Tag Archives: blogging

Multiple M Monday

Posted on October 6, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

“The weather is going to stick around.”  –Bill Kardas, WKTV Weather.

I think he meant that the GOOD weather is going to stick around, but Steven and I were amused by the way that disembodied quote looks. And the word “disembodied”  to me has a distinctly Halloweenish sound to it.  It brings to mind disembodied heads and hands.  Nice.

If it was not already obvious, I am having a Mental Meanderings Monday.  It was either that or a long Monday Moan, and who wants to hear more of my belly-aching?  Not me!

Soon I must run to rehearsal for Lunch Hour, the first show of the Ilion Little Theatre 2015-16 season (yes, yes, I have mentioned it before; it bears repeating).  First Steven and I have to help with a little project for the Herkimer County Historical Society.  I’ll just be a little mysterious about that for now (Mysterious Monday?  I like that, too).

As the month progresses, I shall also be preoccupied with Steven’s and my Halloweddinganniversaweenary Party.  I thought it would be fun to mention the name.  I made it up myself. Oh dear, I do hope all of my followers weren’t hoping for an invitation.  That would make it a larger party than I have resources for.  Not as large a party as SOME bloggers would have.  I say it with jealousy but also with respect.

And now I’m getting silly (Malarkey Monday?),  but I am over 200 words, so I can sign off now with a relatively clear conscience.  Hope to see you all on Tired Tuesday.

 

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Damned at the Desktop

Posted on October 2, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

This is much better.

Just a little computer problem over here.  It is frustrating, because I wrote a blog post earlier today.  I think I even ended it with a little self-congratulation on not indulging in Non-Sequitur Thursday.  It was when I began to type it into WordPress that the trouble started.

I was, as usual these days, on our little Acer Netbook, a handy device given to us by my dear sister, Victoria.  It is a well-known fact that I am not technologically inclined and any device invented in this century mystifies me.  In other words, I don’t know what I did, but I messed it up.  The Acer is still working fine, but my WordPress account is suddenly in teeny-weeny, itty-bitty, minute, miniscule (I’m doing this without a thesaurus by the way) printing.  I can’t even read it properly with my glasses off (I am extremely near-sighted: me with my glasses off is the same as a normal person with a magnifying glass, as long as I hold whatever I’m looking at close enough) (that may be the only time ever that you see the phrase “the same as a normal person” referring to me).

Where was I?

Well, where I AM is upstairs on my desktop, which is for a change and perhaps only for the moment, behaving itself.  Why am I not finishing typing in what I started downstairs?  You know, that is a very good question.

The fact is, I am having a bit of a mental/emotional/physical problem lately.  I don’t mean to complain about my ills (I know, I know, for not meaning to I do an awful lot of it), but I am having the damnedest time DOING anything.  Even taking a shower required great effort and self-motivation.  Laugh, point and judge all you want.  The fact is, as soon as I said to myself, “Oh just have a Non-Sequitur Thursday and be done with it,” I felt a great lightening of spirit.

I’ll use that other post tomorrow, when I bet Steven will have figured out how to fix my WordPress.  Or perhaps this desktop will continue to behave.  I do love a full-size keyboard.  If only I could think of a snappy headline for today’s post, my life would be perfect.

 

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I Want My Pork Chop

Posted on August 14, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

The weather in the Mohawk Valley has taken a turn towards perfect.  As I type this into our little Acer, I am sitting on our deck, enjoying a lovely breeze.  The two trees in our backyard give enough shade to keep me cool and to keep the sun from really bothering my eyes.  The sunshine is bright enough to make everything in your yard look pretty, and that’s a pretty good trick, since I have not done much yardwork or gardening this season.

My container garden is still in bloom.  Of course some plants have done better than others, but I am seeing bright purple and yellow blooms as well as a enough basil for at least one more good batch of pesto.

In short, life is good.

If only I could write, life would be perfect.  I spent a good portion of the day thinking about my novel (I reiterate that I have the sort of job where one can think about other things and still be productive).  I tried to frame things into “Because THIS then THIS,” with no notable success.  What terrible news.  Fiction MUST have a progression, cause and effect, one thing leads to another.  Otherwise, why would the reader turn the page?

But one must persevere.  I vowed I would finish this novel.  I must either come up with an outline that fits what I have written thus far, and continue to write, or I must start all over again.  This is a daunting proposition, but one which I am prepared to face.

