Kecia's Blog

I dragged myself out of bed this morning in the utter darkness; my digital clock read 4:52. That’s AM, folks. 0452 for you military types, AKA, oh-dark-thirty. I perform this ritual three times a week so I can keep my girlish figure. My neighbor is a certified fitness trainer and she gathers a little group of us in her garage for a brisk round of fit-making moves. I participate in spite of the ridiculously early hour because (1) she’s really great; and (2) I have learned this about myself: I won’t lift so much as a finger if I am not motivated by a group. Could be a throwback to surviving boot camp (yes, ACTUAL boot camp—not writers’ boot camp or Oprah’s boot camp or the oxymoronic yoga boot camp—no, the boot camp where scary Marine Gunnery Sergeants yell at you while you do pushups with your rifle. In the rain. While singing about it “hanging low.” But that’s another post for another time).

Anyway, my little AM group commented this morning on the imminent departure of Daylight Saving Time, which meant we could all sleep an extra hour on Monday. As I looked up at the morning stars in the clear November sky, I wondered why we have to have DST at all. And so I have a mashup for you below, part history lesson and part instructional manual for the sleep deprived.

Blame it on Benjamin Franklin…why we have DST. Query: does it really save energy? Also note: it’s daylight saving not savings…  http://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/history.html

Mount Sinai Medical Center offers some "Tips to Help You Adjust to the End of Daylight Savings (!) Time" http://newswise.com/articles/tips-to-help-you-adjust-to-the-end-of-daylight-savings-time

Scientists studying plant circadian rhythms have made some extrapolations to human sleep-wake behavior. Bottom line: “…groundbreaking research shows that body clocks are ancient mechanisms that have stayed with us through a billion years of evolution. They must be far more important and sophisticated than we previously realised.” http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110126131540.htm

Why sleeping is so important for humans anyway, and what happens when our sleep is disrupted. http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/sleep/basics/importance-of-sleep.htm

Dr. Frank Lipman offers ten sleep no-nos and their possible fixes. Highlight: the bed should be only for sleeping… erm… mostly for sleeping. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-frank-lipman/sleep-tips-top-10-sleep-m_b_416809.html

Oh, and one more thing. I invested in a new pillow. I highly recommend new pillow shopping, though it was hard to tell in the department store what the difference was between the $70 pillow and the $40 one (there was even a $200 one—those were some expensive ducks!). As I rested my head on the sweet smelling 500-thread count all-cotton cover I thought: What are sweet dreams worth? Was white goose down really the key? In the end I opted for the $39.95 firm pillow with “down-like” fiberfill for side sleepers, with a 20% off coupon. Right choice? Only time will tell.

So what about you? Do you dread the changes from daylight saving time and back again? Do you make a point to get enough sleep every night? Have you ever tried to go without? Pillow faves anyone?

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We enter the stadium seating through a cement tunnel—me, my two daughters, my husband, and a group of our friends—and immediately the larger-than-life atmosphere of a college football game explodes in front of us. The bands, the colors, the hot-dog-and-popcorn smell, the cheering, and the slight nip in the air. We’re rooting for the visitors so we climb and climb to our seats, but amazingly we can still see the field and the action quite well when we finally get to the hard bleacher steps. Second Daughter, the more athletically inclined one, looks excited and interested, and it dawns on me that she doesn’t really know the rules of American football. Do they teach these things in elementary school? My own knowledge comes from a stint as a defensive stat taker on the sidelines of my high school team (tackles and assists). The thing I remember most from those days is that sweaty teenaged boys stink—even when it’s 32 degrees outside. Oh, and the cute tight end that I had barely said two words to hugged me after a particularly exuberant win.

Anyway, there are probably more detailed Football 101 blogs out there. In fact, I thought this one by the Tennessee Titans was quite good. But here’s what I told Second Daughter about the game:

THE FIELD

Field is 100 yards, marked off in 1-yard increments with a number marker every ten yards and goalposts at the edge of each end zone.

THE TIME

The game is one hour, divided into four 15-minute quarters. Why do games last for 3 hours, then? Well, because only the actual playing time counts in the hour. The clock constantly stops to reset the players and the ball, for timeouts, and for breaks between quarters.

THE PLAY

One team is on defense, defending the goal behind them.

The other team is on offense, advancing toward the goal in front of them.

The team with the ball has four tries (called downs) to advance ten yards by running or passing the ball forward.

            If they go ten yards (or more) they get four more downs, which continues until they reach the end zone and score.

