Month: January 2023

#TuesdayThoughts Pick a post: Since you asked…

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First #ChatTuesday, “Perhaps you can also relate.” And now Tuesday.

After last week’s resounding success, and by “resounding success’ I mean I’m not sure anyone noticed, I’m again going to pick a random post from my twitter feed and use it as inspiration. Maybe next week it will be Spoutible.

We’ll see.

Anyway, today I will pick the seventh post in my feed, excluding my own posts. Let’s see if this works. I’m not sure what to do if it doesn’t.

I swear I didn’t cook the books.

Welp. I mean. I probably don’t want to share all my thoughts on this matter because this is the internet and the internet is is forever. It would have been very ironic if the very beast he apparently deliberately unleashed turned around and got him. And I can’t say that he’s done anything since to better anyone or anything, aside from his own net worth.

Let me put it this way, I wouldn’t have cried. I wouldn’t be sorry to see one less source of strife, derision and plain evil in the world.

He has created an environment where people feel free to be the very worst version of themselves. It’s incredible to me that people who call themselves Christian follow him at all, as he sounds a whole lot like the warnings of the devil.

When he does finally depart this earth, I suspect few will be sorry to see him go, the result of a life very poorly lived.

And that’s it for me for this Tuesday. Still not entirely sold on the new theme but this was kind of fun. Have a great day.

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 quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

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#MondayThoughts: Somethings right here in this moment.

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It’s gray and cold today, 13 degrees F, which, for my Celsius friends, is -10.5. So definitely cold.

But even with the lifeless gray clouds, we’re not supposed to get snow. I’m not entirely sure I believe that but all we can do is wait and see.

I finally watched Everything Everywhere All at Once and I do not understand how anyone could find anything to complain about. I had to keep reminding myself that Michelle Yeoh needs no one to fight for her, she can do it all herself. In some of those scenes where other actors are coming at her, I wondered how they got past the honor of sharing the stage with her.

The metaphorical stage.

Though I suppose they probably shot on a soundstage. Or maybe they didn’t. This feels far afield.

Maybe if you are someone who has never thought about the possibility of possibilities, then it might have been difficult, but I’ve never seen a better attempt to explain the concept of infinite.

I’m sure it’s not the only time I’ll watch. What an amazing cast overall, I hope they win every award.

Anyway, that’s it for this frigid Monday. Have a great day, and stay safe no matter your weather.

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 quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#FridayThoughts: The tea I never made.

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First this week’s #TVWatch, “Worth a laugh!” And now Friday.

I’m tired today, and I should have fortified my writing with a cup of tea. Instead, here I am, the sky heavy and gray, as though the weight of the potential snow is bringing it all the closer to earth.

I suppose it can be pretty cozy if you look at it the right way.

But really all I can think about is how the dishwasher needs emptying and other small nagging things like that. And that tea I never made.

Though.

I could go put on the kettle.

I’m going to go put on the kettle.

The kettle is on.

It’s felt like a bit of a long week but I couldn’t even tell you why. I’m still slogging through the yoga challenge, and though identifying the reason it was difficult for me definitely helped, and I’m better able now to just be in it, I’m still not enjoying it, per se.

Maybe enjoyment isn’t everything. Maybe enjoyment should be everything.

I don’t know, I’m fresh out of answers this week, which is convenient, because I’m fresh out of blog post too.

Have a wonderful Friday and an amazing weekend.

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 quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#ThursdayThoughts #ThursdayTen ten word photo prompt: Painted?

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Human/AI collaboration DALL-E.

You probably know by now how fascinated I am by AI “art.” I think what intrigues me isn’t how it gets things right; it’s what it gets wrong. There’s something a little creepy about it, a little off.

Today’s prompt was inspired by the style of Edward Hopper and a machine imitating his views of people and human isolation really reveals the stark contrast between art and a computer generating an image.

While I wouldn’t hang it on a wall, it does offer a lot of interesting quirks to inspire a 10 word story which is why we’re all here! I assume.

ANYWAY, using the image above as a prompt, write a ten word story. EXACTLY ten words.

Feel free to focus on its, um, idiosyncrasies.

Ready? Here’s mine:

As her friends gathered, Jen readied the Tree Removal Ceremony.

#WednesdayWisdom: This precise time.

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Note the image is another AI collaboration…I really like how it turned out, I haven’t had a lot of success lately.

Well the race is on. The kettle is heating, and the question is which will happen first: me getting a cup of tea or finishing this post?

Gut reaction is, of course, tea, but don’t forget it has to steep. So we’ll see.

It’s snowing today, real snow, the first one we’ve had that looks like it’s adding up to something. And outside the window it’s just white.

It’s not nearly so heavy or so much as other people are getting right now, though, and when I tell you it’s snowing in January in Chicago, I doubt that you’ll be surprised.

I wouldn’t call it remarkable, as a whole.

Kettle isn’t boiling yet. Tea is slower than you think. Ooh there it goes. I’ll be back. Steeping time.

Tea won. These days I use loose leaf tea from Tea Forte (love them) and their stainless steel pyramid infuser. It’s become a quick, tiny ritual, getting the dry leaves into the infuser, getting the wet leaves out.

We all need those, these quick small things that create tiny breaks in the day. Moments to focus only on the task at hand, not the task before, not the task after, just exactly what you’re doing right at this precise time.

Plus I get tea, so I think that’s an all-around win.

Anyway, that’s it for me here in this snow globe. Have a great Wednesday.

