Category Archives: blogging

Too Foggy to Focus

Posted on August 18, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

It’s not fall yet.  We are just barely half way through August.  Could somebody please explain to me, then, why my fall allergies have suddenly kicked in?  On second thought, never mind.  I don’t want to know why.  I don’t care why.  I’m just sorry that.

All this by way of introduction to, alas, another Wuss-out Wednesday.  I’m sorry, but my brain is just too foggy to focus (Too Foggy to Focus might be a good title for this post).  Could it be that my allergies are combining with menopausal brain freeze? I’m doomed!

The funny thing is, and I was talking about this earlier in a letter to my sister (ooh, must remember to mail that letter), when I first feel the twinges of sinus distress there is almost something exciting about it.  Autumn has always been my favorite season.  I enjoy the cooler weather, I drink in the colors of the changing leaves, and I adore Halloween.  Additionally, fall has always felt like new beginnings to me.

This, of course, is a holdover from school years.  Every September I looked forward to the new academic year.  Because THIS year was going to be different.  This year I was going to have my act together.  I was not going to wait till the last minute to write papers and study.  More importantly, I was going to wear the right clothes, say the right things, and have lots of friends.  Maybe even… a BOYFRIEND.  I don’t think I need to tell you that one of that ever happened.  But I felt the possibilities, and it was usually a good couple of weeks before I realized I was the same geeky, awkward oddball that I have since learned to embrace.

But we’re not talking about me.  Oh, wait a minute, we are.  It is my blog.  Brain fog, remember?  “But we’re not talking about me,” is a phrase I sometimes use when I want to change the subject.  I would change the subject now, but I am too foggy to think of one to change it to.  Then again, I see I have blathered on for over 300 words.  I’m going to go lay my spinny head down and wait for winter.  Or at least for tomorrow’s blog post.  Happy Wednesday, everyone.

 

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Can I Manage some Mental Meandering?

Posted on August 16, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I may have made some misguided remarks about getting back to “real” posts today, now that Much Ado About Nothing is over, but I just don’t imagine anybody believed them.  For heavens’ sake, I had a brutally busy weekend including two performances and a cast party, I worked ten hours today, I did some other stuff after work, I’m TIRED.  And it isn’t Tired Tuesday yet.  I think I might manage a Monday Mental Meanderings.  Let’s see what comes of the keyboard.

A side note:  Much Ado isn’t completely over yet.  We may have one more performance.  I’ll write a blog post about it if we do.

I promised myself that I would write more when I wasn’t running around to rehearsals and performances so much.  I was really looking forward to it.  Who knew I was going to feel so brain dead today.  Oh, who am I kidding? Everybody knew it.  Still, I brought a notebook to work and did not bring any cryptogram puzzles or other reading material.  I would write SOMETHING. Sometime turned out to be a letter to my sister.  I didn’t finish it.

The notebook I had brought was not one I had written in recently.  While flipping through to a blank page, I discovered a novel I started last year which I had been thinking about lately but did not know where it was.  Now I know!  I re-read what I had written.  Sometimes when I am reading something I wrote I think, I am a very good writer. No doubt I flatter myself.  I really must start finishing my novels.  Then they might be published and other people could judge what kind of a writer I am (although I will probably say to them, “Don’t judge”).

In the meantime, I declare this foolish blog post done and I will see if I can come up with something better for tomorrow.  Happy Monday, everyone.

 

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Toto, I’ve a Feeling We’re Not in Hamlet Anymore

Posted on August 14, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

To post or not to post, that is the question.

See what I did there?  See, I’m in a Shakespeare play, and I took a well-known Shakespeare quote and modified it to fit the situation at hand.  And if you say, “But you’re not in Hamlet,” I shall say, “Don’t be so didactic.”

I guess the question is not so much “to post or not to post?” as “to post now or later?”  Obviously I am GOING to post.  I post every day.  It’s in my nature, it’s what I do (that’s a family quote; long story and possibly not as cute as we think it is).  I am sitting here in the increasing warmth and humidity, waiting for time to pass till my ride picks me up for the closing performance of Much Ado About Nothing.  I have a few things I must do before that happens, but not many and I’m stalling.

