Category Archives: Lame Post Friday

Lame Production

What’s wrong with Lame Post Friday anyways?  Have I used that lead before?  No matter.  I typed in two or three leads earlier and backspaced them out, I am determined not to do that again.  I asked yesterday if bloggers got vacations.  Today I answer my own question: Yes, we do, and this is mine!  I’m going to post my usual foolishness and NOT feel guilty about it?  Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha!

The weather was better today than yesterday, but my level of productiveness held steady at the low level I have been at all week.  That I feel guilty about. Then again, I have three more days off before I go back to work.  Who knows how much I can get done?  I know, some of you are saying YOU know and it isn’t damn much (you know who you are).

What is this preoccupation with being productive anyways?  Why can’t we just BE?  (Ooh, I just flashed on Hamlet. Not my favorite Shakespeare soliloquy, by the way.)  That sounds remarkably like the half-baked philosophy in which I often indulge on Lame Post Friday.  I’m afraid the only things I can think of to say, though, strike me as painfully obvious.

Namely, that there is no point in being productive for its own sake, just to say, “Ah, I accomplished something today.”  However, there are specific things one might like to accomplish.  For example, I clean my house because I want to enjoy sitting in a clean house, not so I can say, “Ha-ha!  I just spend two hours cleaning my house!”

And now I have the dreadfully uncomfortable feeling that sometimes I publish a blog post merely so I can say, “Ha-ha!  I published a blog post!”  How mortifying.  I guess I’m not too mortified to hit “Publish,” though.  For one reason, I said in the first paragraph I was not going to feel guilt about it. So there.

 

Last Minute Lame

Earlier today I posted on Facebook, “Let’s face it:  If it weren’t for the last minute, I’d never get anything done.”  I got more Likes on my earlier post of “Merry Christmas Eve Eve.”  I thought a friend of my sister’s had come up with Christmas Eve Eve back in the 1970s.  Imagine my surprise to see many people and businesses saying it today.  I guess it is the sort of thing anyone might logically come up with.  I may even have thought of it myself, if I hadn’t have heard Margaret say it first.

Anyways, welcome to Lame Post Friday.  I spent a good part of today running around trying to get my Christmas shopping done.  Is there a word that means, like, unorganized but really REALLY unorganized?  That’s me.  And I’m even worse lately.  I’m going to blame middle age and menopause (although this time of year those hot flashes can really come in handy).  I don’t know what my excuse has been up till now, but there is no point in dwelling on the past.

Every Christmas, it is the same thing:  big plans followed by deciding to be content with whatever I manage to get done.  It’s really not a bad way to celebrate the season.  As long as I get to spend some time with family and friends, see some Christmas decorations (I’m especially living for lights on people’s houses this year), hear some Christmas music (I recently discovered Pentatonix; great Christmas CD!), do a little something for somebody else, and maybe drink a little wine, I am reasonably content.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, my favorite day of the year.  Oh dear, now the pressure is on to enjoy it!  What’s that all about?  Can’t I just enjoy something? That’s too deep of a question to get into now.  I think I’ll have a little wine.  Merry Christmas Eve Eve, everyone.

 

Frantic Friday

I actually wrote a whole post in my head while at work today.  I even told it to a co-worker, you know, not word for word, but the gist of it. I did not go so far as to write it down, but I daresay I could remember it. However, I thought of the above-used title on my way home from work.  I thought it might be appropriate for the afternoon and evening I had envisioned, and it turned out to be true.

Steven worked until six, and we planned to meet to Christmas shop using a one-day-only coupon.  The details of where and how are not important.  For one reason, it is not one of the small, distinctive local businesses in which I delight.  I’m sorry that I do not exclusively shop at such establishments.  I mean, I’m not apologizing about it, I truly am regretful that I do not.  Be that as it may, I will tell you about my gyrations thus far today, and that will serve as this week’s Lame Friday Post.

I went straight home from work at three and took my dog, Spunky, for a walk.  He only wanted to go to the end of the street and back, but at least that is further than the end of the driveway and back.  I felt a huge need to exercise, so I changed into running clothes and ran in place on the mini-tramp, while watching part of an episode of Snapped.  It was not too cold or rainy to run outside, but I did not want to leave my dog twice in one evening.

