Saturday, October 29, 2016

Your life as a poem!--oops, closed!

Yesterday a blog reader mused on how interesting it would be to know more about the "timelines of commentators' jobs, careers, and creative pursuits"

which of course gave me the idea to have a fun Saturday not-contest.

In the comment column of this blog post, in 25 or fewer words, give the timeline you want to share.

Of course there are prizes, but it won't be for "best life!" Maybe "most intersting (sic) spelling" ;)



Example:

reader
library skulker
student
paying job
unhappy job
BOOK PUBLICIST!
burn out
Agent!
Sharkly Agent!
Blogger!
Queen of the Known Universe
(in her own mind)


Contest will close later tonight IS NOW CLOSED so I can read the comments and post results tomorrow.

Questions?
Normally I'd say tweet to me, but I'm doing a workshop this morning and thus
out of touch. You're on your own for this, but follow the first rule of blog comments: take a risk.
The worst that can happen is a shark will show up at your door step and gnaw on you for elevenses.

74 comments:

french sojourn said...


Born in Maine, autumn,
Who’s afraid of V. Woolf…teens.
College in Boston.

Stagecoach west…Cali.
Married, then daughter, true love.
French Sojourn, then death.

Carolynnwith2Ns said...

CT-4
FL-1
CT-3
NJ-3
MO-5
CT-1
RSA-1
CT-4 + Forever home.

Kids asked, “…military?”
“My dad’s a fugitive,” I said.
We just moved a lot.

Lisa Bodenheim said...

beamer unbalanced
assist freckled librarian
fiction writer?
don’t muddy colors
no interior design
social worker
What?!!
pastor
Abbey programme worker
non-fiction author!
pastor
fiction writer

Jennifer R. Donohue said...

Telling stories (Ghostbusters episodes)
Dog walker
Cashier
Beach Badge Checker
Cat Fanciers Association clerk
Museum Guard
Respite
Library
+Writing Workshop
Paid for a short story

AAGreene said...

Student athlete
Student, asunder
Master of counting
Death & taxes (just taxes)
Keeper of books
Keeper of house
Keeper @ school
Axed
Master of self, & books :)

Linda Strader said...

Firefighter.
Injured and unemployed.
College bound.
Twice.
New career.
Job loss.
Unemployed.
Memoir writer.
Still unemployed.
Self-employed.
Soon to be published author.
Consultant, designer, author.

Amy Johnson said...

Little girl reading alone: PEACE while immersed in others’ lives
AWAY to college
Social worker: impetigo or cigarette burns?
Motherhood: THE BEST!
Writer: Since childhood.

Gigi Kern said...

Stone Soup
VC Andrews
Backup degree
History degree
Hopping across country
...NY-MO-TX-NJ-CA-NC-MD-VA
Along the way Kabul Baghdad
Dream...Full-time writer
Now...16 years to go

Ken Frisbie, Jr. said...

Born at home
Student government
College interrupted
U.S. paratrooper
Married
Five Kids
Restaurant owner
College again
Wife gone
Oh well
Fiction (maybe) writer
Agent search

Sherry Howard said...

Happiest childhood,
Scoliosis crushes,
Married, lost too soon,
Children: joy,
Catherder extraordinaire
Aka middle school principal
Late life third child
Writing the thread that
Unites.

AJ Blythe said...

Book worm
Green trumpeter
Noisy miner
Dung beetle
African meerkat
Satin bowerbird
Lyre bird
Mother hen

Timothy Lowe said...

Scribbler (King wannabee)
Poet (Eliot wannabee)
Guitarist (Garcia wannabee)
Brooding college student (Morrison wannabee)
Teacher (Keating wannabee)
Bandmate (Levine wannabee)
Husband (me wannabee)
Father (writer wannabee)
Writer (no going back)

Ryan Neely said...

Key cutter
Burger flipper
Powder coated
Diaper washer
Gas pumper
Photo teacher
Background checker
Furniture dealer
Filmmaker
Cancer patient
Pawnbroker
Print maker
Resort owner
Wannabe writer

E.M. Goldsmith said...

Looking for Narnia

Dungeon Master.

Circus over Ivy League.

Acting yields London.

Enslaved in marriage. Trapped.

A child is born.

Escaped.

Sick and abandoned

Last Rites

Surprised by Joy

Margaret S. Hamilton said...

Nancy Drew
Mary Stewart
Kurt Vonnegut
PD James
Julia Spencer-Fleming
Martin Walker
and finally,
Curtains for the Corpse
by Margaret S. Hamilton

Lucie Witt said...

Books for friends and the last name of a man I never saw.
Bad teenage poetry.
Crappy jobs.
Law school. Kids. “Real” jobs.
Writing, always.

