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 |  Nothing like a fortune cookie to make a year intriguing. |
  Many thanks to kiyasama for the lovely image gracing this blog! A huge thank you to GabriellaR45  for the shiny yellow awardicon to bring the new year!It was a simple crack of an ancient fortune cookie that sparked the courage to keep writing on the eve of the new year. This is a test to see what a tiny slip of white paper can do for someone who was ready to hand in the towel, allowing every self-doubt and negative thought to take control. May this mark a beginning; a fresh start for the potential of something messy, dented around the edges, and absolutely all mine. Here's to blogging in 2011 (and 2012).   |
"The key to change... is to let go of fear." ~Rosanne Cash Currently listening to: "Hang Me Up To Dry" - Cold War Kids Currently reading: Lady Knight, Tamora Pierce Updating: I have moved three states away. Life is good. It actually gets cold in the autumn. Who knew. School is a bit wonky. Currently enrolled in two schools. Finals are soon. Still with my guy. All is awesome-sauce there. He's the better than the best. Still not sleeping. Insomnia and I are besties. I'm starting a business. The fingers and toes are crossed. Hand-sewing monsters. It works...hopefully. NaNo prepping this year. Probably going to split the month between two stories. Insanity-making, but that's how the crazy roll. Oh, the 601 is how many reviews I have. Finally passed that 600 mark. It only took me a little over three years. Go figure. Updated. |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  Day 25 - A Day in Tragedy Fukijima, Japan --- Mar 12, 2011 Prompt Creator: April Sunday I remember the day well. It was the a couple of days before leaving for Bellingham. We were watching the news, my mom and I, and it was like nothing I had ever seen before. It unfolded so fast - the water washing over the small towns of Japan. My mother's reaction was something I will never forget. I had to change the channel because she was so shocked. It is the most horrific consequence of humanity; watching something devastating happening without being able to stop it. My mind first went to friends and family. There are many there studying there, stationed in Okinawa, or that had been their home forever. With the ripple effects across the ocean, I wondered if it would hit other countries close by. How do start over with such natural conflict? The people of Japan tried so hard to prepare for such catastrophes, but the magnitude was bigger than anyone could imagine. The nuclear reactor explosion kind of tipped the scales of danger for everyone. I could not imagine how anyone could deal with the tsunami and the failing reactors. What I will remember most, however, is the way people came together. There was an innate calmness over the people as they searched for loved ones. People were opening up their stores and handing out food, water. There was a story of a businessman who went back to his building to find his employees. He contacted family members, hunted for them day and night, even with the impending dangers of the tsunami and nuclear fallout. It was the same type of endurance that the scientists exhibited when the chose to stay with the nuclear reactors as they fell apart. We humanity looks back on this moment, I believe it will the way people came together that we will most remember. Natural tragedy and nuclear calamity - the world came together. My heart is with all those who lost someone. May we never forget them. |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Day 23: Good Night, Sweetheart Write about what you think about that moment before you go to sleep. Prompt Creator: Little Luigi  That's a good question. Unfortunately, I'm an insomniac. I have many, many thoughts but many of them are not before sleeping, lol. It drives my significant other nuts. He doesn't sleep much, maybe four hours a night, but there are days when I don't sleep at all. I get a little punch-drunk after the twenty-four hour mark has passed. Thoughts swirl through my head all the time until my body is just so tired I pass out. When I'm finally able to hit the pillow with moderate success of sleeping, I try to give thanks to the universe for my family and friends. I try not to, unsuccessfully, think about the impending things that have to be done the following day. I try not to, also unsuccessfully, get creative. That's almost impossible. Some of my best ideas come right before I need to clonk out. Probably why I don't sleep much, lol. So, there ya go. I'm one of the several individuals on Writing.com that doesn't sleep. Has anyone ever done a studying in people with insomnia and creative careers/personalities? If not, we really should do one. What does everyone think? |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Day 20: Good Through The Bad Write about the good times (without bringing up the bad) of a past relationship that went wrong. Prompt Creator: kristiana One of my older brothers and I haven't talked in about three years. There has been betrayal, hurt, lies, and pain; it has spread throughout the entire family. However, this isn't about the worst of our relationship. This is about the best. This is about who my older brother used to be. C-- is nine years my senior. When I was a little girl, when I wasn't ghosting our mom, I was trying to hang out with his friends to be cool. For the most part, he did his best to give