tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72570382024-03-14T01:12:47.410-04:00That GrrlLaura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.comBlogger2755125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-53459517686300923532023-06-29T07:10:00.001-04:002023-06-29T07:10:27.787-04:00The Strangest Mysteries Of South Eastern Ontario - South Eastern Ontario<a href="https://southeasternontario.ca/listicles/the-strangest-mysteries-of-south-eastern-ontario/">The Strangest Mysteries Of South Eastern Ontario - South Eastern Ontario</a>Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-40392484414221923742010-09-20T23:34:00.000-04:002010-09-20T23:34:39.507-04:00How to Write With Style by Kurt VonnegutHow to Write With Style by Kurt Vonnegut<br />
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Newspaper reporters and technical writers are trained to reveal almost nothing about themselves in their writings. This makes them freaks in the world of writers, since almost all of the other ink-stained wretches in that world reveal a lot about themselves to readers. We call these revelations, accidental and intentional, elements of style.<br />
<br />
These revelations tell us as readers what sort of person it is with whom we are spending time. Does the writer sound ignorant or informed, stupid or bright, crooked or honest, humorless or playful --- ? And on and on.<br />
<br />
Why should you examine your writing style with the idea of improving it? Do so as a mark of respect for your readers, whatever you're writing. If you scribble your thoughts any which way, your readers will surely feel that you care nothing about them. They will mark you down as an egomaniac or a chowderhead --- or, worse, they will stop reading you.<br />
<br />
The most damning revelation you can make about yourself is that you do not know what is interesting and what is not. Don't you yourself like or dislike writers mainly for what they choose to show you or make you think about? Did you ever admire an emptyheaded writer for his or her mastery of the language? No.<br />
<br />
So your own winning style must begin with ideas in your head.<br />
<br />
1. Find a subject you care about<br />
Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, and not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.<br />
I am not urging you to write a novel, by the way --- although I would not be sorry if you wrote one, provided you genuinely cared about something. A petition to the mayor about a pothole in front of your house or a love letter to the girl next door will do.<br />
<br />
2. Do not ramble, though<br />
I won't ramble on about that.<br />
<br />
3. Keep it simple<br />
As for your use of language: Remember that two great masters of language, William Shakespeare and James Joyce, wrote sentences which were almost childlike when their subjects were most profound. "To be or not to be?" asks Shakespeare's Hamlet. The longest word is three letters long. Joyce, when he was frisky, could put together a sentence as intricate and as glittering as a necklace for Cleopatra, but my favorite sentence in his short story "Eveline" is this one: "She was tired." At that point in the story, no other words could break the heart of a reader as those three words do.<br />
Simplicity of language is not only reputable, but perhaps even sacred. The Bible opens with a sentence well within the writing skills of a lively fourteen-year-old: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."<br />
<br />
4. Have guts to cut<br />
It may be that you, too, are capable of making necklaces for Cleopatra, so to speak. But your eloquence should be the servant of the ideas in your head. Your rule might be this: If a sentence, no matter how excellent, does not illuminate your subject in some new and useful way, scratch it out.<br />
<br />
5. Sound like yourself<br />
The writing style which is most natural for you is bound to echo the speech you heard when a child. English was Conrad's third language, and much that seems piquant in his use of English was no doubt colored by his first language, which was Polish. And lucky indeed is the writer who has grown up in Ireland, for the English spoken there is so amusing and musical. I myself grew up in Indianapolis, where common speech sounds like a band saw cutting galvanized tin, and employs a vocabulary as unornamental as a monkey wrench.<br />
In some of the more remote hollows of Appalachia, children still grow up hearing songs and locutions of Elizabethan times. Yes, and many Americans grow up hearing a language other than English, or an English dialect a majority of Americans cannot understand.<br />
All these varieties of speech are beautiful, just as the varieties of butterflies are beautiful. No matter what your first language, you should treasure it all your life. If it happens to not be standard English, and if it shows itself when your write standard English, the result is usually delightful, like a very pretty girl with one eye that is green and one that is blue.<br />
I myself find that I trust my own writing most, and others seem to trust it most, too, when I sound most like a person from Indianapolis, which is what I am. What alternatives do I have? The one most vehemently recommended by teachers has no doubt been pressed on you, as well: to write like cultivated Englishmen of a century or more ago.<br />
<br />
6. Say what you mean<br />
I used to be exasperated by such teachers, but am no more. I understand now that all those antique essays and stories with which I was to compare my own work were not magnificent for their datedness or foreignness, but for saying precisely what their authors meant them to say. My teachers wished me to write accurately, always selecting the most effective words, and relating the words to one another unambiguously, rigidly, like parts of a machine. The teachers did not want to turn me into an Englishman after all. They hoped that I would become understandable --- and therefore understood. And there went my dream of doing with words what Pablo Picasso did with paint or what any number of jazz idols did with music. If I broke all the rules of punctuation, had words mean whatever I wanted them to mean, and strung them together higgledy-piggledy, I would simply not be understood. So you, too, had better avoid Picasso-style or jazz-style writing, if you have something worth saying and wish to be understood.<br />
