The curse

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For the past four years or so I’ve lived under a curse.
I don’t know who placed the curse.
I don’t know why I was the unlucky recipient of the curse.
I just know the curse is there. I can feel it’s smothering presence weighing me down with every step I take.

Lucky for me the curse is on only one aspect of my life–money. The other parts of my life–my family, friends, health, and writing–are perfectly fine. As a matter of fact, they’re great!

But I do have a problem with money, or I should say, the lack of it.
Not being able to find a real job for the past four years has really put a huge strain on our budget. I feel guilty. I’m the one who doesn’t have steady work. My family shouldn’t be deprived because of me.

The Disney trip was necessary for two different reasons.
One, my family needed to relax and have fun. They needed to recharge their batteries.
But I also needed to do research for a book I’m planning. I had, just had, to see how certain of the rides were handled. Was there a place during the ride where…

Uh oh! I’ve almost said too much. I mustn’t give away the plot before the story is written!

Hmm. Maybe I haven’t given up so much after all. Even if I did have to give up haircuts, vitamins, new clothes, and even a certain amount of car maintenance to make the trip possible.

But that’s neither here nor there. We managed the trip. The memories are ours to keep forever. I have what I need concerning theme park rides, and we had a great time! So take that, oh-maker-of-the-curse.

So, oh-maker-of-the-curse, what d’ya say? Don’t you think it’s time to lift the curse? I’ll just find ways around it anyway.

Come on. Fess up. It’s time to come clean and tell me who you are and why you put a curse on my purse.

Oh, and remove that silly little curse, of course.

After all, it has been a good joke.
Ha, ha.
You got me.
Very funny.

So let’s break that old curse, shall we. Before I end up in rags and my family and I have to move out into the desert and live in a tent.

Twirls and swirls at Disney

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We just got back from Disneyland where we ended our first day with the Teacup ride.
It seems harmless enough but it can do a real number on your equilibrium.

Go ahead, make it full screen. Enjoy the ride, just like you were there.

But fair warning. You’d better hang on to your cookies!

Zombies?

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There are only 64 hours left to go in my Indiegogo campaign. The stats are $196 raised out of a much needed $8,000–with 7 contributors. Two of those contributors (and $11) are me, testing the system.

So that leaves 5 contributors. And let me tell you, those 5 restored my faith in humanity. If no one at all had responded to my campaign I would have had to barricade myself in an upstairs bedroom. It would have been proof positive that the rest of the world had become zombies.
Well, to be honest, the jury is still out on the whole zombie thing. I thought more people would care about the cyberbully problem and want to do their part to put a stop to it.
Zombies don’t care about other people, right? Think about it. It could, very well, be the explanation!
But thank goodness for those 5 warmhearted humans who responded. They reassured me that there is still hope for humanity. Each and every one of them has my heartfelt gratitude.

Sad isn’t it?  I hesitated to do a campaign because I feared for this very outcome. Instead of my fears being allayed they were realized. I had every right to be on edge.
I blame it all on the zombies.

Witty-wannabes

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They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but this one was worth a silent scream.

A scream of empathy because the poor woman’s final picture was posted on the world wide web for all to see in a total disregard to the feelings of her friends and family. Not only did friends and family lose a loved one in a brutal fashion, but they will never truly be able to escape the visual reminder of the horrific event.When did it happen? When did we stop caring about the feelings of others? When did we lose the ability to put ourselves in another’s place?

The scream is silent because of frustration. Frustration with the lack of filter many people have when it comes to the Web.

I am referring not just to the posting of this horribly graphic picture, but also to the comments posted about it. Poor taste doesn’t begin to describe them. Heartless would be a better word.

Why is it that people think that just because they can post a comment that they should? Do they think it will make them famous? Rich? Smarter?

Have they been bamboozled into believing that they possess a magic keyboard that will make their comments relevant, witty, and tasteful?

I guess we still have some evolving to do. Maybe we need to grow a few new nerves at the ends of our fingers that will shock us when we start typing those tasteless, inappropriate, or snarky comments.
But we’d better get cracking. There’s a lot of hurtfulness disguised as jokes zipping around out there on the Internet.As long as they have ahold of the blunt end of the barb all those witty-wannabes don’t even notice the harm they cause.

