Category Archives: Modern Woman
Weirdness Warning: Photoshop, True Blood and Arabian Horses
Life, as usual, has been getting in my creative way lately. I’ve been busy working on more post for you guys, crafting a story collection, finishing up a novel that I’m very excited about (as well as about five other literary projects) and then there’s the non-writing time-sucks:
1. Photoshop: In addition to gearing up for a Maternity photoshoot this weekend (love me some pregger’s bellies!) and a Senior portrait session with Firetrucks after that, I also have gotten some design work done.
While I do spend a fair amount of time on these things, it’s not all wasted minutes. Crafting cover art (like the mock-up below) allows me to focus a story more tightly, and often gives me the kick-in-the-pants that I need to complete it.
{I’d love to hear any thoughts or comments you have on this cover!}
2. Television: I don’t have Showtime, despite some of my favorite shows airing on that channel. Californication, Weeds, Dexter, The Real L Word… and of course, True Blood, but that goes without saying. And it’s literally killing me to not be able to watch them. Seriously. I spend hours lamenting my sad state of cable subscriptions and cooking up elaborate schemes so that I can bask in the glow that radiates from Eric Northman. I wish I was joking.
3. Parenting Lethargy: I spend so much time trying to accomplish things that sometimes it is overwhelming. Then all at once, I’m bombarded by the things I should be teaching/ doing/ sharing with my children and I want to poke June Cleaver in the eye with rusty scissors for making me feel like a crappy mom. Case-in-point: My daughter has mentioned numerous times that she wants to take horseback riding lessons.
Now, I totally understand. I felt the same at her age and thanks to my own Mother-on-a-pedestal, I rode and showed horses competitively right up until I got married and moved away. I think about getting back into it, but who has the time?
(My horse-days were before the digital era, but my Egyptian Arabian “Clyde” looked like the above.)
But back to my daughter and her equine interest. I’m scared (she’s extremely accident prone- she broke and lacerated her finger WHILE getting a school physical at the Dr’s office!), I’m not rich (lessons and attire and tack, oh my!) and I’m busy enough as it is. So I put it off, and then I feel like crud for not doing it for her. I really need to get on that, and the million other things on my lost To-Do list.
But I can’t start now. It’s late and I’m going to bed.
Until next time!
~K.
Pandora’s Baby – Book Review
Imagine battling infertility for years – hoping, praying – anything to have the baby you so desperately desire. Then, imagine your doctor says that he can help you have that long-hoped-for child. There is a new procedure that can circumvent all those pesky reproductive problems that have been plaguing you.
You are ecstatic. You begin the procedure and all goes well – until, that is, another doctor passes judgment on the procedure, calling it unethical, and essentially kills your developing embryo. You would sue, right?
That is just what happened to Doris and John Del-Zio in 1973. All they wanted was a child, but what they got was a place in debate over in vitro fertilization.
Woven throughout Pandora’s Baby is the story of the Del-Zio’s heartbreaking, moving and precedent-making ordeal. At no other time could their struggle with infertility have made such headlines, becoming fodder for both sides of the scientific argument.
While this real-life story is both poignant and evocative, it is only a portion of Pandora’s Baby. The author, Robin Marantz Henig, has chronicled every step of the scientific advancements, research experiments and controversies. She fairly shows both sides of the moral coin, and allows readers to draw their own conclusions.
For the history, this book is worth the read, but there is another lesson lurking between the pages – one more relevant than you might first think. I’m talking about cloning. Yes, cloning and in vitro are relatively similar procedures, with only a few major differences. In fact, many of the same arguments made against cloning today are the carbon-copy diatribes of the in vitro debate, verbatim. And those same detractors were proven to be mere speculation by the further research of reproductive endocrinologist, scientists and the like.
Imagine if they had not been allowed to continue studying the intricacies of human egg fertilization and embryonic development. For the couples that have gone on to have children courtesy of in vitro, that research has made all the difference in their lives.
It has been said, that people are most afraid of what they cannot understand. The Civil Rights movement, the Woman’s Suffrage movement, and the Artificial Reproduction debate can be held as testaments to that fact.
Pandora’s Baby offers up truth, facts and the pros and cons of in vitro and, by default, cloning. This book is ripe for readers who want to understand the scientific, moral and ethical arguments of genetic, reproductive, and biological developments. Although laden with medical and scientific techniques, this book is written for the average reader, in a clear, concise manner.
