Talk about Good Timing...

While in Dallas, Sue and I took a workshop on the 8 Archetypes of Heroes by Tami Cowden - by the way that's pronounced Ark-e-types with a hard K sound not Arch-e-types, she told us.

It was terrific stuff. So when I got back, I ordered - along with Harry Potter - Tami's The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes.

It arrived today and I've been immersing myself in the section about the Heroine archetypes. Heeheehee! It's wonderful. She discusses the eight master types - the boss, the seductress, the spunky kid, the free spirit, the librarian, the waif, the crusader, and the nurturer. And then she goes in depth about their qualities, their virtues, their flaws, their background, their styles, their occupations, etc. etc. So you can create an indepth 3D character that your readers can really get into. (Sue - this fits in SO well with Jane Porter's wonderful workshop, if only she had a book out too.)

She also warns - which I was very pleased to see - that it's not a cookie cutter method. That Elizabeth I and Murphy Brown would have both been 'The Boss' but their characters wouldn't be interchangeable. That both Mary Richards, of the Mary Tyler Moore show, and her best friend Rhoda Morgenstern, were 'Spunky Kids' but while Mary is sweet and perky, Rhoda is a bit more edgier, cynical.

It may be the thing to drag me out of this funk I've been in ... that and an impromptu brainstorming session that Red nudged me into this afternoon. Thanks Red! And now all sorts of ideas regarding a sequel to Delving Deep are running through my head ... let's see, Rayne's a Lost Soul who evolves into a Warrior, and the heroine will be ... Hehehehehe... I love this!

This book really Sucks!

Since I'm avoiding all the Potter hype until my own copy arrives, I've been indulging myself in reading the books I brought back from Dallas. I had the opportunity to meet a lot of the authors and get my books autographed. And in the books the authors would write nice things like ...

• "Enjoy" - the lovely (and huggable) Beverly Jenkins wrote in my copy of 'Sexy/Dangerous'
  
• "All the Best" was wished to me by the inimitable lady Cathy Maxwell in 'The Price of Indiscretion'
  
• JR Ward offered me "Best Wishes" in several of her Black Dagger Brotherhood books
  

But I did not pay attention to what Kathryn Smith was writing when she was autographing her "Be Mine Tonight" - we were talking about her appearance on Canada's Bravo TV show "Who's Afraid of Happy Endings." I met her again later during a course she taught for non-American authors dealing with US publishers. She's a down-to-earth lady who looks like she'd be a hoot to hang out with.

So tonight I picked up her book and leafed through the first pages to find she'd written "This Book SUCKS! Kathryn Smith" Her capitals, her punctuation. Um, gee, Kathryn? Do you really feel that way about your book? It sure got my attention, now I HAD to read it! And then I started chuckling -- it's a vampire novel. It really 'sucks'! Two fangs up!

Sticking my head in the sand ...

I love the Harry Potter series. But because I lost track of time and thought it was coming out NEXT week and waited too late to get my order in, I won't be getting the book tomorrow. So I am going to deliberately stay away from other people's blogs and webpages until my copy arrives - hopefully only a couple days late.

If you don't hear from me for a while, that's why!

Well, that and the fact that I'm furiously writing and trying not to distract myself until the book arrives.

I'm home

Finally.

No thanks to Air Canada :( They cancelled my return flight but didn't announce it. We found out by word of mouth as we were just sitting and waiting way past our departure time. So we lined up at the check-in and they gave some of us a red ticket, some of us didn't get anything, but we were told to report to another gate for an American Airlines flight that was leaving soon. So we rush over to that gate where the ones without the red tickets were sent back to get one, and those of us with a red ticket were told it wasn't filled out correctly and to go back too. We return with a white printout only to be told that wasn't right either. We try again. And again - yup, four trips it took before we could get a boarding pass to the American Airlines flight - not AA's fault, by the way. So we finally start boarding only to be turned back yet again as Air Canada hadn't forwarded the security list - so we're sent (running) back to the far side of the airport to clear security yet again, breaching their laws as we had to go through a section that said 'no entry'.

