Darswords

While talking on the phone one day, I picked up a pen and began messing around with a pattern. I was paying more attention to the conversation than to what my pen was doing but when the phone call ended and I looked at the pattern, I thought there might be something there that I could work into a tangle. So I played with it off and on for a few weeks and finally polished it to this:

It is the tangle that goes diagonally across the tile, flanked by ‘Nzeppel in the upper left corner and Flux with Tipple in the lower corner. I call it Por Fin (which is Spanish for ‘at last’) because it has taken so long to accomplish this goal which began after the Zentangle certification seminar in October of 2011.

Here are the step- outs for recreating it followed by some of the variations…

If you read my blog a lot you might have noticed quite a few of my recipes come from my good friend Meredith Hickson. Well today she has written a guest post that asks us all to think critically about current cancer treatment methods and the importance of healthy living:

Every year a website called Cancer Monthly (http://www.cancermonthly.com/) hosts a scholarship program designed to promote “out of the box” thinking around cancer treatment. They invite students to read about the life of a special cancer victim named James “Rhio” O’Connor and then discuss how his story has inspired them to think differently about treating and preventing cancer.

Rhio O’Connor was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a cancer of the protective sacks that surround internal organs. Mesothelioma is associated with exposure to asbestos (you can learn more about mesothelioma here: (http://www.survivingmesothelioma.com). Classic approaches like chemotherapy or radiation haven’t proven…

Today’s topic is creative writing and the rules that come with being with an author. You know the rules I mean: we’ve all heard them. I’ll reference each one by one later on.

Don’t feel like you have to obey the rules. All you have to do is to know the rules. Once you do, you can break them if you want to, as long as you break them consistently.

Consistency is the key. I got the idea for this post after I wrote yesterday’s, because yesterday I talked about point of view and characterization. Specifically, I talked about how to characterize secondary characters when your point of view doesn’t allow you to “head hop.”

• Don’t head hop. This is one of those rules people like to throw around for a reason. You shouldn’t head hop if you’re limiting yourself to a limited POV. When your narrator only follows…