Tag Archives: blogging

Oh Crap, I Gotta Write a Blog Post!

It is Non-Sequitur Thursday. I usually like to skip that if I’ve just had a Wuss-out Wednesday, which of course I had this week. However comma, sometimes these things happen (“however comma” is an expression I got from a sergeant in the army. I like it better than “but, however”) (I think “but, however” sounds like a redundancy and thus improper English, although a mean English teacher taught it as correct).

I am completely ready for my rehearsal tonight. OK, not completely ready, but I’m dressed. I have on all three skirts. My director wanted my character to be layered (let’s see what the real drama-ramas amongst my readers make of that elliptical remark).

Just as an aside, I am back on overtime at work. For my checkbook’s sake I say, “Woohoo!” Regarding the matter of sufficient sleep I say, “Oh, crap!” But one does what one must with as good a grace as one can muster. Actually, I do very little in my life with actual gracefulness, which is one reason this is not a video blog.

Today’s title is something I actually said just before I decided to use it as a title. My husband laughed at me. It is true that I often say that I cannot write a post, then I go right ahead and do. Like, um, you know, I just did.

This Time We’ll Blame Phyllis

I pretty much knew I would not have Saturday Running Commentary today, because I am not running very much in this hideous winter weather. I had a number of other possibilities, and yet here I am, the time getting later and later, and my blog post still yet unpublished.

Just a side note: my typing is going slowly, because I have Band-aids on both my index fingers. I don’t know what it is, some winter skin or something, that my fingers are getting all dry and splitting. It is quite painful. Just thought I would complain about it.

I have been busy all weekend. I went to Melfe’s Shoes on Friday, so I would not have to on Saturday (I mean to write a full post about that). Saturday I walked Tabby to the post office in the frigid cold, went to the Thrift Store and the laundromat, and went adventuring with my friend Phyllis. There are several blog posts in there. So I guess we can consider this paragraph a Preview of Coming Attractions.

The problem was Phyllis and I stopped for just one glass of wine at the end of our adventuring. I could blame Phyllis. She does not mind being held up as a bad example. I believe she is rather proud of being a corruptive influence (my computer is underlining corruptive, but I’m pretty sure it is so a word). I don’t suppose it matters.

The point is: it is late on the day Saturday and if I don’t hit Publish, I will not have a blog post for today. So this is it. See you Sunday.

Still Blaming the Play?

I just glanced back at the last week or so of posts and I see that I have been wimping out since last Monday. Oh dear. Not a Mohawk Valley adventure in a week? Say it ain’t so! However, the reason I have been so remiss is that I have been preoccupied with the play I am in (which I believe I have mentioned at least once). Ilion Little Theatre is a major Mohawk Valley asset. I think I have also mentioned the Mohawk Valley weather. So I have not completely lost my local focus.

Just to give an update on my writing: I seem to be over my Writer’s Block and am in the middle of huge case of Writer’s Blank. Seriously, I can’t think of a damn thing to say.

That is what I wrote before rehearsal. For once when I had nothing to say, I actually, truly — dare I say literally? — had nothing to say. I don’t have a great deal more to say now, but apparently I am capable of typing out more words. Maybe not good words, but as I often say, one can’t have everything.

The weather continues icily cold in the Mohawk Valley. Bill Kardas said it was going to get up into the 20s today (that’s the weather guy on WKTV. I don’t really know him; I just wanted to sound like a name-dropper). It did not feel like 20s to me. In fact, the cold this morning gave me a migraine. I took a couple of pills for it. They were over the counter, but they still doped me up somewhat. I believe that was the cause of my earlier Writer’s Blank.

So I guess I can only offer apologies for Wuss-out Wednesday (that sounds more planned than Blogger’s Sick Day, doesn’t it?) and, as always, try again tomorrow. Thank you for playing.

