Tag Archives: writing

In Fact, Most Advice Is Lame

Posted on June 18, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

Late Lame Post Friday posts are just going to be a thing. I offer no excuse. For one reason, all the writing advice givers say there is no excuse. Write Just Write, they say. I believe it is good advice, but like all advice, caveats apply. However, since for “caveats” some people read “excuses,” I will offer none of those either.

What will I offer? My favorite Lame Post Friday elements: random observations and half-baked philosophy! Perhaps I should go sit on my front porch so I can actually observe something other than my messy living room or the local news.

Is this an azalea?

Full Disclosure: I did not observe this bush just now. I am still sitting on my couch. I don’t have shoes on, and my husband, Steve, tells me it is chilly outside. This is a picture I took of a neighbor’s lawn sometime last month. I had deleted some pictures from my Media Library in hopes of freeing enough space for an illustrated Pedestrian Post, but WordPress only allowed me to download one new picture. It was rather a sore spot for me.

Another Full Disclosure: my depression is really kicking my butt these days. I always cringe a little when I admit that. I worry that I should just suck it up and not bother others with my problems which are in fact much fewer and smaller that those suffered by others. Then again, depression is a problem for many. If anybody told me they were suffering from depression, I would not, in fact, advise them to suck it up.

Now that I think about it, I am not sure I would offer any advice at all. For one reason, any advice I might give would come with caveats, and that just seems like a lot of trouble. I will give myself a little advice, however. I advise myself to take a walk. Exercise is a potent anti-depressant. It might also make a good blog post.

Leave a comment

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

I Repeat Myself on Monstrous Monday

Posted on June 14, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

Time to make this week’s Monstrous Monday Post. I am feeling quite tired but not entirely useless. I went for a walk before work. Not a long walk nor yet a particularly brisk walk, but let us not dwell on the negatives. After work I did a load of laundry. No, I did not fold it, do I look like some kind of clean clothes maniac?

The most productive thing I did was write, type up and email an article for Mohawk Valley Living magazine. I started writing it during a break at work. Once again, I observed what I consider to be the damnedest thing: I can’t write the article, I can’t write the article, I can’t write the article, I sit down and write the article. It happens almost every month, and I can’t skip any of the “can’t write the article”s (that looks like an incorrect use of quotation marks, but it is what I mean).

This is not what I wrote.

I put in Nosferatu, because I remembered it is Monstrous Monday. I have shared this picture before, but for that matter, I have also written about can’t write the article etc.

I guess my ambition for Tired Tuesday is to find something new to say. However, since it will be a Pre-Rehearsal Post, no promises.

Leave a comment

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

I Could Have Been Lamer

Posted on June 11, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

Since I broke my streak of posting daily by missing Thursday, I thought the least I could do was make my Lame Post Friday post on Friday. So here I am, up later than I usually am, pecking out one letter at a time with the stylus (although sometimes the predictive text thingy helps), and hoping for enough brain power for at least 200 words.

One reason I did not post on Thursday was that we went to Cacciatore’s in Ilion, NY. We had some food and enjoyed music by Matt Grainger. Tonight we went to Dibble’s Inn in Middleville, where we had food and enjoyed music by Phil Arcuri. So we have been musically entertained this week.

Someone may point out that I could, in fact, have made a blog post yesterday, either before or after going out. Come to that, most days I missed posting, I could, in fact, have posted. Oh dear, let us not go down that road of Could Have. I COULD HAVE done all kinds of things! I didn’t!

Now we arrive at a nice bit of half-baked philosophy, and regular readers know I love to indulge in half-baked philosophy on Lame Post Friday. Most of the time, it is a useless and depressing exercise to dwell on What Could Have Been, or more particularly, What I Could Have Done.

It is, at the same time, an almost irresistible temptation to indulge in these repinings. I like to kid myself that it will help me do better next time. This is particularly true of verbal encounters. I think, I should have said thus-and-such! And I treasure up that bon mot for the next time somebody says whatever it was to me. I am trying to remember if such an opportunity has ever arisen. I can’t think of one

However, I did just think of when Could Have is a comforting phrase. Sometimes when I have not done as well as I hoped, I realize that I could have done worse. I missed posting Thursday. I could have missed Monday through Wednesday as well.

I think we can agree that this blog post could have been better and could have been worse. What it is, is over 300 words. I’m going to bed!

Leave a comment

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

Have You Missed Me? Or the Monsters?

Posted on May 31, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

Six days! It has been six days since I made a blog post! What the hell, me? This is a monstrous situation!

Artist’s depiction of my troubles getting the better of me.

How’s that for a melodramatic caption? I actually do not feel that I am being eaten alive by giant insects. I do not imagine they would find me to be an appetizing treat, but of course I don’t know these things. I am really just trolling my Media Library for monster pictures so I can post something, anything.

