Woo hoo - I'm a Giant Squid

Well it was a long journey but I made Giant Squid! Okay, I'll explain myself here, to become a Giant Squid one has to have 50 top notch lenses. When I first started writing lenses for Squidoo I never dreamed I would be able to come up with 50 different topics let alone write 50 awesome lenses. It took some time and a lot of updating and constant tweeking of my lenses to bring them up to snuff, but it was well worth it! There are some great perks to being a Giant Squid! It doesn't mean that you can stop making lenses just because you've reached 50 now I must strive to reach 100 quality lenses! Oohhh, I'm getting tired just thinking about that! It'll be a fun process with lots of learning curves I'm sure! :-) I've also been working hard on designs for my store Shell's Designs! I'm designing Christmas and holiday themed items right now. Just finished these fun 'snowflake' designs and now working on some more snowmen! Gotta get busy, we're heading into the busy season!

Quote for the week: "Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it." - Henry David Thoreau

People and Patterns

I looked across the pond this morning at my neighbor's lawn and admired the pattern they'd made when they mowed their grass. It's so perfect! How in the world did they do that anyway? When I mow, I'm all over the place. For one, I cut across the middle because it makes me feel like I'm getting somewhere--like I really don't have that much to mow. Then, I end up in some sort of cornucopia pattern where I'm continuously turning corners. The pattern gets smaller and smaller until it disappears to nothing. It takes me about an hour to mow the lawn and I think I'm walking really, really fast. Of course, I have to take a refreshment break, but that's only ten minutes I swear.

I think some people just have orderly brains and everything they do turns out orderly. Other people, like me, have a lot of scramble up there. I remember when our children were little we had these spongy bathtub animals that stuck to the side of the tub. I noticed that when we had guests stay with us some people would arrange those animals in a straight line or geometric figure and others would arrange them in designs like flowers. You could tell who was visiting by the pattern on the wall, literally.

Awsome Jason Mraz Concert

Well it's Oct. hard to believe! Last night my husband and I went to a Jason Mraz concert in Vancouver. His music is kind of a mix of jazz and pop. Love, love, love his voice, a concert really gives you so much more of an appreciation for what these guys can do. He has an amazing talent! His band was rockin' as well with saxophone, trombone and french horn players, these guys had some kickin' talent as well! It was a good night!
I've been busy working on squidoo lenses so look for some new ones in the sidebar! The next leg for the 'rocketmoms' is holiday lenses, these are my favourite to create, especially Christmas ones so stay tuned for those! I'm also working on lots of holiday designs, finished some adorable snowman designs. I'll feature a few here for you to see! Pop by my store Shell's Designsfor a look at all the new products!

Quote for the week: "To give and then not to feel like one has given is the very best of all ways of giving."
Max Beerbohm

Midsouth Writers Conference

Conferences are so much fun cuz you get to hang out with people who have similiar interests. The SCBWI Midsouth Writers Conference took place in Nashville, Tennessee at the Embassy Suites Hotel September 25th, 26th, and 27th. There was a lot of talent packed in that building! Caroline B. Cooney, author of 75 suspense, mystery, and romance YA novels was there. She gave a very interesting talk about how the process of writing is for her. I was amazed and inspired. Cheryl Klein, senior editor at Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, attended. She was impressive as well. First pages were read and then critiqued in front of all of us. Cheryl really knew how to zoom in on things! Literary agent, Chris Richman, critiqued the first eight pages of my manuscript (writers can pay for that at conferences) and I was given some desperately needed guidance. It's like he opened the floodgates -- the ideas are flowing. I'm so grateful. And in addition to all that, I got to visit with two of my very talented SCBWI pals from Evansville--Kristi Valiant and Christi Atherton. Sometimes a person has to travel a great distance to see the people that live right next door.

Importance of Thank You Cards

We all like to be appreciated and thought of when we do something kind or out of the norm' for someone don't we? Thank you cards are a wonderful way to show how much you care! They don't have to be filled with gushy, over the top sentiments just a simple gracious thank you is all you need to make someone feel appreciated. I think it's a good thing to instill in our children and to make this a practice for everyone! For my store Shell's Designs I have created some beautiful thank you cards in various themes. I also created a lens for Squidoo on 'Thank You' cards, you can find it in the sidebar too! Hope you enjoy the cards!

Quote for the week: "Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom"
Marcel Proust

Description of Matthew's Research

My son, Matthew, is in the PhD program for physics at Brandeis University in Boston. I know there are some relatives out there wondering what he is up to so I thought I'd get the scoop from him and write something up in this blog. Hmmmm... where to begin? It's pretty complicated. Oh bother. I'm just going to quote him. Here it is:

"I'm studying part of the assembly process of bacteriophage MS2 (a bacterial virus). MS2 is made up of 180 "dimers" with 90 of them being what I'll call type "A" and 90 being type "B". They form a protective protein shell (made of "dimers") around the viral genetic code, a strand of RNA. A "dimer" is just two proteins (called "monomers"), and a protein is just a large molecule (made up of around 2,000 atoms). Viruses typically take milliseconds to seconds to form once all their parts are present. However, this is a very long time for computer simulations that use straightforward algorithms; in fact, it would take thousands of processors at least a lifetime to simulate problems of interest. This means that it's necessary to use special tricks to figure out what's going on during assembly. Experimentalists have the opposite problem. Often, experiments cannot capture the specifics of what's happening because it occurs so quickly.

An added complication to this process is that the "dimers" switch types during formation (remember there are 90 of each type "A" and "B" in the MS2 virus). The fact that they switch types is an important part of their formation allowing the virus to assemble much more quickly. Some experimentalists believe that RNA binding to the "dimer" drives this switching process, but this is based off of indirect evidence. The goal of my research is to see how the presence/absence of RNA binding to the "dimer" affects its ability to switch types. This will hopefully lead to predictions that can be measured by experimentalists. This research is important because relatively little is known about the assembly process of viruses, and a better understanding of this process could lead to the development of antiviral drugs that target this stage of infection. The antiviral treatments that have the most effect are the ones that target multiple stages of the virus's assembly."

Cool, ha? He's like a super hero or something saving us from the evil viruses.

Family Literacy Day was celebrated at Washington Square Mall on September 19, 2009. Those that attended this event with their children were very happy. There was musical entertainment, hands on activities for the kids and book signings by author Margaret McMullan and illustrator Andy Herbertz.

Remember how cool it was to meet a real live author and artist when you were a kid? Margaret and Andy have created a series of books starring Napoleon Peacock. These books feature areas in Evansville making it exciting for both local parents and children to read. The goal is not only to create enthusiasm for reading in the children, but also make an impact on parents' perception and attitude toward reading.

Family Literacy Day 2009 was sponsored by Evansville Literacy Coalition, Toyota, and Early Childhood Development Coalition. There were eleven different agencies represented each offering crafts, activities or games. I will be writing more about this event on the Altrusa blog (http://altrusa6.blogspot.com)soon.