Writer's block...

Wiki says: "Writer's block is a condition in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task in hand. At the other extreme, some "blocked" writers have been unable to work for years on end. Writer's block may have many causes... A writer may run out of inspiration, or something more serious like physical illness or depression, financial pressures", etc.

Why did I write that for you, readers? Because someone pointed out to me that I haven't been writing as much as lately. And I asked myself "Why?" Well, part of it has to do with being busy with school, and work, and real life, too. School is back, but without as much vengeance or intensity as the math class I just completed. (That one pushed my limits, and I find I'm looking for that again!) While my current classes are interesting, they're a little slow paced. Or maybe I'm just the A-type who thrives on a million and one things going on. I know that I had an issue with changing my life after being on the go all the time when I had six kids to shuffle from activity to meeting to school to friends. It took a little while to adjust to it. I figured I'd adjust in August after math ended. So now, I tend to hunt for things to keep me busy!

Besides the actual busy things in life, I have a few other issues that I'm trying to deal with in my own way. Sometimes life takes funny paths and sometimes the little things keep nagging at you, until you do something about them. I'm still at the "being nagged" stage, and haven't done anything about the issues. Suffice it to say that "this too shall pass".

However, I am pushing through some of it, and making sure I get myself out and feed my need for taking pictures. Wednesday, I left work early and walked downtown Chandler and took a few shots, like these boots on display (link here to see more). It was a beautiful morning for taking photos.

I'll get the writing bug back soon, I'm sure; most days, I don't feel right if I'm not writing! Aren't you lucky? haha

HUGS to everyone!

School, week 4

We're well out of the starting gate and gearing up for the first stretch. So far, library sciences has been very interesting! I have two classes for this. One is about Libraries, including the history of libraries and a librarian's role in today's libraries. So far, we've had to visit library websites and compare and contrast them; there are four types of libraries: public, academic, special and K-12. While they each do the same thing, which is provide access to knowledge, they do it in different styles, depending on the patron they're serving. Did you know the Library of Congress has webcasts? I watched Stevie Wonder on Saturday :) And the historical photos section: I found some pix of old Dayton Ohio buildings, many of them I have taken pix of myself :) I also found pix entitled "Potato workers near East Grand Forks, MN" from 1937. On my mother's side, the family has been raising 'taters for over a century now! Talk about interesting stuff!!

The other is about information technology. There's a world of differences in how libraries run now, than they did 30 years ago - no more card catalogs! Everything is automated. Our first project was a scavenger hunt: visit a library and take pix of the different technologies .... right up my alley! Our second project is finding a library technology we haven't used, use it, and write a paper about how that went for us.

School sure isn't what it used to be, no studying and memorizing facts and figures, its more of a hands on approach. And I'm rather liking it :)

HUGS to everyone!

IYA, roller skating, and truck stops

This being Int'l Year of Astronomy, Friday evening I headed over to the local park at dusk to see what the local amateur astronomy night was like. There were three large telescopes set up for viewing, focused on Jupiter. I was able to watch it go from bright white to an orange shade in about half an hour's time. Interesting stuff :) The local Astronomy club (EVAC) sets up out there once a month and shares their interest in the stars with the local public. Sadly, as evening rolled into dark, the clouds rolled in as well.


Saturday was get up and drive to Tucson, normally about 2 hours away; I decided to take the back road dubbed the Pinal Pioneer Parkway. Added about 30 minutes to the drive, but it was scenic. We saw the Tom Mix monument and gorgeous mountain scenery (pix). Lucky for me, it was a semi cloudy day, and I got to take a LOT of pictures.



My granddaughter's 7th birthday was a roller skating party. So,,, I donned a pair of skates and spent most of the time skating with Bree and friends. It was a lot of fun, I'd forgotten how much I enjoy a turn around the track! ((But ... my thigh muscles let me know I did something out of ordinary when I creaked my way out of bed this morning--- and headed straight into the hot tub with a book and a diet coke to wake myself up! A verrrrrrry nice thing to do in the wee Sunday morning hours!))

Leaving at 9pm, in the dark, wasn't optimum, but ... that's how it worked out. We drove straight toward a thunderstorm, caught in two different showers, but the lightning part had blown away from the freeway by the time we reached it. After intense driving like that at night, I needed a break and pulled into a truckstop. When I got out of the car, I felt something bump my leg, and looked down and around the car, and saw nothing. We pulled out and headed up the road. Not more than a minute into it, I realized it was my cell phone I'd felt; we turned around and went back with no luck, it was gone. Called the service, suspended my phone, and had to get up and go get a new one this morning. I was able to "upgrade" to a new phone, for a total of only $60. Ok, would have been nice NOT to have to spend that. :/ ahh well, trials and tribulations of technological life. I drive alone too often not to have one. :(

After all that, I've still got the usual chores I'm dashing to get done: laundry, housecleaning, and the general stuff of getting organized for the week. But, I've busied myself right out of a nap, so I should sleep very well tonight! Hope everyone else's weekend was fab!

HUGS to everyone!

Soul Food

This morning I headed over to the library to take some pix for my scavenger hunt homework. Lucky me, it started raining! So I sat in the car and just listened. and did some free writing, just letting whatever words came to mind translate to paper:

pitter patter

rhythmic

thunder as a backdrop to the music of the raindrops

summer rain

gently falling

puddles form

louder cacophony of sounds as it rains harder,

then softens again

breeze caressing senses

rivulets sliding down the window pane

fresh smelling air

with undertones of wet earth

rain renewing Mother Earth

When was the last time you fed your soul?

HUGS to everyone!