just writing words

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Celebrating the first year

it was only yesterday
I misplaced my thoughts
they flew themselves here
onto this blog
blossoming into new words and images
captured only for a small moment in time
but lasted long enough
to be read by someone

Today is Just Writing Words' one year anniversary. I don't have much to say about that so here's a Flicker Meme I found at Blogjem. I won't reveal my answers here so draw your own conclusions. But then again, if you read the names of the photos below, it will reveal some answers. I do love today's quote:

It's none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way. --Ernest Hemingway

Here are the rules to play the Flicker Meme:
A. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
B. Using only the first page, pick an image.
C. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Mosaic Maker.
01. What is your first name?
02. What is your favorite food?
03. What high school did you go to?
04. What is your favorite color?
05. Who is your celebrity crush?
06. Favorite drink?
07. Dream vacation?
08. Favorite dessert?
09. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Thanks to these photographers for sharing their pics:
1. Melissa, 2. Egg Drop Soup, 3. what hurts the most, 4. Just hanging around, 5. banana phone: another glitch in the Matrix, 6. Icecream Soda, 7. Sunny Side Up, 8. Congee for two, 9. The Photographer, 10. Autumn walk, 11. Lonely Tea Time, 12. "The Price Of Freedom"

Message

underneath golden sands
inside an undiscovered bottle
an infinity of tomorrows

Tagged by Candid Karina. Go here to create your own message.

Blog Name

You may have noticed the header name has been change from Just Write to Just Writing Words, which actually makes more sense since people kept referring to this site as Just Just Writing Words. Either one is fine with me but I thought I should just change it to match the link.

"I dwell in possibility..."
Emily Dickinson

7 Random Facts

I'm going tag-crazy today. Here's another one I found from JHS, a fellow She Who Blogs.

Here's my list:

01. I don't like the beach - somehow the sand and sun don't appeal to me

02. I sometimes skip paragraphs when I read a book, mostly if the book is boring

03. I'm not a night person or a day person - I like the in-between time

04. I could not find humor in the tv series, The Office, I guess I just don't get it

05. I'm a slow reader - it sometimes takes me couples of month to read just one book - that's probably why I do number #2

06. Meeting new people makes me nervous

07. Talking on the phone makes me nervous, pretty much just talking makes me nervous, I don't really like my voice, it's kind of childish sounding

Page 123

Qualcosa di Bello at Piacere tag me for this after I've done this. So I'm going to do another with a different book. Here's the text:

An equally good rule is that if something is broken you shouldn't try to fix it either. That's what trained professionals with vans are for. In the past, fixing big things required lathes, blow torches and angle grinders. These days we have glue.

From the Never hit a jellyfish with a spade: How to survive life's smaller challenges by Guy Browning from the chapter title: How to fix things. (I added a fourth sentence as it make more sense.) It's quite a hilarious book. I'm not going to tag anyone but anyone reading this can tag themselves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I saw this on Keith's Ramblings.

The rules: Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. (No cheating!)
Find Page 123 then dismiss the first 5 sentences. Post the next 3 sentences. Tag 5 people. I'm not going to tag anyone but anyone can tag themselves.

The bleeding stopped after a day and the pain stopped after a week. They buried Domingo and for the first time and last time Inigo left Arabella. His face bandaged, he rode in Yeste's carriage to Madrid, where he lived in Yeste's house, obeyed Yeste's commands.

From The Princess Bride by William Goldman.

5 Things

Typing Away had done a meme with facts about herself. I decided to do them as well. I don't know the name of this meme - I guess it's call 5 things since it involves the number 5. I won't tag anyone but anyone reading this is welcome to tag themselves. I'm going go with 5 random and/or weird facts about me in poetry form and also for Monday Poetry Train.

typing away on my silver keyboard
stopping here and there, soaking in new words and images

anonymous I am
spreading these virtual wings

writing therapeutic prose
revealing myself in this fashion

for a chance to escape spoken words
often nodding my head silently in agreement as if unable to speak

thoughts and ideas - dizzy in my head
out they come on this blog

no coffee or cigarettes necessary
to drive me into a ill spell

of words full of mix emotions
and random acts of automatic writing

to drive the nervousness away
or else I'd be staring into space

of blank canvas and loose pages
flying around from room to room

hoping no one reads this
nothingness is my pen

Blog Award

Michelle at Poefiti awarded me with the A Roar For Powerful Words! I'm suppose to list three things that I believe are necessary to make writing good and powerful. I'm not so good at giving advice but since I have to, here they are:

1. Write even when you know you're writing crap, something good might come out of it.

2. Reading is a very inspirational tool, whether it's fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or just plain writing from other people.

3. Got nothing to write? Just write words on paper, it doesn't have to make sense and it doesn't have to mean anything. Just write.