So do something useful, I can see you gearing up to suggest.  Who, me?  Be useful?  Excuse me, have we met?  In fact I did one marginally useful thing:  I ironed Hawaiian shirts for Steven and me to wear to the cast party later today.  I do love a nicely pressed Hawaiian shirt, and I  only recently obtained an ironing board to replace the one that perished in the flood of 2013. I’ve been making do with a towel on the table.  As you may imagine, under those circumstances I only iron what I absolutely must.

As I ironed the shirts, I pondered the appropriateness of it.  After all, Hawaiian shirts are synonymous with leisure, relaxing and parties.  Is it appropriate to labor over them with a  hot steam iron?  But the question was not “To iron or not to iron” (see what I did there?).  The shirts needed ironing.  They will now look awesome at the cast party.

I see that I have babbled on for over 300 words.  I call that quite respectable for a Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  Then again, is a Wrist to Forehead Sunday ever quite respectable?  I must leave these questions to ponder another time.  Right now I’m going to look over my lines and check if my costume needs ironing as well.  Happy Sunday, everyone.

Oh and once again, Much Ado About Nothing, Sterzinar Park, Canal Place, Little Falls, 3 p.m.  Be there, aloha!

 

 

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We’ll Always Have Lame Post Friday

Posted on August 13, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I really did try to write while I was at work today (YES, on a break, don’t go speed-dialing my boss!).  For one reason, I ran out of cryptogram puzzles from the newspaper and I didn’t bring a book or magazine nor yet my script to study (that last would have been a good idea; missed a bet).  Well, the brain dead thing continues, I guess. Anyways, it’s Lame Post Friday.  I can’t get too exercised on Lame Post Friday (exercise!  That would be another good idea!  Oh well).

It isn’t even a “real” Friday for me, because I work tomorrow.  Oh, don’t sneer at me, all you non-Monday-to-Friday people.  I know, you all work harder and longer than me at more challenging, important jobs.  Blah, blah, blah.  I wasn’t complaining.  Much.

My plan had been to write about LiFT’s performance of Much Ado About Nothing last night at Benton’s Landing in Little Falls.  It went very well.  Actors and audience both endured high temperatures and humidity.  We were rewarded with a live Shakespeare experience.  Oh, I do love theatre.  I love writing too; I just don’t seem to be capable of doing much of that lately.  As I often say, one must persevere.

Tomorrow afternoon we have another performance, this one on the stage where we have rehearsed the most, Sterzinar Park, Canal Place, Little Falls.  Saturday’s show is at 4 p.m., then Sunday we have one at 3.  For more information, you can visit LiFT’s Facebook page.  You can also see some fun pictures of our other performances.

And in case anybody was wondering, Sunday will conclude All Much Ado All The Time and we return to our regularly scheduled blog posts (you know, a few “real” posts surrounded by foolishness about How I Can’t Write a Post Today).  I do hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

 

 

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Tired Tue after Much Ado at the Zoo

Posted on August 10, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

What if instead of Tired Tuesday I had Tirade Tuesday?  I could rant and rave over something I feel strongly about.  I could make my point loudly, or at least all in capital letters,  and describe the accompanying gesticulations (“gesticulations” is one of my all-time favorite words).  It would be a powerful statement.  Well, don’t get your hopes up (as if any of you were).  I don’t have that kind of energy.  It is once again Tired Tuesday.

Last night I participated in Much Ado at the Zoo at the Utica Zoo with LiFT Theatre Company.  I thought it went pretty awesomely.  I guess there were some line glitches.  OK, I screwed up one of my Friar speeches.  I recovered my poise and continued.  I neither stumbled nor lost my shoes in my Second Watch scenes (yes, I have done both of those, who do you think I am, Sarah Siddons?). More importantly, the audience loved it. We got all kinds of compliments after the performance.  I must agree with our director, Matt Powers that bringing Shakespeare to the Mohawk Valley is a noble endeavor.

Unfortunately these noble endeavors wear me right out.  I couldn’t even stand up in the shower.  I had to take a bath or stay dirty (don’t worry, I chose bath).  I hope I can find clean clothes for work tomorrow, because I am way too tired to do laundry as I had planned.  As for writing a decent blog post,  well, once again, I ask my wonderful readers to bear with me.  I’m still in the midst of All Much Ado All The Time, but tomorrow I hope to at least come up with something less… tired.  I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

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Not Even Time to Think of a Lame Headline

Posted on August 6, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

For today’s Friday Lame Post, I shall share what I wrote in my spiral notebook while on lunch at work earlier this week.  I shall add comments as I feel like it.  I think I will put the comments in italics, just to be precious (whatever that means) (I may address that use of “precious” in a future post).  And I just italicized what I just typed in, to be consistent.

