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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   |
| It looks like March is going to be our February this year. Last night our local weatherman forecast snow flurries for Saturday night-Sunday morning. What? In Florida? And I just had my mower going yesterday. The next few days are going to be cold. It's that darn groundhog! I visited a local book shop last Sunday I didn't know existed, and it's just around the corner from me. One of my memoir classmates emailed our instructor about it, and she passed it on to all of us. It is actually a used book store and cheap, cheap. I bought two biographies in excellent condition for two dollars...Marlo Thomas' The Right Words at the Right Time (a hardback) and Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love. I haven't started either yet, and perhaps I will find out why they were so cheap and hardly used. The store was shabby and disorganized and obviously they do no advertising, but the books and prices helped make up for it. I shall return. Even though I have a Kindle, there is nothing like holding a 'real' book. It was a little sad though to see books so mishandled and disarranged. I had this awful urge to start straightening them up. I overheard the customer in front of me at the register (actually just a woman sitting at an old desk with a hand calculator) say she was not getting emails on their sales. The calculator person responded by saying her daughter-in-law was supposed to be doing that...must be a small family business. I'm thinking, 'you have sales, too?' Now I'm remembering some good advice from Hemingway I read somewhere. "Use short sentences. Use short paragraphs. Use vigorous English. Be positive." I think I failed on all counts...oh well... till next time....c |
| I have been outside CUTTING GRASS. I cannot help but shout. Granted it was only weeds, but they have to be cut too. It felt so good, I can't wait till spring. Unfortunately, this weekend we will be at or near freezing again at night. But today was great...nothing like the smell of freshly-cut weeds! Now I need to repair a bird feeder I found on the ground almost completely demolished by a squirrel I expect. I hope it is fixable.... more later....c |
| We had our memoir class as usual today, but Susie, our instructor, was sick with a fever and cough and could not be there. She emailed everyone last night and said whoever wanted to could come, and read and discuss - six of our number showed up. I thought our class went very well. We all seemed freer with our discussions, got better acquainted, and all but two read stories. Better watch out, Susie (just kidding). One of the ladies had a new idea (from her 92 year old aunt) for remembering names from our past. It all started with her aunt's story about what she does if she has trouble going to sleep. She starts with the letter "A" and alphabetically names vegetables. If she runs through the entire alphabet, she switches to fruits, then flowers, and so forth and so on. When her niece mentioned her disparity at remembering names, she suggested using the alphabet for thinking of names. It does give something specific to tie your rope to, hypothetically. It is easier to think of a name beginning with A (Anna) than just trying to think of any old name. I'll have to try it for people I've known throughout my life. Luckily, I have my Junior and Senior High Yearbooks with all my classmates names and photos, but many in my memoir class have nothing. That would be a problem. Just looking at those pictures trigger all kinds of memories for me. Another lady just finished a library book by Marilu Henner, Total Memory Makeover: Uncover Your Past, Take Charge of Your Future. I checked it out on Amazon, read the "Look Inside", and it sounds interesting. The title is certainly a hook. Our classmate raved about it. I got all emotional while writing my story for today's class and was not sure I could read it without bawling at the end. Three times I read it out loud at home and got that big lump and tears every time. But everything seemed so low key and informal today in class, I read it at the end...and got through with no tears. I posted it in my port and if anyone has a couple of minutes, I'd appreciate any feedback...does not have to be a formal review. Here's the link, "The Gift"  Thanks to any who read it...until next time...c |
| Well, my granddaughter's wedding is over and everything was beautiful and went smoothly...even my drive to Jacksonville. I guess everyone was at the Daytona Races. The roads were so bare, I kept wondering if I had made a wrong turn. Well, they weren't that bare, but they were more bare than usual. I got to stay with the 'girls' as they dressed and shared in the nervous energy, not that I needed anymore nevousness than I already had. One bridesmaid actually forgot to bring her strapless bra and had to wear her dress braless! My granddaughter put on her gown before she put on the crinoline slip thingy that makes it stick out and had to get undressed and dressed again. There was plenty of nervousness to go around  . In the end everything turned out great and the ceremony was beautiful. The sunshine coming through the stained glass windows seemed to foretell a very bright future as it shone down on the wedding couple.They both saved for this grand occasion for almost four years, and this morning (just about now) the couple in question should be boarding a plane for a week's honeymoon of relaxation in Hawaii. I have been promised a postcard  .until next time....c |
