a peek inside the fishbowl

… in the March issue of Canadian Family Magazine. :)

Have you ever wondered where the phase “heartstrings” comes from? A quick google search reveals that in the 1400s the term referred to special tendons that were believed to support the heart. So if something tugs at your heartstrings it means your heart is affected or moved.

Along the same lines, this passage is from Jane Eyre. (I kind of love it.)

“Are you anything akin to me, do you think, Jane?”
I could risk no sort of answer by this time; my heart was full.
“Because,” he said, “I sometimes have a queer feeling with regard to you — especially when you are near to me, as now: it is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the corresponding quarter of your little frame. And if that boisterous Channel, and two hundred miles or so of land, come broad between us, I am afraid that cord of communion will be snapped; and then I’ve a nervous notion I should take to bleeding inwardly.”

Ah. Heartstrings. They are not to be trifled with, are they? :)

ALL THIS TO SAY that this week’s craft at Canadian Family Magazine includes hearts and strings. And crayons too. :)

Check it out here.

Oh Mr. Rochester, you do pull at my heartstrings so!

Happy weekend everyone!

This week has been full of deadlines, but I’m not complaining. This is what I want to be doing. This is what I’ve wanted since second grade.

When I’m writing:

• I need it to be quiet so I can concentrate, in fact, reno plans include an office door. :)
• I put my hair up.
• I tend to sit at my desk, although sometimes I bring the laptop on the couch so Piper can snuggle beside me.
• Sometimes I sit cross-legged in my desk chair.
• I tend to wear slippers.
• I like to have a hot beverage beside me.
• I do my best work before lunch.
• I touch type into a Word document.
• I use Cambria 12. Any other font looks wrong.
• I have to read my text out loud to myself – over and over again – for proofreading purposes.
• When I’m done writing I send my text away and can hardly read it again.
• I find inspiration in hot showers and long drives.

What do you do when you write?