August is for Blogging about “HOT”

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Carol Early Cooney

This post is the beginning of a month’s worth of posts with the theme “HOT”. This challenge is from NaBloPoMo August 2013.

Yes, this is how I will start my month of August. I think that thinking of Johnny Depp with the word “hot” is appropriate.

Really really appropriate.

Some may go for Clooney, some for Fillion, I will start with Depp. This does not have anything to do with his acting or intelligence. It is simply a reaction to his looks.

I don’t go to the movies. I don’t know that I would intentionally go to his movies anyway. I have seen some of them. I will admit that the makeup that he seems to wear in a lot of them does not do anything for me.  I did think that the movie Chocolat was greatly improved with his presence.

If you have not seen it, you might enjoy it. It is not a movie to share with your husband. He probably won’t like it. You can watch it with a glass of wine and just enjoy the story. (I did like the book also. Come to think of it, the book might be improved with pictures of Johnny Depp scattered through it.  )

No, I am not a member of his fan club – I am sure that there must be one out there – but I do like to happen upon his image from time to time. I am quite sure that that happens because I am not alone in my belief that he has that certain something.

Come on, the guy is just hot.

I also find my husband pretty hot. He does not quite look like Johnny Depp but he has many better qualities. (Like I can see and talk to him…)

So, happy first day of August! Happy first day of 30 days of blogging on the topic of “hot”. And most of all, Happy Birthday to my friend, Karen. Wishing you the best!

Karen, I think he is better than Tom Cruise!

Thanks for stopping by!

Posted in Writing and Photo Prompt Responses | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Writers Tell All – A blog hop

Posted on July 28, 2013 by Carol Early Cooney

 

Hop, Sally, H O P!

I have been nominated by Jennifer Chow to be part of the “Writers Tell All blog hop. I feel honored. Thanks to Jennifer!

Participants are asked to answer three questions and then nominate three others.  Why is it that nominating three others is easier than answering three questions?

What are you working on? Trying to figure out what I am doing most of the time… Seriously, I am s l o w l y writing an ebook on “The Diabetic Foot”. (That will turn some heads, huh?) I am also working on some poetry and fiction pieces. The three blogs I write tend to keep me busy. I really love it – except when I am totally overwhelmed by the feeling that I have no idea what I am doing. I combat that feeling by making myself write something. Okay, the truth is that when overwhelmed, I usually think that having a coke will solve most of my problems. It doesn’t work and I talk myself out of it but it is my first response.  Then I write.

How does your writing process work? Uh, not well? Let me start again. My writing process starts first thing in the morning with my “morning pages.” As suggested by Julia Cameron in her famous book, The Artist Way, I sit and write three pages in long hand.  The pages are about whatever is on my mind. They can be  lists of what I need to do, many lines on  how much I don’t want to write the three pages and sometimes ideas will just arrive on the page.  I go to my office and start. Since I have a job outside of writing, I spend some time deciding that I should write rather than spend time on the other work. The other work is easier than writing, so it wins part of the time. When I am writing, I usually have to do some research as a first step. I do that and then start writing. I have paper everywhere and I constantly go back and forth. I am sure that there is an easier, more collected way but so far I am doing okay.  I am much better at producing really bad first drafts than I am at editing them. This is why my fiction and poetry haven’t seen the light of day. I have promised myself I will improve. After all, it is hard to win accolades from the masses if no one ever sees your work.

Who are authors you most admire? This is hard to answer. I admire anyone who was able to put together a story, get it out there and have it published. It is an amazing thing to have done. I read Anne Lamott like she will never write another book and it has to be slurped up before it evaporates. Madeline L’Engle wrote some of my all-time favorite books and I feel that much of her wonderful work is unknown. It makes me happy when Deborah Combie, Donna Leon, and Jacqueline Winspear have new books out. Jeanne Webster wrote a book, Strays, which really got me to work on my writing and I thought that Charles Duhigg’s, The Power of Habit was really good.  I have found Dinty Moore lately and like his work. (not the stew, the author) I could go on forever but I will stop here knowing I forgot to mention someone whose work  that I love.

And now for the three people that I will add to the Writers Tell All blog hop.

Bolton Carley – http://boltoncarley.wordpress.com/   Bolton makes me laugh. She has a wicked sense of humor and a great take on life. I bet she got “talks too much” on her report cards.

Khara House – http://www.kharahouse.com/  I think Khara is a phenomenally talented artist. I am always blown away by her. I could sit at her feet to assemble the pearls that drop out of her mouth.  Then again, she watches too many movies and television shows and doesn’t seem to sleep. If only she seemed to drink more…

J. Lynn Sheridan – http://writingonthesun.wordpress.com/  Janice is a poet with a great sense of humor. We share Midwest roots and I appreciate her sharing nature.

I am very grateful to Jennifer for nominating me. I will unabashedly admit that I am tickled that she thought of me!