“Could I be of help?”

No, I am not ready for the Grim Reaper! But it was a pretty cool decoration at the Halloween party we went to at the Herkimer VFW last October.

They would surely starve to death around here!

I do like to share this poster when I am feeling brain dead. Will my brain ever revive? Will I ever go back to making good blog posts and posting on a regular basis? Will I ever upgrade and start posting new pictures? For the answers to these and other burning questions (and a few luke-warm ones as well), stay tuned to Mohawk Valley Girl.

2 Comments

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

Has It Really Been 11 Years?

Posted on May 24, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yesterday was my blogiversary, if that is a word (my autocorrect seems to think it is). Eleven years of being Mohawk Valley Girl (here is a Freudian predictive text: my Tablet suggested “self-indulgent” after “being”). I think ten years is a pretty good run, and I believe I was over that when I fell apart and began posting so sporadically (as usual, too lazy to go back and check).

I suppose it would be nice to do a State of the Blog Post or even a Look Back, remembering my not so humble beginnings (although I suffer from low self-esteem, I have never been what you might call humble). In fact, it would have been nice to post at all on my actual blogiversary. Instead, last night I began a kind of a whiny thing then gave it up and watched Dateline. In the interests of Waste Not Want Not, I include it here:

I was going to attempt a Monstrous Monday Post, but I was simultaneously trying to get answers to questions about my WordPress account. I find myself completely unable to do so. I daresay it is, as usual with me, a case of Operator Error. However, I also have to find fault with WordPress. They say that if I do not stay on WordPress, they will email me an answer, but I have yet to receive an email answer to any of my questions.

I suppose I only ask stupid questions anyways. They say there is no such thing as a stupid question, but that is just not true. However, that discussion will require a whole other blog post to answer.

I was just “talking to an expert.

That is where I left off. As you see, I did not even put the end quotation marks. When I reach a frustration level, that’s it.

Quite frankly, I suspect WordPress of using computer generated answers with a face tacked on pretending to be a person. What answers I have been able to get have that generic, not-really-listening quality. Of course automation has been the wave of the future since, well, most of recorded history. I use the automated check-out at the store sometimes myself.

One could argue that WordPress has millions of bloggers and individual attention is impossible. One could further argue that since I am still on the free level of blogging, it is not worth WordPress’ time to talk to me. To the second argument, I would point out that at the bottom of every post I make is an ad. I do not profit from the ad, but I suspect WordPress does, so free blogger though I am, I am not entirely a drag on WordPress’ bottom line.

I will add that I have always been reasonably happy with WordPress. I am aware that I am whining. It would probably be a good idea to just make the upgrade and either leave my questions unanswered or trust that amswers will eventually make themselves known.

In the meantime, I see I am over 500 words. Wow! What a long whine! Uh, I mean Post. Thank you to all my readers (if anybody read the whole thing), especially any that have been with me since the beginning (Hi, Aunt Mary!).

Leave a comment

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

Who, Me? Whine About Not Posting?

Posted on May 18, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

Once again I have let days elapse without making a blog post. The question now is can I make a Tired Tuesday Post without whining too much? I guess another question is how much whining is too much? If the answer is “any whining at all is too much,” I am in big trouble.

At the risk of whining too much (and sharing too much), I will share that I have been having a hard time doing much of anything these days. I make it to work. I manage to get one or two things done: a run, a load of laundry, a few fun things. But major and minor projects remain unfinished and un-worked-on. What the hell, me?

As I type this post (one letter at a time with the stylus on my Tablet), I am trying to have a conversation with “Ask the Expert” on WordPress. I am still hesitating on my upgrade and hope to get questions answered. So far I am not having much luck.

I am anxious to upgrade, because I keep wanting to share more pictures. However, I want to make sure the upgrade is right for me before I spend the money. Additionally, and perhaps more to the point, I worry that with my current lack of blogging reliability, it will not be worth the money to upgrade. Will the upgrade perhaps inspire me to return to my daily blogging ways? Can I take that chance?

I suppose I will take the leap soon and we will all see what the result will be. In the meantime, I am over 250 words. Let us not calculate how many of those were whining.

Leave a comment

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

Operator Error on Wrist to Forehead Sunday

Posted on May 9, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am trying to post more often and feel I can manage a Wrist to Forehead Sunday Post. Or maybe not. Quick, put in a picture to pep things up.

Everything’s coming up rose`?

This is not the picture I was looking for, but it takes FOREVER to scroll through my Media Library. A problem with WordPress or with my Tablet? Or is it, as is often the case with me, Operator Error? However, the above picture is appropriate, because I did enjoy a glass of rose` earlier. The accent is wrong, but I do not know how to put on a proper accent. That is definitely Operator Error.

