Guarding The Ladder.

by tiffanyMy Author's Portfolio, Real Life, short stories, Short Stories Portfolio, Stand Alone Short Stories July 30, 2015May 5, 2020One Comment

Do not let the picture above fool you. Otis is not an ordinary cat. He is a fierce feline focused on protecting the one who feeds him. He is like a soldier and takes on this role every night. What is this hero of a cat protecting me from? Well, I am not sure, but it may be from falling off my bed, or it could be the window. Whatever the danger, he protects me from it every single night.

Let me explain how he protects me. His heroism entails walking the perimeter of my bed, making sure that the only exit from the loft bed is still the ladder. He then makes sure that I am safe by sniffing my face. Finally, he is ready to buckle down in his post. He stretches out as he lies down right at the opening for the ladder. With courage, he will stay at his post, keeping watch unless he falls asleep until my morning alarm goes off. Most days he will even stay pass the alarm going off and it will take me nearly throwing him down the ladder for him to move.

Now, since I am the one being protected, I cannot be the first one out of the bed. He cannot and will not simply move aside. This cat needs to clear the area, or at least the ladder. He makes his safety check by climbing down part way, stopping at the window for a moment, and going out the window onto the roof.

His reward for protecting me all night is his breakfast that I pour him, while I am still asleep.

At least, that is what I am telling myself. In all honesty, he most likely is just being a butt and blocking the ladder, because he knows it annoys me. I will keep trying to convince myself that he is protecting me because murdering a cat is frowned upon.

Want More?

If you would like to read more short stories please check out my Portfolio or perhaps you would enjoy watching readings of my work on YouTube.

A Healthy Week To Boost Fitness

by tiffanyother updates, Physically Healthy Me July 28, 2015One Comment

A few weeks, well maybe a month ago, a friend and I were talking about getting together a hardcore diet/ fitness plan that would last one week. This would be to boost our healthy habits and jump-start our thinking about getting healthy and staying healthy.

I did some research, forgot about it, and then did a bit more research. Through research and the knowledge I already had I came up with a little system that I will be trying out. I think this system should only be done for a week as a boost, since it is to push you to be healthier. I also don’t believe in restricting your permanent diet and fitness all at once. That has failed for me in the past. What has not failed is gradually becoming healthier and knowing why.

Before starting anything where goals and a desired outcome is involved I believe you should ask yourself two questions. That being said if you want to join me with this health boost, please ask your self the following question. 1.) Why are you doing this? What are your reasons? Write this down.

Now on to the real system thing that I made. I broke down being physically healthy down to three parts habits, diet and mixed. In this healthy boost system I am going to be focusing on 1 new habit, 2 new diet items and 1 that is a mix for the week.

The lists are as follows:

Habit

Do short spurts of exercise every day. Doing at least 20 minutes of fast exercises. This could be 4 five-minute walks, 2 ten-minute intense spurts of exercise, or even 20 one-minute work outs.
Take deep breaths and relax when you are getting stressed or cut down on stress. Maybe at one point in your day you take a walk by yourself to release your stress.
Exercise 3 to 4 times a week. This should total 3-4 hours.
Add 30 minutes of sleep or get closer to 8 hours of sleep.
Make a list of favorite exercises and pick at random from that list for your work outs.
Work out 1st thing in the morning every day.
Find work outs you can do while watching television or do sit still while watching television.
Exercise for a total of 1 hour every day or an intense sweaty 30 minute work out every day for this week.

Diet

Take vitamin C or get vitamin C into your daily diet.
Focus on eating good fats (avocado, dark chocolate, coconut oil)
Add spice to your dish
Pop some Iron. Iron helps blood transport oxygen apparently.
Sip green tea, it has antioxidants.
Go a week without processed sugar or starches.
Only eat Protein, good fats and veggies.
Never skip breakfast, just make it healthy.
Make dinner your lightest meal
Don’t starve; make sure you eat at least 1500 calories a day.
Drink green smoothies every day for breakfast.
Do not eat any processed foods for the week. This means only fruits, vegetables, meats and unprocessed grains.

