Month: August 2024

Do you hear crickets?

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I’m in my office, at my desk with laptop ready to write for 10-minutes. My watch timer is set. Ready, set, GO!

No writing thoughts are happening. Maybe I need a 2nd cup of coffee.

OK- back to my desk with coffee. My trip to the kitchen took about 20 minutes (I made toast with honey-butter spread) so I reset the timer to 10-minutes – Ready, set, GO!

Crickets.

Guess I could write about how much I’m enjoying this delicious, hot, aromatic coffee in my Grand Canyon souvenir mug. But, hold on, just saw the FedEx truck go by. I need to go look on the porch just in case the driver left a package.

False alarm – no package. I forgot to stop the timer. Should I reset it or just keep writing?

Wait, did CJ feed the feral yard cats this morning? I better ask him.

Morning sex is the best!

My 10-minutes is up.

The sty in my eye meditation

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Got a sty in my eye. Doctor prescribed hot compresses twice a day.

At first, sitting still for 10 minutes with my eyes held captive by the compress is annoying. But, the moist warmth on my face is actually relaxing. And because I can’t see my phone, computer, TV, laundry, weeds, dishes, I give in to the warmth and darkness. “Ok Google. Play ocean sounds.” Soon, thoughts leave my head and go swooshing towards the horizon where they dissipate leaving me sitting cross-legged on the sand at the edge of the waves with no thoughts at all.

I’m grateful for this temporary forced relaxation.

Me and Tom vs. ChatGPT

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My good friend Tom, is an excellent expository writer. We met while working for Boys & Girls Club. Tom was hired to write grants although he had no previous experience in grant writing. We were impressed by his lengthy resume of writing and editing for newspapers and colleges and he passed our writing exam with flying colors. We felt he could learn to write grants and he did so with great success. I consider him an expert in punctuation, grammar and word choice.

To me though, Tom’s writing is a little superfluous. Doesn’t mean I don’t like his writing; in fact, I totally respect his writing abilities and greatly value his approval, editing and suggestions of my writing.

Tom and I met for lunch a couple of months ago. I brought several entries I had written for my blog – www.mytruelovelist.com – and entries on the same blog topics “written” by ChatGPT. We had been talking about ChatGPT and what it means for writers like us and others such as students and advertisers. It was pretty clear which was which so I didn’t fool him at all, but he did give me some helpful guidance on using AI programs. And he’s using AI himself but lightly, carefully, focused.

Here’s a link to an excellent article about finding your writer’s voice written by Estelle Erasmus for the ajsa (American Society of Journalists and Authors.)

My 10 minutes is up. Wishing you a wonderful writing day!

Five really good excuses for not blogging

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Tropical Storm Debby is right over our house in St. Marys, Georgia. We live about 30 minutes north of Jacksonville which is also covered by TS Debby. As the weather reporters are saying, “Debby is crawling across Florida and southeast Georgia,” so it’s going to rain today, tomorrow, and maybe Wednesday, and Thursday,

I feel sorry for people on Florida’s east coast because they got the most rain, flooding, wind and damage. However, I’m happy it’s raining here today and maybe the next few days because it gives me a good reason to not leave the house.

So, here I am writing on my blog for first time in a long time. However, I have good reasons (excuses) why I haven’t been writing on my blog:

I was working at a job I loved and was very successful at.

And then I retired.

My 93-year old mother was called to heaven.

We decided to sell our house in Fort Pierce, Florida, and move to St. Marys, Georgia to be closer to my children and grandchildren. That process started in December 2023 and ended (finally and successfully) in May 2024.

My last reason (excuse) – we’ve been unpacking boxes and setting up our new house since we moved in in May.

Now, I have to live up to my own expectations -no more excuses! Unless….