PEACE GLOBE UPDATE

Looking for BlogBlast For Peace 2015?

The Peace Globe Gallery

Great news!

The talented and artistic Frank Sirianni of Foxxyfyrre's Honk 'n Holl'r from Canada has made a......

Peace Globe Gallery

to house all those beautiful globes you've been creating.

Click on the Mimi globe graphic in the sidebar to view the gallery!

(You will also find: A collection of those great Graffiti walls you've finished and

Frank's stunning artwork) We are working on placing a link to your site with your globe entry.

Follow this link to read how the Peace Globe started!

Click HERE to get your very own globe. 
Send them to my email @blog4peace at yahoo.com

BlogBlast for Peace ~ November 7, 2006

**Go HERE for launch #7 of BlogBlast For Peace ~November 4, 2010**

There's a new blog movement afoot. 
 Follow this link to a recent post that explains how you - and your beautiful blog - can participate.
It's fun, it's free, it's awesome.

Let's demonstrate a little unity in the blogosphere on November 7, 2006 (This has nothing to do with politics or voting even though that date happens to be election day in the US). I didn't plan it that way but now that I think about it, that's a perfect day to spread a little world peace. SEND THIS LINK TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN SO WE CAN LIGHT UP THE WORLD WITH OUR GLOBES. Details here.

The PEACE GLOBES seen above were submitted by participants Irene Tuazon (Philippines) and Frank (Canada) from Foxxfyrre's Black and White Art Globe and Graffiti My Blog. Thanks guys!

Mimi Morphs ~ Into Suds

What happens when a preppy pencil-skirt infiltrates the local laundromat armed with Milani boots, brown leggings and a Lisa Frank notebook?

Trouble, that's what.
I didn't mean to make her mad. Really I didn't.

I should have known better than to attempt a morph in my own hometown. Thank goodness my finely leaded sharpie attracted less attention than those 3 inch heels or I'd be a goner.

All washed up for sure.

But I didn't care. I'd been planning this escapade for weeks. My first Mimi Morphs experiment had literally fallen in my lap with my dad's illness. This had taken some work and forethought.

Incognito.

Inconspicuous.

James Bond by my side.

It was perfect.



Click - clump - click - clump past the smiling mirrors of tumbling clothes (which, by the way, are excellent for touching up your makeup) counting.......1 washing machine, 2 washing machines, 3 washing machines on and on I trudged across the dirty tile floor strewn with cigarette butts and lost pacifiers. One little, two little, three little dryers....five little, six little seven little.....uh.....uh....the boots have come to a screeching slide... ...seven little children I taught in vacation church school last summer.


Rats!


Trapped and nowhere to go but down the drain.



I'd carefully thought out this caper for some time. I'd scouted out the local suds parlor looking for obvious angles and riveting story ideas. The filthy latrine had been inspected by yes, yours truly. I knew every machine by name. Which vending slots worked and which ones jammed. I'd even translated the multilingual profanity off the wall and into my writer's psyche. Ambiance. The stage had been set. All I needed to do was make my entrance.


Giggles. Tiny faces staring at leather covered knees - the likes of which never saw the church altar last summer I'll tell ya. Today, the Sunday school capers have turned sleazy and downright bizarre.

"Is that you, Ms. Mimi? Aren't you......"



What are you gonna say to seven grimy faces tugging on your pencil and your pencil skirt at the same time? 'Listen you little Rug rats, let go of my legs and forget all those proverbs about honesty we learned and forget you ever saw me. You'll get extra lemonade next year and lots more chocolate. Just skedaddle! I'm on a mission here, can't you see that??'

"You got any bubble gum?"

This was not going to be an easy.

My second real Mimi Morphs experiment and busted.

Right off the bat. By munchkins no less. 

"Not today, Junior. Now, where's your mother?"You got any candy?"
"No, Junior.""Do you want us to help you count?"
"No! Junior!"
"Okay, Miss Mimi," he said with a sad little face, "we're gonna go play now." And off he scampered into a pile of crumpled clothes with siblings in tow. Senora Martinez popped her head out from behind a giant washer that was noisily dancing in the aisle, scolded her crew for bothering me and continued to fold.

Thank goodness she didn't speak much English or I'd have some 'splaining to do.

Whew. That was a close one.

Mental note for later - next time bring a backup plan in case of recognition or at least a few Snickers bars.

Now, on with the plan.I continued with my counting and pretended to inspect the machines. Jotting things down in my notebook and looking very official. When I thought I'd caused all the confusion I possibly could, I decided to make my move.

"Excuse me, ma'am," I said with the bubbliest voice I could find. "But do you mind if I watch your clothes?"

"Uh...well....I......I don't have them ready yet....you wanna wash my clothes?"
"No, ma'am. I just want to watch them.""Well, go ahead," she smiled "they're all yours."

Making mental note - Be prepared next time in case folks are agreeable.
"You mean it's OK if I watch your clothes?""SURE!"

So, I sat down in front of the washer and well...watched.

She watched me watch.

I watched some more.

