Once upon a time is an old rhyme

Who said it first? that little verse

Oddly, without fail at end of every tale

They all live happily ever after

Can you write something short and poetic? Its not what I usually write. I'm not especially great at it, but it doesn't matter. Its fun to write something different. Sometimes change is a good thing.

This is the newsletter, you are the guinea pig.

It is so easy to slip into my mind and spill out the Home and Garden newsletter, finding the links is an adventure of sensual pleasure. I draw on my memories, my spirit and my basic likes and dislikes and the newsletter is built, it all comes together.

This one though... I lack focus, maybe I'm too close to the topic to be able to stand back, take a deep breath and just let it come to me. I want to force it. As if I have to prove myself each time.

So here we are, another week and a jumble of links culled from BackWash. The links are good, I checked most of them. Something is just not hitting the mark and you are my guinea pigs until I figure out just what mark I'm missing.

Send suggestions, comments, feedback. There are no cheap seats juts cheap shots.

Do you keep a journal? Sometimes its called a diary, I think that's the old fashioned term. What you write in your journal is up to you. Be creative, rant about your family, chronicle your life, or just spin your thoughts on the web.

Keep your journal in a secret place if you don't want anyone to read it. Or, if you feel like sharing you can read what you write to friends or even keep your journal online with sites like Blogger. Of course, you can do both. Have an online journal and another secret journal for just yourself.

Journals can be kept in plain notebooks or fancy lined paper books you buy in stationery stores like Hallmark. I like to write with a fine tip black pen but you can experiment with all kinds of pens and colours. Add stickers or stick in clippings from newspapers and magazines. If you really want to put in a lot of clippings have a look at scrapbooking. That's another form of journaling but there tends to be less writing and more drawings.

There are lots of websites about journaling and scrapbooking. Have a look around and see which appeals to you.

If you've read my columns or backtracked and looked at the archives, you may have noticed the Kids Can Do It! links. I know kids can do a lot of great things. There is a tendency to mother kids, not let them really try at something. Is it mothering or smothering? Sure it may be dangerous for a kid to operate machines/ equipment, travel by themselves or try new stuff. But that doesn't mean kids shouldn't be trying new stuff. How can you grow if you stay in the same place?

So, I want to hear about what you are doing. What can kids do?

Send in a short essay about what you are doing and I will post them here with a link to your website if you have one. Maybe I won't hear from anyone. That would be kind of sad, I hope kids are doing something. Kind of boring if all they are doing is just reading this and going straight to bed afterwards.

Happy writing.

If you've never tried being a penpal you're missing out on a world of fun. Penpals come in all ages, nationalities and cultures. Write to kids your age in Germany, Hawaii, Australia, England, or Japan. Anywhere you can exchange letters in any language you can write. With a little researching you can even find a penpal at the north pole.

There's more to writing letters than good grammar and punctuation. Writing is a great way to practice your grammar and punctuation but more important is the letter itself. At first you may think you have nothing interesting to write about. So, make a list of things you like to do, your hobbies, what you especially like about school, who your friends are, your brothers and sisters, pets, places you have been, your after school routine, favourite websites, things that you like and things that make you angry. From this list you have an endless supply of things to write about. Also, you can ask questions about your penpals routine, their life and family.

One of my favourite things to find out about was dandelions. Doesn't sound like much of a question, maybe. But think about it. Is there any place in the world where they don't have dandelions? So far, I haven't found one. Maybe you will. Can they really be everywhere. Anyway, you will develop your own questions from things that interest you.

Finding penpals is not too hard. You can choose to have penpals or keypals. Keypals write through email and penpals write through the regular old mail. Keypals have the advantage of not needing stamps. Penpals have the advantage of being an actual letter, its nice to have something just for you in the mailbox. Also, you can trade postcards, stamps and anything else light and flat enough to fit inside and envelope. I always enjoyed having nice stationary to write with too. Sometimes I would find pens with different coloured inks. You can't do that with keypals unless they can get HTML email ok, not everyone can.

Look for penpal clubs on the Internet. There are clubs for keypals, penpals and both. You might have your parents check for the best places for kids to find penpals. Adults and teenagers are sometimes looking for romantic penpals and not just fun friends. So its a good idea to be sure you are looking in the right place for you. Once you find a good club choose a country you would like to know more about. Maybe you don't prefer a country but are happy to write to other kids in your own area. All you need to is look for other girls or boys your own age then. When you choose your penpal or penpals keep a copy of their address and write down any other information available about their interests.

Now you are ready to write that first letter to introduce yourself. Its kind of hard to know what to say to a total stranger. If you feel chatty go ahead and write. Mainly, you need to tell them who you are, where you are and why you would like to write to them. That's really enough information for a first letter. Not everyone you write to will write back. There is a chance they have moved, have enough penpals already, lost interest in writing or just didn't think you had a lot in common with them. Don't write to more than a couple of penpals at once, when you get started. It can be a bit more time consuming than you expected. It may take a week or a few weeks for letters to go back and forth but writing them can take quite a bit of time. Always try to write a couple of pages, make it a letter not just a note.

Penpals also make and pass around friendship books. Those are small booklets made by stapling together cut up paper into a booklet. They are decorated and the person who starts the book writes their name and address as the first person sending the book. Most people hope to see the book again once its full so they add their return address to the back cover of the book too. Friendship books are fun, you can see where they have been in a trail back to the original sender. If you get one try to pass it on as soon as you can. If you want to make one remember to keep it light, too many pages will cost more in stamps to send for yourself and everyone else.

Of course, there are other ways of finding penpals and other ways of writing to them. Get creative. Try writing to a company in another country and ask if anyone working there has kids that would write to you. Photocopy something interesting in the newspaper and write your penpal letter on the back of it. That gives your pal even more to read. Send a postcard of your local area. If you pick up a travel brochure send that too. Ask for letterhead from your school and use it for stationary in your next letter. There are all kinds of things you can do with letter writing. You are only limited by your own imagination and the envelope you mail your letter in.