People, Places and Things

My to-do list for July

What's up for July? I am going to try to squeeze in some fun into July between physio sessions and the return to the office and completion of another credit course. What are your plans for the summer?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

The best part of my recovery starts today. After 2.5 weeks of physiotherapy sessions, home exercises, and rest, the day has finally arrived where my inflamed muscles and tendons and other soft tissue items have recovered enough to introduce massage therapy.

I've been scooped

Well, I thought a friend that I've known since childhood was going to allow me to write about her husband's troubles with a government agency. Not so. This morning I learned that they are at a TV studio filming a segment. Hmmph. Not much of a reporter, me. I guess I'll comment on it when the episode airs.

When was the last time that you were shorn to secrecy? Did you keep the secret secret?

Within five days of a car accident, my Toyota Corolla has been written off. It has been deemed, in insurance terms, a "Total Loss."

The day after the accident, two women came to my front door to share with me their religious belief that the end of the world was upon us. One handed me a flyer inviting me to a gathering to either celebrate, or prepare for the inevitable.

When I later told my husband about the flyer, referring to our current situation, he said, "Too late."

I am going to miss our Corolla. It was in great condition: well-maintained mechanically and the body had only a few minor bruises and scrapes---mostly around the wheel wells from inconsiderate dolts in parking lots.

Looking for a replacement vehicle isn't nearly as painful as physiotherapy, but it can be trying.

This weekend, I found a way to relieve the stress of looking for a replacement vehicle by reading the captions that accompany promotional photographs of vehicles in the "Wheels" section of the Toronto Star.

Among those I found most entertaining were:

"a hunk of rambunctiousness on wheels"
"achingly gorgeous, superbly swift"
"graduates from beast to beauty"

A copywriter's work, or a reporter with a penchant for poetry? Nah. The article was titled "The 10 most beautiful cars you can buy."

Read it here: http://www.wheels.ca/reviews/article/694212

Here's to the awesome folks who arrived unexpectedly, but stayed long enough to get me where I needed to go, in a hurry, safely, and as comfortably as possible.

To Chris and Colleen, the most awesome EMS folks I've ever met. Thank you for your compassion; what might be routinely performed, or done by rote, never seemed that way to this patient

To the two of 64 firefighters with the AFES, thanks for the gentle extrication and the lift. 

To the DRPS PC for arriving on scene with amazing and purposeful timing.

To the 911 operator whose calm response helped me focus on providing important information and took my immediate attention away from panic and intense pain.

And to the the nursing staff and volunteers of the Rouge Valley Ajax-Pickering Hospital, thanks for the warm blanket and the xrays; there's much a patient hears and feels while strapped to a backboard for hours with only dirty ceiling tiles to stare at.

Translation: Iron Road

I know some interesting and inspiration people, in both my personal and professional life, but it's not very often that their work is promoted in the newspaper.

A close acquaintance, screenwriter and producer Barry Pearson, who wrote the initial script for "Iron Road" is one of those people who gets press from time time for his work; most recently, here: http://www.thestar.com/article/649595.

If you can, get yourself to the movie's premiere at York University's Price Family Cinema.

Here's the info directly from The Toronto Star article:

Tickets for the June 14 premiere and fundraiser are $88 and $100, available at www.yorku.ca/perform or by calling 416-736-5888. There will be a screening July 21 at Royal Cinema at 608 College St. A two-part miniseries of the TV-adopted version of the movie will be aired on CBC Aug. 9 and 16.

Being dumped online

Writers are faced with failure and rejection at every turn -- whether it's an ill-timed pitch, or a missed deadline that results in a bumped article -- not all failure is of their own making, but it still hurts. 

Sure, rejection is part and parcel of the job in my professional life. If an editor/publisher is not interested in paying for my work, I find that easy to accept. There's always someone else who may be. So, there's the promise that it may really be "suited for another publication." One can do more than hope: a writer can repackage the piece and send it out again.

Twitter rejection, I've discovered, is another type of rejection all together. It seems somehow more personal. Followers are fickle. One day you have two followers - your mom and a close acquaintance -- next it's up to seven followers, none of whom you know personally. Then, before you know it, you post one comment about a hockey player and the numbers JUMP by the threes. Within hours, the excitement wanes, you've been dumped by the fives when the next post comments on an Oprah segment in 103 characters. Hypothetically speaking, of course.

I suppose, I really ought to just turn off the notification feature and be done with, but the truth is it's exciting to learn that someone liked something you posted enough to expect that you may post something interesting again.

Like writers who consistently face rejection, readers have to put up with disappointment, too.

Get out of jail

Yesterday, I got a get-out-jail-free card from my doctor in the form of a note that gave me three days out of the office. Along with bed rest she recommended that I spend some time in the sun, relaxing. Best Rx I've ever had for a cold and (not-the-H1N1-flu) flu.

So, outside I go with my laptop, my notepad, and a book. Our outdoor thermometer reads 40 degrees Celsius, but I'm taking a blanket with me anyway.

Squeezing time between the proverbial rock (coursework) and hardplace (software release) for creative writing practice, may be impractical, but it not impossible. Meet me at a Go ForWords workshop in June.

Congratulations (and collective gratitude) to fellow freelance writer Heather Robertson.

Are you a Practicing Writer?

Are you receiving "The Practicing Writer" newsletter by Erika Driefus? If you missed May's issue, here's a bit about tweets from Twitter that you may find interesting:

FEATURED RESOURCE: Jane Friedman's "Best Tweets for Writers"

Recently, I made a public confession: I haven't yet succumbed to the lure of Twitter. As I continue to learn about it and try to decide if it's something I want to add to my technology toolbox, I'm grateful to Jane Friedman for tracking "Best Tweets for Writers" on her blog, There Are No Rules.     http://tinyurl.com/c6s4ts

There's always something of interest to me in "The Practicing Writer" newsletter. There might be something for you, too.

If you're interested, visit http://www.practicing-writer.com to learn more about Erika's work.

 

*Copyright of the Featured Resource blurb belongs, of course, to writer/editor Erika Driefus.

 

Photographer Shines in the Sun

Please allow me to introduce you to my awesome friend and a wonderful photographer, Veronica Henri. She's with, er-ahem, the a daily newspaper in Toronto.