My plan, for last week as well as this week, was to write blog posts ahead so I would only have to hit “publish” before heading out for rehearsal or performance.  So far it has not worked out very well.  Still, it’s only Tuesday.  I have hopes for this week.  Not high hopes. As you may guess, I was correct not to harbor high hopes.

Today I am testing a long-held theory of mine.  The theory is:  you can write when you’re in pain as long as it is not a headache.  My wrist is throbbing for unknown reasons.  And here I am writing.  True, it is my left wrist and I am right handed.

Oh!  It hurts like a son of a bitch!  My theory is wrong.

Come to think of it, I knew my theory was wrong years ago.  I had strep throat when I was in college, and it made me feel dreadfully ill.  My head throbbed in a most painful fashion.  But I had exams and I took them.  Well, let me tell you I wrote some of the best essays of my life with my head throbbing.  Maybe part of the reason was that I wanted to get finished and get the hell out of there and back to bed, but I felt as if my brain focused with laser precision and cut through all the crap.

What did I learn from this?  I don’t know, but I think I won’t use this blog post, because I do not like it (oh, I do NOT remember writing that part.  Oh crap).

And I wish my wrist would stop hurting.

My wrist is feeling better, for any kind readers who were concerned.  Probably a stupid pulled muscle or something.  I feel a little silly for having made such a fuss about it, but as I wrote earlier, it did hurt like the proverbial son of a bitch.  I’m wondering if my original assessment of not liking and thus not publishing this post was not the right one.  However, for reasons I have been talking about for weeks (remember, Much Ado About Nothing?), I now only have time to hit “Publish.”  Happy Friday, everyone.

Under the heading, It Takes So Little To Please Some People, I like the way the title of the play is not italicized when it falls in a paragraph that is all italicized.

 

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Much Ado at the Keyboard

Posted on August 4, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Let’s see how this goes.  I am going to do all my internet stuff on my tablet,  thus forcing myself to type using the stylus and giving my left hand a rest.  As I have mentioned before, it is very frustrating. But I must say, sometimes the computer’s suggestions for the next word can be amusing.  For example, they suggested “easy” or “good” when I wanted “frustrated.”

I am pecking (can’t really call it typing) this in the morning  (I know it would be shorter, but I just don’t like calling morning a.m.)  (the parenthetical comments also take their toll), because I have an earlier call for rehearsal for Much Ado About Nothing  tonight.

We have a performance Friday at Caroga Lake so are rehearsing there.  I am very fortunate to be getting a ride with my dear friend, Kim.

Full disclosure:  Halfway through the previous paragraph, I stopped pecking and went to work.  Now I am back on my laptop, but I am typing with my right hand and only using my left for the occasional shift.  It is, as you may imagine, still frustrating, and without the added interest of the tablet trying to guess what word I want next. Perhaps my dear readers are trying to guess what sort of post I will make next.  I can only spend so much time whining about my keyboard woes, after all.

In the meantime, I have to get ready for rehearsal.  I hope to see you all tomorrow.

 

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Once Again, I’ve Said Too Much

Posted on August 3, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

This is not exactly a blogger’s sick day, but I don’t know what else to call it.  The stupidest thing happened.  Oh well, maybe not the STUPIDEST, but stupid enough to call it so, and already I am typing too much.  This morning I got a mysterious pain in my forearm, just a little above my wrist.  I didn’t worry about it, because it didn’t hurt that bad.  I just went to work and went about my business, because, you know, I work for a living.

And it kept hurting.  Off and on, with gusts of real pain followed by lengths of irritation, interspersed with increasingly shorter periods of not feeling bad at all.  I don’t think it was work related, because, well, I wasn’t working all that hard (don’t judge me), and I figured it would go away eventually.  However, I thought it would be a good idea to just mention it to my boss.  You see, if it was work-related, and it turned into something serious, and I hadn’t told anybody, I could get in big trouble.  So I always err on the side of saying something, even at the expense of feeling stupid. I know, it is not an unusual feeling for me.

