Reality? Who’s Brilliant Idea Was That? (TBT)

Posted in the Throwback Thursday weekly series
Poetry, photography, tales and things that nature!

Part Two of Serially Lost in Fiction

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“Losing an illusion makes you wiser than finding a truth”  Ludwig Borne

Reality? Who’s Brilliant Idea Was That?

“You really need to pull it together and clean up your act!”

The words still echoing in my head from the intervention. The whole thing had made me extremely angry. But after my initial tantrum had subsided, I was willing to admit I had a problem.

So now, I needed a plan, but it was going to be hard. I had two choices, to gradually wean myself off of all that fiction and fantasy or go cold turkey. I estimated it would take around two to three weeks or so either way. I chose the latter option. I did not trust myself, suspecting the gradual way I would only make excuses and not read any less.

The options at hand would be then to:

a) Get rid of every single piece of technology or readable book.
b) Lock myself in an empty room at home.
c) Travel to a far away place, preferably a cottage in the middle of the forest somewhere without any creature comforts.

I chose plan c. It seemed the best option, since my family owned a cottage some hundred kilometers up north. There was no electricity, no running water, basically nothing but survival against the wilderness. Well, to be honest, the nearest shop was only five kilometres away, so not a god forsaken place after all.

Since the margin of me running off mid process, my family opted to drive me there and I would then have a bike to use for my trips to buy groceries. And that being my only option of transportation, it would be highly unlikely I would run off on a bike.

So it was agreed and I was on my way to the cottage in the woods with only my necessities.

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Next stop: Time for a Reality Check?

Time for a Reality Check? (TBT)

Posted in the Throwback Thursday weekly series
Poetry, photography, tales and things that nature!

Part Three of Reality? Who’s Brilliant Idea Was That?

reality?-rant

“It is strange because sometimes, I read a book, and I think I am the people in the book”

Time for a Reality Check?

So there I was, in the middle of the woods, all by my lonesome. No where to hide, no where to run.
I was in for a challenge. Not only because of me detoxing from the fiction I was greatly hooked up on at this point, but also living in an archaic house without any creature comforts.

I watched the car drive off, and then I was finally alone. Time to start the battle with the demons!
I went inside the wooden cabin finding a layer of dust settling on the surfaces. Sighing deeply and thinking ‘Welcome to the labour camp’. Placing my rucksack on the chair closest to me, I rolled up my sleeves and started cleaning up.

Windows and door open to get the air circulating. Making do with an old broom to swipe the floors. Luckily I had brought some cleaning wipes with me. Those would come in handy while dusting the surfaces.

A few hours later I looked around and the place was spick and span clean. It was time for the evening meal and I was unpacking my bag. I had several cans of food, some crackers and a juice canister. Now all I needed was water and wood!

The rest of my day went pretty much doing chors like cutting wood and hauling water from the well.
A few more hours went by and I was inside getting the wooden stow started. When the fire was burning nicely, I opened one of the cans, pea soup of course, good for any camper!

It was night fall and I had my little oil lamp burning and the fire was going keeping me warm. It had been a little bit of an effort, but luckily some smart Alec had written instructions now hanging on the wall next to fireplace.

So there I was without a care in the world, my stomach full with soup and juice. I was wondering how people managed to get anything else done in the olden days. Most of the daylight hours seemed to be wasted on cleaning and gathering necessities for meal preparation.

Then I realized I needed to use the facilities. Unfortunately there was only an outhouse and it was a bit tricky to navigate there in the dark. I had my torch with me so that helped a little. I just hoped no wildlife were close by feeling peckish and thinking I was food.

The routine for the two week period was pretty much the same every day. Get up at dawn, because the birds were screaming in the trees, hunt and gather for nourishment. The cottage grounds actually had a pretty good assortment of various berries and luckily it was the season for most of them.

In the end, I did not even miss reading, anything, fiction or otherwise. I didn’t have time, when the real life hit me hard, and using a log to do it!

Let’s see what happens when I finally get back home, where all the temptations await me!

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Quote a Week Tuesday (2016-05-03)

Posted in Quote a Week Tuesday

Blank Page Edit

“You can’t edit a blank page… Get it written!”

Quote a Week Tuesday (2016-05-03)

For this week’s quote of the week, I have chosen a reminder for us wanna be writers, a guideline I myself like to follow:

“Complain less, write more”

’nuff said!

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Quote a Week Tuesday, 2016-01-26

Posted in A Quote a Week Tuesday

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“This is my favourite kind of art” Gun Roswell

Quote a Week Tuesday, 2016-01-26

For this week’s quote, I have chosen one from the late and great Andy Warhol. This is something all of us, trying to “create art”, can easily relate to:

“Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it is good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” Andy Warhol

Andy Warhole Quote

Quote a Week Tuesday, 2016-01-19

Posted in A Quote a Week Tuesday

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“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed” Ernest Hemingway

Quote a Week Tuesday, 2016-01-19

For this week’s quote, I chose a little something to encourage all us writers; two simple guidelines to follow. Well, basically it is one and the same but for your reading pleasure, please find both the original and updated version.