            If they fail to go ten yards, the other team gets the ball.

SCORING

A team scores a touchdown when a player runs across the goal line with the ball or catches the ball in the end zone. Touchdown=6 points

After a touchdown, a team can score additional points by kicking the ball through the goal posts (1 point) or running/passing it across the line again (2 points).

A team can also score during a set of downs by kicking the ball through the goal posts. Field goal=3 points

And here are some more tips for game time enjoyment.

Follow one player.

The names of the positions are confusing and not really relevant to a first-timer's enjoyment (halfback, center, defensive end, safety, quarterback…). My dad always told me to pick one player and watch what that player did through a whole play instead of trying to watch where the ball goes. Advantage: you become invested in the game because the player's pattern of play becomes clear and you're tracking a bigger target than that tiny ball (well, it can be tiny when you're sitting in the visitor seats). Disadvantage: you sometimes miss big plays because you have your eye on the wrong part of the field.

Know the scoreboard.

If your attention wanders during the game, you can reorient yourself with a glance at the scoreboard, which shows not only the score but which down the offense is on, how many yards they have to make a first down, how much time is left in the quarter, what quarter it is, and sometimes how many timeouts are left in the half.

Pick a team and cheer for them.

This is similar to the follow a player idea. Picking a team (usually your dad's alma mater, but maybe just the one with the best looking uniforms, the cutest quarterback, or the funniest mascot) makes the game more exciting because when they get a touchdown, you cheer; when they fail to advance the ball, you feel disappointed. This is the beauty of watching spectator sports: you get to experience the rollercoaster of emotions, the importance of the unimportant.

Watch the cheerleaders.

If they are any good, they will indicate when to cheer for your team, do flips and tricks, and clap in time to the band. What good is any of this for the game? Debatable, but they do provide distraction, and if they're doing their jobs, they will pull you back into the action.

Our team won last weekend. GO TEAM! And that made my family’s experience more fun, I think. American football is an exciting, thrill-a-minute spectator sport, but the fun gets better when you have some knowledge of how the game is played. Rice University recognized this recently with a Football Clinic designed to teach the whole experience—from tailgate to touchdown—to their population of International Students. Judging from the smiling faces in the video, it worked. 

So are you a rabid fan? How did you learn about the game? Or do you spend your time in the parking lot drinking beer and tailgating to your heart's content?

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Number One Daughter's struggles with grades and homework since the beginning of this school year have made me ponder my own (mildly) rebellious 8th grade career. After a ridiculously Lisa Simpson-esque posting of "A" after "A" in 6th and 7th grades, my record became at first spotty and then took a nose dive in my last year of middle school (6th-8th in our town). Among other less-than-stellar performances, I got a "D" in English. Ye gods, I thought my parents were going to have a heart attack. And that pleased me. I was having the time of my life! I think it is in 8th grade that you really start having those thoughts like, "What if I just DIDN'T do my homework? How bad could it be?"

In true parental fashion The Hubster and I have "motivated" Number One by taking away her computer access (except for schoolwork because even her textbooks are online) for a week. I have trouble with administering any type of discipline WRT this issue because, from personal experience, my "D" in 8^th grade English mattered not one bit. I got it together (more or less) in high school and proceeded to have a stellar career in college, graduated cum laude, only to find out that grades--particularly past grades--were entirely irrelevant in the working world. I sympathize entirely with this post I dug up by Jon Morrow on getting straight A's in college. 

Where was the course on “Collaboration in the Workplace” (AKA “How To Swallow Your Spit When The Boss Takes Credit For Your Work”) or the one on “How To Fire a Not-Terrible-But-Mediocre Employee” (including a workbook on “What To Do When He Cries All Over Your Desk”)? Which is not to say that I think my college degree was a waste. There is value in the theoretical and in the discipline of learning how to learn, not to mention completing something you start. Just make sure you're not amassing debt while you're learning...

There is a life lesson I do want Number One to take from her grade battles: you get to choose, but you must own the consequences of your choice. In other words, it's her choice to succeed or fail, and she will do so whether or not we take away her computer or any other networking device--her skateboard, her phone, or her sketchpad. And the truth is, only she will really feel the effects of that choice.

Of course, I really hope Number One is not prone to scanning my blog posts. I guess I need to figure out how to parental-block my own URL. No need to actually encourage her in her rebellion. :)

So, what do you think of grades? Did you benefit from getting good (or bad) ones? Has that helped or hurt you in your work life? What is your best/worst memory of middle school?

