Technically, the Fourth of July was the bug's first holiday (followed uneventfully by Summer Solstice, Labor Day, and Columbus Day), but Independence Day celebrations aren't exactly the place for a two-week old. I'd like to think of Halloween as the bug's first participation in holiday festivities.
She dressed up like a ladybug with cute faces on her feet (faces that demanded much attention from everyone, costume occupant included) and paraded around town with wifey and dozens of other kids. Some could argue that Halloween goes right over the head of a four-month old. At that age, it isn't really about the kid. It's the parents' excuse to dress the kid(s) in something they wouldn't consciously agree to and be rewarded for it with candy.
Lots and lots of candy. Somehow lots and lots didn't make it home... (I had to work 7am - 9pm as per our new schedule.) Still, I have it on good authority that everything in the Peeps basket is fair game. Another word for mine.
Which brings me to my point. Remember when Halloween was considered safe if your parents inspected your loot before you ate it (no suspicious holes, breaks in wrappers/peels, sharp objects, etc.). Now there are whole neighborhoods off limits. Trick-or-treating has devolved to a maskless tour through local businesses passing out name brand wrapped candies during the daytime.
I believe that there are areas of the country that celebrate more traditionally. Just not around me. Two years ago I had a major win, as it was the only year after graduating college (plenty of years ago) that I both bought candy and had trick-or-treaters.
By the time the bug is old enough to be guided from door to door, fairy wand in one hand and pillowcase in the other, will there be any houses to knock on? Or will she have to settle for a predetermined kid corral?
I'm thinking Halloween party! Controlled amount of sugar, plenty of activities for spending energy gained by aforementioned sugar, more than enough adults to keep damage to an allowable minimum, mutually agreed upon scare intensity (or lack thereof, as the case may be), no approaching strangers and asking for handouts, and infinitely more interaction with her peers.
Any parents out there opt for the party instead of wandering the streets? How did that go? Was there a mixture of both?
Showing posts with label candy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label candy. Show all posts
01 November, 2011
28 September, 2011
Perfectionist's Guide to Poor Writing
Writers' Wednesday!
If you've heard it once, you've heard it a million times: throw up, then clean up.
As a perfectionist, this is easier said than done. I want to control the angle, distance, splash pattern, contents, colors, smells... you get the idea.
The reason for throwing up is that edit-as-you-go is a complete waste of time. Until you have finished whatever you're writing (a limerick, protest sign, tweet, treatise on wolf calls, or great American novel) all that precious editing you've done will have to be redone anyway. Again, and again, and again. You can literally waste weeks perfecting some scene that will end up being deleted after the end when even you'll agree it doesn't belong. The more time you wasted perfecting it will make it that much harder to get rid of when it has to go.
Now for the big question: If you're a perfectionist one parallel positioning of the three-hole punch away from full-blown OCD, how will you ever manage to move on from one word to the next without electroshock therapy?
Candy.
I speak of candy in the general sense. Could be cookies. Could be fruit. Could be dark chocolate covered peanut butter caramels... for example. Just be sure it has sugar and you give it to yourself after you've blasted through a mess of everything that rhymes with Nantucket but before you write about the man and his bucket.
It's not just the idea of the rewarding small steps that helps you forego editing for now. The mind on sugar is as forgiving as Docker's pants with the little elastic parts by the belt loops. And if you can caffeinate it... Bingo!! (thank you, Diet Dr. Pepper!) I once knocked out a ten-pager on A Brave New World in five hours (including the time it took to "read" the last half of the book) all hopped up on No Doze, Mike&Ike, and a few soft drink cans. I turned it in knowing my road to fame and fortune had just been paved on the most brilliant Huxley analysis ever!
Edit sober. I repeat. Edit when you are sober. It's okay to stop mid-sentence and then proceed to rewrite the sentence without ever grazing the backspace key on a first draft. But, those kinds of things need to be caught at least by the fourth draft. And certainly before you think it's done.
Lemme take this time to advise that you write responsibly. I am not trying to boost sales of insulin. What I am saying is that if you (like me) are incapable of reigning in your perfectionist urges, find a way to motivate yourself to move on and find something that helps your mind not realize it just repeated the same word several times and managed to spell it differently every time.
What about you? Are you a perfectionist? How do you cope? (And don't tell me you edit as you go. That is just not an option.)
If you've heard it once, you've heard it a million times: throw up, then clean up.
As a perfectionist, this is easier said than done. I want to control the angle, distance, splash pattern, contents, colors, smells... you get the idea.
The reason for throwing up is that edit-as-you-go is a complete waste of time. Until you have finished whatever you're writing (a limerick, protest sign, tweet, treatise on wolf calls, or great American novel) all that precious editing you've done will have to be redone anyway. Again, and again, and again. You can literally waste weeks perfecting some scene that will end up being deleted after the end when even you'll agree it doesn't belong. The more time you wasted perfecting it will make it that much harder to get rid of when it has to go.
Now for the big question: If you're a perfectionist one parallel positioning of the three-hole punch away from full-blown OCD, how will you ever manage to move on from one word to the next without electroshock therapy?
Candy.
I speak of candy in the general sense. Could be cookies. Could be fruit. Could be dark chocolate covered peanut butter caramels... for example. Just be sure it has sugar and you give it to yourself after you've blasted through a mess of everything that rhymes with Nantucket but before you write about the man and his bucket.
It's not just the idea of the rewarding small steps that helps you forego editing for now. The mind on sugar is as forgiving as Docker's pants with the little elastic parts by the belt loops. And if you can caffeinate it... Bingo!! (thank you, Diet Dr. Pepper!) I once knocked out a ten-pager on A Brave New World in five hours (including the time it took to "read" the last half of the book) all hopped up on No Doze, Mike&Ike, and a few soft drink cans. I turned it in knowing my road to fame and fortune had just been paved on the most brilliant Huxley analysis ever!
Edit sober. I repeat. Edit when you are sober. It's okay to stop mid-sentence and then proceed to rewrite the sentence without ever grazing the backspace key on a first draft. But, those kinds of things need to be caught at least by the fourth draft. And certainly before you think it's done.
Lemme take this time to advise that you write responsibly. I am not trying to boost sales of insulin. What I am saying is that if you (like me) are incapable of reigning in your perfectionist urges, find a way to motivate yourself to move on and find something that helps your mind not realize it just repeated the same word several times and managed to spell it differently every time.
What about you? Are you a perfectionist? How do you cope? (And don't tell me you edit as you go. That is just not an option.)
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