Inspiration can be difficult to find.
Especially at 11:30 at night when you’re trying to get a blog post written.
I was playing around on Paint.
You know, the new 3D Paint program that comes with Windows 10?
I did something for tomorrow’s One-Liner Wednesday,
and then I did something for this post.
I call it,
a self-portrait of my wishful thinking.
I should stick to writing.
Finally! Green tea KitKat has made it to Canada!
I had to buy two one just to give it a try. You know, to make sure they taste the same as the heavenly ones I bought in Japan.
Aaaand, they’re different. Not as sweet, and heavier on the green tea flavour. At least I think they are.
Of course, the only way to be sure is to go back to Japan …
Yes, I’m posting my illegal A to Z Challenge “G” post a day late, and on Sunday, which is supposed to be a day off. If this were baseball, it would either be a triple play or a strike out. Since it’s all contraband posting, my guess is a strike out. But I’m doing it anyway, so that’s four strikes. I’m definitely going to blogger hell.
Anyway, I’d better make this good.
My first online deed this morning was to post something like this on Facebook (“something” meaning I wish I’d made it pretty):
Text reads: Fun game: 1. Make a list of all the things you don’t have time to do in a day. 2. Open the stopwatch on your phone and start it every time you go on Facebook. START NOW
My following Facebook post was something to the effect of “I’m leaving Facebook for a week. Just so you know I’m not ignoring you. Cheers!”
In other words, I’m skipping the “Fun game” and going straight for the stuff I don’t have time for. Feel free to share.
And good riddance, Facebook!
I’m writing this on the cusp of being late for the letter “D.” Not that it really matters–I’m not signed up for the A to Z Challenge, so no pressure, right? Nah. Except it’s a bit early in the game to be missing a day.
Therefore, here’s a quick note to record what’s been going down.
First and foremost, the electricity. There was a modicum of truth to my three-hour-late Second Seat on the Right, in that I, like Stuart, was late due to a power outage. But unless there was an extremely heavy cat on the tree limb that brought it down to the pavement, the fault wasn’t a cat’s.
Luckily my spaghetti sauce was cooked and only needed reheating. We had a nice dinner, wine included, and now it’s me who’s down. For the count. Only three and a half hours of sleep last night and two glasses of wine’ll do that to a girl.
Ni’night, all! Hope you had a happy “D” day!
If I’m going to piggyback illegally on the A to Z Challenge, I may as well go all the way with no theme, no rules (including grammar) for my titles … no nothin’, damnit! I’m such a rebel.
I dreamed a lot last night. In one, I had to justify something I’d explained inaccurately in another dream from another time. Seriously, I could write a book about the weird things that come into my head when I’m sleeping.
My weirdest one last night was that Melania Trump is only 2’4″ tall. And I have no idea what the significance of that is. Theories, anyone?
Thanks to everyone for supporting my effort to write ‘coz I have to. You’re all very bad influences and I love you for it. ❤
I didn’t sign up for the A to Z challenge (for the first time in five years) because I didn’t want to put pressure on myself to post every day. I know I’m going to be busy later on in the month but now? Now I’m itching to write something. Anything.
All the writers’ groups I’m in on Facebook are filled with posts about Camp NaNoWriMo. They’re happily discussing their works in progress and me?
I swear, the itch to write is worse than a mosquito bite that you can’t leave alone. It’s more a mosquito bite that’s so far embedded in your chest that it’s like the damned bug is buzzing around in your esophagus, and you can’t even swat it out because you can’t reach it.
That’s the best I can come up with.
So, can I write a post that starts with “B” tomorrow and not get kicked off the webz? Can I? Can I?
Many of you are familiar with the A to Z Challenge held every April. It was organized a little differently last year–a lot of people loved it, and a lot didn’t. Here’s your chance to weigh in and let the organizers know what worked for you!
There’s a survey to fill out here: https://goo.gl/forms/jXMnJKkwrdUt3y0o1
And you can find the original post here: http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/2018/02/2018-pre-challenge-blogging-from-to-z.html
Click on the link for the original post to see what you could win by filling out the survey and sharing the post, and to get all the details for this year’s challenge!
Best of luck, and happy blogging in April!
When you see me staring blankly into space and it takes several seconds for me to answer a simple question, I’m in the zone.
