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~ My.Daily.Distraction

Epiphabets

Tag Archives: life

Resolutions

03 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by duckykoren in Uncategorized, wander, Writing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Advice, Art, blog, Blogging, Books, Learning, life, work

January 1, 2018

It must now be twenty years since I read Stephen King’s book; the craft of writing.

In that book he advocated that any serious writer must be committed to writing at least one thousand words a day.

It was a promise that I made to myself time and again, but never kept.

Today is January 1st, 2018, the first day of the new year and I have made two New Year’s resolutions.

The first is to commit myself to writing one thousand words a day. I feel I have a better than average chance at doing this because on December 28th of last year, less than one week ago, I retired after working 29 years at the post office. This retirement did not come one minute too soon. After suffering a serious shoulder injury last fall which rendered my tow motor driving days at work over and done with, the horrible night shift of 3:00 am to 11:00 am has left me exhausted.

My husband who retired last summer make it very clear to me that my retirement would be filed with everyday walks and plenty of activity.

Well, that hasn’t really happened yet because of the extreme temperatures outside. Indeed, every day seems to set new low temperature records. Even some of last night’s new year festivities were cancelled due to public health and safety.

As for my second New Year’s resolution, it is about 44 years since my school band instructor Mr. Inglis told his music student’s that if you undertake a hobby and commit yourself to it, you must strive to learn at least one new thing a day. It doesn’t have to be anything overwhelming, but something you noticed, that you have never noticed before.

About a year ago, I began to notice that I was beginning to take on an interest in watercolour art. My daughter had purchased a travel sized watercolour palette that really began to peak my interest.

What made me take notice? You ask…

Well, it was probably when she, my husband and myself were making our way through security at England’s Heathrow airport. She failed the carry on luggage test when the screening noticed something odd in her suitcase. It was pulled over for inspection much to our chagrin. Anytime you are pulled over to have your suitcase inspected the world seems to grow dark with shame and fear.

In the end it was her travel size set of watercolour paints that caught security’s attention.

They opened it up and asked her what it was.

She told them.

They allowed her to pass through their sacred portals along with her box of paints. However, they made it clear to her that had they been in liquid form, they would have been confiscated.

During my summer holidays in June of last year, I bought myself a box of paints and some paper and began to paint.

Badly, of course…

However, I found joy in my awkward paintings. Underwater scenes seemed to be the nicest ones that I produced.

I began to dabble my way around the internet and you tube looking for direction.

From “The Watercolour Misfit” I eventually learned how to properly push water and paint around the paper. Mind you, I still need a lot of practise of this and many other things.

Anyway, my second New Year’s resolution for this New Year is to learn something new each day.

This, of course does not strike me an overly time consuming commitment, yet I recognize it will require some sort of dedication.

And so, on this first day of the year, I discovered not only one, but two epiphanies in regards to the fine art form of watercolour…

The first discovery came when I was doing a pink flat wash background for a bird that I had sketched onto my cold pressed watercolour paper.

Noticing that in my paint mixture, there were small specks of debris, it didn’t take me long to figure out that they flecks had come from the rubber eraser of the pencils that I used to sketch my drawing. I had erased several pencil lines and did not think to ensure the remover of the eraser leavings. That’s a mistake I will not be making again.

The second lesson came as I was putting away the tubes of paint after I had finished painting.

I noticed that the white tube of paint that I had used to highlight my bird’s eyes with was missing it’s small little cap. It was in that moment that I realized that after removing the cap on a tube of paint, you must immediately replace the cap.

Why?

Because those little caps are so small, once misplaced, you will be hard pressed to try and find it.

Good thing that I had made a new palette of cooler hues of blues and greens and had emptied several tubes. I retrieve an empty tube from the garbage, removed the cap and rinsed off the dried paint from inside.

And voila, I had a replacement cap.

While, I was at it, I retrieved two more caps from other discarded tubes. I know myself well enough that I can be quite absent minded when I am preoccupied with my tasks at hand.

And so, there you have it. I know two things that I did not learn yesterday.

Yay me.

Tomorrow, I will write of the painting books that I made.

To be honest with you, I actually had three epiphanies today, however I’ll leave it to next time.

I was just informed by my husband that I don’t have to worry about running out of paint anytime soon.

