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

By Pat_B - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Journal

Monday, September 7, 2015

Painting the town?

Somehow missed posting yesterday. I was here at the keyboard, ready to type when the phone rang and son Joe invited me to breakfast at the diner up on Main Street. Well, I figured it would take some time to fix a meal anyway, and might as well go spend some time with my son. Turns out Guy was coming... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 3:34 AM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Saturday Morning

It's usually coffee at the computer and NPR's magic twanger programming. Well, their schedule doesn't actually include the 1940s radio show "Let's Pretend" that was the precursor to TV's Saturday morning cartoons and live shows with clowns and silliness. There was a character I loved at the time (I... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:03 AM | add or view comments (4) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, September 4, 2015

Writing Prompt for Yesterday's Session: Where Are You From

I'd been spot-checking some bits in Pat Schneider's wonderful book Writing Alone and With Others looking for a "lesson plan" for yesterday's memoir writing group. The topic was to be about where parents and grandparents emigrated from, and what bits of heritage might have continued into the family's... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 6:20 AM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Thursday, September 3, 2015

New Guy at The Center

It's the month's first Tuesday: A1C testing day at the center. The nurse had set up her testing gear in the conference room, I'd handed out paperwork to a couple waiting people. Found out Iona's doing well, but still in a cast for her broken leg, and Pam's come early to get the lunch service... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 6:29 AM | add or view comments (8) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

First Draft: a walk in nature

Reida took a deep breath as she walked along the deer path across the meadow, several minutes now beyond the barn. Mama couldn’t see her from the kitchen door, so she was already liable for punishment, but she didn’t care. She’s seven years old now, she knows the way, and there is sign to read at... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 6:16 AM | add or view comments (6) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Oddments

My comment tally was 46,754 when I opened Blogit this morning. Now the 46 means nothin' much, but the 754 part of the number chimes in my mind like a guitar chord. 754 was the street address of the house in the Leclaire neighborhood where I raised my kids and spent 25 years of my adult life. Our... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 4:47 AM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, August 31, 2015

Birth announcement...

Now, I've got this favorite nephew: Larry A. He's 72 now, retired from a job at the parks dept. in Salem, a tall lean drink of water who woulda been called Stretch if he'd grown up in southern Illinois. He's 6'7" and favors jeans with a bit of wear, plaid long-sleeved shirts or in chilly weather a... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:38 AM | add or view comments (6) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Unreliable Narrators

Our librarian receives advance copies of books for review - things written by new authors mostly - "uncorrected proofs" and not for sale. These are usually first novels, portents of things to come if they get good reviews, end of the line if they don't. Since I'm nosy as any Parker ever wanted to... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:39 AM | add or view comments (6) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Food or Serendipity

The first Write Your Own Story topic/hint for Thursday's class was food: favorite meals when you were growing up, a typical meal at your grandma's house, holiday gatherings, or how it's different now. If you didn't want to scribble for half an hour about food, the alternate topic was serendipity -... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 7:02 AM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, August 28, 2015

What's in a name?

Someone said "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." But that's only part of the story. Whether you call someone 'sweetheart' or 'shithead' depends on what just happened a flash-bang second ago. And their reaction to one of these pet names can be wildly divergent. I'm just sayin'. So, back... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:13 AM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this 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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