Vocal Expressions

Today, I saw Bad Teacher and it was so hilarious. Cameron Diaz plays Elizabeth Halsey, a foul-mouth, pot smoking, devious, non-caring junior high school teacher who would do anything to get money to get her boob job. Why? Well, after being dumped by her fiance who finally recognizes that she only wanted him for his money, she has to return to the job she hates...teaching. Down on her luck and living with a roommate she found on Craigslist, she has to find a way to make money to get larger boobs to snatch up another unsuspecting rich man. In walks Justin Timberlake who plays Scott Delacorte, a substitute teacher and Elizabeth has set her sights on him. However, Scott falls for Amy Squirrel, played by Lucy Punch, who is a bubbly, nosy, well-loved teacher and Elizabeth's rival. The rest of the movie is nothing short of funny. It's light and a little over the top, but who wouldn't love to hate her! P.S. I saw the preview for The Killer Elite and I'm so there! Robert De Niro

Located in Canton, a neighborhood located in Baltimore, Mama's On The Half Shell is one of the best places for happy hour on a Friday evening. This place has two levels of seating capacity, with pictures of fishing paraphenilia and a picture of the late Governor of Maryland, William Donald Schaefer hanging on the wall on the second level. The food and drinks - well, what can I say? Excellent. I ordered a Mojito and there was no skimping on the liquor. Then came my seafood chowder which was rich, thick, creamy, and delicious. When the server brought out my main meal, the salmon blt, the portion was huge and there was no way I could eat it all. Overall, I had a great time hanging out with friends and I would definitely be back to this quaint location!

This week's motto was "Do the Write Thing." This meant that I would write something every single day. However, I got derailed on Wednesday to have dinner with a friend and on Thursday, I tuned into two webinars which covered different writing related topics. These two days that I went without writing creatively allowed me time to process new information and get back on the horse. I gleaned a lot from those webinars which is a part of the writing and ultimately marketing process of getting your manuscripts ready for review. The first webinar dealt with how to prepare and present yourself for a radio and television interview. Brian Jud, the presenter, shared some excellent tips that I will use for upcoming radio and televsion interviews. He reminded listeners that you should always project a smile in your voice especially for a ratio interview. For a television interview, his main tip was to look at the interviewer and not at the camera, bring a copy of your book and be ent

This week I gave myself a motto to live by for the week. The motto was "Just Do It!" For some reason, I felt instantly engergized and empowered. I kept up my writing routine, went to the gym four times, entertained friends without a care that I would have to go to bed early to rise for work the next day, went on an unexpected adventure that completely took me out of my comfort zone,reviewed my marketing strategy for my novel and then topped the week off with pampering myself with a mani/pedicure and design. It's amazing how pumped you can be when you set yourself a goal, create a dream, develop target dates to complete things and stay focused to accomplish them. This week I was on a roll and look forward to giving myself another motto to live by for the upcoming week!

Today, I attended the closing of the mentoring program which signifies the end of the program school year. I was very proud to see so many parents, mentees, mentors and others who gave support in some way throughout the entire program school year. The theme for the ceremony was "Blending Old Traditions with New Ideas." This theme brought a lot home for me because I've been a mentor for the past six years and have had a few mentees who didn't quite understand the value of what we were trying to give them. However,the mentee that I'm currently assigned to is very much aware of what the program and fellowshiping with other mentees mean to her. It's a joy to have this understanding which is shared with the parent as well. To me, it's a collaborative effort on everyone's part to make the mentoring program the best that it can be. With that being said, I look forward to the next program year with fresh new ideas to keep all the mentees and mentors engaged!