<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309</id><updated>2009-03-01T18:51:54.412-05:00</updated><title type='text'>D.S. White</title><subtitle type='html'>Author of Age is Just a Number.  Appearances, excerpts, reviews and the 411 about her works-in-progress</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/atom.xml'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default?start-index=26&amp;max-results=25'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>61</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-5614820067099621107</id><published>2008-10-13T11:09:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-10-13T11:14:12.612-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music playlist'/><title type='text'>Muse With Me Musically</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: center; margin-left: auto; visibility:visible; margin-right: auto; width:450px;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="435" height="270"&lt;br /&gt;data="http://www.profileplaylist.net/mc/mp3player-othersite.swf?config=http://www.profileplaylist.net/mc/config/config_regular.xml&amp;mywidth=435&amp;myheight=270&amp;playlist_url=http://www.profileplaylist.net/loadplaylist.php?playlist=17159547"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;param name="bgcolor" value="#e8e8e8"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;param name="movie" &lt;br /&gt;value="http://www.profileplaylist.net/mc/mp3player-othersite.swf?config=http://www.profileplaylist.net/mc/config/config_regular.xml&amp;mywidth=435&amp;myheight=270&amp;playlist_url=http://www.profileplaylist.net/loadplaylist.php?playlist=17159547"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;BR&gt;&lt;a href=http://www.profileplaylist.net&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.profileplaylist.net/mc/images/create_regular.jpg border=0&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=http://www.profileplaylist.net/standalone/17159547 target=_blank&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.profileplaylist.net/mc/images/launch_regular.jpg border=0&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=http://www.profileplaylist.net/download/17159547&gt;&lt;img src=http://www.profileplaylist.net/mc/images/get_regular.jpg border=0&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-5614820067099621107?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/5614820067099621107/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=5614820067099621107' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/5614820067099621107'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/5614820067099621107'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2008/10/muse-with-me-musically.html' title='Muse With Me Musically'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-75002297303337342</id><published>2008-04-28T12:24:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2008-04-28T12:34:24.562-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='self-realization'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='poetry'/><title type='text'>Thank "You"</title><content type='html'>chillin&lt;br /&gt;TV Watchin&lt;br /&gt;then I answer the phone&lt;br /&gt;and out of the blue&lt;br /&gt;it's "You"&lt;br /&gt;only...&lt;br /&gt;my heart doesn't sing&lt;br /&gt;In your voice&lt;br /&gt;there's a familiar ring&lt;br /&gt;But I can't place the voice&lt;br /&gt;So there is no choice&lt;br /&gt;but to ask...&lt;br /&gt;Who again are you? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;you pause&lt;br /&gt;as if to think up&lt;br /&gt;your disclaimer clause&lt;br /&gt;We're both surprised&lt;br /&gt;cause this reprise&lt;br /&gt;is playing with no lies&lt;br /&gt;of omission&lt;br /&gt;no feelings of attrition&lt;br /&gt;just congratulatory words,&lt;br /&gt;I'm proud of you!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;thought &lt;br /&gt;I'd mentioned&lt;br /&gt;before our previous&lt;br /&gt;dissension&lt;br /&gt;my book was released&lt;br /&gt;in 2006&lt;br /&gt;but maybe in the midst&lt;br /&gt;of life's hits and kicks&lt;br /&gt;the words didn't stay&lt;br /&gt;and gradually slipped away&lt;br /&gt;never to be recalled&lt;br /&gt;by you&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;notwithstanding&lt;br /&gt;the perception&lt;br /&gt;of previous rejection&lt;br /&gt;who would have thought&lt;br /&gt;after nerves so fraught&lt;br /&gt;I'd see this place and time&lt;br /&gt;my, it's almost sublime&lt;br /&gt;because I've realized&lt;br /&gt;the power and healing&lt;br /&gt;that is mine&lt;br /&gt;simply because of a call&lt;br /&gt;from you&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-75002297303337342?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/75002297303337342/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=75002297303337342' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/75002297303337342'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/75002297303337342'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2008/04/thank-you.html' title='Thank &quot;You&quot;'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-3320046141662066098</id><published>2008-04-27T18:04:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2008-04-28T09:06:35.901-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='addiction'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='poetry'/><title type='text'>Disconnected</title><content type='html'>Disconnected&lt;br /&gt;Dejected&lt;br /&gt;Hooked on that shit again&lt;br /&gt;I thought I was protected&lt;br /&gt;From this affliction&lt;br /&gt;Some call an addiction&lt;br /&gt;Where does your faith lie?&lt;br /&gt;my deepest heart cries&lt;br /&gt;Does this mean that&lt;br /&gt;this is my new god?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I spend dollar after dollar&lt;br /&gt;Each time giving up more power&lt;br /&gt;As I slide into a mental decline&lt;br /&gt;ignoring me and mine&lt;br /&gt;Couched in self denial&lt;br /&gt;My character on trial&lt;br /&gt;Help on redial&lt;br /&gt;Yet every time I choose&lt;br /&gt;The destructive “vial”&lt;br /&gt;Is this my new god?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What do you mean…&lt;br /&gt;It’s not automatic?&lt;br /&gt;Faith alone won’t stop it?&lt;br /&gt;I got to step to the plate&lt;br /&gt;And act upon it?&lt;br /&gt;But it’s in the Word&lt;br /&gt;it’s a promise!&lt;br /&gt;So true what you’ve read&lt;br /&gt;Is what my God… said&lt;br /&gt;However, faith without works…&lt;br /&gt;is dead!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Copyright © 2008 by White and Ramsey&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-3320046141662066098?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/3320046141662066098/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=3320046141662066098' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/3320046141662066098'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/3320046141662066098'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2008/04/disconnected.html' title='Disconnected'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-6826177204649311077</id><published>2008-01-21T16:58:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-01-21T17:18:48.909-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='reflection'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Martin Luther King Jr'/><title type='text'>Effecting Change</title><content type='html'>Reaching back into my archives to bring you a piece I wrote last year on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's Birthday.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;~*~*~*~&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;On this day I encourage you to read and reflect on a speech delivered five months before I was born by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is a celebration of a milestone in a battle, yet also a signal that the battle is not yet over. We’ve made some progress since then, but when the baton was passed on to our generation … what did we do with it?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Did we run till our feet got blistered or sore? Did we stand up for injustices in our homes, community, churches or jobs? Or did we pass the baton without even trying?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've never been in the army but I have practiced marching for my "house: Melba” while at school in the West Indies. The same synchronicity and precision was needed and the "house" was as strong or as weak as its slowest, uncoordinated or day dreaming (yes me… LOL) member.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Instead of benching the slow, the uncoordinated or the day dreamer, under the guidance of the coach, the rest of the house encouraged and figured out a way to compensate for the lack of speed, coordination or concentration of that member until each was up to speed. This ensured that the weight of loss or victory of the "house" did not rest solely on the shoulders of the one member, but on the one who lead the house: the coach.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Our battle was waged against three other houses, one named Critchlow and two others, the names of which I can’t recall. Critchlow sticks in my mind, because they were the house to beat if Melba wanted to move into its rightful place as the #1 house on campus.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So we practiced, in public and in secret. Left, right, left, right, left, right, halt, one, two. We practiced turning our eyes (and heads) to the right on command. We were even so bold as to throw in a skip step. We practiced making our arms swing to shoulder height for every step we took, member by member practicing until there was total unison.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now who knows that you don’t realize that you’re uncoordinated or how much skill it takes to walk and swing your arms in tandem, until someone tells you to slow it down or to do it in front of others?