Every now and then I’m nominated for an award on WordPress. The first time this happened I was all aglow. What an honor! And truly, it’s always an honor for someone to consider my humble little blog worth a mention.
But the awards come with rules:
Nominate 5 or 8 or 135 bloggers and link to them.
Answer a dozen questions.
Thank people.
Stand on your head and wiggle your toes while whistling “Yankee Doodle.”
And while I might’ve made that last one up, the sad truth is I’m a lousy rule follower, and the last few times I’ve found myself a nominee I have politely excused myself from the game.
So I thought, what if I just made up my own award? With no rules, only a suggestion. Ta da! It’s the “Must Read” award. I’m awarding it to Mike Steeden, one of the most imaginative writers I follow. He is a quirky genius with a flair for the absurd, writing a mixture of prose and poetry that I find delightful. I highly suggest you read Mike’s blog:
https://mikesteeden.wordpress.com/2016/11/20/the-collector-of-memories/#like-4919
The only suggestion attached to this award is that Mike might give out his own “Must Read” Award to anyone (other than me) that he absolutely thinks others will enjoy. Since I faithfully follow Mike’s blog perhaps I’ll pick up a new author to follow, as well.
So go on now. Read Mike’s blog. Thank me later.
Disclaimer: I’m sorry if there’s already a must read award out there. My lack of originality is appalling in that case.
Once a month our local Sonic Drive-in hosts a car show. Studly Doright and I stopped by on our way to see the movie, Doctor Strange, in Tallahassee on Saturday evening.
I walked around snapping pictures and talking to car owners. Which is your favorite? Can you guess mine?
Car 1Car 2Car 3Car 4Car 5Car 6Car 7Car 8Car 9Car 10Car 11Car 12
And then there was this guy…
Dog 1
Sonic drive-ins and classic cars seem like the perfect match. The cheeseburger and tater tots were a bonus.
A friend posted this meme on his Facebook page today and jokingly quipped, “My wife.”
But being the deep thinker that I am, instead of quickly responding with something like “my vintage Huey Lewis concert tshirt which doubles as my favorite nightgown” I thought I’d turn the question into a blog post.
Huey Lewis. I sleep with him, you know.
I have a lot of old stuff. Probably the oldest is a bedroom suite that I inherited from my maternal grandmother, my beloved Nannie Grace. It was an antique when she bought it, but she went one step further and antiqued the antique. Sigh. Apparently it was a popular thing to do in the 60’s and 70’s.
I’ve considered having her antiquing process undone and the furniture restored to its original mahogany, but one restorer explained to me that the paint Nannie Grace applied is probably the only thing holding it together at this point.
It’s still a beautiful set, and I’d estimate it at possibly 145 years of age.
There’s also this piece from Nannie Grace
And this poor old clock that was my Daddy’s:
But my favorite old thing is my side saddle.
My maternal grandfather, Grandaddy Carl P., bought this saddle when I was very young. He promised it would be mine someday and here it is. Like Grandaddy, though, I really don’t have anywhere to display it. He kept it in his workshop and Studly always gives me space in the garage for this sentimental piece. It deserves better, so if anyone has a suggestion for how I might incorporate it into my decor I’m more than willing to listen.
What’s the oldest thing in your house? Why do you have it and what does it mean to you? Inquiring minds want to know.
One of my favorite bloggers, Ellen Hawley (Notes from the U.K.), recently posted a quirky photo and solicited captions for it. Here’s the link to Ellen’s post: http://wp.me/p4FooO-kN
I submitted a caption, but a winner had already been declared. Story of my freaking life. But two, or two hundred, can play this game, and I vowed to find a photo worthy of captioning.
I give you:
So submit your caption, and we’ll decide on a best one and maybe honorable mentions. There could be medals or trophies or something.
Facebook is a source of much of my blog inspiration. Between cute kitten videos and wine humor, political satire and jokes about aging (un)gracefully the social media site is a veritable treasure trove of ideas.
Take this post for example:
Here is one of the sentences I culled from the multitude running through my head:
Gabriella Montagne plucked a pomegranate from a basket on the kitchen counter and hurled it at her loathsome brother Claude, hitting him squarely in his one good eye.
Justification for this being a unique sentence: uncommon names, uncommon fruit, one good eye.
The possibilities are endless. Come, give it a try. Who knows where that sentence might lead?
Peace and happy writing, people!
Yesterday I wrote that I was fiddling with a draft piece on my blog and my characters weren’t giving me a clear idea of where they wanted or needed to go. In particular my heroine is stuck in a house of ill-repute for reasons I can’t go into at this time.
This afternoon in the middle of a deep tissue massage I clearly saw her, and she gave me a hint as to her dilemma. Apparently, she doesn’t feel stuck in her situation. I argued with her a bit, surely she was being exploited or victimized, but she was adamant.
If you write fiction, do your characters argue with you? Or am I going crazy? I am weaning myself from the antidepressant, Effexor–could this be a side effect? At any rate, I need someone to proof this piece before I proceed. Any takers?
WordPress occasionally annoys me, but most of the time I’m incredibly grateful for this wonderful platform they provide for my musings. The annual report provided by the good folks at WordPress is just one of the ways in which they support bloggers. The statistics are helpful and if I were a more analytical person I’m sure I would figure out a way to make them work for me.
Praying for Eyebrowz 