Vibrant Nation

Want to clear a room? Just announce you're writing a book

Posted on Monday, March 15, 2010 by Sarah G. Carter

I'm new to this book writing business. I assumed it would be hard work, and it is. But, what I didn't expect was that the mere mention of my literary efforts, would bring about such a consistent reaction - a pregnant pause, a politely frozen smile, and an abrupt change in topic. It's uncanny. I'm beginning to understand the proliferation of writing groups. Maybe it's a little like joining a leper colony.

The Goddess of Mothers has smiled

Posted on Monday, March 01, 2010 by Sarah G. Carter

 "I was really mad at you you know. For a whole year I was mad that you went to Maine to be with Russ." (No kidding. Do you think I didn't notice?)  It's no easy task to extricate yourself from the most emotionally tangled relationship on the planet. No one can do it to you, or for you like your mother.

My Fantasies on Ice.

Posted on Monday, February 22, 2010 by Sarah G. Carter

Ahh - the Olympics. Lycra clad gods and goddesses gliding through snow and ice. I really can imagine what it feels like. Okay, I admit it, I've got body image issues. But, anorexia is not my style. I'm not delusionally fat, I'm delusionally thin. So what would it feel like to feel the cool air rush over my body as I race along on the ice in all my glory?

"Come laugh and dance and hug cats." Who could resist? I was off in a flash.

Posted on Monday, February 08, 2010 by Sarah G. Carter

Vibrant Nation does it again! I've found a new friend, or she found me. Don't get me wrong, I love Russ, but there's nothing in the world like good old fashioned female companionship.

Mermaid or whale: Which would YOU rather be?

Posted on Monday, February 01, 2010 by Sarah G. Carter

Now there's a thorny (scaly?) question.

After I wrote last week about my moment of enlightenment brought about by a lovely, though saggy, overweight, under-dressed older woman, there arrived in my e-mail--as if on cue--this little gem of a story:

Lessons from the "Other Side"

Posted on Monday, January 25, 2010 by Sarah G. Carter

This is my second winter spent in Green Valley Arizona. My annual excursion to "the other side". The Land of the Aged. But this year I'm seeing things differently. There are lessons to be learned. One from a very saggy, very large, very old lady with a towel over her shoulder, clad only in a bathing suit. No hiding. No apologies. Happy in spite of loose skin and sagging flesh, and all other afflictions real or imagined. She was a veritable Buddha. A shining star of hope.

The diet devil: Tempted in the desert, or I have seen the enemy and it is me! Part 2

Posted on Monday, January 18, 2010 by Sarah G. Carter

I decided a couple of years ago to drop the panic mode around food - the score-keeping mentality that only seemed to feed my compulsiveness. No panic. No guilt. No black marks on my copy book. I had sworn it off forever. It was such a relief, and it worked. I did it then, and I can do it now - right? But 45 lbs! It's hard not to panic.

So - I'm tempted. I would LOVE a magic wand, a faster easier way. Who's doing the talking here? Is it my old friend the Food Devil, perched again on my chubby shoulder? (whispering, among other things, "You're fat! You're disgusting! You must do penance. You must be punished!") And I thought I'd gotten rid of that horrid little beast once and for all.

The battle of the bulge restated: "I have seen the enemy, and it is me."

Posted on Monday, January 11, 2010 by Sarah G. Carter

My battle cry, "I'm Fat!" set off a volcano of response from all of you out there. It seems there are long suffering legions of us struggling with our relationship to food and the damage this ongoing love/hate has inflicted on our minds and our bodies. Beleaguered by battle fatigue, beset by defeat. To fight, or not to fight. That is the question.

How did this happen? I'm fat. Really fat, and thoroughly disgusted with myself.

Posted on Monday, January 04, 2010 by Sarah G. Carter

I know what you're thinking, "Well honey, what did you expect? You with the eggnog, cookie dough, candy, butter-cream cheese-crab concoction?" Well, I'm here to tell you, the chickens (and the calories!) have come home to roost, and it's NOT a pretty picture.