It seems that along with the three reams of paper that I asked him to order for me, he also mistakingly ordered another three boxes of 18 count paint tubes.

Three boxes.

Fifty-four tubes of paint.

I am going to be doing a lot of watercolour painting this year.

There’s going to be a lot to be learned.

There’s even more to be done.

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 170: “Can You Hear Me Major Tom?”

16 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Music, NASA, Science, Space, Spaveflight, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Apollo, Buzz Aldrin, Computers, David Bowie, History, Holiday, Houston, Johnson Space Centre, life, Moon Landing, Music, Nasa, Neil Armstrong, Rock, Space, Space Oddity, Texas, Travel, Ziggy Stardust

image

It was a very hot and muggy August day in Houston Texas when we visited the Johnson Space Centre during a family holiday.

While we were there, my Grandmother and I decided to go on a tour to see the actual NASA mission control room. It seemed only right because I felt like I spent most of my childhood watching mission control during the televised Apollo missions. What I looked forward to the most now was seeing mission control with my own eyes and not through a television screen.

During the tour, we were taken into the press room, where reporters were allowed to sit behind glass and observe mission control as historic events unravelled in real time.

What surprised me most was that mission control is in reality, much smaller than it appears on television. Mission control itself was now very empty and as devoid of life as the lunar surface.

After the historic Apollo moon landing in 1969, mission control, as we know it, became a historical landmark building. This designation prevents any kinds of permanent alterations. It is to forevermore remain as it was the day that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon.

Everything in that room looks exactly the way it did in July 1969. Every coffee cup, ashtray, and original computer casings are all still there.

Believe it or not.

Not being able to change anything posed a very big problem for NASA because the big ancient looking computer boxes which you may remember seeing on television went obsolete forty years ago. They cannot be swapped out.

At least on the outside.

What NASA had to do was constantly install new circuitry inside the archaic green metal boxes to make the computers more practical for those who use them now.

When there is a space mission, only portable televisions and computer screens can be installed so that those scientists who are running the show can watch the missions.

While standing in the press room, I placed both my hands on the glass that separated me from mission control. I was so close to actually being there, and was yet still so far away.

As I continued to gaze at mission control through the press room window, I thought of songwriter David Bowie’s iconic character from his song SPACE ODDITY, Major Tom, and how he must have felt like as he floated in his little tin can…

…where planet Earth was blue and there was nothing he could do.

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 136: Knitting Faux Pas I have Known And Loved

07 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Crafts, DIY, Education, Life

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Tags

Correct, Faux Pas, Integrity, Jeopardy, Knitting, Learn, life, Mistakes

image

In the early morning hours, unable to sleep any further I picked up my knitting and settled into my comfy spot on the couch.

The sock that I’m working on is halfway done. It should have been finished long ago but I’ve continually set it aside in favour of finishing off much needed scarves and cowls.

Several days ago I noticed an impediment in the striping of the colours. Upon inspection I learned that I had dropped a stitch.

What to do?

The location of my knitting faux pas is just above the ankle, and I’ve knit half of the foot.

The mistake is a long way back.

Is the structural integrity of the sock in jeopardy?

No.

Should I rip it back and correct?

Pah!

Experience has taught me that this small blip is only cosmetic and nothing more.

Time is better spent finishing the socks than lamenting on a single black stitch that’s out of sync with the other stripes.

I welcome another lesson that life’s mistakes will always happen no matter how I strive to minimize them.

No longer do I feel a tug of guilt as I continue on my set course.

Rather, I feel rather liberated that I can let it go.

I’m beyond it.

I’ve moved on.

Yay me.

How about you?

❤

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 118: My Old Man

17 Tuesday Feb 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Family, non-fiction, time, Writing

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Tags

Aging, Austria, bike, bike riding, Cancer, euphemism, Family, fathers, girlfriend, Kitchen, life, mistake, teenager, telephone

When I was a teenager I once made the mistake of calling my father:

“My Old Man.”

It happened in the kitchen at home while I was on the phone with a girlfriend. Dad was sitting at the kitchen table right next to me having something to eat.

My statement was as follows:

“Yes, I’d love to go with you, but I have to ask My Old Man first.”

The moment I got off the phone he shot me a look.

