Writing

Writer’s block

/ edebock / 10 Comments

Yikes! It’s been almost a month since I posted anything here. I’m pretty sure this has been the longest dry spell since I started blogging seven years ago. Yes, my blog had a birthday earlier this month and I didn’t even acknowledge it with a post.

Lest any of my faithful readers begin to worry that something is seriously wrong, let me assure you that I’m fine. I did come down with a nasty cold immediately following my last treatment and I was under the weather for a little while but I blame the blog’s silence on a combination of the busyness of the season and writer’s block. It seems I simply ran out of things to say!

As I’ve mentioned before, I think the secret to Following Augustine’s longevity is its eclectic nature. Though I’ve loved sharing our experiences in faraway places, it’s been more than a travel blog. Family often shows up but it isn’t a mommy blog and while I occasionally focus on clothing, shoes or accessories, it definitely isn’t a fashion blog. Over the past fifteen and a half months, I’ve used the blog to share my cancer journey but it’s always been about more than that. My faith permeates every part of my life, including what I write, but this isn’t a religion blog either. Occasionally, I climb up on my soapbox and write about a cause that I feel strongly about but it’s definitely not a political or an activist blog. It really is a bit of many things and as a result, I can usually think of something to write about!

Lately, however, my writing brain has been blank! I have a feeling that that isn’t going to last though and I’m certainly not ready to call it quits! I’m in the middle of packing suitcases again and we’ll soon be off to Vancouver to spend Christmas with family there. If that doesn’t provide me with inspiration, I’m pretty sure our trip to Mexico in January will!

In the meantime, let me leave you with a cute conversation that our six-year-old grandson had with his parents lately.

Drew: I wonder how old Mickey Mouse is.
Mommy: Mickey Mouse is very old.
Daddy: Like older than Grammas and Grandpas.
Drew: Wow! Like 21?

Here’s my slightly older than 21 hubby with Drew and his two younger siblings on our recent pre-Christmas visit to Calgary.

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Top six

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This is Following Augustine’s 600th post written over a period of slightly more than six years! I think that the secret to the blog’s longevity is its eclectic nature.

Originally started as a way to share our year in Japan (2008-2009) with friends and family, it has become much more than a travel blog. Family often shows up but it isn’t a mommy blog and while I occasionally focus on clothing, shoes or accessories, it definitely isn’t a fashion blog. In recent months, I’ve been using the blog to share my cancer journey but, just as my life continues to be about more than just my health, so does the blog. My faith permeates every part of my life, including what I write, but this isn’t a religion blog either. For lack of a better description, I refer to it as a travel and lifestyle blog but I also like to think of it as an active retirement blog.

One of the things that I like about blogging with WordPress is the stats page where I can see how many readers view the blog, where they’re from and which posts are most popular. I’m often surprised by which ones generate the most interest. In fact, some of the most popular posts are ones that I wondered if anyone would find interesting!

Today, in honour of 600 posts in 6 years, I’m going to profile my top 6 posts of all time. Since several of them are older posts, I’ll include a link to each one in case newer readers are interested in looking back with me. Just click on the titles below to check them out.

Following Augustine’s Top Six Posts of All Time

 

#6  What influences your sense of self-worth?   Oct. 29, 2011

The idea for this post came from Charles F. Stanley’s Bible study, How to Reach Your Full Potential for God, and was the result of some serious self examination. It was one of the most difficult posts I’ve written because it involved baring my soul and owning up to an attitude that I knew needed to change.

#5   Tatami   Aug. 28, 2008

I find it quite funny that the most popular post from our entire year in Japan was about the traditional floor covering known as tatami! Tatami has many advantages and I loved it but I didn’t love the insects that crawled out of the tightly woven mat at night to bite me! Eww! Fortunately, we learned how to get rid of them and it’s obviously this information that people are looking for when they Google “insects in tatami” or other similar phrases and find their way to this post.

#4   A new journey…   Aug. 30, 2013

The newest post on my Top Six list, this is the one that shared my cancer diagnosis. I was walking this trail beside a peaceful lake in southern Alberta when the cell phone in my pocket rang and I first heard that dreaded C word.

Where will this journey take us?

Now that a second cancer has been diagnosed, we are no closer to knowing where this journey is going to take us.

