Well...this was last night as the snow was still falling. (Taken from the safety of my balcony). I'll try and post some "after the storm" photos later.
The one above might be my favorite, it just looks like I knew what I was doing.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Friday, March 16, 2007
2 in 30 - Writer's Block
I’ve been suffering from a severe case of writer’s block for years now. I attempt to mold words into phrases, phrases into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, but repeatedly, I fail. There’s an unfinished novel, poems started, but incomplete, and a blog that is visited more often by others, than it is by me. And that’s not saying much.
Once upon a time, I’d pen these epic poems, I had so much to say, the words trampled over each other trying to get from my brain to the paper. Even my shorter pieces were filled with emotion, direction, anger and consciousness. And all it took was a moment or two of purging the jumbled thoughts in my brain, to create these unique verses.
It is different now. Now my mind is filled with the routine. The daily trappings of function, responsibility and duty keep me from allowing my thoughts to wander far enough to be creative. And when I do sit down to write, too many years of composing legal and professional crap, keep me from just allowing the words to freely land where they may. So I don’t write. Because the constant over-analyzing of words that are meant to just BE destroys the very art.
I feel forced to rhyme, to make sense, to say SOMETHING, and in turn, I say NOTHING.
And this failure to let the stream of consciousness just flow has me at an impasse. Do I stop writing all together, because what I write doesn’t measure up, or do I just write, whatever it may be, in order to free the imprisoned inspiration, one chain link at a time?
I will write. And what’s more, I will share it, it is the only way that I will overcome this thing called Writer’s Block.
I will start here:
The words don’t flow as easily
As they did at times before
So I begin to doubt myself
Am I not a writer anymore?
The effort was invisible
The words I’d write so powerful
In mere seconds
I’d create
But now, I pause
I think, I judge
Erase, rewrite
I can’t think straight
Am I a poet
If the rhymes don’t flow
Is it still prose
I can’t make the words grow
Into stanzas
I’m blocked
Blocked by daily life
Blocked by the stress of trying to survive
In a world where creativity does not pay the bills
I give in
Give in to the mundane
Give in to suppressing the magic
Of words in a sequence that could once give me chills
And when I write
I no longer feel as though I was born
To effortlessly direct words and spaces so as
To change the world with my pen
But then I pause
Reread my words, and know with certainty
That although it may take me a bit longer than before
To create…I still can
Once upon a time, I’d pen these epic poems, I had so much to say, the words trampled over each other trying to get from my brain to the paper. Even my shorter pieces were filled with emotion, direction, anger and consciousness. And all it took was a moment or two of purging the jumbled thoughts in my brain, to create these unique verses.
It is different now. Now my mind is filled with the routine. The daily trappings of function, responsibility and duty keep me from allowing my thoughts to wander far enough to be creative. And when I do sit down to write, too many years of composing legal and professional crap, keep me from just allowing the words to freely land where they may. So I don’t write. Because the constant over-analyzing of words that are meant to just BE destroys the very art.
I feel forced to rhyme, to make sense, to say SOMETHING, and in turn, I say NOTHING.
And this failure to let the stream of consciousness just flow has me at an impasse. Do I stop writing all together, because what I write doesn’t measure up, or do I just write, whatever it may be, in order to free the imprisoned inspiration, one chain link at a time?
I will write. And what’s more, I will share it, it is the only way that I will overcome this thing called Writer’s Block.
I will start here:
The words don’t flow as easily
As they did at times before
So I begin to doubt myself
Am I not a writer anymore?
The effort was invisible
The words I’d write so powerful
In mere seconds
I’d create
But now, I pause
I think, I judge
Erase, rewrite
I can’t think straight
Am I a poet
If the rhymes don’t flow
Is it still prose
I can’t make the words grow
Into stanzas
I’m blocked
Blocked by daily life
Blocked by the stress of trying to survive
In a world where creativity does not pay the bills
I give in
Give in to the mundane
Give in to suppressing the magic
Of words in a sequence that could once give me chills
And when I write
I no longer feel as though I was born
To effortlessly direct words and spaces so as
To change the world with my pen
But then I pause
Reread my words, and know with certainty
That although it may take me a bit longer than before
To create…I still can
Thursday, March 15, 2007
1 in 30 - Happy Nor'Easter
Yesterday it was 70 degrees out. Today is 50. Tonight we are getting 6 inches of snow. Welcome to New England folks, where if you don’t like the weather today…you know the drill.
