“Discontempt”
1. the state of having a lack of contempt for anything.
2. the feeling you have when you’ve eaten too much for your birthday dinner. Oh wait, that’s indigestion. Never mind.
And that’s it for me today. My excuse; it’s my birthday, and I’ll sleep if I want to. Ni’night, all. 😀
Ah, finally. After a busy day, sitting with a glass of wine or two, happily flitting to and fro like an insane Pomeranian, trying to choose from the many possibilities on what to write of “glass.”
It’s insane, but here I am communicating to the world as my fingers stroke a keyboard, and symbols which can be read appear on a sheet of backlit glass, to instantaneously fly through the ether and into the homes of so very many onlookers. What power! How would Shakespeare have handled such fluidity of information? How much has been lost…
We are such fragile things, we humans with our egos and our importances that we carry with us from day to day, year to year, some falling away like forgotten leaves beneath the first snow. What if we could get a glimpse back through time to the things we found, in the past, to be life-changing but weren’t? We scoff at it now, just as we scoff at the clothes we wore, captured through the lenses of our memory-saving devices – you know, the ones we never had with us when it was most crucial. But now…now…
So much is seen through glass.
I see through my glass that it is empty, again. Time for a refill, methinks.
This philosophical post is brought to you by a combination of Stream of Consciousness Saturday and
Let’s see, what haven’t I complained about this year yet?
We had a snow day again today–actually, it was a freezing rain day–but I’ve already complained about those. Seems like a Tuesday thing.
Alex was so upset about not going to school today, he came into my room this morning and started smacking me because of the weather. Then, fifteen minutes later, I picked up the cat to stop him from going outside and he turned around and scratched me. And to top all that off, I was sitting on the couch about fifteen minutes after that, and I sneezed on the dog whilst reaching for the tissue box, so the dog pounced on me because I made him jump.
It’s been a rough day. But not my first this year. I’m sure I must have complained about one of those already, so I can’t do that again.
What else, let’s see… I didn’t go out today. I need to get out more. …aaand I’ve already complained about that.
Next!
I haven’t run out of wine yet, so I can’t complain about that. Oh, wait! I ran out of coffee!!! …but I found some more in the cupboard that I must have bought when it was on sale.
Nope! Sorry. Can’t think of anything new. I guess I’m going to just have to be happy, damn it!
So much for taking time today to get caught up on blogging; this full-time work thing is crazy, isn’t it? I haven’t had a “real” job in sixteen years, and even then, I was running my own business. The last time I worked for someone who wasn’t me was in 1995. I think.
Even though I haven’t “worked” in more than 20 years, I have worked. My kids were born in ’94, ’95, and ’00 – one might argue that just being a mom is work. But past that, I push myself to do more. Writing, blogging, and taking courses to improve my skills have kept me on my toes for quite a few years now.
What about me is impenetrable? Probably my hard-headedness when it comes to saying anything but, Sure! I can do it! Just pile it all on. My head is as hard as my plate is large. And nothing is going slow me down… until they both overflow that is. So if you see my brains leaking out of my ears, you’ll know I’ve reached my penetration limit.
At the rate I’m going, it won’t be long.
Thanks to Blog Woman!!! for our prompt of the day, “impenetrable.” You can find her here: https://blog-woman.com/
And a special thank you to Shan, for the wonderful job she’s doing as host. Let’s hear it for Shan! 😀 https://shanjeniah.com/about/
Hey! I almost didn’t make it here today. I’ve been working on this project I landed last week, editing a 150,000-word novel by the end of February, which means I have to get through 25K words a week. I’m absolutely loving the work, but mercy, does it necessitate a lot of concentration on the screen! I have to keep taking eyeball breaks.
This post is going to be very short, and it may not be sweet, but I should be back tomorrow to get caught up with everything I missed over the weekend.
I rarely spend money on myself, but when I do, I usually spend it on things that are intangible. I’d rather go to my favourite restaurant than buy clothes–which may have something to do with the fact that I eat too much to fit into the clothes I wish I could wear. Or is that the other way around? Whatever. And yes, I know that food is tangible, but it’s not the feeling of it I like. It’s the taste. And the experience of eating off someone else’s plates… someone who will wash them.
I’d rather go on trips than buy myself something expensive, like a new computer or cabinets for my kitchen. Again, I enjoy the experience and the memories a trip gives me. As well as the opportunity to get out of the house and away from all the responsibilities I have. And my ugly 1950s kitchen cabinets… But it’s not just that. The cabinets work still, and I can’t justify spending money to get rid of something useful just because it’s old and olive green and shiny. I’m talking about my kitchen counter now, but really, the whole kitchen needs redoing.
My money also goes on my education, which isn’t tangible. But it’s an investment, right? If I spend enough money taking courses so that I can MAKE money, it’s all worthwhile in the end. Especially if I can spend my money on some delicious tangible sushi. In Japan. Away from my kitchen.
This is the only time of year I buy cookies, as a rule. I lurve me a good shortbread. I tried baking it once and it came out well. That was a very long time ago. I think I may have been in high school. My last major attempt at baking was a banana bread in 1984. It was supposed to take a very long time to cook, I remember that. I also remember taking it out of the oven after twice the amount of time it was supposed to be done in the middle, and it still wasn’t. Since then, I usually stick to Pillsbury. Or premixed muffins, or peanut butter cookies which take nothing at all to make. Practically.
