Tag Archives: blogging

There Are No Words

Posted on March 23, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I was reading a few other blogs hoping to get some inspiration for today’s post, and there it was: Wordless Wednesday.  If only I had a good, evocative picture to share.  Damn!

He was so handsome!

After looking through a LOT of pictures on my Tablet, I came across several of my dearly missed husband, Steven.  This one caught my eye, because I am wearing that same shirt tonight. I spilled a little sauce on it when I was eating supper.  I’d better remember to rub in a little soap when I take it off later.

Anyways, the picture was taken at Fratello’s Pizzeria in Frankfort,  NY, when we used to go almost every Wednesday for music and food.  That adds a little symmetry to the post, I think.

Full disclosure:  I did not want to make a cheerful, chatty post today.  I was rather inclined to give a grief update.  It occurred to me today that my sadness is just a chronic condition I have to get used to, like a bad back or knees (both of which I have, but they are not constant, so I count my blessings).  This is actually a helpful thought: Just something I have to get used to.  I can get used to something.

So I am over 200 words on this Wordless Wednesday.  I can never get these things right.

 

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No Tricks Here!

Posted on March 22, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought I could make a Running Commentary Post, because I went for a run after work.  Then as I was running, I thought, “This isn’t going to make a very good blog post.”  It did not seem to be making a very good run.  However, one must get through the crap runs on the way to the good ones.

In some ways it was not a bad run at all.  Most of the sidewalks were bare.  The sun was shining.  It was warm enough to run in shorts and short sleeves. In short, what was I complaining about?

Not exactly what it looked like today.

I wanted to put a picture of something I ran by.  I took this one of Meyers Park in Herkimer, NY earlier this year.  There is a little more snow now, although it is melting.  I am still trying to figure out what I was complaining about.  Oh, I remember now.  I was disappointed that my run was not more memorable.

Additionally, I was a little discouraged by my huffing and puffing.  I ran Saturday and Sunday, and walked on Monday.  I have been walking and/or running most days since the beginning of the year.  Shouldn’t I be getting better at it?  When I was in the army, I loved running, because I magically got better at it.  All I had to do was do it.  Maybe there is some trick to it now that I am older.  Still, I was in my 30’s when I joined the army.  That’s pretty old in army years.

There may be a trick to making a better blog post, too.  Once again, I don’t know it. But I shall persevere.  Once again I thank you for tuning in.

 

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My Rules on Monstrous Monday

Posted on March 21, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have often said that writing begets writing, and I have been writing several things this evening, yet here I sit, looking at a blank space on my “Add New Post” screen.  Maybe I was writing the wrong things.  I wrote a couple journal entries and finished a letter to a friend.  By my rule of Any Writing Counts, that should help.  Then again, why do I think that my rule made up by me has to always be true?

“Why oh whyyyyy can’t I make a blog post?”

I throw in a picture of a monster, because it is Monday.  Regular readers know how I love my Monstrous Monday Posts.

Is this the formula for a decent blog post?

If I continue to add pictures of monsters, I’m sure I can get to 200 words.  I realize making blog posts of at least 200 words is just another one of My Rules For Me.  What is it with me and rules?

Are they pondering the rules of magic?

I wonder if I think something magic is going to happen if I follow these rules.  For example, when I started this blog, I decided I was going to make a post every day for one year.  I did pretty good for the first year, and not bad off and on for the subsequent years (it’s been almost 12).  I don’t know that anything magic happened.  I don’t make up the rules about what counts as magic.

 

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Not Much Brain, But a Nice Memory

Posted on March 20, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I want to make my Sunday blog post on Sunday.  Unfortunately my brain is blank.  This is not an unusual situation for me.

“Did somebody ask for a brain?”

This is The Brain from the Planet Arous. Full disclosure:  I do not remember much about the movie; I just like to use the picture when I am feeling particularly brain dead.

Look at her giving him the side-eye!

And here is The Brain That Wouldn’t Die.  Mine obviously would.

There’s a guy with a brain!

I am still watching episode after episode of Columbo on DVD. Some episodes I pay more attention to than others.  Right now one is playing that I do not mind missing parts of.  Oh, wait, the plot just thickened!

Years ago, when my mother and I used to watch Murder, She Wrote on Sunday nights, at every commercial break, Mom would turn to me and say, “The plot thickens!”  I may have shared that memory before, but it is a good one.  My husband Steve always liked to hear it.  Sometimes I would remark that the plot thickened when he and I watched Dateline.  I do like a thick plot!

So I can’t remember much about The Brain from the Planet Arous, but I remember nice evenings with my Mom.  I’m OK with that.  Happy Sunday, everyone.