| I listened to another unusual story from a classmate at my Wednesday Memoir Class.. She grew up in Jax, Florida, near the Trout River and told of a storm and a funny thing that happened when she was growing up. A cargo boat capsized in a Jax port nearby, carrying, of all things, Ivory soap. The title of her story was "It Floats", and she tells of how, after the storm, she and her father and brother gathered a couple of tubs of the soap, most still wrapped and sealed and floating. She admitted to this day she still uses Ivory soap! We had a most interesting exercise in which we drew a circle with many lines (or spokes) coming out the sides of it. We were told to write inside the circle the name of someone who had impacted our life, then on the spokes we were to write a word or two of something we associated with that person. It was strange because when I first wrote the name of the person, I could think of only one or two things to put on the spokes, but in just a few minutes I had fourteen in total! What a memory-jogger. We were advised to do this whenever we start writing a story. Another good idea Susie gave us was historical timelines. The library has several books on this subject, (Peoples Chronology, Book of Chronologies, Illustrated Almanac of Historical Facts, etc.), and for any who wants to buy, she gave us a great website, abebooks.com, who advertise "cheap, fast, and easy". That's for me! An idea starter can begin many ways. For example, I remember--choosing, getting, wanting, riding, finding--insert your own "ing" word and things will pop into your head like magic. Or firsts in your life, good, bad, dull or not, can trigger memories...job, car, boyfriend, heels, bra, lobster, movie, and on and on. For next week, we are to write a story using an "I remember..." phrase, complete another handout about our school days, continue working on our personal timeline (The Life of Me), and finish Chapter 4 of our manual, Aids to Writing. I read my story to the class. I was breathless by the time I finished...I get so darned self-conscious, I must remember to breathe. Since we were to write on smells, I wrote about my adventures at the fair (the State Fair was held every summer in my hometown). I got some laughs and I think everyone liked it. Susie said I should try to get it published because it was about something almost everyone can relate to. I got embarrassed  .until next time...c |
| Tomorrow (2/15/13) around 2 o'clock EST an asteroid the size of half a football field will pass fairly close to our blue planet. Here is a link to a real time video for anyone interested. http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/13feb_asteroidcoverage... |
| Yesterday I experienced another enjoyable memoir class, and...our number has grown to eleven students. The new lady, Sharon, followed her dream late in life and is now an attorney. She read her story assignment and told how she had been thwarted from this destination by her school guidance counselor. In those days women studied to be teachers or secretaries no matter your aptitude. Since almost all of us share the same birth decade, her story triggered many memories of similar circumstances, one of the points of our class. Susie, our instructor, distributed some handouts to complete for next time. The first one is titled "The Life of (Me)" and is a timeline with columns for year, age, home address, school/work/environment, and story ideas. There are a lot of pages for me (and most of the rest of the class) since my years go from 1944 to present day. The second handout addresses "My Early Childhood" and consists of several sentence beginnings such as "I think of my mother as blank, blank, and blank", "When I was sick with blank, I remember wishing that blank", "The name blank was given to me at birth because blank", and many more to be completed by next class. There is a blank area on one of the pages requesting us to draw a floor plan of the house "I lived in from the time I was blank years old until I was blank". One of the rooms or even areas of the yard may perhaps trigger a memory. The third handout is questions from Susie to help jog memories..."When in life have you felt most alone?", "What songs or games do you remember from childhood?", "Are you still friends with anyone from your childhood? Do you wonder where others are now?", etc. The questions came from an internet site, www.nationaldayoflistening.org. For our next assignment we are to read Section IV of our manual, "Aids to Writing", and write another story involving the sense of smell. She gave us lots of trigger words, snow, wet dog, gasoline, lilies, wet sneakers, bad breath, rain, baking bread, grandma's house, the ocean, bleach, crayolas, white paste, tobacco, fried chicken, ivory soap, vinegar, Toni permanents, camphor, hot tar, Christmas trees, etc. As many of you on this site have reminded me in my