Monthly Archives: August 2015

August 14, 2015

Liebster Award! I am honored!

Liebster Award!

I am honored to have been nominated for the blogging Liebster Award by Susan Spilecki from buildingapoem. Go check out her blog! The Liebster Award is an award by bloggers for bloggers that is passed forward, and it has some other cool bells and whistles too!

The Rules:

Thank the person who nominated you and post a link to their blog on your blog
Display the award on your blog–by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”. (Note: The best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then uploading it to your blog post)
Answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.
Provide 11 random facts about yourself
Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have less than 1,000 followers (Note: You can always ask the blog owner this since not all blogs display a widget that lets the readers know this information!)
Create a new list of questions for the bloggers to answer
List these rules in your post (You can copy and paste from here).
Once you have written and published it, you have to inform the people/blog that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)

Susan’s Questions for Me

What is your favorite book to reread?
Wuthering Heights
If you could be any hero, who would you be?
this gal...
What is the hardest part of writing for you?
Finishing a piece. I tend to write and rewrite and break a piece down and put it back together over and over. I’m never sure when it’s “done”.
How do you avoid writer’s block?
By practicing mindfulness and being present in the moment. There is plenty of inspiration in a moment 🙂
What movie would you watch if you were feeling down? August Rush
Do you speak/read a second language? Which one?
No…though I often consider my intuition a language of it’s own. I am particularly fluent in intuition.
What do you like best about blogging?
It gets the words out of my head.
Spartans or Ninjas? Why?
Since this is the first time I have given it thought, I decided to look up the meanings of each:
Spartan (noun) … a citizen of Sparta…a disciplined or brave person…a Canadian variety of eating apple
Ninja (noun)…mercenary agents, highly trained in martial arts and stealth (ninjutsu) who were hired for covert purposes ranging from espionage to sabotage and assassination.
Decision made…considering that I am a pacifist, I must choose Spartan.
Captain America or Ironman?
This one is easy…Ironman, for no other reason than I like Robert Downey, Jr.
What is your favorite summer drink?
Mimosas
What weird writing rituals do you have, if any?
Writing rituals? as opposed to other things that I do? I am generally weird.

11 Facts about Myself

I am a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps.
I live in a zoo. Seriously though, I do live with a menagerie of critters, two mastiffs, three cats, a conure and a tortoise.
I am a tree-hugger.
And while we’re on the subject, I believe in Faeries.
My favorite dessert is cheesecake.
I have only one stamp in my passport…Beijing China. The Great Wall was my favorite place.
I have four grown daughters, two of which are twins, five grandchildren and three grand-pups.
One of my ancestors arrived on the Mayflower…Mary Chilton, who was a teen and reportedly the first person to step foot on land when they docked.
I drive a Fiat…other Fiat owners will understand 🙂
I live in an historic neighborhood and a century plus home.
My favorite thing to do is…cook…and read…and paint…and write. Hey, why stop at just one thing!

I nominate:

Healing Through Connection

The Novel In Her Head

My Questions

If you could interview one person from history, who would that be?
What makes you happy?
Pick a number from 1 to 10. Now tell me why.
If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
What inspires you to write?
What is your favorite color?
What types of books to you most often choose to read?
What is your astrological sign?
Dogs or Cats?
What is your favorite song?
When you are not writing, how do you spend your days?

4 Comments | tags: award, Liebster | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Random Thoughts and Musings

August 13, 2015

Who’s a Writer? Me! That’s Who!

By Kat Myrman

My Blogging 101 Assignment is to write a post that builds on one of the comments I was inspired to make on a neighbor’s blog. I would like to thank Kirsty Hamilton for inspiring me on her post: Too Much Coffee on her blog, The Novel in Her Head.

It was a delightful read and touched on a subject that I think all of us who blog can relate to. It is true, I may not become a poet laureate or win a Pulitzer prize for word craft, but that doesn’t mean that I am not a writer. As I commented on Kirsty’s blog:

“I write…therefore I am a Writer…sometimes I have to introduce myself to myself out loud to overcome the insecurities I’m feeling.

Stand up straight, look at the air straight between the eyes…”Hello, my name is Kat…and I am a writer.” It’s a pleasure to know you, I mean me…well you know… and I am suddenly back on track and ready to tackle that blank page!”

I am reminded of another time, when my writing focused on creating songs and performing them to crowds of two or three…and on a good night 20 or more…in the nooks and hollows of rural Virginia. I remember lamenting then, that I might never land a record deal or find myself nominated for a Grammy, but that did not stop me from writing. As long as there was one person who listened, and was even moved by my songs, my efforts were not in vain. Back then I realized that I was like a honey bee flitting from flower to flower. Only a few will rise to the level of the celestial orbs…the sun, moon and the “stars”…but we, honey bees have an important job to do.

