Klowns in my Koffee

Daily Kup (My Life before Fully Waking)
Another chilly day. I glance down at the temperature icon in the system tray and it says -10. I momentarily hate my system tray in acknowledgement that the phrase "Don't kill the messenger" came about because so many people want to kill the messenger.

At yesterday's writing class, the instructor talked about the importance of writing on a regular schedule whether you feel like it or not. She writes between 10 PM and midnight every day. Some writers have a word quota rather than a time limit. Hemingway wrote 350 words a day; Stephen King writes 2000. This variation is not surprising when you consider that you can read The Old Man and the Sea during a bathroom break while completing The Stand takes longer than crocheting a Buick from steel wool.

One of the instructor's suggestions is to write soon after you wake up when the brain is closer to the dream state and farther from imposing artificial brakes on the creative process. I tried this today and was able to draft a 32 page children's book in about 45 minutes. Granted, there are not a lot of words on the pages of picture books so I may not have mad e Hemingway's quota. Also, the book is supposed to be from my son's perspective and I don't know what that is since he has spent the last few days in perpetual snit. Maybe I should take advantage of that and take my laptop over to the bench in the principal's office to conduct an interview where he seems to spend so much of his free time.

With a touch of success under my belt, I will certainly try the early morning writing experiment again. The outcome only corroborates a feeling that I've always had: No good has ever come from fully waking up.

But What If You Put the Whole Thing on a Bagel?

The little recipes contained in product packaging can sometimes save time or expand the customer's appreciation of the varied uses of a product.

But sometimes they go too far. I found the instructions for this questionable concoction printed on the inside surface of THE brand of cream cheese to which all other brands aspire.

Spaghetti with cream cheese sauce?

There is a word for this.

That word is "no."