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Tag Archives: Monstrous Monday

Who Says You Can’t Get A Head?

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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A Mixed Up But Not Monstrous Run

I mixed things up by running, which I rarely do on a Monday, so I thought I would further mix things up by doing a Running Commentary Post instead of my usual Monstrous Monday Post.  I suppose, though, that it is not unusual for me to be mixed up.  Never mind that: on with the post!

One reason I thought to go running was that the roads were pretty much bare, which they have not been and which they are unlikely to remain.  I had previously been toying with the idea of running in place on the mini-tramp, because I wanted to do laundry before taking my shower, one of my few instances of multi-tasking (also, I come home from work too dirty and stinky to want to just sit around before showering).  When I noticed the bare roads as I left work, I said, “Heyyy!”

Picture more snow not on the road but a less wet road.

Of course I thought to run by places I have pictures of in my Media Library.  I believe I used this picture of Herkimer’s Historic Four Corners in my last Running Commentary Post.  As I approached the Corners, my whole body was saying, “Oh, to hell with this!”  Imagine my chagrin to find I had been running for less than three minutes.

There was a little more snow surrounding this building as well.

I ran down several streets with no landmarks before heading toward Washington Street and this handsome building.  I was huffing and puffing and, according to my Garmin, running a bit faster than I have in the recent past.  My body was, as it often does, trying to convince me that a short run would be OK.  I suppose it would, but I have the Boilermaker 15K to train for.  Yes, I have time, but not forever.

This is where I pay my water bill.

 

I hoped to make it for 20 minutes while promising myself I would not beat myself up over 17 or even 15.  I was pleased with myself for doing a mile in just under 13 minutes.  I know, other people do a mile much faster, but I cannot go around comparing myself to others.

Again, picture more snow.

I added a little time to my run by going around Meyers Park the long way.  For one reason, it was left side facing traffic (as it happened, there was no traffic, but one likes to be prepared).  Additionally, I got to enter where it said Do Not Enter.  Regular readers know how I like to do that.

My run was just barely over 20 minutes, a little over a mile and a half.  I felt pretty pleased with myself, especially on a Monday. I want to be more regular about walking and running.  It lifts my mood in several respects, and sometimes it makes a pretty good blog post.  Or do I flatter myself?

 

I Go a Different Way

Lately I have just a terrible time making decisions.  I think I spoke of this problem last Monday.  Today I sit here with my Tablet (pecking in one letter at a time with the stylus, of course), feeling quite paralyzed between two possibilities.  One choice, of course, is my usual Monstrous Monday.  The other is a Pedestrian Post about my walks to and from work today.

I work in Herkimer, NY now, where I live.  It is easy walking distance, but I normally drive for a few reasons, although one might argue that they are actually rationalizations (I know some of you were just taking a breath and opening your mouths to do so) (you know who you are).  That could be a whole other blog post.

Today, however, or rather last night, winter returned to the Mohawk Valley in the form of snow.  A lot of it.  I went out early, thinking to shovel out the end of my driveway at least.  The snow was not up to my bumper, after all.  Where was my shovel?  Oh yes, right where I left it, leaned against the porch stairs, covered with snow.  I was brushing snow off said steps with the outdoor push broom when I said, Oh, to hell with this, I’m walking to work!

I went back inside to get my things. My husband, Steven, expressed some dismay at my choice, but I felt it was safer.  After all, a woman my age could get a heart attack shoveling snow.  If I slipped on ice walking, I was more likely to get a mere bruise, not incur the costly car repair if I spun out while driving.  Additionally, I had not gone for my usual morning walk; I needed the exercise.

I did slip on the ice, as I reached the bottom of the stairs.  I almost landed on my butt.  Of greater concern, I spilled a little coffee.  Yes, I carried my usual thermal mug.  I sip a little in the morning and heat up the remainder in the afternoon.  Now I had a little less for both purposes and had gotten my glove wet!  Sometimes it is not easy being me.

As I walked, I greeted other pedestrians and people shoveling their driveways.  I told a couple of the shovelers that I was walking to avoid their chore.  I did not greet one person brushing off her car, because she seemed to be having a heated argument with someone on the porch.

“Where do you want me to put the snow?” she demanded, then offered a vulgar suggestion (I would just imagine not much snow would fit there) (also, it may not have melted, because I understand it is where the sun don’t shine).

