Tag Archives: not writing

Halloween Pics on Tired Tuesday

Posted on October 18, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

It’s Tired Tuesday, and I knew it would be a Tired Tuesday, and I did not one thing all day in any attempt to avoid this being Tired Tuesday.  I even had vague thoughts of going to bed and saying, “To hell with it, I’ll write something stupid tomorrow morning at four!”  Of course, that would entail getting up at four instead of my usual 4:30.  I could always try to post at 4:30, though, couldn’t I?

After Saturday night’s successful murder mystery, I only have two more theatrical commitments, and then I can concentrate on just going to work, coming home, and trying to get my act together.  Hey, that’s just three things, and I don’t think “coming home” even counts as one.  So that’s my plan.  I’m going to get my act together.  Does anybody believe me?  I’m not even sure I believe myself.

The folks at work don’t even believe I’m going to take a break from doing theatre things, but I think I can manage it at least for a month or so.  I wonder how much of my act I can get together in a month.

In the meantime, here I am making a silly and I’m afraid rather boring blog post.  I will add a couple Halloween photos to cheer things up a little.  I’ll just take some from my Media Library (doesn’t that sound fancy?  it is what the website calls it).

She looks so happy!

This lovely lady is from Pumpkin Junction in Sauquoit.  We have not been there yet this year.  We must plan a visit soon!

Ah, if only I stayed on the South Beach Diet long enough, perhaps I could look like this!

This one was taken at Pumpkin Junction.  Now I really want to make another visit there, to see if it is the same or if they have come up with new arrangements.

 

Another handsome fellow.

This last one is from the So Sweet Candy Cafe in Utica.  This photo was on my Facebook On This Day, so I re-posted it, asking the So Sweet if he was there again this year.  He is! Another visit I must plan.

That’s two things I can write better blog posts about!  Happy Tuesday, everyone!

 

 

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More Monsters on Non-Sequitur Thursday

Posted on October 13, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Sometimes when I have no ideas for a blog post nor brain to come up with any, I get on Facebook and find a cool picture, usually of a monster.  Sometimes not so much.  That is what you might call a heck of a note, especially during the month of October.  I wonder if my dear husband Steven downloaded anything good recently…

Was Elvis crossing over to the Dark Side or was Darth hoping for a gig as a back-up singer?

I’m going to count Darth Vader as a monster, although I suppose he is more properly considered a villain.  This being Non-Sequitur Thursday, I picked a few non-sequitur-looking pictures.  Darth Vader and Elvis Presley, there’s a buddy picture nobody ever made.  I suppose I could write a screenplay (if I knew how to write a screenplay), but who could we get to play Elvis?  Anyways, I would probably be lousy at pitching it to the studios.  That’s what you do with a screenplay, isn’t it?

It’s actually pretty good read.

Vampires are definitely monsters.  This is a book which occupies a proud place in our Halloween decorations.  Steven sought it out when he first heard of its existence.  I think a friend saw it in a bookstore window and posted a picture on Facebook.  Let’s hear it for posting pictures on Facebook!

Some humans are undoubtedly scarier than ghosts.

There’s a new ambition for me:  to find a ghost or other monster whose bed or closet I can hide under or in.

As you may have noticed, my writing tribulations continue.  I open the notebook and put pen to paper and nothing happens.  Oh, sometimes I write words then cross them out.  Then I write other words, some of which I let remain uncrossed.  They look up at me mockingly, flaunting their own ineptitude (how’s that for an awkward bit of anthropomorphism?).  And I make silly blog posts with pictures of monsters.  I like monsters.

 

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Brain Off on Tired Tuesday

Posted on October 11, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

My brain has been functioning on and off all day, mostly off.  I hurried home from work and managed to accomplish the tasks I had set for myself EXCEPT make my blog post before my rehearsal for Strike Story, the reader’s theatre production in Little Falls later this month (is that a run-on sentence?  My brain is back in off mode, naturally).  I just about had time to make a not very good post, but my brain clicked off big time.  It barely clicked back on for rehearsal, but I managed to stumble through that.

Of course, the operative thing to do would have been to write my blog post earlier, while on breaks at work.  I was totally going to!  I even had something to write about.  When I started to compose it in my head while working (I have the sort of job where you can do that), I found I didn’t really know enough about what I wanted to write about, so I would have to wait till I got home and got on the computer.  I just could not manage to write about anything else.  Some will say this is mere laziness or perhaps that I am not really a writer after all.  Dammit, I know I’m not a real writer!  I’m lazy, too, I admit it.  The fact is, I am down, and I always have a hard time doing anything when I am feeling blue.

