A place where I can share interesting ideas and maybe get a few things off my chest

Falling (OctPoWriMo #4)

October 4, 2020

I want to say exactly how I feel

I fall into your eyes each time we meet

But how can I be sure that love is real?

No one can know when love might come to call

When it’s not true, it hurts so much to fall

Is this shiver from love or just a chill?

And how do I account for all the heat?

I want to say exactly how I feel

I must remind myself each time to breathe

No need to make myself faint dead away

My heart will judge and I may not appeal

Is it too late for me to call retreat?

But how can I be sure that love is real?

I am too old to play this game again

If we both lose, will you still call me friend?

I want to say exactly how I feel

At least to try before I call defeat

And take my heart away somewhere to heal

If I can push and then drop back and pass

Will you make the catch and finish the play?

We could both pledge the other’s life to fill

And then forever woo with words so sweet

But how can I be sure that love is real?

Before I totally let go the wheel

Before I make my surrender complete

I want to say exactly how I feel

But how can I be sure that love is real?

Today’s OctPoWriMo offering is in the style of Gra Reformata, sweated over all morning and into the afternoon from the prompts: falling, breathe, fearless

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Chaos (OctPoWriMo #3)

October 3, 2020

Casting about for solid ground, a touchtone, base

How can I know what is real, what is true

All I know is called into doubt

Or proven wrong entirely

Still I persist in trying to make sense of our crazy world

Today’s offering for OctPoWriMo, an acrostic based on the prompt, “chaos”. The suggested poem type was free-form, but evidently that was just too my freedom for me. The photo was taken on our last camping trip, this past February, when we didn’t know it was going to be our last camping trip.

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Vulnerable (OctPoWrimo #2)

October 2, 2020

Gracie stands watch

Peanuts on display
Dog lounges nearby, watching
Who will take that chance?

My second offering for OctPoWriMo, haiku based on the prompt “vulnerable”, and what happens every morning out the window as I sit at my writing table. I’m lucky I get any bird visitors at all.

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OctPoWriMo 2020

October 1, 2020

Many of you have likely heard of NaNoWriMo, which was started by a group of crazy friends way back in 1999. I’ve been participating, off and on, since 2007.

Last year, I learned about OctPoWriMo, which was started by a couple of crazy poet friends in 2012. Thirty-one days of prompts and information on one or two different types of poetry, along with the freeing, no-pressure philosophy that, “We believe there are no rules to poetry, only playing with your words until you breathe life into them.”

And with that, I present my first OctPoWriMo 2020 offering, a Kyrielle Sonnet based on the prompt to “shine your light”.

Until You

Though I have never been alone
I traveled through life on my own
My days always a bit askew
I was so lonely until you

The sun would rise; the sun would set
Many friends I hailed as well-met
But those who touched my heart were few
I was so lonely until you

And now, suddenly, here you are
Giving my life its own North Star
Shining light for a whole new view
I was so lonely until you

Though I have never been alone
I was so lonely until you

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Soapbox, Now Ad-Free!

August 15, 2020

Pencil sharpener 2020-07-03 11.17.11

Unimpressed

 

I’m getting that itchy feeling inside my head that tells me it’s time to get writing again.

Considering the variety of topics popping in my head at any given time, I decided I didn’t want the intertubes deciding what kind of advertising would best match up with whatever came through my keyboard.

So, I ponied up a little extra to make Soapbox By Kay ad-free.

Woohoo!

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Words to Weave With

May 6, 2020

Tiny Toadstool 2020-03-28 10.49.19

A tiny toadstool in our front garden. Unrelated to the writing, except that it was as ephemeral as I’m feeling now.

This morning was the second time I’ve joined Firefly’s Morning Coffee writing session. I’m in Florida, they’re in Canada. Crazy how things work out. We all threw out words we like, and then chose from that list for our writing prompts. Even though I picked relatively positive words for my list, my writing took me down the same shadowed lanes my mind has been wandering the past few weeks.

