Pick your side.

Let me begin by apologizing for what is about to read as a terrible comparison.

As a child, I remember the day when Elvis Presley passed away. I was only 10 years old and didn’t understand what was happening, but I felt something that I also didn’t quite understand. It wasn’t devastation; it was more like sadness. But as a child, I had been sad before, and this was still disturbingly different. It could have been the reaction of the adults around me. They were wrecked, torn to pieces. It was as if something achingly horrendous had happened in the world, something that had shaken everyone to their core. As a child, I had never seen adults cry. But that day, every adult around me was in tears.

Fast forward to today. I was sitting at my desk when I heard the news about Tucker Carlson. It may seem like an inappropriate (or unbalanced) comparison, but this news feels just as dark and maybe more sinister to me than Elvis’s death did when I was a child. Tucker isn’t a king, and not everyone loves him, but there is something about this news that has me feeling like there is something deeply wrong in the world.

Yes, it’s possible that Tucker was sacrificed as part of the Dominion settlement, but I am starting to feel like this fight is not just about politics anymore; it’s a real battle between good and evil.

I hope everyone is paying attention. I don’t care which side you vote for, who you pray to, or where you’ve planted your seeds. It would help if you got in the fight. And however it is placed on your heart to do so, do so.

Whether it’s boycotting Bud Light, canceling your Amazon orders, or deleting your TikTok, do it. Take your stand.

Or if you’re feeling it differently, and instead of canceling something, you want to start something, then do that. Sign a petition. When you sign a petition, you learn something, and becoming educated is the ideal stand you could take. The point I want to make is that there are many ways to get involved in this fight, and it doesn’t always have to include giving up something. You could hit a donate button; or not. I suggest attending a rally. Just do something. Do anything. Find a way to get involved in the fight against evil. It’s up to all of us to make a difference, and we should have started yesterday.

Evil doesn’t just stop when it has a few people on its side. It’s always working to win the whole board, and we need to be vigilant in our fight against it. Don’t sit quietly, staring pensively out a window, waiting for someone else to do something. There is a tiny village of heinous monsters feeding off of others. They started it, and though I hate to ruin your day, it requires all of us getting in the ring, regardless of political affiliation or religious beliefs. It’s good vs. evil. Pick your side

Everything must go

Great news, everyone: the northern hemisphere is tipping towards the sun!

I’m not exactly sure why, but the beginning of spring has always felt like more of a new year for me then January 1. There’s something about seeing things bloom and hearing the birds after a cold, dark winter. Now is the time for:

  • Spring cleaning
  • Tarot and oracle cards
  • DIY home projects
  • New intentions
  • Plants and herbs
  • Hiking and being outdoors
  • Blogging

Let’s start with blogging. I fell off the face of the earth for a while but I’ve been doing a lot while I’ve been away.

I’m working more regularly on a novel I started in January (1976) (maybe not that long ago), but I am also still working on the memoir, switching back and forth between the two.

I started a certification course (more to come later).

I’ve been knitting, sewing, and being a general grandma (minus the knitting and sewing).

I’ve been reading. SO MUCH READING. Reading is the only time everything is possible.

And I’ve decided that everything must go!

Let me explain…

At 55, I have a good life and a mostly happy outlook on the future of the world. Maybe I’m perpetually anxious and maybe I have accumulated a list of semi-reasonable fears: failing air conditioners, the IRS, and airbag recalls. And maybe I am always running from a fresh crisis, or running smack dab into one. But overall, I have a good life and a mostly happy outlook on the future of the world.

But then there’s …

My dad.

He was healthy, kept active, ate a balanced diet, drank moderately, didn’t smoke. He was retired and built a home at the base of a splendid mountain. He worked part time at a championship golf course that welcomed such players from in-the-day like Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino (literally, welcomed them onto the lush green fairways, and in the middle of winter – there are photos). My dad spent hours with his 4-year-old granddaughter feeding ducks at the zoo. This man had hardly any stress in his life. He was healthy, till he wasn’t.

One Tuesday his doctor diagnosed him with cancer. Six months later, on a Saturday, we buried him. He was 56.

I’m turning 56 this year and this factor begs the question, what am I doing with my one precious life?

