Category Archives: blogging

The Lame Lingers On

Posted on June 3, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yesterday I made a post just to make one, which is now what I have done both times I gave blood. In my defense, apparently they took the whole pint out of my brain. Actually, I think out of my legs too, because they got pretty wobbly (but I wasn’t woozy; see last post). All this by way of saying, I’m still feeling pretty damn lame.

I ran this morning, a good long run. Nothing blogworthy happened, but since when does that stop me? I had a couple of authentic Mohawk Valley adventures before the morning was over. And I patronized a couple of Mohawk Valley businesses. I’ve been Mohawk Valley busy! (Yeah, that was a kind of a lame thing to say. Don’t judge.)

I actually started to write a post earlier, hand writing it in a notebook before typing it into the computer, as I like to do. I couldn’t do it. Seriously, I could. Not. Make. Myself. Write. I tried! I would start a sentence, know in my head how I was going to finish it and it was just too much effort to move the pen. It was weird. I gave it up before I freaked out. This was in between my Mohawk Valley adventures and patronizing of local businesses.

That isn’t supposed to happen. When one has something to write about, shouldn’t one be able to write? I ask this rhetorically. It is rare that I have pen in hand and can’t actually put words on paper. Maybe not the words I had intended to write, but, you know, something. Right now I’m sitting here at the computer, making this up as I go along and I must say it is flowing pretty well. I may read it back to myself and reach for the backspace button. That is a recurring problem with composing at the computer.

It may be a good idea to re-think this whole Mohawk Valley Girl blog thing. After all, I have been at it for over a year now. That was my deal: I was going to post something every day for one year. I don’t know what I expected to happen after a year. Something magical, I suppose. It seems all that has happened is… I continue to post every day. I fear I shall tax the patience of my readers (I used to say “both of them” at this point, but WordPress informs me I have over 50 subscribers; that is so cool) with all these lame posts.

Then again, I always say, go with your strengths. And as another blogger observed (or was it someone commenting on her blog? Must look it up sometime), writing about not writing is still writing (it was Marble Hill Press, another WordPress blogger and a fine poet).

So I apologize if you didn’t like today’s lame post. I will attempt to be more substantial tomorrow. Hope your Saturday is going well.

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Monday Morning Muse

Posted on May 22, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have a couple of Mohawk Valley adventures to relate, but I’m afraid today I’m going to hide behind Middle-aged Musings Monday.

I actually wrote three paragraphs on our visit to the Herkimer Home, and I may still be able to use them Tuesday or Wednesday. However, when I started to write the fourth paragraph, what happened (I’m not asking rhetorically; I honestly don’t know)? Not Writer’s Block or even Writer’s Blank. I just realized I was about to start the third paragraph in a row with the word “We,” didn’t want to do that, and could not think of a damn other thing to write. It’s all very well to say, “Just put ‘We’ for now and change it later.” That’s not how I roll.

I am just about at my year’s anniversary of being Mohawk Valley Girl. I challenged myself to post every day for one year. I may be subconsciously sabotaging myself. Why would I do such a thing?

This is probably a mere case of the Monday Blahs. I had a very tiring weekend. I worked Saturday then scrubbed the deck. Sunday I ran for 45 minutes, pulled weeds, then spent time walking around in the direct sunlight. Sunlight always does me dirt. In all I had what I thought was a respectable combination of ambition and fun. Now I am not only exhausted and ravenously hungry, but I don’t like a damn thing that comes out of my pen.

I’m thinking we all get in these moods (stand by for today’s musing). For example, in Shelley Winters’ second autobiography (Shelley II: The Middle of My Century, Pocket Books, New York, NY, 1989; excellent book), she talks about how she gets the three a.m. dooms and asks, “what if…” For heavens’ sake, Shelley Winters? A respected professional whose career spanned decades in a field NOT known for career longevity? She won two Oscars! She was in many wonderful movies and plays. She made significant contributions to causes she believed in. She had a lot of steamy romances with some majorly hot men. I could go on, but I’m getting jealous.

Before I segue into my own case the dooms, I point out to myself: you see, nobody does everything they would like to do. Does that thought make me feel better? Not really. I’m still looking at Shelley Winters and wondering why I didn’t do some of the same stuff she’s done. Maybe not win an Oscar (not even one?) and I guess my husband would have a problem with the majorly hot men, but significant contributions to causes I could do.

And this is the way the Monday Blahs work: as I wrote that this morning on a break at work, I only felt more blah and, truth be known, was a little amused by myself at doing such a thorough job of it. As I type this into my computer Monday evening, I’m thinking, let’s see, what could I do? Let’s make a plan…

But as I said, this ambitious thought did not occur to me as I was actually musing on a Monday morning. At that point, all I could think was I’d like to go home and watch A Place in the Sun. Shelley didn’t win an Oscar for that, but she’s very good.

