29 September 2008 @ 08:55 pm

Bike riding 1,000 miles gave me more time for posting...

...than everything I'm attempting now. That would be: teaching K-2 music 5 days a week at a private school, teaching public middle school choir 5 days a week, feeding horses and mucking their field and stalls twice a day--7 days a week, working out every morning, feeding too many cats and dogs and working on two different major writing projects. Plus, of course, still riding my bike, trouncing Steve at games of Pitch and going to see "Mama Mia" with lovely friends. See the "Mama Mia" pose below:

Also, I've been tagged for the first time. Thanks Jolie. I'm resisting. Not gonna do it. Really. It's too... I won't... Aw heck, of course I will.

1. What are your nicknames?

None. None that I like anyway.

2. What was the first movie you bought in VHS or DVD?

"Ever After." The first Cinderella-type movie I really liked.

3. What is your favorite scent?

Rose, lavender, lily-of-the-valley and dark chocolate.

4. What one place have you visited that you can't forget and want to go back to?

Avebury and the area around it. I swear I had a religious experience at the foot of nearby Silbury Hill involving nature, a sense of real history and the finest chocolates I've ever eaten in my life.

5. Do you trust easily?

Yup. One might say too easily. Sometimes.

6. Do you generally think before you act, or act before you think?

Some from column A and some from column B.

7. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?

No snappy, fun answer here. A continued pain of loss felt by family, friends and myself.

8. Do you have a good body image?

I think so.

9. What is your favorite fruit?

Gravenstein apples! That you can get only for about a 2 week period each year. And I just got Steve to help me shake down 2 grocery bags full from an ancient little tree in a secret spot. Yum!

10. What websites do you visit daily?

Several and I'm too lazy to list them.

11. What have you been seriously addicted to lately?

For the last 4 or 5 years--my daily workouts. Don't roll your eyes--it's a good addiction. That and the humongous breakfast I eat afterward.

12. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?

A lovely, energetic mom, writer, organizer with a wonderful laugh and smile and writing style I seriously admire.

13. What's the last song that got stuck in your head?

"Money, Money, Money" by ABBA. I know, I know. What can I say?

14. What's your favorite item of clothing?

This is way boring of an answer, but it's my simple black sweater. It's the only thing that I'll repair when it gets yet another hole from all the wear and tear.

15. Do you think Rice Krispies are yummy?

Not particularly.

17. What would you do if you saw $100 lying on the ground?

Chump that I am--I'd try to find it's owner. If they said, "I have more than enough, you keep it." (because that happens a lot, right?) I'd immediately go spend it on books.

18. What items could you not go without during the day?

Books. And my glasses so I can read said books.

19. What should you be doing right now?

Getting things ready for school tomorrow and going to bed.
Goodnight.

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WELCOME to the website of Dahti Blanchard— author, musician, teacher and “older” athlete. My feminist gothic novel Dream of the Circle of Women, which was published in 2004 by Spilled Candy Books, has just been re-released by New Gaia Press. If you haven’t read it (or even if you have) you might want to check out some of the reviews under “Books” in the menu bar. My writing (and reading) area of interest these days is in young adult fiction. I have one completed YA manuscript and another under construction.
For more writing, reading and musical news, not to mention finding out what the heck I mean by the “older” athlete reference, check out my journal. The latest entry is above on this page—previous entries can be found by clicking on “journal” in the menu bar.
I’ll be talking a lot about the 1,000 mile memorial bicycle trek my son Nick and I will be embarking on at the end of July in honor of his fiance, Julia Orth. We’re fundraising for the Julia Hypatia Orth Memorial Scholarship Fund and the Nature Conservancy. You can find more details about Julia and the trek on the May 14 journal entry.
And do let me hear from any of you out there with questions or comments either by commenting on the journal or by e-mail.

Pssst. Check out the “short works” on the menu above. There are two of my short stories there.

Besides my own work, I have many books I love and love to recommend. Here are some favorites: Jasper Fforde’s Tuesday Next series (my daughter calls them the greatest classic literature shoot-em-ups in existence), a juvenile set called the Bartimaeus Trilogy (a cynical and hilarious story involving magic and the egotistical demon Bartimaeus who prefers to be called a djinn) by Jonathan Stroud, Set This House in Order (an amazingly poignant and funny novel about two people with many fascinating personalities living inside them) by Matt Ruff and an old favorite that I recommend to almost everyone - Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Also, the YA novel Looking for Alaska by John Green is a beautifully written, stunning piece of work that is both funny and tragic and a wonderful read.
I loved Vernor Vinge’s A Deepness In the Sky. I’m not sure if the fact that I most easily identified with the alien spider race says more about me or Vinge’s wonderful writing. Maybe both.
And, if you’re into vampire lore (and who’s not if it’s well done?) I recommend Night Rising by Chris Marie Green.
Click on “Reviews” in the menu bar above for a current book list.

