Tag Archives: writing

Timing Is Everything

Posted on December 7, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

This is unusual. I just sat here for

Oh dear. I was about to write “at least five minutes,” when I looked at my watch and knew that it had only been three minutes. “Almost five minutes”? Lie and say that it was five minutes? We call that literary license in this business. Sometimes we call it fiction.

At any rate, I was paralyzed. Then I had to laugh at myself for being paralyzed. And naturally I started to write about it. Well, it got the pen moving at any rate.

Perhaps for the rest of the post I could ponder my obsession with time. I may have mentioned it before, in which case, sorry for repeating myself. A roommate in the army noticed my obsession. She pointed out that I knew it took seven minutes to walk to the chow hall. A “normal” person, I suppose, would say “five” or “ten” or even “five-ten.”

I’m sorry to be didactic (not real sorry, because, you know, go with your strengths), but five minutes and ten minutes are two different lengths of time. These things are important when one dare not be as much as .1 (yes, I said point one) seconds late for formation. And they are important for time-obsessed neurotics like me.

A junior high health teacher (or was it high school?) (was it even Health?) (what is with this accuracy obsession?) said we all have our little neuroses. Sometimes we call it a quirk or a Thing or a pet peeve (no, I am not looking in a thesaurus as I write this).

My main Thing right now (ooh, I just flashed on Thing One and Thing Two from The Cat in the Hat) is that I must publish a blog post every day, no matter how foolish. This has been today’s. I hope you enjoyed it.

Leave a comment

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

All I Gots

Posted on December 6, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

I warned you that you may have to listen to me kvetch about my symptoms. Yesterday I wussed out for Wednesday, hoping to do better today, Non-Sequitur Thursday. Well, the cold is becoming a full-blown head monstrosity (seriously, my head feels like it is turning into a monster)(cue unkind remarks about how I normally look pretty much like a monster anyways).

I confess, I came to my computer with the intention of making a three sentence post calling in sick (typing in sick?). And while I waited for WordPress to boot up, some half-baked philosophy popped into my head. I know that is usually reserved for Lame Post Friday, but I think I’ve gone Friday on a Thursday before and considered it non-sequiturish (I know that’s not a word, computer, you don’t have to underline it for me). Anyways, it’s all I gots right now.

Sometimes we only want the end result. For example, right now I do not feel like taking a shower. However, I want to feel warm, clean and cuddly in my sweats. That will not happen without the application of soap and water. For another example, I loathe getting out of bed in the morning. However, I like being up early. I have had runs that I have not enjoyed, but I have been happy that I ran.

Countless writers confess that they despise the act of writing, but they love to have written. Regular readers may recall me saying that this is not the case for me. I love to write. Right now, for example. Earlier I sat in my living room, ready to cry, but too dehydrated due to my cold (although I am drinking plenty of liquids). I wanted nothing but to lie perfectly still, perhaps having magically attained the warm, clean, cuddly feeling without the trauma of a hot shower. And I wanted my blog post To Be Written. However, now I am sitting at my keyboard, merrily typing away.

But I can’t keep it up indefinitely. I need to put my head down. Maybe drink a little herbal tea. And ponder what I can write on Lame Post Friday now that I’ve used up my half-baked philosophy for the week. I hope you’ll stay tuned.

Leave a comment

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

A Weary Wuss

Posted on December 5, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Wuss-out Wednesday is getting to be a habit. In my defense, I’m tired.

Yesterday I avoided writing a post about Why I Can’t Write a Post by going for a run and writing about that. Today I’m too tired to run.

My husband, Steven, has spent the first half of this week fighting a cold. At last it seems he is victorious. And now it looks like my turn to suffer. So my lovely blog readers have that to look forward to: me kvetching about my symptoms. So far the main symptom is I’m TIRED!

Other people can write when they are tired. I bet some people are reading this with a smug look, saying, “I can write when I’m tired. It’s not that hard.” Well, THAT’S NICE FOR YOU!

We were at the laundromat earlier this evening, where I wrote a page on my novel. It was not a very good page, perhaps, but at least I wrote it. I’m tempted to use that as my reason: I used up all my words for the day on that! How can I be expected to write a blog post as well?

I know, it doesn’t work like that. It’s not a bucket, where you take stuff out and then it’s gone. It’s more a river: as you take stuff out even more flows in to take its place. Well, my river today is full of sediment (give me a metaphor, I’ll beat it till it screams).

I think the best thing to do is to take my weary body to bed and hope it’s only bluffing about coming down with a cold. I hope to come up with something more amusing for Non-Sequitur Thursday.

Leave a comment

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

To Encourage? Or Just to Blog?

