On my best writing days, I can slam words together without much effort. It’s like I’m possessed and the word flow is unstoppable. Ordinarily though, it’s a painful, laborious process.
Yesterday I came across a shortcut for story-telling. It tells as much about how we are expressing ourselves in our SMS society, as it does about what we did last summer. And last spring. And in the last few days of the year.
Here is my 2009, a story stitched together using The Best of My Status Updates.
500 words before I sleep * is grateful her kids don’t mind McDonald’s for dinner tonight * is staying up to watch history in the making * actually went for a run…and liked it * welcomes home her two little wanderbunnies * is living the dream * lo and behold a shopping trolley in my bedroom. must be Moving Day * loved offspring’s reaction when we came home from shopping and gave her a new amp * is eating pink sorbet * listening to Bjork on a Saturday morning * is ready to see her daughter switch that tassle. Thank you my friends, for the free-flow Moet * Up at dawn for a walk on the beach with my dad, then pancakes and sausages * eating cereal at 2am and thinking: my daughter moves away to college next week * loving all the sweet tea, warm biscuits, and Southern hospitality * back in the Windy City: hello, deep dish pizza * why can’t I nurse a coffee the way I nurse a drink? * is going shopping in her closet * coffee makes it all better * hopes to see shooting stars tonight *
The quotidian can surprise, too.
What was on your mind, in 2009? Do share.
Boots and Stripper Shoes 
it sounds like 2009 was good to you 🙂
wonderful. Like this, a word cloud or tweet cloud of my year would be heavily geared towards food 🙂
Dan
Believe me, Dan, my first drafts had an alarming amount of food (and coffee) references 🙂
Love this – thanks for the tip. 🙂
Thanks for the great tip – I’m going to go try it out right now 🙂
Thanks for the comments, guys! I surprised myself when the “shooting stars” status resurfaced; it actually brought a lump to my throat. This referred to the few nights in November, when the Leonids made another appearance. Muse and I lay on our backs in the dark of my room, near my huge picture window, with our eyes on the sky. “Why do people wish on shooting stars?” Muse asked.
“Because they’re rare,” I suggested. “Otherwise people would make wishes all the time. They wouldn’t be as special.”
“Then we should be allowed to wish on whatever is rare,” Muse reasoned. “Like ice-cream trucks.”
isn’t it amazing how much status updates can convey? what a big year for you!!
Sarah,
It truly was an epic year. So much to be grateful for.
You have such a gorgeous blog. I had a great time scrolling through your photographs. Beautiful!
when I tried that application, I felt bad about thinking my 2009 was blah. I realized it wasn’t so bad. Seeing all my updates strung together like that also gave me a few topics to kick off my blogs for the year.
I love your blog, keep the word flow, uhm, flowing! 🙂