Thursday, April 16, 2015

#1406, Thursday, April 16: Daily comment process

Post 1407, Day 106 of 2015
- 1,567 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment
A comment made (that I am not taking personally) got me thinking about my process for writing these five-day-a-week Daily Comments, so I thought I would clarify.

In general, looking at a blank page and thinking about a topic, I'll start with a statement or a question that is on my mind. And by on my mind, I mean whatever occurred to me when I started to write. 

 Just one topic. I don't have enough ideas for more than one a day - any extras can get me over the hump when I'm drawing a total blank. And sometimes, when I don't have any extras in the mental bank, you get a Daily Comment that just admits I have nothing to write about.
From that one statement, it's pretty much just written riffing (I like that phrase). I am not adverse to going off on tangents, but I try to stay approximately on topic. Sometimes, when it seems like I'm not, it is because that lead sentence that always introduces my comments is, er, misleading - it is a segue from nothing to the thing I actually want to write about.

 My style guide, as it were, has only one rule: No more than three sentences in a paragraph.

In conversation with me, this tendency is so obvious that it is characteristic of me. As is my verbosity. That is where the next step, editing comes in.

I re-read what I've written at least once, usually more. Then I start editing. First for spelling and grammar (I may be the only one who cares, but I do). Then (believe it or not) for concision. You should see some of these posts before that - I sometimes end up with half the words I start with after editing. 

I usually only do that one re-edit. Publication waits until I have finished the Food and Diet Section, usually the morning of the following day.

So, thematically, the Daily Comment is nothing more than whatever bullshit was in my mind at the instant I decided to start writing. Nothing more serious than that. Possibly good for insight into my particular flavor of craziness, and really, written as much (or more) for me than for a reader.

 Oh, and today I got a new MacBook Pro, and am easing out of the Windows world; I'll miss the file-handling and the delete key, but I believe I can get over the first, and maybe, won't miss the other as much when destructive backspace is all I have. I do have some Windows-only programs I might use Parallels to keep on board, but I'm going to try and minimize that.

 We'll see.
Food and Diet Section

Today's Weight:                   209.2 lbs
Previous Weight (4/15):           208.4 lbs
Day Net Loss/Gain:                + 0.8 lbs

 Diet Comment
Ugh! Last night's late (post-gig) dinner, which contained the first pasta I've eaten in a very long time and a big dessert), followed by a late snack (not particularly low in carbs), has undone me. Today, low-carbing.
 
Food Log
Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch
Scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon.

Snack
Pepperoni.

Dinner 
Ground turkey burger with cheese, guacamole and cole slaw. 
Snack
Pepperoni and cheese with celery and home-made mayonnaise.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  28 oz.   Water: 80+ oz.

Please leave a comment if you visit my blog. Thank you!

 
Posted by at

11 comments:

  1. andyApril 17, 2015 at 9:14 AM

    And why did you ask me to be a reader of this blog if it is written for yourself and there is not serious thought behind it?. If it is not a communication, then i'm just being a peeking tom by reading it. What's the deal here? It's ok by me if, when you have nothing to say, you write that you've got nothing today (as you have done often). Or just throw it out there to be read and discussed (as you have done often). Remember the intelligence and creativity of your known readers. If you draw a blank, perhaps one of us can come up with something. We all have this life in common.

    - Light - Love - Compassion -

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reverend KenApril 20, 2015 at 6:10 AM

      I write for myself only in the sense that I use my personal set of standards to determine the substance and quality of my posts. It is very egocentric, truly, but I am sharing my thoughts, as honestly as I can.

      Delete
  2. joanApril 17, 2015 at 9:21 AM

    I am fine just having this place to touch you both.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. andyApril 17, 2015 at 10:16 AM

      Phone calls or visits are far better ways of "touching" than this artificial, off-time medium

      - Light - Love - Compassion -

      Delete
  3. joanApril 17, 2015 at 9:22 AM

    Also, I like the beard in the picture above. Maybe that was just a bad picture.

    ReplyDelete
  4. joanApril 17, 2015 at 9:22 AM

    I like to read what both of you think.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. andyApril 17, 2015 at 10:24 AM

      and getting your thoughts, Joan, is usually harder than pulling teeth. You are (unlike your brothers) a woman of few words, and you seem to play it close to the vest most of the time.

      - Light - Love - Compassion -

      Delete
  5. joanApril 18, 2015 at 9:16 AM

    It is true. I guard my thoughts like ?monsters/treasures

    ReplyDelete
  6. joanApril 18, 2015 at 9:22 AM

    Most of the time my thoughts are just monkey thoughts - dancing around are scaring me- I try not to pay too much attention to them. Every once in a while I will have some clarity and I try to tell you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. andyApril 18, 2015 at 11:46 AM

      The Joan who is aware of those thoughts, who is having those thoughts, not the person both created and revealed by those thoughts, that i am trying to understand and relate to in these discussion comments.

      - Light - Love - Compassion -

      Delete
  7. Reverend KenApril 20, 2015 at 6:07 AM

    Sorry - I've been ill since Friday and have not been doing much online, including (which I'm just getting to now) finishing up Friday's posting.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)