local interest

Ghostwriting

~ arnsona ~ 1 Comment

Ghostwriting Copyright February 2016 ARLADEAN ARNSON

I have been very busy this last six months. I have been ghostwriting. And, with ghostwriting, you cannot claim the piece as your own nor can you post these pieces to your blog or portfolio.

What is ghostwriting? It is a situation where a writer gets paid to produce written pieces for someone else to claim authorship. The “author” in these cases could be another writer that is behind in his schedule and needs someone to help him catch up with orders. Or, the “author” is a company’s marketing department that needs some content for the company website. Yet another example of an “author” could be some non-writer, such as a celebrity in politics or Hollywood, who wants to “tell the story” of his success.

Ghostwriting is far from uncommon. And, I have whipped up some really good pieces.

I have been lucky to write high-end fashion blog articles:

“These older classic shapes are festooned with country emblems embroidered in bright cheerful colors. Other touches, like tassels, add to the sheer fun in wearing these garments!”

Here is a small quote for another blog article to support a children’s event here in Raleigh:

“Sports are always in season here in North Carolina!  The Bulls put on a great baseball show in Durham and the Carolina Hurricanes will thrill you with their hockey moves! If your child likes to cruise the sidewalks, there are several skate parks around town. And the Triangle area boasts five North Carolina State Parks and numerous local parks! Plenty of hiking and biking trails and even fishing and kayaking activities are available.”

I have covered varied subjects and formats in these pieces. One of my favorite things to write is web pages. I cannot show you these. But, I am proud to say they get rave reviews.

So, if you don’t see a post from me for a while, it doesn’t mean that I am not writing and learning and helping others. It just means I am doing it in a spooky fashion!

Online Article – GARDEN ENVY GOES GREEN

~ arnsona ~ Leave a comment

Garden Envy goes GREEN: How I went from no garden to mini-garden easily! ( Part II of Color Me Green)

May 2012 Written for TriangleMommies Blog Copyright ARLADEAN ARNSON

To recap, if you have been reading the TM Blog, I wrote recently that I was suffering from a bout of Garden Envy. My friends were so lucky with their little nurslings-watching them grow-that I soon wanted a garden too. Well, this is the rest of the story.
My Garden Envy is slowing slipping away. I now have plants and dirt and watering schedules to help me recover! Of course, it cost me about $50 at the home improvement store. (Yes, I probably could have saved money by shopping around and piecing things together myself.) But, with the experience of those burly men (and women?) in the gardening section, I found the expertise that would seed my enthusiasm for my project.
My son had brought home the first plant from his science class. It is a kidney bean plant. So, going with the flow, I bought a large long rectangular plastic pot that would hold three plants with room to grow. With help from the burly man mentioned above, I picked a green pepper plant and then a citronella (for getting rid of pesky insects) to fill out the pot.
Still being in the throws of a Green Envy outbreak, I bought a plant just for myself. It is an almost two-foot-tall tomato plant in its own pot. I had to stake it when I got home, but it is a beauty! And, consequentially, I started to dream of fresh salads.
The back porch did not work out as planned. It ended up being to shady. I moved the two large pots to a small sunny nook in front of my front porch yet behind a small “butterfly bush”. Here they should get all the sun they need!
I water them in the morning and check to see if they need water again in the evening. It is easy to remember because the plants are on the same schedule as my walks with my dog.
I currently have two, maybe three, green tomatoes. There is one very tiny bean pod growing. Alas, there are no signs of green peppers.
My Garden Envy infliction has subsided thanks to my small (two pot) container garden; however, I AM feeling a bit anxious watching and waiting for those plants to grow. Perhaps I should go shopping at a farmer’s market soon so I can get my “fix”. Oh well, I guess one can’t be completely cured of an ailment of the Horticultural variety too easily!

Online Article – COLOR ME GREEN

~ arnsona ~ Leave a comment

Color me green  (Part I of II) April/May 2012 Written for TriangleMommies Blog Copyright ARLADEAN ARNSON

Like the characters Kermit the Frog and Yoda of Star Wars, it really isn’t easy being green. In fact, around this time every year the green-eyed monster within has reared her (unfortunately) ugly head and signals the beginning of the growing season. Yes, I must admit that I have Garden Envy.

And, this year, the force is quite strong. Due to the mild winter we have had here in North Carolina, everything started blooming early and with gusto. (I’d hate to even think about the amount of bugs that will be showing up soon. But, that is another blog article.)

