Linda Ford

I read an article in the Jan. 18, 2010 Maclean’s magazine about a young woman who decided to follow Oprah for a year doing everything Oprah said she must do. She said she spent 1,320 hours that year or 6.6 hours a day, paying attention to and then executing Oprah’s advice. It cost her more than $4,700 (US) for the self-improving products.  She kept a daily blog that turned into a hard-cover book.

I do not believe in the gospel according to Oprah but I wanted to read what this young woman had discovered. I was curious about this blogging-for-a-year thing. Why is it so appealing that the blogs turn into books and even movies such as Julie and Julia?

So I went on-line and put my name on the list to get the book from the library. I was third in the queue so obviously others were curious and/or avid Oprah fans.

I got a call the other day that the book was ready for me to pick up and I went to the library. The place was like a busy summer playground. Women talked on their cell phones. Children scampered about screaming for their mothers. One little boy tried to climb up the back of the bookshelves. Whatever happened to quiet libraries?

The book is very interesting. Okrant did her best to be unbiased in her research. She does comment that, "…I am overwhelmed by trying to keep up with Winfrey." She mentions how she feels, "…my identity slipping away. Initially, this was intentional. I got the ball rolling when I decided to follow Oprah’s plan for living rather than listen to my own intuition." "It’s getting harder and harder to keep up. I haven’t felt this much pressure to look and act a certain way since high school."

Okrant points out the positives and the negatives of Oprah’s show. She makes some insightful observations about why Oprah has been so successful. You might be surprised at how she evaluates this.

I would recommend this book if only for an insight into this popular phenomenon of our society.

But I am curious about the blogging part of her experiment. She garnered a huge following. What makes a blog draw so much attention? What is it that draws you into a blog? Or do you ignore this whole scenario? I’d love to hear your comments at

linda@lindaford.org  (you can find a live link by going to my website connected directly to this blog page.)

Let me begin with a story.

There was a young woman who greatly admired the painting of an up-and-coming young artist. Just looking at it gave her pleasure. The price was too high for her to afford it. But one day the gallery moved and had to let some pictures go. The painting had gone on sale and the price lowered to one she could afford but she didn’t buy it. Because in the move the frame had been damaged and now there was a tiny nick on one corner. She said, "All I’ll ever see is that flaw."

How sad that one imperfection could rob her of the chance to enjoy a beautiful painting.

Monet’s Jardin a Sainte-Adresse.

This story reminds me of how so many of us see life. We overlook the wonderful gifts we’ve been given because of some tiny thing that isn’t quite right. In a part of the world that enjoys such affluence we are likely the most ungrateful of people. Seeing the destruction in Haiti reminds us just how fortunate we are. But how many of us are grateful?

So this year I decided to practice an attitude of gratitude and every day write in my journal 5 GRATITUDES. I am grateful for water in abundance, a warm home, safety when I walk the streets in town, freedom to worship, to read, to talk; for family, for friends…I could go on and on. And perhaps I should. As Doris Day said,  Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty. Or think of the Pilgrims. They’ made seven times more graves than huts.  No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.’  ~H.U. Westermayer

As the Bible reminds us in Psalm 107:1, ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.’

the Angelus by Jean-Francois Millet illustrates gratitude.

This topic reminds me of a book I read this week:

Phil Calloway is a comedian but when his life started to fall apart, he wondered where to find the humor. In this book he talks about the choices we have about how we face life. We can choose to mope and complain or choose to find the joy and the laughter, trusting God to provide each in every day. A fun, lighthearted read on a difficult subject. I found it an encouraging book.

I’d like to introduce the cover for my April 2010 release, THE COWBOY’S BABY. I love the pose they have of the little girl and the man. I hope it will entice many readers to pick up the book and read it. Hopefully they will enjoy the story equally as well as the cover.

WHAT I’M DOING TO GET ORGANIZED:

One thing always needs doing, every day, every SINGLE day, is supper. I don’t know how many times I’ve looked at the clock knowing I have done nothing about supper and men are starting to circle like vultures. 🙂 So I have been trying to change that as much as I can. One thing I’ve done is prepare meat ahead of time. This is how to prepare a large batch of ground beef.

Take about 10 pounds of ground beef. Spread a little at a time on a cookie sheet. Do not crowd it. Bake in a 350-375 degree oven for about 10 mins. Remove cookies sheets (I do two at a time), drain and break up the lumps of meat. Return to oven and continue cooking until all pink is gone. It’s okay if some pieces get a little crispy. Salt and pepper to taste. Dump cooked meat into a large bowl to cool and continue cooking the rest of the ground beef until it is all cooked.

Meanwhile, stir fry a finely chopped onion. Mix into cooked meat. Allow it to all cool then package into freezer bags in quantities sufficient for a meal. It can be used in soup, stew, chili, casseroles or anything you’d normally use ground beef for. It helps make mealtime easy.

HEALTHY HINT: Put drained beef in a colander and wash with hot water to remove more of the fat. Put back in oven to cook/brown more. Browning again after washing is essential for good flavor. (This also works well if you are frying ground beef.)