I made it to work without mishap and only a couple of little slithers.  The worst of it was my feet got wet, because I was not sensible enough to put on boots.  My walk home was a little better, as the snow had stopped and the plows continued to do their work.  It was one way to get my exercise!

And I see it was one way to make a blog post.  Isn’t that funny?  I started to write a sentence or two about the Pedestrian Post I might have written (yes, I intended to make another post aboit not making a real blog post).  Then I went a different way.  Kind of like I went to work a different way this morning.  See what I did there?

 

Tired But Still Blogging

I had hoped that Tired Tuesday would not follow Monstrous Monday, but here we are.  Yesterday wasn’t such a great Monstrous Monday Post anyways, with only one monster picture and a whole lot of whining, but one does what one can.  My intention now is to make some post, any post, and continue to do so every day.  We can all hope that at least a few good posts sneak their way in.

I do not feel really awful about not making a better blog post today, because I had little chance to do anything blogworthy.  I went to work and after work stopped at three retail establishments.  Oh, OK, it was the liquor store (I usually call it the liquid store, after a then four year old niece referred to it as such), a convenience store, and the grocery store.  I suppose I could have worked one or all of those into a blog post.  I can’t do it now.

“Ho! Ho! Huh?”

I thought I would throw in a picture to pep things up and found a shot of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians in my Media Library in December 2020.  I feel it is OK to continue the Christmas spirit till New Year’s Day, if not Jan. 6.

In case you had not noticed, I continue my slow convalescence from the flu.  YES, I am grateful my case was not worse. I admit it may  be unbecoming to continue to complain. Sheesh!

On the brighter side, I am over 250 words.  Score!  Maybe I could try for a Pedestrian Post tomorrow.  Or there’s always Wednesday night at Fratello’s.  Different possibilities add interest to my life.

 

Talk Too Much on Tired Tuesday?

Yeah, well, at least I got through Tuesday.

I never for one minute thought today was Friday.  I think I might try to stop looking forward to Friday so much.  I never get as much done on the weekends as I want to.  And when you get right down to it, it is a little silly to spend five days longing for two.  I hope that is not all I spend my week doing.  I try to get at least a little joy out of each day.

How philosophical I am tonight.  I do not have a feature for that.  There is Monday Middle-aged Musings, which I have not had in a while (Monstrous Monday is just so much more fun).  And Lame Post Friday used to be the place for half-baked philosophy (and random observations).  Usually it is Tired Tuesday, which is not the home of much.

Yes, I am tired today.  I worked for ten hours,  which I have not done in a while.  I shan’t say more about that (and for heavens’ sakes, autocorrect, “shan’t” is so a word!), because this is not a work blog.  I merely mention it, because I am too tired to think of much else to say.  I am mostly glad I could find the preceding picture in my Media Library.

Now, having rattled on for over 200 words without saying much of anything, I terminate this post (Terminator Tuesday?).  Perhaps I have said too much.

 

Where Are Those Monsters Now?

Early Tuesday morning I made my Monstrous Monday Post, but before I did that, I had tried to make a different post.  I had in fact began said attempt on Monday. On giving it up Tuesday morning, I saved the effort, titling it, “To Continue This Blog Post?”  Then, as people may or may not have noticed, I failed to make any post for Tuesday or Wednesday.   I felt bad about it, but there it is.  Now it is Thursday night and there is no blog post in sight.  So here is the post I started to make:

What did I say about making a better blog post?  Whatever it was, it is not likely to happen.  I might as well acknowledge that I am going through a rough patch, in my blog and in my life.  Since the blog is about my life, I suppose it should come as no surprise that both hit a rough patch at the same time.  But don’t mind me; I’m always whining about something.  My problems almost all fall under the heading Operator Error and are mostly First World Problems anyways.

Where was I?  Ah yes, making another Monstrous Monday Post. Can I do it?

As it turns out, I could not.  I typed in the above last night (one letter at a time with the stylus on my Tablet).  I am now ten-finger typing on the dining-room-table-top, sipping coffee for which I am truly grateful.

Here is the thing about depression:  doing almost anything can make you feel better.  It won’t definitely make you feel better, but there is a very good chance that it will.  However, when one has depression, the first thing one wants to do is NOTHING.  I lie in bed or sit on the couch or do my job at work, thinking, “I can do this, and then I’ll do this, and it will be a good idea to to this…”  But I don’t do it.

