Thursday’s Child

There was an old nursery rhyme called “Monday’s Child.” It was a little ditty supposedly for children to help them learn the days of the week. I was born on a Thursday. Ascension Thursday, no less. “Thursday’s child has far to go,” was meant for me. From what I’ve read, I can take this one of two ways: First, I will have a long life. I’m hoping for that. Women have good longevity in my family. Both Grandmothers lived long. Mom is 91. Second, it could mean I have a lot of obstacles to overcome. Have you known me long? There were mountains and hills worth of obstacles. Faith and Hope have gotten me through. Sure there are more to come, too. Just realistic, not negative. God has been so very good to me. I’m forever grateful.

Either way, whatever that phrase means, I am here and so happy to be. Life gets better and better. Heck, this morning, I felt great and started a crock pot dinner an hour ago that will be ready at about 6 p.m. or so. Planning ahead. Chicken and noodles. Thanks, Peggy Fischman! My grade school, neighbor, and quilting buddy. Always has a new recipe or two.

The header photo today is my music of the day. I posted it on my personal FB account, asking what was missing? More Jimmy Weber CD’s. I hope there is one despite this pandemic. Jimmy’s a very creative guy, if anyone can produce it, he can. (No pressure, my friend!). Dayna Jones’ CD is great. You can order it from her, and she has a really cute shirt, too. I ordered a long sleeved one and know it’ll rotate into the fall wardrobe a lot. Go Dayna!

I’ve said before, music gets me through a lot of hard times. As a single mom, I was glad to have the drive time from downtown to the 90th & Dodge area near home to just decompress from the day, and relax. It was then much easier to get home to my three kids and spend the evening with them when I wasn’t in school or working my second job. Music is always there, even if no one else is. Now, the Babe and music are always there. Grateful and blessed.

I Love Eleanor Roosevelt. Such an unsung hero.

Still working on character definition for my book, The Freeing of Katie Fitzgibbon’s. Katie has seven, count them seven brothers. They are characters, believe me. It’s fun to make this stuff up. I can do that since I’m doing an actual fiction novel. A couple weeks ago, I was considering creative nonfiction. My book coach, Sam Tyler, mentioned I could be sued. That would certainly be an unfortunate end, wouldn’t it? Since I have no interest in that happening, I have ventured back to fiction. The common disclaimer you see after every movie and at the beginning of every book should cover me. I don’t look good in horizontal stripes, you know? On a writer’s merch website, I saw a shirt that read:

If people don’t like what you write about them, they should have treated you better.

It’s certainly to the point now, isn’t it? I did buy the one that reads:

Careful! Or you’ll end up in my novel!

Another thing I’m learning about with this venture is “Character Agency.” It’s something vital to the story. Plot is driven by the decisions the protagonist (main character) makes. The writer needs to make clear why the character makes a decision they do. An inciting incident voids any possibility of a character continuing to live a normal life. Will they fight or flee?

Writer Topher Kearby sells his creations at http://www.topherkearby.com

I admire Topher’s work, and am Facebook friends with him. His typed words are beautiful. There is also art that go with some of the musings. Check him out.

As I go to do some more domestic chores this early afternoon, I want to thank you for reading today. I hope you have a great day today. I’ll be here again tomorrow, hope to see you then! Stay Safe, Wash Up, Mask Up, Be Kind, Be Thoughtful, and Be Courteous. It’ll help us all. Thank you!

Monday, Monday

When I was in the eighth grade, the Mamas and Papas came out with the song “Monday, Monday.” And “California Dreamin.” They had some good ones back in the day. That time seems much closer than it was, over fifty years ago! That’s forever!

Before graduation, we thought we were the best. We were King of the hill, Queen of the mountain, and the oldest in the elementary school called St. Bridget’s. We were soon to receive our comeuppance when we went to our different High Schools for the first time as Freshman. No longer King or Queen of anything and longed for those glory days. Before we knew it, the upper classmen of Ryan High School were readying to graduate too, some in three years, and some in the traditional four. We had no identifiers such as Seniors, Juniors, and such. It seemed like we were cheated out of our legacy, but we lived.

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Looking for a new profile photo for FB. Which do you like?

It is funny how things mean so much to us as we are looking forward to those life events that are significant. If they don’t happen for whatever reason, we live. We may not want to, but we do. And hindsight is always 20/20, you know? Wouldn’t it be great if foresight was a little more predictable? We might have it made if we had half an idea of the outcome. It might help us make better decisions. We need information upon which to base our decisions. It helps us decide one way or another. The more information, the better decision. Unless you are paralyzed by fear.

Fear stops us from doing things. From taking a job. From moving to the mountains. From marrying someone. From divorcing someone. From taking any risk. Freedom is the right to choose. The right to choose from your alternatives. If you have no choice, you are not a man or woman, you are more of a nameless, faceless member, an instrument, a way of getting something done. And dispensable. Learn to face your fears by understanding them. Where did they come from?

I have a terrible fear of water. I cannot swim. At this point in life, I can paddle with a noodle, that’s enough for me. And I want a warm water pool for my joints. Soothing. It wouldn’t make a lot of sense for me to take up scuba diving. If I learned to swim, and loved it, and was comfortable with the water, I could take up diving. But not until.

What about this writing I’m doing? I started blogging a year ago to get into the habit. The more you write, the better you become. Makes sense. Blogging gets your name “out there.” I’m nearing a year’s worth (in about 50 days or so) of posts, and I’m proud I stuck with it. I have about 100 followers. Not bad! I’m grateful for each of you. I only have about 1/3 of those followers engaging in some way. Sharing, commenting, or just hitting “like.” That’s ok. It’s a start. That’s what I was looking for.

As I’m working with a book coach now, I’ll (hopefully) be ready to publish later this year. And next year, publish more. I’m sure to be working just as hard next year, and there should be more interest in what I have to say. If I decide to quit, it’s all on me. It’s because I decided not to pursue. I haven’t thought about becoming a best selling list author (it’d be nice), what I want now is to be a published author. I’m hoping people will want to buy the books. That’s not first and foremost right now. I’ll dig into marketing when the time comes. Putting my blog out there is a step of marketing. Hopefully, it will attract people who would like to read what I write.

I have a huge interest in publishing children’s books as well. I have the story ideas for two – one, about our Roxie and our grandson Gavin. The other story is about a big loss on Christmas. I’m hoping I’ll have a co-author with that, more later on those projects.

The ideas are rapidly forming. I have no idea if they can all be executed or not, but for now, they’ll be kept for future writing sessions, be it a blog post, a kids book, a family book, or a creative non-fiction. Gee, I’m so glad I learned how to type back in high school. It’s made life so much easier. And coding is easier when you know typing. Anymore, I don’t think people care about accuracy or speed with typing. Another lost art!

The two books I’m reading right now, Personality Isn’t Permanent and You Can’t Make This Stuff Up are so interesting. The personality book is helping me learn so much about changes in life and making changes in life. It will be helpful in writing about characters. The other one, I just started on and I’m wanting to learn more about the genre of Creative Nonfiction. It is revealing and informative.

Thank you for reading today, I appreciate it. I look forward to telling you more about “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up” tomorrow. It’s got lots of info that is just plain interesting. Take Care. Wash your hands. Wear your Mask. Let’s help each other through the rest of this, whatever it is. We need each other! Thanks.