Warning: Some Violence and Much Strong Language.SHE WROTE: Making It Make Sense
We're busy.
Yeah, you'd think we'd have Agnes written by now, but writing it is not enough. It has to make sense. We have to go through and figure out what it MEANS. How the scenes relate to each other. If Shane is doing this in one scene and Agnes is doing this in the next scene, does the fact that those two scenes are next to each other create meaning? Are they parallel? And the scenes that follow those scenes, do they build on the ones that came before? How? Does the tension escalate? And what kind of tension? Do the characters get angrier? More frightened? More turned on? Do they learn more? Where's the turning point? What does it mean for each character? How is it different for each character? How is it the same; that is, how does it unite them?
And you don't know how to answer those questions until you have the thing written and you have something to analyze, at which point it's white board time.
Like this:
Doing this helps me figure out where I've bobbled things. Take the first scene with Lisa Livia. Agnes hasn't seen her for awhile and she's delighted she's back, and they talk and Lisa Livia drops a bomb and Agnes is shocked and then Lisa Livia goes on a rant and Agnes watches and then the scene ends. And I knew that was wrong, but it wasn't until I diagrammed Act One out on white board that it was obvious that Agnes had to get more irritated in that scene, Agnes wasn't going to get angry or lose her temper, but she was going to get cranky. Plus there was a scene following that with LL's mother that just wouldn't fit no matter what I did until I realized it was the third beat of that LL scene. Once I could see it on the white board, I went back to the computer and it all fell into place in the writing.I’d never start with the white board. You have to write the book first and see what you’ve got, let the Girls in the Basement (or the Boys in the Basement if you’re Bob) send up the good stuff. But the Girls are a mess at organization, you do have to take a hand at some point, and that’s when you haul out the white boards. Or if you’re Bob, the spread sheets. Whatever.
Back to work. And don’t expect a lot of blogging this weekend. We’re busy. It’s crunch time at HWSW. Deadline looms.
218 Comments:
No worries, Jenny, I bet Bob has all kinds of ways to deal with Looming Deadlines.
Nice to see the linearity finally has its time and place for you. (Seeing all those columns and lines, and colors - really did make me think it is a Spreadsheet in another galaxy!)
Work away, work away. We know the drill, talk amongst ourselves.
Got so excited to see Jenny's new post . . . I didn't even notice I was FIRST!
This is incredibly helpful. Just seeing how you organize things? Even putting "Agnes v. Joey Ramone" or whoever - making it clear that in each scene there is an antagonist (imagine that!) - and the rising action on the right side? HELP. FUL.
You ask how to aid creativity and mentor it - well, showing us how you're doing what you're doing is a huge help.
Thank you.
hey, no problem, we can be by ourselves, we're having polls. and lurkers are coming out of the wood work.
so of course i immediately clicked on the white board to enlarge it so i could go read it.
who's Wilkes? i don't remember a Wilkes. or a China (and is this the country or a person?). i do remember #18 Agnes vs Troy, meat, fork though.
god this looks great.
All hail the white board!!!
Things are a' happening.
updates so that everyone will see it:
poster volunteers for if we do blog: zaza, bryan, JJ, BCB, kaitlin, MCB, OH, mary stella, lou ("guest" blogger), wapa (not sure yet) and CMS.
total votes on the name so far: 28
SO GO VOTE!
BTW: you have very clear writing, jenny. so thanks.
patrice...
You hit the nail on the head! Things are a happening!
Looks as if that book is going to be printed!
lgjtzru...green
lets give Jenny the zipper, Robert urges
OH, I enlarged it and read it, too. I like the branch out from numbers 9, 10, 11: food and sex. Sounds good to me.
zkollgp zebra kills other laughing literaries, GAM proclaims.
OH,
Thanks for tracking and posting these tallys, and for the reminder that we do want as much input from as many people as we can get. If we want to keep the community going after the end of the year, we need to make the decisions as a community.
On a completely different topic, the time to post a photo of myself will be here very shortly, so anbody interested in getting the sneak preview before Jen-t... send me an e-mail to make sure I have your address. You can find my address on the "Contact Me" page of my blog. If I've already got your address, I will be sending a link this weekend (or Monday at the latest) and it will be up to you whether you care to give Jen a hard time with your fore-knowledge.
I'm warning you though, it may not be pretty. I've been told I look like Regis, only older.
uqndfc - Unknown quantities need definite formulas, Cherries.
Ooooh. The outline is really cool. And interesting to see how this stuff gets planned, organized, etc. It will be especially interesting after we can read the book and compare to what we read here.
OH: I believe, in this context, that china would be the stuff you put on the table. You know. Dishes.
Bryan: sure, go ahead. Be That Way. A photo comes when I WILL BE AWAY FROM MY EMAIL AND WEB for 2 weeks. Not a problem. Really.
I've used a white board for syns and 2nd drafts. Yours is fascinating!
May The Girls send up only good stuff that plays well with the stuff sent by Bob's Boys.
glamour-geek,
I could put it off until you get back... if you can clear it with Jen, that is. She might hit me again if I asked her.
gg - that's what you and Mary get for going to Maui (*she says... jealously!!*)!!
rgxgss
regis gets Xena's goat (by) singing strongly
Strange. According to my computer's calculations, Jenny wrote this blog one hour in the future. It says she posted this on Wednesday at 2:27, and it's only 1:24 here! Jenny, apparently, can do anything, including bending time to her will and whim...
bbjcqdx -- Buxom Belgian jezebels can't quite divert Xavier...
For those of you who need a map, we are voting on our official name. The link is on Zaza's comment fairly far down in the comments section of Bob's last post.
What a great insight into what excellent writing is all about.
Thank you both for sharing
And is that a Cherry phone in the background?
K.L. said...
For those of you who need a map, we are voting on our official name. The link is on Zaza's comment fairly far down in the comments section of Bob's last post. /
Well, 31 people have voted already. If we could get a few more of you to vote, maybe we could close the poll early and buy that domain name. ;+) Here's the link, again.
cbbarandgrill.com is way ahead, with the only serious competition coming from cherrybombdiner.com. So, if you have strong feelings one way or the other, and haven't voted, go do so now. Thanks.
izcxqooi (blue)
Irate, Zoe caused Xavier's quite outrageously overdone inebriation.
Jenny - well, neat hand writing, organized thoughts, and well, were you a teacher at one point??? *snort* I tried a white board once, my son decided it was his personal color thing and he used a sharpie, not a white board marker. Man, that was bad.
Bryan - Fine - go ahead, send it out to everyone but me, sigh, maybe I should just...snif, snif...someone want to hand me a tissue....
Jenny, thanks for explaining what to do with the patterns once you find them. And how to find them. I really had been wondering about this. I'm sure it will make even more sense once I get home to a computer that will allow me to see what the heck is written on the white board.
Any chance Bob would let us see his spreadsheet? It would be fascinating to compare that and the white board for Act One. Might be difficult to post though.
And we don't expect "a lot of blogging." One at a time is enough for us.
No wonder they want us out of the basement. Must be awfully hard to wade through the CBs every time the Girls and Boys want to send something up. Good thing we're taking care of that attic problem before we go, too.
Zaza: Thanks again for all the hard work and persistence in getting us organized. I think we'd better leave the poll up at least until tomorrow morning so the other side of the world can weigh in once they wake up or get home from work or whatever they're doing instead of voting.
bw
Uh, Brian, why don't you just add yur pic to your photos on your website?
I guess that would be too hard to do, bless your heart?
Oh, snort!
ielocfob: 8, count 'em 8 characters! Piffle!
Jessica - think time zones - Jenny is in Ohio, but her webmistress is in New York...so I think the blog is on New York time. I'm on the left coast and 3 hours behind NY.
WOW - folks voting fast and furious!! Very cool...makes me think that this new idea is going to fly. Yay!!!!
Now all we need is an honor guard to escort Scope Dope, and we are on our way (*to the promised land*... everbody sing now).
eiuze
easy to use
Have I said I'm lovin' this, actual writing in process - for something I know I will read. I'm not sure I can adequately express all that is in my head! Far too cool for me.
Glad we weren't in the basement it would have been overwhelming, although I'm sure there was lots of light for good thoughts. That dern attic was dark.
Bryan - I'm not sure anyone can look older than Regis. And it really is inconsequential. Although I'm late to this game so I could be way off, and it may be the only thing of consequence.
BCB - you are clever and I really like the way your head works! spread-sheet to wipe-board comps - I like it!
Zaza - kudos!
Jenny - THANK YOU FOR THE WHITE BOARD SHOT!!! We love this stuff, you know that, right? But where's Garth? And the Tootaloo Brothers? Or are they the Thibaults? And for heaven's sake never never never apologize to CBs because you are WRITING US A BOOK!!! Clearly you've been breathing in marker fumes if you think this bothers us.
And I love this ... "Agnes loses it, her future now in jeopardy; Shane forced to choose, his future now in jeopardy"
Jeez - its a white board and I'm hanging on every word.
AND THAT'S JUST ACT ONE!!!!!
I'm gonna combust when this becomes an actual on the shelves book. Won't be able to handle it.
Zaza--Thanks for doing this for us. No matter which name wins, we have you to thank for your ingenuity and hard work.
BCB--Thank you for your kind offer from this morning! I saw it, but couldn't post anything back to you since I was at work and they tend to frown on that sort of activity. The boss will mumble something about crazy websites and earning one's keep, nonsense like that. Clearly, they do NOT understand the life of a CB. I don't know why I keep going back there; something about buying flip flogs and lamb blasting comes to mind...
I LOVE this place!!
red zaxcwevs
Zaza always eXcites Crusie, well, everyone values something.
Cranky Agnes, I'm loving her attitude and continue to look forward to the book.
Orginazational charts on a white board ... fab. That's something I can relate to quickly and easily. Hey, an idea (not a great one, the beggning of school is stressful), get yourself a smart board and hook that puppy up to the computer. What fun you'd have then with interactive charts.
Sigh. Just foolin.
Lori said...
A small concern I have right now is that if we rush all this too much, some people won’t feel like they had enough time to think it through, try things out, and make their opinions heard.
The reason I put such a short lead time on the domain name poll is that we want to get it while we still have all our choices. It's unlikely that the one we want will be taken a month from now, but I've dawdled about buying one and found that someone, 6000 miles away, had the same great idea I did, only moved a day earlier. So, best not to wait.
We'll vote on the format next, for our first foray into independence: blog, forum, Yahoo group. We don't have to rush so much with that one, but we want to make a decision early enough to start checking out the various options within each of those categories. Well, not Yahoo, but blogs and forums have many different packages avaiable.
AND...
Lori said...
I really liked CherryBombShelter and CherryBombsAway and some of the other name ideas. I’m hoping we can use them as titles for some of the areas of our Bar and Grill.
That's all stuff that will develop as we go on. The things we're doing polls for are pretty cut and dried. This is going to be a true work-in-progress for a long time. If we expand to the website idea, you and other people who have ideas for areas/pages, can make the suggestion and maybe take over responsibility for that section.
I'm going to do the look and feel. I may come up with a couple version, on which we can have another poll, but I'll have to see what I find that inspires me. /;+) I'm thinking diner decor or something that gives that feel to it.
Quickie on blog names, domain names etc. Each page of a web site has it's own name, so having a Cherrybomb Shelter or any other named section is fine, doesn't interfere with the domain name. Nor does the blog name affect the domain name, and vice versa. We could call the blog Cherrybomb Chat Central if we wanted and still have the domain be cbbarandgrill.com. Or we can give them both the same name. Matters not. The domain name is just our CB campus's address on the Web, the other titles are the addresses of buildings or rooms within the campus. Or are we a hotel? ;+) All that stuff has a while to be worked out.
Right now we need to grab the domain name, and we need to decide on the format of our initial home. So, no one needs to feel shy about making suggestions, especially if they're willing to manage that area. We don't want to get too fragmented, but we do want everyone to feel at home and to feel like they're getting out of it what they need.
For example, Tal and Tigress, our great info resources, could do a CB library/research area, where books could be recommended, questions posted etc. We've got a lot of librarians who could do posts on how to find things in a library, based on questions we might have about researching various topics.
