Category: Entertainment

365 Creativity Project-Day 285

Journal entry:

Journal 10-20-20120001

Little Five Points

Never
Have I ever
Seen so many people
Freely interacting without
Any structured supervision being
So kindly toward each other
And behaving so well
As those at this
Parade

Jo Ann J. A. Jordan
Saturday, October 20, 2012

Photographs:

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I am grateful:

1.   I woke up an hour before my alarm was set to go off.
2.   I read our Bible study before lunch.
3.   I had a Halloween shirt to wear.
4.   Richard and Norma were so kind as to let me ride to Atlanta with them, otherwise I would not have gotten to go to the parade.
5.   I had a fabulous day.

I hope your Saturday was as filled with pleasant surprises as was mine. I hope you will take the time to create something now. No time will be so opportune as this present moment. You have the talent, the creativity, all you have to do is make the effort.

As a prompt, write about something that has surprised you recently. This could be an event, a blessing, a person, or anything that happened unexpectedly. If you use this prompt, please leave a link to your work in the comments below.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog. If you have thoughts, suggestions, or criticism, please leave me a comment. I appreciate your input more than you can know. Following Chronicles is easy and gives you daily updates, you might like to do that now.

Always,
Jo Ann

365 Creativity Project-Day 62

Journal entry:

Journal 3-11-20120001

Photographs:

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My great-niece, Sydney, being silly with a pillow.

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Squirrel…

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Dogwood getting ready to bloom…

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Spring awaits…

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Overhead flyer…

I am grateful:

1.   I finished reading a book and started a new one.
2.   I have plenty to keep me busy.
3.   I am happy most of the time.
4.   I live in a free nation where human dignity is usually respected.
5.   My dog is a wonderful companion, and helps me deal with life.

I hope your Sunday was filled with moments you will treasure. If you are in the mood try to do something that engages your imagination and creativity. It will enliven your evening.

Always,
Jo Ann

 

When I Write… I Must Sacrifice

Unfortunately, I do not write as much as I should. I have some talent, and some say a way with words. There are things I concentrate on more than writing practice.

I am an avid reader. This year I have read forty-five books and they have not been thin volumes. I will read instead of taking time to write.

I have responsibilities that take up a large amount of my time: chores, shopping, caring for Mom and the dogs, and cooking. I also spend many moments computing: checking and answering email, chatting with my son, Alex, who is a U.S. Marine, updating and checking Facebook, and posting to Twitter and reading the posts of those I follow.

The truth is these pursuits do not prevent my writing. I could read and compute less, easily finding time to devote to writing, but I am not motivated to do so, because I enjoy reading and computing. Writing is exhausting mental work. It is much easier to take information in than to formulate meaningful sentences, which will hold the attention of another person. Often I think of writing, but am not inspired with a topic upon which to expound. I can come up with a 140-character thought to post to Twitter and Facebook, but going beyond that is more difficult.

I have a plethora of books on the art and craft of writing, and could probably find inspiration in some of those. I know I should write if I ever intend to produce work of value. I am so afraid of writing something of inferior quality that I avoid writing much at all.

I love writing and find it very satisfying. I feel a need to put my words into a permanent form, but I rarely make the sacrifice required to accomplish that goal. Perhaps there is an element of laziness in this shirking of effort.

I am sincerely considering reading less so that I may devote more time to writing. That would be a huge sacrifice to me because reading is one of my greatest joys.

If you write, what do you sacrifice to put out your words ?

Always,
Jo Ann

 

Note to Writers and Authors

I am an avid reader and I write. I do not know that I will ever be widely published because I have a great fear of failure. That stymies my creativity.

Today, I speak directly to writers and authors. I love reading and spend much of my time perusing the pages of books and eBooks. I am a kind reviewer, giving many of the books I read the highest ratings. However, I find it very distracting to read poorly edited books. To come upon one or two mistakes in a text is forgivable, but when pages are riddled with wrong words, omitted words, and grammatical problems, it pulls me out of the story. I see how careless the writer has been and how little respect he/she has for the reader. I like to give indie authors a chance when I read on my Kindle, but many of these eBooks appear to be totally unedited. The story may be marvelous, but the craft should be attended to as well.

I know most of us write on computers these days, and am thankful for spell-check. Even with the marvelous aids given by technology, a careful reading of what is written is required. If you, as a writer, lack the skill to recognize your own mistakes, have someone with some knowledge of English read over your work and suggest corrections. Please have enough respect for your readers to produce clear copy. You will earn more repeat readers by so doing.

I hope this will make an impression on those who are self-publishing, and even those with publishers.

Always,
Jo Ann

A Review of A Book I Loved

If you are looking for an excellent gift for the readers in your life on Mother’s Day, I believe you will make them very happy if you give them this superb book.

The Other Life by Ellen Meister is the most beautiful book I have read in years. The story is full of love, pain, joy, and triumph. The characters touch the heart and make one cheer. The choice between two lives is portrayed with great care.

What if you could step from one reality to another? How would you choose between those you love? The choice to go into a life where there is less personal turmoil would tempt anyone, especially if the other life held someone very dear. Quinn is faced with no easy choices. She lives honestly and goes through a huge dilemma deciding her fate and that of those she loves.

I give this book my highest recommendation. I believe the story will touch your heart and make you think. There is so much contained within the covers of this volume. The secondary characters are well developed and presented with loving consideration. Go get this book and read it, you will not regret a single moment you spend with this splendid tale.

Always,
Jo Ann J. A. Jordan

Horoscope…

 

April 6th for Jo Ann

 

    Friends have a way of sensing your needs right now. Let your pals do something nice for you, especially if you feel overburdened. This is just repayment for all the kindness you’ve given.

 

    You can literally turn your dreams into reality today. Write down messages from your recent dreams, and create something positive from them in your waking everyday life.

 

    You may be torn between doing your own thing and mixing with the group. Perhaps the best course of action is to limit your time with friends so you’ll have a period of rest at day’s end.

 

This may be an interesting day because of several factors I will write about later today. My personal horoscope is above… this one is from a renowned astrologer. I am not following astrology closely, but just a little in spare time.

 

I will put up a link to daily horoscopes later today for those who are interested.

 

I added some new sites to my blog list and link list. I also made my blog my home page on the internet. That way I check here before I go somewhere else. All my contact information except personal address of where I am is now available on the start page.

 

Right now I have got to go to sleep a while. I stayed up all night, and I have a busy day…

 

TTYL,

Jo Ann

Some of the Stuff I Bought Today…

Bought RUMI The Book Of Love translated by Coleman Barks today and here is one of the poems I already love so much, it is on page 24.

 

BEGIN

 

This is now. Now is. Don’t postpone

till then. Spend the spark of iron

 

on stone. Sit at the head of the table.

Dip your spoon in the bowl. Seat yourself

 

next to your joy and have your awakened soul

pour wine. Branches in the spring wind,

 

easy dance of jasmine and cypress. Cloth

for green robes has been cut from pure

 

absence. You’re the tailor, settled

among his shop good quietly sewing.

 

Rumi

 

We should all follow this advice. Follow your passion and you will be happier and all will be well with your soul.

 

Great stuff to inspire thinking. What are all of you thinking right now? I am curious to know how the poem affected you. I am doing more and more of what I wanted to in the past and little dreams are coming true, but new things are evolving out of this ongoing dream I am living in and I have new goals and aspirations.

 

Smiles,

Jo Ann