Tag Archives: not writing

When in Distress, Vampires Often Help

Posted on June 16, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Earlier today, a friend at work gave me some icy-hot (it was Equate brand) to rub on my knees.  It seemed to help.  I have spent most of the rest of the day wishing I had something similar to rub on my attitude.  It’s not even Bad Attituesday!

It is, in fact, one of those days when I disprove one of my own rules: that writing begets more writing.  I just finished and emailed out two articles for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  Shouldn’t I be all raring to go and write my blog post now?  It turns out, not so much.  I was just futzing around Facebook, looking for pictures, because that always seems to be a good fallback post.  Of course nothing appeals.  Maybe I should look again.

When in doubt, look for monsters.  Here are a couple of pictures from Mark of the Vampire.  I found them on a page I Like called Murder, Madness and the Macabre, Our Favorite Nightmares.

Bela and friend.

I gotta get me a dress with sleeves like that.

I’ve seen Mark of the Vampire a couple of times.  I can’t believe I don’t have it on one of my horror collections.  Maybe my husband will buy it for me for my birthday (he usually reads this blog, teehee).

I’ll throw in another picture of Bela Lugosi to round things out (you know how I like to include three photos).  Here he is from Dracula in 1931.

“I bid you welcome.”

He was fine, yes.  I haven’t seen an old horror movie in a long time.  Perhaps that is the ice-hot for my attitude I seek.  At any rate, it couldn’t hurt.  We’ll call today a Non-Sequitur Thursday post (although the title I have in mind is more of a sequitur) and drive on. Thank you for tuning in, and I hope to see you all on Lame Post Friday.

 

 

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The Blog’s Gone to Pot

Posted on June 7, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I took some pictures of what I have so far for a container garden, hoping I could make up in pictures what I lack in words.  Seriously, my brain is dead and writing is just not happening for me.  Well, I’m not going to whine about it (although it is somewhat distressing) (no, no, NOT whine).  Instead, here are some pictures:

I guess you can’t see the flowers very well, but aren’t they pretty?

I had three pots with the design, but one broke last year.  Now that I look at this arrangement, it does not look as symmetrical as I had hoped.  Size-wise it’s good, but I don’t like the two decorated and one plain.  I’ll have to work on it.

Oh dear, you can see the icky garage and crappy window in the background.

I had never seen black Johnny Jump-ups, and I like the way they look with the orange marigolds.

An overhead shot, for a different view.

I liked the combination so much, I did two pots of it.

Ooh, I like what’s in the background of this one.

I tried to have “the thrill, the fill and the spill” in this one, but I think the “spill” looks a little unhealthy.  Perhaps they will pick up as time goes on.

Fresh pesto, you will be MINE!

Basil is the only herb I have so far, but as you see I have a nice amount.  Ooh, I LOVE fresh basil!

I would also like to get some dill and cilantro, as well as a few more pots of flowers.  Unfortunately, the malaise that has been causing my writing to atrophy seems to be infecting the rest of my life as well.  Then again, I see I have managed over 250 words on a blog post I thought I couldn’t write.  Maybe there’s hope for me after all.

 

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I Am a Writer. I Mean a Blogger.

Posted on June 1, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

It’s spearmint. I’d like to get some peppermint.

This is a picture I took yesterday with my Tablet and neglected to include in my blog post.  I realized I had left it out before I hit publish but I couldn’t figure out where to add it in.  I figured I could use it in a future blog post.  I thought it might be further in the future than the next day, but, well, it is Wuss-out Wednesday, and, once again, I got nothin’.

I really, really do got nothin’ today.  Plenty of nothin’ as the song goes.  Seriously, I am forcing my fingers to keep moving from key to key to put in the words you are reading now.  When I pause to think of the next sentence, it is difficult to get started again.  This has been happening to me all day.  This morning when I was driving to work, I stopped for a stop sign.  I did not stay stopped long enough to be late for work, but I had to remind myself to go.  I did manage to get work done while at work, but it was not easy.

What is this malaise?  Am I not taking enough vitamins?  Is it that last ten pounds I can’t seem to lose (oh, all right, 15 pounds, sheesh!)?  Not enough exercise?  Poor quality sleep?  Or am I just a big fat lazy bum who was not meant to be a blogger much less a writer?  SAY IT AIN’T SO!!!

Now there’s a point to ponder, within that welter of questions:  why did I say “a blogger much less a writer”?  Am I saying a blogger is not a real writer?  What makes a “real writer” anyways?  I don’t imagine I can answer these questions without resorting to truisms or cliches (another point to ponder:  what’s the difference between a truism and a cliche?).  Not on Wuss-out Wednesday, especially.

I think I’ll go make myself a cup of mint tea.

 

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My Halloween Socks Are Clean

Posted on May 19, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

A few minutes ago, I thought to myself, “When in doubt, eat ice cream.” I thought it would be a good lead for a blog post, but it seemed ominously familiar.  Once I finished the ice cream, I looked and sure enough, I once made a blog post with exactly that title.  And pinged back on it two more times.  This will be three.

