Tag Archives: not writing

Does This Blog Count as a Journal?

Posted on March 29, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I was too tired to do my Tired Tuesday post on Tuesday.  For one reason, I went running.  I also did a load of laundry (one of my few instances of multi-tasking: I put in the laundry and run while it washes) and the dishes (I know some of you are judging me that the dishes were not washed as soon as they were dirty, but I am reconciled to that), and I worked a very little bit on the murder mystery I am a little sorry I committed myself to do.  And I made a few journal entries.

I have been keeping multiple journals lately.  Regular readers may recall the TV Journal, which I believe I wrote a blog post about (I wonder if I will be able to find it and share the link).  This has come to encompass more than just television viewing, so I guess I could drop the “TV,” call it a “Journal” and use my other notebooks for something else.

However, I also have a Running Journal.  This was a good idea, because it is helpful to look back and see where I am at fitness-wise, especially when I am training for, say, the Boilermaker 15K (preview of upcoming attractions).  It would be cumbersome to keep track of these things if I put them in the TV Journal with everything else.  Full disclosure:  I had one a while ago that I cannot find and finally broke down and started a new one in a fresh notebook recently.

On other occasions, I have tried to keep journals of my headaches or my eating habits, but I have never stuck with either of these tools long enough for them to become useful.  I fear that is the fate of my latest attempt at a journal: a Cleaning Journal.

Regular readers as well as my family and friends may be aware that my house is a hideous mess.  I am embarrassed to have anybody over and fear I will soon qualify for one of those TV shows like Hoarders (although that would make an interesting entry in the TV Journal).   I have been trying to embrace the Little Bit At A Time method, with only sporadic success and much backsliding. One Sunday I thought, “I’ll keep a journal!  I will write down what I do as I do it, what I find successful, how I feel, how I progress…”  I got all enthusiastic about it and even spent a good half hour actually cleaning.  This was pretty huge, quite frankly, because I almost never get anything done on a Sunday (it’s kind of a thing with me).

Nobody was less surprised than me when the Cleaning Journal did not turn out to be an ongoing source of inspiration.

However, one must persevere.  One bright side: I see I am over 400 words, a rather large word count for me.  Not bad for a late Tired Tuesday post, I think.

 

2 Comments

Posted in humor, personal, Tired Tuesday and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Writing About Not Writing Is Still Writing

Posted on March 28, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh dear, it seems I have the dreaded Type It In Backspace It Out Disease.  This is much worse than when I write it down and cross it out, because in that case I can usually read what I crossed out later and say, “Oh, that isn’t so bad.”  Unless I get really disgusted with it and obliterate it or tear it up.  That has happened.

Phew!  I just got down a whole paragraph and haven’t deleted it.  Yet.  No promises, of course.  I could save it as a draft, but then when I try to go back to it, WordPress insists I started in Block Editor and something terrible may happen if I continue with Classic Editor.  I did not, WordPress!  I haven’t used Block Editor since I figured out how to go back to Classic Editor.

But I digress.

I guess this is going to be a Middle-aged Musings Monday Post.  I haven’t done one of those in a while.  Or maybe this is more of a Monday Mental Meanderings Post.  You decide.

Or pecked in one letter at a time with the stylus.

I personally am not hung up on my writing being perfect.   I just think it should be good.  Or at least not embarrassing.  I think I need to get over that and Just Write.  I can always revise the embarrassing parts later.  Or use them as blog posts (see what I did there?).

 

1 Comment

Posted in humor, Middle-aged Musings Monday, Monday Mental Meanderings, personal and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

I Try to Make a Lame Post Friday Post

Posted on March 25, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

This is the point on a Friday evening when I usually say to hell with it, I’ll make another late Lame Post Friday post.  That may yet happen today.  However, I am sitting on my couch, episode of Columbo on the television, glass of wine nearby, Tablet in hand, trying.

That is another trick I try on myself.  I have talked about the trick of doing Just One Thing.  For example, just wash one dish, put away one thing, write one journal entry.  A trick I may not have mentioned is that of Just Try.  For example, when I say, I can’t wash the dishes! I can’t go running! I can’t write anything!  I say to myself, Just Try.

Sometimes it doesn’t work.  Of course sometimes it does.  I mean, when it comes to the dishes, I can usually manage to get them organized, fill the dishpan with hot, soapy water, wash one dish… and it goes on from there.  Full disclosure:  often I get the dishes washed but do not scrub the sink afterwards.  And I quite frankly never dry them. I say why waste effort on what patience will accomplish.

However,  in most cases, washing dishes and writing are two disparate activities with very little in common. Once you wash a dish, it seems a very easy action to wash another.  Just because you write one word or even sentence is no guarantee that more words will be forthcoming.

On the other hand, I have gotten over 200 words with this nonsense.  I say Happy Lame Post Friday.

 

2 Comments

Posted in humor, Lame Post Friday, personal and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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.

 

2 Comments

Posted in humor, personal, Wordless Wednesday and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Monstrous Monday, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Mid-Week Monsters from my Media Library

Posted on March 2, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am having a hard time writing anything these days.  I open a notebook (the spiral-bound paper kind), uncap a pen, and…  sometimes I write a word or two, sometimes not.  I guess the important thing is to keep trying.  So I will try to make a blog post.  I know what!  It’s Wednesday:  I will do a Mid-Week Monsters Post! I look in my Media Library…

He’s not the only one who was scared!

I open with Nosferatu (1922), because I have been watching it on DVD while running in place on the mini-tramp this past week or so.  I have only been doing short runs, so it took a few times to see the whole movie.

Not showing the monster, but appropriate for the day.

