On The Road Again To…Warsaw!

Last month I shared with you my adventures in Prague. On that trip I also went to Warsaw.

Warsaw was… better than I expected. It has a terrible wartime past but it also has a beautiful Old Town and lots of fascinating history.

For instance, did you know that the Polish composer Frederic Chopin was so afraid of being buried while still alive that on his deathbed (he had tuberculosis and died at age 39 in 1849) he made his sister promise to cut out his heart to make sure he was really dead?  So… Chopin’s body is buried in Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris (along with Jim Morrison of The Doors) but his heart was sent back to Poland, and is eternally encased in this pillar in the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw. Fascinating!

Warsaw is a very Catholic city, and has many beautiful churches…

 

And also, like Prague, Warsaw has some fabulous architecture…

  

It was also fascinating to see the Barbican, the ancient city gate and battlements (built around 1548) that protected Warsaw…  The walls have been painstakingly restored.

Front biew

Walls and old moat

Arrow slit

Warsaw is also the home of the astronomer Copernicus…

Coopernicus

And here is the old Royal Castle…

Readers of this blog know I’m obsessed with (er, I’m a really big fan of) the Rolling Stones. So the highlight of Warsaw for me just might have been seeing this… In one of the Old Town squares, a husband-and-wife team built marionettes/puppets of the Stones, and had them “dancing” to the Stones’ music. Pretty good likeness, right???  LOL.

This is just a quick look at my 3-day stay in Warsaw. Hope you’ve enjoyed getting a glimpse of this beautiful city and consider putting it on your bucket list!

Jenna

www.jennaives.com

On The Road Again To… Prague!

Prague is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever visited (and readers of this blog know I’ve traveled a lot)! History has it Prague was spared from bombing during World War II because it is so spectacular.

Prague’s Old Town Square is one of several highlights… 

Here's the Church of Our Lady before Tyn with its spectacular twin spires...

There's beautiful architecture, everywhere you look…

And below is Prague’s famous medieval astronomical clock. It was designed by clockmaster Jan Růže (also called Hanuš) around 1490. My tour guide recounted the story that the astronomical clock was such an impressive and beautiful piece of work that the Prague City Council was so jealous Hanuš was getting offers from other European cities to create similar clocks that the Council kidnapped Hanuš and gouged out his eyes so that he couldn’t create another masterpiece!! However, Hanuš – now blind and knowing his career was over – got his revenge by climbing to the top of the clock tower and throwing himself into the gears, killing himself but disabling the clock for more than 100 years!  (The clock IS beautiful... at certain times of day, little carved figures come out and parade around to mark the hour.)

  

The other major site in Prague is the Charles Bridge, named after King Charles IV who founded Prague (modeling it after Paris).  The Charles Bridge is pedestrian-only (since it was built in the 1300’s) and statues of saints and apostles line the bridge…

Statue of King Charles IV at the entrance to the Charles Bridge

You can see the statues of saints and apostles lining the bridge (above)…

  

There are quite a few bridges that cross the Vltava river.  This shot (below) actually DOES remind me of Paris!

Catholics believe the Infant of Prague (a statue located in the Church of Our Lady Victorious, said to originally been owned by St. Theresa of Avila) can grant miracles.  We all know someone who needs a miracle, so I stopped to say a prayer…

Remember I said King Charles modeled Prague after Paris? It seems tourists who come here are trying to make it more like Paris by “locking” their love to a railing near the Vltava river, then throwing the key into the water so that love lasts forever (i.e. it can’t be unlocked)…

I leave you with this spectacular picture of Prague at night…

Prague should definitely be on everyone’s bucket list! It is a beautiful city.  I'll have pictures of Warsaw next month!

Jenna

www.jennaives.com

What’s Your "80/20" Number?

I read a fascinating article by a woman named Noelle Nelson that I want to share with you, because it can apply not only to writers, but to everyone in the world. How’s this for a fascinating fact:

Most of us spend 80% of our time on things that really don't matter and only 20% of our time on the things that really do matter.

WHAT, you say? Well, there's a concept in economics called "Pareto's Law," or the "80/20 Rule." In a nutshell, a 19th century economist, Vilfredo Pareto, noticed that 20% of the people owned 80% of the land, and similarly that 20% of his peapods produced 80% of his peas. Much later, Joe Juran, looking to improve factory production during WWII, realized that 20% of the factories were responsible for 80% of all defective parts, and vice-versa.

