Bring on… That first cup of coffee!
Happy New Day!
Bring on…
That first cup of coffee!
Eggs? Oatmeal?
What does…
My little cabin hold?
Ah yes…
Yesterday saw the last of the
Mushrooms & avocados
Boil up…
Oats, add berries, nuts & last year’s
Vermont maple harvest!
Pour…
A second cup of coffee
Jack & Didi are wishing us all
“Happy New Day!”
They do it the Facebook way
Scroll on down…
Grim sights of war,
Puppies & kittens,
A “slap” at the Oscars,
Patrick & Mariam’s last night dinner.
Yesterday’s…
“Happy New Day!”
I sit here with pen in hand…
I sit here with pen in hand
Nothing comes into my mind
Should I try instead to disguise my plight
With fancy words and clever rhyme?
I’ll never be a poet
I’ll never covey deep thought in lines
It’s okay not to be
I’d rather just be me
If you’re coming here for the 1st time, this post may make more sense if you have check out my Nerdle Game Explained post first.
This is a 2nd try at Nerdle Game #67, I’m just posting the final answer, some comments on how I proceeded will follow.
Please, if you question or see anything in my logic that’s incorrect, let me know. I got to the final answer in 3 tries again, but I may have subconsciously used the fact I had solved it before, even though I tried not to.
Thanks for spending time with me, looking forward to hearing from you.
Nerdle is a spinoff of the very popular Wordle game, except this is played by solving a numeric equation. I think some folks are reluctant to try it, thinking it requires above average mathematical skills. It doesn’t, just some basic math that most of us probably learned well enough in junior high to play and enjoy Nerdle.
The following is a screen shot of my first try for Nerdle game 67, which I played on Saturday evening, 3/26/22.
What I have found that works well for me is to:
I’m getting closer to figuring out my next guess. This next part takes a little thinking and it took me a bit of time to get better at it. I am way better at multiplying a single number by a 2 digit number than dividing 3 digits by 2 digits. So, in my head, I start to think of what number to try first to the right of the = sign.
After a bit of thought, I decided to try 5. Why? Well, I know multiplying any 2 digit even number by 5 will force my 3 digit number to end in 0. That’s one of the numbers I’ve been told has to be contained in the answer.
Well, I can use any even 2 digit number, why not use “6”, since I know that’s in the solution. I don’t know that’s the right spot, but I’m making life easier for myself.
The numbers to run through my head are: 26, 46, 56, 66, 76, 86 & 96.
Well, there we have 2 possible answers. Are there any other answers? Maybe, but I don’t want to work that hard. I’ve got 2 possibilities, picking 1 of them will give me more information. If it’s wrong, maybe I won’t need to do much more thinking.
So, I pick 5*96. that’s 1 more new digit, picking 5 and getting it wrong leaves me with less information. Plus, anyone that knows me, knows I’m very bad at 50:50 choices.
Wow! Only 1 remaining answer.
Not all come this quickly, but after a few weeks doing these most nights, I find it to be a lot of fun. You can do this exact same game, every Nerdle game can be played again. This is Game # 67. If you put in the date I played, 3/27, it might give you a different number, just adjust the date by the difference in the number. Maybe you’ll find a better approach to this one than I found.
This is a link to my Nerdle Game 67 – Retry.
Ideas from reading the first 75 pages of “Writing Down the Bones”, by Natalie Goldberg.
(1) Beginner’s Mind
When I do my Daily Calm meditation or yoga, the master often talks about beginner’s mind. We refer to our sessions as a practice, always striving to improve. If we start becoming complacent, assuming we have little to learn, we will in fact gain little. By resetting our mind, looking at our session as if for the first time, we will always find something fresh and stimulating.
(2) First Thoughts
Back in the days when was running regularly, somewhere around 20-30 minutes into my run, I would almost always get what runners often refer to as a second wind. Often times at the start of my runs I would have thoughts of quitting, making it short, a constant struggle. Long before I discovered yoga or meditation, I found setting my mind on my breath, counting my steps to 100, 1, 2, 3… 10, 1, 2 ,3… 20,… or smoothing my strides would cause my mind to get further and further along into my run. All of a sudden the second wind would occur. It was like a calming came over my entire body, in meditation I would refer to it as being in the present moment, equanimity.
