Category: Miscellaneous

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CAT DISTRACTIONS

Cat distracting me
Great, the cat wants to eat my eyeball too..

All writers know—and despise!—writer’s block, the dreaded time when you just can’t…write. At all. Or well, at least. But do you have that one distraction that prevents or interrupts your writing? A clingy toddler? A messy room? (got to have your feng shui in order!)

The Boots…

For me, it’s my cat. A creature that is the very paragon of feline-ness: pointedly ignores all when you need companionship most, but then protests for attention at the most inconvenient of times. This is Bootsie. She is as far from a dog as you can get.

Initially I was writing a different post but Bootsie made known her need for attention: meowing pitifully at my door, breaking up my writing thoughts. I tried to ignore her. After all, she could’ve cuddled with me when I took a nap this afternoon. I even have her “nest,” or her favorite blanket, all set up at the end of the bed. But nope! Cats choose what they need, when they need it. This is what makes them so human, and why I love them so much (however much they irritate me at times).

Ceding to my cat’s wishes, I abandoned my initial post and opened the door. She shot in, hopped on her “nest,” and demanded that we CUDDLE RIGHT NOW, B%&$! She saw my lap top and decided for the moment that she wouldn’t crawl onto my lap. Normally, I don’t mind juggling cat and computer on my lap while surfing the web, but during writing time? NOPE! Whenever I was home from college right before finals week, she’d ALWAYS interrupt my studying: meowing at the door, hogging my desk chair, WALKING and SITTING across the keypad (she nearly deleted one of my essays)!

But tonight, I made known to her that I was going to resume writing, no matter how pissy she got. Unable to resume my other post, I started this one instead. I know it won’t be the last time Bootsie interrupts my writing time. Like my muse, the cat shows at the oddest times. So now it goes I type this sitting against the side of my bed, Bootsie just above my shoulder and purring like a motor boat. Annoying though she may be, I’d like to think she’s cheering, or rather purring, me on. It’s nice to know I have support in my writing endeavors.

And plus…ever since Flash entregar el alma (one of my fave Spanish colloquial phrases; best translation is “gave up the ghost”), Bootsie has been unusually loving and more purry. So thank you Boots. I mean it.

POST SCRIPT: Right when I finished this and got ready to post is when Bootsie decided to make her exit. Figures. Friggin’ felines 😉

~LMC

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Ran a Half and Happy Birthday Bowie!

It’s a good day: ran 13.1 today AND it’s Bowie’s Birthday!

This is the second time I’ve ran this distance, and both runs were just on my own. I am currently training for an actual half marathon race coming up soon, and I guess I’m ready, much sooner than I thought! It was stunning outside today, t-shirt and shorts weather in January—heck yeah!

Bowie’s Birthday

Today is what would’ve been Bowie’s 71st birthday. Two years on this very day, Bowie’s album, the critically acclaimed Blackstar came out. Two days later, he was gone. I’m still in a bit of shock that he is no longer on this earthly plane. He truly is a STARMAN now (not that he wasn’t before).

I am a Bowiephile, and I have my Dad to thank for that. 🙂 Ever since I can remember, Bowie has been on constant play in my parent’s house. No joke, when I was a toddler my mom would put a Bowie VHS tape (90s kid hehe) in the VCR, and I’d watch Bowie music vids while she did things around the house, no babysitter required. My fave Bowie VHS tape (we still have it) is Black Tie, White Noise, his ’93 album. I still love that particular Bowie era: he looks so fine in the “They Say Jump” vid. 🙂

I could dedicate this blog to Bowie’s talent and overall aesthetic (I’m sure plenty of those blogs exist), but let me get back on track here. I just want to say Happy Birthday David. We all miss you. And yes, I did listen to your music during my long run today. I often like to finish the last mile or two listening to “V-2 Schneider:” the bass and saxophone in that song are perfection. As is of course, that final guitar riff at the end, and I often sprint during that piece. So thinking of you today, Dave. Thank you for the memories and for literally being the soundtrack of my life (and all my running).

-LMC

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New Year’s and Nostalgia

I am a nostalgic person. No doubt about it. You know you are when:

A: You have a beyond freakish tendency to memorize dates. Ask what happened on today or any given date, and I can recite what happened X amount of years ago, easy.

B: You keep track of time, ie; you always recall what happened 6 months ago, a year ago, etc. You see time in a linear fashion.

Yep. I hold memories, good and bad, close to me. I don’t need to physically write down important days or events; my mind does it all for me. This is equally amusing, irritating, and sometimes painful. The best memories of my life—time at the barn, road trips with dad, triumphant wins in tennis, college, etc.—I know the dates for. But painful and awkward times are easily retained too. A certain anniversary passes by, and I’m either aglow with warm and fuzzy memories, or silently brooding over a sad event.

Most often however, nostalgia I find as a comfort. So it comes as no surprise that I’m usually not a big fan of New Year’s: like a dear friend, I’m reluctant to say farewell to a happy or spectacular year. Why should I have to say goodbye to a particular timeframe in which I was happy, content with everything? A new year means says going goodbye, stepping into something new. New Year’s means change, which can be scary. When I was younger, New Year’s was my least favorite holiday.

This New Year’s Eve, however, is different. It’s been a challenging year to say the least, but 2017 certainly had it great moments. Chiaroscuro, the Italian art term for contrasts in lighting, light and dark: this year was it. I got to spend one last glorious summer with my boy, Flash, knowing all too well that I’d be, and was the one, to make that final decision to let him go. To choose the how and when and why of his means of passing. To arrange, while he was still alive, how and when he would be buried. To sign a contract stating that I understood the manner and date of burial.

So I’m more than ready for a new year. Bring it. Am I nostalgic for those last months I spent with Flash? God yes. Of course I am, and will forever be. But then again, I have a lifetime of happy “Fuzzy” memories, literally. I’ve always imagined that each cherished memory is like a precious, rare gemstone. My heart then, is studded with these “gems.” There’s a countless amount of “Flashy” gems. Tennis gems. Happy childhood, loving family gems. Call it cheesy or what have you, but that’s how I picture memories.

To conclude (what, is this an academic paper? Haha!), I say cheers to 2018. Let’s strike it rich with more gems. My nostalgia will never fade, but a new feeling of hope, or maybe just being…well, antsy, impatient, restless–for something new, some sort of change, pervades. Le tiemps viendra: the time will come.

~LMC

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NIGHT MUSE IS BLOGGING…

WOOT WOOT I’M ON A BLOG 🙂 But please note, alas:

My artistic muse never fails to show up in the wee, early morning hours (12:53am to be exact). Oops. THIS HAPPENS. A LOT. Not all the time, no. Whether it be writing, drawing, painting (usually watercolors), coloring, etc., this often happens at night. I can’t count how many times I’ve stayed up till at least 3-4am working on some creative project. Truth be told, my artistic muse can be, frankly, a b%&*%! Always showing up at the most inconvenient hours…or maybe not. I’m a night owl by nature, and if it’s a beautiful day, I’d much rather be outside—you guessed it—running. Hence part of the title of this blog. Cool stuff.

May I point out: I never stayed up that late in college while working on essays, speeches, sufriendo los examenes (from the Spanish phrase “sufrir un examen” or literally “to suffer an exam”). When it comes to personal, free time projects, I let the night muse direct me, versus my academic, get-it-done self.

I’d write more, but I’m ready to turn in (I spent some time polishing up the format of this blog). I look forward now to the actual writing portion. Stay tuned, let’s see what the night owl muse will start cranking out…

-LMC