Writing Excercises

A cure for writer's block. When I was in the 8th grade I had the best English teacher I have ever encountered. He encouraged his students to do an exercise that would help to clear the mind. The task was to write essentially a chain of events starting with whatever random item he'd selected for the day. This would then open the imagination. Here is one of those I wrote this morning.


Because a butterfly flew a little higher.. 


Because a butterfly flew a little higher,
A bird dove to grasp it,
Because the Bird missed the butterfly,
it crashed into the ground,
Because a Bird crashed into the ground,
A deer was startled,
Because a Deer was startled,
the deer ran through the meadow,
Because the deer ran through the meadow,
the geese began to fly,
Because the geese began to fly,
A slight wind headed east,
Because a slight wind headed east,
the scent of lavender filled the air,
Because the scent of lavender filled the air,
Pete decided today is the day,
Because Pete decided today is the day,
Pete asked Jane to marry him,
Because Pete Asked Jane to marry him,
They lived a long happy life together,
Because a butterfly flew a little higher.

Fauxbituaries

I heard a news story one time about a book of Fauxbituaries (fake obituaries) and I decided I'd take a stab at them. a few moments to live life through someone else's eyes. Many of these will be written in the first person, because I just think it'd be interesting to explore what someone would write about themselves. Here goes Number 1.

Nelson O'bandy


I Nelson O'bandy have died. I was 85, single, forgotten by many and remembered by a small few. I was mean old son of a gun. I didn't even show up at my own mother's funeral. Like this I've committed many other acts that even I cannot forgive or excuse. I have 15 children, but not one of them knows me as a father. I never paid child support, never even returned the phone calls of their mothers. I only held one job for any length of time, and I may have set a record for drinking. For some reason, may it was guilt, I don't know, I sacrificed my life to push a little boy out of the way of a car. If you ever read this young man, don't waste your life as I did. Live it well and with Family and Friends. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the boy I gave my life to, Joshua Cain 121 Basket Street Omaha Nebraska. Joshua, Don't be like me..