Some things I wish I could go back and tell my younger self:..

1. Pay attention to your great grandma when she tries to explain crocheting to you. Sure, you’re rolling your eyes, but later you’ll really wish you’d listened and learned.
2. You have absolutely nothing to be stressed or worried about. Enjoy yourself. Nothing is that important. Chill out. RELAX. Don't be afraid to ask for help with this sooner rather than later. 
3. Go ahead and wear shorts! Your legs will never look better than they do right now.
4. Being different is more than okay. It’s great! Unique is far better than cookie cutter any day.
5. You’re not in with the popular crowd – so what?! You’ll be far more successful than most of them later in life anyway, you’ll hit your peak later, and you’ll be lucky enough to amass many good friends along the way (real friends).
6. That boy you’re obsessed with in high school? Get over that ridiculous crush. Don’t throw away opportunities that will never come again. He’s gay. He may not know it for sure yet, but he’s gay. You need to admit to yourself that you have seen the signs.
7. Speaking of friends, you’re going to lose several in the 1980s to a terrible disease called AIDS. Appreciate the time you have with them. Spend even more time with them. Even though you think you are, you can help them even more in their struggle to be themselves and be accepted.
8. Don’t distance yourself from your childhood best friend when you gain new friends. You will never have a friend as dear as her, no matter how long you live. You are connected forever. She will need you and you won’t be there during a critical time in her life and, when you realize what you've done, it will be too late to go back and do what you should have.
9. That art thing that you like to do – don’t stop doing it because you’re “too busy” or when “it doesn't fit in with” your life plan. That creativity and the release it provides is what’s going to get you through some tough times later on.
10. Even though you hate it, at least try to understand those Algebra and Geometry classes instead of “just getting by.” It would sure help you later when you’re faced with things like statistics, charts, and graphs.
11. That thing with your mom? You know what I mean. The fact that you don’t see eye-to-eye on anything and you are embarrassed by how blunt and plain-spoken she is. There will come a day when you realize that you wish with all of your heart you could be more like her. And you’ll miss her. A lot.
12. Hey. Pay attention. Your dad is working a lot of overtime and it's so you can go to college. Sure, you’re going to get a job while you're there and pay for your own room and board, but he is going out of his way to help you and he'll later say he regrets not being able to pay for it all. Appreciate the gift. Understand the sacrifice.
13. That English degree is going to do more than just set you off on a teaching experience that you’ll never regret, it will also be a springboard for so much more personally and professionally. Relish being required to do all of that reading – especially that British literature. You’ll never have the time to completely immerse yourself like that again and those classics will be with you forever.
14. Don’t lose track of your college roommate. She will have been one of the most important influences in your life.
15. That college boy that you think you’re going to marry? You’re not. He’s going to break your heart. But it’s for the best. He’s not the one. Learn from the experience and enjoy that time, but don’t put all of your eggs in that basket.

Actually, now that I think about it, never mind. 

My life has been my life because of some of these things. They may have been mistakes or shortsightedness, but who knows? Maybe I wouldn't be who I am without having lived the life I've lived thus far. Understanding the regrets I have may make me a better, stronger person.

A Catch-All, Catch-Up Post

Oops! It's been too long since I've added something here!

New Look for my Blog
Check me out! I've recently been having some fun with Photoshop Elements and have discovered some amazing sources for vintage public domain images and backgrounds. 

My favorite of these sites is this one:

This led me to challenge myself and totally redesign my blog. This design really reflects me and my tastes far better than the basic template design did. I've always loved vintage things and my addiction to the BBC/PBS series, "Downton Abbey," has served to drive me further in that direction.

Let me know what you think!

Super Bowl XLVI
Don't know if you noticed it, but the Super Bowl was played in my hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana this year! It was quite a big deal!

There was much consternation when Indianapolis was first announced as the host for the 2012 Super Bowl. (It's COLD in Indy in February!) The city had originally bid for 2011, but lost out to Dallas due to their newer, bigger, better stadium; supposed better weather; and, probably, because of the influence of the Cowboys' owner.  The second bid worked out though and the city started planning for Super Bowl 46 3 years ago.

I applied right away to be involved somehow on the planning committee, but they had almost 900 applicants for less than 150 positions. I made it to the second round and was interviewed, but didn't get a planning committee role. I was designated as a "special ambassador" and directed to wait until volunteer sign-up began to apply for the special position I'd like.

I ended up as a greeter, manning a welcome desk at two different private aircraft arrival hangars at Indianapolis International Airport.  I had four six-hour shifts over the week. It was a great gig!  The primary rules were things like no photos, no autographs, and don't bother the celebs. I met several retired NFL players from my youth, some celebrities (of both the snooty and very nice varieties), some CEOs of large corporations who were pretty down-to-earth, and some inexplicably rich people who can afford to charter a jet and bring their whole family to the Super Bowl.

