WRWA Newsletter.pub - Wisconsin Writers Association

Northern Lakes Writers’ Guild: LaMoine MacLaughlin, Executive Director 715-268-6811
lammacl@amerytel.com www.northernlakescenter.org
Page 11
At the end of September, Northern Lakes Director
LaMoine MacLaughlin attended the Fall Conference of
WRWA in Janesville and helped with the presentation of
the association’s Jade Ring Award for Poetry. He had
been asked by the association to judge the material for
this year’s award and found the winning entries to be
remarkable. It was his task to select three winners and
three honorable mentions from among 140 entries.
In October, The Northern Lakes Writers’ Guild
teamed with the Northern Lakes Theater Guild to open
the Northern Lakes 2006/2007 concert and performance
season with two interesting events: the first, an evening
of old-time radio and the second, an evening of scary
stories and poems.
At the Guild’s October meeting there was discussion
of material published in The Hometown Gazette, which
publishes local writers’ work as part of its regular coverage
of news and local highlights focusing upon the Clayton
area. Published this past issue were Ed Moersfelder,
Jeanne Murphy, Ralph Weber, and Patricia Hansen.
During November, Northern Lakes’ Director LaMoine
MacLaughlin was asked to become a regular columnist
for another local publication, What’s Playing, a bimonthly
magazine that highlights local arts and cultural
events, including creative writing by writers from our
area, and is published by Schoolhouse Productions in
Clear Lake. The November/December issue includes
MacLaughlin’s poem, “A Christmas Swallow,” which
he read at last years’ WRWA fall conference in Wiscon-
sin Rapids. The beauty of our natural surroundings will
be the focus of MacLaughlin’s column. Anyone interested
in contributing should e-mail manuscripts to
LaMoine at the above address.
In December, the Writers’ Guild will be finishing
work on selections to be published in Northern Lakes’
Soundings, the literary publication of the Northern Lakes
Center for the Arts. The upcoming January 2007 issue
will complete 16 years of publishing original stories,
poems, and essays by local authors. The magazine has
been published semi-annually since 1991. So this past
quarter there have been several opportunities for members
of the Northern Lakes Writers’ Guild to publish
their work and to share it with the general public.
We are beginning to organize the annual regional
gathering of northwest area writers to be held on Saturday,
April 21 at the Northern Lakes Center for the Arts
in Amery. It will include a workshop by Wisconsin author,
Jerry Apps. Plan on attending. This annual event
is held in rotation by the Northwest Regional Writers,
the Poco Penners, and the Northern Lakes Writers’
Guild and is open to all writers.
The Northern Lakes Writers’ Guild, an affiliate of the
Northern Lakes Center of the Arts, is located at 113 Elm
Street in Amery, Wisconsin. For more detailed information
about activities of the Northern Lakes Writers’
Guild, please call the Northern Lakes Center for the Arts
at (715) 268-6811. #
(Limburger Attitude, continued from page 4)
The last straw was when I went to the drug store for antibiotics.
When the pharmacist told me it would cost $60 for three
days' worth, I got madder than a constipated rattlesnake. And
like a rattlesnake, I wanted to bite somebody. I didn't have that
much money on me, so I had to leave without the pills.
When I got back home, I stomped around complaining
about everything that annoyed me. Being crankier than a giraffe
with strep throat, I couldn't think of a single thing that
didn't bug me.
Coincidentally, while listening to the radio, I heard a country
song entitled, "I hate everything." My sentiments exactly!
Then I recalled a funny story about a kid pulling a prank on
his grandpa. While the old man slept, his grandson wiped
Limburger cheese on his mustache. When grandpa woke up,
he complained that the room smelled bad. When he walked
into a different room, that one smelled the same way. Finally,
he went outside to get away from the odor, but it followed
him. Grandpa exclaimed, "The whole world stinks!"
Yesterday, even without Limburger cheese on my face, I
felt like the whole world stunk.
Of course, I know that this kind of thinking results from
focusing on the negative and not seeing the positive. When I
do that, I say things like "always, " "never," or "everybody."
For instance, "EVERYBODY else has a better life than I do."
Or "Things NEVER work out for me." And "Why do bad
things ALWAYS happen to me" I know very well that everybody
doesn't have a better life. Bad things don't always happen
to only me, but yesterday, it sure did seem that way.
When I have a "Limburger attitude," and feel like the whole
world smells bad, I need to challenge my false self talk. To
adjust my "stinkin' thinkin'," I remind myself that I cannot
control my circumstances, but I can control my attitude. Reversing
a Limburger attitude requires developing an attitude of
gratitude. When I feel that everything is bad and the world
stinks, I need to stop and make a conscious effort to focus on
the positive. I think of the good things for which I can be
(completed on page 18)