Sometimes you look back and realize that things were not too bad back when you had hair and weighed 100 pounds less. Of course, there was less to worry about too. More time to relax. There are the might have beens to consider too. Like, what might have been if I had just saved money instead of spending it on records? Or what might have been if I had turned down my second job and…
On Oct 1, I woke in Dallas at 3 a.m. before my flight back to Las Vegas. Picking the morning flight over the red eye became a battle of trying to sleep in a too soft bed with a thin pillow. I might have slept better on the overnight. I should have just stayed awake and pretended I was 20 again. I hit stop on the phone alarm and saw a long line of alerts.…
Finished a walk at 7:30 this morning and the temperature already reached 93 and will reach 114 this evening. Already hot and oppressive. A Raver asked me for some change; I wore new pants. The Electric Daisy Concert ended with girls dropped off in front of the courthouse wearing satin exercise shorts or bikinis. A few went straight to the ATM by the Palm Stars. One asked me for change. *** I nearly passed out…
Been off taking care of other things and not writing. I missed the keyboard! I thought it would be a good idea to sit down and type. Fair warning: none of this may interest you. *** We take the idea of completing our chores, interests, obligations, and everyday tasks for granted. Like they will never end. And then they do. What have we accomplished? And does it matter? Just some of my thoughts this week.…
I toured the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum and left thinking Poe hit his head a lot and this caused melancholia and stress. Seriously, if a guy standing 5’10” fails to avoid the door head, and then hits his own head, I must surmise The Raven came out of this constant impact on Poe’s noggin. And let’s not forget the stairs; narrower, and narrower, they squeezed as I climbed close enough to hear my heartbeat.…
Another rejection arrived in the email. Of course, writing is not something I jumped into because it would make me rich and famous. Well, perhaps famous. But I never had the idea my writing would generate an income. I write because I feel like it. *** A Conversation “I saw these buildings as more pumpkin-like.” “They are orange.” “Yes, but they are square. You called it the pumpkin patch.” “Well, yeah.” “I saw buildings a bit…
I tossed Snoopy off the edge. He went flying out in the darkness on top of his dog house like the World War I Flying Ace. He continued to pound out the latest Once Upon a Time on his typewriter seemingly unconcerned about the pending thwack on the floor. Of course, I ran around the desk to scrutinize the fall. He had one missing paw and the calendar blocks scattered around him. The dog nearly…
I’ve been listening to writing podcasts lately. The ones I really like are Seated at the Writer’s Table and Helping Writers Become Authors. These podcasts offer advice on writing and selling. Good stuff. For fun, I like The Disney Story Origins Podcast, Myths and Legends, and Rabbits. *** I created a Patreon page as a way to keep myself on track toward my bigger writing projects. One of the first things I have learned about myself…
“You had me at the lede.” In my past, a story would jump off the page and I immediately knew I wanted to read it. Today, the story often assumes I already care. Where is the passion? Why does the lede seem to fall flat? I’m finally figuring out why I no longer eagerly anticipate the newspaper; none of the ledes grab me. *** A Conversation “There’s blood on the sidewalk.” “A homeless guy got…
It feels like a Friday the Thirteenth. *** Water bottle tossing should be an Olympic sport. No, not the 16-ounce bottles of plastic water. I’m talking about the five-gallon bottles men seem to be only able to wrestle to the water cooler. I used to body wrestle the bottle to the top of the cooler. But then, Sheldon taught me how to sling it in a single pass where it would land on the opening.…