I have let people down. I have lied for no reason. I have lied for good reason, which is even worse. My lifestyle is contingent on the generosity of people I’ve left behind.
Your beauty in writing is your honesty. It also comes through in your paintings. I hope there will be more in the new year -- I have two and they need more friends lol.
I am new to your writings, and I have to say that I love your style, your way of expressing thoughts, how you articulate your place in the universe. I do have a couple of observations.
1. I used to take 1 Benadryl every evening to help me sleep. I've never known anybody who took 10. But my point here is that there are some substantial studies done at major medical schools that show that continued, regular use of Benadryl can cause Dementia in older adults. Also true of any sleep aid that uses the same active ingredient as Benadryl. Check it out...I no longer use Benadryl.
2. I can't believe that any man worth a plug nickel would send his girlfriend out on the street by herself after midnite to catch a bus. I find the fact that he would let you go out late, by yourself, standing at a bus stop, in our crime ridden society...i don't have the words to express my anger. He doesn't deserve you.
Anywho....please keep on writing....i may become one of your biggest fans.
I just tried to order a pamphlet but the website says they're sold out. Will you have more available in the future?
This is so heartfelt! I love how you talk about resolutions. I used to hate them until I realized they could be small and personal. Like learning to whistle or drive a stick shift (real goals I had and accomplished). I get you with the laptop thing! I too still spend too much screen time on the laptop. Love the idea of having a separate device for writing. I've also taken to just writing articles and short stories by hand in a note book and then later typing them into Google docs. One other fun thing... my maiden name was Lamb. Spelled differently, but your last name draws me to your work for that reason too lol! Wishing you every blessing and peace for the new year, and may God bring you the man you're looking to love!!
I've restocked the pamphlets – I have a few copies left.
Thank you for the thoughtful reply. Agreed that resolutions are for yourself. I think there are lots of small ways we can all change, and it's so satisfying to get to the other side and recognize your achievement.
I also write by hand on occasion, and weirdly I find that my writing gets better when I do – maybe because I'm forced to go slower?
I may be biased but I like my name. Lambs have great Biblical significance.
I appreciate the well wishes. Hope your holiday season is special this year!
I like the idea of a dedicated writing laptop. I'm tempted to get one, install Linux, and uninstall wireless drivers. Even if you know what you're doing it's a pain to reinstall wifi and close to impossible if you don't know what your doing
It's cool how candidly and clearly you relay your thoughts. Glad I signed up for the newsletter. I too am transitioning away from superfluous time on the internet. It's encouraging to hear I'm not alone. Happy holidays and new year to you. Cheers.
You're probably aware, but some writers looking for 1-task digital writing tools have sprung for the AlphaSmart Neo, a very minimal keyboard with screen with no spell-check, and it's difficult to edit within it, but for me it was magical. They say when writing you should "kill the internal editor", and with this thing there feels like no barrier to banging out pages and pages of screed. For me, I'd never written anything longer than an essay or term paper, and was 13 years removed from college, but I finished an 80k word novel using it. What I needed was something that freed me up to put the most words to page possible, then save the editing for later. What's nice is that it also has a great feel- it's pleasant to type on- nice bounce- it's laptop-like, but substantial. And it's minimally digital--- so it can dump text directly to a file on my computer- which is all that I ask of it digitally. Batteries last forever in it. No distractions.
I have one of those! I wrote a lot of my first novel on it. The only problem is that I'm not a great touch-typer and it hurts my neck to look down at the little screen while I go. I even tried a typing program last year but it only made things worse. I do still use it sometimes. Great piece of tech – batteries are still going after two years!
Hey August! I’m late to this so I don’t know if you’re still looking for a separate laptop to do some distraction-free writing, but there’s a great Mac app called Cold Turkey Writer that turns your computer into a typewriter and locks your ability to do anything else on your device for the time-limit or word count that you set. Wanted to mention it in case it’s useful for you!
Beautiful piece by the way, very honest and grounded in reality.
I've had a dedicated computer for writing for a while and it's changed my life. My techie husband disabled the wifi and it's now my oasis.
Caveat: I tried a cheap laptop and it didn't work because writing on it needs to feel good. Luckily, my husband bought a second one for himself so I kept his old one for wifi and disabled my pink MacBook Air which I adore.
Good Night Insomnia is an amazing book on the topic, in case you ever need it again (I hope not!).
At the height of my insomnia the most common question I received was “have you tried melatonin?” I eagerly await the pamphlet and recommend putting that top of the list under a brief section titled “questions not to ask an insomniac.” glad you cured it
reading your post was really inspiring and grounding. I was wondering if putting down “draw everyday” in my new years list would be an impossible goal … i don’t think so anymore.
Great goals and I particularly admire the reasonable amount of them. I’m always making like 8+ resolutions and you have inspired me to keep it simple. Aspirational, but simple.