That question leads to a few others (like you didn’t know I was going to say that!). I’m not trying to be dramatic, nor am I a semi-morbid freak, and I don’t need anyone talking me down from impending doomsday thoughts. But I am looking for clarity about this thing called life. So, here I go. Attempting to clarify.

Question 1: Am I experiencing life the way I want to experience it, or am I experiencing it the way everyone else is? “This is how you do life because it’s what you’re supposed to do because everyone is doing it so don’t do it any different” and that way is to work at a job no less than 40 hours per week and pay taxes and have health insurance and contribute to a 401K and work at this job for a minimum of 25 years but then retire from that job and go get another job because after all, you’re only 50 (maybe 55 or 60) and you are too young to retire so go get another job where you’ll have to start at the very bottom, or go get a mindless job that keeps you busy and supplements that retirement income but is a total waste of time, or, heck, maybe stay at the original job past 25 years even though you are no longer challenged by it, satisfied with it, inspired by it but you should consider staying there because the alternatives are less inspiring…

Work toward retirement, but don’t you dare retire.

Question 2: Have I done “the thing,” the one provocative thing that is awesome, surreal, soul-changing and gives me the unforgettable experience that shakes up my life? I think there is something bold that sits in the back of everyone’s mind – or on some bucket list or in a journal. Maybe you thought of it when you were a kid, playing astronaut or rockstar in the backyard and no one told you to stop it. No one called it unrealistic. But then suddenly you turned 18 and college became Plan B. And, now, when you think back to “that thing” you say to yourself, no, it’s too risky.

Now you live your life for the weekend because the lawn isn’t going to mow itself.

Question 3: If I die tomorrow, will today be the best last day ever, or will it be a stressful, anxious, robotic, made-out-of-habit last day? I’ve always been one for habit – or, depending on the thing I’ve sometimes called it tradition and I’m someone that enjoys tradition, like showering at night, coffee every morning, parking in the 5th row at Target, skipping the bottom two stairs. But all of a sudden, I’m unsettled with coasting through life on autopilot. While running on autopilot frees me up to think about other things, at the same time, it’s giving me a sense of drift and degradation to my sense of purpose.

Going through the motions of life doesn’t mean you’re alive.

So… everything must go:

  • Old habits
  • Old perspectives
  • Old rules
  • Old information
  • Old clothes

At 55-almost-56, I’m looking at my life and the glittery opportunity to define the way I live without the influence of everyone around me or societal standards – that’s the hard part. I mean, why not live bountifully not bleakly, and without guidelines? If my plane were to go down today, why can’t my last meal be dried mangos and Gardettos? Imagine this: your DAILY meal plan is a “last meal” dream. That’s deep.

Pizza and a cupcake, anyone?

So let me sum up the awesomeness of this post in three bullets:

  • I’ve been unhappy with my career for a long time – so I’m ditching it completely. I will never again let an algorithm dictate what I write. I quit marketing (I QUIT MARKETING) and I am taking ownership of my words. I’m writing for a grassroots movement that is fierce in its mission – and doesn’t give one iota about keywords or search engine optimization.
  • My “one provocative thing” is that I want to experience life on a Buddhist monastery – as a monastic, not as a visitor. While the ultimate experience is 30 days in India, two weeks in Mississippi is easier to plan right now. For the record, the reservation was originally made for India but evidently getting a first-time passport must be done in person, and the appointment isn’t for months.
  • The last few weeks have been an amalgamation of bittersweet nostalgia, newness, celebrations, birthdays, and overall, a journey of figuring out what I need and don’t need in my life. I’ve been reintroducing myself to, well, myself. And through it all, I’ve realized I’m a fiery little thing. No wonder I’m in this headspace!!

A sabbatical (or something like it)

If I said this once, I told it a trillion times: I have more days behind me than I have in front of me. I may have 10, 20, or 30 years left, or I may have two. All I know is that I’m 55, my dad died when he was 56, and my mom when she was 64. I have aunts and uncles that also died in their 50s and 60s and cousins that passed in their 30s and 40s. The only grandparents I met died before I could drive, and I never met a living great-grandparent. 

The numbers could be better. 

Whatever my fate, living a vibrant life has nothing to do with its length and everything to do with its width.

