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

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

What's another word for Crusader?

In 07 I got involved in NaNoWriMo and came up with a story "Waltzing With Zombies." In it, one of my protagonists created a computer game he called Saracen Warrior. I liked the word Saracen. It's got three syllables, it's a bit unusual but still known to people, and it's got all those sweet sibilant... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 6:41 AM | add or view comments (13) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, December 7, 2009

Carousel

Long arched ivory necks horses prancing nowhere the gilding's gone but for a few flecks that catch the lights as the old frame turns on new bearings. It is night and we can be young again on a carousel see all the things we want to see fill in the blanks from memory nostalgia makes it a perfect... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 4:29 AM | add or view comments (8) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Sunday, December 6, 2009

A Chilling Winter Read..."Oryx and Crake"

I love Canadian publishers. Gutsy, creative, they go for what's good, not just carbon copies of what sold last season. I believe this is one reason Canada has produced a number of successful authors, and my favorite is Margaret Atwood. So far she's won more than 55 awards for her writing --... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:51 AM | add or view comments (7) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, December 5, 2009

The Search for Rainbowville

On my way to Rainbowville, I'm in desert country. Flat land, winter-barren, no mountain peaks to welcome me, no one I know on the flat road. Just me and the westbound ribbon stretching endlessly ahead. How tired I was of trudging robotically in that rut with no new place to go, nothing to think... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 6:23 AM | add or view comments (8) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, December 4, 2009

I had one of those house dreams last night.

Somewhere in dream lore there's this thing that the house you dream is you. Big and substantial, full of art and books, or a remote little shack with a wood stove and rustic table, it's all you. I enjoy waking up from house dreams and remembering them. Last night, though, there were two houses, and... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:05 AM | add or view comments (4) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Thursday, December 3, 2009

The new Poets & Writers Magazine...

I subscribe. Lately I've been too busy to read it. I mean, there've been scarves to crochet, cookies to bake, NaNoWriMo, sunsets to watch. Used to be I'd grab it out of the mail box, curl up in my big chair with P&W and a cup of coffee, and read all about new writers and what the literati was up to.... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 4:19 AM | add or view comments (10) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Sleep, Dreams and how we learn...

It was a PBS special that came on opposite some sitcom or serial that I "had" to see, so I lucked out and caught it on a cable channel. "Sleep on it," advice we get when we ask someone what to do when we can't decide. It works, more often than not. We list the pros and cons in our mind, maybe even... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:05 AM | add or view comments (2) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Avoidance Housework -- "Busy Sloth"

It's a writerly quirk to shirk the true work for a "daily dozens" distraction, to avoid finishing tales, turning minnows to whales for the joy is depleted once the task is completed. And what would we do in that hour or two set aside for the writerly work? Once our tale has been told, the whole... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 4:11 AM | add or view comments (10) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, November 30, 2009

A grim little poem for dark November

PAYOFF [1] For nineteen years, from her wedding night’s reluctant submission to a husband's rights she made it clear that for all intents she'd settled for the lesser sacrament. And he, sweaty and oozing grime, learned to shower every time, in the basement, to purge himself of the steel mill’s sooty... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 5:24 AM | add or view comments (5) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Things I didn't know. The Bobness of songwriting...

I saw an interview on CBS's "Sunday Morning" a few minutes ago. Came in late, I'd been fixing breakfast, and there was Tom Petty, pushing 60 and talking philosophy. "If you ain't gettin' older, you're dead," he said when the interviewer asked how he felt about being that old. Now, Tom Petty and the... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Pat_B at 8:02 AM | add or view comments (7) | 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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