What's Up Wednesday

I found this awesome weekly meme, created by Jaime Morrow, called What's Up Wednesday that is specifically geared towards readers and writers. It's a great way to let you know what I'm up to this week and then, hopefully, you will do the same. The four headings in this meme are:

• What I'm Reading
• What I'm Writing
• What Else I've Been Up To
• What Inspires Me Right Now

If you have a blog of your own and you wish to participate, then head on over to this week's post on Jaime's blog to add your link to the widget in her post! Here's my update:

What I'm Reading

I'm all over the place on this one, so bear with me.

AUDIOBOOKS

 

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Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, read by Wil Wheaton. This book has been long recommended to me as "nerd canon" type of reading. However, it was very important to those who recommended it that I listen to it being read by Wil Wheaton, one of the great nerd gods. I downloaded it from the library, started listening this morning and I am a little disappointed that I had to stop it because my husband need quiet homework time.

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Gregor and the Curse of The Warmbloods by Suzanne Collins, read by Paul Boehmer. I wasn't planning on downloading this. I already had Ready PLayer One to move on to, but when I finished Gregor and the Prophecy of the Bane (Book 2 of The Underland Chronicles), I was ready for more. The Underland has been the place I have been going every night for about a month now before I go to sleep. I will NOT be happy when I am done with this series.

GRAPHIC NOVELS

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The Poor Bastard by Joe Matt. The Picturebooks Anonymous Club meeting at Comic Book Jones is this Monday and I NEED to finish this book before I get there. It's a quick read, but with this depressing protagonist I am dragging my feet.

BOOKS

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An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. It is crazy I haven't bought this book. I probably will when I finish it. For now, it is my "in-store read" every time I go to Barnes and Noble and I'm not writing. Sometimes, in fact, I go up to B&N for the sole purpose of finding out what is going on with Colin. I love this book. John Green is my hero.

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Multicultural Teaching by Tiedt and Tiedt. This is one of my husband's grad school books. For anyone interested in teaching literacy in a multicultural way, this book is an invaluable resource - it has page after page of books to share with your students, lesson plans and cool activities. Next chapter I'm reading is on Art History!

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The Fantastic Family Whipple by Matthew Ward. This is another BEA book. It is an ARC of a middle grades book that is coming out in August. It's a really fun premise of a family that constant breaks world records and the one kid in the family who doesn't fit in.

31 Days To Build A Better Blog by Darren Rowse. As part of the StoryDam.com relaunch in August, I will be bringing the 31DBBB challenge to the StoryDam community. This challenge is part challenge, part book club surrounding Darren Rowse's book. I am rereading it to refresh myself and get ready for the introduction.

What I'm Writing

Dear 302, a YA novel It's still CampNaNoWriMo, and even though I abandoned ship for awhile, I'm back on board and I am rewriting/editing Dear 302, the first novel I ever completed. I have finished seven chapters at over 11,000 words, so  hopefully I will make it to my 50K goal by the end of the week (miracle?).

My husband has made me vow that I be brave enough to just go ahead and do something with this once I am done with it. So that's happening. Time for me to put some big girl pants on and finish up and move forward! As soon as I am done with this post, I am diving right in again.

Trifecta I've been looking for weekly memes and hops to join in on to keep Rivera Runs Through It more active during the summer. One that I found that really intrigues me is Trifecta - a weekly writing prompt based on a word and one of its definitions. The writing is short (from 33 to 333 word limit), so I am going to participate. This week's word is "charm," as in charming an animal like a snake charmer does. Check out tomorrow's post to see how I did!

What Else I've Been Up To

Limping My back has been in a lot of pain this week, so mobility is sucky. I am actually propped up against my large heating pad while writing this.

Bike Reading This is where I go on my stationary bike and reading while I cycle. This is an incredibly important activity to do each day just to get my muscles unwound and at least partially mobile.

Writing outside my house. I have been basically living at the Barnes & Noble up the block from me. The baristas know my husband and I and they were actually shocked when we left the other night before closing. I am feeling a little bit of withdrawal since we didn't go yesterday (I was super symptom-y) and I am not sure we will make there today!

