Staring at my computer monitor on the last day of August 2009

I'm not sure why I'm staring at blankly at my computer screen this morning. I don't have a problem with writers' block or blog block because I completed two poems and an entry in another blog.

I've ate breakfast this morning and am on my third cup of coffee. I'm awake and aware of what's going on in the world around me. Perhaps that's my problem, there is so much going on that I'm having difficulty finding a subject to write about.

I have to finish my coffee and then I'll go out and get the Monday morning paper. Perhaps I can find an interesting story in the Las Vegas Review Journal. I'm going to have to make another entry today anyway, I haven't completed the word count goal in any of my blogs yet.

September Holidays and Days to Remember

The first Monday in September is Labor Day, which falls on the September 7 this year. The first Sunday after Labor Day is National Grandparents' Day (September 13). Patriot Day, World Trade Center Remembrance Day, is on Friday, September 11.

If you Google "September Holidays" you will find that every day in September celebrates or commemorates something. One of the more intriguing holidays in September falls on the 16th, this is Collect Rocks Day. A writer doesn't have to worry about writers' block or blog block in September because of all the interesting days that fall in that month.

Thoughts on waiting in line

This morning I picked up a couple of food boxes I order at the beginning of the month. Naturally there was a line and I wasn't first. I've waited in lines all my life and I've never been first in line for anything. Probably just as well, I suspect those who are first in line have waited all night or gotten up before dawn to get into the line.

If I wait all night to get in line, then I have to sleep in my car with the doors locked and no bathroom near. Therefore, there isn't any reason to wait in line all night for anything. I do get up before dawn, but I have prayers to say and coffee to brew. I'm not giving up either just to wait in line. I do have my priorities and waiting in line isn't one of them.

I don't mind waiting if I have someone to talk to, a book to read or journal for writing. Today I had someone to talk to, so the time passed quickly. When I returned home, we fixed fried sweet potatoes and stake. I haven't had fried sweet potatoes before, they were good.

Sweet potatoes fried
in an electric skillet
good to the last one.

The reason writers need to take a daily newspaper

I take a daily newspaper. Every morning I go out and pick the day's paper, which is lying in my driveway up. In yesterdays paper I found two articles that made me thankful I subscribe to and read a daily paper.

I live in Las Vegas, therefore I subscribe to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. On the front page of the RJ there was a story from the Washington Post. This article by Rob Stein was titled "Researchers give monkey genes from two mothers". This would make a great plot for a short story or piece of flash fiction.

The other article was in the front section of the RJ, but on page 9. John Johnson, JR. wrote this article, which was from the Las Angeles Times. The title of this article is "Planet defies physics, survives near sun" and is another good idea for a science fiction story.

A writer should subscribe to a daily newspaper because the articles in the paper give the writer's muse ideas for stories or poems. In addition, going out to pick up the morning or afternoon paper gives the writer some exercise.

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Sunset in Las Vegas

Evening's white haze
hides the blue afternoon sky
another day gone.

Sunset is approaching and I look out my living room window. A bright white haze conceals the blue sky of late afternoon. I look back over the day and I realize that I didn't get much accomplished. I paid a bill and I went to the store for laundry products, so I could do laundry tomorrow.

Writing is blogging

Writing is blogging
putting thoughts in cyberspace
sentence creation

On Blog Action Day
I will create sentences,
paragraphs poems

Writers and Bloggers Mark October 15 on your calendars

October 15 is Blog Action Day, so mark it on your calendars. I've noted the day on my planning calendar. I don't know what the theme is yet, so I don't know what approach I'm going to take. I do know that I will make at least one entry on that day in this blog. This year, I'm considering making some type of entry in each of my blogs on Blog Action Day.

What I’ve learned about my writing from blogging

I have a tendency to write sentences in fragments. I don't know how I picked up this bad habit, but I acquired it somewhere. I know I have the issue; therefore, I can deal with it and eventually overcome.

I compose my blog entries directly in my blog. After I compose the entry and save the draft, I copy the entry into a word document. This reveals the sentence fragments, which I can then edit in the blog. I suppose I could compose the entry in the Word Document and then copy it to the blog after it's perfected. However, that isn't going to help me overcome the problem.