In fact, I’m having a hard time typing this now.  However, one thing I have learned is, one must persevere.  One thing I must learn is how to write when I feel blue.  Another good thing might be to learn how to make a blog post with my brain in off mode.  Wait a minute, I think that is what I just did.  How appropriate for a Tired Tuesday.

 

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Just Another Bog Post

Posted on October 6, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I did some writing at work today (YES, boss, on a BREAK!)  (oh, yeah, like my boss reads my blog, dream on, Cindy!), but the thing I finished wasn’t good for the blog and the thing that was good for the blog isn’t finished (ooh, here’s a Freudian typo: I put “bog” instead of “blog”).  Actually, the thing I finished could use some revision and addendums, but let’s not worry about that now.  I have a blog post to make.

Lately I have been having the problem of feeling unable to write.  I am obsessed with puzzles: anacrostics, crosswords, cryptograms, anything with a pencil and clue (cue jokes about how I may have a pencil, but I certainly do not have a clue).  I cut cryptograms and crosswords out of the daily paper, and I have puzzle books as well.  Some days I purposely leave all puzzles at home, so I will have to write.  Sometimes that does not work very well.  I sit there looking at the blank page and feel actual physical discomfort from not having a puzzle to work on, or I write something so bad, stupid or ridiculous that I still feel physical discomfort.

Once in a while, however, I surprise myself.  I try to write one sentence and suddenly find myself scribbling paragraph after paragraph.  It’s great!  How do I make that happen all the time?  As I sit here, I realize I can offer myself a number of suggestions.   I’ll mention a few of them and you can tell me if they sound good or if I’m full of beans (always a possibility).

  1.  Have a project going.  Today I met with success because the two things I worked on were things I had started previously.  That is, I wasn’t starting from a dead stop.  However, this does not always work.  Sometimes the project I was working on is bogging down for one reason or another.  This leads me to my second suggestion.
  2.  Start a new project.  It is really easy for me to start making notes on  new novel or murder mystery. Actually, given my track record of unfinished projects, this may not be the best advice for me to follow, although in a pinch, it may get the pencil moving.
  3.  Here is my real takeaway from today’s little bit of success:  KEEP TRYING!  I never know when I am going to be stuck with the blank page and pen that doesn’t move or when I’m going to write and keep going.  But if I right away get buried in an anacrostic, I for sure won’t get anything written.

Hmm… I thought I was going to have more suggestions.  Still, I said “a number” and 3 is a number.  I’m going to call that OK for Non-Sequitur Thursday.  I think I’ll go stare at a blank page for a while and see if anything happens.

 

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With a Laptop on my Knee

Posted on October 2, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

OK, I’m sitting here with the laptop on my lap (I know, where else would it be?  Well, it MIGHT be somewhere else; I’m not here to discuss the possible whereabouts of computers), and once again, I got nuthin’ (or is it “nuttin'”?  I like “nuthin'”) (which is not the same thing as not liking anything, but close).

Where was I?  Ah yes, Wrist to Forehead Sunday.  I tell you, I am down.  I’m not a writer.  I write a silly blog, and, as Truman Capote once said, “That’s not writing, that’s typing.”  Yes, yes, I must stop with the existential crisis, people will think I am merely fishing for encouragement.   I am only being honest, in this case.  Oh, sometimes I fish for encouragement or even compliments, never fear.  Hell, I’m not perfect.  I’m a factory worker who takes pen in hand or keyboard under fingers occasionally and words come out.  Good words?  Useful words?  Entertaining words?  One can only hope.

I have been trying to take another step towards reaching my writing goals, and I have had little to no success. I know, lift your feet a little higher, push them forward a little more, these things are under our own control if only we would accept responsibility.  Very well then, I shall accept responsibility.  Tomorrow, or possibly later tonight, I will work on the novel I found earlier today.  Ooh, that’s right, I did do one thing today:  I found the notebook I’ve been looking for where I had started a novel I thought I would like to finish. It’s a baby step, but it is a step.  I shall make further updates as events warrant.