There's a ton of things we could do with a site that are more structured and could make the CBs who are more comfortable in that atmosphere feel like they are still a part of us. The blog, since that seems to be what we'll wind up with for our core, doesn't have to be the only social area.
So, if you have doubts about the blog format, and that does indeed become out starting point, don't give up on us. Hang around and help us build a home that's going to feel comfy for everyone.
/sermon
I'm going to be really tacky and post this same comment on the three newest posts, so everyone gets to see it and knows that everyone counts.
Hey, Holly! Are you out there lurking? I know I've seen you post a time or two. For those of you who don't know Holly from JCF, she's a really talented artist, and much better qualified to do our logo than I am. If she's actually in lurkdom and can be coaxed out of that darn, dark, stuffy attic. If not, we can go seek her out, drag her kicking and screaming into the light. Nah, she wouldn't kick and scream. She likes the light.
Thanks for all the thanks, but it's stuff I enjoy, so no problem. I tend to operate in stealth mode here, but, in the corporate world, if you don't have the reins of your meeting very firmly in hand, I will take them away and go off at a gallop. And it's not intentional. Just a compulsive planner/organizer. ;+)
37 votes so far. Have you voted? VOTE.
Also there's some interestng discussions toward the end of the previous two posts if anyone wants to go back and have a look. People are still busily commenting there. We're going to break Blogger yet.
ogcnc (green)
Oh, gosh, Cherrybombs never cuss. /;+)
zaza said "Thanks for all the thanks, but it's stuff I enjoy, so no problem."
still, would you like to be our GAW? let's see, we have male GAMS, JJ is a princess/soon-to-be Dictator, Jenny is Queen Cherry... oh wait, your Madame Zaza. never mind.
g-g: china. dishes. duh. *smacks head* thank you. i'm losing my mind.
thanks bryan.
Zaza: Not tacky at all. Bob might not be the only one who can't see past 100 comments and we really do want to include everyone who wants to have a say.
Zaza just said this, BUT: For anyone who is no longer reading the comments on the last two posts, you're missing out on some really terrific conversations and highly creative suggestions for the new CB home, whatever form it may take.
Jenny, now that I can read what you wrote I'm very impressed. Not that I wasn't before -- whatever. And I printed it out for future reference. Yeah, ok, we've already agreed I'm strange. Did you and Bob decide to keep the name Wilson?
Bob, we really need to see the spreadsheet now. Well, not NOW, but soon. Think how educational it will be. Put that degree to work here. Please?
bw
So do you think Mom is jumping for joy that we are collecting boxes and looking at apartments? Do you think she will help us move? I wonder what kind of house warming present she will give us?
OH sez: g-g: china. dishes. duh. *smacks head* thank you. i'm losing my mind.
Well, that's what you get for hanging out here.
Yeah, china. Dishes. The things that shatter into a million pieces when you throw them. Remember, Agnes has anger issues...
Bryan: email it to me. You know how to find me. Maybe Mary and I will find an internet cafe if we can tear ourselves away from getting sunburnt and all the fawning HSDs. That's Hot Surfer Dudes to you.
BCB: maybe Wilson is now Wilkes. Bob didn't want to keep the name Wilson, remember.
I used to pack lightly. Honestly. Nothing to it. Now I have no idea how I'm going to get all this stuff in my bag. Yes, bag. I'm only taking one plus my zebra print carry-on. I refuse to take more than one bag. It's ridiculous to take so much, but I blame shoes. I need my running shoes to work out, my sandals, tango shoes in case I go dancing Friday and/or Sunday, heeled sandals in case I go someplace where I need to wear something other than my ratty old sandals, and flip flogs for the beach. If it weren't for the footwear, I'd have no problems fitting everything.
Well, the footwear and the books. I have a LOT of books to take with me. Some are for Mary, so it's not all my fault. Besides, you need books on vacation, right? You all know that...
I think I'm going to need to unpack everything again and cut a few things out. Sigh.
GG wrote "Bryan: email it to me."
Not until he e-mails it to me first!
Jen-t,
What do you mean "first"? I'm posting the pictures (all of them) so that I can get help deciding which one to send you. I'm only doing it this way because I'm feeling so much pressure to make it worth your while and I want it to be worth your while. You understand that I only want to please you, don't you?
Aw, c'mon. How about a grape?
just basically wrote a list of what people wanted on the website so far on the post below. go see what i forgot.
AND VOTE.
meeting up with some friends tonight. i'm bringing four paper bags filled with books for them. not to mention the ones i have to take to the library.
ok, have to go do some errands.
K.L. said...So do you think Mom is jumping for joy that we are collecting boxes and looking at apartments? Do you think she will help us move? I wonder what kind of house warming present she will give us?
More importantly, do you think Dad will send some of his SF buddies to help us?
g-g - I'm just catching up, but Maui means little slippery things, yes? And you must always make room for shoes, knowing you will only wear running and flip-flogs. As you stand before the mirror trying to remember if the heels really are necessary, 'cuz dancing is tiring, take the flips just in case. And on vacation I've been known to read a brain-candy book a day, so books too are necessary. Your best bet is to skimp on the clothes. And remember nothing liquid in your zebra bag!
And having married a HSD, they really only like slippery things.I envy just the idea of tango shoes!
OH,
You are something else. Well done, girl!
andi: Yeah, I know. No liquids. The airlines plan to dehydrate us to make us easier to ship.
And crankier. I usually take 2-3 litres of water with me for a trip like this.
And I need ALL those shoes with me, I just wish they were deflatable or something. Because they take up a lot of space. Especially the running shoes.
And then andi said: And having married a HSD, they really only like slippery things.
Ahem. No comment. This is a family blog. :)
I really having been reading too much lately, because that was a little racy! And quite possibly tmi. I've read,reread, opened and read Bet Me about thousand times in the last couple of weeks - I must have been channelling Min and Liza. Because of course ALL shoes must go with you! Save me a drink with an umbrella. I'm mixing my Crusies.
It looks like OH and Lori are keeping track of the ideas for our new digs, so, maybe, if someone has an idea, flag it for them in your comment, like all caps and bold: ORANGEHANDS
That's a < b > and a < / b > without all the spaces for bold.
And OH is the go to person for those who are brave enough to be posters.
If you two get a list together of all the ideas, I can put it up and link to it so everyone can have a look. Anyone whose idea went missing or who has another idea can notify you guys to add it.
43 votes! Looks like cbbarandgrill.com is going to take it. If you like one of the other options, and haven't already voted, vote now. Can I nag, or what?
yuevdsdj (green)
the Yiddish name for one of those extra days we don't have in our calendar? Or am I totally confused. A good possibility.
Okay, it took me six tries to get this to work. The first verification was too slow or I made a typo. Then it kept bringing me to a blank window but saying, "Done." So, FYI, if that happens in the little Blogger comment window? You can hit the Backspace key to go back to the previous window, the one that still has your unpublished comment in it. BACKSPACE KEY Almost as important as CONTROL-Y for do overs.
G-G wrote: maybe Wilson is now Wilkes. Bob didn't want to keep the name Wilson, remember.
Yeah, I know. But look at J's whiteboard and way down at the bottom is Shane vs Wilson, twice. That's why I asked.
And can't you just wear the running shoes on the plane? Or tie the laces together and wear them around your neck? Be creative.
I am so jealous that you get two whole weeks anywhere, let alone Maui. Are you really going to be out of touch the entire time? Wah! We'll miss you. Mary, too. Wah! Or "Oh wah!" as Bob once said. Ok, he said it more than once, according to Jenny.
I'll be waving back on the 23rd.
CMS asked: More importantly, do you think Dad will send some of his SF buddies to help us?
Oh my. Well, now we're just going to have to insist. Sorry Bob, we're not leaving unless we get some help over here. Might want to find some volunteers who are willing to serve extended duty. We'll need help with the heavy lifting over at the new place, too. This could take a while. Some things are just better if they're done slowly.
bw
waisxs: G-G and Mary: this is an important word on Maui, pay attention
What I like about the white board is that she doesn't write in straight lines...like me. LOL! :)
I'm all excited about this blog or whatever it is we're coming up with. How exciting. I love new things. :-D
I'm so tired my brain hurts. That can't be good, right?
nnfxv-No new funky x-rays, Victor
I wouldn't mind an honour guard to move, especially if it was military. I have met some REALLY handsome military guys in my life. married one.
I would like to wish glamour geek and mary happy vacation. Enjoy yourselves. I want all kinds of reports when you get back. Have fun.
blue odsnwl
Oddly Doherty says no writers were linguists.
OH: I'm going to email you a compiled list of ideas (the ones I've collected and the lists you've just done)
I'd post the idea list right now, but it's a 3 page outline in Word.
We'll work our way through it a little more slowly, okay?
Logo idea--a slice of cherry pie with a stick of dynamite for a candle.
Lori--I'm getting off the computer now because I have a nasty headache coming on....got your e-mail and will reply tomorrow.
How's this for a verification...YIKEOV!!
Night, all.
BCB: Ooooh. Missed that there were both Wilkes and Wilson. Clearly frazzled today. Still frazzled now. Need to wake up in less than 8 hours. Still not organized. Ack.
Ok, folks, I'm about to sign off here. Back in 2 weeks. Even if I decide to visit an internet cafe it will not be for long enough to catch up with you, just possibly long enough to post a quick hello. No promises.
Thanks for the good wishes, SDCB!
And finally, for me, though I think Mary is going to post again before she leaves:
Web cam sighting of Mary and G-G!
Saturday, Sept. 23
9am Hawaii, 12 Noon Pacific, 3pm Eastern
http://www.opentopia.com/showcam.php?camid=1860
We'll try to be there for 5 minutes or so, but it is private property, so if we get shooed away, sorry.
Ok, 'see' you folks in 2 weeks. Try not to burn down another hotel. It would be repetitive.
G-G, go to sleep! (nag, nag, nag, sheesh, Mary, go to sleep yourself)
I'm going to be on the road for the next few days, then hopping on a plane to -- anyone? anyone? Yes, you're right! I'll log in again next week before I leave to remind (=nag) people about next Saturday.
The forecast is that it will be get up to 60 degrees in Tahoe this Saturday; not quite patio weather. (Yes, I know in Minnesota that's a heat wave... watch out or I'll start speaking in italics again...) Instead they've booked us into an office for the reunion. This casino used to be partially owned by Frankie baby (Mr. Sinatra to you young 'uns) and apparently his office is large enough to fit in 25 people. I'll wait until I see this. Then again, if he had to fit his self-esteem into this office, it probably was pretty large. Then again again, they probably just tell people that it's Frankie's office... I mean, who's going to know?
Off to (rat) pack,
Mary the Cynic
Safe journey Mary and G-G We will miss you.
Love the cherry pie/dynamite logo idea AMC We could do a cherry with a stick of dynamite as the stem. Anyone else have any ideas?
Somebody needs to let Bob know he got a mention on Ms Snark today...topic- Men who write romance!
http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8115089&postID=115820021933844514
Is somebody writing down these logo ideas?
Moving this up from one of the older posts:
mcb said...
And yes, I'm picturing a diner decor too. In my head we are all snugged into this HUGE circular booth...There's a tv high on the wall behind the counter...one corner wall, just opposite our booth, is covered with bookshelves, and there's a juke box near the door. And opposite of our booth is the old couch from HWSW with a floor lamp behind it and a low table in front, perfect for propping your feet up while you read.
Yes! This is exactly what I've been thinking. We need the juke box thingee on the table, where you can make your selections while you eat? Go look at this site. I did that kind of idea for her navigation buttons, trying to indicate the feel of each place with a different seating arrangement. When we have several "rooms," each one can have it's own ambience.
BTW, Shirley writes a great mystery, really fun - Rockford Files meets Cold Case. She gets the whole neighborhood bar atmosphere so perfectly, and she's a retired nun. Still amazes me. I love her writing. Amazingly accurate male POV, at least IMO. Of course, I'm not a guy, but still. ;+)
okilh (blue)
Our Kyra irks lazy heroes.
ORANGEHANDS
we NEED a KITCHEN.
I like to bake and we can sit and drink coffee [tea for me] in the am. We could have one of those big kitchens with a big table and different chairs a couch and a fireplace for when it is raining, are we having a cat? We can have diners when someone gets back from a holiday, and stuff.
