Loose Leaf Notes

~ The following year review was done by excerpting the first line in one post of each month. You can click on the name of the month for a full accounting.

January – Warming up for a game with my poet friend, Mara, I put the Scrabble box by the woodstove after it sat in the back seat of the car overnight. “I hope you’re dressed warm,” I said to her, holding the phone in one hand and pushing a log in the woodstove with the other.

February – He replaced the belt on the vacuum cleaner for me. I left him a pink valentine bag on the kitchen table the night before with a card and a Sunkist naval orange inside. He responded with a conversation candy heart of his own. “Call Me," it said.

March – I’m full to capacity from working on a major, long piece of writing. Only flashes of poetry and sketches of words with no goals are allowed on today’s word diet. When I finally slowed down enough, and emptied myself of distraction, this is what I saw: Joe in his camouflaged overalls and wool hat, coming back from the mailbox, standing still in the middle of the dirt road driveway reading our finished tax forms with the dog at his feet, drinking from a puddle.

April – "This is getting to be a real good smelling poetry reading,” said visiting poet Jim Webb in reference to the scent of popcorn coming from the front of the Floyd Country Store.

May – For a small window of time in the spring, three blooms converge in a symphony of color in the corner of my yard. Dogwood, azalea, and baby irises come in one after the other, and for a week or two they co-exist together like the colorful layered fruit of an English trifle.

June – At the beach Joe said to me, “I’m so glad you introduced me to naps, baths, and beaches.” Yeah, that about sums me up.

July – The Blue Fairy makes wishes come true. It’s a tall order, but she can handle it. She walks on stilts.

August – In this day of theme parks with rides like the Tower of Terror and Disney mouse and duck characters posing for photo-ops, I’m relieved there are still parks where real ducks can be fed and where you can ride around a weeping willow lined lagoon on a peddle boat with a giant swan on it.

September – This is the time of year when I put on socks, and the butter in the butter dish is no longer the consistency of mayonnaise.

October – Mud on potatoes dries to dirt in the sun, spilling from a bucket like a cornucopia overflowed. In the garden, a few tomatoes struggle to turn red but only make it to bright orange – the same color as the potted mums on the porch table, a $3 grocery store purchase for October’s yearly anniversary.

November – Snow flurries. Cold wind whips. We pull up our goose down hoods. Joe shakes the tree like it’s a piñata full of gifts. Red apples tumble to the ground. I run to collect them like a girl on Christmas morning, marveling at the magic of each one.

December – Things move fast in the world according to Bryce. One week he’s repeatedly sticking out his tongue, the next week he’s eating bananas. One week he’s teething on toys and shaking rattles, the next he’s all about his new Playschool bus. So I guess I’ll be trading in the rattle I bought him for Christmas for something with four wheels.

Posted by Colleen at 9:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Purple haze all in my brain
Lately things just don't seem the same

Actin funny, but I don't know why
scuse me while I kiss the sky

Purple haze all around
Don’t know if I’m comin’ up or down

Am I happy or in misery?
What ever it is, that girl put a spell on me

Purple haze all in my eyes
Don’t know if its day or night

You got me blowin, blowin my mind
Is it tomorrow, or just the end of time?

Post notes: We recently had some company in our yard: Jade in purple hair, his sister Lotus in a purple skirt, and their mom Tamra who came to practice martial arts with Joe. See the video wherein Tamra steals the show HERE.

Posted by Colleen at 8:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

I enjoy the distillation of words. I believe less is best, and when writing I try to leave out the parts that most people skip (as recommended by novelist Elmore Leonard). I love the one line poem, the picture that's worth a thousand words, and cutting back the rose so more blooms will grow. But the meme Pearl recently tagged me for – to write a six word memoir – was a challenge I initially tried to avoid because it seemed nearly impossible to abbreviate my life to that degree.

The meme was inspired by the book, Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure, which was inspired by Hemingway’s alleged six word story, “For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.” The book is a collection of almost 1,000 six word memoirs, including those of celebrities, such as Steven Colbert. “Well, I thought it was funny,” his reads. Other ones I like, found at the Smith Magazine website, where the memoirs were culled from: “Anything is possible with an extension cord,” Billy Sirr; “Proof that potheads can be somebody,” by Green Bean; and "Manhattan raised. Three kids? Hello, Jersey," by Dano.

Maybe this is cheating. I wrote more than one memoir. Read together; could be a poem. Everything is suspect; counting every word.

Once I started, I couldn’t stop:
Six word memoirs in sixteen parts

Backseat poet; the muse is driving
Gidget goes Woodstock; ends up country

Barefoot homebody; gets lost in cities
Still hangs laundry on the line

Techno phobic blogger mainlines computer
Is there rehab for tea drinkers?

Love me but leave me alone
Doesn’t do knick knacks or math

Fifty-six and never been in high-heels
Lies about age; just one year

College drop out; flunked middle class
I’d rather be looking through kaleidoscopes

Field note taker; writes on hand
Yields to children; brakes for flowers

Always preparing the ultimate travel wardrobe
Time to turn over; I’m done

I’m tagging Deana, Claudia, Bonnie, and Country Dew, June, and you. No one should feel the need to write as many as I did. Most players have just written one.

Posted by Colleen at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (24)

The following is by no means an exclusive list of my loves and hates, just the ones that came to me in the moment, after Deana passed on the following meme questions to me.

I love to eat: My farm fresh egg man Ed is number one on my speed dial, so that should tell you something. I also like to eat vegetables I’ve grown in my garden.

I hate to eat: Processed foods and potlucks with not enough protein served because too many carbs make me terribly tired. I hate to eat store bought, so called party food, salad dressings with sugar in them, and olives.

I hate to go: To yet another yearly CPR class, the dentist, or the hospital. I hate to go anywhere near a city when I’m driving.

I love to go: Barefoot because it means it’s warmed up. I especially love to go barefoot on the sand at the ocean. I love to go for days on end without any commitments scheduled.

I love it when: I finish a story I’ve been working on; The story I was working on comes out in the paper and there are no typos in it; I wake up in the middle of the night and feel Joe’s presence and am grateful for all he does and who he is. I love it when I dream about my brothers and my dad (who have passed away), or dream about my sons as little boys and hear their sweet child voices again.

I hate it when: My back goes out; My computer breaks down; I think I may have hurt someone’s feelings; I don’t have the energy to do what I want to do; and when the networks run reruns and it isn’t even summer.