In the meantime, it is Wrist to Forehead Sunday, the day I try to enjoy myself with my husband and not think about returning to work tomorrow (I’ll work on curing the Monday to Friday Malaise another time, did I mention I’m not perfect?).  We were watching Halloween movies earlier.  I wonder if we could watch another one now. No, I can’t work on that novel now, time with husband, remember?  I may or may not ever become a successful novelist, but if I take care to spend time with my husband I WILL have a good marriage.  Priorities, people.

 

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My Weekend: Ritz to GRAVE

Posted on September 19, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Me and my disreputable LiFT friends.

I thought if I led with a really cool picture, my readers would forgive me for another post where I ain’t got nuthin’.    Yes, I said “ain’t got nuthin’.”  A double negative, the word “ain’t,” and a phonetic spelling of lazy pronounciation.  Lots of no-nos!  Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! (That was my evil laugh, in case you did not recognize it.)

I had a busy, tiring weekend.  The above photo is members of LiFT Theatre Company participating in the Ritz and Ragtime fundraiser for the Landmarks Society of Greater Utica.  That was my Saturday night, and I spent a good portion of Saturday afternoon getting my costume back together and generally fretting about it, as I tend to do about such things.  We had a lot of fun and got to see one of the famous mansions at Rutger Place.  I’d like to find out more about the Landmarks Society and participate in future fundraisers.

Sunday was taken up with A G.R.A.V.E. Murder, the murder mystery fundraiser for the Herkimer County Historical Society.  That was a lot of fun, too.  We met at my house, so naturally I had to fix a few snacks.  We had a lot of laughs, too.  Now I must get on with learning my lines.  You might think I would already know them, since, you know, I wrote it.  But not so much.  Anyways, it will be easier than learning Shakespeare.

Expect to hear a lot about this in the next few weeks.

After A G.R.A.V.E. Murder, I may take a break from theatrics for a while (even from being a drama queen in real life, if I can manage it).   Many of my friends shake their heads or laugh and point when I say that, but I really need to work on some other things in my life.  On the other hand, if the Landmarks Society wanted to do a murder mystery fundraiser…

 

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I Think the Word was “Conflict”

Posted on September 14, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

It is Wuss-out Wednesday, and it is going to be a Wuss-out Wednesday blog post, and you can read it and enjoy it or ignore it.  You can do that as a reader.  As a blogger, I have to post (“The blog must go on!” I say in a dramatic tone of voice, posing in a half swoon, with one wrist to my forehead) (THAT’S IT!!! It’s Wrist to Forehead Wednesday! Damn!)

OK, now I’m getting silly.  I just searched WordPress blogs for Writer’s Block and find that I am not alone.  Oddly enough, not one of the posts I looked at claimed that “there just ain’t no sech animal” as Writer’s Block, a contention I have heard on many occasions (with or without the hillbilly wording).  They may have something at that, as I see I am over 100 words already.  It is almost never impossible to write SOMETHING.  But to write something good?  As Hamlet once emoted, “Ay, there’s the rub!”

I spent my breaks at work trying to work on a project which ought to have been done by now (I dare not tell you what project, because I don’t want people who know about it to know it is not yet finished) (in fact, already I’ve said too much).  I couldn’t do it!  I managed to write some notes, which is more useful than it sounds.  Then I started to write another note and completely blanked on a word.

WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ALL ABOUT???  I asked myself.  Have I gone senile?  Is it early onset Alzheimer’s? Yes, I am a self-dramatizing fool (see wrist to forehead pose in the first paragraph).  I daresay I’m no stupider than I was yesterday (cue jokes about how that is quite stupid enough).   Still, it is upsetting when one cannot think of a word or even a reasonable substitute.

I think I like it better when I share pictures from monster movies on these days when I just don’t have a blog post.  I may do that tomorrow on Non-Sequitur Thursday.  As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

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Nobody’s Perfect

Posted on September 12, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Likewise blog posts.

Yes, it is another post about How I Can’t Write a Post Today.  Or much of anything else.  However, I do have a fascination with writing about not writing.  By the way, I stole the above image from a Facebook page I follow called Writing About Writing.  The fellow that runs it writes a blog, but full disclosure:  I don’t follow the blog.  Come to think about it, none of the blogs I follow are about writing per se.  I wonder what that says about me?  To answer that would probably call for some half-baked philosophy more suitable to Lame Post Friday than Monday Mental Meanderings.

As you may guess by the plethora of lame posts lately, I continue to have difficulty with my writing.  Sometimes it is a question of just not sitting down and getting to it.  However, whenever I do sit myself down, it seems that nothing happens.  I know, one must persevere, and I will.  I’ll let you know as soon as I get some results.