I have start recognizing the sentence fragments while the I'm working on the entry in the blog. I didn't write and sentence fragment while composing this entry. Therefore, I'm making some progress.

I’ve decided to enter my recipe for Hobo Stew in a contest

I'm entering my recipe for Hobo Stew in a contest. I have to write the recipe down, with instructions on how to make it. My only problem is that I don't have a written recipe for Hobo Stew. The reason for this is that each time I make it, I make it with different ingredients.

I make Hobo Stew out of leftovers. I just get whatever is leftover from the past week, put it in a slow cooker and let it cook. I'm going to have to write down the ingredients I remember using and work from them. The seasoning isn't a problem because I use the packaged seasoning mixes. When I want to make Hobo Stew I go to the store and get the package of seasoning that will complement the meat I have leftover in the fridge.

I think I'll begin by writing down the common items I normally have leftover. I can start with the meat because we usually make it with chicken. I buy the deli chicken that's already cooked for one meal. I use that as the meat base, there are exceptions because sometimes we use beef we have left over or out of a can. I need to get started on it because the deadline is September 30.

On a Hazy Tuesday morning in Las Vegas

I look out my living room window and see a cloudless sky. There are no clouds, but there is the normal summer Las Vegas haze. I'm used to the haze. I'm used to seeing a faded blue sky on cloudless days. I've live in Las Vegas for over thirty years, so the haze is a normal part of the background.

I mess the deep blue sky of my childhood. I like to write about the beautiful blue sky of my childhood. I haven't found the precise color to describe the blue I remember as the color of the sky. Sapphire comes closest, but that exquisite gem doesn't always help in the description. I remember the blue skies of my childhood having different shades during the day. I also remember the seasons affected the color of the sky.

Beautiful blue sky
a memory of my childhood
lonely bird flying

Writing about going green

Recyclable day is coming up again on Saturday, August 29. That's when the recyclable trucks empty the recyclable bins. In Las Vegas, the recyclable trucks empty the bins every other week. I know I have two to carry to the curb I may have three. I'm have to check the one containing glass and see how many jars are in the bin.

When I was a child, we didn't worry about recycling. My grandparents did recycle in their own way. Grandma and Grandpa would reuse the glass jars that mustard came in as storage jars. I remember Grandpa had shelves in the garage with glass jars containing nails and screws. When we empties a mustard jar, Grandma would wash it and then either she or Grandpa would take the jar for storage.

Another way Grandma recycled was to use worn out cloths for dust rags and cleaning rags. She even had a special ragbag to put the worn out items in. Eventually, when she could no longer use the rag for anything, then she threw it away. Grandma go as much use out of an item she could before putting it in the trash.

Recycling glass jars
Grandma would wash them before
Grandpa stored his nails.

Celebrate Grandparents’ Day

National Grandparents' Day is the first Sunday after Labor Day. This year it falls on September 13. I think I'll write a poem about my grandparents. I'm not sure that a single poem will be enough to celebrate Grandparents' Day because I have memories of three Grandparents. I remember Grandma and Grandpa Newland and Grandma Darbe.

Grandma and Grandpa
I always knew they loved me
they were always there.

First Sunday after
Labor Day we remember
Grandma and Grandpa.

Writing about the Rain

It rained today in Las Vegas, a gentle cool summer rain, the type of rain that brings back memories of my childhood. The rain is needed in this desert because we are in a drought. It didn't rain long or a lot, but it rained.

Gentle raindrops fall
desert's liquid refreshment
Las Vegas gives thanks.

The rain brought back memories of Oklahoma rains. When I was a child, I enjoyed walking home from school in the rain. I would make sure I stepped in every water or mud puddle on the way home. When I got home, my mother or grandmother would run me a hot bath and make hot chocolate.

Writing My Memories of Grandma and Grandpa

I'm thinking a lot about my grandparents. Since I'm thinking about them I'm also writing about them. I'm making blog entries about Grandma and Grandpa Newland. Of course, I had two sets of grandparents.

Most of my memories are about my mother's parents, Grandma and Grandpa Newland. I remember my father's mother, Grandma Darbe, but I don't remember Dad's father because he died before I was born.

