Month: October 2018

Wednesday and time

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And here we are at Wednesday. Good old Wednesday.

Middle of the week Wednesday.

Got a quarter cup of coffee left and it’s lukewarm, so I don’t think I’m winning the day, not yet, and not by a long shot. I should reheat it.

It’s pretty out, though, it even looks like Fall through the window, you can nearly see the crispness of the air. Nearly.

I can’t believe we’re already in the deep end of October, the year streaming past in a weird, disturbing blur. And yet each day feels like weeks. I don’t know what they did with those quantum entanglement experiments, but they should really cut it out.

Time is finicky enough. There’s no need to poke it.

As the year tumbles toward its finish, it’s been a strange one. We’ve learned a lot about humanity I wish I never knew, about cruelty, about avarice. Maybe we can use that quantum entanglement for good, set the clocks back a bit.

Speaking of, when is that? That should be soon, right?

No big insights today, not on this Wednesday. Just me, my now less-than lukewarm coffee and time.

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

 

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The Work of Writing 11: Inspiration

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I was looking for a topic for the blog this morning. I had one, one of those genius ideas you think you’ll never forget until you do, and so when I sat down to write, I was blank.

So I thought I’d go with a random word generator to spark something. My first word was “strategic.” OK, I thought, I can work with “strategic.” Until I saw the photos for it, which were all chess pieces, and I don’t play chess and do you want an entire post about how I don’t play chess but it’s a metaphor?

Didn’t think so.

My second word was “subject,” which was such superb trolling from the universe I had to share it. Is there any word that could be less useful to spark a blog post than “subject?”

Isn’t that what I’m looking for?

Word 3: Funeral.

Um, no.

Word 4: Courtesy.

Eh.

Word 5: Basis.

Yes. Really. Basis. “Subject” and “basis.” I spoke too soon about subject being the least useful word.

Word 6: Cell.

Huh. That could do it. Cell. Biology. Phone. Prison. Cell has options. Hmm. Cell. But maybe the next one is better.

Word 7: Threat.

Is the random word generator getting annoyed with me? That one has bad mojo. Maybe I should go back to cell.

Word 8: Crouch. Umm.

Word 9: Will. Now I can’t help but wonder if this goes along with “threat” as in write your. Or will power. Will or cell. Will or cell. Interesting.

Word 10: Cable.

I was going to stop at 10, but cable? CABLE?! What?

Word 11: Knot.

Well played, universe. Well played.

Sometimes the tricks to get us moving work. And sometimes, they kind of don’t. The motivational helper that un-KNOTS the CABLE (what? People say that all the time) one day might not do a thing the next.

And that’s fine.

Sometimes there’s inspiration in the failure.

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

#MondayMood: Beast Mode

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Still reeling from my workout, it was something else this morning. Good, but tough.

Fine.

This week is about buckling down, and that was a heck of a way to start it. Not over at Daily Burn; no, there, the week is about self-care. But aren’t they kind of the same thing?

Here’s a reality. I want to do NaNoWriMo. I know what I want to write for NaNoWriMo. But to get to that, I have to finish a manuscript that hasn’t gone anywhere in a while.

The thing about writing is you just have to do it. There’s no other way for the story to get from inside your head to a page, virtual or otherwise. At least not yet.

Though Aunty Ida would probably have a method, if she weren’t fictional.

Probably fictional.

There may be a universe out there with an Aunty Ida. How terrifying is that thought?

But I digress.

So we’ll so how this week goes, right? I mean it’s easy to say big things on a Monday while still in the aura after a killer workout. The proof is in the #AccountaClub.

Time to put my typing fingers where my mouth is. But only figuratively because that sounds gross and kind of unsanitary.

Any big plans this week?

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

#AccountaClub Friday, October 12, 2018

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accountaclub-woodSo. #AccountaClub. It’s a good thing “mood” isn’t one of my goals, because I would be failing miserably right now. My current mood is crawl back under the covers and make the world go away, but so far, that hasn’t gotten any blog posts written.

Maybe next time.

Anyway, my week. I’ve got something in mind I’d like to do for NaNoWriMo next month, but in order to move on to it, I have to finish one of my not-finished first drafts. I’ll have to put the fingers to the keyboard to make that happen, so we’ll see if that works. I’ve been going over that project, so that I can remember what happens and tie it up.

Fitness-wise, I’m on a roll, another complete week of live workouts! This program is really working for me. And this morning was yoga, which they call “mobility” but it’s yoga. That was awesome.

And that was my week. How was yours?