#3   Alex’s yellow lizard   May 28, 2012

IMG_9629_2Richard and I are avid geocachers. Geocaching is a grown up, high-tech game of hide and seek. Participants use GPS units to hide and find containers called geocaches and then log their activity online. One of the aspects of geocaching that I like best is trackables; geocaching game pieces that are moved from cache to cache by geocachers like ourselves. Alex’s Yellow Lizard was a trackable that we picked up from a roadside cache in Manitoba on our way home from Winnipeg a couple of years ago. When it started its journey in Minnesota, its owner asked that pictures be taken and posted along the way so that his seven-year-old son could watch his little yellow lizard as it traveled around the world. We placed it in a geocache at a native ceremonial site on a high point of land about 24 km north of our home. When I posted this information on the geocaching website, I included a link to my blog.

#2   Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout   Jan. 21, 2011

pig-nose-ringI have no idea why so many people enter things like “gold ring in pig’s snout” and “pig nose ring” in search engines! I thought this was a pretty obscure thing to write about! The phrase comes from Proverbs 11:22 and refers to a beautiful woman who has no discretion.

 

And now, drumroll please!

#1   Bridges of Madison County   July 21, 2010

My most read blog post of all time is also one of my shortest. On a road trip to Kansas City for a missions conference during the summer of 2010, we purposely went out of our way to visit Winterset, Iowa, the setting of my favourite novel, The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller. Like Robert Kincaid, one of Waller’s main characters, we drove the back roads of Madison County photographing the covered bridges that were made famous by the novel and the movie that followed. I crossed another dream off my unwritten bucket list when I stood on Roseman Bridge and touched the spot where farmer’s wife, Francesca (Meryl Streep), pinned a note inviting Robert (Clint Eastwood) to come for dinner “anytime the white moths fly”.

And here it is, the most viewed photo to appear on my blog thus far!

Roseman Bridge

Roseman Bridge

Published!

/ edebock / 17 Comments

Back in the 1980s, during my days as a stay-at-home mom, I tried my hand at freelance writing. I sold a few articles and gathered a substantial collection of rejection slips. When I went back to teaching school, there wasn’t enough time in my busy schedule for writing but I found that sharing my love for the written word with my students gave me the same sense of fulfillment.

I always knew that I would return to writing when I retired. Originally, I visualized myself once again sending out manuscripts and query letters by mail and waiting with bated breath for editors to respond. Then came blogging! Though there’s a certain thrill involved in receiving a cheque for a published article, for me, writing was never about the money. I simply love to write and I love the interactive aspect of blogging. Knowing that people around the world are reading my posts, receiving comments from some of them and even developing long distance friendships with a few readers gives me great satisfaction.

Once I became an established blogger, I didn’t foresee myself seeking publication elsewhere again. While we were in China, however, it crossed my mind that I ought to consider writing an article about our experience for news and views, the quarterly magazine of the Alberta Retired Teachers’ Association, where I had first seen the ad that led to us being there. When we returned to Canada, I emailed the editor to ask if he’d be interested. He responded the very next day saying that he’d be delighted to run my article (with photos) in the Spring 2014 issue!

“We tend to get 600 to 800 words to the page with our new format, but fewer than that with pictures. So, if you could keep the text of the article to 1200 words or so, with the photographs, it would give us about three pages.” he went on to say. That was the tricky part! Condensing almost five months in China into 1200 words was definitely a challenge but I did my best to give the readers a taste of what we experienced living and teaching there.

Today, when we arrived home from Calgary, we found several copies of the magazine and a cheque stuffed into our overcrowded mailbox! Though the publication is a small one, I am nevertheless, a published writer once more. The question now is, will this whet my appetite to try my hand at writing for publication again or will blogging continue to satisfy?

One thing is certain. Regardless of what I decide, Following Augustine isn’t going anywhere. I intend to keep it going indefinitely.

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Over, under or through the Wall

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One thing we absolutely must do while we’re in China is visit and walk on the Great Wall but it’s not that wall that’s been bothering me.

The Great Firewall of China, or the Golden Shield as it’s officially known, is a censorship and surveillance project operated by the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China that prevents access to websites that are deemed undesirable. I’m pretty sure I can learn to live without Facebook but what would I do if I couldn’t blog?

I know that there are ways to get over, under or through the wall; things called VPNs (virtual personal networks) but I’m not overly computer savvy. I was a little worried about whether or not I’d be able to figure out how to access and use something like that especially considering the fact that I’ll be in a country where I won’t speak the language.

