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Daily scribbles on writing and living. How to get rid of cobwebs in my brain. CLOSED. |
I am over the moon with joy this morning, as I got an anonymous gift from a co-writer on WdC. I can set up a blog for the coming three months since someone paid for an upgrade. If you ever read this Anonymous One, thank you so much! Many thanks to "Request An Upgrade From RAOK" ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() I have to think about this for a moment. Don't want to rush it, don't want to solely vent or underestimate the value of a daily blog for my writing. So I will carefully try to explore what it will bring me. “All my life, my heart has sought a thing I cannot name. Remembered line from a long-forgotten poem” ― Hunter S. Thompson, Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga When I was a teenager, my little brother stole my journal out of my bedroom and read it. I was so disappointed and mad about his action, I destroyed my writing and have been struggling with the concept of conveying my inner thoughts ever since. So, I will send my daily scribbles to the world. On How to get rid of cobwebs in my brain. To let in some air and rejoice. For another clumsy attempt at writing, check out "All fingers and thumbs " ![]() I am a Rising Star from ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Comments, scribbles, and notes welcome! ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Thanks, 🌕 HuntersMoon ![]() Note ▼ |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ![]() Saturday: Plan a party to honor someone who won't be there. See "Party, silence and today " ![]() Sunday: Sunday: Tell us how it went. The party was a great success. As it turned out The Sioux Indians met up with the composer Beethoven. He had lost one hearing aid so he couldn’t hear the music properly but enjoyed my party nonetheless. We went for a walk in the woods, camping out near a camp fire in the sun where poets and songwriters did their gig with guitar music and poetry. A wonderful night followed! We played music together. (I slept with the man of course; it was something that had to happen.) Let’s leave it to that… ![]() I read this prompt the wrong way, thought it was about writing on fashion trends in the year 1920, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70. Was about to start an essay on the brown and black shirts of the NSB, a Dutch fascist and later national socialist political party. As a parliamentary party participating in legislative elections, the NSB had some success during the 1930s. It remained the only legal party in the Netherlands during most of the Second World War (Wikipedia).They were the monsters collaborating with the Nazis in the Netherlands. Their favorite color was brown and black. ![]() ![]() |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ![]() Saturday: Plan a party to honor someone who won't be there. We make a campfire in the back yard when the sun rises and dance around it like Sioux Indians. We have to rehearse first! Singing and chanting. We smoke a peace pipe afterward. ![]() In total silence! ![]() I put on my tawdry writer's cap this morning to repress this immense feeling into unconsciousness. But in my support system, I feel the gondola of life approaching. What a charm of a day is today! Number One on my bucket list! ![]() ![]() |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ![]() Fun Fact Friday! On this day in 1926, Thomas Edison spoke on the radio for the first time. What do you think he would say today about podcasting? Podcasting: the practice of using the Internet to make digital recordings of broadcasts available for downloading to a computer or mobile device. ![]() I think it’s total drivel what she is saying. I don’t agree the least. She was indeed standing in her own way. This quote is reeking towards grandeur and self-loathing; I don’t like it at all. ![]() It’s really difficult to answer this prompt being a foreigner. I am not aware of any major resistance movement in the writer’s community while Trump is in office, but perhaps I am not informed about this. I think writers SHOULD be the force behind resistance and in many cases, it has been in the past. If you see what’s cooking at WdC there seems not a lot of social engagement through writing. I wondered about that. But perhaps a lot of writers have other channels to vent their social and political views? ![]() ![]() |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ![]() Last night (see "Note: Congratulations to our..."), another bunch of WDC authors (including a couple in this month's 30DBC *Bigsmile*) were promoted to Preferred Author! Go out and get to know them...post a note in their notebook, say hi and congratulate them, tag the note in your entry, and tell us a little bit of what you learned. Check out one of their items and tell us what you think. "Note: Hello dear poet,
