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 |  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   |
What a crowd we had for the writers' meeting yesterday! It went very well. Seems many many people are interested in critique groups. As usual I was over-thinking everything. First, I had to type out my little speech and after practicing that for an hour or two, I pitched it...into the trash that is. Then I did topics on cards, tried that for awhile and pitched those too. I even tried to get Mopsy to listen but she wouldn't sit still. Boy! Sometimes cats are useless. I ended up with one index card noting a few "specific words", and at the meeting I only used it once. So much for thinking I could not be spontaneous  .I'm having trouble finding this flaxseed stuff my eye doctor wants me to take. My last alternative after I check another health store is to order online. The thing I can't find is the amount in dosage, 500 mg of flaxseed oil and 500 of omega-3 fish oil. Online ordering is probably the best anyway...wish I had done that first  .I know spring is coming. The tulip tree across the street is in full bloom, huge pink and white flowers. It is the very first tree in my neighborhood to bloom. I think a cold snap jump starts it. It is so pretty and so welcome. until next time...c |
| Life History Group meeting yesterday at the library. Only seven of us showed up, but quality made up for quantity. A new/old member (new to me, old to the group) attended with her walker and her 91 years of memories! She shared a hilarious story about a dog name Daisy. The story was so well set up, I don't think any of us had an inkling of how it would end. After her husband passed away, she decided she needed a four-legged friend for cuddling and comfort. She led us down the road to the pound, the poor little dog who picked her, the pricey vet, supplies, special foods, etc. When the little dog did not turn out to be cuddly at all and really seemed to be part greyhound instead...and would not get potty-trained (not sure that's the word for it since I am not a dog-owner), the thoughts of doggy ownership dimmed. You can imagine the ending, but at least he had all his pricey baggage to commend him to a new owner . All the stories were especially good yesterday, but this one was a real treat. I had some surprises at my eye check-up Tuesday...missed my book club meeting because of it. My pressure was up and I am now on drops...and I have something going on in my right retina so I am being referred to a retinal specialist. Never expected any of that. At least my cataracts are about the same. The speaker scheduled for our WAG meeting on this coming Sunday cancelled because of an illness in the family and our faithful leader has put together a critique pod presentation since these pods seem sort of shadowy and mysterious to new members. I will sit on a panel with four other much more knowledgeable participants to talk about and answer questions on this topic. I am a little nervous, trying to prepare...not the greatest on spontaneous. If you are so inclined, say a little prayer that I will not appear completely inept Sunday at 2:30 .until next time...c |
| Well, we did not get any snow, only rain, but it is cold to me with a high in the 40's predicted for today. It's hard to believe 80 degrees is predicted for Sunday. I have left a little potted palm tree on my front porch and it is wrapped up like a mummy. I have signed up for this, writingyourlife.org  and it is free, if anyone is interested. I need some motivation and maybe this will do the trick. This lady gave a presentation (for her book) at a WAG meeting last year. I liked her and sent an email telling her so and I got an email from her telling me about this. I hope she has some prompts I've not already heard.Last night I started reading Labor Day by Joyce Maynard, the book behind the movie. I think the movie starts tomorrow here in Gainesville. The trailer for it is what sparked my interest. Joyce Maynard has written several books, fiction and non-fiction, but this is my first of hers to read. I noticed immediately that she does not use any quotation marks for dialogue. Actually, I think I like it better, less clutter. The book is told through a young boy's eyes, and I am liking it very much. Today instead of sentence starters, I though I would say a little about organization of memoirs. Not too far into our class, we were told to prepare a life framework, or chronological outline. On a piece of ruled paper we listed the years beginning with our birth to present day. In columns beside the year was our age/grade in school, anything that popped into our head that may have happened that year (these will come quickly in flashes & need to be jotted down for later), where we were living, any important event, and then the last column was for political, social, environmental, arts, music, etc., events. The years you will see will establish a natural division in the parts of your life. These parts, one or more, can serve to be a basis of your memoir. until next time...c |
I am sitting here listening to the "state of the union" message. Of course, I only need one ear and no fingers for that  . So I figured I might as well write the big news for Florida....snow is predicted for right here in Gainesville on Thursday morning. But our forecaster says the ground is too warm for it to stick or amount to anything...Thank God! I moved to Florida to get away from that stuff. I notice it is getting close to one digit in Delaware where my daughter lives, and I've given up on looking at the weather in N.D. where my son is. I figure I suffer through the high humidity and extreme temps in our five-month summers to be comfortable in January. What's happening here?I have been debating on whether or not to write a "dear me" letter, but I think I would be doomed to failure if I expressed any goals for the year. I looked up the definition of the phrase and found the following: Mild dismay or regret, such as, "good god" or "my goodness", a polite explanation expressing surprise, distress, sympathy, shock, dismay, or disappointment. Dear me. A few more sentence starters... A typical day for me at the age of twenty was..... The most fun I ever had was.... Once I was tricked into.... I almost got fired once for.... The biggest compliment I ever received was.... until next time...c |
