Success Saturday, October 29, 2016

Jalál (Glory), 15 ‘Ilm (Knowledge), 173 BE - Saturday, October 29, 2016 AD about 9:42 AM Pacific Time 

I haven't accomplished my blogging goal for this month. The plan was to post every-other-day to this blog. I haven't posted because I've focused on other writing without looking for themes or subjects to discuss here. I don't have a posting schedule for November because that is National Novel Writing month. In November I will focus on accomplishing the 50,000 words before November 30. The most I might post is update. 

I did succeed in writing several poems this week for a challenge on writing.com. I also posted to my writing.com blog everyday, which wasn't part of this month's plan. The plan was to post every other day to that blog.  Oh well, November is a new month which means new goals. I'll post the November goal in the first. After that I will see how I do in accomplishing them.   

This Week I am Writing Spam

Fiḍál (Grace), 11 ‘Ilm (Knowledge), 173 BE - Tuesday, October 25, 2016 AD about 5:06 PM Pacific Daylight Time 

This week I am writing spam 

Bad poetry, 

But not about jellied ham. 

I am writing ghost hunter odes 

Line thst rhyme 

About haunted inns and roads. 

This week I am reviewing spam 

Bad poetry, 

That others compose 

Because their muse is on the lam. 

Remember in seven days Nation Novel Writing month begins. Writing spam poetry helps me relax before the writing frenzy starts. 

Motivational Monday: What is my motivation this week?

Kamál (Perfection), 10 ‘Ilm (Knowledge), 173 BE - Monday, October 24, 2016 AD about 2:40 PM Pacific Daylight Time 

Saturday and Sunday I reviewed on writing.com while procrastinating on doing surveys. Therefore, I have to check several of the survey websites for survey, or should I say, income opportunities. I also have to submit at least one item to a writing.com contest and finish a story. I think that is all I have to day, but that could change before the end of the week. I know I will have to take a few minutes (understatement) out of my day to early vote.  

Today it is raining, so I am using that as an excues to stay in. I do not want to get wet. The only thintgs I have to keep me dry are two hoodies, a windbreaker, and two umbrellas. One of the umbrellas is in the car, but I do not know the location of the umbrella I keep in the house. It could be in a box in my room or in a drawer. It rains so little here in Las Vegas that the umbrella does not get much use. I suppose I could use it as a sunshield in the summer. 

I have finished my NaNoWriMo outline or planning document whichever you want to call it. I also have the document set up in my writing.com port for my NaNo writing effort. I am working on a perrsonal memoir instead of a fantasy or science fiction novel. I going to close now by wishing everyone Happy Writing. 

I Am a NaNo Rebel

Istiqlál (Independence), 7 ‘Ilm (Knowledge), 173 BE - Friday, October 21, 2016 AD about 2:57 Pacific Daylight Time 

Only eleven days until the beginning of National Novel Writing Month. On November 1 the writing frenzy begins. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days. That means a writer has to complete at least 1,667 words a day. During NaNoWriMo I attempt and succeed at writing 50,000 words. This year I'm participating in NaNoWriMo, but I won't be working on fiction. Instead I'll write nonfiction. 

The title of my book is The Test, Tribulations, Joys, and Meditations of Prosperous Snow. The genre is personal with spiritual overtones. The first reason I chose this title because my Also Known As is Prosperous Snow.  The second is that something has changed in my life and I need to write some personal stuff so that I can focus. I figured NaNoWriMo was a good time to do it. 

Monday Question: Are you afraid of Clowns?

Kamál (Perfection), 3 ‘Ilm (Knowledge), 173 BE - Monday, October 17, 2016 AD about 4:24 PM Pacific Daylight Time 

All the stories in the news about creepy and scary clowns got me to wondering about phobias. I wanted to know what fear of clowns was called. First, let me define phobia. A phobia is classified as an anxiety disorder which is a persistent, overwhelming, and irrational fear of something. A person can have or develop a phobia against almost anything. 

