Of all the things someone might want to ask me… in a prompt of all places… as a way to elicit my desire to … oh, I don’t know… WRITE!
When given the opportunity to ask something that might bring people out of their boxes and bubbles of solitary writing… all you can come up with is to ask what I want to snack on at this very moment?????
Have I simply lost my mind, or did a bunch of I’s and Q’s just walk off the job, at where ever these questions are coming from?
If it’s an AI generated system, well then, I am confident that we have nothing to worry about with computers taking over the world! Please tell me that there isn’t some think group being employed to come up with these prompts, and they all happened to be hungry at the time of writing the days questions for us.
I suppose we can just wait til tomorrow and see if the next question is, “What do you like to drink after eating too many saltine crackers at one time?”
Maybe this question was meant to be directed at kids… the last I checked, the big thing was eating dry ramen out of the package… go figure!
I suppose if the question was being directed at us, by a physician or nutritionist, I might have a bit more patience in my answer.
The greatest feat they accomplished in this prompt was to place the word Would… not could, not can, not will nor want… but what snack would you eat right now…
Would I eat my snack in my chair or in my bed… would I share my snack with the people in my head… would I want my snack in a bag or in a bowl… would I use a fork or just eat it whole… would I like my snack or would it be bad… what if it were the only snack I really had… would I eat it or set it on the table beside me… trading it for a coffee with creamer is where you would find me!
The next time you start wishing that everyday could be Friday, think again!
What if every day were just like Fridays?
I know it might sound good at first, but after careful consideration, most would surmise that some things… like Fridays… are better left alone!
It’s like eating your favorite meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner… every day! Eventually, this would end your feelings of favorite about the once cherished dish. The things you thought you loved about that meal begin to become the things that displease you, causing you to either avoid or dread the next upcoming meal.
It would be awful for all our weekend Party Warriors, never getting enough time to recover from one bender before you’re encouraged to belly up to the bar again, for another round!
This one will blow your mind! Imagine what most children are like on Fridays, after a long week of alarm clocks, classes, bullies, homework and being generally bossed around by any and all grown ups in the vicinity. Trust me, they are very very ready for their Saturday mornings of sleep, cartoons, and cereal out of the box… no milk necessary!
Now have their parents wake them up the next morning for school, knowing that it’s again Friday… knowing that yesterday had been Friday also… AND knowing that their kids also know that yesterday was Friday and now today is Friday too… again! A lot of folks would be seriously rethinking many life choices, right about here!
Mondays would become a very moody MondayFriday…
Tuesdays would feel more like denial about the whole thing…
Wednesdays would be flipped on its hump, leaving us unsure whether we were coming or going…
Thursdays would just stop serving Happy Hour altogether…
Fridays would see a great many tantrums being thrown on the office floors…
Saturdays would be filled with grumpy resignation at the state of things…
Sundays would become like Ground Hog Day, where everyone tried to be on their best behavior and do everything they thought was good and upright… hoping and praying that they wake up to a normal rainy Monday morning…
Thank Goodness tomorrow is Saturday, for the greater good of all mankind, wouldn’t you agree?
Have you ever dreamt of your favorite pet, but either cannot afford the breeders fee or fear getting something you weren’t prepared to care for? Well not anymore! Here at UPPAA we aim to please any and all who employ our services.
Other agencies only offer the service of inviting you in to view and adopt a pet with all the cleaning, caring, treating and rehabilitating that someone else did for you… no no no… that is considered false advertising around our offices!
Instead of having you come to the nearest breeder or pet shelter, we here at UPPAA employ only the most qualified representatives to collect you, equip you and then, back you up, while you find the nearest stray animal in your area. Upon locating said adoptee, our representatives will then assess whether or not you desire to, or are capable of continuing on in said venture. From your response comes the next part of the package we offer. Here is where we will simply wait in the car, as you approach and retrieve the pet you have selected.
**Stipulations are in place here that you must adhere to, in order for the completion of our services. Not only must it be very clear that these pets do not belong to some one else, but the pet must actually need your assistance. We will not, under an circumstances, be a part of nor participate in the willful theft of the fluffy white puppy living in your neighbors back yard! (this had to be added to our contract for a specific reason)**
Once you’ve selected and retrieved your new pet, following our rules and regulations, we will then deliver you safely home to begin your new life together. There is no need to come back to the office, as you’ve already signed all of the paperwork that enlisted and guaranteed our services, as well as paying all agreed fees, so you’re all good to go!
