Things that do happen...

I don't feel like writing. Haven't felt like writing the whole year 2011. I suppose this is the way I work.
What I have done is art and crafts. I have FINALLY finished my OWOH 2010 gift for Jennifer. It took only about a year. :-D

Jennifer wanted me to make a portrait of a dog and write "loyal" on it.

I am not happy about this.

When I said I'd make a picture of an animal and emboss any one word on it, I didn't think anyone would ask of a portrait... I don't think I'm good enough to make portraits, especially on animals. Animals to humans look very much the same, but naturally they are just as individual as we humans are, each and every one unique, specific individual. 

I don't know this dog well enough to recognize what makes him different from all the other chow chows, and I'm not even good enough to "copy" a photograph... my picture is too wide, short and teddybearlike, the ears are too big and the nose too little, and I didn't manage to get the square face right... 

So I have been procrastinating and procrastinating, fighting my perfectionism, until I finally told myself that 

a) I have never said I'm good at this. I showed Jennifer examples of my work, and I'm good enough to draw/paint an animal that looks like an animal, and this dog looks like a dog. It's actually a rather good picture of a dog. It's just not a good portrait of this specific dog.

b) I don't get paid. It's a gift. It's not proper to criticize a gift. :-D 

and 

c) I would be pleased with a "portrait" like this of our dog. It would be enough for me that the dog in picture looks like a black-and-white springer spaniel :-D 

I think, hope, Jennifer will be happy with this. After all, it's better to get something, that is less perfect than nothing, how ever perfect it could be :-D

But, guess what? I have managed to misplace Jennifer's address... 

"The Essential Man’s Library: 50 Fictional Adventure Books"

"The Essential Man’s Library: 50 Fictional Adventure Books"

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss
Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling
She by H. Rider Haggard
Ayesha: The Return of She by H. Rider Haggard
King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard
Southern Mail/Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling
The Adventures of Captain Hatteras by Jules Verne
The Tigers of Mompracem by Emilio Salgari
The Pirates of Malaysia by Emilio Salgari
The Two Tigers by Emilio Salgari
Congo by Michael Crichton
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
The Lost World by Michael Crichton
The Odyssey by Homer
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings Series by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
True at First Light by Ernest Hemingway
The Thirty Nine Steps by John Buchan
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
The Sea Wolf by Jack London
Roughing It by Mark Twain
The Beach by Alex Garland
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini
The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Inca Gold by Clive Cussler
Sahara  by Clive Cussler
Treasure by Clive Cussler
The Lighthouse at the End of the World by Jules Verne
Le Morte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
In Search of the Castaways by Jules Verne

19 out of 50... not bad ;-)

Something funny, something emotional...

In Turku, Finland, there is a declaration of Christmas Peace on every 24th of December, at 12 o'clock Finnish time. At that time I will be by the television, watching the event, with a cup of tea in my hand and tears in my eyes..., thinking about all my maternal female relatives. We will be forming a circle of women holding hands, for 10 minutes. Some of the hands are extended from beyond the veil, some from hundreds of miles away, but the circle will be there, and I will be part of it, as long as there is anyone around who remembers me.

Be Jolly By Golly Blogfest

I'm tired and bored with life. Not very Christmassy, huh? But here's my "Christmas lights". I have two IKEA light wreaths in living room in stead of a tree.

I have been cleaning, decorating and baking the last couple of days. Cookie jars are more than full of cookies, the fridge and freezer are full of Yule food and now all I can do is sit and wait for tomorrow. It's the Midwinter's Day tomorrow, winter solstice. :-) Yule.

These are spoon cookies.

We will be watching the Polar Express movie, eating cookies and drinking our version of "butterbeer" - that's just caramelized sugar with milk and a spoonful of real butter melted into it and whisked frothy.

Have a lovely Midwinter, all of you :-)

Tired, tired, tired...

And so fed up with writing... I suppose my writing burst ended with November.