The Mixed list

Drink water (2-3 liters a day)
Drink coffee 1 hr before exercising (Do not add a lot of sugar or cream, try to keep it fat-free milk [if you can].)
Use smaller plates. (It may seem silly, but you will get full with less food. It also helps with portion control.)
Eat every 3-4 hours but eat small meals.
Put down your fork between bites
Designate one place to eat and eat there. Also cut down on distractions when eating.

I also am on pinterest and have a few boards that may help you boost your health. The first is my boosting healthiness board, where a lot of the research and ideas were pinned. Follow Tiff’s board Boosting healthliness on Pinterest.Next is my general fitness board, where I put a bunch of different exercises, work outs on and a few quotes to help me stay motivated. Follow Tiff’s board fitness on Pinterest.

The last two boards are my healthy eating and smoothie boards. These are focused on the diet part of being healthy.
Follow Tiff’s board Healthy food on Pinterest.

Follow Tiff’s board Smoothies on Pinterest.

Finally, I want to leave you with an important tip. Do not weigh yourself every day. Weigh yourself before you start and after. Also measure yourself before and after the week. Do not do it during the week. Plus the number on the scale or on the measuring tap is not what is important in the long run. The goal should be becoming healthier, not skinnier or lighter.

I hope this helps you. Let me know if you are trying this and I will let you know the end results.

A DreamWard Bound With A Clever Name

by tiffanyDreamward bound July 25, 2015No Comments

Yes, I try to be clever with my DreamWard Bound titles. I am not sure if my amazingly wonderful and first class cleverness comes off in every title. Mostly I am unsure, but I miss place the cleverness most of the time. Either way I try to write clever names, but today I will let you imagine the clever name. The reason behind promoting your creativity is because I can’t seem to stay focus.

I started this blog post around noon, maybe a bit later but then could not focus so doodled some thoughts down, read part of a book, did my laundry, went grocery shopping, made sure my budget is synced correctly, and baked zucchini bread. Before each new task I sat down and thought I would add on to this wonderful piece of writing. However, it is now 8 pm and I am finally getting my words out.

Maybe I wasn’t as I thought. It is now almost 9 and I have spent most of that time on Amazon, looking for a new gi. I know I could go or should go to another site that tailors to gis or BJJ, but I get triple points if I order it on Amazon.

With all distractions pushed aside, I should tell you what went on in my life this week. That is what this post should be all about. I should just ignore how distracted I have been today and let you know how I am being dreamward bound.

The first things that was dreamward bound for this week was that I wrote 3 creative things, so posted 4 things this week. Well I posted 5 if you include last week’s Dreamward Bound.

I also started to research different acting coaches and acting groups around my area. In doing so I found a working actor, who is also an acting coach. He does online classes, which may be a good idea for me.

Most of the week was focused on my day job, but I did get some things done that has brought me slightly closer to my dreams. I think this coming week will be even more focused on my dreamward bound journey, since I won’t need to be stressing over customer’s complaints or driving myself to work. I will have at least a little time to relax or work towards my goals as I carpool.

Again I got distracted. This time it was the internet. I think I wrote all that I can write tonight, so I will leave you with a list of things I did this week.

I am a Dancing Bagel (Short Story)

Otis, The Hunter. (Short Story)

My Nightmare Mind Box (monologue)

Weekly Writing prompts

I am a Dancing Bagel

by tiffanyI Am A Bagel, my creative self July 23, 2015One Comment

I was convinced by Cupcake that I should try hanging out with other baked goods. It should be easy to find things in common, since we at least have some sort of the same make up. After I agreed, he introduced me to Croissant, Muffin, and Doughnut. Doughnut and I did bond right away, since we found we had similar interests. She just seemed sweeter and more energized than I was. I found that Muffin was also pretty sweet and had her own flavor for life. Croissant did not seem to mix well with us, but that was mostly because there was a bit of a language barrier.

