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Week 2 of the {W}rite of Passage Challenge. This weeks challenge is to write about your elementary school lunch. Describe taste, smell. Who’s there, where are you and what are you eating?

Big, Bad Bathroom Doors

I always hated school lunch. With my mom and I’s abundant allergies, we often didn’t eat what other families ate and so the other kids always wanted to snoop at my lunch. And if they thought it was weird or something, they made no bones about it. Sometimes, those kids could be downright cruel. And that was only lunch!

The one lunch time meal that really stands out in my mind, though, was one from where I went to pre-school (though it was called pre-k at this place) and it was a christian school. I was 4 or 5 at the time and we lived in Redlands, California. Since my mom worked at the school, I went there. I thought it was so cool that I got to go to school with my older cousins. It was cool, too, that we got to eat outside.

Somehow, I remember several picnic benches around the outside courtyard area where everyone ate. I don’t know if that’s really true or not, but I think it must be. And the thing I remember most is the bathrooms. Because I always had to go to the bathroom at lunch.

Now, I was always on the small side for my age and those doors to the bathrooms at the school were just huge! And they were really heavy. So heavy that I actually had to have help to open them. They were big, solid and metal with those huge hinges at the top that are shaped like a V and attach to the door and the frame.

One day at lunch (I have no idea what I was eating, sorry!) I went to the bathroom and an older kid went in with me. Well, she must have forgot I was in there because when I went to go out, I was alone and as usual, couldn’t open the door. I pushed and shoved with no luck.

Finally, I decided I was going to run for it and push as hard as I could. And when I hit the door, I felt it move! It opened! I could hardly believe it. I knew I had to be fast or it would shut on me. I was so excited I got the door open and tried so hard to get out before it shut.

But then . . . I felt it hit my hand.

One of my fingers got caught in it. I started to yell and cry. There was no way I could get my finger out of the door. It was pinned shut. Luckily, I was on the outside and people came running.

My poor finger was mangled. It hurt like HELL.

And then some.

I remember my mom coming after that and bandaging up my hand. I also remember the other kids getting chewed for leaving me in the bathroom alone. Oddly, though, I don’t remember much else about that school or much about what happened over the rest of the year.

My finger is still somewhat misshapen from that damn door. It still hurts every once in a while too. But at least I’m finally big enough to open the door myself!

In the arena,

I hope you have a great week, that all your shopping is done, and for God sakes – don’t drive in bad weather unless you really have to and you know what you’re doing. Better to be safe and be here for your loved ones than risk life and limb for something trivial. Stay safe and warm, dear readers!

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

I don’t know how many posts I’ve started over the past several days and then not finished for one reason or another. Something happens, I get side-tracked, I lose my train of thought and then they end up getting saved to my drafts.

Today there is a lot to talk about so with any luck, this one will make it to the blog!

Earlier this evening, a car went sliding down the hill after hitting a patch of slick ice/snow just shortly after dark (and shortly after freezing began!) and after doing a 180 turn around, managed to land *just* outside our pasture fence. (Not the first time it’s happened . . .)

I think the only reason she didn’t actually go all the way over the fence, is that she hit one of the taller posts. Had it been a shorter post or a spot with no post, she’d have gone into the pasture for sure.

Fortunately the driver and her daughter are fine. Shaken, but fine. The car is mostly fine, just a dent in the front where she hit the post and also some damage to the cowling under the front end where it hit an old post in the ditch. Depending on when they come for it tomorrow, I may get a picture or two of the car.

Here’s a picture from last years big snow so you can see what I’m talking about. The car went into the pasture just beyond the mailbox (on the right side of the frame). There’s a drop-off there and a pretty deep gully before the pasture begins. Fortunately she missed the gully too or it would have been much, much worse.

<--Warning! Short rant ahead -->

I hope she realizes how lucky she is. And I hope next time, she reconsiders the need to go out after it’s gotten dark in this kind of weather. Especially down this hill.

Oh and this accident? Only happened in about an inch, maybe two inches of snow . . .

It really amazes me how many people who don’t know how to drive in bad weather, actually go out and drive in it! Or at least, TRY to drive in it. That’s why I don’t. It’s not me I worry about – it’s everyone else! I can drive in snow just fine. I just choose not to. And especially not after dark when the temps are freezing and it’s turned icy.

