%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |  Day to day stuff....a memoir without order. |
 Imagination is described by Webster as...The act or power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses in reality. Albert Einstein said "Logic will get you from A to B, but imagination will take you everywhere."  I never realized it until I read it somewhere but there are ways to boost one's imagination: Create a visual journal Draw whatever you see for 15 minutes a day. You don't need to be an artist. Think like an artist Cut out pictures from magazines & piece them together to create an original image. Listen to Bach Close your eyes while playing your favorite music. Or listen to the sounds of nature on a CD or in the great outdoors. Play word games Try thinking of as many words as you can that begin with MAR...or you pick. Daydream Let your mind wander, or focus on a single object & study its characteristics.     Everyone has a story....here's mine.....c   |
| It is pouring rain here in Gainesville, Florida, this morning and in the 60s, but in Delaware where I was born and raised, it is cold and snowy. Here is the boardwalk at Rehoboth, http://www.rehobothbeachcam.com/, where I spent many a happy summer day. Very pretty but I wouldn't want to be there just now. Thankfully, I've no place to go today, but yesterday I enjoyed a very nice lunch with a couple of book club friends. The weather was windy but beautiful. At my eye appointment a week ago, I finally picked out new glasses and expect to pick them up soon...oh the sticker shock. And my pressure was up so doc changed my drops to something new...and I like them much better. I have to go back the 11th of March to see if they are working. My writing critique pod meets next Tuesday and I have no clue for my story yet. I keep pouring over memoir prompts through Google but nothing has "popped". The pressure is on. I'm thinking of writing about one of my aunts, just need a focal point. Because I had a working mom, I spent parts of summer vacation with aunts, one time going on a trip to Suffern, New York, to see an artist friend. She lived in a converted barn in rolling hills with little wooden bridges that only one car could travel across at a time. I was from a flat, small town in Delaware, and awestruck  by the different lifestyle and landscape. Yep, I think that will be my story.....until next time...c |
| Sometimes I find myself so self-conscious in a group of people that I am unable to observe the way I intend. I hate being this way and wonder if anyone has this problem and has found any solution? For example, my writers' group has a speaker presentation at our library every month, usually someone somehow involved with writing. The last one was a journalist, now retired, but continuing to freelance. Before the meeting I am always listing in my mind how I want to observe what people are wearing, what they do with their hands, how they choose their seat, are they talkative or quiet, do they come alone or with someone, do they linger after or leave promptly...or even before the end. I am looking for new characteristics. But when I get to the meeting, sometimes, as this last time, I am asked to do something and get so anxious I forget to observe. Then, later, sometimes if I really concentrate, I am able to "bring back" some observations I did not know I was making. So...maybe observing becomes an unconscious habit over time and with intentional practice when possible. Does this happen to you? until next time...c |
| I learned something interesting and usable at my life history group yesterday. One member sends a story (with the gift) for holidays or birthdays. Sometimes it goes over well, sometimes she gets some controversial input when the receivee does not remember the story the same as she tells it. She always asks for a story in return but rarely receives one...maybe a short poem sometimes, but at least it gets her story read by someone important to her. She says she does this so her children and grandchildren will realize she is more that just mom or grandmom. I thought this was interesting. I am always waiting for the day I "publish" but maybe that is not the way to be thinking. Do you share your memoirs now?... until next time...c |
With my supposed arthritis pain (it pains me even more to say I have arthritis), I have not been picking up sticks and pinecones and raking needles in my backyard like I should be doing. Yesterday, I made myself get out there and at least pick up the bigger stuff for the yard debris pickup on Tuesday. The pain does get better while I am moving but it always comes back. Acetaminophen is the only thing that dulls it while I am in front of the computer. I looked back at my entries and this has been going on since Christmas Eve, longer than I thought  .Last Tuesday morning I met with the prez of our writers' group and two techies. They will be designing a new webpage for us. We met at a local Starbucks (there seems to be one on every corner), I splurged and had a skinny caramel macchiato. Even "skinny" it was way too sweet. Raghu Designs (the techies) also do the design for our lit mag, Bacopa (on Amazon). Both belong to Hare Krishna...oh, do I want to learn more about that . I don't think the gentleman is married but the woman just had twins so I am assuming.... She is the designer and he is assisting her in the technical department. It's all Greek to me. Three to four months for the finished product.Tuesday afternoon my critique pod group met, five of us