I have been having so much fun on Facebook. One of my friends challenged me. I was supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about me. Here is the result. I thought I’d share it with my blog friends, too.
This was stream of consciousness, completely random order, here…
1. I am an eternal optimist. I’m happy more days than I am not.
2. I think it’s cool that I grew up in a house with only sisters and no brothers, and now I have only sons and no daughters. I can definitely relate to how outnumbered my Dad must feel.
3. I once bruised my husband’s ego (slightly) by answering the question on one of those forwarded emails: “If you could be anywhere in the world, where would you be?” as “Alone on the beach with a book.” I want it on the record, what I MEANT to say was, “Alone on the beach with Phil . . . and a book.” LOL
4. I am surprised by my three sons’ athletic abilities. They didn’t get the hand-eye coordination from me!
5. I am amazed by my identical twin sons every day. It’s like having genetic experiment in the house. Ha ha. Seriously, they are amazing boys and they each have a built-in best friend for life.
6. If I ever decide to go back to my law practice, I would do something with more meaning, something completely different from telecommunications or corporate law, like help people adopt babies. If all else failed, I guess in the current market, bankruptcy law might be a good option…
7. I enjoy the “method acting” that is involved in writing fiction. I love to pretend to be someone else and write from a new point of view.
8. I have the uncanny ability to relate anything in life to a Seinfeld episode.
9. Our family named our dog, “Bosco. “ It was George’s ATM pass-code.
10. I love my husband’s passion for life, his self-confidence, and a lot of other things about him–but most of those are private.
11. I had Lasik surgery on my eyes ten years ago. For me, it was easier than getting a haircut and I am no longer blind!
12. I have the body-image opposite to an anorexia patient. No matter what the scale says, I think I look fine. It’s probably just as delusional as anorexia, but I’m happy in my skin. That can’t be bad!
13. After seeing the movie “The Bucket List” my husband, sons, and I put together a family bucket list of places we’d like to travel together as a family. We have less than five years until Grant goes to college. Common wishes: Grand Canyon and National Parks Tour, Hawaii, Israel, The Great Wall of China, Galapagos Islands, African Photographic Safari. I hope we can really make it to all of those places together.
14. I have volunteered my time to many charities over the years: Walkathons and 5 K runs, soup kitchens, canned food drives, organized book donations, helped organize supplies for disaster victims, served as President of PTA, taught art appreciation classes in the public schools, tutored math, canvassed neighborhoods for political candidates, organized fundraising, and more. The most meaningful volunteer experience I have had so far was participating in Pets on Wheels with my son and our dog. We visited a local nursing home with the dog every week for a year.
15. I think snow is a nuisance unless it’s on a mountain where I can ski on it.
16. The neighborhood I live in is as close to my “ideal” as I could find. I love living in Northern Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. The area attracts intelligent people from all over the world. At our neighborhood public school, my children attend classes with children of diplomats from all over the world. It is so cool!
17. There are only two things missing that would make my neighborhood absolutely perfect: 1. I have no family close enough to come over for dinner or just stop by; and 2. I live too far from the ocean to go to the beach for the day. (There used to be a third thing: decent pizza, but Church Street Pizza is great!)
18. When I was a little girl, I used to think that if I concentrated hard enough I could do magic like Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie. I still have a bottle my sister gave me that looks like the one Barbara Eden had in the show. Alas, there is no sofa inside of it.
19. I wish I were more organized. My “pile management” gets me into trouble sometimes.
20. My least favorite chore in the world is sorting socks.
21. My favorite parts of Judaism are the traditions I celebrate in my home – and the food, of course the food.
22. I did not get the shopping gene from my mother. I hate going to the mall (but not as much as I hate sorting socks).
23. For the past eight years, my family has taken me out for Dim Sum on Mother’s Day. It’s my favorite!
24. When I was in college at GWU, I was walking by the Kennedy Center and ran into Tom Cruise who was on his way to get ready for a premiere of “Top Gun.” We had a great conversation! I asked, “Can I have your autograph?” He answered, “I’m sorry, I don’t have a pen.” Not much of a brush with stardom, but I picked one out of a hat. If I had 50 random items instead of 25, I might come up with a few more – like the time I gave Jan Hooks pointers about what to talk about when she was on Letterman, or the time I spent a week in Provincetown with author Julia Glass – not what you think! I was at a writing workshop!