Readers want our pages to look very much like pages they have seen before. Why? This is because they themselves have a tough job to do, and they need all the help they can get from us.<br />
<br />
7. Pity the readers<br />
They have to identify thousands of little marks on paper, and make sense of them immediately. They have to read, an art so difficult that most people don't really master it even after having studied it all through grade school and high school --- twelve long years.<br />
So this discussion must finally acknowledge that our stylistic options as writers are neither numerous nor glamorous, since our readers are bound to be such imperfect artists. Our audience requires us to be sympathetic and patient readers, ever willing to simplify and clarify --- whereas we would rather soar high above the crowd, singing like nightingales.<br />
That is the bad news. The good news is that we Americans are governed under a unique Constitution, which allows us to write whatever we please without fear of punishment. So the most meaningful aspect of our styles, which is what we choose to write about, is utterly unlimited.<br />
<br />
Found through StumbleUpon from the site by <a href="http://www.peterstekel.com/">Peter Stekel</a>Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-47657855752573226932010-09-20T23:11:00.002-04:002010-09-20T23:11:50.729-04:00Colorstrology<a href="http://www.colorstrology.com/">Colorstrology</a>:<br />
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<blockquote>Dec. 19th - Lagoon - Regal - Expressive - Determined<br />
<br />
You are capable of achieving many of your aspirations through pure determination and will. Some of this strength comes from the challenges that you may have faced while growing up. Once you make up your mind to do something, you have the necessary stamina to accomplish your aims. You may end up being in the public eye. Your personal colour reminds you to infuse you life with optimism and enthusiasm. Wearing, meditating or surrounding yourself wtih the colour Lagoon helps you live life in a balanced and wondrous way. </blockquote>Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-3035131869696925832010-09-15T21:03:00.000-04:002010-09-15T21:03:52.969-04:00Transitions Posted for Red RoomI made my first post to the weekly blog prompt at Red Room. The topic is transitions:<br />
<br />
<blockquote><a href="http://www.redroom.com/blog/thatgrrl/transitions-are-road-signs">Transitions</a>, the word makes me feel on edge, a little desperate. Too many moves from town to town and one country to another. Too many changes from one job to another. Too many people met and missed. I'd like some stability. Something I can count on to be steady and reliable. <br />
<br />
I don't mind change, I cope with it. I deal with it. But I'm not getting used to it. I'm both older and wiser due to change and transition. In that way it's not a bad thing.<br />
<br />
This month I will be starting a new job. I will be meeting a new set of co-workers. I will be getting to know the policies of a new company. New changes bring new ideas, new inspiration and new choices. <br />
<br />
Transitions are the road signs along our road trip through life. We read the signs and then leave them behind until the next sign comes along. Each transition lasts a blink of an eye but has the lasting impact of forever. </blockquote>Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-13995384141275923402010-09-12T21:25:00.000-04:002010-09-12T21:25:05.549-04:00My Shabby Streamside Studio<a href="http://myshabbystreamsidestudio.blogspot.com/">My Shabby Streamside Studio</a>Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-23627589702525007912010-09-12T20:57:00.000-04:002010-09-12T20:57:33.165-04:00Hunting cabin transformed into cottage<a href="http://community.livejournal.com/laceandflora/1925438.html">Hunting cabin transformed into cottage</a>Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-27453396750568472732010-09-12T00:23:00.000-04:002010-09-12T00:23:27.381-04:00Personal BloggingMy personal blog was never secret. I’ve never had to worry about who reads it as so few of the people who know me were interested in anything I was doing. The only time it became an issue was when I lived in the same apartment with my husband as we were getting divorced. He said he wouldn’t read it which was good as it became my only outlet at the time. I’ve always written everything that comes into my head in my personal blog. Personal interests, slutty stuff, rants about people, things and places. It all goes in there along with what I really think about myself and my life. In some part of my mind I just don’t care as long as I have that outlet. In person I am very quiet and I seldom tell anyone what I am thinking or feeling. It used to annoy my husband when we were married. But, to be honest, I wasn’t thinking about anything important most of the time.<br />
<br />
Comment I left on Ben's <a href="http://www.weeklyblogging.com/155/discussions/is-a-personal-blog-the-online-equivalent-of-a-secret-diary/">Weekly Blogging</a>, a post about personal blogging being like a secret diary.Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-24079595064876206302010-09-07T15:40:00.000-04:002010-09-07T15:40:48.469-04:00What Kind of Artist are you?<table width=350 align=center border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2><tr><td bgcolor="#EEEEEE" align=center><br />
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<strong><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whattypeofartistareyouquiz/results/?result=Thoughtful">You Are a Thoughtful Artist</a></strong><br />
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You may be creative, but there's nothing messy about your approach to art.<br /><br />
All of your art is well thought out and planned. You art ends up being close to how you initially imagined it.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
Your work tends to be quite deep and complex. You know how to produce something that appeals on many levels.<br /><br />