I have gone over this before, although I feel it bears repeating, at least to me.  Now that I typed the preceding paragraph, I realize I have proved my caveat:  anything can make you feel better, BUT it might not.  Obviously starting a blog post did not make me feel better, because I could not continue.  Some voices in my head want to argue this:  “You COULD have continued, you CHOSE not to,”  “It was a stupid, boring blog post anyways,” “This one is even worse.”

I’ll stop that right now.

OK, back to Thursday night and I see that this nonsense runs over 400 words.  I feel dreadfully self-indulgent publishing it, but then again, why not?  People can read it or not.  If they read it and think it sucks, they can always feel pleasantly superior.  Thus I rationalize myself.  In any case, I think I will try to come up with a punchy title and bill this as a Non-Sequitur Thursday Post.

 

 

Not Monsters, Mosey!

Despite all the adventures alluded to yesterday, I content myself today with a mere Pedestrian Post.  For one reason, I took a few pictures when I walked on Sunday.  For another reason, I thought of that alliterative title as an answer to any readers expecting my usual Monstrous Monday Post.  In fact, I set a fairly brisk pace, since I was walking for exercise. But you know how I love alliteration.

I did not avail myself of the seat.

The first thing that caught my eye as I left the house was this comfy-looking couch, sadly abandoned.  Why can’t people donate these things?  Perhaps there was something wrong with it that I could not perceive.

Lots of bunnies around here.

This bunny hopped away while I was fumbling with my phone, but I managed to get a shot when he paused.  I like bunnies.

It feels steeper when you are on it.

This hill is short but fairly steep.  I do like to go up hills, although you can get too much of a good thing.  When I got to the end of the street, I impulsively turned right and went up to Herkimer College the back way. I felt pretty proud of myself for doing it.  It was not so easy to get a picture, since there are curves, but I tried.

I think this was more than halfway up.

Going down Lou Ambers Drive was a snap.  Ah, when gravity is my friend!  When I paused at the spring to refill my water bottle, I took a closer shot than the other one I shared.

I thought you might like to see the stones.

I did not take a walk this morning, due to a thunder storm.  Quite frankly, I enjoyed sleeping in.  Tomorrow, however, I hope to be back out on the sidewalks again.  Will I write another Pedestrian Post or cover one of last weekend’s adventures?   A little uncertainty adds interest to my day.  In either case, I hope you will tune in.

 

I Repeat Myself on Monstrous Monday

Time to make this week’s Monstrous Monday Post. I am feeling quite tired but not entirely useless. I went for a walk before work. Not a long walk nor yet a particularly brisk walk, but let us not dwell on the negatives. After work I did a load of laundry. No, I did not fold it, do I look like some kind of clean clothes maniac?

The most productive thing I did was write, type up and email an article for Mohawk Valley Living magazine. I started writing it during a break at work. Once again, I observed what I consider to be the damnedest thing: I can’t write the article, I can’t write the article, I can’t write the article, I sit down and write the article. It happens almost every month, and I can’t skip any of the “can’t write the article”s (that looks like an incorrect use of quotation marks, but it is what I mean).

This is not what I wrote.

I put in Nosferatu, because I remembered it is Monstrous Monday. I have shared this picture before, but for that matter, I have also written about can’t write the article etc.

I guess my ambition for Tired Tuesday is to find something new to say. However, since it will be a Pre-Rehearsal Post, no promises.

Just Make a Monday Post

I just remembered I used to have a feature called Monday Mental Meanderings. I originally called it Middle-aged Musings Monday. Then there was one post called Moronic Monday, but I never made that a feature. All this by way of introduction on a day when I want to make a post, but I ain’t got nuthin’.

Imagine my delight.

I went for a short run after work, a thing I rarely do on Monday. I thought doing something different might shake things up. I did not run very fast or very far (so it wasn’t real different). After my shortened cool-down walk, I walked into my backyard and discovered we have crocuses! Full disclosure: the above picture is from 2021. This year’s flowers look remarkably similar. I also observed a couple daffodils buds. A little joy to my heart.

Unfortunately, spring will also bring bugs.

Mental meanderings and middle-aged musings aside, I did not want to have a completely monster-less Monday. So here is Joan Collins in Empire of the Ants. I would like to see that flick again.

A couple of times today I saw this Facebook meme to the effect, just do something. For example, if you can’t face the whole sinkful just wash one dish. I took this advice to heart. I could not run two miles, but I managed one. I washed and dried a load of laundry, even though I did not fold it. I could not do a really good blog post, but I managed 250 words. Happy Monday, everyone.