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A journal for 30DBC and other feline musings. |
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"This...is my lab. And THIS...is my LABORATORY!" Seriously, though. This blog is gonna be where I throw paint at the wall just to see what sticks, and sometimes just to throw paint at the wall because it's friggin' relaxing to throw crap. Welcome aboard, and please keep arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. "In case of emergency, the exits are here-here-here-here-here-here-here... ANYWHERE!" P.S. If you recognize one or both of the above quotes...you are automatically my new best friend.  AlyCatAuthor
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| 30DBC January 20 Prompt: On this day in 1885, the roller coaster was patented by L.A. Thompson. Tell us about a time you visited an amusement park. Looking at the screen is making me queasy for whatever reason today, so I'm gonna keep it short and simple. (More than two or three sentences, though, for our opinionated host.  )One of my favorite amusement parks is one that's relatively close by: Holiday World and Splashin' Safari. (Kings Island is also close by, but I've never been--we pass it on our way to church almost every weekend, though.). I've been to Holiday World a few times, though, and I've always enjoyed going. Each time I go, I like to ride their three wooden coasters at least once each, starting from the least intense and moving up to "The Voyage", which is my fave. (Which, alas, I couldn't ride now if I went because of little peanut. *glares at stomach*) Funny story, though. Each time we had an opportunity to go to the water park (Splashin' Safari), something came up where I wasn't allowed or didn't feel comfortable going in. The first time, I think Aunt Flo was visiting and I didn't have the proper tools to deal with it in a water park. Another time, I had poison ivy and had to wear the proper clothes and bandages to keep my rashes covered (so no bathing suit for me). The one time I was perfectly fine going, I think, we didn't have enough time (as we were on a school trip) or I didn't bring a bathing suit. I did want to ride the water coaster they had just opened, though, and was wearing appropriate enough clothes for it. However, as soon as we got to the front of the line...the ride was broken, and we received fast passes for the next weekend. Guess who wasn't coming next weekend?  So I've never experienced the full-fledged fun that is Splashin' Safari...but I plan to, one day. AlyCatAuthor |
| 30DBC January 19 Prompt: Normally a two- or three-sentence response to a blog prompt doesn't seem like much of a response to me (personal opinion, that's all)...but today, come up with a couple sentences using as many WDC emoticons in place of words as you can. Any subject, any topic, and they don't have to be related if you just wanna make up random sentences. Have some fun with this! *Bigsmile* Well, seeing as you're the host of this contest...personal opinion counts for a lot. Let's see... have to break out the emoticon bank for this one. I've been drinking so much  that every  hours I have to  to the bathroom. Also,   for me.  makes me  anymore. And now I have to in the middle of the  to eat a  or some  so I don't  in the  .AlyCatAuthor |
| 30DBC January 18 Prompt: What are some things you would put in a time capsule to be opened up one, twenty, and/or fifty years from now that shows the person you are today? Hmmmm... I'd probably put a mold of our apartment key, a copy of my newly-published book, a Papa John's logo (my husband's hated second job), one of the drawings that Hubby's students have given him this year, a print-off of my freelancing income, and a picture of our positive pregnancy test. I might also put a scan of one of my journal entries from this month, one that's more indicative of my current state of mind and period of life: a new wife and soon-to-be mother, living in an apartment, working from home and Hubby and I just starting to come into our own and take charge of life. Right now is a period of lots of questions, excitement, and uncertainty about the future. As a side-note, I might also stick in a picture of our very first Christmas tree.  AlyCatAuthor |
| 30DBC January 17 Prompt: What's your opinion on high school reunions? Have you gone to any? Why (or why not)? Ugh no.  I have not been to any and I most likely would not go. Too many weird characters in my class. I had some decent friends, but we've all changed so much, even since 7 years ago. Plus, I don't like the town where I went to high school. Nice people, but too small of a town and too many people know my name for my comfort. I've left behind a lot of negativity when I left there, and I have no intention of going back.AlyCatAuthor |
