Judy Dunn
South Puget Sound, WA, USA
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Judy is a blogger, professional copywriter and lover of ideas. She likes sparking lively discussions, reading 19th century novels and collecting snow globes. She is fond of crazy hard crossword puzzles and plays a mean game of Scrabble. Judy lives on Anderson Island, WA with her husband Bob and their two adopted cats, Puff Daddy and Boo-dah.
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@Linda Fuller See? This is what I love about the comments section. I think that reading industry publications can give you lots of new ideas. And it's true, 100 bloggers can take the same topic and spin it in a hundred different ways. Great point, Linda.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for sharing here. Your last sentence resonates with me: "Why am I so afraid of being alone?"The painful introspection I engaged in between my first and second marriages helped me to see that, since I had never been alone (parents to sorority house to marriage), I never really felt comfortable in my own skin, to just be me. It took me ten more years to get to that spot, but finally I could like being around me and no one else (no adult, that is). And when that happened, when I stopped looking for someone else to complete me, I met the love of my life . I needed that alone time to figure out who I was, without someone else, before I could become part of a couple again. I say, give yourself that time. Yes, it will be lonely. But what a reward at the end.
My latest conversation: Show And Tell: What I Learned About Blogging from First Graders
Interesting question, Lori. As some of your other readers are alluding to here, if we make a positive impact on someone's life, even in a small way, we are changing the world, because that person will likely pass on his or her "changed self" to someone else, if that makes any sense. And if enough people do that, there will be changes in every corner of the world. I like to think of it that way.
What I loved about teaching can be summed up in the "I'm a teacher. I touch eternity." slogan you might have heard. Because those little ones grow up and have their own children and if just one thing I taught them about living and love and social justice was passed on, then it can reverberate through generations. Same can be said of parents. I'm not wording this very eloquently, but it's how I feel. So aren't we all changing the world in one way or another?
My latest conversation: Show And Tell: What I Learned About Blogging from First Graders
Haha. That is quite a story about your grandparents, Lori. And I can relate to the story of how you met your husband. Mine is similar in some ways. It was a Monday. I was returning from a very stressful meeting at a college in early September. The teachers in the third largest school district in the state (Spokane, WA) had just voted to strike for the first time in history. I was very anxious. I was a single parent and this was the only job I had.
I did something I've never done. I stopped in a bar close to my home for a glass of wine. By myself. (I never went into bars by myself. ) Bob was sitting at the bar. He was an employee in the restaurant. He didn't usually work Mondays, but he was there for a birthday celebration for one of his co-workers. There you go. If not for those two things, the strike vote and the birthday party, we would have never met. We were married by the following June and will celebrate our 30th anniversary this June. They say nothing happens by chance but still...
My latest conversation: Show And Tell: What I Learned About Blogging from First Graders
@Lori The problem with writing a "posthumous post" (hey, I just made up a new term...maybe it will catch on) is that you would have to be constantly updating it to reflect what you want your VERY LAST thoughts to be? This is getting complicated. Maybe a simple poem would do:
You are here
I am not
Celebrate me
With a shot.
I know, it's kind of irreverent. : )
My latest conversation: Show And Tell: What I Learned About Blogging from First Graders
I am so sorry for your loss, Lori. May the memorial fire burn brightly and be a way to honor Kevin's life.
You know, I was taken aback at my mom's instructions on what to do upon my parents' death. She wrote an 11-page letter and told us what drawer it was in so we could retrieve it. Overkill, to say the least. Right down to turning off the utitlities and getting that deposit back that they paid the electric company back in 1943! (She was a frugal woman.) I can now laugh about it, but at the time I was speechless.
But the other thoughtful things my parents did were very appreciated. They had prepaid for the cemetery plots and funerals, so no financial burden for us kids. Even down to the flowers, thank-you notes and newspaper obituary notices. Pretty amazing.
I don't think we do enough planning and thinking on this subject, probably because it isn't exactly something we are looking forward to. : )
My deepest condolences to you, Lori.
My latest conversation: Show And Tell: What I Learned About Blogging from First Graders
@belllindsay @creativeoncall @ginidietrich @Danny Brown My thoughts exactly. I look at it like mind mapping. I'm a veteran headline writer but if I can take an existing idea, as crappy as it might be, spin it a few times and make it uniquely mine, I wouldn't mind. I think it's when everyone takes the "suggestions" at face value and starts using them, that's when we'd get slammed with the crappy.