In the meantime, I am greatly enjoying my time sitting out on the deck while my beloved husband cooks supper.

Full disclosure:  Steven finished cooking when I has halfway through the second sentence of the first paragraph.  I stopped composing to eat then continued on,  leaving the headline I had written first, in order to make this Non-Sequitur Thursday.  I hope this blog post meets with your approval.

 

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Never Drink and Type Be Damned!

Posted on August 2, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am sitting on my deck with my husband Steven, sipping wine and swapping stories with our dear friends Phyllis and Jim.  We went to a wine tasting at a Valley Wine and Spirits in Herkimer and then dinner at Copper Moose Alehouse in Little Falls.  We had a couple of glasses of wine with dinner.

A blog post must be made.  I always make a blog post.  To be sure, I could have made a blog post earlier today.  I was home. I was even on the computer.  I did not feel like making a blog post.

Full disclosure:  I do not particularly feel like making a blog post now.  I feel like continuing to sit and sip. And listen to silly jokes from my friends.

Oh dear, now they are talking about political posts on Facebook.  I like to stay off politics.  Too much hate.  I don’t have a problem with people disagreeing with me or with each other.  I do have a problem with people making hurtful, hateful, nasty personal attacks on people who do not agree with them.  Do you suppose people will hate on me for expressing such an opinion?  Oh I hate for people to hate on me.

OK, this is what happens when I have the rule of posting every day and I do not make my post early on my day off.  Please be amused by me.  Please continue to read when I manage to post before I have had any wine.  Thank you.

 

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Lame Old Woman

Posted on August 1, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

Hello, everybody, and welcome to Lame Post Friday, the day I do a silly post and do not apologize for it (that’s my new description for today. I like it).

It really is a Friday for me, because I am not working Saturday.  Woohoo!  Overtime is nice, but I like time even better, if you see what I mean.  I didn’t even have any overtime today, which meant I could sleep in to a leisurely 5 a.m.  I felt like a new woman!

Now that it is after work, I am feeling like the same old woman as usual.   Well, these things happen, especially at my age (middle).  I do not despair of thinking of something to say.

I was going to mention that I have some Mohawk Valley adventures planned for tomorrow.  However, I am uncomfortably aware that I have not yet blogged about last weekend’s adventures, nor yet a few adventures I had prior to that.  I use the silly verb “blogged” instead of  “written,” because I have in fact written about some of them.  The paragraphs reside in my notebook (the paper, spiral-bound kind) (do they even still make a computer called a notebook?), awaiting further work.

Wait a minute, I did blog about one adventure.  OK, you pedantic sorts (and I know some of my friends are; hell, I’m something of a pedant myself), I wrote a blog post about it.  That was yesterday’s post about eating a hamburger at Jerry’s Place in Hartwick.  I wish I had another hamburger to eat tonight.  Oh well, one can’t have everything.

One virtue I insist upon for my silly posts is that they be brief.  This post is over 250 words. I call that respectable. Happy Friday, everyone.

 

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This is Not What I Wrote on Break at Work

Posted on July 30, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh this is dreadful.  I was so determined NOT to have a Wuss-out Wednesday.  I brought all my notes and fliers from the weekend’s adventures to work with me.  When it was break time I opened my notebook and started writing!

Well, first I couldn’t settle on a lead.  That shouldn’t matter, I told myself.  Just write something, anything.  You can always edit later.  I wrote a sentence.  Crossed it out.  Wrote another sentence.  Crossed it out.  Consulted my notes.  Realized I had left at least one flier at home.  Sat with my pen poised over the notebook till the buzzer rang and I had to go back to work.

During a ten minute break, by the way, I had worked on, I think, three potential blog posts and one article for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  If anyone is gearing up to lecture me on focus, just give it a rest.  I gotta be me.

Back at work, I pondered my dilemma.  I picked one topic I thought I could get written.  I considered the different things I could write about it.  I went to lunch, opened my notebook, picked up my pen, and started writing.

I got almost a whole page done.  Aaahh.  I didn’t hate it.  I barely crossed anything out.   I was following my notes and adding insights and observations.  I could so write!  This was going to be just fine, a perfectly acceptable blog post.

