Today the holder of a $62.8 million Powerball ticket stepped forward. The ticket was plucked (or at least that’s how I picture it – plucked, from a glass bowl) days ago. It took until today for the winner to come forward. Turns out he’s an auto mechanic from a small town in northern New Mexico. You can read about him at this link.
This post isn’t about winning the lottery; it’s actually a list of topics we might use to inspire our writing on red Ravine, today or tomorrow or later this year. Plucked out of a notebook or computer file somewhere. Just the ticket we’ll need to break through, chuck our day jobs, and become famous.
Or not.
They say people who become instant millionaires go on to have tragic post-lottery lives. Take Jack Whittaker who won $314 million (before taxes) or Mack Metcalf who with his wife won $34 million. Read about how their lives changed for the worse after they won the lottery.
Writing is hard work. There is no winning lottery ticket. Days like today I wish there were. Either that or I wish I weren’t so compelled to write. Today I’m anything but inspired.
And that’s why I’m here, writing this post. Making a list of topics I’m going to keep in mind for my writing practices in the coming weeks. Use them if you’re so inclined. Just remember, not a one of them is going to land you where you want to go. Only hard work and persistence – a dedicated practice – will get us there.
1. The sound of water dripping
2. Living in cities
3. Old buildings
4. The seasonal life of roses
5. Toes and how they run in the family
6. Hummingbirds
7. The smell of skunk
8. Barking dogs
9. Inertia and why it strikes
10. White noise
11. What I would do with $63 million
12. Superstition
-from Topic post, COFFEE BREAK
What would you do with 63 million? I noticed that me, my sister, and mom all have the same toes and feet. Something I already knew, but notice again when we get together after a long period apart.
On the road again today. Long drive South. Just checking in. Have updates but no time to write them right now. Everything is as it should be. And the white noise in my head is fairly calm. Got to pack and head to the shower, the sound of water dripping.
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YB and QM… when I get back to posting, hopefully later today, the two of you have certainly given me some ideas! Or maybe I’ll just make a list of my own of those pesky little topics that keep popping into my head but just won’t settle down long enough for me to develop them. Writing IS hard work. Thanks, Anita
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In my family we say most all my siblings but me got my mom’s toes. Fred Flintstone, for sure. I got Dad’s. Whew!
Hmm, if I were that guy who got the $63M jackpot, I’d probably do what he’s doing. Wrap up my job. Build a space where I can work on my passions full time – in his case, rebuilding classic cars, in mine doing my art and writing. Create a foundation to help others. How about you?
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Anita – “old buildings” hit my list after having read about and seen the old building you’re renovating. Reminded how much I love old buildings.
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63 million is a lot of money! Wow! I’d retire. No more work. My cabin in the scrubby woods would be a reality. I don’t know what Tania would want…she’d want something in town I am sure. With 63M, I guess we could have two places…nothing too big.
I’d probably set up some kind of scholarship for Navajo students…
I’d finally learn to fly (and build my own airplane). Something I’ve always wanted to do.
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Hey mm, you’re back. Has the situation in Venezuela calmed down at all? Yes, with $43M you and Tania could definitely become bicoastal.
I’ll have to connect you with one of my friends in NM who is building his own plane. Maybe he’ll take you flying.
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ybonesy,
Students are still protesting. Government is spinning it every which way. They are blocking websites, and probably going to shut down the remaining oppositon TV station.
That said, I hope this keeps going!
The students say its not just the closing of RCTV, its freedom of expression and its the whole way Chavez is governing. They are not anti-revolution, but they are anti-dictatorship, anti-communism, etc.
43M would be great. (SIGH)
MM
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Here’s my writing ideas.
1. Road trips
2. Breakfast!
3. Living on the rez
4. Maps
5. Open spaces (desert, forests, sea)
6. Indiana Street (Benny, Rick, bikes, the Hill)
7. Stranger in a strange land
8. Close encounters with animals
9. The classroom
10. Arkansas summers
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I love the idea of writing about a particular street. Indiana Street – is that one in Silver City?
Maps is a good one. I know QM is especially fond of maps.
You already know how I feel about close encounters with animals 😉
I think The Classroom is fertile ground for teachers. I have one teacher friend whose writings about teaching are on fire.
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Indeed…Indiana Street is the street where I grew up in Silver City. We moved across town to the house my mom still lives in when I was about 13.
When I visit home, I always have go and do a ceremonial lap “around the block” either by car or usually my bicycle.
– Rick was my best friend when I was growing up. He committed suicide in 1996. He could have been anything. He was super intelligent, a gifted athlete, a talented musician, guitar builder, etc. Last summer I was riding by and I saw Rick’s mother in the backyard, so I felt obligated to stop. We visited for about an hour.
– Benny, our 3 1/2 legged beagle.
– The Hill. It was the center of our universe.
There is a lot to write about on Indiana Street.