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Searching for a Subject Sunday

Posted on May 13, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

So I have Lame Post Fridays and Middle-aged Musings Mondays (which I don’t always do, if I have anything better to say), how about Stupid Post Sundays?

The only thing I really have to talk about is Harvey at Ilion Little Theatre, which closed last night. I have a combination of Post Play Let Down and Thank God It’s Over. My readers may be heaving a sigh of relief because All Harvey All The Time is over as well. And I really feel it is over, because I don’t want to talk about that damn play any more.

I could have gone on my usual Sunday run up to HCCC (Herkimer County Community College) the front way and talked about that. After all, I did say I was segueing into All Boilermaker All The Time. I was looking over some of my first posts in which I wondered how many running posts I could get away with. It turns out, quite a lot. But I didn’t run today. At least, I suppose I could run later on, but I feel it is unlikely. Also, I want to make this post now and get on with the rest of my day.

I believe I’ve mentioned that I am approaching my one year mark in this blog. I had challenged myself to post something every day for one year. Once I have accomplished that, what? This is why I was looking over old posts earlier. I want to see where I’ve been before I decide where I’m going. I got through eleven posts so far. No insights or epiphanies so far.

When I got tired of reading (it didn’t take long), I thought I would take Tabby for a walk and write about that. It was a short, singularly uneventful walk. Prime deck sitting weather, though. I may get to that later, too, but I can’t see making a whole blog post about it.

My goal now is to do something blogworthy after Steven gets home from work, so I don’t have to resort to Middle-aged Musings Monday but can go back to my Mohawk Valley Girl mission. In the meantime, I don’t think I’ll title this Stupid Post Sunday, because I don’t feel I want to call myself stupid that loudly. You can think whatever you like quietly to yourself.

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Multi-Purpose Run

Posted on May 10, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought I would do the thing today of coming home, running, then writing my blog post about my run. It’s worked before. It could work again.

I did not write my blog post during my breaks at work today, because I really could not think of what to write. I’m still on All Harvey All The Time, and quite frankly, I am out of things to say about Harvey. We had our pick up rehearsal last night, but I’m thinking that would not make a great post. I mean, we had a lot of laughs, but to convey the humor I fear I would have to explain too much. And even if I explained enough, the jokes might fall sadly flat (I refuse to use the condescending expression, “You had to be there”) (anyways, you would have had to be there not only last night, but through the entire rehearsal period. So you see).

Be that as it may (one of my favorite transition phrases), I came home and got my running gear on right away before I could change my mind. I made up my mind early on not to demand a long run of myself. Thirty minutes sounded about right. Twenty in a pinch. But I thought up to Herkimer County Community College (HCCC) the front way might be a good idea. For one thing, that is usually my Sunday run, which I missed this week.

I thought if I was unable to cross German Street, I would be off the hook and just run the neighborhood streets. But right away I had my chance and sprinted across. On towards the college I went. My body was not best pleased with me, but one learns to live with these things. I thought about what traffic was likely to be on the road to the college but refused to let it deter me. When the DARE 5K was approaching, I reminded myself, I ran that road every day about this time for at least a week. I could hang.

A nice car even stopped for me to run across Lou Ambers Drive to get to left side facing traffic. I stayed in the parking lot of Salvatore’s Pizza, but that didn’t last long. I ran past the spring without stopping for a a drink.

Lots of cars were coming down the hill. Some of them were flashing their lights at cars going up the hill. I had to look twice, because the cars had daytime running lights and I was not sure if they actually flashed or a bump in the road just made the lights appear brighter to me. No, that was a definite flash. Did that mean there were cop cars up the hill? I think that’s the usual signal. Nobody flashed me. That’s OK. I’ve been flashed before; it’s not the thrill you think it’s going to be.

I ran up and up, telling myself I could rock this. Let me be perfectly clear: I was NOT at the “I can rock this” stage of my run. I was just trying to be encouraged. Oh, it took a long time to go up. I thought about the DARE run and thought I had not shuffled so slowly that day. At last I got around the curve. Oh, that wasn’t so great after all. You think you make it around the curve and you’re there, but the road keeps going up. Ugh.

I got to a clearing where you can look out over the village below. Cool. I’ll have to stop there sometime and try to really recognize landmarks. I could see a wide highway in the distance. Probably the Thruway. I’d be moving a lot faster in a car.

