October 30, 2013
by TammyeHoney Leave a comment

Weekly Writing Challenge: Dear TammyeHoney

Weekly Writing Challenge: Dear ____________________

by Erica on October 28, 2013

To participate, tag your post with DPchallenge and include a link to this post, to generate a pingback and help others find the challenges. Please make sure your post has been specifically written in response to this challenge. We’ll highlight some of our favorites on Freshly Pressed on Friday, and in our monthly newsletter.

For this week’s writing challenge, channel your inner Abigail Von Buren. Experiment with the question and answer format. Taking inspiration from a question you’ve been asked recently, whether in conversation with a friend or sent in from a reader, don your best counselor hat and share your expertise.

Not up for kickstarting your career as an advice columnist? We’ve got a few more ways to help get you involved with this week’s focus on advice.

What’s the best, or worst, piece of advice you’ve ever gotten?
You’re the most important writer in the world, and everyone will be tuning in to your blog to listen to the one bit of knowledge you most want to share. What is it?
Do you live by the advice you give? Sure, it’s easy to dish out opinions, but are you a pillar of your own beliefs?

I give lessons on Cooking, Crocheting, Sewing and Knitting on a regular basis. I do not feel this is classified as advice. It is simply someone who has worked the problem successfully at a prior time who is able to lend a helping hand to someone who has never walked that mile yet.

Helping a friend who is a new mother and is nursing her first baby my advice is very simple. The baby will let you know when things are not quite right. If things are flowing in a set pattern and routine then life is good. The plumber never puts in new pipes if there is not a problem.

If a problem is not going to make a difference a year from now, perhaps it does not need to be a top priority on the list. A lot of problems have a way of working themselves out on their own without doing anything but praying for the correct way for God’s will to be done. I always to suggest to pray for three days on the same subject before making a decision. This gives a person time to think with a clearer head and thought patterns.

Just thinking before you speak as to how it will have an effect on others will sometimes change the wording that would have otherwise been blurted out.

Remembering others and that they have feelings that can get hurt. To never speak when angry and to bite the tongue if it is going to be a cruel comment will save on an embarasing moment later on.

What questions as my reader would you like to see answered here?

Submit your questions and I will be glad to honestly answer them for you. (Or find a great source for your answer)

TammyeHoney’s Advice column is now open to her readers.

Bring on the questions….

I am ready and waiting..

Tammye Honey

June 30, 2013
by TammyeHoney 6 Comments

A Call From My Hubby’s Nephew

My hubby has a special nephew.
He can be a bit overwhelming at times.
He is now in his thirties. He lives with his mom and grandparents.
My hubby says that I am funny when I deal with him.
I insist that he uses respect.
His family says that he can’t remember from day to day.
I disagree.
It is funny that he can now remember that when I answer the phone, the only way he can speak with his uncle is to call him by Uncle, not his first name.
When I answer, he knows that if he does not, he will not talk to him.

Today he called with the request for me to look up a word and give him the definition.
The word was does.
Forty five minutes later, I hung up the telephone knowing that he finally understood the meaning.

I took the time with him, using the word in sentences.
I also got across the point of various tenses, pronouns and verbs associated that were confusing him.
I did not have to do this.
I could have just hung up the phone after I told him his uncle was sleeping.

It did not take away from my day at all to spend the 45 minutes with him.
He was happy when he hung up.
He was no longer aggrivated like he had been when he first called.
I never asked why he needed to know.
I decided that the can of worms that had brought on the frustration just needed to be calmed.

By his being satisfied with the answer, his day will now be better.
He will have a calmer day.

In turn, so will the others who live with him.
Why this could not have been done on his end remains a mystery.

Perhaps a dictionary for Christmas will be a nice gift.

Sometimes all a person needs in life is to know that somewhere they have a friend who will listen…

Thank you for reading,

Tammye Honey

June 16, 2013
by TammyeHoney 4 Comments

Daily Prompt: Hello Book It Has Been A While

Daily Prompt: Bookworm

by michelle w. on June 16, 2013

Tell us about the last book you read (Why did you choose it? Would you recommend it?).