Anyway, that’s all of my lecture/rant/soapbox for now. LOL

<--End of rant ;-) -->

This afternoon I was looking for a site to kind of be a central location for all of m social networking and online stuff. Like an online business card, of sorts. I searched for quite some time and was about to give up and just design something myself when I found a site called chi.mp. The cool thing is, it also acts as an openID. So, I set it up! And so far, I really like it.

You can find me at helloannie.mp. Check it out and if you sign up, let me know.

And yesterday, I found a cool thing called blogrollr. Basically, it keeps track of the sites you visit automatically (kinda like google web history – only so far, I think it’s better). I can see where I’ve been, how many times I’ve visited there and can even rearrange things or “blacklist” things so they’re not in my public feed.

And lastly, a really simple and totally cool To-Do list I found yesterday as well. It’s called TeuxDeux.com and though it’s kind of an odd way to spell it, it’s very useful. I’ve tried A LOT (a really lot!!) of to-do lists and this one is cool. Just trust me. Simple. Effective. And just what I wanted.

Hope you had a great weekend! Here’s to a good week! Can’t believe it’s the last week of school before Christmas break. That is just totally unreal.

In the arena,

Oh – one more thing – a toolbar thingy for your website called Wibiya. I have no idea what it means or even how to say it really, but it’s pretty useful. I just installed it on my website today so if you’re reading in a reader, go check out the site and see how it works. Then you can go to wibiya.com and get one of your own. And a little disclaimer – NONE of these links are affiliate links. They’re just stuff I use and enjoy enough to share.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

Well, I guess I’ve already broken my goal of blogging every day this month. And you know, that’s ok. Just like rules, it seems goals were also meant to be broken.

So there.

Now, let’s move forward . . .

A few weeks ago (ok, hold that thought . . . the moving forward one, I mean).

. . . a few weeks ago, my cousin, who owns her own hair and nail salon, colored and cut my hair in exchange for redesigning the salon’s website. Even though there are still a few tweaks to do and some info to add to the site, it is up and looks good. I think it managed to reflect the salon’s attitude and image without looking too dull or too flashy.

Now, aside from the bio’s of my cousin and her co-workers and a few minor things like that, it’s complete. However, I know there are ways to improve it and I’ll likely keep tweaking things here and there over the coming weeks so that hopefully what we really end up with is something both she and I are proud of.

Doing her website and the conversations we had about the salon business sparked something else – an idea, a thought – and so I’ve started looking for ways to put that into motion. As a result, I’ve spent hours over the past few weeks researching and learning Ruby on Rails.

Since I learned C and C++ back in the day along with a few other now defunct or obsolete programming languages, RoR (or Rails) has proven to be fairly simple for me to get a handle on. I also like the fact that some of my favorite web apps are built on Rails (Basecamp, Twitter, 43things, A List Apart, Blinksale).

And so that now brings me to moving forward . . .

There are 2 things I am planning to build, 2 different web apps I am now in the process of creating. One of those is a revamp of a project my husband I started a couple of years ago for builders and building-related companies in the Seattle area. I’m not entirely sure yet what all I am really going to include in the project and I probably won’t get into it much until after the first of the year. I’ve decided, though, that the best way to implement the components we want to include, is to rebuild the site on Rails.

But the other one, I am diving right into. And that is a project inspired by my cousin’s hair salon. In fact, it’s going to be a web app FOR salon owners and employees. I still need to pick my cousins brain as to exactly what she wants in the app and how she wants it to work but I know it will include things like a calendar for scheduling, charts for hair color mixes, product ordering, product sales and I don’t what else.

Since it will be an online app, they’ll be able to access it from anywhere, from any computer they might be using and it will tentatively be able to be set up on their own server. I am toying with whether or not I should create/provide a hosted version as well. And I think I probably will just to make it easier for people. I’m thinking it’s going to be kinda like a Basecamp for salon owners.

We’ll see how it goes as things get rolling.

Be blessed,

My 5 year old came home singing a rather interesting version of Jingle Bells today – ” . . . dashing through the snow, with stitches in my head . . .” I’m afraid to ask what the rest of the song sounds like!

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

{W}rite of Passage Writing Challenge, Week 1 – Find a person in public today and study their character. Make a story surrounding them. Build them in to your shorty essay.

