The Wannabe Journal 

for 

December 2013

 

Santa Came to Town: 

Santa came to town on Friday, Nov 20th.

The Wannabes celebrated their annual Christmas meeting at Mary Lou’s Condo in Centerville.  The ten people who attend this year were able to share two hours of hearing great stories about their favorite Christmas memory and discussed their favorite books that they would recommend for 2014. 

Here are the people who attended :

Nancy P

Don and Rose P

Martha

Ann H

 Jude

Faye

Mary Lou

Don Q

We heard from a number of members who already left town for the holidays.  We missed them but hopefully they will be safe and be able to attend next month. 

Katrina Kittle Update

 

> When I attended the Wannabes meeting, I promised to pass on information about 2014 classes I'm teaching. I finally have that information, and I was hoping you might be able to forward it to the Wannabes list? I'd be eternally grateful!
>
> I have four classes coming up, two that begin in January. Jumpstart your Fiction class, and a Craft class on Voice & Point of View are beginning in the few weeks of January. All class descriptions, dates, locations, and registration info can be found here: http://www.wordsworthdayton.com/
>
> There's a $10 discount for registering before Christmas.
>
> Many thanks! Hope you have a peaceful, lovely Christmas, and that the New Year holds amazing things in store for you & yours!

> When I attended the Wannabes meeting, I promised to pass on information about 2014 classes I'm teaching. I finally have that information, and I was hoping you might be able to forward it to the Wannabes list? I'd be eternally grateful!
>
> I have four classes coming up, two that begin in January. Jumpstart your Fiction class, and a Craft class on Voice & Point of View are beginning in the few weeks of January. All class descriptions, dates, locations, and registration info can be found here: http://www.wordsworthdayton.com/
>
> There's a $10 discount for registering before Christmas.
>
> Many thanks! Hope you have a peaceful, lovely Christmas, and that the New Year holds amazing things in store for you & yours!

A few of our Favorite things.............Books  

 

Here is a brief list of titles of books and novels that were recommended as having in your stocking this year.  

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

What the Zhang Boys Know | Clifford Garstang

Wired for Story by Lisa Crons

The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall

Let's Pretend This Never Happened: Jenny Lawson

The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel: Barbara Kingsolver

Writing & Selling Your Memoir by Paula Balzer

Sister Mother Husband Dog: Etc.: Delia Ephron

A Wilder Rose by Susan Wittig Albert

And a film recommendation:  Philomena

Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

The Heart and the Fist:  The Education of a Humanitarian of a Navy SEAL by Eric Greitens

Rosie's Update:

I met a lot of great people and sure hope I will be invited back next year.  I taught Textured Backgrounds with Gestural Mark-making along with Painting Poetry.  I love teaching poetry, especially when students have never written their own words before.  I also taught a 4-week Painting Poetry workshop  for UD seniors. I was selected to have one of my images for the University of Dayton Alumni magazine.

Life has been creative, fun and challenging.  This fall I went to Raleigh, NC, and taught a couple of workshops with Jerry's Artarama Trade Show.  

 

A Love Story:

 

The Who, What. Where,  When, Why Of Love?

by

Rose Peacock

 

Love. What a strange emotion - you can't see it - you can't touch it - you can't buy it.  No it is not on sale at any of the discount stores and it is never advertised.  So who needs it?  You do, my friend.  Love will creep up on you when you least expect it.  You will feel it and hope no one notices because you have become all weepy and/or goofy as you watch a movie or a commercial.  You need love because with out it you are an empty shell. 

 

Love will come over you when you meet that certain someone.  Sometimes that love will last a life time or may be not.  Love will come over you as you watch a baby discovering its toes.  The universe could come to a halt but that baby will discover what these toes are for and what to do with them.  Love will come over you as you watch a toddler master the art of eating with a fork rather than fingers.  Or a grade schooler carrying the pizza back to the table with eyes beaming.  Or family members gathered around the Thanksgiving Table.  Or a family member going off to some where or better still coming home from some where.

 

Love will come to you as you walk through a forest among old old trees.  It will come to you as you walk along a beach or watch a brilliant sunset.  Love will enfold you as you walk along a stream or babbling brook or come to a waterfall.   Love will fill you with wonder as you observe the perfect flower or a waving wheat field.  Without love you will not see these things or appreciate them.

