X Is For… X Marks the Spot!

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by Mary Economou Green

So what to discuss when you get the letter X to write about? So I did what we all do – googled.

Not much of a gamer, so talking about X-box and its generations is out of the question. Nor X-Factor (never really watched the show, and Simon was rather mean). And x-rays remind me that I’m getting older and clumsier (sigh). Also not into American slasher films, so very unlikely to run out to see the new movie X (definitely not my cup of tea). Thus so far, not much to say.

But I did come across two interesting Xs – in music. The song “ X”  by Jonas Brothers has a catchy dance beat with the inspired words, “kiss me like your ex is in the room.” Cheeky, isn’t it? Then there’s the American punk rock band called X (formed in 1977, still performing apparently). The song “Los Angeles” has a great vibe and a line I can relate to somehow, “she gets confused flying over the dateline.” Love it.

Well, I could talk about EXs. But too many, too complicated, too long ago. A word of caution though, going back almost never results in a positive outcome. Remember yourself at that moment of EXdom and be kind to that younger more innocent self: don’t look back longingly and/or in anger; don’t have regrets; remind yourself that there’s a reason they are an EX. In the wise words of Fleetwood Mac, “don’t stop thinking about tomorrow…yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone”

This is sealed with an X, for all you readers.

X

W Is For… Walking

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Contributed by Laura F.

“W” is for “walking but it is also for “writing” and in this, my final post in the A-Z Blog challenge, I want to pass along and recommend the best piece of writing advice that I have ever received, which is to use walking (or any other physical activity, no matter how slight) as a stimulus for writing.

Based on publication records, there appear to be some fortunate individuals in this world who never experience even the briefest difficulty in getting words on the page (or on the computer screen).  I’ve read Stephen King’s On Writing and in that book he claims that he gladly – GLADLY!! – writes every single day of every year.  Oh, yes, once or twice he told pesky interviewers that he didn’t write on his birthday or on Christmas day but that was only because they refused to believe him when he told them the truth.  The truth is that he is eager to sit down and write every day and he DOES sit down and write every day, including his birthday, including Christmas Day.  He writes EVERY day.  Every.  Single.  Day.  He writes every day without any inner forces holding him back, whispering in his ear that he’s too tired, too distracted, that dishes need washing and the dog needs a walk and he’d better finish reading that library book today because it’s due tomorrow.

I can only say, “Mr. King, I salute you. This consistency is part of what makes you Stephen King while I . . . . am not.”

Of course, I don’t want to be Stephen King.  The very word “horror” fills me with, well, horror.  I’ve never read anything of King’s aside from On Writing, and I don’t intend to read anything else of his.

However, I often wish I could be as effortlessly diligent about my own writing as he is about his.  No matter how satisfied I am with my plot, no matter how much I love my characters, no matter how much I’m delighted that I have written once I’ve done it, starting is almost always hard for me.  Sometimes it’s so hard that an entire day goes by without my advancing in my latest project.  Or two days.  Or a three.  Or a week.  Or . . . . .  I don’t want to admit publicly how long I can go without writing.

Yet, even when I find the writing process most difficult, walking stirs my creative juices.  Often I have walked out whatever inhibition kept me from my writing desk.  Once I walked, I wrote.  The equation has often been as simple as that.

Of course, many, many writers have recommended walking as a spur to creativity.  Julia Cameron, the creator of the Artist’s Way, devoted an book to the subject.  Yet Cameron insists upon the need to walk outdoors, and I regard that insistence as a serious mistake.  For those who love the outdoors and for whom it is possible to walk outdoors, Godspeed!  For me, indoor walking is best, preferably with some of my favorite music further lifting my spirits and stimulating my imagination.  I live in a climate where it is almost always too cold or too hot to walk outdoors, even if one is an ardent fan of nature, which I am NOT.  What suits me is walking in my apartment, in shopping malls, even in the stacks of a university library.  Walking is the magic, not walking outside.

At times when physical limitations have made it impossible to walk, then less taxing physical activities have helped me get back to writing.  Any movement, even simply the hand movements of craftwork, have often inspired and motivated me to return to my current manuscript.

Whether my feet move or my hands move, I almost always end a movement session with fresh enthusiasm for my writing.  Perhaps you have had similar experiences.  Perhaps you can share other suggestions for those of us who, unlike Stephen King, do not find it easy to write every day.

V Is For… Victory!!

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Did your high school use the “V – V-I – V-I-C-T-O-R-Y” chant at football games? Kind of corny, I know, and nowhere near what some of the immensely creative students are doing these days (like my nephew, say). But ya gotta work with what ya got.

I, apparently, have got no mas el spoons.