I love to see: A thrift shop bargain in just the right fabric, color and size. I love a good PBS special that I didn’t know was on and I just happen upon. The last one I saw was “The Jewish American.” Before that it was “Pioneers in Television,” and Ken Burns’ “The War.” I love to see the numbers go down on the scale, the sunset, a starry night sky, the inside of a kaleidoscope, and Target Ads on TV.

I hate to see: My dog full of burdock burrs, squirrels at the bird feeder, ads selling drugs on TV like they were the latest fashion, corporations that put profit over people’s health, the rising rates of autism, and the Bush administration not being held accountable for misleading the country into the Iraq invasion.

I love to hear: The sound of the woodstove blower on a cold morning when I’m still in bed and I realize that Joe stoked the fire before going off to work. I love to hear birdsong, children playing, a warm breeze rustling the tree branches, a song that makes me get up and dance, and the letter V.

I hate to hear: “It’s your turn to drive,” or my Asheville potter son Josh say, “Mom, my fingers are being held together by super glue. (He said that to me once when he was working too much.) I also hate to hear “That’s not a word,” when I’m playing Scrabble, the dog barking at the moon in the middle of the night, and people yelling at their kids.

Note: Feel free to say what you love and don't in a comment, or tell me if you do this meme so I can come by and read. In the Meme-time, I’m tapping Bonnie, Country Dew, Sarah and Pearl to do this one if they feel so inclined.

Posted by Colleen at 8:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (25)

A glance at 2007 in review can be done by taking the first line (or two) from the first blog post of every month in the year. Read the whole post by clicking on the link embedded in the months, or read the lines together like stanzas in a found poem.

January
It seems I go out these days just for an excuse to show off my new purple knit scarf, or to eat cookies.

February
Do you know any of THESE bloggers?

March
Sometimes the waxing moon looks like a high heeled glass slipper with a missing heel, as it did this past weekend when I peered out of my window at midnight and wondered if Cinderella made it home in time.

April
The menu consisted of basmati rice, steamed greens, and venison sautéed with onions. The conversation mostly revolved around garden plans.

May
The night stars the moon.

June
Building community, brick by brick: At our April ceremony honoring elder women in our community, one of the women was addressing the crowd of about seventy about the importance of community. At one point, she looked directly at me and said, “I have one of Josh’s bricks. I use it as a doorstop!”

July
Turns out my dad had the best room in the house. In the past when I visited him and my mom I slept in the small third floor attic bedroom that could double for a sauna on hot summer nights. Now that he’s gone, my mother has set me up in his room on the second floor. Not only is it cool and breezy because of the windows cross ventilation, but I recently discovered that I can pick up free wireless from the bed.

August
Floyd Fest, our town’s yearly world music festival, is a people watchers paradise. My favorite part of the weekend festival - just six miles from my driveway on The Blue Ridge Parkway - is the cross section of people who attend it. Once on the sprawling grounds of open fields and wooded pathways, roles and differences tend to fall away, as people of all walks of life and ages speak the same language of “fun.”

September
My husband went to a Red Sox baseball game and all I got was this T-shirt.

October
While in Virginia Beach, we visited the A.R.E. complex (Association of Research and Enlightenment), founded to carry on the work of Edgar Cayce. We picked up wireless in their library and had lunch in the meditation garden by a pond. The pink water lilies were in bloom and large gold fish swam between them.

November
When something exciting happens and Joe hears me say, “Now that’s something to write home about!” he knows it means I’m going to blog about it.

December
My hand is walking across the page. It gets more exercise than my legs these days. But I fantasize about long walks through deserts where my life depends on my ability to do it.

Post notes: I most recently saw this done HERE. Let me know if you try this on your blog so I can come over to read.

Posted by Colleen at 9:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)

The following was passed on to me by Smiler. I considered just copying and pasting her answers because so many of them sounded so much like me. But I figured that would be cheating. Here’s what I came up with.

Name six guilty pleasures no one would suspect you of having:
1. Sunbathing without sunscreen (or clothes for that matter). What we put on our skin gets absorbed into our body, and I know the ingredients in sunscreen are things that I wouldn’t want to eat. Some studies link the use of sunscreen to increased cancer rates and others point to the fact that regular use contributes to Vitamin D deficiencies. Besides that, some brands make my face swell up.

2. Fat. I like butter, gravy, sautéed onions and peppers soaked in olive oil, and more. I used to think I needed to curb my fat intake so I wouldn’t get fat, but then I started eating all I wanted to and realized that because fats stay in your stomach longer, I was more satisfied, didn’t crave sweets, over eat, or snack on empty carbohydrates; all things that DO make me gain weight.

3. Reading the obituaries in our local paper to collect interesting old country names. Some of my latest finds for women’s names are: Cova, Gusti, Velvia, Gluwana, Zula, Zephine, Nelda, Nova, and Patience. For men: Orbie, Oakley, Weldon, Squire, Oriet, Garver, Kermith, Ellis, and Kline. More HERE.

4. Thrift shopping. Like when I saw the pink pants THIS guy had on, I headed for the thrift shop the next day. Thrift shopping is my version of playing the lottery. Sometimes I strike it rich with some really nice quality clothes, but if they don’t work out, or I get bored with them, I just bring them back; no big loss.

5. Expensive French soaps, silk nightgowns, merino wool socks, high quality dark chocolate; all those good luxuries I didn’t have growing up that I think are staples now.

6. I love Candid Camera type humor. I don’t like to see supposedly funny videos of people falling and crashing into things. I don’t like to see people punked with mean practical jokes, but I do like to watch people in bizarre scenarios and see how they react, and THIS sort of stuff cracks me up.

Name six guilty pleasures you wish you had the courage (or in my case energy) to indulge:
1. Become a go-go dancer in a cage.

2. Drive the camper to the coast by myself and live on the beach anonymously for a month without a clock.

4. Become a detective who busts political criminals, like those who have stolen elections through easily hacked electronic voting machines and other underhanded practices.

2. Adopt a few homeless children.

5. Go to L.A., meet and interview some celebrities, then go to the Academy Awards in a “money is no object” gown and sit in-between Susan Sarandon and Jeff Bridges.

6. Host a radio talk show.

Name six pleasures you once considered guilty but have now either abandoned or made peace with:
1. Drawing mustaches and bad hairdos on famous faces in magazines.

