travelling again...

because I am happiest when on the road.

so because I'm travelling, I'm posting light this week.

Upon arriving at my hotel Sunday evening (terribly over-priced...sigh...such is the luck when one travels without an itinerary) it appears only one channel is available on the silly TV - one channel which happens to play only REALLY bad 80's movies.  ummmm...REALLY bad. Bad acting, bad script, bad backdrops. at one point I could actually see the seams on the beach scene backdrop. wow.

so your prompt this week...prompt #18...is to write something tacky, terrible, awful.

~ today and tomorrow are technically the last two days to comment 

and have your name entered in the drawing for my poetry collection

Three Thousand Doors

I think I'll go ahead and extend that to include the whole week. 

Drawing is next Monday, Sept. 6  ~

a little patience...like, NOW!

So I'm waiting on my book. waiting waiting waiting...

My book! The one I've spent the last 20 or so years working toward. I've compiled a collection of my poetry, Three Thousand Doors, and my copies are not here yet! The universe is testing my patience.

Oh sweet patience, I do not know you very well. I do not care much for you, you usually interfere with what I want and I can't have that kind of interference. but. you do like to pretend sometimes that you are the boss.

so. I'm trying. to be patient. (psst...it's not working very well) I've yelled at the UPS tracking screen at least three times today because the STUPID website will NOT give me any information. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zip.

Bupkis.

sigh.

writing prompt #17 - Patience. what are the things that challenge your patience? 

~ don't forget to leave a comment to win a copy of  

Three Thousand Doors 

(if UPS ever delivers my stock.) 

The drawing will be held and winners announced on September 6, 2010 ~

it's all about the Story...

I am on the road again today.

Travelling to Oklahoma City to see my darling soulmate best friend. The passing of her grandmother necessitated an impromptu trip - which I'm happy about because it means I get to see her before Thanksgiving - but it is of course, bittersweet.

So...for today I'm writing less. But also...thinking about the many facets of life. Where are we going? what are we doing? what do you want, need, desire from your life and your choices? one of my favourite bands to listen to and to watch live Flogging Molly. Have a listen.

Prompt #16 - What is your story so far?

~ Remember: leave a comment any time in August

have your name entered in the drawing for a copy of my poetry collection

Three Thousand Doors

two winners will be announced September 6, 2010 ~ 

Simplify...

Not so easy for a pack rat.

I save everything! old letters and cards. old computers that don't work. childhood memorabilia. I have too much stuff.

I have at least eight different lotions to choose from on my vanity - and five different brands of shampoo and conditioner in the shower.

I will say it again - I have too much stuff.

but efforts to simplify, to weed out the unnecessary; the superfluous, often fail.
I mean, really, they're just things, why shouldn't I just get rid of them?

because...there are memories tied to them.

I can't throw away the box of old letters in the garage - it doesn't matter that I haven't opened it once in five years - there are letters from my father in that box. I couldn't possible bear to part with the box of clothes Mrs. Bayer lovingly stitched with her own hands when I was 7 simply because she adored me. My elephant collection carefully wrapped and packed in boxes for the last seven years because I've had no place to put them.

This "stuff" is tied to my past, and the memories make me smile, laugh out loud, cry. I wouldn't want to let go of that. 

besides, when I do get a chance to open those boxes, lifting out treasure after treasure, it's like having the best Christmas ever!

prompt #15 - what do you struggle to simplify? what is the hardest thing to let go?

~ don't forget to leave a comment to be entered to win of two copies of  

Three Thousand Doors

winners will be announced on September 6, 2010 ~

Fear can make a donkey attack a lion...(Arab Proverb)

Fear is an ugly word. an ugly four-letter word. 

A few months ago I had an email conversation with a dear friend of mine (we've known each other since high school.) We were discussing the upcoming release of my poetry collection (which is causing some mild anxiety - because of course, I want it to be PERFECT!)

I used a variety of words to describe my state of mind, and wrote: 

it's not fear.  it's just slight antsy-ness. a mixture of anxious and something else.  not worry or concern - but jitters.  like going on stage. excited, but mildly nauseated.  

and she repeated the word...FEAR.

I said:

but they (my words) don't sound as bad as FEAR! ...and it's not something that would keep me from doing it. there's simply a YIKES about being so close

Then, my long-time friend, my confidant, touchstone...the woman who calls bullshit on me, said:

You can’t escape fear, it’s an autonomic response.  A good one, as it’s what makes you haul ass so the saber-toothed tiger doesn’t eat you.  Or in this case motivates Karen’s DELUXE gene  – the Yikes factor – to avoid perceived failure.

Fear by itself is simply a motivator.  Fear is being on the verge, fear is the unknown, fear is the state right before a revelation, breakthrough etc.  It’s what happens on the other side of fear that can be good or “ugly.”  Fear is a vehicle to harness.

to which I replied: 

it sounds so pretty when you say it that way.

I've always associated fear with those who are too afraid to try anything! too afraid to change. too afraid to MOVE. too afraid to do anything but lock up inside themselves and let the world go on around them. 

Fear, by my definition, and what I've witnessed in life and people around me, has not been a motivator, but the thing that causes one to completely stall out. 

That's why I detest the word. Fear, in my vocabulary, has a very different definition than what you've just given. 

I like yours better.

prompt #14 Do you allow your fears to motivate you or stop you? What do you fear most? 

~ Blog Giveaway ~

I will be selecting two people to receive a copy of my poetry collection Three Thousand Doors. In order to get your name in the hat all you have to do is leave a comment anytime during August. I will announce the winners on Monday September 6th.