Artist: Timothy Norman

Portugese Shepherdess
2007 The Artist's Magazine Annual Competition
Honorable Mention (3rd /1600 entries)

I really love the serenity of this painting. Timothy Norman does beautiful portraits, too, but I really like his European slices of life pieces like this one. How wonderful it would be to live somewhere where scenes like this were commonplace. Perhaps in rural America you could see something similar, but here in L.A. it ain't gonna happen. LOL

Have a terrific weekend. I may or may not post on Monday.

Thursday 3: The Loot

There's a popular meme called Thursday 13 in which every Thursday you make a list of thirteen things. I did this for a few months, but I don't have time for thirteen! So, I whittled it down to Thursday 3.

Here are three things I got for Christmas. :)

1. I like listening to music without lyrics while I write.









I've always wanted to learn how to make an angel food cake. Now I can try it!







I read Pillars of the Earth umpteen years ago. This is a sequel that has gotten some good reviews.

Story: Special Plans

What follows is an analysis of a Woman's World story with suggestions/observations for people who want to sell stories to WW, peppered with some personal opinion, too. :) If you truly want to learn, it's best to have a copy of the story in front of you. (And no, I don't get a kickback for pimping the magazine here!)

Story: "Special Plans" by Jocelyn Dupree from the December 24, 2007 issue.

Tagline: Anna had some good news to report--news her kids would be happy to hear...

In A Nutshell: Anna split with her husband eighteen months ago. Since then she's been dealing with her three kids and a new job at the newspaper. A colleague is interested in her, but it turns out that she and her husband have decided to give it another go.

Teaching Points: This story leads you to believe that the colleague is the love interest, but--surprise!--Anna is getting back together with her estranged hubby. This story goes to show you that you shouldn't be afraid to try something different. I rarely see a bait and switch story like this.

In My Humble Opinion: This is a minor thing, but I got the two kids, Jeff and Jack, mixed up. Both names start with J and are four letters long.

No Butts About It

I recently subscribed to Artist's Magazine. (My son was having a magazine drive, and I put on my dutiful parent hat.) It's going to be a fantastic resource for my Art Friday Blogs. Today is a perfect example.

This is SO COOL.

There's an organization called Artists in Cellophane that sells art at five bucks a pop out of refitted cigarette machines, called Art-o-mats. You never know what you're going to get when you pull the lever, but it will be original artwork. It might be a tiny sculpture, a mobile, a painting, or something else. But it will be real, honest to goodness art.


Here are some examples of what you might get for your five bucks.

Jules Vitali

Janet Tanguay

Susan Harper

Isn't this the coolest, daddy-o? There's one relatively near us at the Museum of Contemporary Art, and I want to take my sons there over the winter break so we can see an art-o-mat in person and buy some art!

Thursday 3: Silver Bells on the Silver Screen

Here are three quotes from one of my favorite holiday movies. See if you can guess what flick it is.

1. "You stink. You smell like beef and cheese! You don't smell like Santa."

2. "First we'll make snow angels for a two hours, then we'll go ice skating, then we'll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse cookie dough as fast as we can, and then we'll snuggle."

3. "I am a cotton-headed ninnymoggins."

Rice for Words

Here is an addictive "game," that has a dual function. One, it helps you in your quest to procrastinate, a never-ending (subconscious) goal of mine. Two, it can help feed the hungry.

Free Rice

Recipe: Palmiers

These are absolutely delicious and impressive looking cookies that are SO easy to make. Check it out:

2 cups granulated sugar (I like to use the big crystal sugar from the cake decorating store, but sometimes that's hard to find.)
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
2 sheets puff pastry, defrosted (recommended: Pepperidge Farm)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Combine the sugar and kosher salt. Pour 1 cup of the sugar/salt mixture on a flat surface such as wooden board or marble. Unfold each sheet of puff pastry onto the sugar and pour 1/2 cup of the sugar mixture on top, spreading it evenly on the puff pastry. This is not about sprinkling, it's about an even covering of sugar. With a rolling pin, roll the dough until it's 13 by 13-inches square and the sugar is pressed into the puff pastry on top and bottom. Fold the sides of the square towards the center so they go halfway to the middle. Fold them again so the two folds meet exactly at the middle of the dough. Then fold 1 half over the other half as though closing a book. You will have 6 layers.

