Personal Essay, short story, TTOT

Ten Things of Thankful – August 16

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It’s time for the wonderful weekly wows of thankfulness! Let’s do this!

1. The Katzenjammer Kids – Not only is this fun to say, it’s a classic comic from looooong ago. They even made a postage stamp for them. It’s HERE Go and check this out on THIS SITE Comics, in general have always been my go to for entertainment. Back when I was a child I bought multiple packs of comics where you wouldn’t know what you got, except the one on top. It was always fun to see the reveal. Fortunately, I rarely found a comic I didn’t like and my brothers would find them interesting, otherwise. I think that was part of the fun. It was hoping I would find something to share with them. While I don’t subscribe to a newspaper anymore, I still look at the comics whenever I happen upon a paper.

2. Dogs I have known – I am in a reminiscent mood of late and I am thinking of the dogs who have influenced my life. Sport, who didn’t live long in our home and found a place on a farm, because he bit me. I cried when he left. Barney the beagle who lived in our hearts. I like how he always checked on my little brother, just making sure he was okay. And how he barked at toast. And ate my lunchmeat one too many times when I turned my back. And who played with Rowdy the neighbor dog, fighting over an old pillow while each had a end of it and would get in Barney’s house and run around and around with the darned pillow clenched in their mouths. Thump Thump Thump. Then Sam who preferred the outdoors much of the time. He was our watchdog. He was super laid back and some kind of mutt. Then there was Pee Wee, who was part peekapoo and part dachshund who got his name for the obvious. He was quite the dog and brave for his size. Then Patsy came along after Pee Wee died. Daddy suggested a beagle again and he was right on about Patsy. She was the sweetest. She rarely barked and was very simply a nice companion. Then there was Sandy, Maya, Hannah and Shakespeare. That’s enough dogs for this lifetime, doncha think? I won’t be having any more dogs, but I sure love when I can love on other’s doggies.

Pee Wee

3. Cuisine – I’ve been bored with my cooking lately and WARNING!! When you get older, your taste buds change. Some days I can barely taste what I’m eating other than to say it’s salty or sweet. I use more spices than maybe others do simply to try and put some flavor in there. A friend was making tacos yesterday and inspired me to try roasting peppers, onions a mushrooms. I could actually taste quite a bit of these, so that’s a win. I suppose that stronger tasting foods are going to be my choice. And I thought that if I could not taste so well that would mean apathy leading to weight loss. No, it does not work that way. You still try to find some things that taste good. No worries, though, because the weight is still becoming a loss. If you really want to see what I had you have to go to this LINK

4. Flea Market finds AND a friend who will pick them up and deliver them – welp – not really, but I saw these two chairs by the dumpster where I live and grabbed them. They are going to be picked up today by my friend and used on the patio of my daughter’s home. Aren’t they cute? I didn’t keep the ball.

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5. Art – I’ve been in a creative funk of late when it comes to my art. Last Monday I got together with a dear friend and we did some artsy stuff before we did some writing stuff. I took a picture of the asphalt cracks a good while ago and from that I was able to create this image of what I will call Lady on the Bridge.

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6. Six Sentence Story – I am working hard on story crafting and this group helps me to stretch my brain cells. Here this weeks story and I will warn you that it’s not a happy story, but I believe it will have a happy ending. You just gotta believe! Here is the STORY

7. Angel Card Project – We participate in the Angel Card Project and while the focus is on Christmas cards we expand to other cards when a need comes up. The leader/creator of the group has a Facebook page and if you would like to join, that would be awesome. Many of the card recipients are people who are lonely and need to know there are people who care about them, regardless of being strangers. After all, a friend is a stranger until you meet them. Here’s the link to the Angel Card Project page.

8. Errand Buddy – Each week when I run errands, mostly grocery shopping, I have a bestie who goes with me. While we are running about we solve most of the problems of the world. So, if you find that it’s a better place out there, you are welcome.

woman standing beside pineapple fruits
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9. Messy Desk – Right now, I would not take a picture of my desk as it is very messy. That is something to be thankful for. A messy desk is a sign of production and I have been trying and it shows.

10. Invitations – You are invited to be a part of Ten Things of Thankful. Why not join in and share about your week? It is inspiring to hear about life and it’s challenges and overcoming adversities. Now, more than EVER we need the connection of love, caring, sharing to hold each other up. So my 10th thankful is that I am able to invite YOU to a place at the gratitude table. Come sup with us and leave feel satisfied. I may even cook some greens and cornbread for you.
Or do you need sweet tea?

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I like that expression!!

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blog, Personal Essay, poetry, short story

Writing Raw and To Prompts Opens up Possibilities for Creativity

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Writing Raw and To Prompts Opens up Possibilities for Creativity

Many times when we write it’s to some kind of theme. It could be from a prompt or thought finding a place on paper. Have you ever written raw? Writing raw is putting pen to the paper and writing whatever thoughts come to mind. When I took the course The Artist’s Way I found this technique to be most helpful. We wrote every morning in what they called the “Morning Pages” and there were no hard and fast rules. You just grabbed your notebook and wrote by hand (yes no keyboard) and wrote a designated amount of time. Then, you put it away and went on about your other life duties. In the course, you came back to the writings and from them could find things to further write about or learn from. It was very revealing to me about certain things needing focus and other things I needed to let go. It was a revealing and healing exercise. It also helped me to use this technique in other writing.

