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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   |
I have started writing my story for my next class and find a huge difference in my attitude toward writing when I know it's going to be a book and not just a short story. I get to dawdle now and tell about all the little things I think of whereas in a short story I find myself always thinking about the word count and how I'm going to wrap it up. The pressure is lifted and all ideas can be written down without regard to how many words I've used  .Another interesting thing, I'm writing as though I were sitting and talking to my daughter, telling her things that happened to me when I was little. I don't think about whether she is interested or not. I just picture the two of us together. Neither of us have anything else to do, she just smiles and nods and listens. It's almost like a dream. I have a rapt audience who wont leave until I run out of words. until next time...c |
| My class was great, ten students, just right . Susie, our instructor has changed the name to Memoir Workshop which to me is a whole lot less intimidating than the original Writing My Life History. The workbook author, who I mentioned before is ninety, has moved to Virginia to be close to her family. Up to three years ago she taught this class. Isn't that amazing? The first order of business was to learn something about the person to our right, then write a couple sentences about what we learned. Rita, my partner, took a course in iris analysis about which I know nothing but will certainly be looking up. All reading aloud in the class is voluntary. Then we were asked to write down why we were taking the course, what we expected to get out of it, and if we wanted to write about a particular time period in our life. It seems memoirs do not have to be about your entire life so my answer was a question mark for that one. Our responses to this might be the preface to our future book. After this exercise we had one that I sort of hiccoughed on. We were asked to write a six-word epitaph for our tombstone. I guess my Jim's memory is too fresh in my brain still and all I could think was "a wife, a caregiver, a widow." No way I was going to share that with anyone just yet. Then, Susie said this could turn out to be the title of our book. That will take a whole lot of thought! Some people read all their answers, some didn't read any, so we have a good mix. We have two people who are very far along in their writing, one has completed a life history (a ww2 vet), and the other has everything together just waiting for the right words. For next time we read three chapters in the workbook and write a story from a memory. I could use something in my port, but I feel that would be cheating so I will be writing something new. Susie also asked us to drop for now any books we are reading and select an autobiography from the listing in the back of our workbook. I've already downloaded Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Cased Bird Sings. Plus, Ms. Angelou is speaking at our own Phillip's Center at the University here on Feb. 27th...and it's free! The basic idea of the class is not for the instructor to tell us how to write but for others in the class to jog our memories by sharing stories of their own. I guess you can tell I am excited about it .until next time...c |
| Tomorrow is the first class of "Writing Your Life History" held at my public library branch. Having checked out the workbook for some time now, I have read it a couple of times from cover to cover. Tomorrow I will buy my own copy to be free to scribble in as I see fit . The author of the workbook is Hilda K.Ross, Ph.D., and according to MyLife, she lives close by and is 90 years old young. No, she is not the instructor. That is someone named Susie Baxter. She is my age and associated with the local writer's group. Apparently each class is an hour and a half and continues for seven weeks, all this from previous classes. I won't know for sure until tomorrow when I finally find out how many have signed up. The closer it gets, the more I am looking forward to it. The only instruction I have so far is to bring paper and pen  lol. I am going in early because tomorrow is also my volunteer day. Hopefully, I will have lots of positive things to report .until next time...c |
| Oh! We have a frost this morning! From 83 degrees on Wednesday to frost on Friday. I (and my azaleas) are not prepared for this. If you have noticed the new image on my port page, that is what I see when I look out my window while sitting here at the computer. Not the squirrel all the time, just that once when I got him with my phone camera! Usually I see scores of birds flitting on and off the feeder. When I have the window open, there is a symphony of birdsong and the trickle and splash of water from the birdbath just beneath the window. Since I draw sometimes instead of computering, I have a drawing board in front of the window. Mopsy, my kitty, likes to crouch on it dreaming and wishing and snorting sometimes. The birds are used to her and pay no attention. They, along with a little lizard, sit on the porch railing and taunt her, poor kitty. The window faces north, and I like to watch the shadow line from the sun creep towards me across the porch. I logged on to a new review this morning from someone who had nothing in her (I am assuming this) port so I said I would reciprocate when she was ready. Now I have just received an email, and she has written a poem "Snow Melts"  . I read it quickly and it sounds lovely...thought you might like to read, too.until next time...c |
