Stacie Morrell's Blog

I’m starting a new hobby. Social media is too stressful. Fortune cookies, now, those are great. Not only do you get a super yummy snack, there are surprise words of wisdom within each one. Let’s take a look at the first one: ‘When the flowers bloom, so will great joy in your life.’ Well, we’re off to a pretty goo start. When the flowers bloom it’s spring, and with spring comes better weather, and with better weather comes GARAGE SALES! One of my favorite things. Also, when the weather improves, so does my Seasonal Affective Disorder, so that’s a big plus. AND more vitamin D, so I can escape all the *&%#%^($() sickness we’ve had this winter. Now with flowers comes seasonal allergies too….we won’t go there.

What’s the next one say? ‘You have the ability to overcome obstacles on the way to success.’ Well no crap. Don’t we all do that?! Every. Single. Day. But it’s good to know the fortune cookie people agree.

Next! ‘Your first choice is always wisest to follow.’ I think this is the Confucius way of saying ‘follow your gut’ which is always good advice. Had I done that in my younger years, I could have avoided a lot of grief. However, you shouldn’t just jump to a decision, give it some thought, but don’t overthink it. Did I just overthink this? Oh, yes. Yes I did.

Onward! ‘You may attend a party where strange customs prevail.’ Oh, now that has lots of great possibilities! It could be totally cool or totally awkward. Both of which aren’t boring, so I’m in! I do notice how they CYA’d themselves with ‘MAY attend.’ So…I may not get to go to this awkwardly cool party…darn those fortune cookie people!

And the next one…’You are only starting on your path to success.’ Seriously?! I’ve been working this hard for *cough* two decades only to be ‘just starting?’ Well crap. This one’s not so great. On the other hand, perhaps I am on a NEW path to success, so I have another two decades of greatness and great things ahead of me. Cool.

Next we have: ‘The near future holds a gift of contentment.’ Well it’s about time! I don’t think I’ve ever been content, so this will be a nice experience.

‘The current year will brig you much happiness.’ Wow, no holds barred there. Nice! I. Am. So. Ready. So far its off to a bit of a rough start, but the fortune cookie people say so, so here I am happiness! Bring it on!

‘Adjust finances – make budgets to improve your financial standing.’ Well that’s lame. What a ‘no crap’ moment. Come on fortune cookie people! You can do better than that. Let’s move on.

‘You will be recognized and honored as a community leader.’ That’s better! This has lot’s of possibility: rescuing the neighborhood after the zombies arrive, warlord when society falls, vigilante, being first in the annual town parade…

And finally, the last fortune for today: ‘Rely on long time friends to get you advice.’ We’re going to pardon the grammatical error and look at the heart of these mostly wise words. This could be quite true, because long time friends know you and your quirks, needs, issues, well. They might also be as clueless as you are. Just because you ask for advice though, doesn’t mean you have to follow it. And hey, they could come up with something really good! Plus, they’ll be there to post bail should things not work out as planned…

Well that was totally great! I’m now off to order a case load of fortune cookies on Amazon. Stay tuned!

[image error]

Bird was singing to the sky when up poked a worm from the ground.

In his surprise, Bird forgot he was a bird. (Birds eat worms, you know.)

“Who are you?” Bird asked.

“Worm,” said the worm.

“I was asking your name,” replied Bird.

“I don’t know,” the worm said after thinking a moment.

Bird paused to think then said, “I will call you Wormie.”

“That seems to fit,” agreed Wormie. He sighed.

“What’s wrong?” asked Bird.

“What’s your name?” asked Wormie.

“I am Cardinal,” replied the bird proudly, fluffing his crimson feathers.

“See, that’s my point,” stated Wormie glumly. “You’re CARDINAL!” he said boldly, making his voice deep and impressive. “I’m just wormie, and that’s it, just wormie.”

Cardinal blinked. “Well, huh!” he said in surprise.

“See,” Wormie said, warming to his subject. “You’re bright and bold, and bird watchers look for you. I’m a worm. I dig through dirt and I’m not terribly attractive to most, except fish.” (He didn’t add birds as well, thinking he should keep that fact quiet for now.)

Well, I’m pretty sure worms do important stuff,” Cardinal said thoughtfully. “Let’s go ask Owl. He seems to know everything.”

So Cardinal hopped and Wormie crawled, and after a while they came to a big oak tree with a hole in its trunk, way up high among the branches.