The Security people shook their head and said 'We'll put you through the sniffer.' They took my passport and my boarding pass and sent me into a small booth rather like a telephone booth where jets of compressed air puff out at you. (Warning, if you're wearing a loose top, hold it down if you don't want to give everyone else a peep show - the walls are clear - luckily another lady warned me in advance.) Then they start matching passengers with their boarding passes - in reverse order. So since I was one of the first in, my pass was on the bottom of the pile. And they'd lost my passport!

Grateful thanks to the people of American Airlines who let me phone home (they don't put public payphones in places anymore, assuming people will have cellphones) so I could at least leave a message with my family of the change. Air Canada was not so helpful.

We arrived two hours late, and in a different terminal but now I'm home.

Dallas was amazing! Not only the conference but the city and the people of Texas. I met writers I've read for years (Cathy Maxwell, Kathryn Smith, Stephanie Laurens, Tawny Weber, Lynn Lafleur, and squeee JR Ward and Sherrilyn Kenyon, worshipped Nora Roberts from afar as I just felt too geeky to go up and introduce myself - see my earlier post,), and met writers I hope to read soon.

If ever you get to a conference, talk to everyone - from the people standing in line with you as you wait to get into an event, to the solitary man leaning against the escalator railing (Scott Eagan - an agent with the Greyhaus agency). Talk to the people you sit beside in the workshops, or at lunch. Stop and meet authors at the booksignings or workshops - Jane Porter who teaches a wonderful Alpha Hero/Heroine course, Beverly Jenkins - what a lovely lady who I'd never read before but will from now on, who I talked to while waiting to talk to Kayla Perrin, Robin Rotham (thanks for suggesting her, Amy!), Mandy Roth, oh, there are so many. Say hi to instructors you took online courses with/from - like Mary Buckham who taught a Sex Between the Pages course or Janet Miller aka Cricket Starr who taught the Erotic Romance Do's and Don'ts course that I took. You'll never know who it'll be or what you might learn from them.

And hang around where the interviews with agents and editors are held - every appointment time there was someone who didn't show up for their appointment and a call would be shouted out to anyone who was interested in meeting with an editor or agent. One of my friends got into to see her dream editor that way and got asked for a partial.

I was told by Sue that I was one step away from 'bubbly' but I couldn't help it, and what the heck, it helped me meet a lot of new friends, along with familiar faces from TRW.

After the conference I went out to Sue's farm about 90 minutes away from Fort Worth where she raises Arabian horses and let me brush down one of her horses, and showed me how to saddle one. Then she took me out for a ride on her lovely mare Cimmi. No, this isn't a picture of me riding Cimmi - but the pictures of me on her ... well, Cimmi is black and didn't show up very well in my photos, and I hate looking at pictures of myself anyway, so I borrowed one from Sue's site.

(By the way, do not get thrown in Texas as the ground is covered with Prickly Pears - a type of cactus that would NOT be pleasant to land in. Luckily I did not learn this first hand!) I saw scissor-tailed swallows, and a real live roadrunner - but I was too slow with my camera to get a picture.

That evening, Sue took me over to her parents' house where her dad very generously brought out several cases of guns and taught me how to shoot at a target range they have.

Now I'm Canadian, and I've never held a real gun in my life, but I wanted to know what it was really like for when I write my characters having to defend themselves - or the villains threatening them, so I'd asked Sue about this. And I'm going to toot my own horn here - I kicked ass! I started off with a .22 revolver and got three bull's eyes! THREE!

I then moved to a .38 Police revolver, then to a 9 mm semi-automatic. Then he brought out a P38 Luger - the type the Nazis used in WWII, and the Colt 45 that the Americans used. These guns are heavy and had a good kick, and lots of smoke when they're fired. I could see granules of black powder gun shot residue on my arms when I was done - the CSI team would have had a field day with me. And then we went back to their house (where I glugged water like I never have before) and talked.

It was really nice of them (both Sue's family and her parents) to take a complete stranger in like that. It was a highlight of my trip that I'll always remember.

Oh, and I'll always remember this little girl - her sign is now up on the wall in my office:

Phew!

Well, the internet's fixed finally - wouldn't you know it now the conference is finished?