All of our fees, being quite reasonable, come with a money back guarantee! If, after a full 15 days of care, cleaning, feeding and rehabilitating your chosen pet, you are dissatisfied… we will be happy to come pick you up, return you to the adoption site so that you can put the animal back where you found it. We will also return your fee, minus the fuel.
Our goal, here at UPPAA, is to ensure that you find just the right pet that you deserve, in the most real way possible, so that you truly appreciate who the animal is, where it came from, and what it might possibly be like from here on out! We are able to keep costs down here, by never having to hear why you didn’t know what you were getting into, or that this pet is nothing like what we advertised! We boast a perfect track record of no rehoming pets returned for the third time.
We have representatives standing by right now, waiting for your call at 1-888-PIC-APET. Our first 10 customers will get a complimentary catch pole.
**We are not responsible for lost or stolen common sense, nor are we obligated to provide first aid, physical assistance nor the picking up of poop… welcome to pet parenthood!**
Wow! It’s cold outside right now, and apparently it is about to get colder. With temps dropping and snow inbound here in the Northwest, with many of us holed up in our homes, either binge watching our favorite shows, stressing about not getting work done… or both!
Fortunately, I’m blessed with having all my work flowing back and forth, somewhere between my head and my fingers, most of the time. Lately, I have been keeping myself busy with my novel, discovering that it is not nearly as easy as they make it look on Google!
First of all, I learned how to turn Google off! If I am to fully engage in the telling of this story, I cannot be distracted by rules, instructions and everyone else’s opinion of how I should write this book! If I don’t have a book written, searching around on the internet for help in how to sell said book, is pretty much mute! Too much help has actually been interfering with the telling of the Tale… and that just won’t work for this girl!
The second discovery I’ve made? Writing takes a lot of work… more so than I ever realized! You know that old adage, Rome was not built in a day? If I’d not understood the depth of that phrase’s meaning before, I’ve surely begun to feel the weight of its truth now! In my naivety, I had developed some very unrealistic ideas of how books were written. For some reason, I had it in my head that real writers could just sit down in some fugue state of enlightenment, that then gave way to the spewing out of an entire story… in only a brief amount of time. Maybe some can truly write that way… just not me!
Not only did I discover that I write differently than other writers, which is as it should be, but I learned that I like to build my own literary road blocks, or excuses, so I don’t have to push myself into writing freely. Leaving this way of thinking, is the best way to grow as a writer, in my opinion. That should explain why you’ve all seen my posts about writing more off the cuff, as they say. I’ve changed up my entire daily schedule, in order to structure a more realistic writing environment for myself… earlier rising… quiet time first…daily writings and correspondence here on WordPress… and then I work on my dream!
I am a tortoise, remember, and not the hare when it comes to walking forward in this pursuit. If I rush forward in what I try to get down on the page, it fills me with the worst pressure within my spirit. Therefore, I must pull each thread out of my dreams, very methodically and then carefully sew it into the literary fabric of its creation. I’ve no desire or intention of running over my own typing fingers with the needle of my Brain Machine! While I may end up being the worlds slowest Story Seamstress, Story Seamstress I shall be, none the less!
Every day I challenge myself to pull my chair up to this literary sewing table, whether it be to cut in story patterns, pin sections to one another, or cut away loose threads.
Regardless of what I do at this table, the project goes forward… and yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is coming closer to being complete. I’m going to take my time, learning the process and improving my skill with writing. Timing is everything, as I’ve learned over and over through the years… and I fully agree with whomever first said it. In fact, I believe so strongly in that phrase that I’m willing to take it to the bank… you know… That bank… Eternal Investments and Loans. If you’re looking for a better banking establishment, BTW, this bank only came with one question on the application and they apparently already had access to my background report… and I got an account anyways… crazy right?!
At the end of the day, or at least the end of this article, I still have no idea what I’m doing, nor can I see into the future to where I’ll end up… but I can say that I see growth, I feel peace, and I am finding so much Joy in this journey. If I can say this while living the way I do, through all the waiting, all the hardship of both grief and sorrow, with no clear answer for the end… my prayer and belief is that you can too, in whatever place of your journey that you are on. There is Joy to be found if we push on… whether we need to take baby steps, or at times even crawl!
Life has a way of sometimes being reduced to nothing more than a thing… an item to be played with, bartered, or thrown out when it’s usefulness has been expended!
For many souls it can take an entire lifetime to figure this out, only really feeling the harsh bite of reality, as it begins to surface on or near retirement! Basically, most begin to take more notice of feeling less valuable to society, as the body begins to slow and lose the ability to carry on at the same pace they once kept.
