Mindflight

Tips for Creating a Chapbook

Exploring Poetry, Tips for Self Publishing, Tips for Writers

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If you don’t know already, a chapbook is a small book filled with poetry, usually from the same poet. It is usually less than fifty pages in length. I just got done making one with my creative partner, using my mother’s poetry. Here are some hints of how we got it done:

The first step in creating a chapbook is to pick the poems. It’s best if they follow a theme.

Next, decide what embellishments or illustrations are going to be used. They can be anything from clipart to photos to illustrations. I used pen and ink illustrations, reduced town to pure black and white, one to a poem. So the format had one poem with one facing illustration. It’s best if there is spacing between poems like that, so each one can be savored and enjoyed individually.

Next, decide the format. We chose 6″ by 9″ perfect bound, because it allowed higher quality than a folded, stapled, booklet style, at the same time as being less expensive to print. Shop around, both at your local business supply stores, as well as at online self publishing places like CreateSpace.

Then, get the illustrations and decide what is going to go with what. Choose a good, readable font, and if the font is going to be some kind of handwriting, make sure it’s large enough to read. As you format the poems, make sure you know how wide the margins should be with the publisher you have picked.

Design the cover – again, check the minimum print resolution – how many pixels for inch, measurements, that kind of thing. Make sure to leave space for the bar code if you are using CreateSpace.

Tip: When creating the interior file, make sure you set the page size and margin width before you begin, that way you are doing it correctly from the start.

Lastly, when everything is the way you want it, convert the file to PDF. Do the same thing with the cover art. The PDF format locks the file so your format stays the same and can’t be changed. It forces the printer to make it just as you wanted it. LibreOffice will do file conversions very easily, and GIMP will convert your cover art into a PDF as well. Both are free programs with no ads or spyware.

Then send your PDFs to the printer, whether it’s an office supply store’s printing services, or CreateSpace, or wherever you want to use. Happy creating!

Favorite Home Remedies for Cough

Healthy Living

Having just gotten over a nasty case of bronchitis, home remedies have become foremost in my thoughts. Some home remedies are better and more effective than anything on the drug store counter. Here are a few of my favorites:

For cough, a spoonfull of honey can help. Black tea with honey is better. It soothes the throat. Breathing eucalyptus and mint steam is good for congestion and cough.

Hot, steamy showers help break up congestion and let you cough up phleghm too. And when my cough gets really bad, a half shot of peppermint schnapps helps better than regular cough syrup.

Sore throats are soothed by horehound lozenges. This type of candy is great for that!

Regular cough drops are good, I like Ricola or Fisherman’s Friend. So is a peppermint herbal inhaler, or Vicks. Just breathing the vapor from an open tub of it is good.

Another great remedy is ginger tea with honey. You can make that from fresh or dried ginger, or even powder.

I made a great throat remedy by mixing powdered spiced cider with ginger and hot water, with a little honey added. Made my throat feel great.

It’s also said that eating a clove of garlic a day, swallowed with water, helps the lungs. Chewing on parsley afterwards helps the breath.

Chicken soup or even just broth is good to make your throat feel better.

Salt water gargles are good for the throat too.

Also, it helps to know what the cough is caused by. If it’s a dry, itchy cough that doesn’t produce much, you are safe to use a cough syrup with dextromethorphan, such as Tussin. If it produces mucous, it’s a better idea to try tea and hot steamy showers, because you want that junk out of your lungs.

How to make your Human move off your chair

Jokes and Humor

When your human is sitting in your chair and you want to sleep in it, it cna be difficult to get them to move. Luckily, there is a strategy. As a good and cunning cat, here’s what you do.

1. Meow, look at them cutely, ask for pettings.

2. Meow some more, move over to the couch. Gesture at them to follow.

3. When human moves to couch, meow and accept pettings. It’s best to reward your human for good behavior.

4. Hop up on your chair while it’s still warm, and fall asleep. Your human will be fine on the couch.

Arizona Monsoon Probability Chart

Jokes and Humor

Arizona Monsoon Precipitation Probability Chart

If the weather forecaster says we’re going to have a 10% chance of rain, it will probably at least sprinkle.

If she says 20%, it will definitely sprinkle.

If she says 30%, it will rain.

If she says 40%, break out the wipers and umbrellas.

If she says 50%, get ready to be soaked.

If she says 60%, get the boats.

If she says 70%, get IN the boats.

If she says 80%, better expect a big thunderstorm too.

If she says 90%, you might get blown away on top of it all.

And if she says it’s 100% chance of rain with heavy thunderstorms, flooding, and hurricane force gales, and everybody lays out sandbags, and offices close down, and people stay off the roads…

… it might sprinkle.

How long is a moment?

Science and Techology

Many don’t know this but a moment actually has a fixed length. In Medieval Europe, the hour was forty “momentums” long. (Momenta? Momenti?) If you do some calculations you will find that each moment lasts ninety seconds. The meaning still holds today. So if someone says “just a moment,” there is something you can hold them to.

In my line of work, people get picky about language. It’s frowned upon (quality assurance would say forbidden) to say “just a moment” when you need a customer to wait for you to do something. The reason given is that a moment is too vague and you should say “one to two minutes” or however long your task will actually take. The idea is to be precise and hold to your promises.

So I enjoy giving my team lead crap when they bring it up. “What do you mean, I can’t say ‘just a moment?’ Hey, that’s exact! A moment is ninety seconds!”