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

Ten word photo prompt: Unknown

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photo of person walking on deserted island

Photo by Tom Swinnen on Pexels.com

It’s that time! Using the photo above, write a ten-word story, here in the comments, on your blog, wherever. If you do blog it, please leave a link so we can find you!

Titles are OK, but not too long, and I hate having to say this aloud, but nothing that denigrates anyone or their experiences. Let’s keep this fun. Even if horror is your thing, which is fine.

OK, here we go:

She strode from eternity, unsure if life would yield again.

WHEW! This week was a tough one!

Is it just me or is it Wednesday?

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I kinda feel like Wednesday blogging is when I hit a lull. Of course, some blogging weeks are tougher than others, but it seems like, for a while now, I get to Wednesday and wonder hey, what do I have to say today?

Hopefully something.

Let’s keep going and see.

There’s no doubt about it, sometimes things are more of a slog than other times. No rhyme or reason, really, either, it’s more like the entire energy of the universe is different solely because the universe feels like it.

We’re all entitled, I suppose.

But it’s a moody, moody universe.

I’m trying to get out of my head and back into my head, which sound kinda like contrary concepts, but I need to clear out the fire and the gloom and the urgency of the world so that I can get back to my pretend worlds with their own fire. As you know, that’s a huge struggle for me. I’m still trying to figure it out, but I’ve got to get it done.

So that’s where I am right now, here on a Wednesday. Present but not present.

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

Not much of a post today

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20181007_0838081-e1539104731880.jpgSo enjoy this picture of Kevin Hart running the Chicago Marathon. He’s there in the white. I was standing near a woman who had a sign that said “Kevin Hart will you be my friend?” and he thought it was funny.

Love the marathon, it’s a great time to feel the unity of the city. Though the weather was less than fabulous this year. Didn’t stay out as long as I might have otherwise, it was raining and unpleasant.

Still, I also got to see the elite runners, which is an incredible experience. And Kevin Hart!

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

Well, it’s definitely Monday

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First thing first. Deepest condolences to our friend, Donna B. McNicol, whose family suffered a tragic loss. So sorry, Donna, and sorrier still that I didn’t see your comment until this morning. Our thoughts are with you.

Right now is a difficult time for many people, and even more so for others. So as we head into our weeks, maybe so much heavier than we were before, I offer one thought: kindness. Let’s try to be kind.

And I don’t mean in the face of bigotry or injustice or cruelty, because meeting those evils with kindness rarely bears fruit. I mean kindness in the face of misunderstandings, of differences of opinion.

Please listen to people. If your first instinct is to lash out, maybe think about it for a moment. If we are all on the same side, let’s act like we are on the same side.

We don’t have to agree about everything, it’s OK to see things differently. But if someone comes with sincerity, let’s react with sincerity.

If someone comes with a lack of sincerity, however, all bets are off.

Just remember we’re all raw right now. Some people are more accustomed to this feeling than others, and that’s reality. So let’s learn something from the people who manage it and move on anyway.

With all that said, onward we go.

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

#AccountaClub Friday, October 5, 2018

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#AccountaClub time, and it’s been another doozy of a week. Apparently that’s the only size weeks come in these days, doozies.

Terrible, disappointing, grating doozies.

Would I like things to be different? Of course.

Is it within our power to change them? Well, we’re trying our darnedest, but the weight is very, very, very heavy. Crushing, in fact. Still we’re shoving at it as best as we can. So doozies they remain for the foreseeable future.

Minus side: writing and editing were again put aside for advocacy. But I think advocacy matters right now, so I’m counting it.

Plus side: awesome workout week. Live workouts every morning, and I have to say Daily Burn knocked it out of the park with the variety. Every day was so different and every day was a new challenge. That was great.

Talk to me, my fellow AccountAbles. How was your week?

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

 

Ten Word Photo Prompt: Yikes

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

It’s Thursday! Time for a photo prompt and a ten word story! I thought we were all adults here, but apparently we are not. This is supposed to be fun.

Fun.

But if your story is disrespectful to any group in any way, I will delete your link or comment, replace it with my own and block you from the blog.

Sound draconian? Well people are currently being bombarded with hatred and bigotry and questioning of their very humanity. That’s not going to happen here. We are kind to one another here. We are supportive to one another here. We do not mock other people’s pain here.

Cool?

Cool.

Do we like the double image? Is it annoying? Let me know.

OK, keeping that in mind, write a 10 word story using the above image, which I think is one of the creepiest pictures so far. Maybe you don’t. Maybe you think it’s adorbs.

Craft your story as you choose! Titles are fine, but don’t go overboard.

Here’s mine:

Finally, the lid popped. They scattered, trailing their nightmares behind.