Tag Archives: writing

Too Much on my Lame Plate

Posted on March 23, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

How embarrassing.  I get caught up by making my Thursday post on Thursday, then fail to make my Friday post on Friday.  I confess to getting a good laugh at myself.  I set up my rules.  I break my rules.  I make contingency rules.  It is not easy being me, but it can be entertaining.  Seriously, how lame is it to not even make a lame post on Lame Post Friday?  Yet I have similarly failed before.  Well, I could have posted last night, but at the time sleep seemed more important.  We make our choices.  The Spanish have a saying, take what you want and pay for it, says God.

Well, I got a bit of philosophy into that first paragraph.  I won’t call it half-baked, though, because I have always liked that expression.  Most of my philosophy falls into the half-baked category.  Full disclosure:  I have never read much “real” philosophy.  I’m afraid it would make my head hurt.

In the meantime, my life could have gotten less complicated after today, but I fear it will not.  Again, it will be my own fault.  Today is the murder mystery for the Herkimer County Historical Society, A Trivial Murder.  I still have a prop to make, and I’d better go over my lines again.  And figure out what to wear.  I wonder if I can find my purple hair dye.  My character might have purple hair.  But I digress.  The point is, it will be one thing off my plate.  But I have added one, possibly two more. What the hell, me?

The item I have definitely added will not even get going for another month or two.  A friend is putting together a Mummer performance for the Great American Irish Festival at the Herkimer County Fairgrounds in July.  I have never been to the Irish Festival.  I believe beer is involved.  I have also never been a Mummer.  It is a traditional Irish kind of guerrilla theatre.  I will definitely post more about it later.

The other thing that I can’t quite bring myself to say no to involves writing a few scenes about Roscoe Conkling, owner of one of the famous mansions on Rutger Street in Utica.  Theatre AND writing.  How can I not do it?  But it is coming up soon, and the scenes need to be staged as well, so I am trying to find out how simply we can get away with doing it, and how much help I will have.  We’ll see how it plays out (see what I did there?).

In the meantime, this must count as my Lame Friday Post, typed in Saturday morning over coffee (THANK GOD for coffee!).  I will strive to make today’s post TODAY, before I am off for what I hope will be another theatrical triumph (I feel certain it will be, relying on the awesome talent of my cast mates and the readiness to be entertained of our audience).  Happy Weekend.

 

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Look, Everybody: Thursday’s Post ON Thursday!

Posted on March 22, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

So what is it with me?  Last night I stared at a blank WordPress Add New Post screen and my whole body said, “No.”  This morning it said nothing: all was blank.  I managed to type something  so, yay, me, I guess (perhaps you read it, if so, thank you and sorry).  Right now I am sitting at a break table in my place of employment and the blank page of my notebook stared at me accusingly, still I started writing in it (this nonsense which I now type into the blank WordPress Add New Post screen; I feel quite self-referential).

My script for Morning’s at Seven (you may remember, the play I’m in at Ilion Little Theatre) is mocking me:  “You’ll never learn these lines!”  Well, I can ignore the script, at least.  My brain has never failed me in that way. Knock wood.  At least, I can’t ignore the script if I am going to learn my lines, but I can ignore the mocking.

I thought I might write about how I got myself into this mess, but the more I think about it, the more I think that it really does not put me in a good light.  Apparently it is possible to reach middle age (if in fact I live to be 110) and still not know how to manage one’s time.  Can an old drama queen learn new tricks?  I hope so.

In the meantime, I have got to stop making these blog posts in which I meander on about how I can’t make a blog post, I have to much to do, etc. etc.  I don’t now how soon I can get to that.  After all, tomorrow is Lame Post Friday, and thank God for that!  However, I am typing in Thursday’s post ON Thursday (at least according to my watch if not my WordPress timestamp), so perhaps I am showing signs of improvement.  As always, thank you for playing.

 

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Not a Timely Post

Posted on March 21, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have wussed out on Wednesday to this extent before, but let’s not talk about that.  I guess all my posts this week are going to be I Missed Posting on the Day, So Here’s a Late Post.  Can I break the pattern?  Time will tell.  Time is certainly a blabbermouth.  That is a joke I like to make.  My sister Diane says, “Time is relative.  Not our relative. But I digress.

At first I made those jokes in parentheses, but then I thought of the headline and brought them out into the main text. I wonder if the words feel better out in the open or safer in the parentheses?  Yes, I anthropomorphize almost anything.  But with words, I am not the first. I distinctly remember in Alice in Wonderland (which I read more than once as a child, although I refused to watch the movie in later years) the Caterpillar misusing a word and saying, “When I used a word, it means when I pay it to mean!”  That may not be the exact quote, but he goes on to speak fondly about how they all eagerly await their wages on payday.

Well, now I’m talking about time AND Alice in Wonderland (which I ought to read again; perhaps I could find the annotated version), the the headline is less apt.  Then again, I’m posting Wuss-out Wednesday at 4:30 on Non-Sequitur Thursday morning.  I say it’ll do.  Will I break the late post curse?  I hope you’ll stay tuned to find out.