Posted on November 25, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

A friend of mine recently posted on Facebook, “To blog or not to blog, that is the question.” I replied, “To blog! Always to blog!”

The sad part to me is that I seem to be the only one to have said to. Perhaps she does not have enough Writing Friends on Facebook. I count on my writing friends to encourage me. Sometimes my non-writing friends encourage me as well.

Oh dear, I feel a bout of half-baked philosophy coming on. That is for Lame Post Friday and today is Wrist to Forehead Sunday. Oh well, as I often observe, sometimes I can only write what I do. So I’ll just get on with it.

We all need encouragement at one time or another (don’t pretend you don’t; we won’t believe you). However, there is a school of thought that encouragement is not always the best thing. Some people, this school of thought goes, should cut their losses and stop striving for what they will never achieve. An example they point to is Zelda Fitzgerald, who apparently drove herself crazy with the physical demands of her quest to become a prima ballerina at the age of thirty-something.

I say this is too complicated a question to get into on Wrist to Forehead Sunday. I’m going to cut to the chase, answer the original question with “To blog,” and hit publish. Anybody got a problem with that?

Leave a comment

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

Writing About Not Running

Posted on November 24, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

No, running commentary isn’t back yet; stop pursing your lips at me.

I thought about running as we walked to the post office this morning. We consisted of me; my friend Tracy, visiting from out of town; and of course my schnoodle, Tabby. My husband, Steven, was at work. I explained to Tracy how I had not really started running again yet, but intended to (if anybody mentions intentions paving a road anywhere, I’ll scream).

I was sorry I had not started running again while the weather was good. I had my reasons. Maybe they weren’t very good reasons, but these things happen. The weather was not awful this morning, but it was cold. A fairly still cold, not a whipping wind. Still, it felt good to walk. I love to walk. I pointed out places of interest to Tracy. Tabby sniffed places that were of interest to her.

I had thought I might run at some point, but after all, I had to entertain my out-of-town guest. So instead of running anywhere, I found myself driving to Little Falls (preview of coming attractions: we went to the Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts). I was wearing a nice cape that was recently given to me. As I was putting gas in my vehicle, I realized I needed a good ten degrees warmer of temperature to wear that cape. Well, suffer to be beautiful.

It was on the way home from Little Falls that the weather got interesting. I saw a few flakes in the sky as we walked to my vehicle. They were joined by more as we drove out of town. Soon the sky was white and I was driving slowly.

“Are you glad now or sorry that I drove?” I asked Tracy. She admitted to pondering that very question before I asked.

The pick up truck in front of me wasn’t moving much faster than I was, and the car behind was not catching up. I discussed my speed choices, and we speculated on if and when the road might get slippery. My feeling is: when in doubt, go slow, because mid-skid is too late to slow down.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes, or drive five miles.” It was six back to Herkimer.

Sure enough, the snow has stopped now, although there is some white stuff on the ground. No, I am not going running today. I walked, I drove in the snow, I wrote a blog post. I’m done.

Leave a comment

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

Suitable for Wuss-out Wednesday

Posted on November 21, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

My life has been thin of Mohawk Valley adventures lately. On perusing the TV Journal, I find I am out of cheesy movies to write about as well. What’s a blogger to do?

Well, I was about to stop writing entirely, because my pen was beginning to seriously irritate my middle finger (cue jokes about that being my most often used digit). Then I remembered I had a pen with a built-in spongy thing in my pocket. I don’t usually leave the house without at least two or three pens plus paper. That’s how I roll.

So, spongy thing in place, what can I possibly write about? I suppose I could give another shout-out to Colonial Laundromat in Ilion, NY. That’s why I had no adventures Monday night; we had to do laundry. There isn’t much to say about that, except that it is a pleasure to at least have a clean place to do a tiresome chore, especially given my regrettable tendency to drop my brand-clean laundry on the floor.

Getting back to What Shall I Write About, I feel disinclined to do another Preview of Coming Attractions. For one reason, sometimes I don’t make it to the thing I previewed and then I feel silly or guilty.

That is as far as I wrote. Full disclosure: I wrote it on Tuesday, then remembered I had been to Ilion Little Theatre on Friday. However, on finding it in my notebook today, I deem it suitable for Wuss-out Wednesday. Hmm, that’s not a bad headline either. Waste not, want not!

Leave a comment

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

Another Dull Post

Posted on November 18, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

It’s been another Wrist to Forehead Sunday. A dark, dull, gloomy day. I read a romance novel and watched movies. Good movies, not the cheesy kind I like to write about.

In short, I got nuthin’.

Usually I can expound upon the fact that I got nuthin’, basically making something out of nothing. Writing is kind of cool that way. Only it doesn’t always work.

Today it ain’t working.

Or should I have said “workin'”?

