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 |   A terminal for all blogs coming in or going out. A view into my life. |
Started July 1st 2019 for contests, etc. as other blogs are filling up and have other purposes.  I'm starting a new blog because
I'll be linking to
I've started an appendix (I no longer have one personally) to keep track of my Space Cadet journals for Space Blog. It's a work constantly under construction. Mind the mess.
I needed to start a folder for contests as there are so many deadlines and details to remember.
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![Merit Badge in Shadows and Light
[Click For More Info]
Hi [Link To User enga] ,
Congratulations! You won 2nd Place in [Link To Item #shadows] with your fabulous poem, [Link To Item #2248380] .
Rachel *^*Heartv*^*](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Shadows_and_Light-1936078_14.gif) 36 degrees and cooling. Going on 11 p.m. I have no will nor energy. How to find it. It's Ridvan, celebrated by Baha'is all over the world.  29 and frigid at 1:22 a.m. I'm too tired to work and too worked up to ... Took a bath then swept and mopped a bit. It's 3:30 a.m. and I must go to bed. 41 degrees at 11 a.m. Woke up fairly early but went back to bed. I've had enough sleep now and need to find the energy to unclutter and clean. I have some catch-up on writing to do but that has to be kept to a minimum. 48 degrees at 3 p.m. Sat in the sun with friends. Shared with Kathi some of what I'm dealing with. It helps to not keep it in. I'm overwhelmed and trying to find a way through. She gave me a lunch: taco salad with beans, snickerdoodle. All gone. Wrote "Over the phone—a postcard [50.gz]"  50 and about as warm as it'll get. It's 5:35. Tackling my problems = unearthing other problems. Very little progress. May be time to tackle the plants and the table. Anything, every little thing helps even when it doesn't feel like I'm getting anywhere. 48 degrees at 8 till 8. I had a chicken sandwich. Because of my water situation I'm trying to not make a mess. I worked a bit on the plants. I'm consolidating for now. The ones on the kitchen table needed to be moved. I can move the books onto it and clean another counter. Eventually things need to be moved out or tossed. When Trav and I have tea on Thursday more of the books will need to have been boxed. Slowly. In the news: I am okay with the Chauvin verdict. Police shouldn't be violent. IMO, they should have tasers instead of guns and know how to difuse situations. If not... they shouldn't be cops. |
| I doubt that I'll get to do what I want to do today. I've decided to get rid of books and certain items around my room. I also need to clean in the morning. No energy to do anything. 32 degrees and  snow  at midnight I use to tell everyone that it snows one out of four years on the 19th. Don't bother anymore but I smile thinking of that. 38 degrees at noon. It was a white morning.  Off for an ice cream cone. 42 degrees at 3:13. A few  I saw Bill, Laxmi, Phil, Ben, Kathi in fron of the Big Dipper. I got a free cup of rootbeer sorbet. Later, stopped in to say hello to Scott, QueenNormaJeanGreeneggs&vegham  , who baked a pistachio cake yesterday for his 39th birthday. I got meself a big bad-ass piece. Very good.  Now I have work to do. I'm happy to have received 2nd place from Light and Shadows:
which I originally wrote for Katya the Poet  's "Dew Drop Inn" 19-25 April goals:  1. clean (quite a bit; much more to do) 2. unclutter (much more to do) 3. give things away 4. off to the dumpster (almost every day) 5. write in between goals 1-4. (almost every day)I must get a grip on my situation. No choice. Called Bryan in Costa Rica and my sister in Washington State. Without a proper phone no on calls me so I have to call them. I used to call a lot; not now. Cut back on fb but put a photo showing the snow. |
| 44 calm and clear degrees on a Sunday morning at 9:38. It won't stay like this! Should be a stormy sunset. What I accomplished today: one load of wash at the laundramat. 55 degrees at noon. Still avoiding the day. Binge-watched Thai series. There's nothing like a liar to stir up the crap. 48 degrees and quickly falling with strong winds from the NE and rain headed south. Could be a stormy couple of hours. |