When we move in I'll make a greek diner, Avgolemono soup feta cheese baked chicken and oregano potatoes.Only thing I don't like baklava so I could make a bread pudding if you like.
ps I've already voted!!
hjrnq blue he juggled registered nurses quickly
drat I finally got one I could do and I lost it.
mvihl blue margaret victorious Ivan, he looses
Canadian CBs check in please. I don't know where all of you live, but I hope none of you were near or involved in that shooting on the college campus in Quebec.
Zaza said ... Go look at this site.
For those interested the LINK zaza is referencing is in the bottom comments of Jenny's HEA blog. And its pretty cool.
Zaza I can definitely see the possibilities. Maybe instead of a reference desk we could do "ask the bartender." And the blog itself would be a booth?
Though rather than a poor baby corner I think I'd rather that stayed in a general blog. Actually what if we just had the one discussion blog, but then we copied stuff we want to keep over to the different "corners".
But all these ideas are things to grow into, right? For now we'e concentrating on making sure we have a place to go.
I can tackle keeping one of the needed lists. Lori and OH let me know what you want help with.
Good morning all - internal clock has adjusted itself - which sucks because that means I will be getting up at the crack of dawn now on the weekends. I hate that.
FYI - SDCB has her "dental" work today, so lets all send her good wishes. She has to be put under. I'm hoping Sheryl will remember to call me with an update so I can post because she said they probably won't make it on till Friday. Anyway, I'll let you all know what I know, as soon as I know it.
Scope - Take care!! Sheryl - let us know.
I'm going to call JenT as soon as I hear from Dad but that won't be until late this afternoon.
nanaimoG is in BC, we're in Ontario and so is someone else, sorry can't think right now, but as far as I know none of the lurkers are in Quebec
Have a great day everyone, I'm horribly late for work (will just stay later to compensate). taking the dog with me so I'm using him as my excuse
*Looks around*
This is a nice post. You'll be busy, hmmm? That's okay. Write on. Oh, a white board with little teasers. Lovely, just lovely. Great insights into the process, as always. Thank you Jenny.
(Lets just pretend like I didn’t miss all this last night because I went into one-track mind mode after class, and surprisingly, the track wasn’t dirty.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
G-G & Mary: Have Fun!
ZaZa: Saw the comment about posting a link to the ideas, that’s great. I’m going through the “Left Behind” comments right now, but I do have an pretty complete outline. I think it might work better as a flow chart, so I’m debating converting it. OH & I can clean it up and get it to you soon.
McB: Thanks for the offer. What do you know about making flow charts? (grin) Okay, kidding. If you want to email me (cblori@gmail.com) I’ll get you what I have, so we can set you up with an area.
SDCB: Praying for you! I’ll send a Lori Story tonight, so grab a quilt before you read your email from me. (Whenever you feel up to it.)
CMS: Thanks for the heads up.
Lori asked ...
McB: Thanks for the offer. What do you know about making flow charts?
If you hum a few bars I can fake it.
I'll email you shortly.
hmmmm hmmmmmmmm hmm hmmm hm hmmm hm hmmmmmm hmmmmmmm
hm hmm hmmmm hm hm hmmmmmm hmmmmmmmm hm hmm hm hm hm hmmmmmmmm
No? That's okay. Never was much of a hummer. I whistle while I work.
srrhg: The collective sound made after my humming performance.
lori and mcb: do one of you want to keep a list of decor for the website? let me go check out the rest of the e-mail and your e-mail list, lori. oh, and i must ask: what makes you think i can flow chart?
g-g and mary: have a safe and wonderful trip and you both will be missed.
Remember the time zones, CBs
bryan: you are wonderful for my ego. and i hear you peel a mean grape.
scope dope: Take very good care and (((HUGS))) and hope it goes ok and be safe. (hey, dentists are dangerous creatures).
Lori? Your humming looks vaguely like a funeral dirge. Should I be worried?
Lori,
I loved the humming. Cracked me up.
CMS, We'll be with SDCB in spirit. Also, I totally agree with the need for the SF guys in helping with the move. And since I'm sure it will be a rather warm day when we move (even if it is in the winter) they may want to just go ahead and remove their shirts at the beginning. You know, to save time and stuff...
OH - careful on that moving thing. Good luck and all. Don't worry about the boring meetings, they'll be over soon, and you'll figure out what is to happen Sunday.
I was at Borders this week, and was scanning shelves for new reads, and came across a Suz Brockmann that I didn't recognize. Check the inside cover - copyright years earlier, but limited release. Couldn't remember reading it, but scanned the first few chapters. Had a CB MOMENT . Main character talks about getting "lambasted" - which of course my CB translater brain read "lamblasted". Needless to say, I bought the book.
I'd like to suggest that we leave open the opportunity to "guest blog" for CB's that might not be ready to contribute on a schedule, but occasionally might have something important to share. We could have a regular blogger volunteer to receive contacts from potential guest.
Gotta work now.
mizjh
Maybe, if Zaza just hurries.
yeah, i can see Bob calling up buddies now. (this is a family blog, despite some CBs best efforts; i can't print what he'd say)
lori did a beautiful outline of all of the stuff.
WAPA: you do not go on the poster volunteer list until you confirm with me. and do you want to be a poster or a guest poster?
yes, CMS, you are sill on the list. i checked twice.
will do, marcia.
and lori, write that down. (hey, this organizing stuff is easy.)
kidding, kidding. i'll e-mail you the suggestion.
I almost feel it is off-topic to return to what JC wrote in the current blog!
Like everyone else, I am fascinated by the whiteboard, and even more by the collages Jenny does when planning a novel. Both of these would inculcate in me total writer’s block, which only goes to show how different the creative process is for different people. If I started to do a collage, it would undoubtedly become an end in itself, a visual project that would push the written version right out of my mind. It would be a major distraction from, rather than an aid to, to verbal planning, and an excuse to put off any actual writing.
The very sight of a whiteboard immediately makes me think of management seminars, and therefore makes me feel intensely frustrated, angry and slightly nauseated; not the best frame of mind for writing. I don’t mean that Jenny Crusie’s whiteboard with the Agnes stuff on it makes me sick – on the contrary, once I have got over my initial automatic whiteboard-reaction, I find it exceedingly interesting – only that I would never use one myself.
On the other hand, I find that putting things in tabular form really does help me to plan, and even more, to keep track of where I am in a manuscript. I use colours in the tables, too, to provide another dimension of information, a third dimension to add to the vertical and horizontal planes. I have just completed a small ‘progress table’ of my current major project, which shows me at a glance how much is done, fairly done, slightly done, and scarcely done at all. The manuscript is a scholarly catalogue, not a novel, of course. I don’t know if that makes a difference, but I doubt it. I suppose this is similar to Bob Mayer’s spreadsheet method, except that I just create ordinary tables in Word rather than Excel or another spreadsheet programme. Occasionally I have found simple Venn diagrams, available in the more recent versions of Word and in Powerpoint, quite handy, though chiefly in planning lectures rather than papers/books. It would be nice to see one of Mayer’s spreadsheets, to compare with the Crusie methods, and (all of us) with our own.
*** OFF TOPIC***
OH and other SB lovers you will spit when you hear this, and in OH’s case maybe start dusting off your daggers. I went to the library today and asked if they had anything by Suzanne Brockmann and the lovely woman informed me that no they don’t buy any of her books. My jaw dropped… I really do need to get a new library, they don’t carry all of Jenny’s books either, yup I am officially in search of a new library.
More off topicness, maybe this is why I stayed in the attic…*ponders* Anyway, does anyone know where you can buy a 37 inch inseam pair of pants? Last time I checked my legs did not get longer, but the 36 inch inseam is now too short, did 36 inches now shrink? Naturally the Buckle does carry pants that have a 37 inch inseam but not in my size, the smallest they go is a 10 and I am a 6. Do not throw things at me I remember the discussion of weight very clearly, I hate people that are my size and complain about their weight too, I don’t complain about that…Just the length of pants. One day us tall people are going to TOTW and pants will be long!!!
Liz
OH: I am thinking about maybe being a guest blogger so you can add me to the list. Well not just yet, I’ll have to get used to commenting more than once in a post first.
OH said: "bryan: you are wonderful for my ego."
I do what I can. Psst! Here's a grape for you. Don't tell Jen.
Liz said: "the lovely woman informed me that no they don’t buy any of her (Brockmann) books.... they don’t carry all of Jenny’s books either"
As a librarian (in a small town, even), I say WTF? How can they NOT carry best-selling fiction? Jeez, put in an inter-library loan request and I'll send you one of ours (provided it's checked in; we get lots of circulation on both authors; 5 copies of DLD - all checked out at the moment - 1 hold request).
Tigress: I am so glad you haven't given up on us yet! I miss you when you aren't here. I, too, could NEVER do a collage -- would rather have someone rip off my fingernails (no, that was not a request). Am still undecided about the whiteboard. My handwriting is mostly illegible. But I have now done an Excel spreadsheet (with color) of what I've written so far. I agree with Jenny that you have to have, maybe not all, but a substantial portion of the work completed for this to be effective. And I would LOVE to see Bob's spreadsheet of Act One to compare to both the whiteboard and to my effort. I wasn't just trying to be a pest when I said that earlier.
OH: Stop yelling at Wapakwoman -- she has been dragged off to FL for the rest of the week to watch college football.
Liz: I have a 36" inseam as well and share your frustration. If I do manage to find a pair of pants long enough, they are also proportionately wider to the point of being ridiculous (and no, I am not a size 6 and never have been).
You want OT? Here: I stepped on a cricket this morning in my kitchen. With bare feet. I do not understand how this could happen. Have you ever tried to squish one of those things on purpose? Impossible. And yet the darn thing found it's way under my bare foot with a good deal of accuracy. Didn't realize they both squish and crunch at the same time. Sure woke me up though. I feel certain the cat will still be glaring at the now clean spot on the kitchen floor when I get home from work. She considers cricket execution to be her responsibility. Wish she'd do her damn job.
bw
Liz - re long pants. Go to a western apparel store. Wranglers makes a great woman's jean with inseams up to 38". The slim leg ones look the best. If you want a more upscale jean, Rockies (another western style jean, only fancier, some with very cool decoration) look great and start at around $60. They will last a long time if you wash them in cold water and hang them dry - most clothes do better that way but then y'all know that already). Most western stores also carry a brand called cruel girl that are low rise and IMO a younger style.
Have fun.
P.S. Western stores also have way cool decorative leather purses!
tlahhkxo - good grief!!!
Liz said ... One day us tall people are going to TOTW and pants will be long!!!
On behalf of us short folks, I hope not!!
AgTigress, lovely to hear from you again. Isn't Jenny's whiteboard exciting? It isn't The Book, of course, but its a definite sign that there will be A Book ... all that diagramming has to lead to smething! I would like a glimpse of Bob's spreadsheet also. Amazing to think that these two very different people - one linear, one circling; one progressing forward, one searching out patterns - have already given us one terrific book with a second yet to come.
Just goes to show that there is no 'correct' way.
AgTigress - very good to hear from you again!! Welcome back.
Now where's Tal??
Thank you, everyone who has commented so kindly on my reappearance. I am only back to a limited degree, I'm afraid. I have a lot of my own work to catch up on, as well as bureaucratic things arising from my father's death, and also a new level of responsibility towards my mother, which will mean more travelling on a long-term basis. :-(
On the issue of writing and planning methods, linear thinking, and so forth, the odd thing is that I am not a linear thinker at all - far from it. I think in a way that is closer to the pattern-based concepts that Jenny has described, though not quite the same: well, basically I think almost entirely in pictures, not in words. It is still the tabular method that helps me to plan and track my work.
Using pictorial aids, like collages, would not help me, precisely because I think in pictures anyway, and that would simply keep me stuck in purely visual mode, rather than pushing me towards translating my thinking into verbal terms. My first act, when starting to think about communicating my thoughts, is to translate from pictures to words.
thank you so much lou!!
liz
BCB: did a heebie-jeebie dance at your cricket story. I HATE crickets. Growing up, my bedroom was in the basement and the little buggers invaded every fall. I tried to vacuum them up, but the vacuum was tempermental and whenever I took off the hose attachment, they would escape and jump right at me. I killed a cricket in the bathroom the other day. Nothing like literally being caught with your pants down. Apparently I made so much racket trying to kill it my DH thought the toliet fell through the floor. I know. Nice image. The evil cricket was vanquished and then flushed into the hereafter.
