This, that and the other

Writing tip of the day: Eliminate "that" from your writing

I'm not going to act as though I'm some great writer who has all (or any) of the answers to good writing. As a reporter/editor for a community paper, however, I can say one of the things I see all the time: In blogs, newspapers, e-mails, etc. I see the word "that" used unnecessarily. This post may seem completely off topic, but since my blog is (generally) about getting rid of unnecessary things, it's actually somewhat on topic.

Here are a couple examples I found just today:

Finally, and most important of all, Louise shared an exercise that she's done for years to build a stronger relationship with herself.

Same sentence without "that" ...

Finally, and most important of all, Louise shared an exercise she's done for years to build a stronger relationship with herself.

Another:
You gain a sense of power — you no longer feel that money controls you, but that you control money.

You gain a sense of power — you no longer feel money controls you, but you control money.

THAT being said, sometimes "that" is necessary, so don't delete them all. Read the sentence and see if it makes sense without it. If it does, delete.

Lazy River

Some friends and I spent a beautiful day at Krause Springs (http://www.krausesprings.net/), about 30 minutes outside of Austin, on floats hanging out. If you haven't been there, you're missing out. Most of the area is shaded, there's a cave, small waterfall, a rope swing, swimming pool and plenty of rocks to lounge around on. It's just $5 per person to get in. I wish our pictures were posted on Facebook already, but for now you'll just have to check out the website (http://www.krausesprings.net/).

Afterward we had dinner at Maudie's, a Central Texas Tex-Mex favorite. I ordered the fish tacos, which were not my fave fish tacos ever, but definitely not bad. Our order got lost, so it took especially long, but we all got to hang out a little longer, so I guess it wasn't too terrible. Mark threw his tortillas off a two story balcony—somewhat on accident—which spiced things up a bit. I still have leftovers, which I hope to use for a Tex-Mex brunch ... fish migas? You never know ...

I'm completely worn out, so it looks like an evening in bed reading for me.

UPDATE—photos from Facebook:

Jewels in the making

I recently read an article in Psychology Today (June 2010 issue) called "Go Ahead. Obsess!" The idea was that it's OK to get a little obsessed with your hobbies or work in order to accomplish great things (or to just become really interesting). With that in mind, I'm getting back into crafty, creative things. Here is a jewelry box I made with a wooden box, bought at Hobby Lobby, pretty paper and a little paint.