Reading "Poets & Writers" at the park while eating really bad stuff. The purple minion says it all. I was being crazy. I was being bad. But, in the end, I was having fun. It was an afternoon picnic with my husband while we watched the duck and turtles in the pond and read about writers. (I read about Neil Gaiman while my husband read about Joe Hill in Writer's Digest.

Prepping for The StoryDam Celebration As alluded to above, I am at least one part of the relaunch effort taking place next month. I'm doing everything I can during my good days, so that when the bad one comes in the middle of the relaunch (this is bound to happen, I am sure of it), I will not be leaving the rest of the team in the lurch.

Snapshots Birthday Bash I am still promoting my two posts from yesterday about the awesome YA LGBT scifi novel, Snapshots by Patricia Lynne. For some reason there are no entries in my giveaway which makes me sad, so I am trying to tell more people about it! Here's the Book Review and Author interview (Patricia Lynne is awesome) for you to learn about the book. But, if you just want to try to win it, the widget is at the end of this post!

Working Towards a Masters Degree in Literacy Education I joke. My husband is actually doing this, but since I have been helping him each weekend, I feel like I am back in grad school again. The sad part is that I am loving it. I love learning. I love talking about teaching and I find everything about it, but my husband's stress levels, to be so much fun!

What Inspires Me Right Now

The Online Community In preparing for the StoryDam relaunch, I have been exploring the online world again and it is just wonderful. The memes, writing prompts and celebrations have been very inspiring to me. Also, the CampNaNoWri community is second to none. I feel extremely guilty that my health didn't allow me to keep up this month, but I am extremely proud of the work my cabinmates have been doing.

My writing group This Saturday is my next writing group meeting. Hopefully I won't have to cancel like I did last time. Every time I leave a meeting, I come out completely recharged and ready to WRITE. I love it. I look forward to it and I am mad that August's first meeting lands on my anniversary.

What's going on in your week?

What are you reading?

What are you writing?

What's inspiring you?

____________________

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Writing Like F. Scott Fitzgerald

I had so much fun writing like JK Rowling, JRR Tolkien and Shel Silverstein in the past month that I decided to take my Modeling Mondays show on the road! I shared the prompt idea with the entire StoryDam community on their blog today and I'm really hoping to bring some exciting burst of creativity into the lives of fellow writers online.

For this week's selection of author and three sentences to use as a model I selected a novel that has somehow slipped through my fingers all these years. I picked it up this weekend and, by the end of the first page I turned to my husband saying, "Whoa. I want to do nothing else today but read this book cover to cover!" Needless to say, life got in the way and I'm still toting the book around, but the impact of the introduction of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby was not lost on me. I knew then that I wanted to take a stab at recreating the sentences that drew me in so artfully.

For your reference, here are the first three sentences of The Great Gatsby that I will be using as my model:

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.

 “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”

 He didn’t say any more, but we’ve always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that.

Now, I will rewrite this introduction by changing nouns, names, adjectives, adverbs and pretty much as much as I can while maintaining the basic sentence structure. I will italicize my changes. Let's see if I can make any kind of impact with my own creation...

In my older and more detailed writings my characters gave me one warning that I’ve been running from in my work ever since.

 “Whenever you feel like killing any one,” they told me, “just remember that all the creations in this world have had all access to your psyche.”

They never revealed any more, but I've always been unusually connected to my creations, and I understand their threats mean a great deal more than that.

Alright. I'm not F. Scott Fitzgerald and I put this together through what turned out to be a Migraine Monday for me, so I'm not sure how I feel about it as a whole. I'll have to come back to it later when my head stops spinning and the mystic blue lights of pain stop flashing.

If you're ready to join the Modeling Monday party, go check out the prompt on the StoryDam website and add your link for the whole community to see!

Also, if you have any ideas for future first sentences, or authors, just let me know. I'm always on the quest for the next great model.

What If You Gave Up TV? [Writing Prompt]

What if #21:

What if you gave up TV?

I'm currently in the process of cutting out cable and am finding the reception in my home for your basic over the air (OTA) TV, aka "free TV," is somewhat lacking. I'm facing the reality that television, as I've known it my whole life, may just no longer be in the cards. While there is always the option of streaming and subscribing to programs like Netflix, in the end, with only one income in the house every penny has to be counted. So I'm wondering, what if I gave up TV?

