D.G. Kaye's Blog, page 181

Which Is More Important? Writing or What We Write? – Helping Writers Become Authors

 

Which Is More Important? Writing or What We Write? – Helping Writers Become Authors.

Today I am sharing a blog post from one of my favourite, informative blogs I enjoy reading. K.M. Weiland writes a lot about writing. Today she has posted an excerpt from author Bryan Hutchinson’s book Writer’s Doubt.

Bryan writes about how authors struggle with so much internally about their own work. Issues of self-doubt, rejection and many times our internal editor can tend to get in our own way as we write.

For more articles on writing you can check out Bryan’s website at www.positivewriter.com

The Pink Basket

Lately, I have been reading many books on writing, in particular, writing in memoir. A great book I just read and has now become a great reference book for writing prompts is Old Friend From Far Away, by Natalie Goldberg. Her writing is intense with descriptive words and the lessons she uses to promote ten-minute writing prompts to awaken the creative juices in a flash are so motivating.

One of Goldberg’s first prompts is, “I am looking at …”. She writes, “You have ten minutes to write, go!” I have been using this exercise a lot lately. Since reading her book, sometimes while I’m not writing, I find myself doing something around the house and my attention may be drawn to a mundane object and I begin creating stories in my head about them.

This little story came to me  while I was doing a load of laundry. When I took a load out of the dryer, I placed it into my old faithful, pink laundry basket. Many times when I look at that basket, I chuckle when I think about how old that basket is and where it came from. I began with “I am looking at this pink laundry basket” and my memory took over.

The basket has been around my homes for well over half a century! When I moved away from home as a  teen, I took it with me as my mother prepared to toss it out while we packed up our family home. Everyone was moving. My parents were finally divorcing and my dad sold our beautiful home with the circular driveway.

My father had already moved out. My mother was taking my younger siblings to a smaller home and I was eager to find peace and start life on my own at eighteen. I was young and starting from scratch so I inherited some furniture from our home and I knew I would be needing a laundry basket, and whatever I didn’t have to buy was good enough for me.

I never really gave much thought to the basket other than its usefulness. Through the years I have moved a lot and that basket came everywhere with me. But as the decades passed, it had become very symbolic. With its once bright pink color, it had become faded to a lightened shade of peach. The years had left many marks on it but it is still in perfect condition and sturdier than the flimsy baskets made today.

When I was four years old, I loved to play with that basket. This is certainly quite an odd object for a child to want to play with, but for me it became a kind of safe-haven. I grew up living in much discord and I feared my mother’s temper. When I was very young, I used to imagine I was a princess who would one day be famous and free. Quite a combination for a young child to think about, and the famous part especially was interesting because I didn’t know what I wanted to be famous for. I would jump in my bed and I would put that basket over my head—like a cage, as though I were in solitude. Nobody could find me (I thought) and I was safe from the noise of my mother’s rants.

Once inside my own private world, my imagination took over and I would go into my princess land and I felt safe and content.

Goldberg’s book opens up the imagination. You begin with being prompted such as: “I am looking at,” which starts the writing and your thoughts will drive you to the story from what you are looking at. You don’t stop to think or revise. You follow your thoughts from the initial object you began writing about, and the writing begins to take on a new life about the subject as you continue to write. There are many writing prompts in Old Friend From Far Away which awaken our memories and can be used over and over using different subject matters.

Spring Has Sprung

  After going through one brutally harsh winter here in Toronto, I do believe spring has finally arrived. I hope I’m not jinxing it by writing about it because we did have two warm days a few weeks ago when the natives got overly excited, only to find the temperatures went back down to the mid-forties the very next day. Many questioned whether or not we’d even see summer. Seven long months of winter was more than anyone wants to endure again, yet we don’t know if next year will be a repeat, or hopefully this past thrashing was only a passing fluke in bizarre climate.

As I looked out my kitchen window earlier this week, I was hoping to see a hint of the promise of leaves on the trees, I was hoping that it would only be a matter of having a few nice, consistent warmer days to change the way things were looking. Within a few more days, the temperatures began to rise from forty and fifty degrees to the mid-high sixties.

Yesterday, after seeing only a tiny few buds on some of my trees two days prior, I began seeing new life with a sudden growth spurt. My garden had survived winter’s wrath and peaked out, knowing instinctively that it was safe to come out.

