What Will They Say - Writing Prompt

I got sent this obit in my email from my writing group the other day. It is horrible enough that I am including the snopes.com assessment of it. It got me wondering about my obit. Who will write it, what will they say. If I have to define myself, how would I want to do that. What do I know and hope will be missed about me.

As a single person from a large family - I do wonder who would actually write the obit? So as a fun activity I have decided to not only write my own obit (we've all had to do this experiment before), but I am going to write a 'glowing with praise' obit and a 'most horrible person in the world obit'. I challenge you to do the same.

Michael Phelps

Congratulations and thank you Michael Phelps!!!



I have been totally involved in the Olympics this year and I haven't completely understood why. But I love it. I tear up every time some one wins, I tear up every time someone fails, and I am so invested this year.

I think for me, I love that the Olympics offer us the ability to dream. I think that is what Michael Phelps has done for me - he has taken me back to my childhood - when Mark Spitz was earning his golds. I remember that we were glued to the set - we were drawn together as a nation, but more than that - I believed that I could do whatever I set my mind to do. I was encouraged to dream - to reach for my highest aspirations and dream.

Thank you Michael Phelps for reminding me of that enthusiasm! Congrats on all your GOLD.

DREAM, DREAM, DREAM, DREAM

A few weeks ago I was talking with a friend of mine - I told him that one of my favorite things to do when I went to bed was plan my dream. I like it when I am settling in and pick the storyline I want to go on. I am sometimes frustrated when I fall asleep without getting to plan. He told me that he remembered doing that as a child (actually I had two friends say the same thing when I was talking to them about dreaming). The woman said that she doesn't do that anymore. The reason my male friend is standing out in my mind right now is that he said, 'I don't dream anymore.'

I don't dream anymore, are you kidding me? Don't we all dream whether we want to or not? I was asking another friend about this and he said that while he is sure he dreams, he never remembers dreaming, let alone what they are about. I am so sad for those who no longer dream. I love dreaming, I love day dreaming, night dreaming, and all types of dreaming. Well, not all types...there are the occasional nightmares which haunt me.

I have this one of a friends murder that for awhile was occurring so often and in such detail, that I occasionally had to call to make sure it was a dream and not a memory. Those chasing dreams are not my favorite either - the ones where someone is after you and you can feel your body physically fighting the dream, but seemingly can't wake from it. Not my favorite, but I feed a little off of those - they help me to remember fear, to understand panic which helps me in my writing.

Last night I had a new nightmare, and I didn't like it. I don't want it ever again. I can't say that I am afraid to go to sleep, but I will definitely be trying to plan my dream tonight. It was a dream about going to jail (no, I have never been). I never learned what the crime I committed was, but I know that I was supposed to be somewhere to clear my name and instead was locked in a type of safe or refrigeration unit (I know different, but I think the dream actually vacillated between the two). Anyway because I missed the appointment, I was being taken to jail right away without trial - I had two detectives who were monitoring and taking me. I was made to say goodbye to my family and was terrified. I can remember contemplated what I would need to do to get into solitary confinement or the infirmary or to get the charges dropped. There was no chasing, but the panic I felt, the fear - too real. To horrible. I don't want the dream again. Will it help my writing, I hope so.

For me the funny thing is trying to figure out what this dream has to do with my real life. I often think that our dreams are linked in one way or another and try to evaluate them. This should be a fun one to try and figure out.

Right now I am helping myself to prepare for a good night's sleep with a glass of lemonade mixed with a shot of my homemade blueberry infused vodka - yummy.

Writing Prompts

I am a little bummed right now as I had thought of a great writing prompt this morning when I was in that wake-up sleep and because I wasn't smart enough to write it down, I can't remember what it was. I am just hoping it comes back to me - I am sure it is sitting up there in my Write-brain somewhere.

I do have another one that I have been playing with though. A few months ago I think I noted that I had a friend who had really lied to me. Well it was a whole mess and I can't believe how it affected other aspects and relationships in my life. This was a work friend from about 5 years ago - I thought we had a really good friendship and for about the last 3 years had written each other 3-5 times a week, sometimes just checking in - other times challenging each other or asking for assistance. Long story short, he had been claiming to be single the last 2 years which was weird because he was the kind of guy who was never without a girlfriend - he doesn't do well being on his own. I started questioning when he was going to get back out in the field, he claimed he was - he just didn't talk about all of his dates.

Well about 10 days after Mother's Day he says he has decided to disclose something to me - and informs me that he had been married for the previous 18 months and the week prior had just celebrated the birth of his first child - his marriage had also provided him with 2 step-sons - the youngest of which he was in the process of adopting. Weird, huh? Who lies like that. When I looked back at some old emails - it didn't make sense - this guy went out of his way to lie and make sure that nothing every was revealed. It also made no sense to me, why the double life. Now the therapist and psychiatrists I work with (who also knew him) believe that he is also gay and I was a safe person to stay in contact with in case he ever chose to come out. And once the baby had come, he realized he had made his choice and needed to cut off this odd portion of his life.

For me it has made me hesitant to start new friendship, question bonds with other friendships - old and new and affected the security I had in being a fairly good judge of character.

Now the writing prompt - have you ever told a big lie or had one told to you. Have you incorporated it into your story. I often think that reality doesn't tranfer well on to the paper - how do you make that lie believable, interesting and keep the victim appearing overly gullible?

Writing Prompt

We've all played the game - if you have a superhero power, what would it be. Mine tends to vacillate between invisibility and flying. Although now that I say that, I wonder - would I feel a little ripped off if I met Superman and all I could do was turn invisible - I like to think that extra strength is just one of the perks of being a superhero.

Anyway - back to the prompt: You have just discovered that the friends you have surrounded yourself with, are all superheroes - what powers do they have and why?

Top 5 Things on TV That Made Me Cry...

...in the last week! Okay, I have become older and more of a sap.

1. The Baby Borrowers Season Finale - even though the majority of these kids were annoying as hell, they kind of grew on me and I was very sad to learn that none of them made it at the end of the 'social experiment'.
2. Dr. Who's season/series finale? It felt like I was watching the end of the series - so much was closed up in a tidy little box. I loved Catherine Tate's character on this show and was so heartbroken at the end.
3. Seeing RENT perform on Good Morning, America as they prepare for the final show on Broadway - Chris Cuomo stated it best when he commented that the first time he saw RENT on Broadway he knew he wasn't just seeing a play but experiencing 'a movement.'
4. The season finale of Robin Hood on the BBC America.
5. I have to admit that seeing Mamma Mia made me a little teary-eyed knowing that soon I will get to own this movie and watch it whenever I want. Getting choked up telling my friend J about my love of ABBA - getting to see them in the seventh row of the Voulez-Vous tour. Making the banner welcoming them to Omaha with the hope of winning better tickets (though you can't much go wrong with the seventh row.) And even discussing how this was the beginning of a friendship with my friend K.