After a shower and the usual trauma over what to wear, I got on the computer to check my Facebook notifications and email.  The Facebook check was not purely frivolous, you know.  A friend had messaged me a cookie recipe, and I intended to purchase ingredients as part of our Christmas shopping spree.  Of course, it was partly frivolous.  I also wanted to see how many Likes I got on my status of “The three words that best describe you are as follows, and I quote:  Stink!  Stank!  Stunk!”  But I digress.

Leaving the house shortly after five, I walked to where I was meeting Steven.  It had gotten colder, and the wind had picked up.  I enjoyed looking at Christmas lights on houses as I walked.  I started shopping without Steven, and he joined me already in progress.  We bought a lot of stuff.  No, I’m not going to tell you what!  People on my gift list sometimes read my blog, you know.

Now we have shopped, eaten, and are enjoying a glass of wine and watching another episode of Snapped.  I think Oxygen shows them all night long on Fridays.  I don’t believe I will stay up all night to see, though.  I’m tired.  Happy Friday, everyone.

 

Lame Us Give Thanks

So here it is the day before Thanksgiving (although this post may be dated for Thanksgiving, because I never fixed the timestamp on this thing) (I don’t know how; technology mystifies me).  Personally, I would be thankful if I had remembered to bring my notebook to work with me an written a post in it earlier.  But I suppose there is no point in pining for what didn’t happen.

As I continue to fight feeling down and blue, I remember reading somewhere that gratitude can counteract depression.  Let’s see if it works.

I am thankful for my husband and my family and my job and my dog and cable television, when there is something on I want to see (does anybody remember the Bruce Springsteen song “57 Channels and Nothing On”?  If he only knew!) . Oh, that parenthetical comment was not very thankful, was it?  But I guess I am thankful I can remember things from the ’80s (that song was in the ’80s, wasn’t it?).  May women my age begin to have memory problems.  I think I read that somewhere.

Another thing I am thankful for is that I have the rest of the week off.  A four-day weekend!  Woohoo!  And that makes today Friday for me!  So it’s Lame Post Friday!  I think this one certainly qualifies. I hope all of you have a lovely Wednesday or Friday if it’s one for you, too.  I hope to see you all again on Thanksgiving (when it will possibly be Non-Sequitur Thursday).

 

Lame Post While Cooking

It is Lame Post Friday and I am just not up to writing much yet.  Also, I have not done much to write about.  Cut me a break, I’m still convalescent!  It has reached the point where I have kind of given up on feeling better and am determined to start going about my business as usual.  This is usually the time in any illness or injury where, perhaps not surprisingly, I begin to actually feel better.  I’ll keep you posted on when that happens.  In the meantime, I need a post.

I ventured out of the house three times today.  Twice to take a short walk with the dog (that is all he seems to want) and once to buy yarn.  I finished the afghan I was working on and since the last afghan I finished was an end cuts one, I had not much yarn to begin a new project.  I waffled back and forth, because there were one or two things I could have done.  Then I said, oh hell, just do it.

So I’ve been sitting here knitting a prayer shawl and watching Snapped, when I looked at the clock and thought, Hmmm.  Dinner.  I shall pause while I go start it.

That didn’t take long.  I just put two pieces of chicken in the oven after putting spices on them.  It is Steven’s recipe.  I don’t know what spices he uses (it may vary), but I used garlic powder, salt-free lemon pepper, onion flakes and Salt Free Essential Spice from the So Sweet Candy Cafe in Utica, NY (couldn’t resist given them another shout-out).  I set the timer for 20 minutes, when I will flip the pieces.

Later on, I’ll cook some potatoes to mash.  Mmmmmm…  mashed potatoes.  Sounds wonderful.

So that’s my lame post for today.  Happy Friday, everyone.

 

Pop Goes the Lame Post

I seem to remember doing a not too contemptible post while waiting for my husband to get me ice cream.  Today he is bringing me popsicles, which apparently I do not know how to spell.

Popsickles.  popsikles. pop sic cles.  Oh dear. popcicyles?  The box just says “Assorted Pops.”  What a way to weasel out of that one!

It is Lame Post Friday, and I am not going to take any more of that pain medication!

Now is when I greatly regret every Blogger’s Sick Day I’ve ever taken.  Who knew I would one day feel worse?  Oh, I know, YOU probably did, you just know everything, don’t you?  Incidentally, that popsycle was not the miracle cure I was hoping for.   Still, it didn’t taste too bad.