Would I accomplish more?

Would I save money or want to go out more often?

Would all of my chores be done at a human like speed?

Would I become more creative (or less)?

Would I write more? read more? bake more? get back to my drawing?

Would I be left out of conversations at social events (I already felt that sting when we dropped HBO!)?

Would I keep up on the news?

The questions abound. Honestly, anytime I am in the presence of someone who says they have "given up TV" I am immediately enamored with them and wish to spend as much time talking to them as possible. I always imagine them to be so much deeper, more intelligent, more well read and well verse than I... is it a myth?

What do you think? Have you already done it? If so, what have you gained/lost from taking "the leap"? If you have not, is it something you would consider? Why or why not? Write your response and link it up below.

Each week the Rivera Runs Through It blog presents a different "What If...?" question for you to explore.
Link up your own post about this week's question. If you have arrived at this post and the inlinkz tool is closed, or you don't have a blog, then please leave your response (or link) in the comment section below using DISQUS.

For a list of all of the What if questions asked so far, 

see The What If Prompts

What If #20 [Writing Prompt]

What if #20:

What if you could speak to your pets for one full day?

Buffy, please get off the computer. We need to talk.

I spend a lot of time with my pets. Today my husband will go back to work and it will be me, the dogs and the gecko again. I talk to them all of the time, but they really don't understand me (most of the time). I'd love to have one full day- 24 hours - of conversations with my pets. This is not because I'm bored it is, instead, because they need to know some really important things. I'd also love to know what's on their mind.

So, in response to this prompt this week I am going to write a post about what I would say given the opportunity to finally communicate.

What about you? What would you say to your pets given the opportunity? What would you hope to hear from them?

Write up your own blog post and link it up below. I can't wait to read your responses!!

Each week the Rivera Runs Through It blog presents a different "What If...?" question for you to explore.
Link up your own post about this week's question. If you have arrived at this post and the inlinkz tool is closed, or you don't have a blog, then please leave your response (or link) in the comment section below using DISQUS.

For a list of all of the What if questions asked so far, 

see The What If Prompts

What IF #19 [Writing Prompt]

What if #19:

What if one of your wishes could be granted this Christmas?

Image source

Christmas is a magical time of year. Once we've freed ourselves from the insanity of the commercial world around us and take the time to reflect upon what Christmas is all about, the warm and fuzzy feelings return. Most children still have a firm grasp on the miraculous magic that the season holds. This isn't just because they still believe in Santa Claus and flying reindeer, it is because the grown-ups in their lives keep the magic alive! As the Christmas season approaches, children have the sense to make their wishes known, and the grown-ups in earshot do what they can to grant those wishes in a way that even Santa himself couldn't do.

So what if there was someone listening closely to you this year? What if the rule for grown ups was that only ONE very special wish could be granted each year? What would your special wish be this year? Would it be a cool new gift, a job, a vacation, a wish for someone else? It can be anything... this is Christmas, after all!

Write it down, let the world know - who knows? Maybe someone will be listening! You can think about it as a piece of your own personal Vision Board (a la The Secret). 

Link up your post below.

Each week the Rivera Runs Through It blog presents a different "What If...?" question for you to explore.
Link up your own post about this week's question. If you have arrived at this post and the inlinkz tool is closed, or you don't have a blog, then please leave your response (or link) in the comment section below using DISQUS.

For a list of all of the What if questions asked so far, 

see The What If Prompts

Writing a Letter to My 10 Year Old Self

Dear Nicole,

I love you. I know these words are thrown around quite a bit as of late, and that you are steeped in a world of love from your family and friends and even Ashley (she's such a great dog), but not everyone is always going to be there to keep telling you how much they love you. So I'm writing to tell you I love you, always. Who am I? I'm you, but from a different time. OK, I think you can handle this - I'm you from the future!