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Our Christian and civic duties are just like that. At times, we want to stand for what's right, and that stand may take us out of our comfort zone so we delay it until "next time". Or maybe, we might anonymously stand by convincing someone else to stand in our stead or writing an anonymous letter or maybe we just feel that one person cannot make a difference so we do nothing. Had Martin Luther King Jr. believed that fallacy, we would not now be living his dream.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dr. King realized that there was need for practice, in public and in secret (prayer). He made sure that his skills were up to par by doing what was needed and then going the extra mile (education: high school, BA &amp;amp; PHD). He found a team (church) and they followed the instructions of their coach (God). As a result, spritual and civic change began to occur.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So now years later, on what would have been Dr. King's seventy-seventh birthday. The question posed is: what have you or I done to effect a change for the next generation?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Change begins with you and me. Using Dr. King as an example, we need to catch hold of the vision that God has for our lives and then make our stand. When you and I are bold enough to take a stand, regardless of the discomfort, the feeling of being out on a ledge and the feeling of helplessness or maybe even hopelessness. I daresay that when we do venture out onto that ledge, we will meet others there, who ventured out as well and by joining hands, we will pull away from the edge ... we'll still be on the ledge, but we won't be alone in the danger zone. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;~*~*~*~ &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;Our God Is Marching On!&lt;br /&gt;March 25, 1965. Montgomery, Ala.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My dear and abiding friends, Ralph Abernathy, and to all of the distinguished Americans seated here on the rostrum, my friends and co-workers of the state of Alabama, and to all of the freedom-loving people who have assembled here this afternoon from all over our nation and from all over the world: Last Sunday, more than eight thousand of us started on a mighty walk from Selma, Alabama. We have walked through desolate valleys and across the trying hills. We have walked on meandering highways and rested our bodies on rocky byways. Some of our faces are burned from the outpourings of the sweltering sun. Some have literally slept in the mud. We have been drenched by the rains. [Audience:] (Speak) Our bodies are tired and our feet are somewhat sore.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://dee411a.atwc1.com/archives/292#more-292"&gt;continue reading... &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-6826177204649311077?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/6826177204649311077/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=6826177204649311077' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/6826177204649311077'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/6826177204649311077'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2008/01/effecting-change.html' title='Effecting Change'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-6976467588989393513</id><published>2007-09-11T10:10:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-09-11T11:48:48.868-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='reflection'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Writing Related'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Life'/><title type='text'>9/11 Tribute - We Can Choose</title><content type='html'>I'd just like to share a reflective piece I wrote today entitled, "We Can Choose" for my monthly column over at Blogging in Black:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hi Folks,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Good morning and welcome to “Dee Speaks” day at Blogging in Black. Right now I’m sitting in my quiet bedroom in Whitehall, PA, a far cry from Ozone Park, NY six years ago.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Six years ago, I was in my home office, working on the inventory for my online bookstore, my largest concerns were processing and filling orders, making sure my papers were done for Bible School and pulling myself together after my recent uncoupling. When my cell phone rang (a miracle in itself) I was startled out of my own little world by the sobbing of my daughter who was away at boarding school in MA.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Continue reading over at &lt;a href="http://blogginginblack.com/?p=533"&gt;Blogging in Black&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-6976467588989393513?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/6976467588989393513/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=6976467588989393513' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/6976467588989393513'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/6976467588989393513'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2007/09/we-can-choose.html' title='9/11 Tribute - We Can Choose'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-7199096111344244151</id><published>2007-09-07T11:40:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-09-10T12:44:40.703-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='reflection'/><title type='text'>T.G.I.F.</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;Good Morning,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's the first Friday of September. The kids have gone back to school, the high school graduates are now freshmen and recent graduates have now embarked on new careers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I spoke with my daughter this morning and she had a not so great day yesterday. It was her third day teaching third graders and they were testing her.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As she told me of some of the shenanigans and I tried not to chuckle, my mind played flashbacks of her at that age and our many weekend trips to the library sharing time reading a good book.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I pictured her doing the same with her students and I kinda sorta patted myself on the back for playing a part in her decision to share her love of knowledge with others.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I even came up with a new acronym for TGIF:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;T - hank&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt; G - od &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I - 'm &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;F - ruitful! &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;That thought was swiftly followed by the following scripture:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit ... fruit that will last." ~John 15:16a&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As you go about your day, bear in mind the many opportunities presented to share your love of something with someone and thus plant a seed that might bear some fruit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Have a wonderful day and an even greater weekend!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-7199096111344244151?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/7199096111344244151/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=7199096111344244151' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/7199096111344244151'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/7199096111344244151'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2007/09/tgif.html' title='T.G.I.F.'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-1258498728777133114</id><published>2007-09-03T15:13:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-09-03T15:20:25.224-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Life'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='questions and answers'/><title type='text'>You Can't Handle the Truth!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="left"&gt;Hey Folks,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hope this lovely Labor Day finds you enjoying time with your friends and family. I've reactivated one aspect of my online family. My dating profile at BlackPlanet.com&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Since then, I've been joining groups and running up and down the forums spreading my opinions like petals strewn before the bride on her wedding day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've also been using the opportunity to work on my poetry... some of them are eigh... but I'm working on spontaneity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyway, the following question was posed by one of the men so I decided to share it with you and my response. Please feel free to chip in with yours. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;~~Can Women Handle the truth or do you think they want to be pacified?~~ &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Can I handle the truth or do I want to be pacified?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I can handle the truth... I prefer it ... 9/10* hands down. Will it hurt ... sometimes. Is your truth my truth? Not all the time... but still good to know.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, I reserve the right to nullify your decision to tell me the truth if your delivery encompasses:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;- absence of tact…&lt;br /&gt;- the bluntness of a 2 x 4…&lt;br /&gt;- a public venue&lt;br /&gt;- playing to an audience&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Is preceded by or ends in one of the following:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;- I don't mean to hurt your feelings but...&lt;br /&gt;- I thought you’d want to know…&lt;br /&gt;- I’m not supposed to repeat this, but…&lt;br /&gt;- I'm just keepin' it real...