Cardinal trilled a lovely song. They waited. Cardinal and Wormie looked at each other. They waited some more.

“He likes to sleep when the sun shines,” Cardinal explained. “I’ll try again, closer this time.”

Cardinal flew up to a branch near the hole in the trunk and trilled again, louder.

From within the tree sounded scratching and mumbling. After a moment, a large, round bird exited the hole in the trunk with a great fluffing and ruffling of feathers. Large yellow eyes blinked uncomfortably in the sunlight.

“Hello, Owl!” chirruped Cardinal.

“Hurrum—hummmum-hoot!” Owl replied.

“Owl, we have a question for you, if you don’t mind,” Cardinal said nervously, when he saw how grumpy Owl was.

In one smooth movement, Owl turned his head toward Cardinal and blinked.

“Um, yes, well, my friend, Wormie, there,” Cardinal pointed with a wing tip toward the ground, “wants to know what’s special about him. Um, worms, that is.”

Owl squinted, looking toward the ground, blinked again and shuffled his long, clawed talons, making Cardinal quite nervous. Then, Owl cleared his throat.

 “Well, worms loosen the dirt, letting air and water in. They break down leaves and things in the soil to help plants use the nutrients.” Owl paused, thinking. “One earthworm can digest and fertilize 36 tons of soil in one year.  Worms are important to the health of plants,” Owl finished with an important flip and flutter of his tail feathers.

“Oh!” trilled Cardinal, that’s wonderful! Isn’t it Wormie?” Cardinal looked down at Wormie, way below. Wormie looked up at Cardinal, high above.

“Sounds good!” he shouted up. “I guess I really am useful.”

“Yes! Yes, you are!” Cardinal agreed, all aflutter. “Right, Owl?”

“Correct. Everyone has a place in the world.” Owl yawned. “Mine, right now, is back in my nest. Asleep.” With a final ‘harrumph’, Owl shuffled back into his tree.

Cardinal hopped from the branch and swooped down to the ground. He landed with a soft ka-thump next to Wormie, who tried very hard not to flinch. It was rude to flinch at your friend’s arrival, even if he is a bird and you are a worm.

“See!” Cardinal said, with a flourish of his wings. “You are important, just as everyone is!”

Wormie nodded, smiling to himself. “I am,” he agreed, quite pleased.

Just then a fly landed nearby.

“Hi!” Cardinal greeted the newcomer cheerfully.

“Hi,” the fly replied glumly.

“What’s wrong?” asked Wormie.

“Well,” the fly said, with a half-hearted buzz of his wings, “I’ve been feeling really useless lately. Unappreciated. Even…disgusting.”

Wormie and Cardinal looked at each other.

“Do you know anything about flies?” Wormie asked Cardinal.

“No. Do you?” Cardinal asked Wormie.

“No. I didn’t even know anything about worms!” Wormie exclaimed, watching their new friend Fly rub four legs over his big fly eyes. 

“Think Owl’s still up?” asked Wormie.

“Maybe,” Cardinal replied uneasily. “But it’s your turn to ask him.”

Welcome to a 2014 Reading Challenge: Indie-Fever! ‘Read & Review as many Indie Books as you can!’

Ever since I have discovered this book review & blogging world, I have also discovered the “Indie-Authors”. To be frank, quite a big percentage of my 2012/2013 favorites were from Indie Authors. So I have come up with this challenge with the hope of promoting Indie Authors and their works.

http://www.b00kr3vi3ws.in/2013/12/IndieFever2014.html

1914 Santa Claus in japan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One recent evening, my family had a very serious conversation regarding Santa Claus and just how he does what he does. (wink, wink)

So, with joy in our hearts and imaginations tuned up, here are some of the Santa theories we discussed. Please feel free to add a comment afterward with any theories we have forgotten.

Quantum Santa Theory – Santa uses wormholes to zip from one chimney to the next, thus eliminating travel time.

Clone Santa Theory – Santa has an army of clones he activates once a year to get all those goodies to homes around the world.

Tartis Santa Theory – Santa has his own time machine in which he can go back in time if he’s running late, thus ensuring everyone wakes up to presents.

Mass Hypnosis Santa Theory – We want to believe! So much that we convince ourselves that he really does exist, even when those nasty credit card bills arrive. Especially when frantically wrapping on Christmas Eve (surely Santa’s elves can wrap these things!?) He really does exist. By purchasing gifts ourselves, we’re not admitting we don’t believe, we’re just being prepared.