2. I use to like to adjust the rear view mirror so I could admire my sons when we were driving. I still like to stare at them in awe and amazement, but they, now adults, catch on quick and don’t let me do it for long.

3. Blogging. I used to worry about the time I spent on the computer but now I just let it run its course. I’ve instructed my family and friends not to ask me how much time I spend on the computer each day, but to ask instead how many hours I spend writing each day.

4. TV in the bedroom. It started when I was doing foster care and needed a place to go to retreat behind a closed door, but I’ve gotten used to it, enjoy it now, and I don’t care who knows.

5. I’ve almost stopped feeling guilty about occasionally throwing away the peanut butter jar without washing it out for recycling.

6. Reading People magazine and knowing I can finish a People magazine Crossword puzzle, but can’t finish a New York Times one.

Post notes: Let me know if you play so I can come read your answers. I'm tagging Deana, June, Susan, and Pris.

Posted by Colleen at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)

For ten years or so I taught creative writing classes at Floyd’s Blue Mountain School, a parent run cooperative with early roots in Rudolph Steiner. I taught several classes to kids from about four to fourteen once a week in exchange for a portion of tuition for my own sons who were students there. Over the years the kids and I produced a monthly newsletter called The Dolphin Messenger and a yearly calendar that showcased their art, poetry, and prose. The Dolphin Messenger included interviews, cartoons, crossword puzzles, advertisements, quotes, group stories and poems, along with stories and poetry that the kids created. They took turns designing elaborate front covers using stamps from an extensive collection I had. One regular feature in the newsletter called “What’s it Like?” was something I came up to shift the kids from linear thinking into the creative abstract. I cut out a selection of unusual magazine photos (mostly from old National Geographics) and had each kid describe what it was like. The goal was not to guess what it was but to describe what it was like.

After seeing how the above photo came out I found myself playing the game and thought it would be fun to get other’s answers to “What’s it Like?” I’ll add my answer after a while.

Posted by Colleen at 3:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)

Musing Woman recently mused on her five strengths as a writer and asked me to do the same. Although most of us aren’t very comfortable pointing out what we’re good at, it seems like a useful exercise to affirm five strengths rather than five deadly sins or weaknesses. Here’s what I came up with:

1. Writing is like dousing for a natural resource. I’m not afraid to dig deep and hit a nerve. In fact, I’m not satisfied until I do. By a nerve, I mean a vein of emotion that shows me that I’m about to mine a truth.

2. I can’t process a lot of extraneous information in one sitting. Being this way has helped me not to over-write or over-explain. When I write, I say what I mean and try not to clutter my writing with what I don’t mean. I have two favorite quotes on writing advice that I use nearly every day. The first came by way of novelist, Elmore Leonard, when he said, “Leave out the parts that most people skip.” The other was by John Holt, author and homeschooling pioneer. He said, “The writer’s first job is to be understood.”

3. I love words. It’s my kind of play. I love the way they look and sound, the way they can be put together in surprising combinations to make things happen. Loving words is good for a writer, like loving one’s partner is good for a marriage.

4. Many years of writing poetry has been a good training for developing a sense of structure that can translate into other kinds of writing. Through writing poetry, I learned the importance of opening and concluding lines, sound and rhythm, bridging thoughts together to create meaning. I’m good at looking at one thing and seeing how it is like something else and reading and writing in ways other than from left to right.

5. Ultimately, the technical part of writing can always be worked on, but you can’t invent a voice. My writer’s voice is stream of consciousness language that I can trace back to my childhood. It’s untamed and seems to come from the underworld. I’ve learned to yield and listen to it. It’s the raw material of writing, that once collected into notes, I'm compelled to make something of.

What are your five strengths as a writer? Feel free to answer in a comment. If you choose to do this meme and post the answers, let me know so I can come by and read them. Also, I’m tagging Bonnie, Pearl, Vesper, June, and Leesa for this meme. Check out "Who is a Writer?" HERE.

Posted by Colleen at 9:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (25) | TrackBacks (1)

Hold on to your hat and Click HERE for my video contribution to the Sunday Scribblings subject of HAIR starring me and my sister Sherry.

Posted by Colleen at 1:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD HERE ...

Posted by Colleen at 10:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

There’s an interview meme weaving its way through the blogsphere. It recently landed here. Deana posed the first five questions and Naomi the next five. Q&A as follows:

1. If there was one place that you and Joe could go in this world and explore for a few weeks where would you go? All expenses paid of course.......and why? Joe tells me not to say Hawaii because it’s more touristy than I think. So I say Alaska and he counters with New Zealand. We both agree that as far as this fantasy goes the key word is “explore” and that we are both interested in the wilderness. But then, just this morning I had a conversation with a woman who has a house on the coast of Brittany, France. We talked about doing a woman’s vacation there, hiking a pilgrimage, exploring a nearby castle, taking a train to Paris, and of course there is always the French food (!!). The last time I was briefly in Paris, I was young and poor and walked right past the Louvre. So maybe I’d like to explore France as seen by Renoir and Monet.

2. If they told you tomorrow that you had been banned from writing for one year...no exceptions...how do you think you'd fill that void in your life? This reminds me of the old Twilight Zone episode where a very chatty guy is promised a large amount of money if he can go a year without talking. He wins the bet (but sadly never receives the money) by having his tongue cut off! I can guarantee you that I would not cut off my fingers because I’d need them to express myself in ways other than writing. Since I think with my hands, I suspect I would turn to drawing and doodling. I’d make more collages that include cut out words from magazines. I’d also invest in a good recorder to dictate my thoughts into (although I have tried this before and it didn’t work for me).

3. If every couple in the world could make their own rainbows over their homes for the world to see, colors that swirled and defined who they were individually and together, what colors would be over your home? and why? (choose 5 please). When Joe came to Floyd to be a Blue Mountain School teacher, I was newly divorced and renting a big farmhouse. One of my roommates at the time moved out and Joe needed a place to live, so we were roommates first. One day, not long after he moved in, we were sitting close to each other on the couch when my niece (also a roommate) came in and described this vibrant blue color that she saw above our heads (chemistry meets premonition). Years later we were married and sat for a wedding portrait (photos HERE). The artist, isa maria, painted a bright blue swath of color above our heads, so I’m pretty sure there is a rainbow over Joe and I and our home, one that comes in all shades of blue: royal, lapis, turquoise, indigo, periwinkle, teal (with some shades of purple in the mix).