I don’t mean to be so tiresome, going on about my woes.  In fact, I begin to glimpse the light at the end of the tunnel.  Few bad things last forever.  I would say nothing bad lasts forever, but it is a well-observed phenomenon that bad things have greater staying power than good things.  Heeeeyyyy!  I think that counts as a random observation AND half-baked philosophy, which, regular readers may recall, are my favorite components of Lame Post Friday.

And it got me just over 200 words. Score!  I call that good.  If only I knew how to spell popcicle, my life would be perfect.

 

Lame Picture Friday?

So there I was, trying to make a Friday Lame Post and not being very successful at it.  I actually wrote something earlier, but I did not finish and it wasn’t all that great anyways (I know, when is it ever?  But one does what one can).  In desperation, I took my dog, Spunky, for a walk.  I thought, “I don’t care how short of a walk; I’ll do a Pedestrian Post!”

So about a block and a half from the house (which, incidentally, was about as far as Spunky wanted to go), I was admiring the grey, gloomy day, thinking how it suited my mood, wondering how best to describe it, when I remembered, this blog has photos now!  I could post some lame photos!  This would be great!  Of course many things do not turn out to be as great as we hope, but you’ll have that.  Once we got home, I grabbed the tablet and went back outside.  Steven had been wanting to get a picture of his Halloween porch anyways.

20161021_165317I stood across the street to get the whole porch.  I hoped our monster tree was not blocking everything, but I think it is OK.  After all, a monster tree fits right in with the season.  I thought perhaps I could get a better shot of just the tree, because it is kind of unusual.

20161021_165352

Next I wanted to get a close-up of our newest decoration, the delightful witch we got at Pumpkin Junction (perhaps you read my blog post about it).

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Finally, I thought I would include a shot of some of nature’s own Halloween decorations, namely what happens to one’s Black-eyed Susans at the end of the season.

20161021_165514Hmm… I’m not sure how wonderful my photos are, but I’m working on it, and I feel this is definitely better than more whining about how I just can’t make a decent blog post.  And after all, who doesn’t like a picture of a witch?

 

A Little Fuss, A Little Muss, A Lame Blog Post

Who knew you could sit in a library parking lot and get on their Wi-Fi with no fuss no muss?  I know, everybody but me.  In fact, I think I knew it too, because I often see people sitting outside of Basloe Library in Herkimer, NY on various devices.  So here I am, after some amount of fuss and muss, sitting in the parking lot of Cambridge Public Library, on my laptop, making today’s blog post.  Come to think of it, do I ever do anything without a certain amount of fuss and muss?  As they say, I gotta be me.

It seems I did not get any Likes on my Fake Friday Lame Post, so  I shall feel free to have a Friday Lame Post again today, on, you know, actual Friday.  In an age-old tradition of lame fiction, this blog shall be the tale of how I came to write this blog post.

Steven and I are in Vermont, enjoying a lovely long weekend with family.  We are staying with his sisters, who are not online. However, a very nice niece lives close by, and she is (we’re Facebook friends).  With her permission, we went to her house this morning, while she was at work, for blogging and email checking purposes.  I found where she had nicely left the password to her Wi-Fi.  I opened my laptop and clicked.

And soon realized I did not know what I am doing.  I had the password but I could not get the computer to ask for it.  More computer savvy readers (is anyone on the planet LESS computer savvy than I?) are probably shaking their heads and thinking, “What an idiot!  All she had to do was…”  I don’t think that is a very nice thing to say, however accurate it may be.

Moving on to Plan B, Steven and I made our way to the Arlington Public Library.  I knew libraries had Wi-Fi, and even if they don’t, they have computers you can happily get on.  That might be a better thing to do anyways, I thought.  It might have been, too, if the library had been open.  Rats!  You see, I did not know then what I know now, or I forgot that I knew then what I remember that I know now.

In any case, Steven and I drove on to Cambridge, NY to do some touristy-type shopping we had planned to do in any case.  As we made a purchase at Cambridge Food Co-op, I asked the lady if she knew of any place that offered free Wi-Fi.  She said the library but thought it did not open till six — even later than the Arlington library!  However, she said we could park in the parking lot and use their Wi-Fi.  She even told us the best place to park in order to do so.

And that is what we are doing.  And this is my Friday Lame Post about it.  At least I know where I can get Wi-Fi to post on Saturday.

