Stephanie Verni's Blog, page 92
January 9, 2014
Wrapped Up in Love
Wrapped Up in Love—I used this particular phrase recently when I told my friend Sarah, whose father-in-law was visiting her over the holidays for a month (or more), that he must feel “all wrapped up in love” as he spends some quality time with her family. He lives far from them, and moved in for […]
January 8, 2014
Decorating with Books
Incorporating books into your life is important. My house is filled with books of all kinds. Over the holidays, I even went so far as to begin organizing them by genre: business books, general fiction, chick lit, sports books, academic books, and of course, our collection of gorgeous coffee table books. When you decorate with […]
January 6, 2014
Write Bravely
* * * I actually am writing right now. I carved out time to do it. And this little saying popped into my head as I started to censor myself. Why I do this, I do not know. Writing should be free, and you should be able to write it exactly the way you see […]
January 5, 2014
Life Without Matthew
* * * I’ve been struggling with the loss of Matthew since last season. And now we are expected to pull up our big girl pants and deal with his death. Downton Abbey fans: Have you properly mourned him yet? Two of my favorite characters are dead: Lady Sybil and Matthew Crawley. I’m sure most […]
January 2, 2014
Fictography #1: That Which Is Mine.
Welcome to my newest Friday feature. It’s called “Fictography.” The way this works is a reader will supply a photograph, and then I’ll write a piece of Flash Fiction (roughly 500 words) that reflects something about the photograph. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, and I felt it was time. Writing Flash […]
More and Less in 2014
We’ve all got those pesky resolutions. Here are mine, in no particular order. A little more and a little less in 2014. Write more Curse less Love more Bitch less Exercise more Eat less Pray more Crash the car less Landscape more Weed less Play board games more Expect less Pamper more Digress less Organize […]
December 27, 2013
2013 Taught Me Much
Dear Readers, What is the best part of life? The ability to learn, day by day, about people, places and things. Our minds are incredible, and allow us to be lifelong learners. That is what we strive to teach our students at Stevenson University — that the element of curiosity should always stay with you, […]
December 23, 2013
Unusually Grinchy…
Yup. It happened. After weeks of forcing my kids to take vitamins and begging them to wear coats, stating over and over again that ‘we don’t want to be sick for Christmas,’ my son started vomiting last night around 6 pm. He’s still down for the count on the couch. We were supposed to be […]
December 20, 2013
Lessons from "The Holiday" and James Cameron: Be the Leading Lady of Your Life and Find Some Gumption
Reblogged from steph's scribe:[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPevgT...] I could watch “The Holiday” over and over, and it’s not just to see charming Jude Law in action. Nancy Meyers’s adorable flick became a rom-com favorite of mine because I especially love the relationship between Arthur Abbott (Eli Wallach), a retired Hollywood screenwriter, and Iris Simpkins (Kate Winslet), a British […]
5 Writing Crutches You Can Eliminate for Clarity
One of my favorite rules from Strunk & White’s “The Elements of Style” is this one: OMIT NEEDLESS WORDS. I make it a goal in my writing to say things as succinctly as possible. Mark Twain’s great quote, “If you see an adverb, kill it,” is one of my favorite writing quotes of all time. […]