“This is how you do it: You sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until it is done. It’s that easy, it’s that hard.” Neil Gaiman

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Why I Write

Posted in Writing (General), Blogging

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“Complaining is easy, writing is hard” Gun Roswell

Why I Write

Why do I write?

Simply, because it feels right
If I did not write
The page would be quite white
Therefore, I continue to write

Write more, complain less!

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Camouflage (Writing 101, A Poem A Day)

Writing 101, A Poem A Day: Day 9: Camouflage
Poetry & Photography

“Camouflage is a game we all like to play, but our secrets are as surely revealed by what we want to seem to be as by what we conceal.” — Russell Lynes

For today’s poem, take inspiration from camouflage — you may apply it in any way you like, whether you write about visual or social dissimulation, or focus on the way we hide our myriad emotions, actions, and reactions. What would be your ultimate smokescreen, concealment, or mask?

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“I need camouflage that works in such a way that when I wear it, you disappear.” Jarod Kintz

Camouflage

I need a good disguise
I really need to hide
From the prying eyes
So very hard I tried
To fit in the system
Trying each position
But now the resistance
Almost my mission
Is to get away
To disappear
I know it’s a cliche
I am facing
The final frontier
My heart racing
I am finally fading
My shell visible
Slowly trading
Becoming invisible
My camouflage
Now complete

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Beloved (Writing 101, A Poem A Day)

Writing 101, A Poem A Day, Day 7: Beloved
Poetry & Photography

Something about the very word “beloved” causes a frisson in us. Out of the people that matter to you, who matters the most? Whom do you love, or whom have you loved more than anyone else? What does the word “beloved” summon up in your imagination? What songs, poems, stories, movies spring to mind? Who is your beloved?

Today, write a poem celebrating your beloved. It does not have to be a specific person — you could address an imaginary beloved from the future who’s waiting for you. You could take on the persona of a well-known mythological or historic character and address her or his beloved in your poem. You could create a new type of lover and beloved.

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“Every beloved object is the center point of a paradise” Novalis

Beloved

Mismatching socks and messy hair
Carefully watching, trying not to stare
Sitting in your favourite chair
Chewing on your meal without a care
My eyes fixed, I still feel the flare
Whom better with my life to share

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Upside Down or Opposite Day (Writing 101 Poem A Day)

Writing 101, A Poem A Day, Day Six: Fallacy
Poetry & Photography

Unsound arguments. Failures of reason.

Today, let’s write poems that are wholly illogical.

Let’s see how miserably we can get reason to fail; both our reason and the reason that guides our readers.

Try not to consider this prompt as a call to nonsense but rather a call to use your good (creative) sense to arrive at firmly misconstrued ends. Surprise yourself!

Alternatively, make poetry from known philosophical fallacies. Make that straw man stand by a red wheelbarrow, put the genius of the crowd to the test, or tell the tale of a (tautological) tub.

“Poetry…where magic is supreme and where therefore things happen which realistically-minded strangers find difficult to understand.” – Robert Graves

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“This is not the rhyming song!”

Upside Down or Opposite Day

Chocolate as a dietary measure
Which can be the ultimate pleasure
To get the same effect
From this heavenly confect
You would by eating a carrot

Oh don’t listen to the parrot!

At least double the amount
No no you don’t have to count
Per each pleasurable bite
When enjoying this healthiest of delights

Chocolate is the answer
Never mind what the question was!

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Freedom (Writing 101, A Poem A Day)

Writing 101, A Poem A Day: Day 5: Freedom
Poetry & Photography

Freedom is a fundamental need. It is so powerful that nations go to war for it. People engage in both despicable and heroic deeds to gain it. In the name of freedom we suffer, make sacrifices, and attempt to perform miracles. For freedom we are willing to lose everything and risk our lives, since no life really is one without freedom.

What freedom means is open to interpretation, which is why it’s been a recurring subject in art. In today’s poem, share your take on freedom. While you’re at it, be fearless with your thoughts. Don’t hold back. Unleash your emotions and be honest with yourself. Uncensored writing coming from the heart often produces the most amazing read.

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“Life, Love, Liberty”

Freedom

Freedom is to be who you are without being ashamed
Freedom is to love someone without being blamed
Freedom is to walk home in the dark without being raped
Freedom is to say your thoughts out loud without being hated
Freedom is to choose whether you turn left or right
Freedom is to surrender without a fight

Freedom is,
To be who you are
Where you are
When you are
Let no one
Tell you differently

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