Oh Holy Night...

I belong to Saint Paul's Episcopal church. This is a scene from our service on Christmas Eve. Music, candles, and prayer made our Christmas worship experience meaningful.

Altrusa International of Evansville Celebrates Forty Years!

Altrusa recently celebrated their fortieth anniversary. This picture was in the Evansville Courier on Sunday. Dr. Maria Hoover (honored guest), Birdie Harrison, Mary Winstead, Barbara Barrett and I are posing for the picture at beginning of the party.
Many people ask me, "What is Altrusa?" So I thought I'd quote the Principles of Altrusa written in 1917 by Mamie L Bass, the first President of this organization.

Altrusa is a builder of women.
Altrusa is an expression of the search for the best in character, in business and in citizenship.
Election to Altrusa is an evidence of confidence which imposes upon the recipient the obligation to strive to be true to the highest standards of life in her personal and business relations.
Altrusa,in the very derivation of its name, is committed to the philosophy of unselfishness, of the joy of giving rather than getting, and to the search for that happiness which is based upon spiritual worthines.
Altrusa is practical idealism. Its service consists not in saying great things, but in daily earnest practice of its principles.
Altrusa commends to its members an active interest in public affairs, realizing that the State is but the individual writ large.
Altrusa develops true leadership, concerned with accomplishment and not with recognition.
Membership carries with it no obligation to transact business with other members. It makes no promise of returns in any commercial species. Its rewards are in proportion to the loyalty, the unselfishness and the character of the member herself.
Altrusa expresses goodwill for all mankind. It emphasizes the good and lets the evil sink into the oblivion it merits.
Altrusa is democratic; it knows no class, no favorites, but is founded upon merit alone.
Altrusa believes that the way to progress lies not in emphasizing the faults of men and their failures to give proper recognition, at times, to women in business, but rather in arousing women to their responsibilities and their possibilities, so that their accomplishments will blaze the trail for greater things.
Altrusa believes it is not enough to be good; Altrusans must be good for something. Each member must be doing the piece of work that is hers in a way that puts her in the front ranks of accomplishment."

To find out more, you can go to www.altrusa.com or seek us out on Facebook and even on our blog http://altrusa6.blogspot.com . Altrusa does many wonderful things for others, and I can tell you the club here in Evansville is full of some of the warmest, most compassionate people you'll ever find.

Napoleon Peacock was at Washington Square Mall

Napoleon Peacock was at the mall and so were Evansville children with their parents and/or grandparents. Don't tell my kids this, but I've decided I'm looking forward to being a grandmother. Little kids are so much fun! Of course when my children were young there were some days I felt like I'd been hit by a truck I was so worn out. For the most part, though, I had wonderful time. Kids love stories. So do I. Reading with my children was very important to me. I read to them all individually as well as together. They grew to enjoy books and read to this day. We sought out storytimes at the libraries and "Events" similiar to Napoleon Peacock's B.E.S.T. for the Brain Party. B.E.S.T. stands for Breakfast, Exercise, and Sleep Time. Napoleon's party had something for children to do in each of those areas. When people first arrived they were greeted with Create A Breakfast and a Breakfast Walk. There was Scarf Dancing, an Obstacle Course, and the game "Napoleon Says". They also had a Story Telling Tent and a Play Acting Area. That's the sort of thing to involve children in; it means more than you'd think. The kids even got to take home a free book. Napoleon Peacock books are especially nice for those young families living in Evansville because the setting for the stories are from our local area. All I can say is, my children would have loved that! I think Daycare Providers should pay attention to this too! After all, a lot of children spend a fair amount of time at Daycare... Encourage reading and other good habits when they're young and they'll embrace them and treasure them for the rest of their lives.

Thanksgiving

"Burp" Excuse me. I may be a glutton, but at least I'm a polite glutton. I say things like "excuse me" and "Would you please pass the mound of potatoes in that huge heavy bowl while I grab the gravy by my plate?" and "thank you for the pie." Then, I'm always politely quiet during the meal because my mouth is full. Miss Manners that's me.