I just got home from the eye doctor and am looking through huge pupils. No need to change my lenses yet, but my cataracts have grown some since last year. Nothing like the word "cataract" to make you feel old. Funny, I hadn't noticed a thing . It was a little scary driving home. Normal sun reflections on car windows and bumpers look like exploding stars with halos, but I am home safe and sound, just slightly poorer  .I went to my granddaughter's wedding shower last Saturday. She got lots of wonderful presents including a crockpot with three separate "pots", new to me but looks like a great idea. Her mom is making her a memory quilt and had each of the shower guests write a special something on a square for the quilt, what another great idea. We all played some games and ate too much tasty food (including creampuffs-oh my). I got to see some friends I had not seen for a long time and had a totally wonderful afternoon. Gonna have to go till my pupils get back to normal...just wanted to say "hi"... till next time...c |
Walking With Aunt Fanny is in the Comedy Newsletter "Comedy Newsletter (January 29, 2013)" this week. I didn't realize the story was a comedy , but now that I read it with an unbiased view, I guess it is funny  . It is a true story, and as one of the walkees (I'll leave that up to you to guess and hint, hint, I'm the one with the hanging heel skin), water was coming from my eyes but not from laughter. Thank you Ẃeβ࿚ẂỉԎḈĥ  !till next time...c |
| According to the Free Dictionary online, a qualifier is a word or phrase that qualifies, limits, or modifies the meaning of another word or phrase. Not surprisingly, I find I write with many (snicker here) qualifiers. I cannot seem (snicker again) to help it. How does one write without qualifiers? Somewhat, very, really, most, sometimes, appears, seems, suggests, indicates, may, might, could, many, most, some, few, often, sometimes...the list goes on and on. Qualifiers make us sound unsure or worse, ill-informed. All these words are overused and mean nothing. We use them to avoid criticism or disagreement. Do I dare to change my qualifiers to absolutes? Absolutes like will, all, every, none, always, never, certainly. My absolute list is shorter. Using absolutes means more research and more writing confidence. In other words, using a bunch of qualifiers is lazy writing. Then there is the problem of using an absolute word with a qualifier such as very unique or more perfect. Yes, guilty as charged. Even worse, I read somewhere else that using a lot of qualifiers in my writing carries over from the way I speak. How to change a lifetime of a habit, that is the big question. until next time...c |
I actually wrote a story yesterday, first one in lord knows how long...and tied for first place in the Cramp! Granted it was a short one, but oh how good it felt to realize I could go for just a little while thinking only about that story. Funny thing, I forgot about how to do the bitem and almost missed the deadline before memory returned  .Two baseball greats died this weekend, Stan the Man Musial, and Earl Weaver. I mention this because I love baseball and I want to go just like Earl...on a cruise, yeah! With our unpredictable weather I have found a new weekly job, carrying my outside potted plants in and out of the garage, outside at the moment. On the bright side it gives me some extra exercise and the plants extra attention. And it keeps my ears glued to the meteorologist .I was delighted to find an old acquaintance on the blog list yesterday, and I visited her port for an unread read remembering how much I had enjoyed her authorship in the past. This is the one I chose, "An Insurrection" , and it is a good one. I noticed it was written in 2008 and relates to what was happening at the time. I love the rhythm and mental images, almost like a movie.Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey) made it to Sunday Morning today. Fifty bedrooms, 1200 tourists daily, and a book by the real owner, the Countess of Carnarvon are just a few of the perks of the series according to PBS. Gotta watch.... until next time....c |
| My granddaughter's wedding is on February 23rd. Social situations make me nervous. They didn't used to because I always had Jim beside me for strength, for someone to talk to, for calmness, for love. Now I have to go alone. They have begged me to come the night before and join in the festivities...but I can't. When I start to think about it, my throat starts to close up, I can hear ocean waves in my ears, and my head seems full of...something. The wedding is 70 miles away so I'll have a long drive alone to get there. I still have to shop for a new something to wear and am dreading that too. I get so mad at myself, I should be ecstatic about this, my granddaughter and her beau starting their life together. One of her bridesmaids is having a wedding shower for her next Saturday so I have to shop for a present like NOW. Thank goodness for registries because my brain is just not working right lately. Just one foot in front of the other with no planning ahead...so not like me... until next time...c |
| I am enjoying Downton Abbey and last night was one more great episode of year three. PBS has another good program on Tuesday nights called The Abolitionists. It began on the 8th and will have more on the 15th and the 22nd. Thank heavens for PBS! I have signed up for a "Memoir Workshop" class at my library starting on February 26th. Back in December it sounded like a good idea but the closer it gets the colder my feet get. I checked out a copy of the workbook they will be using which I probably should not have done...gets pretty personal. I know if I go it will help...just have to keep thinking that way. I ran across an interesting writing tool (some may call it that) a few weeks back. While many of you already know about it, it was news to me. It's called the Gunning Fog Index and here is the link, http://gunning-fog-index.com/index.html I clicked in samples from a few of my stories and realized that down-home easy style reviewers say I have is spot on. Maybe I should investigate children's books further  ....or use a dictionary more!If you'd like to read a new author's first book, this is a good one - All different Kinds of Free by Jessica McCann (historical fiction). I watched most of the Denver/Ravens game Saturday night and it was a thriller....go, Ravens! until next time...c |
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