Sunday, January 25, 2009

Misfortune = Fodder for Stories

Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won't have time to make them all yourself. ~Alfred Sheinwold

I had one of those "anything that CAN go wrong, will" days yesterday. I won't go through it all, but it started off when I went downstairs to wash my only pair of jeans so I would have something to wear and discovered that I'd flipped the laundry soap container the wrong way (it has a spigot on one side, and the cap--which you keep loose so the spigot will work--on the other), so all the soap leaked out of the loose cap onto the rug.

I used the carpet shampooer to get it up... but it took forever (actually, I didn't finish getting it all up, because I just couldn't face sucking up foam, going upstairs to dump and rinse, back down, sucking up foam, back up, back down...).

And it went downhill from there.

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DD has a sudden fascination with vampires. I have no idea why. She even calls her canine teeth her "vampire teeth". She asked about my teeth, and I mentioned that I was missing four bicuspids. I'd had them pulled (along with a baby tooth) as a teen -- my mouth wasn't big enough for my perm teeth and I had a tooth grow in behind the baby one. So, yeah, I had braces to close the gaps. The good news is that it made room for my wisdom teeth, which came in nice and straight and that I still have...

... But...

Any of you who read "The Christmas Curse" will get a laugh when I say that the training bra incident really happened to me. And I remembered something else that I need to include in a book: when I had those five teeth pulled, and sat with a drooling, numb, mouth full of bloody gauze on the way home... our car broke down. Yes, really. Broke. Down. And did we have any tissues, or napkins, or anything to deal with the bloody drool? NO.

Yep, that's going in a book.

What unfortunate thing has happened to you that you might use in a book or story?

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You Are a Blue Flower



A blue flower tends to represent peace, openness, and balance.

At times, you are very delicate like a cornflower.

And at other times, you are wise like an iris.

And more than you wish, you're a little cold, like a blue hydrangea.



Wise like an Iris? Who knew? All I know about Iris' is that the are VERY short lived... hmm.....

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10 comments:

Ceri Hebert said...

I'm a blue flower too.

What a story, about your teeth. I hope the novicaine hadn't worn out to add to it all. Ouch. I don't know if I had anything happen to me that I'd want to put in a story. My life hasn't been overwhelmingly exciting.

Diane Craver said...

Sorry about the laundry soap problem.

That's horrible about your car breaking down after having your teeth pulled.

Well, when I was 19 I climbed a tree to get a football for my nephew. It was stuck pretty high up in the tree. I threw the ball to him before I climbed down. On my way down, I fell and my arm caught briefly on the barbed wire fence, then when I hit the ground, my cheek was torn from a rusty spring. I had 30 stitches in cheek and 25 for arm. I just used the part about falling out of a tree and having a scar on my face in my Mallory book.

Hope the rest of the day goes well!

Diane Craver said...

I'm a red flower.

A red flower tends to represent power, seduction, and desire.
At times, you are loving like a red tulip.
And at other times, you're very enthusiastic, like a bouvardia.
And more than you wish, your passion is a bit overwhelming, like a red rose.

Maria Zannini said...

Just remember: 'this too shall pass'.

I don't know that I've ever used an actual event in a story, but I try to paint the emotions that I felt when something bad--or good happens.

--hope you get all that soap out.

Anonymous said...

You Are a White Flower

A white flower tends to represent purity, simple beauty, and modesty.
At times, you are dignified like a magnolia.
And at other times, you represent great ecstasy, like a white orchid.
And more than you wish, you're a little boastful, like a white hydrangea.


Dignified??? Me??? ROFL!

Dru said...

Sorry you had a bad day, hopefully today is a better one.

re quiz: I'm a blue flower.

Have a good Sunday.

Brandy said...

I will get so engrossed in a book that I walk into walls, or people. *G* But, emotionally, when my Mother passes I wrote a poem.
Hmm, the quiz has me as an orange flower: An orange flower tends to represent boldness, energy, and warmth. At times, you are courageous, like a poplar tree.
And at other times, you are hopeful, like an orange iris.
And more than you wish, you bond too quickly to people, like a honeysuckle.

I don't know....

I hope you have a better day today!

Amy said...

I am the owner of a misspent youth (and it keeps popping up at the most inconvenient times).

Trust me, it's all going into books.

Amy said...

I'm a blue flower.

Shocker ;)

Jen said...

I've used bits and pieces of my teen years. They were definitely unfortunate. ;-)