Congratulations again on your yel..." to Jay O'Toole {e:right: Write a myth to explain why people are different colors? Or a myth to explain why birds fly and fish swim? You pick or do both. Have fun but remember it's a myth. Let your imagination go...(BCoFs) Why do birds fly and fish swim? A myth. ![]() This weekend we planned a walk to the Fetes de la Nature. A festival in a natural city garden with poets and songwriters. It’s an annual nature festival in my city The Hague. The weather forecasts tell us it’s going to rain again. After that, if we make it, we go to the movies. He has offered last weekend to cook for the both of us the next time we met. We’ve met only last Saturday for the first time after emailing since May first. I am very happy about our meetings online and offline. ![]() ![]() |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ![]() Holiday fireworks are being held at your house this year. Your Uncle Festus, who served time in prison for arson, will be in attendance. What do you tell your guests and family to look out for? There are several reasons someone is an arsonist. A mental dysfunction, a criminal mind or a cry for help? Uncle Festus served his time long ago and has not been a threat any longer. He is truly ashamed of what he did and wants to be an accepted part of the family. That’s why I invited him for the holiday fireworks. He is a nice man and is going beyond himself to be of assistance to the party. I tell my guests and family to accept him, enjoy his company and try to talk to him if they want to. ![]() Yes, I can. If I am too tired to think, I’ll sleep it off by holding a siesta during the day. Or try to go to bed early. Listening to music is also an option, or being involved in a really, really good movie. ![]() You do it even though there were many problems and it didn't seem possible to do. Against all odds, I managed to overcome my writer’s block and started writing again. Writing for me is such a delicate matter, it can only happen when I am in the flow and there are no, or as little obstacles as possible. Stress is a big no-no for me. I cannot function properly while having major stress. It’s a weakness in my system I have to deal with. Since writing at Writing.Com, in this foreign language, I am able to express myself and try to fulfill my promise as a writer. That brings me great joy and fulfillment on a daily basis. Today I became a preferred author at the site. Handpicked by other writers and staff! Wow, that’s really, really a big deal in my vocabulary. ![]() ![]() |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ![]() Talk Tuesday! Do you consider hot dogs to be in the "sandwich" category? What about tacos, wraps, or foods served in pita breads? And what, in your opinion, makes a really good sandwich? Are you a simple bread/meat/cheese person, or do you go all-out when creating your sandwich feast? Sandwiches are, in my opinion, just that! I am a simple bread/meat/cheese person that eats her sandwich for lunch because I have got to eat something. But a cheese sandwich becomes a moment in time when eaten with a nice guy on a rainy day, in between a walk in the dunes. It’s the company that makes the sandwich. ![]() We are all creatures dreamed up by a Godlike figure or entity. Men and women walk the earth in circles, picking up mementos in their lives that maybe have connections with past lives. We stumble a bit in the dark until a different light shines on us every time we are on the path we are meant to be on. Those significant moments in time are truly important. ![]() Memory is really, really important. In a way it defines us, it gives us our identity as a person. Without it, like in Alzheimer disease, you lose everything, despite your history or actual, factual life. That is the perspective of the individual. The others, surrounding you, need that history to keep on recognizing you as the person you always were. ![]() ![]() |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ![]() Motivational Monday! Author L. Frank Baum , born on this day back in 1856, once said (regarding his youthful audience's expanding imaginations): "Imagination has brought mankind through the Dark Ages to its present state of civilization...I believe that dreams- day dreams, you know, with your eyes wide open and your brain machinery whizzing- are likely to lead to the betterment of the world." Are you a writer who is shaped by imagination and daydreaming in order to creates, or are you more like someone whose imagination first needs stimulating through the creations of others? My writing and walking through life is shaped by imagination and daydreaming, my mind buzzing around and making association as I go along. Your eyes watch and sees, your mind clicks and clicks and the writing can commence. The patterns are there; with your inner eye you pick out the marbles and associate. Those are the fruits of some of my writing. The creation of others helps to point out significant markers that you can use in your own work. ![]() Blaming someone else for your own mistakes is an act of bitterness and disappointment about your own decisions. Instead of looking inside to your own responsibility in the matter, the eye turns outside to others. It’s always easier to blame others. It’s a