Here's the deal, in the next couple of years the world your world is going to get pretty harsh. I'm not going to tell you how, when or why (spoilers!), but I will tell you this: IT IS ALL GOING TO BE OK. You'll get through it all. But you have to remember this: I love you, you are special and you can't let go of your joy. I only wish we could sit and talk right now because I believe I could learn so much more from you than vice versa, but here are some things I want you to keep in mind:

• being strong doesn't mean being insensitive. You have a right to your feelings; express them.
• keep writing to me. I love the diaries, journals and other creations I find all of the time!
• kids are mean, you are not the problem. I don't even think they realize how cruel they can be.
• keep dreaming, keep reading, keep your faith and keep smiling.
• perms smell bad. They also require that you style your hair every morning. Keep this in mind - are you ready for that kind of commitment?
• boys are just people too. The ones you hang around happen to speak English - go ahead and talk to them.
• I don't need to tell you this, but that family of yours ROCKS - keep them close, tell them you love them, mean it, cherish it and protect whoever needs protecting whenever they need protecting.
• keep on having yard sales and saving your money and rolling up your coins - they always come in handy!
• this one is really, really important and took me a really long time to learn, so I am going to plant the seed a little bit early: Letting go of things is not the same as letting go of people. You can get rid of stuff without harming or losing the memory of the person who got it for you, or a time you shared with them. Remember this. Keep precious what matters: time spent with those you love, not things.

Those tips were for you, here are two things that can help us in the future:

• RECIPES!!!! GET THEM ALL - from Grandma, from Mommy, from Aunt Suzie, from anyone you can think of - just start writing them down, gathering them together. If you can do this you will be a hero to many!
• HOUSE KEEPING - start spying on Mom and Dad whenever they are doing house stuff. Mommy's right, that is your house too - why not learn about it? I'm just saying. It might be cool to know. It might be useful... someday.

So that's it. I mean, of course, do well in school, go to church, and have fun, but that's it! I'm not telling you about any future stuff - no lotto numbers, no cool new inventions, nothing like that - those are spoilers and the last thing I want to do is take away the great adventure of discovery that the years in front of you are going be!! Enjoy the ride!

All My Love Always,
Old Nicole :)




This post was written in response to What if #13: What if you could talk/write a letter to your ten year old self? Link up, share your response and check in to Rivera Runs Through It Every Tuesday to see what the new "What if" question is! Or check in to the list of What If Prompts from the past to see which one you'd like to participate in!

When Facing My Idol [or My Brush With Al Pacino]

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In high school I was obsessed with Al Pacino. I don't know what came over me, but I was a half Italian-American, living in Staten Island, New York who had never seen the Godfather films until I was a teenager (it was unheard of!). Once I did there was no looking back.

Michael Corleone was such a fascinating character. As I delved further into Mr. Pacino's work and the nineties marched on, I found myself surrounded by characters who were larger than life, boisterous and engaging. I cheered, screamed and danced in front of TV screen when he finally won an Oscar in 1992. By the time I entered college I owned every single Al Pacino movie on video and my walls were plastered with his movie's posters. In 1996 when I saw Looking for Richard in an Indie theater in Manhattan, Al Pacino shifted from an actor I admired to a full-on genius and personal idol.

As luck would have it, in that same year, Al Pacino was starring in and directing Hughie, a two character play right on Broadway. I got third row tickets and made my plans.


I was going to meet my idol.


As the day grew nearer, I got more and more excited about the great meeting. I needed Al to understand how much I had loved Looking for Richard. I wanted him to understand that, unlike everyone else who would be clamoring for his attention at the stage doors, I was there to say, "Thank you," for shining such a beautiful light on the Shakespearean work, Richard III. I was not just trying to snap a pic of Michael Corleone, in the flesh. I needed him to know I not only saw his labor of love Looking for Richard, but that I also understood it.

The question remained - how could I convey this if only given a second of his time amidst a throng of fans?

And then it came to me. It was so simple, so easy. Two things, given the time, given the moment, would be all I would need to convey my message. First, I would ask for an autograph, not on one of my movies, posters or pictures, but, instead, on my copy of Richard III. Then, if I could speak to him I would boldly say, "A kiss, a kiss - my kingdom for a kiss!" echoing the sentiments of Richard when he utters, "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" - for I felt a kiss from Al Pacino would be as valuable to me as a horse would have been to Richard.