I had been used to having my own home-grown vegetables at my finger-tips, but those days are gone. I have moved from a house with a yard to a duplex with, well, a back porch. Gone are the days of green vines spreading out in all directions! Those corn stalks; they would reach to the sky!

I have friends that have been tending their seedlings this spring and I just look on with awe. In fact, I have one friend whose husband has taken a five by five foot area in their rented house’s back yard and built a two tiered vegetable growing plat. The top is for the herbs. They sit right at arm’s length. The lower (outer) plat is for the veggies.  He has sectioned the area off into squares with twine and each set of squares has its own function. These squares are for the tomatoes and these other ones are for the radishes. Amazing.

So, I am suffering with Garden Envy. And, most doctors won’t write a prescription for it.  However, it seems, I might have found a cure! I won’t know if my cure works until the trials, which start t this weekend, end and the data gathered and published. But, if I plant my own little mini-garden on my back porch, I might just shake this GE affliction!

I will be sure to publish my findings here at Triangle Mommies, so if ever you catch this malady in the future, you know what to do, or what not to do.

Until then, keep your chin up and watch out for bees!

***********************************************************************

 

Online Article – BLACK GOLD

~ arnsona ~ Leave a comment

Black Gold June 2013 Written for TriangleMommies Blog Copyright ARLADEAN ARNSON

My co-workers and I have discovered black gold. No, it isn’t the “Texas Tea” sort either.

We have discovered a little sandwich shop inside the corner gas station that sells Café Cubano or cafecito.

This is a black coffee, sweetened oh so perfectly, and served hot with foam in a small little Styrofoam cup. It smells perfectly pungent with hints of the tropics swimming in a dark sea of caffeine. It tastes like the smoothest dark chocolate, almost liquor-like in its consistency. The foam just tickles your lips with buttery kisses while the coffee warms your whole being.

Beware! It is STRONG. Ah, so strong-strong enough to carry you through the rest of your stressful day on just that one cup.

Of course, it is strong enough to last into the evening too. A couple of us have had a cup of cafecito in the middle of a particularly hard afternoon and found out that it did get us all through the day without killing anyone, but we were up half the night ready to kill someone for lack of sleep!

There are several places throughout the Triangle where you too can try a cup of Café Cubano: The Oakwood Café in Raleigh, the Havana Grill in Cary, The Old Havana Sandwich Shop in downtown Durham, and our little secret in Morrisville, The Latin Corner.

If you love coffee, and you haven’t had a cup of joe you could call “black gold”, then you must seek out this lyric-poem-in-a-cup, a cafecito.  Be warned, you might get addicted.

ONLINE ARTICLE – Southern Exposure

~ arnsona ~ Leave a comment

Southern Exposure July 2013 Written for Triangle Mommie Blog Copyright ARLADEAN ARNSON

I have lived in the South most of my life. I have said my fair share of “yes, ma’am” and “no, sir”. I have acquired a taste for fried pickles and good ol’ North Carolina Barbeque. However, it is amazing how much more you can learn about the South when reading some of the more regional magazines out there!

Of course, most of us know about several of the larger publications in the region like Southern Living, Southern Lady and Southern Accents.  Here in North Carolina we have Our State Magazine and many states have their own magazines too.

The Blue Ridge Parkway has one. Golfing in Georgia is covered in another. Southeastern Equine covers horses and what to do with them. Florida has a business magazine called “850”. Mississippi has two or more great literary magazines. And, there are so many more I cannot even name them all!

If there is anything that you want to learn more about, you can find an article about it in one of these magazines. What growing region are you in? Check in Southern Living. What is the best batter to fry catfish in? Check in Taste of the South. What are the best books to read during a hurricane? Yes, there is an article on that topic in Deep South Magazine.

One of my newest finds has actually been publishing for two years now. The articles are thoughtful and current. The topics are always entertaining. There are some sections I just jump over because I am not interested. But, all in all, the magazine is a great read!

I will have to allude to the title as it is not the best thing to talk about on a Mommie Blog but the first word is GARDEN, ampersand, and the second word is a tool used in hunting wild game in a very licensed and responsible way. Yes, those are the articles in the magazine that I skip over. Although, given the fact that Mommies can have very differing viewpoints and interests, some women might enjoy those articles too. All are very well written.

