Tag Archives: blogging

My Wrist Has Been Busy

Posted on November 17, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

So there I was about to write my Wrist to Forehead Sunday post, when my husband, Steven, told me of his plan to rake the front lawn. He nicely said I did not have to help, despite my natural feelings of guilt. I thought, Ah! I will write a Wrist to Forehead post about feeling guilty while he is doing that, then he can get right on the computer when he is done (he was working earlier in the day while I was… not).

Then a friend of his called on the phone and he was talking to her. Tabby and I went outside and I started raking. I am not a completely useless wife. Steven came out and worked too. I kept saying, “I’ll go in now and do my blog post while you finish this,” then deciding to do just one more thing.

At last I came inside while Steven was still outside. Oh, I would just put away the dishes I washed earlier (I am famous for washing dishes, leaving them to air dry and further leaving them for Steven to put away). Then I started thinking about how I had not yet showered for the day, and I got this tantalizing mental image of taking a hot shower and putting on some cuddly, brand-clean sweats and THEN getting on the computer. Maybe with a glass of wine.

By the time I was clean and cuddly, Steven was inside, but nicely got me a glass of wine and let me get on the computer (did mention that I have a very nice husband? Well I do). BUT first I had to check my Facebook notifications. When I finally logged onto WordPress, blogs I follow popped up. Since I was about to write a Wrist to Forehead post without feeling particularly Wrist to Forehead-y (Hello! Hot shower, cuddly sweats, would you feel like putting your wrist to your forehead?), I stalled by reading Return of the Modern Philosopher, one of my favorites.

And then I just had to comment. My comments tend to get a little long-winded, so then I had to edit.
Then I read Modern Philosopher’s post to Steven. Before I got to read him my comment (which after reading the post again I again had to edit), he said, “I want more wine!” Could he be feeling wrist to foreheady because I am hogging the computer?

And now I have to check if the Modern Philosopher replied while I was typing all this, before I hit publish.

Yes, he did respond, and I responded to his response. I wonder if my poor husband will ever be able to get on the computer.

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I Just Write

Posted on November 15, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

How many different things can one blogger think of to say about not writing, that is the question. I know, you thought it was “To be or not to be,” but you were mistaken. It is Lame Post Friday and I am feeling even more lame than usual.

Hmm, that was not a bad first paragraph, or do I flatter myself? I would feel more comfortable about my future as a blogger if I had not just sat here staring at it for ten minutes unable to think of another thing to say. OK, I just said that to be dramatic. I’ve been blogging for three years and I intend to continue, lame post or not.

One accepts when one begins at a writer that some days will be better than others. At least, I accept that premise. There are those who claim that “you just write.” But we’ve covered “There is no such thing as Writer’s Block” before. And anyways, it’s Writer’s Blank.

Where was I? Oh yes, not writing and apparently unable to think of anything new to say about it. How embarrassing is that? This has been a pretty long dry spell. I mean, I have had some not terrible blog posts (or do I flatter myself?), but the novel remains at a standstill. I don’t know how good my last couple of magazine articles were. I may have had a couple of good lines in some letters and post cards I have written.

Oh hell, Cindy, just end it and get off stage. This post is lame. Try again tomorrow.

And looking back, I’m not sure how good the first paragraph was either.

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Run, Not Rake

Posted on November 4, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I went running today. That’s two runs in three days after a break of over a month. I have been having a hard time going running after work and even when I have been running regularly, I have a hard time running on Monday, because, you know, Monday. Therefore, I feel quite pleased with myself and I am going to reward myself by posting another Running Commentary.

I spent a good portion of the day today telling myself I would go home and run. For once I did not think of any good reasons not to. That was nice, because it can get tiresome arguing with yourself. A few times when the sun went behind some clouds I didn’t even feel my hopes rising that I would be let off the hook with a downpour. I just thought, if it rains, I can run on the mini-tramp while watching the silent horror movie I DVR’d off TCM last week.

No rain changed my plans. I did not let my dog Tabby’s hopeful look send me on a guilt trip. I just went upstairs, changed into running clothes and got the heck going. It was warm enough for shorts and a t-shirt. I didn’t even need to put my headband over my ears. It was awesome. There was still plenty of cloud cover, too, so the sun was not in my eyes. Then again, we just changed the clocks back. The sun is lower in the sky by 4:01 p.m., which is what time I left the house.

I headed up to German Street and turned left towards Caroline. I thought I would do the down Caroline, up Margaret, down Henry, up Bellinger routine. No busy streets to cross, lots of interesting houses to look at, I could rock this. I didn’t think I had to do more than 20 minutes although it would be nice if I went 25, as I did on Saturday. I like to keep things loose on my weekday runs, see what my body feels up to. No point in killing myself. I still had a blog post to write and dinner to cook.