To go further, write a post based on its subject matter.

Photographers, artists, poets: show us WORDS.

I have had two books sitting on my shelf that I have been reading. For some reason, reading does not come as easy to me now that I am older as it did in my youth.

Not counting my Kindle subscription for http://www.magazines.com/crochet-today

Crochet Today! Magazine

I read that every month when it comes out as I have students who need new patterns. I also did not include all my cookbooks as they are reference books.

http://www.amazon.com/Eat-Pray-Love-Everything-Indonesia

http://www.amazon.com/Look-Me-Eye-Life-Aspergers

The most intriguiging book that I actually did audio was debated when I was in college and I was in the Literary Guild. I was on the panel and due to the book being auditory I picked up a lot that the basic reader on the panel did not.

Product Details
http://www.amazon.com/Horse-Whisperer-Nicholas-Evans

The audio version was more indepth and you could feel what the author was getting across by the tones of the voices. I do not kiss and tell so you are on your own to find out details. I am not the person who sits in the room and tells you the ending of the movie before it is over.

My next purchase is to get the two hard cover books on audio. I seem to actually get through books much better that way. Since my kindle died due to being plugged into the wrong outlet, I have to decide what new one I want to get. That will start me on my way to my audio adventure.

Here are what other Daily Prompt Writer’s had to say on this Father’s Day (Happy Fathers Day to even the single moms).

What is your book that you are currently reading? Do you have one you are struggling through? Let me hear about it.

Happy Reading

Tammye Honey

June 3, 2013
by TammyeHoney 9 Comments

Tossing This To My Readers…Is This Fair?

Principal issues statement after sending Calgary boy who tackled knife-wielder home

BRIAR WAS PUNISHED AT HIS SCHOOL, SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD FOR STEPPING IN A AND HELPING ANOTHER STUDENT FROM BEING STABBED TUESDAY MORNING

Credits: DARREN MAKOWICHUK/QMI AGENCY

CALGARY — The principal of a Calgary school where one student broke up a fight that could’ve turned into a stabbing has made a statement to parents.

On May 28, Briar MacLean, 13, a Grade 7 student at Sir John A. Macdonald school, opted for action instead of running in search of a teacher when a student pulled a knife during a fight.

After tackling the student, MacLean was sent to the school office, then home.

His mom, Leah O’Donnell, took exception to her boy being made to feel like he was in trouble, and QMI Agency readers shared that sentiment.

The school and Calgary Board of Education didn’t comment until Friday, in a letter to parents on the school’s website.

“The student who reportedly intervened was asked to remain in the office to explain what happened but was in no way disciplined,” school principal Michael Bester wrote.

“Two students were suspended as a result of their behaviour in this incident.

“It is not recommended that students intervene in incidents such as this to ensure their own safety. There was a teacher nearby who could have been asked to assist before the third student became involved.”

O’Donnell maintained MacLean was sternly lectured for “playing the hero.”

O’Donnell is still proud of her boy’s decision to step in. Weapon or no weapon, assault is assault, she said.

“If someone were punching me in the face, I’d want somebody to stop them,” she said.

Video of News

I toss this out to my readers to see what your opinion of this situation is. Do you feel that this was handled correctly?
Did the student step over his bounds?
Should he have been suspended for his actions due to the circumstances of his reactions?

Would love to hear your reactions so leave me a comment.

Tammye Honey

April 21, 2013
by TammyeHoney 2 Comments

Daily Prompt: Having a Critical Eye

Daily Prompt: Critical Eye

by michelle w. on April 21, 2013

Write about the subject you usually blog about as if you were a music critic.

I do not brag to know how to be a music critic. My hubby says I have that look…that critical eye that says it all without saying a word. That is not what I think that they meant here.

I decided to go and acquire some assistance on this matter and http://www.iup.edu/honors/page.aspx?id=27011 was more than kind to furnish me with all of the material that I hope I will need.

Writing a Music Critique

What Is a Critique?

