Category Archives: personal

200 Words??? (This Post Is Longer)

Posted on August 21, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

OK, so instead of writing a blog post at work today, I wrote a letter to the editor of the Utica OD (and worked on my novel; never neglect that). I thought, no problem, I would write something when I got home, possibly about the errands I intended to run on the way home. Well, those errands took a while. Then I had to type the letter into the computer. THEN I had to edit it down to 200 words.

200 words? Yikes! I typed it into my wordpress page, because that’s the only way I know how to count the words (does gmail do that sort of thing?). I just barely managed it, with the help of a couple of contractions, which I do not usually use when I am writing (as you see). All I have energy for now is to type these two measly paragraphs and submit the letter as today’s post (the other difficult thing about the letter was I did not include ANY parenthetical comments).

Loretta LaRoche’s recent opinion piece decries the self-help industry and praises common sense. It’s true, some how-to books are silly, and common sense often seems in short supply. However, common sense will only get you so far.

For example, when I was overweight, common sense told me to change my eating habits and exercise more. However, until I read a book on the South Beach Diet, I couldn’t find a system of healthy eating that I could follow. I didn’t read any books on exercise, but I sought advice when needed.

As LaRoche says, we cannot be happy all the time. However, should we be miserable most of the time? A self-help book can help someone recognize destructive thought patterns and behaviors.

Some say, “We didn’t need all this crap in the old days, because people just sucked it up.” While stoicism and endurance are good qualities, I ask, why should we not try to improve our lives?

Some people do not need or want help. Either their common sense tells them everything they want to know or they find satisfaction in their ability to suck it up. Some of us can benefit from a little help.

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Not Easy Being Me

Posted on August 20, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I believe I have observed before, the trouble with these “easy on myself” posts such as Lame Post Friday and Middle-aged Musings Monday (why, yes, that is today) is that I still have to write them.

I enjoy this blogging hobby, I really do. It is not burdensome to sit on my break at work and write a blog post. In fact, I did that today. Only I didn’t finish it. It is about the cheesy movie I may have alluded to yesterday (why, yes, that was Wrist to Forehead Sunday, another “easy on myself” day).

I put “easy on myself” in quotes, because quite often I find that it is not easy. The really annoying thing is, it’s not much good either. I mean, if something is difficult and not much fun, shouldn’t there be some reward? You know, like if I eat carrot sticks instead of french fries, I could lose weight (anybody out there saying in an annoying tone of voice, “I LIKE carrot sticks,” you can have mine). If I go to work, I will get a paycheck (and anybody out there who LOVES their job, I bet you don’t love it ALL the time). If I must make an effort to write, it will be good (given that “good” is a subjective term) (sorry, had to put in another parenthetical comment to be symmetrical).

I find, not so much.

Sometimes the posts I grunt out one word at a time read exactly as if I grunted. Them. Out. One. Word. At. A. Time. (and if you think it’s not annoying to type like that, try it). On the other hand, this is not a hard and fast rule. Sometimes I am glad I took the effort. Sometimes some of the things that roll off my pen in a delightful haze of I-love-to-write are… not so delightful as I thought they were.

It sounds as if I am gearing up to some half-baked philosophy about there are no guarantees. Or maybe I can only do the best I can do. Or better luck next time.

Save the half-baked philosophy for Lame Post Friday. For today, my Middle-aged Musing is: it is not always easy to write. But I sure love to do it.

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Oh, Just Write It!

Posted on August 19, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Is cooking conducive to writing? Discuss amongst yourselves.

I am not exactly cooking as I write this (by hand in a notebook, standing at my kitchen counter). I am popping popcorn (on the stove in oil, as God intended) (it’s JUST an EXPRESSION! Sheesh!).

I wrote that much and got stuck. Still, I got the urge to open the notebook and start writing as soon as I got the oil in the pot. I thought that was interesting.

You know, I think Wrist to Forehead Sunday is becoming even more deeply ingrained into my schedule than Lame Post Friday. Actually, this morning, I am more inclined to put the palm of my hand or my cold fingers on my forehead, because I have a dreadful headache. Partying too heartily on Saturday night, you ask? Well, I don’t know about that, but I did stay up later than normal.