Your beauty in writing is your honesty. It also comes through in your paintings. I hope there will be more in the new year -- I have two and they need more friends lol.
I am new to your writings, and I have to say that I love your style, your way of expressing thoughts, how you articulate your place in the universe. I do have a couple of observations.
1. I used to take 1 Benadryl every evening to help me sleep. I've never known anybody who took 10. But my point here is that there are some substantial studies done at major medical schools that show that continued, regular use of Benadryl can cause Dementia in older adults. Also true of any sleep aid that uses the same active ingredient as Benadryl. Check it out...I no longer use Benadryl.
2. I can't believe that any man worth a plug nickel would send his girlfriend out on the street by herself after midnite to catch a bus. I find the fact that he would let you go out late, by yourself, standing at a bus stop, in our crime ridden society...i don't have the words to express my anger. He doesn't deserve you.
Anywho....please keep on writing....i may become one of your biggest fans.
I just tried to order a pamphlet but the website says they're sold out. Will you have more available in the future?
This is so heartfelt! I love how you talk about resolutions. I used to hate them until I realized they could be small and personal. Like learning to whistle or drive a stick shift (real goals I had and accomplished). I get you with the laptop thing! I too still spend too much screen time on the laptop. Love the idea of having a separate device for writing. I've also taken to just writing articles and short stories by hand in a note book and then later typing them into Google docs. One other fun thing... my maiden name was Lamb. Spelled differently, but your last name draws me to your work for that reason too lol! Wishing you every blessing and peace for the new year, and may God bring you the man you're looking to love!!
I've restocked the pamphlets – I have a few copies left.
Thank you for the thoughtful reply. Agreed that resolutions are for yourself. I think there are lots of small ways we can all change, and it's so satisfying to get to the other side and recognize your achievement.
I also write by hand on occasion, and weirdly I find that my writing gets better when I do – maybe because I'm forced to go slower?
I may be biased but I like my name. Lambs have great Biblical significance.
I appreciate the well wishes. Hope your holiday season is special this year!
I like the idea of a dedicated writing laptop. I'm tempted to get one, install Linux, and uninstall wireless drivers. Even if you know what you're doing it's a pain to reinstall wifi and close to impossible if you don't know what your doing
It's cool how candidly and clearly you relay your thoughts. Glad I signed up for the newsletter. I too am transitioning away from superfluous time on the internet. It's encouraging to hear I'm not alone. Happy holidays and new year to you. Cheers.
You're probably aware, but some writers looking for 1-task digital writing tools have sprung for the AlphaSmart Neo, a very minimal keyboard with screen with no spell-check, and it's difficult to edit within it, but for me it was magical. They say when writing you should "kill the internal editor", and with this thing there feels like no barrier to banging out pages and pages of screed. For me, I'd never written anything longer than an essay or term paper, and was 13 years removed from college, but I finished an 80k word novel using it. What I needed was something that freed me up to put the most words to page possible, then save the editing for later. What's nice is that it also has a great feel- it's pleasant to type on- nice bounce- it's laptop-like, but substantial. And it's minimally digital--- so it can dump text directly to a file on my computer- which is all that I ask of it digitally. Batteries last forever in it. No distractions.
I have one of those! I wrote a lot of my first novel on it. The only problem is that I'm not a great touch-typer and it hurts my neck to look down at the little screen while I go. I even tried a typing program last year but it only made things worse. I do still use it sometimes. Great piece of tech – batteries are still going after two years!
Hey August! I’m late to this so I don’t know if you’re still looking for a separate laptop to do some distraction-free writing, but there’s a great Mac app called Cold Turkey Writer that turns your computer into a typewriter and locks your ability to do anything else on your device for the time-limit or word count that you set. Wanted to mention it in case it’s useful for you!
Beautiful piece by the way, very honest and grounded in reality.
I adore your writing. Thanks!
I've had a dedicated computer for writing for a while and it's changed my life. My techie husband disabled the wifi and it's now my oasis.
Caveat: I tried a cheap laptop and it didn't work because writing on it needs to feel good. Luckily, my husband bought a second one for himself so I kept his old one for wifi and disabled my pink MacBook Air which I adore.
Good Night Insomnia is an amazing book on the topic, in case you ever need it again (I hope not!).
“Love is an assault on sleep.” God that was brilliant.
Try seroquel for the insomnia it changed everything for me. Thank you for your honesty. I hope Paris prevails upon you.
Having mono use tech is a great idea.
Love reading these insights
At the height of my insomnia the most common question I received was “have you tried melatonin?” I eagerly await the pamphlet and recommend putting that top of the list under a brief section titled “questions not to ask an insomniac.” glad you cured it
reading your post was really inspiring and grounding. I was wondering if putting down “draw everyday” in my new years list would be an impossible goal … i don’t think so anymore.
Great goals and I particularly admire the reasonable amount of them. I’m always making like 8+ resolutions and you have inspired me to keep it simple. Aspirational, but simple.