Odds and Ends

Check out this really fun link Tracy shared on her blog today: I Write Like. You provide a sample then it analyzes your writing and tells you which author you write like. Here are my results:

I write like
Arthur C. Clarke

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Jen shared some fun info in her blog this weekend, too. Did you know that Blogger offers stats now for your blog? Just look under Tools and Resources at the bottom of your Dashboard and click on "Blogger in Draft". Interesting to see, not that I was particularly surprised by my stats.

Life has been pretty busy since we got back from vacation. I'm behind on my magazines which, in turn, has kept me from reading books. The Book of Eli arrived from Netflix the other day and I have to say I was rather disappointed in it. The premise and previews had raised my expectations a little too high, I guess, since I thought it was slow and boring. Finally made it to a matinee showing of Eclipse, the third in the Twilight series. I thought it was much better than New Moon. More action and less angst. One of the best parts of the week was seeing our local arts center's summer musical. They did The Producers by Mel Brooks and it was a real hoot! I'm always pleased with what quality productions our community theater puts out.

Now, if I can just make myself turn this blasted computer off I might get some reading done....

The Etiquette of Letter Writing

Do you have etiquette questions regarding letter writing, invitations, announcements, or visiting cards? If so, I'm your "go to" person! Maybe I should clarify that. I'm your "go to" person only if you are interested in what was proper in the 1920s!




This clever little volume, published in 1927 by Eaton, Crane & Pike Company, measures about 3 x 5 inches and contains 155 pages. As you can see by the table of contents, it covers a wide variety of topics to assist in dealing with the problems of social correspondence.




To quote page three: "There is nothing more indicative of good breeding and refinement of taste than correspondence; and today, when the expert assistance of stationers, engravers and authorities on the etiquette of correspondence is readily placed at everyone's disposal, there is no excuse for the mistakes sometimes seen."




So what are you waiting for?? Ask those burning questions and I'll provide the answers! (but only if they're covered in the book...)

Posting

Last month I questioned your blog reading habits. Today I'm curious about how you post.

In the past, I composed my entries in Word then pasted them over to Blogger. I liked keeping various "ideas" in my Word documents to work on at my convenience. It was easy to pick up recipes from other Word documents and to paste links from the Internet that I might want to include in an entry.

I have a new laptop. My old one was five years old and in laptop years that's pretty old. The new one is wonderful! I love Windows 7 (so far) and I have all the newest versions of the programs that come on a computer. That includes Word 7. Now when I try to copy and paste from Word to Blogger, it won't let me!! I can copy, but it won't let me paste. Instead, it wants me to use the new Windows blog publishing feature. It's compatible with Blogger, but when I set mine up, it didn't work correctly. *sigh*

I've had to go back to composing in Blogger. If I don't have time to finish a post, I have to leave it as a draft. No, it's not really a problem, but it's not what I was use to. And it will be a bit of a pain until I eventually "rehash" all the recipes from my old blog (which are in a Word document).

So.... how do you post? Do you do everything in Blogger? Do you compose in another program and paste to Blogger? Oh, and how many of you take advantage of that handy feature to "schedule" entries for posting at a future time?

Inquiring minds want to know.

The Legacy Guide

A good friend and I always exchange our Christmas gifts on New Year’s Eve. Her gift to me this year was a copy of The Legacy Guide by Carol Franco and Kent Lineback. A brief glance through it looked quite interesting and I set it aside for closer examination at a later time. I didn’t realize that within 24 hours the addition of two new puppies would drastically reduce my free time and change my priorities.

Several weeks ago I finally had time to sit down and give the book a closer inspection. It’s a guide for “capturing the facts, memories, and meaning of your life” and is set up in a manner that easily walks you through the steps for doing this. Think you can’t write well enough? Perhaps you don’t believe anyone would be interested in your life. Even if they were, could you remember enough to write about? All these concerns and more are addressed in the book. It’s totally up to you to decide how detailed you want to get or how much time you want to spend working on it. Maybe months, maybe years. There are no hard, fast rules. All you need is a ring binder with dividers, some loose-leaf paper and something to write with.

The book has inspired me. In fact, I’m so impressed with it that I’ve mailed copies to each of my siblings. I have no idea if they will follow through and use the guide, but I honestly believe if they’ll just read the first 30 pages, they will be inspired, also.

It may take me the rest of my life to complete the project, but when you really think about it… shouldn’t it?

Diaries and Journals

I’ve been keeping journals and diaries since I was in the 7th grade. Rarely have they been the daily entry type (though I’ve had a few of those) but rather the blank or lined-page journals that allow more freedom of expression. I have all my journals stored in our fire-proof gun safe. I doubt seriously my kids will ever want to go back and read them after I’m dead and gone, but at least they’ll have the option. Sometimes I wonder if I want them reading some of the personal stuff I’ve written, but hey… I don’t think it will matter to me at that point!

In addition to my regular journals I’ve also kept a number of prayer journals over the years. My sister gave me a beautiful daily prayer journal on my birthday which I began using in January. It’s been a challenge writing every day, but definitely worth the effort.

Blogging is fun, but it will never take the place of putting a pen (or pencil) to paper!