I do enjoy cooking meals, as long as I’m left alone to do it with my music turned up and a glass of wine or six. However if I’m rushed or distracted, I’m a bear in the kitchen. Just let me sit down with the jar of peanut butter in the middle of the floor kind of bear. I don’t eat peanut butter out of the jar often any more. I used to do it as a kid all the time. OH, and give me a container of whipped cream and watch me go. … or, I mean, that was before. Honest.
Gone are the days when I used to get baked myself on New Year’s Eve. It’s been a few years since I haven’t had the kids to look after, and this year will be no different. But I have my bottle of Baileys’ to sip, and I have my wine to guzzle… I mean, sip, so I’m good.
Cheers, all, to a Merry Christmas, a happy holiday for those of you who don’t have to work, and the time in between when you do. I hope your celebrations, whatever they are, bring you joy.
P.S. I just realized I had a brain fart yesterday and posted the date wrong. It should read Dec. 24/16. I’ll change it in the title but not in the link, so all will not be lost.
Have you ever done something embarrassing and hope nobody caught on? Of course, it happens to everyone, right? Even when I do something like that and I think nobody saw (things like writing a comment and then erasing it, or a post and then editing it, or even tripping over nothing on the street or walking into a post) I’m still embarrassed. I wonder if that’s because I’ll never be sure whether or not I got caught. So is that moot, or not? Is it moot point because no one saw it? Or is it not moot because I remain in a state of embarrassment for the sake of that ‘maybe’ or just because I’m ashamed of myself.
There is one instance I can’t get over. It involves singing too loud, and I don’t know if anyone noticed, but I beat myself up over it every time I think about it. One thing it has taught me is to be more aware of my surroundings next time. It seems to me there’s nothing more able to teach a lesson than embarrassment. It’s not something easily forgotten.
I’m not alone here, right? Oh, how embarrassing if I am.
Redundancies. I’m studying them in my new-but-almost-finished Stylistic Editing course. I’ve decided to make the decision to get them all out of my system in this post I’m writing right now.
Edit: I’ve decided to edit all the redundancies from the remainder of this post because it’s been bothering me since I published it yesterday.
Sadly, James Justin, the scam artist nice man from Windows didn’t call me back. I had some great suggestions on what to say/do to him; you can read the hilarity in the comments here: https://lindaghill.com/2016/11/26/okay-i-need-your-help/ if you haven’t already. Since I told him my power was off when he called the first time, I was going to inform him that I never turn my computer off so I had no idea how to turn it on. This scenario is getting funnier by the day, since if he does call now, I can say, “THANK GOD YOU CALLED! I HAVEN’T HAD A COMPUTER SINCE SATURDAY!!” Of course it will take 15 minutes to boot, during which time I’ll have lots of opportunity to take advantage of the awesome suggestions on the other post. Then, after I go through all the steps he meticulously explains in order for him to hack my computer and steal all my money, I’ll ask, “What’s an ‘internet’?” Brilliant, no?
My One-Liner Wednesday today had more to do with real life than I wish it had. I was passing out last night when I should have been scheduling the post, then I woke up at 7:10 this morning – an hour and a half late – so I had to drive the kid to school before I could get around to the prompt. Needless to say, it’s been a rough one. However, this is a good opportunity to let you know that if I’m ever AWOL, you check my Twitter feed in the right-hand column, just over there —> somewhere. If possible, I’ll leave a note to let you know what’s happened to me.
I’m almost finished the final edit of my first book in the series, The Great Dagmaru. The actual title for Book 1 is yet to be determined. Book 2 is written and I’m three-quarters of the way through writing Book 3. Unfortunately my plan to get it published this year will not be met. I’m hoping to do so in February.
Between the craziness of the above and spending the day at the hospital in Kingston for a consultation, I’ve been shamefully negligent in responding to comments. I hope to get back to you all soon!
I can count on both hands once the number of times I’ve been called “pretty” in my life. I just don’t have the face and the style for “pretty,” and I’m okay with that. I don’t like a lot of “pretty” things. My taste has always been tuned more to simplicity. My hairstyle and lack of makeup speak volumes.
I think being pretty smart makes up for a lot of what I lack in looks. I’d rather have intelligence than beauty anyway. Yes, it would be nice to open doors with just a smile, to quote the Eagles, but being able to reach out and open them myself has value.
I like to write pretty things. It’s like I live vicariously through my fiction. And I do. I have for some time now, especially the romance. Then again, there’s a certain romance to be had just sitting here on my laptop with a cat on one side and a dog on the other. I hope the dog doesn’t wake up and notice the cat is licking his bone. Oh, now he’s chewing it. I think he’s having an identity crisis. Dog’s eyes are open… and now they’re closed. I guess he doesn’t care.
Where was I before I started my play-by-play? Oh yeah, “pretty.” I’m supposed to take Alex to his teacher’s house today for a tea party. Alex has informed me that he wants me to dress up and look pretty. I told him I’ll try.
I hope this pretty horrid headache I’ve been battling all day so far goes away. Tylenol didn’t work – just took some Advil. Wish me luck.
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