It's been an incredibly busy couple of days that ended on a high for me personally. Things went REALLY well, but more than that I don't want to say as I don't want to jinx things. I attended some really great workshops and heard some great speakers. Including Tami Cowden's course on the Hero Archetypes and Jane Porter's course on Alpha Heroes - OMG she made tears come to my eyes and goosebumps raise on my arms during parts of it. She used clips from films to demonstrate the alpha traits that I will never forget now. Unfortunately it went through the time I had an unmissable appointment so I had to leave early and missed the section on heroines. That session isn't taped *sob* so I can't listen to it later. But Sue and I had a chance to talk with her in the coffee shop later - she's SO nice - but then everyone we met there was. If you ever get a chance to hear her speak, don't pass up the opportunity.

I saw Nora Roberts several times, including once where I may not have made a good impression. Sue and I had attended different workshops so we agreed to meet at a specific place on the second floor. So I was looking over the balcony watching the escalator when I saw Sue get on and I waved to her. And then realized Nora Roberts was on the step right in front of her. Talk about a ditz moment. When she (Nora) reached the top of the escalator, she had to go by me and she paused and gave me a look as if she was trying to figure out who I was. I think she thinks I was waving to her. In the meantime I'm trying to get Sue's attention as Sue hadn't realize who was standing right in front of her.

Oh, and Wylie, I saw JR Ward a couple more times - she dresses all in black and is so lithe and tall she's a knockout. And I took a course with Sherrilyn Kenyon who cannot listen to her own writing being read - she actually stuffs her fingers in her ears to block it out. It's so weird/neat to see all these authors just wander by you so casually, people you've read for years, or maybe only for a couple months, but have immersed yourself in their worlds and brought you such pleasure. Talk about overload of the best kind.

I'll have more photos but everything's packed up as I'm leaving Dallas and heading deeper into Texas to visit Blue Sue's place. She promises she's going to get me up on one of her Arabians, and teach me to shoot. Definitely more photo ops there.

See you soon!

Day Two, a tad late

I've been having problems getting onto the internet, but I'm here!

I went to my first workshop yesterday - about Creating Characters using the Myers Brigg standard. And what types of conflict would arise between the various personality types.

But we ducked out of the conference at lunch where Sue took me to the Fort Worth Stockyards. A real historical site of Texas - where Wyatt Earp was shot. It was so cool, and after we stopped in at a saloon where there were cowboy hats filling the roof. As is custom I signed my name for perpetuity on the wall...

But after downing a cool brew on Dallas' hottest day of the year ... well, let's just say it wasn't pretty.

Oh, and you have to go over to Sue's blog where she's posted a most indiscreet picture of us in the barfight that put me in jail ...

And from here Sue took me to one of the better Cowboy hat stores where I spent WAAAY too much money and added to my stack of things I'm going to have to cart home - a real Texas cowboy hat.

I'm HERE!

This lovely little girl fulfilled a lifelong fantasy for me - being met at the airport with someone holding a sign just for me!

What the picture doesn't show clearly is the glitter and the feathers that are adorning it. It's coming home with me for sure and then being posted over my desk!

I finally got there after waiting for the plane first to arrive, then to be cleaned out, then we got loaded but had to wait on the tarmac while they scrambled with 'manpower shortages' to find someone to load the baggage one. But we did finally arrive.

We went into the hotel today and registered - went straight up without having any lineups, hallelujah. Sat down in the atrium and were talking with a few old friends and a few new. And several ladies sat down and introduced themselves - I was reading a workshop listing and didn't catch their names but looked up and thought "Gee, that lady looks familiar." Now I haven't got my photoshop on my laptop, so it's an uncropped pic, but does anyone recognize her?



Cathy Maxwell. One of my first "OMG OMG OMG This is an author I KNOW" moment. I've READ this lady's writing and love it and here I am talking with her!

