Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Old Posts are New

I was reading Michelle's post last Tuesday about having her posts compiled in a book (a Christmas gift from her parents), and I started to think about reading old posts again.  When I did, I went back to my very first three posts in 2010 and found that they had not been read.  Surprise?  No.  Who knows you are writing back then?  I wasn't a part of SOL or anything else.  I only knew me.  Not sure I'd even commented on anyone's posts back then.
Then I thought about the fact that these were new posts in that case.  Maybe they bear repeating.  On some blog I remember posting an old blog that you thought hadn't received as much attention as you thought it should have - somehow it got lost in the shuffle of other bloghops or weather or emergencies.  For whatever reason, no one had been there.  And if no one reads a post in the forest, does it really make a sound?  No.
So for that reason alone, I am copying and pasting (so you won't have to actually GO there) my first three blog posts' contents here.  You know how to find the links, but I'm going to make it super easy!
Here they are.  How I started my Bloglife!  

Tell me, have you ever had a post no one read, but you would like someone to read?  Post the link in your comment!  I'll read it!

Then head on over to Slice of Life Tuesday and read about the lives, loves and laughter in other parts of our world at Two Writing Teachers!


I started on Christmas of 2010 with this, my very first post (should have done this at Christmas!):


December 25, 2010


Hope for All

Hope for all
This Christmas Day
Hope and Joy
And Peace, I pray.

For unto us
A child was born,
A Star this darkness
To adorn.

He’s given Hope
To those adrift,
A Hope for all
Who take His gift.

So sing the hymns
And praise His name
Be thankful that
God sent, He came.

Though short His time 
Upon the earth,
Hope was given
Through His birth.

Donna J.T. Smith
7:15 pm, December 25, 2010



Then I tried my story writing with this short rewrite of Goldilocks and the Three Bears (where I retell the story from a different viewpoint):


December 27, 2010



Beverly Bear and the Blonde Creature

So today I’m up bright and early.  I made the beds and then made the oatmeal, which some prefer to call porridge, though I don’t for the life of me know why.  Porridge sounds so gruelish.
Anyway, our breakfast, no matter what it is, never turns out right for our tastes, so we’ve always just put it in the bowls on the table and left it out to see if it’s better later. 
Actually my husband, Barry, and I never have had a good breakfast.  It’s always too hot or too cold.  But for some reason little Beatrice’s is nearly always just right.  That’s important.
So this morning around 8 am, a little creature, I’ll call her Blondie, came to our house, evidently just after we left for our early morning pre-breakfast jog around the forest to get our breakfast temperatures adjusted.
When we got back to the house, the door was ajar and there was mud on the carpet.  We always wipe our paws at the door.  Don’t I just hate tracked in dirt!  There were little creature prints on the floor everywhere! We followed them into the kitchen where we saw that someone must have tried our oatmeal.  Our spoons were still in the bowls.  It appeared that she liked Beatrice’s best, because it was gone, along with most of the honey we’d put out to use on the oatmeal.  Boy, I love that stuff!  But anyway…
Beatrice wasn’t too pleased.  But neither was Barry.  He doesn’t even like it if I try a bite of his food!
From there we followed sticky fingerprints into the Library where we often sit and read our favorite books about those odd unfurred creatures that live outside of the woods.  In the Library, what do we see?  Right.  She’s been in all the chairs.  You can tell that, as the fur on your arms stick to the arms of the chairs, thanks to the honey-eater.  Now that wouldn’t be so bad, as I can clean honey off of most anything you give me. I’ve got a good strong cleaning tongue for tidying up Beatrice’s face and ears.  But I can’t fix Beatrice’s favorite rocker.  It’s been totally destroyed.  This creature must be heavier than Beatrice…but after eating all that oatmeal with honey, I’m not surprised.
It looked like she had decided to go upstairs and read some books, as there were books strewn all over the stairs.  She must have had her arms full and dropped some on the way up.  Or maybe she just didn’t think she’d be able to find her way downstairs again and was dropping “bookcrumbs”….or using “bookmarks”!  Ha! That was a good one! Beatrice calls these "Mama jokes", but she doesn't laugh, she just sighs.  
Well, we followed the books upstairs.  There was a very heavy book left on Barry’s bed.  It was his favorite book,  “Jack and the Beanstalk”.   And a very nice one called “The Little Red Hen” was still on my bed.  When we looked over at Beatrice’s bed, there was a big pile of books beside it and a little creature with very blond hair lying there holding the book,  “Little Red Riding Hood”.  Her eyes were closed though.  It appeared that she had fallen asleep while reading it.
Not being too crazy about finding a creature in our house, we yelled and waved our arms to scare her away.  It was pretty effective, as she opened her eyes very suddenly and screamed something about big bad wolves…which we aren’t, and we don’t even know any…
We were happy to see her leave, swiftly weaving her way down the stairs past the books she’d dropped and out the front door.
Beatrice says the creature was "so cute" and wants one for a pet.  Barry says we should set a trap and install an alarm system.  But I don’t think we’ll see her again. I've stopped leaving out food.  Seems to attract pests.

by Donna J.T. Smith
12/27/2010

And then it was back to poetry (and this is for any season!):

December 28, 2010

It's All in a Year

Icy fingers
Toasty toes
Happy hearts
Chilly nose

Daffodillies
Crocus crowns
Lilacs lovely
Dandy downs

Sunny beaches
Shady elms
Picnic baskets
Sailboat helms

Geese a’flying
Leaves a’falling
Squirrels hording
Turkeys calling

Then we’re back
To toasty toes
And ways to warm
A chilly nose.

by Donna J.T. Smith
12/28/2010

I enjoyed reading my old posts.  Maybe it is time to put them in a blog book for safe-keeping.  Maybe two extra books.  The second grandchild will arrive in April.
And don't forget to look through your old posts and see if there is a treasure there you would like someone to read!  It may bear reposting!  At least leave me the link!