thing only people can do; I don’t think animals can blame other animals since there is self-reflection involved. You have to overlook the scene internally, be discontent about its outcome and blame another for what happened. ![]() New possibilities. It feels like a door opens and a light comes in shining on the old scene but with a different perspective. Every year in spring there is the start of a New Year or period in life, buzzing with new possibilities. The air is filled with hope and anticipation. From the old springs the new. Wonderful and full of wonders. ![]() ![]() |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ![]() The (not quite) Sunday News! Mother's Day is Sunday in the US, and these kids had some unfortunate things to say about what their parents did. In honor of that, make us laugh and tell us something you might've said innocently about your folks when you were a kid that in retrospect maybe you shouldn't have said. I could not answer this prompt at first because I could not remember anything funny-like that I as a kid could have said about our parents. So I called my sister to ask her this question if she could remember anything from our childhood. She explained why we both could not come up with a funny answer because we were all very serious as kids. And that is right, all three kids were extremely serious from childhood onwards. So there is no answer to the prompt that can make you laugh. Sorry! ![]() |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ![]() Creation Saturday! What's your purpose? Wow, Fivesixer ![]() My mom was the greatest because she brought me life. In her own way, she always took care of me and provided me with the tools and skills to become the person I am today. She had a very difficult and in a way troublesome life. She chose her own path in dealing with her ordeals. That didn’t always involve the kids. But after her death, I learned more about her and am grateful she is and was my mother. ![]() My mother is deceased since 2000. My father remarried. He died and left his wife of 11-years in shock of his sudden demise. This lovely lady of 83 years old is in a way my stepmom. I am going to visit her on Sunday to celebrate Mother’s Day with my sister and her two kids. I bought her a very small gift: a set of earrings in a lovely small box with a bow on it. I hope she will enjoy this. ![]() ![]() |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ![]() Fun Fact Friday! On this day in 1847, William Clayton invented the odometer. How do you measure your speed or distance? I am quiet and slow. I try not to hurry. In my head, I measure the speed of my activities by the path to their results. ![]() Today was a cleaning day for me. I am expecting a visitor tomorrow. These past two weeks I didn’t clean my house because I was busy writing or had other things to do. When it’s time to clean I have a few hour's rush one afternoon and clean my whole house. It’s never messy in my house because I am tidy, but I am no housewife so it’s never really clean as in spick and span. As long as it’s livable. I am not so interested in cleaning my house. ![]() I marked my spot in my living room where of this week my new guitar is standing. Hopefully, I have the time and inclination to learn how to play the guitar. ![]() ![]() |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ![]() It's often said that writers need to write every day to become better at it...do you think that's true? Have you ever taken a significant amount of time off from your writing pursuits? What was your experience like in getting back into a habit or pattern of writing more consistently? And if you've yet to experience this sort of vacation from writing, please do tell us how you plan on picking up exactly where you left off, as if you never stopped *Smirk*. I think that is absolutely true. For me, this summer is the first time I am going to take a little time off writing after writing non-stop for a year. I think I will make a plan beforehand and set a date when to start again. A deadline so to speak, a reminder of writing challenges or projects. There are a few stories waiting for revision. I think I’ll start with those. And I will start immediately with blogging every day. Hopefully, that will start the Muse again after hiatus. It’s an experiment so I am in anticipation whether it will work the way I planned. ![]() For me, to close a certain period in my life and start a new one. Having experienced everything the last few years and hopefully learned a great deal from it. ![]() For me, in my short stories, a plot is enough and I’ll work from there. But for longer stories, I think character cues, specific behaviors, sensory perceptions, and dialogues are to be refined and explored. This is new to me so it’s a challenge. ![]() ![]() |