I would give this award back to Michelle but she already got one and so here's the five people I like to share this:

Blogforth
Courting Destiny
Creative Karina
La Vie Graphite
Write Away

Anti-Resolutions for 2008

This entry is fro Write Stuff's New Year’s Anti-Resolutions. Have a happy and healthy new year!

01. I will not turn into the Incredible Hulk and run around the mall destroying store mirrors that make me look fat.

02. I will not take clouds shots while hanging on the edge of the Empire State Building while eating a hotdog.

03. I will not try to buy a Strand bookstore so I can lower the price on paperbacks.

04. I will not fly an airplane to Canada just so I can see snow.

05. I will not travel back in time just to tell myself to get a better haircut.

06. I will not buy a Hummer and accidently smash it against my ex's just to show him I have a bigger car.

07. I will not take revenge on the guy that keeps stepping on my toes during my commute to work.

08. I will not slap the salesman when he refuse to take an item back.

09. I will not answer any emails that tells me to get a bigger hard drive (and I don't mean my computer).

10. I will not hang on the chandelier just to dust the ceiling.

New Domain Address

I did it. I registered for a new domain. Sure, it was a pain but I think it's worth it. Of cause I didn't get the address I wanted but that's okay. So the new address is www.justwritingwords.com - the "just write" address was already taken and anything with that two words seem to be taken as well. I don't know why I got so work up about this. I really need to learn to be more patient. So I'm wondering if this means I am serious about writing???

So again here's the new address:

www.justwritingwords.com

I have a new philosophy. I'm only going to dread one day at a time.
Charles M. Schulz (1922 - 2000), Charlie Brown in "Peanuts"

Dona Nobis Pacem

Grant Us Peace
Peace Globe Day
November 7, 2007

See more globes here.

Celebrating my 100th post and other thoughts

So here is is my 100th post, well, not really. The Fiction Friday post was the 100 post but I thought I make a post for this small accomplishment. To celebrate, I am doing...what? I don't know. I guess beside posting this post, there's really nothing much to do.

Anyway here's a list of of my 10 favorite posts. Reading them again makes me want to go back and edit every single one of them. All of what I write are unpolished, unedited works so the mistakes are still there.

1. Renewal
2. Her Words
3. The Key
4. Three Word Wednesday 08
5. My Imaginary Life
6. Writing
7. Three Word Wednesday 01
8. Phenomenon
9. Wicked
10. Moon Blues

Learn anything?

Here's 10 things that I have learned doing blogging:

1. Do spell check when posting comments, you never know what strange meaning can come out of words that are wrong for what you're saying

2. Your words means something to someone

3. It's easier to praise someone's post than to insult them

3. Don't leave comments when you're in a dazed state, you might accidently post information about yourself that no one wants to know

4. Don't leave comments when you're angry, you might say things you might regret later

5. You can never have enough blogs

6. You can never have enough blog friends

7. Contest are fun

8. It's okay not to comment if you don't want to

9. It's okay to make mistake when writing a post/story

10. Promoting yourself or your blog is not always necessary

National Novel Writing Month

I am participating in National Novel Writing Month in November so updates can be sporadic at times. I'm looking forward to it but I have no idea what I am getting into or if I will finished it or not. I guess if I don't try, I'll never know right?

Since I have no writing process, there's really nothing for me to prepare. I write on paper or on the computer screen and that's it. I do have a dictionary with me occasionally. I have no special pens or sitting position. I just write. Two very good words to write by.

I am reading Reading like a writer at the moment. It's a helpful book with many examples of wonderful writers. Of cause reading is easier than writing. I am not preparing in any particular ways. Just reading a couple of books and trying not think too much.

Thank you!

I guess I should warn you, if I turn out to be particularly clear, you've probably misunderstood what I said. -Alan Greenspan, 1988 Speech to the Economic Club of New York

I present to you my dear readers some virtual roses (see photo below) as a token of my appreciation for dropping by, leaving a comment or two, for giving words of encouragement, maybe even a little knowledge that I often lack and for reading through all the typos and mistakes. I like also to thank my blog group - She Who Blog. I like to say something clever here but I could not think of anything so just - thank you and come again!

You make me smile

I don't normally do these award memes - are they consider memes? Anyway my fellow She Who Blogs, Qualcosa Di Bello - had just awarded me the "You Make Me Smile Award."

Thank you Qualcosa Di Bello! Qualcosa Di Bello currently has three blogs - Piacere, Write Away, and Dog Blog. I especially like her Write Away blog - full of wonderful poems. Please paid a visit when you can.

I did some research and it seem The Smile Award was created by Bridget at "...And miles to go before we sleep..." At least I think so since this award had been pass along so many times. Let me know if I am wrong about this. The idea behind this award:

"The thing that I love most about blogging is that I learn so much about a person just by reading their blog. I have met MANY wonderful people with wonderful stories to tell and I am grateful every day for each person that I have the pleasure of crossing paths in life with.

