Category Archives: personal

Pretty Random, Even for Lame Post Friday

Posted on January 20, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have to get my blog post done in a hurry, because I want to watch Dateline at seven.  It is about a guy who says he is too fat to have committed a murder.  Now if somebody would have said that ABOUT him, he would have been highly offended and probably would have committed a murder just to prove them wrong.

Actually, my throat is a little sore for any real howling.

I was going to put my picture of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff with Bela saying, “Thank God it’s Friday,” and Boris saying, “You idiot, it’s Tuesday.”  I was going to say, “Ha, ha, it IS Friday.”  Then I remembered the Wolf Man and said, “Hey!”

Did I mention it is Lame Post Friday?  Perhaps you already knew.

I am just going to mention, in the interests of making a random observation, that I have reached the stage of menopause where I am constantly either having a hot flash or feel freezing cold.  Sometimes there is a very brief moment, usually just before or just after a hot flash, when I feel comfortable.  I know, nobody wants to hear my petty complaints about my bodily ills.  Hey, at least I didn’t bitch about the migraine I had earlier.  Oops.

Well, this is a rather useless post.  But perhaps my readers will forgive me if I put in a couple more interesting pictures.

I wouldn’t trust her.

Yesterday I talked a little about the murder mystery I am putting together for the Herkimer County Historical Society. Here is a picture from the one we did last October,  A G.R.A.V.E. Murder.  The hottie in the black dress was a suspect.

Looks like a fun bunch to party with, although one of them is a murderer.

To continue with the murder mystery theme of the day, here is part of the cast of Rubbed Out at Ruby’s, the murder mystery presented by LiFT Theatre Company.  We had been asked to add a little color to a fundraiser for the Landmarks Society of Greater Utica.

Ooh, look at me, I am over 350 words.  That is pretty good for a Lame Friday Post.  Have a lovely beginning of your weekend, everybody.

 

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We Have a Title!

Posted on January 19, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

One writing chore which has been on the back burner but is quickly moving to the front is the murder mystery I am putting together for the Herkimer County Historical Society.  Performance date is March 31, so I have time. Not oceans of time, but at least a mud puddle’s worth.

Of course I have been quite occupied with my 100 Days of Novel and getting my article(s) together for Mohawk Valley Living magazine, but I have been bearing my mystery in mind.  I have all the character sheets written and a good start on the clue sheet.  Additionally, I have been thinking about it a lot. I know, I know, thinking about writing is not writing.  Still, thinking is at some point a good idea, if not actually required (for example, I do not vouch for the amount of thinking that goes into my average blog post, but I’m sure you knew that).

I got a nudge from the Historical Society the other day when they Facebook messaged me asking for the title and a few details.  Well, details I have many, but a title, not so much.  I asked my husband Steven’s help.  He is sometimes very clever at thinking of blog post titles.  He came up with “Murder on Exhibit,” because the plot concerns an upcoming exhibit at the Historical Society.  The only thing I could think of was “Slaying at Suiter House”  or  “Slain at Suiter House.”  Suiter Memorial Building houses the society’s museum and collections.

While at work today I thought of a few other possibilities:  “Herkimer County Murder,” “Murdering Local History,” and “Museum of Murder,” to name a few.  AND I came up with the one we eventually picked:  “Secrets at Suiter House.”  “Murder on Exhibit” was the first runner-up.

I will share more details of the murder mystery in future posts (preview of coming attractions).  In the meantime, can you keep a secret?  So can I.

 

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Apparently I Can Still Write a Little

Posted on January 18, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

You know how I say writing begets writing?  That the more you write, the more you will write.  Well, that is true, I suppose, but, you know what, after you write and you write and you write, sometimes you get tired.  That is where I am at.

Oh, I wrote today.  First I started a letter to my friend, Marsha, whose birthday is coming up. I intended to go to Huckleberry Letterpress in Little Falls to get her a card, which I still have reasonable hopes of sending out in time to arrive not too awfully late.  I also wrote a bit on my novel.  That makes 19 days in a row of working at least a little bit every day on it.

After work, I drove straight to Little Falls and had a lovely visit at Huckleberry Letterpress.  The couple that own it are so nice!  I got a nice card for Marsha and enough material to write my (late) article for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  After leaving Huckleberry, I walked up Main Street and found The Sandwich Chef.  I thought a cup of tea would taste awfully good, and I was write.

While I sipped my tea, I worked a little more on my letter to Marsha, telling her a little about Huckleberry and the Sandwich Chef.  I took a few notes about the Chef as well.  I told the lady I would probably write a blog post about it (um, hopefully a better post than this one).