On tall vs short: My entire family is around 6 foot tall except me. I'm 5'5 1/2" and starting to shrink. 5'5" is a respectable height, but you'd think I got lost in the couch cushions on a regular basis the way my sisters carry on. Granted my grandmother was lucky to clear 4 foot on a good day, but still. Sheesh.
byyhx: Bob yells, "YEC happens xplosively."
(yeah, I cheated.)
As for writing post draft, I'm all for colored post-its that I can move all over the desk, wipe board, tupperware of fudge, visual and linear.
For Liz and BCB - jcrew and banana republic online have jeans for your super long legs. You lucky ducks. Being a shorty isn't that great, and clothes even after alterations are proportionate.
BCB - if you can come to my house there is a cricket outside my window who chooses to squeak from 12:30-2:30am, and he really must die!
Lori said...
I’m going through the “Left Behind” comments right now, but I do have an pretty complete outline. I think it might work better as a flow chart, so I’m debating converting it. OH & I can clean it up and get it to you soon.
Remember that it either has to be something I can turn into HTML or it has to be a graphic. So, unless you're doing the flowchart in something that can save the file as a gif or jpg, it's not going to work. I could attach a downloadable file in another format or you could make it a PDF, all of which are pretty complicated. Plus, a huge image takes a while to display, so, for the purposes of letting all CBs have a look, a list or outline would be best. Unless you do HTML/CSS. A flow chart is definitely do-able but would be a challenge. ;+)
marcia in ok said...
mizjh
Maybe, if Zaza just hurries.
As the estimable Davy Dempsey says (paraphrasing because I'm not going to go look it up), "You rush a magician, you get lousy magic." Heeee!
AgTigress said...
If I started to do a collage, it would undoubtedly become an end in itself, a visual project that would push the written version right out of my mind.
Hi! Glad you're giving us another chance. That would be me, exactly. You have your visually artistic side which we see in your gorgeous cakes. I do a lot of that sort of thing (but I'd never even try one of those cakes), so getting me in visual mode would totally shut off the verbal. Jenny is a true multitasker, in the fullest sense of the word. I think, for me, the visual stuff is easier, requires less thought, so is a more comfy mode of operating, although I love to write more than I love the visual things. Weird.
AND...
On the other hand, I find that putting things in tabular form really does help me to plan, and even more, to keep track of where I am in a manuscript. I use colours in the tables, too, to provide another dimension of information, a third dimension to add to the vertical and horizontal planes.
I think we are sisters under the skin. That's exactly what I do. ;+) Sometimes I use Visio, only I can't think of the type of diagrams now - the ones where you have people or subjects in circles and connect them with lines. Kind of a Mario Buzan, thing, if I'm remembering that correctly. It's a good way to look at relationships and check for interactions or the lack thereof in your story. Probably not much use for non-fiction, though.
liz (anonymous) said...
does anyone know where you can buy a 37 inch inseam pair of pants?
Unless someone knows of a specific store, why don't you try checking online? There used to be a place in San Francisco that had things that would fit you, but I don't remember the name, and I think they went out of business years ago. All the models used to shop there. Very disheartening for those of us who are only a little bit tall, being around those leggy beauties. I used to buy stockings there, but they were so long, I had to roll them over at the top because they were all the way at the top of my thigh. It was either that or the average which bare came above my knee. Us medium tall folks have it hard. *dodging brickbats*
twijo (red)
Cujo's twin
knew that was too easy
fdjaeol (blue)
Isn't that a bean and meat dish from Brazil?
I've just been looking at the outline Lori's made from all our random ravings, and it looks like we may need a lot of polls just to name things. Since Bravenet only lets you have one active poll at a time, could I get a couple others to sign up and create polls? I can do a little tutorial if someone's willing but is having trouble with their wacky site. I can display all of them on one page, and we could move things along much faster. Hmmm, or I guess I could create several accounts.
There were 55 votes this A.M. on the domain name poll, and the leader, cbbarandgrill.com is 25 votes ahead of the second place. So, unless anyone thinks there are 25 lurkers who still need to vote, I'll close the poll at 6 P.M. PST instead of waiting for midnight.
Another note to Lori - my email gives the option of viewing attachments as HTML, so when you have you finished format, I may just be able to "View source" and plunk it into Dreamweaver. Why don't you send me a little flow chart via email and let's see if that gives me the HTML option?
OH and ZaZa, we've had a goodly number of good discussions on questions I've posted. So I'm volunteering to be a Poster, or whatever you all are calling it. ZaZa, did voting do enough to keep me part of the new Bar&Grill group, or must I do something else?
Welcome back, AgTigress. I'm hoping you and Tal will contribute as often as possible, even though you've both said you will probably bow out. Oh, please don't! I need help sometimes with these young rapscallions!
GatorPerson,
Everybody here is welcome at the new place once it's up and running, even the lurckers who don't comment and didn't vote. Nobody who wants to move in with us will be excluded. That's one reason some of us don't want to do the MSN/Yahoo group thing, because they require that you register in order to participate even as a lurker.
We also want to consider lurker input in the design of this thing because lurkers may have concerns that the rest of us aren't thinking about (like air conditioning in the attic for those summer months?)
Those lurkers that still haven't come out... if you want your voices heard but don't want to post, vote in the polls or send one of us an e-mail.
I have no design input on the new place, because I'd just muck it up, and because I am sure it is going to be fabulous!
Found and murdered a cricket in my bedroom a few weeks ago and then couldn't sleep afterwards, waiting for them to all come out of the walls after me.
Bryan said ...
Those lurkers that still haven't come out... if you want your voices heard but don't want to post, vote in the polls or send one of us an e-mail.
yes - no sign in, no name, nothin' is required to vote in the poll. Just click on the link, make your choice, and submit. No one ever needs to know that you were the lone idiot that voted for the worse possible option.
The important thing, whatever we end up with, is that every voice was heard, that nothing was being done be the elite CB SF shovel team behind the scenes.
zaza wrote: Since Bravenet only lets you have one active poll at a time, could I get a couple others to sign up and create polls?
I can do this. Hey, I'm not as stupid as I look. Did you get the email I sent you the other day? If so, email me back with some simple instructions and I'll take care of it when I get home (I can not do this from work, sorry).
And the rest of you are on your own re cricket eradication. The cat is usually quite efficient, leaving only the legs for disposal. I think I interrupted her torture, taunting, delayed gratification ritual this morning when I provided the poor cricket an easy way out. There are worse things to step on while half-awake. And they had better stay out of my kitchen.
bw
You know crickets in the house are supposed to be good luck.
Just saying.
My cat thinks they're playmates. I think they die from heart attacks.
Hi All -
Sheryl called me at about 3:15 to say SDCB was at home asleep and that all is well. She had a little blood pressure problem and they kept her a little longer, but she is fine. I'm hoping Sheryl will call me again - otherwise I will be checking in with SDCB and her personal GAM sometime tomorrow.
When Sheryl called I was very excited - three weeks until NJ! Yeah! However, she got me so distracted I missed the turn into the Doctor's office. Taking DD15 for a checkup for her shoulder. She's been cleared for full contact (hockey). Just in time for her first game this weekend. Yeah, lets hope we can get through this season without any of my kids gettng hurt. Too much for this little mommy to take. Can't handle it when my kids hurt.
I hear Bryan is peeling grapes for everyone while I'm at work. Tisk, Tisk. Thanks a lot Bryan.
Well, it's off to cook diner, take DD15 to dance, then I've got a date with a bathtub and then bed. I'm plum puckered out.
mcb said... You know crickets in the house are supposed to be good luck.
Not while it's in my bedroom it's not. And it's certainly not lucky for the cricket.
qdsqwgfk not even gonna attempt this one
bryan: not to pick, but when I read your post, I read "lurchers." Which in turn made me LOL. Kinda like the Thriller video.
Of course, lurchers are welcome too. Considering my lack of coordination today, I think I'm one of them.
Gee thanks, MCB.
I just can't tell you how heartening it is to know that the little harbinger of good luck took one look at me and decided to commit suicide rather than stick around to bring me some good luck for a change.
Sigh.
Maybe I shouldn't mess with the poll after all. Might blow up the internet now that I've got bad cricket karma.
Yay! Scope Dope is home and the prognosis looks good! Thanks for letting us know, Jen.
bw
btuda said...
bryan: not to pick, but when I read your post, I read "lurchers." Which in turn made me LOL. Kinda like the Thriller video.
ROTF!!! Now I've got this picture in my head of an attic full or Lurch clones at the Addams family house.
Thanks Jen!! If/when you talk to CMS tell her we're all happy to know things went well and looking forward to getting Scope back here.
3 weeks!!! WOO HOO!!!
Oh My God, I love the Adams Family. Lurch was sooooo cool. I hang out wit hthe lurchers anyday. I kind of liked the Monsters too.
Yeah, yeah, have your fun. At least I'm not "plum puckered". I get puckered from lemons sometimes, but I can at least pick ripe plums.
liz: that is just wrong. wrong, i tell you, wrong. but ILL (inter-library loan) is a wonderful, wonderful thing.
poster update: liz (a soon to be guest poster), gp, wapa on BCB's say so until she tells me herself (hope your having fun), and the rest of you on the list. oh, you know who you are.
agtigress: nice to read a post from you again.
zaza: i believe Davy says, "You rush a miracle man and you get lousy miracles". 98.89% sure. and wasn't he quoting a movie?
i'm really curious about how many lurkers posted. so, who did?
well, it was worth a try.
good to know scope is doing ok.
mom was sitting at the computer. starts muttering. i say "huh?".
"just need to talk to myself for a bit"
and they wonder where i get this from...
OH: that miracle quote's from the Princess Bride. Miracle Max (Billy Crystal)
Me got in before I Previewed (how's that for a phrase?) on "The Princess Bride". Which is one of my (I's?) favorite films - one of the few that stands being watched many times, and is still funny.
I, too, really liked the different character sitting area navigation buttons on the Acey Tapp site Zaza designed.
I'm so glad to see Scope Dope is through her surgery OK, and, AgTigress, I sympathize about all of the administrative work and continued travel - I'm sure that's hard, and not helping you to rest and recover.
dmfudzs. no one around here, but maybe some people we know! Or work for.
"At least I'm not "plum puckered". I get puckered from lemons sometimes"
Okay, so color me stupid... I thought to myself, geez, it's a figure of speech. Okay, so I guess I make up my own. Isn't here one figure of speech that says, "plum tuckered out?" or something like that, or am I really loosing my mind.
Okay, DD15 is off to dance, boys still not home, hot cocoa and book next to bath...see ya later.
GatorPerson said...
ZaZa, did voting do enough to keep me part of the new Bar&Grill group, or must I do something else?
Anyone who wants to be a part of it will be a part of it. No one has to do anything special, just show up at the new digs, once we know what and where they are. ;+)
me said...
Found and murdered a cricket in my bedroom a few weeks ago and then couldn't sleep afterwards, waiting for them to all come out of the walls after me.
You and BCB, bloodthirsty women. I had a cricket in my kitchen in Baltimore, and I was losing sleep and breaking down in tears just worrying about the poor thing starving to death because I couldn't get it back outside. Yes, I'm one of those people who rescues the spider in the shower/tub and puts it outside before I turn on the water. And my ceilings are full of cobwebs in the corners because I can't destroy some poor spider's hard work and their home. It gets to be a pain in the a** sometimes, but that's me. /;+)))
BCB, no on the email. Where did you get it? I've tried to correct all my links in various places, but there are some I've missed. You, or anyone else who needs to, can get me at zlamarr @ gmail . com (without the spaces, of course).
The poll link is: http://www.zazlamarr.com/CBpolls.htm, if anyone hasn't voted on the domain name yet.
btuda said...
bryan: not to pick, but when I read your post, I read "lurchers." Which in turn made me LOL. Kinda like the Thriller video.
Of course, lurchers are welcome too. Considering my lack of coordination today, I think I'm one of them.