That was the plan. I told everyone and we all agreed it was brilliant.

On October 25, 1996, at 8pm the show began and I watched, in awe, as Al Pacino took the stage mere feet in front of me. After the show I went out to the stage doors along with what felt like the entire population of midtown Manhattan! In other words, it was very crowded.

When I saw Al Pacino come out the stage door, I reached over the crowd and snapped some pictures, then handed the camera back to someone I was with and started to lean into the crowd while on my tippy-toes. Al was great - he was smiling, stopping for pictures, signing everything that was thrust toward him and feigning shock and surprise every time someone gave him some roses. As I watched his excitement over every Godfather, Scarface and Carlito's Way artifact thrown his way, I began to feel less confident in my glorious plan. It was also becoming clear that I would never be close enough to utter my well-rehearsed line, "A kiss! A kiss! My kingdom for a kiss!" So I just reached my arm through, holding my "New Folger Library" edition of Shakespeare's Richard III.

Finally, at one point, I felt it taken from my hand - I went back up on my tippy toes to look over the crowd to watch him sign. He did so quickly and turned to hand it back to the assistant who was holding all of the items from the crowd when all of a sudden he did a double take. It was written all over his face, "What the hell did I just sign? This isn't mine at all..." The smile he had plastered to his face from the moment he walked out the door was gone. My heart sank. I had made a horrendous mistake! Perhaps he would think it was an enormous disrespect to sign a Shakespearean work!

He turned to his assistant and asked, "Who gave you this?" I thought I was in trouble for sure. I felt like I was being called down to the principal's office. I was completely panicked. The crowd around me parted to allow me to take full credit for whatever it was that was happening. Then Al Pacino saw me and didn't hand the book to his assistant to hand to me, he grabbed my hand, placed my book in it, placed his other hand on top of it, looked in my eyes and, with a much smaller smile than the one he was flashing to the crowd around us all he said, "Thank you."

The signature, in black marker, is difficult to see.
It's coming off the side of Richard's head.

It was in that moment I confirmed what I had always known - I am not cut out for theater, for I could not remember my line! All I could say back, in a mousey squeak, but with a smile that could probably outshine Time Square herself was, "Thank you." He shook my hand once more.

And it was over. Al grabbed another artifact to sign, the crowd closed in around me - this time with lots of questions, What was that? or Did he write that book? or Is that him on the cover? or Wow! You're so lucky!

There was no picture of the moment. This was long before the age of the digital camera and when we still had a limited amount of pictures that could be taken on any one outing. My family and friends tried to catch a shot, but the crowd was too deep and before digital, you didn't just snap like crazy in hopes of catching a shot (not unless you were a professional photographer)! 

When I got back to my family and friends waiting for me, all I could think and say was, "I didn't say it..." I was so disappointed in myself. However, they were all just as awestruck as the crowd around me. They had seen what had happened and then someone said exactly what I needed to hear at that moment, "Are you kidding me, Nicole? Who cares that you didn't say your line! Tonight, when Al Pacino is going home in his limo, he is going to be thinking about the girl who brought him a Shakespeare book to sign! He might even tell his friends about you!"

I laughed, but saw the truth in it. Al Pacino, after all, is just a person, too. He might have been my idol, but that day I realized how normal  he was, which made him even more awesome.

It is hard for me, these days, to think about meeting my idol and how I would react or what I would do. As I get older and have more and more life experiences myself, it is difficult for me to place anyone on such a plane of greatness that I could not see them, at their cores, as a fellow human being with whom I could just communicate given a topic of mutual interest. For people I admire, it seems that finding such a topic would be even easier than someone who would otherwise be deemed "ordinary," but is someone unknown to me. In addition, growing up here in New York has given me plenty of opportunities to star-gaze, to see those über-famous people all over the city doing this and that and recognizing that while they may have a famous face and have different talents than I do which bring them notoriety, at our cores, we are similar.

