Lyric

Aaaaarrrggghhhhh.....has this ever happened to you???

2009-11-18T00:20:56Z

So you're working on your NaNoWriMo novel until after 4 a.m., even though you've got a full day of work tomorrow, and have to get up fairly early.
You finally go to bed, but your mind won't go to sleep, and then it comes up with a few brilliant (or so you think at the time) sentences for your story, and a new plot twist that will really invigorate your novel.
You think about grabbing a pen and paper and writing them down, but you don't, because...get this...you don't want to disturb your dogs, who are lying in bed beside you!!!!
Anyway, you're sure you'll remember everything in the morning, anyway.
Well, the next thing you know, your alarm is going off and, still groggy with sleep and realizing that you're going to be a sleepwalking zombie all day, you remember that you'd thought of those brilliant sentences and new plot twist.
But---gasp!---that's ALL that you can remember!!!
All day long, you try to recall those brilliant things you'd thought, and pray to the gods of writing to help you out, but to no avail.
In case you're wondering, I've just been describing my day.
Were those sentences brilliant? Guess I'll never know.

Guinea Pigs Get Their Due

2009-08-25T00:40:05Z

My daughter made the first guinea pig movie the world has ever known, in spite of what Bill Nighy is saying about G-Force. Take a look at this video clip from the news broadcast, then read the cute, funny story and decide for yourself.

Lawrence is an interesting town. It not only boasts a girl who makes guinea pig movies, but a professor who makes "paper castles" in her "spare time." And wait until you read what else Alice Bean does! (I love writing stories like this!)

Interviewing a Wonderful Man

2009-08-19T17:16:38Z

Sometimes my job as a freelance writer seems too good to be true, like when I get to interview a wonderful man like this one. (I can't tell you how inspirational his story is to me, because words just aren't enough.)

And, of course, sometimes my job as a freelance writer seems just the opposite, particularly when I catch a glimpse of my bank account. ;-)

A Serious Journalistic Entry

2009-08-07T07:25:37Z

The other day I was off to cover a hot dog eating contest at Worlds of Fun. (Some of us reporters just naturally get all these lofty, intellectual types of assignments!)

I was warned in advance that the littlest guys were always the ones who ate the most hot dogs.

Anyway, you gotta love those hot dog hats! ;-)

Tweeting

2009-07-23T07:39:13Z

I'm now tweeting--does that make me a Twit? The new Collins English Dictionary lists "Twitter" as both a noun and a verb.

You can follow me at http://twitter.com/LyricLemon.

I've just posted a story about taking a ride on the wild side--at Worlds of Fun. But, believe me, you won't catch me on one of those wild roller coasters. I'll be the only goofy adult on the carousel, waving madly to passersby.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Exhibition

2009-07-12T05:34:45Z

Unfortunately, I don't know how to embed videos on LJ, or I'd post the KansasCity.com video of me being interviewed about my reaction to the fantastic Disney exhibit now at Kansas City's Union Station.

I grew up with my nose buried in British fantasy books, so wandering through this exhibit was like coming home. I wrote an article about the exhibit for Examiner; if you live anywhere near Kansas City and love fantasy or Disney or C.S. Lewis, you definitely should try to make it to this one before it closes on August 23.

More Bad Car Karma

2009-06-30T20:26:54Z

Do you think my car is actually someone from one of my past lives coming back to haunt me???? I'll go into the whole story later when I've calmed down a little, but let's just say for now that I'm out another $600 and the evil car (sorry, Kensington, I didn't really mean that!) even burned my mechanic's hand!

Meanwhile, I've been scrambling to turn out stories (for car repair money). Here are two of the latest: Triple Dutch Treat: Amsterdam, Delft, and the Hague and Travel north to Brazil when you dine at Em Chamas.

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot

2009-06-17T07:11:19Z

In honor of the rising temperatures (and it's awfully steamy here in Lawrence, KS tonight), I'm posting my latest story: Lovers in Paradise.

