An outtake is a portion of a work that is removed in the editing
process and not included in the work's final, publicly released
version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended as bonus tracks
or features, but not always, for the sake of humor. In
terms of photos, an outtake may also mean the ones which are not
released in the original set of photos.
FOR GOOD REASON. I might add.
Trees with painted trunks
A salad
This is how you zoom.
Return of the Weirdos. If your not sure what I am talking about, see THIS.
I am fairly certain that Destiny and I were the only guests of the conference that were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. {Also known as LDS or Mormon.} Perhaps not, as there were several women and a few men who were so similar to us in dress and language. Who knows. One of the biggest 'tips' that perhaps we were different, however was the small fact we weren't drinking any coffee or alcohol. I had one sweet lady figure it out and as me if I was Mormon. I smiled and was happy to reply yes to her question.
I watched this little video, and if you have time, you can watch it too, but it lifted my spirits and made me even more grateful for the opportunities I have to share my faith and to understand that while perhaps I might feel as if I "Stand Alone" I am never alone. I certainly didn't feel alone while at the conference, especially with Destiny there, but I would have a time or two without her.
My faith in God and my religion are a large part of my life, and so I quickly took notice of the temples and churches in the Phoenix area.
There is such a wonderful and reassuring feeling that comes when you can attend a church hundred,s and even thousands, of miles away from home and hear the same steady messages.
I love knowing where I came from, why I am here, and what my purpose in life is. It's the greatest gift to know my potential as a Daughter of God.
Anyway, Destiny and I had just enough time to attend church on Sunday and partake of the sacrament. We wished we could have stayed all three hours, but our flight to Las Vegas didn't allot for that.
As we left, I snapped photos of the landscape, the buildings and stores, of the church we attended and the temples.
{Small side note.... clearly those are Palm Trees, but for me, they are a sign of Paradise, and McAllister is a family name! and I laughed as I saw the corner of Stetson and Drinkwater.... Kyle and I have a friend named Stetson, so it was pretty silly, but funny to me.}
{The Temple in Mesa}
This the the Gilbert Arizona Temple and the Angel Moroni statue was just installed May 15, 2012. While we were mad dashing back to the airport on the Santan Freeway, we breezed past this beauty, and I snapped a shot of it. I don't know if I'll ever see it again, but I sure hope so!
"We continue to build temples. We desire that as
many members as possible have an opportunity to attend the temple
without having to travel inordinate distances."
All you have to do is sit right next to me, and you'll win if there is any kind of door prize, raffle, or drawing. For years, Dana and I would go to these scrap-booking getaways, and they would give stuff away like crazy, and she knew she'd win, simply because she was WITH ME and SITTING NEXT TO ME.
I do not exaggerate. Not this time.
Well you already know that I DID NOT win the Nook.
*sniffle, sniffle, silent tear*
But would you like to know the rest of the story?
Of course you would.
I specifically told Destiny that her odds of winning were significantly higher. {Now that I think about it, I should have made her buy my tickets, place them all the in the bag for the Nook, and then when she won it, paid her for the tickets and taken the Nook.}
Anyway, she just laughed at me.
Oh, Destiny, why are ye of such little faith?
Little did she know.
Well, at this point, you're wanting to know if she won. Aren't you?
Not only did SHE WIN, but within minutes of her winning a Pamper Yourself Basket, the sweet lady on my left ALSO WON.
SERIOUSLY?????
Would it kill the the Gods of Chance to give me a break, once in a while?
Taken MOMENTS before the raffle started. No joke.
Ten minutes later. I feel bad, because this sweet gal blink in all three shots that we took. My whole table thought it was pretty funny, however. Glad I was there for their added entertainment. And YES, I really had chicken for dinner.
and because I HAVE PROOF of her crazy, she's also weird.
Here's a run down of who the NORMAL people are.
The most darling 16 year old writer and her sweet "Sister" Elise and Stacey. Elise was my first DDC friend.
Stacey was the second friend I made there and in charge of a lot of things at the conference.
And the WEIRDOS appears.
This is Tom Leveen, Author of ZERO and PARTY and he was a Guest Speaker
for the conference attendees on Friday night. He was AWESOME and his
sense of humor? The stuff STAND UP COMEDY is made of.
Afterwords, we had to say hello.