What the heck does that mean?

For those of you that haven’t heard the term spoons before, let me ‘splain. It came about in the chronic illness community as an illustration of what it meant to be chronically ill. Each day you wake up with a finite number of spoons. You can’t borrow or trade them, and when they’re gone, they’re gone.

Some of you know I am a child abuse survivor and have complex Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. And if you didn’t, now you do. The reason that’s relevant is that I’m working with a therapist on a new-to-me modality called EMDR: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It’s an amazing treatment that uses emerging learnings from brain science and I have found it to be one of the single most effective ways of healing past traumas that I’ve ever tried.

We started a new “target,” or memory, about two weeks ago.

I didn’t realize how much work it was taking until I looked up and it’s already the 29th of April and I’d lost track not only of my own posts, but of our guest posts. So sorry!

So why is my post called Victory, then?

Because, my friends, some days it is a victory to accept where we are, stop and say “Oops,” and pick ourselves up to keep going. And that, friends, is what I’m doing today.

Resources

Find an EMDR therapist: https://www.emdria.org/find-an-emdr-therapist/

T is for… Taco Tuesday! or, The Dubious Value of Trademarking

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Contributed by Laura Rios

In October 1933, the White Star Cafeteria in the Saint Regis Hotel of El Paso, Texas launched a weeklong advertising campaign to announce that they would be offering “Mexican tacos” each Tuesday. The tacos were a terrific value, even during the Depression, at three for fifteen cents!

The Saint Regis Hotel, El Paso, Texas

Photo source: THC Historic Resources Survey Collection  provided by the Texas Historical Commission to The Portal to Texas History, digitally  hosted by the UNT Libraries. Used with permission.

In the 1940’s, Albuquerque’s Zia Lounge gave away free tacos on Tuesdays. In 1965 a restaurant called La Cucaracha advertised tacos as their “Tuesday special”. (Let’s not debate the wisdom of eating anything – even tacos – from a greasy spoon named for a cockroach.)

During the next several decades, a number of restaurants across the nation began designating Tuesday as The Day for great deals on tacos. Maybe it was our growing love of Southwest cuisine. Possibly it was because we all love bargains. Or it might have been our love affair with alliteration. Whatever it was, having tacos on Tuesday became a thing.

The first use of the actual phrase “Taco Tuesday” is shrouded in mystery because restaurateurs disagree on that point.  Gregory’s Restaurant and Bar in New Jersey holds the oldest trademark on those two words, dating back to 1979. But alas, they only trademarked Taco Tuesday in the state of New Jersey. Ten years went by before the government granted Wyoming-based Taco John’s the U.S. trademark for the phrase they “invented”; Taco Tuesday is still officially trademarked nationwide by Taco John’s.

 Many times, Taco John’s has threatened legal action against smaller restaurants and bars that offer discounted tacos promoted by the phrase “Taco Tuesday” but to date, their cease-and-desist efforts haven’t been very effective at quashing the practice. Using those two words in tandem to advertise a special has become so commonplace that it is virtually impossible to legally regulate the use of it, even when a particular entity holds the lawful trademark.

So, is there any real value in trademarking? In the end, both the phrase and the tradition ensure that nearly ALL taco joints enjoy a brisk taco business on Tuesdays. To trademark or not to trademark? That is the question, but the answer is not clear.

If today happened to be a Tuesday, I would happily discuss this further over a couple of bargain tacos from virtually anywhere except a place named for cockroaches. But alas, it’s Saturday so maybe we’ll just grab a pizza.

S Is For… Solo Travel!

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Contributed by Carolyn Malone.

There are two things that I take into consideration when traveling solo as a female: safety and walkability. In a previous post I mentioned travel to Cape May, New Jersey. For those who wish to venture outside the United States, I recommend touring Venice, Italy.

Unlike what some movies and novels might suggest, Venice has a low crime rate, much lower than Rome and Milan, and it is considered to be one of the safest cities in Italy. The best times of the year to visit are spring and fall. It tends to be hot and crowded in July and August.

Where to Stay

Historical Venice is comprised of six neighborhoods: Castello, Cannaregio, Santa Croce, Dorsoduro, San Marco, and San Polo. The latter two neighborhoods are touristy and crowded, filled with overpriced restaurants and lodgings. For cheaper accommodations and a more local feel, I recommend staying in Santa Croce, which is much quieter and slower paced. Here, you can get a sense of how the natives live. You’ll have to take a short walk or ride on the Grand Canal to get to the main tourist attractions, but it’s worth it to get lost in the charming alleyways and winding streets along the way.

