Make-Up Round Up

Ladies…do you own enough old make-up to fill a landfill? I never want to throw away my old eye shadows, lipsticks, and powders in the off change they 1) come back in style 2) magically become flattering 3) don’t make me break out in hives.

Recently, during a spring cleaning phase, I decided to organize my toiletry pantry. I pulled together all the old make-up I had stored away for years and years. I had enough to beautify a small country. Unfortunately, there was a reason each project had ended up filed away. It was useless.

After slapping my own wrists for being so wasteful, I decided it was time to pitch it. Ideally, it would be reused, as, after reducing, it is the most important of the 4R’s. Luckily, I was able to give away a small portion to people I knew, but I still had a truckload of products that were too old for human application.

What to do? After searching online for how to recycle toiletries, I discovered that the company Origins will take used make-up containers (eye shadow containers, lipstick tubes, compacts, etc.). Since Origins preferred the containers to be clean, I began emptying out my eye shadows and powder trays. I must say, the lipsticks were a nightmare to clean out. After using almost an entire roll of paper towels on one lipstick, I felt it would be more ecological to just give the tube to them with the lipstick still inside.

Origins was thrilled with all my empty containers. They actually gave me a huge tub of lotion, they were so excited. It felt great to clean out my pantry and not dump everything into the garbage where hundreds of years from now they will still be discovered intact.

Although I was happy with the outcome of the situation, I did learn a good lesson: don’t buy navy eye shadow in the first place.

Here are two good links on recycling make-up and toiletries:
Origins Recycling Program: http://www.origins.com/about/index.tmpl?page=recfaq
Ideas for how to recycle toiletries: http://www.recyclethis.co.uk/search/?cx=partner-pub-8628783556283904%3A3g3qh3-7knu&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=tolietries&siteurl=www.recyclethis.co.uk%2Fabout#913
(Of special note is how one person reused the ball from deodorants to make earrings.)

Baby Green Jeans

Once my daughter was born, I found the thrill of the resale shop. Who knew reusing could be so much fun? My favorite place to go is Once Upon a Child.

When I first went, I was only interested in buying clothing. I was pleasantly surprised to find all the various name brands there for less than the retail stores. However, what was also important to me was that these gently worn—or never worn—clothes weren’t ending up in a dumpster. Baby clothes get worn for only a couple months before they’re outgrown, which can be quite a waste. I know there are items in my child’s closet that never even got worn due to being out of season or got lost in the shuffle. It’s good to know someone else can get use out of them.

Next, I discovered that Once Upon a Child had a super toy selection. Most of the toys are plastic, which I was able to easily clean up. I found the coolest toys there—most were ones I hadn’t even seen at the regular stores. Again, thinking of buying new items that use all those resources and energy…and how the old ones would sit for hundreds of years in a landfill just turned my stomach. Why would I do that if I could get the same ones at a resale shop? And for less money? No contest for me.

My last discovery was that they also sold large toys (scooters, walkers, etc.) and baby furniture. Besides the fact they cost less than new items and help the environment, THEY’RE ALREADY ASSEMBLED. Enough said.

So, if you have a little one or know someone that does, consider buying from a resale shop. Save the green by being green!

The Birth of a Character

A while back I mentioned what it took to switch a male character to female (David to Dana). As I ended that entry, I said how, before I could rewrite the scenes, I needed to know who Dana was.
There are many exercises for developing a character. Typical ones include answering such questions as:
What movies does your character watch?
What’s your character’s favorite color?
What could be found in your character’s backpack or purse?
What does his/her bedroom look like?
What bands/types of music does your character listen to?
Does your character have any hobbies?

(There are about a million sites with lists to help you think about your character. Here are two good ones: http://www.tarakharper.com/k_char2.htm and http://www.writingclasses.com/InformationPages/index.php/PageID/106 )

All these questions are helpful, but I didn’t even have a clue how to answer these questions because I still couldn’t picture my character. I decided to get inspiration from the Internet.
As my character was a female sled dog racer, I typed in “junior sled dog racer” into google images. Nothing helpful. Probably for protection purposes, there weren’t many photos with children’s faces. Okay, I thought, if I couldn’t find a young sled dog racer, what other topics could I try that would serve my character’s personality (which I didn’t know much about yet)?
I knew this girl was outdoorsy and into animals…4H? I punched it in. Bingo!
I found a terrific picture of three outdoorsy girls holding a pile of weeds. As I studied the picture, two of them were potentials for being Dana. They were very different from one another—a new dilemma. I decided to rewrite my boy scene from each of the two girls’ point of view based on the way they look. One of the girls looked very outgoing and carefree (based on the fact she had no bangs, tousled hair, and a huge (metal) smile on her face. The other girl seemed serious and shy, although she may have a confidence about her when doing something she loves (this girl was thin with long bangs, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, and a half-smile on her face).
After reading my two passages, I decided to go with the carefree girl—she would make for a more interesting character. What worked out well was that the serious girl would work as my main character, Ana. I now had a picture of my two characters together! Perfect!
So, with a picture of a couple of girls in a 4H garden group, I could continue writing my novel.