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you’re someone who has:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;- never had a conversation with me…&lt;br /&gt;- never had something good to say to or about anyone…&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If I have:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;- broken up with you recently…&lt;br /&gt;- beaten u out for the promotion…&lt;br /&gt;- busted u stealing from the church offering…&lt;br /&gt;- previously caught u in lies…&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If compliance with the above falls under pacification in your book, then by all means “pacify” me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Peace,&lt;br /&gt;~D&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;** The other 1/10 you’re on your own! I might either be PMS-ing or my elevator might not be going all the way to the top floor that day or whatever... be that as it may... my response could take any form. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-1258498728777133114?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/1258498728777133114/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=1258498728777133114' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/1258498728777133114'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/1258498728777133114'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2007/09/you-cant-handle-truth.html' title='You Can&apos;t Handle the Truth!'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-5404966806177331520</id><published>2007-08-15T13:28:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-08-15T15:04:50.869-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='reflection'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Life'/><title type='text'>Happy Birthday to Me!</title><content type='html'>Hi Folks,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's my birthday today and I'm lazing it away in the best way possible. I thanked God ahead of time (around 1 am this morning) for waking up. LOL. I've read a book, chatted a bit and am now updating my sites and thanking my numerous online friends for their felicitations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh, what about the cards and the presents? I received and opened those early. The family (except for my mom and me are all in &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinidad_and_Tobago"&gt;Trinidad &amp;amp; Tobago&lt;/a&gt;, the land of my birth). The new picture shows off my new haircut courtesy of my daughter. We had a "ma and me" day last week Tuesday. I traveled to New York and realized that I was getting a small town mentality. There were skads of chesteses falling out of tops (the new style, I was informed) and I was horrified!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also, every three minutes or so I would stop dead in the middle of conversation and lose my train of thought. Why? Men! They were everywhere in all different shades from pink to deep mocha chocolate. The pickings over here in Smalltown, PA are slim to non-existent so I didn't know how to act. My daughter thought I was hi-larious.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyway, I feel that I should have some deep thought to share. After all I'm 42 today and they keep telling me that wisdom is a by product of age. However, all I keep coming up with is gratitude.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm estactic that my daughter graduated from college and has a job! (I'm also thrilled to have one myself... lol), I'm grateful that no matter how bad life gets at times, I continue to learn and grow--to adjust. I'm grateful that my gifts are supporting me, so I'll continue to write and create. I'm grateful for the opportunity to work with teens, the next generation needs all the help they can get, and I'm wired to almost remain an unaging teen myself. But most of all I'm just grateful to be here.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Peace,&lt;br /&gt;Dee&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-5404966806177331520?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/5404966806177331520/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=5404966806177331520' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/5404966806177331520'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/5404966806177331520'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2007/08/happy-birthday-to-me.html' title='Happy Birthday to Me!'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-6368697335330853758</id><published>2007-08-11T12:46:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-08-15T13:19:44.178-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Writing Related'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='appearances'/><title type='text'>Blogging in Black</title><content type='html'>Hi Folks,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Check out my latest post at Blogging in Black, the forum where, authors (mainstream and self-published), agents, publicists and the like come together to give our unique perspective on the writing life and the biz.  Looking at the line up of talent that surrounds me, I'm intimidated as heck, but run on sentences, comma splices and all ... I relish the opportunity to have my say.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the previous months I've written about:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;October 11, 2006&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://blogginginblack.com/?p=85"&gt;How I Ended Up as a Creative Non-Fiction Writer, or, My Road to Publication&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;November 11, 2006&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://blogginginblack.com/?p=147"&gt;Success: How Do You Define It?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;December 11, 2006&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://blogginginblack.com/?p=181"&gt;How Personal is Too Personal?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;January 11, 2007&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://blogginginblack.com/?p=210"&gt;Making Your Words Count&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;February 11, 2007&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://blogginginblack.com/?p=242"&gt;Love Questions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;March 11, 2007&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://blogginginblack.com/?p=263"&gt;Emma Jean Reborn, or, A Nicodemus Moment&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;April 11, 2007&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://blogginginblack.com/?p=305"&gt;What’s a Reviewer’s Responsibility?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;May 11, 2007&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://blogginginblack.com/?p=353"&gt;Book Covers: Instinct or Logic?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This month I tackled the special challenge posed for writers with &lt;a href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/bipolardisorder.html"&gt;bipolar disorder&lt;/a&gt; in my post &lt;a href="http://blogginginblack.com/?p=490"&gt;Mind Management&lt;/a&gt;.  Please hop on over and lend your support or point of view... look around and read words from your favorite author and find new ones that might not have come across your radar otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Peace,&lt;br /&gt;Dee&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-6368697335330853758?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/6368697335330853758/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=6368697335330853758' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/6368697335330853758'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/6368697335330853758'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2007/08/blogging-in-black.html' title='Blogging in Black'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-5623225639129387886</id><published>2007-07-24T23:46:00.001-04:00</published><updated>2007-07-25T00:37:57.838-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='reflection'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='memories'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='poetry'/><title type='text'>What Comes Out of You?</title><content type='html'>Hi Folks,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The following question was posed recently in one of my online groups:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;Do any of my sistas get into poetry/writing? If so, please let me know. This is a passion of mine. Just wondering if anybody was out there!!!!!!!!!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Immediately I responded by saying that I'm not a poet(ess) per se, but every once in a while, I get blessed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I pointed them to my sparse contributions, which you may find in the poetry section &lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/poetry.html"&gt;on here&lt;/a&gt; as well as on my &lt;a href="http://dee411a.atwc1.com/archives/category/poetry"&gt;Wordpress blog&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When I thought about it some more I realized that every instance of creation, was proceeded by a moment of strong emotion or angst.  This in my book doesn't make me a poet(ess), however it does make me great at channeling what is in me and pouring it out in a fashion that makes it of value to myself and others.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some examples of poetry of value, would be that of Maya Angelou, Helen Steiner Rice and the King James Version of Psalms. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Each manage to incorporate one or more of the following into what came out of them: Flow, impact, motion, evolution, (not the theory of, but the fact that it begins one place and ends somewhere else), inspiration, comfort, affirmation, heart break, and so much more. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I written many poems since I was fifteen, some have been lost in moves from one apartment to another, and alas, I am horrible at remembering them.  It's as though once I get them out of me, the carthartic effect kicks in and I can no longer remember them... all except my very first poem entitled: A Friend&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I wonder in this world today&lt;br /&gt;   if anyone has a friend?&lt;br /&gt;Not someone who hates you&lt;br /&gt;   and pretends to like you&lt;br /&gt;But someone one who's really sincere&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*A friend who is loving&lt;br /&gt;   and also real giving&lt;br /&gt;So when you need her she's there&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;How can you tell if your friend is sincere?&lt;br /&gt;   and how can you tell if she's not?&lt;br /&gt;It's really a matter of trust because&lt;br /&gt;   a friend comes with no guarantee.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;* that verse right there is iffy cause I thought I remembered it all, but as I began to type it up, I realized whoopsie ... I didn't quite remember it all.  But you guys get the gist... right?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So now that leads us to the question of the day.  In moments of strong emotion or angst.  What do you create? What comes out of you?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-5623225639129387886?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/5623225639129387886/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=5623225639129387886' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/5623225639129387886'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/5623225639129387886'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2007/07/what-comes-out-of-you.html' title='What Comes Out of You?'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-8984503179109637744</id><published>2007-07-09T11:57:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-07-09T12:05:15.488-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Blog Tours'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='book promotion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Meisha Camm'/><title type='text'>3-2-1 ... Blog Tour!</title><content type='html'>Hey Folks,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Don't forget to hop on over to Dee411 tomorrow to welcome Urban Books Author, Meisha Camm. If you'd like to follow the tour around the schedule is as follows:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;July 9 - &lt;a href="http://sormagtours.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://sormagtours.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;July 10 – &lt;a href="http://dee411a.atwc1.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;http://dee411a.atwc1.com/&lt;/a&gt;**&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;July 11 – &lt;a href="http://donnahill.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;http://donnahill.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;July 12 – &lt;a href="http://sylviahubbard.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;http://sylviahubbard.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;July 13 – &lt;a href="http://pyramidbooks.net/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;http://pyramidbooks.net/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;July 14 - &lt;a href="http://sormag.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://sormag.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NOTE: A comment on the &lt;a href="http://sormagtours.blogspot.com/"&gt;sormag tours blog&lt;/a&gt; makes you eligible to win a SORMAG goody bag. When you post, don't forget to let 'em know that Dee sent ya!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Peace,&lt;br /&gt;Dee&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;P.S. I should really be packing... my ride arrives in an hour and a half...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-8984503179109637744?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/8984503179109637744/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=8984503179109637744' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/8984503179109637744'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/8984503179109637744'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2007/07/3-2-1-blog-tour.html' title='3-2-1 ... Blog Tour!'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-3047248453458572235</id><published>2007-07-08T20:02:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-07-08T21:10:08.558-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Blog Tours'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='book promotion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='announcements'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Universal Studios'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='vacation'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Meisha Camm'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Florida'/><title type='text'>Vacation Time</title><content type='html'>Hi Folks,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm going to be on vacation July 9 - July 14. Actually it will be a working vacation. I'll be one of the adults accompanying about 8 or 9 of our youth to the Youth Conference in Orlando.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I almost thought that I wouldn't make it. As a result of some excessive sign holding at the FREE Carwash fundraiser two Saturdays ago, yours truly ended up with a muscle spasm of gargantuan proportions. I was a bit sore on Sunday, but I figured that was par for the course. Monday, my day off, I allowed my bountiful blessings to go free for the day and basically bummed around the house.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Tuesday, I was still sore but under control. I had a hair braiding appointment around 12 noon. In hindsight, I think the clincher was when I hefted up my Denise Austin exercise chair to take it from the living room to my bedroom that I did the damage.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I went to Bible Class that night and then to work on Wednesday and Thursday. By the time Thursday night came around I was in deep doo doo. I began taking Ibuprofen and they did nothing. Then my sinuses decided to join the mix so I took an excedrin sinus and two Ibuprofens.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My sinuses were good... but my neck and shoulders were beginning to talk to me and they were calling me anything but a child of God.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was bedridden. I literally ran out of bed to eat, shower and then ran back in. Saturday morning, I had to call in sick. My supervisor came through for me and covered for the day... but even better than that she came bearing the wonder drug Aleve (generic version of Naproxim Sodium ... you should be hearing the halleluiah chorus by now... I know I was)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then began the Aleve popping sleep all day long days.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The only position of comfort was laying on my back with my eyes raised to the ceiling or heavens or standing straight up with my hands fully raised and extended above my head. What one would consider the classic praise/surrender position.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I thought to myself, God truly does have a sense of humor. Since I was in the position, I began to praise Him. However as the pain increased ... my praise became a bit shaky then stopped altogether. I didn't have any friends like Job did to rally around me and ask me to examine and confess my sins that might have brought me to this point/situation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nor did I have a spouse or significant other who, tired of my suffering, encouraged me to curse God and die.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However, I did receive a visit from a recurring thought I had as a teenager. "Isn't this enough? Why don't you just end it all?" I must guiltily admit that I did entertain the thought for about five minutes or so, instead of treating it as the driveby thought that it was and allowing it to--drive by.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyway, I did note something. Knowing the weight of my bountiful blessings, I have always just half raised my arms when in church to avoid shoulder or neck pain. Yet, now in the midst of a muscle spasm... the only position that gives me any relief is the heretofore avoided, full out, hands upraised, classic praise/surrender position.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was also almost reverted to the position of a baby. My neck could not support my head and my left arm could barely raise past waist level.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In hindsight I can see that I'd been heading down this road for a while. Poor posture at the computer, poor eating habits, poor exercise habits, poor praise habits, poor time management, poor housekeeping skills... I was just a pauper and didn't even realize it!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I now have new appreciation for my temple (Christian talk for body) and resolve to continue the 45 minute walks around my complex, at least three times a week and to do a few more push-a-ways from the table.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My arm can now raise almost to shoulder level from the side, and since I stopped praising... it will no longer lift above my head in the praise/surrender position unless I use my right hand to assist it, however as I leave for Florida, I leave with a sense of expectation. I expect to return from Florida with my spasm totally healed!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That's my rambling, sharing and caring/reflective moment for today.