Illinois Festivals

There are a few festivals that are currently going on and also just around the corner. It's hard to believe that summer is almost coming to an end. Usually one of the best ways to end those long summer lazy days is with a festival. Festivals are full of friend foods, foods on a stick, a variety of meat sandwiches and the favorite thirst-quenching shake-ups. I myself enjoy fries with plenty of vinegar and a lemon or strawberry shake-up.


Below are some links to area festivals coming up in the area. These include the Champaign, Urbana Illinois Sweetcorn Festival, Arthur Cheese Festival and Arcola Broomcorn Festival. Save some cash and get ready to eat your way through some of the most popular festivals....


1. Munch on Sweetcorn in Urbana, IL
http://www.examiner.com/food-in-chicago/munch-on-sweetcorn-champaign-il


2. The Arthur Cheese Festival and Arcola Broomcorn Festival
http://www.examiner.com/food-in-chicago/upcoming-festivals-near-the-champaign-illinois-area

Poetry Podcasts, eBook Stores, Book of Poems: Just a few projects in the works!

So,  while I have been busy writing content articles, in the mean time, I have a few other projects in the works too. One project was creating a few podcasts at Spreaker. I still need to do some more there.

If you haven't already, listen to me reading a couple of my poems down below .

*My Little Muse


Small Town Poetry Beat on Spreaker

Through the Trees


Small Town Poetry on Spreaker


The next project is extending the sales of eBooks. I thought it would be a nice compliment to my income. While it may take some time to get started, there have been some sales on eBay-but the prices have been low. Prices may be low because of a still staggering economy. But the way that I see money now--every penny adds up! Below I have listed some of my eBook auctions and my eBook webstore that I am still adding to.


eBooks on eBay-<-Click to view my eBook Auctions


The eBook Sale  <---My growing eBook Store



Last of all, I am still working on my 3rd collection of poems, titled "Poems from Home." I really hope to have it finished by the end of this year. The book is still in design mode and I still need to do some editing. Right now, I don't really have any links to show updates on my book, but it does include poems such as the one that I wrote for Douglas County Relay for Life: "The Fight of Their Lives" , An Animal for the Day and "There is No Predicting Rapture."

As these projects get closer to being finished, I will post them here. They all will get completed a little bit at a time-as I do work part time outside my home, have a family and of course--somewhere in between there--I need to sleep! lol.....

Poetry Reading Podcasts

So, I discovered Spreaker while browsing in the Chrome Web Store the other day. Spreaker is actually pretty useful and kinda neat. It allows you to create your own live radio show or recorded podcasts. I thought-what a perfect opportunity to read some of my poetry to my viewers. I know that I could easily do this in front of a webcam and put it on YouTube, but I'm not really fond of my webcam. While its fun to use to talk to people I know, I'm a little shy about putting myself out there for everyone on the web to see...  After-all, poetry is about the words----not about what I look like....


So I will be placing some of my podcasts on here for you to listen to. Sometimes poetry can sound better spoken then just being read on a piece of paper or in a book. ....  I look forward to sharing my poems with you. 

Remembering Girl Power: The Spice Girls

So I took another walk down memory lane to remember another fond memory of mine:
The Spice Girls. 




This group of girls were totally my idols growing up as a teenager. I danced and listened to their music as loud as I could (without my mom telling me to turn it down!) and even won a lip-sync contest "singing" to these girls.


It was in high school during my junior year. I put on a tiny little black dress and decorated it with glow in the dark stars. The stars spelled out "Spice Girls" on my dress. I put my hair in pig tails and played the roll of "Baby Spice." It was quite a moment to me, because in high school-I was pretty quiet most of the time. So once I hit the stage and threw off my jacket and danced down to the Spice Girls in front of my high school classmates-jaws were hitting the floor. It wasn't something that the shy quiet side of me would normally do....  Yet deep down inside-I loved every minute of it!...  


In fact, I loved the Spice Girls so much, that I drew a big huge cartoon picture of them on my bedroom wall. Later on after I moved out, I believe that my dad didn't really have too much fun painting over that picture...lol..... I took an entire day to draw that.. Was quite a piece of artwork!


Sometimes I still find myself singing their songs. I even showed some of their videos to my daughter. She found herself liking a few of them.  Every now and then, I wish that the girls were still together, but I know they have grown up to have families of their own, and also have went on to pursue personal interests as well. At least I will always have the memories!


