Sunday, July 22, 2012

5 Minute Writing Prompt: My secret summer escape…


My secret summer escape…

When I was younger, my favorite summer escape was going to the beach. Oh how I would love to be able to go back in time and enjoy the time even more.  I wish I was able to escape for the summer.  Well, I should be able to do it for the month of August.  Too bad my boyfriend doesn’t want to go with me places, if his drunken stupor means anything to me. My secret summer escape would be the beach, a little cabin, with no one a mile on either side of this escape.  I stare out into the water, listening to the waves hit the sand.  I would be able to write and write in the goodness.  It would please me so much.  I guess to have my secret summer escape, I would need to find someone who was really rich to take care of me.  I wish my boyfriend would be able to do this for me.  I would love to see little kids on the beach enjoying themselves.  I would take photos of sunrises and sunsets.  My secret summer escape probably wouldn’t be much of a secret.  I would want to share it with all those I love.  I would have family over and have them to enjoy the peace and solitude.  My secret summer escape, my secret summer escape, would be so pretty, so small, so perfect.  Lots of enjoyment would take place over there.  I would love to have bbq’s outside on the beach.  Bonfires a plenty, and some fireworks that would be going off to celebrate the night.  My 5 minutes are almost up.  Can you believe it?  This is amazing.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Character Development


Am I the only person who has issues with writing character development?  I can write and write, and even write about one character (character a) and can be completely happy with the way the character is; I am ready to move onto writing the back story of another character (character b).  Then I get five lines in with character b, and then character a jumps back into my mind.  In a sense yelling at me to go back to him/her and write even more details about the character, or that they aren't happy with part of the story.  Does anyone agree?  Disagree?  Please share with me on how you handle this situation.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Writing Prompts


As someone who would like to work on her writing (the reason for this blog) I have had issues at times coming up with what ideas to write about.  Did you know the internet is full of writing prompts?  There is the One Minute Writer, The Sunday Scribblings, and a five minute writing prompt from Your Writing Mentor, to name a few.  I have been reviewing what have been posted at some of these blogs, and all I can say is that it is quite interesting what people can write in a short amount of time.  It allows the creative juices to flow and maybe move you away from writer’s block.  I have enjoyed reviewing these blogs, and I hope to use their prompts in the future.  I have actually gone and written in a few of the past posts for the One Minute Writer on the site.  Check out the most recent ones for my contributions.  I hope you enjoy what I have written.  I hope all of this will make me a better writer in the end.
A writer’s journey is never-ending.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Coffee makes the world go ‘round


Oh the most wonderful thing about waking up in the morning is the smell of the freshly brewed coffee.  One of the best things ever invented was the timer to start the coffee before I wake up instead of having to drag myself out of bed in order to make the coffee.  It is definitely a big motivator for me to get out of bed for the first cup of mornin’ Jo.  I don’t care what type of coffee is in the pot, I will drink it, though a good cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee is always nice (it's my mother's favorite). My family and I use a normal, run-of-the-mill coffee pot.  Which keeps the coffee warm for four hours.  

My boyfriend, on the other hand, is a coffee snob.  He is really into researching the different type of coffee beans and knowing what he wants to try.  He bough a french press and a bean grinder so he can make make it as fresh as possible.  He isn't happy with any of the creamers out there, accept Coffee-mate's  Italian Sweet Crème creamer.  He is having a hard time finding it in the area.  Did the product get cancelled?

This post is a little scattered, I apologize for my thought process... maybe today was a second cup of coffee day?

*Update*

I did a little searching on Coffee-mate's website and found a few places where the Italian Sweet Crème can be picked up.  I will let him know of this.  Is it really popular and hard to keep on the shelves?  He'll go to different stores in the same day to try to find it and none of the stores have it at the time (just the non-fat non-sugar version).

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

To Hit the Open Road

I have this urge to travel.  To drop everything that I am doing, and just pack up my little Hyundai Elantra and just drive away from everything that I know.  I know what I would do too, if I had a co-pilot for this adventure (the person I wanted to go with me didn't think it seemed like a really good idea). 

I would love the chance to drive the entirety of U.S. Route 50, from Ocean City, Maryland through to San Francisco, CA.  Yes, the actual road stops in Sacramento, CA, but there is Interstate roads that go over the original U.S. 50.

The approximate plan was to take about 13 days to drive across the U.S.  (Round trip would be about 20 days give-or-take).  There would be days of rest and time just to relax.  At most I would drive 9 hours in a given day.  This would allow for stopping at National Parks and all the small town USA's that I would drive through.  It would be documented in photographs and by a nicely worded blog, written by me.