A critique analyzes, interprets, describes, and evaluates an event, answering the questions: “How? Why? How well?” A critique does not have to be entirely negative; it may be positive, negative, or a combination of the two.

The object of this exercise is to listen to music with a discriminating ear. This does not mean that you cannot also enjoy the experience as well. A good critic walks into an event with an open mind, seeking to gain insight through a particular performance. There is also a human side of being a critic. Although your critique will not be read by the performers, you should always keep in mind that there are real people involved who in most cases have put forth their best efforts. Not withstanding, an honest critique can also be a source for valuable, constructive suggestions.

When writing your critique, please include the following:

Introduce the titles of the piece(s), composers, place of performance, date of performance, and performers involved. If it is an operatic, musical, or vocal performance, include the text’s authors as well as a brief description of the plot (if known).

How Do I Write a Critique?

The very nature of music resists attempts to verbalize it—that said, when doing analysis, avoid overly sentimental, “precious” description of musical events, as they just take the place of more serious discussion.

Avoid the “one thing after another” or “listing” approach to writing—that is, always reporting the musical events in the order in which they occur (i.e., the first movement does A, B, and C, and then the second movement does D, E, F, etc.)

You may critique the performers, conductor, organization of the event, and even the audience.

Instead, try and answer the following questions:

What was your overall reaction to the performance?
What was the strongest element of the performance?
What was the weakest element of the performance?
Was the event well-organized? Was there any element of the performance that detracted from your concentration or enhanced it?
If the performance is vocal, how did the text correspond with the music? Did the music communicate the text effectively?
If the performance was purely instrumental, what visual images and/or emotions might have been conveyed by the music? Did the music communicate effectively?
If there was a conductor, did you feel the conductor communicated his or her interpretation of the music to the players and the audience?

In addition, a simple method of describing the actual music itself is SHMRG: Sound, Harmony, Melody, Rhythm, and Growth (texture/formal structure). Even though many of you are not Music majors, you can list one thing about all or a few of these items that caught your attention. Since our minds cannot retain all that our ears hear in most cases, focus on a few key events and hold on to them as the music unfolds.

Some helpful hints:

Listen to the pieces in advance. The Music Library has an enormous collection of recordings, and the Classical Music Library or Naxos database, available on the IUP Libraries website, is also a good resource.
Read the program notes while waiting for the performance to start.
Choose the right seat—usually the back of the floor section or the front portion of the balcony are the best acoustical places to sit.

According to http://www.iup.edu/honors/page.aspx?id=96803 writing has very easy concepts to follow:

Writing requires a thinking process. Most of the problems students have with college writing are not matters of grammar and punctuation, but are matters of learning how to think critically, how to generate ideas, to organize, and to support those ideas with concrete, specific evidence. Your own experiences are important in thinking and writing, but most college writing involves relating your experiences and thinking to the important ideas of others. In this course, reading and thinking about other people’s ideas is part of the course. Responding in both an affective (meaning “in the realm of the emotions”) and a disciplined, critical way to the important ideas of what we read is part of the writing process.

Revising and learning to edit are a major part of the writing process, even for experienced professionals. You will have a chance to revise the paper after it has been peer edited and read by your unit professor. The final paper grade will be based on your final revision. Individual conferences with professors contribute to student growth as writers. In addition to two scheduled conferences per semester, we invite you to come in any time you need help. Unit papers are only one of the ways in which writing is incorporated into the core courses. Writing instruction, pre-writing activities, journals, critical-reading exercises (including problem solving, some of it collaborative), group work, and conferences with faculty will be part of each unit.

Perhaps it is my lack of coffee this morning, I am not sure but I can’t seem to find my critical eye as I normally blog on food or daily prompts so I will go and find my eye and coffee while you can check out what the other great Daily Prompt Writers had to say:

Keep your eyes open, I may be back if I find the critical eye.

Tammye Honey

April 7, 2013
by TammyeHoney 6 Comments

Daily Prompt: Speaking to High School Alma Mater

Daily Prompt: Alma Mater

by michelle w. on April 7, 2013

You’ve been asked to speak at your high school alma mater — about the path of life. (Whoa.) Draft the speech.