Little by little, my momentum builds.

Polymathy

Thoughts About Life

A polymath is a person who is good at many subjects and skills. They have a lifelong love of learning and they consider all knowledge to be of use to them. Sometimes a polymath will have multiple talents, such as in music, art, architecture, and mathematics, or sometimes their only talent is in persistance.

I am not yet a polymath but I certainly wish to be one. Three examples of famous polymaths are Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Charles Lindbergh. I have known a few true polymaths. They are fun to be around! Unfortunately, I think the modern world doesn’t value these people as much as it once did. That’s too bad because polymaths, not specialists, drive progress.

In his book, “Time Enough for love,” Robert Heinlein said it well.

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

What do you think? Have you met a polymath? Are you one? If not, do you want to be one? If not, why not?

The Spirit of Halloween

Thoughts About Life

As a Pagan, Samhain was a holy day for me. As a kid and a part-time, nominal Christian, I mostly had fun with the candy and costumes and pumpkins aspect. At this point in my life, I like the candy and costumes and pumpkins part of things, as well as the spiritual side.

I’ve put a glass out for departed friends so they can stay and partake. Every year on the thirty-first I take a moment to pause and remember my loved ones. My ‘household spirits,” if you will. Mostly they are animals but there are a couple of two-leggeds also. I even remember my grandfather fondly. I have put away much of the pain and bewilderment he caused and have learned to think of him with compassion. So his spirit would be welcome at my table, should it choose to come and visit.

The Japanese have the right idea. Their festival of the dead is called Obon. It lasts three days. and is full of music, dancing, big drums, and bonfires. The people dress in festive clothes and celebrate the joyous reunion with their beloved dead. On the last day, they give them a proper sendoff, with lighted lanterns floating down the waterways and out to sea. It’s a beautiful scene at night.

Here is the best part: The Japanese people had a Lunar calendar, and changed it to a Solar calendar in the modern era. They liked the festival of Obon so much, that they celebrate it at the new time, which is earlier in the year, AND at the old Lunar time! Someday I want to go to Japan and watch the lanterns float down the river. Farewell, loved souls, we will welcome you again next year.

My Favorite Costumes

Thoughts About Life

Halloween is my favorite day of the year. Even though I won’t be doing much this year I still have a certain amount of anticipation. I’ve always loved the idea of putting on a costume and being someone else for a few hours. Exploring different parts of myself, showing off a little perhaps, having fun.

Though my costumes haven’t been all that skillfully made, I’ve had fun with each one. I’ve been an aviator/aviatrix a few times. I’ve even had the silk scarf, leather hat, and goggles. I took a flight that way once! I’ve been Ellie Mae Clampett. I’ve been Dead Spock. I’ve been Athena. I’ve been a kenshi who really was “shi.” I’ve been Emperor Palpatine. I’ve been a US infantryman. I was Galileo once, as I wrote about in another post. My earliest halloween costume was a devil costume when I was just a baby. The earliest costume I remember was when I was a robot, with a cardboard box body, dryer hose arms, and pliers for hands. I was so excited to dress up! I think I was four.

One of my favorite memories is of dressing up as the shortest Darth Vader who ever was. I’m only 5′ 3″ so it was a pretty big difference between me and good old Wafflepants! I was in college at the time, and went to French class in the costume. Later, I visited the Undergraduate Library. I went up to the information desk and asked where the plans were for the Rebel Base. “Maybe in the map library?” was the quizzical response. I had a lot of fun as Short Vader.

Last Halloween I was Doctor Squiggle. You know, the doctor with illegible handwriting? I had a little prescription pad that I wrote fake prescriptions on. Things like “One Apple, P.O, As needed,” or “One Banana, P. A., BID.”

What was your favorite costume?

The Cat Pumpkin

Thoughts About Life

When I was a teenager, my mom would often take me to see my grandmother. I didn’t really mind visiting. It was a little boring but not so bad really, and nice to get out of the house. She lived in a retirement community, basically senior living apartments.

One time they had a halloween party. There was pumpkin carving and anyone who knows me knows I’m all over pumpkin carving. That time was no exception. My favorite pumpkin, and one my mom still remembers too, was the cat pumpkin. He had ears and whiskers and everything. Everybody loved that cat pumpkin!

If you want to make your own cat pumpkin, make sure the eyes are fairly large when you cut them out and keep the pieces whole. Then trim those pieces down to nice triangular ear shapes. Secure them with bits of toothpick to the top of the pumpkin. Carve a small triangular nose and use three more toothpicks on either side for whiskers. You may need to whittle them a bit so they stick in more easily.

Everybody loved that pumpkin and I loved the memory!

Nature Art: Making a Leaf Man

Tips for Artists

When I was little, my folks took me on nature walks all the time. In the fall, we would walk around and collect colorful leaves, and then go home and make leaf men. They made a nice decoration for the door! Here’s how:

Walk around and gather a bunch of colorful leaves. Enjoy the crisp fall day.

Pick a big leaf for the body, a smaller leaf for the head, long leaves for legs and arms, use clear tape to attach them. It’s a simple project but you can use glue to attack other odd bits to make mustaches, skirts, hats, and almost anything else to your leaf creation. The limit is the imagination. And the fun is enjoying the process!

Finally, hang your leaf man or woman on the door. These usually do better outside, because you are likely to bring little critters in if you hang them inside. It’s a really fun thing to do instead of a wreath!