7 Random Facts: Fun and Sharing

Blog tagging is a nice concept when used to a) share blogs you really love and b) share facts with new people to your blog. Since there are a lot of new people in Blogathon this year and I truly do love Lisa's Mom blog, I'm participating.

My 7 Random Facts

1. I love books so much that I will read any genre. My only requirement, a strong lead character. I prefer female leads, but I'm always willing to make an exception for a well-drawn male character. I just posted about this on my book blog, Mom in Love with Fiction: Let's Hear it for the Girls.

2. I am afraid of horses, much to my 12-year-old daughter's chagrin. I think they are beautiful and love to watch them, but I do NOT want to be on one. This Saturday, I am spending three hours at volunteer training so my daughter can be certified to work with horses at a local horse rescue. It's her passion, so I support it. From the sidelines.

My daughter, in all her glory:

3. I want to be athletic. Notice the word want. I was Captain of my tennis team in Colorado (I miss it SO much), and I play at running. I have to put in a lot of effort to be halfway decent at sports or anything athletic. In my dreams, I'm ripped and able to do some Black Widow moves. And, yes, I did just see Avengers.

4. Which leads me to #4. I love superheroes. Always have. I was one of the few girls on my block growing up who read comics. It probably helped that I had all boy cousins. Now my girls love them.

5. I'm obsessed with Food Network. The more I try to cut back on food and lose weight, the more I watch Cupcake Wars, Chopped, Iron Chef America, and my very favorite, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

Actually, I reimagined Chopped as a writing challenge in a post last year: Food Network-Style Writing Challenge: Exposing my Food Obsession.

6. Speaking of food, the older I get the more foods I like. That's not working in my favor. I was such a picky child, and am cursed with have picky children. I hope they will experiment more with food when they grow up, too. I learned, the hard way, that forcing it doesn't work.

7. I hate computers, and I hope Heaven is free of them. (We'll go with the assumption that Heaven is my path.) I don't trust a machine that can't do something faster than I can. Maybe I just have a slow Internet connection, but I type faster than words appear. So frustrating, especially for a writer.

*****

I hope you enjoyed getting to know me. If I bored you to tears, please accept my humble apologies.

I've met so many wonderful new Blogathon bloggers, and I hate to choose. So, if you want to share 7 Random Facts with us, please consider yourself tagged. (Or, if you are desperate for a post to finish out May!)

Reality Television, Am I Sitting Too Close?

I admit to a fascination with some reality shows. I'm addicted to Food Network and thanks to my preteen daughter, shows like So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol. I'll occasionally turn into the train wrecks of more personal reality television shows like Keeping up with the Kardashians.

After wincing and squirming my way through personal revelations for the sake of entertainment, I usually turn it off. Same is true when I turn on Supernanny, but that's because I live moments of that show everyday. Too much reality!

Recently, I attended career day at my daughter's middle school and talked about writing and editing in today's marketplace. I discussed the difficulty of getting a traditional publishing contract, unless a famour person like Sookie. Well, I guess she's called Snookie. Who knew? I'd rather watch True Blood anyway, so you can understand my faux pas.

The thought of someone coming in and taping my day-to-day life is terrifying. We'd be a mix of Supernanny-style theatrics, Food network challenges (and not in a good way), and me sitting at a computer. Worse than that... seeing myself on camera constantly. I always feel so sorry for the famous people on the front of magazines with their faces blacked out and a title, "Who's This at the Beach." Poor things, even a mid-day pooch starts rumors of pregnancy. I'd be pregnant all the time!

Yesterday, I got a taste of reality television when the lovely Ann Marie featured me on her Mom Advocate Web TV show. Please click here or on the right sidebar to watch. She's lovely and so enthusiastic about moms and following your passions. But, I've never felt so awkward. Web cameras suck, to be frank. Do you sit back and seem small, or sit too close and come across as a huge head? Do you look at the person interviewing you or that small camera at the top of your computer? Calgon, take me away...

Note to others considering web television interviews: there is no amount of makeup to make you look like you are wearing makeup through a web camera. Just so you know. I went heavier than I feel comfortable with, and I look like a ghost. A big ghost face!

Still, I'm happy with what we talked about, and that's the point, right? Plus, now when people meet me in person (you know at all my swanky events!), I can hear the standard, "You look so much better in person." Who wouldn't!?! Actually, I'll be hurt if they don't tell me that.

Also, in case you missed Ann Marie interviewing me on her Mom Advocate radio show back in August, please click here to listen. Radio is so much kinder, my voice I can handle.

Thanks so much to the lovely, Ann Marie, for featuring me on her shows. I hope you take a minute to stop by and listen/watch.

What do you think of Reality television? What would your show be like?

Food Network-Style Writer Challenge: Exposing my Food Obsession

Yesterday, I was running at the gym and watching Food Network. My first thought... how unfair to be running and watching food. But I wasn't complaining when my four miles was over and I barely noticed. Clearly I'm obsessed.

I love food. Wish I didn't, but I do. I blame a mother who put out a Thanksgiving-like spread at almost every meal and greeted me at the door after school with warm cookies. Shame on you, Mom! ;-)

My favorite Food network show right now is Chopped. In case you aren't familiar with the show, four chefs are given mystery boxes containing three food items. These items are not obviously connected. Each chef must use these ingredients to deliver first an appetizer, then an entree, and finally a dessert. Each round has a different food basket. The winning chef receives $10,000.

For fun, I've reimagined the game as a writer's challenge. Enjoy...

Unplugged

Four writers gather in front of three book critics. After each round, a writer's laptop is unplugged and he/she is dismissed from the game.

During each round, the competing writers are given a basket with three mystery objects.

Round 1
Each writer must write a poem using the following three objects: a strawberry, a pencil, and a leaf. Time limit: 20 minutes

Round 2
The three remaining writers must write a short story using the following three objects: a dead ant, a flower, and a paintbrush. Time limit: 1 hour

Round 3
The final two writers must complete an outline and the first five pages of a novel using the following three objects: seeds, a baseball, and a stuffed panda . Time limit: 2 hours

Each week the mystery objects change, and the winner receives $10,000!

Would you participate in a televised writing challenge like this? What other types of game shows or television competitions would be fun to turn into writing games/competitions?

Have some fun with this. I did!