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Peace,&lt;br /&gt;Dee&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;P.S. I doubt that I'll have any computer access but please do take a moment to stop by my Dee411 Blog on Tuesday the 10th to welcome my hosted Author for that day, &lt;a href="http://dee411a.atwc1.com/archives/295"&gt;Meisha Camm&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-3047248453458572235?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/3047248453458572235/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=3047248453458572235' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/3047248453458572235'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/3047248453458572235'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2007/07/vacation-time.html' title='Vacation Time'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-6132809906739899762</id><published>2007-06-29T11:34:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-06-29T11:55:35.556-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='memories'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='authors'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='questions and answers'/><title type='text'>Questions and Memories</title><content type='html'>Hi Folks,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I guess it would be questions and answers, however, sometimes in finding our answers to a question, we evoke memories:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So please take a trip with me down memory lane as I share with you my off the cuff answers to a random question on Gather.com this morning:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Q: Who are some of your favorite authors, and why?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A: Off the top of my head and in no particular order:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Judy Blume, Enid Blyton, Lori Foster, Terry McMillan, Diana Palmer (in all her reincarnations), Sandra Brown (and all of her reincarnations), Eric Jerome Dickey, Michael Baisden, E. Lynn Harris, J.R. Ward, Marilyn Lee, Monica Jackson, Brenda Jackson (not related... LOL), Margaret Johnson-Hodge, Sandra Kitt.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Okay, I'll stop there because my fingers are getting tired... LOL.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Q: You forgot the why.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A: Oops... didn't see the why part of the question:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Judy Blume - If only for "&lt;em&gt;Are You There, God? It's me, Margaret&lt;/em&gt;." She approached touchy subjects with sensitivity and the KIR factor even back then. (KIR = Keeping-It-Real)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Enid Blyton - Goblins, twins, mystery and adventure. She enhances a child's ability to imagine and see great things in everyday life&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Lori Foster - Another favorite on my KIR Richter Scale. She represents the vagaries of human life with depth, sensitivity, honesty and humor. Oh and the love scenes are not too shabby either.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Terry McMillan - The lady of so many firsts. A trailblazer for AA fiction and chicklit. She made it okay for women to exhale and date younger men.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Diana Palmer - Most appreciated by me for elevating the plain of form or features to the status of the dearly beloved and of course beating out the prom queens, beauty queens, barbie like women etc. Gooooo Diana!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sandra Brown - My first appreciation the flow within a writers work began with Sandra. No not Shakespeare... LOL. Sandra.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Eric Jerome Dickey - Whew! His first three books have a permanent place on my bookshelf. Chick lit from a man's point of view. Enlightening and enjoyable.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Michael Baisden - Affirmed the fact that Men reall do cry in the dark. His books deal with issues that are particularly male oriented without making excuses for the males.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;E. Lynn Harris - I have E. Lynn to thank for clueing me into the Down Low trend at 17 before it became widely known. I was fresh to New York after High School and dating a guy who was gorgeous, witty and Hispanic. (All top three requirements at that point in time). However, there was just something that didn't click for me. Until I read one of E. Lynn's books. Via the clues listed in E. Lynn's book, I realized that the brother was ambivalent... to put it politely.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;J.R. Ward - If you enjoy a great vampire book... J.R. is the new Queen of the road. Her vampires are not like any other.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Marilyn Lee - A gifted story teller, my only complaint, She writes mainly erotica which kinda curtails my enjoyment of her skills.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Monica Jackson - Another KIR sister who has written chicklit before it became popular. She's also a pretty nifty marketing diva who doesn't sleep on the job.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Brenda Jackson - One of the few African American authors who is published by Silhouette Desire.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Margaret Johnson-Hodge - Holds a great place on my bookshelf as well, because she was one of the few authors who represented locs in a positive light in one of her earlier books. She also did a great job on interracial relationships as well as the ghetto fab sister with the executive brother in a believable manner. Kudos Margaret!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sandra Kitt - Sandra, Sandra, Sandra. Girl, you had me hooked from the first book. You were writing about one of my favorite topics: interracial relationships. Not only did you portray them realistically, you didn't go in for the quick fixes and the soppy happy endings. He/she wasn't perfect just because he/she was white; and he/she wasn't a disaster that needed a savior just because he/she was white. It was real people dealing with real issues and relationships who just happened to have differences in their pigmentation. You're still the undisputed queen in my book.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So there you have it folks. My long-winded but lovingly nostalgic, off-the-cuff response.  Now the ball is thrown firmly back into your court: who are some of your favorite authors and why?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-6132809906739899762?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/6132809906739899762/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=6132809906739899762' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/6132809906739899762'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/6132809906739899762'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2007/06/questions-and-memories.html' title='Questions and Memories'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-6083256218163752907</id><published>2007-06-18T17:45:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-06-18T18:09:36.570-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Blog Tours'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='book promotion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='announcements'/><title type='text'>Blog Tours on the Horizon!</title><content type='html'>Hi Folks,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've linked up with &lt;a href="http://www.sormag.com/"&gt;SORMAG&lt;/a&gt;, an online multicultural literary magazine that specialize in book promotion and book reviews for multi-cultural literature, to become one of their bloghosts for promotional blog tours. Here's a list of the current bloghosts:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;2007 TOUR SITES:&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;SITES THAT WILL FEATURE ABA BOOKS&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.pyramidbooks.net/"&gt;http://www.pyramidbooks.net/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://therouxinthegumbo.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://therouxinthegumbo.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.kim-robinson.com/"&gt;http://www.kim-robinson.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="mailto:kimscrew@yahoogroups.com"&gt;kimscrew@yahoogroups.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.vampire-huntress.com/"&gt;http://www.vampire-huntress.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://dee411a.atwc1.com/"&gt;http://dee411a.atwc1.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://readzonebookreviews.atwc1.com/"&gt;http://readzonebookreviews.atwc1.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://bookreviews.atwc1.com/"&gt;http://bookreviews.atwc1.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.nevaehpublishing.com/"&gt;http://www.nevaehpublishing.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://donnahill.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://donnahill.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://sylviahubbard.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://sylviahubbard.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://raspberry-latte.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://raspberry-latte.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://sormag.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://sormag.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://myspace.com/lchoffman"&gt;http://myspace.com/lchoffman&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;SITES THAT WILL FEATURE CBA BOOKS &lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://tonivlee.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://tonivlee.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://dee411a.atwc1.com/"&gt;http://dee411a.atwc1.