Quantum Entanglement Santa Theory – There are actually pairs of Santas working in duality on opposite sides of the earth. Two particles (or Santas) are connected and move in response to each other instantaneously. That’s why the jolly gift bringer can be reported seen in Russia and Canada simultaneously.

007 Santa Theory – Just like Bond, Santa can slip into anywhere, leave the goods, and get out undetected. How could such a round man be so dexterous? Centuries of training. Oh, he likes his warm milk stirred, not shaken (too much foam, he’s in a hurry.)

Invisible Santa – Adults no longer have the naive joy required to see Santa Clause. Only children can. And only children who are really, really good and really, really lucky.

It’s Magic! Santa Theory – Go ahead, suspend your disbelief, it’s Santa Claus! In his world, anything can happen.

English: A stereotypical caricature of a villain (i.e. generic melodrama villain stock character, with handlebar moustache and black top-hat). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

All right, I’ve accepted it. I’ll never be as good as Joss Whedon. Not even in the same creative universe, in fact. But while I may never be a media darling, I can still create and use my God-given talents for good. Having said that, there are some days when being a villain is much more appealing than being a hero.

Let’s face it, even the best of us have days they would like to embrace their inner villain.

Like when someone zips into the parking space you have been waiting 5 minutes (or more) for and then SMILES at you as they put it in park. Oh, to have a neutron blaster.

Or when your boss disseminates in five minutes your project you spent three hours, weeks, months, fill in the blank, working your heart out over. One of those imploding bombs from Thor: The Dark Planet would be great right about now.

How about when your spouse ignores the full dishwasher for two days while you wait to see if he/she is going to do anything about it while you do everything else? (at least that’s how it feels.) Remember the hand thingie in Stargate that Ra used to punish underlings with pain and/or death? Oh, yeah. It’s on my Christmas list.

There are days and times when being a good person (or hero) is great. In fact, most of the time. But sometimes…world domination could be fun.

English: Glum face Corbel in St.Benedict’s church, Haltham-on-Bain (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Brace yourself, I’m going to make a huge confession: I’m neurotic. I prefer the terms “eccentric” or “unique” but the fact remains that I am truthfully, neurotic.

I’ve always been this way, but as I get older (don’t even ask) I find myself struggling even more with the darker parts of my personality. I could blame genetics (it’s my parents’ fault), I could wallow in self-pity, I could even point to traumas in my youth (mostly my fault, those).

What dragons do I wrestle daily, you may ask? Depression. I work constantly to push it away and distract my psyche. I was always kind of meechy as a kid, slightly glum when in my 20’s, but things went really awry when I had my daughter. At the same time I had constant immense stress at work. The combination left me teetering on the brink of sanity. I’m better now. For how I got better, keep reading. Wait for it…

Another dragon in my life (maybe only a really large lizard) is self-worth. I feel I must be working at all times, or at least productive or I am not worthy. If I take a day off to laze around or relax, I feel guilty. I’m working on getting over that. I think a trip to Europe might help. Or the Bahamas.

Luckily, or perhaps not for the people reading my blog, I have not lost my sense of humor. Some days I misplace it, though.

So, how does one as neurotic as myself be great when I feel like something icky on the bottom of someone’s shoe? I make a mental list of what I can do, what I can do well, and things I’d like to do or learn. Then I focus on one or two of them for the day. Geeky? Perhaps, but it is more productive than watching Once Upon a Time on Netflix (although that’s good therapy, too.)

Today I am going to concentrate on my retail and marketing expertise. I manage a small non-profit thrift store for a local organization that helps at risk youth and struggling individuals and families. (Chehalem Youth and Family Services) I have been in retail for, oh…mumble…mumble…many years now, ever since my parents went into the antiques business when I was twelve.

I have worked in the non-profit sector for thirteen years now, sometimes part-time and sometimes not-so-part-time. Eventually I want to get a degree in non-profit work, when finances allow. (The rotten deck and stinky carpet come first.)

I also volunteer as a member of the Friends of the Newberg Library, selling donated books and media for them online. These are items not needed for circulation, the sale of which raises funds for programs, other materials for circulation, equipment, etc. Since libraries are among my favorite places, I find this quite satisfying.

I’ve also done it long enough, for myself and others, that I am really good at it. In the past 12 months, internet media sales have cleared a profit of over $7,000 for the library. I feel really good about all of that, which quiets the dragon (or large lizard.)