Slice the dough into 3/8-inch slices and place the slices, cut side up, on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Place the second sheet of pastry on the sugared board, sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar mixture, and continue as above. (There will be quite a bit of sugar left over on the board.) Slice and arrange on baking sheets lined with parchment.

Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes until caramelized and brown. Transfer to a baking rack to cool.

Story: A Real Christmas

What follows is an analysis of a Woman's World story with suggestions/observations for people who want to sell stories to WW, peppered with some personal opinion, too. :) If you truly want to learn, it's best to have a copy of the story in front of you. (And no, I don't get a kickback for pimping the magazine here!)

Story: "A Real Christmas" by Katharine Swartz from the December 11, 2007 issue.
Tagline: Alice realized that the holidays were just the right time to open her heart to love again.

In A Nutshell: Five years after the death of her husband, Alice decides to try to re-embrace the holiday season by taking her two kids to get a fresh Christmas tree. When she has difficulty, the tree farmer helps out and gets asked to dinner when he offers to also help her put the tree up.

Teaching Points:
1. Keep descriptions of characters to a minimum. They're not necessary in a WW story. In this tale, this is all we get:

A man with a friendly face approached us as we climbed out of the car.

2. Just as in full length novels, there should be a climax to your story, but usually it's subtle. Here it's when Alice realizes it's time to leave the Christmas tree farm.

Best Part: I liked seeing Alice grow as a character when she suggested that Rob join them for dinner that night.

Artist: Judith T. Greenberg

Happy Art Friday, everyone!

This piece is titled Flora by Judith T. Greenberg. I like the bright colors and that open book shape. Even though it's called Flora, it reminds me of a comfy bed, inviting me to snuggle in with some hot chocolate (even though I really drink a lot more coffee than cocoa.) It also feels slightly Asian to me, which could be another reason why I like it.

Artist's Statement: I'm interested in the complex patterns that define the uniqueness of the smallest parts of nature and how these small microcosms contribute to the grander patterns of our changing environment. My intention is to construct pieces that describe visually a place and time, that convey the energy and design of a particular moment.

My hope is that the pieces that result become passages that evoke both a sense of the familiar and the mysterious.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Thursday 3: Zero on the Tasty Scale

There's a popular meme called Thursday 13 in which every Thursday you make a list of thirteen things. I did this for a few months, but I don't have time for thirteen! So, I whittled it down to Thursday 3.

This week I'm listing three foods I detest.

1. Cilantro - I do like Mexican food, but raw cilantro almost makes me gag. It can completely ruin a bite of food for me, and I'm not exaggerating. I will pick tiny bits of it out of my guacamole or taco, if I've forgotten to tell the waiter to hold the cilantro.

2. Liver - If it's HIGHLY disguised, like in a very high end pate, I might be able to stomach it.

3. Fish eggs - They're gelantinous and raw and usually come in globs, meaning I'm supposed to chew on a bunch of them at once. Gross. Again, in the sushi restaurant I can often be seen scraping tiny orange flecks (masago) from my sushi.

Any zero tolerance foods on your list?

Manly Candy: Alessandro Gassman

"I romp in the waves, sexy, half my manly face in shadow. And yet, alas, I, Alessandro Gassman, am lonely. I need a patient woman, a woman who could wait for my manly, yet natural, flatulence to dissipate. Then, they would discover the true me. The fresh-as-a-daisy me."

Joke: Convict on the Loose

An escaped convict broke into a house and tied up a young couple who had been sleeping in the bedroom.

As soon as he had a chance, the husband turned to his voluptuous young wife, bound-up on the bed in a skimpy nightgown, and whispered, "Honey, this guy hasn't seen a woman in years. Just cooperate with anything he wants. If he wants to have sex with you, just go along with it and pretend you like it. Our lives depend on it!"

"Oh, honey," the wife whispered back, "I'm so glad you feel that way, because he just told me he thinks you have a nice, tight butt!"

Story: The Way You Look Today

What follows is an analysis of a Woman's World story with suggestions/observations for people who want to sell stories to WW, peppered with some personal opinion, too. :) If you truly want to learn, it's best to have a copy of the story in front of you. (And no, I don't get a kickback for pimping the magazine here!)

