Saturday, October 27, 2018

The Diva’s Challenge #373 and Diversifying One’s Hobbies



This week, the Diva challenged everyone to draw a tangle using their non-dominant hand. This was, admittedly, a bit frustrating. It’s so much easier to control a pen with my usual hand. The results are a lot better, too.

A Zentangle Diva's Challenge #373 done with non-dominant hand
The Diva's Challenge #373

On the other hand, it reminded me of something that’s been on my mind off and on for several years. We don’t know what the future holds for us. More specifically, we don’t know what capacities we may lose as time goes by. 

What if I lost the use of my right (dominant) hand? I would have to use the other hand to draw. It’s good to know that I can manage some sort of drawing with my left, if I have to. But it would be very distressing, nonetheless, as so many of my hobbies involve work with my hands.

Most of my hobbies also involve my eyes. So I ask myself, if I couldn’t see very well, what would I do for entertainment? I like music, but it isn’t a big part of my life. I could still listen to books, thankfully, though I find listening to books slow and rather frustrating since I can’t flip back easily to check earlier details. (This is especially awkward for mysteries.) I could still go for walks and I could still enjoy gardening to some degree, since I’ve always been interested as much in the scents of plants as in their appearance.

Other people have different hobbies that require different capacities. For people who love to go hiking or rafting, being unable to use their arms or legs well would take away a source of joy. Other people would hate to lose music. And for people who love to cook, losing their sense of taste would also mean losing a favorite activity—how can you enjoy cooking a new recipe if you can’t taste it?

My point is that I would be wise to cultivate some hobbies that don’t use exactly the same capacities that most of my other hobbies do. Maybe I should cultivate more large-motor activities, in case my fine-motor skills deteriorate some day. Maybe I should take more of an interest in music, or in conversation, in case my eyes give me trouble.

There is also the possibility that some day my cognitive skills will deteriorate (may that day be FAR away.) I will still have time to fill. Perhaps, in that case, familiar, simple tasks would be soothing. 

What might these be? Knitting an endless scarf in garter stitch? Doing simple jigsaw puzzles? Peeling potatoes, maybe, as I remember Grandpere doing when he was no longer capable of cooking on his own? It seemed to me that he felt better when he was contributing in some way. Perhaps I should find out what activities people can generally manage in this situation and cultivate some of them. You can’t peel potatoes automatically if you haven’t peeled a whole lot of potatoes beforehand with attention.

Someone whose name I can’t remember came up with a chart that categorized activities as high- or low-energy, and high or low in sociability. His point (I think it was a he) was that people should cultivate some activities that fall into each of these four groups. Sometimes people’s energy levels will be low, in which case reading (low sociability) and doing jigsaw puzzles with other people (high sociability) might be good options. Or their energy levels might be fine, but there aren’t a lot of people to do things with, so they need some activities they can do by themselves, like going for a walk. 

The recommendation was aimed at older people, but when you think about it, it’s a good idea at any age. I’m suggesting here that it just doesn’t go far enough.

Till next post.

Sunday, October 21, 2018

NaNoWriMo 2018 and a Celebration of Spiral Notebooks


Once again, I am planning to participate in NaNoWriMo—National Novel Writing Month. I will attempt to write a 50,000 word novel—beginning, middle, and end—starting on November 1st  and finishing by the end of day on November 30th. Obviously, even if I finish, it’s going to be a pretty lousy novel. But that’s what first drafts are for.

I’ve been doing NaNoWriMo for years now. Some years, I finish in time. Some years, I finish the novel but not until February. Some years, I get hopelessly stuck in plot problems and never finish.

I really like the excitement of starting a new project, and a new project requires a new notebook. While I do type the novel (much easier to keep track of wordcount that way), I also write notes, timelines, and sometimes bits of text in a spiral notebook that I’ve picked out for that year’s project.

Spiral notebook with photo of blue-eyed dog partially hidden under leaves
NaNoWriMo 2018--"Heavy Rain Likely"

Fortunately, spiral notebooks are abundantly available with all sorts of decorative covers, suitable for distinguishing this year’s project from last year’s. I’m somewhat limited in that I prefer wide-ruled notebooks. I find it more comfortable to write at length if I don’t have to write small. This means that I buy notebooks intended for elementary school kids that have lower-quality paper, as opposed to the nicer notebooks with the smooth, smooth paper that holds up to fountain pen. It also means I end up with a lot of kitten notebooks, and once in a while a Disney princess. I don’t mind “cute”. But fortunately, there are other designs out there too, and every year I’m eager to see what the current crop of school notebooks has in store for me.

Assorted spiral notebooks with covers showing kittens, flowers, or abstract designs
Assortment of other notebooks, not all from NaNoWriMo

This year I’m planning to write a mystery starring the same sleuth I used in last year’s NaNoWriMo. Usually I write middle-grade or young adult fantasy, occasionally science-fiction, but last year I decided to try a mystery. I love to read them, but had never had any success writing one.

I’m not entirely sure I can call last year’s draft a “success” either, but I did finish. (In NaNoWriMo-speak, I “won” NaNoWriMo. That just means I achieved wordcount by the 30th.) I liked the story well enough that I even started revising it, though I ran into problems and have temporarily shelved it. I also really liked my sleuth.

So this year Tabitha Key will face a missing person case, while being threatened by a hurricane. (Yes, I was thinking about this year’s story as we waited to see whether Florence was actually going to come anywhere near us. And then Michael. We were fortunate—waiting was about as far as my experience went.)

I don’t know whether I’m going to “win” NaNoWriMo this year. I’ve been distracted and I don’t feel quite as ready to write this mystery as I have with some previous stories. I’m hoping that as the final week approaches, I will suddenly feel more inspired. I do have some notes, at least.

Naturally, these notes are in my new spiral notebook. I chose this year’s notebook not just because it shows a cute dog, but also because the dog is partially hidden under leaves and the story is about someone who is missing—hidden, in fact. The picture on the notebook didn’t have to go with the story—I could have just picked something because it was appealing, but I like the fact that it does relate to it.

Ten more days to go. I’m starting to feel a little excited about this. Maybe I should throw in a tea leaf reading? A misbehaving donkey? I wonder if a box of chocolates would help—either as part of the plot, or possibly on my desk. I’ve got my StoryCubes® if I need a nudge.

The blue-eyed dog is waiting.

Friday, October 12, 2018

The Diva’s Challenge #371 and Hurricane Michael

Diva’s Challenge #371 is to use Onion Drops. I hadn't tried Onion Drops before and tried it out several times before eventually making this tile.






The background is Crazy N'Zeppel, and I used black colored pencil and a white gel pen in addition to black pen.

Onion Drops makes me think of waves of Rapunzel-like hair.

We didn't have electricity for about 22 hours (thank you, Michael!), and it reminded me that I need to appreciate little things like hot water for tea--as well as being able to cook food. And being able to store perishables. And hot showers and many other things I tend to take for granted. But especially the hot tea.