Come on people, get a clue! Don’t post anything that you wouldn’t want posted about your best friend, your spouse, your child, your parent, or even yourself. Show that human trait of empathy that we’re all supposed to possess.

Odd isn’t it? Humanity doesn’t seem to work well on the Internet, even if we did invent it.

Press Release

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Where Is the Line Between Real and Cyber Worlds?


New YA book, Gray Zone, to address growing concerns of cyberbullying.


 

NATIONWIDE, 2013—Veronica Tabares spent years working with students in school libraries.  During this time she saw bullying move from hallways to the online world.  Veronica vowed to do her part to eliminate the destructive act of cyberbullying. She has dedicated her time over the past 4 years to research and write a new YA book, Gray Zone.
Gray Zone shares the story of a teenage girl named Autumn who must move to a new school when a website about her goes viral.  Gray Zone is fictional, yet this is a common occurrence in today’s world of technology.  The statistics for cyberbullying are quite alarming—1 in 3 youth has been on the receiving end of cyberbullying and 1 in 4 a victim of cell phone bullying. Only 1 in 10 of these youth talk to their parents about the bullying they are experiencing.
“What makes cyberbullying so hard is that bullies can be anonymous on the Internet.  Anonymous or not, kids are often less reserved in their harsh words and acts when they are online or via cell phones.  Once hateful words are posted they usually remain. The destruction continues for years.” Author Veronica Tabares
Veronica crafted Gray Zone to show the struggles caused by cyberbullying. This new YA book shows youth how to respond to being bullied. But in a subtle manner so that readers enjoy their read while learning valuable life lessons.
Gray Zone is complete but still in preproduction. Veronica is asking for support from individuals who want to contribute to the anti-cyberbullying movement.  Veronica has set up an Indiegogo Campaign to help cover marketing costs. All donors over $25 receive a signed copy of Gray Zone before it goes public.
“We can all do our part to eliminate this destructive form of bullying.  I appreciate every donation small or large. It helps me reach my goal of educating youth with this new YA book. Teens can easily relate to Gray Zone, a fictional story of a modern day teenager.”  Author Veronica TabaresGray Zone, new YA book about cyberbullying
To support Veronica’s efforts with this new YA book you can donate to her Indiegogo Campaign. Her website is http://www.veronicatabares.org/ .  If you are not able to financially contribute and would like to support Gray Zone please share and follow Gray Zone’s social media profiles.


(This information about Gray Zone was released a few days ago!)

Change of heart or tactic?

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Okay, secretive, creepy, chicken hearted bully, what are you up to now?

For six years you’ve done everything you could to make life miserable. And I’ll admit it, your campaign has been very successful. I’ve felt uncomfortable in my own yard, unable to escape the invisible ray that radiates a miasma of hate from your house.

Then yesterday you cut back the bushes that had turned the shared driveway into a shared walkway.

What!

After five years of letting them, and an interesting variety of weeds, grow wild, you cut them? Unbelievable! The driveway actually looks like a driveway now!

But I’m confused. You do realize that cutting the bushes is a nice thing to do, don’t you? That it actually makes things more pleasant instead of less?

I’m just mentioning it because, well, it does go against the normal policy of your campaign.

So what happened?
Have you have had a change of heart?
Are you turning away from a life of bullying toward a life of good will?
Have you decided that life is too short to waste in the dark dungeon of bullydom?

Or, gulp, is this a ploy to put me off my guard so that wham, some new dastardly deed you’ve concocted will be that much more of a surprise, and therefore give an even more satisfying jolt.

Darn it! Even when you do something nice it puts me on edge.

You sir, are an evil genius.

Differing views

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Once upon a time, in a far away land called Redmond, I was a school librarian.

As a school librarian I would often write reviews about the books that I acquired for the library and post them on the Web. I did my best to give my honest opinion, always from the prospective of a librarian in charge choosing appropriate books for the students of the school.

The filter for purchasing books used in schools is quite different than that used in public libraries. School librarians are more focused on the particular needs of the school population, and thought has to be given to what is needed to support the curriculum. Public librarians must purchase for a much broader audience.

So I happily wrote my reviews, always stating that I was a librarian in a K-12 christian school.

