HallChall2: Blood

My dream seemed absurd
In the pink glow of dawn;
Those hoofbeats I heard—
Mere drums in a song.
Then I saw the red rose
You left at my door:
So sweet to my nose;
Dripping blood on the floor.
My fingers were pricked,
By thorns vicious and vile;
I began to feel sick,
Then you appeared with a smile…

HallChall1

Written for Tourmaline’s Challenge.

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©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Friday Four on Saturday!

The Friday Four returns! Rory asks us to ponder thusly…

1. What three senses could you NOT live without? Discuss why…

This is purely financial: sight, hearing, touch. I could not work without being able to see and hear. If I felt nothing, I’d constantly hurt myself and be unable to work too. While I’d miss smell and taste, they aren’t necessary for my survival the way work is.

2. What is your favourite of these two and why? Pen or Pencil.

I love all writing tools, but if I’m forced to choose, I’ll go with pencil. I like being able to erase when I’m doing a puzzle and I love the variety of colored pencils for coloring. Not that I have been lately, but I might again!

3. What are your top 3 colours and why are they your favourites?

Turquoise because it’s so lush and vivid. Pure purple for drama and depth. Candy pink for laughter and happiness. (Also love sunflower yellow and lime green for tropical pops.)

4. Are you able to list 10 basic smells and if so what are they?

Vanilla, cinnamon, lemon, garlic, ocean, pine, mint, flowers, bread, wine…

Happy Rosh Hashanah! Have a sweet New Year! 🍯

RIP RBG 💔

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Super Jumbo Deluxe Combo Post

Time slid by like reflections smeared by the rain. Each moment seemed compelling until it was replaced by the next one, like a picture inside a kaleidoscope. She felt as if she were a mere park bench in a painting, observing her own life but not participating in it, still having trouble transitioning to this new way of living, working, being. There were smiles, of course, such as last weekend when she saw her friends again. They watched a movie outdoors, and it was L.A. Story with Steve Martin, which she thought she should like, but it was vaguely disappointing. Her instincts protested against all the grabbiness by the various characters, even though it was done in the name of comedy. That’s supposed to excuse a lot of unacceptable behaviors, isn’t it?

Maybe it was her, her habit of craving stability and sameness in a world gone mad. Perhaps it was time to fling off her fears and dive into the chaos, as she had done when younger. But that was a road to nothing ultimately, and while she didn’t have an overwhelming sense of regret for her choices, they hadn’t led to anything great either. But maybe greatness wasn’t the point… maybe a better method would be to appreciate each moment fully before it was washed away in the rains of time bla bla bla. As her favorite quote went: life is short; eat dessert first.

That thought reminded her of one of her favorite books: The Unbearable Lightness of Being. She had read it several times, and it was such a great study in the intricate differences of perspectives. When they cast Daniel Day Lewis as the lead, she’d been pleased. He so perfectly matched the image in her mind of the philandering doctor in the book. The movie itself was good, but it couldn’t live up to the book’s greatness because there was no way to bring in all the crucial nuances of the narrative.

The Glass Castle, on the other hand, had disappointed her with the lead. This was one of her favorite books and yet Brie Larson as Jeannette didn’t feel right at all. There was something off about her voice, tone, and looks. She’d never envisioned J as an adult Manhattan snob the way she was portrayed by Brie. There was a strong undercurrent of angst and loss in the book’s Jeannette, not this smoothly perfect adult. However, Woody Harrelson as the raging alcoholic father was a perfect fit. She decided that casting was an onerous task and she would certainly find it tough. There were so many factors to consider.

In any case, she had a family beach day to look forward to tomorrow, which would probably end up as next week’s smile. But how was it possible that over half a year had passed in this strange limbo? She didn’t want to spout cliches, but she had the eerie sense that the ending was rushing toward her like an out of control semi-truck on a slippery downhill slope. Or perhaps it would be a warm gentle fog of nothingness as the colors all blended into one…

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Written for Trent’s Weekly Smile.

Written for Fandango’s Provocative Question 84.

Written for Fandango’s Dog Days of August 26.

Written for Eugi’s Weekly Prompt ~ Transition.

Image credit ~ lovethispic

Regarding Museums…

I love museums. I don’t much care what kind either because there’s generally something of interest ~ I’ve even been to the tiny International Surfing Museum in Huntington Beach (I don’t surf). Perhaps this is because I was born in New York and my parents took me to a lot of museums there when I was a kid. They bring me joy and are associated with (mostly) happy memories.

