Not Dead Yet!

/ Diane Henders

Well, it’s been an interesting year; as in the curse: “May you live in interesting times”.

My oft-stated aspiration is to live as boring a life as possible, and I’ve both succeeded and failed at that. If I were to describe my activities since the last time I posted, any listener would be paralyzed with boredom; so theoretically I’ve succeeded in my goal. (And I just corrected a typo that proclaimed I had “succeeded in my goat”. No goats were involved, which is actually rather unfortunate. That might have made for a more entertaining post.)

On the flip side, my recent life has been far too “interesting”. The past year has been a slog, and I won’t go into all the painful and annoying details. But on the bright side:

a) I’m not dead yet, and (barring the sudden appearance of a cudgel-wielding corpse collector) I’m not likely to get dead anytime soon.

b) I’m getting better… in my best Monty Pythonesque accent, of course. Or at least I’m better than I was; so that’s a win.

c) I’ve received so many lovely emails full of care and concern from my wonderful readers. Thank you so much!

So I’m carrying on as best I can, and hopefully I’ll be back soon with further updates. (Or at least an amusing goat story.)

How’s everything with you?

Book 18 update: I haven’t forgotten about poor neglected Book 18. It’s half written and about 90% plotted, and I will finish it. Many thanks to my readers for their patience!

22 thoughts on “Not Dead Yet!”

  2. Ok I’ve written and erased my comment 3 times now because I sound like a nut-job. Bottom line: I’ve missed your witty posts and I’m glad you’re alright. As for me, I’m trying something new that’s a little bit fun and completely frustrating. Pretty sure I’m going to fail spectacularly but I’m trying anyway. My brother composes classical music, strange in this day and age, I know, but it’s what calls to him. Being the nosy little brother that he is, he went digging through my old poetry books and started setting them to music. He and a few like minded friends of his are always collaborating and sharing what they’re working on and they’re encouraging him to expand on his “little ditties”. He now wants me to add the words to make full songs and I’m having trouble with it. Those thoughts and feelings are decades old and no longer relevant so thats one issue. The other is that… it’s not like a book I started and never finished, something that’s just waiting to be picked up again. I said what I had to say in these few lines and it is finished. As far as I’m concerned there is nothing more to say, but I’m trying anyway. So that’s what I’m working through, along with my little brother who’s giving me big eye rolls LOL. Wish me luck, and patience, and maybe a straitjacket so I can’t strangle him🤣. Again, it’s great to hear from you and I hope you continue to make progress in your recovery. Be healthy and happy!!

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    • Thank you so much for your good wishes! And oh, wow; what an exciting (and daunting and potentially frustrating) project for you! I can imagine how difficult it is to try to expand on what you’ve already expressed and completed. (Maybe you should remind your brother of how a lot of contemporary music is just the same few words repeated over and over! One line of verse, two lines of chorus, repeat…) 😉 Wishing you good luck and creative joy!

      I’d love to hear the compositions – will he or you be posting any music on YouTube or another site?

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      • Funny enough I haven’t asked him what his plans were for when they were finished. He’s not much into posting so I assumed they were just for his own creative gratification or for he and his friends to have fun with. But we’ll see. I think mostly it’s going to be contingent on me holding up my end of the deal, lol! I’ll letcha know if anything comes of it. Again, I’m grateful you’re back to posting and wishing you a happy and stress-free recovery.

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  3. Hi Diane,

    Welcome back! And thanks for checking in. Except that this post worries me more than you not posting. I hope you are okay and on the mend from whatever (physical condition) is plaguing you. And how’s the garden doing?

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    • Thanks, Liesbet! The garden is doing wonderfully – the rhododendrons put on a spectacular show this spring, and the veggies are growing fast.

      And thanks for your concern. I am okay; I just had a few health hiccups (in addition to my perennially cranky back and hips) that had to be investigated. The ‘hiccups’ turned out to be unpleasant and exhausting but not ultimately dangerous. But all that combined with the current world situation was enough to knock every ounce of creativity out of my brain. The health stuff is resolving, and I’m still seeing a physio for my back and making (VERY) slow progress; so that’s all good news. There’s nothing I can do about the world situation, but I guess two outta three ain’t bad… 😉

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  4. Was just thinking about you the other day. Glad to hear you’re still in the land of the living and getting better, if slowly. Best wishes Jen

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  7. New book series. Never Say Goat…?

    I just read that as “Never Say Gout” in my old man’s voice in my head. One I listen to far too often as I get older.

    But regardless of goats, or gout, or goats with gout, I’m glad you’ve checked in with us! I was wondering how you and hubby were doing lately. It’s been a moment. My better half and I send good vibes your way!

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    • I would read the hell out of a series titled “Never Say Goat”! (Hmmm, maybe that’ll be a spinoff series…) Not so sure about “Never Say Gout”, though. That could be a harder sell.

      It has indeed been a moment… or two. Thank you so much for the good vibes – I’ll take ’em! And the same to you and your other half. 🙂

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      • Great to hear from you again, my respects and thanks to you and all your fellow bloggers who leaven the lives of so many of us old farts.

        Do to a combination of cataracts and badly tuned bifocals( and a likely case of your gremlins having some fun at my expense), I read (cudgel wielding corpse collectors) as wedding corpse collectors!

        Now that conjures up a scene even more surreal than Monty Python!

        Blair

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        • Bahahaha!! And now I want to write some flash fiction about wedding corpse collectors. Hmm, let’s see; who would get “collected”? Grooms dallying with bridesmaids? Wedding guests who died of sheer boredom during the speeches? Caterers slaughtered by Bridezilla for serving the wrong appetizer? The possibilities are endless…

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