Upon a Sunny Day

Well, sort of. I suppose technically it was free. If you read my previous entry, you know I recently cleaned out my closet. Somewhere in the midst of my new year’s declutter frenzy, I came across some books neither my children nor I wanted or had use for any longer. The bulk of them were AP exam prep books. Yes, my children have taken quite a few AP exams in their time. I bagged them and took them to Half Price Books. I have never taken books in for trade and I had absolutely no idea if they would laugh at my pile or give me $50. Okay, so I had an inkling if they gave me something, it would be significantly less than $50. It was….I received $8.50 in store credit. Which, as my mother would say, is better than a kick in the head.

I looked around the store, searching for what I might purchase. I have begun reading A City on Fire, which is a 900+ page novel. My copy is a library book, and a 14 day check out at that. I have successfully renewed it once. And even though I’m a decently fast reader, I, with a full time job, a daughter at home, a pet to care for, and various other interests [Downton Abbey is back on!], do not have the capability of reading a near 1000 page novel in a brief amount of time.

I considered purchasing it. But it was over $20 at Half Price Books and I wasn’t willing to pay the difference. Because so far the odds have been in my favor with the old renewal plan. So I browsed. I thought about getting another Ansel Adams photography book and framing more southwest scenes. But I didn’t. Because, yes, I already have one.

I decided on a book I had seen just the other day, when I accompanied my daughter, son, and son’s girlfriend to the bookstore so my son could spend the $10 gift card he received as a stocking stuffer. We’re a book kind of family, you see. My kids, as small children, took books along for the car ride between home and the grocery store. Which was typically a 5-10 minute jaunt. One of my son’s 2016 goals is to read War and Peace. My daughter’s current favorite high school class is Women’s Lit. She is about to embark on Jane Eyre. And she told me recently she’s joined a school group in reading Crime and Punishment. [it seems my kids are pro-Russian literature] My son’s girlfriend is a reader too. Yay! It’s not that we’re nerdish or anything….we watched the NBA on Christmas Day [I am also a poet….].

Alright I went on a rabbit trail there….the book I took home was 500 Writing Prompts. It’s set up like a journal. And I figured it would be good for blogging. Sometimes I wrack my brain for things to write about and weeks go by, then I think of something. But it doesn’t always come together. Or it’s too personal. Or could be taken as mean or……I know…I shouldn’t care what people think. But everyone from my CEO to my sister to college friends to current college girls to strangers to possibly my mailman occasionally read it so I feel I should use discretion. That sounds so dramatic(!) I really just don’t want to upset anyone….

So this book will be helpful. Here’s a prompt:

How do you handle confrontation?

That would be a short blog entry, because I’d simply say, “Not well.” Actually I could expound and say “I avoid it at nearly all costs.”

Here’s another:

How do you feel about the color red?

This is an interesting question, because I live in Lexington, Kentucky, where blue is the PRIMARY color. But I think I could come up with a lengthy entry on red. I actually wrote multiple research papers years ago on the effects of color on interior design. And they were fabulous…maybe. I do love the color wheel.

Name a song or a band from each music genre you like, and explain how it fits into your lifestyle.

Whoa….there are a LOT of music genres, right? And how they fit into my lifestyle? Whoa again.

Could you ever live at the beach, or do you just feel it’s a place to visit? Why?

Umm yes, I could, would, and will [God willing and all that].

So, yes, there are 496 more of these prompts. I’m hopeful they’ll be helpful. I want to become a more frequent writer.