This is not to say that I don't still squee after a brush with greatness. I'm not implying that I don't work my butt off for a great pic, if possible. And more than anything, this is not to say that I don't come off sounding/looking/acting like a complete idiot from time to time. I give you the 2010 New York Comic Con as a perfect example. I hadn't realized when I went (I was crazy sick and had done no pre-planning whatsoever) that James Marsters was going to be there, was giving a talk and then was giving autographs. I went to his talk, where I stood for an hour, then stood on line to get an autograph. I had something to ask him (I don't remember what), but when it came my turn, he had some canned line that he had been giving to each person on the line. I can't blame him, you have to do something to get through the day, right? But that was not ordinary human talk, it was fake-flirty meaningless talk, so, in vapid response, I giggled. I was one faceless female in thousands of people he had seen that day.

I know he played a vampire for years, but I have a feeling, if I had my wits about me that day,
I could have earned something a little less tongue-in-cheek than this from Mr. Marsters! :)

So, to answer the What if question that inspired this entire post, What if you came face to face with your idol? my answer is simple: I would hope to make an impression. It does not have to be a permanent one - I understand from my years in the pseudo-celebrity status of a high school teacher in a large public high school how difficult that could be when faced with so many different people edging to do so. However, a small impression like the one I had on Al Pacino, who I truly do believe reflected back on the night of October 25, 1996 and thought it was really nice that some twenty years old girl asked him to sign her copy of Richard III, is more than any one girl can ask for.

This post was written in response to What if #12: What if you came face to face with your idol? Link up, share your response and check in to Rivera Runs Through It Every Tuesday to see what the new "What if" question is! Or check in to the list of What If Prompts from the past to see which one you'd like to participate in!

 

What are your tales of glory and failure when it comes to meeting your idols?

How would you prepare yourself for meeting your idol?

Who is your current idol?

What if #15 [Writing Prompt]

Each week the Rivera Runs Through It blog presents a different "What If...?" question for you to explore.
 At the bottom of this post is a place for you to link up your own post about this week's question. If you have arrived at this post and the inlinkz tool is closed, or you don't have a blog, then please leave your response (or link) in the comment section below using DISQUS.

Happy pondering to everyone...

What IF #15:

What if you had to kill whatever living thing you chose to eat?

November 1st is International Vegan Day. It ends Vegetarian Awareness Month. Last year, I actually celebrated in November by going meatless every Monday. It gave me a lot of time to think about what I was eating, why I was eating it and what choices I make every single time I have a meal.


It is impossible to go through such an activity without this week's what if question wandering into your consciousness. I live in an incredibly convenient world where I don't have to think about the ugliness of death each time I have a meal, however, more times than not it is actually a death that makes that meal possible. If I chose differently, then perhaps a life could be saved. I understand this, yet, although I claim to value all life, I continue to eat meat, poultry and fish...


So, a year has passed and I am asking myself, and anyone else reading:

What if you had to kill whatever living thing you chose to eat?

• Could you do it? 
• Do you already do it?
• Would you change your diet?
• If so, why not change your diet now?
• Honest;y, what has a greater affect on your eating decisions: ethics or convenience?

Think about it. Write about it. Link up below!

For a list of all of the What if questions asked so far, 

see The What If Prompts

What if #14 [Writing Prompt]

Each week the Rivera Runs Through It blog presents a different "What If...?" question for you to explore.
 At the bottom of this post is a place for you to link up your own post about this week's question. If you have arrived at this post and the inlinkz tool is closed, or you don't have a blog, then please leave your response (or link) in the comment section below using DISQUS.

Happy pondering to everyone...

What IF #14:

What if you became your Halloween costume?

For the truly astute followers and readers, or long term friends and family that count themselves as readers, it will come as no surprise to you that I am a huge fan of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series. (My beagle's name is Buffy.) However, I have not written about it all that much, so I felt the need to preface it here because this week's What if question is 100% inspired by an episode of this fantastic series.

Here's what I wore all day Halloween this year! :)

Here's a synopsis of the episode straight from IMDB:

It turns out that Halloween is the one night of the year when vampires actually lay low, so everybody is getting their costumes from the new store in town, Ethan's Costume Shop. Buffy wears a noble woman's dress from the time when Angel was human, Xander dresses up like a soldier, and Willow chickens out on dressing like a hooker and goes as a ghost. But Ethan Rayne, the shop owner, has invoked the Roman god Janus so everybody becomes their costume. That means all the kids in the neighborhood are now monsters and Buffy thinks she is an 18th-century maiden who faints at the sight of demons and vampires.