 

Short Walk Off a Lame Post

Did I use that title before?  If so, sorry to repeat myself.

I am so tired, I think I may cry.  No, that would be too much trouble.  I’ll just whine.  After all, go with your strengths.  Luckily, it is Lame Post Friday.  I’ll come up with a couple of random observations, perhaps spin a bit of half-baked philosophy, and hit publish.  It’s all good.

I actually thought I might do a Pedestrian Post today.  I don’t feel as inclined to do Pedestrian Posts after a walk with Spunky as I did after a walk with Tabby, because Spunky does not want to walk as far.  He often goes down the street and back or at most around the block, and not even around the whole block, but cutting through the parking lot of the apartment building at the end of the street.  I’ve felt a little bad about abandoning a whole category like that, though, especially since I always say Herkimer is such a good village to take a walk in.

So when I walked out the door with my dog this evening, I thought, “Perfect!  Lame Post Friday is solved!”  I thought it would be OK if the walk and the post were both short, being, you know, LPF (that’s the first time I’ve ever called it by its initials; what do you think?).  It was never going to be much of a walk.  I had already put on my comfy clothes for the evening.  You know, the bra off, sweats on portion of the day which I so love.  It was pajama bottoms instead of sweats, but still.

Most days I take Spunky for his walk as soon as I get home from work.  Sometimes he doesn’t seem to want to go, so I put it off.  Today I had put it off long enough to forget about it.  I remembered it as I put the pajama bottoms on.  Well, maybe Steven would take Spunky out when he got home and not be too annoyed at me.  I would throw myself on his mercy.  It had been a long day.  As I came downstairs, Spunky jumped off the couch and ran up to me.  I think he thought I was putting on go for a walk clothes.  I traded my slippers for sneakers and looked for his harness.

One reason I had been just as glad to put off the walk is that it was raining.  It was still raining but not too hard.  I put on my crazy old lady had but did not bother with an umbrella. For one reason, it is awkward to handle leash, umbrella and poop bag at the same time.  I could write a post about a walk in the rain, I thought.  I was immediately fascinated by the grey light.  Of course the sky was completely covered with dark clouds, but it was not gloomy.  I couldn’t tell where the light was coming from, but it looked eerie.  I wondered if the sun was peeking out somewhere and there was a rainbow somewhere, but I did not see one.

Spunky peed a couple times right away but was walking slowly, looking up at me every so often.  We were only a house away from our own driveway when he looked at me and I said, “Do you want to go back home?”  He did.

So you see, I cannot write a whole blog post about that little bitty walk.  Only it seems I did.  Happy Friday, everyone.

 

The Best Lame Plans…

Have I used that headline before?  I’m too lazy to go back and check.  Also, I am feeling distressed because I have gotten no Likes on my last two posts.  I know, I shouldn’t be such an approval junky.  I’m sure there are many people who disapprove of my need for approval.  Then again, I write a blog that goes out over the Internet for people to read and, I hope, be entertained by. When people hit Like, I know I have succeeded.  I mean, why write a blog if nobody is going to read and enjoy it?  If I’m only writing it for me, why not scribble it in a notebook that I hide away forever?

By the way, today is definitely Lame Post Friday.

It has not been a bad week for me, but for some reason it has felt so long.  I could swear they snuck in an extra day or two somewhere.  At the very least, it’s been 72 minutes per hour some hours.  Yes, yes, here I am whining again, as I keep saying I’m not going to do any more.  Quick, Cindy, counterbalance it with something positive.  It’s Friday and I don’t work Saturday!  And my husband is home!  And it’s fall!

I have a million and one things to do tomorrow.  Oh, OK, not quite that many.  But at least 8,479 choices of things I MIGHT do.  Go running, write post cards, walk to the post office, go to the library, finish the murder mystery I’m writing, start a new novel OR find one of the many I have not finished and continue working on it, watch Halloween movies, crochet, knit… Oh, and pet my dog, cook something good for supper, make a salad with some tomatoes and cucumbers I bought two days ago, call my parents (oh dear, are they going to read this and feel bad that I didn’t mention them sooner?  Sorry, Mom and Dad, I love you!).

While typing all that in, I was slipping back and forth to Facebook and making plans to meet a friend and go to a wine tasting at a local liquor store tomorrow.  So that is one thing planned.  How many of the other things can I fit in and when?  A little uncertainty adds spice to my weekend.   Happy Friday, everybody.