Sunday, September 14, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Guest Blogger Crystal
Crystal is my daughter and the love of my life. Although, I will admit that Chelsie and Carrie, rank right up there. Crystal wrote a great graduation speech, with my help. I've been quite busy with writing my resume and doing some research. Actually, I've been more busy job hunting. The bottom line is, that I didn't get around to writing anything for my blog so I decided to have a guest blogger for the weekend. If any of you readers would like to guest blog please just email me at writingbylori@gmail.com and I'd be happy to let you guest blog. It's a lot of fun, and even more fun when you get comments. Anyway, enjoy Crystal's speech and I'll be back with a new post in another day or so.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
A Graduation Speech that I helped my daughter write. She wasn't chosen to give it, so I decided to put it here
Words from my favorite philosopher: Dr. Suess
by Crystal Thissen
Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser have put together an anthology of six word memoirs. I thought to myself, “How hard could that be?” sum up my life in six words? After several attempts I settled on, “Grew up, graduated college, now what?” Those last two words are words many of us sitting here waiting to receive our degrees are asking ourselves. So, I set off to see what profound words the world’s great philosophers have to help us answer these questions. I found the words, “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who will decide where to go…..” By one of my favorite philosophers….Dr. Seuss.
When we think of Dr. Suess, we think of his nonsensical words and fun rhymes, you in the audience read to us as toddlers, but the more I thought of what Dr. Suess had to say, I realized that he did indeed answer that question. When Dr. Seuss wrote the book “Oh The Places You’ll Go” for his son when he graduated from college, he provided a guideline to those last two words, “What now?”
Today, I, with some thoughtful quotes from the good doctor, am here to remind you “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” In a world where nothing is constant except for change, the graduates who will receive their diplomas today will enter a world facing both exciting and terrifying challenges their father’s could have not imagined. The halcyon days of the 1990s, with its low inflation and relative world peace, have been replaced by a decade of violence, economic turmoil and political turbulence. Yet, I will assure you, especially our parents and grandparents, that we will persevere and succeed in ways not imaginable to past generations because, “We have brains in our heads.”
Ours will be a challenge to combat increase violence. Who can forget April 16, 2007 on the Virginia Tech campus when a loan gunman killed 32 and wounded many others in the deadliest shooting rampage by a single gunman in U.S. history. As horrid as this act of violence was, it has prompted new emergency measures which in the future will save lives. One such measure I hold in my hand (hold up cell phone now). Campus security now has the ability to send mass text messages warning students of possible disaster and can instruct vast numbers of people seek safety. This is an example of the technological progress our graduates already embrace as one way to make our world just a bit safer. Or, to quote the wise doctor, “Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try.”
Ours will be a challenge to stabilize the ever-changing economy. All of you seated here felt the pain when you put gasoline in your cars to come to this graduation. As late as 1999, oil was trading at $10 a barrel and gold was at $250 per ounce, down from their peaks of $39 for a barrel of oil and $850 for gold in 1980. Economists note prices for commodities such as oil, metals and grains go in 10 to 20 year cycles. Because of low commodity prices in the 1980s and 1990s, little money was spent developing new oil and metal sources. It will take a number of years for industry to catch up to the rising demand from both domestic and international needs from the growing economies of China and India for oil and food. We will not shirk our responsibilities for when faced with challenges. This class will rise to take on the challenge of developing new resources, improve efficiency and utilize the technological know-how taught to us by our professors at UC Davis to find creative and innovative solutions. As Dr. Seuss reminds us, “So you see! There’s no end to the thing you might know, depending how far beyond Zebra you go.” ”
Ours will be a world where the advances in the ability to produce food are a double-edged sword. As an agriculture major, I am keenly aware of this dilemma. Because of the efficiency of economy of scale the corporate farms bring, does this spell the end to the American small farmer? In the 1930s, there were some seven million farms in the United States. Today, just 2 million farms remain and of those, some 565,000 are family operations. The slow disappearance of the small farmer strikes a personal note with me. Some of my favorite childhood memories involve my grandpa’s small farm. I loved playing in the cotton fields and watching the cotton trailers fill up with the fluffy white stuff that I imagined were as soft as clouds. I am a little bit saddened that children of the next generation may not feel excitement of knowing their grandpa is home by the sound of the tractor growing near and running out to greet him as he pulls in on the old Ferguson tractor. It amazes me to know that what seemed like science fiction in the days that I hung out with my grandpa on his small farm are now a reality. By incorporating these ideas, in the words of Dr. Seuss, “And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed.”
