Tag Archives: not writing

What Would Barbara Stanwyck Do?

Posted on February 4, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

It is one of those stare at a blank computer screen kind of blogging days.  This won’t do.  I’ll pep things up (most notably myself) with a picture.

Who will give Valentine Ducky a kiss? Will Cher do it?

This is a picture from last February, when Steven decorated our mantle for Valentine’s Day. The wine glass with the lips and the rubber ducky are there again this year, but, as I mentioned in an early post, it is not a particularly seasonal decor.

I just used this recently, but I include it for comparison’s sake.

As I enjoy the first few days of the month, I am still getting used to the idea that it IS a new month.  Now I have to think about Valentine’s Day.  And I have less time before I have to worry about my murder mysteries in March and April.  Ooh, and I need to be getting my article(s) written for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  All of a sudden, I am thinking I have every reason in the world for it to be Wrist to Forehead Sunday!

 

Perhaps I should pop in a film noir and pour myself a glass of pinot noir.

How about if I make it a Non-Sequitur Sunday instead and throw in a couple of unrelated photos.  Double Indemnity, shown above, is  good movie to watch on a Sunday afternoon.   Had I watched it earlier, I might have managed a Sunday Cinema post.  And while we’re on the subject of What Might Have Been, I went running this morning — outside in the snow — in hopes of making a Running Commentary post.

Most unusual suspects.

I shall close with a photo of a past murder mystery, A G.R.A.V.E. Murder, which was presented in October of 2017 to benefit the Herkimer County Historical Society.  I post it to inspire myself to finish my latest deadly opus (hmmm, how does Deadly Opus sound for a title?).  At least I have managed a blog post of over 300 words.  I say not bad for a Sunday.  Bring on the rest of the week!

 

Leave a comment

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

At Least No Lame Excuses

Posted on February 2, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

So there I was, trying to think of a play on words for my title utilizing Lame, because it is, you know, Lame Post Friday (at least, perhaps you don’t know, but I do).  Nothing is coming.

Earlier today I said, “That’s just a random observation.”  I have no memory of what it was, but I remember thinking at the time that my earliest Friday Lame Posts included random observations and half-baked philosophy.  These days they are merely lame.  What can I do?  What can I say?  What lame excuses can I offer?  None, I suppose.

Ooh, here’s a bit of half-baked philosophy:  what is the difference between a reason and an excuse?  Some people accept reasons but scorn excuses.  Others discount both indiscriminately.  I seem to recall reading somewhere, “We have a thousand reasons for failure but not a single excuse.”  That means, I suppose, that however many reasons there are that we fail, there is no excuse for failure.  “You are not excused!”  On the other hand, I also have seen excuses scorned. “There’s always an excuse,” someone says, meaning one has offered something completely lame, and not even on a Friday.  In these cases, I would think a legitimate reason would be more respected.

Then again, why are we even talking about why?  For heavens’ sake, not everyone can succeed at everything! And who cares who excuses me or not? Who is the arbiter of these things, anyways? It’s not like school, where your mother wrote you an excuse, so you did not get in trouble for being absent.  Whether or not you get in trouble depends entirely on what you are trying to succeed at.  I don’t suppose excuses or reasons matter that much in some cases.

In this case, I sincerely hope that is true, because I have neither a reason nor an excuse for this weeks Lame Friday Post. But here it is.  I hope to see you all again Saturday, whatever kind of Saturday it turns out to be.

 

Leave a comment

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

John Quinones, Can You Help Me Now?

Posted on February 1, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

OK, I just searched my Media Library twice, thinking I had a logo from 20/20 on OWN, the show which is currently distracting me from my blogging activities for the evening. And by “blogging activities,” I mean typing words into the computer.  I don’t have the oomph to actually do any activities that are worth blogging about (or blog-worthy activities, as I sometimes refer to them as).  I did find a picture of John Quinones (I think that “n” should have a tilda over it but don’t know how to find one on my keyboard).

I do enjoy the hosts of my true crime shows.

Tomorrow I have some blog-worthy stuff planned. Steven and I are meeting our friends Phyllis and Jim at Jamo’s in Herkimer for dinner.  Then we are going to see The Trip to Bountiful  at Ilion Little Theatre.  I must find an elegant outfit to wear.  I do like to dress up for the theatre (sometimes I pronounce it “thee-ah-tah” just to be extra hoity toity).  The only problem will be I may not have time for my post before the evening and at the end of the evening I may be too tired (do you suppose I should have put some commas in that sentence?  I am usually so good at punctuation).  I seem to recall having just such a problem last Friday.

So I guess this is my Non-Sequitur Thursday post.  For one reason, I have to finish it soon, because dinner is almost ready.  Steven is cooking chicken and potatoes.  He really is a very nice husband.  And on that note, I hit Publish.  Happy Thursday, folks!

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Non Sequitur Thursday, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Words Happen. Or Not.

Posted on January 23, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

Tired Tuesday follows Monstrous Monday in many cases.