I just had the most wonderful afternoon! One of our author/members of WAG (Writers' Alliance of Gainesville) gave a book presentation (reading and signing) at the library today. I read his book about a month ago after buying it at the WAG Christmas Party, and I thoroughly enjoyed it,  . I thought it was a creative non-fiction memoir, but he says it is written in the metaphysical genre. Having never heard of this, I looked it up as soon as I got back home...and I still don't know what it is . Does anyone have an explanation simple enough for me to understand? Anyway, the book was a good read and he is well into the second of a series.And not only that, he is an accomplished musician/songwriter (guitar today, many other instruments too). We were treated to several songs and one in the "metaphysical" genre. I would try to describe it, but I'm afraid it would only sound like nonsense to you. It seems like he started out with a particular idea or problem, developed numerous solutions, ended up solving the problem satisfactorily to all, but in a different way than expected. I told you it wouldn't make any sense . With his second book he is going to include a musical cd, a very accomplished person. Some people get all the talent  .Afterwards, I stopped by Publix for a few groceries, mainly Mopsy's Fancy Feast. I did get some tostados and made some refried bean, shredded cheddar, and sour cream tostadoes for supper...yum. Here are a few more sentence starters... A person looking at me as a teenager might think that I..... The worst thing I ever did was.... My favorite teacher was.... I remember a trip we took to.... The thing they never teach you in school is... until next time...c |
| Encouraged by "Invalid Item" to give you some more sentence starters, I am getting away from the norm and blogging again today, amazing! I did receive some bad news awhile ago (another rejection) so except for Mia, I would not be writing this. I really enjoyed my memoir class and am enjoying my 'writing your life history group'. If any of you are interested in this type of writing, I highly recommend signing up to join groups of people with similar writing. I have joined two right here on wdc, "Roots & Wings Group" and "Invalid Item" . It is amazing what you can learn from others with like interests. Make it easy on yourself and share in the research done by others. And feedback is so important. It has been a lifesaver for me, literally...but that's another story .Okay, I'm looking for some good ones so.... At the age of ....., I wanted to grow up to become a ..... The first movie I ever saw was ...... I remember my first experience with death was..... One of the first books I remember reading was......and I saw it at...... I remember going shopping with my.......to buy....... until next time....c |
| Have you ever tried to think of something to write about and get zillions of memory flashes, but think, nah, that's not interesting enough or how do I make a story out of it or...some other excuse for not even starting? I have been having this problem for a few weeks. I know it's stupid but somehow I think I have to try to write a masterpiece every time I write anything! How do you get over that? Many people say "just write" and I have done that, resulting in nonsense and wasted time. I have to be passionate about the idea before I can write about it. Or maybe I am not writing the nonsense long enough. How do you get past this? A few more memory starters.... When I was little, I liked to play.... Before I started school, my favorite place was.... I wonder whatever happened to ..... My favorite pet was..... When I was sick with .... until next time...c |
| My doctor's office phoned with the results of the two skin biopsies yesterday and yes, both will need surgery, mohs for the basal cell and excision for the severely atypical mole. Thankfully, I get almost a month's reprieve with an appointment for the mohs on Feb.19th and the other a week later. As far as the weather, we in Florida are freezing, too, mid-twenties predicted for tomorrow morning. Mopsy doesn't even go to the porch door in the morning anymore...it is so cold outside. She just has her breakfast then runs to the computer room to huddle by the little electric heater whether it is turned on or not. She's so funny. I worry she may burn her ears because she sits so close but no amount of reprimands can make her move .This afternoon I was looking through some old papers from the first memoir writing class I took. They were lists of idea starters, the beginning of a sentence leaving the rest to be filled in. Some of my answers surprised me almost a year later, and some were very telling, if you know what I mean. Here are a few if you would like to try completing them. The incident that made me grow up the most was I try to resolve differences by The one thing I want everyone to know about me is I was different from some of my friends because I still want to learn to I have many many more and will add a few in each blog for a while. until next time...c |
| When I log onto wdc in the morning, I go straight to "Bloggers". I find most of our bloggers to be very interesting people and I enjoy reading through several as I slurp my morning java (and warm up my hands lately). Recently, I have noticed some blogs (some of my favorites) have redone their intros and are taking me longer and longer to load on my screen, sometimes even getting that dreaded message to "wait" or "kill the page". It appears the more graphics, the longer the page takes to load. Now, I'm not suggesting (or maybe I am) you curtail some of these items, but for your information, sometimes I do "kill" the page. A person can wait only so long . And I wonder if others are having a similar problem? I would love to read everyone's blog, but when the graphics are much longer than the actual blogging, I have to make a choice...and that is usually to move on.until next time...c |
| Critique time was a fun time with Terri and Sue agreeing I need to "loosen up" a little...not exactly sure how to do that or what it means? Each of us read our stories for the day while munching on cheese and crackers and grapes. Mopsy tried to horn in, but when she didn't get much attention, she found her way back to the bedroom for a nap. Sue's snapshots of her fourteen moves in thirteen years as an airforce wife are coming together with a good central theme of sisterhood. I think she is on her third edit (did I mention she is 78?). And Terri surprised us by deciding to start over with her memoir by writing "letters" to her ex. A lot of anger came through in her first, the one she read us, but when we both commented on that, she denied it and said she just wanted others to know what can happen in a marriage. Is anger good in a memoir? Anyway, we had a good time and two hours flew by like a few minutes. My stories seem disjointed and I'm not sure how to pull them together. I think I need to concentrate on a specific period in my life and discard the rest for another time. Since most seem to be on grade school days, maybe that will be my choice...not sure yet, but right now they seem like a lot of scattered memories without connection. When I think of things, I like to write them down but getting them to fit together in a book is a problem. And now I am reading yet another book, Writing Your Life by Lou Willett Stanek, P.H.D. until next time...c |
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