4. What is the one chance you once had in your lifetime that you honestly regret not taking? why? I wish I had gone to Woodstock. I had friends that went and had planned to go. My reason for not going was a good one, but still, even with all that rain and mud, I regret not seeing Janis Joplin sing before she died and taking part in such a monumental generational event.

5. I have to ask this one of everyone....if you were President of the United States of America what 2 things would you do that you felt would save this country?...(you have complete control here ) .....why? I would create a new system of a gradual transition between outgoing and incoming administrations. I think the outgoing president should help the new president get up to speed and that they both should work together for the good of all for at least six months. I think it’s pretty risky to put so much power in the hands of one man, so I would set up a rotating bipartisan presidential counsel that consisted of women, elders, poets, artists, minorities, and working class people. Presidents would be obliged to consult with the counsel on a regular basis and before making big decisions.

The next five questions were asked by Naomi:

1. If you were told you had six months to live, how would you spend it? I would probably stop the time-consuming discipline of daily blogging. I would write letters to each person I love and tell them how I feel and why. I would stop collecting stuff and start giving stuff away. I would hire a house cleaner and eat out more (only in the best restaurants), so I wouldn’t have to spend so time doing daily chores. I would contemplate what it means to be human, travel to places of beauty, and spend more time at the ocean. I might plan my own death rite of passage. I would spend as little time as possible in a hospital and as much time as possible in the presence of those I love. I would kiss my adult sons like they were children again and make Joe play Scrabble with me.

2. You have been awarded a Fabulous Fantasy Dinner, anywhere in the world that your heart desires and money is no object. Where would it be and please describe in detail the 5 course meal that you would be having, including wines, etc. I’m thinking Italy, some kind of pasta dish with fresh seafood and olive oil, garlic, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil and capers. But, I can’t drink red wine, so what am I doing in Italy? Do they have good white wine? Can I ride on a gondola?

3. The Circus has come to town and you can "perform" in any part of it you would like....What would you choose and why? I love wearing a mask and the freedom I feel when no one knows who I am. At one point in my life I really wanted to be a clown and even had my sister Kathy make me a clown suit. In the spirit of the court jester and the Lakota heyoka, I’d probably be a clown, but not your average Bozo.

4. Sometimes there is a defining moment in one's life...or what Oprah calls "That Aha! Moment'....what was yours and how did it change the course of your life? As I came to understand (through personal experience and learning about quantum physics) that all of creation is one thing, with each part affecting each other part, I began to take more personal responsibility for the role I was playing in the collective. I realized that Science and Religion are not so at odds with each other and that the main thing that separates the followers of each is semantics. I knew that someone else’s successes would uplift and benefit me, just as my successes would uplift and benefit them. Our tragedies are also ultimately shared. Knowing this has made me more tolerant of others and has increased my capacity to care about them and the world.

5. Have you ever lied to someone you love and then regretted it...? Explain please. No lie that I can think of, but I have at times held back the truth. I’m always disappointed in myself when I’m not brave enough to be completely honest. I believe the truth has a presence that affects us whether we acknowledge it or not. Not speaking the truth when you know it can stifle the life force of all involved. Acknowledging it is a relief, since it’s there affecting us anyways. When we tell the truth it frees us to move on.

For those who want to play:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview Me".
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your weblog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Posted by Colleen at 8:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)

My writing is an extension of and a way to organize my thinking. I'm more of a thinker than a writer. For me, writing is the natural final product that results from thinking. I think! ~ Comment recently made by Colleen to Kim (a thinking blogger).

I’d like to thank Blue Mountain Mama – who said my writing helps keep her in touch with her inner bohemian free-spirit – Ruth, and Carmen for naming me as a recipient of the “Thinking Blogger Award.”

The award, which has been traversing the blogsphere and originated HERE, comes with a challenge. Those who have been awarded are asked to name five others to pass the “thinking blogger” torch on to.

I read other people’s blogs for many reasons. I enjoy good quality writing, appreciate humor, and love it when the two are mixed. Sometimes I’m drawn to a blog to get a glimpse into a lifestyle unlike my own, or because I’m attracted to the blogger’s personality. I also read to learn, to be inspired, and to look at pretty pictures. Here are the five blogs I’ve chosen for the Thinking Blogger award because they make me think:

Simply Wait: Patry bakes pies for the muse and hosts the 3rd day book club. I first came to her blog through the lure of her waitress poetry. She got my attention when she revealed in her first comment on Loose Leaf that she remembered Paragon Park, the now defunct amusement park in the small Massachusetts beach town I grew up in. When I discovered that she grew up in Brockton, my maternal grandmother’s hometown, our blogging friendship (from my point of view) was sealed. I walk the Cape Cod shoreline vicariously through Patry, and recently followed her on a west coast book tour to promote her first novel, Liar’s Diary. She ponders life’s questions and encourages dialogue with her readers. This waitress turned novelist has an infectious sense of play and her writing is flawless.

Humanyms: Pearl has fun with words. She plays a glad game, loves poetry, architecture, and cooking. She passes on an endless supply of interesting links and thoughtful quotes. Her words skip, skim, and sink-in because of her playful poet's perspective. Where else would you find the following: Brain runneth over. It bobs about. Maybe it’s the rain from all night and all morning displacing it like a cork. Thank goodness for the cap of bones or the brain might wash away entirely and we couldn’t have it running down the streets on its own, its grey getting all gritty and salty in the sopped rivulets getting carried away downhill. The lobes might get lodged in the sewer grate with it mutely wiggling and jerking to free itself before the crocodiles.

Chronicles from Hurricane Country: Elissa’s range of interests span from as far up as the night sky to as low as the smallest bugs that crawl at our feet. Creatively prolific, I view her as part scientist and part poet. I love to go on virtual walks with her and her partner Mary by way of her photographs. She, a one time Bostonian now living in Florida, sings, makes beautiful collages, and has been a published writer since she was a teenager. She recently signed a book contract and was posting about her writing background when she made this wise remark: “I've always felt my freelance work is better than a free education because it's an education I get paid for.”

