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Writing – Choosing a character’s name, go to the “Fantasy Name Generators” site

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Fantasy Name Generator 1How do we come up with strong memorable character names for our stories? That’s the dilemma I was facing. Of course, I went to Google. My goal was to come up with a cute sheep name for my children’s book. Finding the right name, not easy.

My first searches were BORING. I pulled up names like “Billy Goat,” already used, “Andy,” not my idea of a cute little sheep name. Wooly, already taken. This wasn’t good. I wasn’t getting anywhere except frustrated, but I couldn’t give up.

Fantasy Name Generator 2

I kept scrolling down the search page and a miracle happened. I found a site called, “Fantasy Name Generators.” Now, we were in business. I typed in sheep names. The names this site generated were different, comical, and certainly memorable.

My happiness factor went from zero to over 200. However, as I read the name choices a different direction to my story would start to form in my mind. For example, see the name “Thunder,” I imagined my book taking a whole new direction with that name. My little “Thunder” sheep would be in a storm with an earthquake.

NO, NO, NO – I told myself, stick with the original story, THAT was not the right name, but I liked the strength in “Thunder.” Back to generating a new set of names. I clicked “Get male names,” and “Coffee, Smokey, Rowdy, Rock and Walnut” came up. Super funny. I would NEVER have imagined names like this on my own.

Fantasy Name Generator 3

I scrolled down by accident and found this “Pet / Companion Name Generators” section. NOW WHAT, do I add a pet companion for my little sheep? Again, I am a writer, my mind was all over the place (a bat, a cricket, a goat?). NO, NO, NO… I reminded myself, stick with the original story. No pet companion this time, maybe in the future.

Great site. If you need a character name, give it a try! It’s also good for generating story ideas. I’m still thinking about the name “Thunder,” there has to be a story there.

Caffeine / vitamins in a stirring stick (pureLYFT™)… Want to give it a try?

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pureLYFT 1When I was in College and we needed to pull an “all nighter,” students took a pill called, “NoDoz.” The packaging for NoDoz says it is an “Alertness Aid.”

This made me think of my Dad. When we kids were on the building site and my Dad would ask us for a specific tool, if we were not fast enough, he would say in a demanding voice, “engage brain.”

Imagine this scenario, my Dad is under the sink fixing a leaky faucet (uncomfortable on the back). His four kids are standing to attention. He calls out for a wrench and we hand him a screw driver!

Yikes, now THAT was definitely an “engage brain” moment. We definitely could have used an “alertness aid” at that time.

Imagine my father’s fury at our stupidity. In our defense, we didn’t have cell phones to quickly “Google” what a wrench looked like, so he got the screw driver.

pureLYFT 2Back to the caffeine in a stick. Have you heard of this product called, “pureLYFT™?” As seen in photo, it is a stick. When you add the stick to liquid of any kind, it releases a powder of un-roasted green coffee beans, vitamins A and B complex, and a tiny bit of Stevia. You stir and drink. It’s meant to give you energy similar to a cup of coffee.

Their website mentions using the energy stick for jet lag, at the gym, Mom’s chasing children, College students, trade shows and conferences, hotels, and nightlife. I read a few reviews, one said the powder failed to completely dissolve into the drink. I have not tried it, so cannot agree or disagree.

I came across pureLYFT™ in line at the grocery store. The person in front of me was reading the box. Curious, this led me to read the box. Will I try it?

FIRST, I thought I would write about it, see what you ALL think. SECOND, make my decision on “yea,” or “nay.”

This reminds me of when “Airborne” came out. I did give it a try, especially when traveling on long flights. Did it work, I think so.

pureLYFT™ – What do you think, worth a try?

Italy – My thoughts brought me the “Leaning Tower of Pisa” – no joke

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Leaning Tower of PisaI learned this weekend that the mind is very powerful.

For months, I have been thinking, “When will I have time to go to Florence?” Every day, I take a quick look to see what flight prices are to Italy. Usually, I try to fly into Florence.

This weekend I was focused on getting new tires for my car. I shopped around and found a place with a good price. As I was parking my car, I looked up and I could not believe it. Right in front of me was the “Leaning Tower of Pisa.” NO JOKE, see photo!

Now, I ask you… What would you think if you saw this? I chuckled to myself, maybe it was “a sign” to look for flights into Pisa’s airport.

Italy, I’m coming, soon – VERY SOON!

Summer reading -> new books, put away winter books that failed me…

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Books on NightstandI have had three books on my nightstand, none of them held my attention. Every night I picked one up, read a few sentences, closed the book, sighed and turned off the light.