There were the dormitories. I wondered if someone would yell something out a window at me today or if that was something that just happened on a weekend morning. Apparently so. I guess those kids had other things on their minds. I saw a young man holding an empty bucket and whapping a mop against the building. Good man, cleaning up the dorm. At least, I think good man. He may have just now been getting around to cleaning up the results of a debauch from two weeks ago. Still, he had apparently been mopping something.

I could hear an announcer saying something from the athletic fields. I could just faintly make out some music playing, such as I had enjoyed running to one other day. I did not keep running across campus, though, adhering to my thirty minute goal. I finally saw a cop car, but of course I have no idea if he was the one those cars were flashing about. I continued on my way, down the back way. The breeze died down and now it was just muggy. I could feel the sweat running down my face. I was tempted to scoop some water out of the little stream and splash it on me, but I kept running instead. It wasn’t really that hot. I’ll put up with worse in the months to come.

Another sprint across German Street, and one across Caroline. Then I stopped and petted a lady’s Jack Russell terrier. I love a cute dog. I hurried home to my own cute dog, and we walked around the block for my cool down. Then I felt I had to eat supper before attempting to compose anything. Luckily, Steven was willing to cook for us.

So I think I’m transitioning from All Harvey All The Time to All Boilermaker All The Time. At least, this is the first I’ve mentioned the Boilermaker, but of course one purpose of today’s run was to prepare for that race. Another purpose was to have something to write a blog post about. And I have consumed a few calories that needed burning off. Really, a multi-purpose run.

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The Play’s the Thing

Posted on April 30, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

Ah what a weekend I had. And I feel utterly incapable of writing a blog post about it.

I mentioned going All Boilermaker All The Time after the play. I can’t help thinking that until the play I ought to go All Harvey All The Time.

That said, I’m not sure what to write about Harvey at this time. I’ve written about working on the set (I was no help). I’ve given a bare bones plot summary (not very definitive). I’ve given dates and times (May 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12; at 8 p.m. except Sunday May 6 at 2) and location (The Stables, Remington Avenue, Ilion, NY). For those details you can also go to the web site, http://www.ilionlittletheatre.org or Ilion Little Theatre Club’s Facebook page.

This being a personal blog, I suppose it would be legitimate for me to write about the difficulty I’ve had learning lines, my lack of self-confidence, my stress levels — in short all the angst or, dare I say, drama that comes from being in a play. But who wants to read about that? I don’t even want to write about it. I’m still pretending that it’s been a breeze to learn lines, that I exude self-confidence; stress, what’s that?

Rehearsals are going pretty well. The set looks better every day. I’m pretty impressed with the set. Ilion Little Theatre stage is not that big, and there is not a lot of space back stage. It’s not easy to do a play with two completely different sets. The last play that needed more than one setting, Old Ladies’ Guide to Survival, accomplished it by utilizing the space in front of the closed curtain. This time the problem has been solved by… but I’ll wait, and let the audience be surprised.

And that’s the problem with talking about these things ahead of time. When I am in the audience, I like to be surprised. I don’t want to sit there thinking, “Oh, this must be the part where X does Y.” So I find it difficult to say too much. But perhaps you have seen the movie numerous times and have attended other productions of the play. Perhaps you can recite some of the lines along with the cast. If that is the case, well, you don’t need me to say much about it. And I think you will enjoy our production. Come see us.

Only two more weeks till Harvey, just over two months till the Boilermaker, then I can be back to my Mohawk Valley Girl Ways.

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I Should Write a Better Lame Post

Posted on April 28, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

For two Fridays in a row my Happy Friday Mood has eluded me. Two Fridays ago I did not feel completely cheated, though, because I spent all day Thursday enjoying a Happy Because Tomorrow Is Friday Mood. Then again, that raises the question (note: it RAISES the question, it does not beg the question; that means something entirely different): how many good moods per week is one allowed? Stand by for some half-baked philosophy.

For those of you just tuning in, I’ll just mention quickly that this is Lame Post Friday, my day of random observations and half-baked philosophy. For regular readers (hi, Aunt Mary!), sorry if I bore you by repeating it.

Some people seem to be in a good mood all the time. Others not so much. Some people seem to be in a really, really rotten mood all of the time, they are so ill-used. And here is a not so random observation: most people do not find others’ bad moods nearly as well justified as their own. “Look at him — he’s got nothing to complain about!” is the basis of many a satisfying conversation.

I can’t say whether my Happy Friday Mood has deserted me again this week, because I feel I am writing this too early in the morning. I must give my coffee a chance to kick in. I remember one Friday when I had gotten up early but come in to work at regular time exclaiming brightly to a boss, “I’ve had five cups of coffee! You gotta get some work outta me before I crash!” I don’t think I actually crashed that day. It was a good Friday (but not, you know, Good Friday).