I would recommend Pandora’s Baby to anyone interested in artificial reproduction, cloning, or the furthering of science. It is insightful, thought-provoking and very well written.
A Hidden Witch (New Release!) by Debora Geary – Review
A while back, I reviewed Geary’s first Indie published novel A Modern Witch (you can see that review here) and I had the pleasure of reading the sequel, A Hidden Witch as well. With the first book I developed a wicked case of puppy-love, but with the second I’ve become flat-out enamored with this series and the characters.
I stayed up far too late last night reading it, and in fact, I started on it the moment I downloaded it to my iPad. Even though I hated to do it, I eventually forced myself to go to bed at 2am, saving the last few chapters for when my eyes would stay open.
Today, during my breaks from work, I finished the novel. And I’ll let you all in on a slightly embarrassing secret. I actually cried. At work. Twice.
A Hidden Witch is just that good.
If you haven’t read the first book, A Modern Witch, go get it now from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or wherever else you can. It’s also available as a paperback now too. Go on! Read the first and then the second book, so you can be like me- anxiously awaiting the third!
Book Two- New release!
The Amazon Blurb for A Hidden Witch:
Elorie Shaw, steeped in the traditions of the Nova Scotia witching community, but not a witch. The fetching spell must have goofed this time… or did it?
Travel to Fisher’s Cove, Nova Scotia, where Moira is matriarch and the old ways are nurtured and passed to the next generation. Where a crotchety old witch makes small children cry and builds walls around the silent pain in his heart. And where Elorie – sea-glass artist, inn owner, and Moira’s granddaughter – makes her home.
The old magics are strong here. Which is all fine and good until the fetching spell pulls Elorie into Witches’ Chat. Because she’s not a witch. Or at least not any kind of witch the old ways recognize…
Book One:
Three-Ways Thurdays: Meet Author Shéa MacLeod
I’m super -excited to bring this new feature to the website, and I hope it develops into a weekly Quirky-fest. And I can think of no-better person to start the Three-Ways than today’s spotlight author– a Quirky, fascinating chic. I love her blog, and if you do one thing, check it out and subscribe to her posts. You won’t regret it!
PART 1:
Super Secret Writer Identity: Shéa MacLeod
Blog: http://sheamacleod.wordpress.com/
Even Super Secreter Location: London
Quirky Factor: SEVERE
Random Deets: I love Fluffernutter sandwiches, Brazilian dancing, and Spock.
Best book/Worst book Picks: Best book I’ve ever read… There are three that come to mind. My all-time fave is Stephen King’s The Stand. I’ve read the unabridged ridiculously long version more than once. I love it with all my heart. The Passage by Justin Cronin was incredibly amazing. It had all the horror and great story telling of King, but with more beautiful language (As Cronin is a literary writer.). Sometimes the literary-ness of it all did get in the way of the story telling, which is why I think King is better. Keep it simple. And now here’s one out of the ballpark: Dara Joy’s Ritual of Proof. Talk about controversy! A planet where women rule and men are treated much like the women of Edwardian England? Huzzah! I won’t say it was the best written book ever, but it was audacious.
Being an Indie Writer in London vs. an Indie Writer in America: I think that being indie is LESS respected in the UK, if you can imagine. But I have a lot of chutzpah, so I pull it off. lol I do find the surroundings very inspiring. There’s so much history and it’s so OLD.
Are you working on a new book? A sequel (to the one featured below)? When can we expect to see more? YES! The second book in the Sunwalker Saga, Kissed by Fire, is off to the editor. You’ll be able to read the further adventures of Morgan Bailey (This time in London. With DRAGONS!) sometime in August 2011. I’ve got three WIPs in the works. One’s the third Sunwalker book, and the other two are unrelated series.
Addicted to any TV shows? Totally. I’m a major TV addict. I’m addicted to all the CSIs, NCISs, Criminal Minds. And Bones! I’m peeved beyond imagining that Stargate Universe was cancelled, though I’m keen to try out this new show, Falling Skies. Everything’s better with aliens.
Pets, real or make-believe? Does a Guardian Angel named Bob count?
What’s the view from your window? A leafy street lined with Edwardian period houses.