Then there are souls like mine, who learned painfully early in life how little value they held, how they weren’t valuable enough protect and care about… never worthy enough to be saved! This was my dark alleyway of existence, wandering through the night until I found a place to sleep… doing whatever I had to do to secure food, warmth, and sleep… never safety… just sleep! This life was not much but it was mine and I valued it above everything else!
I’m 55 now and nearing the age when most are preparing for retirement and their golden years… not this runaway!
I’m just getting started, I think, as I strive to prepare and strengthen myself for something bigger, better and still yet to come.
It has taken some considerably long years to get my life to this moment, not caring and cherishing it, as the item I valued so strongly as a child… none the less, it’s still in tact, for the most part.
If you’ve any curiosity about what has become of the item I was so attached to as a youth, you need only read the letters I have written to you all, over this last year, here on WordPress.
As this site is really all I have to show for explaining things, it will have to suffice as my best answer!
Todays prompt question gave me a great opportunity to look within the pages of this site, seeking to answer the mission or purpose of what gets published here in The Lobby!
Instead of giving some wordy explanation of what goes on in here, I began pulling up pictures of what I think that I try to do, but maybe you all see it differently. Perhaps I should be asking you what you think my mission is from your vantage?
My intent is that this site reflect how I choose to live, or my mission, if you will. We have all heard the adage, a picture is worth a thousand words, so my desire is to allow my actions to reflect what I wish to be seen as my mission. It is as follows,
To believe…
To seek…
To dream…
To give love…
To share hope…
To speak the Truth in love…
To go when called…
and to fight every battle on my knees…
I think that sums it up! While my mission fluxes and flows, often changing with the tides of forward moving time… my belief in The One Who is Unchanging will not waiver… ever!
What I think of myself and what you might think of me can be any number of things, but my hope is that you see a light in the darkness…
While I don’t think I said anything requiring a cookie to get through, I still want to give you one just because…
As many of you, who follow this column, may already know… My name is Wiwohka. I am a writer…a teller of tales, both real and imaginary. I settled here at WTL news some time ago… ages it seems, but in reality I’ve only been here just under a year.
Apparently, my writing style and general attitude were exactly what the Paper had been looking to hire! As my columns title, The Tuesday Tattler suggests, I have been employed to gather information and put it into a literary form for you, my readers. I have been blessed with writing, for the most part, from right here in the office. Fortunately, I have been assigned an invaluable counterpart, who was actually the one who recruited me to join the staff, here at WTL News!
We’d met some years ago, but it wasn’t until earlier this year that He asked me to consider working with Him. It was a good thing that He waited, as it has taken a considerable effort to develop my literary skills to a level that could be useful for His purposes!
There are a great number on staff here, so my column is only one of many… and they are all overseen by none other than the one who recruited me, as well! My recruiter, by the way, is also the papers Lead Reporter, Human Resource Supervisor, and our Legal Departments Fact Checker. Here at WTL News it is of utmost importance to our Benefactor that we keep our columns free of any lies and judgements, focusing on bettering the literary world that we serve. JC, as I like to affectionately call Him, is always diligently at work, ensuring that we speak the truth in love and keep things real at the same time, if that makes any sense.
Just the other day, as we were having lunch together, JC encouraged me to accept an assignment from our Benefactor, which would require some extensive travel down a very old literary path. All my expenses will be paid and a map with directions will be included with my travel papers. Without hesitation I accepted the job right there on the spot! If the One, who built WTL News from the ground up, asks that I do a thing… I’m willing to go on a little faith and start packing… immediately!
So far, all I know is that I’m to head out first thing in the morning, traveling down an ancient pathway to meet a man named Job. I’ve never met the man personally, but JC has, and he is in complete agreement with the Big Guy on the value of this assignment. JC assured me that my interview of the man is of great importance, whether I understand what that is, or not! WTL News has confidence in me, or I would not have been considered for this job. With that in mind, there is no need to concern myself with the outcome of this endeavor… I fully trust the One who sends me forth!
I am aware of a great many rumors surrounding this man, so my curiosity is definitely peaked, in regards to the truth of things. While traveling to meet with this man, I’ll go back over everything I know about him and review all the evidence that was previously gathered, in regards to his life. Aside from these preparations, I decided to wait on building a list of questions for the interview, until after we meet and get to know one another a little. I want to see how things are from his perspective… his reality.
Tune in for the next episode of Tuesday Tattler, where I’ll be telling you about everything I discovered during my time with this unusual man, Job. Perhaps he was just a nobody… or… just maybe he is something more… sometimes less is more, as they say.