The preceding was written in my notebook before starting work at five this morning. Um, and by notebook, I mean a spiral job with paper, not a fancy little computer. I would have to say, not a true Happy Friday Mood, but not a bad mood. I got a few good laughs out of the day. And here is some more half-baked philosophy for a Friday: as soon as you start to tell yourself you should be in a good mood, you are asking for trouble.

Ooh, here is material for a blog post all by itself: the evil word “should.” As soon as you tell yourself you “should” do something, what do you want to do? NOT THAT! ANYTHING BUT THAT! It works for everything! I should run. I’m too tired, it’s too cold, I don’t have to run if I don’t want to. I should do my blog post. I don’t have anything to say, this blog is stupid, my computer is too slow. I should write something better even on a Lame Post Friday. Oh, don’t go there; this whole thing will come to a grinding halt.

You know, I’m wondering now if I could use that to my advantage. For example, I should eat more ice cream. Hmmm… I guess it doesn’t work for everything.

So there is my Friday Lame Post. Heavy on the half-baked philosophy, light on the random observations. Happy Friday, everyone, and may you all be in a happy mood, regardless of whatever you should be doing.

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Lame, Lame, Lame

Posted on April 14, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

If all my friends were jumping off a cliff, I’d take it under advisement.

That phrase occurred to me as I walked into work today. The actual train of thought was this: my parking job was not perfect (it almost never is). I thought if somebody else parking at the same time said anything about it, I could move my truck three inches forward to make it closer to ideal. Then, I thought, what if that person said, “Do you always do what people tell you to do?” And I would say, “Well, not if you told me to jump off a cliff.”

I suppose that falls under the heading of long story, not very interesting. It sounded better in my head. It often does.

That was what I wrote before work started. At my first break, I wrote:

So there I was, writing my Lame Friday Post, and I don’t like it. And I didn’t start to dislike it till I was two sides of a page in! What’s that all about? (A note: as I type this into the computer later: I actually did not inflict everything I had written on you, so the preceding was not, in fact, two sides of a page.) (In case anybody was counting.) Usually if I start to dislike what I’m writing, it happens right away. After a paragraph or even a sentence. Sometimes it doesn’t even make it to the page, because I reject it while it’s still in my head.

And then I went on for another few paragraphs on the inner critic. They weren’t very good paragraphs, and I don’t feel like typing them in.

So as Lame Posts go, I’d say this is one of the lamest. I feel bad about that, because, you know, I gotta think that yesterday’s post about instant coffee was kind of lame too. I am in a blog slump. What to do? What to do? I guess the usual: I’ll look for some Mohawk Valley adventures and try again tomorrow. Happy Friday, everyone.

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Nuthin’ Friday

Posted on March 31, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am in a bad mood. There, I’ve said it.

I bill this as “my totally fun blog,” and I try to be upbeat and positive and even rah-rah, giving shout-outs to local businesses, boosting local charities and spotlighting community events. I even try to put a positive spin on posts about difficult runs. And some days… I just don’t jolly well feel like it.

Today is Lame Post Friday, which usually comes to my rescue at times like this. A few random observations, a couple of half-baked philosophies, and I start feeling pretty cheerful. The act of writing actually boosts my mood. Today, I got nuthin’.

I tell myself there’s no reason to feel bad that I’m in a bad mood. Everybody gets in a bad mood once in a while, some people more than others. Still, there’s no reason to inflict my bad mood on others, least of all my innocent blog readers. Readers of my blog are, I believe, here to be amused, maybe informed, dare I say, entertained. Or else they clicked on a link by accident are are saying, “What the H*%#@ is this?” (in which case, I believe most computers are equipped with a handy “X” somewhere that will get rid of any offending web page)

There is no denying that I am down. My choices are: try to get myself into a better mood, try to find something funny to say about my bad mood, stop writing now and try to write my post later. I pick three.

…

So now it’s later. I typed in what I wrote earlier, because I still got nuthin’ (I really want to type “nothing” but I believe the correct expression is “I got nuthin'”). I did achieve a better mood at work, by dint of making silly jokes with my co-workers and laughing. Nothing worth repeating, but we amused ourselves. Then I got in a not so good mood after work with another not so fun run that I may blog about tomorrow. Now I’m showered and had a cup of coffee while I typed in what I wrote earlier.

Coffee! Why didn’t I think of that before? I’m feeling much better. Still not very bright, though, so, lame as this is, this is today’s post. Happy Friday, everybody.