Full disclosure:  It was frozen yogurt and I realize that, even so, it is a poor way to work toward my weight-loss goals.  In my defense, allow me to explain, “Shut up.”  (That is a joke I proudly borrow from S.J. Perelman.)

I just took a break from blogging and looked for S.J. Perelman on Facebook, to make sure I spelled his name right.  I ended up reading part of a Paris Review interview with him.  Then I realized the Friends re-run that was on next was not one I wanted to see, so I got up and changed the channel to 20/20 on OWN.  As you may guess, I am not particularly focused today.  On the brighter side, I am in a much better mood than I was yesterday.

I did a very little writing earlier, on a letter to a friend.  As I always maintain, any writing counts.

Steven just now reminded me that I have laundry in the washer.  Oops.

The laundry is in the drier, except for the items I hang up to dry.  Now, having skipped around in true Non-Sequitur Thursday fashion, I am going to sign off.  I just remembered I was going to paint my toenails tonight.

 

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No Boot Straps on Wuss-out Wednesday

Posted on May 18, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am having the damnedest time writing and have for the longest time.  I think to myself, “I love to write!”  But all I want to do is puzzles, primarily cryptograms with a few others thrown in.  I thought to myself today, this is a symptom of depression:  you like to do something, you know it will help you to do it, and you don’t do it. What the hell, me?

The thought came into my mind, “People who have not experienced it cannot understand the mind-numbing, paralyzing, utter inability…”  I don’t remember how the thought ended, but I immediately felt I could not put such a thought into a blog post.  Nobody would buy it, I thought.  They will tell me to stop being such a whiny baby, and maybe they are right.

I am going through a few things, but let’s face it: We all have problems and many people have far worse ones than mine.  As I have mentioned before, I suffer from depression.  I don’t like to write it or say it, because it sounds like I am asking for sympathy or making an excuse.  And it feels as if I have exposed something private and secret I would really, really rather not talk about.  Some people do not “believe in” depression.  They feel it is a made-up problem and I need to just stop whining and pull myself up by those boot straps they’re always talking about.

Only I rarely wear boots and the ones I have don’t have straps.

Then again, not whining is not a bad start.  I cannot pull myself up by my bootstraps (and what a hoary cliche that is, anyways), but there are things I can do to make myself feel better.  I will try to do some of them.  For example, starting on a better blog post for tomorrow.  We’ll call this one a Wuss-out Wednesday and drive on.

 

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Run But No Commentary

Posted on March 8, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

After a break at work, I often observe the “after the break hump,”  a metaphorical speed bump I have to somehow get over in order to get back to work.  Today, I said to my co-worker, “After the break hump is nothing compared to after four days off hump.”  I know, I can be happy I had four days off or miserable because I had to go back to work.  Or I suppose I could multi-task.

Be that as it may, I came home from work and went running.  As you can imagine, the “I haven’t been running in I can’t remember how long hump” is quite the obstacle as well. However, I faced it and overcame it.  One help is that I have really missed running.  I have been WANTING to run but haven’t had time.  As you may have heard, I’ve been in a play.  And am writing and performing in murder mysteries.  The play still has a weekend to go, and I’m still working on two of three mysteries.  Nevertheless, I ran.

And now I’m too tired to write about it.

It was a short run, only 22 minutes.  I made up my mind to do 20, as a start, since I have not been running in a while.  Twenty minutes with an eight to  ten minute cool-down walk around the block sounded good to me.  The extra two minutes just sort of happened.

Then again, for Tired Tuesday after a four day break, I don’t think this is such a contemptible post.  Let’s see what happens tomorrow, when I may have a Wuss-out Wednesday.

 

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One Of These Plays…

Posted on February 23, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

You know, like “One of these days…”  I thought it was an acceptable play on words.  What else can I do on Wuss-out Wednesday but play a little bit with words?  Yes, Wuss-out Wednesday follows Tired Tuesday as inevitably as… as inevitably as I begin a simile and can’t think of a good way to finish it.

I tried to write a blog post while at work today, but it was only another I Can’t Write a Post post, and I thought, why am I writing such a thing in advance?  Should I not be composing at the keyboard at such times?  So that is what I am doing.

We are doing complete run-through on Steel Magnolias, last night, tonight and tomorrow.  We must be in full costume by Monday, but the director would be delighted to see costumes any time between now and then. With that in mind, I put on the skirt I think will do for me in Act I Scene 1.  I purchased a jacket I think will coordinate with it last Saturday at New 2 You Consignment Shop in Ilion (perhaps you read my blog post about it).

Regarding the rest of my costumes… I’m working on them.  Quite frankly, I thought I had more stuff than I in fact do.  Oh dear, I suppose some of my cast-mates might read this and they will look sternly at me when they see me in.. yikes, less than an hour!  At least I looked over my lines today.  And other people’s.  I learn my own lines first, so for the first couple of rehearsals off book I sometimes say them at the wrong time.  How embarrassing.  Other actors learn their lines and where those lines go at the same time.  I’ll have to try that one of these plays.