Since I am not in public today, I’ll be using a character I saw a while back walking up the street. And also, a fire truck I saw on the same street just moments later.

==================================

Fire

Fire lit the night sky as he stood watching, the clock on his wrist ticking away the seconds. He knew with certainty the house was all but gone. “At least I got the cat out safely,” he thought as he heard the sirens begin to draw near. He hoped they could save enough of his home that he wouldn’t be without his treasured photographs, the ones his mother had sent before she passed away.

The cat shivered in the chilly air and he hugged her tightly, gently stroking her soft golden fur. Sparkles had been his mothers cat, another of her gifts to him before her untimely death the previous winter. He wondered if she had known her time was near. He tried to shake the unpleasant thoughts from his head as the fire truck roared up the street, stopping just short of where he was still clutching poor Miss Sparkles. He wrapped the blanket around them a little tighter and whispered to the cat.

A whirlwind of activity erupted as the firefighters jumped from the truck, pulling hoses and shouting to one another. Miss Sparkles tried to free herself from his grasp but he clung to her and talked softly trying to calm her. She began to purr and finally sensing things were going to be alright, she settled down and went to sleep, with him still standing there in the street.

The smoke was thick and the wind started to blow it towards him. An ambulance had arrived as had another firetruck and some police cars. Someone approached him and began to speak, but his mind was so numb and jumbled with thoughts that he couldn’t concentrate on who was talking or what they were saying. So he just stood there and stroked Miss Sparkles, staring blankly.

The officer took his arm, steering him away from the smoke and to an ambulance where the medics were readying a gurney. He took the seat they offered him and shivered in the cool night air. Miss Sparkles began to stir, poking her head out from the blanket and he talked softly to her. She shivered too.

A medic took his temperature, asked him routine questions, checked his pusle, his blood pressure. He was fine, just somewhat dazed. And cold. Someone offered him another blanket, wrapping it carefully around his shoulders so as not to disturb Miss Sparkles. It was rare that she would allow him to hold her that long. She sensed that he needed her comfort.

Just then, Marla, one of his neighbors walked up and sat down beside him. She knew he’d need some support and her mind was racing but she sat quietly, rubbing his back. The officer was asking him questions and he tried his best to answer but it all just seemed so unreal – first his wife, then his mother and now his house.

“What am I going to do?” he thought. Tears began to well up in his eyes and a lump formed in his throat.

Sensing his emotion, Marla said to the officer, “Perhaps this can continue at another time. He’s pretty shaken up. I think the shock is beginning to hit him.” She told the officer and the medics that she was his neighbor and it would take him into her house until morning and until the fire was put out. The medic asked if he wanted to go into the hospital just to be sure and he shook his head, beginning to sob.

Marla put her arm around his shoulders, but he seemed rooted the spot on the gurney. She tugged at him and tried to reassure him that he would be alright. It didn’t help. He still just sat, still stroking the cat who was purring again, and sobbing.

“What am I going to do?” he finally said aloud. “What am going to do?” He sat rocking back and forth as minutes passed and the firecrew tried desparately to douse the flames. Though they were now under control, the fire still burned. Marla didn’t answer, she just sat and rubbed his back, partly not knowing what to say and partly knowing that whatever she said would somehow sound out of place.

“I have to check the photographs. I have to get the pictures out. Where are Mother’s pictures?” And suddenly, he sprang up, still cradling the cat in his arms and began to walk quickly towards his house.

Marla stopped him. “No, we must go inside my house where George has made coffee, where it’s warm and you and Miss Sparkles can get the chill off before you catch cold.”

He was unaware now that it was cold, unaware now that he was shivering. The only thing he could think of was those pictures. Pictures of Pop and Granny. Pictures of Jason. Pictures of his beloved Andrea. And of Mom and of Father. And Nick. Pictures of the islands he and Andrea took on their honeymoon.

“Oh Andrea!” he cried. And he fell to his knees in a heap on the street. Poor Miss Sparkles dug her claws into his skin as he cried, not knowing whether she should stay put or leap out of his grasp. “Oh Miss Sparkles! What are we going to do?” He asked the cat through his sobbing. She mewed quietly in answer and licked his cheek.

“Marla, perhaps you should convince Paul to go to the hospital after all. I’ll take Miss Sparkles,” said George as he came up to them, having rushed out of the house upong seeing Paul collapse to the ground. “Maybe he needs more than just a cup of hot coffee.”