Be all that as it may, what is a blogger to do when a post must be written (according to my rules, anyways) but her head is aching and she wants nothing better than to retreat into the TV watching and crocheting portion of the day (I got some new yarn especially for the purpose)? What I did do was eat the popcorn and think about it (Steven was hogging the computer anyways), then pour myself some blue Gatorade (for some reason good for headaches) and get onto the computer to Write The Damn Thing Anyways.

We did go for a most enjoyable walk with Tabby earlier (before the headache had kicked in). It was still cool out, not too sunny, which was good since I had forgotten my Crazy Old Lady hat. We stopped and chatted with some neighbors who were having a garage sale (didn’t buy anything for once). We discussed our respective flood experiences, what we’d heard about who lost what, and had anybody gotten any money from insurance or the government yet. We concluded that we had been more fortunate than some others.

Well, look at that, word count over 300. I call that respectable. Don’t worry (if you even were), I won’t be too lame in the coming days. We saw an awesomely cheesy movie last night (when I may or may not have been partying too heartily), and I hope to do some bloggable cooking today. As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

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I Didn’t DARE

Posted on August 18, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Last year I did a few posts on the DARE 5K in Herkimer, NY. This year, as regular readers may have noticed, I have not been running as much. I feel bad about that and this morning I felt REALLY bad. However, this is a positive blog, so I’ll write about what was good about this morning.

Part of the DARE 5K is the Youth Fun Run. That is only a block, but it is a long block. It goes right by my house. As it got closer to the time, Steven and I put our schnoodle Tabby (I feel I must say each time that she’s dog, since Tabby is kind of a cat name) on her leash and went out to stand on the sidewalk. We saw some other people doing the same thing.

We cheered for all the young runners as well as for some parents that ran with them. There were not as many runners as I seemed to remember from last year, but those that were there were having fun.

After they were past, Steven wondered if he was allowed to drive the car down the street, before the 5K runners started. I suggested that Tabby and I walk with him and I drive to pick him up after his shift. It was a lovely morning for a walk.

We paused halfway down the street to chat with some people who had driven in from Mohawk to watch the run. One lady confirmed my assessment that there were fewer runners.

After we left Steven at his place of employment, Tabby and I walked to the post office to put a couple of things in the mail. As we went up Main Street we could hear music playing from the area of the finish line, at the Historic Four Corners. We cut through the park by Basloe Library rather than walk up to where the crowd was gathered.

Up Prospect and down Church streets, we saw that the runners had not yet started. I stopped and chatted with a lady who was waiting to see her family run by. I mentioned that I have run it in the past and feel bad about missing this year. She said it was the same for her. We agreed to look for each other at the starting line next year.

Closer to my house, I said hello to a small family group waiting to cheer the runners. I mentioned that I had cheered the youth run, and a lady pointed to one of the runners. It was the littlest runner, now sitting in a stroller.

“I remember, you were running good,” I told her. “And I love the pink shorts.”

“Thank you,” she said.

I saw a neighbor lady with two dogs Tabby is friends with and went over to chat with her. We cheered for the runners as they went by.

“I’ll be with you next year!” I promised. Nobody seemed overly elated at the prospect, but then they were busy running.

I did not walk on to German Street to cheer them again as they approached the finish line (it might not have been a long wait if the front runners kept up their pace). I thought Tabby looked thirsty. I was definitely thirsty. Now to review my schedule and find time to run, so I can start training for next year’s DARE.

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Making with the Random Observations

Posted on August 17, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Well, I’m afraid it is another Lame Post Friday and it probably surprises nobody, least of all myself, that I got nuthin’. In my defense, I was working on my novel. And talking to my husband on my cell phone. And helping my co-worker with the crossword puzzle. Yes, the same lame excuses as last time.

As I sat at work and it was quite clear to me that this would indeed be a Lame Post Friday, I thought I could at least come up with some random observations. I feel that Lame Post Friday has been heavy on half-baked philosophy lately. In fact, it has been spilling out onto other days. So I thought I could leaven the mix with random observations.

I sat at my machine at work and observed… Well, you see, I look out the window, across a very short expanse of grass and weeds, onto a brick wall. The bricks are old. There is some grey foundation beneath the bricks. There are windows, some open, one hanging brokenly. I don’t believe they are ever shut.

