Today has been a wonderful day. I was awakened early this morning by a phone call from a pastor in Austin, Indiana who wanted to know if I would be willing to sing at their church on the 13th of September and I said yes. I was overjoyed by the offer; for some reason I have a strong love for Louisville, Kentucky. It is a beautiful place and to me there is something special about that area. I don't know what it is. I just love the area and am thoroughly looking forward to returning there for a performance!
Adding to my day was the fact that both my seven-toed cats delivered kittens this afternoon in the same place, at the same time. I have to admit this is the first time I have ever seen cats deliver in the same place. And when I say they delivered in the same place I mean it literally. We don't even know who's kittens belong to whom.. We had nine at last count and I'm assuming they're done.
Seven-toed cats are very unique. Some people call them mitten-toed cats for the two extra toes attached to their paws. It gives their feet the appearance of mittens. But the scientific name for them is polydactile cats. We have been raising them for years and they definitely stand out. Pure-bred polydactiles walk a little different from regular house cats. We have often compared their gait to that of a tiger. They are also avid hunters. I will have to post more on them in the next blog entry. They're very interesting animals and I had a great time researching them a few years ago. I will also try to post a picture sometime of one of mine so you can see the size of their feet. Our kittens frequently stumble over their own feet because they're so large.
August 28, 2009, 11:10 p.m.
I wanted to take a moment and write briefly about the seminar I participated in today. It was an amazing experience; one of the participants lived as far away as China. We had a great discussion and I hope it was very informative for those seeking information about Hadley's high school program.
Even though I have already graduated I still found the information very interesting and paid close attention to everything that was being said. It was presented in such a way that held your attention, and it seemed like the presentation only lasted thirty minutes when in reality it lasted an hour.
August 26, 2009, 3:00 p.m.
This week I have been gathering my thoughts for the upcoming seminar with the Hadley School for the Blind, in which I am one of the speakers. I have been excited about the opportunity to help Hadley. When they asked me to be a part of it in July, I didn't give it a second thought. Hadley is a great school and I enjoyed the years I spent with them as a student.
Recently I went with my family to see "Last Chance" a play about making the critical choice of where you will spend eternity. We had already seen "Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames" many years ago so we were excited to see the new one.
As we expected, the play didn't disappoint and it was an amazing experience. If you haven't had a chance to see it I encourage you to find out if and when it will be playing in your area and go. You won't be disappointed.
August 25, 2009, 4:46 p.m.
Good afternoon everyone! I'm sorry it has been a week since I last posted here! I have been busy with college, a few performances and writing. I have a lot going and my life is very time consuming, but as I've said before, I love it and I feel very blessed to have had the opportunities God has given me.
Hope all is going well in your world. Will try to write more soon when I have more time. Right now I am melting from the summer heat and I have work to do. So talk to you soon!
Megan
August 18, 2009, 11:15 p.m.
I have been keeping an eye on hurricane Bill, the second named storm in the Atlantic hurricane season. Thankfully it appears to be heading away from the U.S., and hopefully it will disipate out in the open water far from civilization.
August 16, 2009, 8:51 p.m.
Someone once said that writing books was like an endless homework assignment and I believe it. I have been working on my oldest novel for over four years now and it's still not complete. I have no idea how many hours I have logged in front of my computer writing, editing, deleting and rewriting. I lost count a long time ago. Writing is a passion, something you do because you love it. Money probably isn't the main motivation behind most writers' efforts; I can think of a million simpler ways to make a living, none of which start with the words "fiction writing." This is something I do because I have a passion for writing, otherwise I wouldn't waste my time. This is a never ending process and I often compare writing a book to building a house. First you check and cross check the cost of building it--you look in book stores, research online to see if your idea has been published before and how many times. No two books are going to be exactly alike no matter how you write it unless of course you copy someone else's work, but it's always a good idea to be original or as original as possible. It takes something special and unique to create a bestseller, and your project will have to stand out from the rest if it's going to have a chance at success.
