Life in progress

Category Archives: Life


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JusJoJan24 the 14th – It’s what I do

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and today’s prompt comes from Joanne. Check out her blog here!

“Writing” is the prompt of the day—it’s something I’ve written about many times here on my blog. So in deciding what to write about writing today, I’ve come up with only one idea: what writing is to me now.

I was told long ago that having a career as a novelist would inevitably turn what I love into a job.

And yes, there are days when it does feel like a bit of a grind, but they are few and far between.

When I’m in the thick of a novel and discovering, plucking out of the air the stories that my characters are telling me, writing is still every bit as much fun as it was when, as I child, I used stories as an escape from loneliness. Back then, sometimes I wrote them down, but most times I just wrote them in my head, going over and over them, starting from the beginning every time and adding a little to the end.

The joy of those stories meant that I was never really alone. I had my characters to keep me company.

In that, not a lot has changed.

And no, it’s still not so much a job as it is a way of living.

This thought-inducing post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks so much again to Joanne for the prompt!


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JusJoJan24 & #SoCS the 13th – Nothing lasts forever

This post is part of Just Jot it January and my weekly prompt, Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Find the prompt and see how you can join in HERE.

Nothing lasts forever, and sometimes that’s a good thing and sometimes it’s a bad thing.

It’s a good thing when you’ve got a cold, for instance.

Or a broken something that will mend.

(Not a vase. Unless you have glue.)

But every year around this time I start to think about the fact that one day I’ll have to close up shop on my prompts.

Not that I’m considering doing that yet. I think I still have at least a few years left in me.

But still. Nothing lasts forever.

And sometimes that makes me sad.

This ultimately sad post is part of Just Jot it January and SoCS! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.com/

 


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JusJoJan24 the 12th – Toasty

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and today’s prompt is courtesy of Barbara. Check out her blog here!

There’s nothing better than being toasty and warm inside when it’s cold and snowy outside.

Photo: Taken on a particularly cold and blustery night with lots of snow on the ground and the trees and the rooves, and long, toothy icicles hanging from the eaves.

This quick, jotty post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks so much again to Barbara for the prompt!


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JusJoJan24 the 11th – Olive

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and today’s prompt is from Kaye. Check out her blog here!

I mean, I like the color olive as much as the next guy. I do. It has a way of unobtrusively bringing out other, more vibrant colors. Back when I decorated my coloring calendars with pencil, I used olive all the time to highlight the other greens.

Take the following picture as an example. See how wonderful my avocados in their bright green bag look against my olive counter top?

It’s lovely.

So you’re probably wondering by now why this post comes across more like a rant than a celebration of the color olive.

The answer to that question comes again with my 1940s olive counter tops, scratched, scarred, and burned as they are.  And the fact that I reeeeaaaaly want to modernize my kitchen one day. Preferably before the 2040s.

So here’s to olive! Just not in my kitchen, please.

This colorful post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Much gratitude again to Kaye for the prompt!


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JusJoJan24 & #SoCS the 6th – Harder than it looks

This post is part of Just Jot it January and my weekly prompt, Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Find the prompt and see how you can join in HERE.

I tell myself to “just do it” all the time. But it really is a struggle.

Just willing myself to start writing this post, I sat back in my chair, picked a few stray dog hairs off my sleeve, looked at my to do list, checked out not one, but two of my calendars, and had a drink of water before I gathered the courage to place my fingers on the keyboard.

And it is courage, it seems, that’s necessary.

Because I want to get it right the first time.

Now, yes, because this is stream of consciousness writing and I can’t go back and change it, but much of the time I’m like this.

I suppose I’m a perfectionist.

Or maybe it’s a case of not wanting to have to fix things once they’re done.

HA! And I call myself an editor.

But that’s different. When I edit someone else’s work, I’m actually looking at it for the first time…

Anyway, that was a tangent.

Just do it.

It’s more than three words. (Editor Linda is saying no, it’s literally three words.)

It’s a concept.

And it’s far bigger than meets the eye.

I’m starting to think that in many cases, there’s no “just” about it.

Do it.

Yeah, that’s better.

This windingly sub-conscious post is part of Just Jot it January and SoCS! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.com/

 


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JusJoJan24 the 5th – The Penultimate Bite

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and our prompt of the day is courtesy of Judy. Check out her blog here!

It’s a chicken and an egg situation—which came first?

I’ve always left the best for last, especially with food. It’s just the way I am.

So I’ve always thought about that last bite as the ultimate. The best.

The dictionary definition of “ultimate” says nothing about it being the best. Just the last.

For me, it’s simply associative.

But …

Did I start by associating the ultimate for the best?

Or did I start by associating the best for the ultimate?

I think it’s the latter.

Either way, the second last bite is always the penultimate bite.

This not-so-ultimate post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Judy for the prompt!


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JusJoJan24 the 1st – In Training

This post is part of Just Jot it January. To join in, click here to get to the prompt and drop your link.

I’ve been in self-imposed training for a while.

It’s not as athletic as it sounds, though I wish it could be.

I mean, I do try to walk every day.

But mostly, I’m constantly trying to train my brain to stick to a schedule.

I write everything down. My hours of every day are (mostly) documented.

But I really need to get rid of all the question marks during the hours I spend just scrolling on Facebook.

Wasted time, for the most part.

Except when it’s good for finding more ways to train myself to spend my time better …

Thus, my endless training loop.

But this year …

Yeah, probably the same as last year.


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Merry Christmas

Well, it’s been a year. One that will forever live as the year my mother died, and that I kinda fell off the grid afterwards, for what might seem obvious reasons to most but is a bit of a mystery to me. Mostly, I think, because it was all coming and I could see it but I didn’t want to.

However, this is a time of celebration for most.

And so I want to take the time to say thank you to everyone who’s stuck around, despite my absence, and to wish everyone the merriest of Christmases and happiest of holidays for all the other holidays celebrated here, there, and all over the world.

Cheers, my friends!


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One-Liner Wednesday – Tough week so far

I’ll tell you about it sometime, but now I’m too tired. Sorry for the vagueness.

If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, like Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a pingback from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our lovely badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com

Available now! Click the image!


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One-Liner Wednesday – Deep thoughts

I’ve come to the conclusion that there can never be too much coffee in the world. But maybe there can be too much coffee in my pot.

If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, like Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a pingback from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our lovely badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com

Available now! Click the image!