People, Places and Things

Get out of jail

Yesterday, I got a get-out-jail-free card from my doctor in the form of a note that gave me three days out of the office. Along with bed rest she recommended that I spend some time in the sun, relaxing. Best Rx I've ever had for a cold and (not-the-H1N1-flu) flu.

So, outside I go with my laptop, my notepad, and a book. Our outdoor thermometer reads 40 degrees Celsius, but I'm taking a blanket with me anyway.

Squeezing time between the proverbial rock (coursework) and hardplace (software release) for creative writing practice, may be impractical, but it not impossible. Meet me at a Go ForWords workshop in June.

Congratulations (and collective gratitude) to fellow freelance writer Heather Robertson.

Are you a Practicing Writer?

Are you receiving "The Practicing Writer" newsletter by Erika Driefus? If you missed May's issue, here's a bit about tweets from Twitter that you may find interesting:

FEATURED RESOURCE: Jane Friedman's "Best Tweets for Writers"

Recently, I made a public confession: I haven't yet succumbed to the lure of Twitter. As I continue to learn about it and try to decide if it's something I want to add to my technology toolbox, I'm grateful to Jane Friedman for tracking "Best Tweets for Writers" on her blog, There Are No Rules.     http://tinyurl.com/c6s4ts

There's always something of interest to me in "The Practicing Writer" newsletter. There might be something for you, too.

If you're interested, visit http://www.practicing-writer.com to learn more about Erika's work.

 

*Copyright of the Featured Resource blurb belongs, of course, to writer/editor Erika Driefus.

 

Photographer Shines in the Sun

Please allow me to introduce you to my awesome friend and a wonderful photographer, Veronica Henri. She's with, er-ahem, the a daily newspaper in Toronto.

Lighting Up in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS IS NO PLACE for a former smoker. Years ago, when I returned to a former employer - a prominent Toronto talent agent's office - I never thought that the second-hand smoke would make me want to light up again. (It was a smoking office, even in 2003). Especially not after being nicotine-free for nearing a decade and a half.

Even after that amount of time, I enjoyed the odd cigarette. And I missed the physical act of smoking.

Don't get me wrong. I never enjoyed  jonesing for nicotine, or gasping for air was I walked a flight of stairs and a cigarette smoke often nauseated me, but I thoroughly enjoyed the act of lighting up and butting out. Back the day, I happily puffed away in my cubicle between collection calls and typing reports, or while explaining the details of our company's requirements for estate settlement.

Looking back, I cannot imagine what work life might have been like for those who did not smoke to spend the day working in a smoking office.

At least I couldn't until I stepped into the casino of The Excalibur, a castle-shaped hotel that looks like a cheesy Disney knock-off.

Because smoking is permitted in the casinos, which we had to pass through everyday two or three times per day, by the end of day three my sinuses were in overdrive.

In the years after they corralled us into a smoking room and after bi-laws pushed smokers outdoors, I discovered I am allergic to tobacco. Hence the sinus headaches. But that did not stop me from hankering for a smoke. Because nicotine can be absorbed through the skin into the blood stream, it was as if I was smoking anyway, so I plunked down $7.95 USD and tried to enjoy a beer and a cigarette at a jackpot machine.

No dice.

Maybe it was the beer, maybe it was the American brand of smoke. Either way, I crushed the cigarette in the ashtray, downed the beer and headed back to the hotel room to lay down. Suddenly, I was as nauseated as the night I practised inhaling a large, regular, duMaurier in my parent's basement when I was 13 years-old.

And it was likely I was the same sickening shade of pale, too.