I know just how you feel, dear!

After searching the Media Library once again, the best image I can find is our skeleton Bonita having a wrist to forehead moment of her own. What can I do? The internet defeats me.

It seems odd to me that after over 10 years of writing this blog, technical difficulties are causing this much problem. I have clicked of the Ask The Expert option on my WordPress site, but apparently I did not do that right either. What the hell, me?

In any case, I think I have eked out at least 200 words from this nonsense. I will try again tomorrow. Maybe before I start on the rose`.

Leave a comment

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

304 Lame Words

Posted on May 7, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have been missing days and days of posting! When I do nothing, I have nothing to post and feel bad about it. When I do something, I still do not post and feel even worse. What the hell, me?

I thought I could at least manage a Lame Post Friday post. For one reason, it is actually Friday. I know in the recent past I have made Lame Post Friday posts early Saturday morning, so I could congratulate myself that I am ahead of the game. If only I had posted more than once since last week. I could beat myself up about that.

But enough with the beating myself up (and why does autocorrect think “hough” is a word? That is what it put when I left the “e” off “enough”). It does not improve my behavior and it does not burn calories. Why does it not at least burn calories? Life can be so unfair!

This is becoming a rather ridiculous post, even for Lame Post Friday. Every time I make a post about not making a post, I worry that it will be worse than making no post at all. But how can that be? Nobody is obligated to read my posts. People can read it or not as they choose. However, nobody can read a post not written. So there’s that.

There is also this: if I want to be a writer, I need to write. Good posts, bad posts (Oh, what the hell, autocorrect? You change “bad” to “and”? Bad is a word!) (And “wod” is not, so why did you let that stand when I left the “r” out of “word”?) etc.

So here is my latest post, judge it however you choose. But I am approaching 300 words. I am going to call it a win.

6 Comments

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

Running Into Bad Attituesday

Posted on May 4, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

Today is definitely Bad Attituesday. My attitude is TERRIBLE! At the same time, I realize all my problems are petty, foolish, and for the most part due to Operator Error. So nobody needs to shame me.

But never mind all that. I went for a run and hoped to make a Running Commentary Post. The run, I must confess, was more of a trudge. That’s OK, though, because I used to have a feature called The Tuesday Trudge.

I have been having the damnedest time getting back into running, but I do not despair. Saturday and Sunday I ran for just over two miles. Maybe not so great compared to others or even to what I used to be able to do, but you can make yourself crazy with comparisons. I did not run yesterday, because, well, Monday. I was feeling discouraged today (long story, not very interesting) so went in search of endorphins.

And I did not find any. I ran slow. I ran thunkily (autocorrect does not think thunkily is not a word, but I stand by it). However, I ran up a small hill. Go, me! I ran perpendicular to the hill up to Herkimer College (HCCC to natives). I saw another runner going towards it. I was all set to yell something like, “Go, you! Up that hill!” but he turned off. I did not blame him, but I promised myself I would run up that hill again. Just not today.

At one point, I reminded myself how sometimes my runs do not start to really feel good till at least 20 minutes in. That was a problem, since I have not been able to achieve 20 minutes in a week-day run for some time now.

I can’t say today’s run ever felt terrific, but I did keep going for 21 minutes, over a mile and a half (yes, that is a very slow rate; we have already established that I am a slow runner, you do not need to belabor the point). As I said, no endorphins yet, but one must work up to these things.

On the brighter side, I am over 350 words. That is pretty good after missing four days. Perhaps I can improve my blogging, my running, and my attitude.

Leave a comment

Posted in Bad Attituesday, humor, personal, running commentary and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Lame Is As Lame Does

Posted on March 19, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

Have I used that title before? No matter. I typed it in and it stays. This is my sadly usual late Lame Post Friday post. I make no apologies but merely mention it in the interests of accuracy.

I have not had coffee yet but I think my lovely husband Steven is getting me some now. And, yes, I call him lovely largely because of the coffee. Ahh yes, here it is: the magic elixir that makes morning possible.

As I type this (one letter at a time with the stylus; I really must get a new laptop) (I certainly am a stickler for accuracy this morning), I contemplate the day ahead. I really want to do something other than sit around and watch movies. Of course that is a pleasant way to spend a Saturday or any available day, but today I want something more.

Here is a funny thing I add for entertainment purposes: when I typed in “that is a” my predictive text suggested ” horrifying thought.” I find that highly amusing. One woman’s pleasant is another’s horrifying thought. I can think of a few horrifying thoughts but will strive to stay positive.

My positive thought for this morning is that I will find something blogworthy to do today. Yes, I have a history of writing posts on arguably non-blogworthy subjects. However, I am no hand at argument. On the brighter side: I am over 200 words. Bring on Saturday!

Leave a comment

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