The Gypsy’s Promise

I finished writing a book.

The funny part is, it was never supposed to be completed.

The thing is, I fleshed out a couple of characters who became the basis of my first five chapters. Then the urge to actually complete the book passed and I moved on to writing other things.

But after the fifth chapter was done, the book sorta called me back and then the characters took on lives of their own. Before I realized it, there was a sixth, a seventh and an eighth chapter. I laid the book aside again for a while–months if I remember  correctly. But I kept being lured back to the unfinished manuscript.

Before I knew it, there were over 70,000 words written and I found myself composing an Epilogue.

It probably sounds like the hard work has been done, but actually the hard work has just begun–revisions and more revisions. That’s where the book stands until I deem it worthy to be sent to an agent. If I’m lucky, some day you’ll see The Gypsy’s Promise on a shelf in your favorite bookstore, or on Amazon as an eBook.

Wish me luck.

“Dumbfounded” by Matt Rothschild

Before I even started reading this memoir, I had to chuckle over the Author’s Note. Matt wrote:

“I’m not going to feed you that same old baloney about how memory is imperfect…The truth is that while everything in this book happened, it didn’t always happen the way I say it did. Sometimes I changed names or descriptions of people and places. Big deal. Sometimes I altered chronology…made people look foolish when they weren’t so foolish, made people look good when they were fools…–I know you’ll love this one–said things happened in one place when they really happened somewhere else. Okay, so maybe that is a big deal…Some of this stuff is damn funny and some of it’s tragic. Just don’t take the window dressing too literally.”

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DO NOT Keep a Diary

About a week ago, I sent an email out to several friends asking them to share a favorite childhood memory with me. Many of the those who replied were the same people who have been telling me they can’t write.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know I strongly feel everyone should be writing something –anything– so that the only thing one leaves behind isn’t just ashes. What would be the point of your being here if that’s all you leave?

Don’t even think about keeping a diary. Because you probably won’t.

A DIARY? NO WAY! READ MORE

Text Messaging Is Bad, I Think, Maybe

I don’t text message. What I mean is, I don’t send them and I don’t receive them because I don’t use a cell phone. I don’t own one,  I don’t want one, and I hope I never have to rely on one. That said, I do understand why people feel they need to have one.

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Year of the Rat & Aura Colors

I have recently become the Resident Expert on Astrology at LifeScript.com. So, instead of finding my usual post here, I will direct you to my latest articles at LifeScript. If you are interested in Chinese Astology, you might enjoy reading about predictions for the Year of the Rat.

Or you may be interested in Aura Colors . Take the Aura Color Test.

First the Soapbox, Then Mom’s Italian Wedding Soup Recipe

Okay, I’m on my soapbox again, encouraging you to write something this week about yourself. If you do, I can almost guarantee one of your children or your grandchildren will thank you someday. You are living in their “good old days.”

I can’t tell you how many times I could kick myself for not asking my mother more questions about her life. Now it’s too late. The only things I have of hers, in her own handwriting, are a few recipes she gave me over the years. At least when I see her handwriting on the page, it helps me to remember other small things about her. I’m going to share one of her recipes with you at the end of this post.

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“Bucket List” “Done That List” “No Guts List”

Recently, I’ve seen coming attractions on TV about a new movie starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman called The Bucket List.  From the few snipets I’ve caught, it appears their list contains things they’ve both dreamt about doing before they kick the bucket.

I have a list like that, too, although I never thought to name mine the bucket list. And happily, my list spawned a Done That List.

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New Year’s Resolutions and Non-Resolutions

PHOTO FROM

I don’t do it anymore–make New Year’s Resolutions, that is. After 60+ years, I know better.

Evidently, I’m in good company. Mark Twain wasn’t too keen on New Year’s Resolutions, either.

 …Mark Twain has written of New Year’s Resolutions, “Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink, and swore his last oath. Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever.” read full post here

But there is one thing I do each year. I pull out the books I’ve been journaling in for over thirty years, and I reread some of my favorite sayings collected over the years.

Some of them mean something totally different to me now then they did twenty or thirty years ago when I first wrote them. Take for instance this one by Eleanor Roosevelt, No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

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December – The Perfect Month to Reminisce

Because so many things occur in the month of December, dreaming up something to write about is as easy as 1-2-3. I’m here to spur you on with some writing ideas because I know how important your memories are, even if you don’t realize it yet yourself.

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Have You Thought About Birds Lately?

My screened-in porch faces two tall trees that are especially attractive to different species of nesting birds, and both trees are used annually for this purpose. One of the trees has a hole in its trunk, the perfect size for a nest. The other tree is particularly inviting to birds that prefer to build outdoor nests high up off the ground using twigs and leaves and stuff.

This year, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers have been flitting in and out of the hole. I haven’t seen the babies yet, but the mom and pop are hard to miss.

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Tradition

Last weekend I returned a plastic food container to my neighbor. Days before, when she first handed it to me, it contained three slices of marble cheesecake. I returned it to her filled with homemade lasagna. In my family, a food container is never returned to its original owner empty. It’s tradition.

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Wordplay

I’ve already mentioned the importance of taking the time to journal once in awhile so that a small part of your history will remain alive forever on a written page. It’s important, and I’ll keep saying it.

But sometimes, it’s important to have fun with words, too. With that in mind, I’d like to introduce you to a contest that the Washington Post conducts annually. It’s call the Annual Neologism Contest. Readers are encouraged to begin with a common word, but give it a new meaning. For example:

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Top Ten List

Since this blog is going to deal with an eclectic array of topics, I thought you might like to know where the topics come from. One of the methods I use to spark an idea comes from my Top Ten List. (No, Dave doesn’t own that idea.) 

 

If you like to journal or keep a diary, my list may be helpful.

 

1.  What surprised me this week?

2.  What challenged me this week?

3.  What tickled me this week:

4.  What contented me this week?

5.  What did I learn this week?

6.  What pained me this week?

7.  What angered me this week?

8.  What inspired me this week?

9.  What entertained me this week?

10. What did I do this week?

 

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Cotton Candy

I have “cotton candy hair.” I don’t mean to imply my hair is pastel pink or blue. What I’m saying is, my hair has lost all semblance of what is commonly known as “body.” When I watch shampoo commercials on TV and the model’s lustrous hair is bouncing and flowing from side to side in slow motion, I lick my lips, sigh deeply, and force myself to get a grip. The reality is there is no shampoo on the face of this planet that is going to change the fact that I have cotton candy hair.

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