Now that Drama Camp is over, I hope to get back to a regular schedule of blogging soon, but first I have to take time out for a toothache, a quick trip to Houston to see my sister who is ill, and the continuing battle with that nasty Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. So next week Slim Randles will entertain you on Wednesday, and I hope to be back the following Monday.
This picture is from the Drama Camp, where the kids wrote songs for the show with George Gagliardi, a Dallas-based singer songwriter who has done the camp now for four years. They brainstormed ideas for the song and wrote them on butcher paper, refining it all until they had lyrics. And here we thought the brown paper was just for wrapping meat.
In The News
Wasn’t the Democratic Party Convention a blessed relief after the sound and fury of the GOP? I did not watch it all, as TV watching is something Ramsay does not like me to do, but I caught parts of the speeches online and was so impressed with Michelle Obama. What a classy lady. I have not always agreed with what Barack has done as President, but I always believe that he holds the welfare of the American people in his heart, as does Michelle. Here is a LINK to a video of her speech thanks to Daily Kos.
Bernie Sanders speech at the convention was also a good example of how to give one that is reasoned and thoughtful. I supported Bernie since the beginning of this election cycle and was disappointed that he did not get the nomination. I am not a huge Hillary fan and refused to jump on the “support her because she’s a woman” bandwagon. However, I will vote for her over the Trumpster.
Egad! Hate to think about him actually winning in November.
I thought Bernie did a wise thing for the American people by standing with Hillary now and not going to a third party and splitting votes.
Writing Wisdom
A recent blog by Kristen Lamb really hit home for me. She wrote about how stress can weigh you down, like a 500 pound gorilla sitting on your head, and how that affects our writing. I know what she means. The past 7 months with my friend Ramsay have almost crushed me, but I have learned how to find a balance between pushing on and giving myself permission to step back and de-stress.
In her blog Kristen pointed out that when we are under a lot of stress we are unable to:
1) Be productive.
That book proposal will take 15 times longer to prepare because you keep forgetting the point you were trying to make in the first place.
We will wear out the thesaurus function on our computer looking for another way to say “good.” Face it. Stress makes us stupid.
2) Make clear decisions.
We won’t be making decisions from the logical part of our brain, so eating everything in the house will actually seem like a good idea.
3) Interact in a healthy way with our fellow humans.
The new trees for your back yard might never get planted because your husband will be too busy plotting a way to bury you under them.
There are many ways to deal with stress and most of them require that we take a step away from our computers. Exercise. Read. Do Yoga. Take a walk. Treat yourself to a day out with friends.
So what do you do to de-stress? My favorite daily thing is to go outside for a little while. For some reason just spending 10 minutes or so throwing the ball for my dog makes me feel a whole lot better. Walking is always good for me, too. And the dog.
Friday Funnies
The following questions about dating and marriage were answered by young people. I loved the answers. Hope you do, too.
HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?
-You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids. — Derrick, age 8
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?
-Both don’t want any more kids. — Lori, age 8
WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE?
-Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough. — Lynnette, age 8
-On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date. — Martin, age 10
WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?
-When they’re rich. — Pam, age 7
-The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn’t want to mess with that.
– – Curt, age 7
-The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them. It’s the right thing to do. – – Howard, age 8
IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED?
-It’s better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them. — Anita, age 9
HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN’T GET MARRIED?
-There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn’t there? — Kelvin, age 8
And the #1 Favourite is …….
HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?
-Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a dump truck.
— Ricky, age 10
That’s it for me folks. Have a great weekend!
I destress these days by sitting down in a comfortable chair, consciously relaxing all my muscles (especially in my neck and shoulders), and then doing the equivalent of a short meditation. And petting one of the animals doesn’t hurt either.
Doing the petting thing right now. Have a kitty helping me be calm in the face of an emotional storm.
Puppies are always a good stress reliever, but they are kind of hard to keep around unless you like dogs.
I like dogs a lot, so keeping one around is not a problem, Ben.