So, I spend my lunchtime reading and learning more about the region where I grew up. Perhaps, I will find something to do with my new found knowledge like write an article about Reading Regional Magazines! Hmmmm. 😉

CHILDREN’S ACTIVITY ARTICLE – Name that ‘shroom

~ arnsona ~ Leave a comment

Children’s Activities: NAME THAT ‘SHROOM! July 2013 Written for Triangle Mommies Blog Copyright ARLADEAN ARNSON

With all the crazy wet weather we are having here in North Carolina, it has been a boon year for mushrooms. You can see them in the forests, in the country and even in many urban/suburban neighborhoods!

I have found at least three different types along my walk in the mornings!

So, I have invented a new activity for the kiddies: NAME THAT ‘SHROOM! This activity includes a hunt-and-find outdoor game and a make-it-yourself field guide.

First the HUNT! While traipsing through the woods or sticking to the sidewalks, be on the lookout for interesting shapes and colors and textures among the landscape. Mushrooms come in many different colors and textures.

**PLEASE BE AWARE, especially with children, do not touch the mushrooms you find until you know for sure that they are safe. You don’t want the kid to accidentally ingest the sample.

It is best to take a digital picture of the mushroom from all angles. Try and get the tops, the surrounding area, underneath the dome and the stems too.

Now off to the library, or the internet, to see what great treasure you have found!  See the guide below for some titles and websites.

Things to figure out: What is its name? Where does it normally grow? What are its tell-tale features? Is it safe to touch or to pick? Is it edible?

Once you find out some of these basics, you and your little one can create a great little field guide of your own back yard. Include pictures, drawings, facts, and even spore prints in a little self-made or store-bought sketch book. See website #1 for how to make a spore print.

Then the next time we get weather like this again, your little field guide will help you identify what pops up in your yard!

BOOKS:

 

1. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms (National Audubon Society Field Guides)by NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY

2.    The Mushroom Book For Beginners: 2nd Edition Revised : A Mycology Starter or How To Be A Backyard Mushroom Farmer… by Frank Randall

3.   The Complete Mushroom Hunter: An Illustrated Guide to Finding, Harvesting, and Enjoying Wild Mushrooms by Gary Lincoff

4.    A Field Guide to Mushrooms: North America (Peterson Field Guides) by Kent H. McKnight, Vera B. McKnight and Roger Tory Peterson

WEBSITES:

  1. Urban Mushrooms: http://urbanmushrooms.com/index.php?id=69
  2. American Mushrooms: http://americanmushrooms.com/lawnandgarden.htm
  3. Mushroom Expert: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/index.html
  4. The Mushroom Patch: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/index.html

 

ONLINE ARTICLE- Family Outing: 2 for 1 Adventure in Raleigh

~ arnsona ~ Leave a comment

Family Outing: 2 for 1 Adventure in Raleigh, NC Oct. 11, 2009 Copyright Arladean Arnson Originally published on Triangle Mommies blog.

 

What to do? What to do? I have THREE “Flat Stanley”s that have traveled to our house from far afield that need to go home in the next two days. We haven’t done anything interesting at all in the time they have been visiting. And, my son really wants bring Daddy on his first Letterboxing adventure today, Sunday, the last day of the weekend.

 

Hey, I know what to do! I will jump onto the computer and find out if there are any Letterboxes in downtown Raleigh so we can hit the historical parts, take some pictures with the “Stanley”s, learn a little more about North Carolina, and take my husband on his first Letterboxing adventure!

 

Now, if you have read this far and have no idea what a “Flat Stanley” might be and you have never heard of the fantastic outdoor activity of Letterboxing, I congratulate you on your enthusiasm for my writing!

Flat Stanley is a book written by Jeff Brown and illustrated by Tomi Ungerer and published in 1964. The story is of a little boy that unfortunately gets flattened but sees the bright side of his predicament. He ends up being able to go around the world being mailed by letter. There is a string of stories to tell of his adventures.

This story was so popular that in 1995 a Canadian teacher started The Flat Stanley Project. This effort encourages children around the world to find out about each other through the mailing of paper dolls that either look like Stanley from the book or images of themselves!

My son and I received our three visiting paper dolls from a family of homeschoolers in Texas.

Now, what about Letterboxing? The easiest way to explain it is that it is an outdoor activity where a box or bag containing a notebook and a homemade stamp is hidden in a public place like a park or even a parking lot! To get the clues on where this box is hidden, one would log onto certain web sites that have them listed. Using the clues, the seeker finds the box, stamps his own notebook with the homemade stamp, leaves an imprint of his own stamp in the letterbox notebook, and then “reburies” or re-hides it for the next adventurer. Then, when the seeker gets back to the computer, he can log that he had found the box!

