Meghan's Musings

As a writer trying to get noticed I am grateful to live in this technological era. There are so many options available to writers now - including self-publishing. It goes without saying that it's extremely difficult to get published via traditional routes. Now with Amazon and even Barnes and Noble's Nook, writers can go forward and publish their works as e-books. I'm going to review my YA novel yet again, this time with my sharpened vision, then attempt publication through conventional means a few more times. If that doesn't work I will self publish. A great way to get noticed by utilizing the e-book medium is word of mouth. As I mentioned in the Hair posting, Eric Coyote e-mailed me his book The Long Drunk , and asked me to review it   after reading my review of American Psycho. I was supremely flattered, and delighted to get a free book to read. I finished it just after returning from the Easter reunion and this week was able to compose my thoughts... This i...

Since the realization that who I am isn't static dawned on me, I crave enrichment opportunities. I now view having something I overlooked pointed out to me as such. It's like having camouflage removed. To see something that only a moment before I was blind to is quite exhilarating. Camouflage was removed for me twice on Saturday. The first time was during a game of WordsFree against an opponent I underestimated. My usual MO is if I'm not immediately an expert at something new I attempt then I have no interest. This is not the case with WordsFree. I love words and strategy, but never had the patience for traditional strategy games and always had patience with words. I've spent years honing my writing skills and am thrilled there's a word strategy game. My impatience with developing a strategy is tempered by the art of creating words. I've been playing WordsFree for about a year against two of the best opponents ever (my SIL and the other brought to me via the r...

Life has been pretty busy for the past two weeks leaving little time to muse over, well, anything. And given my inclination towards perfectionism, I refuse to spew forth any schlock just for the purpose of getting something out there. This is the first. in what I'm certain will be many, blogs titled Amalgam. I just love that word! So much fun to say - Aaaa-maaallllll-guuuuuuum.... Anyway. Originally I wanted to blog about "Spread the Cheer" and couldn't expand an further than what is here. Then I recalled a recent blog titled "Non Sequitur" e-mailed to me from The Pioneer Woman website. There was a photograph and beneath it maybe a paragraphs of random things (non-sequiturs). Another fountain appeared, ala the one in my epiphany in Greetings and Salutations, and I cobbled together two other thoughts I wanted to share but only had a minimal amount to say. SPREAD THE CHEER I'm no Pollyanna by any means; and the older I get, the less I think of my ...

During these obnoxiously trying times deals are the name of the game. The day will come when Austerity is no longer my middle name, and when it does I'll still  look for great deals. When I was young, single and carefree with my own money to spend I never looked at the prices of anything. I figured if I needed it, toss it in the cart. It never occurred to me to look elsewhere for a better price. My favorite pasttime during those years was ordering groceries online at work via the Peapod service with Stop and Shop. Ten minutes after arriving home:  knock, knock, knock . My groceries were there and I didn't have to set foot in the store! Granted the amount of groceries I needed back then pales in comparison to what are required now. Given how picky I am now about the food I bring into the house and always want to find it for the best price, I won't go back to the delivery - even if I could. The greatest deals on groceries for me is no longer Wal-Mart (hooray!). It's a...

Soooooo - not once did I use any of the fitness DVDs I armed myself with for the trip. I kind of figured that would be the case. Instead I imbibed and ate my way through the weekend. For certain I've tipped over that 140 pound mark. No need for me to get on the scale for confirmation. I'm back on program and that will remedy itself shortly. We left the house around 10:00 on Friday and arrived around 3:30. The trip went pretty smoothly. I was impressed that Shiloh screamed bloody murder for only about the first half of the last hour. Ganket and floppy - Shiloh's ready! My sister and her family arrived nearly two hours after us. Girly shrieks and bear hugs ensued when they entered. Stunned is too weak a word to convey my reaction when I beheld the towering, charming, handsome men that are my nephews. Lovely, intelligent, beguiling - just a few descriptives for my eldest nephew's girlfriend. My sister also found her fitness these past few years and looks pheno...

EASTER FAMILY REUNION: HERE!! In just a few hours we will all be packed in the Jeep on the way to Upstate NY for our reunion. I'm just so tickled I can't describe it! The original plan was for me to get a solid hour workout in before we left. I busted out two 45 minute workouts yesterday, have been working out every day since Monday and my muscles are sore. Plus I think I pulled my left calf, so today is a rest day. I'm going to pack my portable DVD player and some DVDs after all. Not sure if I'll be able to squeeze one in tomorrow but I'm going to give myself the option. So if it wasn't obvious, I'll make it so. I LOVE to work out. And since I'm paranoid and have a severe allergy to going out in public sans make-up, going to gym isn't for me. I'd feel as though every single person's eyes would be on me (even though in actuality their eyes would be in their skulls and focused on their own workouts). But a friend recently told me about s...

EASTER FAMILY REUNION: T-MINUS 2 DAYS In the vain hope new readers are amassing, I thought it would behoove me to put what  I am counting down to..., Yesterday my not-so-baby girl turned two. I marvel at how the two years have passed so rapidly, yet it seems as though she's been around FOREVER. I find it fascinating how the passage of time is subjective to everyone, yet the speed at which it passes remains constant. The following conversation between my favorite android, Data and my favorite Number One, Commander Riker in the TNG episode Timescape, (one of the greatest episodes of one of the greatest TV shows, by the way...) illustrates the conundrum perfectly: RIKER: Data, what are you doing?   DATA: Recent events have compelled me to study how humans perceive the passage of time. For example, I have often heard people comment that time seems to pass more slowly in one instance, or more quickly in another. In reality, the actual passage of time remains fixed. ...