a collector of vintage postcards, I find the handwritten notes on the cards dating back to the early 1900s touching.
Don’t you wonder who Dear “old girl” is?
Especially since he signed the card Brian and family.
No doubt these parents were thrilled to receive this postcard from their son Ralph.
Think what a treasure you’ll create when you participate in letter writing week.
I guarantee you’ll put a smile on someone’s face.
Now go write a letter.
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