Then he asked me:

“Did you just call me an old man?”

I was caught off guard by his question, and immediately felt bad.

It never occurred to me that he would take the comment so personally.

He was usually pretty upbeat when it came to popular teenage slang, but unfortunately, I must have hit a nerve.

To me, the term…

“My Old Man,”

Was a term of endearment, and not meant to be demeaning.

Well, he didn’t quite see it that way.

When I tried to explain that it was just a euphemism of sorts, he would have none of it.

“I am not an old man!” …he said one last time and then went on to finish his plate.

He would have been in his early forties back then. Certainly not an old man but still, he had a teenage daughter and so he was well on his way.

Or that’s what I thought back then.

Isn’t it funny how we misconstrued time when we were teenagers.

Surprisingly as I look back, I find myself amused over his reaction.

Never before had I witnessed any sort of display resembling vanity or ego from him.

…Other than how he always loved to tell people that his eyesight was so good that if you placed a newspaper on the floor, he could read it standing up.

…Or when someone raised the subject of muscles he spoke at length about his years of bike riding as a young boy through the mountains of Austria. Indeed, Dad was still quite fit thanks to the fact that he always walked six kilometres each day.

And so, I agreed to never call him “My Old Man” again.

Lesson learned.

It wasn’t long after that, that I started calling him…

…”Father.”

It was truthful, professional and had a bit of a bite to it.

I called him “Father” at home, in the grocery store, at work, wherever.

He eventually got use to it after several months.

Sweetly enough, by then all the little tots in the neighbourhood started calling him Father too!

Funny… he didn’t mind that so much.

And oh, how he loved the little ones…

Well, Father died ten years ago at the age of seventy-two.

It was the cancer that got him in the end.

No doubt, he felt that his body had betrayed him because he had always lived a healthy lifestyle of exercise, vitamins and eating well.

This year he would have turned eighty-two.

And of course, he would have indeed been an old man.

If he were still alive today I think he would have rather liked me referring to him as…

“My Old Man.”

Yes, I think he would have liked it a lot.

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 114: Strawberry Shortcake Blues

13 Friday Feb 2015

Posted by duckykoren in Children, Entertainment, Humour, Life, Toys

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Tags

Children, daughters, Education, Humour, life, Strawberry Shortcake, Toys

Being a young girl who loved to play with Barbies, I learned that keeping them looking neat and getting their hair properly coiffed was an ongoing challenge.

Similarly, my daughter had a Strawberry Shortcake doll with Barbie doll attributes. This Strawberry Shortcake doll was made of the same materials, had bright red hair and moveable limbs.

So, imagine my pleasant surprise when after months of play, my daughter’s Strawberry Shortcake doll’s hair was still store bought perfect.

Her tresses always remained in place and never needed combing.

Her hair even smelled like strawberries.

Then came the fateful evening when I had to attend a meeting and left my daughter and her Strawberry Shortcake Doll in the care of her father.

When I arrived home my daughter was asleep for the night.

Imagine my horror when I walked into the bathroom to find Strawberry Shortcake in the bathroom sink. Picking it up, I saw that her once perfect hair was standing straight up as if she had received the fright of a lifetime.

Through her painted on smile, I could sense her silent scream.

As hard as I tried to smooth her battered tresses, there was no calming them down.

I found my husband in the living room.

“What happened?” I asked my husband showing him the doll.

He gave me an glum look.

“That happened during potty time,” he replied.

“She accidentally dropped it,” he said with a wince.

“And…” I asked.

“You figure it out.”

The answer was now obvious.

I immediately gave the poor doll a thorough washing and shampooed her hair twice.

Needless to say, by this point, the scent of strawberries was long gone.

After combing out her squeaky clean hair I tied a wide ribbon around the doll’s head hoping through the night that her hair would dry back into place.

The next morning, I was met with unsuccessful results.

Not only was the hair a wiry mess, but she had lost her new toy sheen. Her legs and arms were difficult to move.

Nevertheless, my daughter still loved her and included her in her daily activities. It was very heartwarming to see that my daughter still played with Strawberry Shortcake like nothing had happened.

And to this day, she still fondly remembers her Strawberry Shortcake doll, imperfect hair, dull complexion, sticky joints and all.

This has been a wonderful object lesson for me.

