%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |   The simplicity of my day to day. |
|
This is where I write my thoughts, feelings and my daily trials, tribulations and happy things
|
| 299 words "Blog City Prompt Forum"  Prompt: Tear Jerkers Have you ever cried over a movie or serials or sad novels? What do you think brought on your tears? It’s been a while since I cried over a movie or serial. When I was in my teens I loved musicals and most if not all had a sad scene in them. For instance, Carousel. When Billy Bigalow died I cried so much.😂 Nowadays it’s a tough ask to bring me to tears over anything fictional on television. I don’t go to the movies very often, there’s nothing that appeals. They seem to have too much violence for my liking. Marvel movies leave me cold. The last movie that brought me to tears was a home video. This week, after years of my nagging to do something about them, we are in the process of watching all the old VCR tapes with a view to getting them digitised. Most are over thirty years old, many over forty. We were watching a tape which showed us as a family, that’s myself and my husband and our three children visiting my parents at their home one Sunday morning. Our kids are all over fifty now and my parents are long gone. On the tape I was mid-thirties, the kids all under eight years old. We all looked so happy as did my parents who were just busy in the garden when we arrived and John was videoing everything. I just sat and cried! I don’t know why. Was it that those long gone thirty somethings and three small children who had disappeared? My mum and dad who looked so healthy both died of cancers within a few years of the video being taken. So maybe it’s not fiction which brings me to tears but the realities of life. |
| Day 4025: February 26, 2024 Prompt: “It starts with this: put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn't in the middle of the room. Life isn't a support system for art. It's the other way around.” Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft Where is your desk locate? If you don't have a desk, where do you write? Does the location of your desk encourage or discourage your creativity? I don’t have a desk. I don’t even have a desk computer. I write everything, using one finger, on my iPad. I did purchase an Apple MacBook but I still prefer my iPad. As to where I write, it’s on my bed. I use a pillow to prop the iPad on my knees and I write. I love my bedroom, it’s where I’m not distracted by dirty dishes, the ticking clock, the snoring, farting dog or my husband deciding it’s coffee/lunch/chat time. I’m unsure of the quote by Steven King and its meaning. Why does he suggest putting your desk in the corner? Of course you’re not going to put it in the middle of the room. Not unless that’s where you’re feeling the most comfortable, of course. When I’m hiding in my bedroom writing, the door will slowly open and the dog will remind me I’ve been in here too long and not to forget it’s nearing her dinner time. Sometimes I need the reminder for as as you all know time has no meaning when writing. |
| "Blogging Circle of Friends " Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a member of the opposite sex for a day? What do you think your life would be life? Harder or easier? It’s a fun thing to think about, but it’s too hard to know what it would be like to be a man. I’ve often thought, as probably most women have, that men have an easier life. But men also think that women have it best. I believe there are stages for each sex when the going gets tougher. For women it’s when raising children is more than a full time job. Maybe more so when I was the mother of three kids under four years of age as men seem to take on more of the burden these days.It’s an endless, tedious, day to day sameness. The man leaves the house in the morning and comes home to a house that looks as if a tornado swept through and a frazzled wife. That wife thinks he’s had it easy all day. For the male there is the added pressures of providing for his family, he’s expected to be ‘the man’ even if he hates spiders as much as the woman, is terrified of intruders as much as she is. Once the pressures of child rearing ease (they never end) perhaps it’s more of a level playing field as regards money, chores etc but still a woman is expected to look good all the time. One can see the disparity in the business world or politics when the women are criticised, everything they wear or say is twice as much scrutinised as her male counterparts. So the jury’s still out as far as I’m concerned. We all have our cross to bear and I wouldn’t swap places with a man even if it was possible. 306 words |
| "Blogging Circle of Friends " Use these random words in your entry today: hilarious, lampoon, fancy-sick, buttress, composite, and jump. Oh my word! William Shakespeare has a lot to answer for. Fancy-sick? I would have had no idea that it was Mr Shakespeare himself who penned that term. It sounds as if it was some hilarious term the kids might say today. Thinking of the things kids say and text to each other makes me feel really old and I don’t even attempt to lampoon them. After all they deserve to be misunderstood just as we all once were. On my walk today and every day, I pass by the most amazing tree. I often stop and gaze up into her branches. Yes, she is a she, so graceful, but strong, like a warrior Princess. She must be hundreds of years old, her buttress roots hold her fast to the earth as she withstands years of drought, cyclonic winds and lightning strikes. She is a Morton Bay Fig tree and could tell so many stories. I do talk to her and ask her if many children jumped or fell from her while hiding in her mighty canopy. How I’d love to see a cross section of her trunk, view her many composite parts: Bark, Sapwood, cambium layer, heartwood and right in the centre her medulla (pith) It would be wonderful to count her annual layers and know this grand old lady’s real age. 238 words |
| "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" The worst lies are the ones you tell yourself that your life will be fine. Write about this in your Blog entry today. I can’t imagine how anyone can carry on day to day if one thought that things WOULDN’T turn out fine. Isn’t it hope that things will improve, that “this too will pass,” when going through pain and heartbreak? I’ve been known as someone who always looks on the bright side of life. My kids even bought me a bracelet with those words engraved on it. I don’t think that’s lying to oneself, I think when things are bad, looking bleak, is when we either accept the status quo and learn to live with it or find someway of making improvements. There are those times though we may fool ourselves into believing others see things as we do, or that a partner/boyfriend /girlfriend reciprocates the same feelings. I hate lies and would never knowingly lie to myself. |