What do you struggle with?

“WATCH YOUR LOCAL NEWSPAPER^^” – NARA – 535653 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In August, 2013, I published my second book and embarked on my first real undertaking in marketing. I have a lot invested in this work, a picture book for 6-10 year olds. So, it was in my financial best interest to get my behind (and the rest of  me) out there and promote this book–and my other YA novel as well while I was at it.

I contacted the head children’s librarian at our city library and got a copy in their collection. (It helps that I volunteer there.) Because the book was self-published, they refused my doing a reading or signing, which kind of irked me, but I got over it and took the victory I had.

I have sent out media releases and announcements to our local newspaper (which resulted in an article with a picture!), to local bookstores (nothing yet, but I’m not done with them), posted announcements and links on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, my blog (not much happening there, but time will tell), and did a blog tour through http://www.vbtcafe.com/ (not much happening there, either. But I  received some good feedback, and the winner of the print copy is a retired librarian–who might get a copy in her local library.), took out an ad on Goodreads (nothing there as far as I can tell), and printed special business cards that fold like a book (to hand out in mass quantities, of course), and did a reading on Halloween to my daughter’s second grade class.

So, what has been the most effective method? The media release to our local newspaper which did an interview article. What was the most fun?  The class reading by a huge margin. Why? Because the kids’ reactions were immediate and awesome. They loved the story. They told me, “You’re the best writer ever.” (So not true, but fantastic to hear.) They begged me to read it again. (I didn’t, due to time constraints, but I did give a copy of the book to the teacher to put in their classroom library.) They begged me for business cards, which they twittered over and appeared to cherish. I also had prepared a teacher’s guide (with the hope she would share it with other teachers…) and a story map worksheet for the kids.  The worksheet targeted reading comprehension, story logic, and spelling. I had kids hugging me, begging for attention, and following me around like little groupies. Not only was it a great ego booster, it also gave me some valuable experience and ideas for more classroom appearances. And because it was Halloween, I got to dress up. (Steampunk!) I may not have sold many (if any) copies, but it was certainly fun.  And Isn’t that what creation is all about?

The next marketing effort will be at Chapters Books & Coffee in Newberg (my home town) on the first Friday of December from 6:30-8:30pm. The store will be having middle school and high school kids playing instruments with book signing off to the side. It should be packed. I can hardly wait. I can only hope this event will be as fun as the classroom reading.

What makes your passion worthwhile for you?

English: Stack of books in Gould’s Book Arcade, Newtown, New South Wales (NSW), Australia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Books piled on the hearth, stuffed into bookcases, littering tables and counters and even splayed open on the back of the couch. This is my living room in all it bookish glory, where volumes substitute for china in the corner cabinet. In the bedroom, the shelves on my headboard and the top of the headboard bear precipitous stacks of books. These become a problem only when a pile falls onto the head of my sleeping husband. To say I read a lot would be an understatement.

I must confess, my example has not been good. My daughter now piles books here, there, and everywhere. At least I don’t pile mine in the middle of the floor. She does. Often it is two piles, in fact: one for books that have been “read” and one that has not. She is adamant that these piles must not be mixed. When trying to clean up, I often move the piles so I can sweep or vacuum, eliciting a squawk of protest from her that “you’re messing up my piles!”  “Books belong on the bookshelf, not on the floor where I need to clean,” I reply. “But your books are all over,” she points out. (She has me there.) “But not on the floor where people need to walk,” I reason, self-righteously.

Not only do I use books for entertainment and information, I use them for therapy. When I’m depressed I do not reach for a Hershey bar, I reach for a book. To be more accurate, lots of books. When my husband finds me sitting on the couch with piles of books beside me, behind me, and obscuring my feet, he asks: ‘Are you working on a project?’ If I say yes, he just sighs and waits until I’m finished and ready to participate in life again. If I say no, his antennae go up. Time for an intervention.

While I do love chocolate, I find books much more therapeutic. They last longer, are re-sellable, won’t make me feel guilty of adding pounds (unless I spend days on end sitting like a lump on the couch, which is fortunately impossible with a seven year old), and they occupy my mind completely, thus distracting me from my malaise.

It could be worse: I could have a serious Ferrari-collecting habit . . . .

Do you have a vice? Perhaps you sleep with a teddy bear discreetly tucked under your pillow during the day. Maybe you dream about desserts. Go ahead, let it out. We won’t judge.