It is Thanksgiving Day. I feel heavier.I am heavier. Pondering the new layer of flab I recently discovered on my body, I realize it exists not only because of the Thanksgiving meal I gorged myself on,but because I had the flu on Halloween. Yeah, it was a nasty case of stomach flu. Usually people lose weight, right? And I probably would have too if I hadn't turned out my light. If I hadn't ignored the Trick or Treaters that came to the door. Instead the Trick or Treaters were turned away and I ended up with with about ten bags of miniature chocolate candy bars and M & M's. So, naturally I ate them. "Burp" Excuse me.

Tribute to Opera

Last night my husband and I had the privilege of attending a Evansville Philharmonic concert, Tribute to Opera. It was a wonderful night for both of us, but especially for me. First of all, I love musicals and operas! Music expresses emotion and when you put music together with a story, well, there's nothing quite like it in my opinion. And so we were entertained with music from La Traviata, Rigoletto, Madama Butterfly, La Boheme, Boris Godunov, Le Nozze di Figaro, Porgy and Bess, Carmen and La Boheme. It was fun listening to the various characters sing. I'm always impressed at how strong a human voice can be when used properly. When I use my wimpy little singing voice, I call it fantastic if I manage to hit most of the notes right on.

I was in my lucky seat again. This time the man on my left was Richard Kagey, the stage manager. This is what the Philharmonic program book has to say about him. "Richard Kagey, Director/Designer, has directed and/or designed over 150 productions of operas, musicals, and plays for professional regional companies, national tours, and universities..." Pretty impressive. We were able to talk a little before things got started and in course of our preconcert conversation I learned that very recently 19 different opera companies folded. When I asked why he thought that was, he said, "Operas are very expensive to put on." He said there are a lot of costs that add up. Stage Managers must be paid, musicians, costumes, hair and make-up,stage crew, etc.

I, for one, do not like to hear about opera companies folding, orchestras having difficulties, and musicians in general having a hard time. Let's do what we can to help out! Treat yourself to a couple holiday concerts. Give tickets away as presents. What we have in Evansville, is wonderful! Let's keep it that way!!!!

Australia

These flowers are originally from South Africa. My husband, Bruce, took a picture of them when he was Australia so I could see the flowers he wished he could bring home to me. They are a strange kind of pretty; sort of remind me of sea anenomies.

Thank You!

Today is Thank A Youth Worker day. I imagine some people are shaking their heads at this. I, on the other hand, feel it's good to have a day set aside to acknowledge someone/something. I know there are those that grumble when they're buying roses on Valentine's day or roll their eyes at Secretary's day and a good number gag if they hear about any new day set aside to recognize anything. I'm not one of them. I think it's important because life gets busy and complicated. How many husbands would buy flowers for their wives or mothers if there wasn't a day set aside to do so? It's not just the card companies and flower shops that benefit. We all do. We do feel grateful for the people who work with our youth,however, we may not have opportunity to thank them unless a day is set aside for that purpose.

The first person I want to thank is Parri Black, the Executive Director of Youth First. Not only does she make a difference in the lives of all the youth connected with Youth First due to her excellent leadership skills and sincere desire to help, but she has been there for my own kids as a leader in the program Journey To Adulthood at St. Paul's Episcopal Church and a chaperone for their trip to Rome (both my girls went). I've appreciated her patience, respect for my kids and their opinions, and her caring open mind.

Katherine Savia is another person who has made an impact on our lives. She was my daughter, Janine's, violin instructor here in Evansville and went that extra mile for her. She also directed the quartet my girls were a part of. See what I wrote on Carver Community Organization...


Our children are our future! Think of the impact these people make on our lives! The individuals I've mentioned genuinely care and that makes them great!

How could I possibly forget to thank Altrusa? They do storytimes and give books away! I believe that, along with Altrusa's spirit of giving, the books can be life changing. Thank you Altrusa for all that you do to make the lives of our youth a little better!

Frank

Frank (the guy with the green face) has been coming to visit for quite a few years now... There's nothing quite like seeing his silhouette outside our front door around Halloween time.

