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Stephanie Beavers

~ Always be yourself. Unless you can be a dragon. Then always be a dragon.

Tag Archives: life

Enjoying Music Again: Home Free

31 Friday Mar 2017

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in Fun, Life

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author, Boondocks, country, country music, entertainment, Fishin' In The dark, fun, Home Free, Honey I'm Good, inspiration, life, love, moods, music, Stephanie Beavers, Try Everything, writer, Zootopia

music mood mover pixabay Music plays a different role for everyone. I’ve always found it to be a huge mood-influencer. If I’m happy, it’ll pump me up. If I’m melancholy, it’ll carry me away. If I feel one way and want to feel another, I turn to music.

However, as I’m coming out of a stressed-out, depressed and burnt out episode of my life, that it’s been a while since I’ve really, actively, enjoyed music. For the last while, it’s mostly been filler, background noise, and a distraction. But it’s been ages since I’ve sat at my computer and cruised YouTube for new tunes.

And I’ve rediscovered Home Free. They’re an a capella country band, and the sound that makes them them is delightfully unique. They do occasionally cover other genres, and while I enjoy the novelty of it, I enjoy their country stuff best.



I’ll probably have to source their CDs now…

How about you readers? What have you been rocking out to lately? I have a fairly eclectic taste in music – I might like it!

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Creativity That Deserves a Tip

09 Monday Jan 2017

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in Fun

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author, entertainment, fun, humor, life, lol, service, Stephanie Beavers, tip jars, tipping, writer

TheTango.Net featured Creative tip jars that deserve to make all the money.

dog pants debate tip jar

snow or no tip jar competition

men versus women tipping jar

Cullen versus Buffy tipping jar

1-10 how attractive are you tip competition

employee alcohol tolerance research fund tip jar

Chuck Norris punches Justin Beiber fans tip jar

ninjas killed my family revenge fund

kittens sloths or money

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Happy New Year 2017

01 Sunday Jan 2017

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in Life, News

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author, life, News, Stephanie Beavers, updates, writer

Happy New Year!

2016 was a tumultuous year. I’ve seen many people call it a bad year, but I can’t do that – I got married and got to go to Japan, after all! Rather, for me, it was a year of high highs and low lows. Illness and other life factors have kept me from my blog for the last two months, and to be honest, I’m not sure what it’s fate will be. I do want to connect with my readers as I continue to publish books, but I’m no longer certain this is the best medium for that.

Regardless, I’m hoping that for everyone, 2017 is a more peaceful and prosperous year. Lots of people make crazy resolutions, and I’m hoping that everyone manages to attain a little bit of the spirit of those resolutions, even if they don’t keep it to the letter. I know I need to pick up the pace of my writing and get those books written! I have one in the wings, but I’m going to be trying some new publishing strategies – please bear with me, dear readers!

So, since I didn’t wish you a Merry Christmas earlier, Merry Christmas, and have a very happy new year!

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Not Just For Writers

26 Monday Sep 2016

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in Life, Thoughts

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author, books, children, childrens books, Giving Tree, kids, Kristen Lamb, life, literature, philosophy, Silverstein, Stephanie Beavers, Where The Sidewalk Ends, writer, writing

As a writer seeking to better myself, I follow Kristen Lamb’s blog. She’s given some incredible advice over the years, much of it entirely for free! But every so often, some of her posts reach far beyond just writing and author advice. Her latest post, Why I Hate “The Giving Tree”–But How This Story Makes Us Better Writers, is one of these.

Now, I had to google “The Giving Tree” and reread it again before I could remember what it was about, and it never actually had an impact when I read it. I guess because it didn’t have magic or animals in it (then, as now, I was very partial to a particular kind of books). Reading it now, I think it’s rather brilliant. Not that I necessarily like it, but I do admire it. But enough of my thoughts, it was Kristen’s that impressed me.

I’ve cherry-picked my favorite parts, but if you want to read the whole thing, definitely click the link above:

“Shel Silverstein didn’t write The Giving Tree with plans that it was a cautionary tale against toxic relationships. He didn’t write it to be some Christ-like example of selfless love. He wasn’t writing a tale of capitalism run amok or misogyny. According to him, he simply wrote a story about the complicated dynamics of human relationships. We, as the reader, assign whether this is a tale of warning or wonder, horror or hope.”

apples apple tree

“I honestly believe that stories we gravitate to as children says a lot about our fundamental nature, our strengths and weaknesses.