And then I went down to the booksigning and talk about overload ... No, I never got to actually see Nora. But I saw Jo Beverly, Victoria Alexander - OMG my brain is on overload - there were HUNDREDS of authors and I recognized a lot of the names. I stopped in to say hi to TRW's Michelle Rowen, and Kate Bridges, stopped Kayla Perrin in the hall and said hi, got a signature from Tawny Weber from the Black Diamond's Romance Writers guild - one of the judges on the contest I recently finalled in. Said hi to Cricket Starr/Janet Miller of EC and Cerridwen. And I met and said hi to Robin Rotham also of EC. I took a picture of her for you, Amy! It was so neat to be able to put real faces to the names.



And I met Red Garnier of Ellora's Cave. But I forgot to get a picture of her. I'm supposed to be meeting her again on Friday, so I'll try to remember one then. She's a little bitty thing but a real spitfire.

I saved the best for last. Wylie? Hold onto your chair ...JR Ward - I met her, talked to her. OMG OMG OMG!

One more sleep ...

I'm all packed. Well, except for my hair brush, and my make up, and the stuff I'll need to use right before I leave. But I'm ready to go.

I've slept perhaps 5 hours in the last 72 - I got up at 3 am the other morning to pack a card reader my camera needs so I can download the pictures to my laptop. Didn't want to leave it to the morning in case I forgot it.

I've got plain t-shirts, cotton blouses, shiny blouses for those 'dressy' times, black pants, blue pants, khaki pants. Extra shoes. Brand new socks and underwear (okay, that's probably TMI) but I'm prepared! I've packed a change of clothes in my laptop case in case my baggage goes to a different destination. (It's happened to me before unfortunately. And I have travel insurance that's suppose to cover my expenses should I need to replace anything if it decides to go wandering.)

I've tucked Edward Rutherfurd's The Forest into my purse to read on the plane. I loved his Sarum and London, wasn't so impressed with his Princes of Ireland, let's hope The Forest is more like the first two. I feel weird about taking a book when I'm going to be getting so many in Dallas, but I need something to do while I'm hanging around for my flight, and again on the plane. And I don't want to read a romance that'll make me feel bad about my own writing.

I've backed up my computer to the family's external hard drive, so 'just in case' I haven't lost any data. I've put a power-on password on it, so if it's stolen no one can use it. That won't be much help to me if my computer is stolen, but if I can thwart a thief from enjoying his ill-gotten booty, I'm going to use any method possible. I've even written my name in indelible ink on a hidden spot of my laptop - this because I've read of people who will try to claim your laptop as theirs when you go through security.

I've checked the websites about banned items and put any liquids - shampoo, etc - in a plastic bag - all right, it's the see-thru plastic bag that came with the suitcase, and it's in my checked baggage so it shouldn't matter, but I've been careful that nothing will cause me problems with security. (Did you know that on my trip to Vancouver/Calgary last year, on the airplane ride home, I discovered I had a leatherman tool in my purse the whole time? That's like a swiss army knife and none of the security checks challenged it. This was right as security was heightened because of the liquid bombs scare last August.)

I've added a collapsible nylon bag to my suitcase so I can carry back all the swag attendees are supposed to come away with.

I've printed out about three different versions of business cards to hand out. I've printed two copies of my pitch on index cards and tucked one into my purse and another into my laptop case so I can study them on the plane.

Oh, yes, and I've got my tickets and money, and passport.

I know I've forgotten something, but I just can't think of what it is yet. I'll find that out tomorrow either once I've landed, or more likely just as the plane takes off. Oh, well, I'll deal with it, whatever it is.

**Edited/Added at 10 pm** Squeee, I've got my boarding pass. Air Canada introduced a new web check-in so you don't have to stand in line at the airport. So from the comfort of home, I entered all the endless questions about passport numbers and ticket reference numbers, and how many bags I needed to check and at the end I printed out my boarding pass! Now I can bypass the check-in and go to a specific spot at the Air Canada counter and hand over my baggage. Squeee! (Yes, I do travel a lot, but generally with my husband who had an Air Canada frequent flier card that let him bypass a lot of the lineups.)

Hopefully I'll be able to get online tomorrow night and tell you how the flight went, and complain about how hot it is in Dallas.

If you're going to Dallas and are reading this, stop me and say hi. For all my friends back not going, talk to you soon!