I used to take care of a little boy named Elliot while his parents were at work teaching elementary kids. He was three when I began watching him, and Halloween was beyond fantastic to him. It wasn't about the candy necessarily, it was about the characters that came out in books, stores, yards, and even cereal. His enthusiasm was catchy!

Elliot enjoyed all sorts of monsters, but Frankenstein was his favorite. I drew Frankenstein out on paper (and other Halloween characters as well) and hung him up on a wall. I used a coloring book he'd been coloring in at my house, as a guide. He loved it and rewarded me for my efforts by being so incredibly enthusiastic. Before I knew it, I was painting a thin piece of wood and the current Frank was born. He's been properly weathered over the years so he looks like a true monster now.

I asked Elliot why he loved Frankenstein so much and he said, "He's a slow walker." Does that not make you laugh!

Carver Community Organization

I was recently at Carver Community Organization in Evansville to photograph a storytime and book distribution sponsored by Altrusa so I would have pictures for the newsletter I write. While I was there, I was able to learn a little bit more about Carver from Mr. David Wagner, Executive Director and Ms. Deione Clayton, a Carver teacher. I greeted them with a warm spot in my heart for all that they do partly because my daughter, Janine, used to help her violin teacher, Mrs. Savia, at their facility when she was younger. I asked about their strings program, curious if it was still going on. It is. It is one of their smaller more focused groups they call Academies. He said they are not taking in any new students for the strings program right now. These students have been in the program for two years and Mrs. Savia plans to continue to work with this select group of kids. Mr. Wagner was proud to say a young lady who started in their string music program several years ago, is now the Concert Master at North High School.

I'm not surprised by that. Kathryn Savia is a wonderful teacher. We Perketts are forever in her debt. Janine learned so much from her plus she was always patient and kind. That was very important. We didn't know it at the time, but Janine has a fairly severe anxiety disorder. In spite of this disorder, her overall experience with music was good. She's been in the Youth Orchestra, in a quartet (played at weddings, etc.), volunteered at Carver and braved audiences at school and church as well as recitals.

Janine, as well as my other two children, have set their instruments aside for now. It is my hope that they will be inspired to resume their training again in the future. Even if they don't, one thing I know is true, all the kids have a great appreciation for music.

So, walking into that brightly colored building brought back all kinds of memories for me. The three and four year olds Sara Murray (the storyteller from Altrusa) read to were so cute! I thought they were very well behaved too! Sara has a knack for leading a story time that's for sure. She has a gentle spirit and knows what to do to keep them focused.

I wrote more about Altrusa's experience at Carver for the Altrusa Viewpoint newsletter. That won't be coming out until the beginning of November so I'd better control myself on what I say now in case any Altrusans read my blog.

The Devil Came to Church Today

The Devil sat up front and stared at our priest. Creepy, ha? No one at St. Paul's had a clue that anything was amiss. Everything seemed so normal. As far as we all knew, it was a regular Sunday morning. I think I may have even stifled a yawn. What our priest saw was a person sitting in the front pew with a red face, penetrating eyes, and horns poking out the top of his head. However, he went on with the announcements as though nothing out of the ordinary was going on. Father Richard stared right into the Devil's face! I'm not certain I'd have that kind of composure. Then, the man in the front pew stood up. He turned around. He revealed his face to us all and we watched dumbfounded as Satan walked down the center aisle and out the front doors. It was a Halloween mask, of course. No one knows who was behind the mask not even our priest. Was it a Halloween joke or some kind of message?

Southern Festival of Books

Do you know who Kate Dicamillo is? She spoke at The Southern Festival of Books last weekend in Nashville, TN. I didn't recognize her name when I saw it in the Calendar of Events because I stink at remembering names in general, but I did recognize one of the books she wrote-- Because of Winn-Dixie. It is a wonderful book for kids about a lovable dog; a book that will make you both laugh and cry. I read it out loud to my daughter when she was ten and we did dip into the tissues from the kleenex box next to her bed. Kate's more recent book The Magician's Elephant is what brought her to the Festival. She spoke to an auditorium full of people and then took the time to answer questions from the audience. I have to tell ya, she's a funny person. I can see why her books do well. One thing she said that made sense to me is she writes at about 4:00 am because the critical part of her nature doesn't wake up until later.

