The great flood...

So I woke this morning, at 2:30 am, to a partially flooded house.

Apparently the storm rolling through last night dropped 3-5 inches of rain in just an hour. This morning, several roads were closed due to flooding, so yah...it's not like I got the worst of it. (thank you!)

So let me tell you how much fun that was at 2:30 in the morning.

I lie. It was not much fun at all. I spent several hours mopping up water and basically just hoping that was the last of it. sigh. and being grateful that we have concrete floors and not carpeting. because omeyegawd...what kind of disaster would that have been!

In the morning light...after only a few hours of sleep...I...well, I was cranky. But this afternoon, I just kind of started feeling very "meh" about the whole thing. I mean, really, what do you do? We live in a basement apartment. weather happens.

Deep breath. sigh.

It made me evaluate though.

Had to get the computers and the cameras up to slightly higher ground. Make sure all the electrical cords are up so they don't get waterlogged and become useless.  Books. Shoes.

There is a part of me that sometimes craves simplicity. How I would love to be a minimalist...but my book collection alone makes that nearly impossible. How do people do it? I am in awe.

Phone. Books. Computer. Camera. External hard drive. Photos. Shoes. and my Honey Bear (teddy bear) a gift from my sister when I was 3.

It's all material...but it means so much!

Prompt #74: What would you save?

Metal & Steel

I have a new love. His name is Bob Schneider.

This singer/songwriter is swiftly shooting up in the ranks of my music loves and coming in a close second to my fave Band, Blue October.

He is a poet. with an incredible voice. I often wake up singing one of his songs in my head.

Bob and Blue October - both Texas talent...coincidence? nah...

I almost fell out of my chair when I found this live version today...because there is a cello! (you know how much I love the cello, right?) Have a listen:

METAL & STEEL

Prompt #73: Now, I want to hear (read) your interpretation of this song. if you need the lyrics you can read them HERE.

Hurl words into the darkness...

I would hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to tell, to march, to fight, to create a sense of hunger for life that gnaws in us all.  ~Richard Wright, American Hunger, 1977

There's nothing to writing.  All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.  ~Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith 

As writers, we have all hurled those words, we have all opened that vein...it is part of living, breathing, swimming in, our art. We are compelled to put our words to paper, in the hope of sharing it with the world; in the hope of feeding that frenzy; in the hope of reaching out to even one other soul who might take comfort, find solace or recognition in those words. 

We bleed onto the page, slice open our souls, pin emotion to the walls and wait...wait for an agent, an editor, a publisher, a friend, a stranger, anyone...to tell us we've done it. it's good. it's wonderful. it's ready. it's perfect.

and then...then, we do it all again. because we are never done writing; creating.

It takes bravery, persistence, a ridiculously thick skin, and a hell of a lot of gumption...but do it! Because you'll not regret trying, but you will mourn giving up. 

Prompt #72: Are you holding back or are you going for it?

Bad habits are like rotten meat...

they stink.

I have several bad habits.

I chew on the inside of my mouth.
I smoke (bleh.)
I procrastinate.
I sometimes try to divine deeper meaning from things that are simply...simple.
I analyze certain things too much, and sometimes, I don't pay proper attention to things that perhaps needed a bit more tending.
I crack my knuckles.
I snap my gum.
I don't always maintain eye contact when I'm speaking to someone (which doesn't mean I'm bored, it usually just means that I've got too many thoughts vying for first place in my brain...but the person I'm talking to doesn't know this.)

and...I have a terrible habit of letting myself fall into patterns of mediocrity. which is a terrible thing. because I fear being ordinary more than I fear spiders.

Being stuck is a position few of us like. We want something new but cannot let go of the old - old ideas, beliefs, habits, even thoughts. We are out of contact with our own genius. Sometimes we know we are stuck; sometimes we don't. In both cases we have to DO something. ~ Rush Limbaugh

Prompt #71: What bad habits do you need to break? How do you fight off the monsters of mediocrity and ordinariness?