Happy Mothers Day!

Mom, I got all of my writing talent from you, and most of my creativity. Also my love of sewing. I still remember the late nights you spent sewing costumes for me, with great attention to detail. Thanks for all you've done for me! I appreciate your love and friendship.

Happy Mother's Day! (Just under deadline, too. ;) )

Mothers Day 1921

CARNATIONS $1 EACH FOR MOTHER'S DAY

Florists Say Price Is Due to Supply and Demand, but Others Call it Profiteering.
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MANY DANDELIONS WORN
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Buds and Blossoms of Other Varieties Decorate Lapels in Observance of the Day.

--The New York Times, May 9, 1921

The article notes that people observed Mother's Day by wearing flowers, and that churches that preached Mother's Day sermons had increased attendance (!). In addition to the carnation shortage, it notes that Mother's Day was only 14 years old (!!), the holiday having been originated by Miss Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia and fixed unanimously by Congress in 1914. She suggested the carnation be worn, or any other flower (like the wearer's mother's favorite). But if About.com's history is correct, she vehemently opposed the selling of carnations on Mother's Day.

Reverend Dr. G. F. Bartholomew from the First Methodist Church called for men to wear dandelions instead. Supposedly, that caused a dip in the prices of expensive flowers like carnations.

To be honest, I can't help but wonder if the extreme spike in carnation prices was in part encouraged by the New York Times, who, in a smaller article, noted carnation prices were high and it was hard to supply the demand.

MOTHER'S DAY TOPIC FOR MANY SERMONS

In Some Churches There Will Be Special Services in Honor of the Occasion.
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EMBLEM, WHITE CARNATION
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Dr. Grant, Rabbi Wise, Dr. Packard and Dr. Goodchild Will Preach on "Mothers."

--The New York Times, May 8, 1921

Rabbi Stephen S. Wise preached for the Free Synagogue at Carnegie Hall (!) on "The Harmonies and Discords of Home." Dr. Frank M. Goodchild of Central Baptist Church preached on "A Mother's Influence." Dr. Harold Pattison at Washington Heights Baptist Church preached on "Mothers" in the morning and "Fathers" in the evening (Father's Day wasn't a holiday yet).

Other Mother's Day sermons were titled "Unpaid Bills," "The Blessed Mother of Our Lord," "Eve, the Mother of All Living," "An Old-Fashioned Mother," "Mother's Day; Has It Come?" and "Mother's Place in the Sun."

Beneath that article is a sub-article titled, "FLORISTS DENY EXTORTION. Carnations $3 to $6 a Dozen--Ask Public to Buy Other Kinds." They explain supply and demand, which, again, I think may have led to people buying, afraid the supply would run out....

Writing Wednesday - Retyping

How's my crazy plan going? So far I've done 2.75 hours of editing on Kinyn and 3.5 hours planning my next project. Not bad.

This section typed on my cell phone a month or two ago:
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I struck upon this trick by accident. I never bring my laptop to work. One lunch break, when I wanted to edit my Step 3 (?) of my Snowflake for Chosen, I only had a handwritten copy. With my scrawling, the handwritten copy is not condusive to editing! I had written it quite a while ago, but lazy evening (and weekend!) Julie didn't type it for lunch Julie to edit.

Long story short, I was lacking motivation, so I typed the whole thing on my not-entirely-dumb phone (Samsung Comeback) and emailed it to myself. And as I typed on my thumb keyboard I had plenty of time to think about each sentence. If a plot idea was stupid, no way was I going to take the time to type it out by thumb! Whereas when I pencil-edit a typed draft, I might hesitate to change things around too much (more retyping!) and evwn when I make changes, sometimes I miss typing them in later. So I ended up with a stronger outline than when I started. It also felt more 'fun' because it was more like texting than work (90+ percent of what I write by hand is related to my writing which, while fun, is still work).

So again, the main takeaway seems to be to do something a little different if you have to. I think my challenge with Chosen is that I wrote this novel already, 1.5 times at least! So it's hard to keep planning interesting.

I don't know how broadly retyping with thumbs can be applied. With a full manuscript, it would take ages...and would likely introduce a substantial number of typos. But with a page-long outline it doesn't take long, and the outline's plot almost certainly trumps form. I found it worthwhile, but I'm not even sure I'd do it for a 4-page outline.
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So, what do you think? Not TOO many typos... Looking back, I still think it's good advice, but I'm not sure I can take the time with my 7 (!) page outline, which is where I am now.

Scariest Entry Ever - 2.5 for 40

I didn't mean for this first part to be scary, but I guess you can take it that way too. From my Facebook:

Bin Laden was a very bad man and I'm not sorry he's dead. And I can't know the grief of those who lost loved ones. But I think singing "Na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye" may be a bit much.

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Or the LORD will see it and be displeased, And turn His anger away from him. Proverbs 24:17-18 (thanks, Laurel Shields!)

(And yes, God promises the wicked will get their comeuppance, and I'm thankful for that. I just don't know if partying like we won a sports game is the most Christian reaction.)

So on a completely unrelated note--I actually got these ideas Sunday morning before church!...

I love writing and feel God has given me a gift and/or interest in writing. I don't work on writing as much as I should, even though I think God has some things He would like me to write for whatever reason. I don't spend as much time with God as I should, and I'd also like to get some writing done.

So I got to thinking. I believe in tithing 10% of your income to God (interestingly, that's what my pastor preached on soon after I got this idea!). But as an adult I have never been in a position where I've found tithing my income difficult.

I do NOT believe the Bible says you have to give 10% of your time. Honestly, I'm not sure if many parents or students would even actually be able to do that if they wanted to!

But I'm single. Employed, yes. Tired when I get home from work, often. But my obligations outside my job are really pretty minimal. For pity's sake, I have machines to wash my laundry and my dishes for me!

(Every time I think of complaining about "having to do laundry" I think of my great-great-grandmothers. If they didn't have servants, they could have easily spent something like 2 days EVERY WEEK doing the family laundry. I guess the fact that my great-grandmothers have not given me a solid beating for my laziness is evidence that the dead do not walk the earth among us.)

ANYWAY. I've got a bunch of time I'm squandering. I wonder...could I give 10% of my time towards God and pursuits I believe God would like me to follow, such as writing Christian fiction?

Honestly, I'm kind of scared. But I'm trying it for 40 days. My goal is to spend an average of 2.5 hours each day (just over 1/10 of my time) praying, reading/studying the Bible, at church activities, and/or writing/planning my writing. This is stuff I should be doing anyway. Realistically, the writing/planning is going to take up the majority of this time. Thing is, I am lazy and I am easily distracted. Only by the grace of God will I manage even this meager goal. I realize the idea of calculating this time may be a little crass, but if I just have a fuzzy goal of "more time doing these things"...it just doesn't happen.

The first day was Sunday, May 1, so I got a jump start with church and all. I actually got in 5 total hours before my bedtime Bible reading/prayer time. So RIGHT NOW I'm well ahead. The other 39 days...well, my follow-through is not so good, and again, I'm going to need God to help me here.

Can you see why I claim this is the scariest entry ever? But hopefully an exciting one too.