I jotted down notes. She whistled and folded.

When the cycle was done I decided to give it another spin.

"Do you mind if ask you a few questions? See, I'm doing a class project and I need to ask you a few things about your laundry."

Folding stops. Spin cycles halt all over the building.

"Here's my first question. We're trying to determine if white clothes tumble faster than dark ones. "

Do you have an opinion on that?"

"I'd say dark clothes tumble faster."
"Really?" I was so excited at this revelation. "And why is that? Can you tell me why?"
"There are more chemicals in colored clothes. It's the chemicals. That's what makes 'em spin faster."

"I never thought of it that way before. Thanks!"More jotting. Pencil chewing. Scribble. Scribble.

"Now, tell me.. " leaning in and looking very concerned, "do you ever put flammable clothes in the washing machine?"
"Sure, don't you?"

"Well...I...I don't think so.....What kind of clothes are flammable?""Pajamas!"

"Pajamas are flammable. They have tags that say 'flammable'".....head is nodding, ponytail is bobbing (hers, not mine; mine is spinning)..."I know you wash your PJ's, too, right?"

What does she mean do I wash my pj's?! Of course I wash my pj's! (Mental note: Don't ask questions that might lead to embarrassing conversation.)

She waited. I was speechless.
And then with deadpan seriousness she replied, "You must send your pajamas to the dry cleaners."

"Only if they're flammable, ma'am."
I turned away. It was time to find another happy scullery dweller. I was beginning to wonder if my experiment would pan out after all. Would people actually hear what I really asked? Or would they hear me correctly and try to answer anyway? Could I find one person who would call my bluff? Just one. That's all I needed to leave this den of bubbles and go home where my aching boots belonged.
Senorita in the corner reading a newspaper and waiting for the last ten minutes of dry time to expire.

"Do you mind if I watch your clothes?" Before I could say 'I'm not immigration' en Espanol, she took her basket, books, purse and moved across the room.

"Do you mind if I watch your clothes?"
Judging from the look this middle-aged woman threw my way I'd be willing to bet she put a real live curse on my pj's.

Moving on......."Do you mind...." Wait. Why mess with perfection? I decided to give scientific pajama-mama one more chance.
"These professors are really asking a lot. Can you believe these questions? I'm sorry, but do you mind answering one more?"
 "OK."

Did I sense a tad of suspicion in her reply? Would she unmask the pencil- skirt?

Here goes.

"Do you use white or black bleach on your white fabrics?" Her answer?

"I like to use alternative bleach."
Rats and double rats! That was not supposed to happen.
Then she led me to the detergent dispenser and gave me a mini lecture on Tide II and every brand of fabric softener known to happy laundry people.

I couldn't take anymore.

It was time to go home.

This morph was half-baked.

I headed for the door but stopped dead in my tracks, mesmerized by four large dryers playing tumblelina. Round and round. I had to sit down and watch. No one would mind; would they?
Towels mixed with jeans and lime greens with pinks, brassieres kept their perky shapes and shoestrings tangled and played tag. It was hypnotic and beautiful and.........and........
"Excuse me?"


I looked up. It was pajama girl and she was staring at my open notebook. Full of doodles.
"What kind of class did you say you were taking?"

"Uh....well......" still hypnotized by the clothes, "It's kind of a private project."
Making mental note into microphone hidden in end of eraser. (Not really but what's a good caper without a hidden microphone?) I can't believe I just said that.
You've never see a woman gather up her children so fast in all your life. "Can I go to the bathroom mama?"

"Mama! why is she staring at our clothes?"

"Shhhh....just sit here and don't move. You can wait til you get home."

Reaching for my imaginary pen mic one more time, I turned to face away from a very angry mother hen who wanted my soapy scalp. There! In the windowsill. A place to hide. I reached for a little pamphlet entitled "Blood." (no, wrong one....don't give her any ideas), then hurriedly opened the tiny book titled "The End of the World"

(so appropriate) and buried my face in the Gospel for a good long while. Serves me right.
Lying to children.
Wondering how I would ever get out of there without appearing too eager, I nonchalantly finished the tract, placed it back in the windowsill.....when something in the glass reflection caught my keen reporter's eye.

Making mental note: Always remove ID badge before leaving work.

Can anyone say unemployment?

Don't forget

BLOGBLAST for PEACE ~

November 7, 2006

Click here to get your PEACE GLOBE

Sunday Blog Chatter: Thou Shalt Not Steal My Blog

e

If you are reading this text from the Bitacle.org website then you are reading a stolen blog. Mine.

No, I'm not a celebrity.
Not a millionaire.
I'm not running for public office.
I don't want your money.

But I do want my blog back.

Before I point my readers to the scores of articles, blog posts and chatter from countless furious bloggers across the globe who also discovered this weekend that their blogs had been placed on your unsightly site - I'd just like to have a word of prayer with Mr. Jesus - who has scrambled to fix a few things in the last few hours to appease said angry bloggers but not nearly enough. WARNING: I'm going to use flowery words, proper English and appropriate blogspeak as is my usual custom. I'll try to say this delicately and not hurt your feelings.