25. The Nationals coming to Washington DC saved my marriage. Just kidding, it wasn’t that dire. But my “interfaith” marriage Red Sox/Yankee has been the toughest difference for my husband and me to work out. It is fun to have a team to follow together instead of always being rivals.
I am hopelessly dependent on my computer. I communicate primarily via e-mail. My calendar is on Outlook. My manuscripts are all stored on it (backed up in three places). My research is organized in my Internet Explorer Favorites. I keep to do lists, endless lists of ideas for stories, all of my contacts, etc. on my computer.
So, you can imagine how lost I have been since it CRASHED two weeks ago. After arguing with HP over the fact that a notebook less than one year old should NOT crash for the second time and losing the argument (so far). I bought myself a new Dell—It’s flamingo pink! I thought it would help improve my disposition. Ha. Ha.
This is my official apology for being absent due to technical difficulties.
I’m BACK! Hopefully my new computer will withstand my heavy burden and high standards.
I have reached an amazing milestone in my life as a writer. I signed my first book deal! I am so close to removing the “aspiring” from the front of “novelist” when I describe myself.
I am thrilled to announce, my debut novel, Double Out and Back will be published by Red Rose Publishing in their mainstream fiction line. It is expected to pre-release in e-book format in August 2009, with print publication to follow.
From time to time, in between my other blogging antics, I’ll post updates on the release and promotion of the novel. Keep an eye out for them.
As a related aside—I went to see Legally Blond the Musical this weekend and I can’t get the catchy tune that captures my excitement about this accomplishment out of my head. It goes, “Ohmygod! Ohmygod, you guys!”
I have had my Kindle for a couple of weeks now. It’s great! I have read two novels and have a free trial subscription to the New York Times that is automatically delivered to the device each morning.
It is so cool! It’s easy on the eyes, feels like a real book in my hands, and has some really innovative features. Not only can I read the material downloaded onto it, I can click on any line of text and ask it to look up words. It will automatically provide a dictionary page for me. It also allows for marking pages and making notations to the text.
I don’t think I’ll give up print books, but this is such a great alternative when I’m travelling or just out and about. I can have any number of books, magazines, newspapers with me in this one paperback-sized, lightweight device. No more backpacks and tote bags full of heavy books.
I wish my college-aged nieces and nephews could get their textbooks as e-books. Can you imagine walking around campus and fitting everything on this one little device?
So far so good for my new Kindle.
While stopped at a red light this morning, the bumper stickers plastered onto the rear of the car in front of me caught my eye. One read, “PEACE, LOVE, AND HARMONY.” That was nice and soothing. It helped to calm my nerves, since I was on my way to see if my hard drive could be recovered before sending my computer back to the manufacturer. (I’m writing this on a borrowed laptop).
A second one read something like, “VIRGINIA IS BEAUTIFUL. STOP LITTERING.” I smiled and thought, Aha! an environmentalist. Just then the light turned green. As the car with the “stop littering” bumper sticker pulled away, the driver turned down the window and flicked her cigarette butt into the street! Perhaps she borrowed the car from a friend? It’s the only way I can explain the contradiction.
I can’t take credit for finding this next one. One of my friends called me on the telephone from the road to share it with me. The car had two bumper stickers. The first read, “We’re in America. Speak English.” The second one ON THE SAME CAR, MIND YOU, read, “Viva Bush!” I think that says it all about the mentality of that driver!
If you have any weird signs or bumper stickers that you want to share with me, post here!