I'm not sure why I'm thing about my grandparents. Perhaps it's the time of my life, I'm 62 and will turn 63 on December 24. Age may have something to do with the memories or stress. The years I spent with Grandma and Grandpa were less stressful. I don't know why I'm thinking about them lately, but as long as I think about them I'm going to continue writing about them.

A warm day in Las Vegas

It's warm out today. Some would call it hot. Perhaps it is, I don't know the prediction for today's temperature. I do know that when I went out to take the cloths off the line, I broke a sweat, cloths felt as if I had just taken them out of an electric dryer and the cloths pins were hot.

Hanging cloths out brings back memories of my grandmother. Grandma Newland hang her cloths out. Even after electric washers and dryers appeared on the market, Grandma still hung her cloths out. Grandpa bought her an automatic washer, but not a dryer. If Grandma had wanted an electric cloths dryer, Grandpa would have bought it for her.

Grandma enjoyed hanging cloths out because she liked the smell of cloths right off the line. I enjoy the smell of cloths dried outside; I just can't seem to get them as soft as Grandma could. I use fabric softener in the washer during he rinse cycle. I don't know what the problem is; perhaps cloths today are intended to be dried in an automatic dryer.

Laundry on the line
I remember Grandma on
laundry day laughing.

Haibun a combination of poetry and prose

Haibun is a Japanese method of journaling, an ancient tradition of combining prose and poetry. When writing a haibun entry the writer write one or two prose paragraphs about a subject and then writes a stanza of haiku about the subject.

Writing syllables
three lines of enlightenment
prose and poetry.

I've attempted to make some haibun entries in this and my other blogs. I'm not sure how good a job I'm doing, but I'm working on improving my haibun entries.

Perfection comes with
practice, stubborn persistence
a blogger must blog.

A New Nineteen days of achievement has begun

Istijlál (Majesty), 1 Asmá’ (Names), 166 BE – Thursday, August 20, 2009 about 10:03 AM Pacific Time

Nineteen days of
putting words in sentences
the joy of writing.

I've began Asmá’ with two poems. My poem count for the last nineteen days (Kamal) exceeds 100 poems. I began this nineteen-day period by writing and submitting a poem to a writing contest on writing.com. I called the second poem the Feast of Names.

I am refreshed and renewed this morning. I'm optimistic and looking forward the writing poems, flash fiction, short stories, and working on novels. I'm also going to attempt to write one or two essays this nineteen days. I did write one essay during Kamal.

August and Summer

August is the hottest month in Las Vegas. Today is a cloudless day, but often there are clouds promising rain. This year not very much rain in my section of town. I enjoy summer, all though the heat is sometimes difficult to handle.

Since I don't have an automatic dryer, I hang my cloths outside on a hexagon cloths line. When the automatic dryer worked, we (Mom and I) did four or five loads of laundry a day. Now one or two loads in a day is enough. I like washing and hanging the cloths out in the morning because it isn't as hot. The cloths line is in the sun and it gets hot hanging cloths on the line or taking them off.

Hot sun drying cloths
wind turning the line around
Las Vegas August.

My muse has taken a momentary vacation

My muse is weary
can't think of anything to write
I need a short nap.

I gave blood yesterday. My iron count isn't back up to where it should be. I think a nap might help. Prayer and meditation could help. I'm having difficulty finding a subject to focus on. I'm having beans and pigs feet for lunch today. I think I'll go see if their ready to eat yet. Then get back to work because I have lots to do today.

I donated today

I went to United Blood Services this morning at 9:30 AM and donated. I was a bit worried because sometimes my iron count is too low to donate, but today it was high enough for me to donate. I didn't donate the whole blood, rather I donated the platelets, it takes a little longer to do that.

After the donation, I sit in the office a little while, ate chocolate chip cookies and drank grape juice. I then came home, I cam home with a purple bandage around my right arm. Since it's been over four hours since I gave the blood I can take the bandage off.

Giving blood is an accomplishment for me because I'm afraid of needles. I've over come that fear when it comes to giving blood. I don't know where the fear of needles came from because I've had it all my life. My mother told me that when I was two or three the doctor had to catch me in order to give me a shot.