It was Croissant’s idea that we go out dancing just the girls. I wasn’t sure about excluding Cupcake, but he wanted me to bond with the girls. That night the girls all went to the loud night club and immediately felt out-of-place. There was not a baked good in sight. Instead the club was filled with vegetables and meats. We decided that it was okay that we did not exactly fit in with the other people, we were still going to have a good time. We went to the bar and ordered our drinks.

A minute had not even passed before a thick steak bumped my arm which made me spill my drink all over myself. I was fine though and was able to still enjoy myself. I just was not able to enjoy that drink.

The night quickly went from bad to worst. The place was hot and humid which Doughnut did not like at all. It seemed none of the meat had any brains and kept trying to dance with Croissant who was not enjoying getting their sweat on her. She wasn’t even near the dance floor or dancing, but the meat kept coming over to her. Muffin tried her hardest to dance on the dance floor, but was getting agitated by the vegetables vibrating their bodies into her instead of actually dancing.

We finally called it a night after only an hour at the club. We walked out of the club a little sticky and very disgusted. None of us wanted to socialize any more after that, so we decided to all head our separate ways and meet up for a quiet lunch after a couple of days.

What I learned from that experience was that it is nice to hang out with other baked goods, but you should always do some research into the night club you are going to.

Otis, The Hunter.

by tiffanyReal Life, short stories, Stand Alone Short Stories July 22, 2015March 19, 2019One Comment

Otis, The Hunter.

Otis, the fat grayish-tan feline with thick black stripes, almost sat down next to me as if he wanted to be near the comfort of a human. Before his bum touched the blanket I had brought out onto the roof, Otis heard a noise. It was the famed climbing of a squirrel, that needed to be hunted. There was no time to cuddle the squirrel invader had to be stopped. Only the heroic house cat could hunt and stop this beast, so Otis crouched down and very slightly crept to the skylight, that since it was raised gave a littler cover for his sneak attack. Then since time was of the essence he bolted towards the wild beast, which actually gave the squirrel enough time to see the house cat and climb back to the top of the tree yelling at the cat as it climbed. Otis, who thought himself brave and a great hunter,continued to stalked the frightened and angry sounding squirrel to another higher tree.

Unfortunately the hunt had to end since Otis is a fat house cat who could not even get onto one of the trees. After a minute or less Otis came back to the blanket wanting the petting he ran away from a few moments earlier.

My Nightmare Mind Box

by tiffanymonologue, my creative self July 21, 2015One Comment

My mind is a box, lately, that I am trapped inside. My optimism says there must be a door, a window, or a hidden way out. I don’t see one. All I see are wall entrapping myself in my mind causing me to be unable to do much of anything I would consider being me.

To the left is the security of my day job, creating a thick time-consuming wall. To the right is my obligations and my bills stacked as high as my job with no holes to escape from. Behind me is my past failures, current fears, and reminders that the future can not be known. There is a reason my back is towards that wall, by focusing on that wall I would sit down, stop fighting and accept the box I’m in. Above me, on the ceiling of this box are all the people, careers, and talents that I compare myself to. I place them above me, although I am the only me. Below me are all my ideas trapped under glass in a cloudy stew of tar and mire. Still I know they’re there, just like a mother knows her baby. In front of me are painting of could-be’s, maybe’s, and the future if I only live my current life . I know there are keys to unlock each painting, except for the immanent future, that one does not need a key. The keys to my dream futures are unknown, lost or far from me. I do not believe they are in this box. All I can do is stand and look at the pretty pictures hoping and looking for at least one key.

Perhaps breaking the glass under my feet will lead to a key.

The Not So Much DreamWard Bound Week.

by tiffanyDreamward bound July 18, 2015No Comments

This week was a tough week for my productivity. My mom was here until Tuesday and we did a lot of sight-seeing and tourist stuff. It was fun and I love having that time with my mom.