Your art may take a long time to create, but your patient. And as a result, you tend to love everything you make.<br />
</font></td></tr></table><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whattypeofartistareyouquiz/">What Type of Artist Are You?</a></div><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com">Blogthings: Waste Time at Work!</a></div><table width=350 align=center border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2><tr><td bgcolor="#EEEEEE" align=center><br />
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<strong><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourcreativepowerquiz/results/?result=Logic">Your Creative Power is Your Logic</a></strong><br />
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You're the type of person who is great at execution. You don't just dream about ideas - you make them happen!<br /><br />
You are idealistic and determined, but you are also a realist. You only undertake projects you're pretty sure you can finish.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
You are a natural problem solver, and you actually think better when you're being challenged.<br /><br />
You do best when you work by yourself or when you're in charge. You ideas are big, dramatic, and the best.<br />
</font></td></tr></table><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourcreativepowerquiz/">What's Your Creative Power?</a></div><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com">Blogthings: Free Quizzes for Everyone</a></div>Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-38624180789115753462010-09-06T21:08:00.000-04:002010-09-06T21:08:52.160-04:00Garden Bloggers<a href="http://www.blotanical.com/">blotanical - where garden blogs bloom ...</a>Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-3015809109437609302010-09-04T17:17:00.000-04:002010-09-04T17:17:48.138-04:00What's Your Sign?<table width=350 align=center border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2><tr><td bgcolor="#EEEEEE" align=center><br />
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<strong><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatsigndoyouattractquiz/results/?result=Aquarius">You Attract an Aquarius</a></strong><br />
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When wacky, eccentric, independent Aquarius meet you, they've met their match.<br /><br />
You're just as unique and outspoken as any Aquarius, and as a result, they feel instantly connected to you.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
And while you know you and your Aquarius are meant to be, you always allow for space in your relationship.<br /><br />
The last thing your Aquarius wants is to feel fenced in. You know that in this case, absence really does make the heart grow fonder.<br />
</font></td></tr></table><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatsigndoyouattractquiz/">What Sign Do You Attract?</a></div><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com">Blogthings: Take a Quiz. Annoy Your Friends.</a></div><br />
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<strong><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatsignisyourtruelovequiz/results/?result=Aries">Your True Love Is an Aries</a></strong><br />
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Why you'll love an Aries:<br /><br />
<br /><br />
An Aries has the red-hot seduction skills to woo you<br /><br />
Never boring, an Aries will give you the romantic challenge you crave!<br /><br />
<br /><br />
Why an Aries will love you:<br /><br />
<br /><br />
You have the intensity and energy to go head to head with your Aries...<br /><br />
And the undying passion to keep an Aries coming back for more.<br />
</font></td></tr></table><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatsignisyourtruelovequiz/">What Sign Is Your True Love?</a></div><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com">Blogthings: We Have a Quiz for Almost Everything</a></div>Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-48492877428724751602010-09-04T03:26:00.000-04:002010-09-04T03:26:11.528-04:00Alone on TwitterTwitter is missing all my replies to Tweets. <a href="http://support.twitter.com/groups/32-something-s-not-working/topics/119-tweet-dm-problems/articles/76078-i-m-missing-mentions-and-replies-known-issue">It seems to be a known issue</a>. But I feel so ignored, forgotten, alone in the world!<br />
<br />
Hope it is fixed soon.Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-71588852025363019772010-09-03T23:10:00.000-04:002010-09-03T23:10:33.390-04:00Does anyone know about Cory Doctorow?The first piece of writing I put into this I was told I write like Stephen King. But it was a short bit I wrote as a writing prompt and an odd style. An off style for me. My second try at it came back:<br />
<br />
<!-- Begin I Write Like Badge --><br />
<div style="overflow:auto;border:2px solid #ddd;font:20px/1.2 Arial,sans-serif;width:380px;padding:5px; background:#F7F7F7; color:#555"><img src="http://s.iwl.me/w.png" style="float:right" width="120"><div style="padding:20px; border-bottom:1px solid #eee; text-shadow:#fff 0 1px">I write like<br><a href="http://iwl.me/w/31398c21" style="font-size:30px;color:#698B22;text-decoration:none">Cory Doctorow</a></div><p style="font-size:11px; text-align:center; color:#888"><em>I Write Like</em> by Mémoires, <a href="http://www.codingrobots.com/memoires/" style="color:#888">Mac journal software</a>. <a href="http://iwl.me" style="color:#333; background:#FFFFE0"><b>Analyze your writing!</b></a></p></div><!-- End I Write Like Badge --><br />
<br />
I've heard the name Cory Doctorow but don't know a thing about him or his writing.Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-34646486460795680442010-09-01T22:00:00.000-04:002010-09-01T22:00:22.368-04:00How successful writers keep up their confidence | Red Room<a href="http://www.redroom.com/blog/alan-rinzler/how-successful-writers-keep-their-confidence">How successful writers keep up their confidence | Red Room</a>Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-59861443552676701862010-08-29T10:24:00.001-04:002010-08-29T10:24:33.608-04:00Gone from Sherbourne<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/southofbloor/163638777/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/52/163638777_a630d57eb3_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/southofbloor/163638777/">SHERBOURNE</a><br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/southofbloor/">southofbloor</a></span></div><br clear="all" />Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-42546182235333491762010-08-29T10:09:00.000-04:002010-08-29T10:09:03.405-04:00Mermaid or WhaleFrom something forwarded to me in email this morning:<br />