I love Young Frankenstein, in fact, I love most of Mel Brooks’ movies.

 

“This is a good boy!”

Here is the monster! At first, I went to Facebook and downloaded a new photo, but when I tried to put it in the post, it was really small, so I went back to my Media Library.  I do not properly understand photos and computers.

“I said I only wanted a trim!”

After Dracula (although they couldn’t call him that) and Frankenstein,  I put in the Wolfman.  I don’t know what movie this is from; it was in my Media Library.  Sometimes I just download pictures I like.

This silliness has gotten me over 200 words.  Apparently I can come up with more words pecking in one letter at a time with the stylus.  Tomorrow I will try again with pen and paper.

 

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Mid-Week Monsters, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Perhaps I Should Have Left It Blank

Posted on February 20, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am sitting here staring at a blank space and feeling that my mind is equally blank.

Well, I thought that if I typed in something, anything (pecking it out one letter at a time with the stylus, of course), I could go on from there.   Sometimes these little tricks work.  Sometimes not so much.  However,  I want to make a blog post.  I will attempt to make a blog post.

The famous white bathing suit.

I throw in a picture to pep things up. Earlier I watched Creature from the Black Lagoon on a DVR’d episode of Svengoolie.  I loves me some Svengoolie.

I know how she feels.

This is also not the picture I was looking for.  However, sometimes I like to jump on the I Hate Monday bandwagon.  I personally will not be pouring myself such a measure of booze.  I had a little wine earlier, but not enough to render Monday even more hideous than it is forced to be by nature.

Cheers, my love.

Speaking of wine, here is a picture of my sadly missed husband, Steve, enjoying a libation at the Waterfront Grille in Herkimer, NY.  My friend Kim and I had a couple drinks at the Waterfront yesterday.  Did I mention that in my Scattered Saturday Post?   It is far too much trouble to go back and look.

I guess I can bill this as a Wrist to Forehead Sunday Post, because I must sound like I am about to swoon, dramatically posed with the back of one wrist to my forehead.  I will try for a little less drama tomorrow.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, personal, Wrist to Forehead Sunday and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Monsters, Murder and Memories at Mid-Week

Posted on February 2, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I can call this a Blogger’s Sick Day or a Blogger’s Stress Day (I think that might be a new one), but I am making yet another post about not making a decent blog post.  Some may find it frustrating that I am sharing no details about my sickness or stress.  Others will be happy to be spared the sordid details.  I always say explanations are tiresome.

Unrelated but amusing photo.

I throw in a picture to pep things up.  I had thought to make this a Mid-Week Monsters Post, so here we are.

The fact is that even when undergoing great personal trauma (accuse me of overdramatizing if you like), I cling to my image of myself as a writer.  I have not traditionally experienced great success in writing about what bothers me.  What often happens is that as I write, I think, “Wow, I am really justified in feeling upset!”  And I get even more upset.  Go figure.

We have always been a lovely couple.

I have experienced greater success in distracting myself from my problems, if not with monsters, then with memories.  The picture shows my husband Steven and I in Fabulous and Fatal, a murder mystery we presented to benefit the Herkimer County Historical Society.

OK, that got me over 200 words.  I’ll call it a blog post and hope for a better one tomorrow.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Mid-Week Monsters, personal, Wuss Out Wednesday and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Slacker Sunday, But Here’s a Snowman

Posted on January 30, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Earlier today I posted on Facebook, “Two things done.  Roughly 5,438 left to go!”  In fact, I got more than two things done today, but the backlog of things that yet need doing looms before me in a most menacing manner.  Although I have had a couple Mohawk Valley Adventures lately, I just don’t feel I can make good blog posts about them.  And so I slack.

A giant snowman might cheer me up!

I took this picture in my neighborhood yesterday while on an otherwise unremarkable walk.  I thought it would be nice to include in my Sunday blog post.  Waste not, want not, I always say.

A smaller snowman, but still cheery.

I remembered I had another picture of a snowman in my Media Library.  I even remembered it was November 2020, so my brain is apparently not completely fried.

It would take a lot of oil to fry this brain!

I venture into non-sequitur territory with The Brain from the Planet Arous.  Or is it more of a tangent, since I just mentioned brain?  I ought to know these grammatical considerations.

All this nonsense is my way of continuing my Blogger’s Sick Day.  I will strive to get my act together in the coming week.  Will I succeed any better than the last dozen times I have thought to get my act together (never mind the last 8,562 times)?  A little uncertainty will add interest to my week.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, personal, Wrist to Forehead Sunday and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Lame it on Dateline

Posted on January 21, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

You know, instead of Blame it on Dateline.  Or have I used that before?  I would not be surprised.  I often fail to post on time, and I almost always watch Dateline  I am a little obsessed.

This was in my Media Library.

Yes, I did nothing useful last night, unless you count the crocheting I did while I sipped wine and enjoyed true crime.  I do enjoy true crime.

If I wanted to rationalize my continual viewing of Dateline (with occasional breaks for Snapped, Forensic Files and otners) (they cancelled Reasonable Doubt, dammit!), I could say that since I write murder mysteries, it falls under the heading of Research.  The problem with that rationalization is that I could get a lot better research done at the library.  Books are way better than television for research, and I know it.

However, I do not feel I need to rationalize my television viewing.  I enjoy it, I do it.  Did that sound a little defensive?  Well then, quit shaking your finger at me (you know who you are).  Shake your booty instead.

Come to think about it, blaming my failure to make my Lame Post Friday post on Friday is also a rationalization.  Oh dear.  Perhaps I should make up a new headline about rationalizations.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Lame Post Friday, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
← Older Posts
Newer Posts →