I wanted to post these pictures displaying the new growth around my garden because it is truly remarkable that within three days, it went from bare to this:

Nevada Fly Geyser

 

A friend sent me an email with some magnificent pictures of a beautiful geyser in Nevada I wasn’t familiar with but I was totally captivated by the pictures and the description that I thought I’d share some of the beauty here.

I have a great love for the Nevada and Arizona desert and mountains and my husband and I have been talking a lot these past few months about retiring as snowbirds to Arizona in the near future. These pictures are good reminders for our goals. Beauty and serenity.

 

 

The Nevada Fly Geyser, also known as the Fly Ranch Geyser is a geothermal geyser located in Washoe County, Nevada. The geyser itself is approximately five feet high but with the travertine mound it rests on, makes it about twelve feet high. This mound was created by dissolved minerals that started rising and accumulating beneath the geyser. The brilliant colors reflected are due to the thermophilic algae. The geyser discharges water into approximately thirty to forty pools creating an ecosystem over seventy-four acres.

This geyser is situated on a privately owned ranch in Hualapai Flat.There is no access to the public but can be seen from the nearby road.

This geyser is not a natural phenomenon as it was created in 1964 by drilling for geothermal energy.

Cover Reveal — Meno-What? A Memoir – Memorable Moments of Menopause

Some of you may have noticed I have been sparse these past few weeks. It’s that busy time once again getting my new book — MENO-WHAT? A Memoir - Memorable Moments of Menopause. ready to put out into the world.

It is all the fine-tuning that involves such intricate detail, time for revisions and editors and more revisions. Time to make sure your book cover shines and portrays perfectly what the book is about. And time, again to revise to make sure everything is just right before formatting to prepare for publication.

These are the times when the days turn into nights without notice. The times we find it hard to squeeze in time to even cook a meal, let alone get dressed.

By mid-May, I will be happy to share my new book with all of you. At this time, I would like to share my cover reveal here with the book description listed below.

I was inspired to write this book to show a lighter side of this sizzling phase of life by providing some deja vu moments for some women who have done the dance and to share with others who have yet to experience it, some of the crazy rides menopause can take us on.

Big thanks to my Book Cover Artist and Designer: Yvonne Less, diversepixel.com

 

“I often found myself drifting off the course of normal with a sudden twist of bitch.”

 

From PMS to menopause to what the hell?

D.G. adds a touch of humor to a tale about a not-so-humorous time. While bidding farewell to her dearly, departing estrogen, D.G. confronts taming her raging hormones of fire, relentless dryness, flooding and droughts, and other unflattering symptoms.

Join D.G. on her meno-journey and her approach to slay the dragons of menopause, while trying to hold on to her sanity, memory, hair and so much more!

 

D.G. Kaye ©2014

Waiting for Spring — Winter’s Wrath

Spring-time never ceases to fascinate me with the first sightings of new life in the garden. This past brutal winter in particular, left me doubting whether or not many of my plants and flowers had survived the cruel force of the elements which pummeled them endlessly.

The relentless winds and weighted ice lay stubbornly on the branches, bending and snapping some off in its fury. I recall layering myself up on more than one occasion and going out into the three feet of snow in my backyard to correct the weighted branches in an effort to save my plants. I reinforced their structure with metal stands to try to re-align their spines in hopes of seeing them flourish once again.

Inspecting my garden every year in the advent of spring, always stirs my curiosity. While I search in detail for sprouting of buds and a hint of green, it never fails to delight.

Tomorrow is May 1st. “Really?” I question. The temperature today is still in the mid forties. The trees are blowing and the sky remains grey with intermittent, violent rain. If I had no calendar to know what month it is, I would have to say it feels like the end of Fall, November. Preparing for winter. I haven’t stopped turning on my fireplace since last October. It has been seven long months of winter here.

So many people have endured a most brutal winter in many parts of the world. Many of those people have been gifted with arrival of Spring by now. Earlier in April, we had to fluke days when our temperatures went up to the high sixties, leaving a false hope for many and my plants. After each of those days passed, the temperatures dropped right back down to the forties and the odd time reached in the low fifty degrees mark.

I always worry about my plants being fooled by the false starts of the arrival of Spring. Some plants come out of their winter sleep being duped into believing it was safe for them to come out, only to be hit with continued cold temperatures. Then I begin to wonder how many plants I will have to replace, yet again, when winter’s shenanigans have stopped playing tricks.

As I look out my window, I am inspired to see one of my shrubs growing tiny, green buds. The last section of snow in my backyard has surprisingly melted and although it feels nothing like Spring, I feel optimistic that somehow, my garden has endured the wrath of winter and will eventually bloom once again, with new life.