 

I am in an online group call Signs. It is a slow writing group where we write to a certain theme, but it’s not rushed. You take some time to write to the theme and just let it flow. No edits. Just flow with the theme and write whatever comes to mind. It’s another way of revealing to me, my innermost thoughts. It’s not completely writing raw as there is a theme or photo prompt, but it can end up being a piece that may not have one thing to do with the prompt. So, I would call this writing “Lightly Prompted.”

Another online group I belong to also has prompts and you write six sentences to reveal your thoughts around the prompt word. I have been a part of this group for a good while now. It has opened up for me to be more concise with my words and to tell a story with fewer words. Sometimes I write poetry to these prompt words and, one of my personal favorites is to do acrostics. The group supports each other with responses and it is fun to see what develops. Some have developed longer stories from their works on this challenge.

Recently, I started writing to a haiku/senryu online challenge where we have a picture prompt which we interpret and write to in the form of a haiku or senryu. This is a newer challenge and I am loving this. It is interesting to see what others come up with and is a lot of fun.

About once a quarter the Living Poetry group here in the RTP area has a Germination Workshop in which we write to prompts. This helps generate some rough draft poetry. You can develop poems from this and some have been published. The reveal, where we all share what we write is interesting as you hear so many points of view.

What do you write to? Are prompts helpful for you or do you prefer writing raw? I like to mix it up. When you are stuck or need a warmup exercise for your other writing, thinking long work report you must get done, try to write a haiku or short, short story just to get the brain warmed up before entering the demands of life. That is what I am doing right now. It’s gonna make for a much better day.

If you would like links to the online challenges please let me know. I am happy to invite others to join the fun.

Short Fiction, short story

Struggle – Six Sentence Story

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Struggle

Entering her zip code, Elaine focused on the task at hand, knowing it was the most important job for which she would apply.

Counting the change in the bottom of her purse, Barbara placed the coins in stacks, realizing she had just enough for a round trip bus fare to the interview.

Entering the code in the key pad of her office, Jasmine knew she would have some heavy decision making to make about who she would hire for her personal assistant.

Calling the doctor’s office, Elaine entered the code which ensured it authenticated her, only to hear the answer she needed to know, the news, if bad, would be a nurse and the phone redirected to the nursing department.

Barbara walked into Jasmine’s office, ready as she could be for the job interview, she had a job, but she needed to supplement her income, due to the high bills from her husband’s medical treatments; Keeping him always in the back of her mind, after the funeral, she knew he would be there in spirit.

Elaine hung up the phone, went to her computer, emailed to Jasmine’s office, confirming her appointment, she needed this job more than ever, but she also knew it would offer her no promises in her life.
…..
There you go! That’s the Six Sentence Story for this week.

Rules of the hop:
Write 6 Sentences. No more. No less.
Use the current week’s prompt word.
Come back here on Thursday, link your post…
Spread the word and put in a good one to your fellow writers 🙂

PROMPT WORD: CODE

Want to join in? Go to Six Sentence Story and hop in!

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poetry, Short Fiction, short story

Fired Up

yellow flame
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First, he saw the email with the subject line: Fired
Immediately perspiring, drenched with dread, he opened it
Relief came quickly when he realized the truth
Evidently, there was a typo with what was meant to be said on that subject line
Delayed office hours today are because of a fire in the break room, all staff are to come    in at noon for a lesson on fire safety
Ulysses was relieved with the news until he remembered the charred bagel he tossed in    the trash when he left the night before
Pressure built in the back of his head as he started his day

Thanks to Living Poetry for this prompt! Go HERE to take a look!

poetry, short story, TTOT

Ten Things of Thankful – August 9

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 It’s time for sharing 10 Things of Thankful AKA TTOT!! Let’s get this party started!!

1. My birthday! Yup! I made it to the big 6-5!! It has been a lovely birthday week with lots of well wishes, yumms and loves. Thank you to all who were so sweet to remember me.

2. My tribe! Well, I should say my tribe who also become my family’s tribe, too. One of the tribe members has been helping my daughter with a sort of Marie Kondo kind of thing. It’s great to see the transition!

3. Six Sentence Story – This is still in my heart rhythm and is there to stay! Here’s this weeks contribution: FARE THEE WELL

4. Poetry Challenges – I’ve been participating in a Haiki/Senryu Challenge and here’s this weeks contribution: FROZEN It helps me to develop more with Haiku as it’s one of those forms I started with from an early age, thanks to my 6th grade teacher.

5. Signs Group – I have been participating in a slow writing group called Signs and it’s helping me to do free writing and develop some ideas for longer works. It’s a very supportive, intimate group and I am grateful for the alliance.

6. Goals – I am grateful to have goals as they help me stay focused and also have a sense of accomplishment. It can be so easy to get bogged down and when you see a goal being met, it’s a wonderful feeling. I have a goal due by the end of the month and it has been dancing around it while keeping my eye on it as well. What is it about goals that gets us sidetracked? Some say it’s fear of success or fear of failure. Who knows? I’m planning to meet that goal, after all, since I posted it, I have to meet it, right?

7. Life – In light of the tragic news in just the past week, I and millions of people have been facing the reality of the impact of violence and the underlying issues in this life. Holding those close to us, staying in the moment, is so very important as, it’s not news, but it is news, that we have this time, this second and let’s hold close to the values we have and live life to the fullest.

8. Health – poundage is still sliding off and clothes are too! OOPS!

9. Toni Morrison – R.I.P.

10. You – Whoever is reading this, whether you are browsing or commenting, thank you for stopping by. If you got to this #10 – then you must be very dedicated! Thank YOU!

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