Do you write on a schedule? When the mood strikes? I admit to not being terribly good with schedules. I write much better if I’m in the mood. That said, I make a point of sitting down and writing at least five times per week. Even if I only slog out a few words.
Did you celebrate the publication of your first novel? How? Hells yes! I drank port and ate Charbonnel et Walker Pink Champagne Truffles from Selfridges. Holy moly. Then I called/emailed anyone and everyone I ever met. Then I had a BBQ at a friend’s house. And drinks at the pub. Um, yeah, I celebrated! lol
(And just so you can put a face to the name, here’s Shea, looking all Mysterious and Writerly.)
PART 2:
Kissed by Darkness, Book One in the Sunwalker Saga
AVAILABLE AT:
THE BLURB: Danger is always on the menu for Morgan Bailey, a sexy and street-smart bounty hunter, who prowls the dark underworld of Portland, Oregon hunting creatures of the night. Morgan’s never met a vampire she couldn’t dust or a demon she couldn’t kill until she’s hired to destroy a new kind of mystical threat: the Sunwalker.
A powerful immortal once believed myth, the Sunwalker carries with him an ancient secret which, if left unchecked, will destroy Morgan’s world. Pursued by a passionate Templar Knight and the target of the local vampire clans, an ancient power is awakened within her, unlike anything she’s ever known. Morgan must uncover the truth behind her mission and about herself, before the Darkness lurking inside swallows her whole.
PART 3:
Random Thoughts of Awesome from Shea:
Yeah, don’t have any. But there are a few things I’ve learned in life. Important stuff I think you all should know. Probably your life will be incomplete if you don’t know these things.
1. Never say “fanny” in the UK. Trust me on this. It does NOT mean butt.
2. Photographs of Paris look way cooler if you use the grayscale setting on your camera. Even if you’re a crap photographer.
3. Richard Hatch made a better Apollo than Jamie Bamber. I should know. I was in love with Apollo. I was six. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, shame on you. You are out of the geek club.)
4. Even numbered Trek films don’t suck.
5. Agatha Christie was a flipping genius. Every author should have to study her in depth before ever putting pen to paper.
6. Not all food in Rome is good. However the wine makes everything go down easier.
7. Never, ever wish your life was more exciting. You might just get what you wished for.
8. Everything’s better with dragons.
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Thanks for checking out THREE-WAYS THURSDAYS! I hope you’ll come back next week for our next victim, er, I mean Author.
And thanks to the Fabulous Shéa MacLeod for stopping by!
~Karen
Margaret Fuller – A Woman Before Her Time
Born in 1810, Margaret Fuller was one of the most influential personalities in early American literature. As a writer, lecturer, and editor of The Dial, transcendentalism’s premier publication during it’s first two years, Margaret influenced the transcendentalist movement and is noted as being one of the earliest founders of women’s liberation.
Forced through her education by her father, Margaret’s health floundered, but did, in fact, give her a broad knowledge of literature and languages. Margaret held conversation classes in Boston, for society women on social and literary topics. As an ardent feminist, Margaret published her book Woman in the Nineteenth Century in 1845, which dealt with feminism and its relation to economic, intellectual, political, and sexual ideals. As a forerunner of transcendentalism, Margaret edited the Dial, for its first two premier years, during 1840 to 1842.
Other writers, who were her compatriots and contemporaries, used Fuller as characters in their own novels, so thought-provoking was she. Fuller has been identified as Zenobia in the Blithedale Romance, by Hawthorne and she is easily recognizable as Miranda in James Russell Lowell’s the Fable for Critics.
In response to her favored Summer on the Lakes in 1843, Horace Greeley called Margaret to New York City, and she became the first literary critic of the New York Tribune. Her Papers on Literature and Art (1846) were later reprinted from her work there.
In 1847, Fuller went to Rome, fell in love, and married the Marchese Ossoli, who was a devoted follower of Mazzini. Fuller joined her new husband in the Revolution and corresponded to New York, describing the situation for Tribune readers. Sadly, while traveling home from abroad in 1850, the ship that her and her family (for by then she had given birth to a baby boy) was on sank off of Fire Island, N.Y.
The entire family drowned. Her incomplete works were later republished by her brother. How sad it is that the world lost a great progressive thinker so early in her prime!