![]() Is writing the best way to overcome writer's block? Do you have a method or ritual to overcome writer's block? (BCoFs) I think writing is the best way to overcome a writer’s block. I have had a severe one that lasted on and off a couple of years; that was when writing solely in Dutch and before I found WdC. |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ![]() Most families have sent a relative to fight in their country's wars. Indicate the relationship you had with a family member who went to war and what his/her going or returning meant to you as a child or as an adult, depending on the relationship. I’ve had an uncle Frits, a younger brother of my mother. I think during her pregnancy of me the war in New Guinea was announced over and he could go home. While retracting from a field in that country he stepped on a booby trap and was killed immediately. I think he was 21 years old. I never knew him, but in retrospect, I think it affected the relationship with my mother significantly. She was mourning while pregnant. ![]() I totally agree. Waiting in anticipation is a killer. It drains strength and can paralyze you. It is best to just keep on living and be busy while waiting. But that’s not always easy. Waiting in Zen is best for me. That means active waiting, with open hands, an open heart and trying to do your thing in the meantime. Whatever happens happens, at its own pace. You can’t rush things. ![]() I have never heard this expression before. So I had to look it up. http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0526/What-is-a-milk-moon-anyway ![]() ![]() |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ![]() Talk Tuesday! Rather than the tired, boring "which famous person would you like to have dinner with" prompt, let's change it around a little...Which famous (but also non-chef and non-domestically focused individual) would you most like to prepare you a meal? Why that person, and what would you make them cook you? They will not be eating with you, but you will have to tell them what you think of the food. Anais Nin, the Cuban writer, can cook me dinner. I would like her to cook something with a twist and prepare a quote of each dish with it. So I could learn the trade from her. She wrote a famous quote: We don't see things as they are; we see them as we are. I am curious as to how her cooking and quoting about it would turn out, telling something about her talent. Her journaling is famous! I am not sure what I want her to prepare, I would leave it up to her! ![]() Scars are wounds in the psyche of a person that have healed but left a reminder so we can learn from it. There are millions of scars possible, every person with a certain age has them, they come with life and living. ![]() There is one incident I can recall when I was very young. I think about 7 or 8. I attended a nun’s school. I was walking through a corridor when a nun was approaching. When we passed each other there was an empty milk carton lying on the ground. The nun was cross at me for throwing it on the ground, but I refused to pick it up since I didn’t do it. I had to stay after school and my mom was there to talk to the nun about the incident. She didn’t stand up for me but was very cross and agreed with the nun I was at fault. Later at home, my father too was cross and they punished me. It was an example that they always stood behind the other party i.e. authorities and never behind me, their daughter. That hurt more than the punishment at the time. ![]() ![]() |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ![]() Motivational Monday! The late comedian Don Rickles, born on this day back in 1926, once said: "You throw your best punch; otherwise, don't do it." How do you get through writing something on the days when your best punches aren't working for you? This is rather funny because this is exactly the case today. I am writing this stand-up comedian piece and it’s hard to write because I really don’t have a punchline yet. So what I’ll do today I write different things hoping to get inspired. I’ll probably go to YouTube again to watch some stand-up comedians in action for inspiration as well. I will try to be loose with my writing so my Muse can roam freely. In the end, I hope to deliver. ![]() I really can’t remember, but I do know I always thought throughout life that you can become anything you wanted. And that is so untrue. You will find that there are limitations inside yourself that are boundaries you cannot cross in order to become anything you want. The sky is not always the limit, they turn up sooner. ![]() I like all color roses. In nature, all colors can be beautiful. Especially in roses colors are deeply dark and lovely. In a big bunch, they can brighten up your living room and your mood. ![]() ![]() |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ![]() The Sunday News! What's going on in your neck of the woods? Share a link of some good news coming out of your city, state, region, or part of the country, and tell us what you think about it (this is also because I can't find a decent non-political news story and I keep getting sidetracked by Facebook when I'm scrolling for news links *Laugh* *Blush*). I couldn’t find any other good news than this: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/05/painting-sold-by-mistake-on-kings-... ![]() I am from the sixties of the last century. And I’ve seen