Panda in Chief said...

Crayons
Reading
Stuffed animals
Painting
Art school
Crappy jobs
Move across the country
Graduate school
More crappy jobs
Success of sorts
Economy crash
Pandas!

Steve Forti said...

Scribbler, scrawler, stories to be
Subs’tute, song spin’r, sorta I.T.
Supervise, salary, ‘soff to work I go
Steve Forti: Super Dad, Sharkly prompt maestro

Mallory Love said...


Word admirer
Book lover
Awkward adolescent
College student
Teacher of awkward adolescents
MRS.
Now MOM! times 2
Book lover
Word admirer
Writer (hopefully published someday)

Megan V said...

Lost girl wishing for Neverland
Found books.
Flew through school
Then college
Then law school
Took jobs along the way
Joined the criminal justice league

CynthiaMc said...

AL,NY,ME,BC

Sweet home, Alabama

True love - Roll Tide!

USAF - FL, VA, AK, TX, CO, Japan

Two children - Actress and Marine

Good times!

Angel Lanphere said...

Florida grown
Book worm
Tried college

Singer
Book Addict
Married cute guy

Writing bug bit me
Amateur photographer
Office Manager, by day
Writer, by night

Jennifer Delozier said...

Poor, smart bumpkin
Works her way
College, med school, residency
Thanks to a country where every goombah can soar
She's back to helping America's poor.

Donnaeve said...

Stubborn child,
avid reader,
escaped "hands"
“Can’t tell.”
Early marriage,
babies come,
Bruises fade,
"I fell."
Cubicle life
Soulmate saves
Dreams abound
Found.
“All’s well.”






















Susan said...

When I was young
I shot a blank arrow:
up, away, and gone.

Now I'm older,
bold, brave, and stronger,
chasing arrows into the sun.

Unknown said...

Book lover
Journal writer
Newspaper editor
Fraction teacher
Comma corrector
Fire survivor
Nose wiper (x2)
Blog starter
Search analyzer
College saver
Fiction writer
Lifelong learner

Kat Waclawik said...

Animals!
Books!

Poop scooper
Writer

Biology major
(English minor)

Vet school
(zzzzzzzzz)

Army
Veterinarian
(writer)

Veterinarian
Writer

IVF

...

MOTHER!
Veterinarian
Writer

Stephen G Parks said...

Bookworm
Tinkerer,
Doodler,

Journalist, playwright,
Web developer, information designer,

ESL teacher: South Korea, Spain, Malaysia,
Secondary school teacher: Namibia
Fundraiser: South Africa

Educator, Nomad, Writer

Andrea said...

Wannabe clown, ballerina, singer
Shy, but not on stage.
Then writer, vet, doctor
Crushed idealist dreams
Teacher against all odds
Writing and music stays.

Sharyn Ekbergh said...

sheep farm
shipwreck
Mayflower
murder!
glassworks
Verdun
printing press
Mrs. Cobb
Woods Hole
suicides
Horseshoe crabs
moonlight
wandering
harbor night
land!
sister call
rescue
snowfall

Cipher said...

Dreamer.
Daughter.
Overachiever.

Dreamer.
Debater.
NCAA player.

Dreamer.
Worker.
Doctor.

Darker.
Lesser.
Failure.

Spark kindness in the dark
Small dreams revived
Cold, not forgotten

Writer?

Marie McKay said...

Born. In a
Tower block.

Thinking the crap out of things.
Thinking myself out of crap.

Rescued by books.
Uni.
Union.
Mum
Teaching
Rights.

Write?

Claire Bobrow said...

Youngest of four
Only girl
Tomboy
READER
Lover of cats
And P.E.
Zoo volunteer
College
Confusion
Many jobs
Master’s
Marriage
Motherhood
Emptying nest
Transition
WRITER

charlogo said...

corporate impostor -> no
self-employed renegade -> no
disenchanted educator -> no
rogue writer -> know

Beth H. said...

Vermont
Budding reader
Flutist

New York
Music
Literature

Seattle
Scholar
Writer
M.A.

Indiana
Rare book love affair

North Carolina
Marriage
Librarian
Writer

Next chapter:
Pennsylvania

Unknown said...

Mom gave me Ramona, creation myths, Anansai.
Dad The Babysitter’s Club,
a librarian Star Trek novels.
Then I read YA and stayed
to write it.

Beth Carpenter said...

Green Eggs and Ham
Old Yeller
Gone with the Wind
Bride
Parents
Goosebumps
Murder on the Orient Express
Shell Seekers
GMC
Paddling Upstream (Sept 2017)

Kate Higgins said...

