Good Riddance 2020

Welp, the last day of 2020 began fittingly. I went to bed early last night and then was wide awake at 2AM, so I doubt if I’ll be able to stay up until midnight tonight to kick 2020 all the way out the door unless I manage to take a nap. 😴

What a poopshow, amirite? Wish we could purge the whole thing from our memories, except for the part about my adorable grandson being born. I am not a fan of playing games over Zoom, though it’s better than nothing. Oh, somehow I managed to “lock” the keyboard of my new laptop, which sent me into a towering rage before dawn. I had to google on my phone how to unlock it, but that didn’t help, so I restarted. I don’t understand why turning off and on fixes stuff, but wev. It’s always the last thing I think of, even after all this time. I am typing this on my laptop now, so all is good until my next meltdown.😜

I’m no stranger to making resolutions, but like most people I don’t stick to mine, so why bother? The only thing special about tomorrow is the psychological aspect regarding the year number… nothing really changes. We are still in this plague, still have to wear masks, not socialize, not eat in restaurants, yada yada. I have flight credits, but they’ll likely expire before I’m all vaxxed up. 🙁

I made a new Facebook account in April after staying away for over 2 years, and while it’s nice to reconnect with peeps WHO DON’T READ MY BLOG, that’s the only thing good about it. So much repetitive bitching and boringness otherwise. I have never understood why people feel a need to link to news articles there or quote massively from them as if we can’t find CNN for our own damn selves. It’s not like the news isn’t in our faces 24/7 every time we log on to any device. It’s so irritating!

I have been trying not to read the political stuff on FB, or participate in it, same as on Medium and here in blogland, though sometimes it’s impossible to resist. Occasionally I retweet political stuff I agree with, but I don’t comment, even when trolled. It’s still a big waste of time. I guess if I were going to have a goal for 2021, it would be to read even fewer political posts and articles than I do now. There is nothing to be gained from it and every time I spend an hour reading that crap, there goes a poem that might have been written or read. I think of it this way ~ poetry can bring beauty into this world (or at least attempt to do so), while political jabber only ever takes away from beauty. It’s all stinky trash.

So yeah… the ending of this awful year hasn’t made me feel especially galvanized to take bold action to shake up my life. There’s really nothing much I can do at this point, except keep on keeping on. And you know what? That is good enough. I’ve long since abandoned the notion of perfection, as if that’s even remotely possible to attain, and while my habits can be tweaked for the better, I’m pretty okay with my mediocrity. I look forward to doing exciting things again, such as having a veggie quesadilla inside a restaurant at a table with friends and playing a board game in person afterwards. Yeah baby. Take me back to 2019, when we didn’t know how good we had it. I suppose that’s a “privileged” thing to say, but at least I acknowledge this.

~*~

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

High Stakes Poker [flash 125]

Satan shuffled the cards and glared at the other players. “Hellfire will rain down upon any cheaters in this game. I’m looking at you, Drac.”

“What can I say?” The vampire shrugged. “I’m just lucky tonight.”

Goddess Gaia rolled her eyes and popped a candy in her mouth. “Bring it, big boy. I need to schedule some earthquakes and tsunamis with Poseidon, so this is my last round. You know how cranky he gets.”

“Ending on a high note, Goddess?” Satan nodded toward her pile of chips. “Or maybe you’ll go bust.”

Gaia glanced at the cards he had just dealt to her and smiled. “We’ll see.”

“Enough bantering.” Dracula shoved a huge pile of chips to the middle of the table. “I’m all in.”

~*~

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

Rory’s Tricky Quickies

That Rory is so sneaky. How sneaky is he? He is so sneaky that he snuck his quickie questions in a Hello post! 😱

1. Why do you blog and continue to blog?

Because it’s there. No seriously, I participate in several venues that are about writing, as opposed to focusing on memes, photos, and vids. I have a need to express myself via the written word.

2. Keeping the following in mind – of 100% which % ‘s would you allocate to each of the forms of personal entertainment below and you taking part in them monthly?
Reading ~ 30%
Watching Films ~ 20%
Listening to Music ~ only when driving
Television Viewing ~ 0%
Online Gaming ~ 10%
Offline Gaming [Puzzles etc.] ~ 0% during plague and 15% normally, which cuts into writing and reading time
Walking/Exercising/Outdoor Activity ~ 5%
Cooking ~ 5%

WRITING! ~ 30%

3. Is society becoming stupider or just lazier?

Neither. People are how they’ve always been, but we have more free time to express ourselves and a wider audience to jabber at, so naturally we are more aware of all the “idiots” who disagree with our opinions.

We are naturally “lazy” like most animals because of biology ~ we try to conserve energy (aka fat) since we don’t know what’s in store tomorrow.

4. Is there such a thing as being too inked or having too many tattoos?

People should ink up as it pleases them. I’m not a fan however and I think people who get them on their face/neck are limiting their future opportunities.

