Best. Rejection. Ever.

Just this morning I was discussing a "good rejection letter," with a novelist friend of mine. She had received one. This afternoon, after a particularly harrowing day at work, I received one as well.

I had entered a writing contest sponsored by The Denver Post. Every year they choose 16 people to be a "Colorado Voice." Those people get the prestige of being in the paper, plus a "modest honorarium." Hmm.

In any case, I participated in this contest, as I did last year. My rejection letter last year pretty much looked like this:

You lose. Get off my property.

Oh, okay. It wasn't quite that bad last year. It was more like:

Thank you for playing. You lost.

Yeah, more like that. Short and to the point. This year, however, the letter was far more detailed. Included were these points:

• Nearly 400 writers participated
• My articles made the first cut, as the "final 80 contenders."
  

That was in the upper part of the form letter. Yay! Way cool! I made the first cut! Sometimes Tiger Woods doesn't even make the cut. (I have no idea if this is true.)

It gets better! My letter contains a personal P.S.! The details therein:

• The judges, "...loved your writing." Your meaning my.
  
• "Your talent is extraordinary!" Wheeeeee, dogies! Someone noticed what my mom always thought!
  
• I was among the 30 final writers. I.e., I made the second cut. Yowsa!
• I was encouraged to try again next year (of course).
• I was encouraged to email her my ideas for guest commentary, and she would consider them! Whee!

That means, I don't have to wait until next year--I can email this woman and tell her my ideas for guest commentary, and she'll consider putting me in the paper, anyway! Shibba-dow!

I never knew that a rejection letter could be the perfect end to a perfectly crappy day, but this one sure worked for me. And can I use another bizarre exclamation?

I think I can!


Sweet Fancy Moses!

What the hell is a meme?

Someone please tell me what a "meme" is, because I don't know. Apparently, it's something like this:



Four movies I would watch over and over:

Almost Famous
Undercover Brother
Bridget Jones' Diary
The Beverly Hillbillies

Four of my favorite flowers

Peonies
Lilies
Lavender
Cosmos

Four magazines I suscribe to or buy on a regular basis

Entrepreneur
Cook's Illustrated
InTouch Weekly
US News and World Report


Four of my childhood toys still in my posession

Various stuffed animals. Otherwise, none.

Four TV shows I love to watch

Deadwood
Sex and the City
The Next Top Food Dude (or whatever it's called..it's on Food TV)
that's it. I don't watch a lot of TV.


Four recurring nightmares

Being killed at school.
Being kicked in the stomach by my principal at school, and then she looks at me and gets mad when I protest.
Being killed at school.
Being killed at school.

Four places I've been on vacation

Iowa
New York City
Colorado (in my youth...it's been a while since I've been on vacation...)
Austria/Germany/Poland/Czechoslovakia--this wasn't vacation, but I've been there.

Four languages I can speak

English
German
Spanish
Special Ed Teacher

Four places I would rather be right now

In bed, sleeping
At home with my child
Getting a pedicure
Anywhere but here

Four of my favorite foods

Strawberries
Roasted chicken
Fresh green salad
Toast

Four of my favorite alcoholic beverages

Bourbon
Tequila
Red wine
Vodka

Four of my worst vices

Sloth
Reading InTouch Weekly
Picking my pimples
Biting my fingernails

Four accomplishments I'm most proud of

My marriage
Owning my own business
Writing a book
Publishing said book by myself

Four of my biggest fears

My child being killed
My husband dying
Not being able to ever be self-employed
Not being able to enjoy my life

Four genres of radio stations programmed in my car

Classic rock 99.5 The Mountain.

that's it.

Four items I always carry in my purse

Wallet
Phone
Keys
Lip balm

Four things I look for in a mate

Loves me
Sense of humor
Conversation skills
Kind

Four things (realistic) I want to do in the next four years

Finish writing my teacher book
Publish my teacher book
Sell many many copies of my teacher book
Become independently self-employed

Four friends I am tagging who I think will respond

None of my friends will do this.

Wikipedia Game

As I mentioned earlier in this blog, I'm a copycat with no imagination. So, when my friend told me to play the Wikipedia Game, I did.

To play: Go to Wikipedia.org, and do a search for your birth date, without the year. Then, on your blog, list at least:

--3 neat facts
--2 births
--and 1 death

that all happened on your birthday. A-like so:


February 1:

1790 - In New York City, the Supreme Court of the United States convenes for the first time.

1920 - The Royal Canadian Mounted Police begin operations.

1978 - Director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl.

1999 - North Dakota Public Radio is launched.

2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates over Texas upon reentry killing all seven astronauts onboard.

2004 - Janet Jackson exposes her breast on American television during the half-time show of the Super Bowl.


Births:

1901 - Clark Gable, American actor (d. 1960) [rrrowr]

1902 - Langston Hughes American writer (d. 1967) [awesome]

1931 - Boris Yeltsin, President of Russia

1937 - Don Everly, American musician (Everly Brothers) [Wake Up Little Susie]

1937 - Garrett Morris, American comedian [from Saturday Night Live]

1938 - Sherman Hemsley, American comedian and actor [Mr Jefferson!]

1942 - Terry Jones, Welsh actor and writer [of Monty Python's Flying Circus!]

1948 - Rick James, American musician and composer (d. 2004) [he's dead, bitch!]

1965 - Sherilyn Fenn, American actress [from Twin Peaks, my favorite show when I was in college]

1965 - Princess Stéphanie of Monaco

1968 - Lisa Marie Presley, American singer and actress [Yep. Elvis' daughter]

1969 - Me. :)

2003 - My daughter. :) :)

Deaths:

1851 - Mary Shelley, English author (b. 1797) [wrote Frankenstein]

1966 - Hedda Hopper, American gossip columnist (b. 1885) [whoever she is--I like her name]

1976 - George Whipple, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1878) [and presumably inventor of Charmin]

2003 - The crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia, astronauts:

* Michael P. Anderson (b. 1959)
* David Brown (b. 1956)
* Kalpana Chawla (b. 1961)
* Laurel Clark (b. 1961)
* Rick D. Husband (b. 1957)
* Willie McCool (b. 1961)
* Ilan Ramon (b. 1954)

Finished my taxes!

Take THAT, IRS.

The bad news: I owe taxes.

The good news: I owed taxes last year, and had to pay them with my credit card, which sucked. How is that good news? Because of that experience, I saved money every month to put toward this year's taxes.

The best news: I have enough money, with some left over, to pay this year's taxes. Yay!

Back to work.

Well, spring break is over. That's all I get. Let's see how much of my list I got finished:

1. I made about 4 batches of soap. That's 168 bars. Not too shabby.

2. I ordered my banners for the market.

3. I ordered supplies to make lip balm and more buttah.

4. I picked up supplies I had ordered last month.

5. I went to Costco and bought soap supplies.

6. I made my presence known online.

7. I did some research for my new website.


How did I do?