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Showing posts from February, 2020

On Writing (or Why I Will Never Be a Professional Editor)

Did you read my last post?  When did you read it? If you read it yesterday it won't be the same post as it is right now.  The content will be the same, but you will see some newly-edited sentences and better organized paragraphs. When I write, I can never edit myself the way I need to.  To understand this fully, one needs to look at my typical blogging process. I come up with the idea for a post in my head.  I write the post mentally, but my thoughts always go off in a new direction.  I realize a post will never stay focused in my head, so I discipline myself to finally sit down and to write the post.  I consider every sentence carefully, editing as I go. I rarely ever finish a post in one shot.  I'll write only part of it.  I save it and come back to it anywhere from one day to several days later.  I read what I already wrote before continuing on.  I decide I don't like the phrasing of a few sentences, or that some of the larger p...

You Bring the Celebration Where It Needs to Be

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One advantage I had in marrying Kevin was that I was lucky enough to marry into his family.  I am a lucky woman indeed when it comes to my in-laws. A few years ago two of my coworkers were having a conversation complaining about their in-laws and asked me if I got along with my mother-in-law. I said, "I adore my mother-in-law." They were shocked and said, "Nobody adores their mother-in-law." I said, "I have an exceptional mother-in-law." Since the early days of our relationship Kevin's family welcomed me in and we never turn down a reason to spend time with them. So let's talk about Eleanor, this exceptional mother-in-law of mine.  She is a lovely woman who recently turned 94 years young.  Her mind is still sharp and her wit is intact.  Her good looks are still evident.  Her personal style is still exquisite.  When looking at, and talking to her, we see all we love about her sons. When you are in your 90s, every birthday is preci...

What Does One Write in a Personal Blog These Days? (And what kinds of posts you might expect to see in the future)

I started blogging sometime around the turn of the century.  I had a couple of homemade websites up using some elementary Microsoft hosting and then eventually I found MySpace where Shipwrecked & Comatose was born.   I still miss MySpace.  I liked the format.  The blog function made it easy for me to keep a daily journal of my mental flotsam and jetsam.  I could make every post public and open to all, open only to my MySpace friends, open only to certain MySpace friends, or private like a diary.  MySpace friends who liked my blog (and in those days I had my fans) could go to my profile and scroll through all the posts. I had friends who who visited it every day to see if I posted anything interesting. Open blogging did take a toll on me.  I wanted to blog about all the minutia of my life.  I sometimes felt as if I were living for the blog.  Every thought that popped into my head became a potential blog post.  Every event in my li...