Holiday Diary

Sunday, December 24, 2006. Because of our storm, many malls and stores are opening for extended hours today so people can make up the shopping they missed while stuck at home. The stores pose this as a benefit to the shoppers, which it is, but it is also beneficial to the shopkeeper. I guess this is an example of a win-win situation.

Last week, before the storm, I was at Safeway stocking up on a few essentials (caffeine free diet coke and light popcorn) and the clerk told me that they would be open on Christmas Day. My reaction was not positive. Can’t we have one day a year without shopping?

I made it out on Friday thanks to my wonderful friend, Sheila, who drove her SUV all the way from Highlands Ranch to pick me up for lunch. We made our way downtown to the Buckhorn Exchange.

Unfortunately, the picture doesn’t show the festive Santa hats on all the animal heads for Christmas. We exchanged gifts (mine was the huge Beatles Anthology book) and enjoyed our sandwiches and chocolate cake.

By Saturday, I was heartily sick of my own company. I managed to get out for a walk, but people who hadn’t bothered to shovel their walks made things difficult. Lunch with another friend, Barb, was cancelled. I spent most of the day watching the 2-DVD set of Pride and Prejudice—the original A&E production starring Colin Furth as the quintessential Mr. Darcy. Oh, my.

Sunday morning. Our worship service was cancelled as was our late candlelight communion service. Instead we will have the kid’s pageant combined with candlelight and communion at 6 o’clock. My brother has to drive in from Westminster to pick me up because my car is still stuck in the garage behind several feet of snow in the alley. He will take me and my folks to his house for an early Christmas Eve dinner, and then drop me off at church. I’m counting on someone from my church family to drive me the one mile home from there.

This morning, I need to finish my cranberry-marshmallow-walnut salad, bake focaccia bread and make a batch of microwave peanut brittle.

The ham and scalloped potatoes at my folk’s house will have to wait until Mother Nature clears out my alley and frees me from the house.

Christmas Day. I didn’t make it to church last night after all. It started snowing again and we all panicked. My brother took my folks home. There are SCARY amounts of snow in their mobile home park. The park management plowed one pass down the center of each street and Dad and Fern paid $60 to have their driveway shoveled out, but 5-6 foot banks of snow makes maneuvering very tricky.

Luckily, the snow stopped after an hour and didn’t amount to much. I watched a Christmas Eve service on TV, but it wasn’t the same as taking communion, praying, lighting the candles and singing Silent Night with my church family. I tried not to pout and went to bed early.

They’re predicting slightly warmer temperatures tomorrow, so I am hoping and praying that it will melt enough snow to allow me to finally get out of my garage. My parents and I will have to delay our Christmas dinner of ham and scalloped potatoes until later this week.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Blessings

“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”

Bob Dylan

The sun is finally out and we have two feet of snow on the ground. The city worked all night to plow out the side streets. My problem is that my garage opens onto an unplowed alley, so I have no idea when I will be able to get my car out to the street.

Today, I plan to walk to the local business district two blocks away and try to find an ATM machine. Cash is the only thing I didn’t think to stock up on before the storm. Once I find a machine, I have to hope that the store is open and that it has money in it because the people who stock ATMs haven’t been able to get out, either.

Being snowbound lets you know quickly how much you like your own company. I’ve been fine for two days, but the thought of a few more days of solitude with my cats doesn’t exactly thrill me.

Normally on Friday mornings, I walk down to the Tattered Cover bookstore in LoDo (about a mile away) for banana bread from their coffee shop. I can’t get there today with all the snow. I’m reasonably sure they will be open today, but the bakery truck may not have been able to get there, even if the workers were able to get to the bakery to make the bread and other goodies.

This kind of storm affects all businesses, large and small. The malls are reopening today and will try to make up the two days of lost sales. In a week or so the snow will all be gone and forgotten. Meanwhile, I keep reminding myself that I’m much better off than those 4,700 people who were stranded at the airport overnight Wednesday. I’m safe, warm, and well-fed. I have power for my television, DVD, computer, telephone and stereo. Millions of people in the world would die for that.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Winter Wonderland

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. Albert Camus

The weather forecasters have been warning us for a week that a potentially BIG snowstorm was headed our way. Now it’s here. It started just after I woke up this morning and will continue until noon tomorrow, bringing us as much as two feet of snow. Not my idea of a good time.

I ran all my errands yesterday in anticipation of having to stay home today. I filled my car with gas, stocked up on caffeine-free diet coke and bought walnuts so I could make some Christmas goodies during the blizzard. I also stopped at the library to pick up the DaVinci Code movie, which will come in handy while the networks show an endless succession of reruns. There’s a stack of firewood in the garage in case my power goes off and my cell phone and laptop are charged. My breakfast with Kathy and Jane will have to wait until another day. Today might be a good day to reread Laura Ingalls Wilder’s stories of winters on the plains during the pioneer days when they had to tie a rope around themselves tethered to the house to avoid getting lost on the way to the barn. That should make me count my blessings.

One of the great things about working at home is that you never have to fight rush hour traffic; the flip side of that is never getting a snow day. I have papers to grade, classes to prepare, and a workbook to write. I am also working on a short story about, ironically, being snowbound at Christmas.

None of this may get done, of course, because like Anne Morrow Lindbergh, I may be part bear. As she said, “the instinct to be half asleep all winter is so strong in me.”

