Nice Things, Nice People

If you're looking for something to spark your writing efforts, check out my new friend Joey's blog. She's got a fun Labor Day Challenge going on that you might enjoy. Joey has been living and teaching abroad, but has returned this semester to the hallowed grounds of LSU! Oh lucky students.

I've been remiss in my blog visiting and also in expressing thanks to friends who awarded blingage to Gumbo Writer. I want to remedy that next.
~~~~~~

I appreciate you Linda Hoye: 

Deb "Schube" Schubert:  

and Carol Murdock: 

for the lovely new blog adornments! You rock and so do your blogs! 

 ~~~~~

Now, if any of you are near Mechanicsburg, PA, hustle on over to 2ndFloorGallery at 105 S. Market Street to check out Susan Girolami Kramer's photo exhibit from next week through the end of September.

Susan is Rose & Thorn Journal's newsletter designer, and she's doing a fabulous job! Can't wait for y'all to see her creative work unveiled in mid-October...because I know you're all signed up to receive those quarterly newsletters that announce our editions going live, right? *wink* 

Hoping your Labor Day weekend is going spectacularly!

*"Nice" photo by Heart of Oak

Boo & Thib (& Some Blingage)

Yesterday it was blondes, today it's our beloved Cajuns Boudreaux & Thibodaux!

Vacation Boo Style~~

Boudreaux an' his lovely bride Marie talk about it bein' way too long since dey been on vacation, so Boo, him decide to take dem down to dat Cajun Riviera, Holly Beach, Louisiana.

Dere, da couple, dey have some great time! Dere hotel room got a great view, da weather's nice, and it's juss da relaxation da couple needs.

One day, Marie bury Boudreaux in da sand on dat beach. Den Boo, he bury Marie in da sand. It was too much fun, yeah!

A year later Boudreaux is drinkin' at the Prop Stop Bar & Bait Shop wit his bess friend Thibodaux. "Thib, mais I wish you coulda been at da beach wit me and Marie lass year!"

Thib say, "Mais Boo, dat woulda been some fun. I ain't had a vacation in I don't know how long. Maybe we can go dis summer, juss us two?"