Don't you know there's a special place in hell reserved for people who steal blogs?!!

And if you're going to steal my blog and plagiarize my content then at least have the decency to do it right.
You can't spell.
You can't write.
Your website is ugly.

We are not amused.

And we are not going away, you Bitacle bullies you. Who do you think you're dealing with here???

What can you do with my blog? Well....I think you know what you can do with yours but I certainly can't say that on a PG blog now can I?

Thou shalt link to me if you play nice and credit my work. (Unless you're a moocher like Bitacle.org)

Thou shalt ask me to link exchange and I will agree unless you're a blog stealing site like Bitacle.org.

Thou shalt use snippets and quotes within Fair Use guidelines and even review my blog as long as you give Mimi Lenox credit and link back to me as a reference.
(Of course, that would involve actually writing something original and since your own HELP section is totally incomprehensible I won't even let you do those things. So there.)

Thou shalt understand that site feed does not mean site bleed.

Thou shalt look up the word parasite in the dictionary and write it 500 times.

Gosh, I hope I didn't hurt your feelings.

Apparently, Planet Bitacle is the new Pluto.
We'd prefer you hover somewhere other than in our galaxy.
Do not pass Go.
Do not collect $200.
Just go away.
And maybe you won't have to go directly to jail.


You can place link that lead to my original page with my copyrighted material but you cannot reproduce the entire text of every post I ever created and plaster it under the aggregate tab on your silly site so that you can make money on my work.
Period.

This is Mimi Pencil Skirt reporting live from her very own web address mimiwrites.blogspot.com for today's segment of Sunday Blog Chatter. That's MIMI LENOX. Spelled M-I-M-I- L-E-N-O-X owner and operator, chief cook and bottle-washer and keeper of the midnight flame. AKA Morph Girl and Mimi Queen of Memes.

Now, if you'll excuse me I need to apologize to my readers for my rant and find a priest.


LINKS for more information. Stop Bitacle.org
Plain Jane Mom had an interesting solution to this problem.
Thanks to Moof's article for alerting me to the Bitacle scandal when I clicked over from a comment buddy to his site.This is what Mimi Writes looks like on Bitacle.org.
Just do a search on Google or Technorati to see what other bloggers are saying.
What's your opinion, readers?

Don't forget

BLOGBLAST FOR PEACE

November 7, 2006.Click here to get your

PEACE GLOBE

Heartbreaking News! Mimi- Queen of Memes. Royally dumped.

And so publicly.

Oh, the humiliation.

Just this week I was awarded the prestigious Elasticgirl Award from GEM's Blog l'esprit de l'escalier (see...it even sounds prestigious) and opened my mailbox to find a Dear John letter. The same day.
Hmmm.....that's awfully suspicious.


My cowboy has decided to ride off into the sunset.
Read it and weep.

Howdy Missy Mimi. I guess you aint a-gonna ask me to come callin' on you so I'm gonna saddle up and move on. Ma says I can put that bath-time back to the spring now i'm single agin. And I don't need to buy me thet second set of underwear.

I am not amused.

If you've just tuned in to this little drama, let me bring you up to speed. A mysterious blogger named 'loneseome cowboy advertizer' has been leaving me love notes in the comment box on both my main sites (Dating Profile of the Day and this one.)

Here's the first knee-weakening note:

howdy miss mimi. I’m just a lonesome guy looking for a lady to love. You are real hard on us guys so give us brake. Oh sure I advertise my own self in the Hiccup Times local papey but I aint never found no Lady as pretty as you are an all.. I’m deecent and hard working and I goe to church reglar every Sunday. At least I will until Ma passes over but I don’t mind it too mutch. Revrend Tully he says if my brains was made of dynamite they wouldn’t blow my hat off but hes only fooling around. So what Im saying is how about you an me? If your willin to try me I can travel any wheres you just say that word and tell me where to find you. Don’t tell Ma she don’t kneed to know…..till then sugar.

My response was equally disturbing:

Dear Handsome Mysterious Cowboy,

I hesitate to return your lovely letter for two reasons. I’m quite intimidated by your abundant sophistication and suave (I’m used to men who talk to themselves and kiss their pets) and more importantly ……I am, sadly, on the rebound from a torrid love affair with the Paperclip Guy and not sure I’m ready for cowboy love; but if you’ll give me just one chance to treat you with a little more respect – we’ll give it a groovy go. 

Anyway, I’d like to meet your Ma before she passes over – even though my Harvard education doesn’t know what that means. The last time I heard that expression, Charlton Heston was holding a rod and smearing Lamb’s blood on doorposts. Is your Ma Egyptian?
Yours (boots and all),
Mimi 

I gotta tell ya. I was more than a little giddy thinking about my spur-studded stud muffin. A real honest-to Pete cowboy. I had finally landed on Mars.

Could life get any better?

I was so smitten that I decked myself out in the finest cowboy bait I could find and dedicated an entire post to him. He said....