Then, a couple of days ago, I was searching the WordPress site looking for something entirely different when I came across a series of instructions entitled Generating a Post by Email. We’ve been assured that we’ll be able to use our gmail account so it would appear that my problem has been solved! In fact, this post is my test case. I’m actually writing it as an email to make sure that this works and that I have it all figured out.

I may not be able to lay things out exactly the way I’d like to and I haven’t figured out whether or not I can include a link but apparently I can add photos and tags. In fact, I’ll test those features with this post too.

I always receive an email notification when one of you leaves a comment and I’ve already figured out how to respond to those via email so even that won’t be a problem if I’m not able to access the blog directly.

So why not pack your virtual suitcase and come along with me? We fly to China one month from today and you won’t even need a visa!

photo credit: http://www.dgreatwallofchina.com/

It’s a weird and wonderful life!

/ edebock / 1 Comment

It occurred to me today that I live a weird life; or perhaps I’m just a weird person!

I’m a 60 year old woman preparing to go to China to teach English. In between weight lifting sets this afternoon, I’ve been working on editing a master’s thesis for someone in Japan and taking apart a dress for my son! Yup, definitely weird!

I started weight lifting 18 years ago before it became a popular activity for women. According to Wikipedia, nearly 20% of American women now lift weights on a regular basis but I doubt that many of them are in their sixties and most of them probably weren’t total non athletes like I was in my younger days.

I like what Adam Campbell, fitness director of Women’s Health and author of The Women’s Health Big Book of Exercises says:

But do I look like I lift weights? Absolutely. I’m lean and fit, and my muscles are well-defined, even if they’re not busting out of my shirt. 

You see, lifting weights isn’t just about building 20-inch biceps. In fact, for most women, it’s not about that at all, since resistance training may be the single most effective way to lose fat and look great in a swimsuit. What’s more, the benefits of lifting extend into nearly every aspect of your health and well-being. So much so that after nearly 12 years of reporting in the field of health and fitness, I’ve come to one rock-solid conclusion: You’d have to be crazy not to lift weights—even if bigger biceps are the last thing you want. 

The truth is, lifting weights gives every woman an edge. Over belly fat. Over stress. Over heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Lifting even makes you smarter and happier. 

To read more, including his 20 reasons why you shouldn’t live another day without lifting, click here.

If you’ve been reading my blog for very long, you know that I also love writing and keeping my mind active. That’s why when my friend, Smoky, asked if I would be willing to edit his thesis on factors that affect Japanese junior high school students’ motivation to learn English, I jumped at the opportunity.

Smoky's family

Besides, is it any wonder that he doesn’t have as much time as he’d like to polish his own writing? Those darling children are three of our “Japanese grandchildren” and I’d way rather he spent his time loving them!

dressNow, what about the dress? As I mentioned in an earlier post, on February 9th Nate will be skiing the 31 km Canadian Birkebeiner in an African schoolgirl dress to raise funds so that little girls in Sierra Leone can go to school. He’s already raised enough to provide a full year of schooling for one girl and is hoping that money will continue to come in.

The dress is snug on his 6 foot 3 inch frame. He needs more room for a warm layer underneath and to ensure that his arms can move freely when he skis. I’ve opened the seams down both sides and am adding panels of stretchy sportswear fabric to provide the space and mobility that he needs.

Yes, my life might be weird but it’s also rich and full and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Lover of words and collector of quotes

/ edebock / 9 Comments

I am a lover of words.

A couple of my favourite words are tranquility and serenity, not just because of the peaceful images they conjure up but because I love the sound of them, the way they roll off the tongue. To my eye, they even look pretty!

Do you have a favourite word?

I’m also a collector of quotes, jotting down interesting ones whenever I see them. Since I don’t really have anything in particular to say in my own words today, I thought I’d just share a few of these with you.

Several have a common theme. If you know me or have been reading my blog for very long, you can probably guess what that might be. Perhaps this one by American writer and filmmaker, Susan Sontag, says it best.

I haven’t been everywhere but it’s on my list!

Caskie Stinnett, American travel writer, humorist and magazine editor who, coincidentally, died fourteen years ago today at the age of 87, put it this way

I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine!

This variation on a well-known anonymous quotation appears in the front of the bestseller, 1000 Places to See Before You Die.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the places and moments that take our breath away.

Not all my favourite quotations are about travel, however. Fellow blogger, LouAnn at On the Homefront, has this one by Robert Allen, author of The One Minute Millionaire, on the bulletin board above her desk and how very true it is.

