Sunday Speculations: Can I finish writing these form poems this week?

1. An ekphrastic poem which is a poem written about a work of art.

2. A Blitz poem has a total of 48 lines.

3. A diminished hexaverse has an interesting stanza pattern.

4. A monchielle poem which is composed of four five-line stanzas with six syllables per line.

5. A Lipogram poem which is a poem leaving out a specific letter.

6. A double diminished hexaverse another form with an interesting stanza pattern

I still have to do a little more research on these forms before I write more about them in this blog. I will decide later today which poetry form I will attempt first.

Success Saturday: The Last Saturday in November 2015

This month I've encountered setbacks and success. I didn't finish my NaNoWriMo novel. I did finish several poems and stories. I did some port housekeeping in my writing.com portfolio. I reviewed numerous items on writing.com. I made responded the several blog prompts and posted several blog entries. I ate turkey, dressing, and cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving. November was a month filled with successes and failures. November was a normal month.

Okinawa: Mara's Secrect

Mara, from Berlin, has kept a secret from her boy friend since their relationship begin. Mara, who is expecting their first child, takes her boy friend to Okinawa to reveal the secret about the night the met. Click on the video below to see how Mara reveals her secret.

Black Friday: Holiday Shopping Begins

Thanksgiving is over
it's time to do some Christmas shopping
this year I send holiday cards.

Today the malls will be packed with people doing holiday shopping. Normally I don't do holiday shopping, but this year I have one gift to purchase. I think I'll purchase a box of chocolates because chocolate is always an appropriate gift. Chocolate is something that is seldom regifted and it's a gift that doesn't take up space all year long or have to be dusted.

Thanksgiving is over
Black Friday is here
with all the malls packed
to overflowing.

 

Lucy's Secret: Okinawa

Lucy's secret is out. Three years ago, she found a secret message on her husband's phone., which changed her life forever. Click on the video below to watch as Lucy confronts her husband with her secret in Okinawa.

Black Friday Writing

It's about 6:08 AM PST here in Las Vegas. I woke up about 4:00 AM took my morning medication, made coffee, and did some work in the kitchen. I'm now ready to write and go shopping (in that order). Because it's Black Friday, I'm not looking forward to going into a store; however, I have no choice there are a couple necessities I need to purchase. I suppose I could wait until Saturday, when purchasing the items will be an emergency, but I don't like to wait until I'm out of something before going to the store.

I have a poem to finish today and respond to a couple of blog prompts. I glanced at one of the prompts last night before I went to bed and decided to sleep on it. This morning the first thing I wrote was an entry to this blog. Since I don't intend to go to the store until after 8:00 AM I can do a bit of writing on the blog prompt responses or work on the poem.

Black Friday shopping
is not for the faint of heart
writing is better.

Unboxing the Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Click on the video below to watch KLM unbox the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The 787 Dreamliner is the newest plane in the KLM fleet.

Happy and Grateful Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving day in the United States. It's a day to give thanks for the things we have and the people we love. Sometimes it's difficult to give thanks when the world is crashing down around you. It's during difficult times that gratitude is most important because it's at those times when we find gratitude changes our attitude. Gratitude turns negative events into positive lessons.

No human being can get through life without experiencing bad or negative events. That doesn't mean we have to focus on them because focusing on the negative attracts it into our lives. The more one focuses on the negative the more negative events one encounters. Gratitude is a positive, a spiritual, emotion which attract positive events into our lives. When things get bad that is the time to sit down and write a gratitude list.

Thursday is normally the time people sit down to write their "Thankful Thursday" list, but a gratitude list can be composed any day of the week or any time of day. A gratitude list usually contains; however, you don't have to limit the list to ten any more then you have to list ten things or events. If you think you have only one or two things to be thankful for then put those items on your list. Once you begin focusing on gratitude you will find that the number of things increase as the days, weeks, months, and years pass.

This year we look at world events and tremble in our shoes thinking that we have nothing to be thankful for. That isn't true, no matter what is happening in the world we can always find something to be thankful for. As individuals we can't let world events sometimes overshadow our gratitude because it's at these times we need to find positive things to be grateful for. The reason is that gratitude helps us overcome depression.

I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

 

Thanksgiving Week Writing

Writing goals for the Week of November 23 to November 27.

1. Write a Terza Rima Sonnet
2. Write a 300+ word short story
3. Review 4 to 6 items on writing.com
4. Enter a short story in a contest on writing.com
5. Enter a poem in a contest on writing.com
6. Mail holiday cards
7. Post to blogs

That's all I know I have planned to write this week. I am sure there are non-writing things I have to do, such as picking up my senior commodities and going to my doctor, but I can write between those errands.

The Charm of Europe Just Steps From Home

Click on the video below to see why you should check out Quebec city for your next vacation.

Thursday Thoughts on Other Stuff: What is wrong with you're welcome

What is wrong with you're welcome? Twice today, November 19, I have said Thank You on two occasions and both times the people responded to me with No Problem or No Prob. I was taught to say You're Welcome when someone said Thank You. Is there something wrong with You're Welcome? I didn't think there would be a problem when I made the two request, so did the people who I ask for information think there would be a problem. If I had thought my request would cause a problem I would 't have made the request in the first place.

