Saturday, March 03, 2007
Now It's Time to Have Some Fun
Here is the beauty of a snowfilled winter in Minnesota - we get to play in it, which we did today. The hubby and I took our oldest two children (the youngest is at a sleepover) to a sledding hill, while we did some snowshoeing. There's a rhythm to using snowshoes - rock and waddle, rock and waddle. We shooshed over vast, almost untouched crusts of white with rainbow glitter. The unmarred snow is so tempting to mess up, to leave a mark, but when one does so, it's not particularly satisfying. It's better just to contemplate walking over it or making a snow angel. (Besides, how does one make a snow angel with snowshoes on her feet?)
Hiking through snow is definitely a work-out. I'm out of shape and the first few minutes on snowshoes left me breathless and sore. I was ready to quit, but kept going and noticed something. If you push on to the point of sweating, suddenly the pain goes away and a trance-like state takes over. Must be endorphins. They sure feel good. After the exertion, I'll sleep well.
Hiking through snow is definitely a work-out. I'm out of shape and the first few minutes on snowshoes left me breathless and sore. I was ready to quit, but kept going and noticed something. If you push on to the point of sweating, suddenly the pain goes away and a trance-like state takes over. Must be endorphins. They sure feel good. After the exertion, I'll sleep well.
Labels: children, exercise, husband, minnesota, snow, snowshoes, winter
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
The Result - 10 words, 20 minutes
I took my writing exercise, 10 words, 20 minutes, to writers group last night. Each of the four of us set to work on the 10 words I posted on this blog a few days ago, only we had about 15 minutes to work, rather than 20. Strangely enough, all of us started what might amount to short stories, even though we had a couple of poets in the group. The words were thus:
cream, irony, notch, beg, scarab, taste, harmony, juvenile, leather, scribble
Upon hearing the list, one of our writers said that it sounded vaguely sexual. Hmmm.
Here's what I came up with during the exercise:
"He sat back in the chair, thumped his heels on the wooded table, and put his hands behind his head. He was pleased with himself - another notch in his leather belt, is what he was thinking. If he'd had a cowboy hat, he would've tipped it low and tasted the irony. His mother would've called his coup no more than the workings of a juvenile delinquent. Instead, he was lapping up the cream of his antics.
They were begging him to join Scarab Industries. The company's representative was sitting here before him, scribbling an offer he couldn't possibly refuse on a napkin. He'd take his sweet time giving them an answer - long enough, but not too long. Couldn't let them think he was too eager. He had to see if the figure the company rep was about to show him was harmonious with his lifestyle."
By far, the most difficult word to deal with in this list was scarab. It's an interesting word, though. One of our writers came up with a scarab ring. I thought my use of the word as a company name was a bit of a cop-out, but when I consider it further, I want to know what exactly Scarab Industries produces. Bit of a mystery there.
cream, irony, notch, beg, scarab, taste, harmony, juvenile, leather, scribble
Upon hearing the list, one of our writers said that it sounded vaguely sexual. Hmmm.
Here's what I came up with during the exercise:
"He sat back in the chair, thumped his heels on the wooded table, and put his hands behind his head. He was pleased with himself - another notch in his leather belt, is what he was thinking. If he'd had a cowboy hat, he would've tipped it low and tasted the irony. His mother would've called his coup no more than the workings of a juvenile delinquent. Instead, he was lapping up the cream of his antics.
They were begging him to join Scarab Industries. The company's representative was sitting here before him, scribbling an offer he couldn't possibly refuse on a napkin. He'd take his sweet time giving them an answer - long enough, but not too long. Couldn't let them think he was too eager. He had to see if the figure the company rep was about to show him was harmonious with his lifestyle."
By far, the most difficult word to deal with in this list was scarab. It's an interesting word, though. One of our writers came up with a scarab ring. I thought my use of the word as a company name was a bit of a cop-out, but when I consider it further, I want to know what exactly Scarab Industries produces. Bit of a mystery there.
Labels: exercise, story, words, writers, writing
Saturday, February 24, 2007
10 words, 20 minutes
Hey, hey! It's snowing! We haven't gotten much, so far, just a coating over the grass, but it's picking up speed. I vaguely remember hearing thunder last night - how weird is that?
Anyway, I promised a writing exercise for this weekend in one of my comments. I call it 10 words, 20 minutes. I'll give you 10 random words. You have 20 minutes to do something with them. Use them to write a poem or essay or song, heck, draw a picture using them if you like. The only rules are that you have to use all 10 words and you have only 20 minutes to do it. (You can fudge the time a weensy bit if you're finishing a thought when time's up, but don't keep writing on and on forever.) Feel free to alter the words using generally accepted English language principles, i.e. snow can become snowing, or snows, or snowed.
Ready? Here are your words:
cream
irony
notch
beg
scarab
taste
harmony
juvenile
leather
scribble
If you need to look up any of the words, your dictionary time doesn't count towards the 20 minutes.
Gather yourself together and Go!
Anyway, I promised a writing exercise for this weekend in one of my comments. I call it 10 words, 20 minutes. I'll give you 10 random words. You have 20 minutes to do something with them. Use them to write a poem or essay or song, heck, draw a picture using them if you like. The only rules are that you have to use all 10 words and you have only 20 minutes to do it. (You can fudge the time a weensy bit if you're finishing a thought when time's up, but don't keep writing on and on forever.) Feel free to alter the words using generally accepted English language principles, i.e. snow can become snowing, or snows, or snowed.
Ready? Here are your words:
cream
irony
notch
beg
scarab
taste
harmony
juvenile
leather
scribble
If you need to look up any of the words, your dictionary time doesn't count towards the 20 minutes.
Gather yourself together and Go!
Labels: create, dictionary, exercise, snow, thunder, weather, winter, words, writing
