I just returned from the Banff Mountain Film Festival and enjoyed it very much. Although they say it's their 12th year in CT, it was my first time attending. The auditorium was sold out. The speaker from Alberta Canada said they stop in 275 communities in 30 countries. They tour in 7 continents including Antarctica. I was amused when he mentioned in Antarctica it sells out because there's nothing to do there. There were a couple of extreme sport films that left you wondering why anyone would risk it - biking down railings, climbing rocks that don't look climbable, and kayaking over HUGE waterfalls. Other films dealt with environmental issues. The topics were so fitting with what I write about. One film had excellent footage of grizzlies catching and chewing salmon. Another made me remember a topic that interested me, but I had forgotten about. And a third gave me a totally new idea. Yep, I'd definitely do that again!

That was a very short sigh. Yesterday I dug out some 2 year old paperwork and got working on it. I really regret that so much time has passed since I first started this. But I now realize there wasn't any time to thoroughly think it through back then. One thing is certain, it's much easier
and much stronger when one has a concrete plan.

I take such abuse. At 5:16AM, my alarm cat went off in my face - again. After getting largely ignored, it paused with it's left foot on my temple as my head lay on the pillow. Then as it strolled across my pillow, it's back foot conveniently landing on my temple too. Tell me that was an accident.

Looking back on the last 3 months, I'm really quite happy with what I have accomplished. January and February I was quite busy with a whole slew of things with deadlines. To get a visual picture of these deadlines I've created a writing calendar from a 2009-2010 planner that my aunt gave me (freebie Hallmark calendars will work too). In it I've been recording all writing related dates that I may need - deadlines, conference dates, classes I'm teaching..... It's working great. Looking at March, I realize I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. AGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Yesterday, I was dismayed to realize I have to change one part of an outline. It was totally unexpected - one of those things that didn't go quite as well as I (and everyone else for that matter) had planned. Unfortunate. Oh well.

When I first started writing seriously in 2002, I was wearing rosy colored sunglasses (yes, I do own a pair). I had no idea what direction my writing was going to take nor just how challenging of a journey it would be. It was like building a snowman. You break your back rolling and rolling trying to make nothing into something, but you've no idea where this snowman will end up nor the journey you will take to get there. Through the years, I have found a direction that is perfect for me. It is in line with my interests and works with my background. Last night and early this morning I devised a little plan (that I wish I had thought of earlier). I am pursuing an opportunity. If I'm fortunate enough to obtain that piece of the puzzle it would be a huge jump start to obtaining 1 or 2 other pieces. Taken together those 2 or 3 pieces will be extremely beneficial pursuing yet another awesome opportunity. With a little luck, maybe this snowball will start ripping up the grass soon! But, if that first thing doesn't pan out, I've already got a back up plan waiting. I must say, I'm not one to pass on opportunities. But I am one to waste time blogging. Now it's back to work......but first the sunshine is luring me outside for some exercise. Charge!

Just now, I added my glacier video that I made for kids back in August 2007 to the World Wildlife Fund Climate Witness videos. I'm in the big time now. Next year, I hope I'm not overlooked for an Oscar.

Every single morning I get writers block that looks like this.........

Sea Lion

Lionfish

Beluga whale

Penguins

Since it's school vacation week, I went to the Mystic Aquarium in Mystic CT today. When my kids were little it was a full time job keeping an eye on them in the dark and busy aquarium. But now that my daughter is older, I can bring along a camera and wait out my shots.

Here's a video of a grizzly bear playing soccer with a dead salmon he's trying very hard to reach. Equally interesting is how in the world the video was filmed.

I'm currently debating what's next - continue working on something I've started, start something new, or pursue another opportunity. Hm.

KIDS HOWL!

I thought the kids howling in the woods was too precious not to pursue so I spent some time making a video out of the audio (and finding out that the microphone part of my earphones no longer work). And to think they were all standing on a fallen log howling like they were singing Christmas Carols. Too cute.

In the woods today, 12 kids followed wolf tracks and made a discovery, then they heard wolves. Shortly afterward, I recorded a pack of children howling, but unfortunately, after all my efforts getting it recorded on DVR, then onto goldwave on a laptop then transferred to this computer, I am unable to get the final upload to this site working. Grumble. And it was so incredibly cute too! I think we all liked our time out in the sunshine in the woods the best. It was a really busy morning, but I think everyone had a great time. I had 2 superb helpers - high school seniors. I received a very nice hand made valentine from one of my students that I greatly appreciated. Inside were the words "Your the best cupid I no! Have a fantastic stublastik super Valentines Day!" You too!