Hey Missy MiMi, I aint never poked no cows! I like your pals lovely Miss Gem and that fine lookin' Miss Lizza but you the gal fer me! We jest simpl folks herabouts and I dont know about no sophistication. I never did hold with too much book-lerning all I know is i cant sleep nights thinkin of Miss mimi. So whats occurring? You tell miz lizza there aint no wrong in a little honey-lovin (Ma telled me to say that)
Sigh.

Everything was just swell until Gemmolina caricatured me as a brazen hussy in elastic pants on her scandalous red-teddy site l'esprit de l'escalier. And who knows what that really means anyway? She works for a dry cleaners for Heavens sake.
It can't be good.


I'd been thinking it over this week and decided to give cowboy another chance. I was all ready to take a bath in frothy bubbles and soak my skin in cowhide cologne when WHAM!
I've seen better days.

Didn't he get my last letter?! I sent him my latest pic dressed in go-go boots and a mini skirt, too! Uh oh.

Do you suppose his ma saw it and passed over??
Do you think cowboy saw it and just passed out??

You dress like a proper lady they think you're a prude.
Show up in knee boots they run home to Ma.
What's a queen to do?

Maybe it's not GEM's fault after all.
I'll just have to try and win him back. Time's a'wastin.
This is what I writ. (That's cowboy-speak for wrote in case you're wondering.)

Dear Lonesome One,

By now you're probably sippin' ale with some floozy in a red teddy by the light of the silvery saloon but just in case you're not - I'd like to apologize.

I didn't mean to insult your Ma with that Egyptian comment in my last letter. I'm of royal bloodline myself you know. I just thought she might be more inclined to let us spark if there was a wee possibility we could be akin.
Think of the royal lineage we could make.
(That's Harvard-speak for 'it's OK to marry your first cousin.)

If you still want to come call on me, meet me by the next post (that's blogspeak for lamppost) ..street address mimiwrites.blogspot.com. I'll be wearing proper lady clothes and carrying a big red Bible for good measure (just in case your Ma's with you).

I've arranged for dear Ma to have a very long day at the Beverly Hills Hot Springs Lard Buns Spa where they're running special re-run episodes of Little House on the Prairie and serving Long Island tea - all day long. I know what a wholesome life she leads so I've arranged to have carefully grown large-leaf spinach brought in and she can eat allllll she wants. That should keep her occupied and very happy for awhile. She'll be in good spirits when we go to fetch her and then we can explain to her our plan to elope - that is, if you're still interested in little ol' me.

Yours,

Mimi

P.S. I promise to wear my spurs if you'll be a good boy.

Well, there you have it.
And they said love couldn't bloom on the internet. All I can do now is wait.

KARAOKE BLOG: An Irish Redhead and the Story of the Story within the story within the story

I love a good mystery.

I found one today.Over at Cathy's place (Cathy's Rants and Ramblin's) things are heating up. Armed with an intriguing story prompt and loads of self-effacing ramblings, this fiery redhead is ablaze with hot ideas.

Intensely personal and sometimes reading like a medical chart - hers - it is obvious how much blogging means to Cathy and how much Cathy means to those she interacts with on a daily basis.
Her blog is definitely in a medical mood.
Formerly known as 'Arthritis Rants' the sidebar link list reads like a Who's Who of ER cast members; such as Dr. Flea and Dr. Schwab as well as the now infamous Dr. Anonymous - founder of Blogaholics Anonymous - of which Cathy is chief recorder of minutes.

After reading Cathy's informative web ring of health snippets, concerns, ranting frustrations and touching personal accounts - not to mention a hodgepodge of other topics - it's easy to understand how she landed such an ailment. But her deep dark secret pales in comparison to the charitable spirit and kindness evident in her blog world.

But back to the mystery.

Cathy concocted a scheme, threw out some bait in the form of a challenge and drew in scads of people wanting to join the party. For a serious minded redhead, she throws one interesting soiree.
Why would fifty-five grown people with perfectly good careers and happenin' lives clamor to accept an invitation to complete a writing assignment? Flashback: English 101. Shakespeare. Annotated footnotes. Oral book reports.
Maybe we're just tired of memes. (say it ain't so)

A large percentage are professional health care workers; nurses, doctors and just plain caring friends decided to spin a story. And in record time.
And all with the same ending sentence.
Each story, poem or essay had to end with
"An innocent victim of a lie told in silence."


Except now the lie is no longer silent.
In fact, the lie is all over the world. The beginning.

That was Irish Redhead's invitation.
No problem. Piece of cake. Right?

Wrong.
I thought this was going to be an easy Karaoke post. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd get so caught up in the stories I couldn't get the article finished about the stories (yet another story within the story within this story) Sorry about that. I think Cathy's rambleritis is contagious.
I'm going to link her! I may need medical advice for this from time to time.

Here are links to each of the individual stories written based on Cathy's prompt. Most of these bloggers added links to the other story writers on their own sites. I love the encouraging comments they left for each other; truly unique to the blogging craze and speaks well of Cathy's brand of blogging. It's a mad trail of fiction. See if you can follow the winding collage of lies....Let's start with Cathy's own lovely story entitled "TheVictim."