Social Courtesy

When did it become acceptable to stop saying thank you or excuse me? When were the rules of common courtesy changed?

I realize people are busy, but we shouldn’t forget about common courtesies in every aspect —  cyber or real life. Why are some people so pushy in the grocery store? I can’t tell you how many times I encounter rudeness there. People will literally squeeze their body right in front of you and a shelf as if you aren’t even standing there, without batting an eye or uttering an ‘excuse me.’

Another peeve of mine is when the aisles are narrow, people will park their cart smack in the center while they’re ten feet up the aisle hoarding things to come back and throw into their cart, which also happens to be holding up four other people. I don’t get it and it pisses me off. I don’t think courtesies should be any different in the cyber world with social media.

I like to live by the adage of giving back. It works for me. I give and I receive and sometimes although it may take awhile until the universe gives us back in gratitude, it always does.

In our social cyber world there are so many of us in it struggling to be seen or heard. We all want our words of wisdom heard or mentions of our works to be seen, but we cannot ask for these things without giving back and so we shouldn’t. This is the proper etiquette of social media. This mantra is talked about often in our social cyber world. There are many publications on how to be diplomatic and not pushy with our tweets but sometimes I am puzzled by the amount some of us put out to praise others on a continual basis and yet some of these praises aren’t even acknowledged by a thank you nor are they reciprocated so our words in turn may be shared. I personally don’t think it is fair or good business.

Some will thank you, some will not and there are some who won’t pay the courtesy back to retweet or repost someone else’s info. I can’t help but wonder if this is because they cannot be bothered or if somehow the thought of putting something out or resharing for someone else takes away from themselves. The universe is abundant. A kindness we pay to someone won’t take away from ourselves, in fact it would make us shine brighter. So a simple reminder for us all to be courteous is the message I am sharing here.

Helpful Writing Tips – From the Blog of Kristen Lamb

 

 

Today I am posting another informative post from Kristen Lamb’s blog. This particular article offers a Red Flag checklist on common errors that writers sometimes overlook. Kristen comments on the importance of editing for all writers — experienced and new. She reminds us that ‘cleaning up’ our manuscripts, with her flagged list, not only makes the editor’s job easier to read but also results in costing writers less in editing fees.

Five Warning Signs Your Story Needs Revision | Kristen Lamb’s Blog.

Echoes of Life

It is funny how much we tend to over-look so many things in life – things that are so matter-of-fact which exist in our daily lives yet we may take no notice of their significance until something happens to remind us of their existence.

I am referring to the topic of telephone answering machines. We simply take it for granted that the person leaving an outgoing message when they aren’t home, a simple gesture, can live on much longer than the actual person who’s voice has left that message.

My husband came home from work the other day and instead of being in his usual jovial mood when he returns from work, he appeared to be flustered and distracted. When I asked him what the matter was he responded by telling me that he had tried to get in touch with his grandson that day but he wasn’t home and when the answering machine picked up, he was greeted by a message left from his daughter Sue who had recently passed away. He hadn’t anticipated hearing the sound of his daughter’s voice again and the incident had temporarily froze him in time. He sat silently then for a few moments after hearing her voice in short reminisce of his lost daughter and shed some tears. The voice from the past had certainly taken him by surprise.

After he shared the incident with me he questioned whether or not the message was a good thing to keep on the machine or if he should speak to his grandsons about changing it. As I had never been faced with this type of dilemma, I told him that his grandsons may either not be aware of it or perhaps they may be and choose to leave it on until they are ready to change it;  a delicate subject at this time to bring up.

I found the whole incident haunting yet touching and I can’t even pretend to imagine what went through my husband’s mind when he was caught off guard at that moment. The incident did however bring to mind a beautiful article I had read a few months previous, written by my writer friend Elaine Mansfield who writes beautiful articles on the subject of grief and bereavement. Elaine wrote an article on a related topic when she was deciding what to do with her husband’s cellphone after her beloved husband had passed away http://bit.ly/1n4Tx41

I don’t believe there is a right or wrong way to answer this question. Perhaps for some of us, the sound of a lost loved one’s voice is a comfort or for others it may just reinforce or reignite the grief process.

Savvy Grocery Shopping

 

Grocery shopping has always been one of my least favourite past-times. It is ironic for someone like me who loves to shop anything, that grocery shopping is not high on my list of enjoyment. This is mostly because it is time consuming. I am not one to grab things and go. I am a big-time reader of labels, ingredients and expiration dates. I like to eat healthy so I am always ultra aware of sodium content, sugar amounts and if there is  fibre involved for nutritional value.

