...to the last syllable of recorded time. A man named William Shakespeare wrote that more than 400 years ago and put it into the mouth of Macbeth, who was thane of Glamis and thane of Cawdor if memory serves. The entire speech is rather depressing, a real downer. The whole play is not exactly a comedy either.
Fast away the old year may indeed have passed, but the new year (2025, if I'm not mistaken) is getting off to a slow start, postwise. It's already January 4th and I haven't written a single thing. Well, I did put a grocery list together, but I don't think that counts.
The young'uns tied the knot on New Year's Eve right on schedule and headed off to Florida the next day. Now that the hoopla has died down, nothing suitable for blogging has presented itself. I refuse to blog about terrorist attacks in New Orleans or cybertruck explosions in Las Vegas or behind-the-scenes arm-twisting that made an almost failed election of a Speaker of the House of Representatives into a rousing victory for truth, justice, and the American way.
Yesterday our younger son brought over a pot of homemade soup for us that contained chicken, kielbasa, carrots, onions, celery, collard greens, and as Andy Griffith used to say, I don't know what all. It turned out to be delicious!
I will have even less time to compose blogposts this year because of the gift I received from our older son at Christmas. He gave me a one-year subscription to Storyworth. I will receive an email asking me a question every week for the next 52 weeks; I am to write a story from my life in response to the question and email it back to Storyworth. At the end of the year, a book containing all of my responses will be created. I am looking fowatd to doing this but am also a bit intimidated.
I think I am afraid it will be a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ellen, and a Happy New Year to you as well!
DeleteYour gift of a word a day sounds wonderful. I know you will have both wisdom and humor when you are through. I hope you will share bits of it with us.
ReplyDeleteNot a word a day, but one question per week. The first week’s subject was “What is something you made that you are very proud of?” — I hope I am up to the continuing task and effort and thought it’s going to require. Thank you for your words of encouragement, Emma.
DeleteGo with the flow. Just write.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds easy to do but is sometimes very hard, mainly because I tend to do a lot of revising and editing before something I write actually sees the light of day ‘Keep it simple, stupid’ is always good advice. Thanks, Red.
DeleteYour Storyworth book will be an autobiography of sorts and it will be a gift to your descendants. Dont overthink it, just tell your story in your words.
ReplyDeleteWhat an honour to be asked!
As a family, we have tried to involve my parents in projects like this but they have declined. It's disappointing
Overthinking is often what I do best. I will have access to the individual responses all year long and can go back and edit or even re-arrange the stories. That may be a good thing or a bad thing. Time will tell! Thank you, kylie.
DeleteThat sounds like a splendid present. Will you post your responses here? Please?
ReplyDeleteI might post little snippets on the blog from time to time, but I want to keep most of it private to surprise my family when the year is complete. I do appreciate your enthusiasm! Thank you, Janice.
DeleteI was give a similar book by a dear friend. So far it sits empty and I fear it will stay that way until life slows down to a different pace. At which time I will doubtless find another excuse.
ReplyDeleteI’m hoping it will remain fun as I tackle it from week to week, perhaps even turn into joy. What I hope doesn’t happen is that writing devolved into a chore, then a dreaded assignment, ending in a tightening of the jaws and a gritting of the teeth. Thank you for a unique point of view, Graham.
Delete"Well, I did put a grocery list together..."
ReplyDeleteMR BRAGUE'S IMAGINED SHOPPING LIST:
24 pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer
2 x 70 cl bottles of "Jack Daniels"
6 x DiGiorno frozen pizzas (Hawaiian)
Multipack Popcorn (Orville Redenbacher's)
"Spam" x 4 cans
Wrigleys' Chewing Gum
Heinz Tomato Ketchup (XXL)
Oreos
Frozen "Piggly Wiggly" hash browns
Four dozen bananas
Folgers Classic Medium Roast Ground Coffee 1.23 kg
"Old Spice" deodorant
Bunch of pink roses for Ellie
P.S. The writing project is a great challenge but I have no doubt that you are up to it and it will be part of your legacy in the end.
Ha, ha! Very funny, YP! This is how untrue rumors get started. The items on your imagined grocery list brought to mind an old song title, "Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye". You mind is definitely creative but what it produces often/usually bears little (translation: no) resemblance to reality. Eight of your 13 items have never appeared on any grocery list of mine. The other five items are wrong in number (four dozen), brand (Heinz, Folgers, Old Spice), and color (pink). Other than those minor discrepancies, your list is spot on. I hope my other readers will take it with a grain of salt. Thank you (I think) for commenting, Neil.
Delete