Lately, I'm finding I'm too darned busy.  Doing what, I'm not sure.  But it seems that way.  One of the things that has gone by the wayside lately is meditation.  I used to do it three times a day, ten minutes at a time.  Then a half hour once a day.  But now, it has been months since I've really even tried.

A friend sent me a link to this nifty little website:  The Mindfulness Bell, inspired by the bell and short meditation practice of Thich Nhat Hanh.   You hear the bell, breath in and out, pausing to appreciate the present moment, wonderful moment.

You can set the bell, the tone, the timer.  I've been using it during my timed writings lately!

So, I'm solidly enjoying the fact that July 13 is National French Fries Day and Barbershop Music Day.  Of course, how can one not use that as your writing prompt of the day?  Four Fabulous French Fries (I'm seeing each wearing a spiffy french chapeau and red and white striped jackets) singing Barbershop to fainting condiment bottles?   Or perhaps four bedraggled singers, done in after some head-to-head songfest competition, drowning their sorrows in fries.  Could a battle erupt over the use of ketchup versus malt vinegar?  Think I'll go write.  Anyone else want to try it--go ahead.

I, for one, don't do as "good" a job as I should about writing every day, no matter what.  When I'm in the midst of drafting a novel, I write for hours every day.  I'm a NaNoWriMo-style drafter--I can usually complete the first draft of an 80,000 word novel in about 5 weeks.  But when I'm not in that crazy-fun drafting mode, I tend to let the writing falter.  Which I shouldn't.  Because, like a pianist doing scales, a writer needs to write to stay fluid and loose.

Here's a tool I recently found that I just love:  Story Praxis.  Founder Andy Meisenheimer simply puts a new word up each day to serve as a story prompt.  If all you want to do is write on your own, you can.  But if you are interested in share, the Story Praxis site allows for that too-with shareable postings and even an online magazine version of people's works.

Check it out!

July 6 is the anniverasry of Frida Kahlo's birth.  In 2010, Google did a cool doodle of it.  Worth another look.

My keyboard.  I was just thinking this morning how much I see it as a place of promise,  sometimes a great thrill ride.  But I also see it as a place of terror and frustration.  Rarely on the same day, though.

Seriously, one could get the most delicious novel out of this.  The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is looking for someone to live there, full time, for a month.  How cool?