Not Whine, WINE

Sorry, kids, it’s Wrist to Forehead Saturday. I know, it’s supposed to be Saturday Running Commentary and Wrist to Forehead Sunday, but I worked this morning instead of going running. Wait a minute, that means Friday was not Friday but yet Saturday becomes Sunday? I make no sense.

The fact is, I feel that I am too cold to write a proper blog post. I have to laugh at myself because of that. I say to myself, Really? with that raised eyebrow look that puts a wealth of skepticism into that one word. Truly, I am too cold? What, I ask myself, what about all those blog posts I wrote all summer when I was too damn hot to write a proper blog post? Should it not follow that I can write MYRIAD blog posts when the mercury drops?

It behooves me now to link back to one of those posts, for newcomers to the blog who do not know how much Mohawk Valley Girl wilts under hot temperatures. Unfortunately, all I can think of is one titled “I’m Me-elting.” It is unfortunate because after complaining about being too hot, I go on to write a kind of a cooking post (regular readers know I am incapable of writing a real cooking post).

So, can I write a kind of a cooking post to save this post? In fact, I have some chicken wings in the oven. I love to cook things in the oven when it is cold out. It warms the house quite nicely. I put butter, honey and Dijon mustard on the wings. We will cook tater tots to go with them. I like to eat my tater tots with cottage cheese. No vegetable is planned. You may shake your finger at me if you are so inclined (or your head or your booty) (I know the song says “Shake your booty,” but I have always thought it should say “Shake your groove thing”).

By the way, I am cooking with wine.

Come to think of it, I am inclined to stop whining about how cold it is. I shall now sit on the couch and crochet, thus covering my legs with an unfinished afghan. Life, as they say, is good.

But It’s Not Wednesday Yet!

What is it about Tuesday? I never have my act together on a Tuesday! I never have, now that I come to think about it. Tuesdays have often been the Bad Day of the Week. I must ponder that sometime.

In fact, I did have my act together sufficiently to begin writing a blog post this morning before work began. I don’t think it was going too badly. Unfortunately, I do not have enough time now to finish it. Also, I mentioned somebody by name and I am not sure if that person is OK with that or if I should employ a pseudonym (or should I say “alias”? I think alias sounds more sinister. Would this person prefer that? Decisions!).

Adding to my stress is that I have rehearsal in about an hour. Am I ready? No! Part of the reason I did not finish my blog post is that I was studying my lines on my lunch break. I knew them better than I thought but not as well as I had thought I would by this time. Well, sometimes we do not live up to the standards which we set for ourselves.

My post-Christmas letdown finally kicked in this afternoon, at least for a short time. Then I had other things to think about. If it doesn’t come back, that is the mildest, shortest post-Christmas letdown I ever had. Score!

Looking at what I’ve just typed, I must say this reads more like a Wuss-out Wednesday than a Tired Tuesday. I suppose I shall be quite tired later, after rehearsal. Luckily, I will already have written my blog post.

Tired, Old, and Reading Other Blogs

Well, I was all set to have another Tired Tuesday. In my defense, I seem to be coming down with some weird winter malady, the main symptom of which seems to be that I am tired. And headachey. And not a little vague. The sad thing is that I have so been having Mohawk Valley adventures. I hemmed and hawed, listening to the little voice in my head saying, “I CAAAN’T write a real blog post today!” It was not the little devil on my shoulder; she is a good deal more robust.

I really wanted to write a better blog post than about how tired and ill I feel. I went to Facebook and got some info for a local business I patronized recently and thought to give a shout out to. Then I came back to WordPress. Of course blogs I follow popped up first. I just had to read a couple.

I noticed that Today I Watched A Movie had reviewed Double Jeopardy. Sometimes he reviews older movies (it really grates on me to call a movie released in the ’90s “old,” because what does that make me, for heavens’ sake?). I remembered when this one was in theatres, so I perused his review. And made the following comment:

I always thought the premise of this movie was so asinine! You cannot legally murder somebody just because you got wrongfully convicted of doing so when they are still alive. Yes, I felt free to give away the whole plot without benefit of a spoiler alert because the TV advertisements and trailers did the same thing when this movie was in the theatres. We caught it on video, because at that time we caught almost everything on video (and now that’s the olden days. Damn!). Now I see my comment is running longer than your concise review. Sorry. I think I’ll use my comment for my blog post. Thanks for listening.

