“I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl could be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”
—Daisy Buchanan, The Great Gatsby
For April Fools’ Day this year: Tourism Ireland claimed they were saving power by having sheep keep the grass trimmed, George Takei announced he was running for office, and that’s just the start of it.
It may have been a week of
tomfoolery,
but also of sunshine, birds, flowers, and beautiful skies.
I learned my brother and Vincent Van Gogh share a birthday.
Thanks, everyone, for your delightful and helpful descriptions last week, for what a rainbow looks like to you.
Anyone want to take a crack at describing Van Gogh’s painting? I’ve never seen a rainbow, but I’ve also never seen the stars.
I am thankful that I was published again.
My Wedding Won’t Be Like My Sister’s, but That’s Okay – A Practical Wedding
I received a lot of positive reactions that I wasn’t necessarily expecting.
I am thankful to learn that writing is hard for everyone.
You have to be able to stand not knowing
Oh, of course, I am not glad to hear anyone feels this way. I just know it’s easy, as a newer writer, to feel like things will never go where I want them to. This writer has been published, books, and she still gets down on herself. It is oddly comforting, that it isn’t likely to get much easier, the further down the writing path you find yourself.
I am thankful for writers who are willing to stand up for others.
The Men Who Won the Presidency – Full Grown People
This essay hits the nail on the head. I am glad Full Grown People has returned, after being on hiatis. It seems to be moving to publish more of these kinds of open statements and I think that is important.
I am thankful, again, for a doctor who cares.
This doctor is doing all she can to help me feel better. In my experience, that doesn’t always work so well, but her sincere desire to try means a lot to me at this point, after some doctors I’ve seen over the years.
I am a little nervous to try her latest suggestion, but I will see how it goes. If it doesn’t help, then we return to the drawing board.
I am thankful for my brother.
He turned 30 and we didn’t get to celebrate like you should celebrate the start of a new decade of life, but I’m just thankful he’s here to celebrate it at all.
He had a seizure on the eve of his 30th.
I am thankful that my brother is okay.
It’s not a good sign that he’s had a seizure twice in only a few weeks, but luckily he has a doctor appointment this week and maybe he’ll have to increase his medication.
You never know when one will come on. He must have bumped his head on something as he fell because there was blood everywhere.
We’re all just so relieved he came to and phoned his friend, who thankfully could tell right away that something wasn’t right, and went straight over to check things out.
I am thankful my violin teacher and I could work on some problem solving and practice strategies.
When most people move out, I prefer to move in.
We discovered I could keep my arm straighter, in the proper position, if I stand against the wall to play. I rest my right arm against the wall and then I know not to bring it inward any.
It’s a bit of an odd place to be, but hopefully it’s just until I get the hang of things better. I need to know the feeling of where my arm should be, just like I need to learn to feel where my fingers should be.
We are working hard to find ways so I can practice more efficiently. Every lesson we discuss things in a slightly different way.
It was exhausting, but a good kind of exhausting.
I am thankful I got my entry in by the deadline.
The Alice Munro Festival of the Short Story
I doubt my abilities sometimes, but if you don’t submit, you’ll never win.
I wrote something that I quite like. I am proud of it, but we’ll see what the judges think.
I owe some of my family for their input.
I originally did not give my main character a name. Then, as I was working on the final touches before submitting, I realized what day it was. I am not a fan of April Fool’s Day because I am too gullible for my own good, even on a day I know jokes and pranks will be occurring. I did snap up a bit of, what I hope will be good luck, by naming my main character April.
I thought since the deadline was April 1st, it felt meant to be somehow.
Speaking of jokes and pranks…
I am thankful for humour and light things with Canada’s leader and a sitcom star.
Did you hear about this?
Matthew Perry responds to PM’s April Fool’s Tweet
I can’t tell you how nice it felt to read this and be able to smile at a story I read in the news for once. I say I can often be gullible, but I can’t believe some took this seriously. I needed this kind of lighthearted humorous exchange, between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Matthew Perry (Chandler) from Friends.
I am glad Canada has a leader with a decent sense of humour.
I decided to try the A to Z Challenge, for the first time, on a whim this year. I hope I will be thankful for that decision, as April goes forward.
A to Z
We shall see.
“To be an artist means: not to calculate and count; to grow and ripen like a tree which does not hurry the flow of its sap and stands at ease in the spring gales without fearing that no summer may follow. It will come. But it comes only to those who are patient, who are simply there in their vast, quiet tranquility, as if eternity lay before them.”
—Rainer Maria Rilke
Her Headache 