Things will clear up by Friday, although the snow is likely to stick around long enough to bring us an unusual white Christmas. Meanwhile, I’ll settle in with my cats, light a candle and pray that everybody makes it home safe tonight.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Overstuffed

"Out of clutter, find simplicity." Albert Einstein

I’m a packrat. I admit it. I save everything and have a hard time getting rid of anything. I still have close to 400 record albums that I haven’t played for many years and I don’t even want to talk about my book collection.

My clutter comes to light when I decorate for Christmas. I have about five times as many ornaments as I can actually use on my little five-foot tree. When I bring out the other decorations – the Santa collection, the teddy bears and the rocking horses, I have to put away vases and toys and knickknacks to make room for them.

This year, I SWEAR, I’m going to use this switching out activity to get organized. I’m tired of living in Dogpatch. I have this vision, if I don’t clean up my act, of people dreading my death not because they’ll miss me, but because they’re afraid they’ll be responsible for disposing of all my STUFF.

People tell me that getting rid of things is a soul-cleansing experience. I’m holding onto that thought. While I don’t think I will ever adopt a minimalist approach to life, I’m remembering these words from Immanuel Kant: "Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life." I’m looking for wisdom.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It

The goal is to have your work be the principal expression for your mind and creative talent. Ernie Zelinski

We were put on earth for a reason. Some lucky people seem to be born knowing why they are here. Others spend their lives seeking their mission. You’re never too old to continue the search. As Richard Bach, the author of Illusions said, “Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you’re alive, it isn’t.”

On the theory that you teach what you need to learn, I recently taught a class in Finding Your Mission in Life. Here’s what I learned. It’s a popular topic. A Google search resulted in 4,710,000 hits. Amazon shows 67,097 related books. Remember, the Blues Brothers were “on a mission from God.”

Even those who recognize and follow their calling early in life may find that it changes shape at different stages in their lives. One of my students, Diane, spent the first several years of her adult life as a stay-at-home mom, devoting her time and energy to raising her children. As they grew older and more independent, Diane searched for another way to use her care giving talent. Transforming her family home into a group home for developmentally disabled young men allowed her to continue parenting on a different level.

Now in her mid-forties, she is returning to college to earn a nursing degree, learning new skills and credentials, but continuing on her path of providing care to those in need. She and her husband have already started laying the foundation for their non-retirement. They have started a non-profit corporation, Assisted Adventures. "This company integrates my love of travel with my desire to continue to help those less fortunate than me, by providing direct care and assistance to developmentally disabled adults that have the ability to travel with supervision."

This will use all of her previous experiences and allow the couple to continue earning a living while doing the traveling they look forward to.

As is evident in Diane’s story, your mission combines your values and talents with the issues that are important to you. Author Frederick Buechner explains that your calling “is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” So begin your search for mission by defining what you really love to do. If you don’t know, ask a friend or family member what subject makes you light up when you talk about it. Then think about how you can use that talent or interest to make the world a better place.

Some people seem to think they’re here to accumulate as much money or material goods as possible, and that doing what they love means living in poverty. One friend told me, “people who make a lot of money are miserable.” I disagree. I don’t think Bill Gates is miserable, and he certainly seems to be doing what makes him happy. Most movie stars, rock stars, and best-selling writers are doing work they love and making a whole lot of money doing it. We need to remember that it isn’t money, but the LOVE of money that is the root of all evil. Stephen King didn’t get into writing because he heard he could make a lot of money. He started writing because he loved it, couldn’t not do it.

Here’s a test to see if you’ve found your mission. If you won the lottery, would you you’re your job? Answer yes and you’re in the wrong line of work.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Stop, Breathe, Listen

“It is better to have loafed and lost than never to have loafed at all.” James Thurber

My teaching marathon is almost over until after the holidays, which means I can settle into the Christmas frenzy. Work never seems to let up this time of year to give me a chance to sit back and enjoy the season.

I managed to fit an advent study class at church into my over-stuffed schedule. We talk about the need to rest, meditate, and wait. The whole time we’re there, my mind is racing through my mental to-do list. I’m pretty sure that isn’t the appropriate attitude.

Once I do get some time off, I have several writing, cleaning, organizing and reading projects to keep me busy. First, though I have to finish decorating the house and buying and wrapping gifts. I’m also scheduling several lunches with friends to catch up with each others’ lives and celebrate the birth of Christ. Sometimes it is hard to remember that He is the reason for the season.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Winter Surprise

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." Walt Disney

I like that quotation because I’m a big fan of curiosity. It’s one of the characteristics of creative people, and Dr. Richard M. Restak calls it “the mental trait most linked with superior brain functioning over the life span.”

Each day brings new things to wonder about. On my walk yesterday morning, I rounded the corner by Our Lady of Guadalupe Church to find the streets barricaded and a festival in full swing. Mexican dancers filled the street, music blasted from loud speakers and food booths prepared for lunch. At 10 a.m. on a Tuesday morning. I don’t know what the occasion was, but don’t these things usually happen on the weekend? And, think about it: December is not a great time to hold an outdoor festival in Denver.

I enjoyed the dancers and their brightly colored costumes and walked on. I was on a tight schedule and had places to go, people to see and things to do. Eventually I will learn what the celebration was all about, but meanwhile, I will just appreciate the fact that it appeared on a day when I needed a little boost.

Now, I’m wondering what astonishing things will happen today. To quote Roseanne Rosannadanna, “It’s always something.”