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I’ve written a lot lately

I've written a lot lately. I written over 85 poems, a couple of flash fiction pieces and an article. I have an appointment with Blood Services this morning, so I'm hoping to get a poems or some story ideas from that experience.

I like to post to my blogs once in the morning. Then if I find other things the rest of the day I can post again. I'm going to have to make other post today, since I haven't achieved my minimum work count goal yet. Now I have to fix breakfast and get ready to drive to United Blood Services on East Charleston in Las Vegas.

Half way through August my poetry count is

I've written 82 poems in my poetry journal so far in August. My actual count is more then that since I've put some poems in my blogs which I haven't transferred to the journal. I may get some of the poems transferred to the poetry journal after August 19 and I may not transfer them until the end of August.

My muse has gone wild
unable to sleep we write
haiku and tanka.

Coffee on Friday morning

I pour leftover coffee into the percolator. Watch the little window to make sure I don't overfill the pot. Place the empty basket inside then put on the lid. Plug in the cord. I stand listening to the perk, smile. I inhale the aroma as I return to the living room.

black gold warmed over

the percolator glistens

a new day begins

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A Writer’s Tool

Daily Writing Practice Prompt for Saturday, August 1, 2009: “Write about a tool.”

A writer's tools are the words she uses;
the words placed in sentences and paragraphs;
the words inscribed into lines and stanzas;
the words that describe a lake at sunset;
the words that express similes and metaphors.

A writer uses computers and pens
to put these words into documents,
into blogs,
into journals,
into books,
but the tool itself are the words used by the writer.

Everyone needs a home alarm expert

Tuesday, August 11, 2009 and everyone needs a home alarms provider. It is a dangerous world and no matter, how careful I am or anyone is about checking the doors. About making sure the front door, the patio doors and the windows are locked, someone can still break into the house.

As I found out, it is easy for a stranger to break into a screened in patio. All the person does is rip the screen on the locked patio door. Once on the patio, then getting into the house through the sliding glass doors, even if they are locked, is easy. This is the reason reliable and professional twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week home alarm monitoring is necessary. Without this monitoring, I do not think neither my mother nor I would be safe today.

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Write about something that was stolen

Daily Writing Practice Prompt for Saturday August 8, 2009: “Write about something that was stolen."

I had a car stolen once. It was years ago when we were living in the apartment. I had parked my car in the alley the night before. I went out to get into to car to go to the store and the car was gone. I looked down at the keys in my hands and cried. The car keys were in my hand, I had not left them in the car.

I went back to the apartment, called the police and then checked to make sure the extra car key was hanging from a nail in the closet. The extra key was in the closet. They found the car, but never found who stole it. While we were living in those apartments I had a car vandalized as well.

I am expanding my writing

I am expanding my writing. I wrote two different essays today for contests on writing.com. One was a cooking essay, I wrote about making Hobo Stew. The other was a comedy piece about putting together a bookcase.

The bookcase essay I will know about tomorrow, if not before. If I don't get any reviews about it by Tuesday morning, then I'm going to request reviews from one of the review groups. I am curious about people's reaction to that essay. I know the essay needs work, not so much in the writing style as the comedy part. I want to know if the piece is funny. I want it to make people laugh.

The Hobo Stew piece could use some work as well. However, I am not sure what I am looking for in reviews with that piece. I will think about before I request reviews for that essay.

Sunday, the beginning of a new week

It's Sunday and the beginning of a new week. I have a dozen things to do around the house and online. I decided not to do laundry today instead I will wait until Monday morning, do a load of laundry and then hang it out. I have only half a load in the washer now so I have to find more cloths to go in before I can wash the cloths.

It's interesting before the dryer went out we were doing three or four loads a day. Now that we have to hang the cloth outside on a cloths line, we only do one or two loads a day. Some days, like today, we don't any laundry and we still have enough clean cloths to last. The only difference is lack of an automatic dryer in the house. I don't see how that makes much difference, but it does.

Hexagon cloths line
arms folded over its head
waiting for wet cloths.

On the other side of street

Daily Writing Practice Prompt for Sunday August 9, 2009: On the other side.

On the other side of the street
houses stand in a row,
houses that were built over thirty years ago.

Each house has a unique story to tell
if it could only speak,
if one of those houses could talk
what stories would it relate
about the families,
which moved there thirty years ago.