I would like to share with you the actual projects I am having difficulties with.  However, that would be to advertise to the world how close I have come to the deadlines and nothing to show for it.  Oh dear, what if the people I am writing for read this blog?  I’m hard at work!  I’ve finished those projects!  Everything is great!  Not writing?  Me? You must be daft! I am prolific as the day is long!

They say you mustn’t worry what people think, about writing and everything else.  However, right now, the thought of people counting on me, feeling certain that I have written or am writing wonderful things for them… well, it makes me want to finish off this blog post and get back to work on them.  Writer’s Block?  Pshaw!  Never heard of it!

 

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The Million Dollar Question Is…

Posted on September 6, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

You know, I am really, really sick of Facebook memes that ask if you would do something for a million dollars: live without the internet, stay in a haunted house, slap your cousin (watch out, Mary Beth!).  You would be amazed at all the stuff you can supposedly get paid a million dollars to do.  OK, now everybody, even though you have already spent your millions (I’m guessing most of you would do more than one of the above-mentioned or other chores), listen to me carefully, I’ll put it in bold caps, in case you need the emphasis:

NOBODY IS GOING TO PAY YOU A MILLION DOLLARS FOR DOING ANY OF THOSE THINGS!!!!!

Yes, I felt it needed all five exclamation points.

I have expounded in this space before about my abhorrence of hypothetical questions.  If only I could remember the titles of any of them, I could make a ping-back (something I have become very adept at doing) (Under the heading It Takes So Little To Please Some People: I get so proud of myself whenever I can do anything on the computer).

I know, I know, these questions are conversation starters, meant to stretch our brains in unaccustomed directions.  I guess it seems kind of silly for an alleged fiction-writer such as myself to rail against asking a questions that have no basis in reality.  After all, what is fiction but finding different answers to questions that begin, “What if…?”

Well, I stand by my grumpiness regarding the million dollar question.  For one thing, on no Facebook post I have seen has it ever, EVER engendered a lively conversation, just a whole bunch of people saying, “Yes,” “F***, yeah,”  etc.  The last time I saw it (today), the million dollar task was to stay in a haunted house.  I commented, “You are more likely to find someone willing to charge you big bucks for you to stay in the purportedly haunted house.”  Everybody ignored me, as, indeed, they ignored other affirmative answers and both silly pictures (a Ghost Busters t-shirt and an actual ghost).  I’m not miffed at being ignored; I’m just pointing out that this was no conversation starter.

Anyways, this is my blog post for today. You will note:  I did not whine about not being able to write a decent blog post.  I contend that I did not whine at all, grumpiness notwithstanding.  I’m going to call it a Bad Attituesday and drive on.

 

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No, I’m Not Going to Act and Type!

Posted on September 2, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I tried that before.  Shit happens, as we all know, then I don’t type at all. And as Truman Capote once said, “That’s not writing, that’s typing.”

Where was I?  Ah yes, about to make an especially Lame Friday Post before I go back to either frantically chopping vegetables or thrusting my hot-flashing body into pantyhose (sorry if that gives you an unfortunate mental image)  (not real sorry) (OK, not sorry at all, ha ha on you!).  I’m thinking, this is actually a Flustered Friday post.  You’ll have that when you’re in a play.

And here they are: my acting friends!

Yes, I’ve shared this picture before.  It is one of my favorites.   I actually think it is kind of good I am so flustered, or I might begin to become melancholy.  This will be my last performance with a cast I have grown very fond of.  As I observed before in this space: not a stinker amongst them, and none of them seems to mind that I am kind of a stinker myself (not literally, mind you, it’s an EXPRESSION, don’t be so didactic!) (you know who you are).

As regular readers may remember, tonight LiFT Theatre Company will perform The Tempest at a dinner theatre at Herkimer Elks Lodge.  Who knew the Elks were so cultured?  They were a great audience last year for Much Ado About Nothing, so we have all been looking forward to this performance.  For another reason, it is indoors.  No worries about rain and it is just a little bit easier to make ourselves heard.

I have been saying my lines all day at work, sometimes to suitably impressed co-workers.  There is nothing to do now but get into costume and remember to breathe (which is not as easy as it may sound) (either one).  And hit Publish, because, lame as this may be, it is my Friday post. Have a wonderful evening, everyone.

 

 

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