me the time of day. Whenever I was going to "runaway from home" (I would announce it to the family, pack a backpack, and head to the corner of the block. Couldn't cross the street on my own...) C-- would always come and sit with me for a while. We'd talk. He'd give me the logic. I'd relent and we head home. A big brother, indeed. I remember back to our summer ploys, back when my brothers and I were still all under one roof. Our mom is disabled, has been since I was an infant. Doing the laundry could be difficult, taking the basket up and down the stairs, especially when she was in a great deal of pain. One summer afternoon we decided to help her out. I was put into a laundry basket with the dirty clothes on a piece of cardboard and sailed down the stairs into a pile of pillows. Mom was horrified, at first. C-- and I flew down together in a box. S--, the eldest, took his boogie board down the stairs. My mom and I even went down in the laundry basket. It was the laughter that made is special. We were the best versions of ourselves for a while. No one was worrying about the chaos that usually filled our house. There were no screams and shouts and arguments and tears. That day, and those few special days to follow, were the best of us as a family. How I miss those days. |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Day 19: Sea Lady What does the sea mean to you? Prompt Creator: Finn O'Flaherty My relationship with the ocean was slow in building. At first, we weren't on the same page in terms of emotions. I thought she was a bit too immense for my understanding. The churning waves, the feel of salt left on my skin, the utter sense of being with something that is as old as time. I think we had maturity issues. She was just too old for me. I was just too immature for her. As I grew older I began to understand her changing ways. The ebb and flow of her tides as well as the calming sense of just standing by her throughout the day was serene. I could go to her and speak my mind without judgment. I could sit on the sands without having the say a word and we can be content. It is easy to sink into her rhythm. Since my first meeting with her all those years ago, I have grown to love the sea. She is moody and solid and tormented and serene. We have a kinship. I love to have her close by, and can't image what I would do without her. We're soul-mates.  |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Day 18: Randomness Write about how you've experienced the randomness of life. A random act or experience. Prompt Creator: Julie D - PUBLISHED! Random acts of everything happen to me all the time. For instance, early this afternoon I received a phone call telling me that my health insurance is now approves pressure garments. Problem is, I have no insurance and I have no prescriptions for pressure garments. I called the company back, and they seemed perplexed. I felt bad about it as this wasn't an advertisement but for a specific customer. A weird, random moment indeed. Random acts make life interesting. It's finding out there's a double fortune in your cookie after a finishing your chow mein. It's bumping into an old friend or meeting that special someone by chance. It's the free muffin, for no particular reason, while walking down the street. Chance. Fate. Destiny. People have written about random acts since the beginning. Some of the greatest works are acts of randomness. Where would the world be without people experiencing these moments? Randomness of life - would it truly be life without them? |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Day 17: Choices, choices. ARE YOU A SKIRT OR A PANTS PERSON? HOW HOT IS IT WHERE YOU LIVE? HAS ONLINE RESEARCH CHANGED? Prompt Creator: Secret Judge Are you a skirt or a pants person? I have to say that I"m mostly a pants person. I've grown up with brothers and a mother who only wear pants. I'm a tomboy at heart. You can't slide into second base with a skirt. There's a sense of practicality that They're easy to move in and you never have to worry about shaving your legs. However, there are moments when skirts are desired. Summertime can be oppressive with the heat, especially when you live in an agricultural bowl. On the days so hot that you're sweating before 10 o'clock in the morning, I want something that's easy to wear and not heavy like jeans. Don't tell my brothers or I'll lose my cool card. How hot is it where you live? Currently, I live about 15 miles from the ocean. Usually the summers aren't so bad. The weather can actually get pretty boring throughout the year. However, the past couple of weeks have been extremely humid. Climate change, gotta love it. When I used to live back in Bakersfield, the weather was so hot that we fried eggs on the asphalt for fun. Sizzling. Now that I'm headed up to the Pacific Northwest, I'm looking forward to some cooler weather. Has online research changed? Absolutely. Online research has become more accessible to the everyone. We can share so much information that there's very little lag time between question and answer. If you want to know who that actor was in the movie you just saw, just Google it. It's a matter of seconds. This is fantastic and not-so-great. Now, it's not a matter of information but of accuracy. What information is fact and what information is speculation? One thing for sure is that online research is ever-evolving. It'll be fascinating to see what happens next. |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Day 