(3) Practice Writing vs Writing Practice
Just as in the Beginner’s Mind thought, I prefer to think of writing as a practice. I’ve been trying to write all my bog entries first doing Writing Practice, using the approach actually described in First Thoughts. That is: not being concerned about spelling, grammar, punctuation; writing continuously; losing control; no stopping to edit in your mind; just write.
(4) Composting
You can always edit a bad page of writing, never a blank page. That actually came during Day 3 of class, a list of “tips for writing”, but it popped into my mind as I reviewed notes in the book.
(5) Artistic Stability
As I reviewed my notebook I’m keeping on “Writing Down the Bones”, I saw an entry “This page intentionally blank”. Apparently on first reading I didn’t find much to note. I read it again. This time I’ll note, “do not be afraid of the voices inside you”.
(6) A List of Topics for Writing Practice
On my blog I have a list that is growing quite long. My plan is to put links to the topics I actually write about. Actually, two links, one normally private, the “practice”, the other what I’m willing to share as my current offering. In the book I wrote idiosyncrasies, I have many.
(7) Fighting Tofu
Add flavorful sauce to your bland, but healthy, ‘tofu’ writing.
(8) Ideas for writing? What’s in front of you is a good start!
(9) Tap into what’s below the surface. It’s free and available for the taking.
(10) We are not the poem
What we have written came about at a moment in time. We are not what we write.
(11) Start your writing simple, exposing yourself in layers
(12) Obsessions
Make a list. {I’m thinking…}
(13) Original Detail
Doesn’t need to be where you found, include original detail. Use enough and you’re done. Be awake to the details around you.
This reminds me of something I have always done, no idea if it’s just one of my many quirks, or if everyone does this. I might stand in front of something, let’s say the Mona Lisa. Everyone looks at the smile, right? Not so for me, I find myself looking at the background. What is it? Mountains? A lake, a stream, a footbridge across a stream? Why did Da Vinci do that? Why isn’t she in a studio? I used to do the same thing when I would go wandering around Manhattan, taking photographs of store windows. I was more obsessed with the details in the edges as I composed the scene. In big screen movies I look away from the main characters, will I see Alfred Hitchcock’s back as he moves around a corner? I’m forever amazed looking at my daughter Hilary’s photos – she’s sold many, I need to write about the one of Nora Ephron, used by Frank Rich in New York Magazine – when I look at the edges, always seemingly effortlessly composed.
I think I need to add this to my list of obsessions. Might be in my list of topics as well.
(14) The Power of Detail
Read this chapter again and again. The opening paragraph is all you really need to read…
(15) Baking a Cake
You have all the ingredients, you need to put them together, you must add the heat and energy of your heart. You need both the ingredients and the heat and energy coming from your heart for writing.
Be totally into your writing… writing does writing.
(16) Living Twice
Writers go back outside in the rain with notebook and pen…
(17) Listening
Writing is 90% listening.
(18) Know your goal, stay with it.
(19) Trust your own voice
(20) It’s time to sip some wine!
[this report is unedited…]
Not the best of starts for Day 1 of my Creative Writing class. My sports watch failed to sync over the weekend, it was still on Central Standard Time. Instead of being a 1/2 hr early, I was a 1/2 hr late for the first class.
I also missed an email from Schreiner, got my Username and Password after class. This is what I should have prepared:
What brings you to creative writing class?
I was wearing a SXSW t-shirt in a yoga class one day and it led to Kathleen striking up a conversation. A SX t-shirt is perhaps not quite as good as a puppy to meet interesting women, but you can’t bring a puppy to yoga. We’ve been connected on Facebook since soon after, I spotted an announcement she made about this class. I like to write.
What is your experience with reading/film/video games?
I’m not an avid book reader, but I loved “A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles, one of my more recent books. I am an avid journalism reader, I’m hoping to develop some skills in that area. I follow Dan Rather’s blog, Steady.
My younger daughter, Hilary, was an English major at NYU. She works in film, mostly documentaries. We both like films that involve real life situations, ones that evoke deep emotions with characters and situations we can relate to.
