My best friend John, to me: It’s nice having you or someone intelligent to talk to once in a while.
Monthly Archives: March 2014
Bravely Blogging or Fanatically Fizzling
It was February when I signed up for the A-Z April Blogging Challenge. At the time I had energy. “I can do this!” I said. “It’ll be easy!”
I even decided on a theme way way wayyy back then. “I’ll write about writing!” I said.
Well, with a week left to go I’m putting a brave face on and I’m saying, “Yes! I can still do this!” I moved the badge to the top of my sidebar, and I’m waving it proudly.
Meanwhile, I’m gathering all the notes I’ve written on napkins, in the notepad on my phone, on the ceiling in my bedroom… yeah, that was back in February … on what exactly to write about, and I shall give it a go!
How will I keep it fresh and entertaining? Life, of course. Rather than gobbling about the rules and guidelines, I shall devote the month of A-Z on writing, to how I pull from the observations, characters, emotions, etc., etc., I find in everyday life and apply them to creating stories and all the elements which go into them.
It’ll be … fun!
If you’re reading this and you’re joining in the fun of A-Z April, please let me know in the comments so I can follow along with your posts. Let’s have … fun together!
At a Loss for Words
Where’s your communication book? I’ll ask your teacher to tell you.
It’s the most common phrase that is signed in my household, aside from, I love you, and Go to sleep already.
The problem is, of course, that my son Alex doesn’t ‘speak’ the same language as I do, and sometimes I’m the one at a huge disadvantage. I, whose life consists of putting words together to make meanings clear, am unable to communicate with my own offspring. What kind of sick force in the universe came up with this irony?
Tonight I had to try to explain to Alex why he wasn’t able to eat from my plate. It’s something that I allow him to do on occasion–not something I allowed my other two sons to do–since he doesn’t eat much more than one piece of anything, being that he’s tube fed. But now, since I’m not sure I’m completely over this bug, it’s a no-no. Germs are not something I often talk about, and so once again I’m faced with my lack of knowledge, and my incompetence in being fluent in American Sign Language.
Can you fathom the frustration at not being able to say the simplest of things? With a hearing child, the conversation would be over in four or five sentences. “I’m sick, and if you eat from my plate you might get sick. Why? Because there are these things called germs – tiny things like bugs crawling around in my food. You still want some? I thought not.”
Instead? It’ll have to wait until tomorrow.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m grateful that I have the resource of the Deaf school to back me up when I need it, and especially that they are teaching my son to communicate with his peers. What scares me are the stories I was told by a few different Deaf people of their hearing families – that they grew apart. The Deaf have their own community. In fact “Deaf” is capitalized when the word is used to describe a person in the same way American is – because it denotes that very community. It’s only by virtue of the fact that Alex has a global intellectual delay that I might have to care for him well into adulthood.
In the meantime, I’ll keep trying to learn his language. Because once he’s twenty-one and has to leave school, I won’t have a communication book to write in. And I’ll be at a complete loss for words.
Snow Like Coral
Everywhere you look, the snowbanks, though dirty from the mixture of sand and salt, have melted partially and become delicate lacy formations, much like coral.
It’s difficult to get a good picture of it. It’s very pretty though. If you click on the picture you can see the detail.
So there you have it. Enjoy my dirty snow.
Down For the Count
29. Count ’em. I slept for 29 hours yesterday and into this morning. It seems I caught the dreaded stomach flu bug that’s been going around hereabouts for the last couple of weeks. I just hope I don’t give it to the kids. Luckily, they weren’t here yesterday. Who knows what I’ve left it on though.
I’m feeling better today. Coffee is my gauge – if I’m able to drink it, I’m good. And I did. So yippee for me.
Thanks to everyone who commented on my blog. I’ll get back to you once I’ve done everything I should have been doing yesterday. The worst part is, I had a weekend off and didn’t even look at my manuscript. Damn it.
The Healing Power of Music
Music has a place in the hearts of many—one might even say the majority of people; it’s what we listen to in our cars when we’re driving as fast as we can (legally of course 😉 ); it’s what we employ to escape the doldrums of life; it’s our background noise; it’s the panacea that allows our souls to heal.
