April 13, 2014 · 9:40 pm

Billy Joel….because Billy Joel!

I had the privilege of seeing Billy Joel live in concert Friday night.  Wow.  I consider myself a writer, and like to think I could accurately relate this experience to you, but I’m just not sure I can.  How can I tell you what a 15,000+ person crowd singing the chorus of “The Piano Man” to the Piano Man himself feels like?  How can I tell you that when the bongos started up for “River of Dreams” I was twelve years old again, and literally bounced in my chair, clapping my hands and squealing?

Despite the dizzying steepness of the seating at the Scottrade Center in St Louis, I settled into my seat filled with excitement and a little apprehension.  We’d had these tickets for over two months (a Valentine’s present from my knight in shining armor), so I’d had a lot of time to build myself up for this.  I have always been amazed by Billy Joel, and to actually see him play live was like a dream come true.  What if it wasn’t as good as I expected?

It turns out there was no need to worry.  Between songs, he made fun of Ted Nugent, Elton John, and even himself, played bits from the Beatles and Bob Dylan, and told stories to create a much closer environment than I could have imagined in a such a large venue.  Rocking out so hard on his piano stool that I thought he would fall over, he showed that he can still sing like nobody’s business at 64 years old.  He played older songs from the 70’s that I wasn’t as familiar with, built up to a few of the later hits and left the stage, only to come back for an encore straight from the 80’s.  He turned the mic stand into a baton as he sang “Uptown Girl”, and left the packed house in a delirious uproar.  I’ve said for awhile that I wasn’t really into going to concerts, but it turns out I just hadn’t been to a good one in a long time.

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Photo:  billyjoel.com

 

 

 

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April 7, 2014 · 9:31 pm

Jumping off the Cliff

I consider myself a writer first and foremost, but I do have a day job.  A pays-the-bills(ish) job.  A well-crap-the-kids-gotta-have-health-insurance job.  And while in some ways that takes the pressure off of my writing (I’m not going to live in a cardboard box if my latest book doesn’t sell well), there are other pressures that it adds.

For instance, when I’m at work I can’t be blogging.  Torture!  There are so many good blog ideas that go floating through my head when I’m there, and there’s nothing I can do about it.  Okay, okay, so I’m not completely helpless since I can jot them down in my note app on my phone.  But sometimes the gibberish I put in there doesn’t make sense three days later, or even three hours later, and I’m left with the agony of a good idea that’s died.

I’ve considered jumping off the cliff of workdom and seeing if I can fly.  Quitting my job is scary, but trying to build up a side business while working full time, going to school, and raising three kids is freaking insane.  I was thinking about all of this earlier today (at work), and it made me question myself:

Why didn’t I save a nice little chunk of money so I could freelance full time?  Well that one’s easy to answer:  I have kids, therefore I have no money.

What was I thinking buying a brand new car and burying myself under payments?  That one took me a minute, but I realized the car purchase came about six months before I remembered I had dreams once, and that it was time to live them (or at least start to).

Why haven’t I been blogging longer?  I didn’t think I had anything to say.  And right at first, coming up with blog post ideas seemed impossible.  Now that I’ve become more comfortable with it, the floodgates have opened!

Where am I going with all this?  Well, stay tuned.  I can tell you that I’m close enough to the edge of the cliff that my toes are dangling.

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Photo courtesy of papaija2008 on freedigitalphotos.net

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April 1, 2014 · 8:09 am

NCAA takes away reporter’s cat mug because it can

Very interesting little tidbit, and I am not a basketball fan. I am currently drinking my morning coffee out of my favorite cat mug….think the NCAA police will confiscate it off my desk? 🙂

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March 31, 2014 · 11:30 am

The Lunch Break

This stolen snippet of time

useless

for anything worth pondering

other than worries

loneliness

a dwindling checkbook

and a few bad poems.

 

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March 24, 2014 · 9:15 pm

Our Life is a Circus…

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….and Porkchop is our dog-face boy.