What could the "80/20 Rule" possibly have to do with you? Simply put, most of us spend 80% of our time on things that really don't matter all that much to us, and only 20% of our time on the things that really matter. Huh . . .

Ask yourself, who do you spend the most time with? The people who uplift you, support you, cherish you? Or those who bore you, annoy you, cause you endless irritation or grief? What do you spend most of your time doing? Complaining, blaming, feeling sorry for yourself? Or praising, appreciating, finding value in what you do? How about activities? Do you spend most of your free time in activities that engage you, inspire you, thrill you? Or do you just go with whatever flow happens to, well, flow at the moment? Facebook, TV, surfing the web . . .

It dawned on Noelle that she’d rather work a little longer/harder to earn some extra bucks (given that she really enjoyed her work, like we writers enjoy our writing), so she could pay a house-cleaner to clean her home, an activity she did not enjoy. And when given the option of taking a dance class rather than spending an hour on the couch watching a TV program, the appeal of a dance class won out. Dancing is now on her list of "top things she loves."

What's your percent? When you sit down and honestly assess with whom and where you spend your time—which is the same thing as saying "with whom and where you spend your life?"—what's your 80/20? Noelle suggests that we deliberately cut out or reduce those things that don’t give you joy, so that more and more of your time is spent in the 80% of stuff you really like to do.

Take a look at your friends and social life, including your social media life. She suggests we deliberately reduce or cut out the time we spend with those who don’t make our “things I love” list. 

It may sound odd to take such a calculated approach to life, but time really is all we have. How and with whom we choose to spend that time very much defines how happy we are in life. So stop for a few minutes to consider your “80/20” and you might just change your life!

P.S. I am taking Noelle’s advice to heart. Readers of this column know how much I love to travel, so I just surfed the web for some cheap airline flights, and it looks like I’ll be travelling to Prague and Warsaw at the end of June! 

Now THAT makes me happy!!

Until next month,
Jenna
www.jennaives.com

Come With Me To Merry Olde England!

Readers of this blog know I have itchy feet. It doesn't take much for my wanderlust to kick in, and then I'm off on another adventure. So...

Last month I filed my taxes, figured out my refund, and immediately bought a ticket to the closest fun place I could think of to spend those dollars, er pounds... England!

So here I am in London for three weeks! I love England. Once out of the capital, the scenery is like a postcard! Last weekend I rented a car and hit the road. This is the countryside on the way to Poole in Dorset.

Ate lunch at this typical British pub… The Cleave

This is the main street through Poole…

Typical thatched roof cottages and stone cottages line the roads – so quaint!

The roads are pretty crazy out in the country… this one in front of the whitewashed cottage was actually a 2-way street!!!  Gives new meaning to “driving defensively” LOL!!

I hope these pictures came out okay, because I was (mostly) taking them from a moving car, LOL!  It was a rare sunny weekend (but COLD) and today (Friday) it’s predicted to be rainy (as usual) in London as you read this.

I'll be back home before next month's post, but I wanted to share these classic pictures with you!

Cheers,

Jenna

www.jennaives.com

You Are Exactly Where You Need to Be In Your Writing Career

I found this wonderfully inspiring article courtesy of Mark Henson that I wanted to share with you today.  For the full article, go to: https://markhenson.me/exactly-where-you-need-to-be/

I’m going to get a little zen, woo woo and existential on you. Ready?

Wherever you are in life is exactly where you need to be right now.

Even if you’re not where you want to be right now.

Even if you’re not fulfilled where you are right now.

Even if you’re in a really bad place right now.

I know it doesn’t always FEEL like you’re exactly where you need to be, but trust me, you are.

We think that when things are going well, when we’re achieving our goals, when we land our dream job, only THEN we are exactly where we need to be. But let me ask you this: how did you get there?

Didn’t you get to those great moments in life by spending a fair amount of time in places you didn’t want to be? Didn’t you have stretches of life when you weren’t fulfilled? Didn’t you fight and claw your way through some pretty bad times physically, mentally, and spiritually?

Didn’t those tough times teach you valuable lessons about desire, motivation, resilience, perseverance, patience, tolerance, and more?

As a little green Jedi once said, search your feelings, you know it to be true.

