Les cinq choses de vendredi… Hmm, un peu de French there. My brain is fried. French fried, apparently. Regardless, here’s another Friday Five for you….

1. I’ve had a great start to the day – earlier, a run in the misty rain, and now, chai latté and writing time. Yay!
2. And speaking of writing time (okay, not a very original segue, but a segue nonetheless, and y’all know how I like my Friday Fives to sparkle with segueness)… where was I? Speaking of writing time, I don’t work my day job again until Tuesday, so I’ve got writing time galore, during which I shall be sending my novel out into the world in search of a home. Send good vibes, people.
3. When I was at the beach this morning, I saw a salmon that was definitely not sending out good vibes (oh, I have to stop this! hello, my name is Shari and I’m a segue-a-holic… sigh). The fish in question was not sending out any vibes at all. It was dead. A decent size – three running-shoe lengths – but dead. The funny thing was, there were no birds dining upon it. I often see remnants of ocean critters that have become lunch for gulls or eagles, but not today. It seemed a little strange. Less disgusting that way, but strange.
4. Hmmm… my tea is gone. I may have to make some more. Of course, what I really want is diet Coke, but I unfortunately remember that I said I was going to do a diet Coke detox when I finished revising my novel. So, um, that would be now. Rats.
5. It’s supposed to rain forty days and nights. Or all weekend, at least. But I have books! And tea! So I shall read…. Up first, Getting the Girl, by Susan Juby, then My One Hundred Adventures, by Polly Horvath. I also have an abundance of hockey games to attend because it’s tournament weekend. Should be good! I hope your weekend is great, too.

Peace…. (à bientôt)

1. My worlds collided. My work world and my writing world, that is. When someone at work asked me what I was going to do on my days off, I actually told them: “I’m a writer,” I said, “so I usually use my days off to work on my writing.” This may not sound like a big deal to you, but to me? Yeah. It was pretty much a coming-out-of-the-closet experience. And I lived to tell! So, yay for that.
2. I ate solid food today, for the first time since an unfortunate encounter with dairy products on Wednesday. Solid food is good.
3. I tweaked the brand-new opening chapter of my WIP after meeting with my critique group last night, and I actually like it. Really like it. That, too, is a cool thing for me.
4. This is the last day of Banned Books week (here in Canada, we’ll celebrate Freedom To Read week in February). After checking out the list of the most challenged/restricted/banned books of 2007-2008 and other lists of banned books, I’m proud to say I read banned books! — great books including Looking for Alaska and Harry Potter, and terrific classics such as The Catcher in the Rye and A Wrinkle in Time. Reading is cool. (But it’s not cool when people tell other people what they can read.)
5. And finally, a way-off-topic (was I ever on-topic?) link. Did you know that black bears like to “eat fresh“? (btw, the announcer on this refers to a “giant bear”. That is so not a giant bear, but it’s definitely a bear! And a bear figuring out how to open a door is kinda cool. Scary, but cool.)

A warning, dear readers: I’m about to climb onto a soapbox. I rarely do that, however, so I hope you’ll bear with me.

Recent tragedies in my small town have touched my life and broken my heart. They’ve also made me think much about community. Old John Donne had it right: no man is an island. We can’t do life alone. As my DH pointed out recently, our deepest human need is for community. (Sorry if I’m misquoting you, honey – I know it was something like that!) My point is simply this: we need each other.

I’ve often seen communities reaching out to help others in times of need and tragedy. And I’ve been the recipient of gracious acts of kindness myself. People are so often good at offering a needed helping hand. What we aren’t very good at is asking for one. Somehow we think we have to be independent, that asking for help makes us weak. It doesn’t. It makes us human.

I guess what I mostly want to say is this: keep reaching out. Keep watching for those who are stumbling under the weight of life’s difficulties, and walk with them. But if it’s you that’s stumbling, if it’s you that feels like you’re going under, tell someone. Say hey, life’s really rough right now and I’m having a hard time.

Sometimes we don’t know who to tell, or we just can’t bring ourselves to admit to our family or friends that we’re struggling. So tell a stranger. Pick up the phone and call a crisis line. In fact, why don’t you look up that number now and stick it on your fridge or doodle it on the front of the phone book, just so you’ve got it. There’s an organization for teens called Your Life Counts! that offers online help, too. Why don’t you check it out now? Bookmark it. Share it on Facebook. Equip yourself and your friends, so someday if you need help, you know where to find it.

Take care of each other. Take care of yourself.

Thanks for reading. Peace….

… never apply mascara when you have the hiccups.

Never.

That is all.

I spent an hour and a half at the blood donor clinic today, and gave… nothing. After the nurse obtained a second opinion, and then a third, and after repeated attempts to coax my shy blood vessels into making an appearance, a vein was finally selected, successfully entered, and then blown, within a minute. I have puny veins. So after all the paperwork and humming-and-hawing (?) by nurses, I didn’t get to give any blood this time. I’ve got to say I felt like somewhat of a failure. Not that I’ve got any control over the size of my veins, but you know. Man, I can’t even bleed right…. Please, if you’re able, go and donate. Call here or here. Make up for my lack-of-donation today, and maybe save a life! Thank you, thank you!

::steps off soapbox::

…so this blog post has no title.

Okay, I’m definitely spending too much time on YouTube. But you have to check this out! This guy knows all the moves. Yes, ALL of them.

Personally, I know none of the moves. Not that that stops me. But that’s a good thing, right? It’s like that whole dance like no one’s watching thing, which I guess really means live with no fear of being judged, or just be yourself. Hmm, that’s what my mother always told me. “Just be yourself, dear, and you’ll be fine.”

Now I must sleep for a while. I’m so sleep-deprived it ain’t funny. I just read this article about how not getting enough sleep can double your chance of dying from heart disease. Eep. Apparently, adults need seven hours — not less, and not more, cuz that isn’t good for you either. (I think my mother has always known this, too.) I’m not even close to having had seven hours sleep in the past 24, so I’m thinking it’s nap time.

Take care of yourself — dance, sleep (but not too much), and always listen to your mom.

Peace….