Oregon Goes Green(er)

Portland might be the city of roses, and it may be the season of love and wearing red but Oregon is definitely coming out all green and I'm not talking about leprechauns. We have bikes galore, MAX, recycling centers and stations everywhere. So what more can we do?

We may be the first state to ban plastic bags. Read all about it here. So, what do you think? Are you a bag toting shopper? What do you think of banning the plastic bags?

Wordle

If you write, and you'd like to see your text in a pretty word bubble, check out this site: Wordle and run your text through it.

I ran Mary Had a Little Lamb through it just to test it out. It's fun. Try it and tell me what you think.

Answer to Word for Wedneday

The English language is always evolving. It morphs and changes quicker than we writers can keep up with. So, here's a site that will help you find words you might not know the meaning to.

Hangry is a mix of two words that can be found in the Urban Dictionary. It's a fun place to find new "trendy" words. Check it out here.

Hangry means: hungry and angry. It's a word that was invented to describe that feeling when you get when you are out at a restaurant and have been waiting over an hour to get the meal that you have ordered.

Word for Wednesday - a game for Writers

Play along guess what it means then come back around 3:00 to see, if you were write or wrong ;)

Word: Hangry

Put your guess in the comments - it's fun to play

RIDDLE ME THIS

What do you call someone wearing sunglasses in Portland, Oregon?


Come on take a guess...


Scroll down


And down further






Answer: An Optimist

Name Calling

What's in a name?

I know my Mom and Dad argued about what they were going to name us. You’d think since they had nine kids, they could simply take turns. Nope. One of my brothers actually came home from the hospital with “Boy” listed on his birth certificate because Mom and Dad couldn’t agree.

Dad wanted to name him Shenandoah. Mom didn’t. She wasn’t going to give in. And so “Boy” is the name shown on his birth certificate.

My sister and I have rhyming names. I kind of think Mom was running out of ideas and at the bottom of her list, when we came along. People sometimes think we’re twins because our names are so similar. I think it’s funny because I’m older ;) She doesn’t.

But as writers we all have to ask ourselves what is in a name? How should the name reflect on our characters? Should they sound strong and forceful or meek and mild and can names do that for a character? It’s like predisposing our characters to certain traits simply because of their name.

Harry Potter, for instance, was a rather mundane name for a wizard but there must have been hidden meaning in his name…right? I looked it up to see what it means. Can you guess?

It means "Army Ruler". Or according to the UK, it comes from the name Henry, which was a name for Kings. So, maybe it's not so unusual for a special wizard.

This is just to remind all your writers and/or parents out there: names have a huge impact on people and we should consider them strongly when we are writing and/or planning how we want to portray or pre-dispose the "people" in our stories.

Earth-Friendly Friday

Reknit - have you heard of it?

It's a site where a guy's mom will take your old, worn out sweaters and knitted things and turn them into new sustainable items--for a fee of course. But, I think it's a cool way to reuse, recraft and redo.

How 'bout you?

What do you think? Would you be willing to try such a site?