The fear of clowns is called coulrophobia. I can tell you, from my experience with arachnophobia (fear of spiders), that have a phobia of any type is no laughing matter. The thing that frightens me about these clown sightings is that they may generate coulrophobia in people who have never been afraid of clowns or dealt with a phobia of any type. A phobia can be devastating and life altering if it is not dealt with in an appropriate manner. 

Saturday Afternoon in Las Vegas

Jalál (Glory), 1 ‘Ilm (Knowledge), 173 BE - Saturday, October 15, 2016 AD about 2:03 PM 

It's Saturday afternoon 

The wind is blowing through the  palm trees, 

Children are playing 

Either outside or inside 

And I'm contemplating an  

Afternoon nap. 

Thankful Thursday: What am I thankful for this week?

Istijlál (Majesty), 18 Mashíyyat (Will), 173 BE - Thursday, October 13, 2016 AD about 3:07 PM Pacific Daylight Time 

What am I thankful for this week? Perhaps the question should be what new things am I thankful for. Sometimes it seems as if I'm listing the same things on my gratitude list everyday, week, or month. I know that I have new things to put on my gratitude list, but when I sit down to make out the list my mind draws a blank of new items and I list the same old things.  Let me see if I can list a few new items on this week's list, 

This week I am grateful... 

01. ...that my checking account is not overdrawn. 

02. ...that, with the help of my sister, I was able to afford to get an alternator for my 2000 Kia. 

03. ...for fresh brewed Folgers black silk coffee. 

04. ...that I was able to get to the bank and back home yesterday without the battery going dead because of the alternator. 

05. ...that I have a writing.com coffee mug to drink my coffee out of each morning. 

06. ...that I had pepperoni pizza for lunch today. 

07. ...that I can leave the door and window open on these beautiful autumn days. 

08. ...that I have a Super Blow Pop grape sucker by my computer waiting for me to eat it. 

09. ...that I don't have to worry about picking my my prescriptions until the first or the third of November when my Social Security check hits my bank. 

10. ...that I have access to cloud storage for some of my stories and poems. 

Wordless Wednesday: Writing.com link

Trepidation Tuesday: My car needs a new alternator

Fiḍál (Grace), 16 Mashíyyat (Will), 173 BE - Tuesday, October 11, 2016 AD about 9:33 AM Pacific Daylight Time 

My car needs a new alternator which will cost about $101.00  plus tax if I purchase it at the discount alternator place. Then I need $40.00 to pay a neighbor, with experience working on cars, to put it in. Unfortunately, I don't have that amount of money in my account. October was a tight month, so I should have known I would have extra expenses. 

I attempting not to worry about paying for the alternator, the power bill, or the internet bill. My method of avoiding worry is to place everything in God's hands then write or do surveys. This has helped to an extent. If I can keep from worrying then I can figure out a way to get the money. Without a car I have to take the city bus, unfortunately I don't have the cash to take either the city bus or the paratransit because they both cost me $5.00 (I think) I'll have to check the paratransit website to make sure. 

Paper Clips and Duct Tape

Fiḍál (Grace), 9 Mashíyyat (Will), 173 BE - Tuesday, October 4, 2016 AD about 12:54 PM Pacific Daylight Time 

Can you fix anything with paper clips and duct tape? I know you can fix a lot of things with duct tape and paper clips. I don't think you can fix everything with them. I know it's hard to hold a bumper onto a car with duct tape. It's difficult to pick a lock with a paper clip (I know this because I once attempted it). 

What, you may ask, brought on this train of thought? I found a box of paper clips hidden under some papers on my desk. This small box has been with me for several years. I think my mother bought a few  years before she died and Mom died in 2012. I brought the box of paper clips with me when I moved from the house on Bracken Avenue to the studio on Sunrise Avenue. Then when I moved from the studio to the two-bedroom apartment the box came with me. The box is still about half-full of paper clips. 

I don't think I have any duct tape in the house. Of course, I could be wrong about that because I still have boxes that came with me from Bracken that I haven't cleaned out. I have to clean them out because I need to know what's in them. I could have clothes or shoes, but I suspect they contain some of my poems or old journals. I suppose that's the next thing to do after I finish cleaning out my desk drawers.