Isn't lurcher a breed of dog? Seems like I've seen that in Brit novels. WE could do dogs (keep your minds out of that particular gutter!), since we're probably going to be having all manner of critters underfoot. With a menagerie at the new stand, we'd be more likely to entice Jenny to visit us. Right?
For anyone who wants to look at the navigation icons I was talking about for an idea of different looks for different areas, here's the link. Those are just ideas of various ways to go, not something we can steal. ;+)
zyazoobp (red)
Zoe yelled at Zeke, "Oh, outrageous big person!"
HI LIZ My wonderful librarian told me to put in a request for them to BUY the books I wanted as inter-library loans are so expensive.
I really like mysteries and wanted the Rue Morgue press reprints. The library ordered a lot of Constance Little for me Tal and AG probably know her books they all start with The Black???
So try that route.
ZaZa remember to keep it simple.
Nanaimo Gran said...
HI LIZ My wonderful librarian told me to put in a request for them to BUY the books I wanted as inter-library loans are so expensive.
Huh. Guess they must do things differently in your part of the world. I can get a book ILL from any library in the county. I think they have a regular route delivering books from one library to the other and then getting them returned. I love it. I can put in a request over the internet for a book and, if its not check out, it will show up at my local library within a week. I love libraries. They are the most amazing places with people who just live to help you find something. AND ITS ALL FREE!!! It never ceases to amaze me.
ILL's are usually free, especially if coming from a public library. Some will charge shipping if out of a certain area, but usually the only time we have to pay a fee is if it comes from a university.
This is why I love you guys, I can ask any question and I get wonderful helpful answers almost instantly. Thank you!
I am so glad I came back out of lurker haven.
liz
I had the GAM's Bodyguard of Lies on reserve at my local library and patiently waited for it to come in. I waited and waited and waited. I finally called the library and was told that yes, I was now first on the list. YEEHA! And so now I knew my wait wouldn't be much longer. Except the librarian neglected to tell me that although I was FIRST, the book had not yet been ordered from any library, and was not even listed as being IN MY COUNTY. So after another couple of calls, the error was fixed, apologies were issued (which I accepted gracefully...probably), and I finally settled in with BOL for a good read.
But I didn't have to pay for it. I LOVE the library!
xvpphtcd
Xtra veggies, people, please have the carrots drained. (huh?)
Not to be picky or anything I know Jenny's busy and it's very good that she's busy, but it has been forever since she has posted on Argh Ink.
liz
blue:cbpnp
cherrybomb's prep (their) new place.
Liz,
Yeah, isn't it GREAT?? Much better than the attic. I'm glad I came out, too!
Um.. wait, that didn't sound quite right...)
hzkfujqa--nope. I had trouble enough with the carrots, people!
Ok, now I get vodqoj (Whose turn was it to feed blogger??)
vile, odorous dogs question our Jenny.
Liz said ... Not to be picky or anything I know Jenny's busy and it's very good that she's busy, but it has been forever since she has posted on Argh Ink.
Well she's been writing this here book just for us Cherry Bombs, because we're special. But yeah, I click over there and think "huh, she's still frenching Ann Marie."
But we are not going to complain because we love our Jenny and she is giving us all these really cool things, like Heidi's AB and the white board. And the couch to take with us. Of course its got a dip stain on it now so she probably wants to get rid of it. But still. So ... sshhhh. She's busy.
I wanna live where you guys are, my library is chock full of meanies! Even my son thinks so, he just said,"I know!"
What kind of sad life I live, because man-o-man I LOVE the LIBRARY! Whenever I visit my sister, I leave her library with loads of books! And lament my local library.
As a former lurker, I feel the lurchers should come on down. It really is great out here!
zyibxnxw - What is that??
namaimo gran: Could be your ILL's are expensive because they have to ship them by ferry out to that tiny little island place you call home. And there is probably a weight limit on anything brought onto the island, to keep it from sinking.
Just a thought.
From what I've read, it sounds like a very interesting place to live. It's on my list of places to visit someday.
Zaza: I very much liked the concept of the links on that site, but can we go with something a little less cartoon-ish for images? Or is that just me?
Poor Zaza. I have a feeling she's going to regret her very kind offer before this is over.
bw
andi, I'm with you I LOVE the Library, my own children think it's weird, but that's expected. My children think anything I do is, to quote the eldest DD12,"So not cool"
liz
BCB,MCB,Zaza,Lori,OH,Bryan,Jen-t - you guys are great for taking such good care of us neophytes. If you need more than a vote please post any request, well, within reason, but including shovel usage. Although I can't help with the half-coked stuff. I may have a grape or plum connection.
Liz- my DS13 has said to me "I know you think you're cool, but really not! Now quit dancing please!"
I'm more of a bookstore kind of gal. Libraries scare me and I have this horrible habit of not returning books on time. I'll go there to do research, and hang out for hours, but when ever I borrow those books, we alwasy get that annoying animated phone call saying that we owe like a half a million dollars because I haven't returned the books yet. Besides, the closest library is in the village, but there is a borders about a mile down the road...you do the math.
And now that I feel human again, I'm awake. Go figure.
andi - um well, making me laugh and feel stupid at the same time gets you just about anything you want. Holy crap, when I first read "neophytes", my mind we some where else. Okay, well, it's where my mind always is, but hell, I laughed so hard because i went "what?", then read it again and went, Hell, no wonder they make fun of me. Thank god I read it twice. Had I replied my first thought we would have been back on "he gave me an organism" in stead of an orgasm. And really, don't ask what I was thinking, because it really doesn't make sense.
On to your son's comment about not being cool, my son (almost 13) tells me I'm cool all the time. Of course, that is only when he wants something, otherwise I'm just "Oh, Mother! Why not! Everybody else is doing it"
My standard response, "I'm not everybody's mother."
Liz-You might check into Pendleton...they make talls with really long inseams...just thought I'd let you know. Here are some websites for you. :)
www.simplytall.com
www.talletc.com
www.luxuriouslytall.com
Hope that helps! :) I'm 6'1" myself, so I've got a ridiculously long inseam and can never find anything to fit correctly. *sigh*
If no one has volunteered to keep track of all the ideas for the new site, I'll volunteer. :) Just let me know. This is so exciting! :)
Wonder if Jenny will keep track for us on her white board - there seems to be a pattern here, and she's so good at them, well, hey, maybe she'll make us one!!! :)
The favorite refrain from my DS21 and DD18: "Mom, you are so weird."
Me: "Yeah, I know. I work at it."
My DD just called to tell me they ran six miles at crew practice today. I was, of course, concerned. And shocked.
"Six miles? Are you sure? Did they measure? Wasn't that, I don't know, hard?"
"No."
"But six MILES? That's a long way." I can't even imagine how far that is. That's farther than I drive to work every day.
"Um, not really."
"Didn't you get tired?" This is the child who had to be threatened before she'd walk the dog to the corner and back.
"No."
"Well, did ANYONE get tired?" I am not willing to just let this go.
"Well, a couple of girls did, I guess."
"But not you." I am revising 18 years of first-hand experience here.
"Mom, it was only six miles."
Right.
So next time she comes home, I figure the dog is in for the walk of his life.
I'm worn out just hearing about it and probably have to go to bed now.
bw
xmzto: new x-box game
Bob has boys in the basement? I thought he had manly men doing manly things with other manly men--like SF training exercises.
I voted on the poll and am willing to blog.
Don't know if I'll make it back on the computer until Monday....my husband has minor surgery tomorrow, my kids will be going nuts with Homecoming activities (why they have Homecoming the first full week of school is beyond me) until about 10 tomorrow night, the horse has an abscess and I have to get my daughter out to the stable to take care of him on Saturday, plus pick DH up from the hospital, plus work, then Sunday is a reunion picnic with the people we went to Germany with, plus a rehearsal for the Indiana show.....
Tigress, good to have you back, even a little.
All Library FansSorry to mislead you I don't pay the ILL fee but all the librarians know my DH and I really well soooo one of them who shall be nameless said
"Why don't you put in a request to buy, it costs us $10.00 per request and some of those books are cheaper to buy."
They even have a request page on their web site.
BCB ha ha ha. and after all the trouble I went to to make sure you would have a safe landing in Victoria. Hmfp.
bon cheri bomb said...
Zaza: I very much liked the concept of the links on that site, but can we go with something a little less cartoon-ish for images? Or is that just me?
Oh, those were only to show you how little things can create the different atmospheres. Those needed to be something that was immediately recognizable even at a small size. We'll need navigation buttons, too, but I think what we've been talking about is the look and feel for each area.
BTW, if anyone has a place they like, dinerish or whatever, take some pics and email them to me. It's much better to have stuff we own. I usually take bits and pieces from various places, which doesn't violate copyright, but it's easier to just own it outright.
On the domain name poll, at 57 votes, cbbarandgrill.com had 70% of the votes, a pretty clear winner. On GoDaddy, we can get that plus the .net, .biz, .info for another $16.00. So, all four for about $25 for the first year. The reason to get the others is to prevent someone else from taking the same name but with a different ending. Do we need another poll? ;+)
Chime in, and if it looks like there's interest in getting the package, I'll go for it.
dmffv (green)
Don't malign fluffy fellows, Vera.
On the topic of library v bookstore: I live in a small town outside the suburbs. My library is part of regional co-op. When I first moved to this small town, I discovered the biggest problem with small towns: no budget to buy new books! HORRORS!
They were part of a cooperative service of small town libraries, but unfortunately, before they installed the new system, you had to request the (new) book you wanted and drive out to the originating library to pick it up. I really put some miles on my car before I figured out that Borders was right down the street from my office.
But for bookstores? I'm vacationing(?) here in Great Salt Lake City, and ran out of books! My Dad and I were out sight-seeing at a new downtown mall, and ducked in to a certain chain bookstore (not Borders) so I could shop. (Gotta love my Dad!) I was hoping to find some backstock from SEP. I toured the whole d*#% store TWICE before being forced to ask the info counter clerk where Romance would be.
Turns out that they had decided to move that section last week and loaded the whole section (all 3 shelves of it - and not a Crusie in sight) onto a couple of carts and buried them in the back of the store. Not even in alpha-by-author order. Since I never buy just one book (unless I'm down to my last $10).....
So I'm stuck here reading the backs of cereal boxes, counting the hours 'til I can return home to my fully-stocked, well-organized Borders store.
Pray for good weather tomorrow - Dad promised a trip to the zoo! (No, I'm not 5 years old - just really excited to do something more than sit around grandma's kitchen table. Aside from my cousin's 12-year old daughter, the youngest person I've spoken to in 4 days is still 20 years older than me.)
qilzttz - I'm about to cuddle up under one. Goodnight all!
JJ: well, i recognized "plum tuckered out" but then, that's not saying much.
amc: i hope everyone does ok
ok, will try to check again in morning but if not i'll be back sunday/monday/tuesday/wednesday.
bye all.
amc - Best wishes to your husband. Hope all goes well. You life sounds so much like mine, it never, ever ends.
cary_s - well, now, I must ask - how old are you? And the zoo is fun. But I hate the alligator farm in St. Augustine. It's right down from my mom's place and my kids make me take them there every year and then tease me. It's like taking me to of those tanks were sharks live and you can see them up close and personal...yeah, nightmares for days.
OH - Oh thank god someone recognized it. I really thought I'd fallen off my rocker there for a while - oh hush BCB, geez.
BCB - I sat down and drank some gatorade for your daughter, or at least one of the other girls who got sort of tired. And did you ask what running 6 godawful miles has to do with crew? Isn't that a rowing sport? Maybe 6 push-ups would be better, or carrying 6 pounds? I'm all for under-achieving.
Cary-s - I must say Books-a-million has the best romance section. At least mine does, plus then just the authors I like in the regular fiction shelves. And ooooo a trip to the zoo. If I could tear my dad off the Fox network when he visits, I'd drag his rear-end there. Plus Zoo Atlanta does have the baby panda - but pandas are indigenous to that commie China - it's hard to say if I could get him there.
Zaza - on the whole I'm not a dummy, but I couldn't begin to think of all the things you've got covered. You are the stuff, girl!
Jen-t - I've been to that alligator farm, and that hand feeding thing they do, is far too creepy! Plus the smell was pervasive! I did like walking that trail to look at the birds. I like sharks in tanks way better than gators in pens!