Farewell to my inspiration

My mother used to ban romances in my house -- well, all except Victoria Holt, which I always seemed to manage to smuggle past her. Naturally when I moved out on my own and didn't have to run my selections through her, and someone recommended I read Kathleen Woodiwiss's The Flame and the Flower - a *gasp* romance - I indulged myself. And got sucked in to her world. I quickly went out and bought a copy of Shanna, followed just as quickly by A Rose in Winter (still one of my favourites).

So I was really saddened this morning to read that Kathleen Woodiwiss has passed away.

Five years ago I moved. In our old house, we had several rooms with huge bookcases filled with paperbacks and our new house had none. So I got really tough on myself and purged many of my old favourites. I bid adieu to twelve boxes in all. My Dune trilogy got packed away. All my John Irvings disappeared. My Clavell's, and my Ludlums. And by some strange thought process, so did my Woodiwiss's. And as soon as I dropped them off at the charity box, I regretted it. So I began to haunt the used book stores. Score! Not only a copy of A Rose in Winter just like mine, but double score - it was autographed by Ms. Woodiwiss herself! It's now got a special spot on my 'keeper' shelf.

When I finally decided I wanted to write, and not only that but to write romances, it was Kathleen's romances I thought of first. Followed closely by Jo Beverly, and Mary Balogh, Stephanie Laurens and Julia Quinn, to name just a few. But Kathleen was the trailblazer in my romance path of discovery. I'm not surprised to read many other blogs today saying that others were influenced by her writing as well.

Rest in Peace, Kathleen. You've touched many hearts with your writing, and inspired a generation of writers.

Three Days to D Day!

That's D as in Dallas!

I know, you must be getting tired of hearing me going on about this, but it's getting exciting! And scary!

I actually dragged my suitcase out from the crawlspace today. Well, my suitcases - plural. From what I've read on other people's blogs, you get quite a few freebie books - I've heard numbers ranging from 30 to 70. The people in the US get to UPS their stuff home, but us Canucks have to worry about customs checks - tariffs/duties and GST (federal tax). So what I've been told is to pack my clothes in a small suitcase, then pack that small suitcase in a larger suitcase. That way when you pack to come home, you have a spare suitcase for all your swag.

Now this goes against everything I've learned over decades of travelling - I've perfected packing down so I usually can travel for ten days or more using only a small carry-on suitcase. And yet now I'm picturing me struggling along in the airport trying to drag a gigantic 26" suitcase, a smaller carry-on one AND a laptop case when I'm only going to be gone for six days! God bless whoever put wheels on luggage; I just hope I can piggyback one to the other, or at least find a trolley and push them around.

Oh, and in packing my suitcase, I discovered a brand new pair of socks that I bought for my trip to Vancouver and Banff last year. I thought I'd lost them and wondered where they'd gone but figured I'd never see them again. Then today - Voila! there they are! Turned out I'd put them in a pocket in the suitcase I didn't even remember was there.

I have lists (again, plural) of everything I need to pack. Like the power cord to my laptop that I forgot to take on a trip recently. That's something I mustn't forget. But I know I'll forget something - I wonder what it'll be this time?

And now come all those last minute preparations to meet up with people - both local TRW members who are going down, and members of other groups I belong to - as I try to finesse my schedule so I'm not supposed to be in six places at once.

It doesn't help that I've stopped sleeping - not thinking/worrying about Dallas specifically, but my brain just won't quit whirling - got to go grocery shopping to make sure the family has proper food, got to get make up (never wear the stuff usually), laundry will need to be done again. Should I buy another pair of blue jeans? Dang, Walmart didn't have my favourite bra in my size, where can I find one? Okay, that's probably just TMI. But after staying home with the kids for ten years, I don't get a lot of stimulation. These last few days are definitely stimulating and it's just going to get worse.

On a totally different note for Sherrilyn Kenyon lovers: She's going to be in the Oshawa Chapters store on August 20th. I imagine she'll be coming to Toronto and other areas in southern Ontario for booksignings, too. So keep your eyes open if you want to meet her without having to travel to Dallas.