16: The Creative Craft In terms of your artistic/writing craft, comment on the following idea: "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious". ~~Einstein "What shakes the eye but the invisible?" ~~ Theodore Roethke Prompt Creator: eyestar~* As a writer, it feels like every time I put thought to paper it is in the pursuit of the mysterious. Everyone experiences writing in a different way - the characters come first and seem to tell their story, or the thread of a plot pops in the brain and it needs to be followed. Whether "Mystery" is the genre being written or simply the mystery is what happens next, it is a beautiful thing. Raw, messy, emotional mystery. The same would go with life, it seems. Striving forward for that invisible, illusive dream. Like knitting. This is a weird visual, but hear me out. Every time my mom purchased a new skein of yarn, one of my siblings or I would have to help unravel it from the factory style and help roll it into a more easily accessible ball. Life is like the yarn without being able to see the color or feel the texture. In the end, if we're blessed with the ability, we get to see the finished ball. A poet and a scientist. Working in to very different fields, yet were able to come close to the same conclusion. In my belief, it seems like the another example of how we're connected as a human race. Connections. It's all about connections. Sometimes visible, sometime invisible. Fun in the craft. I love these quotes! What an excellent prompt. |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Day 15: Bucket List If you had six weeks to live, what would do? Prompt Creator: janice48 Have a Nice Day!! There are many a thing I would do if I found out I only had a month and a half to live. For some reason I've thought about this way too much. If there's ever an opportunity in life put aside responsibility and hit the road, I want to be prepared. Lottery, illness, selective amnesia... Here's a quick breakdown.  Drive a Zamboni in a NHL game. Weird, I know. Maybe I'd get to meet Teemu Selanne. Dreams are dreams. Walk in the village my grandfather was born back in Cebu. He never got to go home before his death; it would be a small gesture to show him that the younger generations still remember where we are from. Write and direct a film. In a dream, Christopher Nolan and I are besties. Deluded, yes, but what are dreams for if not a little delusion? Probably couldn't do that in six weeks but it's worth a shot. Dancing the tango in the streets of Buenos Aires. A bit dreamy, and I would need to learn to dance, but it could be fun. Throw the ceremonial first pitch at the World Series. Then, entice the entire crowd into singing a Journey medley of "Don't Stop Believing/Separate Ways/Faithfully". Epic karaoke moment! Finally, I would cook a massive dinner, pulling out all the stops, and have my family, friends, neighbors, and strangers come together to celebrate life. Those last few days I would enjoy my family while getting my affairs in order. Share the love.The thing I find intriguing is how many of us only feel compelled to try and get those dreams accomplished when we find out that time is limited. So many things get in the way of doing what we think is frivolous. There's the job, the kids, the mortgage, the bills. Someday we'll travel. Someday we'll go skydiving. When the kids are off to college or retirement rolls in. These aren't bad things. This is life. But there has to be a way to incorporate both, otherwise that bucket list remains a piece of paper. |
"30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" Day 13: Pursuit of Happiness "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." -Mohandas Gandhi Do you think this to be true? What brings you the greatest happiness in your life? What is one of your happiest moments? Prompt Creator: In Your Dirtiest Pants I believe Gandhi had some insight into happiness. More often that not, I think, what we think, say, and do are not in line with one another. There are things that we have to do and things we want to do. There are things we have to say, and things we keep inside as not to offend or harm. And thinking is definitely a playground for thoughts and emotions that are not necessarily in tune. However, we can come together in terms of alignment with these three things, we become lighter - like a perfectly baked cake or opening the lock to a safe. Family gives me the greatest happiness...and can be the greatest pain, lol. Family doesn't have to be just blood relatives but friends who stick by you thick and thin. It's the laughter and the love and the inside jokes. The people you can just be yourself with. All my brothers, all my sisters, parents, cousin, my guy - smiles all around. One my happiness moments started with a lie. I got caught by an acquaintance. We ended up laughing about it. He thought my lie was amusing and somewhat cute, lol. The experience taught me a few valuable lessons like how I can't lie worth a damn. We became friends. Wrote each other everyday. Writing turned to phone calls that lasted all night. Friends gradually turned to something more. He always knows how to make me smile, and I can make him laugh even in the dark times. We've been together three years... Happiness can be an elusive thing, but when we get it right, it is a glorious thing. Don't you think? Sending some happiness from me to you all. |
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