%%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 ** Image ID #1701066 Unavailable **  |
| Mopsy got me up early this morning with her aggravating noise making. She stirs up a racket trying to get behind the window blinds. If that doesn't work, she knocks around electric cords behind the nightstand. Ever heard an electric cord scrape back and forth against the wall...ugh. Next, she starts sharpening her claws in the carpet and trying to pull open dresser drawers. Then she's tapping me on the nose and when I open my eyes, there she is...staring at me with almost fully blackened pupils and that intense look she has. I have to get up because no amount of stern reprimands daunt her. She will keep on with her shenanigans until she gets me up. If only I had her perseverance. I will never need an alarm clock with Mopsy around. I hope everyone had a nice Easter. Mine was quiet and a little lonely but i was in touch by text and phone. Since I have 'gone vegetarian', I don't really have any special meal cravings for holidays so that helps actually. I'm not reminded by eating food of holidays past, just the memory association when I think about it. So I try to keep busy with other things. Yesterday I rearranged some furniture, something that always cheers me up if I can get myself to do it  .I read back over some of my stories over the weekend (oh how awful some of them are) and see much of my own personality in many of my characters. I guess it is difficult to think up a character without some of myself in it. Even harder to make a character do something I would never do, I am wired so strict and straight. More surprising is the difficulty in writing knowingly about myself. No wonder I get writer's block. Even what I call my 'diary' is basically a journal of daily happenings. I need to loosen up to be able to write...but how... until next time...c |
| During the early years of my marriage, we lived about two miles from a monstrous potato farm. I loved the potato in any form, chips, salad, baked, any way. I never thought very much about where they came from or how they got to my plate. Down another road, not too far, was a pretty good size field of strawberries. I loved them, too, even hot and juicy right off the plant. I picked a few myself. Then, there were the fields of tomatoes, the watermelons, the peach orchard, the small asparagus field nearby. We often rode past the potato farm on our way to somewhere else. I saw for a few seconds the ugly concrete block white-washed structures and the dark-skinned families moving in and out of the doorless buildings. I saw them, but I paid no attention. I had a family of my own, and the weight of their care was heavy enough to tamp down all other thoughts. Now that I am old, I think back to all those strawberries and potatoes I have eaten. I think of the hands that picked them from the ground, the sun burning the skin, the aching back, the hurting knees. I wonder where they are now. I am ashamed of my callousness. |
| I went to see 9 to 5 yesterday and never clapped so much in my life. Musicals, gotta love 'em! My Delaware daughter texted this morning and said the flurries are falling furiously. The year we moved to Florida, 1978, it snowed in April. We were in shock. It was a big contributor to our move. Jim was a residential contractor which means working out in the weather. Most of the time. With all of his family down here, it was a natural conclusion. It is chilly here this morning, 50 something, with the wind blowing like Hades, but we are expected to fall to the 30s in the next three nights. In with the house plants...again. I do think this will be our last cool week though. {fingers crossed here} I have already planted some herb seeds outside. I saw them sniggering at me this morning as I peeked out the back door. I am really missing my Sunday night PBS fix...aloha Downton Abby. Last night it was the Steve person with travel tips. PBS, our local station here WUFT, is in 'begging mode' as I call it, and keep running the same shows over and over and over. This has been going on forever it seems, ever since Downton Abby ended! So I was forced to watch The Good Wife and The Mentalist. When these shows began, I liked them, but now they are so predictable...and dull, a little like me I guess .until next time...c |
| I just finished listening to "Wait, wait, don't tell me," on NPR. Love that show...makes me laugh and laugh. I think it's the only place where the news can always be funny. Earlier I finished a draft of the story I mentioned yesterday, not complete, but a good start, I think. I gave up on the fairy tale idea and just dove in until I could not write anymore in one sitting. I had some lunch while listening to the radio show, lentil soup and cornbread, yum. Now, Sikorski's Attic is on, which is a call-in with your antique question program. NPR is so much better than any TV show. A weather alert just cut into the program...severe thunderstorms with damaging hail and heavy rainfall until 5 P.M., a watch right now because it is only overcast here. I keep putting off doing my taxes, but I at least have everything together including necessary forms. Doing them is next on my list, only 24 more days. That is a long time to my procrastinating brain. I day trade some in the stock market and that Schedule D is what takes all my time, wash sales and all that crap. Tomorrow I plan on going to another play, 9 to 5. Yes, from the Dolly Parton, Lilly Tomlin, and Jane Fonda movie. The Community Playhouse here is putting it on. It just started last night. Tomorrow at 2 is the only matinee, important since I don't like to drive at night. I watched Compulsion on TCM last night, a movie I realized I had seen before after watching a few minutes (happens to me a lot lately). I watched it anyway because it was good, Dean Stockwell, Orson Wells, and Bruce Dern. It is about two college boys who think they have committed the perfect murder, based on a true story., and well-named for the psychological aspects of the movie. I recommend it even for the second time around. I am reading Your Life as Story by Tristine Rainer for more help with writing my memoir. It has helped and given me lots of ideas so far. I think my next memoir II class is April 4th although I've not received official notification yet. The prompt for our story to share is "write about a keepsake". Still have to do that, too. Guess I'd better get busy... until next time...c |
