• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

creative.mother.thinking

explaining my life to strangers

  • About
  • Handgemacht-Podcast
  • Privacy Policy
  • Impressum

Daily journaling experiment – Day 2

September 12, 2017 by Susanne Leave a Comment

So yesterday went reasonably well but not good enough. I did most things on my to do-list – which is great – but I did not work on the novel. (Sometimes I think I should just stop talking about this thing, and either drop it or only say something when it's finished.)

I did waste quite a bit of time in the afternoon between students. I keep telling myself that twenty minutes is not enough time to pull out the big novel binder and all my index cards but of course that's bullshit. When I sit down to edit I often do so for only ten minutes at a time. It's not ideal but better than nothing. So my task today is to make use of those odd, small moments in between.

The other thing I did that was fun at the time but a really bad idea in hindsight was spending a lot of time listening to karaoke versions of old bossa novas in the afternoon, and singing my way through quite a few jazz songs in the evening. I only stopped when the boy came over to tell me he couldn't sleep because I was still singing at 11 pm.

I'm doing this not only because I want to make more music again (I always want to do more of everything, it's a sickness) but because I need a birthday present for my mother for her 75th birthday next month.

When she turned 70 I made her a wool jacket. I spun all the yarn and knitted the whole big thing. The idea was good but she never liked the cardigan. She's always hot, and the wool was heavy, and so she never wore it. In the end she asked me if I would mind her ripping it back and make the yarn into a blanket. So she got to knit with handspun (I guess the first time in her life), and now she has a lap blanket that she uses almost every day.

When my father turned 70 two years earlier we had gotten him a big case full of all kinds of sample beers to try. That had been a pretty good idea but it's not something you can repeat all the time. Especially since he saved those beers, and drank them very slowly and it took him a long time to finish them.

When he turned 75 two years ago I had one of those really brilliant ideas. We had been visiting my parents in the spring, and he had complained that the blanket he was using on the sofa was tickling him, and clung to the couch fabric, and since he spends a lot of time on that sofa under a blanket I though I should make him a new one.

I spent about the same amount of time that I had on my mother's cardigan. I spun some Shetland that was blended with silk in several natural colors, I designed the whole thing, wove it on my rigid heddle loom, and sewed the two panels together.

My father was thrilled. He loves the blanket, and is still very happy and grateful I made it for him. So that was good.

But now I need to make something for my mother's birthday that is on approximately the same level. And I'm stumped.

So I thought I'd take the easy way out, get a few karaoke versions of some songs that I know very well, and then record me singing along, and give that to her. She keeps complaining that she never hears me sing, and she loves that kind of music so I thought that would be a good idea. My original idea had been to learn how to play those songs on the ukulele as well, and record everything but that would have taken a year or more of work so that was out. Karaoke it was.

Of course when I had that idea I had thought I'd do all the preparation in August,,,

Well, I haven't. So now I have to move pretty fast. And most karaoke recordings don't really sound all that great. Still. I can do this.

But that's the reason I stayed up way too long yesterday. I am already curious what today's reason for not going to bed on time will be. I definitely shouldn't plan to get anything done after dinner today.

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: daily journal

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Handgemacht » Podcast

Handgemacht mit iTunes abonnieren

Subscribe to know when Susanne’s next book comes out

* indicates required

Manic Writing & Such

500words-150w

Archives

Categories

  • birthday letter (3)
  • blogging about blogging (21)
  • blogher (1)
  • changing habits (53)
  • crafts (55)
  • creativity (37)
  • daily journal (1,045)
  • family (20)
  • fashion (15)
  • gender (12)
  • green living (8)
  • happiness (5)
  • health (20)
  • hear me sing (7)
  • just post (28)
  • knitting (47)
  • knitting patterns (2)
  • life (212)
  • lists (39)
  • meme (19)
  • mindfulness (1)
  • music (34)
  • NaNoWriMo (12)
  • parenting (39)
  • pictures (33)
  • Podcast (162)
  • procrastination (2)
  • project 365 (14)
  • projects (35)
  • Projekt "Farbe bekennen" (14)
  • reading (9)
  • Rhiannon (5)
  • script frenzy (2)
  • self-help (40)
  • sewing (7)
  • spinning (31)
  • story of the month (13)
  • travel (12)
  • Uncategorized (62)
  • week in review (23)
  • weight loss (8)
  • wordless wednesday (9)
  • writing (24)
  • year of happiness (8)

Subscribe to Handgemacht » Podcast

Handgemacht mit iTunes abonnieren

Subscribe to know when Susanne’s next book comes out

* indicates required

Manic Writing & Such

500words-150w

Archives

Categories

  • birthday letter (3)
  • blogging about blogging (21)
  • blogher (1)
  • changing habits (53)
  • crafts (55)
  • creativity (37)
  • daily journal (1,045)
  • family (20)
  • fashion (15)
  • gender (12)
  • green living (8)
  • happiness (5)
  • health (20)
  • hear me sing (7)
  • just post (28)
  • knitting (47)
  • knitting patterns (2)
  • life (212)
  • lists (39)
  • meme (19)
  • mindfulness (1)
  • music (34)
  • NaNoWriMo (12)
  • parenting (39)
  • pictures (33)
  • Podcast (162)
  • procrastination (2)
  • project 365 (14)
  • projects (35)
  • Projekt "Farbe bekennen" (14)
  • reading (9)
  • Rhiannon (5)
  • script frenzy (2)
  • self-help (40)
  • sewing (7)
  • spinning (31)
  • story of the month (13)
  • travel (12)
  • Uncategorized (62)
  • week in review (23)
  • weight loss (8)
  • wordless wednesday (9)
  • writing (24)
  • year of happiness (8)

Archives

  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Author Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in