New mugs for old, Misfits and Confessions of an Old Blogger

My favorite Chinese porcelain mugs, which I've used for years, are now chipped, not good, and my antique little blue and white rice grain bowl fell in the sink yesterday and is now three bits. So I thought it was a message.  

I'd finally, reluctantly  have to replace the cups. But not with the lovely china teacups I see online. In my hands these days, china would have a short life but a merry one.

So I decided unbreakable was it. And found on Etsy a couple which match my unbreakable plates.

They're on the way and I think even I will be able to handle them.  I like the shape, and the design. I wonder if there's a matching teapot..

Misfits today

Cherries because we haven't had local ones in years owing to late frosts, Swiss cheese because it's been a while, celery likewise, good in stock and soup. Butter because I'm getting low, muesli because I liked the last lot, bread because I'm still too lazy to bake, mushrooms because I forgot I  already had some, tofu for maybe crisp sticks, diced tomato and yogurt because staples here.

In other vital news, I've been interested recently in discussions in the blogosphere about blogging and how and why, and notice quite a few bloggers used to write professionally. Including this one.

When Handsome Son was a baby, it became clear there were pressing reasons for me to be home to attend his early developmental struggles. I needed a way to both use my other skills and earn while doing it. Otherwise I'd have had a breakdown in short order.

I took to writing short pieces, 1,000-2,000 words, on spec, on a wide variety of subjects, also short fiction and funny verse. At that time there were many print publications to try for, and I soon had a couple of dozen short articles in submission most of the time. 

I sold a lot, sometimes two and three a week. That's a lot in the world of multiple rejections.  It paid handsome son's medical bills. At that time pre-existing conditions were excluded from insurance. So it was great for my sense of accomplishment and good for the family income.

The only hitch was that the only time I had available to write pieces uninterrupted was  usually two to three am, that is not a typo. Handwritten to avoid disturbing the house 

My daylight hours were spent keeping son alive and safe.  I don't remember when I slept.

But while tending him in the day, I was composing in my head and could get it written down at warp speed at night when there was time to safely focus. 

I was a rapid typist and could rattle out a piece in minutes at any chance I got next day. I'd already edited and rewritten mentally, then during the middle of the night I'd written longhand, so typing it up, manual typewriter, was speedy. 

During this period I wrote a novel, blessedly unpublished.  I also co- wrote a book on learning disabilities. My chapters were later used in a textbook for graduate students in special education. I donated rather than sell them, though the publishers wanted to pay. I don't think it's right to capitalize on a child's disability.

Blogging is really an unpaid extension of all  that activity, and for similar reasons. During Handsome Partner's last years, he could not be alone, and I was tied to full-on care as his disability progressed to the point of quadriplegia.  

The first blog, Field and Fen, I started in 2008, just to stay connected with the outside world and share my ideas and experiences, later to share the reality of home hospice care, to help people wanting to understand it and to be supportive. 

At that time I had been a serious exhibiting artist for many years, and continued making art, so I also started an art blog, Art the Beautiful Metaphor, a joke about soccer the beautiful game, which nobody got!  

That blog is about exhibits, my process and all kinds of related thoughts. Both blogs had followings, some people following both. It kept me in the art swim.

I combined the two blogs a few years ago, to simplify things since I had finally closed out my exhibiting life, with a terrific purchase prize out of a regional exhibit. The buyer was a public collection, nice way to end. Exhibiting takes energy I wanted to use for other purposes, though artmaking continues.

Beautiful Metaphor is still open to read, though I don't post there. https://beautifulmetaphor.blogspot.com

Then, after Handsome Partner's death, I got out again and found new friends.   I found myself creating and writing yet another blog, as well as the other two, this one about the doings of  my chapter of Embroiderers' Guild of America. 

Picture-heavy with my pictures, I wrote about current works, meetings, parties and road trips. After a few years I moved on from the Guild, but the blog remains open to read at https://princetonega.blogspot.com

So that's this blogger. I still think and write at warp speed, usually straight onto the post with a few edits, on one finger, onscreen keyboard! I usually have a bunch of ideas and just pick ones that seem timely or  fun to read, or at least interesting. I aim to entertain! I certainly entertain myself.

Happy day, everyone! Enjoy what there is to enjoy today.