Thursday's Writers' Workshop: My passions

This week one of Mama Kat's prompts was to write about five things that you are passionate about.
Let's give it a try:

I will leave out the obvious like my kids, my husband, my parents etc...

1) Probably one of the things that really gets me going is getting books into the hands of kids. I had read somewhere that in most low-income homes the kids may never own a book. I just couldn't believe it. I started by just recommending to my friends and family that they donate kids books to the Not-Forgotten-Boxes or other charities at Christmas time. Working for Barnes and Noble allows me to enlist the help of others in doing this. We have a book drive every Christmas and donate the books to the local mission. Each kid who goes through the Mission's 'Christmas Store' gets a book. I would eventually like to form a non-profit that gets books into the hands of young people under the age of 21 who are having their OWN kids. I have done a talk at a local high school with some other moms and a librarian (also a mom) about the importance of reading to your kids. Coming up I will be helping with a story-time and craft for a group of Burmese refugees.

2) Crafting is one of passions as well. It is one of my therapeutic outlets. I find that by creating things I can relieve my stress and desire to eat! Unfortunately I don't make enough time for myself to do this. I would like to start making a reasonable amount of money doing it at some point. For that I will really need to work on my organizational skills, which are currently none.

3) Drunk driving. I know that EVERYONE is against drunk driving... In theory. I lost one of my bestest buds to a drunk driver who, all these years later, has still not apologized to her parents as far as I know. I think that punishments should be way stricter and I have been known to call the police from my cell when I see some one on the road with a drink in their hand. Don't toast me with your beer can because I will be taking your license plate number!

4) I guess photography is a passion. I LOVE to take pictures. I would photo document every aspect of my life every day if I could. I received my first camera for Christmas when I was only seven years old. I used to tape pictures from National Geographic on my walls and pretend that I took them. I went through a phase of wanting to photograph for THRASHER or publicity photos for bands. I thought Annie Leibowitz had a pretty cake gig. I went to Ohio State for photography but never finished. I would love to do more with photography but lack the confidence I once had.

5) And yet one more... writing. It's just something I've always done. i go in periods where I do more of it than others. I have a book in my head that has been there for years. My goal this year is to get it all fleshed out. It's sort of blocking me from doing more writing. I think that it comes as a surprise to some people that I can write and write pretty well. I once asked a friend if I could read her something. I told her that I really wanted her opinion because I knew she would be honest. She sighed and told me she'd have to tell me the truth. I assured her that that was what I wanted. I figured she'd been down this road before. I finished reading to her. Nothing. Silence. I got nervous. I guessed it probably did suck. Finally she said 'I didn't know you could do that'. Apparently she had liked it.

So there are five things that I'm passionate about. There are more like road safety for bicyclists, helmets on ALL kids, making sure kids are in the proper seat in the car, respect for everyone... The list goes on.

Thanks for reading.

Writer's Workshop Thursday: You're so vain

I chose the "you're so vain I bet you think this blog is about you" starter for Thursday's Writer's Workshop. I went ahead and just did some free writing to see where the old brain would take me and this was what I got...

It was one of those conversations that you just know you should walk away from. Do not engage. Smile, nod, say it was nice to see you again and walk away. Unfortunately, when alcohol is added, I tend to get stubborn. I had run into an ex at a bar when I was visiting my folks.It started congenially enough. We said hi. He bought me a beer… which was no where near my first for the evening. Things were fine. I kept a bar stool’s distance from him.>And then it started. He moved closer,“So, you married some one who looks a lot like me ya know.”
“Wh… uh… I…. What the hell are you talking about?” Rarely was I at a loss for words but this had truly taken me by surprise.
“Your husband, he looks a lot like me.”
“No he doesn’t”.
“Yeah, he does”
“How do you figure?”
“We both have dark hair”
“As does more than half of the world’s population”
“We’re both tall”
“You’re maybe 5’ 10” He’s 6’ 9” “
“I’m six foot”
“Then so am I, apparently”
“What color are his eyes?”
Really? I was gonna sit through this? Apparently because I kept answering his questions.
“They’re hazel”
“That’s just a fancy word for brown.”
“No it’s not.”
“Ask anyone, we look a like. You have married my doppelganger.”I turned to my best friend who was just sitting there, keeping her mouth shut, letting me suffer.
“Do you think he and Stu look a like?”
“Not even a little.” She said loud enough for him to hear over the bar noise.
“Of course she’d say that. She’s gonna take your side. She doesn’t want to embarrass you.”
“It’s not a side. You don’t look like my husband. At. ALL.”
“If you say so. I just think you should know that I am also married now so you should get over me.”
“Thanks, I’ll work on that.” I mumbled as he walked away.
At that my friend Joe walked over laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh, I just made an ass of myself.” Nothing new where Joe was concerned.
“What did ya do now?” I asked
“Oh, I just bought some un-known girl a beer because I thought she was you.”
“Poor girl,” I said. Then curiosity got the better of me. “Where?”
He pointed and as I looked over to see who my twin was the ex leaned over and gave her a big wet kiss.
Who’s not over who?