5. Do you think some people deliberately try to be too hypersensitive to life or have people as a whole simply become overly sensitive naturally?

Neither. People are how they’ve always been. We simply have more free time to fuss over every trivial thing that comes up. Forex, it’s amusing how many people spent last weekend carrying on and on (and on) about the op-ed re DOCTOR Biden. No, I know ~ this is massively important. 🙄

6. What is the strangest outfit you have ever worn in public – deliberately as opposed to a prank, dare or a joke?

I dressed up as an elf for a holiday party once. 🎄

~*~

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

Four on the Fourth

Rory continues his prompt series with four new questions for us…

Before computers, Smartphones and so on what were you using when writing your stories and creating your literature?

I used a typewriter or a pen and paper. But I didn’t get much done due to my OCD issues. I kept starting over when I made a mistake or had an edit.

What type of games do you enjoying playing online?

With friends (over Zoom), lately I’ve been enjoying Dixit, Codenames, Taboo, and Tribond. I bought Ticket to Ride (app) but lost interest. I also started playing Words with Friends again, plus Word Blitz and Quiz Planet ~ those are all one on one via Facebook. I also play various solitaire games until I get tired of them.

What age were you when you first started reading and what were you reading at that age?

I dunno… maybe 5. My favorite book was Artie the Smartie, about a fish. Actually, most of the books I enjoyed as a kid were about animals. Then at 12 I discovered romance novels…

How do you prevent boredom entering into your life and are you able to list 6 effective ways in which others could introduce to stop it from entering theirs?

Boredom is a nonissue for me now that I’m older and have the internet. There’s always something new to read! There are also a ton of movies I’d like to see. And of course all my writing projects are waiting for me. Idk what others should do to alleviate boredom ~ I’m not good at giving advice.

~*~

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

Friday Fourgetting

1. Are you a perfectionist or can you take a step back and accept less than perfect?

I am pretty pretty pretty chill. Forex, when I began this post, I pondered the title because I failed to remember what I called previous FF’s. If I’d been numbering them, naturally I would need to give this one a sequential number. I looked up my previous FF’s and saw that I didn’t number them. But why were there only 9? I felt certain I’d done more FF’s than that. I clicked into Rory’s directory and discovered that he used to call them the Daily Four. Aha! I used that as my search term and found 8 more, but they weren’t numbered there either. Okay then.

Wait, what was the question? 🤣

2. How often do you save online articles to your favourites list for reading ‘later’ and more importantly when do you then read them – as in when is your ‘later?’

Pretty much never. I occasionally save a music vid to listen to when I’m in the mood, but that’s rare too. If something doesn’t grab me right away, chances are it never will and I’ll forget about it. That said, I occasionally read something so gorgeous or profound that I save it with the hope its goodness will (by osmosis) seep into my own writing. Still waiting…

3. When was the last time that you actively involved yourself in doing absolutely nothing for an hour and what did you do in that hour of nothing?

Probably played games on my phone. I don’t usually do this for an hour at a clip, but all the ten minute breaks add up. I don’t recall the last time I simply daydreamed for an hour, but it has happened.

4. When was the last time that you were engaged in a difficult conversation and if you can ‘what was it and how did you do?’

I try not to engage in them ever. If someone forces me to, I will stay silent or find some small point of agreement to placate them with as I edge toward the door. It’s cowardly, but it’s also practical, since most “difficult conversations” are not attempts to resolve anything, but merely an excuse to criticize someone else. There are exceptions, but this is my general MO. The last time I was forced to engage in such was this summer when someone called to complain about a friend of mine and why wasn’t I doing XYZ about it? Just ugh.

~*~

Written for Rory’s Friday Four.

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

Word Play [flash 97]

“Fifty points, ha!” Emma chortled exuberantly.

“Qi?” Trevor said. “That’s not a word.”

Emma pushed the Scrabble dictionary at him. “Is too. Look it up. But if you lose the challenge, you lose your turn.”

“Fine, take your points,” Trevor huffed. “But I’m googling it anyway. Oh geez, Chinese life force, usually spelled c-h-i. No wonder I didn’t know it. That’s not a normal English word.”

“Trev, you can’t cling forever to your old-fashioned ideas of what’s normal. Qi is a perfectly cromulent word.”

Trev rolled his eyes and played “bitch,” but it was worth only 12 points.

~*~

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

Oddball Share

Melanie has plucked some questions from the weird zone and offered them to us this week in a crazy bouquet. 💐

1. Is cereal soup? Why or why not?

Cereal is not soup, whether either is hot or cold. Soup is a liquid, while cereal is a solid. Some cereals can become liquidy if you add milk or water, but grain itself is not a liquid.

