As Far as the Curved Road Takes Us

I have had a title in my head for several months now. "As Far as the Curved Road Takes Us". I am still contemplating what the subject matter for this book should be. I need some ideas. I mean, I have a few ideas already. But the title leaves so many other options available. I think it would be great to get some feedback as to what you think the contents of the book should be. Never know, if this book is snatched up for publication, your name will be in the acknowledgment as being a contributor, inspiration, or collaborator.

So, leave a comment as to what you think this book should be about, contain, elements of surprise, suspense, romance, red herrings, and all that other good stuff and we will see where it goes from the suggestions. I will also be surprised to see if your ideas are similar to those ideas I have.

Taking care of the written word (with a little help from you)
Dannielyn

Somewhere in the 21st Century

Our family is living somewhere in the 21st century. It certainly is not the same place or time we were living just one year ago. Last year at this time we had cell phones that worked without cutting out while talking in our own home. We had satellite television and internet that worked wonderfully, at least 99% of the time. But that 1% was easily understandable and we were okay with it. Life as we knew it was changing. One son off to college, another son getting braces and my income being very fluxing, had no choice but to 'decide' to reduce our expenses.

We moved to a 'cheaper' place and cut some other expenses as well. We moved to a location with a mentally ill landlord. Of course we did not know that at the time of move in, but a few days later we began to realize how disturbed she was. After bouts of threats, harassment, attempts at coercion, filing for eviction, court dates and crazy accusations from our mentally ill landlord we moved to a new location. We happen to know the present landlords and what a relief to not be under the thumb of the mentally ill landlord. By the way, she is still trying to harass us even after we left her property. You will have to read the previous entries about the situation we suffered under her to get part of the story.

Anyways, we moved and set up to have internet and satellite television. We have internet that is slower than dial-up but far more expensive. We do not have satellite television. We do not have local channels and we may never have these great inventions. Why? because our home and the four homes in our little subdivision are left out of this century. We see phone lines, cable lines and other modern conveniences surrounding us, but they forgot all about our little road. We have tried cable, phone, internet, satellite and every other company out there to see if anyone would happen to provide us with the little luxuries many take for granted. However, we are not so fortunate. We have difficulty with getting radio stations in at home too. Can you believe it? With all the advances we have in this world, something as simple as laying cable lines to a small street where four homes sit very closed together is impossible.

We have gotten back to reading books (Kindle for me), playing board games (we are a competitive little bunch of people), talking to each other (sometimes even laughing and joking), holding on to our IPod touches and Kindles just in case the internet comes back up while we are laughing it up. We are a family with a 19 year old college son and a 16 year old licensed driver spending more time together than most families could even imagine somewhere in the 21st century.

taking care of the written word,
dannielyn

Geek Dad, a Great Book for Dad, Kids and Grandfathers

I was given the book "Geek Dad" by Ken Denmead to read and review.  I was not sure what to expect from this book and was very excited to have the opportunity.  I dived into the book and was surprised by all of the great activities that could be done with children.  My boys are 15 and 18-year-old.  I looked at this book first as a mother of teen boys and then I ventured into that great unknown of grandparenthood.

I will be the first to admit that I am not ready to be a grandmother yet.  While I am older than my mother when she became a grandmother, I am just not there yet.  Neither are my boys.  I have one just entering his first year of college and one a sophomore in high school.  But I thought about that time when we would have little grandchildren come to this home and visit with me and grandpa.  This is where I felt this book was absolutely perfect.  Grandpas!

I asked a friend of mine who has four children all grown and three of the four married and three granddaughters.  I asked if she felt this book would be good for grandpa to find something fun and educational for his granddaughters and him to bond while completing an activity.  She looked over the book and found some she wanted to have grandpa try.

We got together and I learned about what this grandpa thought about this book and the activities that are found inside.  I found the granddaughters at the house and they shared with me how much fun this time was for them.  The girls are two, three and four.  The first one they tried was flying a kite at night.  Then they made cuff links for their dads. A coloring book for the two year old was made and the three and four year old made the dot to dot books.  Then they made an ABC's at Grandma's House book.  This ABC book was a variation that they made up from the one in the book.  It made more sense than Superhero's since he was working with girls.  The loved going from room to room to find out what Grandma had for each letter.

Ok, the activities took four days to complete, but that was alright since the girls were with them all day and night for four days.  They loved it, grandpa loved it, grandma loved it and the parents loved having some great memories for their daughters with their grandpa.

So, I guess I would have to say that the name of "Geek Dad" does not do the book complete justice as dads and grandpas that are not really geeks can have great fun with this book too!

Taking Care of the Written Word,
dannielyn
Copyright Dannett Frey, Taking Care of the Written Word, 2010 all rights reserved