All The Leaves Are Brown [SOCS]

Leaves 🍁 are lovely when they change color, and it used to be a fine tradition to press them in waxed paper between leaves of a book, when we found particularly pretty specimens. Now, I live in Southern California, where we don’t generally have a visible change of seasons, and I also do most of my reading electronically. But I’m not one to pine away for the past, for the most part. I’ve never been back East since I left in 1983, to witness the beautiful colors of the trees in autumn, though I wouldn’t mind going, someday.

My first thought was to write about people leaving, as in relationships, but I like to begin the SOCS with the prompt word, in its proper form, and I couldn’t come up with anything that made grammatical sense. For the regular daily prompts, I don’t always use them in their proper form, and now this inconsistency may bother me.

Or not!

I see I italicized pine because I thought I’d stuff this post with more tree words, but I forgot, and now it’s time to branch out to other endeavors and schedule this thing already. Yes, I am barking mad, thank you for asking! 🤪

In Other Words, compliment…

“They” say you’re supposed to ask for what you need,

But whenever I did, the excuse train came chugging down the track;

“They” say you’re supposed to model what you desire,

So I gave praise and said sweet nothings,

But I never heard a single compliment back.

~*~

Prompt from Patricia

One-Liner Wednesday: Tigers

I deleted identifying information from this blurb so as not to out the typo-ist. Fact is, we all typo, even the most OCD of us. But I couldn’t resist saving and sharing the humor, especially on a headache day. (It is not a migraine day, just a headache day.)

Tigers are magnificent, and should be valued and protected, but typos aside, I can see comparing a migraine to one. They prowl in the forests of my dreams, ready to pounce when I open my eyes. They claw and bite, making me want to return to the soothing darkness. But it’s too late. Once a tiger has found me, there’s no respite from his merciless attack until I calm him down with prescription medication.

~*~

One-Liner Wednesday

Why I Write…

The answer to this question varies with my mood. Some days I have a story to share that I think people will enjoy. Other times I simply need to express myself and words are my best tool for that. There are times I feel like being clever with language. Other days I have this ridiculous notion I’ve come up with something important to convey. Once I answered this question by talking about how writing fiction and poetry is the best way for me to organize my scattered thoughts and make some kind of sense of this messy world too.

I was thinking about all this a little while ago when I re-downloaded my drafts of Attractive Nuisance and Sweet Nothings from the cloud. The other day I’d told a friend I hadn’t been working on a novel lately, only flash fiction and poetry, because I can’t focus for more than a few minutes at a time. But ever since yesterday, when I impulsively replied to Jim’s post about a song, by jabbering on about an old pile of writing, I’ve been energized about working on this layered tale again.

Thing is, I don’t think it’s coincidence that this happened at the end of a week when I’m feeling especially frustrated at other people’s behavior. I’ve never been good at seeing patterns in the actions of real characters unless they’re completely obvious. I’m much better with fiction. And, of course, writing my own gives me a feeling of control I get nowhere else ~ I create a new world, populate it with my creations, and make them do what I want.

Just noodling. Back to work! 😀

More Things I Hate

I see it’s up to me to break up the syrupy brunch of Mommy Day posts full of flowers and pancakes and goopity goo, mm yes please I would like another mimosa hold the OJ thanks…

What was I saying? Oh! Yes, things I hate. Let’s start with slide. No, I’m not talking about those things in the park next to the swings. I’m talking about the absolutely enraging expression “it was a slide into the DMs.” If you haven’t been living under a rock, you know that this is the stupid way young people describe encountering one another privately on a social media site for romantic/ sexual purposes.

In other words, he sent her a message.

For fuck’s sake. We already have normal words like message, text, and email. We don’t need this idiotic slide thing. It drives me bananas.

Next up is drop. This is a word we use in its appropriate sense all the time as in these examples:

1. He drops women after three dates.

2. Don’t drop the baby, Grandma!

3. I dropped the package off at FedEx.

In the past, we had a perfectly good word to describe the action of an artist releasing a new piece of work, whether a song, album, book, painting, etc. We used the word release, in fact! But now these irritating people are using the word drop just to annoy me.