Thursday Thirteen - Facts about Flying

Next Tuesday, I'm climbing into a plane and putting my life in someone else's hands. Ok, it's not that much different to letting someone else drive me along the 401 highway, but there's something about looking out a window and knowing you're 30 thousand feet above ground that makes a difference to my confidence levels. Especially with all those reports of drunken pilots. And the memories of those planes crashing into the World Trade Towers. So I decided to do a little research about flying.


1. When flying at high altitudes, eyesight deteriorates because of a decrease of oxygen in the tissues. Eating candy, which contains glucose, counteracts these effects. Like I need an excuse, but eating candy comes up in several of the following points, so I'll be carrying a trusty bag of Werthers with me. (Ask my eldest who came back from his trip to Italy/Greece/Germany with high praise for the tiny candies - and how they helped him and all his classmates.)

2. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), changes in cabin pressure, in addition to low cabin humidity on aircraft, can have various effects on pregnant women, including causing increases in heart rate and blood pressure. (no, this doesn't apply to me - thankfully at my age - but hopefully there's no preggies on the flight with me. Or any screaming babies.)

3. Fear of flying is called both Aerophobia and Aviophobia. Whichever name you use, I've got it. I'm working on it. It doesn't stop me from flying, but I admit to being afraid.

4. In the 1988 movie Rain Main, Dustin Hoffman's character states that a Qantas plane had never crashed. He was wrong. They just hadn't a jet crash at that point. The very day before I flew to England, my dad very helpfully pointed out that a Qantas plane lost an engine on the runway in Italy. Gee, thanks Dad.

5. Things that have 'Flying' as the title: an instrumental song by the Beatles, a song by James Newton Howard on the 2003 Peter Pan soundtrack, a 1986 film, a book by Kate Millett, and several record labels - Flying Fish, Flying Nun, Flying Rhino, Flying Tart.

6. Statistics compiled by the Department of Transportation have led to the conclusion that airline travel is 29 times safer than driving an automobile. Yeah, but at least cars don't generally fall from several miles above the earth. In the ongoing battle between objects made of aluminium going hundreds of miles per hour and the ground going zero miles per hour, the ground has yet to lose.

7. Reasons why people are afraid of flying: Heights; Enclosed spaces; Crowded conditions; Sitting in hot, stale air; Being required to wait passively; Not understanding the reasons for all the strange actions, sounds, and sensations occurring around you; Worrying about the dangers of turbulence; Being dependent on unknown mechanical things to maintain your safety; Being dependent on an unknown pilot’s judgment; not feeling in “control”; the possibility of terrorism. But one they don't mention is my own reason - growing up listening to stories your father told you ad infinitum about the number of plane crashes/engines on fire as they wind their way through the Andes/running off the runway into Hong Kong harbour/landing short of the runway in Gander, etc.etc. he's been in. Especially the granddaddy of them all? The tale about the flight he was 'supposed to be on' where he switched with another man and that plane landed short of a runway and flipped over, and the guy he'd switched shifts with ended up getting cut in half. Yeah, real good pictures to carry in your head when you're flying.


8. One of the dangers of long flights - Deep Vein Thrombosis, often called Traveller's thrombosis. (It's a small blood clot that forms in the veins of the leg after sitting for long periods of time - when you stand up after the flight it can move and cause major problems as it travels through your lungs/heart/brain.) So leave several days between long flights. Move around in your seat as much as possible. And if you have predisposing conditions—such as a blood disorder affecting clotting; cardiovascular disease; current or history of malignancy; recent surgery; use of oral contraceptives; recent lower limb trauma; pregnancy; age over 40 yr.; previous DVT; family history of DVT—see your physician before travelling. Hmm, there is a history of DVT in my family, and I'm over 40 ... better remember to keep moving around up there.

9. Dehydration can occur from the very dry air in an air craft cabin. You may experience headaches, dizziness, and fatigue - to combat this drink lots of water - at least a cup an hour. Avoid alcohol, soft drinks and caffeine.

10. Ear pain - this is caused by changing in air pressure. In the old days when you used to be served food, the attendants would hand out candies to suck on or gum to chew before you took off. I always pack a small bag of Werthers when I'm travelling - this helps with if my blood-sugar dives and makes you salivate so you'll have something to swallow to help your eustachian tube adjust to the varying air pressures.