reviews, it is very important to incorporate the senses in my stories .Since I have sent in my membership dues to W.A.G. (our local writers' group), I will have access to a memoir pod where I can get genre-specific feedback on my stories. I hope one meets during daylight hours since I do not like driving at night. I thought our class lasted seven weeks but it is only five. It ends on March 6th, but the good news is Memoir Writing II begins immediately after. Also, Sandy told us about a ten-year journal (optimism required) available on Amazon titled "Journal 10+" (already ordered) . Even though I have kept a journal for many, many years, they consist of small books of different shapes, sizes, and colors...wish I had found this earlier  . It is never too early or too late to start journaling because the enjoyment derived from rereading old ones is immeasurable.until next time...c |
| The Writers' Group meeting on Sunday was interesting. Dot Hutchison, a twenty-eight year old new author, took us through the steps from first draft, to manuscript, to querying, to signing with an agent, then a publisher, editing (even the title), jacket design, and now she has her galley in hand and is waiting for publishing in the fall. And did I mention she is only twenty-eight? Her book is YA and involves a new look at Hamlet's Ophelia. Her original title was Elsinore Drowning, but it will be released as A Wounded Name through Carolrhoda Books (Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.). Someone asked how much her advance was, but she said her contract did not allow her to say. Rats! It sounds like a good book, though. She read the first page to us and has a good hook. You can read more about it here, http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13576618-a-wounded-name. I work everyday on my memoir assignment. It is becoming an enjoyable habit. There are several things in the first three chapters to do to jog memory. I've been digging out cards, letters, yearbooks, photos, mementos, (whew!) and also found some sites for this year (whatever year you want) in history. Wow, did that jog some memories. I am beginning to see this is going to take a long, long time and many, many hours. Oh, and I finally took the plunge and mailed in my Writers' Group dues today .Until next time...c |
| Everyone who isn't hibernating (only bears, right) knows Valentine's Day is this Thursday. Our consumer culture will not let us forget, me included. Without Jim for the first year in fifty, I look forward to it with just a little dread, so as with most other things, I went to Google and typed in Valentine's Day for widows. As usual, I was rewarded with ideas and insight on how to make it a better day than I expect. Putting those ideas into action, though, is yet to come. We will see. Following are a few of the ones I feel are the best. *Focus on the fact it is only one day. *Avoid restaurants and watch a comedy. *Focus on a new project. *Focus on the fact it is only one day. *Think of spring coming. *We have eyes on only one side of our head so we cannot look backward and forward at the same time; look forward. *Think about others and send someone else a Valentine (your children, grandchildren), just to say "I love you." *Focus on the fact it is only one day. *Visit the cemetery and leave a message of candy hearts. *Attach a message for your missing spouse to a helium balloon and let it fly away. *Plant a rose or camellia bush in honor of your loved one. *Focus on the fact it is only one day. *Do something for someone else. Volunteer. Take a bouquet to a nursing home. As you can see, the one I am thinking about the most is the one day deal. I do like the idea of sending the Valentine cards, though, and shall look for a package of those little ones for kids to send to my grandchildren. They will get a kick out of that especially since they are not "kids" anymore .And of course, I will visit the cemetery...not sure about the candy hearts, yet...maybe a plastic heart and flowers. My heart is with all the widows out there. I will think of you on Valentine's Day. Think good thoughts and be well. until next time...c |
| It is strawberry season here in Florida, early this year because of the warm weather I guess. There is nothing like a strawberry picked in the field, warmed by the sun, and popped into your mouth.That is not to say I am going out to pick any. I used to, but getting down to strawberry level is slightly painful nowadays for me. I am satisfied with scanning the produce department at my grocery or traveling a short distance to a roadside stand. At the moment berries are coming from Plant City several miles south of here, but soon I will be able to buy them at our local Farmers' Market. It used to be that my favorite way to fix berries was shortcake or on vanilla ice cream, but now I would have to say it is strawberry bruschetta. Just a toasted slice of French (or sourdough) bread spread with a little goat cheese or cream cheese, topped with sweetened sliced berries and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar...yum. Could be breakfast, could be dessert, could be a snack. Could be right now.... until next time....c |
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