 

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March 17, 2014 · 1:43 pm

Strangers at the Drive Thru

A couple weeks ago I went through the Taco Bell drive thru. I pulled forward to the window (as instructed). The guy opened said window, gave me my total, and then said, “Oh, hey! How are you?”
Um.  I guess this is the part where my lying/customer service skills come in, because with very little hesitation I replied, “Oh, I’m great! How about you?”
He tried to make further small talk, but fortunately the food was ready because I do not for the life of me know who this guy was. I’d love to think that he recognized me because, as my daughter puts it, I’m a ‘famous writer’, but I have a suspicion it wasn’t.
Fast forward a couple weeks to today, when I went through McDonald’s for a soda. Quoting the Taco Bell guy, I said, “Oh, hey! How are you?” to the girl at the window.
Here’s where there’s a twist.  She told me that I looked familiar but she couldn’t quite place me, and could I tell her how we know each other?
Why couldn’t I have said that at Taco Bell? I could have solved the mystery right then and there! I am still wondering how that guy knows me, or if maybe he was mistaking me for someone else, but since I’m spineless I never will. Oh, sure I could go back through that same Taco Bell a few times and hope to see him again, but again since I’m spineless (and because it seems creepy) that will probably never happen.

 

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March 13, 2014 · 8:28 pm

Athena’s Dream is open!

Hey everyone!  Please drop by my Etsy shop, Athena’s Dream.  While I’m a writer first and foremost, I need lots of outlets for my creative energy!  There are a few items right now but there will be more coming soon.  Thanks in advance!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/AthenasDream

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March 10, 2014 · 11:20 am

The Lost Romance of the Library

I have loved going to the library ever since I was a little kid.  I remember the public library where we lived when I was in grade school had a huge kids section (or at least it seemed huge to me at the time), and I felt like I could spend forever there.

One of the things I always thought was super cool about library books was that you could look on the inside of the cover and see all the date stamps for each time it had been checked out.  This told me how many times the book had been checked out before (and the thrill if I was the first one!), and how long it had been in the library.  It gave me more of a connection with the book, and somehow, a connection with everyone else who had read it.

Now the libraries have gone digital.  They scan your library card just like it’s a Kroger card, shoot a laser at the books you want to take home, and that’s it.  That’s.  It.  No satisfying thump as the book is stamped, just a dismal barcode stuck to the inside of the book along with a friendly message about how not returning a library book is theft.

A little bit of romance stolen by the digital age.  Sigh.  Now go buy my ebooks. 🙂

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Photo courtesy of adamr on freedigitalphotos.net

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March 3, 2014 · 9:58 pm

Jury Duty…Or Lack Thereof

On my second week of being on call for jury duty, I was slightly less nervous than the first go round.  The biggest plus is that I knew I would get home far earlier than I do from work, so my kids would be thrilled.  But I just didn’t want to do it.  Why?  Well, for me the biggest thing would probably be that I worry too much about things, and the idea makes me a nervous wreck.  But what about most people?

I had a conversation with a friend, who stated that she wouldn’t feel comfortable sending someone to jail even if she was fairly certain that person was guilty.  Who was she to judge?  Valid point.

But just like everything else, there’s a flipside:  What if the accused had done something terrible to me or to my loved one?  Wouldn’t I want a jury of my peers to spend their time listening to witnesses, examining evidence, and determining the truth?  Doesn’t someone deserve the same courtesy from me when they are the victim?

This really left me wondering where our send of duty is.  I mean, after all, it’s called jury duty.  Not jury onlyifyoureallyfeellikeit. 

Have you been called for jury duty before?  I’d love to hear about it!

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photo courtesy of Salvatore Vuono via freedigitalphotos.net

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March 2, 2014 · 12:14 pm

It’s Read an Ebook Week!

This means you can get all my books for free on Smashwords this week!  Just click on the badge below!

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