Opening Sentence

“You just don’t understand the monsters I face when I’m sober.”

Would you read a book that started like that?  if it was fiction and not a memoir?  Just wonderin’.

I would love to write fiction. Harper Lee once said, “I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide.”

Whoa.

Considering she only wrote ONE book – and a GREAT book, at that! – it makes one wonder if she never quite got that hide thick enough.

Just what I’m thinking about today…

Sampler and a POLL

To Whom It May Concern:

The following samples of my recommending-writings are from the head of yours truly.  This first one is BEFORE I start exploring the multitude of sample character references.   Please vote, which feels more impressive?  Thank you.

Draft 1 – I have had the pleasure of being acquainted with G_ A_ for almost 7 years as a friend of the family and heartily recommend him as a student and a fine young man.     More recently, I was able to spend a summer as his math tutor;   we met twice a week to explore the basics and more of Trigonometry.

GA exhibited an eagerness to learn, a maturity beyond his years and a fun personality  – especially considering that he was spending time on a summer’s day to devote to mathematics for the sake of his future interests and endeavors. He is capable, dedicated and very bright.   

As a candidate for any program or monies designed to encourage scholarship, GA would make an excellent choice for consideration.    I highly recommend him.

Simple but wordy, yes?

and now …

Draft 2–

Paragraph 1
The first paragraph of the recommendation letter explains your connection to the person you are recommending, including how you know them, and why you are qualified to write a recommendation letter to recommend employment or graduate school.

I am writing this letter of reference and recommendation for G_ A_, a fine young man I have had the pleasure of knowing for 7 years as a friend and business associate of his parents.    On a direct level, I was asked to tutor G_ over a summer because he wished to learn Trigonometry and his school didn’t offer an in-depth class.    I was initiating a career move to my current field of education after my years of computer programming and engineering.   G_ and I met twice a week for 2 1/2 months exploring and working through Trig basics and more.

Paragraph 2
The second paragraph of the recommendation letter contains specific information on the person you are writing about, including why they are qualified, what they can contribute, and why you are providing a reference letter. If necessary, use more than one paragraph to provide details.

I am pleased to say that our Trig sessions have been a highlight of my tutoring experience.  G is not only dedicated and capable;  he is a fun kid.   He exhibits a maturity beyond his years and yet isn’t too serious, either.   His attitude towards spending summer days to study math was refreshing and impressive.

I would recommend  GA without reservation to be considered as a scholarship candidate.

Respectfully Submitted,

Curious C

Professional Tutor of Mathematics

Well?   Why am I getting the idea I should combine them somehow?   I think I like the first one…

Bucket List

Make a quilt
Run a 5K
Visit Ireland (and/or Iceland, Barcelona, Vienna & Prague, Key West, Hawaii, Vancouver,…)
Go to Nantucket
Make a Dark Chocolate Cream Pie
Bake bread from scratch
Win the Academy Award for Best Screenplay
See my friend’s triplets
Wear a cool hat to the Kentucky Derby
Visit Mark Twain’s house in Hartford CT
Mosaic Wilhelmina
Make amends with friend SBS
Clean out the basement
Find more cool things to add to this list
Decide my ‘last wishes’ – sprinkle ashes in the Atlantic?
Dye my hair red. or blonde
Read all the books on my goodreads.com to-be-read list? yea, right. ha ha
Try inline skates
Fly first class

Woo Hoo! Hello?

Hi!

I know, I’m not hanging around here much but I *DO* think about this wonderful insane but quiet lately blog – I do!

and now, I’m here to encourage anyone who likes to read and win books to click    **  HERE  **   and visit my other blog to enter a quick little contest to win a book!

OK?   Thanks!

– Curious “C”

Pi(e) Day

Yesterday was March 14.     If you use the number notation to designate your calendar days, it would be 3/14  but you would say, “Three Fourteen”, right?   OR…  3.14.

Thus PI, π, the symbol for the mathematical constant whose value is the ratio of any circle’s circumference to it diameter; the ratio of a circle’s area to the square of its radius.   [I lifted these words from Wiki:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi]

I love it because I love PIE and not because I’m a mathematician.

I made a Strawberry one yesterday:

Pie assembly just about to start...

I tossed in a small handful of golden raspberries that I found in the freezer.     They baked away into the gooey mess.

Before going into oven - I 'carved' a few strawberries on the top and wrote '3.14 pi day' but it's hard to read.