1. Dr. Rob - Musings of a Distractable Mind - who wrote about barking dogs and flying cows
2. Daniel, from Life on Vancouver Island, wrote about the most tender of lies
3. KT wrote on love,
4. Life in Qualicum by Mary Anne RN
5. Dr. Jordan from In My Humble Opinion wrote about a sad social ill
6. Wolfbaby (Dreaming and Believing)

7. Moof from A Moof's Tale wrote Willy Nilly - literally!
8. Kim, who writes Emergiblog came up with a complete off the cuff nurse-who's-had-too-much-caffeine kinda story, complete with a hilarious picture you have to see to believe
9. A serious story called The Deafening Silence over at Ripples of Hope, written by the "difficult patient."
10. Muffin 53 takes us back to 1958 and beyond in her diary journal extraordinaire (where all good lies are told)
11. Dirty Laundry airs Sins of Omission - a clever Catholic twist on Cathy's story meme assignment
12. The Wandering Author from New England will WOW you with The Tragedy of Sionn and Maeve
13. and who woulda thunk that Who Wouda Thunk It could think this up on the fly? Apparently everyone!
14. Brian from Truth Is Freedom chose to share a unique slice of poetry, but it was what he wrote after the poem entry that reeled me in. Check it out and grab the hankies.
15. Your Cervix (yes, that's really the name of the blog) has an interesting approach (must see graphic to understand) and shares a poignant lie story, thoughtfully written full of joys and sin
16. Dr. Anonymous, that saint of a sponsor we all go to for the Internet affliction addiction we're all struggling with wrote a touching response to Cathy's challenge.
17. Ipanema broke our hearts with a beautifully written saga of an untruth and last but not least.....
18. Boomerang (a nurse blog about a nurse) wrote a moving and unpredictably real entry


Writing this article reaped great rewards for me; I found many beautiful blogs I might have missed otherwise. I am still on the trail of these stories and will post the collection on Book Meme Central as I go along. Please send me any you find that aren't included here.

Cathy is a true blue beautiful blogger.
Don't believe me?
She recently completed an exhausting BLOGATHON with 129 comments listed! Don't miss this redhead's cyber home. It feels comfy cozy and she has a houseful of friends.
A nice place to be.
*****************************
Don't forget BLOG BLAST FOR PEACE November 7, 2006. Click here to get your PEACE GLOBE.

Dona Nobis Pacem In The Blogosphere

Inspiration struck today in the form of memories; stirred by the sight of a single engine plane accidentally crashing into a New York building and further cemented by yet another news story on North Korea's testing of nuclear weapons.
Reality has been harsh today, to say the least.

What can we do?
It started me thinking.

Imagine a day like this.......

You turn on your computer, crank up Blogger or Typepad or Wordpress and you realize that something is very strange.
Someone or something is playing a huge cosmic joke.

Wouldn't it be AWESOME if on one particular day......

All bloggers everywhere signed their blog name across a globe and all posted the SAME POST on the SAME DAY......

What IF.......
every person who clicked through the blogosphere saw hundreds -even thousands- of posts that said the SAME THING?


What IF.......

every post on November 7, 2006 was simply titled "Dona Nobis Pacem" with a picture of our big beautiful world in the body of the post with each blogger's name screaming a great big GRANT US PEACE?

The Peace Globe

What if......

 we added the power of the written word - and our blog names - to the face of our world?

A world that Rhys from A World of Bloggers has already envisioned as intertwined
  A world that Lizza and Irene take the time to share with us through pictures and beautiful sentiments
A world that Frank saw as having grand artistic potential and merit by inviting people to swipe their blog souls in crayon on a wall

A world, much of which I've never seen, that many of you create for me with words

A world that so many of us have already begun to realize is smaller than we ever imagined

When something catastrophic happens in your neighborhood, I, as your blogger friend and colleague, can draw your hurt a little closer to my own understanding.
Politics, religion, rhetoric and rant make no difference to me in the

cyber cul-de-sac.
We are comrades in community.

A mouse click away from visiting a friend, sharing a cup of coffee over a good read, debating, learning, growing.
Can we affect change by sending a silly graphic around the globe with childlike scribblings and paint-by-number glee?
Will it really matter?

I can only answer for myself.

And if I believe that words are powerful -

then this matters.

If you'd like to help me get the word out, please email. Or simply link this post on your site, in your emails, mention it in your comments. Tell people to save the blank picture above (right-click, save, open in a photo editing program to write or draw on) and simply post it as their daily post on November 7, 2006.

SAVE IT

SIGN IT

POST IT (with "Dona Nobis Pacem" as the TITLE of your post that day)

SEND your signed globe back to me so that I can be placed in a grand

Peace Globe Gallery!

Don't feel obligated to participate but it would be AWESOME if you did. You don't have to write about world peace that day but it would be INCREDIBLE if you did. Did I mention AWESOME before?
(I'm more than a little excited about this. Can you tell?)