Sunday Speculations: The third week of November

The third week of November has begun and I am almost caught up on all my writing commitments except the NaNoWriMo Novel. I am not sure if I can catch up on that. The problem is that I cannot think of anything else to write on that novel. I can think of short stories and poems, but the NaNo novel is just laying on my mind like a piece of cement on the bottom of a lake.

I have to finish a song and reviewing some poems for a contest on writing.com. After that I can focus completely on the novel. Perhaps if I back of thinking about the novel I can continue working on the next chapter and then begin catching up. In the mean time I will write poems and short stories.

Success Saturday: Two Poems and a Short Story

This week I wrote two poems and a short story. The poems are titled Remembering Winter in Oklahoma, a mirror refrain, and Christmas Eve Birthday Memories, a free verse poem. The short story is titled The Permission Slip. I still have one poem, a song, to write. I think I have passed the issues that haunted me over the past couple of months. It feels good to be over the writing problems because now I can focus on catching up on my NaNoWriMo novel.

Okinawa: The Secret is Out

The secret is out about Okinawa being a place where you can be yourself. Okinawa is authentic and fun. Click on the video to see the effect islanders have on travelers.

A Chilly Autumn Day

It's a chilly autumn day
in Las Vegas,
a day that makes one appreciate
the warmth of spring and early summer.

It's a chilly autumn day,
a day for hot soup
and sandwiches;
a day for hot cherry pie
or hot chocolate.

Okinawa: Eric's Secret is out

Eric, who is an unemployed trader from Paris, ask the people of Kume Island, Okinawa, to assist him in a romantic surprise for his wife Isabelle. Click on the video below to see what happens to Eric and Isabelle in Okinawa.

NaNoWriMo Update: November 13

I am behind in the word count of my NaNoWriMo 2015 novel. I have to admit that I might have over extended myself this year because I also made other commitments for November. I have finished one of those commitments, but I still have four more to complete. I do not know if I will meet the NaNoWriMo word count this year, but I have leaned one thing which is to carefully consider the amount of writing I can do in a month.

Okinawa: Priscilla's Secret is Out

Priscilla, a Singapore marketer, made a life -changing decision. She took her parents to Okinawa to reveal her decision to them while experiencing the culture, food, and entertainment of Okinawa. Click on the video to watch Priscilla and her family experience Okinawa.

Happy Friday: November 13, 2015

Have a happy Friday,
have a lucky Friday,
the weekend will arrive
and you will thrive.

It's Friday, November 13, which means its both a good Friday and a lucky Friday. It is a day to celebrate  the things you have to be grateful for. Look at everything you have and find one thing or one person you can give thanks for. Have a happy Friday.

LG OLED TV: Interview with Michael Uslan

LG OLED TV interview series with Michael Uslan. Click on the video below to hear what Michael Uslan has to say about the perfect black.

NaNoWriMo Day 8 Update

I just finished writing 1,668 words in Chapter Ten of the Star Orphan, my 2015 NaNoWriMo novel. I have written a total of 13,572 words to date. That is 27 percent of my Novel Writing Month word count goal.

Pushing the limits
Passing "I cannot do this"
Finding that I can

LG OLED TV: A Colorful Sensation in Black

Click on the video to learn more about the LG OLED TV and how the perfect black creates the perfect picture.

NaNoWriMo Update for Days 2 and 3

On November 2 I wrote 1,753 words. On November 3, I wrote 1,721 words. To date I have written 5,205 words and four chapters. Today I start on Chapter 5 of Star Orphan. I still have to get my protagonist on the planet. I have one of the colony ships on the planet and hope to get the other two down either today or tomorrow.

I have did good this year. As usual, I am writing my chapters out of order because Chapters 2 and 3 are supposed to be Chapters 1 and two, but as usual I begin with something else and then went back to write the first two chapters. I am not sure why, but I can never begin a novel with the chapter I want first. I usually begin with chapter 2, 3. or 4 and then go back to write the other two.

NaNoWriMo 2015 Day 1 Update

November 1, the first day of National Novel Writing Month, got off to a good start. I finished the synopsis and the first chapter of my novel, Star Orphan. I exceeded the word count goal by 64 words. I decided to do something different with the synopsis this year. Instead of writing two or three paragraph telling about the novel, I wrote a poem from the point of view of the main character. The poem gave the basics every good synopsis should have without being boring to write.

I realized, as I was writing the synopsis, I sometimes get bored and find writing the synopsis difficult. I do not find writing poetry difficult. The synopsis tells about the main female character who is the commander of a small star ship. The name of the star ship is Star Orphan, but this term also applies to the main character. The poem also sits up the plot of the story.

Today I need to work on chapter two. Instead of going forward in chronological order I am going to make a time jump. I will go back in time to write about the protagonist's parents. I need to show what happened to Salena's (my main character) parents before her birth because that plays into the plot of the story.

I am not worried about writing chapters out of order because I still have to edit the novel after it is finished. When I first started participating in NaNoWriMo I worried about little things like that, but not any more. In fact, there are a lot of things I do not worry about until the time comes to edit the novel. Editing is when I need to worry about the novel making sense and which chapters are best to start the book.