| 38 sunny degrees at 9 a.m. Should warm up another 30 degrees today. Finished one season of "Together with me" (7 episodes = c. 7 hours). High-drama with some violence and lots of meanness. What I would consider typical teen-Hollywood fare. "He's coming to me" had more mystery (really had to watch closely), less cliche, no teen 'violence', with music an important component. More development of characters, layered. Just yawned at 9:11. Does that count as an activity? Drinking Bustelo coffee. Just gave this entry a title. I did binge watch yesterday. Souldn't today because this will be one of the nicest days since autumn. Oddly, I don't have much urge to rewatch "Together with me" like I did (4+ times) with "He's coming to me" which works on a deeper emotional level. However, went on line and figure out that the version I was watching cut out some of the side stories so I'm not too thrilled. There's a second season and I'll be wary of that. Farm and Phu and maybe Faii were cut a bit as the focus was on Knock/Korn. 65 degrees and rising at 3 p.m. Just went through a bit of hell. Plumbing issues. Personal issues. Plumbing is fixed for now. Need new plumbing. 64 degrees at 8:04. I saw my first violet shooting stars. The yellowbells are 'ringing'. Mt. Jumbo is greening. Spring is getting here. Tomorrow is supposed to be a nice day until it rains in the evening. Cooler on Monday. I need to find emotional and physical energy this week. If not... it won't end well. |
| I've lost my sense of caring. I'm basically adrift between a life I chose and one I might dare to choose again. Will going ahead be returning to old routines or making new ones? I was placed on hold for a year and withdrew to estivate then hibernate. The life force in me wanes. Again an odd dream, one that could've been a nightmare but wasn't. My option of visiting the C4 countries: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, may have triggered it. 43 degrees at 9:58 with fluffy warm sky-bunnies headed somewhere else. Lilli asks: What is your favorite dessert? Gobi, Mohave, Sahara, Kalihari — any, if I'm offered chocolate cake, two scoops of chocolate ice cream, chocolate syrup dripping, mocha on the side. The Dew Drop Inn prompts are leaving me gasping for air this year. Most prompts seem too abstract. Even the "Tree of Life" is more of a concept. Fortunately I've seen a metallic sculpture on Buda Pest next to the main synagogue and the symbol carved in stone many places. Enough concrete images to work from. April 16—Caring & Caregiving April 17—There is no such place April 18—Sounds… April 19—acting your age (or not!) April 20—Tree of Life… Almost noon. Already 51 degrees. I need to put clothes on and go out. I can't take a shower. Fridays: either before 9:45 or after 2:00. The janitor does a deeper clean on Fridays. 56 degrees at 1:52 ... only a few minutes past high-noon here. It should get over 60 around 5 or 6 o'clock. Saw the usually crowd at the Big Dipper across from the Senior Center. Was gifted some potato wedges. On way back bought a rosemary focaccia at Le Petit for $4. I consider it to be oily savory candy. I'm watching "Together with me", another Thai BL series. Very different vibe. In "He's Coming to me" the relationship opened up like a flower, one petal at a time, but the was no real question that the feelings and intentions were 'pure'. This one ... real villains trying to interfere. Still 57 degrees at 7:38. Forgot to open up the window but I can probably leave it open over night. I mixed a can of chicken with cream of mushroom soup, added milk and ricotta, sprinkled ginger, tarragon and thyme. I'll serve some over toast. Save the rest for tomorrow and eat a different way. Twilight at 9 p.m. with an orange glow along the north-east horizon. 52 degrees. |
| 40 degrees at 10 p.m. Montana Time. I'm tired but listening to music. I'm going to pause to sip some blackberry tea. 5 entries into the Oriental Poetry contest so that makes me happy. I like 5-10 entries minimum in contests I enter. 38 degrees at 9:49. Expecting it to warm up today. Should be nice. Odd dream of walking through a neighborhood of White Christians. They apparently were aware that there were other people out there but didn't quite catch on that I wasn't one of them. Very strange dream for me. I remember stooping down to look at a green lawn wondering whether it was grass. 