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<blockquote>Recently, in a large city in Australia, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said, "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"<br />
<br />
A middle-aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.<br />
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To Whom It May Concern,<br />
Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans.) They have an active sex life, get pregnant and have adorable baby whales. They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp. They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia, the Bering Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia. Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs. They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans. They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.<br />
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Mermaids don't exist. If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human? They don't have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them, not to mention how could they have sex? Just look at them ... where is IT? Therefore, they don't have kids either. Not to mention, who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store?<br />
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The choice is perfectly clear to me: I want to be a whale.<br />
<br />
P..S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver, and a piece of chocolate with my friends. <br />
<br />
With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy. Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, ¨Good grief, look how smart I am!¨<br />
</blockquote>Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-36884248522964880812010-08-28T14:57:00.001-04:002010-08-28T15:13:35.706-04:00About Writing<blockquote>Sometimes it comes easy, usually those are the times when you have a lot to say and can hardly keep up with yourself. It's good to have nimble fingers. I don't know how the one fingered typists do it!<br />
<br />
Other times it is an exercise in patience when you have interruptions and have to keep yourself getting back to it no matter how far away it gets as the day and the interruptions go on. <br />
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Other times, not so often, I just feel there is nothing I have to say, nothing I want to say and the world is a nasty, dark and horrible place. Why should I talk to anyone? Why should I even let them know a bit of me just so they can knock me on my butt again, nasty bugger that they are. Those days I give myself the day off, or I write it all down, DAMN THE LOT OF THEM!</blockquote><br />
Originally posted as a comment in <a href="http://www.kenwriting.com/">Ken's blog</a>. Sometimes I want to remember what I wrote, sometimes it helps keep me grounded in an odd way.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>I tried acting when I was a kid. The school wanted me to do it. So my Mother had me join an acting group for kids. We put on a play about fish and a pricness and so on. I might still have the script. I did get a fairly big part. I did manage to do it all and didn't forget what I was supposed to say. But, I'm not a natural performer in person. I have trained myself not to say "ummm" and other stalling things people do in speech. But, I perform much better on paper, in every way. I like the mystery of making the words up as I go along. I also like having the control of being the only one speaking. People who interrupt when I am talking make me want to do bad things. </blockquote><br />
I'd forgotten about that old thing, the few months of that acting group. Funny how your life can have so much in it when you look back at where you have been. Maybe I just don't look back enough and think only about looking ahead so I miss myself.Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-22567537303399024002010-08-28T14:47:00.001-04:002010-08-28T14:47:21.165-04:00Stage of Development<table width=350 align=center border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2><tr><td bgcolor="#EEEEEE" align=center><br />
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<strong><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatstageofdevelopmentareyouinquiz/results/?result=I">You Are In Stage I</a></strong><br />
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Even though you are far from being an actual infant, you are in the infant stage of development.<br /><br />
You are still figuring out the world around you, and you are still developing trust.<br /><br />
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For whatever reason, you don't have a lot of consistency in your life. It's sometimes hard for you to cope.<br /><br />
If you're not careful you can withdraw from the world. What you need is more people to love and more hope in your life.<br />
</font></td></tr></table><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatstageofdevelopmentareyouinquiz/">What Stage of Development Are You In?</a></div><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com">Blogthings: Our Quizzes Weren't Written By Bored 12 Year Olds</a></div>Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-53431754330111505592010-08-13T00:24:00.000-04:002010-08-13T00:24:29.128-04:00Expressions in Old StoneI can't resist weathered stone, especially something that once was man made. <br />
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<a href="http://cromely.blogspot.com/2010/08/tokyo-travels-part-11-lunch-at-chinzan.html">Cromley explores Tokyo. </a><br />
<br />
