30 Days of Writing: Hanging Out In The Cemetery

A couple of weeks ago I made a semi-serious promise to sort of maybe participate in Nicky's 30 Days of Writing challenge. So far, I don’t have a great track record in the challenge, but since I did choose today’s theme (I really did not think Nicky and Mike would go with the suggestion,) I might have to actually post something.

So, hanging out in the cemetery, huh?

I could write about a person that meant the world to me. Someone taken from me too early, by circumstances out of my control. I could write about the sorrow and the sadness. But I don’t have time. See, as some of you might remember, I’m getting married. To get married, you apparently need a wedding. And to make a wedding happen, you apparently need nerves of steel, money by the bucketload, more time than Aung San Suu Kyi had during her house arrest and, for some inexplicable reason, ice in the shape of farm animals.

Right now I’m dealing with meetings with the priest, the photographer and the catering. I have to go to the hairdresser’s, twice, have a manicure, pedicure and everything else-cure. I have to find someone to do my make-up, I have to order my flowers and write a booklet with songs and all sorts of cute lovey-dovey stuff about M and I. I have to have my engagement ring polished and am travelling two hours by train to Helsinki to try on my dress, then two hours back to Turku after work some days. I have to do the seating arrangement, pick songs and drinks and foods and which relatives to accidentally forget. I have to decide what the ceremony will be like, and whether we want strawberry or raspberry cake. I have to make place cards and starch lace using sugar and water. I have to find the right kind of thread for a detail on my dress, I have to decide on red or white, make sure M gets a suit, and that there is transportation for everyone, that the reception venue is all pretty and that everyone knows their tasks, all the while I’m planning trips, making weekend plans and getting up before 6 am to be at work by 7:30.

So yeah, I’m sorry, but you’re not getting a post today, either. But by the end of this ordeal, I might very well be dead, in which case I’ll be doing a lot of hanging out in the cemetery and I’ll tell you all about it.

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Please visit We Work For Cheese for a list of much better writers with a lot more time on their hands. *

30 Days of Writing: Hanging Out In The Cemetery

30 Days of Writing: They Played My Song

My song doesn’t get played a lot. Hardly ever, actually. In some parts of the world, you will hear it sung around Christmas time, but it wasn’t meant to be a Christmas carol. Not originally.

To tell you the truth, I think it was composed for me, because (unlike cheese,) I love it. In my mind, there are no words attached to this song. The melody speaks to me on a fundamental level. When I hear it I can close my eyes and feel the harmonies on my skin. They’re feather-light, and they tickle a little. They remind me of fragrant summer nights when the sun never sets, an orange sky and laughter around a campfire. They’re all the colors of autumn, brilliant leaves falling to the ground and the smell of rain in the air. They’re the cold of new snow and the warmth of the sun in May.

I recorded a version of this song about a year ago. I posted it here on the blog, and even though I promised myself I wouldn’t dip into the archives for this challenge, I couldn’t help myself. Because they never play my song, I always have to play it myself.

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This post was written for Nicky's 30 Days of Writing challenge. Please visit We Work For Cheese for a list of all of the participants. *

30 Days of Writing: They Played My Song

30 Days of Writing: Cheese

My momma always told me that if I don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. So I won’t.

I lied.

I will.

Cheese sucks. I hate it.

That said, over the next thirty days or so, Nicky and Mike over at We Work for Cheese will be handing out writing prompts for free, no strings attached. Not even stringy cheese. Somehow Nicky decided that what we all really need in order to get writing again after the insane 30 Days of Photographs Challenge, is to do yet another challenge, but this time it will be 30 Days of Writing. Luckily for me, there are absolutely no rules, as has been pointed out to me many times. Something tells me people really didn’t like all the rules Michael and I had in our photo challenge...

Anyway, thanks to the lack of rules, I can commit to not committing to this challenge. See, I’m committing to something else very soon. Someone else, really. I’m getting married to my very own computer geek, M, this summer, and the wedding preparations are eating up all my free time these days. I lie awake at night, thinking about everything I have to do. I don’t have time to read blogs, comment on blogs or write posts. But because I love Nicky, I will still try my very best to write something based on a few of the prompts. Just don’t hold your breath waiting for my posts, okay?

Too bad today’s prompt was “Cheese,” otherwise I would’ve totally posted something today. Don't worry, though, the rest of the prompts are better. Frankly, how could they not be? A link to the other participants can be found over at Nicky's place.

Day 1: Cheese
Day 2: A roadblock
Day 3: They played my song
Day 4: Behind the wheel
Day 5: Spiders
Day 6: Pressure
Day 7: Excess
Day 8: Best friend
Day 9: Magic carpet
Day 10: The babysitter
Day 11: A sense of accomplishment
Day 12: In the kitchen
Day 13: The other one
Day 14: The short hairs
Day 15: First place
Day 16: Hanging out in the cemetery
Day 17: The awkwardness of the common banana
Day 18: Setting sail
Day 19: Camels
Day 20: Going solo
Day 21: Favors I’d ask of Satan
Day 22: Like there’s no tomorrow
Day 23: Stiletto heels
Day 24: Roast or toast another blogger
Day 25: Worst Christmas ever
Day 26: An intervention
Day 27: Side of the road
Day 28: The turning point
Day 29: Breaking the rules
Day 30: It could have been worse *

30 Days of Writing: Cheese