3:27 and 52 calm degrees. Inside I'm feeling toasty. Fully clothed from going out: brown pants, white shirt, red/cream argyle vest. I kicked off my shoes. I spoke with Angie and Billie Jo today. I really need a case worker like Angie. I've needed one for over a year. Just talking to them helped. Spoke to Jay and Mica on the way back from the grocery store. We're all slowly uncoccooning. I bought marked down cherry turnovers. No so great imho. And Bustelo coffee because the big jar was affordable. And boneless chicken thighs, a welcomed change after a week of beef and pork. I spent just under $20. My monthly budget is $100 ... give or take. I "save money" by not eating at the Senior Center. My problem at home is that my meals are not balanced. I answered a newsfeed qustion about the difficulty of writing a synopsis thusly yesterday: "A very simple answer but first a question. Do you cook every meal you eat? Do you fix everything that is broken? Do you grow your own food? Have you ever built a house? Most people don't. There are reasons why people hire accountants, lawyers, housekeepers, snow-shovelers. So why is a writer expected to be a door-to-door salesman, a literary agent, a proofreader? One can ask friends or hire others to do that. A writer WRITES. f.u.l.l.s.t.o.p..." I just don't feel good. It's 52 degrees at 8 p.m. I'm so tired. I have a burger to eat ... not interested. Coffee? At this hour? Beautiful orange sunset. Chat with Bri. Feel flushed but my temp isn't high. 98.7. |
| Nothing to see here ... yet. The big item on my agenda today is making sure that writing contests deadlines are met. Everything else is optional, including getting groceries. 1 p.m. temps forecast for W, Th, F: 41, 46, 51. It's important to finish before the 5 o'clock rush. Although the weather will be clear it'll be cold and windy in the mornings. This matters because I walk 6 blocks to the grocery store. On a nice day that's great! No one is reading my blog. That's probably my fault. It's just my boring life. I am getting comments on my poetry though and that's appreciated. During the 30dbc I had between 10-15 views daily. Fewer comments of course. But even now when I read and leave comments on other blogs there's little to no reciprocity. It gets depressing at times. The way to find out how people are doing is reading and answering Lilli's QOTD. 33 degrees at 8:48 and slowly warming up. No rain forecast but it's overcast. I'll need to eat something with my morning coffee. Just that warning from my stomach. I'm up earlier after having gone to bed earlier. If I'm smart... (how many times have I said that this past year?) ... But I wasn't. Took a short nap and now I'm fuzzy headed like a dandelion clock. Since my wild hair is about 11 inches long instead of 1 or 2, I resemble that remark. More coffee. This time with a bit of hazelnut-cocoa added. Trying to enter 2nd Time Around but not hearing contest results is making it harder: Story "Strawberry" Story "Dr. Hirudo, Therapist" Poem "Peaches" Story "At the water's edge" "A Kind of Hush [304]" Won Writers Cramp! But I forgot.  There are other contests I might be able to enter it in. It'd be nice to have a ribbon. Another: "Arms raised to the skies [321] 16 lines" Possibilities: Story "Cleaning up the mess [270] (211 words)" entered into "Second Time Around ~ Birthday Special" Poem "i am behind the camera [358]" entered into "Second Time Around ~ Birthday Special" Poem "Left behind [343]" Poem "No letting go, stones and snow" Poem "Solo for moon and water" Poem "Shores of Lake Erie in Summer" 47 howling degrees at 5:34. I said hello to Billie Jo's case worker but I'm not going out. So it's time to work on other things. Silkpunk? I finished a poem: "DEW #14 An elegy for Katya [45]" I started a JI prompt: "Oink Oink Lane [73]" (on private for now)In some ways it's been a productive day. 4.286 |
| Temp: 98.1 (36.7c), which is normal. Outside: 37 (3c) and dropping. Could be very windy all night long. I may use JI prompts to write silkpunk stories ... which is going to be difficult. Space Cadet would be easier but I don't believe I can do two series of short stories this month. I'd need to choose 8 of 16. A couple are fine and a couple more once tweaked could work, then to find 4 more. Some are definitely inapplicable to my stories. The you-tube links are "difficult". "JI thoughts for June; April silkpunk "Tea..."" for my eyes only "Dew Drop #11 Minnesota Mayday [40] " edited and posted earlier "Three views [43] (3 Kōel) " posted earlier "April shadows [41]" posted to Dew Drop Inn but edit and post to Shadows and Light.I put the pot on for hot tea. Drank it before it got cold. Dull sounds echoing; they are working on the bridge this morning. 