Guide to Photos:
1. I'm WEIRD.
2. I'm STILL WEIRD.
3. Now Destiny discovers she's with two WEIRDOS.
4. I'm a bit less WEIRD, but they were super WEIRD.
5. THE WEIRDOS.
The following include myself acting WEIRD, yet again with new friends from the Conference. Remember SUSAN ThetheifoftheNOOK? Well, see we are friends! And this is Chris, who has a children's chapter book he's trying to publish. It would be right up Catelyn and Landon's alley. I hope he gets picked up! And Author Beth Andrews and Monique, another wouldkilltobepublished writer.
Saturday morning brought hustle and bustle for everyone. The first thing of the day was a panel with the Editors and Agents. The registered guests had written out questions for the E/A previously, and they proceeded to answer them. It got a little boring for me, and I began to doubt whether I would walk away from this event feeling like it had all been worth it.
After all the Q and A's were answered, we headed off to the first of several workshops. I was planning on attending these five (in this order):
Thrills and Chills
Hooks and How To Use Them
Sex Scene Viagra
Double D's: Description and Dialogue
Writing Hard to Write Characters- The Easy Way
The problem for me was competition in the workshops for my attention. In the corresponding time frames were these four:
Make 'Em Laugh, Make 'Em Cry, No Don't!
Nothing for this one... I knew I wanted the Hooks class
Character, Action, and Theme Create Plot
It's Not Just Vampires: A Paranormal Panel
Unlock, Unblock!
I chose the Thrills and Chills, with Allison Brennan, over the Laughing one. I felt my story had more thrills than laughs, which was how I decided on which class to go to. It was a good class, but unfortunately didn't meet my needs as much as I had thought. I did enjoy the presenter and I love walking past her books in the grocery stores now, knowing "I MET HER!" I want to read at least one of her stories. Especially in the Lucy Kincaid series.
Off to my next class. Hooks... by Terri Brisbin. I really enjoyed this class, though I am not sure I would be comfortable with her writing. It might be a bit to "hot" for me, I don't know. I'll have to give her a shot, just to see. Anyway, I had more appreciation for her as I had had the opportunity to email Terri off and on before the conference, enhancing her class. She sent me home with some handouts, giving her teaching a longer lasting impression for me. One of her handouts provides some plot points to hook the reader. They would soon match into another class beautifully, without my (then) knowledge!
The class ended and we headed off to lunch.
At this point, I am feeling more positive about my experience.
Without thinking much I walked back to the same class room for the third workshop.
Truly, without thinking.
I sat down, and noticed the lovely blonde lady in the front of the classroom. She was preparing and visiting and seemed a bit nervous.
As I would be, if I were in here shoes.
As the class started, I loved listening to her. Her voice was angelic. She used great fluctuation, and pause and laughter. She told us she took the idea of a workshop LITERALLY, as they passed out homework/worksheets for us to write on as she taught.
Now, I am really loving this. Teach me on a personal level as to what and how I can improve my writing! Thank you!
About 20 minutes goes by and we are slightly interrupted by a rippling wave of hysterical laughter. It's then that I realize I had missed out on the Sex Scene class.
Now, I know what you might be thinking.
Stop snickering.
I was hoping that class might have something about how to make my bad guys look really bad because of their scandalous behavior. I want to use it in it's opposite form-- not for entertainment, but to show how immorality is actually ruining society and families. Because that's how it is in my book.
So, with a tinge of uncertainty, I held my ground and stayed in my seat, as Martha Alderson, The Plot Whisperer began to work a magic spell over me -- so much so as to put ALL my doubts aside. She is the WHISPERER. She spoke right to my heart.
After her class, I was on such a high. I had to tell her she'd made a deep impression on me, and had altered my writing, in that short hour. Suddenly, I desperately wanted NEEDED her book.
I told her I was moved and that she spoke right to my heart. She seemed happy enough to hear that. I was glad. And then I bee-lined for the book store (the one they had set up there at the hotel) to purchase her book.
It was sold out. (Man, am I having a bit of bad luck at this conference or what?)
Oh well.
Next class: Dialogue and Description. I was on such a high from the last class, I don't think I caught much of this one. I have no notes and nothing to account for my mental or physical whereabouts for that hour. Literally, I think I was high, remember I've not only enjoyed Martha's class like crazy, I'm over dosing on chocolate. My mind was wheeling around and throwing ideas and questions at me. We (my characters and I) were in a high octane conversation.