As a her mother I am now content in the knowledge that when I get old, chances are very good that like her Strawberry Shortcake doll, my daughter will still love me and want to include me in all her daily activities…

…Even though by then, my hair will be a wiry mess,

…And my arms and legs won’t work so well,

…And I no longer smell like strawberries.

Post 76: Flying Whales Class 101 – My Vivid Imagination:

05 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by duckykoren in biology, Doctor Who, Science, Science Fiction, SciFi, space travel, Stories, Writing

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BBC, Biology, blogs, Doctor Who, Education, Friendship, gob smacked, Heroes, imagination, life, lunch, pride, report cards, Science, Science Fiction, Sherlock, Stephen Moffat, Stories, teachers, vivid, Writing

All my life, I have prided myself on a better than average imagination.

Even my elementary school report cards were filled with comments from my teachers pointing out to my parents that:

“Doris has a very vivid imagination.”

However, unfortunately my vivid imagination has now been compromised, thanks to writer Stephen Moffat the brains behind the now successful Doctor Who and Sherlock BBC television series.

My undoing is thanks to his season five Doctor Who episode called…

“The Beast Below.”

My tale of woe begins about fifteen years ago, working the midnight shift at the post office.

A had a good friend that I worked with who shared my interest in science fiction. He also knew that I had a penchant for writing.

“I want you to write me a story…”

…he said to me one night during lunch break.

“What kind of story?”

…I asked him.

“I want it to be about a whale that flies in space, and I want you to call him Fuzzy.”

I was gob smacked to say the least.

However, in the interests of friendship and good conversation, I decided to give it a try.

For weeks, and then months, that is all he wanted to talk about. In fact, he was so keen on the idea that almost every day he would come up with a new idea or nuance to add to the story.

While listening to him explain his ideas, I brainstormed till my head hurt but unfortunately, it was all for naught.

I could not picture it.

My vivid imagination was failing me.

Eventually, I had to give him the bad news that I was unable to move forward with his story about Fuzzy, the space whale.

It just did I not seem plausible to me.

Now… Fast forward to about five years ago.

I was watching the Doctor Who episode from season five, which was Matt Smith’s first season as the eleventh Doctor. It was the second episode after he whisks Amelia Pond away the night before her wedding.

The episode was called… “The Beast Below.”

The episode revolves around a mystery about a spaceship that can travel through space with no propulsion engine.

Finally, come the closing scenes where the mystery is finally solved and the hero is made known. And the hero is…

Yes…

A flying whale.

Kudos to you Stephen Moffat, he who has put my vibrant vivid imagination to shame.

You’re imagination is apparently so much more vivid than mine.

But after all, you are the brainstorm to Doctor Who AND the Sherlock series.

Now looking back, I’m glad that it was you that outsmarted me and no one else.

And so, for now the game board stands at:

Doris’s Vivid Imagination: 0 Stephen Moffat’s Flying Whale: 1

But don’t get too confident dear Stephen.

In the words of one of my favourite overlooked heroes:

“I’ll get you next time my pretty….”

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 56: This Little Piggy

13 Saturday Dec 2014

Posted by duckykoren in greed, Life, Poems, Poetry

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Tags

Envy, gluttony, Gold, greed, jealousy, life, lovers, pearls, pocket, Poems, Poetry, sins, vices

I want diamonds

I want gold

And all the money

My bank can hold

And a car that’s faster

Than a rocket

And a lover

In my back pocket

I want to travel around the world

And a mile long rope of pearls

I need a casino of my own

And a castle for a home

Oh me, me, me

And oh my, my, my

If I don’t get these things

I know I’ll just die

And this little piggy

Cried all the way home

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 51: The Blow Dryer Blues

09 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by duckykoren in Beauty, haircare, marketing, Poems, Poetry

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Tags

Anger, appliance, bank, Beauty, beauty salon, blow dryer, cnn, crazy, dogs, hair, Haircare, laugh, life, nickel, Poems, Poetry, power, Time, wasted

Call CNN… there’s breaking news
I’ve got a condition called the blow dryer blues
I’m mad at all the time that I’ve wasted and spent
On something that gives split ends and don’t even pay rent…