now. We had a new member, Maritha, pronounced with a silent "h", originally from South Africa. Of course everyone was interested in hearing about her life. She even brought a quiche to share, and she is vegetarian. With all our eating, sharing and critiquing, it was 7:30 (started at 4) before anyone realized the time, a great meeting. On a sad note, one of Jim's older sisters passed away. She lived with her husband in Minnesota and would have been 78 on April 1st. She was quite a character, hot-tempered with red hair from her mom (not the temper though, that was from her dad). We had not seen her for many years but I remember a visit they made down here in the late 80s. Her husband came on business so we took Jeanne to Busch Gardens in Tampa. Standing in long lines is an accepted thing at all the theme parks, but Jeanne was not a patient person. I think someone was holding a place for a friend in front of us and when that friend stepped in, it was the last straw for Jeanne...was I embarrassed? Yes. But that was Jeanne and you had to take that side of her along with her kind-heartedness. I know they do not sound like they go together but in Jeanne they did. Even though I hadn't seen her for many years, I often spoke with her on the phone. She talked a lot about the past, things so far back I had little connection. When her husband let me know of her passing, he said she had advanced dementia so that explained her rambling stories. She passed in her sleep...hope I go that way, too. until next time...c |
| My neighbor across the street in the rental is having a garage sale this morning. Even though the wind is blowing (15-20) and it was pouring rain earlier, on the dot of 8, "junk" is displayed on tables in their driveway and cars are lining up along the curbs. Garage sales are extremely popular here and I must admit I have been to more than a few. It's rare that I would go to a garage sale with a particular item in mind. Usually, it's a 'something catches my eye' and 'gee, it's so cheap, why not' attitude that brings an item back home with me. In fact, that's how I got interested in a jewelry-making hobby. That was an estate sale. I brought home 3 storage boxes of beautiful beads. I've often wondered about the person who had them before. I know she had other hobbies...or maybe they crossed lines...because there were many dolls for sale. Their costumes were intricately made...and beaded sometimes. Garage sales, especially estate sales, are great ways to learn about people's lives, too. Where else can you walk all through someone's home, look at all their stuff, and not even know them? And you learn a lot about their relatives, even how much they cared. At some estate sales everything is neat, clean, and arranged to sell. These are usually done by professionals. Some might think the relatives are after top dollar but I prefer to think they care about how the lives of their loved ones are presented. Other estate sales I have been to looked worse than the city dump...do they still have those? Things are scattered everywhere, there is no organization, and the place looks like a pigsty. The new "owner" usually sits out front in a lawn chair collecting the money. And, conversely, these kinds of sales usually have the highest priced items with no haggling. Now that I'm 70 I wonder about the future of my stuff, how it will be disposed of...not a pretty thought. It makes me want to rid myself of everything now. until next time...c |
| One of my favorite things to do on this site is read blogs and comment. I love hearing about other people's lives, but then I guess all writers do. It gives me a warm feeling. Yes, there are certain blogs I follow religiously, but if the first lines on the popup interest me, I click on. And it's even more interesting when the bloggers turn out to be very different in age or background...yet there is still common ground. I love that. My Jim's brother, who will be 88 in March, had some rather serious surgery this week, repair of an aortic aneurysm. Happily, he came through it fine and is doing well  , but of course I was worried. His wife has Alzheimers and Parkinsons and recently went into a nursing home. They were the number one reason we moved to Florida, but now we live about four hours apart. Wish we were closer, but they moved to be near their kids, a good thing.I finished watching the entire series of Covert Affairs, then I watched The Americans - 2 seasons, the 1st on Amazon Prime and the second on a great site, www.findtv.com. Their third season premieres on January 28th on Fox I think but I don't have tv. In between I watched all of the new Downton Abbey on findtv. Now, I have started watching Justified on Prime. I think I may be watching too much violence...or maybe just watching too much. But I am writing, too, and will post a new story in my memoirs today that I wrote for my critique pod next Tuesday. And I am working through a job description for my writers' group treasurer position. That one is taking some time...and effort  .It's sort of nice today, sunny at least, with a high supposedly near 70. I need to get out in the yard and start cleaning up... until next time...c |
| I went to a memorial service for the husband of a friend yesterday evening. He was an Episcopalian (as I was raised) and he had invited me to his church, but sadly I never went. It brought back some old memories...kneeling pads, prayer books, different hymns, deja vu. The service was very loose, a music ensemble playing his favorites, many spoke of funny or moving experiences they had with the deceased, with some getting loud applause. A good, kind, giving man with a smile that brightened everyone's day...a poet and a painter...he will be missed. |
