PROMPTuesday #17 - Get Specific
Today’s Prompt is a doozy.
Today’s PROMPTuesday is lifted from Naomi Epel’s The Observation Deck, and is sponsored by the dog days of summer, the lethargy unleashed after consuming three urns of buttered popcorn, and menstruation-induced anemia.
So, from the Observation Deck:
Show, don’t tell! — a cardinal rule of writing — is another way of saying “be specific.” Don’t tell us the man got angry; show him punching a wall through the motel wall or biting through his lower lip. Don’t tell us the war was brutal, do as Richard Price suggests: show us the burnt socks of children lying by the side of the road.
So, for this exercise, get specific with your writing. As written in the Observation Deck, “Never just say ‘red dress,” say ‘ultra revealing micro mini with fringe.” Today, write a paragraph or a poem about anything, perhaps your first car, and describe it to the smallest detail. Or, start a sentence to flesh out an adjective, like, “He was so lazy that….”
I’m totally cheating on this one and reposting something I’ve written before because, well, frankly, I…my head is full of bees and I can’t think. I’m feeling a bit like roadkill. The desire to write is there, but nothing’s coming out. So I post this and hope you understand. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll try to write something again. Until then, here’s an old post that may or may not really fit the category.
My pretzel has an extra twist in it. I’m taking this as a good sign.
The best part about this pretzel is that it’s still quite hot and each bite I take is helping to loosen the mass of mucous in my sinuses. This is a good thing. Very good.
I’m feeling quite sluggish and boggy today. I thought the congestion was abating. Alas, it’s not. It’s snot. It’s SNOT. I hate sinus infections.
The worst part of having my sinuses, other than the fact that they’re in me, is the viscosity of the secretions. And, because my sinuses don’t drain well, the more the goo stays in there, the thicker it gets and the harder it is to get rid of it.
If you don’t suffer from chronic sinusitis, you may want to turn away now…because you will never be able to relate to what I’m about to reveal.
The joy of tilting your head to relieve pressure is one joy I’d surely live without. At times, the pain and the pressure are enough to knock you off your feet. Sleeping is impossible.
My favorite part of a sinus infection, you know, aside from it going away, is when I can blow my nose and clear a sinus or two. This usually happens after eating something very warm, something spicy, or drinking a cup of tea. Things loosen just enough to give me hope that I’ll be able to get rid of a gallon or two of that paste living in my head.
Now, you chronic sinus sufferers will get this. Completely. You blow your nose and you can feel that golf ball sized mess of ick fly into the tissue. You’re excited! Woo hoo!
You go to pull the tissue away from your nose, but there’s still a tendril snaked down in through the nasal passage, into the sinus. You keep pulling. That thick vine of snot tickles as it moves and yet, it hurts a little (or a lot) as it pulls at another golf ball mass. Kinda like Ben-Wa balls for the sinuses. POP! Pull. POP! Pull. POP! Pull. You could string this stuff out across the room and charge admission (as if anyone really wanted to see some freak extracting gobs of goo from their nose).
Even more excitement comes in finding out what color your secretions are. They can run the gamut from clear to brown. Yellow, bright yellow, green, bright green, greenish-gray, gray, brown, red, bright red, pink, orange, bright orange. None of those are particularly pleasant. But, you always end up checking because it tells you how bad, or at what stage, the infection is.
This all sounds so gross. However, a chronic sinus sufferer lives for this stuff. And, you can tell these kinds of things to others who go through this…and you SHOULD…because you often feel alone in your misery. The truth is, you’re not. Other people DO experience this stuff. It’s good to talk this out. The masses have been silent for too long. Sinus sufferers must speak out! Join together to raise awareness of their plight!
Gather together, my snotty friends. Let’s blow our noses and make our presence known to the world!
Um…I guess this will teach me to eat a warm pretzel while I have a head full of crud and a post to write.
Eeeeewwww… you chose to get specific about snot?? lol
Comment by Tanya Kyi — August 12, 2008 @ 9:00 am
pretty much
Comment by Da Goddess — August 12, 2008 @ 9:02 am
There goes my appetite. This would make a great dieting aid.
Comment by Mrs. Who — August 12, 2008 @ 3:48 pm
Ah, yes. . . I empathize all too well. I bless the Pharmacist who first recommended Mucinex, perhaps the single most aptly-named product ever invented.
Comment by Cocktail Maven — August 12, 2008 @ 4:45 pm
Mrs. Who, just you try eating when you feel this way!
Cocktail Maven, how I wish Mucinex worked for me. And I’m truly sorry you are one of us sinus people.
Comment by Da Goddess — August 12, 2008 @ 6:02 pm
I so know the joy of the mucous golf ball!
Oh how I love thee.
Very descriptive. Just the way I like my sinus infections!
Comment by San Diego Momma — August 12, 2008 @ 8:29 pm
ew. ew. I hate sinus infections and get them often too. Yes, I’m Mary, and I’m a snot-color checker! I haven’t had more than two yet this year *knock on wood.*
Comment by Mary — August 12, 2008 @ 9:11 pm
That was um…yes…very VERY descriptive - absolutely, positively, undeniably descriptive. I too am a chronic sufferer and know the unbridled joy of that big cleansing snork where something FINALLY breaks free. Hell, I don’t even care if it brings half my brain with it, as long as I can get it out of there, but all too often it’s the face trapped behind the sinusitis mask and the constant drip, drip, dripping…Like right now…drip…drip…drip…Sigh.
Comment by tinsenpup — August 12, 2008 @ 11:15 pm
“Hell, I don’t even care if it brings half my brain with it” - exactly!
And, sad to say, I’m really glad I’m not alone, although I feel for all of you who also deal with this. It’s a nasty thing, isn’t it?
Comment by DaGoddess — August 12, 2008 @ 11:19 pm
Great post! Oh how those disgustingly descriptive words struck a chord with me. I too am a chronic sinusitis sufferer and many has been the day when I seriously considered taking a red hot poker to my face simply to relieve the pressure. It’s somehow heartening and sad at the same time to know there are others out there who suffer as I do. Sorry guys - I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
Comment by Karelle — August 13, 2008 @ 7:59 pm
Awww, Karelle! Well, you’re mighty fine company. We need to start a sinus club. We are legion.
Comment by DaGoddess — August 14, 2008 @ 5:47 am
Eeeeew. This is awesomely eeeeew!!!
Comment by Cheri @ Blog This Mom! — August 14, 2008 @ 4:17 pm
Glad to have grossed you out, Cheri.
Comment by DaGoddess — August 14, 2008 @ 4:30 pm