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Get Crafty

"(T)he only way ever to have an intelligent understanding of anything, and a true interest in it, whether it is writing or art or aviation, is to do it yourself." Brenda Ueland, If You Want to Write

If you like crafts, you’ll love the Craftivity website. Their motto: “We celebrate ingenuity, creativity and the handmade. Make your life better by simply making your life.”

Organized into categories including frugality & living, fibre and fabric, tech and machanics, home & hearth, theory & practice, lost & found and wearable The site also offers short tutorials called alt guides and a section on things you really shouldn’t do yourself. My favorite project in that section is the Hello Kitty Bong. The commentary asks the question, “How can something so cute be so wrong?”

Sponsored by New York design firm, Flat, the site also features a group blog, a message board and a newsletter.

I could spend several happy hours just exploring this site.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept it

By Dixie Darr

"It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices."
--- Professor Dumbledore (J. K. Rowling)

I recently agreed to teach a class in Finding Your Mission in Life. It’s a subject I’ve been exploring off and on for twenty years or more, because, as the Blues Brothers said, “We’re on a mission from God.” Here’s what I believe and a little of what I’ve learned about the topic.

We were put on earth for a reason and, in some way, that reason involves making the world a better place for our having been here. We seek, acknowledge and accept our missions along a continuum ranging from “never give it a thought” to “wholeheartedly.”

Some lucky people seem to be born knowing why they are here. Others spend their lives searching for their mission in life. Even those who recognize and follow their calling early in life may find that it changes shape at different stages in their lives.

Certain professions, such as ministry, healthcare and teaching, are typically associated with being a calling or vocation, but your mission can be anything you feel you were born to do. Laurie Beth Jones, author of The Path: Creating Your Mission Statement for Work and for Life, is careful to point out that your mission is not your job. “Your job may be and ideally should be part of your mission, but a mission is always larger than a job.” It encompasses your whole life.

There’s a famous story about a man passing by a construction site. He stopped and asked one of the tradesmen what he was doing. The worker replied gruffly, "I'm laying bricks, can't you see that?" The man watched a while longer and then asked another worker what he was doing. "I'm just earning a living," he replied. A third time the man asked a worker and the response was much different, "I'm building a cathedral."

What are you doing today? Are you just laying bricks or are you building a cathedral?

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

A Journey of a Thousand Miles

"Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once, whether you ready or not, to put this plan into action." Napolean Hill

I watch and read movie reviews, but never go to the movies and rarely rent one to watch at home. This seemingly paradoxical behavior results from two conflicting desires. The first is a desire to keep up with popular culture and the second is to protect my time for more productive pursuits. The reviews give me the scoop on movies without my having to spend two or three hours in a theater. I prefer to stay home and read (or write) a book.

We all have these little inconsistencies and idiosyncracies and most of them are harmless. My friend Kathy collects cookbooks, but she doesn’t cook. Many people subscribe to publications that they never get around to reading. And thousands of us plan to pay off all our bills, buy a new car and start a charitable foundation as soon as we hit the lottery, but we never buy a lottery ticket. Humorist and curmudgeon, Fran Lebowitz, insists that "I've done the calculation and your chances of winning the lottery are identical whether you play or not." It’s true that you are extraordinarily unlikely to win millions of dollars, but you definitely will not win if you don’t buy a ticket. You have to get in the game.

Sometimes, though, our contradictory behavior can get us in trouble. I once had a friend who said she longed to have her own business and frequently asked how she could get started. I gave her books to read, exercises to do and tests to take that would get her started on the road to entrepreneurship. I told her about classes she could take and people to talk to in her field and she never followed up on a single thing. Maybe she just liked to hear herself whine, or maybe she was so paralyzed by fear that she just couldn’t take a step toward her dream. Yet, like the lottery, you can’t possibly win if you don’t join the game.

If you have a dream, think of one baby step you can take TODAY—make a phone call, read an article, check a website. Then do it.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Reading Lessons

“Most people tell me that their darkest times seeded their most significant growth”. Marsha Sinetar

Today was my first day off in ten days and I took full advantage of it. After a nap this morning to catch up on some lost sleep, I went out to lunch with my parents. I have another tough week of work ahead and then I get two full weeks off for the holidays. I can hardly believe it.

I’m planning to spend some of the time getting things organized in my house (a never-ending project), writing and reading.

I currently have 21 books checked out of the library and 26 on hold. The unread ones on my shelf include most of my favorite topics: creativity, writing, small business, and religion. I also have a couple of mysteries. More of the same is on the way. I’m on track to read a total of 120 books this year, ten per month. Next year, I definitely plan to cut down on reading about other peoples’ lives, so I can devote more time to living my own.

This has been a rough year, and I’m looking forward to a better 2007. The time off will give me a chance to be still and reflect on the lessons I’ve learned. With any luck I will be able to go on to new and better lessons next year.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Our Global Village

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Max Ehrman, "Desiderata"

Next time you’re feeling sorry for yourself, check out this slide show. It puts things into perspective. Some nitpickers have pointed out that it isn’t entirely accurate and some of the figures presented are impossible to really know, but the spirit of the ideas is powerful.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Peace Like a River Ran Through the City

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals. Anonymous

Last year, one of my favorite Christmas gifts was a set of warm wishes candles from my nieces. The twelve rectangular candles came in rainbow colors and each one represented a wish: wealth, luck, comfort, health, fun, peace, love, joy, adventure, balance, longevity and success. Each month I chose one to focus on. As the candle burned down, a charm representing that concept was revealed.