Story: "The Way You Look Today" by Linda Nielsen from the December 4, 2007 issue.

Tagline: Marilyn saw. herself through John's eyes--and felt beautiful

In A Nutshell: A woman approaches her 50th birthday and feels blue. Her husband convinces her that, without a doubt, he sees the entire woman and loves what those fifty years have wrought.

Teaching Points: WW guidelines state, "When we say romance, what we really mean is relationship--whether it's just beginning or is about to celebrate its 50th anniversary." This story exemplified that idea, going outside of the common "first meet" box.

Best Part: I really fell for John here: "...but this time I've hit the nail on the head. You won't be exchanging this gift!" I thought that was hilarious and said a lot about his gift giving history, but that he was still out there trying to get it right. What a cutie.

In My Humble Opinion: This is extremely nit-picky, but I would have exchanged "a" for "her" in this sentence so it read, "She felt humbled after seeing herself, not through her own critical eye, but through the eyes of HER loving husband." It's subtle, but this isn't just any ole husband, it's HER husband. :) And, man, he's a keeper!

I liked this story a lot, mostly because it really spoke to my own life as a middle-aged mom with extra pounds and stretchmarks. In today's society, it's easy to feel inferior, but this story reminds us beauty, and love, go beyond appearances.

No Blog

I'm sick and grumpy. I won't be blogging until Monday, most likely. Have a good weekend.

Manly Candy: Andy Roddick, Tennis Pro

"Some line judge needs glasses. That ball was in. I am so angry that I feel an Incredible Hulk moment coming on. I can't turn green like the Hulk, but hey, you get to gaze upon my manly physique."

Good to the Last Drop

I haven't recommended a product in a long time, but I'm excited about this one. It's the Krups Burr Coffee Grinder. I've had a regular blade coffee grinder that has done its job, but I have since become a professional barista and am a little more demanding of my coffee grinder. I want to be able to control the coarseness of my grind so that if I want coffee for a french press instead of for my drip coffee maker, I can have it.

This model does that easily. It also has this handy feature that allows me to fill the hopper with whole beans, and then just choose the number of cups I want coffee for. It will then measure out the amount automatically. How cool is that?! In addition, it's real slick looking and compact. There was a more expensive model for sale at Starbucks, but it was huge and loud. This Krups is fairly quiet.

So, if you're looking for a coffee grinder, look no further.

Story: From the Heart

What follows is an analysis of a Woman's World story with suggestions/observations for people who want to sell stories to WW, peppered with some personal opinion, too. :) If you truly want to learn, it's best to have a copy of the story in front of you. (And no, I don't get a kickback for pimping the magazine here!)

Story: "From the Heart" by Laura Reeves from the November 27, 2007 issue.

Tagline: It looked like maybe all of Jenny's dreams were about to come true...

In A Nutshell: A woman has just bought a ranch and always dreamed of owning a horse. She attends a horse auction and one horse in particular catches her eye. Despite the flaws a little boy and his widower dad point out, she has her heart set on this horse. It ends up that they're neighbors.

Teaching Points:
1. This story begins and ends with quotations from Thoreau and Victor Hugo, something I've never seen before in a WW story. The lesson is don't be afraid to try something different.

2. Typically, WW stories end with soft Happily Ever Afters in which there are no weddings or proposals. Usually we get as far as making a date. But this one didn't even have that. We leave Jenny and Brice not even an hour into their relationship as they're going into the horse auction. It's our hope as a reader that these two will find romance together, what with their common interest in horses, the proximity of their houses, and the fact that the little boy gets along well with her. This is perfectly fine. I see this more and more often these days.

Woman's World Standbys: Animal story and a widower.

Best Part: "Those were some hard words I just heard." Oh, this one piece of dialogue is so cowboy to me and went a long way in making this character real for me.

In My Humble Opinion: Kids are pretty resilient, but I found it a little odd that he was ready to cry at the mention of his late mother, but five seconds later had perked up. If it had been me, I'd have had the wife's death be longer than a year ago and sacrifice the assumption on Jenny's part that he was married.