I have this Idea:
Arrive in the fall, parents marry in the winter.

I have this Idea:
Climb a forbidden apple tree, try to fly – gravity won.
"Runs with scissors...colors outside the lines"
Reading A, writing A, 'rythmatic – not so much,

I have this Idea:
College dropout, Hippie, work, house, love, wrangle 10 beating hearts including
assorted pets, husband, 2.5 kids.

I have this Idea:
Start business with husband (sometimes a not-so-great notion).
Separate offices saves marriage.

I have this Idea:
Write a kid's book.
Get an offer! Book gets orphaned.

I have this Idea:
Try again and again,
and again.


I have this idea I will have live to be 372 years old
to finish all my ideas

Elissa M said...

Life's a circle
Not a line
Ever turning to catch the wonder
With pigment
With words
With music
Failing
And trying again

Melanie Sue Bowles said...

Michigan dreamer
Reader
Swimmer of lakes
School = struggles
Heart breaks

Florida horse rescuer
First female firefighter!
Sanctuary founder
Inspired writer

Published!

Georgia
Writing, rescuing still

Colin Smith said...

Words in German
Words in English
Words in music
Words in books
Word made flesh
Words of love
Words in code
Words yet published

Dena Pawling said...



Near-blind baby
Swimmer teen
Minimum wage hell
Married!
County bureaucrat
Law school
Baby lawyer
Babies! x4
Moderately-competent lawyer
Writer
Damn freaking heartless lawyer
Author =)

Anonymous said...

Younger sister
Older sister
Five elementary schools in six years
Dreamer

Band geek
Writer
Drum major
Student

Broken
Healing

Librarian
Reader
Writer
Dreamer

Scott Sloan said...

"Play it my way."

The score would have it otherwise.
As would my soul.

I Music’s power obey.

Work.
Pain.
Writing.
Pain.
Photography.

Pain.

Light…!

Annonomous Reid Reader said...

Teenage bipolar,
Crazy feats, deep despair,
Therapy, drugs, life, wife, daughter,
Terrible genes, cold day, runs away,
Chasing, finding, holding, crying,
It will be okay.

Curt David said...

Community theatre childhood.
College.
Decade passed.
Return to theatre.
Acting classes.
Improv troupe.
Movie extra.
Procured talent agent.
Never too late to follow your passion.

Cheryl said...

Fonthill
Waterloo
Fonthill
Waterloo
Toronto
Waterloo
Waterloo
Waterloo
Conestogo
Windsor
Welland
Vancouver
Fonthill
Pasadena
Princeton
Toronto (Etobicoke)
Riverside
Melbourne (Carlton, Brunswick West, Clifton Hill)
Hamilton
Kitchener

Claire said...

Bookworm childhood
Student doc
Intern working
Round the clock
Marriage, baby
Dreams ongoing
Slowly, slowly
Word count growing
Almost there now
Trenches wait
‘Tis fate?

Patricia Cox said...

Daughter
Blood
Woman
Teacher
Educating young minds belonging to others
Wife, mother
Teaching young minds belonging to me
Sweat
Grandmother
Writer
Tears
Published author?
Grateful

LynnRodz said...

Child, dreams of world travel
Musician/Hippie Sunset Blvd
Scared, dreams push me on.
Love-Paris-Artist
60+ countries
2016, Machu Picchu
Writer - dreams
...published author?

EmilyR said...

Youngest of 5
Avid reader
English, German, French, Russian

Scholarship kid
Jobs galore
Spanish

Medievalist
Teacher
Old English, Middle High German

Wife
Mom
Love

Writer

Cecilia Ortiz Luna said...

third-world origins
first-world (second-class?) citizenship
thousandth cycle: failure/success

forty-sixth birthday &#@%#
last hurrah?
second wind!

third,seventh,fourteenth drafts,
eighteenth>
first novel?
...

Unknown said...

Girl Scout
HS: English
College: Art
Boston
Met the Love of My Life
Paint & Parties
California
Civil Servant
Ceramist
Married the LoML (12 years later)
Garden Nut
Author

Craig F said...

Desert born
Of Snowbird stock
Swampland reared

Around the block
Too many times
Some up, some down

Stories grew
From day one
Now they’re ready

John Davis Frain said...


A man of few words.
Except in November. Then,
Fifty-thousand words.

Sara Halle said...

Fairytales, romance, science fiction
Mysteries, thrillers, dark crime fiction

No matter what I do, stories are there
It's why I have my own to share

Barbara Etlin said...

word lover
math hater
(perpetually haunted
by inventory)

playwright, director, actress (5)
improvised puppet play (7)

English major
drama critic

copy editor
copywriter
freelance writer

postgraduate detours #1 and 2
(discovered math ability)

journalist
poet
Owl Princess
tulip greeter
skunk sommelier
novelist

author!

still playing
with words







RosannaM said...