Getting Around Venice

There are only two modes of transport within Venice Proper: water and foot. On the water, most people (tourists and locals, alike) use the vaporetto (a water bus) to reach stops along the Grand Canal, the city’s main waterway. The “side streets” or waterways that run perpendicular to the Grand Canal are only accessible by gondola or water taxi. Some people say not to bother taking a gondola, as it is a tad expensive, at around 100 euros a ride for up to six people. To me, not taking a gondola ride in Venice is like going to a winery and not tasting the wine. You must try this experience once. Believe me, it’s worth the price of admission.

Luckily, Venice is compact enough to navigate by foot. Don’t be afraid to get lost. Even if you are directionally challenged like me, you’ll eventually end up where you want to be. Aside from famous St. Mark’s Square, there are dozens of smaller squares and winding streets where you’ll run into charming cafes, gelato shops, museums, and small shops selling carnival masks, Murano glass, and other artworks.

Unusual Things to Do/See While in Venice

  • Pay attention to the array of boats on the water. There are police boats, ambulance boats, fire boats, garbage boats, house-moving boats, and yes, even hearse boats. A boat for every purpose under the sun.
  • Get up early. Dawn and dusk are the best times to see the “real life” of a city’s inhabitants. One morning I woke up to see garbage collectors on land, going from building to building, collecting garbage by wheelbarrow.
  • Take the Venice Ghost and Walking Legends Tour. In addition to ghost stories, you’ll learn about the history of Venice and the real purpose of wearing those masks.
  • Visit a Venetian Squero, a boatyard in Dorsoduro. Here you can watch master craftsmen build and repair gondolas while learning the history behind these iconic boats.
  • Go on a Venetian mask-making tour. Visit the Ca’Macana Workshop in Dorsoduro and learn about the different types and meanings behind the city’s masks. You can make your own mask as well.

Venice is filled with things to see and do if you are willing to look beyond the usual tourist trappings. I hope someday you get to experience the magic of this unique city and all that it has to offer.

R Is For… Research!

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Contributed by Nicole

Research is the dread goddess that breathes true life into our writing with the help of her consort, the Internet.

With the advent of the Internet and social media sites, it isn’t quite the onerous duty that it once was. A great deal of information is literally at our fingertips with the Internet. Social Media also lets reach out to your subject matter experts for more in depth knowledge. You know, if you are going to write about a zombie apocalypse, why not talk to a microbiologist? If you are writing about the police department in a specific town, call that department and see if one of the officers is willing to chat a bit. .

And, of course, there is still the library with their digital catalog, electronic books and those glorious hard copy repositories of information called ‘books’.

Realism will resonate with your readers, so research!

 

Q Is For… Quiet Time!

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Contributed by Nicole.

‘Quiet Time’ can be a relative term that is conditional to the person. Maybe ‘Personal Time’ would be a better way of phrasing it. It is an individual’s way of recharging or just letting the world fall away for a moment or two. It could mean putting on music and either drifting away or letting the drum sent your own heart beat. It could be working on an engine, picking up knitting needles, uncapping a marker to color a picture; it is any way that you can take a deep breath and let some of your stress go.

These personal moments are very important and should not be neglected.

P Is For… Poem!

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Contributed by Mary Economou Green

Crafting Sisters

On yet another Saturday afternoon, sitting with a coffee,

I turn on the laptop, press the zoom link, and with anticipation

gaze intently at the gallery of welcoming faces on the screen:

hostess Amanda, weaving and fringing exquisite shawls,

Alexandra sketching inspirational calligraphy,

Carolyn coloring in Monet hues, Evey carefully crocheting,

Jonni making festive cards with a humorous twist,

Krissy busy journaling, Laura F sewing golden creations,

Laura R painting enchanting scenes in nature,

Nicole knitting complicated, comely sweaters,

Pam felting quirky gnomes, Rachel beading intricate jewellery

(as pet appearances interrupt with their alluring antics).

During discussions, dialogues, repartees, even rants, we

conquer pandemic distress, political angst, societal woes;

uplift ourselves from circumstantial sorrow, individual sadness.

We veer from mundane to philosophical, personal to universal,

ever-sprinkling kindness, laughter, compassion, friendship,

our circle of creative, charismatic, crafty crafting women.

December, 2021.

O Is For… Organization!

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Contributed by Tina Holland.

I have a visceral reaction to the word Organization.  I both love and hate it.

I love when each item in my house has its own spot on a shelf, in a drawer, on a hangar or in a closet.  But when the laundry stacks up, books are scattered, or my latest craft project has exploded in glitter all over my office, then I feel like a failure and I hate organizing my house back to its happy state.

