I have tickets to see The Rolling Stones this week at a venue that is practically in my backyard. This is surely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, yet as of right now I don’t know if I’ll attend.
It was an exciting impulse buy but even as I hit the key to purchase, the option of selling the tickets was on my mind.
This ambiguousness has become a familiar frame of mind for months now, reflected in several areas of my life including my writing or lack thereof. Floundering in a fog of second guessing and self-doubt is not a totally unfamiliar state but I generally feel more in control of decision making and moving forward.
This was the question from my long-time, creative friend Joyce, when I shared with her my doubts about trying to write.
It was a balmy twenty seven degrees centigrade in late October in Venice, Italy; birthplace of Casanova and often referred to as the most beautiful and romantic city in the world. I was lounging in a café, sipping cappuccino and watching the world go by. Gondolas and river taxis glided past and the canal water gently lapped at the edge of the patio, a scant three feet away. Tourists stopped to pose for photos on the iconic Rialto Bridge.
Do you often laugh out loud when you’re reading? Not just a smile or chuckle when you come across something funny but a real out-loud laugh? I do. It’s always a nice surprise and can provide a bit of levity in a serious story and a welcome break in tension.
Two diaries belonging to my mother were unearthed from an old cedar chest that has held the last of her things since her passing eleven years ago. I was thrilled at the prospect of reading them. The earliest one was a Christmas gift from her mother in 1950. My mom would have been 18 years old.
It’s time for a little spring cleaning in the writing department; a bit of a re-boot with the goal of improving clarity, succinctness and impact in what I write. Along with some answers to the proper use of seemingly similar words such as though and although, I’ve discovered a few, new-to-me, rules of the English language.