Have day from someplace not good - eye appts, football and tennis prac. across town from eachother, birthday party(still no gift), DH in South Bend for MI/ND game, and Odyssey of the Mind practice and all this happens between 3:00 and 9:30. Should be adult beverage time around 9:35, and because of absentee DH, I will forlornly drink alone!
dqkhqfp - some bizzare typing exercise
andi - too weird - my mom lived in South Bend for years before she and her husband moved to St. Augustine. They used to work at the ND games in the concession stands. My step-father is a ND freak.
jeyovdbe - jen eat yucky olives, victory done bob equitiably
ORANGEHANDS: Hope your move out/move in day goes well! Be sure to give mom and dad a big hug and try not to say anything that will make them cry in public -- well, unless they like that kind of thing. I'll be expecting a full report next week. Do you have a surge protector for that new laptop?
amc: Hope the DH(usband) and the DH(orse) are back to normal soon.
cary_s: I was going to give you a "poor baby" for being stuck in the wilds of UT with no books but... you've probably got pages and pages full of stories right there in front of you with all those old folks. You just need to ask the right questions: "What is the most exciting/daring thing you've ever done?" "What is the scariest thing that ever happened to you?" "Who was your first love and where is s/he now?" "What is the saddest thing you've ever seen/heard?" You might need to ask a few follow up questions and take hold of your patience with both hands, but I'm willing to bet you'll be very surprised (and entertained) by some of the answers. Grab a pen and paper before you start.
I'm going in to work early and probably staying late so I don't have to work this weekend. I'd write a list of my chores for the day but it would be faster to just do them...
bw
Zaza: Almost forgot: get the package. And save the "receipts." We WILL work that out later.
I'll try to decipher the poll instructions tonight or (more likely) tomorrow. That soon enough?
bw
zaza: are you taking donations to cover the fee of setting up the new home? I can pitch in a few $, if I have a place to send it.
rzhaar Robert zips heartily around all readers
Zaza - I'm also more than willing to help pay for the site... I like the pacakage Idea and really, with all of us helping, it's not that much. Gives us lots of options.
I liked that site... I agree, a bit to cartoonish for us. Bryan said something that got me thinking (I know, that's weird, but well, we do share a brain, but he uses it most often), Okay, so where was I, oh yeah, thinking about something Bryan had said once about Cheers - where everybody Knows your name. And I thought, well, that's kind of like us, and we too, will welcome the new kid and make them a regular, no problem. So I was thinking (stop laughing BCB, it happens everyone so often), ya know, with the dame CBbar and grill or whatever we call it, kind like "Where everyone brings a shovel?"
Just an idea people.
sorry about the typos - nails don't get done till monday... and my nail girl (a Jennifer too) is pregnant with twins! And, she's going to be taking a few months off!!!! I'm in such a panic. She's been doing my nails for like 5 years. The last time she went on maternity leave, I went to her house because I couldn't stand the other woman in the shop. She better let me come to her house again. Imagine the typos if I went more than three weeks between appointments.
fhuuulha - um giggle snort, nope.
Sorry Jen, I like MY slogan better. You are so violent -- must be all those murders you're writing about. Shovels indeed.
Of course I can't remember exactly what mine was. Something like:
"Where knowing what you like involves thinking for yourself."
I see another poll in our future...
REALLY got to go now. Bye.
bw
BCB - I think for myself?
Warning - Jen is in the punchy stage...I'm a little off today. (oh shut up, I know I'm always off, but today, well, really off)
Turned on Regis and Kelly and Regis is not on!!!!
Jen - Maybe Bryan could sub in, I hear he looks like Regis.
Zaza - any expense should be covered by anyone but you, your expertise, patience, and willingness to stay on focus are payment. And Lori too!
andi - so I've been told. but someone also decided i was regis, so I guess that means Bryan and I look a like. But I can't confirm this because he still won't reveal himself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cary - 3 shelves of romance ... exciting place SLC.
Zaza - we will hold the first CB fundraiser and see if we can't come up with $25 so go ahead and get that. I agree w/ everyone else - whatever we do, we want room to do it in. Now how do we go about collecting funds and getting them to Zaza? Open a paypal account?
Pictures ... here that CBs? Go forth with your digital cameras and forsooth taketh thine pictures of thoust most treasured inns and libraries.
I'm amazed that so many of us are on the same wavelength re the look and feel of the new digs. A diner - but not a tacky place, a sort of Cheers feeling ... like as soon as you walk in everyone is going to shout "NORM!" ... nevermind your name is Ethel, the point is they are happy to see you.
I get to be Fraiser's ex-wife!!! Since I'm so flipping uptight - not!
mcb said: Now how do we go about collecting funds and getting them to Zaza? Open a paypal account?
well I'd be fine with just sending someone a check. If it's only going to be a few bucks, 5 or so per person (depending on number of people), going through the hassle (and fees?) of opening an account might not be worth it IMO.
Jen-T - I think you get to be Kirstie Alley during her Cheers phase - Rebecca?
AMC - hope everyone is feeling better soon.
ZaZa and BCB - once we figure out how to "pitch in" we'll more than cover that package fee. And, probably have some left for some of the other stuff we're gonna need to do before Him and Her cut us off.
I'm off to a court hearing. Hopefully, I'll be further along and can start moving forward instead of being stuck.
Enjoy Friday!
No fees on Paypal.... Since we're not really talking about that much money, we could just see who already has a Paypal account (me, for one) who is willing to contribute and then divide it up. All we would need to do is e-mail it to ZaZa and depending how she has her account set up it would automatically deposit into her bank account or remain in a PayPal account which she could then use to make other payments.
I have three monthly subscriptions and one bill that I pay through PayPal and have been for two years now. I've also accepted payment for prints online. Never had a problem. Most people with an e-bay account have a paypal account too.
Marcia in OK - ya know, when I wrote that if figured someone was going to come out and say that I was more of a Rebecca type. Yeah, yeah, okay. I liked the girl who played lilith because of her roll in ALL THAT JAZZ, I love that song.
I think that a paypal deal might be the simplest way of doing it. Safer too.
Okay, I am hereby putting myself in charge of keeping track of contributors. Once we know how many people are willing to contribute we will know how to divvy it up.
I'm thinking I could set up an email account to handle this, rather than trying to keep track by scrolling through the blog here. I'll get back to everyone on that. But the idea is that you can let me know via email that you would be willing to contribute and once I have numbers I can let everyone know by return email how much contributions should be. I can also use that method to let everyone know HOW to make your payment ... rather than posting Zaza's account info here which would be asking for trouble.
Make sense?
Thanks Bryan. I don't think I've ever used paypal so I had no idea. I'm just old-fashioned. Or lazy.
I'm in full agreement on all of the above. Get the full domain covered so some porn site doesn't try to sponge off our popularity. After all, if we want a porn page, we can do that ourselves! Um, I mean, well, not that we would do anything more racy than post pictures of kilts in the wind.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, I'll contribute too, once the instructions on where and how are figured out. And I'm sure Mom and Dad will be willing to put a link to our site on their sites. After all, even after we move out, they will still be Mom and Dad. They can't get rid of us that easily.
k.l. ... kilts in the wind hehe. That will be Theresa in pgh's job. SEND PHOTOS!!!
Paypal, for those of you unfamiliar, is very safe. You set up a passworded account. This account acts as a sort of go-between so that vendors don't have direct access to your financial info. And its very easy to set up also. When I send the payment information, I can also, I think, include a link to paypal for those people who do not already have an account.
mcb - count me in...i'll e-mail you.
Just bumping this up ...
ZaZa said...
I've just been looking at the outline Lori's made from all our random ravings, and it looks like we may need a lot of polls just to name things. Since Bravenet only lets you have one active poll at a time, could I get a couple others to sign up and create polls? I can do a little tutorial if someone's willing but is having trouble with their wacky site.
AMC - hope things go with with DH. Let us know.
Marcia - good luck in court. Let us know if shovels are required.
Jen-T: Lets just say I've celebrated my 29th a few times already.
Andi: I think your Dad must be my Dad's long lost brother and idealogical(?) soul mate. Commie Pandas! : )
And BCB: Yes, I know about the stories. My grandmother raised her first two kids in a former chicken coop in the 30s. But I was a late in life baby for my Dad, so everyone is getting pretty up there in age. Gramma's 92, Dad's her third of eight, twenty years younger than Gramma. The only siblings he has still competent are working (which is I guess how they stay competent) and can't come around as much.
Result is, I get the same story over and over again. But, Dad has shown me the neighborhood where they first lived in SLC (now an apartment complex), where they used to climb grain silos to retrieve baby pigeons to raise, (now a strip mall), and I've finally nailed down the story about my eldest uncle's mysterious first wife. (The only reason I even knew she existed was a photo I once found of a 50s-pinup-looking gal standing next to a fancy 50s Oldsmobile, cigarette in hand. Looked like a FAST WOMAN, and I don't mean like a character in a Crusie novel.
MCB - willing to contribute, not willing to set up Paypal account (I don't shop on line and don't plan to - ya, ya, haven't been dragged into the 21st century yet). I'd be happy to send a check to an address. For those of us who don't have Paypal - how can we participate??
Jen - Hope your new filling has quit hurting!
AMC - if abscess on horse is in mouth, good luck. If in hoof, soak hoof in hot water with Epson salts - draws all the poison out.
OH - saw license plate frame the other day - said: I'd rather be in Santa Cruz. Thought of you. Hope move goes smoothly.
jjfjjcq - yikes!!!!
hummm... even blogger thought that was too difficult
ymbilw - it's Friday, brain has left for the day
Cary_S - hmmmm, you didn't really answer my question, but I'll forgive since I've seen 29 a few times too.
Also, love finding those old photo's and stuff.
P.S. Marcia - best of luck in court. We have your back.
jiwyvg
What Marcia will be doing when court goes well
Hi Lou - mouth feeling much better - thanks for asking.
Marcia - thinking of you! hugs!
On Lurch: one of my DH's nicknames at work is Lurch. Ok, so he occassionally has that vacant stare, but not that often really. His other nickname is Bonehead. Actually it took a year before he told me it was really Boner, but because I am such a "nice" person, they changed it to Bonehead when I'm around. (He works in a factory. Unless you know someone who has, it's hard to understand the mentality). He is one of those guys who for whatever reason has women come up to him out of the blue. He's not exactly a Stanley Studmuffin and gets all flustered. As of last week, he refuses to go to the store by himself. I guess three women hit on him within 15 minutes. My DSS was with him one evening and my DSS started asking VERY LOUDLY, "Dad, does Bren (me) know HER?" *snort* I love that kid, a regular chip off the ol' marshmallow.
Love the Princess Bride! "Hello! My name is Indigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!" Whack! Whack! Whack! Several years ago, I was trying to track down the video to buy and I asked a clerk in the video store if I could order it. He asked his buddy if he knew the movie and before I knew it, the two of them were acting out the poison scene. "Great movie! (Pause) What do you mean it's out of print??!" No movie, but I got a floor show.
andi and jen-t: I grew up in northern Indiana, mostly in the "Region" (the three most northern counties near Chicago). I lived the longest about 40 miles from South Bend. If we didn't have to drive an hour to get somewhere, we didn't know what to do with the extra time.
bhiilee: the "modern" way of spelling Billie
qwhyjmn: nuts. I give.
marcia in ok said...
I'm off to a court hearing. Hopefully, I'll be further along and can start moving forward instead of being stuck.
Good luck. Hope this helps, the hearing, not necessarily my wishes. Well, both, really.
K.L. said...
kilts in the wind.
When we were in Scotland, we visited Edinburgh castle. We noticed a crowd of women standing in this thing like a drive in area under one of the buildings. Naturally, we had to go see what was happening. There was one of the soldiers, in a kilt, standing on the landing of a flight of steps, playing the bagpipe and pivoting slowly in a circle, round and round. He was about six feet above ground level. ;+))) Every time the women would edge closer, one of the other guys would back them off. Darn it. He was being punished for something, but he had as much of a smile as a guy blowing a bagpipe can have. Seemed to be very amused by the whole thing.
