Tuesday, January 06, 2004

R. D. Lawrence Recently I borrowed back from my daughter one of my favorite books: The North Runner, by R. D. Lawrence. It's a true account of his homesteading in the Canadian wilderness, where he befriended a dog who was half wolf. I love autobiographical accounts of homesteading and wilderness adventures. They appeal to me especially if they involve wolves and interspecies communication. R. D. Lawrence lived the stories I love to read. Tonight I started rereading another favorite he wrote, Paddy. This is the story of a summer Lawrence spent studying beavers in the Canadian north woods. Paddy was an orphaned beaver kit that he found and raised. Doing a google search tonight for more Lawrence books, I found to my sorrow that he died last November 27. This was in fact my daughter's birthday. I read that it was his own daughter's birthday as well. I smile as I write this, for my daughter too has always had a mysterious ability to communicate with animals. R. D. Lawrence has created a vivid place in my mind for the north woods and for wolves. I'm sure his books helped me make an extremely strong bond with my bouvier dog, Colette. And reverance for wilderness is a gift he has given millions. That's a great legacy. 9:57:21 PM    comment []

Accounting Fun Now that many of us are finishing up the 2003 accounts, I have two tips for making this fun. 1) When entering amounts whether in writing or by keyboard, sing the amounts as you enter them. In other words, sing "Twelve dollars and ninety-three cents" or whatever the amount might be. I make up my tunes as I go along, but you could choose something jolly to use. I started doing this when I noticed I always tensed up as soon as I entered figures. Singing the amounts seems to make tensing up impossible. Fun! 2) Get the book, The Accounting Game : Basic Accounting Fresh from the Lemonade Stand. This is the only book on accounting I know, that makes it fun to learn. (As always, I use amazon.com links to books because they're handy and the prices are usually very good. I don't have any affiliate status with amazon. So the links are only for your convenience in finding out more about books I mention.) Hope your accounting sessions are lots of fun! 1:54:00 PM    comment []

First Sale of the Year Last night I almost deleted an email message that looked like spam. Luckily I opened it. It told me of my first art sale of the year. Hurray! This year I intend to live from sales of artwork. So this first sale of the year is a good omen. I'm so much looking forward to my website. 1:40:32 PM    comment []