Ordinary Life

:: I paid full price for my copy of 'The Truth About Us'. This is not a purchased review or review for trade.  :: Full Disclosure:  Even after all the personally affronting, bracing-like-cold-water truths he felt compelled to share in  ' The Truth About Us ' , Brant Hansen is going to have to try much, much harder to get me to "unsubscribe" from his personal brand. However, I cannot keep this man's books on my shelves - here's why: As a long time listener and reviewer of previous books, I can't look away from the puppet-driven Hansen train as it plows happily through our comfort zones and leaves us asking pitifully for more accordion. In  ' Unoffendable' , Brant checks the mic: "Testing, testing, 3...2...1 - you have no right to be angry but you're not the only one" In  'Blessed are the Misfits' , Hansen raises the house lights: "Look around, all quirky, jaded and flawed souls, we do not misfit alone." And no...

This week's task was to write 5 sentences then leave them alone (til they come back home...to roost in my brain with stories that won't be denied)   This is another activity reminiscent of all that I learned in #TheArtistWay but only practice sporadically.  I have come to think of these little fragments as 'ThoughtStrings" and keep a folder for them on my phone, too.  I wrote more than 5, but I think its okay.  Five Sentences For Kate: (+ 2 for me)  The unexpected  arrives on an ordinary day, one just like all the days before it. Dear Eve, the lowhanging fruit is always bitter.  Her walls went up, invisible but fully electrified by the tripwire of his careless words.  Nunjas deflect temptation by habit, using nunchucks to keep their suitors away.  Along the way, you choose more carefully because hindsight is ever before you.  LutherAnn half expected to turn into a pillar of salt as she thumbed through the old scrapbook one last time befo...

Writing Task #2 was to choose a writing 'accountability' partner, so I tagged my friend Brad over @  BradWhittington.com . This fella has been Encyclopedia Brittanica (A-Z)  to my wide eyed wading out into the world. Once upon a very long time ago, he was just a random human in a chat room for grown-up PK's, but now he is a true confidant and my go-to guy when it comes to writing. He is working on a new project, so I stay accountable and in the loop. It's working out nicely. That Kate is full of good ideas.

In March of 2010, we were just returning from Islamorada. When we were in town, we explored the nearby parks and trails. I used my amateur marketing skills to mock up drafts for professionals to print. Easter @ The DeLaigle became a favorite family tradition.

As part of Kate DiCamillo's writing challenge during this quarantine season, she encouraged writing one page a day. This is a practice I started back when I went through Eva Shaw's Writeriffic course online and as I worked my way through The Artist's Way  in that class.  As with all good habits, it can be easy to let daily writing fall by the wayside, but this season has found creative types spurring each other on in continued creativity. I had already purposed to use this season for "getting back on the writing wagon" but the videos and encouragement of fellow creatives have helped me maintain that intent through the doldrums of days that bleed into one another for lack of enough structure.  So- I probably won't share every day I write down, who wants to decipher my sloppy handwriting? Definitely not me. But I will transcribe at least the first day where I finally made good on my promise to myself to 'get back to it' - editing all the way.  One Pag...

I had purposed to use some of this quarantine time to do that which I love to do: write & create. I believe those of us whose souls soar on creativity all heard the same call. And so, by the time I saw that Kate was sharing her light with reader and writer friends online, I had already begun. But it is the sharing of encouragement and the motivation of creative friends all around me that have kept me keeping on. Week 1 for Kate's Quarantine Camp: Write one page a day (fellow ArtistWay alum? Could be.)  Write a letter to someone, real or imagined.  My Letter To Mr. Rogers:  Dear Mr. Rogers,  Thank you for sitting with me when Momma had chores to do. Thank you for explaining things - even very basic things - instead of assuming I knew. You saved me from having to ask aloud, which was sometimes a hard thing to do.  Thank you for never pulling mean pranks or going for a low-hanging laugh. You were never a coarse friend, or bully. Thank you for not being too big ...