(Before I continue and tell you what happened, I’m reminding you that impulsiveness is one of my endearing qualities!)

Only a few people know this. In October, I quit my job. This is the first time I’ve taken an unpaid break from work. (I’d call it a sabbatical, but that would imply I kept my employed status.) A couple things: I wanted to see if taking a break…a pause…was all it was hyped up to be. Plus, it was time to step back from work so I could see where I was headed.

I intended to take eight weeks off and start my job hunt after the first of the year, but around six weeks in, I fell upon an opportunity. And, since I’m not entirely bonkers, I started a new job.

Weeks 1, 3, and 6.

I went into this…furlough…expecting it to open a magical portal of bright hope and life-changing experience (I pictured divine beings dancing as a red velvet curtain opens). 

Week one was good. 

Bliss. Heavenly bliss. Like a jar of creamy Jif. Zero dread. Late morning coffee. I ate whip cream from a can.

By week three, I had moved into Loserville. It’s not a great feeling have no reason. Double fisting whip cream from a can.

But, thankfully, I moved out of Loserville and got back on track by week six. Now I was doing the deep thinking I had planned on doing (the kind that is often elusive during the crush of the day-to-day). I was back to being blissfully quiet and mindful in all the moments. I was ordering in. Setting goals. Cozying up with my spreadsheets and planners! I was having revelations. 

Then an old colleague texted me.

“My company is hiring; you would be perfect for the job!”

Now I swear, I was fully committed to my original plan – a full eight weeks off which included all of November and all of December. I planned to show up in January with an updated resume, hit the interview train, and start a new job in February. (I guess mathematically, that’s 12 weeks.) I was fully prepared to play my edge until it scared me, but what happened, happened fast, and I had to make a choice. 

Monday morning, I emailed my resume. 

I was on the phone Monday afternoon with HR – being “screened.”

Tuesday morning, I was on Zoom with the VP of Digital.

I was putting together a mock strategy for a made-up client on Tuesday afternoon.

I was in the office presenting said-mock-strategy before a panel on Wednesday.

Thursday afternoon, I signed their offer letter.

By the time the weekend rolled around, I started crumbling. Likely it was the pool of silence hanging in the air after I signed that letter and I knew even inordinate amounts of food wouldn’t quell the onslaught of emotion that was brewing. 

What did I just do?? Did I just run to a new job, scared? Or did I think this new opportunity was truly sexy and desirable? Did I make the decision with clarity or with an opaque moment of desperation? 

I was supposed to be on pause. Rethinking. Redesigning. Recharging. Eating whip cream from a can. I had been off-center for so long that I knew I owed myself this pause, but I think I just blew it. 

But, in fact, I didn’t. The truth is, my decision was perfectly sane. If something is meant to be, there isn’t any right or wrong thing you can or can’t do. You just have to stop *f-ing yourself in the head over it. Instead of trying to justify why you should stay unhappy (or, paused), honor your desires and stop delaying YOUR TIME. 

I definitely desired this job for a lot of reasons. There’s enough about it that I can do with my eyes shut, while plenty I need to learn. It’s a title I’ve held for years, but the role has always been half-written. But with this company, I get to wrap up the ends (make them a pretty little bow of holiday cheer) and get ‘er done! And it’s going to be incredibly gratifying. 

Desire is the pimp juice of life. (Or is joy?) Either way, the end of my pause comes as no coincidence with the end of the year. I mean, with the end of the year always comes a transition. Some of us celebrate our past year’s accomplishments, while others lament it and hope for their own redo. I stepped out on a ledge (and self-medicated with canned whip cream, but, yeah).

You may be knee-deep in wrapping paper and slushy snow or wading through a puddle of confusion and regret, but here’s my end-of-year and holiday present to you:

This holiday, I hope that every gift you open brings that extra glimmer across your face that only the best gifts can bring. And while you may be opening a “thing,” I hope that your heart is the one gift you open with the most gusto. While you are filling yourself with savory morsels and sweet treats, I hope you are also feasting on the things that nourish and sustain your most perfect life. While you sing along to carols in your toasty car and draw hearts with your mitten hands on the foggy window, I hope you also whistle to your own little tune. For every old tradition, I wish you a new one. For every reindeer game you can’t figure out how to play, I wish you a game that’s all your own. For every Elf, The Land of the Misfits, and the little rebels who are Home Alone, I wish you radical acceptance, even if only you get it. For every Miracle on 34th Street, I wish you a miracle on whatever street, ocean, aircraft, or spaceship you happen to be on. And for every lesson learned in 2022, every disappointment, every accomplishment, I wish you a new year full of just as many “oh shit” moments, happy tears, sad tears, “*F-yeahs!” and visits to the drawing board. I wish you colorful lives where they all may “even say you glow.” Because, after all, none of us knows how many days we have in front of us. 