“My single dropped at midnight.”

It sounds like code for a spy operative. “The dog didn’t bark?”

“No, he was poisoned by the double agent.”

“Funny, I thought you were the double agent.”

“Well, actually–”

😡😡😡

Even more things I hate coming soon!

Expository [SOCS]

“Experiences over things” is another one of those irritating expressions that people parrot mindlessly. I used to see it creep onto dating profiles before I exited that whole expanse of pants. 😛

What does it mean? Welp, let me explain. Instead of buying Mom a nice cupcake-scented candle or a cute kitty tee shirt for Mother’s Day, take her to Tahiti. Don’t get Dad a boring tie for Father’s Day either ~ think of the wasteful packaging! Consider doing something more fun like taking him ziplining over the Amazon. Dads love that! Put the expense on his credit card. 😂

People without a lot of money have always been creating experiences. Family dinners, picnics, BBQs, potlucks, game nights, a day at the beach/lake/park, etc. are all part of normal life for everyday folks. It’s only now that the rich have discovered they haven’t been spending enough time with people who matter that they’ve come up with this absurd phrase. 🙄

Also, for anyone who may be related to me: I still expect the candle and tee shirt.

Mother’s Day is May 12. 🌷

Weekly Prompts ~ Food Cravings

My tastes haven’t changed much since I was 14, not in food or anything else really. I guess that’s sad in some ways, if you’re the type of person who believes that life should be about growth and change. Or maybe I’m just true to who I am, a girl who’s partial to grilled cheese, word games, and men with British accents. 🇬🇧

(No, that doesn’t mean I want to play Guess the Blogger with scrambled letters and obscure clues to people I don’t follow! 🙄)

So, decades later, when I crave things, it’s still the same things. Cheesy noms like mac and cheese, pizza, nachos, quesadillas, etc.

Equally, I have yearnings for the sweet side of the buffet. Chocolate chip cookies, PB cookies, lemon bars, cupcakes, pumpkin or key lime pie with graham cracker crust…

I’m not a chocoholic though and don’t usually crave chocolate by itself, though I do love homemade chocolate chip cookies, which is why I put them first. If people ask me which kind of cake is my favorite, I’ll say coconut ~ my standard answer since I was a kid.

Around once or twice a year I crave a big juicy cheeseburger from 5 Guys or In-N-Out. I usually don’t have the patience for the In-N-Out line though. This is how you can tell I was born in New York: always in a hurry, even when there’s nowhere to go.

~*~

Weekly Prompts

In Other Words, decisions…

I used to be indecisive,

Uncertain which way to go.

But now I can say with confidence

That I’m definitely, absolutely

Right smack-dab in the middle of the road!

~*~

Prompt from Patricia

Tea Talk

I like to believe that I retain a youthful outlook on life, but I must yield to the facts. I’m a picky old lady!

Forex, let’s take tea, my favorite hot beverage. In my 20s, I dgaffed what kind of tea I drank… it was all fine. But as I’ve matured, my tastes have narrowed considerably. Unless it’s near bedtime, I want only black tea, and I prefer it flavored with orange spice. Occasionally, we can omit the orange spice and substitute something else yummy, such as almond or vanilla, but plain black? Meh.

Confession: I carry a supply of black/ orange teabags in my purse just in case I need hot tea when out of the house.

Cat? ✅

Homebody? ✅

Fusspot? ✅

Auroral Mist

At the edge of rock and sky,

She breathed frozen air

And was energized.

Lights glowed in benediction;

She raised her arms and prayed.

Dancers flowed and twisted,

Magnetized from pole to pole,

Swirling, streaming,

In the green auroral mist.

She had to come to the end

Of the earth to kill the pain,

But instead

Was born again.

~*~

Elemental Writing Challenge: Earth/Magnetic

Opposites Attract Challenge: April 20