2. What are some interesting ways to answer everyday questions like “how’s it going” or “what do you do”?

How’s it going? It’s gone! What do you do? Depends on the price…

3. What was your favorite toy growing up?

I loved Super Spirograph, puzzles, and Barbies. Caveat: I liked the Barbies of yesteryear when you had a few dolls and the fun was buying new outfits and accessories for them. Today, it’s not like that. Dolls come prepackaged to a theme, with everything included. You buy a new doll/package for a new theme. It takes away from creativity. I used to improvise stuff for Barbie scenes, crochet rugs for her house, find teeny play pets, etc. This is the Barbie from the year I was born. Find yours!

3. If you have a pet, and you could ask it three questions, what would you ask?

Why are you so loud? Why do you have to chase the other kitty until she swats you? Why don’t you bury your poop?

Attitude of Gratitude Section (Always Optional)

What’s one simple thing society at large could do to improve our world?

WEAR A MASK! 😷

~*~

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

The Monday Peeve 62

Smiles and positive posts are all well and good, but sometimes I need to vent a bit. How about you? That’s what The Monday Peeve is all about, a chance to blow off a little steam at the beginning of the week, so then we can go merrily on our way once again (hah). I’ll pick a topic that’s on my mind, but you can vent about whatever you please, here in comments or on your own blog. Grab the photo, use the TMP tag, link back to me (or not), and Bob’s yer uncle. I do reserve the right to delete any links that offend my delicate sensibilities. So far, none have, but it could happen. I have feelings!

Okay, so today’s peeve is another techy one. Saturday night, I began to play games over Zoom, as you do, and my camera wasn’t working. WTF? This is a brand-new laptop! My last laptop had a non-working camera, among other issues, so I was really upset. I tried everything, reset the privacy buttons, restarted the computer, googled the issue, asked Zoom for help, asked Lenovo for help, etc. My roommate, who is much more technical than I am, was also stumped. I couldn’t focus on the games because I was so upset. I texted my daughters to bitch and complain, as I do.

My eldest asked me if I switched on the privacy screen. What? I don’t have one. So silly. Then she explained that there is an eensy weensy teeny tiny button at the center top edge of the screen. I couldn’t see it at first, but I felt it. HOLY CRAP THERE’S A SWITCH. I must have turned it on when I wiped my screen with an eyeglass cloth (the best way to safely clean finger smudges)… I switched it off and VOILA the camera began working. Yay! I went back to my games.

But the peeve is… why when both my roommate and I googled this problem did the easy, obvious solution not pop up first (or at all)? God, that was maddening!

~*~

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

Bridge [socs]

A trick in bridge is a good thing… four cards you collect from the players at the table. The object is to get as many tricks as you can in the deal. Often a couple plays bridge with another couple. My parents, for some odd reason, decided this would be a wonderful activity to try together. Except that my mom learned all the rules and took the game very seriously while my dad didn’t really care. They had gigantic screaming arguments…

They gave up bridge and never tried another shared hobby. My dad’s main joy was books and my mom liked puttering with sewing and gardening and (later on) genealogy. It was hard for them to even agree on a movie or TV show. I always thought this was sad and believed they were a mismatch. My idea was that a couple should have lots of things they could enjoy together.

Yet they were married for 50 years, until my mothers death in 2008. Looking back, I’m so glad they actually got to celebrate their 50th. It was only a few months later that Mom got diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She died four months after that, in April, a day after my father’s birthday. 💔

At the end, she said she’d been happy with my dad and he said the same about her. Now, I believe they truly did love each other despite all their differences. I’ve met many men I’ve had bunches in common with, and yet I never found a connection like theirs. Compassion, kindness, and commitment are the tricks to bridge the hard times.

~*~

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

FPQ87: Pandemic Pondering

Today Fandango provocatively asks…

Having been subjected to stay at home restrictions (to one degree or another) over the past six months, would you say that the quarantine has made you a better person? If so, in what ways? If not, why not?

Yes, I do think it has made me a better person regarding doing things for others. In the past, I viewed dangers as something only to worry about for myself (and immediate family), but now I think more about the wider implications of my actions. Let’s take mask wearing. I hate wearing a mask. Just gonna say it straight up. I find them super uncomfortable and annoying. In the past, I might have worn one to protect myself, but now I wear one for that reason and also because I don’t want to infect others, should I catch The Thing and not be symptomatic for a few days or so.

I’ve also learned that I’m not as much of a loner as I thought. While I have a higher tolerance for loneliness than most people I know, it’s not infinite. After a while, I really crave in-person conversation. And zooming is not a good substitute for me. It’s okay for playing games at times, but it doesn’t make me feel I’ve been with people. Kinda like cybersex back in the day…

Perhaps it’s made me a worse person too though, in that I have less tolerance for some beliefs. Or maybe that’s better! I used to be pretty accepting of quirky ideas, but now I’m not. But maybe it’s time I quit thinking that every lunatic notion is “interesting.” We’ll leave it at that.

~*~

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