Merry Christmas! 

It’s starling, my dear. Simply starling.

Murmuration. It’s a biology term, and it’s the phenomenon that results when hundreds of starlings fly side-by-side in unison and coordinate their flapping to make spectacular flight patterns.

You’ve seen them: A flock of birds in the night sky, swirling this way and that, feinting left but then swerving right. The flock gets denser, then sparser, moving faster, then slower – but always in a captivating pattern, like they’re being controlled by a secret rhythm.  

In a murmuration, each bird, on average, pays attention to its seven closest neighbors. Why seven? According to researchers, six or seven neighbors optimize the balance between group cohesiveness and individual effort. 

So it sees the seven nearest birds, and it will adjust its own behavior. If its nearest neighbors move left, it moves left. If they move right, it moves right. The bird doesn’t know the flock’s eventual journey’s end and can make no radical change to the whole. But each of these birds’ slight reformations, when occurring in swift sequence, shift the course of the total and in fascinating patterns. (It’s just like the 2° I talk about in my article, The Power of Small.) 

I cannot fully understand it, but I am impressed by it. I’ve been reading a lot, and the way I interpret it is that it’s a logic that emerges from simply who is sensing whom (aka, the function of the network structure). The flock’s performance is determined by the construction of the network. This, in turn, shapes the behavior of the network. 

(*Writer shakes head) 

The pattern — or information — passes through this chain of connections from one bird to the next. 

(*Writer is still shaking her head)

Each bird is a node in the system of influence and can affect the behavior of its neighbors. Scientists call the process in which groups of disparate creatures move as a cohesive unit of collective behavior.

Human behavior on social media. Strikingly similar.

New research suggests that human behavior on social media (coordinated activism, harassment mobs, etc.) bears strikingly similar to the collective behavior performed by birds. Picture birds, fish, or ants acting in collective behavior without hierarchical direction from a designated leader.

Crazy to think about, but once you start, you get it!

One bird follows another.

I retweet you; you retweet me.

It’s the construction of the network.

For birds, the signals along the network are passed from the eyes or ears to the brains. For humans, though, the signals are passed along our screens, from news feed to news feed along this artificial superstructure designed by humans. And this superstructure is mediated by algorithms. And curation by the algorithms is how content appears in your feed. In essence, the algorithm determines the seven birds… and you react.

First, the nudge to assemble into flocks. Next, the nudge to engage. The nudge to engage is also known as “bait.” Twitter’s Trending Topics, for example, shows a nascent “trend” to someone inclined to be interested. The algorithm is signaled once the user takes the bait, and the topic’s profile is raised for their followers. Now the bait is curated into your friends’ feeds. Why? Because they are one of your seven birds. Frenzies begin to take shape. Are you with me? And once this happens, there are consequences: users are driven mad with rage, and small subsets of people become larger flocks. All before anyone knows anything has happened. Eventually, an armed man may decide to free a DC pizza parlor or a violent mob blitz a nation’s capitol. 

We often say “it went viral” to describe our online murmurations, but, come on, we’re not wholly passive here. We have agency, and we can decide not to take the bait. We aren’t actually birds. Saying it went viral is a pathetic attempt to absolve ourselves of all responsibility. I remember my mom telling me that a rumor does not simply spread; it spreads because I spread it. 

I used to think the bait cascading across the network was the problem, but I don’t anymore. Most of the bait is old; history repeats itself. Instead, the size and speed of networks are the real problems. In the early 1900s, bait may have been confined to a village or town. In the 60s, it might have percolated across television. In the 2020s, it pushes through a murmuration of hundreds of millions of Twitter users and is picked up 24/7 by mass media. 