Winter wasn’t even that horrible around here this year. We had a few snowstorms, but nothing compared to what we are used to, and even the bitter cold came in spurts, only lasting a week or two at most, with warmer breaks in between.
Even so, we’ve had enough. We’re all ready for spring, and give us a few days of 60-degree temps and we come down with a severe case of spring fever. Driving with the windows open, airing out the house, wearing shorts and sandals, not uncommon as soon as the thermometer reads 50. WE are New Englanders, we don’t need no stinkin’ 70’s…55 is practically beach weather!
So for the past few days everyone has been walking around coatless, with big grins on their face. “Nice day today huh?” “What a wonderful day for a picnic”…seriously, we’re on cloud 9.
And then the weatherman says, with a big excited smile on his face, “Folks, we’re expecting accumulations of up to 6 inches on Thursday night”. He starts talking about currents and cold fronts and teases “It’s going to be a messy commute to work Friday morning”. SHMUCK! Such pleasure you get out of tearing my heart out and stomping on it. Don’t you know you're breaking my heart? I thought we were friends, and then you go and do this. How could you?
So, we unearth the shovels and snowbrushes we optimistically put away (ha, we should SO know better), and buckle down and prepare to dig ourselves out ONCE AGAIN. We prepare to assume the position behind the wheel of our cars (you know the position, straight back, both hands on the steering wheel, eyes darting here to there expecting some moron to slam on the breaks and go skidding across town, radio turned down lower, wipers at full speed), for our commute to work. And we grumble and bitch. And then we suck it up. This is New England, we hate it here, but we wouldn’t live anywhere else. Well…okay, maybe Mexico, or the Caribbean…but only if we could live in a resort, as tourists, enjoying drinks with little umbrellas, all year round.
But really, we’re a tough bunch, us New Englanders, we can take it! Bring it on Mother Nature, show us what you’ve got! Just, please, could it be the last time?
Winter wasn’t even that horrible around here this year. We had a few snowstorms, but nothing compared to what we are used to, and even the bitter cold came in spurts, only lasting a week or two at most, with warmer breaks in between.
Even so, we’ve had enough. We’re all ready for spring, and give us a few days of 60-degree temps and we come down with a severe case of spring fever. Driving with the windows open, airing out the house, wearing shorts and sandals, not uncommon as soon as the thermometer reads 50. WE are New Englanders, we don’t need no stinkin’ 70’s…55 is practically beach weather!
So for the past few days everyone has been walking around coatless, with big grins on their face. “Nice day today huh?” “What a wonderful day for a picnic”…seriously, we’re on cloud 9.
And then the weatherman says, with a big excited smile on his face, “Folks, we’re expecting accumulations of up to 6 inches on Thursday night”. He starts talking about currents and cold fronts and teases “It’s going to be a messy commute to work Friday morning”. SHMUCK! Such pleasure you get out of tearing my heart out and stomping on it. Don’t you know you're breaking my heart? I thought we were friends, and then you go and do this. How could you?
So, we unearth the shovels and snowbrushes we optimistically put away (ha, we should SO know better), and buckle down and prepare to dig ourselves out ONCE AGAIN. We prepare to assume the position behind the wheel of our cars (you know the position, straight back, both hands on the steering wheel, eyes darting here to there expecting some moron to slam on the breaks and go skidding across town, radio turned down lower, wipers at full speed), for our commute to work. And we grumble and bitch. And then we suck it up. This is New England, we hate it here, but we wouldn’t live anywhere else. Well…okay, maybe Mexico, or the Caribbean…but only if we could live in a resort, as tourists, enjoying drinks with little umbrellas, all year round.
But really, we’re a tough bunch, us New Englanders, we can take it! Bring it on Mother Nature, show us what you’ve got! Just, please, could it be the last time?
