Tag Archives: writing

Not Useful But Not a Bad Saturday

Posted on January 22, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Once again, I post in haste on a Saturday so I can get back to enjoying my evening. Hey, bloggers like to relax on their days off, too, you know! I am at the coveted bra off, sweats on, wine drinking, TV watching, with husband hanging portion of the evening. Why did I not post earlier in anticipation of this time? No good reason. I could not think of anything good to post about, but, really, when has that stopped me?

It has not been a usefully-spent Saturday. I don’t know if I even did enough to warrant a Scattered Saturday post, but let’s try anyways. We slept in till 6:30 this morning and could have slept even later but Steven had to go to work. Rats! After we hung out and had coffee, and I made my usual Saturday morning phone call to my parents (I call them other times, too, of course, but the Saturday morning call is kind of a thing), I started writing post cards (another Saturday morning thing).

I waited till after Steven had left and I took Spunky for a business meeting to walk to the post office. Spunky did not walk with me. He doesn’t seem to care for long walks. I started making it an even longer walk than last week, but I got kind of cold and depressed, so I walked back home sooner than planned. At least I got some exercise.

Back home I worked a little more on the murder mystery LiFT Theatre Company is doing at the Overlook Mansion in Little Falls, NY. I read a few of the newspapers that collected all week (I don’t get the chance to read them every day). I looked at Facebook. I took a short nap on the couch. I did a load of laundry and folded the last two or three that have been waiting to be folded (don’t judge me). I talked to my sister on the telephone.

Finally I judged it OK to pour myself a glass of wine and sit down in front of the television with my knitting. Ah, my favorite time of day. After a while I changed into my sweats and started fixing a fairly interesting dinner. At last Steven came home! Now he is looking at the television and waiting for me to finish my blog post so we can go on to the movie watching portion of the evening. And I think I’m there. Happy Saturday, everyone.

Off the Cuff and On to Rehearsal!

Posted on January 18, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I spent my breaks at work studying my lines for Steel Magnolias, the play I am in at Ilion Little Theatre. Production dates are the first two weekends in March. That makes it just a little early for this blog to become All Steel Magnolias All The Time. However, I don’t have much else to write about today and I REALLY don’t want to blather on about how I’m having trouble writing, as I have done too many times in the past.

We had rehearsal last night. You should see how much the set has progressed! Alas, you cannot, because I did not think to bring my Tablet and snap a couple of pictures. We have rehearsal again tonight, so perhaps I could remedy the omission in a future post.

And I just this minute remembered something! I am supposed to have my bio for the program ready by tonight! Oh no! Longtime readers may remember that I have a problem with bios. I think I wrote a blog post about it once. Oh well, I’ll come up with something off the cuff (what, ME? come up with something off the cuff? SAY IT AIN’T SO!).

As I was saying, the set is filling in with set pieces and props. Now we have to learn our lines, so we can drop our scripts and pick up the props. It is just a bit awkward, script and pencil in one hand (to make notes about blocking), prop in the other. Then you drop the prop or lose your place in the script… um, not that everybody does that. Some of my fellow cast-members are most adept. OK, I’m the big klutz in the bunch, as usual.

Well, this post is not amounting to much, is it? I guess there is not a whole lot to report about the play. But I suppose this will have to do on Tired Tuesday, because I have to get ready for rehearsal. I hope I remember to bring my Tablet.

Mentally Meandering down Memory Lane

Posted on January 17, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Now I see what I have to do. I have to write Monday’s post in advance, because I am clearly not capable of writing on a Monday. That is, if those two sentences don’t count.

However, I do not feel I should have another whiny post about I Can’t Write Today, so I will do the photo trick again. That was kind of fun last time, wasn’t it? Let me see what I have downloaded…

This is one of my favorites. It is the LiFT Theatre Company’s production of Much Ado About Nothing, performed last August at the Utica Zoo. That’s me in the green shirt holding a pitchfork, trying to intimidate the big guy. Me and the guy in the white shirt were the Watch, and we had just uncovered a villainous piece of lechery. We were pretty pleased with ourselves over that.

Here is the whole cast of that production, at Canal Place in Little Falls, where we presented the play as part of the Canal Days Celebration. It was great fun, and the audiences seemed to like us quite a bit.

OK, this is one of my heroes, Weird Al Yankovich, as a monk on Galivant, an absolutely marvelous show that, alas, is no more. The reason I include it today is that I had two parts in Much Ado About Nothing (as anybody who read my multiple blog posts about the show may recall). Unfortunately, I don’t have an pictures of me as Friar Francis. So I thought I’d stick in a substitute.

So this is my blog post for today. My Mental Meanderings took me down memory lane to last summer’s theatre adventures. That is appropriate, as I am posting this before hurrying off to rehearsal for my next theatrical adventure, Steel Magnolias at Ilion Little Theatre. More about that adventure later. And more about further adventures with LiFT Theatre Company! As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

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Posted in humor, Monday Mental Meanderings, personal and tagged blog post, Ilion Little Theatre, LiFT Theatre Company, Much Ado About Nothing, Steel Magnolias, theatre, writing. Bookmark the permalink.

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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Posted in blogging, humor, personal, Wrist to Forehead Sunday and tagged blog post, comic books, not writing, swoon, Truman Capote, typing, writing. Bookmark the permalink.

Is It Worth 3,000 Words?

Posted on January 13, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I think I may have run out of things to say about not having anything to say.

I am forcing myself not to backspace and erase that, as I did to at least three other possible leads. I’m thinking at least one of those leads was better than what I went with, but of course now I can’t remember any of them.

Using a few random pictures seemed to work yesterday. I wonder if I could get away with it two days in a row.

He’s telling me what to say, and I’m thinking he’s full of beans.

This picture is from the Ilion Little Theatre production of Harvey in 2012. Steven played Dr. Chumley. I was Veda. Perhaps longtime readers remember when this blog was All Harvey All The Time.

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My character is drinking wine, but it is not real wine in the glass, a source of much disappointment to me.

This is a more recent stage appearance: Splitting Issues last October. I believe I also wrote a couple of blog posts about that.

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In jail, where some believe we belong (you know who you are).

I don’t have another theatre picture of Steven and me together, so I will show a picture of me in costume with Steven. This was a Haunted Tour of Herkimer’s Historic Four Corners. I reprised my role (wait a minute; my computer thinks “reprised” is not a word, but apparently “reprise” is. Oh, I can’t worry about that now) of Roxalana Druse, who was hanged behind the 1834 Jail. I don’t think I did a blog post about that event (the haunted tour, not the hanging, although I never wrote about the hanging either). How remiss of me.

So this is my Non-Sequitur Thursday post for the week. I think I’ve jumped around enough to qualify. If only I could think of a catchy headline, I could head to my Steel Magnolias rehearsal content.

Monday Mental Muck

Posted on January 10, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Well, I would have a Monday Mental Meanderings post, but my brain is mired in the muck (just to alliterate a little further). Seriously, my thought processes seem to have slowed down almost to a halt. In fact, they may be moving backwards. Oh dear.

There. I just took a break and read a couple of blogs. I don’t know how I thought that was going to help, but I thought it couldn’t hurt and it is the only chance I will have to read any blogs before tomorrow night. I have rehearsal tonight. I know, I know, it is not yet time for this blog to become All Steel Magnolias All The Time. That time will come much closer to production, I hope.

Here is my problem: I can’t write.

I know, I know, one must be merciless in the matter of mood (I think that is a quote, but I do not remember who said it. I hope I do not have it exactly right as it might constitute plagiarism) (which some say is the sincerest form of flattery). Well, here I am, aren’t I? I’m at the keyboard, typing away and, as you can see, nothing very good is coming out. Could this be Wrist to Forehead Monday?

Earlier today I tried to write. It did not work out very well at all. Not one word made it from brain to paper. And you can clearly see not much brain is at work in the words I’m typing here. This may be my worst post about I Can’t Write a Post Today yet (I’ve labeled some “Why I Can’t Write a Post Today” and some “How I Can’t Write a Post Today,” but I feel that today the how and why eludes me).

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Posted in blogging, humor, personal, writing and tagged blog post, brain, lame post, Monday, Monday Mental Meanderings, not writing, Steel Magnolias, writing. Bookmark the permalink.

No Wine, No Words

Posted on January 6, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh, could I use a couple of pictures today! Because the words that are currently swirling around in my head are just not coalescing into a blog post. And I must make a post soon, because the read-through for Steel Magnolias (you know, the play I’m in a Ilion Little Theatre) is tonight. Yes, we are heading into another few months of hurried posts before I hurry off to rehearsal or performance. Yes! I AM a drama queen!

I am not, unfortunately, a blogger queen. I typed in the first paragraph and have been sitting here staring at the computer since.

Then I paused to eat supper, bacon and scrambled eggs, made by my husband, Steve. Yum! And I keep getting distracted by the Reba re-run on the TV. That is a largely ignored but very fun little show. I love Reba McEntire. I like the rest of the cast as well. Phew, it’s over now. Now it’s a show I don’t like. Watch me get interested in it in spite of myself. I do that sometimes. Steven just changed the channel to 20/20 on OWN. I love true crime shows.

So I guess this is truly a Non-Sequitur Thursday post. All I have to do now is think of a catchy headline that may or may not have anything to do with this nonsense.

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Posted in humor, Non Sequitur Thursday, personal and tagged blog post, blogging, Ilion Little Theatre, television, words, writing. Bookmark the permalink.

All Kinds of Drama in 2017!

Posted on January 3, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Welcome to the first Mental Meanderings Monday of 2017. I hope nobody is expecting brilliance (I know, most of you never had such expectations of me) (OK, me neither), because I feel tired and stupid. These are not unfamiliar feelings for me, but I do not repine. I just have to wait and sooner or later I will feel some other way. That is how it works.