I like variety. I can have a few books going at a time. These were all good choices, the issue with each book was a slow writing style. Right now, my mind is on overload, so if I have 15 minutes to read before I go to sleep, I need a faster paced writing style. A story that keeps my interest.

I felt like Marie Kondo (the Japanese expert on tidying up your house). Talk to each book, wish them well and give them away.

That was very liberating!

With a cup of Tazo – Zen tea in hand, I got comfortable at my desk and began my book search. I logged into Facebook to review the “Historical Fiction Book Lovers” site.

SUCCESS – I found an interesting book by Amy Tan, “Saving Fish from Drowning.” The book had mixed reviews, because it was quite different from her previous books, i.e. The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God’s Wife.

For me, I liked it immediately. Tan starts the story with news clippings of 11 Americans who disappeared while traveling the Burma Road from China to Myanmar. It appears to be a true story, so I searched Google to find out what happened to these 11 Americans. Turns out, Tan made this story up, this left me curious.

I found a second book by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books). His books take place in Barcelona. First time I’ve heard of him. This book seemed very interesting with action, intrigue, rare book dealers – not boring.

Now, I might complain of too much reading and lack of sleep!

What’s on your nightstand?

Florence, Italy – The Negroni cocktail!

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Negroni cocktailI was reading “Girl in Florence,” blog post “A Love Letter to the Negroni Cocktail: Celebrating 100 Years of this Iconic Italian Cocktail,” and I smiled at a few points she made.

First, that this drink might look nice, but it is extremely bitter. It is an acquired taste, like drinking coffee. Second, I found her comment on friends ordering a beer and sipping it like it was a cognac amusing. I fall in that category.

In fact, last year I was visiting Italian relatives outside of Florence. We had a Sunday luncheon with aunts, uncles, cousins and their children, so there were about 20 of us. They had “one” bottle of wine on the table for all of us. I was surprised. In America the wine would be flowing — DRINK, DRINK and drink some more.

In Italy, NO, the objective of a nice dinner was not to get tipsy and drunk, but to have a little wine, while focusing on the food and good family conversation. Some children were given a few drops of wine added to their water glass.

I did not try the Negroni cocktail until a few years ago. When I went to Florence, I always stayed with my grandmother at her house. We did not go out for meals, we ate at home, no cocktails.

However, a few years ago, some American friends came to Florence, so we went out for apertivo. I saw someone having this refreshing reddish/orangey drink, given it was hot weather, I ordered the same. What a mistake! The drink was not refreshing, it was so bitter. It’s an acquired taste, I’ve ordered it over the years ALWAYS hoping for a spritz kind of taste and always disappointed. I KNOW, you’d think I would have learned my lesson, but it is a famous Italian drink; I’m Italian, I must learn to like it, right!

So, as our temperatures soar to 90 degrees today, the negroni post came as a pleasant surprise to my inbox. I am actually longing for the negroni drink a “tiny bit,” because it brings memories of Florence and I am due for a visit soon.

Ah… the Negroni!

I miss you Florence!

Ouch… you wake up to the dreaded “mysterious” shoulder pain!

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Back shoulder painWe’ve all been there… we go to sleep feeling perfectly fine. However, we wake up in the morning with the worst shoulder pain imaginable. Now, I ask you, how in the heck does that happen?

I was lucky to find this photo, you can see the “exact” location of the pain. My first thought was “stress.” When I went to bed last night, was I feeling stressed about anything in particular? My mind started thinking… there was laundry to do, pack a lunch, kill the spider that keeps haunting my kitchen…

Now, with that spider, I thought of the Buddhist’s teachings of not killing bugs. When we were young (4 children), and my mother was fed up with our arguing and so on, she pulled out “The Teachings of Buddha” book and started reading different teachings while we ate dinner. This did have a calming effect on all of us. As we munched on dinner, we asked her to read another quote and another one. My Mom was THRILLED!

Buddha BookWell, one of the teachings was to NEVER kill an ant. To this day, I see any little bug and I think of the Buddha book and hesitate. If possible, I try to shoo the bug out the window!

On reflection, I determined it wasn’t the spider that caused the pain, I needed a massage.

So, I called my Ukranian girlfriend, she knows the best massage places. Sure enough, she brought me to a place where they do “deep tissue” massages. Boy, was that great and painful, all at the same time. I had a star masseuse, she really worked my shoulder. She also pulled on my toes, I almost burst out in laughter, she was really tickling me. She also scratched/massaged my head and pulled on my ears. I smiled, I thought of a mother pulling on her child’s ear asking why he/she did not finish raking the leaves!

The shoulder pain did not go away though. Hard to explain how you leave a massage feeling like every part of your body has been worked well, but that shoulder just wouldn’t calm down. It felt worse ALL afternoon… UNTIL this evening, when I realized the pain had dulled considerably.