For the final post of this year’s A to Z Challenge, I chose from my thesaurus the word “zone.” The first thing the word always brings to my mind is the zone I need to be in, in order to create. Free from most outside distractions, particularly ones that require concentration on things I’m worried about. I’m able to do mindless things and stay in the zone: I can get up and make a grilled-cheese sandwich for my son, but not answer any questions; I can let the dog out, but God forbid the phone rings. Having said that, sometimes I burn the sandwich and the dog will scratch at the door to come back in for half an hour.
Getting into my little bubble of creativeness is often difficult. I can’t do it when I know I’ll be distracted in the near future–I’m okay if Alex is due home from school in an hour, but not if I expect him in forty-five minutes. But there is one thing that always helps: my inspiration, my muse. Buck-Tick.
This week’s prompt for the lovely Helen Espinosa’s Song-Lyric Sunday is “consequences, good or bad.” (Click here.) Claiming that my favourite Japanese band’s music is the consequence of being able to write is a bit of a stretch, but I’m going with it because it fits.
This song inspired my upcoming novel, The Great Dagmaru. The lyrics tell the basis of the story. I can’t not disappear into the world of my creation when I listen to this song and watch this video. The English captions are available when you watch it (please do–it’s a fantastic performance), but I’ve copied them out below.
Enjoy.
Megami (Goddess)
Lyrics: Sakurai Atsushi (vocals)
Music: Hoshino Hidehiko (acoustic guitar)
Within the heat wave,
a goddess alights
Now no longer lonely,
grant my wish
I’m going mad in this overwhelming emotion
consoled many times
I sin and wait anxiously for punishment
just getting corrupted
I’m in an agony of immorality,
shivering with a premonition
She smiles at me
and grants my wish
Screaming out, I explode
It’s maddening, precious
Even that profile distorted by fear
is beautiful, precious
Turn into chaos before my eyes
Hold me… I can’t see anything
It’s a quiet night, isn’t it?
Such a beautiful night
She smiles at me
–my wish did not come true.
Screaming out, I explode
It’s maddening, precious
Even that profile distorted by fear
is beautiful, precious
Turn into chaos before my eyes
Hold me… I can’t see anything
Only you are kind to me
Only you
I always hated it when my neighbours (where ever I lived) let their dogs yap and yowl all day in their back yards. Now I have a dog who does it. Not that I let him do it all day mind you. If he starts barking, I call him to come in. I still worry that I’m disturbing people though.
I would never have got a dog if I wasn’t home all day. Having said that, I’ve had dogs before that I’ve left home alone while I’ve gone to work. I wonder if they were lonely.
My last dog was a Saint Bernard named George. I got him when I was first married to my first husband. He came from the Humane Society and he was very well trained. But, as I found out after I got him, he hated kids. Luckily, we didn’t have any. I wish I could find a picture of him. If I do someday, I’ll scan it and post it.
Other than dogs, I’ve had budgies and fish. My last two budgies died when I bought a new set of Teflon cookware. Had I opened the window–had I known new Teflon kills birds–they might have been with me many more years than they were. The last bunch of fish I owned were guppies. I brought them in a small container with me in the car when I moved. The guy at the pet store told me not to keep them in the small tank for more than a couple of weeks, or they’d die. They lasted in it for two years. Then again, I didn’t buy any new Teflon in that time, either… Maybe I should have kept the birds in water. … Nah.
This silly post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the link and see how you, too, can join in the fun! https://lindaghill.com/2017/04/28/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-apr-2917/
I like to think of myself as a world traveller, but there are only two places I regularly go – around my own province of Ontario, and Japan.
Yes, I know “expedition” doesn’t start with “X.” I cheat on this letter almost every year. It’s just the way I roll. Apparently also the way I roll is to post when I’m falling asleep, and this entry is no exception. So, tonight, I’m just going to post something really neat about my last trip to Tokyo.
If you were around for my 2014 trip, you might remember a video I posted: the traffic camera at the Shibuya intersection, made famous in the movies Lost in Translation and Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift among others.
Since I stayed a five-minute walk from the intersection last time I visited, I set up a “meeting” with my family at home. I emailed them early one morning, just before I left my hotel room, and had them watch the traffic camera. Although I walked around the intersection in almost every direction, only one screenshot was captured. This was me just before the lights changed–I walked directly across, towards the camera. Apparently it’s surprising that I didn’t hear Alex scream with excitement when Mom waved to him from across the other side of the globe.
I’m beside the lamp post in front of the yellow store front.
The only picture anyone took of me while I was in Japan was taken from 6,447 miles away. That’s one hell of a zoom lens. HA!
Here’s the traffic camera. It’s fun to watch:
***
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