I got home, grabbed my laptop and went to work.  I wrote an article about Huckleberry Letterpress.  I wrote a shorter one about The Sandwich Chef.  Steven read both and said they sounded OK.  I emailed them out.  Phew!

Then I thought, “I can’t write any more!  I can’t do a blog post!  IT!  WON’T! WORK!”

But I see now that it did.  Happy Wednesday, everybody.

 

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Bette and Joan on Tired Tuesday

Posted on January 17, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’ve got the I CAN’T POST THAT disease,  also known as the Type It In Backspace It Out disease.

They look how I feel.

When in doubt, post a picture.  I confess to not being a great fan of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? although I adore both Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, as well as old horror movies.  You may ask me, what’s that all about? But I will not have a good answer.  After all, one can’t like everything.

“I can just about spit in your eye!”

I may not have that quote right, but here is Davis in a movie I thoroughly enjoy, Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte, which ironically enough (given my enjoyment of one and dislike of the other) was originally titled Whatever Happened to Cousin Charlotte?  I read all about it in a wonderful book called The Divine Feud by Shaun Considine.  Ooh, now I should find a picture of Crawford in a movie I like, preferably horror.  How about Straitjacket?

The caption is not a line from the movie. Also, Miss Crawford did not appreciate being referred to as a “broad.”

I may flatter myself, but I think this is turning out to be a not bad silly post. I haven’t even mentioned my headache (that was one of the lines I typed in and backspaced out, as mentioned earlier) (oops.  Well, go ahead and judge me for whining).  I’ll keep it short and end with another favorite picture.

She really lost her head over that movie.

Happy Tuesday, everybody.

 

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My Sad Deadline Story

Posted on January 16, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

Regular readers know that I write for Mohawk Valley Living magazine, a really excellent publication.  Regular readers also know that sometimes I have a real problem writing anything at all.  My magazine articles pose a greater problem, because I can’t just type stuff off the top of my head.  I write about places people can go, things they can enjoy in the Mohawk Valley.  Kind of like I’m supposed to do here, only, you know, here I get away with going off topic.

So my deadline for February’s issue is tomorrow.  This should not have been a problem.  Ideally I would have done some stuff during December that I could write about.  It turns out, December wasn’t so good for me.  So I was determined to do stuff the first weekend in January.  When that turned out to be a cold, nasty weekend, I put things off till this past weekend.  Bad idea.  It was even worse.  That left me with today!

I pored through the ads of Mohawk Valley Living.  This place!  Open Wednesday through Sunday.  Here’s one!  Open Tuesday through Saturday.  Oh, hell, I’ll do a library.  Libraries are always good. BUT, it’s Martin Luther King Day.  Would they be open? When I got home I got on www.midyork.org, looked up a couple of phone numbers and made a couple of calls.  No answer.  Forget the library.

I looked on Facebook, the Herkimer County Chamber of Commerce website, did a couple of Google searches (not that I ever have good luck with that).  I found a bar and grill that looked interesting, and my husband Steven graciously agreed to accompany me.  It was closed.  We drove around past places that were either closed or that I already wrote about.

Now I have a headache again.  I find this not surprising.  But I do not despair.  I still have one more day.  IT!  COULD! WORK!

I’ll keep you posted.

 

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Murder or Monsters on Wrist to Forehead Sunday

Posted on January 15, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

Are they plotting somebody’s demise?

I interrupt the movie-watching portion of my day for a fast blog post.  Of course I am having a Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  I would swoon onto a lounge if I had one, but that is not the important thing.  The important thing is to make a blog post. My husband, Steven, and I just watched Evil Under the Sun, a star-studded Agatha Christie adaptation, one of our favorites.  We are now looking at House of Wax, the 1953 version starring Vincent Price.  I said I wanted either monsters or more murder.  This is kind of both.

“As you see, my hands are not capable of great art any more.”

A Facebook friend shared the above picture, which got me thinking about House of Wax.  This movie also features Carolyn Jones, in a sadly small role.  That makes me think about watching Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which I would call more monster than murder, although I suppose that would be open to debate.  Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.

And before this, they were drinking martinis. Mmmm…. martinis…

Carolyn Jones doesn’t have too big a part in Body Snatchers, either.  Maybe I should invest in a couple of DVDs of the old Addams Family TV show.

In the meantime, I’m over 200 words.  I call that acceptable.  We’ll see if I can do better as the week wears on.  Happy Sunday, everyone.

 

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Teeny Tiny Steps

Posted on January 14, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

It was another crappy day weather-wise in the Mohawk Valley.  We were relieved that Steven did not work till 11:30 this morning.  I should have taken some pictures when the sun was still up, but I can’t think of everything.  I did walk to the post office, since the mailman (yes, ours is a man) did not see the post cards and letter I had attached to our mailbox, so I will attempt a short pedestrian post.

