Where has the mojo gone?

If you've been around this blog for a while you will have noticed a change in the writing topics and writing style. Gone are the wine reviews and the travelogues, replaced with things to do with babies.
However, it's not the change of topic that I have found troubling, it is the change in the writing style that has accompanied it.

Lorelle's post Have your favourite bloggers and blogs run out of steam? talks about this phenomenon.

So why are so many quality bloggers running out of steam and not contributing to their blogs? And are you at risk of joining their absentee club?

I see several reasons:

• Life interferes with blogging.


• Work interferes with blogging.


• Other interests interferes with blogging.


• Loss of enthusiasm.


• Novelty has worn off.

Looking at this list is like looking in the mirror.
I have read through a number of earlier entries and have had to ask myself, "Where has the mojo gone?"

I feel that my writing has become wishy-washy and insipid. This isn't to say that I thought a Pulitzer was on it's way to me before, simply that by my own standards things have slipped away.

Does this mean that I need to take time off?
Maybe. But then, it's not like I'm trying to post each and every day anyway.

Do I need to restock my cupboard of ideas and experiences?
Definitely. I'm finding that the stay-at-home Mum thing is not conducive to my ability to have an expansive range of experiences. Life has become routine to accommodate a growing and sleep-requiring baby.

What I think I need is a regular Artist's Date. The issue with this at the moment is finding the time when Mr O can substitute for me over an hour or two.

I enjoy writing and hearing from you guys when you visit. So it's not fair to let the blog dissolve into a mediocre listing of "what I did this month", in order to have something, anything, for you to read. If I wanted that sort of blog, I could keep a private journal.

Anyone else had a crisis of writing out there? What did you do to solve it?

The things you see...

Thank goodness for cameras in mobile phones or I would not be able to bring you this oddity.

On our way home from grocery shopping I had Mr O take the following image with his new Blackberry. It is quite an interesting concept in towball covers. I do wonder if it will catch on.



Apologies for the fuzziness, the photo was taken quickly as the traffic lights turned green immediately after this was snapped, so we didn't get a second chance at it.

Words of the Week

I have come across a number of lovely words in my recent readings, and I thought I would share them with you. I am particularly taken with the last of these, and am just waiting for the right moment to spring it in to a conversation. ;)

Furbelowed

To decorate with a ruffle or flounce.

Mansard

1. Also called mansard roof. a hip roof, each face of which has a steeper lower part and a shallower upper part
2. the story under such a roof.

Palimpsest

a parchment or the like from which writing has been partially or completely erased to make room for another text.

Tamburlaine

Mongolian ruler of Samarkand who led his nomadic hordes to conquer an area from Turkey to Mongolia (1336-1405)

[My note: also known as Tamerlane, which I'm familiar with as it is the name of a large ocean going vessel owned by Wilhelmsen LInes.]

Astragals

A narrow convex molding often having the form of beading.

Dictionary.com has a nice illustration of this here.

Machair

The Scottish Gaelic word machair or machar refers to a fertile low-lying raised beach found on the some of the coastlines of Ireland and Scotland, in particular the Outer Hebrides.

For more detail you can visit Reference.com: http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Machair

Fantoosh

For this definition I needed to visit www.doubletongued.org.

fantouche
adj. fancy, extravagant, frivolous. Also fantoosh.

All other definitions are courtesy of Dictionary.com and affiliate websites.