We started off our adventure by heading downtown to the NC Capitol Building. We walked around the grounds of the Capitol as we looked for the perfect place to take our “Stanley” picture. We stopped every once in a while to read the many and varied statues. Did you know there were three Presidents of the United States from North Carolina? Yes! But, I am going to leave you to look up who they were!

I noticed that a light was on inside the Capitol and I took a few steps to see if the building was indeed open on a Sunday. Yes! We were in luck. After checking in with security, we made our way around the building going up and down the staircases and peeking into rooms. I highly suggest a visit to the Capitol, especially if you are not from North Carolina.

Making our way out of the building and around back to our car, my son wondered if we were going to find any Letterboxes today or are we going to just hang around all the old buildings! Letterboxes were next!

There is a beautiful old and very historic cemetery right in downtown Raleigh and that was where the two Letterboxes were for today’s hunt. There are many other Letterboxes hiding in downtown Raleigh, but being October, I thought a trip to the Oakwood Cemetery would be just the place to get us in the spooky mood! Of-course, by day, Oakwood Cemetery is not spooky but a lovely garden where families actually bicycle together on a Sunday afternoon. We even saw a family flying a kite there too.

Following our clues, we started out for our first Letterbox. This first one was found under a bush and being held there by a white rock, near a beautiful old Oak Tree. The homemade stamp was of lovely oak leaves! How appropriate for our day in the “Oak City”! We left our mark, my son’s stamp of a little lamb, in the notebook and “buried” the Letterbox again where we found it.

The second, we found out, was very complicated, but we followed the clues in the car instead of by foot which would have taken us all over the southern part of the Cemetery! After a few minutes of circling around, we found the Camilla bush with the cute turtle nearby! We stamped our mark and gathered our treasure in stamp form of a flower emblazoned with an “A”. Hid the box for the next Letterboxer and drove out of the Cemetery happy to have found both boxes!

We ended our downtown adventure with a snack break at Krispy Kreme Donuts on Person Street. Of-course, this was another fine place to take a “Stanley” picture!

So the next time you have a quandary of how you are going to do two or three projects at once, remember there is ALWAYS a way to do it! We did it with a camera, a car, a Capitol and a Cemetery!

 

For more information on Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown please go to your local library or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Stanley .

 

For more information on The Flat Stanley Project go to http://www.flatstanley.com/ .

 

For more information on Letterboxing research it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterboxing .

 

Or visit sites on Letterboxing: http://www.letterboxing.org/ and   http://www.atlasquest.com/ .

 

The official tourism site for Raleigh, NC is here: http://www.visitraleigh.com/ .

 

Krispy Kreme’s official web site is here: http://www.krispykreme.com/ .

 

 

ONLINE ARTICLE-Outing Afield: Airlie Gardens, Wilmington, NC

~ arnsona ~ Leave a comment

OUTING AFIELD: AIRLIE GARDENS, WILMINGTON, NC April 2009. Copyright ARLADEAN ARNSON Published on Triangle Mommies blog at http://www.trianglemommies.blogspot.com .

We all know of Wilmington, the historic jewel on the coast of North Carolina. We all know about the beautiful homes untouched by the Civil War and the bustling port city at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. We all know about the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher, The Children’s Museum of Wilmington, the boardwalk, the beaches, and in April, the Azalea Festival. Wilmington has a lot to offer.

There is one place, nestled in the coastal area by Wrightsville Beach, which is off the beaten path for most tourists. This place is Airlie Gardens. The Gardens are at 300 Airlie Road, near the intersection of Hwy 76 and Hwy 74 near the Causeway.

Airlie Gardens was first planted by Sarah Jones in 1901 and further transformed by the German landscape architect Rudolf Topel in 1906. The Gardens span 67 acres and are separated into several themed areas including the Showcase Gardens, Pergola Gardens, Camellia Gardens and more.

There are oak trees over 400 hundred years old living in the Gardens, a freshwater lake that is home to swans, and a tidal creek overlook for visiting school children to learn, first-hand, about this delicate ecosystem. There is even a famous artist connected to the Gardens. Minnie Evans worked and painted at Airlie Gardens. Her paintings highlight the Gardens in every season and every light.

Instead of writing a step-by-step account of the full afternoon, these few pictures will have to tell the tale.

[photos]

We stayed a couple of hours, enjoying the grounds and the weather. A few hints if you wish to visit for yourself: bring a stroller for the little ones, bring a picnic, and do not forget your camera!

Sometimes going further afield is worth the trip!

For more information about Airlie Gardens please visit the web site at http://www.airliegardens.org .