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
30 in 30 - I come out of hiding
Well, I've pretty much been MIA from this blog for close to a year...shame on me. But as I don't have, never really had an audience, when things got busy, I lost interest in keeping the blog going. However, for a while now, I've been thinking that I want to give this blogging thing one more shot. See if can't make a go of it, post regularly and maybe even gather myself some readers.
So, as I was debating on coming out of hiding, I was reading Wil Wheaton's blog, and he posted this entry, in which he talks about his friend Shane Nickerson, and a challenge he's issued to himself to post 30 blog entries in 30 days. So, I visited Mr. Nickerson's blog (which by the way I have now added to my list of daily must reads), and decided that I was going to join the challenge and try to do my 30 blogs in 30 days. So, I'm in...
Shane Nickerson has some rules for his 30 in 30, but I don't have any readers, so therefore, I don't need to have any rules, because who's going to police me HUH? Yeah, I thought not!
So, even if I continue to write for a non-existent audience, hey, at least I'm writing, right? Besides, I've always been really good at carrying on full conversations with myself, why should I stop now?
So, as I was debating on coming out of hiding, I was reading Wil Wheaton's blog, and he posted this entry, in which he talks about his friend Shane Nickerson, and a challenge he's issued to himself to post 30 blog entries in 30 days. So, I visited Mr. Nickerson's blog (which by the way I have now added to my list of daily must reads), and decided that I was going to join the challenge and try to do my 30 blogs in 30 days. So, I'm in...
Shane Nickerson has some rules for his 30 in 30, but I don't have any readers, so therefore, I don't need to have any rules, because who's going to police me HUH? Yeah, I thought not!
So, even if I continue to write for a non-existent audience, hey, at least I'm writing, right? Besides, I've always been really good at carrying on full conversations with myself, why should I stop now?
Thursday, May 11, 2006
 |
1…. Cinco de Mayo is NOT celebrated in Mexico AT ALL. It is a totally Americanized holiday, and contrary to popular belief, is not Mexican Independence day (which is actually September 16th) but is the day of celebration of the Mexican Army’s victory of France or something random like that. 2. All doors open IN toward you, instead of OUT away from you. This can lead to some serious injuries if you’re not careful. 3. I can still drink like I used to in my early 20’s, and get up in the morning feeling no pain. I probably wouldn’t attempt it now that I’m back, but it was good to know I could still “hang”. 4. When you’re on vacation in a foreign country, even a rat looking animal can be “kind of cute”. 5. Boys will be boys, and whether you’re in Boston or Playa Del Carmen, there is always a romantic triangle to watch and be entertained by. 6. The hottest guy in the group will ALWAYS be gay; this does not change whether you’re in America, Mexico or the North Pole. 7. Reports of machine gun armed soldiers parading the streets and patroling the beaches at night are HIGHLY exaggerated. The whole time we were there, only one of us actually saw one of these guards. 8. I will do things on vacation that I would never do in real life, i.e. snorkel, get on a jet ski, parasail, horseback ride IN THE OCEAN, or a number of other water related activities, when I am deathly afraid of drowning 9. When you wake up to the sound of exotic birds, look out the window and see a blue/green ocean and can smell the sea air, there is very little chance that you could possibly be in a bad mood. 10. Small rinky-dink charter airlines are evil and unless you enjoy 4 hours of “oh crap I am going to die” feelings, they are NOT the way to travel. 11. The Mexican sun WILL burn you, even if you are Mexican and already have a mega-tan, so note to all white Americans, wear sunscreen, but you will still burn anyway, so bring aloe. 12. Americans are way too uptight and prudish and take EVERYTHING way too seriously, impairing their ability to just LIVE sometimes. From sexually charged jokes that would certainly get Americans in a tizzy, to revealing costumes for both the female AND male dancers on stage in a “family geared” evening show, to the relaxed way both males and females will show physical affection, to the lax rules regarding driving an ATV through the jungle at high speeds, to the lack of “fences” along a walk-way in the resort which was surrounded by (shallow) water, in which a child could have easily jumped in (had I not stopped him last minute) (and yes, I know some of these are probably necessary safety measure type things), there is just a much more laid back feeling about life in general in other cultures, which I already knew, but was reminded of this week. 13. And yes, EVERYONE does wear speedos at a tropical resort, even those that certainly should not. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!) |
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)