Writer’s Thumb?

I’ve discovered there’s a direct link between my right hand, just above the thumb, and my brain. At least to my ability to think. I’m wearing a thumb splint (which sounds much smaller than it really is), to calm down the tendonitis in my thumb, and can no longer think. Somehow motion in that part of my hand is critical to my thinking processes, in the same way that my glasses are critical to my ability to hear, and waving my hands is critical to my ability to speak.

And while I didn’t do the damage writing (I suspect it’s from overuse – pruning, and repetitive strain – holding my laptop badly while I play solitaire), I’m still rendered speechless and brainless by the splint.

Maureen

Rain in June

We’ve had far more rain than usual for June, which is normally the rainiest month in Calgary. We’ve more than made up for a dry winter, and we’re feeling a little waterlogged.

The garden, however, is loving it. It’s growing wildly, struggling to make up for the losses from the dry winter (some of my bushes were hit hard). We’ve not quite moved into the full June overblown opera-singer everything blooming at once time (the peonies and roses are just starting to open), but the irises are gorgeous.

And, after years of pollen allergies, the allergy shots are taking effect and I can work in the garden. I sit with my laptop and a cup of tea, and pretend to write while I listen to the birds and enjoy the flowers.

Maureen

Writing: A Mobius Strip

After my June 4 post, Writing and Doubt, a writer friend, Rebecca Upjohn, referred to the never-ending Mobius strip of creativity. I think she’s exactly right, and that’s why it’s so confusing. You never quite know where you are, or even why you don’t know. It’s like being caught in an Escher drawing.

Here’s how to create a Mobius strip:

Cut a strip of paper roughly 11″ long and 1″ wide (just cut it off a piece of writing paper). Hold the ends together and get ready to tape them into a circle, but flip one end over first – it becomes a circle with a twist. That’s a Mobius strip. Then play with it and let your mind bend. Try drawing a line down the centre of the outside of the loop, and see what happens. More brain pain.

If you want to bend your mind further, try to follow the mathematical explanation on Wikipedia.

Maureen