Then comes the plans. You either mentally or physically plan your book. You don't have to plot the entire story from cover to cover; I have never done that. I just let my creativity take me where it wants to. But every writer has some idea of what they want to write.
Next is the foundation--the part where you finally write down the shell of your book, what will be the foundation of your story. Next is the walls, basic plumbing and wiring--the extra things that will make your story work. It ads life to your basic plot. Then comes the roof and insolation--the substance. I like to call it filler matterial. It takes the rough draft and smooths it out.
By now you're ready to lay the flooring, add light fixtures, appliances... The things that will make your house (book) beautiful, the final touches and decorations that come after you have written it, when you're in the editing process.
Finally, your house is complete--it is painted, the furniture is perfectly in place and the bugs have been worked out. Now you can finally prepare it for publication. Then you get to shop it around to various publishers or agents if you're going the traditional route of publishing, or hand select your publisher of choice if you choose to self-publish. In other words, your house is ready to sell and you have to choose how you want to sell it.
August 12, 2009, 5:35 p.m.
One bad thing about summer is the heat. It's always unbearably hot it seems and I consume gallons of ice water while trying to keep cool and my vocal cords hydrated. If you have a pool or access to a nice clean place to swim you're extremely blessed. There's so many people who don't have that kind of access. I have heard story after story about people--especially the elderly--who are without air conditioning in the oppressive heat and it breaks my heart. It also makes me even more thankful for the smallest things we sometimes take for granted, like air conditioning and a nice warm home in the winter.
Even with the heat I still prefer summertime because I love the water. But winter has it's strong points too. Snow is beautiful, and there's something special about looking out over the snow-covered ground and hearing the peacefulness the snow seems to bring. Christmas is also a huge winter highlight for me. It is a celebration of Christ's birth and also a time to put up Christmas decorations and spend time with friends and family.
And speaking of which, it won't be long until the Christmas season is upon us once again. Four months really isn't that far away, especially where retail shelves are concerned. It seems Christmas items are put out earlier and earlier each year. Now if I can buy my gifts around the same time instead of waiting till the last minute like I'm prone to do...
August 8, 2009, 8:28 p.m.
Today has been a busy day. I have been working on one thing or another all day. Most of it hasn't been work related; I have been doing a lot of personal life things. It has been a slight change from what I'm usually doing which is working on music or writing oriented activities.
While my life is busy and there's always an ample supply of things that I need to be doing, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I am blessed to be able to spend the majority of my time doing what I love, and I thank God daily for all the blessings He has given.
August 6, 2009, 7:25 p.m.
Something I have noticed as I learn to play keyboard is that I tend to get to a certain plateau and hit a brick wall. But this is common with all musicians I think unless you're Einstein. For normal people practice is the key. How much monotnous practice you put into it will depend on how quickly and well you learn to play, which is what I'm doing in order to achieve my dream of being able to play whatever I hear. But progress is slow; it always is with music. Of course it also depends on your definition of slow. Everyone has their own time table for doing things, their own dreams and goals.
I have fallen in love with Miley Cyrus's new song, "The Climb." I play it all the time. It has great lyrics and I like the music too. Usually I listen to a fairly steady diet of Celine Dion but this song has changed some of what's playing on my CD player.
August 5, 2009, 11:57 p.m
Welcome to my new blog! Let me start by welcoming you to my little thought cafe. I am going to do my best to write regularly, and if you're not bored to tears, I hope you'll come back. :)
This is a new experience for me as I have never contributed to the blogasphere before. But hopefully this will be fun.
Now for who I am and what I do. I am a Southern Gospel singer, an aspiring fiction writer, I'm in my last year of college, and I am involved in a lot of other things. Needless to say I have a busy schedule and the list above only lists some of what I do on a daily basis. So if my blog entries are sporatic, I appologize. I will try to update as much as possible.