Everything you want is just outside your comfort zone.

A friend and former student posted this one by D.H. Lawrence on Facebook yesterday and I’ve added it to my collection too.

All people dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusky recesses of their mind, wake in the morning to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous people, for they dream their dreams with open eyes, and many them come true.

I find quotes in the oddest of places. I was on my way to the bathroom in a restaurant in Osoyoos, BC a few years ago when I spotted this one by Frederick W. Smith, the founder and CEO of FedEx, on a poster on the wall.

Nothing is as necessary for success as the single-minded pursuit of an objective.

Martin Luther King Jr. said many profound things. Among my favourites is

Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.

American author and lecturer, Marilyn vos Savant, said

To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.

The authors of some of my favourite quotations are, unfortunately, unknown. I would love to give credit to the writers of

We cannot direct the winds but we can adjust our sails.

and

When you stumble, make it part of the dance.

but I cannot. Lastly, a plaque on my kitchen wall says

A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.

I don’t know who originated that one either but I’m blessed to have a friend like that.

Do you have a favourite quote? Share it here and I may include a compilation of them in a future post.

Yes, I am a lover of words and a collector of quotes. Perhaps every writer is.

How do I write?

/ edebock / 5 Comments

 

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A friend recently asked me an interesting question about how I write.

“Do you edit or just let it flow?” 

Much of my writing is actually done in my head before putting pen to paper or in today’s venacular, fingers to keyboard. I’ve always written this way, mulling things over and sorting them out in my mind before beginning to write them down.

Once I actually start writing, however, I edit, edit, edit! Every sentence is read and reread. Changes are constantly being made. When it comes to my writing, as in many other aspects of life, I’m a perfectionist. Downright anal might be a more honest assessment!

Like anyone who writes, I have my own personal style. I realize that there are many ways to  say the same thing but if something doesn’t sound quite right to me, it gets changed. To my mind, writing is a craft.

Editing is so much easier than it was in the pen and paper days. The internet is a fabulous tool. I often google a word meaning to ensure that I’m using it properly, sometimes finding a synonym that I like even better. Similarly, when I don’t want to use the same word too often, I search for a synonym. Though I’m pretty confident about my spelling, spellcheck is also a valuable tool.

Titles can be tricky. Sometimes, as in my post entitled Turn left at the three legged dog, the title comes to mind first but that’s quite rare. More often, I begin writing without a title and think of one later, sometimes after the article itself is completely finished. Occasionally, I begin with a working title but change it before I’m done.

My husband is one of my greatest fans and whenever I’m unsure about a post, I have him read it over before I publish it. Most often, he assures me that it’s fine but occasionally he points out something that I’ve missed or that isn’t entirely clear.

So, fellow bloggers, I’m interested in knowing how you write.

“Do you edit or just let it flow?” 

Letters to the editor

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I’ve been reminded of the power of words recently. I’m not one who usually sits around writing letters to the editor but I’ve written three of them in the last couple of weeks and have received interesting responses to each one.

The September issue of More, Canada’s magazine for women over 40, contained an article that drew the reader’s attention to Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, written by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, a book that I think should be required reading for every citizen of the developed world. I wrote a letter (email) commending the editorial staff for this and received a reply from copy editor, Brenda Thompson, telling me that they may choose to reprint a portion of my letter in an upcoming issue! Words can be encouraging.

I read the Edmonton Journal online every morning. On August 29, I came across what I considered to be an example of blatantly irresponsible journalism. The first sentence of an article entitled “Man charged with shooting two Mounties south of Edmonton slated to appear in court” stated that Sawyer Robison was the subject of a manhunt “after wounding two Killam RCMP officers during a shooting.” As was pointed out later in the article, details of the shooting have never been publicly released. Though the shooting took place just a few miles from here, I do not know Sawyer Robison. I don’t know if he is innocent or guilty. I do know, however, that he has not yet had his day in court. He has not been found guilty of wounding the RCMP officers and I was appalled that the Edmonton Journal would print this for public consumption. I assumed that this was an extreme lapse in judgement and fired off an email to Editor-in-Chief, Lucinda Chodan. Her response was almost immediate. “You are completely right,” she said and thanked me for bringing this to her attention. “As soon as I received your email, I asked our staff to correct the article.” she went on to say and included a link to the revision. Words are powerful.