Carbon Press: Josephine’s current blog mission statement reads: “I'm going to drive my beat up old Honda Civic until it dies.” She’s a cancer survivor and advocate who has offered her help to others navigating through the ordeal of cancer treatments. She doesn’t shrink from revealing her real and sometimes raw emotions. Her writing is fresh. It surprises and makes me want more. In a recent post called “Ectoplasmic Is My New Favorite Word,” she wrote, Green tinted the breeze as a stormfront moved in yesterday. Chartruese pollen. Ectoplasmic green. My black car has been margarita green for two weeks. Live oak trees have thousands of neon green chandelier earings dangling from budding branches. Loblolly pines are puffing tufts of mitochondrial green clouds like crotchety old dragons huffing out snorts of smoke.

Open Book: Jennifer was voted 'Most Mischievous' her senior year of high school, has never seen a Star Wars or James Bond movie, and was once introduced to a drag queen by her uncle. “She was stunning. I was stunned. For a moment,” Jennifer explained. Her blog is “based on a true story,” and her writer’s voice is a natural one that entertains and engages. Her inventive blog titles tease you to read and you’re never sorry when you do. The last time I looked, Jennifer was on a blog sabbatical, but you can flip through her spilled ink archives, listed on the margins of her Open Book.

Post note: Oh! It's 11:00 and I haven't had breakfast. All this linking has stopped me from thinking and eating. I'll be back soon to proof this!

Posted by Colleen at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)

~ The following is a year end review using Loose Leaf excerpts that were taken from each month of 2006. Click the link if you want to read the post in its entirety or to view accompanying photos.

January – A Neighborly Visit: I returned to the humble hand-built studio home of my recluse friend Acourt in October to return the farm journal I had borrowed from him. The property he lives on was once a popular 60’s-style commune, and the journal is a large leather bound book that holds drawings and written entries from 30 years of the farm’s history. Always interested in human nature and social science, I borrowed the journal to learn more about the farm’s history and, apparently, to reminisce. I found myself and my son, Josh, in it, from a 1986 entry, when we first moved to Floyd. ~ Read more HERE.

February - Your Place or mine: I used to think something was wrong with me, but now I just accept it. I’m not your hostess type. Burning pots on the stove and letting the housework go while being distracted by poetry is something I’ve always been upfront about and even confessed to in my wedding vows when my husband and I got married ten years ago on the Blue Ridge Parkway. My close friends know that if I attend a potluck, I’m more likely to bring a bag of corn chips than a homemade casserole or a pie. But I make it up to them with my yearly Christmas Eve Open House. With one fell swoop and a platter full of cookies, I get my hosting out of the way for the year. ~ Read more HERE.

March - Open for Funny Business: It was noon when Mara and I set up our makeshift office and scrabble game station in the corner of the Café Del Sol. The last time we played we did so without a net, which meant that neither of us brought a dictionary. On this day, we not only had a dictionary but our notebooks, pens, books, and eventually our plates of food, were spread out in all directions. Mara’s daughter, Kayla, who sat at the table next to ours, was doing a home schooling assignment in a workbook. We kept an empty chair nearby for visitors, some of whom were scheduled to drop by. ~ Read more HERE.

April: Friends in High Places: A day spent in Floyd – the one stoplight rural town I live in – can be as exciting as time spent in any big city, as far as I’m concerned. On Friday I had lunch at Oddfellas Cantina with two amazingly accomplished women, sold 10 books (The Jim and Dan Stories), and got invited to go to the New Orleans Jazz Festival – complete with a backstage pass – all in the matter of a couple of hours. ~ Read more HERE.

May – I Got Interviewed by Terry Gross! My Terry Gross is young, has long straight blonde hair, looks a little like the actress Laura Linney, and doesn’t wear glasses. This Terry Gross – the real one who produces and hosts National Public Radio’s interview talk show “Fresh Air” – is petite to the point of looking like Mary Martin playing the role of Peter Pan. She has short cropped hair, wears glasses, and is in her late 50s. ~ Read more HERE.

June- It’s Summer! Slipping under the black netting nailed to a wooden frame that protects my blueberry plants from birds, I picked berries for the first time this year. It was dusk and a firefly was in there with me. A slight sultry breeze offered a momentary break from the day’s oppressive heat. As I strained my eyes to see and reached for the ripest and bluest ones, I noticed that my arms were tired from swimming earlier that day. ~ Read more HERE.

July – Me and D: One of the ways I prepare myself to go through life passages is to look through my old photo albums and other memorabilia. I don’t decide to do it. It happens naturally. My youngest son, Dylan, who is 24 years old, is getting married this weekend, which is why I’ve recently been immersed in a nostalgic review of his life. Looking at his baby book, a chronicle of written entries and photos, has especially stirred up a mix of emotions in me. ~ Read more HERE.

August – Playing Hooky: Too soon, the lushness of July is over. So is the rush of activities; weddings, graduations, re-unions, and vacations. By August my garden looks haggard and bug-infested. By mid-August reality sets in. Kids shopping for notebooks and new school clothes know their summer days are numbered. So do I. Soon I’ll have to put on shoes. My husband’s chainsaw has already been started up. There’s a melancholy feeling to August that makes me want to spend the day photographing butterflies, as if storing their images before they disappear. I’d like to go to the pool, immerse myself its Caribbean blue illusion, and then stretch out on a lounge chair in the sun and read. ~ Read more HERE.

September – Do Writer’s Retire: As a writer, it seems that I seesaw between the fast-paced productiveness of writing and the dead end crash it leads to when the bottom falls out. When I’m inspired, I complain that can’t write fast enough. When I’m not, I whine about having nothing to say. I know I should enjoy what is commonly referred to as “the writer’s block,” the way a person on vacation shouldn’t think about work. I thought I had gotten over the feeling I used to get when my creative outpouring dried up: that my writing had been a fluke after all and would never happen again. ~ Read more HERE.

October – Floyd Loves Barbara Kingsolver: The line of people waiting to meet the acclaimed author, Barbara Kingsolver, wound from the school library table where she was signing books, out through the library door, into the hall, up the stairs, and into the school lobby. At the close of her talk, I rushed from my seat like a single woman determined to catch the bouquet at a wedding and discovered the fast track to her table. It involved a first stop at a book sale table, set up by the owners of Floyd’s independent bookstore, noteBooks. After purchasing a copy of “Small Wonders,” I was ushered into a much smaller line that dovetailed with the longer one. I’m happy with my personally signed copy of a book written by Barbara Kingsolver, but the book I really wanted wasn’t for sale. ~ Read more HERE.

