Cup Runneth Over

With each photography prompt I find myself pondering what things mean to people rather than their dictionary definitions.

The last few days had me considering home, street, and water.

Today’s assignment was far easier:

I’m well aware of the irony in using a dictionary definition considering what I just said.

Bliss. Definitely not a simple word.

Some say that ignorance is bliss, or that bliss is a state of mind.

Google claims I can find bliss in cupcakes.

Now, I’ve had some good cupcakes, but not that good.

So what brings me perfect happiness or great joy?

Being with my wife.

But since both she and I are quite particular about sharing personal information – especially images – you’ll just have to settle for the second-most blissful thing in my life.

Or rather, a collection of things:

Bliss — Coffee and Books = Instant Gratification
Moxie = Future Gratification

Thursday, 5 March, 2015

Give Thanks (Literally)

Today the United States observes Thanksgiving. Facebook and Twitter abound with family pictures and lists of blessings. While I’m thankful for these things, I’m also thankful for things of a more literary nature. Things like

Books

Whether they’re medieval illuminated manuscripts, first-edition hardcovers, well-worn paperbacks, or digitized e-books, there’s nothing quite like the printed word. From Dante to Luther to Lewis to Bradbury to Pratchett, I’m thankful for the worlds books open and the ideas they offer.

Paper

Especially high-quality parchment paper. If you haven’t had the joy of writing on paper made specifically for the written word, you’re missing out. Yes, it’s expensive. Some might even say cost-prohibitive. But there’s a time and a place for everything, so splurge just once and see what you’re missing.

Fountain Pens

Do I really need to explain this one?

Candles

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a good scented candle. My all-time favorite is the Edgar Allen Poe candle offered by Paddywax.It’s simply the perfect candle for relaxing with a good book or perfecting that manuscript. For maximum effectiveness, combine it with

Coffee

Yes, I’m addicted and no, I don’t care. I simply ~~adore love~~ exist on coffee.

What are you thankful for?

Thursday, 27 November, 2014

Requiem

Fall promotes quiet introspection. The frenzy of activity-filled summer “break” is now a distant memory and the “back-to-school” season is over (thankfully). Semester exams are two months away – the distant horizon, as it were. Now is the time to simply be.

I find myself gravitating between several spots:

Sitting in my chair in the living room, wearing my comfy pants and an old hoodie, wrapped in my trusty comforter, and having a cup of coffee close at hand.

Relaxing on my front porch – now the mosquito hordes have abated – enjoying the crisp fall evenings punctuated by the sound of the neighbor kids playing make-believe in the yard next door. Really, they haven’t been that bad since they ran their brand-new four wheeler into our house on Christmas Day.

Meditating in an empty auditorium during some down time. During the week, I take one planning period to specifically not do anything. Even now, I’m waiting for choir practice to start. I’m here several hours early just to take time to mentally relax. It also doesn’t hurt to have WiFi access, but still – I’m not doing anything but write.

Nevertheless, the most relaxing place I can think of is a cemetery. No, I’m not obsessed with death. No, it doesn’t creep me out. I think I can thank my sister for my love of cemeteries – she took me with her as she traced our family tree in rural Pennsylvania. An afternoon of hunting headstones and reading the 100+ year-old epitaphs became something of a ritual. There are several cemeteries in my town: the old Episcopalian cemetery that existed almost before the town, the modern “garden-style” cemetery that has banned headstones, and (my personal favorite) the 19th and 20th century cemetery now famous as the place where television show Sleepy Hollow filmed some burial scenes.

I don’t know where your quiet place is, or if you have one. Wherever it is, take the time to enjoy it.

Sunday, 12 October, 2014

Morning Routine

Why is it always like this? I leave the house early and end up being late. All I want is my coffee – two cream two sugar – and blueberry donut. The guy ahead of me must be an utter moron. Seriously, how long does it take to place an order? Who goes to a donut shop not knowing what they want. Seriously, it’s coffee and donuts. That’s it. Nothing complicated. Just hurry it up already, not all of us have all day.