I also sprinkled sugar and brushed on some half-n-half on the top to make it pretty-pretty.

Oops - I put my mitted hand into it when the pie attempted to get away from me!

I had pulled the pie out of the oven and placed it on a trivet.   When I attempted to move pie AND trivet to show my guests the lovely hot pie, I turned a bit too quickly and the pie started to scoot off the trivet I was holding.   I had to put my paw right onto the top to slow it’s inevitable crash onto my buffet and into the wall.     Everyone laughs, ha ha.    DARN IT.

It still tasted good.

The hub had cooked a tremendous Irish feast of corned beef, colcannon, baked Irish cod and all the trimmings – so GOOD!   Our complementary beverage was Murphy’s Stout.    The guests brought an Orange Creamsicle Pie which was a very refreshing treat, as well.

Thus concludes our pre-St. Patrick’s Day and PI Day celebration.

White Chocolate Strawberry Pie

Save the Date

Coming soon…

January 23 is National PIE Day!

So says the American Pie Council…

Women Unbound

I’m hosting a reading challenge!    OOps, I mean…  My alter-ego is.

Anyway, just had to share over here what I’m up to OVER THERE… and see if any of my friends in this slice of blogiverse want to join in a year long (plenty of time!) event to encourage reading around a certain topic:  Women’s Issues!

The rules are easy and no one is going to follow up and grade you.

So, click here —->  The Women Unbound Challenge <—

and think about it, will ya?     Or just leave a note here and tell me your favorite book that you think I should read for this challenge.   I’m already wanting to read about 75 books for the darn thing.

Also, since I’m a co-host, I’m reliving all that fun and joy of the early days of blogging.   When you would somehow find yourself on a blog and then click on someone who commented and then jump to their blog and the hop-skip somewhere else in blogosphere and discover NEW.  WORLDS.

and new friends.

and at least, extremely interesting people…

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It seems that everyone’s Google Reader is so full of MUST-READS that I can’t even find time to read a book let alone comment at all my favorite blogs!  It’s just bad, I tell ya.

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OK.  Anyone try any odd pies this past holiday?   I made a cranberry pecan and it was scrumptious.     🙂

Swirly Thoughts

I was bouncing around Facebook for some odd reason, chasing names from my past as if they might be real enough to click back into my life, my real live life now and then I wonder a few things.

Why now?

Why do I care?

What happened?

Stumbled upon photos from a wedding of an old friend, former friend maybe, surely haven’t talked to nor corresponded with this person in years and yet it stung.   Stung that I didn’t know about it.   Wasn’t invited?!    Deep breath, conscious wow/huh thought.

I’ve had more than a few friendships get pissed off into the ether for many unknown* and certainly unexplored reasons.     In typical self-centered reaction, I wonder what I did.   Which only leads to negative ‘why don’t they like me anymore?’ questions.

When perhaps, they are asking the same thing?  Maybe they are wondering why I don’t seem to like them anymore?

Consider all this and allow me to share my afternoon.   I didn’t want to sit around the house watching football.   I wanted to go out but Hub preferred staying in.     I could have called a few girlfriends, right?    In fact, I did dial a friend’s number to have it immediately go to voicemail so I hung up.    I looked across at a neighbors to see if her car was visible.  Nope.

So I jumped in the car and went to Home Goods alone.

Yet, it gnawed at me that at the same time I was contemplating why I don’t have people calling me to do things with, inviting me places, lunches to plan – that I don’t make those invitations myself.

Gawd, I hate self-pity even as I crave it.  Why does my brain even think of this crap?   Why am I not continually thinking about contributing my talents to the world?  or about all I have to be grateful for?   I have many things to be grateful for.    And I would even be able to count the many wonderful supportive friends I have.

I just wish I had some go-to gals to call and say “Hey, let’s go shopping.  NOW.”  or wishing someone would call me with same.   Where are they?

And it is likely that they once did and I said no?    yes, it is.

I sigh in frustration and annoyance.

I must think about something else, please.

Wonder what I got?   I bought a cool red porcelain heavy stockpot, a spatula, a few blank books, and some martini swizzle sticks.   Home Goods is just a candy store for me…

* Though I did have one friend tell me that her biorhythms and mine were in conflict and that’s why we couldn’t be friends any more.     Was she being nice?      Hurt like hell and still does.

Wilhelmina Was a Witch