My heart rate goes up and my temper catches fire
Every time I need to use my blow dryer
This evil appliance has me in it’s power
Every single time that I step from the shower…

Tell me why no one has ever tried
For an easier way to get my hair dry.
If I had my way we’ d have a think tank
And come up with an answer and laugh straight to the bank…

If I had a nickel for every minute I’ve spent
Sitting in the bathroom hunched over and bent
Getting dizzy from the heat and the hazy
It’s more than enough to drive someone crazy…

My poor puppies how they’ve tried to ignore
The loud and irritating blow dryer roar.
I’d have more time with family and friends
Instead of a stiff neck and singed ponytail ends…

Now you may wonder on why I insist
To let this machine get me so pissed
You might think I’m crazy to get so hot
Over a stupid machine that’s ten dollars store bought…

I’ve come close to making the call
To throw it away and go au naturale
Time wasted may not mean a lot to you
But when I get to heaven I’m gonna feel like a fool…

My New Year’s resolution on January one
Will be to throw it away, and then I’ll be done
What’s gonna happen in my happy home
Gonna turn it into a blow.dryer.free zone….

What does the blow dryer say?

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 46: Mush

04 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by duckykoren in Poems, Poetry, Verse

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Tags

blogs, death, dementia, Depression, life, nursery rhymes, Poetry, Verse, Writing

Amid my ever shrinking attention span

I’ve got to concentrate

At least while I can

Because I may not be lucid come morning

Please God keep me thinking clear one more day

Because I can hear growing voices say

As my senses grow dimmer…

Hush now baby don’t you cry

We’re going to song you a lullabye

That will slowly turn your mind into mush

Life beats down those who choose

To close their eyes and then take a snooze

It’s game over when your mind turns to mush…

Life’s a finite game plan with a one minute warning

When the last call comes the shriek is alarming

I heard the plate crack as it ran away with the spoon

While my mind is still nimble

It’s no longer quick

And it’s years since I’ve cleared that candlestick

But I can still get lost in it’s glow…

Humpy Dumpty’s fallen and I’m all alone

His shell is in pieces and my minds totally blown

How does one put life together again

My cell phone rang and when I took the call

A voice said get Cinderella to the ball

Her fairy godmother’s still sleeping…

Jack and Jill went up that hill

To fetch some water to take their pills

What was it that I was just thinking?

There’s not much anyone can do

When age and vice catch up with you

There’s no such thing as pretty maids in all in a row…

Life is really one hell of a dance

You’ve got to kick up your heels

While you still get a chance or

Ashes to ashes

And we all fall down…

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 42: Satan Get Behind Me

30 Sunday Nov 2014

Posted by duckykoren in Business, Capitalism, Ecology, Economics, Economy, Life, Poems, Poetry, Religion, Socialism, Society

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Tags

Baggage, Business, Capitalism, Crime, Ecology, Economy, heart, life, Lord, Mailbox, Mission, Poems, Poetry, Pollution, Religion, Satan, Socialism, Walmart, World

Don’t like small minded people
And the baggage that they bear
Whiney little voices
Whiney little cares
They’ve got their small agendas
Piggly and wrong
Wish they’d pack up their bags
Move it out
Moved it on…

Don’t have no time to listen
Got so much to do
The world is up in arms
The economy is screwed
My heart is on a mission
My mind is on a plan
So if you will excuse me
Going to do what I can…

Oh Lord
Give me the words to say
To turn these people
From their evil ways…

Satan get behind me

Know a little woman
She wears them size zero jeans
Flirts with all the guys
Gets them horny and mean
When she’s the center of attention
She thinks her life’s a blast
Believe me when I tell you
She’s a pain in the ass…

Just cleaned out my mailbox and let me tell you it’s full
With criminals like Walmart
What a bunch of bull
They outsource all the workers
They send their business south
That crap always gives me a bad taste in my mouth…

Oh Lord
Give me words to say
To turn these vipers
From their wicked ways…

Satan get behind me

The world is full of money grabbers
They’re all on the take
Screwing the workers
Polluting the lakes
Don’t need their petty bullshit about beating the Jones
It’s time you get a life
It’s time you get gone…

Oh Lord
Show us the way
To turn this world
From it’s evil ways

Satan get behind me
Satan get behind me
Satan get behind me

Amen.

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