| 30DBC January 16 Prompt: Actress Ethel Merman, born on this day back in 1908, once said "I can never remember being afraid of an audience. If the audience could do better, they'd be up here on stage and I'd be out there watching them." How does this quote relate to your blogging? Do you write for any particular audience? I write my blog entries mostly as if I were talking casually with a friend. I like telling the story of my life and responding to the prompts in a conversational tone. No need to be stuffy. Especially with the theme of my secondary blog (Cat Tales, the one you're reading right now), the point is to let loose, let my hair down, and get real with my audience. I don't want to give TMI but I also don't want people to feel like I'm not a real person with real struggles and hilarious mishaps and good days and bad days and in-between days. With my "official" blog (On Writing Fantasy), the tone is more helpful and professional: a published author sharing her goals, struggles, and tips of the trade for anyone who wants to come along and join the journey. That one, too, is about authenticity, but has a more specialized and professional topic. AlyCatAuthor |
| (Sorry I'm running a bit late--was gone all day yesterday.) 30DBC January 15 Prompt: I love McDonalds' Chicken McNuggets. I would probably still eat them if you pulled a gun on me. Your grubby gun-toting fingers won't dare pull a trigger on my enjoyment. What food item would make you stare down the barrel of a gun and be like "Nah bruh, I'm busy here on this..."? Ahahaha. I love that description, though. Enjoying something to your dying breath. For me, it's kinda hard to say right now because my body is coming up with random new cravings and then being averted to those same foods two seconds later.  I would have to say probably fresh chicken tenders with ranch dressing. My goodness, I can put those down. Probably at any time of the day, no matter if I'm sick or not. Similar to chicken nuggets, but I try my best to avoid the siren song of Mickey D's. I love getting chicken tenders from Cheddar's and from Cattleman's (a locally-owned steakhouse where Hubby and I go on dates often). If I'm not feeling adventurous, chicken tenders are my go-to. AlyCatAuthor |
| 30DBC January 14 Prompt: You're all talented writers, of varying backgrounds and abilities. As we near the halfway point of the month, take some time to look back at your entries. Create a poem inspired from your entries this month. Any style or form (or none at all). Pull lines from all of your entries thus far and see what happens. Obviously you're free to add/subtract words from lines that don't seem to fit the narrative you've come across when compiling your thoughts; this isn't meant to be a summary of the month to date, but a writing exercise. It's been wild 'round here. Resolutions, working hard. Finding time to write. Spilling words from heart To hand; expressing my views. "I would never go." "I had fun with it." "So sue me." "You win or learn." "So the cycle goes." "I need to change that." "What was I thinking?" (Snare Drum) "I really don't mind." More words are to come, Shaping days, memories, life. Here's to more hard work. AlyCatAuthor |
| 30DBC January 13 Prompt: On this day in 1854, Anthony Faas of Philadelphia, PA, was granted the first US patent for the accordion. He made improvements to the keyboard and enhanced the sound. Do you play or have you ever played any instruments? If not, what's one you'd like to learn? Bonus Points today for sharing a favorite song of yours with us that names any instrument in its title. Oooh, accordions! My grandma knows how to play the accordion. It's one of her most cherished memories, playing the accordion with my grandpa. I've played a few instruments in my lifetime, some weird and some not. Primarily, I played clarinet through high school and college. Once in college, I experimented with some other things when I joined Steel Band (where I played the huge bass pans--they literally look like oil drums!) and Percussion Ensemble, where I learned how to play such things as crotales (disc-shaped chimes that you hit with a mallet), mounted castanets, marimba (too hard, so I quit) snare drum (WHAT WAS I THINKING), and shakers. Other than that, I had to learn the basics of playing piano for my music minor, and my main focus for my minor was voice (is voice an instrument? I think so.). I would love to learn how to play the guitar and get better at piano. Hmmm. As for a favorite song with an instrument in its title... "Bells of New York City" by Josh Groban. It's a winter fave.  AlyCatAuthor |
| 30DBC January 12 Prompt: I just spent the bulk of the evening reorganizing my WDC portfolio a little bit. I do it maybe once or twice a year. How often do you organize yours? How do you have yours set up? Are your folders arranged in any specific order? Guide us on a virtual walking tour of your port. Well, my port has very little purposeful organization. I need to change that. The only folder I have is for images, and that was created when I first got back on WDC after like a 7-year hiatus in fall of last year (so I was all motivated and such). In that folder is all the signature images I've created for reviews and the like. After that, it's a modge-podge of unfinished novels, contest entries, and two blogs: this one, which isn't my official blog but which I'm using for my 30DBC participation, and my official blog, "Invalid Item"  . I also have a random cover image for my only published novel. My novels include "Invalid Item" , which is now published and available for purchase on Amazon; "Invalid Item" , which I am still working on and which I sorely need to update; and "Prism" , which I have no idea what I'm going