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 |  Day to day stuff....a memoir without order. |
 Imagination is described by Webster as...The act or power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses in reality. Albert Einstein said "Logic will get you from A to B, but imagination will take you everywhere."  I never realized it until I read it somewhere but there are ways to boost one's imagination: Create a visual journal Draw whatever you see for 15 minutes a day. You don't need to be an artist. Think like an artist Cut out pictures from magazines & piece them together to create an original image. Listen to Bach Close your eyes while playing your favorite music. Or listen to the sounds of nature on a CD or in the great outdoors. Play word games Try thinking of as many words as you can that begin with MAR...or you pick. Daydream Let your mind wander, or focus on a single object & study its characteristics.     Everyone has a story....here's mine.....c   |
| My current daily routine I would have to say is based around my cat. She is 17 and has chronic kidney disease so I have to make sure she drinks plenty of water which means getting up a couple of times through the night. I add some water to her wet food to encourage hydration, and she prefers a freshly filled water bowl. I expect I would be waking up anyway at least once so it is not a problem to me. In the mornings Mopsy comes first again with fresh water and food. Then it's making coffee and cereal (Special K Protein or overnight oats) with blueberries and almond milk. I've been eating this for a thousand years...almost. Next it's on to the computer, checking email, Facebook, the weather for the day, youtube news, and of course writing.com. I'm retired so there's no work to prepare for. Once my morning stiffness has worn off some, I'm in the shower, then getting dressed for the day. There is always something to do around the house even though I live alone, floors to mop, dusting, bathrooms to clean, bed to make, laundry to do, etc., etc. This varies from day to day. I have bird feeders and birdbaths to clean and fill, some yard work although that is limited now by arthritis, and on some days of the week places to go, grocery shopping, book club, writers' groups, doctors' appointments, a life history group, and other special things that come up. Saturdays are always one of these special things which may include eating out somewhere (never a fast food joint though). Lunch is almost always the same, a Morningstar Original Griller on a hamburger bun with spinach leaves, tomato, and mayo. I limit myself to one cup of coffee because I've had tachycardia (svt) so my drink is either water, a yogurt and banana smoothie, or a Crystal Light mix. I've been eating this lunch forever too. Once in a while I may vary it with an egg salad sandwich, a grilled cheese, or a tuna salad sandwich (Mopsy gets the other half of the can of tuna). Tomato soup is sometimes a go-with. But the griller is by far my preference. By 1:30 or 2, I need a short nap, 45 minutes or so, I can barely keep my eyes open if I'm home. If I'm out, this doesn't happen. Go figure. Home is boring I guess. If I'm reading a good book prior to the nap, sometimes it's delayed. Today, for instance, the weather is so nice (80 degrees and sunny) I've been pulling weeds and trimming some shrubs, too busy for a nap. If I have an art or writing project going on, morning and afternoons can be devoted to that so I do have some variation depending on when things are due. I always need a new story for 3 writing groups I belong to, and I sometimes do pet portrait commissions. Suppertime is between 5 and 6 and depends on preparation time. It could be a veggie stir fry, veggie chili, eggplant parm, a fav curry recipe I have, pizza, always a spinach salad with chopped apple, pecans, blueberries or strawberries with blue cheese dressing, and sometimes I'll just have an Amy's frozen dinner microwaved. No bread. My only bread is for lunch, pizza being the exception. I always try to watch PBS News Hour live on youtube at 6 although sometimes I can't make myself watch the entire show. I'm always checking FB and WDC throughout the day. Evenings are almost always devoted to reading and bedtime is around 11. The blogging here everyday has varied my routine a little, and it feels nice. I'm reading others' posts throughout the day and thinking about what I will write. Although I don't always comment, I always read everyone's post and really appreciate the time and effort each of you invest. |