Yesterday, I hunted for audio and video of an event to get more of a feeling for what it was like. I was unsuccessful, but I did find a few research papers. I'm sure I'm only at the tip of the iceberg on what's out there. One recent paper appears to dispute a long held notion so I'm very interested in reading it. This could have ramifications in the next piece I'm writing.

Today, I'm baking blond brownies for my class, but I'm not cutting them in squares like the average baker. They'll be served in equilateral triangles. Hey, it works for me.

I'm currently exploring this question - How far can writing for magazines take me?

Today, I put another iron in the fire. It's blazing now!

I also found some iridescent jellyfish tentacle material that is perfect, long and fringy. Susan asked if I could accommodate more then the maximum in my wolf class. One student switched out, then wanted to switch back in, but in the meantime, she filled the slot. I started counting all of my materials and figuring how far the plaster would go....I personally don't have a problem with an extra kid, but the limiting factor was 2 track molds. 2 tracks/half hour x 3 hours = 12 tracks for the 12 kids.

After waiting 40 minutes for my appointment today I found out from the receptionist that my appointment is tomorrow. Good one. When I returned home, I found my little card and I was correct, it says 2/11/09. So I called to cancel my appointment tomorrow. Snicker.

Susan Meisler, head of Excursions in Learning at Manchester Community College asked me to mail out letters to the kids in my class to make sure they dress appropriately to go outside in the snow. Today, I shipped off 12 letters addressed to the kids. I put a picture of a wolf at the top of the page and made sure to mention that it wasn't a picture of their teacher.

Today, I was delighted to find some cheap clear shower caps, perfect for making jellyfish with for my second class.

A couple nights ago I had a dream I was wading in a calm ocean reaching for a warm volcanic rock. I pulled out a gift wrapped rock with the words "Linda, I told you it can happen." It was just a rock - but that's what I was looking for. I found it interesting that this definition of what an ocean means in a dream says "endless possibilities and potentiality." Yeah, I like that!

Today I found the absolute most perfect thing for my wolf class. The kids will be painting the food chain on placemats. There's nothing more fitting then heart shaped placemats for a class on Valentines Day. And they were 50% off on clearance too! I looked at the class list. The 12 kids are scattered all over the map which is kind of neat. At Joann Fabrics this AM, I noticed a large sign listing 25 (yep, I counted) different inkpads for rubber stamps. Only 3 were checked off as capable of stamping on plastic (sheet magnets). Who knew? Live and learn. More fitting would be lupine and learn.

I was up at the college today scouting out a place to put down my wolf tracks for my class on the 14th. Found an ideal spot off the beaten track, a more natural setting then a parking lot. I'm looking forward to going outside with the kids. I think they will love this part of the class - me too! Fingers crossed that it's a decent day, rain or shine we're heading out to go howl in the woods. The class is capped at 12 kids, but she said it could have gone higher to 18, so I guess it was pretty popular. The jellyfish class, on the other hand, has much less participants. I didn't have a firm grasp on the specifics when I wrote that description. Next year, I'd like to rewrite the description and mention we'll be using a black light to view glowing cells and I'll be mixing up glowing water and doing other fun stuff.

I have found that when I take something for granted, that's the thing that will get me in trouble. If I think a sentence is accurate, but don't actually check it, that'll be the sentence that is wrong. And if I think I can rubber stamp on magnetic sheets and don't actually check it, that'll give me trouble too? When I asked the lady at the store if I could rubber stamp on a magnetic sheet she said "oh I think so," checked with the manager and replied confidently, "yes." Well, guess what? I tried this yesterday on a scrap piece of magnet. Who would have guessed that the darn ink was too light,wouldn't dry, and smudges every time it's touched. ACK!!!!! Houston we have a problem. I can't have kids handling magnets and ruining their creations at the same time. No No No. I came up with two solutions - cover with paper (like mailing labels/nametag) or paint over it. I was not very happy having to do this extra step, but its done. Now I have a whole fleet of cut yellow magnet squares that are rubber stamp ready for a food chain parade!

This week, I've been playing with clay, cutting magnet sheets and recording howling wolves in preparation for the wolf class. Last night another opportunity presented itself. Hm. There is something very exciting about this one. It ties in nicely with the outline I've been working on and doesn't appear to be too much effort. I may just move on it.