If you climb a mountain, some parts of the trail are easy and beautiful, some are treacherous and scary, and some cause you to stumble and skin your knees. And you spend a lot more time on the trail than you do at the peak.

Yes, you ARE exactly where you need to be right now.

I’m not telling you to seek out the silver lining (although it is usually there if you look hard enough). I’m also not telling you to look for valuable lessons about desire, motivation, resilience, perseverance, patience, tolerance, etc. during the tough times (although they are definitely there if you are open to them). And I’m absolutely not telling you to “enjoy the journey” (because sometimes you just won’t).

What I AM telling you is that I believe there is a reason why you are where you are right now. I also believe you don’t have to know what that reason is. In fact, you might drive yourself nuts if you try to figure it out in the moment (or ever, really). One of the hardest things to let go of is the desire to know the why behind everything. Hear me on this, the desire to understand the why is almost always a want, not a need. It doesn’t change the fact that you are where you are.

Sometimes you just need to be where you are, be as okay as you can be with it, and know that it is just temporary. Actually, know that these times are ALWAYS temporary (even if they last longer than we’d like).

Oh, and one more thing: just because you are exactly where you need to be right now doesn’t mean you should stay there — especially if it’s a place you don’t want to be. Keep moving forward — one tiny step at a time if that’s all you can do. You can climb an entire mountain one tiny step at a time. That’s how I published a book— one step, one page at a time. And it only took a year and a half of not being where I wanted to be, but being exactly where I needed to be, until I got there.

And that concludes today’s moment of zen, woo woo, and existentialism.

Until next month,
Jenna
www.jennaives.com

 

Let's Hear It For The Ladies!

March is Women’s History Month, 31 days to honor trailblazing ladies. Here are just a few!

Dr. Mary Edwards Walker – Only woman to be awarded the Medal of Honor (for her service as a surgeon during the Civil War).

Jane Addams – Founder of Hull House in Chicago, first American woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize  (1931).

Sally Ride - First American woman in space (1983) on the space shuttle Challenger.

Julia Morgan – First woman architect licensed to practice in California (1898). Known for her work on Hearst Castle.

Edith Wharton – First woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction (1921) for “The Age of Innocence.”

Aretha Franklin – First woman inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (1987). The Queen of Soul has 18 Grammys.

Kathryn Bigelow – First woman to win an Academy Award for Best Director (2010) for “The Hurt Locker.”

Maya Angelou – First black woman to have a screenplay produced (1971). She’s been nominated for a Tony, Emmy and Pulitzer Prize.

Frances Perkins – First woman member of a Presidential Cabinet (1933). She served as Secretary of Labor under President Roosevelt.

Betty Mae Tiger Jumper – First woman tribal chief in North America (1967). She was elected chairperson of the Seminole Tribe.

Anna Bissell – First woman CEO in the United States (1898). Her husband invented the Bissell carpet sweeper, but she ran the company.

Norma Yaeger – First woman allowed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (1962).

Gertrude Ederle – First woman to swim the English Channel (1926) when she was 19 years old. (It was her second attempt.)

Junko Tabei – First woman to reach the summit of Mt. Everest (1975) at age 35.

Janet Guthrie – First woman to compete in the Indy 500 and Daytona 500 races (1977).

Stephanie Ready – First woman to coach a men’s professional sports team (2001).

Jacqueline Cochran – First woman to break the sound barrier (1953). She holds more speed and distance records for flying than anyone in history!

Valentina Tereshkova – First woman to travel in space (1963) as a Russian cosmonaut.

Billie Jean King – Trailblazer for LGBTQ rights and #1 tennis star.

Joan Ganz Cooney – Creator of Sesame Street, which has educated children in all areas of life for almost 50 years (since 1969).  

The list of talented women is endless (and I’m including you & me here), so in March, let’s hear it for the ladies!

Jenna

www.jennaives.com

Valentine's Day Fun Facts

Cupid will have his arrows aimed at hearts next week as we celebrate Valentine’s Day. I can’t take credit for these fun facts (below) about the world’s most romantic holiday… most of them were in an article by Julie Fishman. But I enjoyed them, and thought you would too!