<blockquote>The main walk also features 500 year old Stone Statues of Rakan in various stages of weathering. Here is what that placard had to say:</blockquote><blockquote>Work of 16th century. The stone statues are carved in the image of Buddhism priest. They removed here from temples in Kyoto and Toba.</blockquote>Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-84899525598359299522010-08-08T20:10:00.000-04:002010-08-08T20:10:52.002-04:00Adorable Me<blockquote>"Adorable, in a wicked, modest way that only the ego-maniacal can pull off", says Gracie. </blockquote><br />
I've been looking for this quote for ages. I knew I had to have it kept somewhere. This was a description of me from an online friend I worked with at BackWash.com.Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-85332880332916266752010-08-03T16:07:00.000-04:002010-08-03T16:07:18.995-04:00Ending Anonymous Comment SpamAt one point, not so long ago, I had comments turned off on this blog. Friends asked me to turn them on. Here we are, a few years later, and I'm thinking to turn them off again. Or, just shut down all the Anonymous comments at least. However, if I take off Anonymous then people who don't have a blog at Google/ Blogger have to make an account in order to comment with their website being listed with their name. Unless Google/ Blogger has changed that since I last looked.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I am tired of the time wasted on moderating comments versus any real people who leave a note. They have bots to spam my comments, I just have myself to moderate all the craptastic mess. So I am going for the middle road and just shutting off the Anonymous comments. If you don't like it, thank the comment spammers.Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-16766407374525212422010-08-01T14:10:00.000-04:002010-08-01T14:10:39.203-04:00Watching Anne of Green GablesWatching one of the Anne of Green Gables movies, closer to the end of the series. She just walked back into Green Gables (the house) long after Matthew and Marilla have died and the house was empty for a long time. Made me cry along with her. I wish they could make more Anne movies, with Megan as the star.Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-80856977138801035292010-07-28T02:30:00.000-04:002010-07-28T02:30:18.263-04:00a beautiful revolution: blog<a href="http://www.abeautifulrevolution.com/blog/">a beautiful revolution: blog</a>Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-3029462330552262062010-07-27T22:17:00.000-04:002010-07-27T22:17:11.363-04:00eHarmony has a lot to sayAgreeableness:<br />
<br />
You are best described as:<br />
TAKING CARE OF OTHERS AND TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF<br />
<br />
<br />
Words that describe you:<br />
Fair<br />
Considered<br />
Collaborative<br />
Responsive<br />
Sensible<br />
Diplomatic<br />
Contemplative<br />
Indulgent<br />
Rational<br />
<br />
A General Description of How You Interact with Others<br />
You are important. So are other people, especially if they are in trouble. You have a tender heart, but you know how to establish and keep personal boundaries. You are empathetic and compassionate, but you also believe that it's best if people solve their own problems and learn to take care of themselves, if they are able.<br />
<br />
You are deeply moved by the needs of others, but you know that if you don't take good care of yourself, you'll wind up being of no use to anyone. So yours is a thoughtful compassion. You strive to be fair and sensible, taking care of others while also taking care of yourself.<br />
<br />
When someone really is in trouble, you like to collaborate with them toward a solution; they do their part, you do yours. You consider carefully, and respond in a sensible way; they do their part, and together you move through the difficulty.<br />
<br />
You seldom act impulsively; rather, when a problem arises, you take your time to think through the situation. This contemplative quality usually means that you'll arrive at a diplomatic solution, one that's fair for the other person and also fair to you. It's frequently a win/win situation.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Negative Reactions Others May Have Toward You<br />
For people who are ruled by tender-hearted compassion, your more diplomatic response to problems might seem too cool, too focused on fairness and not filled enough with sympathy and selflessness.<br />
<br />
For them, when someone's life is on fire, what is needed is not collaboration but rescue. And the person who experiences their life on fire may resent the time you take to contemplate. "I need you, and I need you NOW! This isn't about fairness, it's about the fire." "All deliberate speed" may seem too deliberate and not fast enough, either to the more compassionate or to people in genuine trouble.<br />
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At the other end of the spectrum of compassion, those who believe people should take care of themselves may find even your thoughtful sympathies too soft. They expect people, themselves included, to work their own way out of trouble. They are convinced that the helping hand you lend just fosters dependence and is not good for the development of character, either in you or in the person you assist.<br />
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<br />
Positive Responses Others May Have Toward You<br />
Many people, perhaps the majority, will come to appreciate your balance as a compassionate person. The more they get to know you, the more they will admire your thoughtful compassion for others and its compliment in the sensible ways you take good care of yourself.<br />
<br />
Those whom you help will appreciate the way you leave them with their dignity by expecting them to collaborate in their own rescue. Those who are more tender-hearted will find in you a balance they lack; when they've run out of energy because they fail to take good care of themselves, you will still have enough compassion left to lift others out of trouble.<br />
<br />
Even the tough-hearted, those who believe people should solve their own problems, might come to admire your tenderness which they don't find in themselves. So the people you help will be grateful, and the people who see your balance between self and others will admire you. Certainly, balanced is not bad at all as a way to be known among your friends.<br />
