12 Days, of...Writing Distractions

       It's a fact of life for me, that I'm caring for my 87 year old mother.  I'm glad to do it for her, and make her as comfortable as I can.  So the following is no way intended to be disrespectful to her.  So without further ado...My take of the "12 Days of Christmas" with...drumroll please....


The Twelve Days of Writing Distractions

On the first day of writing,
distractions gave to me...
a day of caring for my mom....

On the second day of writing,
distractions gave to me...
Two Snuffles outings
and a day of caring for my mom.

On the third day of writing,
distractions gave to me...
Three loads of laundry
two Snuffles outings,
and a day of caring for my mom.

On the fourth day of writing,
distractions gave to me...
four hallucinations
three loads of laundry
two Snuffles outings,
and a day of caring for my mom.

On the fifth day of writing,
distractions gave to me....
five pain pills for my back,
four hallucinations
three loads of laundry
two Snuffles outigns,
and a day of caring for my mom.

On the sixth day of writing,
distractions were all about...
six bills to pay,
five pain pills for  my back
four hallucinations
three loads of laundry
two Snuffles outings,
and a day of caring for my mom.

On the seventh day of writing,
distractions were beginning to kill me...
seven kitchen things cleaned,
six bills to pay,
five pain pills for my back.
four hallucinations
three loads of laundry,
Two Snuffles outings,
and a day of caring for my mom.

On the eight day of writing,
distractions were looming.
eight wounds to cleanse
seven kitchen items cleaned
six bills to pay,
five pain pills for my back...
four hallucinations
three loads of laundry
Two Snuffles outings,
and a day of caring for my mom.

On the ninth day of writing,
distractions started stalking
nine hours of facebook games
eight wounds to cleanse
seven kitchen items cleaned
six bills to pay,
five pain pills...
four hallucinations
three loads of laundry
Two Snuffles outings,
and a day of caring for my mom.

On the tenth day of writing,
distractions were breathing down my neck.
Ten brain cells dying.
nine hours of facebook games
eight wounds to cleanse
seven kitchen items cleaned
six bills to pay
FIVE PAIN PILLS....
four hallucinations
three loads of laundry
Two Snuffles outings,
and a day of caring for my mom.

On the Eleventh day of writing,
distractions teeth were felt...
eleven body dings.
ten brain cells dying
night hours of facebook games
eight wounds to cleanse
seven kitchen items cleaned
six bills to pay
FIVE GARGANTUAN PAIN PILLs (think Mr. ED sized)
four hallucinations
three loads of laundry
Two Snuffles outings,
and a day of caring for my mom.

On the Twelth day of writing
distractions had me
pulling out my hair....
Twelve hours of hallucinations (of my own from all the pain pills)....
eleven body dings
ten brain cells dying
nine hours of facebook
eight wounds to cleanse
seven kitchen items cleaned
six bills to pay
TAKING THE WHOLE BOTTLE of PILLS
four hallucinations (yea, after taking a whole bottle of pills do you blame me?  they are my hallucinations now lol)
three loads of laundry
Two Snuffles outings
and a day of caring for MY mom......


<huff... puff....wheeeze>

Hoaxes.

We've all seen them.  On Facebook, Twitter, other social media sites; those irritating messages that people keep passing on, thinking that whatever is being said is real.  One of the earliest ones that I came across on Facebook, was the "Becoming a Parent (Father/Mother) was the best thing to happen to me" which was supposedly a site for pedophiles.  I checked my "bible" (about such things), www.snopes.com, and they said it was a hoax.
Hoaxes take time to check. They can also be aggravating to find, when you have to find the right key words to bring up the right information.  However, my real thorny spot/annoyance, is when others do not take the time to verify (with Snopes or other sources) before reposting.  I actually go a step further.  After I have verified it on Snopes as a hoax (or other findings), I copy the link, and then I post it as a comment on their post.  Most people appreciate it, but not sure all do.
Seriously though, some of these things LOOK legit.  Years ago, the person who told me about snopes, did not check it first with a report that looked legit.  The "Penny Brown" story was circulating, and had a picture of "Penny Brown," and vivid details like it was real.  But I went ahead and verified first, then let this lady know that it was a hoax.  She was like, "I usually always check...but it looked so real."
I once told someone off for posting an urban legend without checking first.  I told him as nicely as I could, "I like getting the informational/personal stuff from you.  Like what is happening  in your life, making plans to get together, those sort of things...but please stop sending me the bullshit emails without checking their validity first."  Needless to say, I didn't hear from him for a while.
But seriously, my point is, don't pass anything before checking first.  Virus hoaxes run rampant, and even false missing kids notices.  Unless I know dang well someone has done a check, I won't repost without checking first, or at least asking the poster if they have verified the information before posting.  If people would look these up first, a lot of this misinformation could be eliminated.

The Devil is in the Details

DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS - The "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996) shows this phrase as a variation of "God is in the details - Whatever one does should be done thoroughly; details are important. The saying is generally attributed to Gustave Flaubert (1821-80), who is often quoted as saying, 'Le bon Dieu est dans le detail' (God is in the details). Other attributions include Michelangelo, the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and the art historian Aby Warburg. 'The Devil is in the details' is a variant of the proverb, referring to a catch hidden in the details. 'Governing is in the details''and 'The truth, if it exists, is in the details' are recent variants. Listed as an anonymous saying in the sixteenth edition of Barlett's 'Familiar Quotations,' edited by Justin Kaplan." - http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/24/messages/694.html

The Devil is in the Details.

        When I was in High School, (never mind the year!), Mrs. Brenneman (who at the time was Miss Rosenfeld), was my English teacher. She gave us an assignment for creative writing. And we were each assigned one ingredient to illustrate the story. Some of us brought in loaves of bread, some had to bring in jars of peanut butter (and some jelly.)

        The assignment seemed straightforward enough; an alien has landed on earth, and is hungry. Describe how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She did warn us to use “...specific details.”

We went home, wrote our stories, and brought our assigned ingredients (I seem to recall mine was a loaf of bread, but you know what they say about the mind.... no wise cracks from the “Peanut” butter gallery!). And I thought I had it made... how wrong I was!

        So Miss Rosenfeld chose a story, and had all the ingredients on one table, and a second empty table to work on. As she read each story, she would do exactly what was directed, so there were a lot of unopened jars on top of unopened loaves of bread. We were all laughing hysterically. I knew mine would get such treatment!

        She told us that, “Remember they don't know how to extrapolate from your directions how to;

open the loaf of bread, taking out the two slices of bread, putting those slices of bread on a plate (its that round flat thing on the table), then open the jar of peanut butter, place the knife in the brown substance (peanut butter), and move the knife around, to mix the peanut butter, then take the knife with a scoop of the peanut butter, and wipe it on the bread. Then put the knife back in the peanut butter, take it out, and put more on the other slice of bread. Now take the jar of jelly, open it, and take another knife, scoop some up, and put it on the first slice of bread on top of the peanut butter. Now you put the two slices with the peanut butter and jelly side facing each other, and put them together.” Of course I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist of what she said.

        I've always remembered that lesson for writing, though if I were doing it now, I'd be the smart-ass and ask, “But what if they are allergic to peanuts?” Detention here I come!