Where was I? Ah yes, mentally meandering. I’m expecting my post-Christmas letdown to continue at least for a few more days, with the occasional relapse as the month wears on. On Wednesday I have a meeting to talk more about the murder mystery LiFT Theatre Company is doing at the Overlook Mansion in Little Falls. Who could be uncheered by a murder mystery? (That is a paraphrase from Winnie the Pooh, by the way. I think the real line is, “Nobody could be uncheered by a balloon.”) Thursday I have the read-through for Steel Magnolias at Ilion Little Theatre.

And then I have at least two more murder mysteries to write, in addition to writing articles for Mohawk Valley Living magazine and making a blog post every day. Then there is running, finally organizing my house and life, and of course seeking out new Mohawk Valley adventures. I hope to also find time to crochet, knit, and watch true crime on cable television, as well as the occasional cheesy movie to write a blog post about (I haven’t done one of those posts in a long time!).

I see that I am over 250 words. Score! And never once did I whine about my inability to come up with a blog post for today. That makes me feel a good deal less stupid than I felt when I typed the first paragraph. You see, I was right: just wait and I will feel a different way. Bring on 2017!

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Posted in humor, Monday Mental Meanderings, personal and tagged 2017, blog post, Ilion Little Theatre, LiFT Theatre Company, Little Falls NY, Mohawk Valley adventures, Mohawk Valley Living, murder mystery, Overlook Mansion, Steel Magnolias, theatre, writing. Bookmark the permalink.

Lame Production

Posted on December 31, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

What’s wrong with Lame Post Friday anyways? Have I used that lead before? No matter. I typed in two or three leads earlier and backspaced them out, I am determined not to do that again. I asked yesterday if bloggers got vacations. Today I answer my own question: Yes, we do, and this is mine! I’m going to post my usual foolishness and NOT feel guilty about it? Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha!

The weather was better today than yesterday, but my level of productiveness held steady at the low level I have been at all week. That I feel guilty about. Then again, I have three more days off before I go back to work. Who knows how much I can get done? I know, some of you are saying YOU know and it isn’t damn much (you know who you are).

What is this preoccupation with being productive anyways? Why can’t we just BE? (Ooh, I just flashed on Hamlet. Not my favorite Shakespeare soliloquy, by the way.) That sounds remarkably like the half-baked philosophy in which I often indulge on Lame Post Friday. I’m afraid the only things I can think of to say, though, strike me as painfully obvious.

Namely, that there is no point in being productive for its own sake, just to say, “Ah, I accomplished something today.” However, there are specific things one might like to accomplish. For example, I clean my house because I want to enjoy sitting in a clean house, not so I can say, “Ha-ha! I just spend two hours cleaning my house!”

And now I have the dreadfully uncomfortable feeling that sometimes I publish a blog post merely so I can say, “Ha-ha! I published a blog post!” How mortifying. I guess I’m not too mortified to hit “Publish,” though. For one reason, I said in the first paragraph I was not going to feel guilt about it. So there.

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Posted in blogging, humor, Lame Post Friday, personal and tagged blog post, guilt, half-baked philosophy, productive, vacation, writing. Bookmark the permalink.

Is It Multi-Tasking to Vacation and Blog?

Posted on December 30, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have previously bemoaned the absence of Blogger Sick Days. How about the absence of Blogger Vacation? I am on vacation from my real job this week (also known as “shut down” in the factory world). Why do I have to keep worrying about this silly blog?

Of course the short answer is that I don’t. For heavens’ sake, this is not a paid writing gig. I don’t have a contract with anybody. I daresay not a lot of people would even notice if I did not post every day (I like to think that some would). The long answer is… perhaps not worthy of a blog post. In fact, I’m not even sure if I know the long answer. I only know another short answer: I decided in my head that I would post every day, and that is what I do.

It has been quite a dreadful weather day in the Mohawk Valley today. It snowed like the proverbial son of a bitch most of the day (a friend said on Facebook that it was “snowing like a bitch,” and I corrected her) (thus being both didactic and silly; who says I can’t multitask?). I went out in it for stops at the library and grocery store, necessitating three times of brushing off my vehicle. That’s a lot of snow. When I got home I shoveled the top layer of snow in my driveway. Throughout the afternoon, I checked out the window occasionally as the sonofabitchy snow rendered my labor useless.

I did not get a whole lot else done. I washed the dishes. I cooked a pretty good dinner. I encouraged local entrepreneurship by paying two young men to shovel my driveway after the snow had pretty much obliterated my earlier efforts. They did a marvelous job. Score!

And now I am going to think of a silly headline and call this a Non-Sequitur Thursday post. I hope you’re all having a lovely week after Christmas. Stay safe, if you are also getting hit with a lot of snow.

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Posted in blogging, humor, Non Sequitur Thursday, personal and tagged blog post, mohawk valley, multi-tasking, snow, vacation, weather, writing. Bookmark the permalink.

Mohawk Valley Girl

Tag Archives: writing

Not Useful But Not a Bad Saturday

Off the Cuff and On to Rehearsal!

Mentally Meandering down Memory Lane

Typing… About… Writing…

Is It Worth 3,000 Words?

Monday Mental Muck

No Wine, No Words

All Kinds of Drama in 2017!

Lame Production

Is It Multi-Tasking to Vacation and Blog?

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