Farmers both big and small are poised to benefit from many advances in agricultural technology and science. Those include:
1. Tractors that are run by GPS and basically drive themselves.
2. Corn that is drought resistant.
3. Crops that are resistant to herbicides which makes getting rid of weeds easy.
4. Increased yields from crops.
5. Livestock that can help humans. For example, porcine valve replacements.
6. Larger, more efficient livestock which produce more meat with less feed.
The only thing missing from this list seems to be green eggs and ham!
As we stand here before you today, we know that because of you, our parents, our families, our friends, our professors and our mentors, “We are on our own. We know what we know. And thanks to you, we are prepared to decide where to go.”
by Crystal Thissen
Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser have put together an anthology of six word memoirs. I thought to myself, “How hard could that be?” sum up my life in six words? After several attempts I settled on, “Grew up, graduated college, now what?” Those last two words are words many of us sitting here waiting to receive our degrees are asking ourselves. So, I set off to see what profound words the world’s great philosophers have to help us answer these questions. I found the words, “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who will decide where to go…..” By one of my favorite philosophers….Dr. Seuss.
When we think of Dr. Suess, we think of his nonsensical words and fun rhymes, you in the audience read to us as toddlers, but the more I thought of what Dr. Suess had to say, I realized that he did indeed answer that question. When Dr. Seuss wrote the book “Oh The Places You’ll Go” for his son when he graduated from college, he provided a guideline to those last two words, “What now?”
Today, I, with some thoughtful quotes from the good doctor, am here to remind you “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” In a world where nothing is constant except for change, the graduates who will receive their diplomas today will enter a world facing both exciting and terrifying challenges their father’s could have not imagined. The halcyon days of the 1990s, with its low inflation and relative world peace, have been replaced by a decade of violence, economic turmoil and political turbulence. Yet, I will assure you, especially our parents and grandparents, that we will persevere and succeed in ways not imaginable to past generations because, “We have brains in our heads.”
Ours will be a challenge to combat increase violence. Who can forget April 16, 2007 on the Virginia Tech campus when a loan gunman killed 32 and wounded many others in the deadliest shooting rampage by a single gunman in U.S. history. As horrid as this act of violence was, it has prompted new emergency measures which in the future will save lives. One such measure I hold in my hand (hold up cell phone now). Campus security now has the ability to send mass text messages warning students of possible disaster and can instruct vast numbers of people seek safety. This is an example of the technological progress our graduates already embrace as one way to make our world just a bit safer. Or, to quote the wise doctor, “Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try.”
Ours will be a challenge to stabilize the ever-changing economy. All of you seated here felt the pain when you put gasoline in your cars to come to this graduation. As late as 1999, oil was trading at $10 a barrel and gold was at $250 per ounce, down from their peaks of $39 for a barrel of oil and $850 for gold in 1980. Economists note prices for commodities such as oil, metals and grains go in 10 to 20 year cycles. Because of low commodity prices in the 1980s and 1990s, little money was spent developing new oil and metal sources. It will take a number of years for industry to catch up to the rising demand from both domestic and international needs from the growing economies of China and India for oil and food. We will not shirk our responsibilities for when faced with challenges. This class will rise to take on the challenge of developing new resources, improve efficiency and utilize the technological know-how taught to us by our professors at UC Davis to find creative and innovative solutions. As Dr. Seuss reminds us, “So you see! There’s no end to the thing you might know, depending how far beyond Zebra you go.” ”
Ours will be a world where the advances in the ability to produce food are a double-edged sword. As an agriculture major, I am keenly aware of this dilemma. Because of the efficiency of economy of scale the corporate farms bring, does this spell the end to the American small farmer? In the 1930s, there were some seven million farms in the United States. Today, just 2 million farms remain and of those, some 565,000 are family operations. The slow disappearance of the small farmer strikes a personal note with me. Some of my favorite childhood memories involve my grandpa’s small farm. I loved playing in the cotton fields and watching the cotton trailers fill up with the fluffy white stuff that I imagined were as soft as clouds. I am a little bit saddened that children of the next generation may not feel excitement of knowing their grandpa is home by the sound of the tractor growing near and running out to greet him as he pulls in on the old Ferguson tractor. It amazes me to know that what seemed like science fiction in the days that I hung out with my grandpa on his small farm are now a reality. By incorporating these ideas, in the words of Dr. Seuss, “And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed.”