I wanted to create something special for the top ten people who have inspired me through their blogging; the stories they tell and the lives that they lead with grace and dignity. I visit their blogs for inspiration and encouragement."

Of cause I would pass it back to Qualcosa Di Bello for visiting my blogs and leaving so many wonderful comments but since she already have one, I guess I'll pass it on to these folks. It's really hard to pick ten so I am just going pick four.

1. Frances at Blogjem - for her fascinating writings that always makes me laugh and her wonderful New York photography.

2. Karina at Candid Karina - for her funny tales and creative writing.

3. JennieBoo at O So Mo Love - for her kind words whenever she make comments and she always has something fun and wonderful to say.

4. Pretty much all my fellow She Who Blogs members as they all have make me smile one time or another. Visit their links on the left when you get a chance.

Change of Name

Well, I just got up one morning and looked at my writing blog and thought the title has ran its course. Plus the name "Walk to the left, walk to the right," was pick in a rush and I didn't really thought it through. So now it will be "Just Write" - pretty much what I have been doing. So for those of you who are link to this blog, you can either change it to "Just Write" or just leave it. It's up to you. The address is the same. Thanks for reading and commenting. I really appreciated it even if I don't respond to comments as much as I wanted to. Hope you like the new name or at least now it actually make some sense, doesn't it? Thanks for listening.

An award for me?

Tammi at Drawing on Words recently awarded me the Rockin' Girl Blogger Award. How wonderful of you Tammi, thank you. Not sure how I am feeling about this but it was nice to hear about it on a Thursday morning.

I guess I can't award Tammi with an another Rockin' Girl Blogger award since she already has one but I'm gonna award her another one just the same. I don't know how many people I can award this to but here's some that I really like - most has already had the Rockin' Girl Blogger award already but I going to award them just the same. I'm sure there are more but can't really think straight this early in the morning. (Apologies for using the word 'wonderful' far too many times!)

Please leave a comment at their blogs if you like what you read. In no particular order:

Tammi at Drawing on Words - always something inspiring to read and be inspired by

JennieBoo at O So My Love - writes the most hilarious posts

Frances at Blogjem - great photographs of New York and she makes everyday events worth reading and she's also creator of the She Who Blogs group.

Paisley at Why paisley?? - wonderful, creative writing

Pretty much all the members at She Who Blogs - wonderful posts from the members.

Writing Photo Contest No. 1

I thought I would enter this writing photo contest at Write Stuff. It was pretty much a last minute decision. The contest was to take a photo of the writer (me) while I was writing and a sample of the writing I was writing. I don't enter this for the prizes but simply for doing something new. Below is what I ended up writing - part of which was written at the subway station. The other parts were written at home. It's all a disarray of thoughts here, so, bear with me. (See collage that created with Adobe Photoshop.)

Where is my comfort zone?

On the train platform, inside a train, at home, at the office, or on the street are all the places that I write. Not all of them are comfortable but when I get the urge to write, there was no reason not to. I don't feel comfortable writing anywhere near people. And yet sometimes I do. On a crowded train or the train platform on those wooden beat-up seats which I can never tell if it's clean or not. I'm never used to carry pen and paper around but had gotten into the habit since last year. Whenever I take out a piece of paper or a small blank notebook and a pen, people often take one look at me than look away. It's not uncomfortable, just a little nerve wrecking, especially when I am writing down my thoughts. I write them down so I wouldn't have to yell at the guy with his backpack bumping into me or the lady with her short shoulder strap bag sticking into my back no matter where I stand inside the crowded train that I have just gotten off. It certainly is easier than carrying around a journal or a blank notebook.

I do most of my writing at home on my laptop. Where I'm most comfortable but often no ideas ever comes from sitting there, staring at the blank screen. My eyes are strained from looking at the screen so much. I write not only at home but also at work where I sit in front of a computer for eight hours a day. When I have free time, I would try to write. Rarely was anything brilliant written but the exercise is good for practicing my writing. It's a constant battle between just writing and trying to write something good enough for others to see. Do I want to impress people or do I want to just write? Who knows.

Lately I've been writing on pieces of paper. I think I should get a blank notebook/journal but could never find a decent one without all the glitzy covers. Those pieces of paper are from a blank notebook that I don't use or those papers that has one sided printed with stuff from work. I sometimes write on the back of receipts which it isn't easy considering how thin the paper was. I usually have some kind of receipt in my bag from a Duane Reade store. I only throw them away when I remember to clean out my bag.

The scribble on these loose papers are sometimes hard to read even if they are my own handwriting. Usually from writing on unstable make-shift tables. Other times, I simply didn't have the time and had to write really fast with mess-up spellings and words running off the edge of the paper. Often times, it's just a bunch of nonsense anyway.