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://readzonebookreviews.atwc1.com/"&gt;http://readzonebookreviews.atwc1.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://bookreviews.atwc1.com/"&gt;http://bookreviews.atwc1.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://dp.atwc1.com/"&gt;http://dp.atwc1.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://raspberry-latte.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://raspberry-latte.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://sylviahubbard.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://sylviahubbard.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://donnahill.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://donnahill.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.shoutlife.com/michellesutton"&gt;http://www.shoutlife.com/michellesutton&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.nevaehpublishing.com/"&gt;http://www.nevaehpublishing.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://therouxinthegumbo.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://therouxinthegumbo.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://profile.myspace.com/=191207064"&gt;http://profile.myspace.com/=191207064&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.kim-robinson.com/"&gt;http://www.kim-robinson.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="mailto:kimscrew@yahoogroups.com"&gt;kimscrew@yahoogroups.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://lashaunda.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://lashaunda.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://sormag.blogspot.com/"&gt;http://sormag.blogspot.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://myspace.com/lchoffman"&gt;http://myspace.com/lchoffman&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you'd like to become a host, click here:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://sormagtours.blogspot.com/2007/06/would-you-like-to-be-tour-site.html"&gt;http://sormagtours.blogspot.com/2007/06/would-you-like-to-be-tour-site.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you'd like to request a tour, click here:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://sormagtours.blogspot.com/2007/06/book-your-tour-today.html"&gt;http://sormagtours.blogspot.com/2007/06/book-your-tour-today.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-6083256218163752907?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/6083256218163752907/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=6083256218163752907' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/6083256218163752907'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/6083256218163752907'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2007/06/blog-tours-on-horizon.html' title='Blog Tours on the Horizon!'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-8876148453691522745</id><published>2007-06-15T22:05:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-09-12T08:12:54.846-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='links'/><title type='text'>Links</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;AUTHOR BLOGS/SITES&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.myspace.com/chicklitgurrl"&gt;Shonell Bacon&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.angelabenson.com/"&gt;Angela Benson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://sheliagoss.wordpress.com/"&gt;Shelia Goss&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.monicajackson.com/"&gt;Monica Jackson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.michellemonkou.com/"&gt;Michelle Monkou&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.tristarussell.com/"&gt;Trista Russell&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.deeswhite.com/"&gt;D.S. White&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;FOR AUTHORS/WRITERS&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://community.atwc1.com/"&gt;ATWC1.com's Writing Community&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.blogginginblack.com/"&gt;Blogging in Black&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.sormag.com/"&gt;SORMAG&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-8876148453691522745?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/8876148453691522745/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=8876148453691522745' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/8876148453691522745'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/8876148453691522745'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2007/07/links.html' title='Links'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-567894305813031913</id><published>2007-06-15T21:28:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-07-04T22:32:27.403-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Categories</title><content type='html'>&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/advice%20columns.html"&gt;advice columns&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/announcements.html"&gt;announcements&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/appearances.html"&gt;appearances&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/authors.html"&gt;authors&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/Blog%20Tours.html"&gt;Blog Tours&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/book%20promotion.html"&gt;book promotion&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/celebration.html"&gt;celebration&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/Contests.html"&gt;Contests&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/election.html"&gt;election&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/excerpts.html"&gt;excerpts&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/Extras.html"&gt;Extras&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/forgiveness.html"&gt;forgiveness&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/Gods%grace.html"&gt;God's grace&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/grace.html"&gt;grace&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/Harlem%20Book%20Fair.html"&gt;Harlem Book Fair&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/holidays.html"&gt;holidays&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/humor.html"&gt;humor&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/Living%20Single.html"&gt;Living Single&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/Look%20What%20I%20Found.html"&gt;Look What I Found&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/memories.html"&gt;memories&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/music.html"&gt;music&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/poetry.html"&gt;poetry&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/questions%20and%20answers.html"&gt;questions and answers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/reflection.html"&gt;reflection&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/review%20sites.html"&gt;review sites&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/self-realization.html"&gt;self-realization&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/sermons.html"&gt;sermons&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/starting%20over.html"&gt;starting over&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/labels/Writing%20Related.html"&gt;Writing Related&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-567894305813031913?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/567894305813031913/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=567894305813031913' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/567894305813031913'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/567894305813031913'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2007/07/categories.html' title='Categories'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-4111620764946250966</id><published>2007-06-04T22:14:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-07-04T22:47:28.513-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Newsletter Archives</title><content type='html'>&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://archives.zinester.com/40089/133527.html"&gt;June 21, 2007&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://archives.zinester.com/40089/131690.html"&gt;May 31, 2007&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://archives.zinester.com/40089/130488.html"&gt;May 17, 2007&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://archives.zinester.com/40089/127021.html"&gt;April 7, 2007&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://archives.zinester.com/40089/123255.html"&gt;February 27, 2007&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://archives.zinester.com/40089/116096.html"&gt;December 13, 2006&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://archives.zinester.com/40089/112137.html"&gt;November 4, 2006&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://archives.zinester.com/40089/106909.html"&gt;September 16, 2006&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://archives.zinester.com/40089/106793.html"&gt;September 15, 2006&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://archives.zinester.com/40089/106667.html"&gt;September 14, 2006&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://archives.zinester.com/40089/100578.html"&gt;July 21, 2006&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://archives.zinester.com/40089/100128.html"&gt;July 17, 2006&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://archives.zinester.com/40089/99145.html"&gt;July 8, 2006&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://archives.zinester.com/40089/98142.html"&gt;June 29, 2006&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://atwc1.com/ATWC/announcement-20060612.htm" target="_blank"&gt;June 12, 2006 - Announcement&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://atwc1.com/deeswhite/20060524.html" target="_blank"&gt;May 24, 2006&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://atwc1.com/deeswhite/20060510.htm" target="_blank"&gt;May 10, 2006&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://atwc1.com/deeswhite/20060422.htm" target="_blank"&gt;April 22, 2006&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-4111620764946250966?