Day 150: What’s That’s Smell?

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 150: What’s That’s Smell?

Christmas is coming and ever since I discovered shopping online, I’ve been all over the Net looking for suitable gifts. Of course, I had to start early as some gifts come from China and it can take as long as four weeks for packages to arrive. And arriving they do, one after another.

Next up I went in search for wrapping paper, not online but in an actual store. Since not any paper will do, I looked at several designs and finally settled on this one …

This morning I thought it was time to start wrapping the gifts, cleared the dining room table, got the scissors and the sticky tape and set to work. It didn’t take long before I smelled something foul, let me rephrase that … something that stank up to high heaven.

Since it was the smell of poop I thought that one of the cats had an accident on the floor. I checked the carpet under the table, I checked the surrounding floor and when I couldn’t find anything, I checked the bottom of my slippers. I could see anything.

I continued wrapping and the closer I got to the paper, checking that the corners were neatly folded, the stronger the stinky smell became. So, I bend and sniffed the wrapping paper … OMG I nearly passed out, the paper smelled like the worst kind of poop.

Even the cats made a hasty retreat. Thus far Halley and Greyson had positioned themselves on the dining room table, ready to ‘help’ me with the wrapping, but the smell of the paper was even too much for them.

Of course, I'm not just Christmas shopping for Dieter, the cats are getting a gift too. In the past when we bought them toys they showed little or no interest in them but claimed the box the toys came in. So this year we opted for something practical rather than toys. We got them this:

The box is set to arrive tomorrow. I wonder, will they show an interest or ignore the cat tree?

Day 112: How is this fair?

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 112: How is this fair?

I’m sick, or rather, I was sick, I got better and now I’m sick again. It’s only a cold, but I feel terrible. A head filled with cotton wool, watery eyes, a stuffed nose, a raspy throat, and limbs that seem to made of flannel.

How did this happen? My guess is my dear son came home with germs. He started sniffing and sneezing and I knew it was only a matter of time before his germs paid me a visit. Sure enough, 24 hours later I was sniffing and sneezing too.

While he got over his cold fairly quickly, it took me days to feel like my old self again. Yesterday I finally felt better and went out to have my health card renewed.

I had checked the list of what I needed to have this card renewed and I gathered the following:

Existing health card

3 original identification documents from the Ontario health coverage document list

1 to prove citizenship/immigration status

1 to prove residency in Ontario

I had all that and thought I had it covered, but I was wrong. For proof of residency, I had taken with me a Visa bill with my address on it. At the office, though I was told that a Visa bill is not acceptable. Well, that was a problem because I have no other paperwork.

We are constantly told to save the environment and to switch from paper to electronic forms. But now that I did, and don’t receive anything in paper form anymore, that counts against me. How is this fair? To have my health card renewed, I had to request a statement of my account on paper.

I came home thoroughly dispirited. The first time I went to Service Ontario their computer system was down. The second time, yesterday it was the lack of a paper document that stood in my way. Third time lucky?

As if that wasn’t enough, the effort of walking to Service Ontario and standing in line caused a relapse of my cold. Now I feel worse than before.

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Day 26: Writing - Easy ways to make time to write

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 26: Writing – Give advice to writers

Easy ways to make time to write

Writers are notorious procrastinators.  Those with a full-time job might argue that they don’t have much time to write, while those who stay at home might find that there are too many distractions. Productive writers have one thing in common, they make time to write.

One of the first things to do is to know what keeps you from writing.  It could be that you would like to spend more time writing but that you, in the name of research, get easily distracted by everything that’s available on the Net.  Maybe you prefer reading over writing.  It could be that you watch too much television or that you are a notorious napper.

If you get easily distracted, you need to set goals for yourself. If you can write one or two articles per day, great, that’s thirty-one or sixty-two articles per month and that’s nothing to sneeze at. By setting goals for yourself that you can actually achieve, you encourage yourself to do more, rather than facing disappointment by setting your goals too high.

Keep a notebook and pen handy.  Inspiration can come anytime, any place, but unless you can jot something down, an idea, phrase or impression might quickly disappear. Preference should be given to a book over scraps of paper as those might easily get lost.

A fast and easy way to help you in your writing is a Dictaphone. This tiny tape recorder can be used in the car, in a coffee shop, in the park, or any other place where you might find inspiration.  While dictating you don’t have to worry about typos or correct grammar, you can just talk and type up your ideas later.  Someone else can even do the typing for you. Your spouse or children might welcome such a project to practice their typing speed and accuracy.

You will know best whether you are a morning or an evening person. If you are at your most productive in the wee hours of the morning, try to get up an hour early to write.  If you’re more of a night owl, wait until everyone has gone to bed and the house is quiet to devote some time to write. If you have a full-time job, use your lunchtime to write. 

You can use your laptop and run off battery power; your iPad loaded with a writing programme such as ‘Pages’ or use pen and paper. Writing longhand may actually be beneficial to your writing.  Many writers claim that typing influences their creativity and they write better using a pen. 

Leo Tolstoy used to write sitting in the market square. If it worked for him it might work for you.

Feel free to comment. I'd love to hear from you.

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Day 13: Letters - Make reference to a famous letter

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 13: Letters. Make reference to a famous letter

Because of the internet, people today enjoy instant communication. Someone writes an email and within seconds can expect a reply. Or contact someone via chat and create an instant conversation.

While this is a very convenient way of interaction, very few people today know the pleasure of writing a letter and the joyful anticipation of a reply.

When I was a teenager I had several pen pals and waited for the mailman every morning. Sitting by the window, I saw him push his bike up the street and almost from door slip something in the mailbox. Would he have something for me? When I heard a thud in our mailbox I knew something had arrived.

I used to rush through the house, open the small wooden door of the mailbox and fish out whatever was just delivered.

More sweet anticipation followed as I sifted through the envelopes looking for those addressed to me.

Responding to those letters was just as enjoyable. Sitting at the dining room table, a block of crisp white lined paper in front of me and a fountain pen on the side. I use to love the feel of that silky paper and the sound of the pen scratching as it formed letters and words.

I wonder if Napoleon felt the same when he wrote:

My Dearest Josephine, I wake filled with thoughts of you. Your portrait and the intoxicating evening which we spent yesterday have left my senses in turmoil. Sweet, incomparable Josephine, what a strange effect you have on my heart!

Poor man, who knows how long it took for his letters to be delivered and how long he had to wait for a response. I wonder how Josephine felt. Each time Napoleon went off to battle she must have wondered if she'd ever see him again, and a letter would have been a sign of life.

In due time, I moved on from pen and paper to a typewriter. I admired those machines the way my friends admired shoes, boots, and handbags. From behind the showroom window, they beckoned for me to come closer, enticing me with their shiny black, white, mint green or powder blue cases, detailed with black or white keyboards. Side by side they stood, fighting for my attention.

A whole year I saved up part of my pocket money so I could have one of those machines for my very own. Do kids still do that today, save up for something?

I’ll never forget the day when I brought my ‘baby’ home. Using two fingers I could now hammer out letters to my pen pals at a fraction of the time it used to take me.

Over the years my little typewriter was replaced by a much more sophisticated electric machine, followed by several desktop computers and finally laptops.

Does anyone these days still use typewriters or write letters for that matter?

Feel free to comment, I'd love to hear from you.

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