My favorite artist is probably Van Gogh. I love Starry Night, Twelve Sunflowers, Irises, Wheatfield, and Cafe Terrace at Night, among others. He used a lot of yellow and blue together, and I read in my aesthetics class that many people find this the most pleasant color combo. Even Vincent’s still-life fruits are eye candy to me. Lemons! His skies are alive with swirls and whorls and stars that are outsized in brilliance, giving me the feeling of how majestic and complex a night sky can be. Likewise, his fields and gardens are lush and waving, as if a breeze just passed by. And then there are the people (including himself) whose faces convey stark emotion, often bone-deep weariness. Or madness…

But it isn’t only art museums I enjoy ~ history and science ones are great too. I’m always up for a planetarium exhibit, just don’t ask me to remember any of it the next day. Some facts stick in my brain and some don’t. Loved the natural history museum back in NY when I was a kid (and also am a fan of Ben Stiller’s Night at the Museum movies). The Human Body Museum was creepy but interesting. Back when I was Las Vegas bound, I planned to visit the Mob Museum. Still want to someday.

Of course there’s always the book museum, aka library, that’s the best one of all. 😍

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Photos of Paula taken at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (top) and The Broad in Los Angeles (bottom)

Puzzle Time! [socs]

More procrastination tools for those who are “writing a novel.” 😂

Okay, so I have a new app called “Jigsaw Puzzle,” which admittedly is not a very creative name. But it’s super fun, and no they are not paying me to say so. I’ve been doing the free puzzles so far, but I may pay for some eventually. We’ll see. The free ones are great though! 🤩

I was skeptical at first… I mean, what? Who wants to do a puzzle on their phone? But it works well, surprisingly. Let me show you. First, we pick a puzzle and scatter it into 400 pieces (more on some devices).

Next, we change the background color to one that looks better with these particular pieces. And we tell it to show us edges only. See the bottom buttons? You change colors there, pull up the original for checking, etc.

We complete the frame and the rest of the pieces appear again like magic!

Now we sort our pieces. I start by sorting for color, usually a striking one that is in a small area. You can stick pieces in “trays” if you like. Sometimes that’s helpful to keep colors together and get them out of your way.

Progress! 😍

I want to illustrate what I do when the “easy” colors are gone and it’s time to hunt for shapes. I will say (left to right in the tray below)… normal green piece vertical, normal green piece horizontal, 4 outies, 4 innies, 2 right feet, 2 left feet, etc. Works for me!

And voila!

I’m getting really into these puzzles. Very relaxing and non-competitive. Plus, the cats can’t swipe the pieces onto the floor. 🐱🐱

And! The default setting is “grabby.” What I mean is that when you place a piece near its correct spot, the table grabs it. Coolest thing ever, especially when it happens randomly. But more importantly, it lets you know that a placement is right.

Yeah, yeah this wasn’t entirely stream of consciousness because I had the pics ready from the other day when I thought it might be fun to document my puzzling for a post. Like whatever… deal with it!

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©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Image credits ~ Jigsaw Puzzle

Algae Green

I made it through July without missing any days of City Sonnet’s photo challenge! Yay me! And thanks to CS for a very fun set of prompts.

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©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Image is mine.

Seaweed Green

More green coming at you via the prompt from City Sonnet!

Cute huh? 🐱❤️🐱

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Image is from Diane.

Blues Clues

Wow, so many blues! Today’s prompt from City Sonnet calls for whale blue…

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©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Images from Happy Color and me.

Girl Talk [flash 160]

Carol danced into the room and interrupted the conversation. “Girls, how do you like the new me?”

“Uh, we liked the old you,” Janet said. “Gosh, that’s a lot of purple you’re wearing.”

“People are swearing?” Rosemary yelled.

“No, dear,” Carol shouted back. “Adjust your hearing aid. We are talking about how I’m going to live life to the fullest now that I’ve turned eighty-five.”

Janet waved a hand. “Don’t make excuses for wanting more male attention, Carol. We know how you are. But the guys are gonna laugh at your crazy clothing.”

“Psssh, I just passed Leo in the hall and he called me a hottie.” Carol smiled.

“Leo is blind, honey,” Rosemary said. “This hearing aid has a poor design. It’s not my fault. Did anyone bring coconut cookies?”

Carol swirled around the table. “People can believe whatever they want! Feathers and sequins make me happy!”

“Fine,” Janet said. “Are you in for Go Fish or not?”

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©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Coral… Blue?

I didn’t think there was blue coral when I saw the prompt from City Sonnet for today, but I searched my photos and guess what?

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Image is mine.