(Somebody, pour some cold water on this writer!) ;-)

Catching Up (I lost my text while trying to post this earlier, & had to start over)

2009-05-26T02:26:50Z

It's been a rough month, car-wise. On April 20 the transmission in my college-age daughter's car died, as she was on her way to her boyfriend's place in Kansas City to celebrate her birthday. The car had to be towed back to Lawrence to our mechanic's lot, so she didn't exactly have the happy birthday that she'd planned. On April 23, the head gasket blew in MY car and it, too, landed in our mechanic's lot. Thank God for AAA. (The mechanic joked that it was the first time that he'd ever had two "dead" cars from the same family sitting side-by-side in his lot.) Basically, the mechanic signed the death warrant for both cars, saying that it would cost much more to repair them than either car was worth.

Daughter meanwhile drove her dad's car back and forth to school, preparing for Finals Week at KU. On April 24, while driving her dad's car, she was hit from behind (not her fault), and ended up in the emergency room due to severe whiplash. (You'd think that out of THREE cars in a household, at least one would be driveable!)

I went three long weeks without transportation, and then started looking for a "new" (well, new to me) car in earnest. Because I'm a struggling writer and needed to find something "affordable" (translation: "dirt cheap"), my search took me to a Used Car Lot at the farthest Outer Hinterlands of the Earth (well, a very rustic, rural part of Missouri). The cars on the lot not only were dirt-cheap, but the lot itself looked like a pig farm.

I found, however, the car of my dreams: a 1997 PURPLE Ford Escort with about 150,000 miles on it.

Now I have always had a love affair with the color purple. As a kid, I made a poster (using purple corduroy fabric from a pair of pants) that said "PURPLE IS A STATE OF MIND."

So, of course, I bought the car "AS IS." More than $500 worth of repairs later, I'm able to drive it around town. (And it will be another $500 worth of repairs before I can actually drive it out of town.)

The first thing I did, was affix three big KU stickers to the bumper of the purple car, so that Jayhawk fans wouldn't shoot out the tires. (K-State, a bitter rival of KU, uses the color purple.)

The next thing I did, was place a Princess Diana purple Beanie Baby Bear in the rear window. (Diana used to drive a Ford Escort Ghia around South Kensington. No, it wasn't purple.)

I love my car! Now I need to name her. (Yes, I've decided the car is a female. I've only ever had male cars before, so this is going to be a new experience for me.) Anyone have suggestions?

To earn money for all the car repairs on my "dirt-cheap" car, I've been writing more feverishly than ever. My latest stories are about Myrtle Beach, the art of the home office, and family travel on the Paradise Coast.

Happy Birthday, Harry! (No, not the boy wizard)

2009-05-02T07:18:01Z

In honor of Harry Truman's 125th birthday, I've written about the homespun celebration (complete with birthday cake) in Harry's hometown of Independence, Missouri.

And I'm no longer the Wichita Getaways Examiner (which is a relief, since I've only been to Wichita once in my entire life)! I'm now officially the Kansas City Getaways Examiner! WOOOOHOOOOO!

Eating heaven

2009-04-24T04:38:52Z

Dining in Paradise (on the Paradise Coast of Naples & Marco Island, Florida) is about the most fun a travel writer can have. From rustic diners serving seafood that's super-fresh and amazing, to a very cool and cutting-edge restaurant with a self-serve wine bar, the culinary world is your oyster (sometimes quite literally).

Two other stories of mine also appeared this week: one about gasoline prices and another about fire sales going on in travel during the recession.

I'll bet you can't guess which of the three stories was the most fun to write! ;-)

Metamorphosis

2009-04-09T04:29:23Z

LyricLemon turned into a limp spaghetti noodle...and floated away. (This is all true. Not a children's story.) Here's proof.

She Works Hard for the Money

2009-04-06T23:18:50Z

The only possible way that a freelancer can survive in today's economy is to diversify!!!! Because I enjoy having food in my house to eat (and four walls around me whenever possible), I write just about anything for just about anybody.