I can actually SMILE as I write this last line. The pain is ALMOST GONE! I’ve found neck/shoulder pains usually lasts three days. We have to soldier through it, tackle any stresses we might have.

For example, that spider, I’m off to find him, fight it out, man to man… or woman to bug as this case might be.

It’s summer, exercise motivation…

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Workout ShirtInspiration to exercise comes in many ways. For example, it’s summer, I love walking outside. I went to the store to find a new workout shirt. Something light colored to wear, I tend to have a lot of black workout clothes.

As I was perusing the clothes rack, I saw the most amusing shirt. I immediately smiled, thought of Ireland, leprechauns, rainbows, pots of gold, sitting in a pub… you get the idea. I was “tempted” to buy the shirt, because it made me feel HAPPY; unfortunately, I have never in my life worn a shirt that is cutoff and shows the midriff. Even if I wore a tank top underneath, I would keep trying to pull the shirt down. It just wouldn’t work.

So, a picture was the next best solution.

I’m still on my job hunt, which is not fun, so I need little bits of amusement like this to keep me motivated. YES, I need to have charm in my interviews to seal the deal!

Hope this gives YOU all a big SMILE today!

OFF TO WALK… I do have an extra big smile today, need to be charming, NEVER know who we might meet at any time. The other day, I met a red-winged black bird at lunch, not the Prince Charming I was looking for, but he was a very regal looking lunch companion! Gotta love surprises.

A friend or foe at lunch…

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Black Bird at LunchThe weather has warmed up in Chicago, so I decided to eat my lunch outside. As I was opening my lunch this beautiful black bird flew to my table. You can see from the expression on his face that he was not there for friendly chitter-chatter.

Instead, he was a bully arriving to say, “hand over the goods!”

He was so bold that I had time to raise my camera and take this photo of him. He didn’t even move, just stood there. Since he allowed me to take this fabulous photo of him, I rewarded him with a piece of my pear. Boy, was he HAPPY. I don’t think he was expecting a juicy fruit.

Are you familiar with this bird? Share your knowledge with us. My friends say he is a red-winged black bird. Yes… No…?

Chicago: Busts salvaged from Garrick Theatre demolition

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I was walking around Chicago and came across these interesting head sculptures called, “busts.” I took these photos and did some Google searches to find out more about them.

Apparently, back in 1891, the Schiller Theater Building opened, designed by Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan of the firm Adler & Sullivan. The theatre was funded by publisher, Anton C. Hesing and German investors to be used for German language operas and cultural events. However, it seems that the German investors pulled out, not clear why, and over the years the theatre changed names/investors several times. Final name was Garrick Theatre.

Sadly, the theatre had been in decline for many years. By 1960 the Garrick Theatre was torn down and turned into a parking lot. This was the tallest building in Chicago at this time, a beautiful building. One man, Richard Nickel, took on the mission of photographing and salvaging as much as he could of the building during the demolition.

The busts in the photos I took were saved, who these men are is unknown. Four busts on The Second City theater building have been identified as famous German men.

Wow — a simple walk turned into a walk rich in Chicago history!

Designing Dragon stamps & pop-up book… What could be more fun?

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854649F9-213F-4961-B2E3-0D8142F26F93I went to buy some stamps at the Post Office. When I got to the counter, the clerk asked me what type of stamp I would like. I asked what she had. She opened her binder display and said, “Flowers, American flag, DRAGONS…”

Dragon stamps, at the post office?

Apparently, at the APS National Summer Convention Stamp Show last year, USPS unveiled these special mythological stamps. There were four designs for the FOREVER stamp.

Greg Breeding, Art Director for the U.S. Post Office designed the stamps. He worked with artist, Don Clark of Invisible Creature studio, who created the digital illustrations.

At first glance, some of the dragons appear hidden; however, as you look more closely, you can see the dragons. Here is a description for each stamp:

  • A purple dragon, orange wings, black armor on its back snaking around a white castle.
  • A green fire-breathing dragon towering over a medieval-inspired castle.
  • A wingless orange dragon weaving its way around a pagoda.
  • A black dragon, green wings/armor on its back swooping past a ship on the sea.

In addition to the stamps, Breeding and Clark also created a pop-up book to be sold at the U.S. Post Office. It’s interesting to read “how” they created the pop-up book.

Thanks to the Dragon stamps, I learned something about our U.S. Post Office. I didn’t realize we had an Art Director on staff. Most people are paying bills online now, so we don’t need many stamps or think about stamp designs anymore.

Glad I had to mail a package,

Dragon Stamps – what a surprise!

Brought me back to “Dungeons & Dragons” days…