This month’s wish is for peace. While I’d dearly love to bring about world peace, I’m taking to heart the advice to think globally and act locally. If I can create peace in my own life, that can contribute in a microscopic way to peace on earth.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

A Vision for Your Future

"The best way to be ready for the future is to invent it." John Sculley

This is just too good not to pass on. I learned about it from Lee Silber’s newsletter. It’s about a new multimedia way to set your goals for the coming year. Check out the vision statement at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bis6fUSFxY. I’m going to give it a try. It is that time of year again, when I have to reassess 2006, write about it for my Christmas letter and look ahead to what I want to accomplish next year. Doing a vision statement slide show (I’ll use PowerPoint) will be a fun way to do it.

Over the weekend, I drove around in a lot of snow and ended up having breakfast by myself because my friend Barb couldn’t make it in the snowstorm. Normally, when I eat alone in a restaurant, I have a book to read, but Saturday I didn’t take a book because I expected to be with Barb. Luckily, I always have a notebook in my purse, so I used the time to make notes for a short story I want to write.

When I left, I stopped at OfficeMax to buy myself two items on my Christmas list: an external hard drive they had on sale and a PURPLE padfolio. After that, it was time to stop buying things for myself until after Christmas. I need to get serious about buying gifts for others and getting out my holiday decorations.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Ups and Downs

“Remember, a dead fish can float downstream, but it takes a live one to swim upstream.” W.C. Fields

Yesterday, I met with my friend Kathy at Common Grounds, a beloved local coffee house. We managed to snag the last empty table. I always wonder who all these people are who have time in the middle of the day to hang around the coffee house. Kathy reminds me that they are people just like us, who work at home and find somewhere else to meet so they don’t have to clean house.

Kathy was feeling down because a big contract she was counting on next year is suddenly no longer a sure thing. When I got home, I found a message from a new client (one that Kathy, ironically, recommended) about a possibility for a big contract for me next year. I was elated. Of course, mine is also not a sure thing.

That’s the way things go when you are self-employed: one day you’re up and the next you’re down. You have to learn not to get carried away with either option. If you lose a client, you have to find another one. If you get a big contract, you have to save some of the income to tide you over the bad times. You really never know what’s going to happen next.

Some people just can’t deal with all the ups and downs. They need the stability of a regular paycheck and the structure of regular hours. That would make me crazy, but I know that my life would make other people crazy. The great thing about this life is that you get to choose what you want and then create it.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Shopping Habits

“The universe has its own set of rules and its own sense of timing.” Richard Carlson, Don’t Worry, Make Money

Yesterday, I participated in a market research focus group. I spent two hours talking about grocery stores with five other women and the research leader. They handed each of us $100 as we left.

They only call me to do this about once a year, so it can’t really be considered a profit center, but it’s a nice piece of change, especially this time of year. It’s also fun, and I learned something from the other participants about a new grocery store that is being built in my neighborhood. It may turn out to be my regular store. After hearing what these women had to say about their own grocery shopping habits, I may also stop running around to different stores to follow the sales. One woman said she goes to only one store and figures it all evens out in the end. She might spend a little less there on some items and a little more on others, but she saves the gas and time that I spend going from place to place. That made a lot of sense to me.

If you’d like to participate in a focus group, look up market research companies in your local yellow pages. They are always looking for new people.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Homework

"You can have anything you want if you will give up the belief that you can't have it." Robert Anthony

In my quest to find people with unusual approaches to self-employment, I find that sometimes I just need to listen to whoever is around me. Yesterday, my writer friend Irv was talking about having Thanksgiving at his daughter’s house. She lives in a rural area outside of Denver and works as a midwife.

Thousands of midwives work in the U.S., but Jean’s business is a little different. Most midwives go to their clients’ homes or work in hospitals or birthing centers. Jean has set up a room in her house as a birthing center and the mothers-to-be come to her.

* * *

On another note, a local homeowners association made the news when a woman resident put up an outdoor wreath in the shape of a peace sign. The HOA told her to take it down because they interpreted it as a sign of protest against the war in Iraq. The resident explained that peace has a spiritual meaning, especially at this time of the year. She vowed to keep the wreath up, even if the accumulated fines reached $1,000. The negative publicity about their anti-peace stance caused the HOA to back down and allow her to keep her wreath.

It’s an interesting world we live in, where peace is a controversial goal.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Time Is On My Side (Not)

May you live in interesting times.

Chinese curse

Time is definitely NOT on my side this week. Maybe that is why this little gadget caught my eye, when they featured it on one of those HGTV gift shows:

It’s called a Tempo Time Tag. Only about an inch long, it clips on your sleeve or notebook or anywhere else you might need a discreet time check. I’m not sure why anyone who wears a watch would need one, and everybody I know wears a watch except me, which is probably why I’m intrigued by it. I haven’t ordered it yet because they only come in packs of two and I don’t know why I would need more than one.

This is a practice that drives me crazy in things like batteries. Why can’t I buy exactly the number I want instead of the 2 or 4 or 8 that come in a package?

I’d also like to find someplace local that I can buy it to avoid paying the $5 or more shipping charge for something that weighs a couple of ounces. Maybe I’ll check the dollar store and see if they have something similar.

