I ran the WordGrrls.com site from whatever to whatever. I’ll look up the dates sometime. It was a site for writers. I used to post writing exercises and ideas for writing inspiration. I’ve kept my posts from the old site but decided not to keep the domain.
There are 2,384 posts filed in Word Grrls (this is page 2 of 398).
This was part of a quiz about what type of author you would be/ are. I loved this question. Which answer would you pick?
Although the train station was high on my list and its my bedroom where I usually do end up writing – a coffee shop on a grey and rainy day was my most preferred place, by far. I love a rainy day and looking out the window while working on something creative with a delicious (still at least warm) coffee is pretty much perfect in my books.
These are created with marshmallows and candy, etc. But, I’d have more fun making them as a toilet roll version. An upcycled version with things from the recycling bin. I’m going to start saving finished toilet paper rolls and other bits and pieces and see what I can come up with. Everyone needs a project.
There is, still, something I like about writing by hand that I miss when I’m typing on a keyboard. There is a smoothness to the pen and paper and I like having good penmanship. There is no penmanship at all with a keyboard.
Today I found a note from Perfect Pen, a site selling pens and etc. They say 95% of people write their name first, when they get a new pen. I don’t know if its true. How would you find out about that. Chances are someone selling pens and seeing people test them before buying, would know. So it could be true. What did you last write, by hand? I wrote a grocery list. But I also sent out handwritten Christmas cards this year.
I write down ideas for stories or non-fiction ideas for posts to my sites. Sometimes they never become posts. Lots of ideas are written and just don’t develop further, or get mislaid somewhere, one way or another. But, I still like writing ideas more than typing them. My brain works differently while writing. A bit slower and not as directly focused on the idea while I have the distraction of the pen, paper and penmanship. More than likely that changes how the ideas develop. Typing is so instant.
National Ballpoint Pen Day is June 10th. It’s the day the patent for the ballpoint pen was filed.
Have you ever gotten into calligraphy, with fountain pens? I did a little of that. In high school I had a fountain pen. It was fun to write with but not as clean as a ballpoint pen. Of course, there have been pencils since the age of the dinosaurs (not literally). Pencils are just not the same, though artists still draw with an assortment of them.
Today, even though it isn’t Ballpoint Pen Day, take a look at all the pens you have collected, scattered, around your home. Get some scrap paper out of the recycling and test all your pens. Not many have the option to be refillable and reused now. Or, people almost never seem to do that. Too many freebie pens given away to take the time to recycle them. Unless you have a favourite pen. I did have a favourite ballpoint pen but it was kind of exotic and I couldn’t find ink to refill it. If you can find a use for the pens that no longer work, got dried out, or broken, that’s great. Most likely the best you can do is get rid of them and have that much less clutter around.
Happy pen testing. Will you scribble something or ring true to the theory that the first thing you write with a new (sort of new) pen is your name?
I found this quote by Amy Tan:
“I did not lose myself all at once. I rubbed out my face over the years washing away my pain, the same way carvings on stone are worn down by water.”
People ask if you are sad or tired. I could say yes to those but neither is quite right. I am worn down, like a stone in a river. I try to hold on, be stoic and strong but I’m eroding all the time.
I feel this way more often as I get older. None of us are getting any younger of course. But, I don’t think we should have to feel worn down. Does it happen from others or do we do it to ourselves. I’m trying to figure that out for myself.
I found this quote on an old site by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen.She writes about writing, relationships, travel and living in a camper van. I started reading that post, first.
She has a few sites these days:
Jade Walker posted a quote on Facebook: “It’s not the news that keeps upsetting you. It’s what’s happening that keeps upsetting you.” – Dan Slott
I disagree. Its the way the news is being reported, with lies and propaganda (misinformation, or whatever that trendy word is these days), that’s upsetting me.
When did all the news reports become biased editorials. Like marketing campaigns instead of news reports.
Do you remember BookCrossing? It’s been years since I last logged in. Funny that I was thinking of the book which I had last read the last time I was at the site. I couldn’t remember the author or the title, but there it was, first on my profile page.
“Second hand books are wild books, homeless books; they have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather, and have a charm which the domesticated volumes of the library lack.”
– Virginia Woolf
A friend who joined the site with me, Skye Truheart, I have not heard from for many years. Each time I find something, a link to her somewhere, like her old Blogger account, or now this, I try again to find her. No luck. I’m sure I had her name and address to send a Christmas card but I’ve lost it long ago. I’d like to find her and know she is doing ok.