Some of my favorite quotes of Fuller’s are:
-What woman needs is not as a woman to act or rule, but as a nature to grow, as an intellect to discern, as a soul to live freely, and unimpeded to unfold such powers as were given her when we left our common home.
-Humanity is not made for society, but society is made for humanity. No institution can be good which does not tend to improve the individual.
-Men for the sake of getting a living forget to live.
-Nature provides exceptions to every rule.
And while Fuller had such notable published works, such as At Home And Abroad Or, Things And Thoughts In America and Europe, and Woman in the Nineteenth Century,one of my favorite passages can be found in Summer on the Lakes, in 1843, as Margaret so poetically describes visiting Niagara Falls in the moonlight:
“It was grand, and it was also gorgeous; the yellow rays of the moon made the broken waves appear like auburn tresses twining around the black rocks. But they did not inspire me as before. I felt a foreboding of a mightier emotion to rise up and swallow all others, and I passed on to the terrapin bridge. Everything was changed, the misty apparition had taken off its many-colored crown which it had worn by day, and a bow of silvery White spanned its summit. The moonlight gave a poetical indefiniteness to the distant parts of the waters, and while the rapids were glancing in her beams, the river below the falls was black as night, save where the reflection of the sky gave it the appearance of a shield of blued steel. No gaping tourists loitered, eyeing with their glasses, or sketching on cards the hoary locks of the ancient river god. All tended to harmonize with the natural grandeur of the scene. I gazed long. I saw how here mutability and unchangeableness were united. I surveyed the conspiring waters rushing against the rocky ledge to overthrow it at one mad plunge, till, like toppling ambition, o’erleaping themselves, they fall on t’other side, expanding into foam ere they reach the deep channel where they creep submissively away.”
Fuller had a certain poetical love of nature, and found the most intriguing ways to paint a literary picture. It is this vivid love and observation of nature, that I am sure help to make her one of the influential Transcendentalist of her time.
FOR MORE ON MARGARET FULLER
Woman in the Nineteenth Century
Renaissance Woman
I was reminded of the movie, Renaissance Man, and that led me to ponder (which I’m randomly inclined to do anyway) the origination of the phrase. This from smattering of explanations from Dictionary.com
Renaissance man
n. a modern scholar who is in a position to acquire more than superficial knowledge about many different interests; a scholar during the Renaissance who (because knowledge was limited) could know almost everything about many topics
n. An outstandingly versatile, well-rounded person. The expression alludes to such Renaissance figures as Leonardo da Vinci, who performed brilliantly in many different fields.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third EditionCopyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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This loosely defines how I feel about myself as a person, which in turn shapes the way I perceive my shortcomings and failures. Let me explain.
As a student, I had so many interests, that I couldn’t even begin to pare things down into an actual career field. I wasn’t one of those children who said “I’m going to be a Doctor when I grow up” and actually stuck to it.
I love the arts (both the doing and the studying of), I love science and took many classes that could have easily led to a degree in Biology or medicine. I spent years as an Animal ER nurse, and people still call me to ask advice on a sick or injured pet. I am interested in aspects of design. I am hopelessly addicted to CSI and anything that combines using science and logic to figure things out. I cycle through stints of writing, and the longer ones have led to enough success that a sane person would have kept at it– and had the book advance to celebrate with.
All of my career choices weren’t actual choices. They have been things that I fell into, at points in my life when I was cosmically open to change. I feel like a dabbler of sorts, and on bad days, this seems the root of my unrest. I haven’t dedicated myself to any one thing. I sometimes feel as though I have no purpose.
On good days, however, I see that I am not a dabbler, rather, I am a modern day Renaissance Woman, eager to soak up the wide open world around me. Why settle for a narrow view of the word, when you can have kalideoscopic vision chock-full of interesting people, places and things?
There seems to be a balance between the Renaissance woman or man, and just being a jack-of-all-trades (…and a master of none). I don’t want to be Jack, that fun as he may be, most often doesn’t know jack-shit. I want to be well rounded, well versed and general, well, just well. And I hope that my kids will follow suit.
Living Vicariously vs. Living
Okay, so I’m guilty of the above. Living vicariously, that is. I found this blog a few days ago and I can’t get the whole notion out of my head. You see, this woman, this mother of a young child, this brave, crazy, loving wife, is sorting through all of her possessions for the sole purpose of keeping only what she can carry. That thought alone just sends me in to a consumeristic shock.
