Fiber Artist's Giveaway

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Getting Back into the Grove of Things

As the title infers, albeit slowly, I am working my way back from dealing with online identity theft, blue moods, and health issues, etc. That said, I also need to get a handle on some of the online games I've been playing at Facebook. Though they've helped in maintaining my sanity, they can also be a huge distraction.
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This post is to introduce the following coding [a necessary required placement], in hopes of winning a Janome 350e Embroidery Machine, [Oh! What I would LOVE to do with machine embroidery.] sponsored by The DIY Dish:
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They are also giving away a Janome DC4030 Sewing Machine. Believe it or not, I'm still learning my way around my Viking 200, so I would re-e-e-e-e-e-ally like to opportunity to [win, and] work with an embroidery machine. And I know that Janome is synonymous with quality.
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Wish me luck!
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More soon. Blessings

My Muse has Returned

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Though Life has a way of interrupting even the best of a writer's or artist's intentions, my not following through in last year's NaNoWriMo had nothing to do with an unavoidable diversion. I merely began to question the relevancy of it all.
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What changed my mind from November 2009 to January 2010? I now know why the subsequent Fire Orbs were created!
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More soon. My Muse calls.
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Blessings

It is Risk-taking Time

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My Muse showed up yesterday and we waltzed through Time and Space. Today I though it time to bear a writer's soul and share a snippet of the work. The following rough draft is history to:

The Forbidden World Chronicles

by L.L. Abbott

There is more of this storyline drafted out under the a working title:

The Fire Orbs

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

There was a time when all was new. And another, when in the vast and great darkness there shone a light. A fire orb breathed into existence by the Old One. The Primal Element of Creation, and first of the First Ones.
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In that light smaller orbs of earth, water, and rock came into view; an on-going experiment and tinkering of the mind. Done long into his exile from the rest of the Primal Elements of the Universe—the First Ones, the Ancients—they existed as a testament to his self-imposed aloneness.

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Though all of the First Ones bear the responsibility of creation, each effort took on different and unique forms. While some are considered as Beauty, there are those considered as Horrid. But what is simply is. Beauty, or otherwise, is forever held in the eye and soul of its maker. But. While the other Elements busied themselves in their own directions, and children—the Creator Race—the Old One brought light and shadows into the farthest and emptiest regions of the Great Darkness.
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Assured of his secret (it would, after all, take millennia before even the faintest of glimmers of light betrayed him), he traversed his creation to observe the strange happenings. Waters warmed upon the smaller terran orbs. Loam sprouted green. Organisms enveloped by the new-found warmth flourished in unexpected turns. And in his uncorrupt wonder of it all— the Old One tinkered more.

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Comments and input are welcome!

Season's Greetings

Saturday the 7th's Quatrain

Another day is begun, full of promise and zest
as the Sun rises still in the East.
And with the moon all but set on horizon West
the last of the Fall lettuce goes to Harvest.
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Blessings

A 5K Day

NANOSTATS: 5029 words

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Yay! Though the breakdown of 50,000 words into 30 days means I should have, at very least, a little over 8300 words by today, I am quite happy that I made it to 5000.

But. This is Day Five and I should really want to be ahead of those daily goals so when Life decides to get in the way I won't feel so far behind. Yeah, well-- Life tripped me up before I even started. But. I've plenty of time to gain ground.

I finished up the Prologue and keyed out Chapter Eight ~ Allied Forces, which needs a definite boost. The gist of the storyline is there, but the required depth is not. For now though, I'm moving ahead and currently working on Chapter Nine ~ The Sound Check.
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This one's going to keep me busy for the next day or so. And I need to look for some old research notes, which I believe are in a box in the bedroom. Time to retreive some wayward files.
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That's it for me today. I need to get my back out of this chair and my legs up as well.
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Blessings

It's That Time of Year Again! NaNoWriMo.

Switching gears....

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NANOSTATS: 1992 words
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Never say die! I first discovered NaNoWriMo in 2006. The only year to which I can attach any sort of bragging rights. I won in 2006. Yay! Unfortunately not long after, a virus attacked my PC and I lost everything on my harddrive. Yeppers! All that work-- completely undone. In January of 2007, I fought off a serious SPAM and Malware attack.

It took weeks to get back to normal. And juuust as I was rolling along, ramping up for NaNo2007, my PC monitor died a most untimely death. I never had a chance. But it helped to reinforce my belief in the underhanded [yet purposeful], reasoning of why they 'just don't make things like the used to.' It's not that they can't! Or even that parts and/or labor are cheaper offshore. If they truly did make certain things like they used to, we'd have no reason [new and improved aside] to buy new ones! But that's a whole other Oprah show.
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Last year, due to health issues, I simply ran out of physical steam. I need to look up my final word count, but I don't believe I even reached 10K words. This year I'm relying heavily on that old adage about the third time being the charm.
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Sunday last [November 1st] was the ever-precious Day One. Where was I? Sleeping. Friday and Saturday I started coughing, and by Sunday I was a tad bit concerned that it might be the beginnings of the flu. I really don't want to have to deal with the flu right now. Therefore I reasoned it more likely to be a chest cold; as I'm prone [this time of year] to forgetting about a window or two being left open at night. I hate when it's time to start closing up the windows.
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Anyway! I digress. I made a trip to the drug store and have since stepped up my intake of vitamins. I pretty much spent Sunday and Monday curled up on the couch, dressed in warm sweaters; underneath a cozy blanket of down. And though I woke up hoarse, yesterday, I actually felt much better. But before I could settle in, and key with wild abandon, I had to address the c:drive.
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It started screaming at me again so I backed up and cleared out a few more pdf and Word.doc files. Late in the evening, I finally keyed in some roughed-out handwritten notes and updated 35o [and some odd] words into my NaNo profile. I was ON THE GRID!
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... And so it begins!
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Today, feeling much, much better, I started NaNo by finding where I left off last year and finished keying in the last half of Chapter Seven: A Run Through the Forest, which happens to be the end of Part One.
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I've got a mishmosh of scenarios for the Prologue to Part Two, and I've decided to just key them all in. I'll decide later where and/or how best to use them. For now, I'll close this post with the opening verse of Part Two, The Searching:

Where are you
.who sees this world
..through eyes of emerald green
Who lies in wait
.and shares the pain
..we suffer when we dream

..........~Perrie Stevens, Part Two of Caged Heart
..........~Dellasseea N'Syis, The FirstBorn Daughter of the Primal Elements, The First Ones.

That's pretty much it for me today. I do not intend fretting over being a few days behind at this point. Especially when, in 2006, I didn't even discover the world of NaNoWriMo [that's 50,000 words in 30 days], until almost an entire week into the month. That's the year a won! Remember? And seeing as how it's time for another break, I'll consider the makeup strategy tomorrow.
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Blessings

Goblins and Ghosts and Ghouls, Oh My!

Friday the 30th's Quatrain

the great Day Star radiates across a clear blue sky
as the warm winds of Autumn whirl
and while embroidered sheers billow upon the current
newly fallen leaves scatter and clatter and twirl
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Blessings