Discomfort is my ego trying to keep me stagnant.
HOME OF AUTHOR JUDITH JENNINGS
member Pinellas Writers Group
Sunday, June 4, 2023
Monday, May 29, 2023
Whatever It Takes
The soundtrack for my novel in progress has evolved.
Is:
Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A Changing
Bob Dylan - Shelter From The Storm
Bob Dylan - Just Like A Woman
Bob Dylan - Lay Lady Lay
First Aid Kit – Wolf
Was:
Kongos - Come With Me Now
Imagine Dragons – Radioactive
Mogli - Road Holes
Indigo Girls - Closer To Fine
First Aid Kit – Wolf
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Personal Soundtrack
Over on arghink.com Crusie posted the soundtrack for her life right now & asked her commenters to post theirs.
I went with this:
Cat Stevens- Where Will the Children Play
Mazzy Star- Give You My Loving
Madonna – Ray of Light
Mogli- Waterfall
First Aid Kit- Wolf
Bob Dylan- Shelter From the Storm
This is subject to frequent change. Last week an endless loop of Bittersweet by Big Head Todd and the Monsters was my jam even though the lyrics don't necessarily figure in my life right now.
Saturday, May 13, 2023
Discovery Write; Dystopian / Utopian; Session Two - Outside The Box
If you read my discovery write blogpost a couple of weeks ago, I daydreamed about how great life would be if I were married to Elmore Leonard. Seeing only positives and no negatives I recently sought, found and befriended his ghost.
Kongos - Come With Me Now
Imagine Dragons – Radioactive
Mogli - Road Holes
Indigo Girls - Closer To Fine
First Aid Kit – Wolf
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
Dystopian / Utopian - I Just Want To Climb A Tree
SESSION ONE
I don’t want the collective cognitive consonance to lead us down these paths. I mostly can’t live in them long enough to read a whole book or watch a whole movie. WTF
So if not dystopian – utopian? I think not. People who are so determined that everything has to be positive that they can’t see reality annoy me. No way could I live there long enough to write a novel.
- needs to be something between utopian & dystopian
Could it be as simple as a society of women that live in ancient trees that grew on tiny islands which are all that’s left of land after the climate changes? Their founder could be Julia Butterfly (research her) Men could live on boats in the surrounding water.
***********Bob is right, of course, as usual; need to edit to one concrete sentence later***
- kickass heroine in her 50's; MaryAnne Wyse Sylvain
- loose relationship with a male character who comes and goes; Joe Aquino
What will non-violent anarchists do when the ravages of climate change break down society as we know it?
Fictionalize a means of eliminating guns
At the dinner table with my husband Elmore:
EL: Wendy’s really does make the best chili. Thanks for picking up
supper.
Me, head down looking at bowl: hmmmm
EL: They didn’t send enough crackers, though. Do we have
crackers?
Me: hmmm, pantry
EL returns to the table with a box of saltines, picks up
his spoon & starts eating again.
Minutes later
EL: You’re quiet tonight. What’s wrong?
Me: I’m having trouble plotting the novel I’m writing
EL: Tell me what you have so far…
I could have walked away from the dinner table with the perfect plot for this book and it would only have cost me a trip to Wendy’s for chili.
I say chili because on Justified they always ate fast food. Maybe I should binge watch it again to see if they ever ate real meals. Oh wait – Ava cooked an old-fashioned chicken and mashed potatoes supper to serve and distract her abusive husband so she could kill him with his hunting rifle while he ate.
No. I. Am. Not. Going. To. Watch. Justified. Again.
Still – I have to be the worst husband picker in the world. A nuclear pharmacist. What was I thinking? That was an interesting lump that grew under his arm overnight that one time, though.
Off topic already. Would a discovery write by JenniferCrusie look like this? LOL Of course it would. She’s crazier than I am.
So – women in trees. Men in boats.
How did we get to this point?
What are the predictions about how hot it will be on the surface of Earth when the climate changes?
Weather? I need a book like Weather For Dummies – strictly for researching realistic weather
Will climate change alter how the Earth revolves around the Sun?
Will the moon be changed? How will the tides be altered
when Earth is almost all water?