Winston Churchill said, “We shape our tools, and then the tools shape us.” Social media infrastructure shaped society, which shaped behavior, which is shaping society…

The content is somewhat secondary. So, is what we see of value? We’re technically not seeing what we want to see but instead what the structure (algorithm) wants us to see. And if this is the case, the only possible result is a social disaster (which I’m seeing). Instability results from immediate public reaction to incompletely understood matters magnified by instantaneous feedback.

Because curation organizes and directs the flock’s attention, the potential downstream impact on real-world power is absolute. Disinformation, hate speech, and harassment mobs; we’re intractably polarized.

And what are we doing? 

We are treating the worst dynamics of today’s online ecosystem as problems of speech rather than challenges of curation and network organization. Content moderation needs to be reworked. What does this look like? Well, I don’t know. How many birds should we see? Which birds? When? Nudges and bait seem to be attention traps. And attention traps seem to lead to bad things. We need more tech reformation conversations. Some bills mandate transparency, and there are calls to reform 230, but revoking legal protections or breaking up business grabs is challenging. Someone needs to prioritize rethinking design. For example, Twitter could eliminate its Trending feature entirely or in specific geographies during sensitive times like elections. It might limit nudges to surfacing actual large-scale or regional trends, not small-scale rage bait. Instagram could enact a maximum follower count. Facebook could introduce more friction into its Groups, allowing only a certain number of users to join a specific Group within a given timeframe. These are substance-agnostic and not reactive. Design interventions.

But, again, the design shapes the system and spawns the behavior. But if the resulting behavior includes less time on site and fewer active flocks, well…

So what do you think? How much online mobs and flocks of birds have in common is truly starling, right! 

7 Secretive confessions that probably won’t shock your socks (or even mildly alarm them) but here goes

Time to break out the protein chips and start whispering secret confessions. 

Everyone loves a good confession, especially when the admission comes from someone you think is perfectly fantastically flawless! Admit it. Your evil little eyeballs jump at a chance to know all the things.  

Perhaps you have made assumptions. Maybe you are curious. Possibly you are none of these things but accidentally clicked on my blog while scrolling with your big thumbs.

Nonetheless, welcome anyway. Let’s spill a few secrets and eat protein chips! Because why not?

CONFESSION #1: I barely ever buy books

If you’ve seen pictures of my books, you’re probably thinking, “But you have so many!” It’s true. I am ridiculously and enormously, and incomprehensibly blessed with books, but about 50% were gifts from friends or giveaways I’ve won. Perhaps 30% are from garage sales, meaning we’re talking 50 cents to $1 per book. And 20% I bought at full price from the bookstore. 

Except for those garage sales, I barely ever spend money on books. Thrifty bookworm winning here (which is good because I am the poor).

CONFESSION #2: I have a very strict unorganized writing schedule

True.

On the one hand, my writing block is from 2-7 pm, exactly without fail, every single day: blogs, social media, short stories, pages of my book. I am like the clockwork beast of awesome. 

On the other hand, I usually have no idea what I’m going to write about as I sit down to write. I occasionally weep as I sit staring at my screen, wondering what fried pretzel made such a strict schedule for themself but neglected to COME UP WITH CONTENT.

 It’s a mess around here. An adorable mess, though.

CONFESSION #3: I never weigh in on important topics (anymore)

I have firm opinions. Do I blog about them? Not anymore. This is 50% because someone else has already very articulately said what I think, so read their blog post instead and let me eat my chips like a child. And it’s 50% because do you expect me to say something profound and poignant? That’s not on my resume. (I have to admit, I miss putting out the raving opinion pieces like I used to. The opinions are still there. It’s the “raving” that I’ve tempered.)

CONFESSION #4: I plagiarize myself constantly

When you’ve been writing for so many years, you sometimes blink and say, “We’ll, I’ve got nothing.” Or, if you are me, you end up writing a brilliant and inspired post and then randomly search your blog because something about it felt familiar, only to realize you’d already written about this. Then you post it anyway and cry to chocolate because chocolate understands.  

But seriously, I should take legal action against myself. I’m terrible.

CONFESSION #5: I have 0% care for rude internet people because they are turnips

Life is too short to cry over what nameless internet turnip-heads think, and life is too short for turnips in general. Like seriously, what is the point of a turnip? 