This morning I entered into a Facebook discussion, initiated by a friend of mine, about an editorial that appeared in a local weekly, The Edge, out of Wainwright, Alberta. It was written by reporter, Mickey Djuric, in response to the suggestion made recently by the niece of Toronto mayor, Rob Ford, that women can avoid sexual assault by “not dressing like a whore.” While her point that women should never be blamed for being assaulted or raped is well taken, I found her attitude and the way she expressed her opinion absolutely unacceptable. Her final paragraphs were particularly appalling.

We will not let anyone tell us how we should dress, or what garments are dubbed as appropriate for your eyes.
Sluts, whores, tarts (Whatever you want to label us). Show your cleavage, or legs, and tell everyone to go screw themselves while doing it.

I did mention that The Edge is a small town newspaper, didn’t I? They’re not known for quality journalism but this goes way beyond the norm. Even in this day and age, I was astonished that an editorial staff anywhere would find this suitable for printing and said so in my letter (email) to Editor-in-Chief, Kelly Clemmer. I asked him if this was really the message that we want to give teenage girls and young women and suggested that had Ms. Djuric shown up for her job interview dressed the way she suggests and speaking the way she does in the editorial, she probably wouldn’t have been hired. In the real world, employers do have the right to tell us how we should dress!

I also told him that, right or wrong, anyone who thinks that a girl who dresses provocatively doesn’t put herself at greater risk or make herself a more likely target for exploitation has their head in the sand! Though he defended the point that he felt his writer was trying to make, Mr. Clemmer did agree with some of my points and has promised to publish my letter in an upcoming Edge.

So, as we often tell little children, use your words! They are powerful. Use them to encourage, use them to correct, use them to admonish. We who are privileged to live where we have the freedom to speak our mind should do so!

I don’t like being Spam!

/ edebock / 2 Comments

“What were you doing in my spam?” asked LouAnn, writer of ON THE HOMEFRONT, one of the blogs that I’ve been following lately.

I wish I could answer that, LouAnn! Apparently I’ve been ending up in a lot of people’s Spam lately, even my own daughter’s!

So what is Spam? No, I’m not talking about the canned luncheon meat that we found to be so popular on the island of Saipan!

According to Wikipedia, “Spam is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages, especially advertising, indiscriminately.” Not guilty!

Microsoft Security defines it as “any kind of unwanted online communication.” Unwanted? Are my comments unwanted? I don’t think so! I tend to receive positive responses to the ones that don’t disappear into Spam folders never to be seen again.

So why are my comments ending up in Spam folders? That’s a good question and one that the WordPress happiness engineers haven’t been able to answer to my satisfaction yet. I do appreciate the support that I get when something goes wrong in the blogging world but I wish that they could figure this one out for me as I really don’t like being Spam!

This is not me!

A life of its own

/ edebock / 5 Comments

I’m a Site Stats junkie. When I’m at home, I check WordPress several times a day to see how many people have viewed my blog. I guess that sounds a little narcissistic but I love knowing that someone has read what I’ve written and I’m always fascinated to see where they’re from and what search terms have led them here.

We were home for less than a week in June. Most of the month I was either camping without internet access or so busy that I didn’t have time to spend online. Consequently, I only posted three times and I rarely checked my stats. When I finally did, it was with a bit of trepidation. Had Following Augustine died of neglect? Would my stats page show nothing but a flat line like a heart monitor on a patient with no pulse?

No! It appears that the blog has taken on a life of its own.

Even when I’m not here, when I’m off gallivanting instead of writing and I’m not even checking my stats, you, my faithful readers are still here!

It thrills me to know that because the trailer is packed and we’re leaving again tomorrow morning! There will probably be much to blog about over the next few weeks but once again, we won’t always have access to the internet and when we do I’ll sometimes be too busy. There’s a family wedding to attend near Kamloops, BC and grandchildren and aging parents to visit in Vancouver. We’ll also cross by ferry to Vancouver Island and spend a few days with some of Richard’s relatives at Port Alberni. When our time with family is over, rather than coming straight home, we’re going to follow BC’s gold rush trail through the mighty Fraser River canyon to Cache Creek then on northward through Cariboo country. With a side trip to historic Barkerville, we’ll continue at least as far north as Prince George before circling back into Alberta. Along the way there will be geocaches to find and perhaps a few golf course to play as well as lots of history to explore.

Yes, there will be much to blog about and I will update as often as possible. In the meantime though, I’m happy to know that the blog will survive without me!