The literal translation of Dona Nobis Pacem from Latin to English is

Grant Us Peace

NOTE: BlogBlast For Peace is always held on NOV 4. Join us! Here's how

Nathaniel and Jonathan: A Riddle

I have written an essay based on two literary greats. One is Nathaniel Hawthorne, whom we shall remember for authoring The Scarlet Letter in 1850. The other is Jonathan Edwards, 18th century Puritan preacher famous for his scathing narrative Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God, written in 1741. They are standing at the gates of Heaven with a third unseen character. I have omitted the title of the essay in hopes that you can discover who else might have a vested interest in their debate.
If you haven't read these works in awhile, maybe this will inspire you to brew a pot of strong coffee or tea, wrap up in a blanket and solve the mystery. Just remember: the essay is fiction but some of the characters in the story are not. Can you name them? Is the "missing title character" real or imagined?
You be the judge.
I'll reveal the title in tomorrow's post.
Click on this link to read the essay. Click back here to leave a comment with your guess.

(I promise to write a lighter and less lengthy post tomorrow.
I'm on the prowl for that cowboy man. He seems to have disappeared.
Yet another mystery........)

Queen of Memes Has Been Tagged

This is Mimi's Meme. For real this time.

I was tagged by Lizza eons ago to do the book meme. I have procrastinated long enough. Since I just created Book Meme Central, a blog to host all the known memes in the universe, I'd better finish my own. I know I've left out many works I love but this is a start. These are hard questions!
PLEASE SEND ME ANY AND ALL MEMES YOU FIND ON THE INTERNET SO THAT I MAY INCLUDE THEM IN THE CENTRAL MEME LOCATION. THIS INCLUDES BOOK MEMES, MOVIE MEMES, MUSIC MEMES, WORK MEMES, HALLOWEEN MEMES AND EVEN THE DREADED FUNERAL DIRGE MEMES. THANK YOU.

 1. One book that changed your life - the hardest question first.
King James version of Song of Solomon and the Book of Psalms. The first is laced with fine poetry and rhythm, intertwined with spirituality/sensuality; the second soothes my soul and keeps me anchored - a must read in the mornings with cappuccino by the window. Both continue to change me.

2. One book that you've read more than once.
I regularly re-read books but one comes to mind that I had as a child I must have read 100 times called The First Christmas. It's the first time I had that books are magic feeling. Also, anything Pat Conroy writes, I tend to pick up twice.

3. One book that you'd want on a desert island.
My well-worn and brutally marked copies of The Norton Anthology of American (and English) Literature (Vol I and Vol II). I could re-visit all my favorites to keep me occupied until prince charming's yacht-bearing-cappuccino came to rescue me. Favorites include: T.S. Eliot, Kate Chopin, Hawthorne, Frederick Douglass, Emerson

4. One book that made you laugh.
I'm So Glad You Told Me What I Didn't Want To Hear, by Barbara Johnson. Humorous look at real life traumas and trials.

5. One book that made you cry.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou

6. One book that you wish you had written.
Memoirs of a Geisha. Arthur Golden's first novel is poignant and lovely. A brilliant feast for the eyes between the pages. I could see the colors of her life and culture in believable 1st person characterization. It is a universal story of love and beautifully written.

7. One book you wish had never been written.
Night by humanitarian Elie Wiesel. Every human being on the planet should read this powerful account written by a fifteen-year-old boy during the Holocaust. I wish there had been no Holocaust, hence, no book by Elie Wiesel.

8. One book that you are reading at the moment.
I never read just one book at a time. Currently on my nightstand: Everyday Grace and Illuminata - Thoughts, Prayers, Rites of Passage (Marianne Williamson), Gandhi - A Memoir (William L.Shirer), The Healing Power of Sound (Mitchell L. Gaynor, M.D.)

9. One book that you've been meaning to read.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

10. Five others that you'd like to do this.
Is there anyone left in cyberland who hasn't done the book meme? If not, jump right in and let me know when you're finished. I will also tag.......thinking......thinking......

An Interview With Bobby Griffin

Who is Bobby Griffin?
If you have to ask, you haven't been paying attention.

He's the creative genius behind the fastest growing blog in the blogosphere.....The Bestest Blog of All-Time.
I recently cyber-chatted with Bobby about his on-and offline life and he kindly consented to an interview. I know I'm curious; aren't you?

A definitive left-brain (he's a high school math teacher) with a penchant for right-brained humor (he loves comedic improv), he certainly knows how to balance the two into a sensational syllabus for success. Blogging 101.
And I do mean success.

He's developed a weblog with mega-traffic - 2,000+ unique visitors daily at last count - and unlike most upstarts, he wants to share the wealth. Not only that, he'll tell you how to start your own enterprise.

The Bestest Blog of All-Time made its internet debut barely four months ago and it's a cyber hit. Consider this blailer (that's Mimi blogspeak for blog trailer) a preemptive interview-strike of blogtastic things to come from this twenty-three year old entrepreneur. Once you hear what he has to say, I'm sure you'll agree with me that he is not only -dare I say - a humble brainiac - but also a regular Joe with a kind soul.