I typed in that sentence, then I just sat here and stared at it, wondering what else to say.  It’s odd how sometimes I put fingers on keyboard and words happen (ooh, great title, that).  Sometimes not so much.  Guess what kind of day today is.

First drafts and blog posts.

Full disclosure:  most of my blog posts are first drafts.  Most of my everything are first drafts.  The papers I wrote in school, my murder mysteries, a lot of my articles for Mohawk Valley Living magazine, my many unfinished novels.  Oh well, I guess I do some editing, more on some things than others.  My writing is so informal, sometimes a first draft will do.

So this is another post about I Can’t Write a Blog Post Today.  What I am really trying to do is NOT write a post whining about some physical, emotional and personal troubles I have been having.  Oh dear, I should not have mentioned that at all.  And here is where a first draft can be a really good thing.  If this was a first draft, I could cut out that sentence when I edited and re-wrote.  The second or third draft could read entirely differently.  Less whiny, more coherent, in short, a better blog post.

A better blog post is always my aim.  I’ll see what I can do about that tomorrow.  However, experience has shown us all that sometimes Wuss-out Wednesday follows Tired Tuesday.  As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

Leave a comment

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

Who Me? Forget My Blog Post?

Posted on January 17, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

Full disclosure:  I got out of bed to make this blog post.  I remembered before I got into bed that I had forgotten my blog (Can you believe such a thing?  What the hell, me?), but I had already heated up my rice bag and did not want to waste the heat (if I put a hot rice bag on the back of my neck every night before I sleep, it helps my headaches).  I have a really sick headache today.  Not so much pain as light-headed-ness and all around crappy feeling.  Sorry to bitch; I’m just trying to give you the full picture.

So I said to hell with it and laid down with the rice bag.  Naturally I could not sleep.  I am an insomniac from way back.  Finally I decided to get back up and make my silly post.  I may still have insomnia, but at least it will not be guilt-ridden from skipping a blog post.

Where was I?  Ah yes, writing about not writing.  I did write today.  Not as much or as good as I had hoped, but you can’t have everything.  Earlier today I gave myself a stern talking to.  I asked myself what I was being so angst-y and dramatic about?  I write light-hearted, chatty fluff. I write fast and I have fun doing it.  Why I can’t seem to do it any old time is a mystery to me, but there is no reason to swoon with my wrist on my forehead (Wrist to Forehead Sunday notwithstanding).

Anyways, this will have to do for today’s post.  We’ll call it a Wuss-out Wednesday and drive on.

 

2 Comments

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

Apparently I Can Write a Blog Post

Posted on January 16, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

I can’t have a Monstrous Tuesday; it’s not alliterative!  But here I am, doing nothing but read other blogs or look at Facebook when I meant to be making today’s post.  I should perhaps mention I am having a dreadful bout of Writer’s Blank.  At least, maybe this time it really is Writer’s Block, because there are words in my head that I intend to write.  Only when I sit down and put pen to paper, nothing comes out.

I found this gem by typing “monsters writing” into the search bar on Facebook.

Maybe it really is a discipline thing.  Perhaps if I gritted my teeth and forced myself to write the words I was thinking… Look, I already get sore muscles in my temples from grinding my teeth in my sleep, I do NOT need any more teeth gritting.  I really did sit down and write a sentence, which I immediately hated.  Oh, it was not the sentence you see at the top of this post.  I was trying to write my articles for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.

I imagine this was done with some gritted teeth.

I seem to follow a pattern with almost everything I write:  I can’t write it, I can’t write it, I can’t write it, I sit down and write it.  And I have yet to figure out how to skip any of the “I can’t write it”s.  I like to think the picture above is what might result if I tried.  For the uninitiated, it is from the 1980 movie The Shining, adapted from the Steven King book (by the way, they changed a LOT).  The main character is a writer, and this is all he has managed to come up with.

And now here I am approaching 300 words after I thought I couldn’t write at all.  So I guess that is one solution:  if you can’t write one thing, try something else.  Maybe I will be able to segue over to my articles next.  In the meantime, I’m going to call this a Tired Tuesday and drive on.  Maybe one picture of Nosferatu, just to cheer myself up.

“Wasn’t I supposed to be here on Monstrous Monday?”

 

Leave a comment

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

Please Excuse Mohawk Valley Girl…

Posted on January 10, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

Sorry, kids, it’s a blogger’s sick day.  I’ve had a migraine most of the day.  It’s a little better now, but you know how these things can take it out of you.  Or maybe you don’t know, in which case, lucky you.  Or maybe you do know, yet you manage to drive on and get stuff done nevertheless, in which case, how motivated of you.  In fact, I did get stuff done today:  I worked a fairly productive 10-hour day at my place of employment.  So there.

Really, I feel a little silly whining about my headaches when my pain is obviously much less than other migraine sufferers.  Other people hide in darkened rooms, unable to move or even open their eyes.  This has only happened to me on rare occasions.  Mostly I can get through a day of work, but it sure isn’t fun.  And there was no chance I was going to the YMCA or running afterward.