IMG_1011 (2)

Posted in Writing about Writing/Working | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Wordsmith Studio Prompt – Water

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Carol Early Cooney

This week’s prompt from Wordsmith Studio (www.wordsmithstudio.org) is water.

It has been very hot and humid here in the Midwest.  Today was the day of change.  It was cooler and the humidity was gone.  Part of this weather change was that the wind came off Lake Michigan. The lake was turbulent.  There were warnings about staying out of the water due to rip currents.

As usual, there were those who didn’t listen.

Image

IMG_1153 (2)

In my town, there are many parks next to the lake.  In this particular park, there is a fountain.  With my first picture, you might notice there is a piece of wood on the side of the island.

IMG_1155 (2)

I thought that it looked tacky but as I got closer, I found out that the piece of wood had a purpose.

IMG_1161

IMG_1157 (2)

It is a ramp for the ducks!

IMG_1166Yes, it was windy

Posted in Writing and Photo Prompt Responses | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

What is on your shoulder?

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Carol Early Cooney

One of my writer friends, Bolton Carley, wrote a post yesterday about purses.  You can check it out http://boltoncarley.wordpress.com/.

Oddly enough, I have some thoughts about purses. I could have shared them in the comments section of Bolton’s blog but I thought they might be a bit long for that spot.

First of all, I am ASTOUNDED by the purses that are recommended by Oprah. This has gone on for years. Does she really think that most women spend $1,500 – $2,500 for a purse?  Do they? Do you?  I actually love to point these purses out to my husband. It makes my purse spending look so good. (I could go on a huge rant about the prices of the things on the “O” list each month. Really, am I cheap or just poor that I can’t comprehend buying that stuff – even though some of it looks pretty good.) If you don’t know what I am talking about, check out the “great buys of the week” here http://www.oprah.com/gift/Cropped-Jacket?editors_pick_id=31508.

For the first time ever, I spent over $100 for a purse last year. I seem to have a soft spot for Fossil vintage series purses.Most of the time, I hit up TJ Maxx or Marshalls to see what they have to offer.  This strategy is not working as well anymore.  They now have purses that are much more expensive – a lot of them are in the over $100 range.

Since I do not spend a lot of money on my purses, two things tend to happen. First, I have a hard time finding a new purse.  Since I really do not like to shop, this is not good.  And this is how I ended up spending more than the usual amount last year. The second thing is that I don’t keep my purses forever. Usually they are good for one season and then I move on.  I do not change purses during the season.  I am a one and done purse person.

The size of the purse seems to change over time.  Sometimes I go for the small purse and just jam (and I mean jam) things in there. This summer, I have gone for the large approach.Yes, I think that this summer’s bag might have been billed as a beach tote. I just seem to carry more than I used to and having a bag that I can throw a lot of stuff into is helpful.

Image

I have also found over time that I like colored items in my purse so that they are easier to find.  For example, I have a pink and orange cell phone cover, a red wallet, and a green, white, and black print business card holder.  I can find these things when I need to .  I also took a freeby makeup bag and put pens and lip gloss into it so I can find them when I need them.  Oh, there is also a pen light in there – doesn’t everyone need that?  Easily some of the items in my purse are because of work (pen light, business cards, notebook, camera) and may not be in everyone’s purse.  (or murse as it may be called)

IMG_1140

Lots of color in there, right? Can you spot the nook, the notebook, the phone, the makeup bag full of pens or the iPad?

I do have a case for my phone that I can keep my driver’s licence, some cash and a credit card so that if I am just going to the gym or someplace quick, I will just take that.

Image

So how much do you keep in your purse?  How much do you spend when you buy a new purse?  Do you change purses with your outfits?  Let me know – maybe I am just behind the times with the prices of purses.

AND I HAD MY FIRST WIN!- If you have been following this blog, you know that I started entering sweepstakes.  Okay, this is not exactly the same but I bought a book from a fellow writer and won his birthday pull for a surprise gift.  Yippee!  Who knows what I will win next?

I also was given a tip this weekend.  I don’t always look but it seems on the bottom on store receipts, there maybe a web site to go to and answer some questions to win a prize.  Walgreen’s seems to do this along with Panera and Dominicks.  You could be a winner, too!

Have Fun!

Posted in Miscellaneous Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

The World of Sweepstakes

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Carol Early Cooney

Image

I started entering sweepstakes. It is an amazing world and I have yet to scratch the surface. I will give you a feel for how I started so that if you want to play along, you can.

(NOTE:  I have no idea what I am doing. I will share my adventures but do not take it as “the path to follow”. As with most advice, it is worth what you are paying for it.)

There are a few basic rules.

  1.  Do NOT give anyone money to play a sweepstakes. They cannot charge you to do this.“There is no purchase necessary “is real. It is actually a law.
  2. Read the rules of the sweepstakes. Make sure you are eligible. See how often you can enter and don’t disqualify yourself by entering too much.
  3. Don’t enter for things you don’t want. You will “need” to report winnings on your taxes so don’t win things that you have to pay taxes on but don’t want. 
  4. Maybe this one is just personal but don’t tell your spouse that you entered a contest to win something cool and then say that you are planning to give it to someone else. Apparently, that causes hard feelings. 