Indianapolis is a great city. Those of us who live here know that. We host large events all of the time. The Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 are the two largest single day sporting events in the world. We regularly host NCAA Final Fours. Our downtown is perfect for conventions because everything is within walking distance.  Visitors often comment on how clean our downtown is and how safe they feel.

It seems that the rest of the country didn't understand this though. I'm happy to say, now they do!

“Every NFL official and media person agreed Indy should become a regular part of Super-Bowl rotation. Super job, Indy.” - ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Twitter.

"I am so proud of the city of Indianapolis. So many people have told me this is the best Super Bowl they have ever attended!" - Former Indianapolis Colts coach and NBC commentator Tony Dungy on NBC’s pregame show.

"I love the fact that the people would come out and support us from all over. They showed that Indianapolis is a great place to have a Super Bowl, and I think there's a great chance they get another one." - Former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, via Indianapolis Star.

Jeff Darlington of NFL.com writes, "I'm convinced all Indy citizens were required to attain a 4-year degree in "How to be Nice" before being allowed into the city. Refreshing."

Jason La Canfora writes, "Biggest winner this week - above and beyond Eli and the Giants - has to be Indy. There will be another Super Bowl here. Tremendous hosts"

Judy Battista of the New York Times wrote, "Heading home...take a bow, Indy. You were spectacular hosts. Hope the game is back here soon."

Of course, the fact that we are having the craziest winter EVER (only two dustings of snow, highs in the 50s and 60s in February), didn't hurt anything!

We looked at this as a "once in a lifetime opportunity" at the time, so we visited the NFL Experience and the Super Bowl Village (twice). Sounds like maybe the city might bid to try to do it all again in a few years. In the meantime, I'll look back at the experience as a great one!



Lucas Oil Stadium the night before the big game



These huge, lit decals on the JW Marriott could be seen
from airplanes as they came in for their landing in Indy

Celebrating the NFL the way only Indy could, an Indy car
decorated for each NFL team, plus a special Super Bowl version-
Giants and Patriots in the front row.

Another Creative Outlet
See that little ticker down below this post? My Photoshop fun has also led me to a little enterprise that's just beginning.  There's not a lot there yet, but feel free to check out my store on Zazzle.com (linked below). I'm going to exclusively be focusing on stationery, cards, and literary-themed items (I think).  We'll see where it goes. Like I said, I'm just getting started!

Finally, in other Quirky News
Our dog, Greta (@Queen_Greta), is now on Twitter, she has more followers than me (@Dodie123), AND she has a wonderful, long-distance doggie boyfriend in Oregon (shout out to Rocky the Malamute/German Shepherd mix)!

Yes, my husband thinks I've lost it.

Happy Birthday Dodie's Discourse!

I just realized that my blog will be a year old soon.

When I started this, I always assumed that writing here would benefit me because I was in desperate need of some sort of creative outlet. What has surprised me has been the readership, uptake, and response from others. I am truly humbled.

I've had nearly 4,000 page views since last January. I know that's probably not huge in the grand scheme of the internet, but I'm shocked at it and it's certainly more than I would have anticipated. It is particularly unbelievable to me that nearly 20% of those page views have come from outside of the United States! I have readership from Canada, the UK, Germany, and perhaps most surprising, I've had quite a few views from Russia.

The most popular/highest viewed piece over the past year was something I wrote about My Favorite Dog other than our Own (Butler Blue II, the Butler University mascot). I imagine that back-to-back appearances in the NCAA men's basketball championship game led several people to search for Butler and maybe even Butler Blue since he appeared on national TV and news several times during the tournament. I'm glad to have done what I could to help Blue in his social media efforts to spread "the Butler way" throughout society.

Most of my page views have come from sources like Facebook and Twitter, from the links I've shared when I've made an entry, but some of the hits are definitely from search engines and the search terms that led people to me are pretty funny. Examples of these are Dracula Christmas (leading to my post about our Christmas card tradition), Bucky Badger funny (which took them to my Butler Blue II post that featured of photo of Blue hiking his leg to a giant blow-up Badger the week Butler played Wisconsin in the tournament), and toy castle (which apparently led that poor reader to my review of the ABC TV show, Castle).

I have my own personal favorite posts from this past year, of course. These would include (selfishly) two that I wrote in part to deal with my own grief: A Loving Life Well Lived following the loss of our wonderful cat Abby to Cancer, and Janie following my mother's unexpected death.  I also particularly enjoyed writing the from-the-heart-as-a-former-teacher essay Teaching - Is there a more valuable and rewarding (and less valued and rewarded) profession? and the slightly silly piece about The Royal Wedding - Why I will be getting up at 3:00 a.m. on Friday.

So, whether you know me in real life or are a complete stranger, I'd like thank you for indulging me by coming here to see what I have to say. It's an honor that some of you come back regularly and I'm particularly intrigued by those of you reading from places like Latvia, the Philippines, and Australia. (Really?! How cool is that?)

 I think I'll do my best to keep posting in 2012 and I hope you'll continue to join me from time to time.

With sincere thanks,

Dodie