Domain name
Well, you'll be thrilled to hear that, because we took time out for the poll, there appears to be a domain name sale we would have missed. /;+) According to the email I just got, we can get a .com domain this weekend for $6.95 instead of $8.95. Wahey!
I, too, have a PayPal account which I use to pay for eBay wins and to bill clients. I've had it for ages, long before it was bought by eBay, and I've never had any problems. Unlike charge accounts, where someone can steal your number and use it, you have to sign in and approve each individual charge on PayPal. I don't know how it works for auto pays like Bryan was talking about, but it's a good level of security.
As for paying, right now I'll be happy to front the payment. Of course, it would be great to be reimbursed, but I'll leave that to you guys to decide. One thought I had on paying for things was a way to maybe make some CB cash. If we can get a cool logo, we could do a CafePress shop to buy things for ourselves and to raise enough cash to pay for domain names and hosting and stuff, when and if we needed it. It would also be a way, in the future, to raise funds for something specific, if the need arose.
I remember a couple times people have said something funny and sloganish on here and commented that they'd buy a t-shirt with that on it. If any one remembers that or is willing to hunt for it, or come up with new ones, we could do t-shirts.
A basic CafePress shop is free. The catch is that you can only have one of each item, e.g., only one camisole, one longsleeve tee, one large mug etc. A shop where you can have any number of things is about $6/month, IIRC. If we actually sold stuff, it would end up paying for itself. But, if we wanted to do that, we could start with the free one and see if we wanted to go bigger.
Anyone wants to go take a look, here's a link to one of the shops I manage. It's kind of disorganized because it's just a catchall for a variety of clients who mostly use it to buy gimmes for their clients, but it gives you an idea of what items are available and what you can do with it. I've left some blank products in the shops so you can see some of the things we might use. I also opened a couple closed sections (like Christmas 2004 /;+) because they have more products to look at. I'll leave them open a few days, then close them down again.
These are just to give you ideas. Take the time to go through them, becausde there really is a wide variety of things we can "personalize." Someone mentioned license plate frames - got 'em. Doggie sweaters? Got 'em. Teddy bears with their own tees? Got 'em. We're a creative group, so I'm sure this will give us plenty of ideas.
My sympathies to the dental sufferers, the hubby with surgery and the poor horse with the abcess. Ouchies.
Oh, someone mentioned old family pics. We might be able to make a montage kind of things from funky old photos. Just an idea.
wqevpr (blue)
We quit eating violently puffed rice.
Zaza, regarding the above cafepress link: I want the Tile Coaster shown under the "anything and everything" link. Whoa. Is it hot in here? Those would raise some serious cash for the new home...;-)
Zaza - marketing our own wares ... waaaay cool! But, let's not get our cart ahead of our horse. We'll get the blog going and then we can open up a shop.
Everyone - I will set up an email account tonight for handling, at least initially, the issue of contributions to reimburse Zaza for the site. Once I know how many are willing, I'll do the split. Zaza let me know how you want us to go about getting it funnelled into your paypal account. Whether I can include a link to your account or whether it should be done more directly.
As with everything else related to our new home, your contributions are VOLUNTARY. NOBODY, should feel they are under any pressure here nor that any contributions are required in order to participate in our new home.
ZaZa, the kilt story had me ROTFLAO! I suppose when you wear a kilt regularly, you get pretty amused at the reaction of the female admirers.
I too, enjoyed the tile coaster ME was admiring. And yes, it is getting a bit warm in here.
Don't mind me, I'm just over here doing the jiwyvg! No shovels will be needed today.
The court hearing went well, and I'm officially divorced. Wasn't sure it was going to happen any time soon, and almost missed catching a judge at the courthouse(lots of them left early, regardless of whether they had appts scheduled - Geez!)
You guys are the first to hear of the news. For 18 years I've had my life a certain way, now someone signed some papers, and things are different. I'm gonna try not to dwell, and am glad it is Friday. I just got a new batch of books from the Library (all no-cost inter-library loans BTW).
I've already got a paypal account and am willing to pitch in on our moving costs, Jen-T has my contact info.
THANKS to Zaza, and MCB, and OH and all that are managing tasks.
Today, Jenny's blog topic "making it all make sense" - is really connecting for me. Wonder if a white board would help me sort things out?
Congratulations Marcia! Hopefully your X will willingly move on and all will be peaceful. If not, well, the shovels will always be here. In any case today is a good day, and we will all jiwyvg with you.
I suppose it falls into the category of bittersweet, or at least I've been told that by friends who have been through it. But I should think having the ties officially severed would give some relief, lessen some of the weight.
And I think a Friday with the prospect of many wonderful books over the weekend is an excellent way to mark the occassion.
Marcia: In this instance, I think chocolate would help more than a white board. Been there, so I know. ((Hugs))
marcia: I too hope all will be peaceful for you and hope the next chapter of your life will be all you want it to be.
ctbjix: Cherry the Bomb jumps in x-citement.
(It's Friday, people. The brain has already left for the weekend :)) And that's not a double chin.
me said...
Zaza, regarding the above cafepress link: I want the Tile Coaster shown under the "anything and everything" link. Whoa. Is it hot in here? Those would raise some serious cash for the new home...;-)
Did you see the matching mug? /;+) That gets some rather shocked looks. Of course you can feel free to shop. Any money on that one goes to paying the "rental."
Paypal:
mcb said...
Zaza let me know how you want us to go about getting it funnelled into your paypal account.
If you have a PayPal account, I can send you a bill from mine, or I think you can send me a non-goods payment. Let me know what you need via email, and I'll get you the right info. If you end up with more than necessary, it might be nice to funnel some Bryan's way. Even though he's already paying for his hosting, so we won't cost him any more, it seems like we should maybe share. Once I've completed the transaction (soon), I'll let you know the total.
TOPIC CHANGE
Is anyone familiar with the Snow Patrol son, "Chasing Cars"? I hear it's on Gray's Anatomy, but couldn't prove it by me. It's on the radio right now. Everytime I hear it I get all misty, if not actually sobbing. Part of it's the way the song builds, but more, I think, it's the lyrics and the whole idea of it.
END TOPIC CHANGE
mcb said...
marketing our own wares ... waaaay cool! But, let's not get our cart ahead of our horse. We'll get the blog going and then we can open up a shop.
Well, the basic shop is free, and there's no obligation to create any more merchandise than you want, or to sell anything, for that matter. For example, the CherryNoMo stuff was just for the purpose of having something for participants to buy to commemorate that year's effort. And I don't know if anyone bought anything at all. The Christmas one I in-hid for you guys more to show the cards and stuff, not that we have to sell Christmas cards. If we only used it to buy our own t-shirts or mugs, just us buying stuff would be enough to pay for a premium shop or to pay for hosting, domain names etc.
It's really a no obligation deal. I've got a couple I built several years ago for people to buy strictly for their own use. They may not go there more than once a year and buy on the owner's discount, but so what. It's not costing anyone anything, just CafePress file server room. ;+) Anyway, we can't do much until we have a logo.
ckdadvdh (blue)
Wasn't that a book about Buddha?
Marcia in OK - Hey, it might be different, but different isn't always bad. Hugs from me.
Ok, it could be, but if I have to live with one in real life, I refuse to have one in my alternate reality.
That would be here.
Hey, I got the italic thing to work! Yay!
marcia in ok, all changes are stressful, even ones for the better. Your instinct to stock up on reading is probably a very good one. Have a great weekend!
btuda - Try Borders for "The Princess Bride". The Borders where I live carries all kinds of old movies (DVDs) and I saw "The Princess Bride" in there the other day.
ocvynlba
only crusie verily yells no... love bathes all
btuda - we do netflix on line - it costs like 20 a month - we always have at least 4 movies in the house and we rerent out favorites all the time. Even better, they come in the mail. As soon as we send one back, they send us another one from out list. It's so cool!
Zaza - I do have a paypal account but I've never done something like this on it - only used it for ebay and some charity stuff, and only to send funds, not receive or channel. But we'll work that out via email. Hey, I'll learn something and that's always good.
I think it would be a blast to do the logo shop thing. I think a good number of us would take advantage of it. Yeah we need a logo ... not the Crusie/Mayer logo but maybe we can put an appropriate spin on the idea. And I think it would be especially cool to have a few CB inaugural items. Something in small quantities for those of us who were there from the beginning. And yes we can include some of the snarky sayings ... or maybe something from the 'you know you're a cherrybomb when ...' list. Lots of ideas there for sure.
Maybe we need a logo committee.
I'll go on the logo committee, except I had another idea, all variations on the cherry blowing up theme.
BTW Bryan - someone brought me some dark chocolate M&Ms today. Omigod!! You keep me supplied with those baby and anything you want is yours for the asking. They aren't available in Canada
Sad that I just sold myself for chocolate. But you all understand, I'm sure.
ZaZa
I also have a paypal account - well I did last year. I bought a couple of jenny's books on e-bay. I don't know if I remember my password and stuff but I do want to contribute.
ubwvc green you bet we vill come, to the Bar & Grill
Logo ideas.....
REGIS!!!!!!
Kermit the Frog...
A Shark - my personal favorite
An Eyepatch
A shovel (of course, duh!)
Basement furniture... you know, from like the 1960's or something.
Well, chocolate is sometimes worth it, Sheryl! :) How is mom?
Ok, first the serious: Marcia in Ok: {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}} I've been there, too, and I can't say it'll get better, but it will be different. My only advice would be to get some kind of group or individual support to help with the conflicting emotions. My divorce was amicable, at least on the surface, but underneath I wasn't amicable at all! There is help out there; we can talk if you want. Or not. Please know that we're here for you.
And now onto sillier things:
CMS: Well, if you had to sell yourself, at least it was for chocolate. I think most of us would, too, if we could have chocolate, and brought to us, no less.
ylnkdjjm
You like no-knee dancing, Jenny? Jen-T? Mcb?
Geez.
CMS - I totally understand selling out for Dark Chocolate M&Ms. We may be sellouts - but at least we aren't cheap or easy! (Well, most of us aren't cheap or easy.)
How's SDCB? Is she recoverying ok?
Thanks all for the encouraging words. I'm gonna drive through for dinner, and get started on these books. Hopefully, I'll find a favorite older movie on cable that I can watch(listen to) while I read.
Surely, I can't be the only one here that reads and does other stuff like watch movies at the same time!
TGIF!
wpbfqql
Well people, Bob finally quit quoting Lurch.
(Makes not sense - I know . .. but is that a requirement?)
(((Marcia))) Different can be good. You're not alone, you're a CB.
I read and watch tv at the same time. I also write really hot scenes while watching motorsports (I know, that's weird)
Just got off the phone with Mom. She says hi to everyone, thanks for the good wishes. She can't stay awake for long but she hopes to talk to you all tomorrow. She's pretty scrambled from the drugs so it's probably better if she waits to post.
zrlzz - What Scope Dope is catching right now
Okay, shut-up with the dark-chocolate - I'm dieting again, geez!
glyntmym - the key ingredient in most of my diet food.
Sheryl wrote: "I read and watch tv at the same time. I also write really hot scenes while watching motorsports (I know, that's weird)"
No weirder than the bird who always crashes into my window, or the bunnies that show up from under the bushes when I write those scenes.
And some of those motorsport guys are pretty inspiring. Someday I will share with you my collection of hot pics for inspiration. My DH always gives me a hard time, then I remind him his cop friend who likes to send pics of naked woman, and my husband says, "I don't look honey, I swear." with a huge grin. Yeah, right. Like my son isn't looking at my Victoria Secrets catalog.
Jen - Me too but dark chocolate doesn't count. Plus the orgasmic factor burns calories. Win/win if you ask me.
It's the roar of the engines. The speed. the...gotta go Jen just sent me a wonderful photo.
Dark chocolate with candy coating and peanuts, count!!!! And well, I'll take the real "orgasmic" factor... sorry, I know, I'm mean, but I'm hungry and if I cheat, then I cheat big time and it doesn't work. I want to get back to the weight I was in that picture from the dance studio.
BTW - I sent you some inspiration!
Sometimes we use the blog like Instant Messenger. I love it.
I have a real inspiring pic of a man fishing. I'm willing to trade...
My verification is mlady. I am not.
I'm sticking with the men in kilts theme.