I'm convinced that Bobby Griffin has a sincere desire to promote and encourage other talents in Blogland; and he has the integrity and more than enough hutzpah to do it.

Let's listen in now. (Be sure to click on the links at the bottom for detailed information on some of Bobby's bestest ideas.)

An Interview with Bobby Griffin

By Mimi Lenox

1. What motivated you to start Bestest Blog in the first place?

-Boredom to tell you the truth. I have a lot of ideas but not always enough time to try them all. It just so happened that I had this idea that a point where I had a lot of free time on my hands.

2. Do you have other Internet or business ventures you're involved in that you'd like readers to know about?

-None that I’m personally involved with. But I do admire when other people have good ideas. For example Linkexperiment.com influenced my "Premium Blogs" idea. PayPerPost.com is another great blogging idea (use my email BobbyGriffin@gmail.com if you sign up here as a referrer!)

3. What one piece of advice would you give new bloggers? (Besides the obvious 'link to Bestest Blog' as in now)

-Blogging is about community. You can’t be a successful blogger (successful in the sense of lots of people read your blog) if you don’t read other people’s blogs, leave comments, and link to others. This is what ‘Bestest Blog’ is all about, just on a grander scale.

4. Can you think of a particular blogger/blog or website that has made a personal impact on you, even inspired you?

-I guess I should’ve read all the questions before I began answering them. LinkExperiment.com influenced my "Premium Blogs" idea. Other than that, I guess I made my site as an improvement to what I saw wrong with sites like BlogExplosion.com

5. You're always giving your readers good solid tips for maintaining their blog. What would you say is the worst mistake a blogger can make? 

-The worst mistake a blogger could make is becoming inactive. There are a lot of blogs that I check on a regular (at least once a week) basis. If I go two or three weeks without seeing anything new there, I’m going to stop regularly visiting. Regular visitors are very hard to obtain, yet very easy to lose.

6. What’s your favorite type of blog? Photo? Technical? Humorous? Etc? Why?

Definitely humorous. I was in an improv comedy group in college and comedy is a big part of my life. All my favorite TV shows and movies are comedies.

7. What is your pet-peeve when reading/viewing others’ blogs? Is there one thing that makes you want to hit that Next Button or Random Blog click and get the heck out of Blodge?

I can’t stand excessive amounts of slang and keyboard shortcuts. If I see a blog with a post that starts like "OMG I saw thiz grl 2day she was sooooooo hot!" I am clicking away immediately 

8. What we always wanted to know but were afraid to ask: Have you discovered a sure-fire way to make money online?

Would you share that secret with my readers?

-Again, I should’ve read these questions first. PayPerPost.com seems like the next big idea of the blogosphere. The Google Adsense of blogging if you will. I don’t see this site fading into the background anytime soon.

9. How can blogging impact our world for the good?

-Blogging is a great way to promote unity. I’ve learned a lot of what life in the Phillipine’s is like from Irene and Lizza’s sites. Plus, Rhys had his great idea with "A World of Bloggers" to link to 1 blog to each country. He’s got a lot of them, I hope he reaches his goal some day.

10. I've heard it said that "Bloggers are taking over the world." I'd categorize Bestest Blog of All-Time as one of the leaders in "cutting edge blogging" (if you will) and innovation. Where do you see the direction of blogging headed and how do you plan to stay on top of this phenomenal movement?

-My blog has a very simple goal and idea: promote others’ blogs, (extra promote the good ones). I see blogging growing even larger, as the desire to blog motivates the desire to better understand how the web works (HTML, Javascript, etc.) So, when the next generation of kids hits college, we’ll see a lot more advances in blogging technology.

11. And last but not least, inquiring minds want to know....…..Do you have a life??

-I do have a life, in fact I have more of a life now than I did when I started the blog, which makes it hard to keep up with it sometimes (luckily people like you, Julie, Morgen, and others have stepped up to help carry the load). I am a high school math teacher at a small Catholic school, I have a wife of only 1 year and 2 puppies (no kids yet). Basically any money I have made or will make on this blog goes right into the savings account until it’s time to make a down payment on our first house.

I know I speak for many when I say Thank you, Bobby Griffin for creating a kinder, gentler world of linking.
You are the absolute BESTEST.

Bobby's best ideas: Linking the Win-Win Way Bestest Blog of the Day Random Blog Button Premium Blog  Bestest Blog Winners

Sunday Blog Chatter: Is your blog hot??

Hello. My name is Mimi.
I am addicted to blogs.

Guilty as charged.
In fact, I should run screaming to the next twelve-step meeting. So I clicked over to Dr. Anonymous -Home of BA - The Unofficial Official (or is it the Official Unofficial) Site of Blogaholics Anonymous to pay my dues.
My addiction paid off. Here are a few blog gems found on Dr. A's site this week:

He discovered something called bloghotornot. It's a meter of sorts that rates your blog as well.......hot........or not.Click here for more information from the good doctor himself.
Tell him Mimi - the addict - sent you.