CONFESSION #6: I don’t force myself to achieve 2000%

Gone are the days when I’d blog every. damn. day. 

(A) Book writing needs to be a priority over blogging because hopeful career there; (B) my blog will not perish if I don’t post every day, and (C) I am trying to keep it fun! That’s the key to sticking to blogging for years and years and years. 

CONFESSION #7: I can’t shut up, apparently

This needs to be said, though I don’t think it’s a secret. Look at all my random word trails leading to irrelevant discussions on turnips. I feel mildly guilty when I write about nothing, but I can’t stop. I’m happy – sometimes, about nothing. And life is too short not to be happy (or blog happily) – and that is my goal here. Be happy, blog happy. 

Plus, I have much to say – even when it’s about nothing. But don’t assume that it’s my fault. My brain is just so interested in stuff…

Well, I’ve spilled enough confessions. Nothing earth-shattering; I’m still that delicate dandelion of niceness that you believe me to be. But I do promise I’ll try to write something-more-interesting-less-nothing next time. 

Maybe I’ll tackle a conspiracy theory! 

Maybe I’ll talk about my biggest regret!

Maybe I’ll talk about my plans to build a self-sufficient backyard so that I can live off the grid (power grid, and all)!

Or maybe I’ll just share a few jokes…

Too beautiful not to post

Do not love half lovers
Do not entertain half friends
Do not live half a life
and do not die a half death
If you choose silence, then be silent
When you speak, do so until you are finished
Do not silence yourself to say something
And do not speak to be silent
If you accept, then express it bluntly
Do not mask it
If you refuse then be clear about it
for an ambiguous refusal is but a weak acceptance
Do not accept half a solution
Do not believe half truths
Do not dream half a dream
Do not fantasize about half hopes
Half the way will get you no where
Half an idea will bear you no results
Half a life is a life you didn’t live,
A word you have not said
A smile you postponed
A love you have not had
A friendship you did not know
The half is a mere moment of inability
but you are able for you are not half a being
You are a whole that exists to live a life
not half a life.
~ Khalil Gibran

Some important things

I’m cooking up some stuff.

Life update: I’m working very hard on a couple of writing projects and experimenting with fiction.

And, hey, wow, how do writers do it? Write fiction, I mean.

I usually only write things I know; it takes real effort to write something I don’t feel or understand. Even more, I’m struggling to create a world, a language, and a situation from mere imagination. There, I said it. I’m not imaginative. In fact, I just had a conversation with a colleague about six articles a client asked me to write, all on the same topic.

“What it’s going to take is re-jargoning.” 

(Adding this to my LinkedIn profile: re-jargoner.)

Anyway, fiction is taking a lot of effort, and I’m losing motivation to try and make it work. There are so, so many authors who do this, but it’s not my ability. I don’t even write about secondhand experiences, the experiences of others, because I can’t get into other peoples’ heads. It’s difficult for me. Now I might be able to write from a toddler’s perspective because I share many opinions with 2Ts, especially about snacks, adults, and pants.

Bottom line: If I’m writing it, it’s what I know.

Another challenge is writing a long story. Yes, I’m attempting a novel. Sixty, 70, 80, 90 thousand words. That’s a long story. My stories barely reach 800. And if I’m rounding 800, I guarantee I’m chasing a point. And the point is either an opinion I have, or I’ve simply lost track of what I was saying, and I (we) are hoping I’ll eventually find the point.

If you can’t tell, staying in my own lane requires all the energy I have, frankly.

Speaking of my writing projects and … (pause for unnatural silence) … my fIcTiOn nOvEl … I’m rebranding my blog. I’m saying, “any day,” but … (wait for tight smile that doesn’t reach the eyes) … it’s going to be a couple more weeks. I want it right, and it’s not right yet. 

I’m hosting two blogs on one site to give you a clue. One blog so I can continue to entertain you with my musings, and another blog to do one of a few things – I can’t decide which. 

Either to share snippets of my works in progress (wips), such as intro’ing my characters and new scenes and maybe ask for feedback or ideas on how to fill my plot holes. As soon as I fix one plot hole, I undoubtedly create seven smaller plot holes. I’ll take help because my anxiety is starting to rub off on my character. Now she’s got tension, too. 