And then the whole thing just  kind of petered out.  I was maybe a quarter of the way through my notes.  I reminded myself that I did not have to use ALL my notes.  But how many notes should I use?  Had I used the notes I’d used so far to best advantage?  Was this really anything anybody would want to read?

I know, this is inner critic carping that one must tune out while in the throes of composition.  The problem is, the bitch had a point.  What I had written may indeed have been perfectly acceptable, but I could do better.  It was almost the end of lunch time anyways.  I could fix everything later.

Who knew I would be so tired after work?  Oh, I know YOU probably did (you know who you are).  For heaven’s sake, three ten-hour days, two rehearsals, not a lot of sleep, swelteringly hot, humid weather.  AND NO, I AM NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT THE HEAT, I AM MERELY POINTING OUT THE FACT THAT IT MAKES ME TIRED!!!  Jeezum.

On the brighter side, some readers enjoy posts about the writing process.  I myself often enjoy reading what other bloggers have to say on the subject.  On the even brighter side, I still have the stuff I wrote today.  I can look it over and edit, add, polish etc, tomorrow.  And I don’t have rehearsal tonight.  I can go to bed early.

I hope you are all having a stellar mid-week.

 

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Midsummer Monday

Posted on July 28, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

I began the week determined to write my blog posts in advance.  I would not spend the week composing nonsense at the keyboard, mostly about how I just can’t write a real blog post.  I was going to Write Real Blog Posts.

So far, not so good.

In my defense, quite a full weekend, ten hour day today, rehearsal tonight (you know, for the play I’m in?).  Oh, and temperatures in the 80s (92 in Little Falls, which is not that far away).  I do not work in an air conditioned building.  When I did work in an air conditioned building, I wore  sandals skirts with no pantyhose.  Now I wear steel-toed work shoes and BDU pants.  I say this with pride, not complaint.  I am bad ass.

Unfortunately, “bad ass” does not necessarily translate into “able to write awesome blog posts.”

I tried, I really did.  Actually, what I first tried to write was an article for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  I thought perhaps I could publish a shortened version for the blog.  It did not go well.  I tried to work on my novel.  I wrote one sentence on a scene I had previously written.  That effectively brought the scene to an end.  I started another scene.  Then I couldn’t remember if one character did or did not believe in ghosts.

How could I forget such a thing?  How long have I been living with these characters?  What kind of a writer am I?  I was too traumatized to write anything else.  I looked over my lines for the play then helped a co-worker with a crossword puzzle.

Now I must finish getting ready for rehearsal.  For anyone just tuning in, it is for Roxy, at Ilion Little Theatre.  I play Roxy.  And I just realized something:  yesterday was Severed Head Sunday.  Today I am going to rehearsal for a play in which I CHOP MY HUSBAND’S HEAD OFF!  Oh how delightful to have something in common with Joan Crawford!

So what if I can’t always write an awesome blog post?  I’m still bad ass.

 

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And I’m Missing the Cheesiest Movie!

Posted on June 29, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yeah, it’s Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  I was afraid it would be.  You see, I started early and had really the best day.  We went to a winery for an art show with music.  It was awesome.  I hope to write a real blog post about it in the coming days, but I just can’t seem to do it right now.

Still, I must write something.  I like to post every day, whether it’s any good or not.  I guess I go through spurts where it’s not very good for several days in a row.  The problem is, it seems one can either be a writer or have a life.  But what a Catch 22 that is!  If you have  life, you don’t have any time to write. If you don’t have a life, you don’t have anything to write about.

Oh, well, I guess that last sentence is not really true.  Apart from this blog, I write fiction.  You can write fiction without having a life, unless it is thinly disguised autobiographical fiction.  I do not write thinly disguised autobiographical stuff; I make things up.  So I could indeed sit home with no friends and no life and write that sort of fiction.

Perhaps I’ll try that one day. Only not tomorrow, because I am meeting a friend to do some fundraising stuff for Team Uncle Leo for the Sitrin Run/Walk to benefit veteran programs.  And I must get ready for the Boilermaker 15K in two weeks.  Oh, and I’m in a play at Ilion Little Theatre.

Stay tuned, when this blog will begin to offer tips on how one can have a life and find time to write.  As soon as I figure it out.

 

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In My Defense, It Was a LONG Run!