Have you noticed the proliferation of dollar stores? They’re everywhere. The current equivalent of the dime stores that abounded when I was a kid (and where very little was available for 10¢), these stores are as popular as thrift stores were a few years ago.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

The Holiday Siege Begins

“I have seen more artists damaged by unlimited time than limited time.” Julia Cameron Letters to a Young Artist

Every year, I get to the holiday season feeling rushed and overwhelmed with everything I have to do in a short period of time. I don’t know why it still surprises me. Today, the advent study class I signed up for at church begins and I start teaching a new class at the University tonight. I have three new classes starting in the next three weeks, one of which I have never taught before. My unfinished column is due at the newspaper, I need to get plastic on my windows before a winter storm hits tomorrow night, and I have to change the batteries in my smoke detectors.

I’ll work on the column for a couple of hours this morning, then walk to church and back to get my exercise in. Meanwhile, I try to make sure to write everything down. Knowing that I have a list eliminates the endless loop of reminders running through my head—at least that’s the theory. Somewhere in the mix, I need to decorate for Christmas, write my Christmas letter, address and mail cards, get together with friends, shop for (and wrap) gifts. Of course, there are also the usual activities of grading papers, preparing for class, attending meetings, writing here and on and on. I have to stop now because I’m starting to feel inundated again.

Breathe. Know that I will either get everything done or I won’t. Either way, I will emerge on the other side of the holidays, looking forward to my birthday in January and to spring of another year beyond. As Martha would say, it’s a good thing.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Books for Breakfast

"For those of us with a bookish bent, reading is a reflexive response to everything. This is how we deal with the world and anything new that comes our way. We have always known that there is a book for every occasion and every obsession. When in doubt, we are always looking things up." Diane Schoemperlen Our Lady of the Lost and Found

The one place you won’t find me today Is at the mall. The stories on the morning news about shoppers mobbing the big box stores for after-Thanksgiving sales repel me. I’d rather buy online from the comfort of my own home, with the TV on in the background and a well-stocked kitchen nearby.

This morning I did take my usual Friday morning walk to the Tattered Cover bookstore in Lower Downtown Denver, but I didn’t buy my usual banana bread from the in store coffee shop. Apparently, the banana bread bakery took the day off, so I’ll have to make my own. As it happens, I have some bananas that have just reached the appropriate stage of over-ripeness.

Last Friday, I finally made the trip to the new Tattered Cover on East Colfax in the former Lowenstein Theater. My friend Lisa Ray Turner was having a book signing for her new book, Ghosts. She and her co-author Kimberly Field told some very funny stories about a famous robbery in the 1920s and ghosts on the third floor. I learned that mint employees are not allowed to bring any coins into the mint and women visitors cannot bring their purses. All the circulating coins in the country come from either the Denver or the Philadelphia mints.

They stopped offering tours for a while after 9/11, but you can now make reservations for a tour. Although I’ve spent my whole life in Denver, I have never been inside the mint. Listening to Lisa and Kimberly made me want to take a tour. Their book would be a great Christmas gift for anyone who is interested in coins, mints or Denver history. And you don’t have to go to the mall to find it.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Happy Thanksgiving!

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." Anne Frank

This is everyone’s favorite holiday because it isn’t commercialized. We don’t have to send cards, buy presents, send flowers or hang harvest-colored lights. My cynical side thinks this is probably because Thanksgiving comes so close to Christmas and we just don’t have TIME to do all that before we have to do it all next month.

I’ll be celebrating with my dad and stepmother, a simple, quiet meal. I am especially thankful that we don’t have to watch any football on TV, even though the Broncos are playing. One of my personal Thanksgiving traditions is to read Truman Capote’s

nostalgic and funny story, “A Thanksgiving Visitor.” Tonight, I’ll watch Ugly Betty, my favorite new TV show.

Meanwhile, my contributions for dinner are the turkey, gravy, pumpkin pie and my famous Cranberry Salad (recipe below). In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I got the recipe from Rose Hahn over 30 years ago.

Cranberry Salad

Chop 1 bag (12 oz) of fresh cranberries and ¾ cup of walnuts. Mix with ¾ cup of sugar, cover and let stand overnight. Add 2 cups miniature marshmallows and one package prepared Dream Whip. Yummy.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Art as Business

“Perhaps if we talked of art more as a form of invention and entrepreneurship, we would have more enthusiasm for it as an American enterprise.” Julia Cameron Letters to a Young Artist

Today I visited a man who makes dinosaurs for a living. You can make a business out of anything.

Dennis Wilson wasn’t the kind of kid who could name all the dinosaurs by the age of two. He was an artist, not a scientist. After earning a degree in painting and sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design, he started making art from road kill.

You read that right.

It must not have paid very well because he applied for a job at the American MuseumNew York City as a preparator, sculpting and caring for exhibits. He had no background or knowledge in paleontology, but the museum had discovered that it was easier to hire artists and train them in science than to hire scientists and train them to do art. in

He got good at it, realized that not very many people in the country could do what he did, and moved to Denver to open Pangaea Designs. In addition to reconstructing fossils for museums, exhibits and private collectors, he designs animal-shaped toys for a manufacturer.

Dennis’s enthusiasm for his work is obvious as he describes spending six months placing thousands of individual feathers on a mononykus model.

