It’s been a year now that we at WAM (Warren Artists’ Market) published our first anthology, Sitting with a Drunken Sorceress. Many Warren County stores (Hardware Café, Friends Two, InTown Boutique, Brain Freeze, Mary Sherwood Lake Living, Ace Hardware at the Lake,) have supported us by continuing to offer the book for sale. We are grateful to those who believe in our mission to provide a platform for the artists in Warren County and beyond. We have a few copies left in our stockroom that we are offering at the clearance price of $10.00 each, plus $2 shipping. Order yours now-they are great for reading on these cold wintry nights and for giving as a gift. Send a check or money order to WAM in care of: bythebookNC, P O Box 348, Macon NC 27551.Start your new year by reading.
More WAM news—Our First Fridays are returning to the FoodWorks, 108 So. Main St. in Warrenton, NC on the first Friday-February 6 beginning at 7 pm. North Carolina beers & wines are offered along with bites to eat from locally grown foods. We will continue our First Fridays there each month. Join us! Bring your poetry, stories, songs, or bring someone else’s that you would like to read. Or just come out and applaud those who do! You are welcome!
Blog
Selecting a Journal
Someone asked me about journals after reading my blog about journaling. Brush Dance came into my life when I was buying greeting cards for my shop. I soon added journals even though I was not keeping a daily journal at the time. I was only using them when I traveled. I love their journals because they lay flat (spiral or cloth edged) and they have a lined page faced with a blank page which is great if you like to sketch or doodle. The blank page is also good for pasting in post cards, tickets, menu covers, a piece of paper lace etc. You get the idea; the little extras that get lost in a drawer. When you come across it you can’t remember what the heck it is or why you saved it. In a journal, the opposite page reminds you what it is from and smiling, why you kept it.
Brush Dance journals also have quotes that may touch you to go a little deeper to dig out words that convey a thought, feeling, or a bit that once recorded, will bring meaning to you when you read it later.
Surprisingly, when the shop was sold and I found much more time for reflection, I began to buy the journals for myself. Bunches at a time, because they are also wonderful casual gifts (good to have on hand) that may create un-casual reactions; like nudging someone into slipping into a habit of journaling. How bad can that be? And journaling won’t add inches to your waistline or muddle your brain. Actually, it helps to clear the mind, dust off the cobwebs up there, and return moments to you when you read them later.
Recently while working on a memoir, I re-read ten years of my journals, looking for items relating to my subject. I just don’t carry all that stuff in my head anymore, when I can pull it up from a journal.
PS: Referring back to yearly resolutions—-I read in UK’s Mature Times that the ancient Babylonians made promises to their gods at the start of each year that they would return borrowed objects and pay their debts. Hmmmm. I wonder if they broke their resolutions.
Bordentown, POSTCARD HISTORY SERIES
IIn case you didn’t know…..the latest book on Bordentown (NJ) from Arcadia Publishing is a postcard book. It’s full of pictures of the postcards printed about Bordentown for over 100 years. The newer ones represented, are the motels and restaurants in the township. Patti DeSantis and I collaborated to bring you another book about our beloved town for their Postcard History Series. While many of the postcards may be familiar to you, there are many more pictured that are rarely seen, even by postcard collectors.
For your convenience, Randy Now’s Man Cave on Farnsworth Avenue still has some books in stock. The cost is $21.99. Barnes & Noble in the Hamilton Marketplace carries them and of course, Amazon on-line.
Check it out. Look for your favorite postcard and those that you haven’t seen before. Enjoy!
Gathering at the Women’s Forum
The holidays are put to rest and the exciting Women’s Forum is back on the calendar! The third Saturday of January (17th) from 1to 3 o’clock, Ellen Newbauer will be speaking to us of her life experiences that led her through her darkest times. She found her way back to a life full of joy and creativity, developing a business as a talented artisan of wood and other media. Her story is one of courage, hope, promise, and just plain grit!
Magic happens when a personal story is told with honesty and confidence. Bonds are created where women help women find a path in life.
You are welcome to join us at 115 Magnolia Court, Wildwood Subdivision on Lizard Creek in Littleton. You’ll find like-minded women of interest, compassion, and intelligence.
REFLECTION & RESOLUTION
The holiday season is too busy, too many celebration dates too close together, to reflect on the past year. Carving my own time period, I like to reflect in the quiet of the after-holidays.
I do make resolutions, doable ones:
This year, 2015, I will learn my way around my blog including the terminology.
I will be more regular in my postings. Too often a new post is stuck in the middle or the bottom of my to do list. Not in 2015.
I will explore the site and expand it. (as soon as I learn how)
I will read my 2014 journals (all from Brush Dance) from beginning to end. This is a good exercise for writers. It’s amazing how some of the noted little moments can get lost in the period of one year. I will also look for the changes in me that have taken place and shows up in the journals. And lastly, I will hopefully pick up some bits I was going to write about, but were glazed over and put aside. I’ll address them this year.
Lizzie (my cat & companion) agrees with me, as long as she is left to curl up and rest with no need to make resolutions.