November – A November Porch Vacation: A good book. A lounge chair. The sun makes freckles on my bared skin. A single fat fly buzzes by like a fighter pilot that doesn’t know the war is over. This one doesn’t know it isn’t summer. A clumsy yellow hornet goes down, crashes into my arm. I flick it off while sipping every color of the rainbow reflected off my cobalt blue mug. ~ Read more HERE.

December – THE SPOKEN WORD OPEN MIC WANTS YOU: Feelin’ groovy at the Café Del Sol’s third Saturday open mic. Still hummin' from the Hafla the night before. My poem had a fat fly and a clumsy yellow hornet in it. Sierra returned with her sweet words all abuzz … God is a bumble bee with hyacinth desire …. I am a jar of honey… Kayla, our 9 year old MC, stood in for Sally, Café owner, again. Her shirt was awhirl with a butterfly seeking nectar and went well with the fluttering art of Sue Nees that hung on the wall behind her. She introduced me as Colleen Redman…or Redmana… or Red Ruby slippers. She let me wear hers and I tried to make them fit but discovered that it’s hard to walk in Kyla’s shoes. ~ Read more HERE.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Posted by Colleen at 8:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Aka: tagged by Rebekah

* Three things that scare me: Driving on highways near cities, people whose body language doesn’t match what they are saying, things like rats and cockroaches and public speaking.

* Three people who make me laugh: Stephen Colbert, Julia Louise Dreyfus, and my nephew Patrick. Here’s why.

* Three things I love: Kelly Erb’s carrot cake, taking off with my husband with our camper in search of an ocean, having days on end with nothing scheduled.

* Three things I hate: child abuse, speed bumps, when I spill tea on my clean white shirt.

* Three things I don't understand: Where the dead go, algebra, and why anyone would think Bush is a good president.

* Three things on my desk: Two plastic frogs that I like to arrange in compromising positions. A ceramic mug that my son made with a photo of me in a castle in Ireland somehow imposed on the front of it. A paper crown of gold foil with the word “WORDS” pasted on it.

* Three things I'm doing right now: Trying to sit up straight, getting ready for a trip to Asheville for my son’s BFA Thesis show, working on a piece about foster care for people with disabilities to submit to the Floyd Press.

* Three things I want to do before I die: Go to a blog convention and meet all my blog friends, learn to be fearless and present in the moment, eat pastry in Paris and pasta in Italy but not get fat.

* Three things I can do: Hoola hoop, speak with an Irish accent, grow arugula and lettuce in a cold frame and eat it in December.

* Three things I can't do: Cartwheels, sew my own clothes, solve world hunger.

* Three things you should listen to: Your muse, your mother, and the real nightingale as opposed to the gilded one.

* Three things you should never listen to: Rush Limbaugh (the guy who said the fiasco at Abu Ghraib was just young soldiers blowing off steam.), bigots, loud music next to speakers, especially if it’s rap that is denigrating to women.

* Three things I'd like to learn: desktop publishing, shorthand (I use to know this), and how to cure CFS.

Post Note: Rebekah from East of Oregon is also the inspiration for the photo above.

Posted by Colleen at 10:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)

Why do you wear a mask? Were you burned by acid or something? Oh no. It's just they're terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future. ~ The Princess Bride

The answers to last week’s Halloween Costume Contest, which you can review HERE, are as follows.

1. Sally, owner of the Café Del Sol.

2. Yes, it’s true, *Amy, Deana, srp, Keda, and Ruth* you all guessed right! It’s me dressed in my thrift shop elegance. Besides my accomplice husband, only one person guessed it was me, and I remained anonymous all night. When I tried to order beer at the bar, Sally demanded to see either my face or my ID. I showed her my hand and pointed out an age spot, but she didn’t fall for it.

3. Mysterious alien wearing a blue feathered boa remains mysterious to even me. She got the most votes.

4. The bearded lady is actually my friend, Bob. He won first prize for his costume and antics. (I think he offered special favors to the judges … wink… wink.)

Other news: I’m happy to report that my post “The Pink Raft” won a Perfect Post Award, hosted the first of each month by MommaK at Petroville. After getting such encouraging feedback for the entry, I began to think maybe I should start a Pink Raft Society like the Red Hat Ladies. Do you think the idea would float?

Posted by Colleen at 9:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (18)

Among the costumes posted below is the one I wore at the Winter Sun Spookfest this past Saturday Night. Be the first to guess which one it is and get your name up in lights here at Loose Leaf.

1. Will the

2. Real Colleen

3. Please

4. Stand up.

Post note: Identities will be revealed this weekend.

Posted by Colleen at 11:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (21)

“I have never liked working. To me a job is an invasion of privacy.” - Danny McGoorty, Irish pool player

My father wanted me to be a doctor, but I had a secret romantic idea that I wanted to be a peddler, either that or join the Peace Corp.

The following entry was inspired by my niece, who recently posted a list of her jobs on her blog. Family members on the Love-Link, the group e-mail that was started when my brother Dan was in the hospital 5 years ago, have been doing the same.

Because of my issues with Chronic Fatigue, which started during my 6 year tenure as a day care teacher, my jobs have been mostly part-time and often untraditional. They are listed in order from the time I was a teenager up to the present and do include a little peddling and work in human services.

1. Babysitting
2. Helping our neighbor Mrs. Brody open her beach house for the summer. I washed dishes and sometimes slept over because she was elderly and didn’t like to be alone.
3. Washing dishes at the Stonecrest Nursing Home.
4. Hat check girl at the Surf Ballroom in my hometown of Hull, Massachusetts. Sonny and Cher played there.
5. Sales person at an upscale woman’s clothing boutique in Boston. I smoked pot with my bosses and sometimes did live-mannequin modeling in the window.
6. Private duty nurse for an elderly man who had no legs. I was actually a nurse’s assistant but worked the night shift on my own. I ate a lot of chocolate chip cookies and watched old movies. I was recovering from a major depression/anxiety disorder at the time.
7. Worked in a factory with my sister Sherry (now an RN), who I also shared an apartment with. We called this period our “Laverne and Shirley” days. We painted fire alarms red.
8. Day care teacher at South Shore Day Care. I got this job via the un-employment office after telling them that I wanted to work with the blind or the mentally handicapped. I started as an aide, got accredited, and worked my way up to a teacher.
9. Full-time Mom. The highlight of my life.
10. Took an elderly man shopping once a week.
11. Freelance writer. The first piece I sold was to Mothering Magazine.
12. I worked in a pre-school nursery at a church and a gym, never went to the church or worked out at the gym.
13. My life as a waitress lasted only 1 week. You couldn’t pay me …
14. I was a night watchman at the B-Real Ethanol Plant in Floyd. I watched the moon more than anything.
15. Sales person at Seeds of Light, a bead shop in Blacksburg. I did jewelry repairs and ordered the store’s books. More on that HERE. and HERE
16. Jeweler. I peddled my wares in shops from Floyd to the Caribbean and was a Grateful Dead parking lot vendor.
17. Foster care provider for an individual who was blind and mentally handicapped. (See # 8) for 9 years.
18. Author of The Jim and Dan Stories, blogger, and freelance writer and poet who occasionally gets paid.