I always loved the parable of the Tortoise and the Hare, namely because one of my strongest traits is my persistence. I loved the parable of The Crow and the Pitcher because I was always good at finding clever ways to solve seemingly impossible problems. The stories I loved possibly reflected back personality qualities that even at a very young age, I possessed and was even proud of.

But then there was my dark side, a side I noticed even by the tender age of four when I was sounding out the words And the tree was happy. My tendency to people please (Old Man Whickutt’s Donkey) and my seeming inability to set a boundary with those who would take and take until I had nothing left to give (The Giving Tree) and me happily enabling my own self-destruction. The anger I felt toward the tree being a fledgling anger I felt for myself.

Why did the boy feel the need to take all the apples? All her branches? Why couldn’t he just take some? Why did the tree feel the need to offer all her apples and all her branches? Couldn’t he see he was killing her? Did he even care?

When it came to her trunk? Why didn’t she tell him to just go pound sand?

God, how many times have I done the same?”

teddy bear child's toy

“Our culture is guilty (my POV) of assuming that every child’s story is to serve as a role model. Don’t bully. Be a good friend. This is what happens when you learn to share. But literature serves a higher purpose.

Isn’t the point of being a parent to rear a fully developed person more than simply being an activities director? That we are charged with rearing a grownup with fully developed empathy and a sense of injustice? Doesn’t it say something when a child reads a story like this and is incensed at the injustice of it all?

The children’s movie Inside Out explored how dysfunctional we have become regarding human emotion. We aren’t permitted to be angry, sad, disappointed, jaded or hurt. We can be depressed (because there is a pill for that). Yet these “negative” emotions serve a purpose. It is okay to be angry and sometimes it is downright warranted. It is all right to be afraid.

Our culture has become obsessed with never being offended and yet being offended is vital. There are things that should offend us. That is when real change is possible.

Insulating entire generations from ever experiencing negative emotions is in a word? Psychotic.

dark psycho teddy

Silverstein didn’t believe in happy endings being a necessity. He felt that set children up for failure, that things didn’t always work out. That if every book had an HEA then children would wonder what was so wrong with them. They didn’t always get an HEA in their lives. What were they doing wrong?

Nothing, my Wee One. It is life. Fair is a weather condition.

Good stories also serve as catharsis. We need to watch comedy because we do need to laugh, but you know what? Sometimes what we need is a good cry, too. And maybe we aren’t yet “evolved” enough to cry over what is going wrong in our own lives, but we can cry for a beautiful tree that was rendered a stump.

And that makes us all just a little bit more human.”

Now I’m a real sucker for my happily-ever-after, but even I agree with Kristen.

What are your thoughts, readers? Did you remember this story? How do you interpret it? Do you agree with Kristen about the bad side of only giving children their happily-ever-afters?

By the way, if you’re a writer, definitely subscribe to Kristen’s blog!

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Unorthodox Music

11 Monday Jul 2016

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in Fun

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author, band, entertainment, french horn, fun, glass harp, life, lol, Marbles, music, Stephanie Beavers, Sugar Plum Fairy, unorthodox, wine glasses, Wintergartan, writer

Hey guys, I have a few unorthodox pieces of music to share with you. This first guy obviously had WAY too much time on his hands, but his results are undeniable. Check it out:
Wintergatan – Marble Machine (music instrument using 2000 marbles)

I do deeply love this song, but I think it’s especially beautiful played on wine glasses. Yes, you heard me, wine glasses:
Sugar Plum Fairy by Tchaikovsky – Glass Harp

This isn’t in the same musical caliber as the two above, but I bet this was an awesome band practice when they figured this out:
Duet for French Horn and Chair

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Back and Celebrating with a Baby Armadillo

04 Monday Jul 2016

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in Life

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animal, animals, armadillo, author, Canada Day, cute, dog, dogs, Fourth of July, fun, Independence Day, life, News, pet, pets, squee, Stephanie Beavers, writer

Wow. Okay, so I didn’t intend to take that long of a break. Sorry, folks. But all that wedding stuff just piled up on me and I needed the break. But I’m back! Time to get back to the grindstone with my edits, blogging, and tweeting.

To celebrate that, Canada Day, and the 4th of July, here is Rollie, an adorable baby armadillo playing with a toy:

maple leaf flag

Happy Canada Day!