What animals are still alive? And no damn cockroaches. I don’t care if realistically they would survive.
Do people eat? If so, what? How? Hydroponics? How do we use the bathroom?
Water to drink – how?
Is there still disease? Healing?
What about movement? Yoga? Qi Gong?
Could clothing be upcycling of clothes from the previous society?
Procreation? How are children raised?
Is there a government? NO!
Religions will have all died. How?
Needs laughter – Ismo-ites? Ismo himself travels in a boat that is followed by people in boats who treat him like the Deadheads treated the Grateful Dead – Instead I could create a character Osmo & the tree women could keep hearing punchlines coming out of the mist when him & his entourage is near
There could be storyteller / library boat convoys. Same concept as above except with first lines from novels – or excerpts
Music boats? Tea room boats?
Single sentence kernel idea is a work in progress.
And no, Bob Mayer, it will not involve zombie pirates – oh wait – men on boats – huh…
Speaking of Bob Mayer – note to self to remember I have all those survival guide type books that Bob wrote on my kindle app. I might actually get to use some of that information in this book.
Playlist:
Kongos - Come With Me Now
Imagine Dragons – Radioactive
Mogli - Road Holes
Indigo Girls - Closer To Fine
First Aid Kit – Wolf
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Ismo-ite
So...I fell in love this week. Not in love like romantic love. In love like there is someone out there who can make me laugh even through a bad time and for that I adore him.
His name is Ismo. He's from Finland. And I would want to go to Finland but he isn't there anymore. He is married and living in the USA.
You can find him on youtube and I suggest you do but make sure you are somewhere where you can laugh without inhibition and not be humiliated because you're going to - laugh without inhibition, I mean.
Recently right before I discovered Ismo, I experienced a couple of weeks of sadness & crying that generally follow something new coming to light regarding the sexual abuse I experienced when I was young. 60 years ago. And still there are things I have buried, apparently.
It happens periodically. The last time I had an experience like this was more than 5 years ago. And I thought, this will be the last time. There can't be anything else hidden.
WTF
There was something else hidden. And this time, I'm not even going to say that must be all there is. Because it might not be.
For me, the physical part was nothing. It's everything else that festers below the surface until it erupts like my own little volcano.
It's not my favorite thing to experience - that volcano erupting.
My favorite experience is laughing.
And Ismo makes me laugh. If I had more freedom - I would treat him like people used to treat the Grateful Dead.
There were Deadheads. Now there could be at least one Ismo-ite.
He'd schedule a show. I'd camp in the parking lot of the venue. I wouldn't smoke pot, though. I'd drink a martini while I waited for show to start.
Then I'd go to the show & laugh & laugh & laugh!
Thank you Ismo!!!
Friday, April 14, 2023
New Words Make My Heart Sing
I love it when I am happily reading a book and suddenly there's a word I don't recognize. If I were a dog or a cat I would be pouncing on it like a squeaky toy or a fake mouse.
Soignee: (the first e has ` over it) pronounced swan'ya - means dressed very elegantly; well groomed My mother could be described as being soignee. I, of course, would be described as hippee (no ` over either e)
Sybarite: pronounced sibe uh rite - a person who is self-indulgent in their fondness for sensuous luxury While I applaud this in theory decadence unsettles me, makes me uncomfortable.
Cynosure: si na shur - the northern constellation Ursa Minor or the North Star; one that serves to direct or guide: a center of attraction or attention
Names describing a group of animals make me rub my hands with glee thinking - what can I do with that?
Flamboyance - a group of flamingos Jenny Crusie fans who read her first collaboration book with Bob Mayer - Agnes and the Hitman - know this fact: flamingos don't like to be alone. They cry pitifully. Bless their hearts.
Ferret is not a new word but I did learn - it comes from the Latin word furritus which means little thieves.
Business: a group of ferrets - isn't that just freaking delightful?
This is not a new word. It's a saying that is new to me:
"Say it with your chest" means speak your truth - don't dim your light to make others feel comfortable - say what you think and feel boldly - use your voice positively.
Of course, if we're gonna talk about hearts singing:
Wild Thing by the Troggs