Friday’s Photos
Sand Dust Billows from Alley
Blue Windows
Geometrics
Monday’s Maven – Chavrie Goat’s Milk Cheese
Fortunately for me, a moment of disappointment has turned into a silk purse – or a metaphor along the lines of the sow’s ear, etc.
Over the weekend, I went to the market. Goat’s cheese was on my list. Someone in the house had a craving for some. All I could find was “Chavrie” goat’s cheese. This brand comes in an upside down, flat topped pyramid-shaped, plastic container, which is nothing like the mini log shaped roll that I’d usually buy. In frustration, I bought what was there. It looks exactly like this:
And it tastes really good on these:
…and heavenly on these…
As is often the case (though I seem not to hang on to this life lesson in my moments of frustration) I love this product better than what I was disappointed not to find – the crumbly, kind-of-dry goat cheese that comes in the log (and is, admittedly, easier to crumble into a salad.)
But do you see where it says “SPREADS LIKE SILK!” on the side of the container? Well, we all know silk does not spread, but it is soft and smooth. And I think that’s what they meant. The cheese is very soft and it spreads real smooth, like silk feels – I guess is what they meant.
Plus, you’ll love this. You can take off the top, which is actually the bottom, then remove the protective foil. Then, you can set the cheese on the cover, as I show in the photo above, (the top is now the bottom), tap the sides, and voila, it falls onto the base, intact, like a flat-topped pyramid, smooth as silk, and ready to serve, goat cheese….pyramid! I love it! I can’t wait to have a party, just so I can show off my goat cheese skills! Martha Stewart, watch out.
And finally, about the nutrition: 11% sat. fat. in TWO tablespoons! And 3 grams of protein.
Sign me up. Give me more. (Actually, I’ve already had more. We finished the first container. I went back for another today.)
Saturday’s Songs – Rock Me Baby, Jimi Hendrix
Just watch him…
Okay, here’s a question to ponder.
Jimi died way too young. I watch this video – his energy, his confidence, his command – and it makes me crazy that he didn’t keep on going, pushing the outer limits of his own guitar playing. Then I think, if he had lived to the ripe old age of say, Dylan or Mick, would the luster of his early years have dimmed? Of course I’d prefer he had lived. But I wonder if his early talent would be so moving if he had continued into old age.
Re: Facebook
OK. I am trying really, really hard to get the hang of facebook. And beyond getting the hang of it, I know I’m supposed to think it’s fun. But every effort takes me back to my attempts at Marco Polo, the swimming game that was also supposed to be fun. I couldn’t synchronize the breathing, the swimming, the eyes open/the eyes shut. So, it was never fun.
So, too, I’m finding with facebook.
Today, I have had to remove several failed efforts to enhance my facebook home page. Each effort ended up on my wall rather than just in the left-hand column. Is the wall magnetized? It seems to grab anything I do and post it.
I just wanted to insert a link to this blog in the column of my home page. So I went to the links tab and put in the link, and pressed “Post” (which is not the same as “Share,” right?) So how did the link end up on my wall in addition to being in the left-hand column?
You won’t see it if you go to look now. I had someone show me how to remove it from the wall (which also removed it from the side column.) The remove function is becoming my favorite thing about facebook. Just like the whistle blowing for adult swim became my favorite thing during Marco Polo. Much to my relief all the kids would have to leave the pool so our parents could have a cooling off swim.
And while our parents swam, we’d move to the tennis court where my expertise ruled.
So, here I am in the blogging court, which is no strain at all. I can also build a website and an e-shop without breaking a sweat.
What is it about facebook that I just can’t get? Like, right now there’s a message on my wall that isn’t attached to anything. It was intended to be a cheery thumbs-up to my friend, Laura, for some great photos she posted. But it’s just dangling there like the poorly timed comment in a conversation…and all eyes are staring, saying, “What does that mean?”
So, anyway Laura, if you come by this post, I liked your photos on facebook a lot.
Oh, never mind. I was only trying to say what’s on my mind…
Love’s Compass Reading/Signing in Haverhill, Massachusetts
I’m getting psyched about my reading/signing this Saturday, April 17, at 1:30 p.m. at the Haverhill Public Library in Haverhill, Mass.