I am grateful that this memory was sparked by Kirsty’s blog post. I have had my moments. Those choking motivation creepers that having me wondering how I ever had the audacity to think I should start a blog. I take solace in the fact that even the most brilliant writers here in our little neighborhood sometimes have doubts too.

Should we just give it up and save ourselves the effort? That question’s only answer for me is a resounding NO! I’ll take my 2 or 3 likes and the occasional comment on a particular post as my confirmation that I need to keep writing…not just for me, but for the flowers. Yes that means you, you sweet readers out there! Because, oh by the way…I am a writer and I have something to say and an important job to do. 🙂

11 Comments | tags: blogging, insecurity, writer's block | posted in Blogging 101 Assignments

August 12, 2015

Credo…In Times Like These…

By Kat Myrman

If you’re paying attention, the current political climate has become impossibly ludicrous. Politicians bought and sold to the highest bidder, average folks be damned. When I spend too much time watching the news or reading commentary I find myself losing ground in my goal to live mindfully, in gratitude, inhabiting each precious moment. Worry, fear, and downright disbelief at what some charlatans are seemingly getting away with at the expense of our nation…and ultimately our world, causes me to forget to breathe. And of course, it’s miserably downhill from there. Breathing, as we all know is kind of important.

To calm myself, I have come up with a Credo (Latin for “I Believe”) list to remind me that there are certain truths I can depend on. Goals not too lofty or impossible to realize. Simple basics that I know are possible, that I trust are possible if enough of us believe. This little list is something I intend to refer to, (even if just line by line as a situation arises) and repeat like a mantra, to bring me back to the moment, to sanity, to remind me to breathe, and to guide me to gratefulness for the goodness that exists, even if it’s hard to perceive it in the cacophony of the absurdity around me.

In times like these…
I believe in the inherent goodness of humanity.
I believe the paths that guide our moral compasses are many, equally inspiring when they draw us to the light.
I believe that truth will ultimately win over spin and dishonesty.
I believe it is possible to exist with our neighbors in peace, bypassing war through diplomacy.
I believe we can care for our sick, our poor, and our outcasts without taking from another.
I believe that hard working people deserve to be paid a living wage.
I believe justice will prevail when we leave aside our egos and come to the table.
I believe that civil liberty and freedom are our birthrights, not to be dictated by arbitrary belief systems.
I believe we owe it to our Mother, Earth, to care for her waterways, her greenways and her skyways.
I believe in educating our young to carry our legacy of innovation into the future, without burdening their futures in the process.
I believe in honoring those who’ve served us in war, calamity and peace by providing basic care and sustenance for as long as they have need.
I believe we owe gentle end of life care to our aging elders, basic security of shelter, health and food.
I believe in supporting life in all of its stages, not just its embryonic beginnings.
I believe in families, large and small, organic and blended, in various flavors, colors and varieties, where love is key and the only thing that matters.
I believe one day we will look beyond our differences, acknowledging the common thread that binds us together as one race, one family.
And because I believe, no amount of lunacy or madness can dissuade me…
And because I believe, I have hope.

5 Comments | tags: belief, family, fear, hope, justice, lunacy, peace, politics, society, truth | posted in Essays, Humor, Random Thoughts and Musings, Social Issues, Spirituality

August 11, 2015

nesting empty

By Kat Myrman

her wall is lined with
photographs of happy
smiles and silly faces,
destination postcard
vistas, wet-nosed flapping
puppy tongues and toothless
gummy grins. a monument
of moments captured by a
shutter snap, of life full-
lived but fleeting, scattered
now upon the wind.
at times she can imagine
pitter-pattered steps and
laughter, memories
fresh, warm as a whisper,
as it brushes past her
ear. the dust has settled
softly on her fading gallery,
her chicks have flown
the nest to make their
own sweet memories.

kat 2015

Leave a comment | tags: empty nest, family, memories, photographs | posted in Essays, Poetry

August 10, 2015

Kat’s Famous Beer Bread

By Kat Myrman

This is my favorite “when company is coming over” recipe. Not only is it super easy, it also fills the kitchen with the most amazing aroma. And it’s a nice complement to any meal.

Ingredients
3 Cups of SELF-RISING Flour
3 TBS of Sugar
1 Bottle or Can of Room Temperature Beer (Lighter beer will give your bread a milder flavor, darker, more robust flavor and apple or fruit infused beer will accordingly give your bread a fruitier flavor- experimenting to find your favorite is part of the fun! You can also add optional ingredients such as shredded cheese, garlic, herbs, etc.)
1/2 to 1 Full Stick of Butter

1 loaf pan
Aluminum Foil
Non-Stick Spray

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour and sugar. Add beer and stir until all dry ingredients are moistened forming a wet dough. Turn the dough into a loaf pan that has been prepared with non-stick spray or oiled and dusted.

Bake for about 1 hour or until the top is lightly browned and produces a hollow sound if tapped. (Time will vary depending on your oven.) Remove from the oven and immediately coat the entire top with butter (it’s okay if it runs down the sides too).