The Muse is Back from Holiday...

...I think. She's quite the world traveler. This time, she decided to go to Saint Kitts in the Caribbean, with side trips to Egypt circa 2000 BCE and Rome circa 50 BCE. She came back wearing an elegant Italian noblewoman's gown, complete with beaded headdress and corset. Custom-made, she said, from the same dressmaker who outfitted Lucrezia Borgia.

"Oh, and since your latest writing challenge is supposed to be set in Renaissance-era Italy, I got you all sorts of goodies," she trilled. She reached into her beaded handbag (bigger on the inside, than the outside, of course) and pulled out a scribble book from Leonardo da Vinci ("He won't miss it," she reassured me), several written Papal bulls from various Popes ("the proclamations, not the animals."), and an autographed sketch by Botticelli ("Tried to get a marble bust by Michaelangelo, but they wouldn't let it through Customs.").

I'm envious of her, but it's hard to be mad at her when she gives me this child-like smile that lights her eyes up from the depths of her soul. That's how she is: fickle, adventurous, curious, eclectic and wholly fun. It reminds me of when I was a child. I wanted to travel the world, meet all sorts of people, learn every language and custom.

I may not be able to do it in reality, but my Muse keeps that hope alive.


All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2011

200 Posts! Thank you to my readers!

I realized that the last post was my 200th in this blog! Has it really been 200?! Thanks to all my readers who have been amused by my little ditties here! :-D Much appreciated.

Do I really write that much? LOL! I suppose writing every day does add up after a while. There are days when the well runs dry and I end up playing catch-up with posts. Eventually, the Muse smacks me over the head and yells, "Okay...WRITE THIS!"

"But this is pure crap!" I protest.

"I DON'T CARE! YOU CAN ALWAYS EDIT ANYWAY! WRITE IT!"  (Did I mention that my Muse uses all caps some of the time? And she's a Drama Queen? And a romantic?)

"Okay..." She's usually right in one thing...as long as I get the idea down on paper, I can always go back to it and add/fiddle with/turn inside out/delete later.

So...200 posts. Here's to another 200 more!

Annie

All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010

New Experiences, New Ideas

My kids love watching the Imagination Movers, a show on Playhouse Disney. Four guys (Dave, Rich, Scott and Smitty) work at the Idea Warehouse and help people solve their various problems. They stress creative thinking, brainstorming and seeing things in a different way. Their music is a mix of rock and other genres, with catchy tunes to keep you dancing.

One particular episode caught my attention. "Out of Tunes" involved a blues musician (New Orleans musician Chris Thomas King) who couldn't write any new songs for his upcoming CD. The Movers' solutions included getting your mind primed by asking 'what if?' and being physically active through exercise. Great ideas (sound mind, sound body), but in this case, it didn't help their client. So what was the root problem?

It turned out he wrote about the same subjects all the time. Food, family...and he was convinced he'd exhausted all the possibilities. So the Movers introduced him to their Fairy Tale Room in their huge Idea Warehouse and the rock climbing in the Rock Climbing Room. Armed with new things to write about, he was able to write brand new songs for his CD.

I know how the guy feels. Is my Idea Well running dry? Could it be there isn't anything else I can write about? My hands hurt seven days out of seven, and typing on a keyboard made them stiffer and even more painful. Or maybe...

I needed to shake up my usual schedule.

We visited my sister for Thanksgiving, and we wandered through new malls,and visited a favorite used bookstore. On our way home, we drove through all kinds of scenery: cotton fields, a paper mill, truck stops, antique shops and peanut stores. I drew sketches, scribbled story notes and ate all sorts of food from the Thanksgiving table.  In the process, I was refilling the Well.

Now I'm back home in Charlotte and the Muse is busy simmering Ideas in her pressure cooker. And the words are flowing again.

All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010

A Letter to my Muse

All right, my dear Creative Muse--

"You take care of the quality,

I'll take care of the quantity."*

Because some things that may seem like pure crap,

can actually be nuggets of pure gold.

Please help me do what I can

to let my ideas flow,

so I can share them with the world.

But ultimately,

the only person that is should really matter to is me.

Not family or literary snobs,

who turn their noses and refuse to understand.

My writing is precious to me,

and I will not let anyone

take that comfort away.

Thank you, Creative Muse.

I appreciate all you've done for me.

Love,

Annie

All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010