40 degrees and howling from the east at 11:30. I told Cubby: "I automatically edit other poet's offerings when I'm in editing mode like today. I want to exorcise each "is" but quickly realize that this poem depends on rhythm. *sigh* Can't have it both ways! Did you mean "defied" or would "denied" fit better? As for mirrors ... they lie lie lie ... I became old when I wasn't looking." Chok: "I don't to become old." Poh: "I don't want you to die young." Me: That river spilled into the sea long ago. Also me: I feel like an old cat with nowhere else to go. WDC has changed over the last two decades. I'm still here. With age comes different experiences and perspectives. I can't be young again and I can't recapture who I was as a youth. My memory has blissfully been erased. But I have young characters and I need to evince their optimism and total ignorance of what's to come. My silkpunk characters for instance. Although never alive I have to make them live in a time when my grandmothers were born; one I never knew. They don't know what lies ahead. The disruptions, the wars, and what's worse... the heartache. Even if they dream they act in the moment. Of course, they've all been dead for decades. I responded to Lilli's QOTD: [my ship] will have two names. Fore: Hopeful Aft: Hopeless Unfortunately, fore and aft are meaningless sitting in a round tub going nowhere. I told Holly: "Never did get any reaction from J&J. I keep thinking that I should have "something". Don't think area reddened, just a bit tender... maybe... the next day, but that could've been my imagination. Maybe my childhood in the dirt and getting sick with everything around age 7 has made a difference. (My playmate sister was always sick too, but she gets sick in ways I don't)." 44 degrees and blustery at 5:35. I interacted with a couple people here on WDC and FB and said hello to a neighbor today. My world is that small. I told Cecilie that my hair is about 28 cm long. I'll measure more precisely when I cut it. Is it long enough to make myself a wig? Silly thoughts. All I have at the moment. 36 degrees at 9:58 p.m. I found out that hazlnut-cocoa spread similar to Nutella dissolves nicely in coffee. Much higher sugar content and less oily is a possible reason. |
Weekly goals April 12-18: Start on Journalistic Intentions. Complete at least one. Complete Week 3 of Steampunk with Blimprider. Progress but not posted yet. Catch-up on the Dew Drop Inn. Did write and post but no longer a priority. Make upcoming travel-notes and plans. Worked on a bit. Research new computer, phone, camera, micro-phone. Did do some checking. Post all contest entries due by 14th Are we bored or boring? I detect less activity on social media. Could be spring but there seems to a covid-hangover. I'll be less boring myself once I can travel. Freezing as in 0 degrees Celsius at 10:30 p.m. 38 sunshiny degrees at 10:55 I slept in. Too awake last night it seems. I'm still bored! I checked on traveling to the country of Georgia. Possible. Belice maybe possible as well. I think it's still a matter of insurance in Costa Rica. And... how does one prove one has the vaccine? Because that's going to matter soon. I'm waiting for contest results, waiting for emails regarding what I've recently posted, just waiting. I don't wait well. It erodes my self-esteem to see activity around me but no one talking to me. It makes me wonder whether I'm being avoided. When I'm hiding? I'm happy to remain invisible. But I need some interaction right now and I'm not getting it. I need coffee.   Wrote Blimprider: "I have been stymied with my poetry. It's not flowing like it should. On the other hand my silkpunk characters are getting chatty. Mrs. W. W. Walker is fit but matronly in her black corset (how can she breathe?) and top hat; so much a Brit! She dresses like young boys in Taiwan and has a manly grip. The others aren't quite sure what to make of her. The entrpreneuses Chen and Li are strong women themselves but in a different way; I think they are pondering the business possibilities.  The two foreign men are taken aback.  Poh and Chok are typical 'boys' and merely amused as the world of adults is a bit alien to them. Hoan is concerned whether she has a rival.  Ah ... the life of characters. Sometimes they have more life than I do.  "40 degrees at 1:30 (almost high noon). The breeze is freshening and the Hell Gate winds may howl until Thursday. Not gonna get warm until the weekend and then it may be pleasant in a May kinda way. Have past the vesper hour. Still a cold 42 and windy. I wrote to Elisa-Stik: "I really worked hard (February Journalistic Intentions). I wanted them to have the same form. I tied them all to travels and have photos for most of them. I thought about doing them again (same form) but would rather go in a different direction with the present prompts. There's always my Space Cadet or Silkpunk characters. Maybe I'll pursue that. Mrs. W. W. Walker, a bloody Brit no less, is drawing attention from foreigners and locals alike. It could be her black corset and [blacker] top-hat, it could be her blunt approach and strangling handshake, it could be the intelligence behind eyes that see right through you or her questions that unnerve you. The other characters are having spasms over that! And she's not even the main character at this point... although I don't know whether she'll take being sidelined calmly. I expect her to upend the BL bromance budding between Poh and Chok, rearrange the plans and partnership of Li and Chen, clash with Hoan over who's the most-devious-of-them-all. She thinks she can manipulate Kago-san and Kwong ... and they already fear that! But what about the minor 'gods' you may ask: Heidi, black-god-of-the-north-and-winter, and Mazu, goddess of the seas? Being Brit she doesn't even know about them.  