When I left the school I gave up the account I was using to post the reviews. But I did set it up so that I’d be notified if anyone left a comment on one of my reviews. Out of curiosity.

I just received a comment on a review I wrote in 2008 about The Loud Silence of Francine Green by Karen Cushman.

Nothing like posting a comment on something written five years ago!

The comment is a perfect example of the problem many people have when they post things on the web.  The distance created by the digital world often loosens tongues in a way that is beneficial to no one.

Chances are that if I met the woman (it’s a woman’s name, although that means nothing) face-to-face she probably would not be quite so bitter that I wrote a good review about a book that she obviously dislikes.

I’m also pretty sure she wouldn’t accuse me of brainwashing children to hate God by promoting the book.

Me, all my librarian buddies, and most schools, by the way. We are all alike, according to her. Bent on destroying the world, one child at a time.

As I said, I gave up the account so I can’t respond back. I don’t really know if I would anyway. What would be the point.

It’s obvious that she is of the mindset that a book about a subject must be promoting it.

I guess she thinks we all live in a vacuum and none of us have ever been motivated to talk about something we’ve seen, or heard, or read about.

Oh, well. I can only hope that one day she reads something that inspires her to think a little harder about a subject she had formerly taken for granted.

Then she’ll get it.

Maybe.

Cyberbully-in-the-making

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An odd thing happened this weekend.

I was very happy to receive another donation to the Indiegogo campaign for Gray Zone, so I made the following post to my author Facebook page (the public one):

“Yipee! Another good person has contributed to the Indiegogo campaign. Happy, happy!”

Seems harmless enough, right?

Someone thought not.

He sent me a private message saying that he didn’t like the post and that I had to delete it. To make sure I got the message, he sent it three times.

Translated to physical world terms it equates to a stranger walking up to me and saying he doesn’t like what I’m saying so I should just shut up.

Now, just to be clear, know that I have no clue who this person is. He’s a total stranger, and as far as I can remember he hasn’t even commented on my Facebook page before.

He could be a normal person who is confused about Web etiquette, or he could be a cyberbully-in-the-making who’s dipping his toes in to see how it feels.

Personally, I believe it’s the latter. Here’s a person who certainly appears to be emboldened by the anonymity of the Internet. Someone who seems to enjoy bossing around whoever he wants, saying whatever he feels, and throwing his weight around–all because he’s hidden behind a screen name.

Fortunately for me, I don’t make a very good bullying victim. I’m not easily intimidated and I understand the cyberbully mentality.

Which is that it’s easy to be mean when no one can see your face.

From 0 to 1

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We all have our ups and downs. Just recently I’ve been a bit more on the down side.

Putting up that Indiegogo campaign certainly did a lot to bring me down. I created the video, wrote the blurb, launched the campaign, and posted to Facebook and Twitter. Every day I excitedly checked to see how much money had been raised, anxious to reach the 100% mark as soon as possible.

Only then could I breathe a sigh of relief. Only then would I have the funds necessary to make Gray Zone visible and noticed. Only then would Gray Zone have a chance among the multitude of newly published books.

One week went by. Two weeks went by. Still it was stuck at 0%.
Really?
0%?

The logical part of me knew I should not to care so much. People are busy living their own lives. They may not have noticed the campaign, or taken the time to find out what the book is really about.

But the emotional part of me cried out “Gray Zone is special! It has a purpose!”

You see, I wrote Gray Zone to educate as it entertains. To make the reader think, really think, about the different aspects of bullying and what it does to our society.

I wrote it to open eyes and loosen tongues.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not naive enough to think that one little book will stop cyberbullying by itself.

It’s the dialog that Gray Zone will inspire that will make the difference. It’s all about the conversations that will happen after the book is read.

So I was very down as the marker remained stuck at 0%. I couldn’t understand, just couldn’t understand, why others didn’t care about the bully/cyberbully problem as much as I do.

But then a miracle happened in the form of contributions. Joy filled my heart as the marker moved away from that horrible 0% and skyrocketed all the way up to 1%.

That may sound like I’m being sarcastic, but I’m not. I truly felt elated. The generosity of the contributors restored my faith in humanity.

The world is once again a good place.