This episode happened early on in the series (Season 2) which led to some of the recurring characters being quite thoughtful about costume choices year after year. Well, I guess they got into my head, too! Now, whenever I get dressed up or am selecting a costume I start pondering what my life would be like if I woke up November 1st as that.

This year, I am getting my costume a little bit late (our annual Halloween party is scheduled for November 5th!), so I'm not even sure what fate I could possibly be dooming myself to, but in previous years there was

• Waldo from the Where's Waldo books (does this mean NO ONE would be able to find me again?!), 
• a Ghostbuster (would I be haunted and slimed for all of my remaining days?), 
• a ghost (would I have to die?!),
• Albert Einstein (would this lead to extreme intelligence, or, the cold-harsh reality: Albert Einstein is dead!). 

 As a child I had some other options, I dressed up as

• a Smurf (this seems like a disaster scenario!), 
• an old woman (how heartbreaking!), 
• a chef (perhaps the best possibility in this case... although I don't know if I was a good chef - I carried around a rubber chicken!), 
• a clown (I don't know how entertaining I find this idea...)
• a scarecrow (boooorrrrriiiinnnnngggg - Do I just have stand around all day??)
• a cat (would I be a stray, left on the streets, or be adopted into a loving home?)

and this would be really scary

• the Virgin Mary (I don't think I can handle the responsibility!!!)

There are so many more. I'm sure after I publish this post, some really fantastic ones will come to mind, but what about you? Did you dress up this year? If not, go ahead and use a costume of your past. Even better - do you have kids? Well, what if your cute little monsters turned into real little monsters, super heroes, princesses, pieces of fruit, fanciful insects, or whatever else they dressed up as this year?

Think about it.

It could be scary.

It might be funny.

In some cases, it might be just what you need (maybe I should dress up as an independently wealthy woman!).

Whatever it is - write a story about it and then link up below!

For a list of all of the What if questions asked so far, 

see The What If Prompts

What if #13 [Writing Prompt]

Each week the Rivera Runs Through It blog presents a different "What If...?" question for you to explore.
 At the bottom of this post is a place for you to link up your own post about this week's question. If you have arrived at this post and the inlinkz tool is closed, or you don't have a blog, then please leave your response (or link) in the comment section below using DISQUS.

Happy pondering to everyone...

What IF #13:

What if you could talk/write a letter to your ten year old self?

"If I only knew then what I know now..." how many times have you uttered this phrase? I think we've all said it once, or at least thought it as we've grown older, wiser and more experienced. Well this week's What if prompt gives you the opportunity to impart some of that knowledge. What if you could write a letter to your ten year old self?

• What would you say?
• What would you hold back?

 What if you could talk to your ten year old self?

• What would you ask?
• How would you introduce yourself?

This prompt can be dealt with in a number of ways - you could answer some or all of these questions, or you can even take your virtual space to actually compose that letter to yourself.

Perhaps you don't believe in messing with the past, if that's the case, flip it around - what do you think would your ten year old self say/write to you if (s)he met you today?

For a list of all of the What if questions asked so far, 

see The What If Prompts

What if #12 [Writing Prompt]

Each week the Rivera Runs Through It blog presents a different "What If...?" question for you to explore. Some will be serious, some will be silly, some might be political, religious or historical.

 At the bottom of this post is a place for you to link up your own post about this week's question. If you have arrived at this post and the inlinkz tool is closed, or you don't have a blog, then please leave your response (or link) in the comment section below using DISQUS.

Happy pondering to everyone...

What IF #12:

What if you came face to face with your idol?

Tonight my best friend is at a Smashing Pumpkins concert. It is in a small venue, she pulled in all kinds of babysitting favors and went through various ticketing agencies to ensure she got tickets. She worried over her outfit of choice and was getting increasingly nervous as the day went on.  You see, she absolutely adores Billy Corgan, and this has been going on for about twenty years.