How boring is that? Oh, I did notice one thing on my drive home. Two young kids on scooters, a girl maybe nine and a boy maybe four (not that I’m good at guessing ages). They were followed by a lady, presumably the mother, walking a very cute dog — it may have been part pug or maybe bulldog. The dog pulled eagerly on his leash. I think he wanted to be up there with the kids. At least, I don’t know if it was a boy or a girl dog. I use “he” and “his” in a gender neutral sense. I don’t like to call a dog “it.”

I suppose I could come up with some half-baked philosophy on “he/she/it,” but today is random observation day. Also, my word count is up to 300. Plenty enough for a Friday! Have a good weekend, everybody!

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No Potatoes

Posted on August 16, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I don’t really know what that means. Louis Armstrong says it at the beginning of one of the songs on a CD I have, and since it is a non-sequitur there, I thought I would it would be appropriate as a headline on Non-Sequitur Thursday.

As you can guess, I ain’t got much.

I’m not really sure what Non-Sequitur Thursday is supposed to be anyways. I guess I just use it as an early Lame Post Friday. Sorry about that, but, you know what, I’m tired. It’s been a long week. A pedantic person would say the week is seven days long, as is every week since they invented weeks. That person would be quite right, but, you know what, being right is no reason to say something. There’s some half-baked philosophy I may re-visit on Lame Post Friday.

Lame Post Friday, that’s the day I’m waiting for. For one thing, it’s defined. Random observations and half-baked philosophy. What is Non-Sequitur Thursday but me being too lazy to write a real post. Right up there with Wuss-Out Wednesday.

Stand by for some more half-baked philosophy: I started this blog because I wanted to make myself write something every day. Does it count if what I write is dumb? How much effort is it required that one expend for writing to “count”? I put it in quotes, because it just occurred to me to wonder, what does it even mean for writing to count?

I will feel better if I answer those questions. Yes, it counts, no matter how dumb, and “dumb” is a judgement call anyways (we’ll save half-baked philosophy on “dumb” for another day). The effort of putting fingers to keyboard or around pencil is effort enough. For writing to count, it must mean something to someone, and quite frankly, most writing does (maybe something dumb, but let’s not re-open that can of worms).

Now maybe I’ll go eat some potatoes.

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Garlic for the Blog

Posted on August 15, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Steven and I did a very little running around on Sunday, and already I was tired of it. I did NOT want to also stop at the grocery store. What did we REALLY REALLY need? Milk. Oh, they must have that at the drug store.

As we pulled into Rite Aid in Herkimer, NY, I noticed T & J Fruits and Vegetables next door. Of course I know T & J’s is right there. Last year I got some lovely purple flowers for my container garden, the one color I sorely lacked at the time (please don’t ask about my container garden this year) (I SAID DON’T ASK!).

“If we stop over there first,” I said. “I could write a blog post about it. Look, they have those hangy-uppy garlic things.” I meant the braids of garlic.

I usually buy supermarket garlic. At the Little Falls Garlic Festival last year an area grower expressed horror at the thought.

“It’s made in China!” he said. “Just buy what you need for the whole year right now.”

I did not. For one thing, the garlic braid I did buy didn’t stay good till I had used it all. I suppose I was supposed to dry it or freeze it or something. In any case, there is a sign right next to the Hannaford garlic that says, “Product of USA.” Perhaps not as local as it could be, but I make do. However, I was certain what they had at T & J’s would be more local.

T & J’s looks really cool on the inside, like one of those old grocery stores run by a little old Italian guy (there used to be at least a couple of those in Rome, NY). They have a great selection of produce. I almost got some tomatoes on the vine that looked divine, but since I had no plan for their immediate use, I refrained.

I asked if they had any shorter garlic braids than what I saw. They did not. I went out front and grabbed a long one. I will just have to use lots of garlic in the coming weeks. Shouldn’t be too difficult for me. Regular readers may recall I went right home and used some, for Wrist to Forehead Cooking (Sunday’s post).

T & J’s Fruits and Vegetables is located at 221 S. Caroline St., Herkimer, NY 13350. Phone number is 315-866-7272.

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Musings on Murderers

Posted on August 13, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Hmmm… Kind of a gruesome headline. My Wrist to Forehead mood continues.

It’s not that I’m too lazy to write a blog post; I wrote quite a bit of one at work today. But it’s not ready yet, and I can’t possibly finish it now. I worked on my novel too, but I’d just like to mention that it is not going very well right now. That could be one reason why my wrist is on my forehead, but we’re not being analytical here.

