Write, Write, Write

Once upon a time I tried to write a novel. I finished a draft of it. I didn't do anything more after that, since I wasn't all that excited about it. (Translation: It wasn't a very good story!)

Recently I've been reading about the craft of writing. It's got me thinking I should try again, especially since my two-day work week will allow me to have some creative time.

Instead of a novel, I'm going to try my hand at short stories of the "whodunit" variety. I love mysteries, so this sounds fun to me.

Now that I've told my blog readers about it, I guess I should follow through soon!

Lew and I Host a Gathering

We are long-term subscribers to WORLD Magazine. I also get the weekly "Roundup" newsletters various WORLD writers send via e-mail.

Several months ago I wrote to Steve, the writer of one of the newsletters. He had told a story about how he and his wife had a bat in their bedroom. This reminded me of our own story, of course! You can read our story right here on Mainely Tracy:

Superkitty (July 26, 2012)

My Take on the Bat Incident (July 27, 2012)

I sent our bat tale to Steve. He thought it was hilarious, and he published part of it in his newsletter. Jerry was definitely the hero! A few weeks later I sent Steve a photo of Jerry looking at a page from WORLD Magazine — a page with a photo of Steve and his own cat.

Our subsequent correspondence led to a gathering of WORLD Magazine donors in Maine. Steve and his wife flew to Maine yesterday morning. We had a fun meetup at our house with them and 12 other donors who responded to Steve's invitation. It really was a great time....

And everyone got to meet Jerry, the "CATalyst" for how this came to be!

Jerry reads WORLD.

Hooray for Long Weekends

I have a three-day weekend because of the Labor Day holiday on Monday.

I plan to do the three Rs:

• Reading. Hopefully lots of reading. Maybe an Agatha Christie mystery.
• Writing. I'm going to write a letter to send to lawmakers. Time to open the nursing homes back up for family to visit. Enough is enough.
• Arithmetic. Pay a few bills and get my checkbook caught up.

Actually I'm going to do the five Rs... the three above and some much-needed R&R!

A is for Alphabet

I just remembered a post I wrote back in September called An Alphabet "Soup-er" Idea. This was supposed to inspire me to write blog posts more consistently. As the recent saying goes, "Epic fail." But now I have remembered this idea, so let's get started....

A is for Alphabet

When I was in the third grade, our class was assigned a writing exercise: If you could be anything, what would you be? (I'm not sure if this was the exact assignment, but I'm close.)

I chose the alphabet. As the alphabet, I could form all of the words necessary to write about anything in the world! Just think of the books I could make and all of the things I could help people learn.

Sometimes I wish I still had this assignment, but maybe it's for the best. My memory of it might be better than it actually was. But the concept was pretty good for a third-grader, if I do say so myself!

New App

I just downloaded a new app to my new phone. The app is a blogging app, and I am using it right now.

I had a blogging app on previous phones, but that app was discontinued. (Grrrr....)

So — although I am writing the most boring blog post ever — I am really excited to have a functioning blogging app once again.

Maybe this app will help me blog more consistently.

And hopefully I will write more exciting posts than this one.

The Blank Post

Somehow I created a blank entry on this blog today.

I do believe it was one of my best posts!

But now I've ruined it by actually writing something. 😜

Please forgive me for not writing anything more spectacular.

It is so cold here that I think my brain waves are frozen. Brrrrr....

I'm On Fire

I got a Kindle Fire a few weeks ago. I've been using it just for fun so far, and I really like it a lot.

Tonight I am using the Fire to write this blog post. This is the first time I've tried to use the Fire for this purpose. If all goes well, it will be a nice alternative to using my desktop or our iPad. I can sit in my living room and write to my heart's content... or not, if I don't want to.

On my drive home from work today, I started to think about writing a book. Long-time readers of this blog know I have made prior attempts, all of which have fizzled out. But maybe my new device can light a fire in me.... Pun intended!

And if I ever do get a book written, you will be the first to know.

Punctuational Lament

Not that I am the expert but did you ever notice how people ignore punctuation on Facebook and sometimes in their text messages I just don't understand how anyone can understand anyone else anymore I'm not sure I'm just not sure   do you agree

Coming Soon: Blog Reboot!

As another year comes to a close (okay, so I'm a little early with that statement), I want to rethink this blog.

When I started it, I wanted to write pithy posts every day....  I think I've done okay on the "every day" but not the "pithy."  Ha ha!

I tried the Monday Media, To-Do Tuesday, etc. idea, but I didn't really stick with it.

Scheduling that has worked (and will therefore stay): Dad writes on Wednesdays, Lew writes on Saturdays, and nobody writes on Sundays.

That leaves Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays for me to come up with something worth posting about.  And I haven't been very inspired as of late.

But just thinking about a "blog reboot" is getting me a little bit excited. So, keep checking in on Mainely Tracy, dear readers.

Goal for tomorrow:  Write a pithy blog post.

Whining Poetic

When ideas are few and creativity has taken its leave,
My only words are,
"Oh, blinking cursor, how you mock me."

Thank You, Readers

I know — or at least feel like — my own blog posts have been sub-par lately.

As I was driving home from work, I considered cutting back and writing only when I had something fun to talk about.

But then I thought about what would probably happen in reality: I'd get out of the habit of posting altogether. And I do want to keep the blog going.

So, I'll keep writing on the non-Sunday and non-Derf and non-Lew days.

And every now and then I might have something interesting to say. It could happen, you know!

Thank you for reading Mainely Tracy!