Two medics came and helped Paul up off the cold, wet ground, leading him to the waiting ambulance. He was sobbing uncontrollably now and had let go of Miss Sparkles so George could take her. Marla stood closely still just in case Paul needed her reassurance. He knew that she was there and he felt comforted, though he continued to cry.

It was late now but with all the raucus on the street, many of the neighbors were up and watching silently from their windows or huddling around outside. Someone brought a carrier for Miss Sparkles and some food and water. Another neighbor brought out a thermos of hot coffee and handed a cup to Paul. George put Miss Sparkles inside the carrier along with the food and water and set her down on the grass so she could see Paul inside the ambulance.

He began to calm as he watched the firefighters as they doused the remaining flames. “I really do not want to go to the hospital,” he said to no one in particular. “Maybe this cup of coffee will do some good. I just feel so cold.”

====================

Be blessed,

Come join the challenge! It’s open to anyone who wants to give it a try. Check it out at {W}rite of Passage.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

A few months ago, I finally got a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I’ve been wanting one for a long time so I’m sure you can imagine I was so thrilled when I got it. And I love it as much as I thought I would but I haven’t used it as much I want to. I’m kind of getting ahead of myself here, though.

Today I went searching for some info on how to keep from getting that dome shape in the middle. See, my youngest daughter’s birthday was on Thanksgiving Day but since we had so many other desserts that day, I didn’t bake her cake until this weekend. And it ended up with quite a rounded top. Since I was making a layer cake, that’s less than desirable and it frustrated me a lot.

I usually only make single layer cakes because the dome doesn’t really matter so much. But I love baking and layered cakes always look so nice when the pros do them. Of course, I want mine to look that way too! Last week I finally got a couple of 9″ round cake pans and I’d been dying to try them out so I was really itching to make a layer cake.

I’m going about this story all upside down, aren’t I? LOL Well, it’s not the first time! I actually often do start from the end of things, much to my mother’s chagrin, I’m sure.

I can hear you all now . . . Gosh, Annie, get to the point!

The point is, I came across this great website/blog by the author of “The Cake Bible” and “Rose’s Heavenly Cakes,” Rose Levy Bernabaum, where I found TONS of great info. And apparently, there are these cool little silicone things, like a headband if you will, that you can put around your cake pan to help distribute the heat more evenly and thus help keep the dome effect down.

As you can see, I am quite excited about this. I also found out a few other tips one can use if there isn’t one of these handy dandy strips laying around the kitchen. So now I’m all excited to try baking more cakes in the coming weeks. Since there are a few more family birthdays soon and the kids will be out of school for Christmas break the end of next week, it’s the perfect time to test some of those theories out.

It looks like my fabulous mixer will be getting much more use very soon!

If I can keep from getting too many weird looks from my family, I may take a few pictures so you can see how things turn out.

In the meantime, do you have any favorite cake and/or frosting recipes you’d like to share? Also, what is your favorite kind of cake?

Be blessed,

If you like music, check out David Garrett. I just watched a PBS special with him in it and the music is wonderful! He’s a violinist but he doesn’t just play classical music and violin standards – he also plays things like Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal, AC/DC’s Thunderstruck and many more. Very good stuff!

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

I have a really strong desire to write about a certain American college student who was convicted of the murder of her roommate in Italy today but I don’t want the enormous amount of traffic such keywords could generate to my humble lil’ blog here so I’m not going to.

(If you even remotely read, watch or listen to anything news related, I’m sure you know exactly whom I am talking about. You’d have to be living in cave somewhere in the middle of no-mans-land not to know her name and the situation.)

Even *I* know who she is and I haven’t watched TV or read the news in years.

But anyway, instead of stating my opinion about her, I’m going to talk about some of the tools I use daily and discuss my plans for a potential app I’m thinking of building.

First – what tools do you use in your business and personal life to keep organized? Is there a particular application you find indispensable? Do you use offline or an online apps?

I began using the 37Signals products about 5 years ago, I think. Maybe 4. I don’t really remember. But the real estate investor/trainer I worked with at the time, used them for his business and since I did 90% of his admin and teaching stuff for the training programs he ran, I learned to rely on them. As a result, I have continued to use them for both my own business as well as personal related things.