My latest conversation: Show And Tell: What I Learned About Blogging from First Graders
Hi Gini,
Although I haven't checked it out yet, I actually think this has some potential in a sort of mind mapping, jump-start-your-thinking kind of way. I see what Danny is saying, but I am just completing an online Build Your Author Platform class and am realizing that we are all at different skill set levels when it comes to things like headlines. The value here, at least for me, might be reading something that sparks another idea, that becomes the title I will go with. Or maybe I'll try it for those days when I am in time crunch or feeling particularly lazy. : )
Anyway, I shared your post's link over in the class forum.
My latest conversation: Show And Tell: What I Learned About Blogging from First Graders
@Lori Haha. I had forgotten all about that movie. Love Steve Martin. : )
My latest conversation: Show And Tell: What I Learned About Blogging from First Graders
A sign. That reminds me of Jim Carrey's line in "Bruce Almighty." He's driving along and looks upward. He says< "Please, God. Just give me a sign." And a big old truck comes along with a bunch of road signs piled on it: "STOP," "RIGHT TURN ONLY," "MERGE LEFT."
Seriously, don't you love the way the universe comes through if you ask? It kind of gives me the shivers that all of us had a message you needed in the same week. Eager to hear all about your decision when you are ready to share it, Lori. : )
My latest conversation: Show And Tell: What I Learned About Blogging from First Graders
Okay. On normal nights or during the cold season? Still getting rid of this monster cough, so throat drops and kleenex. Alarm clock. Lamp. Butter Shea body lotion. Chapstick. Notepad and pen. And four books (yes, always need backups so I don't run out): Shakespeare's Sonnets, The Complete Novels of P.G. Wodehouse, Writing Past Dark and Look Homeward, Angel. That's a lot of stuff!
My latest conversation: Show And Tell: What I Learned About Blogging from First Graders
Hey Ralph,
I've been mired in Tech Hell here—iMac exploded and am having to start all over, except for the important stuff like my book manuscript, which was backed up. So, the south of France, huh? That is lovely. My warped opinion of "normal" is being somewhere where I am completely out of my element (language, culture, etc.) Somehow I like that feeling.
Your Renault brings back fond memories: my very first car was a Renault my dad bought for me when I was 16. It had a town horn and a country horn! You guys sound like you are having a great time. : )
My latest conversation: Show And Tell: What I Learned About Blogging from First Graders
I'm a little worried about making the move (though I will be doing it) because 80% of my subscribers are RSS. I heard that RSS folks would have to resubscribe and I know that usually a substantial number are lost when that happens. I guess i will be finding out.
I have thought long and hard about this issue, Margie. I am 5'2." That's probably several inches taller than you, but when I adjust the seat after Bob has been driving, I have to move it so close to the steering wheel. I worry about airbags and I worry about the steering wheel impaling me! If they say not to put airbags near children, they really need to say near short adults, too. I am going over now to sign the petition.
My latest conversation: Show And Tell: What I Learned About Blogging from First Graders
@Di Mace | Word Swords Yes! It was my favorite part of day—making copies of worksheets. Ours was called the mimeograph machine (pre-copier days and boy does that make me feel old!). You had to prime it by pushing this button. And attach the master, lining it up on that big drum. Then it started and produced a rhyhtmic clickety-clack sound. And the fumes? Man, they were the best part. (Is that what sniffing glue is like?) Haha. We sound like crackheads now. Also, the teachers walked around with purple hands all day and students, too, if they did too much touching before they dried. Ah, the memories...
@yvette Carol Thanks for reading. We all remember back to school in some way or another, right?
@bdorman264 I am having great troubles commenting on your amazing blog post. Absolutely loved what you had to say.
I am pre-velcro, too, but, unfortunately, by the time I grew up and became a teacher, the danged thing had been invented. I used to curse the person who came up with it.
If you have truly only been blogging for 18 months, you are way ahead of where I was at that stage. I was just getting me sea legs! Thanks for the comment, Mr. Bill. "Oh no! Mr. Bill!" )Probably before your time?)
@lindaw So, you have worked with children, too. Just keep that 6-year-old self front and center. That is all we ever need!
i have no words to say, except that we stand with you, Lori. Know that you are loved. What a beautiful young man. I know he will always be in your heart.
Time away from this mad social media world is what you need right now. Love, prayers and hugs.We are here if you need us.
My latest conversation: 10 Reasons No One Notices Your Blog Comment