| "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: Fears of the Unknown Do you have any fears of the unknown that sometimes make you feel uneasy? If so, for you which things, ideas or people would make you feel better or act like the safety net beneath a trapeze act? This unknown is not what people generally like to talk about but is one we all must face sooner or later. I was reminded of this great unknown only this morning when I was listening to a radio program. The subject was dying. I know it’s not what most people like to talk about, but this lady who was talking was telling about her mother‘s death in Canada. Apparently they have a system they’re called MAIDS. This stands for medical assistance in dying. In Australia, we do have a system for voluntary Assisted death, but a person needs to have a terminal illness. In Canada, this is not so, maybe also in the United States, but probably not in all states. So yes, this is my great unknown and it does make me feel uneasy. I would like something like the Canadian system to be brought in to Australia law as a safety net under that trapeze act, we will all have to attempt. Some will do it better than others. When my time comes I’d really love to do it well. |
| "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: Talents What does the word "talent" mean to you? Then, what if you had a hidden talent that you didn't know you had? What do you think that talent could be? I adore to see children with a natural talent. They’re so joyous and love doing whatever it is their souls tell them to do. It may be drawing or painting, singing or dancing, but somehow, eventually their interest dissipates. Why? Usually because some well meaning adult spots their talent and tells them they could be so much better if they did it this way, or that way. And that is why most adults think they can’t draw or they can’t sing. They were made to feel not good enough. What could my latent talent be? Well, apparently it was writing and I never knew. I didn’t start writing until I was seventy years old. That was ten years ago. Now I write every day. Not novels but stories and poems, reviews and blogs. Nothing earth shattering, but oh, it’s so much fun! The strange thing I’ve discovered if you tell people you write is they always ask if you’ve written a book and have you had it published? Why don’t they ask those of us who sing around the house why we haven’t made a recording? Or why a golfer isn’t playing in the champions league? No if you write then you must take it seriously. What I would have loved to have been is an actor or stage singer. Maybe I could have been rich and famous? But I’ve been watching old home videos of myself, husband and our three children when we were all young and beautiful 😂 And I’ve realised what my talent was. It was raising a happy, well adjusted family. |
| "Blog City Prompt Forum" Prompt: Have fun with these random words in your entry today: museum, step, fuel. swipe, clay. brag. and suspicion. I don’t like to brag but I’m very proud of my city’s new museum, Boola Bardip. The name means many stories in Whadjuk Nyoongar language, the indigenous land on which the Museum sits. There is a wonderful section dedicated to aboriginal history which goes back at least 65,000 years. There are many artefacts displayed including clay pots which have survived through the eons. We have a great public transport system in Perth, but sometimes people find they need to drive their cars through different circumstances. I don’t like to take a swipe at the city planners and designers but there is a major lack of parking spaces. The public transport Perth delivers is pretty good but doesn’t reach the regional towns. This of course means the public who are forced by need to drive, must pay exorbitant parking fees and spend too much money on fuel when they want to come and visit the city and enjoy such iconic buildings such as the museum. I have a suspicion that country folk aren’t considered as important as their city cousins by the people who run our state of Western Australia. The politicians are often accused of this but of course deny it. I wonder would it be asking too much for someone to step up and admit that’s the case and attempt to rectify the problem. |
| "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: What would a perfect day look like to me? A perfect day for me would be to wake up after a really good nights sleep. You know one of those nights when you just lay your head down on the pillow, close your eyes and don’t wake up until morning. That never happens for me so that would be an amazing start to the day. This of course would be in a bed with freshly laundered sheets which would be replaced every day by magic. I would be with my husband, of course, and we would feel as we did 50 years ago, pain-free. I don’t mean to go back 50 years I don’t mind being my age I just don’t like feeling as if I’m my age. Then I would just go downstairs where my breakfast would be ready and waiting for me. It would consist of muesli, icy cold milk, some fruit, crispy toast, with marmalade and a pot of tea which never ran out. Afterwards, my family would pay visits during the day. None of them would have any bad news, everyone would be happy and smiling! That sounds like a perfect day to me. |
| "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" Prompt: Firm Stance “Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.” Abraham Lincoln Is standing-your-ground completely possible to achieve? What do you think being assertive means and how well can you do it? Assertiveness is not something I’m very good at. I can always see everyone’s point of view, that’s my problem. But there have been a few occasions in my life where I’ve stood firm, no matter how much I wanted to please someone, this mattered to me. Bear in mind I’m almost eighty and the occasions have been few, so that must tell you how strongly I felt at the time. My beautiful son, who had never been rude or in anyway disrespectful to me his mother, started taking drugs, at first smoking marijuana, which I hadn’t known about. The first time I found out he’d stuck a needle in his arm I let him know how disappointed I was and tried to help him. But it appeared he didn’t want my help, so heart broken I told him he needed to leave home. Because we’d been so close and he knew what his actions were doing to me he left. After a while after seeing his decline, lost jobs, stealing etc. I said I could no longer bear to see him and told him he needed to leave the State, get away from everything, his druggy mates etc. He was not to return until he’d sorted himself out. I was made to feel by many to be the worst mother in the world. Even my tough, (on the exterior) husband couldn’t believe I was being so hard. But I knew what I was doing was right, although risky. Our son rang me every day on his journey to the other side of Australia. He was driving his old car getting some labouring work on the way; this was before cell phones, reversing the charges. He was often hungry and wanted to come home but I said,”no,” and sent a little money. He went fruit picking, cleaning, labouring in fact he was so busy trying to survive he stopped taking drugs. He stayed away a long time. He began working on the Australian islands off Queensland, he taught people to water ski and surf. Today he is 50 years old. He manages a rainforest resort and a cattle station. He has a beautiful family. Would it have been so if I hadn’t taken a firm stance? Nobody knows do they?  |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
Though I hear there are amazing waterfalls in Australia.