Since my graduation class was so large, this is a far cry from my being the “Chosen One” to be doing this speech. I did not come into Herkimer Senior High School in Herkimer New York until my Tenth year. I did participate in sports. However, the wind had been cut from my sails and I did not have the drive that I had in my previous high school where I was active in sports, chorus, the theater and other groups.

I had been pulled in the middle of my tenth year. I landed in the hospital for three months for an exploratory surgery that went bad. I had a stomach pump and two IV’s which I dragged along in the hospital corridors for exercise. I had a tutor to try and keep my school work up till I returned after Spring break.

I was not out to win any popularity contests. I was simply there to finish out my few years and get into college. Something that was put on hold for me till my two daughters were much older and I was divorced.

My words of advice. Do not put your dreams on hold.

Follow your dreams but be sure that they are realistic and are true to yourself. Do not try and do something that is going to come back and make you shoot yourself in the foot later.

I appreciate having waited to go to college later in life. Yes I was older in my class. So was everyone else in my early morning classes. I was able to get good grades and was able to get a good job on campus as a tutor to help supplement my costs of college.

Appreciate your skills and do not be afraid to think outside of the box for what you want in life.

Go after your dreams. They are not going to come knocking at your door and come looking for you.

What would you say to your alma mater if you had the chance?

Would love to hear…

Here are what some of the early bird daily prompt writers had to say on the subject:

Tammye Honey

March 17, 2013
by TammyeHoney 7 Comments

Daily Prompt: Bone of Contention

by michelle w. on March 17, 2013

Pick a contentious issue about which you care deeply — it could be the same-sex marriage debate, or just a disagreement you’re having with a friend. Write a post defending the opposite position, and then reflect on what it was like to do that.

Our little grandson (adopted) has visited this weekend with his brother and sister. He has had the fabulous chore of writing “I will not lie” 1000 times. This is a homework assignment for him that stemmed back first off due to him picking on a girl in his class. He fibbed to the teacher and his mother on four different occasions about doing this with other classmates who came forward to say that it was him. The school has a 0 tolerance rule for bullying of any form.

Just to lay the ground rules and story.

Since he is visiting it has been my task to make sure that no television and fun things have been allowed that would normally be. While his sister and brother do enjoy them. This is killing me, but I am the tough nut who is following the rules.

My hubby feels I am a ________. He feels that the child has a crush on the little girl subconsciously and that is why he is acting the way he is. He feels that it is something that he will out grow and that boys will be boys. This has made for an interesting weekend. He has offered to copy pages and have him put the numbers on. I have explained that teaching him to cheat does not help him to learn consequences for actions.

My hubby totally disagrees with me that the child is way to young to understand what his actions have really done. I do not agree and feel that he needs to understand that the feelings of the girl have been hurt and she has been humiliated though his not being nice.

What do you think? Are we crossing the Third Amendment as my hubby states? Or are we doing a responsible parenting issue and nipping it as it happens?

Would love to hear from you what you feel.

Here are what some other issues that the Daily Prompt Writer wrote about:

March 15, 2013
by TammyeHoney 7 Comments

Daily Prompt: My Comfort Zone

Daily Prompt: Comfort Zone

by michelle w. on March 15, 2013

What are you more comfortable with — routine and planning, or laissez-faire spontaneity?

Writing is a struggle against silence. Carlos Fuentes

I would have to say that by the time you reach my age you have a set routine. It is not really a planned affair. It is something that just happens. When you have animals they sort of mold you into a routine as well. Feeding times, potty times, etc. When you throw a few home based businesses in to the mixture there is a bit more of a routine also.

The Laissez-Faire Spontaneity comes in where as each day is different as to which customer walks through the door. You can not plan that. You are prepared each day for any customer and what questions that you think they might have.

There are days when I have made a meal that sits and waits in the oven on warm till we are finished waiting on customers till all of their needs have been met. Days when I realize that at 6 PM after several sewing students that I have not eaten all day.