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 quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#TuesdayThoughts: Pick a post Tuesday

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First, #ChatTuesday, “The mere act of acknowledgement.” And now Tuesday.

So as you probably know, I’ve been thinking of new themes for Tuesdays, and last week, on Wednesday, I randomly chose a tweet and used it as the inspiration for the post.

I’m going to try that today. This time, I will chose whatever is ninth in my feed, excluding my own tweets. Let’s go grab it!

Well here it is. And an interesting one it turned out to be.

The reason this is so fascinating is the right has been twisting itself into pretzels to try to equate the turning over of classified documents from the time President Biden was vice president to the search of trump’s “hotel.” Apparently Pres. Biden also consented to a search of his residence to be certain there were no more classified docs to be had.

Contrast that to repeatedly requesting the documents from trump, trump refusing, trump doing a partial handover, and eventually the government requiring a search warrant to enter his property. Interestingly, none of the articles I’ve seen have noted that distinction.

So now, with this Pence situation, the right is in a position to defend Pence while attacking Pres. Biden for exactly the same situation. Not that they’ve ever let hypocrisy get in the way of a good false equivalence.

The point is watch this space (well not mine literally, necessarily, but the whole issue) and think critically while reading stories that are trying to make two very different circumstances sound the same.

So that was a Pick a Post. What do you think?

I had fun.

And with that I wish you a wonderful Tuesday.

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 quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#MondayThoughts: Pretty on point for a Monday.

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Monday thoughts. Monday thoughts. Monday…

Thoughts.

Right.

When I got up this morning, it looked like snow, but now the sky is all blue. We had a little bit yesterday, nothing exciting or accumulating, though. Maybe later in the week.

I’m wavering on continuing the Yoga with Adriene January challenge. It seems silly with 8 days to go, but I don’t know what’s with me this year. I’m not enjoying it.

I could finish the month with other practices, I guess. I could stick it out.

I could quit.

Remember, quitting is always an option, we really don’t have to hold ourselves to artificial goals made for the sake of making them.

But what I’ll likely do is ponder each of these options, day by day by day as the number of practices goes down until it’s the last day and there’s no choice to be made.

Again, I don’t think it’s Adriene, I think it’s me. Last year this challenge gave a great respite from what was happening in my world, but this year, I don’t know, it’s just too direct I guess. Too much work on being in the moment, perhaps?

Who knows.

I mean I should know but I clearly don’t. Which feels pretty on point for a Monday.

Anyway, that’s it for me today. Have a fantastic Monday.

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 quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#FridayThoughts: End of the week.

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First this week’s #TVWatch, “Murder around the world.” And now Friday.

It’s been raining a lot this week, which feels odd for January, but it’s really not the first time we’ve had warmer temperatures this time of year. Still you have to wonder which changes are permanent.

Maybe it’s the swings, like Mother Nature’s very mood is going from one extreme to the other. Who can blame her, after all we’ve done.

This week feels like one with a lot of trying, but not as many results. I suppose that’s going to happen on the way to getting things done, one way or another, and I’m not as frustrated as I could be. I count that as win.

As for the yoga challenge, it’s going. I can’t say I’m enjoying it, really, but I think that’s about my fighting myself to be present. It’s not an easy task for me at the monent.

I’ll try to finish it, just taking each day as it comes. There aren’t that many practices left at this point anyway.

So that’s it for me for this week. I hope you have a wonderful Friday and a lovely weekend.

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 quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#ThursdayThoughts #ThursdayTen ten word photo prompt: Moment

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Photo by Beyza Kaplan on Pexels.com

It’s THURSDAY which means it’s time for a ten word story, or our #ThursdayTen as the cool kids say.

Using the image above as a prompt, write a 10 word story. EXACTLY ten words.

It’s not like you’re new at this or anything. Unless you’re new at this.

Then welcome!

OK, OK, enough delay. Ready?

Here’s mine:

The past gone, she wondered if the future was too.

#WednesdayWisdom: But you know what does both those things for longer?

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The sky is clearing a little bit, though there are still stripes of clouds across the sky. Still, I’ll take it.

For today’s post, I played a little game with myself. I went to twitter and vowed to be inspired by the fifth tweet in my feed after a refresh, counting only tweets that were not my own.

Didn’t have any by accounts I follow, but here is the tweet:

Christina Applegate and her daughter both dressed in dark suits for the Critic’s Choice Awards.

I already saw the other tweet of Christina’s this morning, the one talking about a troll who attacked her appearance, and that this picture–the one that sparked that awful comment–is where I landed feels fitting. Because I have thoughts.

Perhaps they will lead to wisdom.

They say you never know what someone is going through, but this is one of those rare cases where we know a lot about what someone is going through. Christina Applegate has survived cancer; now she’s battling MS, and even with all that, she’s showing up for herself, for her daughter, and for her fans.

And yet there are always people who want to poke a bruise, who want to make people feel bad, to steal happiness and trample it.

Here is my wisdom for you: don’t be one of those people.

Of course even the woman who did exactly that probably thinks she’s not one of those people. She probably thinks she did some kind of good, settled some kind of score by criticizing the appearance of a woman whose talent far exceeds her remarkable looks, and her gumption exceeds even both of those qualities.

I mean come on. Christina Applegate is and will always be beautiful, no matter her state of health. But that’s not the point.

Don’t be the pin bursting someone else’s balloon. Maybe it gives a temporary sense of satisfaction; maybe for a moment it relieves continuous self-hatred. But you know what does both of those things for longer?

Kindness.

Being the type of person you can stand.

And with that, I wish you a happy Wednesday.

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 quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.