Boo tinks and tinks, den orders two more beer. "Hey, Thib mon amie, why don't we do dat? Me and you, we'll go back to dat Holly Beach. While we dere, you can help me dig up Marie!"

~~~



Thanks to Amanda Bonilla at The Keyboard, GumboWriter is sporting new blog badge blingage. The Humane Award (yeah, yeah, we're all aware of my distaste for furballs, {see Colby's video in the sidebar} but the badge, thankfully, features a dawg! And since Amanda passed on the honor to recipients who are supportive of her writing efforts vs. animal lover humanitarians, I shall do the same.

*Sidebar -- It's always hard to pick just a few recipients because I love all my "regulars!"*

Da Rules:

*Accept and post the award to your blog check
*Link to the person from whom you received it check
*Pass the award to 5 other blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgement check
*Let them know they've been chosen for this award check

"Humane" blogs (that might be new to some of you) that love writers and laughter in equal measures ~~

1. Irish Gumbo - a writing lad if ever there was one
2. Vodka Mom, who has happy hour 24/7
3. Crazy Debbie's Suburb Sanity
4. Lady Glamis, The Innocent Flower
5. Harvey Stanbrough's informative Writing the World

These blogs are owned by lovely, funny, smart or downright crazy people who like to share and encourage, so go visit 'em!

Blog Bling from Cajun Delights

Thanks to my Cajun friend Marguerite just about an hour west of me, my blog sports a new block of blingage! (Say dat three times real quick.) If you haven't visited her yet, you need to. She puts up some A#1 Cajun/Creole recipes that are the real deal. You'll also enjoy the photos and posts about Marguerite's fun life of festival hopping. The lady knows how to live it up!

Here be the award rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award. check
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog. check
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award. check
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting. check (see below)
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers. check
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate. check
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated. check

Seven marginally interesting things about moi:

1. I have an identical twin sister. We had a double wedding. My middle son and her only son were born two weeks apart.
2. Creating poetry, especially Vispo, is one of my therapies...along with blogging and chopping veggies.
3. My beloved mom has brain cancer. It is an honor to be one of her care givers.
4. I had my three kidlets in a 36-month time span.
5. My completed women's fiction manuscript often calls to me when I'm otherwise occupied.
6. The Big Five-Oh approacheth.
7. I am a coffeeholic.

Now, wasn't that interesting? LOL

Now to nominate seven others. hmmmmm, the hard part. Since every blogger I know deserves this reward (otherwise, I wouldn't be reading them and they wouldn't be listed in my Rockin' Blogs list, right?), I'm going to randomly scroll through that list with my eyes closed and see who comes up:

• K - wife, mom, doctor, budding writer. I love her interesting topics of discussion; especially Fine Arts Friday. As she says of her blog name, "'K' is the New 'O'! If Oprah can have an 'O' Magazine, Why Can't I Have a 'K' Blog?" Why not indeed!


• Lori Tiron-Pandit - crafter of dolls, translator of poetry, all around creative soul.


• To the inventor of Unplug Week - B.J. Anderson, who is hopefully unplugged and writing "as we speak."


• Donna K who works through the pain every day to achieve the Florida Writer's Life...and because her husband makes my Bigmama's biscuits the right way! :)


• To Melissa Marsh, a dame who writes with style, and who has one of the coolest ID graphics I've seen.


• T I M, the Raconteur. His posts are totally unique and interesting - sorta like a sardine and chocolate sandwich. He proves his blog heading: "perception is not always reality."


• And finally, with great pleasure, I nominate Benjamin James Watson, because he has killed his muse, and because he IS Tom Thumb!

Noblesse Oblige Blog Bling

Marguerite at Cajun Delights has passed on some great bloggy blingage to me and I am honored. I so enjoy visiting Marguerite's blog. As she says in her own words, it is a place, "...to promote and share our wonderful Cajun culture with the rest of the world. The area known to most as Cajun Country, is so rich in culture and history and is such a fabulous place to live and have lots of fun. Delectable cuisine, incredible music, and warm-hearted people with a contagious "joie de vivre".

The Noblesse Oblige award "rules" say, recipients are recognized for the following:

• The Blogger manifests exemplary attitude, respecting the nuances that pervade amongst different cultures and beliefs
• Their Blog contents inspire; strives to encourage, and offers solutions
• There is a clear purpose at the Blog: one that fosters a better understanding on Social, Political, Economic, the Arts, Cultures, Sciences, and Beliefs
• The Blog is refreshing and creative; and The Blogger promotes friendship and positive thinking

The requirements of the person receiving the award are as follows:

• Create a post with a mention and link to the person who presented the Noblesse Oblige Award
• The Award Conditions must be displayed at the Post
• Write a short article about what the Blog has thus far achieved – preferably citing one or more older posts as support
• The Blogger must present the Noblesse Oblige Award in concurrence with the Award conditions

Blogger must display the Award at any location at their Blog