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/4111620764946250966/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=4111620764946250966' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/4111620764946250966'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/4111620764946250966'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2007/07/newsletter-archives.html' title='Newsletter Archives'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-6077311581076574937</id><published>2007-04-05T12:07:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-04-06T10:56:48.143-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Contests'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='announcements'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Extras'/><title type='text'>Contest - Where Am I?</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/uploaded_images/10182006-713031.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/uploaded_images/10182006-713004.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/uploaded_images/10182006a-720515.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/uploaded_images/10182006a-720501.JPG" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Hi Folks,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In this contest you get to be the writer!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Check out the pictures of me and write a paragraph of about 200 - 300 words about where you think I am and what I could possibly have been doing at that point in time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Humor wins major points. The winning paragraph will be printed here and run in one of my newsletters and the author will get $5.00 fat dollars sent via PayPal. I know, I know... I'm a big spender and I shouldn't spend it all in one place... but hey... I gotta share... right?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh I forgot... these things should have deadlines right? Okay well how about a month? So the entries will be closed at midnight on May 5th and then we can all decide by poll votes which paragraph wins. In the case of a tie... I'll decide the winner.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Send in your submissions via the &lt;a href="http://deeswhite.atwc1.com/page_10689.html"&gt;Contact Me&lt;/a&gt; page of my Website. You may cut and paste your paragraph into the "service you require" section of the form then hit submit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm looking forward to reading your entries. Let's have fun with this!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Peace,&lt;br /&gt;Dee&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-6077311581076574937?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/6077311581076574937/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=6077311581076574937' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/6077311581076574937'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/6077311581076574937'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2007/04/write-your-own-story-contest.html' title='Contest - Where Am I?'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-827073876837818355</id><published>2007-02-19T11:11:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-02-19T12:27:38.414-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Look What I Found'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='review sites'/><title type='text'>Look What I Found!</title><content type='html'>It's amazing what you find when you're checking your feed. I was checking last night's &lt;a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/DsWhite"&gt;feed&lt;/a&gt; to see if anyone had linked to it as yet and via sphere found this great site called &lt;a href="http://www.avidbookreader.com"&gt;Journal of an Avid Reader&lt;/a&gt;. Now just the name alone would have been enough to make me like the site, however upon perusal, I found a fellow soul mate.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The site's author has been a reader for years. Not that she comes out and says it, however, in the reading of her frank and insightful reviews you realize she's suffering from the malady many long time readers are suffering: the we-want-originality-and-substance malady.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I could have easily spent all day reading her reviews and spending way too much money, or saving myself some money, however then I couldn't share the great news with you ASAP. Anyway, give &lt;a href="http://www.avidbookreader.com"&gt;avidbookreader.com&lt;/a&gt; a visit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You won't be sorry.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Peace,&lt;br /&gt;Dee&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-827073876837818355?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/827073876837818355/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=827073876837818355' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/827073876837818355'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/827073876837818355'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2007/02/look-what-i-found.html' title='Look What I Found!'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-2677029339309772913</id><published>2007-02-19T00:11:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-11-13T16:29:09.416-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='announcements'/><title type='text'>Avid Reader Alert!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DHYnP-a6hME/Rdktg0GMNuI/AAAAAAAAAFs/SDhjsGMs_ro/s1600-h/books.gif"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5033104100326913762" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DHYnP-a6hME/Rdktg0GMNuI/AAAAAAAAAFs/SDhjsGMs_ro/s200/books.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.atwc1.com/usedbooks"&gt;ATWC1.com Used Books&lt;/a&gt; is now Live!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Featuring authors like:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.atwc1.com/usedbooks/page_10793.html"&gt;Juanita Bynum&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.atwc1.com/usedbooks/page_10756.html"&gt;Margaret Johnson-Hodge&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.atwc1.com/usedbooks/page_10777.html"&gt;E. Lynn Harris&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.atwc1.com/usedbooks/page_10794.html"&gt;Mary B. Morrison&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.atwc1.com/usedbooks/page_10786.html"&gt;Zane&lt;/a&gt; to name a few.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Take a moment to peruse the &lt;a href="http://www.atwc1.com/usedbooks/page_10787.html"&gt;booklist&lt;/a&gt; while supplies last.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Happy Browsing!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Peace,&lt;br /&gt;Dee&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;P.S. Fifty percent (50%) of all sales will be donated to the Youth Group at my church to aid in sponsoring a youth's trip to the Annual Youth Conference in July. You can read more about the Conference &lt;a href="http://www.atwc1.com/February2007-lettersize.pdf"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. (Page 12)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-2677029339309772913?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/2677029339309772913/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=2677029339309772913' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/2677029339309772913'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/2677029339309772913'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2007/02/avid-reader-alert.html' title='Avid Reader Alert!'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DHYnP-a6hME/Rdktg0GMNuI/AAAAAAAAAFs/SDhjsGMs_ro/s72-c/books.gif' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-8871463632072633328</id><published>2007-02-18T12:48:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-02-19T12:51:43.466-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><title type='text'>Holiday Greetings</title><content type='html'>&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Verdana;"&gt;&lt;img id="1" height="80" src="http://www.readyshare.com/Users/dee@deeswhite-com/122904d1.jpg" width="112" align="left" border="1" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;Hi Folks,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;How has the new year been treating you so far?  The &lt;a href="http://dee411b.atwc1.com/modules.php?name=News&amp;file=article&amp;amp;sid=13" target="_blank"&gt;remembrance&lt;/a&gt; of Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday has come and gone.  Valentine's Day was a snow out (and I was all set to dance for it too) and Presidents' Day is here.  I just want to wish each and everyone of you a Happy&lt;br /&gt;Belated MLK Day, Valentine's Day and hope you enjoy your President's Day off.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img height="90" src="http://www.atwc1.com/a0914312aa0.jpg" width="165" align="left" border="0" /&gt;If you've been wondering, &lt;i&gt;what has Dee been up to?  &lt;/i&gt;Well, Dee went out and got herself a  J O B!  It's only Part Time/Floater status however I've got a feeling that that won't last for long ... stay tuned for future updates.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;img height="98" src="http://www.atwc1.com/presday_1397.JPG" width="180" align="right" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;I've also become pretty active in my &lt;a href="http://www.calvarytempleallentown.org/" target="_blank"&gt;new home church&lt;/a&gt;.  I'm now the Choir Director of the Youth Choir and the newsletter coordinator.  