K is for Killjoy

Which is how I feel approaching this task.  "K."  K? I mean, I barely scraped up 40ish words for J. Now K?  Luckily I've got "L" to get me through Tuesday.

Killjoy

Krypton

kryptonite

kite

kitten

kill

killer

kick-off

kick-start

kiss

kissing

kissy-face

kiss-up

kit

(the whole) kit and caboodle

kild

kind

kindness

kindergarten

kindle (both Amazon-book noun and fiery action verb)

kippers (rations for the British during World War II?)

kicketyboots (as my Dad called them, a Scottish boy in the 1940s)

Kafka

kir royale

kebabs (a word that will make its way into my new writing project)

kinship

kin

king

kingly

Kunte Kinte (still universal enough? proud maasai warrior and all that?)

killing fields (the)

khartoush (?)

....  32.... I may actually survive "K" after all

.... kickass

kerning

kernel

kestrel

kingfisher

killim

... the last two past an hour-long dinner break (Jambalaya - I cooked) with Matt...

knit

knitting

knight

knightly

...41....

know

knowing

knowingly

known

ken (in that Beowulf, LOTR family way)

keen

keening

kale

.... come on, one more.....

ketchup!

And what a fitting end.

...38.....

Jeffersonian

"J" fell away

Yesterday, a day of madness. Not a moment at the office to steal away for  "J," a driving day so no Metro-provided downtime to journal (Journal! J!), and friends over for dinner who stayed straight through the night.

Today is "J" 2.0:

journal

journalism

jelly

jeopardize

jeopardy

jolly

jokester

... this is difficult, without the ability to check against yesterday's post...

jagged

jab 

jot

jig

jacaranda (!)

jaded

Jaffar (Aladin's nemesis in the Disney movie? The bad uncle lion in "The Lion King"?)

jaguar

jail

jacket

jam

jangle

jaunt

Japan

Japanese

.... can you see the effort here -- jac/jad/jaf/jail/ja(k)et/jam -- as I plod through the alphabet, step by step?

javeline 

jazz!

.... 25.... plus 11 from yesterday... 36...

jihad?

Joy

Funny. 

When I typed in the letter "J" for today's prompt, the word "Joy" autofilled. Kind of a nice omen, given how uncertain I am of my ability to generate 50 words that start with "J."  So I'm open to writing in fits and starts.  J:

Jump

juvenile

jonquil

junior

job

jag

jester

just

justice

June

junebug

...... I'm late for work, sincerely.  I'll follow through later with 39 more.

I believe

Another flip-flop day. Work early in the morning, a run late afternoon, the prompting not until now, just before bed.  And the only "i" word that garnered was "in," which marks a lame start. Let's see:

In

inveterate

indigent

indigo

impossible

impotent

if

ignorant

ignoble

insipid

insufficient

ion

internment

internet

interest

.... a flow, or a cop-out?

intravenous

interior

internal

isthmus

island

irate

Ireland

immaculate

inaccurate

ideal

idiomatic

idiot

illness

illiterate (and yes, I need to find somewhere to volunteer)

igloo

ingrained

ingrate

illegitimate (again with the forgetting how to spell!)

....only 33.  I'd though "I" would come more easily....

irradiate

ignoramus

icing (!)

ice cream

ice....

isolate

isotope

impish

imp

illicit

..43... writing at 10pm is difficult. Sleep is what I need.

inspiration

inspired (about time...)

illusion

ill-equipped

illegal

Icarus

icky

italics

italicize

Italy

Italian

Indian 

...cheating now, but past 50 so it's not so bad....

Iranian

immodest

immobile

...I believe that I am done. No writing on the new project today. Work took a heavier than average toll.

H is from the office

"Hello" friends.
This morning ran away from me. Matt and I slept in a bit and then had a good run at the gym. We're training for a race in March, and the schedule -- actually working out regularly -- has us both a bit off. So I'll "hit" my 50 word goal now, stealing freely:

Hello
had
hit
hardscrabble
heart
hard
hemorrage
heartsick
heartache
hearty
home
homeland
hellish
hedonistic
homeopathy
hefty
hapless
happenstance
happenings
hole
heady
heifer
hex
hemoglobin
he
him
Hera (wife of Zues)
Hephastus (god of flame?forge?fire? good words for "f" but not today)
hack
hawk
hope
hero
halfwit
haggis
horoscope
Horus ... is an Egyptian falcon god, and my apologies for the proper names, but I think these mythological entities are valid, given their potential inspirational and descriptive value...
healing
heal
herring
...let's count. 39. Not bad.
hale
hair
here
heresy
heretic
heap/heaping
heckle/heckler
hourglass
hour
honor
honorific
... that's fifty, but it feels ill-earned.

This story I'm beginning to work on has, I hope, legs, and this 50 words at a time feels insufficient. (Can I use "insufficient" tomorrow? Yes I can.) As if it's not proper "writing," but rather, as originally described, warm-ups. And yet, the warm up precedes not fiction, but an Editorial Board meeting. It describes not a pushing into imagination and hard work, but hard work with firm, important limits on the imagination.

I love my job, truly, but wonder sometimes how to balance the creative life and the structured creativity of my work life. Is writing the truest outlet to match a writing profession? Or should I take that drawing class I dream about, for a change?

G is for...

good

great

gosh

golly gee (willickers)

goodness

grand

graft

grate

growl

groove

grip

gripping

gigantic

gentle

germ

germane

German

Germany

Gormenghast 

(which I need to look up, since all it offers me is a vaguely German-Dickensian-mythological resonance)

gorgeous

gorge

gelatto

gelatin

germaphobe

garden

gardener

grey/gray

gargantuan

girl 

... something still in that simple word, "girl"...

gaping

gape

gap

gawp (which the blog software isn't recognizing. Am I stealing some poet's "gawp" or "yawp"?)

guess

game (for play)

game (to experience)

geese

gabble

grab

grade

....40 at first check... This is a hard letter for some reason. Though the words flood my brain during the day, and at night, I try to fend them off ("fend") to be true to this experiment. Would it be cheating if I were to keep a list of words throughout the day?  "Chaff" for example, as a word for last weeks "c" list. Will I be doing a "c" list again, and will I be "g"rasping for "c"haff?

garnet

gale

gay (yay!)

gone

gown

gargoyle

gannet

gift

grange

....Go forward young man, and write.

I did, in fact, begin a new project last night, one that fits the "write the thing you don't want to acknowledge" line of thinking. It scares me, but excites me as well.