| My book club met last Tuesday to discuss "Still Life with Bread Crumbs" by Anna Quindlan. There was around a 70-30 dissension with me in the "did not especially like it" 30%. I thought it was too predictable and slightly trite. I guess I was looking for another "One True Thing". And the author took the omniscient third person point of view...even the dog had an opinion! I find I cannot get close to any one character with that POV. It was a light read, though, and I did finish it. "The Invention of Wings" by Sue Monk Kidd is next month's selection. Writing Our Life History met on Thursday, a very very cold day here, with more members showing up than I expected. Everyone had good stories to share. The one I enjoyed most was delivered by our oldest member, Mary, about a car repair. She is such a good writer...she could make mud interesting! And yesterday I enjoyed listening to a local author at our writers' group monthly program. Sandra Gail Lambert's first novel, "The River's Memory", is filled with wonderful description and sense of place. I am looking forward to a thorough read after hearing some excerpts of lyrical adventure. Tonight is our writers' group board meeting, the first of the new year. New officers formally take the hand-off and everyone presents their end of year reports and outlook for 2015 (that means "budget" for me). I have a few things to do today to prepare...some printing of reports and the bank reconciliation. Since we have gone to membership payments through Paypal and Createspace for our lit journal (Bacopa), there are a few more things to keep track of, but I am enjoying it and hope I can continue to do a good job. All the board members are volunteers and are so very good at what they do. It seems that money is not the most important incentive after all...a good thing. It's dreary here this morning, foggy and misty, but warm, sixty-something. Fog makes me feel safe for some reason, like I am in my own special world and nothing can hurt me. Those poets who call it a blanket have it right...a security blanket.... until next time....c |
| I spent almost all of yesterday finishing up the year end bookkeeping for my writer's group, income/expense journal and the new year's budget worksheet. I almost feel like I'm back at work except this time it is more enjoyable . Bookkeeping is like riding a bicycle. You never really forget how.... Didn't realize all the "garbage" was still in my brain. The sitting, though, is not helping my back. I did not go for my walk yesterday and that was bad, too, so today walking is a must do. The weather here is sort of cooperating, very warm, 69 when I got up at 7:15, but a forecast of rain, and it sure looks like it, overcast and dreary. That's what umbrellas are for, right? I finished Grisham's "The Appeal" last night before sleep, a paperback I actually bought 2 of, if you can believe that, in one trip to the Library Book Sale in October. Thankfully, it was interesting enough to read  . A lawsuit against a chemical company for water pollution resulting in cancer deaths is won at trial but lost in appeal through the judicial system. The legal manipulation of the election process is mind boggling...reminded me of "The House of Cards" series. We have created a monster.until next time...c |
Day 3 of 2015? Time is flying by as usual. I went to a writer friend's open house on the 1st and had a most enjoyable time meeting some new people, eating some new food, and yep, drinking some new drinks, apple cider with rum and sangria. But the new people were the best. I have always been an introverted person (yeah maybe antisocial too) and now I am realizing what I have been missing all my life. I love to learn new things and people are a TON of information if you just listen. I was fascinated and even made a couple of new friends. I had been there 4 hours before I even thought about the time...very amazing for me. I'm usually ready to leave social situations before I get there. I hope it wasn't the apple cider  .On the opposite end of the pole I have been having excruciating sinus headaches for almost 2 weeks now...unless I load up with pills. This morning (saying this tentatively) I may be getting better, at least not pounding before I even get out of bed. And I've been having some low back pain (arthritis according to my primary care doctor) that thankfully it responds to the heating pad...but only while the heating pad is on it. Life after 70 is all downhill. Since my birthday in November I am a magnet for aches and pains...still walking but not enjoying it nearly as much. Speaking of walking one of the people I met on the 1st is a plant person, and the day before I had seen a "weed" that I wanted to identify but had no success. After describing it to her, the name popped out like magic and sure enough, that's what it was. She said to shoot her a pic anytime and she would do her best to text back with the info...see my big smile? So, 2015 is starting off very well for me, hope this doesn't jinx it. I've gone back to writing in my "diary" everyday, at least a little something. I like to look back at year end and remember, not sure this is a good thing or not but who cares. Hope your 2015 is being a good one too and... until next time...c |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
and doesn't cover everything.