<br />
Openness:<br />
<br />
On the Openness Dimension you are:<br />
SOMETIMES CURIOUS, SOMETIMES CONTENT<br />
<br />
<br />
Words that describe you:<br />
Accepting<br />
Flexible<br />
Educated<br />
Self-aware<br />
Middle-of-the-road<br />
Proper<br />
Distinctive<br />
Indecisive<br />
Adaptable<br />
<br />
A General Description of How You Approach New Information and Experiences<br />
Like someone who can sleep comfortably on either side of the bed, you are equally at home with ideas and beliefs that you have held for a long time and with new ways of thinking and believing that grow out of your intellectual curiosity.<br />
<br />
Your sense of who you are and what your place is in the world around you rests on values and principles that are the solid ground you walk upon. You've tested them, they work for you, and much of the time you are content to trust them, that is, until some provocative new idea slips in from a conversation, book or some flight of your active imagination. "Hmmmm. What's this. Never thought of it before." And off you go, exploring.<br />
<br />
Since you love to learn, you've always been teachable; you absorb new information, which means you are well-educated in things that matter to you. Sometimes your intellectual exploring will lead you back to where you started; the "next new thing" proves too shallow or impractical to you. But once in a while a new idea or belief will dislodge you from the ground you've stood upon; it is so compelling and persuasive that you step away from the tried-and-true and embrace this notion that is brand new to you.<br />
<br />
Because you hold both solid beliefs and are open to new ideas, you are accepting of other people and other ways of thinking and believing. You are flexible enough to listen to something new and different, or something outside of your comfort zone; if it works for you, you'll take it in, and if not, you'll let it go. In this sense, you know who you are: you are neither closed-minded nor wildly open-minded, but walk somewhere near the middle of the intellectual road.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Negative Reactions Others May Have Toward Your Style of Thinking<br />
Not everyone will be thrilled by your flexible, middle-of-the-road ways of thinking and believing. A few people are so taken with flights of imagination into whatever is new that they might find your commitment to long-standing values and beliefs too confining, if not too boring. Oh well; so be it. They'll just have to be in free-flight without you.<br />
<br />
Others are content with the ideas that have served them and their culture well; they're not excited by the prospect of moving on. And some people are afraid of new ways of thinking because they are somewhat fragile; they have trouble maintaining their current worlds and don't want someone like you, for instance pushing out the edges of their intellectual cosmos. So don't be surprised if your solid values sometimes make people distrust you as an explorer, or if your flexible and open mind sometimes gets you criticized by people who walk away from the very same explorations that you find refreshing.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Positive Responses Others May Have Toward You<br />
Many others will find you trustworthy and therefore an attractive companion on the intellectual journey. They will appreciate the combination in you of open-mindedness and a commitment to the tried-and-true. In an intellectual climate sometimes dominated by the extremes of either wild innovation or dug-in traditionalism, your moderate views and your proper acceptance of a wide range of possibilities will be a distinctive and refreshing quality. Because you join your curiosity to strong foundational ideas and beliefs and practical solutions to problems, people will trust your occasional explorations into new territories to be reliable, and not "something new for newness sake".<br />
<br />
You are accepting of others, flexible in your own intellectual commitments, well-informed in areas that matter to you, and comfortably aware of who you are and where you stand. This combination will make you a desirable companion on the intellectual journey for many, many people.<br />
<br />
Emotional Stability:<br />
<br />
On Emotional Stability you are:<br />
SOMETIMES STEADY, SOMETIMES RESPONSIVE<br />
<br />
<br />
Words that describe you:<br />
Adaptable<br />
Engaged<br />
Able to Cope<br />
Passionate<br />
Perceptive<br />
Flexible<br />
Receptive<br />
Aware<br />
Avid<br />
<br />
A General Description of Your Reactivity<br />
In some ways, you've got the best of emotional worlds. When emotions rise up from inside you or are brought forth from a conversation by a friend, you know how to engage them. You deal with sadness, fear, joy, anger - whatever comes up - in ways that are perceptive and flexible. You can adapt to whatever level of emotion is appropriate to the moment. At other times, you are able to cope with your emotions in a more reserved manner. Because you are aware of what does and does not make emotional sense in a particular situation, you will decide when it is an appropriate time to express your emotions and when it would be best to keep them to yourself.<br />
<br />
All of this gives you a rich emotional life. You are free to express your passions about certain subjects with appropriate people. But you are also emotionally adaptable; if the conversation needs to be more cerebral, you'll keep it "in your head" and talk calmly through whatever issue is on the table. This emotional awareness serves you well. You seldom get in over your head, either by opening up to the wrong person or by triggering in someone else's emotions they may not be able to deal with.<br />
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<br />
<br />
Negative Reactions Others May Have Toward You<br />
When it comes to dealing with emotions we all meet some people with whom we don't match well. You bring a balanced approach to your emotional life. As such, those who are at the extremes are most likely to have a negative reaction to you. Those who live in their emotions may feel you tend to "live in your head" while those who go through life as an emotional rock may feel that you are a bit too "touchy feely" for their approach.<br />