It's Christmas! Indulge! Enjoy! Repent later! Because what would Christmas be without food?

Posted on Saturday, December 19, 2009 by Sarah G. Carter

Here I am, up to my knees in Richmond, Christmas, and a record breaking December blizzard. So what do you think I'm going to do today? Cook! This is my Christmas gift to you and yours, a short list of my all time family Christmas favorites. These recipes have passed the test of time, gift giving, and holiday feasts.

Femininity, a dusty old, out of fashion concept? Or, Southern belle strikes again

Posted on Monday, December 07, 2009 by Sarah G. Carter

When I posted 'Confessions of a Southern Belle," I had no idea there were so many who wouldn't "get the joke." Obviously, the whole subject hit a nerve for a lot of us, conflicted as we are about the concept of "femininity." But, there's usually a grain of truth buried in both myth and cliche. Handling difficulties with grace and humor is exactly the way real southern ladies do it. Contentiousness being unpleasant and unfeminine, steering around it lets everyone save face.

Seduced by a monster called FACEBOOK! Can I tame the beast?

Posted on Monday, November 30, 2009 by Sarah G. Carter

And here I was still struggling to keep a lid on this e-mail business - you know, juggling my "real life", with the oh so tempting lure of electronic chit chat. But now, E-GADS, Facebook is everywhere! And it's so damn complicated. How is a fifty something year old--whose memory of hand penned notes on monogrammed stationary is still fresh--supposed to navigate this rats nest of information overload?

Confessions of a Southern belle

Posted on Monday, November 23, 2009 by Sarah G. Carter

What's a Southern thing? Liking to feel female? Wearing a skirt every now and then, or - God forbid - sexy shoes? We certainly like our men, and, Lord knows, we know how to flirt. It all boils down to a difference in style. Attitude really - down South, we take a slightly different tack.

Warning: Writing can become addictive. Handle with care.

Posted on Friday, November 13, 2009 by Sarah G. Carter

This writing business is starting to mess with my mind. I read good writing, then try to write good writing. Writing has taken hold of me. I wake up in the night with a better version of a line. I "hear" phrases while I'm pushing the lawn mower. Writing has become both a torment and my drug of choice.

A lesbian car? Now there was a new concept

Posted on Monday, November 09, 2009 by Sarah G. Carter

A Subaru Outback? "No way! Every one knows that's a lesbian car!" So, as fate would have it, on the eve of my single forever mountain adventure, I was presented with the perfect car for the job - a Subaru Outback. Of course I got the joke. So now I'm in Maine, land of wall to wall Outbacks, and fit in perfectly - the proud owner of the National Lesbian Car of America.

"I SWEAR I wash my hair (almost) every day!"

Posted on Monday, November 02, 2009 by Sarah G. Carter

My new laid-back lifestyle on the farm in Maine is great (painting, writing, cooking, puttering around the farm helping Russ - what's not to like?) However, I seem to be morphing into... ?

Learning not to think

Posted on Monday, October 19, 2009 by Sarah G. Carter

Writing lesson number one: Stop thinking. Trust yourself to let it happen. It will if you stay quiet and pay attention.

A book proposal? So here's what I know so far.

Posted on Monday, October 12, 2009 by Sarah G. Carter

Let me tell you, I'm beginning to get that this book proposal business is no small undertaking. And I've only just begun. Not for the first time in my life, I find I've leaped into something, willy nilly,  without knowing much about it before hand. After all, asking too many questions might just get me in trouble (ie. freak me out). Sink or swim is not a bad way to learn. Just start paddling, or in this case - writing - and try to keep your head above water.

Now I KNOW I'm not in Richmond anymore!

Posted on Wednesday, October 07, 2009 by Sarah G. Carter

"Tell Sarah that I think that it will sell especially well in Maine if she sticks a few turkey feathers in her hair and appears on the dust jacket under the nom de plume Sarah "Two-Moose" Carter. Definitely will outsell the up-coming offering from Sarah "Screw-Loose" Palin!"