The next time you hear that little voice in your head shooting down your latest great idea by saying, “You can’t make a living doing that,” remember Dennis. And do it anyway. Remember the Chinese proverb, “The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.”

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Let’s Retire Retirement

"I'll run out of gas long before I run out of ideas of what to do. I don't have retirement in mind." Robert Redford.

I talked to my friend Kathy last night. She’s probably the most right-brained person I know, so I was eager to share with her Dan Pink’s theory that we are entering the conceptual age, when right brain abilities will become more important than left brain skills we’ve emphasized for the past century or so.

She was initially elated at the idea, then dejected because she thought, “I’m going to be too old to take advantage of it!” At 56, she’s hardly over the hill and I strongly doubt that she will retire at 65. Like most baby boomers, she and I plan to continue working long after the traditional retirement age.

To the astonishment of my twenty something students, retirement doesn’t sound like much fun to us. What are we supposed to do—play bingo and lie around the pool all day? I don’t think so.

In fact, many baby boomers are starting businesses. With their families grown, houses paid off and retirement funds available, it may be the perfect time to start that business. My friend Irv’s wife Bev, who’s in her 70s, is getting bored and planning to go back to work part-time. She had worked for many years in the legal field and now plans to provide document delivery services for lawyers. Sounds like a winner to me.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Telling Stories

“Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.” Max Ehrman, Desiderata

I’ve been reading A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink about the increased need for right brain functions in our left brain world. My friend Maureen, the marrying woman, recommended it to me. She was reading it as an assignment before she attends a Making it Better Seminar in Las Vegas put on by our mutual friend, Barbara Winter.

This is one of those books that has great ideas and things for me to look up on every page. Pink lists six right brain aptitudes we need to develop, not to replace our left brain skills, but to complement them. I’m reading right now about the need for stories to connect with others. That’s probably one of the reasons blogs are so popular—because readers get to know the authors and their companies on a more personal basis.

An example: I’m more likely to buy Newman’s Own products after reading Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good, the book that tells the story of how the business started and grew.

We remember stories better than facts and we connect with others through our stories. Think about that when you are planning your marketing materials. How can you incorporate a personal story?

This is a good incentive to me to continue my exploration of writing short stories, which my writers’ group forced me into.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

To Market To Market

"Marketing is not a function; it is a way of doing business." Regis McKenna

Most people I know who decide to become self-employed neglect marketing. At first, things go pretty well. They get work from friends and relatives and figure word of mouth will carry them through. Eventually, though, everyone runs out of friends and family and they have to reach other people. That’s when they decide that self-employment isn’t for them after all and they go back to corporate life where somebody else brings in the business.

I was thinking about this as I drove this morning and I noticed a Geeks on Call PT Cruiser next to me. The logo on the doors was prominent and both the car and the company name made me smile. Then I noticed a small plastic business card box attached to the rear of the passenger side. Take One it said.

Now that’s marketing. Not only was the logo clearly visible to everyone passing by, potential clients could also help themselves to a card even when nobody was around.

Constant marketing—that’s what it takes.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Blog On

“One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.” Elbert Hubbard

Writing this blog and getting involved with the whole blogging community (okay, blogosphere) has really changed my outlook on finding information. I started my first blog at Salon.com in 2003, not knowing anything about blogs. I was just thrilled that I could write in some capacity for the same publication that my favorite author Anne Lamott wrote for. I ran out of steam in about six months.

This time, I’m starting slowly, educating myself and trying to figure out how this blog will fit in with my plan to make a living on the internet. It started with a luncheon program at the Colorado Authors’ League in September. Three speakers told us about their blogs and I became intrigued by the possibilities. They told us that tens of millions of people read blogs on a regular basis. How on earth, I wondered do they find the time? Now, when I want information, I search for blogs on the topic instead (or in addition to) of googling it. It’s addictive and it takes me into that time warp I used to enter when I first started using the internet back in the early 90s. For an information junkie like me, blogs are simply irresistible. More personal and raw than slick marketing-department produced web sites, one of their best features are the links to other blogs, an option I hope to start using here soon. Yesterday, for example, I found a blog written by Roger von Oech, the Whack on the Side of the Head guy. He had a link to The Creative Generalist, who linked me to some other sites, and on and on until I had to force myself to get back to work.

Note: The Mayan Ruins at Chichen Itza were chosen as the sixth new wonder of the world.

Note: Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke won the Dancing With the Stars championship last night—Hurray!! They were my pick all along. Emmitt Smith has more natural charm than ten Mario Lopezes (no slouch in the charm department). Cheryl Burke also came across as a much nicer person than Mario’s partner. Now I have to wait until January for the new American Idol to start. Sigh. At least I have Thanksgiving and Christmas to keep me busy until then. :)

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Seven Wonders

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."

Popular Mechanics, 1949

The selection of the Internet as one of the Seven New Wonders Of The World is at once surprising and obvious. We expect the seven wonders to be physical locations because they always have been. The Internet, on the other hand, is located everywhere and nowhere. It’s somewhere out in cyberspace and right here in my home office.

Once you get past the unexpected choice, this is an obvious pick. Nothing in the past fifty years (and maybe ever) has had as big an impact on our daily lives as the Internet and the World Wide Web. It is my major source of information, inspiration, entertainment and even camaraderie. I use it to shop, compare prices, order library books, read the newspaper, play games and, oh yes, teach.