 

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The Vagaries of Non-Sequitur Thursday

Posted on February 10, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Well, now I’ve done it.  I sat here stressing over the fact that I CAN’T WRITE A POST TODAY (said in a dramatic voice, with a wrist to my forehead), and my sweet husband, Steven said that he wished I would not put myself through posting every day.  I said, “It’s just because I have rehearsal tonight.  I just have to stop doing PLAYS!”  Oh yeah, like that’s going to happen!

Thus adjured, I put my fingers on the keyboard and started typing.  I can’t stop posting every day, it’s what I do.  But I can’t let my husband feel upset because I am stressed.  So, as of right now, I am not stressed.  About the blog, at least.  I mean, let’s start small.

I just paused to eat a very delicious dinner that Steven fixed.  He really is a most satisfactory husband.

Earlier today I was pondering the vagaries of writing.  I have been having a difficult time lately, but earlier I sat down and wrote a page of dialog with very little problem.  It was part of Rubbed Out at Ruby’s, the interactive murder mystery LiFT Theatre Company is presenting at the Overlook Mansion in Little Falls in — yikes! –just a couple of weeks.  I thought to myself, “I can’t write, I can’t write, I can’t write, I sit down and write.”  For some reason I can’t just skip to the last step.

I just know that some of you are sitting there smirking, “Well, have you TRIED?”  Yes, I have.  In fact, most of the time I want to have at least a couple more rounds of “I can’t write, I can’t write” before “I sit down and write,” but I somehow manage to write.  Like right now.  Then again, perhaps that is not the best example, since this is just another of my foolish posts about I Can’t Write a Post Today.  Then again (I can have as many “again”s as I want; it’s not like “on the other hand,” where most of us only have two hands), today is Non-Sequitur Thursday.  If I can think of a punchy headline, I’m all set.

Hope to see you all on Lame Post Friday.

 

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Steven and Me and Bobby McGee

Posted on February 3, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’ve been sitting here staring at the blank screen and half watching a re-run of Reba, and I feel completely unable to write a blog post.  Now Reba is over and Steven has found an episode of Snapped on Reelz.  I have to leave for rehearsal for Steel Magnolias (at Ilion Little Theatre, remember?)  in about an hour.  Oh, crap, and I have to curl my hair.  They’re taking head shots again.  I hate having my picture taken!

So I’m having a kind of a mental meltdown.  How embarrassing.  I am such a huge baby! In my defense… OK, I have no defense.  I had a migraine today, but it wasn’t all that bad of a migraine.  I made it through work.  It kind of went away when I drove to New Hartford for a doctor’s appointment.  Now it’s back.  So what?  Many people have headaches.  They take an aspirin and drive on.

Speaking of driving on, the Mohawk Valley weather has been living up to its “wait five minutes” reputation today.  When I drove to and from my appointment, the snow came down like it meant business.  The roads weren’t too bad, but they were wet and no doubt would get worse.  Yikes!  I got back to work and the sun came out.  A beautiful afternoon!  Swell!  The snow dumped down again as I drove home. OK, whatever.  The sun has come and gone twice since I’ve been home.  Go home, February, you’re drunk!

AAAAAAaaaand I just remembered: it is Non-Sequitur Thursday.  All I have to do is think of a catchy headline that doesn’t have anything to do with this foolish post and I’m done.  And, yes, I did feel I needed all those a’s in the first word of this paragraph.

 

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Typing… About… Writing…

Posted on January 16, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Must… get… blog… post… written.

You know, like in the comic books?  I don’t read a lot of comic books, but I know there is often a frame with the hero going through something dire and saying he must… do… something…  I find that perfectly appropriate for Wrist to Forehead Sunday.

I truly am feeling very wrist to foreheady this afternoon.  For anyone just tuning in, wrist to forehead refers to the old timey heroines about to swoon.  I stole the expression “wrist to forehead” from a former co-worker.  I think I made the pose and she said, “It’s a wrist to forehead situation.”  I know I have explained this before, so my apologies to longtime readers for being redundant.

The reason for my current angst is that I am having the damnedest time writing.  Yesterday I managed six post cards and a blog post.  I have other things to write!  What the blankety-blank is my problem?  I know, I know, I have to just sit down and bloody well do it.  Well, I am.  The first thing I have to write is today’s blog post.  And here I am, typing away at it (as Truman Capote famously said, and as I have previously quoted, “That’s not writing, that’s typing”).

And I see I am over 200 words.  That is all I require of myself for a blog post.  Self-indulgent, you say?  That could be.  Then again, I am not burdening my readers with too long of a post.  I don’t always read the really long posts myself.  Oh dear, any bloggers reading this who make really long posts might take offense at that.  Then again, you never know. Maybe I read all of THEIR posts, and it’s the BORING long posts I give up on.  I hope nobody has given up on me.  That would really be a wrist to forehead situation.

 

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