Here’s to love, the Holy Grail for all romance writers. xoxo Jenna

-Most historians link the lover's holiday to an annual celebration in Rome that occurred every Feb. 15. During the boisterous bonanza, men stripped naked and spanked young maidens with animal-skin whips in an effort to increase fertility. While tame in comparison, modern Valentine's Day festivities are observed today in Mexico, Canada, France, Australia and the U.K., in addition to here in the U.S.

-While history buffs don't unanimously agree on who the original Valentine was, the most popular suspect is a clergyman in ancient Rome. When the emperor outlawed marriage during wartime (because he believed single men made better soldiers), Bishop Valentine performed secret wedding ceremonies. It wasn't until 496 A.D., over 200 years after the bishop's death, that Pope Gelasius I officially declared Feb. 14 as Saint Valentine's Day.
-While Valentine greetings have been exchanged since the Middle Ages in Europe, the tradition didn't reach the United States until the 19th century. According to the Greeting Card Association, the person credited with starting it in the U.S. is Esther Howland, an American printer and artist, who published and sold the first cards on Valentine's Day in 1850.

-The Greeting Card Association estimates that 145 million cards will be sent worldwide in 2014 (not including children's packaged valentines for classroom exchange) and that more than half of Americans purchase at least one card, making Valentine's Day the biggest greeting card holiday in the U.S. after Christmas.

-According to a survey by American Express, 56 percent of Americans took a more digital approach to sending their declarations of love last year, but the trend may not continue. In fact, the Greeting Card Association expects printed valentines to far outweigh the sending of e-cards, texts or social media posts this year.

-The National Confectioners Association reports that Valentine's Day candy adds up to a sweet billion dollars in sales each year. Nearly three-quarters of that money is spent on chocolate, which has been lauded as an aphrodisiac since the 15th century. Candy hearts are a hit too, of course: Eight billion are made each year, and if you were to line up all those little candies, then the distance would reach from Italy to Arizona 20 times.

-Roses are the flower of love. The favorite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love? The red rose, of course. The bud stands for strong romantic feelings, so it's no surprise they make up the most popular Valentine’s bouquet.

-According to Woman’s Day magazine, true love is apparently not that hard to find. Over two million marriages take place in the United States every year. That means there are more than 6,000 a day!

So grab some chocolates, flowers, maybe some sexy lingerie, and enjoy!

            Until next month,
            Jenna
            www.jennaives.com

The Bane of Every Writer: Deadlines

I’m under a November 16^th deadline for a 90,00 word science-fiction romance, so while I retreat to my writer’s cave to finish this book, I leave you with these slightly screwy yet somehow profound words of wisdom, LOL…

And my favorite of the week, courtesy of comic Mort Walker and SHOE...

Hope these made you smile!  I won't be smiling until this book is turned in on November 16th. Wish me luck!!

Jenna

www.jennaives.com

The Rolling Stones play Lucca, Italy

Readers of this blog know that I’m obsessed... er... that I’m a big fan, of the Rolling Stones. My parents took me to see a show when I was twelve years old (my very first rock & roll concert!) and since then I’ve seen them play many (many) times, and even traveled to other countries to see them perform.

Like last year, when I dragged my BFF Leigh Court to Argentina to see the Stones play Buenos Aires. (Leigh had discovered some long-lost relatives in Buenos Aires, so she was up for the adventure…)

Same thing happened a couple of weeks ago…  the Stones were playing in Lucca, Italy on September 23, so, since Leigh has relatives in Italy as well, it was time for another girls’ road trip!!

Our Alitalia flight to Italy

 The whole city of Lucca was in the grip of Stones fever, including the airport in Pisa when we landed. This was the first thing we saw…

There were Rolling Stones posters in every shop window and even in our hotel lobby...

And when we went out to dinner, this was on the restaurant’s blackboard (instead of the daily specials)…

I have to admit, it felt weird but strangely good to have found a town as obsessed with the Stones as I am, LOL! Even the drivers were obsessed…

Lucca is a medieval walled city, and the Stones played just outside the wall, in a spectacular setting. The of day of the show, the venue doors opened at 1pm for a 9pm concert, but fans were ready to go…

As darkness fell, the excitement built, and finally, the Stones hit the stage!

After an amazing night like that, I was more than happy to spend some time with Leigh’s relatives. Quid pro quo. I mean, nobody makes lasagna like Leigh’s aunt Francesca!!! 

Until next month,

Jenna

www.jennaives.com