The only thing, was that it wore me out and knocked me off my schedule. For the rest of this week I’ve tried to recharge and get motivated. With my energy levels and people levels (wanting/ lack of wanting or needing to socialize/ be around people) all messed up it was hard to much of anything.

I started writing a few times only to either not be able to finish or to be disappointed with what I wrote.

Thankfully, I went to bed early last night and went to Jiu-Jitsu this morning. I’m not 100% back and motivated to do everything I should want to do, but I am writing this post and have ideas about what to write next.

Also, I feel like I can’t be too hard on myself, since I did recently have a real good week when I wrote, Artist: a monologue. I also published a video of me performing it.

One thing I am excited about that should be starting this week is that I am going to be switching my Goal Getters’ videos over to my main YouTube channel. I will be recording a fast alert video, hopefully today for that channel then publishing the steps and tips videos on my main channel later this week. This way I can have all the statics in one place from here on out. Also, I have a few more subscribers on my main channel, so the videos will theoretically get watched a little more.

With that I will leave you with excitement to see what I do in the following weeks. If you are not excited for more things to come at least you can see what I have done. Here is the list.

Writing Prompt

Okay, so it is not much of a list. Next week’s should be longer.

DreamWard Bound Or The Week My Mom Visited

by tiffanyDreamward bound, other updates July 12, 2015No Comments

This week was all focused on my mom’s first California trip. I did get to post three posts in the beginning of the week. One of them, my week’s monologue, did surprisingly well. I was also able to post a video this week.

My mom came on Wednesday, so after that my time was focused on her and not my goals. I took her every where that I could. We are now both tired and ready for a beach day, which will be tomorrow. This will hopefully give me time to write for the coming week. I do have the start of a poem, but I am not sure how I am feeling about it.

I’m trying to think of other things to say or write. I am really trying, but I believe they will just have to come out in story or poetry form. Perhaps after a beach day my mind will be able to focus on thoughts and ideas. Until then I will leave you with a list of things I published this week.

Game (A Poem)

Artist (A monologue)

Weekly Writing Prompt

Game ( A Poem)

by tiffanyPoetry July 8, 2015May 23, 20203 Comments

Let me think.
I need to ponder,
If I choose wrong
I may meet an ogre.

What would she do?
Where should they go?
There are many enemies around
and my rolls have been low.

My spells are running out.
There is no rest in sight.
I think ogres are getting closer.
I’m sure they want to fight.

A party member is running off.
I guess we all should follow.
If we run into a dragon.
I’ll give it that party member to swallow.

Hey DM do I get inspiration?

I hope you guys liked this poem. Let me know what you think.

Artist ( A Monologue)

by tiffanymonologue July 7, 2015October 10, 20198 Comments

I want to boldly tell you; I am an artist. I’m sure you already knew that or at least suspected. I mean how can anyone really hide their creativity? I know I’ve tried to hide or ignore my creative side, wanting to be normal. I yearned for a quiet mind that could simply observes the world and did not have a need to share its beauty.

Yes, there was a time I wanted to be normal, but not any more. An ordinary life in no life for me and if it seems like my life is just like yours ask me what I’m thinking about. For you see I have worlds and universes living in my head. My mind is filled with lands of poetry, worlds of paintings, and many stories in many different universes. They are all just waiting to be created.

When I am at my day job tapping the keys of my computer part of my mind may be trapping dragons to get to the keys of a prison to rescue some royalty. While I’m driving home I am most likely also involved in an elaborate love affair that will tragically end when I park my car. If I am watching the sunset I am also memorizing the colors in hopes that I could paint it one day.

You see my mind is not a quiet place most of the time, which now I love. It makes my life extraordinary in an ordinary world. This is why I must boldly tell you; I am an artist. I’m sure you already knew that or at least suspected.

UPDATE

A while ago I did record a reading of this monologue. I want to share it with you now.