But hold on to your shorts, there is a method to her madness. You see, she is removing herself from all that ails her and is relocating her family to the jungle, where meals will be months in the planning, and living in and of itself will become a an act of purposeful determination.
I have to say, my curious nature will keep me checking the blog for updates and in between, I’m sure, will see me daydreaming my way to Belize as well.
I was doomed from the beginning, with the blog’s opening quote, “Man, I see in Fight Club the strongest and smartest men who’ve ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see it squandered. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. Our Great Depression is our lives. We’ve been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.”
Yes, this mad woman has found a kindred soul in me. And I wish her well!
When I Grow Up
Tired of landing in one random career after another (Animal ER Nurse, SPCA Manager, Animal Control, and Accountant thus far) I’ve taken a long hard look at the college credits I’ve managed to stock-pile and am trying to figure out just exactly I WANT to do when I grow up. Laughter aside, I’m am totally serious. I may be thirty-one now but that doesn’t mean that I am any closer to being a grown up. Let me put it this way, I may be a grown-up with parental and financial obligations, but mentally, I’m still going by the seat of my pants and living without any direction.
I am tired of jobs. I want a career. Getting there is another things though.
Taking into consideration the college credits that I already have, I could easily finish my BS degree in Psychology or Biology. Or I can use those as minors and finish with an English degree or a degree in Criminal Justice. Sometimes I think that I should travel the path of least resistance– get the quickest degree that I can, and go from there. It’s pretty obvious when cruising the Job Bank that almost any degree will do, so long as you have one. But then I would still be left with trying to figure out how to use the degree. If I can figure it out now, the journey would be so much easier. There, in lies my problem.
I love to read, write, and learn new things. I want to speak multiple languages. I want to be able to apply logic and analysis in my career. I want to make some sort of difference. I want to be challenged on a daily basis. I would like my career to open me up to the world, to new cultures and experiences. It’s all of these things that is leading me in the direction of working for the Government. The coolest job to me would working for the FBI, DEA or some similar arena. Carrying a gun would be a pleasant bonus. (I’m 5’3″, petite and blonde– not your average Special Agent. lol)
The classes I’m taking this semester have helped point me in the direction of broad knowledge. For instance, I’m taking World Religions strictly because I wanted to, and I’m glad that I did. I find it fascinating. Especially the Prehistoric religions, because most of it is just theory and that lets my brain open up and get into analysis mode. I probably should mention that I’ve been watching a ton of TV shows on Netflix lately since the cold weather has been keeping us inside more– NCIS, NUMBERS and all the CSI’s.
There’s a saying that writers oftern refer to: Write what you know. It means that the best most detailed writing comes from a place the writer is familiar with. I think the same can be said for choosing a career path: DO what you know. While this to me isn’t literal, I take it as this– If is Do what I like to Do then I will be happiest in the long run. I like using my brain, flexing my cerebral muscle so to speak, I like reading people and situations, and I LOVe to watch TV crime drama’s– especially those based on the science of forensics, or investigative focus.
So maybe I should be a cop? That would be cool, but I don’t think it encompasses all that I like to do. I need to learn and grow in a scholarly way too, remember? Perhaps something in Intelligence or Public Affairs, or governmental liason?
Anybody have any suggestions? I’d love to hear them…
Unique? Odd? Weird?
No matter how you phrase it, anything out of the norm (whatever that is) earns you one of many similar monikers.
Here, that is not a curse. Being odd has no negative conotations in my world. Nor should it in yours.
If anything, differences highlight the very essence of our human condition. A room full of wire-haired, sallow scientists may come up with a way to clone my body, but all those things that define me can never be replicated.
This blog is dedicated to the off-beat, absurd, and quirky women who could care less about being normal, and instead, strive to just be uniquely themselves. Comfortable in our own skins, we seek to connect with other odd-balls, not in attempt to create a new conformity, but rather to relish in our differences.
Don’t get me wrong, this is not a call to arms or a guide to being different for-the-sake-of-being-different. This is just about me, letting myself think, act, and feel how I want to feel without my inner-critic shouting “that’s not normal!” If you wish to join me, so be it. If not, you are welcome to stand on the sideline and mock me, if that’s what you really want to do 
Karen