The problem is that I don't want to do anything else either.
I SHOULD be preparing for Yule, which is not even a week away.
I was supposed to make presents, and I haven't managed to do anything. I made Yule cards and wrote addresses on. Now I just need to put on the stamps and post them. :-D
I was supposed to sew me a Yule dress. Not going to happen. Haven't managed to even get the fabric for that.
No crafting done, no baking done, no art done...

Well... I do have an excuse. FM is flaring again. But all I really want to do is watch Christmas movies and eat candy.

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest

Amazon.com has announced 2011 writing competition.

"You are eligible to enter the Contest if you are at least 13 years old at time of entry and a legal resident of one of the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada (excluding the Province of Québec), China, Denmark, Finland, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States (the 50 states and D.C.), or the United Kingdom."

You must also be available to travel to USA somewhere between 9.-15.6. so if you live outside US, see that your passport is good and you're allowed to travel to USA ;-)

"We must receive your Contest entry between January 24, 2011 at 12:01 a.m. (U.S. Eastern Standard Time) and February 6, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. (U.S. Eastern Standard Time)."

"You must register at www.CreateSpace.com/abna to enter the Contest". I'm not sure if you need to provide the taxing information... I suppose not. I hope not. :-D You'll be providing that to Penguin, if you win ;-)

"You need to include
(1) the complete version of your manuscript ("Manuscript") (in digital .doc, .docx, or .rtf format);
(2) up to the first 5,000 words, but not less than 3,000 words, of your Manuscript, excluding any table of contents, foreword, and acknowledgments ("Excerpt");
(3) a pitch of your Manuscript consisting of up to 300 words ("Pitch"); and
(4) the personal information required on the entry form", but all personal information, like your name, must not be in the manuscript, excerpt or the pitch.


"You must be the only author of your Manuscript, and your Manuscript must be a novel (not poems, collection of short stories etc.) between 50,000 and 150,000 words", in English and your original work and fictional, unpublished and without images

You may only submit one Entry for only one category - either YA or adult fiction.

BTW, I joined the 750 words. There's plenty more interesting ideas at "I wrote a novel, now what" :-D

A Scribe's Yule

For Marieke's Midwinter Blogfest

Midwinter's day was no different in the life of Otherkin Scribe. She was sitting in her room, and writing down the stories that were told to her, just like any other day of the year. The stories were different, though.

The angels were talking about the good will that enclosed the whole planet into a warm blanket. In spite of all the stress and arguments, small accidents and moments of irritation, there was a will of good, warm thoughts, short smiles that crept on the faces when people saw the beautiful decorations and other people hurrying around with packages and santa caps. People were smiling more, were a bit more open, a bit kinder... it was nice being an angel at Yuletime.

The monsters were talking about the bloodlust, as they always were, but this time it was the lack of it they spoke about, not the urge to kill, maime and torture. A werewolf said that he hadn't been able to kill a rabbit, because it looked so soft and cuddly on the new snow. A vampire told he had started looking at the blood drops on the snow, and how pretty they were, and his victim managed to run away, screaming.

The harpees spoke about decorations and competitions and recipes, who had the best cookie recipe and how much the imported lawn decoration from France had costed. They also brought in decoration to decorate the library, but the Scribe told them to be sure all that would come down before the New Year.

The elves talked about caroling and how people started humming, went home singing along in their heads, and how the carols were designed to bring people Yule spirit. After they left, the Scribe found herself humming the old carols she'd learned as a girl. Then she chuckled for herself and allowed her to sing.

The minotaur coming in next looked at her a bit confused, then smiled and sang the song with her.
"Now stop!" he said and told about how nice it was to just let it all go, drink himself wasted and relax. It was as if his obsessions had left him, and he was kind of happy to be alone.

They all spoke about different things, and all let the Scribe in to their heads and hearts, so she was watching the cuddly little bunny in the moonlit forest, hopping over the square with no fear and no hurry... she felt the silence and peace in the minotaur's head and smiled. She saw all the Christmas decorations, smelled the scents of cinnamon and oranges, tasted the different flavors of Yule food, heard the carols and felt the good will. She remembered her lonely Christmases from time before she was made the Scribe and smiled. It might be just another work day, but it was so much better than anything she had had before.