 

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Tardy Tired Tuesday

Posted on March 20, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

I knew yesterday morning I would be late for this post, and when I thought of this title, I didn’t mind so much.  Anyways, I mean to make Wednesday’s post today, on Wednesday, by my clock if not by my WordPress timestamp (why does my computer not recognize “WordPress” as a word?  According to the website, it powers a good percentage of the internet) (but I digress).

I had two rehearsals last night so left the house prior to 5 p.m.  I might have been able to type in something, but I felt too flustered.  I left my second rehearsal early, because I was feeling ill so went to bed without getting on the computer at all.  I am still not feeling 100 percent, so we can call this a blogger’s sick day as well.  Tomorrow I have two rehearsals again. Oh dear.

One might be tempted to point out to me that I am too old to burn the candle at both ends.  Well, the joke’s on that know-it-all, because I could NEVER burn the candle at both ends.  Oh, I’ve tried.  I’ve always tried.  There are just so many good things to do sometimes!  Additionally, one must work for a living, overtime if possible, because, you know, money (not that I’m one of those money-grubbing individuals, but sometimes a little extra comes in handy) (but, once again, I digress).

I see I am over 200 words.  As usual (and how embarrassing that it has become SO usual), I apologize for a foolish post.  Undaunted, but feeling a little silly (that is a quote from a friend), I drive on.  Happy Tuesday/Wednesday, everyone!

 

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Monstrously Late Post

Posted on March 19, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

Is this my new pattern?  Posting the next morning for the day before but missing that day’s post so that the next morning… etc., etc., ad infinitum (isn’t that how you spell ad infintum? I’m too lazy to look it up).  A little self-dramatizing, aren’t I?  It’s only been two days, for heavens’ sake!  Never mind that, on with the post and let’s see if I can at least get up to 200 words today.

“What’s this? Another late post? At least it isn’t dawn yet!”

When in doubt, throw in a monster.  I do love me some Nosferatu (1922).

“It’s all right, dear. These things happen.”

Doesn’t he look as if he is giving the young lady good advice?  I loves me some Julie Adams and Creature of the Black Lagoon (1954), too.

So it’s pretty obvious I don’t have much to say.  I don’t feel I should go on and on about how busy I am.  For one thing, as a friend once said, “Save your sympathy for those who are too busy to tell you how busy they are.”  Am I too busy to type how busy I am?  Apparently not, but why go on and on about my own admittedly self-imposed ills?

“Cheer up, dearie. You made a blog post!”

I close with our own delightful witch, from Pumpkin Junction in Sauquoit, NY.  It will be a few months before I made a real post about them again, but, as they say, time flies!  Late Happy Monday, everyone!

(Over 200 words!  Yay, me!)

 

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Late But Certainly Wrist to Forehead

Posted on March 18, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

OK, so I missed making Sunday’s post on Sunday.  I have to leave for work soon, so I can’t do one now, BUT I can share a few pictures I took at the HALO Chinese Auction.

My crowd shots didn’t turn out so good.

This nice lady sold me a hot dog.

And here’s the nice bartender.

Ah, you say, with the picture of the bartender, all becomes clear.  Or maybe blurry.

No matter.  I am nowhere near my self-imposed standard of 200 words, yet I must sign off now.  Tune in later for what I hope will be a better post.

 

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Monstrous Friday?

Posted on March 16, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

“You’re asking ME for a blog post idea?”

It’s that sad moment when I do not even feel up to making a Friday Lame Post.  I just sat here, alternately scrolling down Facebook and staring at a blank WordPress Add New Post page, and I really, truly, got nothin’.  I thought if I opened with a picture of Noseratu (1922), it might spark something.  So far, not much.  However, I am up to 50 or so words, so that’s something.

Quick: which one is me?

I throw in a pic from House on Haunted Hill (1959), just to keep the picture-and-nonsense theme going.  We do love House on Haunted Hill.  William Castle, Vincent Price, what’s not to like?

I’m a little cleaner that this chick, at least.

Carrie (1976) is a bit more graphic than either Nosferatu or House on Haunted Hill, but I include the picture, because I feel just about as stunned as Sissy Spacek looks in this shot.  This is one reason that Lame Post Friday is looking increasingly like Monstrous Monday.  How mortifying.  I can’t even think of a good headline incorporating the word “lame.”  Maybe if I add one more monster picture, something will come to me.

So why am I NOT howling?

Yes, what is it with me? Friday night, and I’m not howling.  I’m not out partying heartily till the wee hours.  Is this what getting older is like?  Damn!  Then again, if I stop trying to type something entertaining (or at least) coherent into my blog post, I can sit here with my knitting, and perhaps my Friday will become a little more enjoyable.  In the meantime, thank you for tuning in, and I hope to see you all for Saturday’s post, whatever it turns out to be.

 

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Jazz is the Answer!

Posted on March 13, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

Music is magic.  I’ve known it for years.  Let me tell you how I was just reminded about it today.