When I read the prompt question, my mind immediately went to a picture of a quilt, handmade, of course! The seamstress cuts and measures out each square, being sure to leave extra in the piece for sewing to all the other sections… this way the quilt is just the right size and not smaller than planned. Measurements are very precise, otherwise, it could swing the other way and we end up with a quilt that is too big.
Looking back to when the first person sewed together a blanket and then to this day, we have kept the same size measurements, for the most part. Aside from some creative twists that have brought us BlanketJammies, sharable sleeping bags and the like, we have retained a sizing standard for a bed cover… why?
What if we just started making a one size fits all family blanket, that just runs throughout the house, leaving holes for heads and arms, in whatever room you had to be in during the day… why not? Who cares that it won’t fit in the standard Washer/Dryer, or that it would require an entire Family Size bottle of detergent for each washing… we can just wait for a rainy day and drag the whole thing outside for a washing. It would be a great family activity, as it would require every able bodied member to hold it up off the ground while it rained… but wait, we also could just hug each other as hard as we wanted, without hurting anyone, because we need to squeeze all the water out before our blanket could dry.
Now I know that I’ve taken us all down a weird Rabbit Hole Idea, but it is with good reason. The scenario that I created is very unrealistic and… in truth, quite odd! My point is… so is the concept of living a longer life! God started things out giving mankind hundreds of years to their life, moving in time to limit us to only 120 years… He had a reason for it, and I fully trust it was for our own good! We screw things up in the 120 years we are given, and adding years onto this would be very useless. After all these generations we are still arguing over Racism, Equality, and Governing of the people… it does not fill me with comfort to think that they could then extend the terms of office in the White House… uh uh!!!
There is a line from an old movie I once watched, where one of the characters uses an analogy of a skein of thread holding a tapestry together… and I like analogies! Forming a picture in our minds helps to reinforce an idea, making it easier to remember a lesson or skill we’ve taken the time to learn.
My favorite verse in the Bible comes out of where… you should all know this about me… Psalm 139! While I won’t read you the entire chapter, I will leave you with my favorite part…
My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:15,16
I’ve been woven into Gods Tapestry and He knows where both my beginning and end are… I’ve no fear because I’m surrounded by so many other threads that make up the whole of our earthly quilt! I plan on dwelling in my one day at a time plan, since that is all I am actively taking part in… there is no promise of tomorrow, that I’m aware of! Our creator is the most masterful of all Quilters, building by a design that is flawless, so I’m going with that answer, concerning, What are your thoughts on the concept of living a very long life…
I pray that you think on this with each bite of the cookies below!
Maybe I should change the title here, to Mondays To Do list, as I am pretty much making a list of things I’ve set for myself to get accomplished this week.
I could… but, like most to do lists, we write things down and then never look at the list again! Oh well… good intentions and all that!
My heart was filled with good intentions when I started doing the theme for Monday Messages, as I was trying to elicit more interactions from friends and readers. While there was some response from some, I doubt most people actually read the messages… let’s face it, if you don’t want to read your own to do lists, why on earth would you want to read what someone else plans on getting done for the week!
I get it! But it doesn’t mean that I’ve any intention of stopping… I’m going with the old adage, Fake it til you make it! I’m a Chatty Cathy, remember, so I can talk for anyone in the room… it’s what I do!
This week in my neck of the woods, we have a storm system headed our way, so it’s gonna get wet, then really cold and dry and then possibly snow before next week… who knows. That’s the thing about weather… it can change on a dime, without caring who said what. But it does add to my adventurous mood, with the rain and wind being all blustery. My goal this week is to steadily begin moving forward with Brutus.
Is it just me, or is it super hard to get back into the routine of things after a major holiday season. Don’t laugh, but I was really concerned that I would lose the thread of my dragon and his story, while taking a leave of absence for my eye surgeries, and then the Holiday that directly followed. I’d anticipated having time to relax and rest, which I did to a point, but my brain kept itching… a lot… hence, the creation of Tilly!
Well, I do like to multi task, so I suppose it doesn’t hurt to add a line of children’s books to my list of passions. Never fear my friends, as I have also discovered that Brutus is still alive and well in my mind!
This week will be the first week that I actually practice my new writing style of what I’m calling Free Writing… in the moment, off the cuff and winging it! I will edit later is my new mantra.
I’ll admit that it is easier to do with my big projects, as you all don’t get to see my typos and fragmented statements, or possibly the run-ons that will happen in those stories before being edited. For all of the writing you get to experience here, on my site, it won’t be so easy.
Never fear, as cookies will always be near, to cover my misspells fragments and things that are just weird! Did you see how I made that rhyme… did ya???
Journey With Me! 