So far, I have only been investigating sweepstakes. Sweepstakes are when entries are selected at random. I will move on to contests (judged entries) later.

The first thing that I did before entering any sweepstakes was create a new email address JUST for sweepstakes entries. There are two reasons for this. The first is that when you start getting junk mail because you have entered sweepstakes, it will all be in one place that you can ignore. No, I mean it will be in one place where you can read every bit of it and absorb all that fascinating information. (HA!) The second reason is that you will not be sending out emails from this account (probably) so that if you are “hacked” you will not have any information or friend’s email addresses here.

Think about how often you will be typing your email address when you choose it. Make it easy to remember and quick to type. Think the same way about the password. DO NOT use the same password that you normally use. Pretend this is your new identity and make it different but easy. If you don’t know how to get a new email address, here is my suggestion. Go to https://www.google.com/ and click on the box in the upper right hand corner “Create an account”. (There is no cost for an email address) That will take you to a place for you to fill in information for a new email account. At the bottom of the “create and email page” is a Captcha.

Captcha is a device that is used to make sure that there is an actual person filling out the form. Generally you will see a box with a word or number that you can easily read and then another grouping of letters that are harder to read. (Sometimes it is a word and sometimes it is just letters) (Or my vocabulary stinks and it is always a word but I don’t think so.) IF you cannot make out the distorted letters, there is a little circular arrow button next to the box. Hit that button and they will give you a new set of words/letters. You do not have to worry about spacing. You just need to type what you see.

Okay, you need to get used to Captcha. You are going to find it on most of the contest entries.

Some sweepstakes will give you additional entries if you “like” the company on Facebook, tweet about the contest, or “pin” something on Pinterest. These are options for you to decide what you want to do. You might want to think about them ahead of time to see how you feel about it. If you don’t have social media accounts, then you need to decide if you want to open them or not.  Only you can decided if the additional entries gained from using those accounts matter to you.

You may find that in order to win that you need to “like” a company on Facebook. The entry form will be happy to take you to your Facebook account. Sometimes the company will want to get your approval to grab all your Facebook information. I am not a fan of this. If you need to like the company to be eligible to win, I will go to Facebook separately and “like” the company.  I will tell you that “liking” companies will lead to more ads on your news feed.( After the contest, you can always go and “unlike” the company but I would never tell you that.)

Are you raring to go?  Ready to start winning millions in cash and prizes?

The first day that I started this quest, I swore that I would make a note about the contests that I was entering so that I could keep track of them.  I failed that first day. I will admit that I found it a little confusing. To be honest, I am not sure I entered the Duck Dynasty sweepstakes and it was a one-time only entry. I don’t’ know if I have a chance to meet Willy in West Monroe or not.  So the first day was a bit of a bust just trying to figure out what I was doing.

Hint – on your first day you may want to stick to contests that are “daily entries” rather than “one time” entries. If you make a mistake on “daily entries”, you can fix it the next day. Learn from my mistake – I may never meet Willie Robertson just because I was confused my first day.

I started with two sites that were recommended by “sweepers” either in print or in videos that I watched. The first one that I went to had two levels of membership. There was the free level and then the $30 level. Remember Rule #1? I did not pay for membership. There seems to be some issue with that web site. I then moved to www.sweepstakestoday.com . I have gone to that site every day. I did sign up for the site as it seems that they keep track of your entries.  (It was free, of course) On the site, I have used the opening page of sweepstakes and I have used the tabs on the top of the page. (They are – listed across – Hot, Featured, New Sponsor’s special, etc.) I noticed that if you click on the tabs on the side of the opening page that they open a new web page where you can go to other web pages for sweepstakes. I am a bit paranoid about computer viruses and that seems to be a spot that could be a problem. You may find it just fine but I have not needed to go there yet.

IMG_1132

I think it will be important for you to decide how much time you want to spend doing this a day. I can easily see that you could spend hours on this. It can suck you in because there are so many to enter and with a lot of the daily entry ones, once you enter, it remembers your information and entering seems to go pretty quickly but time is ticking away and will go faster than you ever thought it could. I really suggest that you set a timer before you start. There is a bit of a learning curve so the first few days will take longer.

From what I have read, it can take several months of work before you start to see any payout. You are also supposed to keep a positive mental attitude. While I think that you should believe that you can win (I will probably win a pack of gum), I am not sure that the robot picking the winning entry cares about your positive mental attitude. But then again, you should feel positive about this because when you tell people what you are doing and they look at you like you have lost your mind, you will need to appear positive that you will win.

Next week, I will talk about different types of sweepstakes that you can encounter and give you an update on how I am doing.

Have fun!

IMG_1130 (2)

Posted in Miscellaneous Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment