Tag Archives: writing

Oh, Who Wants to Get Anything Done Anyways?

Posted on March 24, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I need a new approach. I spend all week not getting a lot done and thinking, “I MUST do a lot on the weekend.” Then on the weekend, I don’t get anything done. I spend most of the day Sunday REALLY not wanting to get anything done, least of all a blog post. Eventually I manage to write a Wrist to Forehead Sunday post. Then I go on to Monday and start the whole cycle again.

Then again, it is nice to have a routine.

I did not spend Saturday having Mohawk Valley adventures, as I would have liked to have done. Not many adventures offered themselves to begin with, and I got a muscle spasm, also known as a crick in my neck. I had already managed a rather nice walk with Tabby, so I didn’t feel too guilty about my dog. I took some ibuprofen and made the best of things.

Local readers may be thinking, “BUT weren’t you supposed to register for the Boilermaker?” Indeed, registration was Saturday, and the 15K race filled up in something like three hours. I was not one of the 14,000 ambitious runners. Sorry to disappoint any regular readers (if anybody was paying attention in the first place). I just couldn’t count on my back allowing me to train properly. In my defense, I have run the Boilermaker three times and I will continue to run, perhaps participating in other local runs which will make perfectly acceptable blog posts.

I probably could have written an entire post apologizing for not registering for the Boilermaker, but that might have smacked of slimy self-justification and weaselly rationalization. Well, only people who are ACTUALLY RUNNING THE BOILERMAKER THIS YEAR have any right to shake their fingers or their heads at me (you can shake your groove thing at any time).

Well, here I am over 300 words. More than respectable for a Wrist to Forehead Sunday. I must confess, I enjoyed writing this one. I hope somebody has enjoyed reading it.

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Go Jump in the Lame

Posted on March 15, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Here I am on Lame Post Friday and once again, I got nuthin’.

How can this be? How many posts have I written about how once I start writing, I just write more? It’s true. I write the blog post every day, and then I write the novel. And then I write more. So how come I’m not writing right now?

I know, writing about not writing is still writing. It just isn’t very interesting. It’s kind of — dare I say it? — lame.

Ah, but Lame Post Friday is for random observations and half-baked philosophy, and I believe yesterday I brought up some half-baked philosophy. A minor confession: I often declare things “half-baked philosophy suitable for Lame Post Friday” merely because I don’t feel like dealing with them on whatever day it happens to be. But when you get to Lame Post Friday and there isn’t a random observation in sight…

I think my question was something along the lines of is there a discernible reason for me to be writing this blog at all? Kind of a silly question, but consider the source (me). I don’t know if it’s half-baked philosophy after all. I write the blog because I like writing the blog. Even on days when I can’t think of a non-lame thing to say.

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World’s Dumbest Obsession

Posted on March 14, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I don’t really have anything except that title, which I thought of several days ago, not really intending to use it. I mean, is there any reason to do an entire post about “World’s Dumbest” on TruTV and how I can’t seem to live without it? On the other hand, someone might observe that there is little discernible reason for me to be writing this blog at all. To that person I say, questions of why run into half-baked philosophy, suitable for Lame Post Friday, not Non-Sequitur Thursday (which is today). In other words, nice try, but I’m not stopping.

Where was I? Ah yes, nowhere. I’m sitting in my living room, netbook (I think that’s what it’s called; it was given to me) on my lap, dinner in the oven and “World’s Dumbest” on TV in front of me. I’ve seen this episode before. I’ve seen most episodes before (see headline about obsession).

Tabby got a little miffed at me earlier, when I “ran” on the mini-tramp instead of taking her for a walk. I deemed it too cold out for cute little doggies. It was definitely too cold for me. I walked to a doctor’s appointment this morning from work. That was the longest ten-minute walk I have taken in a long time. On the brighter side, it is supposed to be warmer tomorrow.

Paragraph #3 was the non-sequitur of the post, in case you were wondering.

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Writing AT ALL

Posted on March 12, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’m afraid Tired Tuesday is going to be a regular feature for Mohawk Valley Girl, because, quite frankly, I am. This is what I wrote during the 9 a.m. break at work today. Full disclosure: I mostly wrote it just to get my pen moving and hoped I would come up with something better to publish. But perhaps this will do.

The one thing I have a horror of is staring at a blank page. What happens is that one daydreams one’s time away and where does that get one? I suppose there is something to be said for daydreaming, but most daydreamers are too busy daydreaming to say it (ooh, I just flashed on the Monkees’ “Daydream Believer.” Love those Monkees).