I hope this plan some day comes to fruition.  Hopefully there would be interest in reading my blog for it.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Winning the Jackpot


No, I haven’t won a jackpot.  Have you?  Could you share the multi-millions with me?  
I would like to share with you what I would have done if I won the Mega Millions a few months ago when it was over 500 million dollars.  It is always fun to imagine things that aren’t yours.  I would first have to say that I went in on a few tickets with my boyfriend, got 20 for myself and went in with an office pool.  So, this is all assuming that I would have won the money flat out, without anybody else.

1)      I am taking the money in installments for the next 26 years.  I can’t even imagine getting 12 million each year, so taking the lump sum would be outrageous.

2)      I would quit my job, which is unfulfilling and would start up my own non-profit to help those who have problems reading and speaking.  The money would come from a trust.  When I was younger I had a reading problem along with a speech impediment.  It would work with kids with the problem to help them; there would be speech pathologists at the headquarters to work with the kids.  There will be a scholarship fund for kids who have overcome the issues and get into good schools.  This would be based on schools recommendations (proof would be needed as well).  The contestants would write a 1-3 page (double spaced) about how the change occurred (what they did) and how it improved his/her life up until now.

3)      I am going to purchase a modestly priced home, probably around $500,000.  If it is just me, why would I need a really, really big house?  There will be a hot tub included in the house.  The furnishings would not be extravagant, but they will be real tasteful.  There may be a billiards table in the basement for my boyfriend.

4)      I may purchase a nice, large beach house for my family and I to share in the summer time.  Some of the best memories of the summer that I have is at the beach for a week with my family.  Maybe I would donate a few weeks to those families who wouldn’t have been able to afford a vacation during the year.

5)      I would setup a small scholarship at my alma mater to students and aspiring students who were like me, and in my major/minor.  There would most likely be an essay with why I want to study these topics?  or What will I do after graduating with my degree? 

6)      Of course I would be giving tithe to my church, though most likely it will be done anonymously.  There would be a big donation to both the youth group and religious education department.  They were always big supporters of me.

7)      Any of the money that would be left over from the year I would put into a trust for the future of my immediate family.  I would not want to have all this money and then lose it the next day because there was no planning done.  I would want to be able to live off the interest of the money once the first 26 years have gone past and I would not be getting any more money from the Mega Millions.
This will be a similar pattern for the next 26 years.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Never sure what to Blog about

Does anyone else come to that same problem?  I want to blog, but some topics I feel like I should keep to myself right now.  Since I woke up (around 8, this morning) I have been writing in Microsoft word.  The topic isn't ready to be part of a blog, if it ever would be.  If I decide to add it to cyberspace, I definitely will have to edit it down, censure it, if you will.  I know writings need to be edited, and I hate common courtesy of editing what I think... but I feel sometimes that is the only way not to get burned.  

What I was writing about:

It goes along with the fact that I am unhappy (well unhappy when I am not writing) and I want to make a drastic change in my life in the near future.  (Are you surprised to hear that I haven't been happy, then you haven't been reading the poems that I have previously posted.)  It's just scary to make that sort of change, though whoever knows of the outcome of their choices?  One can only predict the positive and negative side affects.  This change will definitely change my life - I just need to take the plunge and do it.  The following quote is what I have been thinking about, using it to guide my thoughts on the matter at hand:

"Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it."--Hardy D. Jackson 

Good advice, is it not?  I know I am scared of change, that is what has been holding me back from doing what I plan on doing for the longest time.

This just seems so cryptic, does it not?  Maybe this will give me more time to enjoy the activities that make me happy, and then I will actually be 100% happier with my life.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Been Creative Recently

It's a little amazing to me that only a few months ago I decided to start writing on a more constant basis, and at the time I was writing a lot about nothing.  Now, within the past few weeks, the creative juices have really started to flow and I have written more poems then I have ever written in such a short time frame.  I guess the best thing to do with writer's block is to keep on writing, even if it makes absolutely no sense or that you just write about writing, why you like it and why you want to be able to write.  Write about writer's block, how it makes you feel, how you just can't stand it.  Get all the feelings out just by writing.  Wish I thought of the process a lot sooner then I actually did.  I have lost so much good material for writing just because of stupid writer's block.  Does anyone else feel this way? 


Does anyone even read what I write on this blog?  I mean, I don't care, I am writing just solely for the purpose of writing and doing something that I enjoy... I guess I just want to know if anything I write is interesting or what not?  Feed back is most welcome.

Lost Power

Rumble

Rumble

Rumble



BAM

the power is out
the power is on
the power is out



"Is the power out?"


"The power is out"

All dark
find the flashlights
find the lanterns
drink some wine


zzz... in the basement