| What are some of your favorite foods? Comfort food, ethnic food, meal, beverage, fruit, protein, unique food combination, etc - make us hungry! Salty food is my downfall. I never saw a potato chip I didn't like especially those big ones with the burnt edges. In my younger days (and probably now if I allowed myself) I could eat an entire huge bag of chips at one sitting. And it's mostly unconscious eating, one chip after another, while I'm doing something else, reading, watching a movie or tv, I'm on autopilot with the old hand going into and out of the bag. I thought I had died and gone to heaven when all those different flavored potato chips came out, sour cream, vinegar, pickle, barbecue, wow. I got so used to eating the vinegar chips if I only had plain, I would douse them with apple cider vinegar from the bottle and then drink the little bit of salty juice remaining in the bottom of the bag, I loved them so much. Once I went on a potato chip diet, only allowing myself to eat chips, thinking that perhaps that would turn me against them and I would never crave potato chips again. It didn't work. I ate chips for three days and the next one still tasted as good as the first. So the only way I found I could stop eating chips was not to buy them. I don't buy any kind of snacky salty food because they make me want chips even more. When I get to the point where I can't stand it, I buy the tiniest bag (1 serving of 170 calories) always hanging just above the check-out line at the grocery store, devoir it immediately when I get home, and that will satisfy me for a month or so. I don't think I will ever lose my craving for potato chips. Although it sounds wacky, chips are my comfort food. My favorite ethnic food would be pad thai (vegetarian), fav meal is eggplant parmesan, fav beverage is coffee, fav fruit is a toss up between blue berries, strawberries, or mango, fav protein is cheese anything, and bread and butter pickles on white bread would be my most unique (weird) food combination. I'm not sure any of this made anyone hungry, but I could sure use some chips right now! |
| Share a story from your childhood when you did something you weren’t supposed to. Did you get caught? I wasn't a prankster and was too shy to misbehave very much, scared of the consequences. And of course I was an only child so I had no ready victims at hand. The only things I can remember that got me into trouble were mocking the rooster, talking too much in school when I was supposed to be studying, and going home with a girlfriend once instead of riding the school bus home without permission, leaving my mom in the dark about where I was. I don't ever remember being spanked, but I did get a good talking to several times, once for opening the door to a salesman and inviting him in when I was home alone. My mom raised the roof on that one. I guess I was lonely and wanted the company, and I was very lucky that nothing happened. The talks did the trick with me since I guess I'm overly sensitive and they hurt my feelings. I enjoyed reading the pranks of other bloggers and wish I had had siblings, great fodder for stories. Thank you all for sharing. |
| What skill (craft, instrument, sport, art, etc) do you wish you could do but can’t? What’s stopping you from learning? I had always wanted to kayak (love the water) and when I turned 70, I signed up for a class at the local community college. It wasn't easy, but I successfully concluded the course including the in the water part, even doing the spill and getting back aboard. But somehow my confidence never grew enough to let me continue on although I loved the feeling I got on the water. I had some health issues and now arthritis so that little voice tells me "better not." I'm the only water baby in my family so no one else to go with. I love boating but only go on tour boats now. I do have a friend (not close) who I could ask to tag along, but confidence is still the issue. Maybe when the weather warms up more, I will do that. There's nothing like gliding in a kayak. |
| Write about something that makes you squeamish. What is icky, gross, or just plain “yuck!” Is there anything that makes other people shiver with disgust that doesn’t bother you? There's not much that makes me squeamish anymore. I guess when you have to do most things for yourself, the squeamish barometer gets tamped down. I do still feel that familiar drop in my stomach when I encounter a Cuban tree frog inside my home. If you're not familiar with them, check this out. I know it says south Florida, but, yes, they are in north central Florida, too. Books don't usually make me squeamish, but Upton Sinclair's The Jungle led to my becoming a vegetarian. Some of his descriptions are blood curdling and I'm not meaning that as a pun. I had a hard time getting through the book, and it changed my life forever. |
| What music makes you want to dance? I was a teenager when American Bandstand was the craze so I grew up with dancing music from 1960 on. Anything with a lively beat will set my feet to tapping and my hands to patting. Now, though, dancing is a thing of the past. I dance mostly in my head since I tend to trip over my own feet. I have a story in my Memoir folder about how I learned to dance, so long ago. It brings back precious memories. It's so much better to dance your way through life than walk, but for now I'll be happy with toe tapping, singing (to myself) and whistling. Whistling is what happens when I find myself exceedingly happy about something. Often, I'm not aware of whistling and will catch myself with surprise. And that makes me even happier. |