 

Love will come to you as you sit in a church, see the beautiful stained glass windows and feel the warmth of all of those who have come before you and sat in these pews and felt as you do.  Love my friends is the emotion that connects you to the rest of the world, its wonders and all of the people you know and will meet in the future.  Love  will fill you as you place flowers on a grave and talk with those who have gone on ahead.

 

It is the most important emotion that you have.  Love rules the universe and makes you the person you are.  As the young people say - love rocks.

Christmas Memories: 

Here are a few of our favorite memories of Christmas past:

Rose: Thought she had too much brandy when she found the snake in the Christmas tree.

Mary Lou remembers the next of bugs in her tree

Ann once knew a family who nailed their tree upside down in their double wide mobile home in order to conserve room for the gifts. 

Don P recounted the Cat who liked to hide in the Christmas tree.

Nancy P’s Mother always commented on how beautiful her Christmas tree was even though she did not spend much time selecting  it from a lot or farm.  One year the tree was so dry that the family cat would climb underneath and shake the tree just to hear the needles hit the ornament's. as they fell. 

Mary Lou recounted the year that her friend  sent her husband and their young son off to find the perfect tree.  She also instructed him to bring home a Charlie Brown tree which she would cut the branches off in order to have decorations for over the fireplace. 

They arrive home two hours later with two trees that were wrapped and left on the back porch.  She had fixed a great lunch of soup and sandwiches.  While they were eating she went to the back porch and began to cut branches off one of the trees.  Unfortunately it was the good tree that she was cutting up for the mantel and her decorations.  .  

 What is your favorite Christmas story or memory?

Our Next Meeting

 We will publish our meeting schedule for 2014 shortly after the new year begins.  

Happy New Year everyone...

 

 

 

 

The October Meeting

of the

Wannabes

This is a reminder of the up coming October of the Wannabes Writers Group on Friday October 18th at 9 AM at UD's River Campus.  We will have a guest speaker this month who will share with our members her love of poetry.  Her name is Ms. Kathy Austin. 

Kathy is a retired graphic designer, recently moving to Dayton from Yellow Springs. She has received awards for poetry from the Iowa Poetry Day Association and the Paul Laurence Dunbar Memorial Competition. Her poems have appeared in The Writing Path I anthology published by the University of Iowa Press, and also various local publications such as Wright State University's Nexus, Sinclair Community College's Flights, and  Dayton's arts magazine Mock Turtle Zine. She has been featured and interviewed on WYSO 91.3 Conrad's Corner and enjoys giving poetry readings in the area. She describes herself as a Buddhist, half-hippie tree-hugger who enjoys biking, Dharma Center activities, and hiking.

Ms. Austin will read some of her poems to the group which will be used for a group discussion.  We have also decided to have a writing prompt for a group exercise. 

You are being ask to write a short poem using the following painting as your inspiration:  American Gothic by Grant Wood.

Your poem should be restricted to one page in length.  Please bring a copy to read to the group.

Also Rosie Huart asked that we alert you to the following retreat opportunity:

Art of the Carolinas

Dear Artists, Patrons and Friends,   .....A quick read for today.   Wouldn't you love to take a road trip....either by carving out some sought after time to travel alone with yourself or by inviting some friends to come along? Travel to the mountains of the Carolinas, and experience the rewards of a beautiful fall time of year, workshops with outstanding national artists, buying art supplies from numerous and well respected vendors and having an overall fun adventure. Most of the workshops will be held at the Hilton North Raleigh/Midtown. Hotel Link:  I am teaching two workshops for Art of the Carolinas this fall....both are on Nov. 7, 2013, in Raleigh, NC.  The trade show is advertised as the world's greatest art materials and techniques exhibition ever. The weekend is loaded with activities from Thursday, Nov. 7 through Sunday, Nov. 10.  My friends, Trish McKinney and Kathie George from Dayton, are also teaching workshops. More information and registration: Would love to see you there. Rosie

Town & Country Fine Art Center | | rehuart@aol.com | http://rosiehuart.com
4876 Harlou Dr.
Dayton, OH 45432


We hope to see you all at our meeting on the 18th.  I know there are many poets and right brain individuals in our group that will enjoy Ms. Austin's discussion and readings.  Also remember to bring a signed copy of a book that you have published.  It does not matter whether it was self published or whether you pursued the traditional agent/publisher route.  We would like to share the wealth with other members. 

Thank you in advance and have a great weekend.