So when the class ended, I only had notes of my own on my book, and nothing from the Double D class.
Somewhere in the middle of this class, I walked out for my Editor Appointment.
I don't have much to say about it.
I didn't pitch my book really; I didn't make a great impression, I'm sure.
I talked about genres and asked for her help on placing my writing into one.
We didn't come up with anything in those short 10 minutes.
Oh well.
It's what happened AFTER that appointment that made me glad I took the appointment. As I came out, there was my favorite person of the conference: Martha Alderson. She was just casually sitting there, and when she spoke to me I am pretty sure I turned around to see the important person she was actually speaking too.
Shockingly, she was speaking to me. (I was so glad I was in that place at that time, or I may never had had the chance to visit with Martha!)
"Well, how did your appointment go?" or something like that, was her question.
From there, I found my bubbly self again and we had a great chat about my book and pitched it to her the way I probably should have pitched it to Jennifer Schober. Martha asked my WHY I hadn't pitched it, as excitedly as I spoke about it at that very moment, to Jennifer.
Honestly, I'm not sure. I wasn't nervous. I just felt it's not time to present my work to a real editor/agent.
Further discussion led to Martha using her most motherly skills to get after me about writing the beginning of my story. "GET TO THE END. WRITE THE END!" She insisted. Again, her words were full of encouragement and heartfelt. I felt that she truly wanted me to see the book to the end. Not just finish writing it, but to see it in print someday. Her eyes were alight with a desire to read it, and if that's not what I was seeing in her eyes, I don't know what I saw there, and she's a good actress.
I left her presence again rejuvenated and grateful I was to have had a chance to visit with her one on one, even if it was for only 15 minutes or so.
Ahh.
Just when I thought I was coming down from the high!
Off to my next class.
The Hard to Write Characters.
Can we all just agree now: THEY'RE ALL HARD.
I switched POV shortly before attending this conference. I'm trying to weave the voice of a 22 year old male into magic.
It's hard.
So when Beth Andrews began reading a pretty scandalous scene to the class, my ears began to burn. Her heat level was hotter than my ears were used to. However, she made a killer point.
As bad as her guy was, he was the hero to her book.
Right then and there, she had my respect. She knows what she is talking about and was willing to teach us her tricks. She can write hard characters. I give her that! She was spunky and cheerful and I actually grew to adore her by the end of the hour too!
See how cute Beth is!
Okay time to wrap up this post. It's taken me two weeks to get to it. Just been crazy busy. Imagine how slow writing my book is! I've put writing on hold briefly as I am reading a very important book. (Wink, wink Martha!)
After the last class of the day on Saturday, I wander around looking at all the authors and their books, feeling desperately jealous for a few moments. I'm also a bit bummed again that the only book I wanted to purchase for sure, The Plot Whisperer, is sold out. I see Martha sitting there with NO BOOKS to sign, but still cheerfully greeting and talking to other writers.
I'm not at all afraid to approach her her and tell her again how glad I am for her words of wisdom and how bummed I am about her book being unavailable. She's likewise bummed that they didn't order enough. (She said herself- Note To Self: Order as many books as there are registered guests!) I manage to steal a photo of us together!
After I was done in the book signing arena, I headed back out to the gorgeous courtyard to veg and enjoy a glass of ice water.
Can we just take a detour here?
I was offered drinks and coffee lots and I think many were surprise that I didn't drink either of these substances. Frankly, can you picture me on coffee? Not a good idea.
I would be like that woman scientist on Meet The Robinsons. If you haven't seen her, you should take a look at her.
Back to the break I was taking in the courtyard. Destiny and I are enjoying the warm sun again when who should bless us with her presence?
MARTHA ALDERSON!!!!
She spent even more time with us! She came to us! Destiny and I were thrilled beyond words to have her full attention and to learn a few intimate details of her life and to share personal experiences with her. I will recall that memory with fondness for years to come. It was like we were sisters in spirit from the get go.
After she left, we were then tossed into a great working process of writing that felt like high school homework, but was fun and perfect to push those of us who were participating into really thinking and being creative.
My only complaint was by that time of night, after hours of workshops and mental homework, my brain was exhausted. Being creative had come and gone and I fear I wasn't very good at the exercises, but I had a great time!
I met a few more fun people, such as Monique and Becca.