This dog wishes you a happy fourth of july

Happy Independence Day!

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Crazy Wedding Pics

06 Monday Jun 2016

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in Fun, Life

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author, bride, dinosaur, entertainment, force choke, fun, funny, groom, humor, life, lol, married, marry, photo, Stephanie Beavers, wedding, wedding party, writer

No, not for my wedding. Not yet. Not quite. But don’t expect a blog from me next week, as I will be on my honeymoon!

In the meantime, enjoy this crazy wedding pictures:
drunk wedding bride groom groomsmen

ew kissing hide your face wedding picture

flee from the dinosaur on your wedding! T-rex

funny wedding photo

force choke the wedding party

squish the groomsmen wedding pic

Marry us right meow

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Cute Contest 2: Tail Noms Versus Baby Foxes

30 Monday May 2016

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in Fun

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adorable, animals, author, babies, baby, baby animals, cat, cats, cute, entertainment, fox, foxes, fun, humor, kit, kits, kitten, kittens, life, lol, nature, pet, pets, snow leopard, squee, wildlife, writer

Round 2: Who wins the cute crown this time?
Today we have tail-nomming snow leopards versus baby foxes!

big cat

fox kits

adorable leopard kitten

squee so cute

predator relaxing playing

fox kit snow play time

fun snow leopard tail nomming

hide and seek peekaboo fox

ah eat mah tail cuz its tasty

napping baby animal

Mom's tail tastes good

Are leaves food?

I realize the snow leopards might be at a disadvantage, simply because they’re not all babies… but lookit them fluffy tails!

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Live Jousting 2016

23 Monday May 2016

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in Fun, Life

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author, cavalry, event, fun, horse, horseback, horsemanship, horses, joust, jousting, knight, knights, lance, life, medieval, reenactment, STALC, Stephanie Beavers, tilt, tilting, writer

So my fiance and I got to go see something pretty cool yesterday. Down in Osoyoos, the Society of Tilt and Lance Cavalry (STALC) put on some live jousting. (Btw, I totally love their slogan: “Joust do it.”)

For those of you who might not know what jousting is, it’s when two people on horseback, in full armor, charge straight at each other and try to hit each other with long pointy sticks.
Like this:
medieval jousting in full armor, knights
Tilting at its funnest. lance joust shatter

But seriously, it’s pretty cool. Jousting was originally used as a way for knights to gain prestige, wealth, and status. Like any sport, there are rules and points and whatnot. You get so many points for hitting the shield, shattering your lance, or unhorsing your opponent (unfortunately, we didn’t get to see anyone get launched out of his or her saddle).

armor medieval knight jousting

The folks at STALC said a set of armor costs upwards of $6000. …Shiny…

We were assigned a knight to cheer for based on our section in the stands. This was our knight:

Mr. Knight. green and black.

I am a lousy fan because I don’t remember his name. But he was still awesome.


He didn’t win, but he was one of the most experienced knights, and he did really well.

There were a few other folks dressed up too, and most of them were involved with STALC:
herald heraldry flags coat of arms
But all in all it was a pretty small event. Still, I plan to go again next year!

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Inside Singing

16 Monday May 2016

Posted by Stephanie Beavers in Life

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author, choir, life, music, opera, sing, singing, Stephanie Beavers, vocal, voice, writer

Hi readers,

So I found a really sweet article and video at (you guess it) IFLS.

Y’know, just in case you were curious what it looks like inside your mouth/throat when you sing.

For those of you who’ve never taken singing lessons, a good teacher will typically give you an idea of what’s going on internally so that you know what to (try to) do to improve your vocal performance. Even so, there’s a difference between knowing in theory and seeing it. So thank you, scientists at Freiburg Institute for Musician’s Medicine, for this one.

On a related note, last weekend, I got to go see a performance by the choir I used to be a member of, the Spectrum Singers. They’re pretty frickin’ fantastic. If you’re in Kelowna, definitely try to catch their performances: usually at St. Michael’s in December and May. The videos aren’t up on YouTube yet, but they usually do upload them after a bit (here’s to hoping!) But if you want a taste now, check out the video below from back when I sang with them.

Flowers O’ The Forest (that’s me!)

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Calling - Ebook Calling On Fire by Stephanie Beavers!
Two brothers with magical abilities seek to stop an evil mage only to find the fate of an entire race in their hands.
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