I had fun trying on B-I-G sunglasses for this feature article,, but I promise that I didn't try out a baby stroller by climbing into it for this one!

Paradise Redux

2009-04-04T05:49:47Z

Since I'm still absorbed in my ideal-writing-life fantasy, I might as well go on a shopping spree in Paradise to furnish my oceanside pad.

But, seriously, I'm sure that I'd be contented with just the basic four walls and a roof, as long as I could hear the sound of the surf. And can you imagine how easy it would be to find writing inspiration if you were lying in a hammock on the beach, just outside your back door?

Ah, Paradise!

2009-04-02T22:43:37Z

Every writer has their own idea of what it would mean to "make it." Some writers just want to be able to pick up a book with their name emblazoned on the spine. Others dream bigger, fantasizing about living a life similar to J. K. Rowling's.

My own dream is sort of simple: I'm living in a little house on the beach, listening to the sounds of the surf as I write my novel. It could be an ocean anywhere, but I'm particularly partial to the Paradise Coast.

March Madness Redux

2009-03-27T20:55:15Z

Tonight's big game has me feeling super-excited, and also a little nervous. I just pulled another all-nighter (and the sleep-deprivation factor has dulled the edges of my panic a bit). I've been working on a very long article (still not finished, and due in less than an hour) and also this Examiner piece (which is, strangely enough) about March Madness. ;-)

Speaking of March Madness, we're supposed to get hit with about a foot of snow and freezing rain tonight and tomorrow. Can you believe it??? I thought that if March came in like a lion, it's supposed to go out like a lamb. Isn't that what they taught me in grade school? I thought it was some rule or law of nature or something.

Sometimes when I'm staying up all night trying to meet a seemingly impossible deadline, I think about giving up and snoozing for an hour or two. Then maybe when I wake up, the story will have written itself? (Is that how the Good Writing Fairy works?)

If you know how she operates, please let me know!

Freelance Writing

2009-03-23T18:52:27Z

Lately I've really been putting into practice my motto: "I'll write anything that anybody pays me for." The topics I've been addressing in feature articles for various newspapers and magazines have strayed far from my usual "niches." But, in these economic times (and specifically, in my OWN personal VERY, VERY lean economic time), I feel lucky to be getting paid work at all, and I'll gladly take just about any topic and construct a story around it, to help pay the bills.

Here's today's treat (about budgeting).

A Booklover's Dream

2009-03-19T22:23:31Z

I don't know if you've ever had one of those heart-stopping moments that true bibliophiles feel when they step over the threshold into the bookstore of their dreams. I had my epiphany when walking through the door of a fabulous bookshop in Oklahoma City. Have you ever been to this place? My big dream now is to come back there someday when I've published a book, and have a booksigning. Truly, I'll feel that I'm in Heaven.

Hoops Love in Oklahoma City & Whatever Happened to Baby Binks?

2009-03-15T04:00:57Z

Anyone else as obsessed about college basketball as me? I've been writing a March Madness series, and the third part deals with love in Oklahoma City.

On another note, is anyone else as obsessed about Baby Binks as me? (For the uninitiated, Baby Binks is the littlest chocolate bunny put out by Palmer at Easter time, and little Binksy dates at least from my early childhood, and probably even before then.)

When I was about five or six, I was staying at my Grandma's house out in the country, where I first became obsessed with Baby Binks. My much-older uncle (who was probably a senior in high school, and still lived with my grandparents) had a Baby Binks stored away in my Grandma's fridge. I would go and look at Binks longingly every day of my stay, probably because my Grandma expressly forbade me to eat him, since he belonged to my uncle Bill. As I remember, this Baby Binks had a tiny blue (real ribbon) bow attached to his chocolate neck.

Because I was a (mostly) good child, raised by my parents and Catholic school teacher nuns to believe that stealing (even just one quick lick of Baby Binks) was a very bad sin, I looked and looked at this delectable chocolate bunny, but didn't even touch him.