By the time we went to bed, we were drained, but I forced myself to finish the book I'd picked up to read. I stayed up to late, again, but was enjoying dissecting the book I was reading based on the information I'd just swallowed.
SUNDAY MORNING.
We dashed off to the last of the conference. The keynote speaker was, wait for it....
She passed homework sheets around, and we started working on them as she step by step told us what to do, and TWO HOURS later I was experiencing heaven on earth in the world of writing.
She pointed me out, during her presentation. I'm guess it made the introverts in the room probably cringe, but it made me feel *special*. Truly, I felt like I mattered enough to her, to take a moment in her presentation to say, "I'm talking to you." as she pointed right at me.
Bless her heart.
I even had a lady or two mention that they hoped I wasn't "too embarrassed." Ha! As if!
The rest of our Sabbath day was filled with dashing off to a Sacrament meeting (Destiny and I are both members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, aka The Mormons , and aka LDS! (Three names, two nicknames, one church.... I know a few people who get that all mixed up. Nicknames do that.) And then we hurried off to grab a bite to eat and return our rental car.
We flew off to Las Vegas and I had my first sip of that culture. Not nearly enough! Destiny- I'm coming to visit, I swear, the next chance I get!
My flight home Monday morning was uneventful, especially as no one would look me in the eye at 6 am.
I think my kids were pretty happy to see me, as their little arms wrapped around me and they held on tight for longer than normal.
Kyle looked a bit drained from filling the rolls of father, mother and bishop, so I know he was glad to see me.
I was overwhelmed with the help from my neighbor Kambria and to the grandmas, Cindy and Mac, and my house was pretty darn clean.
These are two of the worksheets Martha handed out.
EPILOGUE
I had a dream that Martha unearth a copy of her book, and while she truly didn't have a copy for me at all, I still told her my dream. She laughed and then came up with an idea that was just perfect. She said she did have a copy of her book at her home in California. One that she'd been autographing for someone, and she accidentally misspelled the lady's name. Well, you just can't give a book like that to someone, when their name is spelled wrong.
Unless that person is me.
Because I would have been happy with however she had spelled my name.
BUT, she gave the lady a proper copy I'm guessing, with a correct spelling of the woman's name, and now there was this copy of her book, living at her house, with an inscription that just wouldn't work for anyone.
Until she met me that is.
Martha offered to mail it to me. OF COURSE SAID YES!
Just cross out that lady's name and write mine in it! I humbly asked.
When I got back to good old Idaho, I found that she'd already blogged about Destiny and I {the part where she says 'two young women writers, is us, as she messaged us to confirm that!} and she'd friended me on Facebook. (I just don't have wireless technology that travels with me. Remember, the Nook I DIDN'T WIN?) She totally beat me to the punch on the blog part, and I was shocked that she'd friend me, only because she said she wasn't on Facebook much to all the guests of the conference.
Just a few short days later, a package arrived for me.
Now isn't that a great story to share behind the inscription or what!
Talk about a wonderful gift!
Sisters in Spirit:
Martha and Me
If I wasn't up to my chin in her YouTube videos and her book, I'd be missing her like crazy. But since I am watching her on YouTube and reading her book, it's like she moved in with me. She's in my house any time I want. Love that.
Plus I have her blog, which you can read and follow to should you be writing.... HERE.
And I am glad that she has messaged me a few times on facebook, with a warm wish to a life long friendship.
Those words are like gold.
{I have a few more posts to go on this conference! Hang in there with me, we'll make it! Leave me a chilling comment! I love those. Or just say HI, that works too!}
It's late Thursday evening and Destiny has the pillow over her face, snoring away. I decide to read however, as I can sleep in. We have until late Friday morning to register. So I read and read, until 1am. My burning eyes and my body screaming that it's actually 2am reduces me to sleep. Fine.
*sigh, stretch, yawn, rubbing eyes* Friday Morning. We hit Marshalls, and I find these hot babies. Jessica Simpson, I love you. Say what you want about her, that girl can design shoes. Obviously, I had to have them. Delicious, right?
As we walking into the Chaparral Suites hotel, at 11:45am, we find that not only is it swarming with ladies and a handful of men, that there is chocolate at every turn.
Am I at Chocolatefest?
My only thought?
These girls get it. *deep sigh of contentment*
However, I am saddened that Serene isn't in my back pocket or hiding in my purse. She'd love this. Books AND chocolate everywhere.