As I ran, scuffling through the leaves when I found them, I did not feel guilty about leaving my little dog behind (she doesn’t like to run with me). However, I soon felt I was a selfish wretch for running at all. You see, our back yard is covered with leaves. My husband Steven plans to spend a good portion of his day off tomorrow raking leaves and dismantling my container garden on the deck. Now, raking leaves is perfectly good exercise. If I wanted to burn calories, why the blankety-blank didn’t I just pick up a rake and get moving? Oh dear.

Still running, I pondered my options. Rake after my run? I could do that. Finish the run, take Tabby on the cool-down walk, pop open the garage door, find my gardening gloves, and have at it. Good plan. But what about my blog post? What about dinner? I pictured the clock, tried to figure how long things would take me, debated how long of a run I really needed now that I was out here and, truth be known, enjoying the act of running quite a bit.

I wondered if a heart-felt apology would make things right. Well, no, the leaves would still be there. I could tell him we’ll rake together as soon as I get home on Tuesday. He might not like to wait that long. Perhaps I had better just rake some today. I thought about opening the garage door. Our garage door opens hard. I had actually gone an entire Monday at work without much of a backache. I didn’t want to open the garage door.

Oh, what kind of a lame excuse is that? I stopped thinking about raking and started wondering how long I ought to run for. All the way down Henry, across Park Avenue and through Myers Park? Just all the way down Henry? Maybe just one more block?

I ended up doing 25 minutes. By the time Tabby and I had walked a very enjoyable cool-down walk and I had stretched, I had forgotten all about the leaves. I took a nice hot shower and got into sweats. I looked at Facebook and checked my email. I realized I felt very tired. I decided to try to write my blog post anyways.

I hope it turned out OK.

Oh yeah, now I have to cook dinner. Damn.

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Writing and Running

Posted on November 3, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

In lieu of my usual Wrist to Forehead Sunday or a Blogger’s Day Off, which I was quite inclined to take, I offer a brief meditation on writing.

Two things the reader may or may not know about me by now: (one) I run, but I sometimes have difficulty sticking to it. I’ll go for months running regularly, improving myself, writing about it and in general enjoying it. Then I stop, for one reason or another, and often have difficulty starting up again. (Two) I have started many novels and only ever finished one, despite being, I make bold to say it myself, a pretty good writer.

I started running again yesterday after a pause of more than a month. It was awesome. I will surely run again within the next couple of days. I told my sister, Diane, about it when we talked on the phone. She told me she ran and walked with their recently acquired puppy. It seems the puppy likes to run with her. I told her it was a good way to begin running: walk and run. I have done it. Now, I said, I have been running enough and stopping for a short time enough, that when I start again I run for a short time, say 20 to 25 minutes (it was 25 yesterday), then increase it by 10 percent each week.

Talk turned to writing, because Diane is a very good writer and usually has a novel or two in the works. I said how I am having a hard time with my novel. It has reached the stage where I can’t just write: I have to figure out how the plot as a whole will unfold and then write the specific scenes necessary. I talked about how it seemed I should spend all day on Saturday writing, say while Steven is at work, but I never seem to.

Diane made the suggestion that I treat it as my running: that is, work for a set time, say 20 minutes, then stop. Do that for a week or so, then up the time. I had actually thought of this method but not implemented it with any degree of success. However, when somebody smarter than you suggests something, suddenly it seems like a MUCH better idea than when you thought of it yourself.

In fact, Diane has done it herself. She works on her novel during her lunch hour. She jolly well has to stop at a certain time, because she has to go back to work. Then she returns to her writing all fired up, because she didn’t work till she was completely petered out.

It’s brilliant! I tried it. Sort of. I spent more than 20 minutes typing in scenes I had previously written. Wow, this novel is a mess. I finally settled on who the murderer is, and I’m not clear on who gets killed.

Well, that is neither here nor there. The point is, I shall continue to write. I shall build up my writing muscles. I shall also run. I’ll write blog posts about both. I hope you’ll stay tuned.

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Less Wine, More Time

Posted on November 1, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yes, I mean wine not whine, although it is true that one can waste an inordinate amount of time whining (don’t point your finger at me; you do it too) (you know who you are).

It is Halloween afternoon and I am on my lunch break at work pondering the rest of the day. I have just written a lengthy post about a Mohawk Valley adventure Steven and I had yesterday. However, I will be in a time crunch from the moment I leave work till our earlyish bedtime (we rise at 3:30 tomorrow morning). It may be too many words to type in. Plus, I must look up a couple of things and edit, oh, and I might include some links. These “real” posts take time.