11. In order to keep the security screening processes as short as possible, you should do one of more of the following: avoid packing your carry on bags tightly so that it is easy for the screener to search through them; keep your ticket, boarding pass, and ID within easy reach; wear shoes that can be taken off and put back on relatively easily; and make sure that you can show that any computer or electronic device in your carry on luggage actually works.

12. This is the first time I'll be flying with a laptop - that's always been Gizmo Guy's purview. So ... Keep the laptop with your carry-on baggage, they're right for theft. Be prepared to take it out for inspection - usually GG is told to turn it on to make sure it actually works and isn't being used to smuggle something within it, separate the data from the laptop - as in a flash drive or DVD rom. I've made backups of everything, including sending important docs to my email account as backup. Secure the laptop with passwords - yup, done that. Use alternative electronic devices such as PDA's and handheld computers. Hmm, not bringing my Palm as it will not hold a charge :( Keep the laptop in sight. Good advice for all your luggage. Oh, and don't forget to pack your power cord. I learned that one the hard way ...

13. And the one piece of advice I always gave Gizmo Guy when he was preparing to leave - make sure you keep the number of take-offs and landings equal. Hmm, not really within my control, but I'll certainly be clutching my rosary and praying for that ...

Four days to take off ....

One week to go...

One week today I’ll be in Dallas, Texas. Technically, it’s not the first time I’ve been there — if you count a trip from California where I had to change planes and there was a several hour delay at DFW — but it’ll be the first time I’ll have time to explore. So I thought I’d share some of my research with you…

Dallas is the third-largest city in the state of Texas, and the ninth largest in the US. Its population is 1.28 million. However when taking the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area into account, it’s home to approximately 6 million people, which makes it the fourth largest metropolitan area in the US.

It’s located 35 miles east of Forth Worth, 245 miles north/northwest of Houston, and 300 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico.

It was claimed in the 1500s as part of New Spain, before that it was inhabited by the Caddo Native Americans. France later claimed the area, but in 1819 the Adams-Onis Treaty made the Red River the northern boundary of New Spain, putting Dallas smack-dab in Spanish territory. The area remained under Spanish rule until 1821 when Mexico declared independence. The area became part of a Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas.
In 1836 the Republic of Texas broke off from Mexico to become an independent nation. There is disagreement over just how Dallas got its name.

For sports fans, Dallas is home to football's Dallas Cowboys, and baseball's Texas Rangers play in nearby Arlington – which is where I’ll be staying. **edited** And for Terri - hockey's Dallas Stars!

Of course anyone my age remembers Dallas as being the site of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. It’s going to be strange to actually see that grassy knoll and wonder just what did happen that day.

Something this Canadian cringes to hear – Dallas has a humid subtropical climate. The average high in July is 96 while the low is 77 (more than the high here today). For someone who is most comfortable in temperatures below their ‘low’ I’m sweating already – heck it’s cool enough here at night that Gizmo Guy and I are still using a blanket. Another thing that worries me – tornadoes are perhaps the biggest threat to the city of Dallas. That is something I do not want to witness first hand.

Thanks to Wikipedia and the Dallas official website for some of this info … hopefully I’ll have a ton of pictures to post next week.

Happy Canada Day!

Happy 140th Birthday, Canada

There is nothing more Canadian than a Canadian who's not in Canada. And since I'm not going to be in Canada next week, I've been spending a lot of time lately thinking about just what is Canadian.

Is it our multi-coloured money? Well, other countries have different coloured bills - even varying sizes so the blind can tell the difference between the denominations. Is it our loonie or the double-metal toonie? Possibly, but there are lots of other countries that use coins - the British pound, for instance.

By the way, Happy Birthday to the Loonie - it's been weighing down our pockets for twenty years yesterday.

