Well...here I go...my first blog ever! It is funny to me that I spent over two years in the software industry and this is the first time I have ever blogged. I don't know if that word disturbs me more when used as a verb or a noun. I think verb...it sounds too much like "flogged". Anyway...blah..blah..blah. What I really want to discuss is a letter I received after entering a poetry contest. It stated that my poem had been chosen out of multitudes of others to be published in an anthology (A Great American Anthology of Poetry, at that). I was really excited at first, but then after reading further, and seeing that they were offering to engrave the poem into a commemorative plaque (I mean, come on, how hokey can you be?), I realized that it was all crap. After a little research, I found out that they will publish your poem, but they charge you for the book and you are put in there with every other bozo that every tried to write a poem, including the runners up in Mrs. Smith's first grade poetry contest. But seriously...After publishing my first book in June, I have been amazed and saddened at all the internet sleaze that try to take advantage and cash in on the hopes and dreams of new writers. I genuinely feel very sorry for anyone who has been tricked into this kind of scam. Seeing so much of this kind of thing has really chipped away at my faith in humanity (at least what little faith I had left). I have always told my husband that he seems to be very suspicious of people in general and that he shouldn't be so negative… and I hate to admit this, but I think maybe he was right. I guess that is okay though - I knew he would probably be right about at least one thing during the course of our marriage...I guess this is it!