Search

Writing is one of the most gratifying things in my life. Writing is also hell in many ways. Over the years, I have found the fleecing of aspiring writers to be one of my biggest gripes. Buy this book, read this manual, take these classes, use this gadget or program and you, too, will be the next big author on the best-seller lists. Its disgusts me. So this month, with NaNoWriMo beginning shortly and the cool winter months for the northern hemisphere looming, I thought I'd gush about the free, excellent tools that any writer can use. Read more.

Stopping Time with One Line

The art of hand-writing letters seems to be falling to the wayside in this era of electronic mail, text messaging, SMS, and cell phones. In my heart I know that if I am lucky enough to receive any sentiment, be it by email, phone call, or letter, then I am blessed, but whenever a hand-written letter comes to me I can't help but be giddy. There is something special about seeing a piece of mail addressed neatly to your name. Read more.

Taking the Time

by Meenakshi Agarwal

Once in a while I like to take a vacation. Correction. I need a vacation, but my half-empty pockets and busy schedule seldom make taking one possible. This is why I take my "zoom out times." Read more.

Water, Water Everywhere

Leonardo da Vinci once said, "Water is the driver of nature." I've always believed this to be absolute truth. Water covers two-thirds of the earth's surface. It has carved some of the most magnificent structures known to man, it is home to some of the most brilliant array of life forms, and it makes up 90% of our body mass. If something that vast isn't a driver of nature, I don't know what is. Read more.

Move Over, Beech-Nut

Before I had kids, I always imagined the kinds of women who made their own baby food to be some sort of hard-core "granolas," hold-overs from the late '60s and early '70s who wore peasant skirts and sandals and didn't shave their armpits. I figured their resistance to ready-made baby food was just another form of protest against The Man, and I couldn't see myself ever joining it. Even after I had my first baby, I scoffed a little at the idea of making my own baby food. Seriously, why should I go to the trouble when all I had to do was pop the cap off a cute little Gerber jar at mealtime? Read more.

The Magic of Dryer Sheets

When I was growing up, all of our laundry was washed in the machine and hung up outside to dry. After growing up and living in Alaska, trust me when I say I know what "freeze drying" really means in the laundry lingo. There is nothing like bringing in your completely stiff thermal underwear and standing them near a heat vent to thaw. Except perhaps, whacking your little brother with said pair of frozen thermal underwear, but that's another story. Read more.

Sweet, Crunchy, and Oh, So Good

"Take a piece; you'll like it," my friend encouraged me with a smile.

I wasn't so sure. Pumpkin pie is one of my all-time favorites, but this one was different. It had stuff on top of it. Pumpkin pie is supposed to be purely about the pumpkin, an orange orb of spiced goodness. It was not supposed to have an unidentifiable topping. Read more.

Bringing the Outdoors In

As the winter months prepare to descend upon the Northern Hemisphere, I go through an unusual but predictable phase. I want to plant.

Yes, I know fall and winter are not your normal planting times. In fact, the fall months are often filled with harvest celebrations, but when the cool, rustling winds of autumn fill the air, I get the sudden and extreme urge to plant, re-pot and grow greenery until my heart is filled with rapture. Read more.

An Italian Ice to Gush About!

I'm not a person who looks to food in times of sorrow, pain, joy, celebration or when I need comfort. In my life food is for one reason only, nutrients. Don't get me wrong, I do adore all types of food, and love trying new dishes. I have things I hate, like anyone else, and of course I have favorites. But to be frank, I never thought I'd find any one food I'd ever Gush about. But I was wrong. I found Luigi's® Real Italian Ice. Read more.

Full Fashion Stockings

Let's face it: growing up, I was a quintessential tomboy. Raised by my Marine Corps father, and constantly surrounded by all things male, I was always the girl people voted to "least lady-like." The people who knew me as a child might be surprised to learn how wrong they all were. Almost. Read more.

A Cheap Thrill

by Marie Lundgren

My husband, Robert, and I recently bought a house and moved from the second largest city in Sweden to a town so small that most Swedes haven't even heard of it. We're out in the country and we couldn't be happier. We've discovered, though, that there are lots of new chores and responsibilities that come with owning a house, a major one being lawn maintenance. Robert gleefully took on the task of mowing the grass. I think pushing a motor-driven tool around makes him feel more manly. Read more.

Let the Sun Shine In!

Spring is late coming to where I live in northern Sweden. It's the very tail end of April and the snow has finally, just now, melted away in all but the shadiest of corners. We've still not quite reached the point that it's stopped freezing at night. Though my husband and daughter have traded in their heavy coats for lighter-weight jackets, my mother-in-law has been known to point out cheerfully that we should still be dressing for winter until May 1. Despite the lingering vestiges of winter, however, Spring is definitely in the air and I couldn't be happier! Read more.

Padded Spandex and Two-Wheeled Chariots

by Sarah Artis

I've broken two ribs and a pinky. That is nothing compared to most.

The first time I tested my fate mountain biking was six years ago. Two guys from my university class invited me. Picturing a leisurely coast over gentle hills, I accepted. Biking is fun and relaxing. Isn't it? Read more.

Anniversary Edition

This issue marks the one-year anniversary of Mosaic Minds. I don't think any of us imagined this day when Carrie posted the following paragraph in one of her famous rambles on November 21, 2003: Read more.

NaNoWriMo (or, Why My House Is a Mess and My Deadlines Haven't Been Met

By the time you read this I will have completed my first novel. And I will have written the entire manuscript in thirty days or less. Read more.

Water Aerobics

In high school I was always the fat girl who came in last on the mile run. I dreaded PE and would have done just about anything to avoid it. I didn't like to go on nature walks with my family. I never went to my mother's aerobics class, even though she was the teacher. Read more.

Knitting

I've always been a pig-headed, stubborn feminist who wanted people to know that I was no man's domestic slave. I wouldn't be caught dead sewing or knitting or cooking or doing anything else that a patriarchial society might expect of its womenfolk. Read more.

My Hidden Treasures

by Songül Arslan

I can't remember exactly when I had my first real encounter with stationery, but it didn't take long for me to become its love fool, its slave for eternity. I guess it all started when I was about eight or nine and my uncle would take home rejects from the paper factory where he worked. Piles and piles of paper, from very small notebooks to giant square pads, were brought to the family with small flaws only Superman would notice. To me the pristine white was mesmerizing and as precious as a diamond. Read more.

The Baby Made Me Do It!