Pretty cool, hunh? I do try to present tips about writing prose and poetry, and hopefully I also promote our awesome Cajun culture while extending a hand in friendship to others. I'm not gonna cite blog posts that backup these assertions because I think y'all all know me well enough by now to know they're true. :) So, on with the passing of the Noblesse Oblige award to others:

Debbie at Suburb Sanity for her great parenting advice and always seeing the humor;

Kathryn at Tender Graces and Kimmi at Writer in Waiting and The Unbreakable Child for going above and beyond as sharing caring authors who help others on the trail;

Terri Tiffany Inspirational Writer for never giving up, and for encouraging others;

Joy at Red Silk Streams for her love of poetry and for being a military mom;

And although most of my favorite blogs/bloggers fit the description for this award, I'll keep it to six. Finally, Michelle the Surly Writer and BigBadJimSuldawgSullivan, who continue to widen the "gray" between black and white margins while making me think and/or laugh. [*Suldog, disregard award nomination if desired, or if it causes you to hunt up more zombie chickens as a reward.*]

Now, have a great and relaxing Saturday! We're entertaining friends from Scotland, so I probably won't be on the computer. See ya soon, sha (Cajunese for "cher," friend).

Sunday Stuffs & What's This?

Y'all know I love taking pictures, even though my skills are questionable. Any guesses on what this photo might be?

I'm finishing up an ethnography job at a mall about 30 minutes away from Baton Rouge today, so I'll be having fun talking to store customers and taking surveys. BTW, it's a great way to make extra money if you love collecting data and studying customer patterns. I think this is one of the rare jobs I found online somewhere that was/is totally legit, so I'm happy even if my feet aren't. ;()

And in other news -- Nannette over at Zine Writer sent me some new bling in the form of the Bella Award. Thanks, Nan! Isn't it lovely over in the sidebar?

Thanks again to participants in the writing contest. I'll be working on those Monday and Tuesday, and hopefully post the winner on Writing Wednesday. (I'll email all entries back with the promised Crawfish Rating System added along with a bit of commentary.)

Hope your Sunday is everything and more you want it to be! Bye now.

Undead Fowl

I've rarely felt so honored! My friend Jim Suldog/Suldawg Sullivan has bestowed a blog award of the highest caliber upon old Gumbo Writer. No big deal, you say? Hardly. Ya see...Suldawg does not like to receive or give out the many awards showered on his blog, and any of you who are familiar with his whackadoodle personality will have seen the scorching that donors receive when handing down new bling to him. Yep, I've been one of those fools myself. But besides being a master word-crafter, Suldawg has one of those unique shining personalities, stands up for what he believes in no matter what, and never makes an enemy. Quite a job, dontcha think? Plus, I'm partial to Jim because he's a rule breaker and maverick. And he's damned funny. *snirk*

Further, this particular award, coming from such a blog master, just peels my apple. I mean, who doesn't crave scrawny wrung-necked, eyeball-popping chickens adorning his/her blog?? So, thank you, Suldog, for the Zombie Chickens...although I received it because my blog's name fits nicely with the graphic's image...ya know...chicken 'n gumbo...I love it all the same!

Oh, saints preserve us! I just dropped by his bloggy to copy the specs for passing along the Zombie Chicken to others, and naturally, he's got an unsavory questionable post and photo up today. Blogger beware! LOL

Here's the rules and regs for accepting & passing along this supreme award:

The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken - excellence, grace and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all!

Here's my five, and it was certainly no easy chore!

1. Crazy Debbie over at Suburb Sanity because, well, she's as crazy as I am and I love reading her posts. Besides, zombie chickens fits right along with the other insanity she hosts.
2. As for the "excellence, grace & persistence" part of the rules, these two nominees fit that bill because they have made it in the harrowing world of publishing. If I haven't said it enough already...get their books! I love following the journey from book inception to birth, so here's to Mz. Boop-oop-a-doop Kathryn Magendie and her Tender Graces.
3. And Kimmi Richardson who's currently on a world book tour and media blitz with her The Unbreakable Child novel. You beat all the odds and roadblocks set against you since birth, my friend, and now are helping those who need your voice. Love ya! PS You're no longer a Writer in Waiting...you've made it!
4. Then there's Jamie Mason at Because I Love to Hear Myself Type for exceptional writing that pulls me right in. I hope you'll stop by and see what I mean soon.
5. And finally, just because I can (and I know it'll make him throw a tizzy), I'm re-awarding the Zombie Chickens to Suldog. He'll probably enjoy two packs of crazed egg-squirters over at his place! Mwahahahaha.

Thank you for the unending kindnesses and prayer power on my Mom's behalf. Love ya for it!

Good Reads & Scrap Happy

Today is the official launch date of Kathryn Magendie's Tender Graces and I cannot wait to hold a copy in my hand! The first Amazon review is up too. It is purely magical:

Kathryn Magendie's debut novel is a tour de force of lyrical storytelling, heartfelt intuitions, and exquisite detail. TENDER GRACES qualifies as an "Oprah book" in the best sense of the term: This story of a dysfunctional family who are neither all bad nor all good, but simply very flawed and human, examines a broad spectrum of marriage, childhood, emotional abuse, forgiveness and family loyalty. Warm without being overly sentimental, funny without being frivolous, and poignant without being maudlin, Tender Graces is a strong start for Magendie's career as a novelist. If you love the novels of Barbara Kingsolver, Anne Tyler and Sue Monk Kidd then this book is for you.

