Tag Archives: writing

Happy Eclipse Day!

Logo for Eclipse 2017 from NASAI’m sure you already know, but if not, today is the day of the total solar eclipse. This is the first total solar eclipse to be seen in so much of the continental United States since the eclipse of June 8, 1918. I’m one of the fortunate ones that aren’t driving hundreds for thousands of miles to view it. It will happen right out in my back yard, since I live smack in the middle of the path of totality. It seems like as good a reason as any for me to start writing again and try to revitalize this poor blog that’s suffered from so much neglect in the last few years.

I know I’ve experienced eclipses before, certainly some lunar eclipses and no doubt some partial solar eclipses, but this is the first total solar eclipse for me. Numerous sources are calling it a “once in a lifetime experience” and I am fortunate that I am going to witness it in my lifetime. As I write this, it’s just a few hours until we experience this event here in Columbia, SC, but it’s already started on the west coast. I’m trying to watch some of NASA’s live feeds but there are some problems. If I had to guess, there are bandwidth problems since I’m sure many millions of people are trying to watch the same feeds as I am. I guess I’ll just have to be content with the real thing in a few hours. If things go well, I hope to put up another post in a few hours after the eclipse is over.

One of the things I intended to do several years ago was to start a “Song of the Day” feature on this blog to share some of my favorite music. Not that this song is one of my favorites, but it is a good song and the perfect song to start with today to celebrate the eclipse. This song was a mega-hit for Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler in 1983. Enjoy the video of “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”

And I’m off to prepare for my eclipse experience.

Back At It, Again

Not too long ago I started reading a book entitled The Divine Guide to Creating a Daily Writing Practice by Pernille Norregaard, a free book I downloaded to my Kindle a little over a year ago. It’s a pretty good book if you are a struggling writer, or have designs on becoming one. Although it’s loaded with tips, the main point is clear from the title – if you want to write, you need to have a daily writing practice.

Something I don’t.

If you take a look at the graphic that opens this article, you can see that my writing practice, at least for this blog, has been nil for nearly a year and a half. In fact, the last article I published here was nothing more than a re-post of an Associated Press article on Dec 31, 2015.

I started this blog over five years ago with a couple of ideas in mind; first, I intended to write often and consistently, as in say, a Daily Writing Practice. At the time, it seemed like a really good idea and something I felt like I could and would do. I thought that frequent writing would help me improve my writing. It made sense to me that the more one writes, the better they become.

Well, I failed miserably.

Not only have I not written often or consistently, I’m not sure there’s been any improvement in my writing. I’ve certainly failed this blog.

Time after time I’ve started writing; fully intending to publish frequently on this blog and make it what I wanted it to be from the beginning. It’s not as if I can’t write. I think I’ve proven I can with the articles I have published. Comments from readers over the years seem to confirm that occasionally I could write rather well. It’s not as if I have nothing to write about. Anyone living in today’s world can find plenty of things to write about if they want, including me. It’s really just always been a matter of utter laziness and a complete lack of motivation.

So tonight it’s time for a change.

So if you are a kind soul and have a mind to, wish me well and stop by on occasion to see if I succeed.

And if you’re not and you don’t, stop by anyway.

Blizzard in Calabash – 24 February 2015

P1290012-SNOWHere it is, the Great February Calabash Blizzard of 2015 and I am stuck in the middle of it. It’s my first winter here in southeastern North Carolina, the land of sparkling, sunny beaches, young girls in skimpy bikinis, and old men wearing sandals and black socks. I’m one of the old men, I just skip the black socks.

Today is not a day for beaches, bikinis, or black socks. There’s a blizzard going on. It’s starting to look like Boston outside.

No, not really. I made that up. And the picture is from a different year and a different location. What we do have is a light snow and sleet mix falling right now. When I get a little more daylight, I’ll update this with today’s pictures.

Whatever falls is going to be a mess for us here in the land of the sparkling, sunny beaches.