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I am guest blogging today over at Kourtney Heintz's Journal.

A sneak peek: 

Many thanks to Kourtney for inviting me to post and to discuss a bit of my writing process and my new book, The Vendetta, out now from Etopia Press. There are many, many ways to reveal character in writing, but one I like to explore—maybe because I am particularly drawn to exotic, luxurious locations in my stories—is SETTING.

Things we say about our characters:

“They just took over the page.”

“They surprised me when they…”

“I didn’t want to leave them when I was done writing.”

Things we say about our settings:

Erm…well. What do we say about our settings?

Setting is the most under-appreciated as a tool in a writer’s kit for delivering on character. “Oh, that’s just description,” we say, and we cast setting out with all that other wordy stuff in favor of an action sequence or an exchange of dialog. In all cases, however, we want our readers to connect emotionally with the characters. Setting, I think, knows all and reveals all about character. Setting concerns where the story takes place, but that “where” is only important as it relates directly to the story. And, as we know, the story is what happens to the characters... For more go here.

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Great day! The Vendetta comes out today from Etopia Press. I am squirmy with excitement and nervous too. It feels a bit like I'm in a public place and people are staring at me... :)

In The Vendetta, my debut contemporary romance, the heroine, barista Lisa Schumacher amuses herself while dispensing endless cups of cappuccino by guessing what people might be like based on what they order to drink:

Lisa Schumacher placed the customer’s order—large caramel latte, no whip, soymilk with five-count-them-five shots of decaf espresso—on the counter of the coffee bar. She called out the drink, and a harried-looking woman in a thousand-dollar ski jacket claimed the sleeve-wrapped paper cup and whirled out the door with barely a nod in Lisa’s direction.

Lisa shook her head as she wiped down the counter with her bar rag. How did a person rationalize five shots of decaf paired with soymilk and caramel? That wasn’t coffee—that was an exercise in self-delusion.

The low level of beans in the coffee grinder caught her attention, and she squatted down to dig out another bag of the espresso roast. As she poured hand-roasted coffee into the big machine, she looked around the café. Comfortable chairs vied with little round tables for space in the long, narrow store. Local art, all for sale, decorated the walls, forming an impromptu gallery and adding dashes of color to the somber coffeehouse hues of dark gold, green, and brown.

Her late-afternoon clientele was a combination of après-skiers and between-meal snackers. The store’s patrons currently included an older man dressed for skiing (cappuccino, extra froth), a mom and her two kids (black coffee-of-the-day and two hot chocolates, extra marshmallows), and an elderly woman in a full-length mink (now there was a surprise—mint chocolate mocha with a double shot). People could learn a lot about each other just from the type of coffee drink they ordered.

One thing was certain—at this hour no one came in for the art.

The bell on the entrance jangled, and she cast a quick glance at the door. A dark-haired man in a cream fisherman’s sweater, jeans, and boots stepped into the gallery. Well, hello, gorgeous. Here was a shot of espresso, unless she missed her guess.

“Welcome to Art and Bean. What can I get for you?”

The man stepped toward her, and without saying anything, tipped his head back to read the menu above Lisa’s head. The strong, tanned column of his throat drew her eyes.

A flush bloomed in her cheeks, and she bit her lip. Get a grip, Lisa.

He met her gaze, holding up his thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. “Espresso? A small one?”

She held back a grin to ask, “Single or double?”

He smiled, and her heart skipped a beat.

As a writer, I tend to spend quite a bit of time in coffee shops. I love it there because not only do I have a place to set my laptop, I have a perfect excuse to drink my favorite drink and participate in one of my favorite pasttimes: people watching. And apparently I am in good historical company when it comes to that. Coffeehouses have long been known as meeting places to foment a revolution (early America), plan a seduction (18^th century Vienna), or interview a potential hire (modern day Starbucks).

I am like the spoiled daughter in Johann Sebastian Bach’s Coffee Cantata:

Dear father, do not be so strict! If I can’t have my little demi-tasse of coffee three times a day, I’m just like a dried up piece of roast goat! Ah! How sweet coffee tastes! Lovelier than a thousand kisses, sweeter far than muscatel wine! I must have my coffee, and if anyone wishes to please me, let him present me with—coffee!

So what do you think? What does your coffee (or no coffee) drink say about you? Are you “roast goat” without your fix or can you take it or leave it?

And don't forget to check out my book! Available from Etopia Press.

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