And speaking of book launches, Kim Richardson's The Unbreakable Child just came into the world this month also. I'm almost through reading it, and all I can say is this -- it's devastatingly honest and a page turner. If you haven't already, order one soon!

Thanks to Rebecca Nazar of Twist Whimsy for the Honest Scrap blog award! Since I love making new meals from scraps, the new bling makes me smile. The rules of bestowal say:

This award is bestowed upon a fellow blogger whose blog content or design is, in the giver’s opinion, brilliant.

1. When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to the said person so everyone knows she/he is real.

2. Choose a minimum of 5 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have five friends. Show the five random victims’ names and links and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with Honest Weblog. Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon.

3. List at least ten (10) honest things about yourself. Then pass it on!

1. I really do love grits.
2. I cleaned houses & offices for 10 years, but could really use a maid.
3. Love dogs, but not so much the other four-legged fur balls.
4. Naps are one of my secret pleasures.
5. My feet are huge.
6. Poetry peels my apple.
7. My finished manuscript keeps taunting me because I have not worked on revisions in a long time.
8. I have an identical twin sister...and she's thin.
9. The big Five-Oh approacheth.
10. I have two tattoos.

How can I possibly choose just five blogs for the award? I'll just run my mouse randomly down my Rockin' Blogs list with my eyes closed because I love each and every one of them and let Chance pick~~

• Eight Days to Amish - Who wouldn't love a guy who once ate like Elvis for a week in the name of research?


• Midlife Jobhunter - Because she's trying to find a balance between home and the workplace. No easy journey, that.


• Scobberlotch - Dontcha love the name? This is the bloggy home of Karen Harrington, author of Janeology.


• Catbird Scout - Home of Deb Schucka filled with beautiful photos and life commentary.


• Grosvenor Square - Melissa Marsh always generously shares writing thoughts and other goodies.

Lunacy Lunacy- Episode 10 & Some Blog Bling

Happy Friday and weekend coming to y'all! And without further ado (because I'm running late getting to my parents') here's the latest edition of



~~LEDBETTER LUNACY~~

**Oops, see, I told ya I was tired. Called myself by youngest child's name (Court Jester) when I was/am, in fact, Castle Wench!

And on other news, Bella at That Damn Expat passed on some lovely blog bling called the Lovey Award to me. Thank you, dear girlie. If you haven't checked out Bella's extraordinary blog yet, please do so posthaste. It is full to the brim with off-the-wall humor and interesting topics. You'll get a hoot out of Bella's blog!

Award fine print says: "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind of bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to three bloggers who must choose three more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Oh, the pickin' & choosin' is the hard part for me, so I'm running my cursor at random over my sidebar's Rockin' Blogs with my eyes closed, and where it lands is gonna determine the winners:

Deb Shucka
Wendy
Jessica

Mo Blog Love

Let's get this party started! (Are you as tired of that worn out saying as I am?) In any case, happy Monday. I'm particularly happy today after the bad-thing-that-coulda-been-much-worse that happened over the weekend.

First, thanks to Jessica at BookingIt for a nifty-fied blogging award. One made even better by the fact that I'm not sure I'm pronouncing it correctly. *smile* I do appreciate it, though, and you can see it newly displayed over yonder on the sidebar!

Here be the award 411 and rules:

Premio-Dardas: "This award 'acknowledges the values that every Blogger displays in their effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values with each message they write. Awards like this have been created with the intention of promoting community among Bloggers. It's a way to show appreciation and gratitude for work that adds value to the Web."

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who granted it to you, along with his/her blog link.

2. Pass the award to (15) other blogs that you feel are worthy of this recognition. Remember to contact each of them to let them know they have been chosen as recipients. [This is the hard part. How to choose amongst friends?]

Kathryn, whose blog TENDER GRACES shows us the possibilities of getting a wonderful book published. (Plus, I like her wanky posts.)

Melissa, because she's an encourager.

Travis and Kimmi of THE UNBREAKABLE CHILD, for the recent bad times they've experienced, and because I love their blogs.

Amy Sue Nathan. I love her parenting columns (see sidebar icon) and take on the writing life.

For Bella at That Damn Expat because she deserves one for the crazy neighbors surrounding her.

Colby...for her video expertise and off-the-wall posts.

To Tim Green of RATTLE. Love that publication and his editorial brilliance.

Also for Linda and AVT Coach, because they are kind and good.

Terri needs one too, because she always thinks of others first.

Jinksy, how could I leave you and your "Nipple Notes" out?

To t i m, whose icon is the most original I've ever seen, and whose droll posts I so enjoy.

And for the sheer pinkness of her blog, Ang.

Jenn Johansson also deserves some blog bling for sharing the writer journey.

To Carrie, who sees, hears and shares.

And for Small Footprints, for helping keep our Mother green.

Yeah, yeah, I picked more than 15, but y'all know I don't do maff, so tough tooters.