And on the subject of money, let's not forget our good ol' Canadian Tire money. For those not familiar with Sandy McTire (yup, he has a name!) Canadian Tire is more than a tire store, it's a cross-Canada store that sells not only tires and automotive tools but gardening supplies and hardware. Sports equipment. Kitchen stuff. You name it. For every purchase you are given a percentage back in these 'coupons' which can be redeemed as cash for your next purchase. Every family I know has a jar filled with those bills - and we relied on that when Gizmo Guy got laid off a few years back. Every penny we didn't have to spend on things like garbage bags helped. I always chuckle when I pay for my purchase using the money, and get some back - often the cashier pays the discount using your own bills.

Wylie did a blog a while back about Canadian inventions - the zipper, the Robertson screwdriver, the lightbulb, the snowmobile, etc. Yupper, we've changed the world bit by bit. And we mustn't forget Banting and Best - the duo who discovered insulin and saved millions of lives of diabetics. Or the Canadarm on the space shuttle.

Then there's the quintessential Canadian experience - Timmy's. Tim Horton's Coffee. And the Timbit - a 'doughnut' hole that is a great way to satisfy everyone's sweet tooth. Timmy's was founded by yet another Canadian icon. A hockey player.

But he's just one of many Canadian hockey legends. Mention the name Rocket Richard (that's with the emphasis on the 'shard', please) and every Canadian knows just who you're talking about. Gordie Howe, Ken Dryden, Eddie Shack with his trademark handlebar moustache, Phil Esposito, Mario Lemieux, Mark Messier, Bobby Orr - who played for the Oshawa Generals, as did Eric Lindros, Bobby Hull, and the great one - Wayne Gretzky. And while we're talking hockey - I have to mention Don Cherry. Like him or hate him, he's a Canadian hockey icon too.

As for sportsmen, let's not forget Mike Weir and Sandra Post (golf), the wrestling Hart brothers - Bret and Owen, Sandy Hawley (an Oshawa native), Ron Turcotte (jockeys - Ron rode Secretariat to victory), Gilles and Jacques Villeneuve - who got into trouble in Quebec for calling his restaurant 'New Town' the English translation of his name. Why'd he get into trouble? Because it was English. But that's a subject for a different blog which I'll never write even though I'm from Quebec.

How about artists and other famous personalities? Wylie's posted a blog on Canadian actors, but here are some other people who deserve a shout out: Lynn Johnston, creator of the 'For Better or Worse' comic; John (JD) Roberts - the anchor of CNN's morning show and former White House correspondent and the late Peter Jennings; Ernie Coombs (Mr. Dressup - for our American friends, he was the Canadian Mr. Rogers); Bob Homme (the Friendly Giant who introduced kids to reading via a 15 minute show every morning); the late great Phil Hartman and John Candy; Mike Myers - the great Austin Powers himself; singers Avril Lavigne, Celine Dion and Alannis Morissette; Terry Fox and Rick Hansen who did so much to bring attention (and donations) to cancer and spinal cord injuries. The list is so huge - just go out and check Wikipedia's entry, eh?

Eh? Yes, I'm afraid to admit, I do use this stereotypical saying, I even type it when I'm IM'ing people. I'm often not aware I'm doing it. Usually when I use it, it's to elicit some form of response from whomever I'm speaking to. But if you look historically, it's a saying that dates back to Regency England, and before. Often you'll see pompous old men quoted as saying 'eh what?' I figure it's just one of those sayings that got transported from England and flourished here where it died out across the pond. But no, I've never once heard someone pronounce 'about' as 'aboot'. Well, maybe there is a downhomer who says it that way, but not here in Ontario, nor on the west coast.

Then there's our Canadian beer (Watch the hockey scene in the movie Canadian Bacon - never insult our beer!) and our Canadian liquor - Canadian Club and Crown Royal - made in Gimli, Manitoba with its trademark purple bag. Our Smarties (think M&Ms), our orange-flavoured Kit Kat bars, and Crispy Crunch chocolate bars.

A friend from the States recently commented about a trip she made to Vancouver and what a kick she got out of seeing the packaging with both English and French.

And Gizmo Guy reminds me, our constant 'niceness' where we apologize to the rude person who bumps into us because, we're so sorry, we must have gotten in their way. But as the sign says, this is probably a good place to stop. Sorry ...