I don’t do video games, I’m a pretty good backgammon player.
What is your reflection on creativity?
On creativity I often find myself more of a voyeur, I find art and artists of almost any form fascinating. I rate myself as a good photographer. I’ve spent extensive time doing photo jaunts, especially when I lived in NYC. B&W medium format, my own darkroom. I hope the creativity I do possess shows in my writing.
What do you want to get out of this class?
I’m a procrastinator. Left on my own, I start far more projects than I finish. I was a math major, physics minor, in college at UVM. A very good computer programmer at IBM, Morgan Stanley and managing computer operations for a financial firm on Long Island. I always needed deadlines, but they had to be for projects I believed in. I’d leave companies, good paying companies, always finding work soon after. Over the years I’ve accumulated easily enough credit hours for a masters degree, but I never finished my B.S.
This class has deadlines and structure, I need those. It’s also something I believe in. We’ll see where that takes me, but I believe I may actually surprise myself, finish the class with something of value.
And tell us something interesting about yourself.
I’ve already mentioned at least a couple things that I find interesting about myself. I’m a voyeur (not in the shady sense) and a procrastinator. I think of both as being assets, not liabilities.
When I signed up for “An Introduction to Creative Writing”, I felt certain returning to college would be healthy for my aging brain. What I discovered was it could also be healthy for my aging brain and body.
Off and on now for many years I’ve tried to sit down and write. We all have a lifetime filled with stories, often returning unexpectedly, begging to be told. So, when my good friend, Dr. Kathleen Hudson, posted on Facebook she would be teaching a class in creative writing in the spring at Schreiner University, I saw it as a chance to gain skills and finally put some of my stories into written words.
On returning to Kerrville in February, I stopped at the Schreiner registration office. I had already paid a $20 registration fee, they were holding my spot in the class. I gladly paid the Senior rate: $150. Student rate: $750 (3 credit hr course). For a senior mostly living off Social Security, that’s a major perk!
As we were finishing up, I asked if they could tell me my Student ID so I could sign into their WiFi. They said sure, but if I had time I could also stop at Campus Security, they would print my photo id. I asked if it gave me a break on meals. They said, “sure, it’s good for anything available to students”. Could I use the fitness center? “Of course”.
As I write this, I’ve been using the fitness center for 4 weeks, today I begin class. I average about 2 hours at the Mountaineers Fitness Center 6 days/wk. Better than the high priced NYC fitness centers I once belonged to, the fitness center has proven to be a huge free perk for senior fitness.
I live in a little cabin, 6 miles away from campus and just a 12 minute drive. My typical week has been going like this:
Fellow seniors, those interested in total senior fitness, consider becoming a fellow senior student. Use all the facilities available, your aging brain and body will love you for it!
Musings come uninvited when living alone in a little cabin. Writing is elusive, temperamental, seemingly on a time table in some parallel universe. When it does show, you’d best be available, it can disappear without a trace.
I’m a 76 year old, about to spend 4 days a week over the next 6 weeks in a Creative Writing class, searching for answers on how to transform musings into writings.
Every day at my little cabin I’m joined by these 3 residents. They enjoy a pretty comfortable life, staying “mostly” on the lower 3 acres of the 5 acre property. The hens provide maybe 3-5 eggs a week. The rooster just showed up one day a couple years back, we’re not sure from where, but he obviously found this new living arrangement to his liking. A bit of an attention seeker, he’ll crow with the best of them.
My cabin suits me just fine. For a good share of my life I’ve lived in pretty small spaces. In 1987 I took a job in New York City. For the next 12 years, mostly small studio apartments.
In 2010 I bought a 21′ travel van I named “Moe”. Most of the next 10 years Moe and I spent wandering. Winters in Austin, summers in the Adirondacks. Moe was my home.
I’ve got a whole bunch of stories bottled up inside my mind, most times as musings. Yet to see if this class releases any as writings. Check in once in awhile, or send me a note and I’ll add you to my contacts and update you on new posts. You’ll always be welcome to comment, even write a post or two yourself, I’ll publish most anything… never a charge.
Have a Beautiful Day,