everything from my past in fashion come back and become popular again. ![]() ![]() |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ![]() Creation Saturday! Create at least an 8 line poem - any form, or free verse - inspired by some of your fellow challengers' entries this week. The train The wheels of the train clickety-clack clickety-clack on the railroad track clickety-clack white steam ahead clickety-clack clickety-clack (from Prosperous Snow celebrating ![]() ![]() "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers; A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked; If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?" The answer is of course: he put them in the fridge! ![]() I love the month of June. One of my favorites. I would be happy all the time if it was June year round. With the sun, the trees in blossom, the sea breeze. Wonderful! ![]() ![]() |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ![]() Fun Fact Friday! On this day in 1834, the first mainland railway line opened in Belgium. Have you ever taken a train trip? Not like a subway ride, but an actual passenger train? Tell us about it! If you haven't, would you? Where would you like to go? The Netherlands is a small country with trains and railways in almost every city. So we travel a lot by train. Since I don’t own a car I travel by train when visiting another city. I also travel by train to Antwerp, Brussels, and Paris. Once I visited a sculptor workshop near Avignon in the south of France by train. It was a nice ride with sleeping accommodation. Unfortunately, in the middle of the night, our door was opened by strange men. I woke up and hollered at them, that’s when they left. That was the one thing I didn’t like about that train ride. One of my dreams was years ago to do the Orient Express to Russia. That’s not possible any longer. Too bad, because it would have been fun. ![]() The obvious: ice cream in the spring and summer and mashed potato dishes in the autumn and winter. ![]() A name or brand is not important to me, it never has been. I always buy stuff cheap, without looking at the name or brand. ![]() ![]() |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ![]() What is one of your biggest fears, and how have you conquered it (or plan on conquering it, should you be faced with it later on)? My biggest fear today is writing a comical piece for the Rising Stars Program. Deadline May 20. I am not funny at all and don’t know exactly how to tackle this assignment. Humor is such a delicate issue. I already did some research on the topic and got a good tip from a friend to turn an everyday mundane topic into something funny in a sketch. How to proceed I am not sure, but I try to let this float in my mind for the day and hopefully I come up with something. I have to put this assignment on top of my to-do-list every day for the next few weeks in order to tackle it. I can’t postpone like my original thought because procrastination will not help. I have to face it and try to write something funny. Wish me luck! ![]() It’s a very long time ago, but I think I just got my driver’s license after graduation and went on a holiday trip by car with my then-boyfriend. We went to Wales, England as I recall. A few weeks camping in England’s Nature. I love Great Britain; have not been visiting in a long while. Too bad because it’s one of the nicest countries I visited. ![]() I try to balance the review in writing about what I think can improve, and actual praise. But I try to give more praise than critique because I found that a lot of writers do react with difficulty if it is the other way around. Writers’ souls are very delicate. I think it’s easier online than face-to-face. But facing that writer also means you have more opportunities to explain what you mean. I think writers should be braver in taking in critique since it is never personal, but presumably always to better the writing. If you cannot stand it, don’t write at all. ![]() ![]() |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ![]() Should public figures (such as singers, actors, athletes, etc.) express their political voice? I think they have every right to express anything they like, including their political view. But they do have to take into consideration that they are in the public eye. They have a responsibility. I personally am not always interested in their (political) views, but a lot of people want to know. ![]() If we are aware of our motives, our thoughts, and inner works, if that is conscious to us, we are wiser and more equipped to handle situations and ourselves. Know thou self! But that’s very difficult to do and takes a lifetime. It’s true that people, including myself, avoid looking inside, because it is time-consuming, and it’s not always pleasant what we are seeing. That takes courage. ![]() I am not sure if this works all the time. There are situations where although you love something, it will not work because of all sorts of factors outside of your control. Not everything in life is makeable. But I agree that with love everything is easier to do. ![]() ![]() |