It would be nice to credit the other blogger who occasionally uses his comments on other blogs as his own blog posts, because that is what gave me the idea to do it myself. Unfortunately, I can’t remember which blogger that was. I thought it was a brilliant idea, though. To me it has a nice reduce/reuse/recycle feel to it. To others, it perhaps seems lazy. To my hazy, ailing brain, it seems acceptable on a Tired Tuesday.

And when I’m feeling better I may do a whole piece on how we used to trek to the video store and rent movies all the time and how much fun that was. Yes, I’m old! I embrace it!

A Little Sunday Cooking

I decided to do a cooking post today. As regular readers know, this is far from a cooking blog, but sometimes I like to share my culinary adventures. For one reason, the joys of chopping and stirring are not to be denied. And for me the joy of anything is increased by writing about it.

I had some stew beef in the refrigerator I had meant to put in the crock pot. I decided to do something different and cook it in the oven, so I preheated that to 350 degrees, which I think is the most common cooking temperature. I peeled and crushed several cloves of garlic, setting the timer for 15 minutes (so it could “breathe” and reach its full health benefits).

While the garlic breathed I chopped an onion. I’m not sure of the cooking term for what I did (I did mention this is not a real cooking blog). It was more than sliced, less than diced. The pieces ended up looking like parentheses (how appropriate for me). I’m sure you know what I mean.

My next ingredient was a can of cream of mushroom soup. Real chefs (and authors of real cooking blogs) are shaking their heads in disapproval. Oh well, that little frisson of virtue you feel is my Christmas present to you. It was store brand, if that makes it any better or worse.

I added a little sweet-hot mustard. Full disclosure: it was one of those itty-bitty jars you get with a gift set and I wanted to use it up. Condiments last a long time, don’t they? There wasn’t a whole lot of that, but I put in a good splashing of Worcestershire sauce and a teeny titch of Tabasco (note to self: buy more Tabasco). I sprinkled a little cumin over that, largely because I accidentally bought an extra jar of it.

Whenever I use cream of mushroom soup I like to add a can of mushrooms, which I luckily had. That is something I try to always keep on hand but because I use a lot of it often run out. As I added the stew beef the timer for the garlic went off. I stirred everything in thoroughly and put it in the oven.

It is there now. When I stirred it earlier it smelled delicious. I suppose I ought to wait till we actually eat it to hit Publish, in case it sucks, but I think we can trust that everything will turn out fine. For one reason, I want to hit Publish and go back to enjoying my Sunday. Happy four days before Christmas, everybody!

Vegetables or Blog?

To chop vegetables or make my blog post, that is the question. Perhaps a little less profound than “to be or not to be,” but I find it entirely appropriate for Wuss-out Wednesday.

It would really be a good idea if I chopped vegetables for my lunch tomorrow. I have some celery, which does not last as long as one would like. I have carrots and radishes, which last longer but are not nonperishable. More to the point, I am NOT meeting my weight-loss goals and including raw vegetables in my lunch will help. If I needed another reason, there is the therapeutic benefit of chopping up vegetables.

Of course, one reaches the full benefit by also sipping a glass of wine (only one since there is a knife involved; safety first). I mean, it’s still a soothing thing to do even without the wine. But I say give yourself every advantage. Unfortunately I cannot benefit from wine till later. I have rehearsal in about an hour.

For those of you just tuning in, rehearsal is for the play Busybody at Ilion Little Theatre. It will be presented at the last weekend of January and first weekend of February. I have rather a large part. In fact, rehearsal is less than an hour away. Less than an hour? Yikes! No wonder I’m so flustered. I don’t think chopping vegetables would calm me down at this point with or without wine. Is typing in my blog post having a similar therapeutic effect? Not noticeably.