.....You can read my memories of the Spice Girls by clicking on the link  below:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8151177/remembering_girl_power_the_spice_girls.html?cat=33

Remembering Fred Rogers and His Neigborhood

A little while back, I decided to write an article about Fred Rogers. 


I grew up watching his show and loved watching him every day. I was awed by his trick of throwing his shoes up in the air and giggled when he tried to make homemade peanut butter in a plastic bag. He actually took some peanuts, a little bit of sugar and some butter and squished it all together in a plastic bar. Mr. Rogers tried to look surprised when the finished product didn't quite taste like peanut butter. That episode always sticks out the most in my head.


I have read both positive and negative remarks about Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. Some say he gave people the creeps because he would say that "I love you," or "Let's be friends." But sometimes--kids needed somebody that they knew loved them, or who wanted to be their friends... Mr. Rogers was something nice to sit down and enjoy as a kid. He showed you new things, how different items were made and even had a little land of make-believe. Sometimes he was something a child could turn to for awhile after a bad day of bullying at school...That show was one of my top favorites.


So, in honor of his memory, I wrote a short article at Yahoo! and thought I would share it with you all. Fred Roger's was definitely not someone to be creeped out by. He was a role model, and really loved you for who you were... 


Click to read the article: Remembering Mr. Roger's and His Neighborhood 

Douglas County Cancer Relay for Life 2011

On Saturday night, June 12th, 2011, 
I got the honor of writing and reading a poem for the Cancer Relay for Life for Douglas county in my area. It was a pleasure writing the poem and getting to read it. While I was somewhat nervous reading it (the crowd was a little larger than I was used to), it was definitely for a good cause. I have lost 2 grandfathers to Cancer, and have had other relatives fight the battle as well. 


Below, you will find the poem that I wrote that was read at the Douglas county Cancer Relay for Life 2011 during the Luminary Ceremony...


 _______________________

The Fight of Their Lives

God gave each and everyone of us a precious gift of life.

We learned to love and laugh

and develop inspirational dreams.

But for some,

their gift of life was cut a bit shorter at the seams.

They were family who shared a part of our lives,

and friends, whom we cried together,

with tears in our eyes.

We held their hands through each and every difficult part

And with strength and courage,

we fought all the way until the very last beat of their heart.

God blessed us with their cherished gifts that they brought to our lives.

And today, their love and memories are what enables us to fight

through this stride.

While their passing made us tearful with sorrow...

We have to realize that our life here on earth

is just a short time to borrow.

Each day is another courageous fight,

So that we get another chance to say

“I love you, and good night.”

On some days, there will still be some that are scared and unsure,

But there are many of us joining our hands together,

that believe in a miracle cure.

Our undying faith will lead the way.

Because in our hearts,

we all know that prayers can be answered

each and every day.

Identity Theft Crimes

Around 27 million people have been victims of identity theft. Its becoming a common crime as technology continues to develop. Stealing identities is more about just taking social security numbers. Now identity thefts are taking debit and credit card numbers too. 


A news story reported that customers who had shopped at a Michael's craft store had became victims of identity theft. Thieves who made themselves looked like repairmen, installed special chips into the store's card readers so that they could have access to many credit and debit card numbers. Within hours, unknown transactions were being reported on customer's cards. Luckily, local law enforcement was able to catch it and the victims were able to undo their transactions. Although, I am sure that store will be more careful about who comes to "repair" their equipment from now on. 


Identity theft protection is more important than ever since the crime is becoming more common. Not only is it up to the law to protect you, but you must take action to protect yourself too. Companies such as IdentityHawk is also offering services to help others not to become victims of this personal crime too.  IdentityHawk was created to help consumers safeguard their assets, their properties, and their good names. Through their suite of protective benefits, IdentityHawk members can view the health of their identity protection, identify areas where they're most at risk, and take proactive steps to reduce those risks.


Some ways to protect yourself include:


*Never giving your social security number out to individuals. You really should leave your card locked up unless you are signing up for services or licenses that require it


*Keep your debit/credit card in a plastic case and keep it close to you at all times. Some identity thieves are now carrying special equipment to scan your wallets and purse to obtain card numbers


*Don't give your debit/credit card numbers or pin numbers out to anybody. Keep the information locked away and only available to those who are close to you should something happen to you later on.