Perennial

Perennial is the pain of not doing, not pursuing, not knowing all the possibilities of what might, just might, have been.

Only

Sunday night, building a cache for Monday through Wednesday, as I'm loaning my computer out and likely to forget this particular charge.

Only a grown man can act so completely like a little shit.

O is not for Optional

But an optional ending for "The Tree Museum"?
3rd person.
And it turns out, 2 people did die.

Nave

Nave, sacristy, sanctuary, crypt: I have walked these cold stones for decades, seeking warmth.

Music

There is too much to say about music. Suffice to say, I haven't been to a concert in over a year, but last week I saw both Lisa Hannigan, an Irish singer-songwriter with the voice of an angel, and... Britney Spears. Music is a mutable thing.

So is that my sentence?

Music is a mutable thing?

Or:

Music rages out of Juliet's room, then quiets to a lyrical moan, then mutates into an energetic frippery that bounces off the walls as my daughter clearly bounds around her bed.

Link

Link the carnage to the hope to tell the truth about our lives.

...huh? Where does this stuff come from?

Killjoy

Killjoy said to Pollyanna, there's no need to even try.

Jeffersonian/Journal

Today I have a choice. I wrote a single "J" word one day, and a second-first "J" word the next.
Given that "Jeffersonian" is an adjective, I'm giving myself an "a"....

A Jeffersonian journal was unearthed in the attic of a farmer in rural Virginia -- wrapped in newspaper and oiled cloth, flaking and losing the script toward the edges, and detailing a lifelong, illicit love affair.

In

In truth, he couldn't imagine the next few hours; the weight, the wetness, the stink of it all.

Hello

The blog that required 50 words beginning with "H" began with the single sentence:
"Hello friends."
I'm going to keep that for today's post, in part so I can devote my few minutes to some thoughts about this exercise.
"Hello darkness my old friend."
The requirement -- which I will hold to -- that each sentence begin with, rather than incorporate the day's word, actually feels more limiting than inspiring. Perhaps it could be both - I'm sure authors of strict poetic forms find pleasure in the stricture only after diligent work.
"Hello, Gorgeous!"
But I'm wondering if my goal here isn't pure play - pure inspiration?
And shouldn't working through these 1,000+ words maintain some element of play?
He-looo??
For the rest of this alphabet cycle, I'll stick with this set of rules. But for the "2nd word cycle" I might just shake things up.
"Hello, opportunity," she whispered in my ear.

Good

Good for me for doing this every day!
(I have to trust the word selections will get more interesting with time.)

Funny

Funny hours collapse like sweet-grit cotton candy; harder hours extend.

Electronic

I'm writing again today, after last night's "episode" post, since (a) technically "episode" was a word provided by Matt, and (b) I had another panicky moment last night - why am I doing this at all?
Yes, it's fun, and mind-stretchy, to pluck a sentence and polish it the way I've been doing the last week.
Yes, I can see a clear, long-lasting path whereby I create five sentences a week in near perpetuity, one letter at a time.
But I also have to ask my self "why"?

Electronic communication is no more real -- and in many ways less so -- than other forms, and something as purely computerized as a blog seems even more utterly removed from the reality of my life.

So, there. My first memoir-lite sentence. Electronic communication seems less real.

Why, then, am I doing it after all?

Episode

"Episode?" she shrieked at me, her eyes bugging, the mascara sloughing like dirty snow from her eyes.

Devil

"Devil came to me last night," he said, idly swinging my grandfather's heavy wooden bat.

Can

Can I pick a less interesting "C" word?

Begin

Begin here: She grew up spooling bicycle circles on the manicured loops of the White House lawn.

A is for Apple

Round Two begins today. A sentence that begins with the first word from the first letter of this process. So: "Apple."

I worry that this structure I've imposed on myself will become restrictive, but I hope not. I hope, in actuality, for the opposite - that requiring myself to follow an arbitrary set of "rules," some unexpected pleasures will present themselves.

The system: Every day, Monday through Friday, I will write one sentence beginning with the first word from the appropriate letter, A -Z. Correction: I will write at least one sentence. Maybe more.

