Uh, no, you didn't.

Strange, weird thing just happened. I got a friend request from someone who I didn't recognize either by name or photo. This is her message to me:

Hi, This is (blank) from (blank) high school. How are you?

No identifying information or any clues as to who she is or how I should know her. So I sent a message to two of my high school friends and asked them if they recognized her name or could find her in the yearbook (I have no idea where mine is).

She isn't in the yearbook. So what is the etiquette? Do you ignore the person? Or do you call their bluff? Why would someone who didn't go to high school with you claim to go to high school with you?

That's just too weird. Way too weird.

Reader’s Advisory

I met with a former student the other day for dinner. She had great news: she was accepted into medical school. As we were catching up, she said that her mother had given her instructions that she was to get more book recommendations from me. Her mom was so pleased with my suggestions of The Thirteenth Tale and The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie that she only wants to get book recommendations from me! That made me exceedingly happy, then it made me very nervous.

It’s hard to always get a book recommendation right all the time. It is nice when you are on a good recommendation streak, but I am a bit fearful now of screwing it up. I suggested Beat the Reaper and The Hunger Games and then said I would have to give it some more thought. I haven’t been reading much lately and I wanted to make sure my picks would be good ones. If anyone has any sure fire hits out there, let me know!

David Schickler - Great High School Author Visit

Last week we had author David Schickler come and visit our school to talk about fiction writing. He spoke to our AP Lang, AP Lit, Sophomore English and Creative Writing classes and he was wonderful. He was wonderfully interactive with the students and gave them great tips on how to make the writing pop.

While he wouldn't be a good author for younger audiences as he material is definitely upper school material, he was wonderful with the high school students. The AP teachers really liked him, which was quite a coup!

If you haven't read Kissing in Manhattan, here's my review of it. I really enjoy it.

Kissing in Manhattan by David Schickler


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
At first, I was unsure whether I would like this book as I tend to enjoy novels more than short stories. But this book is a bit of odd duck. It is a collection of short stories, but they all intertwine; characters from one story show up in the next and they are tied together by the Preemption Apartment building where the main characters live.

You get a real Sex in the City feel for the first story, but there is a character mentioned, James Branch, who is dining alone and repeating the name of his entree outloud to himself. Something about that one small mention made James stand out for me and so when he popped up again in a charming magical realism story about a pair of opal earrings, I was hooked. James, for me, is the overriding reason to read the book. He is kind and compassionate, although at the end his compassion is a bit hard to comprehend. He is the one you root for, one of those very sweet men that you know if they will just come out of their shell a bit, and if some woman would just give them a moment of their time, magic would happen, love would happen.

Some of the stories stand on their own, and others definitely need to lean on their fellow chapters. Regardless, this is a lovely and well-written book that is a delight to read. And while the negative comments of some of my book club members were that the women are weak and the men are too demanding, I think James Branch silences those quibbles. James and the woman he ends up with (name not given so as not to spoil the book) redeem that dark quality in other stories and bring it all to a hopeful end.

View all my reviews >>

Don't Eat at Waltz Fish Shak!

Just want to make sure that everyone knows our recent bad experience at Waltz Fish Shak at Johns Pass. Personally, I don't know why a restaurant would hassle people with a service dog, but these people did. Fred said that when we walked in the bartender gave him a nasty look as well. Whatever. Avoid the restaurant and tell your friends to avoid it. They obviously aren't friendly to the disabled or those who sympathize with them. Spread the word.

Don't Get Crafty Friends Gift Cards to Jo-Ann's!

For Christmas I had asked for some items from Jo-Ann's craft store, so my brother and sister-in-law got me a gift card thinking that I could shop online or in the store. WRONG! Due to an incredibly stupid programming error on Jo-Ann's part, they have set up their website so that you have to enter an electronic card number and pin number and a plastic card number and pin number. ALL FOUR NUMBERS. If you only have a plastic gift card, you won't have the electronic numbers and if you have an electronic card, you won't have the plastic numbers. So you can't use the gift cards AT ALL online.