Sidewalks were not consistently plowed, and I was soon out on the road, left side facing traffic, OF COURSE.  There was glare ice under the snow, so I walked very slowly, taking teeny-tiny steps.  Earlier I had seen on Facebook a post from Rock City Runners asking if anybody was braving the weather to run.  A few were.  I, alas, was not.  As my feet slipped out from under me, I realized this was the right decision.  If I had been running, I would not have remained upright.

A neighbor stopped at a stop sign offered me a ride, but I told her I was good.

“I need the exercise,” I said, which was quite true.

“You’re a brave woman!”

I was flattered.  The paths through Meyers Park were not plowed, what a surprise, but the road around it was.  I could see the ice shining at points.  I laughed at myself for the teeny-tiny steps I was taking.  I had been singing “I Will Survive” while Steven and I had shoveled the driveway (aided by a kind neighbor with a snow-blower, by the way).  I kept singing it, teeny-tiny stepping in time to the music.  It did my heart good to sing about being a strong woman, although I assure you my husband has NOT tried to break me with good-bye.

I purchased more post-card stamps after I mailed my stuff, enjoying a brief chat with the fellow behind the counter.  I did not realize or had forgotten that post-card stamps are now Forever, like first-class, so I felt happy to purchase a hundred.  Lots of postcards!

I walked up Main Street to get home.  I confess, I did not enjoy my walk as much a I usually do, because of the ice.  However, I did not land on my ass.  I’ll call that a win. Maybe I can start running again soon. Happy Saturday, everyone.

 

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I Did Not Mean Pea Soup

Posted on January 13, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

What a perfectly dreadful day and I am not going to apologize for bitching about it!

But at least I will try not to continue bitching.  I had plans for after work, namely getting some Mohawk Valley adventures in before the bad weather starts, both for blogging purposes and to write something for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  First I had a dreadful headache all afternoon, which got even worse as it got closer to quitting time.  Well, my head doesn’t feel quite so bad now, but the weather!  Yikes!  There is flooding in various places, a fog you can hardly see through, and it is still raining.  It seemed quite irresponsible to go anywhere.

Full disclosure:  I went somewhere.  I went to a big box store that needs no plug from Mohawk Valley Girl.  I needed yarn.  Let’s be reasonable:  if I am going to be stuck inside for the weekend, I have to do SOMETHING.  Clean my house, you say?  I SAID BE REASONABLE!!!  I intend to watch either true crime shows or monster movies and crochet.  I might bake something if it gets too cold in here.  It may not be a weekend worth blogging about, but I expect to enjoy it.

As I left the store, I said to two different people, “This fog is as thick as peanut butter!” Imagine my disappointment when neither responded properly with, “You mean pea soup.”  Of course I would have said, “You eat what you like, I’ll eat what I like!”  Luckily, I was not on an iceberg about to crash, but if I was I would certainly have yelled, “LAAAAND HOOOOOOO!”

Anyways, this will have to do for my Friday Lame Post.  If you are a local reader, stay off the roads if you can.  If you cannot, PLEASE be careful!

 

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Early or Late, Here I Go!

Posted on January 12, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

So posting at 4:30 a.m. on Friday (my time; I don’t know what my WordPress timestamp will do) makes this a real Non-Sequitur Thursday, doesn’t it?  Now if only I can think of anything to say on half a cup of coffee.  Maybe another sip or two is in order.

We are in the midst of a January thaw (colder temperatures on the way, according to my Local on the Ones that I hear in the background as I type this).  Do the changing temperatures have anything to do with the sick days I’ve been taking?  Blogger’s Sick Days, that is.  I’ve been going to work.  That means if I have some sort of contagious bug, I have been sharing my germs.  I say to my co-workers, don’t say I never gave you nothin’!  Just kidding.  I have been trying to keep to myself.  Anyways, I don’t think I am contagious.

So here I go talking about my health woes, which I realize is tiresome and boring to many.  Well, I intend to have some Mohawk Valley adventures this weekend, so I hope for better blog posts soon (probably not today, though; it is Lame Post Friday, after all).

One writing note:  I have been working on a new novel every day for thirteen days now (today is Day Fourteen).   I had decided to work on it every day for 100 days and see what good it did me.  So far, pretty good.  I even opened up my notebook and wrote some on it last night with a bad headache.  Isn’t that exciting?

Oh, one other writing note:  I have a murder mystery to finish.  I will definitely write more about that.  For one thing, I will want to publicize the event for the benefit of my local readers.

In the meantime, I have coffee to drink and a day to prepare for.  I hope to write another blog post later.  A late Happy Thursday and early Happy Friday to all.

 

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