But what of the artists who create it? We treat them these days as though the owe us. We steal from them, and the internet allows us to without reserve. Think about that…
That’s not what this post is about, however. I want to talk about the quality of the recordings we hear in this age of digital everything. Have you ever heard anything on vinyl? Do you remember why it is preferable, even though you want to preserve the cover, to take off the plastic wrap from the outer sleeve of a 33 and a third record?
I am so happy I kept all my records. I have here, in my house, the very first rock album I ever received–Christmas of 1977–“Frampton Comes Alive.” I have many of the CD versions of the old albums I still possess–“Equinox” by Styx, “A Night at the Opera” by Queen” (which I most gratefully received for Christmas last year as a limited edition vinyl copy)
and I’m able to do a direct A to B comparison. Believe me when I say that if listening to a CD is great, experiencing the same on vinyl, is like being in the same room as the band as they record it. Where digital is a flat wall of sound, vinyl surrounds you like you’re standing inside the music. It penetrates. It removes all other thoughts. It allows you to be fully in the moment, where no cares can invade. It is healing.
If you ever have the opportunity to listen to vinyl, do. If you ever have the chance to buy a turntable, do. Vinyl is coming back. Embrace it.
What’s My Line? – Stream of Consciousness Saturday (Line)
I was sitting in front of the bank manager’s desk yesterday, with the bright March sun shining right in my eyes when she asked me, “Are you still a ‘homemaker’?”
“Yes,” I replied. But that’s not really what I was thinking. What I wanted to say was, “no, I’m a writer.”
But then, I figured she’d ask me who I was working for, and I didn’t, of course, want to tell her I didn’t work for anyone but myself.
It’s questions like this that make a thousand thoughts run through your head at once. All the ‘what ifs’ and ‘why don’t I just come out and say it?’ and ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’ It’s funny how fast the brain can work in these moments. The decisions that we make in a split second, some of which can change our lives forever. And what’s scary is, how many times in, say, a year, these split-second decisions come across our desk, our plates or our lives. I can’t remember how many times I’ve said to myself, if only I’d said this, or that. Whether it was something that would have altered my life to a degree that I might not have recognized myself in ten years, or whether it was merely something witty, those moments pass us by like so many lost opportunities and baseballs we know we should have been able to catch if only we weren’t afraid of the pain of impact.
One day I’ll be able to change that decision. I’m going to say, “I’m a writer,” and I’m going to smile broadly AND I’m going to say I work for myself. One day.
Part of ‘Stream of Consciousness Saturday’ (SoCS) – this week’s prompt here: https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-2214/
Please join in! It’s open to everyone!
The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS March 22/14
Hi there, and welcome once again to the Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt!
I was inspired by my photo of this morning to make this week’s prompt something to do with being aligned, lined up, or a drawn line. Please include this as a theme, or a word, or the title… whatever you want.
After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post! And don’t forget to comment back here as well with your URL.
Here are the rules:
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people will come and read your post! The way to ping back, is to just copy and paste the URL of my post somewhere on your post. Then your URL will show up in my comments, for everyone to see. For example, in your post you can copy and past the following: “This post is part of SoCS: (https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/03/01/socs-stream-of-consiousness-saturday-the-rules/)” Also, you can come here and link your post in the comments. The most recent comments will be found at the top.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. Have fun!
First Robin
My friend Hanna wrote a wonderful little poem in celebration of spring. She’s new to WordPress, so please go and say hi, and check out her blog!
Robin, robin,
Why are you here?
The sun is out,
The sky is clear.
Robin, robin,
Why are you here?
The temps are cold,
The snow is near.
Robin, robin,
Why are you here?
You’ll freeze your
Little wings, I fear.
Happy spring, everyone. Saw my first robin today. Didn’t have my camera to take a picture. And I just wondered what he thought of our Canadian spring. First official day has been and gone, and we’re still hovering below zero with snow coming our way.
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