If it goes as well as the reading I enjoyed at Nighhawk Books, it should be a great afternoon – although, this time, in addition to reading from Love’s Compass, I’ll also be sharing a passage from the book I’m currently writing.
Hope to see you there!
Spring Has Beegun in Massachusetts
Bee approaches crocus
I spent Easter weekend at Wellspring House, a writers retreat, in Ashfield, Massachusetts, where signs of spring were all about. This was my third visit in a year to Wellspring House. In the tranquility of the setting, I added 4000 words to my next novel, “I’d Love You There Again.”
the essentials...snacks, coffee, water, paper, pencil, laptop
And I promoted “Love’s Compass” a bit…to the point that it is now for sale at Elmers, the thumping heart of Ashfield, where gathering is the primary concern – for eating, for food shopping, for gift shopping, for chatting, and for connecting with old friends and new.
On a side trip to Shelburne Falls, about 15 minutes from Ashfield, I took the photos below (and the one at the top of the post), while walking along the Bridge of Flowers.
Too pretty...
Easter colors
Happy springtime!
(Note: if you enjoy the images here, consider visiting SilverLining, my nature blog that has lovely photos!)
Guerrilla Marketing
Recently, I was interviewed for an article for a local weekly paper. As the staff reporter and I talked about my efforts to market my book, I was flattered to have him refer to my initiatives as “guerrilla marketing.” In truth, I’ve been out straight marketing Love’s Compass, so much so in fact, that I haven’t posted to this blog in a couple of weeks.
I’ve pushed beyond my comfort zone by figuring out how to run GoogleAds (I’m still not totally clear on the bidding aspect), by building an e-shop, and by standing at a mic before a group of strangers at a bookstore as I read from Love’s Compass. (Lucky for me, in the end, the audience enjoyed the reading as much as I did.)
I do all these varied things in varied markets to generate a buzz, to set brush fires here and there, in the hope that they will spark and spread and become a wildfire.
My inspiration for this activity is the previously-mentioned-in-this-blog Malcolm Gladwell and his book The Tipping Point.
But what I consider to be the most influential thrust for Love’s Compass’ market success is my own optimistic energy – my belief that this book is a good novel, and that I’m a good writer.
Class dismissed.
Online Press
Arts and Entertainment, and me
Today, I, for the first time in my life, am featured in an article in an Arts and Entertainment section of a newspaper. I mean !
This is really exciting for me. In recent years, I’ve theorized that life is just not long enough for everything I want and need to do. So, I consider this a great milestone in my “things to achieve before I die” plan.
I’m not sure I’ll ever get to dance like Mary Tyler Moore did in the Dick Van Dyke Show. I’ve wanted this since I was about four years old. And I still want to visit Stonehenge, although my drive for this has diminished since I’ve seen how close it is to busy roadways.
I haven’t yet lived in anywhere near the number of styles and locations of houses that I love. Glass, contemporary structures appeal to me most right now. But also, thatched roof cottages in Ireland have the romantic allure of cozy, cuddling, snuggling that I live for. And I know there’s a little house on the prairie just waiting for my childhood to live again in it.
I want to be a cowboy on the range (I also want to be a cowgirl to a cowboy…), and a medicine man in a tipi village.
And, as I’ve revealed already in this blog, I’m just sitting on my life as an inventor.
But today, I’m settling for how happy I am to be in print on the pages of an Arts and Entertainment section of a newspaper!
Saturday’s Songs – I’m Yours, Jason Mraz
I love this song – for its upbeat beat, for its positive energy, for its message about love, “We’re just one big family. And, it’s our God-forsaken right to be loved, loved, loved.” Every child should be welcomed into the world with love, children should thrive in a home filled with expressions of love, spouses/life partners/companions should hug and kiss their way through the day! Our elders should leave this life enveloped in the love of those whose lives they’ve touched. And we each should greet every stranger with an open and good heart.
“There’s no need to complicate our time is short.”
love = peace ©
sublime days 