| What books and/or movies are on your list to read/watch this year? What are your “go to” genres? Goodreads lets me keep track of books I've read and want to read, and also it lets me establish a goal for the coming year. Last year my goal was 75 and I went over it by a few so this year I am aiming for at least 100. And I have a Kindle so my device content on Amazon helps me in that area too, remembering what I've read, that is. I'm not sure I can blame age on my memory lapses of books read. Titles and authors slip by but the stories are still in there somewhere waiting for discovery after the first 10 pages or so. Goodreads and Amazon help me avoid re-reading. As it happens, I just visited my local library branch today to pick up a hold, Olive, Again, and while there, I had to check out a mystery to keep on standby. I think I mentioned somewhere before that my anxiety level goes up if I have no book to read on hand. I have some favorite authors (Strout being one) whose new works I will always try to read, regardless of genre, but I would say my favorite genre is historical fiction with mysteries coming in a close second, The book I'm currently reading is Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett about a church (cathedral) being built in the 1100s in a fictional town in England. It has kept my attention for over 600 pages now, not sure exactly how long it is because I never look ahead when I'm reading. The way of life back then is fascinating to me. I am a true believer in the saying that the movie is never as good as the book so I watch very few movies. When I do, it's always because of the actor more than the movie. I had wanted to see Richard Jewel (Kathy Bates) for that very reason, but somehow I never made it to the theater. That happens to me a lot. Maybe I'll rent it when it's available. Books are my favorite. |
| Make a list of 20 random things (nouns). Try as hard as you can to make each item on your list as unrelated to the other items as possible. If your muse moves you, you’re welcome to add whatever commentary you like. This is harder than I thought. My mind naturally wants to relate things. fingernails puppies nightgown lasagna moon ruler Kleenex robin cemetery poetry apron paddle magnet slide rule orange umbrella driveway package dictionary snow and even when they don't seem related, I'm making up a story where they are related. Hmmm....I'm blaming that on Daily Flash Fiction prompts. |
| 2030 sounds so futuristic, but it’s only ten years away! What do you think the world will be like ten years from now? What inventions do you think we will have by then? What are some changes you think will happen in the world in the next ten years? 2030 sounds so distant. I'm not sure I'll make it there, but if I do I will be 85. Right now 2020 sounds perfect, doesn't it. Like 2020 vision. I can think of things I would like to have in 2030, especially a robot to do things for me that I can't do for myself. Of course, I hope I don't need that but just in case it would be nice to know they existed and were affordable for personal use. Depending on the robot's capabilities, nursing homes might become a thing of the past. Wouldn't that be great! It would allow seniors to remain in their homes until the end, then the robot could call the funeral home when the time came. No need for doctors (except for programming) or hospitals at the end of life, but I guess the drug companies would continue to prosper. Hopefully, my brain will continue to function normally but if not, a cure for Alzheimer's would be nice, extra nice if it was quick and painless like a pill that you could take. And suppose you could look at your brain on a computer screen, delete things you didn't want to remember anymore and highlight those you do. I'd like to delete my potato chip craving and my fear of heights. And pets and loved ones, wouldn't it be great if your pet and spouse lived exactly as long you do, all expiring at the same time, and even better if we could be disease free until the very end. I don't expect any of these things to come to pass in my lifetime but someday, maybe. Nah, I'm just dreaming. |
| The last decade has held some very sad moments as I'm sure they have for everyone, the death of my husband included, 7 years ago in 2012. There have been happy moments as well. The first ones to come to mind are the publishing of 2 of my stories in Chicken Soup for the Soul books, something I never thought would happen. It's a tricky thing trying to balance the bad with the good, even not feeling guilty about feeling happy after the loss of a loved one. But for those of us whose life goes on, I wish love and happiness in the new year, tipping the scale in its favor. |
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