Of course, if you are a knitter or a crocheter, this is a big deal because Jo-Ann's carries very little stock of crochet and knitting paraphernalia. Ball winders: online purchase only. Stitch holders: online purchase only. You get the picture.

So when I called, two weeks ago and complained about this problem, I was told it would take 4 days to fix and I could go to store and use my card or wait 4 days and use it online. I waited 6 days. It still didn't work. It's been 2 weeks. It still doesn't work.

I guess I will go into a store and use the card or I won't be able to use my gift card at all. I hope this screw up is costing Jo-Ann's an enormous amount of money because they certainly aren't trying very hard to fix the problem and their customer service people are not very helpful.

Next year I will request stitchdiva gift cards instead. They have excellent customer service and actually understand the concept of gift cards.

Back to School and Looking Back at 2009

Tomorrow is the start of school. With it I begin the Health research paper process that kicks off the research paper frenzy that is third marking period. It will be a rush to spring break. Madness, really. No time to breathe.

Good thing my article is finished. No more editing to do. It comes out at the end of January. I finished perusing a manuscript for a friend and commenting on it over break. So that is off my plate as well. I wish I had time to crochet, but ever since Bingo came into my life, crochet has disappeared. But I wouldn't wish Bingo away for the world. It has been quite an experience so far these 6 months with him.

It seemed like a lark, being able to take your dog everywhere. But in actuality, it is a lot of hard work. There are many frustrating times, some when I am frustrated with myself for my lack of patience with him, with him for not being super Bingo (which is really just a backhanded way of being frustrated with myself and being delusional about it 8-) and frustrated with people.

I remember clearly walking out of school with Bingo, my HUGE bag, my HUGE purse and another bag and trying to get to my car quickly. Bingo was out of coat. The mom and her young son ran up and said, "Oh, he's out of coat, so we can pet him, right?" and then proceeded to pet him without waiting for me to get him ready. Bingo jumped. I was really hard pressed to maintain my balance let alone respond. Then she says, "Well, he's gonna fail for sure," and walks off. Really. Like you just failed Manners 101? Sigh. I know he's not perfect, but please.

But that is really the only occurance that comes to mind that was unpleasant. Overall, I have met so many nice, friendly people. What's even better, is that when I am walking with Bingo, he elicites smiles. He makes people happy and that makes me happy.

So even though it is hard work and at end of the road there will be tears, the journey down the road is a happy one. There isn't much that can beat reaching down and petting your dog when you are having a tough day or getting a lick on the face.

Best Advice from a Magazine Article Ever

Unfortunately, I can't remember the magazine, Redbook or Ladies Home Journal I'm sure. It was one of the many that my mom subscribes to and to which during the holiday I turned to when the TV was turned to sports. As I flicked through the pages, I came upon some interesting website mentions (www.hautelook.com and www.gilt.com) for designer items at cut rate prices. Evidently when some of the jewelry stores go out of business and sell lots of merchandise, places like the aforementioned websites buy up the lots and then auction them off. They only cater to the high and snooty though. Hautelook does not require a waiting period, but Gilt does. Both require that you register.

Back to that famous advice. As I flicked through the articles (and wrote down those websites to try later!), I came upon an article on the worlds best organizers on their top tips for organizing. "Yeah, yeah." I thought. "Sure. Like every article I have every read on organizing goes in one eyeball and out the other." I read it and don't do one thing."

But I read on. And on. And on. And for the most part it was forgettable. But there were two pieces of advice that stood out as so valuable that I thought I should pass them on. I'm passing them on because with the first one I ACTUALLY DID IT WHEN I WENT HOME AND IT WORKS! And I think the second will work as well.

1. When you sit down to watch TV, grab a drawer, any drawer and bring a trash can over with you by the chair. As you watch TV, sort through the drawer and throw away the stuff you don't need, keep what you do, put in a bag to stuff to give away. OMG does this work! I've gone through FIVE drawers already!

2. Buy only white sheets and towels. Pretty simple, but seems very effective.

So my New Year's Resolution's are what you see above. I think I can do that and I'll be more organized too. I'll work on the more complicated stuff as the year goes on.