Month: February 2023

#TuesdayThoughts: Lack of packing.

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First #ChatTuesday, “The kettle is boiling.” And now Tuesday.

It’s sunny today, and it feels pretty warm, I suppose because it is, 45 F, (7.2 c) which isn’t too bad. Very springlike.

But maybe too soon to get used to it.

Still it’s nice for today, especially after yesterday’s fog.

Right now I’m TVing in France, which is what I’ve decided to call my international travel from my couch. Because you do get a lot of the benefits of travel.

Only you can’t taste the food. Directly.

This one is Candice Renoir and it’s doing that thing where it has female characters perpetuate the misogyny. If you haven’t noticed, TV shows do this a lot, using characters of oppressed groups as tools of oppression for plot.

I’m sure I’ll write about it at length at some point.

While I like the show and the characters in general, it does irk me. The French shows, for me, often have some irksome spots. It’s interesting how that works.

But you can’t beat the price of seeing somewhere else, let alone the convenience or lack of packing.

And with that, I bid you a wonderful Tuesday. Have a great day.

Check out  my full-length novels (affiliate links): 
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!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#MondayThoughts: Let the two battle it out.

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In the span of an hour, it’s gone from so foggy I couldn’t see out of the window, to clear, to a soft-focus haze. Half the sky is blue and the other cloudy so we’ll see who wins this one.

The last Monday in the shortest month of the year, and it’s difficult to believe how the time sloshes it’s way over the sides. Here and gone, gone and here, for something so steady, it’s wildly unpredictable.

And speaking of unpredictable, the fog is back in full force.

I paused in my writing and now it’s somewhat gone, another band is rolling in though, I can see it.

I’m definitely going to need more coffee. Not going to make much progress today without more coffee.

I might even need it to finish this post. We all know it’s happened before, unless you’re new here, and HI! And also by the way, it’s happened before.

But it does feel like winter is losing its grip, and as delicate and fragile as spring may be when it starts out, it still firmly holds its ground.

It looks like there’s a little green among the brown patches of last year’s grass.

Oh and it’s clear again.

And with that, I’m going to get a little Monday on, and probably some more coffee on, and let the two battle it out. Have a lovely day.

Check out  my full-length novels (affiliate links): 
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!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#FridayThoughts: If we look at things that way.

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First up, #TVWatch is back, and this week it’s “Shows I thought I’d hate.” And now Friday.

It was sunny a minute ago, the kind of sunny that makes you think spring is almost here, but now it’s overcast. And cold.

Illusions, but temporary ones.

It’s been a strange week for me, not necessarily bad, only different and sometimes I think if we look at things that way, they’re easier to handle.

Not necessarily bad, only different.

I’ve had a lot of moments, but that’s what life is, really, isn’t it. Still, the reality of losing my mom is settling in, because even when she was ill she was still there.

Just another layer of the varnish of life, I suppose.

Anyway, that’s it for me this week. I hope you have a wonderful Friday and a fantastic weekend.

Check out  my full-length novels (affiliate links): 
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!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#ThursdayThoughts #ThursdayTen ten word photo prompt: Welp.

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Photo by JOSHUA COLEMAN on Unsplash

It’s THURSDAY and the photo thingy that lets me pick and insert photos isn’t working for some reason. Which is OK, it just meant I needed to branch out.

And branch out I did.

So let’s #ThursdayTen this thing! Using the image above as a prompt, write a ten word story.

EXACTLY ten words.

Easy enough, right?

Well…maybe not.

Ready? Here’s mine.

The duckies got her. She was the last to go.

#WednesdayWisdom: Our own afters.

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It’s raining now, with a heavy, gloomy sky, and it’s supposed to continue. Still, it’s better here than in other states around us, hammered with either snow or ice or perhaps both.

So I’ll take it.

Maybe it’s the weather, but I’m tired today, cocooned in that fuzzy gray outside. Maybe it’s something buried deep within our genetic code, to let storms like this pass, to conserve our energy for any potential aftermath.

It’s quiet, too. So I’m not the only one.

It’s weird how fallout can come from nowhere, just as much as that which you expect. And I’m being vague here deliberately, because we each have our own “afters.”

Our own befores.

Strangely spellcheck doesn’t think “afters” is a word, but it’s fine with “befores.”

Oh. Wait. No it’s not. It was only slow on the uptake. Or the undertake. The red squiggly undertake.

But I digress. Too bad, that felt like a deep metaphor.

So it’s ok to rest in the betweens, while we wait to evaluate the damage. It’s ok to take stock, to prepare.

To gather strength.

Because really, in the end, that’s what we’re doing.

Have a great Wednesday.