<br />
And of course it is always possible that because you do balance your emotional approach to life you may misread others - we all do at times. So there have undoubtedly been those times when you have misread cues and stayed in your head with someone who hoped for a more open emotional approach or you may have opened up emotionally with someone who keeps their emotions bottled up. But these things happen and since you do have a good balance of being in touch with your emotions and not being overly impacted by emotional swings, you undoubtedly are able to adapt.<br />
<br />
Another potential problem is that as people get to know you well, they will discover that you have a great balance between emotional expression and emotional control. If they don't have this balance they may wind up envying you. They can't express feelings as well as you, or they are too often out of emotional control and resent you for your ability to cope so well with the very emotions that may trip them up.<br />
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<br />
Positive Responses Others May Have Toward You<br />
Many people will be grateful to find a friend like you who can stay in control when emotions verge on chaos, but who can also go into the tangle of emotions when it is safe and appropriate to do so. Because of your ability to engage them at whatever level they are comfortable, to adapt to whatever changes in emotion emerge in the conversation, and to cope so well with all of it - well, they'll be very glad they found a person like you. You may, in fact, wind up as something of an emotional mentor. Your awareness of the emotional temperature of a situation, your ability to adapt to either heat or cold, and your ability to cope with whatever winds up happening in the conversation could be models for them to follow as they come to terms with their own emotional worlds.<br />
<br />
Conscientiousness:<br />
<br />
Your approach toward your obligations is:<br />
FOCUSED AND FLEXIBLE<br />
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<br />
Words that describe you:<br />
Casual<br />
Informal<br />
Compliant<br />
Reliable<br />
Organized<br />
Solid<br />
Dependable<br />
Uncommitted<br />
Genuine<br />
<br />
A General Description of How You Interact with Others<br />
When you take on a task at work or at home, you are reliable; you get the job done. In an organized way, you define the goal, lay out a plan, figure how long the task will take, and get to work "solid and dependable you".<br />
<br />
But and this is important you're not a slave to the plan. You're committed to it, but not chained to it; the connection is more casual and informal. You know that sometimes "the best laid plans" fall off the tracks; when this happens, you clean up the train wreck and start over, undeterred.<br />
<br />
Though not happening often, when plans change, you're okay with it. In fact, sometimes you change the plan. It's too nice of a Saturday to finish organizing the garage. Let's go for a bike ride instead. True, the next rainy Saturday will likely find you back in the garage, but for now the work can wait.<br />
<br />
What an interesting combination of qualities in you're organized, but casual; solid, but compliant; and dependable, but informal. At home and at work, people know they can rely on you. You take great satisfaction in knowing that people think of you as disciplined and responsible, but you also know that you have something of a free spirit in you, and when this spirit moves you, off you go, following the impulse of the moment. You are rightly proud of your work ethic, but you also enjoy your willingness to lay the tools down, crank up the music and play like a child.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Negative Reactions Others May Have Toward You<br />
Some people live like Marines: duty-bound, disciplined and driven. To these people you might seem uncommitted; where they would never leave work for play or change plans in the middle of their life's forced march, you let the circumstance sway you and move in a different direction, and they don't understand.<br />
<br />
Others live like kites on a string, attached by thin threads to the solid ground of responsibility and are blown about by every gust of impulse or imagination. To these people you might seem too cowardly, like you'll flirt with your impulses but never give in fully, play on a Saturday but never blow of the entire work-week to "follow your bliss".<br />
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While these Marines and kite-flyers might look down on you for your combination of focus and flexibility, others might be envious. They can't free themselves from a sense that they're not doing enough, or from the equally frustrating feeling that they're not free enough.<br />
<br />
And here you are with your accomplishments and your pleasures, getting the job done but also getting your hair blown back as you run with the wind. As far as these people are concerned, you're lucky you've got the best of both of the worlds in which they feel they fail.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Positive Responses Others May Have Toward You<br />
What a great life you have, and a great attitude to boot. You know when to buckle down and push ahead to get the job done, and you do it well. You know when to lay the tools of your trade aside, grab your kite and head for the meadow where you can run with the wind. Many people will see and admire in you this lovely combination of a person who can focus, but who is flexible enough to know when to let the spirit move you in some new and livelier direction.<br />
<br />
It's a life they aspire to, and they delight in seeing it played out in your life. They may ask your advice and turn you into a mentor of the full and balanced experience. They will want to know how you do it, what the costs are, and if you get frightened that you're not working hard enough or playing often enough. They may make you think about your own life more than you have, so you can share it with those who want to emulate this balance between flexibility and focus. They may be correct lucky you!<br />