My boss sent me down to the nurse.  She emphasized that she could not diagnose nor even force me to do anything, but she gave me an ice pack and some ibuprofen and suggested the following:  I should continue to ice and take ibuprofen as needed and wear a wrist brace, which she also gave me, when working.  And I should rest it.  I mentioned that I type a blog every night, and she told me I shouldn’t do that.  She said I could type a very short one, while wearing the wrist brace, and explain that I had an arm problem and would not be blogging for the rest of the week.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  Not blog every day?  Say it ain’t so!  Still, one does not want to aggravate an injury, or whatever it is.  And I don’t want anyone at work reading my blog and getting mad at me if my arm still hurts (oh yeah, like any of them reads my blog! I have such an ego).

So this is all of today’s post.  It is longer than I had intended, and perhaps longer than recommended, but I’m even leaving some stuff out.  What can I do?  I know, sign off before I up my word count even more.  Don’t tell the nurse, but I intend to post again tomorrow.  Perhaps I will attempt to type one handed.  Then there could be no possible objection.

 

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Lazy Saturday Afternoon

Posted on July 31, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yes, it is another Slacker Saturday post.  I decided this after I typed in four or eight possible leads (who was counting?) and immediately backspaced over them.  Don’t judge me.

Our dear little doggy, Spunky, got us up prior to 5:30 this morning.  That was at least later than our usual 4:30 rising time, so I counted my blessings and put on my running clothes.  After accompanying Spunkman (as Steven likes to call him) on his morning business meeting, I went for a run.  It was not as long a run as I have taken, but I petted two dogs, went up something of a hill, and reached the I Can Rock This stage, although briefly.

I had rehearsal for Much Ado About Nothing at 10 a.m. in Little Falls.  That’s always fun.  I just love community theatre.  You meet the nicest people.  Also, I am an incurable ham (get it?  Because ham is a cured meat?  Well, I thought it was a play on words).

After rehearsal, Steven and I had some discussion of what to do, but eventually we went out to lunch at Cucina Berto in Frankfort, and grocery shopping at Hannaford in Herkimer.  When we got home, we took our doggy for a walk around the block (that is usually about as far as our little friend wants to go). Now we are wondering what to watch on television, if anything.

As you can see, I have indulged in a number of bloggable activities today: run, rehearsal, lunch, shopping, walk.  I could even write about How I Can’t Write a Post Today, given the number of starts I erased before I started.  Instead, I offer… what I just wrote.  Happy Saturday, everyone.

P.S.  Steven suggested the title.

 

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Today is Thursday, Right?

Posted on July 29, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

For my Non-Sequitur Thursday post, I thought I would address how my Wuss-out Wednesday post was actually published on Tuesday.

I suppose the shortest explanation would be one of my favorites:  Shit happens.  However, that would make for a rather short blog post, and it doesn’t really explain anything.  A slightly longer explanation might be that I’m not very bright or that I was awfully tired. Explanations are so tiresome.

The funny thing is, because I have never fixed the time thingy on my WordPress account, the post has Wednesday’s date, July 27.  I suppose I could just stay still about it and hope nobody notices, but at least one of my Facebook friends already did.  Also, this seemed like a good thing to write about for Non-Sequitur Thursday.

It is really difficult to write anything these days.  Is it the hot, humid weather?  Menopausal brain fog?  My general sadness and discouragement?  I think all of the above are factors.

Of course, one must persevere.  I learned that from running.  One observation I feel bound to make, however, is that it is much easier to persevere when running than when writing.  Really, running is so much easier!  All you have to do is move your feet.  OK, sometimes my body does not want to cooperate.  But it has never just sat down on the sidewalk and refused to move.  Once I start running, I can almost always persevere.  With writing, not so much.

I know, according to this thinking, I ought to be running marathons by now.  We all know that is not the case.  In my defense, I remind you that I did say “Once I start running.”  Getting started is half the battle.  I’m sure some of you are gearing up to chirp, “Well, that’s true of writing, too.”  Sometimes it is.  But sometimes not so much.  Sometimes I get started and can’t get much more than a sentence or two.  Sometimes I am going great guns when suddenly, I’m not.

For example, this blog post.  I started out without too much difficulty, I kept going for several paragraphs, stringing over 300 words together, and suddenly…  I am not only inclined to stop, I’m wondering if I should erase this whole thing and start over again.  Unfortunately, I can’t do that.  I have to get ready for rehearsal for Much Ado About Nothing.  We’re meeting at the zoo tonight, and I have to drive myself there. After getting my costumes together and looking over my lines again.  Sorry, no more time to blog!

 

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