And what is with the bad grammar of “got nuthin'”? I know better than that. I’m such a grammar prig most of the time, it is really unbecoming when I don’t use proper English myself.

OK: I have nothing of interest to post.

Doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?

Leave a comment

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

Great Weather, Dull Post

Posted on November 17, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

Today is the sort of day November sometimes gives us as a gift, a kind of a fond farewell to the warm weather. The sun was bright, the sky was blue and it was warm enough to not really need a jacket.

I walked to the post office with Tabby, to mail some postcards I had written. I started out in my rain jacket (for the large pockets), toque and sunglasses. A hat of some sort was necessary, due to a bad hair day. I told myself it didn’t matter if it was too warm for the toque; the young kids are wearing knitted hats in all kinds of weather these days. Still, after about five steps, I returned to the house, ditched the jacket and switched out the toque for my crazy old lady hat.

The combination of crazy old lady hat (it has a wide brim) and sunglasses was the way to go. What a day! After a while I was actually looking for shade. A guy was raking leaves in his front lawn. What a good job he did; that lawn was almost pristine. I told him I had to go home and do that, but I didn’t mention that my lawn will probably never look that good.

I noticed a “Beware of Dog” sign on a house, where I happen to know an adorable little pooch, smaller than Tabby, resides. I shan’t reveal where the house is, in case they are hoping to frighten prowlers with thoughts of the Hound of Baskervilles, but I had to laugh. Then I thought, it was on the driveway. Perhaps they were warning visitors not to run over their dog. I’ve never seen that pooch on a leash (in their defense, he doesn’t seem to leave the lawn and I believe the people are right there when he’s out).

After we got home from our enjoyable walk, I spent some time raking leaves, as I said I had to. I didn’t get very far. In my defense, Steven had already filled most of our yard waste bins. What a thankless job raking is. I can see why people like leaf blowers, although I find them obnoxiously loud when the neighbors use them.

This pedestrian post has been even more plodding than usual, I’m afraid. Well, one does one’s poor best. Perhaps I can do something better tomorrow. Maybe some running commentary. Or there is another Vincent Price movie I can write a post about how I can’t write a post about. I do hope you’ll stay tuned.

Leave a comment

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

To the Play!

Posted on November 16, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

There I was at work (on a break, that is), writing my Friday Lame Post, and I thought it was going rather well. Then I realized I had written something extremely similar already. I was mortified.

And then I couldn’t really think of anything better to write, because I got a headache. Not a bad one, but I didn’t like it. So instead of thinking about my blog, I plotted how I could get out of going to the play at Ilion Little Theatre, which Steven and I had planned to attend. We can’t go on Saturday, because we have been invited to a party. We will probably be too tired on Sunday.

At the end of the day, I told my co-worker (who had earlier that day heard my weekend plans) that I would go to the play on Sunday.

“You will not. You’ll be too hungover from the party. You won’t go see that play at all!” He felt quite confident in his prediction.

Long story short (I know: too late): here I sit, showered, dressed and ready to go. Play tonight. Party tomorrow. Blog post in between.

Short post for now.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend.

Leave a comment

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

Curse You, Vincent Price!

Posted on November 12, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

What is it about Vincent Price? I start to write a perfectly straightforward post about one of his movies and I get all bogged down and confused and it takes me days to get it right.

At least, the one I started today hasn’t taken me days yet, but I can see which way the wind is blowing. First it was The Tingler. Now it’s The Mad Magician. What’s a blogger to do but write about the problems she’s having writing. (I didn’t end that last sentence with a question mark, because it is rhetorical. I don’t need any smart answers from the peanut gallery.)

After all, I avoided Wrist to Forehead Sunday. I think I’m entitled to a Middle-aged Musings Monday. I shall muse about my trials and tribulations as a writer.

The problem I had with The Tingler and am having with The Mad Magician is neither Writer’s Block nor Writer’s Blank. It’s quite the opposite. I have too much to say (some people think I have too much to say at all times, but I daresay they don’t read my blog, so we need not consider them).

Usually, having too much to say is not a problem. I just write and write till it’s all said. I find that fun. In this case, however, my thoughts do not flow in a logical fashion. I start out talking about pre-movie commentary, jump to the plot, jump back and add in the spoiler alert, remember something I forgot from the commentary, go off on a whole other tangent.

Some may say that’s still no problem. Just write it all down they say, perhaps in a condescending, overly patient voice (you know who you are). Sort it out later. Well, that is what I’m doing. However, these things take time and effort and a good deal more oomph that I can generally muster on a Monday.

I repeat, what’s a blogger to do?

Leave a comment

Posted in blogging, humor, Middle-aged Musings, personal, writing and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
← Older Posts
Newer Posts →