On the next-to-last day of my visit, my aforementioned much-older uncle was chasing me up and down my Grandma's staircase. In my haste to get away from Uncle Bill, I tripped and fell headlong down the long staircase onto the hard floor below, knocking out a few of my teeth.

While my Grandma was holding me in her arms and I was bawling my head off, she glared at my much-older (really old enough to know better) uncle, and told me that I could now have my uncle's Baby Binks. I could even eat Baby Binks' head off with impunity.

Almost instantly, I shut up, and with my mouth still bleeding, hurried to the fridge and claimed Baby Binks. (I imagine that my Uncle Bill was not too happy about this turn of events, considering that it was his girlfriend who'd given him that Baby Binks as an Easter gift.)

He tasted just as good as I thought he'd be.

It became a tradition for me to get a Baby Binks in my Easter basket after that. And then, when my daughter was born, the Easter Bunny always brought her a Baby Binks.

Well, yesterday I looked for this years' lineup of Baby Binks in Target, and guess what? Baby Binks was still there, and he still had his candy sugar eyes, but his real-ribbon bow (which used to come in a few different colors--blue, pink, and yellow, I think) was missing! I did a double-take.

Whatever happened to Baby Binks? Is his loss of the real-ribbon bow another sign of our weak economy? And will he ever get the bow back?

Does anyone know?

Does anyone else besides me even care?

No Joy in Mudville

2009-03-13T04:29:55Z

Well, there's no joy in Mudville (or the Jayhawk Nation)--the mighty Jayhawks have struck out. And that's the end of the Big 12 Championship Road for them. But fans might as well stick around Oklahoma City, and discover all the joys there.

Rock Chalk Jayhawks!!! GO KU!!!!

2009-03-12T16:25:47Z

My heart is in my throat. KU's BIG 12 Championship Game is about to start in Oklahoma City.

There's no place like...Kansas City

2009-03-07T04:50:27Z

You can see here how much I love my home, sweet home.

I'm in love! ::sigh::

2009-03-03T23:32:32Z

My love affair with London began a long time ago. Although I was a native of midwestern America (Illinois), I practically grew up in England, because throughout childhood my nose was always buried in British children's books (mostly fantasies.) E. Nesbit, anyone? P. L. Travers? (I know, I know, P. L. Travers was Australian, but her Mary Poppins stories were quintessentially English.)

Then, as a teenager, I managed to hop the puddle and attend an English boarding school in London, straight out of Dickens, with the requisite foreboding, creaky old headmistresses, and the rats in the kitchen. (And, oh yes, the iron bars on the windows.) I hated the school, but fell in love with the city, a love affair that has lasted to this day. I couldn't wait to take my own daughter to the city I'd long considered my spiritual home. Our trip there a few years ago (during her spring break from school) turned out to be one of our best mother-daughter trips ever. (I even got a Happy Mum's Day card from Alyssa, since we happened to be there on Britain's Mothering Sunday.)

If you think London's too expensive, then read this. You might just fall in love!

Confessions of a Shopaholic

2009-02-27T07:26:35Z

I normally need to pinch pennies (after all, how often can a freelance writer afford to splurge?!!!), but I must confess that when I'm in London, well, I begin to lose a little control.

In my opinion, London is a shoppers' paradise. And I think Rebecca Bloomwood (even after all the financial perils she went through) might fall off the wagon if she landed there. (Of course, I'm talking about the movie version here, where Rebecca Bloomwood is decidedly American.)

If you read my latest travel article (basically the confession of a shopaholic), you might be tempted to hop the puddle yourself.

(I'll race you to Selfridges!)

Now I know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.

2009-02-23T22:03:01Z

The Royal Albert Hall is a fabulous venue. And right now it's hosting Carmen, one of the most beloved operas of all time. And just down the street is one of the most fantastic hotels in the world. This package sounds as if it was made in heaven. With the exchange rate so great, what are you waiting for?*

*Personally, I'm waiting for my ship to come in, but I'm afraid that it already sank.