31 comments:

  1. Well, it seems that you still have your style from 2010, & still your great sense of humor, Donna! Love seeing these. I thought we started together, but may just the SOLC together? Thanks for sharing, & I'd love to get those books published too-what a gift! I think the story has a future!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. After these three posts I left blogging alone until March on this sites. I'd blogged a site called talkntech while I was teaching technology in our two elementary schools, and had a photo one for a photography class I took online. But Mainely Writte is my first and only blog just for me and my writing and the longest running! The others were temporaries - as this one was headed to be until a teacher pointed me in the direction of TWT SOL. So yeah, I still consider that first March 2011 SOL to be the true beginning of my blogging...when we both jumped into the pool!

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  2. Your first posts were engaging to read. I especially enjoyed the humor of the Beverly Bear and the Blonde Creature. It's a good idea to choose posts and create a book or two for your grandchildren to keep.

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    1. Thanks, Terje. I think it would be fun to compile them. Imagine if we had a book of our grandparents writings. Wouldn't that be amazing?

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  3. Your line of "I only knew me" seems pertinent as we think about writing in digital spaces. Sure, there are connections (SOL) and collaborations, but in the end, we are writing to find out voice, and the audience of us has to be front and center. I'm glad you surfaced those writings again, for you to reflect on being a writer, but -- ignoring what I just wrote -- for us to read.
    Peace,
    Kevin

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    Replies
    1. I know. It is a good place for experimenting. I have done that for years on paper, or just saved to a digital file, but when you get brave enough to set it on the screen for others to read, you would like to know someone is out there - liking or not liking what you've said. Kinda like I can talk to myself or I can dial a number and talk to someone. You know what I mean?
      But - ignoring what I just wrote, too- it's still really for me! Writing's a funny thing, isn't it?

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  4. Thank you for finding and reposting these. I would hate to miss them. Your story is so clever, but your poetry - as always - moves me. You ALWAYS choose just the perfect words.
    You should definitely make a book - I have even been thinking of that myself, one day. Maybe you'll have a post of advice about book publishing by then!
    I am so glad that you found SOLC and kept writing, and then that I found SOLC and your wonderful words!

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    1. Thank YOU! You are so kind. Poetry is really my favorite.
      And I, too, am so happy that I found SOLC, and through that outlet, some other connections and avenues for writing.

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  5. I've tried to drive some traffic back to some of my older posts, but it doesn't seem to work very well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know. That's why I pasted them into the new post! We should have a read an old post day

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  6. We've done a couple of those in the past; I don't remember them working, either.

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    Replies
    1. Well, you didn't give me a link, so I'm just going to an old post of yours and commenting!

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    2. LOL! Okay, well, I'll take it.
      I'll try to do the same, later.

      Delete
  7. Love your first ever post - what a beautiful Christmas poem! I love your word choice. Thanks for re-sharing, such a shame if no one ever shared those words with you!

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  8. I love Mama Bear's version of Goldilocks! I'm glad you found and reshared these.

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    1. Thanks, Kay. I use to enjoy retelling revised old tales to my first graders. Didn't write them down though... wish I had!

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  9. Your poetry is simply the best, Donna. This is a very good idea. I'm going back in March and revising some of my early attempts at slicing. Writers are supposed to do that, I think ! :)

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    1. Thanks! Speaking of going back and revising... My daughter once had a diary she'd written in. I noticed that she was writing in the beginning of it again and asked her about it. She had erased everything in her diary, because she didn't like it and wanted to start over. AAArrrrrgggg!
      I tried to explain to her that she would like reading it after a few years to look back on what had happened or how she had grown in her writing. Nope.

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  10. Donna, so enjoyed reading your very first slices. Your poems are wonderful and I really liked your version of Goldilocks. When I first started slicing (all because of my daughter, Michelle), I thought who would want to read what I had to write. But now, those comments mean so much and make me want to continue sharing. Thanks.

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    1. Even just adding a smiley face in the comments would be nice! Like a handshake - a "been here, read this" sign! Of course, a conversation is even better!

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  11. I hate seeing posts with no comments. It's so sad that the writer worked so hard on getting the words just right and then it appears that no one read them. I'm glad you brought these out. Your poetry is always words places in perfect arrangement. Your humor and twist to Goldilocks was fun to read. I think you need to get a book agent and send that off as a picture book manuscript.

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    1. Thanks for reading, Elsie! I hate "uncommented on" posts, too! Today I am going to go around to people I follow or who follow me and see if they have any posts that need a comment and put one there!

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  12. Thanks for commenting on my blog, Donna! Hope that some day I will see you participating in the Poetry Jam as well! It would be fun to see you there!

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    1. I did put a link to one of my posts in Poetry Jam this week, just a few minutes ago. I'll try to do it on time next week!

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  13. Since all my poems are linked into a poetry challenge, I have always received some comments on what I wrote. Reciprocating also helps. Thank you for visiting my blog, and for commenting!

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    1. Yes, blog/poetry challenges have helped. Being a part of communities is great!

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  14. Love what Kevin said, "Sure, there are connections (SOL) and collaborations, but in the end, we are writing to find out voice, and the audience of us has to be front and center." That really is so true.

    HOWEVER, that being said I'm delighted you shared your first few posts with us again.

    I think you should turn them into a book similar to Michelle's. That would be a great keepsake!

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    1. I'm glad I looked back. I'm going to be searching other sites for older "uncommented on" posts now!

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  15. Donna, what a great idea! love your stories and poetry-- that last one really made me smile :-) You have a really nice flow with your rhyming.

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  16. what a good idea! YAY about the second grandchild---and btw---i love your poetry!

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