2014 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,300 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 22 trips to carry that many people.
WOMEN’S OPEN FORUM- A Gathering where women help other women awaken to their own inner possibilities.
On occasion an event is offered where women of any age or economic situation can benefit. The Women’s Open Forum is one of those occasions. In September, Charlene Ellington was the first speaker about her journey on becoming a Certified Reiki Master, Medical Intuitive; stating “I believe in women helping women empower themselves.”
In October, Maggie Chalifoux, Multimedia Artist, opened her heart to tell us about her life as an artist, and how she reached the level of success she has achieved, reminding us that “I believe every person has the spark of creativity just waiting to be kindled.”
On November 15, I delight in being scheduled to address the subject on how I became the writer I am, and knowing, “Any woman with a desire can become the writer she dreams to be.” Many intuitive and synchronistic moments happened throughout my life. I want to share them with other women to encourage them to pursue their talent, whatever it is. Please spread the word; come join us if you can.
You are invited to an intriguing afternoon – spent with interesting women.
The Gathering Place on Lizard Creek, 115 Magnolia Court, Wildwood Pointe, Littleton, NC
Fee $5.00 Inquiries: Ellie Newbauer: ellienewbauer@gmail.com
Celebrating a Birthday
Remember the days when it was embarrassing to buy anything from Bangladesh? Well, yesterday while in Richmond, Virginia celebrating another year happily tagged onto my birth date, I purchased a ‘messenger’ style cloth bag at Ten Thousand Villages. I am very proud of it! It is exactly what I want in a purse to carry what I need (since clothes designers refuse to give us women pockets in our skirts & slacks, etc.) I was informed on the little tag that came with it, that I am now providing many women with the opportunity to improve their lives. I’m all for that!
It was delightful to getaway for a day in lovely Richmond, learning my way around while poking in here and there and finding the area called Carytown. Charming! It put me a bit in mind of the New Hope, Pennsylvania of my youth. It was truly an artist’s colony before big money chased the artists away.
Can Can Brasserie was my choice for lunch; again, a wonderful choice. The young waiter, Daniel, took good care of me, taking a few minutes to actually talk to me even though by being a single diner, his tip would be small; especially since I wasn’t drinking wine with my meal. I compensated by ‘gifting’ him a sizeable tip. I considered it a birthday gift, thinking it is time I gave gifts on my birthday rather than receiving them.
Can Can struck me as very French, not American French, but fashioned on the real thing. The Lobster Crepe and Arugula Salad (with shaved fennel) were perfect, as was the interior of the brasserie. The authenticity carried into the ladies’ room where a chain hung down from the water closet. Cool!
Writing in Cookbooks
Here’s a question for those who love to spend time in the kitchen and there are still many of us out there, fortunately. How many times have you come across hand written notes in a used cook book you bought? Or one handed down from mother to daughter to granddaughter or thankfully, today to sons, etc.? Have you written adjustments to a recipe to suit your own tastes? I know I have. The first time I try it their way. After that, I’m doing it my way, altering their recipe and sometimes my own to accommodate a healthier recipe.
Think about the way our Moms cooked 40 years ago and how we cook today. Especially if you have changed Mom’s recipes for healthier ones. That is how tastes evolve, restaurants stay at the top of the list; by tasting, adding more of this, less of that, and changing this ingredient or seasoning for that one. It’s like exploring without leaving the kitchen!
We are lucky here in America where immigrants bringing their herbs and spices with them when they came, introduced us to new tastes; even their fish and meat unknown to us as children. I was 40 before I ever tasted goat and 60 before I tasted kale. We definitely have a melting pot of ethnic foods and I have definitely altered cookbook recipes to suit my own taste. Try it……
Writing in Margins
This kind of writing in books is so very different from writing inscriptions. It was appalling to me to find that people actually wrote in margins, crossed out printed text of the author’s, and put their own words in their place! Sacrilege! This is the very last kind of writing in books that I learned to do.
These past few years I began to follow suit, but only in books I have bought, not borrowed books, be them library or a friend’s. My reading habits have changed, too. I’m reading more non-fiction books, many that require major thinking. So this is the place to respond…..in the margin. Because the word is printed does not mean I have to agree with it. Sometimes I agree with a passion and just have to take note! Placing my small, printed notes in the margin will attract my attention when I read that book again. Who knows? My opinion may change the second time I read it.
I’m not likely to re-read a novel, except for a few chosen classics that have different messages for me as I’ve grown and understand more.
As for buying a used book with notes in the margin……I love the chance to read what someone else has thought about the author’s words. However, I cannot abide a book with underlining or highlighting!!! That, for me, is strictly for studying and I don’t want to read someone else’s book that is so corrupted. Of course I do it myself now as the photo shows you. My writing group is working its way through the Artist’s Rule by Christine Valters Paintner. I find sometimes I do not agree with her statements and sometimes I am very impressed by them.
These books are kept on my shelf and will not go to the used book store or be donated to the library. They are not intended for re-use for others. It would feel like giving my fingerprints away.