Addendum: I also sold peppers to the Harvest Moon food store one year when I had a surplus crop. I was hired as a poetry tutor for a child, and worked behind the scenes with kids for a kid TV show pilot briefly. I once auditioned for a TV commercial and modeled ski wear in a fashion show.

Post notes: The first photo is of me and my son Dylan and was taken around 1990 at a Grateful Dead Show. The second one is of me doing potato print art with kids at South Shore daycare in 1977. Feel free to leave a list of some of your jobs in a comment.

Posted by Colleen at 9:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)

Amy the Black wants to know five weird things about me. Only 5?

1. I once saw the word “thinking” and was convinced it said “thin king.”

2. The bravest thing I ever did was jump into a hole on an ice covered pond, naked after a sauna.

3. The first time someone asked me out after my first marriage ended, he said, “Do you want to go out to eat Friday night?" and I answered, “I don’t know if I’ll be hungry then.”

4. I have one white eyebrow. The other one is brown.

5. My family nickname is Colly Wolly Wolf.

Now tell me something weird about yourself.

Posted by Colleen at 9:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)

“As someone who is 5 foot and 1 inch, I sometimes wonder what I might have done with all the time I’ve spent hemming pants and skirts if I didn’t have to do it. Maybe if I was taller, I would have read more of the classics.” ~ Colleen

I’ve been thinking about books all weekend, since Deana tagged me for the following meme. I’ve been thinking how hard it is to name only one book that changed my life; how I read mostly to learn rather than for entertainment; how if a book doesn’t grab me quickly, I tend not to finish it; how I yearn for a book to come along and grab me quickly; how there comes a point when reading yet another book feels like the acquisition of second hand information when I really want to go out and experience life adventures first hand and write about them myself.

1. One book that changed my life: The book “Are You Somebody? The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman” by Nuala Ofaolain helped to give me the confidence to write my own book. Her writing was informal and untraditional, but it was also authentic and held my attention. It made me realize that everyone has a story to tell and that writing isn’t an elite activity meant for only a handful of people.

2. One book that I have read more than once: "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise and other children’s books that I read to my sons over and over.

3. One book I would want on a deserted island: Something like Euell Gibbons, “Stalking the Wild Asparagus.”

4. One book that made me laugh: "A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail" by Bill Bryson. Not only did it make me laugh, it made me hike the Appalachian Trail, for a few days at least.

5. One book that made me cry: “What book made me cry?” I asked my husband. “The Jim and Dan Stories,” he answered. “That doesn’t count. I can’t say my own book. Didn’t Wendell Berry’s “Jayber Crow” make me cry?” I asked him. “Yes,” he answered. “Okay, I’m going to use that one.”

6. One book I wish I'd written: Reality aside, maybe “Word Freak,” by Stephan Fastis, the book I’m reading now about the history of Scrabble and the counterculture of Scrabble Tournament players. I’m attracted to the kind of research he did to write the book and the fact that he became a tournament player himself. I’d like to be able to play scrabble and write as good as he does.

7. One book I wish had never been written: I guess the world could live without the book Joe and I saw at a bar in Dupont Circle about extreme body piercing.

8. One book I am currently reading: Besides "Word Freak," and “Sibling Grief” (which I reviewed HERE), I’ve been plunking around “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim” by David Sedaris.

9. One book I have been meaning to read: The book "Storycatcher" by Christina Baldwin that my sister Kathy gave me when she was here for my son’s wedding, and fellow-Floydian Fred’s book “Slow Road Home” are next up on my bedroom nightstand table.

Post Notes: More thoughts on books? Here is the first book meme I did last summer. I am now passing the tag on to the Red Queen, Ben-gal, and Leslie on top of Squirrel Spur.

Floydfesters: scroll down for last week's posts and photos of Floyd Fest Five.

Posted by Colleen at 9:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)

This via Vanx:

5 items in my fridge

1. Bubble and Squeak
2. A New Castle beer
3. Sunscreen
4. Venison
5. A small package of Philadelphia cream cheese with the expiration date 2/06, bought in case my son, Josh, came to visit. I guess I can throw it out now.

5 items in my closet

1. A picture of John and Yoko taped to the back wall, the one taken by Annie Leibovitz for Rolling Stone of John, who is naked, wrapped around Yoko, who is not.
2. A green plastic milk crate with the words “Scrumpy Cider Mill, Bell Mead NJ” on it.
3. The book, “Scrabble Freak.” (One of the items in the crate.)
4. A black and white Palestinian keffiyeh scarf.
5. A cream-colored lace dress from wedding #1.

5 items in my car

1. All variety of new and old issues of The New River Free Press, a Blacksburg newspaper that I distribute in Floyd.
2. A kaliedescope
3. A dictionary
4. A harvest corn necklace, hanging from my review mirror, strung by a child (who is now grown up), tied together with a purple ribbon with a white seagull feather pinned on it.
5. A Dave Matthews tape in the tape player.

5 items in my pocket/purse

1. A teabag
2. A vial of Bach Flower rescue remedy
3. A toy about the size of a quarter that makes a bird sound when you press it.
4. A photo of my brothers, Jim and Dan
5. My “Republic of Floyd” card, which gives me a discount at The Harvest Moon health food store.

What’s in your wallet?

Posted by Colleen at 8:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (18)

Now about that pesky little thing called an inferiority complex…Who wants the attention…It’s too much pressure…I can’t live up to it…Who the heck do I think I am…?

“I wonder if everyone has one," I asked by friend Mara, "and they’re just covering it up better than we are?”

“Either that or they’re arrogant egotists,” she answered.

Post Note: Need a compliment? Go here.

