September 2020 – Word Inventions

A day of putoffedness

I just noticed that I want a new default font on this program. I can’t move ahead with my day of extreme productivity (cool that I italicized it) until I change my default font.

I mean, it’s an expression of who I am and in 2020, it’s absolutely all about me.

So, what do I think?

Comic Sans?

Bodoni?

And do I want to bold it?

And god forbid, what font size do I want?

I might need a day to work through this and move my day of extreme productivity to tomorrow and keep today as my day of extreme angst over more important issues. (Still deserving of italics, I see.)

Yep, the life of a listless, shiftless writer is not an easy one. No one seems to understand that.

So I guess I am here on this earth to share that ugly truth with the world.

4 simple ways to have a great idea–Richard St. John

I enjoyed this five-minute TED talk by Richard St. John. In it, he draws on lessons from Richard Branson, singer Sam Smith, Google co-founder Larry Page, Botox-pioneer Dr. Jean Carruthers, and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman.

It speaks to those of us putting words to screen, paint on canvas, plans to paper, and everything in between. For some, the ideas aren’t new, but who doesn’t need a few reminders every once in awhile?

Some favorite quotes:

“Ears are wifi for ideas.”

“EyeQ often wins over IQ.”

“When a really great dream shows up, grab it.”

Writing prompt of the day–scary kids. And 200 more prompts.

Click here for my page of 200 more prompts…

Best writing advice ever? Compare yours with this.

As I’m sure most of you know, Quora offers a wealth of knowledge and personal experience [and bias] on a wide range of subjects.

So let’s dig for some writerly wisdom…much of it coming from folks like you and me…

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best-writing-advice-you-have-received

I hope you find something helpful and/or affirming.

A writing prompt tool…or is it a toy? ;->

Courtesy of https://www.byrdseed.com/emoji2/

Derek Sivers: 6 links re: a very interesting guy

Derek Sivers offers mountains of value at no cost to you.

Check out his notes on books he’s read.

More specifically, writers, here are his notes on the classic, On Writing Well.

And this blog post: $250K books sold. $250K to save lives.

Here are Goodreads comments on his book, Hell Yeah or No: What’s Worth Doing. I don’t see the book listed on Amazon, despite the Amazon link on the Goodreads page. It didn’t turn up in Apple Books either, so I think he’s simply selling it on his site. Sounds good to me.

Even better than the comments, here is his overview of the book. (Feels more like the entire book. Hey, I’m not complaining.)

I should be writing. Instead, drifting…toward chocolate cake.

Raise your hand if:

you’ve ever left a measuring cup in the bag of flour or sugar.
you’ve intentionally left a measuring cup in the bag of flour or sugar for the next baking venture.
you skipped the ‘firmly pack the brown sugar’ step and instead just poured in an extra tablespoon or two of the stuff.
you would consider breaking off a hunk of this cake rather than resorting to a [pinkies up!] utensil. Recipe below…Note: Feel free to overdo both the chocolate chips and the cocoa.

2. Best way to get rid of the redolent odor of wildfire smoke in your kitchen? Four batches of roasted tomatoes, with generous supplies of garlic chunks, rosemary sprigs, etc. [It ain’t pretty here in Oregon right now…]

3. And then there’s this: Do you think dogs lying peacefully on the floor know the difference between our giving them half our attention [one hand scratching their chin and one hand clicking links or entering a passcode] vs. our full attention? Do we send out a ‘semi-distracted’ vibe when we are, in fact, semi-distracted?

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk

2 and 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
4 TBLSP cocoa

3 six-inch long zucchini

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Cream first four ingredients together in large bowl.
Add next three ingredients and stir well to mix.
Measure next six ingredients into sifter; then sift into bowl of other ingredients.
Finely grate zucchini into bowl; stir until blended.
Fold in half of the chocolate chips to mixture.
Pour into greased 9″ x 13″ pan –or- two 9″ cake pans.
Sprinkle rest of chocolate chips on top of batter.
Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. [Check it about the 37-minute mark. Hey, different ovens, right?]

*Cutting the oil in half barely changes the final result.