to do with, as I haven't touched it in years.I have a couple poems, too, and a new short story I wrote just yesterday in the space of like, 30 minutes for a contest. I am sad to say that for such an organizational nut, I've really let it fall by the wayside these past few months. You should see my office. I've done just enough to be able to work in it, but there's a special corner on top of my paper storage where I've put my "to-be-filed" stuff--and it's piling pretty high. I prefer to just not look at it. It gives me a guilty conscience. Added to all this is the knowledge that I'm gonna have to rearrange this whole office at some point so that it doesn't resemble anything LIKE an office anymore. So I really need to get on this whole organization thing, both digital and physical. Thanks for the kick-in-the-pants to actually be a decent human being and organize my port for any visitors who happen to come by. AlyCatAuthor |
| 30DBC January 11 Prompt: Vincent Van Gogh said, "If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint', then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." What is your 'you cannot ____' voice always ragging on you about, and how good are you at silencing it? My little voice is, oddly enough, telling me I suck at being my own boss. I've been struggling, especially since the holidays, to get back on track with doing a schedule, sticking to it, and producing any sort of decent writing that's going to get me another book within the next 18 months. Added to that, I just recently found out I'm expecting, and the hunger/tiredness/bloating/cramping/mood swings (although they're not terrible) are just constant little reminders that (and I hate to say this)--I'm running out of time. I don't mean that in a bad way. It just means I only have about 9 more months before my role is something completely different, and writing won't be my 'baby' anymore. I'll have an actual baby who would rather drool all over my journals than help me write in them. And that's totally awesome. I'm super pumped to have this kid. But it does mean priorities will be changing, I'll have to tear down the office to make room for a crib, and writing will become more of a struggle than it already is. I think in some ways that'll make it better. I'll produce more good-quality writing because I'll have to write whenever I get the chance. Whether it's 3 AM and I'm scribbling something around my nursing baby, or 4 PM and I desperately want a nap but I just have to get this paragraph down. I'll have to write when I can because if I don't, I'll never write again. And THERE'S a thought that scares me. Anyway, back to the original point. My sucking at being my own boss. It's true. I'm extremely lazy. I constantly have to talk myself into doing things, or downright kick myself in the behind. And whenever my "perfect schedule" is screwed up in any way, I feel like I've failed for the day, no matter what I might have actually accomplished. That naggy voice is notorious for saying, "Well, you're two hours late getting to your office because you just HAD to take a nap/do some chores/screw around on Facebook. Now how are you gonna redeem yourself? Just forget it. You've wasted too much time." And I might still very well have a good hour or so to write, but I already feel so horrible that I just sit there and waste time on the internet, or I tell myself, "It'll take too long to figure out where you left off with your writing, so by the time you get into it, you won't have any more time left to write." And then I make the resolution to get in the office earlier the next day but it never happens. So the cycle continues. I do actually do a lot during the day. I get on here, post my blog, sometimes write an entry or do a review. I do a bunch of laundry, typically. I make the bed and get a couple chores done, such as vacuuming and whatnot. I make phone calls, answer emails, and at night (after supper) I transcribe whatever my quota is (or until I can't find any more good jobs). But in between, in the couple hours I could have scrounged up to write something, I'm usually on Facebook or just rambling into a journal entry (which isn't BAD, but I want to do more of my fiction writing during the day). I feel the worst when I let the internet take over my time. That's one I find it VERY difficult to recover from. As you can probably tell, I'm not so good at silencing the voice. I'm trying, especially now that I'm preparing to have a child in the house, to be content with what I can accomplish in each day. I'm trying to find the balance between kicking myself too hard and being lazy. On the one hand, I don't want to just do nothing, or do very little. On the other hand, I don't want to set ridiculously high expectations for myself and keep feeding that nagging voice. Balance is a hard thing to get right, and patience is key. Patience is something I don't have very much of, though. For now, I'm making smaller lists and making it a point not to be sitting for too long. It's good for my health, and it gets me up and around the house to check laundry, EAT, drink water, stretch, and refresh my mind. Sometimes that's all I need to kickstart my drive to get some work done. AlyCatAuthor |
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