 

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Blog After Run, Such As It Was

Posted on March 19, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

As often happens, I neglected to make my Saturday blog post on Saturday.  This morning I thought to make it first thing, but after I had futzed about (holy crap, autocorrect recognized “futzed” as a word!) with coffee and Facebook (judge me if you will, I find Facebook sometimes comforting these days), I really felt more like running than blogging.  It was almost light out.  I decided to go for it.  For one reason, I have been trying to self-medicate my depression with exercise.  For another, the Boilermaker 15K is coming up.  Eventually.

Holy crap, it was cold!  Never mind, I told myself.  You’ll warm up as you go.  Ignoring the logical part of my brain that said my fingers and face traditionally do not warm up, I kept going.

More problematic was the ice.  There were patches of ice EVERYWHERE!  Some of it was insidiously hard to see.  I found a nice bare strip down the center of most roads I went on, but clearly it is a mistake to run down the center of, say German Street, which I happened to be on.  Well, maybe there wouldn’t be much traffic.  In fact there was not a lot, but it only takes one car to obliterate one middle-aged lady runner.  I sprinted for Prospect Street as I heard then saw one approach.

I quickly decided a long-ish run such as I had enjoyed yesterday was not necessary.  15 minutes would be OK, I told myself.  Even at my cautious shuffle, that would be at least a mile.  As it happened, I went for 20 minutes, just under a mile and a half.

As I went, I did not observe much, since I was mainly keeping my eyes on the road.  Therefore I did not enjoy the benefits of distraction which running outdoors usually brings.  Never mind.  We all know some runs are better than others.  The point is, I ran.  And now I have blogged.  Bring on the rest of the day!

 

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Blog Before Run, Or Am I Too Lame?

Posted on March 18, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Last week I hoped I was ushering in a new era of Not Late Lame Post Friday posts.  Alas, it was not to be.  Here it is Saturday morning, and I sit on my couch (lounge, really), listening to what I think is some kind of pigeon (maybe a mourning dove? It sounds pretty sad) and wishing I was already out running. One thing I love is running or walking in the morning and hearing the birds sing (or is it a morning dove with no emotion attributed?  I don’t know from birds).

One reason I am blogging before my run is that I am waiting for it to be light out.  I just can’t trust the sidewalks and roads this time of year.  I have wiped out on the ice too many times this year just walking (one hideous incident on my uneven concrete front steps).  I emphatically do not want to do it while running.  At my age I could break a hip.  Well, maybe not a hip, but something.  At least I would bruise my body and damage my fragile self-esteem.

My day stretches before me in a fairly threatening fashion.  That run to take, post cards to write, a house to clean, a murder mystery to write AND this afternoon auditions for murder mystery actors.  It is a general audition;  I want to develop a pool of actors to draw from as murder mysteries arise to be cast.

Now I feel threatened, because there is a something inside me (my depression?  the aforementioned fragile self-esteem?) strenuously insisting that I CANNOT POSSIBLY do a murder mystery at this time.  I MIGHT be able to write it (low self-esteem aside, I rarely admit to being unable to write something) (yes, yes, there are times when I say I CAN’T write a blog post, but I just mean I can’t write it right now).  But print it out, get a cast, schedule and go to rehearsals…

What am I saying?  Of course I can do all that!  The voices in my head are full of beans!

Talked myself right into that, didn’t I?  Guess I’ll go for my run now.

For local readers interested in theatre, auditions are today, March 18, at 1 p.m. at Ilion Little Theatre,  13 Remington Ave., Ilion, NY.  For more information,  you can visit the theatre’s Facebook page.

 

 

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I Guess It’s My Thursday Thing Now

Posted on March 17, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Never mind how I ended up at Fratello’s Pizzeria in Frankfort, NY, it’s a long story (and I may make it my Lame Post Friday post,  but no promises).  The point is, I walked in, heard music, and right away saw my niece Kimi and her boyfriend,  Matt.

“Boy am I glad to see you!” I said.  Friends, music, food, this was the cure I needed.

I loved his sound.

The singer was Tom Maneen (good God, autocorrect tried to make it Hanson!), who I had never heard before.  He played acoustic guitar and a wonderful mix of music.

At one point he asked for a Jack Fire.  I asked if he had tried Mohawk Valley Fire from Dikin Durt Distillery, which I like to recommend to people when they are having something similar.  He said he had tried all their stuff and loved it.  It’s always nice to encounter someone who likes the same local business I do.

Matt asked for Cold Play but could not pick one of their great hits.  I asked for something from the ’80’s and got “Purple Rain,” which I realized I was writing about with a purple pen.  It’s the little things.