Posted by Colleen at 9:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)

AKA: Meet Colleen Sherry

A new take on magnetic poetry? It’s a list of recent key word searches that brought folks to Loose Leaf:

Can I sunbathe in the nude in South Carolina?
What leaf is this?
My husband is an out of work writer
What kind of leaves do snails like?
A narrow fellow in the grass quiz questions
A shirtless camping trip
Colleen Sherry
Dear Abby poems
How to loose wait
Loose shoes accident
Silver and gold rich dad
A leaf’s work is never done

The most interesting one to me was “Colleen Sherry.” I don’t know whether the searcher was looking for my sister Sherry and me or wanting to buy a wine glass. Apparently, there is a type of sherry glass made from Colleen Crystal. The photo is what I got when I googled “Colleen Sherry” and hit the images. There is also a woman named “Colleen Sherry.” You learn something new everyday.

Posted by Colleen at 9:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)

The answers to Tuesday’s Loose Leaf InQUIZiton are as follows:

1. This past year I wrote about winning what? On May 30th I wrote: On the night of the day that my essay aired on WVTF public radio, I participated in a poetry slam at The London Underground in Blacksburg and won $100 gift certificate to buy books at The Easy Chair! Initially, I was leery about reading my poetry in such a smoky, chaotic atmosphere where rowdy guys holding onto mugs of beer seemed to be waiting for the dartboards to be available again. While I did write about being nominated for a blog award, I only made it as far as a finalist. The answer is a Poetry Slam. Read more...

2. Besides a trip to the South Carolina coast, what other vacation destination did I go on this year and write about? On October 3rd I wrote: It takes longer to boil water in high altitudes, which is hard for a tea lover like me. The high altitude also effects nail polish remover. It dries before it can do what it was made for. The answer it Aspen. Read more...

3. In the year 2000 I voted for: On September 16th I wrote: Far-right Republicans, like President Bush, have shown little interest in preventative programs that help people and solve problems, like the UN or FEMA. Their answer to everything seems to be privatization, which sets the stage for corporate cronyism and greed. The only government program they clearly support is the military. For years, Republicans complained about the Welfare Program, less than 1% of the federal budget, while spending for the military under their administrations skyrocketed and deficits rose to record levels... This is the only one in the group where the exact answer is not revealed on my blog, but most readers made an educated guess, in that no one said Bush. The correct answer is Gore. Read more.....

4. I usually play Scrabble with: On February 2nd I wrote: While playing scrabble last week with my friend Mara, at one point she confessed, “I want Sy Safransky (editor of the Sun Magazine) to love me." I think I can work that line into a poem. Mara is the correct answer. Read more...

5. My husband likes to play: On March 16th I wrote: My husband loves to play golf to the point that some people might perceive me as a golf widow, but I think he, as the husband of a writer, was a widower first. Recently when he told me that he was going to play golf, I said, “You dog!” He looked dejected by my comment until I added, “No, I don’t mean you’re in the doghouse, I mean you lucky dog! Go for it!” Golf is the correct answer. Read more...

6. What 2005 Floyd Fest performer did I write about? On August 4th I wrote: Ani tells it like it is. She’s petite but her stage presence is big and I haven’t been so impressed with songwriting/poetry since the early days of Joni Mitchell. “Joni Mitchell revolutionized,” I turned to my husband and said, while she was changing guitars. Her life work is sharing her talent, not only to entertain but to raise consciousness. The correct answer is Ani DiFranco. Read more....

7. The alias I used while answering my husband interview questions for his human sexuality class: On February 23rd I wrote: On two occasions recently I’ve served at an interviewee for my husband’s Masters in counseling assignments. The last interview was on sexuality. My interview alias is Ann. (A reader then commented, “How fun is it to be Ann?”) The correct answer is Ann. Read more...

8. My brothers, who are the subject of my book, names are: On June 3rd I wrote: When my brothers, Jim and Dan, died a month apart in 2001, the reality of impermanence hit me hard. I’ve been reading about death and contemplating it ever since. Although I’ve experienced firsthand how it feels to have a loved one die, I still don’t understand death. Most of us don't. We know it happens, but when it happens in our own family, our innocence is shattered and our understanding is reduced to that of a child’s. Where do we come from? Where do we go? How do you lose a person? The correct answer is Jim and Dan. Read more...

9. My sister’s blog name is an alliteration that begins with the letter: On July 10th I wrote: My sister Kathy’s blog, “A Particularly Persistent Point of View” made its debut a couple of months before "Loose Leaf" did. It covers a mix of political and metaphysical topics, and is set up via a dialogue with her inner critic, which in this incarnation is a tiger. I don’t think I ever could have guessed so many years ago when she was first discovering the world wide web of the internet that we would both end up being so “online,” blogging side-by side. The correct answer is P. Read more...

I meant to post 10 quiz questions to make it easy to score percentages, but mistakenly only posted 9; so I gave everyone one free answer just for playing. The top best scorers at 90% go to two non-bloggers, Tammy! and Sherry! Others who scored 80% are: Deana, Kathy, Janet, Trish, Ivy, and Chris-sea. Thanks to everyone for playing! You can view the Quiz in its entirety here.

Posted by Colleen at 8:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

In keeping with the week’s celebration of Loose Leaf’s first year mark, I consulted the Google Oracle to see what it had to say. I typed “Loose Leaf is” into their search engine and this is some of what I got:

Loose Leaf is heard on 227 stations and boasts 250000 listeners.
Loose Leaf is derived from the notebook-style format.
Loose Leaf is a leafy black tea infused with the flavor of lychee fruit.
Loose Leaf is devoted to local artisan items for sale by their creators.
Loose Leaf is best.
Loose Leaf is an offspring of the Silver and Gold website.
Loose Leaf is a woman owned and operated small business firm.
Loose Leaf is written and updated exclusively by a Senior Technical Editor who is a specialist in the field.
Loose Leaf is important, because the notes are archived along with the specimens.
Loose Leaf is required for collected assignments.
Loose Leaf is brewed in a gourd and shared with participants.
Loose-leaf is recommended because it will help.
Loose-leaf is preferred by most naturalists.
Loose Leaf is being applied.

Post Note: There is still time to play the Loose Leaf InQUIZition below. Answers and scores will be posted on Friday. Thanks to everyone who has played!

Posted by Colleen at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Okay, now let’s see who’s been paying attention! I found a great little quiz over at Weary Hag’s place