Then again, why not be analytical on Middle-aged Musings Monday?

I did have one musing. It came to me while I worked. I was thinking about my novel and some of the true crime documentary-style shows we like to watch and a book I’ve been re-reading about Writing Mysteries: A Handbook by the Mystery Writers of America (Writer’s Digest Books, 1992). And it occurred to me: murderers do not have a great deal of imagination. If they had more imagination, they could think of better ways to solve their problems than by murdering somebody.

I feel sure I am right about this.

I believe most murderers believe they have a great imagination. Many of them think they are as clever as an analogy by that guy on Lizard Lick Towing (I never watch that show, but on the ads for it this redneck guy is full of “he’s as something as a something-something,” very down-home and distinctive. I wish I could think of things like that). In books murderers are pretty clever. In movies they are usually clever and lucky. So naturally, some of the real-life kind feel they must be the same.

Or does it happen the other way around? Because these people think they are so clever and imaginative (but are not), they think they can get away with murder (which they would not have to commit if they really were so clever and imaginative). I like that.

And that’s over 300 words. Happy Monday, everybody.

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Wrist to Forehead Cooking

Posted on August 12, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

So there I was, happily cooking with wine, when I realized — I haven’t done my blog post yet! Talk about Wrist to Forehead Sunday!

What’s a blogger to do? I search for a notebook with blank pages, grab a pen (I recently bought a bunch on sale at Rite Aid) and write while I cooked.

To set the scene: The rice is simmering, the chicken strips are frying, the garlic is breathing, I am debating peeling an onion. I could throw it in with the chicken. It might not have time to carmelize. Lately I have a minor obsession with carmelized onions.

I peeled and chopped an onion and added it to the chicken. Now will the chicken overcook before the onions are done? I did mention this is Wrist to Forehead Sunday, didn’t I?

And what about the garlic?

I should perhaps at this point mention that I began cooking with no recipe or plan in mind. I put on rice because Steven expressed an interest in eating rice. I put on chicken because you can cook this kind from frozen. I put in garlic and onions because that is what I do.

If anyone is interested, I added to the chicken some Roasted Garlic Olive Oil from gusto della vita (it is all lowercase on the bottle). I see they don’t have an address on their bottle, but it is a local or at least an area company.

When the garlic was done breathing I added it to the rice, which still has at least ten more minutes to cook, I think. We will eat this improvised mess — uh, I mean meal with a tossed salad I made yesterday. Won’t that be nice?

Note: As I typed this in, I realized my tenses were all messed up, because I was writing as I went along. I started to change it all to past tense, since it is now, in fact, past, then thought I would leave it as written and see if I liked it. Which I did.

Further note: The website for the oil company is www.gustodellavita.com.

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Author of My Own Disaster

Posted on August 11, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

So there I was, writing a blog post about me getting organized. I was getting all self-deprecating about how unorganized I am and hoping people would identify with my tribulations — after all, nobody’s perfect — when my computer froze. Oh well, I was sure it would unfreeze soon, at least to the extent that I could re-start it. I grabbed a pen and notebook and started handwriting while I waited.

And waited. And waited. I don’t know if it was a product of my frustration or an honest reaction, but I soon realized that what I was writing was dreadfully boring and going to run into an awfully hefty word count. A lame post is one thing (although I try to reserve those for Friday). A lame, long post is a terrible thing (I just know there’s some snide reader out there saying, “But nothing new.” Where do I get all these snide readers? Oh yeah, inside my head).

Where was I? Ah yes, shutting down my computer in hopes it will help. I managed to do at least that much, and brought the boring handwritten post downstairs to ponder over a cup of tea. Being prone to catastrophize, I worried that my computer has finally given up the ghost and my future as a blogger is in jeopardy. Why, oh why did I not do this earlier, when I could have run to the library and made my post? Once again, I am the author of my own disaster (ooh, how’s that for a high-flown phrase? Perhaps I’ll use it for the title) (if I ever get this typed into a computer).

I guess today’s post (again, if I ever get it typed in and published) (which, apparently I did, if you are reading this) (ooh, I just flashed on Bill and Ted, jumping back and forth in time in their first Excellent Adventure) is another version of the dog ate my homework (my dog would NEVER do such a thing). I may yet write about my adventures in organization. I will try to make it not boring, even to hypothetical snide readers in my head.

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