I have purchased some Fruit Bars so that I can munch on them during the course of a day so that I am getting something healthy and nutritious down me and not going without food thanks to an awesome friend. She introduced me to them as they are corn free and are all natural. (Elizabeth Hasselbeck’s NoGii No Gluten Paleo Bars) I have the Nuts About Tropical Fruit and the Nuts About Berries.

What is your day like? Are you well planned out? Are you a take it as it goes person? I would love to hear…

Here are what some other Daily Prompt Writers had to say on the matter:

Daily Post: Planned Whimsical Living (midlifemusingsblog.wordpress.com)

February 17, 2013
by TammyeHoney 5 Comments

Daily Prompt: My Mentors In Life

Daily Prompt: Mentor Me

by michelle w. on February 17, 2013

Have you ever had a mentor? What was the greatest lesson you learned from him or her?

Thanks for the great idea, ozarkmountainhiker!

I feel that I have had many mentors in my long life. Each time that I have learned something new in my life a new mentor has stepped in to teach me.

My main Mentor in my life first and foremost is God. Have to give Him all the credit. Without God where are we? With all of the teachings that have been instilled in my head since childhood for guidance through life when I am alone and feel there is no one to turn to I always find my answers and comfort with God.

Second Mentors are a tie. Two grandmothers who were tough. Both in instilling the religion (One Greek Orthodox and One Catholic) with Vacation Bible School of Baptist thrown in there by both. They taught me to cook, manners, etiquette (walking with the books on my head), gardening, etc.

Google Images.com

Various jobs where I had to be trained to learn the position. In a cable department where I had to learn the sequence of colors to go with the cable a Korean woman named Hiroka taught me to name each color after a food then pretend like I was making a recipe.

Red=Rice, Blue=Banana, Green=Grapes, etc.

Following my divorce, I went back to college and with my Business Degree I was able to do an internship with the local Stewart Ice Cream Shop where I had to learn to become a manager.

I had to report back to corporate with a ten page report weekly as well as to my professor. I also had to put in ten hours per week volunteer time at the local stores to write my report. While at a corporate meeting, I was taking notes for my report. I had no idea when I came in to the meeting and took the open chair that I was sitting next to the corporate president.

He watched me throughout the meeting as I sat there writing throughout the meeting. When we took a break, he asked why I wrote constantly during the various speakers. Still not knowing who he was, I simply told him that I was collecting material for my next report to corporate to keep the president happy. He just laughed and asked me if that was difficult. I said I did not know. I just wanted to keep my ideas fresh and a new prospective that perhaps he had never seen before. He read my reports that were in my portfolio and smiled.

He was next to speak and I was ready to crawl under the table. He pointed to me as he began to speak. His first words were “Never Judge A Book By It’s Cover”. He said that he thought that I was very rude for writing during the entire presentation of the various guests till the break when he asked me why. When he learned what I was doing, he was amazed. Perhaps everyone should have taken notes and have presented a report about the meeting. (Now you know why I wanted to suddenly hide).

Now my readers, It is your turn to tell me, Who has been a Mentor in Your Life?

Here are some other Daily Prompt Writers Views on this issue:

Mentorship – Some Principles (schooledforlife.com)

February 10, 2013
by TammyeHoney 4 Comments

New Student, Part Two: Baby Blanket

For a student who has never sewn before to finish three projects that she can show her hubby proudly and state “I made these myself” is an accomplishment.

Perhaps it is the way that I teach, perhaps it is my patience, or just the fact that I listen to each student and their needs.

This particular student has jumped in the water instead of taking baby steps. She is all about the learning and takes every open slot that I have.

Her next project is the baby blanket. That type of project under other circumstances, I would discourage a new student that is fresh in the water from learning. She is beginning to do an Olympic course of learning so that she can complete it before this baby is born.

This plus the curtains is what we achieved in six hours.

Her next session will be to apply the seam binding and then get to the new project that she has already selected which is Nursing Coverings. Stay tuned for updates on our projects.

Thank you for reading

Tammye Honey