They’ve become invaluable tools to me over the years. But to really get the use out of them I need, I would have to upgrade to their highest level to get the full potential out of them. Instead of doing that, I am seriously considering writing my own application that I can install on my own server.

In some ways, this app will be fairly basic. In other ways, it will be quite robust, adding in features that just aren’t in the 37Signals group of products. Also, it will include the pieces of the various 37Signals products I use, like Basecamp, Backpack and Highrise that I find most useful. (And yes, those are affiliate links.)

Now, I’m not an app developer so this is going to take some time! I’m hoping I can have at least a good working model in place by Spring 2010. At this point, I have no idea if I will be releasing it for public use or if it will just be for me. But we’ll see what happens as the project moves forward.

Right now, my idea is only in the outlining and thinking stage. I’ve spent a good portion of today thinking out the details and getting them written down. I’m hoping to get a visual design this weekend as to what I want it to look and feel like mocked up. If I do, I may post a few snippets here.

I am also considering developing an app for my cousins hair salon business. She wants something to keep track of clients, bookings, co-workers, schedules and all that fun stuff associated with running a growing salon. (If you’re in Whatcom County, Washington, let me know and I’ll send you her way. She’s a fabulous stylist and nail tech and I’m not just saying that cause she’s my cousin! She is truly that good at what she does.)

Anywho, it’s getting late and I’m suddenly quite tired. I’m glad the weekend has arrived! Hope yours is a great one!

Be blessed,

I’m going to run a special soon for graphics stuff so if you’re in the market for a new header, new logo, or whatever, keep an eye out here. It may be a buy one get one free type of deal.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

I have learned, after reading several BRILLIANT posts by others in the “Write of Passage” challenge, that my writing is “safe” – it doesn’t really take a leap out there and show anything. It’s boring, in fact. (That’s *my* conclusion, at least).

Perfect writing – if such a thing exists – is all in the story. And I know this, deep down. I know that writing is NOT all about being grammatically correct (contrary to what our English teachers tried to drill into us as youth). Or all about proper punctuation usage. Sure, it helps. But in the end, what makes writing felt by the reader isn’t a correct sentence. It’s the feeling the choice of words evokes in the mind, the heart, even the soul of the reader.

It’s in the quickening of the pulse. In the holding of ones breath. And in the relief or the shock or the embarrassment the reader now feels because of you and your words. Words that draw the reader in, words that sink into the readers skin and make them keep reading.

And they keep reading because they can’t pull away. If they do, their skin will tear, you’ve pulled them in so deep.

That’s the kind of writing I want to do. I know I can. I’ve always just played it safe. You know, “be on the safe side.”

I’m the person who thinks all those sarcastic, gnarled, chaotic thoughts inside her head. I just don’t say them out loud.

Well, my goal in further writing on this site and anywhere else I write will be to write what I’m thinking. What everyone is thinking but just never says except that one friend. You know, that one friend who isn’t afraid of saying the truth at all costs. She’ll blurt out whatever is hanging in the air. Not because she’s uncouth or undignified but simply because she knows that saying the safe thing is boring and doesn’t hook the audience.

She knows how to shock the world and not be afraid of it. She knows how to engage her audience without being malicious or condescending or inconsiderate.

Funny thing is, I used to be that way. I used to be opinionated. I used to be mouthy. And speak my mind. But somewhere along the way, I learned to be a good girl and keep my shut. To not say something if I couldn’t say anything nice. Not because I was ever mean – I didn’t say unkind things, usually – I just didn’t always say the “proper” thing.

Instead of saying the proper thing, I want to say the thing I’m really thinking. Most of those close to me know that I usually do speak my mind. I’m sarcastic as all hell, I don’t beat around the bush and I just say what needs to be said.

Not so with writing. I play it safe. I write what I’m expected to write. I write how I’m expected to write. And today I vow to be that friend who just blurts out whatever needs to be said. It may be construed as offensive. It may be politically incorrect.

But today? I’ve learned safety is over-rated.

Thank you.

In the arena,

If you’re a writer or a wanna-be writer, feel free to check out the Write-of-Passage challenge. It’s open to everyone and anyone who wants to be a part. Right now, it’s in “beta” but next week, it begins for real. So far, it’s proving to be a great community.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.