I’m running on empty here. Night shift at the hospital ER takes its toll. I just need something to make it home. Black coffee should do it. Don’t forget something for the wife; she’ll be leaving for work soon. I wish we could spend more time together. At least we have some time together. I know some families won’t have that any more. Not after last night. Now which one does she like again? The regular with chocolate glaze or the chocolate with regular glaze? I know she’ll eat whatever, but I’d like it to be right. She sacrifices so much. Where is my wallet? Don’t tell me I left it in my locker again.

It’s 7:15. I’ve been at work since 4:00. Three hours, fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes to break. Then four and a half hours to end of shift. Don’t forget to pay the electric on the way home. Sleep til 4 and then evening shift at the diner. Home by 10:00. Is this my weekend for Jared or not? One more day to the weekend. I actually have all of Sunday off. I haven’t been to church in ages. I should go. If I’m not sleeping. Oh look: another customer. Whatever pays the bills.

This post is being published as part of Writing 101. Challenge 9: Write a scene from three different points of view.

Thursday, 12 June, 2014

Twenty Minute Rabbit Trail

What have I gotten myself into? Upon returning from my hiatus, I caught up on my reading and stumbled on the Blogging 101 series. Sorry that I missed it, I decided to sign up for Writing 101. After all, what harm could it do to sign up for a course that will challenge my writing? So here I am on Day 1 with my first writing challenge: a twenty minute stream of consciousness followed by the publish button. I worry about people reading articles I’ve spent a week writing, and now you want me to publish an unedited document that I wrote in twenty minutes? Thanks a lot, WordPress.

Summer has officially begun for this teacher, and that means three things (for me):

Working on next year’s courses (I’m expanding Geography, again)
Making a dent on my “to read” list (find me on Goodreads)
Binge-watching TV-on-dvd (right now it’s NCIS)

I’ll also be working on home improvements, picking up some odd jobs here and there, and enjoying some summer cultural opportunities. Last night I caught the free North Carolina Symphony concert at Tryon Palace. The symphony performed Aaron Copland’s “An Outdoor Overture”, Mizeslo’s “Selections from Pinehurst”, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67. With the exception of extremely annoying children trying to catch fireflies in über-crunchy leaves, I enjoyed it immensely. However, I must admit that I was tempted to break out my crotchety-old-man routine.

Back to that book list, though. I just finished reading The Big Bang Theory and Philosophy and am currently working on The Physics of Superheroes (combining business and pleasure FTW!) and House of Cards. My good friend Amanda Cale has just published her first novel, Riddle, and I’m looking forward to reading that as well (probably in hardback). I also want to read An Onslaught of Spears, but am having a difficult time tracking down an affordable copy (you’ve failed me, EBay, Amazon, and AbeBooks!)

To go along with my reading I have some delicious German coffee, brought to me from Europe by one of my graduating seniors. She also found me some salted caramel chocolate, my second-favorite chocolate in the whole world (my favorite is Kinder Schokolade).

The beginning of summer also means more home cooking. Breakfast will still be a bagel and coffee, but since I will no longer receive school lunches, my wife and I will cook more at home and save the leftovers for other meals. To be fair, we do this when eating out, too. Rarely will we order something we can’t get two (or more) meals out of.

There’s two places I really like to eat at: Buffalo Wild Wings for wings half Thai Curry sauce and half Lemon Pepper rub and 37^th Street (a local Italian-American restaurant) for a 10-inch calzone with pepperoni, green peppers, and mushrooms. This in one of the few times I get mushrooms since Krystal doesn’t like them at all. They also make the most amazing house ranch I’ve ever had, and they sell it by the jar. I don’t think I’ve bought store ranch in two years. The only way it could get better is if they offered bacon, which they don’t.

Well, I just ran out of coffee and my timer hasn’t yet gone off. Curses. I have to go shopping anyway, Smokey needs food. Wait, strike that. I have a bag of Dunkin Dark and half a bag of filters. Salvation! (The German coffee is to be enjoyed only while reading).

My alarm just informed me that my twenty minutes is up. See you tomorrow.

This post is being published as part of Writing 101. Challenge 1: Write stream-of-consciousness for twenty minutes and then publish it. The writing has not been altered for grammar, spelling, or formatting. Only the links and images were added post-production.