When I think about which of my possessions I would save first, in case of fire or other disaster, my computer ranks second only to the little toy wooden cupboard built by my grandfather when I was a baby.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Buying a Job

"I'd love to sell out completely. It's just that no one's willing to buy." John Waters

An engineer who had just been laid off came to one of my workshops and declared his interest in buying a Subway franchise. He had a friend who had done that and was doing very well. I asked him if he had ever worked in a fast food restaurant. No, he hadn’t. Did he have any idea what kind of work was required by a Subway owner? No. He was focused completely on the amount of money he could make.

Laid off corporate employees who get a buyout sometimes think that the way out of the revolving door of employment is buying a franchise. They may, in fact, be good prospects because a franchise is the closest you can get to being a corporate employee while remaining self-employed. A franchise isn’t, however, a guarantee of success. These people seem to regard buying a franchise as buying a permanent job.

I suggested that the engineer spend a week or two working at his friend’s restaurant and seeing first hand what it would take to be an owner. He seemed to think that he would just hire others to do all the work and he would spend his time counting his profits. He saw himself as a kind of gentleman farmer, never getting his own hands dirty. In fact, owning a restaurant probably means working long hours doing every job in the place. Then at least he could make a thoughtful decision about whether or not it would work for him.

Making a decision about work based solely on the money you may make is almost never a good idea. As the writer Annie Dillard observed, “How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.”

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Believable Work

"To work at what you love--a heaping up of joys." Rita Mae Brown

Most Saturdays, my parents and I go to Chick fil-A for lunch. Most of the staff know us and even remember our never-changing order. A 17-year old high school senior named Shaun was hosting this week, which means he greeted the customers, offered mints and drink refills. He stopped at our table to chat and ended up staying there for close to an hour. He told us he would like to have his own Chick fil-A store because he “would make lots of money.”

This is a young man who attends the local school of the arts as a voice major. He’s going to Ohio this week to tryout for a music scholarship to Baldwin-Wallace College.

A couple of things bothered me about this conversation, not the least of which was his seeming lack of a work ethic. He seemed to think it was fine to kill time chatting with us instead of doing the work he was paid to do.

Mostly, though, I was saddened by the fact that even before graduating high school, he had apparently already given up on his dream of a career in music. Conventional wisdom tells us that you can’t make a living in the arts, although evidence to the contrary surrounds us. It may be difficult, but it sure won’t happen if you don’t believe it can.

Most people who make a lot of money (however you define “a lot”) are doing what they love. If you love what you’re doing, you are likely to be good at it. And if you get really good at it, you can find a way to make money doing it. It just requires persistence and constant learning. What doesn’t?

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Meeting Places

“Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.” Anne Morrow Lindbergh

I met with Maureen, the marrying woman, this morning. Marrying people is her business, one she fell into when she bought a Victorian house that had been used as a wedding chapel. People kept showing up at her door asking about weddings, so she figured she might as well give them what they wanted. She’s been very successful at growing her business over the past five years.

We get together every other week for a couple of hours to talk about our business goals and accomplishments and to share ideas and resources. When people work at home alone, they lose the social connections that most people enjoy on the job. For each meeting, we choose a different coffee house or restaurant in our North Denver neighborhood. Most of the time we enjoy the company, the ambiance and the information exchange. Not this morning.

Today we met at a yuppie gathering spot just three blocks from my house. I’ve been wanting to check it out, but since I don’t drink coffee, I don’t hang out much at such places. It is in a nicely renovated 100-year old building at the intersection of two busy streets. The space is tiny, noisy and overly crowded. It’s also overpriced. We struggled the whole time to keep the sun, which streamed in through the 14-foot windows, out of our eyes. I can’t figure out why it’s so popular. We won’t be going there again.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Talking Points Part III

“Talk is cheap because supply exceeds demand”. ~Author Unknown

The very worst thing you can do when giving a presentation is also the one thing you are most likely to do: talk too long. Beginning speakers almost always think that the problem will be talking long enough to meet the minimum requirement, but they usually talk too long instead. I know you don’t believe this will happen to you, so you will just have to take my word for it.

When you are speaking in front of a group, you are in some weird kind of time warp. The first time I gave what was supposed to be a 10-minute presentation in a college class, I was mortified to discover that I spoke instead for 30 full minutes. The teacher wasn’t very happy, and your audiences won’t be either if you go on and on. Even if you time your speech as you are practicing (and you should definitely do that) you also need to time it as you are giving it.

This is one more thing to pay attention to when you are already nervous about remembering everything you want to say and not making a fool of yourself as you do it. However, it is absolutely essential. Get a small timer to place on the lectern with your notes. Mark your notes with times when you should reach that part and check the timer to make sure you are on track.

Remember the Gettysburg address was only two minutes and 269 words long. It is considered the best speech every given by an American. Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream Speech lasted just over five minutes. You should do so well. Cut out everything extraneous, even if you think it’s fascinating. Your audience will appreciate your brevity.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Talking Points Part II

I worked with my crazy friend, Kathy the other morning, designing a two-day workshop on presentations. Apparently, corporations need their managers and executives to improve their speaking skills. The seminar company Kathy works for can’t find enough trainers to keep up with the demand.

Probably my biggest pet peeve is that people use PowerPoint as the presentation. PowerPoint is a terrific program, but it is NOT the presentation. It is an audio-visual aid to reinforce and enhance the spoken word. If you put your entire speech on the slides, we don’t need you. Just email the slide show to your colleagues and save everybody some time.