| I have been thinking about what to write next for my memoir and a very emotional memory is nagging me, emotional and personal although many might not feel that way. As they say...you have to have been there. In memoirs, we have the upper hand because we already know the story. At least, that is what we are told. I think I write what I know to see if I really do - know it, that is. Beginning, middle, and end are things all good stories have in common, but they don't have to be in chronological order. Deciding the order takes time when you want to create a good arc. Starting with the action of the story is one way and draws the reader in, but in a memoir it might not be appropriate. Action scenes call for present tense and the narrator's relationships might not present the arc intended. The beginning should draw the reader in, set the tone and set up a conflict, The middle keeps the conflict going, showing external, internal and emotional conflict and maybe, how they all are the same. The end has to show some kind of resolution, especially difficult in a memoir as the story is always continuing and changing. Just showing how the conflict is faced and its meaning as seen at the time or even in the present is usually enough of a resolution. To begin, I think I will write this story as a fairy tale. I will have more freedom of expression because I will be outside my story. This is a suggestion in several how-to books. It will be interesting for me to see how it comes out...guess I am a pantser, huh? Just rambling on today... till next time...c |
| I keep writing upcoming events on my desk calendar, but when the day comes, I never want to go. For instance, last weekend there was an India Fest within walking distance and I never got around to it. It was a little chilly but no excuse. I have tons of cleanup to do in my yard, yet here I sit typing away on a blog. Not only that, it is beautiful outside and warm. I keep saying to myself I am going to do things, then when it comes time, I put it off. I just hate that...I am not a soppy person. Is that a word or just my word? To me it means feeling sorry for myself. Okay, sorry for rambling. I am getting up to do something...now! till next time...c |
| Yesterday was my last memoir class just as we all were getting know each other and get comfortable. Several said they may come to the memoir II class but who can tell. I was the only one of our class to show up at their meeting last week. Everyone in our class had good stories to share, and our instructor was encouraging to all. Much of the information from the last two classes I have learned here. Look to replace narrative with dialogue - in short clips - eavesdrop to learn how. Use adverbs (ly words) sparingly or not at all. Active verbs are a better way to go and forget all those cliches! Make up your own. Eliminate 'I remembers' and try to move the story forward with every word. Do keep some slang language in your memoir to keep it realistic. Hook the reader and establish a bond from the beginning. Show, don't tell, whenever possible, create conflicts and resolutions, and use your senses (not sense, although that is important, too). If you decide to self-publish, make sure the printer uses acid-free archival paper with no clay. Adding an index is nice for the reader who forgets quickly, and Microsoft's Photo Story III is free and helps with picture layout if you decide to include photos. Always double-space and add an extra five spaces for the left indent (for the gutter). These were last instructions from our teacher, and they left my brain spinning. At the rate I am writing, it will take me a year to get close to a publishing point, but she was optimistic and wants to read all our books. She has already published a book on her parents' and grandparents' lives and is now working on her own. My next step is joining a critique pod in my writing group. I'll attend a couple more meetings before taking that step, but I know I will need to do it if only to keep writing. I finished a good book (biography, of course) a couple nights ago, Stop-Time by Frank Conroy, and am reading it again...high praise, indeed. Hope everyone is doing well. Spring is flirting with me here in Gainesville, and I am welcoming it with open arms. until next time....c |
| I roamed around another bookstore yesterday afternoon, one I frequent. I don't mean to put down the other store, but I hate to see books in such a haphazard mess. Even though much nicer, there is a section at my normal store where you can bring a used book and exchange it for another for $1.98. What I'm saying is that price is no excuse for the messiness of the discounted store. I do not see good things for it in the future, and it makes me sad that with just a little elbow grease and imagination, it could be just as wonderful a store. I like my 'normal' store because in addition to books (new and used), they sell unusual gifts (like soap rocks and feminine looking gardening tools) plus incense and a little jewelry. They have a small area with tables for sitting and reading. Once a month they usually have a visiting author, and they have a special section for books by local authors. They have about the same amount of space as the other bookstore. They have just made much better use of it, and it is an enjoyable place to go. As you enter there is a pretty fountain, a lovely display area changed often, and sale books outside on wheeled bookshelves. What a difference between two local owners! enough ranting... till next time....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 |
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