I spent the day at work muddling through.  I don’t know if it was a kind of a migraine or spring allergies kicking, but I felt light-headed and nauseous all day.  Sorry to complain; just giving you the picture.  I thought I would have to take a Blogger’s Sick Day and wondered if I would make it to rehearsal for Morning’s at Seven, the play I am in at Ilion Little Theatre.

Eventually I got some ginger ale out of the machine, which helped the nausea.  I tried to feel thankful that it was light-headedness and not pain.  Counting one’s blessings can go a long way.  I came home and laid down for a while with my heated face mask, then had some coffee and food.

While all this was going on, I knew I had to make a blog post. Of course I did not write one while at work, muddling. Pondering what I could write, I checked my email and Facebook notifications.  I tried to forget how light-headed I was still feeling.  This was difficult, because it is not easy to hold a thought in such a light head (cue jokes about how that must often be the case for me).

As I sat here in front of a blank screen with increasing feelings of panic (I have to leave for rehearsal in less than an hour), Steven said he was going upstairs to lie down (fine wife I am; I didn’t even ask what was wrong).  I asked him to turn off the television or put it on one of the music channels.

“1945,” I suggested, picking the one I have memorized, because it is a year.  Suddenly, jazz was bouncing out of the television, and my fingers were on the keys and ready to type.

It has always been this way with me.  I remember sitting at my parents’ house, when I lived there.  I had Mom’s portable typewriter set up on the coffee table, paper rolled in, novel notes nearby, and I felt blank.  I put on a record album.  It was the soundtrack of StarWars, as I recall (it was the 1970’s).  It turns out, instrumental music is a writing trigger for me.

It is not my only trigger.  Sometimes I can write quite handily on breaks and before starting work with various factory sounds around me.  The ambient noise of a diner or bar works fine.  Sometimes the relative quiet of the library is nice.

Now I am over 400 words and I have about a half hour till I’d better leave.  So I guess this is my Tired Tuesday post.  Not a long whine about not being able to write, but a short story about how I managed to write… something.  Something good?  Well, we don’t ask for miracles on Tired Tuesday.

 

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Murder Mystery Memories

Posted on March 8, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

How about a fast Throwback Thursday post instead of the flustered Non-Sequitur Thursday post that I really feel is more along the lines of what I am capable of at this moment.  I am soon to hurry to a rehearsal of Morning’s at Seven, pausing on the way to drop off a script for A Trivial Murder.  Everything will be fine.  I don’t have to be off book tonight.

You may remember these suspicious characters.

Here is a good murder mystery memory: A G.R.A.V.E. Murder, which we presented in October 2017 to benefit the Herkimer County Historical Society.  I am looking forward to A Trivial Murder, which is also for the historical society.

Don’t you just love my hat?

And here is another murder mystery memory:  Donate to Murder, which LiFT, the Little Fall Theatre Company, presented at Herkimer Elks Lodge this past September.  I hope they invite us back.

I may wear those same shoes for Morning’s at Seven.

I like these pictures so much, I think I’ll share a couple more.  Here’s me and Steve and our buddy, Tucker, in the middle.  I wrote Tucker’s character especially for him, after he told me what sort of person he would like to portray.  I think I’ll close with a picture of the character, Renwick Spaulding.

“You wanna see my bug collection?”

Happy Thursday, everyone!

 

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I Print, I Type, It’s Wuss-out Wednesday!

Posted on March 7, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

I just can’t do it.   I’m sitting here in front of my laptop but typing into my tablet, one letter at a time with the stylus.   I can’t get the printer to work, and I think I made things worse by trying.

OK, back on the laptop (SUCH a relief to type with all ten fingers!).  I do not use the printer often enough, so I usually screw it up the first several tries.  Once I got it working, I realized I was almost out of paper. Yikes! I really think there is a partial ream hanging around somewhere, but I could not find it.  By virtue of searching for stuff I could print on the back of, I got everything I need printed.  A trip to Hummel’s Office Plus is in my near future (just to sneak in a shout-out to a local business).

All this by way of introduction to my usual Wuss-out Wednesday post.  Sorry, readers, but I’m afraid any number of lame posts will be forthcoming in the next month or so.  Then it will be all posts about Morning’s at Seven till May.  Still, even a lame post must be made, so here I sit, typing.

I spent most of my breaks at work trying to learn my lines for Morning’s at Seven.  Next I will have to worry about A Trivial Murder. Learning my lines, that is.  I’ve already written that one.  Other than that, all time must be spent on Murder by the Book, the one I will soon complete writing (as soon as I figure out who did it) (only your really organized writers know these things before they start, you know).

For anyone tuning in late,  A Trivial Murder is an interactive dinner theatre to be presented to benefit the Herkimer County Historical Society at The Travel Lodge in Little Falls on March 23 (Yikes, that’s soon!).  Murder by the Book, also an interactive dinner theatre, will be at the Morning Star Church in Ilion on April 6. I wrote both murder mysteries. Morning’s at Seven by Paul Osborn is a full-length regular play I am in at Ilion Little Theatre, to be presented the last weekend in April and first weekend in May.  On the third weekend in May, I will have a nice, quiet nervous breakdown.

 

 

 

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