Posted on June 28, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

I had thought to do a Saturday Running Commentary.  Actually, I had been going to do a Friday Running Commentary, but after my run and before I got to the blog, my dearest husband, Steven, came home and suggested we go to PK’s Pub for dinner.   We’ll blame yesterday’s silliness on that.

This morning I decided not to run, because I had a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it.  I actually did not plan on starting any of it before nine, when I would drop Steven off at work, but I thought I could have coffee with him and plan my course of action.  Full disclosure:  I did not exactly do that, but I did drink some Gator Ade and cure my headache (YES, I had another Saturday headache!  It’s almost enough to make a girl prefer Mondays!) (but not quite).

One thing I had been going to do was Coffee and Conversation with a Cop, which I thought was the last Saturday of the month.  However, when I drove by the church that hosts the program, the sign was not out front.  Rats.  Well, I thought, this will give me time to run.  It wouldn’t have to be a long run.  Maybe even a run with no hills.  But definitely a shorter run, I reasoned, mentally calculating how much I had to get done.

As you may have guessed, it was not a short run.  It was an hour and a half.  Then a ten-minute cool-down walk.  Then stretching, then a shower… and I definitely had to eat something.  I probably should have drunk some more Gator Ade, but one doesn’t have time for everything.  I did drink a big glass of milk.  Lots of protein in milk.

Obviously I had no time to get to the computer and type.  It is really too bad, because both runs were significant.  I felt pretty bad ass both days, and I would like to write a post detailing my triumphs.  By now, however, I have meandered all over the keyboard writing nonsense.  Not even very amusing nonsense at that.

Sorry, kids, but I guess we’ll have to call it Wrist to Forehead Saturday or Wuss-out Saturday or Lame Again Saturday… can’t think of anything alliterative, can I?  I’ve got it:  a Sad Saturday Post.  To clarify, I don’t particularly FEEL sad, but I feel that this is a sad post.  I’ll see what I can come up with for tomorrow.

 

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Lame Wrist to Forehead Saturday?

Posted on June 7, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am having yet another very bad Saturday, as I am plagued with yet another headache.  Yes, I am keeping track of my headaches in a little notebook.  When I feel I have gathered enough data, I will return to my doctor (it is actually a nurse practitioner or physician assistant or some such) and say, “Help!”  However, my purpose in making a blog post is not to complain (I know, could have fooled you), but to entertain.

 

I only said “entertain” to rhyme.  My purpose in writing a blog is the purely selfish one of wanting to write every day.  The fact that some people kind of sort of like reading it is a delightful by-product that feeds my petty ego.

 

You may have guessed that I am being a little silly today.  I feel that after my stressful week, a day of blah-blahing at the keyboard, trying to be funny might be nice.  For me anyways.  For my readers, of course you are the judge.  Since I did not do a Lame Post Friday (although some may have found yesterday’s post, as well as many others, fairly lame, but let’s not go there), I thought Lame Post Saturday would be OK.  Then I thought my bad headache and lack of productivity made a Wrist to Forehead post also eligible.  Of course now I must strive NOT to have a Wrist to Forehead post tomorrow, but we’ll see how that goes, won’t we?

 

I tried to get a few things done today.  I went for a long run including a pretty good hill this morning.  That was nice.  At least, parts of it were nice.  You know how that goes.  My run made me determined to make it to the Sneaker Store in New Hartford, NY, for new running shoes, a mission which I also accomplished (and I might write a blog post about) (preview of coming attractions).  After that, my headache felt even worse and I could do no more than come home.

 

Last week I tried to get things done despite my headache, because I had people coming over in the evening.  My headache blessedly left me by the time my guests arrived, and a good time was had by all (perhaps I should have written about that).  This week I decided to give myself a break and nurse the damn headache.  Migraine Relief, decongestant and two naps later,  I feel a little better.  A cup of coffee seems to be having a beneficial effect which this morning’s cups lacked.

 

So life is getting better.  It shall improve more when my wonderful husband Steven returns from work.  We are still getting used to the large hole left in our hearts and lives by the sad departure of our beloved dog, but we help each other.  Sorry to bring up my poor Tabby again, but I’m sure other pet owners understand.

 

Ah, now I’ve done it. I ended on a down note instead of being entertaining.  That puts the wrist back onto the forehead, doesn’t it?  Tune in tomorrow, when  Mohawk Valley Girl says, “Where the hell should I put my wrist NOW?  Don’t answer that!”

 

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