Help! I Have an Idea but No Paper!

Writers: Have you ever had the idea for the next bestseller when there was no paper or computer in site? If you’re like me, you told yourself, “This idea is so great, I definitely won’t forget it.” Of course, five minutes later, it’s gone.

I thought I’d offer some creative ideas for holding onto your thoughts for later use.

“Help! I’m Trapped on the Highway with a Great Idea in my Head!”: I have found keeping a hand-held tape recorder on the passenger seat can really come in handy. I actually completed a whole freelance assignment on my way to Indianapolis once using it. Tip: I always date my entries. This helps 1. When I transcribe them, I have some idea of when they’re from. 2. Because I use an old-fashioned audio tape that I rewind and reuse, there are old entries that will still play after the new ones. This can get confusing. By dating the entries, I can tell when the older ones begin. If you don’t want to invest in a tape recorder, you can also call your home or cell and leave a message with the idea. Of course, regardless of how you do it, always use safe driving practices. No idea is worth injuring yourself or others.

“Help! I’m Trapped in the Car with my Napping Baby and no Paper!”: This is my newest writing challenge. If my baby falls asleep in the car during designated nap time, I let her sleep until she wakes. This often means arriving at my destination but having to sit in the parking lot for forty-five minutes to an hour. After twiddling my thumbs a few times, I learned this was a great opportunity to get some writing done or even just brainstorm. Now I don’t leave home without a chapter of my manuscript to work on and/or blank paper. (I also pack a book I’m reading as research.)

“Help! I’m Trapped in a Meeting but my Mind is Feeling Creative!” I used to get my best ideas during meetings, conferences, seminars, and workshops. I used to jot them down in the margins of my meeting notes--never to be seen again. Now I try to keep a second piece of paper beneath my notes that I flip to to write my ideas/thoughts. It also looks like I’m taking wonderful notes on the speaker’s topic.

“Help! I’m Out and About and Have no Paper on Me!” This has happened to me while sitting in the bleachers of a basketball game. Women, rummage through your purse; men, try your wallet. There’s bound to be an old receipt, business card, or something similar. Otherwise, look around your location: are there any pamphlets or flyers? How about napkins? (Isn’t that what J.K. Rowling used to write Harry Potter?) You can even write on your hand if you’re desperate. If you have a smartphone, you can also call or email yourself.

“Help! I’m Trapped in the Shower with my Idea!” Sorry, no clue to help you with this one. Any suggestions?

“Help! I’m in Bed Already and too Lazy to Write Down my Idea!” Here’s where I usually try to convince myself I’ll just remember it in the morning. No way. Try keeping paper by your bedside. I have become quite good at writing in the dark. All you really need are some key words that will jog your memory later.

One last tip: If you’re with someone else in your unfortunate paperless situation, see if they’re willing to help you out. Sometimes my husband won’t remember what I told him, but will 1. remember that I told him to remember something or 2. remember one word, which is often sufficient.

If you have a handy tip, please share.

Gender Issues

I haven't blogged in quite a while, so I thought I should kick off my return to blogdom with a bang: how I changed David to Dana...

While reworking my entire work-in-progress novel for a third time, I had a revelation. After getting asked over and over by my fellow critiquers if my girl main character had feelings for the boy sidekick character, David, I thought about whether this sidekick really needed to be a boy. By changing him to a girl might help some of my plot problems. I decided to go for it: David would become Dana.

At first thought, all I would need to do was a quick find/replace of the word "him" to "her," "he" to "she," etc. But, as I reread the scenes with Dana, I realized that changing a character's gender wasn't going to be that simple.

As David, the sidekick character was nonchalant, active, and outspoken. As a boy, these characteristics weren't anything that stood out. However, once the character became a girl, the traits made quite a statement about her personality. For instance, when David guzzled his milk, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. But when I changed the character to a girl (Dana), she no longer could get away with guzzling the milk without the reader drawing conclusions about what she was like.