So I have determined that neither chopping vegetables nor posting my blog is going to make me feel any better right now. However, consider this: I can eat a lunch without vegetables. I have done it before. But in three years I have not gone a day without making a blog post. I am not going to start today!

Therefore I make bold to hit Publish for this collection of nonsense and continue getting ready for rehearsal. Will the vegetables ever get chopped? I don’t know, so I must leave you in suspense. See you on Non-Sequitur Thursday.

Writing, Winter and Wuss-out Wednesday

Here’s a way to make yourself write: have something else you really, really ought to be doing instead. Don’t let yourself write while you do this other thing. Then put the other thing aside when you really ought to still be working on it, and write.

It’s fun.

OK, this is going to be a foolish blog post, but it is about writing, and some people like to read about writing. I know I do.

I mentioned yesterday that I had not written a blog post, because I was working on learning my lines for a play I am in. Of course I have not learned my lines yet (give me a break; it’s only been a couple of days). I brought my script with me to work, so I could work on them before shift and on breaks.

But I also wanted to write a blog post so as not to be composing at the keyboard after I got home from work (as, astute readers will have noticed, I am in fact doing). I had an idea to write about an old movie I watched over the weekend. I had composed a few sentences in my head while I worked (between dithering about other things, see yesterday’s post). I started to write.

I wrote two pages. My shift started. I thought of more things to write. During the first break I wrote them down. I finished a third page in triumph. I LOVE to write! Then I went back to work. I worked on my lines during lunch and the afternoon break. I still haven’t learned them all. These things take time, you know.

While I was working, writing and working, winter returned to the Mohawk Valley in the form of a LOT of snow. I had to brush off my SUV. Why oh why did I not buy a short, small car that is easier to brush off? I went to my husband’s place of employment, because I thought it would be a good idea if we switched cars so the SUV would be last in the driveway tomorrow.

Before going to his car and going home, I shopped. As usual this involved a lot of walking around and dithering (I don’t know why dithering doesn’t burn more calories; it certainly tires me out). I had to brush off Steven’s car, a little Dodge Stratus. I discovered that although it is easier to brush off a car that is not as tall as I am, it is still a pain in my butt.

Oh dear, those last two paragraphs were not about writing, were they? Well, they are to indicate to you why I feel too tired to type in the lovely pages I wrote while at work today. For another reason, they need editing.

All this by way of telling you, I am taking a Wuss-out Wednesday right after yesterday’s Tired Tuesday. More cynical readers are not surprised. Optimistic readers are disappointed. Kind readers will hope I get a good night’s sleep. I hope everyone will tune in again tomorrow, when it will be Thanksgiving, and we will all give thanks if I can write a decent post. As always, thank you for playing.

A Wednesday Kvetch

It never fails: I avoid a Tired Tuesday only to run smack dab into a Wuss-out Wednesday. What, oh what is my problem?

Did anybody answer that or did everybody accept it as a rhetorical question or perhaps an unanswerable lament. Or perhaps you took it as more kvetching, perhaps with my wrist on my forehead (I can be very self-dramatizing). Whatever, it is clear that I have a problem. I have fatigue, aches, pains, blues, etc. Could this be middle age? Say it ain’t so!

I went running yesterday. In addition to wanting to build up my run time and progress toward my weight-loss goals, I thought it would make a good blog post. And it may have, if only I would have written it. I took my dog Tabby for a walk today, another potential blog topic. One reason I mention these things is to show you that I am so active. So if anybody was gearing up to say, “Well if you got more EXERCISE, you’d have more ENERGY,” they don’t have to bother. There’s always someone.

And speaking of middle age, can I just ask, where’s menopause when you need it? It’s getting cold in the Mohawk Valley these days. I could use one of them there hot flashes.

I guess there is no point to this post, although I am glad I got to sneak in my hot flash line.