Check out  my full-length novels (affiliate links): 
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!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#TuesdayThoughts: The fear of the mess

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First, since it’s Tuesday, #ChatTuesday, “It’s not so easy from this side of the veil.” And now Tuesday.

It was cloudy a few minutes ago but now it’s sunny, and I’m not sure that’s going to change today. Tomorrow is another story, apparently we’re going to get a lot of rain and maybe ice. Good times ahead.

Right as I write this, there are people cleaning the ducts. Or about to clean the ducts. This should get interesting.

And very, very sneezy.

There are so many things like this in life, that seem like they’re going to be worse before they get better. Mess is the clearest example of that, sometimes you find yourself making much more of one before you can clean it up. Not that these guys are making any mess.

Which is pretty impressive.

But maybe that’s part of what keeps us from starting in the first place, the fear of the mess between the beginning and getting it finished.

The idea that when everything is taken apart, it stays that way. It doesn’t have to.

It’s temporary.

Like so many other things…temporary.

It’s kind of like that whole have to break some eggs thing, but when you break the eggs, they are transformed into the cake. Here the mess transitions into the best of what it can be, nothing more, nothing less.

And that’s just fine.

Have a great Tuesday.

Check out  my full-length novels (affiliate links): 
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!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#MondayThoughts: My brain is creaky.

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Not sure what the skies are doing but I hope they hold out long enough for me to finally get a prescription on my third try. It should have been ready days ago.

And yet.

Wish me luck.

The weird thing is there is a lot of bright sun, so I’m not really sure whether it’s sunny, cloudy or just wants to create a glare. Even the sky can glare.

I’m kidding no one today, it will be another cup of coffee kind of day. Not even tea. More coffee.

My brain is creaky.

That’s probably not so unusual for a Monday. Creaky brains are kind of the norm, I think.

You may or may not remember the odyssey of the puzzle that undid itself. It’s now had two coats of glue, front, and once the adhesive backing I’d put on was removed, back. It finally, FINALLY seems like it might hold itself together.

Might.

It’s become kind of a symbol of struggle to me, that puzzle. Hopefully I will get it on the wall.

It probably has other ideas.

Anyway, that’s it for me this Monday, I have coffee to make and a brain to get going. Have a great day.

Check out  my full-length novels (affiliate links): 
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!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#FridayThoughts: Incredibly deep or complete nonsense

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It’s winter again, at least for now, with a fresh coat of snow on the ground. But February can’t last forever.

It’s a short month.

It’s very sunny though, with those little clouds that look like they’re mainly decoration. Just a little reminder we’re on this home we call Earth.

Although other planets have clouds too. Some of them made of not as nice things. And on Jupiter, a hurricane that’s raged as long as we’ve observed the planet.

Apparently it’s shrinking.

Your friendly fact for the day. Which you probably knew. It’s not an obscure fact.

It’s been a week, not unlike every week, as weeks tend to be weeks, which you can take as incredibly deep or complete nonsense, dealer’s choice.

It’s often difficult to tell the difference.

I’m running the Roomba and it amazes me how it always finds the things it shouldn’t, even if you didn’t see them. It does.

Also possibly incredibly deep or nonsense.

I’m on a roll or superglued in place, dealer’s choice.

Anyway, that’s it for me this week, I hope you have an incredible Friday and a wonderful weekend.

Check out  my full-length novels (affiliate links): 
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!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#ThursdayThoughts #ThursdayTen: Location

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Photo by Ardalan Hamedani on Pexels.com

It’s THURSDAY and time for a ten word story! Also known as our #ThursdayTen!

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

I cropped the image because I was concerned there would be too much empty space when it posts on the social media sites…

Hopefully it still works.

Anyway, ready?

Here’s mine:

Time’s membrane grew thin enough, but only in pointless spots.

#WednesdayWisdom: One of those House that Jack built situations

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It’s a super gloomy day, though the bad weather isn’t supposed to start until later. It’s fine, though, we all need some gloomy days like this with heavy skies and indeterminate temperatures.

I think I need new countertops but it’s one of those House that Jack Built situations. Once you start with one thing, then there’s another and another and another.

It doesn’t help that my place is old and everything in it is getting older.

Even me.

But that’s true for all of us, I guess. Must be the outside gloom leaking inside.

So I’m not sure whether to even start.

One of those things, isn’t it, when you know that like water, any job will expand and expand to fill the space around it.

Sometimes I think I think too much.

And sometimes I think it’s good I think ahead. Otherwise there could be surprises.

Or maybe I’m overthinking the overthinking.

It’s a conundrum.

I guess the wisdom today is double-edged; think things through so you are not surprised along the way, but don’t think so far ahead that you never get going in the first place.

And if I knew how to do both of those things, well, I’d be an entirely different person, I think.

Have a great Wednesday.

Check out  my full-length novels (affiliate links): 
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!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.