The Bear: The Rest of the Story

It's taken 43 years, but I have finally resolved the fate of Fred the Bear....

The bear named Fred was sound asleep.
The bear rug makers didn't hear a peep.
But when they opened up the crate,
they had no time to celebrate.
For they heard Fred make a loud snore.
He woke! He gave a mighty ROAR!
The rug makers turned around to run,
but Fred said, "Awww... I roared for fun."
A talking bear! His name is Fred.
He moved next-door to Mister Ed.

Wedding Weekend Wrap-Up

With this post I end my series on Kelsey's wedding. Of course I may mention it again in the future. After all, it was a wonderful event!

Just sharing a few odds and ends today....

Lew and I got all dolled up for the wedding. I'm sorry my shoes didn't make it into this picture. They were sparkly.  :)

On the drive home, I saw a beautiful sight at a truck stop. It's usually UPS or the postal service that delivers to my house, but I wouldn't mind seeing this guy drive up with all sorts of goodies just for me!

I brought an empty journal on the trip with me. Early in our travels I told my family members to write or draw in the the journal. I pointed out that the journal was titled, "Brilliant Thoughts." Perhaps that is why the journal came home completely blank.

And to really wrap it up.... Congratulations and Best Wishes to Kelsey and Zach!

Not Quite a Shakespearean Work

Marilyn writes:

fg                

When I was working on my computer earlier today, Marilyn kept hopping up and trying to get on the keyboard.
So I thought that I could get her to write today's blog post.
I picked her up and the above is all she came up with.
Thanks a bunch, Marilyn.
When I need you to be my personal assistant, you bail.
Actually her post is more interesting than most of mine are!
Smile! (Meow!)

Invitations and Nachos

Fifteen.

 

That's how many more invitations I need to write out by hand.

 

The invitations are to the women of my church, asking them to come to an event the first full weekend in February.

 

I have been timing myself. I can do about five invitations in 30 minutes, so I have about 90 minutes to go.

 

Then I have to address the envelopes!

 

My goal is to send out the invitations tomorrow. I think I can do it.

 

 

Three.

 

That's how many more weeks I can't eat crunchy food!

 

My gum graft is healing ahead of schedule, but I still have to follow the post-procedure instructions.

 

I have one more follow-up appointment in three weeks. I hope to get the "okay" to resume normal eating then.

 

In the meantime, I will just have to wait to eat nachos. I think I can do it.

She Asked, "Did You Read the Instructions?"

Writing Prompt: Instructions.

 

Ha ha ha ha! My first thought is that women read instructions, men don't!

 

Instructions, directions, manuals....

 

I do love well-written instructions!

 

In several prior jobs I was able to write very detailed, step-by-step, instructions on how to do tasks required of me. That way someone else could do them if I should get hit by the proverbial bus.

 

Work colleagues have told me that I'm good at documenting details and leaving a paper trail.

 

So I do wonder if I missed my calling. I should write user manuals!

 

I have recently made a careful entry into food preparation (poor Lew!), so maybe I could write my own cookbook with easy recipes that I've found... modified by me to make them even easier.... Ha ha ha ha!

 

Wrong Writes

Writing Prompt: Something I would never write.

Horror stories. I don't like to read horror stories. I don't like to watch horror movies. When I was in college I could stomach the horror genre. Not anymore. Yuck!

Nonfiction science books. If I did write a science book, it would have to be classified as fiction. (Ha ha!) I am not enough of an expert.

Porn. I hope I don't need to explain this one.

Anything that would dishonor God. But if I should in some sinful moment, I pray for His forgiveness.

And my five minutes are up. The above are all that I came up with off of the top of my head. I think this writing prompt has inspired me to expand my writing efforts -- there are lots of areas that I haven't excluded!

Decision, Information, Celebration

NaNoWriMo started today. I have made the decision not to do it this year. As a result, my November will be a lot less hectic!

I took Kurt to the vet on Wednesday. The vet gave me great information on how to deal with Kurt's peeing on the floor. She also did some tests to confirm he is not sick. So it's behavioral. Sigh. We just got an additional litter box for downstairs. We are hopeful it will help.

 

We went to Matt & Emily's house today to celebrate two birthdays. Eli turned three this past Monday, and Matt's birthday is tomorrow! We have much to be thankful for. :)

 

I leave you with some photos from today.

 

Eli in his playroom.

Adam wearing his brother's new hat.

Matt and his dad. :)

 

 

NaNo or Not NaNo?

I have a decision to make over the next 10 days: Do I want to participate in NaNoWriMo this year?

I signed up to do it last year, but I got quite behind on my word-count (need to total 50,000 words over the month of November). So I ended up abandoning the effort early.

I would like to write a novel.

I really would.

Or perhaps, I would like to have written a novel. (That's closer to the truth!)

This year, if I start NaNoWriMo, I want to finish NaNoWriMo.

To do:

1. Determine idea for novel by October 31st.
2. If did #1, then sign up for NaNoWriMo.
3. If did #2, then write, write,WRITE!!!

Women's Ministry Blog

Last Tuesday I mentioned that our church women's ministry team decided to start a new blog. And what better day than a Media Monday to introduce it on Mainely Tracy!

As of this writing, there is only one post on the new blog. We recently (as in, today) sent out the information about it, so we need to give the ladies a chance to see it before we add too much more.

I will serve as the primary administrator of the blog, but I expect that other women's ministry leaders will be contributing writers as well. It should be fun! I hope that the women of our church enjoy it.

I invite you to check it out:

Mary's Apron  ~  The Women's Ministry blog of Coastal Community Church