All-time reader
Full time Mom
Double time NICU nurse
Part time Radiation Oncology nurse

Quitting time, so

Back burner writer pushed to
Front burner.


Unknown said...

Happy Midwesterner, DC Consultant
Publications!
Writer?
Husband! Russian adoptions!
Sandwich generation caregiver
Seventeen years!!??
Manuscripts:
-queried, discouraged
-close, stuck
-speaks to me
The one? Finally?

Rena McClure Taylor said...

Farm house, cats

Outhouse, rats

Sleeping porch, me

Rooming house, me, TV

Split level, husband

Tudor, husband, cats

Bungalow, cat, TV

Mansion in the sky?

Karen McCoy said...

Invisible
Reader
Writer?

Student Teacher
Failed
Twice.

Librarian
No books
All bureaucracy

First novel...

...Fifth novel

Major burn out
New library job
Selector
Not a good fit
Youth Services Librarian
Fired

Unemployed
"Fun"employed
Self-employed

Freelance work
Eighth novel

Next year...
Query trenches

Writing for
The invisible

BJ Muntain said...

reader
writing
student librarian
University - anthropology
library technician
computer science student
drop-out
healing
revelation
technical writer
non-profit communications
healing again
still writing

Nate Wilson said...

Itzhak Perlman (on Sesame Street)
M.C. Escher, Rene Magritte
Christopher Moore and Bill Bryson
But now, no one more than my son

Just Jan said...

The Motherland (Michigan)
Go Gators!
E.R.(Vet)
Boston Terriers!
Green Acres (New Hampshire)
Stroopwafels!
Dr. Spock…
Lifestyle shock!
Janet Reid(er)
Writer!

Mark Ellis said...

Love: Mary Shelly and her creation
Weird kid
School years: Writing=popularity
Side income:
Community journalist
Advertorials
Glossy magazine
Columnist;
Painting Company=roof overhead
Aspiring: lit fiction

Lennon Faris said...

Odors

Hated –bus tires, mean teacher’s perfume
Loved –grandma’s coffee, post-rain

Hated –beer, formalin
Loved –new textbooks

Hate –stagnant air
Love –kiddos, aftershave, coffee, post-rain

abnormalalien said...

"You're early, kid." (t = 0)
"You're a Christian now, kid." (7)
"You got a deathwish, kid?" (15)
"You're a physicist now, kid." (21)
"Ball-and-chain, kid." (22)
"You almost done school yet, kid?" (25)

Theresa said...

Nancy Drew
Valley of the Dolls
Diary of a Young Girl
story-filled spiral notebooks
graduate school, Ph.D., tenure
first book, second book, agent, third book

RachelErin said...

frequent mover
reader
woods-wanderer
theater
Shakespeare
truth-seeker
improvisor (on stage and off)
chemist
young wife
Catholic
wine seller
teacher (DD1)
knitwear designer (DD2)
university admin
Italy (DD3)
fiction (DD4)
science writer
novel editor
soon-to-be querier

Debra Giuffrida said...

Jersey girl
Boomer
Walter Farley’s Black Stallion
Wannabe jockey – tall
Moonshot observer
Wannabe astronaut—acrophobic
California girl
Wannabe mom & wife – barren & divorced
Amarna obsessed
Wannabe author—achievemephobic






Anonymous said...

Dóttir
SÅ“ur
Madre
Reader
Learner
Number Wrangler
Chauffeur
F1 Driver
Personal Chef
Pediatrician
Psychologist
Cat Herder
Dragon
Hermit
She Who Must Be Obeyed
Professional Liar


Laura Moe said...

Struggling to find
My rhythm
When the rest
Of the world
Sings
A slightly
Different song.

Kate Larkindale said...

Diplobrat - 7 countries before age 12,
Reading - more worlds to explore,
Writing - better worlds to build,
High school misery - London adventure,
Musical discoveries - dangerous lifestyles,
University - safe haven - home,
Kitchen camaraderie - cinema leadership,
Australian escape - Berlin awakening,
Boyfriend - babies - home again,
House - job - family - security,
Redundancy - despair,
New workplaces - new bugbears,
But always, always, always writing,
Rewriting - changing history,
Making sense of past and future.

Anonymous said...

Timeline?
More like zigzag.
Hopped more jobs than hopscotch.
Writer, always storyteller, but what else?
IT?
Baker?
Waitress?
Teacher?
Translator?

Writer. But what else?