I’m having problems with the blog as well as the novel. I have a few things to write about for the blog, but I just can’t seem to put the words on the paper. I really hate admitting that. I can hear scornful voices saying, “Just write it, you big baby.” And I’m afraid the scornful voices are me.

I read a metaphor once that seems appropriate here. You probably won’t be able to batter down the door by main force. Try another door. And return to the first one every so often and give a gentle tap. It might let you in.

Actually, I feel a little better about myself right now, because I am actually putting words on a page. If I can write at all, I can potentially write something good. Ah, and that leads me into the similarities of writing and running. When I was trying to build up my run time in the army, my goal for myself on a run was to run a little faster than I really wanted to run. Very often that pace translated to “at all.” And, lo and behold, as long as I kept running AT ALL, eventually I improved.

Will it be so with my writing? Hard to say. I guess I’ll wait and find out.

NOTE: During my lunch break I wrote two pages on my novel. I wrote another page while doing laundry after work. Maybe writing AT All helps.

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An Hour Less Wrist

Posted on March 10, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh I meant, I really truly meant to write a good post today. Maybe I had too good a time last night at the police department fundraiser (don’t tell my mother) (oh, rats, I think she reads this blog) (now I’m being silly, what a surprise).

Where was I? Ah yes, another Wrist to Forehead Sunday or, to leave the day of the week out of it, yet another post about Why I Can’t Write a Post Today. I just took a nice walk with my husband Steven and my schnoodle Tabby. I had meant to write about that. The only thing that stands out, however, is the cold wind that kept tormenting us and our relative lack of success at dodging puddles.

Let’s blame the clock change. What a dumb idea that is! “We get another hour of daylight!” somebody will say, in that bright, squeaky voice I hate. We do not! We get the exact same amount of daylight! Only the clock says a different time. But I must ask myself, why does it bother me so much? One hour less of sleep one day (and it wouldn’t have been that if I had gone to bed earlier) does not seem such a great thing. One often gets up an hour earlier for some good or stupid reason. That’s no reason to go all wrist-to-forehead on us.

I think it is just my usual Sunday malaise. I just don’t feel like doing anything useful on a Sunday and I probably never will. Perhaps I can get my act together to the extent of writing an extra post during the week so that on Sunday I only have to hit Publish. But let’s not get our hopes up.

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I Just Have to Chat

Posted on March 9, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’m having something of a Wrist to Forehead Saturday, but I will attempt to write a post about What I’ve Done So Far Today. Instead of the post on Why I Can’t POSSIBLY Write a Post Today, which is what my meager brain seems to want to dish out.

We got up fairly early. Tabby woke us up, which is unusual, because she usually waits until we are stirring, in a manner unusually polite for a cute little dog. This was good, because I had to go get some blood drawn for a medical appointment next week. I got to Centrex in Herkimer, NY about two minutes after seven, their advertised opening time. There was a line of people waiting at the door.

“It looks like we’re lined up to buy tickets for a rock star,” I said. You know me; I just can’t help but chat. “Those guys have been here since 3 a.m.” A man at the head of the line assured me he had not. A few minutes later I said, “I just saw a light go on. Which is not the same thing as a light going on over my head, which hardly ever happens.” The lady in line ahead of me rewarded that silly joke with a chuckle. When we had all signed in and the first man in line got called I said, “You see, it paid off, getting here at 3 a.m.”

This is how I amuse myself when I have to get stuck with a needle on a Saturday morning.

You know, I was going to continue my post including a visit to the post office, a stop at the ATM, putting air in my tires… but I’m approaching 300 words. That is quite respectable for a post when I started out without anything to say. I just love writing a blog.

I hope to see you all (figuratively speaking, of course), on Sunday, when I will strive to keep my wrist off my forehead.

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Just Saying

Posted on March 7, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Earlier today I wrote the title of a blog post. Then I drew a line under it and wrote a paragraph of a different blog post. Then I turned the page and wrote pretty much an entire other blog post.

And here I am, typing off the cuff. Yes, I am taking another Blogger’s Sick Day. I have had a dreadful headache for most of the day. I know, other people have debilitating headaches and manage to write decent blog posts, or at least not to complain to all and sundry about them. Well, you may have noticed previously, in most cases, I am not other people.

The sad thing is that last Friday I had a much worse headache and actually managed a not bad blog post. Or do I flatter myself? Probably. In my defense, I had that post already written and had merely to copy it.