What I often end up doing in these situations is to snatch a few minutes to compose something really fast at the keyboard. It works for Lame Post Friday (which, of course, is today). However, I think it would save even more time if I only had to type something in and not have to think of it first.

I will also save time (here we come to the headline) if I forgo the wine tasting at Valley Wine and Liquor, which I could stop at on my way home after carefully running an errand to take up the time till four, when the wine tasting starts.

Hmmm, I just realized if I continue to dither about this now, as I feel inclined to do, there will be even more words to type in later. What’s a blogger to do? I could use a drink.

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Tired of Not Writing

Posted on October 29, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I just looked back at my posts for the past week and see that last week I had a Tired Tuesday. I am mortified to admit to being tired again today. I am further mortified to notice that last Tuesday I at least had the excuse that I had just done laundry. Today all I did was come home and take my dog Tabby for a walk. I had thought to write a Pedestrian Post, but my brain seems uncooperative.

In fact, all my brain seems to want to write is Wrist to Forehead Tuesday. After all, I did not have Wrist to Forehead Sunday, I wrote about something! Then yesterday I didn’t have Middle-aged Musings Monday, I wrote about something! Couldn’t I have gone three days in a row writing about something? Apparently not. That is why my wrist is inclined to go to my forehead in the usual dramatic gesture.

I’ve been having a bad writing day all day. When I got to work this morning (arriving early to have writing time, as usual), I opened my notebook and looked at it. Then I reached for my puzzle book. Many years ago, i would always do a puzzle before working on my novel (whichever novel I was working on at the time). It would clear my brain, since I was always reading somebody else’s fiction at the time. Today, however, reaching for my puzzle book was not a good idea. I have done all the puzzles I like. I am reduced to looking at the “Hard” crossword puzzles, which are, I admit it, too hard for me. Alas.

On break and at lunch I couldn’t write either. My brain rebelled. I had been thinking about my novel a lot while I was working. This usually helps. Today not so much. So here I am, writing this ridiculous blow-by-blow of me not writing. How embarrassing is that!

But what can one do? Hit “Publish” and try again tomorrow, as usual. I hope my readers are all having a pleasant Tuesday.

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Not About My Aches and Lame

Posted on October 25, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

People who complain about their aches and pains are tiresome. However, today is Lame Post Friday and I can do whatever I want.

I suppose that is not exactly true. If I want to be strictly accurate, I would say I can post whatever I want to post. Oh, all right, that much is true every day. Never mind, let’s get on with today’s post so I can get back to enjoying my Friday.

Hmm, does that make this an ironic post: I will complain about my aches and pains then get back to enjoying myself? That might call for some half-baked philosophy to answer. Can we truly enjoy ourselves through pain? Does overcoming pain enhance or detract from our enjoyment? In short, does pain make us better people or is that just a rationalization we use to help us feel better about the pain?

What brought all this on was that my day of enjoyment with my dear husband has been overshadowed by a migraine. It started out as a sinus twinge when I woke up. I had some coffee and hoped for the best. Breakfast at Crazy Otto’s Diner kind of sort of helped. Then we took Tabby for a walk in the cold wind and the pain got worse.

Undaunted, I picked up my notebook and the map I had printed off the computer, and we set out. Butternut Barn Primitives and Dyn’s Cider Mill. My headache felt a little worse. I got some hot cider at Dyn’s. Sipping it helped. Fly Creek Cider Mill, Rustic Ridge Winery. The headache returned as soon as I had finished the cider. I resolutely ignored it and managed to enjoy the Mill and the Winery.

As we drove home the headache got worse and turned into a full-blown migraine with light sensitivity and upset stomach. When we got home I aet a few corn chips, so as not to have an empty stomach, and took some Migraine Relief and a nap. Getting up from the nap and asking Steven to make some coffee (Pumpkin Spice!), my headache seems to be dissipating. Again, I hope for the best.

I intend to write blog posts about each stop on the trip as well as the trip itself. Right now, this is my post. Thank you for playing.

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I Want to Watch World’s Dumbest!

Posted on October 22, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

It is a sad thing to be Tired on Tuesday when you are pretty sure you are going to Wuss-out on Wednesday. And yet, here I am.

As usual, I knew this would happen. I knew I should write a blog post while at work today. But there were cryptogram puzzles to solve and husbands to call (OK, just one husband; I thought it would be more symmetrical to make it plural) (I did solve more than one cryptogram puzzle). That’s OK, I thought. We planned to go to the laundromat after work. I can always write at the laundromat.

At the laundromat, after putting our clothes in the washer and bringing the detergent and bleach back out to the SUV, I sat down with my notebook. I opened it to the next blank page. I wrote the date. And I sat there. Oh yeah, I can’t always write at the laundromat.