And now for the article I went there to retrieve in the first place! Blogging in space. Read the doctor's green-with-envy account of a very cool blog event.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back over to Dr. A's and put my name on the BA map and make it unofficially official. It's time I admitted the truth. Which, of course, means that I have to tell my mother the sad saga of my secret addiction first. This could take a while since she doesn't even know what blogging is.
On second thought, this could wait a day or two.
Couldn't it?
Let's let her sleep in peace one more night.

Karaoke Blog: Gemmolina's Got Her Groove On

Gale Martin

Mild-mannered bookworm.

Occupation: Conjugating verbs, submitting works of astounding literary wisdom to publishers across the globe, published author
Latest accomplishment: Winner of the esteemed 2006 International Book Lovers Hair-in-a-Bun Award
Location: Sleepy Pennsylvania town where neighbors close the blinds at dusk
Favorite pastime: Smoking a pipe in the library on autumn evenings, sipping cognac with Emerson, and buying red teddies.

You heard it here first, folks.

GEMSTONE rocks.
She has apparently scandalized the neighborhood and shocked the literary world. Read this exclusive never-before-seen blogblurf on the real personality and antics of the literary genius known as Gale Martin - and the secret that puts the GEM in Gemosophy.

DUH!

Is it just me?

An article in The Plain Reporter on the availability of gambling, dated 9/17/06, states this surprising conclusion.

"If slots come to pass, some research suggests the region will see an increase in problem gamblers. "
Studies have shown that proximity to casinos brings higher rates of gambling addictions."

Let's all say a collective DUH.

*************************
And do I really need to know that Paris Hilton was punched in a bar by a beauty queen?

Karaoke Blog Tuesday!

Today's first edition of KARAOKE BLOG comes to us from merry old England. Home of royalty, pomp and circumstance, sophistication.......and Bazza.

Hailing from Ilford, United Kingdom, "Bazza" authors a blog entitled "Normal Life" - a delightful daily read. I am pleased to present Part One of his series on American vs. British English for my first Karaoke Blog. Be sure to check out the nineteen comments at the bottom of his article, which are funny and informative.

Thanks, Bazza, for teaching us about your land and its language, and for reminding us that Americans can sometimes be just plain quirky. Your astute observations serve to create a bridge between our two countries and remind us that superiority is an unnecessary evil - even in a war of words.

Let's rewind to September 1, 2006. Click here for Part One of his entertaining and interactive series entitled "American vs. British English." We can't wait for the second installment, Bazza!

If you'd like your work featured on the next Karaoke Blog, please email and read this link for more information.

Here's the a list of my site's daily shenanigans

and a few examples 

Monday/I Smell a Story, Tuesday/Mimi Morphs,
Wednesday/Mimi on Mars, Thursday/What in the World in Going On?! , Friday/ Karaoke Blog, Saturday/The DUH Factor(y) and Sunday's Blog Chatter.

Don't forget your daily dose of frivolity at Dating Profile of the Day where you'll meet the antithesis of Mr. Right and many other surprises.

I thank you for reading my blog!

Many Mimis

WOW. Exciting developments this week!

• Bobby Griffin of The Bestest Blog of All-Time fame (an internet force to be reckoned with) has asked me to be a regular guest blogger every Tuesday. A great big thank you to Bobby for his vote of confidence. I will do my best to search out and review the best and brightest in the blogosphere!
• 
  If you haven't linked to Bestest Blog yet, what are you waiting for?! The site is exploding and Bobby is committed to promoting those great undiscovered talents in Blogland. I'd like to think I can help a bit on Tuesdays.

So, if you know of a worthy site or would like to have your blog considered for my Tuesday review, please email!

You can read my first weekly article this

Tuesday, October 3, 2006.

• Reaction to Book Meme Central has been phenomenal. I've had a great time reading and re-reading all those inspiring book memes written by YOU. I now have a TO-READ list a mile long. Keep sending me those memes (books, movies, music) and get additional exposure for YOUR site. I will add a "Recommended by" tag to the end of the feature if you submit a meme.

• Karaoke Blog will debut tomorrow with an article by Bazza, author of Normal Life, from Ilford, United Kingdom. Bazza is a scholar with an obvious love of words, history and the beauty of his country. You don't want to miss it! KEEP SENDING SUBMISSIONS FOR KARAOKE BLOG and see your work featured Fridays on Mimi Writes.

Dating Profile of the Day - my scandalous alter ego - has seen a tremendous increase in traffic lately, largely due to the Bestest Blog of All-Time random blog button which has resulted in returning faithful readers. More people are meeting Miss Scarlett (Scarlett Sundays) and commenting on her antics as well as those unbelievably zany bachelors (#26 #69 #17 #15.) By the way, I had to leave her unattended and barricaded in her hotel room yesterday to attend to other unexpected writing tasks. I hope she's OK. Click the following to catch up on the drama.....Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3.

Yes, I'm a little busy, but happily so. Stay tuned for more breaking news and commentary on our world, my friends, my life.

Life? What life?!

I so need to go hat shopping.