Life in the fast lane--where's the on ramp?

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Sunday, February 11, 2018

STUCK! (THERE'S GOTTA BE A WORD THAT FITS…)

Have been trying to come up with a good title for a story I’m beginning to play with – perhaps a biographical novel about a small town girl’s attempt to overcome adversity and find happiness in a world where the cards seem stacked against it. It begins with the Native American – perhaps Salish tribe... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, February 10, 2018

NIGHT WATCH

First thing each morning after the mandatory stop at the bathroom I make coffee. The kitchen sink sits below a window that looks out over the deck, the garage and beyond the fence to the roofs of the apartment complex below. Sometimes, as I measure the coffee and run water into the brewer, I see... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, February 9, 2018

BEST AGITATOR SINCE MAYTAG

There are people who stir things up, who play all those nasty games Eric Berne wrote about in his book “Games People Play.” One of them is “gotcha” or in the more serious version, “Now I’ve gotcha you son of a bitch!” You see the manipulation games get off to a good start along about the seventh... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Writer's Profile

Today’s writing task is to compose your own writer’s bio of between 50 and 100 words, a brief profile such as the ones that appear on book jackets. These profiles usually include the writer’s name or pseudonym, birthplace and date, educational/experience highlights, and current status. For example:... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

DO IT ANYWAY

Years ago, when I was 47 or 48, I had a half-time job as a news reporter. My first assignment was to cover a city council meeting in the town of Hartford, which was about ten miles away from home over unfamiliar routes. It was February, there were blowing snow flurries, and I was scared to death I’d... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, February 5, 2018

OH, THE BUCKET’S GOT A HOLE IN IT…

I wrote a few paragraphs earlier that compared political speeches to the endless sales pitches on the home shopping channels. It brought out several cogent points to back up my position on the matter, and I was just about to copy and post it to Blogit when I remembered how tired I am of politics,... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Pat’s Hats & Clutter

A few weeks ago I made up my mind I’d had it with the hats. Out of yarn, except for a few half-inch balls of leftover bits, I vowed to stay away from Walmart’s yarn shelves and Michael’s craft store. Then Edie at The Center brought four shopping bags full of bright skeins of all colors and textures... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, February 3, 2018

DEADLINES

One of the facets of The Center’s Write Your Own Story program has been that there’s no deadline, no arbitrary word limit, as happens in news reporting. Have you seen the new program on Friday evenings on Channel 9 PBS, “800 Words?” It’s about a writer who relocates to a new place and begins writing... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, February 2, 2018

LOIS LANE? NOT EXACTLY.

In the early 1980s I was a J-student at SIUe and worked for a year in ’80-81 as a beat reporter for the Journal newspaper chain out of their Bethalto office. My beat was local government. I attended city council and school board meetings, the board meetings of the township hospital. I took notes,... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, February 1, 2018

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT: A PHILOSOPHY

From long before the great depression that followed the stock market crash of 1929, when 90% of us lived in rural areas or on farms, it was considered a sin to waste anything. If you look at photos of folks in those days, they’re skinny and dressed in shabby that wasn’t so chic. We ate what was put... Sign in to see full entry.

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Sometimes you have to write it down in order to learn what you really think about life, what it means, how to do what's best. Sometimes you need feedback from someone else to put things in perspective.

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