What's the word for...?

Words sometimes just comes out all scramble, with no real cohesive or linear thoughts. Just one after another pushing against each other to get through. I guess that's how I would describe my writing style or it is skill?

Sometimes I'll use a word that I don't remember hearing but knew the meaning of. I would check the word and its meaning before using it. Or if I like it a lot, I would just use it and find out the meaning later. I could never remembered the right spelling. Even when it's the right spelling, it's the wrong word. That's why I have a small dictionary by my side at all times. The dictionary is just so handy. If I don't see it in the dictionary, I would have to substitute it with another word. I often go back to the original word if I can find it. Maybe I need a new dictionary, it is after all a couple of years old. I will often use the dictionaries online but I am usually not online when writing. Of cause, I cannot depend on the dictionary or the web alone to write an intelligent piece. Some pieces I just have to discard no matter how long it had taken me to write.

Other times nothing comes. Not a single word or thought, just music in my head. These songs - they just sneaks into my consciousness - usually a song from the night before or from a couple of weeks ago overheard at the supermarket or the mall or some clothing shop. It's too bad none of those songs ever turn into any real ideas I can write down.

Why write at all?

Most of the stuff that I wrote on these papers, receipts or on the computer, ever make it into any of my five (now two) blogs. I didn't think they were ever good enough or interesting enough to post. It's too easy to make edits on my laptop and I always end up making it worst. So at certain point I would have to stop editing it and just post it - bad grammar and all. I don't think I was ever satisfied with any one piece. There's always the chance for more edits. But when I kept reading and re-editing the same piece over and over, there's a point where you tell yourself - stop! That's it, no more. I've got so many drafts that I hope to resurrect later. They are after all, just drafts. I have no aspiration to write a novel or publish any of my writings. There's just too much I haven't learn yet. It's just as well. I wouldn't have been able to cope with the success anyway. Compliments from my fellow bloggers is good enough for me.

I try to write in many different voices but always end up writing about a girl/woman or from their point of view. I think any writer can write in any gender even if nothing squares out right. It's the words that make up the personality or maybe it's just a spate of nonsenses that I tell myself. I don't know but I am going to find out. I will try to write in as many unknown territories as possible. I am currently checking out some writing books. I know I need more practice. That's why this blog was created. In writing fiction, I can input realities within a fictional world or vice versa. I do often write in such a jumble state, that even editing it a couple of times didn't help. I'm terrible at editing my own writing.

So why write? I don't really know. All I know is that - I like it. That's it. There are no special meanings attach to anything that I write or will write. I have no stories from my life that can be turn into a meaningful book. None of it can be call interesting. Maybe that's why I like fiction so much.

About this blog

Read about the name change here.

These are just stories of fiction that I have written. I don't really like to edit so many of these stories are unedited works. Occasionally I would miss deleting or adding a word or two - usually 'I', 'the', 'is' so forgive me on that. I hope these stories are still comprehensible, or at least readable in some sense. They are written quite quickly - maybe 10-15 minutes. Pretty much a first or second drafts. Occasionally I would write in journal format - thoughts that I simply want to put down or pretty much anything that comes to my mind. Critiques and comments are welcome.

Hope you enjoy reading them! Thanks for your thoughts and comments.

Lissa.

The name "Walk to the left, walk to the right" is a title of a Miriam Yeung song. The story from these songs are one of the inspirations for me to write stories. There were a couple of version of this song which was released as an ep. A short story was included in the songs - each part are at the beginning of the story voice by Miriam Yeung. Here's the story translated from Cantonese (some translations may not be accurate):

Once upon a time, there was a girl who fell ill. A boy appeared with a bowl of rice congee that he had brought from the store downstair of her apartment. The girl thought this was the best tasting congee in the world.

The next day she got out of the bag that the congee came in with. She thought it couldn't have been from the store downstairs, the one she always visits.

So she went downstair to the store to eat the congee again. After tasting the congee, she thought that it was the worst she ever tasted. She thought to herself, no way, the one she ate yesterday must have been brought from somewhere else. It could also be the boy had made it himself. She hated those people sitting there, enjoying their congee.

From that day on, she decided to eat congee every day. She was determined to find out where the congee came from. With all those different varieties of congee, do they all taste the same or do they all have different taste?

Finally she finished all the congee in the store but could not taste the same sweet congee the boy had given her. Every bite tasted worst than the last. After losing her appetite, she suddenly thought, if there's congee, she will eat congee, if there's rice, she will eat rice. She doesn't have to fight with other people to eat congee. If she doesn't eat rice she can eat noodles, she can have as many varieties of noodles as she wants, including angel hair.

This story taught us, when we are ill, congee is just congee, but when we feel better, congee is still just congee. Eat or not to eat, you can't just eat any congee. Don't think eating congee is so alluring.