I’m looking for kissing, and to move forward a few paces on the game board

3. What are your goals for the next six or even 12 months?

     have I mentioned that I'm not goal-oriented? Just reading this question makes me cringe. Life is just so changeable, y'know? You can make plans - goals - and find them dashed on the rocks by fate. Weather is unpredictable, ruining picnics. Jobs can be lost, unexpectedly. Other peoples' priorities shift. Pandemics arise. Setting goals is like making sandcastles. It feels good, like something real is being created. But relying on those things to be there in an hour or a day or six months? Foolish.

10. Who or what inspires you?

     a friend who's a regular walker. An ex who's a phenomenal photographer. Mr. Kitty, a feline influencer who was adopted at an unhealthy weight and has been working hard (including with a water treadmill! How cool is that?) to get fit.

17. What keywords bring your blog the most organic traffic?

     "bacon eroticism"

24. What is your blogging process from start to finish?

      lately, I blog while I'm watching continuing education webinars, laptop on my lap and iPad on the table next to me. Adding movies to this mix is definitely more than my brain can handle at once, so I'm focusing on Q&A posts, interspersed with some essays (which I will launch periodically and then forget about before posting, so they end up as floating drafts that I eventually revise and post), some poetry, and maybe some photo-essays. The quizzes come from anywhere I can find them, online or (lately) in print or e-books. 

    I try to pre-post at least 3 days in advance, in case things come up to disrupt the flow, but it's not rare to be scrambling to finish something right before bed. 

    I'm also working through all my old posts—which will take a while since there's well over 5000—to sort out dead links, ill-advised references, and missing tags. It's not going to change much but helps me sleep better at night.

5. Favorite card games

      Gin Rummy and Hearts

31. What do you wish you’d known before you started in your niche, industry, or career?

       I wish that, before seriously considering law school, I'd become aware that the sort of writing that the law requires would forever change my personal writing, too. That my prose would become terse, my vocabulary convoluted, and some of my assertions hard-lined and aggressive. I think that I can still write like a normal person whose brain hasn't been fried by law school, but I know that I don't always follow through.

38. Where have you been lately? What did you learn from the experience?

      this last weekend, I went with a friend to see a surprisingly large number of greenhouses in a little town about 30 minutes away. We picked a start at random and worked our way through about a dozen - and then gave up on the remaining 1/3 so we could have lunch and sit down for a while! 

    It was a beautiful day. Birds were singing, sun was shining, and every person we encountered was in a good mood. The area where we traveled includes a significant population involved in a traditional religion and way of life, so there were everywhere horses, particularly attractive farms, and also some delicious-looking baked and preserved goods. There were also numerous pets around (see photo at right), which was charming and fun.

    I was reminded that getting out in nature boosts my mood. I learned that the temptation to over-buy outdoor plants is strong within me. It became ironically clear that many, or prehaps most, outdoor plants are suitable for full sun - with the exception of two that I had purchased from a school fundraiser. (My outdoor plants area is vehemently full sun.) I discovered that my companion was easy to wander with, not always the case of course. Neither of us spent a lot of money ($30 total, including lunch), which reaffirmed our intention to treat it more as "seeing plant museums" than "a shopping trip." And I got delightfully grubby, walking around so much on gravel and barn yards and dirt floors, so my shower afterward felt especially wonderful!

45. If you could time travel to witness any event in history, which event would you choose, and why?

      the Nuremberg Trials, because it's the perfect storm of history and law - as well as an era when women's clothing would have especially suited me

10. Favorite board games 

    Tripoley - as adapted by my dad's side of the family - and Chinese Checkers

 

[from What to blog about: 101 Irresistible blog ideas (with a couple of randoms); the title quotation is by Laini Taylor, from Night of Cake & Puppets]