Today, "apple," tomorrow, "begin."

Apple said to orange, you are not like me.

"Apple," she said, unfolding her palm to receive the pock-marked fruit.

Won't You Come and Play With Me

That's it! A full round of the alphabet (accepting my compression of X, Y, and Z), 50 words at a time.
Starting tomorrow.. sentences! One word from the prior list, starting with A and running through Z. We'll keep putting the old vocabulary on the rack and making it stretch.

X, Y, and Z

I figured I had to be realistic, right?

zipper
zone
zen
zebra
zig-zag
xylophone
xantham (gum)
yes
yesterday
yellow
yen
yankee
yard
yard-arm
yowl
yak
yip
zygote
zoology
zooplankton
zoo(!)
zoot suit
yokel
yodel
zero
zoetrope
xenophobic
Xerxes (come on, he's the God-King who fought the spartans? could be an adjective of a kind..?)
...28....
yawn
yap
yip
yenta
yeshiva
zest
yeast
zit
ziggurat
zealous
young
youth
you (which should share an exclamation point with zoo!)
...41....
(I'll be back - for the record, post-28 is round 2)
yank
yell
yarrow
(that last three? round three)
zoom
zephyr
yet
yarn
yawlp (as in Thoureau's great "barbaric"...?)
zionist
....that's 50, but I hate to end it there. Maybe I'll solicit Friday's helper for a few ideas...

"V"

Remember that TV show, "V" with the women who pulled off their fake faces and were actually lizard monsters? Well, my friend Jen is helping me with "V" today. Read into that what you will.

V
victory
virgin
Valentine's Day
vest
victim
vociferous
voice
volume
vocal
vengeance
vapid
value
venue
view
vestal
vestibule
vestige
vent
veil
vale
vole
vacuum
vantage
vein
vain
vainglorious
vanity
villian
vilanelle
vigorous
vigor
vagaries
valuation
vocalization
vary
varied
vagrant
voluminous
vector
vortex
Vatican
vendor
victor
....43.... Jen is very helpful!
very
variant
variance
vibrant
venti (as opposed to tall and grande, of course...)
vulgar
vulture
vulva
vulnerable (all of these are Jen's, by the way, I'm totally slacking)
vespers
vat
vow
vacillate
...56, and now back to work. ...sigh....
Until Monday.

Tomorrow, "V"

"W" on Friday, and on Monday, I think I'll allow myself the combined "XYZ."
Then next week, I need to start making sentences out of all these words.

U Part 2

usurp
usurious
...this is too hard without Monday's "U" to refer to.
I'll be back.
(26!)

T

terrible
terrific
tarantula
tortilla
tortolini
tortoise
turtle
tantrum
tantric
tempestuous
temper
tempest
thunder
thunderstorm
tapestry
Triassic
tantamount
tantalizing
taper
table
tab
tablet
talcum
torn
tear
tee pee
teal
tender
tenderize
tendency
tent
temporary
testosterone
test
teen
teenager
teflon
tether
telephone
telegraph
television
terror
tone
tonal
Tonto (..eh)
tincture
tissue
tilt
tile
tithe
title
total
totalitarian
tote
toke (as in, "take a --- Harold and Kumar")
topiary
tusk
ton
tumult
tumultuous
....let's see. 60! Thank you "T"!
Oh...
thank
...we'll call it 61.

Oopsie

Today was due to be "T," a much lighter lift than "U."
So. I'll do "T" tomorrow, then revisit "U" on Wednesday, to give me the chance to collect some little, fleet-footed "u"s.

Snow Day!

...or at least, snow two-hour delay!
Unexpected, to say the least.

Unexpected
unified
unfiltered
ugly
utility
utilitarian
unitarian
universalist (that's me)
usurp
uprising
up
uppity
upset
unspool
usual
upbraid
udder
unctous (spelling? is this even a word?)
uncouth
unclear
unclean
unity
unilateral
...24. I decent first pass for "U." I worry, frankly, about .... hold on. Hold on! Was today supposed to be "T"???