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.

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.

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.

RAG DOLLS 2 LOVE

A few years ago, I read an article in TidingsThe Newspaper of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis, about people sewing dolls for war torn children. I like to sew for relaxation so I looked up the website published in the newspaper and discovered I could get the pattern for the dolls right off the internet. Mary Page Jones began Rag Dolls 2 Love, Inc. a few years ago after a trip to the Middle East. Her heart went out to the children who were suffering from the effects of war. They needed more than food and clothes. They needed comfort. Many had lost family members and seen horrific things. Visit her website www.ragdolls2love.org to hear her story and to get the pattern. The dolls in the picture are my latest batch ready to be shipped off.

The Philharmonic

Bruce and I always get season tickets to the classical series performed by the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. I love where we sit. Not only is it great for hearing and viewing what's happening on stage, but every now and then a composer will end up sitting in the seat next to me. That happened Saturday. The man who wrote the first piece, Fucocoso(Fiery), sat right next to me. Mr. Plog said he has three children, lives in Germany and writes when he can. He tries to write every day. Some days are more productive than other days. He plays the trumpet and knows Tim Zifer, the principle trumpet player in our orchestra. I wonder what it's like listening with an audience to something you wrote yourself? He said he felt the orchestra played his piece well.

Plumbing

On Thursday, I innocently put a load of clothes in the washing machine. Little did I know the trouble that domestic act would cause. Bruce, as luck would have it, came home from work at the exact moment the machine hit the spin cycle and the toilet began to resemble Niagra Falls. It overflowed big time. Poor guy and he'd had a good day too! After stopping the washer and cleaning up the mess,we found when we flushed the toilet, water came up the kitchen sink. Not good. We hated to do it, but we called a plumber. I always imagined plumbers to charge for their labor and parts like car mechanics do. You know how it is with a car, one little scratch and it's a thousand dollars. The plumber had to go under the house and then later he hefted a machine into the bathroom (to "stir things up").I could only imagine how much it was going to cost. I pretended to read a book and glanced up from it now and then to see what they were up to. Thankfully, Bruce stayed home from work to supervise the whole ordeal. I'm very glad he did because it is embarrassing to me to have people messing around in the bathroom. What did they see down that hole anyway? What did they bring up? I could hardly look at them. When the machine stopped, the men started talking again. I strained to hear what they were saying and then I was sorry I did because the shorter of the two turned to my husband and said, "Well, that's one thing women can't blame us for." Where could I run and hide? In the end, they were only here for an hour and we were charged approximately $150.00.

Indiana University Newspaper

Indiana University made a very wise decision when they hired my daughter Suzanne to write articles for them for their newspaper. I know I'm sort of biased, but honestly she's a great writer and living in Santiago, Chile where she will find new and interesting things to write about. She's even going to interview someone for me. I'm writing for Altrusa International of Evansville. There are Altrusans in Chile... You can see where I'm going with this. She speaks spanish and can talk to people I can not.

Unbelievable

I had the most amazing experience yesterday. It began with my husband asking me if I wanted to canoe on the Wabash river; a relatively tame river near us. I assured him that was a wonderful idea. There's nothing better than being out in nature, right? We're both from Minnesota and have been camping and fishing all our lives. We bought the canoe because we enjoy the Boundary Waters Canoe area between Canada and the United States. We're the "outdoorsy" type one might say.

We were on the water by 8:00 a.m. breathing the clean air and appreciating the still day "Sigh" So lovely... just quietly gliding through the water when, with absolutely no warning whatsoever, a fish (I'm guessing 8 lbs) flew out of the river and into the canoe right at my feet. Talk about almost peeing my pants! It flopped all around and bled everywhere. I screamed as my husband stared wide eyed,his mouth open. Thankfully,the fish danced its way into the center of the canoe.