Yet. Oh she will, she will. This all takes place in Taiwan (A Ilha Formosa) circa 1890, a silkpunk tale of sake-alcohol [fuel], pirates and mini-air ships known as flying-fish-and dragons (Hokkien and Hakka symbols). Ah... that felt better. If I start writing to one of the JI prompts tonight or tomorrow I'll be in for a dime, in for a dollar. Thanks for all your encouragement. I've been quite depressed and anxious (less so since I got the J&J vaxx on Friday the 9th) and I need to be inspired." |
| 1 degree below freezing and dark at 10:08 p.m. New Moon on the 12th. No plans when the sun comes up. It'll be a frosty morning, only warming up after noon. It's been 24 hours since my jab so I might take a shower before bed. Regarding sake: The sake should smell tropical, floral, like rice or fruity. If it smells burnt or musty, the sake is going bad. Drinking sake is quite similar to drinking wine. How would you describe the taste of sake? Sake can be described as a type of clean-tasting and slightly sweet drink, with fruity and nutty scent. Its texture is smooth and light while the arome is fragrant. Rice hulls have been used as steam boiler fuel, for cooking, heating and so on in many Asian countries, but now they are emerging as solid fuels ... Which brings up a question. If sake has gone bad will it suffice for fuel? It's 14-20% alcohol. ... full of sake, the fermented rice wine that is Japan's national drink, if a pilot project to create sake fuel is a hit with locals in this mountain resort. ... gasoline prices, researchers in Japan are experimenting with an alternative biofuel based on the elements of traditional Sake fermented rice ... ... Take rice–add a little mold–add some water–a dash of yeast and voila you have the cleanest burning fuel on the planet. It's so simple that you–yes you–can make sake in your mouth. That's right – you can make sake in its most basic form right there between your north and south enameled grinders. Alcohol engines date from the mid 1800s. 28 sunny degrees at 9:28. Hills still have that withered look. Some warmth would green them up. Good news? Took a shower before going to bed last night. I'm vertical before coffee. My winning weekly prompt: 1st Place - "Her hooves thundered through the WalMart parking lot." In post-dystopian Dallas the halcyon days are mooing along. The fresh greens next to the rutabagas were calling Rebecca Lynn. She had a craving for radicchio. She could smell them wilting. And the Cow-Plop powered cookers in Aisle 17 were on sale. She hoped she wasn't too late. The ground longpig was marked down on Sundays and her family was looking forward to chowing down on the former denizens of this dead-end town. In early spring there was little else to chew on. Wrote: "Enter Mrs. W. W. Walker [72]" If I just randomly write when a character inspires me I'll be okay. It's only 11:18 and I'm working on my coffee and a bowl of tuna-rice-celery-soup. I have a hamburger (beef!) marinating in fruity vinagrette in the fridge for later. 37 calm degrees. May take out the trash. Very little is open. Look for forsythia? Opinions of Mrs. W. W. Walker. What do you think of milady? Kwong: "She is the most dangerous among women. She doesn't care what you think." Kago-san: "Better to say nothing. The winds report to her." Li Vi: "Under that black top hat she has gears grinding." Chen Rong: "She's British. I can trust her. Trust her to be cruel." Poh: "She's more of a man then I'll ever be." (Chok: "Thank-God") Chok: "She looks scarier than 黑帝 Hēidì's black dragon (the god of the North)" Hoan: "I think of her as the West Wind that brings drought, death and dust." I took out the trash. Yay, me. And took a walk. Yay, me. Without a hat and scarf. Its quite light at 8 p.m. and quite chilly. 38 degrees. It's going to be chilly all week. Blooming: native buttercups and yellowbells. Some tulips. Posted "Transition [21]" .Writing "April shadows [41]" "We are Yellow [42]" Must be done by the 14th. |
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