My brother-in-law, my former pastor, has been appointed as the New Youth Pastor so we're a team again ... YAY!!!!  You can view the newsletter via pdf &lt;a href="http://www.atwc1.com/Valentine_Day.pdf" target="_blank"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; or the Blog in progress &lt;a href="http://themessenger1.blogspot.com" target="_blank"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;:  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;It entailed a month of hard work pulling it together creatively and chasing down folk for submissions or Ad content, however it was great fun and a truly pleasurable undertaking. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"&gt;My promo Website and Review Team are really starting to take shape ... here's our first review for 2007, something we could all use, a reminder of all the things we've heard previously and few we haven't as we try to figure out &lt;i&gt;&lt;a href="http://bookreviews.atwc1.com/index.php?pr=HowToGetOutOfDebt" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How to Get Out of Debt&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/i&gt;. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-8871463632072633328?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/8871463632072633328/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=8871463632072633328' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/8871463632072633328'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/8871463632072633328'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2007/02/holiday-greetings.html' title='Holiday Greetings'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-730578482809209760</id><published>2007-02-17T12:28:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-02-19T13:38:26.400-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Writing Related'/><title type='text'>Please Nominate Me!</title><content type='html'>Hi Folks,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hope this note finds you well. I know we tried it last year (for which I thank those of you who voted) and I didn't win. The good news is, we get another shot at it again this year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For the newbies wondering what the heck I'm talking about, I'm talking about Cushcity.com's Best New Author Award.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/uploaded_images/NOMINEE2007b-740881.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/uploaded_images/NOMINEE2007b-737653.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;I'm currently a nominee for Cushcity.com's Best New Author Award, and I have exactly eleven days to round up enough nominations, in order to make it into the top twenty finalists, I need as many people to &lt;a href="mailto:nominations@cushcity.com?subject=D.S."&gt;nominate&lt;/a&gt; me as possible.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'd love it if you'd take a moment to &lt;a href="mailto:nominations@cushcity.com?subject=D.S."&gt;nominate&lt;/a&gt; me, D.S. White, for the Best New Author Award 2007.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now for those of you wondering, why I started so late. Well you see that old fear of success feeling reared its head again and I've been doing the "do it!" ... "don't do it!" dance. You know that kind of way. Finally, I decided that this is going to be the year of &lt;em&gt;"You have not, because you ask not" &lt;/em&gt;so here I am, doing what is hard for me: asking.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thanks in advance,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dee&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-730578482809209760?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/730578482809209760/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=730578482809209760' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/730578482809209760'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/730578482809209760'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2007/02/please-nominate-me.html' title='Please Nominate Me!'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-8957953733520692453</id><published>2006-12-30T11:10:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-12-31T08:54:48.005-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='celebration'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='holidays'/><title type='text'>Party ... Anyone?</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/uploaded_images/New-Years-726760.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/uploaded_images/New-Years-725618.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;div&gt;You're Invited ...&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;to&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;a&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Virtual New Year's Eve Party&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Held Where: &lt;a href="http://dswhite.blogspot.com/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My New Blog&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Date: Sunday, December 31, 2006&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Time: 6:00 P.M. (EST)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;Activities: Trivia, Guest Authors, Door Prizes, Contests and more...&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;If you plan to attend, please RSVP below so I know my catering numbers.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;P.S.&lt;/strong&gt; If you're an author who would like to have your book considered as a prize or contribute as a guest speaker &lt;a href="mailto:dee@deeswhite.com"&gt;email me&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;P.S.S.&lt;/strong&gt; If you're a bookstore and would like to offer a coupon or gift certificate as a prize &lt;a href="mailto:dee@deeswhite.com"&gt;email me&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;P.S.S.S.&lt;/strong&gt; If you're a book club and would like to tell us a bit about your club and supply a top 10 booklist of the books you've read in 2006 &lt;a href="mailto:dee@deeswhite.com"&gt;email me&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-8957953733520692453?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/8957953733520692453/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=8957953733520692453' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/8957953733520692453'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/8957953733520692453'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2006/12/party-anyone.html' title='Party ... Anyone?'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-8955120395049781571</id><published>2006-12-14T14:49:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-12-30T08:47:31.508-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Writing Related'/><title type='text'>Please Vote for Me!</title><content type='html'>Hi Folks,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hope this note finds you well. While browsing the &lt;a href="http://www.cbbooksdistribution.com/"&gt;C&amp;amp;B Books&lt;/a&gt; Web site earlier today. I found out that AIJAN and I are part of a contest to become Author of the Month for December.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'd love it if you'd place your vote for me. See &lt;a href="http://dee411.googlepages.com/news" target="_blank"&gt;voting instructions&lt;/a&gt;, as well as a note about the book itself.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thanks in advance,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dee&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-8955120395049781571?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/8955120395049781571/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=8955120395049781571' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/8955120395049781571'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/8955120395049781571'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2006/12/please-vote-for-me.html' title='Please Vote for Me!'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21627309.post-115984270558610417</id><published>2006-10-02T22:12:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-04-05T12:31:04.230-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='announcements'/><title type='text'>New Gig</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/uploaded_images/bibcolumn-757145.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://dswhite.atwc1.com/uploaded_images/bibcolumn-753745.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Hi Folks,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Just a quick note to advise that I've now become a &lt;a href="http://www.blogginginblack.com"&gt;Blogging in Black&lt;/a&gt; Columnist. I'll be posting on the 11th of every month starting this month. I'm not sure what my topic will be as yet, but I'm sure I'll figure something out between now and the 11th.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Whatever the topic, I'd love it if you'd show up and give some support by way of comments.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here's to new avenues of expression.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Peace,&lt;br /&gt;Dee&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/21627309-115984270558610417?l=dswhite.atwc1.com%2Findex.html'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/115984270558610417/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21627309&amp;postID=115984270558610417' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/115984270558610417'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/21627309/posts/default/115984270558610417'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://dswhite.atwc1.com/2006/10/new-gig.html' title='New Gig'/><author><name>Dee</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/04044779501609588118</uri><email>dee411@gmail.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='13980141865416528207'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry></feed>