I knew I should have stashed her in my suitcase.
I'm sure she wouldn't have been missed. Too much, anyway.
We immediately find the table with our gift bag of goodie {stuff a bit of chocolate into our mouths}, and then hit the Raffle Room.
{We find more chocolate. Consuming a few more pieces, I stuff a few into my bag for later.}
The only thing I pull out of my gift bag is my name badge, because I want to be just like everyone else and wear my name.
Looking at all the donated gifts that I possibly could win, I see books, and treats, and more chocolate, wine, gift certificates, etc., etc., etc. And then I decide to risk it all for ONE THING. I decide to really go for IT. I'm an all-or-nothing-kind of girl.
A NOOK. *squeeeeee! eeeeeek!* This shouldn't be shocking.
I spend $40 on raffle tickets. Then I proceed to painstakingly separate the 100 raffle tickets into two piles. The ones I keep and the ones I will strategically place in order to win something. There must have been over 60 options for guests to try to win. But there was only one Nook.
I don't have or a Kindle, a Nook or any kind of iPadishliketouchythingamajigger.
So, there I sat, nursing a Dove dark chocolate square, thinking.
And my brilliant plan surfaced.
Put all 100 tickets in one bag.
The bag to win the Nook.
Now, let's just clarify one thing before we get to far ahead of ourselves.
1. I do not gamble.
2. I decided to support the raffle's purpose.
3. I believe in conspiracy theories on occasion.
and
4. I don't usually put all my eggs in one basket.
But this time?
What the heck?
If I win, I get a Nook! If I loose, I give $40 to a literacy thing.
Done deal. Off we head off to attend the first class, a Keynote Speaker. Write It Forward, by Bob Mayer
"Excuse me, Mr. Mayer?"
It's funny.
Do you get it?
I wonder if he gets tired of it.
Anyway, it was an interesting couple of hours in that room with him. There were things I didn't understand AT ALL, and things that made common sense to me, and things that landed somewhere in the realm of make believe and fictional characters drama television. And there was mention of aliens. It was a completely fascinating experience. I admit I didn't walk away feeling energized or pumped that I could write a book, but I appreciated his insight. Well, at least the stuff I understood.
He did have my full attention especially when he started talking about the Myers-Briggs Types. I am not sure what personality type I am in this 16 type organization. I am curious. I would guess that I'm not exactly one type, but a mixture of a couple. But if you forced me into one category? I don't know.
He also had me craving a background in Psychology. He also pointed out some interesting insights that surround writing and they were interesting to me:
The genre you write is most likely the genre you like to read.
The Point Of View you write in is most likely the POV you like to read.
How you organize your life is how you will organize your book.
As his class ended, I walked out feeling like I'd enjoyed a lecture that had a lot of substantial information, but overwhelmed with it as well. Thank goodness for his 15,000 page handout.
Thanks Bob, for the information. I'll try to soak it in.
We enjoyed the warm Phoenix sunshine, while I indulged on some Reece's Peanut Butter Cups, in the gorgeous courtyard. {And would discover we would linger there a lot over the next two days} Most guests were either smoking, drinking, chatting, silently going over their pitches, using the restrooms, or checking their digital devices.
The warm sun beat down on my face, and I relished its attention, while Destiny craved the shade. That's the difference between Vegas and Idaho, I guess.
Soon after our few warm minutes of Arizona sun/shade we headed off to a workshop. Emotion: The Heart of the Novel, by Brenda Novak
One thing I picked up from her is this: ''Emotion equals Reader Participation.'' Well, I should have known that, but I don't think I did. I don't think I had ever consciously made note of that. But my favorite thing about her class? She used West Wing as examples of subtle emotion. Loved that. She's a smart woman in my book for the references to that show alone.
Another thing I took away from her class was "If you are naming the emotion, that is/can be a red flag."
I appreciated the insight, so thank you Brenda!
Now, at this point, I am going to end this post on the two things that broke my heart over the whole weekend.
Strong ending, right?
Hey, no one said this was a Romance.
SAD FACTOR #1:
So here's the thing: I did NOT win the Nook. *blowing nose, sniffle, sniffle, tear falling* I know! How is that even possible????? Remember how I mentioned I believe in conspiracy theories on occasion? Well, I think you'll see my reasoning, and you'll join my side of it, when I tell you there was a conspiracy going on Friday night as the raffled away the Nook.