As I shared the problem with a writing listserv I belong to, the topic caused quite a stir. Many people felt that we need more strong, tomboyish girls in children's literature. Although I agree, I also worried about creating a different stereotype. You see, this character races sled dogs. By having her be a "tomboy," I was afraid I was then giving the impression that a girl has to be masculine to be a musher. I didn't want that either. I went back and forth as to how "feminine" Dana should be. I wrote scenes both ways: with Dana as what might be considered a traditional female character and with Dana as what would be considered a tomboy. I was still torn.

I went back and forth with advantages to both traits for this character. Unfortunately, I had to decide for myself who this character was before I could begin my David to Dana transformation. Regardless to what I did, it was definitely going to be more than a matter of changing some "he's" to "she's"...

A Reunion of Pastries

In February, I posted an article called “Life with Luna” on the website for the TAILS Humane Society where I adopted my dog. I was trying to track down the whereabouts of her siblings: Fritter, Crumpet, and Waffle. Yes, all breakfast foods, including our Crepe, which my husband and I renamed Luna.

I was excited to hear back from Lane, the TAILS PR committee chairperson. She found the story interesting enough to help me by contacting the other dogs’ families and letting them know of my search.

A couple days later, I received an email from a family who had adopted Waffle. Soon we were exchanging pictures of our dogs, including a great one of Waffle (now Piper Mae) in her ballerina tutu for Halloween.

Piper

Next we got word from the adopter of Crumpet, who was renamed Grommet. He was also doing well, give or take a chewed cell phone or shoe.

After learning about their new lives, I decided to organize a Pastry Reunion. I invited the other two families for a dog playdate. While the plans were being set, another family contacted me, telling me they saw my TAILS article and had adopted Croissant (now Peanut) from a PetSmart store. I didn’t even know there was a Croissant! She quickly got an invitation to the reunion.

I emailed TAILS asking how many were in the litter—obviously not the four I had originally thought. It turns out there were seven “baked goods” altogether: Fritter, Crumpet, Waffle, Crepe, Croissant, Muffin, and Pancake.

Although the reunion was only one day away at that point, I asked Lane if she could call the families of Pancake and Muffin and pass on my information. Within hours, Muffin’s mom called me. She would bring over Sadie (formerly Muffin) the following day for the party.

The next morning, Luna, my husband and I impatiently awaited the arrival of Luna’s sisters (Grommet couldn’t make it), setting up—what else—but pastries for the humans and bakery-style dog biscuits for the four-legged gals.

And what a party it was! The girls got along wonderfully with one another—chasing each other around for hours while us humans caught up on similarities and differences of the litter. It was wonderful to find out what each dog was up to and to see that they all went to good homes. More than one of us had thought about going back to TAILS and adopting a second one from the litter but found out they had all already been adopted.



After our reunion, Muffin/Sadie’s family said they were interested in a second reunion, possibly for the dogs’ June birthday (hopefully the “guys” can make, it too), and Croissant/Peanut’s family has set up a website to share photos of the reunion and home life.

Now if we can only track down Pancake and Fritter, our entourage of pastries would be complete…

A special thanks to Lane at the DeKalb TAILS Human Society for helping track down the families. You can learn more about TAILS at http://www.tailshumanesociety.org/.

Luna after the party

Through the Eyes of a Dog

Casualties of Luna

As I prepare my dinner, Luna, as usual, looks on eagerly. As I'd like to think she's watching intently to be able to some day surprise me by making my chicken casserole recipe from memory, there is a chance she's hoping I drop scraps that she can snarf up. Today, she was extra fascinated with what I was throwing away in the garbage can. As I tossed a bit of enchilada away, she ran over to try to peek inside. Same with the leftover pumpkin pie from Thanksgiving. That made me think--what does she think the garbage can is for? I doubt she knows it's a bin for refuse. The following is an account of what I believe are Luna's definitions for items in my house:

Kitchen garbage can: a large serving bowl filled with a mixture of lots of tasty morsels, all mixed together. A melting pot, if you will of the day's meals. A little hard to reach the food, but in a year or so, it shouldn't be a problem.

Wooden furniture: today I learned that wood makes a great between-meal snack. After getting a nice chunk off a table, something called Bitter Apple was sprayed on it, which ended up not tasting so bad.

The words "Luna, come in the house!": this is usually said with lots of enthusiasm. I have no idea what it means, but the more I run around, the more my owners shout it out, so it must mean I'm doing something good.

Grass: An outdoor treat. I'm very good at pulling it up from the roots.

Ladybugs: Great to watch, terrific to eat.

Stuffed toys: Cotton stuffing wrapped in a tough outer coating. I have gotten good at getting to the goods inside. I'm down to ripping them open within 5 minutes.