ANOTHER HINT: grate a carrot and stir fry with onion for added nutrition. One medium carrot for each pound or two of meat works well.

WHAT I’M READING:

I am a Claude Monet fan. One thing I really enjoyed on my long-ago trip to London <insert longing sigh> was the National Gallery where I got to see Monet paintings up close. I enjoyed equally as much my visit to Musee D’Orsay in Paris where they have much space devoted to this famous French painter.

I discovered a fascinating book in our library called, MONET AND THE IMPRESSIONISTS FOR KIDS by Carol Sabbeth.    It describes in easy-to-read style the beginning of Impressionism. There are some lovely quotes. Claude Monet, “When you paint, try to forget what objects you have before you, a tree, a house, a field, or whatever. Instead think, ‘Here is a little square of blue, here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow,’ and paint it like it looks.”

Pierre Auguste Renoir thought paintings should be "likable, joyous , and pretty." He said, "There are enough unpleasant things in this world. We don’t have to paint them as well."

The book is interspersed with drawing and painting lessons. They were so simple and straightforward I am almost convinced I could become a painter artist. (Though not of the caliber of these famous painters. 🙂 )

On second thought, I think I will return to my writing. LOL.

What? It’s Saturday again? Already? Where has the week gone? I had such wonderful ideas of balance and organization.

It seems all I did was write and deal with interruptions. Mostly in the form of phone calls. (Do you still have kittens to give away? I could have give them away three times over!)

Why the pressure on writing? It’s because I have 2 deadlines this month. One was met Wednesday when I sent the package off via courier. The other has to be met before the end of the month. Plus I had non-negotiable demands from editors on yet-to-be released books such as filling out the detailed information required for cover art. DAKOTA FATHER is the title of my Jan. 2011 release. It goes rather nicely with DAKOTA CHILD (Sept. 09) and DAKOTA COWBOY (July 2010).

So most days this past week has found me at my computer.

My to-do list has changed very little all week. In fact, rather than change the list, I’ve taken to simply crossing off yesterday and changing it to today.

But as soon as I get these projects done I will find a way to be balanced–my goal for the year.

I’ve been reading some wonderful research books. GOLD RUSH WOMEN (picture to the left) is full of information and stories of unusual women. Anna De Graf was 55 years old when she climbed the Chilkoot Pass walking with the help of a crutch, her sore feet wrapped in rags. She wasn’t looking for gold but for her youngest son who had gone in search of gold. She supported herself working as a seamstress, sewing tents, making clothes for the miners and dance hall girls.

Ethel Berry found Klondike gold before the great Klondike Stampede. She spent the previous winter huddled in a small wooden shack with only a flour sack for a window. She panned paydirt by lamplight in a washtub

. She arrived in Seattle in rags but with $100,000 in gold in her bedroll.

Josephine Marcus Earp (yes, Wyatt Earp’s wife) set out with her husband to the gold fields. She turned back when she discovered she was pregnant but they set out again the next year. Again, they did not make it before freeze up. In the end they opened a canteen and sold beer and cigarettes.

This is a very interesting book about the last frontier in North America.

By the way, I intended to be more organized this year but we won’t talk about that this week for obvious reasons. (Most the total lack of organization.)

For some reason a recent discussion on one of my writers’ loops focused on desks. Perhaps because with Christmas approaching, there were those who hoped for new desks, or new chairs.

I found the discussion interesting.

There was a woman who had been moved from her office because of a leak that ruined one wall. She went to the partially converted garage which would one day become their extra family room. However, it wasn’t finished and as cold weather approached she had to move indoors and set up shop in the living room.

Another worked out of a credenza in the living room with the big screen TV close by.

A third told how her first office was a former 10 foot  X 10 foot bedroom. She outgrew it and they built a room over the garage. That information puzzled me. How do you outgrow a room? Does your computer get bigger? I thought they were getting smaller? And how much money does she make writing that she could afford to build an addition? A lot more than me!!

Some posted pictures of their desk, workspaces and work areas. Wow. I couldn’t believe it. They were so neat. Totally unlike the condition of my office at the time. Have a look.

My room is 10 X 10. It serves as both writing area, farm business area and every other type of work area. This is Christmas present wrapping in progress.

This is my current background picture on the computer screen. A picture of Alaska as I work on my Alaska story. And a stack of research books and notes.

This is the timer I have to use, at times, to make myself work. I set it for 15 to 30 minutes and force myself to type until the timer goes off. Or the phone rings. Or someone comes to the door. (Whichever comes first!!)

So my question still is, who outgrows an office? (At least I have one and don’t have to try and work in the living room.) And who can afford a big addition? (I can GUARANTEE she didn’t pay for it with her writing money. And if she did I gotta ask, hasn’t she anything more fun to do with that money? Like travel? Buy more books? Whatever?)

PS. The mess is almost cleaned up as we celebrate the family Christmas get-together today.