I'm telling you. So it must be true.
See this lovely, busy, organized, awesome to email, great lady? She's the Event Coordinator for the WHOLESTINKINGCONFERENCEFROMTHEAUTHORSTOTHEBOOKSIGNINGSTOTHEGIFTBASKETS.
And she "WON" the Nook.
Conspiracy? Hmmmmmm?
{I'm
totally harassing her, by the way. *insert perfect angel smile, with a growl* She won it fair and square........ I think.}
*blowing nose, sniffling continues*
SAD FACTOR #2:
We got stood up by the ONE author we've been *DYING* to meet. More than a year of emailing, face-booking, taking her online classes, and more face-booking. Don't even ask me about it. I'll just worked up about it all over again. And even though I'm super cute when I'm mad, it's just not funny.
At least the girls who threw the party and stole the best gift, GET IT.
It occurred to me some time ago that one of my characters would be blessed and cursed with a 'magical' talent.
You've probably heard the old phrase: The eyes are the window to the soul.
NO?
Go ahead, Google it, you have my permission. You'll find a plethora of links as to discuss the possibility of the origin and truth behind the simple, yet remarkable statement.
Well, this character of mine, when she comes to the edge of her old life and crosses the threshold over to her new world discovers this untamed talent, and will commence the long road to mastering it. She will be able to look into your soul IF she can maintain some eye contact. IF being the key word here.
Research is part of writing, and this particular talent, though pretend and far from reality, had me thinking. I'd prefer to not reveal how many hours I have thought about this particular piece of my writing, nor the hours I have poured into testing it out.
Have you every really held someones' gaze and, in those few seconds, experienced an entire conversation, a realization, a moment of clarity, received an invitation, or recognized an unspoken thought?
Sure you have. We all have.
But what about with complete stranger? It's harder than you think. Imagine if you could maintain steady eye contact for an entire minute. Think of the mental messages and the body language spoken in that minute. What does it say about you? It's a gift and a curse for my character anyway, as she'll be able to access the soul of those she can 'see' eye to eye with.
And if you KNEW this character of mine could do this to you, would you be willing to let her hold that kind of eye contact? It's not mind reading, its soul searching. It's seeing the hurt, the vulnerabilities, the strengths, the hopes and dreams that make us who we are. Not just the front lobe thoughts, or the subconscious ones either. it's deeper than that. But within these windows, walls go up nearly immediately as a protection, keeping those kinds of raw emotions far from accessible.
Anyway, I digress. Point is: TRY IT ON A STRANGER.
I decided that my trip to Arizona would be a good chance to test out the idea of looking strangers in the eyes, as if I were my character, and discover what challenges she might face.
Well, the first problem? NO ONE LOOKS YOU IN THE EYE. And if they do, it's under five seconds of communication. Without being creepy, or sending a mixed signals, it's hard to stare a stranger in the eye. Count the seconds you can do it. Try it. You'll fail multiple times, because the message in their eyes overrides your mental ability to count silently. With a friend or confidant, it's uncomfortable, but a complete strangers? Let's just say mixed signals go a-flying.
I realized quickly that not only will people hardly look me in the eye during conversation, {ex. "Excuse me, do you know where a bathroom is?" or "Thank you, I really enjoyed your presentation."} but it's next to impossible to grab the attention of a stranger in a crowded room, on a tram, or in line at an airport.
Eye contact in those situations lead me to realize that it was something unique and difficult to connect that way. The few security guards that looked me in the eye, smiled and actually spoke real words to me. The few women's eyes I managed to hold were judgmental, harsh and cold, occasionally suspicious. There were eyes all around me, but they studied the floor, the distant passer-bys and details of other peoples shoes, accessories, and bags.
The few men that made my eye contact spoke multiple levels of conversation. They were not all sensual or anything, but by far more interested and curious. I reckoned briefly that more women might pick up a guy by simply LOOKING HIM IN THE EYE than by anything else. The thought was fleeting.
I know why mothers (including myself) tell their children to "LOOK AT ME WHEN I AM SPEAKING TO YOU."
Eye contact sends messages that the brain can interpret- whether right or wrong- that the lips do not speak. It's a difficult, frustrating, and completely fascinating way to spend ones' time while in large airports, or at certain conferences.
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