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Beginning My Wine Weekend

Posted on March 28, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’ve been promising a post about wine tasting for some days now. At last I have my wine tasting notes with me. How to begin?

I thought a Wine Tasting at Ilion Wine and Spirits on Friday night would be a fitting prelude to my Saturday tour in the Finger Lakes. It was.

I started with a a Darcy Kurt Gruner Veltliner, 2010, California. Scott thought it was an Austrian grape, although it is a California wine. This is where I become painfully aware that I am not a real wine blogger. My only notes are “oh yeah, very nice.” Nothing about fruity notes or a dry finish (I don’t remember if this one had either of those, by the way). I never even mention the bouquet. The only thing I can note is that I think the u in Gruner is supposed to have the two little dots over it (it has the “eeuu” pronunciation). (As side note: my fifth grade cello teacher, Mr. Tufts, taught me how to pronounce the u with the two dots. You make your mouth like you’re saying “eee” then your lips like you’re saying “ooo.” It’s fun, but it always takes me too long).

So I have several more wines listed with notes like “good” and “OK, but I liked the Veltliner better.” Oh, the Gerard Bertrand Viognier 2010 (France) I noted as “very dry, very plain, very light.” I wonder if real wine connoisseurs describe wines as “plain.” Not as descriptive or as complimentary as “yummy.”

I did try a wine I hadn’t intended to, Voga Moscato, Italy, and noted it as “yummy” and “a good wine to bring somewhere.” Another lady tasting said it was her favorite and urged me to try some. In fact, the cylindrical bottle looked familiar. I believe that is a wine I bought at another tasting and brought to my sister’s house one weekend some years ago. If so, my second note was quite appropriate.

My most notable take away was a recipe for some warm dip they served. You take equal parts shredded cheddar, chopped onion and mayonnaise and put in a 350 degree oven for about an hour. I believe they said the recipe is originally from the Horned Dorset Inn. I can’t wait to make some. Maybe to bring to somebody’s house along with a bottle of Voga Moscato.

I purchased a bottle of One Hope Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, California, by Rob Mondavi, Jr. I teased Scott for being on familiar terms and calling the winemaker “Rob” instead of “Robert,” but it says “Rob” on the bottle. In addition to its being a very tasty cab, 50% of profits are donated to autism research.

I left with thanks for starting my wine tasting weekend off right. In fact, I’m not sure but what that was the best of my wine tasting last weekend. It certainly involved the least amount of driving. Ilion Wine and Spirits is located at 10 E. Main St, Ilion, NY, phone number 315-894-8142.

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Flustered Friday

Posted on March 24, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh Friday, sweet Friday. What a cliche to be so happy it’s Friday.

I’ve felt flustered all week, and I believe it has shown in my blog posts, most notably in a digression on time management and missing my turn onto Washington Street. What is flustering me about that today is that such silliness would have been perfect for Lame Post Friday. But I wrote them during the week and left them in willy nilly as written (I do like the term willy nilly. For one thing, it rhymes with silly). That’s what I get for not editing. I should say, for not editing sufficiently. One can’t help but do some editing between between page and screen (um, computer screen. I don’t write for the cinema screen. Or even the screened in porch).

That leads me to ponder writing in general and writing for blogs in particular. There is a prominent school of thought in writing that says our first inspiration is usually the best. Keep that inner critic quiet; write exactly what you think at the time. The ultimate expression in this school of thought is free writing. You just write. Don’t stop the pen for any reason.

I have never been able to do free writing, not for one day ever in my life. Sometimes I start writing and my pen does not stop moving for some length of time. But if I say to myself, “Don’t stop,” my brain dries up. I can’t think of a thing to say.

I think I’ve talked about this in a blog post before. Probably one day when I was writing about not writing. It’s all very well to say that writing about not writing is still writing, but apparently I do not have much to say about not writing.

But I digress.

Wait a minute, how do I digress on Lame Post Friday? This is the day my mind is allowed to flutter hither and thither (is it thither or tither? Or is the proper expression hither and yon?). Random observations, remember?

What I was about to observe about blog writing is that willy nilly spontaneity seems to fit right in. Many bloggers just write what they feel, composing at the keyboard and letting it go. It’s a great form of self expression. Of course, it doesn’t have to be that way. Other blogs are thought out, tinkered with and polished. That’s a great form of self expression, too.

I don’t really know where I was going with this.

But I wrote it on my break at work, and after work I am typing it into my computer. I’m busy and flustered and 80 to 90 percent whelmed, so I’m letting it stand. It may be ridiculous, but this is my post for today. Thank you for playing.

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