I accumulate less these days.   Mostly because I don’t have the disposable income I had when I was employed so I’m more conscious of my purchases. I buy more ebooks and less real books, I check books and movies out from the library vs. purchasing them.  I buy less clothes, because I spend my writing days in sweats and loungewear.

I still have too much and I just inherited more stuff.  In some ways the stuff of my parents is harder to toss aside than the items I’ve accumulated over the years.

Enter “Swedish Death Cleaning.”  Here is an article that talks about the concept as it relates to personal possessions.

https://www.dumpsters.com/blog/how-to-do-swedish-death-cleaning

I used to get every issue of Storage Magazine and I’ve read Marie Kondo’s “Life Changing Magic of Tidying ” but it just doesn’t resonate the way Swedish Death Cleaning does.  One of the concepts of Swedish Death Cleaning is to prepare so your heirs do not inherit a mess.  So in many ways it encompasses all aspects of your life to include finances.   Perhaps that is why it is appealing.  In handling the aspects of my parents estate, I knew what I did not want to leave my children – the burden of having to figure stuff out.

In some ways it is similar to Marie Kondo’s concept of keeping items that spark joy and minimization, but also it feels less punishing in the sense that I haven’t done anything wrong because that was then and this is now.  I think too that it embraces a sense of legacy which feels very timely.

N Is For… Needle and Thread!

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Contributed by Laura F.

My first blog post for this challenge advocated inefficiency as a way of incorporating more exercise into one’s day.  My second post advocates a different kind of “inefficiency,” but this time applied to needle arts.

Sewing has been a passion of mine for decades.  Decades of experience, however, do not mean that I am the kind of skilled seamstress who constructs three piece skirt suits with two dozen different darts artfully shaping the jacket and a corresponding number of darts, pleats, and tucks transforming the skirt into something simultaneously tightly tailored and figure-flattering (not always a combination that go together).

No, my sewing specialty has always been the type of pattern labeled as “Super-Easy,” “For Beginners,” “Quick and Easy,” “Learn to Sew,” and so forth.  After all, why spend hour after hour after hour on one garment when there was an entire world of potential garments just waiting for my itchy fingers to seize the fabric and plunge right in?  Yes, I spent a lot on fabric, but hey! I spent so little on ready-to-wear clothes!  Besides, I only bought fabric on sale.  I wasn’t completely emptying my bank account and I was having a lot of fun.  Why not continue this same way forever?

Two words: fast fashion.  Like many people who do a lot of sewing, I felt smugly (some might say “insufferably”) virtuous about the fact that I didn’t buy the output of exploited workers in polluting factories run by what were surely evil people.

However, even in my smug cocoon, I gradually became aware that many people who sewed were getting concerned that home sewing could itself be part of “fast fashion.” What about the factories that pumped out fabric instead of ready-to-wear clothes?  What about the way textile workers were treated?  What about the environmental harm done by textile manufacturing?

Need I add that the kind of dirt-cheap fabric I had been in the habit of buying was the fabric equivalent of the worst excesses of fast fashion?

I didn’t want to give up sewing and I haven’t.  But I have made certain changes, some in where I find my fabric and some in how I sew that fabric once I have it.

Thrift store sheets are now the fabric with which I sew most often.  So much fabric!  Oodles of fabric!  Not only that, but the main concern most people have about thrift stores is that so few thrift store items actually get sold.  This might make donating to thrift stores problematic, but it doesn’t mean there are any problems buying from thrift stores.

Once I have this virtually guilt-free fabric, what comes next?  Not necessarily a trip to the sewing machine.  With the super-simple patterns I use, a project sewn on a sewing machine can be finished in a few hours and then.

But what about needle and thread?  What about hand-sewing?  Like all my other good sewing ideas, I did not originate this thought.  I first came across it in an article by a woman who advocated hand-sewing as a way to make sewing a more portable hobby.  I can attest that sewing without a machine DOES make sewing more portable and also – this is the big benefit that I have gained – much, much slower.

I’ve always found sewing supremely relaxing; hand-sewing adds another layer of relaxation because removing the whirring noise of the machine enables me to listen to music, to engage in conversation, or to watch a movie while I sew.  There is a meditative quality to hand-sewing that soothes the spirit.

Are the resulting items as sturdy as machine-stitched ones would be?  Absolutely not.  That’s why I reserve hand-sewing for items that I will not be putting to seam-busting, hem-ripping tests.  A delicate scarf, a loose bathrobe: these are the types of sewing projects where hand-sewing shines.

I expect a sewing machine to be a part of my household right up until the time when I depart for that sewing studio in the sky.  However, making hand-sewing an integral part of my sewing experiences enables me to keep enjoying one of my favorite hobbies in a more sustainable way.  Perhaps hand-sewing could do the same for you.