A little background:

Bio:

I’ve been a writer since Mr. Clark, my sixth grade teacher (lo, those many years ago in upstate New York) told me that I was. I believed him. I just hadn’t gotten around to doing anything public about it until many life experiences later. Some of those experiences include:

A nearly twenty year career as a professional college student. This was definitely my favorite and would still be my career of choice (after all—it included a great deal of writing) except that I accidentally graduated with a degree in what my poor starving children have dubbed “the lucrative field of early music.” I say accidentally because I simply ran out of majors (from French to English to Sociology to Music/Theater, and ending with the lovely but decidedly non-lucrative early music.) I had accumulated over three hundred credits among five different colleges before time and circumstances caught up with me, and my career ended with the aforementioned degree from the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota.
Stints at the requisite young adult jobs that keep your body alive by paying for cheap rent and daily doses of ramen noodles. Ice cream parlors, fast food joints, an army reserve px, clerking at the Natural Bridge (NY) Caverns and gift shop, working with kids and adults in a school and workshop for the handicapped. Some of it was good, some bad and some best forgotten. Moving on….
Financial aid worker in three different welfare offices. Sad, great, interesting, frustrating, and definitely places to meet people to write about.
Private music teacher. That’s what happens when you get a degree in early music. I’ve had some lovely students though.
Starving Musician. Well, I haven’t so much starved, but I am a musician. I play several of those wonderfully weird early music type instruments: recorder, harpsichord, hurdy-gurdy, krumhorn and a smidgeon of harp.
Working in bookstores We’re getting closer! So many books, so few dollars in a paycheck.
Many years in library work. Can’t officially be called a librarian … no MLS. But I’ve performed all the official duties. Children’s and adult services, programs, cataloging, and of course READING.
Doula. For those who haven’t heard the term, it’s a job that involves helping birthing women through their labors by focusing totally on the woman while everything else goes on around her. I’ve worked both hospital and home births and absolutely love it.
K-2 Music Teacher. Since September 2006 I’ve been the general music teacher for the early grades at Swan School, a lovely private school that encourages creativity.
Family member. Mom to two lovely nearly adult children (oh heck—I’ll finally have to admit it—strike the nearly, they’ve been adults for some time now), wife and partner to one lovely husband, slave to way too many animals. Co-homeowner of one almost finished log house in a tiny enchanted forest in the Pacific Northwest. Nestled within that miniscule forest is a labyrinth and a magical garden. You’ll never find this homestead featured in a glossy, upscale, my house is better than yours type magazine, but I love it.
Athlete. I never thought I’d place that word in a bio of me! But it’s true. I’ve discovered I love finding out just how much my body can do. A few years ago I trained with a group of six other women working toward participating in two sprint triathlons. The Seattle Danskin triathlon is just for women and that happens each August. The second was a co-ed triathlon, also in Seattle, in September. Since then I’ve participated in many runs, duathlons, bicycle tours and a marathon. And most of our original group still gets together to walk, bike and just have fun on a regular basis.

Writing:

Articles and reviews in Home Education Magazine, SageWoman, PanGaia, Blessed Bee, Vigilance, and online at Matrifocus.
The Alliance: a one-act play first performed by members of Bare Boards & Passion in 1998.
Women of Substance: a full-length play written with Theresa Chedoen and first performed in Port Townsend, Washington in 2000.
The Promise: an essay published in Mama Stew: An Anthology: Reflections and Observations on Mothering.
Dream of the Circle of Women: a feminist gothic novel
Chasing Miracles: a young adult novel which took second place in the 2003 Pacific Northwest Writers Association literary contest, juvenile/young adult
category. (The working title at the time of the contest was: Choice of a Lifetime.)
Another Way Home: an essay entered in the 2004 PNWA literary contest was a top ten finalist in the Adult Essay/Short Memoir category.
Jewel of the Goddess: another young adult novel being co-written with Kathleen Snow.
Mostly Truly Yours: a current YA project
A series for the newspaper, the Port Townsend Leader http://www.ptleader.com/ written in 2006 on the training the other women and I went through to get ready for the triathlons mentioned above.