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BTW ybonesy,
I like your ideas, #10: white noise, and #12: superstitions.
I am always aware of background noise. That is why I enjoy cycling and kayaking. They are fairly quiet activities.
Superstitions. I could make a sub-category called Rituals. Things we do before doing something potentially dangerous, stressful, etc. I have little rituals I do before kayaking because the sea is so big and unforgiving. I have a silly ritual I do when getting on a airliner to give me a safe flight.
MM
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Rituals, yes! Very rich. Before I became a road warrior I always made sure to wear a certain necklace when flying. (But I guess that’s also a superstition.)
What is your airplane flight ritual?
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mm: I’ll be doing your ceremonial lap “around the block” in the next few days when I drive by many of my childhood homes here in Georgia and South Carolina. Mostly, I remember Audubon Circle. It’s my Indiana Street. I do love maps.
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Anita: glad we inspired you in some way with our lists of topics. Do make that list of your own topics. I find it sure helps to keep the juices flowing. And provides instant inspiration. We all help inspire each other and then it just keeps going. Great you stopped by.
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My preflight ritual is when I am entering the plane from the jetway I touch the outside skin of the jet near the door. It started on one flight because I was curious how thick the aluminum was but now I do it every time. Nuts eh?
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Not as nutty as mine. I look into the cockpit to make certain there’s a pilot or two with a clipboard and checklist, flipping switches, pushing buttons. But I don’t touch them to see how thick their skin is.
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What happens if you don’t find the pilot there, or if the pilot is drinking coffee and reading People Magazine? Then do you touch them to see how thick their skin is?
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Hmmm. I’ve never NOT found the pilot and/or co-pilot there. Now that you’ve put the possibility in my head, I guess if that ever happened, I’d check the bathroom to see if were occupied, assuming that one of the pilots is in there, making certain there’s toilet paper.
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Hmmm. Interesting rituals. On my last few flights, I looked down at the ground in the crack between the walk-out approach and door of the plane (right as I’m stepping inside the plane). You know how there is a crack there where you can see the ground? Then I thank the earth for being there. She smiles back.
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When I was growing up, whenever my mom loaded us four girls and our St. Bernard named Brutus into the car for a roadtrip of any duration, she would recite out loud with our young voices joining in, “St. Christopher pray for us. St. Christopher pray for us. St. Christopher pray for us.”
Now, forty years later, as the plane taxis down the runway, the chant still effortlessly and of its own volition arises in my head. For years I tried to make it go away (like I tried to exorcise my Catholic-ness). Now I smile as the plane hurtles into the air and think, “Well a prayer wouldn’t hurt.”
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My stomach muscles used to grip badly on an airplane landing and then everything else tensed up (think white knuckles,) but in yoga class, I learned that when you breathed deeply…really deep…the stomach muscles must relax. Never had a problem with landings since, and better yet, it helps me to relax in all sorts of situations in life when there is suddenly a knot in my stomach.
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Interesting exercise, Breathepeace. Me? Whenever I’m in a plane preparing to land, I just bend over and put my head between my legs and get ready for the possibility of kissing my ass goodbye.
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Hey Sharonimo, I’ll bet that you’ve done this other places in life, too — and it’s probably a tad more difficult to explain in certain situations than taking a deep breath!
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Reminds me of a plane ride I took from Miami to Havana. This was right after Clinton was elected president and relations between US and Cuba opened up for a few months (and then a small plane got shot flying over Cuba airspace, and things slammed closed again). But, during that open window of time where Cubans in the US got to fly back to Havana, several women around me started doing rosaries, praying out loud, and/or putting their heads between their knees at take-off. I got so unnerved seeing their anxiety that I jumped out of my seat as it was taxi-ing on the runway and ran back a few rows.
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After landing, as I am leaving the plane, I try to tell at least one of the pilot thanks (if they are standing at their flight deck doorway. Usually its just a flight attendent, but I say thanks anyway.
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This reminds me that when my kids were in school I had to fill out a form indicating who else was authorized to pick-up my children, in case of emergency release (for a severe snowstorm, for example.) At the bottom of that form was a note:
“In case of nuclear attack, your children will not be released from school.”
….oh, what a comfort that was!
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breathepeace: that was really at the bottom of the form? Hard to imagine. Then again, maybe not. It was just in the 50’s that kids had to “duck and cover” (link) under their desks. No, not that hard to imagine at all.
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QuoinMonkey: this was in the 1990’s and, yes, it was hard to believe, both that it was EVER on the form and that it was STILL on the form. We told our kids, that in case of nuclear attack, they were free to break ALL the rules…
It was an example of breeding a culture of fear and we are still doing that with Homeland Security, orange alert, etc,etc.
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[…] all summed up in the last comment (#28) on I’d Rather Be Fishing – We told our kids, that in case of nuclear attack, they were free to break ALL the rules…It was […]
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