Or my other idea is to share my reviews of the books I’m reading. I think I can do some real good here. For instance, before you read The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas, I could warn you about how they made out just outside a dying man’s hospital room. Or, The Maidens by Alex Michaelides. If he had put one more obvious red herring in this book, I might’ve set it on fire. 

Another idea for the second blog is to use it as my home for the November NaNoWriMo challenge. What is NaNoWriMo? National Novel Writing Month. I want to participate, but the thing is, there is no accountability which means there is really no reason to torture myself. But, if I use this second blog, then boom. NaNoWriMo is a go. 

(Look at me, 570 words, and I’ve only covered my writing projects. I still have another update, and who bets I still tap out at around 800 words?!)

My other life update is I’m moving. 

I realize I’ve said it before, and this time I mean it (more than the last time I told it). I spoke to a realtor yesterday and will talk to a mortgage lender later today. This is heavy; I’m mulling planting roots. 

Someone once told me anything you can do slowly, you can do. My decision to leave Arizona was quick, but putting it in motion has taken me a few tries over a few years. Did you know I spent my first 26 years in Rhode Island, but I’ve spent the last 28 in Arizona? I’m more an Arizonan than I am a Rhode Islander. Wild! I didn’t see it coming, and I don’t know when it happened. 

I take that back. It happened in 2020. 

Coffee milk, Pu pu platters, and turtlenecks. 

Trees that can’t fit in the frame of my camera, crown molding, and Benefit Street.

These are a few of my favorite things.

My last update is that my career makes no sense, and I know that. It doesn’t seem right to start a new one right now, and I can’t predict the future, so my update is that I’m not updating it yet. 

(817 words. I’ve officially broken the plateau. This deserves a plate of fries.)

I feel like I should say more. I mean, you stuck with me for 817 words, and I’ve hardly made it worth your while. 

Tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to share a wip.

Occasionally I am uninspired to write. I. KNOW. And when this happens, I think about how the earth is spinning at about 1,000 mph, which means I’m literally on a magical rock spaceship hurtling through infinity, so I press myself to just write. Or sometimes I just think about how I wanna be 14 again and ruin my life differently. But when I push myself to write, I sometimes open writing prompts. I set my timer for 10 minutes, and I go crazy. But only for 10 minutes. And it has to be an attempt at fiction. Occasionally one of these exercises makes it to my swipe file “for future consideration.” As I already explained, fiction is my kryptonite… excruciatingly painful and difficult. So here is one of those that made it to the Maybe One Day file. Let me know what you think and if it’s got the making of something good:

The prompt: 99-year-old woman wants to find her mother (WTH, right???) No editing, just writing for 10 minutes:

The problem is, when you’re 99 years old, everyone thinks you’re crazy. Or maybe not crazy but senile. You stuff a kleenex in the collar of your shirt and you tell someone you lost your keys, and they look at you with that look – that startled look – and start shooting you questions.

What’s the president’s name? 

What year are we in, sweetie? 

Don’t even get me started on why the minute you leave your 60s, everyone starts calling you sweetie again, like when you were five.

People regularly think I’m going crazy, senile, losing my marbles, showing the first sign of dementia, whatever you want to call it, so you can imagine what they said when I told them I was going to look for my missing mother.

My daughter was the worst.

“Sit down, mom,” she instructed when I told her. “Are you feeling dizzy? Can I get you a glass of water?”

I kind of did want a glass of water, so I let her fetch me one. When she handed me the glass she said, “Who’s the president?”

If they stopped for a single second with the questions about the president, they would hear what I would say next. Of course my momma is long gone, and I’m not really going in search of her. I haven’t lost those marbles. Not yet, at least. But she did go missing when I was eight. And you know what the really crazy thing is? Not once in my 91 years since did I ask her why or where. Why did my sweet little momma just up and leave?

That’s what I want to find out.

(Well? What do you think? Worthy of future consideration? I literally have no idea why a mother would leave a child – and then she comes back? I don’t know. I just wrote. See, fiction. GAH. Anyway, all this writing has me hungry and I’m craving those damn fries. Potatoes and their dirt vitamins. Hopefully the next time I write it’ll be on my new site! Can’t wait to show you!)