<br />
Extraversion:<br />
<br />
When it comes to Extraversion you are:<br />
OUTGOING<br />
<br />
<br />
Words that describe you:<br />
Friendly<br />
Gregarious<br />
Full of Life<br />
Unreserved<br />
Kindhearted<br />
Talkative<br />
Emotional<br />
Spontaneous<br />
Vigorous<br />
<br />
A General Description of How You Interact with Others<br />
People light you up. In conversations, planning meetings or almost any social situation, you bring your energy and your friendly, outgoing personality into these engagements with other people, and you come away pumped up. You can hardly wait for the next event, as long as other people will be there. And you're good at it.<br />
<br />
You know how to communicate. You listen well, the first rule of good communication, and then, when it's your turn, you talk vigorously and with animation; in your uninhibited way you give all that you've got to the encounter.<br />
<br />
In situations where you feel very safe, when you know and trust the people you're with, you can be very kindhearted and unrestrained. You let your affection for and pleasure in being with others flow freely. You're wide open And when you get back this same kind of unrestrained warmth, you are deeply satisfied. Because you are so friendly and full of life, these are among your favorite moments.<br />
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Negative Reactions Others May Have Toward You<br />
As much as you like being with other people, not everyone will like being with you. Hard to believe, but your gregarious and warm manner is not everyone's cup of tea. Some people are more cautious than you in personal encounters; others think the work place should be more formal, more impersonal than is comfortable for you. Still others, who may want more of the spotlight, will find you too much to compete with once you get your lively and outgoing self in motion.<br />
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Here's another word of caution. You've been at this warm and open way of relating for a while, but for some people it's a brand new experience. They may be protecting something inside themselves, some fear or guilt or shame, or some private part of their story that they're not yet ready to share. Your openness might threaten them, and they'll take a step back and be reluctant the next time to engage you in the kind of exchange you find so easy and satisfying but they find so dangerous.<br />
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Positive Responses Others May Have Toward You<br />
Many people, most probably, will be glad to be in the room you're in. At work you make the environment livelier and the banter more interesting, so the time moves swiftly and the experience is a happier one. At home you keep everyone connected because you engage each of them in the conversational action, and as a result they are more connected as well with one another. You make home a warmer and more interesting place for everyone who lives there.<br />
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You might also be helpful to some people. There are those who need to talk but aren't very good at it. They don't know how to begin the kind of conversation that would allow them to share whatever is in their personal stories that they'd like or need to talk about. You could make that easier for them with your way with words. Some people just need an example and a little encouragement to come out of their shell and get into the greater fun and personal connectedness that will make their lives so much more satisfying. Again, you might be just the right person to make that happen for them.<br />
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So almost everyone will be glad to be with you, you make life more interesting for those you live and work with, and you could help some of your friends who need just a little encouragement to open up and find in themselves the kinds of energetic and warm connections that you thrive on. Not that you are a pushover; in fact, you are often quite assertive. In taking care of yourself you also make sure that others are engaged and energized.Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-76032828832615397992010-07-23T11:08:00.000-04:002010-07-23T11:08:33.672-04:00Still Working on HeadwayI'm pulling things together with Headway, the WordPress theme. I have found where a lot of things are. One interesting thing is the stronger line between Headway and WordPress. I find Thesis blurs the boundary more, so that I could edit the blog almost using Thesis rather than WordPress. Maybe Thesis will become a stand alone blog platform someday. It would probably be a good one.<br />
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At one point I made a list of things to get done on the blog, Word Grrls. I will post it to Word Grrls over the weekend if I am here (not babysitting). Some of it was stuff I changed through WordPress. Some of it I am still working on. But, quite a bit I have worked out one way or another through Headway itself. I am starting to like it.<br />
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Today I have had about four hours of sleep, my face is really itchy for some reason and we are going out to run errands most of the day. I could just put the TV on and nap in front of it.Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7257038.post-53131618473943633722010-07-20T22:37:00.002-04:002010-07-20T22:41:29.103-04:00Hillsdale, Mill Street<div style="float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thatgrrl/2619350565/" title="photo sharing"><img alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3145/2619350565_fcfc630a02_m.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thatgrrl/2619350565/">Hillsdale, Mill Street</a><br />
Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/thatgrrl/">That Canadian Grrl</a></span></div>We drove by this building today and I noticed a website is now up for a group trying to save it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.hillsdalesimcoehouse.com/">http://www.hillsdalesimcoehouse.com/</a>Laura Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774385463320319572noreply@blogger.com0