About two years ago, she arranged a trip up here to New York (she lives in Maryland these days) so that the both of us could go to an exhibition at the Rubin Museum of Art just because Billy Corgan was going to be there. It was a truly fascinating day, but what has stuck with the two of us more than anything what what happened when she was standing practically shoulder to shoulder with Billy Corgan himself in the exhibit after his talk: absolutely NOTHING!

I stepped out of the way so she would have a clear shot at him and then... nothing. She completely froze. She was star struck in a way I had never seen her before! While I argued that he was just another human being with whom she, a competent communicator who worked in marketing, advertising and promotion in New York City long before taking on another social role of mother of two very active children, could easily speak to, it seemed my message was lost. He was not human, at least not to her; he was Billy Corgan.

Most of us have someone who fits that role in some way - perhaps they're a rock star, an athlete, an actor, an author, a world leader or a religious one. Perhaps you think you will have a cooler head. Perhaps this is a meeting you have been planning for and have a script already written. Or, perhaps, like my friend Dawn, you know that you have built your someone up so high that your words will get lost on your chance meeting! Whatever the case may be - write about it!

Let us know who your idol is, maybe even why you regard him/her so highly, and then share your tale with us! What if YOU came face to face with your idol?

I can't wait to read the responses to this week's question (I know many people at New York Comic Con this weekend had this exact experience!).

P.S. - Hey Dawn!! If you are less than two feet from Billy Corgan tonight, I had better be getting some GOOD story tomorrow morning!!!

For a list of all of the What if questions asked so far, 

see The What If Prompts

What if #10

This post is an invitation to you to think about the word in the middle of life: IF (L-IF-E). Each week the Rivera Runs Through It blog will present a different "What If...?" question for you to explore. Some will be serious, some will be silly, some might be political, religious or historical.

You can either write a response of your own, or just tune in to see what everyone else has to say about it. At the bottom of this post will be a place for you to link up your own post about the question, so feel free to share. If you have arrived at this post and the inlinkz tool is closed, or you don't have a blog, then please leave your response (or link) in the comment section below using DISQUS.

Happy pondering to everyone...

What IF #10:

What if you received one million dollars today?

No strings attached, after taxes, commitment-free you have mysteriously received the amount of $1,000,000 to do with what you like! A dream come true for most, a possible nightmare for others, but the questions remain:

• What does it mean for you? 
• What do you do with it?
• How does it change your life, your relationships, your family?
• Will you use it sensibly, frivolously, philanthropically, or just save it all? 

There are tons of things to think about and write about on this "what if," so take the plunge! Let us know your perspective and read what others had to say. 

Or take this in a completely fun direction and write about how you think you got this money - stretch your creative muscles to write a fictional tale!

I look forward to the responses, link up or comment below!

For a list of all of the What if questions asked so far, 

see The What If Prompts

The What If Prompts

Each week, on the Rivera Runs Through It blog, I present a new "What if" question for readers to respond to either on their own blog, or in the comments section of the prompt. Since this could go on for quite awhile, I thought it might be a good idea to have one place to gather up links to all of the questions asked so far so you could easily sort through them all!

Here they are, and please, feel free to join in on any of the conversations at any time, we'd all love to know you're perspective(s)!

The Questions So Far...

• What if there's nothing?
• What if you had to KEEP all of your trash?
• What if saying, "I'm not good at math," had the same stigma as "I can't read"?
• What if you could travel in time?
• What if we lost electricity forever?  
• What if students were paid to go to school?
• What if you could take one thing with you when you die? 
• What if we were charged the "true" price of food and/or gas?  
• What if I had/hadn't ___________________?
• What if you received one million dollars today?  
• What if you had a superpower?
• What if you came face to face with your idol? 
• What if you could talk/write a letter to your ten year old self?  
• What if you became your Halloween costume?
• What if you had to kill whatever living thing you chose to eat?
•  What if it/they never existed?
• What if you found out you had an allergy to your favorite food(s)? 

Also, if you have a "what if" question of your own that you think others may want to respond to/write about, feel free to submit your suggestion(s) to the What If discussion in the Rivera Runs Through It Blog Frog Community, or, if you're a Facebook fan, suggest it on our FB fan page!

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