Ah, my astute reader asks, what about the entire other blog post you mentioned in paragraph one? Can’t you just type that one in? Somehow, I just don’t feel I can. You see, I wrote about how I MIGHT run the Boilermaker. Only, you see, I wrote the post, but I did not come home and run. How hypocritical is that? A whole post about running the Boilermaker from a person who did NOT run? I can’t do it.

I did take my dog Tabby for a walk. As I walked, I reflected on a saying I made up earlier in the week:

Standing burns more calories than sitting, walking burns more calories than standing, running burns more calories than walking, and walking your dog is just always a good thing to do.

I will now try to come up with a silly headline and wish you all a pleasant Non-Sequitur Thursday.

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No Brain for the Oscars

Posted on March 3, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I believe I mentioned yesterday that I have had a few Mohawk Valley adventures I intend to write about. I hope nobody was looking forward to that too eagerly, because today is Wrist to Forehead Sunday. I’m sitting at my computer, typing this off the top of my head and it is not going to be very long.

I am not actually in distress, as Wrist to Forehead may imply (I’m probably not a beautiful maiden, either, but whatever) (you know, from the fairy tales: beautiful maiden in distress? So much for literary references). I am actually having quite an enjoyable weekend. As I mentioned, it is my husband’s birthday weekend. We both have three days off. We like to have days off together.

So why am I not writing a real post, which might even take less time than trying to come up with excuses why I’m not? I say, that is a good question. I guess the only answer is that my brain is not in gear. It may not even be in my head (it made kind of a hollow sound when I tapped it just now) (just kidding; I didn’t really tap myself on the head, I thought it would be funny to pretend I did).

One reason I need to get this post written is that I have snacks to fix. It is Oscar Day, the movie buff’s equivalent of Superbowl Sunday. I have not seen any of the movies nominated, or in fact, any movie made within the past ten years. Well, at least three, anyways. But you know me, any excuse to fix yummy snacks. I may even write a post on what I fix. But not today. Happy Sunday, everyone.

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World’s Dumbest Questions

Posted on February 27, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I really hate to have a Wuss-out Wednesday right after a Tired Tuesday, and yet, here I am. I neglected to find out more information about the local business I was at Tuesday so am not inclined to do that post yet. It was too cold and windy to take Tabby for a walk, so yet another Pedestrian Post is out.

I suppose this means I’m always up for a post about Why I Can’t Write a Post Today.

I actually had started writing a whole post in my head while I was at work today. It would have done for a Mid-week Middle-aged Musing. Then when I sat down to put it on paper, I hesitated. For one thing, there seemed to be two or three different points I could make. Not usually a problem and when it is, it seems to me it’s a good problem to have. You can get multiple blog posts out of that problem. So what was my problem? Let’s just blame it on my wussy mood.

In the meantime, I want to finish this post quickly, because my favorite TV show, World’s Dumbest, is on at six. Oh, I can just hear it now: “What’s more important here, writing a decent blog post or watching a stupid TV show?” That is a good question, I’ll admit. I can’t even argue that it is not a stupid TV show. That is part of its charm.

My answer to the question is another question (don’t you just hate it when somebody answers a question with another question?): Why can’t I do both? Ooh, and here’s another question to answer the first question: Are the majority of my blog posts decent, even when I do not have a TV show to watch? And the final question of the post: Do I really want to hear the answer to that last question?

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Tsk-Tsk Tuesday

Posted on February 26, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Note to Self: When planning to do laundry after work, write two blog posts the day before, so you only have to hit “Publish” after doing laundry.

Note back: Yeah, good luck with that.

Yes, it is another Tired Tuesday, and I knew it would be. I tried to have a Mohawk Valley adventure yesterday after work, but the exhibit I had thought to visit had closed on the 20th. Let that be a lesson to me to pay more attention to dates when I see these things in the paper. In my defense… OK, there’s really no excuse. Go ahead and make that tsk-tsk noise at me, if that’s what you were about to do.

I had thought to patronize a couple of local businesses before and after doing laundry. Doing laundry itself is, of course, always an adventure, but not always one worth writing about. We did stop by one place, but I neglected to make a note of hours, phone number or other useful things I like to include. Perhaps I could find out this information and use it in a future post.

My novel limps along. I’ve been working on that during breaks at work, rather than trying to come up with stuff to write here. I’m thinking when the novel starts to progress a little better, the blog posts will improve too. We’ll hope for the best.

In the meantime, here is another fairly ridiculous post and I feel too tired to come up with anything better. Please stay with me, dear reader. I’m sure better days are coming.

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