K.I. I think I have a pic of a man fishing in a kilt.
I'm off to check out a new Irish pub. Should be interesting.
CMS, Mine is fishing in his hip waders.
Jenny Scope Dope just called and asked me to tell you immediately that fresh bagged spinach in Ohio has been found to carry e.coli bacteria . Please don't eat any. We worry.
That is a big spinach recall. People in Washington, Oregon and Idaho have been affected too.
kl - yep, liked the view of the fishing hole, giggle, snort.
Jen-t, your inspirational pic was truly inspiring. It really is getting warm in here.
I probably should have mentioned this before, but I didn't think of it. For those of you unfamiliar with CafePress, it's a totally online operation. You upload images, pick merchandise for it to go on and, voila, you've got tees or hats or whatever. You can order in bulk for a discount, but otherwise you just order as many as you want. If you want one t-shirt (or ceramic tile /:+), you or anyone orders it, CP prints it and mails it. No buying 200 of something and storing it, hoping you'll be able to unload them. No trips to the P.O. to fill orders. They even print books now. ;+)
Strictly POD, and they do the fulfillment. I've set up several shops and never had a problem. Some of them, the client never ordered anything, but they're still there, costing nothing, if they do want to order. They're not cheap, but their quality has been good on everything I've ordered, and the convenience is worth it. Lots of non-profits use the shops to raise money.
I just heard from Holly, "double dip cherry nut" on the JCF list, and she said she'd be happy to do a logo for us.
We'll want a basic logo, like the cherry with the plunger (if Jenny okays it) that looks good even when it's small. But we can also do a bigger logo kind of thing with our full name, the small logo, and our bar and grill decor from the site for t-shirts and stuff. Something along those lines.
We don't have to do anything immediately when we have a logo, but it should go on the blog so we brand ourselves (not like that!) right from the start.
marcia in ok said...
I'm gonna drive through for dinner, and get started on these books.
Now there's something that would make a fortune, drive-through book stores. I'll have a DLD by Crusie-Mayer, two Beast by Judith Ivory - gift wrap one, please...Of course it would have to be a warehouse kind of place to fulfill all our needs.
Oh, I've got the domain names. As soon as I get confirmation, they'll be officially ours! I'm listed as the owner at the moment. Until or unless we be become an entity, it will have to stay that way.
mbelykmp (red)
Maybe Bob eradicated little YEC, killing many people.
RE logo - how about a cherry tree in the shape of a plunger?
have a great weekend everyone!!
avlqteen
that's between 14 and 16
First things first ... dark chocolate has antioxidants in it which help the body process vitamin C ... or something like that. Its GOOD for you, that's the important thing.
Second thing ... Spinach recall is from a company out of California. 20 states received spinach from this company.
JENNY - DON'T EAT THE SPINACH
Third thing ... I think the logo should have something to do with TOTW. Just throwing out a suggestion, because I've got no artistic ability whatsoever ...
The first T could look like a blower-upper-thingie(B-U-T), some cherries hanging from the 2nd T, and a shovel leaning against the W.
... I suppose we'll have to have another poll. Zaza - do you have some volunteers for that?
Contributions
If you would like to contribute please email me at cb_mcb@yahoo.com. To keep it all organized in the event I continue to use this account for other Bar&Grill business (as opposed to chatting with CBs) please put in the subject/re line something along the lines of "I want to contribute" or words to that effect.
Ok I want the drive thru book store too.
I need to check in more often. Can't catch up.
BCB or JenT email me how to contribute to the cost of the domain please. I can send it via paypal.
Marcia in OK I hope you have a good weekend. Chocolate and books are always good.
BCB EEUW Squished cricket under barefoot. What a way to start the day but you're right, there are worse things that could get under your feet.
OH Hope the move to college goes well.
SDCB Glad you are doing well after dental surgery
Thanks for the update JenT and CMS
ROTFL at plum puckered out. I think that is more descriptive than plum tuckered.
I think the work you guys are doing to set up the new site is great. Sending my thanks your way. You know who you are and I'm having trouble keeping track.
Yeah. I know I already said that.
Hollering from the peanut gallery:
Speaking of TOTW (well, someone was) how about an interactive map on the site where we can put a cherry (or a bomb) pushpin to mark where we each live. In a general, unstalkerish way, I mean. I'd like to see how well covered we've got things! Seems to me there's a website we can link to that allows folks to do just this -- create a map of members. (I'll try to research this unless someone out there already knows of what I mumble.)
knpodza - How a Spaniard with a stuffy nose sounds when he asks, "What's up?"
Hubby is good. The surgery went well, he's slept off the anesthetic so he sounds like himself again when he talks, life is good. He had cysts removed from his scalp and the side of his neck, as well as some moles from his face. It's not that they thought something might be cancerous, just that the neck cyst was going to start encroaching on nerves. He figured as long as he was getting that done, he should have them get the other things because they bothered him.
Plus, the kids found rides (with someone I trust!) for what they had to do after school today. So I actually got to unwind. Which means I ended up taking a nap....
Marcia--is it awful of me if I congratulate you on getting your freedom? I'm sorry that your husband went loony on you, and that things got to this point at all. But it occurs to me that getting out of that kind of trouble is a very difficult feat, and you deserve recognition for it.
NMYGHNL...this one looks like Maggie Gyllenhaal to me. Go figure.
LKGNWFEL...looks like it's Welsh for something.
Lou--we did soak my horse's foot in Epsom salts. And packed it with a mix of sugar and iodine to draw the infection out, and wrapped it with vetwrap. And we'll get to keep doing this until it's gone....you know the drill...
amc - glad it went well. Gotta be careful with those nerve things. My husband had disk problems for years. They finally operated when his leg started going numb. He ended up with some permanent nerve damage and has a dropping foot - not very noticiable, but it annoys him.
I'm exhausted - going to finish up editing this chapter then off to bed... lets hope my internal clock does not go off tomorrow since the first activity doesn't start until noon. Dance, then a hockey game and I think thats it for tomorrow. DH is going to play golf in the afternoon, so I'll be writing. See you.
I like Lulu's idea, as long as we can keep our locations reasonably general; maybe we could just identify the state (or province or whatever) that we live in.
Yes, plum puckered made me ROFL, too!
SDCB--hope you are healing well and you have merely a "bad" day, instead of a "worse" day.
AMC--glad your hubby is OK. Give him a couple of poor babies and rub his back & tell him how brave he was. Men like that.
This place is great! It's amazing to see people working together, contributing ideas and knowledge, suggestions and improvements, and there's NO ego issues! Only in CB Land!
tcrxde
Tomorrow cheese rots, Xtra DE-licious!
(Oh, that was pitiful!)
LULU said:
Seems to me there's a website we can link to that allows folks to do just this -- create a map of members.
www.frappr.com
There already is one for the Cherries
http://www.frappr.com/jcrusiecherries
(blue) clycbtcb
cherries like yelling cherrybomb to cherrybomb
In case anyone goes to frappr and finds that CherryBombs is already taken...
http://www.frappr.com/CherryBombs
The only trouble with this is that anyone who registers can put themselves on any map. I added myself to the Cherry map, and it didn't ask for any special ID or anything.
lbkvp (green)
little black kitten very purry
Wow. This is sort of scary. I signed up for a blogger account thing. And ended up with a blog!
Don't everyone rush over there to read it -- it doesn't say anything. Probably never will. Me? Write something in a blog? I'll save up some words for the CB blog instead, in case we need a post over there once in a while.
But the link does have my email address, in case anyone wants to send me an email. If I'm feeling particularly nice, I might even write back.
Yeah, I'm moving right on into the electronic age.
Oh, this is too strange. I don't have to type bon cheri bomb anymore.
bw
Jen, you haven't said ANYTHING yet about the pictures Bryan has circulated!! I can't believe, after all the fuss you made, that haven't said a word. Shame Shame.
I'm on the map! Pretty easy. And you don't need to put in a lot of info, don't have to give a detailed address.
Pretty cool, too, to see where the CBs are. This will help tremendously when we plan the next road trip.
I thought I put myself on the map earlier, but it didn't take. So I tried it again and now I'm on too. Very cool.
Did you say road trip?
Or are you just taunting me about that whole NJ thing again?
bw
vilaar: viscious intentions likely arouse anyone's rage -- just saying.
BCB said ...
Did you say road trip?
Or are you just taunting me about that whole NJ thing again?
Well there is that too. ;D
Bcb quietly emulates usurping equines.
I emulate usurping equines? Well, that explains it.
*snort*
MCB, for some unknown reason, I can't access my gmail account to read your email. Either I set it up wrong (gee, ya think?) or Google is having problems. I'll try again later.
bw
gykfraqs: what all the gyk's join in college
Ok, I made it onto the map too. It took several tries, as I must have bad map karma, but eventually I got my place added. Now off to see the comments on the new post.
I'm a sucker for maps. I've been trying not to be too disclosive (a struggle for me, as I'm very chatty, which you may have noticed), but I couldn't resist the map.
suyvli: an SUV with extra zip
BCB - Well at least I know it got through. Nothing exciting or urgent, just saying hi.
Well, I finally got through all the comments. Only took several hours. /.D
marcia hope you have a great weekend and remember the CBs have your back. If you need anything just call.BTW what was the Suzanne Brockman book you found? Maybe it is one I haven't read.
Our ILL is great. I have gotten a lot of SB books that way and some Crusie's too. Unlike nanaimo granny who is in our country we do not have a problem at all with ILL. We get books from anywhere in Ontario. I have had one from Alberta too so I don't know why her library would have a problem unless it is what bacb suggested.
agtigress glad to have you back. I realize your life is really full right now but it was nice that you popped in. I have to agree with you about white boards and collages. I can't do either. I hope talpianna drops in once in awhile too. We miss you both.
I am recovering from my tooth surgery. Wouldn't you know that the person who had only one tooth pulled (me) as opposed to all their teeth pulled (another lady) would be the one to cause problems. My blood pressure tanked several times so the anesthetist and the nurse stood by me for some time checking my BP every five minutes. I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. No elephant they said. I held up everybody else, because the anesthetist was with me,so that the poor guy that had had nothing to eat or drink since the night before had to wait until well after 1 p.m. for his surgery. But I am fine. Thanks for all the good wishes.
red nntxtads
No no. Take extra teeth away, Dental Surgeon. /.D
ScopeDope - I'm so glad you came through OK! And only REALLY NICE Canadian people worry about holding up others while their blood pressure is tanking! Take care!
Very apt verification!
gfkbv: glib, flighty kids blow verifications
zaza: cafe selling shop (what'd you call it?) sounds cool.
marcia: (((hugs))) and well wishes and basically i'm glad it went ok. i also hear it is a bittersweet feeling but i'm glad it's going ok with you. enjoy the books.
SDCB-glad it went ok. and your allowed to hold up the line- you're a pirate.
AMC-glad hubby is ok.
someone had a really great idea for a TOTW symbol. hope you got it lori.
so, for the map, are we using the cherries one? and if we are, do i put LA or Santa Cruz?
siwasmad: yes i was mad
Zaza -- thanks for the quick map response! The IM feature is kinda cool. Anyone used it yet? I guess we'd have to hang out over there for that....
To all of us cherrybombs struggling with health and life in general: {{{hugs}}} & treats all around. Wow. Keep us posted -- we love & need y'all!
jmyqw -- Jenny, may you quickly write!
I have survived the weekend! DH's good, the horse is getting better. Whew!
I like the idea of selling things on Cafepress. If we make enough, we could not only pay for our expenses, we could also contribute any leftovers to charity. I vote we *ASK* J&B if they want to sell stuff with their logo on it; they may be interested if 1)they don't have to do anything, and 2) the proceeds go to charity. It could be a sometime thing, too, just related to new books coming out.
so we are using that map? huh? maybe this will make sense in the morning...
ha! sense. on this blog. hee hee. i crack myself up.
OH ...
use
http://www.frappr.com/CherryBombs
mcb - thanks for posting the map link - I was totally lost til that last post.
SDCB - Glad the elephant is off your chest! The SB book was Ladies Man Copywright 1997. Originally written as a Loveswept "special" for club members. It has recently been reprinted.
I'm off to the other posts now.
thanks. added myself to LA. this place isn't home yet....
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