What is up with the escalation of grocery prices and the quality of produce going down? I can’t help but notice how expensive everything is becoming and as I like to pride myself on being a very savvy shopper. I also notice in my local grocery store that when items go out of stock it can take weeks until they are replaced. I can’t help but wonder if this is due to poor management or if  the employees down the ladder of authority just can’t be bothered doing their jobs properly.

I went to my local supermarket yesterday for the third time in 3 weeks. Once in between that time I went to another supermarket which I favour because it has so many more products and the prices are considerably lower. But as it isn’t always convenient for me to go to the other side of town, I only get to my favourite store about once a month and stock up on items I can’t get at my local grocer.

Yesterday I went to my local store to pick up a few things and it was mainly coffee that I was there to buy – the type you pour the beans into a bag and choose how finely ground you prefer it. Three weeks had gone by and all the coffee in the bins was still EMPTY. I couldn’t believe how a major supermarket could be out of coffee for three weeks and when I brought it to one of the employee’s attention, he replied with “Oh, has it been that long?”

As I cruised by a few aisles I also noticed that some of the items I use on a regular basis were ‘out of stock’ on the shelves. I found that was becoming common and not coincidental that every time I shopped there, something I needed always seemed to be out of stock. It really irked  me that these places could charge so much money, yet the products they offer never seem to have stable availability on a regular basis. Surely if I owned a store and kept track of best selling items I would make it my business to keep them properly replenished to maximize profits and keep my customers from going to the competition.

My biggest complaint was about the produce. The prices of much of the produce are so expensive that one would expect that these things wouldn’t be bruised or already over-ripe.

Being a savvy shopper, I am well-versed in pricing of groceries and department stores. I suppose my years of being a shopaholic has afforded me the experience of knowing prices, sales and coupons to get the best bang for my buck. If I like something and the price is worth it to me, I buy it. On the other hand, my principles about never over-paying for something won’t make me hesitate to leave an item behind if I deem it a ridiculous price. If I cannot justify the price, it’s not coming home with me.

I remember once last year I wanted to buy some cherries, about a pound and a half and when the check-out girl rang them up I saw a price of around $12.00. I almost choked and asked her to remove it from my bill and told her that she could keep them.

Almost all supermarkets will reduce prices on produce for fast sale if they are reaching their expiry date. You should always check the expiry dates on foods that can spoil, such as produce and dairy products.

Yesterday while I was at the grocery store I thought I’d pick up a few vegetables to get through the weekend. They sell a pre-shredded package of brussell sprouts that I love and although they aren’t naturally my favourite vegetable, when they are shredded like cole slaw they become more accessible to create a tasty side-dish I make out of them (see recipe below). This little package costs $4.99, somewhat steep but being when I get through cooking them it makes enough for two side-dish dinners for two. But when I picked up the last of two packages I noticed the expiry date was the next day with no price reduction and they were already looking like they were on their way to drying out. I stood for a moment wondering if I should just leave them there because I couldn’t justify the price and then I decided to take action. I looked for the grocer and showed him the sprouts and asked him how come they weren’t marked down when they were ready to be tossed out. I told him I would buy them if he lowered the price. He kindly agreed as he took his black marker from behind his ear and marked the label as .99 cents.

I was elated that I had the nerve to ask for a markdown and promptly received one. It never hurts to ask for a price change. If you notice items constantly out of stock, look for a floor attendant to find out what the problem is, and hopefully you will get a better answer than I did for the lack of coffee in stock. If you call items to someone’s attention there is a better chance the issues will be recognized and rectified. Pay attention to expiry dates. I like to shop with a loose plan of what I’ll be cooking for the week. If the dates on the produce aren’t going to make it through that time period, ask for a discount and use as soon as possible or leave it behind.

Recipe – Sauteed Brussell Sprouts:

1 Package pre-shredded sprouts (or about 4 cups hand shredded)

2 Cloves of Garlic chopped

3 Tablespoons of Olive oil

1 Onion minced

Salt and pepper to taste.

Steam the sprouts in water for approx. 7 minute until they soften.

In a separate pan, heat oil and saute onion until it starts to brown and then add garlic and brown. Then add shredded Brussell sprouts and seasoning and toss around in fry pan for about 5 minutes. Enjoy!