Steven discovered some People magazine. No, no, I had to write. I looked at the notebook. I read the magazine. Actually, I mostly paged through it and looked at some of the pictures. I don’t know most of the current celebrities. I am so not mainstream.

I tried again after we got the clothes into the drier. Still no luck. This time I read The New Yorker. I felt pretty classy till I realized I wasn’t finishing any of the articles I started. I gave up and paged through looking at the cartoons. And I thought I was an intellectual.

Eventually we finished the burdensome chore and came home. I had sensibly put some stuff in the crock pot, so dinner was forthcoming. I can usually write better after a good meal.

As you can see, not so much. So here is today’s post, about not being able to write a post. I don’t promise a better post for tomorrow, but we can hope. I’m going to watch television and knit till bedtime.

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Do You Like Me?

Posted on October 20, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I purposely kept my wrist off my forehead yesterday so I could indulge in Wrist to Forehead Sunday today. Of course it might not have been necessary. I had planned a couple of Mohawk Valley adventures I could have written about. Unfortunately, they fell through. Blame the weather, blame my sinus headache (which was perhaps caused by the weather), or blame me. Whatever. The fact is, my husband is due home from work in about ten minutes and I want to have my blog post done and published so I can enjoy some time with him.

I’ll just mention as an aside here, we are celebrating our Anniversary Eve today. It’ll be 24 years tomorrow. In your face, divorce rate! As I think about this wonderful man with whom I share my life, my house, my dog, and my wine, I feel increasingly less wrist-to-foreheady. However, I felt marginally distressed earlier, so I’ll just rattle off a paragraph or two about that.

I was reading some other blogs. I don’t always have the time to do this, but I have a few I Follow, and I try to check out bloggers who have Liked my posts. I always feel so flattered to get Likes. Almost like I’m doing something right, which regular readers know is something that rarely happens. WELL, there I was reading a post when I discovered that SOME bloggers Like posts without actually reading them. Can you imagine such a thing?

This does explain a couple of times when I have gotten a Like almost immediately after hitting Publish. While it affords a certain satisfaction to have something explained, I can’t help feeling a certain dissatisfaction with the explanation. Luckily I don’t feel too awful about it. With my low self-esteem, I could easily flash back to the elementary school playground when, as too often happens in the schoolyard, someone I thought was a friend would suddenly do something mean to me.

“But I thought you LIIIIKED me!” I don’t remember if I actually wailed that line, with or without the extra syllables in “like,” but there’s a good chance I did. And you thought I was such a tough broad (nobody needs to tell me that they never thought that for one day ever in their lives).

I think miffed is a better term for the way I feel about it, now that I have reached middle age. I won’t say I’ve gained maturity exactly, but I admit to a certain level of contentment with my immaturity. We’ll call it perspective.

What was my point? Ah yes, merely to hit Publish before my husband got home. I didn’t make it. But I’ll hit Publish now, and we’ll talk more about this later.

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Don’t Quit My WHAT?

Posted on October 14, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yesterday I made an almost superhuman effort to make a post that was not a Wrist to Forehead Sunday. Oh dear, I can hear the critics sniffing that if that was the result of superhuman effort, I shouldn’t quit my day job. I hate that joke about don’t quit your day job. It is so overused and almost never appropriate.

Ooh, I see myself going off on a tangent that just might pass as a Monday Middle-aged Musing. Don’t quit your day job. I HAAAATE that joke! (Yes, I just said that in the preceding paragraph; it bears repeating.) If you sing a little snatch of song, somebody is bound to say it. Did I say I was auditioning for American Idol? NO! Did I even imply I thought my voice was any good? NO! You just want to be mean by pointing out the obvious fact that I am not Gloria Gaynor.

The last time a fellow at work said it to me, I said, “Don’t quit yours to become a stand-up comedian!”
It was not the devastating comeback it had seemed in my head.

Another time the line was said to me was in an employment office. I was desperate to leave my retail job for one with more human hours. The big jerk supposedly trying to help me kept saying, “Don’t quit your day job.” It wasn’t a day job, for heavens sake! I wanted to find a day job! That’s what I was hoping this yahoo would help me with!

Just listen to me, shouting at a memory. For heavens’ sake, I have a day job now. Get over yourself, Cindy!

OK, I’m better now.

And as I get over my little tantrum, I admit that currently nobody is actually advising me not to quit my day job (Shut up! You don’t need to!) (You know who you are). That was a hypothetical critic who, truth be know, lives primarily in my head. Which, incidentally, has a headache again today. That is why I am typing in this nonsense instead of writing a good blog post.

Hope to see you all on Tuesday, which I hope will NOT be Tired Tuesday.

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