After everyone calmed down (including the fish) my husband took a picture of it and then bravely picked it up and threw it back in the river. We continued our journey. I sat in the front of the canoe with fish slime all over me, my adrenaline pumping,and holding my paddle tight-- basically on red alert. I noted every bubble, every ripple, and tiny wave on the water. Another fish could attack after all. Maybe they've decided to fight back?

We saw other fish jump here and there on the river as normal fish will do. We would have thought nothing of it before our little meeting with Mr. Slimy. However,after that fish decided to greet us up close and personal, we viewed anything with scales above the water as quite threatening.

Just when our nerves were beginning to settle,we entered water with a lot of ripples on the surface. There was fish activity under the surface I just knew it. My adrenaline surged again along with my imagination. I was positive there were hundreds of those huge fish under the water stirring things up. In fact, I was in the process of telling my husband that we should get the heck out of there when, and I am not kidding you, a small school of very large fish (equally as large as the one that jumped in our canoe) breached way out of the water together like synchronized swimmers and flew through the air right next to our canoe. The water was in motion and so were we! You should have seen us paddle!

I was told later by a local fisherman that the fish are called Asian Carp. The one we saw up close in our canoe didn't look like what I think carp look like. It didn't have ugly sucker lips. It was actually quite attractive as far as fish go. Later when we were shopping in the town near by, I met a lady that lives on the Wabash River. She said there was never a problem with these fish until about three years ago. Her husband is an avid fisherman and she used to go out with him all the time, but not anymore. She's been afraid to ever since a friend was hit in the head by one of those fish and nearly fell out of his boat. Sooooo- if you want a taste of nature, paddle down the Wabash river in a canoe. It's quite the adventure!

Body Farm

My second manuscript turned out to be a middle grade novel called Murder on Sprinkle Lake. When I first started writing this, I thought it was going to be a YA novel and had an older audience in mind. In that story there is a murder; a character is hit on the head with a heavy object. I wanted to know what the result of the hit would be like as far as blood and stuff goes. I also had questions about the condition the body would be in if found several hours later. My questions took me to the University of Tennessee where my cousin works in the Forensic Anthropology Dpt. She gave me a very interesting tour (including a room filled with boxes of skeletons all neatly organized). She told me that she could tell an awful lot just by looking at the bones. She used to assist in autopsies and explained about that. Basically, I found out that the character in my story would have been a bloody mess. When the tour inside the college was over, she took us (my husband and two of my adult children were with me) to the Body Farm. Yup the very Body Farm Patricia Cornwell went to when she was writing her book, Body Farm. If you haven't read it, you should. I happen to like her writing in general--keeps you on the edge of your seat. Anyway, the Body Farm is as creepy as it sounds. Interesting though. My cousin is doing research on what sorts of animals munch on the bodies. She wasn't the only one doing research, the FBI had a garbage can with a body in it. They were studying the decomposition rate with the lid closed being they find a lot of bodies in garbage cans I guess. Most of the bodies were pretty decomposed. I guess a gossip magazine got in there once and took pics of the bodies and put them on the internet. Nearly closed the place down. So--now the bodies are covered until they are pretty far along in decomposition. In the end I didn't use much of what I learned that day. It is tucked away in my head, however, and may come out in another story. Maybe the one I'm writing now, who knows? My current writing is for a YA audience. An agent at a conference in Ohio told me that if my protagonist is less that twelve years of age, it is a middle grade novel. This time my protagonist is sixteen.

I want to one day become a published author. Big dream, right? Well, they say that one of the things writers are supposed to do if they want to be published is blog. "Sigh" Fine.

I've decided I will try to share the more interesting aspects of my life in this blog. And, since I am an avid YA reader, I may be tempted to give my opinion on a book or two. Someone told me I should read at least 100 books in the genre I'm writing in. Made sense to me. So--I've been keeping track of the books I've read since Christmas 2008 and am up to b00k seventy eight. I'm also taking little notes on them. It does help with the writing process I think.

I ask my readers to please forgive me for my dyslexic tendencies. As a writer, I realize how important grammar and punctuation is. My husband proofs the work I send in to publishers. This blog is without that aide.