In the meantime, I cannot bear for today to be the day I do not make a blog post.  So this is another whiny post about I Can’t Make a Blog Post Because I Have a Headache.  I find that appropriate on a Wuss-out Wednesday, although I am quite disappointed in myself.  However, my head is starting to hurt again, so boo hoo me.  Feel free to shake your head and play a miniature violin or otherwise make fun of me.  I’m going into one of them there darkened rooms.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in bloggers sick day, humor, personal, Wuss Out Wednesday and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

That’s Not Writing on Monstrous Monday

Posted on January 8, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

Now I remember why I so often have Monstrous Monday.  I am TIRED on Mondays!  And I want to make my blog post quickly and watch Dateline on OWN.

Nobody does. What am I complaining about?

All day at work today I thought about writing.  At least, throughout the day, off and on, I thought about writing.  I thought about writing my blog post.  I thought about writing the next murder mystery.  I thought about writing my next article for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  I thought about writing a novel.  That last was more of a vague thought; for the others I actually formed words in my head I intended to put on paper.  However, as the writing books so helpfully point out, thinking about writing is not writing.

When it came time for break, the only thing I could manage was a few jottings in the food journal I am keeping this month.  I am writing down everything I eat, any exercise I get, and when I get a headache or feel light-headed.  I hope to do it for a month and look for patterns.  Being me, it is more likely that I will (a) forget to write things (b) lose the journal (c) get tired of the whole thing (d) start adding all kinds of commentary, thus obscuring the information and losing the purpose (e) any or all of the above.  But that is strictly by the way.  The point is: I am not writing enough.  Bad writer!  Get to work!

But… DATELINE!!!

Will I tear myself away from the television?  Will I continue to watch Dateline (full disclosure:  I have been giving it half an eye while I type this post) (as Truman Capote once said, this isn’t writing, it’s typing)?  Will I attempt to write WHILE watching Dateline?  A little uncertainty adds spice to my evening.  In the meantime, I think I need one more picture of a monster if this is to count as a Monstrous Monday.

 

“Are you going to write, or do I have to get tough?”

 

2 Comments

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

Throw in a Vampire and Hope for the Best

Posted on December 28, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

I really thought I might go running this morning and make a Running Commentary post.  However, it seemed a little cold.  Additionally, I encountered some ice under the snow as I ran yesterday and was afraid there was more.  I went to the Mohawk YMCA and did a 30-minute stint on the elliptical.  I even upped the resistance from when I was there last Saturday, so there’s that.

While there, I had a nice conversation with a couple of ladies who had just finished their work-out.  I offered a friendly “good morning” to everybody who showed up afterward (there were not many).  I felt pretty good about myself for working out, and I did enjoy some sweat.

Later that morning, I walked to the post office to buy some stamps and put a few bills and New Year’s cards in the mail (the New Year’s cards were for people who sent us Christmas cards that we had not sent cards to).  I took the long way home, to make it a half hour walk.  So that makes an hour of exercise for me.  Can health and weight loss be far?  Probably, but let’s not talk about all the sweets and treats I have been consuming.

That is about all I have been doing today.  No Mohawk Valley Adventures.  No profound or amusing remarks about my post-Christmas let-down.  Yes, once again, I got nuthin’.  So let’s make it a Non-Sequitur Thursday.  I’ll slap on a kicky headline and attach a picture of Nosferatu.  When in doubt, do not discount the vampire!  Happy Thursday, everyone!

“Who, me? Pep up a blog post?”

 

2 Comments

Posted in humor, Non Sequitur Thursday, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Blame It On Post-Christmas Let-Down

Posted on December 27, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

One of the all time great posters.

Well how can I make a decent blog post when I am in the throes of a post-Christmas letdown?  I guess the let-down has not really reached full strength, but it’s getting there.  Oh well, you’ll have these things, especially when you love Christmas as much as I do.  It should surprise no one that I am not up to discussing the philosophical ramifications of “cry because it’s over or smile because it happened.”

Right now we are enjoying one of our go-to silly movies, Murder by Death (1976).  Earlier we were watching Forensic Files.  I do love a true crime documentary, but I was reaching manic levels of sick-of-it regarding a song that was playing during a promo of upcoming attractions that played during every commercial break (good song, not even a bad version of it, but you can have too much of a good thing).

Earlier yet, I went Mohawk Valley adventuring with my sister Cheryl.  We went to Fort Plain Antiques and Salvage, and Mohawk Antique Mall.  I brought my Tablet with me but only took one picture.  Still, I could write a blog post giving a proper plug to these two fun shopping destinations.  Speaking of “could write a blog post,” I went running this morning.  Yay, me.  I really need to sit down and write a Running Commentary soon after one of these runs.

I am thinking, however, that right now I am over 200 words and I am going to call this a Wuss-out Wednesday.  What do you want a day after a major holiday?  Miracles, I suppose.  Well, we can always hope for what tomorrow may bring.  Happy Day After Christmas, everyone!

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, personal, Wuss Out Wednesday and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
← Older Posts
Newer Posts →