Farmers both big and small are poised to benefit from many advances in agricultural technology and science. Those include:
1. Tractors that are run by GPS and basically drive themselves.
2. Corn that is drought resistant.
3. Crops that are resistant to herbicides which makes getting rid of weeds easy.
4. Increased yields from crops.
5. Livestock that can help humans. For example, porcine valve replacements.
6. Larger, more efficient livestock which produce more meat with less feed.
The only thing missing from this list seems to be green eggs and ham!
As we stand here before you today, we know that because of you, our parents, our families, our friends, our professors and our mentors, “We are on our own. We know what we know. And thanks to you, we are prepared to decide where to go.”
Friday, September 5, 2008
Isn't it funny how much we can love our cars?
Many, many years ago, when I was a small child, I fell in love. Yes, it's true, as a young girl my first love was my dad's Nash Rambler. It was old and she was beautiful. I cried the day we sold it. Something happened to me with that first love....I developed a love for cars in general, and muscle cars in particular. Two of my favorite cars are both 1966 models. I would give my right arm for a '66 Mustang or a '66 Chevelle SS.
My most recent love was my 1996 Mustang. I loved her so much. She went through so many things with me. So many of my memories of Crystal's childhood are tied to that car. She was my comfort during my divorce. I could just get into her and drive away from my thoughts and fears of the time. Unfortunately she gave out on me, and I had to let her go. Now I have a more "grown up" car. A more stable, better MPG than my old Pony Girl. I wish I had given her a decent tribute to show my love for her.
My friend Reenie Lou did just this. She made a beautiful photo slide show of her baby Dolly. Dolly is going to a new home, but she is going knowing how much Reenie loved her. To see Reenie's tribute to Dolly follow this link. http://www.photoshow.com/watch/cU3hV9MT
My most recent love was my 1996 Mustang. I loved her so much. She went through so many things with me. So many of my memories of Crystal's childhood are tied to that car. She was my comfort during my divorce. I could just get into her and drive away from my thoughts and fears of the time. Unfortunately she gave out on me, and I had to let her go. Now I have a more "grown up" car. A more stable, better MPG than my old Pony Girl. I wish I had given her a decent tribute to show my love for her.
My friend Reenie Lou did just this. She made a beautiful photo slide show of her baby Dolly. Dolly is going to a new home, but she is going knowing how much Reenie loved her. To see Reenie's tribute to Dolly follow this link. http://www.photoshow.com/watch/cU3hV9MT
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Top Ten Reasons Freelance Writing is Better Than Working
10. The only one looking over your shoulder is Fido.
9. You can work in your underwear.
8. It’s the only job where daydreaming is a requirement.
7. You will never have to miss Judge Judy for a meeting.
6. No stoopid guy in the next cubicle.
5. You don’t get in trouble spending more time on ebay than working.
4. It doesn’t matter if you know the difference between McDreamy and McSteamy
3. Gives a whole new meaning to the words “Casual Friday”
2. Gas is $5 a gallon. So?
1. It’s five o’clock somewhere.
9. You can work in your underwear.
8. It’s the only job where daydreaming is a requirement.
7. You will never have to miss Judge Judy for a meeting.
6. No stoopid guy in the next cubicle.
5. You don’t get in trouble spending more time on ebay than working.
4. It doesn’t matter if you know the difference between McDreamy and McSteamy
3. Gives a whole new meaning to the words “Casual Friday”
2. Gas is $5 a gallon. So?
1. It’s five o’clock somewhere.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Working on my novel
I've been working on my novel the last few days and between that and taking care of my boyfriend after his surgery, I haven't had the opportunity to post. Anyway, now I'm having trouble putting some things in the novel together. I've decided to give the male character twin six or seven year olds, but I'm having trouble writing believable dialogue for the kids. It has become very important to me to leave these characters in, so I can't just write them out. They have a huge part in the sub plot. So, if anybody ever reads this blog that knows where I can get some "good" tips on writing dialogue for young children, I'd appreciate any help at all. So now, back to trying get this book back on track!
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