We were soon joined by Matt’s friend Dan, who I had met before.  I was pleased that I remembered his name, because I usually can only remember one person per name, and I already know a few Dans.  Dan was drinking Utica Club, which I mention in order to plug another local business.  I told Dan he was going in the blog for that reason.  He agreed to it, mentioning that he always drinks UC.

As I said, the evening was just what I needed, even if I did wait till Friday morning to make my Thursday blog post (I don’t know why I feel compelled to point up my lateness, but so it is).  I can only hope I get just what I need on Friday.

 

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Is It Really Wednesday?

Posted on March 16, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

OK, all I really have right now is that title.  I guess that makes this either a Wordless or a Wuss-out Wednesday when what I really feel like making is a Mid-week Monsters Post.

Of course, she does have a pretty face.

This is the movie I wanted to watch on Severed Head Sunday.  Unfortunately, I only have it on a DVD collection, not a DVD all by itself.  And with my current DVD situation, I can only put the disc in and hit Play; I can’t arrow over or down to play the second movie on the disc.  No Special Features either, although I rarely got into watching those.  Not that I mean to harp on my first world problems.

“First world problems are still problems!”

Here is my skeleton Bonita having a Wrist to Forehead moment.  I have been feeling a little apt to swoon these days, in my more dramatic moments (of course I have many dramatic moments; I am a theatre person, after all). I guess I don’t have a theme for today’s post.  It is being made out of a desire to post every day, and not to make this post late.

Is that Pinot Noir?

Sometimes the best thing to do is just pour yourself a glass of wine and hope for a better post tomorrow.  I purchased that glass at Pumpkin Junction in Sauquoit, NY, just to mention a local business.  I stupidly broke it last Halloween. Perhaps I can get another one this fall.

In the meantime,  I am over 250 words.  Not bad for a silly post.  I am going to take my own advice: sip a little wine and hope for a better post tomorrow.  As always I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

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One Reason Why I’m Tired

Posted on March 15, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I will tell you about my Tuesday.  The Mohawk Valley was hit with the nor’easter which I suppose is plaguing the entire state.  I can only suppose, because I have yet restored any real television to my television set (long story, not very interesting) (although I do not rule out making a blog post out of it at some point).  I arose in the morning with trepidation, prepared to dig out my driveway prior to departing for work.

Imagine my delight when I found that shoveling was not yet necessay.  I merely had to clean off my car.  I could see snow heavily falling, though, so allowed extra time, which I definitely needed.

Oh, the roads sucked.  I reflected as I drove down Rt 5 at 30 miles an hour, that a year previously, I had turned around in such conditions and gone home.  Full disclosure:  if my husband Steve were still alive, I probably would have yesterday.  In fact, Steve would have urged me in strong terms not to go in at all.  (“You’re NOT going to work today,” was the way he put it the time I turned around) (yes, I disobeyed a direct order, but let us not discuss the dynamics of my marriage).

Driving up Ilion Gorge was an adventure.  It was a decision whether it was better with or without high beams, because of all the snow.  The light reflects each and every flake, you know. I decided I liked it better with.

I further reflected (see what I did there?) that my drive was a metaphor for my current life.  I was going slowly.  I could not see very far ahead.  I was just trusting to be able to reach my destination (one day when I didn’t even try to get to work, I later learned a fallen tree had blocked the road anyways).  It was not much fun.

Actually it was a little fun.  As often happens, I had to laugh at myself.

Further trials and tribulations were in store for me as the day went on, but I see I am over 300 words.  I do not care to tax my readers’ patience at this time (but do not rule it out at some future date).

 

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Who Says You Can’t Get A Head?

Posted on March 14, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

An exceptional cast!

Yesterday I decided at have a severed Head Sunday.  Today I thought I would write about it in lieu of my usual Monstrous Monday Post.  I began with Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte with Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Victor Buono, and Mary Astor.  Just to name everybody.

One of my favorite shots.

I love Hush, Hush but do not pop it in very often, because it is so long.  I guess I have a short attention span, but I do enjoy watching several movies of 90 minutes or less.

She feels strongly about it.

A few days ago I was disappointed to be unable to find my DVD of StraitJacket (starring Joan Crawford,  of course). Yesterday I had better luck.  In fact, I was surprised I had not found it before, because it was not that far out of alphabetical order.  However, I feel it was just as well I had not watched it before, because it fits so well with my Severed Head theme of the day.

And here are a couple of the heads!

It seems this post is longer on pictures than words, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.  I’m not even sure it can count as a Severed Head Sunday since I only watched two movies with severed heads.  Full disclosure:  my first movie was Rope, which features a strangulation, but the victim’s head remains attached (that did not require a spoiler alert; it happens in the very first scene).

No matter.  It is Monday, and it has not been as monstrous as it might have been.  Once again, I thank you for tuning in.

 

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