Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts

Random
5:46 PM - Posted by christina - 5 comments




This will hopefully become a new feature, encouraging me to blog a bit more.

Random will be those, um, yeah—random—topics, that don’t really fit into any of the areas I feel I am supposed to be writing. I say supposed because I’m still struggling with the point of my blog. I’m still reading how I need to find my niche, and have some expertise—or at least some good experience—in it. So far it’s been mommying. And getting old. And playing in the kitchen. No expertise in any of those, but experience.

But today is random. So I’d like to introduce you two my two little friends.

Yes, they are lady bugs. They may very well be man bugs, but I can’t tell—and I really don’t care—so they are my lady bugs.

I discovered these two little friends well after the nights had grown very cold last fall. Before the weather had turned, and the days were still spiking 70 balmy degrees, I had carried numerous neighbors of theirs (perhaps even family members) to the back door, dumping them gently on to potted plants outside.

Somehow, these two evaded my detection, until one day I spotted one moving across the ceiling. Hmmm. I watched it and thought about the fact that if the lady bug were a spider (male or female) I would be running for a broom-like weapon to eradicate all traces of life from the creepy thing. But she wasn’t, and since lady bugs are just so darn cute, I just couldn’t bear the thought of putting her outside, when she would FREEZE TO DEATH within 12 hours. Shortly thereafter, the second one revealed herself.

My daughter thinks I’m a little odd, keeping two bugs in the bathroom over the winter, but she has no desire to kill them either. We wonder how they are still alive, and what they’re eating (once I put a rice crispie near them, but I don’t know if they ate it or not).

Fortunately, one of my houseplants has come down with a few aphids this past week. This morning, while spraying it with insecticidal soap, my little light bulb went off. Lady bugs thrive on aphids. PING!

Now I’ve moved the rather large houseplant to the bathroom. No one uses the bathtub in there, so it’s not in the way.

Dinner is served!




Happy New Year!....meh... whatever
8:01 PM - Posted by christina - 2 comments

This year I did it. I consciously made NO resolutions. Not even the old standby: "To write more."

Because it's really just another day. January 1, December 12, June 7... It's just another day.

And by really thinking about hopes and goals, by telling myself, "This is the year!," I'm setting myself up for failure.

Again.

Because isn't every year The year?

I continue to change and grow (or shrink). I let go and grab on to knew things. And it seems frequently, perhaps always, I am aware of what I did wrong... "I have sinned through my own fault, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do..."

So rather than set major goals... especially the kind that life frequently goes against... rather than setting myself up for a measurement that CAN ALWAYS IMPROVE... I'm going to become more aware, and simply, be more ME.

You may think that's nothing... to be more ME. But as a don't rock-the-boat, smooth-over-every-rough-surface, avoid-the-unpleasant kind of girl I am, this is really kind of huge.

I will continue reading zen-ish blogs and following love-yourself writers. That part won't be hard.

I will make a little time to do nothing and just BE... that will take a little more effort.

And I will, eventually, become better at Being who I am--as opposed to being the person I think the world wants me to be.

So there.


A Real Byline
9:57 AM - Posted by christina - 0 comments
There is something gratifying--even more than the paycheck--about seeing one's name on a byline.
Thank you to Yakima Magazine for this opportunity!

http://www.yakimamagazine.com/print/index.php?pid=38

http://www.yakimamagazine.com/print/index.php?pid=42


Feeling like a loser
7:45 PM - Posted by christina - 0 comments
I know I said I had turned over that new leaf. That I would begin to write in earnest. Frequently. At least a couple times a week. Then it got really busy at work, and i did write--a lot--but it wasn't writing writing, it was work writing. And so I didn't--write--again.

So perhaps it should be a new year's resolution. It's been one before. Alas...Loser.

It's so personal. So... honest. To really write, you have to not worry about hurting anyone else's feelings. That's an issue for me.

So maybe if I wrote for a purpose, instead of just to write? I've been following Gwen Bell a bit. She seams to write to inspire, though it is her job to help others in their business.

I could write for parents... moms. But I think there are probably already a million doing that. I need to find out what I have to say that might matter to someone else--to a lot of some one elses. Any suggestions?


#amwriting
12:14 PM - Posted by christina - 0 comments
I follow this woman on Twitter. Johanna something. I think she might be a real writer, because she does it ALL THE TIME. She has made a group, #amwriting, and though I've not joined it, mostly because #iamnotwriting, it is a little bee in my bonnet, reminding me I should be writing.

So I'm going to try to use this blog as my impetus, going to try to write... I want to say "everyday", but am afraid that is setting me up for failure. "A couple times a week" sounds so lame. "a lot" is even worse. What is my issue?

I have thoughts. I find myself frequently turning off my ipod while I walk, just to let the thoughts wander. So I do have something to say.

An I LIKE to write. I love to hear people chuckle over faux press releases or new stories I put together. I'm thrilled to have a by-line appearing in a new news magazine this Friday.

I think it's time.

I know, we all get the same 24 hours in a day. I'm kind of sick of being told that. Because I have set up my life wrong--the way many women have--so that I'm pretty much in charge of everything. So a half hour of quiet time...time alone, without laundry to fold and dishes to wash, or homework to encourage... doesn't happen all that much. When I do get a little extra time, I've been trying to get out and walk a bit, since I don't exercise anymore. At all.

I think to write, let's say, 5 DAYS a WEEK, will be a New Year's resolution (again). Perhaps, if I think someone might be reading the stuff, maybe leaving an occasional comment, that will serve as a reward. I will bribe myself with that.

I'm agreeing with you if you're now thinking I'm totally pathetic.

But I'll try. No, I will write. At least here, several times a week.(Another non-committal word).
Check back. #amwriting