Afternoon Nap

Every writer needs to take an afternoon nap once in a while. I don't advocate a daily afternoon, but I think it an afternoon nap two or three days a week helps a writer's words to flow. I took a nap this afternoon because I wasn't feeling well. If I don't feel well a nap seems to refresh me and makes me feel better.

Today I took my mother in for a CAT scan, on the way home I stopped and bought a case of water. Because I wasn't feeling well, I had difficulty loading the water into the car at the store and unloading it at home. The case of water wasn't that heavy, so my problem was feeling ill. I guess I should have left the water in the car until after my nap.

I didn't think of leaving the water in the car and unloading it after my nap. Even if I had thought about waiting to unload the water, I probably would not have waited. This is summer, I live in Las Vegas; therefore, the water would have gotten hot if I left it in the car.

The nap did wonders for me. I feel better. I'm more optimistic then before the nap. The only problem, I'm behind on my daily writing. I did write two poems after I woke up, so I'm not behind on my poetry writing for the month.

Write about an eclipse

Daily Writing Practice Prompt for Thursday, July 30, 2009: “Write about an eclipse.”

Dragons eat the sun
demons consume the solar disk
humanity covers its eyes.

I'm going to have to do some more research about eclipse mythology. Some of the myths are interesting and creative. I think the only time I've ever witnessed a solar eclipse is on television. I have witnessed a total lunar eclipse, but that is a different poem.

Every night, I have the same routine

Daily Writing Practice Prompt for Tuesday, July 28, 2009: “Every night, ...”

Every night, I go through the same routine before going to bed. I check the sliding glass doors to make sure both locks are in place. I check the front door to make sure the screen is locked and then the inside door to make sure it is locked. I make sure my keys are laying where I can get to them if I need to unlock the doors in an emergency.

I check to make sure both the front porch light and the patio light are on. Then I make sure the inside lights, which we turn off are off. We leave some of the lights inside the house on, so I make sure those are on.

My routine is getting monotonous, so I am going to have to make some changes. I think I will start going outside to make sure my car doors are locked. I normally do that when I get out of the car, but checking the locks again is a good idea. While I am outside, I can look up at the sky. This is Las Vegas, so the only thing I will probably see is the Metro helicopter flying over.

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I’m writing short post lately to all my blogs

I don't know why most of my blog post are short post. It's not that I can't think of a lot to write about, it's just that some of them are poems. I can write long poems, but not in my blogs. For some reason I seem to write short blog poems.

Perhaps my muse just can't think of anything longer. It's interesting that poets and writers talk about the inspiration of their muse. Of course, I use my mind to compose the poems, yet I refer to my muse when writing the poem. I'm not sure why I do that, it might be an interesting subject to explore in my off line journal.

I suggest all bloggers keep an off line journal. It helps my words to flow online and I can write anything in that journal I want without worrying about what I write. Everyone should keep a journal just for himself or herself without worrying about anything else.

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The Scent of Roses

Daily Writing Practice Prompt for Wednesday, July 29, 2009: “Write about a scent.”

I miss the scent of roses
they smell so nice in the early spring
when the first blooms open
and birds begin to sing.

Summer is now here
and it's too hot for roses to bloom
all though the birds still sing,
I miss the scent of roses
and the cool spring.

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Poetry Roll

Five days, twenty-one poems and counting, I'm not sure what's going on except that I'm writing poetry. It's like spring snow melt in the Rocky Mountains. The snow melts and floods all the dry streambeds and the desert comes alive.

I've written a lot of poetry in my life, but never so many poems in such a short amount of time. True, I'm probably going to rewrite some of them. However, I'm going to let them lay for a while and continue the roll. When the muse strikes I write and my muse is obviously attacking me. Therefore, I'm going to continue writing for as long as possible before beginning the process of rewriting.

If only

Daily Writing Practice Prompt for Tuesday August 4, 2009: “If only...”

If only
it would rain
I would not complain
about the drought.

If only it would rain a little bit more there would be no drought. I live in Las Vegas and we've had a problem with a drought for he past few years. True, this is a desert, but I live in Las Vegas which means The Wells.