In his popular blog, How to Change the World, author and venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki recommends using the 10/20/30 rule. That is, no more than 10 slides for a 20-minute presentation using a 30-point font. That sounds like a good guideline to me.

Remember that PowerPoint is best at presenting images—photos or graphics that illustrate your key points—not words. Putting the same words on the slide that you are saying might seem to provide a visual reinforcement, but the truth is that people can’t read the words and listen to them at the same time. They do one or the other.

Back to Kathy, who has been speaking professionally for thirty years. Her cardinal rule for speaking is “Don’t compete with yourself.” Don’t give people handouts or show slides that compete with what you are saying. When you’re giving a presentation the focus should be on YOU and what you are saying.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Tools for Readers

I like to read when I eat and I have found the perfect tool to help me do that. This book stand is made by Fellowes and is available at amazon.com for under $5.

It holds the book open, adjusts to fit most book sizes and lets you keep your hands free for eating, typing or writing. I keep one on my desk and next to my computer as well as in my briefcase.

When I have to teach across town from 6-10 p.m., I always go early to have supper near the campus, read and relax before class. Frequently, another customer or a restaurant employee will stop to ask me where I got it. I should probably carry a supply of them in the trunk of my car to sell to everyone who asks.

If you’re already on the lookout for Christmas gifts, this would be a great stocking stuffer for any bookworm.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved

Talking Points

One of the best ways to promote your business (any business) is to give short talks and presentations. Unfortunately, speaking in public remains the number one fear in the country. Fear of dying only ranks number 6. The good news is that if you give a speech and die of fright, you immediately drop from number 1 to number 6. At a funeral, most people would rather be the person in the coffin than the one giving the eulogy. :)

The best way to get past your fear of public speaking is to do it as often as possible. I recommend joining Toastmasters International which operates low-cost local clubs all over the world. You will have the opportunity to learn and practice public speaking in a supportive environment, giving you the confidence to graduate to speaking to service groups, professional and other organizations about your products or services.

I’ll be posting more tips over the next few days, but here are two for today:

1. Pick a topic that you find fascinating and show your enthusiasm. If you are bored with your topic, the audience will be, too.
2. Start with an introduction to grab the audience’s attention. This might be an anecdote, a startling fact or statistic or a related quotation.

Of course, the very best way to make sure your presentation works is to practice, practice, practice.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved.

Addicted to Books

"The (person) who does not read good books has no advantage over the (person) who can't read them." Mark Twain

When I tell people that I read too much, they give me that indulgent smile that I save for skinny people who complain about not being able to gain weight and say, “That’s great!” Then they tell me it isn’t possible to reach too much. They have no clue.

Last year, I read a book with the irresistible title, So Many Books So Little Time by Sara Nelson. The author made the bold decision to read a book a week for a full year and write about it. Her friends warned her that her goal was overly ambitious, as if nobody could possibly read 52 books in 52 weeks. Ha!

I’ve been reading an average of ten books a month, more than twice Ms. Nelson’s goal. My selection is a mix of fiction (mostly mysteries) and nonfiction. Right now I’m reading The Milagro Beanfield War by John Nichols, which Mayor John Hickenlooper picked as this year’s One Book One Denver entry. It’s one of my favorite books and one I haven’t read for almost thirty years. I also love the movie by Robert Redford.

I’m also reading several business books: The Everything Blogging Book by Aliza Sherman Risdahl, Multiple Streams of Internet Income by Robert G. Allen and Success Secrets of the Online Marketing Superstars by Mitch Meyerson. For my spiritual side, I have Flow-dreaming by Summer McStravick and the audio version of Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. A true addict never reads just one book at a time.

And a true addict stockpiles books. I go to the library about three times a week and usually have 15-20 books checked out at a time, with another 20 or so on hold. Addicts never want to stand the chance of running out. I visit amazon.com several times a day and the legendary Tattered Cover bookstore in Lower Downtown Denver every week.

I devote about three hours a day to reading. You know it’s a problem when your habit begins to interfere with the rest of your life. Sometimes it seems like I would rather read about life than live it.

I’m trying to cut down, but here’s my problem. About 50,000 books are published in the U.S. every year and I only have time to read 100 or so of them. That means there are 49,900 books that I can’t read every year. And every year another 50,000 come out. That makes me crazy.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved.

Let’s Get Together

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead

This morning is my idea group. We’re down to two members right now because Jane took a fulltime job. Kathy, the remaining member, is a professional speaker and a colleague at the University of Phoenix, where we both teach. She’s funny and a little bit wild, a real right-brainer.

We meet at coffee houses or libraries and talk about what we’re working on, share information and get ideas when we are stuck. We also cheer each other on. For those of us who work alone at home, isolation can be a serious problem. Getting together regularly with like-minded friends is a great cure. I also meet every other week with my friend Maureen to talk about business issues and with a writers’ group twice a month to critique one another’s work. Professional, service or networking organizations provide another social opportunity. You can learn about these groups in your local newspaper or professional publications. Meetup.com lets you connect with others who share your interests both locally and online.

As an educator, I like to get together with others by taking classes, where we can all learn something new and valuable as we get a little face time. However you decide to get out into the world, one of the best reasons to do it is offered by author Barbara Sher—because when you put yourself out there, something can happen to you.

©2006 Dixie Darr. All rights reserved.