Tag: Blogging

Planning to #Write Bravely

The doodles above are from posts I wrote back in 2010 and 2011. Looking at the level of detail in “Monday Night’s Busy Blues,” it seems I may have had my sh*t together on that day.

It’s Monday morning, and the annoying melody crescendos while Steph struggles to find her phone.

“Where is that frickin’ thing?”

Steph finds the buzzing monster buried deep in the covers by her feet.

She considers her schedule for the day, “Today, I need to workout on the elliptical machine, pack my lunch, pack my son’s lunch, take a shower, brush my teeth, get ready for work, drive to work, call ABC, do XYZ, drive home, fix dinner, clean up, do a load of laundry…”

Pausing, she thought about her plan to write bravely in the Festival of Words, a blogging challenge hosted by busy bunch of people over in Mumbai at Write Tribe.

“Ack! When am I going to find the time to draft the post for Day 4 and follow the prompt to ‘feature a day in your life or someone else’s life?'”

This is when Steph realized that she could have saved the fabulous free verse she wrote with luxurious abandon during her vacation this past weekend for today’s blog post.

“Ugh.”

Steph rolls over and falls back to sleep.

Copyright 2017 Steph Abbott. All rights reserved.

I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words #6. #writetribe #writebravely #festivalofwords

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Lunatic fringe, Man

Crazy orange man. President-to-be-man. Not normal man. Nazi-enabling man. Help us, man.

I wrote this brief post in 60 seconds using oneword™, a website designed to provide the user with a timed writing prompt. While on that site, simply click “go” and one word appears with a text box. My word was “lunatic”. What was yours?

After I wrote the post, I created the image using ArtRage on my tablet. The image does not represent the written word. I could not bring myself to doodle the images that were running through my mind. I’m trying to stay positive. Rather the written word and the post paired together represent my concerns to our current political climate.

Let’s go, #NaBloPoMo.

Stella’s Visitor – Act 5

meteorite-landed-5-by-steph-abbott

“Walk with me, Stella,” purred the blue cat. “Let me share something with you.”

Still grappling with the reality of a world with talking animals and no sun, Stella simply nodded and kept pace with her new azure companion as it shared with her a cautionary tale.

Stella listened for hours and learned of the continuing changes to this world’s landscape and the curious population.

“Our forbears suffered for thousands of years as their lives were drenched in greed, hate, and despair. Eventually, a mighty civil war fractured our democratic republic,” the cat told Stella as they walked.

Stunned yet curious, Stella wondered aloud, “How did this happen?”

The cat flicked its bushy blue tail and continued, “Humans grew increasingly hostile to outsiders. They began to fear and distrust their neighbors and build barriers between regions. Their paranoia increased with their isolation as did the wars. Clans continued to live separately, limiting their bloodline, denying progress made by others, and eventually their societies collapsed under the weight of such historical ignorance.”

Stella stopped to consider the folly of the humans and the azure feline with glowing opals looking up at her. She quietly asked, “So, what happened to the humans?”

“During those dark ages, as borders were constantly being redrawn with blood and as their youth continued to lose their lives, humans eventually lost hold of their dominance within the animal kingdom. And that is also when our world was visited by those from the first dominion.”

Stella halted and looked up at the chartreuse sky. “You mean there is life out there?”

“Of course. There has always been. But more to the point, they have returned.”

Stella stopped and asked, “How do you know?”

“Simple,” the cat purred. “They have sent a new ambassador.”

“Really? Where? When?’

The cat smiled and looked towards Stella’s door floating along the glistening horizon. “Yes. Here. Now. She landed in your dining room just moments ago.”

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Today’s post is the fifth and final act in this particular story, “Stella’s Visitor.”

I composed this post last night while watching TV in bed before I created the image using the ArtRage app on my tablet.

Let’s go, #NaBloPoMo.

Stella’s Visitor – Act 4

meteorite-landed-4-by-steph-abbott

Stella had fallen asleep. She was laying on the floor in the moonlight. She didn’t realize it, but she was also curled next to the meteorite that had mysteriously broke through her dining room window earlier in the day.

Breathing softly, Stella dreamed of vast flowing landscape. She saw hills of green sand dotted with strands of purple reeds. Looking up, she found no sun but watched as a gaggle of speckled orange geese glide past.

She listened as the geese discussed the timing for their next stop. The geese were planning to stop in northern Nevada. She understood the geese. They were going to Reno.

Stella looked down to find a blue cat staring up at her. The cat asked her, “Where are you?”

“I don’t know,” replied Stella.

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Today’s post is the fourth part from the continuing saga about “Stella’s Visitor.”

I composed this post last night while watching TV in bed before I created the image using the ArtRage app on my tablet.

Let’s go, #NaBloPoMo!

Stella’s Visitor – Act 3

meteorite-landed-3-by-steph-abbott

“Seriously, mom. I think this thing is a meteorite, and it’s sounds like it is singing.”

“Well, Stella, sounds to me like you’ve got a mess,” countered her homebound 81-year-old mother.

“Well, mom, it does look wet. And I think it is starting to stink,” replied Stella as she leaned toward the thrumming rock lodged into the floor of her dining room. She stepped back and winced as her nostrils began to burn. “Yep. There is a definite funk in the air.”

Her mom took a deep breath before making the curt proposal, “Stella. Can’t you just pick it up and throw it back out the window?”

“Hmm,” considered Stella. “I think I smell something like snips and snails and puppy dog tails. This odd odor and the sounds emanating from the meteor make me feel light-headed. Perhaps, I’ll take a nap…”

Her mom was having none of it. “Cut the crap, Stella, and roll that thing outside before it starts growing hair.”

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Today’s post is the third part from the continuing saga about “Stella’s Visitor.”

I composed this post last night while watching TV in bed and before creating the image using the ArtRage app on my tablet.

Let’s go, #NaBloPoMo!