This is August which is monsoon season here. There are cloud, but not a lot of rain. When it rains in Las Vegas it floods. Not in every area of town because the city is so big that it can rain one section and not another. We need rain and all I see today are clouds with a little bit of blue sky peeking through.

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In a Movie Theater

Daily Writing Practice Prompt for Monday July 27, 2009: “You're in a movie theater.”

In a movie theater
after the music comes on
and the lights go off
I close my eyes and wait
for the movie to begin.

In a movie theater
I listen to the ads,
I listen to the coming attractions
and imagine
the scenes rather then watch them
because my imagination
is always much better then what I see
in front of my eyes.

I have a word count goal for each of my blogs

I am determined to make the minimum word count each day; however, I'm getting weary of the slow Internet connection. My connection slows down somewhere between 11:00 AM and Noon, so I like to make most of my entries in the morning or in the evening.

The problem is I also like to do any business I have in the mornings. I don't like driving in the hot afternoon, so I attempt to get any business completed before noon. That's not always possible of course, but that doesn't mean I don't try.

Today I went to the dentist to have another adjustment on my lower plate. I couldn't keep my bottom teeth in while I ate. So I went to the dentist this morning at 8:00 AM, since I was a walk-in, I knew I would have to wait a while. I didn't get out until about 11:30 AM. I came home, fixed me something to eat and sit down on the couch to eat and read the paper. I dozed off, I was so tired I went to sleep sitting up with my teeth in my mouth. Anyway as a result, I'm dealing with a slow Internet connection and more work to do.

Write about a bedroom

Daily Writing Practice Prompt for Monday August 3, 2009: “Write about a bedroom.”

What can I write about a bedroom? It's a room with a bed, a dresser, a chest of drawers, two night stands (usually), a closet (usually with the doors closed) and a window. My bedroom has only one nightstand and no dresser, but I do have a chest of drawers.

I need new bedroom furniture. I haven't had new furniture in my bedroom for over ten years. The mattress is relatively new, but it's about four or five years old. My chest of drawers is missing a drawer and the closet doors are open. I also need new curtains for the window.

A person's bedroom is supposed to say something about them. My bedroom says I don't use it for anything except sleeping. That is when I sleep. Normally I just lay in bed and listen to the neighborhood noises. I listen to the Metro helicopter flying over or the neighbors' dogs barking. It's intriguing that when the neighbors' dogs bark Metro's helicopter flies over.

August Haiku

Las Vegas swelters
Monsoon season clouds no rain
Roll up car window

The First Time I Saw Las Vegas

Daily Writing Practice Prompt for Wednesday, July 22, 2009: “The first time I saw ______.”

The first time I saw Las Vegas, I arrived in the city by bus. The bus didn't drive up the strip, but turned onto Charleston Ave. and then went to the bus station which is on Main Street. The city took my breath away because it was larger then any town or city I'd seen before.

Since my arrival several years ago, Las Vegas has grown. There are more hotel-casinos. There are more grocery stores. There are more gas stations. There are more people. Las Vegas has grown both out and up; the suburbs spread while the hotel-casinos go up. It's a different city then when I came thirty years ago.

Write about being late

Daily Writing Practice Prompt for Thursday, July 23, 2009: “Write about being late.”

Being late
walking into a room
when the meeting has started
looking for a place to sit down
and finding the only available seat
is in the middle of the second row
directly in front of the speaker.

Being late
you want to be inconspicuous,
but this is impossible
when the only seat you can find
means you have to walk carefully
because you may step on a strangers toes.

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A new writing month begins

Jalál (Glory), 1 Kamál (Perfection), 166 BE – Saturday, August 1, 2009 about 11:46 AM Pacific Time


A new writing month begins. I've attempted this entry twice and been interrupted twice. I've forgotten what I was going to write. I do know it had something to do with August and writing. Perhaps I should just post this blog entry and go on to something else.

I need an office. I need a room with a door that locks from the inside. I need a sign that says "Do Not Disturb". Normally, I have no problem with writing interruptions, but today it's an issue and I'm not sure why. Perhaps the problem is that I'm off my meds or that it's August. I'm not sure what the problem is, so I will complete this entry, post it and go check the rice in the slow cooker.