Here’s a portion of today’s session, a poem of sorts:

My thoughts and feelings are messy
Bubbling up from that primal pit of fear
Until recently forgotten below the base of Laslow’s pyramid
I’ve been living happily on the 4th level, with occasional forays to the top
But now I find myself sitting on the bare boards of the bottom floor
The rug pulled out from under me

Steve returns from his dangerous hunting foray to the big box store
Crackling plastic bags carried in gloved hands
Our eco-conscious reusable shopping bags still in the pantry
The stores don’t want us to bring them; we don’t want germs to get on them

So, it’s back to disposables
Disposable bags
Disposable gloves
Disposable wipes
Disposable masks
Disposable people

Oh, wait – we’re not supposed to realize that last one
Or at least not say it right out loud….

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My Social Distancing Reading List

March 22, 2020

Social Distancing Reading List 2020-03-22 18.36.04

It seems that possessing a smart phone has been a great hindrance to my reading time.

Since I will be working from home for the foreseeable future, and have gained an extra hour per day due to losing the commute, I don’t want my electronics (and the obsessive checking of them) to continue to suck away my time with nothing to show for it.

In setting up my new work space, I had to move around several stacks of books, and decided to make a reading list from some of the books that I obviously have wanted to read, since I went to the trouble of buying them and bringing them home.

And so, I present to you my Social Distancing Reading List. I might even become ambitious enough to post reviews as I finish them. At this point, anything could happen, right?

 

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What the Heck is a Side Hustle?

June 1, 2019

ebay set up wall 2019-06-01 15.18.31

The Photography Wall

I listen to podcasts on my daily commute. One of my favorites is Gretchen Rubin’s “Happier”. A few weeks ago, she had her friend, Chris Guillebeau, on as a guest, promoting his new book 100 Side Hustles, based on his podcast, “Side Hustle School”.

Chris launched “Side Hustle School” on January 1, 2017, and has every podcast archived on the website and available for download. I decided to start at the very beginning and put the first ten weeks of daily, under-10-minutes podcasts on a thumb drive. I also checked out his book Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days from our local library.

Chris defines a side hustle essentially as an income-producing hobby – something that is not your regular day-job, that you enjoy doing, and that provides you with extra money. I started thinking about what I might like to do to bring in a little extra cash. Start making soap again and sell it on Etsy? Re-imagine Dream Dollys? Crank up pysanky production? Those all seemed like a lot of work to ramp up. Then I realized that one of the things I really enjoy doing is going on treasure hunts to thrift stores and antique malls.

Ebay set-up bed 2019-06-01 15.19.25

Taking measurements and more photos

There are so many fun things I’ve found at thrift stores but chose to leave “in the wild” for someone else to find because I didn’t personally need them. By the time I was halfway through Chris’ book (and a few weeks’ worth into the podcasts), I had posted my first few items for sale on e-bay.

Ebay setup table 2019-06-01 17.18.24

A bunch of things I have no idea how to ship (yet)

I’ve only sold a few things, and I’m not yet in the black for the purchases I’ve made so far, but I’m having a lot of fun with it. I’ll let y’all know how it goes.

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InPrompt2

January 4, 2019

shamc 2019-01-02 18.47.22

I recently found out about the Safety Harbor Art and Music Center (SHAMc), when a friend invited me to attend January’s InPrompt2, their monthly open mic poetry and short prose event. Participants write to a monthly prompt and sign up for 5-7 minutes in the spotlight. The space is amazing, with one side devoted to selling member artists’ wares and the other side a very trippy, artistically dynamic performance area.

Wednesday night’s prompt was “backwards”. About fifteen people got up to share their talents, bare their souls, and revel in the applause from fellow wordsmiths. I had a great time and eagerly awaited the announcement of February’s prompt, so I could start composing on the drive home and be ready to take my turn at the mic next month.

“Hamsters.” February’s prompt is “hamsters.”.

Guess I better get those wheels turning….

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Happy New Year 2019!

January 1, 2019

Lucky New Year's Lunch 2019-01-01 13.03.23

Lucky New Year’s Lunch!

I’ve been listening to Gretchen Rubin’s “Happier” podcast lately and one of the things she and her sister do, along with many of their listeners, now to include myself, is to put together a list of goals at the beginning of the year, and then review the list at the end.

At the top of my “Nineteen for ’19” list is: Resume Blogging. And so, here I am.

Since I started this blog in 2007 or so, it has been a catch-all of whatever has been drawing my interest or ire at any given time. And so it will continue to be. There’s no telling what might show up on these electronic pages.

Thanks Gretchen and Elizabeth for accompanying me a little farther along my Happiness path!

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